cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
X-Linked Alport Dogs Demonstrate Mesangial Filopodial Invasion of the Capillary Tuft as an Early Event in Glomerular Damage.

Background X-linked Alport syndrome (XLAS), caused by mutations in the type IV collagen COL4A5 gene, accounts for approximately 80% of human Alport syndrome. Dogs with XLAS have a similar clinical progression. Prior studies in autosomal recessive Alport mice demonstrated early mesangial cell invasion as the source of laminin 211 in the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), leading to proinflammatory signaling. The objective of this study was to verify this process in XLAS dogs. Methods XLAS dogs and WT littermates were monitored with serial clinicopathologic data and kidney biopsies. Biopsies were obtained at set milestones defined by the onset of microalbuminuria (MA), overt proteinuria, onset of azotemia, moderate azotemia, and euthanasia. Kidney biopsies were analyzed by histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. Results XLAS dogs showed progressive decrease in renal function and progressive increase in interstitial fibrosis and glomerulosclerosis (based on light microscopy and immunostaining for fibronectin). The only identifiable structural abnormality at the time of microalbuminuria was ultrastructural evidence of mild segmental GBM multilamination, which was more extensive when overt proteinuria developed. Co-localization studies showed that mesangial laminin 211 and integrin α8β1 accumulated in the GBM at the onset of overt proteinuria and coincided with ultrastructural evidence of mild cellular interpositioning, consistent with invasion of the capillary loops by mesangial cell processes. Conclusion In a large animal model, the induction of mesangial filopodial invasion of the glomerular capillary loop leading to the irregular deposition of laminin 211 is an early initiating event in Alport glomerular pathology.
Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Governance of Transnational Global Health Research Consortia and Health Equity”

We thank those who took the time to write open peer commentaries for their thoughtful analysis and contributions on the topic of global health research consortia governance. We were happy to see th...
Cuba’s racial crucible: the sexual economy of social identities, 1750–2000

Morrison’s book makes an excellent contribution to the growing number of historical accounts examining race-making in Cuba. She turns our eye to racial processes within the private, intimate spaces...
ABCB1 genotype is associated with fentanyl requirements in critically Ill children

The gene ABCB1 encodes p-glycoprotein, a xenobiotic efflux pump capable of transporting certain opioids, including fentanyl. ABCB1 genotype has been previously associated with patient opioid requirements and may influence fentanyl dosing requirements in critically ill children. A diagnostically diverse cohort of 61 children who received a fentanyl infusion while admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) were included in this study. We examined associations between fentanyl requirements, pain and sedation scores, serum fentanyl levels, and ABCB1 genotype. Patients with the AA allele at ABCB1 locus rs1045642 received less fentanyl compared with patients with the AG or GG allele. A multivariable model demonstrated that patients with the AA allele received 18.6 mcg/kg/day less fentanyl than patients with either the AG or GG allele (95% confidence interval −33.4 to −3.8 mcg/kg/day; P=0.014). Incorporating race in this model demonstrated a similar association, but did not reach the threshold for multiple testing. ABCB1 genotype rs1045642 AA is associated with fentanyl administration in this cohort of children admitted to the PICU, likely because of decreased expression and activity of p-glycoprotein. Prospective evaluation of the influence of ABCB1 in sedative–analgesia administration in critically ill children is warranted.
Light induced increases of photoreceptor layer reflectance in response to rhodopsin bleaching in mice measured in vivo with optical coherence tomography (Conference Presentation)

We have recently reported observations of light-induced broadband fundus reflectance changes in two most commonly used strains of laboratory mice, C57Bl/6J (pigmented) and Balb/c (un- pigmented albino). The action spectrum of the reflectance increase corresponded to the absorption spectrum of mouse rhodopsin in situ. Spectral changes in mouse fundus reflectivity were calculated from measurements made by broadband spectrometer, interfaced with our mouse retinal SLO system, obtained before and after bleaching. This results were fitted with a model of mouse fundus reflectance, quantifying contributions from loss of rhodopsin absorption with bleaching, absorption by oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2) in the choroid (Balb/c), and absorption by melanin (C57Bl/6J) additionally both mouse strains exhibited light-induced broadband reflectance changes explained as bleaching-induced reflectivity increases at photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junctions and OS tips. Here we present results investigating the kinetics of the increases in reflectivity with Optical Coherence Tomography operating in a 780-950 nm band.
Operators on Lp (2 < p < ∞) which factor through Xp

Abstract Let T be a bounded linear operator on L p ( 2 p ∞ ) . We show that T factors through X p if and only if there is a change of density of L p so that the induced operator T ˜ satisfies an upper- l p ⊕ l 2 -tree estimate. An operator which factors through X p but fails the upper- l p ⊕ l 2 -tree estimate is constructed. It is also shown that if T is a closed Z p -strictly singular operator on L p ( 2 p ∞ ) , then T factors through X p . However, there exists a Z p -strictly singular operator which does not factor through X p .
Disorder driven spectral features of lasing in an anderson localizing optical fiber

Spectral narrowing is reported in an Anderson localizing optical fiber laser when highly localized modes are pumped compared with the case where many modes including the less localized ones are excited.
MIS Single-position Lateral and Oblique Lateral Lumbar Interbody Fusion and Bilateral Pedicle Screw Fixation: Feasibility and Perioperative Results

Study Design.Retrospective review of prospectively collected data of the first 72 consecutive patients treated with single-position one- or two-level lateral (LLIF) or oblique lateral interbody fusion (OLLIF) with bilateral percutaneous pedicle screw and rod fixation by a single spine surgeon.Object
Case 89: Intraductal Tubulopapillary Neoplasm

An elderly man had a recent episode of acute pancreatitis. A pancreatic mass was seen during evaluation of the pancreatitis.
Geotribology - Friction, wear, and lubrication of faults

Abstract We introduce here the concept of Geotribology as an approach to study friction, wear, and lubrication of geological systems. Methods of geotribology are applied here to characterize the friction and wear associated with slip along experimental faults composed of brittle rocks. The wear in these faults is dominated by brittle fracturing, plucking, scratching and fragmentation at asperities of all scales, including ‘effective asperities’ that develop and evolve during the slip. We derived a theoretical model for the rate of wear based on the observation that the dynamic strength of brittle materials is proportional to the product of load stress and loading period. In a slipping fault, the loading period of an asperity is inversely proportional to the slip velocity, and our derivations indicate that the wear-rate is proportional to the ratio of [shear-stress/slip-velocity]. By incorporating the rock hardness data into the model, we demonstrate that a single, universal function fits wear data of hundreds of experiments with granitic, carbonate and sandstone faults. In the next step, we demonstrate that the dynamic frictional strength of experimental faults is well explained in terms of the tribological parameter PV factor (= normal-stress · slip-velocity). This factor successfully delineates weakening and strengthening regimes of carbonate and granitic faults. Finally, our analysis revealed a puzzling observation that wear-rate and frictional strength have strikingly different dependencies on the loading conditions of normal-stress and slip-velocity; we discuss sources for this difference. We found that utilization of tribological tools in fault slip analyses leads to effective and insightful results.
Multifunctional Bioreactor System for Human Intestine Tissues.

The three-dimensional (3D) cultivation of intestinal cells and tissues in dynamic bioreactor systems to represent in vivo intestinal microenvironments is essential for developing regenerative medicine treatments for intestinal diseases. We have previously developed in vitro human intestinal tissue systems using a 3D porous silk scaffold system with intestinal architectures and topographical features for the adhesion, growth, and differentiation of intestinal cells under static culture conditions. In this study, we designed and fabricated a multifunctional bioreactor system that incorporates pre-epithelialized 3D silk scaffolds in a dynamic culture environment for in vitro engineering of human intestine tissues. The bioreactor system allows for control of oxygen levels in perfusion fluids (aerobic simulated intestinal fluid (SIF), microaerobic SIF, and anaerobic SIF), while ensuring control over the mechanical and chemical microenvironments present in native human intestines. The bioreactor system also ena...
Characterizing Time Series Data Diversity for Wind Forecasting

Wind forecasting plays an important role in integrating variable and uncertain wind power into the power grid. Various forecasting models have been developed to improve the forecasting accuracy. However, it is challenging to accurately compare the true forecasting performances from different methods and forecasters due to the lack of diversity in forecasting test datasets. This paper proposes a time series characteristic analysis approach to visualize and quantify wind time series diversity. The developed method first calculates six time series characteristic indices from various perspectives. Then the principal component analysis is performed to reduce the data dimension while preserving the important information. The diversity of the time series dataset is visualized by the geometric distribution of the newly constructed principal component space. The volume of the 3-dimensional (3D) convex polytope (or the length of 1D number axis, or the area of the 2D convex polygon) is used to quantify the time series data diversity. The method is tested with five datasets with various degrees of diversity.
Properties of Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells Grown in 3-Dimensional Collagen Lattices

Several years ago, Weinberg and Bell (1, 2) demonstrated the feasibility of developing models of the vascular wall in which smooth muscle cells (SM) were embedded within a 3-dimensional collagen lattice and the lattice then overlaid with a layer of endothelial cells (EC). They went on to form a model containing adventitial cells surrounding a tubular composite lattice and showed that under these conditions, the cells maintained certain of their phenotypic properties. Since that time, it has become evident that the composition of the extracellular environment may have important effects upon the properties of cells and that cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions are of vital importance in the physiology of most tissues (3, 4).
Alternative Mechanisms of Protein Release

This chapter reviews recent results concerning alternative strategies that Helicobacter pylori strains employ to introduce proteins into the environment. The chapter is divided into three sections. The first section describes the cellular machinery comprising the type IV secretion system of H. pylori. The second section discusses evidence that H. pylori undergoes autolysis as a mechanism for releasing cytoplasmic proteins directly into the extracellular environment. The third section reviews recent data supporting the theory that cellular envelope proteins are released from H. pylori via the formation of outer membrane vesicles, which appear to have the ability to be taken up into mammalian cells. The chapter focuses on the cag genes linked to the H. pylori type IV secretion apparatus. On the basis of biochemical and genetic studies of the A. tumefaciens secretion apparatus, the locations of the six H. pylori Cag proteins are predicted via analogy to their Vir homologs to be either part of the mating channel, or, alternatively, one of the putative ATPases. The presence of cytoplasmic proteins on the surface of the H. pylori outer membrane both in vitro and in vivo is consistent with a mechanism of bacterial autolysis. In addition, the dependence of cytoplasmic protein release on the phase of bacterial growth in vitro suggests that the autolysis process is regulated. Bacterial autolysis probably involves mechanisms of peptidoglycan degradation to release cytoplasmic contents into the extracellular medium, which can then be strategically relocalized onto the outer membrane of other bacteria.
A Perspective on Advanced Strategies for Process Control (Revisited)

This paper provides a personal perspective on the current status of advanced process control. First, process control strategies are classified according to the extent to which they have been applied in industry. Then important new developments in information technology and plant automation are summarized. Prominent advanced process control methods are critiqued with emphasis placed on key issues and unresolved research problems. Finally, recent developments in an important related field, process monitoring, are reviewed.
Sleep and Circadian Rhythms in the Blind

In the majority of totally blind individuals, the biological clock is no longer synchronized, or entrained, by the light/dark cycle. Despite exposure to regular social cues, meal times and sleep/wake schedules, the circadian phase (timing) of biological events in these individuals continues to drift to a progressively later (or, rarely, earlier) hour. As a result, these individuals suffer from periodic bouts of nighttime insomnia and daytime hypersomnolence, as the circadian sleep propensity rhythm moves in and out of synchrony with the 24-hour day. Recently, oral melatonin has been shown to be highly effective in resetting the biological clock in these individuals.1 Although several treatment parameters continue to be determined, melatonin is likely to prove a safe and effective treatment for this type of sleep disorder
Recirculation of human-derived nutrients from cities to agriculture across six continents

Recovering human-derived nutrients can advance circular economies by linking increasingly urban global populations with local cropland, offsetting unsustainable fertilizer use and improving access in low-income countries. For 56 of the world’s largest cities, we analyse co-location of urban nutrients with surrounding agricultural needs (that is, the degree to which recoverable nutrients spatially align with crop demands), defining paths forward to close urban nutrient cycles. Estimated nutrient transport distances, which may constrain what recovery strategies are locally feasible, span two orders of magnitude and are often shorter among European, African and Asian cities due to high local cropland density. We further examine how growing nutrient-intensive crops and recovering highly concentrated nutrient products could impact distance and energy requirements. Broadly, locations with high cropland density, nutrient-intensive crops and compact urban area may find agricultural nutrient reuse particularly impactful and achievable, creating opportunities to boost productivity by coupling urban water and regional agriculture systems. Most nutrients in human excreta, if recovered, could offset substantial quantities of synthetic fertilizer use globally and advance food security goals by enhancing circular economies. This study analyses co-location of urban nutrients with nearby agricultural needs in 56 of the world’s largest cities and finds that in locations with high cropland density, nutrient-intensive crops and compact urban area, it would be possible and convenient to reuse human-derived nutrients in agriculture.
Trajectory optimized NUFFT: Faster non-Cartesian MRI reconstruction through prior knowledge and parallel architectures

Purpose The non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) involves interpolation of non-uniformly sampled Fourier data onto a Cartesian grid, an interpolation that is slowed by complex, non-local data access patterns. A faster NUFFT would increase the clinical relevance of the plethora of advanced non-Cartesian acquisition methods. Methods Here we customize the NUFFT procedure for a radial trajectory and GPU architecture to eliminate the bottlenecks encountered when allowing for arbitrary trajectories and hardware. We call the result TRON, for TRajectory Optimized NUFFT. We benchmark the speed and accuracy TRON on a Shepp-Logan phantom and on whole-body continuous golden-angle radial MRI. Results TRON was 6-30× faster than the closest competitor, depending on test data set, and was the most accurate code tested. Conclusions Specialization of the NUFFT algorithm for a particular trajectory yielded significant speed gains. TRON can be easily extended to other trajectories, such as spiral and PROPELLER. TRON can be downloaded at http://github.com/davidssmith/TRON.
231) Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Prefrontal Cortex Modulates both Pain and Nociceptive Flexion Reflex (NFR) Activity

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a form of noninvasive brain stimulation that can either enhance (via anodal stimulation) or depress (via cathodal stimulation) neural excitability in focal areas of the cortex through application of a low-intensity direct current. Although prior studies indicate that cortical application of tDCS is associated with modulation of experimental pain, the present study provides the first test of the simultaneous effect of tDCS on both pain ratings and modulation of nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR). Thirty-two healthy participants (15 female) completed three days of NFR testing, each separated by at least one week. On each testing day, participants received 15 minutes of either anodal, cathodal, or sham tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (order counterbalanced across participants). Active stimulation was delivered at 2mA. tDCS was immediately followed by 24 discrete noxious electrical stimuli delivered over the sural nerve, immediately posterior to the ankle, to elicit NFR. NFR was evoked concurrently with presentation of pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral images. Following each stimulation participants rated pain intensity using a 0-100 rating scale. Mixed linear modeling was used to analyze tDCS effects on pain and NFR magnitude while controlling for image content and within-session habituation. Results indicated that tDCS had a significant effect on both pain, F(2, 2169) = 4.37, p = .01, and NFR, F(2, 2169) = 36.39, p
Quantification of Language Abilities in Children

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the approaches for quantification of language abilities in children. There is, at present, a widely felt need for a standard approach to the assessment of language abilities in children. Although clinical judgment and review of intelligence test data and of the child's communicative skill provide important insights, there is no substitute for language measures per se. A variety of language tests have been developed for the purposes of measuring receptive and expressive language functioning, or some combination of the two, in children of 4 to 8 or 9 years. Some of these texts are styled as screening tests only; others are more exhaustive and are used interchangeably to identify language impairment in children and/or to design intervention programs for the children who are so identified. The same tests are sometimes used to design intervention and to assess its effectiveness, with the unfortunate result that children have sometimes been taught to take language tests, not to understand or to use language
The Inequality of Mundane Environmental Change: Assessing the Impacts of Socioeconomic Status and Race on Neighborhood Land Development, 2001-2011

Theoretical frameworks in environmental inequality suggest that affluent, white, and educated communities have a greater ability to control local environmental change. With a focus on neighborhood-...
Analysis of the Spring-Fall Epipelagic Ichthyoplankton Community in the Northern California Current in 2004-2009 and its Relation to Environmental Factors

This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Scripps Institution of Oceanography and can be found at: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/locations/sio/services/sio-publications.html.
Challenges in translating mortality risk to the point of care.

Despite advances in medicine, prognostication remains inaccurate for many patients. Physicians tend to overestimate survival, even in advanced cancer and terminal illness groups.1–3 Over half of terminally ill patients express they do not want prolonging of life if their quality of life would decline.4 End-of-life interventions such as advanced care planning have shown improved adherence to patient’s wishes, improvement in satisfaction and reductions in stress, anxiety and depression,5 but clinicians remain reluctant to initiate end-of-life discussions with terminal patients if they are currently asymptomatic.6 Automated systems can complement clinician judgement to prompt earlier end-of-life discussions. To this end, predictive analytics is potentially impactful. Many different approaches have been used to estimate mortality risk using factors including severity of illness,7 healthcare utilisation8 or comorbidities.9 However, few works focus on palliative or end-of-life care (PEOLC), and even fewer have translated beyond model validation into prospective testing ultimately affecting clinical care. Instead, PEOLC remains reliant on clinical staff, despite their optimism, for initiation and prioritisation. The paper by Wegier and colleagues10 in this issue introduces a new 1-year mortality score—modified Hospitalised-patient One-year Mortality Risk (mHOMR)—designed for broad application at the time of admission. They incorporate mHOMR into two electronic health records (EHRs) to automatically identify patients who may benefit from palliative assessment. Of concern, there is evidence of patient distributional shift at the one site that showed improvement with the intervention. The authors conclude there was an increase in patients who receive palliative care consultations or goals-of-care discussions. However, the preintervention group appears much healthier, with a 3% in-hospital mortality, compared with the postintervention group (16%). Relatedly, a concomitant shift in patient mix to fewer frail patients is reported (68/100 to 43/97, p=0.001; Pearson’s χ2 test with Yates’ continuity correction). It is possible, therefore, …
Teaching for Change: Identities and the Work of Educators of Elementary Children:

While extant work demonstrates the impact of teacher and student identities on student achievement, less attention has been directed to how educators situate themselves with their identities and th...
Anastomotic Devices for Coronary Artery Surgery

The cornerstone of coronary artery bypass surgery undoubtedly remains a perfectly constructed anastomosis, whether it be for graft inflow, such as that between the aorta and a bypass conduit, or for distal perfusion, namely a graft touching down on a target vessel. Multiple studies have demonstrated the long-term efficacy of coronary surgery in alleviating angina syndromes, in enhancing left ventricular function, and, consequently, in improving survival in select patients. Nevertheless, coronary surgeons need to continually strive to do better; the perfect anastomosis is, in and of itself, now no longer enough. With drug-eluting coronary stents and transcatheter therapies rapidly continuing to improve, those patients who require surgery demand more minimally-invasive procedures, through ever-smaller incisions, with more durable grafts, associated with superior long-term patency, and they will not accept the small, but finite risk of stroke that has traditionally been associated with coronary grafting. Anastomotic devices are uniquely suited to fill this niche. They afford the coronary surgeon the opportunity to evolve their technique without compromising on quality. They can eliminate inter and intra-surgeon variability in technical proficiency ensuring rapid construction of reliable, reproducible, and compliant anastomoses, often in difficult-to-access areas, while concomitantly reducing the risk of perioperative neurological injury. The majority of anastomotic devices that have been introduced into the market over the past two decades or so are no longer in use. However, there are still a few that are readily available, with substantial clinical evidence supporting their efficacy.
The Effects of Filtering on High Frequency Oscillation Classification

High frequency oscillations (HFOs) have been used for seizure prediction and are promising biomarkers of epileptogenesis. However, detecting HFOs is time consuming and subjective, prompting research into automated detection and classification pipelines. We aim to understand how different EEG filtering methods impact these pipelines and harmonize detections from the same data when preprocessed differently. We preprocessed EEG with two different filters and then detected events with the short time energy (STE) detector and compared common detections. We applied t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) to the datasets and compared embeddings then investigated if shifting commonly detected events prior to t-SNE helped standardize embeddings. The finite impulse response (FIR) and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters achieved a Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of 0.8962 after shifting, reflecting a high level of agreement. The t-SNE embeddings were similar only when data were shifted prior to embedding. Feasible solutions to this shifting problem are addressed.
The Implications of Accounting Distortions and Growth for Accruals and Profitability

Following Sloan (1996), numerous studies document that the accrual component of earnings is less persistent than the cash flow component of earnings. Disagreement exists, however, as to the explanation for this result. One stream of literature follows Sloan's lead in arguing that this result is attributable to accounting distortions (Xie 2001; Dechow and Dichev 2002; Richardson et al. 2005). A second stream of literature argues that this result is attributable to a more general growth effect and that growth‐related factors such as diminishing returns to new investment explain the lower persistence of accruals (e.g., Fairfield et al. 2003a; Cooper et al. 2005). We provide new evidence indicating that temporary accounting distortions are a significant contributing factor to the lower persistence of the accrual component of earnings. Our evidence indicates that the lower persistence of accruals extends to accruals that are unrelated to sales growth and that extreme accruals are systematically associated with...
LISP program-size complexity III

We present a ''parenthesis-free'' dialect of LISP, in which (a) each primitive function has a fixed number of arguments, and (b) the parentheses associating a primitive function with its arguments are implicit and are omitted. The parenthesis-free complexity of an S-expression e is defined to be the minimum size in characters |p| of a parenthesis-free LISP expression p that has the value e. We develop a theory of program-size complexity for parenthesis-free LISP by showing (a) that the maximum possible parenthesis-free complexity of an n-bit string is ~ @bn, and (b) how to construct three parenthesis-free LISP halting probabilities @W"p"f, @W'"p"f and @W''"p"f.
Examining depression scores as predictors and moderators of treatment outcomes in patients with binge-eating disorder

Objective A substantial proportion of patients with binge-eating disorder (BED) do not derive sufficient benefits from available evidence-based psychological interventions. We examined depression scores as predictors and moderators of response to cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral weight-loss (BWL) for BED. We explored associations between changes in depression scores and changes in treatment outcomes. Method Ninety adults with BED with obesity were randomized to CBT or BWL (6 months) and were evaluated independently throughout treatment, at posttreatment, and 12-month follow-up after treatments (18 months post-randomization). Pre-treatment depression scores, early changes in depression, and changes in depression from pre- to post-treatment were tested as predictors/moderators of outcomes (binge-eating frequency and eating-disorder psychopathology). Results Baseline depression scores did not predict nor moderate outcomes at post-treatment or 12-month follow-up. Changes in depression scores (both early and throughout treatment) were not associated significantly with changes in binge-eating frequency or eating-disorder psychopathology at post-treatment or 12-month follow-up. Discussion Findings suggest depression scores do not predict nor moderate acute- or longer-term outcomes in patients with BED receiving CBT or BWL. Findings reinforce need to improve treatments for BED overall, although they provide confidence that patients with elevated depression scores derive benefits from existing CBT and BWL interventions.
Complex Design of Metasurfaces

We present an inverse design framework for metasurfaces, that finds optimal design parameters by balancing constraints from arbitrary scalar-and-differentiable functions of the vector field, which are evaluated at any set of points in the far-field.
Group Summary: Simulations II

Simulation II is the second group that is related to the numerical simulation of transition-related physics. Emphasis was placed on a combination of direct numerical simulation (DNS) and large-eddy simulation (LES) of transition flows.
A Cluster Overlap Measure for Comparison of Activations in fMRI Studies

Most fMRI studies use voxel-wise statistics to carry out intra-subject as well as inter-subject analysis. We show that statistics derived from voxel-wise comparisons are likely to be noisy and error prone, especially for inter-subject comparisons. In this paper we propose a novel metric called weighted cluster coverage to compare two activation maps. This metric is based on the intersection of spatially contiguous clusters of activations. It is found to be more robust than voxel-wise comparisons and could potentially lead to more statistical power in fMRI-based group studies.
Artur Pavlovich Tolstiakov (1938–2014): Mentor and Friend

The author mourns the death of his mentor and friend Artur Pavlovich Tolstiakov, eminent Russian book studies and literature scholar, and reminisces about his encounters with him.
A Qualitative Assessment of Diversion Scenarios for an Example Sodium Fast Reactor Using the Generation IV PR&PP Methodology

FAST REACTORS;NUCLEAR ENERGY;NUCLEAR MATERIALS MANAGEMENT;PROLIFERATION;SAFEGUARDS;THEFT; A working group was created in 2002 by the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) for the purpose of developing an internationally accepted methodology for assessing the Proliferation Resistance of a nuclear energy system (NES) and its individual elements. A two year case study is being performed by the experts group using this methodology to assess the proliferation resistance of a hypothetical NES called the Example Sodium Fast Reactor (ESFR). This work demonstrates how the PR and PP methodology can be used to provide important information at various levels of details to NES designers, safeguard administrators and decision makers. The study analyzes the response of the complete ESFR nuclear energy system to different proliferation and theft strategies. The challenges considered include concealed diversion, concealed misuse and 'break out' strategies. This paper describes the work done in performing a qualitative assessment of concealed diversion scenarios from the ESFR.
Bar-Gain Boxes: An Informative Illustration of the Pairing Problem

A practical problem in command and control is to assign assets (e.g., bomber planes) to targets (e.g., hostile sites), one-on-one, in order to optimize an overall operation. The asset-target pairing must be completed quickly (before targets act), and the expected effectiveness of an asset against a target depends on a number of factual and judgmental factors. Here I present a diagram called ”Bar-Gain Boxes” designed to help people solve the problem. The diagram uses a matrix of boxes to illustrate the possible pairings, along with color-coded bars (in each box) to illustrate the gain associated with each individual asset-target pair. The diagram is informative because it displays algorithmic results and underlying reasons, for normative and alternative solutions.
Architecture and performance of Java-based distributed object models: CORBA vs RMI

This paper presents a comprehensive comparison of the architectural differences and similarities of the two most popular Java-based distributed object models: RMI and CORBA. Performance and timing issues related to the CORBA and RMI architectures are also considered. The following aspects are studied for client server applications, on Sun UltraSparcs under Solaris 2.5.1 and Pentium II under Windows NT 4.0: response time for method invocation without parameters as well as with variable number of parameters; response time for applet clients, and response time for variable number of clients requesting the same service. The goal is to provide a reference framework that supports the selection of either mechanism for the development of web-based distributed real-time applications: chat programs, interactive games, shared boards, etc.
Platelet Function in a Patient with Thrombasthenia

The platelets of a patient with congenital thrombasthenia were not aggregated by ADP, thrombin, connective tissue particles, Polybrene, or phospholipase C, and did not adhere to glass as measured either on a glass slide or by retention in a glass-bead column. Clot retraction was markedly diminished. Raising the magnesium level partially corrected clot retraction but did not restore ADP-induced clumping. The platelets were less able to promote prothrombin consumption. Fibrinogen concentration in the supernatant of frozen and thawed platelets was low, but surface fibrinogen appeared to be normal. The thrombasthenic platelets were normal in the following respects: concentration of ATP and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase; adhesion to connective tissue fibers; aggregation by antiplatelet serum; microelectrophoretic mobility; isoelectric point; disc shape of platelets at 37 C.; ability of platelets to change shape with ADP or cold; decrease in ATP concentration and auramine staining of granules by thrombin; release of serotonin, ADP, and other materials absorbing at 260 mµ. by thrombin or connective tissue particles; liberation of acid phosphatase during blood clotting; and platelet Factor 5 activity. It is concluded that responses of thrombasthenic platelets to thrombin and connective tissue particles are normal except that the liberated ADP fails to cause aggregation. The first stage of the reaction to ADP, transformation from disc to spiny sphere, is normal. Still to be determined at the molecular level is the cause(s) of failure of clot retraction and ADP-induced aggregation and the relationship of these defects to the low fibrinogen concentration of platelet extracts.
HI gas in galaxies from z = 0 to z = 0.2

Probing the evolution of galaxies through the neutral hydrogen window has until recently been limited to studies of environmentally driven evolution in the local universe. Detailed imaging studies of galaxies in Virgo and volume limited surveys of clusters out to z = 0.08 show that ram pressure stripping is one of the mechanisms that drives galaxy evolution even at considerable distances from the dense cluster cores. Hydrodynamical simulations show that indeed the effects of the ICM are felt out to the virial radius due to the complex structure of the ICM. Westerbork and Arecibo have begun to observe galaxies at cosmologically interesting distances (z = 0.2). Soon the EVLA will be able to make a complete census of all H I emission in cones of 40′×40′ probing an instantaneous velocity range from z = 0 to 0.53, with a resolution of a few arcsec. If prime focus feeds were to be installed at the EVLA those studies could easily be extended out to z = 1 in the coming decade, making the EVLA a prime pathfinder f...
TeV lepton number violation: From neutrinoless double- β decay to the LHC

We analyze the sensitivity of next-generation tonne-scale neutrinoless double-β decay (0νββ) experiments and searches for same-sign di-electrons plus jets at the Large Hadron Collider to TeV scale lepton number violating interactions. Taking into account previously unaccounted for physics and detector backgrounds at the LHC, renormalization group evolution, and long-range contributions to 0νββ nuclear matrix elements, we find that the reach of tonne-scale 0νββ generally exceeds that of the LHC for a class of simplified models. However, for a range of heavy particle masses near the TeV scale, the high luminosity LHC and tonne-scale 0νββ may provide complementary probes.
Effects of a transposable element insertion on alcohol dehydrogenase expression in Drosophila melanogaster.

Variation in the DNA sequence and level of alcohol dehydrogenase (Adh) gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster have been studied to determine what types of DNA polymorphisms contribute to phenotypic variation in natural populations. The Adh gene, like many others, shows a high level of variability in both DNA sequence and quantitative level of expression. A number of transposable element insertions occur in the Adh region and one of these, a copia insertion in the 5' flanking region, is associated with unusually low Adh expression. To determine whether this insertion (called RI42) causes the low expression level, the insertion was excised from the cloned RI42 Adh gene and the effect was assessed by P-element transformation. Removal of this insertion causes a threefold increase in the level of ADH, clearly showing that it contributes to the naturally occurring variation in expression at this locus. Removal of all but one LTR also causes a threefold increase, indicating that the mechanism is not a simple sequence disruption. Furthermore, this copia insertion, which is located between the two Adh promoters and their upstream enhancer sequences, has differential effects on the levels of proximal and distal transcripts. Finally, a test for the possible modifying effects of two suppressor loci, su(w(a)) and su(f), on this insertional mutation was negative, in contrast to a previous report in the literature.
The effects of simulated distance on recognition of same race and other race faces

ABSTRACTThe own race bias (ORB) refers to a finding that faces of members of one's own racial or ethnic group are easier to recognize. Holistic processing theories suggest that the ORB might be moderated by viewing distance. Participants studied photographs of own and other race individuals and then took a recognition memory test. Viewing distance was simulated by varying the degree to which photographs were blurred (Experiment 1) and by varying photograph size (Experiment 2). Findings indicated that own race faces were better recognized, that recognition was impaired by simulated viewing distance, but the size of the ORB was not contingent upon distance.
Distal-less is a downstream gene of Deformed required for ventral maxillary identity

The homeotic selector (HOM) proteins are required for the diversification of the anterior-posterior axis of the Drosophila body plan, assigning unique identities to regional domains of cells comprising one or a few parasegments or segments. The HOM proteins apparently accomplish this task by the transcriptional regulation of numerous downstream genes. At present few downstream genes are known, so models of how downstream genes mediate HOM functions are based more on intuition than information. Our results indicate that Distal-less is a downstream gene of the HOM gene Deformed, and Distal-less function is required for the elaboration of a subset of the maxillary epidermal identities specified by Deformed. The regulatory effect of Deformed on Distal-less is mediated by a ventral maxillary-specific enhancer located 3' of the Distal-less transcription unit. We propose that Deformed and Distal-less, both of which encode homeodomain transcription factors that are persistently expressed in ventral maxillary cells, combinatorially specify a subsegmental code required for a group of cells to differentiate maxillary cirri.
Three-dimensional self-potential inversion for subsurface DNAPL contaminant detection at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina

[1] Self-potential (SP) data are collected over an area of approximately 250 m2 at the Department of Energy Savannah River Site where there is known subsurface dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) contamination. Nonpolarizing electrodes are used to measure the SP signal on a two-dimensional (2-D) surface grid with 2-m spacing in both horizontal directions, and four borehole arrays with 3.7-m electrode spacing and 25.6-m total depth. The primary contaminants, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), are known to undergo redox reactions in the environment. Variations in the subsurface redox conditions are proposed as an electrochemical source for the SP signals measured in this investigation. A 3-D self-potential inversion algorithm is used to find an electrical current source model, taking into account the resistivity structure derived from a 3-D spectral induced polarization survey at the same field location. The sources and sinks of electrical current can be related to the zones of relative high or low redox potential and are therefore interpreted in the context of contaminated areas. These results are reasonably correlated with DNAPL concentration data obtained from several ground-truth well measurements, indicating that the SP sources can be an indicator of contaminated areas where electrochemical source mechanisms are active. In several cases, however, the SP sources and contaminant concentrations are not correlated, reflecting the spatial variability of biogeochemical parameters in the Earth that control the SP response in addition to concentration. More extensive geochemical ground-truth information is therefore needed to validate the self-potential source inversion methodology and develop it as a predictive tool in the context of contaminated sites.
Amino acids and serotonin are released into the lumbar spinal cord of the anesthetized cat following intradermal capsaicin injections

Abstract Several amino acids including aspartate, glutamate adn glycine and the monoamine serotonin were retrieved from the extracellular space of the dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord in the α-chloralose anesthetized cat in vivo using a transverse microdialysis probe. Neurotransmitter concentrations were determined using high pressure liquid chromatography in combination with fluorescence (amino acid) or electrochemical (serotonin) detection. Intradermal injection of 3% capsaicin into the hindleg either ipsilateral or contralateral to the dialysis probe was used to evoke release. Extracellular concentrations of aspartate, glutamate and serotonin increased significantly following capsaicin injection into the ipsilateral limb. An almost equal increase in serotonin and a less pronounced, but still significant, increase in aspartate accompanied contralateral capsaicin injection. Glutamate concentrations increased in the dialysate during contralatral capsaicin injection in about half of the animals. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that Asp and Glu areboth neurotransmitters released from nociceptive primary afferent fibers and/or interneurons activated by these fibers. In addition, Asp is pressumed to be released from intrinsic spinal or descending systems following nociceptive stimulation. Bilateral release of 5HT into the dorsalhorn most likely results from non-topographic activation of descending endogenous analgesia pathways.
Villages: an on-sky visible wavelength astronomy AO experiment using a MEMS deformable mirror

ABSTRACT The MEMS-AO/Villages project consists of a series of on-sky experiments that will demonstrate key new technologies for the next generation of adaptive optics systems for large telescopes. One of our first goals is to demonstrate the use of a micro-electro-mechanical system s (MEMS) deformable mirror as the wavefront correcting element. The system is mounted the 1-meter Nickel Telescope at the UCO/Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton. It uses a 140 element (10 subapertures across) MEMS deformable mirror and is designed to produce diffraction-limited images at wavelengths from 0.5 to 1.0 microns. The system had first light on the telescope in October 2007. Here we report on the results of initial on-sky tests. Keywords: Astronomical Adaptive Optics, Deformable Mirrors, Atmospheric Wavefront Control 1. INTRODUCTION The Lick Observatory has constructed an experimental visible light adaptive optics system for use on the 1 meter Nickel telescope at Mount Hamilton with the purpose of demonstrating MEMS deformable mirrors as well as several other new AO technology concepts in an observatory environment. The MEMS-AO/Visible Light Laser Guidestar Experiments (Villages) project has two goals in its first phase: 1) demonstrating that a MEMS deformable mirror can correct stellar images to the diffraction limit in a closed loop AO system, 2) demonstrating that a MEMS can be used reliably in an open-loop, or go-to control on-sky. We have achieved goal 1 during this past years first-light experiments (October and November 2007) and we expect to achieve goal 2 this spring as a follow on to successful laboratory tests reported in a companion paper
The combined-jamming model for IEEE 802.11 FH/MFSK networks

In this paper, the expressions for calculating the bit error rate (BER) performance of noncoherent frequency-hopped M-ary frequency-shift-keying (NC-FH/MFSK) receiver, subjected to independent multitone jamming (IMTJ) and partial-band jamming (PBJ), are derived. We observe that the the jamming tones in IMTJ strategy are, in fact, equivalent to the cochannel interferences in the network of IEEE 802.11 NC-FH/MFSK devices. Also, the major source of interference from outside of such network (coexisting network interference) is the IEEE 802.11 a/b/g devices whose signal is very similar to that of the jammer in PBJ strategy. Therefore, we combine the expressions for IMTJ and PBJ together and create a new combined-jamming formula for determining the link performance in IEEE 802.11 NC-FH/MFSK networks. As an example, we also illustrate the application of the new formula on the channel assignment (CA) problem in multiradio NC-FH/MFSK wireless mesh networks. Because the combined-jamming formula can take into account both the cochannel interference and the outside interference, it can predict fairly accurate BERs for determining appropriate channels in the network. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.