cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Therapeutic potential of curcumin in human prostate cancer. III. Curcumin inhibits proliferation, induces apoptosis, and inhibits angiogenesis of LNCaP prostate cancer cells in vivo.

BACKGROUND Earlier work from our laboratory highlighted the therapeutic potential of curcumin (turmeric), used as a dietary ingredient and as a natural anti-inflammatory agent in India and other Southeast Asian countries. This agent was shown to decrease the proliferative potential and induce the apoptosis potential of both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent prostate cancer cells in vitro, largely by modulating the apoptosis suppressor proteins and by interfering with the growth factor receptor signaling pathways as exemplified by the EGF-receptor. To extend these observations made in vitro and to study the efficacy of this potential anti-cancer agent in vivo, the growth of LNCaP cells as heterotopically implanted tumors in nude mice was followed. METHODS The androgen-dependent LNCaP prostate cancer cells were grown, mixed with Matrigel and injected subcutaneously into nude mice. Experimental group received a synthetic diet containing 2% curcumin for up to 6 weeks. At the end point, sections taken from the excised tumors were evaluated for pathology, cell proliferation, apoptosis, and vascularity. RESULTS Curcumin causes a marked decrease in the extent of cell proliferation as measured by the BrdU incorporation assay and a significant increase in the extent of apoptosis as measured by an in situ cell death assay. Moreover, a significant decrease in the microvessel density as measured by the CD31 antigen staining was also seen. CONCLUSIONS Curcumin could be a potentially therapeutic anti-cancer agent, as it significantly inhibits prostate cancer growth, as exemplified by LNCaP in vivo, and has the potential to prevent the progression of this cancer to its hormone refractory state. Prostate 47:293–303, 2001. © 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Safety of Oral Vancomycin in Functionally Anephric Patients

Administration of a vancomycin oral solution, 2 g daily for 16 days, to functionally anephric patients without inflammatory bowel disease resulted in assayable but low (≤0.66 μg/ml) serum levels in two of the five volunteers.
Dynamically accelerating client-side web applications through decoupled execution

The emergence and wide adoption of web applications have moved the client-side component, often written in JavaScript, to the forefront of computing on the web. Web application developers try to move more computation to the client side to avoid unnecessary network traffic and make the applications more responsive. Therefore, JavaScript applications are becoming larger and more computation intensive. Trace-based just-in-time compilation have been proposed to address the performance bottleneck in these applications. In this paper, we exploit the extra processing power in multicore systems to further improve the performance of trace-based execution of JavaScript programs. In trace-based engines, a considerable portion of execution time is spent on running guards which are operations inserted in the native code to check if the properties assumed by the compiled code actually hold during execution. We introduce ParaGuard to off-load these guards to another thread, while speculatively executing the main trace. In a manner similar to what happens in current trace-based JITs, if a check fails, ParaGuard aborts the native trace execution and reverts back to interpreting the JavaScript bytecode. We also propose several optimizations including guard branch aggregation and profile-based snapshot elimination to further improve the performance of our technique. We show that ParaGuard can achieve an average of 15% performance improvement over current trace-based compilers using an extra processor on commodity multicore processors.
The effects of body mass and feeding on metabolic rate in small juvenile Atlantic cod

Apparent specific dynamic action (SDA) amplitude in young juvenile Atlantic cod Gadus morhua (1 to 8 g wet mass), fed a standardized meal and then exercised in a circular swimming respirometer at a constant swimming speed of 0·5 ± 0·3 body lengths s-1, occurred within l h after feeding in all juveniles. SDA amplitude were 1·4 to 1·8 times higher in fed fish compared to unfed fish, and rates of oxygen consumption decreased as body mass increased. SDA duration had a tendency to decrease with increasing body mass and was shortest, at 6 h, in the smallest fish (1–1·5 g), but increased to 10–11 h in the largest fish. Apparent SDA in fed fish (Rr) scaled with a mass exponent of 0·89, while maximum metabolic rate (Rmax) determined by chasing fish to exhaustion and then measuring oxygen consumption for 12 h, and unfed routine metabolic rate (Rr) scaled with a mass exponent of 0·79 and 0·76 respectively. Relative aerobic scope (Rmax– unfed Rr) did not appear to vary over the 1 to 8 g increase in wet mass. These results show that as body mass increased in young juvenile Atlantic cod: (1) apparent SDA (Rf) increased more rapidly than Rmax, and (2) apparent SDA took up >98% of the relative aerobic scope and that young Atlantic cod allocated most of the energy to growth, and left little for other metabolic activities.
Radical delivery and fragmentation for structural analysis of glycerophospholipids

Abstract Conventional tandem mass spectrometry relies on even-electron fragmentation that provides limited structural information for glycerophospholipids (GP), which are key constituents of all cell membranes. Different GP classes are chemically very similar and subtle variations in carbon-carbon bonding features and linkages can lead to numerous isomeric structures that are challenging to distinguish with traditional mass spectrometry. In this study, we demonstrate that the primary amine groups in many GP classes can be modified with either noncovalent attachment of crown ether derivatives containing an iodobenzoyl moiety, or by direct covalent attachment of the iodobenzoyl moiety. Radical lipids can be generated using these modifications via photoactivation of labile carbon-iodine bonds, providing rich information about headgroup and fatty acid chain structure. The method is demonstrated for lipid standards containing various carbon chain motifs and linkages, as well as phospholipids extracted from a soybean mixture. Numerous lipids were examined, including plasmalogen-, lyso-, diacyl- types of phospholipids containing mono-/poly- unsaturated fatty acid (FA) substituents, and branched-/nonbranched-FA chains. Interestingly, the presence of double bond and/or vinyl ether linkage leads to the formation of a signature fragment ion that facilitates rapid structural identification.
Robust and Efficient Simulation of Formation-Tester Measurements With a Rigorous Compositional Simulation Code

This paper describes the development, testing, and successful application of a new compositional code for the numerical simulation of oil-base mud invasion and formation tester measurements that involve arbitrary miscibility between oilbase mud and native oil. The simulator assumes axialsymmetric variations of petrophysical properties as well as axial-symmetric flow-rate sources and boundary conditions. However, there are no restricting assumptions to the degree of miscibility between the fluids involved in the simulations. We solve the time-space evolution of component concentration with a time-marching implicit pressure explicit concentration (IMPEC) scheme. This method of solution considers the complete equations of state and implements rigorous and efficient flash calculations to describe the thermo-dynamical evolution of the various compositional phases due to spacetime variations of pressure and concentration. Simulations described in this paper consider the process of oil-base mud-filtrate invasion into reservoirs containing mixtures of connate water and oil. Subsequently, we simulate formation tester measurements by enforcing fluid withdrawal through the dual-packer section of the tester. Measurements consist of fluid pressure, fractional flow rates, fluid density, and fluid viscosity. Examples of application include homogenous and multi-layer formations as well as a capillarytransition zone. Comparison of simulation results against those obtained with a commercial code confirms the efficiency, accuracy, and reliability of our simulator. Sensitivity analysis indicate that time evolution of fractional flow rates, fluid density, and fluid viscosity measured with the formation tester remain influenced by the petrophysical properties of the formation as well as by relative permeability and capillary pressure. The simulations described in this paper accurately predict the measurement times necessary for the acquisition of clean samples of native formation oil in the presence of invasion and heterogeneous spatial distributions of petrophysical and rock-fluid properties.
Physical Geology: Principles and Perspectives

Textbooks on physical geology have proliferated over the past 20 years or more, during which time most fields have undergone a subject matter explosion. The challenge of authoring such a textbook is to accurately summarize the most important factual and theoretical results and to present the material in a pedagogically attractive and meaningful manner. The authors mainly have met that challenge. Basically, I could teach the course quite happily using this book as the text. An attractive feature is that the authors have summarized those aspects o f the science with which I am most familar in a generally acceptable and interesting manner. This includes excellent line drawings and block diagrams calculated to be very helpful to the student. Those chapters dealing with areas of the authors' scientific expertise are understandably stronger and smoother than some others. A useful perspective for the beginning student and teacher is an explicit discussion of geology as a science with a comparison and contrast of methods and results in relation to other fields of science.
A putative role of micro RNA in regulation of cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase expression in human hepatocytes

Cholesterol 7α-hydroxylase (CYP7A1) plays a critical role in regulation of bile acid synthesis in the liver. CYP7A1 mRNAs have very short half-lives, and bile acids destabilize CYP7A1 mRNA via the 3′-untranslated region (3′-UTR). However, the underlying mechanism of translational regulation of CYP7A1 mRNA remains unknown. Screening of a human micro RNA (miRNA) microarray has identified five differentially expressed miRNAs in human primary hepatocytes treated with chenodeoxycholic acid, GW4064, or fibroblast growth factor (FGF)19. These compounds also significantly induced the expression of miR-122a, a liver-specific and the predominant miRNA in human hepatocytes. The putative recognition sequences for miR-122a and miR-422a were localized in the 3′-UTR of human CYP7A1 mRNA. The miR-122a and miR-422a mimics inhibited, whereas their inhibitors stimulated CYP7A1 mRNA expression. These miRNAs specifically inhibited the activity of the CYP7A1-3′-UTR reporter plasmids, and mutations of miRNA binding sites in 3′-UTR abrogated miRNA inhibition of reporter activity. These results suggest that miR-122a and miR-422a may destabilize CYP7A1 mRNA to inhibit CYP7A1 expression. However, these miRNAs did not play a role in mediating FGF19 inhibition of CYP7A1 transcription. Under certain conditions, miRNA may reduce CYP7A1 mRNA stability to inhibit bile acid synthesis, and the miR-122a antagomirs may stimulate bile acid synthesis to reduce serum cholesterol and triglycerides.
Identification in H ∞ using Pick's interpolation

Abstract The problem of system identification in H ∞ is studied using the Pick interpolation theorem. A tuned nonlinear interpolation algorithm is proposed and the resulting error bound in H ∞ norm is derived. An example is used to illustrate the use of the interpolation algorithm.
Role of the DNA Sensor STING in Protection from Lethal Infection following Corneal and Intracerebral Challenge with Herpes Simplex Virus 1

ABSTRACT STING is a protein in the cytosolic DNA and cyclic dinucleotide sensor pathway that is critical for the initiation of innate responses to infection by various pathogens. Consistent with this, herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) causes invariable and rapid lethality in STING-deficient (STING −/− ) mice following intravenous (i.v.) infection. In this study, using real-time bioluminescence imaging and virological assays, as expected, we demonstrated that STING −/− mice support greater replication and spread in ocular tissues and the nervous system. In contrast, they did not succumb to challenge via the corneal route even with high titers of a virus that was routinely lethal to STING −/− mice by the i.v. route. Corneally infected STING −/− mice also showed increased periocular disease and increased corneal and trigeminal ganglia titers, although there was no difference in brain titers. They also showed elevated expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and CXCL9 relative to control mice but surprisingly modest changes in type I interferon expression. Finally, we also showed that HSV strains lacking the ability to counter autophagy and the PKR-driven antiviral state had near-wild-type virulence following intracerebral infection of STING −/− mice. Together, these data show that while STING is an important component of host resistance to HSV in the cornea, its previously shown immutable role in mediating host survival by the i.v. route was not recapitulated following a mucosal infection route. Furthermore, our data are consistent with the idea that HSV counters STING-mediated induction of the antiviral state and autophagy response, both of which are critical factors for survival following direct infection of the nervous system. IMPORTANCE HSV infections represent an incurable source of morbidity and mortality in humans and are especially severe in neonatal and immunocompromised populations. A key step in the development of an immune response is the recognition of microbial components within infected cells. The host protein STING is important in this regard for the recognition of HSV DNA and the subsequent triggering of innate responses. STING was previously shown to be essential for protection against lethal challenge from intravenous HSV-1 infection. In this study, we show that the requirement for STING depends on the infection route. In addition, STING is important for appropriate regulation of the inflammatory response in the cornea, and our data are consistent with the idea that HSV modulates STING activity through inhibition of autophagy. Our results elucidate the importance of STING in host protection from HSV-1 and demonstrate the redundancy of host protective mechanisms, especially following mucosal infection.
The Duality Between the Perceptron Algorithm and the von Neumann Algorithm

The perceptron and the von Neumann algorithms were developed to solve linear feasibility problems. In this paper, we investigate and reveal the duality relationship between these two algorithms. The specific forms of linear feasibility problems solved by the perceptron and the von Neumann algorithms are a pair of alternative systems by the Farkas Lemma. A solution of one problem serves as an infeasibility certificate of its alternative system. Further, we adapt an Approximate Farkas Lemma to interpret the meaning of an approximate solution from its alternative perspective. The Approximate Farkas Lemma also enables us to derive bounds for the distance to feasibility or infeasibility from approximate solutions of the alternative systems. Based on these observations, we interpret variants of the perceptron algorithm as variants of the von Neumann algorithm and vice versa, as well as transit the complexity results from one family to the other.
Regional Economic Integration in Africa and Intra-Regional Trade

With resolute pursuit of regional economic integration, African countries should expect enormous benefits in the form of enhanced economic diversification within countries and increased intra-regional trade. The positive trade effects would work via the traditional mechanisms of comparative advantage, economies of scale, and gravity. Crucial to these positive effects are enabling economic policy environments within the countries, successes in designing and agreeing on beneficial trade policy reforms by all the countries of a region, well-functioning autonomous regional organizations, and payment settlement arrangements that are in line with modern exchange market systems.
GH response to intravenous clonidine challenge correlates with history of childhood trauma in personality disorder.

Abstract Background Childhood trauma is a risk factor for personality disorder. We have previously shown that childhood trauma is associated with increased central corticotrophin-releasing hormone concentration in adults with personality disorder. In the brain, the release of corticotrophin-releasing hormone can be stimulated by noradrenergic neuronal activity, raising the possibility that childhood trauma may affect the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis by altering brain noradrenergic function. In this study, we sought to test the hypothesis that childhood trauma is associated with blunted growth hormone response to the α-2 adrenergic autoreceptor agonist clonidine. Methods All subjects provided written informed consent. Twenty personality disordered and twenty healthy controls (without personality disorder or Axis I psychopathology) underwent challenge with clonidine, while plasma Growth Hormone (GH) concentration was monitored by intravenous catheter. On a different study session, subjects completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and underwent diagnostic interviews. Results Contrary to our a priori hypothesis, childhood trauma was associated with enhanced GH response to clonidine. This positive relationship was present in the group of 40 subjects and in the subgroup 20 personality disordered subjects, but was not detected in the healthy control subjects when analyzed separately. The presence of personality disorder was unrelated to the magnitude of GH response. Discussion Childhood trauma is positively correlated with GH response to clonidine challenge in adults with personality disorder. Enhanced rather that blunted GH response differentiates childhood trauma from previously identified negative predictors of GH response, such as anxiety or mood disorder.
Microengineering Approach for Directing Embryonic Stem Cell Differentiation

The microenvironment plays an integral role in directing the differentiation of stem cells. The ability to control and manipulate systems on the microscale can be used to control the cellular microenvironment to direct stem cell behavior. For stem cells, this control greatly improves our ability to study cell–microenvironment interactions in a rapid and precise manner to regulate stem cell behaviors such as differentiation and proliferation. Combining microscale technologies with high throughput techniques could also greatly increase the possibility for probing the multivariable complexity of biological systems. In this chapter, microengineering approaches to control the cellular microenvironment and to influence embryonic stem cell (ESC) self-renewal and differentiation are introduced and specific examples of the use of microfabrication technologies for directing ESC fate decisions are discussed.
Rapid distortion analysis of high speed homogeneous turbulence subject to periodic shear

The effect of unsteady shear forcing on small perturbation growth in compressible flow is investigated. In particular, flow-thermodynamic field interaction and the resulting effect on the phase-lag between applied shear and Reynolds stress are examined. Simplified linear analysis of the perturbation pressure equation reveals crucial differences between steady and unsteady shear effects. The analytical findings are validated with numerical simulations of inviscid rapid distortion theory (RDT) equations. In contrast to steadily sheared compressible flows, perturbations in the unsteady (periodic) forcing case do not experience an asymptotic growth phase. Further, the resonance growth phenomenon found in incompressible unsteady shear turbulence is absent in the compressible case. Overall, the stabilizing influence of both unsteadiness and compressibility is compounded leading to suppression of all small perturbations. The underlying mechanisms are explained.
Polymer nanocomposites in medicine

AbstractA large number of recent studies deal with the application of nano materials to different medicine areas, application that led to a new discipline known as nanomedicine. It comprises the processes of diagnosing, treating, curing, preventing diseases and also dealing with traumatic injury, relieving pain and preserving/improving human health by using nano materials. Among nano materials, an important place belongs to the group of natural and synthetic polymer nanocomposites. These are made up of an organic polymer matrix and a mineral, organic or metallic nanofiller. The properties of polymer nanocomposites depend on the characteristics of the components and on the interaction polymer-nanofiller. Polymer nanocomposites offer to modern medicine new opportunities for generate products for antibacterial treatment, tissues engineering, cancer therapy, medical imaging, dental applications, drug delivery, etc.
"Because if We Don't Talk about It, How Are We Going to Prevent It?": "Lucidity," a Narrative-Based Digital Game about Sexual Violence

AbstractThis paper describes the development and evaluation of an interactive, narrative-based, multimedia game to promote learning and communication about sexual violence and health topics. High school-aged participants created the game concept in a three-week workshop, after which assets were assembled and refined by a university-based game design lab. The outcome, Lucidity, was a multimedia game with a nonlinear narrative that led to two different outcomes based on player decisions. The narrative followed the life of one character, an African American woman named Zaria who remembers and grapples with a sexual assault from her past. The player discovers parts of the story by reading comics, watching videos, navigating interactive websites and playing short videogames. The final evaluation consisted of gameplay, a post-game focus group and follow-up interviews. Twenty-four young people participated in three focus group discussions (n = 9, n = 5, n = 10); 23 participated in the follow-up interviews. Salie...
Intermolecular interactions and proton transfer in the hydrogen halide–superoxide anion complexes

The superoxide radical anion O2(-) is involved in many important chemical processes spanning different scientific disciplines (e.g., environmental and biological sciences). Characterizing its interaction with various substrates to help elucidate its rich chemistry may have far reaching implications. Herein, we investigate the interaction between O2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)Πg) and the hydrogen halides (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) with coupled-cluster theory. In contrast to the short (1.324 A) hydrogen bond formed between the HF and O2(-) monomers, a barrierless proton transfer occurs for the heavier hydrogen halides with the resulting complexes characterized as long (>1.89 A) hydrogen bonds between halide anions and the HO2 radical. The dissociation energy with harmonic zero-point vibrational energy (ZPVE) for FHO2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') → HF (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) + O2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)Πg) is 31.2 kcal mol(-1). The other dissociation energies with ZPVE for X(-)HO2 (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') → X(-) (X[combining tilde] (1)Σ) + HO2 (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') are 25.7 kcal mol(-1) for X = Cl, 21.9 kcal mol(-1) for X = Br, and 17.9 kcal mol(-1) for X = I. Additionally, the heavier hydrogen halides can form weak halogen bonds H-XO2(-) (X[combining tilde] (2)A'') with interaction energies including ZPVE of -2.3 kcal mol(-1) for HCl, -8.3 kcal mol(-1) for HBr, and -16.7 kcal mol(-1) for HI.
Correspondent computing

In the context of the preliminary study reported here, correspondent computing is loosely defined as the generation of effects (results or outcomes) which are correspondent to the effect of an operation in a computer program. The operation whose effect is the target of correspondent computing is called the primary operation. Operations generate correspondent effects are called correspondent operations. The philosophy of correspondence is that if executing an operation can produce a significant effect, an equivalently significant effect may be generated by another semantically correspondent operation. In general, correspondent operations can be categorized as the following three types. 1) Reciprocal type. The behaviour of a reciprocal operation is semantically the inverse of the primary operation. 2) Duplicate type. The behaviour of a duplicate operation is semantically equivalent to the primary operation. 3) Residual (or complementary) type. An operation that fulfills the definition of correspondent operations, but is neither a duplicate, nor a reciprocal is termed as residual operation. All these three types of correspondent operations can be easily derived from the primary operation on the basis of correspondence. We believe that Correspondent computing has the potential of becoming a powerful tool and can be used in the areas such as Fault Tolerance, Artificial Intelligence, Graphics, Database systems, etc. In the following paragraphs, we discuss the use of correspondent computing for Error Detection.From the viewpoint of software fault tolerance, the correct behavior of some operations are more critical than the others although every operation is a constituent part of the program. Therefore, the effect generated by these operations must be examined, and hence they are the primary operations - the targets of correspondent computing. Using correspondent computing, the effect of a primary operation can then be checked by comparing with the effects generated by its correspondent operations. The specification of the comparative test is base on the precise relationship between the primary and correspondent operations. If an error occurs, the relationship between the two effects would not match that of the two operations. The greatest advantage of this error detection scheme is the simple and concise specification for the comparative test. As an example, suppose the program SUM will sum up an array of N integer numbers. Two correspondent operations are implemented for the purpose of error detection. Array pa contains the original data of N integer numbers.
Ideal Cardiovascular Health and Cognitive Aging in the Northern Manhattan Study

Background The American Heart Association defined target levels for 7 cardiovascular health (CVH) factors: smoking, body mass index, physical activity, diet, blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose. We hypothesized that a greater number of American Heart Association ideal CVH metrics would be associated with less decline in cognitive performance in our multiethnic population. Methods and Results A subsample from the population‐based Northern Manhattan Study underwent repeated neuropsychological testing (mean interval 6±2 years). Domain‐specific Z scores were derived by using factor analysis for the domains of Episodic Memory, Semantic Memory, Executive Function, and Processing Speed, based on initial performance and decline over time. Linear regression models were constructed to examine the relationship between the number of ideal CVH metrics at enrollment with later cognitive performance and decline, adjusting for sociodemographics and magnetic resonance imaging brain markers. Among 1033 participants (mean age at initial cognitive assessment 72±8 years, 39% male, 19% black, 16% white, 65% Hispanic; n=722 with repeat testing), 3% had 0 ideal factors, 15% had 1 factor, 33% had 2 factors, 30% had 3 factors, 14% had 4 factors, 4% had 5 factors, 1% had 6 factors, and 0% had 7 factors. An increasing number of ideal CVH factors was associated with better processing speed at initial assessment and less decline. The association was driven by nonsmoking and glucose. Among those with better cognitive performance at initial assessment, positive associations were observed between the number of ideal CVH factors and less decline in the domains of Executive Function and Episodic Memory. Conclusions The number of ideal CVH metrics was associated with less decline in the domains of Processing Speed and, to a lesser extent, of Executive Function and Episodic Memory. Ideal CVH promotion benefits brain health and cognitive aging.
John La Farge's Discovery of Japanese Art: A New Perspective on the Origins of Japonisme

Although generally omitted from studies of Japonisme, the American artist John La Farge was apparently the first Western artist to collect Japanese prints appreciatively, and to make use of Japanese effects in his own work. In addition, La Farge's essay of 1870 on Japanese art is the most perceptive of its time in singling out those traits which influenced modernist painters. La Farge's artistic use of Japanese effects does not conform to current assumptions about the normal development of Japonisme. Rather than initially imitating the superficial aspects of Japanese art, he concentrated first on general principles of design.
A Framework for Rebuilding Trust in Social Automation Across Health-Care Domains

This paper reviews current human-automation trust and trust repair literature as it applies to health-care systems. In addition, we examine the increased use and relevance of social agents, such as...
Technology and Tactics Analysis and Characteristic Research of China Greco-roman Wrestling Elite Athletes

This article analyzes the technology and tactics of greco-roman wrestling athletes and finds out the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese greco-roman wrestling athletes.It aims to provide some reference for improving training and promote the development of greco-roman wrestling.
Perspectives on Engineering Education Quality in Tunisia After 50 Years of Statehood

Background and Purpose More than 50 years after independence, engineering education (EE) in Tunisia continues to evolve. In the past 20 years, the structure of the engineering diploma has changed drastically. This chapter investigates recent developments and stakeholder perspectives on the changes that have been made to the 5-year engineering degree. The education of Tunisian engineers is a strict and specific path, replete with exams and nationally standardized requirements. The system retains many characteristics of its French heritage, but it is struggling to adapt itself to Tunisia’s changing demographics and socioeconomic needs.
The foundations of morals

The overall problem which dominates Hume's discussion of morals in Book 3 of the Treatise is that of discovering the psychological principles which lie at the root of our moral evaluations. Like Hutcheson, he holds that these evaluations are based on feelings of pleasure and pain. We feel pleasure when we contemplate a “noble and generous action,” and pain or uneasiness when we contemplate “one that is cruel and treacherous” (T3.1.2.2: 470). Our moral evaluations are not inferred from these feelings of pleasure and pain; rather the pleasures and pains constitute our moral evaluations. At the same time, Hume follows Hutcheson in arguing that these pleasures and pains through which we judge characters and actions as moral or immoral are of a particular kind. To convince us that pleasures (and pains) come in different kinds, Hume asks us to reflect on the difference between the pleasure of a fine wine and that of a great piece of music, between that received from inanimate objects and from “the character or sentiments of any person,” and finally the difference between the pleasure received from reflecting on the qualities of someone who serves our self-interest and those of someone who is actually morally virtuous (T3.1.2.4: 472). Moral pleasures and pains are the kind we receive when we consider a character “in general, without reference to our particular interest.” Hume notes that while “the good qualities of an enemy are hurtful to us … [he] may still command our esteem and respect.”
Humanitarian Law: From Normative Thrust to Criminal Enforcement

Pictet has defined humanitarian law as ‘a branch of public international law which owes its inspiration to a feeling for humanity and which is centered on the protection of the individual’. Its purpose is ‘to alleviate the sufferings of all the victims of armed conflicts who are in the power of their enemy, whether wounded, sick or shipwrecked, prisoners of war or civilians’ More formally, he has completed this definition as follows: By ‘international humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts’, the International Committee of the Red Cross means international rules, established by treaties or custom, which are specifically intended to solve humanitarian problems directly arising from international or non international armed conflicts and which, for humanitarian reasons, limit the right of parties to a conflict to use the methods and means of warfare of their choice or protect persons and property that are, or may be, affected by conflict.
Epidemiology and Health Care Quality Management

Epidemiology has a critical role to play in health care quality management, since health care quality management involves analyzing variation and determining the structural and process features of health care organizations that affect health outcomes in populations. Epidemiology provides a conceptual orientation and methods to assist in performing these activities. In this chapter, we describe quality management and how to assess and improve quality in the health care setting. We also consider the impact of quality management on the overall performance of health care systems. Case studies at the end of the chapter further illustrate the relationship between epidemiology and health care quality management.
Preliminary results of residual deficits observed in athletes with concussion history: Combined EEG and cognitive study

Assessment, treatment, and management of sport-related concussions are a widely recognized public health issue. Although several neuropsychological and motor assessment tools have been developed and implemented for sports teams at various levels and ages, the sensitivity of these tests has yet to be validated with more objective measures to make return-to-play (RTP) decisions more confidently. The present study sought to analyze the residual effect of concussions on a sample of adolescent athletes who sustained one or more previous concussions compared to those who had no concussion history. For this purpose, a wide variety of assessment tools containing both neurocognitive and electroencephalogram (EEG) elements were used. All clinical testing and EEG were repeated at 8 months, 10 months, and 12 months post-injury for both healthy and concussed athletes. The concussed athletes performed poorer than healthy athletes on processing speed and impulse control subtest of neurocognitive test on month 8, but no alterations were marked in terms of visual and postural stability. EEG analysis revealed significant differences in brain activities of concussed athletes through all three intervals. These long-term neurocognitive and EEG deficits found from this ongoing sport-related concussion study suggest that the post-concussion physiological deficits may last longer than the observed clinical recovery.
Valproate and Risk of Fracture in Rett Syndrome

The association between fracture risk and commonly used antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in 233 cases of Rett syndrome was investigated by researchers at medical centers in Australia.
Toward inventory-based estimates of soil organic carbon in forests of the United States

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest terrestrial carbon (C) sink on Earth; this pool plays a critical role in ecosystem processes and climate change. Given the cost and time required to measure SOC, and particularly changes in SOC, many signatory nations to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change report estimates of SOC stocks and stock changes using default values from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or country-specific models. In the United States, SOC in forests is monitored by the national forest inventory (NFI) conducted by the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. The FIA program has been consistently measuring soil attributes as part of the NFI since 2001 and has amassed an extensive inventory of SOC in forest land in the conterminous United States and southeast and southcentral coastal Alaska. That said, the FIA program has been using country-specific predictions of SOC based, in part, upon a model using SOC estimates from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database compiled by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Estimates obtained from the STATSGO database are averages over large map units and are not expected to provide accurate estimates for specific locations, e.g., NFI plots. To improve the accuracy of SOC estimates in U.S. forests, NFI SOC observations were used for the first time to predict SOC density to a depth of 100 cm for all forested NFI plots. Incorporating soil-forming factors along with observations of SOC into a new estimation framework resulted in a 75% (48 ± 0.78 Mg/ha) increase in SOC densities nationally. This substantially increases the contribution of the SOC pool, from approximately 44% (17 Pg) of the total forest ecosystem C stocks to 56% (28 Pg), in the forest C budget of the United States.
VideoSAR collections to image underground chemical explosion surface phenomena

Fully-polarimetric X-band (9.6 GHz center frequency) VideoSAR with 0.125-meter ground resolution flew collections before, during, and after the fifth Source Physics Experiment (SPE-5) underground chemical explosion. We generate and exploit synthetic aperture RADAR (SAR) and VideoSAR products to characterize surface effects caused by the underground explosion. To our knowledge, this has never been done. Exploited VideoSAR products are “movies” of coherence maps, phase-difference maps, and magnitude imagery. These movies show two-dimensional, time-varying surface movement. However, objects located on the SPE pad created unwanted, vibrating signatures during the event which made registration and coherent processing more difficult. Nevertheless, there is evidence that dynamic changes are captured by VideoSAR during the event. VideoSAR provides a unique, coherent, time-varying measure of surface expression of an underground chemical explosion.
Control of tumor outgrowth by regional immunization with peptide-pulsed dendritic cells depends on epitope density

4843 Immunization route with activated, peptide-pulsed dendritic cells (DC) determines the location of antigen-specific CD8 memory populations and determines the efficacy of tumor control in different organ compartments. Thus, DC can be targeted to specific lymphoid organs to generate functionally divergent immune responses. However, no study has evaluated whether epitope density on immunizing DC differentially controls the induction of antigen-specific primary immune responses in different lymphoid compartments. Using a preclinical HLA-A2-transgenic mouse model and an endogenously-expressed antigen from tyrosinase (Tyr 369-377 ), we evaluated the immunogenicity and anti-tumor efficacy of regionally delivered DC pulsed with a range of peptide concentrations. Following intravenous injection, DC infiltrated spleen but not lymph nodes; Tyr 369-377 -specific primary and memory T cells were likewise confined to spleen. Increasing the density of Tyr 369-377 epitope on immunizing DC progressively increased the magnitude of Ag-specific CD8 + T cell response in spleen, and also enhanced the control of HLA-A2-expressing melanoma growing in the lungs. In contrast, subcutaneous delivery of peptide-pulsed DC targeted both draining peripheral lymph nodes and spleen, and antigen-specific CD8 + cells were present in both compartments. Interestingly, the optimal epitope density for the induction of primary antigen-specific CD8 + T cell responses in lymph node and control of a subcutaneously-growing HLA-A2-expressing melanoma was 3 logs lower than previously determined for spleen. Furthermore, the requirement for increased epitope density to mediate responses in spleen was independent of DC injection route. The disparity in optimal epitope density between lymphoid compartments reflects a differential kinetic of migration DC to, or retention of DC in, the lymph node and spleen. In both lymph nodes and spleen, supra-optimal epitope densities ablated Ag-specific CD8 + T cells, underscoring the need to optimize antigen density prior to clinical therapeutic application. Collectively, these data demonstrate a fundamental difference in lymph node and spleen as site for activation of anti-tumor immune responses. Supported by the American Cancer Society (DWM) and USPHS R01CA78400 (VHE).
Vertical stratification of forest canopy for segmentation of understory trees within small-footprint airborne LiDAR point clouds

Abstract Airborne LiDAR point cloud representing a forest contains 3D data, from which vertical stand structure even of understory layers can be derived. This paper presents a tree segmentation approach for multi-story stands that stratifies the point cloud to canopy layers and segments individual tree crowns within each layer using a digital surface model based tree segmentation method. The novelty of the approach is the stratification procedure that separates the point cloud to an overstory and multiple understory tree canopy layers by analyzing vertical distributions of LiDAR points within overlapping locales. The procedure does not make a priori assumptions about the shape and size of the tree crowns and can, independent of the tree segmentation method, be utilized to vertically stratify tree crowns of forest canopies. We applied the proposed approach to the University of Kentucky Robinson Forest – a natural deciduous forest with complex and highly variable terrain and vegetation structure. The segmentation results showed that using the stratification procedure strongly improved detecting understory trees (from 46% to 68%) at the cost of introducing a fair number of over-segmented understory trees (increased from 1% to 16%), while barely affecting the overall segmentation quality of overstory trees. Results of vertical stratification of the canopy showed that the point density of understory canopy layers were suboptimal for performing a reasonable tree segmentation, suggesting that acquiring denser LiDAR point clouds would allow more improvements in segmenting understory trees. As shown by inspecting correlations of the results with forest structure, the segmentation approach is applicable to a variety of forest types.
Non-classicality criteria: Glauber–Sudarshan P function and Mandel parameter

AbstractWe calculate exactly the quantum mechanical, temporal Wigner quasiprobability density for a single-mode, degenerate parametric amplifier for a system in the Gaussian state, viz., a displaced-squeezed thermal state. The Wigner function allows us to calculate the fluctuations in photon number and the quadrature variance. We contrast the difference between the non-classicality criteria, which is independent of the displacement parameter α, based on the Glauber–Sudarshan quasiprobability distribution P(β) and the classical/non-classical behaviour of the Mandel QM(τ) parameter, which depends strongly on α. We find a phase transition as a function of α such that at the critical point αc, QM(τ), as a function of τ, goes from strictly classical, for |α| |αc|.
Considerations of Uncertainty in Regulatory Decision Making

NRC’s approach to ensuring the safety of nuclear power includes two complementary approaches, one more deterministic and one more probabilistic. These two approaches address the uncertainties in the underlying methods and data differently, with each approach having its strengths and limitations.
A randomized trial: Comparing the use of iPad versus scantron to collect breast cancer risk information in an underserved population.

e18621Background: The best way to collect data to ascertain breast cancer risk is not well understood in underserved population. One approach to better stratify patients' risk for breast cancer is ...
Narrative and Method in Ethics Consultation

Method in ethics consultation has at least three distinguishable components: a canon – that is, the rules that guide actions, cognitions, judgments, and perceptions involved in performing an ethics consultation; a discipline – that is, a mastery, or at least possession, of the specific types of actions and intentions of ethics consultation which are guided by the rules that are embodied in the actions of competent ethics consultants; and a history – that is, the narrative of, and critical reflection on, the actions, including the analyses, assessments, and communications undertaken in the course of the consultation, including the reasoning about the practical issues and the steps toward resolving the ethical question or issues that arose. As a doing, then, ethics consultation consists in actions and intentions that constitute a distinctive set of meanings in the clinical space of patient care in which the meanings brought to patient care through the actions and communications of the ethics consultation help shape, to some extent, the way that the case develops and is understood, which is further reflected in how the case is represented. In this sense, statements about ethics consultation methodology, and theories of ethics consultation, are secondary to the actual practice itself. The analysis and interpretation of actions and communications of those involved in the clinical care of the patient represents a complex process that blends the meaning of ethical concepts, principles, and theories with the constructed and uncovered clinical and value meanings of the case.
Effects of sample handling on the detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus in oral fluids by reverse-transcription real-time PCR.

We evaluated effects of handling procedures on detection of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) in oral fluids (OFs) by reverse-transcription real-time PCR (RT-rtPCR). The e...