cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adolescent Hippocampal and Prefrontal Brain Activation During Performance of the Virtual Morris Water Task

The frontal cortex undergoes substantial structural and functional changes during adolescence and significant developmental changes also occur in the hippocampus. Both of these regions are notably vulnerable to alcohol and other substance use, which is typically initiated during adolescence. Identifying measures of brain function during adolescence, particularly before initiation of drug or alcohol use, is critical to understanding how such behaviors may affect brain development, especially in these vulnerable brain regions. While there is a substantial developmental literature on adolescent working memory, less is known about spatial memory. Thus, a virtual Morris water task (vMWT) was applied to probe function of the adolescent hippocampus. Multiband blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were acquired at 3T during task performance. Participants included 32 healthy, alcohol- and drug-naive adolescents, 13-14 years old, examined at baseline of a 3-year longitudinal MRI study. Significantly greater BOLD activation was observed in the hippocampus and surrounding areas, and in prefrontal regions involved in executive function, during retrieval relative to motor performance. In contrast, significantly greater BOLD activation was observed in components of the default mode network, including frontal medial cortex, during the motor condition (when task demands were minimal) relative to the retrieval condition. Worse performance (longer path length) during retrieval was associated with greater activation of angular gyrus/supramarginal gyrus, whereas worse performance (longer path length/latency) during motor control was associated with less activation of frontal pole. Furthermore, while latency (time to complete task) was greater in females than in males, there were no sex differences in path length (accuracy), suggesting that females required more time to navigate the virtual environment, but did so as effectively as males. These findings demonstrate that performance of the vMWT elicits hippocampal and prefrontal activation patterns in early adolescence, similar to activation observed during spatial memory retrieval in adults. Given that this task is sensitive to hippocampal function, and that the adolescent hippocampus is notably vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and other substances, data acquired using this task during healthy adolescent development may provide a framework for understanding neurobiological impact of later initiation of use.
Are fundamental principles in Aristotle's ethics codifiable?

Soulevant la question de la conception de l'ethique d'Aristote en tant que science aristotelicienne, l'A. montre que la notion technique de relation pour la plupart, etablie dans l'«Ethique a Nicomaque», est demontrable, et qu'elle offre une reponse adequate a l'objection apportee par J. McDowell, selon laquelle les principes generaux du syllogisme pratique ne sont pas codifiables et ne peuvent fournir le paradigme deductif de l'action vertueuse de l'agent doue de phronesis
Pulmonary nociceptors are potentially connected with neuroepithelial bodies.

Airway sensory receptors regulate cardiopulmonary function by providing constant information about the mechanical and chemical status of the lung to the central nervous system (CNS). There are at least three airway sensor types: slowly adapting receptors (SARs), rapidly adapting receptors (RARs), and C-fiber receptors (CFRs) . We recently identified additional A-delta fiber receptors in intact rabbits that are different from SARs and RARs. Having a high mechanical threshold, they respond to hypertonic saline and are termed high threshold A-delta receptors (HTARs) . SARs and RARs monitor airway mechanical changes, whereas HTARs and CFRs sense chemical alterations and may serve as nociceptors. As with nociceptors in other tissue, the latter are activated during lung inflammatory processes . Also, the airway houses neuroendocrine cells aggregated in organoids called neuroepithelial bodies (NEBs). NEBs are richly innervated by nerve fibers from different origins. Similar in structure to the carotid bodies, NEBs are believed to be sensors, with at least some sensory fibers that have cell bodies in the nodose ganglia. Therefore, they may serve CNS reflex functions. Strategically located at airway bifurcations, NEBs may signal the chemical composition of or presence of irritants in the air. This study intends to explore the possibility that NEBs are associated with nociceptors.
Risk and Saving

The question of how risk affects the decision to save is one of the fundamental issues in the economics of risk and uncertainty. It is important to distinguish the risk of future income from the risk of return to an investment. The former creates an income effect and the latter a substitution effect. In this paper we are concerned only with the income effect. The model represents perhaps the simplest case of saving considered as a sequential decision problem when income is uncertain but the return to saving is certain.
Inferring The Context for Evaluating Physics Algebraic Equations When the Scaffolding is Removed.

This paper describes our continuing work on enabling a tutor to evaluate algebraic solutions to word problems in physics. Current tutoring systems require students to explicitly define each variable that is used in the algebraic equations. We have developed a constraint propagation based heuristic algorithm that finds the possible dimensions and physics concepts for each variable. In earlier work we developed techniques that worked for a small set of problems and evaluated them on a small number of students. The work described here covers an extension to and evaluation of a much larger class of problems and a larger number of students. The results show that our technique uniquely determines the dimensions of all the variables in 89% of the sets of equations. By asking the student for dimension information about one variable, an additional 3% of the sets can be determined. Thus a physics tutoring system can use this technique to reason about a student’s answers even when the scaffolding and context are removed.
The combined effects of shock waves and cisplatin therapy on rat prostate tumors.

The effects of shock waves (SW) generated by the Dornier XL1 experimental lithotripter on the growth of AT2 prostate tumor cells were examined. The tumor cells were implanted subcutaneously in the right hind limb of male Copenhagen rats. Tumor growth was delayed one to two days after 2,000 SW which was consistent with a 60% to 70% killing of clonogenic cells observed in tumors excised 24 hours after treatment and analyzed by a soft-agar cloning technique.
Resource selection by coyotes (Canis latrans) in a longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) ecosystem: effects of anthropogenic fires and landscape features

Prescribed fire is used to restore and maintain fire-dependent forest communities. Because fire affects food and cover resources, fire-mediated resource selection has been documented for many wildl...
Nobel Lecture: LIGO and gravitational waves II

The observation of gravitational waves (see Fig. 1) in the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) was announced on 11 February 2016 (Abbott et al., 2016a), 100 years after Einstein proposed the existence of gravitational waves (Einstein, 1916, 1918). This observation came after more than 50 years of experimental efforts to develop sensitive enough detectors to observe the tiny distortions in spacetime from gravitational waves. The Nobel Prize for 2017 was awarded to Rainer (“Rai”) Weiss, Kip Thorne and myself for decisive contributions to the LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves. In fact, the success of LIGO follows from decades of R&D on the concept and techniques, which were covered in Rai Weiss’ Nobel Lecture, followed by the design, construction and evolving the LIGO large-scale interferometers to be more and more sensitive to gravitational waves. This work has been carried through the LIGO Laboratory and the scientific exploitation through the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, having more than 1000 scientists, who author the gravitational wave observational papers. In addition, many others made important contributions to the science of black holes, numerical relativity, etc.
Knowledge and decision making about future fertility and oocyte cryopreservation among young women

The objective was to examine what young graduate student women know about preserving fertility/oocyte cryopreservation, and which reproductive resources they use. A prospective, cross-sectional design was used and the study was conducted at a University on the East Coast of the United States. The participants were 278 female graduate students. Participants completed a survey with questions about demographics, fertility knowledge, oocyte cryopreservation, and sources of fertility information. Descriptive statistics were calculated for all variables. Participants had average knowledge about fertility (64% items correct). The most used fertility information source was formal education (87.1%), information to help make fertility decisions was gynaecologists (85.3%), and oocyte cryopreservation was media (63.4%). Only 26.6% reported being well informed about fertility. Although 93.9% had heard of oocyte cryopreservation, only 7.2% had considered its use. Most (74.9%) ranked fertility as important, though 83% would consider postponing family until career (85.2%) and relationship (85.2%) were established. Half felt that there was a social stigma surrounding oocyte cryopreservation, and 70.1% believed that the media gives the impression that motherhood is viable after 40 years old. Professionally motivated women receive the most information about fertility from formal, accuracy-driven sources (i.e. education, healthcare providers), but information about fertility preservation from media. They lack knowledge about fertility planning.
Sectorization & L3C Regulatory Arbitrage of Joint Ventures with Nonprofits

The raison d’etre for the nascent low-profit limited liability company (L3C) is to stimulate collaboration (“sectorization”) among government, private and charitable sectors in order to redirect for-profit capital models into the nonprofit sector. The hope is that the L3C will not only generate additional resources for charitable purposes, but also fundamentally transform business culture by signaling a more efficient way to “do good while doing well.” The L3C has been criticized for targeting only private foundation program related investments, a capital pipeline already exhausted by existing profit entity models. When compared to the existing nonprofit joint venture, the L3C emerges as a less efficient arbitrage model for stimulating profit sector investment in charitable enterprises. A comparative analysis yields instructive lessons regarding deficiencies in federal tax regulation of program related investments and joint ventures. In both cases, the federal tax rules utilize a differing “control test” to assure the exempt entity directs assets toward its charitable mission and away from private benefit to profit sector participants. This Article provides the first comprehensive comparative theory that the existing nonprofit-profit joint venture model is a more efficient solution to assuring compliance with the charitable mission when blending market returns to market capital investors. This theoretical framework exposes why L3C statutory operating procedures unnecessarily cripple profit efforts, undermine its effectiveness, and present policy dilemmas less prevalent in joint ventures where the nonprofit must exercise control over the business entity rather than simply an investment in the entity. As a result, program related investments should be scaled back and limited to determining only whether an investment jeopardizes a foundation’s exempt mission where the scale of the investment has a self-limiting role.
Gender Differences in Outcomes of a Healthy Relationships Program to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence

The purpose was to examine gender differences in the effectiveness of the Within My Reach healthy relationships education program that is an alternative approach to violence prevention. The program...
Hereditary cancer syndromes.

Abstract Objective.—To summarize the biological basis, clinical implications, identification, and medical management of syndromes associated with increased risk of common adult cancers. Data Source...
A Physical Barrier Reduces Capture of Euschistus servus (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) in Pheromone-Baited Traps Near Peach Trees

Many species of stink bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) are pests of many crop plants and the polyphagous nature of these pests facilitates their movement across farmscapes. However, when feeding, their movement generally entails short distance moves within the height of the host plant. During 2014 and 2015, we used a tall barrier fence around peach trees to determine if this structure would deter adult Euschistus servus (Say) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) from being attracted to a pheromone-baited trap near the tree. Each year, cumulative data showed a significant decrease in capture of E. servus in traps enclosed with the barrier fence compared to traps near trees without the fence. Differences in treatments between sampling dates were not always significant. Overall, the barrier fence did reduce attraction of E. servus to pheromone-baited traps near peach trees. Future studies will assess the effect of physical barriers enclosing larger areas of an orchard on stink bug movement into peach, and if fruit injury is reduced.
Anesthesia for Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery in Children

Ear, nose and throat surgery is the commonest reason for anesthesia in children. It has unique challenges of a shared and potentially soiled airway as well as the possibility of postoperative airway obstruction. This chapter discusses common, elective ENT procedures as well as pain management and complications. It also details the management of potentially life-threatening emergencies such as the bleeding tonsil and neck abscesses. Tonsillectomy is usually performed for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in preschool-aged children. Children with OSA have an increased sensitivity to opioids and multimodal analgesia is essential to minimize the opioid dose, or to avoid opioids altogether. Syndromic children with anatomical narrowing of the upper airway are at additional risk. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are important after tonsillectomy, but there are still concerns regarding bleeding. Dexamethasone improves oral intake, reduces pain, nausea and vomiting, and should be given routinely. Bleeding after tonsillectomy occurs in about 1% of cases, although most cases have a small bleeding point and the main anesthetic issue is blood in the stomach. Rarely, others have an arterial bleeding point, and their mouth fills with blood between induction and laryngoscopy. The LMA potentially retrieves the airway in these cases when intubation is not possible. Superficial neck abscesses are common in children and are caused by infected lymph nodes. Deeper neck abscesses are rare, but can cause airway obstruction and difficult intubation.
Reinforcement Learning for Adaptive Resource Allocation in Fog RAN for IoT With Heterogeneous Latency Requirements

In light of the quick proliferation of Internet of things (IoT) devices and applications, fog radio access network (Fog-RAN) has been recently proposed for fifth generation (5G) wireless communications to assure the requirements of ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) for the IoT applications which cannot accommodate large delays. To this end, fog nodes (FNs) are equipped with computing, signal processing and storage capabilities to extend the inherent operations and services of the cloud to the edge. We consider the problem of sequentially allocating the FN's limited resources to IoT applications of heterogeneous latency requirements. For each access request from an IoT user, the FN needs to decide whether to serve it locally at the edge utilizing its own resources or to refer it to the cloud to conserve its valuable resources for future users of potentially higher utility to the system (i.e., lower latency requirement). We formulate the Fog-RAN resource allocation problem in the form of a Markov decision process (MDP), and employ several reinforcement learning (RL) methods, namely Q-learning, SARSA, Expected SARSA, and Monte Carlo, for solving the MDP problem by learning the optimum decision-making policies. We verify the performance and adaptivity of the RL methods and compare it with the performance of the network slicing approach with various slicing thresholds. Extensive simulation results considering 19 IoT environments of heterogeneous latency requirements corroborate that RL methods always achieve the best possible performance regardless of the IoT environment.
Annealing-Assisted Enhancement of Electrochemical Stability of Na-Preintercalated Bilayered Vanadium Oxide Electrodes in Na-Ion Batteries

Layered transition metal compounds with expanded interlayer regions, stabilized by structural water, often show high initial capacities but suffer from rapid capacity decay and poor rate capability...
Current Account Balances, Financial Development and Institutions: Assaying the World

We investigate the medium-term determinants of the current account using a model that controls for factors related to institutional development, with a goal of informing the recent debate over the existence and relevance of the "savings glut." The economic environmental factors that we consider are the degree of financial openness and the extent of legal development. We find that for industrial countries, the government budget balance is an important determinant of the current account balance; the budget balance coefficient is 0.21 in a specification controlling for institutional variables. More interestingly, our empirical findings are not consistent with the argument that the more developed financial markets are, the less saving a country undertakes. We find that this posited relationship is applicable only for countries with highly developed legal systems and open financial markets. For less developed countries and emerging market countries we usually find the reverse correlation; greater financial development leads to higher savings. Furthermore, there is no evidence of "excess domestic saving" in the Asian emerging market countries; rather they seem to have suffered from depressed investment in the wake of the 1997 financial crises. We also find evidence that the more developed equity markets are, the more likely countries are to run current account deficits.
Correction: Introducing the PLOS special collection of economic cases for NCD prevention and control: A global perspective.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory disease, are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths worldwide. While NCDs are associated with aging in high-income countries, this representation is often misleading. Over one-third of the 41 million annual deaths from NCDs occur prematurely, defined as under 70 years of age. Most of those deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where surveillance, treatment, and care of NCDs are often inadequate. In addition to high health and social costs, the economic costs imposed by such high numbers of excess early deaths impede economic development and contribute to global and national inequity. In higher-income countries, NCDs and their risks continue to push health care costs higher. The burden of NCDs is strongly intertwined with economic conditions for good and for harm. Understanding the multiple ways they are connected-through risk factor exposures, access to quality health care, and financial protection among others-will determine which countries are able to improve the healthy longevity of their populations and slow growth in health expenditure particularly in the face of aging populations. The aim of this Special Collection is to provide new evidence to spur those actions.
DYNAMIC FIT IN AN ERA OF FERMENT: PRODUCT DESIGN REALIGNMENT AND THE SURVIVAL-ENHANCING ROLE OF ALLIANCES AND ACQUISITIONS

ABSTRACT We propose that in an era of ferment, when a firm's product design does not possess the features of the evolving dominant design, it faces a feature implementation gap defined as 'the number of features of the evolving product dominant design that are absent from a firm's product design'. Employing the performance feedback perspective of the behavioral theory of the firm, we conceptualize a feature implementation gap as a manifestation of an aspiration-performance gap that negatively affects a firm's likelihood of product market survival due to a product market 'lock-out'. To dynamically improve the alignment of their product designs with the evolving dominant design and increase their likelihood of product market survival, we suggest that firms engage in problematic search using alliances and acquisitions to decrease the feature implementation gap. We found strong support for our predictions using a longitudinally dynamic mediation model with data from an era of ferment in the digital camera product market between 1997-2004. Our study extends the behavioral theory of the firm to a novel context - eras of ferment. It demonstrates that in this context, problemistic search involved dual search modes- short-run search at the individual feature level and long-run search at the design level. It also shows the utility of adopting a demand-side (i.e. product market or customer based) perspective to explain how firms improve their likelihood of product market survival during eras of ferment. In this, it complements recent research that has examined how firms’ internal actions affect product design realignment processes and firm outcomes in eras of ferment.
Minimally Invasive Biospecimen Collection for Exposome Research in Children's Health.

The advent of low-volume biosampling and novel biomarker matrices offers non- or minimally invasive approaches to sampling in children. These new technologies, combined with advancements in mass spectrometry that provide high sensitivity, robust measurements of low-concentration exposures, facilitate the application of untargeted metabolomics in children’s exposome research. Here, we review emerging sampling technologies for alternative biomatrices—dried capillary blood, interstitial fluid, saliva, teeth, and hair—and highlight recent applications of these samplers to drive discovery in population-based exposure research. Biosampling and biomarker technologies demonstrate potential to directly measure exposures during key developmental time periods. While saliva is the most traditional of the reported biomatrices, each technology has key advantages and disadvantages. For example, hair and teeth provide retrospective analysis of past exposures, and dried capillary blood provides quantitative measurements of systemic exposures that can be more readily compared with traditional venous blood measurements. Importantly, all technologies can or have the potential to be used at home, increasing the convenience and parental support for children’s biosampling. This review describes emerging sample collection technologies that hold promise for children’s exposome studies. While applications in metabolomics are still limited, these novel matrices are poised to facilitate longitudinal exposome studies to discover key exposures and windows of susceptibility affecting children’s health.
Solvent-Dependent Linear Free-Energy Relationship in a Flexible Host-Guest System.

Supramolecular chemistry provides an effective strategy for the molecular recognition of diverse molecules. Significant efforts to design synthetic hosts have enabled the successful binding of many...
Children at the Intersection of Pediatric Palliative Care and Child Maltreatment: A Vulnerable and Understudied Population.

Abstract Context Concerns for child maltreatment can complicate the provision of pediatric palliative care (PPC). Little is known about the vulnerable population of children with life-threatening conditions involved with PPC and state Child Protective Services (CPS) or hospital Child Protection Teams (CPTs). More information is needed to inform and optimize collaborative care. Objectives Define and describe the population of children with PPC involvement for whom there was concern for maltreatment. Methods Single-center retrospective chart review of children with PPC involvement for whom there was concern for maltreatment, defined as involvement of CPS/CPT between 2005 and 2017. Medical and demographic variables were abstracted and analyzed. Analyses include descriptive tabulation and measurements of association between PPC and CPS/CPT variables. Results Among 1804 children followed by PPC, 189 (10.4%) had documented CPS/CPT involvement. Among those, 113 (60%) had CPT involvement, 88 (47%) had concerns of medical neglect, and 100 (53%) had simultaneous CPS/CPT and PPC involvement. Goals of PPC consultation varied by clinical characteristics and concerns for medical neglect. Frequency of CPT involvement and physical abuse concerns also varied by child clinical characteristics. Conclusion PPC practitioners regularly encounter children with CPS/CPT involvement. PPC practitioners should be aware of the risk of maltreatment in their patients. Although rare in the general pediatric population, medical neglect is a relatively frequent maltreatment concern in children cared for by PPC. PPC practitioners have an opportunity to aid in proper evaluation of medical neglect in children they care for. Closer PPC collaboration with CPS/CPT may further optimize care.
A segment-level model of shared, electric scooter origins and destinations

Abstract Electric scooters (or e-scooters) have quickly proliferated in cities worldwide, presenting a host of regulatory challenges. We analyze trip origins and destinations for shared e-scooter use at the street-segment level. Street segments are a relevant unit for policy analysis because users park scooters along the streets' curbside, and parking policies target specific street segments. We build Hurdle models for trip origins and destinations using data from Washington DC in 2019. Results show that street segments near tourist sites, hotels, and transit stops attract the most scooter-trip destinations. In contrast, the supply of available e-scooters is the dominant force shaping scooter-trip origins. We find preliminary evidence to suggest that scooters are complementing public transit. Like other studies, we find that areas with younger and more educated demographics correlate with higher e-scooter use. Finally, we demonstrate that the model can identify segments with a high demand for scooter parking.
Deep Learning-aided Successive Interference Cancellation for MIMO-NOMA

This paper introduces a novel deep learning (DL) based successive interference cancellation (SIC) scheme for an uplink multiple-input multiple-output non-orthogonal multiple access (MIMO-NOMA) system. The proposed scheme is aimed at mitigating the problems of error propagation and high computational complexity encountered with traditional SIC schemes. A separate deep neural network (DNN) is used to directly decode each user's signal at every SIC step. In particular, the DNN simulates the following operations: channel estimation, signal detection and canceling of decoded signals from the received combined signal. Results from simulation show superior performance and the effectiveness of the proposed approach. It outperforms traditional SIC schemes including the DL based approaches in terms of the bit error rate while maintaining low computational complexity.
Chasing fleeing animals – on the dramaturgical method and the dramaturgical analysis of teaching

The dramaturgical method has been used to analyse teaching and didactic contexts, but the method is not adequately described or established in such contexts. In this article we use dramaturgy as a ...
Exploring Careers in Medicine: Implementation and Perceived Value of a Multi-Specialty Elective

Choosing a medical specialty is one of the most crucial and difficult decisions made during medical school. Given that specialty exposure is among the most important factors in decision-making, the Careers in Medicine (CiM) multi-specialty elective was designed to provide clerkship students an avenue to explore three or more specialties of interest during a single elective. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine using anonymous surveys and de-identified written reflections submitted by students enrolled in the CiM course between August 2015 and June 2018. Data were analyzed using a mixed-methods approach. The majority of students reported the elective guided them in ruling out (80%) and ruling in (65%) specialties. About half (51%) of students decided between the procedural versus critical-thinking dichotomy. Finally, 80% of students reported that they would take the course again rather than a focused elective. Major themes identified from student reflections included course attributes, specialty impacts, and student values. Implementation of a multi-specialty elective during the clerkship year was an effective way to help students understand their career values, gain early exposure to specialties not featured in core clinical curriculums, and determine future fields of interest.
Next generation of production research:: Wisdom, collaboration, and society

At the end of the first millenium, production researchers wonder about the next generation of their research. This article, based on a plenary session at the ICPR-14 in Osaka, Japan in August 1997, describes the past and future trends and focuses on the quest for production wisdom.
Use of a thermal analogy to find electrical resistances of the electrical breaks in the TPX passive stabilization systems

The inner and outer passive stabilization systems for the Tokamak Physics Experiment (TPX) are similar in design in that they both utilize copper passive plates that form large toroidal rings. The rings are electrically continuous except at one toroidal location where a high resistance break must exist. Vertical conductors connect the rings together on either side of the electrical break forming a saddle coil. In order to prevent all the current during initial plasma start-up from flowing through the rings instead of the plasma, the resistances of the breaks for the inner and outer stabilizers must be greater than 70 and 300 /spl mu//spl Omega/ respectively. A thermal-electrical analogy has been developed so that 2-D heat transfer finite element codes can be used to find the electrical resistances in the proposed designs of the high resistance breaks. This analogy is based on classical heat transfer theory using an electrical analogy for finding the equivalent conductances of materials that are in series or parallel. In these cases the conductivities of the materials are converted into conduction resistances. The conduction resistances are associated with actual electrical resistances, the heat transfer rate with current, and the temperature difference with potential drop. Therefore the basic heat transfer equation, q=K/spl Delta/T, can be used to express the electrical equivalent equation, V=IR as /spl Delta/T=q(1/K). By imposing a temperature drop across the 2-D finite element thermal models of a break and having the code determine the total heat flow through the model, the resistance of the break, R=1/K, can then be calculated.
Herpes Simplex Virus Glycoproteins: Participation of Individual Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Glycoprotein Antigens in Immunocytolysis and Their Correlation with Previously Identified Glycopolypeptides

Abstract Tissue culture cells infected with herpes simplex type 1 virus express virus-specified glycoprotein antigens on the plasma membrane. Three of these have been previously identified and have been designated as Ag-11, Ag-8, and Ag-6. In the present study, immunoglobulins to each of the antigens were shown to be capable of mediating immunocytolysis in the presence of either complement (antibody-dependent complement-mediated cytotoxicity) or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity [ADCC]). Two herpes simplex virus type 1 strains, VR-3 and F, reacted similarly in the ADCC test in the presence of immunoglobulins to Ag-11, Ag-8, and Ag-6 in both infected Chang liver cells and HEp-2 cells. Anti-Ag-6, however, produced a lower ADCC reaction in HEp-2 cells than in Chang liver cells, suggesting differences in the Ag-6 surface expression in, or release from, these cells. Chang liver and HEp-2 cells infected with the MP mutant strain of herpes simplex virus type 1 showed reduced ADCC in the presence of anti-Ag-11 and anti-Ag-8, but no reactivity at all with anti-Ag-6. Crossed immunoelectrophoretic analysis showed that MP-infected cell extracts contain Ag-11 and Ag-8, but lack Ag-6. Polypeptide analysis of herpes simplex virus type 1 strains F, VR-3, and MP showed that Ag-11 consists of the glycoproteins gA and gB, that Ag-8 consists of gD, and that Ag-6 consists of gC. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that either one of the glycoproteins (gC, gD, and a mixture of gA and gB) can function as a target for immunocytolysis and that the antibody preparation to gC (Ag-6) does not cross-react with any of the other glycoproteins.
Water treeing characterization and tree retardant compound effects in XLPE power cables

The authors describe experimentation done in establishing techniques for laboratory growth and analytical characterization of water trees. Techniques used include scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Measurements of electrical properties such as capacitance, dissipation factor, and leakage current were made, but no significant differences between the virgin, field aged, and treed samples were measured. SEM and TEM techniques do indicate differences between virgin, field-aged, and vented tree cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) samples. The FTIR technique shows that the tree retardant compound (TRC) may change the composition of the tree region. Preliminary results of characterization of virgin, field aged (without trees), and treed XLPE samples with and without treatment with the TRC are presented. >
What is STEM Education

Global Education Review is a publication of The School of Education at Mercy College, New York. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License, permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Citation: Marrero, Meghan E., Gunning, Amanda & Germain-Williams, Terri (2014). What is STEM education? Global Education Review, 1 (4). 1-6. What is STEM Education?
Parallel simulation and test of VLSI array logic

We consider the task of accelerating existing array logic CAD software by running them under parallel processing environments. We restrict our discussion to VLSI programmable logic arrays (PLAs); we present results based on fault simulation/test generation software implemented for PLAs. Due to the regular layout of such array logic, considerable parallelism is expected in any data processing problem involving these modules. However, depending on the underlying machine model, and the adopted programming model, varying levels of speed-up are exhibited. We first consider a typical pipelined, vector mainframe like the IBM 3090 VF. Through a combination of novel problem reformulation strategies, and educated coding guidelines for vector machines, we show how an original scalar program can be efficiently speeded up on such machines. The other machine model considered is that of a shared memory parallel processing system. Our results here are based on experiments run under an experimental multi-processor VM environment (VM/EPEX) which has been set up to predict the possible speed-up on a parallel processor such as RP3. The overall processing environment is assumed to be constrained to a scientific/engineering one, with Fortran as the primary coding medium and the hardware biased toward numerically-intensive applications.
Visual evoked potentials during surgery

Publisher Summary This chapter explores that the visual evoked potential (VEP) recorded from the occipital scalp reflects the activation of fibers arising from the area 8–10o central to the macular region of the retina. It reviews that VEPs are sensitive to vascular insults that affect the visual pathway. Transient ischemic episodes involving the carotid artery are associated with amplitude reductions of a flash-evoked VEP to the ipsilateral eye. The chapter discusses that VEP demonstrating a complete absence of an occipital response, despite the presence of a normal electroretinogram (ERG), indicates the damage of the optic nerve or conduction pathway. VEPs have been used for many years to compare preoperative and postoperative visual function. It reviews the further strengthening of decompression theory, studies have also shown that VEP changes were reversible by filling the space occupied by the excised lesions. Testing of visual pathway function in severely injured patients or even during craniomaxillofacial reconstructions, using VEPs and ERGs has been shown to be a reliable method of verifying the presence or absence of visual pathway function regardless of any pathology. The chapter concludes that there is evidence to suggest that the visual system can be successfully evaluated with VEPs between the preoperative and postoperative stages. More importantly, postoperative improvements in VEPs correlate directly with the improvements in visual function.
Ethyl pyruvate, an inhibitor of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) release, modulates dendritic cell activation and survival (TRAN3P.897)

Dendritic cells (DCs) activated by stimulatory danger signals initiate the detrimental anti-graft immune responses that lead to transplant rejection. High-mobility group box1 (HMGB1) is a nuclear DNA-binding protein that signals danger if released, contributing to DC activation and acute allograft rejection. Preventing HMGB1 release is a way to block its effects, promoting less active DCs. Here we assessed the effects of ethyl pyruvate (EP), proposed to potentially prevent HMGB1 release from cells, on DC responses. We found that EP (10mM) abolished pro-inflammatory cytokine (IL-12, IL-6 and TNFa) and IL-10 induction by the strong DC stimulus LPS in myeloid bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BMDCs). EP also significantly decreased BMDC surface MHC expression, suggesting a possible role in inhibiting antigen presentation. We also determined EP effects on BMDC viability and found that EP strongly inhibited in vitro DC activation without inducing death. Furthermore, EP could prevent LPS-induced apoptosis that normally occurs 72h post-stimulation. Moreover, EP suppressed DC responses to other TLR stimuli including CpGs and R848. Our results indicate that EP inhibits most of the biological responses of DCs to LPS and other TLR stimuli. We are investigating the link between EP and HMGB1 release prevention from BMDCs. Testing the effect of HMGB1 blockade on DC activation will highlight a novel target to induce tolerogenic DCs and prolong solid organ graft survival.
Fast spin-echo MR imaging of the cervical spine: influence of echo train length and echo spacing on image contrast and quality.

PURPOSE To examine the interaction of echo train length and interecho spacing and their effects on image quality and contrast in fast spin-echo sequences of the cervical spine. METHODS Forty-three patients with suspected cervical disk disease were prospectively evaluated with fast spin-echo with varying echo train lengths and interecho spacing. A flow phantom was used to confirm findings related to cerebrospinal fluid pulsation. Parameters were manipulated to adjust contrast, signal-to-noise ratio, the effects of artifacts, and the speed of acquisition. RESULTS In general, increasing echo train length increased homogeneity and high intensity of cerebrospinal fluid signal and reduced acquisition time; however, it decreased the signal-to-noise ratio of cerebrospinal fluid and cord and increased blurring, and, to a lesser extent, edge enhancement, and "truncation-type" artifact. Increasing interecho space permitted the use of longer echo times but minimally decreased contrast and signal-to-noise ratio of cord and cerebrospinal fluid. In addition, increasing echo spacing increased blurring, edge enhancement, truncation-type, magnetic susceptibility, and motion artifacts. CONCLUSIONS For cervical spine imaging, a long echo train length and short echo spacing partially compensate for cerebrospinal fluid flow and produce the best myelographic effect but must be modulated by other constraints, such as artifact production or technical capabilities.
Regulation of Luteinizing Hormone-β and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)-β Gene Transcription by Androgens: Testosterone Directly Stimulates FSH-β Transcription Independent from Its Role on Follistatin Gene Expression

The gonadotropin β-subunit mRNAs are differentially regulated by androgens. Testosterone (T) suppresses LH-β and increases FSH-β. We aimed to determine whether androgens regulate LH-β and FSH-β transcription [as measured by changes in primary transcript (PT)] and to determine whether androgens act directly on FSH-β or via the intrapituitary activin/follistatin (FS) system. In castrate + GnRH antagonist-treated rats, T increased FSH-β PT between 3 and 48 h. In contrast, T suppressed LH-β PT. The increases in FSH-β mRNA and PT were associated with reduced FS mRNA. Activin βB mRNA was modestly suppressed. The increase in FSH-β PT after T was androgen specific. Both T and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) increased FSH-β PT 2-fold and decreased both FS and βB mRNA. Estradiol suppressed FSH-β PT 3-fold and had no effect on FS or βB mRNAs. LH-β PT was suppressed by DHT. To determine whether T stimulation of FSH-β PT reflected a decrease in pituitary FS, we gave androgen in the presence of exogenous FS in vitro. T and D...
Cross‐ethnic differences in eating disorder symptoms and related distress

Objective: This study investigated ethnic differences in the frequency of eating disorder symptoms and related distress in a U.S. college-based eating disorders screening program. Method: Responses to self-report questions and counselors' assessment were analyzed in an ethnically diverse sample (n = 5,435). Results: The frequency of binge-eating, restrictive eating, vomiting, and amenorrhea did not differ significantly across ethnic groups. However, significant between-group differences were found with respect to modes of purging. Binge correlates (e.g., eating until uncomfortably full) were significantly more frequent among Caucasian than African American participants (p < .001). Binge eating was the best predictor of distress among Caucasians, African Americans, and Latinos, whereas vomiting was the best predictor of distress among Asians. Asian participants who used laxatives were significantly less likely to receive a recommendation for further evaluation than non-Asian participants. Conclusion: Ethnic diversity in symp tom prevalence and related distress was identified. Clinician recognition of this potential diversity may enhance culturally competent care for eating disorders. © 2006 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2006
SOME MECHANICAL AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF CFN POLYMERS.

Mechanical and optical studies have been carried out on high temperature fluorinated triazine-derived elastomers. These behave as crosslinked rubbers, having low ultimate elongations and tensile strengths and showing a tendency toward development of a crystallike order.
Synthesis of lipids for development of multifunctional lipid-based drug-carriers.

Abstract A simple approach to synthesize phospholipids to modulate drug release and track lipid-based particulate drug-carriers is described. We synthesized two ether lipids, 1 1- O -hexadecyl-2-pentadenoyl- sn -glycerol-3-phosphocholine (C 31 PC) and 2 1- O -hexadecyl-2-pentadenoyl- sn -glycerol-3-phosphomethanol (C 31 PM), and examined their ability to alter enzymatically triggered release of 6-carboxyfluorescein from liposomes incubated in TRIS buffer or fetal bovine serum solutions. Further, we demonstrated that odd-chain lipids, for example, C 31 PC, could be identified in rat plasma without interference of endogenous lipids. This approach can be adapted to synthesize a variety of lipids for use in developing and optimizing multifunctional drug-carriers.
Structural Arrangement of the Intracellular Ca2+ Binding Domains of the Cardiac Na+/Ca2+ Exchanger (NCX1.1) EFFECTS OF Ca2+ BINDING

The cardiac Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX1.1) serves as the primary means of Ca2+ extrusion across the plasma membrane of cardiomyocytes after the rise in intracellular Ca2+ during contraction. The exchanger is regulated by binding of Ca2+ to its intracellular domain, which contains two structurally homologous Ca2+ binding domains denoted as CBD1 and CBD2. NMR and x-ray crystallographic studies have provided structures for the isolated CBD1 and CBD2 domains and have shown how Ca2+ binding affects their structures and motional dynamics. However, structural information on the entire Ca2+ binding domain, denoted CBD12, and how binding of Ca2+ alters its structure and dynamics is more limited. Site-directed spin labeling has been employed in this work to address these questions. Electron paramagnetic resonance measurements on singly labeled constructs of CBD12 have identified the regions that undergo changes in dynamics as a result of Ca2+ binding. Double electron-electron resonance (DEER) measurements on doubly labeled constructs of CBD12 have shown that the β-sandwich regions of the CBD1 and CBD2 domains are largely insensitive to Ca2+ binding and that these two domains are widely separated at their N and C termini. Interdomain distances measured by DEER have been employed to construct structural models for CBD12 in the presence and absence of Ca2+. These models show that there is not a major change in the relative orientation of the two Ca2+ binding domains as a result of Ca2+ binding in the NCX1.1 isoform. Additional measurements have shown that there are significant changes in the dynamics of the F-G loop region of CBD2 that merit further characterization with regard to their possible involvement in regulation of NCX1.1 activity. Background: There are conflicting models for how intracellular Ca2+ allosterically regulates Na+/Ca2+ exchange. Results: The model of reorientation of the two Ca2+ binding domains upon Ca2+ binding in the NCX1.4 isoform is not supported by data for NCX1.1. Conclusion: There is motivation to further evaluate the mechanism(s) of Ca2+ activation of NCX1.1. Significance: Control of Ca2+ efflux in cardiomyocytes is vital for cardiac physiology.
New Accelerators in High Energy Physics

First, I should like to mention a few new ideas that have appeared during the last few years in the accelerator field. A couple are of importance in the design of injectors, usually linear accelerators, for high-energy machines. Then I shall review some of the somewhat sensational accelerator projects, now in operation, under construction or just being proposed. Finally, I propose to mention a few applications of high-energy accelerators in fields other than high-energy physics. I realize that this is a digression from my title but I hope that you will find it interesting.