cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Kinetics of collagen microneedle drug delivery system

Abstract Microneedle fabrication using biopolymers has emerged as a potential technique to offer additional advantages of biodegradability and enhanced biocompatibility over other polymers. Collagen, a biopolymeric source of extracellular support in human skin, serves the purpose of adaptation and synthesis of dissolvable microneedles as well. Hence the present study is designed to synthesize dissolvable collagen microneedles using micro-molding technique whereas Taguchi analysis was employed to evaluate their correlations and conclude the outcomes as stabilized conditions to produce uniform microneedles. The drug loading and releasing potential of microneedles were demonstrated using trypan blue as a model drug. Moreover, in vitro penetration of fabricated microneedles was conducted on mice skin and histological imaging witnessed its practical potential. This collagen based dissolving microneedles may serve as the promising device for delivering collagen as well as other drugs for the betterment of skin and other health issues respectively, in no time.
Creating 3D models from Radiologic Images for Virtual Reality Medical Education Modules

Virtual Reality (VR) is a powerful tool that has increasingly being used by medical field in recent years. It has been mainly used surgical training in particular laparoscopic procedures. VR can be used for the teaching of anatomy. The aim of the study is to show application of transforming 2D radiologic images into 3D model by using thresholding and segmentation and import into VR interface at an affordable cost. Four anatomy modules are created with inputs to control the rotational and translational movement of 3D models in the virtual space. These movements allow users to explore 3D models by using head tilt and gaze input. 3D models of the Circle of Willis, Vertebral Aneurysm, Spine, and Skull are rendered in the user's field of view at runtime. VR is constructed to have many potentials uses in radiology education. Visualization of 3D anatomic structures in a virtual environment give another tool for teaching to students and patients about anatomy of the body. Four anatomy modules described here demonstrate example user interaction patterns best suited for viewing contexts. Instead viewing stacked 2D images or 3D models confined to desktop applications, virtual reality increases user interactivity of education. An intuitive understanding of anatomic structures in 3D space enhances the learning experience for medical students, residents, and patients we are treating.
A Changing Street Life in a Changing Society

Jan Gehl Meeting other people, watching what is going on, seeing young and old; being enter­ tained by street artists, ordinary daily street life, or the ever changing human scene: these are the subtle, traditional joys related to life in public spaces. The squares of Rome and Siena; the streets of Venice, Europe, and North America; main streets, ordinary streets, and sidewalks: these are traditional open air public spaces, well known through history—and still around. Handed over from pre­ vious generations with their memories of days and life past, they are still, in varying degrees, part of urban life. However, streets and squares, as well as street life patterns, are under heavy pres­ sure from a number of directions. Car traffic and parking take up space, side­ walks become narrower; spaces are being filled widi danger, noise, fumes, and rude 50 miles per hour architecture. The number of diversions is increasing as well. The telephone, television set, 30 T V chan­ nels, and video shops offering a six-movie Sunday pack signal new eras. Spend the week­ ends at home and watch, passively, what others have personally seen. Changing patterns of consumption from market to discount store and supermarket can be noted. Buying in bulk, or by mail or T V screen; new types of merchandise: these are the signs of growing overall consumption, but less street life is generated by these activities. Traditional public open spaces have con­ temporary counterparts: shopping malls, arcades, and atriums; festival markets, underground cities, and skywalk systems. The innovations have tend­ ed to concentrate urban life in certain locations, certain hours, and certain categories of accept­ able activities. These spaces are mostly indoor and nearly always privately-controlled, offering
Focused Cardiac Ultrasonography for Left Ventricular Systolic Function.

Focused Cardiac Ultrasonography This video presents a practical method for conducting focused cardiac ultrasonography, a qualitative or semiquantitative means of assessing cardiac size, structure, ...
Impact Ionization Model for S-NDR based Threshold Switching Devices

Sneak path leakage in crosspoint memory arrays limits the array size and accurate reading operations. One solution is adding a selector with highly nonlinear 1-V characteristics in series with the memory cell to suppress leakage current. Some two terminal selectors consisting of metal/semiconductor/metal structure can exhibit an S-type negative differential resistance (S-NDR). S-NDR results in Ovonic threshold switching, which is a rapid and reversible transition between the high resistance state (HRS/OFF) and low resistance state (LRS/ON). One of the main challenges that this technology face is the lack of quantitative engineering models of S-NDR that allow device design. In this work, we derive a quantitative model for S-NDR based on impact ionization theory and avalanche carrier multiplication [1], leading hypothesis for the S-NDR mechanism. We fabricate TiN/GeTe 6 /TiN threshold switching devices to verify the model's feasibility.
Addressing product performance issues through ingredients

Abstract This chapter reviews ingredient-based solutions to improve the quality and heating performance of microwavable foods. The major defects include bread and meat toughening, pasta softening, bumping, and runaway heating. The mechanisms and solutions are discussed.
Adenovirus as a platform for selective assembly and targeted delivery of gold nanoparticles to tumor cells

5605 Nanotechnology holds great promise for the treatment of diseases like cancer. In this regard, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have biomedical applications such as drug delivery, imaging, and hyperthermic tumor cell ablation. However, lack of AuNP targeting to tumor cells is a major impediment for realization of these therapeutic possibilities. Therefore, we propose to use targeted adenoviral (Ad) gene therapy vector as a platform for selective assembly and specific delivery of AuNPs to tumors. This would also allow a combination of gene therapy and nanotechnology for the treatment of cancer. We have previously demonstrated that AuNPs can be coupled to Ad vectors. We herein aim to further this paradigm by coupling AuNPs to specific Ad capsid locations and thus avoiding detrimental effects on Ad infectivity and targeting that were observed with the non-specific approach. Towards this goal, 1.8 nm Ni-NTA-AuNPs were coupled to Ad vectors expressing a 6-His tag at different capsid locations, including fiber fibritin (FF, ~9 copies), pIX (240 copies) or hexon (720 copies). Upon coupling AuNPs to Ad, the molecular weight of the hexon virus increased in a CsCl density gradient indicating successful attachment of the AuNPs. However, no increase in the density of FF and pIX viruses was observed. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of AuNPs in the hexon virus and its absence in the FF and the pIX viruses. This corroborates with the fact that that FF virus has few 6-His (~9) tags for AuNP binding. With respect to pIX, this protein is structurally located 65 A below the main surface of the Ad capsid and might therefore be inaccessible to AuNPs. Atomic absorption spectroscopy was utilized to determine that 56±4 AuNPs were bound per hexon virus. This indicates that hexon is the optimal location for AuNP binding to the capsid. Also, specifically AuNP-labeled Ad vector infectivity for native Ad vector receptor expressing HeLa cells was 2-fold higher as compared to the non-specifically labeled vectors. Importantly, unlike the non-specifically AuNP-labeled Ad vectors, no adverse effects on Ad vector tumor targeting ability were observed after specific coupling of AuNPs to the hexon virus. Therefore, Ad can provide a versatile platform for selective assembly of AuNPs, resulting in a multifunctional agent capable of simultaneous targeting and treatment of cancer by utilizing gene therapy and nanotechnology approaches.
The Indefeasibility Criterion for Assurance Cases

Ideally, assurance enables us to know that our system is safe or possesses other attributes we care about. But full knowledge requires omniscience, and the best we humans can achieve is well-justified belief. So what justification should be considered adequate for a belief in safety? We adopt a criterion from epistemology and argue that assurance should be “indefeasible,” meaning that we must be so sure that all doubts and objections have been attended to that there is no (or, more realistically, we cannot imagine any) new information that would cause us to change our evaluation. We explore application of this criterion to the interpretation and evaluation of assurance cases and derive a strict but practical characterization for a sound assurance case.
Exploring the Effect of Post-mastectomy complications on 5-year survival.

Abstract Background Ramifications of postoperative complications on long-term survival after mastectomy are uncertain. Methods Overall complications (Clavien-Dindo Grades I-IIIB) and wound complications were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method for impact on 5-year overall (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). Results A total of 378 patients underwent mastectomy alone (157, 41%) or mastectomy with reconstruction (221, 59%) for Stage I-III disease with a median follow-up of 5 years. Postoperative complications occurred in 186 patients (49%), requiring non-surgical (I/II = 83, 22%) or surgical (IIIa/IIIb = 103, 27%) management. Wound complications occurred in 140 patients (37%). Reconstruction was associated with a higher rate of complication (P Conclusions Postoperative complications after mastectomy, with or without reconstruction, bear no significant impact on 5-year survival.
Biomimetic Mineralization of Hierarchical Nanofiber Shish-Kebabs in a Concentrated Apatite-Forming Solution

Recently, hierarchical polymer nanostructures called nanofiber shish-kebabs (NFSKs) have shown great potential in directing the distribution of minerals for biomineralization. In this work, we repo...
Palmar Musculature: Does It Affect the Development of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? A Pilot Study.

Background The etiology of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is multifactorial. Static mechanical characteristics of CTS have been described, but dynamic (muscular) parameters remain obscure. We believe that musculature overlying the transverse carpal ligament may have an effect on carpal tunnel pressure and may explain the prevalence of CTS in manual workers. Questions/Purposes To utilize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) imaging to estimate the amount of muscle crossing the area of the carpal tunnel and to compare these MRI measurements in patients with and without documented CTS. Methods A case–control study of wrist MRI scans between January 1, 2018, and December 1, 2019, was performed. Patients with a diagnosis of CTS were matched by age and gender with controls without a diagnosis of CTS. Axial MRI cuts at the level of the hook of the hamate were used to measure the thenar and hypothenar muscle depth overlying the carpal tunnel. Muscle depth was quantified in millimeters at three points: midcapitate, capitate–hamate border, capitate–trapezoid border. Average depth was calculated by dividing the cross-sectional area (CSA) by the transverse carpal ligament width. Statistical analysis included Student's t-test, chi-square test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient calculation. Results A total of 21 cases and 21 controls met the inclusion criteria for the study. There were no significant differences in demographics between case and control groups. The location and depth of the musculature crossing the carpal tunnel were highly variable in all areas evaluated. A significantly positive correlation was found between proximal median nerve CSA and muscle depth in the capitate–hamate area (correlation coefficient = 0.375; p = 0.014). CSA was not significantly associated with chart documented CTS. Conclusions We found large variability in our measurements. This likely reflects true anatomical variation. The significance of our findings depends on the location of the muscles and the line of pull and their effect on the mechanics of the transverse carpal ligament. Future research will focus on refining measurement methodology and understanding the mechanical effect of the muscular structure and insertions on carpal tunnel pressure. Level of Evidence This is a Level 3, case–control study.
Demonstration to Show Resonant Oscillations of a Simple Pendulum Coupled to a Mass-Spring Oscillator

Resonance is a widely observed physical phenomenon, occurring when an oscillator experiences a driving force whose frequency closely matches one of its own natural frequencies. Due to its broad applicability in physics, resonance is a familiar topic in the physics teaching literature. Previous studies include resonant energy transfer between similar mechanical systems such as coupled pendulums, resonant oscillations of wine glasses driven by sound waves, and resonance in AC circuits. Moreover, special drivers have been constructed to produce resonant oscillations of a variety of mechanical systems.
Machine learning to extract physiological parameters from multispectral diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

Significance: Physiological parameters extracted from diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) provide clinicians quantitative information about tissue that helps aid in diagnosis. There is a great need for an accurate and cost-effective method for extracting parameters from DRS measurements. Aim: The aim is to explore the accuracy and speed of physiological parameter extraction using machine learning models compared to that of the widely used Monte Carlo lookup table (MCLUT) inverse model. Approach: Diffuse reflectance spectra were simulated using a light transport model based on Monte Carlo simulations and weighted to six wavelengths. Deep learning (DL), random forest (RF), gradient boosting machine (GBM), and generalized linear model (GLM) machine learning models were built using a training set of 10,000 spectra from the simulated data. The MCLUT and machine learning models were used to predict physiological parameters from a separate test set of 30,000 simulated spectra. Mean absolute errors were calculated to evaluate the accuracy and compare it among MCLUT and machine learning models. In addition, the computational time to predict parameters from the test set was recorded to compare the speed among MCLUT and machine learning models. Results: The DL, RF, GBM, and GLM models all had significantly lower errors than the MCLUT inverse method for six wavelengths. The DL model proved to have the lowest errors, with all absolute percent errors under 10%. The DL model had much faster runtimes than the MCLUT. Conclusions: Machine learning is promising for extracting physiological parameters from six-wavelength DRS data, with both lower errors and a faster runtime than the widely used MCLUT model.
Polymer Nanocomposites for Photocatalytic Degradation and Photoinduced Utilizations of Azo-Dyes

Specially designed polymer nanocomposites can photo-catalytically degrade azo dyes in wastewater and textile effluents, among which TiO2-based nanocomposites are outstanding and extensively explored. Other nanocomposites based on natural polymers (i.e., chitosan and kaolin) and the oxides of Al, Au, B, Bi, Fe, Li, and Zr are commonly used. These nanocomposites have better photocatalytic efficiency than pure TiO2 through two considerations: (i) reducing the hole/electron recombination rate by stabilizing the excited electron in the conducting band, which can be achieved in TiO2-nanocomposites with graphene, graphene oxide, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), metal nanoparticles, or doping; (ii) decreasing the band energy of semiconductors by forming nanocomposites between TiO2 and other oxides or conducting polymers. Increasing the absorbance efficiency by forming special nanocomposites also increases photocatalytic performance. The photo-induced isomerization is exploited in biological systems, such as artificial muscles, and in technical fields such as memory storage and liquid crystal display. Heteroaryl azo dyes show remarkable shifts in photo-induced isomerization, which can be applied in biological and technical fields in place of azo dyes. The self-assembly methods can be employed to synthesize azo-dye polymer nanocomposites via three types of interactions: electrostatic interactions, London forces or dipole/dipole interactions between azo dyes, and photo alignments.
Comparison of three two-dimensional echocardiographic methods of assessing left ventricular size in Doberman Pinschers.

Abstract Introduction Compare three methods of obtaining linear left ventricular dimensions within the same Doberman Pinscher (DP). Animals One hundred and thirty-nine client-owned DP. Materials and Methods Linear left ventricular dimensions were measured using two-dimensional short-axis (Sx-2D), motion-mode short-axis (Sx-MM), and motion-mode long-axis (Lx-MM) methods, then left ventricular volumes were obtained using monoplane Simpson's method of discs (SMOD). A Friedman test with Dunn's multiple comparisons was used to compare differences between methods. Bias and correlation were evaluated via Bland-Altman and Spearman's correlation. Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing occult dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) compared to SMOD were determined. Coefficients of variation (CVs) were calculated for intra- and inter-observer measurement variability. Results There were significant differences between all linear dimensions in diastole and systole. Short-axis 2D measurements had significant bias compared with Sx-MM (diastole +1.19 mm, systole +1.65 mm) and Lx-MM (diastole +4.36 mm, systole +3.87 mm) as did Sx-MM compared with Lx-MM (diastole +3.17 mm, systole +2.22 mm). All linear dimensions had a moderate positive correlation with SMOD. The sensitivity and specificity of linear measurements to detect DCM were: Sx-2D (sensitivity 72.0%, specificity 88.5%), Sx-MM (sensitivity 52.0%, specificity 92.0%), and Lx-MM (sensitivity 37.5%, specificity 99.1%). All methods had acceptably low CV for intra- and inter-observer measurement variability. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that linear measurements are repeatable and correlate with reference standard; however, there is a significant bias between measurements, and they should not be used interchangeably.
Seamlessly integrating disk and tape in a multi-tiered distributed file system

The explosion of data volumes in enterprise environments and limited budgets have triggered the need for multi-tiered storage systems. With the bulk of the data being extremely infrequently accessed, tape is a natural fit for storing such data. In this paper we present our approach to a file storage system that seamlessly integrates disk and tape, enabling a bottomless and cost-effective storage architecture that can scale to accommodate Big Data requirements. The proposed system offers access to data through a POSIX filesystem interface under a single global namespace, optimizing the placement of data across disk and tape tiers. Using a self-contained, standardized and open filesystem format on the removable tape media, the proposed system avoids dependence on proprietary software and external metadata servers to access the data stored on tape. By internally managing the tape tier resources, such as tape drives and cartridges, the system relieves the user from the burden of dealing with the complexities of tape storage. Our implementation, which is based on the GPFS and LTFS filesystems, demonstrates the applicability of the proposed architecture in real-world environments. Our experimental evaluation has shown that this is a very promising approach in terms scalability, performance and manageability. The proposed system has been productized by IBM as LTFS Enterprise Edition.
Charlemagne and Louis the Pious: Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer – By Thomas F. X. Noble

The ninth century witnessed the rebirth of the secular biography, as five such Latin vitae were produced, albeit for two rather extraordinary figures, two for Charlemagne and three for his son, Lou...
LEUKEMIA AND PRELEUKEMIA IN FANCONI ANEMIA PATIENTS : A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL FANCONI ANEMIA REGISTRY

Fanconi anemia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized clinically by a progressive pancytopenia, diverse congenital abnormalities, and increased predisposition to malignancy. Although a variable phenotype makes accurate diagnosis on the basis of clinical manifestations difficult in some patients, the unique sensitivity of FA cells to the clastogenic effect of DNA cross-linking agents such as diepoxybutane (DEB) can be used to facilitate the diagnosis. We review all cases of FA reported to have leukemia, preleukemia, or a bone marrow (BM) clonal chromosomal abnormality and include for the first time an analysis of these conditions observed in patients in the International Fanconi Anemia Registry (IFAR). The incidence of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in FA patients is more than 15,000 times that observed in children in the general population. Cytogenetic studies of FA-associated leukemias disclose a high frequency of monosomy 7 and duplications involving 1q. There were no occurrences of t(8;21), t(15;17), or abnormalities of 11q, which are associated with M2, M3, and M5 leukemias, respectively, but not with preleukemia. Development of leukemia in FA patients was associated with an exceedingly poor prognosis, with a mean age of death of 15 years. We suggest that all FA patients may be considered preleukemic and that this disorder presents a model for study of the etiology of AML.
Burden of disease variants in participants of the long life family Study

Case control studies of nonagenarians and centenarians provide evidence that long-lived individuals do not differ in the rate of disease associated variants compared to population controls. These results suggest that an enrichment of novel protective variants, rather than a lack of disease associated variants, determine the genetic predisposition to exceptionally long lives. Using data from the Long Life Family Study (LLFS), we sought to replicate these findings and extend them to include a larger number of disease-specific risk alleles. To accomplish this goal, we built a genetic risk score for each of four age-related disease groups: Alzheimer's disease, cardiovascular disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, and various cancers and compared the distribution of these scores between older participants of the LLFS, their offspring and their spouses. The analyses showed no significant differences in distribution of the genetic risk scores for cardiovascular disease and stroke, type 2 diabetes, or cancer between the groups, while participants of the LLFS appeared to carry an average 1% fewer risk alleles for Alzheimer's disease compared to spousal controls and, while the difference may not be clinically relevant, it was statistically significant. However, the statistical significance between familial longevity and the Alzheimer's disease genetic risk score was lost when a more stringent linkage disequilibrium threshold was imposed to select independent genetic variants.
Mobile Agents to Automate Fault Management in Wireless and Mobile Networks

This paper studies the automation of fault management of wireless and mobile networks. A network management protocol similar to SNMP with an integrated architecture using mobile agents will prove effective in fault management of such networks. In view of the above, we design a wireless network management protocol to support fault management. In particular, we use mobile agents to detect, diagnose and recover from faults in wireless and mobile networks.
Flow Cytometry: An Overview

Approximately a decade has passed since the first reports on modern flow cytometry appeared in the general literature (5, 12, 13, 21, 27, 38). During that time, many advances have been made in both the instruments available and the wide variety of applications that have appeared in many areas in biology and medicine. The purpose of the present paper is not to review all these aspects but to (a) give a brief historical introduction to the field; (b) describe the basic features common to all instrumental approaches; and finally (c) give some indication of future trends that can be expected to materialize in the next few years. Several excellent reviews are now available, and the reader is referred to these for more details and references (4, 24).
Security amplification for the cascade of arbitrarily weak PRPs: tight bounds via the interactive hardcore lemma

We consider the task of amplifying the security of a weak pseudorandom permutation (PRP), called an e-PRP, for which the computational distinguishing advantage is only guaranteed to be bounded by some (possibly non-negligible) quantity e > 1. We prove that the cascade (i.e., sequential composition) of m e-PRPs (with independent keys) is an ((m - (m - 1)e)em + V)-PRP, where V is a negligible function. In the asymptotic setting, this implies security amplification for all e > 1-1/poly, and the result extends to two-sided PRPs, where the inverse of the given permutation is also queried. Furthermore, we show that this result is essentially tight. This settles a long-standing open problem due to Luby and Rackoff (STOC '86). Our approach relies on the first hardcore lemma for computational indistinguishability of interactive systems: Given two systems whose states do not depend on the interaction, and which no efficient adversary can distinguish with advantage better than e, we show that there exist events on the choices of the respective states, occurring each with probability at least 1-e, such that the two systems are computationally indistinguishable conditioned on these events.
Data Averaging of Anisotropic Composite Material Constants

Material parameters which are dependent on direction of orientation can be best represented by tensors of appropriate ranks. Using tensor transformation rule and associated scalar invariants of the tensor, experimental data can be averaged and reduced to compact constants for engineering documentation and retrieval. Examples on data averaging of composite swelling coefficients and elastic compliances illustrate the simplicity and viability of this tensor averaging methodology.
Abstract 5565: In vitro pharmacogenomic study of ovarian cancer finds novel genetic variants associated with response to platinum and taxane therapies

Background: The standard treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients with advanced disease is initial debulking surgery followed by carboplatin-paclitaxel combination therapy. Unfortunately, even with modern chemotherapy, most patients with advanced disease relapse and die of EOC. One of the biggest challenges in the treatment of EOC is the large inter-patient variation in clinical response and toxicity observed for taxane and platinum therapies. Purpose: To determine pharmacogenomic markers related to carboplatin-paclitaxel therapy with 33 Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) transformed lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) derived from EOC patients for which genome-wide genetic information exists. Methods: The 33 LCLs were treated with increasing concentrations of carboplatin and/or paclitaxel, followed by MTT cytotoxicity and Caspase3/7 assays. Using the measurements of MTT absorbance or Caspase3/7 fluorescence, dose response curves were fit to estimate the in vitro drug response (MTT or caspase3/7) for each LCL and treatment (paclitaxel, carboplatin, and combination) using the inflection point of the fitted curve (i.e.., the MTT IC50 or effective dose that kills 50% of the cells). The six in vitro phenotypes where then associated with genome-wide SNP data, imputed up to the markers in the 1000 Genomes Project. Results: Genetic association analysis of carboplatin, paclitaxel and combination therapy cell viability, as measured by MTT, found one SNP, rs202167095 within HS3ST4, in common with all three phenotypes (p Citation Format: Brooke L. Fridley, Taraswi M. Ghosh, Alice Wang, Ellen L. Goode, Jatinder Lamba. In vitro pharmacogenomic study of ovarian cancer finds novel genetic variants associated with response to platinum and taxane therapies. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 5565. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-5565
Evaluation of reforestation in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley

Only about 2.8 million ha of an estimated original 10 million ha of bottomland hardwood forests still exist in the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (LMAV) of the United States. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and state agencies initiated reforestation efforts in the late 1980s to improve wildlife habitat. We surveyed restorationists responsible for reforestation in the LMAV to determine the magnitude of past and future efforts and to identify major limiting factors. Over the past 10 years, 77,698 ha have been reforested by the agencies represented in our survey and an additional 89,009 ha are targeted in the next 5 years. Oaks are the most commonly planted species and bare-root seedlings are the most commonly used planting stock. Problems with seedling availability may increase the diversity of plantings in the future. Reforestation in the LMAV is based upon principles of landscape ecology; however, local problems such as herbivory, drought, and flooding often limit success. Broad-scale hydrologic restoration is needed to fully restore the structural and functional attributes of these systems, but because of drastic and widespread hydrologic alterations and socioeconomic constraints, this goal is generally not realistic. Local hydrologic restoration and creation of specific habitat features needed by some wildlife and fish species warrant attention. More extensive analyses of plantings are needed to evaluate functional success. The Wetland Reserve Program is a positive development, but policies that provide additional financial incentives to landowners for reforestation efforts should be seriously considered.
Direct quantitative comparison of shell vial and conventional culture for detection of CMV viremia.

Abstract Background: Centrifugation shell vial (SV) and conventional tube culture (TC) are the most common methods for detecting cytomegalovirus (CMV) viremia. Studies have indicated that SV is more sensitive than TC but at least one report suggested that TC was more sensitive. Because CMV in the blood is primarily associated with infected leukocytes, the number of leukocytes inoculated into the different culture systems could affect the sensitivities of the two systems. Objectives: To compare the sensitivities of SV and TC for detection of CMV viremia by inoculating equal numbers of leukocytes into paired SV cultures and TC cultures. Study design: Leukocytes from transplant recipients were isolated and counted. Equal numbers of leukocytes were then inoculated into each of two MRC-5 SV and into each of two MRC-5 TC. SV was considered positive when either one or both vials were positive, and TC was considered positive when either one or both tubes showed evidence of CMV cytopathic effect (CPE). Results: From a total of 434 specimens tested, 85 (19.6%) were positive by SV or TC. CMV was detected by SV in 75 (88%) of the positive specimens, compared to TC which was positive in 40 (47%) of the positive specimens. Conclusions: When equal numbers of leukocytes were inoculated into each system, SV had significantly greater sensitivity than TC for detecting CMV viremia. However, a small number of episodes of viremia were detected only by TC. Therefore, both methods should be used for maximum sensitivity.
Finding maximum subgraphs with relatively large vertex connectivity

Abstract We consider a clique relaxation model based on the concept of relative vertex connectivity. It extends the classical definition of a k-vertex-connected subgraph by requiring that the minimum number of vertices whose removal results in a disconnected (or a trivial) graph is proportional to the size of this subgraph, rather than fixed at k. Consequently, we further generalize the proposed approach to require vertex-connectivity of a subgraph to be some function f of its size. We discuss connections of the proposed models with other clique relaxation ideas from the literature and demonstrate that our generalized framework, referred to as f-vertex-connectivity, encompasses other known vertex-connectivity-based models, such as s-bundle and k-block. We study related computational complexity issues and show that finding maximum subgraphs with relatively large vertex connectivity is NP-hard. An interesting special case that extends the R-robust 2-club model recently introduced in the literature, is also considered. In terms of solution techniques, we first develop general linear mixed integer programming (MIP) formulations. Then we describe an effective exact algorithm that iteratively solves a series of simpler MIPs, along with some enhancements, in order to obtain an optimal solution for the original problem. Finally, we perform computational experiments on several classes of random and real-life networks to demonstrate performance of the developed solution approaches and illustrate some properties of the proposed clique relaxation models.
Short-Time Matrix Pencil Method for Chipless RFID Detection Applications

In this paper, the concept of short-time matrix pencil method (STMPM) is introduced and experimentally demonstrated as an efficient approach to extract a set of embedded poles in a chipless RFID. Here, by incorporating a few notches on the elliptical dipole antenna as a chipless RFID, the data is encoded as complex natural resonant frequencies of the structure. In this new detection approach, a sliding time window is introduced and the matrix pencil method (MPM) is applied to extract embedded poles and residues from the sliding time-window at each snapshot of time. The resulting complex poles and residues have a time index which allows us to process them as a set of time–frequency data. This time–frequency analysis enables us to discriminate late-time from early-time. Furthermore, averaging complex poles over the time increases the accuracy of the technique in a noisy environment. The measured data agrees well with our simulations and support the STMPM effectiveness in comparison to the MPM.
Assessing Challenges in End-of-Life Conversations With Patients Utilizing a Public Safety-Net Health Care System

Multiple factors influence end-of-life (EOL) care discussions that occur in health care systems, within organizations, among individuals working within these systems and in patients and family/friend support networks. This study examined barriers to EOL care discussions as experienced by health care providers working in a public safety-net health care system where the majority of their patients were low-income and immigrant Latinos seeking medical treatment. Qualitative data were collected in South Central Los Angeles through semistructured interviews with 46 health care providers from different disciplines in medicine, nursing, social work, and chaplaincy. The themes indicated communication barriers in the public sector health care setting and sociocultural patient- and family-level factors. All providers made valuable contributions to clarify the complexity of the problems. Universal strategies are needed to improve communication.
Dipole moments and structures of some bis-(trifluoroacetylacetonato) complexes

Abstract The dipole moments, in benzene solution, of bis -(trifluoroacetylacetonato)-Be(II), Co(II) and Cu(II) have been measured. The results are believed to indicate that, under the conditions of the measurements, the latter two exist as planar complexes with a cis-trans ratio of about 3 : 2. This is the same conclusion previously reached by McCarthy and Martell for the Cu(II) compound alone by an independent method.
Serpentine superlattice: concept and first results

Abstract We present an epitaxial growth technique for vicinal substrates which avoids the geometric tilt sensitivity inherent to the cyclic growth of such structures as tilted superlattices. This cyclical deposition and growth technique produces a serpentine superlattice (SSL) (M.S. Miller et al., in: Proc. 20th Intern. Conf. on Physics of Semiconductors, Thessaloniki, August 1990). Purposefully varying the per-cycle growth rate produces a lateral superlattice with a variable, meandering tilt, with 1 D, microscopically confined electronic states formed where the superlattice bends over. The quantum wire electronic confinement is principally determined by the SSL shape near these widest regions, near places with a vertical tangent. This shape is accurately established through the smooth adjustment of the fractional monolayer growth rates. If a large enough range of growth rates is spanned, then a particular confinement structure is guaranteed: With a SSL, quantum wire arrays with particular energy levels may be precisely realized. Not only is this true at a particular place on the substrate, but the growth rate variations across a substrate are automatically accommodated and uniform wires are realized over the entire wafer. Calculations of the two-dimensional subband structure were performed for (Ga,Al)As SSLs to confirm the 1D electronic states, determine optimal structure parameters and explain experimental results. Such (Ga,Al)As SSLs have been prepared by MBE and characterized with photoluminescence. We find emitted light in several samples that is polarized parallel to the direction of the vicinal substrate's steps, which we interpret to be consistent with quasi-1D confinement.
A role of phosphodiesterase-3B pathway in mediating leptin action on proopiomelanocortin and neurotensin neurons in the hypothalamus

Leptin signaling in the hypothalamus is required for normal food intake and body weight homeostasis. Recent evidence suggests that besides the signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3) pathway, several non-STAT3 pathways mediate leptin signaling in the hypothalamus. We have previously demonstrated that leptin stimulates phosphodiesterase-3B (PDE3B) activity in the hypothalamus, and PDE3 inhibitor cilostamide reverses anorectic and body weight reducing effects of leptin. To establish the physiological role of PDE3B signaling in the hypothalamus, we examined if leptin signaling through the PDE3B pathway is responsible for the activation of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neurotensin (NT) neurons, which are known to play a critical role in energy homeostasis. To this end, we assessed the effect of cilostamide on leptin-induced POMC and NT gene expression in the rat hypothalamus. Results showed that while central injection of leptin significantly increased both POMC and NT mRNA levels in the medial basal hypothalamus, cilostamide completely reversed this effect of leptin suggesting a PDE3B-activation dependent induction of POMC and NT gene expression by leptin. This result further suggests that the PDE3B pathway plays an important role in mediating leptin action in the hypothalamus.
Acute progressive resistance exercise alters intracardiac pressure in ponies

Five male ponies (3–6 years, 208±11 kg) were used to examine the haemodynamic effects of resistance exercise. The experiment consisted of a 30 min catheterization period and a 15 min equilibration period followed by the test. Initially, the ponies stood quietly on a treadmill for collection of 5 min of baseline data. They then walked at 1.9 m s−1 for 1 min sets while carrying 0 kg, 67 kg or 134 kg of weight loaded on the saddle area. Weights were applied in a randomized order using a chain hoist and sling. The ponies rested unloaded for 2 min between sets and all cardiovascular parameters returned to baseline before beginning the next set. Haemodynamic measurements (heart rate (HR), carotid artery systolic (SP), diastolic (DP), pulse (PP) and mean pressure (MAP), right atrial pressure (RAP), right ventricular pressure (RVP) and right ventricular maximum rate of pressure rise (dP/dtmax)) were recorded continuously and data collected during the last 18 s of each set were averaged and analysed. HR increased (P 0.05) between the response to 67 versus 134 kg load (43 and 51%; 40 and 46%; 49 and 62, respectively). Pulse pressure did not change (P>0.05) from baseline values. These data suggest that resistance exercise in the form of weight carried increases intraventricular pressure through a significant increase in both cardiac pre-load and after-load.
Cerebral autoregulation and outcome in acute brain injury.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Czosnyka and others’ Pressure Reactivity Index (PRx) and neurologic outcome in patients with acute brain injury, including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cerebrovascular pathology. PRx measures the correlation between arterial blood pressure and intracranial pressure waves and may reflect cerebral autoregulation in response to blood pressure changes. A negative PRx reflects intact cerebrovascular response, whereas a positive PRx reflects impaired response. Positive PRx has been shown to correlate with poorer outcome in individuals with TBI, but these findings have not been confirmed by replication in other studies, nor have PRx values been reported for individuals with cerebrovascular pathology. In this study, PRx was determined in 52 patients with TBI (n = 27) or cerebrovascular pathology (n = 25). Hierarchical linear regression was used to evaluate the contribution of PRx to outcome, controlling for age and Glasgow Coma Scale score. Ana...
An improved ART neural net for machine cell formation

Abstract Several researchers have applied the Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) neural network for solving the machine cell formation problem. The standard ART1 algorithm is efficient, but its solution quality is dependent on the input order of the machine-part matrix, especially in the presence of ill-structured data. To alleviate this problem, pre-processing and/or post-processing heuristics have been added to the standard algorithm. This paper presents an alternative algorithm which modifies the standard ART1 in two ways: (1) it inputs bipolar vectors instead of binary vectors as given in the original machine-part matrix, and (2) it incorporates performance criteria into the algorithm. The results show that the modified algorithm yields an equally good or better solution than do the existing ones on a set of published examples.
Optimization of alkali soaking and extrusion pretreatment of prairie cord grass for maximum sugar recovery by enzymatic hydrolysis

Abstract Apart from corn stover and switchgrass, there are several other types of biomass that have comparable yield and can be grown across the country, and prairie cord grass (PCG) is one among them. Biomass pretreatment is an essential step in the conversion of biomass to bioethanol. Till date, no perfect conversion technology has been established for biofuel production from biomass on commercial scale. Extrusion pretreatment of PCG showed significant improvement on sugar recovery (63.5%). However, there is still room to improve sugar recovery from PCG by combining with alkali soaking. The current study was undertaken to investigate the influence of alkali (NaOH) concentration on sugar recovery and optimize extruder barrel temperature, screw speed, and particle size for maximum sugar recovery. In order to evaluate the sequential effect of alkali soaking and extrusion, PCG (2–10 mm) was soaked at different alkali concentrations (0.5–2.5%, w/v NaOH) for 30 min at room temperature and then extruded using a lab scale single screw extruder at various barrel temperatures (45–225 °C) and screw speeds (20–200 rpm). All the independent variable had a strong influence on sugar recovery and it was confirmed through statistical analyses. The proposed quadratic model to predict sugar recoveries had high F and R 2 values with low p value adequately representing the relationship. The optimal pretreatment condition 114 °C barrel temperature, 122 rpm screw speed, 1.70% alkali concentration, and 8 mm particle size resulted a maximum glucose, xylose and combined sugar recoveries of 86.8, 84.5, and 82%, respectively, by enzymatic hydrolysis.
The effectiveness of corporate communicative responses to accusations of unethical behavior

When corporations are accused of unethical behaviour by external actors, executives from those organizations are usually compelled to offer communicative responses to defend their corporate image. To demonstrate the effect that corporate executives' communicative responses have on third parties' perception of corporate image, we present the Corporate Communicative Response Model in this paper. Of the five potential communicative responses contained in this model (no response, denial, excuse, justification, and concession), results from our empirical test demonstrate that a concession is the most effective and robust communicative option.
Watching Gene Regulation by Small RNA in Bacteria with Super-Resolution Imaging

Small RNAs play important roles in regulating gene expression. Here we describe a new approach for characterization and quantification of small regulatory RNAs as well as targeting mRNA at single-cell level by combining single-molecule in situ hybridization and super-resolution imaging. We apply this approach to investigate a stress-induced bacterial small RNA, which is the central regulatory effector of the glucose-phosphate stress response. The quantitative analysis and localization information allow us to establish a kinetic model to describe the sRNA-induced target mRNA degradation in the cell. More importantly, our results demonstrate very promising application of this technique in studying other bacterial small RNA systems, and potentially microRNAs in eukaryotes.
Modelling and performance analysis of the distributed scheduler in IEEE 802.16 mesh mode

To meet the needs of wireless broadband access, the IEEE 802.16 protocol for wireless metropolitan networks (WirelessMAN) has been recently standardized. The medium access control (MAC) layer of the IEEE 802.16 has point-to-multipoint (PMP) mode and mesh mode. Previous works on the IEEE 802.16 have primarily focused on the PMP mode. In the mesh mode, all nodes are organized in an ad hoc fashion and use a pseudo-random function to calculate their transmission time based on the scheduling information of the two-hop neighbors. In this paper, we develop a stochastic model for the distributed scheduler of the mesh mode. With this model, we analyze the scheduler performance under various conditions, and the analytical results match very well with the ns-2 simulation results. The analytical model developed in this paper is instrumental in optimizing the IEEE 802.16 mesh mode system performance. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first one theoretically investigating the IEEE 802.16 mesh mode scheduling performance.