cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A vision for global heath diplomacy in the foreign policy process: using smart power to prevent and resolve international conflict

In the twenty-first Century, the developed world attempts to provide global health assistance, to poorer countries - at least in part in the pursuit and maintenance of world order and stability. Rarely, however - and in most cases, then on an ad hoc basis - are related foreign policy tools deployed in combination with each other. Nonetheless, there is currently greater openness than ever before to such interdigitation. Not least this reflects the unprecedented challenges of modern political and security conditions - struggling to operate amidst a broader culture of global adverserialism, and conflict which conventional systems of intervention have struggled to successfully resolve. The problems presented in this regard by the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have evolved into, and been magnified by, the limited range and availability of effective responses to contemporary threats such as the Islamic State, international terrorism, jihadism, and the Syrian civil war. The risk of further contagion to even more severe world stability concerns that these situations present calls for an urgent restructuring of the way in which foreign policy processes and initiatives work, including systems of coordination and consultation between national and international agencies of defense, diplomacy, and development.
Editor’s message: Editors’ Choice articles for 2011 and upcoming theme issues

“Editors’ Choice” articles are ones selected for special attention by the Hydrogeology Journal (HJ) editorial team and the Guest Editors of the year’s theme issue. These articles may be selected for any of several good reasons including: outstanding science, innovative approach, potentially important conclusions, interesting field area or phenomenon, unusual topic, political/social/historical/ philosophical interest, etc. The HJ Editors believe that our readers would (or should!) find these articles to be somehow interesting or useful. At the conclusion of each publishing year, the Editors select up to five articles from among the year’s crop of about 150 published articles. Both authors and readers of the selected articles benefit because Editors’ Choice articles are: (1) highlighted on the International Association of Hydrogeologists’ (IAH) website and in the IAH newsletter, and (2) Springer Verlag, HJ’s publisher, makes these articles freely available on their website for full viewing and downloading at no cost to everyone. The Editors’ Choice articles for the 2011 publishing year are given in Table 1. Congratulations to all of these authors!
Functional analysis of Hoxa5: analysis of structural, behavioral, and molecular effects of Hoxa5 overexpression in transgenic line Hoxa5SV2

Mutation of murine HoxaS has shown that HOXAS controls lung, gastrointestinal tract and vertebrae development. HoxaS is also expressed in the spinal cord, yet no central nervous system phenotype has been described in the HoxaS knockout mice. To identify the role of HOXA5 in the developing spinal cord, we produced transgenic mice that overexpress HoxaS mRNA in the brachial (C4-T2) spinal cord. Multiple founder transgenic mice and one established transgenic line (HoxaSSV2) show skin ulceration of the chest and forelimbs, in regions innervated by C4-C7 sensory neurons. In HoxaSSVl, transgenic mice also display forelimb specific motor and sensory defects. Transgenics cannot support their body weight in a hang test, and forelimb strength is decreased in a weight pull test. However, Rotarod performance was not impaired in HoxaSSV2 mice. HoxaSSVl mice also show a delayed forelimb response to noxious heat, although the hindlimb response time was normal. Interestingly, administration of an analgesic 47 eliminated the hang test defect, indicating that pain pathways are involved in this behavioral defect. The morphology of transgenic cervical (but not lumbar) spinal cord is highly aberrant. Nissl staining indicates Laminae 1 and 2 of the dorsal horn appear to be absent or severely reduced in the C4-C7 region only, overlapping with the set of sensory neurons innervating affected skin regions. The distribution of cells and axons immunoreactive for substance P and neurokinin-B as well as the neurokinin-1 and neurokinin-3 receptors were also dramatically altered only in transgenic brachial spinal cord, similar to the morphological changes seen. The general pattern of substance P immunoreactivity in axons innervating transgenic footpads and in dorsal root ganglia appeared to be normal. We conclude that, in this transgenic line, the development and possibly correct specification of dorsal intemeurons involved in nociception is disrupted.
Elastolytic activities of Clostridium,histolyticum☆

Abstract By combinations of column chromatography, four fractions with elastolytic activity have been prepared from medium in which Clostridium , histolyticum has grown. One of these, Fraction C, is of very high specific activity and in fairly pure form. Three fractions in particular have been characterized. Like other elastases they also exert general protease activity, and can digest casein. Their actions against elastin are DIPF-sensitive and EDTA-insensitive. Their actions against casein are EDTA-sensitive and DIPF-in-sensitive. In crude form they can digest the peptide substrate developed by Visser and Blout for pancreatic elastase. The highly active clostridial Fraction C yields larger peptides with elastin than does pancreatic elastase, and eventually may be used in conjunction with that enzyme in sequence studies of elastin.
L-Glutamate Dehydrogenases*

Publisher Summary Glutamate dehydrogenases, as a class, catalyze the reversible oxidative deamination of L-glutamate to α -ketoglutarate and ammonia. The description of the characteristics of this reaction from a variety of sources show that, although all classed as glutamate dehydrogenase, the enzymes are different in terms of kinetic characteristics, metabolic function, and molecular properties. The animal enzymes are sensitive to the concentration of purine nucleotides, can catalyze the reaction using either Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) or Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP), and undergo a reversible polymerization reaction, which might influence the allosteric characteristics of the enzyme. The non-animal sources are specific either for NAD or for NADP, are in general not influenced by purine nucleotides, and do not appear to undergo a reversible polymerization reaction. These differences are related to the metabolic role of the reaction, which in animal tissues serves as an important link between carbohydrate and protein metabolism utilizing either α-ketoglutarate or glutamate depending on the condition of the cell, but which in non-animal organisms might act unidirectionally.
A comprehensive model for the kyr and Myr timescales of Earth's axial magnetic dipole field

Abstract. We consider a stochastic differential equation model for Earth's axial magnetic dipole field. Our goal is to estimate the model's parameters using diverse and independent data sources that had previously been treated separately, so that the model is a valid representation of an expanded paleomagnetic record on kyr to Myr timescales. We formulate the estimation problem within the Bayesian framework and define a feature-based posterior distribution that describes probabilities of model parameters given a set of features derived from the data. Numerically, we use Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) to obtain a sample-based representation of the posterior distribution. The Bayesian problem formulation and its MCMC solution allow us to study the model's limitations and remaining posterior uncertainties. Another important aspect of our overall approach is that it reveals inconsistencies between model and data or within the various data sets. Identifying these shortcomings is a first and necessary step towards building more sophisticated models or towards resolving inconsistencies within the data. The stochastic model we derive represents selected aspects of the long-term behavior of the geomagnetic dipole field with limitations and errors that are well defined. We believe that such a model is useful (besides its limitations) for hypothesis testing and give a few examples of how the model can be used in this context.
Role of endonuclease III enzymes in uracil repair.

Endonuclease III is a DNA glycosylase previously known for its repair activity on oxidative pyrimidine damage. Uracil is a deamination product derived from cytosine. Uracil DNA N-glycosylase (UNG) and mismatch-specific uracil DNA glycosylase (MUG) are two known repair enzymes with enzymatic activity on uracil in E. coli. Here we report a G/U specific uracil DNA glycosylase activity in E. coli endonuclease III (endo III, Nth), which is comparable to MUG but significantly lower than its thymine glycol DNA glycosylase activity. The possibility that the novel activity is due to contamination is ruled out by expressing the wild type nth gene and an active site mutant in a uracil-repair-deficient genetic background. Consistent with the biochemical analysis, analyses of lac+ reversion and mutation frequencies in the presence of human AID induced cytosine deamination indicate the endo III can play a role in repair of cytosine deamination. In addition to E. coli, UDG activity is found in endo III homologs from other organisms. E. coli nucleoside diphosphate kinase (Ndk) was also tested for UDG activity because it was previously reported as an uracil repair enzyme. Under the assay conditions, very limited UDG activity was detected in single-stranded uracil-containing DNA from E. coli Ndk and no UDG activity was detected in human Ndk homologs. This study provides definitive clarification on uracil repair by endo III and reveals that endonuclease III is a G/U-specific UDG that can be viewed as a prototype for the human MBD4 uracil DNA glycosylase.
Impressions of ineffectiveness: exploring support partners' attitudes toward sex offender registration and notification

ABSTRACTThe present study utilized in-depth qualitative interviews with 38 people who provided formal social support to registered sex offenders to explore their attitudes toward sex offender regis...
Complications of Temporary Percutaneous Mechanical Circulatory Support for Cardiogenic Shock: An Appraisal of Contemporary Literature.

Cardiogenic shock (CS) is associated with hemodynamic compromise and end-organ hypoperfusion due to a primary cardiac etiology. In addition to vasoactive medications, percutaneous mechanical circulatory support (MCS) devices offer the ability to support the hemodynamics and prevent acute organ failure. Despite the wide array of available MCS devices for CS, there are limited data on the complications from these devices. In this review, we seek to summarize the complications of MCS devices in the contemporary era. Using a systems-based approach, this review covers domains of hematological, neurological, vascular, infectious, mechanical, and miscellaneous complications. These data are intended to provide a balanced narrative and aid in risk–benefit decision-making in this acutely ill population.
Knight Meets Sharpe: Capital Asset Pricing under Ambiguity

This paper extends the classical mean-variance preferences to mean-variance-ambiguity preferences by relaxing the assumption that probabilities are known, and instead assuming that probabilities are uncertain. In general equilibrium, the two-fund separation theorem is preserved and the market portfolio is identified as efficient. Thereby, introducing ambiguity into the capital asset pricing model indicates that the \emph{ambiguity premium} corresponds to systematic ambiguity, which is distinguished from systematic risk. Using the measurable closed-form beta ambiguity, well-known performance measures are generalized to account for ambiguity alongside risk. The introduced capital asset pricing model is empirically implementable and provides insight into empirical asset pricing anomalies. The model can be extended to other applications, including investment decisions and valuations.
Innate and Autoimmunity in the Pathogenesis of Inherited Retinal Dystrophy

Inherited retinal dystrophies (RDs) are heterogenous in many aspects including genes involved, age of onset, rate of progression, and treatments. While RDs are caused by a plethora of different mutations, all result in the same outcome of blindness. While treatments, both gene therapy-based and drug-based, have been developed to slow or halt disease progression and prevent further blindness, only a small handful of the forms of RDs have treatments available, which are primarily for recessively inherited forms. Using immunohistochemical methods coupled with electroretinography, optical coherence tomography, and fluorescein angiography, we show that in rhodopsin mutant mice, the involvement of both the innate and the autoimmune systems could be a strong contributing factor in disease progression and pathogenesis. Herein, we show that monocytic phagocytosis and inflammatory cytokine release along with protein citrullination, a major player in forms of autoimmunity, work to enhance the progression of RD associated with a rhodopsin mutation.
Self-fulfilling objectification in relationships: The effects of men’s objectifying expectations on women’s self-objectification during conflict in romantic relationships

Interpersonal objectification shapes women’s sense of self, increasing self-objectification. While objectification is theorized to occur with consequences for self-objectification in romantic relat...
Pediatric appendiceal ultrasound: maintaining accuracy, increasing determinacy and improving clinical outcomes following the introduction of a standardized reporting template

Pediatric patients who underwent appendiceal US and received an equivocal interpretation had poorer clinical outcomes and higher medical costs compared to those to whom a definitive interpretation was given, either positive or negative. In an effort to reduce equivocal interpretations, we educated our group on the importance of increasing determinacy and encouraged the use of a reporting template with a definitive impression. We hypothesized that educational sessions and implementation of an optional reporting template with only a definitive impression would reduce equivocal reporting and improve clinical outcomes without negatively impacting US diagnostic performance. We retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients <18 years old at Mayo Clinic Rochester whose initial evaluation for acute appendicitis was a US in the 3-year period following educational sessions and template implementation. All studies were interpreted by board-certified fellowship-trained pediatric radiologists. We performed statistical analysis to compare the pre- and post-implementation cohorts. Following intervention, the rate of equivocal US interpretations was reduced from 23.7% to 9.3% (P<0.001). For studies with a definitive interpretation, measures of diagnostic performance of appendiceal US were similar for the pre- and post-implementation groups. US performance parameters were independent of appendiceal visualization. Follow-up CT utilization decreased from 18.7% to 8.9% (P<0.001). The negative laparotomy rate resulting from false-positive US interpretations remained low (6.8% vs. 5.0%, P=0.31). Following education sessions and implementation of an appendiceal US reporting template encouraging definitive reporting, equivocation was reduced, excellent diagnostic performance was maintained, follow-up CT utilization was reduced, and a low negative laparotomy rate was preserved.
The Role of Fleeting Orders on Options Expiration

We employ NASDAQ order level data to analyze intraday trading at option expirations and cross-market price pressure spillover. Algorithmic traders appear to place proportionately more fleeting orders in optionable stocks on option expiration versus non-expiration days. Since most observed fleeting orders are outside the NBBO, we discard the possibility that their purpose is to search for latent liquidity. Relation between NBBO proximity to strike prices and fleeting order direction implies they play a role in stock price clustering on option expiration days. We show that fleeting orders impact subsequent NBBO and that fleeting order direction is related to option Open Interest.
Blockchain Transforming Healthcare Data Flows

Healthcare data exists in silos. These siloed systems lack open standards surrounding how data is stored, labeled, and tagged. In turn, these data silos decrease data liquidity, or the ability of data to flow throughout the healthcare system. Undeniably, the healthcare industry sees the value in responsibly sharing health data to extract more value and new insights using predictive analytics, open science, and collaborative solutions. Effective collaboration requires collaborative data. Particularly with health-related data, “sending that data from one peer to another in a secure manner, in a compliant manner, and in a transparent manner” is vital. While organizations share this sentiment, a complex regulatory framework combined with data usage agreements and non-interoperable, proprietary databases add friction to this data exchange. Particularly in healthcare, blockchain enables greater transparency between healthcare professionals sharing data, and it empowers patients to have control over their data. First, this paper briefly discusses blockchain. Next, this paper outlines issues that plague the healthcare industry including the laws that serve as the framework. Finally, this paper discusses architecture considerations for a blockchain based healthcare data exchange that also respects the current regulatory environment.
Growth Modulation by Stimulating the Growth Plate: A Pilot Study.

Abstract This study investigates the ability of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) or direct injection of recombinant growth hormone (rGH) to stimulate local growth of long bones. In a randomized controlled animal trial, healthy immature rabbits were allocated to 1 of the following 4 conditions: epiphyseal rGH periosteal injection, transdermal LIPUS, saline periosteal injection, or no treatment. New bone deposition was labeled with calcein at days 1 and 18, and microscopic measurements of growth were conducted by blinded observers. Statistically significant differences in growth were observed between the LIPUS and rGH stimulated legs compared with contralateral control legs (35% p = 0.04 and 41% p = 0.04, respectively); whereas no difference was observed between the 4 control groups (p = 0.37). There was no evidence of physeal bar formation, suggesting that direct injection of rGH and application of LIPUS around the distal femoral physis in rabbits may have a positive effect on microscopic growth without short-term adverse sequelae.
Topic of the Month: Transient Elastography in Pediatric Liver Disease

ABSTRACT Transient elastography is an imaging technique utilizing shear wave technology to measure liver stiffness. Recent studies have shown success in utilizing this technique in children. Transient elastography is useful in estimating degree of fibrosis in various pediatric liver diseases, including biliary atresia, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency, Alagille syndrome, cystic fibrosis-related liver disease, and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis among others. Confounding factors, however, may affect elastography measurements, such as obesity, severe inflammation, nonfasting state, and hepatic congestion, and should be considered whenever interpreting these measurements. Future studies will correlate liver stiffness on transient elastography and severity of disease.
Derivation of the maintenance energy requirements and efficiency of metabolizable energy utilization for dry and lactating Jersey cows.

ABSTRACT Maintenance energy is the energy required to conserve the state of an animal when no work is completed. Dietary energy must be supplied to meet maintenance requirements before milk can be produced. The objectives of the current experiment were to quantify the maintenance energy requirement of Jersey cows when lactating or dry. Energetic measures were collected on 8 Jersey cows and evaluated across 3 physiological phases and nutritional planes: lactation, dry cows fed at maintenance, and fasted dry cows. Through total collection of feces and urine as well as using headbox-style indirect calorimeters, energy balance and heat production data were measured across all phases. Lactation data were collected across four 28-d periods. Data for cows fed at maintenance were collected after 14 d and fasting heat production was measured during the last 24 h of a 96-h fast. Net energy for maintenance (NEM) requirements, and the efficiency of converting metabolizable energy (ME) into net energy were compared between lactating and dry (maintenance or fasting phase) cows. Heat production of dry cows fed at maintenance, which represents ME for maintenance, was 0.146 ± 0.0087 Mcal per unit of metabolic body weight (BW0.75, MBW). Fasting heat production, which represents NEM, was 0.102 ± 0.0071 Mcal/MBW. Energy balance was calculated as tissue energy plus milk energy. When estimated via regressing energy balance on ME intake, NEM was not different between dry and lactating cows (0.120 ± 0.32 vs. 0.103 ± 0.0052 Mcal/MBW). However, the slope of the regression of energy balance on ME intake was greater for dry compared with lactating cows (0.714 ± 0.046 vs. 0.685 ± 0.010) when evaluated with a fixed intercept. This suggests that dry cows were more efficient at converting ME into net energy and that the efficiency of utilizing ME for maintenance may be greater than for lactation. Our measurements of NEM and the slope of ME on energy balance were greater than the value used by the National Research Council (2001), which are 0.080 Mcal/MBW for NEM and approximately 0.64 for the slope. Results of this study suggest that NEM and the efficiency of converting ME into NEM of modern lactating Jersey cows are similar to recent measurements on modern Holstein cows and greater than previous measurements.
A Virtual Wisdom Mining ‘Pan’ For Connecting Retired Experts With Currently Active Professionals

With the average life span increasing these days, there has reportedly been an increase in population of the retired professionals and the further aged people. Before retirement these people had been pioneers in their field but post retirement their knowledge, experience and wisdom go under-utilized. While these retired people have less chances to contribute to the technological development, it becomes difficult for the new industry recruits to easily fill in the shoes of these retired experts at the industry level. In view of the above problem, this paper proposes an application named ‘Wisdom Pan’ which is a virtual wisdom mining pan for reducing the gap between retired industry professionals and current industry workers. With the help of this application, retired professionals can sit at the comfort of their homes and share their knowledge and expertise as stories which can help the current industry workers.
Alignment and Identification of the Relationships between Key Performance Indicators in a Multilevel Tree Structure to Support Transportation Agency Decisions

Transportation agencies utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the performance of their traffic networks and business processes. To make effective decisions based on these KPIs, there...
Presence of obstructive sleep apnea is associated with higher future readmissions and outpatient visits-a nationwide administrative dataset study

Abstract Background Hospital readmissions and outpatient visits contribute to the significant burden on healthcare systems. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a chronic medical condition that is associated with cardiovascular comorbidities and other chronic conditions. Inpatient and outpatient healthcare utilization rates in patients with OSA following hospitalization are unclear. Methods This. retrospective case-control cohort study utilized a nationwide database to assess if OSA is associated with higher healthcare utilization post-hospitalization. We compared healthcare utilization among patients with OSA versus without OSA between 2009-2014 after matching for demographic variables, geographic location, hospital environment, reason for admission, and severity of illness during hospitalization. We measured future healthcare utilization by the number of ICU admissions, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and outpatient visits after being discharged from the index hospitalization. Results Two equal-sized cohorts comprised of 85,912 matched pairs were obtained. The OSA cohort demonstrated significantly higher rates of future ICU admissions, hospital admissions, emergency room visits, and outpatient visits. Matching for comorbid cardiovascular conditions continued to demonstrate higher healthcare utilization in the OSA group. Short-term outcomes during the index hospitalization were relatively similar between groups. Conclusions This retrospective database study demonstrated that OSA may be an independent marker of higher future healthcare utilization. On the other hand, the length of stay during the index hospitalization was not elevated. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings and investigate the impact of directing additional resources to inpatients with OSA.
Direct Coal Liquefaction

This paper presents a brief state of the art review of direct coal liquefaction. The review includes important pilot scale processes available for the liquefaction an a brief description of the structure of coal and the chemistry, mechanism and available lumped kinetic models for the liquefaction process. It also includes some discussions on the role of catalysts during coal liquefaction and on the use of model compounds for the understanding of coal liquefaction kinetics. Reactor design aspects are covered in a separate paper and will not be repeated here.
The Analysis of Spatial Orientation

The orientation of an animal in space consists of its active maintenance of a particular body position relative to some direction-indicating feature of the environment. Hence orientation data are measurements of the angular relations between the organism’s own axes of symmetry and the reference co-ordinates of the external directional stimulus. Such measurements are secured by recording simultaneously or repeatedly the spatial positions of the individuals in a population or at successive instants of time the positions of a single animal. As a result, one obtains a frequency distribution in angular intervals whose size is determined by the fineness of the organism’s discrimination and the accuracy of its response to the orienting stimulus as well as the limits of the observer’s method of measurement.
Tide-Induced Mass Transport in Lagoons

This paper examines the tide-induced mass transport in coastal lagoons which are connected to the ocean by more than one opening. An approximate analytic expression for the tide-induced mass transport in a lagoon of uniform width and depth at each end freely connected to a tidal basin is derived, assuming one-dimensional homogeneous flow. Analytic results are compared with numerically computed values of the mass transport. It is shown that the tide-induced mass transport can be an important factor in the renewal of the waters of shallow lagoons.
100 MHz isolated DC-DC resonant converter using spiral planar PCB transformer

This paper describes a very high frequency (VHF) isolated dc-dc resonant converter operating at 100 MHz switching frequency with a rated output power of 2 W. The power stage consists of two half-bridge GaN chips with integrated gate drivers, one operating as a dc-ac inverter on the primary side, the other operating as an ac-dc synchronous rectifier on the secondary side. Isolation is provided by a spiral planar printed circuit board (PCB) transformer designed and optimized using 3D finite element modeling (FEM) tools and radio-frequency (RF) circuit design software. Simulation and experimental results are presented for a prototype step-down converter operating from 20 V input voltage. Experimental results show a peak efficiency of 80.5% at 1.8 W output power.
Interaction between DNA and Escherichia coli protein omega. Formation of a complex between single-stranded DNA and omega protein.

Escherichia coli omega protein is found to form a complex with single-stranded DNA. The complex is stable in buoyant CsCl or Cs2SO4 density gradients. Addition of Mg(II) to the concentrated salt solutions, however, leads to the dissociation of the complex, even in the presence of EDTA in molar excess over Mg(II). The dissociated omega retains its enzymatic activity; the DNA recovered from the dissociated complex is indistinguishable from the original DNA. Exposure of the complex to alkali results in the cleavage of the DNA. This cleavage generates a 3‘-hydroxyl DNA terminus, and the omega protein is found linked to the 5‘-terminus, presumably covalently. Pronase digestion of the complex results initially in the removal of approximately 30% of the protein. A significant fraction of the residual complex is still stable in concentrated salt solutions, and can be dissociated by Mg(II). Extensive digestion with pronase results in the removal of the protein and the cleavage of the DNA chain.
Who Wins the Nonvolatile Memory Race

New memory concepts may lead to computer systems that do not require a lengthy start-up process when turned on.
Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction

Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. William A. Foley. Maiden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.495 pp.
Learning about vertebrate limb development

We have developed an upper-level undergraduate laboratory exercise that enables students to replicate a key experiment in developmental biology. In this exercise, students have the opportunity to observe live chick embryos and stain the apical ectodermal ridge, a key tissue required for development of the vertebrate limb. Impressively, every student who has tried this protocol has been successful, making it a good introduction to the use of the chick model system in studying development. The array of materials about limb development, using chick embryos in teaching laboratories, and the history of this experiment provide a rich background for teachers and students.
A fast lightpath restoration method using two backup paths in WDM networks

WDM networks providing Terabits per second bandwidth are becoming the core technology for the next generation Internet. Due to the tremendous bandwidth offered by these networks, it's imperative for them to be survivable. Current path-based proactive restoration scheme precomputes a backup lightpath at the time a primary lightpath is setup, thus provides 100% restoration guarantee. Better spare capacity utilization can be achieved using backup multiplexing technique that allows backup lightpaths to share wavelength channels. However, the method has the drawback of long restoration time due to the end-to-end signaling required to setup the backup lightpath upon failure. In this paper, we present a new proactive lightpath restoration method that computes one primary and two backup lightpaths for a traffic demand. Simulation results showed that the new method can significantly reduce the restoration time with only minor increase in capacity requirement.
“I'm going to do it!” versus honoring intention: how to set goals and really keep them!

Purpose – This paper discusses how each year we make lofty goals that we have difficulty following through on, it then offers some tips and examples for following through on your “going to dos”.Design/methodology/approach – The author applies his own work experience as a business coach and uses real life business examples.Findings – The author identifies a few common errors that people make that make it harder to achieve goals.Practical implications – The author concludes that anyone can reach their goals if they approach them in the right way, and offers practical tips about how to do this.Originality/value – The paper is relevant to most people, but it is especially geared to business people. It will appeal to anyone who has had trouble reaching the yearly self‐improvement goals that they have set for themselves.
The role of fructose-1,6-diphosphate in cell migration and proliferation in an in vitro xenograft blood vessel model of vascular wound healing.

Both smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells play an important role in vascular wound healing. To elucidate the role of fructose-1, 6-diphosphate, cell proliferation and cell migration studies were performed with human endothelial cells and rat smooth muscle cells. To mimic blood vessels, endothelial and smooth muscle cells were used in 1:10, 1:5, and 1:1 concentrations, respectively, mimicking large-, mid-, and capillary-sized blood vessels. Cell migration was studied with fetal bovine serum-starved cells. For cell proliferation assay, cells were plated at 30–50% confluency and then starved. The cells were incubated for 48 h with fructose-1, 6-diphosphate at (per ml) 10 mg, 1 mg, 500 µg, 250 µg, 100 µg, and 10 µg, pulsed with tritiated-thymidine and incubated with 1 N NaOH for 30 min at room temperature, harvested, and counted. For migration assay, confluent cells were starved, wounded, and incubated for 24 h with same concentrations of fructose-1, 6-diphosphate as in proliferation assay. The cells were fixed and counted. Smooth muscle cell proliferation was inhibited by fructose-1, 6-diphosphate at 10 mg/ml. In the xenograft models of 1:10, 1:5, and 1:1 fructose-1, 6-diphosphate inhibited proliferation at 10 mg/ml. In migration studies 10 mg fructose-1, 6-diphosphate per ml was inhibitory to both cell types. In large-, mid-, and capillary-sized blood vessels, fructose-1, 6-diphosphate inhibited proliferation of both cell types at 10 mg/ml. At the individual cell level, fructose-1, 6-diphosphate is nonstimulatory to proliferation of endothelial cells while inhibiting migration, and it acts on smooth muscle cells by inhibiting both proliferation and migration.
Experimental study of transmission enhancement of evanescent waves through silver films assisted by surface plasmon excitation

In this paper, we investigated an essential precursor of superlensing: enhancing the transmission of evanescent waves assisted by excitation of surface plasmon. Using natural roughness as a well characterized grating, the transmission of evanescent waves is studied through silver thin films of increasing thickness. Measurements and calculations are performed in the wavelength range of 514.5 nm to 351.1 nm where the real part of the permittivity of silver is negative. Pronounced peaks due to surface-plasmon excitations are observed in the transmission spectra. We found the transmission of evanescent waves rapidly grows with the film thickness up to about 50 nm, after which it decays as loss becomes significant. As the permittivity of a silver slab approaches -1, we experimentally observed a broadening of surface plasmon bandwidth. Our study indicates a pathway to access the deep subwavelength features by metamaterial superlens.
Evidence that selective endothelial dysfunction may occur in the absence of angiographic or ultrasound atherosclerosis in patients with risk factors for atherosclerosis

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that endothelial dysfunction occurs in humans before the development of structural coronary atherosclerosis when risk factors for this disease are present. Background. Animal studies have demonstrated that known risk factors for coronary atherosclerosis (hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes) result in impaired endothelium-dependent vascular reactivity before the development of structural atherosclerosis. Previous studies in patients have been unable to distinguish early structural atherosclerotic disease from dysfunctional endothelium. Methods. Twenty-six patients with angiographicalty normal coronary arteries were studied at cardiac catheterization. The epicardial arteries were imaged using high resolution intravascular ultrasound to detect early structural changes and to determine changes in lumen size during pharmacologic provocation. A selective intracoronary Doppler velocity catheter was subsequently used to determine coronary blood flow velocity changes in response to the same pharmacologic provocation. Group I (9 patients) had no risk factors for atherosclerosis. Group II (17 patients) had one or more risk factors present. Results. Although both Groups I and II had a normal microvascular vasodilator response to adenoslne or papaverine infusion (estimated coronary flow increase 396 ± 200% vs. 326 ± 161% [mean ± SD], respectively, p = 0.103), only Group I patients had an intact response to acetylcholine infusion (378 ± 203% vs. 75 ±93% in Group II, p = 0.001). Group II patients had an abnormal epicardial artery cross-sectional area vasoconstriction response to acetylcholine infusion (−16.6 ± 12.4% [13 patients] vs. 1.3 ±11.5% in Group I, p < 0.0007). An additional four Group II patients had severe spasm during acetylcholine infusion. Epicardial vasodilator response to nitroglycerin infusion, however, was preserved in Group II (14.6 ± 4.3% vs. 9.6 ± 3.5% in Group I, p = 0.212). All Group I patients had normal vessels by intravascular ultrasound. Of the 17 patients in Group II, 7 had minimal disease on ultrasound (intimal thickening or small eccentric plaque) in the study vessel. These patients did not respond differently from the 10 Group II patients without demonstrable disease on ultrasound. Conclusions. Patients with risk factors for coronary artery disease, normal coronary angiograms and no measurable disease by intracoronary ultrasound exhibit selective endothelial dysfunction at both the epicardial and microvascular levels. These findings may have implications for the treatment of “preclinical” coronary atherosclerosis.
An Inositol Polyphosphate 5-Phosphatase Functions in PHOTOTROPIN1 Signaling in Arabidopis by Altering Cytosolic Ca2+

Inositol polyphosphate 5-phosphatase (5PTase) is a key enzyme in the phosphatidylinositol metabolic pathway, which plays critical roles in a number of cellular processes in plants. Our previous work implicated the role of 5PTase13, which encodes a WD40-containing type II 5PTase, in hormone-mediated cotyledon vein development. Here, we show that 5PTase13 is also involved in blue light responses in Arabidopsis thaliana. Compared with that in darkness, the expression of 5PTase13 was suppressed by blue light irradiation, and disruption of the gene resulted in shortened hypocotyls and expanded cotyledons. Genetic analysis showed that 5PTase13 acted independently from CRYPTOCHROME1 and CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC1 but interacted functionally with PHOTOTROPIN1 (PHOT1). The expression level of 5PTase13 was significantly enhanced in phot1 single or phot1 phot2 double mutants under blue light, and suppression of 5PTase13 expression rescued the elongated hypocotyls in the phot1 or phot1 phot2 mutants. Further analysis showed that the blue light-induced elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ was inhibited in the phot1 mutant but enhanced in the 5pt13 mutant, suggesting that 5PTase13 antagonizes PHOT1-mediated effects on calcium signaling under blue light.
Increasing cancer screening: A meta-analysis

Background.Primary care physicians believe preventive services are important, but perform these activities infrequently. Numerous studies have attempted to increase cancer screening, employing a variety of interventions with varying results. Methods.We conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to identify effective office-based interventions for increasing cancer screening. Selected studies: (a) evaluated an intervention in a primary care setting, (b) addressed screening for breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer, and (c) reported results allowing calculation of an effect size. Study qualities and results were coded, entered, and analyzed using DSTAT. Results.Interventions targeting either physican or patient were equally successful (d= +0.1894 andd= +0.1756, respectively). However, studies targeting both physician and patient demonstrated a smaller effect size (d= +0.0514). Greater success was found for interventions targeting the physician both during and outside the patient visit (d= +0.1222 during visit,d= +0.1849 outside visit,d= +0.3375 both). Similarly, screening behavior improved when the physicians were the target of more than one, but not more than three, interventions (d= +0.1360,d= +0.2495,d= +0.6829,d= −0.0058). Conclusions.Cancer screening activities increase with interventions that target either the physician or the patient and, when physicians are targeted, multiple interventions to serve as behavior cues and increase awareness appear optimal.
Tethering of the Large Subunits of Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase

The rpoBand rpoCgenes of eubacteria and archaea, coding, respectively, for the β and β′-like subunits of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase, are organized in an operon with rpoBalways precedingrpoC. Here, we show that in Escherichia colithe two genes can be fused and that the resulting 2751-amino acid β::β′ fusion polypeptide assembles into functional RNA polymerase in vivoand in vitro. The results establish that the C terminus of the β subunit and the N terminus of the β′ subunit are in close proximity to each other on the surface of the assembled RNA polymerase during all phases of the transcription cycle and also suggest that RNA polymerase assembly in vivomay occur co-translationally.
Third phase formation in the extraction of phosphotungstic acid by TBP in n-octane.

The solvent extraction of 12-phosphotungstic acid, also known as 12-tungstophosphoric acid—H3PW12O40, the so-called Keggin heteropolyacid—by 0.73 M (20%v/v) tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) in n-octane under conditions comparable to those used previously for the extraction of conventional inorganic mineral acids is described. A simplified phase diagram for the pentanary system comprised of H3PW12O40, HNO3, H2O, TBP, and n-octane reveals an extremely low initial concentration of H3PW12O40 (1.1 mM) at the LOC (limiting organic concentration) condition, far lower than the most effective third-phase-forming inorganic acid, namely HClO4. The results from small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) indicate that the interparticle attraction energy—U(r) calculated through application of the Baxter sticky sphere model to the SANS data at the LOC condition—does not approach the −2 k B T value associated with phase splitting in previous studies of TBP third-phase formation. The third-phase formation model based on attractive ...
Computer-Assisted Approaches To Multiattribute Decision Making

This article evaluates three general types of computer-assisted approaches to multicriteria decision problems in which the decision criteria are attributes as opposed to objectives. Several programs specifically designed for multiattribute problems are discussed, as well as spreadsheet and decision-tree software. The analysis centers on both the methodolog ical merits of the various approaches, as well as the concerns peculiar to the computer application.
A New Inversion of Solar Rotational Splitting Data

The fine structure of the solar p-mode spectrum is used to obtain an estimate of the Sun's internal rotation rate, as a function of both latitude and depth, for fractional radii in the range 0.55 < r/R < 0.85. Because each piece of data is a weighted average of the rotation rate over an extended region of the solar interior and because the number of such measurements is finite, such an inversion unavoidably has limited resolution and suffers from other systematic errors. Accordingly, the results of the inversion presented here and other published inversions should be interpreted with this in mind. These problems are discussed in detail for the present inversion.
Current perspectives on plasmodesmata: structure and function

Recent studies on plasmodesmata have shown that these important intercellular passages for communication and transport are much more sophisticated in both structure and regulatory abilities than previously imagined. A complex, but not well understood, substructure has been revealed by a variety of increasingly reliable ultrastructural techniques. Proteinaceous particles are seen within the cytoplasmic sleeve surrounding the desmotubule. Dye-coupling studies have provided experimental evidence for the physical pathway of solute movement, supporting conclusions about substructural dimensions within plasmodesmata drawn from the ultrastructural studies. Calcium has been identified as a major factor in the regulation of intercellular communication via plasmodesmata. Evidence from studies on virus movement through plasmodesmata suggests a direct interaction between virallycoded movement proteins and plasmodesmata in the systemic spread of many viruses. There is increasing evidence, albeit indirect, that in some plant species phloem loading may involve transport of photoassimilate entirely within the symplast from mesophyll cells to the sieve element-companion cell complexes of minor veins.
Reduction of Cobalt and Iron Phthalocyanines and the Role of the Reduced Species in Catalyzed Photoreduction of CO2

The role of cobalt and iron phthalocyanines in catalytic CO2 reduction has been studied. Chemical, photochemical, and radiolytic reductions of the metal phthalocyanines (Pc) have been carried out in organic solvents, and reduction of their tetrasulfonated derivatives (TSPc) in aqueous solutions. CoIIPc and FeIIPc are readily reduced to [CoIPc]- and [FeIPc]-, which do not react with CO2. Reduction of [CoIPc]- yields a product which is characterized as the radical anion, [CoIPc•-]2-, on the basis of its absorption spectra in the visible and IR regions. This species is stable under dry anaerobic conditions and reacts rapidly with CO2. Catalytic formation of CO and formate is confirmed by photochemical experiments in DMF and acetonitrile solutions containing triethylamine (TEA) as a reductive quencher. The photochemical yields are greatly enhanced by the addition of p-terphenyl (TP). The radical anion, TP•-, formed from the reductive quenching of the singlet excited state with TEA, reduces the phthalocyanines...
Deferoxamine mimics the pattern of hypoxia-related injury at the microvasculature

Oxygen is essential for the maintenance of life, and when oxygen levels decline to critical levels, a program of complex mechanisms exists to i) sense hypoxia, ii) respond to minimize acute tissue injury, and iii) result in adaptations that offer protection against further hypoxia challenges. Alternative adaptation-related protection may also be inducible through the increased activity of hypoxia-inducible factors activated by hypoxia mimics such as iron chelation with deferoxamine (DFA). We have characterized a set of hypoxia-related responses at the microvasculature and postulated that microvascular injury in response to hypoxia could be reproduced by the reduction of bioavailable iron through chelation by DFA. We were able to induce a similar degree of leukocyte adherence and emigration and vascular leak with DFA infusion as compared with hypoxia exposure in an intact physiological rodent model. However, in contrast to hypoxia-exposed groups, we were unable to detect reactive oxygen species or alter the injury pattern with reactive oxygen species scavenger in the groups treated with DFA. Thus, we demonstrate that DFA mimics the pattern and intensity of hypoxia-related injury on the microvasculature; however, differences in the time course and mechanism of injury were identified. In addition, DFA saturated with iron did not completely reverse the effects of DFA, suggesting a mechanism(s) beyond a reduction in the bioavailability of iron. These findings may have importance in the targeting of iron for the development of hypoxia mimics that may offer protection against subsequent hypoxia exposure in clinical setting such as myocardial infarction and stroke.