cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The ultrastructure of the oenocytes in the moltiintermolt cycle of an insect

The structure and development of the permanent oenocytes of Calpodes ethlius (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) are described. There are three sorts of oenocyte. The permanent oenocytes are arranged ventral to the last two pairs of spiracles on abdominal segments 7 and 8 in four clusters of about 45 cells each. The molt cycle oenocytes are ventral to the other spiracles and only enlarge at molting. The subdermal oenocytes differentiate from the epidermis in large numbers shortly before pupation. The permanent oenocytes are large polyploid cells characterized by a cytoplasm of densely packed smooth tubular endoplasmic reticulum, and a plasma membrane invaginated in a meshwork of tubes ending in a reticular layer about 12 micro below the surface. There are two sorts of Golgi complex, one small and of conventional form, the other composed of clouds of microvesicles. 'Dense bodies', believed to belong to the microbody class of organelles, arise directly from the STER. There is a variety of membranous and 'crystalline' inclusions. The formation of isolation membranes from the tubular endoplasmic reticulum, and the origin of isolation bodies and autophagic vacuoles are described. Some autophagy takes place at all times in the molt/intermolt cycle, but there are phases of massive autophagy before the 4th-5th molt and the 5th-pupal molt. These phases coincide with pinocytosis of blood proteins and overlap with or are followed by phases of nuclear replication, RNA synthesis (ribosomes) and ER regeneration. Nuclear blebbing occurs before pupation. The morphology of the oenocytes is most like that of vertebrate cells engaged in steroid hormone synthesis. It is pointed out that the oenocytes rather than the prothoracic glands could be the source of ecdysone and the stimulus for molting.
Valve-sparing root replacement for failed pulmonary autografts: Should a David repair a Ross?

Mechanical and bioprosthetic prostheses are limited by their significant thromboembolic risk and questionable durability, respectively, whenimplanted inyounger individuals. An ideal substitute for the aortic valve would demonstrate excellent hemodynamics, avoid the need for long-term anticoagulation, reduce infectious risk, and grow with the recipient. The pulmonary autograft was used to meet most of these characteristics, but the tradeoff was a more technically demanding operation. 1 Although the Ross procedure has its merits, in reality there is no perfect replacement for the native aortic valve. In fact, greater perioperativerisk coupled with a real risk of reoperation has recently made many surgeons rethink the utility of the Ross procedure. 2 Because the Ross procedure is typically reserved for younger patients, when the autograft fails, the early risk versus late benefit discussion must be revisited, particularly if considering salvaging a failed autograft. In this issue of the Journal, Mookhoek and colleagues 3 describe the European multicenter experience with valvesparing reoperations after the Ross procedure. Mookhoek and colleagues 3 should be congratulated on their results; their technical expertise is clearly evidenced by their superlative outcomes. An operative mortality of 1.2% in the setting of a reoperative aortic root is truly exemplary. It is, however, surprising that this operative mortality is lower than that of the index Ross procedure, which typically carries an operative mortality between 2% and 3%. 4-6 Despite longer operative times and nearly 1 in 5 patients undergoing concomitant replacement of the pulmonary outflow graft, the operative mortality achieved by Mookhoek and colleagues 3 falls within the range that the Society of Thoracic Surgeons risk calculator predicts for a reoperative aortic valve replacement (0.8%-1.2%) in patients with average characteristics of the study population (for male patients, 38 year old, normal ventricular function, predicted operative mortality is 0.8%; for female patients, 38 year old, left ventricular ejection fraction, predicted operative mortality is 50%-1.2%). Therefore, unlike that of the index Ross procedure, early risk of autograft valve
Kinetics of the hydrogenation of CO over a single crystal nickel catalyst

A specially designed ultrahigh vacuum system has been used to examine the effect of surface chemical composition on the kinetics of the catalytic methanation reaction over a single crystal Ni(100) catalyst. The surface is characterized using Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES) in an ultrahigh vacuum chamber, and reaction kinetics are determined following an in vacuo transfer of the sample to a catalytic reactor contiguous to the AES chamber. The kinetics of CO hydrogenation on a clean Ni(100) surface at 450–800 K are compared with kinetic data reported for high-area supported nickel catalysts. Excellent agreement is observed between specific rates, activation energy, and product distribution measured for the supported catalysts and the single crystal Ni(100). The dependence of the specific rate on total pressure (1–1500 Torr) and on H2 and CO partial pressures as well as the product distribution are also reported. These data are consistent with a mechanism in which an active surface carbon species is the dominant route to product.
A Latent Period Duration Model for Wheat Stem Rust

Abstract Wheat stem rust (WSR), caused by Puccinia graminis subsp. graminis Pers., is a highly destructive disease of wheat and several other small grains. The discovery of P. graminis subsp. graminis race Ug99, which overcomes previously effective resistance in wheat, raises concerns for global wheat production and food security. There is currently no mathematical model that describes the duration of the WSR latent period based on temperature or heat units. A study using P. graminis subsp. graminis race GFCDC in ‘Stephens’ wheat was conducted at a range of temperatures (from 4.7 to 33.4°C), to determine their effect on latent period duration. There were significant differences in latent period duration among temperatures, and temperatures above 30°C generally were not conducive for pustule development. A mathematical model to predict latent period duration based on temperature was formulated; the model can be applied to data consisting of varying temperature readings measured at any desired time incremen...
Parents' knowledge and practices related to fever management.

Abstract In this descriptive study 100 parents of infants and small children were interviewed to obtain information about their knowledge and practices related to treatment of their children's fevers. Although relatively well educated, at least 21% of this group of parents intervened to treat fever when the child's body temperature was actually within the normal range. In addition, their interventions were often inappropriate. Most parents gave incorrect doses of antipyretic medications and most parents who sponged their children to reduce body temperature did so incorrectly. Recommendations are made for health heaching and counseling of parents.
National Prevalence of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Sexually Revictimized Adolescent, College, and Adult Household-Residing Women

Context Despite empirical links between sexual revictimization (ie, experiencing 2 or more sexual assaults) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to our knowledge, no epidemiological studies document the prevalence of sexual revictimization and PTSD. Establishing estimates is essential to determine the scope, public health impact, and psychiatric sequelae of sexual revictimization. Objective To estimate the prevalence of sexual revictimization and PTSD among 3 national female samples (adolescent, college, and adult household probability). Design Surveys were used to collect data from the National Women's Study–Replication (2006; college) as well as household probability samples from the National Survey of Adolescents–Replication (2005) and the National Women's Study–Replication (2006; household probability). Setting Households and college campuses across the United States. Participants One thousand seven hundred sixty-three adolescent girls, 2000 college women, and 3001 household-residing adult women. Main Outcome Measures Behaviorally specific questions assessed unwanted sexual acts occurring over the life span owing to the use of force, threat of force, or incapacitation via drug or alcohol use. Posttraumatic stress disorder was assessed with a module validated against the criterion standard Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV. Results About 53% of victimized adolescents, 50% of victimized college women, and 58.8% of victimized household-residing women reported sexual revictimization. Current PTSD was reported by 20% of revictimized adolescents, 40% of revictimized college women, and 27.2% of revictimized household-residing women. Compared with nonvictims, odds of meeting past 6-month PTSD were 4.3 to 8.2 times higher for revictimized respondents and 2.4 to 3.5 times higher for single victims. Conclusions Population prevalence estimates suggest that 769 000 adolescent girls, 625 000 college women, and 13.4 million women in US households reported sexual revictimization. Further, 154 000 sexually revictimized adolescents, 250 000 sexually revictimized college women, and 3.6 million sexually revictimized household women met criteria for past 6-month PTSD. Findings highlight the importance of screening for sexual revictimization and PTSD in pediatric, college, and primary care settings.
Formation of Ordered Gas-Solid Structures VIA Solidification in Metal-Hydrogen Systems

This work contains theoretical discussions concerning the large amount of previously published experimental data related to gas eutectic transformations in metal-hydrogen systems. Theories of pore nucleation and growth in these gas-solid materials will be presented and related to observed morphologies and structures. This work is intended to be helpful to theorists that work with metal-hydrogen systems, and experimentalists engaged in manufacturing technology development of these ordered gas-solid structures.
Effective Psychological Treatment of Panic Disorder

This chapter focuses on the psychological treatment of panic attacks and panic disorder as denned by DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria (American Psychiatric Association [APA]). In this chapter, current available psychological treatments of panic disorder and evidence for their efficacy are reviewed. A brief discussion of developments in conceptualization and in the treatment of panic disorder as well as recent epidemiological data are presented before describing specific treatment procedures and their efficacies. Directions for future research are suggested in the conclusion.
Effects of intratracheal instillation of TNF-α on surfactant metabolism

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) has been shown to play an integral role in the pathogenesis of the acute respiratory distress syndrome. This disorder is characterized by a deficiency of alveolar surfactant, a surface-active material that is composed of key hydrophobic proteins and the major lipid disaturated phosphatidylcholine (DSPC). We investigated how TNF-alpha might alter DSPC content in rat lungs by instilling the cytokine (2.5 microg) intratracheally for 10 min and then assaying parameters of DSPC synthesis and degradation in alveolar type II epithelial cells, which produce surfactant. Cells isolated from rats given TNF-alpha had 26% lower levels of phosphatidylcholine compared with control. TNF-alpha treatment also decreased the ability of these cells to incorporate [(3)H]choline into DSPC by 45% compared with control isolates. There were no significant differences in the levels of choline substrate or choline transport between the groups. However, TNF-alpha produced a 64% decrease in the activity of cytidylyltransferase, the rate-regulatory enzyme required for DSPC synthesis. TNF-alpha administration in vivo also tended to stimulate phospholipase A(2) activity, but it did not alter other parameters for DSPC degradation such as activities for phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C or phospholipase D. These observations indicate that TNF-alpha decreases the levels of surfactant lipid by decreasing the activity of a key enzyme involved in surfactant lipid synthesis. The results do not exclude stimulatory effects of the cytokine on phosphatidylcholine breakdown.
External Validity and Research in Information Technology in Education

The end of another academic year is upon us, and this seems an appropriate time to reflect on our past successes and failures. As we look back over 30 years to the beginning of the information tech...
Muscle-specific f-box only proteins facilitate bk channel β(1) subunit downregulation in vascular smooth muscle cells of diabetes mellitus.

Rationale: Activity of the large conductance Ca 2+ -activated K + (BK) channels is profoundly modulated by its β 1 subunit (BK-β 1 ). However, BK-β 1 expression is downregulated in diabetic vessels. The ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) is a major mechanism of intracellular protein degradation. Whether UPS participates in BK-β 1 downregulation in diabetic vessels is unknown. Objective: We hypothesize that UPS facilitates vascular BK-β 1 degradation in diabetes. Methods and Results: Using patch clamp and molecular biological approaches, we found that BK-β 1 –mediated channel activation and BK-β 1 protein expression were reduced in aortas of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and in human coronary arterial smooth muscle cells (CASMCs) cultured in high glucose. This was accompanied by upregulation of F-box only protein (FBXO)-9 and FBXO-32 (atrogin-1), the key components of the Skp1-Cullin-F-box (SCF) type ubiquitin ligase complex. BK-β 1 expression was suppressed by the FBXO activator doxorubicin but enhanced by FBXO-9 small interfering RNA or by the proteasome inhibitor MG-132. Cotransfection of atrogin-1 in HEK293 cells significantly reduced Flag-hSlo-β 1 expression by 2.16-fold, compared with expression of Flag-hSlo-β 1 V146A (a mutant without the PDZ-binding motif). After cotransfection with atrogin-1, the ubiquitination of Flag-hSlo-β 1 was increased by 1.91-fold, compared with that of hSlo-β 1 V146A, whereas cotransfection with atrogin-1ΔF (a nonfunctional mutant without the F-box motif) had no effect. Moreover, inhibition of Akt signaling attenuated the phosphorylation of forkhead box O transcription factor (FOXO)-3a and enhanced atrogin-1 expression, which in turn suppressed BK-β 1 protein levels in human CASMCs. Conclusions: Downregulation of vascular BK-β 1 expression in diabetes and in high-glucose culture conditions was associated with FOXO-3a/FBXO-dependent increase in BK-β 1 degradation.
Transcriptional response to persistent β2-adrenergic receptor signaling reveals regulation of phospholamban which alters airway contractility

β2-Adrenergic receptors (β2AR) are expressed on airway smooth muscle cells and act to relax the airway on activation by β-agonists. These agents are utilized for treating asthma but are associated ...
What does professional communication research have to do with social justice? Intersections and sources of resistance

A brief review of literature indicates that professional communication scholars have had a complex, veiled relation with social justice. It is important to better understand the origins of that relation. After briefly contrasting the degree to which social justice has been explicitly integrated in professional communication and three related disciplines, this paper describes potential sources of resistance to incorporating social justice constructs into professional communication research. In professional communication, these sources of resistance are associated with ideologies that circulate within engineering, scientific, and technical contexts: the apolitical myth, ingroup bias, and technical-social dualism. In addition to exploring those three reasons why professional communication researchers generally avoid foregrounding social justice as an explicit component of their research, the paper also considers deviations from that norm by describing the work of pioneers who are integrating social justice in professional communication research. The implications of these pioneers will be discussed.
We’re not too old to play sports: the career of women lawn bowlers

Contributing to the growing body of literature about older women’s participation in sports, this ethnographic study of lawn bowlers in Perth, Western Australia, revealed a five‐stage career path characterizing club members’ involvement in this leisure activity. After first being introduced to bowls through other people and/or changing life circumstances, getting hooked on bowls represented the second stage in which women found themselves irresistibly drawn to this sport for multiple reasons. Playing bowls followed next as members fluidly moved between being social players, serious players and temporarily retired players variously engaged in different levels of competition. Some, but not all, then chose to assume organizational positions as committee members, officers, delegates, umpires and coaches. Inevitably, women, in the last stage, faced physical but not necessarily social retirement from bowls. In the end, bowls became the vehicle through which this particular group of women built community.
Design and Control of a Hydraulic Human Power Amplifier

This paper describes the design of and some preliminary control results for a hydraulically actuated human power amplifier. The system is in the form of an oar, with its reach and pitch degrees of freedom being hydraulically assisted. A robust PI force controller is proposed so that the hydraulic actuator force tracks a scaled copy of the force exerted by the human. Nonlinearities and uncertainties in the compression spring, as well as parametric uncertainties are taken into account. The passivity property of the closed loop system is also analyzed. The controller has been tested in simulations and experimentally. It is shown to be effective when pushing against an object, and in assisting in bearing static loads.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Clinical applications of plantar pressure measurement in pediatric orthopedics

Dynamic measurement of the distribution and magnitudes of plantar pressure during gait can give useful insight into the functional manifestations of foot disorders. This article overviews types of measurement systems, measurement protocols and data analysis techniques used in a clinical setting. The aim of the analyses is documentation and objective measurement to be used to track patient outcomes. An example of the planovalgus foot studied prior to and after calcaneal lengthening is used to demonstrate some of the methods.
Highly Permissive Cell Lines for Subgenomic and Genomic Hepatitis C Virus RNA Replication

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication appears to be restricted to the human hepatoma cell line Huh-7, indicating that a favorable cellular environment exists within these cells. Although adaptive mutations in the HCV nonstructural proteins typically enhance the replicative capacity of subgenomic replicons in Huh-7 cells, replication can only be detected in a subpopulation of these cells. Here we show that self-replicating subgenomic RNA could be eliminated from Huh-7 clones by prolonged treatment with alpha interferon (IFN-α) and that a higher frequency of cured cells could support both subgenomic and full-length HCV replication. The increased permissiveness of one of the cured cell lines allowed us to readily detect HCV RNA and antigens early after RNA transfection, eliminating the need for selection of replication-positive cells. We also demonstrate that a single amino acid substitution in NS5A is sufficient for establishing HCV replication in a majority of cured cells and that the major phosphate acceptor site of subtype 1b NS5A is not essential for HCV replication.
Indocyanine green clearance as a predictor of outcome in liver transplant patients

Invasive measurement of indocyanine green clearance (ICG) has been shown to predict the outcome after liver transplantation in a small series of patients. A non-invasive technique using ICG plasma disappearance rate (PDR) has recently been shown to correlate well with invasive techniques. We report our experience of ICG PDR in a large cohort of liver transplant patients.
Aspirin does not inhibit cholesterol cholelithiasis in two established animal models.

Abstract The effect of aspirin on cholesterol cholelithiasis was examined in the hamster and the prairie dog. In the prairie dog, diets were composed of semipurified components or chow, plus cholesterol (1.2%), with and without aspirin. Animals were studied for either 2 weeks or 4 weeks. Cholesterol gallstones were present in all groups at the end of each period; aspirin did not alter the incidence of cholelithiasis. All animals studied had cholesterol crystals in the bile when they were killed. Liver cholesterol levels in prairie dogs with and without aspirin tended to be lower in animals fed chow than in animals fed semipurified diets. There were no significant differences in cholesterol levels in the plasma or bile. The cholesterol saturation index of all biles approached unity when animals were fed chow with aspirin; animals fed the semipurified diets had cholesterol saturation indices of
HEAT TRANSFER SIMULATION OF SLUG FLOW IN MICROCHANNELS

In this study the heat transfer characteristics of two-phase slug flow in a microchannel is investigated employing the Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method. Despite the fact that numerical simulations of such flows have been attempted by many investigators, most efforts seem to have failed in correctly capturing the flow physics, especially those pertaining to the slug flow regime characteristics. The presence of a thin liquid film on the order of 10 μm around the bubble is a contributing factor to the above difficulty. In contrast to the assumption of the previous researchers who ignored the heat transfer of the gas slug, this study shows the gas slug and surrounding liquid film contributing as much as 20% of the overall heat transfer. A strong coupling between the conductive heat transfer in the solid wall and the convective heat transfer in the flow field is observed. Results show that a fully developed condition could be achieved fairly quickly compared to single-phase flows. Local and timeaveraged Nusselt numbers for slug flows are reported for the first time. Significant enhancement of heat transfer could be achieved by short slugs where the Nu number is found to be 610% higher than that in Poiseuille flow. One of the unique findings of the study upon which this paper partly reports is the considerable oscillation of the local Nusselt number where the latter might oscillate from 3 to 100 depending on the location and the length of the slugs.
The intersection of self-evaluation maintenance and social identity theories: Intragroup judgment in interpersonal and intergroup contexts.

In two studies, the authors explore the integration of the self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model and social identity theory (SIT) by focusing on each perspective’s predictions for the evaluation of members of one’s ingroup. SEM’s predictions apply to personal identity concerns, whereas SIT’s predictions are applicable to concerns for a group identity. In Study 1, participants evaluated an ingroup member who highly outperformed them. High- and low-identified participants did not differ in their ratings of the target in an interpersonal context but high identifiers did like the target more than lows in an intergroup context. In Study 2, highly identified participants preferred a poorly performing target in an interpersonal context, but in an intergroup context, they preferred the one who outperformed them. Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical overlap between SEM and SIT and how self-categorization theory can help integrate interpersonal and intergroup perspectives on self-evaluation.
Business Risk and Performance: An Examination of Industry Effects

Both business risk and industry sales volatility decreased across the computing equipment manufacturing, airline and pharmaceutical industries. Earnings performance and industry environmental munificence were both the highest among airlines. High volatility, while posing greater business risks, also offered the opportunity for improved risk-performance payoffs in the computer industry. Individual firms in the computer and pharmaceutical industries successfully reduced business risk while simultaneously increasing earnings performance (i.e., negative within-firm correlations), indicating idiosyncratic firm-specific effects.
Current Research on Dengue

Dengue is the most important arbovirus disease of humans, in terms of both morbidity and mortality (1). Since the end of World War II, the incidence of dengue disease has increased greatly. Coincident with that increase has been the emergence and spread of a severe and fatal form of the disease, dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS), as a major public health problem in many areas of the tropics. Today DHF is a leading cause of hospitalization and death among children in many countries of Southeast Asia (2), and in recent years it has become increasingly important in the Pacific Islands and the Americas.
Architecture and VLSI Implementation of the MPEG-2:MP@ML Video Decoding Process

This paper describes a recently developed silicon component that efficiently implements real-time decompression of an MPEG-2 encoded video data stream. The chip has been developed by IBM Corp. and is fully compliant with the MPEG-2 Draft Standard at MP@ML (Main Profile at Main Level). An overview of the MPEG-2 algorithm is presented, and the main characteristics of the video decoder chip are outlined. The descriptions and examples of particular internal coprocessors are given in terms of function and specific application environments
"That familiar proverb": folly as the elixir of youth in Erasmus's Moriae encomium.

In order to make good her claim to be of all divinities the most important and generous, Folly in Erasmus's Moriae encomium begins her argument, according to rhetorical theory and practice, with the strongest proofs in her arsenal. First of all, she argues, it is she who has given us life, the greatest gift of all. Who among us would have been born without our parents’ folly? Second, it is the spice of folly that makes life enjoyable. For what is life if you take away merriment, pleasure, andjoy? And third, it is folly that rules the best and happiest time of life—childhood and youth—and restores it to us in the second childhood of decrepit old age.
Parametric study on stabilization of hypersonic boundary layer waves using 2-D surface roughness

Recent research has shown that 2-D roughness of finite height can damp the second mode instability under certain conditions. For instance, it has been shown that the relative location of 2-D roughness element and the synchronization point is important in determining the 2-D roughness effect on modal growth. It was found that if a roughness element is placed downstream of a disturbance's synchronization point, the disturbance is damped. In this paper, an extensive DNS parametric study on the effect of second mode instability from roughness height, width and spacing between roughness elements are conducted. The results reveal that a taller roughness within one boundary layer thickness height results a stronger damping effect on the second mode. On the other hand, the roughness width effect is relatively insignificant compared with the height effect. Lastly, the spacing between roughness elements has been studied. The results show the increasing in spacing of roughness elements has both advantages and disadvantages. For the second mode control using 2-D roughness elements, roughness elements spacing of 10 times the roughness width has been shown to have the best overall damping effect in a broad frequency bandwidth. Overall, our extensive study has shown that roughness height is an important factor for the amplification/damping effect. For a second mode control design using 2-D roughness, the roughness height of 50% boundary layer thickness, width of 2 boundary layer thicknesss and spacing of 10 have been chosen to optimize the damping mechanism.
US Youth Soccer Concussion Policy: Heading in the Right Direction

This Viewpoint provides an overview of US Soccer’s initiatives to improve concussion awareness and management. On November 9, 2015, the US Soccer Federation, US Youth Soccer Association, American Youth Soccer Organization, US Club Soccer, and California’s Youth Soccer Associations (collectively referred to hereafter as US Soccer) issued a joint statement1 announcing the soon-to-be-released comprehensive campaign for safety in youth soccer, a sport that has grown dramatically in the past 4 decades. The sweeping initiative comes on the heels of a 2014 lawsuit, eliminating heading soccer balls for youth players younger than 10 years and limiting the practice of heading for children ages 11 to 13 years... Language: en
MANAGEMENT OF BURNS OF THE HANDS IN CHILDREN

Burns of the hand occur in children when the infant or toddler suffers a scald burn or a contact burn to the palm of the hand. Older children frequently suffer burns from experimenting with matches or gasoline. Although burns of the hand in children are not always as deep as in adults, optimal treatment involves the correct acute management, with skin grafting and proper splinting and physical therapy playing a large role, as well as long-term follow-up due to the excessive scar tissue that may form and the continued growth of the child's hand. The psychosocial needs of the burned child, including an understanding of the nature of child abuse and/or neglect, are also important.
Advances, Vulnerabilities, and Opportunities for Corn: A Perspective from Iowa

The central proposition of this chapter is that genetics, management, and climate have interacted to dramatically improve corn yields over time. The three factors are interrelated, confounded as the flower, fruit, and seed.
Blood Glucose Levels in Diabetic Patients Following Corticosteroid Injections into the Subacromial Space of the Shoulder

Background: Corticosteroid injections are used to treat a variety of orthopedic conditions with the goal of decreasingpain and inflammation. Administration of systemic or local corticosteroids risks temporarily increasing blood glucoselevels, especially diabetic patients. The purpose of this study is to quantify the effects of corticosteroid injections onblood glucose levels in diabetic patients with shoulder pathology.Methods: Diabetic patients who regularly monitored their blood glucose levels and were indicated for a subacromialcorticosteroid injection were included in this prospective investigation. The typical normal morning fasting glucoseand most recent hemoglobin A1c level was recorded for each patient. After injection, patients were contacted daily toconfirm their fasting morning glucose level for 10 days post-injection.Results: Seventeen consecutive patients were enrolled. Patients with hemoglobin A1c of <7% had an average risein blood glucose of 38 mg/dL compared to 98 mg/dL in the poorly controlled group after injection (P<0.001). Wellcontrolledpatients’ glucose levels returned to near baseline levels around post-injection day 8, while poorly controlledpatients levels remained elevated. Similarly, insulin-dependent diabetic patients had an average increase in fastingglucose level of 99 mg/dL versus 50 mg/dL in non-insulin-dependent diabetic patients (P<0.001).Conclusion: After corticosteroid injection, patients with well-controlled diabetes experience smaller elevations andfaster return to baseline glucose levels than patients with poor control. Insulin dependent diabetics experienced similarfindings as patients with poor control. Future studies are needed to evaluate dosing to optimize the risks of bloodglucose elevation while maintaining therapeutic benefit.
Nothing like a spirited debate

In this issue of Neurology ®, 3 opinion pieces provide differing views on the landscape around the management of asymptomatic carotid disease and raise a number of thorny issues.1–3 Heck et al.1 offer an overview; Spence2 and Starke3 offer editorial perspectives. This note introduces the topic as context for those articles.
Real Pigs: Shifting Values in the Field of Local Pork

In Real Pigs: Shifting values in the field of local pork, author Brad Weiss invites the reader to hear the voices of people who are involved in a niche market for local meat, specifically pork, in ...
Chronic Care Coordination for Patients with Cancer: A Case Study of the Vermont Oncology Project

This study examined the implementation of the Vermont Oncology Pilot (VOP), within the Vermont Health Care Innovation Project (VHCIP) funded by the CMS State Innovation Model (SIM) grant program. T...
Quantitative trait locus mapping of drought and salt tolerance in an introgressed recombinant inbred line population of Upland cotton under the greenhouse and field conditions

Drought and salt tolerances are complex traits and controlled by multiple genes, environmental factors and their interactions. Drought and salt stresses can result in more than 50% yield loss in Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). G. barbadense L. (the source of Pima cotton) carries desirable traits such as tolerance to abiotic and biotic stress along with high fiber quality. However, few studies have been reported on mapping quantitative trait loci (QTL) for abiotic stress tolerance using a permanent bi-parental population in multiple tests. The transfer of drought and salt tolerance from Pima to Upland cotton has been a challenge due to interspecific hybrid breakdown. This issue may be overcome by using introgression lines with genes transferred from Pima to Upland cotton. In this study, four replicated tests were conducted in the greenhouse each for drought and salt tolerance along with another test conducted in a field for drought tolerance using an Upland recombinant inbred line population of TM-1/NM24016 that has a stable introgression from Pima cotton. The objectives of the study were to investigate the genetic basis of drought and salt tolerance and to identify genetic markers associated with the abiotic stress tolerance. A total of 1004 polymorphic DNA marker loci including RGA-AFLP, SSR and GBS-SNP markers were used to construct a genetic map spanning 2221.28 cM. This population together with its two parents was evaluated for morphological, physiological, yield and fiber quality traits. The results showed that drought under greenhouse and field conditions and salt stress in the greenhouse reduced cotton plant growth at the seedling stage, and decreased lint yield and fiber quality traits in the field. A total of 165 QTL for salt and drought tolerance were detected on most of the cotton chromosomes, each explaining 5.98–21.43% of the phenotypic variation. Among these, common QTL for salt and drought tolerance were detected under both the greenhouse and field conditions. This study represents the first study to report consistent abiotic stress tolerance QTL from multiple tests in the greenhouse and the field that will be useful to understand the genetic basis of drought and salt tolerance and to breeding for abiotic stress tolerance using molecular marker-assisted selection in cotton.
Leukocyte telomere dynamics, human aging, and life span

Publisher Summary This chapter takes stock of basic telomere research, it emphasizes telomere epidemiology to address the above-mentioned and other yet unresolved questions relating to human aging and longevity. These include questions such as: Does it matter for survival that one display shorter telomeres than many other mammals do? Are there any biological ramifications of having a long or short leukocyte telomere length (LTL)? What might be the explanation for the longer LTL in women than in men? And then, what does the steadily expanding list of associations between LTL and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) presents about the biology of aging and perhaps interindividual variation in human longevity? This discussion is based on empirical observations that link telomere biology to the human life span, it unfortunately cannot establish causality. In that light, only genetically engineered mouse models under- or overexpressing telomerase activity have thus far demonstrated a causal link between telomere length and life span. In this link there lurks the answer to what lies ahead for any attempt to reverse aging-related diseases and increase human longevity without factoring telomere biology into the life span equation.
Characteristic Functions and the Central Limit Theorem

This chapter develops a transform method called characteristic functions for dealing with sums of independent random variables. The basic problem is that the distribution of a sum of independent random variables is rather complex and hard to deal with.
Chemical Nature and Mode of Action of a Toxin from Pandorina Morum

Pandorina morum, a green alga, was shown in earlier work to produce a toxic substance which adversely affects the growth of other algae in mixed cultures or when grown in the presence of culture filtrates or extracts of Pandorina cells. This paper reports on current methods used to extract the toxin.
E-Rings and Related Structures

An E-ring is a ring that is isomorphic to its ring of additive endomorphisms under the left regular representation. That is, a ring R is an E-ring provided R ≅ End(R+) under the map that sends r ∈ R to left multiplication by r. An R-module M is called an E-module over R if Hom R (R, M) = Hom Z (R, M). Despite their seemingly specialized definitions, E-rings, E-modules and related notions have played a major role in the theory of torsion-free abelian groups, and pop up with surprising frequency in other subject areas. Here are some examples: [19] A torsion-free abelian group G is cyclic and projective as a module over its endomorphism ring if and only if G = R ⊕ M, where R is an E-ring and M is an E-module over R. [27] A strongly indecomposable torsion-free abelian group G of finite rank is finitely generated over its endomorphism ring if and only if G is quasi-isomorphic to the additive group of an E-ring. [15] A strongly indecomposable torsion-free group G of finite rank is -uniserial as a module over its endomorphism ring only if G is a local, strongly homogeneous E-ring. [2] A universal algebra A is κ-free if there is a subset X of A of car dinality κ such that every function from X to A extends uniquely to an endomorphism of A. A ring that is l-free as an abelian group is precisely an E-ring (with X = {1}).
Acceptance of International Students: Host and Sojourner Characteristics

This study was designed to investigate how both characteristics of the sojourner and of the host affect how American students regard and treat international students in the United States. Undergraduates (N=198) evaluated college admission applications. All applicant information was held constant except for gender, race, and nationality. After they completed a questionnaire evaluating the foreign applicant, they volunteered to offer various levels of hospitality to foreign students. In terms of host characteristics, the results indicate that women were more favorable than men in their ratings of foreign students, and Minorities (48% of the sample) were more favorable than Whites in their volunteerism. Regarding characteristics of the foreigner, American students responded equally to male and female foreigners; equally to White and Black foreigners; but they evaluated Canadian foreigners more favorably than Algerian ones. There was an interaction between gender of the host and foreigner in a few instances, and several instances of an interaction between race of the host and race of the foreigner. These results partially support the hypotheses and suggest that what makes a difference in how Americans respond to foreigners is cultural similarity and shared ethnic minority status.
Human Resource Development for Racial/Ethnic Diversity: Do School Systems Value Teachers of Color?:

The ProblemThe small representation of Teachers of Color in comparison with their White counterparts continues to trouble the teaching profession. Since Teachers of Color often have a vital impact ...
xAPI-Based Model for Tracking On-line Laboratory Applications

Online laboratories can exhibit smarter behavior when information about the user and his/her context is given as an input to the lab. Part of this data can be gathered from a virtual learning environment (VLE) or any other educational system that contains information about the user. Information provided for these systems include: the type of user (student, teacher, administrator), user current level of experience (amount of time performing lab experiments, background knowledge) and results obtained in previous lab experiences. Additional context information can be provided by the user device, such as the geographical location, device type, bandwidth, date and time, among others. With this information, the online laboratory system can offer different variations of laboratories to each user and customize the experiment interfaces and activities in terms of task difficulty level, situational context and support information. The user interactions and administrative information can be collected and stored in the Learner Record Store (LRS) in the form of xAPI statements, ready to be accessed by the VLE to update the current state of the user information and extract/perform learning analytics. This paper presents the design and implementation of a model to integrate xAPI technology with online laboratories demonstrations that includes the VLE integration and user context information as part of the online lab experience.
Production of Cyanotoxins by Microcystis aeruginosa Mediates Interactions with the Mixotrophic Flagellate Cryptomonas .

Eutrophication of inland waters is expected to increase the frequency and severity of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Toxin-production associated with HABs has negative effects on human health and aquatic ecosystem functioning. Despite evidence that flagellates can ingest toxin-producing cyanobacteria, interactions between members of the microbial loop are underestimated in our understanding of the food web and algal bloom dynamics. Physical and allelopathic interactions between a mixotrophic flagellate (Cryptomonas sp.) and two strains of a cyanobacteria (Microcystis aeruginosa) were investigated in a full-factorial experiment in culture. The maximum population growth rate of the mixotroph (0.25 day-1) occurred during incubation with filtrate from toxic M. aeruginosa. Cryptomonas was able to ingest toxic and non-toxic M. aeruginosa at maximal rates of 0.5 and 0.3 cells day-1, respectively. The results establish that although Cryptomonas does not derive benefits from co-incubation with M. aeruginosa, it may obtain nutritional supplement from filtrate. We also provide evidence of a reduction in cyanotoxin concentration (microcystin-LR) when toxic M. aeruginosa is incubated with the mixotroph. Our work has implications for "trophic upgrading" within the microbial food web, where cyanobacterivory by nanoflagellates may improve food quality for higher trophic levels and detoxify secondary compounds.
Affinity-matured 'aquaporumab' anti-aquaporin-4 antibody for therapy of seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders.

Abstract Pathogenesis in seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (herein called NMO) involves binding of IgG1 autoantibodies to aquaporin-4 (AQP4) on astrocytes in the central nervous system, which initiates complement and cellular injury. We previously developed an antibody blocking approach for potential therapy of NMO in which an engineered, monoclonal, anti-AQP4 antibody lacking cytotoxicity effector functions (called aquaporumab) blocked binding of NMO autoantibodies to astrocyte AQP4 (Tradtrantip et al. Ann. Neurol. 71, 314–322, 2012). Here, a high-affinity aquaporumab, which was generated by affinity maturation using saturation mutagenesis, was shown to block cellular injury caused by NMO patient sera. Anti-AQP4 antibody rAb-53, a fully human antibody with effector function neutralizing Fc mutations L234A/L235A and affinity-enhancing Fab mutations Y50R/S56R, called AQmabAM, bound to AQP4 in cell cultures with Kd ~ 18 ng/ml (~0.12 nM), ~8-fold greater affinity than the original antibody. AQmabAM, but without L234A/L235A Fc mutations, produced complement-dependent cytotoxicity (CDC) with EC50 ~ 82 ng/ml. AQmabAM prevented CDC produced by sera from eight NMO patients with IC50 ranging from 40 to 80 ng/ml, and similarly prevented antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). Mechanistic studies demonstrated that AQmabAM blocked binding of serum NMO autoantibodies to AQP4. AQmabAM offers a targeted, non-immunosuppressive approach for therapy of seropositive NMO. Autoantibody blocking may be a useful therapeutic strategy for other autoimmune diseases as well.
A dynamically controllable evaporative cooling system for thermal management of transient heat loads

Abstract Evaporation of thin liquid films has the potential to sustain significantly high heat fluxes. This cooling mechanism has been studied extensively to create devices capable of handling large static heat loads for electronic cooling. However, significant and sudden variations in the heat loads can result in the dryout of the thin film, which can jeopardize the performance of the cooling system causing irreversible damage to the electronic component. Hence, a mechanism capable of controlling the performance of evaporative cooling is necessary. This study presents a unique strategy that combines a novel evaporator with a vapor compression cycle, whose performance can be varied to address the transient heat loads. The evaporator is designed to take advantage of simultaneously-occurring multiple modes of heat transfer to dissipate large heat fluxes. This study presents a device and system-level analysis to quantify the effect of different system operating conditions that control the overall cooling performance and efficiency.
Angiotensin-(1-7) reduces lung tumor incidence in a novel bitransgenic Ki-rasG12C mouse model of lung tumorigenesis through a reduction in cyclooxygenase-2

4654 Angiotensin-(1-7) [Ang-(1-7)] is an endogenous heptapeptide hormone of the renin-angiotensin system with vasodilator and anti-proliferative properties. Epidemiological studies showed that treatment of patients with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors which elevate Ang-(1-7) reduced the incidence of cancer, particularly lung cancer, suggesting that the heptapeptide may prevent lung cancer. In this study, we investigated whether Ang-(1-7) reduced the formation of lung tumors using a novel tetracycline-inducible, lung-specific bitransgenic Ki-rasG12C mouse model. Bi-transgenic mice were produced by crossing mono-transgenic Ki-rasG12C mice with Clara cell secretory protein-reverse tet trans-activator (CCSP-rtTA) transgenic mice. Doxycycline (500 µg /mL) was administered to the mice in their drinking water, beginning at 2 months of age and continuing throughout the study, to induce expression of the Ki-rasG12C transgene. Induction of the mutant Ki-rasG12C transgene resulted in the formation of proliferative pulmonary lesions morphologically diagnosed as bronchoalveolar hyperplasias and adenomas. Ang-(1-7) (24 µg/kg/h) or saline (6 µL/24 h) was administered into the jugular vein by osmotic minipumps beginning at 5 months of age and animals were sacrificed 3 months later. Infusion of Ang-(1-7) increased plasma concentrations of the heptapeptide approximately 3-fold over saline-treated animals (from 59.7 ± 12 pg/mL to 168 ± 36.6 pg/mL, p