cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Who Drives Unrelated Diversification? A Study of Indian Manufacturing Firms

This paper builds on recent research that focuses on the context-specific nature of diversification and the impact of organizational ownership on the choice of diversification strategy. Set in the Indian manufacturing sector, it compares the influence of institutional investors and banks against the influence of CEOs and boards on unrelated diversification. Results show that (a) external constituents collectively have more influence on unrelated diversification than CEOs and boards, (b) institutional investors tend to discourage unrelated diversification, but banks are quite supportive of such moves, and (c) corporate governance constituents other than foreign directors do not have a statistically significant influence on unrelated diversification strategies.
End use technology choice in the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS): An analysis of the residential and commercial building sectors

Abstract The National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) is arguably the most influential energy model in the United States. The U.S. Energy Information Administration uses NEMS to generate the federal government's annual long-term forecast of national energy consumption and to evaluate prospective federal energy policies. NEMS is considered such a standard tool that other models are calibrated to its forecasts, in both government and academic practice. As a result, NEMS has a significant influence over expert opinions of plausible energy futures. NEMS is a massively detailed model whose inner workings, despite its prominence, receive relatively scant critical attention. This paper analyzes how NEMS projects energy demand in the residential and commercial sectors. In particular, we focus on the role of consumers' preferences and financial constraints, investigating how consumers choose appliances and other end-use technologies. We identify conceptual issues in the approach the model takes to the same question across both sectors. Running the model with a range of consumer preferences, we estimate the extent to which this issue impacts projected consumption relative to the baseline model forecast for final energy demand in the year 2035. In the residential sector, the impact ranges from a decrease of 0.73 quads (− 6.0%) to an increase of 0.24 quads (+ 2.0%). In the commercial sector, the impact ranges from a decrease of 1.0 quads (− 9.0%) to an increase of 0.99 quads (+ 9.0%).
Energy transport and material removal in wide bandgap materials by a femtosecond laser pulse

A new model is proposed which greatly improves the accuracy in predicting the ablation depth and, for the first time, can predict the flat-bottom crater shape for wide bandgap materials ablated by a femtosecond laser pulse. The model calculates the transient distributions of free electron density and free electron temperature. The quantum treatment is employed to account for the specific heat and the relaxation time for free electrons. The temporal and spatial dependent optical properties of the dense plasma are considered. The predicted threshold fluence and ablation depth for fused silica are in agreement with published experimental data.
Heating Characteristics of Whole Kernel Corn Processed in a Steritort

Cans of whole kernel corn in brine and vacuum-packed corn were heated in an FMC Steritort and in a still retort. Two can sizes for each product were processed to simulate two commercial agitating processing machines. The sterilization values (Fo) and heat penetration factors (j, fh, f2) were determined from time-temperature data and were influenced by reel rotational speed, corn fill weight, and brine fill or container headspace. For both products, optimum heat penetration for agitated processing occurred at a ratio of brine-to-corn fill weights of about 35% (normal for vacuum-packed products). Above a threshold value, increasing reel rotational speed did not significantly enhance heating, and with the accompanied reduction in retention time in continuous retorts, Fo values would actually be lowered. Sterilization values were somewhat reduced because of overfills of both corn and brine. For the vacuum-packed product, vacuum level significantly influenced heat penetration only for the still processes.
Homocysteine: Clinical Significance and Laboratory Measurement

Increased plasma homocysteine concentrations are associated with increased risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, and venous thrombosis. Potential benefits of homocysteinelowering therapy are stimulating clinical interest in measuring homocysteine. Many methods are now available including some new options. However, homocysteine testing and interpretation present challenges to clinical laboratories. Future demand for homocysteine testing likely will depend on the outcome of ongoing trials of homocysteine-lowering therapy.
Origins and Diversification of a Complex Signal Transduction System in Prokaryotes

The molecular machinery that controls chemotaxis in bacteria is substantially more complex than any other signal transduction system in prokaryotes, and its origins and variability among living species are unknown. We found that this multiprotein “chemotaxis system” is present in most prokaryotic species and evolved from simpler two-component regulatory systems that control prokaryotic transcription. We discovered, through genomic analysis, signaling systems intermediate between two-component systems and chemotaxis systems. Evolutionary genomics established central and auxiliary components of the chemotaxis system. While tracing its evolutionary history, we also developed a classification scheme that revealed more than a dozen distinct classes of chemotaxis systems, enabling future predictive modeling of chemotactic behavior in unstudied species.
Phase characterization for power: evaluating control-flow-based and event-counter-based techniques

Computer systems increasingly rely on dynamic, phase-based system management techniques, in which system hardware and software parameters may be altered or tuned at runtime for different program phases. Prior research has considered a range of possible phase analysis techniques, but has focused almost exclusively on performance-oriented phases; the notion of power-oriented phases has not been explored. Moreover, the bulk of phase-analysis studies have focused on simulation evaluation. There is need for real-system experiments that provide direct comparison of different practical techniques (such as control flow sampling, event counters, and power measurements) for gauging phase behavior. In this paper, we propose and evaluate a live, real-system measurement framework for collecting and analyzing power phases in running applications. Our experimental frameworks simultaneously collects control flow, performance counter and live power measurement information. Using this framework, we directly compare between code-oriented techniques (such as "basic block vectors") and performance counter techniques for characterizing power phases. Across a collection of both SPEC2000 benchmarks as well as mainstream desktop applications, our results indicate that both techniques are promising, but that performance counters consistently provide better representation of power behavior. For many of the experimented cases, basic block vectors demonstrate a strong relationship between the execution path and power consumption. However, there are instances where power behavior cannot be captured from control flow, for example due to differences in memory hierarchy performance. We demonstrate these with examples from real applications. Overall, counter-based techniques offer average classification errors of 1.9% for SPEC and 7.1% for other benchmarks, while basic block vectors achieve 2.9% average errors for SPEC and 11.7% for other benchmarks respectively.
Telos: enabling ultra-low power wireless research

We present Telos, an ultra low power wireless sensor module ("mote") for research and experimentation. Telos is the latest in a line of motes developed by UC Berkeley to enable wireless sensor network (WSN) research. It is a new mote design built from scratch based on experiences with previous mote generations. Telos' new design consists of three major goals to enable experimentation: minimal power consumption, easy to use, and increased software and hardware robustness. We discuss how hardware components are selected and integrated in order to achieve these goals. Using a Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller, Chipcon IEEE 802.15.4-compliant radio, and USB, Telos' power profile is almost one-tenth the consumption of previous mote platforms while providing greater performance and throughput. It eliminates programming and support boards, while enabling experimentation with WSNs in both lab, testbed, and deployment settings.
Hydrogen sulfide deficiency and diabetic renal remodeling: role of matrix metalloproteinase-9

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) causes adverse remodeling, whereas hydrogen sulfide (H2S) rescues organs in vascular diseases. The involvement of MMP-9 and H2S in diabetic renovascular remodelin...
Summary: Implications for Research and Programs

This paper provides summary judgments about the strength of the evidence that iron deficiency or anemia causes the six functional outcomes that were reviewed in the preceding papers, highlights priority research needs and discusses the implications of these conclusions for advocacy and programs. A significant body of evidence supports a causal relationship between iron deficiency and deficits in work productivity and child development, and between severe anemia and maternal and child mortality. Causal evidence is lacking or contradictory for iron deficiency and low birth weight and infectious disease, and for mild-to-moderate anemia and child or maternal mortality. Future research is required to expand or refine these conclusions. In the meantime, advocacy should focus on the outcomes supported by substantial causal evidence. These causal relationships can be separated into a problem of severe anemia (which causes mortality) and tissue iron deficiency (which causes deficits in work performance and child development). The simple model depicting severe anemia and tissue iron deficiency as distinct but overlapping entities with distinct functional outcomes is presented and may be useful in designing and evaluating programs.
Requirements and design of flexible NFV network infrastructure node leveraging SDN/OpenFlow

Carrier network service infrastructures are becoming increasingly complex since thousands of service-specific hardware-based network nodes are implemented to support a wide variety of network services. This has resulted in critically high increases in the maintenance costs to ensure service quality for network services and the deployment costs for new network services. Addressing these problems requires new ways to simplify and automate operations and infrastructures. Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN)/OpenFlow are attractive concepts that address these problems. In this study we present the requirements and a basic design of a flexible and elastic network service infrastructure with NFV and SDN/OpenFlow. We also introduce a virtual BRAS (Broadband Remote Access Server) prototype using Intel DPDK as high performance throughputs.
Performance Evaluation of Wet Pavement Markings in Ohio

Snow plowable raised pavement markers (RPMs) have been used in Ohio for the past four decades to provide visual guidance to motorists under inclement weather conditions. In recent years, rare incidents have occurred where the aged pavement surface failed to provide adequate support to the RPM castings. As a result, the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) initiated this study to evaluate the performance of alternative pavement marking materials and determine whether they can provide equivalent or better delineation than the existing system. These materials included all weather paint (AWP) and wet retroreflective (WR) durable tape. Both materials exhibited high initial WR. However, their wet night performance was significantly compromised within a relatively short period of time due to traffic and snow plowing activities. Therefore, it was concluded that given the harsh environmental conditions in Ohio, it will not be cost-effective to use AWP or WR durable tape as a replacement for RPMs.
Contrasting Relationships between Precipitation and Species Richness in Space and Time

Future changes in precipitation regimes are likely to impact species richness in water-limited plant communities. Regional, spatial relationships between precipitation and richness could offer information about how altered rainfall will impact local communities, assuming that processes driving the regional relationship are also dominant at fine spatial and short temporal scales. To test this assumption, we compared spatial and temporal relationships between precipitation and both species richness and species turnover in central North American grasslands. Across a broad geographic gradient, mean plant species richness in 1-m 2 plots increased significantly with mean annual precipitation. In contrast, over a 36-yr period at one mixed-grass prairie in the center of the regional gradient, single-year precipitation and richness were poorly correlated, and consecutive wet years had little effect on richness. Instead, richness increased most in wet years that followed dry years. Geographically dispersed sites receiving different levels of mean annual precipitation displayed strong differences in species composition, whereas temporal variation in precipitation at one site was not related to compositional dissimilarity, indicating that species turnover plays a key role in generating the regional relationship. Analyses of individual species’ presence-absence suggest that the lagged temporal responses reflect environmental germination cues more than resource competition. These complex cues may dampen the initial impact of altered precipitation on diversity, but over the long term, turnover in species composition should lead to changes in richness, as in the regional, spatial relationship. How quickly this long-term response develops may depend on the colonization rates of species better adapted to the altered rainfall regime.
Continuity and Change in the Chilean Party System: On the Transformational Effects of Electoral Reform

The party system consequences of Chile's “binomial” (two-member-district) legislative electoral formula have been the subject of much debate. For some analysts, the binomial system limits party system fractionalization and encourages centripetal competition, enhancing the prospects for democratic stability. Others emphasize elements of continuity within the country's historic multiparty system and contend that the electoral formula may prove destabilizing. This article, arguing that limited electoral reform has limited party system consequences, provides comparative empirical measures showing that neither the degree of party system fractionalization nor the competitive dynamic of the party system has been substantially transformed. However, the binomial formula does increase the incentives for coalition formation and maintenance. The article concludes that the ultimate consequences of electoral reform depend on whether these new incentives for coalition formation can overcome the elements of continuity wi...
Symmetric nulling coronagraph based on a rotational shearing interferometer

We describe a fully symmetric nulling coronagraph for single-aperture telescopes that is based on a rotational shearing interferometer (RSI) and that is intended for the imaging of faint companions to nearby bright stars. In the proposed layout, all asymmetries inherent in previous single-aperture RSI-based nulling coronagraphs have been eliminated, and the bright and dark outputs are both accessible. As a result, deep, broadband, dual-polarization rejection of on-axis starlight should be possible with this system.
Behavioral Responses of Anuran Larvae to Chemical Cues of Native and Introduced Predators in the Pacific Northwestern United States

We compared behavioral responses of larvae of three Pacific Northwest anurans from different hydroperiods to water borne cues of native and introduced predators. Two native anurans (Pacific Treefrog, Pseudacris regilla, and Northern Red-Legged Frog, Rana aurora aurora) and introduced Bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) responded to water conditioned by native Redside Shiners (Richardsonius balteatus) by increasing refuge use. The larvae of the two native anurans differed in their response to introduced predator cues. Rana aurora aurora, which occur in temporary and permanent waters, responded to both introduced Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) and introduced Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Pseudacris regilla, which occur primarily in temporary ponds, did not respond to water borne cues from either introduced predator. The broader responses of R. a. aurora may indicate greater behavioral plasticity or more exposure to novel predators than experienced by P. regilla. Larvae of introduced R. catesbeiana responded strongly to cues from two fish native to the Pacific northwest but did not alter behavior in response to any of five potential predators with which they coexist in their native range. Fish that occur with R. catesbeiana in their native range generally find Bullfrog larvae unpalatable. This pattern suggests that Bullfrog larvae can recognize cues of novel predators that may find them palatable, which could contribute to their success as an invasive species in the region.
Unique and overlapping roles for ZipA and FtsA in septal ring assembly in Escherichia coli

ZipA and FtsA are essential division proteins in Escherichia coli that are recruited to the division site by interaction with FtsZ. Utilizing a newly isolated temperature-sensitive mutation in zipA we have more fully characterized the role of ZipA. We confirmed that ZipA is not required for Z ring formation; however, we found that ZipA, like FtsA, is required for recruitment of FtsK and therefore all downstream division proteins. In the absence of FtsA or ZipA Z rings formed; however, in the absence of both, new Z rings were unable to form and preformed Z rings were destabilized. Consistent with this, we found that an FtsZ mutant unable to interact with both ZipA and FtsA was unable to assemble into Z rings. These results demonstrate that ZipA and FtsA are both required for recruitment of additional division proteins to the Z ring, but either one is capable of supporting formation and stabilization of Z rings.
Modelling Threshold Secret Sharing Schemes in Ad Hoc Networks

A threshold secret sharing scheme divides a secret key into multiple shares. The secret key can be constructed based on a certain number of shares, if the number is bigger than the threshold. Threshold secret sharing schemes increase the availability of service in ad hoc networks and avoid the single point of failure. Consequently, many security mechanisms have been proposed based on threshold secret sharing. However, research about how to choose an appropriate threshold is still missing. In this paper, we use fork/join queueing theories to develop a general model to evaluate the performance of a threshold secret sharing scheme in ad hoc networks. Specifically, we focus on the response time a requesting node needs to wait before it receives enough responded shares. Our proposed model allows one to numerically calculate the response time based on the threshold. It also provides a tool for people to choose an appropriate threshold when deploying a threshold secret sharing scheme in ad hoc networks.
Mapping the FDTD Application to Many-Core Chip Architectures

This paper reports a study of mapping the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) application to the IBM Cyclops-64 (C64) many-core chip architecture [1]. C64 is chosen for this study as it represents the current trend in computer architecture to develop a class of many-core architectures with distinct features e.g. software manageable on-chip memory hierarchy (vs. a hardware-managed data cache), high on-chip bandwidth, fine grain multithreading and synchronization, among others. Major results of our study include: 1. A good mapping of FDTD can effectively exploit the on-chip parallelism of C64-like architectures and show good performance and scalability. 2. Such performance improvement is derived by employing a number of code optimization techniques such as time skewing and split tiling that judiciously exploit the architecture features described in (1). 3. High performance requires maximum reuse of on-chip memory, which is obtained by tiling with non conventional tile shapes. 4. Such code optimization techniques we used in (2) and tiling such as the one used in (3) should be implementable within a reasonable compilation framework, opening a new set of possibilities for compiler optimizations.
A calculus approach to energy-efficient data transmission with quality-of-service constraints

Transmission rate adaptation in wireless devices provides a unique opportunity to trade off data service rate with energy consumption. In this paper, we study optimal rate control to minimize transmission energy expenditure subject to strict deadline or other quality-of-service (QoS) constraints. Specifically, the system consists of a wireless transmitter with controllable transmission rate and with strict QoS constraints on data transmission. The goal is to obtain a rate-control policy that minimizes the total transmission energy expenditure while ensuring that the QoS constraints are met. Using a novel formulation based on cumulative curves methodology, we obtain the optimal transmission policy and show that it has a simple and appealing graphical visualization. Utilizing the optimal ldquoofflinerdquo results, we then develop an online transmission policy for an arbitrary stream of packet arrivals and deadline constraints, and show, via simulations, that it is significantly more energy-efficient than a simple head-of-line drain policy. Finally, we generalize the optimal policy results to the case of time-varying power-rate functions.
Extracorporeal life support / membrane oxygenation following paediatric cardiac surgery

Key words: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; Extracorporeal life support; Paediatric cardiac surgery
Trends in late Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil distribution patterns, Western North Atlantic margin

First and last occurrences of several Maastrichtian calcareous nannofossil species are shown to be diachronous across paleodepth and paleoenvironment using the graphic correlation method. Calcareous nannofossil assemblages examined from eleven cores from a deep- to shallow-water transect along the eastern United States Atlantic margin document that the first occurrence of Micula murus (Martini 1961) Bukry 1973 is diachronous, appearing 2.0 million years earlier in open ocean sites than in shallow marine sites. The first occurrence (FO) of Lithraphidites kennethii Perch-Nielsen 1984 is also nonsynchronous, appearing in the deep ocean before its FO in neritic waters. The last occurrence (LO) of L. praequadratus Roth 1978 is diachronous across paleodepth, going locally extinct first in deeper water. The LO of Watznaueria bybelliae Self-Trail 1999 is also diachronous, going locally extinct first in shallow-water settings. Ceratolithoides amplector Burnett 1997, C. pricei Burnett 1997, C. self-trailiae Burnett 1997, C. ultimus Burnett 1997, Cribrocorona gallica (Stradner 1963) Perch-Nielsen 1973, Micula praemurus (Bukry 1973) Stradner and Steinmetz 1984, Pseudomicula quadratus Perch-Nielsen et al. 1978, and Semihololithus spp. are present consistently in common to frequent abundances in ODP holes 1050C and 1052E on the Blake Nose, but they are rare or absent from neritic sections in Coastal Plain cores. It is apparent that these species flourished in an open ocean setting, suggesting that differences in assemblage abundance and diversity between deep ocean and nearshore areas were controlled by paleoceanographic factors. These species are not used for biostratigraphy, but may be useful indicators of open ocean conditions. The line of correlation (LOC) for nine Coastal Plain cores clearly defines the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) boundary unconformity at the top of the Maastrichtian section (Peedee Formation) and the Campanian-Maastrichtian (C/M) unconformity at the base of the Maastrichtian section (Peedee/Donoho Creek formational contact). The K/T boundary unconformity is undulatory in nature; updip Maastrichtian sections have been stripped to a greater depth than the downdip sections. The uppermost Campanian, all of the lowermost Maastrichtian, and the basal upper Maastrichtian sediments are missing from the study area.
Concepts of Property in Intellectual Property Law: Limiting copyright through property

In recent years, copyright has become more like property. Copyright has expanded to take on property-like powers that are broad and last essentially forever. In addition, industry leaders, courts, and scholars discuss copyright in terms of strong property rights.In this chapter, I show how limits are central to property. I also explain why it is appropriate to limit a propertized copyright. And I offer some examples of copyright limits.Despite all discussion and assumptions to the contrary, propertization provides the tools not for absolute rights, but for limits on the rights provided by copyright.
Clinical candidates of small molecule p38 MAPK inhibitors for inflammatory diseases

The trigger and etiology of chronic inflammatory diseases are not well understood, hindering the development of efficient therapeutic approaches. The observation that abnormal activity of the p38 MAPK is common to all inflammatory diseases raised the expectation that p38 inhibitors would serve as general anti-inflammatory therapeutics. A large number of inhibitors were consequently discovered. Several compounds of different scaffolds, blocking the p38 MAPK signaling pathway, have entered phase II clinical trials for rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pain, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. As I review here, in almost all cases the clinical trials have failed, leading to re-design of compounds and re-evaluation of p38 as a suitable target. I describe how structural features, unique to p38 α , have been employed in the inhibitor design and achieved high degree of kinome selectivity. I then focus on some of the drugs that reached human trials and summarize their in vitro/in vivo pharmacological profiles and the related outcomes from clinical investigations. These compounds include VX-745, VX-702, RO-4402257, SCIO- 469, BIRB-796, SD-0006, PH-797804, AMG-548, LY2228820, SB-681323 and GW-856553. Finally, I discuss novel suggested approaches for the use of p38 inhibitors such as combining p38 inhibition with inhibiting other targets that function in parallel inflammatory pathways for achieving efficacy in treating inflammatory diseases.
Domperidone for Treatment of Low Milk Supply in Breast Pump–Dependent Mothers of Hospitalized Premature Infants A Clinical Protocol

Mothers of hospitalized premature infants who choose to provide breast milk are at increased risk of an inadequate breast milk supply. When nonpharmacologic interventions to increase milk supply fail, clinicians are faced with limited options. There is no current evidence to support the use of herbal galactogogues in this population and a black box warning for metoclopramide for potential serious side effects. Thus, domperidone was the only known, effective option for treatment of low milk supply in this population. With a thorough review of the literature on domperidone and coordination with the obstetrical, neonatal, lactation, and pharmacology teams, a domperidone treatment protocol for mothers of hospitalized premature infants with insufficient milk supply was developed at our institution and is presented in this article. A comprehensive understanding of domperidone for use as a galactogogue with a standard treatment protocol will facilitate safer prescribing practices and minimize potential adverse reactions in mothers and their hospitalized premature infants.
Postprandial lipids accelerate and redirect nitric oxide consumption in plasma

Nitric oxide (NO) and O2 are both three-to four-fold more soluble in biological lipids than in aqueous solutions. Their higher concentration within plasma lipids accelerates NO autoxidation to an extent that may be of importance to overall NO bioactivity. This study was undertaken to test the hypothesis that increased plasma lipids after a high-fat meal appreciably accelerate NO metabolism and alter the byproducts formed. We found that plasma collected from subjects after consumption of a single high-fat meal had a higher capacity for NO consumption and consumed NO more rapidly compared to fasting plasma. This increased NO consumption showed a direct correlation with plasma triglyceride concentrations (p = 0.006). The accelerated NO consumption in postprandial plasma was reversed by removal of the lipids from the plasma, was mimicked by the addition of hydrophobic micelles to aqueous buffer, and could not be explained by the presence of either free hemoglobin or ceruloplasmin. The products of NO consumption were shifted in postprandial plasma, with 55% more nitrite (n = 12, p = 0.002) but 50% less SNO (n = 12, p = 0.03) production compared to matched fasted plasma. Modeling calculations indicated that NO autoxidation was accelerated by about 48-fold in the presence of plasma lipids. We conclude that postprandial triglyceride-rich lipoproteins exert a significant influence on NO metabolism in plasma.
Recent Semiconductor Work at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory

For the past five years, the research program of the FBNML semiconductor group has focused on diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS). Topics of special interest include: Bound magnetic polarons (BMP). Magnetization steps and Mn2+ -Mn2+ interactions. The metal-insulator transition. Ordered DMS. Work along all of these lines is continuing. The early DMS work at FBNML involved Mn-alloyed II–VI materials. Recently, the program has broadened to include stannites and Fe-alloyed II–VI’s. Crystals for this research have been provided by Prof. A. Wold (Brown), Dr. P. Becla (FBNML), and Profs. R. Galazka and A. Mycielski (Warsaw). Their support has been invaluable.
Major histocompatibility complex class I restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in highly inbred chicken lines and lines selected for major histocompatibility complex and immunoglobulin production.

Abstract Selected chicken populations were analyzed by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) with a chicken MHC Class I (B-F) cDNA probe. The 13 highly inbred chicken lines differed in genetic origin and in MHC (B) haplotype, as distinguished by using hemagglutination with antisera against B-G and B-F antigens. The S1 sublines differed for B haplotype and antibody response to a synthetic polypeptide, GAT. In the highly inbred lines, band-sharing between lines from different origins was less than that between lines from same origin, showing the influence of the genetic background on chicken MHC Class I gene RFLP. In the S1 line, use of three restriction endonucleases (BglII, PvuII, and TaqI) produced MHC Class I RFLP that were associated with B haplotype, but not with immune response to GAT (IrGAT). A previous study in the authors' laboratory also demonstrated an association of MHC Class IIβ RFLP patterns with B haplotype, but not IrGAT, in the same line, suggesting that IrGAT is not controlled by MHC Class I or Class IIβ genes.
None of the above: Strategies for Inclusive Teaching with “Representative” Data

This conversation explores emerging debates concerning teaching to and about marginalized populations often left out of “representative” data sets. Based on our experiences studying, teaching, and ...
Effects of Some Chemosterilants on the Viability of Eggs, Fecundity, Mortality, and Mating of the Cabbage Looper

Tepa, metepa, or apholate fed to moths of the cabbage looper, Trichoplusia ni (Hubner), induced variable degrees of sterility. Male moths fed tepa did not mate so frequently as untreated males. Tepa applied as a spray induced complete sterility in cabbage looper males treated when 1–4 days old. Untreated female moths mated to males sprayed with tepa produced about the same number of eggs as females of untreated pairs. Egg viability decreased with increasing concentrations of tepa. Tepa-sprayed males mated as frequently as untreated males, but abnormal copulations in which males were unable to separate from females occurred more frequently after tepa treatment than in groups of untreated males. Females sprayed with tepa laid fewer eggs than females of untreated pairs. females sprayed with concentrations of 2 and 4% tepa laid few or no eggs and none hatched. Mortality of both male and female moths sprayed with tepa was higher at the end of the 8-day test period than that of untreated moths. Metepa and apholate were less effective than tepa in sterilizing either sex.
Prevention of cardiopulmonary complications of chest tumor patients over 70 after thoracotomy and its countermeasures

Objection To investigate the incidence of cardiopulmonary complications of chest tumor patients over 70 after thoracotomy and its preventive measures.Methods The clinical data of chest tumor patients over 70 after thoracotomy between January 2000 to December 2010 were retrospectively reviewed.The cardiopulmonary complications,preventive measures in the preoperative and postoperative treatment countermeasures were analyzed and summarized.Results Among 312 cases,postoperative circulatory system complications occurred in 89 cases(28.5%),respiratory complications occurred in 63 cases(20.2%),postoperative respiratory failure in 5 cases(1.6%),and 2 patients died(0.64%).Conclusion The incidence of cardiopulmonary complications of chest tumor patients over 70 after thoracotomy is higher. But if we know the thoracotomy cardiopulmonary indications,select the appropriate surgical approach,and deal with the prevention of preoperative and postoperative complications,the vast majority of elderly patients may tolerate surgical operation and successfully go through the operative period.
The human vomeronasal organ: part IV. Incidence, topography, endoscopy, and ultrastructure of the nasopalatine recess, nasopalatine fossa, and vomeronasal organ.

BackgroundPrevious reports on the human vomeronasal organ (VNO) have been inconsistent. Observations of fossae on the nasal septum have been reported as the VNO.MethodsAdult human subjects (210) an...
Surgical treatment of recurrent primary malignant tumor of the left atrium.

A young woman presented with a tumor in the left atrium resembling a left atrial myxoma. After simple excision of the tumor the diagnosis of primary malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the heart was made. A course of radiation therapy was given. Four subsequent recurrences were treated by cardiotomy and resection of the left atrial wall. At the third, fourth, and fifth operations fulguration of the left atrial wall was performed. Subsequent chemotherapy failed to control the tumor. The patient was admitted 6 weeks after the last resection and died. Postmortem examination revealed a large recurrent tumor obstructing the left atrium with no metastases. The clinical course, cardiac catheterization data, and postmortem examination are presented. Palliation was achieved by repeated resection of a radiation-resistent primary sarcoma of the heart.
Predicting Culvert Deterioration Using Physical and Environmental Time-Independent Variables

AbstractGiven a vast inventory of culverts with different physical and environmental characteristics, the task of condition assessment can become difficult or impossible. Using a database of approx...
Abstract 257: Clonal Analysis Of Multipotent Cardiovascular Progenitors That Generate Cardiomyocytes During Development

It has been proposed that cardiac development in lower vertebrates is driven by the proliferation of cardiomyocytes. Similarly, cycling myocytes have been suggested to direct cardiac regeneration in neonatal mice after injury. Although, the role of cardiomyocyte proliferation in cardiac tissue generation during development has been well documented, the extent of this contribution as well as the role of other cell types, such as progenitor cells, still remains controversial. Here we used a novel stochastic four-color Cre-dependent reporter system (Rainbow) that allows labeling at a single cell level and retrospective analysis of the progeny. Cardiac progenitors expressing Mesp1 or Nkx2.5 were shown to be a source of cardiomyocytes during embryonic development while the onset of αMHC expression marked the developmental stage where the capacity of cardiac cells to proliferate diminishes significantly. Through direct clonal analysis we provide strong evidence supporting that cardiac progenitors, as opposed to mature cardiomyocytes, are the main source of cardiomyocytes during cardiac development. Moreover, we have identified quadri-, tri-, bi, and uni-potent progenitors that at a single cell level can generate cardiomyocytes, fibroblasts, endothelial and smooth muscle cells. Although existing cardiomyocytes undergo limited proliferation, our data indicates that it is mainly the progenitors that contribute to heart development. Furthermore, we show that the limited proliferation capacity of cardiomyocytes observed during normal development was enhanced following neonatal cardiac injury allowing almost complete regeneration of the scared tissue. However, this ability was largely absent in adult injured hearts. Detailed characterization of dividing cardiomyocytes and proliferating progenitors would greatly benefit the development of novel therapeutic options for cardiovascular diseases.
05.07 Biomarker discovery in sjögren’s syndrome: database analysis and web interface design

Background Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune disease with unknown aetiology. SS shares similarity with other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Our objective was to use bioinformatics tools to identify both unique and common genes involved in the pathogenesis of SS, SLE and RA. Materials and methods Literature mining tool PubTator was used to identify genes associated with each disease. Python scripts were used to extract information from PubTator and integrate it into a MySQL database management system. Three salivary glands (SGs) and one peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) gene expression datasets (NCBI-GEO) of SS patients were analysed using GEO2R. MySQL tables were joined and organised to retrieve gene sets, which were utilised for molecular network analysis using STRINGdb. A web interface was designed and implemented to provide unique platform for search and retrieval of genes associated with SS. Results Text mining yielded 847 genes in common in SS, SLE and RA. A total of 15 990 differentially expressed (DE) genes were represented in at least one dataset, including 683 in common with the 847 previously identified. Of these, 86 genes were differentially expressed in all SGs datasets. To identify DE genes unique to SGs of SS patients, PBMCs dataset was used to subtract DE genes common to SGs and PBMCs from the 86 genes. Remaining 71 genes were integrated into a molecular interaction network including 44 representing 22 SS-related biological processes. The biological processes included cytokine signalling, herpes virus infection, and toll-like receptor signalling. A web interface was established to aggregate and correlate gene expression and text mining data. Conclusions By combining text mining and gene expression analysis, we identified a molecular interaction network that contained DE genes representing candidate biomarkers for SS. Previous studies had reported no clear link between some of the identified genes and SS. These genes may be further investigated for their role in the progression of SS in experimental models. Further, the web interface provides dynamic platform to the investigator to correlate different data sources, which may provide additional insights on the development of SS.
Behavior-based robotics programming for a mobile robotics ECE course using the CEENBoT mobile robotics platform

Behavior-based robotics is a novel approach to robotic programming whereby multiple behaviors execute in parallel using a multilayer architecture, organized by priority. However, in certain architectures, such as the subsumption architecture pioneered by Rodney Brooks, only one such behavior can be active at a time, requiring their coordination. Supporting such architectures requires hardware/software resources for multithreaded support for behaviors to execute concurrently. This makes behavior-based programming inaccessible to small educational robotics platforms usually powered by a uniprocessor (single-threaded) execution model. In this paper, we present an approach employed for an introductory Mobile Robotics course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that allows our students to both learn and implement behavior-based robotic programming using the C language on a uniprocessor-based mobile robotics platform known as the CEENBoT. This allows students to learn about robot programming using physical, situated robots, using a valuable language employed in embedded systems, supporting common goals of ECE programs, instead of relying on uncommon languages that have fallen into disuse and are quickly becoming obsolete. Results obtained from end-of-semester surveys are shown to demonstrate that students value the behavior-based elements of the course above other unique features it has to offer.
Angst and Drama: A Tale of Angioedema

“Nurse! Nurse!” she cried. “Something’s not right. Look! Look at my husband’s tongue.” Mrs. B watched in horror as her sick, unconscious husband’s tongue grew bigger and bigger, while he laid in his hospital bed. It was now easily visible in his slightly ajar mouth. The nurse left quickly to inform Mr. B’s physician about his condition. Mrs. B suspected that this was due to an adverse reaction to a medication given the night before for her husband’s rising blood pressure. Three weeks later on a Friday afternoon, Dr. Szema received a phone call from a medical intensive care unit (MICU) resident for an immediate consultation on Mr. B. Dr. Szema was not able to fulfill the resident’s request for immediate consultation since Fridays were his clinic days, normally booked with patients until 9:00 PM, and instead opted to perform the consultation after a 14-h day at 10:30 PM.
Imaging the Chronic Kidney Disease Patient

Abstract Imaging plays an increasingly vital role in measuring both renal function and structure in patients with chronic kidney disease. Diagnosis, disease status, disease progression, and development of complications of renal failure are monitored clinically as well as with laboratory studies and radiologic imaging. Although ultrasound and nuclear medicine have historically played a vital first role, newer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies promise to provide safe advanced functional renal analysis. With the sophisticated new MRI sequences, we are on the verge of major change in the evaluation and follow-up of patients with renal disease. The indications for evaluating the kidneys include evaluating for treatable cause of failure (such as hydronephrosis), documenting renal size, identifying renal position (for example, for biopsy), monitoring progression of disease, and identifying or confirming a specific disease entity (such as renal vascular or polycystic kidney disease).
Photochemistry of the Stilbenes in Methanol. Trapping the Common Phantom Singlet State.

A comparative study of the photochemistry of cis- and trans-stilbene in methanol shows that both isomers undergo methanol photoaddition giving similar yields of α-methoxybibenzyl in competition with cis–trans photoisomerization. Methanol addition occurs primarily following torsional relaxation of the lowest excited singlet states of each isomer, 1c* and 1t*, to a common twisted singlet excited state intermediate, 1p*, initially called the phantom singlet state. The addition is consistent with the zwitterionic character of 1p*. Ether forms by direct 1,2-addition of CH3OH to the central carbon atoms and by 1,1-addition following rearrangement to 1-benzyl-1-phenylcarbene. Use of CD3OD and GC/MS (gas chromatographic/mass spectroscopic) analysis of the ether products revealed that the ratio of carbene/direct addition pathways is higher starting from cis-stilbene. We conclude that 1p* formed from 1c* is hotter than 1p* formed from 1t*. Surprisingly, except for favoring the carbene pathway, the use of higher ene...
Perceptions of Influence on and of Political Bloggers: A Survey of Top Political Bloggers

Political bloggers emerged as a force in American electoral politics during the last two presidential election cycles. Described as “the pamphleteers of the 21st century,” as “technoactivists,” and as a “new class of professional communicators,” political bloggers will most certainly play a role in the upcoming presidential election. However, empirical understandings are lacking in regards to what that role might be and how this group might influence and interact with the larger political and media landscapes. Through a survey of 135 political bloggers writing for the top 200 political blogs, the study examines this emergent group by analyzing their conceptions of their functions and roles in the upcoming presidential campaign, the factors that influence their choice of particular blog topics, and their perceptions of the influence of the left- and right-wing political blogospheres and the mainstream media on a variety of outcomes, groups, and issues. Results indicated a remarkable degree of similarity between political bloggers of varied partisan orientations regarding the importance assigned to various roles and functions of their work, as well as the factors that influence their choice of blog topics. Regarding the perceived influence of the political blogospheres and the mainstream media on an array of topics, interesting nuances emerged indicating both similarities and significant differences between the partisan groups’ perceptions.
First-Order Equations

Certain types of first-order equations can be solved by relatively simple methods. Since, as seen in Sect. 1.2, many mathematical models are constructed with such equations, it is important to get familiarized with their solution procedures.
Plastic Flow Characteristics of Aluminum-Alloy Plate

Commercial hot-rolled P/Vin. 24ST aluminum plate possesses a, marked degree of crystallographic anisotropy. Tensile tests a t various orientations showed tha t the yield strength is only slightly dependent upon the crystallographic anisotropy. Ratios of the transverse strains to the longitudinal strain varied from — 0.30 to —0.57, while for an isotropic material the ratio would b e 0 . 5 0 .
The role of the academic library in supporting LGBTQ students: A survey of librarians and library administrators at LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities

This study engages public services librarians and librarians in administrative or managerial positions in a conversation about LGBTQ student needs. Using a sample from the Campus Pride Index’s Best...
An 8-Month-Old Girl With Vesicular Rash:

This is a case report of an 8-month-old girl who presented to the pediatric emergency department with vesicular rash and fever. She was diagnosed with eczema herpeticum (EH). EH is an acute, rapidly progressive rare dermatologic disease, and if it is not treated promptly, it can cause life-threatening complications. It often occurs in a patient with an underlying skin disorder, such as atopic dermatitis or other erosive dermatoses. Diagnosis is mainly made by clinical examination usually presented as many very similar shaped and sized eroded vesicles. It is important for clinicians to recognize the sign and symptoms of EH and have a high suspicion for patients with atopic dermatitis who present with rapidly disseminating blisters. Treatment is with oral or intravenous acyclovir. If the patient has widespread eruptions or systemic symptoms such as fever, malaise, and poor oral intake, the patient should be admitted for intravenous acyclovir.