cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Zeeman resonances for radical-pair reactions in weak static magnetic fields

Recent reaction-yield-detected magnetic resonance experiments in weak static magnetic fields and the observation of resonance effects in animal orientation experiments provide the motivation for renewed studies of magnetic field effects on radical-pair reactions. Here, we investigate theoretically resonance patterns for weak static magnetic fields. We focus on the question: for which radical pairs can one expect Zeeman resonances to occur if the static field is weaker than typical hyperfine interactions? Using analytical approaches, we rationalize the occurrence of Zeeman resonances for simple radical pairs. Numerical solutions are presented for a wide range of radical pairs with up to seven hyperfine interactions employing the rotating-frame transformation. The results suggest that resonances occur close to either the Larmor frequency or half the Larmor frequency for a wide variety of radical pairs for spin Hamiltonians with a high degree of symmetry. For larger numbers of hyperfine interactions, Zeeman ...
Flexible strategies for sensory integration during motor planning

When planning target-directed reaching movements, human subjects combine visual and proprioceptive feedback to form two estimates of the arm's position: one to plan the reach direction, and another to convert that direction into a motor command. These position estimates are based on the same sensory signals but rely on different combinations of visual and proprioceptive input, suggesting that the brain weights sensory inputs differently depending on the computation being performed. Here we show that the relative weighting of vision and proprioception depends both on the sensory modality of the target and on the information content of the visual feedback, and that these factors affect the two stages of planning independently. The observed diversity of weightings demonstrates the flexibility of sensory integration and suggests a unifying principle by which the brain chooses sensory inputs so as to minimize errors arising from the transformation of sensory signals between coordinate frames.
Putative cis-Acting Stem-Loops in the 5′ Untranslated Region of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Can Substitute for Their Mouse Hepatitis Virus Counterparts

Consensus covariation-based secondary structural models for the 5' 140 nucleotides of the 5' untranslated regions (5'UTRs) from mouse hepatitis virus (MHV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SCoV) were developed and predicted three major helical stem-loop structures, designated stem-loop 1 (SL1), SL2, and SL4. The SCoV 5'UTR was predicted to contain a fourth stem-loop, named SL3, in which the leader transcriptional regulatory sequence (TRS) is folded into a hairpin loop. cDNAs corresponding to MHV/SCoV chimeric genomes were constructed by replacing the complete MHV 5'UTR with the corresponding SCoV sequence and by separately replacing MHV 5'UTR putative SL1, putative SL2, TRS, and putative SL4 with the corresponding SCoV sequences. Chimeric genomes were transcribed in vitro, and viruses were recovered after electroporation into permissive cells. Genomes in which the MHV 5'UTR SL1, SL2, and SL4 were individually replaced by their SCoV counterparts were viable. Chimeras containing the complete SCoV 5'UTR or the predicted SCoV SL3 were not viable. A chimera containing the SCoV 5'UTR in which the SCoV TRS was replaced with the MHV TRS was also not viable. The chimera containing the entire SCoV 5'UTR failed to direct the synthesis of any virus-specific RNA. Replacing the SCoV TRS with the MHV TRS in the MHV/5'UTR SCoV chimera permitted the synthesis of minus-sense genome-sized RNA but did not support the production of positive- or minus-sense subgenomic RNA7. A similar phenotype was obtained with the MHV/SCoV SL3 chimera. These results suggest a role for the TRS in the replication of minus-sense genomic RNA in addition to its known function in subgenomic RNA synthesis.
Improving energy and power efficiency using NComputing and approaches for predicting reliability of complex computing systems

Opting to follow the computing-design philosophy that the best way to reduce power consumption and increase energy efficiency is to reduce waste, we propose an architecture with a very simple ready-implementation by using an NComputing device that can allow multi-users but only one computer is needed. This intuitively can save energy, space as well as cost. In this paper, we propose a simple and realistic NComputing architecture to study the energy and power-efficient consumption of desktop computer systems by using the NComputing device. We also propose new approaches to estimate the reliability of k-out-of-n systems based on the delta method. The k-out-of-n system consisting of n subsystems works if and only if at least k-of-the-n subsystems work. More specificly, we develop approaches to obtain the reliability estimation for the k-out-of-n systems which is composed of n independent and identically distributed subsystems where each subsystem (or energy-efficient usage application) can be assumed to follow a two-parameter exponential lifetime distribution function. The detailed derivations of reliability estimation of k-out-of-n systems based on the biased-corrected estimator, known as delta method, the uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimate (UMVUE) and maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) are discussed. An energy-management NComputing application is discussed to illustrate the reliability results in terms of the energy consumption usages of a computer system with quad-core, 8GB of RAM, and a GeForce 9800GX-2 graphics card to perform various complex applications. The estimated reliability values of systems based on the UMVUE and the delta method differ only slightly. Often the UMVUE of reliability for a complex system is a lot more difficult to obtain, if not impossible. The delta method seems to be a simple and better approach to obtain the reliability estimation of complex systems. The results of this study also show that, in practice, the NComputing architecture improves both energy cost saving and energy efficient living spaces.
Automatic Language Identification Using Telephone Speech

Automatic language identification is the problem of identifying the language being spoken from a sample of speech by an unknown speaker. Within seconds of hearing speech, people are able to determine whether it is a language they know. If it is a language with which they are not familiar, they often can make subjective judgments as to its similarity to a language they know, e.g., “sounds like German”.
Algorithm-enabled exploration of image-quality potential of cone-beam CT in image-guided radiation therapy

Kilo-voltage (KV) cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) unit mounted onto a linear accelerator treatment system, often referred to as on-board imager (OBI), plays an increasingly important role in image-guided radiation therapy. While the FDK algorithm is currently used for reconstructing images from clinical OBI data, optimization-based reconstruction has also been investigated for OBI CBCT. An optimization-based reconstruction involves numerous parameters, which can significantly impact reconstruction properties (or utility). The success of an optimization-based reconstruction for a particular class of practical applications thus relies strongly on appropriate selection of parameter values. In the work, we focus on tailoring the constrained-TV-minimization-based reconstruction, an optimization-based reconstruction previously shown of some potential for CBCT imaging conditions of practical interest, to OBI imaging through appropriate selection of parameter values. In particular, for given real data of phantoms and patient collected with OBI CBCT, we first devise utility metrics specific to OBI-quality-assurance tasks and then apply them to guiding the selection of parameter values in constrained-TV-minimization-based reconstruction. The study results show that the reconstructions are with improvement, relative to clinical FDK reconstruction, in both visualization and quantitative assessments in terms of the devised utility metrics.
A COMPARISON OF MUTATION RATES FOR SPECIFIC LOCI AND CHROMOSOME REGIONS IN DYSGENIC HYBRID MALES OF DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

The mutation rates of specific loci and chromosome regions were estimated for two types of dysgenic hybrid males. These came from crosses between P or Q males and M females in the P-M system of hybrid dysgenesis. The M X P hybrids were the more mutable for each of the loci and chromosome regions tested. The Beadex locus was highly mutable in these hybrids but did not mutate at all in the sample of gametes from the M X Q hybrids. The singed locus had 75% of the mutability of Beadex in the M X P hybrids; it was also mutable in the M X Q hybrids. The white locus was only slightly mutable in the M X P hybrids and not at all mutable in the M X Q hybrids. The mutations in singed and white probably arose from the insertion of P elements into these loci; the mutations at Beadex probably involved the action of a P element located near this locus on the X chromosome of the P strain that was used in the experiments. Mutations in two chromosome regions, one including the zeste-white loci and the other near the miniature locus, were much more frequent in the M X P hybrids than in the M X Q hybrids. These mutations also probably arose from P element insertions. The implication is that insertion mutations occur infrequently in the M X Q hybrids, possibly because most of the P elements they carry are defective. In M X P hybrids, there is variation among loci with respect to P element mutagenesis, indicating that P elements possess a degree of insertional specificity.
Shifting Administrative Burden to the State: The Case of Medicaid Take-Up

Administrative burden is an individual's experience of policy implementation as onerous. Such burdens may be created because of a desire to limit payments to ineligible claimants, but they also serve to limit take-up of benefits by eligible claimants. For citizens, this burden may occur through learning about a program; complying with rules and discretionary bureaucratic behavior to participate; and the psychological costs of participating in an unpopular program. Using a mixed-method approach, the authors explain process changes that reduced individual burden and demonstrate how this resulted in increased take-up in Medicaid in the state of Wisconsin. The findings inform the planned expansion of Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. A key design principle for Medicaid and other means-tested programs is that it is possible to increase program take-up while maintaining program integrity by shifting administrative burdens from the citizen to the state.
History of Clinical Chemistry in a Children’s Hospital (1914–1964)

The historical development of a charitable children’s hospital and the evolution of its clinical laboratory are presented. With the appearance of practical quantitative blood chemistry tests in the period between the two World Wars, applications to pediatrics were hampered by the need for ultramicro procedures then unavailable and for improved skin-puncture blood sampling. World War II brought economic demands that forced the hospital to privatize its beds and to charge fee-for-services. In turn, this brought added income, allowing the hiring or subsidizing of a professional staff, including the clinical chemist. The development of ultramicro blood chemistry followed, along with improved skin-puncture technology.
Habitat Use, Home Ranges, and Survival of Swift Foxes in a Fragmented Landscape: Conservation Implications

Habitat loss might be one of the primary reasons for the decline of the swift fox (Vulpes velox) in the western Great Plains of North America. From 1998 to 2001, we monitored 42 swift foxes in a landscape interspersed with native short-grass prairies, nonnative grasslands enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program, irrigated agricultural fields, and dryland agricultural fields. Survival estimates ranged from 0.52 to 0.66 for both adults and juveniles, and the primary causes of death were vehicle collisions (42% deaths) and coyote (Canis latrans) predation (33%). Annual home-range size was similar for males and females (10.8 and 10.5 km 2 , respectively). Within the study area, swift foxes selected only shortgrass prairies and had lower-than-expected use or complete avoidance of all other habitat types. Our results indicate swift foxes are more specialized in habitat selection than other North American canids; thus, protection of native short-grass prairies might be necessary for their long-term existence.
Reconceptualizing reflexive sociology: A reply

L'A. porte son attention sur la notion de reflexivite. Il s'efforce de construire une perspective sociologique susceptible d'apprehender ce type de phenomene. Il analyse la notion de reflexivite et demande comment une approche veritablement scientifique de la connaissance est possible si tout savoir et tout schema interpretatif sont d'origine sociale. Il pose le probleme de la mediation et de la contrainte symbolique et analyse la relation qui unit savoir et pouvoir. Il souligne que le chercheur est aussi un agent social et s'attache a evaluer, sur le plan epistemologique, l'impact de la situation sociale du chercheur
A retrograde adeno-associated virus for collecting ribosome-bound mRNA from anatomically defined projection neurons

The brain contains a large variety of projection neurons with different functional properties. The functional properties of projection neurons arise from their connectivity with other neurons and their molecular composition. We describe a novel tool for obtaining the gene expression profiles of projection neurons that are anatomically defined by the location of their soma and axon terminals. Our tool utilizes adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (AAV9), which we found to retrogradely transduce projection neurons after injection at the site of the axon terminals. We used AAV9 to express Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP)-tagged ribosomal protein L10a (EGFP-L10a), which enables the immunoprecipitation of EGFP-tagged ribosomes and associated mRNA with a method known as Translating Ribosome Affinity Purification (TRAP). To achieve high expression of the EGFP-L10a protein in projection neurons, we placed its expression under control of a 1.3 kb alpha-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (Camk2a) promoter. We injected the AAV9-Camk2a-TRAP virus in either the hippocampus or the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) of the mouse brain. In both brain regions the 1.3 kb Camk2a promoter did not confer complete cell-type specificity around the site of injection, as EGFP-L10a expression was observed in Camk2a-expressing neurons as well as in neuronal and non-neuronal cells that did not express Camk2a. In contrast, cell-type specific expression was observed in Camk2a-positive projection neurons that were retrogradely transduced by AAV9-Camk2a-TRAP. Injection of AAV9-Camk2a-TRAP into the BNST enabled the use of TRAP to collect ribosome-bound mRNA from basal amygdala projection neurons that innervate the BNST. AAV9-Camk2a-TRAP provides a single-virus system that can be used for the molecular profiling of anatomically defined projection neurons in mice and other mammalian model organisms. In addition, AAV9-Camk2a-TRAP may enable the discovery of protein synthesis events that support information storage in projection neurons.
This Article Has No Footnotes[Fn1]: An Essay on RFRA[Fn2] and the Limits of Logic in the Law

This essay seeks to illuminate some of the limits of formal logic in a legal system through exploring some of the logic problems in the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Religious freedom is perhaps uniquely apt for examining the limits of logic in the law for two reasons. First, religious beliefs are based on faith and non logical or extra logical precepts (though internal logical consistency is often sought once the premises are adopted). Second, developing a coherent, consistent, logical jurisprudence of religious freedom has proven to be particularly intractable.
Conversion of Levulinic Acid to γ-Valerolactone over Few-Layer Graphene-Supported Ruthenium Catalysts

Few-layer graphene (FLG) supported ruthenium nanoparticle catalysts were synthesized and used for the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA), one of the “top 10” biomass platform molecules derived from carbohydrates. FLG-supported ruthenium catalyst showed 99.7% conversion and 100% selectivity toward γ-valerolactone (GVL) at room temperature in a batch reactor under high-pressure hydrogen. This catalyst showed 4 times higher activity and exceptional stability in comparison with traditional activated carbon supported ruthenium catalysts (Ru/C). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) studies suggest that the superior catalytic properties of Ru nanoparticles supported on FLG in LA hydrogenation could be attributed to the greater metallic Ru content present in the Ru/FLG in comparison to that in Ru/C.
Hollywood Renaissance: A Cinema for Democracy: John Ford and the Crisis of Modernity, Myth, and Meaning

Structure, Style, Ideology Over years and generations, a critical and popular consensus has deemed John Ford the quintessential American director. He occupies a special status as both an American artist and an American consciousness. In Ford, it is argued, the complexity and originality of the aesthetic imagination matches the depth, range, and intensity of his social and cultural imagination. Art, ideology, and culture cohere in the Ford canon to engender a representation and reconstruction of American culture in ways that are usually associated with major works of literature and art. The extent and quality of his aesthetic and cultural achievements make Ford a seminal force behind a movement that I have termed the Hollywood Renaissance of cinema and democracy that flowered during the middle decades of this century. In his work as a director and his influence as a cultural force, Ford's contribution toward establishing a democratic aesthetic of film compares to the efforts a century earlier of our most celebrated authors. Accordingly, John Ford plays a crucial role in the genesis and history of the Hollywood Renaissance. He looms like a patriarchal presence over this movement. Of all the powerful men who pioneered in the creative and industrial flowering of film in Hollywood, no one exercised greater leadership or influence than Ford. John Wayne even dubbed him “Pappy,” an epithet of affection and admiration that insinuates Ford's parental and originating authority as a director and Hollywood force.
The buildup that was

The administration revived chemical weapons development programs mothballed since the 1960s. Drawn to the glamor of genetic engineering, the military got into the biotech business, too.
Fluorescence of intravenously administered rose bengal appears only in hepatic polygonal cells.

SummaryIntravenously-administered Rose Bengal can be visualized by fluorescence microscopy in the livers of rabbits and humans. The fluorescence is Seen in hepatic polygonal cells, but not in Kupffer cells. It is suggested that the polygonal cells of the normal liver are responsible for the storage of Rose Bengal, and by analogy, Bromsulfalein
The role of mobile electronic devices in radiographer education.

Background Students commonly use mobile electronic devices (MEDs) for everyday activities such as e-mailing, texting, talking and playing. Students' familiarity with these devices may make it beneficial for educators to use MEDs to enhance classroom teaching and clinical learning. Methods This literature review examines the use of MEDs in radiography educational programs. Results Various potential uses for MEDs are discussed, such as clinical logs, archiving data, accessing reference material and evaluation tools and providing course materials. The author also addresses factors for selecting an MED, advantages and disadvantages of MEDs, their limitations and suggestions for future research. Conclusion Research suggests that there are several areas in the classroom and clinical situations where MEDs could benefit students and faculty. In particular, MEDs may improve efficiency in data collection and clinical evaluation and prove valuable as an information delivery tool.
THU0581 Three Years of Experience of the Center of Excellence in Patient-Centered Education in Musculoskeletal Care Demonstrates Successful Teaching of the Knowledge and Skills Required for Trainees to Deliver Excellent Musculoskeletal Care

Background Musculoskeletal (MSK) complaints are very common in primary and specialty care. Through funding from the Office of Academic Affiliations (OAA) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), we developed a Center of Excellence (COE) for patient-centered MSK care to train residents, associated health trainees, and medical students. Objectives To report the participants9 experience and self-assessed competencies during the MSK COE education week and determine the principal diagnoses encountered in the COE interdisciplinary and interprofessional clinics. Methods The COE program had two major components. 1) A week of intensive training in MSK care combining didactics, simulations, and clinical experiences (see figure). 2) Two interdisciplinary and interprofessional clinics for evaluating patients with complex MSK disorders and training in joint injections. Trainee competence was assessed by faculty by direct observation in clinical experiences and two-station Objective Structured Clinical exam (OSCE). Trainees report self-assessment of clinical competency before and after COE training. Results Since inception three years ago, the COE program has trained 157 trainees: 101 physician trainees from six disciplines and 56 associated health trainees from five disciplines. A review of the first 140 patients seen in the COE MSK interdisciplinary clinic documents a rich clinical training opportunity with an average of 2.4±1.5 complaints per visit, and patients being seen by 2.8±1.2 disciplines. The chief MSK complaint by patients was classified according to the following areas (orthopedics (OrS), rheumatology (RHE), endocrinology (END), and primary care (PC); however, as noted, the vast majority of patients had multiple MSK diagnoses. Trainees reported high satisfaction with the intensive training and COE MSK clinics. Self-assessment of knowledge and skills for several of the key elements evaluated for physician trainees are listed below. Marked increase in self-assessed MSK knowledge and skills were reported in all areas of training and improvement in clinical competence was confirmed on OSCE. Conclusions The COE is an interdisciplinary and interprofessional training model that gives trainees a unique experience for learning to manage patients with MSK disease in a rich collaborative setting. Acknowledgements This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Academic Affiliations and Office of Specialty Care Services. Disclosure of Interest None declared
Towards General-Purpose Resource Management in Shared Cloud

In distributed services shared by multiple tenants, managing resource allocation is an important pre-requisite to providing dependability and quality of service guarantees. Many systems deployed today experience contention, slowdown, and even system outages due to aggressive tenants and a lack of resource management. Improperly throttled background tasks, such as data replication, can overwhelm a system; conversely, high-priority background tasks, such as heartbeats, can be subject to resource starvation. In this paper, we outline five design principles necessary for effective and efficient resource management policies that could provide guaranteed performance, fairness, or isolation. We present Retro, a resource instrumentation framework that is guided by these principles. Retro instruments all system resources and exposes detailed, real-time statistics of pertenant resource consumption, and could serve as a base for the implementation of such policies.
Self-Tracking: Reflections from the BodyTrack Project

Based on the author's experiences the practice of self-tracking can empower individuals to explore and address issues in their lives. This work is inspired by examples of people who have reclaimed their wellness through an iterative process of noticing patterns of ups and downs, trying out new ideas and strategies, and observing the results. In some cases, individuals have realized that certain foods, environmental exposures, or practices have unexpected effects for them, and that adopting custom strategies can greatly improve quality of life, overcoming chronic problems. Importantly, adopting the role of investigator of their own situation appears to be transformative: people who embarked on this path changed their relationship to their health situation even before making discoveries that helped lead to symptom improvement. The author co-founded the BodyTrack project in 2010 with the goal of empowering a broader set of people to embrace this investigator role in their own lives and better address their health and wellness concerns, particularly those with complex environmental or behavioral components. The core of the BodyTrack system is an open source web service called Fluxtream ( https://fluxtream.org ) that allows users to aggregate, visualize, and reflect on data from myriad sources on a common timeline. The project is also working to develop and spread peer coaching practices to help transfer the culture and skills of self-tracking while mentoring individuals in how to self-assess their own situation and guide the process for themselves.
Influence of Sleep Disturbance on Global Functioning After Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Treatment.

Chronic insomnia and recurrent nightmares are prominent features of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Evidence from adult research indicates that these sleep disturbances do not respond as well to cognitive–behavioral therapies for PTSD and are associated with poorer functional outcomes. This study examined the effect of prolonged exposure therapy for adolescents versus client-centered therapy on posttraumatic sleep disturbance, and the extent to which sleep symptoms impacted global functioning among adolescents with sexual abuse-related PTSD. Participants included 61 adolescent girls seeking treatment at a rape crisis center. The Child PTSD Symptom Scale-Interview (Foa, Johnson, Feeny, & Treadwell, 2001) was used to assess PTSD diagnosis and severity of symptoms, including insomnia and nightmares. The Children's Global Assessment Scale (Shaffer et al., 1983) was used to assess global functioning. There were significant main effects of time and treatment on insomnia symptoms. Additionally, there was a main effect of time on nightmares. Results also showed that insomnia and nightmares significantly predicted poorer global functioning posttreatment (R2 = .21). Despite significant improvements in posttraumatic sleep disturbance, there were still clinically significant insomnia symptoms after treatment, suggesting that additional interventions may be warranted to address residual sleep disturbance in PTSD.
318. Targeted Genome Editing of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Using CRISPR/CAS9 to Generate a Knock-in Type II Collagen Reporter for the Purification of Chondrogenic Cells

INTRODUCTION: Differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to articular chondrocytes may provide a strategy for engineering cartilage tissue for therapy and functional characterization of patient-specific cartilage. Development of robust protocols will be particularly important for therapeutic applications. However, the difficulty of generating a pure population of chondrogenic precursors has hindered development of such protocols. We sought to isolate a chondrogenic cell population by engineering a novel hiPSC line to express GFP downstream of the COL2A1 gene using CRISPR/Cas9. METHODS: Reporter hiPSCs lines were generated via transfection of guide RNA/Cas9-T2A-GFP expression vector and COL2A1-P2A-GFP targeting vector (Fig 1AFig 1A). Targeted clones were identified by junction PCR. Reporter validation was performed with lentiviral SOX9 overexpression and recombinant TGF-β3 treatment to activate COL2A1 expression. Cells were imaged with fluorescence microscopy at Days 4, 7, and 10. GFP+ and GFP− cells were sorted at Day 14 using fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS). Gene expression from cell populations was analyzed with qRT-PCR. Reporter lines were differentiated to chondrogenic precursors via ectomesenchymal specification and TGF-β3 treatment. RESULTS: COL2A1-P2A-GFP reporter hiPSC lines were generated with CRISPR/Cas9 (Fig 1A/BFig 1A/B). Imaging after COL2A1 activation demonstrated the presence of GFP signal only in treated cells (Fig 1CFig 1C). Clonally derived cell lines displayed varied expression of GFP as measured by FACS (Fig 1DFig 1D). GFP signal was highly correlated with COL2A1 gene expression (r2=0.95) (Fig 1EFig 1E). GFP+ cells were enriched for chondrogenic markers such as COL2A1 and ACAN (p<0.05) (Fig 2AFig 2A). After differentiation to chondrogenic precursors, 4.5% of cells were GFP+ (Fig 2BFig 2B). This GFP+ population was enriched for COL2A1 transcript (Fig 2CFig 2C), suggesting isolation of a chondrogenic population. DISCUSSION: We show the characterization of a knock-in COL2A1 hiPSC reporter cell line using CRISPR/Cas9. The reporter functions specifically during COL2A1 upregulation and may be useful as a surrogate metric with wide dynamic range and high specificity for determining COL2A1 expression. The GFP+ population is enriched for chondrocyte-specific markers, namely COL2A1 and ACAN. The reporter enriches for COL2A1 expression after multi-staged differentiation, suggesting its utility for tissue engineering applications.View Large Image | Download PowerPoint SlideView Large Image | Download PowerPoint Slide
Altitude profile of the OH radical complex with water in Earth’s atmosphere: a quantum mechanical approach

The hydroxyl radical (OH) is important in both tropospheric and stratospheric chemical processes that occur in Earth’s atmosphere. The OH radical can also strongly hydrogen-bond to form complexes with other atmospheric constituents, like water molecules. Consequently, there is potential for altered reaction dynamics/kinetics as a result of this complexation. Without direct measurements of the abundances of such complexes in Earth’s atmosphere, we have adopted a theoretical approach to determine such abundances. Electronic structures, enthalpies and free Gibbs energies of formation of OH, H2O and H2O-HO were calculated at CCSD(T) and QCISD(T) levels of theory with either 6–311++G(2d,2p) or aug-cc-pVTZ basis. Statistical thermodynamic concepts were then used to assess the abundance of the complex as function of altitude.
Reclaiming, Restoring, and Reviving the American Musical: City Center Encores!

Almost since its opening in 1943, New York City Center has produced revivals of notable American musicals. In 1994, it established the important Encores! series, which consists of semi-staged revivals of notable Broadway musicals.
Deflection and Slope of Beams with Varying I

This paper formulates a numerical procedure for calculating deflections and slopes of flexural members subject to loads acting in their longitudinal plane of symmetry. The integration of the Maxwell-Mohr strain-energy function is performed beforehand, and limits consistent with the position of the loads and step-wise variation of the moment of inertia are introduced. The tedium of recurring integration and algebraic manipulation is thus reduced to a simple summation of finite differences. A table of differences of both the cubes and the squares of integers ranging from 1 to 50 is provided to simplify the numerical work and to increase the reliability of results. Slope may be computed independently of deflection calculations, or it may be rapidly determined from known deflection values, and vice versa
Femtosecond switching of infrared light using a plasmonic cadmium oxide perfect absorber

Using a high-electron-mobility cadmium oxide perfect absorber and intraband optical pumping, we experimentally demonstrate a reflective polarizer with a polarization extinction ratio of 91 that can be switched on and off within 800 fs.
Roles of Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma on Brain and Peripheral Inflammation

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) has been implicated in the pathology of numerous diseases involving diabetes, stroke, cancer, or obesity. It is expressed in diverse cell types, including vessels, immune and glial cells, and neurons. PPARγ plays crucial roles in the regulation of cellular differentiation, lipid metabolism, or glucose homeostasis. PPARγ ligands also exert effects on attenuating degenerative processes in the brain, as well as in peripheral systems, and it has been associated with the control of anti-inflammatory mechanisms, oxidative stress, neuronal death, neurogenesis, differentiation, and angiogenesis. This review will highlight key advances in the understanding of the PPARγ-related mechanisms responsible for neuroprotection after brain injuries, both ischemia and traumatic brain injury, and it will also cover the natural and synthetic agonist for PPARγ, angiotensin receptor blockers, and PPARγ antagonists, used in experimental and clinical research. A better understanding of the pleiotropic mechanisms and applications of these drugs to improve the recovery and to repair the acute and chronic induced neuroinflammation after brain injuries will pave the way for more effective therapeutic strategies after brain deficits.
Polymerization of trialkoxysilanes. Effect of the organic substituent on the formation of gels

Hydrolysis and condensation of trialkoxysilanes, R-Si(OR{prime}){sub 3}, generally leads to the formation of silsesquioxane oligomers and polymers. These polymers are composed of a monomer repeat unit, [R-SiO{sub 1.5}]{sub n}, with a single silicon atom attached to other repeat units in the polymer through one to three siloxane bonds. The remaining substituent is an organic group attached to the silicon through a silicon-carbon single bond. Silsesquioxanes have been the subject of intensive study in the past and are becoming important again as a vehicle for introducing organic functionalities into hybrid organic-inorganic materials through sol-gel processing. Despite all of this interest, there has not been a systematic study of the ability of trialkoxysilanes to form gels through the sol-gel process. In fact, it has been noted that silsesquioxanes are generally isolated as soluble resins rather than the highly crosslinked network polymers (gels) one would expect from a tri-functional monomer. In this study, the authors have examined the sol-gel chemistry of a variety of trialkoxysilanes with different organic substituents (R = H, Me, Et, n-Pr, i-Pr, n-Bu, i-Bu, t-Bu, n-octadecyl, n-dodecyl, cyclohexyl, vinyl, phenyl, benzyl, phenethyl), with methoxide or ethoxide substituents on silicon, at varying monomer concentrations ranging up to neat monomer, and with different catalysts (HCl, NaOH, formic acid, fluoride). Gels were prepared from tetramethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane at identical concentrations for purposes of comparison.
Calving ease and growth rate of Simmental-sired calves. III. Direct and maternal effects.

Field records from the American Simmental Association were used to estimate genetic parameters for direct and maternal effects of traits associated with dystocia. Estimates of the additive genetic variances of direct and maternal effects and of the additive genetic covariances of direct and maternal effects were calculated by equating the sire variance component, maternal grandsire variance component and covariance component between sire and maternal grandsire to their biological causal components. Independent variables in the mixed-model, least-squares analyses were herd, sire or maternal grandsire of the calf, sex of calf and percentage Simmental in the calf. The dependent variables were calving ease (score), assisted births, birth weight and gestation length. Sire and maternal grandsire were significant sources of variation for all traits studied. Maternal grandsire accounted for two to three times more variation in calving ease and assisted births than did sire, whereas site accounted for a larger percentage of the total variation in birth weight and gestation length. Heritability estimates for the maternal effects were .20, .13, .10 and .09 for calving ease, assisted births, birth weight and gestation length, respectively. Genetic correlations between the direct and maternal effects were -.53, -.55, -.24 and -.38 for calving ease, assisted births, birth weight and gestation length, respectively. The effect of these correlations on selection is discussed.
Cannabinoid and Kappa Opioid Receptors Reduce Potassium K Current via Activation of Gs Proteins in Cultured Hippocampal Neurons

The current study showed that potassium K current (I K), which is evoked at depolarizing potentials between −30 and +40 mV in cultured hippocampal neurons, was significantly reduced by exposure to ...
Sexual Selection and Lemur Social Systems

The lack of sexual size dimorphism among the lemurs of Madagascar affects agonistic relations between males and females, and therefore contributes to the most salient feature of lemur social systems: female dominance over males. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the nature and mechanisms of intrasexual selection in polygynous lemurs to illuminate the relationship between sexual selection and sex differences in dominance. First, I test the hypothesis that the lack of sexual size dimorphism in polygynous lemurs is a result of high viability costs. This hypothesis predicts that males in polygynous lemur species should have significantly larger canines than females, if male combat contributes importantly to variance in male reproductive success. Male-biased sexual canine dimorphism occurs in only 4 polygynous species, however. The reverse is true in Propithecus diadema and significant sex differences in canine size are absent in 8 other species. Moreover, there is no heterogeneity in the average degree of sexual canine dimorphism among lemurs with different mating systems. The general lack of sexual size dimorphism in polygynous lemurs is therefore not the result of high viability costs. More likely, it reflects weak selection on characters associated with male combat. The widespread absence of sexual dimorphism in body and canine size may still be reconcilable with sexual selection theory if male-male competition in polygynous lemurs is primarily post-copulatory, i.e., if it takes the form of sperm competition. In contrast to the prediction of this hypothesis, however, I found that males of solitary, pair- and group-living lemurs do not differ significantly in average relative testes size during the breeding season. Together, these comparative analyses suggest that intrasexual selection is of similar intensity in both monogamous and polygynous lemurs. Possible reasons for reduced variance in male reproductive success in non-monogamous species include scramble polygyny competition in some solitary species, as well as the existence of male-female pair-bonds in some group-living species. Female dominance occurs in species where males have superior weapons, but it does not characterize all polygynous lemurs. Thus, reduced intrasexual selection may have facilitated female dominance, but sexual selection theory alone cannot provide a sufficient explanation for the evolution of female dominance.
Reduction in ocrelizumab-induced infusion reactions by a modified premedication protocol

Abstract Background Ocrelizumab is a monoclonal antibody directed against CD20+ B cells that is approved for MS. The most common side effect is infusion-associated reactions (IARs). This study examines whether a modified premedication protocol reduces incidence of IARs and further examines predictors of IARs. Methods Patients took cetirizine 10 mg, ranitidine 75 mg, and increased hydration the night before the ocrelizumab infusion. This regimen was repeated the next day prior to arrival. Just prior to the infusion, patients were pretreated with IV diphenhydramine 50 mg, IV methylprednisolone 125 mg, and oral acetaminophen 650 mg. Rates of IARs with this modified protocol were compared to patients who had received only pretreatment medications. Results 207 patients received ocrelizumab. With the modified premedication protocol, we found significant decreased odds of IARs (OR 0.40, p = 0.024, 95% CI (0.18, 0.88). Among the baseline characteristics, there was a significant reduction of IARs with increasing age (OR 0.94, p = 0.001) and male sex (OR 0.34, p = 0.034). Body mass index (BMI) increased the odds of IARs (OR 1.07, p = 0.029). Race and smoking status did not affect IARs. Conclusion The modified premedication protocol described herein significantly decreases rates of IARs by 60% and suggests that the additional premedication regimen is beneficial. Age and male sex are protective for IARs while BMI is a risk factor for IARs.
Proceedings of the 1st ACM international workshop on Underwater networks

It is our great pleasure to welcome you to the First International Workshop on Underwater Networks (WUWNet'06). The goal of the workshop is to bring together researchers and practicing engineers from the areas of underwater communications and networking who are interested in applying their expertise to the development of future underwater networks.The call for papers attracted 30 submissions from the United States, Australia, India, South Korea, China, Singapore and Italy. The program committee accepted 10 full-length papers and 6 posters, included as short papers. We are also delighted to include 3 invited speakers. The papers cover a variety of topics in underwater communications, networking, and applications. Specifically, they address acoustic modem technology, applications of autonomous underwater vehicles, methods for localization, network topology discovery, media access control, routing protocols, and deployment considerations. In addition, the program includes a panel entitled: Underwater Networks: Methods, Systems, and Applications. We hope these proceedings will serve as a valuable reference for users, engineers, and researchers interested in underwater networks.
Update on Academic and Clinical Training in Cleft Palate/Craniofacial Anomalies for Speech-Language Pathology Students

Purpose The purpose of this study was to survey speech-language pathology master's programs regarding their academic and clinical coverage of cleft palate/craniofacial anomalies. Method A link to a...
Why the book “More than Medicine: the Broken Promise of American Health” is important to the future of behavioral medicine, health psychology, and public health

In his book, "More than Medicine: The Broken Promise of American Health," Robert Kaplan brings together extensive data to make the case that healthcare priorities in the USA need to place greater emphasis on behavioral, social and environmental determinants of health. Kaplan argues that the effect sizes for health outcomes resulting from environmental exposures, stress, and socioeconomic status are all much larger than are many traditional biological risk factors. There are discrepancies between estimates of how much the National Institutes of Health spends on behavioral and social sciences research, but an independent evaluation suggests it is <5% of the entire budget. Addressing this neglect requires advocacy and bringing together of like-minded organizations to promote more funding for behavioral interventions, health promotion and public health policies to address important contextual factors such as poverty, lack of education, and poor environmental conditions. Importantly, Kaplan argues that several metrics to integrate life expectancy and quality of life have been proposed and allow healthcare providers to prioritize the value of health over the volume of healthcare delivered. Although standards exist, there are still a limited number of studies on the cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of behavioral and public health interventions.
MRN findings of lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve impingement in a collegiate athlete

Dynamic compression of the lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve (LABCN) occurs with forearm pronation when the LABCN becomes compressed by the lateral margin of the biceps tendon. LABCN compression is a rare occurrence and is often overlooked as an etiology for forearm pain. While this entity has been described in several case reports in the orthopedic literature, it has not yet been described in radiology literature. We present a case of LABCN compression by the biceps tendon which was suggested by high-resolution magnetic resonance neurography in combination with the clinical findings and was subsequently confirmed and corrected surgically.
Sleep disturbance and insomnia in individuals seeking bariatric surgery.

Abstract Background Sleep disturbance is well established in individuals with obesity, and the relationship between poor sleep and obesity is supported by population, longitudinal, experimental, and intervention studies. However, the prevalence and characteristics of poor sleep in individuals seeking bariatric surgery have thus far been poorly examined. Objectives We sought to characterize self-reported sleep parameters in individuals seeking bariatric surgery and to compare these data with controls. Setting Two Academic Medical Centers, United States, and an online survey of healthy controls. Method Individuals seeking bariatric surgery (n = 427) completed presurgical psychological evaluations at 2 comprehensive bariatric surgery programs. Data on medical co-morbidities and from self-report questionnaires on sleep quality, insomnia, anxiety, and depression were abstracted from charts. Data from controls (n = 180) were collected using an online survey tool and compared with bariatric cases. Results Across study sites, 40.4% of bariatric cases took at least 30 minutes to fall asleep, 46.7% had insufficient total sleep time ( Conclusions Our results suggest that similar to a control population, the majority of patients seeking bariatric surgery are experiencing sleep difficulties. Presurgical assessment and treatment of sleep problems may be beneficial to patients and may help improve weight loss treatment outcomes. Optimally, assessment would include 1 of the 2 self-report questionnaires used herein, and treatment would involve Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. Future research assessing sleep patterns with objective measurement tools and evaluating the impact of sleep on postsurgical outcomes is warranted.