cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Attire and appearance of pediatrician: parents'/guardians' opinion.

Professional appearance of a pediatrician is an important element affecting the perception of competence of the doctor among patients and their parents/ guardians, thus influencing their compliance. As there is no study on this issue addressing the Indian scene, we requested responses to a questionnaire containing 15 questions from the parents/ guardians of the children. The purpose of the study was to assess their opinion regarding attire and appearance of pediatricians. Five each of the questions were related to common aspects of appearance and attire of the pediatrician in general and that of the male and the female pediatrician in particular. A total of 210 parents/ guardians responded to see the question listed in the questionnaire. Assertive responses to each question were analysed for any association with the following categories — Urban, Rural, Males, Females, Urban Males, Rural Males, Urban Females, Rural Females, age below 40 years and age 40 years or more. Majority of the total assertive respondents preferred a formal/ traditional attire and appearance for the pediatrician. Although most of the above categories concurred with this general opinion, some categories showed statistically significant, but practically unimportant, differences in the extent of agreement. The respondents generally favoured a white coat and nameplate on the pediatrician, shoes and a necktie for the male pediatrician andsaree for the female pediatrician. They did not approve clothes with bizarre designs, use of perfumes by the pediatrician, long hair, Tshirts and jeans pant for the male pediatrician,chudidar, lipstick and other make-ups, costly jewellery and short hair for the female pediatrician.
An Interpretive Basis of the Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Hyperfine Shifts for Structure Determination of High-Spin Ferric Hemoproteins. Implications for the Reversible Thermal Unfolding of Ferricytochrome c‘ from Rhodopseudomonas palustris

An NMR approach to determining the solution molecular structure of a high-spin ferric hemoprotein, 13 kDa ferricytochrome c‘ from Rhodopseudomonas palustris (Rp), has been investigated. In parallel with the use of appropriately tailored 1D and 2D experiments to provide scalar and dipolar correlations for the strongly relaxed and hyperfine-shifted heme cavity residues, we explore an interpretive basis of the large hyperfine shifts for noncoordinated residues which could provide constraints in solution structure determination for high-spin ferric hemoproteins. It is shown that the complete heme can be uniquely assigned in spite of the extreme relaxation properties (T1s 1−8 ms). Sufficient scalar connectivities are detected for strongly relaxed protons (T1 ≥ 4 ms) to uniquely assign residues on both the proximal and distal sides of the heme. The spatial correlations indicate that the structure is homologous to the four-helix bundle observed for other cytochromes c‘. The pattern of large hyperfine shifts for ...
Back-Channel Surface Modifications for a-Si:H Thin Film Transistors, TFTs, by Exposure to Plasma Excited N2O

We have studied different surface treatments for the back side of the channel of bottom gate a-Si:H TFTs. Two sets of different (i) channel layer thicknesses, and (ii) gate dielectric silicon nitride compositions were studied. The back channel Si-surfaces were either (i) exposed to products from an N2O plasma, or (ii) plasma oxidized. Comparisons of these back channel passivation methods indicated that relative to oxidized surfaces, the plasma N2O process, which created an oxynitride surface layer, (i) reduced the threshold voltage, (ii) decreased the sub-threshold slope (defined as V/decade of current increase) of the I-V characteristic, and (iii) increased the transconductance, or equivalently, the effective channel mobility.
Is early attachment security carried forward into relationships with preschool peers

The association between early parent–child attachment security and peer rejection among preschool children was examined. Children in three preschool classrooms (N = 37) participated. Mothers rated their children’s attachment security at age 3 years on the Attachment Q-Set (Waters, 1987). Sociometric ratings were collected from classmates at age 4 years through individual picture interviews. Teachers rated externalizing and internalizing behaviour exhibited at preschool. Lower attachment security was associated with greater subsequent peer rejection and higher externalizing and internalizing behaviour scores. An exploratory path model suggested that the linkage between early insecure attachment and later peer rejection may be mediated by externalizing behaviour. According to attachment theory, internal working models of relationships are developed during early parent–child interactions and subsequently ‘carried forward’ into future relationships (Sroufe & Fleeson, 1986). Because many children have their first experiences with a cohesive peer group when they enter preschool, internal working models developed in early parent–child relations could have a substantial influence on patterns of peer relationships that emerge among preschoolers. Children who expect to have their needs met in close relationships, and who view themselves as worthy of love and support, may engage in social behaviours in preschool that tend to elicit positive responses and friendship from their peers. The quality of early peer relationships may have important implications for children’s psychosocial adjustment later in life (Cowan & Cowan, in press). However, there is little research on the extent to which children’s attachment security is carried forward into preschool friendships. The primary goal of this study was to examine the association between early
Teaching Geography to High School Students with Academic Deficits: Effects of a Computerized Map Tutorial

This research investigated the effectiveness of two treatments designed to teach the locations of 28 major cities in Asia to students identified as learning disabled and remedial enrolled in a nint...
Ventriculomegaly and Intracranial Masses

A newborn presents with ventriculomegaly and multiple intracranial masses. (Figure 1) Figure 1. Figure 2. ### Prenatal and Birth Histories ### Presentation The infant was active and fed well for the first 48 hours after birth. Postnatal head ultrasonography was performed again because of prenatally diagnosed bilateral ventriculomegaly. Ultrasonography revealed 2 periventricular or intraventricular solid masses and dilatation of the occipital horn, primarily of the left lateral ventricle. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealed multiple intracranial masses and cortical enhancing lesions. The infant was transferred to our neonatal intensive care unit 3 days after birth for further care and monitoring. ### Vital Signs
Suppression of parasitics and pencil beams in the high-gain National Ignition Facility multipass preamplifier

The multi-pass amplifier (MPA) is the last subsystem of the NIF preamplifier, which feeds the main amplification stages of the NIF beamline. The MPA is based on a flashlamp pumped 5-cm diameter by 48 cm long Nd:glass rod amplifier operated at a single pass small signal gain of 15 to 17. The MPA is an off-axis multi-pass image relayed system, which uses two gain isolating image relaying telescopes and passive polarization switching using a Faraday rotator to output the pulse. We describe the MPA system, techniques used to avoid parasitic oscillation at high gain, and suppression of pencil beams. The system is used to generate a well- conditioned 22-joule output from one millijoule input. The output pulse requirements include 22 joules in a square, flat topped beam, and with near field spatial contrast of 3 ) and the four vacuum loaded lenses are significant, as each of these elements is double passed between each polarizing beam splitter pass. This lowers the polarization contrast of the system, which can prevent the system from operating at sufficient gain. Careful analysis and layout of the MPA architecture has allowed us to address the challenges posed by a system small signal gain of ≈ 33000 and with an output pulse of as high as 27 joules.
Encoding variability with imagery instructions in paired—associate transfer

Martin’s (1968) encoding-variability hypothesis was tested. Subjects learned two paired-associate lists conforming either to an A-B, A-D or to an A-B, C-D paradigm. Prior to learning the second list, one half of the subjects in each condition were instructed to use imagery to learn the list, while the other half received neutral instructions. If the instructions induce the subjects to variably encode the stimuli (i.e., to switch from a verbal to an imaginal code), then the A-D paradigm in effect becomes a C-D paradigm, and associative interference should be reduced. Results of two experiments failed to confirm the predictions. In addition, imagery instructions did not lead to improved second-list learning, even in the C-D condition, suggesting that it may be difficult to produce changes in learning strategies.
Multi-Objective Assessment of Effectiveness of Strategic Planning: A Discriminant Analysis Approach

Drawing on the relevant literature, this study develops seven key dimensions of planning systems, five reflecting their design aspects and two tapping the organizational context of planning. Discri...
Pathogenesis of experimental hypertension induced by salt.

Abstract 1. 1. Chronic salt ingestion in the rat often yields hypertensive cardiovascular renal disease. 2. 2. The natural history of this disease resembles that of essential hypertension in man. Morphologically, however, neither the vascular lesions nor the renal disease which accompany hypertension in the two species are strictly comparable. 3. 3. In the rat, salt loading and renal ablation are synergistic in producing hypertensive vascular disease. The reason for this is not clear, although it may relate to defective sodium metabolism. 4. 4. Altered electrolyte status in the peripheral vascular bed may play a role in the genesis of rat hypertension.
Energy Absorption and Dissipation Characteristics of Pultruded Glass-Graphite/Epoxy Hybrid Composite Beams

The response of pultruded glass-graphite/epoxy hybrid composites has been evaluated under two different incident impact energy conditions. A high incident energy (HIE) and a low incident energy (LIE) of impact are chosen to cause either complete fracture or induce delamination, respectively, for assessing the energy absorption characteristics and delamination fracture toughness of these hybrid composites. From the HIE instrumented drop-weight impact tests, the energies required for damage initiation, propagation, as well as total absorbed energies and other parameters necessary for evaluating the impact performance of composites were derived from the load-deformation behavior of each sample. The influence of hybridization on the energy absorption characteristics of pultruded composites was investigated. A parametric study also was performed to correlate the energy absorption characteristics with the energy dissipative mechanisms attributed to the inherent material damping capacity of these composites. The...
Another story of grammars: Comments on Beaugrande's “The story of grammars and the grammar of stories”

Abstract The six possibilities for the status of story grammar rules that Beaugrands offers are discussed. Because most of the possibilities conflate the notion of a story grammar and a story schema, they do not appear to represent viable interpretations. A story schema is a mental structure derived from sensitivity to structural regularities in stories; these regularities in turn can be described by a story grammar. When the distinction between a story grammar and a story schema is maintained, many of the difficulties Beaugrande finds with the grammars disappear or become less troublesome. Some of the successes of the story grammar approach to text analysis in relation to text processing are discussed and two cautions about theory in this area are mentioned. First, the distinctior between a story schema as explicit knowledge and as an implicit processing mechanism must be kept firmly in mind. Second, new theory has the obligation of being cumulative in the sense of incorporating the findings inspired by prior work in addition to forging new ground.
Efficacy of measuring BUN in assessing children with dehydration due to gastroenteritis.

We conducted a prospective study of 50 consecutive cases of children with gastroenteritis and dehydration to assess the correlation of alterations in the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration. Symptoms included 24 children with vomiting and 26 with vomiting and diarrhea. All children were estimably dehydrated-appearing on examination by traditionally used criteria and had metabolic acidosis (serum bicarbonate concentration of less than 20 mEq/L) and increased anion gap (more than 12 mEq/L). Of these 50 children, 44 (88%) had a BUN concentration within the limits of normal — 17 were less than or equal to 10 mg/dL, 17 were between 11 and 14 mg/dL, and ten were between 14 and 18 mg/dL. We discuss the physiologic factors that influence the BUN concentration in conditions of dehydration. Although commonly used, measurement of the magnitude of the BUN concentration is not an accurate method for assessing the hydration status of children with dehydration due to gastroenteritis.
Input-agreement: a new mechanism for collecting data using human computation games

Since its introduction at CHI 2004, the ESP Game has inspired many similar games that share the goal of gathering data from players. This paper introduces a new mechanism for collecting labeled data using "games with a purpose." In this mechanism, players are provided with either the same or a different object, and asked to describe that object to each other. Based on each other's descriptions, players must decide whether they have the same object or not. We explain why this new mechanism is superior for input data with certain characteristics, introduce an enjoyable new game called "TagATune" that collects tags for music clips via this mechanism, and present findings on the data that is collected by this game.
Template preference of polymerases and its relevance to oncogenic RNA virus replication.

DNS-Polymerae aus Kalbsthymus (in50%-Glycerin-haltigem Puffer gelost) zeigt bei Kuhlaufbewahrung Alterung mit Anderung ihrer Template-Praferenz von einstrangiger zu doppelstrangiger DNS.
My Brain Made Me Do It

Shaun Nichols (this issue) correctly points out that current theories of the development of mindreading say nothing about children’s intuitions concerning indeterminist choice. That is, there are numerous theories of how children make sense of belief, desire, and action, but none that appeal to any notion of free will. Nichols suggests two alternatives for why this is the case. It could either be (a) an “outrageous oversight” on the part of developmental psychologists or (b) a principled omission, reflecting a consensus that the notion of indeterminist choice is absent from children’s mindreading processes. Nichols charitably favors the second alternative. As someone who does research on mindreading in children, I think he is being too generous. I think it is an outrageous oversight. It is not, after all, that developmental psychologists claim that children have determinist intuitions. A good illustration of this omission can be found in the substantial literature concerning children’s understanding of false belief (e.g., Bloom & German, 2000; Wimmer & Perner, 1983; Baron-Cohen et al., 1985; see Wellman et al., 2003 for review). In a typical study, children are told a story (sometimes acted out with puppets, or depicted in a series of pictures) about a girl named Sally who puts a candy in a basket and then leaves the room. While she is gone, another girl, Ann, moves the candy from the basket into a box. Sally then returns. The question for the children is: Where will Sally look for the candy? To pass this task, children have to appreciate that Sally will believe the candy is where she last saw it, not where it actually is, and hence, following the argument originally outlined by Dennett (1978), they must be capable of genuine mindreading. But correct performance on this
Study of microbial growth II: by holographic interferomery

Yeast and bacteria growth has been detected by observing light diffracted from specially prepared diffracting screens upon which these organisms were grown. The screens were fabricated by impressing patterns on the surface of a growing medium. As the microbes metabolized, they caused severe changes in the lightdiffracting properties of the patterns as they ate into them. Such changes were detected within twenty minutes for bacteria and ten minutes for yeast.
Lipodystrophy and metabolic abnormalities in a case of adult dermatomyositis

Lipodystrophy and metabolic abnormalities, primarily hypertriglyceridemia and insulin resistance, have been reported in juvenile dermatomyositis. We report a 55-year-old woman with adult dermatomyositis who developed lipodystrophy of the thighs, hypertriglyceridemia, and insulin resistance. Our case illustrates that lipodystrophy may occur in adult and juvenile dermatomyositis. Loss of subcutaneous tissue may be a cutaneous marker for metabolic abnormalities in both the adult and the juvenile forms of dermatomyositis.
Conjugated Linoleic Acid Decreases Hepatic Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase mRNA Expression

Conjugated dienoic derivatives of linoleic acid (CLA) is a collective term for positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid that occur naturally in foods. The two predominant isomers of CLA are the c9,t11 and t10,c12. One of the effects of CLA is to modify membrane fatty acid composition by decreasing the activity of stearoyl-CoA desaturase enzyme activity. We analyzed the changes of stearoyl-CoA desaturase gene 1 (scd1) mRNA to further define the mechanism for the decrease in Scd enzyme activity by CLA. Mice fed for two weeks with either a fat-free high carbohydrate diet (CHO) or a 5.0% corn oil diet (CO), supplemented with 0.5% CLA had a 45% and 75% decrease respectively, in scd1 mRNA levels in the liver. Consistent with the effects observed in mice, 150 microM CLA suppressed the expression of scd1 mRNA in the H2.35 mouse liver cells by 60%. Further studies with enzymatically prepared c9,t11 isomer showed that the inhibitory effect of CLA on scd1 mRNA expression in H2.35 liver cells was by isomers other than the c9,t11-CLA.
Initiation of precipitation episodes relative to elevated terrain

Abstract The western and central United States experience a pronounced diurnal cycle in rainfall during the warm season. Over the higher terrain west of 105°W, most precipitation occurs in the afternoon, whereas the central United States experiences more nocturnal events. This coherent phase transition between the Rocky Mountains and the U.S. Great Plains is well defined for all warm seasons between 1996 and 2003, provided that the rainfall observations are remapped relative to the elevated terrain in the western United States prior to north–south averaging. Due to the westward shift of the Continental Divide north of 42°N and its intersection with the warm season storm track for 2002, the diurnal coherence greatly improves after remapping the 2002 rainfall observations. This speaks to the long-range influence of orography on precipitation frequency and suggests that the primary east–west corridor of precipitation for an individual warm season intersects the cordillera over a fairly narrow latitude range.
Minority advantage in diabetic end-stage renal disease survival on hemodialysis: Due to different proportions of diabetic type?☆

Abstract The objectives of this study were to identify predictors of survival on hemodialysis in patients with diabetic end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and to explain ethnic differences in survival among non-Hispanic whites, African-Americans, and Mexican-Americans. The study design was a survival analysis of an inception cohort and was conducted in dialysis centers in two urban counties in Texas. A population-based, tri-ethnic cohort of 638 adult patients with diabetic ESRD were studied. Follow-up was completed in 96% of the cohort, with a median length of follow-up of 3.8 years. Survival length on center hemodialysis was the main outcome measure. In a combined model of types I and II diabetes, Mexican-Americans (relative hazard [rh], 0.666; 95% confidence interval [ci], 0.457 to 0.944) and African-Americans (RH, 0.598; 95% Cl, 0.414 to 0.864) showed a better survival than non-Hispanic whites. Other predictors independently associated with survival were age (RH,1.015 per 10 years of age; 95% Cl, 1.001 to 1.028), high self-reported physical disability (RH, 1.770; 95% Cl, 1.213 to 2.583), coronary artery disease (RH, 1.445; 95% Cl, 1.044 to 2.012), lower extremity amputations (RH, 2.049; 95% Cl, 1.438 to 2.920), and average blood glucose levels prior to ESRD (RH, 1.002 per 1 mg/dL increment; 95% Cl, 1.003 to 1.004). Non-Hispanic whites had a significantly higher rate of type I diabetes, but did not have a greater burden of any of the other predictors. In separate type I and II models, ethnicity was still a significant predictor of survival among type I but not among type II. In conclusion, we have reconfirmed the survival advantage on dialysis of African-Americans and Mexican-Americans over non-Hispanic whites with diabetic ESRD. However, among type II patients, this minority survival advantage disappears. Self-reported physical disability is an important predictor of survival among both diabetes types. Functional status at baseline is an important predictor of survival and should be assessed as an adjunct to measurement of co-morbidities. Macrovascular disease is important for type II, while educational status is important for type I. While amputation may be a marker for the severity of systemic illness, it could be a marker for quality of primary care provided to diabetic patients, since a majority of diabetic lower extremity amputations are thought to be preventable.
Algorithmic Tamper-Proof (ATP) Security: Theoretical Foundations for Security Against Hardware Tampering

Traditionally, secure cryptographic algorithms provide security against an adversary who has only black-box access to the secret information of honest parties. However, such models are not always adequate. In particular, the security of these algorithms may completely break under (feasible) attacks that tamper with the secret key.
Mouse model of post-surgical breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier

Purpose. Post-surgical macular edema is an important clinical problem resulting from breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) after surgery. This study was designed to develop a mouse model of post-surgical BRB breakdown. Methods. Two 25-gauge needles, one for infusion and one for aspiration, were inserted through the limbus and into the lens of one eye of adult male C57BL/6 mice. The anterior portion of the lens was aspirated and the fellow eye was untreated. At several time points after surgery, the integrity of the BRB was assessed quantitatively, using [ 3 H]mannitol as a tracer, or qualitatively, using immunohistochemical staining for albumin. Results. Eyes with partial lens extraction had a significant increase in retinal vascular leakage one day after surgery, which persisted two and three days after surgery, but by five days, was not significantly different from controls. Immunohistochemical staining for albumin demonstrated that the breech in the barrier was sufficient to allow passage of a 60 kDa protein into the retina, and was localized predominantly to retinal vessels. Conclusions. Partial lens extraction in mice results in BRB breakdown (primarily the inner BRB) that is highly reproducible in the severity of leakage and its time course. This provides a valuable tool for investigation of the molecular pathogenesis and new treatment approaches for post-surgical breakdown of the BRB.
Graphics processor unit (GPU) acceleration of finite-difference frequency-domain (FDFD) method

Recently, many numerical methods that are developed for the solution of electromagnetic problems have greatly beneflted from the hardware accelerated scientiflc computing capability provided by graphics processing units (GPUs) and orders of magnitude speed-up factors have been reported. Among these methods, the flnite-difierence frequency-domain (FDFD) method as well can be accelerated substantially by utilizing an e-cient algorithm customized for GPU computing. In this contribution, an algorithm is presented that treats iterative solution of the FDFD linear equation system similar to solution of three-dimensional Finite-Difierence Time- Domain (FDTD) method, which inherently yields itself to high level parallelization. The presented algorithm uses BICGSTAB iterative solver. Integrated with BICGSTAB, an e-cient method of performing matrix-vector products for the linear system of FDFD equations is adapted and implemented in Compute Unifled Device Architecture (CUDA). It is shown that FDFD can be solved with a speed-up factor of more than 20 on a GPU compared with the solution on a central processing unit (CPU), while memory usage as well can be reduced substantially with the presented algorithm.
Relativistic Detonation Waves and Bubble Growth in False Vacuum Decay

After reviewing the current understanding of relativistic shock waves, a detailed analysis of relativistic detonation waves is presented. It is proposed that the motion of a detonation wave is analogous to the growth of a bubble nucleated during false vacuum decay at finite temperatures. Some possible applications of these results to cosmology are discussed.
Multi-Level Hypotheses Testing for Fault Detection in Continuous Processes

This paper presents the analytical development of a multi-level hypotheses testing algorithm and its application for extension of the sequential bi-level test procedure reported earlier [1]. The multi-level test procedure characterizes M distinct categories of malfunctions in continuous processes like aircraft, spacecraft, and nuclear power plants, and is suitable for generating early warnings and fault diagnostics. The test procedure has been implemented on a commercially available microcomputer for on-line diagnosis of sensor failures in an operating nuclear reactor.
Phase Relations in the System Boron Oxide–Silica

The suggested phase diagrams for the system B2O3-SiO2 as drawn from the findings of previous investigators are presented. These diagrams show the wide controversy regarding this system. The principal difficulties in obtaining reliable equilibrium data are the volatilization of B2O3, the hydration of B2O3-rich glasses, and the great viscosity of B2OrSiOz melts. In this investigation firings were made in sealed platinum capsules. Where necessary, they were opened and studied under xylene to eliminate hydration. Phases were identified by optical and X-ray methods. The liquidus was obtained by determination of the temperatures at which the stable phases of SiO2 completely dissolved in the borosilicate melts. The criteria used for equilibrium are discussed.
Severe Postpartum Gingival Enlargement

Background: Gingival enlargement is a clinical condition that has been widely studied and is directly associated with specific local or systemic conditions. It is very rare that gingival enlargement presents without a clear underlying etiology.Methods: A 24-year-old African American female presented with gingival enlargement that manifested postpartum and was most likely related to changes in estrogen/progesterone. The gingival enlargement was treated with non-surgical and surgical periodontal therapies.Results: There was no evidence of recurrence of the gingival enlargement at 9 years post-treatment.Conclusions: The etiology in this case remains unclear and could not be strongly supported by any reports in the literature. Future studies on gingival enlargement may explain such an unusual clinical occurrence.
Bandwidth Allocation for Iterative Data-Dependent E-science Applications

We develop a novel framework for supporting e-Science applications that require streaming of information between sites. Using a Synchronous Dataflow (SDF) model, our framework incorporates the communication times inherent in large scale distributed applications, and can be used to formulate the bandwidth allocation problem with throughput constraints as a multi-commodity linear programming problem. Our algorithms determine how much bandwidth is allocated to each edge while satisfying temporal constraints on collaborative tasks. Simulation results show that the bandwidth allocation by the formulated linear programming outperforms the bandwidth allocation by simple heuristics.
Reduction numbers and Hilbert polynomials of ideals in higher dimensional CohenMacaulay local rings

Throughout, (R, m) will denote a d-dimensional CohenMacaulay (CM for short) local ring having an infinite residue field and I an m-primary ideal in R. Recall that an ideal J I is said to be a reduction of I if Ir+1 = JIr for some r 0, and a reduction J of I is called a minimal reduction of I if J is generated by a system of parameters. The concepts of reduction and minimal reduction were first introduced by Northcott and Rees12. If J is a reduction of I, define the reduction number of I with respect to J, denoted by rj(I), to be min {r 0 Ir+1 = JIr}. The reduction number of I is defined as r(I) = min {rj(I)J is a minimal reduction of I}. The reduction number r(I) is said to be independent if r(I) = rj(I) for every minimal reduction J of I.
Choice in the American healthcare system: Changing dynamics under the Affordable Care Act

Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the United States changed the available options of healthcare coverage and providers. Through a comparative case study methodology, this article a...
Genotype-Environment Interactions in Chickens Selected for High and Low Social Dominance

Abstract GENOTYPE-ENVIRONMENT (GE) interactions are of major interest to both eugenists and environmentalists. Breeders are mainly concerned with those GE interactions involving changes in phenotypic ranking of genotypes with the shifting of environment (Haldane, 1946). The presence of this type of GE interaction favors the selection of stocks adapted to particular environments. Characterization of environments likely to prevail in the future, as well as those causing differential responses of genotypes is, of course, critical. A breeding policy aiming at development of stocks having general adaptability may, however, be the alternate choice, if the environmental future of the population is unpredictable or if differences between environments causing the GE interactions are unidentifiable. Social behavior patterns are responsible for the integration of a group of animals and are an important aspect of adaptation to environment (Hafez, 1968). However, investigations of ability of different behavioral types within a species to adapt to various physical…
Survival strategies for synthesized hardware systems

Survival is a key concern of many complex systems. A standard approach to maximizing the likelihood of survival is to attempt to produce a system that is as free of errors as possible. We instead propose a methodology that changes the semantics of the underlying development and execution environments to cleanly and simply obtain survival guarantees that are difficult if not impossible to obtain with standard techniques. Examples of survival properties include continued execution in the face of addressing errors and guaranteed bounds on the amount of memory required during any execution of the system (even in the face of dynamic memory allocation). We summarize results for software implementations of these techniques and discuss issues and advantages that arise in the context of hardware implementations.
Stray Charge in Quantum-dot Cellular Automata: A Validation of the Intercellular Hartree Approximation

The authors analyze the effect of stray charges near a line of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) cells. Considering both the ground-state polarization and the excitation energy of the system, it is determined that there is a 129-nm-wide region surrounding a QCA wire where a stray charge will cause the wire to fail. This calculation is the result of a full-basis-set simulation of a four-cell line. A comparison is made between cells with parallel-spin electrons and those with antiparallel spin electrons, showing that they yield essentially identical results. Therefore, the added complexity of accounting for antiparallel spins does not yield superior simulation results. Finally, a comparison is made between the full-basis calculations and the results of the same calculation using the intercellular Hartree approximation (ICHA). The similarity of these two results demonstrates that the ICHA method is a valid tool for studying the effect of stray charges in larger systems.
Silencing of IL-17 modulates inflammatory and antimicrobial defense responses mediated by Propionibacterium acnes (HUM7P.291)

Inflammation resulting from immune responses targeting Propionibacterium acnes plays a significant role in acne pathogenesis. We demonstrate that IL-17-expressing cells are present in skin biopsies from acne patients, and that P. acnes is a potent inducer of Th17-related cytokines, including IL-17 (inflammatory) and IL-22 (antimicrobial defense and tissue repair). Here we investigated whether silencing of IL-17 and IL-22 modulates Th17-related inflammatory and antimicrobial responses mediated by P. acnes. P. acnes stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) demonstrated elevated expression of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs); psoriasin, cathelicidins, defensins, and antimicrobial chemokines; CXCL-1/-9/-10/-11 and CCL15 expression. siRNA-mediated knockdown of IL-17 led to loss of capacity to express and secrete IL-17, IL-22 and AMPs upon P. acnes stimulation. However, knocking-down IL-22 alone led to decreased AMP expression, but had no effect on the expression of genes known to directly signal Th17 responses including IL-17A, RORα and RORc. Both IL-17 and IL-22 were required for antimicrobial chemokines CXCL1 and CXCL10 expression, but not CXCL9, CXCL11 and CCL15. Importantly, IL-22 may play a role in modulating the IL-17-driven chronic inflammatory responses initiated by P. acnes and that treatments targeting the IL-17 pathway may be effective tools for acne therapy.
Equine Onchocerciasis: Lesions in the Nuchal Ligament of Midwestern U.S. Horses

Nuchal ligaments from midwestern U.S. horses infected with adult Onchocerca sp. were studied. The prevalence of Onchocerca sp. infection in horses increased with age. Ten percent of horses less than one year old were infected, 28% of horses one to five years old, 48% of horses six to 15 years old, and 90% of horses over 16 years old. Lesions in Onchocerca sp.-infected nuchal ligaments varied with age of the horse. Horses less than five years old had few or no lesions, whereas most horses six to 15 years old had focal mineralization and granuloma formation around adult worms. In infected nuchal ligaments of horses over 16 years old, mineralization was much greater and fewer normal parasites were found. Our data suggest that infection by viable parasites is terminated naturally. Equine onchocerciasis is a parasitic infection of horses, with world-wide distribu- tion, caused by a filiarial worm of the genus Onchocerca. The adults of Onchocerca cervicalis, Railliet and Henry 1910, are found in the ligamentous tissue adjacent to the nuchal attachment of the thoracic vertebral spinous processes and in and around the supraspinous bursa. With one exception, the prevalence of Onchocerca sp. infections in U.S. horses has been estimated on the identification of dermal microfilariae from cytologic filtration examinations (5, 7, 9, 11, 181. One investigator (16) confirmed the presence of adult Onchocerca sp. in 40 horses found positive for dermal microfilariae. The only other author who surveyed the nuchal ligaments (4) found adult parasites in 24 of 25 horses. In other countries, investigators who made surveys for adult Onchocerca sp. found 18 of 59 positive in Mexico (lo); 33 of 209 in England (12); and 226 of 282 in Australia (17). One author identified the parasites in the nuchal ligaments as 0. reticulata (17), while later authors identified the same parasite as 0. cervicalis (12, 161. The parasites collected and observed in this study resembled 0. cervicalis as recently described (2). Because dual infections of 0. cervicalis and 0. gutturosa have been identified in the nuchal ligaments of horses in Australia ( 151, and because of the problems associated with the identification of Onchocerca sp. (14), we will refer to the parasite in this paper as Onchocerca sp.
Dietary Intake and the Development of the Metabolic Syndrome The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Background—The role of diet in the origin of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) is not well understood; thus, we sought to evaluate the relationship between incident MetSyn and dietary intake using prospective data from 9514 participants (age, 45 to 64 years) enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Methods and Results—Dietary intake was assessed at baseline via a 66-item food frequency questionnaire. We used principal-components analysis to derive “Western” and “prudent” dietary patterns from 32 food groups and evaluated 10 food groups used in previous studies of the ARIC cohort. MetSyn was defined by American Heart Association guidelines. Proportional-hazards regression was used. Over 9 years of follow-up, 3782 incident cases of MetSyn were identified. After adjustment for demographic factors, smoking, physical activity, and energy intake, consumption of a Western dietary pattern (Ptrend0.03) was adversely associated with incident MetSyn. After further adjustment for intake of meat, dairy, fruits and vegetables, refined grains, and whole grains, analysis of individual food groups revealed that meat (Ptrend0.001), fried foods (Ptrend0.02), and diet soda (Ptrend 0.001) also were adversely associated with incident MetSyn, whereas dairy consumption (Ptrend0.006) was beneficial. No associations were observed between incident MetSyn and a prudent dietary pattern or intakes of whole grains, refined grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts, coffee, or sweetened beverages. Conclusions—These prospective findings suggest that consumption of a Western dietary pattern, meat, and fried foods promotes the incidence of MetSyn, whereas dairy consumption provides some protection. The diet soda association was not hypothesized and deserves further study. (Circulation. 2008;117:754-761.)
Differentiation of c,d1 cytochrome and copper nitrite reductase production in denitrifiers

Abstract Gas chromatographic analyses revealed that rates of release of nitrous oxide from nitrite or nitric oxide in extracts of the c , d 1 cytochrome nitrite reductase-producing denitrifiers, Paracoccus denitrificans and Pseudomonas perfectomarina , were unaffected by preincubation with the metal chelator, diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC). In contrast, preincubation with DDC completely inhibited generation of nitrous oxide from nitrite in extracts of copper protein nitrite reductase-producing denitrifiers, “ Achromobacter cycloclastes ” and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides forma species denitrificans . Pre-exposure to DDC lessened but did not completely inhibit nitric oxide reduction in extracts of the copper protein nitrite reductase-producing denitrifiers. Proton consumption values resulting from pulsing with nitrite were similarly completely inhibited by preincubation with DDC of extracts of the two copper protein-producing denitrifiers. Uptake values related to pulsing with nitric oxide were also lessened but not completely inhibited by prior exposure to DDC. As anticipated, proton consumption was not affected by preincubation with DDC in extracts of P. denitrificans pulsed with nitrite or nitric oxide. Differential sensitivity of copper protein nitrite reductase activity to DDC could provide the simple assay method needed for determination of the distribution of two types of nitrite reductase producers among populations of denitrifiers in nature.
King's Theory of Goal Attainment in Practice:

King's conceptual system provides a comprehensive view of three dynamic interacting systems--personal, interpersonal, and social. Her theory of goal attainment has been used as the basis for practice, education, research, and administration, examples of which are presented here.
Mcl-1: a gateway to TRAIL sensitization.

The proapoptotic cytokine tumor necrosis factor–related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) is being evaluated presently as a selective anticancer agent, but its limited effects against cancer cell lines has raised some concerns about its ultimate clinical utility. Here, we review recent findings that cancer cell sensitivity to TRAIL is greatly increased when the Bcl-2 family protein Mcl-1 is down-regulated by the Raf/vascular endothelial growth factor kinase inhibitor sorafenib, a Food and Drug Administration–approved cancer drug. Using the TRAIL-sorafenib combination as a tactic to more effectively kill cancer cells may provide an effective tool to attack a variety of human cancers that are largely presently untreatable. [Cancer Res 2008;68(7):2062–4]
Nod2-Induced Autocrine Interleukin-1 Alters Signaling by ERK and p38 to Differentially Regulate Secretion of Inflammatory Cytokines

Background & Aims Stimulation of nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing (Nod)2 and other pattern recognition receptors (PRR) in human monocyte-derived macrophages induces interleukin (IL)-1, which increases mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation and cytokine secretion. Activation of MAPK by PRR has varied effects on inflammatory cytokine secretion. We investigated whether different levels of autocrine IL-1 mediate these varied effects. Methods Macrophage responses to PRR ligands were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and flow cytometry. We overexpressed or reduced MAPK levels (using small inhibitory RNA). Results Nod2 and other PRR activated signaling via extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) and p38 that inhibited inflammatory cytokine production by human monocyte-derived macrophages; autocrine IL-1 production prevented this inhibition. ERK and p38 inhibited inflammatory cytokine production by human macrophages that produce low levels of IL-1 (such as M2, endotoxin-tolerant, and intestinal macrophages); adding exogenous IL-1 caused ERK and p38 to stimulate production of inflammatory cytokines in these cells. In mouse macrophages, which do not produce IL-1 in response to PRR stimulation alone, addition of exogenous IL-1 reversed the ERK-mediated inhibition of IL-12p40. Increasing activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in Nod2-stimulated human monocyte-derived macrophages, in the absence of autocrine IL-1 signaling, caused ERK and p38 to stimulate inflammatory cytokines secretion. Importantly, infection of human intestinal macrophages with pathogens that induce IL-1 production reversed the inhibition of inflammatory cytokine production by ERK and p38. Conclusions In response to PRR stimulation of macrophages, the level of MAPK signaling is regulated by autocrine IL-1 and determines whether production of inflammatory cytokines is inhibited or stimulated. This mechanism could account for reported differences in MAPK regulation of inflammatory cytokines and propagate the inflammatory response to pathogens.
Mechanism of Electrical Rectification in a Unimolecular Donor-Bridge (π)-Acceptor Diode

We present here the results of theoretical calculations on the electron transport via a donor-bridge (π)-acceptor molecular system. A significant rectification effect is observed. A new transport mechanism involving the electronic structure of the molecular diode will be discussed.
DIET AND POSTNATAL GROWTH IN RED-LEGGED AND BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES: AN INTERSPECIES CROSS-FOSTERING EXPERIMENT

Abstract Red-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa brevirostris) and Black-legged Kittiwakes (R. tridactyla) are morphologically similar, breed in mixed colonies, and nest at the same time, but they exhibit substantial differences in diet, rate of nestling provisioning, and foraging distribution. We cross-fostered nestlings of the two species to test the competing hypotheses that growth in mass of kittiwakes is constrained by diet (i.e. composition, provisioning rate, and quality) or by inherent species-specific physiology. Survival and body mass of cross-fostered nestlings at 30 to 32 days posthatching did not differ from those of conspecific controls. Black-legged Kittiwake fledglings had higher lean mass than Red-legged Kittiwake fledglings regardless of whether they were raised by foster or natural parents. However, nestlings of both species raised by Red-legged Kittiwakes were 50% fatter at 30 to 32 days posthatching than those raised by Black-legged Kittiwakes. Regurgitations from nestlings raised by Red-legged ...
Cascaded acoysto-optic/ fiber Fabry-Perot filter with finesse over 2000

Massive parallelism in optical frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) systems requires one or another form of cascaded optical filters in order to provide the combination of narrow passband and broad timing range, resulting in a very large effective filter finesse. The composite optical transmission function is the product of two different scale filters (one of narrow passband and one broad), as has been demonstrated with the cascaded Mach Zehnder interferometer chain realized in Si-on-silica technology1 and the dual Fabry-Perot filter.2
Minimization of sensor activation in decentralized fault diagnosis of discrete event systems

We investigate the problem of dynamic sensor activation for decentralized fault diagnosis in partially-observed discrete-event systems, where the system is monitored by a set of agents. The sensors of each agent can be turned on/off online dynamically according to a sensor activation policy. The goal is to find a language-based minimal sensor activation policy for each agent such that the agents can still diagnose, as a team, all fault occurrences. A novel approach to solve this problem is proposed. We adopt a person-by-person approach to decompose this decentralized minimization problem into two centralized constrained minimization problems. Each centralized constrained minimization problem is then reduced to a fully centralized sensor activation problem that is solved effectively by an algorithm presented in a related contribution. The solution obtained is provably person-by-person minimal with respect to the system language.
Threshold Crack Size in A Pyrolytic Carbon for no Growth Under Cyclic Stress

In this work, the fracture toughness of monolithic pyrolytic carbon and sandwich composites of this carbon on a graphite substrate were measured by a disk-shaped compact specimen and by using a tensile specimen. On this material, a large number of specimens that had small cracks induced by a Vickers diamond indenter were tested under cyclic stress. The existence of a true threshold stress intensity factor range for non-propagation of the cracks was demonstrated. Statistical confidence on pre-cracked specimens was obtained through testing a large number of specimens to a very long lifetime of the order of 109 cycles.