cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of floating-body charge on SOI MOSFET design

This work presents a new method for assessing the effect of floating-body charge on a fully- and partially-depleted Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) MOSFET device design space. Floating-body effects under transient conditions are incorporated into the device design parameters threshold voltage V/sub T/ and off-current I/sub 0FF/ using calibrated two-dimensional (2-D) device simulation. Simulation methodology which reveals the worst-case bounds of the device design parameters, from idle to switching-steady-state, is presented and applied to a CMOS inverter example. Using this methodology, the worst-case shifts in V/sub T/ and I/sub 0FF/ due to hysteretic floating-body charge are quantified for devices in L/sub eff/=0.2- and 0.1-/spl mu/m design spaces. Methods to reduce floating-body effects are discussed including a demonstration of how reducing the effective bulk carrier lifetime widens the 0.1-/spl mu/m design space.
I Phone, You Phone, We All Phone with iPhone: Trademark Law and Ethics from an International and Domestic Perspective

In today’s Internet-based and global business environment, the legal issues companies face will often involve issues of intellectual property. In fact, intellectual property-based businesses ‘‘drive more economic growth in the United States than any other single sector.’’ Virtually every product we purchase is protected by a trademark, a patent, and/or copyrights. Thus, basic concepts of intellectual property are a natural component in any business law or legal environment course.
Electron and hole charge separation with a dual channel transistor

Summary form only given. The authors have fabricated a n/sup +/ poly gate dual channel memory transistor with a 0.75- mu m-deep n-buried layer on p-Si, and a triple dielectric (ONO) sandwich comprising a 20- mu A tunneling oxide, 115 AA of LPCVD (low-pressure chemical vapor deposition) deposited Si/sub 3/N/sub 4/, and 52 AA of top oxide. For positive gate bias beyond flat band, electrons are collected at the substrate. For negative gate bias beyond flat band, holes are supplied by the surface channel contacts and the electrons, spatially separated from the holes by the potential well in the buried channel, are collected at the buried-channel contacts. The data for electron and hole injection into the nitride show centroids (from the tunneling oxide-nitride interface) to be approximately equal to the nitride thickness for small level injection, decreasing with increasing injection and saturation beyond 1 mu C/cm/sup 2/. The saturation values for electron and hole centroids are 75+or-5 AA and 55+or-2 AA, respectively. >
An experience report on the design and delivery of two new software design courses

In this paper, we report on our experience in designing and deliv-ering two new software design courses in the Informatics major at UC Irvine. When the major was created in 2004, it explicitly con-tained slots for two software design courses to be created from the ground up. The authors led this effort, focusing one course on the topic of system design and one course on the topic of implementation design. We discuss the philosophy and pedagogy behind the courses, present key class activities, and reflect on having offered each course twice over the past two years.
Shape memory properties of an iron modified nickel aluminide alloy

The ordered intermetallic NiAl with aluminum levels near 36% undergoes a B2 to martensite transformation. Shape memory alloys based on NiAl + Fe have the potential for transition temperatures of greater than 150 C. While binary alloys appear inherently brittle, alloying with iron and boron results in two phase alloys with L1{sub 2} and B2 phases and with about 7% room temperature tensile ductility. These alloys show a two-way shape memory effect over a range of transition temperatures with austenite peak temperature, Ap, between 100 to 200 C based on composition. Unfortunately, the B2 phase and its low temperature body centered tetragonal martensitic form are not stable and both can transform to Ni{sub 5}Al{sub 3} with a loss in ductility. These alloys with a constant tensile load show a two way shape recovery of up to 0.6% during temperature cycling between 100 and 200 C. A thorough survey of the shape memory properties of one such alloy with a composition of Ni-25.5 Al-16 Fe-0.12 B (at.%) as a function of prior cold work, tensile loading and other training steps is presented. Nanoindentation was used to independently measure the mechanical properties of the two phases.
Full-chip routing optimization with RLC crosstalk budgeting

Existing layout-optimization methods for both capacitive and inductive (RLC) crosstalk reduction assume a set of interconnects with a priori given crosstalk bounds in a routing region. RLC crosstalk budgeting is critical for effectively applying these methods at the full-chip level. In this paper, we formulate a full-chip routing optimization problem with RLC crosstalk budgeting, and solve this problem with a multiphase algorithm. In phase I, we solve an optimal RLC crosstalk budgeting based on linear programming to partition crosstalk bounds at sinks into bounds for net segments in routing regions. In phase II, we perform simultaneous shield insertion and net ordering to meet the partitioned crosstalk bounds in each region. In phase III, we carry out a local refinement procedure to reduce the total number of shields. Compared with the best alternative approach in experiments, the proposed algorithm reduces the total routing area by up to 5.71% and uses less runtime. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first in-depth study on full-chip routing optimization with RLC crosstalk budgeting.
Pride, Prejudice and paranoia: Dismantling the Ideology of domination

A comparison is made, pointing out the parallels, between five systems of domination—racism, sexism, classism, nationalism and speciesism (the human domination of nature). In each of these, one group of (human) beings asserts its superiority over another group and thereby seems to justify the domination, exploitation and abuse of the oppressed group. An analytical model is then presented that traces the psychological development of domination behavior through four stages: (1) perception of difference and group identification, (2) pride and self‐affirmation, (3) prejudice, superiority and arrogance, (4) domination, paranoia, and control. Some suggestions are made as to the conditions or events that most likely trigger the escalation from one stage to the next. This model is then applied to all five areas to arrive at a better understanding of the psychological dynamics involved. Hopefully, such an analysis may help us to devise strategies to prevent or minimize the growth of these socially destructive beha...
Can Antihypertensive Drugs Reduce Atherosclerosis and Its Clinical Complications

Several classes of antihypertensive drugs, including beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, calcium antagonists, alpha 1-blockers, and a combined calcium antagonist/alpha 1-blocker, have been shown to reduce atherosclerosis in hypercholesterolemic animals. Although the exact mechanism of action of these drugs has not been described, certain findings are of particular interest. All of these drugs have the ability to inhibit cellular growth. ACE inhibitors appear to be antiatherosclerotic in several species including the low density lipoprotein (LDL)-deficient Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit, and their effects appear to be mediated through both angiotensin II inhibition and bradykinin enhancement. Calcium antagonists may influence primarily the development of new atherosclerotic lesions and their action may be species specific and, at least in part, dependent on the integrity of the LDL receptor. The action of alpha 1-blockers and of a combined calcium antagonist/alpha 1-blocker in hypercholesterolemic animals is probably related in part to their cholesterol-lowering properties. Whether any of the antihypertensive drugs can affect atherosclerosis in humans remains to be determined. Clinical trials are in progress to examine their effects on the course of coronary heart disease and on surrogate endpoints of atherosclerosis such as those demonstrable by angiography and Doppler-ultrasound techniques. Although the results of trials involving such surrogate markers will be of great interest, the findings will need to be interpreted with caution because they may not necessarily be predictive of either the course of atherosclerosis or its clinical complications.
Modeling fMRI time courses with linguistic structure at various grain sizes

Neuroimaging while participants listen to audiobooks provides a rich data source for theories of incremental parsing. We compare nested regression models of these data. These mixed-effects models incorporate linguistic predictors at various grain sizes ranging from part-of-speech bigrams, through surprisal on context-free treebank grammars, to incremental node counts in trees that are derived by Minimalist Grammars. The fine-grained structures make an independent contribution over and above coarser predictors. However, this result only obtains with time courses from anterior temporal lobe (aTL). In analogous time courses from inferior frontal gyrus, only n-grams improve upon a non-syntactic baseline. These results support the idea that aTL does combinatoric processing during naturalistic story comprehension, processing that bears a systematic relationship to linguistic structure.
Emergence of Phorate-Treated Cotton Seed as Affected by Substrate Moisture and Temperature

Deltapine-15 cotton seed with and without prorate were planted in washed river sand at two moisture levels and four temperatures. Regardless of treatment, seedling emergence was favored by It moisture level of 50% of field capacity as compared with one of 75%. The final stand counts at 86° and 77° F, were comparable for the prorate-treated and untreated seed. Prorate, however, caused a marked reduction in the rate and total emergence at both 72° and 67°. A similar experiment with another lot of seed of the same variety showed that seedling emergence with and without prorate seed treatment were comparable at 80° and 67°. It was concluded that reduction in emergence in prorate-treated seed often found may be due to inferior quality of seed as well as to low temperatures and high levels of soil moisture.
Additional commercial gammaglobulin preparations found with antibody to human immunodeficiency virus.

Colleagues?Abacioglu and Okuyan [1] recently reported the presence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibody in two vials of commercial gammaglobulin tested in June 1987 (lot no. X-001, Landerlan, S. A. Laboratory, Madrid, Spain). In April 1988 our laboratory obtained two vials of commercial gammaglobulin (lot X113, Laboratories Hubber, S.A., Barcelona, Spain, and lot X-002, Laboratorios Landerlan, S.A., Madrid, Spain) from Li Lantian (Baoding Antiepidemic Station, Hebei Province Public Health Department, People's Republic of China), who found them to be HIVantibody-reactive using the Abbott ELISA procedure (Abbott Laboratories, North Chicago, IL). These products were subsequently tested in our laboratory; the results are shown in table 1. Both preparations were found to be HIVantibody-reactive by the DuPbnt ELISA procedure (Wilmington, DE) and were subsequently studied by the Western blot assay described previously [2]. Using the interpretive criteria of the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors and the Centers for Disease Control [3], the presence of the p24 and gpl60 bands in both of the gammaglobulin preparations tested are to be considered Western-blot-positive, indicating the presence of antibody to HTV. Attempts to culture HIV from these preparations yielded no infectious virus.
Studies on Ascoidea Rubescens—II Cytological Observations

1. For these studies materials collected at Ithaca, New York, in August, 1927, and at Lincoln, Nebraska, in June, 1930–1933, inclusive, were used.2. The hyphae, conidia, and spore sacs are coenocyt...
Response of endogenous hormone in apoplast of two poplars to salt stress

Taking potted 'Populus wutunensis' and Populus ×euramericana cv.'N3930' as experimental materials,the changes of endogenous hormone in apoplast of poplar immature stem were determined by microdialysis technique and high performance liquid chromatography,under NaCl(0,200,300 mmol/L) stress.The results showed that under the NaCl stress,ABA content in two poplar apoplastic increased,while other hormones decreased.ABA accumulation under high concentration salt stress was greater than that under middle concentration salt stress.When under the same salt stress,Populus ×euramericana cv.'N3930' accumulated more ABA than 'Populus wutunensis' to resist the coercive environment;salt balance coefficient of 'Populus wutunensis' was less than that of Populus ×euramericana cv.'N3930'.CTK and IAA,CTK and GA,IAA and GA of the two poplar were significantly correlated.The results indicated that salt tolerance of 'Populus wutunensis' was stronger than that of Populus ×euramericana cv.'N3930'.
Analysis of HBsAg Detection in Employees from Services Sector from 2006 to 2008 in Ma'anshan City

Objective To understand HBsAg Carrying Situation of employees in the services sector in Ma'anshan city,and provide a scientific basis for making strategies of control and prevention.Method The HBsAg was detected by ELISA in employees in the services sector from 2006 to 2008 in Ma'anshan city.Results 904 cases with HBsAg positive were found within 43472 employees from 2006 to 2008.And the total positive rate was 2.08%.The positive rate was significantly higher in males(2.91%) than that in females(1.17%),and there was significant difference(P0.05).There was significant difference of the positive rate between various age group(P0.05),and the positive rate was the highest in the group aged below 20,and the lowest among the 30～39 age group.There was significant difference of the positive rate between various occupations(P0.05),and the positive rate in collective canteens(1.35%) and in shopping malls(1.41%) were lower than that in the other occupations.Conclusion HBsAg positivity rate among employees in the services sector in Ma'anshan city was less than the national average level.And it showed the tendency of decreasing year by year.
Study on Cultivation Techniques with High Yield of High-quality Super Rice Longjing 21 in Cold Region

In order to give full play to the huge yield potential of super rice varieties,taking super rice variety Longjing 21as material,its different sowing time,sowing amount,planting density and fertilization amount were studied,and the high-efficient and high-yield cultivation techniques was assembled and integrated by the combination of superior rice varieties with superior method.The results showed that the suitable sowing date of Longjing 21was from 15 to 20in April,the best sowing amount was 200~250g·m-2,the most appropriate planting density was 25 hole·m-2,planting specification was 30.0cm×13.3cm,5strains per hole,the best fertilizer amount for pure N,P2O5 and K2O were 130,65 and 65kg·hm-2 respectively,the yield could up to 9t·hm-2.
Transurethral Polytetrafluoroethylene Injection for Post-Prostatectomy Urinary Incontinence

AbstractTransurethral polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) injections were performed on 69 men with incontinence following prostatectomy. The etiology of incontinence was transurethral resection of the prostate in 27 patients (group 1), open prostatectomy in 15 (group 2) and radical prostatectomy in 27 (group 3). All patients had been incontinent for more than 1 year and had failed to improve with conservative management. Cure or improvement occurred in 85.1 per cent of the patients in group 1, 79.9 per cent in group 2 and 48.1 per cent in group 3. Reasons for failure included severe bladder instability, severe periurethral fibrosis and leakage of paste. Clinically significant particle migration was not observed.
Sunlight and protection of the skin

Sunburn, wrinkling and malignancies are the frequent results of excessive sun exposure. Photosensitivity and photoallergic or phototoxic reactions are less commonly observed. Sunscreens containing para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), PABA esters and benzophenones offer substantial protection, allowing even fair-skinned persons to participate freely in outdoor activities. These products are now rated and assigned a sun protection factor (SPF). Their routine use should be encouraged.
Sperm Maturation in the Epididymis

Spermatozoa undergo a maturation process and acquire motility and fertility as they migrate from the proximal to the distal end of the long convoluted tubule known as the epididymis. Regions of the epididymis are subdivided into discrete segments defined structurally and functionally by connective tissue septa. Each segment is a unique microenvironment that together allows maturation to occur. This chapter focuses on how these distinct microenvironments are created, including the involvement of segment-specific expression of secretory proteins and cellular proteins allowing each segment to respond uniquely to external stimuli and novel mechanisms the epididymis uses to deliver and remove proteins from the epididymal lumen.
Abstract 2340: PD-1 blockade suppresses gastric cancer development by promoting antitumor immunity in mice

Since advanced gastric cancer is difficult to cure with chemo and/or radiation therapy, new therapeutic approaches are clearly needed. Targeting immune checkpoints such as CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 has shown promising antitumor immunity in many malignancies by modulating T cell activity. PD-L1 and to a lesser extent of PD-L2 are expressed in human gastric cancer and expression of PD-L1 is associated with poor prognosis. Therefore, developing immunotherapies is an attractive strategy for the treatment of gastric cancer. We evaluated the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy in a mouse model of gastric cancer. Gastrin-deficient (GAS-KO) mice have been shown to develop large antral tumors with the combination of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and Helicobacter felis (H. felis) infection. Tumors developed in GAS-KO mice exhibited increased expression of PD-L1 and higher mutation rates than those in wild-type mice. To study the effect of anti-PD-1 antibody in tumor initiation or an early stage of progression, GAS-KO mice were induced with H.felis/MNU to develop tumors, one week later (10 weeks post-MNU) treated with anti-PD-1 antibody or isotype control (10 mg/kg IP qw) and sacrificed at 30 weeks post-MNU. We confirmed that GAS-KO mice treated with isotype control had moderate tumor burdens. Of interest, however, less and much smaller tumors were observed in mice treated with anti-PD-1. To compare immune cell populations in spleen tissue and peripheral blood from each group of mice, flow cytometric analysis was performed. Anti-PD-1-treated mice showed an increase in T cells including cytotoxic CD8+ T cells and a decrease in regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cell (MDSC) populations compared with controls. In accordance with this, CD3-positive T lymphocytes were more frequently found in gastric tumors of anti-PD-1-treated mice than controls. Furthermore, qRT-PCR analysis revealed differential cytokine gene expression profiles including Il6, Il1b, and Il23 following anti-PD-1 treatment. Together, these data implicate that PD-1 blockade promotes immune infiltrates and therefore potentiates antitumor immune responses, suggesting targeting PD-1 as a potential new anticancer strategy in gastric cancer. Understanding anti-PD-1 therapy at the cellular and molecular level could provide new strategies for developing highly efficacious combination therapies. Citation Format: Woosook Kim, Yoku Hayakawa, James G. Fox, Timothy C. Wang. PD-1 blockade suppresses gastric cancer development by promoting antitumor immunity in mice. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2340.
Lung Carcinoma Staging Update.

Context.— The International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer Staging Committee has prospectively created an international lung cancer database that was used to address many lung cancer stag...
Performance of Relative Enhancement on Multiphasic MRI for the Differentiation of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) From Papillary and Chromophobe RCC Subtypes and Oncocytoma

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to investigate the performance of relative enhancement on multiphasic MRI to differentiate clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from other RCC subtypes (papillary and chromophobe) and oncocytoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS. For this study, we derived a cohort of 34 clear cell RCCs, nine oncocytomas, 12 papillary RCCs, and 10 chromophobe RCCs with a preoperative multiphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI study with up to four phases (i.e., unenhanced, corticomedullary, nephrographic, excretory) from 2005 to 2016. These groups were evaluated for multiphasic enhancement and were compared using Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. ROC curves were constructed and logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate the performance of multiphasic enhancement in differentiating clear cell RCCs from the other three groups. RESULTS. Clear cell RCCs exhibited significantly greater relative signal intensity compared with uninvolved renal cortex in the corticomedullary phase ...
The Effects on Reactivity Coefficients of Spectral Shifts Induced by Doppler Broadening

It is commonly accepted that the resonance reaction rate of any material increases when the temperature is raised. Using an exact Doppler-broadening kernel based on the Maxwellian distribution of n...
REGULATION OF TNF-α EXPRESSION IN NORMAL MACROPHAGES: THE ROLE OF C/EBPβ

C/EBPbeta is present in monocytes and macrophages, binds to the proximal region of the TNF-alpha promoter, and contributes to its regulation. This study was performed to characterize the ability of C/EBPbeta to regulate the TNF-alpha gene in myelomonocytic cells and primary macrophages. In transient transfection assays, overexpression of wild type C/EBPbeta resulted in a 3-4-fold activation of a 120 base pair TNF-alpha promoter-reporter construct, while overexpression of a dominant negative (DN) C/EBPbeta inhibited LPS-induced activation. In vitro monocyte-differentiated macrophages, infected with an adenoviral vector expressing the DN C/EBPbeta (AdDNC/EBPbeta) or the control Adbetagal, expressed their transgenes weakly, however expression was greatly enhanced in the presence of PMA. Infection with AdDNC/EBPbeta resulted in 60% suppression of LPS induced TNFalpha secretion compared to Adbetagal infection (P<0.001) in PMA-treated macrophages. Northern blot analysis demonstrated approximately a 40% reduction of the TNF-alpha mRNA in the presence of the DN C/EBPbeta, suggesting that the effect of the DN C/EBPbeta was at the transcriptional level. In contrast, AdDNC/EBPbeta infection did not result in inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-alpha secretion in the absence of PMA. Further, DN versions of both C/EBPbeta and c-Jun, but not NF-kappaB p65, suppressed PMA-induced TNF-alpha secretion in macrophages. These observations demonstrate that, C/EBPbeta and c-Jun contribute to the regulation of the TNF-alpha gene in normal macrophages following treatment with PMA.
2008 World Survey on strategic issues of web-based education

In October 2007 -- January 2008, the InterLabs Research Institute at Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois, U.S.A.), the international journal on Advanced Technology for Learning (ATL journal, ISSN: 1710-2251), and the leaders of the annual international conference on Web-Based Education (WBE, 2002--2008) organized and managed the 2008 World Survey in WBE area. The goal of this survey was to identify important groups of strategic issues that most likely will have significant impact on WBE systems and projects in 2008--2015. A list of selected groups of strategic issues included the following ones: 1) administration, 2) courseware, 3) evaluation, 4) faculty, 5) funding, 6) infrastructure, 7) instructional approaches, 8) intellectual policy, 9) outsourcing, 10) partnerships, 11) quality, 12) security, 13) services, 14) social networking, 15) strategic planning, 16) students, 17) technology, and 18) other. Feedback from a total of 182 experts, who represent 146 organizations (colleges, universities, ministries of education, and training organizations) in 47 different countries all over the world, is summarized below.
Techniques for Single-Molecule mRNA Imaging in Living Cells.

Typical measurement of macromolecules in a biological sample typically averages the result over all the cells or molecules within the sample, and while these types of measurements provide very useful information, they completely miss heterogeneity among the components within the sample that could be a very important aspect of the sample’s function. These techniques are also limited in their ability to examine intracellular spatial orientation of molecular activity, which is often a critical component to the regulation of biological processes, particularly in cells with unique spatial relationships, such as neurons. This makes a strong case for single-cell and single-molecule analysis that allows similar novel insight into complex molecular machinery that would not be possible when pooling heterogeneous molecular states. mRNA has proven to be quite tractable to molecular analysis in single cells. Almost two decades of single-molecule studies of mRNA processing both in situ and in live cells have been facilitated by microscopy of mRNA. This has been made possible by multiplexing fluorophores in situ hybridization probes or fluorescent RNA-tag-binding protein probes. The purpose of this chapter is to describe the approaches that have made single-molecule mRNA imaging accessible, as well as to give an overview of the state of the art for techniques that are available to track mRNA in real time in living cells, highlighting the application to neuroscience.
Spontaneous Laughter as an Auditory Analog to Affiliative Intent

Spontaneous laughter may serve as an auditory cue to affiliative intent within social contexts, whereas volitional laughter may connote deceptive, or non-affiliative, social communication. It would thus be advantageous to distinguish between affiliative and deceptive laughter to identify and prefer conspecifics genuinely interested in affiliating, particularly those whose current affiliative needs are unmet. Furthermore, women’s greater capability to discriminate between emotional cues should implicate them as being especially favorable toward spontaneous laughter. Because social exclusion heightens interest in affiliation, social exclusion should heighten favorability toward those communicating spontaneous laughter, which should be especially augmented among women. The current research examined both trait and state factors that might be moderate responses to spontaneous and volitional laughter. We experimentally activated affiliative motives and tasked men and women with indicating their preferences for spontaneous and volitional laughs. Although activation of affiliative needs did not alter preferences for laughter, participants ultimately preferred spontaneous laughs over volitional. Women were especially sensitive to laughter’s affiliative value, reporting greater disinterest in affiliating with targets emitting volitional laughs, a finding consistent with research indicating women’s heightened sensitivity toward affiliative cues and sensitivity to potentially exploitive conspecifics due to sexual dimorphism.
Toward automated network management and operations

Network management plays a fundamental role in the operation and well-being of today's networks. Despite the best effort of existing support systems and tools, management operations in large service provider and enterprise networks remain mostly manual. Due to the larger scale of modern networks, more complex network functionalities, and higher network dynamics, human operators are increasingly short-handed. As a result, network misconfigurations are frequent, and can result in violated service-level agreements and degraded user experience. In this dissertation, we develop various tools and systems to understand, automate, augment, and evaluate network management operations. Our thesis is that by introducing formal abstractions, like deterministic finite automata, Petri-Nets and databases, we can build new support systems that systematically capture domain knowledge, automate network management operations, enforce network-wide properties to prevent misconfigurations, and simultaneously reduce manual effort. The theme for our systems is to build a knowledge plane based on the proposed abstractions, allowing network-wide reasoning and guidance for network operations. More importantly, the proposed systems require no modification to the existing Internet infrastructure and network devices, simplifying adoption. We show that our systems improve both timeliness and correctness in performing realistic and large-scale network operations. Finally, to address the current limitations and difficulty of evaluating novel network management systems, we have designed a distributed network testing platform that relies on network and device virtualization to provide realistic environments and isolation to production networks.
A transcriptional map of the bacteriophage SPO1 genome: III. A region of early and middle promoters (the gene 28 region)

Abstract SPO1 gene 28, which codes for the positive regulator of middle transcription, gp28, has been mapped by in vitro DNA-directed protein synthesis to a segment located between 89.5 and 91.5 kbp from the left end of the genome. Gene 27 is also located in this interval. One early promoter has been mapped to this region of the genome (P E 13 at 90.1 kbp) and early transcription of gene 28 could initiate there. Two other early promoters, P E 14 and P E 15, are located at 99.2 and 112.5 kbp from the left end. These three early promoters are significantly weaker in vitro than those early promoters which are located in the terminal repeat. The functions associated with P E 14 and P E 15 are unknown, but evidence is presented that P E 15 is utilized in vivo . Thirteen middle promoters have also been mapped within the region of the genome extending from 85 to 113.5 kbp. The middle promoters are interspersed with the three early promoters and in some cases, yield overlapping early and middle transcription. Such overlapping early and middle transcription units apparently generate at least some em class SPO1 RNA in vivo .
Urban birds: population, community, and landscape approaches

A simple conceptual framework is presented that begins with a consideration of patterns of bird abundance in urbanized landscapes. The framework includes a consideration of two levels of mechanisms which combine to produce the observed patterns: demographic and ecological. The framework is employed to review research conducted on urban-induced fragmentation and edge effects in coastal southern California.
Lower vitamin D levels in surgical hyperparathyroidism versus thyroid patients.

Primary hyperparathyroidism is a common endocrine disorder with an estimated incidence of one in every 500 women and one in every 2000 men older than 40 years.1 Its association with nephrolithiasis in 1934 led to a 10-fold increase in the documented incidence of the disease; a further increase in the U.S. incidence occurred in the 1970s because of routine biochemical screening. The use of intact parathyroid hormone measurements has more recently led to a large increase in the proportion of asymptomatic patients detected.2 It has been shown that primary hyperparathyroidism is associated with low vitamin D levels. One study indicated a 2.2 per cent prevalence rate of coexistent primary hyperparathyroidism and vitamin D insufficiency.3 Others have shown that both clinical and laboratory features of primary hyperparathyroidism are more severe in those regions where vitamin D deficiency is endemic.4 Whether low vitamin D levels may be an etiologic factor associated with the development of primary hyperparathyroidism, however, still remains to be elucidated. Specifically, appropriate control patients such as a concomitant surgical population have not been included to investigate whether this association is significant. Although surgical excision is the treatment of choice for primary hyperparathyroidism,5 vitamin D-deficient patients undergoing parathyroidectomy are at increased risk of postoperative hypocalcemia. Known as “hungry bone syndrome,” this phenomenon is defined as severe or persistent hypocalcemia despite normal or elevated parathyroid hormone levels.4 Often, vitamin D supplementation is required to correct hypocalcemia in the postoperative period. For this reason, pre-operative vitamin D levels are commonly measured in patients with a diagnosis of hyperparathyroidism. To further investigate whether vitamin D levels are lower in patients with hyperparathyroidism, we compared pre-operative vitamin D levels in patients who underwent surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism with vitamin D levels in patients who underwent surgery for benign thyroid disease.
Calcium-Dependent Chloride Currents in Vertebrate Central Neurons

Anion-selective ion channels activated by inhibitory neurotransmitters such as γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine occur in the soma-dendritic membrane of a majority of CNS neurons (see Chapters 7–9). Until recently, these were the only well-characterized anion-selective channels in vertebrate neurons and there was no evidence for any additional types of anion channel, although the existence of a leakage conductance permeable to Cl− was considered to be probable. Some new work, on a variety of preparations ranging from amphibian egg cells to mammalian CNS neurons in tissue culture, has changed this picture with the discovery of a conductance mechanism that is selectively permeable to anions and activated by a rise in Ca i 2+ activity. The study of this conductance mechanism is in its infancy and, although some sophisticated biophysical techniques have been applied to the problem, the small conductances of these ion channels, our lack of selective pharmacological probes, and the added complexity of studying processes linked to changes in Ca i 2+ activity, have prevented any real understanding of the physiological functions of Ca2+-dependent Cl− channels in nerve cells. Similar studies in exocrine cells that secrete electrolyte solutions suggest that Ca2+-activated Cl− fluxes may participate in the production of tears in the lacrimal gland (Marty et al., 1984).
Are Recent College Graduates Finding Good Jobs

According to numerous accounts, the Great Recession has left many recent college graduates struggling to find jobs that utilize their education. However, a look at the data on the employment outcomes for recent graduates over the past two decades suggests that such difficulties are not a new phenomenon: individuals just beginning their careers often need time to transition into the labor market. Still, the percentage who are unemployed or “underemployed” — working in a job that typically does not require a bachelor’s degree — has risen, particularly since the 2001 recession. Moreover, the quality of the jobs held by the underemployed has declined, with today’s recent graduates increasingly accepting low-wage jobs or working part-time.
Effect of nitroso-redox imbalance on male reproduction

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) are byproducts of normal metabolic processes. They are necessary for normal cellular function and are kept in balance by antioxidant mechanisms. Alterations in levels of ROS and RNS can lead to nitroso-redox imbalance that in turn can negatively affect male reproduction. Strategies to decrease ROS/RNS involve evasion of exposures (smoking, meat intake, pollution, calorie-dense diet), managing lifestyle, and increasing the consumption of antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid, taurine, quercetin). Targeted therapies focusing on nitroso-redox imbalance can be critical for treatment of male reproductive dysfunction. This review outlines endogenous and exogenous sources of ROS/RNS, adverse effect on male reproduction, and strategies to control nitroso-redox imbalance.
Perineal hypospadias repair with preservation of a coincidental vagina or perineal utricle in boys with disorders of sex development.

Summary Introduction An enlarged utricle in patients with proximal hypospadias or disorders of sex development (DSD) is common. The utricle orifice is usually in the posterior urethra near the verumontanum, but in exceptional cases located on the perineum. Concurrence of a perineal hypospadias and perineal utricle or vagina is also known as male vagina, pseudovagina, or blind vaginal pouch. The utricle in such cases is usually excised either before or concomitant with hypospadias repair. The authors developed an alternative approach in which the vagina or perineal utricle is retained during hypospadias repair and report on the results in four patients. Objective To report a novel technique for perineal hypospadias repair while retaining a concurrent vagina or perineal utricle. Patients and methods Between 1999 and 2014, four neonates presented with perineal hypospadias. In all patients, a second perineal opening providing access to either an enlarged utricle or a vagina was identified. Karyotype in peripheral blood was in two patients 46,XY and in the other two 45,X/46,XY of which one showed a complex mosaicism in gonadal tissue. No genetic cause was identified on DNA evaluation in the two patients with 46,XY DSD. All patients were raised as boys. Hypospadias repair was performed in two stages at prepubertal age. During the second stage of surgery, performed between the age of 1.5 and 5 years, the vagina or utricle orifice was incorporated into the neo-urethra, resulting in a retained ‘built-in’ vagina or utricle. Results Surgical procedures were uneventful, and patients remained asymptomatic during a mean postoperative follow-up of 8.5 (range 2–13.5) years. One patient was lost to follow-up after the age of 8 years. At their last visit, the remaining patients, at the age of 4, 15, and 17 years, were able to void in standing position without dribbling. Both adolescent patients reported erections without ejaculations and identified themselves as males without signs of gender dysphoria. Conclusion Hypospadias repair in boys with perineal hypospadias while leaving a male vagina or perineal utricle in situ has not been reported previously, and the study’s preliminary results are favorable. One of the benefits of this approach is that inadvertent injury to adjacent anatomic structures such as urethral sphincter, neurovascular bundles, ureters, vas deferens, and rectum is avoided. The main rationale for adopting this conservative approach however is to minimize genital tissue removal in children with a not yet definite gender identity, which will certainly facilitate unforeseen future gender reassignment surgery. Download : Download high-res image (149KB) Download : Download full-size image
Role of Microbial Agents in Pulmonary Fibrosis .

Pulmonary fibrosis is a form of lung disease that develops due to aberrant wound-healing following repeated alveoli injury in genetically susceptible individuals, resulting in chronic inflammation, excess deposition of the extracellular matrix components, mainly collagen, and scarring of lung tissue. In addition to irradiation, environmental agents such occupational inhalants, and chemotherapeutic agents, microbial agents also play a role in the etiology of the disease. While viruses have received the most attention, emerging evidence suggest that bacteria and fungi also play a part in the etiology of pulmonary fibrosis. Furthermore, successful use of antibiotics, antiviral and antifungal drugs in several studies to attenuate fibrosis progression is also an indication of microbial involvement in the pathogenesis of the disease and could be a promising therapeutic modality for treating pulmonary fibrosis initiated or exacerbated by infectious agents.
Explaining long-range fluid pressure transients caused by oilfield wastewater disposal using the hydrogeologic principle of superposition

Injection-induced earthquakes are now a regular occurrence across the midcontinent United States. This phenomenon is primarily caused by oilfield wastewater disposal into deep geologic formations, which induces fluid pressure transients that decrease effective stress and trigger earthquakes on critically stressed faults. It is now generally accepted that the cumulative effects of multiple injection wells may result in fluid pressure transients migrating 20–40 km from well clusters. However, one recent study found that oilfield wastewater volume and earthquake occurrence are spatially cross-correlated at length-scales exceeding 100 km across Oklahoma. Moreover, researchers recently reported observations of increasing fluid pressure in wells located ~90 km north of the regionally expansive oilfield wastewater disposal operations at the Oklahoma-Kansas border. Thus, injection-induced fluid pressure transients may travel much longer distances than previously considered possible. This study utilizes numerical simulation to demonstrate how the hydrogeologic principle of superposition reasonably explains the occurrence of long-range pressure transients during oilfield wastewater disposal. The principle of superposition states that the cumulative effects of multiple pumping wells are additive and results from this study show that just nine high-rate injection wells drives a 10-kPa pressure front to radial distances exceeding 70 km after 10 years, regardless of basement permeability. These results yield compelling evidence that superposition is a plausible mechanistic process to explain long-range pressure accumulation and earthquake-triggering in Oklahoma and Kansas.
Paging storm attacks against 4G/LTE networks from regional Android botnets: rationale, practicality, and implications

Although the impact of mobile botnet attacks against cellular networks has been studied in a number of previous works, little attention has been paid to regional botnets, where bot-infected mobile devices are geographically concentrated at local areas. In this work we investigate a new type of threats called paging storm attacks, which can be launched from a regional botnet to exhaust the limited paging capacity of cells in a 4G/LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network. As paging storm attacks can delay paging requests for legitimate time-critical voice or video calls in a target area, their real-life implications include user annoyance, distortion of call center analytics, and loss of productivity. To demonstrate the feasibility of such attacks, we design and implement a proof-of-concept Android botnet that can coordinate bot activities to create pulsating paging requests within a short period of time. We mathematically analyze the probability that normal paging requests are delayed due to a botnet attack. Experimental results observed from a high-fidelity emulation testbed reveal that paging storm attacks launched from a regional botnet can create repetitive surges of paging requests in the target LTE network, thereby delaying time-critical voice/video calls by several seconds.
Role of post translational modifications in modifying the biologic activity of insulin like growth factor binding proteins.

The six insulin-like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBP’s) have been shown to be produced by a variety of cell types. When present in the local pericellular microenvironment these proteins have very high affinity for insulin like factors (IGF’s) and can regulate the amount of each IGF that is available to bind to receptors. Estimates of the affinity constants for each protein show that they are at least equal to the Type l IGF receptor and in many cases significantly greater. Studies of the biologic actions of IGF-I and II in vitro in the presence of IGFBP’s have shown that the BP’s consistently inhibit the acute metabolic effects of IGF-I such as glucose transport and lipid synthesis. However, analysis of longer term effects such as stimulation of protein synthesis and DNA synthesis have shown that binding proteins can either enhance or inhibit these IGF-I actions. The major focus of research in our laboratory has been to determine if post-translational modifications of these binding proteins result in alterations in their ability to either inhibit or stimulate IGF-I actions. Studies in our lab have linked changes in several of these post-translational modifications to changes in the cellular responsiveness to IGF-I.
Effects of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter Solanacearum’ Haplotype on Atlantic Potato Tuber Emergence Rate in South Texas

The bacterium ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’ (Lso) is a phloem-restricted plant pathogen associated with different diseases worldwide. In North America, two haplotypes, LsoA and LsoB, are vectored by the potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Sulc that causes zebra chip (ZC) in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and other solanaceous plants. In potato, both haplotypes cause similar symptoms albeit with different severities: LsoB-infected potato plants exhibit more severe ZC tuber symptoms compared to LsoA-infected plants. Previous research suggested that Lso-infected plants could produce viable seed tubers, potentially creating a reservoir for Lso propagation. The current study evaluated the effect of Lso haplotype on the emergence rate of tubers produced by infected potato plants (var. ‘Atlantic’) grown in the Lower Rio Grande area during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons. Five Lso treatments were evaluated: uninfested controls, plants infested with uninfected psyllids (LsoFree), plants infested with LsoA- or LsoB-infected psyllids (LsoA and LsoB, respectively), and plants infested with psyllids co-infected with both Lso haplotypes (LsoAB). A portion of harvested tubers were evaluated for ZC symptom severity using a visual score. The remaining tubers were placed in cold storage for six months and then used as seed tubers to compare emergence and plant development rates among the treatments. This study confirms the previously reported differences in ZC symptom severity between Lso haplotypes. Furthermore, this study showed that tubers produced by Lso-infected plants were 90.1 ± 8.2% inviable. Importantly, all plants developing from these seed tubers tested negative for the presence of Lso. The results of this study suggest that while seed tubers produced by Lso-infected plants can germinate, the daughter plant was not infected by Lso. Therefore, Atlantic tubers produced by previously infected plants with Lso haplotypes A and B in South Texas do not represent a reservoir for Lso disease.