cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparative Informatics Analysis to Evaluate Site-Specific Protein Oxidation in Multidimensional LC–MS/MS Data

Redox proteomics has yielded molecular insight into diseases of protein dysfunction attributable to oxidative stress, underscoring the need for robust detection of protein oxidation products. Additionally, oxidative protein surface mapping techniques utilize hydroxyl radicals to gain structural insight about solvent exposure. Interpretation of tandem mass spectral data is a critical challenge for such investigations, because reactive oxygen species target a wide breadth of amino acids. Additionally, oxidized peptides may be generated in a wide range of abundances since the reactivity of hydroxyl radicals with different amino acids spans three orders of magnitude. Taken together, these attributes of oxidative footprinting pose both experimental and computational challenges to detecting oxidized peptides that are naturally less abundant than their unoxidized counterparts. In this study, three model proteins were oxidized electrochemically and analyzed at both the intact protein and peptide levels. A multidimensional chromatographic strategy was utilized to expand the dynamic range of oxidized peptides measurements. Peptide mass spectral data were searched by the hybrid software packages Inspect and Byonic, which incorporate de novo elements of spectral interpretation into a database search. This dynamic search capacity accommodates the challenge of searching for more than forty oxidative mass shifts that can occur in a staggeringmore » variety of possible combinatorial occurrences. A prevailing set of oxidized residues was identified with this comparative approach, and evaluation of these sites was informed by solvent accessible surface area gleaned through molecular dynamics simulations. Along with increased levels of oxidation around highly reactive hotspot sites as expected, the enhanced sensitivity of these measurements uncovered a surprising level of oxidation on less reactive residues.« less
Allergy and parasites: the measurement of total and specific IgE levels in urban and rural communities in Rhodesia

Summary Eighty adult asthmatics living in an African city had a significantly higher serum IgE level (799 u/ml) than the control group (350 u/ml). A high proportion (78·7%) of the asthmatics had demonstrable circulating mite-specific IgE antibodies. The rural population of a filariasis endemic region was investigated and although no allergic subjects were identified, the group had a significantly higher IgE level (1613 u/ml) than the asthmatics and also showed a relatively high incidence of grass pollen-specific IgE antibodies (35%). The discrepancy between clinical history and laboratory results supports the mast cell saturation hypothesis and suggests: (a) an explanation for the susceptibility to allergy of African and Asian immigrants to Great Britain, and (b) a practical approach for preventing allergic reactions in vivo.
Survival and allograft rejection rates after combined heart and kidney transplantation in comparison with heart transplantation alone

Abstract Background The role of solid multiorgan transplantation remains to be determined. We compared our experience with combined heart-kidney transplantation (HKT) and heart transplant alone (HT), and assessed patient survival rates and freedom from allograft rejection in these two patient groups. Methods We reviewed the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing HKT (n = 30) or HT (n = 440) between June 1992 and March 2009. Baseline patient characteristics, perioperative factors, incidence of rejection, and survival were examined. Results There were no significant differences between the two groups for age, gender, etiology of heart disease, functional class, preoperative left ventricular ejection fraction, end-diastolic diameter, cardiac output, or transplant waitlist status. Patients with HKT had a higher serum creatinine level (P .05 for all comparisons). Conclusions HKT offers excellent survival and similar renal function when compared with HT alone. Patients with end-stage cardiac and renal failure can be considered for HKT.
Lessons from a special service for public health, Brazil.

To the Editor: Many thanks for your interesting and informative special section on infectious diseases in the Amazon Region (1). Your readers should also be interested in a little known, but extremely successful, sustainable health program that had its start in the Amazon. In 1942, the governments of Brazil and the United States agreed to establish a special service for public health (called the Servico Especial de Saude Publica). The purpose of this program was to improve health conditions in key areas in the Amazon, expedite the collection and export of native rubber, and counteract the growing influence of Nazi Germany in Latin America (2). The program spread to the Vale do Rio Doce, where there were resources of iron ore, mica, and optical quartz, which were important for the war effort. Although the program eventually moved to all states of Brazil, the Amazon program remained an important activity for ≈50 years before it was integrated into the Brazilian Ministry of Health (3). The program in the Amazon focused primarily on infectious disease. It comprised programs of immunization, provision of small sustainable water systems, development of privy programs (sewer systems in the larger centers of population), malaria control, improvement of residences and living conditions for Chagas disease control, epidemiologic intelligence, and extensive training for auxiliary and professional personnel. The effects of this program are shown by the increase in life expectancy for all age groups, with an increase of >10 years for those childhood age groups for whom infectious disease control would have the greatest effect from 1939–1941 to 1950–1951 (4). This program contains many lessons for the planners of health and disease control projects in tropical, low-income countries.
Use of collaborative recommendations for web search: an exploratory user study

This study investigated use of collaborative recommendations in web searching. An experimental system was designed. In the experimental system, recommendations were generated in a group report format, including items judged relevant by previous users, search queries and the URLs of documents. The study explored how users used these items, the effects of their use, and what factors contributed to this use. The results demonstrate that users preferred using queries and document sources (URLs), rather than relevance judgment (document ratings). The findings also show that using recommended items had a significant effect on the number of documents viewed, but not on precision or number of queries. Task difficulty and search skills had significant impact on the use. Possible reasons for the results are analyzed. Implications and future directions are discussed.
Supposition of the origin of Signal II from random and oriented chloroplasts

Abstract From previous studies of biological semiquinones in different solvents, the origin of Signal II in chloroplasts is hypothesized to be a plastosemiquinone anion radical perturbed by a metal cation. Assuming this model, theoretical principal g factors and hyperfine splitting constants were calculated and used to simulate the random spectrum of spinach Signal II. Oriented chloroplasts were used to determine the principal angles of this model. Oriented chloroplasts from collard greens showed a different angular dependency of Signal II from those of spinach as well as the presence of added fine structure.
Reaggregation and reorganization of juvenile chicken testicular cellsin vitro

Abstract A culture system has been developed which maintains the characteristics of the androgen-producing cells together with fibroblastic cells dissociated from juvenile chicken testes. The behavior of these cells, including their ability to reaggregate in vitro and reorganize into distinct patterns in monolayer cultures, indicates that the maintenance of a stable arrangement of homotypic cells is achieved by intercellular materials holding the cells in discrete groupings.
Compliance with Surgical Follow-up Does Not Influence Fistula Maturation in a County Hospital Population

Background The purpose of this study is to examine follow-up rates and maturation rates after dialysis access surgery using a fistula-first approach in a county hospital with an indigent population. Methods A prospectively maintained dialysis access database was queried for cases performed between August 1, 2009 and September 30, 2011. The follow-up period ended on December 31, 2011. An attempt was made to contact patients who did not have complete follow-up data recorded to the point of fistula maturation for arteriovenous fistulas (AVF). Patients were contacted directly or through their dialysis center. Maturation was defined by successful use of the AVF for hemodialysis for at least 2 weeks for patients who are dialysis dependent or by the clinical assessment of an attending vascular surgeon for those not on dialysis. Results Two hundred three dialysis access cases were performed. The mean age was 51.4 years. One hundred twenty-six (62%) were male and 175 (86%) were Hispanic. Of these, 194 (95.6%) were AVF. Three AVF were ligated in the postoperative period for steal. Of the remaining 191 AVF, 94 (49%) patients completed their scheduled follow-up appointments. Sixty-six (35%) patients did not come to clinic but were contacted. Twenty-six (14%) patients were completely lost to follow-up and 5 (2.6%) died. Maturation data was obtained on 160 AVF. Of those, 123 (77%) reached maturation with a mean maturation time of 112 ± 99 days (range, 21–483). Twenty patients who completed follow-up underwent at least 1 additional surgical or endovascular procedure in an attempt to achieve maturation. Seventeen (85%) patients who underwent a secondary procedure went on to achieve maturation. There was no significant difference in maturation between the group that completed follow-up and those who were contacted by phone (69 [73%] vs. 54 [81%], P = not significant). Conclusions In this indigent population, follow-up does not influence maturation rates of AVF. Despite poor compliance with follow-up in the setting of a public hospital, the maturation rate of an aggressive fistula-first approach is acceptable.
Management strategies for stage IB2 cervical cancer: A cost-effectiveness analysis

Abstract Objective To assess the potential effectiveness and medical costs of three common strategies to manage Stage IB2 squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix (CXCA). Methods A decision analysis model compared three strategies to manage Stage IB2 CXCA: (1) radical hysterectomy with pelvic and para-aortic lymphadenectomy followed by tailored chemoradiation therapy for high-risk patients (RHYST); (2) primary chemoradiation therapy for all patients (CTRT); and (3) neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radical hysterectomy and tailored chemoradiation therapy for high-risk patients (NAC). Results RHYST was the least expensive strategy with a cost of 284 Million (M) per 10,000 women and a 5-year disease free survival (5-DFS) of 69%. Both NAC and CTRT had similar 5-DFS (69.3% and 70%, respectively); however, both NAC and CTRT were more expensive than RHYST at 299 M and 508 M, respectively. This translated into a higher cost-effectiveness ratio for NAC and CTRT ($43,197 and $72,613, respectively) when compared to RHYST ($41,212). NAC yielded 30 additional survivors compared to RHYST but at a cost of $499,783 per survivor. CTRT was more effective than RHYST with 100 additional survivors but at a substantial cost of $2,240,000 per survivor. Conclusions RHYST is the most cost-effective strategy to manage Stage IB2 CXCA and would be favored in settings where resources are limited. Although NAC and CTRT are reasonable treatment strategies, policymakers must be willing to spend approximately $500,000 per additional survivor (NAC) or $2.2 M per additional survivor (CTRT).
The Intelligent surfer: Probabilistic Combination of Link and Content Information in PageRank

The PageRank algorithm, used in the Google search engine, greatly improves the results of Web search by taking into account the link structure of the Web. PageRank assigns to a page a score proportional to the number of times a random surfer would visit that page, if it surfed indefinitely from page to page, following all outlinks from a page with equal probability. We propose to improve PageRank by using a more intelligent surfer, one that is guided by a probabilistic model of the relevance of a page to a query. Efficient execution of our algorithm at query time is made possible by precomputing at crawl time (and thus once for all queries) the necessary terms. Experiments on two large subsets of the Web indicate that our algorithm significantly outperforms PageRank in the (human-rated) quality of the pages returned, while remaining efficient enough to be used in today's large search engines.
Does losing your home mean losing your school?: Effects of foreclosures on the school mobility of children☆

Abstract In the last few years, millions of homes around the country have entered foreclosure, pushing many families out of their homes and potentially forcing their children to move to new schools. Unfortunately, despite considerable attention to the causes and consequences of mortgage defaults, we understand little about the distribution and severity of these impacts on school children. This paper takes a step toward filling that gap through studying how foreclosures in New York City affect the mobility of public school children across schools. A significant body of research suggests that, in general, switching schools is costly for students, though the magnitude of the effect depends critically on the nature of the move and the quality of the origin and destination schools.
Antenna evaluation methods

Shannon's formula for channel capacity in terms of bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio is used in a proposed method of antenna evaluation as a weighting function for averaging antenna patterns and impedances over space and frequency. This method is particularly applicable to situations where antennas with widely different characteristics are being compared for similar applications over relatively large bandwidths in which the characteristics of each antenna are subject to wide variation. The evaluation method based upon the Shannon formula is compared with others such as the "antenna-system-efficiency" and "minimum-level" methods.
Patterns of adrenocorticotropin secretagog release with hypoglycemia, novelty, and restraint after colchicine blockade of axonal transport.

Colchicine blockade of axonal transport from the paraventricular nucleus to the median eminence was used to indirectly infer hypothalamic ACTH secretagog release in awake rats. Median eminence contents of CRF, arginine vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin (OT) were determined by RIA after insulin-induced hypoglycemia, restraint, and novelty. Insulin decreased circulating glucose concentrations and increased ACTH and corticosterone values. Median eminence CRF and AVP content declined but OT content did not. Both novelty and restraint stressors increased circulating ACTH and corticosterone concentrations. Secretagog measurements indicated decreases in OT content without concomitant decreases in either CRF or AVP with both stressors. These results indicate that: 1) colchicine blockade of axonal transport is useful in studying patterns of secretagog release in animals undergoing psychological stressors; 2) in contrast to physical stressors, OT appears to be a major component of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal re...
Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Expression in Asthma. Association with Severity and Type 2 Inflammatory Processes.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophin family, exists in several isoforms, which differentially impacts neuronal and immune cell survival and differentiation. The role of BDNF and its isoforms in asthma remains unclear. The objectives of this study were to compare the BDNF protein isoforms and specific splice variant expression in sputum and bronchoscopic samples from healthy control subjects and participants with asthma, and to relate these changes to findings in IL-13–stimulated human airway epithelial cells. Sputum and bronchoscopic samples from healthy control subjects and participants with asthma were evaluated for BDNF protein (ELISA and Western blot) and BDNF mRNA (gel and quantitative real-time PCR) in relation to asthma severity and type 2 inflammatory processes. BDNF mRNA was measured in cultured primary human airway epithelial cells after IL-13 stimulation. Total BDNF protein differed among the groups, and its mature isoform was significantly higher in sputum fro...
Evaluation of Interregional Transport Using the MM5–SCIPUFF System

Abstract Improved understanding of transport issues and source–receptor relationships on the interregional scale is dependent on reducing the uncertainties in the ability to define complex three-dimensional wind fields evolving in time. The numerical models used for this purpose have been upgraded substantially in recent years by introducing finer grid resolution, better representation of subgrid-scale physics, and practical four-dimensional data assimilation (FDDA) techniques that reduce the accumulation of errors over time. The impact of these improvements for interregional transport is investigated in this paper using the fifth-generation Pennsylvania State University–National Center for Atmospheric Research Mesoscale Model (MM5) and the Second-Order Closure Integrated Puff (SCIPUFF) dispersion model to simulate the 1983 Cross-Appalachian Tracer Experiment (CAPTEX-83) episode 1 of 18–19 September 1983. Combining MM5 and SCIPUFF makes it possible to verify predicted tracer concentrations against observe...
Acoustic mode coupling by nonlinear internal wave packets in a shelfbreak front area

A computational case study of coupled-mode 400-Hz acoustic propagation over the distance 27 km on the continental shelf is presented. The mode coupling reported here is caused by lateral gradients of sound-speed within packets of nonlinear internal waves, often referred to as solitary wave packets. In a waveguide having unequal attenuation of modes, directional exchange of energy between low- and high-loss modes, via mode coupling, can become time dependent by the movement of waves and can cause temporally variable loss of acoustic energy into the bottom. Here, that bottom interaction effect is shown to be sensitive to stratification conditions, which determine waveguide properties and, in turn, determine modal attenuation coefficients. In particular, time-dependent energy loss due to the presence of moving internal wave packets is compared for waveguides with and without a frontal feature similar to that found at the shelfbreak south of New England. The mean and variability of acoustic energy level 27 km distant from a source are shown to be altered in a first order way by the presence of the frontal feature. The effects of the front are also shown to be functions of source depth.
Physical properties and thermocycling performance of electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs) modified by flexible molecules

Flexible polymer binders were introduced into electrically conductive adhesive (ECA) formulations in order to improve the reliability performance of ECA/component joints under thermal cycling/shock conditions while maintaining a comparable bulk conductivity. The curing behavior, modulus, coefficient of thermal expansion and moisture absorption were measured on the ECA formulations designed. Adhesion to Cu/OSP and tin surfaces was studied through substrate shear tests. Electrical bulk resistivity and contact resistances were monitored on specially prepared test coupons that were exposed to 85/spl deg/C/85%RH atmosphere. Experimental results showed that the rubbery ECA samples could typically give very similar bulk conductivity to that of conventional ECA materials. Some of the formulations exhibited acceptable contact resistance stability under thermal cycling conditions, while the ECA/component joint interfaces kept intact through the thermal cycling tests.
Substrate thickness optimization for liquid immersion cooled silicon multichip modules

Liquid immersion cooling represents a potential method for meeting the requirements for removal of increasingly high heat fluxes from microelectronic packages. This work explores immersion cooling of densely packed silicon multichip modules and demonstrates that an optimum substrate thickness exists which minimizes the temperature rise at the integrated circuit die sites. A number of examples are given for a range of die sizes, spacings and heat flux conditions based upon the heat transfer characteristics of R-22. At high flux, the required substrate thickness is considerably larger than that of a standard silicon wafer. The techniques developed are applicable to analysis of other coolants and substrate materials. >
High-Transconductance Ingaas/Inaias Sisfets

Summary form only given. SISFETs in the InGaAs/InAlAs lattice-matched-to-InP material system with record transconductance have been fabricated. These devices use an InGaAs channel layer grown on an InAlAs buffer layer grown on (and lattice matched to) a semi-insulating InP substrate. Carriers are induced in the undoped channel layer by the action of a doped InGaAs gate layer acting across an undoped InAlAs insulating layer. The device is thus the analog of the GaAs/AlGaAs SISFET (or more broadly the silicon gate MOSFET) but provides the electron transport advantages of InGaAs. In addition, ion implantation and arsine overpressure rapid thermal annealing of shallow implants into InGaAs were studied, and it was found that shallow self-aligning implantation structures can be achieved with much lower resistance than in GaAs. >
Reliability of the Dynavision™ D2 for Assessing Reaction Time Performance

Recently, the Dynavision™ D2 Visuomotor Training Device (D2) has emerged as a tool in the assessment of reaction time (RT); however, information regarding the reliability of the D2 have been limited, and to date, reliability data have been limited to non- generalizable samples. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to establish intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC2,1) for the D2 that are generalizable across a population of recreationally active young adults. Forty-two recreationally active men and women (age: 23.41 ± 4.84 years; height: 1.72 ± 0.11 m; mass: 76.62 ± 18.26 Kg) completed 6 trials for three RT tasks of increasing complexity. Each trial was separated by at least 48-hours. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to detect differences in performance across the six trials. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC2,1) standard error of measurement (SEM), and minimal differences (MD) were used to determine the reliability of the D2 from the two sessions with the least significant difference score. Moderate to strong reliability was demonstrated for visual RT (ICC2,1: 0.84, SEM: 0.033), and reactive ability in both Mode A and Mode B tasks (Mode A hits: ICC2,1: 0.75, SEM: 5.44; Mode B hits: ICC2,1: 0.73, SEM: 8.57). Motor RT (ICC2,1: 0.63, SEM: 0.035s) showed fair reliability, while average RT per hit for Modes A and B showed moderate reliability (ICC2,1: 0.68, SEM: 0.43 s and ICC2,1: 0.72, SEM: 0.03 s respectively). It appears that one familiarization trial is necessary for the choice reaction time (CRT) task while three familiarization trials are necessary for reactive RT tasks. In conclusion, results indicate that the Dynavision™ D2 is a reliable device to assess neuromuscular reactivity given that an adequate practice is provided. The data presented are generalizable to a population of recreationally active young adults. Key PointsThe Dynavision™ D2 is a light-training reaction device, developed to train sensory motor integration through the visual system, offering the ability to assess visual and motor reaction to both central and peripheral stimuli, with a capacity to integrate increasing levels of cognitive challenge.The Dynavision™ D2 is a reliable instrument for assessing reaction time in recreationally active young adults.It is recommended that one familiarization trial is necessary for the choice reaction time task assessment to learn the test protocol, while three familiarization trials are needed for reactive ability in Mode A and Mode B before a subsequent reliable baseline score can be established.Significant training effects were observed for all reaction time tests and should be taken into account with continuous trials.
pH-Dependent Catabolic Protein Expression during Anaerobic Growth of Escherichia coli K-12

During aerobic growth of Escherichia coli, expression of catabolic enzymes and envelope and periplasmic proteins is regulated by pH. Additional modes of pH regulation were revealed under anaerobiosis. E. coli K-12 strain W3110 was cultured anaerobically in broth medium buffered at pH 5.5 or 8.5 for protein identification on proteomic two-dimensional gels. A total of 32 proteins from anaerobic cultures show pH-dependent expression, and only four of these proteins (DsbA, TnaA, GatY, and HdeA) showed pH regulation in aerated cultures. The levels of 19 proteins were elevated at the high pH; these proteins included metabolic enzymes (DhaKLM, GapA, TnaA, HisC, and HisD), periplasmic proteins (ProX, OppA, DegQ, MalB, and MglB), and stress proteins (DsbA, Tig, and UspA). High-pH induction of the glycolytic enzymes DhaKLM and GapA suggested that there was increased fermentation to acids, which helped neutralize alkalinity. Reporter lac fusion constructs showed base induction of sdaA encoding serine deaminase under anaerobiosis; in addition, the glutamate decarboxylase genes gadA and gadB were induced at the high pH anaerobically but not with aeration. This result is consistent with the hypothesis that there is a connection between the gad system and GabT metabolism of 4-aminobutanoate. On the other hand, 13 other proteins were induced by acid; these proteins included metabolic enzymes (GatY and AckA), periplasmic proteins (TolC, HdeA, and OmpA), and redox enzymes (GuaB, HmpA, and Lpd). The acid induction of NikA (nickel transporter) is of interest because E. coli requires nickel for anaerobic fermentation. The position of the NikA spot coincided with the position of a small unidentified spot whose induction in aerobic cultures was reported previously; thus, NikA appeared to be induced slightly by acid during aeration but showed stronger induction under anaerobic conditions. Overall, anaerobic growth revealed several more pH-regulated proteins; in particular, anaerobiosis enabled induction of several additional catabolic enzymes and sugar transporters at the high pH, at which production of fermentation acids may be advantageous for the cell.
Mission planning for the Sun-Synchronous Navigation Field Experiment

Describes TEMPEST, a planner that enables a solar-powered rover to reason about path selection and event placement in terms of available solar energy and anticipated power draw. Unlike previous path planners, TEMPEST solves the coupled path, path timing and resource management problem. It combines information about mission objectives, operational constraints, the planetary environment and rover performance, and employs the Incremental Search Engine, a search algorithm that produces optimal paths through high-dimensional spaces. In July 2001, TEMPEST supported the Sun-Synchronous Navigation Field Experiment on Devon Island in the Canadian Arctic. The planner successfully selected time-sequenced, closed-circuit paths that enabled a solar-powered planetary rover prototype to traverse a multi-kilometer path over 24 hours with battery energy reserve. The field trial results motivate future work in mission re-planning, multiple resource constraint analysis and improved speed and memory performance. Our objective is to fulfill a need for resource-cognizant autonomy that is critical for future long-distance planetary surface missions.
Boundary Layer Transient Hygroscopic Stresses in Orthotropic Thick Shells Under External Pressure

The material properties are assumed moisture independent and a displacement approach is used. Since the moisture diffusion process is relatively slow, the hygroscopic stresses are confined for practical time values to a boundary layer region near the surfaces
A theoretical formalism for analyzing agent-based models

Following Holland, complex adaptive systems (CASs) are collections of interacting, autonomous, learning decision makers embedded in an interactive environment. Modeling CASs is challenging for a variety of reasons including the presence of heterogeneity, spatial relationships, nonlinearity, and, of course, adaptation. The challenges of modeling CASs can largely be overcome by using the individual-level focus of agent-based modeling. Agent-based modeling has been used successfully to model CASs in many disciplines. Many of these models were implemented using agent-based modeling software such as Swarm, Repast 3, Repast Simphony, Repast for High-Performance Computing, MASON, NetLogo, or StarLogo. All of these options use modular imperative architectures with factored agents, spaces, a scheduler, logs, and an interface. Many custom agent-based models also use this kind of architecture. This paper’s contribution is to introduce and apply a theoretical formalism for analyzing modular imperative agent-based models of CASs. This paper includes an analysis of three example models to show how the formalism is useful for predicting the execution time and space requirements for representations of common CASs. The paper details the formalism and then uses it to prove several new findings about modular imperative agent-based models. It is proven that the asymptotic time and space performance of modular imperative agent-based modeling studies is computationally optimal for a common class of problems. Here ‘optimal’ means that no other technique can solve the same problem computationally using less asymptotic time or space. Modular imperative agent-based models are shown to be universal models, subject to the correctness of the Church-Turing thesis. Several other results are also proven about the time and space performance of modular imperative agent-based models. The formalism is then used to predict the performance of three models and the results are found to compare closely to the measured performance. This paper’s contribution is to introduce, analyze, and apply a theoretical formalism for proving findings about agent-based models with modular agent scheduler architectures. Given that this kind of modeling is both computationally optimal and a natural structural match for many modeling problems, it follows that it is the best modeling method for such problems.
Adaptive factored beamforming for vector sensor arrays

We consider a new beamspace adaptive beamformer for vector sensor arrays. The sample support and computational requirement for this beamformer is roughly the same as that of a comparable beamspace MVDR beamformer for only the omnidirectional component of the same array. We refer to the new beamformer as ldquoAdaptive Factored Beamformerrdquo or AFBF since it assumes that the weight vector can be written as a Kronecker product of two weight vectors. The performance of this algorithm is evaluated against other adaptive beamformers using simulated data.
What global diastolic function is, what it is not, and how to measure it

Despite Leonardo da Vinci's observation (circa 1511) that "the atria or filling chambers contract together while the pumping chambers or ventricles are relaxing and vice versa," the dynamics of four-chamber heart function, and of diastolic function (DF) in particular, are not generally appreciated. We view DF from a global perspective, while characterizing it in terms of causality and clinical relevance. Our models derive from the insight that global DF is ultimately a result of forces generated by elastic recoil, modulated by cross-bridge relaxation, and load. The interaction between recoil and relaxation results in physical wall motion that generates pressure gradients that drive fluid flow, while epicardial wall motion is constrained by the pericardial sac. Traditional DF indexes (τ, E/E', etc.) are not derived from causal mechanisms and are interpreted as approximating either stiffness or relaxation, but not both, thereby limiting the accuracy of DF quantification. Our derived kinematic models of isovolumic relaxation and suction-initiated filling are extensively validated, quantify the balance between stiffness and relaxation, and provide novel mechanistic physiological insight. For example, causality-based modeling provides load-independent indexes of DF and reveals that both stiffness and relaxation modify traditional DF indexes. The method has revealed that the in vivo left ventricular equilibrium volume occurs at diastasis, predicted novel relationships between filling and wall motion, and quantified causal relationships between ventricular and atrial function. In summary, by using governing physiological principles as a guide, we define what global DF is, what it is not, and how to measure it.
Ultrastructural changes in keratinizing epithelium following trypsinization, epidermal detachment and apposition to mesenchymes.

The cellular effects of trypsinization, a commonly used method for separating epithelial from mesenchymal tissues, were examined with the electron microscope. Specimens were fixed after each step of the trypsinization process in 1 % OsO 4 in double strength Tyrode solution and after 1-7 days of culture following reapposition of the epithelium to its own mesenchyme or collagen-rich 12-day embryonic quadriceps tendon. Controls consisted of specimens identically prepared from limb bud skin derived from the same site from 5-day normal embryos to hatching. A second series of controls were 5-day skin explants cultured for 1-7 days in vitro following identical preparation except for the omission of trypsin. Trypsin caused transient cytoplasmic protrusions (‘blebs’) on the deep aspect of the basal cells, cellular shrinkage and increase in lysosomes. The basal lamina was disrupted overlying the blebs and remained attached to the basal cells only between the blebs. Continuity of the basal lamina was restored within 24 h after the onset of culturing and developed precociously thereafter, regardless of whether it was reapposed to its own collagen-poor mesenchyme or the collagen-rich quadriceps tendon. In the latter, focal excessive basal lamina formation was observed. Epithelial cell differentiation proceeded equally precociously in trypsinized and non-trypsinized cultures. Disruption of the basal lamina by trypsinization did not produce detectable alteration in the synthesis of tonofilaments, desmosomes, granular reticulum or corpuscula cribriformia. Keratohyaline bodies were not found in any of the cultures and keratinized cells did not develop.
Higher Pavlik Harness Treatment Failure Is Seen in Graf Type IV Ortolani-positive Hips in Males.

Background Patients with developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) whose hips are dislocated but reducible (Ortolani positive) are more likely to experience Pavlik harness treatment failure than are patients with dysplastic and reduced but dislocatable (Barlow positive) hips. However, data regarding factors associated with failure are limited and conflicting.
Old surveillance, new interpretations

“Revised estimates” of Soviet strategic capabilities often reflect not new data gathered by U.S. intelligence but rather new analysis of earlier data, based on new methodologies or assumptions.
Hysteresis effects with ZrO2 oxygen sensors exposed to non-equilibrium oxygen-hydrocarbon mixtures

Hysteresis effects are reported for ZrO2 oxygen sensors exposed to non-equilibrium oxygen/hydrocarbon gas mixtures. With oxygen/toluene at 800° C, voltage-composition curves differ following composition changes (a) from excess oxygen to excess toluene and (b) from excess toluene to excess oxygen. A catalysis model is developed to account for this behaviour: the Thiele modulus of the catalyst/electrode is presumed to differ under (a) net oxidizing and (b) net reducing conditions. Large scale voltage fluctuations, sometimes exceeding 400 mV, were observed in experiments with oxygen/isobutane mixtures at 600° C. This behaviour is analysed in terms of a kinetic model involving stochastic variations of relative mass transfer coefficients of oxygen and isobutane.
A New Species of Blister-Forming Eriophyid Mite on Pear

Eriophyes pseudoinsidiosus , known from the Pacific Coast States, Utah, and Wisconsin, is described and illustrated. Field and laboratory observations are reported. The species is an efficient blister producer on pear leaves and is of probable economic importance.
Drive system design of wireless LED lighting

This paper mainly introduces a LED drive system with wireless power supply in electromagnet coupling or electromagnetic resonance mode. The high-precision current source is adopted to drive LED(s) whose luminous intensity is controlled by source current according to light intensity feedback via photocell, so as to ensure stable illumination. What's more, the system also increases active power filter(APF) beside grid input, which may prevent harmonics produced by this nonlinear device from injecting electric network. The program presented can effectively improve the flexibility of LED lighting distribution, and solve the trouble of cable wiring. It may provide efficient management of light energy without affecting power quality of the grid. So that it has profound practical value and application potential.
Analysis of Self-shattering Problem of Toughened Glass Insulator

Self-shattering problem of toughened glass insulator is of great danger to the security of service of transmission lines.Based on several self-shattering cases occurred in China,this paper summarizes and analyzes the self-shattering rule,the influencing factors,and self-shattering mechanism.Besides,the technical measures of decreasing the self-shattering rate are summarized and analyzed.The results show that for glass insulator,a self-shattering peak value exists in the initial stage of service.The residual strength of the residual part is high enough for preventing the insulator string from fracture accident.Natural environment,mechanical load,severe pollution and production technology have influence on the self-shattering.Non-uniform distribution of tensile stress is one of the primary reasons for self-shattering.Technical measures such as secondary hot-and-cold shocking test,inner hydraulic test,homogenous heat treatment,improving glass material quality,and optimizing the toughening process,can be used to decrease the self-shattering rate of toughened glass insulator.
Decreased active vasodilator sensitivity in aged skin.

Older men and women respond to local and reflex-mediated heat stress with an attenuated increase in cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC). This study was performed to test the hypothesis that an aug...
Successive Stages of Amyloid-β Self-Assembly Characterized by Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance with Dynamic Nuclear Polarization

Self-assembly of amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides in human brain tissue leads to neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Amyloid fibrils, whose structures have been extensively characterized by solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) and other methods, are the thermodynamic end point of Aβ self-assembly. Oligomeric and protofibrillar assemblies, whose structures are less well-understood, are also observed as intermediates in the assembly process in vitro and have been implicated as important neurotoxic species in AD. We report experiments in which the structural evolution of 40-residue Aβ (Aβ40) is monitored by ssNMR measurements on frozen solutions prepared at four successive stages of the self-assembly process. Measurements on transient intermediates are enabled by ssNMR signal enhancements from dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) at temperatures below 30 K. DNP-enhanced ssNMR data reveal a monotonic increase in conformational order from an initial state comprised primarily of monomers and small oligomers in solution at high pH, to larger oligomers near neutral pH, to metastable protofibrils, and finally to fibrils. Surprisingly, the predominant molecular conformation, indicated by (13)C NMR chemical shifts and by side chain contacts between F19 and L34 residues, is qualitatively similar at all stages. However, the in-register parallel β-sheet supramolecular structure, indicated by intermolecular (13)C spin polarization transfers, does not develop before the fibril stage. This work represents the first application of DNP-enhanced ssNMR to the characterization of peptide or protein self-assembly intermediates.
Studies on pure red cell aplasia. X. Association with acute leukemia and significance of bone marrow karyotype abnormalities.

Thirty-one patients with chronic primary pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) had blood and marrow cell karyotypes performed prior to immunosuppressive treatment. Only one patient had an abnormal marrow cell karyotype, which revealed a clone of hyperdiploid cells with 47 chromosomes (47, XY, + G). His blood cell karyotype was normal. This patient had no erythroid response to prednisone and cyclophosphamide, or splenectomy, and after 3 yr he developed acute myelomonocytic leukemia with the emergence of a new clone of hyperdiploid cells with multiple ring chromosomes (46,XY/47,XY, + G/49,XY,–G,+4r) in the blood and marrow. These studies indicate that chronic primary PRCA probably has a much lower incidence of abnormal karyotypes and acute leukemia than other refractory anemias (myelodysplastic syndromes), but that an abnormal marrow karyotype may portend a leukemia. The role of cytotoxic immunosuppressive drugs in the treatment of PRCA patients with an abnormal karyotype remains unknown.
The Narrative of Paul de Man: Texts, Issues, Significance

Narrative is both the representation of external events and the telling of those events. My interest in narrative derives from my belief that we make sense of our life by ordering it and giving it shape. The stories we tell ourselves provide continuity among the concatenation of diverse episodes in our lives, even if our stories inevitably distort and falsify. Each of us is continually writing and rewriting the text of our life, revising our memories and hopes, proposing plans, filtering disappointments through our defences and rationalizations, making adjustments in the way we present ourselves to ourselves and others. To the degree that we are self-conscious, we live in our narratives — our discourse — about our actions, thoughts, and feelings. While there is always a gulf between imagined worlds and real ones, does not the continuity between reading lives and reading texts depend on understanding reading as a means of sharpening our perceptions, cultivating discriminations, and deepening our insights about ourselves? For reading is a process of cognition that depends on actively organizing the phenomena of language both in the moment of perception and in the fuller understanding that develops as our reading continues as well as in our retrospective view of our completed reading.1
Graph-Theoretical Study of Functional Changes Associated with the Iowa Gambling Task

The primary aim of this study was to examine changes in functional brain network organization from rest to the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) using a graph-theoretical approach. Although many functional neuroimaging studies have examined task-based activations in complex-decision making tasks, changes in functional network organization during this task remain unexplored. This study used a repeated-measures approach to examine changes in functional network organization across multiple sessions of resting-state and IGT scans. The results revealed that global network organization shifted from a local, clustered organization at rest to a more global, integrated organization during the IGT. In addition, network organization was stable across sessions of rest and the IGT. Regional analyses of the Default Mode Network (DMN) and Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN) revealed differential patterns of change in regional network organization from rest to the IGT. The results of this study reveal that global and regional network organization is significantly modulated across states and fairly stable over time, and that network changes in the FPN are particularly important in the decision-making processes necessary for successful IGT performance.
Progress toward less toxic conditioning

In this issue of Blood, Morillo-Gutierrez et al report findings from the largest multicenter retrospective study on the use of treosulfan as the primary conditioning agent for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in children with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD).1
“Uncontrolled” Preparation of Disperse Poly(lactide)-block-poly(styrene)-block-poly(lactide) for Nanopatterning Applications

We report the facile synthesis of well-defined ABA poly(lactide)-block-poly(styrene)-block-poly(lactide) (LSL) triblock copolymers having a disperse poly(styrene) midblock (Đ = 1.27–2.24). The direct synthesis of telechelic α,ω-hydroxypoly(styrene) (HO-PS-OH) midblocks was achieved using a commercially available difunctional free radical diazo initiator 2,2′-azobis[2-methyl-N-(2-hydroxyethyl)propionamide]. Poly(lactide) (PLA) end blocks were subsequently grown from HO-PS-OH macroinitiators via ring-opening transesterification polymerization of (±)-lactide using the most common and prevalent catalyst system available, tin(II) 2-ethylhexanoate. Fourteen LSL triblock copolymers with total molar masses Mn,total = 24–181 kg/mol and PLA volume fractions fPLA = 0.15–0.68 were synthesized and thoroughly characterized. The self-assembly of symmetric triblocks was analyzed in the bulk using small-angle X-ray scattering and in thin films using grazing incidence small-angle X-ray scattering and atomic force microscop...
Self-Initiated Cannabis Use Cessation in Adolescents and Emerging Adults

Many adolescents believe that self-managed care is the most effective method for cannabis cessation. Using the triadic theory of influence (TTI) as a guide, we explore intrapersonal (biological), cultural/attitudinal (socioenvironmental), and interpersonal (social context) variables that influence self-initiated quitting behaviors in adolescents. Intrapersonal predictors include neurobiological disposition (eg, positive and negative affect), self-image, deviant behaviors, and cognitive processing (eg, decision-making). Cultural and attitudinal predictors include one’s larger social environment (eg, neighborhood/community approval or disapproval of cannabis use, neighborhood safety), acculturation, emerging adulthood, cannabis-related consequences attitudes, and pro-drug use myths. Interpersonal factors include peer social norms, peer approval or disapproval of cannabis cessation, and familial interactions. Implications for future interventions are discussed.