cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ammonia metabolism in normal and portacaval-shunted rats.

Ammonia is generated from a large number of metabolically important reactions. Despite its central importance in whole body nitrogen homeostasis excess ammonia is neurotoxic and its concentration must be kept low. Ammonia generated in most extrahepatic tissues is detoxified by incorporation into glutamine (amide). This glutamine may be used in a number of biosynthetic reactions (e.g. in pyrimidine synthesis). Alternatively, as a means of maintaining nitrogen balance, glutamine may be released to the blood. Resting skeletal muscle is particularly important 1) as a “sink” for removal of blood ammonia, and 2) as a major source of circulating glutamine. However, during vigorous exercise skeletal muscle may become a net contributor of ammonia to the blood. A few tissues and cell types (e.g. lymphocytes, macrophages, enterocytes, colonocytes, thymocytes, fibroblasts, bone) and tumors exhibit marked rates of glutamine utilization. In the kidney, glutamine is an important source of urinary ammonia. Ammonia generated from 1) the breakdown of nitrogenous substances in the gut, and 2) from the use of glutamine as a metabolic fuel in the small intestine, is taken up by the liver wherein it is detoxified by conversion to urea and to a lesser extent, glutamine. Some portal vein glutamine acts as a source of urea nitrogen. Ultimately, however, most excess ammonia nitrogen is detoxified indirectly (via glutamine (blood) ⇢ glutamine (small intestine) ⇢ ammonia (portal vein) or directly in the liver as urea. Portal-systemic shunting of blood, as occurs in chronic cirrhosis of the liver or following the surgical construction of a portacaval shunt results in portal blood bypassing the normal ammonia detoxification machinery of the liver. Under this condition blood ammonia levels rise markedly, increasing the burden on extrahepatic tissues, such as skeletal muscle, brain, and kidney, in maintaining ammonia homeostasis. The most commonly employed animal model of human liver disease is the rat in which an end-to-side portacaval shunt (PCS) has been surgically constructed. Brain glutamine synthetase activity is not increased in PCS rats and in some areas of the brain there may even be a decrease in activity. The brain glutamine synthetase appears to be working at near maximal capacity. Thus, the PCS rats exhibit profound neurological dysfunction when administered ammonium salts in amounts easily tolerated by normal animals. Because of the limited capacity of brain to remove excess ammonia, a rational approach to the treatment of patients with liver disease should include a regimen directed toward lowering the associated hyperammonemia.
Creating an Optimal Sleep Environment

The environment in which sleep occurs can either facilitate or hinder the mental and physiologic processes involved in scheduling sleep, initiating and maintaining sleep, and achieving good-quality sleep. Aspects of the physical environment commonly associated with these functions include ambient light, sudden and/or continuous noise, temperature, tactile attributes of the sleeping surface, aromas, the presence of others, and the presence of arousing stimuli, such as electronic devices. Other aspects of the environment, including bodily, mental, and behavioral factors, also contribute to the sleep environment. In creating an optimum sleep environment, a thorough assessment of all of these factors will identify likely candidates for intervention.
Genetics of Reovirus.

Genetic studies aimed at a better understanding of aspects of the structure and function of the genome of mammalian reoviruses were initiated in the late 1960s. These began with the isolation and characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants (Fields and Joklik 1969, Ikegami and Gomatos 1968). Much of the early research in this area, performed mainly before 1975, has been described in a recent, detailed review (Cross and Fields 1977).
Qualitative perspectives of primary care providers who treat Medicaid managed care patients

Declining job satisfaction and concurrent reductions in Medicaid participation among primary care providers have been documented, but there is limited qualitative work detailing their first-hand experiences treating Medicaid patients. The objective of this study is to describe the experiences of some primary care providers who treat Medicaid patients using in-depth qualitative analysis. We conducted qualitative interviews with 15 primary care providers treating Medicaid patients in a Northeastern state. Participant recruitment efforts focused on including different types of primary care providers practicing in diverse settings. Qualitative interviews were conducted using a semi-structured interview protocol. We developed a coding scheme to analyze interview transcripts and identify themes. Providers expressed challenges effectively meeting their patients’ needs under current policy. They described low Medicaid reimbursement and underinvestment in care coordination programs to adequately address the social determinants of health. Providers shared other concerns including poor access to behavioral health services, discontinuous Medicaid coverage due to enrollment and renewal policies, and limited reimbursement for alternative pain treatment. Providers offered their own suggestions for the allocation of financial investments, Medicaid policy, and primary care practice. Underinvestment in primary care in Medicaid may detract from providers’ professional satisfaction and hinder care coordination for Medicaid patients with complex healthcare needs. Policy solutions that improve the experience of primary care providers serving Medicaid patients are urgently needed to ensure sustainability of the workforce and improve care delivery.
INTRACARDIAC ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY VERSUS TRANSESOPHAGEAL ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY FOR LEFT ATRIAL APPENDAGE OCCLUSION

Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) is traditionally performed under the guidance of Transesophageal Echo (TEE). By utilizing Intracardiac Echocardiography (ICE), LAAO might be performed under local anesthesia and may demonstrate advantages over TEE approach. We compare the safety and efficacy of
Prognostic Significance of Residual Axillary Nodal Micrometastases and Isolated Tumor Cells After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.

The prognostic significance of low-volume residual nodal disease following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is unknown. Women with cT1–4N0–1 breast cancer treated with NAC were identified from Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center (DFBWCC) and the National Cancer Database (NCDB). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) estimates according to pathologic nodal status were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method, with Cox proportional hazards regression used to assess the effect of clinical variables on survival outcomes. Among 967 DFBWCC patients, 27 (2.8%) had residual isolated tumor cells (ITCs) and 61 (6.3%) had micrometastases. Five-year DFS was significantly worse in those with residual ITCs (73.5%) and micrometastases (74.7%) relative to those who were ypN0 following NAC (88.4%, p < 0.001). On adjusted analysis, those with residual ITCs (hazard ratio [HR] 2.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20–3.81) and micrometastases (HR 2.14, 95% CI 1.20–3.81) had increased risk of recurrence relative to ypN0 patients. Among 35,536 NCDB patients, 543 (1.5%) had ITCs and 1132 (3.2%) had micrometastases. Five-year OS estimates were significantly worse with increasing residual nodal burden: ypN0, 88.9%; ypN0[i+], 82.8%; ypN1mi, 79.5%; ypN1, 77.6% (p < 0.001). Compared with patients with ypN0 disease, NCDB patients with ITCs and micrometastases had 1.9- and 2.2-fold risk of death (p < 0.001). On subgroup analysis, the effect of low-volume residual disease on mortality was most pronounced in patients with triple-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive disease. Low-volume residual nodal disease following NAC is associated with poorer DFS and OS relative to those who are node negative.
Multiple boluses of alteplase followed by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for massive pulmonary embolism.

Abstract Thrombolytics and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) are potential management options for massive pulmonary embolism (PE). There are early data supporting the use of repeated alteplase 50 mg bolus for massive PE. However, there is sparse literature addressing placement of ECMO catheters after systemic thrombolysis, and there are no reports of initiating ECMO after repeated bolus of alteplase. We present the case of a patient with massive PE who received two boluses of alteplase for recurrent cardiac arrest, followed by initiation of ECMO. The patient stabilized with these interventions, and ultimately had a good outcome with normal neurologic and functional status.
Hierarchical Representations of Aggression in a Hypothalamic-Midbrain Circuit

Although the ventromedial hypothalamus ventrolateral area (VMHvl) is now well established as a critical locus for the generation of conspecific aggression, its role is complex, with neurons responding during multiple phases of social interactions with both males and females. It has been previously unclear how the brain uses this complex multidimensional signal and coordinates a discrete action: the attack. Here, we find a hypothalamic-midbrain circuit that represents hierarchically organized social signals during aggression. Optogenetic-assisted circuit mapping reveals a preferential projection from VMHvlvGlut2 to lPAGvGlut2 cells, and inactivation of downstream lPAGvGlut2 populations results in aggression-specific deficits. lPAG neurons are selective for attack action and exhibit short-latency, time-locked spiking relative to the activity of jaw muscles during biting. Last, we find that this projection conveys male-biased signals from the VMHvl to downstream lPAGvGlut2 neurons that are sensitive to features of ongoing activity, suggesting that action selectivity is generated by a combination of pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms.
Predicting postoperative tracheostomy requirement in children undergoing surgery for posterior fossa tumors.

Posterior fossa tumor (PFT) resection can be associated with postoperative respiratory failure. We aimed to identify risk factors predicting tracheostomy dependence in children after PFT resection. Retrospective chart review of all children undergoing PFT resection from April 2007 to May 2017 at our institution was performed. A total of 197 patients were included; 12 (6.1%) required tracheostomy placement at a mean 69.1 days postoperatively (SD 112.7, range 7–388). Patients requiring tracheostomy were younger (3.4 vs. 6.8 years, p < 0.01), more likely to have postoperative dysphagia (91.7% vs. 17.3%, p < 0.01), and more likely to have an ependymoma (41.7% vs. 15.1%, p < 0.01) or astrocytoma (25.0% vs. 8.1%, p < 0.01). Patients with eventual tracheostomy were less likely extubated immediately postoperatively (45.5% vs. 79.6%, p < 0.01), had longer intubation duration postoperatively (5.7 vs. 0.5 days, p < 0.01), and had higher rates of reintubation within 48 h (63.6% vs. 1.3%, p < 0.01). Patients requiring tracheostomy had longer hospital length of stay (45.8 vs. 15.3 days, p < 0.01) and ICU stay postoperatively (13.5 vs. 2.1 days, p < 0.01). Of those requiring tracheostomy, three (25.0%) were decannulated by 1 year postoperatively. Decannulation rates did not vary by age (p < 0.47), extubation failure (p < 0.24), duration of intubation (p < 0.10), tumor histology (p < 0.23), or tumor grade (p < 0.13). Lower cranial neuropathy following PFT resection is common. Identifying risk factors correlated with need for tracheostomy can help identify patients who may benefit from early tracheostomy, reducing prolonged intubation trauma, time on mechanical ventilation, and length of stay.
Dark Green Religion: A Decade Later

I wrote the following remections in the hope they will encourage further research and debate about the phenomena I explored in Dark Green Religion: Nature Spiritualty and the Planetary Future. These remections are adapted from the ‘Vorwort zur deutschen Neuausgabe: Dunkelgrune Religion—Zehn Jahre danach’, with which I introduced the German edition.
Understanding sea lamprey abundances in the Great Lakes prior to broad implementation of sea lamprey control

Abstract Control of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes with a selective pesticide (lampricide) that targeted larval sea lamprey began in the late 1950's and continues to be one of the main methods for control. Although the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which was formed with the mandate of controlling sea lamprey, often expresses the success of the sea lamprey control program in terms of percent reduction from lake-wide pre-lampricide control adult sea lamprey abundances, there remains a large amount of uncertainty surrounding these estimates. In this study, we gathered historical data on adult sea lamprey captures from trapping efforts from the mid-1950's through the late 1970's to better understand pre-control abundance. We used this information to estimate lake-wide population abundances of adult sea lamprey using a weighted linear regression that includes environmental and lampricide treatment predictor variables. We varied trapping efficiency for early trapping data to evaluate the uncertainty in abundance estimates. Pre-control adult sea lamprey abundances in all lakes were much greater than current population sizes, but estimates were quite sensitive to trapping efficiency. In Lake Superior, declines in abundance aligned with increases in control efforts, but in other lakes, declines were occurring prior to the onset of lampricide application, perhaps because of a loss of prey. We suggest that previous estimates of pre-control adult sea lamprey abundance may have been underestimated unless trapping efficiency was greater than what is currently achieved in the basin.
Phase II study of cabozantinib (cabo) combined with pembrolizumab (pembro) in metastatic or recurrent gastric and gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEC) to overcome resistance to checkpoint inhibitors.

TPS253Background: GEC is the third leading cause of cancer mortality and the fifth most common malignancy worldwide. Fluoropyrimidine and platinum-based combinations are the most commonly used 1L t...
Evaluation of cell segmentation methods without reference segmentations

Abstract Cell segmentation is a cornerstone of many bioimage informatics studies. Inaccurate segmentation introduces computational error in downstream cellular analysis. Evaluating the segmentation results is thus a necessary step for developing the segmentation methods as well as choosing the most appropriate one for a certain kind of tissue or image. The evaluation process has typically involved comparison of segmentations to those generated by humans, which can be expensive and subject to unknown bias. We present here an approach that seeks to evaluate cell segmentation methods without relying upon comparison to results from humans. For this, we defined a number of segmentation quality metrics that can be applied to multichannel fluorescence images. We calculated these metrics for 11 previously-described segmentation methods applied to datasets from 5 multiplexed microscope modalities covering 5 tissues. Using principal component analysis to combine the metrics we defined an overall cell segmentation quality score and ranked the segmentation methods. A Reproducible Research Archive containing all data and code will be made available upon publication at http://hubmap.scs.cmu.edu.
Use of Preoperative Laboratory Testing Among Low-Risk Patients Undergoing Elective Anorectal Surgery.

Abstract Background Many low-risk patients receive preoperative laboratory testing (PLT) prior to elective outpatient surgery, with no effect on postoperative outcomes. This has not been studied in patients undergoing anorectal surgery. The aim of this study was to determine if PLT in this population was predictive of perioperative complications. Materials and Methods The 2015-2018 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) databases were queried for elective ambulatory anorectal surgeries. PLT was defined as chemistry, hematology, coagulation, or liver function studies obtained ≤30 days preoperatively. American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class 1 and 2 patients were included who underwent elective, ambulatory, benign anorectal surgery. Patient demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative outcomes were compared between those who did and did not receive PLT. Postoperative outcomes were defined as wound-related, procedure-related, major complications, unplanned readmission, and death occurring within 30 days. Multivariate regression analysis determined patient characteristics predictive of receiving testing. Results Of 3309 patients studied, 48.6% received PLT. On multivariate analysis, older age, female sex, Black race, ASA class 2, and comorbidities were predictive of receiving testing. The complication rates were similar between patients who did and did not receive testing (4.3% versus 3.5%, P = 0.22). Conclusions PLT is performed in over half of low-risk patients receiving elective anorectal surgery. There was no difference in the rate of postoperative complications between patients who received testing or not, nor with normal versus abnormal results. PLT can be used more judiciously in this population.
Beyond the Quasars—Radio Cosmology

Evidence for the Big Bang was recognized by radio astronomers puzzled by the pervasive presence of a weak radio signal that surrounds us. Now radio observations at high frequencies from spacecraft have discovered small-scale structure in the cosmic microwave background which some believe are clues to the way galaxies may have been formed in the early universe.
Detection of the Presence of Tornadoes at the Center of Mesocyclones Using Simulated Doppler Velocity Measurements

AbstractSimulations were conducted to investigate the detection of the Doppler velocity tornado signature (TS) and tornadic vortex signature (TVS) when a tornado is located at the center of the parent mesocyclone. Whether the signature is a TS or TVS depends on whether the tornado’s core diameter is greater than or less than the radar’s effective beamwidth, respectively. The investigation included three radar effective beamwidths, two mesocyclones, and six different-sized tornadoes, each of which had 10 different maximum tangential velocities assigned to it to represent a variety of strengths. The concentric tornadoes and mesocyclones were positioned 10–150 km from the radar. The results indicate that 1) azimuthal shear at the center of the mesocyclone increases as the associated tornado gains strength before a TS or TVS appears, 2) smaller tornadoes need to be much stronger than larger tornadoes at a given range for a signature to appear within the mesocyclone, and 3) when the tornado diameter is wider t...
Alternative Parallelization Strategies in EST Clustering

One of the fundamental components of large-scale gene discovery projects is that of clustering of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) from complementary DNA (cDNA) clone libraries. Clustering is used to create non-redundant catalogs and indices of these sequences. In particular, clustering of ESTs is frequently used to estimate the number of genes derived from cDNA-based gene discovery efforts. This paper presents a novel parallel extension to an EST clustering program, UIcluster4, that incorporates alternative splicing information and a new parallelization strategy. The results are compared to other parallelized EST clustering systems in terms of overall processing time and in accuracy of the resulting clustering.
Wind Resource Quality Affected by High Levels of Renewables

For solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind resources, the capacity factor is an important parameter describing the quality of the resource. As the share of variable renewable resources (such as PV and wind) on the electric system is increasing, so does curtailment (and the fraction of time when it cannot be avoided). At high levels of renewable generation, curtailments effectively change the practical measure of resource quality from capacity factor to the incremental capacity factor. The latter accounts only for generation during hours of no curtailment and is directly connected with the marginal capital cost of renewable generators for a given level of renewable generation during the year. The Western U.S. wind generation is analyzed hourly for a system with 75% of annual generation from wind, and it is found that the value for the system of resources with equal capacity factors can vary by a factor of 2, which highlights the importance of using the incremental capacity factor instead. The effect is expected to be more pronounced in smaller geographic areas (or when transmission limitations imposed) and less pronounced at lower levels of renewable energy in the system with less curtailment.
The Stagnation of Smallholder Agriculture in Malawi: A Decade of Structural Adjustment

Abstract Malawi's efforts at structural adjustment have revolved around reforming the marketing and pricing of outputs and inputs in smallholder agriculture. In practice the price-oriented adjustment policies were not thorough enough and have led to disappointing results. There is clearly a need to push for further reforms in pricing. However, structural adjustment in Malawi will have to go beyond just getting prices right. Policies must also concentrate on structural and institutional weaknesses that constrain smallholder agriculture and contribute to widespread food insecurity and malnutrition.
Estimating Technological Change Using a Stochastic Frontier Production Function Framework: Evidence from U.S. Firm-Level Data

This paper presents a methodology for estimating an index of technological change using firm-level data in a stochastic frontier production function model that takes into account time-varying technical inefficiency. In contrast to the Solow divisia index approach, econometric estimation of the index with panel data allows the researcher to separate technical progress from the stochastic measurement error. Applying the econometric methodology to a panel of 908 publicly-traded U.S. firms from the COMPUSTAT database, we find evidence of a significant downturn in general technological change for the period, 1970– 1989, whereas the divisia index methodology applied to the same data shows stagnation. When the sample is divided into Manufacturing, Services, and Miscellaneous categories we find that estimates of technological change for the three groups display markedly different stochastic behavior and that the Services group is the source of the downturn.
The Neem Platform: An Extensible Framework for the Development of Perceptual Collaborative Applications

The Neem Platform is a research test bed for Project Neem, concerned with the development of socially and culturally aware group systems.The Neem Platform is a generic framework for the development of augmented collaborative applications, mainly targeting synchronous distributed collaboration over the internet. It supports rapid prototyping, as well as Wizard of Oz experiments to ease development and evolution of such applications.A novelty of the work is its focus on the dynamic aspects that distinguish group interaction under a Perceptual interface paradigm. Participants' multimodal interactions such as voice exchanges, textual messages, widget operations and eventually gestures, eye gaze and facial expressions are made available to applications, that apply situated reasoning, using this rich contextual information to dynamically adapt their behavior. The system presents itself multimodally as well, through a set of virtual participants - automated entities that are perceived by human participants as having personalities and emotions, making use of animation and voice generation.
Streptomycin biosynthesis. Separation and substrate specificities of phosphatases acting on guanidinodeoxy-scyllo-inositol phosphate and streptomycin-(streptidino)phosphate.

Abstract Two distinct guanidinocyclitol phosphate phosphatase activities have been detected in extracts of streptomycin-producing strains of Streptomyces and separated on a Sephadex G-200 column. Both enzymatic activities appear following a phase of rapid mycelial growth on complex media, and the enzymes thus are idiophase enzymes. Both enzymes require Mg2+ for activity, and both are inhibited by inorganic phosphate. Guanidinodeoxy-scyllo-inositol phosphate phosphatase catalyzes an essential reaction in the biosynthesis of streptidine (1,3-diguanidino-1,3-dideoxy-scyllo-inositol), a component of streptomycin. 2-Guanidino-2-deoxy-neo-inositol phosphate and N'-amidinostreptamine phosphate can also serve as substrates. Activity is inhibited by sulfhydryl reagents and stimulated by dithiothreitol. Periodate degradation studies suggest that substrate phosphate is esterified at position 4, para to the guanidino group. Streptomycin-(streptidino)phosphate phosphatase hydrolyzes phosphate esterified with streptidine, either free or combined in streptomycin derivatives, such as dihydrostreptomycin-(streptidino)phosphate and phosphoryldihydrostreptomycin-(streptidino)phosphate. Tris competes effectively with water as an acceptor of phosphate from these compounds; O-phosphoryl-Tris, once formed, is only slowly hydrolyzed. Activity is not inhibited by sulfhydryl reagents. This enzyme also acts to a lesser extent on N-amidinostreptamine phosphate and N'-amidinostreptamine phosphate. Periodate degradation studies on the latter two compounds have suggested that the natural N isomer has its amino group para to the phosphate, whereas the unnatural N' isomer has its guanidino group para to the phosphate. A current concept of the pathway of streptidine biosynthesis is presented.
Connections: heart disease, cellular electrophysiology, and ion channels.

Our purpose in this article is to examine the hypothesis that both myocardial disease and ischemia can alter the electrophysiologic function of the ion channels responsible for the cellular electrical activity of the heart. Changes in the intracellular and extracellular milieus occur during ischemia and can alter the electrophysiology of several species of ionic channels and the cellular electrophysiologic activity of cardiac myocytes. Included are 1) changes in extracellular [K+] and pH and in intracellular [Na+], [Ca2+], and pH; 2) accumulation of noxious metabolic products such as lysophosphatidylcholine; and 3) depletion of intracellular ATP. Finally, ischemia or disease (e.g., hypertrophy) can alter the electrophysiology of at least two types of K+ channels, the A-like channels underlying the transient outward current and the inward rectifier, by mechanisms that apparently do not involve alteration of either the intra- or extracellular milieus. Findings suggest that the expression of cardiac A-like channel function can be altered by hypertrophy and that at least one intrinsic conductance property of the inward rectifier can be altered by ischemia. We speculate that the control of expression, function, and regulation of cardiac ion channels can be affected at the molecular level by heart disease and myocardial ischemia.
H + 3 Emission in the Ejecta of SN 1987A

We present a chemical and thermal model of the envelope of SN 1987A. We assume that half of the hydrogen envelope is broken into many dense clumps and mixed into the inner region. For a range of densities and energy deposition rates, we find two phases, one with a temperature of about 7000 K and another with a temperature of about 3000 K. We suggest that the H -->3+ features originate in the low-temperature clumps. In them, the cooling is mainly through CO vibrational emission, and the H -->3+ vibrational levels are in LTE. Emission features observed at 3.41 and 3.53 ?m can be reproduced satisfactorily by H -->3+ fundamental band emission at a temperature of 2000 K when absorption by telluric water vapor is taken into account. The model is successful in predicting the dependence on time of the emission features.
Childhood lead exposure and sexually transmitted infections: New evidence

Abstract Introduction The adverse health effects of lead exposure in children are well documented and include intellectual and behavioral maladies. Childhood lead exposure has also been linked to impulsive behaviors, which, in turn, are associated with a host of negative health outcomes including an increased risk for sexually transmitted infections (STI). The purpose of this study was to assess the association of lead exposure with STI rates across census tracts in St. Louis City, Missouri. Methods Incident cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia (GC) during 2011 were identified from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and aggregated by census tract. We also geocoded the home address of 59,645 children >72 months in age who had blood lead level tests performed in St. Louis City from 1996 to 2007. Traditional regression and Bayesian spatial models were used to determine the relationship between GC and lead exposure while accounting for confounders (condom and alcohol availability, crime, and an index of concentrated disadvantage). Results Incident GC rates were found to cluster across census tracts (Moran's I=0.13, p=0.006). After accounting for confounders and their spatial dependence, a linear relationship existed between lead exposure and GC incidence across census tracts, with higher GC rates occurring in the northern part of St. Louis City Conclusions At the census-tract level, higher lead exposure is associated with higher STI rates. Visualizing these patterns through maps may help deliver targeted interventions to reduce geographic disparities in GC rates.
Using a coupled lake model with WRF for dynamical downscaling

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to downscale a coarse reanalysis (National Centers for Environmental Prediction–Department of Energy Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project reanalysis, hereafter R2) as a proxy for a global climate model (GCM) to examine the consequences of using different methods for setting lake temperatures and ice on predicted 2 m temperature and precipitation in the Great Lakes region. A control simulation is performed where lake surface temperatures and ice coverage are interpolated from the GCM proxy. Because the R2 represents the five Great Lakes with only three grid points, ice formation is poorly represented, with large, deep lakes freezing abruptly. Unrealistic temperature gradients appear in areas where the coarse-scale fields have no inland water points nearby and lake temperatures on the finer grid are set using oceanic points from the GCM proxy. Using WRF coupled with the Freshwater Lake (FLake) model reduces errors in lake temperatures and significantly improves the timing and extent of ice coverage. Overall, WRF-FLake increases the accuracy of 2 m temperature compared to the control simulation where lake variables are interpolated from R2. However, the decreased error in FLake-simulated lake temperatures exacerbates an existing wet bias in monthly precipitation relative to the control run because the erroneously cool lake temperatures interpolated from R2 in the control run tend to suppress overactive precipitation.
Measures of Hindu Pathways: Development and Preliminary Evidence of Reliability and Validity.

The authors examined religious practices of Hindus in the United States and developed measures of their religious pathways. Based on reviews of the psychology of religion, Hindu literature, and interviews with Hindus (N=15), 4 religious pathways were identified: devotion, ethical action, knowledge, and physical restraint/yoga. Items reflecting these pathways were generated and administered to a pilot sample (N=42) and then mailed to a sample across the United States (N=182). Consistent with Hindu theology, participants endorsed 4 religious pathways. Results indicated that the measures of the religious pathways possessed adequate psychometric properties and were predictive of mental and physical well-being. Additional findings emphasized the need to attend to age, marital status, and acculturation when studying religious practices among Hindus.
The Philosophical Importance of Kohut's Notion of the Self

In this article, I attempt to show why and how Kohut's concept of the self is not a reified concept (and, thus, defeats postmodern critiques) and how it is the only nonreligious ground that can be given for why one ought to become an ethical person. I also show why his bipolar model of the self is dynamic and makes phenomenological sense.
Ion probe determinations of the rare earth concentrations of individual meteoritic phosphate grains

A new ion probe method for quantitative measurements of the concentrations of all the REE down to the ppm level in 5-20 micron spots is presented. The first application of the method is the determination of REE abundances in meteoritic phosphates. Results are shown to be in good agreement with previous INAA and ion probe determinations. The merrillites in the St. Severin amphoterite are richer in REE than the apatites (the enrichment factors, for various REE, range from 2.3 to 14.2) in contradiction with the results of Ebihara and Honda (1983). Provided good standards for other mineral phases are found or implanted marker ion techniques are used, the method should find a wide range of applications for the study of both terrestrial and extraterrestrial crystals at the microscopic level.
S matrix as geometric phase factor.

We consider the geometric phase factor in quantum mechanics for the case of the continuous spectrum, and we find that it is nothing but the [ital S] matrix; for certain specific states the geometric phase is simply twice the usual phase shift.
Low-energy limit of strings

We investigate terms with four derivatives in the low-energy action of closed Bose strings. Our analysis is consistent with the possibility that the action involves only curvatures of a connection with torsion. The torsion is provided by the antisymmetric tensor gauge field.
Corrosion fatigue and multiple site damage reliability analysis

Abstract This paper proposes a comprehensive seven-stage life prediction model for the reliability analysis of aging aircraft structures under multiple site damage (MSD) due to corrosion fatigue. The damage process is divided into an interaction stage and a non-interaction stage in order to consider the interactions of the MSD cracks. The structural initial state at the interaction stage is determined by bridging the pitting corrosion and MSD. Once interaction sets in, progressive failure analysis is implemented through an iterative finite element analysis procedure. The onset of crack coalescence is assumed to correspond to the onset of structural failure. The probability of crack coalescence under MSD is evaluated by using system reliability concepts. An adaptive multi-modal importance sampling technique is developed for efficiency and accuracy in probabilistic life estimation under MSD due to corrosion fatigue.
Potential for Regenerative Braking Systems as Applied to Automobiles

Regenerative braking (RB) systems have existed in conceptual form for several years. The present work develops calculations which demonstrate the practicality of such systems. It is shown that fuel savings of from 4.3 to 8.5 percent are achievable, leading to a reduction in transportation petroleum consumption of about 8.1 × 109 l/yr in the U.S. alone.
Comments on "A CMOS ratio-independent and gain-insensitive algorithmic analog-to-digital converter"

For the original paper see ibid., vol. 31, no. 8, p. 1201-1207 (1996). The commenter points out some errors in the aforementioned paper and provides the necessary corrections.
Analysis of biological and artificial chemical sensor repsonses to odor mixtures

Here, we report our findings on the characterization of olfactory receptor neuron (ORN) responses in the insect antenna to various analytes and their combinations. We investigated the relationship between sensory neuron responses to a binary odor mixture with their responses to the component cues. We observed that sensory neuron responses to stimulus blends resulted in simple combinations of component activities. Not only spike counts, but also temporal response motifs evoked by component odors were combined. We then examined how a binary mixture response relates to the component signals in a miniaturized chemical sensor array. The sensor array comprised of two different sensing films: reduced graphene oxide and gold nanoparticle chains functionalized with p-aminothiophenol. Our results reveal that several response properties observed in various types of chemical sensors are strikingly similar. Hence, these results provide an important foundation to develop a truly neuromorphic chemical sensing system.
The effect of tunicamycin on the molecular heterogeneity of guinea pig migration inhibitory factor

Abstract Migration inhibitory factor (MIF) was produced by guinea pig lymph node cells stimulated with concanavalin A in the absence and presence of the glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin. The active supernatants were purified on Sephadex G-100 and fractionated into pH 3-MIF and pH 5-MIF using isoelectrofocusing. When produced in the absence of tunicamycin pH 3-MIF shows extensive charge heterogeneity with activity focusing from pH 3.0 to 4.5; it elutes from Sephadex G-75 with molecules of an apparent MW of 70,000. In contrast, pH 3-MIF produced in the presence of tunicamycin (TM-pH 3-MIF) focuses as a sharp homogeneous peak with a pI of 3.6 to 4.0 and elutes from Sephadex G-75 with molecules of an apparent MW of 25,000–35,000. TM-pH 3-MIF is trypsin sensitive and displays a buoyant density similar to that of proteins which contain little or no carbohydrate (ϱ25 1.26−1.34). Tunicamycin caused no detectable change in the characteristics of pH 5-MIF. This study indicates that lymphocytes stimulated in the presence of tunicamycin produce a novel species of pH 3-MIF with characteristics distinct from classical pH 3-MIF.
Observing noctilucent clouds from space and ground

Noctilucent clouds, which form from ice particles at high altitudes (about 83 kilometers) and enhance sky brightness after sunset, can be used to trace processes in the atmosphere—the wavy forms of the clouds can give clues about the dynamical processes in the area. Baumgarten et al. report the first observations of such clouds obtained simultaneously from the ground and from space. They measured the brightness and particle size distributions of noctilucent clouds above a research station in northern Norway on 5 August 2008 using ground-based lidar (light detection and ranging) to observe the evolution of the clouds over time and satellite-based instruments to observe the horizontal structure of the clouds. They demonstrate that coincident observations from lidar and satellite, combined with wind information, provide a useful way to study the evolution of noctilucent clouds on scales of minutes to hours and from 5 to 100 kilometers. (Geophysical Research Letters, doi:10.1029/2011GL049935, 2012)
Examining the Impact of Supercoiling on Sequence-Dependent DNA Structure and Flexibility

Supercoiling has been shown to promote DNA structural transitions from canonical B-form DNA to alternative DNA structures; one of the most dramatic being to the left-handed Z-form DNA. Supercoiling pays essential roles in cellular biology; it is required to package genomic DNA into confined regions within cells, and negative supercoiling is thought to promote DNA strand separation during DNA replication and transcription initiation. Moreover, promotion of the B-DNA to Z-DNA transition by negative supercoiling occurs under physiological conditions, suggesting the B-to-Z transition is one way to alleviate negative superhelical stress. Namely, sequences that favor Z-DNA often exist upstream of transcriptional start sites and their specific location has been shown to regular transcription levels in vivo. Our objective is to examine the impact of supercoiling on Z-DNA formation and base pair opening in DNA at nucleotide and atomic resolution. A major challenge in studying supercoiled DNA at the atomic scale is that supercoiled closed-circular DNA plasmids contain thousands of nucleotides and therefore push the limitations for characterizations by biophysical techniques such as NMR and X-Ray crystallography. Recently, DNA minicircles of less than 100 base pairs have been synthesized to contain superhelical stress as a model system in biochemical studies to investigate the influence of superhelical forces on many aspects of DNA such as energetic stability and protein binding. We propose to overcome experimental limitations in atomic studies of supercoiled DNA through the development of a novel biochemical assay, as well as the application of recent advances in NMR spectroscopy. Using these new tools, we will test the hypothesis that supercoiling allows access to non-B-form structures, including Z-DNA and looped out bases, in a sequence-dependent manner.
The distribution of pollution and environmental justice in Puerto Rico: a quantitative analysis

This research quantifies the distribution of toxic releases in Puerto Rico to determine whether environmental inequality exists. We calculate an environmental Gini coefficient using Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data from 2000 to 2008. Our findings suggest Puerto Rico has a relatively constant and unequal distribution of releases over this time period. Based on this result, we investigate linkages between toxic releases and several socioeconomic and demographic indicators. We apply a quantile regression model using TRI data and American Community Survey data from 2005 to 2008 to identify important indicators across the distribution of releases. We find municipios (legal division equivalent to US counties) that have a higher percent of non-Puerto Rican Hispanic origin or high school educated population experience higher releases to all media. This also is true for unemployment, but only for municipios with the largest releases (i.e., highest quintile). The results also reveal municipios that are more densely populated or that have a higher percent of college degrees experience lower releases to all media. Higher proportions of certain age groups also suggest lower releases. These results are not constant across the distribution of releases; they are most significant in those municipios with the largest releases. This is even more obvious when we only examine releases to air.
Transforming coverage of primary prevention in abnormal psychology courses

(1994). Transforming coverage of primary prevention in abnormal psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology: Vol. 21, No. 4, pp. 217-221.
Power-Aware Scheduling for Multiple Feasible Interval Jobs

Time-critical jobs in many real-time applications have more than one feasible interval. Such jobs can be executed in any of their feasible intervals. Given a Multiple Feasible Interval (MFI) job set that is schedulable, energy can be saved by carefully selecting the executing interval for each job. In this paper, we explore the energy minimization problem for real-time systems in which jobs have multiple feasible intervals. The static and dynamic energy management schemes are both investigated to minimize the energy consumption while preserving the system’s feasibility. Focusing on the EDF scheduling algorithm, we first study reducing the dynamic power consumption. We show that the static optimal speed assignment problem is NP-Hard and propose a Simulated Annealing (SA) based approach to solve it. Then, we develop an on-line greedy algorithm to exploit the run-time slacks by “fetching” the eligible job from a hot spot to execute earlier, thus, reducing the dynamic energy consumption. In addition, a leakage-aware version is discussed to improve the overall energy efficiency as well. Simulation results show that all the proposed schemes can achieve significant improvements on energy efficiency while the system remains schedulable.
Single-Molecule Observation of IFT Turnover using a Photobleaching Gate

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is required for the assembly and maintenance of eukaryotic cilia and flagella. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, IFT trains are transported by kinesin-2 to the flagellar distal tip and by dynein-1b back to the basal body. Remodeling of IFT trains and motor protein regulation are believed to occur at the flagellar tip complex. Due to the complex and crowded nature of the flagellar turnaround zones, IFT train and motor behavior at the tip remains unclear. To investigate the turnover of a single IFT train or a motor cluster, we introduced a high-power laser gate that continuously photobleaches incoming IFT trains and selectively allows a single unbleached train to enter the flagellum. We observed that anterograde IFT trains pause at tip for ∼4 s on average and split into multiple retrograde trains. In contrast, the KAP subunit of kinesin-2 releases from IFT trains at the tip after a shorter pausing period. Different from C. elegans IFT, in which KAP is recycled as a retrograde cargo, KAP in Chlmaydomonas returns to the basal body by diffusion with an average diffusion constant of 1.2 μm2/s. We also observed a concentration gradient for the KAP-GFP background that increases towards the tips of flagella. We anticipate our photobleaching gate assays to be a starting point to address the detailed mechanism of IFT regulation at turnaround zones.
Cell cycle and cyclic AMP‐dependent phosphorylation of plasma membrane proteins p14 and p24: Defects in smooth surface transformed cells

Two proteins which are localized to the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane, p14 and p24, undergo cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation in rapidly growing nontransformed murine embryo cells. In this cell system, growth arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle induced by growth factor deprivation is associated with the reversible loss in ability to phosphorylate these substrates. By contrast, Simian virus 40 and methylcholanthrene transformed cells show both defective G1 growth control and defects in their ability to phosphorylate p14 and p24 under all tested growth conditions. These data suggested a correlation between defects in the physophorylation of p14 and p24 and defects in the ability of transformed cells to G1 growth arrest. The results of the current studies by contrast show that 3T3 T proadipocytes which have been transformed by the smooth surface tumorigenesis method show different characteristics. They retain the ability to G1 growth arrest in serum-deficient medium. They show cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of p14 and p24 during exponential growth. They do not, however, down regulate p14 and p24 phosphorylation in association with G1 growth arrest. These observations suggest that neoplastic transformation is not necessarily associated with absolute defects in the ability to phosphorylate p14 and p24. Rather, the results of the current study suggest that the inability to modulate the cyclic AMP-dependent phosphorylation of plasma membrane p14 and p24 proteins during the G1 phase of the cell cycle may be more tightly associated with neoplastic transformation.