cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Inverse probability weighted estimation of risk under representative interventions in observational studies.

Researchers are often interested in using observational data to estimate the effect on a health outcome of maintaining a continuous treatment within a prespecified range over time, for example, “al...
Maintaining Personal Safety: Understanding and Addressing Aggression and Violence in the Health Care Setting

Introduction A 2-hour introductory lecture-discussion curriculum was developed to provide medical students and residents with education about personal safety in the health care setting. The course ...
Measuring Cross-National and Inter-Temporal Differences in Law-Based Orders: 1946-2010

While scholars have grappled with the conceptual ambiguities surrounding the concept of “the rule of law” for well over a century, there has been a renewed interest in this concept in the last two decades. This revival is due in large part to widespread agreement that law based order plays a vital role in societal development. Unfortunately, there is much less agreement on conceptualizing the rule of law. A brief survey of the literature finds mention of societal stability, government constraint, government transparency, government efficiency, level of corruption or, for the more economically oriented, property rights, and contract enforcement. Our conceptualization is based on: 1) three ideals associated with law based order, namely, equality before the law, supremacy of the law, and judicial independence, and 2) the existence of an institutional basis for realizing these ideals, which we term a country’s legal infrastructure. Measurement schemes are as varied as conceptualizations and most are subjective in nature. We propose an objective measure of both the commitment to law based order and legal infrastructure. Our measure of commitment to a law-based order is based on the degree to which a country codifies a commitment to equality before the law, supremacy of law, and judicial independence in its constitution. We gauge a country’s legal infrastructure by examining institutions for providing both legal education and formalized legal discourse. Countries with abundant numbers of law schools and legal publications reflect a denser legal infrastructure than countries where these institutions are less common. Our measures provide – for 165 countries in the post-WWII era – objective assessments of a country’s formal commitment to law based order and the degree to which it possesses the necessary infrastructure for that commitment to be realized. We illustrate the measures and integrate them to provide some insights into various historical patterns that characterize different countries.
On the two components of wind-driven ocean surface stress with extension to scalar fluxes

When coping with numerical models of ocean surface waves and circulation, one should differentiate between wind-driven drag due to turbulent skin friction and form drag, but how to do so is uncertain. The two surface forcing processes, a result of turbulent atmospheric flow over waves, are boundary conditions for momentum transfer into the water column. The surface energy flux related to form drag is that which drives surface waves. As in other fluid dynamic flows where viscous and/or pressure stresses are involved, one supposes there exists a relevant Reynolds number. In this paper, we begin with the rather definitive near-wall data of Nikuradse, governed by a wall Reynolds number, and progress to equations useful for air flow over ocean surface waves for which reference is made to a consensus of formulas, resident in the literature, for drag coefficient versus wind speed. The processes of momentum transfer and the transfer of heat and water vapor across the air-sea interface differ. The governing equations of the latter scalar quantities do not contain pressure, and therefore, form drag is excluded. A detailed study of bulk coefficients for heat and water vapor transfer which includes low wind speed show that the bulk coefficients are nearly constants as a function of wind speed in accordance with observations. For greatest precision, neutral bulk coefficients presented here should be corrected for density stratification (Large and Pond 1982).
3D printed cellulose nanocrystal composites through digital light processing

Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) have received significant attention due to their high Young’s modulus, high strength, biocompatibility, and renewability. These properties make them ideal as a reinforcement phase for polymer composites. However, typical composite processing techniques have limitation in efficiently fabricating composites with different shapes. Inspired by the emerging technology of 3D printing, this work utilized the digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing approach to fabricate CNC reinforced poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) glycerol composites. To improve CNC compatibility with PEGDA matrix, 1,3-diglycerolate diacrylate (DiGlyDA) that has a similar chemical structure but also has hydroxyl groups was blended with PEGDA. The dispersibility of CNC was characterized by the Halpin–Tsai model and polarized light microscopy. Mechanical testing results indicated that mechanical properties of DLP 3D printed composites were improved by CNC incorporation. Furthermore, curing layer thickness during DLP 3D printing can also be used to tune the composites’ mechanical and water swelling properties. Complex 3D CNC composites structures were also successfully printed by the DLP 3D printing with great fidelity. This versatile approach of controlling composite’s properties and structure using CNC and DLP 3D printing can be exploited to further advance the utilization of cellulosic materials toward biomedical and many other applications.
CXCR2 Blockade Mitigates Neural Cell Injury Following Preclinical Chorioamnionitis

Minimizing central nervous system (CNS) injury from preterm birth depends upon identification of the critical pathways that underlie essential neurodevelopmental and CNS pathophysiology. While chorioamnionitis (CHORIO), is a leading cause of preterm birth, the precise mechanism linking prenatal brain injury and long-term CNS injury is unknown. The chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (CXCL1) and its cognate receptor, CXCR2, are implicated in a variety of uterine and neuropathologies, however, their role in CNS injury associated with preterm birth is poorly defined. To evaluate the putative efficacy of CXCR2 blockade in neural repair secondary to CHORIO, we tested the hypothesis that transient postnatal CXCR2 antagonism would reduce neutrophil activation and mitigate cerebral microstructural injury in rats. To this end, a laparotomy was performed on embryonic day 18 (E18) in Sprague Dawley rats, with uterine arteries transiently occluded for 60 min, and lipopolysaccharide (LPS, 4 μg/sac) injected into each amniotic sac. SB225002, a CXCR2 antagonist (3 mg/kg), was administered intraperitoneally from postnatal day 1 (P1)-P5. Brains were collected on P7 and P21 and analyzed with western blot, immunohistochemistry and ex vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Results demonstrate that transient CXCR2 blockade reduced cerebral neutrophil activation (myeloperoxidase expression/MPO) and mitigated connexin43 expression, indicative of reduced neuroinflammation at P7 (p < 0.05 for all). CXCR2 blockade also reduced alpha II-spectrin calpain-mediated cleavage, improved pNF/NF ratio, and minimized Iba1 and GFAP expression consistent with improved neuronal and axonal health and reduced gliosis at P21. Importantly, DTI revealed diffuse white matter injury and decreased microstructural integrity following CHORIO as indicated by lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and elevated radial diffusivity (RD) in major white matter tracts (p < 0.05). Early postnatal CXCR2 blockade also reduced microstructural abnormalities in white matter and hippocampus at P21 (p < 0.05). Together, these data indicate that transient postnatal blockade of CXCR2 ameliorates perinatal abnormalities in inflammatory signaling, and facilitates neural repair following CHORIO. Further characterization of neuroinflammatory signaling, specifically via CXCL1/CXCR2 through the placental-fetal-brain axis, may clarify stratification of brain injury following preterm birth, and improve use of targeted interventions in this highly vulnerable patient population.
Global Warming Will Aggravate Ozone Pollution in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic

AbstractThe goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic climate change on air quality, in particular on ozone, during the summer in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region. First, we establ...
Conditioning with busulfan plus melphalan versus melphalan alone before autologous haemopoietic cell transplantation for multiple myeloma: an open-label, randomised, phase 3 trial

Summary Background Retrospective studies suggest that conditioning therapy with busulfan plus melphalan could result in longer progression-free survival compared with melphalan alone in patients with multiple myeloma undergoing autologous haemopoietic cell transplantation (auto-HCT). We aimed to test this hypothesis in a randomised trial. Methods The primary objective of the study was to compare progression-free survival with conditioning of busulfan plus melphalan with melphalan alone in patients with multiple myeloma. Patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who were eligible for cell transplantation, aged 70 years or younger, with at least stable disease, were randomly assigned (1:1) to treatment. Patients received either busulfan plus melphalan, with a test dose of busulfan 32 mg/m2 followed by pharmacokinetically adjusted doses on days −7, −6, −5, and −4 to achieve a target daily area under the curve (AUC) of 5000 mmol-minute and melphalan 70 mg/m2 per day on days −2 and −1 (total melphalan dose 140 mg/m2), or a melphalan dose of 200 mg/m2 on day −2. Randomisation was performed via a Clinical Trial Conduct Website at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The accrual is complete and final results are presented here. The study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT01413178 . Findings Between Oct 12, 2011, and March 22, 2017, 205 patients were assessed for eligibility and randomly assigned to treatment. The primary analysis of progression-free survival was measured in 202 patients who received treatment: 104 patients in the busulfan plus melphalan group and 98 patients in the melphalan alone group. 90 days after auto-HCT, 102 (98%) of 104 patients given busulfan plus melphalan and 95 (97%) of 98 patients given melphalan alone achieved partial response or better. The median follow-up in the busulfan plus melphalan group was 22·6 months (IQR 15·2–47·1) and 20·2 months (IQR 8·8–46·6) in the melphalan alone group. Median progression-free survival was 64·7 months (32·9–64·7) with busulfan plus melphalan versus 43·5 months (19·9–not estimated) with melphalan alone (hazard ratio 0·53 [95% CI 0·30–0·91]; p=0·022). There were no treatment-related deaths by day 100 in either group. Grade 2–3 mucositis was observed in 77 (74%) of 104 patients in the busulfan plus melphalan group versus 14 (14%) of 98 patients in the melphalan alone group. Interpretation These findings, if confirmed in other ongoing studies, suggest that busulfan plus melphalan could replace melphalan alone as the conditioning regimen for auto-HCT in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. Funding This study was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through MD Anderson's Cancer Center Support Grant ( CA016672 ).
The Haghighi Trilogy and the Minnesota Civil Mediation Act: Exposing a Phantom Menace Casting a Pall Over the Development of ADR in Minnesota

The authors argue that the Minnesota Civil Mediation Act suffers from inconsistent policy choices, lack of integration with other statutes and rules, and ambiguous and incomplete language. The technical provisions of the Act jeopardize the finality of mediated settlements inviting extended litigation to bring peace and end the conflict. Participants in mediations, parties and lawyers alike, may be at risk in terms of fulfilling their expectations and obligations under Minnesota's statutory scheme.
Optimizing the Performance of Aluminized Explosives: Laser-Based Measurements of Energy Release and Spectroscopic Diagnostics

Methods for facilitating the fast energy release of aluminum to enhance detonation performance will be discussed. The energy release rates of milligram-quantity samples have been compared by measuring the laser-induced shock wave velocities and tracking the formation of AlO on both the microsecond- and millisecond-timescales.
Honor among Chiefs: An Experiment on Monitoring and Diversion Among Traditional Leaders in Malawi

Traditional, hereditary chiefs are an integral part of the development infrastructure in many African countries. To capture chiefs’ behaviour as agents of development and understand the accountabil...
Tetracycline derivatives reduce binge alcohol consumption in High Drinking in the Dark mice.

Abstract Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are prevalent, and are characterized by binge-like drinking, defined by patterns of focused drinking where dosages ingested in 2–4 ​h reach intoxicating blood alcohol levels (BALs). Current medications are few and compliance with the relatively rare prescribed usage is low. Hence, novel and more effective medications are needed. We developed a mouse model of genetic risk for binge drinking (HDID: High Drinking in the Dark mice) by selectively breeding for high BALs after binge drinking. A transcriptional analysis of HDID brain tissue with RNA-Seq implicated neuroinflammatory mechanisms, and, more specifically extracellular matrix genes, including those encoding matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). Prior experiments from other groups have shown that the tetracycline derivatives doxycycline, minocycline, and tigecycline, reduce binge drinking in inbred C57BL/6J mice. We tested these three compounds in female and male HDID mice and found that all three reduced DID and BAL. They had drug-specific effects on intake of water or saccharin in the DID assay. Thus, our results show that the effectiveness of synthetic tetracycline derivatives as potential therapeutic agents for AUDs is not limited to the single C57BL/6J genotype previously targeted, but extends to a mouse model of a population at high risk for AUDs.
Effect of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis probiotic supplementation on cecal Salmonella load in broilers challenged with salmonella

Summary The overall objective in this study is to determine the effects of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis probiotic supplementation on performance and cecal Salmonella load in broilers challenged with Salmonella enterica serovar enteritidis. A total of 360 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly distributed to 4 experimental groups in a 2 × 2 factorial setup of treatments: control, control + challenge, probiotics (10 mg/kg feed of B. subtilis strain HU58; HU58 plus 100 mg/kg feed of B. licheniformis SC307; Prepro; Microbiome Labs, Saint Augustine, FL), and probiotics + challenge. Each treatment was replicated in 6 pens (n = 6) with 15 chicks per pen. At 21 d of age, all birds in the challenge groups were inoculated orally with 250 μL of 1 × 109 cfu S. enteritidis. At 42 d of age, birds in the control + challenge group had 180-g decrease, whereas birds in the probiotic + challenge groups had only 40-g decrease in the BW gain, compared with the control group. At 28 d of age, birds in the control + challenge group had 220-g decrease, whereas birds in the probiotic + challenge groups had only 140-g decrease in feed consumption compared with that in the control group. Birds in the probiotic + challenge group had 0.73, 1.59, and 1.32 log decrease in Salmonella cfu/g of cecal contents at 5, 12, and 21 d after Salmonella infection, compared with the challenge group. Birds in the challenge group had higher (P
The Functional Role of microRNAs in the Pathogenesis of Tauopathy.

Tauopathies are neurodegenerative disorders which include Alzheimer’s disease, Pick’s disease, corticobasal degeneration, and progressive supranuclear palsy among others. Pathologically, they are characterized by the accumulation of highly phosphorylated and aggregated tau protein in different brain regions. Currently, the mechanisms responsible for their pathogenesis are not known, and for this reason, there is no cure. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are abundantly present in the central nervous system where they act as master regulators of pathways considered important for tau post-translational modifications, metabolism, and clearance. Although in recent years, several miRNAs have been reported to be altered in tauopathy, we still do not know whether these changes contribute to the onset and progression of the disorder, or are secondary events following the development of tau neuropathology. Additionally, since miRNAs are relatively stable in biological fluids and their measurement is easy and non-invasive, these small molecules hold the potential to function as biomarkers for tauopathy. Herein, we showcase recent findings on the biological link between miRNAs and the pathogenesis of tauopathy, and present emerging evidence supporting their role as biomarkers and targets for novel therapies against them.
High p_T hadron spectra in high-energy heavy-ion collisions

We calculate the hadron spectra in high-energy pp, pA and AA collisions within a pQCD parton model. Analyses of experimental data show that the modification of the spectra in pA and AA as compared to that in $pp$ collisions is consistent with multiple parton scattering scenario and is dictated by the transition from absorptive soft interaction at low p_T to incoherent hard parton scattering at high p_T. This analysis not only sheds new light on the limits to the physics analysis based on thermal fire-ball models but also provides a more quantitative baseline results on which one can study the effects of parton energy loss in the hadron spectra at high p_T.
Putting the ‘Eye’ in Spirochaetes

To the Editor, In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported an alarming increase in syphilis infection rates, and the numbers have continued to rise since, with rates highest in men who have sex with men (MSM). Ocular syphilis, often seen in association with neurosyphilis, is a rare manifestation of Treponema pallidum infection, and reported rates are also increasing.1 Therefore, we aimed to describe clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with ocular syphilis, and retrospectively reviewed all adult patients …
The evolution of stereotactic radiosurgery in neurosurgical practice.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) was born in an attempt to treat complex intracranial pathologies in a fashion whereby open surgery would create unnecessary or excessive risk. To create this innovation, it was necessary to harness advances in other fields such as engineering, physics, radiology, and computer science. We review the history of SRS to provide context to today’s current state, as well as guide future advancement in the field. Since time of Lars Leksell, the young Swedish neurosurgeon who pioneered the development of the SRS, the collegial and essential partnership between neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and physicists has given rise to radiosurgery as a prominent and successful tool in neurosurgical practice. We examine how neurosurgeons have helped foster the SRS evolution and how this evolution has impacted neurosurgical practice as well as that of radiation oncology and neuro-oncology.
Targeting the nociceptive somatosensory system with AAV9 and AAV2retro viral vectors

ABSTRACT Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors allow for site-specific and time-dependent genetic manipulation of neurons. However, for successful implementation of AAV vectors, major consideration must be given to the selection of viral serotype and route of delivery for efficient gene transfer into the cell type being investigated. Here we compare the transduction pattern of neurons in the somatosensory system following injection of AAV9 or AAV2retro in the parabrachial complex of the midbrain, the spinal cord dorsal horn, the intrathecal space, and the colon. Transduction was evaluated based on Cre-dependent expression of tdTomato in transgenic reporter mice, following delivery of AAV9 or AAV2retro carrying identical constructs that drive the expression of Cre/GFP. The pattern of distribution of tdTomato expression indicated notable differences in the access of the two AAV serotypes to primary afferent neurons via peripheral delivery in the colon and to spinal projections neurons via intracranial delivery within the parabrachial complex. Additionally, our results highlight the superior sensitivity of detection of neuronal transduction based on reporter expression relative to expression of viral products.
Using Latent Representations of Muscle Activation Patterns to Mitigate Myoelectric Interface Noise

Myoelectric controllers for upper limb prostheses are susceptible to signal disturbances across practical conditions. In particular, electrode liftoff or wire breakage introduce interface noise that, even if only present in a single channel, is detrimental to controller performance. We trained a supervised denoising variational autoencoder to learn a low-dimensional subspace underlying muscle activation patterns that was robust to noise in single EMG channels. Two latent space classifiers, which used the deep learning model, and two conventional LDA-based classifiers were used to classify wrist and hand gestures from clean and synthetically corrupted EMG signals. The baseline LDA classifier, trained on clean data only, suffered a marked increase in errors when evaluated on the corrupted data. The second LDA classifier, trained on clean and corrupted data, improved robustness to noise. Regardless, both latent space methods significantly outperformed both LDA methods in classifying clean and corrupted data. These results highlight that interface noise has adverse effects on current pattern recognition controllers but that deep learning inspired latent space classifiers can mitigate these effects and achieve highly accurate movement classification.
How clinicians manage routinely low supplies of personal protective equipment.

Background Recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) is routinely limited or unavailable in low-income countries, but there is limited research as to how clinicians adapt to that scarcity, despite the implications for patients and workers. Methods This is a qualitative secondary analysis of case study data collected in Liberia in 2019. Data from the parent study were included in this analysis if it addressed availability and use of PPE in the clinical setting. Conventional content analysis was used on data including: field notes documenting nurse practice, semi-structured interview transcripts, and photographs. Results Data from the majority of participants (32/37) and all facilities (12/12) in the parent studies were included. Eighty-three percent of facilities reported limited PPE. Five management strategies for coping with limited PPE supplies were observed, reported, or both: rationing PPE, self-purchasing PPE, asking patients to purchase PPE, substituting PPE, and working without PPE. Approaches to rationing PPE included using PPE only for symptomatic patients or not performing physical exams. Substitutions for PPE were based on supply availability. Conclusions Strategies developed by clinicians to manage low PPE likely have negative consequences for both workers and patients; further research into the topic is important, as is better PPE provision in low-income countries.
Identification of Phenotypes Among COVID-19 Patients in the United States Using Latent Class Analysis.

Background: Coronavirus disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19) is a heterogeneous disorder with a complex pathogenesis. Recent studies from Spain and France have indicated that underlying phenotypes may exist among patients admitted to the hospital with COVID-19. Whether those same phenotypes exist in the United States (US) remains unclear. Using latent class analysis (LCA), we sought to determine whether clinical phenotypes exist among patients admitted for COVID-19. Methods: We reviewed the charts of adult patients who were hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 at Greenwich Hospital and performed LCA using variables based on patient demographics and comorbidities. To further examine the reliability and replicability of the clustering results, we repeated LCA on the cohort of patients who died during hospitalization for COVID-19. Results: Two phenotypes were identified in patients admitted for COVID-19 (N = 483). According to phenotype, patients were designated as cluster 1 (C1) or cluster 2 (C2). C1 (n = 193) consisted of older individuals with more comorbidities and a higher mortality rate (25.4% vs 8.97%, p < 0.001) than patients in C2. C2 (n = 290) consisted of younger individuals who were more likely to be obese, male, and nonwhite, with higher levels of the inflammatory markers C-reactive protein and alanine aminotransferase. When we performed LCA on the cohort of patients who died during hospitalization for COVID-19 (n = 75), we found that the distribution of patient baseline characteristics and comorbidities was similar to that of the entire cohort of patients admitted for COVID-19. Conclusion: Using LCA, we identified two clinical phenotypes of patients who were admitted to our hospital for COVID-19. These findings may reflect different pathophysiologic processes that lead to moderate to severe COVID-19 and may be useful for identifying treatment targets and selecting patients with severe COVID-19 disease for future clinical trials.
High-Speed Fabrication of All-Inkjet-Printed Organometallic Halide Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes on Elastic Substrates.

Halide perovskites have great potential for use in high-performance light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and displays. Here, a perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) fabricated directly on an elastomer substrate, in which every single layer in the device from bottom anode to top cathode is patterned solely using a highly scalable inkjet printing process, is reported. Compared to PeLEDs made using conventional microfabrication processes, the printing process significantly shortens the fabrication time by at least tenfold (from over 5 h to less than 25 min). The all-printed PeLEDs have a novel 4-layer structure (bottom electrode, perovskite emissive layer, buffer layer, top electrode) without separate electron or hole transporting layers. For flexible PeLEDs printed directly in ambient conditions, a turn-on voltage, maximum luminance intensity, and maximum current efficiency of 3.46 V, 10227 cd m-2 , and 2.01 cd A-1 , respectively, is achieved. The devices also exhibit excellent robustness and stability even when bent to a curvature radius of 2.5 mm. The reported device structure and fabrication processes can enable high-performance flexible PeLEDs to be manufactured over a larger area at extremely low cost and fast speed, which can facilitate the adoption of the promising PeLED technology in the emerging foldable displays, smart wearables, and many other applications.
RNA sequencing to profile transcriptional changes within the medullary raphe: potential mechanisms of central neuroplasticity driving the recovery of eupneic ventilation after bilateral carotid body denervation (713.7)

Bilateral carotid body denervation (CBD) in rats elicits eupneic (resting) hypoventilation 1-2 d post-CBD, which relatively rapidly returns to baseline values (14-15 d). We have previously shown in...
Exhaust Emissions from In-Use Passenger Cars Equipped with Three-Way Catalysts

This paper presents the results of an exhaust emission testing program conducted by the EPA. The test vehicles were 1978-1980 passenger cars, each of which was equipped with a three-way catalyst system and was certified to California standards. The purpose of the program was to gather information on current systems in customer use for projections on the ability of the three-way system to meet emission standards of the future.
Adaptation-based explanation: explanations as cases

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses a case-based approach to the problem of learning new explanations. Adaptation-based explainer (ABE) applies a case-based approach to the problem of constructing explanations. It brings together a few insights of explanation-based learning (EBL) and case-based reasoning (CBR), and addresses questions about each framework with solutions suggested by the other. ABE cuts down the amount of work needed to produce explanations by reusing explanations that have worked in the past. By relying heavily on past explanations to build new ones and by using the causal knowledge represented in those explanations to adapt them to new situations, this approach brings together a few important insights in explanation-based learning and case-based reasoning. EBL systems bring causal knowledge to bear on a problem via an explanation of why an instance of a class actually is an instance of that class. The burning question for EBL is regarding the construction of the explanations needed, without having the cost of building those explanations outweigh the savings that accrues from having them. CBR is based on appealing to memory of past cases as a more efficient and reliable way to reason about new situations than relying merely on abstract rules. The biggest challenge within CBR is regarding the application of the knowledge contained in a case to a new situation that is a close but not an exact match to the original case.
The Mohave Heroic Epic of Inyo-kutavêre (FF Communications 269)

Reviewed Medium: book Authors: Arthur T. Hatto Year: 1999 Pages: 269 Publisher: Academia Scientiarum Fennica/Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia ISBN: 90839-51-41-6 Prices: $€13.00
Bridging biological ontologies and biosimulation: the ontology of physics for biology.

We introduce and define the Ontology of Physics for Biology (OPB), a reference ontology of physical principles that bridges the gap between bioinformatics modeling of biological structures and the bio-simulation modeling of biological processes. Whereas modeling anatomical entities is relatively well-studied, representing the physics-based semantics of biosimulation and biological processes remains an open research challenge. The OPB bridges this semantic gap—linking the semantics of biosimulation mathematics to structural bio-ontologies. Our design of the OPB is driven both by theory and pragmatics: we have applied systems dynamics theory to build an ontology with pragmatic use for annotating biosimulation models.
New insights into chromatin function in transcriptional control.

Transcription requires the recognition of numerous DNA sequences by diverse transcription factors, which together assemble large nucleoprotein complexes that tether RNA polymerase and facilitate the initiation of RNA synthesis. In vivo the assembly of these transcription complexes occurs in a nuclear environment where the template DNA is compacted more than 10(5)-fold through the assembly of chromatin. Our current knowledge of chromatin structure raises the major issues of the accessibility of DNA to both transcription factors and RNA polymerase and of the progression of RNA polymerase along the chromatin fiber. Novel genetic and biochemical approaches have established that specific chromatin structures have a major impact on the transcription process. Precise alterations in histone sequence, nucleosome structure, and folding of the chromatin fiber influence both the activation and repression of genes. These results offer substantial insight into the role of modulations in chromosome structure during vert...
A simple group diffie-hellman key agreement protocol without member serialization

Many group key agreement protocols (GKA) for secure group communication (SGC) based on the Diffie-Hellman key exchange principle have been proposed in literature. All of these protocols require member serialization and/or existence of a central entity. In this paper, we propose a simple group Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol which removes these two limitations. Moreover, the new protocol needs minimum (two) rounds of rekeying process and efficiently support high dynamics.
On Brian Kiteley

DESPITE ITS SLIM SIZE, Brian Kiteley's second novel finds time to let its characters sit in cafes and think?nay, muse?about foreignness, about mistranslation and misapprehension, about writing and storytelling and subjective truth, for God's sake. It is Ramadan in Cairo; the faithful fast all day, feast all night, and shamble distractedly through the wreckage of their sleep cycles. Kiteley captures this place and time in all its logy chaos, its pervasive and fitful fuzzmess of mind, with prose that is rigorously lucid, wondrously clear. He creates a Cairo at once vividly available to the senses and steadfastly elusive to reason.
Entre la alucinación y la realidad: El caso 117.720 de Carmen Naranjo Coto.

El objetivo de este trabajo es hacer un acercamiento a la novela de Carmen Naranjo El caso 117.720. Esta extraordinaria novela nos plantea la situacion de una sociedad que se esta desintegrando, desvaneciendo, pudriendose de la misma forma que lo esta haciendo el protagonista de la novela quien padece de una enfermedad mental bastante extrana. El tratamiento de este tema social tan familiar es lo que hace singular la novela. Naranjo nos plantea una novela totalmente fragmentada curiosamente sin que se pierda el hilo conductor. La tecnica, sin lugar a dudas, es de corte post-modernista.
Loss of Epithelial Membrane Protein 2 Aggravates Podocyte Injury via Upregulation of Caveolin-1

Nephrotic syndrome is a CKD defined by proteinuria with subsequent hypoalbuminemia, hyperlipidemia, and edema caused by impaired renal glomerular filtration barrier function. We previously identified mutations in epithelial membrane protein 2 (EMP2) as a monogenic cause of this disease. Here, we generated an emp2-knockout zebrafish model using transcription activator-like effector nuclease-based genome editing. We found that loss of emp2 in zebrafish upregulated caveolin-1 (cav1), a major component of caveolae, in embryos and adult mesonephric glomeruli and exacerbated podocyte injury. This phenotype was partially rescued by glucocorticoids. Furthermore, overexpression of cav1 in zebrafish podocytes was sufficient to induce the same phenotype observed in emp2 homozygous mutants, which was also treatable with glucocorticoids. Similarly, knockdown of EMP2 in cultured human podocytes resulted in increased CAV1 expression and decreased podocyte survival in the presence of puromycin aminonucleoside, whereas glucocorticoid treatment ameliorated this phenotype. Taken together, we have established excessive CAV1 as a mediator of the predisposition to podocyte injury because of loss of EMP2, suggesting CAV1 could be a novel therapeutic target in nephrotic syndrome and podocyte injury.
Iran's Political Economy since the Revolution

1. Introduction 2. The prelude: the political economy of pre-revolutionary Iran 3. The economics of upheaval, 1977-80 4. The cost of sacred defense, 1980-9 5. The reconstruction jihad, 1989-97 6. Ayatollah Gorbachev: reform within the red lines, 1997-2005 7. Populism, version 2.0: the Ahmadinejad era, 2005-13 8. Energy and the Islamic republic 9. Sanctions and the sacred state 10. Conclusion.
Plain radiographic predictors of survival in treated Ewing's sarcoma

We analyzed 16 radiographic features of primary Ewing's sarcoma in 342 patients from the IESS 7299 (Intergroup Ewing's Sarcoma Study) for prognostic significance. Of these, 3 features demonstrated a statistically significant relationship to survival:maximal tumor dimension, tumor location, and an appearance of honeycombing within the lesion. Those individuals with primary lesions centered in the pelvis, femur, or humerus had a worse survival rate than those with lesions centered elsewhere. Similarly, we observed an inverse relationship between the greatest dimension of the osseous portion of the lesion and survival. The radiographic finding of honeycombing also showed a statistical association with improved survival. However, this feature was observed infrequently, and its significance should be assessed further. Otherwise, no other feature that we analyzed showed any relationship to patient prognosis.
Office-based anesthesia for the pediatric patient

There continues to be a growing trend in the number of office-based procedures. As a result, there is an increased demand for office-based anesthesia. The need for anesthetic services in the office is still greatest in the adult patient population. However, we are observing an increase in the need for anesthesia in the office environment for children. This review focuses on the issues that are pertinent to the clinician involved with pediatric office-based anesthesia.
High thermally conductive graphite nanoplatelet/polyetherimide composite by precoating: Effect of percolation and particle size

Graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) with different sizes were compounded with polyetherimide (PEId) by meltblending and precoating in order to investigate their effect on the electrical and thermal conductivity of the composites. Precoating compounding successfully created a percolated GNP network with an electrical percolation threshold at 1 wt%, while melt-blended samples required concentrations over 5 wt% to achieve percolation. The precoated samples also show higher thermal conductivity than the melt-blended ones. Smaller GNP particle size results in lower thermal conductivity. An improvement of 1,600% in thermal conductivity was recorded for precoated 10 wt% GNP-15/PEId composite as compared to the neat polymer and a polynomial dependence on GNP concentration was found to predict thermal conductivity. POLYM. COMPOS., 34:2148–2153, 2013. V C 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers
The mind of the sexual predator.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This review reports recent articles in the criminological literature that may be of help in understanding the psychodynamics of sexual predators in the hope of better defining them and preventing recidivistic behavior. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent literature presents the motivations behind sexual offending, attempting to explain in a psychodynamic way the complex problem of the aberrant sexual drives of the sexual predator. Recent civil commitment laws and their implications are touched upon. SUMMARY: The literature presented will enable the criminology practitioner to reach a more holistic understanding of the sexual predator and better detection of them. Language: en
Ultra-narrow width air-gap Si FET integrated with micro-fluidic delivery for charge based sensing

An ultra-narrow width silicon field effect transistor (FET) with a suspended gate, integrated with on-chip microfluidic delivery system is described. The device is designed to be used as an FET based sensor for sequencing of DNA, RNA and proteins, by detecting the local charge variations along the chains of these molecules as they are passed between the gate and the channel of the FET in an aqueous solution. A side-gated FET structure is demonstrated with sub-10 nm width, successfully suppressing the electrical leakage currents at the device edges. Side-gated FET structure allows electrostatic confinement of the electrons in the channel for increased spatial resolution.
Abolition Then and Now: Tactical Comparisons Between the Human Rights Movement and the Modern Nonhuman Animal Rights Movement in the United States

This article discusses critical comparisons between the human and nonhuman abolitionist movements in the United States. The modern nonhuman abolitionist movement is, in some ways, an extension of the anti-slavery movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the ongoing human Civil Rights movement. As such, there is considerable overlap between the two movements, specifically in the need to simultaneously address property status and oppressive ideology. Despite intentional appropriation of terminology and numerous similarities in mobilization efforts, there has been disappointingly little academic discussion on this relationship. There are significant contentions regarding mobilization and goal attainment in the human abolitionist movement that speak to modern collective action on behalf of other animals. This article will explore the human abolitionist movement and discuss possible applications of movement organization, tactical repertoires, and goal attainment to the current nonhuman animal rights movement. Specifically, the utility of violence and legislative activism in the antislavery movement are discussed as potentially problematic approaches to abolishing nonhuman animal exploitation. Alternatively, the nonhuman animal rights focus on consumer resistance and nonviolence represent an important divergence in abolitionist mobilization.
Organizing Features of Hypertext Some Rhetorical and Practical Elements

Hypertext is presented and understood as an intricate, open web of interrelated information, both intertextual and interactive, as reader and writer work together to create the text. However, it may be driven by an organizational metaphor that limits the users' access and may not be open to the free associations it implies. Organization is important in hypertext, just as it is in print documents, both rhetorically and practically. Metaphors, links, and buttons aid users in identifying the organizational patterns, allow users to access information successfully, and provide connections that users may not make on their own.
A developmental comparison of the processing of two types of visual information.

Abstract Simple geometric forms and spatial position markers were tachistoscopically presented to Ss from four age groups (ranging from five years to adult) who responded by recreating the visual array with magnetic tokens. The basic findings were: (a) Ss remembered item positions better than identities; (b) no asymptote of position recall was reached by any age group when up to five position markers were presented; (c) when required to process identity information, position memory suffered, younger Ss showing the greatest decrement; (d) with unlimited viewing time, the pattern of results relating identity and spatial recall was not altered; (e) recall was better for the locations of position markers than for locations of geometric items. The results supported an hypothesis of separate processing mechanisms for spatial location and identity information. Improvement with age seems to result from an increasing ability to integrate the functioning of these separate mechanisms.
Monitoring polymer surface derivatization by RBS and ESCA

Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) has been used to detect and quantitate the thallium concentration resulting from the thallous ethoxide derivatization of phenol and carboxylic acid groups contained in the surface region of bisphenol-A polycarbonate (PC) sheet. Hydrolysis of the PC surface prior to derivatization leads to increased thallium levels, in which the chemical nature of the thallium is shown to be of the form R–O–Tl (R = alkyl or aromatic) by electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). Similar trends in thallium concentrations were observed by both RBS and ESCA for PC surfaces that had been exposed for increasing lengths of time to accelerated weathering and outdoor Florida conditions. The detection limit for thallium in PC using RBS is ca. 5 × 1013 atoms/cm2. The diffusion of thallous ethoxide and transesterification of the aromatic carbonate linkage led to a thallium-containing layer 300–700 A thick, which increased the experimental uncertainty when assaying residual uncapped polymer chains in unweathered material. During the course of the RBS analysis, the interaction of 2-MeV 4He+ with the PC substrate caused dramatic chemical and physical changes. Microscopy and profilometry indicate that a crater was formed having the same cross-sectional area as the incident ion beam with a depth (ca. 0.3–1.5 μ) that varied according to the beam energy and integrated charge. ESCA analysis provided evidence for the loss of the carbonate linkage and the appearance of carbonyl and ester groups. Infrared analysis of the crater bottom shows the appearance of O-H stretch, carbonyl functionality other than aromatic carbonate, and enhanced aromatic ring stretch vibrations. Crosslinking and subsequent densification of the polymer matrix are though to be responsible for the observed morphological changes. It is suggested that this beam-induced damage does not prohibit the use of RBS to measure high-Z elements on a PC matrix since quantitation of 1000-A Au layers on silicon and PC gave identical results.
Endothelial-Specific Expression of WNK1 Kinase Is Essential for Angiogenesis and Heart Development in Mice

WNK1 [with-no-lysine (K)−1] is a ubiquitous serine/threonine kinase with a unique placement of the catalytic lysine residue. Increased WNK1 expression levels in humans causes a hypertension-hyperkalemia syndrome by altering renal Na+ and K+ transport. The function of WNK1 outside of the kidney remains elusive. In this study, we report that Wnk1 ablation causes cardiovascular developmental defects. The developing heart of null mutant embryos has smaller chambers and reduced myocardial trabeculation at E10.5. Yolk sac vessels in the E10.5 null mutant fail to remodel into a network of large and small vessels, and embryonic vessels show defective angiogenesis that involves both arteries and veins. The arterial marker neuropilin-1 and venous marker EphB4 are ectopically expressed in mutant veins and arteries, respectively. However, the orphan nuclear receptor COUP-TFII as well as the Notch signaling pathway, which are known to be critical for angiogenesis and artery-vein specification, are not significantly altered in Wnk1−/− mutants. Conditional deletion of Wnk1 in endothelial cells phenotypically copies defects caused by global Wnk1 ablation. Moreover, endothelial-specific expression of a Wnk1 transgene rescues cardiovascular developmental defects in Wnk1−/− mice. These findings identify a novel function of WNK1 in endothelial cells that is critical for angiogenesis and heart development, raising the possibility for a role of endothelial WNK1 in the control of blood pressure and postnatal angiogenesis and cardiac growth.
Interferon, PKR, virology, and genomics: What is past and what is next in the new millennium?

This paper provides an opportunity to reflect on my work in the interferon and cytokine field for the past almost 20 years and to look forward to the future. Winning the Milstein Award in 1999 was a great thrill. I briefly trace the history of my career from New York City to Seattle, leading up to the Paris award, and then look forward to the future that is full of promise because of the near-infinite power of genomics, computers, and other new technologies.
The role of loop F residues in determining differential d-tubocurarine potencies in mouse and human 5-hydroxytryptamine 3A receptors.

The competitive antagonist d-tubocurarine (curare) has greater potency at mouse than at human 5-hydroxytryptamine 3A (5-HT3A) receptors, despite 84% amino acid sequence identity between the receptors. Within the ligand binding domain of this receptor are six loops (A−F). A previous report demonstrated that loop C of the 5-HT3A receptor contributed to differential potency between the receptors [Hope, A. G. et al. (1999) Mol. Pharmacol. 55, 1037−1043]. The present study tested the hypothesis that loop F plays a significant role in conferring interspecies curare potency differences. Wild-type, chimeric, and point mutant 5-HT3A receptors were expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and two-electrode voltage clamp electrophysiological recordings were performed. Our data suggest that loops C and F contribute to curare potency, given that the curare IC50's (concentration of drug that produces 50% inhibition of the response) for chimeric human receptors with substitutions of mouse residues in loop C (40.07 ± 2.52 nM) or lo...