cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Genericity in Java: persistent and database systems implications

Lack of parametric polymorphism has been a major obstacle for making Java a viable database programming language. Regrettably, a recently accepted solution for genericity in Java 5.0 has far-reaching negative implications for persistent and database systems because of static and dynamic type violations. Severe implications occur in typical database transactions when processing a variety of database collections. Well-known approaches to persistence in Java, including Java's own persistence mechanism, do not perform correctly due to incorrect dynamic type information that gets promoted to persistence along with objects. Dynamic checking of types of objects fetched from the persistent store may now lead to unexpected type violations. Further problems occur in reflective transactions as Java Core Reflection now allows dynamic type violations without detecting them or throwing standard exceptions. All of this shows that extending Java with parametric polymorphism has not made Java a more viable database programming language. Both legacy systems, such as those based on the Java binding of the ODMG or JDO, and future Java-related persistent and database technologies will be affected. The source of these problems is in an implementation idiom called type erasure. This paper provides formal proofs of the above implications of type erasure along with specific samples of code in Java 5.0 illustrating these violations. The limitations of the virtual platform and extensions required for persistent systems to solve this problem are also elaborated.
Mapping Novel Traits by Array-Assisted Bulk Segregant Analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We demonstrate a new method, microarray-assisted bulk segregant analysis, for mapping traits in yeast by genotyping pooled segregants. We apply a probabilistic model to the progeny of a single cross and as little as two microarray hybridizations to reliably map an auxotrophic marker, a Mendelian trait, and a major-effect quantitative trait locus.
Controlling for serum albumin level improves the correlation between serum fatty acid ethyl esters and blood ethanol level.

Background: Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are generated by the nonoxidative metabolism of alcohol and correlate positively with blood alcohol levels (BAL). As FAEEs are produced predominantly in the liver and bind to albumin in plasma, blood FAEE concentrations may be affected by serum albumin levels. The aim of this exploratory study was to define the relationship of FAEE levels with BAL after adjustment for serum albumin concentration. Methods: Fatty acid ethyl ester, BAL, and albumin concentrations were measured from de-identified, ethanol-containing serum samples (N=18). The assay focused on 3 FAEE species ethyl palmitate, ethyl stearate, and ethyl oleate. The relationships of individual and total FAEE concentrations with BAL using albumin as a covariate were analyzed. Values for Pearson's r between the BAL and the natural log-transformed FAEE (ln FAEE) levels were calculated, and then compared with partial correlation coefficients when controlling for albumin. The impact of serum albumin levels on the relationship between ln FAEE and BAL was evaluated by simple linear regression analysis. Results: Concentrations of total FAEE ranged from 632 to 20,166 nM, and BAL ranged from 9 to 375 mg/dL. In the 18 samples, the Pearson correlation coefficient between BAL and total FAEE levels was 0.868, and increased to 0.909 when controlling for albumin (p<0.0001). Similar statistically significant increases in the partial correlation coefficient occurred for each of the individual species of FAEE when controlling for albumin. In simple linear regression, albumin significantly reduced the variability in the model correlating BAL and FAEE for each of the individual species, as well as for total FAEE. Conclusions: The association between FAEE levels and BAL is enhanced by consideration of serum albumin concentrations. Our findings suggest that serum albumin should be included in any model attempting to define the relationship between BAL and FAEE.
Effective magnetic permeability of a composite structure of conducting square rings

In this paper, effective magnetic of an arrangement of periodically close-packed conducting square rings have been studied theoretically. A non-resonant model has been introduced in order to determine the magnetic permeability of the structure from the microscopic quantities. The core of this work covers the analysis of the lattice ordering and magnetic interactions between the building blocks, i.e. a collective feature has been considered. Finally, corresponding suggestions for obtaining the lowest possible values of the magnetic permeability have been made.
Study of Copper Salts as High-Temperature Oxidation Inhibitors

Oil-soluble copper salts such as copper naphthenate have been evaluated as additives to mineral oil, synthetic hydrocarbon, and polyol ester base stocks in the Penn State microoxidation test. These tests were carried out at 225°C under test conditions which show good agreement with the behavior of automotive crankcase oils in the Hi-series hot engine test. At concentrations of 200ppm of copper in a mineral oil, the primary oxidation rate of the mineral oil is increased with the conversion of these primary oxidation products, but further reaction to condensation polymers is substantially decreased. These effects can be seen in both low-carbon steel systems and glass systems. At concentration levels of 2000 ppm copper in the mineral oil, copper is a very effective oxidation inhibitor, and also inhibits condensation polymerization reactions of the primary oxidation products. At these high concentrations, copper also is an effective metal deactivator. Iron corrosion products from a low-carbon steel catalyst s...
Resolution of persistent oral papillomatosis in a dog after treatment with a recombinant canine oral papillomavirus vaccine

This report describes a 16-month-old female, otherwise seemingly healthy, Siberian husky dog with severe oral papillomatosis that did not regress spontaneously and was refractory to surgical treatment over a 6-month period. Regression of the papillomas was achieved by administering a series of experimental vaccinations starting at the time of the last surgery. The vaccine consisted of systemically administered canine oral papillomavirus major coat protein L1 that has been shown to self-assemble into virus-like particles. They cause a humoral response that has been shown to prevent the onset and development of papillomas. In this case, however, following unsuccessful surgical treatment, the vaccine acted therapeutically, causing the papillomas that had regrown to shrink. No side-effects were noted.
A Low Jitter, Wideband Frequency Synthesizer with Process Tolerant Auto-calibration Technique

A new wideband 2.4-GHz frequency synthesizer with auto-calibration technique, which is adaptive to process variation, is presented. The monolithic, wideband voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), which has both analog and digital control, has a wide tuning range of 1.98 GHz. The proposed synthesizer with self-calibration block is connected to the on-chip jitter measurement circuit. The control voltage of VCO is adjusted by the synthesizer in response to the measured jitter by the jitter measurement block. The response of the VCO is adjusted inherently towards the desired center frequency by the self-calibration process to reduce the jitter. The synthesizer, designed in TSMC 0.18-mum technology, has an edge jitter standard deviation of 1.32-ps. The zero-G standard compatible synthesizer has variable speed capability of 2.4-2.494 GHz with a programmable frequency divider that operates with a division range of 456-510
Reconstruction and future trends of the AIDS epidemic in the United States

There has been considerable uncertainty in estimates of past and current human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection rates in the United States. Statistical estimates of historical infection rates can be obtained from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) incidence data and the incubation period. However, this approach is subject to a number of sources of uncertainty and two other approaches, epidemic models of HIV transmission and surveys of HIV prevalence, are used to corroborate and refine the statistical estimates. Analyses suggest the HIV infection rate in the United States grew rapidly in the early 1980s, peaked in the mid-1980s, and subsequently declined markedly. Due both to the decline in the underlying infection rate and to the development of effective therapies that may delay AIDS diagnosis, overall AIDS incidence may plateau during the next 5 years. However, the number of individuals with advanced HIV disease without a diagnosis of AIDS who could potentially benefit from therapy is expected to increase 40% by 1995 as infected individuals progress to more advanced stages of HIV disease. Thus, although the overall HIV infection rate has declined, the demands on the U.S. health care system for treatment and care of HIV-infected individuals remain enormous.
THE EFFECT OF OESTROGENIC HORMONE ON EXPERIMENTAL PANCREATIC DIABETES IN THE MONKEY1

While the participation of some extra-insular factor in pancreatic diabetes had been suspected for many years it remained for Houssay and Biasotti (1), as a climax to a long series of experiments, to demonstrate that the anterior hypophysis plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism. They were able to show that pancreatectomy in the hypophysectomized toad or dog as a rule is not followed by the usual sequelae of pancreatic deprivation. These animals instead of dying within a few days of acute diabetes often survive for many months. Confirmation of Houssay’s studies has appeared from several sources (2, 3, 4, 5) so that it would appear to be well established that the anterior pituitary secretes a hormone which in some fashion elevates the blood sugar. The modified form of diabetes observed in hypophysectomized animals suggested the possibility of securing the same result by suppressing the ‘diabetogenic’2 factor with oestrone. This procedure, based on the demonstration (6, 7, 8) that oestrone exert...
Off-shell Self-energy Effects and the Dynamic Structure Factor of an Electron Liquid

A low-order calculation of the off-shell self-energy of an electron is performed and its effects are calculated both on the dynamic structure factor of an electron liquid and the quasiparticle properties.
Motives for Medical Misuse of Prescription Opioids Among Adolescents

Abstract This study examined the motives for medical misuse of prescription opioids among adolescents and assessed differences in motives by demographic characteristics, substance abuse, and diversion behaviors. A survey was conducted in 2011 to 2012 and the sample consisted of 2,964 adolescents (51% female). Thirteen percent reported past-year medical use of prescription opioids. Among those prescribed opioids in the past year (n = 393), 17.9% reported medical misuse (eg, using too much, using to get high, or using to increase alcohol or other drug effects). The most prevalent motives for medical misuse were “to relieve pain” (84.2%) and “to get high” (35.1%). Multivariate analyses indicated that the motives differed by race, and that different motives were associated with different substance abuse and diversion behaviors. The odds of past-year substance abuse among medical misusers motivated by non–pain relief were more than 15 times greater than for nonusers (adjusted odds ratio = 15.2, 95% CI = 6.4–36.2, P Perspective This article represents the first investigation to examine the motives associated with medical misuse of prescription opioids among adolescents. The results indicate that the majority of medical misuse is associated with pain relief. This information could be used to develop strategies to reduce opioid medication misuse among adolescents.
Stabilization of Rocky Flats Pu-contaminated ash within chemically bonded phosphate ceramics

Abstract A feasibility study was conducted on the use of chemically bonded phosphate ceramics for stabilization of combustion residue of high transuranic (TRU) wastes. Using a matrix of magnesium potassium phosphate formed by the room-temperature reaction of MgO and KH 2 PO 4 solution, we made waste forms that contained 5 wt% Pu to satisfy the requirements of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. The waste forms were ceramics whose compression strength was twice that of conventional cement grout and whose connected porosity was ≈50% that of cement grout. Both surrogate and actual waste forms displayed high leaching resistance for both hazardous metals and Pu. Hydrogen generation resulting from the radiolytic decomposition of water and organic compounds present in the waste form did not appear to be a significant issue. Pu was present as PuO 2 that was physically microencapsulated in the matrix. In the process, pyrophoricity was removed and leaching resistance was enhanced. The high leaching resistance was due to the very low solubility of PuO 2 coupled with superior microencapsulation. As a result, the waste forms satisfied the current Safeguard Termination Limit requirement for storage of TRU combustion residues.
Rechargeable lithium battery based on pyrolytic carbon as a negative electrode

Abstract We have developed a new type of rechargeable lithium battery composed of a pyrolytic carbon as negative electrode, a metal oxide as positive electrode, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution. The main feature of this battery is the use of a new pyrolytic carbon, obtained by chemical vapor deposition of hydrocarbon, as a lithium intercalation electrode. The pyrolytic carbon has a layered structure whose interplanar spacing is larger than that of graphite. The size of the crystallites is extremely small. Lithium can be electrochemically intercalated into this carbon electrode in a nonaqueous electrolytic solution such as LiClO 4 in propylene carbonate at room temperature. The electrode shows good reversibility and its coulombic efficiency is greater than 99%. The battery has a long cycle life and endures deep discharge.
Transepithelial voltage measurements in isolated Malpighian tubules of Aedes aegypti

Abstract Three methods to measure the transepithelial voltage were evaluated in isolated Malpighian tubules of the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. In method I the lumen-to-bath voltage (VT.p) was measured in isolated perfused tubules through a perfusion pipette lodged in the tubule lumen. Measured voltages were exclusively lumen-positive, 46.0 ± 1.7 mV, X ± SEM , n = 185. In method II the voltage (Vout) was measured in secreting tubules as the voltage between the secreted fluid droplet and the Ringer bath. This voltage measurement yielded positive and negative values, on average positive, 10.5 ± 2.8 mV, n = 108. Both measurements are supposedly indirect indicators of the transepithelial potential, based on the assumption that the measurements are of open circuit voltages, that is, there are no closed circuit paths over which the transepithelial voltage could be divided. In fact, there are such paths in the oil-bathed tubule segment of method II. Analysis of the measuring circuit in method II reveals (I) the peritubular water film to effect the amplitude of the measured voltage, and (2) the axial lumen resistance and the lateral resistance of the epithelial wall to affect the amplitude and the polarity of the measured voltages. This conclusion is supported by method III where voltage is measured in secreting tubules via a microelectrode impaling the tubule lumen. The microelectrode voltage measurements (VT.m) are always lumen-positive as in method I even though method II yields negative voltages (Vout) at the same time.
Syntactic deficit in Down syndrome : More evidence for the modular organisation of language

This study reports on findings from an experimental investigation into the knowledge of binding (the module of grammar regulating the distribution of reflexives and pronouns), in a group of young adults with Down syndrome (DS). Participants with DS were found to have difficulties comprehending reflexives, but not pronouns. In contrast with pronouns, which are interpreted by invoking extra-syntactic mechanisms, the interpretation of reflexives depends on a syntactic relation between the reflexive element and its antecedent. This points to the deficit in DS being syntactic in nature. Such a pattern is exactly the opposite to that found in typically developing English children, who obey the syntactic constraints on the distribution of reflexives early on, but have trouble applying the co-reference rule, a constraint outside syntax proper that regulates the interpretation of pronouns. This result provides evidence that language in DS is not merely delayed, as traditionally described, but also deficient in important respects: the deficit amounts to an inability to establish the syntactic relation between the anaphor and its antecedent. The revealed grammatical deficit supports the hypothesis that modules of the computational system, such as morphosyntax, are relatively more impaired in this population, than those associated with the general processing system, such as lexical knowledge or pragmatics.
Characteristics of Yellow Perch Cannibalism in Oneida Lake and the Relation to First Year Survival

Abstract Because adult yellow perch were known to be cannibalistic in Oneida Lake, New York, this species was studied in 1965-71 to identify factors affecting the intensity of cannibalism and to evaluate the effect of cannibalism on the abundance of young perch. Adult perch changed their food habits in response to changes in the availability of different food items from June through September. Although young-of-the-year perch were most abundant in adult stomachs in August of most years, wide variations occurred in the annual intensity of cannibalism. Length and abundance of young perch, abundance of large chironomids and amphipods, and the size of the adult predator were identified as important factors for explaining variations in the frequency of occurrence of young perch in stomachs of adults. Correlations between the annual intensity of perch cannibalism and length and abundance of young perch imply that cannibalism operates as a compensatory or possibly an extrapensatory mortality process. The consump...
Preparation conditions of chromium doped ZnSe and their infrared luminescence properties

We report the investigation by photoluminescence lifetime measurements of the near-IR emissions from a series of chromium-doped ZnSe samples, correlated to their preparation conditions. The samples were polycrystalline or single crystals prepared by post growth diffusion doping or single crystals doped during growth by the physical vapor transport method. Room temperature lifetime values between 6 and 8 μs were measured for samples with Cr 2+ concentrations from low 10 17 to high 10 18 cm -3 range. Lifetime data taken down to 78 K was found to be rather temperature independent, reconfirming previous reports indicating a quantum yield of the corresponding emission of close to 100% at room temperature. A strong decrease in the room temperature lifetime was found for chromium concentrations higher than 10 19 cm -3 .
Pressure-Swing Distillation for Minimum- and Maximum-Boiling Homogeneous Azeotropes

Pressure-swing azeotropic distillation uses two columns operating at two different pressures to separate azeotropic mixtures by taking high-purity product streams from one end of the columns and recycling the streams from the other end with compositions near the two azeotropes. This configuration can be economically used when changes in pressure significantly shift the composition of the azeotrope. The larger the shift, the smaller the required recycle flow rates, so the smaller the energy requirements in the two reboilers. Pressure-swing distillation can be applied to both minimum-boiling and maximum-boiling homogeneous azeotropic mixtures. With minimum-boiling systems, the distillate streams are recycled. With maximum-boiling systems, the bottoms streams are recycled. Intuition would lead us to expect that recycling distillate streams would be more energy intensive than recycling bottoms streams. A distillate recycle must be boiled up in the column. A bottoms recycle stream is not boiled up. Therefore, ...
Pattern matching by sequential subdivision of transformation space

Pattern matching is a well-known pattern recognition technique. This paper proposes a novel pattern matching algorithm that searches transformation space by sequential subdivision. The algorithm subdivides the transformation space in depth-first manner by conducting Boolean operations on the constraint sets that are defined by pairs of template points and target points. For constrained polynomial transformations that have no more than two parameters on each coordinate, a constraint set can be represented as a 2D polygon or a Cartesian product of 2D polygons. Then, the Boolean operations can be computed through generic polygon clipping algorithms. Preliminary experiments on randomly generated point patterns show that the algorithm is effective and efficient under practical conditions.
NOVEL DESIGN AND FPGA IMPLEMENTATION OF DA-RNS FIR FILTERS

Field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital signal processing has been widely used in multimedia applications. By combining distributed arithmetic (DA) and residue number system (RNS) in such designs, efficient area, speed and power efficiency can be achieved. In this paper, we propose novel techniques for the design and FPGA implementation of DA-RNS finite impulse response (FIR) filters. By introducing a novel low-cost moduli set and its selection method, efficient modulo arithmetic units inside the subfilters are designed. Then, a new residue-to-binary conversion algorithm, a so-called modified DA Chinese remainder theorem, is derived to reduce the modulo operations and provide an efficient residue-to-binary converter suitable to FPGA implementation. Based on these proposed techniques, a seventh-order DA-RNS FIR filter is designed, implemented and tested by using Xilinx FPGA tools. The implementation results show that the proposed filter design consumes only 77% of the power that the existing filter12,13 requires, while maintaining the same speed (throughput).
Challenges in assessing the impact of nursing service: a community perspective.

Assessing the impact of community nursing services is critically important. It is, however, problematic. Difficulties, some germane to the general assessment of the impact of nursing service and others specific to community-oriented nursing practice, include confusion about the domain of community health nursing, inadequate definition of key concepts, inappropriate competition among research methodologies, unpredictable collegial and financial support, and inattention to the dissemination of research findings in practice environments.
Co-managed care for fragility hip fractures (Rochester model)

Hip fractures in older adults are a common event with a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Patients who sustain a hip fracture often present with multiple co-morbid conditions that can benefit from co-management by orthopedic surgeons and geriatricians. This manuscript describes a co-managed model of care for patients with hip fractures. This model of care will be explained, and the benefits and results will be described. Retrospective review of the care of all native non-pathological hip fracture patients aged 60 years and older admitted between April 2005 and March 2009 to a 261-bed community teaching hospital. The outcome measures include patient characteristics, length of stay, mortality, 30-day readmission, re-operation, and costs of care. Seven hundred fifty-eight patients were identified with an average age of 84.8 (SD 8.4); 77.8% of the patients were female, 94.7% Caucasian, and 37.3% from nursing homes, and the mean Charlson score is 2.9 (SD 2.1). The length of stay was 4.3 days, 30-day readmission rate was 10.4%, 17-month re-operation rate was 1.9%, and costs of care to the system were $15,188. The 1-year mortality rate was 21.2%. This model of care resulted in improvements in all measures studied. Previous studies have shown reduction in in-hospital complications. Additional studies are needed to show if this model of care can be translated to other systems or to other surgical conditions. Wide application of this model care could substantially improve the quality of care and cost of caring for frail elders with hip fractures.
Identification and classification of cells in multispectral microscopy images of lymph nodes

Accurate detection and classification of stained cells in microscopy images enable quantitative measurements of cell distributions and spatial structures, and are crucial for developing new analysis tools for medical studies and applications such as cancer diagnosis and treatment. In this paper, we present a learning based approach for identifying different types of cells in multi-spectral microscopy images of tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) and locating their centroid positions. With our approach, a set of features based on the eigenvalues of the Hessian matrix is constructed for each image pixel to determine whether the local shape is elliptic. The elliptic features are then used together with the intensity-based ring scores as the feature set for the supervised learning method. Using this new feature set, a random forest based classifier is trained from a set of training samples of different cell types. In order to overcome the difficulties of classifying cells with varying stain qualities, sizes, and shapes, we build a large set of prior training data from a variety of tissue sections. To deal with the issue of multiple overlapping cell nuclei in images, we propose to utilize the spikes of the outer medial axis of the cells to detect and detach the touching cells. As a result, the centroid position of each identified cell is pinpointed. The experimental data show that our proposed method achieves higher recognition rates than previous methods, reducing significantly the human interaction effort involved in previous cell classification work.
Shaker IR T449 Mutants Separate C- from U-Type Inactivation

Previous studies demonstrated that slow inactivation of the Shaker potassium channel can be made ~100-fold faster or slower by point mutations at a site in the outer pore (T449). However, the discovery that two forms of slow inactivation coexist in Shaker raises the question of which inactivation process is affected by mutation. Equivalent mutations in K(V)2.1, a channel exhibiting only U-type inactivation, have minimal effects on inactivation, suggesting that mutation of Shaker T449 acts on C-type inactivation alone, a widely held yet untested hypothesis. This study reexamines mutations at Shaker T449, confirming that T449A speeds inactivation and T449Y/V slow it. T449Y and T449V exhibit U-type inactivation that is enhanced by high extracellular potassium, in contrast to C-type inactivation in T449A which is inhibited by high potassium. Automated parameter estimation for a 12-state Markov model suggests that U-type inactivation occurs mainly from closed states upon weak depolarization, but primarily from the open state at positive voltages. The model also suggests that WT channels, which in this study exhibit mostly C-type inactivation, recover from inactivation through closed-inactivated states, producing voltage-dependent recovery. This suggests that both C-type and U-type inactivation involve both open-inactivated and closed-inactivated states.
Reducing the text burden: Using children's literature and trade books in elementary school science educaton

In the 1980s, as the United States encountered international economic and technological challenges, the very ability of the American educational system to produce a competitive labor force, able to learn and solve problems, was questioned. During this past decade, renewed concern about educational quality in the United States motivated over one hundred reports analyzing the shortcomings in our system of education and endorsing reform. All of the principal curriculum areas have been reviewed in this process; moreover, science education has been deemed particularly deficient. Major reports sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recommend both content revision of science courses and methodological changes in the way science is presented throughout the elementary and secondary grades.
Intensity correlation measurement of light scattered from a two-component fluid near the critical mixing point

Abstract A convenient digital method of performing the intensity correlation of light scattered from fluctuations in a medium is developed and applied to a measurement of line width of the quasi-elastic component of light scattered from concentration fluctuations of a two-component fluid of Nitrobenzene + nHexane near the critical mixing point. The temperature dependences of the mutual diffusion coefficient and the correlation length contained in the line width expression, Γ = D O Q 2 (1 + a ξ 2 Q 2 ), are thus determined.
A Critical Phenylalanine Residue in the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Fusion Protein Cytoplasmic Tail Mediates Assembly of Internal Viral Proteins into Viral Filaments and Particles

ABSTRACT Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a single-stranded RNA virus in the Paramyxoviridae family that assembles into filamentous structures at the apical surface of polarized epithelial cells. These filaments contain viral genomic RNA and structural proteins, including the fusion (F) protein, matrix (M) protein, nucleoprotein (N), and phosphoprotein (P), while excluding F-actin. It is known that the F protein cytoplasmic tail (FCT) is necessary for filament formation, but the mechanism by which the FCT mediates assembly into filaments is not clear. We hypothesized that the FCT is necessary for interactions with other viral proteins in order to form filaments. In order to test this idea, we expressed the F protein with cytoplasmic tail (CT) truncations or specific point mutations and determined the abilities of these variant F proteins to form filaments independent of viral infection when coexpressed with M, N, and P. Deletion of the terminal three FCT residues (amino acids Phe-Ser-Asn) or mutation of the Phe residue resulted in a loss of filament formation but did not affect F-protein expression or trafficking to the cell surface. Filament formation could be restored by addition of residues Phe-Ser-Asn to an FCT deletion mutant and was unaffected by mutations to Ser or Asn residues. Second, deletion of residues Phe-Ser-Asn or mutation of the Phe residue resulted in a loss of M, N, and P incorporation into virus-like particles. These data suggest that a C-terminal Phe residue in the FCT mediates assembly through incorporation of internal virion proteins into virus filaments at the cell surface. IMPORTANCE Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia in infants and the elderly worldwide. There is no licensed RSV vaccine and only limited therapeutics for use in infected patients. Many aspects of the RSV life cycle have been studied, but the mechanisms that drive RSV assembly at the cell surface are not well understood. This study provides evidence that a specific residue in the RSV fusion protein cytoplasmic tail coordinates assembly into viral filaments by mediating the incorporation of internal virion proteins. Understanding the mechanisms that drive RSV assembly could lead to targeted development of novel antiviral drugs. Moreover, since RSV exits infected cells in an ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport)-independent manner, these studies may contribute new knowledge about a general strategy by which ESCRT-independent viruses mediate outward bud formation using viral protein-mediated mechanisms during assembly and budding.
High and far: biases in the location of protected areas.

Background About an eighth of the earth's land surface is in protected areas (hereafter “PAs”), most created during the 20th century. Natural landscapes are critical for species persistence and PAs can play a major role in conservation and in climate policy. Such contributions may be harder than expected to implement if new PAs are constrained to the same kinds of locations that PAs currently occupy. Methodology/Principal Findings Quantitatively extending the perception that PAs occupy “rock and ice”, we show that across 147 nations PA networks are biased towards places that are unlikely to face land conversion pressures even in the absence of protection. We test each country's PA network for bias in elevation, slope, distances to roads and cities, and suitability for agriculture. Further, within each country's set of PAs, we also ask if the level of protection is biased in these ways. We find that the significant majority of national PA networks are biased to higher elevations, steeper slopes and greater distances to roads and cities. Also, within a country, PAs with higher protection status are more biased than are the PAs with lower protection statuses. Conclusions/Significance In sum, PAs are biased towards where they can least prevent land conversion (even if they offer perfect protection). These globally comprehensive results extend findings from nation-level analyses. They imply that siting rules such as the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2010 Target [to protect 10% of all ecoregions] might raise PA impacts if applied at the country level. In light of the potential for global carbon-based payments for avoided deforestation or REDD, these results suggest that attention to threat could improve outcomes from the creation and management of PAs.
Resetting criteria during ventricular overdrive pacing successfully differentiate orthodromic reentrant tachycardia from atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia despite interobserver disagreement concerning QRS fusion.

Background The beginning of ventricular overdrive pacing (VOP) during supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) accurately distinguishes orthodromic reentrant tachycardia (ORT) from atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) even when pacing terminates tachycardia. Tachycardia resetting most often occurs during this transition zone (TZ) of QRS fusion in ORT and after this TZ in AVNRT. The end of the TZ is marked by the first beat with a stable QRS morphology but is a subjective assessment. Disagreement concerning this beat may change tachycardia diagnosis. Objective The purpose of this study was to assess interobserver agreement for identifying the TZ and whether disagreement affected diagnosis. Methods Seventy-nine consecutive patients with inducible ORT and AVNRT were included. Resetting of tachycardia was evaluated by (1) atrial timing perturbation and (2) fixed stimulation–atrial activation timing (SA). Two blinded observers identified the end of the TZ and used the two resetting criteria to establish a diagnosis. Diagnostic results were compared with standard criteria for SVT diagnosis. The diagnosis was considered correct if both electrophysiologists' TZ assessment resulted in a correct diagnosis. Results Agreement on the TZ occurred in 80% (148/186) of VOP trains. In ORT patients, tachycardia resetting occurred during the TZ and correctly diagnosed ORT based on atrial timing perturbation and fixed SA in 91% and 98% of VOP trains, respectively. In AVNRT patients, tachycardia resetting occurred after the TZ and correctly diagnosed AVNRT based on atrial timing perturbation and fixed SA in 93% and 94% of VOP trains, respectively. Conclusion Resetting criteria used during the VOP TZ accurately differentiate between ORT and AVNRT despite interobserver disagreement concerning identification of the TZ.
Gaze estimation for off-angle iris recognition based on the biometric eye model

Iris recognition is among the highest accuracy biometrics. However, its accuracy relies on controlled high quality capture data and is negatively affected by several factors such as angle, occlusion, and dilation. Non-ideal iris recognition is a new research focus in biometrics. In this paper, we present a gaze estimation method designed for use in an off-angle iris recognition framework based on the ORNL biometric eye model. Gaze estimation is an important prerequisite step to correct an off-angle iris images. To achieve the accurate frontal reconstruction of an off-angle iris image, we first need to estimate the eye gaze direction from elliptical features of an iris image. Typically additional information such as well-controlled light sources, head mounted equipment, and multiple cameras are not available. Our approach utilizes only the iris and pupil boundary segmentation allowing it to be applicable to all iris capture hardware. We compare the boundaries with a look-up-table generated by using our biologically inspired biometric eye model and find the closest feature point in the look-up-table to estimate the gaze. Based on the results from real images, the proposed method shows effectiveness in gaze estimation accuracy for our biometric eye model with an average error of approximately 3.5 degrees over a 50 degree range.
Minimizing function-free recursive inference rules

Recursive inference rules arise in recursive definitions in logic programming systems and in database systems with recursive query languages. Let D be a recursive definition of a relation t. D is considered minimal if for any predicate p in a recursive rule in D, p must appear in a recursive rule in any definition of t. It is shown that testing for minimality is, in general, undecidable. However, an efficient algorithm for a useful class of recursive rules is presented, and it is used to transform a recursive definition to a minimal recursive definition. Evaluating the minimized definition avoids redundant computation without the overhead of caching intermediate results and run-time checking for duplicate goals.
Immunolabeling demonstrates the interdependence of mouse brain α4 and β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit expression

Immunolabeling of beta2 and alpha4 subunits was quantitated in brain sections (14 mum) using [(125)I]mAb 270 and [(125)I]mAb 299, respectively. Specificity was demonstrated by signal loss in beta2(-/-) and alpha4(-/-) brain sections, respectively. Even mild paraformaldehyde fixation severely affected immunolabeling, so this study used unfixed sections. Immunolabeling autoradiography was used to map and quantitate the effects of beta2 and alpha4 subunit-null mutations on their putative partner subunits' protein expression. [(125)I]mAb 299 labeling was nearly eliminated in beta2(-/-) sections, although dorsal interpeduncular nucleus (IPN) retained a faint signal. Therefore, alpha4 subunit expression is almost universally beta2-dependent. In contrast, alpha4-null mutation effects on [(125)I]mAb 270 immunolabeling varied widely among brain regions. In corticothalamic regions, [(125)I]mAb 270 labeling was eliminated. However, in habenulopeduncular regions, alpha4 genotype had no effect. Other (predominantly dopaminergic and optic tract) nuclei also retained reduced [(125)I]mAb 270 labeling in alpha4(-/-) sections. Thus, although most beta2 subunit protein expression is alpha4-dependent, this dependence is not universal. Presumably, residual beta2 subunits are found in non-alpha4* subtypes. Together, these results show that immunolabeling is applicable to reliable, quantitative investigations of neuronal nAChRs, and that subunit-null mutants can be appropriate controls for such experiments. In situ mRNA hybridization was also performed to determine if altered mRNA transcription mediated the interdependence of alpha4 and beta2 subunit expression. alpha4-Null mutation did not affect beta2 mRNA expression, nor did beta2 genotype affect alpha4 mRNA expression. Consequently, it seems that the two subunits' effects on each other's expression are mediated at the protein, rather than gene expression level.
Differentiation inducing activity of anthracycline compounds in friend leukemia cells

Several kinds of anthracyclines having γ-rhodofnycinone as the aglycone were isolated from Streptomyces cosmosus TMF 518, and their derivatives were prepared by chemical modification. We tested their differentiation inducing activity in Friend leukemia cells and clarified their structure activity relationship as follows: 1) The aglycone, γ-rhodomycinone, had no differentiation inducing activity but was cytotoxic; 2) the compounds with two sugar chains at both C7 and C10 had more potent differentiation inducing activity than those with only a sugar chain at C-10; 3) cosmomycin C was the most favorable candidate for an anticancer agent of all anthracyclines tested, because the value of ED50 (cytotoxicity)/ED50 (differentiation) was as high as 3000; and 4) the increase in differentiation inducing activity and cytotoxicity was not always in parallel.
Whole body mechanics of stealthy walking in cats.

The metabolic cost associated with locomotion represents a significant part of an animal's metabolic energy budget. Therefore understanding the ways in which animals manage the energy required for locomotion by controlling muscular effort is critical to understanding limb design and the evolution of locomotor behavior. The assumption that energetic economy is the most important target of natural selection underlies many analyses of steady animal locomotion, leading to the prediction that animals will choose gaits and postures that maximize energetic efficiency. Many quadrupedal animals, particularly those that specialize in long distance steady locomotion, do in fact reduce the muscular contribution required for walking by adopting pendulum-like center of mass movements that facilitate exchange between kinetic energy (KE) and potential energy (PE) [1]–[4]. However, animals that are not specialized for long distance steady locomotion may face a more complex set of requirements, some of which may conflict with the efficient exchange of mechanical energy. For example, the “stealthy” walking style of cats may demand slow movements performed with the center of mass close to the ground. Force plate and video data show that domestic cats (Felis catus, Linnaeus, 1758) have lower mechanical energy recovery than mammals specialized for distance. A strong negative correlation was found between mechanical energy recovery and diagonality in the footfalls and there was also a negative correlation between limb compression and diagonality of footfalls such that more crouched postures tended to have greater diagonality. These data show a previously unrecognized mechanical relationship in which crouched postures are associated with changes in footfall pattern which are in turn related to reduced mechanical energy recovery. Low energy recovery was not associated with decreased vertical oscillations of the center of mass as theoretically predicted, but rather with posture and footfall pattern on the phase relationship between potential and kinetic energy. An important implication of these results is the possibility of a tradeoff between stealthy walking and economy of locomotion. This potential tradeoff highlights the complex and conflicting pressures that may govern the locomotor choices that animals make.
Large-Scale Simulator for Global Data Infrastructure Optimization

IT infrastructures in global corporations are appropriately compared with nervous systems, in which body parts (interconnected datacenters) exchange signals (request responses) in order to coordinate actions (data visualization and manipulation). A priori inoffensive perturbations in the operation of the system or the elements composing the infrastructure can lead to catastrophic consequences. Downtime disables the capability of clients reaching the latest versions of the data and/or propagating their individual contributions to other clients, potentially costing millions of dollars to the organization affected. The imperative need of guaranteeing the proper functioning of the system not only forces to pay particular attention to network outages, hot-objects or application defects, but also slows down the deployment of new capabilities, features and equipment upgrades. Under these circumstances, decision cycles for these modifications can be extremely conservative, and be prolonged for years, involving multiple authorities across departments of the organization. Frequently, the solutions adopted are years behind state-of-the art technologies or phased out compared to leading research on the IT infrastructure field. In this paper, the utilization of a large-scale data infrastructure simulator is proposed, in order to evaluate the impact of " what if" scenarios on the performance, availability and reliability of the system. The goal is to provide data center operators a tool that allows understanding and predicting the consequences of the deployment of new network topologies, hardware configurations or software applications in a global data infrastructure, without affecting the service. The simulator was constructed using a multi-layered approach, providing a granularity down to the individual server component and client action, and was validated against a downscaled version of the data infrastructure of a Fortune 500 company.
A new technique for detecting antifreeze in engine oil during early stage of leakage

The oil condition sensor and sensing algorithm invented at Delphi Corporation can detect un-dispersed antifreeze, which appears as a separate phase and settles at the bottom due to its higher density. In order to detect un-dispersed antifreeze, the sensor has to be mounted at the bottom of the oil pan. An earlier version of this sensor was not capable of detecting antifreeze existing in engine oil during early stage of leakage or before the phase separation. This work demonstrates that the changes of engine oil resistance should enable us to detect antifreeze during the early stage at a concentration of 0.5% for used engine oil or as low as 0.25% for fresh oil. An algorithm could thus be developed and added to the oil condition sensing algorithm. This add-on feature would not only offer more flexibility in mounting the sensor, but it would also enable the sensor to send out warning signals during early stage of antifreeze leakage.
Recurrent hemangioendothelioma in a pediatric patient: report and review of the literature.

Abstract The most common adrenal tumor in the pediatric population is a benign hemangioma. Adrenal hemangioendotheliomas are extremely rare variants of the hemangioma which are characterized by the presence of multiple anastomosing vascular spaces lined by endothelial cells, and have indeterminant biologic behavior. We report a unique case in a pediatric patient with Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome which was complicated by a recurrence of the lesion.
Wholesale payments: questioning the market-failure hypothesis

Abstract The 1990s witnessed a major worldwide change in the management of “wholesale” payments. Insisting that traditional Deferred Net Settlement (DNS) payment systems involve serious externalities, monetary authorities legally restricted such systems and compelled or encouraged their replacement by Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) systems. The present paper argues that market failure arguments used to justify these reforms reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the manner in which traditional DNS systems generate and assign intraday credit risk. A proper understanding of the nature and role of intraday credits in deferred net settlement supplies no market-failure rationale for government interference with traditional payments systems, suggesting that recent reforms are at most justified on second-best grounds only.