cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Loci: Simple Thread-Locality for Java

This paper presents a simple type system for thread-local data in Java. Classes and types are annotated to express thread-locality and unintended leaks are detected at compile-time. The system, called Loci, is minimal, modular and compatible with legacy code. The only change to the language is the addition of two new metadata annotations. We implemented Loci as an Eclipse plug-in and used it to evaluate our design on a number of benchmarks. We found that Loci is compatible with how Java programs are written and that the annotation overhead is light thanks to a judicious choice of defaults.
Is Hard Work and High Effort Always Healthy for Black College Students? John Henryism in the Face of Racial Discrimination:

Differences in exposure to racial discrimination and in coping mechanisms can shape physiological health among emerging adults. This study, grounded in the Biopsychosocial Model, examines whether J...
Bolus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) In Combination With Oxaliplatin Is Safe and Well Tolerated in Patients Who Experienced Coronary Vasospasm With Infusional 5-FU or Capecitabine

Abstract Introduction Coronary vasospasm associated with fluoropyrimidine (FP)-based chemotherapy is a potentially serious complication and reported to occur more often with infusional 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or capecitabine than with bolus 5-FU. Given the additional benefit of oxaliplatin over FP alone in the management of colorectal cancer, retaining oxaliplatin in the treatment regimen is desirable, but the safety of combining bolus 5-FU with oxaliplatin in patients with FP-induced vasospasm is not well established. We performed a retrospective review to explore the safety of substituting FLOX (bolus 5-FU, oxaliplatin, leucovorin) for FOLFOX (infusional 5-FU, oxaliplatin, leucovorin) and CAPOX (capecitabine, oxaliplatin) in patients who had FP-induced coronary vasospasm. Patients and Methods The pharmacy database of Mayo Clinic was queried to identify patients who developed coronary vasospasm associated with FOLFOX or CAPOX between January 2011 and January 2018 and were subsequently treated with FLOX. Detailed information was obtained on these patients by retrospective electronic chart review. Results A total of 10 patients (median age, 56.5 years; range, 36-77 years) were identified, 9 with FOLFOX and 1 with CAPOX. Among the patients treated with FOLFOX, 8 patients had chest pain as the presenting complaint that had started within 48 hours of beginning of the 5-FU infusion. In 9 of 10 patients, coronary vasospasm occurred with the first cycle of therapy. All patients made full recovery after discontinuation of infusional 5-FU or capecitabine. All patients subsequently received FLOX with 7 median bolus 5-FU doses (range, 2-22 doses) and 7 median oxaliplatin doses (range, 2-12 doses) at 7 days to 18 months after the event, with 7 patients treated within 4 weeks of the event. FLOX did not cause any cardiovascular adverse events in any of the 10 patients. Conclusion Bolus 5-FU in combination with oxaliplatin is safe in patients who have experienced coronary vasospasm with infusional 5-FU or capecitabine.
Electrode Impedance Modeling for Channel Characterization for Intra-body Communication

This paper discusses techniques for modeling the electrode/human contact impedances for Intra-body communication applications. Factors that affect the electrode impedance are considered and tuned in order to study their impact on the channel model (gain/attenuation profile). Finally, an explanation is provided for the relation between the different basic impedances and blocks that are considered in the channel model, and the sensitivity of the channel gain to the variation in such parameters.
Strain engineering of electro-optic constants in ferroelectric materials

Electro-optic effects allow control of the ow of light using electric fields, and are of utmost importance for today’s information and communication technologies, such as TV displays and fiber optics. The search for large electro-optic constants in films is essential to the miniaturization and increased efficiency of electro-optic devices. In this work, we demonstrate that strain-engineering in PbTiO3 films allows to selectively choose which electro-optic constant to improve. Unclamped electro-optic constants larger than 100 pm V−1 are predicted, either by driving the softening of an optical phonon mode at a phase transition boundary under tensile strain, or by generating the equivalent of a negative pressure via compressive strain to obtain large piezoelectric constants. In particular, a r13 electro-optic coefficient twice as large as the one of the commonly used LiNbO3 electro-optic material is found here when growing PbTiO3 on the technologicallyimportant Si substrate.
Navigation and the developing brain.

ABSTRACT As babies rapidly acquire motor skills that give them increasingly independent and wide-ranging access to the environment over the first two years of human life, they decrease their reliance on habit systems for spatial localization, switching to their emerging inertial navigation system and to allocentric frameworks. Initial place learning is evident towards the end of the period. From 3 to 10 years, children calibrate their ability to encode various sources of spatial information (inertial information, geometric cues, beacons, proximal landmarks and distal landmarks) and begin to combine cues, both within and across systems. Geometric cues are important, but do not constitute an innate and encapsulated module. In addition, from 3 to 10 years, children build the capacity to think about frames of reference different from their current one (i.e. to perform perspective taking). By around 12 years, we see adult-level performance and adult patterns of individual differences on cognitive mapping tasks requiring the integration of vista views of space into environmental space. These lines of development are continuous rather than stage-like. Spatial development builds on important beginnings in the neural systems of newborns, but changes in experience-expectant ways with motor development, action in the world and success–failure feedback. Human systems for integrating and manipulating spatial information also benefit from symbolic capacities and technological inventions.
Varicella Zoster Virus Alters Expression of Cell Adhesion Proteins in Human Perineurial Cells via Interleukin 6

Background In temporal arteries (TAs) from patients with giant cell arteritis, varicella zoster virus (VZV) is seen in perineurial cells that surround adventitial nerve bundles and form the peripheral nerve-extrafascicular tissue barrier (perineurium). We hypothesized that during VZV reactivation from ganglia, virus travels transaxonally and disrupts the perineurium to infect surrounding cells. Methods Mock- and VZV-infected primary human perineurial cells (HPNCs) were examined for alterations in claudin-1, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin. Conditioned supernatant was analyzed for a soluble factor(s) mediating these alterations and for the ability to increase cell migration. To corroborate in vitro findings, a VZV-infected TA was examined. Results In VZV-infected HPNCs, claudin-1 redistributed to the nucleus; E-cadherin was lost and N-cadherin gained, with similar changes seen in VZV-infected perineurial cells in a TA. VZV-conditioned supernatant contained increased interleukin 6 (IL-6) that induced E-cadherin loss and N-cadherin gain and increased cell migration when added to uninfected HPNCs; anti-IL-6 receptor antibody prevented these changes. Conclusions IL-6 secreted from VZV-infected HPNCs facilitated changes in E- and N-cadherin expression and cell migration, reminiscent of an epithelial-to-mesenchymal cell transition, potentially contributing to loss of perineurial cell barrier integrity and viral spread. Importantly, an anti-IL-6 receptor antibody prevented virus-induced perineurial cell disruption.
The effect of small mammal exclusion on grassland recovery from disturbance in the Chihuahuan Desert

Abstract In many arid ecosystems, shrub encroachment is coupled to the loss of perennial grasses and associated ecosystem services. Increased native herbivore abundance associated with shrub encroachment can have negative effects on grass restoration. In the Chihuahuan Desert, native herbivore abundance can be two times greater in shrubland states dominated by Prosopis glandulosa (honey mesquite) than in historical Bouteloua eriopoda (black grama) grasslands. We compared the recovery of B. eriopoda patches following disturbance in plots that were exposed to or protected from native herbivores in shrub-dominated, grass-dominated and ecotone (grass and shrub co-dominated) states. We created a disturbance in the center of B. eriopoda grass patches in each treatment quadrat in 2001. The disturbed areas were measured for recruitment and re-establishment of B. eriopoda in 2002, 2005 and 2008. Although mean rodent abundance was generally greater in shrub-dominated states than other states over the study period, reproductive potential of B. eriopoda was similar in shrub and grass dominated states. Additionally, there was no revegetation by B. eriopoda in any state in response to rodent exclusion. Because increased herbivore abundance in shrub-dominated states did not constrain grass revegetation, other factors are likely to be more important constraints on perennial grass recovery in the Chihuahuan Desert.
A Statistical Characterization of Localization Performance in Wireless Networks

Localization performance in wireless networks has traditionally been benchmarked using the Cramer–Rao lower bound (CRLB), given a fixed geometry of anchor nodes and a target. However, by endowing the target and anchor locations with distributions, this paper recasts this traditional scalar benchmark as a random variable. The goal of this paper is to derive an analytical expression for the distribution of this now random CRLB, in the context of Time-of-Arrival-based positioning. To derive this distribution, this paper first analyzes how the CRLB is affected by the order statistics of the angles between consecutive participating anchors ( i.e., internodal angles). This analysis reveals an intimate connection between the second largest internodal angle and the CRLB, which leads to an accurate approximation of the CRLB. Using this approximation, a closed-form expression for the distribution of the CRLB, conditioned on the number of participating anchors, is obtained. Next, this conditioning is eliminated to derive an analytical expression for the marginal CRLB distribution. Since this marginal distribution accounts for all target and anchor positions, across all numbers of participating anchors, it therefore statistically characterizes localization error throughout an entire wireless network. This paper concludes with a comprehensive analysis of this new network-wide-CRLB paradigm.
Security Network On-Chip for Mitigating Side-Channel Attacks

Hardware security is a critical concern in design and fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs). Contemporary hardware threats comprise tens of advance invasive and non-invasive attacks for compromising security of modern ICs. Numerous attack-specific countermeasures against the individual threats have been proposed, trading power, area, speed, and design complexity of a system for security. These typical overheads combined with strict performance requirements in advanced technology nodes and high complexity of modern ICs often make the codesign of multiple countermeasures impractical. In this paper, on-chip distribution networks are exploited for detecting those hardware security threats that require non-invasive, yet physical interaction with an operating device-under-attack (e.g., measuring equipment for collecting sensitive information in side-channel attacks). With the proposed approach, the effect of the malicious physical interference with the device-under-attack is captured in the form of on-chip voltage variations and utilized for detecting malicious activity in the compromised device. A machine learning (ML) security IC is trained to predict system security based on sensed variations of signals within on-chip distribution networks. The trained ML ICs are distributed on-chip, yielding a robust and high-confidence security network on-chip. To halt an active attack, a variety of desired counteractions can be executed in a cost-effective manner upon the attack detection. The applicability and effectiveness of these security networks is demonstrated in this paper with respect to power, timing, and electromagnetic analysis attacks.
Reprogramming Aberrant B Cell-Subsets to Improve Immune Function in Multiple Myeloma

Abstract 3986 B cell-malignancies exhibit considerable immune dysfunction particularly in multiple myeloma (MM). We have previously demonstrated that in T cell-compartment, regulatory T helper cells are dysfunctional in multiple myeloma (MM) while Th17 cells are significantly elevated and IL-17 produced by them is associated with MM cell growth and survival as well as suppressed immune responses and bone disease. We have here investigated the B cell-subsets and their ability to re-program anti-tumor immunity in MM. We have first characterised four different B cell-subsets (B1a, B1b, B2 and regulatory B cells) using 10-color flow cytometric analysis in both peripheral blood and bone-marrow (BM) samples from MM patients compared with normal healthy donors. We observe that CD5+ B1a-B cells are significantly elevated in peripheral blood of MM patients (N=7) compared to healthy donor (N=15) (42±8% vs 13±3%, respectively, p As removal of B cell population has been shown to re-program T helper cell populations, we next investigated impact of B cell population on T cell activation. We activated normal PBMC via the anti-CD3 antibody, in the presence or absence of B or CD25+ cells and measured intra-cellular IFN-γ levels in CD69+ cells. We found that the absence of B cells significantly inhibited interferon-producing T cells compared to PBMC (by 43%; p Disclosures: Ghobrial: Millennium: Advisory Board Other; Novartis: Advisory Board, Advisory Board Other. Richardson: Novartis: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Celgene: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Millennium: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Johnson & Johnson: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees. Treon: Onyx: Research Funding; Celgene: Research Funding; Pharmacyclics: Research Funding; Cephalon: Consultancy; Avila: Consultancy. Anderson: Celgene, Millennium, BMS, Onyx: Membership on an entity9s Board of Directors or advisory committees; Acetylon, Oncopep: Scientific Founder, Scientific Founder Other.
Synthesis and Structures of Polyphenylphenanthrenes.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-Octaphenylphenanthrene (4) and decaphenylphenanthrene (5) were prepared by very short syntheses (two or three steps) from tetraphenylfuran and polybrominated benzene derivatives. The X-ray structures of compounds 4 and 5 show them to be quite crowded, with the phenanthrene cores twisted by about 40° due to the clash of the C4 and C5 phenyl groups. Compound 4 was resolved by chromatography on a chiral support, and its free energy of activation for racemization was determined to be 24.6 kcal mol-1 at 40 °C. Computational studies indicate that compound 5 has a racemization barrier approximately 6 kcal mol-1 lower than 4, and thus 5 would not be configurationally stable at room temperature.
Partially Fluorinated Copolymers as Oxygen Sensitive 19 F MRI Agents.

Effective diagnosis of disease and its progression can be aided by 19 F magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Specifically, the inherent sensitivity of the spin-lattice relaxation time (T1 ) of 19 F nuclei to oxygen partial pressure makes 19 F MRI an attractive non-invasive approach to quantify tissue oxygenation in a spatiotemporal manner. However, there are only few materials with the adequate sensitivity to be used as oxygen-sensitive 19 F MRI agents at clinically relevant field strengths. Motivated by the limitations in current technologies, we report highly fluorinated monomers that provide a platform approach to realize water-soluble, partially fluorinated copolymers as 19 F MRI agents with the required sensitivity to quantify solution oxygenation at clinically relevant magnetic field strengths. The synthesis of a systematic library of partially fluorinated copolymers enabled a comprehensive evaluation of copolymer structure-property relationships relevant to 19 F MRI. The highest-performing material composition demonstrated a signal-to-noise ratio that corresponded to an apparent 19 F density of 220 mm, which surpasses the threshold of 126 mm 19 F required for visualization on a three Tesla clinical MRI. Furthermore, the T1 of these high performing materials demonstrated a linear relationship with solution oxygenation, with oxygen sensitivity reaching 240×10-5 mmHg-1 s-1 . The relationships between material composition and 19 F MRI performance identified herein suggest general structure-property criteria for the further improvement of modular, water-soluble 19 F MRI agents for quantifying oxygenation in environments relevant to medical imaging.
Spatially-varying microscope calibration from unstructured sparse inputs

We propose a method based on blind deconvolution to calibrate the spatially-varying point spread functions of a coded-aperture microscope system. From easy-to- acquire measurements of unstructured fluorescent beads, we recover a spatially-varying forward model that outperforms prior approaches.
Extreme-ultraviolet-induced carbon growth at contaminant pressures between 10-10 and 10-6 mbar: Experiment and model

Carbon contamination induced by ultraviolet (UV) radiation affects precision optics in applications as diverse as semiconductor lithography and satellite observations of the Sun. Our previous experiments have shown that low-intensity UV-induced surface contamination depends quasilogarithmically on the partial pressure of the organic contaminant due to the polydispersive nature of the surface-adsorbate system. This complex dependence presents difficulties because, without a physically motivated model, it cannot be extrapolated to low pressures. We present measurements and a model of carbon growth induced by UV exposure in the presence of tetradecane vapor. The model, which includes a coverage-dependent adsorption energy, describes the measurements over four orders of magnitude in pressure, and we expect that it can be extrapolated to the lower pressures of interest to the extreme ultraviolet lithography and solar astronomy communities. Our experience with other contaminants leads us to expect that other organic contaminants will behave similar to tetradecane. The results also provide insights into the kinetics governing coverage isotherms at extremely low partial pressures.
Decision making under uncertain and dependent system rates in service systems

Abstract In this paper, we propose decision analysis methods for determining the optimal number of agents of a service system where the system rates (arrival, service, and abandonment) are modeled as dependent random variables. In doing so, we take the Bayesian point of view of inference and obtain joint posterior distributions of the system rates. We solve the proposed stochastic staffing decision problem with augmented probability simulation based optimization methods. The novelty of our approach stems from the use of dependent system rates to determine optimal staffing in a constrained optimization setting for stochastic service systems. We demonstrate the implications of ignoring dependence and uncertainty in system rates on simulated data for general service systems, and illustrate the application of the proposed methodology on call center operations.
REM Sleep Behavior Disorder

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) is a sleep disorder characterized by loss of physiological muscle atonia during REM sleep with resulting dream enactment behavior leading to sleep disruption and injury to the patient or bed partner. Most patients present because of significant injuries sustained from the violent motor activities during sleep. RBD can be seen in higher rates in patients with neurodegenerative conditions or can sometimes be the presenting symptom of the condition occurring years before the onset of the other neurological symptoms. Treatment includes making the sleeping environment safe and possibly using pharmacological treatment in the form of clonazepam or melatonin.
Age-dependent impairment of disease tolerance is associated with a robust transcriptional response following RNA virus infection in Drosophila.

Advanced age in humans is associated with greater susceptibility to and higher mortality rates from infections, including infections with some RNA viruses. The underlying innate immune mechanisms, which represent the first line of defense against pathogens, remain incompletely understood. Drosophila melanogaster is able to mount potent and evolutionarily conserved innate immune defenses against a variety of microorganisms including viruses and serves as an excellent model organism for studying host-pathogen interactions. With its relatively short lifespan, Drosophila also is an organism of choice for aging studies. Despite numerous advantages that this model offers, Drosophila has not been used to its full potential to investigate the response of the aged host to viral infection. Here we show that, in comparison to younger flies, aged Drosophila succumb more rapidly to infection with the RNA-containing Flock House Virus (FHV) due to an age-dependent defect in disease tolerance. Relative to younger individuals, we find that older Drosophila mount transcriptional responses characterized by differential regulation of more genes and genes regulated to a greater extent. We show that loss of disease tolerance to FHV with age associates with a stronger regulation of genes involved in apoptosis, some genes of the Drosophila Immune deficiency (IMD) NF-kB pathway and genes whose products function in mitochondria and mitochondrial respiration. Our work shows that Drosophila can serve as a model to investigate host-virus interactions during aging and furthermore sets the stage for future analysis of the age-dependent mechanisms that govern survival and control of virus infections at older age.
Tree-Guided Construction of Antibody Repertoires and Its Applications to CDR Annotation

Reconstructing antibody repertoires from immunosequencing data is a prerequisite for analyzing the evolutionary (clonal) development of antibodies. However, since the state-of-the-art repertoire construction tools perform poorly in the case of antigen-stimulated repertoires, they are not well suited for the follow-up clonal tree reconstruction. Since the clonal analysis has the potential to reveal errors in the constructed repertoires, we advocate a tree-guided construction of antibody repertoires that combines error correction and clonal reconstruction as interconnected rather than independent tasks. We developed the IgEvolution algorithm for the tree-guided construction of antibody repertoires, applied it to immunosequencing datasets representing immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 virus/flu vaccination/microbiome antigens, and demonstrated that it reveals the highly mutable positions and antigen-binding sites in the complementarity determining regions (CDRs). Although the CDR annotation is an important step in antibody engineering and analysis, the state-of-the-art CDR annotation approaches identify CDRs in individual antibodies (rather than analyze all antibodies in a clonal lineage to identify their CDRs in a consistent way), resulting in conflicting CDR identifications. In contrast, IgEvolution uses information about all clonally related antibodies to annotate CDRs, resulting in significantly more accurate and nuanced CDR annotations. We argue that constructing a CDR profile (reflecting the propensity of each position in an antibody to represent an antigen-binding site) improves upon the existing CDR annotation approaches that identify CDR regions without evaluating individual positions in these regions with respect to their antigen-binding capacities.
Does Private Ownership Reduce Political Distortions? Evidence from U.S. Electric Utilities

Politics is believed to distort decisions in regulated private firms as well as in government enterprises. In order to compare the magnitude of these distortions, I examine one of the very few large U.S. industries where both for-profit and government enterprises sell goods to the public: electric utilities. I follow the existing literature in measuring political distortions in two ways: differences between government decisions in election years versus in non-election years, and governments' inability to quickly adapt to change. Using comprehensive U.S. data for the years 1964 through 2014, I find that for-profit electricity rates are more likely to be manipulated before elections, but are more responsive to costs, compared to government electricity rates. Thus private ownership need not reduce political distortions, and may actually increase them. I further provide a theoretical framework that explains the findings.
I am Homo Sapien: Perceptions of Evolutionary Theory, Animal Identity, and Human–Animal Relationships Among US Law and Policy Students

People’s perception of the human–animal relationship is complex, as is our regard for animal welfare within law and policy decisions. Little attention has been paid to how political stakeholders ut...
Policy brief: Improving graduation rates and postsecondary outcomes for English learners in Florida

For the last two decades, graduation rates have been one of the key metrics used to evaluate school effectiveness under federal law, with the goal of ensuring that all students receive a high-quali...
Library Generation by Gene Shuffling

This unit describes the process of gene shuffling, also known as sexual PCR. Gene shuffling is a facile method for the generation of sequence libraries containing the information from a family of related genes. Essentially, related genes are fragmented by DNase I digestion and reassembled by primer-less PCR. The resulting chimeric genes can then be screened or selected for a desired function.
Host A2B Adenosine Receptors Promote Carcinoma Growth

Recent studies suggest that tumor-infiltrating immune cells can benefit the tumor by producing factors that promote angiogenesis and suppress immunity. Because the tumor microenvironment is characterized by high adenosine levels, we hypothesized that the low-affinity A2B adenosine receptor located on host immune cells may participate in these effects. In the current study, we tested this hypothesis in a Lewis lung carcinoma isograft model using A2B receptor knockout (A2BKO) mice. These mice exhibited significantly attenuated tumor growth and longer survival times after inoculation with Lewis lung carcinoma compared to wild type (WT) controls. Lewis lung carcinoma tumors in A2BKO mice contained significantly lower levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) compared to tumors growing in WT animals. This difference was due to VEGF production by host cells, which comprised 30 ± 2% of total tumor cell population. Stimulation of adenosine receptors on WT tumor-infiltrating CD45+ immune cells increased VEGF production fivefold, an effect not seen in tumor-associated CD45+ immune cells lacking A2B receptors. In contrast, we found no significant difference in VEGF production between CD45- tumor cells isolated from WT and A2BKO mice. Thus, our data suggest that tumor cells promote their growth by exploiting A2B adenosine receptor-dependent regulation of VEGF in host immune cells.
Modeling, design and demonstration of low-temperature, low-pressure and high-throughput thermocompression bonding of copper interconnections without solders

High-throughput assembly technologies to form Copper (Cu) interconnections without solders at below 200°C, and pitch below 40µm has been a major challenge in the semiconductor industry. A unique solution has been demonstrated by Georgia Institute of Technology to overcome this grand challenge. This technology utilizes thermocompression bonding to form copper interconnections with process tolerances to accommodate non-coplanarities of bumps and warpage of the substrate, without solders. The bonding pressure applied for thermocompression was 365MPa, to enable Cu bump collapse by 3µm. As thermocompression bonders are generally force-limited to 400N, such high bonding pressures may hinder scalability of this technology to fine pitches with higher I/O densities. This paper addresses this manufacturability challenge with the novel Electroless Palladium Autocatalytic Gold (EPAG) surface finish instead of the standard Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold (ENIG) or Electroless Nickel Electroless Palladium Immersion Gold (ENEPIG) finish, previously used to prevent Cu oxidation for bonding load reduction down to 120MPa.
Factors Affecting the Binding of Antimycin A to Complex III of the Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain

Abstract The nature of the binding of antimycin A to Complex III of the mitochondrial respiratory chain was investigated according to two procedures. In the first procedure, tritium-labeled antimycin A was extracted from its binding to Complex III either by acetone or by concentrated solutions of taurocholate. Seventy per cent of the complex-bound antimycin A was extracted by either reagent. The acetone-extracted antimycin A was found to be fully inhibitory to the reduced coenzyme Q-cytochrome c reductase activity of Complex III. Moreover, even though most of the antimycin A was extracted from Complex III by taurocholate, its inhibitory effect on the cleavage of the complex was retained. The second procedure utilized enzymically active Complex III as a reagent to detect antimycin A that failed to be bound to, or was released from, an enzymically inactive Complex III. The binding of antimycin A to intact Complex III was found to be essentially irreversible, little or no transfer of antimycin A from antimycin-treated complex to untreated complex being observed. High levels of detergent (3 to 5% taurocholate) in the reaction mixture permitted some transfer of the antimycin A. Conditions that normally caused cleavage of Complex III (i.e. bile salts plus ammonium sulfate, or 1.0 m guanidine), or digestion with trypsin, destroyed the capacity of the complex to bind antimycin A. Reagents that cleaved Complex III despite the treatment of the complex with antimycin A (i.e. 3.0 m guanidine, 0.2 m guanidine plus freezing, or taurocholate plus mersalyl) also caused a release of antimycin A from the complex. Noninhibitory derivatives of antimycin A (i.e. the O-methyl ether of antimycin or deformylantimycin A) offered little or no competition to antimycin A in its binding to Complex III.
Dynamic Stability of Axially-Stiffened Imperfect Cylindrical Shells under Axial Step Loading

The dynamic stability of an axially-stiffened cylinder under an axial impulsive load in the form of a step function is investigated. Donnell-Karman-type nonlinear equations are derived for the initially imperfect stiffened cylinders including eccentricity of stiffeners. A buckling criterion is defined and buckling loads are computed for different imperfection parameters and positive and negative eccentricities for a cylinder with an axial stiffening system. The results indicate the high imperfection sensitivity of axially-stiffened cylinders.
EX_QOS driven approach for finding replacement services in distributed service composition

Web services can be composed together in order to carry out complex transactions or workflows. During the execution of the composite service, if one component service fails, a mechanism is needed to ensure that the failed service can be quickly and efficiently replaced. In this paper, based on the proposed dependent quality model extended QoS model (EX_QoS), we present an approach for finding replacement composite service in order to make the composite service can automatically switch to the new replacement composite services. Compared with works have been done, this paper emphasizes on find-ing the replacement composite service with global optimization in decentralized service composition and through making the backing up process begin at the failure happening time and before the service invoking time, the approach can make the replacement composite service more available and can minimize the interrupting time caused by the backing up process.
Level Set Based Surface Capturing in 3D Medical Images

Brain aneurysm rupture has been reported to be directly related to the size of aneurysms. The current method used to determine aneurysm size is to manually measure the width of the neck and height of the dome on a computer screen. Because aneurysms usually have complicated shapes, using the size of the aneurysm neck and dome may not be accurate and may overlook important geometrical information. In this paper we present a level set based illusory surface algorithm to capture the aneurysms from the vascular tree. Since the aneurysms are described by level set functions, not only the volume but also the curvature of aneurysms can be computed for medical studies. Experiments and comparisons with models used for capturing illusory contours in 2D images are performed. This includes applications to clinical image data demonstrating the procedure of accurately capturing a middle cerebral artery aneurysm.
A cross-sectional study of medical students' knowledge of patient safety and quality improvement.

Background The Association of American Medical Colleges and the World Health Organization have endorsed formal patient safety and quality improvement (QI) education for medical students. We surveyed medical students to assess their current level of patient safety and QI knowledge and to identify factors associated with increased knowledge. Methods A literature review, focus groups with medical students, and local expert interviews were used to develop an electronic survey, which was distributed to all medical students at a single medical school in the spring of 2012. Results Fifty-seven percent of the medical school student body (N = 790) participated in the survey. A greater proportion of students reported previous exposure to patient safety education than to QI education (79% vs 47%). Students scored an average of 56% and 58% on the patient safety and QI knowledge tests, respectively. Having or pursuing an advanced degree (P = .02) and previous exposure to patient safety education (P = .02) were associated with higher knowledge scores. After adjusting for confounding variables, only previous exposure to QI education (P = .02) was associated with higher QI knowledge scores. Limitations There is a risk of measurement bias due to the use of an unvalidated instrument. Students who have greater knowledge of patient safety or QI might recall exposure at a greater frequency, inflating the association between exposure and knowledge. Also, this is a cross-sectional study, so we cannot draw conclusions about causality. Conclusion Medical students' knowledge of patient safety and QI is low. Previous formal or informal education about these topics is associated with increased knowledge.
Differential Labeling of Myosin V Heads with Quantum Dots Allows Direct Visualization of Hand-Over-Hand Processivity

Abstract The double-headed myosin V molecular motor carries intracellular cargo processively along actin tracks in a hand-over-hand manner. To test this hypothesis at the molecular level, we observed single myosin V molecules that were differentially labeled with quantum dots having different emission spectra so that the position of each head could be identified with ∼6-nm resolution in a total internal reflectance microscope. With this approach, the individual heads of a single myosin V molecule were observed taking 72-nm steps as they alternated positions on the actin filament during processive movement. In addition, the heads were separated by 36nm during pauses in motion, suggesting attachment to actin along its helical repeat. The 36-nm interhead spacing, the 72-nm step size, and the observation that heads alternate between leading and trailing positions on actin are obvious predictions of the hand-over-hand model, thus confirming myosin V's mode of walking along an actin filament.
Competition by obligate and facultative mutualists for partners in a shrimp-goby association

Mutualist species compete intra and inter-specifically for the resources provided by their partners. Because obligate mutualists are more reliant than facultative mutualists on the resources that their partners provide, they are expected to compete more strongly for those resources. Here, I examined interference competition in two goby fishes: Nes longus (an obligate mutualist) and Ctenogobius saepepallens (a facultative mutualist). Both gobies associate with the shrimp, Alpheus floridanus. Shrimp provide gobies with refuge from predators (a burrow in the sand), and gobies provide shrimp with a warning signal when predators are near. Using an aquarium experiment, I examined the behavior of a pair of gobies with access to a single shrimp burrow. I used four different goby pairings: large N. longus and small N. longus, large N. longus and small C. saepepallens, large C. saepepallens and small N. longus, and large C. saepepallens and small C. saepepallens. When paired with large N. longus individuals, small gobies of both species were less likely to occupy the single burrow than when paired with large C. saepepallens individuals. In addition, large N. longus individuals were less likely to co-occupy the single burrow with smaller gobies than were large C. saepepallens individuals. These results seem to indicate that large N. longus individuals exclude smaller gobies from burrows, while large C. saepepallens individuals do not. This study adds evidence to the supposition that obligate mutualists in general compete more strongly for mutualist partners than do facultative mutualists.
Simulation of process execution monitoring and adjustment schemes

Optimization and design of production and service operations has been a cornerstone of simulation applications for many years. Recently there has been increasing interest in excellence in process execution, for service processes, supply chains, and manufacturing operations. Simulation again has an important role to play, in evaluating the effectiveness of different execution monitoring schemes. The focus of analysis changes in this setting, however, from monitoring characteristics of resources, such as queue length, waiting time and utilization, to monitoring the timeliness and correctness of the progress of entities through the system, and reacting with real-time adjustments to resources and routings. This paper describes the types of simulation analysis needed, and identifies difficulties in conducting such simulation studies using current commercial software.
Negative Campaigning:Polemics against Brahmins in a Buddhist Sutta

This paper takes a close look at the ways Brahmins are portrayed in one sutta of the Pāli canon that explains the ‘five ancient principles of Brahmins that today are seen in dogs, but not in Brahmins’. The paper analyses the method of comparing Brahmins with dogs and discusses the rhetorical purpose of this comparison by juxtaposing the respective statements with data from Brāhmaṇical law texts. In the course of this analysis three rhetorical techniques are identified (reductionism, exaggeration, and generalization), which Buddhists employed in their polemics against Brahmins.
Ability in perceiving nonnative contrasts: performance on natural and synthetic speech stimuli.

The perception of the distinction between /r/ and /l/ by native speakers of American English and of Japanese was studied using natural and synthetic speech. The American subjects were all nearly perfect at recognizing the natural speech sounds, whereas there was substantial variation among the Japanese subjects in their accuracy of recognizing /r/ and /l/ except in syllable-final position. A logit model, which additively combined the acoustic information conveyed byF1-transition duration and byF3-onset frequency, provided a good fit to the perception of synthetic /r/ and /l/ by the American subjects. There was substantial variation among the Japanese subjects in whether theF1 andF3 cues had a significant effect on their classifications of the synthetic speech. This variation was related to variation in accuracy of recognizing natural /r/ and /l/, such that greater use of both theF1 cue and theF3 cue in classifying the synthetic speech sounds was positively related to accuracy in recognizing the natural sounds. However, multiple regression showed that use of theF1 cue did not account for significant variance in natural speech performance beyond that accounted for by theF3 cue, indicating that theF3 cue is more important than theF1 cue for Japanese speakers learning English. The relation between performance on natural and synthetic speech also provides external validation of the logit model by showing that it predicts performance outside of the domain of data to which it was fit.
Distribution of tobacco rattle virus and potato virus X in leaves, roots, and fruits and/or seeds of naturally-infected weeds

Weeds in tobacco rattle virus (TRV)-infested potato fields were examined for TRV and potato virus X (PVX) with the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Questionable positive reactions were evaluated with immunosorbent electron microscopy. Of 615 weeds, representing 28 species, sampled over a two-year period, four species contained only TRV, three were infected only with PVX and eight had both viruses. Tobacco rattle virus was located only in the roots of five species and PVX was found only in the foliage of five species. Seeds and/or fruits of three species contained TRV while two contained PVX. Only one weed species,Solanum sara choides, contained both viruses in all plant portions tested. Potato virus X was not detected in weeds within a field planted with PVX-free potato seed.
The role of neurosteroids and non-genomic effects of progestins and androgens in mediating sexual receptivity of rodents.

Progestins and androgens modulate sexual receptivity in rodents, in part through mechanisms independent of traditional intracellular steroid receptors. Progesterone (PROG) in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) and ventral tegmental (VTA) facilitates lordosis but has different actions in these brain areas. Primarily using lordosis in rodents as an in vivo experimental model, we have examined the effects that progestins exert in the midbrain and hypothalamus. Localization and blocker studies indicate that PROG’s actions in the VMH require intracellular progestin receptors (PRs) but in the VTA they do not. Progestins that have rapid, membrane effects, and/or are devoid of affinity for PRs, facilitate lordosis when applied to the VTA. Manipulation of GABA and/or GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor complexes (GBRs) in the VTA alters lordosis, which suggests that progestins may interact with GBRs to facilitate receptivity by enhancing the function of GABAergic neurons. Interfering with PROG’s metabolism to, or the biosynthesis of, 3α-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one (3α,5α-TH PROG or allopregnanolone), the most effective endogenous GBR agonist, in the VTA attenuates female sexual behavior in rodents. Stimulation of mitochondrial benzodiazepine receptors (MBRs), which enhances neurosteroid production, by infusions of an MBR agonist to the VTA enhances lordosis. 3α,5α-TH PROG is increased in the midbrain of mated>proestrous>diestrous rodents. These data suggest that in the VTA, PROG may facilitate lordosis following metabolism to and/or biosynthesis of 3α,5α-TH PROG, which may have subsequent actions at GBRs and/or MBRs to acutely modulate female sexual behavior in rodents. The 3α-hydroxysteroid oxidoreduced metabolite of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (3α-androstanediol), is important for termination of sexual receptivity in rodents and has these effects in the absence of functional intracellular androgens receptors. As well, altering GBR function in the hypothalamus can influence 3α-androstanediol’s inhibition of sexual receptivity. Through actions in the hypothalamus that are independent of intracellular androgen receptors but involving GBRs, 3α-androstanediol inhibits lordosis. These findings suggest that the PROG metabolite and pregnane neurosteroid, 3α,5α-TH PROG, and the testosterone metabolite and androstane neurosteroid, 3α-androstanediol, can have proximate influences on lordosis that is via nonclassical actions at intracellular steroid receptors.
Substance P-immunoreactive sensory axons in the rat respiratory tract : a quantitative study of their distribution and role in neurogenic inflammation

Substance P is one of the peptides released from sensory nerves that mediate "neurogenic inflammation." Although substance P-immunoreactive (SP-IR) axons are known to be present within the mucosa of the respiratory tract, the relative extent of the innervation of various components of the mucosa is not known. Therefore, we determined the distribution and number of SP-IR axons in the rat trachea and bronchi, by using immunohistochemistry on tissue whole mounts. Specifically, we sought to learn whether these axons directly innervate the postcapillary venules involved in neurogenic plasma extravasation, the arterioles involved in neurogenic vasodilatation, and the airway smooth muscle involved in bronchoconstriction in pathogen-free, adult male F344 rats. We found that 90% of the SP-IR axons were single axons, usually having varicosities. Eighty-five percent of these were in the epithelium, 6% innervated arterioles, and the remainder elsewhere in the lamina propria. Only 10% of the mediator-sensitive postcapillary venules (i.e., venules labeled with Monastral blue pigment after challenge with capsaicin or substance P) were within 10 microns of SP-IR axons. SP-IR axons were more than 10 times as frequent in the smooth muscle of the distal bronchi as in the trachea. Capsaicin pretreatment (168 mg/kg over 7 days) reduced the number of SP-IR axons in the trachea by 96%, which is consistent with their being sensory. Unilateral vagotomy reduced the number of SP-IR axons bilaterally in the trachea and ipsilaterally in the main stem bronchus. Using an antibody to Protein Gene Product 9.5 as a nonspecific marker for all nerves in the trachea, we determined that SP-IR axons constituted 90% of the axons in the epithelium, 32% of the axons on arterioles, and only 4% of the axons in the smooth muscle. We conclude that most SP-IR nerves in the trachea are sensory axons and most of these axons end in the epithelium. SP-IR axons innervate mucosal arterioles, but few innervate postcapillary venules. Therefore, the mechanism by which sensory axons evoke plasma extravasation from these venules is likely to involve the diffusion of the peptide or a secondary mediator from the epithelium or from the arterioles upstream.
Promoting Self-Discipline: A Comprehensive Approach

(1985). Promoting self‐discipline: A comprehensive approach. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 24, Teaching Self‐Discipline, pp. 271-276.
Temperature dependence of intrinsic concentration in HgTe

Abstract The temperature dependence of intrinsic concentration of HgTe between 2° and 300°K is calculated assuming that the valence and conduction bands overlap. The proposed model neglects the non-spherical features of the heavy hole band. The best fit to the experimental data was obtained for the overlap value δE = 1 meV, with E O = 0.16 eV at 300°K, and E O = 0.30 eV at 4°K.