cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Analysis of eIF2B bodies and their relationships with stress granules and P-bodies

Eukaryotic cells respond to stress and changes in the environment in part by repressing translation and forming cytoplasmic assemblies called stress granules and P-bodies, which harbor non-translating mRNAs and proteins. A third, but poorly understood, assembly called the eIF2B body can form and contains the eIF2B complex, an essential guanine exchange factor for the translation initiation factor eIF2. Hypomorphic EIF2B alleles can lead to Vanishing White Matter Disease (VWMD), a leukodystrophy that causes progressive white matter loss. An unexplored question is how eIF2B body formation is controlled and whether VWMD alleles in EIF2B alter the formation of eIF2B bodies, stress granules, or P-bodies. To examine these issues, we assessed eIF2B body, stress granule, and P-body induction in wild-type yeast cells and cells carrying VWMD alleles in the EIF2B2 (GCD7) and EIF2B5 (GCD6) subunits of eIF2B. We demonstrate eIF2B bodies are rapidly and reversibly formed independently of stress granules during acute glucose deprivation. VWMD mutations had diverse effects on stress-induced assemblies with some alleles altering eIF2B bodies, and others leading to increased P-body formation. Moreover, some VWMD-causing mutations in GCD7 caused hyper-sensitivity to chronic GCN2 activation, consistent with VWMD mutations causing hyper-sensitivity to eIF2α phosphorylation and thereby impacting VWMD pathogenesis.
Resting gamma power during the postnatal critical period for GABAergic system development is modulated by infant diet and sex.

Abstract Gamma band activity (30–50 Hz) plays an essential role in brain development and function, but neither the early postnatal development nor subject and environmental factors influencing this development have been reported. We documented the development of resting gamma power using high density EEG recordings obtained each month from postnatal month 2 to 6 in 518 healthy infants who were breast-fed (170; 85 boys), fed milk formula (186; 97 boys), or fed soy formula (162; 90 boys). Gamma power was determined for 44 sites distributed over major brain regions and analyses were adjusted for background variables relevant to neurodevelopment. The results show gamma power follows a gradually increasing function across this time period that varies in topographic magnitude and is differentially influenced by subject and environmental variables—among which gestation, head circumference, and infant diet-sex interactions figure most prominently. Relationships between gamma power and standardized measures of infant behavioral development appear to be emerging but are in flux during this time. Since this postnatal period is considered critical in the development of the GABAergic system underlying the generation of gamma activity, the observed findings may reflect organizational changes that will influence the future development of gamma-related behavioral and neurocognitive functions.
Is greater antibiotic therapy prior to ESS associated with differences in surgical outcomes in CRS

OBJECTIVE Antibiotics have been a mainstay of chronic rhinosinusitis therapy; however, data suggest that antibiotics may also result in several adverse unintended consequences. We aimed to evaluate if greater antibiotic use prior to sinus surgery was associated with differences in surgical outcomes. METHODS Adult CRS patients enrolled in a prospective, multi-institutional, observational cohort study were asked to recall systemic antibiotic use in the 90 days prior to endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS). Antibiotic use was examined in relation to demographics, disease characteristics, and outcomes. RESULTS Data were collected for 271 study participants followed for a mean of 14.9 [± 5.1] months across four institutions, with a mean preoperative antibiotic use of 27.8 [± 22.7] days out of the 90 preceding ESS. After ESS, significant improvement (P < 0.001) was reported for patient-reported outcome measures and endoscopy scores for the overall cohort. No bivariate correlation between preoperative antibiotic use and degree of benefit in objective clinical measures (endoscopy, Brief Smell Identification Test) was seen. Increased preoperative antibiotic use was associated with less improvement in 22-item SinoNasal Outcome Test (SNOT-22) and its rhinologic subdomain after ESS. Prevalence of achieving a minimal clinically important difference in overall SNOT-22 symptom scores was lower in those using more preoperative antibiotics, although statistical significance was not reached when adjusting for independent covariates in multivariate modeling. CONCLUSION Higher amounts of previous antibiotic use do not appear to be associated with better ESS outcomes. Specific recommendations for antibiotic use as part of CRS-appropriate medical therapy prior to ESS require further study, particularly given concerns for antibiotic overuse and implications for improving outcomes in the modern healthcare era. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 2C Laryngoscope, 129:558-566, 2019.
Design of a Compact Hemispiral GPS Antenna With Direction Finding Capabilities

A nearly hemispherical spiral or “hemispiral,” an antenna for global positioning system reception, is presented with design methodology and measurements. Its set of distinct radiation patterns allows receivers to estimate the angular direction of incoming signals in the presence of noise without the need for an array. It requires no dielectric or absorbing materials and may operate from a single RF path, making it ideal for cost-constrained platforms. The antenna’s compact size also compares favorably with known reconfigurable antenna designs.
Gait health monitoring through footstep-induced floor vibrations: poster abstract

Gait health monitoring is critical for condition diagnosis and fall prediction in elderly populations. Existing methods for gait health monitoring (e.g. direct observation and sensing) are not suitable for non-clinical environments due to qualitative assessments or operational limitations. Our method utilizes footstep-induced floor vibration sensing to provide a passive gait health monitoring platform that can be used in non-clinical environments (e.g. home settings) to provide gait health information in a timely manner. We decompose vibration responses to obtain signal peaks that correspond to temporal gait information and leverage foot dominance to learn a signal amplitude-footstep ground reaction force transfer function. Preliminary results show that temporal gait parameters can be estimated with up to 99% accuracy and gait balance symmetry can be estimated with as low as 10.4% error.
Analysis of Malware Communities Using Multi-Modal Features

Identifying possible threat actors from samples of malware remains an active area of research with important ramifications for cybersecruity practitioners. The unsupervised identification and characterization of malware samples has been primarily treated as an early integration, multi-modal clustering problem where all possible features derived from the samples are concatenated into one feature vector, which can then be fed into a standard unsupervised learning algorithm. In this work, we focus on characterizing malware samples into possible threat actors from both late integration and intermediate integration multi-modal data perspectives. In doing so, we propose a new algorithm, Cross-Modal Influence Clustering, for characterizing malware samples into threat actor groups. We test our proposed method along with several other multi-modal clustering techniques on heterogeneous malware samples from three different threat actors. Our results indicate that our proposed method is the best method for clustering malware samples into threat actors in an unsupervised setting and that we observe consistently better results in characterizing malware samples by threat actors from intermediate or late integration multi-modal paradigms rather than an early integration one.
Aqueous Ni-rich-cathode dispersions processed with phosphoric acid for lithium-ion batteries with ultra-thick electrodes.

Abstract Lithium-ion battery (LIB) production can benefit both economically and environmentally from aqueous processing. Although these electrodes have the potential to surpass electrodes conventionally processed with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) in terms of performance, significant issues still exist with respect to ultra-thick cathodes (≫4 mAh/cm2 areal capacities). A major concern for these types of electrodes with high-nickel active material stems from lithium leaching from active material, which drives the pH of the dispersion in excess of 12 and subsequently corrodes the current collector interface. As this corrosion reaction proceeds, hydrogen generation at the interface creates bubbles which cause severe cracking in the dried electrode surface. When areal loadings are increased, this effect becomes more pronounced and is detrimental to both mechanical and electrochemical properties of these electrodes. Herein, a technique for mitigating corrosion at the current collector by adjusting the pH of the dispersion with the addition of phosphoric acid is investigated. Phosphoric acid was added in 0.5 wt% increments between 0.0 and 1.5 wt%, and effects on rheology, adhesion, corrosion, and electrochemical performance were investigated. A technique is reported for producing aqueous processed cathodes with areal loadings of 6–8 mAh/cm2 with reduced surface cracking and superior high-rate discharge capacity (i.e. high-power performance) for this class of cathode loadings.
Detoxing the Child Welfare System

This Article considers the varying reasons why drug policies informing child welfare interventions are not evolving as part of the drug policy reform movement, which has successfully advocated for initiatives that decrease mass incarceration, end mandatory minimums, and decriminalize or legalize marijuana use and possession. Many existing child welfare laws and policies that address parental drug use rely on the premise that prenatal exposure to a controlled substance causes inevitable harm to a child. Furthermore, they presume that any amount of drug use by a parent places a child in imminent danger, or is indicative of future risk of harm. Child welfare authorities will initiate investigations based on these assumptions, and once a case is opened in family court, the family is often split apart while drug-using parents are assessed, evaluated, and referred to inadequate substance abuse treatment by poorly trained caseworkers. An analysis of evidence-based studies reveals that there is no scientific determination that exposure to substances like cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates, or marijuana will inevitably cause harm to a fetus. Additionally, research has shown drug use by a parent or parents does not on its own increase threats to child safety or predict future maltreatment. Furthermore, a review of data on court-mandated substance abuse treatment and other services finds that child protective services workers are severely limited in their assessment and evaluation of drug-using parents, and often overlook greater service needs at play, including domestic violence counseling and housing assistance. Despite being borne out of the same false assumptions and outdated research, child protective services’ response to drug- using parents remains disproportionately punitive while the criminal justice system’s policies on drug offenders are softening. This Article argues that this dichotomy exists, in large part, because the media-spun image of drug offenders has evolved into one that is sympathetic and relatable, while the narrative surrounding drug-using parents remains stagnant: the selfish mother who loves drugs more than her baby. After exploring several reasons why this narrative persists, I suggest that, in addition to advocating for changes to state and federal policies that can positively impact child welfare system-involved families, the drug policy reform movement also must encompass changing public perceptions surrounding drug-using parents through comprehensive family defense practice, domestic human rights documentation, and facts-driven journalism.
A Short Course in Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus: Perfectly Competitive Markets

Introduction In this chapter, we put together consumers interested in buying a good and firms interested in selling the good. We start out by describing what we mean by perfect competition; this requires price-taking behavior by all parties, homogeneous goods, perfect information, and free entry and exit in the long run. We derive industry supply curves in the short run and in the long run. With consumers' actions aggregated into an industry demand curve, and firms' actions aggregated into an industry supply curve, we discuss excess demand and excess supply. Then we describe the competitive market equilibrium. Next we turn to the welfare properties of the market equilibrium. We define producer's surplus for a single firm and producers' surplus for all the firms in the market. We will show how the competitive market equilibrium maximizes social surplus; that is, the sum of consumers' surplus and producers' surplus. Finally, we analyze the deadweight loss , or loss in social surplus, created by a per-unit tax on the good being sold in the market. We use the idea of the market demand curve, developed in Chapter 4, and the idea of consumers' surplus, developed in Chapter 7. We also extend the welfare economics analysis of Chapter 7, but this time with an eye on both the consumers and the producers of the good. Perfect Competition As in Chapters 8 through 10, we are focusing on competitive firms. A firm is competitive if it takes prices as given; that is, beyond its control.
Immobilized Bioelectrochemical Sensors

Presently there are a number of fine and sensitive methods for determining chemical or biochemical substance among which bio electrodes represent the most recent development. Bioelectrodes consist of biologically active materials (e.g enzyme, antibody, whole cell or cell fragments) held in close proximity to a suitable electrochemical transducer that sense specific electroactive enzyme substrates or products. Considerable efforts are still in progress in order to improve the performance of these bio electrodes and widen their applications. The present article describes some of the most frequently used immobilization techniques in producing such sensors and reviews several parameters affecting their responses. Finally, a collection of current analytical applications is presented.
Conclusion: Lessons Learned from I-CBSD

SIMPLIFYING the description of components and systems has enabled a detailed investigation of testing these software entities. A complete fundamental testing theory has been developed. Powerful tools have been implemented to support the theory. Working with the theory and experimenting with the tools has provided many insights about testing components and systems, which are summarized in this chapter.
Serum enzyme monitoring in asthma patients.

To the Editor.— We read with interest the article by Maguire et al entitled "Cardiotoxicity During Treatment of Severe Childhood Asthma." 1 Many of the symptoms that these asthmatic patients exhibited are similar to the manifestation of acute myocarditis, ie, tachycardia, elevated CPK-MB levels, electrocardiogram abnormalities, in addition to their severe respiratory distress. In our study of seven children with acute myocarditis, two of them had an initial diagnosis of status asthmaticus. 2 Do the authors feel that it is possible that some of the children in their study may in retrospect have had myocarditis that responded to the treatment of severe status asthmaticus?
Retiming and clock scheduling to minimize simultaneous switching

Today's densely packed deep sub micron (DSM) circuits operate at high frequencies, and draw large amounts of instantaneous currents. The simultaneous switching noise thus induced in the power and ground networks, reduces the circuit noise margins. This work presents a method to minimize the maximum simultaneous switching currents in sequential circuits by the seamless integration of the well known techniques of retiming and clock scheduling. We adopt a gradual relaxation based approach to find an efficient solution to our formulation. Experiments with MCNC benchmark circuits in the 0.18 micron technology show that, on average, our method reduces the maximum simultaneous switching current by 18% compared to unoptimized circuits designed using commercial tools. This improvement was obtained with no decrease in operating frequencies. With a reduction of 17% in power dissipation, on average, our method seems encouraging.
Effect of body position on the measurements of early and late cardiac repolarization duration

In this study, we assessed the impact of changes in body position on our novel parameters quantifying repolarization heterogeneity based on the morphology of the T-loop. Early and late repolarization durations (EKD and LKD) as well as QT/QTc, RR and T-wave amplitude were computed from the three pseudo-orthogonal lead (X, Y Z) recorded in healthy individuals. These measurements were monitor continuously in 63 individuals undergoing experiment including five body positions: left supine, right supine, supine, standing and sitting. We observed more profound impact of body position changes onto the QT/QTc interval and heart rate than in TpTe, ERD and LRD intervals. We conclude that the EKD and LRD interval measurements are more robust to changes in autonomic balance and heart position triggered by body position shifts.
PRESTRESSED COMPOSITE STEEL BEAM DESIGN

Approximate design equations supported prestressed composite steel beams are developed. Prestressing is achieved by welding a high strength steel cover plate on the flange of an initially stressed rolled steel beam which is released after welding. It is illustrated with the help of several design examples that significant savings in the material cost can be derived for simply supported beams of large spans by the use of prestressed composite steel beams. The proposed design method conforms to the 1969 AISC Specification for the Design, Fabrication, and Erection of Structural Steel Buildings.
Regularized edge detection

It has been observed that the edge detection problem in image processing is ill-posed. The ill-posed aspect of this problem is the differentiation step, which is an explicit operation in many schemes for finding edges in images. Differentiation is very sensitive to noise and its discrete version is an ill-conditioned operation. The authors concentrate on regularizing the differentiation operation and incorporating it in an edge detection scheme. They consider both a direct implementation of Miller regularization and one involving projections onto convex sets. >
An approximate maximum likelihood method for estimation of direction of arrival parameters

The estimation of DOA and associated signal parameters from the observations received by isotropic sensors in additive noise medium is considered. The DOAs and signal parameters to be estimated are functions of number of snapshots (N), number of sensors(M), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), separation, phi /sub d/ and correlation between the sources, theta . Different criterion functions for low and for high SNR are obtained by suitable approximations choosing relevant terms depending upon the nature of the parameters. In the first step, expressions are derived for the estimates of the signal power (spectral density in the wideband instance) and noise power. In step two, these are used to estimate the DOA angles. Simulation results for narrowband signals show the performance of the proposed method. The estimation approach could be extended for wideband signals. >
Mind‐body dualism and the unity of bodymind

Like the astronomer who studies “messages” emanating from heavenly bodies or the geologist who studies “messages” recorded in the rocks, the investigator of mind also is concerned with messages, namely those which indicate how possessors of minds decipher the messages they receive. The function of mind becomes, then, for the scientist a deciphering activity of certain classes of living beings. The dilemma of mind-body “dualism” seems to disappear in this context.
Homicidal aggression in schizophrenic men.

In a sample of 205 hospitalized schizophrenics, 59 men were found who made verbal threats to kill or physical attacks some time during their illness. All homicidal aggression occurred during active phases of psychosis, typically in a setting of acute excitement and in recurrent illnesses. Paranoid diagnoses were overrepresented. Closely related females were the prime targets, suggesting a resentment of dependence on a woman. An impersonal, compulsive urge appears to be the motivating force leading to physical attacks. Language: en
Chimerism following fetal transfusion. Report of leucocyte hybridization and infant with acute lymphocytic leukaemia.

The clinical outcome from 461 Rh-sensitized pregnancies whose infants received fetal and/or neonatal blood transfusion have been observed over a period of 7 years. 23 of 124 (19.5 %) infants receiving intrauterine transfusion showed persistence of donor white blood cells at birth. 34 of 82 (41.5 %) peripheral blood samples taken one day following exchange transfusion of the neonate displayed metaphase figures of donor cells. Donor cells could be identified in only 15 of 57 (26.3 %) of these infants on the day of hospital discharge. At four months of age, only one infant maintained a donor cell line which subsequently disappeared at one year of age. In contrast, 5 of 65 infants surviving fetal transfusion have consistently demonstrated the persistence of circulating donor white cells beyond one year of age. One of these infants has developed acute lymphocytic leukaemia at 4 1/2 years of age, and one of these presumably chimeric children demonstrated hybrid cells in its peripheral blood. No evidence of morbid conditions relating to the transfusion(s) have been noted in the infants who received transfusions only after birth.
Au “Ink” for AFM “Dip-Pen” Nanolithography

Scanning probe lithography is a rapidly growing research field, in which atomic force microscope based “dip-pen” nanolithography (DPN) is a simple new technique for creating chemically distinct nanostructures on surfaces in a “direct-write” fashion. Previous works demonstrate the transport of alkanethiols to a gold substrate, resulting in the formation of patterned self-assembled monolayers. Here, we show that surface-induced reduction of metal ions combined with DPN can be used to create metallic nanostructures on Si surfaces. Au nanostructures with sub-100-nm resolution can be created routinely, showing that the DPN technique is a general method for nanofabrication.
Age and WAIS-R intelligence in a national sample of adults in the 20- to 74-year age range: A cross-sectional analysis with educational level controlled

Abstract Age differences in intellect as reflected in WAIS-R performance from age 20 to 74 years were evaluated while educational attainment levels were held constant. The seven adult age groups (ranging from 20–24 to 70–74) in the WAIS-R standardization sample, comprising a sample of 1480 men and women, provided the data source. The data were analyzed using regression analysis and a weighted means approach. The 25–34-year age group served as the target sample for this study; the mean scores for adults in each educational category, within each age group, were weighted to match the educational distribution of ages 25–34. After weighting for education, the decline in mean Verbal IQ from age to age disappeared. However, declines across the 20–74-year range remained for Performance IQ and Full Scale IQ, even after controlling for education. The relationship between education and each of the 11 subtests was also evaluated; the resuls were interpreted as supportive of Horn's fluid-crystallized explanation of changes in intelligence with advancing age.
Preparation and bactericidal properties of silver nanoparticles in aqueous tea leaf extract

Ag nanoparticles 10 to 60 nm in size have been prepared by reducing silver ions in aqueous tea leaf extract. The properties of the nanoparticles have been studied by ultraviolet spectroscopy, atomic absorption, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. According to the Raman spectroscopy results, the equilibrium of the redox reaction is displaced to an antioxidant form of flavonoids. The presence of silver nanoparticles enhances the antioxidant and bactericidal properties of tea.
Monitoring annealing via CO(2) laser heating of defect populations on fused silica surfaces using photoluminescence microscopy.

Photoluminescence (PL) microscopy and spectroscopy under 266 nm and 355 nm laser excitation are explored as a means of monitoring defect populations in laser-modified sites on the surface of fused silica and their subsequent response to heating to different temperatures via exposure to a CO2 laser beam. Laser-induced temperature changes were estimated using an analytic solution to the heat flow equation and compared to changes in the PL emission intensity. The results indicate that the defect concentrations decrease significantly with increasing CO2 laser exposure and are nearly eliminated when the peak surface temperature exceeds the softening point of fused silica (~1900K), suggesting that this method might be suitable for in situ monitoring of repair of defective sites in fused silica optical components.
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with atherosclerosis-promoting risk factor clustering but not vascular damage in children.

Background Vitamin D has been associated with multiple cardiometabolic risk factors in children but there is a paucity of studies examining its correlation to vascular function and structure. Our objective was to determine whether there is a correlation between vitamin D, cardiometabolic risk, vascular distensibility and carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) in high-risk children.
Application of the smooth orthogonal decomposition to oceanographic data sets

The so-called “smooth orthogonal decomposition” technique, developed in the nonlinear vibrations and fatigue community, is applied to an oceanographic data set. This decomposition technique overcomes some limitations of the proper orthogonal decomposition technique by identifying modes which behave smoothly in time and thus being sensitive to both variance amplitude as well as frequency. This important property is demonstrated through identification of a 4 day topographic Rossby wave on the Louisiana slope, which the proper orthogonal decomposition technique fails to isolate.
Phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases in bladder afferent pathways with cyclophosphamide-induced cystitis

Abstract Extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK1 and ERK2) are phosphorylated in the nervous system after somatic or visceral stimulation or inflammation and play roles in central sensitization and pain hypersensitivity. ERK1/2 activation with cyclophosphamide (CYP)-induced cystitis has been demonstrated in urinary bladder and inhibitors of ERK1/2 phosphorylation reduce CYP-induced bladder hyperreflexia. In this study, we determined pERK1/2 expression and regulation in lumbosacral dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and spinal cord with CYP-induced cystitis (4 h, 48 h, chronic) using Western blotting and immunohistochemical techniques. Phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases (pERK1/2) expression was significantly ( P ≤0.01) upregulated in L6 and S1 DRG with CYP-induced cystitis with the greatest upregulation occurring at 4 h. No changes in pERK1/2 expression were observed in L1, L2 or L5 DRG or in any spinal cord segment examined (L1, L2, L5–S1) with CYP-induced cystitis. Cytoplasmic pERK1/2–immunoreactivity (IR) and pericellular pERK1/2–IR was observed in all DRG examined from control rats and cytoplasmic pERK1/2–IR was significantly ( P ≤0.01) increased in L6 and S1 DRG with 4 and 48 h CYP-induced cystitis. In contrast, pericellular pERK1/2–IR in DRG was not regulated by CYP-induced cystitis. A small percentage of bladder afferent cells in lumbosacral DRG expressed pERK1/2-IR in control rats; however, CYP-induced cystitis (48 h) significantly ( P ≤0.01) increased the percentage of bladder afferent cells in the L6 and S1 DRG exhibiting pERK1/2–IR. These studies suggest that activation of the ERK pathway in lumbosacral DRG may play a role in neuroplasticity in micturition reflexes with CYP-induced cystitis.
A neoplasm of globule leucocytes in the intestine of a cat.

Abstract A case report of a feline intestinal neoplasm, diagnosed as a globule leucocyte tumour is recorded. Such a tumour has not been previously reported in any species. Details of the light and electron microscopy are given with a brief discussion of the significance of the tumour.
Transglutaminase 2 is a marker of chondrocyte hypertrophy and osteoarthritis severity in the Hartley guinea pig model of knee OA.

Summary Objective The transglutaminase (TG) isoenzyme TG2, which catalyzes protein cross-linking via transamidation, influences healing phenotype in multiple forms of tissue injury. Moreover, TG2 knockout suppresses cartilage destruction but promotes osteophyte formation in instability-induced mouse knee osteoarthritis (OA). TG2 is marker of growth plate chondrocyte hypertrophy. Moreover, TG2 secreted by chondrocytes acts in part by promoting chondrocyte maturation to hypertrophy, a differentiation state linked with MMP-13 expression and disease progression in OA. Moreover, glucosamine, which is currently under investigation as an OA therapy, binds and inhibits TG2. Here, we examined TG2 as a potential marker of cartilage hypertrophy in the spontaneous guinea pig model of OA. Methods Synovial fluid ELISA and cartilage Immunohistochemistry and quantitative Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), were used to examine TG2 expression and TG transamidation-catalyzed isopeptide bonds. Results TG isopeptide bonds and TG2 were most abundant in articular cartilage in early knee OA. TG2 expression was robust at sites of early but not established osteophytes. Synovial fluid TG2 correlated with knee OA total histological score ( r =0.47, P =0.01), as did medial tibial plateau cartilage TG2 mRNA ( r =1.0, P =0.003). At 12 months of age, medial tibial plateau cartilage TG2 mRNA expression rose markedly in association with elevated type X collagen, as well as ADAMTS-5, and MMP-13 expression, changes not shared in age-matched Strain 13 guinea pigs that are less susceptible to knee OA. Conclusion Hartley guinea pig knee TG2 expression associates with enhanced articular chondrocyte hypertrophy and is a biomarker of OA severity.
Can universal service survive in a competitive telecommunications environment? Evidence from the United States consumer expenditure survey

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of reducing the magnitude of the cross-subsidy in telephone services pricing that flows from long-distance service to local service on the consumption of both of these telephone services and consumer welfare at the household level. Our econometric modeling framework specifies a complete system of household-level demand functions that are derived from the assumption of utility maximization. Our primary data source is the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Survey of Consumer Expenditures. In addition to local and long-distance phone service, food, clothing, and other non-durable expenditures are included in our five-good demand system. All of our price change scenarios point to the conclusion that there appears to be little loss in household-level welfare and little, if any, reduction in the number of households connected to the local telephone network, due to the projected reductions in this cross-subsidy brought about by an increasing amount of competition in all telecommunications markets. In addition, we find that if these local service price increases are coupled with reductions in the price of long-distance service, the net effect can actually be a gain in consumer welfare for a large fraction of households which in the aggregate yields a net benefit to the population of United States households.
Physics reaches of neutrino factories and super conventional beams

The ability of neutrino factories and super conventional beams to probe the neutrino mass and mixing parameters is discussed.
Multiple description coding for uncompressed video streaming over 60GHz networks

Cognitive radio (CR) has been recognized as an important technology for enhancing spectrum efficiency. While many dynamic spectrum access techniques are developed to better utilize the allocated spectrum, the massive unlicensed bandwidth in the 60GHz band also provides great potential for supporting new bandwidth intensive applications. In this paper, we investigate the problem of streaming uncompressed High Definition (HD) videos over 60GHz networks. We present a multiple description (MD) coding (MDC) technique based on Priority Encoding Transmission (PET) that exploits the different significance of the pixel bits, and an interleaving based transmission scheme to combat the bursty losses due to blockage. A nonlinear integer programming problem is formulated and solved for determining the optimal parameters. The proposed scheme is cognitive and adaptive to the dynamic 60GHz link conditions for enhanced video quality. The performance of the proposed scheme is validated with simulations.
Effect of cultivar, size, storage, and cooking method on carbohydrates and some nutrients of sweet potatoes.

A study was conducted to determine the effects of cultivar, root size, cooking method and storage on carbohydrates and quality attributes of sweet potatoes. Roots were analyzed after curing and after 7 months storage for sugars, starch, pectins, hemicellulose, cellulose, ascorbic acid, and carotenoids. Sensory evaluations were also conducted. ‘Centennial’ and ‘Jasper’ contained the highest percentages of total sugars, starch, water-soluble pectin, hemicellulose and carotenoids, while ‘Georgia Jet’ was lowest in all carbohydrates except reducing sugars and water-soluble pectin. Baked and microwave cooked roots were highest in most of the carbohydrates; however, canned roots were higher in starch because of the rapid inactivation of amylase during cooking. Boiled roots were lower in carotenoids while canned roots were lowest in ascorbic acid. There was a decrease in reducing sugars, starch, pectins, hemicellulose, and cellulose during 7 months storage. Sensory ratings for color intensity and attractiveness corresponded to carotenoid content, CDM ‘L’ value, and hue angle (orangeness). Roots of different cultivars, size and storage period responded differently to cooking methods, thus producing significant interactions. Baking produced the highest quality cooked product as compared to other cooking methods.
On the classical path method using Delves coordinates: Asymptotic solution for time‐dependent amplitudes

An analytic perturbation series procedure is developed for evaluating transition amplitudes in an adiabatic basis throughout the asymptotic region of a molecular collision process described in Delves coordinates. This procedure is used in conjunction with the classical path method in a treatment of collinear atom‐harmonic oscillator collisions. The importance of the new procedure in the application of the classical path method to reactive scattering is discussed.
Octocorales de las aguas profundas del oriente de Venezuela

Deep-water octocoral fauna exceeding 40 m was analyzed off Eastern Venezuela. The material was collected by SCUBA diving or with a Beam Trawl-type drag. In total, 55 specimens were collected, identified, photographed, and preserved. These included 15 species belonging to 13 genera of the following families: Ellisellidae, Plexauridae, Gor- goniidae, Clavularidae, Anthothelidae, Nephtheidae, Kophobelemnidae, and Renillidae. Three of the identified species are registered for the first time in Venezuela: Neospongodes portoricencis, Clavularia sp. and Thesea guadalupensis of the families Nephtheidae, Clavularidae, and Plexauridae, respectively. T. guadalupensis was reported for the islands of Guadalupe and Carriacau, and N. portoricencis, a cosmopolitan species in deep waters, for Barbados, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. The importance of this information for the proper management and conservation of the fauna is discussed, as are its possible relationships with deeper fishing sites.
EEG effects of conventional and denicotinized cigarettes in a spaced smoking paradigm

Abstract Although there is a documented association between plasma nicotine levels and smoking behavior, recent studies indicate that denicotinized cigarettes reduced craving and symptoms of tobacco withdrawal. Denicotinized cigarettes (that deliver tar but insignificant amounts of nicotine) and conventional cigarettes were compared in a within-subject spaced smoking study. In six sessions, subjects (n=10) smoked denicotinized cigarettes or conventional cigarettes every 30, 60 or 240 min (8, 4 or 1 cigarette(s)). EEG effects of the last cigarette of each session were deduced by comparisons with EEG recordings collected before smoking. Conventional cigarettes increased spectral edge EEG frequency, decreased θ power and increased β1 power. Denicotinized cigarettes decreased spectral frequency. The EEG effects of both cigarettes depended upon the recentness of smoking. The results indicate that nicotine delivery, recentness and the process of smoking importantly influence the EEG; other, non-nicotine components of tobacco smoke may also exert EEG effects.
SU-E-T-589: A Comparison of Field Size Dependence of Electron Depth Dose From Different Linacs

Purpose: For accurate dose calculation in electron beam therapy, it is important to know the percentage depth dose (PDD) for each beam. This can vary depending on the machine make and model and the field size. Three different linear accelerators were compared in this study. Methods: PDD data was collected for different output beam energies and different field sizes for three different linear accelerators (Siemens Primus, Varian 2300ix, Varian Truebeam). Data was compared for the same energy with the same field size to see if the PDD differed among manufacturers. Furthermore, PDD was compared for different field sizes of the same machine at the same energy. Results: For the same beam energy and the same field size, the PDD curves were comparable for the three linacs with variations within 13%. PDD curves for different field sizes and beam energies were compared to verify this result. At higher beam energies, the disagreement between PDD curves is more pronounced between different field sizes for all three of the linacs compared. Conclusions: For the same energy and field size, the variation between different machines was within 13%. For the same manufacturer (Varian Clinac 2300ix and Truebeam), the agreement is within 3% with a standard deviation of less than 2.5%. PDD curves for different field sizes for the same energy were also investigated for the three linacs.
Deconstructing Research on Systems of Care for Youth with EBD: Frameworks for Policy Research.

Integrated service systems of care for children with severe emotional disturbance based on the systems-of-care framework have historically been viewed and studied as programmatic and clinical interventions. Consequently, researchers have most commonly applied program evaluation methods to study their effectiveness.These methods rely largely on quasi-experimental designs with repeated outcome measures. Systems of care can also be understood, however, as a set of systems-level policies and principles designed to alter the delivery of services provided to youth and their families. From this perspective, researchers can apply analytical and methodological tools traditionally used in health policy analysis to study the multiple levels of systems-of-care impacts. This article examines how these and other methods for policy analysis can be utilized to measure the impact of the systems-of-care approach.Where possible, results from existing systems-of-care evaluation studies illustrate how these analyses and metho...
Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with molecular weight 302 in water samples by solid-phase nano-extraction and laser excited time-resolved shpol'skii spectroscopy

Monitoring of high-molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (HMW-PAH) via simple and cost effective methods still remains a challenge. In this article, we combine solid-phase nano-extraction (SPNE) and 4.2 K laser-excited time resolved Shpol'skii spectroscopy (LETRSS) into a valuable alternative for the water analysis of dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, dibenzo[a,h]pyrene, dibenzo[a,i]pyrene and naphtho[2,3-a]pyrene. In comparison to the original SPNE procedure, the present method improves PAH recoveries and reduces extraction time from 30 to 20 min per sample. Quantitative release of HMW-PAH into the Shpol'skii matrix (n-octane) is best accomplished with a mixture of 48 μL of methanol and 2 μL of 1-pentanethiol. Their migration into the 50 μL layer of n-octane provides highly resolved spectra with distinct fluorescence lifetimes for unambiguous isomer determination. Complete analysis takes less than 30 min per sample and consumes only 100 micro-liters of organic solvents. 500 μL of water are sufficient to obtain limits of detection ranging from 16 ng L−1 (dibenzo[a,l]pyrene) to 55 ng L−1 (dibenzo[a,i]pyrene), relative standard deviations better than 3% and analytical recoveries above 90%. Although a straightforward comparison to chromatographic methods is not possible because of the lack of analytical figures of merit on HMW-PAH, the excellent precision of measurements, limits of detection and overall recoveries makes SPNE-LETRSS an attractive approach to water analysis of HMW-PAH.
A totally unexpected synthesis of single crystals of the mineral Chalconatronite, Na2[Cu(Co3)2]·3h2o, from a solution of a Copper coordination compound and Atmospheric Co2, at room temperature

In an effort to produce additional polymorphs of [Cu(HL)]2)(ClO4)2 · 2H2O (V) by dissolving that compound in slightly basic, deionized water, we obtained a beautiful set of crystals, obviously containing Cu(II), which turned out to have the composition Na2[Cu(CO3)2]·3H2O. The fact that a chemical reaction occurred while waiting for crystals of the parent compound to form was unknown to us until we solved the crystal structure of the royal-blue crystals. This substance has the interesting property of being a naturally occurring mineral and has also been prepared in the laboratory but by an appropriate mixing of the substance’s components, in basic solution. Each copper contains a bidentate carbonato ligand with one oxygen bridging an adjacent copper. The oxygen that is not bound to the first copper is bonded to two adjacent sodium ions, thus making Na–O–C–O–Cu bridges. Copper occurs in infinite strings formed by carbonato oxygens that bridge the Cu(II) cations. There are also Cu–H2O–Na and Na–H2O–Na bridge...
Fading Perceptual Resemblance: A Path for Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) to Conceptual Matching?

Cognitive, comparative, and developmental psychologists have long been intrigued by humans’ and animals’ capacity to respond to abstract relations like sameness and difference, because this capacity may underlie crucial aspects of cognition like analogical reasoning. Recently, this capacity has been explored in higher-order, relational matching-to-sample (RMTS) tasks in which humans and animals try to complete analogies of sameness and difference between disparate groups of items. The authors introduced a new paradigm to this area, by yoking the relational-matching cue to a perceptual-matching cue. Then, using established algorithms for shape distortion, the perceptual cue was weakened and eliminated. Humans’ RMTS performance easily transcended the elimination of perceptual support. In contrast, RMTS performance by six macaques faltered as they were weaned from perceptual support. No macaque showed evidence of mature RMTS performance, even given more than 260,000 training trials during which we tried to coax a relational-matching performance from them. It is an important species difference that macaques show so hesitant a response to conceptual relations when humans respond to them so effortlessly. It raises theoretical questions about the emergence of this crucial capacity during humans’ cognitive evolution and during humans’ cognitive development.
Evaluating the quality of information about alternatives to research participation in oncology consent forms

A careful consideration of the alternatives to research participation is an essential element of making an informed choice to enroll in a biomedical research study. While there is general agreement on the importance of informing prospective subjects about alternatives to research participation, little is known about how investigators communicate this information. The purpose of this study was to attempt to assess the quality of information about alternatives contained in informed consent documents in oncology randomized controlled trials. Our study indicates that there is room for improvement concerning the discussion of alternatives to research participation in informed consent documents in oncology randomized controlled trials. Though most of the documents in our study met the minimal disclosure standard found in the U.S. federal regulations, less than a third met the reasonable person standard, a widely accepted principle endorsed by the common law and various ethics guidelines and documents. There was a statistically significant difference between the alternative discussions in local and model forms (P < 0.0014). The alternatives discussions in local informed consent documents were more likely to receive higher scores than those in model consent documents, with an odds-ratio of 3.5 to 1.
On a minimization problem associated with linear dynamical systems

This paper considers the problem of approximating a given pair of symmetric Cartesian tensors by a pair of symmetric Cartesian tensors that commute.
Soft X-ray emission from the vicinity of MV Lyr

Evidence for a soft X-ray source at the location of the nova-like variable star MV Lyr is presented. Data from the smallest field of view of the A2 experiment on board HEAO-1 in the range 0.18 to 2.5 keV reveals a source of 0.18 to 0.43 keV emission, designated H1901+43, with a count rate corresponding to a flux of 4 x 10 to the -12th erg/sq cm per sec if a spectral temperature of 3 x 10 to the 5th K is assumed. The two-dimensional error box of H1901+43 is observed to contain the UX UMa star MV Lyr, which is suggested as the only obvious candidate for the source of X-ray emission, in accordance with the observations of soft X-ray emission from other cataclysmic variables, notably AM Her, U Gem and SS Cyg.