cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
AniProtDB: A Collection of Uniformly Generated Metazoan Proteomes for Comparative Genomics Studies

To address the void in the availability of high-quality proteomic data traversing the animal tree, we have implemented a pipeline for generating de novo assemblies based on publicly available data from the NCBI Sequence Read Archive, yielding a comprehensive collection of proteomes from 100 species spanning 21 animal phyla. We have also created the Animal Proteome Database (AniProtDB), a resource providing open access to this collection of high-quality metazoan proteomes, along with information on predicted proteins and protein domains for each taxonomic classification and the ability to perform sequence similarity searches against all proteomes generated using this pipeline. This solution vastly increases the utility of these data by removing the barrier to access for research groups who do not have the expertise or resources to generate these data themselves and enables the use of data from non-traditional research organisms that have the potential to address key questions in biomedicine.
The influence of alloying on the stacking fault energy of gold from density functional theory calculations

Abstract The generalized stacking fault (SFE) energy curves of pure gold (Au) and its binary alloys with transition metals are determined from density functional theory (DFT). Alloy elements Ag, Al, Cu, Ni, Ti, Zr, Zn, In, Ga, Sn, Mn, Cd, Sn, Ta and Cr are substituted into Au at concentrations up to 4%. A comparison of various proposed methodologies to calculate SFEs is given. The intrinsic SFE decreases for all alloying elements from its value for pure Au, but SFE energies (both stable and unstable) vary strongly with the distance of the alloying element from the stacking fault region, and with alloy concentration. The compositional dependence of the SFE on the volume change associated with alloying element is determined. This work demonstrates that the SFE is strongly influenced by misfit strain caused by the alloying elements. Moreover, the computed generalized SFE curves provide information valuable to developing an understanding of the deformation behavior of Au and Au-alloys.
Improvements and limitations in developing multivariate models of hemorrhage and transfusion risk for the obstetric population.

Background Maternal hemorrhage protocols involve risk screening. These protocols prepare clinicians for potential hemorrhage and transfusion in individual patients. Patient-specific estimation and stratification of risk may improve maternal outcomes. Study design and methods Prediction models for hemorrhage and transfusion were trained and tested in a data set of 74 variables from 63 973 deliveries (97.6% of the source population of 65 560 deliveries included in a perinatal database from an academic urban delivery center) with sufficient data at pertinent time points: antepartum, peripartum, and postpartum. Hemorrhage and transfusion were present in 6% and 1.6% of deliveries, respectively. Model performance was evaluated with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC), precision-recall curves, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow calibration statistic. Results For hemorrhage risk prediction, logistic regression model discrimination showed ROCs of 0.633, 0.643, and 0.661 for the antepartum, peripartum, and postpartum models, respectively. These improve upon the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC) accuracy of 0.613 for hemorrhage. Predictions of transfusion resulted in ROCs of 0.806, 0.822, and 0.854 for the antepartum, peripartum, and postpartum models, respectively. Previously described and new risk factors were identified. Models were not well calibrated with Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic P values between .001 and .6. Conclusions Our models improve on existing risk assessment; however, further enhancement might require the inclusion of more granular, dynamic data. With the goal of increasing translatability, this work was distilled to an online open-source repository, including a form allowing risk factor inputs and outputs of CMQCC risk, alongside our numerical risk estimation and stratification of hemorrhage and transfusion.
Variation in chemistry instructors’ evaluations of student written responses and its impact on grading

Evaluation of student written work during summative assessments is an important task for instructors at all educational levels. Nevertheless, few research studies exist that provide insights into how different instructors approach this task. In this study, we characterised variation in chemistry instructors’ approaches to the evaluation and grading of different student responses to conceptual questions in general chemistry summative assessments, and analysed the correlation of such variations with assigned grades. Our results revealed differences in the approaches followed by instructors along various dimensions, such as their focus of attention (e.g., knowledge vs. reasoning), the construction and use of a rubric to evaluate student work, and the extent to which instructors engaged in building inferences about student understanding. Most instructors, however, were consistent in the approaches they individually followed when analyzing different student responses. Differences in approaches along some dimensions correlated to assigned grades, but relevant dimensions differed for novice and experienced instructors (e.g., adopting an inferential versus a literal stance had a significant correlation with the grades assigned by experienced instructors but not by novice ones). The results of our study provide insights into strategies for the professional development of college instructors such as asking instructors to critically reflect on how the decisions they make along multiple dimensions during the grading process can affect the outcome.
Sterile neutrophilic dermatitis in a cat associated with a topical plant-derived oil flea preventative

A 4-year-old, female spayed, domestic short hair cat presented with an acute eruption of pustules and bullous plaques after application of a plant-based, essential oil flea preventative. Histopathological evaluation of biopsies revealed severe neutrophilic infiltrate within the dermis and culture was negative. The cat's skin lesions responded rapidly to glucocorticoid monotherapy.
Life Cycle Costing of Simulated Versus Actual Equipment for Intermediate Maintenance Training.

Abstract : Life cycle cost estimates of training equipment for F-16 Avionics Intermediate Station personnel were developed. The major purpose was to compare the cost of intermediate level maintenance training when conducted on simulated vs actual avionics test equipment. This was the initial phase of a planned two-part effort. The analysis was therefore limited to estimates of training device acquisition and maintenance costs. Total estimated fifteen year costs for simulated equipment trainers were approximately 50% less than comparable estimates for actual equipment trainers. (Author)
Becoming a Candidate: Political Ambition and the Decision to Run for Office

1. Mudslinging, money-grubbing, and mayhem: who would ever run for office? 2. The decision to run for office: the theoretical and methodological approach 3. Political ambition in the candidate eligibility pool 4. Barack Obama and 18 million cracks in the glass ceiling: sex, race, and political ambition 5. You could be president someday! Early socialization, the role of family, and political ambition 6. On-the-job training: professional circumstances and the decision to run for office 7. You think I should run for office? Political parties, political recruitment, and political ambition 8. Biting the bullet: deciding to run for office 9. Future patterns of candidate emergence and studies of political ambition.
Hotspots of Mammalian Chromosome Evolution

The emergence of high-quality mammalian whole genome sequence data has enabled for the first time a comprehensive investigation of the molecular mechanisms of mammalian chromosome evolution. New sequence data reveal an unexpected degree of chromosomal plasticity, both in the healthy human population and in cross-species evolutionary comparisons. In the context of the evolutionary framework established by comparative cytogenetics, the new data reveal lineage-specific chromosomal rearrangement pattern often linked to particular duplicated or repetitive sequences. Multispecies comparisons indicate evolutionary reuse of certain chromosomal breakpoints as well as some associations of breakpoints to cytogenetic chromosomal landmarks. Keywords: genome plasticity; segmental duplications; karyotype evolution; chromosome rearrangement mechanisms; comparative genetics
Reconstructing the bulk Fermi surface and superconducting gap properties from neutron scattering experiments

We develop an analytical tool to extract bulk electronic properties of unconventional superconductors from inelastic neutron scattering spectra. We show that the upward and downward branches of the spin excitation spectra have distinct origins, with the upper branch representing a gapped spin-wave dispersion and the lower branch associated with Bogoliubov quasiparticle scattering on the Fermi surface. Combined, they produce an ``hourglass'' dispersion with 45${}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$ rotation of the spectrum, as found experimentally. The downward dispersion can be inverted to reveal the Fermi momentum dispersion of the single-particle spectrum as well as the corresponding superconducting (SC) gap function, analogously to the quasiparticle interference effect in scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Whereas angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and STM provide surface-sensitive information, this inversion procedure provides bulk electronic properties. The technique is essentially model independent and can be applied to a wide variety of materials.
Constructing social networks from unstructured group dialog in virtual worlds

Virtual worlds and massively multi-player online games are rich sources of information about large-scale teams and groups, offering the tantalizing possibility of harvesting data about group formation, social networks, and network evolution. However these environments lack many of the cues that facilitate natural language processing in other conversational settings and different types of social media. Public chat data often features players who speak simultaneously, use jargon and emoticons, and only erratically adhere to conversational norms. In this paper, we present techniques for inferring the existence of social links from unstructured conversational data collected from groups of participants in the Second Life virtual world. We present an algorithm for addressing this problem, Shallow Semantic Temporal Overlap (SSTO), that combines temporal and language information to create directional links between participants, and a second approach that relies on temporal overlap alone to create undirected links between participants. Relying on temporal overlap is noisy, resulting in a low precision and networks with many extraneous links. In this paper, we demonstrate that we can ameliorate this problem by using network modularity optimization to perform community detection in the noisy networks and severing cross-community links. Although using the content of the communications still results in the best performance, community detection is effective as a noise reduction technique for eliminating the extra links created by temporal overlap alone.
Shall We Explain? Augmenting Learning from Intelligent Tutoring Systems and Peer Collaboration

Learning outcomes from intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) tend to be quite strong, usually in the neighborhood of one standard deviation. However, most ITS designers use the learning outcomes from expert human tutoring as the gold standard (i.e., two standard deviations). What can be done, with the current state of the art, to increase learning from an ITS? One method is to modify the learning situation by asking students to use the ITS in pairs. To enhance performance, we drew upon the beneficial effects of structured peer collaboration. The results suggest that the intervention was successful. Pairs of students solved more problems and requested fewer bottom-out hints than individuals. To test the possibility that the effect was due to the best partner in the group directing the problem solving, a nominal groups analysis was conducted. A nominal group is a statistical pairing of the non-interacting individuals' performance. The results from the nominal groups replicated the same pattern of results, but with a reduced magnitude. This suggests that the best member may have contributed to some of the overall success of the pair, but does not completely explain their performance.
Instruction Cache Replacement Policies and Organizations

Instruction cache replacement policies and organizations are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. Theoretical analyses are based on a new model for cache references —the loop model. First the loop model is used to study replacement policies and cache organizations. It is concluded theoretically that random replacement is better than LRU and FIFO, and that under certain circumstances, a direct-mapped or set-associative cache may perform better than a full-associative cache organization. Experimental results using instruction trace data are then given and analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the loop model provides a good explanation for observed cache performance.
An Intervention for HPV Risk Reduction Based on the Theory of Planned Behavior: An Exploratory Study with College-Aged Women

The goal of the study was to examine the effectiveness of a group intervention in reducing risks of contracting human papillomavirus (HPV) among college-aged women. Using a randomized design, the study examined the effectiveness of an HPV educational group intervention guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. The intervention was provided in a standard group format consisting of a single session. Measures were completed prior to the intervention, immediately after the intervention, and one month later. Consistent with predictions, the intervention was successful at increasing knowledge, behavioral intentions, HPV information-seeking, and HIV testing, and these changes were maintained over a one-month interval. Modest increases in attitudes toward risk-reduction behaviors and subjective norms were obtained immediately after the intervention, but not at follow-up. The intervention was not successful at creating increases in perceived social norms or in reducing several risk behaviors (e.g., new sexual part...
Mouse infection and pathogenesis by Trypanosoma brucei motility mutants.

Summary The flagellum of Trypanosoma brucei is an essential and multifunctional organelle that drives parasite motility and is receiving increased attention as a potential drug target. In the mammalian host, parasite motility is suspected to contribute to infection and disease pathogenesis. However, it has not been possible to test this hypothesis owing to lack of motility mutants that are viable in the bloodstream life cycle stage that infects the mammalian host. We recently identified a bloodstream-form motility mutant in 427-derived T. brucei in which point mutations in the LC1 dynein subunit disrupt propulsive motility but do not affect viability. These mutants have an actively beating flagellum, but cannot translocate. Here we demonstrate that the LC1 point mutant fails to show enhanced cell motility upon increasing viscosity of the surrounding medium, which is a hallmark of wild type T. brucei, thus indicating that motility of the mutant is fundamentally altered compared with wild type cells. We next used the LC1 point mutant to assess the influence of trypanosome motility on infection in mice. Wesurprisingly found that disrupting parasite motility has no discernible effect on T. brucei bloodstream infection. Infection time-course, maximum parasitaemia, number of waves of parasitaemia, clinical features and disease outcome are indistinguishable between motility mutant and control parasites. Our studies provide an important step toward understanding the contribution of parasite motility to infection and a foundation for future investigations of T. brucei interaction with the mammalian host.
The fluorimetric determination of formaldehyde

Abstract A sensitive fluorimetric procedure for formaldehyde has been developed. The method, which can measure 0.01 μg formaldehyde, is based on the Hantzsch reaction between acetylacetone, ammonia, and formaldehyde. The product, 3,5-diacetyl-I,4-dihydrolutidine, is colored yellow and fluoresces yellow green. Infra-red spectra indicate that this compound is ionic in dilute solution and aggregated in concentrated solution. The Hantzsch reaction may be extended for the assay of other aldehydes, amines, and β-diketones.
Rationally selected single-site mutants of the Thermoascus aurantiacus endoglucanase increase hydrolytic activity on cellulosic substrates.

Variants of the Thermoascus aurantiacus Eg1 enzyme with higher catalytic efficiency than wild-type were obtained via site-directed mutagenesis. Using a rational mutagenesis approach based on structural bioinformatics and evolutionary analysis, two positions (F16S and Y95F) were identified as priority sites for mutagenesis. The mutant and parent enzymes were expressed and secreted from Pichia pastoris and the single site mutants F16S and Y95F showed 1.7- and 4.0-fold increases in kcat and 1.5- and 2.5-fold improvements in hydrolytic activity on cellulosic substrates, respectively, while maintaining thermostability. Similar to the parent enzyme, the two variants were active between pH 4.0 and 8.0 and showed optimal activity at temperature 708C at pH 5.0. The purified enzymes were active at 508C for over 12 h and retained at least 80% of initial activity for 2 h at 708C. In contrast to the improved hydrolysis seen with the single mutation enzymes, no improvement was observed with a third variant carrying a combination of both muta- tions, which instead showed a 60% reduction in catalytic efficiency. This work further demonstrates that non-catalytic amino acid residues can be engineered to enhance catalytic efficiency in pretreatment enzymes of interest. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2012;109: 1595-1599.
Multidimensional biomedical display and analysis in the biotechnology computer resource at the Mayo Clinic

A powerful new microcomputer-based system has been developed which permits detailed investigations and evaluation of 3-D and 4-D biomedical images. The system comprises a network of powerful workstations to which all the information in a large 3-D image data base is accessible for rapid display, manipulation, and measurement. The system supports 3-D imaging modalities based on X ray, radionuclide emission tomography, ultrasound tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. The system provides important capabilities for simultaneously representing and analyzing both structural and functional data and their relationships in various organs of the body. This paper provides a detailed description of this system, as well as some of the rationale, background, theoretical concepts, and practical considerations related to system implementation and applications.
A note on inversion of linear systems

An explicit relation showing the equivalence of tests of existence of inverses of a linear dynamical system as constructed by Silverman [1] and Sain and Massey [2] is given.
Magical realism: a cultural intervention for traumatized Hispanic children

A case study is presented of two Spanish-speaking immigrant children who were run over in an automobile accident and hospitalized, to describe a culturally congruent play-therapy technique. Drawing on the work of Pynoos and Nader, the author argues for an anthropological approach in play therapy to create hyperaroused states for the traumatized child and to use cultural super heroes-what is termed "magical realism." Such an approach can be used with Latin American traumatized children as well as with children from other Third World countries to provide a culturally appropriate intervention to treat the psychological sequelae of trauma. Language: en
Microglial cell migration stimulated by ATP and C5a involve distinct molecular mechanisms: Quantification of migration by a novel near-infrared method

Microglial cells, the macrophages of the brain, play an essential role in the propagation of neuroinflammation. Increased microglial cell migration in response to specific chemoattractants has been documented, but less is known about the differences between these stimuli and the signal transduction pathways that mediate their effects. Current methods to measure cell migration are often labor-intensive and rely on the manual counting of cell number, so more efficient and objective methods are needed. Here we present an improved and higher-throughput Boyden chamber technique that measures microglial cell migration by using DRAQ5, a nuclear dye that emits in the near-infrared. Out of a panel of chemoattractants tested, we found that ATP and C5a potently stimulate the migration of mouse primary microglial cells. The stimulatory effects of ATP and C5a displayed significant additivity, suggesting that each chemoattractant stimulated migration through independent molecular mechanisms. Accordingly, we found key differences in these responses: ATP stimulated a combination of both chemokinesis and chemotaxis, and this response was mediated by the ROCK signaling pathway; whereas C5a stimulated only chemotaxis and this response was mediated by the Rac1 signaling pathway. Finally, we found that functional PI3-kinase is only required for random basal microglial cell migration. Thus, our results show that distinct nonoverlapping signal transduction pathways control different modes of microglial cell migration and suggest that the targeting of these distinct molecular mechanisms should modulate different aspects of neuroinflammation propagation.
A comparison of decision-maker perspectives for optimal cholesterol treatment

Medical decisions often involve tradeoff among competing criteria. For example, patients with third-party health insurance are primarily concerned about maximizing their quality-adjusted lifespan, since the majority of the cost burden typically falls on the third-party payer. On the other hand, third-party payers are incented to minimize total healthcare-related costs. Therefore, third-party payers must weigh the short-term cost of treatment against the long-term benefits of avoiding more costly health outcomes associated with disease progression and adverse events. The goal of the societal perspective is to achieve a reasonable balance among these competing criteria of quality-adjusted lifespan and costs. Treatment of diabetes provides a good example of the need to apply multicriteria decision-making models to treatment decisions. Chronic diseases such as diabetes are associated with high medical costs and a large number of available treatment options. In this paper, we use a Markov decision process (MDP) to show how decision-maker perspectives can influence medical treatment decisions related to cardiovascular risk management in patients with type 2 diabetes. We compare optimal treatment decisions from three different perspectives: societal, patient, and third-party payer. We further formulate an inverse MDP model to estimate the implied monetary value of a year of life, from the societal perspective, according to current U.S. treatment guidelines.
Speckle in a 4F Optical System

We find that the space-invariant form of 4F processors makes it a convenient configuration to study various aspect of speckle. We show space, wavelength, and aperture-shape dependence of speckle generated by thin and thick diffusers.
The origin of type C inclusions from carbonaceous chondrites

Type C inclusions are plagioclase-rich, Ca-, Al-rich inclusions found in carbonaceous chondrites. They formed as solid condensates which were later melted in an event that destroyed the original condensate grains. Neither the melting event nor secondary alteration had a significant effect on bulk composition. Two stages in the condensation history can be discerned on the basis of major element bulk compositions. As in type A inclusions, the condensate phase assemblage originally consisted of melilite + spinel + perovskite ± hibonite. Type C's were, however, significantly enriched in spinel relative to unaltered portions of most type A's. In contrast to type A's, condensate grains of spinel and melilite in type C's reacted partially with a coexisting gas to produce anorthite + diopside. One-half to two-thirds of the silica now in type C inclusions was introduced by this process. The reactions involving melilite and spinel that are predicted by equilibrium condensation calculations for a cooling gas of solar composition did not occur, probably due to kinetic constraints. Type C's may be related to Al-rich chondrules in ordinary chondrites by the addition of olivine and albite. Bulk compositions of Al-rich chondrules in enstatite chondrites are consistent with the addition of orthopyroxene and albite to type C inclusions. Thus, types A and C inclusions and Al-rich chondrules could represent sequences of condensates removed from interaction with the primitive solar nebula at progressively lower temperatures. If Al-rich chondrules represent the high-temperature component in chondritic material, then type C inclusions rather than the more common subgroups of CAIs could be the true parents of chondrites.
High-voltage lead impedance increase: how much is too much?

The shock impedance may have a difference of approximately 10–20 Ω for different implantable cardioverterdefibrillator (ICD) systems during the implantation defibrillation testing. The current ICD systems can measure impedance of the shock circuit without shock delivery. Such measured high-voltage lead impedance is usually higher than the value obtained from shock delivery. For an individual patient with a normally functioning ICD system, there is usually a mild and gradual increase in the high-voltage lead impedance within the first few weeks after implantation as the result of edema resolution and tissue fibrosis. Even after that, some variation in the impedance is commonly observed during the follow-up evaluation. Fracture of the high-voltage lead conductor may be clinically silent, particularly for dedicated bipolar leads (with separate electrodes for pacing/sensing and shock delivery). So far, we have been relying on the manufacturers’ “out-ofrange” impedance value to diagnose fracture of the highvoltage conductor. Although all ICD manufacturers have default settings for out-of-range impedance for the highvoltage circuit, these numbers are arbitrarily set and have not been clinically validated. The unfortunate case of the Medtronic Fidelis lead failure has provided us with an opportunity to learn more about diagnosing the highvoltage conductor fracture. A lead fracture involving the pacing/sensing circuit can be diagnosed by an increase in pacing impedance, pacing threshold, dramatically changed R-wave amplitude, or electrogram noises. Unfortunately, many patients with Fidelis lead fracture first present with multiple inappropriate ICD shocks. The addition of an alert algorithm by software upgrade has helped for the early diagnosis of such fracture and significantly reduced the incidence of multiple shocks. The conductors for shock coils are designed to pass the strong high-voltage current and are thus structurally stronger than the conductors for pacing-sensing electrodes. Such a design resulted in a much lower incidence of isolated fracture for the high-voltage conductor than the pacing/sensing conductor. In the returned product analysis of Fidelis leads, only 14.3% of the lead fractures involved the high-voltage
Nonlinear forced response of piezoelectric microcantilevers with application to tapping mode atomic force microscopy

Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) uses a scanning process performed by a microcantilever beam to create a three dimensional image of a nano-scale physical surface. AFM includes a microcantilever probe with a tip at the end that is controlled in order to keep the force between the tip and the surface constant by changing the distance of the microcantilever from the surface. Some microcantilevers have a layer of piezoelectric material on one side of the microcantilever for actuation purpose. An accurate understanding of the microcantilever motion and tip-sample force is needed to generate accurate imaging. In this paper, the equations of motion for an AFM piezoelectric microcantilever probe are derived for a nonlinear contact force. The analytical expressions for natural frequencies and mode shapes are determined. Then, the analytical frequency response of the piezoelectric probe is found using the method of multiple scales. The effects of nonlinear excitation force on the microcantilever probe’s frequency and amplitude have been analytically studied. The force nonlinearities lead to a frequency shift in the response. Accurately modeling this frequency shift during contact mode of the AFM probe is a significant consideration for the generation of more accurate imaging.
An analysis of arginine codon multiplicity in rabbit hemoglobin

Two arginyl tRNA's from yeast (Arg tRNA I and Arg tRNA II) are separable by chromatography. Arg tRNA I which binds to the Escherichia coli ribosomes in response to the triplets CpGpU, CpGpC and CpGpA, transfers arginine only into the C-terminal position of the α -chain of rabbit hemoglobin (tryptic peptide α T17, position 141). Arg tRNA II, which binds to E. coli ribosomes in response to the triplets ApGpA and ApGpG, transfers arginine into position 31 of the α -chain (corresponding to peptide α T4). Codon assignments to positions 31 and 141 of the α -chain, based on the utilization of arginine from either of the two tRNA fractions, are consistent with known amino acid replacements at these positions, and could have been produced by a change of a single base. No labeled arginine was transferred into position 92 (corresponding to peptide α T11) nor into the two β -chain arginine positions. The lack of labeling of position 92 may be due to its specification by the triplet CpGpG, since neither of the tRNA fractions was bound to ribosomes in the presence of CpGpG. This codon assignment is consistent with the observed replacement of arginine at position 92 by leucine and glutamine in mutant human hemoglobins. The lower level of β -chains synthesis precluded a determination of the transfer specificity of β -chain arginine residues. Nevertheless, only the triplet ApGpPu at positions 31 and 41 of the β -chain can be interrelated with observed amino acid replacements, by a change of a single base.
Direct measurement of hepatic blood flow in native and transplanted organs, with accompanying systemic hemodynamics.

The purpose of this study was to investigate intraoperatively a population of patients with end-stage liver disease before and after liver transplantation with respect to (a) the range of hepatic and systemic hemodynamics and their changes associated with transplantation and (b) the ability to identify native hemodynamic correlates with specific diagnostic groups. Hepatic artery and portal vein blood flows were determined with square-wave electromagnetic flowmetry. Significant differences related to the type of preservation solution used–Euro-Collins or University of Wisconsin–were identified in some hepatic and systemic hemodynamic measurements from the graft livers. Specifically, cardiac output, total liver blood flow and liver weight were significantly increased in the Euro-Collins group compared with the native and University of Wisconsin groups. Hepatic artery flow was significantly greater and portal vein pressure was significantly lower in the University of Wisconsin group than in the native or Euro-Collins group. In general, comparing the graft and native livers, hepatic artery and portal vein blood flow increased significantly after transplantation, as did hepatic oxygen consumption. Portal vein pressures were dramatically reduced, but systemic arterial pressure remained remarkably constant. The percentage of cardiac output going to the liver increased, as did the portal vein percentage of the total liver blood flow. Diagnostic groups could not clearly be associated with characteristic native liver or systemic hemodynamics. Hemodynamics may be associated more with the stage of the disease process than the disease itself. (HEPATOLOGY 1992;16:100–111.)
Meshless analysis of high-speed impact

The governing equations for rate-independent large strain plasticity are formulated in the framework of meshless method. The numerical procedures, including return mapping algorithm, to obtain the solutions of boundary value problems in computational plasticity are outlined. The large strain plastic response of materials under high-speed impact/contact is simulated. Numerical results are presented and discussed.
The unacknowledged impact of chronic schistosomiasis

Objectives: To summarize new knowledge on the range of disease due to chronic schistosomiasis and examine the debilitating burden of both light and heavy infection; to outline goals of disease prevention, including current age-targeted strategies and more extended programmes aimed at preventing transmission.Methods: A systematic search of 2004—2007 papers via PUBMED and related databases using `schistosom' and disability- or treatment-related subject headings. Reports were independently reviewed for inclusion.Results: Sixty-eight papers met review objectives. These suggest new evidence for a causative link between schistosome infection, antiparasite inflammation, and risk for anaemia, growth stunting and undernutrition in affected populations, as well as exacerbation of co-infections and impairment of cognitive development and work capacity. Formal quality-of-life assessment defines a significant 9.5—24% disability with the most aggressive schistosome species, Schistosoma japonicum.Discussion: Schistosomi...
Organizational trust and knowledge obtaining in industrial clusters

Purpose – This study seeks to initiate an attempt to examine empirically the relationship between a firm's industrial cluster involvement, trust, and knowledge obtaining.Design/methodology/approach – A field survey research method was used and data were collected from four international industrial clusters, which consist of 188 company responses. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data.Findings – The study found that greater involvement in an industrial cluster can enhance a firm's knowledge‐obtaining practices. Further, trust partially mediates the relationship between industrial cluster involvement and knowledge obtaining.Research limitations/implications – Using self‐reported data could be a potential limitation of this study. It would be preferable to have other forms of data for study.Practical implications – The findings provide business executives as well as policy makers with a new way of thinking in respect of how to develop a firm's competitiveness in today's global economy by ...
“Build Your Social Confidence”: A Social Anxiety Group for College Students

Social anxiety, a common concern among college students, carries significant negative consequences. Group therapy is an efficient and cost-effective way to provide treatment, and cognitive-behavioral group therapy (CBGT; Heimberg & Becker, 2002) is the most widely researched and empirically supported treatment for persons with social anxiety disorder. In this article, a session-by-session description of a social anxiety group designed specifically for college students is presented. The protocol combines elements from Heimberg and Becker's CBGT model along with social skills training, Padesky's (1997) “assertive defense of the self” intervention, and an interpersonal process component.
The anterior mediastinal approach for management of tracheomalacia

Abstract Background: Tracheomalacia occurs as a primary developmental defect or may be secondary to vascular compression. It is common in association with esophageal atresia and tracheoesophageal fistula. Collapse of the weak trachea is a cause of recurrent respiratory symptoms but may be severe and life threatening. Methods: Between 1978 and 1999 at Sheffield Children's Hospital and The Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, of 16 children with clinically significant symptoms of tracheomalacia 8 underwent combined aortopexy and tracheopexy, 1 had aortopexy alone, 4 only had a tracheopexy, and 3 had tracheal reinforcement with free costal cartilage ring grafts. The surgical approach was limited to a low cervical skin crease incision with a midline manubrial split providing extrapleural access to the anterior mediastinum and allowing for all surgery under direct unimpaired vision. Results: Ten children did not require postoperative ventilatory support. Four underwent ventilation for a few hours or days. One child required CPAP for 4 months for residual tracheomalacia and a further child, who had 3 operations to insert 11 costal cartilage ring grafts, underwent ventilation intermittently for 6 months. Adequate tracheal patency could be verified by intraoperative tracheoscopy and was sustained postoperatively so that only 1 child with associated bilateral vocal cord paralysis came to tracheostomy. Four children required prolonged hospitalization because of residual tracheomalacia, 2 for bronchomalacia and 2 because of esophageal narrowing leading to further surgery. All other children were fit for discharge within 10 to 30 days of surgery. Long-term follow-up has confirmed sustained tracheal improvement and resolution of the life-threatening features of tracheomalacia. Conclusions: The authors recommend the low skin crease transmanubrial approach, as described by Vaishnav and MacKinnon, for tracheopexy, aortopexy and for tracheal reconstruction for tracheomalacia. The approach gives excellent access for surgery under direct vision through a relatively avascular plane. It is associated with less morbidity than a conventional thoracotomy and leaves a more acceptable aesthetic scar. J Pediatr Surg 35:1456-1458. Copyright © 2000 by W.B. Saunders Company.
Corporate Liquidity Disclosures: An Update

Although the liquidity of U.S. companies has generally been improving since 2008, investors and creditors are always keenly interested in this area. And companies must discuss liquidity in the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) section of reports they file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To help companies prepare these liquidity discussions, this article looks at what some Dow Jones Industrial companies are doing with MD&A. Since these are some of the country's most widely followed companies, examining their common practices may assist others in preparing MD&A. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Nonpositive Curvature and Pareto Optimal Coordination of Robots

Given a collection of robots sharing a common environment, assume that each possesses a graph (a one-dimensional complex also known as a roadmap) approximating its configuration space and, furthermore, that each robot wishes to travel to a goal while optimizing elapsed time. We consider vector-valued (or Pareto) optima for collision-free coordination on the product of these roadmaps with collision-type obstacles. Such optima are by no means unique: in fact, continua of Pareto optimal coordinations are possible. We prove a finite bound on the number of optimal coordinations in the physically relevant case where all obstacles are cylindrical (i.e., defined by pairwise collisions). The proofs rely crucially on perspectives from geometric group theory and CAT(0) geometry. In particular, the finiteness bound depends on the fact that the associated coordination space is devoid of positive curvature. We also demonstrate that the finiteness bound holds for systems with moving obstacles following known trajectories.
The Spectral Sensitivities of Single Receptor Cells in the Lateral, Median, and Ventral Eyes of Normal and White-Eyed Limulus

Spectral sensitivity curves can be distorted by screening pigments. We have determined whether this is true for Limulus polyphemus by determining, from receptor potentials recorded using intracellular microelectrodes, spectral sensitivity curves for normal animals and for white-eyed animals (which lack screening pigment). Our results show: (a) In median ocelli, the curve for UV-sensitive receptor cells peaks at 360 nm and does not depend on the presence of screening pigment, (b) The curve for ventral eye photoreceptors is identical to that for retinular cells from the lateral eyes of white-eyed animals and peaks at 520–525 nm. (c) In normal lateral eyes, when the stimulating light passes through screening pigment, the curve indicates relatively more sensitivity in the red region of the spectrum than does the curve for white-eyed animals. Therefore, the screening pigment is probably red-transmitting, (d) In median ocelli, the curve for visible-sensitive cells peaks at 525 nm and is approximately the same whether the ocelli are from normal or white-eyed animals. However, the curve is significantly broader than that for ventral eyes and for lateral eyes from white-eyed animals.
HEARING FUNCTION AND MATERNAL HEROIN ADDICTION

Heroin addiction was considered a high risk factor for hearing loss for a mother and her developing fetus due to well-known ototoxic effects of quinine, a common additive to heroin sold to addicts. 21 infants and their heroin addicted mothers were evaluated for auditory impairment from March 1974 through June 1976. Characteristics of the study population were: age of infants: 5 days to 34 months (mean 7.2 ± SD 10.2 mo); age of mothers: 21 to 29 years (mean 24.3 yr ± SD 3.4 yr); maternal length of addiction 1 to 12 years (mean 3.2 ± SD 3.43 yr); and dally habit cost: $5 to $150 (mean $40 ± SD $43). All mothers studied who were on methadone replacement programs (13) admitted to the infrequent but constant use of heroin throughout the pregnancy. A control group of infants and their non-addicted mothers were matched by age to the study infants. Evaluation in all subjects consisted of case history information, otological examination and standard audiological techniques. According to their ages, infants were tested by a neonatal screening test or by a soundfield audiometry or by play audiometry. The study showed no evidence of hearing impairment in either the addicted mothers or their infants. Although they were considered normal, responses of 6 addicted neonates were depressed as compared to their matched control possibly due to their use of phenobarbltal. Maternal heroin addiction did not seem to represent a high risk factor for hearing loss in this population possibly because quinine exposure had not reached toxic levels.
Importance of strain rate in elevated-temperature low-cycle fatigue of austenitic stainless steels☆☆☆

Abstract Extrapolation of elevated-temperature, tensile-hold fatigue life of types 304 and 316 stainless steel is obtained by the use of four existing life predictive methods. The results show that, although the calculated lives for the different methods are similar for short hold-time tests, they can vary greatly from one method to another when extrapolated to long hold-time situations. Methods that do not take into account the effects of strain rate provide optimistic values as opposed to the more pessimistic values projected by the methods that account for strain-rate effects.
Some odd (and even) relationships in food webs

Abstract Every food web has the following properties: 1. (1) there is an even number of species in trophic contact (eating or eaten) with an odd number of species. The number of species eating or eaten by an even number of species may be either even or odd; 2. (2) the number of species eating an odd number of species is even or odd as the number of species eaten by an odd number is likewise even or odd; similarly, the number eating an even number of species is even or odd as is the number eaten by an even number of species; 3. (3) when the number of species in trophic contact with an even number of species is odd, then the number of species feeding on an odd number is respectively even or odd as the number of feeding on an even number is odd or even; the number eaten by an odd number bears a similarly opposite relation to the number eaten by an even number. When the number of species in trophic contact with an even number is even, the numbers eating an odd number, eating an even number, eaten by an odd number and eaten by an even number, are either all even or all odd. 4. (4) when there is an odd number of species in trophic contact with an even number, both the total number of feeding species and the total number of species consumed are odd; when the number in trophic contact with an even number is even, then both the total numbers of species feeding and consumed are even.
DNA damage-processing in E. coli: on-going protein synthesis is required for fixation of UV-induced lethality and mutation.

Abstract UV irradiation of E. coli produces photoproducts in the DNA genome. In consequence, some bacteria lose viability (colony-forming ability) or remain viable as mutant cells. However, the end-points of viability inactivation (lethality) or mutation are determined by cellular processes that act on the UV-damaged DNA. We have investigated the in vivo time course for processes that deal with cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) which can be specifically removed by photoreactivation (PR). At different times during post-UV incubation, samples were challenged with PR and assayed for viability or mutation. We used excision-defective E. coli B/r cells and worked under yellow light to avoid background PR. During post-UV incubation (0–100 min) in fully supplemented defined medium, inactivation and mutation were initially significantly reversed by PR but the extent of this reversal decreased during continued incubation defining “fixation” of lethality or mutation, respectively. In contrast, if protein synthesis was restricted during the post-UV incubation, no fixation developed. When chloramphenicol was added to inhibit protein synthesis after 30 min of supplemented post-UV incubation, at a time sufficient for expression of UV-induced protein(s), fixation of lethality or mutation was still annulled (no change in the effectiveness of PR developed). Lethality fixation did progress when protein synthesis was restricted and the cells were incubated in the presence of puromycin or were either clpP or clpX defective. We discuss these and related results to suggest (1) on-going protein synthesis is required in the fixation process for lethality and mutation to sustain an effective level of a hypothetical protein sensitive to ClpXP proteolysis and (2) this protein plays a critical role in the process leading to exchange between Pol III activity and alternative polymerase activities required as each cell deals with damage in template DNA.
Genome annotation: from sequence to biology

The genome sequence of an organism is an information resource unlike any that biologists have previously had access to. But the value of the genome is only as good as its annotation. It is the annotation that bridges the gap from the sequence to the biology of the organism. The aim of high-quality annotation is to identify the key features of the genome - in particular, the genes and their products. The tools and resources for annotation are developing rapidly, and the scientific community is becoming increasingly reliant on this information for all aspects of biological research.