cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Core-Electron Excitation Spectra of Si, SiO, and Si O 2

The excitation spectra of $\mathrm{Si}(2p)$ and $\mathrm{O}(1s)$ core electrons, measured by low-energy electron-loss spectroscopy, yield detailed information on the excited states of Si, SiO, and Si${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$. The presence of an empty surface state near the top of the valence band on clean Si is directly demonstrated for the first time. For Si${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$, the results indicate the presence of five empty states in the conduction band.
Flexural vibrations of free circular plates elastically constrained along parts of the edge

Abstract The present paper deals with the free transverse vibration of a circular plate elastically constrained along parts of its edge and free on the remainder. The elastic constraints considered permit both translational and/or rotational springs of space-varying stiffness. The analytical method utilized depends upon expanding both piecewise constant spring stiffnesses in the present problem into their Fourier components around the circumference of the plate. Numerical results are presented which demonstrate the effectiveness of the method and show interesting variations of the frequencies and nodal patterns over a range of constraint parameters. As special cases, numerical results are also given for the problem of the plate which is partially free and partially simply supported, as well as for the clamped-free boundary.
Secretagogues for lysosomal enzyme release as stimulants of arachidonyl phosphatidylinositol turnover in rabbit neutrophils.

Summary [ 14 C]arachidonic acid incorporation into phosphatidylinositol from rabbit neutrophils pretreated with cytochalasin B was increased within 2 min by the synthetic peptide formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine and the Ca 2+ ionophore A23187. A high concentration of the peptide elicited only a small increase in phosphatidylinositol turnover when [ 14 C]palmitic acid was employed as precursor. These data coincide with our earlier studies which identified a Ca 2+ -dependent increase in arachidonyl phosphatidylinositol turnover during adrenocorticotropin and A23187-induced activation of steroid production and release in adrenocortical cells. It is concluded that an increase in arachidonyl phosphatidylinositol turnover mediated by a Ca 2+ -dependent phospholipase A 2 may be a general mechanism for altering membrane function during secretory activity.
Visualization and analysis of electrodynamic behavior during cardiac arrhythmias

Sudden cardiac death is the primary cause of mortality in the industrialized world. Ventricular tachycardia and lethal arrhythmias such as ventricular fibrillation are believed to be the result of reentrant electrical activity, i.e., self-sustained electrical activity which continues to re-excite regions of cardiac tissue independently of the natural pacemaker rhythm. The mechanisms behind fibrillation initiation, maintenance, and termination by a defibrillatory shock are largely unknown. Cardiac fibrillation is characterized by a complex spatial interaction of nonstationary spiral waves; however, the nature of this interaction is an ongoing topic of investigation. The organizing center of reentry is a topological defect called a phase singularity in two dimensions, a filament in three dimensions; an understanding of fibrillation behavior may be obtained by localizing and tracking these defects. Experimentally, the electrodynamic behavior is typically investigated via optical mapping using voltage-sensitive fluorescent dyes. In this thesis, a technique to detect phase singularities based upon topological charge was applied to nonlinear time-series and phase portrait analysis of optical signals, and later extended to filament detection; this procedure was shown to be both efficient and mathematically robust. An alternate method to reconstruct the phase portrait was also explored and shown to overcome some of the limitations of the time-series method as well as permitting singularity detection closer to initiation than previously allowed. Numerically examining the interaction dynamics of a simple filament configuration paralleling that seen in experimental preparations indicated that a critical bifurcation in filament lifetime exists between attractive and repulsive behavior along with annihilation by mutual collision and collapse by shrinkage, which could be represented by a difference of Yukawa potentials by treating the filaments as a pair of point charges. The inclusion of optical depth effects into a numerical model of three-dimensional filament activity was studied, and suggested that these effects have a significant impact on observed epicardial activity. Finally, a three-dimensional geometric reconstruction of an isolated, perfused heart with the fluorescenceinformation as a texture map, previously developed as a proof-of-concept, was shown to be a viable tool for whole-heart singularity visualization.
Pseudospectral technique for continuation methods with application to nonlinear control problems

Continuation methods have been successfully applied to complicated nonlinear control systems design. Using a continuation algorithm, a nonlinear control problem can be transferred into a sequence of linear time-varying controls that can be solved using linear control theory. However, since the sequence of linear controls requires that the values of the previous state variables and control signal at each time interval be memorised and integrated as the initial values for the next linear control, the computation is quite intensive. Pseudospectral methods are proposed to solve the problem so that the heavy computational burden can be eased. Since a nonlinearly constrained programming problem becomes a sequence of linearly constrained programming problems due to the application of the continuation method, the presented algorithm prevents a main difficulty encountered in normally using pseudospectral algorithms for nonlinear optimal systems: a local minimum. This advantage makes the proposed scheme attractive to solve problems involving large and highly nonlinear control systems.
Disseminated MAI as a cause of excruciating abdominal pain and diffuse colonic wall thickening

Disseminated MAI as a cause of excruciating abdominal pain and diffuse colonic wall thickening
A Patient’s Bold Voice: A Journey Through Cardiac Surgery

Cardiac surgery is one of the most common operations performed on adults. The physiology, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and technologies relating to this complex patient population are researched and discussed frequently in critical care journals. Most of this article is written by a patient who has had cardiac surgery, specifically an aortic valve replacement. The patient shares his journey from diagnosis to recovery. The discussion includes the discovery and monitoring of aortic regurgitation, surgical options, valve replacement surgery, postoperative pericarditis, pain, family and visitors, and life on warfarin. The current practice is reviewed by the patient's wife, a critical care clinical nurse specialist. When we really listen to the patient, we can learn how to provide more holistic and humanistic care.
Current flattening circuit for DPA countermeasure

In cryptographic applications, power consumption variations seen off-chip are a rich source of information for intruders to obtain secret or keying materials from the system. Differential Power Analysis (DPA) technique uses statistical functions to analyze the power consumption and extracts the secret keys from the cipher systems. Consequently, this side-channel information needs to be masked to make it very difficult or practically impossible to perform power analysis on the secured system. In this work, we propose an on-chip DPA countermeasure solution that can be added to an existing cryptographic core at the final design stage with minimal impact. The circuit was implemented in 0.18µm process and the results from detailed layout level simulations are presented in this work. The circuit has been verified to work with typical, fast and slow process parameters.
Respiratory and circulatory effects of centrally administered phencyclidine in anesthetized dogs.

Abstract 1. 1. Anesthetized dogs were given phencyclidine HCI (PCP) by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection. 2. 2. Physiological parameters were monitored after consecutive doses of 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg of PCP. 3. 3. Dose-related changes seen, including bradycardia, hypotension and bradypnea, were opposite to those produced by i.v. doses. 4. 4. Single doses of 1.0 or 2.0 mg of PCP confirmed the prior observations, and the latter provided the baseline for further observations on dogs receiving PCP before various i.c.v. pretreatments—atropine, haloperidol, phentolamine or propranolol—in efforts to characterize the central neurotransmitter system(s) involved in the PCP effects.
Why Has the United States Not Bombed Iran? The Domestic Politics of America's Response to Iran's Nuclear Program

Why has the United States, under both the Bush and Obama administrations, refrained from attacking Iran even as US officials have depicted the Iranian threat in all but apocalyptic terms and even as a loud chorus in Washington has been persistently calling for a preventive strike against Iran? I present an analysis — informed by Graham Allison’s famous bureaucratic politics model — of the main political and bureaucratic forces in Washington acting to promote or impede a preventive attack on Iran’s nuclear sites. I argue that America’s abstention from attacking Iran should be understood not as a coherent national response to Iran’s nuclear program but rather as (in Allison’s terms) an “intra-national political outcome” resulting from the “pulling” of Iran Threat interests — primarily Vice President Cheney’s camp in the Bush White House, members of Congress, and AIPAC — and the countervailing “hauling” of the Pentagon, the military’s top brass, the intelligence community, and the Department of State. The main reason why neither the Bush nor the Obama Administration opted for a military strike was that the “haulers,” who were led by a formidable bureaucratic-political player, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, have had the upper-hand over the hawkish “pullers.”
Reverse transcriptase activity in 5-azacytidine-treated lymphocyte cultures of patients with schizophrenia

Abstract We investigated the involvement of human lymphotropic retroviruses in the etiology of schizophrenia. Short- term cultures of peripheral lymphocytes of 11 chronic schizophrenic patients and six controls were established and treated with 2.5 and 5 μM 5-azacytidine. No reverse transcriptase activity could be detected in any of the 5-azacytidine-treated cultures indicating that 5-azacytidine did not activate a putative retrovirus in lymphocytes of patients with schizophrenia. Therefore, our findings do not support a role of lymphotropic retroviruses as an etiology in schizophrenia.
Confrontation Naming and the Provision of Superordinate, Coordinate, and Other Semantic Information By Individuals With Aphasia

Thirty-three individuals with aphasia (11 Broca's, 11 conduction, and 11 anomic) and 11 healthy control subjects were studied using a confrontation naming task. Each naming trial was followed by requests for the superordinate, other semantic information, and an in-class coordinate. All groups were as successful at giving semantic and coordinate information about items as they were at giving the basic level names for the items. Giving the superordinate category was the most difficult task for individuals with aphasia, regardless of type. These results suggest that in the face of anomia for basic level name, the provision of semantic information or an in-class coordinate is likely to be a better compensatory strategy than trying to provide the superordinate category.
Analysis of three-dimensional grids: five- and nine-point cubes

It is widely believed that quadratic coefficients cannot be estimated from nine data in cubical array. This paper illustrates three equations for that array and one equation for the five-point array. The quadratic coefficients obtained by the equations are compared to the true values as obtained by Taylor expansions of typical generating functions. The accuracy of the estimated coefficients may be sufficient to interest experimentalists.
Gage Density and Variability of Rainfall Estimates: A Complement to Silverman, Rogers and Dahl's Study

Abstract As a complement to the study by Silverman et al, (1981, this issue), the relative variability of rainfall estimates was studied for randomly located gages. This simplistic model allows for more random variability than Silverman et al.'s model does. As a result, its calculations of variability are found to exceed those of the latter's study unless very few gages are used. The present study serves as an indirect verification of the preceding one as well as a generalization allowing for multiple raincells and further local variability.
Recalibrating deference: comments on Professor Gastwirth's papers on Zuni Public School District 89 v. U.S. Department of Education, and related matters

This paper examines how straightforward application of two relatively simple statistical concepts, the measurement of relative variation or disparity in per-pupil expenditures by school districts and interpretation of the term ‘percentile’ as referring to school districts rather than students, triggered multimillion dollar litigation. As explained in Section 2, different interpretations regarding how to calculate relative disparities based on such percentages resulted in opposite conclusions as to whether funding equalization had been met and, in turn, as to which entity should receive federal funding-the Zuni school district or New Mexico state education officials. Section 3 covers Professor Gastwirth's two papers previously published in this journal, which effectively juxtaposed the lack of statistical expertise in the legislative and administrative processes related to the Federal Impact Aid Act, on one hand, and his own repeated surveys within the academic statistical community regarding the statistical meaning of this statute, on the other hand. Sections 4 and 5 discuss the Supreme Court's 2007 decision affirming the Department of Education's funding formula, how this case reflects the ongoing tension between various Justices concerning the appropriate level of deference that courts should accord to federal agency regulations, the role of expertise (here statistical science) in the public policy arena that includes judicial review of disputes between aid recipients and disbursing agencies and the explicit mechanism through which external expertise on these issues becomes incorporated into the judicial process. Section 6 concludes that Zuni could have been decided differently if the consensus of statistical opinion concerning the term ‘percentile’ was part of the case record and taken into account by the Justices.
B Cell Response and Hemagglutinin Stalk-Reactive Antibody Production in Different Age Cohorts following 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus Vaccination

The 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) influenza virus carried a swine-origin hemagglutinin (HA) that was closely related to the HAs of pre-1947 H1N1 viruses but highly divergent from the HAs of recently circulating H1N1 strains. Consequently, prior exposure to pH1N1-like viruses was mostly limited to individuals over the age of about 60 years. We related age and associated differences in immune history to the B cell response to an inactivated monovalent pH1N1 vaccine given intramuscularly to subjects in three age cohorts: 18 to 32 years, 60 to 69 years, and ≥70 years. The day 0 pH1N1-specific hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) and microneutralization (MN) titers were generally higher in the older cohorts, consistent with greater prevaccination exposure to pH1N1-like viruses. Most subjects in each cohort responded well to vaccination, with early formation of circulating virus-specific antibody (Ab)-secreting cells and ≥4-fold increases in HAI and MN titers. However, the response was strongest in the 18- to 32-year cohort. Circulating levels of HA stalk-reactive Abs were increased after vaccination, especially in the 18- to 32-year cohort, raising the possibility of elevated levels of cross-reactive neutralizing Abs. In the young cohort, an increase in MN activity against the seasonal influenza virus A/Brisbane/59/07 after vaccination was generally associated with an increase in the anti-Brisbane/59/07 HAI titer, suggesting an effect mediated primarily by HA head-reactive rather than stalk-reactive Abs. Our findings support recent proposals that immunization with a relatively novel HA favors the induction of Abs against conserved epitopes. They also emphasize the need to clarify how the level of circulating stalk-reactive Abs relates to resistance to influenza.
Hemihypertrophy associated with hemimegalencephaly in a newborn.

A 2-day-old female patient was seen shortly after birth for seizures involving her left face and left side of her body. Notable findings on examination included macrocephaly, enlarged right lower face, and hypertrophy of the right side of her tongue. The right lower extremity was also larger compared with the left (Figure 1). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) done shortly thereafter demonstrated an asymmetric increase in the size of the right cerebral hemisphere, right cerebellum, and right side of the brain stem (Figure 2). Hemihypertrophy is a condition characterized by marked asymmetry in size between the right and left sides of the body. The variation is usually confined to the limbs, but on occasion can involve the internal organs or face, as described in this report. Hemimegalencephaly is a congenital disorder of the brain that involves enlargement of only one cerebral hemisphere and, infrequently, involves the ipsilateral cerebellum and brain stem(‘‘complete’’ or ‘‘total’’ hemimegalencephaly). Patients commonly have macrocephaly, cranial asymmetry, or both at birth. Other clinical features include intractable early epilepsy, contralateral hemiparesis, and severe developmental delay. Status epilepticus may complicate the clinical course.
Insights into the mechanism of methionine oxidation catalyzed by metal (Cu2+, Zn2+, and Fe3+)—Amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide complexes: A computational study

In this DFT study, a mechanism of the oxidation of methionine (Met) amino acid residue catalyzed by the metal (Cu2+, Zn2+, and Fe3+) bound amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide has been proposed. Based on experimental information, two different mechanisms: (1) stepwise and (2) concerted mechanisms for this important process have been investigated. The B3LYP calculations suggest that in the stepwise mechanism, the two separate pathways leading to the same sulfoxide product [Met(O)] go through prohibitively high barriers of 27.3 and 35.1 kcal/mol, therefore it is ruled out. In the concerted mechanism, the Cu2+-Aβ complex has been found to be the most efficient catalyst with the computed barrier of 14.3 kcal/mol. The substitutions of Cu2+ by Zn2+ and Fe3+ increase barriers to 19.6 and 16.9 kcal/mol, respectively and make the reaction thermodynamically less favorable. It was also found that, in comparison with the cysteine (Cys) residue, Met is more susceptible toward oxidation. Its substitution with Cys slightly increased the barrier to 15.8 kcal/mol for the Cu2+-Aβ complex. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 2009
Pain Coping Skills Training for Patients With Elevated Pain Catastrophizing Who Are Scheduled for Knee Arthroplasty: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Riddle DL, Keefe FJ, Nay WT, McKee D, Attarian DE, Jensen MP. Pain coping skills training for patients with elevated pain catastrophizing who are scheduled for knee arthroplasty: a quasi-experimental study. Arch Phys Med Re- habil 2011;92:859-65. Objectives: To (1) describe a behavioral intervention de- signed for patients with elevated pain catastrophizing who are scheduled for knee arthroplasty, and (2) use a quasi-experi- mental design to evaluate the potential efficacy of the inter- vention on pain severity, catastrophizing cognitions, and disability. Design: Quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design with a 2-month follow-up. Setting: Two university-based orthopedic surgery depart- ments. Participants: Adults (N63) scheduled for knee replace- ment surgery who reported elevated levels of pain catastroph- izing. Patients were recruited from 2 clinics and were assessed prior to surgery and 2 months after surgery. Interventions: A group of 18 patients received a psycholo- gist-directed pain coping skills training intervention compris- ing 8 sessions. The other group, a historical cohort of 45 patients, received usual care. Main Outcome Measures: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index Pain and Disability scores, as well as scores on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Results: Two months after surgery, the patients who re- ceived pain coping skills training reported significantly greater reductions in pain severity and catastrophizing, and greater improvements in function as compared to the usual care cohort. Conclusions: Pain catastrophizing is known to increase risk of poor outcome after knee arthroplasty. The findings provide preliminary evidence that the treatment may be highly effica- cious for reducing pain, catastrophizing, and disability, in pa-
Ecological resistance, seed density and their interactions determine patterns of invasion in a California coastal grassland

Relatively little experimental evidence is available regarding how ecological resistance and propagule density interact in their effects on the establishment of invasive exotic species. We examined the independent and interactive effects of neighbour cover (biotic resistance), winter vs. spring water addition (abiotic resistance) and seed density on the invasion of the European perennial grass Holcus lanatus into a California coastal grassland dominated by exotic annual grasses. We found that decreased competition from resident exotic grasses had no effect. In contrast, increased late-season water availability eroded the abiotic resistance offered by naturally dry conditions, facilitating invasion. Finally, watering treatment and seed density interacted strongly in determining seedling survival: while seedling mortality was close to 100% in ambient and winter water addition plots, survivor numbers increased with seed density in spring-watered plots. Thus, decreased abiotic resistance can amplify the effect of increased propagule density on seedling establishment, thereby increasing the likelihood of invasion.
Very fast ellipse detection using GPU-based RHT

An approach to very rapid computation of one class of randomized Hough transform (RHT) using parallel processing capabilities of a programmable graphics processing unit is described. The method is able to detect ellipses in real-time, even in large images. It uses fragment processing in recovering ellipse shape parameters. Its effectiveness is evaluated through experiments on synthetic and real images.
Topical Review: Adolescent Self-Regulation as a Foundation for Chronic Illness Self-Management

Objective To illustrate adolescent self-regulation as a foundation for both individual and interpersonal processes in adolescent chronic illness self-management. Method Literature review. Results Research has identified multiple individual (e.g., self-efficacy, coping, and adherence) and interpersonal factors (parental monitoring and friend support) that are sources of risk and resilience to adolescent chronic illness self-management. In this article, we highlight literature consistent with the idea that self-regulation (including cognitive, emotional, and behavioral regulation) underlies both individual and interpersonal sources of risk and resilience across development. Conclusions This self-regulation approach has multiple benefits: A parsimonious construct for explaining both individual and interpersonal processes that contribute to risk and resilience for chronic illness self-management, the incorporation of methods used in developmental and health psychology research, including performance-based, physiological, daily, and ecological momentary assessment, and a new look to interventions that target self-regulation as a way to improve individual and interpersonal processes in chronic illness self-management.
Identification of Residues outside of the Receptor Binding Domain That Influence the Infectivity and Tropism of Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus

Identification of determinants of human tropism of porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) is critical to understanding the risk of transmission of PERV to recipients of porcine xenotransplantation products. Previously, we showed that a chimeric envelope cDNA encoding the 360 N-terminal residues of the human-tropic PERV envelope class A (PERV-A) SU and the 130 C-terminal residues of the pig-tropic PERV-C SU and all of TM (PERV-A/C) showed a 100-fold decrease in infectivity titer on human cells (M. Gemeniano, O. Mpanju, D. R. Salomon, M. V. Eiden, and C. A. Wilson, Virology 346:108-117, 2006). To identify residues important for human cell infection, we performed site-directed mutagenesis on each of the nine residues, singly or in combination, that distinguish the C-terminal region of PERV-C from PERV-A. Of the nine amino acids, two single-amino-acid substitutions, Q374R and I412V, restored the infectivity of human cells to the chimeric PERV-A/C to a titer equivalent to that of PERV-A. In contrast, PERV-A/C mutant envelope Q439P resulted in undetectable infection of human cells and an approximately 1,000-fold decrease in control pig cells. Mutation of K441R rescued mutants that carried Q439P, suggesting an incompatibility between the proline residue at this position and the presence of KK in the proteolytic cleavage signal. We confirmed this incompatibility with vectors carrying PERV-A envelope mutant R462K that were also rendered noninfectious. Finally, tropism of vectors carrying PERV-C envelope mutants with only four amino acid changes in the C terminus of PERV-C envelope, NHRQ436YNRP plus K441R, was shifted to one similar to that of PERV-A. Our results show an important and previously unrecognized role for infectivity and tropism for residues at the C terminus of SU.
Information-based bank runs in a monetary economy

This paper offers a general equilibrium model of banking that is capable of confronting a number of “stylized facts” from the 1929–1933 period of U.S. banking history. In the model, fiat currency is part of the bank's portfolio, banks are subject to an explicit sequential service constraint, and bank runs are information-based. After describing the bank's problem and defining an equilibrium, a simulation of the economy's equilibrium is provided. Key features of the simulation are shown to be consistent with the “stylized facts.”
Tempestuous highs and lows in the Gulf of Mexico

The nature of Holocene sea-level change has been hotly debated ever since absolute dating allowed for detailed sea-level reconstructions ([Shepard, 1964][1]). Several decades later, sea-level history in the Gulf of Mexico is still being disputed. Reconstructions using presently submerged samples
Differentiation of cancerous lesions in excised human breast specimens using multiband attenuation profiles from ultrasonic transmission tomography.

Objective. This study examines the tissue differentiation capability of the recently developed high-resolution ultrasonic transmission tomography (HUTT) system in the context of differentiating between benign and malignant tissue types in mastectomy specimens. Methods. Eight mastectomy patients provided breast specimens with benign and malignant lesions. The specimens were scanned by the HUTT system with a pair of either 8- or 4-MHz transducers. Multiband HUTT images over the frequency range from 2 to 10 MHz provide characteristic profiles of frequencydependent attenuation, termed “multiband profiles,” at individual pixels. These features are classified through a novel algorithm of “segment-wise classification” that identifies the disjoint segments of various tissue types and subsequently classifies them into respective diagnostic categories using a measure of proximity to the respective multiband profile templates that have been previously obtained from reference data. Results. We preformed intraspecimen and interspecimen analyses of 108 slices from 8 mastectomy specimens for which “ground truth” was provided by pathology reports. The average performance indices for 2-way classification (malignant versus nonmalignant tissue) in these intraspecimen (interspecimen) specimen studies were found to be sensitivity of 81.9% (89.6%), specificity of 92.9% (92.1%), and accuracy of 89.2% (89.4%), whereas the indices for the 3way classification were moderately lower. Conclusions. The results have shown the potential of the HUTT technology for reliable differentiation of cancerous lesions
Discovering social groups without having relational data

Who is associated with whom? Who communicates with whom? When two or more individuals get together is there an intended purpose? Who are the leaders/important individuals of the group? What is the organizational structure of the group? These are just a few of the questions that are covered under the topic of social network analysis. Data mining, specifically community generation, attempts to automatically discover and learn these social models. In this paper we present one class of problems which we have called the uni-party data community generation paradigm. We discuss various applications, a methodology and results from two problem domains.
Founding events in species invasions: genetic variation, adaptive evolution, and the role of multiple introductions

Invasive species are predicted to suffer from reductions in genetic diversity during founding events, reducing adaptive potential. Integrating evidence from two literature reviews and two case studies, we address the following questions: How much genetic diversity is lost in invasions? Do multiple introductions ameliorate this loss? Is there evidence for loss of diversity in quantitative traits? Do invaders that have experienced strong bottlenecks show adaptive evolution? How do multiple introductions influence adaptation on a landscape scale? We reviewed studies of 80 species of animals, plants, and fungi that quantified nuclear molecular diversity within introduced and source populations. Overall, there were significant losses of both allelic richness and heterozygosity in introduced populations, and large gains in diversity were rare. Evidence for multiple introductions was associated with increased diversity, and allelic variation appeared to increase over long timescales (~100 years), suggesting a role for gene flow in augmenting diversity over the long-term. We then reviewed the literature on quantitative trait diversity and found that broad-sense variation rarely declines in introductions, but direct comparisons of additive variance were lacking. Our studies of Hypericum canariense invasions illustrate how populations with diminished diversity may still evolve rapidly. Given the prevalence of genetic bottlenecks in successful invading populations and the potential for adaptive evolution in quantitative traits, we suggest that the disadvantages associated with founding events may have been overstated. However, our work on the successful invader Verbascum thapsus illustrates how multiple introductions may take time to commingle, instead persisting as a 'mosaic of maladaptation' where traits are not distributed in a pattern consistent with adaptation. We conclude that management limiting gene flow among introduced populations may reduce adaptive potential but is unlikely to prevent expansion or the evolution of novel invasive behaviour.
Aptamers: versatile molecular recognition probes for cancer detection

In the past two decades, aptamers have emerged as a novel class of molecular recognition probes comprising uniquely-folded short RNA or single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides that bind to their cognate targets with high specificity and affinity. Aptamers, often referred to as “chemical antibodies”, possess several highly desirable features for clinical use. They can be chemically synthesized and are easily conjugated to a wide range of reporters for different applications, and are able to rapidly penetrate tissues. These advantages significantly enhance their clinical applicability, and render them excellent alternatives to antibody-based probes in cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. Aptamer probes based on fluorescence, colorimetry, magnetism, electrochemistry, and in conjunction with nanomaterials (e.g., nanoparticles, quantum dots, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and magnetic nanoparticles) have provided novel ultrasensitive cancer diagnostic strategies and assays. Furthermore, promising aptamer targeted-multimodal tumor imaging probes have been recently developed in conjunction with fluorescence, positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The capabilities of the aptamer-based platforms described herein underscore the great potential they hold for the future of cancer detection. In this review, we highlight the most prominent recent developments in this rapidly advancing field.
Elevated extracellular K(+) concentrations inhibit N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced Ca(2+) influx and excitotoxicity.

Although extracellular [K(+)] ([K(+)](E)) is highly elevated during brain ischemia, in vitro studies aimed at explaining the mechanisms of excitotoxicity have been conducted at low [K(+)](E). Whether high [K(+)](E) affects excitotoxicity has not been formally addressed. Therefore this study, using digital fluorescence microscopy, tested how the elevation of [K(+)](E) from 5.6 to 60 mM affects N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced Ca(2+) and Na(+) influx, plasma membrane (PM) potential, mitochondrial Ca(2+) load, and viability of primary cultures of rat cerebellar granule cells. High [K(+)](E) curtailed the NMDA-induced Ca(2+) and Na(+) influx and mitochondrial Ca(2+) overload, and prevented neuronal death. Surprisingly, the inhibitory effect of high [K(+)](E) on the NMDA-induced Ca(2+) influx could not be linked to depolarization of the PM. Apparently, the PM of cerebellar granule cells exposed to NMDA was more depolarized at low than at high [K(+)](E), probably because the NMDA-induced Na(+) influx was greatly enhanced when the extracellular [Na(+)]/[K(+)] ratio was increased. When this ratio was small, i.e., at high [K(+)](E), the NMDA-induced increase in cytoplasmic [Na(+)] was suppressed, preventing Ca(2+) influx via the reverse operation of the Na(+)/Ca(2+) exchanger, which may explain the inhibitory effect of high [K(+)](E) on NMDA-induced Ca(2+) influx and excitotoxicity.
Two promising future developments of cryo-EM: capturing short-lived states and mapping a continuum of states of a macromolecule

The capabilities and application range of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) method have expanded vastly in the last two years, thanks to the advances provided by direct detection devices and computational classification tools. We take this review as an opportunity to sketch out promising developments of cryo-EM in two important directions: (i) imaging of short-lived states (10-1000 ms) of biological molecules by using time-resolved cryo-EM, particularly the mixing-spraying method and (ii) recovering an entire continuum of coexisting states from the same sample by employing a computational technique called manifold embedding. It is tempting to think of combining these two methods, to elucidate the way the states of a molecular machine such as the ribosome branch and unfold. This idea awaits further developments of both methods, particularly by increasing the data yield of the time-resolved cryo-EM method and by developing the manifold embedding technique into a user-friendly workbench.
Analysis of Middle Distillate Fuels by Flow Liquid Chromatography/Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Normal phase liquid chromatography (LC) is an appropriate technique for separating middle distillate fuels — jet and diesel — into major hydrocarbon classes. The use of a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) instrument as a continuous flow LC detector, in conjunction with a halocarbon liquid phase, generates a proton spectrum for each separated fraction in the sample. Specific proton types are measured via appropriate integration windows for each hydrocarbon class. A detailed set of equations allows the integration data to be interpreted as an average molecular composition for each chromatographic fraction. The treatment is particularly useful with the mono- and di-aromatic fractions.
A presence-only model of suitable roosting habitat for the endangered Indiana bat in the southern Appalachians

We know little about how forest bats, which are cryptic and mobile, use roosts on a landscape scale. For widely distributed species like the endangered Indiana bat Myotis sodalis, identifying landscape-scale roost habitat associations will be important for managing the species in different regions where it occurs. For example, in the southern Appalachian Mountains, USA, M. sodalis roosts are scattered across a heavily forested landscape, which makes protecting individual roosts impractical during large-scale management activities. We created a predictive spatial model of summer roosting habitat to identify important predictors using the presence-only modeling program MaxEnt and an information theoretic approach for model comparison. Two of 26 candidate models together accounted for >0.93 of AICc weights. Elevation and forest type were top predictors of presence; aspect north/south and distance-to-ridge were also important. The final average best model indicated that 5% of the study area was suitable habitat and 0.5% was optimal. This model matched our field observations that, in the southern Appalachian Mountains, optimal roosting habitat for M. sodalis is near the ridge top in south-facing mixed pine-hardwood forests at elevations from 260–575 m. Our findings, coupled with data from other studies, suggest M. sodalis is flexible in roost habitat selection across different ecoregions with varying topography and land use patterns. We caution that, while mature pine-hardwood forests are important now, specific areas of suitable and optimal habitat will change over time. Combining the information theoretic approach with presence-only models makes it possible to develop landscape-scale habitat suitability maps for forest bats.
Integrated Driving Aware System in the Real-World: Sensing, Computing and Feedback

We have developed an integrated driving-aware system that allows us to effectively conduct driving user experience (UX) studies. Our system senses driver and vehicle status, analyzes the collected data, and makes a decision about what feedback to provide a driver in a single Android application. We also propose a graphical experimental authoring tool to plan driving routes and manage UX experimental factors. This research with real-world experiments should have great positive impact on further driving-related UX studies.
Practical application of thin-layer chromatography for detection of polyphosphates in seafood

The practical application of previously published thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) methods to polyphosphate detection in seafood was determined. Exogenous polyphosphates are distinguishable from naturally occurring phosphates by using TLC ; their detection can be enhanced by sampling techniques. Polyphosphates will eventually hydrolyze to monophosphates and make detection virtually impossible. Hydrolysis and therefore, nondetection, is accelerated by certain commercial practices. Results indicate that TLC detection of added phosphates can be used as an inspection tool for fresh products and for frozen products stored about 1 year.
Accelerating big data analytics on HPC clusters using two-level storage

Abstract Data-intensive applications that are inherently I/O bound have become a major workload on traditional high-performance computing (HPC) clusters. Simply employing data-intensive computing storage such as HDFS or using parallel file systems available on HPC clusters to serve such applications incurs performance and scalability issues. In this paper, we present a novel two-level storage system that integrates an upper-level in-memory file system with a lower-level parallel file system. The former renders memory-speed high I/O performance and the latter renders consistent storage with large capacity. We build a two-level storage system prototype with Tachyon and OrangeFS, and analyze the resulting I/O throughput for typical MapReduce operations. Theoretical modeling and experiments show that the proposed two-level storage delivers higher aggregate I/O throughput than HDFS and OrangeFS and achieves scalable performance for both read and write. We expect this two-level storage approach to provide insights on system design for big data analytics on HPC clusters.
Percutaneous Femoropopliteal Recanalization Using a Completely Transpedal/Transtibial Approach

To report preliminary experience with femoropopliteal revascularization using a completely transpedal/transtibial approach. Three patients with Rutherford 3–4 disease underwent revascularization of TASC C/D lesions using a pedal/tibial artery as the only site of arterial access. One patient with a chronic superficial femoral artery occlusion had continuity achieved to the common femoral artery using a dedicated reentry device and stenting; in a second patient, an occluded popliteal artery stent was successfully revised with an endograft; and in a third patient with morbid obesity, a chronic SFA occlusion was successfully stented. All patients experienced complete resolution of presenting symptoms; no puncture site complications were seen. Use of a pedal/tibial approach as the sole site of arterial access may become an important access technique for femoropopliteal revascularization when patients have limited femoral access options.
Optimizing customized program coverage

Program coverage is used across many stages of software development. While common during testing, program coverage has also found use outside the test lab, in production software. However, production software has stricter requirements on run-time overheads, and may limit possible program instrumentation. Thus, optimizing the placement of probes to gather program coverage is important. We introduce and study the problem of customized program coverage optimization. We generalize previous work that optimizes for complete coverage instrumentation with a system that adapts optimization to customizable program coverage requirements. Specifically, our system allows a user to specify desired coverage locations and to limit legal instrumentation locations. We prove that the problem of determining optimal coverage probes is NP-hard, and we present a solution based on mixed integer linear programming. Due to the computational complexity of the problem, we also provide two practical approximation approaches. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approximations across a diverse set of benchmarks, and show that our techniques can substantially reduce instrumentation while allowing the user immense freedom in defining coverage requirements. When naive instrumentation is dense or expensive, our optimizations succeed in lowering execution time overheads.
Hemosiderotic dermatofibroma: Unique clinical presentation and dermoscopic findings of a rare dermatofibroma variant

Hemosiderotic dermatofibromas (HDFs) are a rare variant of the relatively common dermatofibroma (DF). HDFs can clinically mimic melanoma as well as other melanocytic lesions and are diagnosed with histopathological examination. Histopathologic diagnosis is not straightforward as there are many DF variants and the features of several variants can often be found in one lesion. These lesions may represent a stage in development from common DF to aneurysmal dermatofibroma (ADF). This possible progression is important to recognize, as ADFs tend to exhibit increased tendency for local recurrence and can also be confused with malignant lesions. We present a case of a 65-year-old presenting with a rare HDF having unique clinical and dermatoscopic findings. Our case underscores the importance of recognizing this rare entity and stresses the importance of remaining mindful of the possible progression to ADF, an entity with increased propensity for recurrence.
Honing in on the Social Difficulties Associated With Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in Children: Withdrawal, Peer Ignoring, and Low Engagement.

Sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) symptoms are associated with social difficulties in children, though findings are mixed and many studies have used global measures of social impairment. The present study tested the hypothesis that SCT would be uniquely associated with aspects of social functioning characterized by withdrawal and isolation, whereas attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms would be uniquely associated with aspects of social functioning characterized by inappropriate responding in social situations and active peer exclusion. Participants were 158 children (70% boys) between 7-12 years of age being evaluated for possible ADHD. Both parents and teachers completed measures of SCT, ADHD, ODD, and internalizing (anxiety/depression) symptoms. Parents also completed ratings of social engagement and self-control. Teachers also completed measures assessing asociality and exclusion, as well as peer ignoring and dislike. In regression analyses controlling for demographic characteristics and other psychopathology symptoms, parent-reported SCT symptoms were significantly associated with lower social engagement (e.g., starting conversations, joining activities). Teacher-reported SCT symptoms were significantly associated with greater asociality/withdrawal and ratings of more frequent ignoring by peers, as well as greater exclusion. ODD symptoms and ADHD hyperactive-impulsive symptoms were more consistently associated with other aspects of social behavior, including peer exclusion, being disliked by peers, and poorer self-control during social situations. Findings provide the clearest evidence to date that the social difficulties associated with SCT are primarily due to withdrawal, isolation, and low initiative in social situations. Social skills training interventions may be effective for children displaying elevated SCT symptomatology.