cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Web-based Health Information Seeking and eHealth Literacy among Patients Living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Many people living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have low general health literacy; however, there is little information available on these patients' eHealth literacy, or their ability to seek, find, understand, and appraise online health information and apply this knowledge to address or solve disease-related health concerns. A nationally representative sample of patients registered in the COPD Foundation's National Research Registry (N = 1,270) was invited to complete a web-based survey to assess socio-demographic (age, gender, marital status, education), health status (generic and lung-specific health-related quality of life), and socio-cognitive (social support, self-efficacy, COPD knowledge) predictors of eHealth literacy, measured using the 8-item eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS). Over 50% of the respondents (n = 176) were female (n = 89), with a mean age of 66.19 (SD = 9.47). Overall, participants reported moderate levels of eHealth literacy, with more than 70% feeling confident in their ability to find helpful health resources on the Internet. However, respondents were much less confident in their ability to distinguish between high- and low-quality sources of web-based health information. Very severe versus less severe COPD (β = 4.15), lower lung-specific health-related quality of life (β = -0.19), and greater COPD knowledge (β = 0.62) were significantly associated with higher eHealth literacy. Higher COPD knowledge was also significantly associated with greater knowledge (ρ = 0.24, p = .001) and use (ρ = 0.24, p = .001) of web-based health resources. Findings emphasize the importance of integrating skill-building activities into comprehensive patient education programs that enable patients with severe cases of COPD to identify high-quality sources of web-based health information. Additional research is needed to understand how new social technologies can be used to help medically underserved COPD patients benefit from web-based self-management support resources.
The natural product mensacarcin induces mitochondrial toxicity and apoptosis in melanoma cells

Mensacarcin is a highly oxygenated polyketide that was first isolated from soil-dwelling Streptomyces bacteria. It exhibits potent cytostatic properties (mean of 50% growth inhibition = 0.2 μm) in almost all cell lines of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-60 cell line screen and relatively selective cytotoxicity against melanoma cells. Moreover, its low COMPARE correlations with known standard antitumor agents indicate a unique mechanism of action. Effective therapies for managing melanoma are limited, so we sought to investigate mensacarcin's unique cytostatic and cytotoxic effects and its mode of action. By assessing morphological and biochemical features, we demonstrated that mensacarcin activates caspase-3/7-dependent apoptotic pathways and induces cell death in melanoma cells. Upon mensacarcin exposure, SK-Mel-28 and SK-Mel-5 melanoma cells, which have the BRAFV600E mutation associated with drug resistance, showed characteristic chromatin condensation as well as distinct poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-1 cleavage. Flow cytometry identified a large population of apoptotic melanoma cells, and single-cell electrophoresis indicated that mensacarcin causes genetic instability, a hallmark of early apoptosis. To visualize mensacarcin's subcellular localization, we synthesized a fluorescent mensacarcin probe that retained activity. The natural product probe was localized to mitochondria within 20 min of treatment. Live-cell bioenergetic flux analysis confirmed that mensacarcin disturbs energy production and mitochondrial function rapidly. The subcellular localization of the fluorescently labeled mensacarcin together with its unusual metabolic effects in melanoma cells provide evidence that mensacarcin targets mitochondria. Mensacarcin's unique mode of action suggests that it may be a useful probe for examining energy metabolism, particularly in BRAF-mutant melanoma, and represent a promising lead for the development of new anticancer drugs.
Cash-on-Hand and College Enrollment: Evidence from Population Tax Data and the Earned Income Tax Credit

Abstract We estimate causal effects of cash-on-hand on college enrollment decisions of students from low-income families. Using population-level, administrative data from US income tax returns, we exploit variation in tax refunds received in the spring of the high school senior year. The variation in tax refunds results from the kink point between the phase-in and maximum credit portions of the Earned Income Tax Credit schedule. The results suggest tax refunds received in the spring of the high school senior year have meaningful effects on college enrollment. (JEL D14, H24, I22, I23, I24)
Reversal of aureomycin inhibition of bacterial cell-free nitro reductase by manganese.

SUMMARY 1. DPNH can replace DPN and I-malate in the reduction of chloram- phenicol to the corresponding arylamine mediated by cell-free extracts of Escherichia coli. 2. When DPNH replaces DPN and I-malate, Aureomycin no longer is inhibitory and DPNH can reverse the inhibitory activity of Aureomycin in the present system. 3. Mn++ is necessary for the formation of both DPNH and arylamine and added Mntt- reverses the inhibition of arylamine formation from chlor- amphenicol. 4. The implications of these findings with respect to the antibiotic ac- tivity of Aureomycin are discussed. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Saz, A. K., and Marmur, J., Proc. Sot. Exp. Biol. and Med., 82,783 (1953). 2. Sas, A. K., and Slie, R. B., Arch. Biochem. and Biophys, in press. 3. Van Meter, J. C., and Oleson, J. J., Science, 113, 273 (1951). 4. Loomis, W. F., Science, 111, 474 (1950). 5. Van Meter, J. C., Spector, A., Oleson, J. J., and Williams, J. H., Proc. Sot. Ezp. Biol. and Med., 81, 215 (1952). 6. Albert, A., Nature, 172, 201 (1953). 7. Soncin, E., Arch. internat. pharmacod. et tht%ap., 94, 346 (1953). 8. Meister, A., Sober, H. A., and Peterson, E. A., J. Biol. Chem., 208, 89 (1954).
Blockade of CD40-CD154 costimulatory pathway promotes survival of allogeneic corneal transplants.

PURPOSE To determine the effect of systemic anti-CD154 monoclonal antibody on the survival of orthotopic murine corneal transplants. METHODS BALB/c mice were used as recipients of syngeneic, multiple minor histocompatability (H)-disparate, or major histocompatibility complex MHC-mismatched corneal transplants. Recipient beds were either avascular (normal risk) or neovascularized (high risk). Mice were randomized to receive either anti-CD154 antibody or control immunoglobulin by intraperitoneal injection at surgery and once weekly after surgery. After orthotopic corneal transplantation, all grafts were evaluated for signs of rejection by slit lamp biomicroscopy over 8 weeks. The high-risk transplants were continuously observed until week 18 after the therapy was discontinued at week 8. Allospecific delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) was evaluated after transplantation in high-risk graft recipients. Frequency of interferon (IFN)-gamma-secreting T cells in the hosts was measured by enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. RESULTS In normal-risk transplantation, the 8-week survival rate improved from 25% in control mice to 88% in anti-CD154-treated hosts of minor H-disparate grafts (P = 0.0087) and from 78% in control mice to 100% in anti-CD154-treated recipients of MHC-mismatched transplants (P = 0.177). Of particular significance, in high-risk transplantation, anti-CD154 therapy dramatically enhanced the survival of both minor H- and MHC-disparate corneal transplants to 100% (P = 0.0001) and 92% (P = 0.0002), respectively. In addition, the anti-CD154-treated mice did not exhibit allospecific immunity. However, termination of anti-CD154 led to some loss in graft survival, especially among high-risk minor H-disparate grafts. The frequency of IFN-gamma-producing T cells was significantly reduced in anti-CD154-treated hosts. CONCLUSIONS Continuous suppression of the CD40-CD154 costimulatory pathway promotes the acceptance of corneal transplants, regardless of the degree of allodisparity or preoperative risk. The beneficial effect of anti-CD154 treatment may be due in part to inhibition of Th1-mediated responses.
School Factors That Make a Difference

A particularly distressing finding of this study is that there was almost a 90% chance that a child who was a poor reader at the end of first grade would continue to be a poor reader (Juel, 1988). One explanation for this finding may be that children who have difficulty learning to read learn to dislike reading, and thus will avoid reading whenever possible. This will in turn decrease the opportunities these children have to gain vocabulary, world knowledge, and ideas through reading. Thus, the child who starts off as only a poor decoder also will arrive in the upper grades with less higher-level knowledge to aid in reading comprehension and writing (Chapter 2, Figure 2.2).
Percutaneous Management of Lower Extremity Arterial Disease: Patient Selection, Techniques, and Technologies

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) involving lower extremity arterial vessels is a common manifestation of generalized atherosclerosis that affects a large proportion of the adult population worldwide. Though intermittent claudication and critical limb ischemia are recognized presentations of lower extremity PAD, it is important to point out that a large number of patients present with subclinical forms of PAD and are asymptomatic. In fact, the presence of symptomatic expression of lower extremity PAD defines a small subset of the total population with the disease; it is estimated that out of nearly eight million men and women with PAD in the United States, 20–50 % are asymptomatic.
Optimal Control of Complex Systems through Variational Inference with a Discrete Event Decision Process

Complex social systems are composed of interconnected individuals whose interactions result in group behaviors. Optimal control of a real-world complex system has many applications, including road traffic management, epidemic prevention, and information dissemination. However, such real-world complex system control is difficult to achieve because of high-dimensional and non-linear system dynamics, and the exploding state and action spaces for the decision maker. Prior methods can be divided into two categories: simulation-based and analytical approaches. Existing simulation approaches have high-variance in Monte Carlo integration, and the analytical approaches suffer from modeling inaccuracy. We adopted simulation modeling in specifying the complex dynamics of a complex system, and developed analytical solutions for searching optimal strategies in a complex network with high-dimensional state-action space. To capture the complex system dynamics, we formulate the complex social network decision making problem as a discrete event decision process. To address the curse of dimensionality and search in high-dimensional state action spaces in complex systems, we reduce control of a complex system to variational inference and parameter learning, introduce Bethe entropy approximation, and develop an expectation propagation algorithm. Our proposed algorithm leads to higher system expected rewards, faster convergence, and lower variance of value function in a real-world transportation scenario than state-of-the-art analytical and sampling approaches.
Automating expressive locomotion generation

This paper introduces a system for expressive locomotion generation that takes as input a set of sample locomotion clips and a motion path. Significantly, the system only requires a single sample of straight-path locomotion for each style modeled and can produce output locomotion for an arbitrary path with arbitrary motion transition points. For efficient locomotion generation, we represent each sample with a loop sequence which encapsulates its key style and utilize these sequences throughout the synthesis process. Several techniques are applied to automate the synthesis: foot-plant detection from unlabeled samples, estimation of an adaptive blending length for a natural style change, and a post-processing step for enhancing the physical realism of the output animation. Compared to previous approaches, the system requires significantly less data and manual labor, while supporting a large range of styles.
The Artist as Facilitator: Being present with & loving the unknown

Object-Oriented Ontology presents stark implications for the process of the artist. If all matter is alive, then all things are co-performers, and all art becomes performance. How does one work with the presence of the non-human, and what are the ethical implications of attempting to attune to its needs? Beginning with the object of a table, and considering it within both Graham Harman's discussion of "The Third Table" and the thing as a performing object, Meghan Moe Beitiks analyzes the presence of the non-human in performance and asserts a need for awareness, consideration and love in the creative process.
Neuro biomarker levels measured with high-sensitivity digital ELISA differ between serum and plasma.

Aim: Digital ELISA-based assays for blood biomarkers of neurological disease are on the verge of clinical use. Here, we aimed to determine whether different preanalytical blood processing technique...
Prenatal Phthalate, Paraben, and Phenol Exposure and Childhood Allergic and Respiratory Outcomes: Evaluating Exposure to Chemical Mixtures

Abstract Background Chemicals found in personal care products and plastics have been associated with asthma, allergies, and lung function, but methods to address real life exposure to mixtures of these chemicals have not been applied to these associations. Methods We quantified urinary concentrations of eleven phthalate metabolites, four parabens, and five other phenols in mothers twice during pregnancy and assessed probable asthma, aeroallergies, and lung function in their age seven children. We implemented Bayesian Profile Regression (BPR) to cluster women by their exposures to these chemicals and tested the clusters for differences in outcome measurements. We used Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR) to fit biomarkers into one model as joint independent variables. Results BPR clustered women into seven groups characterized by patterns of personal care product and plastic use, though there were no significant differences in outcomes across clusters. BKMR showed that monocarboxyisooctyl phthalate and 2,4-dichlorophenol were associated with probable asthma (predicted probability of probable asthma per IQR of biomarker z-score (standard deviation) = 0.08 (0.09) and 0.11 (0.12), respectively) and poorer lung function (predicted probability per IQR = −0.07 (0.05) and −0.07 (0.06), respectively), and that mono(3-carboxypropyl) phthalate and bisphenol A were associated with aeroallergies (predicted probability per IQR = 0.13 (0.09) and 0.11 (0.08), respectively). Several biomarkers demonstrated positive additive effects on other associations. Conclusions BPR and BKMR are useful tools to evaluate associations of biomarker concentrations within a mixture of exposure and should supplement single-chemical regression models when data allow.
The Effect of Ultraviolet C Radiation Against SARS-CoV-2 Inoculated N95 Respirators

Abstract Since March 31st 2020, during the height of the pandemic, we have decontaminated thousands of 3M 1860 respirators with Ultraviolet C (UVC) for our frontline workers. There is no published peer-reviewed data regarding the dose required to effectively disinfect SARS-CoV-2 on N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). Four different locations (facepiece and strap) on 5 different N95 FFR models (3M 1860, 8210, 8511, 9211; Moldex 1511) were inoculated with a 10 μL drop of SARS-CoV-2 viral stock (8 × 107 TCID50/mL). The outside-facing and wearer-facing surfaces of the respirators were each irradiated with a dose of 1.5 J/cm2 UVC (254 nm). Viable SARS-CoV-2 was quantified by a median tissue culture infectious dose assay (TCID50). UVC delivered using a dose of 1.5 J/cm2, to each side, was an effective method of decontamination for the facepieces of 3M 1860 and Moldex 1511, and for the straps of 3M 8210 and the Moldex 1511. This dose is an appropriate decontamination method to facilitate reuse of respirators for healthcare personnel when applied to certain models/materials. Increasing the dose may improve decontamination for the other models and straps; however, UVC radiation can degrade certain polymers in a dose dependent manner, and the effects may vary greatly between different models. Therefore, fit-testing of UVC decontaminated respirators must be performed each time a new model and/or dose is introduced into the healthcare system. Article Summary Line: Ultraviolet C at a dose of 1.5 J/cm2 is effective at decontaminating SARS-CoV-2 on some types/models of N95 respirators.
Semiquantitative Group Testing

We propose a novel group testing method, termed semiquantitative group testing (SQGT), motivated by a class of problems arising in genome screening experiments. The SQGT is a (possibly) nonbinary pooling scheme that may be viewed as a concatenation of an adder channel and an integer-valued quantizer. In its full generality, SQGT may be viewed as a unifying framework for group testing, in the sense that most group testing models are special instances of SQGT. For the new testing scheme, we define the notion of SQ-disjunct and SQ-separable codes, representing generalizations of classical disjunct and separable codes. We describe several combinatorial and probabilistic constructions for such codes. While for most of these constructions, we assume that the number of defectives is much smaller than total number of test subjects, we also consider the case in which there is no restriction on the number of defectives and they may be as large as the total number of subjects. For the codes constructed in this paper, we describe a number of efficient decoding algorithms. In addition, we describe a belief propagation decoder for sparse SQGT codes for which no other efficient decoder is currently known.
A New Town and a numbers game: Runcorn, Merseyside, and Liverpool

This paper is skeptical about attributing welfarist motivations to Britain’s second generation of New Tows, initiated in the 1960s. Focusing specifically on the Runcorn New Town in North West Engla...
Tolerating Defects in Low-Power Neural Network Accelerators Via Retraining-Free Weight Approximation

Hardware accelerators are essential to the accommodation of ever-increasing Deep Neural Network (DNN) workloads on the resource-constrained embedded devices. While accelerators facilitate fast and energy-efficient DNN operations, their accuracy is threatened by faults in their on-chip and off-chip memories, where millions of DNN weights are held. The use of emerging Non-Volatile Memories (NVM) further exposes DNN accelerators to a non-negligible rate of permanent defects due to immature fabrication, limited endurance, and aging. To tolerate defects in NVM-based DNN accelerators, previous work either requires extra redundancy in hardware or performs defect-aware retraining, imposing significant overhead. In comparison, this paper proposes a set of algorithms that exploit the flexibility in setting the fault-free bits in weight memory to effectively approximate weight values, so as to mitigate defect-induced accuracy drop. These algorithms can be applied as a one-step solution when loading the weights to embedded devices. They only require trivial hardware support and impose negligible run-time overhead. Experiments on popular DNN models show that the proposed techniques successfully boost inference accuracy even in the face of elevated defect rates in the weight memory.
Sensor Data Fusion

In the chapter on personnel detection, we talked about using multimodal and multi-sensor systems in order to attain a high probability of detection with fewer false alarms and high confidence in the decision process.
Challenges for Dataset Search

Ranked search of datasets has emerged as a need as shared scientific archives grow in size and variety. Our own have shown that IR-style, feature-based relevance scoring can be an effective tool for data discovery in scientific archives. However, maintaining interactive response times as archives scale will be a challenge. We report here on our exploration of performance techniques for Data Near Here, a dataset search service. We present a sample of results evaluating filter-restart techniques in our system, including two variations, adaptive relaxation and contraction. We then outline further directions for research in this domain.
Metamaterials assembled by light

Metamaterials are designed to achieve unprecedented light-matter interactions. Here we demonstrate a novel viable and scalable assembly route to optical metamaterials with structures dictated by their own light-matter interactions.
A thermally actuated three-probe nanomanipulator for efficient handling of individual nanostructures

We report recent development of a three-probe micromachined nanomanipulator for manipulation and in-situ characterization of nanomaterials in scanning electron microscope (SEM). The nanomanipulator consists of three independent probes having thermal bimetallic actuators and nanoscopic end-effectors. Nanoscale end-effectors with sub-100-nm spacing are created using focused ion beam (FIB) milling to directly interface with nanoscopic objects (e.g., nanotubes, nanowires). Handling of individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was successfully realized with the nanomanipulator in an SEM.
Insulinlike growth factor-1, insulinlike growth factor binding protein-1, and cognitive function in older men and women.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between insulinlike growth factor (IGF)-1 and IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-1 with three cognitive function tests in a healthy elderly population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analyses from the Rancho Bernardo Cohort Study. SETTING: Southern California community of Rancho Bernardo. PARTICIPANTS: Men (n=636) and women (n=899) from the Rancho Bernardo study (median age 74) were assessed between 1988 and 1992 for cognitive function using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Verbal Fluency (VF) test, and Trail-Making Test Part B (Trails B). Blood samples were obtained at the same time for IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 levels. The association between biomarkers and cognitive function tests was assessed by dichotomizing tests at the clinically relevant cutoff using logistic regression and according to tertiles and continuous IGF-1 and IGFBP-1 levels using multivariate linear regression analyses. RESULTS: The mean MMSE, VF and Trails B scores indicated better cognitive function with higher IGF-1 tertile. Multivariate analyses showed that VF and MMSE were each significantly associated with IGF-1 in a dose-response manner for men (P for trend=.001), but no cognitive function tests were related to IGF-1 in women. For men, the highest IGFBP-1 tertile was inversely and significantly different from the lowest tertile for the MMSE test only (P for trend=.02). CONCLUSION: IGF-1 was independently and positively related to MMSE and VF in men, and IGFBP-1 was inversely associated with MMSE in men. Sex differences in the association should be further investigated.
Accuracy of Inpatient International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification Coding for Cytomegalovirus After Kidney Transplantation

Abstract Background International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) coding for cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been used as a proxy for active CMV infection or disease occurring in the inpatient setting in retrospective studies of kidney transplant recipients using large amounts of administrative data. However, the accuracy of inpatient CMV coding has not been determined. Methods We identified 393 kidney transplant recipients who were readmitted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011 to determine the accuracy of the ICD-9-CM diagnosis code for CMV (078.5) in identifying active CMV infection or disease (asymptomatic viremia, CMV syndrome, or tissue-invasive CMV disease) in the inpatient setting, using microbiological, histopathologic, or ophthalmologic evidence for CMV as the gold standard. Results The sensitivity and positive predictive value of CMV coding in identifying active CMV infection or disease were 0.77 and 0.71, respectively. The specificity and negative predictive value were both 0.98. The sensitivity of CMV coding in identifying CMV syndrome or tissue-invasive CMV disease was 0.93. Conclusions CMV coding had good accuracy in identifying active CMV infection or disease among readmitted kidney transplant recipients in our hospital. Further validation studies of CMV coding in other hospitals are needed to obtain more generalizable estimates of the accuracy of CMV coding.
A Sensitivity Analysis of a Cooperative Coevolutionary Algorithm Biased for Optimization

Recent theoretical work helped explain certain optimization-related pathologies in cooperative coevolutionary algorithms (CCEAs). Such explanations have led to adopting specific and constructive strategies for improving CCEA optimization performance by biasing the algorithm toward ideal collaboration. This paper investigates how sensitivity to the degree of bias (set in advance) is affected by certain algorithmic and problem properties. We discover that the previous static biasing approach is quite sensitive to a number of problem properties, and we propose a stochastic alternative which alleviates this problem. We believe that finding appropriate biasing rates is more feasible with this new biasing technique.
The TAM Receptor Family

The TAM receptor tyrosine kinases—Tyro3, Axl, and Mer—are specialized to function in mature, fully differentiated tissues throughout adult life. They play no essential role in embryonic development. In general, TAM activation maintains cellular homeostasis in tissues and organs that are subject to regular challenge and renewal. These include the immune, nervous, reproductive, and vascular systems. Deficiencies in the expression or activity of individual TAM receptors or their ligands lead to severe autoimmune disease, abject retinal degeneration, a loss of vascular integrity, and male infertility. Many of these phenotypes are tied to defects in the clearance of apoptotic cells. Elevated TAM receptor—especially Axl—expression is a prominent feature of several metastatic cancers. Tyro3 and Mer are activated by both TAM ligands—Gas6 and Protein S—whereas Axl can be activated only by Gas6. Full activation of any receptor by either ligand is also dependent on the presence of the phospholipid phosphatidylserine and on calcium, both of which bind and stabilize the amino termini of Gas6 and Protein S.
Natural Language Processing of Rules and Regulations for Compliance in the Cloud

We discuss ongoing work on developing tools and techniques for understanding natural-language descriptions of security and privacy rules, particularly in the context of cloud computing services. In particular, we present a three-part toolkit for analyzing and processing texts, and enforcing privacy and security rules extracted from those texts. We are interested in developing efficient, accurate technologies to reduce the time spent analyzing and reasoning about new privacy laws and security rules within the enterprise. We describe the tools we have developed for semantic annotation, and also for information extraction - these are specifically intended for analysis of cloud terms of service, and therefore designed to help with self-compliance; however, the techniques involved should be generalizable to other relevant texts, esp. rules and regulations for data protection.
Phase I study of intraprostatic vaccine administration in men with locally recurrent or progressive prostate cancer.

The primary end point of this study was to determine the safety and feasibility of intraprostatic administration of PSA-TRICOM vaccine [encoding transgenes for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and 3 costimulatory molecules] in patients with locally recurrent or progressive prostate cancer. This trial was a standard 3 + 3 dose escalation with 6 patients each in cohorts 4 and 5 to gather more immunologic data. Nineteen of 21 patients enrolled had locally recurrent prostate cancer after definitive radiation therapy, and 2 had no local therapy. All cohorts received initial subcutaneous vaccination with recombinant vaccinia (rV)-PSA-TRICOM and intraprostatic booster vaccinations with recombinant fowlpox (rF)-PSA-TRICOM. Cohorts 3–5 also received intraprostatic rF-GM-CSF. Cohort 5 received additional subcutaneous boosters with rF-PSA-TRICOM and rF-GM-CSF. Patients had pre- and post-treatment prostate biopsies, and analyses of peripheral and intraprostatic immune cells were performed. There were no dose-limiting toxicities, and the maximum tolerated dose was not reached. The most common grade 2 adverse events were fever (38 %) and subcutaneous injection site reactions (33 %); the single grade 3 toxicity was transient fever. Overall, 19 of 21 patients on trial had stable (10) or improved (9) PSA values. There was a marked increase in CD4+ (p = 0.0002) and CD8+ (p = 0.0002) tumor infiltrates in post- versus pre-treatment tumor biopsies. Four of 9 patients evaluated had peripheral immune responses to PSA or NGEP. Intraprostatic administration of PSA-TRICOM is safe and feasible and can generate a significant immunologic response. Improved serum PSA kinetics and intense post-vaccination inflammatory infiltrates were seen in the majority of patients. Clinical trials examining clinical end points are warranted.
A comparison of the catalytic influence of nickel, iron and nickel-iron on the gasification of graphite in various gaseous environments

Abstract Controlled-atmosphere electron microscopy has been used to study the catalytic influence of nickel, iron and nickel—iron on the graphite-steam and graphite-hydrogen reactions. This study has enabled us to identify some characteristics of the alloy catalyst which were not manifested by either of the pure constituents when reacted under similar conditions. When nickel-iron/graphite specimens were reacted in steam, catalysis occurred exclusively by the channeling mode, in contrast to nickel which exhibited a mixture of both edge recession and channeling modes of attack, while iron appeared to be inactive. Confirmation of the higher catalytic activity of the alloy compared to nickel for the gasification of graphite in steam was obtained from bulk flow reactor measurements. The alloy was also found to be a more active catalyst than either of its pure components for the graphite-hydrogen reaction. In this case, two modes of catalytic action were observed: edge recession below 845°C and channeling above this temperature. This change is believed to arise from a modification in the wetting characteristics of alloy particles along graphite edges. It is significant that the channeling action of the alloy, like that produced by active iron particles, persisted up to temperatures in excess of 1100°C, in contrast to the behavior found with nickel, where the catalyst underwent deactivation.
Alterations in brain electrical activity caused by magnetic fields: detecting the detection process

Abstract Static and 60 Hz magnetic fields, 0.78 gauss, were applied individually and combined to each of 20 human subjects during 2 sec epochs, and the effect on the EEG was determined by comparing the power spectrum obtained during field exposure with that from control epochs. All but one subject exhibited field-induced alterations in the EEG; most subjects exhibited increased EEG activity at 2 or more frequencies within 1–18.5 Hz. The field-induced changes were recorded more often at the central and parietal electrodes than at the occipital electrodes. The responses observed during application of combined static and alternating fields did not differ from the sum of the responses observed when the fields were applied invividually, even though the exposure conditions were specifically chosen to favor the hypothesized ion-resonance mechanism of interaction involving Ca 2+ . The data support the view that detection loci for magnetic fields exist within the nervous system.
Signaling by the phosphatase MKP-1 in dendritic cells imprints distinct effector and regulatory T cell fates.

Naive T cells respond to antigens by differentiating into effector and regulatory lineages. Whereas the roles of T cell-intrinsic pathways have been extensively studied, how T cell lineage choices are controlled by innate immune signals remains elusive. Here we report that dendritic cell (DC)-expressed phosphatase MKP-1, a negative regulator of the MAP kinases, programmed reciprocal T helper 1 (Th1) and Th17 cell differentiation by modulating IL-12-STAT4 and IL-6-STAT3 axes and cytokine receptor expression at the DC-T cell interface. MKP-1 was regulated by innate recognition signals and its deficiency disrupted antimicrobial responses and promoted T cell-mediated inflammation. Moreover, MKP-1 inhibited induction of regulatory T cells by downregulating TGF-β2 production from DCs. Our findings identify a regulatory circuit linking MKP-1 signaling in DCs, production of polarizing cytokines, and integration of DC-derived signals in responding T cells, that bridges innate and adaptive immunity to coordinate protective immunity and immunopathology.
The use of smartphones in hand surgery.

ACKGROUND smartphone is a mobile device with advanced comuting ability and connectivity, combining the functions f a personal digital assistant and a cellular phone. lthough the technology existed as early as 1992 (IBM imon), wireless Web browsing and information sharng became commercially available with the developent of the Palm and Blackberry in 2001 and 2002, espectively. With Apple’s release of the iPhone in 007 and its capability of installing and running addiional native applications, the popularity of smarthones accelerated. As of January 2011, the top 3 smartphone platforms in US market shares) were those for the Android 31%), Blackberry (30%), and iPhone (25%). Although no studies focus specifically on hand surgeons, a national survey of close to 500 orthopedic surgeons found that 84% have a smartphone and that most of them (55%) have an iPhone.
The nitrogen ion laser pumped by charge transfer

Charge transfer from He+ 2 to N 2 has been used in a variety of devices to pump significant levels of inversion of the B^{2}\Sigma_{u} electronic transistion of N+ 2 . Laser output has been achieved at three wavelengths, 391.4, 427.8, and 470.9 nm. Each has corresponded to a transition from the same upper laser level to lower levels having vibrational quantum numbers equal to 0, 1, and 2, respectively. With proper mirror sets each has been individually excited. Studies of the scaling and efficiency at which the laser output could be obtained have been made with devices pumped by e -beams, preionized avalanche discharges, and preionized resonant and traveling wave discharges. The possible efficiencies for the extraction of the energies stored in the inversions have been examined for various configurations of the coupling of the optical fields to the plasmas. Resulting devices have included self-excited oscillators, regenerative amplifiers, and master oscillator power amplifiers. The experimental results have supported a kinetic model which generally explains the unique features of the nitrogen ion laser. Of particular interest is the capacity of these systems to support the simultaneous optimization of both scale and efficiency. With e -beam excitation optical power densities of 320 MW . l-1have been achieved at a constant power transfer efficiency of 3 percent. With resonant discharge excitation 44 MW . l-1have been demonstrated at power conversion efficiencies of 2 percent and overall efficiencies ranging from 0.2 to 0.4 percent. From these results the kinetic model has projected an overall efficiency of 0.9 percent to be ultimately realized in a discharge device.
Evidence for the polymerization of ethylene catalyzed by Ti+ in the gas phase

In this communication, we report the polymerization of ethylene molecules induced by an atomic ion, namely Ti+, in the gas phase. The experiments are performed by using a newly built selected ion drift tube with laser vaporization source apparatus operated at thermal energies. 50 far, up to twenty ethylene molecules are found to react with Ti+, The evidence that a large number of ethylene molecules react with, and become bonded onto, Ti+ at room temperature strongly suggests that Ti+ induces a reaction between the ethylene molecules that leads to the formation of an ethylene polymer.
Surgical Management of Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: Defining an Optimal Prognostic Lymph Node Stratification Schema

Metastatic disease to the regional lymph node (LN) is a strong predictor of worse long-term outcome after curative-intent resection of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). The objectives of this study were to assess the prognostic performance of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC)/International Union Against Cancer, 7th edition, N stage, LN ratio (LNR), and log odds of metastatic LN (LODDS) staging criteria in patients with ICC. The surveillance, epidemiology, and end results cancer registry was queried to identify 749 patients who underwent surgical resection of ICC during 1988–2011. The Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze survival. The relative discriminative abilities of the different LN staging systems were assessed by the Harrell concordance index (c statistic). Of the 749 patients, 477 (63.7 %) had no LN metastasis, while 272 (36.3 %) had LN metastasis. Patients with LN metastasis had an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 2.42, 95 % confidence interval 1.98–2.95; P < 0.001). When assessed using categorical values, LNR (C index 0.620) and LODDS (C index = 0.630) showed a better prognostic performance than the AJCC 7th edition staging system (C index = 0.607). When assessed using continuous values, the LODDS staging system (C index = 0.626) slightly outperformed LNR (C index = 0.621). There was heterogeneity of outcomes among patients with no LN involved (LNR = 0) or all LN involved (LNR = 1), indicating that LODDS may better characterize and stratify outcomes among these groups. LODDS and LNR showed better prognostic performance than the AJCC 7th edition staging system. When assessed as categorical and continuous variables, LODDS outperformed LNR, especially among those patients with either very low or high LNR.
Improved stereological techniques for studying myocardial cell growth: application to external sarcolemma, T system, and intercalated disks of rabbit and rat hearts.

Stereological methods have been developed for the electron microscopic description of the growth of myocardial cells in the longitudinal and radial directions. The measurements are either independent of the contractile state or can be normalized to a reference sarcomere length. The description yields two convenient parameters, Dstd, an equivalent myocardial cell diameter, and Lcell, an equivalent myocardial cell length expressed in dimensionless units of sarcomeres. The description takes into account sarcolemmal surface amplification due to periodic banding or the occurrence of hemispherical protuberances. Methods are also introduced for more precise estimates of the membrane areas of external sarcolemma, T system, and gap junctions. These methods have been applied to myocardial cells of rabbit right ventricular papillary muscle and rat left ventricular free wall.
EXAFS investigations of strontium complexation by a polymer-supported crown ether ☆

Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) measurements have been used to probe the coordination environment of strontium ion sorbed from aqueous nitric acid solutions on an extraction chromatographic resin comprising a macrocyclic polyether dispersed on a polymeric support. The strontium EXAFS of the metal ions sorbed onto the resin are consistent with a 1:1:2 strontium:crown ether:nitrate stoichiometry in which the strontium is enveloped in the crown ether ring and both nitrate anions are coordinated to the strontium as bidentate ligands. This is the same structure and stoichiometry observed for complexes in liquid-liquid extraction when the macrocyclic polyether is dissolved in a diluent with low water miscibility like 1-octanol.
How trivial is the “trivial neuron doctrine”?

I argue that Gold & Stoljar's “trivial neuron doctrine” is not in fact trivial. Many familiar positions in the philosophy of mind run afoul of it, and it is unclear that even those whom Gold & Stoljar identify as adherents of the trivial neuron doctrine can be comfortably described as such.
Association between Cervical Neoplasia and Apoptosis as Detected byin SituNuclear Labeling

Abstract Invasive cervical cancer is thought to arise from the progression of precancerous lesions. How these lesions proceed from precancers to cancer remains unknown. Data regarding other tissues indicate that altered programmed cell death (apoptosis), in addition to cellular proliferation, is associated with the development of neoplasia. Therefore, in order to better understand the development of cervical neoplasia, we investigated the rate of apoptosis in cervical precancer and cancer. Archival cervical samples from normal epithelium ( n = 11), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL, n = 11), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL, n = 10), and squamous cancers ( n = 10) were evaluated for chromatin cleavage, a hallmark of programmed cell death. We used in situ end-labeling of DNA strand breaks by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase incorporation of biotinylated deoxyuridine to 3′-OH ends of DNA, identified by a nickel–avidin–peroxidase. The apoptotic index (sum of apoptotic bodies divided by the total nuclei times 100) significantly decreased ( P 2 increased significantly ( P
Pool Boiling of Micro-/Nanoparticles Modified Aluminum Surface

The purpose is to investigate the boiling heat transfer affected by different wettability aluminum surfaces. The hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces were modified from regular surfaces by sol-gel method. The water contact angles of sample surfaces are 150, 75, and 5 degrees. All the samples were tested by a carefully designed thermal system. The experimental results revealed that, at the same wall superheat condition, the hydrophilic surface had higher boiling heat flux and hydrophobic surface possessed the lowest. The boiling bubble generation images suggested that bubble formation rate and shape strongly affected the values of heat flux. The lower contact angle surface generated fewer bubbles at high heat flux state such that liquid could contact with larger part of solid interface and transfer more heat than other kinds of surfaces. For the high contact angle surface, at very high heat flux condition, the bubbles even collapsed into vapor film. Part of heat transferred to liquid was blocked by the film and caused the wall superheat to increase dramatically and finally damaged the sample. This heat flux limitation was called critical heat flux. The hydrophilic surface that possessed higher critical heat flux was also measured in this study.
Landscape-scale geographic variations in microbial biomass and enzyme-labile phosphorus in manure-amended Hapludults

Long-term nutrient management practices have lasting effects on the geographic distribution of soil microorganisms, loci of enhanced activity, and non-mobile nutrients such as phosphorus (P) to ultimately influence nutrient use efficiency by crops and edge-of-field losses. We determined the distribution of soil microbial biomass, phosphomonoesterases' activity, and P forms in a 10-ha no-till field that received annual additions of dairy manure at 0, 15, and 30 kg P ha−1 at the field scale for 16 consecutive years. The spatial structure of soil microbial indices and extractable P fractions were characterized based on their semivariance distributions for each manure treatment. The buildup in soil P occurred, although replacement was done at a crop removal rate. Manure additions resulted in overall mean increases in total labile P of 73 % and 156 % and alterations in the soil microbial ecosystem that depended on manure inorganic-to-enzyme-labile P composition in soils treated with 15 and 30 kg P ha−1, respectively. Distinct clusters of phosphate- and enzyme-labile organic P were observed within manure treatments, where accumulation of the latter forms was associated with high soil microbial biomass C and reduced acid phosphomonoesterase activity. The geographic variability highlighted the critical need for improving methods of field-scale application of manure and non-mobile nutrients. In addition, current soil testing methods that depend upon composite representative samples for estimating microbiological parameters linked to nutrient turnover and P requirements for optimal crop production should be modified to include site-specificity in sampling and interpretation approaches.
Plot Units and Narrative Summarization

In order to summarize a story, it is necessary to access a high level analysis of the story that highlights its central concepts. A technique of memory representation based on plot units appears to provide a rich foundation for such an analysis. Plot units are conceptual structures that overlap with each other when a narrative is cohesive. When overlapping intersections between plot units are interpreted as arcs in a graph of plot units, the resulting graph encodes the plot of the story. Structural features of the graph then reveal which concepts are central to the story, and which concepts are peripheral. Plot unit analysis is currently being investigated as a processing strategy for narrative summarization by both computer simulation and psychological experiments.
Numerical modelling of turbulent flow in a combustion tunnel

A numerical technique is presented for the analysis of turbulent flow associated with combustion. The technique uses Chorin's random vortex method (rvm), an algorithm capable of tracing the action of elementary turbulent eddies and their cumulative effects without imposing any restriction upon their motion. In the past, the rvm has been used with success to treat nonreacting turbulent flows, revealing in particular the mechanics of large-scale flow patterns, the so-called coherent structures. Introduced here is a flame propagation algorithm, also developed by Chorin, in conjunction with volume sources modelling the mechanical effects of the exothermic process of combustion. As an illustration of its use, the technique is applied to flow in a combustion tunnel where the flame is stabilized by a back-facing step. Solutions for both nonreacting and reacting flow fields are obtained which satisfactorily describe the essential features of turbulent combustion in a lean propane-air mixture that were observed in the laboratory by means of high speed Schlieren photography.
Combination Antithrombotic Management for Non–ST Segment Elevation Acute Coronary Syndromes

Patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndromes (NSTEACS) are at high risk for subsequent thrombotic events. Combination antithrombotic management with anticoagulant and antiplatelet medications can improve outcomes in these high-risk patients. If an early invasive strategy is planned, unfractionated heparin or bivalirudin are the anticoagulants of choice, whereas in those in whom an early conservative strategy is planned enoxaparin or fondaparinux may be preferred. All patients with NSTEACS should receive aspirin and continue it indefinitely unless they cannot tolerate it. A second antiplatelet agent should be administered both for an early invasive or early conservative strategy.