cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A robust algorithm for Volt/Var control

This paper proposes an algorithm for Volt/Var control, where the control variables are both discrete (tap position of on-load tap-changing, OLTC transformers, switched-on shunt capacitor banks), and continuous (reactive power of generators). The optimization criterion considered is minimization of the system real power losses, subject to nodal real and reactive power balances and nodal voltage constraints. The corresponding non-linear optimization problem is solved iteratively on two levels - the Volt sub-problem is mixed integer programming (MIP) based master problem and the Var sub-problem is the mixed integer linear programming (MILP) based problem. The MILP problem is solved by Benders decomposition (BD). The proposed optimization method is formulated for the case of the uncertain input network model parameters to assess robustness aspects. The effectiveness of the proposed robust model for Volt/Var control is verified on the test example of a reduced New England/New-York interconnection with 68 nodes/86 branches/23 OLTC transformers/16 generators/9 switchable capacitors.
Wireless Amplified Nuclear MR Detector (WAND) for High-Spatial-Resolution MR Imaging of Internal Organs: Preclinical Demonstration in a Rodent Model

The wirelessly powered local detector can provide superior local sensitivity by amplifying the nuclear MR signal before coupling it to the external receiver.
Brown dwarfs: At last filling the gap between stars and planets

Until the mid-1990s a person could not point to any celestial object and say with assurance that “here is a brown dwarf.” Now dozens are known, and the study of brown dwarfs has come of age, touching upon major issues in astrophysics, including the nature of dark matter, the properties of substellar objects, and the origin of binary stars and planetary systems.
Complications after lung volume reduction surgery

LVRS has greater morbidity than most general thoracic surgical procedures. Proper care of patients after LVRS is a labor-intensive activity, but it is worthwhile because LVRS can be performed with acceptable risk. Patient selection, postoperative care, and an understanding of the potential complications are the keys to successful LVRS.
MEASURING QUALITYIN END-OF-LIFE CARE

Scrutiny of the quality of medical care near the end of life is increasing. Experts have begun to define and conceptualize quality of care for dying patients and are developing measurement tools to assess quality of care in this population. Definitions and conceptual models of quality of care at the end of life are reviewed. Approaches for measuring the processes and outcomes of end-of-life care are discussed. Approaches for initiating quality assessment of end-of-life care among geriatric patients are suggested.
Cyclic Nucleotide Gated Channels (CNGCs) and the Generation of Ca2+ Signals

Ion channels are intrinsic membrane proteins that facilitate ion diffusion across membranes. In this context they can be thought of as rather remarkable enzymes with the fastest known catalytic activity. Conductance rate through the pore of channel proteins (~108 ions/s) can approach that of the free ion diffusion potential in an aqueous solution. At the same time, channels are gated; permeation through their pore can only occur when factors that regulate this conductance lead to physical changes in the protein structure that allow for ion movement through the conduction pathway of the protein.
Reduced oxygen tension and EDTA improve bovine zygote development in a chemically defined medium

Bovine zygotes produced by in vitro oocyte maturation and fertilization were cultured for 7.5 d in a chemically defined medium without serum or proteins, except .12 IU/mL of insulin. In Exp. 1, embryos were cultured in approximately 20% oxygen (i.e., 5% CO2 in air) or 5% CO2; 5% O2; 90% N2, with the metal chelators EDTA or diethylenetetraaminopentaacetic acid (DTPA) at 0, 5, 25, or 125 microM. More (P . 1) than the control.
ERP C250 shows the elderly (cognitively normal, Alzheimer's disease) store more stimuli in short-term memory than Young Adults do.

Abstract Objective To determine how aging and dementia affect the brain’s initial storing of task-relevant and irrelevant information in short-term memory. Methods We used brain Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to measure short-term memory storage (ERP component C250) in 36 Young Adults, 36 Normal Elderly, and 36 early-stage AD subjects. Participants performed the Number–Letter task, a cognitive paradigm requiring memory storage of a first relevant stimulus to compare it with a second stimulus. Results In Young Adults, C250 was more positive for the first task-relevant stimulus compared to all other stimuli. C250 in Normal Elderly and AD subjects was roughly the same to relevant and irrelevant stimuli in Intratrial Parts 1–3 but not 4. The AD group had lower C250 to relevant stimuli in part 1. Conclusions Both normal aging and dementia cause less differentiation of relevant from irrelevant information in initial storage. There was a large aging effect involving differences in the pattern of C250 responses of the Young Adult versus the Normal Elderly/AD groups. Also, a potential dementia effect was obtained. Significance C250 is a candidate tool for measuring short-term memory performance on a biological level, as well as a potential marker for memory changes due to normal aging and dementia.
Production of antibodies by adult hen spleen cells transferred to chick embryos.

SummarySpleen cell suspensions from normal hens inoculated onto CAM's with BSA, or after in vitro contact with BSA, failed to produce demonstrable antibodies. Whole spleen cell and spleen white cell suspensions, taken from previously normal hens 36 to 48 hours after intravenous injection of BSA and inoculated onto CAM's, produced significant amounts of antibody without further contact with antigen 4 to 7 days after transfer. The white cell suspensions produced somewhat more antibody than did the whole spleen suspensions. Whole spleen cell suspensions, taken from hens 48 hours after intravenous reinjection of BSA, produced significant amounts of antibody, without further contact with antigen, 2 to 6 days after transfer to CAM's. Whole spleen cell suspensions, from hens stimulated by BSA injection more than 7 days previously, inoculated onto CAM's with BSA, or after in vitro contact with BSA, failed to produce demonstrable antibodies.
Updates and Modeling Enhancements to the Assessment of NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation Technologies and Vehicle Concepts

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project is conducting research at an integrated system level on promising concepts and technologies expected to mature in the N+2 time frame. It is essential for ERA to perform a systems level analysis of these concepts and technologies in order to estimate and track performance towards ERA’s goal of simultaneously achieving improvement in metrics for fuel burn reduction, noise margin, and LTO NOx emissions reduction. Previous vehicle modeling and technology assessment work conducted for the ERA project illustrated system level comparison of tube and wing versus hybrid wing body airframe configurations, as well as between ultra high bypass ratio direct drive and geared turbofan engines. Guidance drawn from these results has led to an updated list of ERA technologies of interest. Additionally, development of improved modeling capabilities and a better understanding of key technology impacts have been accordingly incorporated into an updated technology assessment. This assessment evaluates changes to the technology portfolio, incorporates updated technology assumptions, augmented vehicle and technology models, and includes for the first time LTO NOx estimates for advanced combustors. These new set of results allow for an understanding of the interdependencies between each of the ERA metrics and provide an update on ERA’s capability of achieving its goals.
Clinical Studies in Acute Pyelonephritis: Is there a Place for Renal Quantitative Camera Study?

AbstractWe evaluated 27 patients with presumed acute pyelonephritis. The clinical criteria included flank pain, fever, bacteriuria and leukocytosis. When compared to excretory urograms renal scintillation camera studies confirmed the diagnosis in 19 patients, including 5 with normal excretory urograms, and disproved it in the remaining 8. This radionuclide study was found to be more precise. If the study is normal the diagnosis of pyelonephritis is excluded and further studies are not needed.
CAD Interfaces in the Development of Expert Systems for Optimum Structural Design

The present paper provides an overview of an expert system for structural modeling and design, with particular emphasis on the significance of the development environment for such systems. The knowledge base for this system includes rules for facilitating finite element modeling, optimum design modeling, and selection of optimization strategies and parameters. The framework for this development is an inference engine with both forward and backward reasoning capabilities and a detailed explanation facility. The principal focus of the paper is in underscoring the usefulness of integrating expert systems into the CAD environment, and use the significant data structure and graphics capabilities of the latter in the knowledge acquisition and representation process.
Wall Street, Main Street, and the Social Contract

It is somewhat ironic that we associate the capitalist model with financial capital and Wall Street. The domination of Wall Street is a relatively recent economic phenomenon.
The Effective Mass and Binding Energy of 4He in 3He in the Fermi Liquid Region

We have measured the solubility of4He in liquid3He down to about 40 mK and at pressures from zero up to ∼ 24 atm. The solubility was obtained from the thickness of the superfluid film in contact with unsaturated solutions of4He in3He as a function of temperature. By fitting the solubility data to Fermi liquid theory, we obtained the parameters m 4 * and Δ as a function of pressure. Here, m 4 * is the effective mass of4He in liquid3He and Δ the difference in binding energy between4He in pure4He and4He in liquid3He. This difference has a minimum near 10 atm. The average of the results for m 4 * , at different pressures, is (1.3 ± 0.2)m4. This agrees with the many body calculations of de Saavedra et al., and with the Stokes hydrodynamic mass using the partial volume of4He in3He, v 4 * . The partial volume was obtained by taking the derivative of Δ with respect to pressure.
Association of Job Insecurity with Health Risk Factors and Poorer Health in American Workers.

Perceived job insecurity and health risk factors have not been well studied in the United States (US) workforce. The purpose of this study was to assess the association of specific health risk factors and morbidities with perceived job insecurity in a large national random sample of working adults in the US. The National Health Interview Survey data were analyzed for this study. We computed the prevalence of perceived job insecurity by demographic characteristics and tested the relative association between perceived job insecurity and selected health risk factors using logistic regression analysis with adjusted odds ratios (AORs). A total of 17,441 working adults were included in the study: 75 % Whites, 51.5 % females, 73.3 % worked for a private company, and 82.6 % were 25–64 years of age. One in three (33 %) workers perceived their job to be insecure. Those who reported job insecurity had significantly higher odds of: being obese, sleeping less than 6 h/day, smoking every day, having work loss days >2 weeks, and worsening of general health in the past year. Job insecure individuals had a likelihood of serious mental illness within the past 30 days almost five times higher than those who were not job insecure. In addition, job insecure individuals were significantly more likely to report pain conditions (i.e. headaches, neck pain, and low back pain), and lifetime histories of having ulcers, diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris, and coronary heart diseases. Job insecurity is associated with poor health and health risk behaviors in American adults. Potential interventions to address job insecurity and improve the ﻿health and well-being of working adults have been discussed based on study findings.
Beyond Usability and Performance: A Review of User Experience-focused Evaluations in Visualization

Traditionally, studies of data visualization techniques and systems have evaluated visualizations with respect to usability goals such as effectiveness and efficiency. These studies assess performance-related metrics such as time and correctness of participants completing analytic tasks. Alternatively, several studies in InfoVis recently have evaluated visualizations by investigating user experience goals such as memorability, engagement, enjoyment and fun. These studies employ somewhat different evaluation methodologies to assess these other goals. The growing number of these studies, their alternative methodologies, and disagreements concerning their importance have motivated us to more carefully examine them. In this article, we review this growing collection of visualization evaluations that examine user experience goals and we discuss multiple issues regarding the studies including questions about their motivation and utility. Our aim is to provide a resource for future work that plans to evaluate visualizations using these goals.
The effect of root and bone visualization on perceptions of the quality of orthodontic treatment simulations

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the effect of root and bone visibility on orthodontists' perceptions of the quality of treatment simulations. Material and Methods: An online survey was used to present orthodontists with setups generated for 10 patients in two different types of view: with and without bone and roots as modeled from a cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan. The orthodontists were asked to rate the quality of the setups from poor to ideal on a 100-point visual analog scale and, if applicable, to identify features of concern that led them to giving a setup a less-than-ideal rating. Results: The quality ratings were significantly lower when roots and bone were visible in the setups (P < .0001). Buccolingual inclination and periodontal concerns were selected significantly more often as reasons for a less-than-ideal rating when roots and bone were shown, whereas occlusal relationship, overjet, occlusal contacts, and arch form were selected significantly more often as reasons for a less-than-i...
Critical Food Systems Education and the Question of Race

Studies of food systems education have largely avoided questions concerning race. In this commentary, we interrogate the racial assumptions behind certain food systems education projects. Food systems educators are often motivated by a whitened cultural desire to "bring good food to others" and see garden-based learning projects, which seek to instill healthy nutritional behaviors, as the solution to the problem of purported food deserts. We argue that food systems education is in need of a critical intervention. In this commentary, we propose critical food systems education (CFSE) as a theoretical framework, set of pedagogies, and vision for policy that moves beyond teaching students about the food system, and helps them realize their potential to structurally transform it through collective action. The CFSE perspective is theoretically grounded in food justice, food sovereignty, political agroecology, and critical pedagogy. The CFSE approach is not merely theoretical, but arises from the examples of grassroots social movements throughout the world that have developed radical forms of food systems education. We highlight this approach using the example of the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST). The MST opposes a racialized discourse of the "peasantry" as backwards and ignorant. The movement's leaders reject a vision of education that reproduces white modernity, and instead support a vision that advances radical agroecological education programs that train students to be political subjects capable of creating a socially and environmentally equitable food system. The example of the MST underscores the potential of CFSE as a corrective for the food systems education's racialized assumptions.
Risk assessment of agriculture impact on the Frío River watershed and Caño Negro Ramsar wetland, Costa Rica

The Cano Negro Ramsar wetland is a conservation area of great natural and societal value, located in the lower part of the Frio River watershed in the north of Costa Rica. Its aquatic ecosystems may be considered vulnerable to pollution due to recent changes in land use toward agriculture. In 2011 and 2012, quarterly sampling was done at ten sites located in the middle and lower sections of the Frio River Basin that pass through crop areas and later drain into Cano Negro wetland. Pesticide residues, nitrates, sediment concentrations, and diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates and fish biomarkers were studied in the selected sites. Additionally, risk of toxicity was calculated in two different ways: (1) by using a ratio of MEC to hazard concentrations threshold for 5% of species (HC5) to calculate a risk quotient (RQ), and (2) by using a ratio of MEC to available ecotoxicity data of native fish and cladocera for diazinon and ethoprophos, to obtain a risk quotient for native species (RQns). Results indicated that three out of the ten sites (rivers Thiales, Monico, and Sabogal) showed variable levels of pollution including six different active ingredients (a.i.) of pesticide formulations (herbicides ametryn, bromacil, and diuron; insecticides cypermethrin, diazinon, and ethoprophos). Moreover, potential adverse effects on fishes in Thiales and Monico rivers were indicated by cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition and glutathione S-transferase (GST) enhancement. Risk evaluations indicated pesticide residues of ametryn, bromacil, and ethoprophos to be exceeding the limits set by MTR, also RQ was high (>1) in 70% of the positive samples for diuron (most frequently found pesticide in water samples), cypermethrin, diazinon, and ethoprophos, and RQns was high for diazinon. Therefore, these substances might be of major concern for the ecological health of aquatic ecosystems in the middle basin of the Frio River. The most critical site was Monico River, which had the highest pollution (75% detection samples with 3–5 a.i.) and highest calculated risk (RQ > 1 in 75% of the samples). This is also the river that most directly drains into the protected wetland. Even though pesticide pollution in this area is not as severe as in other parts of Costa Rica, it is imperative that measures are taken, particularly in the surroundings of Monico River, in order to diminish and mitigate possible detrimental effects to biota in Cano Negro Ramsar Site.
Synthesis, crystal and electronic structures, and physical properties of a new quaternary phosphide Ba4Mg2+δCu12−δP10 (0 < δ < 2)

A new quaternary phosphide, Ba4Mg2+δCu12−δP10 (0 < δ < 2), was synthesized via solid state reactions of the elements and its crystal structure was determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Ba4Mg2.8Cu11.2P10 crystallizes in the monoclinic system space group P21/m (no. 11) with unit cell parameters of a = 8.258(1) A, b = 4.009(1) A, c = 15.260(2) A, β = 97.851(2)°, and Z = 1. The crystal structure of Ba4Mg2+δCu12−δP10 is composed of large two-dimensional Ba2Mg2+δCu12−δP10 blocks stuck along the [001] direction. Each block is terminated by unique Cu4P3 layers with a PbO-like MgδCu2−δP2 layer inside the block. Cu4P3 and MgδCu2−δP2 layers are linked together in the block by Cu–P bonds. All Mg and half of the Ba cations are situated in the large channels inside the blocks while the other half of Ba atoms are arranged in corrugated layers separating the blocks. The metallic properties of Ba4Mg2.8Cu11.2P10 were predicted based on electronic structure calculations and confirmed by resistivity measurements. Ba4Mg2.8Cu11.2P10 exhibits moderate thermal conductivity, 13.4 W m−1 K−1 at 400 K, which mainly originates from the lattice contribution of 9.1 W m−1 K−1 at 400 K.
Plato’s “Myth of Er” and Ezekiel’s “Throne Vision”: A Common Paradigm?

In Republic 614B–621D, Plato describes the post-mortem experiences of Er, a Pamphylian warrior. Er sees an afterworld vision of the workings of the cosmos. Revolving around a pillar of light that extends through heaven and earth is a huge cosmic structure, resembling a spindle and whorl. The biblical book of Ezekiel also features visions of cosmic proportions (chapters 1 and 10). Ezekiel sees four “living creatures.” These were of human form, but each had four faces and four wings. The creatures were arranged with their outstretched wings touching each other. Ezekiel saw four wheels beside the creatures and, over their heads, a throne with a numinous occupant. Although these visions appear distinct, on deeper examination they reveal close structural similarities. This article aims to compare and contrast the visions and to evaluate their relationship. The conclusion presents several modern scholarly constructs by which the similarities could be explained.
Primary productivity limitations in relatively low alkalinity, high phosphorus, oligotrophic Kentucky reservoirs

Abstract Many Eastern Kentucky reservoirs lack algal biomass commensurate with their macronutrient concentrations. Fisheries managers sometimes suggest fertilizing these reservoirs with nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and carbon (C) to enhance fish production. To assess which factors could be limiting phytoplankton growth, we conducted nutrient bioassay experiments in two low alkalinity ( 3 /L), high P (>30 μg/L), low chlorophyll ( a ) reservoirs. We examined productivity (estimated as chlorophyll a concentrations) in situ in 4-L bags using various additions of N, P, and C. Results suggest primary productivity appears to be primarily limited by temperature, light-penetration (turbidity), and phosphorus. We observed that P was generally the limiting nutrient for algal productivity if the water was clear and temperature was >10 °C. We observed a secondary N limitation at high P loading. Under high loading with N + P, available carbon could become limiting in our closed system. Adding N + P in warm waters resulted in hypereutrophic algal concentrations (sometimes >100 μg/L chlorophyll a ), and could create conditions favoring nuisance algal species—neither of which would be useful for growing game fish. Adding nutrients to surface freshwaters is generally not advisable, nor a good management practice.
Risk Stratification and Sudden Cardiac Death: Is It Time to Include Autonomic Variables?

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) remains a major cause of mortality in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy, and accurate risk stratification strategies can have significant public health implications by reducing mortality and healthcare costs.1 Although effective, the population impact of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD) on cardiac mortality has been modest,2 in part because of suboptimal risk stratification algorithms and in part because of competing causes of death in this population. In this regard, a validated risk stratification algorithm that can accurately discriminate between those patients at high risk of arrhythmic death and those more likely to die from nonarrhythmic causes is invaluable. Identification of these risk-model variables inevitably requires a thorough understanding of arrhythmogenic causes of death in high-risk populations. See Article by Fallavollita et al Cardiac autonomic dysfunction is known to accompany cardiovascular disease. Specifically, myocardial infarction leads to axonal injury and sympathetic denervation, not only in the scar and border-zone regions but also in areas distal to the infarct (viable but denervated myocardium).3 Given that the majority of postganglionic cardiac neurons for sympathetic fibers lie in the stellate and middle cervical ganglia,4–6 in the setting of peripheral nerve damage and in the presence of signals such as neural growth factor, attempts at reinnervation ensue. However, this reinnervation is incomplete and heterogeneous, and a pattern of hyperinnervation is observed in localized border-zone regions,7 along with incomplete innervation and denervation …
Exogenous testosterone enhances cortisol and affective responses to social evaluative stress in dominant men

Stress often precedes the onset of mental health disorders and is linked to negative impacts on physical health as well. Prior research indicates that testosterone levels are related to reduced stress reactivity in some cases but correlate with increased stress responses in other cases. To resolve these inconsistencies, we tested the causal influence of testosterone on stress reactivity to a social-evaluative stressor. Further, prior work has failed to consider status-relevant individual differences such as trait dominance that may modulate the influence of testosterone on responses to stressors. Participants (n = 120 males) were randomly assigned to receive exogenous testosterone or placebo (n = 60 testosterone treatment group) via topical gel prior to a well-validated social-evaluative stressor. Compared to placebo, testosterone significantly increased cortisol and negative affect in response to the stressor, especially for men high in trait dominance (95% confidence intervals did not contain zero). The findings suggest that the combination of high testosterone and exposure to status-relevant social stress may confer increased risk for stress-mediated disorders, particularly for individuals high in trait dominance.
Treatment of poor risk acute leukemia with sequential high-dose ARA-C and asparaginase

Resistance of leukemia cells to cytosine arabinoside (ARA-C) may be due to any one or combination of biochemical processes, which in certain instances may be substantially reversed by an appropriate increase in ARA-C dosage. Based on these and other laboratory observations indicating pharmacologic synergy between sequential high-dose ARA-C and asparaginase (HiDAC----ASNase), a therapeutic program was developed for the treatment of patients with acute nonlymphocytic leukemia (ANLL) refractory to conventional doses of ARA-C, as well as patients with high risk ANLL and advanced acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Treatment consisted of 3-hr intravenous infusions of 3 g/sq m of ARA-C given at 12-hr intervals for 4 doses, followed by 6,000 IU/sq m ASNase given i.m. at hour 42. The same schedule was repeated on day 8. In 32 induction attempts, only 4 patients proved to be truly refractory, i.e., failed to achieve substantial leukemia cell cytoreduction. Complete remissions were achieved with HiDAC---- ASNase in 9 of 13 patients with refractory ANLL, 6 of 9 patients with antecedent hematologic disorders, and 3 of 10 patients with advanced ALL. These include 9 of 14 patients who had either failed induction or who had relapsed on active ARA-C therapy and 6 of 8 patients who had had no prior exposure to ARA-C. The median duration of unmaintained remission in ANLL was 5 mo. In a patient with central nervous system (CNS) leukemia, there was clearance of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) blasts without intrathecal therapy, suggesting a role for HiDAC in CNS prophylaxis. In general, toxicity was tolerable and reversible. These data suggest that HiDAC----ASNase is an exceptionally effective and well tolerated regimen in leukemic patients with antecedent hematologic disorders and in those refractory to conventional doses of ARA-C.
Computational experiment of critical event tabu search for the general integer multidimensional knapsack problem

In this paper, we propose a critical event tabu search meta-heuristic for the general integer multidimensional knapsack problem (GMDKP). Variations of GMDKP have enormous applications, and often occur as a sub-problem of more general combinatorial problems. For the special case of binary multidimensional knapsack problems (BMDKP) there are variety of heuristics, mostly sophisticated meta-heuristics, which provides good solutions to the problem. However, to date there is no method that can provide reasonable solutions to realistic size GMDKP. To the best of our knowledge there are only three heuristics published in the literature for GMDKP, and all three are simple greedy heuristics. There is no meta-heuristic available that effectively provides good solutions for large-scale GMDKP. One successful meta-heuristic that has proven to be highly effective in solving combinatorial optimization is a variation of tabu search known as the critical event tabu search (CETS). CETS was originally proposed for the BMDKP with considerable success afterwards. In CETS, clever use of surrogate programming is embedded as choice rules to obtain high quality solutions. The main purpose of this paper is to design the meta-heuristic CETS for the GMDKP using variety of different surrogate choice rules. Extensive computational experiment for large-scale problems are presented. Our procedures open the door for further applications of meta-heuristics to general integer programs.
Use of Docking Peptides to Design Modular Substrates with High Efficiency for Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase

The mitogen-activated protein kinase extracellular regulated kinase (ERK) plays a key role in the regulation of cellular proliferation. Mutations in the ERK cascade occur in 30% of malignant tumors. Thus understanding how the kinase identifies its cognate substrates as well as monitoring the activity of ERK is central to cancer research and therapeutic development. ERK binds to its protein targets, both downstream substrates and upstream activators, via a binding site distinct from the catalytic site of ERK. The substrate sequences that bind, or dock, to these sites on ERK influence the efficiency of phosphorylation. For this reason, simple peptide substrates containing only phosphorylation sequences typically possess low efficiencies for ERK. Appending short docking peptides derived from full-length protein substrates and activators of ERK to a phosphorylation sequence increased the affinity of ERK for the phosphorylation sequence by as much as 200-fold while only slightly diminishing the maximal velocity of the reaction. The efficiency of the phosphorylation reaction was increased by up to 150-fold, while the specificity of the substrate for ERK was preserved. Simple modular peptide substrates, which can be easily tailored to possess high phosphorylation efficiencies, will enhance our understanding of the regulation of ERK and provide a tool for the development of new kinase assays.
Biochemical studies on repair cartilage resurfacing experimental defects in the rabbit knee.

Wounds penetrating articular cartilage to bone heal with cartilage described variably as either fibrous or hyaline. In the present study, such repair cartilage was induced in the rabbit for biochemical comparison with normal articular cartilage. The main collagen in the repair tissue after three weeks was type I. By six to eight weeks, type II had become predominant and continued to be enriched up to one year; but type I still persisted as a significant constituent of the repair tissue even after a year, so the repair cartilage never fully resembled normal articular cartilage. From radiochemical analysis, type II was determined to be the major collagen synthesized by the repair tissue after three to four weeks. After six months, the repair cartilage contained more collagen and less hexosamine than control cartilage, suggesting that the fibrous texture that often developed was due to a loss of proteoglycans rather than to a change in the type of collagen. Clinical Relevance: Procedures capable of inducing the differentiation of authentic articular cartilage to resurface degenerated human joints would be invaluable. Surgical methods, such as drilling through to subchondral bone, are often attempted. It is not known, however, whether the cartilage that forms is true articular cartilage or, for example, fibrocartilage. The present experimental study in rabbits compared the properties of such repair cartilage with those of normal articular cartilage.
A structured-inquiry approach to teaching neurophysiology using computer simulation.

Computer simulation is a valuable tool for teaching the fundamentals of neurophysiology in undergraduate laboratories where time and equipment limitations restrict the amount of course content that can be delivered through hands-on interaction. However, students often find such exercises to be tedious and unstimulating. In an effort to engage students in the use of computational modeling while developing a deeper understanding of neurophysiology, an attempt was made to use an educational neurosimulation environment as the basis for a novel, inquiry-based research project. During the semester, students in the class wrote a research proposal, used the Neurodynamix II simulator to generate a large data set, analyzed their modeling results statistically, and presented their findings at the Midbrains Neuroscience Consortium undergraduate poster session. Learning was assessed in the form of a series of short term papers and two 10-min in-class writing responses to the open-ended question, “How do ion channels influence neuronal firing?”, which they completed on weeks 6 and 15 of the semester. Students’ answers to this question showed a deeper understanding of neuronal excitability after the project; their term papers revealed evidence of critical thinking about computational modeling and neuronal excitability. Suggestions for the adaptation of this structured-inquiry approach into shorter term lab experiences are discussed.
Specific Effects of Stress on Disease Processes

The neuroendocrine system of a mammal is organized to respond in patterns of expectancy. Each species has evolved with the capacity to attain its own peculiar desiderata, e.g., appropriate diet, nest, and mate: challenges to these expectations arouse the sympathetic adrenal-medullary system. The ensuing behavior involves an irritable aggressivity designed to overcome the threat. The norepinephrine-to-epinephrine ratio increases with the physiological accompaniments of the raised catecholamine levels. Unfavorable early environmental experiences can create a mental set that views the current external milieu as a never-ending challenge. Such a stress-prone temperament is often associated with depressed gonadotropic activity and/or disturbed alimentary and cardiovascular function. The more anxious the organism becomes and doubts the fulfillment of expectancies, the more the pituitary-adrenocortical axis becomes implicated. Anxiety is accompanied by increasing levels of epinephrine. Acute events like bereavement, which abruptly deny expectancies, lead to a resetting of the limbic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis with helplessness and the depression that often accompanies it (2, 8, 10, 12).
Medical Codes and Oaths

Religious and state authorities, and healthcare practitioners themselves, have used oaths, codes both to further their own interests and to promote the interests of the sick. This article reviews the history of religious, state, and self-regulatory healthcare oaths and codes, with a special focus on the oaths of midwives and physicians. Among the oaths and codes reviewed are the Communist and Nazi medical oaths; the most famous of the self-regulatory oaths, the Hippocratic Oath, the Declaration of Geneva, Percival’s Code, the code of ethics of the American Medical Association, and the World Medical Association’s Declarations of Geneva and Helsinki. The article concludes with a review of critiques of self-regulatory healthcare oaths and codes.
On the Separability of Ergodic Fading MIMO Channels: A Lattice Coding Approach

This paper addresses point-to-point communication over block-fading channels with independent fading blocks. When both channel state information at the transmitter and receiver (CSIR) are available, most achievable schemes use separable coding, i.e., coding independently and in parallel over different fading states. Unfortunately, separable coding has drawbacks, including large memory requirements at both communication ends. In this paper, a lattice coding and decoding scheme is proposed that achieves the ergodic capacity without separable coding, with lattice codebooks and decoding decision regions that are universal across channel realizations. We first demonstrate this result for fading distributions with discrete, finite support whose sequences are robustly typical . Results are then extended to continuous fading distributions, as well as multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In addition, a variant of the proposed scheme is presented for the MIMO ergodic fading channel with CSIR only, where we prove the existence of a universal codebook that achieves rates within a constant gap to capacity for finite-support fading distributions. The gap is small compared with other schemes in the literature. Extension to continuous-valued fading is also provided.
Insights from the Long-Tail: Learning Latent Representations of Online User Behavior in the Presence of Skew and Sparsity

This paper proposes an approach to learn robust behavior representations in online platforms by addressing the challenges of user behavior skew and sparse participation. Latent behavior models are important in a wide variety of applications: recommender systems; prediction; user profiling; community characterization. Our framework is the first to jointly address skew and sparsity across graphical behavior models. We propose a generalizable bayesian approach to partition users in the presence of skew while simultaneously learning latent behavior profiles over these partitions to address user-level sparsity. Our behavior profiles incorporate the temporal activity and links between participants, although the proposed framework is flexible to introduce other definitions of participant behavior. Our approach explicitly discounts frequent behaviors and learns variable size partitions capturing diverse behavior trends. The partitioning approach is data-driven with no rigid assumptions, adapting to varying degrees of skew and sparsity. A qualitative analysis indicates our ability to discover niche and informative user groups on large online platforms. Results on User Characterization (+6-22% AUC); Content Recommendation (+6-43% AUC) and Future Activity Prediction (+12-25% RMSE) indicate significant gains over state-of-the-art baselines. Furthermore, user cluster quality is validated with magnified gains in the characterization of users with sparse activity.
College athletes, pluralistic ignorance and bystander behaviors to prevent sexual assault.

In a sample of collegiate athletes, the present study assessed whether there’s a discrepancy between perceived and true team norms related to bystander engagement to prevent sexual assault. Collegi...
3D organotypic models of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS): Models for assessing stromal effects on progression to invasion and increased proteolysis

396 Most breast cancers progress from morphologically distinct pre-invasive lesions (DCIS) to invasive carcinomas. Often, sites of transition from DCIS to invasive carcinoma are characterized by a breakdown of the basement membrane and an increased number of stromal cells and cytokines. We have sought to mimic in vitro the in vivo tumor microenvironment through organotypic co-cultures in which comedo type DCIS cells derived from MCF-10A human breast epithelial cells (MCF10.DCIS.com) are grown in a three dimensional (3D) co-culture of reconstituted basement membrane (rBM) with either normal human breast fibroblasts, or human breast myoepithelial cells. We also analyzed the effects of co-culture with HGF over-secreting fibroblasts in order to mimic the elavated levels of HGF often found within the activated breast tumor microenvironment. Along with these contact co-cultures, conditioned media from tumor-stimulated stromal cultures was used to evaluate effects on DCIS morphology, growth, progression to invasion and proteases thought to be involved in ECM turnover. Live images of co-cultures revealed that both fibroblast lines migrated actively, whereas DCIS cells formed stationary disorganized spheroids that eventually connected with neighboring structures. In co-culture with HGF-secreting fibroblasts, DCIS cells formed dynamic structures that developed invasive foci and degraded the rBM. By adding myoepithelial cells, we can reciprocate in vivo morphology in which the myoepithelial cells form a single layer surrounding luminal epithelial cells. Myoepithelial co-culture with DCIS cells reversed or delayed DCIS progression by inhibiting disorganized growth and the onset of invasive foci. A novel confocal microscope based proteolysis assay was used to show that conditioned media of fibroblasts and myoepithelial cells increased and decreased, respectively, the degradation of both type I and type IV collagen by DCIS cells. Employing cysteine cathepsin selective activity-based probes we are able to co-localize cysteine cathepsin activity with intracellular cleavage products of type IV and type I collagen. We have created several in vitro 3D organotypic models which mimic the changing microenvironments (myoepithelial contact, normal fibroblasts and activated fibroblasts) of DCIS in vivo. We are in the process of analyzing the proteases and protease inhibitors in the 3D organotypic DCIS co-cultures.
Low-dose stimulation of growth of the harmful alga, Prymnesium parvum, by glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides.

Abstract Glyphosate-based herbicides (GBH) are widely used around the globe. While generally toxic to phototrophs, organic phosphorus in glyphosate can become available to glyphosate-resistant phytoplankton and contribute to algal bloom development. Few studies have examined the effects of GBH on growth of eukaryotic microalgae and information for the toxic bloom-forming haptophyte, Prymnesium parvum, is limited. Using a batch-culture system, this study examined the effects on P. parvum growth of a single application of Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Super Concentrate Plus® (Roundup SC), Roundup Weed and Grass Killer Ready-to-Use III® (Roundup RtU), and technical-grade glyphosate at low concentrations [0–1000 μg glyphosate acid equivalent (ae) l−1]. Roundup formulations differ in the percent of glyphosate as active ingredient (Roundup SC, ∼50%; Roundup RtU, 2%), allowing indirect evaluation of the influence of inactive ingredients. Roundup SC enhanced exponential growth rate at 10–1000 μg glyphosate ae l−1, and a positive monotonic association was noted between Roundup SC concentration and early (pre-exponential growth) but not maximum cell density. Glyphosate and both Roundup formulations enhanced growth rate at 100 μg glyphosate l−1, but only Roundup SC and glyphosate significantly stimulated early and maximum density. This observation suggests the higher concentration of inactive ingredients and other compounds in Roundup RtU partially counteracts glyphosate-dependent growth stimulation. When phosphate concentration was varied while maintaining other conditions constant, addition of Roundup SC and glyphosate at 100 μg l−1 influenced growth more strongly than equivalent changes in phosphate-associated phosphorus. It appears, therefore, that low doses of glyphosate stimulate growth by mechanisms unrelated to the associated small increases in total phosphorus. In conclusion, glyphosate and GBH stimulate P. parvum growth at low, environmentally relevant concentrations. This finding raises concerns about the potential contribution to P. parvum blooms by glyphosate-contaminated runoff or by direct application of GBH to aquatic environments.
Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping Identifies Inflammation in a Subset of Chronic Multiple Sclerosis Lesions

Chronic active multiple sclerosis lesions, characterized by a hyperintense rim of iron-enriched, activated microglia and macrophages, have been linked to greater tissue damage. Post-mortem studies have determined that chronic active lesions are primarily related to the later stages of multiple sclerosis; however, the occurrence of these lesions, and their relationship to earlier disease stages may be greatly underestimated. Detection of chronic active lesions across the patient spectrum of multiple sclerosis requires a validated imaging tool to accurately identify lesions with persistent inflammation. Quantitative susceptibility mapping provides efficient in vivo quantification of susceptibility changes related to iron deposition and the potential to identify lesions harbouring iron-laden inflammatory cells. The PET tracer 11C-PK11195 targets the translocator protein expressed by activated microglia and infiltrating macrophages. Accordingly, this study aimed to validate that lesions with a hyperintense rim on quantitative susceptibility mapping from both relapsing and progressive patients demonstrate a higher level of innate immune activation as measured on 11C-PK11195 PET. Thirty patients were enrolled in this study, 24 patients had relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, six had progressive multiple sclerosis, and all patients had concomitant MRI with a gradient echo sequence and PET with 11C-PK11195. A total of 406 chronic lesions were detected, and 43 chronic lesions with a hyperintense rim on quantitative susceptibility mapping were identified as rim+ lesions. Susceptibility (relative to CSF) was higher in rim+ (2.42 ± 17.45 ppb) compared to rim- lesions (-14.6 ± 19.3 ppb, P < 0.0001). Among rim+ lesions, susceptibility within the rim (20.04 ± 14.28 ppb) was significantly higher compared to the core (-5.49 ± 14.44 ppb, P < 0.0001), consistent with the presence of iron. In a mixed-effects model, 11C-PK11195 uptake, representing activated microglia/macrophages, was higher in rim+ lesions compared to rim- lesions (P = 0.015). Validating our in vivo imaging results, multiple sclerosis brain slabs were imaged with quantitative susceptibility mapping and processed for immunohistochemistry. These results showed a positive translocator protein signal throughout the expansive hyperintense border of rim+ lesions, which co-localized with iron containing CD68+ microglia and macrophages. In conclusion, this study provides evidence that suggests that a hyperintense rim on quantitative susceptibility measure within a chronic lesion is a correlate for persistent inflammatory activity and that these lesions can be identified in the relapsing patients. Utilizing quantitative susceptibility measure to differentiate chronic multiple sclerosis lesion subtypes, especially chronic active lesions, would provide a method to assess the impact of these lesions on disease progression.
High-Frequency Transformer Review and Design for Low-Power Solid-State Transformer Topology

The objectives of this paper are to review and compare the design of high-frequency transformers (HFTs) for low-power solid-state transformer (SST) converter topologies. Two different HFT design examples, a 25 kHz, 5 kVA, 440/110V amorphous shell core transformer, and a 100 kHz, 350 VA, 130/117V nanocrystalline toroid core transformer, are described. Nanocrystalline alloy magnetic core HFT yields a higher efficiency than that of the amorphous alloy magnetic core HFT at 100 kHz or higher frequencies, while at 25 kHz their efficiencies are similar but the amorphous magnetic core HFT is cheaper than the nanocrystalline magnetic core HFT for the same power ratings. The fabrication for the two HFTs and their main operational features are presented and discussed.
Mixed Judicial Selection and Constitutional Review

Almost half the constitutional court judges worldwide are selected by a mixed selection system, whereby a specific number of judges are selected by different government institutions. What are the i...