cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: New Views of an Old Ocean

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) is one of the largest biomes on Earth. It has a semi-enclosed surface area of about 2 × 107 km2 and mean depth of nearly 5 km and includes a broad range of habitats from warm, light-saturated, nutrient-starved surface waters to the cold, nutrient-rich abyss. Microorganisms are found throughout the water column and are vertically stratified by their genetically determined metabolic capabilities that establish physiological tolerances to temperature, light, pressure, as well as organic and inorganic growth substrates. Despite the global significance of the NPSG for energy and matter transformations and its role in the oceanic carbon cycle, it is grossly undersampled and not well characterized with respect to ecosystem structure and dynamics. Since October 1988, interdisciplinary teams of scientists from the University of Hawaii and around the world have been investigating the NPSG ecosystem at Station ALOHA (A Long-term Oligotrophic Habitat Assessment), a site chosen to be representative of this expansive oligotrophic habitat, with a focus on microbial processes and biogeochemistry. At the start of this comprehensive field study, the NPSG was thought to be a “Climax” community with a relatively stable plankton community structure and relatively low variability in key microbiological rates and processes. Now, after nearly three decades of observations and experimentation we present a new view of this old ocean, one that highlights temporal variability in ecosystem processes across a broad range of scales from diel to decadal and beyond. Our revised paradigm is built on the strength of high-quality time-series observations, on insights from the application of state-of-the-art –omics techniques (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) and, more recently, the discoveries of novel microorganisms and metabolic processes. Collectively, these efforts have led to a new understanding of trophic dynamics and population interactions in the NPSG. A comprehensive understanding of the environmental controls on microbial rates and processes, from genomes to biomes, will be required to inform the scientific community and the public at large about the potential impacts of human-induced climate change. The pace of new discovery, and the importance of integrating this new knowledge into conceptual paradigms and predictive models, is an enormous contemporary challenge with great scientific and societal relevance.
Single-visit dynamic occupancy models: an approach to account for imperfect detection with Atlas data

Summary Atlas data provide biodiversity information at a relatively fine spatial grain over a broad spatial extent and, increasingly, at multiple points in time, which make them invaluable for understanding processes that affect species distributions over time. The effect of survey effort on species detection has long been appreciated and Atlases typically include survey standards and records of effort, but challenges remain in analysing Atlas data that have not been collected using a repeated sampling protocol designed to correct for imperfect detection. We developed a single-visit dynamic occupancy model to quantify the effects of climatic and land-use drivers on local species extinction and colonization while accounting for imperfect detection using repeat Atlas data. We evaluated model stability using data simulated under alternative scenarios and, ultimately, applied the model to empirical data for Canada warbler Cardellina canadensis, a wide-spread species exhibiting a long-term population decline. At sample sizes that are realistic for many Atlases (n = 1000–10 000 independent survey blocks), our models produced unbiased estimates of detection, occupancy, colonization and extinction parameters. Slope estimates for explanatory covariates were somewhat less stable than overall occupancy, colonization and extinction rates, with covariate effects being sensitive to the total number of, and relationships among, explanatory variables. In comparison to other analyses of Canada warbler distributions that indicated minor changes over time, our approach identified a widespread decline in occupancy probability across New York, consistent with the broader population trend, particularly in the areas where it was initially more likely to occur. Synthesis and applications. A single-visit dynamic occupancy model is a novel method for analysing common, ecologically valuable datasets, such as Atlases, that lack repeated sampling necessary to correct for imperfect detection using alternative multi-season occupancy modelling approaches. As a result, using this method can improve understanding of species distributions and factors that shape them over time, thereby providing more accurate information to guide conservation and management.
DemoMatch: API discovery from demonstrations

We introduce DemoMatch, a tool for API discovery that allows the user to discover how to implement functionality using a software framework by demonstrating the functionality in existing applications built with the same framework. DemoMatch matches the demonstrations against a database of execution traces called Semeru and generates code snippets explaining how to use the functionality. We evaluated DemoMatch on several case studies involving Java Swing and Eclipse RCP.
Using double-sampling techniques to reduce the number of measurement trees during forest inventories

Variable-radius sampling techniques are commonly used during forest inventories. For each sample tree at a particular sampling point, diameter and height(s) are measured and then weight is estimated using established equations.Â Heights can require a fair amount of time to measure in the field.Â Separating the weight per acre estimate into two components; average basal area per acre and WBAR (individual tree weight-basal area ratio) across all points, can often lead to more efficient sampling schemes. Variable-radius sampling allows for a quick estimate of basal area per acre at a point since no individual tree measurements are needed.Â If there is a strong relationship between weight and basal area, then by knowing basal area you essentially know weight.Â Separation into two components is advantageous because in most cases there is more variability among basal area estimates per point then there is in WBAR. Hence, you can spend more resources establishing many points that only estimate basal area â€“ often called â€œCountâ€ points. â€œFullâ€ points are those where individual tree measurements are also conducted. There is little published information quantifying the impacts on basal area, weight, etc., estimates among different â€œFull/Countâ€ sample size ratios at the same site. Inventories were examined to determine this methodâ€™s applicability to loblolly pine plantations in southern Arkansas and northern Louisiana. Results show there is more variability among basal area estimates than WBAR and that the amount of trees being â€œintensivelyâ€ measured is excessive.Â Based on these four plantations, a â€œFullâ€ point could be installed ranging from every other point to every fifth point depending on site conditions and the desired variable.
Previously successful dental implants can fail when patients commence anti-resorptive therapy—a case series

This article reports a type of localized osteonecrosis that can occur in patients who have had successful osseointegrated implants for many years and then commence anti-resorptive therapy. Eleven female patients were identified who had successful implant insertion, but who were placed on anti-resorptive therapy (bisphosphonates or denosumab) several years later and developed osteonecrosis around the implants. In each case, the osteonecrosis occurred only around the implants and not around the patient's remaining teeth. The implants of eight patients were removed with a sequestrum of bone tightly adherent to the implant. This is different from the normal pattern of implant failure. Implant failure can occur when patients with successfully integrated implants are later placed on anti-resorptive therapy, and the osteonecrosis takes a particular form where a sequestrum forms that remains adherent to the implant. Why the adjacent remaining teeth are not affected is unclear.
Financial Modeling Basics

Financial models are widely used in a variety of business applications from financial reporting to capital budgeting to valuing and structuring mergers and acquisitions. The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the basics of applying financial modeling methods to firm valuation and to assist the reader in understanding the power (and limitations) of models in analyzing real-world situations. The model discussed in this chapter is relatively simple consisting of four Microsoft Excel worksheets and is applied to the valuation of a single firm.
Substantial Noncompliance and Reasonable Doubt: How the Florida Courts Got it Wrong in the ‘Butterfly Ballot’ Case

The Article discusses the much-overlooked “butterfly ballot” litigation challenging the 2000 presidential election results in Palm Beach County, Florida, arguing that it was by far the more viable legal vehicle for challenging the election than the distinct legal claims which rose to the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore. It argues that the ballot design violated state law in a number of ways, and, contrary to the state courts’ holding, rose to the level of “substantial noncompliance” with election law necessary for invalidation of the election results. It responds to other arguments against liability, such as waiver and estoppel, and ultimately concludes that the state courts reached the wrong result.
CHEMICAL ECOLOGY OF TERRESTRIAL VERTEBRATES

ABSTRACT Chemical signals are used by many vertebrates during their interactions with members of different species. Some of the behaviors in which allelochemics are used include prey detection, homing, habitat selection, predator recognition and defense. Documented evidence of the involvement of the olfactory and vomeronasal systems in these behaviors is presented and discussed for mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Some studies concerning prey palatability are also reviewed.
Regional anesthesia in carotid surgery: technique and results

It seems almost anachronistic at the end of the 20th century, which has enjoyed the most remarkable advances in general anesthetic techniques permitting the most daring, complex and time-consuming operations to be successfully performed in patients at high risk for developing devastating complications, to be presenting an operative experience during which local and regional anesthesia were preferentially used and considered to be superior to general anesthesia. The circumstances which led to this conclusion are in part the subject of this report as well as the currently employed technique for achieving the regional anesthesia required for the performance of deliberate, unhurried and precise reconstructions of the carotid and vertebral arteries in the neck.
BLACK POLYGAMOUS FAMILY FORMATION CASE STUDIES OF LEGAL WIVES AND CONSENSUAL "WIVES"

This study examines how eleven legal wives and eleven consensual wives drifted into polygamous (man-sharing) relationships. The study also examines how the declining sex ratio may be influencing these and other demographic developments in the black communities across the United States. A case in point is the rising number of out-of-wedlock births among black teenagers and their subsequent drift into man-sharing arrangements due to the circumstances of the rating-dating-mating marketplace.
The effect of information on changing opinions toward autonomous vehicle adoption: An exploratory analysis

There is extensive theoretical literature that looks at factors that make people more or less likely to change their opinions as additional information is gathered. People whose opinions are less l...
Sex-specific effects of microbiome perturbations on cerebral Aβ amyloidosis and microglia phenotypes

We demonstrated that an antibiotic cocktail (ABX)-perturbed gut microbiome is associated with reduced amyloid-β (Aβ) plaque pathology and astrogliosis in the male amyloid precursor protein (APP)SWE /presenilin 1 (PS1)ΔE9 transgenic model of Aβ amyloidosis. We now show that in an independent, aggressive APPSWE/PS1L166P (APPPS1-21) mouse model of Aβ amyloidosis, an ABX-perturbed gut microbiome is associated with a reduction in Aβ pathology and alterations in microglial morphology, thus establishing the generality of the phenomenon. Most importantly, these latter alterations occur only in brains of male mice, not in the brains of female mice. Furthermore, ABX treatment lead to alterations in levels of selected microglial expressed transcripts indicative of the "M0" homeostatic state in male but not in female mice. Finally, we found that transplants of fecal microbiota from age-matched APPPS1-21 male mice into ABX-treated APPPS1-21 male restores the gut microbiome and partially restores Aβ pathology and microglial morphology, thus demonstrating a causal role of the microbiome in the modulation of Aβ amyloidosis and microglial physiology in mouse models of Aβ amyloidosis.
Recurrent pseudogout after therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a case report with immunoprofiling of synovial fluid at each flare.

Despite ground-breaking clinical success in the treatment of different cancers, immune checkpoint inhibitors can cause profound inflammatory and immune-related adverse events. Autoimmune inflammatory arthritis following immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment has been reported; however, to date, no cases of crystal arthritis following immune checkpoint inhibitors have been identified. We report the first case of recurrent pseudogout, an inflammatory crystal arthritis, in a patient treated with nivolumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, for renal cell carcinoma. The patient had recurrent pseudogout flares about week to 10 days after each nivolumab infusion. After treatment with prophylactic colchicine, the patient well tolerated additional nivolumab infusions without adverse events. In parallel, we characterized immune cells of synovial fluid at each flare. Immunoprofiling of synovial fluid showed that the proportion of inflammatory IL-17-producing CD4+ T cells and amount of IL-17 were notably increased in synovial fluid with every recurrent flair, and correlated with the increase in number of synovial neutrophils, suggesting a potential role of T helper 17 (Th17) cells in neutrophil-driven inflammation during pseudogout arthritis. This case suggests a potential influence of Th17 cells on the neutrophil recruitment and neutrophil-driven inflammatory events leading to pseudogout induced by immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.
Structural priming in production through ‘silence’: An investigation of verb phrase ellipsis and null complement anaphora

There are two common competing conceptions of how ellipsis can be resolved: in the first, ellipsis is resolved by constructing unpronounced syntactic representations at the ellipsis site; in the second, ellipsis can be resolved by consulting the semantic/discourse information present in the antecedent, without the mediation of any syntax at all. In four syntactic priming experiments, we examine whether resolving English VP ellipsis and Null Complement Anaphora involves accessing the syntactic representations, or only the semantic representations, of the antecedent clause. Our findings suggest both VPE and Null Complement Anaphora can trigger structural priming effects, but the conditions under which they trigger priming are different. These results have implications for both theories of structural priming mechanism and theories of ellipsis resolution.
Effects of environmental exposures on carbon fiber epoxy composites protected by metallic thin films

Carbon fiber epoxy composites have a wide range of applications in aerospace, construction, and automotive industries due to their good mechanical properties and lightweight characteristics. Carbon...
Organic Farming, Soil Health, and Food Quality: Considering Possible Links

Abstract That the health of soils, plants, animals, and people are linked is an ancient idea that still resonates. Growing evidence links farm management, soil health, and plant health but relationships among soil health, food crop nutritional quality, and human health are less understood. Numerous studies compare organic with conventional farming in order to shed light on these links. Organic farming systems utilize carbon-based amendments, diverse crop rotations, and cover crops to build soil fertility. These practices increase biologically available soil organic matter and beneficial soil microbe and invertebrate activities, improve soil physical properties, reduce disease potential, and increase plant health. To date, comparisons of nutrient content between organic and conventional foods have been inconsistent. Recent evidence suggests that organically grown fruits and vegetables contain higher levels of health promoting phytochemicals, possibly linked to greater plant stress, rhizosphere microbial communities, and/or lower available nitrogen. But the overlap in management practices among farming systems make broad generalizations difficult. Moreover, environmental and crop species and/or cultivar interactions may exert stronger effects than management. Here we summarize the known factors influencing soil and plant health and link these with food-crop quality and human health. Though this paper draws primarily from research on organic farming, management practices that enhance soil, plant, and human health remain an important goal for all sustainable food production systems.
Neuro.ZERO: a zero-energy neural network accelerator for embedded sensing and inference systems

We introduce Neuro.ZERO---a co-processor architecture consisting of a main microcontroller (MCU) that executes scaled-down versions of a deep neural network1 (DNN) inference task, and an accelerator microcontroller that is powered by harvested energy and follows the intermittent computing paradigm [76]. The goal of the accelerator is to enhance the inference performance of the DNN that is running on the main microcontroller. Neuro.ZERO opportunistically accelerates the run-time performance of a DNN via one of its four acceleration modes: extended inference, expedited inference, ensemble inference, and latent training. To enable these modes, we propose two sets of algorithms: (1) energy and intermittence-aware DNN inference and training algorithms, and (2) a fast and high-precision adaptive fixed-point arithmetic that beats existing floating-point and fixed-point arithmetic in terms of speed and precision, respectively, and achieves the best of both. To evaluate Neuro.ZERO, we implement low-power image and audio recognition applications and demonstrate that their inference speedup increases by 1.6× and 1.7×, respectively, and the inference accuracy increases by 10% and 16%, respectively, when compared to battery-powered single-MCU systems.
Ignition and combustion characterization of single nitromethane and isopropyl nitrate monopropellant droplets under high-temperature and quasi-steady conditions

Abstract The dynamics of reacting droplets of the monopropellants nitromethane (NM) and isopropyl nitrate (IPN) are compared to those of methanol. Single droplets of these three fuels were burned in steady flow high-temperature conditions, produced by a McKenna flat-flame burner. Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) thermometry was employed to characterize the temperature of the flow-field experienced by the droplets. Ignition delay times and droplet burning rates were obtained for droplets with initial diameters ranging between 0.4 and 1.4 mm. Droplet dynamics such as deformation, puffing, stripping and micro-explosions are qualitatively discussed. Lastly, the D2 law and the hybrid combustion model are applied to IPN and NM droplets, and the experimental mass burning rates are compared to theoretical predictions.
An ACE therapy for COVID-19

Recombinant human soluble ACE2 inhibits SARS-CoV-2 viral infection in human organoids in vitro.
‘You create your own luck, in a way’ About Norwegian footballers’ understanding of success, in a world where most fail

The article is based on interviews with twelve young footballers who turned pro with the Norwegian top-flight club Odd BK. After asking why they succeeded in making the transition from promising ta...
Can Big Data guide prognosis and clinical decisions in epilepsy

Big Data is no longer a novel concept in health care. Its promise of positive impact is not only undiminished, but daily enhanced by seemingly endless possibilities. Epilepsy is a disorder with wide heterogeneity in both clinical and research domains, and thus lends itself to Big Data concepts and techniques. It is therefore inevitable that Big Data will enable multimodal research, integrating various aspects of "-omics" domains, such as phenome, genome, microbiome, metabolome, and proteome. This scope and granularity have the potential to change our understanding of prognosis and mortality in epilepsy. The scale of new discovery is unprecedented due to the possibilities promised by advances in machine learning, in particular deep learning. The subsequent possibilities of personalized patient care through clinical decision support systems that are evidence-based, adaptive, and iterative seem to be within reach. A major objective is not only to inform decision-making, but also to reduce uncertainty in outcomes. Although the adoption of electronic health record (EHR) systems is near universal in the United States, for example, advanced clinical decision support in or ancillary to EHRs remains sporadic. In this review, we discuss the role of Big Data in the development of clinical decision support systems for epilepsy care, prognostication, and discovery.
Right Ventricular Outflow Tract: Pulmonary Valve Atresia, Ventricular Septal Defect, and Major Aortopulmonary Collateral Arteries

Pulmonary valve atresia with ventricular septal defect is an extreme variant of tetralogy of Fallot. There is no antegrade flow from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery. The blood supply to the lungs is via either patent ductus arteriosus or major aortopulmonary collateral arteries. There is a high tendency of MAPCAs to get stenosed with time. Delineation of anatomy of the native branch pulmonary arteries and distribution of major aortopulmonary collateral arteries in relation to lung segments supplied is critical in determining management approach. The initial diagnosis of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect is made by transthoracic echocardiography. However, echocardiography is limited in its ability to delineate the anatomy of the MAPCAs needed for surgical management. Cardiac CT plays a major role in obtaining detailed anatomic information for surgical decision-making or postoperative evaluation.
Equity and Noncummincable Disease Reduction Under the Sustainable Development Goals

Currently proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a timely call to significantly reduce the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).Existing policy guidance highlights cost-effective interventions for NCDs, but focusing just on cost-effectiveness risks exacerbating socioeconomic and health inequalities rather than reducing them.In implementing the SDGs, targets and interventions that benefit the worst off should be prioritized.The United Nations should develop practical guidance to assist policy makers at the country level with incorporating equity considerations.
Tourbillon: a Physically Plausible Neural Architecture.

In a physical neural system, backpropagation is faced with a number of obstacles including: the need for labeled data, the violation of the locality learning principle, the need for symmetric connections, and the lack of modularity. Tourbillon is a new architecture that addresses all these limitations. At its core, it consists of a stack of circular autoencoders followed by an output layer. The circular autoencoders are trained in self-supervised mode by recirculation algorithms and the top layer in supervised mode by stochastic gradient descent, with the option of propagating error information through the entire stack using non-symmetric connections. While the Tourbillon architecture is meant primarily to address physical constraints, and not to improve current engineering applications of deep learning, we demonstrate its viability on standard benchmark datasets including MNIST, Fashion MNIST, and CIFAR10. We show that Tourbillon can achieve comparable performance to models trained with backpropagation and outperform models that are trained with other physically plausible algorithms, such as feedback alignment.
Visual Outcomes in Eyes with Neovascular Glaucoma and Anterior Segment Neovascularization Without Glaucoma.

Abstract Purpose To find predictive factors of neovascular glaucoma (NVG) development in anterior segment neovascularization without glaucoma (ASNVWG) and poor visual outcomes in eyes that have already developed NVG. Design Retrospective, clinical cohort studies Methods A retrospective chart review was performed on 106 eyes of 94 patients with ASNVWG and 245 eyes of 225 patients with NVG. Measured outcomes included the development of NVG at any time point of the disease for the ASNVWG arm, and a visual acuity of ≤ 20/200 at six months after initial presentation for the NVG arm. Results 25% of ASNVWG eyes progressed to NVG. Progression was associated with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) (p 20/200 vision at six months was associated with ≥ one PRP or intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) treatment within one week of presentation or ≥ three PRP or IVB treatments overall (p Conclusion RVO, presenting visual acuity, and concurrent TRD are risk factors for NVG in eyes with ASNVWG. In eyes with NVG, RVO and concurrent vitreous hemorrhage are risk factors for ≤ 20/200 vision at six months, whereas treatment with ≥ one PRP or IVB within one week of presentation, or ≥ three treatments of PRP or IVB within six months are protective.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: How poverty and lack of agency affect HIV risk behaviors among married women in 25 African countries: A cross-sectional study.

Background Gender inequality and poverty exacerbate the burden of HIV/AIDS among women in Africa. AIDS awareness and educational campaigns have been inadequate in many countries and rates of HIV testing and adherence to condom use remains considerably low, especially among married women. We investigate whether higher HIV knowledge is equally effective in lowering risky behaviors among groups of women with different levels of wealth and agency. Methods Pooled data on 113 151 adult married women from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in 25 African countries was used (2010 to 2016). Agency was defined as women's ability to refuse sex and ask her partner to use a condom, plus have a role in decision making in household spending and health-related issues. The lowest tertile of DHS wealth index defined poverty. Questions about HIV prevention and mother-to-child transmission were used to create a scale for knowledge (0-5). Use of condom, HIV testing, absence of sexually transmitted disease (STD), and having one partner were dependent variables. Regression models investigated the effect of agency and knowledge as predictors of behaviors. Separate additional models were run to measure associations of each behavior with knowledge scores on groups of women divided by agency and poverty. Analyses were adjusted for demographic factors, history of pregnancy, wife-beating attitude, and country dummies. Results Significantly higher risk and lower level of protective factors exist for poor women who lack agency. Knowledge had positive associations with a better score in behavior, higher rate of condom use and testing for HIV both among poor and not poor women. When examining compound effects of agency and poverty, absence of agency reduces the positive effect of knowledge on lowering STD rate and overall behavior score among poor women. It also nullifies the effect of knowledge on condom use in both wealth groups. Conclusion Knowledge of HIV does not exert its potential protective effect when women live in poverty compounded with lack of agency. Success of anti-HIV programs should be tailored to dynamics of risk and sociocultural and economic context of target populations.
Phenotypic Dimensions of Reproductive Isolation Between Northern and Melissa Blue Butterflies in the Rocky Mountains

Biological diversity results from speciation, which generally involves the splitting of an ancestral species into descendant species due to adaptation to different niches or the evolution of reproductive incompatibilities (Coyne and Orr 2004). The diverse flora and fauna of the world, including the native inhabitants of the Greater Yellowstone Area (GYA), exist as a result of the speciation process. The central role speciation plays in generating biological diversity imbues importance to our understanding of this process. The general importance of a thorough understanding of speciation is amplified because of the current high rates of extinction on the planet. This is because a long term solution to the present extinction crisis will require maintaining the processes that create species (speciation) not simply preventing extinction. However, many central questions regarding speciation remain to be answered. One fundamental question in speciation research is whether diverging species are isolated (i.e., prevented from interbreeding) due to differences in one, a few, or many characters and whether each of these character differences results from different alleles at a few or many genes. For example, speciation and reproductive isolation might involve divergence along multiple phenotypic axes, such as mate preference, habitat use or preference, and phenology (the timing of life-cycle events). Alternatively, isolation could result from differentiation of a single character. I propose to address this question by assessing patterns of variation for a suite of characters across a hybrid zone between two butterfly species. This is possible because patterns of character variation across hybrids zones allow for inferences about reproductive isolation (Barton and Hewitt 1985).
Retinal Specialisations for Aquatic Vision: Theory and Facts

Most of the investigators who, over the past twenty-five years, have worked on the fish retina, have chosen this tissue for reasons unrelated to the fact that the fish is an aquatic organism, and as such, must cope with the severe problems of optical image transmission under water. Some of the problems are well understood, or at least well described, and I suggest that the physiological features which distinguish the retinas of aquatic vertebrates can be interpreted as evolutionary solutions of these problems. Taken as a general statement, this is probably unobjectionable, since nearly all biologists accept the theory of evolution via natural selection. It is when the assertion is made more specific that objections will arise. What are the features which distinguish aquatic retinas from those of land-dwelling vertebrates? What are the important optical problems underwater? What follows is one attempt to answer these questions and to tie together two previously disparate fields; namely, retinal physiology and underwater optics. At the outset, I acknowledge my debt to Dr. J.N. Lythgoe, whose papers (Lythgoe, 1966, 1968) stimulated my interest.
Infinite Regresses and Recurring Questions

The infinite regress in some infinite regress arguments is presented or described in terms of recurring questions and answers. There are a few reasons why I want to examine the role of such recurring questions. First, they are sometimes used to capture the gist of an infinite regress argument. A case in point is Bradley's famous infinite regress argument against the reality of relations: Stout (1902) summarizes the argument's complex regress-generating component in the following way: “In its simple form the whole point of the argument is contained in the reiterated question - What connects the relation and its terms?”. (My italics.)
Cellular Automata and Intermediate Reachability Problems

We exhibit one-dimensional cellular automata whose reachability and confluence problems have arbitrary r.e. degree of unsolvability.
A phylogenetic perspective on hyperthermophilic microorganisms.

Publisher Summary Hyperthermophilic microorganisms grow optimally, and sometimes exclusively, at temperatures greater than 800. Their existence has been known for only a few decades, and much remains to be learned about their physiology, biochemistry, and natural history. In fact, the upper temperature limit for microbial life is still uncertain, but it reaches to at least 113° for cultivated isolates. Extreme thermophiles are found in a wide variety of high temperature habitats, both terrestrial and marine. Hyperthermophilic microbes have a remarkable variety of lifestyles and physiologies, ranging from aerobic autotrophy to strictly anaerobic heterotrophy. The biochemical adaptations and physiological diversity of hyperthermophiles are fascinating and extremely productive topics of current research. Equally as fascinating, are the details concerning the natural history, ecology, and evolution of hyperthermophilic microbial life.
Field emitter with focusing column for atomic resolution storage device

This paper discussed the design and development and fabrication of a focusable electron emitter for atomic resolution storage. The system design includes an electron source with an integrated focusing column and must provide a minimum spot size and maximum efficiency under optimum conditions. Experimental results from the fabricated parts compared well with model spot size predictions.
Games People Play

Let X be a nonempty perfect Polish space with compatible complete metric d. Fix also a basis {V n } of nonempty open sets for X. Given A ⊆ X, consider the following *-game G*(A): $$ \begin{gathered} {\text{I}}\quad (U_0^{(0)},U_1^{(0)})\quad \quad (U_0^{(1)},U_1^{(1)}) \hfill \\ \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad {\kern 1pt} \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \cdots \hfill \\ {\text{II}}\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad {i_0}\quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad {i_1} \hfill \\ \end{gathered} $$ U i (n) are basic open sets with diam (U i (n) <2−n,\(\overline {U_0^{(n)}} \cap \overline {U_0^{(n)}} = \emptyset\), i n Є {0,1}, and \(\overline {U_0^{(n + 1)} \cup U_1^{(n + 1)}} \subseteq U_{{i_n}}^{(n)}\) ⊆ \(U_{{i_n}}^{(n)}\). Let x ∈ X be defined by {x} = ⋂ n \(U_{{i_n}}^{(n)}\). Then I wins iff x ∈ A.
Crosstalk between Prostaglandin E2 and Leukotriene B4 Regulates Phagocytosis in Alveolar Macrophages via Combinatorial Effects on Cyclic AMP

Eicosanoid lipid mediators, including prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and leukotrienes (LTs) B(4) and D(4), are produced in abundance in the infected lung. We have previously demonstrated that individually, PGE(2) suppresses while both classes of LTs augment alveolar macrophage (AM) innate immune functions. In this study, we sought to more appropriately model the milieu at a site of infection by studying the in vitro effects of these lipid mediators on Fc gammaR-mediated phagocytosis when they are present in combination. Consistent with their individual actions, both LTB(4) and LTD(4) opposed the suppressive effect of PGE(2) on phagocytosis, but only LTB(4) did so by mitigating the stimulatory effect of PGE(2) on intracellular cAMP production. Unexpectedly, we observed that IgG-opsonized targets themselves elicited a dose-dependent reduction in intracellular cAMP in AMs, but this was not observed in peritoneal macrophages or elicited peritoneal neutrophils; this effect in AMs was completely abolished by treatment with the LT synthesis inhibitor AA861, the BLT receptor 1 antagonist CP 105,696, and the G alpha i inhibitor pertussis toxin. Of two downstream cAMP effectors, protein kinase A and exchange protein activated by cAMP, the ability of PGE(2) to activate the latter but not the former was abrogated by both LTs B(4) and D(4). Taken together, our results indicate that both classes of LTs oppose the immune suppressive actions of PGE(2), with the stimulatory actions of LTB(4) reflecting combinatorial modulation of intracellular cAMP and those of LTD(4) being cAMP independent.
Blue-green diode laser overview

It has now been a little over two years that diode laser action in the blue-green portion of the spectrum was announced by researchers at 3M. These first devices were fabricated using CdZnSe strained QW active layers and could only work pulsed at low temperature. Since then, many other groups have demonstrated similar ZnSe-based blue-green diode lasers and considerable progress has been made toward achieving the important practical goal of long-lived continuous operation at room temperature. The author reviews the work on blue-green lasers and discusses the latest results. >
Self-Circumference of Rotors

Inequalities for the self-circumference of plane sets of constant width and rotors in an equilateral triangle are obtained. The law of cosines from trigonometry is used to obtain elliptic integrals of the second kind to calculate the self-circumference of two examples.
A Review of: “WILEY CONCISE GUIDES TO MENTAL HEALTH: POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER”

Adam Cash, PsyD, is a psychologist in private practice in Pomona, California. He is an adjunct professor at Chapman University. Irving B. Weiner, PhD, is the Series Editor for the Wiley Concise Gui...
Insulin binding to individual rat skeletal muscles.

Studies of insulin binding to skeletal muscle, performed using sarcolemmal membrane preparations or whole muscle incubations of mixed muscle or typical red (soleus, psoas) or white [extensor digitorum longus (EDL), gastrocnemius] muscle, have suggested that red muscle binds more insulin than white muscle. We have evaluated this hypothesis using cryostat sections of unfixed tissue to measure insulin binding in a broad range of skeletal muscles; many were of similar fiber-type profiles. Insulin binding per square millimeter of skeletal muscle slice was measured by autoradiography and computer-assisted densitometry. We found a 4.5-fold range in specific insulin tracer binding, with heart and predominantly slow-twitch oxidative muscles (SO) at the high end and the predominantly fast-twitch glycolytic (FG) muscles at the low end of the range. This pattern reflects insulin sensitivity. Evaluation of displacement curves for insulin binding yielded linear Scatchard plots. The dissociation constants varied over a ninefold range (0.26-2.06 nM). Binding capacity varied from 12.2 to 82.7 fmol/mm2. Neither binding parameter was correlated with fiber type or insulin sensitivity; e.g., among three muscles of similar fiber-type profile, the EDL had high numbers of low-affinity binding sites, whereas the quadriceps had low numbers of high-affinity sites. In summary, considerable heterogeneity in insulin binding was found among hindlimb muscles of the rat, which can be attributed to heterogeneity in binding affinities and the numbers of binding sites. It can be concluded that a given fiber type is not uniquely associated with a set of insulin binding parameters that result in high or low binding.
SIR: simultaneous induction of rules using neural networks

One major drawback of the decision-tree-based inductive knowledge acquisition methodology is its inability to form high-level features from raw attributes. While neural learning has no such problem, its difficulty is in the opaqueness of the acquired knowledge. The authors address both these issues and present a neural learning methodology that yields production rules formed on the basis of high-level features that are also learned during the learning phase. Furthermore, the competitive component of the learning in the proposed methodology automatically determines the number of rules for a given learning situation. Two examples are presented to illustrate the methodology. >
Fraction representations, non-additive state feedback, and nonlinear control

Two broad issues in the theory of nonlinear control are discussed, namely, nonlinear static state feedback and the construction of coprime fraction representations. First, a theory of static state feedback, valid for a wide class of nonlinear systems, is developed. The theory yields explicit formulas for the computation of static state feedback functions that internally stabilized a nonlinear system. Next, it is shown that these stabilizing state feedback functions can be used to construct right coprime fraction representations for nonlinear systems, even in cases where the output of the system is not the state. The resulting coprime fraction representations have a particularly simple factorization space. >
Apoptosis-Inducing Factor: Structure, Function, and Redox Regulation

Apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) is a flavin adenine dinucleotide-containing, NADH-dependent oxidoreductase residing in the mitochondrial intermembrane space whose specific enzymatic activity remains unknown. Upon an apoptotic insult, AIF undergoes proteolysis and translocates to the nucleus, where it triggers chromatin condensation and large-scale DNA degradation in a caspase-independent manner. Besides playing a key role in execution of caspase-independent cell death, AIF has emerged as a protein critical for cell survival. Analysis of in vivo phenotypes associated with AIF deficiency and defects, and identification of its mitochondrial, cytoplasmic, and nuclear partners revealed the complexity and multilevel regulation of AIF-mediated signal transduction and suggested an important role of AIF in the maintenance of mitochondrial morphology and energy metabolism. The redox activity of AIF is essential for optimal oxidative phosphorylation. Additionally, the protein is proposed to regulate the respiratory chain indirectly, through assembly and/or stabilization of complexes I and III. This review discusses accumulated data with respect to the AIF structure and outlines evidence that supports the prevalent mechanistic view on the apoptogenic actions of the flavoprotein, as well as the emerging concept of AIF as a redox sensor capable of linking NAD(H)-dependent metabolic pathways to apoptosis.
Numerical evaluation of the stability of stationary points of index-2 differential-algebraic equations: Applications to reactive flash and reactive distillation systems

Abstract The dynamic behavior of many chemical processes can be represented by an index-2 system of differential-algebraic equations. This index can be reduced by differentiation, but unfortunately the index reduced systems are not guaranteed to possess the same stability characteristics as that of the original system. When the set of differential-algebraic equations can be written in Hessenberg form, the matrix pencil of the linearized system can be used to directly evaluate the stability of a steady state without the need for index reduction. Direct evaluations of stability of reactive flash and reactive distillation are presented. It is also shown that a commonly used index reduction will always result in null eigenvalues at steady state. Stabilization methods were successfully applied to this reduced system. An alternative index reduction method for a reactive flash is generalized and shown to be highly sensitive to minor changes in the jacobian.
Emerging treatment options for the management of brain metastases in patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

The widespread use of trastuzumab in the past decade has led to a significant and measureable improvement in the survival of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) overexpressing breast cancer, and in many ways has redefined the natural history of this aggressive breast cancer subtype. Historically, survival in patients with HER2-positive disease was dictated by the systemic disease course, and what appears to be the central nervous system (CNS) tropism associated with HER2-amplified tumors was not clinically evident. With improved systemic control and prolonged survival, the incidence of brain metastases has increased, and CNS disease, often in the setting of well-controlled extracranial disease, is proving to be an increasingly important and clinically challenging cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with HER2-positive advanced breast cancer. This review summarizes the known clinical data for the systemic treatment of HER2-positive CNS metastases and includes information about ongoing clinical trials of novel therapies as well as emerging strategies for early detection and prevention.
Parent‐infant‐toddler program: Building family support networks

(1987). Parent‐infant‐toddler program: Building family support networks. Early Child Development and Care: Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 273-287.
Dietary Calcium, Alcohol, and Incidence of Treated Hypertension in the NHANES I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study

Evidence concerning the relation between dietary calcium intake and development of hypertension is inconsistent. Some of this inconsistency may be due to interaction of this relation with other factors. The current study was designed to test for an interaction between alcohol consumption and the relation of dietary calcium intake to 10-year incidence of hypertension in a sample of the US adult population : the Epidemiologic Follow-up Study (1982-1984) of the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) (1971-1975). Interactive logistic regression models were estimated with incident hypertension defined as self-reported treatment with antihypertensive medication. After exclusion of participants with evidence of hypertension at baseline (resulting n = 6,634), odds ratios for hypertension were estimated for each 1-g/day increase in calcium intake. The relation between dietary calcium and incident hypertension showed significant interactions with frequency of alcohol use (odds ratio (OR) = 1.33 for daily drinkers, OR = 0.84 for others ; p = 0.005 for difference), age (OR = 0.75 for ≤40 years at baseline, OR = 1.00 for >40 years ; p = 0.004), and body mass index, defined as weight (kg) divided by height (m) squared (OR = 0.82 for ≤26, OR = 1.01 for >26 ; p = 0.018). Interactions with sex and race (black vs. white) were not significant (p ≥ 0.4). These findings suggest that a protective effect of foods containing calcium on the risk of developing hypertension may vary across levels of alcohol consumption and other risk factors for hypertension.
Functional analysis of B144/LST1: a gene in the tumor necrosis factor cluster that induces formation of long filopodia in eukaryotic cells.

Abstract B144/LST1 is a gene encoded in the human major histocompatibility complex that produces multiple forms of alternatively spliced mRNA and encodes peptides fewer than 100 amino acids in length. B144/LST1 is strongly expressed in dendritic cells. Transfection of B144/LST1 into a variety of cells induces morphologic changes including the production of long, thin filopodia differing from those seen on transfection of a dominant active CDC42 gene. The structures are dynamically rearranging and sometimes connect one cell with another. The full effect of B144/LST1 protein on cell morphology requires the retention of at least one of the four cysteines of the peptide plus the presence of a hydrophobic segment in the protein, but requires only one of the two coding regions present in the terminal 3′ exons.
An investigation of solid-solid phase transitions in cholesterol and in cholesteryl oleate by positron annihilation

Abstract The lifetimes of positrons annihilating in cholesterol and in cholesteryl oleate have been measured as a function of temperature in the vicinity of a previously reported solid-solid transition in each compound. The observed changes in lifetime parameters are discussed in terms of structural changes occurring in these two compounds.