cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Plasma 5-hydroxytryptamine and plasma 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid levels after vagal stimulation

Abstract Stimulation of the vagi in 28 dogs resulted in a highly significant increase ( P
High dose chemotherapy and autologous stem cell transplantation for metastatic breast cancer: is there a place?

Seven comparative trials with over 2000 patients enrolled show no definitive evidence that high dose chemotherapy with stem cell support offers a survival advantage for metastatic breast cancer over conventional dose chemotherapy. Though numbers are low and small differences may exist particularly in subsets of patients, the duration of follow-up is adequate to make the likelihood of a late benefit low. High dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplantation does not have a place in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer outside of clinical trials.
Microbial composition alters the response of litter decomposition to environmental change

Recent studies demonstrate that microorganisms are sensitive to environmental change, and that their community composition influences ecosystem functioning. However, it is unknown whether microbial composition interacts with the environment to affect the response of ecosystem processes to changing abiotic conditions. To investigate the potential for such interactive effects on leaf litter decomposition, we manipulated microbial composition and three environmental factors predicted to change in the future (moisture, nitrogen availability, and temperature). We isolated fungal and bacterial taxa from leaf litter and used them to construct unique communities. Communities were inoculated into microcosms containing sterile leaf litter and exposed to four environmental treatments (control conditions, increased temperature, decreased moisture, and elevated nitrogen availability). Respiration was tracked over 60 days, and communities were pyrosequenced to assess compositional changes. As hypothesized, composition and environmental treatment interacted to influence respiration rates. In particular, microbial composition interacted more strongly with changing nitrogen availability and less so with changing moisture or temperature. Further, the magnitude of a community's response to a particular environmental change was partly explained by changes in composition over the course of the experiment; microcosms that showed a large change in respiration rate included more taxa whose relative abundance changed as well. Together, these results suggest that information about microbial composition may be more useful for predicting functional responses to some types of environmental changes than others.
Influence of dietary energy on heritability of 6- and 8-week body weight.

Abstract A randombred meat-type control population was utilized to investigate the influence of dietary energy on the heritability of 6-and 8-week body weight. In each of 2 years, progeny from 60 sire families were randomly assigned to dietary treatment 1 and dietary treatment 2 consisting of 3124 kcal/kg and 2902 kcal/kg of metabolizable energy, respectively. Mean body weights of birds receiving treatment 2 were 3 to 10% smaller than those of birds receiving treatment 1. Heritability estimates for 6-and 8-week body weight were smaller for birds receiving treatment 2 than for those receiving treatment 1.
Multiple Sclerosis and Regulatory T Cells

Introduction Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex genetic disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the central nervous system (CNS). The pathology of MS is largely attributed to autoreactive effector T cells that penetrate the blood–brain barrier and become activated within the CNS. As autoreactive T cells are present in the blood of both patients with MS and healthy individuals, other regulatory mechanisms exist to prevent autoreactive T cells from causing immune disorders. Active suppression by regulatory T (Treg) cells plays a key role in the control of self-antigen-reactive T cells and the induction of peripheral tolerance in vivo. In particular, the importance of antigen-specific Treg cells in conferring genetic resistance to organ-specific autoimmunity and in limiting autoimmune tissue damage has been documented in many disease models including MS.
Three-dimensional imaging of objects in scattering medium by using statistical image processing

In this paper, three-dimensional (3D) imaging of objects in scattering medium is presented. Synthetic Aperture Integral Imaging (SAII) technique is used to record multiple images with different perspectives. Each recorded image is degraded by light scattering. This degradation function can be modeled by Gaussian Theory. The unknown parameter mean of Gaussian distribution can be estimated by using Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). The effects of scattering can be remedied by using estimated degradation function and statistical image processing techniques such as histogram stretching and matching. 3D scene can be visualized by computational 3D reconstruction algorithms of integral imaging. To show the ability of 3D object visualization in scattering medium, experimental results are presented.
Differential effects of the hypocretin 1 receptor antagonist SB 334867 on high‐fat food self‐administration and reinstatement of food seeking in rats

Background and purpose: Many studies have demonstrated a role of hypocretin 1 (orexin 1) receptors in home-cage food consumption in rodents. However, the role of these receptors in operant food self-administration or relapse to food seeking in animal models is unknown. Experimental approach: In Experiment 1, we trained food-restricted rats (16–20 g per day) to lever press for high-fat (35%) pellets (3–6 h per day, every other day). We then tested the effect of the hypocretin 1 receptor antagonist SB 334867 (10, 20 mg kg−1, i.p) on pellet self-administration. In Experiment 2, we trained rats to self-administer the food pellets, and following extinction of the food-reinforced responding, we tested the effect of hypocretin 1 (3 and 6 μg, i.c.v) on reinstatement of food-seeking and the effect of SB 334867 on this reinstatement. In Experiment 3, we tested the effect of SB 334867 on reinstatement induced by non-contingent pellet exposure (pellet-priming) or the pharmacological stressor yohimbine (2 mg kg−1, i.p). Key results: SB 334867 attenuated high-fat pellet self-administration. In contrast, SB 334867 had no effect on reinstatement of lever presses induced by hypocretin 1, pellet-priming or yohimbine. Conclusions and implications: These data indicate that during dieting, hypocretin 1 receptors contribute to operant high-fat pellet self-administration, but not to relapse to food seeking induced by acute re-exposure to the food itself or by the induction of a stress-like state. British Journal of Pharmacology (2008) 154, 406–416; doi:10.1038/bjp.2008.3; published online 28 January 2008
Treg depletion inhibits efficacy of cancer immunotherapy: implications for clinical trials.

Background Regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg) infiltrate human glioblastoma (GBM); are involved in tumor progression and correlate with tumor grade. Transient elimination of Tregs using CD25 depleting antibodies (PC61) has been found to mediate GBM regression in preclinical models of brain tumors. Clinical trials that combine Treg depletion with tumor vaccination are underway to determine whether transient Treg depletion can enhance anti-tumor immune responses and improve long term survival in cancer patients. Findings Using a syngeneic intracrabial glioblastoma (GBM) mouse model we show that systemic depletion of Tregs 15 days after tumor implantation using PC61 resulted in a decrease in Tregs present in tumors, draining lymph nodes and spleen and improved long-term survival (50% of mice survived >150 days). No improvement in survival was observed when Tregs were depleted 24 days after tumor implantation, suggesting that tumor burden is an important factor for determining efficacy of Treg depletion in clinical trials. In a T cell dependent model of brain tumor regression elicited by intratumoral delivery of adenoviral vectors (Ad) expressing Fms-like Tyrosine Kinase 3 ligand (Flt3L) and Herpes Simplex Type 1-Thymidine Kinase (TK) with ganciclovir (GCV), we demonstrate that administration of PC61 24 days after tumor implantation (7 days after treatment) inhibited T cell dependent tumor regression and long term survival. Further, depletion with PC61 completely inhibited clonal expansion of tumor antigen-specific T lymphocytes in response to the treatment. Conclusions Our data demonstrate for the first time, that although Treg depletion inhibits the progression/eliminates GBM tumors, its efficacy is dependent on tumor burden. We conclude that this approach will be useful in a setting of minimal residual disease. Further, we also demonstrate that Treg depletion, using PC61 in combination with immunotherapy, inhibits clonal expansion of tumor antigen-specific T cells, suggesting that new, more specific targets to block Tregs will be necessary when used in combination with therapies that activate anti-tumor immunity.
Transport of heat and mass between liquids and spherical particles in an agitated tank

Data are reported for heat transfer from water to melting ice spheres and for mass transfer in the case of dissolving spheres of pivalic acid suspended in water agitated in a stirred vessel. The transport coefficients are found to depend on agitator power input but not on agitator design, in agreement with the Kolmogoroff theory. These experimental results are used with others in the literature to develop a correlation involving Nusselt and Prandtl or Schmidt numbers together with a dimensionless group involving agitation power. The correlation is essentially independent of solid-liquid density ratio in the range 0.8 to 1.25, and in this range the gravity group also appears to be unimportant.
A patient-centered approach to the development and pilot of a warfarin pharmacogenomics patient education tool for health professionals.

Abstract Objective To describe an exploratory project to develop and pilot a novel patient educational tool that explains the concept of pharmacogenomics and its impact on warfarin dosing that can be utilized by health professionals providing patient counseling. Methods A pharmacogenomics educational tool prototype was developed by an interdisciplinary team. During the pilot of the tool, focus group methodology was used to elicit input from patients based on their perspectives and experiences with warfarin. Focus group sessions were audio recorded and transcribed, and the data were analyzed through consensus coding in NVivo. Results The focus group participants were generally unfamiliar with the concept of pharmacogenomics but were receptive to the information. They thought the patient education tool was informative and would provide the most benefit to patients newly initiated on warfarin therapy. Conclusions Preliminary results from this exploratory project suggest that implementation and further feasibility testing of this pharmacogenomics patient education tool should be performed in a population of newly initiated patients taking warfarin.
Spectroscopy of the CH3Zn radical. Vibrational frequencies and electronic configurations of the X̃, Ã, and C̃ states

Abstract The monoalkyl zinc radical, CH3Zn, may be observed by laser-induced fluorescence following UV photodissociation of (CH3)2Zn. The fluorescence spectrum obtained upon excitation of the 000 and the 210 bands of the A-X transition was assigned. A very simple fluorescence spectrum is obtained upon excitation of the 000 band, allowing assignment of the fundamental vibrational frequencies for the CZn stretching mode (v3, 445 cm−1) and the CH3 umbrella mode (v2, 1060 cm−1) of the X state. A much more complicated, time-dependent and pressure-dependent fluorescence spectrum is obtained upon excitation of the 210 band. Collisionally induced energy redistribution within the A state during its radiative lifetime populates v = 1 of v3 and the upper spin-orbit level of the A state. Observation of fluorescence from these levels allows assignment of v3 (545 cm−1) and the spin-orbit splitting (255 cm−1) of the A state. The symmetry species and electronic configurations of the X and A states are assigned by comparison to the analogous states of ZnH. A similar comparison allows assignment of a set of higher energy bands observed by Young, Gosavi, Connor, Strausz and Gunning to the C-X transition of CH3Zn. The B-X transition has not been observed due to very poor Franck-Condon overlap between the B and X vibrational states.
SYNG: A middleware for statefull groupware in mobile environments

Computer supported collaboration systems, or groupware, are being used more and more in the real life. In the recent years, we are witnessing an increasing demand for supporting such systems in mobile environments. In this paper we address the following questions: ldquoHow are the limited and highly dynamic resources of mobile clients, like network connection, energy supply or display size, influencing the design and deployment of groupware systems?rdquo and ldquoWhat type of policie the users need to specify in order to be able to collaborate in such environments?rdquo. We present a middleware system, called SYNG, that allows a statefull model, suitable for mobile environments. In our system, each user can define a state composed of a number of variables. Examples of such variables include battery usage, quality of network connection, display size, etc. Based on this state, the participant in a collaborative session specifies its own policy for receiving messages from the other participants. Experimental results show good performance and scalability of our approach.
Exploring the subspace method for network-wide anomaly diagnosis

Network-wide anomalies represent unusual operating conditions that may span multiple links. These anomalies are important to detect from an operational standpoint because they impact multiple routers and can cause disruptive congestion in the network. The central problem with diagnosing network-wide anomalies is that their cause can vary considerably, from DoS attacks to bugs to configuration errors. Recently, we introduced an important subset of network-wide anomalies called volume anomalies [2]. Volume Anomalies are unexpected changes that occur in the origin destination (OD) flow traffic of a network. They are important because they capture changes in the network’s traffic matrix. In [2], we developed the subspace method to detect, identify and quantify volume anomalies from simple SNMP-based link bytecounts. In this poster, we build on our earlier work and apply subspace methods directly to OD flow traffic (instead of link traffic). We first show how to extend the subspace method in this context and also to three different traffic data types: # of bytes, # of packets and # of IP flows. We then present initial results on the anomalies we found by analyzing four weeks of OD flow traffic data collected from the Abilene Internet2 backbone network. Our complete results can be found in [1].
Influence of carbon monoxide in package atmospheres containing oxygen on colour, reducing activity, and oxygen consumption of five bovine muscles.

Abstract Steaks from five bovine muscles [psoas major (PM), longissimus lumborum (LL), deep semimembranosus (DSM), superficial semimembranosus (SSM), and semitendinosus (ST)] were packaged in atmospheres containing 20% or 80% oxygen, with and without 0.4% carbon monoxide. Steaks were evaluated on d 0, 4, and 7 of retail display for instrumental (CIE L∗, a∗, and b∗) and visual colour, total- and metmyoglobin-reducing activity, and oxygen consumption rate. Combining carbon monoxide with either oxygen level had no effect (P > 0.05) on any measured attribute. Using higher oxygen levels increased colour stability and reduced variability (P ST > SSM > PM > DSM. Including 0.4% carbon monoxide with 20% or 80% oxygen may not have impacted colour, due to preferential formation of oxymyoglobin, rather than carboxymyoglobin, at these oxygen levels.
Leslie Marmon Silko: Reading, Writing, and Storytelling

acteristics of the Laguna Pueblo oral tradition. The video is an important document in that it functions as an oral counterpart to Silko's published work especially because all the pieces Silko reads or tells in front of the camera also appear in some version in her 1981 collection of stories and poems, Storyteller. The film, therefore, provides a unique opportunity for exploring the dynamic relationship among oral storytelling, reading, and writing in Silko's work; it allows for mapping out the specific changes which occur when the oral performance is codified in writing, as well as when the written version of an oral story is reintroduced into the performance context of the poetry reading. The relationship between oral performance and written text (and between oral and literate culture) has long been a matter of controversy. Folklorists have frequently complained that the inadequate transcription of oral texts, which leaves out their extratextual characteristics, renders these texts flat, and allows for gross misinterpretations of their stylistic features and aesthetic value (Fine 4-15, Tedlock 32). In an attempt to promote a performative approach to transcription and translation, Elizabeth Fine systematizes the different channels available in oral performance and in print. On the performance side, she lists three broad groups: (1) aural: linguistic (phonemes, morphemes, and words) and paralinguistic (vocalizations and voice qualities); (2) visual: kinesic (bodily movements), artifactual (use of objects), and proxemic (physical setting); (3)
PRODUCTION OF DIVACANCIES AND VACANCIES BY ELECTRON IRRADIATION OF SILICON

A study is described of the dependence of the room-temperature production of divacancies and vacancies in silicon upon the energy of the bombarding electrons over the range 0.7-56 MeV. For the divacancy, the Si-G6 electron-paramagnetic-resonance spectrum associated with the singly positively charged state of the defect was monitored. As a monitor for single-vacancy production, the Si-B1 center due to the oxygen-vacancy pair was used. Over the energy range 0.7-1.5 MeV, the divacancy production rate rises a factor of 7 while the single-vacancy rate rises only a factor of 1.5, reflecting a higher threshold for divacancy production, as expected. Also presented are data on the dependence of the divacancy production rate on the orientation of the crystal axes with respect to the incident beam and on the resulting anisotropy of the divacancy orientation in the lattice. The results of the anisotropy studies are shown to be consistent with a simple microscopic model of the damage event.
Effect of aminophylline on plasma prothrombin and Ac-globulin in dogs.

Summary1. Large doses of aminophyl-line, administered intravenously to dogs, produced a transient elevation in prothrombin activity, followed by a late hypoprothrombinemia with return to normal in about 2 to 3 weeks. Simultaneously, a more marked and persistent rise in Ac-globulin activity occurred. Small doses of 6 mg/kg body wt were without significant effect.2. No correlation could be found between the Lee-White whole blood clotting time and variations in prothrombin and Ac-globulin activity.
GH4 pituitary cell variants selected as nonresponsive to thyrotropin-releasing hormone-enhanced substratum adhesion are nonresponsive to epidermal growth factor: evidence for a common signaling defect.

Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and epidermal growth factor both enhance prolactin synthesis and substrate adhesion (a morphological change called stretching) of GH4 rat pituitary cells. We have examined TRH- and EGF-induced cell stretching using genetic and pharmacologic approaches. We selected and isolated a series of GH4 cell variants nonresponsive to TRH-induced cell stretching (str−). This selection yielded several variants that were nonresponsive to both TRH- and EGF-induced stretching but were still responsive to stretching induced by several other agents (tetradecanoylphorbol acetate [TPA], butyrate, and Nepla-nocin A). One of the str− variants (a14) was examined in detail. TRH, EGF, and TPA each enhanced prolactin synthesis in a14 cells, indicating that the a14 variant contained functional receptor binding sites for all 3 ligands as well as the capacity to generate those intracellular signals required for enhanced prolactin synthesis. Because the str− variants were isolated without selective pressure for EGF-induced stretching and because the possibility of more than one selectable mutation in all the variants is unlikely, we suggest that TRH and EGF share a common mechanism to induce cell stretching. We next examined whether the str− variants had a defect in a signaling pathway or in the biochemical endpoint for TRH- and EGF-induced cell stretching. A pharmacologic approach was utilized to investigate the biochemical basis for induced cell stretching. A synthetic Arg-Gly-Asp-Ser tetrapeptide (RGDS), specific for fibronectin and vitronectin adhesion receptors, inhibited TRH-, EGF-, and TPA-induced GH4 cell stretching and attachment to fibronectin- and vitronectin-coated dishes. These results suggest that the interaction between fibronectin and/or vitronectin and their receptor(s) may be a biochemical endpoint by which several agonists induce stretching of GH4 cells. Because the str− variant has RGDS-specific binding sites for fibronectin and vitronectin and responds to some agents that induce cell stretching via an RGDS receptor, we conclude that the a14 str− variant has a defect in an intracellular signaling pathway, shared by TRH and EGF, which induces cell stretching.
Topological representations of thermodynamic systems—II. Some elemental subunits for irreversible thermodynamics

Abstract Topological representations, using the bond graph rotation developed in Part 1, are presented for several common thermodynamic couplings. Examples of more complex systems are presented, including diffusion with chemical reaction, relaxation oscillations in electrochemical systems and nonlinear phenomena in charged membrane structures.
A class of elliptic partial differential equations with exponential nonlinearities

On demontre l'existence d'au moins une infinite denombrable de familles a 1 parametre de solutions non triviales continues de Holder pour une classe de problemes aux valeurs limites de Dirichlet d'ordre 2 fortement non lineaires a 2 dimensions et plus
Transverse mixing of transported material in simple and complex stream reaches

Stream ecologists often make assumptions about the extent to which transported materials (such as dissolved nutrients, particulate organic matter and pollutants) are mixed across the width of a channel. Transverse spatial heterogeneity arises whenever material enters the channel at a point or restricted source, and is dissipated downstream as mixing evens out concentration gradients. A frequent assumption is that the distance required for complete mixing is negligibly short, and therefore that transverse heterogeneity in transported material is not to be expected. However, few mixing data are available for small (discharge < 5m 3 /s) channels. We measured mixing distances in three small (0.04–0.1 m 3 /s) eastern Iowa streams via mid-channel injections of a fluorescent tracer. Mixing distances varied, with effectively complete mixing (to statistically undetectable heterogeneity in tracer concentration) taking as little as 5 m or as much as 100 + m. Mixing was more rapid in more complex stream reaches and across constrictions and pools (vs. simpler channels). These mixing distances are not negligible when compared to typical spatial scales for ecological experiments.
Hypoxia limits differentiation and up-regulates expression and activity of prostaglandin H synthase 2 in cultured trophoblast from term human placenta

Objective: We determined the effect of hypoxic conditions on cellular differentiation and prostaglandin H synthase expression in cultured human term trophoblast. Study Design: Cytotrophoblasts isolated from term placentas were cultured for 24-72 hours in a standard (20% oxygen) or hypoxic (1% to 2% oxygen) atmosphere. Trophoblast biochemical differentiation was determined by release of human chorionic gonadotropin. Morphologic differentiation was evaluated by epifluorescent and confocal microscopic examination of cultures after dual cytochemical staining for surface membrane desmosomes and intracytoplasmic nuclei. Prostaglandin H synthase 2 expression was determined by Western blot analysis and correlated with enzyme activity by immunoassay of 2 prostaglandin H synthase 2 products, prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane. Results: Human chorionic gonadotropin levels in media and syncytiotrophoblast formation were markedly diminished in trophoblast cultured in hypoxia, compared with trophoblast in control cultures, whereas viability was unchanged. Hypoxia up-regulated expression of trophoblast prostaglandin H synthase 2 but not of prostaglandin H synthase 1 and increased prostaglandin E2 and thromboxane release. Conclusions: Hypoxia limits differentiation and enhances prostaglandin H synthase 2 expression in cultured villous trophoblast. These responses may account for the cytotrophoblast prominence characteristic of placentas exposed to attenuated oxygen delivery. (Am J Obstet Gynecol 1999;180:896-902.)
Homogeneous (co)precipitation of inorganic salts for synthesis of monodispersed barium titanate particles

Various processes of coprecipitation or crystallization of inorganicsalts of barium and titanium from homogeneous solutions were studiedin this work. In particular, barium hydroxide and barium chloridesalt as well as titanium tetrachloride were used as the startingmaterials for dielectric-tuning homogeneous precipitation in mixedsolvents of isopropanol and water. Hydroxypropylcellulose was used asa steric dispersant. Evaluations of size, shape, and composition ofsynthesized particles were made using scanning electron microscopy,high-temperature X-ray diffractometry, and differential thermalanalysis. Results show that salt concentration, pH, and reaction timeare important in determining the morphology and composition of thefinal powder. The titania particles from dielectric-tuningprecipitation are perfect microspheres with narrow size distribution(near monodispersed), while the particles from barium salts areflake-like, irregular in shape and size. Instead of particlescontaining uniform compositions of barium and titanium compounds,dielectric-tuning coprecipitation yielded powders of two separatedphases, i.e., monodispersed titania microspheres (∼1 μm) coated onbarium chloride salt flakes. Titanium-rich barium titanate wasobtained after calcination of coprecipitated powders. However,preliminary results show that the titania particles obtained bydielectric-tuning precipitation can be hydrothermally converted toBaTiO3 particles that are fully crystallized after calcination above950°C.
The Amino-terminal Transmembrane Region of the β Subunit is Important for Na + /K + -ATPase Complex Stability

Heterologous expression of the α and β subunits of Na+/K+-ATPase allows for the expression of altered forms of the Na+/K+-pump which may be useful in determining the structural basis of pump function. Most systems for heterologous expression are limited by the low abundance of protein expression, the difficulty in producing assembled complexes with enzymatic activity, and a background of endogenous Na+/K+ ATPase activity. While the level of heterologous expression of Na+/K+-ATPase in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) is limited, a major advantage of this system is the lack of an endogenous Na+/K+-ATPase enzyme. Thus, activities which are unique to the Na+/K+-ATPase can be assayed with virtually no background. In particular, the ability of Na+/K+-ATPase to bind cardiac glycosides such as ouabain with high affinity has proven to be a reliable and sensitive marker for the assembly of functional enzyme complexes in yeast. Ouabain binding depends on phosphorylation of the enzyme and is sensitive to both Na+ and K+ which are thought to cause conformational shifts in Na+/K+-ATPase structure related to the transport of ions across the cell membrane. (1)
Design and Engineering of a Dynamic Binary Optimizer

In today's software, which increasingly utilizes dynamic class loading, shared libraries, and interconnected components, the power and reach of static compiler optimization is diminishing. An exciting new paradigm of transparent dynamic binary optimization is emerging, aimed at improving the performance of a program while it executes. Recently, several dynamic binary optimization systems have appeared in the literature. They all share a fundamental property: the ability to observe and modify instructions of the executing program immediately before they run. Importantly, recent advances allow this capability to be offered without having to pay the price of performance degradation. This paper describes the intricacies of a dynamic binary optimizer and how to build the core functionalities of observing and modifying executing instructions. We illustrate the major design decisions and tradeoffs and point to the important engineering challenges.
Challenges and Advances in the Treatment of AKI

Treating or preventing AKI requires treating or preventing a rise in serum creatinine as well as the immediate and remote clinical consequences associated with AKI. Because a substantial number of patients with AKI progress to ESRD, identifying patients likely to progress and halting progression are important goals for treating AKI. Many therapies for AKI are being developed, including RenalGuard Therapy, which aims to maintain high urine output; α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone, with anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic activities; alkaline phosphatase, which detoxifies proinflammatory substances; novel, small interfering RNA, directed at p53 activation; THR-184, a peptide agonist of bone morphogenetic proteins; removal of catalytic iron, important in free-radical formation; and cell-based therapies, including mesenchymal stem cells in vivo and renal cell therapy in situ. In this review, we explore what treatment of AKI really means, discuss the emerging therapies, and examine the windows of opportunity for treating AKI. Finally, we provide suggestions for accelerating the pathways toward preventing and treating AKI, such as establishing an AKI network, implementing models of catalytic philanthropy, and directing a small percentage of the Medicare ESRD budget for developing therapies to prevent and treat AKI and halt progression of CKD.
Balancing antagonistic time and resource utilization constraints in over-subscribed scheduling problems

Previous research has demonstrated the utility of constraint-based problem structuring and multiperspective scheduling for effective balancing conflicting objects in constraint-relaxable scheduling problems. Work aimed at applying these concepts to over-subscribed scheduling problems is discussed. The focus is on the problem of constructing short-term schedules for the Hubble Space Telescope, where complex state-dependent constraints on resource utilization interact antagonistically with the ability to satisfy absolute time constraints on execution of goal activities. Two time-bounded heuristic scheduling strategies were defined. The performance of each in balancing this tradeoff was studied experimentally. On the basis of results indicating the differential superiority of each strategy, a composite multiperspective strategy based on recognition of characteristics of the current problem-solving state is defined. Its experimental performance indicates the benefits of constraint-based problem structuring in over-subscribed domains. >
Implementation and Evaluation of iSCSI over RDMA

The Internet small computer systems interface (iSCSI) is a storage network technology that allows block-level access to storage devices, such as disks, over a computer network. Because iSCSI runs over the ubiquitous TCP/IP protocol, it has many advantages over proprietary alternatives. Due to the recent introduction of 10 gigabit Ethernet, storage vendors are interested in the benefits this large increase in network bandwidth could bring to iSCSI. To make full use of the bandwidth provided by a 10 gigabit Ethernet link, specialized remote direct memory access (RDMA) hardware is being developed to offload processing and reduce the data-copy-overhead found in a standard TCP/IP network stack. This paper focuses on the development of an iSCSI software implementation capable of supporting this new hardware, and a preliminary evaluation ofits performance. We describe an approach used to implement iSCSI extensions for remote direct memory access (iSER) with the UNH iSCSI reference implementation. This involved a threestep process: moving UNH-iSCSI software from the Linux kernel to user-space, adding support for the iSER extensions to the user-space iSCSI, and finally moving everything back into the Linux kernel. Results are given that show improved performance of the completed iSER-assisted iSCSI implementation on RDMA hardware.
Short- and Long-Term Effects of United Nations Peace Operations

Earlier studies have shown that United Nations peace operations make a positive contribution to peacebuilding efforts after civil wars. But do these effects carry over to the period after the peacekeepers leave? And how do the effects of UN peace operations interact with other determinants of peacebuilding in the long run? The author addresses these questions using a revised version of the Doyle and Sambanis dataset and applying different estimation methods to estimate the short-term and long-term effects of UN peace missions. He finds that UN missions have robust, positive effects on peacebuilding in the short term. UN missions can help parties implement peace agreements but the UN cannot fight wars, and UN operations contribute more to the quality of the peace where peace is based on participation, than to the longevity of the peace, where peace is simply the absence of war. The effects of UN missions are also felt in the long run, but they dissipate over time. What is missing in UN peacebuilding is a strategy to foster the self-sustaining economic growth that could connect increased participation with sustainable peace.
ANALYSIS OF EPIDEMIC AND ENDEMIC ISOLATES OF XANTHOMONAS MALTOPHILIA BY CONTOUR-CLAMPED HOMOGENEOUS ELECTRIC FIELD GEL ELECTROPHORESIS

BACKGROUND: Xanthomonas maltophilia is increasingly a cause of nosocomial infections. The mode of transmission of this organism is not well known. OBJECTIVE: To investigate clonality of X maltophilia isolates in epidemic and endemic settings. METHODS: An outbreak of X maltophilia was noted in the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN). Over the ensuing 9 months, hospitalwide isolates of X maltophilia were analyzed using contour-clamped homogeneous electric field (CHEF) gel electrophoresis of chromosomal DNA. This method was compared with the antibiogram for detecting differences and similarities among strains. RESULTS: X maltophilia was recovered from 76 sites in 72 patients; 65 isolates from 61 patients and the hands of one nurse were available for analysis. CHEF demonstrated differences between most epidemiologically unrelated strains and similarity between most epidemiologically related strains. Several strains, initially presumed to be related because of temporal and spatial proximity of the patients involved, were determined by CHEF analysis to be independent infections. One pair of isolates whose XbaI CHEF patterns differed by a single band were differentiated clearly by SspI. There was enough variation in the minimum inhibitory concentrations of selected antibiotics to allow typing of some strains. The antibiogram, however, did not group all of the ICN outbreak isolates with others found to be genetically identical by CHEFl and it grouped 39 of 56 isolates with others not genetically the same. CONCLUSIONS: Although it is a convenient and economical tool, the antibiogram has limitations. Analysis by CHEF should help to elucidate the epidemiological spread of X maltophilia in the hospital (Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 994;15:691-696).
Ditto: a system for opportunistic caching in multi-hop wireless networks

This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of Ditto, a system that opportunistically caches overheard data to improve subsequent transfer throughput in wireless mesh networks. While mesh networks have been proposed as a way to provide cheap, easily deployable Internet access, they must maintain high transfer throughput to be able to compete with other last-mile technologies. Unfortunately, doing so is difficult because multi-hop wireless transmissions interfere with each other, reducing the available capacity on the network. This problem is particularly severe in common gateway-based scenarios in which nearly all transmissions go through one or a few gateways from the mesh network to the Internet.Ditto exploits on-path as well as opportunistic caching based on overhearing to improve the throughput of data transfers and to reduce load on the gateways. It uses content-based naming to provide application independent caching at the granularity of small chunks, a feature that is key to being able to cache partially overheard data transfers. Our evaluation of Ditto shows that it can achieve significant performance gains for cached data, increasing throughput by up to 7x over simpler on-path caching schemes, and by up to an order of magnitude over no caching.
Active THD reduction strategy for grid connected EV charging stations

An active switching total harmonic distortion (THD) reduction topology is proposed in this paper. The topology is used to reduce the harmonics and to correct the power factor of the grid for electric vehicle (EV) charging station applications. The proposed topology is implemented by proper control of the bi-directional cascaded buck-boost converter switches. The need for passive filters or additional active components for THD reduction is eliminated in proposed topology. The presented topology is analyzed and the simulation results are presented to confirm the validity and the effectiveness of the system under different operating conditions.
Exploring infinite realms

How does one "visualize" infinity? The author describes how infinitudes of many sorts-purely mathematical or in chaotic dynamical systems-can be brought to stunningly beautiful life with computer graphics. >
Participation of caudal müllerian mesenchyma in prostate development.

Purpose: The human prostate is a heterogeneous tissue. The cause remains unknown. This riddle has become a major problem to modern medicine because it hinders the understanding of human prostatic diseases. I examined the progress recently made in research on urogenital tract development and pathology.Materials and Methods: A comprehensive review of all relevant literature was performed.Results: During mullerian duct regression in males the epithelial cells undergo epithelial-mesenchymal transition and enter the mesenchymal compartment. The caudal mullerian mesenchyma participates in the development of the rodent and human prostate under the induction of androgen receptor. It retains responsiveness to estrogenic stimulation. Heterogeneous distributions of different mesenchymas cause heterogeneity. This confirms the hypothesis of Price of homologies between rodent and human prostates.Conclusions: Like the gonad gland, the caudal mullerian duct has a sexual dimorphism of differentiation. It would develop int...
Disk infant mortality in large storage systems

As disk drives have dropped in price relative to tape, the desire for the convenience and speed of online access to large data repositories has, led to the deployment of petabyte-scale disk farms with thousands of disks. Unfortunately, the very large size of these repositories renders them vulnerable to previously rare failure modes such as multiple, unrelated disk failures leading to data loss. While some business models, such as free email servers, may be able to tolerate some occurrence of data loss, others, including premium online services and storage of simulation results at a national laboratory, cannot. This paper describes the effect of infant mortality on long-term failure rates of systems that must preserve their data for decades. Our failure models incorporate the well-known "bathtub curve," which reflects the higher failure rates of new disk drives, a lower, constant failure rate during the remainder of the design life span, and increased failure rates as components wear out. Large systems are vulnerable to the "cohort effect" that occurs when many disks are simultaneously replaced by new disks. Our more accurate disk models and simulations have yielded predictions of system lifetimes that are more pessimistic than existing models that assume a constant disk failure rate. Thus, larger system scale requires designers to take disk infant mortality into account.
Particle Swarm Optimization of Pulsed Power Circuit Models

Circuit modeling is ubiquitous throughout the pulsed power discipline. Both plasma processes and systems can be modeled with circuits of varying complexities. Sometimes, circuit models need to be generated to match experimental waveforms. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is a technique which can be utilized to automatically generate a circuit model to match experimental data. This paper details the PSO algorithm as well as two case studies of the implementation.
Interfacial shear stress, peeling stress, and die cracking stress in trilayer electronic assemblies

Interfacial shear stress, peeling stress, and die cracking stress due to thermal and elastic mismatch in layered electronic assemblies are one of the major causes of the mechanical failure of electronic packages. A simple but rather accurate method is developed to estimate these thermal stresses for packages with different layer lengths. For layered electronics with thin adhesives, analytical expressions are obtained for interfacial shear stress and peeling stress, and they agree well with the finite element analysis, especially when the moduli of adhesive layers are significantly lower than the moduli of the other layers. An analytic expression of die cracking stress is also obtained for multilayer electronic assemblies.
Adaptation to uniocular image magnification: Is the underlying shift proprioceptive?

Ss wore a 4% overall size lens (OSL) before one eye while they engaged in 20 min of binocular exploration of a typical indoor environment. Tests before and after the exposure period were conducted to determine whether or not OSL exposure leads to shifts in depth judgments based on binocular disparity. No significant shifts were observed. These results were applied to an evaluation of two contrasting hypotheses that have been proposed to explain adaptation to meridional size lens (MSL).
From biology to consciousness to morality

Social animals are provisioned with prosocial orientations that operate to transcend self-interest. Morality, as used here, describes human versions of such orientations. We explore the evolutionary antecedents of morality in the context of emergentism, giving considerable attention to the biological traits that undergird awareness and our emergent human forms of mind. We suggest that our moral frames of mind emerge from our primate prosocial capacities, transfigured and valenced by our symbolic languages, cultures, and religions.
Microchip capillary gel electrophoresis with electrochemical detection for the analysis of known SNPs.

A novel microchip-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) screening system has been developed. The system utilizes capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) with electrochemical detection in a chip-based format to accomplish rapid scoring of a mock SNP site. The accuracy of the thermostable polymerase and the advantages of coupling this technique to microfluidics are demonstrated. An electrochemically labeled chain terminator is used in the single base extension (SBE) reaction, in which the terminator is incorporated only when its Watson–Crick complementary base is present at the mock SNP site. The resulting electrochemically active extension product is subsequently separated from any excess terminator by CGE and detected by sinusoidal voltammetry. Although no attempts at optimization have been made, the analysis is performed in less than 4 min. The technique presented could lead to a fast, simple, and cost effective SNP scoring system.
A survey of middleware for sensor network and challenges

In recent years, wireless sensor network (WSN) has emerged as a highly important research area. Middleware for WSN facilitates development and deployment of a large number of applications such as smart environments, weather forecasting, bridge monitoring, health applications, etc. for sensor networks. But due to resource constraints, unreliability of wireless networks, and diversity in available sensor hardware, middleware for WSN presents a number of new challenges. In this paper, we try to find out and elaborate various challenges associated with the development of middleware for WSN. We present a comparative study of several existing middleware and how they address those challenges. In doing so, we point out the limitations of present generation middleware for sensor networks. We also illustrate how much more work needs to be done to make middleware for WSN suitable for general purpose usage in real world.
DRL responding under conditions of total darkness

The effects of total darkness on DRL schedule control were studied with pigeons under two lighting conditions. Increased DRL schedule control is indicated by decreased response and response/reinforcer rates and by increased reinforcer rates. Four pigeons with prior training on DRL schedules were conditioned to keypeck in total darkness. There were five blocks of sessions. In Blocks 1–4, subjects were trained on four alternating blocks of sessions under dark and light conditions (ABAB design). Block 5 consisted of four alternating sessions of dark and light conditions (ABAB design). Comparison of the dark with the light condition showed 3 subjects with decreased response and response/reinforcer rates and increased reinforcer rates in the dark condition. The results indicate increased control with DRL schedules under conditions of total darkness and are in agreement with Robinson and Shelley’s (1974) study in which increased control was demonstrated for FI, VI, FR, and VR schedules.
Structure and thermal properties of multilayered Laponite/PEO nanocomposite films

The structures and thermal properties of a series of nanocomposite poly(ethylene oxide)/Laponite films have been investigated by differential calorimetric and thermal analysis and complemented by microscopy and X-ray diffraction experiments. The crystalline structures of the nanocomposite multilayered films can be tuned by controlling the composition, polymer Mw and the water content. We study the concentration, polymer Mw and humidity dependence of polymer crystallinity in selected nanocomposite multilayered films. Results show that the exact sample preparation and history are important in controlling structure and properties and in developing new materials. Complementary microscopy is used to monitor the structural changes.
Von Kries model under Planckian illuminants

Planckian illuminants and von Kries diagonal model are commonly assumed by many computer vision algorithms for modeling the color variations between two images of a same scene captured under two different illuminants. Here we present a method to estimate a von Kries transform approximating a Planckian illuminant change and we show that the Planckian assumption constraints the von Kries coefficients to belong to a ruled surface, that depends on physical cues of the lights. Moreover, we provide an approximated parametric representation of such a surface, making evident the dependence of the von Kries transform on the light color temperature and on the intensity.