cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Muscle Synergies Encoded Within the Spinal Cord: Evidence From Focal Intraspinal NMDA Iontophoresis in the Frog

This paper relates to the problem of the existence of muscle synergies, that is whether the CNS command to muscles is simplified by controlling their activity in subgroups or synergies, rather than individually. We approach this problem with two methods that have been recently introduced: intraspinal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) microstimulation and a synergy-extracting algorithm. To search for a common set of synergies encoded for by the spinal cord whose combinations would account for a large range of electromyographic (EMG) patterns, we chose, rather than examining a large range of natural behaviors, to chemically microstimulate a large number of spinal cord interneuronal sites in different frogs. A possible advantage of this complementary method is that it is task-independent. Visual inspection suggested that the NMDA-elicited EMG patterns recorded from 12 leg muscles might indeed be constructed from smaller subgroups of muscles whose activity co-varied, suggestive of synergies. We used a modification of our extracting computational algorithm whereby a nonnegative least-squares method was employed to iteratively update both the synergies and their coefficients of activation in reconstructing the EMG patterns. Using this algorithm, a limited set of seven synergies was found whose linear combinations accounted for more than 91% of the variance in the pooled EMG data from 10 frogs, and more than 96% in individual frogs. The extracted synergies were similar among frogs. Further, preferred combinations of these synergies were clearly identified. This was found by extracting smaller sets of four, five, or six synergies and fitting each synergy from those sets as a combination from the set of seven synergies extracted from the same frog; the synergy combinations from each frog were then pooled together to examine their frequency of occurrence. Concordance with this method of identifying synergy combinations was found by examining how the synergies from the set of seven correlated pair-wise as they reconstructed the EMG data. These results support the existence of muscle synergies encoded within the spinal cord, which through preferred combinations, account for a large repertoire of spinal cord motor output. These findings are contrasted with previous approaches to the problem of synergies.
A Vindication of Program Verification

Fetzer famously claims that program verification is not even a theoretical possibility, and offers a certain argument for this far-reaching claim. Unfortunately for Fetzer, and like-minded thinkers, this position-argument pair, while based on a seminal insight that program verification, despite its Platonic proof-theoretic airs, is plagued by the inevitable unreliability of messy, real-world causation, is demonstrably self-refuting. As I soon show, Fetzer (and indeed anyone else who provides an argument- or proof-based attack on program verification) is like the person who claims: ‘My sole claim is that every claim expressed by an English sentence and starting with the phrase “My sole claim” is false’. Or, more accurately, such thinkers are like the person who claims that modus tollens is invalid, and supports this claim by giving an argument that itself employs this rule of inference.
Suing Islam: Tort, Terrorism and the House of Saud

This paper examines the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's vital role in propogating Wahhabism, a peculiarly intolerant form of Islam justifying violent jihad, and argues that Saudi Arabia is liable for the resulting harm. The Kingdom's role in creating terrorism is a subject of great national concern. The need for reform in Saudi Arabia's Wahhabist religious establishment is frequently discussed in the Congress. This paper argues that the federal judiciary, in addition to Congress, has a vital role to play, not only in generating compensation for terrorism victims, but also in winning the ideological war on terrorism. 9/11 and other continued manifestations of terrorist jihad are causally intertwined with the Sunni Wahhabism practiced and promoted by Saudi Arabia. Upon that understanding we build our tort theories and upon that understanding America can more thoughtfully defend itself in the ideological war on terror. Part I discusses Saudi Arabia's historic and continued commitment to Wahhabism. Part II argues that American tort law supports two viable causes of action against the Kingdom for harm inflicted by Wahhabi jihadists: (1) negligent incitement of terrorism; and (2) special relationship liability. Finally, in Part III, the question of Saudi Arabia's sovereign immunity is discussed with special attention given to the analysis of Saudi Arabia's immunity in the 9/11 litigation.
Using solutes and kinetics to probe large conformational changes in the steps of transcription initiation.

Small solutes are useful probes of large conformational changes in RNA polymerase (RNAP)-promoter interactions and other biopolymer processes. In general, a large effect of a solute on an equilibrium constant (or rate constant) indicates a large change in water-accessible biopolymer surface area in the corresponding step (or transition state), resulting from conformational changes, interface formation, or both. Here, we describe nitrocellulose filter binding assays from series used to determine the urea dependence of open complex formation and dissociation with Escherichia coli RNAP and λPR promoter DNA. Then, we describe the subsequent data analysis and interpretation of these solute effects.
Numerical Modeling of One-Dimensional Wave Propagation in Non-Homogeneous Materials

A large body of work has been done in solids, acoustics and electromagnetics on wave propagation in non-homogeneous media. The current work, which is largely exploratory in nature, involves waves in a non-homogeneous elastic rod. Some formulations and methodologies in which analytic solutions are sought are reviewed. Several analytic solutions are found and discussed. For rods with complicated parameter variations, analytic solutions do not exist and the use of MAPLE®’s numerical partial differential equation solver is explored. Discontinuous material changes were modeled using hyperbolic tangent functions. The results are mixed in nature. For scenarios in which the materials and input pulses varied rapidly, good amplitude results were found, but wavelike features were masked by spurious oscillations. For scenarios in which the variations were slow, reliable results were obtained.
Electrodeposited Light-Emitting Nanojunctions

Electroluminescent (EL) metal-semiconductor-metal nanojunctions are prepared by electrodepositing nanocrystalline cadmium selenide (nc-CdSe) within ∼250 nm gold (Au) nanogaps prepared by focused ion beam milling. The electrodeposition of nc-CdSe is carried out at two temperatures: 20 °C (“cold”) and 75 °C (“hot”), producing mean grain diameters of 6 ± 1 nm and 11 ± 2 nm, respectively, for the nc-CdSe. Light-emitting nanojunctions (LEnJs) prepared at both temperatures show a low threshold voltage for light emission of <2 V; just above the 1.74 eV bandgap of CdSe. The EL intensity increases with the injection current and hot-deposited LEnJs produced a maximum EL intensity that is an order of magnitude higher than the cold-deposited LEnJs. Emitted photons are bimodal in energy with emission near the band gap of CdSe, and also at energies 200 meV below it; consistent with a mechanism of light emission involving the radiative recombination of injected holes with electrons at both band-edge and defect states. T...
In Search of the Probusiness Court

This chapter in Business and the Roberts Court (Oxford University Press, 2016) examines the Roberts Court’s approach to environmental cases. Overall, business interests have won more cases than they have lost in the Roberts Court. Most of the business wins occurred in relatively narrow cases that had little effect on pre-existing law, while some of the losses are quite dramatic and will have profound effects on economic interests. Whether or not the Court is sympathetic to business interests in environmental cases, it appears to have been sympathetic to government interests, but quite unsympathetic to environmentalist litigants and reluctant to expand litigation opportunities in environmental cases.
Surgical Repair of Anterior Vaginal Wall Prolapse

Anterior vaginal wall defects, or cystoceles, are very common. Approximately 50 % of women seeking routine gynecologic or urologic care have some degree of anterior prolapse. Most of these defects are asymptomatic, but as the leading edge of the prolapse extends beyond the hymen, the defect may become symptomatic. The cystocele may present itself as a vaginal bulge, or it may present with urinary symptoms of urgency, frequency, stress or urge incontinence, or even obstructive voiding symptoms. Risk factors for primary or secondary prolapse are age, menopausal status, parity, collagen defects, prior hysterectomy, increased body mass index, smoking, and chronic pulmonary disease.
A report of cherry rusty mottle-associated virus in South Carolina

A cherry tree (Prunus serrulata cv “Shirofugen”) exhibiting leaf symptoms frequently associated with viral infection was discovered at the Fruit Research Farm (Musser Farm) of Clemson University. A virus infecting the tree was characterized using molecular techniques, and a BLAST search using the full length genomic sequence of the virus (GenBank Accession KF356396) showed 97% identity with Cherry rusty mottle-associated virus. This virus had not previously been described from South Carolina. It is suggested that the virus originated from ornamental flowering cherry material (‘Yoshino’ cherry [Prunus × yedoensis]) planted on the nearby University Campus and “chip-budded” to the tree of “Shirofugen” as a positive control sample during a bioassay for Prunus necrotic ringspot virus.
Making the rounds

Many of the almost 300 illus­trations found in Manuel Lima's The Book of Circles open up portals to other worlds. Among them, we find one of the earliest pie charts, created in 1805 to visualize the area of different states in America; a yet-to-be-deciphered disk, produced in 1700 B.C.E. on the island of Crete; and a finely detailed Korean star chart, based on a stone engraving from 1395. The images come from different times and places and afford glimpses into different systems of knowledge and preoccupations. What unites them is their reliance on the same elemental shape.
B2B content marketing for professional services: In-person versus digital contacts

Abstract We study whether marketing can have a new role, one that is better aligned with the sales force, by adapting content marketing (CM) in B2B professional services organizations. CM activities can be in-person events such as conferences, which involve personal contacts with clients, or digital, such as webinars (i.e., digital events) or posting firm-generated content on branded websites (i.e., digital content). Fitting random-effects negative binomial regression models with four years of panel data from a large, international, consulting service provider, we show that the number of sales leads and won opportunities from its key accounts are positively affected by the frequency of an account's employees attending digital events and consuming digital content, but not in-person events. Moreover, we find that CM affects sales leads for both low- and high-level account employees. These findings suggest that CM can be effective in bringing sales leads and won opportunities to B2B professional service providers and can play a complementary role to the existing sales force.
Guaranteeing sustainable infrastructure

Abstract There is an urgent need to scale up investment into sustainable infrastructure. The “supply of private capital” is not lacking for this task, given the rapid expansion of global liquidity that has swelled the balance sheets of pension funds and other institutional investors. Industrialized nations and multi-lateral development banks have begun to pledge billions of dollars toward meeting the climate challenge, but those resources do not match the scale of the problem and seldom grant developing countries ‘ownership’ over projects and broader goals. In turn, private financial intermediaries and markets are skewed away from longer-term sustainable investment. A new financial architecture is needed that more effectively “connects the dots" between private financial markets and global public needs—particularly in emerging and developing nations. In addition to earmarking public budget resources for actual green projects, there is a clear need for new structures and instruments. This paper discusses the rationale underpinning one possible instrument that could be part of this architecture: a global guarantee financed fund that would use some of the international pledges anchored in an international coalition between national, regional and multilateral banks, that would allow emerging market and developing countries to finance the sustainable transition themselves.
Anticipation and Control of Stressful Life Events: An Exploratory Analysis

The most difficult problem to be solved before we can thoroughly understand the effects of stressful life events is the basis for the large individual differences observed in reactions to these events. In general, we can look for explanation to two sources of variability. The first is individual predispositions and vulnerabilities. The second source of variability is the objective situation or context in which the stressful event or stimulus is experienced. Ironically, this source of variability has largely been ignored by investigators concerned with stressful life events while being the focus of almost all experimental research on stress in the laboratory.
A cross-sectional view of radiation dose fractionation schemes used for treating painful bone metastases (PBM) within Veterans Health Administration’s Radiation Oncology Centers.

10110Background: The use of single fraction (SF) radiotherapy in the treatment of PBM in the United States is now gaining clinical acceptance, especially at large institutional levels. In this cros...
Field-Enhanced Superconductivity in High-Frequency Niobium Accelerating Cavities

The discovery of nitrogen-doping treatment revealed that the radio frequency surface resistance of niobium resonators may be significantly reduced when nitrogen impurities are dissolved as interstitials in the material. A peculiar behavior exhibited by N-doped cavities is the anti-Q slope, i.e., a reduction in the temperature-dependent component of the surface resistance as a function of the accelerating field. This unusual trend in the surface resistance behavior has been attributed to the presence of interstitial nitrogen in the niobium lattice after the doping treatment. This Letter presents a focused study on the field dependence of the temperature-dependent component of the surface resistance as a function of the cavity resonant frequency. The findings show that the anti-Q slope may appear even in clean niobium cavities if the resonant frequency is high enough, which suggests new routes toward understanding the anti-Q slope effect.
Thomas Lawrence’s Portraits of the Siddons Sisters

A series of letters housed in the Cambridge Library and published in 1904, in a volume entitled An Artist’s Love Story edited by Oswald G. Knapp, tells the story of a tragic love triangle between the celebrated artist Sir Thomas Lawrence and both of the famous actress Sarah Siddons’s daughters—Sally and Maria. During the course of the correspondence (1797–1800), Lawrence completed an extraordinary series of drawings and paintings of Sarah, Sally, and Maria Siddons . The wealth of narrative and visual material (both tangible and imagined) surrounding the actors in this ensemble creates a unique opportunity to consider how tangible materials connect to intangible traces. Using Rebecca Schneider’s concept of performing remains and Hanneke Grootenboer’s theory of “intimate vision,” I explore how as archival tourists we might consider the ways in which these artifacts “look back” at us from the past. Putting these materials together stages a form of reenactment for the archival tourist that mimics the experience of an interactive museum exhibition.
Photoacoustic imaging of gold nanorods in the brain delivered via microbubble-assisted focused ultrasound: a tool for in vivo molecular neuroimaging

The protective barriers of the CNS present challenges during the treatment and monitoring of diseases. In particular, the blood brain barrier is a major hindrance to the delivery of imaging contrast agents and therapeutics to the brain. In this work, we use gas microbubble-assisted focused ultrasound to transiently open the blood brain barrier and locally deliver silica coated gold nanorods across the barrier. This particular nanoagent possesses a strong optical absorption which enables in vivo and ex vivo visualization of the delivered particles using ultrasound-guided photoacoustic imaging. The results of these studies demonstrate the potential of ultrasound-guided photoacoustics to image contrast agents delivered via microbubble-assisted focused ultrasound for longitudinal diagnostic imaging and for therapeutic monitoring of neurological diseases.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Diagnosis and Treatment

This Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians contains highlights from the Clinical Practice Guideline for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: Diagnosis and Treatment. The Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Guideline Panel, a private-sector panel of health care providers, developed the guideline after comprehensively analyzing the research literature. As a result, this guideline comprises the most current scientific knowledge of the development, diagnosis, and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The guideline makes specific recommendations to identify both the most effective methods for diagnosing BPH and the most appropriate treatments for BPH based on patient preference and clinical need. BPH affects quality of life and is very rarely a life threatening disease. Motivation to seek active treatment will, for most patients, depend on how much their symptoms bother them. Many patients choose a regimen of “watchful waiting.” The guideline details the relative benefits and harms associated with all diagnostic and treatment approaches. Treatment options discussed include watchful waiting, alpha blocker and finasteride medications, balloon dilation, and the surgical options of transurethral incision, transurethral resection, and open prostatectomy. This Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians contains excerpts from the Clinical Practice Guideline, but users should not rely on these excerpts alone. Clinicians should refer to the complete Clinical Practice Guideline for more detailed analysis and discussion of the available research, critical evaluation of the assumptions and knowledge of the field, considerations for patients with special needs, and references. The full Guideline Report has the most complete discussion of relevant research, including complete tables and graphs. Decisions to adopt particular recommendations from any publication must be made by practitioners in light of available resources and circumstances presented by individual patients.
Cardiac Structural and Functional Changes in Genetically Modified Models of Obesity

There are many factors that influence the propensity to become obese with the genetics behind how individuals gain weight and become obese less understood than diet and exercise.
A reliability model for the rapid optimization of large-scale and uncertain wind excited structures

Abstract The performance assessment of dynamic and uncertain wind excited systems is undergoing a period of rapid change with system-level reliability frameworks becoming ever more common. Within this context, reliability-based optimization represents a natural solution strategy for rapidly identifying optimal solutions. While various frameworks exist for problems involving component-level performance functions, the same cannot be said for system-level problems. This can be traced back to the complexity of dealing with multiple failure modes that require, among other things, the modeling of the dependencies between the peak wind effects defining the failure modes. This work is focused on the development of an efficient system-level reliability model, to be used within the context of system-level optimization, that accounts for this dependency without the need of computationally intensive stochastic wind load models. In particular, the proposed approach is based on developing a reliability-based bounding model that can be calibrated from the results of a classic wind tunnel test. This enables not only the efficient system-level reliability-based optimization, but also the straightforward capture of the generally complex aerodynamic behavior of high-rise structures through standard wind tunnel data.
Abstract P061: Identification Of Piezo1 Channels In Perivascular Adipose Tissue (pvat) And Their Potential Role In Vascular Function

The vasculature constantly experiences distension/pressure exerted by the blood and responds accordingly to maintain homeostasis. Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) is gaining support as a formal b...
Unmanned Air-traffic Management (UTM): Formalization, a Prototype Implementation, Verification, and Performance Evaluation

Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) traffic management system (UTM) is necessary for automated safe and efficient low-altitude airspace operations. FAA has conceptualized the requirements on UTM protocols and components in the FAA's Concept of Operations for UTM report. In this paper, we explore applying rigorous formal reasoning on building and analyzing UTM protocols to (1) help provide high assurance on UTM protocols and (2) discover the strength and weaknesses of existing formal techniques. We propose the first mathematical formalization of FAA's notion of operation volumes that express aircraft intent in terms of 4D blocks of airspace and associated real-time deadlines. We present an executable prototype coordination protocol using operation volumes, involving participating aircraft and an airspace manager. Next, we show how to use an ensemble of existing simulation and formal verification tools to analyze the protocol including (1) formally proving the safe separation and liveness properties of distributed coordination with the help of proof assistants Dione and Dafny, (2) using data-driven reachability analysis with DryVR to ensure aircraft to follow operation volumes, and (3) evaluating the performance of the protocol in terms of workload and response delays with extensive simulations in ROS and Gazebo. We show that our analysis can be applied on heterogeneous aircraft models. Our experiments also delineate the trade-off between performance and workload across different strategies for generating operation volumes.
Fault detection of low global warming potential refrigerant supermarket refrigeration system: Experimental investigation

Abstract As one of the most energy-intensive end-uses in the commercial buildings sector, supermarkets consume around 50 kWh/ft2 (or 537.6 kWh/m2) of electricity annually, or more than 2 million kWh of electricity per year for a typical store. The biggest consumer of energy in a supermarket is its refrigeration system, which accounts for 40–60% of its total electricity usage and is equivalent to about 2–3% of the total energy consumed by commercial buildings in United States, or around 0.5 quadrillion Btu (or 0.53 quadrillion KJ). Also, the supermarket refrigeration system is one of the biggest consumers of refrigerants. Current supermarket refrigeration systems rely on high global warming potential hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants. Reducing refrigerant usage or using environment friendly alternatives can result in significant climate benefits. The refrigeration system can also be adapted to handle flexible building loads and be integrated into grid response transactive control to balance the supply and demand of the electric grid. Even minor improvements in the efficiency and operational reliability of supermarket refrigeration systems can create significant value in terms of saving energy, improving food quality, protecting the environment, reducing carbon footprint, and enhancing electric grid resilience. Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) techniques can be used to support refrigeration system operators in achieving these benefits. However, compare to FDD of other building heating, ventilation and air-conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) equipment and systems which has attracted extensive FDD studies for decades, FDD of supermarket refrigeration systems, especially for low GWP refrigerant supermarket refrigeration system, has not gained enough attention from researchers. One of the key challenges is lack of available testing datasets to benchmark the system performance and record the faulted performance for system FDD research. This study selects several common faults of supermarket refrigeration systems, including display case door open, ice accumulation, expansive valve failure, and fan failure, to conduct experimental study to identify their fault characteristics, benchmark their faulted performance, then create a FDD characteristics matrix to support next step research on the development of supermarket refrigeration system FDD methods and field automated FDD implementation.
Blood biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury: a selective review of unresolved issues

Background The use of blood biomarkers after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) has been widely studied. We have identified eight unresolved issues related to the use of five commonly investigated blood biomarkers: neurofilament light chain, ubiquitin carboxy-terminal hydrolase-L1, tau, S100B, and glial acidic fibrillary protein. We conducted a focused literature review of unresolved issues in three areas: mode of entry into and exit from the blood, kinetics of blood biomarkers in the blood, and predictive capacity of the blood biomarkers after mTBI. Findings Although a disruption of the blood brain barrier has been demonstrated in mild and severe traumatic brain injury, biomarkers can enter the blood through pathways that do not require a breach in this barrier. A definitive accounting for the pathways that biomarkers follow from the brain to the blood after mTBI has not been performed. Although preliminary investigations of blood biomarkers kinetics after TBI are available, our current knowledge is incomplete and definitive studies are needed. Optimal sampling times for biomarkers after mTBI have not been established. Kinetic models of blood biomarkers can be informative, but more precise estimates of kinetic parameters are needed. Confounding factors for blood biomarker levels have been identified, but corrections for these factors are not routinely made. Little evidence has emerged to date to suggest that blood biomarker levels correlate with clinical measures of mTBI severity. The significance of elevated biomarker levels thirty or more days following mTBI is uncertain. Blood biomarkers have shown a modest but not definitive ability to distinguish concussed from non-concussed subjects, to detect sub-concussive hits to the head, and to predict recovery from mTBI. Blood biomarkers have performed best at distinguishing CT scan positive from CT scan negative subjects after mTBI.
Simplification and IRC 415

There has been much talk of late about simplifying Subchapter D, the web of rules governing the affairs of tax-qualified pension plans. Among the targets that the simplification advocates have in their sights is section 415 of the Code. Section 415 places limits on contributions to defined contribution plans and on benefits payable from defined benefit plans. The basic idea justifying section 415 is that an employer should not be able to use the Code's qualified plan provisions to bestow tax deferral on deferred compensation in excess of the reasonable retirement needs of its employees. The simplification advocates have proposed repeal of section 415 or at least of its most supremely complex part, section 415(e), which sets combined limits for individuals who participate in both defined contribution and defined benefit plans. They argue that section 4980A, which was enacted in 1986 and which imposes a nondeductible excise tax on excessive distributions from pension plans, has rendered section 415 limitations, or at least the section 415(e) limitation, superfluous. They also argue that subsection (e) is impervious to any sort of simplification efforts short of outright repeal. Because I agree with the basic idea undergirding section 415 and reject the argument that section 4980A serves adequately as a replacement, I disagree that section 415 is an attractive candidate for repeal. Moreover, in my view even a repeal limited to subsection 415(e) would be an error because of the subsection's importance in maintaining section 415's overall integrity. This article explains the basis for these views and also suggests ways of simplifying section 415(e) short of repealing it.
Perineal groove: Case report

Abstract We report the case of a newborn female with a perineal groove and review the limited literature. This is a rare congenital midline malformation of the perineal raphe with no data driven management strategies available. Our patient was managed conservatively with topical Vaseline application. At 52 days of life, her perineal groove was about 50% resolved, and at 9 months of age, it was barely perceptible. She maintained normal urinary function without evidence of infection or discomfort. We recommend this strategy for initial management of perineal grooves that have not had any symptoms or complications attributable to the condition.
A Cross-Cultural Assessment of Time Oriented Advertising Appeals

The present investigation compares the impact of time oriented advertising appeals from two nearly identical experimental studies, one conducted in the United States and.the other in Australia. More specifically, it focuses on both present oriented appeals and future oriented appeals for both a high involvement product and a low involvement product and their main and interactive affects on attitude toward (1) the advertisement and (2) the brand advertised and purchase intention. Both studies further assess participants’ individual time orientations.
TU-EF-210-00: Therapeutic Strategies and Image Guidance

The use of therapeutic ultrasound to provide targeted therapy is an active research area that has a broad application scope. The invited talks in this session will address currently implemented strategies and protocols for both hyperthermia and ablation applications using therapeutic ultrasound. The role of both ultrasound and MRI in the monitoring and assessment of these therapies will be explored in both pre-clinical and clinical applications. Katherine Ferrara: High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, Drug Delivery, and Immunotherapy Rajiv Chopra: Translating Localized Doxorubicin Delivery to Pediatric Oncology using MRI-guided HIFU Elisa Konofagou: Real-time Ablation Monitoring and Lesion Quantification using Harmonic Motion Imaging Keyvan Farahani: AAPM Task Groups in Interventional Ultrasound Imaging and Therapy Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the role of ultrasound in localized drug delivery and the effects of immunotherapy when used in conjunction with ultrasound therapy. 2. Understand potential targeted drug delivery clinical applications including pediatric oncology. 3. Understand the technical requirements for performing targeted drug delivery. 4. Understand how radiation-force approaches can be used to both monitor and assess high intensity focused ultrasound ablation therapy. 5. Understand the role of AAPM task groups in ultrasound imaging and therapies. Chopra: Funding from Cancer Prevention and Research Initiative of Texas (CPRIT), Award R1308 Evelyn and M.R. Hudson Foundation; Research Support from Research Contract with Philips Healthcare; COI are Co-founder of FUS Instruments Inc Ferrara: Supported by NIH, UCDavis and California (CIRM and BHCE) Farahani: In-kind research support from Philips Healthcare
Pandering to the Audience: Understanding Third Party Influence on Compliance with World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Decisions

Do third parties have an impact on the compliance observed with rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization? I demonstrate that third parties can impact the cost-benefit calculations of the respondent in its decision to comply with the rulings issued in a World Trade Organization dispute. I argue that different kinds of third parties impact compliance differently because of, first, the third party’s preferences to monitor a respondent and, secondly, the impact they have on a respondent’s considerations in its decision to comply. To test the impact of third parties on compliance with rulings of the Dispute Settlement Body, I examine data on compliance with rulings of the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body from 1995 to 2006. Using a Heckman probit selection model that accounts for the fact that the disputes and third parties present during the compliance phase are not randomly selected, I find the third party’s relationship with the complainant and respondent results in varying effects on the likelihood of compliance.
Embryonic exposure to the fungicide vinclozolin causes virilization of females and alteration of progesterone receptor expression in vivo : an experimental study in mice

Vinclozolin is a fungicide that has been reported to have anti-androgenic effects in rats. We have found that in utero exposure to natural or synthetic progesterones can induce hypospadias in mice, and that the synthetic progesterone medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) feminizes male and virilizes female genital tubercles. In the current work, we selected a relatively low dose of vinclozolin to examine its in utero effects on the development of the genital tubercle, both at the morphological and molecular levels. We gave pregnant dams vinclozolin by oral gavage from gestational days 13 through 17. We assessed the fetal genital tubercles from exposed fetuses at E19 to determine location of the urethral opening. After determination of gonadal sex, either genital tubercles were harvested for mRNA quantitation, or urethras were injected with a plastic resin for casting. We analyzed quantified mRNA levels between treated and untreated animals for mRNA levels of estrogen receptors α and β, progesterone receptor, and androgen receptor using nonparametric tests or ANOVA. To determine effects on urethral length (males have long urethras compared to females), we measured the lengths of the casts and performed ANOVA analysis on these data. Our morphological results indicated that vinclozolin has morphological effects similar to those of MPA, feminizing males (hypospadias) and masculinizing females (longer urethras). Because these results reflected our MPA results, we investigated the effects of in utero vinclozolin exposure on the mRNA expression levels of androgen, estrogen α and β, and progesterone receptors. At the molecular level, vinclozolin down-regulated estrogen receptor α mRNA in females and up-regulated progesterone receptor mRNA. Vinclozolin-exposed males exhibited up-regulated estrogen receptor α and progesterone receptor mRNA, effects we have also seen with exposure to the synthetic estrogen, ethinyl estradiol. The results suggest that vinclozolin virilizes females and directly or indirectly affects progesterone receptor expression. It also affects estrogen receptor expression in a sex-based manner. We found no in vivo effect of vinclozolin on androgen receptor expression. We propose that vinclozolin, which has been designated an anti-androgen, may also exert its effects by involving additional steroid-signaling pathways.
Comparison of computational methods for identifying translation initiation sites in EST data.

Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) sequences are generally single-strand, single-pass sequences, only 200–600 nucleotides long, contain errors resulting in frame shifts, and represent different parts of their parent cDNA. If the cDNAs contain translation initiation sites, they may be suitable for functional genomics studies. We have compared five methods to predict translation initiation sites in EST data: first-ATG, ESTScan, Diogenes, Netstart, and ATGpr. A dataset of 100 EST sequences, 50 with and 50 without, translation initiation sites, was created. Based on analysis of this dataset, ATGpr is found to be the most accurate for predicting the presence versus absence of translation initiation sites. With a maximum accuracy of 76%, ATGpr more accurately predicts the position or absence of translation initiation sites than NetStart (57%) or Diogenes (50%). ATGpr similarly excels when start sites are known to be present (90%), whereas NetStart achieves only 60% overall accuracy. As a baseline for comparison, choosing the first ATG correctly identifies the translation initiation site in 74% of the sequences. ESTScan and Diogenes, consistent with their intended use, are able to identify open reading frames, but are unable to determine the precise position of translation initiation sites. ATGpr demonstrates high sensitivity, specificity, and overall accuracy in identifying start sites while also rejecting incomplete sequences. A database of EST sequences suitable for validating programs for translation initiation site prediction is now available. These tools and materials may open an avenue for future improvements in start site prediction and EST analysis.
Variable morphologic expression of volcanic, tectonic, and hydrothermal processes at six hydrothermal vent fields in the Lau back-arc basin

Ultrahigh-resolution bathymetric maps (25 cm grid) are used to quantify the physical dimensions of and spatial relationships between tectonic, volcanic, and hydrothermal features at six hydrothermal vent fields in the Lau back-arc basin. Supplemented with near-bottom photos, and nested within regional DSL-120A side-scan sonar data, these maps provide insight into the nature of hydrothermal systems along the Eastern Lau Spreading Center (ELSC) and Valu Fa Ridge (VFR). Along-axis transitions evident in localized volcanic morphology and tectonic characteristics include a change from broad low-relief volcanic domes (hundreds of meters wide, <10 m tall) that are dominated by pillow and lobate lava morphologies and are cut by faults and fissures to higher aspect ratio volcanic domes (tens of meters wide, tens of meters tall) dominated by aa-type lava morphologies, with finger-like flows, and few tectonic structures. These along-axis differences in localized seafloor morphology suggest differences in hydrothermal circulation pathways within the shallow crust and correlate with regional transitions in a variety of ridge properties, including the large-scale morphology of the ridge axis (shallow axial valley to axial high), seafloor lava compositions, and seismic properties of the upper crust. Differences in morphologic characteristics of individual flows and lava types were also quantified, providing an important first step toward the remote characterization of complex terrains associated with hydrothermal vent fields.
Bt toxin is not taken up from soil or hydroponic culture by corn, carrot, radish, or turnip

The culture of transgenic Bt corn (Zea mays L.) has resulted in concern about the uptake of the Cry1Ab protein toxin by crops subsequently grown in soils in which Bt corn has been grown. The toxin released to soil in root exudates of Bt corn, from the degradation of the biomass of Bt corn, or as purified toxin, was not taken up from soil, where the toxin is bound on surface-active particles (e.g. clays and humic substances), or from hydroponic culture, where the toxin is not bound on particles, by non-Bt corn, carrot (Daucus carota L.), radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and turnip (Brassica rapa L.). The persistence of the toxin in soil for 90 days after its addition in purified form or for 120–180 days after its release in exudates or from biomass, the longest times evaluated, confirmed that the toxin was bound on surface-active particles in soil, which protected the toxin from biodegradation. The greater toxicity of the toxin in soil amended with 9% montmorillonite or kaolinite than in soil amended with 3% of these clay minerals indicated that the binding and persistence of the toxin increased as the clay concentration was increased.
Modeling issues for rubber-sheeting process in an object oriented, distributed and parallel environment

The rubber-sheeting issues for GIS conflation are assessed in this paper. This work is an early step in the process of defining an integration methodology of geospatial data from multiple sources. We based on an improved algorithm for rubber-sheeting in an OO, distributed and parallel environment. The proposed framework is motivated in previous works in parallel virtual machines and mobile agents. The critical issues that arise from this assessment will be then utilized in the rubber-sheeting prototype development.
Sustainability of a Scale-Up Intervention in Early Mathematics: A Longitudinal Evaluation of Implementation Fidelity

Research Findings: We evaluated the fidelity of implementation and the sustainability of effects of a research-based model for scaling up educational interventions. The model was implemented by 64 teachers in 26 schools in 2 distal city districts serving low-resource communities, with schools randomly assigned to condition. Practice or Policy: Although a logical expectation would be that, after the cessation of external support and professional development provided by the intervention, teachers would show a pattern of decreasing levels of fidelity, these teachers actually demonstrated increasing levels of fidelity, continuing to demonstrate high levels of sustained fidelity in their implementation of the underlying curriculum 2 years past exposure. Different profiles of variables predicted separate aspects of sustainability.
Effect of low-level, low-frequency electric fields on EEG and behavior in Macaca nemestrina

Summary A series of experiments has been done to assess the effects of low-level, low-frequency electric fields on the behavior and EEG of monkeys. Three monkeys were implanted with subcortical and cortical EEG electrodes and trained to press a panel on a fixed interval-limited hold schedule. The monkeys were rewarded for pressing the panel once every 5 sec within a 2.5 sec enable period. After the animals were performing well, they were tested under low-level electric fields (2.8 V p-p); the voltage was applied to 2 large metal plates 40 cm apart so that the monkey's head was completely within the field. Fields frequency was set at 7 or 10 c/sec within the range of typical EEG recording (0-33 c/sec). Four hour daily tests of fields-on were randomly interspersed with 4 h runs with field-off. Under the 7 c/sec fields, the monkeys showed a significantly faster interresponse time in 5 of 6 experiments. Mean differences between fields-on and fields-off were 0.4 sec or greater. The 10 c/sec fields did not produce a reliable effect on behavior. Analysis of the EEG data showed a relative peak in power at the frequency of the fields (10 c/sec and 7 c/sec) for the hippocampus in all 3 monkeys. Similar peaks were seen less consistently in the amygdala and the centre median.
Pulmonary hemorrhage after intracoronary stent placement.

Abstract Objectives . The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence and clinical characteristics of pulmonary hemorrhage after intracoronary stent placement. Background . Patients undergoing intracoronary stent placement receive intense anticoagulation to prevent stent thrombosis. Pulmonary hemorrhage during intense anticoagulation is uncommon in other clinical settings but has been diagnosed at our institution after stent placement. Methods . The clinical records of 88 consecutive patients undergoing intracoronary stent placement at a single tertiary referral center were reviewed for evidence of pulmonary hemorrhage. The diagnosis of pulmonary hemorrhage required bronchoscopic demonstration of fresh blood or thrombus in the airways of patients with sudden onset of hemoptysis, dyspnea or hypoxemia and new pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph. Results . Pulmonary hemorrhage was identified in 4 (4.5%) of 88 patients undergoing intracoronary stent placement. Patients commonly presented with dyspnea, hemoptysis, hypoxemia, new pulmonary infiltrates on chest radiograph and excessive prolongation of the activated partial thromboplastin time. Mean onset of symptoms was 31.5 h after the procedure. Three of four patients were treated for presumed cardiogenic pulmonary edema until invasive hemodynamic monitoring revealed normal left ventricular filling pressures. Pulmonary hemorrhage resulted in prolonged admissions in the intensive care unit and hospital. One patient died. Conclusions . Pulmonary hemorrhage after coronary stent placement was commonly misdiagnosed and was associated with significant morbidity and mortality in our patients. Although its mechanism is unclear, excessive anticoagulation was a likely contributing factor. Clinical trials comparing varying strategies and intensities of anticoagulation may be indicated.
Why have we not yet developed a simple blood test for TBI

In recent years, traumatic brain injury (TBI) has emerged as a rapidly growing public health challenge. Annually, approximately 1.7 million people will sustain a TBI in the USA and WHO has named TBI the leading cause of death and disability in young adults worldwide, predicting it will become the third leading cause of death in the general population by 2020. The medical community currently relies on clinical examination and various neuroimaging modalities for the diagnosis of TBI; however, these methodologies are often confounded by altered patient mental status and are particularly poor at identifying mild-to-moderate injury. Despite decades of basic and clinical research, and the identification of hundreds of biochemical markers, presently there is no blood test to objectively assess TBI severity. Recent work suggests treatment-induced variance in the brain’s glymphatic clearance may be responsible for the breakdown between biomarker discovery and clinical translation.
The evolution of mate choice in a fluctuating environment

This paper analyzes the evolutionary dynamics of a locus controlling the degree of female mating preference in a temporally fluctuating environment. Preference for mating with males with respect to their genotypes at a locus that is subject to temporally varying natural selection pressure is considered first. With weak selection and free recombination between the choice locus and the selected locus, preference for mating with heterozygotes appears to be favored. With strong selection, preference for homozygous mates may be favored. In each case, choice alleles may increase from very low initial frequencies to near fixation, in contrast to previous models of mate choice in varying environments. Linkages between the two loci has complex effects on the strength and direction of selection for mate choice. Preference for mating with males with the currently fitter genotypes at the locus under natural selection is also modelled. Provided that the environmental period is not too short, a rare allele conferring such preference may be favored and spread to fixation. Strong natural selection, tight linkage and a short environmental period may produce polymorphism for the level of mate choice.