cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fast domain growth through density-dependent diffusion in a driven lattice gas.

We study electromigration in a driven diffusive lattice gas (DDLG) whose continuous Monte Carlo dynamics generate higher particle mobility in areas with lower particle density. At low vacancy concentrations and low temperatures, vacancy domains tend to be faceted: the external driving force causes large domains to move much more quickly than small ones, producing exponential domain growth. At higher vacancy concentrations and temperatures, even small domains have rough boundaries: velocity differences between domains are smaller, and modest simulation times produce an average domain length scale which roughly follows L\ensuremath{\sim}${\mathit{t}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\zeta}}}$, where \ensuremath{\zeta} varies from roughly 0.55 at 50% filling to roughly 0.75 at 70% filling. This growth is faster than the ${\mathit{t}}^{1/3}$ behavior of a standard conserved-order-parameter Ising model. Some runs may be approaching a scaling regime. A simple scaling picture which neglects velocity fluctuations, but includes the cluster-size dependence of the velocity, predicts growth with L\ensuremath{\sim}${\mathit{t}}^{1/2}$. At low fields and early times, fast growth is delayed until the characteristic domain size reaches a crossover length which follows ${\mathit{L}}_{\mathrm{cross}}$\ensuremath{\propto}${\mathit{E}}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\beta}}}$. Rough numerical estimates give \ensuremath{\beta}=0.37 and simple theoretical arguments give \ensuremath{\beta}=1/3. Our conclusion that small driving forces can significantly enhance coarsening may be relevant to the ${\mathrm{YB}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\delta}}}$ electromigration experiments of Moeckly et al.
Predation or price leadership: Application of the Joskow-Klevorick rule

A leading debate in antitrust is determining those business practices that are illegal. Areeda and Turner [Harvard Law Review, 1975] have defined predatory pricing as selling at a price less than average variable cost. Joskow and Klevorick [Yale Law Journal, 1979] refined the Areeda-Tumer rule. Price leadership is defined by Scherer and Ross [Industrial Market Structure and Economic Performance, 1990] as when a firm announces the price or price change and other businesses follow. Alvin Klevorick [AER, 1993] writes of the lack of a clear standard due to the lack of Supreme or Appellate Court guidance. Leonard, Vanyo, and Sengupta [WEAl conference, 1985] employed a Bayesian technique to process information for antitrust purposes. The present analysis is an extension of the aforementioned piece and employs Bain's structure-conduct-performance-paradigm. Beginning with antitrust as A, bits of information as H i write:
Feminism, the public sphere, media and democracy

L'A. analyse et critique la theorie de la communication de masse de Jurgen Habermas en l'opposant a l'ecole de pensee feministe, dont il expose les principales idees. En confrontant ces deux ecoles de pensee, l'A. propose un eclairage personnel de la problematique de la communication
Tuning experiments with an adaptive computational framework

Complex systems can be defined as those in which collective behavior arises from among the interactions of a large number of locally acting agents with each other and the environment. They have recently become the subject of much investigation. Their behavior can exhibit a fluid-like sensitivity, both to pressures internal to the system and to external context from the environment. A number of computational architectures have been produced which adapt their behavior to a changing environment (e.g., classifier systems). The work presented here builds upon and refines the ideas of the Copycat architecture of Hofstadter and Mitchell.
Defined neurofilament, tau, and beta-amyloid precursor protein epitopes distinguish Alzheimer from non-Alzheimer senile plaques

Eight antisera and one monoclonal antibody to synthetic peptides that corresponded to domains extending over the entire length of the beta-amyloid precursor protein (beta-APP), and an antiserum to the full-length 695-amino acid form of the beta-APP, were raised to probe the composition of the core and corona of senile plaques (SPs). We localized distinct beta-APP domains, including the beta-amyloid protein or A4 region, within the SPs of 13 end-stage Alzheimer disease (AD) and 13 age-matched control samples of hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. The composition of SPs also was probed with antibodies to defined epitopes in tau (tau) as well as the large and mid-size neurofilament (NF) proteins. The most important observations were that beta-APP domains outside the A4 region were largely restricted to SP coronas in the AD samples, together with tau and NF determinants, whereas the same epitopes were absent from A4-positive blood vessels and exceptionally rare in non-AD SPs. Indeed, samples from a subset of the non-AD cases contained a considerable number of A4-positive SPs totally devoid of any of the other beta-APP, tau, and NF epitopes. These observations suggest that the deposition of the A4 protein in AD SPs results from the local processing of beta-APPs in association with tau and NF protein fragments. It is unclear whether this association is fortuitous or linked by common mechanisms. However, differences between the complement of beta-APP, tau, and NF protein epitopes in AD versus non-AD brains implicate a defect involving one or more steps in the posttranslational modification, degradation, or elimination of these proteins in AD brains, and this may account for the massive numbers of SPs that characterize AD.
Imaging of small bowel Crohn's disease: can abdominal CT replace barium radiography?

Objectives: To analyze imaging features and compare the diagnostic information provided by abdominal computed tomography (CT) and enteroclysis to see whether CT can replace barium examinations in the assessment of patients with small bowel Crohn's disease. Methods: The abdominal CT studies and enteroclysis of 33 patients with small bowel Crohn's disease who underwent both examinations within a 2-week time period were retrospectively reviewed and scored for the presence and severity of the following features: mural edema, ulceration, small bowel obstruction, stricture, sinus tract formation, fistula, abscess, extraintestinal manifestations, and total number of intestinal sites involved. The statistical significance of the differences for each variable was calculated. Results: A total of 37 case sets were reviewed. CT demonstrated 10 (27 %) abscesses compared to 7 (19 %) shown by enteroclysis. Three extraintestinal sites shown by CT were not demonstrated by enteroclysis. Enteroclysis detected a larger number of intestinal sites of involvement (54 vs. 47) and more cases of ulceration (78 % vs. 19 %), small bowel obstruction (46 % vs. 16 %), stricture (38 % vs. 11 %), fistula formation (24 % vs. 8 %), and sinus tract formation (27 % vs. 5 %). The two modalities were similar in characterizing and grading the severity of mural thickening (CT showed 41 %, enteroclysis 46 %). Conclusion: Abdominal CT and enteroclysis provide unique and complementary diagnostic information in patients with Crohn's disease of the small bowel. Both methods may be required for the accurate assessment of the severity and extent of Crohn's disease of the small bowel. The choice of initial examination will depend on the clinical issue in question.
Retinoic Acid Is a High Affinity Selective Ligand for the Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptor β/δ

Retinoic acid (RA) modulates transcription of numerous target genes, thereby regulating a myriad of biological processes. It is well established that RA functions by activating retinoic acid receptors (RARs), which, in turn, control cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. However, perplexing reports of diverse and sometime opposing actions of RA have been published. Hence, while RA induces apoptosis and inhibits cell growth in some settings, it potentiates proliferation and acts as an anti-apoptotic agent in others. These observations raise the possibility that signaling pathways other than RAR may be involved in mediating RA activities. Here we show that RA is a high affinity ligand for another nuclear receptor, namely the orphan receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) β/δ. We demonstrate that while RA does not activate PPARα and PPARγ, it binds to PPARβ/δ with nanomolar affinity, modulates the conformation of the receptor, promotes interaction with the coactivator SRC-1, and efficiently activates PPARβ/δ-mediated transcription. Transcriptional signaling by RA is thus exerted by a dual pathway, providing a rationale for understanding divergent cellular responses to this hormone.
Characterization of the As Manufactured Variability in a CVI SiC/SiC Woven Composite

The microstructure of a 2D woven ceramic matrix composite displays significant variability and irregularity. For example, a chemical vapor infiltrated (CVI) SiC/SiC composite exhibits significant amount of porosity arranged in irregular patterns. Furthermore, the fiber tows within a ply frequently have irregular shape and spacing, and the stacked plies are often misaligned and irregularly nested within each other. The goal of an ongoing project at NASA Glenn is to investigate the effects of the complex microstructure and its variability on the properties and the durability of the material. One key requirement for this effort is the development of methods to characterize the distribution in as-fabricated ceramic matrix composite (CMC) microstructures with the objective of correlating microstructural distribution parameters with mechanical performance. An initial task in this effort was to perform quantitative image analysis of polished cross sections of CVI SiC/SiC composite specimens. This analysis provided sample distributions of various microstructural composite features, including: inter-tow pore sizes and shapes, transverse sectioned tow sizes and shapes, and within ply tow spacing. This information can then be used to quantify the effect of extreme values of these features on the local stress state with the goal of determining the likelihood of matrix cracking at a given external load.
Stable carbon isotopic composition of biogenic carbonates

Abstract The geology and sulfur isotopic composition of epigenetic pyrite of the Gas Hills district, Wyoming, indicate a bacterial origin for these sandstone-type uranium deposits. The δC13 value of epigenetic calcite associated with organic materials, however, is heavier than the isotopic composition of calcite of biogenic native sulfur deposits. Stratigraphic and carbon isotopic evidence suggest that contamination by sedimentary carbonate is minimal in the Gas Hills samples. Field and laboratory data show that anaerobes produce isotopically heavier CO2 and lighter methane than the associated organic material which they consume as an energy source. The δC13 values of the salt-dome calcites overlap the methane field, the Gas Hills values overlap the CO2 field, and analyses of Sicilian Sulfur limestones are intermediate. Deposits Gas Hills (calcites with organic material) Gulf Coast Cap rock Sicilian Sulfur limestone (gyngenetic calcites) Number of samples 20 35 27 Mean δC 13 −22.5 −37.9 −28.7 Sample standard deviation 4.0 6.7 8.9 Presumably a spectrum of values could be obtained by the oxidation of methane and contamination by the original bacterial CO2 and sedimentary carbonate. The quantized values of the three deposits are, therefore, evidence of strong geologic control. Methane was stable under the reducing conditions (shown by the presence of uraninite and sulfides) of the Gas Hill, while methane was concentrated and oxidized in the cap rock of salt-domes (mineralogy includes native sulfur), and neither methane nor CO2 was preferentially lost during the syngenetic precipitation of the Sicilian Sulfur limestone.
Targeted Disruption of NeuroD, a Proneural Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Factor, Impairs Distal Lung Formation and Neuroendocrine Morphology in the Neonatal Lung

Despite the importance of airspace integrity in vertebrate gas exchange, the molecular pathways that instruct distal lung formation are poorly understood. Recently, we found that fibrillin-1 deficiency in mice impairs alveolar formation and recapitulates the pulmonary features of human Marfan syndrome. To further elucidate effectors involved in distal lung formation, we performed expression profiling analysis comparing the fibrillin-1-deficient and wild-type developing lung. NeuroD, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, fulfilled the expression criteria for a candidate mediator of distal lung development. We investigated its role in murine lung development using genetically targeted NeuroD-deficient mice. We found that NeuroD deficiency results in both impaired alveolar septation and altered morphology of the pulmonary neuroendocrine cells. NeuroD-deficient mice had enlarged alveoli associated with reduced epithelial proliferation in the airway and airspace compartments during development. Additionally, the neuroendocrine compartment in these mice manifested an increased number of neuroepithelial bodies but a reduced number of solitary pulmonary neuroendocrine cells in the neonatal lung. Overexpression of NeuroD in a murine lung epithelial cell line conferred a neuroendocrine phenotype characterized by the induction of neuroendocrine markers as well as increased proliferation. These results support an unanticipated role for NeuroD in the regulation of pulmonary neuroendocrine and alveolar morphogenesis and suggest an intimate connection between the neuroendocrine compartment and distal lung development.
Quantifying Spatiotemporal Patterns of Urban Land-use Change in Four Cities of China with Time Series Landscape Metrics

This paper provides a dynamic inter- and intra-city analysis of spatial and temporal patterns of urban land-use change. It is the first comparative analysis of a system of rapidly developing cities with landscape pattern metrics. Using ten classified Landsat Thematic Mapper images acquired from 1988 to 1999, we quantify the annual rate of urban land-use change for four cities in southern China. The classified images were used to generate annual maps of urban extent, and landscape metrics were calculated and analyzed spatiotemporally across three buffer zones for each city for each year. The study shows that for comprehensive understanding of the shapes and trajectories of urban expansion, a spatiotemporal landscape metrics analysis across buffer zones is an improvement over using only urban growth rates. This type of analysis can also be used to infer underlying social, economic, and political processes that drive the observed urban forms. The results indicate that urban form can be quite malleable over relatively short periods of time. Despite different economic development and policy histories, the four cities exhibit common patterns in their shape, size, and growth rates, suggesting a convergence toward a standard urban form.
Heuristic Search Algorithms for the Minimum Volume Ellipsoid

Abstract A method of robust estimation of multivariate location and shape that has attracted a lot of attention recently is Rousseeuw's minimum volume ellipsoid estimator (MVE). This estimator has a high breakdown point but is difficult to compute successfully. In this article, we apply methods of heuristic search to this problem, including simulated annealing, genetic algorithms, and tabu search, and compare the results to the undirected random search algorithm that is often cited. Heuristic search provides several effective algorithms that are far more computationally efficient than random search. Furthermore, random search, as currently implemented, is shown to be ineffective for larger problems.
Effect of magnetic film switching of crystallite interactions

Relationships among dispersion, switching thresholds, ripple theory, the switching astroid, and the Landau-Lifshitz equation are indicated. It is conjectured that film dispersion should be less than a critical value of about 2 degrees if the influence of the switching astroid is to be prominent.
Leon Knopoff (1926–2011)

[1] Leon Knopoff died at his home in Sherman Oaks, Calif., on 20 January 2011 at the age of 85. A man of wide-ranging talents, he had the rare distinction of being simultaneously a professor of physics, a professor of geophysics, and a research musicologist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As an undergraduate he studied electrical engineering and obtained his Ph.D. in physics and mathematics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1949. He was recruited to the Institute of Geophysics (now the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics) at UCLA in 1950 by Louis Slichter, where he became a professor of geophysics in 1957 and of geophysics and physics in 1961. He became a research musicologist in the UCLA Institute of Ethnomusicology soon after it was formed in 1960. Other appointments included faculty positions at Miami University in Ohio (1948–1950) and Caltech (1962–1963) and visiting appointments at Cambridge, Karlsruhe, Harvard, Santiago, Trieste, and Venice.
An approach to vibration analysis using wavelets in an application of aircraft health monitoring

This paper explores an application of vibration detection in aircraft. Fatigue and breakdown of aircraft structure are common. Thus, efforts are made to constantly improve the monitoring and diagnostic systems for aircraft. These improvements have led to various approaches to fault monitoring in aircraft. In this work, the characteristic features of vibration signals are extracted from noise using the Haar, Daubechies, and Morlet wavelets. Then, detection of the vibration signal is achieved using the signal's scalogram information. Based on initial results, the wavelet-based algorithm is optimised through threshold experimentation. Additionally, the algorithm is verified using the simulation of a sinusoidal waveform and real flight data from the F-15B/836 research airplane.
An ultrastructural investigation of the striated subumbrellar musculature of the anthomedusan, Pennaria tiarella

The presence of striated subumbrellar musculature in hydromedusae can be related to the development in hydrozoans of a free-swimming life stage. The detailed ultrastructure of the striated subumbrellar musculature of the anthomedusan, Pennaria tiarella is presented. The striated musculature of Pennaria resembles vertebrate striated muscle in filament arrangement (L2 lattice pattern) and M line structure. The striation pattern, out-of-register myofilaments, filament structure as determined by rotational symmetry, Z line structure, types of intercellular junctions, and sarcoplasmic reticulum are more similar to structures found in other invertebrate striated muscle.
Search for Superheavy Elements in Natural and Proton-irradiated Materials

WE have used an improved method of measuring low levels of spontaneous fission to establish limits for postulated super-heavy elements in natural materials. The apparatus has also been used to give an approximate measure of the rate of cosmic ray-induced fission of lead. Our result for lead agrees with theoretical predictions and satisfactorily explains observations of fission events in Pb glass that had previously been attributed to superheavy element decay1. Measurements on a lead target irradiated with 29 GeV protons were carried out as a comparison with the latest results of Marinov et al.2, which would have predicted 15 counts in our experiment. Our sample yielded no counts.
Hürthle cell thyroid carcinoma presenting as a "hot" nodule.

ABSTRACT Objective To report an unusual clinical scenario and a rare histopathologic finding of Hurthle cell thyroid carcinoma in a patient with an autonomous thyroid nodule. Methods We describe the presentation and clinical course leading to the surprising histopathologic diagnosis of Hurthle cell carcinoma in a pediatric patient who was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism presenting as a solitary toxic nodule. Results A 13-year-old white girl presented with a recent history of a palpable thyroid nodule during a routine primary care clinic visit. She was asymptomatic, and thyroid function tests revealed a suppressed thyrotropin concentration, high-normal free thyroxine concentration, and elevated triiodothyronine concentration. The patient underwent dedicated thyroid ultrasonography revealing a 3.5-cm complex mass in the left lobe with increased central vascularity. Iodine 123 imaging of the thyroid demonstrated homogenous, hyperintense activity in the left lobe. The right lobe was not visualized. A solitary toxic nodule was diagnosed, and, considering her age, she was referred for surgical management. The patient underwent a left lobectomy with isthmusectomy. Pathologic examination revealed a 5-cm, encapsulated, well-differentiated Hurthle cell carcinoma with negative margins and no lymphovascular invasion. The patient underwent subsequent completion thyroidectomy with no evidence of residual carcinoma in the right thyroid lobe. Conclusions Malignancy in autonomously functioning thyroid nodules is rare. Most of the thyroid nodules presenting as “hot” on radioiodine scintigraphy are benign follicular adenomas. However, this case represents a rare clinical entity, and it highlights the need for clinicians to be vigilant and aware that occasionally carcinomas can masquerade as scintigraphic “hot” nodules. (Endocr Pract. 2011;17:e68-e72)
Busy Physicians and Preventive Services for Adults

Objective To study the relationship between overall productivity and the rates at which primary care physicians, in a fee-for-service setting, deliver or prescribe preventive services to adult patients. Patients and Methods The charts of 452 adult patients treated by 8 family practitioners and 5 internists in a feefor-service practice setting were randomly selected and abstracted for provision of 10 preventive services over a 27- month period. The percentage of eligible patients screened for each service was correlated with the production of each physician measured in relative value units (RVUs). Results The correlation coefficient between RVUs and the aggregate of the 10 services was 0.23 (95% confidence interval [Cl], −0.36 to 0.70). The individual correlation coefficients between RVUs and 9 of the 10 preventive services ranged from −0.05 to 0.43. For cervical cancer screening, however, the correlation coefficient was −0.72 (95% CI, −0.91 to −0.24). Conclusion With the exception of screening for cervical cancer, the data presented in this study do little to support physicians' common belief that lack of time is the reason they are unable to incorporate prevention strategies into their clinical practice.
Nature of Cosmic-Ray Particles

The first section of this report contains a brief summary of those experiments which have made substantial contributions to our knowledge of the nature and mode of absorption of cosmic-ray particles. Included is a discussion of the difficulties which inhere in the attempts to interpret the observed cosmic-ray phenomena in terms of the assumption that the cosmic-ray particles are practically all protons and positive and negative electrons. These difficulties are resolved by demonstrating that in the same momentum range there exist two types of particles, one of which is highly absorbed in a heavy material, mostly through radiation, while the other is relatively penetrating. Behavior of the first kind is typical of shower particles in general, and of all single negatron secondaries, which are presumably produced in elastic collisions with atomic electrons. This group is therefore to be identified with electrons. As it can be shown that particles of the penetrating group cannot be of protonic mass, it follows that they must be neither electrons nor protons. The simplest assumption is that their distinguishing property is a mass intermediate between the electron and proton. Confirmation of this view is found in the observation by other writers and by ourselves of particles whose range, ionization and curvature relations are such that they demand a mass in this region. The best range and ionization data seem to give mass determinations in the neighborhood of 200 electron masses. A discussion is given of certain difficulties which exist in the interpretation of cosmic-ray particles as electrons and mesotrons of a unique mass.
Correlation of long-range membrane order with temperature-dependent growth characteristics of parent and a cold-sensitive, branched-chain-fatty-acid-deficient mutant of Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria monocytogenes is a food-borne, pathogenic, psychrotolerant bacterium that grows at refrigeration temperatures. Long-range membrane order of the parent (10403S) and of a cold-sensitive mutant (cld-1) deficient in odd-numbered, branched-chain fatty acids was measured using the width of the central line of spectra of an electron paramagnetic resonance probe, 4,4-dimethyl-2-heptyl-2-hexyloxazolidine-N-oxyl (7N14), that locates deep in the hydrocarbon region of the membranes. The line width decreased from 0.9 to 0.5 milliTesla (mT) over the temperature range of 0–10 ° for strain 10403S and –5 to 32 °C for strain cld-1 independent of protein state (heat denatured or intact). This provided new evidence for phase transitions in the membranes. When strain cld-1 was grown in medium supplemented with 2-methylbutyric acid, which restores anteiso fatty acids and the ability to grow at low temperature, the change in central line width as a function of temperature resembled that of strain 10403S. The temperatures at which the central line width became 0.8 mT corresponded to those at which growth became very slow in both strains (3–5 °C for 10403S, 15 °C for cld-1) as determined by Arrhenius plots. These data underscore the critical role of odd-numbered anteiso fatty acids in influencing the lower temperature limits of growth through their effects on long-range membrane fluidity.
Reasonable Pluralism and the Domain of the Political: How the Weaknesses of John Rawls's Political Liberalism Can be Overcome by a Justificatory Liberalism

Under free institutions the exercise of human reason leads to a plurality of reasonable, yet irreconcilable doctrines. Rawls's political liberalism is intended as a response to this fundamental feature of modern democratic life. Justifying coercive political power by appeal to any one (or sample) of these doctrines is, Rawls believes, oppressive and illiberal. If we are to achieve unity without oppression, he tells us, we must all affirm a public political conception that is supported by these diverse reasonable doctrines. The first part of this essay argues that the free use of human reason leads to reasonable pluralism over most of what we call the political. Rawls's notion of the political does not avoid the problem of state oppression under conditions of reasonable pluralism. The second part tries to show how justificatory liberalism provides (1) a conception of the political that takes seriously the fact that the free use of human reason leads us to sharply disagree in the domain of the political whi...
Intercultural communication in Asia: current state and future prospects

This article provides a critical review of intercultural communication research in or on ‘Asia’ over the past 20 years. Intercultural communication became a noticeable sub-area of Asian communication studies only in the 1990s. Awareness of Asian intercultural communication scholarship has been hampered by the limited number of Asian countries that have generated relevant research. In recent years, however, there have been some major developments of the landscape in intercultural communication contributed by Asian scholars. First, this review will discuss the development of the academic field of intercultural communication in Asia. Then, I point out three commonly shared challenges of intercultural communication research in the region. First, the cultural level analyses (e.g., accounts of Asian communication styles) tend to paint all ‘Asians’ with the same broad brush as collectivistic, and thus reserved and indirect. Second, some argue that the representation of Asian communication systems in intercultura...
Engineering Neutron Diffraction Data Analysis with Inverse Neural Network Modeling

Integration of engineering neutron diffraction data analysis and solid mechanics modeling is a powerful method to deduce in-situ constitutive behavior of materials. Since diffraction data originates from spatially discrete subsets of the material volume, extrapolation of the data to the behavior of the overall sample is non-trivial. The finite element model has been widely used for interpreting diffraction data by optimizing model parameters via iterative processes. In order to maximize the rigor of such analysis and to increase fitting efficiency and accuracy, we have developed an optimization algorithm based on the neural network architecture. The inverse neural network model reveals parameter sensitivity quantitatively during a training process, and yields more accurate phase specific constitutive laws of the composite materials compared to the conventional method once networks are successfully trained.
Characterization of Cu-reacted sites for Cu/Si(111)-(7×7)

Abstract Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to determine the atomic geometry, electronic structure, charge state, chemical bonding and preferential adsorption of Cu initial growth on the Si(111)-(7×7) surface at room temperature. Results show that Cu atoms adsorb below adjacent Si adatoms and form covalent bonds with the adjacent Si atoms. The Cu-reacted sites are electrically neutral and highly localized, and also the preferential adsorption depends on coverage.
Th17 Cells in Immunity and Autoimmunity

Th17 and IL-17 play important roles in the clearance of extracellular bacterial and fungal infections. However, strong evidence also implicates the Th17 lineage in several autoimmune disorders including multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and asthma. The Th17 subset has also been connected with type I diabetes, although whether it plays a role in the pathogenicity of or protection from the disease remains a controversial issue. In this review we have provided a comprehensive overview of Th17 pathogenicity and function, including novel evidence for a protective role of Th17 cells in conjunction with the microbiota gut flora in T1D onset and progression.
Modulation of Selectin-Mediated Adhesion of Flowing Lymphoma and Bone Marrow Cells by Immobilized SDF-1

The α-chemokine, stromal-derived factor-1 (SDF-1), has been linked to the homing of circulating tumor cells to bone. SDF-1 is expressed by bone microvascular cells and osteoblasts and normally functions to attract blood-borne hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to marrow. It has been shown that treatment of cancer cells with soluble SDF-1 results in a more aggressive phenotype; however, the relevance of the administration of the soluble protein is unclear. As such, a flow device was functionalized with P-selectin and SDF-1 to mimic the bone marrow microvasculature and the initial steps of cell adhesion. The introduction of SDF-1 onto the adhesive surface was found to significantly enhance the adhesion of lymphoma cells, as well as low-density bone marrow cells (LDBMC), both in terms of the number of adherent cells and the strength of cell adhesion. Thus, SDF-1 has a synergistic effect with P-selectin on cancer cell adhesion and may be sufficient to promote preferential metastasis to bone.
X-Ray Spectroscopy of Laser-Produced L-Series Lines

High-intensity, frequency-tripled light from a multibeam laser system (OMEGA) was focused on targets in order to generate plasmas of highly ionized atoms. X-ray data were collected with high-resolution spectrographs. Accurate wavelength measurements of 2p–3d, 3s, 4d, and 4s lines in L-series spectra of transition elements were made. Classification of observed lines was based on atomic structure calculations in which the radial integrals, calculated ab initio, were adjusted with semiempirically determined scaling factors. The results are presented as isoelectronic sequences of the observed and calculated wavelengths for the Li-, Be-, and B-like spectra from atomic numbers 22 (Ti) through 32 (Ge).
Phase stabilization of modelocked lasers

The combination of time and frequency domain techniques has enabled the phase stabilization of modelocked lasers, which has impacted optical frequency metrology and phase sensitive time domain experiments.
Novel Aggregation Properties of Candida albicans Secreted Aspartyl Proteinase Sap6 Mediate Virulence in Oral Candidiasis

Candida albicans, a commensal fungus of the oral microbiome, causes oral candidiasis in humans with localized or systemic immune deficiencies. Secreted aspartic proteinases (Saps) are a family of 10 related proteases and are virulence factors due to their proteolytic activity, as well as their roles in adherence and colonization of host tissues. We found that mice infected sublingually with C. albicans cells overexpressing Sap6 (SAP6 OE and a Δsap8 strain) had thicker fungal plaques and more severe oral infection, while infection with the Δsap6 strain was attenuated. These hypervirulent strains had highly aggregative colony structure in vitro and higher secreted proteinase activity; however, the levels of proteinase activity of C. albicans Saps did not uniformly match their abilities to damage cultured oral epithelial cells (SCC-15 cells). Hyphal induction in cells overexpressing Sap6 (SAP6 OE and Δsap8 cells) resulted in formation of large cell-cell aggregates. These aggregates could be produced in germinated wild-type cells by addition of native or heat-inactivated Sap6. Sap6 bound only to germinated cells and increased C. albicans adhesion to oral epithelial cells. The adhesion properties of Sap6 were lost upon deletion of its integrin-binding motif (RGD) and could be inhibited by addition of RGD peptide or anti-integrin antibodies. Thus, Sap6 (but not Sap5) has an alternative novel function in cell-cell aggregation, independent of its proteinase activity, to promote infection and virulence in oral candidiasis.
Induction of the sexual stage of Pestalotiopsis microspora, a taxol-producing fungus.

Pestalotiopsis microspora, isolate NE-32, is an endophyte of the Himalayan yew (Taxus wallichiana) that produces taxol, an important chemotherapeutic drug used in the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers. Conditions were determined to induce the perfect stage (teleomorph) of this organism in the laboratory as a critical first step to study inheritance of taxol biosynthetic genes. The perfect stage of Pestalotiopsis microspora NE-32 forms in a period of 3–6 weeks on water agarose with dried yew needles at 16–20 °C with 12 h of light per day. Morphological analysis of the teleomorph and sequencing of the 18S rDNA indicates that Pestalosphaeria hansenii is the perfect stage of Pestalotiopsis microspora. Only certain plants (e.g. yews, some pines, pecan, oat and some barley cultivars) allow the production of perithecia. Exhaustive methylene chloride extraction of yew (Taxus cuspidata) needles removes their capacity to induce production of perithecia. The methylene chloride extract is able to induce formation of perithecia by strain NE-32 in a bioassay system utilizing the sterilized sheaths of the Cholla cactus (Opuntia bigelovii) spine, indicating that a chemical compound(s) in yew stimulates the formation of the perfect stage. This hydrophobic plant compound(s) has been designated the perithecial-stimulating factor (PSF). The data suggest that plant products may play a role in regulating the biology of endophytic microbes.
Fast, Robust Adaptive Control by Learning only Forward Models

A large class of motor control tasks requires that on each cycle the controller is told its current state and must choose an action to achieve a specified, state-dependent, goal behaviour. This paper argues that the optimization of learning rate, the number of experimental control decisions before adequate performance is obtained, and robustness is of prime importance--if necessary at the expense of computation per control cycle and memory requirement. This is motivated by the observation that a robot which requires two thousand learning steps to achieve adequate performance, or a robot which occasionally gets stuck while learning, will always be undesirable, whereas moderate computational expense can be accommodated by increasingly powerful computer hardware. It is not unreasonable to assume the existence of inexpensive 100 Mflop controllers within a few years and so even processes with control cycles in the low tens of milliseconds will have millions of machine instructions in which to make their decisions. This paper outlines a learning control scheme which aims to make effective use of such computational power.
Reorientational Motions of the D96N and T46V/D96N Mutants of Bacteriorhodopsin in the Purple Membrane

— The reorientational motions of the D96N and T46V/D96N mutants of bacteriorhodopsin in purple membrane have been investigated by time-resolved linear dichroism measurements. The reorientations in the early stages of the photocycle are identical to those observed in wild-type bacteriorhodopsin: anisotropics of photocycle intermediates in both D96N and T46V/D96N are rK= 0.38±0.01, rL= 0.35±0.01, rM= 0.35±0.01. The anisotropy of the initial state, rBR, exhibits decays to zero in D96N and to negative values in T46V/D96N on the time scale of tens of milliseconds. This anisotropy decay can be explained by a model that involves the motion of unexcited or spectator proteins adjacent to a photocycling protein. The amplitude and time constants of spectator reorientational motion are similar to those that have been observed in the wild type. Contributions from the anisotropy of the N-state were detected in measurements of the T46V/D96N mutant, in which a large N-state population accumulates. The value of rN is estimated to be 0.30±0.05 in T46V/D96N.
Variations in maternal behavior in the rat as a function of sex and gonadal state.

Abstract Performance of major components of maternal care was evaluated quantitatively in several test situations for various groups of rats. Maternal behavior of concaveated ovariectomized virgin females and castrated males was inferior on a variety of measures to that of concaveated intact virgin females. However, concaveated intact virgin females were markedly inferior to natural mothers on measures of nest building and responsiveness to an intruder. Thus, it was found that test situations other than the standard homecage test revealed previously undetected group differences and that the occurrence of pup retrieval is not a valid predictor of the performance of some major components of maternal care. In addition, it was concluded that gonadal hormones partially determine the quality of maternal responsiveness displayed by virgin females, but that gonadal hormones characteristic of the cycling female are not sufficient to increase maternal responsiveness to the level seen with natural mothers. Possible relationships between pup-induced maternal behavior and that of natural mothers are discussed.
A novel flexible magnetic composite material for RFID, wearable RF and bio-monitoring applications

This paper introduces for the first time a novel flexible magnetic composite material for RFID and wearable RF antennas. The successful implementation of the flexible magnetic composite material will enable the significant miniaturization of RF passives and antennas in UHF frequency bands, especially for applications requiring conformal modules that can be easily fine-tuned. A conformal RFID tag working at 480MHz is then fabricated and the miniaturization concept proven.
Molecular Mechanisms and Timing of Cortical Immune Activation in Schizophrenia

Objective:Immune-related abnormalities are commonly reported in schizophrenia, including higher mRNA levels for the viral restriction factor interferon-induced transmembrane protein (IFITM) in the prefrontal cortex. The authors sought to clarify whether higher IFITM mRNA levels and other immune-related disturbances in the prefrontal cortex are the consequence of an ongoing molecular cascade contributing to immune activation or the reflection of a long-lasting maladaptive response to an in utero immune-related insult.Method:Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was employed to measure mRNA levels for immune-related cytokines and transcriptional regulators, including those reported to regulate IFITM expression, in the prefrontal cortex from 62 schizophrenia and 62 healthy subjects and from adult mice exposed prenatally to maternal immune activation or in adulthood to the immune stimulant poly(I:C).Results:Schizophrenia subjects had markedly higher mRNA levels for interleukin 6 (IL-6) (+379%) and interferon...
Saturated main-effect designs for factorial experiments

The results of a computer search for saturated designs for 2^n factorial experiments with n runs is reported, (where n = 2 mod 4). A complete search of the design space is avoided by focussing on designs constructed from cyclic generators. A method of searching quickly for the best generators is given. The resulting designs are as good as, and sometimes better than, designs obtained via search algorithms reported in the literature. The addition of a further factor having three levels is also considered. Here, too, a complete search is avoided by restricting attention to the most efficient part of the design space under p-efficiency.
The effect of the quantum susceptance on the gain of superconducting quasiparticle mixers

A detailed analysis of the effects of the quantum susceptance on the performance of superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) mixers is performed. It is found that the principal effects of the quantum susceptance are to change the DC bias at which optimum coupling of the signal to the mixer occurs, and to change the output admittance at the IF frequency, thus changing the available gain. It is shown that at the signal port the principal effect is to change the bias voltage at which optimum coupling to the mixer occurs. A more dramatic effect occurs at the IF port, where the quantum susceptance leads to negative values of the output conductance, which causes the available gain to be infinite.
The Economic Basis of Deliberative Democracy

There are two principal philosophical conceptions of socialism, corresponding to two interpretations of the notion of a rational society. The first conception corresponds to an instrumental view of social rationality. Captured by the image of socialism as “one big workshop,” the instrumental view holds that social ownership of the means of production is rational because it promotes the optimal development of the productive forces. Social ownership is optimal because it eliminates the costs of coordination imposed by the conduct of economic activities in formally independent enterprises, and, more generally, overcomes fetters on development that result from the control of resources by individuals whose particular interests (in profit) imperfectly correspond to a general interest in productive advance.
Amino Acid Residues in the PSI Domain and Cysteine-rich Repeats of the Integrin β2 Subunit That Restrain Activation of the Integrin αxβ2

Abstract The leukocyte integrin αXβ2 (p150,95) recognizes the iC3b complement fragment and functions as the complement receptor type 4. αXβ2 is more resistant to activation than other β2 integrins and is inactive in transfected cells. However, when human αX is paired with chicken or mouse β2, αXβ2 is activated for binding to iC3b. Activating substitutions were mapped to individual residues or groups of residues in the N-terminal plexin/semaphorin/integrin (PSI) domain and C-terminal cysteine-rich repeats 2 and 3. These regions are linked by a long range disulfide bond. Substitutions in the PSI domain synergized with substitutions in the cysteine-rich repeats. Substitutions T4P, T22A, Q525S, and V526L gave full activation. Activation of binding to iC3b correlated with exposure of the CBR LFA-1/2 epitope in cysteine-rich repeat 3. The data suggest that the activating substitutions are present in an interface that restrains the human αX/human β2 integrin in the inactive state. The opening of this interface is linked to structural rearrangements in other domains that activate ligand binding.
Ultrasonic Evaluation of Pancreatitis

Imaging of the pancreas by any means currently available, e.g. angiography, radionuclide imaging or transduodenal pancreatography, is either laborious or provides images that are of limited usefulness. The need for early diagnosis of the complications of pancreatitis makes a simple, non-traumatic means of demonstrating and of assessing the pancreas desirable. Therefore, an assessment of ultrasonic imaging of the pancreas was undertaken to determine the most useful technique for imaging the pancreas and to determine its place in the management of patients with pancreatitis.
Role of PET/CT scanning in detecting asymptomatic brain metastases in non-small cell lung cancer

e19038 Background: Up to one-third of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients are diagnosed with brain metastasis. Our study aims to evaluate the role of whole body and brain FDG-PET/CT in dete...
Idiopathic infectious arthritis of the coxofemoral joint in a mature horse

Summary The authors are aware of only one previously described case of idiopathic infectious arthritis of the coxofemoral joint in a mature horse. The case described herein presented with clinical signs that localised pain to the proximal limb, subtle increased radiopharmaceutical uptake at the coxofemoral joint and an increase of the major acute phase protein, serum amyloid A in the horse's blood biochemistry. The latter finding led the authors to search initially for an infective process. Ultrasound guided aspiration of the coxofemoral joint yielded infected synovial fluid. Despite the duration of the condition, nonsurgical treatment allowed the horse to return to its previous, relatively modest, level of activity. This case is presented to supplement the single previously published case report of idiopathic adult coxofemoral infectious arthritis in the horse.
Latinos at Work: When Color Discrimination Involves More than Color

Despite being an actionable claim for over 40 years, employers continue to be confused by what constitutes color discrimination and how to address it. This confusion is only magnified by the fact that currently, a large share of interracial color-based employment discrimination claims are filed by Latinos (followed by Asians, and Middle-Easterners). The importation of Latino color paradigms into the U.S. workplace and courts is a dynamic that needs attention and explication for decision makers to navigate appropriately in an era of post-racial rhetoric. Aggrieved employees who are disassociated from notions of race and a racial identification may be more inclined instead to file a color discrimination claim. With the growing color-blind rhetorical disdain for the language of race and racism, developing a nuanced concept of color discrimination more fully may prove to be the key to retaining the efficacy of civil rights laws. Beginning to do so with Latino colorism cases could be the first step.