cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stroke volume during submaximal exercise in endurance-trained normotensive subjects and in untrained hypertensive subjects with beta blockade (propranolol and pindolol)

The effect of beta-adrenergic blockade on stroke volume (SV) at increasing submaximal exercise intensities was studied in 12 endurance-trained normotensive and 12 untrained hypertensive (diastolic blood pressure greater than 95 mm Hg) men, aged 18 to 34 years. Subjects were assigned to each of 3 treatments in a double-blind, randomized order: placebo, propranolol (80 mg twice daily) and pindolol (10 mg twice daily) for 10 days, with a period of 48 to 60 hours from the initial dose to the first treadmill test and a 4-day washout period between drugs. Cardiac output was measured using the carbon dioxide rebreathing method and SV was calculated from cardiac output and heart rate as follows: SV = cardiac output/heart rate. Cardiac outputs were estimated at rest and while walking on a treadmill at 25, 45, 60 and 75% of the subject's previously determined maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max). No significant differences were found in cardiac output between either of the drugs and placebo at rest, or at any of the 4 rates of work. Propranolol significantly increased SV above placebo values (p less than 0.05) for both trained and untrained groups at the intensities of 45, 60 and 75%. Significant differences in SV were found between pindolol and placebo only at the intensities of 60 and 75% in the trained group. Contrary to expectations, SV showed no indication of a plateau with propranolol in the trained subjects throughout the 4 different exercise intensities, whereas a plateau was established under placebo conditions by 45% of VO2max in both trained and untrained subjects. These results suggest that both trained and untrained hypertensive persons can exercise with beta-adrenergic blockade at submaximal levels without compromised cardiac function.
Promoter Choice Determines Splice Site Selection in Protocadherin α and γ Pre-mRNA Splicing

A family of mammalian protocadherin (Pcdh) proteins is encoded by three closely linked gene clusters (alpha, beta, and gamma). Multiple alpha and gamma Pcdh mRNAs are expressed in distinct patterns in the nervous system and are generated by alternative pre-mRNA splicing between different "variable" exons and three "constant" exons within each cluster. We show that each Pcdh variable exon is preceded by a promoter and that promoter choice determines which variable exon is included in a Pcdh mRNA. In addition, we provide evidence that alternative splicing of variable exons within a gene cluster occurs via a cis-splicing mechanism. However, virtually every variable exon can engage in trans-splicing with constant exons from another cluster, albeit at a far lower level.
Off-resonance spin locking for MR imaging

Off-resonance spin locking is investigated as a low power method for achieving low field spin-lattice relaxation contrast using high field clinical MR imaging systems (e.g., 1.5 tesla). Spin-lattice relaxation times and equilibrium magnetizations in the off-resonance rotating frame (T1 rho(off), beta) were measured for tissue-mimicking phantom materials as a function of the ratio of the amplitude to the resonance offset of the spin-locking pulse (f1/delta). The phantom materials consisted of vegetable oil to simulate fat and two different gels containing 2% and 4% agar to simulate nonfatty tissues with different macromolecular compositions. These measurements were used to verify a signal strength equation for a multislice off-resonance spin-locking technique implemented on a clinical MR imaging system operating at 1.5 tesla. Although the oil showed little change in image contrast with increasing f1/delta, the two gels demonstrated a strong variation which provided improved discrimination compared to T1-weighted imaging. Off-resonance spin locking is suggested as a method for improving delineation of breast lesions and a preliminary clinical example from a patient volunteer is presented.
Test Method for Evaluation of the Resistance of Fiberglass Rods to Combined Mechanical and Chemical Stress

A flexural stress test for determining failure time of fiberglass rods in acid or other stress cracking ing agents has been developed. It differs from the CIGRE test in having two support points instead of one. This results in a 6" length of uniform stress in the rod between support points, and freedom from contact stress and concentration effects. Stress levels can be set readily and precisely over a wide range. Failure times of most rods stressed to ca. 25 ksi (ca. 20% of ultimate strength) averaged 3-5 days in lN nitric acid, including two coated rods. Another coated rod did not fail in over 30 days and is clearly superior to all the other rods from five manufacturers. Most rods failed by cracking transversely across the rod cross-section, as observed in service. The failure times at 56.7 ksi for air, water and acid on uncoated rods were as follows: over 30 days, 1 day and less than 10 minutes, respectively. While much less severe than acid, water is a stress cracking agent. The test is a simple, inexpensive means of evaluating rods for resistance to fracture under the combined effect of stress and acid.
On Building Robot Persons: Response to Zlatev

Zlatev offers surprisingly weak reasoning in support of his view that robots with the right kind of developmental histories can have meaning. We ought nonetheless to praise Zlatev for an impressionistic account of how attending to the psychology of human development can help us build robots that appear to have intentionality.
General Image Method in a Plane-Layered Elastostatic Medium

The general-image method presently used to obtain the elastostatic fields in plane-layered media relies on the use of potentials in order to represent elastic fields. For the case of a single interface, this method yields the displacement field in closed form, and is applicable to antiplane, plane, and three-dimensional problems. In the case of multiplane interfaces, the image method generates the displacement fields in terms of infinite series whose convergences can be accelerated to improve method efficiency.
What do consumers want and need to know in making health care choices

This article assesses the presumption that consumer choice in health care is based on a rational weighing of alternatives—that informing consumers about plan or provider performance, when coupled with information on cost plus service scope and limitations, will lead consumers to select high-quality, low-priced plans or providers. The authors review research on what health care consumers know, what they want to know, and what others think they should know. They also consider how people use information in making decisions and what this implies for what consumers really need to know to make effective decisions. The article concludes that assuming a rational consumer does not account for choice among options in the increasingly complex health care context facing consumers today. Based on this review, the article identifies gaps in the knowledge and sketches out a prospective research agenda in the area of consumer health care decision making.
On the reflected appraisals dynamics of influence networks with stubborn agents

This article focuses on the evolution of interpersonal influences in a group of stubborn individuals as they discuss a sequence of issues. Each individual opinion about a single issue is updated based upon the convex combination of the individual's current opinion, the neighbors' current opinion, and the individual's initial opinion; the attachment to the initial opinion characterizes how stubborn an individual is. To model the evolution of the influence network, we employ Friedkin's “reflected appraisal” model: each individual's self-weight on a new issue is determined by the individual's average influence and relative control on other individuals on prior issue outcomes. These modeling assumptions lead to a dynamical system for the evolution of self-weights. We establish the well-posedness and continuity of the proposed dynamics and prove the existence and uniqueness of equilibria for stubborn individuals. We then study the impact of network topology on the individuals' final self-weights. We prove the convergence of all system trajectories for the special case of doubly-stochastic networks and homogeneous stubbornness. We characterize equilibrium self-weights for systems with centralized networks and heterogeneous stubbornness. Finally, our numerical simulations illustrate how existence, uniqueness and attractivity of the equilibria holds true for general network topologies and stubbornness values.
A Dissipative Control Design for Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter

This technical brief presents a nonlinear dynamic model of Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO), a concept design of a spacecraft intended to orbit the three icy moons of Jupiter, namely, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. The work presented in this paper represents a part of a feasibility study conducted to assess control requirements of the JIMO mission. A nonlinear dynamic model of JIMO is derived that includes rigid body as well as flexible body dynamics. A nonlinear dissipative control law with guaranteed stability is used to perform a representative in-orbit maneuver. The results presented are part of an exhaustive study conducted to evaluate various controller designs.
CRMA-II: a MAC protocol for ring based Gb/s LANs and MANs

Abstract CRMA-II is a MAC protocol for Gb/s LANs and MANs that are based on a single or dual-ring, with bus structures being covered as well. Data are transmitted in slots and buffer-insertion techniques are applied whenever data frames must be transmitted in contiguous slots or when immediate access to the media is required. Spatial slot reuse is achieved by freeing slots at their destination. Access to the media is controlled by a simple busy/free mechanism; it is enhanced by a reservation-based fairness mechanism. This results in fast access when the network is lightly loaded, while fair access and a tight delay bound are achieved during periods of sustained heavy load or overload. Fairness scheduling automatically adapts to the traffic requested by the nodes and causes minimal control intervention. Following current trends in communications, the standard ATM cell format has been adopted for both the medium and the attachment interfaces. CRMA-II control is only visible in an access sublayer between the standard ATM layer and the ATM transmission technology.
PREPARATION AND ANTIGENICITY OF M PROTEIN RELEASED FROM GROUP A, TYPE 1 STREPTOCOCCAL CELL WALLS BY PHAGE-ASSOCIATED LYSIN

The lysis of Group A type 1 streptococcal cell walls by phage-associated lysin has been described. In the preparation of lysin, a new semisynthetic non-protein media to support growth of the propagating strain of Group C streptococci was employed. Following lysis of the cell walls, the resulting digest was partially purified by ion-exchange chromatography and ammonium sulfate precipitation. In addition to M protein, the resulting preparation (called lysin M protein) contained the group-specific carbohydrate and the T protein-but did not contain antigens, detectable by precipitin tests, which cross-reacted with absorbed heterologous group or type antisera. Capillary precipitin reactions between the lysin M protein and type-specific antiserum did not occur in the presence of high ionic strength buffers; these buffers did not similarly affect precipitin reactions of acid M protein. Type 1 lysin M protein is shown to be a good antigen. A total of 1.5 mg. injected intradermally in saline produced bactericidal antibody in eight of nine rabbits; when injected in adjuvant in one rabbit, protective serum antibodies developed. Streptococci grown in sera from seven of nine rabbits immunized with lysin M protein demonstrated significantly longer chains than when grown in normal rabbit serum. Antibody as demonstrated by each of these three tests was shown to be type-specific. No local or systemic toxicity was noted following intradermal injection in rabbits of lysin M protein.
Bounded-latency content distribution feasibility and evaluation

This paper investigates the performance of a content distribution network designed to provide bounded content access latency. Content can be divided into multiple classes with different configurable per-class delay bounds. The network uses a simple distributed algorithm to dynamically select subsets of its proxy servers for different classes such that a global per-class delay bound is achieved on content access. The content distribution algorithm is implemented and tested on PlanetLab, a world-wide distributed Internet testbed. Evaluation results demonstrate that, despite Internet delay variability, subsecond delay bounds (of 200-500 ms) can be guaranteed with a very high probability at only a moderate content replication cost. The distribution algorithm achieves a four to fivefold reduction in the number of response-time violations compared to prior content distribution approaches that attempt to minimize average latency. To the authors' knowledge, this paper presents the first wide-area performance evaluation of an algorithm designed to bound maximum content access latency, as opposed to optimizing an average performance metric.
Plasmonic nanohole arrays for label-free kinetic biosensing in a lipid membrane environment

We integrate periodic nanohole arrays in a thin gold film with lipid membranes in a microfluidic channel. Surface plasmon-enhanced light transmission through the periodic nanohole arrays enables real-time label-free sensing of molecular binding on the lipid membrane surface. This membrane biosensor can potentially act as a natural platform for studying binding kinetics of proteins with their binding partners anchored in the lipid membrane. We also present the concept of using nanopore arrays for kinetic assays of transmembrane proteins in a free-standing lipid membrane.
School Climates and Student Behavior: Implications for Counselor Role

The current research on the study of school climates is described, and implications of this research for counselor role are indicated. This research has examined the nature of educational climates and environments, as well as the relationship of various environments to student achievement, attitudes, and behaviors. The research provides information about the nature of school environments as they are affected by staB characteristics and behaviors and student peer group characteristics. This research indicates that schools do have quite different climates which are supportive of diverse types of student and staff behavior. It appears that the adjustment and success of an individual student may well be a function of ( a ) the type of climate of the school he attends, and (b) the extent to which the school climate is supportive of his individual needs. After an extensive review of nine methodologies for studying school climate, possible applications of these research findings by the counselor are described.
Games for sketch data collection

This article describes sketching games made for the purpose of collecting data about how people make and describe hand-made drawings. The approach leverages human computation, whereby players provide information about drawings in exchange for entertainment. The games facilitate the collection of raw sketch input and associates it with human-provided text descriptions. Researchers may browse and download this data for their own purposes such as training sketch recognizers. Two systems with distinct game mechanics are described: Picture-phone and Stellasketch. The system architectures are briefly presented, followed by a discussion of our initial results using sketching games as a research platform for sketch recognition and interaction.
Membrane Receptors on Neutrophils

Neutrophils recognise humoral immunologic reactants through ‘receptors’ on their surface membrane. Most widely studied and probably of greatest biologic significance are the immunoglobulin (Fc), and complement (primarily C3b and C5a) receptors which enable the cell to react with, and be stimulated by, antigen-antibody, or antigen-antibody-complement complexes and their products. This interaction with the putative receptors and the consequent cell activation occurs most optimally on surfaces and plays a critical role in the mammalian host defense system.
Renewal of peripheral CD8+ memory T cells during secondary viral infection of antibody-sufficient mice.

Kinetic studies and short pulses of injected 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine have been used to analyze the development and renewal of peripheral CD8 + memory T cells in the lungs during primary and secondary respiratory virus infections. We show that developing peripheral CD8 + memory T cells proliferate during acute viral infection with kinetics that are indistinguishable from those of lymphoid CD8 + memory T cells. Secondary exposure to the same virus induces a new round of T cell proliferation and extensive renewal of the peripheral and lymphoid CD8 + memory T cell pools in both B cell-deficient mice and mice with immune Abs. In mice with virus-specific Abs, CD8 + T cell proliferation takes place with minimal inflammation or effector cell recruitment to the lungs. The delayed arrival of CD8 + memory T cells to the lungs of these animals suggests that developing memory cells do not require the same inflammatory signals as effector cells to reach the lung airways. These studies provide important new insight into mechanisms that control the maintenance and renewal of peripheral memory T cell populations during natural infections.
Models of Leadership Institutes for Increasing the Number of Top Latino Administrators in Higher Education

The percentage of Latinos in top university administration lags far behind that in the nation overall. How can we increase their numbers? One answer is leadership institutes. This article examines these institutes in general and those addressing minorities in particular, with an eye to presenting models that may aid future Latino leadership institutes. It explains the need for these programs and describes four long-established institutes and four more addressing minorities.Resumen: El porcentaje de latinos en puestos de administracion universitaria altos es muy bajo comparado nacionalmente. ?Como podemos incrementar sus numeros? Una respuesta es con institutos de liderazgo. Este articulo examina dichos institutos en general y aquellos que se ocupan de minorias en particular; ademas presenta modelos que pueden ayudar futuros institutos de liderazgo latino. Este articulo explica la necesidad de estos programas y describe cuatro institutos bien establecidos y cuatro mas que se ocupan de minorias.
Temporal trends of hemoglobin A1c testing.

Objective The study of utilization patterns can quantify potential overuse of laboratory tests and find new ways to reduce healthcare costs. We demonstrate the use of distributional analytics for comparing electronic health record (EHR) laboratory test orders across time to diagnose and quantify overutilization. Materials and methods We looked at hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing across 119 000 patients and 15 years of hospital records. We examined the patterns of HbA1c ordering before and after the publication of the 2002 American Diabetes Association guidelines for HbA1c testing. We conducted analyses to answer three questions. What are the patterns of HbA1c ordering? Do HbA1c orders follow the guidelines with respect to frequency of measurement? If not, how and why do they depart from the guidelines? Results The raw number of HbA1c orderings has steadily increased over time, with a specific increase in low-measurement orderings (<6.5%). There is a change in ordering pattern following the 2002 guideline (p<0.001). However, by comparing ordering distributions, we found that the changes do not reflect the guidelines and rather exhibit a new practice of rapid-repeat testing. The rapid-retesting phenomenon does not follow the 2009 guidelines for diabetes diagnosis either, illustrated by a stratified HbA1c value analysis. Discussion Results suggest HbA1c test overutilization, and contributing factors include lack of care coordination, unexpected values prompting retesting, and point-of-care tests followed by confirmatory laboratory tests. Conclusions We present a method of comparing ordering distributions in an EHR across time as a useful diagnostic approach for identifying and assessing the trend of inappropriate use over time.
Behavior of Short Pulses on Tightly Coupled Microstrip Lines and Reduction of Crosstalk by Using Overlying Dielectric

Forward crosstalk can be a problem in the design of printed circuit boards. We explore two aspects of forward crosstalk in tightly coupled microstrip lines. First, we demonstrate, as far as we are aware, the first direct experimental verification of different velocities of propagation in tightly coupled microstrip lines. (These are the even and odd modes for symmetric lines.) Second, we verify by modeling and by experiments the reduction in forward crosstalk when microstrip lines are covered by the proper overlying thickness of dielectric and the simultaneous reduction in differences in modal velocities. In 1981, Anderson introduced a clever means to reduce forward crosstalk in microstrip lines to zero by burying the lines under a relatively thin dielectric layer of an appropriate thickness. At this critical overlayer thickness, the capacitive and inductive crosstalk components are equal even for inhomogeneous media. Anderson's work is not well known to most packaging engineers because it appeared only in the patent literature and in the review of scientific instruments, an excellent journal, but not one usually read by the packaging community. We extend Anderson's results by demonstrating that at the critical thickness of the overlying dielectric the velocities of the two modes become equal. We verify that Anderson's argument extends to the case where the lines are so tightly coupled that the modal velocities differ by more than 10%. We also generalize his results to the case where the lines are asymmetric. Experimental results on microstrip lines approximately 61 cm in length confirm the modeling predictions.
Temperature and transmural region influence functional measurements in unloaded left ventricular cardiomyocytes

Intact cardiomyocytes are increasingly being used to investigate the molecular mechanisms of contraction and to screen new therapeutic compounds. The function of the cardiomyocytes is often measured from the calcium transients and sarcomere length profiles. We studied the role of experimental temperature and transmural region on indices of function in freshly isolated, unloaded cardiomyocytes. Intact cardiomyocytes were isolated from the subendocardium, midmyocardium, and subepicardium of 3-month-old Sprague-Dawley rats. Myocytes from each region were studied at 25°C, 31°C, and 37°C. Cytosolic calcium transients were measured using Fura-2 fluorescence, whereas sarcomere length shortening and relengthening profiles were measured using high-speed video capture. For both the calcium transients and sarcomere length profiles, the time to peak and the time to half relaxation decreased significantly with increasing temperature. Increasing temperature also raised the minimum and maximum calcium levels of all cells. Of note, there was a reduced coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by the mean) at higher temperatures for calcium fluorescence amplitudes, time to peak calcium, and rates of sarcomeric shortening and relengthening. The amplitudes and minimum of the calcium transients were significantly dependent on transmural region, and several sarcomere length parameters exhibited statistical interactions between temperature and transmural region. Together, these results show that biological variability can be reduced by performing experiments at 37°C rather than at room temperature, and by isolating cells from a specific transmural region. Adopting these procedures will improve the statistical power of subsequent analyses and increase the efficiency of future experiments.
Oblique Interference Filter for Nonparallel Light

Narrow-band multilayer transmission filters for use in an oblique position have been made to exhibit substantially uniform peak transmittance for all rays in a strongly converging beam. The required increase of film thickness with distance from an asymmetrically placed axis can be produced by appropriate baffling. Residual errors of ±3 A are approximately equal to reported random variation in thickness of evaporated films. Filters of 13 layers designed for binocular visual use have shown transmittances above 70% over a field 10° square.
Laparoscopic appendectomy in the elderly.

Abstract Background Evidence suggests that laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) has advantages over open appendectomy (OA) in the treatment of appendicitis. It remains, however, unclear whether LA is indicated in the elderly patient population. Methods Patients with primary International Classification of Diseases, revision 9, procedure codes for LA (n = 32,406 patients) and OA (n = 112,884 patients) were selected from the 1998, 1999, and 2000 Nationwide Inpatient Samples. The end points that were under investigation were the length of hospital stay, the rate of routine discharge, and in-hospital morbidity and mortality rates. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the risk-adjusted association between the surgery type and the patient outcomes. Stratified analyses were performed according to age (65 years and older; less than 65 years old) and to the presence of appendiceal perforation or abscess. Results After risk adjustment, patients who underwent LA had a significantly shorter mean length of stay (LA, 2.45 days; OA, 3.71 days; P Conclusion LA has statistically significant advantages over OA with respect to the length of hospital stay, the rate of routine discharge, and postoperative morbidity and mortality rates for patients who are less than 65 years old, in elderly patients, and in patients with appendiceal abscess or perforation.
The presence of a single-nucleotide polymorphism in the BDNF gene affects the rate of locomotor adaptation after stroke

Induction of neural plasticity through motor learning has been demonstrated in animals and humans. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophin family of growth factors, is thought to play an integral role in modulation of central nervous system plasticity during learning and motor skill recovery. Thirty percent of humans possess a single-nucleotide polymorphism on the BDNF gene (Val66Met), which has been linked to decreased activity-dependent release of BDNF. Presence of the polymorphism has been associated with altered cortical activation, short-term plasticity and altered skill acquisition, and learning in healthy humans. The impact of the Val66Met polymorphism on motor learning post-stroke has not been explored. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the Val66Met polymorphism in learning of a novel locomotor task in subjects with chronic stroke. It was hypothesized that subjects with the polymorphism would have an altered rate and magnitude of adaptation to a novel locomotor walking paradigm (the split-belt treadmill), compared to those without the polymorphism. The rate of adaptation was evaluated as the reduction in gait asymmetry during the first 30 (early adaptation) and last 100 (late adaptation) strides. Twenty-seven individuals with chronic stroke participated in a single session of split-belt treadmill walking and tested for the polymorphism. Step length and limb phase were measured to assess adaptation of spatial and temporal parameters of walking. The rate of adaptation of step length asymmetry differed significantly between those with and without the polymorphism, while the amount of total adaptation did not. These results suggest that chronic stroke survivors, regardless of presence or absence of the polymorphism, are able to adapt their walking pattern over a period of trial-and-error practice; however, the presence of the polymorphism influences the rate at which this is achieved.
Scalable community discovery from multi-faceted graphs

A multi-faceted graph defines several facets on a set of nodes. Each facet is a set of edges that represent the relationships between the nodes in a specific context. Mining multi-faceted graphs have several applications, including finding fraudster rings that launch advertising traffic fraud attacks, tracking IP addresses of botnets over time, analyzing interactions on social networks and co-authorship of scientific papers. We propose NeSim, a distributed efficient clustering algorithm that does soft clustering on individual facets. We also propose optimizations to further improve the scalability, the efficiency and the clusters quality. We employ generalpurpose graph-clustering algorithms in a novel way to discover communities across facets. Due to the qualities of NeSim, we employ it as a backbone in the distributed MuFace algorithm, which discovers multi-faceted communities. We evaluate the proposed algorithms on several real and synthetic datasets, where NeSim is shown to be superior to MCL, JP and AP, the well-established clustering algorithms. We also report the success stories of MuFace in finding advertisement click rings.
The Returns Directive in Light of the El Dridi Judgment

The judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU in the El Dridi case clarifies the scope of application of the Returns Directive, in particular with regard to the difference between criminal detention and pre-return detention and to the general objectives of the EU’s immigration policy. The ruling will have far-reaching consequences not only on the Italian criminal and expulsions system, but also on the national legislations of a number of Member States.
Identity Shift III: Effects of Publicness of Feedback and Relational Closeness in Computer-Mediated Communication

Identity shift occurs when an individual's self-perception changes as a result of feedback to her or his self-presentation. This research, the third in a series, further explores the influences of identity shift, specifically exploring the effects of the publicness of feedback to an individual and the relational closeness between the individual and feedback provider on the individual's subsequent self-perceptions of her or his extraversion. An experimental study (N = 56) utilized a 2 (extroverted/introverted) × 2 (private/public feedback) × 2 (feedback from a relationally close/nonclose partner) design. Results of between-groups analysis revealed both main intensification effects of public and relationally close feedback and an interaction effect between the conditions. Findings are discussed with respect to identity shift, the hyperpersonal model, and online self-presentation.
Coronary Stents and Risk for Noncardiac Surgery: Much Ado About Something, Nothing, or DAPT?

The topic of duration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been gaining increasing interest in recent years. On one hand, the impact of DAPT cessation may be modest and very heterogeneous, bound to the circumstances under which it occurred [(1)][1].
Comparison of Pulmonary Responses of Asthmatic and Nonasthmatic Subjects Performing Light Exercise While Exposed to a Low Level of Ozone

To determine if asthmatic subjects (ASTH, n = 17) experience greater O3 induced pulmonary decrements than nonasthmatic subjects (NONA, n = 13), both groups were exposed for 7.6 h to both clean air and 0.16 ppm 03. Exposures consisted of seven 50-min periods of light exercise (VE = 14.2 and 15.3 l/min/m2 for ASTH and NONA, respectively), each followed by 10 min rest. A 35-min lunch period followed the third exercise. Following 03 exposure, decrements in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and FEV1 divided by forced vital capacity (FVC), corrected for air exposure, for ASTH
Stick-Slip\Smooth Slip as a Function of Ambient Gases and Pressures Disproving Previous Models of Adhesive Wear

Five different slip modes have been identified for bundles of copper fiberssliding on a smooth copper substrate in atmospheric air, argon and nitrogenat pressures from atmospheric to 0.01 Torr. These are stick-slip, variable sliding, intermittent stick sliding and two kinds of smooth sliding, one apparently a basic property of clean surfaces and the other due to contaminants. These forms of sliding are rather persistent once established, and they follow some trends. Specifically, low-pressure smooth sliding is coordinated with a value of the coefficient of friction (μ) near 0.15 and is seen when the surface film is exceptionally thin, while intermittent stick sliding appears to be due to “pads” on the substrate surface,and variable sliding to small particles caught in between the fibers and the copper substrate. However, the five slip modes are erratic in that under the same conditions one or another or yet a third may be observed, even though the electrical contact resistance (R) depends rather reproducibly on time, load, velocity, ambient atmosphere and pressure. That dependence indicates an equilibrium between film destruction through sliding and film formation, overwhelmingly through the presence of oxygen. In the stick-slip mode the difference between pst tic and ųK itic appears to be roughly proportional to ų 0.15, i.e. tfiee xcess of e average value of the friction coefficient above 0.15, being about 20% for ų 0.3 andvanishing near ų =0.15. During slip episodes, R spikes roughly in proportion to their magnitude. Some tentative interpretations are offered, based on the concept that ų consists of three additive components, namely due to the bulk (ųBulk), due to debris (ųDebris), and dueto scoring of surface films (ųFilm).At any rate, the conclusion that the results contradict all previous models of “adhesive” wearis inescapable.
Should Military Dining Facilities Offer and Promote Consumption of Probiotic-Containing Foods?

Probiotics are defined as "live organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts confer a benefit on the host." The purpose of this review was to determine whether there is evidence-based justification to recommend purchase and promotion of probiotic-containing food in military dining facilities (DFACs). Peer-reviewed literature was searched to identify well-conducted systematic reviews and original research related to the efficacy of probiotics in preventing and/or treating acute infectious diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, respiratory tract infections, allergic rhinitis, dental health issues, and female urogenital conditions. Probiotics may be useful for preventing and/or treating military-relevant health conditions. However, the available scientific evidence is not sufficient to warrant widespread procurement and promotion of probiotic-containing food items in military DFACs. Health care practitioners considering recommending probiotics should understand that health effects and clinical outcomes discussed herein are specific to the probiotic strain, dose, and method of delivery studied in the articles cited.
The military R&D process—a view from industry

Supplying the tools of war is a complex social and technological process. How does it work in ihe United States?
Richards' gland and associated cuticular modifications in social wasps of the genusPolybia Lepeletier (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Polybiini)

O.W. Richards recently discovered an exocrine gland that opens on the fifth (penultimate) sternite of females of many species of polybiine wasps. Recent experimental evidence indicates that this gland produces the trail pheromone used to guide the swarm during emigration to a new nest site. In the present paper we describe the morphology of the gland in four species ofPolybia as seen using light microscopy. The gland cells open via individual ducts onto the surface near the anterior margin of the sternite, where their secretion is evidently stored in a reservoir formed by the intersegmental membrane. The modifications of the sternal cuticle associated with the gland opening, which we examined in 12Polybia species using scanning electron microscopy, are of two types: in five species the gland opens into a transverse groove, while in the other seven the cuticle is raised into erect scales. There is some evidence that the groove type is correlated with larger gland size; there is only a poor correlation with larger body size.
Use of gel retardation to analyze protein-DNA interactions upstream of CYPIA1 gene.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of gel retardation to analyze protein-DNA interactions upstream of CYPIA1 gene. The gel retardation or gel mobility shift technique has become a standard tool for analyzing the interaction in vitro between DNA-binding proteins and their cognate genomic recognition sequences. The method relies on the fact that, during electrophoresis under nondenaturing conditions, protein-DNA complexes have a reduced mobility compared with protein-free DNA. Several groups have used gel retardation to analyze tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-inducible protein–DNA interactions at regulatory domains upstream of the CYPIA1 gene. The conditions used by each group vary somewhat, revealing some flexibility in the assay conditions. Gel retardation is also used to analyze cytosolic proteins from both mouse hepatoma cells and rodent liver. The cytosolic preparations are stored under the same conditions as the nuclear extracts, and exhibit similar stabilities.
Sentence Detection Using Multiple Annotations.

In this paper, we develop a sentence boundary detection system which incorporates a prosodic model, word and preterminal-level language models, and a global sentence-length model. An important aspect of this research was the investigation of crowdsourced punctuation annotations as a source of multiple references for evaluation purposes. In order to evaluate the system we propose a BLEU-like metric which compares a hypothesis to multiple references. Experiments on both transcription and ASR output show that the global sentence length model can improve the performance by 7.2% on reference transcripts and 3.8% on ASR output.
Alternatively spliced CD44 transcripts in diffuse large-cell lymphomas: characterization and comparison with normal activated B cells and epithelial malignancies

CD44 exists in a variety of alternatively spliced isoforms that include variable numbers of additional exons from the membrane proximal domain (exons 6–14). Lymphocytes express high levels of a “hematopoietic” isoform (CD44H) with no additional variable exons. CD44H binds lymphocytes to postcapillary venules and promotes lymphocyte extravasation into nodal areas. Epithelial carcinomas also express CD44 variants, including exon 10-containing isoforms associated with metastasis in a rat model. An exon 10-containing CD44 isoform is also transiently expressed by normal activated lymphocytes, suggesting that the protein may function in the trafficking of both normal lymphocytes and metastatic tumors. To identify the specific CD44 transcripts in tumors from patients with primary nodal, extranodal, and disseminated large-cell lymphomas (LCLs) and compare them with CD44 mRNAs in normal Ig-activated splenic B cells and epithelial cells, we used a semiquantitative RNA-based polymerase chain reaction. Specific CD44 variants were identified by size, hybridization with exon-specific probes, and sequence analysis. In comparison to primary nodal LCLs, extranodal and disseminated LCLs had increased levels of CD44H and additional isoforms, including a directly spliced (exon 5-->exon 10-- >exon 15) exon 10-containing CD44 variant. The CD44 transcripts in extranodal and advanced-stage LCLs were similar to those in normal Ig- activated splenic B cells, whereas epithelial malignancies contained decreased CD44H and increased amounts of larger CD44 variants with additional exons from the membrane proximal domain. The regulated expression of specific CD44 variants is likely to influence the trafficking of lymphoid and epithelial malignancies.
Zinc in Biology

Divalent zinc is abundant in biological systems and plays essential roles throughout nature. This chapter examines recent discoveries in the coordination chemistry involved in (1) zinc transport, trafficking, and sequestration, (2) zinc enzyme catalysis and inhibition involving high-value therapeutic targets, and (3) zinc mobility during catalysis. These areas are at the forefront of biological zinc chemistry and its relationship to current challenges of relevance to human health and the environment.
Your eyes give you away: pupillary responses, EEG dynamics, and applications for BCI (Conference Presentation)

As we move through an environment, we are constantly making assessments, judgments, and decisions about the things we encounter. Some are acted upon immediately, but many more become mental notes or fleeting impressions -- our implicit "labeling" of the world. In this talk I will describe our work using physiological correlates of this labeling to construct a hybrid brain-computer interface (hBCI) system for efficient navigation of a 3-D environment. Specifically, we record electroencephalographic (EEG), saccadic, and pupillary data from subjects as they move through a small part of a 3-D virtual city under free-viewing conditions. Using machine learning, we integrate the neural and ocular signals evoked by the objects they encounter to infer which ones are of subjective interest. These inferred labels are propagated through a large computer vision graph of objects in the city, using semi-supervised learning to identify other, unseen objects that are visually similar to those that are labelled. Finally, the system plots an efficient route so that subjects visit similar objects of interest. We show that by exploiting the subjects' implicit labeling, the median search precision is increased from 25% to 97%, and the median subject need only travel 40% of the distance to see 84% of the objects of interest. We also find that the neural and ocular signals contribute in a complementary fashion to the classifiers' inference of subjects' implicit labeling. In summary, we show that neural and ocular signals reflecting subjective assessment of objects in a 3-D environment can be used to inform a graph-based learning model of that environment, resulting in an hBCI system that improves navigation and information delivery specific to the user's interests.
Soil carbon and nitrogen dynamics throughout the summer drought in a California annual grassland

Abstract Drought is common in soil, yet its intensity and immediate effects vary with the timing of precipitation and the depth in the soil profile. We set out to analyze the patterns of soil C and N dynamics through the dry summer in a California annual grassland, and to analyze the processes that control those dynamics. During the dry season, inorganic N, soluble organic matter, and microbial biomass accumulated in soil. Concentrations were generally greater in the surface soil layer (0–10 cm) but increased in both surface and deeper soil (10–20 cm) over the course of the summer. There was a positive relationship between drought length, microbial biomass C and N, extractable C and N, and microbial activity upon rewetting. Upon rewetting of dry soils there was a pulse in nitrate availability (under field conditions) and, in the top 10 cm, a positive correlation between the initial CO2 pulse released upon rewetting and the drought length. In contrast, below 10 cm there was no correlation between the rewetting CO2 pulse and drought length. Soils from the top 10 cm and below 10 cm dried under controlled laboratory conditions showed the same CO2 pulse response to the length of drying as those in the field. These results suggest that the substrates that accumulate during the dry season are relatively labile, and that, in surface soils, biomass/substrate amounts and water availability control their persistence, while in deeper layers, some other factor is more important.
Brief of Professor Richard M. Re as Amicus Curiae in Support of Neither Party, Hughes v. United States

This brief argues for abandoning the "Marks rule," or the principle that a fragmented Court decision stands for the “position taken by those members who concurred in the judgments on the narrowest grounds.” Instead, a precedent of the Supreme Court should form only when most justices expressly agree on a rule of decision. The arguments builds on the evidence and argument set out in Richard M. Re, Beyond the Marks Rule, Harv. L. Rev (forthcoming 2018) (available on SSRN).
CLINICAL IMPACT OF NEW LEFT BUNDLE BRANCH BLOCK IN INTERMEDIATE RISK PATIENTS UNDERGOING TAVR: AN ANALYSIS OF THE PARTNER II TRIAL AND REGISTRIES

The clinical impact of new left bundle branch block (LBBB) after transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) remains controversial and has not been studied in intermediate risk patients. We analyzed outcomes associated with new LBBB in a large cohort of intermediate risk patients undergoing TAVR
Micromechanical processes in consolidated granular salt

Abstract Granular salt is likely to be used as backfill material and a seal system component within geologic salt formations serving as a repository for long-term isolation of nuclear waste. Pressure from closure of the surrounding salt formation will promote consolidation of granular salt, eventually resulting in properties comparable to native salt. Understanding dependence of consolidation processes on stress state, moisture availability, temperature, and time is important for demonstrating sealing functions and long-term repository performance. This study characterizes laboratory-consolidated granular salt by means of microstructural observations. Granular salt material from mining operations was obtained from the bedded Salado Formation hosting the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant and the Avery Island salt dome. Laboratory test conditions included hydrostatic consolidation of jacketed granular salt with varying conditions of confining isochoric stress to 38 MPa, temperature to 250 °C, moisture additions of 1% by weight, time duration, and vented and non-vented states. Resultant porosities ranged between 1% and 22%. Optical and scanning electron microscopic techniques were used to ascertain consolidation mechanisms. From these investigations, samples with 1% added moisture or unvented during consolidation, exhibit clear pressure solution processes with tightly cohered grain boundaries and occluded fluid pores. Samples with only natural moisture content consolidated by a combination of brittle, cataclastic, and crystal plastic deformation. Recrystallization at 250 °C irrespective of moisture conditions was also observed. The range and variability of conditions applied in this study, combined with the techniques used to display microstructural features, are unique, and provide insight into an important area of governing deformation mechanism(s) occurring within salt repository applications.
Hankel Type Operators, Bourgain Algebras, and Isometries

Isometries and the complete continuity of Hankel type operators together with certain known Bourgain algebras are used to give a simple proof of the Poincare theorem concerning the biholomorphic inequivalence of the unit ball and the unit polydisc in C n.
A Convex Reformulation of the Controller Synthesis Problem for Infinite-Dimensional Systems using Linear Operator Inequalities (LOIs) with Application to MIMO Multi-Delay Systems

In this paper, we propose a formal duality and operator-based framework for controller synthesis of infinite-dimensional systems using convex optimization. Specifically, we propose a class of what we call Linear Operator Inequalities (LOIs) and give conditions under which LOIs are solvable and under which they can be used for controller synthesis. Within this LOI framework, the first technical contribution of the paper is a new dual stability condition under which we can reformulate the controller synthesis problem as an LOI. The second technical contribution is LOIs for both primal and dual stability of systems with multiple delays. The third technical contribution is to show that both these LOIs are solvable. Finally, we use an LMI-based framework to solve these LOIs and demonstrate numerically that the primal and dual stability conditions are functionally equivalent for MIMO systems with multiple delays.