cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Endogenous IGFBP-3 regulates excess collagen expression in intestinal smooth muscle cells of Crohn's disease strictures.

Crohn’s disease (CD) is characterized by three pathophysiologic changes within the smooth muscle of the muscularis propria of the intestine that contribute to stricture formation in the ≈30% of patients who experience this complication.1,2 Stricture formation is characterized by smooth muscle cell hyperplasia, smooth muscle cell hypertrophy, and excess net extracellular matrix formation by these cells. Mounting evidence implicates members of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system as central to each of these events. Intestinal smooth muscle cells express endogenous IGF-I, which activates the cognate IGF-I receptor and regulates muscle cell hyperplasia by concomitantly stimulating proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis.3,4 Expression of IGF-I, a product of the IGF-IEa splice variant, is specifically up-regulated in smooth muscle cells in regions of stricturing CD compared to normal margins along with the expression of IGF binding protein (IGFBP)-5 that acts synergistically with IGF-I in these cells.5,6 Endogenous smooth muscle cell mechano-growth factor (MGF), a product of the IGF-IEc splice variant, is also upregulated in smooth muscle cells from regions of strictures and appears to regulate muscle cell hypertrophy.7 IGF-I and IGFBP-5 each independently stimulate collagen I expression and production in human intestinal smooth muscle and in rat intestinal smooth muscle cells.8 In the murine colon, as in humans, transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) regulates collagen synthesis.9,10 Collagen I, which accounts for 68%–70% of total collagen in the normal human intestine, and III, the major constituent isoforms in the normal human intestine, are overall increased in the intestine of stricturing CD.11 IGFBP-3, a 40–45-kDa glycoprotein, is produced both by the liver, which accounts for the majority of IGFBP present in serum, and by target tissues including human intestinal smooth muscle cells.12 IGFBP-3 expression and production in these cells is upregulated by endogenous IGF-I and TGF-β1.12,13 Recently we showed that IGFBP-3 has IGF-I-independent effects mediated by its ability to bind to the TGF-βRI/II receptor complex in human intestinal smooth muscle cells and activate receptor-based Smad signaling. The expression of both TGF-β1 and IGFBP-3 were increased specifically in the smooth muscle cells from stricturing CD compared to muscle cells from the normal margin of resected intestine. By contrast, while serum levels of IGFBP-3 are decreased, serumTGF-β1 levels are unchanged in these patients.14,15 The results show for the first time that endogenous IGFBP-3 and TGF-β1 activate the TGF-β1RI/II receptor complex coupled to Smad2/3 phosphorylation and regulate the excess expression and production of collagen IαI that occurs in smooth muscle cells of strictured intestine in CD. This pathophysiologic process leads to fibrosis and is one important factor in the development of strictures in CD.
Optical pulse shaping for selective excitation of coherent molecular vibrations by stimulated Raman scattering

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) can be used to identify biological molecules from their vibrational spectra in tissue. A single double-chirped broadband optical pulse can excite a broad spectrum of resonant molecular vibrations in the fingerprint spectral region. Such a pulse also excites nonresonant CARS, particularly from water. We describe a theoretical technique to design an optical pulse to selectively excite coherent vibrations in a target molecular species so that the CARS signal generated is increased. The signal from other molecules is reduced, since the incident pulse does not excite them to have coherent vibrations. As an example, we apply the technique to design pulses to elicit increased CARS signal from a mixture of one or more of the alcohols methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol. We also show how such pulse designs can be used to selectively excite one member of closely related complex biological species. As measured interferometrically, the CARS signal from three phosphodiester stretch modes of DNA can be increased to more than ten times that of the analogous signal from RNA when the pulse design technique is used.
Evaluation of abnormal synergy patterns poststroke: relationship of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment to hemiparetic locomotion.

Background. Assessment of poststroke motor impairment has historically focused on the ability to move within and outside of abnormal synergistic motor patterns and is typically quantified by the Fu...
Fractional Order Models for Viscoelasticity of Soft Biological Tissues

Dynamic mechanical properties of soft tissues provide information that may be used in medical diagnosis. Developing a better fundamental understanding of the governing constitutive relations could improve diagnostic techniques. The mechanical behavior of soft tissues and tissue mimicking phantoms, such as gels, can be represented by viscoelastic material models. Static loading of viscoelastic materials yields information related to elasticity, creep and stress relaxation. However, a broader measure of rate-dependent properties that affect mechanical wave propagation and wave attenuation in such materials can only be extracted from measured response to dynamic excitation. The well known linear viscoelastic material models of Voigt, Maxwell and Kelvin cannot represent the more complicated frequency dependency of these materials over a broad spectral range. Therefore, fractional calculus methods have been considered to model the viscoelastic behavior of soft tissue-like materials. Fractional order models capture the viscoelastic material behavior using fractional orders of differential equations that may yield a more accurate representation of viscoelastic material behavior. This paper focuses on experimental measurements on the tissue mimicking phantom, CF11. Surface waves on the phantom material are studied experimentally and theoretically. Theoretical calculations using linear and fractional order methods are compared with experimental measurements.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Exploring Parenting as a Predictor of Criminogenic Thinking in College Students

Crime-promoting cognitions and attitudes, globally labeled as criminogenic thinking, are shown to perpetuate maladaptive and antisocial behavior in criminals and nonoffenders. In the nonoffender population, these thinking patterns may not lead to illegal behavior, but can result in irresponsible or maladaptive behavioral consequences. Theories suggest that early childhood parent-child interactions may be partly responsible for the development of criminogenic thinking. While the relationship between parenting and antisocial behavior is well documented, the connection between parenting and the development of criminogenic thinking styles has not yet been explored. The current study examined the nature of the relationship between exposure to parenting behaviors and subsequent criminogenic thoughts in a nonoffender, college population. The sample included 119 undergraduates. Results indicate that parenting may affect general criminogenic thinking as well as specific types of criminogenic thinking styles. Relevance and importance of the findings with regard to clinical work and parenting are also discussed.
The absorption and penetration of therapeutic agents from a carbowax vehicle.

The penetration of potassium iodide and phenolsulfonphthalein from “Carbowax” vehicles through the intact skin of albino rats has been studied. A change in rate and amount of penetration caused by the addition of silica, cetyl alcohol, wool fat, petrolatum, and “Tergitol” was demonstrated. Addition of cetyl alcohol and silica markedly reduced the absorption of the dye and the potassium iodide while the addition of petrolatum and wool fat caused a small decrease. Tergitol had little influence. A study also was made on the release of antiseptics from the same vehicles using a modified F. D. A. agar cup method. Absorption of phenolsulfonphthalein from the Carbowax base through the intact human skin was demonstrated clinically.
CONDUCTANCE FLUCTUATIONS IN A TWO-DIMENSIONAL ELECTRON GAS IN THE TUNNELING AND HOPPING REGIMES

We report results of low temperature conductance measurements made on a wide two-dimensional electron gas as a function of sample length L and temperature, in a regime where conduction proceeds via tunneling or hopping through channels of localized states. We extend our recent study of the behavior of the ensemble averaged logarithm of conductance and focus on fluctuations of conductance as a function of the chemical potential μ, which occur on at least three characteristic gate voltage scales VC. A detailed study of VC and variance vs. L and T for those three types of fluctuations reveals a complex behavior, probably caused by several competing effects. Our results suggest that both disorder and electron-electron interactions have to be taken into account to describe the properties of our samples.
Equilibrium 2H/1H fractionation in organic molecules: III. Cyclic ketones and hydrocarbons

Quantitative interpretation of stable hydrogen isotope ratios (^2H/^1H) in organic compounds is greatly aided by knowledge of the relevant equilibrium fractionation factors (e_(eq)). Previous efforts have combined experimental measurements and hybrid Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to accurately predict equilibrium fractionations in linear (acyclic) organic molecules ( Wang et al., 2009a and Wang et al., 2009b), but the calibration produced by that study is not applicable to cyclic compounds. Here we report experimental measurements of equilibrium ^2H/^1H fractionation in six cyclic ketones, and use those data to evaluate DFT calculations of fractionation in diverse monocyclic and polycyclic compounds commonly found in sedimentary organic matter and petroleum. At 25, 50, and 75 °C, the experimentally measured e_(eq) values for secondary and tertiary H_α in isotopic equilibrium with water are in the ranges of −130‰ to −150‰ and +10‰ to −40‰ respectively. Measured data are similar to DFT calculations of eeq for axial H_α but not equatorial H_α. In tertiary C_α positions with methyl substituents, this can be understood as a result of the methyl group forcing H_α atoms into a dominantly axial position. For secondary C_α positions containing both axial and equatorial H_α atoms, we propose that axial H_α exchanges with water significantly faster than the equatorial H_α does, due to the hyperconjugation-stabilized transition state. Interconversion of axial and equatorial positions via ring flipping is much faster than isotopic exchange at either position, and as a result the steady-state isotopic composition of both H’s is strongly weighted toward that of axial H_α. Based on comparison with measured e_(eq) values, a total uncertainty of 10–30‰ remains for theoretical e_(eq) values. Using DFT, we systematically estimated the e_(eq) values for individual H positions in various cyclic structures. By summing over all individual H positions, the molecular equilibrium fractionation was estimated to be −75‰ to −95‰ for steroids, −90‰ to −105‰ for hopanoids, and −65‰ to −100‰ for typical cycloparaffins between 0 and 100 °C relative to water. These are distinct from the typical biosynthetic fractionations of −150‰ to −300‰, but are similar to equilibrium fractionations for linear hydrocarbons (Wang et al., 2009b). Thus post-burial H exchange will generally remove the ∼50–100‰ biosynthetic fractionations between cyclic isoprenoid and n-alkyl lipid molecules, which can be used to evaluate the extent of H exchange in sedimentary organic matter and oils.
Vascular Occlusions in Grapevines with Pierce’s Disease Make Disease Symptom Development Worse

Vascular occlusions are common structural modifications made by many plant species in response to pathogen infection. However, the functional role(s) of occlusions in host plant disease resistance/susceptibility remains controversial. This study focuses on vascular occlusions that form in stem secondary xylem of grapevines (Vitis vinifera) infected with Pierce’s disease (PD) and the impact of occlusions on the hosts’ water transport and the systemic spread of the causal bacterium Xylella fastidiosa in infected vines. Tyloses are the predominant type of occlusion that forms in grapevine genotypes with differing PD resistances. Tyloses form throughout PD-susceptible grapevines with over 60% of the vessels in transverse sections of all examined internodes becoming fully blocked. By contrast, tylose development was mainly limited to a few internodes close to the point of inoculation in PD-resistant grapevines, impacting only 20% or less of the vessels. The extensive vessel blockage in PD-susceptible grapevines was correlated to a greater than 90% decrease in stem hydraulic conductivity, compared with an approximately 30% reduction in the stems of PD-resistant vines. Despite the systemic spread of X. fastidiosa in PD-susceptible grapevines, the pathogen colonized only 15% or less of the vessels in any internode and occurred in relatively small numbers, amounts much too small to directly block the vessels. Therefore, we concluded that the extensive formation of vascular occlusions in PD-susceptible grapevines does not prevent the pathogen’s systemic spread in them, but may significantly suppress the vines’ water conduction, contributing to PD symptom development and the vines’ eventual death.
Linking social expenditures to household lifestyles

Abstract Communities and governments in all societies provide social assistance for temporary setbacks and long-lasting misfortunes that befall individuals and households. EU countries have traditionally provided a relatively extensive safety net supported by the success of their market economies. Now EU social welfare systems are being subjected to massive shifts in demographics, to difficulty in financing social services, and to changing notions about the social contract. There is reason to believe that self-reliance will become more important than in the past at least for certain segments of the EU population. Households, along with corporate and government decision-makers, are key economic actors within civic society and potential agents of social change. Bold scenarios about the future and analysis rooted in social science theory and method can be a powerful combination for informing personal and community initiatives as well as social welfare policies. Structural economics is a framework for organising quantitative information about production and consumption activities into a database and using it to analyse scenarios about the future. Through the social accounting matrix, this approach is generalised to describe activities of social institutions and link technological changes to changes in social structures. This matrix is also useful in its own right as a set of consistent descriptive statistics that are an extension of data collected by national statistical offices.
Antiarrhythmic Drug Use in Patients <65 Years With Atrial Fibrillation and Without Structural Heart Disease

Little is known in clinical practice about antiarrhythmic drug (AAD) use in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) (particularly younger ones) who do not have structural heart disease. Using the MarketScan database, we identified patients <65 years without known coronary artery disease or heart failure who had an AAD prescription claim (class Ic drug, amiodarone, sotalol, or dronedarone) after their first AF encounter. A multinomial logistic regression model was created to assess factors associated with using each available AAD compared with using class Ic drugs before and after dronedarone was marketed in the United States. Additionally, we used the Kaplan-Meier method to determine the rates of change in AAD use and discontinuation during the year after AAD initiation. Of 8,562 patients with AF, 35% received class Ic drugs, 34% amiodarone, 24% sotalol, and 7% dronedarone. The median patient age was 56 (interquartile range 49 to 61), and 34% were women. Both before and after dronedarone was marketed, there was a statistically significant lower likelihood of class Ic drug use versus other AAD use with increasing age, inpatient index AF encounter, and previous or concomitant anticoagulation therapy. During the 1 year after AAD initiation, the AAD change rate was 14% for class Ic drugs, 8% for amiodarone, 17% for sotalol, and 18% for dronedarone (p <0.001); the AAD discontinuation rate was 40% for class Ic drugs, 52% for amiodarone, 40% for sotalol, and 69% for dronedarone (p <0.001). In conclusion, we found extensive use of amiodarone that may be inconsistent with guideline recommendations and unexpectedly high rates of AAD discontinuation.
Protocol for the successful treatment of pressure ulcers

Bed-bound patients with pressure ulcers are almost twice as likely to die as are those without pressure ulcers. If pressure ulcers are treated with a comprehensive regimen upon early recognition, nearly all stage IV ulcers can be avoided. Furthermore, such a regimen can significantly reduce the comorbidities, mortalities, and costs of treatments resulting from stage IV ulcers. The costs of treatments for comorbidities after the ulcer progresses to stage IV far outweigh the costs for early treatment of the ulcer before it progresses beyond the early stages. We describe herein the 4 stages of pressure ulcers, as well as the pathogeneses, costs, and complications associated with these wounds. A comprehensive 12-step detailed protocol for treatment of pressure ulcers is described; this includes recognizing that every patient with limited mobility is at risk for developing a sacral, ischial, trochanteric, or heel ulcer; daily assessment of the skin; objective measurement of every wound; immediate initiation of a treatment protocol; mechanical debridement of all nonviable tissue; establishment of a moist wound-healing environment; nutritional supplementation for malnourished patients; pressure relief for the wound; elimination of drainage and cellulitus; biological therapy for patients whose wounds fail to respond to more traditional therapies; physical therapy; and palliative care. Availability of the described treatment modalities, in combination with early recognition and regular monitoring, ensures rapid healing and minimizes morbidity, mortality, and costs.
Biomass accumulation after 10-200 years of shifting cultivation in Bornean rain forest

I examined the effect of repeated long-fallow shifting cultivation on biomass accumulation in a rain-forest landscape occupied for over 200 years in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The diameters of stems >5 cm dbh were measured in nine secondary forests using a stratified random design of nested plots (3000 m2 per site). The stands were 9–12 years old and had experienced from 1 to 10 or more cycles of shifting cultivation. Accounting for differences in soil fertility, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated that aboveground live biomass increment (ABI, in megagrams per hectare per year) was significantly greater after four cycles than after six or more cycles. ABI was lowest after two cycles, highest after one or four cycles and intermediate after 6–10 cycles. Differences were driven by the density and biomass of trees >10 cm dbh, which followed a similar pattern. Although the diameter increment and contribution to total biomass of trees >10 cm dbh increased significantly with inherent soil fertility, va...
A fast, inexpensive and scalable hardware acceleration technique for functional simulation

We introduce a novel approach to accelerating functional simulation. The key attributes of our approach are high-performance, low-cost, scalability and low turn-around-time (TAT). We achieve speedups between 25 and 2000x over zero delay event-driven simulation and between 75 and 1000x over cycle-based simulation on benchmark and industrial circuits while maintaining the cost, scalability and TAT advantages of simulation. Owing to these attributes, we believe that such an approach has potential for very wide deployment as replacement or enhancement for existing simulators. Our technology relies on a VLIW-like virtual simulation processor (SimPLE) mapped to a single FPGA on an off-the-shelf PCI board. Primarily responsible for the speed are (i) parallelism in the processor architecture (ii) high pin count on the FPGA enabling large instruction bandwidth and (iii) high speed (124 MHz on Xilinx Virtex-II) single-FPGA implementation of the processor with regularity driven efficient place and route. Companion to the processor is the very fast SimPLE compiler which achieves compilation rates of 4 million gates/hour. In order to simulate the netlist, the compiled instructions are streamed through the FPGA, along with the simulation vectors. This architecture plugs in naturally into any existing HDL simulation environment. We have a working prototype based on a commercially available PCI-based FPGA board.
ENVIRONMENTAL ECOLOGY OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

Cryptosporidium has become the most important contaminant found in drinking water and is associated with a high risk of waterborne disease particularly for the immunocompromised. There have been 12 documented waterborne outbreaks in North America since 1985; in two of these (Milwaukee and Las Vegas) mortality rates in the immunocompromised ranged from 52% to 68%. The immunofluorescence antibody assay (IFA) using epifluorescence microscopy has been used to examine the occurrence of Cryptosporidium in sewage (1 to 120 oocysts/liter), filtered secondary treated wastewater (0.01 to 0.13 oocysts/liter), surface waters (0.001 to 107 oocysts/liter), groundwater (0.004 to 0.922 oocysts/liter) and treated drinking water (0.001 to 0.72 oocysts/liter). New rules are being developed (Information Collection Rule and Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule) to obtain more occurrence data for drinking water systems for use with new risk assessment models. Public health officials should consider a communication program to physicians treating the immunocompromised, nursing homes, develop a plan to evaluate cases of cryptosporidiosis in the community, and contribute to the development of public policies that limit contamination of source waters, improve water treatment, and protect public health.
'The Trial': (1) a Parody of the Law amid the Mockery of Men in Post-Colonial Papua New Guinea

According to students of legal pluralism, the relationship between Western law and local dispute management processes, remedies, and so on is multiple and complex. Legal pluralism studies have not ventured very far outside the arenas of conflict resolution, be they authorized or private. In this article, I argue that legal pluralism has imposed methodological blinders upon significant expressive dimensions of its problem. In a satirical mock-trial that took place in rural Papua New Guinea, legal and indigenous constructions of order met not, as one might expect, instrumentally in the context of negotiating the resolution of a ‘trouble case’, but creatively combining in play to result in a multi-voiced, comic discourse. The law is shown to have rhetorical value, particularly in colonial and post-colonial settings where it may be deployed or invoked to represent and convey ambivalent attitudes about both justice and local constructions of personhood.
Two-layer multiple-variable fuzzy logic controller

A new type of multiple-variable fuzzy logic controller is proposed, called the two-layer multiple-variable fuzzy logic controller. In the first layer, various fuzzy decision-making logics are applied to fuzzy variables. The feedback is the weighted sum of the fuzzy variables obtained from fuzzy inference. In the second layer, the weight of each variable is determined by fuzzy inference and system parameters. The two-layer fuzzy control algorithms are applied to a nonlinear, cart-pole system. Computer simulations show the effectiveness and better performances of the two-layer fuzzy logic controllers. >
Identifying barbiturate binding sites in a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor with [3H]allyl m-trifluoromethyldiazirine mephobarbital, a photoreactive barbiturate.

At concentrations that produce anesthesia, many barbituric acid derivatives act as positive allosteric modulators of inhibitory GABAA receptors (GABAARs) and inhibitors of excitatory nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Recent research on [3H]R-mTFD-MPAB ([3H]R-5-allyl-1-methyl-5-(m-trifluoromethyldiazirinylphenyl)barbituric acid), a photoreactive barbiturate that is a potent and stereoselective anesthetic and GABAAR potentiator, has identified a second class of intersubunit binding sites for general anesthetics in the α1β3γ2 GABAAR transmembrane domain. We now characterize mTFD-MPAB interactions with the Torpedo (muscle-type) nAChR. For nAChRs expressed in Xenopus oocytes, S- and R-mTFD-MPAB inhibited ACh-induced currents with IC50 values of 5 and 10 µM, respectively. Racemic mTFD-MPAB enhanced the equilibrium binding of [3H]ACh to nAChR-rich membranes (EC50 = 9 µM) and inhibited binding of the ion channel blocker [3H]tenocyclidine in the nAChR desensitized and resting states with IC50 values of 2 and 170 µM, respectively. Photoaffinity labeling identified two binding sites for [3H]R-mTFD-MPAB in the nAChR transmembrane domain: 1) a site within the ion channel, identified by photolabeling in the nAChR desensitized state of amino acids within the M2 helices of each nAChR subunit; and 2) a site at the γ–α subunit interface, identified by photolabeling of γMet299 within the γM3 helix at similar efficiency in the resting and desensitized states. These results establish that mTFD-MPAB is a potent nAChR inhibitor that binds in the ion channel preferentially in the desensitized state and binds with lower affinity to a site at the γ–α subunit interface where etomidate analogs bind that act as positive and negative nAChR modulators.
Parallel rational interpolation

A fast parallel algorithm for rational interpolation based on orthogonal polynomials, which is suitable for both shared-memory and message-passing multiprocessor systems is proposed. In the shared-memory case with N + 1 identical processors, the algorithm requires 0(N log N) parallel arithmetic steps to construct all rational interpolants at once, where N +1 is the number of data points. Extensions to message-passing multiprocessor systems such as the hypercube are also discussed. The hypercube version of the algorithm requires 0(N log N) inter-processor communication overhead. Thus in effect, the algorithm constructs each rational interpolant using O(log N) parallel arithmetic and O(log N) communication steps.
PACEMAKER ACTIVITY DURING VAGAL ESCAPE RHYTHMS.

In dogs, bipolar electrograms were recorded from the SA node and His bundle to localize pacemaker sites during vagal escape and to study the effects of isoproterenol on escape mechanisms. Vagal escape can result from the development of pacemaker activity above the A-V node, within the region of the A-V node, and below the common bundle of His. Isoproterenol shortened the period of asystole prior to the onset of vagal escape, increased the rate of escape rhythms at all pacemaker sites, and occasionally changed the pacemaker to a higher focus in the conduction system.
Conceptual Design of a Formula Hybrid Powertrain System Utilizing Functionality-Based Modeling Tools

Formula Hybrid is a collegiate design competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers. The competition is a spin-off of the Formula SAE series and requires that students design, build and race an electric-internal combustion engine hybrid automobile. To assist the design process of Texas A&M’s first Formula Hybrid entry, formal functionality-based conceptual design tools were applied to explore and select potential powertrain concepts. These tools included behavioral modeling along with a functionality-based sensitivity analysis. Two levels of model fidelity were used. The first (low) fidelity level was used to screen a large number of powertrain concepts. The second (high) fidelity level was used to select from a smaller but more refined set of concepts. Ultimately, four concepts were identified as suitable to use in a Formula Hybrid car. The results of this analysis were presented to the Texas A&M Formula Hybrid team. The team eventually selected a concept similar to one of the top four concepts in the study (the electric motor, battery capacity, IC engine and powertrain configuration were nearly identical as those used to parameterize the model in the analysis). Texas A&M’s Formula Hybrid team went on to win the 2009 Formula Hybrid competition by scoring 980.9 points out of 1000 (the 2 nd place team scored 757.7 points). The results of the analysis done for the Texas A&M Formula Hybrid team are presented in this work along with the suggested powertrain concepts.
Co-located community health and economic activity centers

Community Health Worker (CHW) programs have been implemented in many developing countries to combat the challenge of poor access to healthcare. CHWs are unpaid volunteers who provide basic health information, education, and resources to their communities. In rural areas the large distances between households make it difficult for CHWs to fulfill their responsibilities in a timely fashion. Additionally, difficult working conditions, lack of pay, and limited feedback severely hinder the success and retention of CHWs in these rural areas. Proper economic incentives can provide motivation for CHWs to make CHW programs sustainable. Income generating activities for CHWs can be focused on health services or can be coupled with other entrepreneurial ventures that provide benefits to local communities. After examining problems with retention and turnover of CHWs in rural areas, this article discusses a potential model of co-located community health and activity centers — a place for the community to gather, socialize, and receive basic health information, education, and resources. The center will create an entrepreneurial opportunity for CHWs, providing them an economic incentive to improve their livelihoods and a motivation to continue as an unpaid health care provider.
Vasopressin and A23187 stimulate phosphorylation of myosin light chain-1 in isolated rat hepatocytes

Vasopressin (VP) and other hormones that elevate intracellular Ca2+ concentration also increase tight junctional permeability in the liver cell. Data derived from study of other tissues suggest that microfilaments are instrumental in regulating tight junctional permeability. By analogy to microfilament contraction in smooth muscles, it is likely that the transduction pathway for these hormones involves Ca(2+)-stimulated complex formation between calmodulin and myosin light chain (MLC) kinase with activation of this latter enzyme. MLC kinase then phosphorylates MLC, which, in the presence of actin, exerts adenosinetriphosphatase activity and produces microfilament contraction. This transduction pathway in the hepatocyte remains speculative. To demonstrate the likelihood of this pathway, we stimulated isolated hepatocytes with 10(-8) M VP and assayed MLC phosphorylation. We did this by immunoprecipitation of myosin from homogenates of liver cells prelabeled with [32P]-orthophosphate. We used a polyclonal antibody raised in rabbits against rat liver cell myosin. Our data demonstrate that VP is a potent stimulator of MLC phosphorylation. Maximal rises in intracellular Ca2+ and maximal MLC phosphorylation occur within 40 s of VP administration. The dose-response curve for MLC phosphorylation by VP is similar to that for tight junctional permeabilization in perfused liver with maximal effect at about 10(-8) M VP. The calcium ionophore A23187 also stimulated MLC phosphorylation. MLC phosphorylation, therefore, is at least coincident with, and probably responsible for, tight junctional permeabilization caused by elevation of intracellular Ca2+ in the liver cell.
Micropuncture study of proximal tubule pH in avian kidney

Transepithelial potentials (PD) and pH gradients were measured by in vivo micropuncture in superficial proximal tubules of anesthetized European starlings. The average PD for 46 tubules was 2.24 +/- 1.17 mV (mean +/- SD), lumen negative. Only a single lumen-positive potential was recorded, even though late proximal segments are accessible to micropuncture. Proximal luminal pH, measured with single-barrel pH-sensitive microelectrodes, averaged 7.62 +/- 0.26. The pH of peritubular blood, also measured with microelectrodes, was 7.58 +/- 0.15. Correction of the luminal pH for the average PD resulted in a value of 7.58. A few measurements made with double-barrel microelectrodes indicated a pH in proximal tubules of 7.65 +/- 0.08 with a PD of -3.32 +/- 1.47 mV. Thus there appears to be no transepithelial pH gradient across these tubules. On the other hand, pH measurements of cortical collecting ducts averaged 6.40 +/- 0.37, indicating significant acidification in more distal segments. Starlings made acutely acidotic by HCl infusion had significantly reduced arterial and renal cortical pH values, but there was still no significant pH gradient across the proximal tubule. In conclusion, these superficial "reptilian-type" proximal tubules do not appear to have the capacity to maintain a pH gradient. Based on this and on the lack of lumen-positive chloride diffusion potentials, there appears to be no early proximal preferential bicarbonate reabsorption by these nephrons.
Residential renewable energy distribution system with PQ control

In general, residential solar inverters can operate in either island or grid-tied mode. In grid-tied mode, the inverter can be operated based on either voltage control or current control. In this paper, a grid-connected current controlled inverter is presented. A stationary frame nonideal proportional resonant (PR) controller, in lieu of a conventional PI based controller, is applied to the outer current control loop to eliminate the steady-state error between the given reference and the inverter current output. The reference signal is directly given to satisfy the expected power output. The voltage source inverter (VSI) control system, reported in this paper, can estimate the instantaneous active and reactive power (PQ) based on a revised orthogonal signal generation (OSG) structure and control the power flow through a PQ controller in grid-connected mode. Thus, the solar inverter is able to work as a reactive power compensator, which helps lower transmission losses and improve grid power factor. Compared with traditional V/f based PQ controller and fuzzy-PQ controller, the proposed current based PQ controlled grid-tied inverter provides the system with faster reference tracking response and better power decoupling capability. Analysis and simulation results are presented in this paper to validate the proposed system.
Effects of Dibutyryl Cyclic Adenosinemonophosphate and Prostaglandin E1 on Platelet Aggregation and Shape Changes

Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) exerted an immediate inhibitory effect upon the induction of platelet aggregation by adenosinediphosphate, epinephrine, thrombin, bovine fibrinogen, or sodium fluoride, whereas dibutyryl cyclic adenosinemonophosphate (DBcAMP) produced a delayed type of inhibition of aggregation induced by these same agents. In addition, however, both PGE1 and DBcAMP, as well as adenosinetriphosphate (ATP) and Mg++, restored, with incubation, the washed platelets to a more discoid shape. Platelet aggregability also correlated well with platelet shape. All of these findings suggest the possibility of mediation of the delayed type of inhibition through restoration of the platelet membrane by increasing the level of metabolically active ATP or the availability of cations. They tend, however, to exclude the possibility that PGE1 exerts its immediate inhibitory effect through the increase of platelet cAMP.
Oneida Lake: Long-Term Dynamics of a Managed Ecosystem and Its Fishery

This edited book tells the story of a large lake ecosystem and research conducted on it over several decades. Its 24 chapters and 61 contributing authors present a comprehensive treatment, document...
The SNOW theorem and latency-optimal read-only transactions

Scalable storage systems where data is sharded across many machines are now the norm for Web services as their data has grown beyond what a single machine can handle. Consistently reading data across different shards requires transactional isolation for the reads. Yet a Web service may read from its data store hundreds or thousands of times for a single page load and must minimize read latency to keep response times low. Examining the read-only transaction algorithms for many recent academic and industrial scalable storage systems suggests there is a tradeoff between their power--expressed as the consistency they provide and their compatibility with other types of transactions--and their latency.We show that this tradeoff is fundamental by proving the SNOW Theorem, an impossibility result that states that no read-only transaction algorithm can provide both the lowest latency and the highest power. We then use the tight boundary from the theorem to guide the design of new read-only transaction algorithms for two scalable storage systems, COPS and Rococo. We implement our new algorithms and then evaluate them to demonstrate they provide lower latency for read-only transactions and to understand their impact on overall throughput.
Global animal capital and animal garbage: Documentary redemption and hope

ABSTRACTThis article argues that, in dealing with contemporary prevalent, slow violence against nonhuman animals, film medium is more effective when perceived as an agent of redemption. The documentary genre in particular is capable of helping nonhuman animals break away from being trapped in the viscous loop of the capitalist production chain through its visual, investigative, and other cinematic apparatus. In developing the idea of documentary redemption and hope, I first trace, by way of Nicole Shukin's work, the entanglements of animals in early film industry where animals are exploited materially by the film industry and conceptually exploited for the advancement of a capitalist manufacturing process. Here, I see filmic redemption as self-redemptive: to redress/make amends the malicious human-animal relationship, especially with the advent of digital film. The second idea of redemption is examined through animal activist documentaries: What narrative and aesthetic strategies do filmmakers use to prom...
Types of Pathogens in Fish, Waterborne Diseases

Abstract How diseases are transmitted is a fascinating research area where environmental factors and the virulence of the pathogen often make the difference between a disease becoming established and the fish remaining fit and well. Often this interaction is seen as an arms race between the pathogen and the host. When one partner in this relationship gains an evolutionary advantage, significant selection pressure is built on the other to evolve a new process to overcome the others’ advantage, or to become extinct. In the extreme this relationship can go on to evolve into commensal or even symbiotic relationships. More often than not, though, the relationship remains that of a pathogen–host relationship. This chapter will examine the basic concepts of these relationships in the aquatic environment and how pathogens find and establish infections in their hosts’. Some of the examples presented will seem extreme; such as sexually transmitted jellyfish Polypodium hydriforme to the highly specific salmonid pathogens Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus. Understanding how these organisms complete their lifecycle is an important part of appreciating the complex world of pathobiology. A researcher or an aquaculturist must appreciate these interactions to prevent disease outbreaks. If no attention to disease transmission is paid, the risk of boom-bust aquaculture or poor experimental design will dog their efforts in developing their chosen profession.
Sequential design strategies for mean response surface metamodeling via stochastic kriging with adaptive exploration and exploitation

Abstract Stochastic kriging (SK) methodology has been known as an effective metamodeling tool for approximating a mean response surface implied by a stochastic simulation. In this paper we provide some theoretical results on the predictive performance of SK, in light of which novel integrated mean squared error-based sequential design strategies are proposed to apply SK for mean response surface metamodeling with a fixed simulation budget. Through numerical examples of different features, we show that SK with the proposed strategies applied holds great promise for achieving high predictive accuracy by striking a good balance between exploration and exploitation.
Proteus Rettgeri Infections: A Review

AbstractProteus rettgeri is an aerobic gram-negative bacillus that displays marked resistance against most of the antibiotics presently available. This organism causes infections usually confined to the urinary tract of certain types of compromised patients. Occasionally, it is recovered from soft tissue abscesses, and rarely from the blood and respiratory tract. Proteus rettgeri is notorious for causing nosocomial outbreaks of urinary tract infections in urological and physical medicine wards.Our experience with a patient who had bacteremia with a multi-drug resistant strain of Proteus rettgeri prompted a review of the literature concerning infections with this organism. The salient features of these reports are discussed and summarized. Data on the antibiotic sensitivity of 15 other strains of Proteus rettgeri are included.
Heartworm-associated respiratory disease (HARD) induced by immature adult Dirofilaria immitis in cats

A controlled, blind research study was conducted to define the initial inflammatory response and lung damage associated with the death of immature adult Dirofilaria immitis in cats as compared with cats developing adult heartworm infections and cats on preventive medication. Three groups of cats were utilized, 10 per group. All cats were infected with 100 third-stage (L3) larvae by subcutaneous injection. Group A cats were treated topically with selamectin (Revolution®; Zoetis) per label directions at 28 days post infection (PI) and once monthly for 8 months. Group B cats were treated orally with ivermectin (Ivomec®; Merial) at 150 μg/kg at 70 days PI, then every 2 weeks for 5 months. Group C cats were untreated PI. At baseline (Day 0) and on Days 70, 110, 168, and 240 PI, peripheral blood, serum, bronchial lavage, and thoracic radiographic images were collected on all cats. Upon completion of the study (Day 245), cats were euthanized and necropsies were conducted. Results were analyzed statistically between groups by ANOVA and by paired sample T testing for changes within the group over time. The selamectin-treated cats (Group A) did not develop radiographically evident changes throughout the study and were free of adult heartworms or worm fragments at necropsy. The heartworm life cycle was abbreviated with oral doses of ivermectin (Group B), shown by the absence of adult heartworms or worm fragments at necropsy. The early stage of immature adult worm in Group B cats, however, did induce severe pulmonary airway, interstitial, and arterial lung lesions, revealing that the abbreviated infection is a significant cause of respiratory pathology in cats. Cats in Groups B and C could not be differentiated based on radiographic changes, serologic antibody titers, complete blood count, or bronchoalveolar lavage cytology at any time point throughout the study. Eighty percent of cats in Group A and 100% of cats in Groups B and C became heartworm antibody positive at some time point post infection. The clinical implications of this study are that cats that become infected with immature adult heartworms may not develop fully mature heartworms and are only transiently heartworm antibody positive, but do develop Heartworm-Associated Respiratory Disease (HARD).
A high precision signal analysis system based on SoC

This paper descripts a high precision signal analysis system of SoC, which can accurately measure the signal amplitude, frequency, and other parameter. The FFT can analyze the amplitude of the signal after ADC collecting and windowing the data, and the Equal-precision frequency measurement model could accurately measure the signal. The signal analysis system depended on the method works accurately, stably, and high integrity, with a wide application.
Selenium and glutathione peroxidase: essential nutrient and antioxidant component of the immune system.

Dioxygen (02) is required by most plants and animals (aerobes) for the oxidation of carbohydrates (glucose principally), protein (amino acids) and lipids (fatty acids) which serves as the terminal acceptor in mitochondria of both hydrogen and electrons in the formation of metabolic water. For aerobic metabolism dioxygen is essential. Other forms of life, the anaerobes, are viable only in the absence of dioxygen, for dioxygen is toxic to anaerobic organisms. Aerobic life has thus evolved in a dioxygen environment having developed the necessary cellular defenses to thwart dioxygen toxicity.
Effectiveness of a Business Development Training for Rehabilitation Counselors Who Work With Consumers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired

The passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act has placed increased emphasis on business engagement for vocational rehabilitation agencies, yet many rehabilitation counselors are not p...
Limits on wave optics simulations in non-Kolmogorov turbulence

Wave Optics Simulations (WOS) are a valuable tool for exploring the effects of atmospheric turbulence on laser beam propagation and imaging. Obtaining accurate results from WOS requires careful selection of simulation parameters. Specifically, the inter-screen spacing, spatial sampling of source and receiver planes, and phase screen sampling are all important parameters. The parameter space for WOS in Kolmogorov turbulence is well characterized and while it is often assumed that similar requirements hold for simulation of non-Kolmogorov atmospheres, we find this is not the case. In this paper we will discuss the practical limits of modeling optical propagation in non-Kolmogorov turbulence using the split-step phase screen method underlying WOS.