cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stem cells: Painkillers caught in blood-cell trafficking

Haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells move from the bone marrow into the circulation to replenish normal blood-cell levels. Inhibiting a prostaglandin-mediated signalling pathway may promote this process. See Letter p.365 The haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) microenvironment supports progenitor cells producing new circulating blood cells yet prevents the inappropriate exit of immature cells into the bloodstream. This study identifies endogenous prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) as a component in the maintenance of this delicate balance. Louis M. Pelus and colleagues show that inhibition of endogenous PGE2 signalling by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) significantly increases the release of functional haematopoietic stem and progenitors from bone marrow into the peripheral blood, with additive effects when used in conjunction with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor. Tests in primates and human volunteers suggest a strategy that might be used therapeutically to enhance transplantation survival: administration of NSAIDs (aspirin, ibuprofen and meloxicam) enhances stem-cell mobilization, with faster haematologic recovery and enhanced long-term stem-cell repopulation of haematopoietic grafts.
Method for the determination of sub-ppm concentrations of perfluoroalkylsulfonate anions in water.

The determination of sub-ppm concentrations of aqueous perfluoroalkylsulfonate (PFS) anions, including perfluorooctylsulfonate (PFOS), has been accomplished with a relatively simple mass spectrometric procedure that does not require extraction of the analytes into an organic solvent or a chromatographic separation prior to injection into the negative-ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometer. Sample pretreatment was minimized and consisted of dilution of the aqueous samples of groundwater, surface water, tap water, and distilled water with acetonitrile, addition of dodecylsulfate (DDS) as an internal standard, and, in some cases, addition of known amounts of perfluorobutylsulfonate (PFBS) or PFOS for standard-addition experiments. The linear-response range for PFOS is 25.0 µg L−1 to 2.5 mg L−1. The lower limit of this range is three orders of magnitude lower than an equally straightforward chromatographic method. The relative errors for standard aqueous solutions containing only 25.0 µg L−1 and 2.5 mg L−1 PFOS are ±14% and ±7%, respectively, with 133 µg L−1 DDS as the internal standard. The detection limit and quantification limit for PFOS in these standards are 5.0 µg L−1 and 25.0 µg L−1, respectively. Six different PFS anions, containing three to eight carbon atoms, were identified and quantified in an aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) formulation using the method of standard additions. Two alkylsulfate anions and two perfluoroalkylcarboxylate anions were also identified in the AFFF formulation.
Ouabain-binding vesicles from skeletal muscle.

Abstract The intact sacrospinalis (back) muscle of a rabbit was injected with [ 3 H]ouabain and allowed to incubate for 20 min. The muscle was excised and homogenized and a microsomal preparation was made. This was placed on a sucrose density gradient and two protein bands were observed at 30 and 40% sucrose regions. Most of the [ 3 H]ouabain was associated with the dense band. If the dense band was loaded with Ca oxalate and placed on a density gradient, then both protein and ouabain migrated equally to the bottom of the gradient. If the 40% band was treated with EDTA, both protein and ouabain migrated to 33% sucrose. It was therefore concluded that ouabain-binding vesicles were associated with the 40% band. If the 40% band was loaded with Ca oxalate and then passed through a French press and placed again on a gradient, the ouabain migrated to 22% sucrose while the protein bands appeared at 17 and 32% sucrose and in the pellet. It was concluded that ouabain-binding vesicles were distinct from the major vesicle population, but were mechanically linked until the linkage was destroyed by mechanical disruption. Electron microscopy revealed that the dense band of the gradient contained terminal cisternae and transverse tubules attached to the terminal cisternae in triad or diad junctions. It was concluded that the 40% band consisted mainly of terminal cisternae and that the ouabain-binding vesicles were transverse tubules attached to terminal cisternae. Transverse tubules therefore may be identified specifically after homogenization.
Determination of oxalate in urine

Abstract A method is described for determination of oxalate in urine incorporating the use of a special centrifuge tube in which the oxalate is precipitated, washed, and determined by cerate oxidimetry. Water, saturated with CaC2O4 and preserved with pentachlorophenol, prevents loss of the precipitated CaC2O4 during the washing process. Dilute ammonia should not be used to wash the precipitate. The addition of a known quantity of Na2C2O4 to the urine before precipitation and use of a radioisotope-determined factor to correct for incomplete precipitation improve the accuracy of the results and permit the analysis to be completed in one day.
Combining deliberation, reactivity, and motivation in the context of a behavior-based robot architecture

Describes a hybrid mobile robot architecture that addresses three main challenges for robots living in human-inhabited environments: how to operate in dynamic and unpredictable environments, how to deal with high-level human commands, and how to be engaging and fun for human users. The architecture combines three components: deliberative planning, reactive control, and motivational drives. It has proven useful for controlling mobile robots in man-made environments. Results are reported for a fax delivery mission in a normal office environment.
Ectomycorrhizal sporophore distributions in a southeastern Appalachian mixed hardwood/conifer forest with thickets of Rhododendron maximum

Sporophore abundance of putatively ec- tomycorrhizal fungi was compared in a mature mixed hardwood/conifer forest inside of (1) versus outside of (2) Rhododendron maximum thickets (RmT). Ex- perimental blocks (1/4 ha) were established inside of (3) and outside of (3) RmT at the Coweeta Hy- drologic Laboratory in Macon County, North Caro- lina, USA. Litter and organic layer substrates were removed, composited and redistributed among 90 2 3 2m plots within the blocks. Plots received either 1RmT or 2RmT litter, and either 1RmT or 2RmT organic layers, or were unmanipulated for controls. Sporophores of 67 putatively ectomycorrhizal species were collected from the blocks. Species diversity and overall community structure were similar inside of and outside of RmTs, and no grouping was detected by substrate type. Differences within the ectomycor- rhizal fungus community were associated only weakly with environmental parameters, as indicated by or- dination. In light of these results, recent observations of ectomycorrhizal suppression and strong shifts in the proportions of morphotypes on tree seedlings in- side of RmT do not appear to be related to differ- ences in sporophore distributions. The changes in seedling mycobiont dominance in relation to RmT and the influence this has on seedling health should be examined directly from root tips.
Position of Regional Carbonate/Noncarbonate Boundary in Nearshore Sediments Along a Coast: Possible Climatic Indicator

In Holocene sediments along the Atlantic coast of eastern United States, the regional carbonate/noncarbonate boundary is located south of Miami, Florida. Study of the post-Cretaceous strata underlying the coastal plain and continental shelf indicates that this boundary has not remained fixed, but has shifted, presumably in response to changes of climate. In Upper Cretaceous strata the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary lies in central Florida. In Oligocene strata this boundary lies north of Cape Hatteras. In Miocene and Pliocene strata the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary is located at various localities in Georgia and northern Florida. Its movement to successively southward positions coincided with the times of cooling climate indicated by paleobotanical, paleobiological, and geochemical evidence. The carbonate/noncarbonate boundary appears to have shifted not only in response to the long-term climatic trends during the Tertiary but also in response to shorter term climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary. Assuming that climate has been the only factor influencing the location of this boundary during the Cenozoic Era, then position of the boundary enables one to compare Quaternary and pre-Quaternary climates. Using our analysis of the effects of climate on the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary, and accepting the school of thought that states that warmest Quaternary climates coincided with highest Quaternary sea levels, we would predict that the northernmost position of the boundary should be recorded in the highest emerged marginal marine deposits of Quaternary age on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Field evidence does not substantiate this prediction. In emerged Quaternary “terraces” the northernmost carbonate/noncarbonate boundary is located at about 27° N. lat, near its position during Late Cretaceous time. This coincidence suggests that during times of maximum Quaternary submergence the climate was only slightly warmer than it is today. A great northward shift of the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary did occur at least once during the Quaternary. Instead of being on the highest “terrace,” however, the resulting tropical strandline carbonate sediments are located near the outer edge of the continental shelf. The northern limit of these carbonates is Cape Hatteras, near the position of the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary during the time of widespread subtropical climate in the Oligocene Epoch. If the northernmost position of the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary is a reliable indicator of the time of maximum Quaternary warmth, then we must conclude that at least one time of great Quaternary warmth coincided not with a high sea level, but with a time of low sea level. The sea has reached its present level about 13,000 years after the last climatic peak inferred from the northernmost position of the carbonate/noncarbonate boundary.
PICTORIALLY ASSISTED RECALL OF PAST HORMONE USE IN CASE-CONTROL STUDIES

A small telephone interview study to evaluate the use of a pictorial memory aid in the recall of past hormone use was conducted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1986. The analysis presented here was restricted to postmenopausal women aged 45-74 years who had an intact uterus and who had taken hormone replacement therapy for six months or more. Spontaneous recall was compared with recall in which explicit mention of the use of the display was made. The display more than doubled the number of women who recalled both the name and the dose of their therapy. Studies which use memory aids should include questions to further document the usefulness of such aids.
Radiation efficiency assessment of bundled carbon nanotube antenna at terahertz frequency range

The radiation efficiency of bundled carbon nanotubes (BCNTs) for the fabrication of antennas in the terahertz frequency range is evaluated. The performance is compared against thin gold film, which is conventionally used for antenna fabrication. The macroscopic behavior of BCNTs is modeled by an anisotropic thin resistive sheet model and its surface resistivity is extracted from the theoretical distributed circuit model of a single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT). Also, a thin gold layer in terahertz band is characterized by the Drude-Smith model which calculates the theoretical conductivity of fabricated thin gold in optical frequency. Conventional half-wave strip antennas are designed to resonate from 1 THz to 50 THz and the method of moments (MoM) and the mixed potential integral equation (MPIE) techniques are utilized to calculate radiation efficiencies of the resonant strip antennas composed of BCNTs and thin gold film. The numerical simulation result shows that the radiation efficiency of a BCNT antenna is consistently lower than the efficiency of a gold film antenna in cases of BCNT equivalent density values up to 104 [CNTs/μm]. However, if equivalent density values above 104 [CNTs/μm] could ever be achieved, which are approximately three order of magnitude higher than the currently realizable density (10 [CNTs/μm]), BCNTs would outperform thin gold film at frequencies above 1 THz.
Self-Presentation when Sharing with Friends and Nonfriends

The results of past studies of sharing among friends and nonfriends have been mixed, with some studies finding that children share more with nonfriends than friends, and others finding either the reverse or no difference. This study examined the effects of self-presentational concerns on sharing with peers. Kindergartners, fourth- and eighth-graders shared with a peer (friend, acquaintance, or disliked peer) in either a "public" face-to-face interaction or through "secret" balloting where children believed responses were anonymous. Children shared more in public than secret balloting, and kindergartners and eighth graders shared more during secret balloting with friends than with acquaintances and disliked peers. During public balloting, eighth graders shared more with friends than with acquaintances and disliked peers, whereas younger children shared about the same with friends and acquaintances. The relevance of the findings for accounts of the development of peer relationships and prosocial behavior ar...
Noisy Channel Models for Corrupted Chinese Text Restoration and GB-to-Big5 Conversion

In this article, we propose a noisy channel/information restoration model for error recovery problems in Chinese natural language processing. A language processing system is considered as an information restoration process executed through a noisy channel. By feeding a large-scale standard corpus C into a simulated noisy channel, we can obtain a noisy version of the corpus N. Using N as the input to the language processing system (i.e., the information restoration process), we can obtain the output results C'. After that, the automatic evaluation module compares the original corpus C and the output results C', and computes the performance index (i.e., accuracy) automatically. The proposed model has been applied to two common and important problems related to Chinese NLP for the Internet: corrupted Chinese text restoration and GB-to-BIG5 conversion. Sinica Corpora version 1.0 and 2.0 are used in the experiment. The results show that the proposed model is useful and practical.
A Three-Dimensional Boundary-Integral Algorithm for Thermocapillary Motion of Deformable Drops

A three-dimensional boundary-integral algorithm has been developed to handle the tangential Marangoni stresses in thermocapillary motion of drops. Depending on whether the integration and observation points are on the same or different drops, singularity or near-singularity subtraction is used in the inhomogeneous term of the boundary-integral formulation. Integration is then performed analytically over flat triangles in the subtracted region. Relative trajectories for two deformable drops are calculated for different values of the drop size ratio, drop-to-medium thermal conductivity ratio, and viscosity ratio and compared to those for spherical and slightly deformable drops. Results indicate that deformation increases the minimum separation and inhibits coalescence but is not important enough for appropriate physical parameters to induce the capture or breakup behaviors observed in buoyancy. Interaction times calculated by artificially continuing spherical drop trajectories yield results accurate to within about 10%.
Differential expression of the myocyte enhancer factor 2 family of transcription factors in development: the cardiac factor BBF-1 is an early marker for cardiogenesis.

Abstract In the present study, we have used single chicken blastoderms of defined early developmental stages, beginning with the prestreak stage, stage 1 (V. Hamburger and H. L. Hamilton, J. Morphol. 88:49-92, 1951), to analyze the onset of cardiac myogenesis by monitoring the appearance of selected cardiac muscle tissue-specific gene transcripts and the functional expression of the myocyte enhancer factor 2 (MEF-2) proteins. Using gene-specific oligonucleotide primers in reverse transcriptase PCR assay, we have demonstrated that the cardiac myosin light-chain 2 (MLC2) and alpha-actin gene transcripts appear as early as stage 5, i.e., immediately after the cardiogenic fate assignment at stage 4. Consistent with this observation is the developmental expression pattern of DNA-binding activity of BBF-1, a cardiac muscle-specific member of the MEF-2 protein family, which also begins at stage 5 prior to MEF-2. Differential expression of DNA-binding complexes is also observed with another AT-rich DNA sequence (CArG box) as probe, but the binding pattern with the ubiquitous TATA-binding proteins remains unchanged during the same developmental period. Thus, the cardiogenic commitment and differentiation of the precardiac mesoderm, as exemplified by the appearance of cardiac MEF-2, MLC2, and alpha-actin gene products, occur earlier than previously thought and appear to be closely linked. The onset of skeletal myogenic program follows that of the cardiogenic program with the appearance of skeletal MLC2 at stage 8. We also observed that mRNA for the MEF-2 family of proteins appears as early as stage 2 and that for CMD-1, the chicken counterpart of MyoD, appears at stage 5. The temporal separation of activation of cardiac and skeletal MLC2 genes, which appears immediately after the respective fate assignments, and those of cardiac MEF-2 and CMD-1, which occur before, are consistent with the established appearance of the myogenic programs and with the acquisition pattern of the two tissue-specific morphological characteristics in the early embryo. The preferential appearance of BBF-1 activity in precardiac moesderm, relative to that of MEF-2, indicates that these two protein factors are distinct members of the MEF-2 family and provides a compelling argument in support of the potential role of BBF-1 as a regulator of the cardiogenic cell lineage determination, while cardiac MEF-2 might be involved in maintenance of the cardiac differentiative state.
Spinach: a liberty-based simulator for programmable network interface architectures

This paper presents Spinach, a new simulator toolset specifically designed to target programmable network interface architectures. Spinach models both system components that are common to all programmable environments (e.g., ALUs, control and data paths, registers, instruction processing) and components that are specific to the embedded systems and network interface environments (e.g., software-controlled scratchpad memory, hardware assists for DMA and medium access control).Spinach is built on the Liberty Simulation Environment (LSE) and exploits LSE's modularity to support easy reconfiguration of programmable network interface cards (NICs) and embedded systems, enabling wide design space exploration with little or no code variation. For example, the same underlying C code is used whether supporting a uniprocessor Gigabit network interface, a multiprocessor Gigabit interface, or a multiprocessor 10 Gigabit interface with a highly heterogeneous memory system. The only difference is in a small number of lines of high-level scripting code used to configure the various modules into a simulation model.Spinach is validated by modeling the Tigon-2 programmable Ethernet controller by Alteon Websystems running actual Ethernet processing firmware and by comparing the reported results to actual hardware benchmarks. Spinach is then used to obtain new insights about the performance of Gigabit and 10 Gigabit network interfaces.
Election Administration Finance in California Counties

Over the past decade, the federal and state governments have made large financial investments to improve election administration, but there is little to no understanding of the real workings and implications of election administration finance. This article takes a first look at election administration finance by examining election expenditures in California counties for fiscal years 1992 through 2008 using a public sector cost model. Regression analysis shows that economies of scale and voting technology are significant determinants of election expenditures, as are other factors affecting the cost of the production of election administration. Factors that are expected to affect the demand for election administration are generally shown not to be significant. These results will hopefully be beneficial for policy makers as they face important decisions about changes in voting technology and election administration.
Clinical and Taxonomic Status of Pathogenic Nonpigmented or Late-Pigmenting Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria

The history, taxonomy, geographic distribution, clinical disease, and therapy of the pathogenic nonpigmented or late-pigmenting rapidly growing mycobacteria (RGM) are reviewed. Community-acquired disease and health care-associated disease are highlighted for each species. The latter grouping includes health care-associated outbreaks and pseudo-outbreaks as well as sporadic disease cases. Treatment recommendations for each species and type of disease are also described. Special emphasis is on the Mycobacterium fortuitum group, including M. fortuitum, M. peregrinum, and the unnamed third biovariant complex with its recent taxonomic changes and newly recognized species (including M. septicum, M. mageritense, and proposed species M. houstonense and M. bonickei). The clinical and taxonomic status of M. chelonae, M. abscessus, and M. mucogenicum is also detailed, along with that of the closely related new species, M. immunogenum. Additionally, newly recognized species, M. wolinskyi and M. goodii, as well as M. smegmatis sensu stricto, are included in a discussion of the M. smegmatis group. Laboratory diagnosis of RGM using phenotypic methods such as biochemical testing and high-performance liquid chromatography and molecular methods of diagnosis are also discussed. The latter includes PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, hybridization, ribotyping, and sequence analysis. Susceptibility testing and antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the RGM are also annotated, along with the current recommendations from the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) for mycobacterial susceptibility testing.
Vision-related quality of life in patients with bilateral severe age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose To determine the quality of life (QOL) of patients with bilateral severe age-related macular degeneration (AMD) before macular translocation with 360° peripheral retinectomy. Design Prospective, consecutive, noncomparative case series. Methods An observational study assessed vision-related and general health QOL using the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) and the Medical Outcomes Study 12-item short form (SF-12) surveys, respectively. Mean QOL scores were correlated with patient age, duration of vision loss, and visual function. Mean QOL scores in study patients were compared with mean QOL scores in groups of patients with low vision, patients with AMD of varying severity, and reference populations. Main outcome measures National Eye Institute VFQ-25 and SF-12 QOL scores. Results Seventy patients with a mean age of 76.4 years were studied. Mean distance visual acuity (VA) was 62.4 (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters), mean near VA was 0.81 (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution), and mean reading speed was 74.9 words per minute. Important NEI VFQ-25 quality of vision subscales (general vision, difficulty with distance tasks, difficulty with near tasks) and vision-specific subscales (dependency, role difficulties, mental health, social function limitations) tended to correlate negatively with increasing patient age and duration of vision loss, but correlated positively with better VA and reading speed. The mean QOL scores for these important quality of vision and vision-specific subscales were significantly worse than or similar to mean scores in patients with low vision, and significantly worse than scores in patients with AMD of varying severity and a reference population. The mean SF-12 physical composite score in study patients was similar to that seen in patients with AMD of varying severity, but significantly higher than that in patients with low vision and a reference population. The SF-12 mental composite score in study patients was similar to those of all 3 comparison groups. Conclusions Patients with bilateral severe AMD have vision-related QOL similar to that of patients with low vision but significantly worse than those of patients with AMD of varying severity and persons without eye disease. This inability to perform vision-related daily tasks is not related to general health problems.
Embodied free will beliefs: Some effects of physical states on metaphysical opinions

The present research suggests that people’s bodily states affect their beliefs about free will. People with epilepsy and people with panic disorder, which are disorders characterized by a lack of control over one’s body, reported less belief in free will compared to people without such disorders (Study 1). The more intensely people felt sexual desire, physical tiredness, and the urge to urinate, the less they believed in free will (Study 2). Among non-dieters, the more intensely they felt hunger, the less they believed in free will. However, dieters showed a trend in the opposite direction (Study 3).
Pressure swing adsorption cycles for improved solvent vapor enrichment

A pressure swing adsorption (PSA)-solvent vapor recovery (SVR) process simulator was used to investigate new PSA cycle configurations designed for higher solvent vapor enrichment. These cycles were modifications of the four-step Skarstrom cycle used commercially for PSA-SVR and include the addition of a cocurrent blowdown step, and combinations of cocurrent blowdown and continuous/batch reflux steps. The recovery of gasoline vapor from tank filling operations was simulated with n-butane, n-heptane, and nitrogen as representatives of the light and heavy components in gasoline vapor, and carrier gas, respectively. Adding a cocurrent blowdown step increased the solvent vapor enrichment, depending mainly on the step ending pressure, not the step time. Both the continuous and batch reflux steps also increased the solvent vapor enrichment, but at the expense of an increased bed capacity factor. For similar increases in the solvent vapor enrichment, batch reflux led to significantly smaller bed capacity factors compared to continuous reflux and was thus superior for PSA-SVR. Overall PSA-SVR process performance improved markedly by adding cocurrent blowdown and batch reflux steps compared to the conventional four-step cycle.
Peptide‐specific activation of cytolytic CD4+T lymphocytes against tumor cells bearing mutated epitopes of K‐ras p21

Alterations in the ras p21 protein have been associated with both rodent and human neoplasia. Thus, mutated ras p21 proteins may bear unique antigenic epitopes for immune recognition, such as by T cells, which have been implicated in host antitumor activity. Synthetic peptides that mimic segments of mutated ras p21 have been reported to be immunogenic in mice in vivo, although detailed functional analyses remains undefined. Here, in a murine model, we explored and characterized distinct effector properties of host-derived T lymphocytes reactive to mutated ras peptides, which was consistent with the CD4+ T helper type 1 (Th1) subset. BALB/c mice (H-2d) were immunized with a purified peptide, 13 amino acids in length, containing the substitution of Gly (G12) to Val (V12) at position 12, which is commonly found in human carcinomas. An alpha beta T cell receptor-positive, CD3+, CD4+, CD8- T cell line was established, which expressed peptide-specific proliferation. Cytokine assays revealed the production of interleukin-2, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Moreover, antigen-specific cytotoxicity was demonstrable against: (1) Iad-bearing A20 tumor cells incubated with exogenously bound V12 peptide; and (2) A20 tumor cells transduced with the K-ras p21 oncogene encoding the corresponding point mutation. CD4(+)-mediated cytotoxicity was major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-restricted, as revealed by the absence of lysis against MHC class II- P815 targets, inhibition of A20 lysis with anti-Iad monoclonal antibodies, and induction of lysis against L cell targets transfected with E alpha A beta d. Independent isolation of a second CD4+ V12 line revealed a very similar cytolytic and MHC class II-restricted profile. Overall, these data demonstrated that peptide immunization produced a CD4+ Th1 response that specifically recognized tumor cells expressing endogenous activated K-ras epitopes, which may have implications for the development of peptide-based active immunotherapies.
Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Regulator XBP-1 Contributes to Effector CD8+ T Cell Differentiation during Acute Infection

The transcription factor X-box-binding protein-1 (XBP-1) plays an essential role in activating the unfolded protein response in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Transcribed XBP-1 mRNA is converted to its active form by unconventional cytoplasmic splicing mediated by inositol-requiring enzyme-1 (IRE-1) upon ER stress. We report activation of the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway in effector CD8+ T cells during the response to acute infection. Transcription of unspliced XBP-1 mRNA is up-regulated by IL-2 signals, while its splicing is induced after TCR ligation. Splicing of XBP-1 mRNA was evident during the expansion of Ag-specific CD8+ T cells in response to viral or bacterial infection. An XBP-1 splicing reporter revealed that splicing activity was enriched in terminal effector cells expressing high levels of killer cell lectin-like receptor G1 (KLRG1). Overexpression of the spliced form of XBP-1 in CD8+ T cells enhanced KLRG1 expression during infection, whereas XBP-1−/− CD8+ T cells or cells expressing a dominant-negative form of XBP-1 showed a decreased proportion of KLRG1high effector cells. These results suggest that, in the response to pathogen, activation of ER stress sensors and XBP-1 splicing contribute to the differentiation of end-stage effector CD8+ T cells.
The Elite and the Quest for Peace, Democracy, and Development in Ethiopia: Lessons to be Learnt

Ethnic Society, who has popularized Carlo Conti Rossini's description of Ethiopia as "un museo di popoli"—a museum of peoples—characterized the evolution of multiethnic Ethiopia as an "Amhara thesis," an "Oromo anti-thesis," and an "Ethiopian synthesis." Whatever the merits of Levine's historical analysis, the country moved to a crisis of major pro- portions whose effect was a revolutionary reconstitution of both state and society that relegated the country's ancien regime to the museum of his- tory. This put to a severe test both his thesis and the celebrated historical evolution of the country as a whole. And now, in less than two decades, the Tigrayan antithesis, the negation of his "Ethiopian synthesis"—to use Marxist dialectics for want of a better term—is in full swing—a far- reaching agenda for the remaking of Ethiopia, in a manner that redirects, if not fully reverses, the historical evolution of modern Ethiopia. The present experiment involves the objective of accomplishing two historical tasks: the tasks of creating a country that houses "nations, nationalities, and peoples" of equals and ending authoritarian rule by democratizing the Ethiopian state and society as a whole, as a precondi- tion for peace and development. However, as the result of the five accu- mulated grand failures of the Ethiopian elite in the twentieth century, the perennial quest for peace, democracy, and development continues to
Case study on the adaptation of interactive visualization applications to Web-based production for operational mesoscale weather models

Visualization is required for the effective utilization of data from a weather simulation. Appropriate mapping of user goals to the design of pictorial content has been useful in the development of interactive applications with sufficient bandwidth for timely access to the model data. When remote access to the model visualizations is required the limited bandwidth becomes the primary bottleneck. To help address these problems, visualizations are presented on a web page as a meta-representation of the model output and serve as an index to simplify finding other visualizations of relevance. To provide consistency with extant interactive products and to leverage their cost of development, the aforementioned applications are adapted to automatically populate a web site with images and interactions for an operational weather forecasting system.
Not Quite Colleagues: Issues of Power and Purview between Social Work and Psychiatry

Social workers, who provide more mental health services than any other group of professionals, interact regularly with psychiatrists toward whom they have complex feelings ranging from deference to resentment and distrust. Social work's historical search for identity and contemporary constraints of managed care add to the complexity of this relationship. This qualitative study of 30 clinical social workers offers new insights into the interweaving of power, hierarchy, payment, ethics, values, and clinical practice. Suggestions are offered for fostering meaningful, collaborative relationships, and for helping social workers cope with ethical dilemmas that arise when navigating psychiatric and traditional “social work” paradigms.
The demand for freight transportation: A micro approach

Abstract Most literature on freight demand has been macro economic in nature or related to inventory behavior of the firm. The paper below describes a theory of transport demand from the viewpoint of the classical theory of the firm. A demand function for transport is developed not only with respect to transport rate, but also with respect to transport time, loss and damage rates, packing costs, etc. Thus some transport quality variables are shown to enter the theory easily and yield intuitively plausible results. The model also yields a decision rule for transport mode selection in industries facing fixed market prices, namely: Choose the mode with the highest market price net of all of the transport variables. Unfortunately the rule cannot be generalized to monopoly situations. The model also makes the production and transport processes inter-dependent for the first time.
Photochemical locking and unlocking of an acyl nitroso dienophile in the Diels–Alder reaction

Abstract Photochromic Diels–Alder cycloadducts consisting of acyl nitroso dienophiles, which are known nitroxyl (HNO) donors, and dithienyldienes are presented. The dithienylethene-type photochromic cycloadducts were found to exhibit reversible electrocyclic ring closing and ring opening reactions to ‘lock’ or ‘unlock’ the retro Diels–Alder reaction, respectively. The release of an acyl nitroso dienophile via a retro Diels–Alder reaction at 92 °C was shown to occur only from the open or ‘unlocked’ form of a photochromic dithienylcyclopentene and not from the closed or ‘locked’ isomer.
Role of Water in Netropsin Binding to an A2T2 Hairpin DNA Site: Osmotic Stress Experiments

The formation of two different minor groove complexes between netropsin and A2T2 DNA has been attributed to specific binding and hydration effects. In this study, we have examined the effect of added osmolyte (e.g., TEG or betaine) on the binding of netropsin to a hairpin DNA, d(CGCGAATTCGCGTC-TCCGCGAATTCGCG)-3, having a single A2T2 binding site. Netropsin binding to this DNA construct is described by a two fractional site model with a saturation stoichiometry of 1:1. Free energy changes, ΔGi, for formation of both complex I and complex II decrease continuously as osmolyte is added (e.g., ΔG1 decreases by 1.3 kcal/mol and ΔG2 decreases by 0.8 kcal/mol in 4 m osmolyte vs buffer). The negative ΔCp values for formation of both complexes, I and II, are largely unaffected by the addition of osmolyte. Formation of complex I is accompanied by the acquisition of 31 water molecules vs 19 waters for complex II. The most significant difference between the two osmolytes is that betaine diminishes the fractional forma...
A Reflection Spectrum-Based Method for Determining the Maturity Grades of Fresh Flue-Cured Tobacco Leaves

To realize accurate and objective determination of the maturity grades of tobacco leaves,the visible/near infra-red spectrum(350-1 650 nm wavelength) of flue-cured Virginia(FCV) tobacco leaves of 5 maturity grades were measured and analyzed with an ASD Fieldspec FR2500 spectrometer.The characteristics of reflectance spectra of the leaves were obtained and a discriminant model for maturity grades was established and examined.The result showed that the visible reflectance spectra in 503-651 nm of tobacco leaves of different maturity grades were significantly different.A Fisher's linear discriminant model with reflectance of 514 nm,629 nm and 650 nm was developed by stepwise regression and further tested and calibrated.The accuracies of training set and calibration set were 98% and 97%,respectively.This hyper-spectrum-based model for determining the maturity grades of fresh flue-cured tobacco leaves was fairly stable in performance and it seems to be feasible to accurately identify leaf maturity grades with spectrometry.
Hydratation Technology for the Storage and Transportation of Natural Gas

The storage and transportation of natural gas in the form of natural gas hydrate(NGH) is a new method with high security and low cost.This technology for natural gas storage and transportation is discussed from 4 aspects: preparation,storage,transportation and decomposition of NGH,and relative problems are analyzed.At last,the application of NGH technology is predicted.
Transesophageal echocardiography during cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Echocardiography has played a major role in understanding and advancing the mechanism of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Recently, TEE has contributed to understanding the physiology of blood flow during CPR, evaluating methods of CPR, and in rapid diagnosis of arrest victims.
EVALUATION OF FUNCTION OF MITRAL VALVE AFTER HOMOTRANSPLANTATION IN THE DOG.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Nine dogs were studied 3 to 8 months after total orthotopic homotransplantation of the mitral valve. Another dog, which had mitral insufficiency of 3 years’ duration, was studied before and 6 weeks after replacement of the anterior leaflet. Two dogs were found to have completely normally functioning valves, 1 had pure mitral stenosis, 2 had mild mitral stenosis and associated mild mitral insufficiency, and 3 had mild or moderate mitral insufficiency. One animal had severe mitral insufficiency, and the dog with transplantation of the anterior leaflet had normal mitral valve function. One dog, restudied 16 months postoperatively, shows no deterioration of the good results displayed early after surgery. Its ability to increase the cardiac output nearly threefold above the resting value in response to exercise demonstrates the excellent function of the left ventricle and transplanted valve. In normal dogs, minimal “mitral regurgitation” is usual. This factor and the problem of nonrepresentative sampling from the left atrium render the upstream-sampling dye method for quantitation of regurgitation of limited reliability.
Progression Reconstruction from Unsynchronized Biological Data using Cluster Spanning Trees

Identifying the progression-order of an unsynchronized set of biological samples is crucial for comprehending the dynamics of the underlying molecular interactions. It is also valuable in many applied problems such as data denoising and synchronization, tumor classification and cell lineage identification. Current methods that attempt solving this problem are ultimately based either on polynomial and piece-wise approximation of the unknown generating function or its reconstruction through the use of spanning trees. Such approaches face difficulty when it is necessary to factor-in complex relationships within the data such as partial ordering or bifurcating or multifurcating progressions. We propose the notion of Cluster Spanning Trees (CST) that can model both linear as well as the aforementioned complex progression relationships in data. Through a number of experiments on synthetic data sets as well as datasets from the cell cycle, cellular differentiation, and phenotypic screening, we show that the proposed CST approach outperforms the previous approaches in reconstructing the temporal progression of the data.
Utilizing Technology to Develop and Maintain Professional Caring Relationships

Care is the cornerstone of all successful education. Teacher educators who care deeply about their teacher candidates are the heart of purposeful teaching. A positive professional relationship with a teacher educator can drastically impact a teacher candidate’s collegiate experience in areas of scholarship, motivation, engagement, and self-confidence. Yet many college students report never having developed a caring relationship with a professor. Technology offers a unique opportunity for teacher educators to develop caring professional relationships with teacher candidates. Today’s teacher candidates are constantly connected, spending over 6 hours daily on their electronic devices. Teacher educators should use technology to their advantage to meet students where they are: on their devices. Teacher educators serve as role models to teacher candidates who will ultimately care about their future K-12 students as they were cared for. Teacher educators should utilize technology to develop, strengthen, and maintain caring professional relationships with teacher candidates by setting up meaningful avenues of communication, modelling a professional online presence, and praising teacher candidates. The role of teacher educators is crucial, but few studies have examined the significance of teacher educators as caring role models. This article reviews relevant literature and offers three technology-fused suggestions which teacher educators can utilize to develop, foster, and maintain caring professional relationships. Findings from this literature review indicate there is a need for further empirical research.
SiC-Based Z-Source Resonant Converter With Constant Frequency and Load Regulation for EV Wireless Charger

Traditional load regulation methods for a resonant converter mainly rely on frequency modulation. It is always a tradeoff between the design of the resonant network and the range of load. Especially for wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, the resonant network usually has a high quality factor. Small variation on frequency leads to huge drop in gain and efficiency. Due to this problem, many WPT systems are unregulated and they need one or two more front-end stages to regulate the dc bus voltage and perform power factor correction (PFC). In order to lower the cost and complexity of two- or three-stages structure, a single-stage solution with a silicon carbide (SiC) based Z-source resonant converter (ZSRC) was recently proposed. The Z-source network provides high reliability as being immune to shoot-through problems. Additionally, a ZSRC can boost the dc bus voltage while the traditional voltage-source inverter can only produce a lower voltage. However, the load regulation of this new topology has not been addressed. Two effective load regulation methods with constant frequency are presented for this SiC-based ZSRC specifically. Operation principle of the two load regulation methods are described in this paper. Experimental results based on a 200-W scale-down prototype with a full-bridge series resonant dc–dc converter are presented to illustrate the mechanism of these two methods.
The “Katz Effect” on the Random Coil Model for Polymer Chains

The x-ray patterns of natural rubber in the relaxed and extended states led J.R. Katz and others to develop a random coil model for polymer chains. The “Katz Effect” which was repeated by H. Mark helped to establish a relationship between mechanical deformation and concomitant molecular events in all macromolecules.
The Practicality of Votive Culture

Votive practice may be understood as a technique or ritual procedure that operates ad hoc, that is, as an intervention tasked to solve a particular problem. People make a trip to a shrine—an altar ...
Impact of Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure on Long-Term Mortality in Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Treated With Parenteral Trepostinil.

Background The clinical impact of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) on long-term mortality among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) has been incompletely reported, particularly in relation to concomitant treprostinil administration. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of PCWP on long-term mortality in PAH patients treated with parenteral treprostinil. Methods We studied a cohort of 743 patients with PAH treated with parenteral treprostinil therapy. The long-term all-cause mortality was compared in patients with baseline mean PCWP ≤ 8 mmHg, 8 11 mmHg over 4-year follow-up. Results Of the 743 patients studied, 280 patients (37.7%) had a baseline mean PCWP ≤ 8 mmHg, 233 patients (31.4%) had a mean PCWP of >8 mmHg and ≤11 mmHg, and 230 patients (31.0%) had a mean PCWP >11 mmHg. While patients with higher PCWP had higher mean right atrial and PA pressures, no difference was noted in cardiac output and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR). All-cause mortality was similar between patients with PCWP ≤8 mmHg, 8 11 mmHg at 1 year (10.4% vs 9.9% vs 10.0%, p = 0.980) and 4 years (16.8% vs 21.9% vs 19.2%, p = 0.353) respectively. In multivariate analysis, PCWP was not independently predictive of 4-year all-cause mortality [HR 1.00, 95%CI 0.95–1.05, p = 0.98 (per mmHg)]. Predictors of 4-year mortality included older age [HR 1.02, 95%CI 1.00–1.03, p = 0.0091 (per year)], non-​Caucasian race, and higher PVR [HR 1.06, 95% CI 1.04–1.08, p Conclusions In this study of patients with PAH receiving parenteral treprostinil, PCWP was not associated with long-term all-cause mortality. Further studies examining prognostic indicators in patients with PAH optimised on guideline-based therapies are warranted.
Tilting of Horizontal Shear Vorticity and the Development of Updraft Rotation in Supercell Thunderstorms

AbstractThe question of how rotation arises in sheared updrafts is analyzed using the shear and curvature vorticity framework. Local rotation exists where the shear and curvature vorticity have a similar magnitude and the same sign, such that parcels are in near-solid-body rotation. It is shown that the tilting terms of the vertical vorticity equation cannot explain the development of local rotation in the canonical cases where the horizontal vorticity is either purely streamwise or purely crosswise. Rather, vertical shear vorticity develops if crosswise vorticity is tilted, and vertical curvature vorticity develops if streamwise vorticity is tilted. To analyze how local rotation develops, two simulations of updrafts in an environment with crosswise and mostly streamwise vorticity, respectively, are discussed. A trajectory analysis is performed and shear and curvature vorticity budgets are analyzed. It is found that much of the horizontal vorticity near the updraft becomes streamwise, which results from p...