cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Same-Day Detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from Spinach by Using Electrochemiluminescent and Cytometric Bead Array Biosensors

Contamination of fresh produce with Escherichia coli O157:H7 and other pathogens commonly causes food-borne illness and disease outbreaks. Thus, screening for pathogens is warranted, but improved testing procedures are needed to allow reproducible same-day detection of low initial contamination levels on perishable foods, and methods for detecting numerous pathogens in a single test are desired. Experimental procedures were developed to enable rapid screening of spinach for E. coli O157:H7 by using multiplex-capable immunological assays that are analyzed using biosensors. Detection was achieved using an automated electrochemiluminescent (ECL) assay system and a fluorescence-based cytometric bead array. Using the ECL system, less than 0.1 CFU of E. coli O157:H7 per gram of spinach was detected after 5 h of enrichment, corresponding to 6.5 h of total assay time. Using the cytometric bead array, less than 0.1 CFU/g was detected after 7 h of enrichment, with a total time to detection of less than 10 h. These results illustrate that both biosensor assays are useful for rapid detection of E. coli O157:H7 on produce in time frames that are comparable to or better than those of other testing formats. Both methods may be useful for multiplexed pathogen detection in the food industry and other testing situations.
Who Votes in Latin America? A Test of Three Theoretical Perspectives

Previous studies of electoral participation in Latin America have focused on the political and institutional factors that influence country differences in the aggregate level of turnout. This article provides a theoretical and empirical examination of the individual-level factors that have an impact on citizens’ propensity to vote. We test three theoretical perspectives that have been used to explain electoral participation in industrialized democracies (voters’ resources, voters’ motivations, and mobilization networks). Using a series of logistic and hierarchical models, we demonstrate that the demographic characteristics of voters (age and education) and citizens’ insertion in mobilizing networks (civic organizations and the working place) are strong predictors of electoral participation in Latin America. Our analysis also confirms the importance of contextual and institutional variables to explain turnout in the region.
The application of automatic surface lights to improve airport safety

The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) Airport Surface Traffic Automation (ASTA) program, part of an effort to develop new techniques for managing airport traffic, is discussed. ASTA focuses on advanced surveillance, communications, and automation techniques, with the objectives of improving airport safety, reducing delays, and increasing efficiency. Particular attention is given to the first phase of the ASTA program, ASTA-1, which calls for the development of a system of automatic runway status lights located at entrances to runways and in front of positions from which takeoffs commonly begin. Both types of ASTA-1 lights are designed for fully automatic operation in all-weather conditions. MIT Lincoln Laboratory is working on a demonstration of the ASTA-1 system at Boston's Logan International Airport. This system will operate based on live airport traffic and will validate the operational concept using a scale model of the airport plus surveillance displays. It will not at this stage involve actual surface lights or equipment in the control tower. >
The Effect of Source Competence on Worker Attitudes.

The effect of manipulating source competence, task level, and social cues on worker attitudes was examined in an experimental study. One hundred and eighty five business students participated in a study involving a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. The design partitions were: source competence (high versus low), task level (enriched versus unenriched), and social cues (positive versus neutral). Significant multivariate main effects for source competence and social cues on supervision satisfaction were found in the hypothesized direction. In addition, a significant source competence x task level x social cues multivariate interaction on work satisfaction was also found in the hypothesized direction
Alteration of protein kinase C activity after transient focal cerebral ischemia in mice using in vitro [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate binding autoradiography

Changes in the regional distribution of protein kinase C (PKC) after transient focal cerebral ischemia in SV-129 mice were assessed by quantitative autoradiography using [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate ([3H]PDBu) binding. [3H]PDBu binding did not change up to 10 min after reperfusion of 3 h ischemia, but at 1 h after reperfusion markedly decreased to 40-50% of control (pre-ischemia) in the ipsilateral striatum and the middle cerebral artery (MCA) region of cortex in SV-129 mice. The binding decreased to 20% of control at 3-7 days after reperfusion, but did not change in the ipsilateral anterior cerebral artery (ACA) territory or the contralateral brain. In the ipsilateral substantia nigra, which lies outside the ischemic zone, [3H]PDBu binding was not significantly changed compared to the control values (pre-ischemia) at early phase (up to 3 h after reperfusion), but marked reduction of the binding was observed 1 day after reperfusion. After 3 h ischemia followed by 3 h reperfusion, the morphological damage and the decrease in [3H]PDBu binding in the ipsilateral striatum and the MCA region of cortex was smaller in mice lacking the expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (type I NOS) gene mutant mice compared to wild-type (SV-129 and C57black/6) mice. Our data suggest that postischemic alterations of PKC binding activity were observed in the ischemic and non-ischemic lesions in the mouse brain.
Dynamical Processes of Equatorial Atmospheric Angular Momentum

The dynamical processes that drive intraseasonal equatorial atmospheric angular momentum (EAAM) fluctuations are examined with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis data. The primary methodology involves the regression of relevant variables including the equatorial bulge, mountain, and friction torques, surface pressure, streamfunction, and outgoing longwave radiation, against the time derivative of the two components and the amplitude of the EAAM vector. The results indicate that the observed 10-day westward rotation of the EAAM vector corresponds to the propagation of a zonal wavenumber-1, antisymmetric, Rossby wave normal mode. Additional findings suggest that fluctuations in the amplitude of the EAAM vector are driven by poleward-propagating Rossby waves excited by the latent heating within equatorial mixed Rossby–gravity waves and also by wave–wave interaction among planetary waves. Both of these processes can induce surface pressure anomalies that amplify the EAAM vector via the equatorial bulge torque. The Antarctic and Greenland mountain torques were found to drive large fluctuations in the amplitude of the EAAM vector. Both the friction torque and wave–zonal-mean flow interaction were shown to dampen the EAAM amplitude fluctuations. A comparison of the EAAM dynamics in the atmosphere with that in an aquaplanet GCM suggests that the mountain torque also drives fluctuations in the phase speed of the atmospheric wave field associated with the EAAM vector, and it confines the wave–wave interaction to planetary scales.
Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Analysis Detecting a Community-Based Tuberculosis Outbreak among Persons Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) was used to investigate an increase in tuberculosis (TB) among noninstitutionalized human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons in King County, Washington. Using the IS6110 insertion sequence, RFLP analysis was done on Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from 18 HIV-infected patients and 10 randomly selected patients without HIV risk factors. Six HIV-infected patients with the same M. tuberculosis strain had contact at one or more of three bars as their only common exposure. Two other HIV-infected persons, a patient and a health care worker who had close contact, had matching strains. Isolates from the 10 remaining HIV-infected patients and the 10 patients without HIV risk factors had different DNA patterns. Analysis of RFLP patterns revealed a community outbreak of TB among HIV-infected persons who had not been previously linked following conventional investigation by the health department. This technique deserves further evaluation as an epidemiologic tool in the investigation of TB.
Stability analysis of social foraging swarms

In this article we specify an M-member "individual-based" continuous time swarm model with individuals that move in an n-dimensional space according to an attractant/repellent or a nutrient profile. The motion of each individual is determined by three factors: i) attraction to the other individuals on long distances; ii) repulsion from the other individuals on short distances; and iii) attraction to the more favorable regions (or repulsion from the unfavorable regions) of the attractant/repellent profile. The emergent behavior of the swarm motion is the result of a balance between inter-individual interactions and the simultaneous interactions of the swarm members with their environment. We study the stability properties of the collective behavior of the swarm for different profiles and provide conditions for collective convergence to more favorable regions of the profile.
Monte Carlo simulation of electron swarm parameters in O2

Oxygen plasmas have found numerous applications in plasma processing, such as reactive sputtering, dry etching of polymers, oxidation, and resist removal of semiconductors. Swarm and transport coefficients are essential for better understanding and modelling of these gas discharge processes. The electron swarms in a gas under the influence of an electric field can be simulated with the help of a Monte Carlo method. The swarm parameters evaluated are compared with experimental results.
Applications of integrated assessment modeling to climate change

Climate change studies are often interdisciplinary by nature, incorporating many domains of science, economics, and political theory. Integrated assessment (IA) aims to bring diverse scientific, economics and social science expertise together to provide analysis and advice that comprehensively addresses all or at least many aspects of the climate change issue. IA methods have been applied to many areas of climate change providing insights into areas such as optimal timing of emission reductions, weighting of different greenhouse gases, or impacts of biofuel policies. Additionally, IAs have identified key uncertainties that should be priorities of future research, such as the need to understand oceanic heat uptake in order to better constrain climate sensitivity and predict future timing of temperature change. These assessments have also served to establish ongoing communication within the community of researchers, and between researchers and policy makers. In complex scientific issues it is often difficult for policy makers and the public to sort out conflicting scientific views, and an authoritative assessment process can provide consensus views on the issue, accepting that in some cases the “consensus” may be that some aspects of the issue remain unresolved. This review explores the history and applications of these IAs, and identifies avenues for future emphasis. We briefly review the whole field of IAs of climate change, but focus on the role of formal computational frameworks in IA models. WIREs Clim Change 2011 2 27–44 DOI: 10.1002/wcc.93 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website
On the applicability of the pseudospectral Legendre method for edge detection

The pseudospectral Legendre method is utilized to develop a gradient detector. This detector is proposed in this communication for the detection of edges in discrete images. The detector can be applied in both the horizontal and vertical directions. It is a separable detector where the smoothing orthogonal part resembles a one-dimensional notch filter. Discrete Canny's criteria values of the detector are similar to those of other known basic derivative filters. An example is given in which this detector is utilized and its applicability and validity are supported using comparison results from the use of the Sobel filter. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Concise Review: Inner Ear Stem Cells—An Oxymoron, But Why?

Hearing loss, caused by irreversible loss of cochlear sensory hair cells, affects millions of patients worldwide. In this concise review, we examine the conundrum of inner ear stem cells, which obviously are present in the inner ear sensory epithelia of nonmammalian vertebrates, giving these ears the ability to functionally recover even from repetitive ototoxic insults. Despite the inability of the mammalian inner ear to regenerate lost hair cells, there is evidence for cells with regenerative capacity because stem cells can be isolated from vestibular sensory epithelia and from the neonatal cochlea. Challenges and recent progress toward identification of the intrinsic and extrinsic signaling pathways that could be used to re-establish stemness in the mammalian organ of Corti are discussed.
Fractional weak discrepancy and interval orders

The fractional weak discrepancywd"F(P) of a poset P=(V,@?) was introduced in [A. Shuchat, R. Shull, A. Trenk, The fractional weak discrepancy of a partially ordered set, Discrete Applied Mathematics 155 (2007) 2227-2235] as the minimum nonnegative k for which there exists a function f:V->R satisfying (i) if [email protected]?b then f(a)[email protected]?f(b) and (ii) if [email protected]?b then |f(a)-f(b)|@?k. In this paper we generalize results in [A. Shuchat, R. Shull, A. Trenk, Range of the fractional weak discrepancy function, ORDER 23 (2006) 51-63; A. Shuchat, R. Shull, A. Trenk, Fractional weak discrepancy of posets and certain forbidden configurations, in: S.J. Brams, W.V. Gehrlein, F.S. Roberts (Eds.), The Mathematics of Preference, Choice, and Order: Essays in Honor of Peter C. Fishburn, Springer, New York, 2009, pp. 291-302] on the range of the wd"F function for semiorders (interval orders with no induced 3+1) to interval orders with no n+1, where n>=3. In particular, we prove that the range for such posets P is the set of rationals that can be written as r/s, where [email protected][email protected]?r =2, for each r satisfying [email protected][email protected]?(n-2)(s-1) there is an interval order having such an optimal forcing cycle and containing non+1.
Improving Care for Patients With Chronic Heart Failure in the Community: The Importance of a Disease Management Program

Study objective: Utilizing a comparison group of patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) discharged to their primary care physicians, we sought to determine if disease management in a short-term, aggressive-intervention heart failure clinic (HFC) following hospital discharge is associated with improved outcomes. Design: Chart review. Setting: An integrated health-care center serving a tristate area. Patients: Inclusion criteria were discharge from the hospital with a primary diagnosis of CHF, outpatient follow-up within the hospital system, and the presence of left ventricular systolic dysfunction as the basis for CHF. Patients were categorized into group 1 if they were referred to the HFC after hospital discharge, and into group 2 if follow-up care was provided by their primary care physician. Measurements and results: There were 38 patients in group 1 and 63 patients in group 2. There was a trend toward a shorter time to the first outpatient visit following discharge (11 days vs 15 days, p 0.09), more outpatient visits within 90 days (10 visits vs 2 visits, p < 0.001), and more patient-initiated contacts (four contacts vs one contact, p < 0.001) in group 1 compared to group 2, respectively. The combined hospital readmission and mortality rate at 90 days (10% vs 30%, p < 0.018) and 1 year (21% vs 43%, p < 0.02) was lower in group 1. There was a 77% relative risk reduction for 30-day hospital readmission in favor of group 1, and a statistically lower rate of readmissions at 90 days and 1 year. Utilization and maintenance of standardized CHF medications were significantly higher in patients who attended the HFC. Conclusions: A comprehensive disease management program for patients discharged with a diagnosis of CHF resulted in fewer rehospitalizations and improved event-free survival compared to patients followed up by their primary care physicians. (CHEST 2002; 122:906 –912)
Sort-Merge feature selection and fusion methods for classification of unstructured video

We explore the problem of rapid automatic semantic tagging of video frames of unstructured (unedited) videos. We apply the Sort-Merge algorithm for feature selection on a large (≪ 1000) heterogeneous feature set for videos showing lectures, to quickly locate low-level image features most predictive for concepts such as “key frame with text” or “key frame with computer source code”. For evaluation, we introduce a “keeper” heuristic for feature retention, which provides a baseline comparison. We then compare early fusion and late fusion of diverse feature types; based on experiments on 12,395 frames, we find that in general late computation cost, compared to early fusion. However, mergers of redundant feature types do not necessarily improve performance over single feature types; exploration of both merged and unmerged performance is necessary.
Mode of inheritance of emotionality in the mouse (Mus musculus): sex differences and the effects of trials and illumination.

Inbred and hybrid mice (N = 720) were tested in an open field to determine elimination differences as a function of inbred group, sex, trials, and illumination condition and to determine mode of inheritance of elimination. A/J, BALB/CJ, and DBA/2J inbred mice were more emotional than C57BL/6J inbred mice, male mice were more emotional than female mice, and emotionality increased as a function of trials. Emotionality was significantly lower for mice tested with dim illumination than for mice tested with bright illumination. Under the condition of bright illumination, the mode of inheritance of emotionality was dominant for both male and female mice, while under the dim illumination condition, the mode of inheritance was dominant for male mice but variable for female mice. The sex differences in mode of inheritance were possibly due to different adaptive functions of the elimination response under the two conditions of illumination. Elimination under bright illumination was possibly related primarily to emo...
Light and Excess Manganese Implications for Oxidative Stress in Common Bean

The effect of light intensity on antioxidants, antioxidant enzymes, and chlorophyll content was studied in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) exposed to excess Mn. Leaves of bean genotypes contrasting in Mn tolerance were exposed to two different light intensities and to excess Mn; light was controlled by shading a leaflet with filter paper. After 5 d of Mn treatment ascorbate was depleted by 45% in leaves of the Mn-sensitive genotype ZPV-292 and by 20% in the Mn-tolerant genotype CALIMA. Nonprotein sulfhydryl groups and glutathione reductase were not affected by Mn or light treatment. Ten days of Mn-toxicity stress increased leaf ascorbate peroxidase activity of cv ZPV-292 by 78% in low light and by 235% in high light, and superoxide dismutase activity followed a similar trend. Increases of ascorbate peroxidase and superoxide dismutase activity observed in cv CALIMA were lower than those observed in the susceptible cv ZPV-292. The cv CALIMA had less ascorbate oxidation under excess Mn-toxicity stress. Depletion of ascorbate occurred before the onset of chlorosis in Mn-stressed plants, especially in cv ZPV-292. Lipid peroxidation was not detected in floating leaf discs of mature leaves exposed to excess Mn. Our results suggest that Mn toxicity may be mediated by oxidative stress, and that the tolerant genotype may maintain higher ascorbate levels under stress than the sensitive genotype.
Holding therapy in Britain: historical background, recent events, and ethical concerns

Holding therapy, an intervention often used in the treatment of foster and adopted children, has been rejected by professional groups on grounds of lack of evidentiary support and of potential harm...
Gene Products as the Motivating Force in the Prostate Cell’s Response to Androgens

Considering that the prostate gland is simply an accessory organ of the male reproductive tract and that its function is still poorly understood, it, none the less, provides a significant focus for modern biomedical research. The prostate is a model organ to study the mechanism of action of steroid hormones. It is unique in its exquisite dependence on androgenic steroids for development, growth and function. It has also provided an important model system to study the interaction between stromal and epithelial cells in organ function. Beyond this, the preponderance of human pathological conditions which are the result of benign and malignant prostate disease provides strong impetus to our need to understand this gland and the mechanism of its hormonal dependence.
Chylomicron Content and Total Lipids of Blood Plasma as Determined on Dogs.

The method described by Gage and Fish1 of studying the visible lipemia of the blood by means of the dark-field microscope is simple and requires only 1 drop of blood and a few minutes to count the chylomicrons. By using a net micrometer in the eyepiece of the microscope and by counting very rapidly the chylomicrons in each small square, a fairly accurate count is made. An accuracy within the limits of experimental error in many physical measurements is obtained.Since the chylomicrons have been shown to be dependent on the fatty portion of the diet, it was thought that the determination of the chylomicrons by the dark-field microscope might give a measure of the total amount of fat present. It was the purpose of the present investigation to find out if the chylomicrons measure the total amount of fat present or what the relationship may be between the fat in the blood determined by chemical means and the chylomicrons.In the present study in which dogs were used, blood was taken from the heart, in order to ...
352 FEELINGS OF DISCRIMINATION IN PERSONS LIVING WITH HIV.

Background Despite improved biological understanding and lay education about HIV disease, a stigma persists for persons living with HIV (PLWH). Fears of contamination, assumptions of promiscuity, insurance concerns, and even condemnation by the medical profession are likely contributors to this psychological burden. Not surprisingly, social support has been inversely associated with depression, suicide, and disease outcomes. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent and characteristics of feelings of discrimination in a sample of PLWH. Methods A voluntary, IRB-approved questionnaire was offered to patients presenting to the University of Kentucky HIV clinic. In addition to demographic information, participants were asked, "Do you ever feel discriminated against? If so, how? " The anonymous responses were then analyzed with regard to offered demographic variables and classified into themes using grounded response theory. Two independent reviewers (A.R.H., D.B.) initially classified responses with disparities resolved by a third reviewer (M.J.L.). Results Of the 123 surveys delivered, 102 (82.9%) were returned. Demographic information finds: mean age 40.6 6 9.1 (22-67); 83% men; 80% Caucasian, 15% African American, 3% Hispanic, and 1% Asian; 67% are men who have sex with men (MSM), 14% indicate high-risk heterosexual activity (HRH), 4 (4%) intravenous drug use, 2% report blood exposure, and 13% do not know their HIV risk factor; 50% have depression, and 28.4% have anxiety. Eighty-eight completed the discrimination item, with 35 (40%) answering affirmatively. Major themes to emerge (examples) include societal ("third-class citizen "), institutional ("the court systems don9t understand "), ignorance ("only if people are uneducated "), medical ("nurses act weird "), interpersonal ("some are afraid to touch you "), and self-imposed feelings ("I feel like a leper "). Of the 53 negative responses, 15 (28%) suffer no discrimination because no one is aware of their disease. There were no significant correlations between demographics and feelings of discrimination. Conclusions The data suggest that feelings of discrimination indeed persist but may actually be less than previously reported. Many who do not harbor such feelings attribute this to nondisclosure. Possible explanations of these findings are both improved societal acceptance and advances in HIV treatment. Further research is needed to better understand and eradicate discrimination against PLWH.
The autoscopic phenomenon: case report and review of literature.

This paper presents the case report of a 28-year-old man with a rare form of autoscopy. His appearance when he was admitted suggested the possibility of "flash back," due to his long history of abuse of psychotomimetic amphetamines and LSD. The complete psychiatric history and evaluation made it clear that the diagnosis should be that of schizophrenia. He was described as a solitary, withdrawn person, who had lost drive and was emotionally blunted. He often experienced feelings of unreality and appeared to be almost continually deluded and hallucinated. His main delusions were centered on the phenomenon of "autoscopy." The uniqueness of this case is the patient's delusion of watching himself on a television screen acting as one of the "stars."
A Human Education

Normally, sentences introducing an academic talk try to achieve their end in the least obtrusive fashion possible. After an opening that is supposed to hook the audience gracefully, the next few lines should direct it to the paper’s topic without prolonging uncertainty or testing patience, such as by going on about what everybody already knows. They should explain how certain developments in a given and familiar scholarly conversation raise a question in which there is something significantly at stake. What kind of question? One that is as concrete as possible, not the least so that the proposed approach to responding to it may be equally concrete and well-defined, and build on previous work in the field. Having reviewed how this work broaches a significant problem, and having sketched out a promising line of response, the normal introduction would then culminate in the announcement of a central thesis. This is the talk’s main point.†
Stability of Interconnected Systems

This chapter introduces a class of interconnected systems and derives a stability test from the dissipativity characteristics of the subsystems. This test has the form of a linear matrix inequality (LMI) which means that it can be checked with standard convex optimization packages. The decision variables of this LMI serve as the coefficients of a Lyapunov function constructed from the storage functions associated with the dissipativity properties of the subsystems. The rest of the chapter specializes this stability test to subsystems with first finite \(L_2\) gain and, next, passivity properties. Further elaborating on passivity, the last section identifies special interconnection structures where the feasibility of the LMI has analytical characterizations that give insight into the interplay between interconnection structure and stability properties.
The Status Quo and the Future

One of the great challenges in dopaminergic structure-activity relationship studies is that the elements of the dopamine molecule can be incorporated within the matrix of a variety of ring systems, with retention of a high degree of potency and activity with respect to at least a portion of the spectrum of biological effects manifested by dopamine itself. Structures 1–6 illustrate some representative ring systems which have been studied.
Conformational States of Cytochrome P450 Oxidoreductase Evaluated by Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Using Ultrafast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy.

NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CYPOR) was shown to undergo large conformational rearrangements in its functional cycle. Using a new Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) approach based on femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy (TA), we determined the donor–acceptor distance distribution in the reduced and oxidized states of CYPOR. The unmatched time resolution of TA allowed the quantitative assessment of the donor–acceptor FRET, indicating that CYPOR assumes a closed conformation in both reduced and oxidized states in the absence of the redox partner. The described ultrafast TA measurements of FRET with readily available red–infrared fluorescent labels open new opportunities for structural studies in chromophore-rich proteins and their complexes.
Characteristics of Activities for Persons with Dementia at the Mild, Moderate, and Severe Stages

Purpose To understand activity in dementia care, we examine relationships of disease stage with types and characteristics of meaningful activities (cueing needs, help with initiation, and recommended engagement time) provided in a home-based intervention trial designed to reduce behavioral symptoms. Design and methods Data involved 158 activity prescriptions or written documents detailing prescribed activities, cueing needs, and engagement goals designed by occupational therapists for 56 families. Activities were categorized as arts and crafts, exercise/physical, cognitive, music/entertainment, manipulation/sensory/sorting, family/social/ reminiscence, and domestic/homemaking. Bivariate correlations examined relationships of activity categories and characteristics with disease stage (mild, moderate, or severe). Kruskal-Wallis H tests examined differences among disease stages and frequency of type of activities prescribed, recommended cues, and engagement time. For significant Kruskal-Wallis tests, pairwise comparisons utilized the Mann-Whitney U test. Results Activity categories and instructions for set up were significantly related to cognitive and functional levels. Persons with mild dementia were most often prescribed complex arts and crafts and cognitive activities. Persons with moderate dementia were most often prescribed music/entertainment. Persons with severe dementia were most often prescribed simple physical exercises and manipulation/sensory/sorting activities. Average time prescribed for activities was less for those in severe (15min) versus moderate (24min) and mild (28min) stages. The severe group required more assistance with activity initiation and cueing/redirection. Implications Type of activity, recommended cueing, and engagement time differed by dementia stage. Findings provide guidance as to how to use and set up activities across the dementia trajectory.
Therapeutic Targeting of Cancer Cell Metabolism in Lymphoid Neoplasia

Abstract Abstract SCI-27 The MYC oncogene plays a pivotal role in human lymphoid neoplasias, specifically in lymphomas and acute leukemias, which are characterized by altered glucose metabolism, termed the Warburg effect. The Warburg effect or elevated conversion glucose to lactate by cancer cells has been a prevailing model of cancer metabolism. Since the 1980's, genetic alterations of oncogenes and tumor suppressors have provided insights into tumorigenesis. However, whether metabolism contributes to tumorigenesis was highly debated. In 1997, we reported that the MYC oncogene product, the Myc transcription factor, regulates the lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA)gene. Myc also activates many glycolytic enzymes, mitochondrial biogenesis, and glutamine metabolism by inducing glutaminase (GLS) and glutamine transporters, thereby providing not only ATP through the TCA cycle but also anapleurotic building blocks. Myc also induces biomass accumulation by stimulating ribosomal biogenesis. It stimulates the cell cycle machinery and DNA replication. Deregulated MYC in cancer results in enforced biomass accumulation, such that cell death occurs when bioenergetic demands exceed nutrient availability. In this regard, we have exploited this conceptual framework and targeted LDHA and GLS with small molecular inhibitors as proof-of- concept that altered cancer metabolism could be targeted for cancer therapy. Specifically, we documented that a drug-like inhibitor of LDHA could decreased tumor xenograft growth, providing evidence that metabolic therapy is feasible. We further found in a human Burkitt lymphoma model that Myc induces a genetic program that drives glutamine metabolism both under aerobic and hypoxic conditions. Inhibition of glutaminase, which converts glutamine to glutamate for its catabolism by the TCA cycle, by a drug-like molecule also diminished lymphoma xenograft growth in vivo. These studies indicate that targeting cancer cell metabolism could constitute a novel strategy to treat lymphoid neoplasias. Disclosures: Dang: Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc.: Consultancy, Honoraria.
Understanding specific reading comprehension deficit: A review

A substantial population of children and adolescents struggle with reading comprehension despite adequate phonemic decoding (word-level reading) and intellectual ability. Individuals with this pattern of performance are considered to have specific reading comprehension deficit (S-RCD). Despite two decades of study on the profiles of behavioral performance associated with S-RCD, there is no current consensus on the causal mechanisms of the disorder. Recent progress in identifying such mechanisms includes studies that have utilized comprehension age match and longitudinal designs which have identified several comprehension subskills that are predictive of S-RCD development. However, disagreement persists over which deficits are core to S-RCD, which are comorbid and which are simply a consequence of poor comprehension. Further, almost no research on this disorder has sought to identify neurobiological endophenotypes that may enhance our understanding of causal mechanisms. Here, we offer a review of the literature on core language and higher-level language deficits associated with S-RCD, including studies that examine the neurobiological basis of this disorder. What emerges is a relatively consistent pattern of subclinical impairments across a range of comprehension subskills that may put pressure on the complex process of reading comprehension. These subskills include semantic and grammatical processing, inference making, and other higher-level language skills such as comprehension monitoring. This disorder also appears to have a neurobiological basis, though further study is needed to establish the precise disruption in neurocircuitry. Suggestions for further research include the continued use of online, temporally-sensitive measures such as eye-tracking and event-related potential, additional studies of the neurobiology of the disorder, as well as longitudinal tracking and identification of early behavioral and brain markers for S-RCD prior to formal schooling.
Activity-dependent increases in [Ca2+]i contribute to digital-analog plasticity at a molluscan synapse.

We demonstrate that spiking can induce global increases in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) that decay with a relatively long time constant. Consequently, summation of the calcium ...
Empyema thoracis with Candida tropicals

ABSTRACT: A case of esophageal perforation with esophago-pleural fistula, presumptively of tuberculous origin, developed a thoracic empyema from which Candida tropicalis was repeatedly isolated in very large numbers. The patients ultimately recovered with tube thoracostomy, esophageal diversion and anti-tuberculosis therapy. No antifungal chemotherapy was used during the entire illness. Candida tropicalis in this case was a potentially valuable diagnostic clue to the presence of an abnormal communication between the gastro-intestinal tract and the pleural cavity.
Internal Jugular Venous Pseudoaneurysm in a Patient with Heart Failure and Severe Tricuspid Regurgitation

The differential diagnosis of a lateral neck mass includes a number of possible etiologies. While jugular venous aneurysms and pseudoaneurysms are rare entities, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a pulsatile lateral neck mass. We present a case of an idiopathic jugular venous pseudoaneurysm and its association with worsening tricuspid regurgitation in a patient with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
Networked Drone Cameras for Sports Streaming

A network of drone cameras can be deployed to cover live events, such as high-action sports game played on a large field, but managing networked drone cameras in real-time is challenging. Distributed approaches yield suboptimal solutions from lack of coordination but coordination with a centralized controller incurs round-trip latencies of several hundreds of milliseconds over a wireless channel. We propose a fog-networking based system architecture to automatically coordinate a network of drones equipped with cameras to capture and broadcast the dynamically changing scenes of interest in a sports game. We design both optimal and practical algorithms to balance the tradeoff between two metrics: coverage of the most important scenes and streamed video bitrate. To compensate for network round-trip latencies, the centralized controller uses a predictive approach to predict which locations the drones should cover next. The controller maximizes video bitrate by associating each drone to an optimally matched server and dynamically re-assigns drones as relay nodes to boost the throughput in low-throughput scenarios. This dynamic assignment at centralized controller occurs at slower time-scale permitted by round-trip latencies, while the predictive approach and drones’ local decision ensures that the system works in real-time. Experimental results over tens of flights on the field suggest our system can achieve really good performance, for example, 8 drones can achieve a tradeoff of 94% coverage and (on average) 2K video support at 20 Mbps by optimizing between coverage and throughput. By dynamically allocating drones to cover the game or act as relays, our system also demonstrates a 2x gain over systems maximizing static coverage alone that achieves only 9 Mbps video throughput.
In vivo comparisons of silver nanoparticle and silver ion transport after intranasal delivery in mice.

Abstract Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are widely available as consumer goods, and over-the-counter or nutraceutical products used for alleged therapeutic and antibacterial properties. Among these products, AgNP topical therapy is proposed for treating patients with upper airway bacterial rhinosinusitis. While silver ion release from AgNPs in biological systems is well known, limited investigations actually characterize this silver ion release and their subsequent biological effects distinct from delivered particulate metallic silver. This is in part due to the analytical complexity and difficulty involved in distinguishing silver ion release from metallic AgNPs in biological media. Therefore, this study compared intranasal administration of AgNPs versus soluble silver ion (AgNO3) control to examine their transport and biological differences in tissues. First, we compared bactericidal activities of AgNPs and AgNO3 in those bacteria commonly associated with clinical rhinosinusitis in vitro. Next, we evaluated silver residence time in the sinus cavity after intranasal delivery of AgNPs and AgNO3 to mice, and characterized tissue distribution of silver in the sinonasal mucosal epithelium. We found that AgNPs show reduced bactericidal activity compared to AgNO3 (i.e., MBC of 15 ppm compared to 5 ppm), and significantly lower residence times in the sinus cavity (AgNP concentrations of 3.76 ppm after 3 h compared to 9 ppm for AgNO3). AgNPs were not readily taken up into or through respiratory epithelium, with very low silver levels found in blood and no detectable silver measured in the olfactory bulb and brain. Results indicate that limited tissue distribution of silver detected from AgNPs is due to AgNP dissolution to silver ion. AgNPs therefore demonstrate adequate safety through limited penetration and absorption, but limited potential therapeutic efficacy as antimicrobials in nasal applications, as concentrations of silver in the sinus cavity drop below the minimum bactericidal concentration within 3 h.
Organisms of Concern but not Foodborne or Confirmed Foodborne: Spoilage Microorganisms

This article is focused on bacterial spoilage of certain representative fresh food commodity groups and how spoilage progresses for each commodity group. The intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics that most prominently contribute to microbiological spoilage of each commodity are considered. Interactions between pathogenic and spoilage bacteria that affect the quality and safety of each commodity group are discussed. In addition, the role that bacterial pathogens play as spoilage organisms is addressed. Commodity groups included in this article are meat and poultry, seafood, raw and pasteurized milk, and minimally processed vegetables.
On the Modelling and Estimation of Communication Channels

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the identification of communication channels characterized by a signal transformation and additive output noise. The chapter describes some general results regarding an abstract mathematical structure, called a ɛ-representation, in which channel identification problems can be set. With the use of this structure, the identification problems reduce in a certain way to estimation of parameters in a linear model. The chapter also presents a review of certain facts about linear estimators. The term communication channel is somewhat flexible in its common usage in radio engineering. Abstractly, however, a communication channel will always be a black box, a system that accepts inputs and produces outputs. It may provide a functional relationship between inputs and outputs, a stochastic relationship, or something that can conveniently be thought of as a little bit of both. A point-to-point communication system, as opposed to a communication network, is usually thought of as being made up of three separate successive components: (1) transmitter, (2) channel, and (3) receiver.
11870.com: Tagging Site or Social Recommendation System?

Tagging sites allow users to post information and organize it with tags for future retrieval and to optionally share their entries with others or keep them private. Some tagging sites also allow users to add personal reviews to their entries. Sites that offer publicly available information that includes user-generated reviews are designed to function as social recommendation systems. However, since sharing is voluntary and reviews are discretionary and laborious to produce, it is not clear whether a site with these optional features can function as a social recommendation system. Using activity data from a site with these characteristics (11870.com), we test whether contributors use it as a social recommendation system. We find that the prevalent user profile is that of a public contributor, for whom the proportion of entries annotated with reviews is 68%. Almost 40% of the public contributor base, particularly newer users of the site, provides reviews for all of their entries. Our results indicate that this tagging site is increasingly viewed as a social recommendation system despite the discretional nature of sharing resources and adding reviews. An important implication of these findings is that optional features do not undermine the ability of a tagging site to function as a social recommendation system.
Homology and Transformation of Cetacean Ectotympanic Structures

The ectotympanic bullae of whales and land mammals have many differences that resulted from the morphological divergence of whales from their ungulate ancestors. These differences in bullar structure are the product of functional adaptation of cetaceans to the aquatic environment, and ontogenetic alteration of the ancestral precursor condition of the terrestrial ungulates.
Entrance channel dependence of back angle yields: orbiting in /sup 24/Mg+/sup 16/O reaction

The back-angle yields of the oxygen and carbon particles from the /sup 24/Mg+/sup 16/O reaction have been measured at E/sub Lab/(/sup 24/Mg) = 79.5 MeV by using reverse kinematics. Comparison with data for the /sup 28/Si+/sup 12/C reaction forming the same compound nucleus at the same excitation energy and with very similar spin distribution, demonstrates a strong entrance channel effect which is favoring the break-up into the entrance channel with large excitation energy. This result qualitatively supports the picture of the formation of a long-lived orbiting complex whose structure and decay are dependent on the entrance channel. The compound nucleus contribution has been inferred to be less than 15% of the measured oxygen cross-section. 9 references.
Enhanced Sensory-Cognitive Processing by Activation of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

Activation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) enhances sensory-cognitive function in human subjects and animal models, yet the neural mechanisms are not fully understood. This review summarizes recent studies on nicotinic regulation of neural processing in the cerebral cortex that point to potential mechanisms underlying enhanced cognitive function. Studies from our laboratory focus on nicotinic regulation of auditory cortex and implications for auditory-cognitive processing, but relevant emerging insights from multiple brain regions are discussed. Although the major contributions of the predominant nAChRs containing α7 (homomeric receptors) or α4 and β2 (heteromeric) subunits are well recognized, recent results point to additional, potentially critical contributions from α2 subunits that are relatively sparse in cortex. Ongoing studies aim to elucidate the specific contributions to cognitive and cortical function of diverse nAChRs. IMPLICATIONS This review highlights the therapeutic potential of activating nAChRs in the cerebral cortex to enhance cognitive function. Future work also must determine the contributions of relatively rare but important nAChR subtypes, potentially to develop more selective treatments for cognitive deficits.
Database of Computation-Ready 2D Zeolitic Slabs

Zeolites are nanoporous aluminosilicates widely used in catalysis and separations applications. Though generally formed as 3D crystals, new synthesis techniques have given access to 2D zeolite nanosheets with small diffusion path lengths and accelerated molecular diffusion. Since most previous research has focused on bulk zeolite crystals, there is little understanding of the surface adsorption and diffusion mechanisms likely involved at such length scales and their contributions to the permeability and selectivity of different species. To enable the systematic examination of such surface properties, we constructed a database of more than 800,000 computation-ready 2D zeolite nanosheets from the full range of known zeolite structures in the IZA database of zeolite structure types. The nanosheet surfaces cover a wide range of orientations and were created via the principle of minimizing the number of bonds broken during the termination of a unit cell. The database consists of two sets of nanosheets: one set...