cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Variability and Reproducibility of Transcutaneous Oxygen Tension Measurements in the Assessment of Peripheral Vascular Disease

Transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPO2) was measured according to a standard protocol in 43 limbs from 23 subjects, by use of oxygen-sensing electrodes attached to the chest (at a single site) or dorsum of the foot (at proximal and distal sites, located 1-2 cm apart). With the subjects supine, distal foot TcPO2 differed from proximal by an average of +/- 7.4 mmHg, and in 80% of all limbs the differences were between -6 mmHg and +15 mmHg. The two TcPO2's were subsequently combined to yield a single "average" value for each foot. TcPO2 measurements were repeated twenty-four to forty-eight hours later; in the supine position the change in "average" foot TcPO2 from the first to second measurement was +/- 6.9 mmHg, and in 80% of limbs the changes were between -11 mmHg and +9 mmHg. Similar reproducibility data were also obtained for ankle/brachial blood pressure indices (ABIs), chest TcPO2, and foot TcPO2 during three minutes of leg elevation at 30 degrees. The authors conclude that: (1) TcPO2 measurements from adjacent areas on the dorsum of the foot usually differ by 20-25% or less and (2) the short-term reproducibility of TcPO2 between studies is comparable to that for ABIs.
Capillary electrokinetic separations: Influence of mobile phase composition on performance

The composition of the mobile phase employed in capillary zone electrophoresis and the related technique, micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography, is an important factor in determining separation performance. The influences of ionic salt, surfactant, and organic solvent mobile phase additives on separation efficiency, retention, and elution range are discussed and demonstrated. 23 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.
The relationship of resting ventilation to mouth occlusion pressure. An index of resting respiratory function.

In order to examine the relationship of mouth occlusion pressure (MOP), an index of central inspiratory neuromuscular drive, to age and sex and to resting ventilation ( V ˙ E), measurements were made in the seated posture in 84 healthy, normal subjects (38 men, 46 women; ages 18-72 years, mean ± SD =39.8 ± 14.5 years) and in 79 patients with either airways obstruction (n = 63) or restrictive lung disease (n = 16). In the normal subjects, there was no significant relationship between age or sex and MOP (expressed as P0.1), which is the mouth pressure developed against a complete occlusion at 0.1 s after the beginning of inspiration, and dP/dtmax, the maximal rate of rise of this pressure; mean ± SD for P0.1 = 0.75 ± 0.32 cmH 2 O, and dP/dtmax =19.41 ± 10.10 cmH 2 O/s. Similarly, there was no significant relationship between age or sex and V ˙ E/P0.1 or V ˙ E/dP/dtmax. In 99 percent of normal subjects (83 of 84), V ˙ E/P0.1 was >8.0 L/min/cmH 2 O, whereas in only 1 of the 79 patients was the value >7.9 L/min/cmH 2 O. While the mean values of P0.1 and dP/dtmax were significantly different between normal subjects and patients, there was considerable overlap, whereas the ratio V ˙ E/P0.1 or V ˙ E/dP/dtmax provided excellent differentiation between normal subjects and patients with lung disease. This index, which is easily measured and requires minimal patient cooperation, provides valuable information in the clinical assessment of ventilatory drive and lung mechanics. MOP = mouth occlusion pressure
Molecular profiling of human prostate tissues: insights into gene expression patterns of prostate development during puberty

Testosterone production surges during puberty and orchestrates massive growth and reorganization of the prostate gland, and this glandular architecture is maintained thereafter throughout adulthood. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate adenocarcinoma (PCA) are common diseases in adulthood that do not develop in the absence of androgens. Our objective was to gain insight into gene expression changes of the prostate gland at puberty, a crucial juncture in prostate development that is androgen dependent. Understanding the role played by androgens in normal prostate development may provide greater insight into androgen involvement in prostatic diseases. Benign prostate tissues obtained from pubertal and adult age group cadaveric organ donors were harvested and profiled using 20,000 element cDNA microarrays. Statistical analysis of the microarray data identified 375 genes that were differentially expressed in pubertal prostates relative to adult prostates including genes such as Nkx3.1, TMEPAI, TGFBR3, FASN, ANKH, TGFBR2, FAAH, S100P, HoxB13, fibronectin, and TSC2 among others. Comparisons of pubertal and BPH expression profiles revealed a subset of genes that shared the expression pattern between the two groups. In addition, we observed that several genes from this list were previously demonstrated to be regulated by androgen and hence could also be potential in vivo targets of androgen action in the pubertal human prostate. Promoter searches revealed the presence of androgen response elements in a cohort of genes including tumor necrosis factor-alpha induced adipose related protein, which was found to be induced by androgen. In summary, this is the first report that provides a comprehensive view of the molecular events that occur during puberty in the human prostate and provides a cohort of genes that could be potential in vivo targets of androgenic action during puberty.
The fisheries statistics system of Java, Indonesia: operational realities in a developing country

. The system for reporting fishery statistics in Indonesia, a developing country with a large marine fishery, provides an example of the problems of using fishery statistics as the basis for stock assessment and other fishery management work. The statistical system now used was first instituted in 1976. In spite of the millions of pieces of information processed by the system annually, provincial and national reports are produced on a reasonably timely basis. A field review on parts of the island of Java revealed, however, that data from the system are of limited use to the cautious analyst. Significant inaccuracies are present. A brief review of the system, its general accuracy and possible sources of inaccuracies arc given.
Raman spectroscopy and imaging of ultralong carbon nanotubes.

Raman spectroscopy and confocal Raman imaging with 514 nm excitation was performed on recently developed ultralong carbon nanotubes grown by the “fast-heating” chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The ultralong nanotubes are found to consist of both semiconducting and metallic types, with spectra that are consistent with the nanotubes being single walled. Characterization of nanotube diameters shows that short nanotubes appearing near the sample catalyst region have a broader distribution than is observed for the ultralong nanotubes. The narrow diameter distribution is determined by uniformity of catalyst particle size and gives additional evidence for the proposed “kite” mechanism for long nanotube growth. Raman imaging was performed over large length scales (up to 140 μm). Imaging reveals the ultralong nanotubes to be of high quality, with a very low defect density. Variations in G-band frequencies and intensity demonstrate the occurrence of minor structural changes and variations in nanotube−substra...
Housing need, housing assistance, and connection to HIV medical care

HIV infection has become a chronic condition that for most persons can be effectively managed with regular monitoring and appropriate medical care. However, many HIV positive persons remain unconnected to medical care or have less optimal patterns of health care utilization than recommended by good clinical practice standards. This paper investigates housing status as a contextual factor affecting access and maintenance in appropriate HIV medical care. Data provided from 5,881 interviews conducted from 1994 to 2006 with a representative sample of 1,661 persons living with HIV/AIDS in New York City demonstrated a strong and consistent relationship between housing need and remaining outside of or marginal to HIV medical care. In contrast, housing assistance increased access and retention in medical care and appropriate treatment. The relationship between housing and medical care outcomes remain controlling for client demographics, health status, insurance coverage, co-occurring mental illness, and problem drug use and the receipt of supportive services to address co-occurring conditions. Findings provide strong evidence that housing needs are a significant barrier to consistent, appropriate HIV medical care, and that receipt of housing assistance has an independent, direct impact on improved medical care outcomes.
Is body mass index a useful measure of excess body fatness in adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome

Background To determine the validity of body mass index (BMI) to identify excess fatness in youth with Down syndrome (DS). Methods Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth reference, we defined overweight (≥85th percentile) and obesity (≥95th percentile) based on participants' age- and sex-specific BMI z-scores, calculated from measured height and weight. Percentage body fat was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. We determined sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and efficiency of BMI percentiles to identify excess adiposity relative to elevated percentage body fat cut-offs developed from the Pediatric Rosetta Body Composition project in 32 youth (20 boys/12 girls), ages 13–21 years with Down syndrome. Results For adolescents with Down syndrome using the cut-off points of 95th percentile for BMI (obesity), sensitivity and specificity were 71% and 96% respectively. Positive predictive value was 83% and negative predictive value was 92%. Overall efficiency was 91%. Sensitivity and specificity for BMI cut-offs above the 85th percentile (overweight) were 100% and 60% respectively. The positive predictive value was 41% and negative predictive value was 100%. Overall efficiency was 69%. Conclusion On the whole, the obesity (≥95th percentile) cut-off performs better than the overweight cut-off (85th–94th percentile) in identifying elevated fatness in youth with DS.
Charmonium moving through a strongly coupled QCD plasma: A holographic perspective

The properties of charmonium in a strongly coupled QCD-like plasma at finite momentum are studied. This is based upon a ``bottom-up'' holographic model which has been previously shown to reproduce charmonium phenomenology in vacuum and give a reasonable dissociation temperature at zero momentum. The finite momentum spectral functions are presented and found to be consistent with recent lattice results. The in-medium dispersion relation and momentum dependence of the decay width of $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ have also been investigated. We find no signature of a subluminal limiting velocity from the dispersion relation, while we note that the dissociation temperature decreases with momentum faster than previous holographic models. Based upon the dissociation temperature, a maximum momentum for $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ in-medium is identified and its phenomenological implications on $J/\ensuremath{\psi}$ suppression are discussed.
Antecedents and Reactions to Health-Related Social Control

A model of the antecedents and reactions to health-related social control is proposed. This model suggests health behavior characteristics, including type, frequency, and severity of consequences, are social control antecedents. Social control is then thought to elicit better health behavior and emotions. Attributions to explain social control are proposed to effect emotional reactions and behavior. Undergraduates read hypothetical scenarios to test the proposed model. Study 1 found that health-compromising behaviors and behaviors with more severe consequences elicited more social control. Study 2 found that, compared to negative tactics, positive social control tactics elicited more behavior change, and compared to social/appearance concerns, attributions to health elicited positive emotions. Attributions did not moderate the impact of social control on emotions or behavior.
Ethical Issues in Schizophrenia Research: A Commentary on Some Current Concerns

An essential aspect of research on schizophrenia is ensuring that worthwhile scientific studies are done in a way that does not place vulnerable individuals at unreasonable risk. It is important to educate researchers, advocates, potential participants, reviewers, IRBs, and the general public about ethical principles and controversial issues as they impact research on schizophrenia. Federal regulations mandate IRB consideration of "the special problems of research involving... mentally disabled persons..." (45CFR46.111a3). In recent years, there has been a greater focus on subject monitoring to improve safeguards and minimize risks. The process of informed consent is also going through a process of evolution, in order to help ensure that participants are as aware as possible of key aspects of a study, including risks, benefits, alternatives, purpose and design, etc. We focus here on a few of the issues that are current, are relevant to schizophrenia research, and merit additional empirical study. They include medication discontinuation and placebo control designs, compensation for participation, and capacity to consent.
Whispering-gallery laser resonators. II. Analysis of mirrors with nonuniform curvature

For pt.I see ibid., vol.27, p.1069-77 (1991). Although the whispering-gallery mirror shows great promise for use at short wavelengths, undesired beam divergence at the mirror exit can be a significant issue in the design of laser resonators. This problem can be alleviated by appropriate choice of the mirror geometry: elongated mirror shapes can give reduced beam divergence without requiring too large an overall size. It is shown that, for circular geometries, beam propagation along the mirror surface is conventionally described in terms of normal modes. Elliptical mirrors are shown to admit a similar analysis, thereby providing a convenient prototype for the elongated geometries of interest. They are found to offer a substantial, though ultimately limited, reduction of beam divergence. >
Fault injection boundary scan design for verification of fault tolerant systems

In this paper, we propose a design technique called the Fault Injection Boundary Scan (FIBS) for fault injection that is much more efficient than the traditional hardwired pin-level fault injection. The FIBS augments the boundary scan design to facilitate the injection of faults to the input and output pins of a VLSI chip. In addition to the capabilities of a conventional boundary scan design, the FIBS can interpret the test vector contained in the boundary scan cells as markers for fault-injected pins during fault injection. The compatibility of the FIBS with the boundary scan also promises relatively small overhead.
Design of advanced time-frequency mutual information measures for aerospace diagnostics and prognostics

Accelerometer data has been gathered from accelerated conditioning in grease lubricated and lubrication deprived gear meshes in AH-64 helicopter intermediate and tail rotor gearbox, which are commonly problematic components of the Apache helicopter platform. These tests were performed in a controlled drive-train research test bed, simulating drive-train conditions to improve diagnostic and prognostic capabilities of Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) practices in Integrated Vehicle Health Monitoring System - Health Usage Monitoring System (IVHMS-HUMS) and other comparable CBM packages, as monitored by a standardized Digital Source Collector (DSC) system. Time-frequency representations of vibration measurement collected from two spaced sensors are used to provide signature analysis of transient system harmonics. Furthermore, the time-frequency mutual information advanced signal processing technique is then proposed and validated using vibration data. The measure advances the development of mutual information health indicators to quantify degradation of the helicopter power train. The AH-64 test systems perform under stress in realistic loading conditions and lifetime accelerated aircraft aging is monitored using the proposed advanced signal processing techniques for baseline tests for comparison with faulted conditions.1 2
Alpha-2 agonists and analgesia

In addition to their anti-hypertensive effects, alpha-2 agonists also cause analgesia. Since analgesia from these drugs is due primarily to actions in the spinal cord, it is not surprising that analgesia is poor after systemic administration, but profound after injection near the cord (spinal or epidural administration). Advantages of alpha-2 agonists over opioids in the treatment of severe pain include lack of opioid type side effects (addiction, nausea, respiratory depression, pruritus), lack of abuse potential and efficacy in special situations where opioids fail (opioid tolerance, neuropathic pain, reflex sympathetic dystrophy). Clonidine, the lead compound in this category, has been administered epidurally or spinally to over 1,000 patients in published reports, and detailed cerebrospinal fluid pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics have been described. Epidural clonidine has been designated as an orphan product in the US for the treatment of intractable cancer pain, and a multi-centre, placebo-contro...
Undecidable semiassociative relation algebras

If K is a class of semiassociative relation algebras and K contains the relation algebra of all binary relations on a denumerable set, then the word problem for the free algebra over K on one generator is unsolvable. This result implies that the set of sentences which are provable in the formalism ℒw × is an undecidable theory. A stronger algebraic result shows that the set of logically valid sentences in ℒw × forms a hereditarily undecidable theory in ℒw ×. These results generalize similar theorems, due to Tarski, concerning relation algebras and the formalism ℒ ×.
Studies of Plasma O Atom Concentration by Two-Photon Laser Induced Fluorescence and Optical Emission Spectroscopy

We report quantitative measurements of the concentration of atomic oxygen in RF plasmas determined by two-photon laser induced fluorescence. The results are compared with concurrent measurements of spatially resolved plasma induced optical emission. These measurements establish: (1) the O atom concentration as a function of plasma parameters, (2) a semi-quantitative relationship between O* emission intensity normalized by Ar* in-tensity and O atom concentration, and (3) an understanding of the mechanisms for production of excited atoms in the plasma.
Selective Use of the Primary Literature Transforms the Classroom Into a Virtual Laboratory

CREATE (consider, read, elucidate hypotheses, analyze and interpret the data, and think of the next experiment) is a new method for teaching science and the nature of science through primary literature. CREATE uses a unique combination of novel pedagogical tools to guide undergraduates through analysis of journal articles, highlighting the evolution of scientific ideas by focusing on a module of four articles from the same laboratory. Students become fluent in the universal language of data analysis as they decipher the figures, interpret the findings, and propose and defend further experiments to test their own hypotheses about the system under study. At the end of the course students gain insight into the individual experiences of article authors by reading authors' responses to an e-mail questionnaire generated by CREATE students. Assessment data indicate that CREATE students gain in ability to read and critically analyze scientific data, as well as in their understanding of, and interest in, research and researchers. The CREATE approach demystifies the process of reading a scientific article and at the same time humanizes scientists. The positive response of students to this method suggests that it could make a significant contribution to retaining undergraduates as science majors.
Effects of dialyzing gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor antagonists into the medial preoptic and arcuate ventromedial region on luteinizing hormone release in male sheep.

AbstractWe investigated the effects of microdialyzing γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor antagonists into either the medial preoptic area (mPOA) or the arcuate-ventromedial region (ARC-VMR) on LH secretion. Bicuculline methiodide (BMI, GABAA receptor antagonist), and either 2-hydroxysaclofen (SAC)
Temperature and rhizome chain effect on sprouting of purple nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus) ecotypes

Abstract The effect of constant or various fluctuating temperature regimes and single or multiple tubers in rhizome chains on tuber sprouting of six purple nutsedge ecotypes was determined. After 24 d at constant 20 C, budbreak of tubers detached from the rhizome chain (single tubers) ranged from 11 to 85% among ecotypes. When dormant tubers were exposed to a single 0.5- to 12-h, 35 C pulse followed by constant 20 C, budbreak increased for all ecotypes; daily 0.5-h, 35 C pulses from a 20 C base temperature for three to seven cycles did not significantly increase budbreak more than these did for a single cycle. Shoot length increased linearly for all ecotypes as the number of 0.5-h, 35 C pulse cycles increased, although the magnitude of shoot elongation varied with ecotype. At a 20 and 30 C (12:12 h) daily alternating temperature regime, 98% of single tubers from a Kamuela, HI, ecotype produced actively growing shoots (active tubers), whereas only 32 to 60% of tubers in two- to six-tuber chains were active...
Impact of delays and cancellations on travel from small community airports

Commercial air service is important to residents and tourists in small communities, but small communities have seen a reduction (and sometimes elimination) of commercial air service. Anecdotal evid...
The Fracture and Aerosol Release of Impacted HLW Glasses and HLW Canisters

The fracture and release mechanism of radioactive aerosols of HLW glass and HLW canisters are studied experimentally by laboratory scale and full scale drop tests. The experimental conditions model the conditions of accidental drops in a deep salt repository. The laboratory scale drop tests have a scaling factor of 1:10. Accelerated probes of simulated HLW glass impact on a ground plate and the size distributions of broken fines and released aerosols are measured by sieving and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of aerosol samples. The impact velocity is determined as the dominating impact parameter. Further parameters tested, such as waste glass composition, cooling time (residual thermal stresses), probe temperature at impact, and ground characteristics, show no measurable influence. Source terms of released respirable aerosols are evaluated for two reference cases, borehole drop (impact velocity v = 80 m/s) and reloading hall drop (v = 14 m/s), the values being 0.1 % and to 2.10-4 % respectively of the glass probe mass. The full scale drop tests are performed with European Standard HLW canisters. The canisters keep their integrity in all tests up to drop heights of 14 m. On opening the canisters, the broken fines are analyzed by sieving. The results are in good agreement with the small scale tests and confirm their acceptability for use in a safety analysis.
Abstract 1345: Evidence for genetic mediation of lung cancer through hay fever.

Introduction: In the past decade, advances in genetics have led to the discovery of numerous lung cancer susceptibility variants. The majority of these variants have been found to influence lung cancer susceptibility via tobacco exposure or nicotine addiction; however, recently, researchers have observed lung cancer susceptibility variants that mediate through Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Studies involving potential genetic factors related to other lung-related conditions, such as pneumonia and/or hay fever have been limited. The genetic variants related to underlying mechanism of hay fever on the development of lung cancer are interesting to pursue as hay fever has been showed to be protective against lung cancer. Methods: Cases included 1154 histological-confirmed Caucasian lung cases from MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and controls included 1137 individuals recruited through the Kelsey-Seybold Clinics in Houston, Texas. These cases and controls were a subset of participants from a lung cancer case-control study conducted that has available Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data (317,498 SNPs). We first conducted an association analysis in PLINK to determine the association of each SNP with both lung cancer and hay fever and find SNPs that showed a joint significance for both hay fever and lung cancer in opposite directions (p-value Results: Two hundred and forty six SNPs were found to be statistically significant (p-value Conclusion: This is the first study to have investigated the mediation effects of hay fever on lung cancer risk. Our data supports the mediation role of certain SNPs in lung cancer through hay fever and points to specific transduction pathway. Future studies are needed to validate these results in external populations. Citation Format: Anthony D9Amelio, Chi H. Nguyen, Randa El-Zein, Margaret R. Spitz, Xifeng Wu, Carol J. Etzel. Evidence for genetic mediation of lung cancer through hay fever. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1345. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1345
Fictions: Legal and Organizational

The article analyzes the role of organizational fictions, that are planned, within the formal authority structure, and deceive no one, because no one believes them to be true. An example might be t...
The Bragg-Peak Proton Beam in Noninvasive Hypophysectomy

The ionization and penetration characteristics of the proton beam permit an ablative dose of radiation to be delivered to the pituitary with minimal effects on other intracranial structures. This approach to hypophysectomy is especially appropriate in conditions like acromegaly, where delay in achieving hypopituitarism is not critical (as in terminal breast cancer). The steps in the procedure are outlined.
Toward a Topos of Visual Rhetoric: Teaching Aesthetics Through Color and Typography:

This article proposes a heuristic that teachers and students can use together to create a vocabulary for discussing the aesthetic aspects of color and typography in document design work. By using t...
Imaging of Peripheral Neurogenic Tumors

Neurogenic tumors account for approximately 10–12% of all benign soft tissue tumors and 7–8% of all malignant soft tissue tumors. These can be divided into neoplastic and pseudotumors. Neoplastic tumors include those derived from the Schwann cell (collectively referred to as “peripheral nerve sheath tumors” or PNSTs), such as neurilemoma, neurofibroma, and rare malignant counterparts. Another neurogenic tumor is the neural fibrolipoma. This is likely to be congenital in origin and presents as fibrofatty infiltration of the nerve, usually the median nerve at the wrist. Following trauma or surgery a neuroma may develop at the site of injury. Tumors may also develop from peripheral autonomic nerves; an example of this is the glomus tumor, commonly seen beneath the fingernail in women.
Biogenesis and Folding of Aquaporin Water Channels in the Endoplasmic Reticulum

The transmembrane topology of most eukaryotic polytopic membrane proteins is established in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This process involves multiple translocation and membrane integration events that are facilitaed coincident with protein synthesis by the Sec6l translocation machinery. Little is known, however, regarding the molecular mechanisms by which multiple transmembrane (TM) helices and peptide loops are precisely oriented into the ER membrane, ER lumen, and cytosol. Aquaporins have provided a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon because related family members acquire their topology through distinctly different mechanisms. The six TM segments of AQP4 are established sequentially and cotranslationally as the nascent polypeptide emerges from the ribosome (Shi et al., 1995). In contrast, the initial topology of AQP1 at the ER membrane contains only four TM segments (Skach et al., 1994). To better understand aquaporin folding and maturation, we have examined: 1) the process by which AQP1 acquires its mature, six-spanning orientation, and 2) the structural basis for different AQP1 and AQP4 folding pathways.
7-OR : A NEW COMBO-FLOW CROSSMATCH (CFXM) FOR SIMULTANEOUS DETECTION OF IgG AND COMPLEMENT FIXING ANTIBODIES (CFAbs)

Aim The aim of the study is to develop a new flow cytometry method based method for simultaneous detection of donor specific IgG and CFAb in a single reaction. Methods CFXM: 0.1X10 6 donor PBMCs were incubated with 30 ul recipient serum along with SAPE-Bio-C1q for 30’. After washes, the cells were incubated with the stain mix of APC-CD19, PerCP-CD3, and FITC-anti-IgG for an additional 30’. The final cells were acquired and analyzed on a Canto-II flow cytometer. The fluorescence intensities of PE and FITC were proportionately correlated to the concentrations of CFAbs and IgG bound respectively on the T and B cells. IgG-FXM: Regular flow cytometry XM procedure. Microcytotoxicity crossmatch CDC-XM ): ASHI procedure. Results A total of 83 samples were tested in parallel by CFXM and IgG-FXM; and 82 T-XM and 68 B-XM were also performed by CDC-XM. The result of CFXM-IgG showed a good correlation with regular IgG-FXM (P Conclusions A new combo flow cytometry crossmatch (CFXM) has been successfully developed by integrating standard IgG FXM with C1q-FXM to simultaneously detect donor specific IgG Ab and CFAb in a single reaction. It provides both FXM and CDC-XM results simultaneously leveraging the sensitivity of the FXM while eliminating the need for CDC-XM.
Understanding the etiology of Alzheimer's disease. Current approaches

Although the cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is unknown, known risk factors for the disease include increasing age, positive family history, and previous head trauma. Other, more speculative hypotheses link the cause of AD to infectious agents or environmental toxins. The possible existence of subtypes of AD and of manifestations of the disorder outside the CNS need to be considered in theories of etiology.
Regulation of Progenitor Cell Proliferation and Granulocyte Function by microRNA-223.

MicroRNAs are abundant in animal genomes and have been predicted to have important roles in a broad range of gene expression programs. Despite this prominence, there is a dearth of functional knowledge regarding individual mammalian microRNAs. Using a loss-of-function allele in mice, we report here that the myeloid-specific microRNA-223 (miR-223) negatively regulates progenitor proliferation and granulocyte differentiation and activation. miR-223 mutant mice have an expanded granulocytic compartment resulting from a specific and cell-autonomous increase in the number of granulocyte-monocyte progenitors (GMPs). We show that Mef2c, a transcription factor that promotes GMP renewal, is a target of miR-223 and that genetic ablation of Mef2c suppresses progenitor expansion and corrects the neutrophilic phenotype in miR-223 null mice. In addition, granulocytes lacking miR-223 are hypermature, hypersensitive to activating stimuli and display increased fungicidal activity. Consequent to this neutrophil hyperactivity, miR-223 mutant mice spontaneously develop inflammatory lung pathology and exhibit exaggerated tissue destruction following endotoxin challenge. Our results present a new paradigm in miRNA-mediated gene regulation, in which a microRNA can negatively modulate the proliferation and differentiation program of the lineage to which it is most strongly associated.
Communicating corporate social responsibility (CSR): Stakeholder responsiveness and engagement strategy to achieve CSR goals

Abstract In this current study, we compared two contemporary CSR communication strategies (engagement vs. responsiveness), along with communication channels, in achieving CSR goals. We conducted an online survey with public relations, corporate communication, corporate social responsibility, investor relations and sustainability executives within the companies listed on the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index of publicly traded U.S. companies. Results showed that CSR engagement strategy had a positive effect on achieving all three CSR goals we identified through factor analysis: business, community, and employees. The responsiveness strategy was positively associated with only business and community goal achievement. These findings lend support for the testimonials from industry CSR reports regarding the benefits of the engagement approach in achieving intended organizational goals, including attracting and retaining talented employees. In analyzing the impact of communication channels on goal achievement, we found that print ads played a significant role in achieving business goals.
Comparing Long-Acting Reversible Contraception Insertion Rates in Women with Medicaid vs. Private Insurance in a Clinic with a Two-visit Protocol.

Objective This study examined whether women with Medicaid are less likely to receive long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) in a clinic requiring two visits for insertion.
Signal information of bird song changes in human-dominated landscapes

Communication systems rely upon specific social contexts and environments that permit effective transmission, and thus, are particularly vulnerable to disruption by anthropogenic disturbance. The acoustic environments of cities may affect conspecific interactions by altering the transmission or reception of song in ways that might ultimately influence fitness, however, the evolutionary and ecological consequences of altered songs remain poorly understood. We hypothesized that the relationship between bird song attributes and fitness metrics would be landscape-dependent, differing between urban and rural habitats. We investigated this hypothesis by measuring vocal and breeding behavior of 54 male Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) at nine sites distributed across a rural to urban landscape gradient in Columbus, Ohio in 2011. Interestingly, we found evidence that relationships between song attributes and male quality differed among landscapes. Shorter and slower songs were associated with larger males in more preferred territories (i.e. with denser vegetation), but only in rural landscapes. Across all landscapes, males that sang at high frequencies had nestlings in poorer condition, but otherwise song attributes were not associated with reproductive output or male provisioning ability. Our results suggest that urban landscapes change the function of song as a signal of quality and could reduce the usefulness of song as a predictor of reproductive performance. This is one of few studies to investigate signal relationships and potential fitness consequences of song variation in natural urban systems, thereby providing insight into micro-evolutionary processes operating within novel environments.
Community, Communism, Communitarianism: An African Intervention

In this chapter, Menkiti examines the differences, if any, which exist between the notions of community, communism, and communitarianism. Menkiti argues that although the three terms sound alike and might remind us of each other, the notions that they represent differ in important ways. From moral and administrative points of view, one has to keep them separated. In the particular context of Africa, the notion of community (village communalism, if you like) is the key, and one should not assume that communism follows naturally from it. Menkit supports this position not only by appealing to general philosophical reasons of the sort usually advanced, but also by making use of certain tools of conceptual analysis, joined with other insights from the philosophy of language.
Dynamic Eco-Driving’s Fuel Saving Potential in Traffic: Multi-Vehicle Simulation Study Comparing Three Representative Methods

Dynamiceco-driving is a well-known umbrella term describing speed control schemes that utilize connected and automated vehicle technology for the purpose of saving fuel. If dynamic eco-driving is to be widely prescribed as an integral part of widespread fuel-saving endeavors, its expected performance as part of the overall traffic system must be analyzed. Specifically, it must be determined to what extent this type of control remains effective in the presence of dense traffic. This paper presents a series of multi-vehicle traffic simulations, which begin to answer important questions surrounding the effects of dynamic eco-driving on traffic and its potential for fuel savings in a mixed traffic environment. Three representative methods of dynamic eco-driving are tested in various high traffic scenarios and the estimated fuel economy, trip time, and average speed results are compared. Independent variables include technology penetration rate and amount of traffic, quantified by the delay level of service of the road network’s traffic light facility. It is shown that, for the given test cases, average mpg increases linearly with technology penetration rate and dynamic eco-driving causes an average increase in mpg regardless of traffic amount. Overall results are promising for the usefulness of this clever class of fuel-saving technologies, in high traffic as well as low.
Character Education in Business Schools: Pedagogical Strategies

This manuscript commences by articulating the need for character education in business schools. It proceeds to discuss several pedagogical strategies that develop virtue in students. The concept of character education, derived from a variety of cultures -- including the ancient Greeks -- includes cognitive, affective and behavioral realms. As such, it seeks not only to develop students' intellectual capabilities but to make them people of virtue as well. Particular pedagogical strategies addressed in the article include teaching virtues via narrative, mentor relationships, collaborative learning, service-learning and self-reflection. Programs of a number of universities are cited as examples.
PET/MRI in Breast Cancer

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide, and represented more than 25% of the newly diagnosed cancer cases in women in 2016. PET/CT is recommended in the clinical workup of advanced breast cancers and in cases of breast cancer recurrence and may also be proposed in treatment monitoring. PET/MRI is a new imaging technique which is now being used clinically in different countries, and which may replace PET/CT in some selected breast cancer patients, when available. A detailed description of advantages and indications of, respectively, PET and MRI techniques taken separately in breast cancer patients is beyond the scope of the present work and has already been reviewed elsewhere by our group. We focused on the technical advantages and disadvantages of combined PET/MRI acquisitions in breast cancer patients from diagnosis to follow-up. In this chapter, we cover the specifics of PET/MRI in terms of quantification and provide a summary of the different protocols performed in breast cancer PET/MRI imaging. We will also discuss the clinical advances for patient management, the potential improvements that may occur in the future, as well as the future role that may be given to this technique.
Phosphopeptidomics Reveals Differential Phosphorylation States and Novel SxE Phosphosite Motifs of Neuropeptides in Dense Core Secretory Vesicles

Neuropeptides are vital for cell-cell communication and function in the regulation of the nervous and endocrine systems. They are generated by post-translational modification (PTM) steps resulting in small active peptides generated from prohormone precursors. Phosphorylation is a significant PTM for the bioactivity of neuropeptides. From the known diversity of distinct neuropeptide functions, it is hypothesized that the extent of phosphorylation varies among different neuropeptides. To assess this hypothesis, neuropeptide-containing dense core secretory vesicles from bovine adrenal medullary chromaffin cells were subjected to global phosphopeptidomics analyses by liquid chromatography (LC)-mass spectrometry (MS/MS). Phosphopeptides were identified directly by LC-MS/MS and indirectly by phosphatase treatment followed by LC-MS/MS. The data identified numerous phosphorylated peptides derived from neuropeptide precursors such as chromogranins, secretogranins, proenkephalin and pro-NPY. Phosphosite occupancies were observed at high and low levels among identified peptides and many of the high occupancy phosphopeptides represent prohormone-derived peptides with currently unknown bioactivities. Peptide sequence analyses demonstrated SxE as the most prevalent phosphorylation site motif, corresponding to phosphorylation sites of the Fam20C protein kinase known to be present in the secretory pathway. The range of high to low phosphosite occupancies for neuropeptides demonstrates cellular regulation of neuropeptide phosphorylation. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.
Fourier transform-EPR studies of photoinduced electron transfer in homogeneous and micellar solutions

Fourier transform (FT) EPR was used to study the pulsed-laser-induced electron transfer from porphyrins to quinones in homogeneous and micellar solutions. By monitoring the EPR signal of the quinone anion radicals as a function of delay time (τd) between laser and microwave pulses, with τd ranging from nanoseconds to 1 millisecond, information was obtained on the kinetics of free radical formation and decay. The time evolution of the signal also gave an insight into the chemically induced dynamic electron polarization (CIDEP) mechanisms that affect signal amplitudes. FT-EPR spectra of electron transfer products generated in micellar solution provide evidence for the generation of long-lived spincorrelated radical pairs.
Redundant and Critical Noncovalent Interactions in Protein Rigid Cluster Analysis

A protein’s fold is held together by weak noncovalent interactions, known to break and form during naturally occurring fluctuations. Rigidity analysis leverages connectivity information about these interactions, calculated from PDB structural data, and computes a decomposition of the molecule into groups of atoms, called rigid clusters, that tend to remain together during such local motions. A crucial question in the application of this technique is how robust the results of rigidity analysis are to small variations in the noncovalent network. If any particular interaction within a cluster were to break, would the cluster remain rigid, would it “shatter” into many smaller clusters, or would the flexibility increase but only negligibly? In this chapter, we overview the mathematical principles underlying rigidity analysis, and propose a method for classifying the interactions which are redundant or critical for a computed cluster decomposition. We also measure the change in cluster size upon the interaction’s removal, which we refer to as its criticality value. In addition, we propose a new method for assigning scores to the rigid clusters based on the fraction of interactions that are redundant. We demonstrate this classification scheme on a data set of multiple conformations of 16 proteins. We have found that typically the dominant rigid clusters do not contain highly critical interactions, yet, when such interactions exist, they tend to be concentrated around the active site. In our case studies, we have found that removal of these interactions results in functionally relevant changes in rigidity. We present our results on the redundancy and presence of critical interactions on benchmarking data sets, with case studies on adenylate kinase, dihydrofolate reductase, DNA polymerase β, HIV-1 protease, and cytochrome-c. We also provide survey results on a larger data set of 150 proteins. These methods have been implemented in the KINARI-Redundancy server, publicly available from the KINARI-Web site (http://kinari.cs.umass.edu).
Use of Ferrofluid Patterns as Diffusion Masks

A novel method of dynamically and selectively controlling the diffusion of molecules using aggregation of ferrofluid is proposed. This method can be used to mask specific locations on a surface for combinatorial chemistry or to restrict diffusion of molecules in selected areas in a microfluidic device. This method works by using the controlled aggregation of stabilized 10nm diameter iron oxide particles (ferrofluid) to slow the diffusion of molecules in a similar manner as to how a porous media restricts diffusion. Dynamic aggregate formation is controlled by a magnetic pattern on a substrate in conjunction with an external field. The external magnetic field bias applied to the system causes ferrofluid to aggregate only in designated areas around the magnetic patterns thereby slowing diffusion through the areas where the aggregate clouds have formed.
Silicon Solar Arrays for Laser Power Transfer Applications

Modern silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells have high external quantum efficiencies (>70%) from 900nm-1070nm, and are ideally suited as laser power receivers to match the wavelength of high power lasers available today. Silicon PV cells are $\sim 300\mathrm{X}$ less expensive than III-V photovoltaic cells making them economical alternatives for large area receivers. A large receiver benefits the laser side of a wireless power system by reducing the requirement for maintaining a small beam at a great distance and eases the wireless receiver design by allowing waste heat to be spread over a larger surface area. Finally, a silicon PV array can efficiently combine solar energy harvesting during the day, and laser energy power transfer at night with a single low-cost array. In this paper we study commercially available silicon solar cells, evaluate their suitability for a laser power converter, and discuss some of the system related aspects of fielding a laser power converter.
Counting Static Targets Using an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle On-the-Fly and Autonomously

The counting of static targets on ground using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to do such counting on-the-fly and autonomously. The flight path is programmed before take-off. The UAV captures images of the ground which are processed consecutively on-the-fly to count the number of targets along the flight path. Each image is processed using the proposed target-counting algorithm. First, targets' centers are detected in the current image, and second, the targets that were not covered in previous images are identified and counted. The performance of the algorithm depends on its ability to identify in the current image what targets were already counted in previous images, and this ability is affected by the limited accuracy of the UAV to stay on the flight path in the presence of wind. In the experimental evaluation, targets were distributed on ground on three different configurations: one line of targets along the flight path, parallel lines of targets at an angle with the flight path, and random. The accuracy of the target count was 96.0%, 88.9% and 91.9% respectively.