cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Characterization of hyaluronan synthase expression and hyaluronan synthesis in bone marrow mesenchymal progenitor cells: predominant expression of HAS1 mRNA and up-regulated hyaluronan synthesis in bone marrow cells derived from multiple myeloma patients

Hyaluronan (HA) is suggested to play a role in the pathophysiology of multiple myeloma. To further investigate the role of HA in this disease, we examined hyaluronan synthase (Has) gene expression and HA production in bone marrow mesenchymal progenitor cells (bmMPCs) derived from multiple myeloma patients. The relative abundance of mRNA for each HAS gene was determined using competitive reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (cRT-PCR), whereas HA production was detected by fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (FACE). We determined the basal expression of Has isoforms in myeloma bmMPCs and then compared this expression with expression in healthy donor bmMPCs. Of the 3 Has isoforms, Has1 mRNA was expressed predominantly in myeloma bmMPCs, with expression 7.6-fold greater than Has2. Compared with normal bmMPCs, Has1 mRNA expression was 20-fold greater in myeloma bmMPCs. Normal bmMPCs predominantly expressed Has2 mRNA (8.2-fold greater than myeloma bmMPCs). Upon coculture of myeloma bmMPCs with plasma cells, Has1 transcript was strongly attenuated. FACE results show that myeloma bmMPCs synthesize 5.7-fold more HA than those from healthy donors. These data suggest that myeloma bmMPCs could be an important component of the myeloma pathophysiology in vivo by their increased expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) components relevant to plasma cell growth and survival.
General method for multiparameter fitting of high-resolution EPR spectra using a simplex algorithm☆

Abstract A general method for fitting experimental electron paramagnetic resonance spectra to numerically simulated multiparameter model spectra has been developed. The goal of this work is to provide a quantitative and reliable method for evaluating spectral simulations and extracting the maximum information possible from experimental EPR spectra. The calculation involves a minimization of gx2, in which a downhill simplex algorithm is used as the search procedure for varying the parameters that determine the simulated model spectra. This method is applied to determine (1) magnetic tensors and linewidths from spectra of randomly oriented (powder) samples, (2) complex orientational distributions from spectra of oriented assemblies, and (3) exponential recovery times in time-domain EPR. The reliability of the calculation was verified by successful applications to simulated spectra for which the correct results were known, and by showing that the same results were obtained independently of initial assumptions or the convergence path followed, for both simulated and experimental spectra. Estimates of uncertainties in the fitted parameters were obtained by determining the standard deviations from multiple independent calculations with different initial values.
Mechanical response of multicrystalline thin films in mesoscale field dislocation mechanics

A continuum model of plasticity, Phenomenological Mesoscopic Field Dislocation Mechanics (PMFDM), is used to study the effect of surface passivation, grain orientation, grain boundary constraints, and film thickness on the mechanical response of multicrystalline thin films. The numerical experiments presented in this paper show that a surface passivation layer on thin films introduces thickness dependence of the mechanical response. However, the effect of passivation decreases in films with impenetrable grain boundaries. The orientation of individual grains of the multicrystal also has a significant effect on the mechanical response. Our results are in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. A primary contribution of this work is the implementation of a jump condition that enables the modeling of important limits of grain boundary constraints to plastic flow, independent of ad-hoc constitutive assumptions and interface conditions.
Perturbation analysis of an SVD-based linear prediction method for estimating the frequencies of multiple sinusoids

A linear prediction approach is studied for estimating the frequencies of sinusoids in white noise. It is shown that in the first step, the continuity of the generalized inverse and the concept of angle between subspaces play an important role. The continuity concept helps explain the need for a low rank approximation, and the quality of the approximation is appraised by using the notion of angle between subspaces. For the second step, the sensitivity of the zeros of the predictor polynomial becomes an important consideration and is examined. It is shown that increasing the order of the predictor polynomial and computing the minimum norm solution provides a mechanism to reduce parameter sensitivity. >
Sleep-Disordered Breathing and COPD: The Overlap Syndrome

Sleep-disordered breathing (mainly obstructive sleep apnea [OSA]) and COPD are among the most common pulmonary diseases, so a great number of patients have both disorders; this "overlap syndrome" causes more severe nocturnal hypoxemia than either disease alone. This common combination of OSA and COPD has important implications for diagnosis, treatment, and outcome. Specifically, patients with COPD and OSA have a substantially greater risk of morbidity and mortality, compared to those with either COPD or OSA alone. Only now are the interactions between these 2 systemic diseases being determined and appreciated. Many questions remain, however, with regard to disease definition, prognosis, and optimal treatment. Treatment currently consists of continuous positive airway pressure, and oxygen as needed. Noninvasive ventilation may be helpful in overlap syndrome patients, but this has not yet been well studied.
Presidential Charismatic Leadership: Exploring the Rhetoric of Social Change

Fiol, Harris and House [(1999). Charismatic leadership: Strategies for effecting social change. Leadership Quarterly, 10, 449–482] provide support for the theory that charismatic leaders introduce social change by employing communication targeted at changing followers' values in a temporal sequence: frame-breaking (phase 1), frame-moving (phase 2), and frame-realigning (phase 3). Using computerized content analysis, the current study extended these findings by testing additional communication tactics in temporal sequence on a larger sample of US presidential speeches with an expanded presidential charisma measure. Compared to non-charismatic leaders, charismatic leaders emphasized their similarity to followers in phase 1 and used negation in phase 2. Both leadership types used increasingly active and tangible language as they moved from phase 1 to 2 to 3. Across phases, charismatic leaders communicated with imagery and stressed inclusion, while referring less to conceptual thoughts and inspiration. A theoretical model of social identity framing is introduced to provide additional insight into how leaders communicate for social change.
Safety evaluation of salinomycin in broiler chickens reared in floor pens.

Abstract Salinomycin (Coxistac)1, a new broad spectrum anticoccidial, was tested in broilers reared in floor pens for safety at 50, 60, 80, 100, and 160 ppm fed continuously from 1 to 56 days of age. Four trials were conducted. Comparisons were made to unmedicated controls and in three trials to monensin at 80, 100, and 121 ppm. The weight gains at 50 and 60 ppm of salinomycin and 80 and 100 ppm of monensin were statistically comparable and equivalent to or better than controls. The weight gain at 80 ppm of salinomycin was slightly below controls but comparable to 121 ppm monensin. Levels of 100 and 160 ppm of salinomycin depressed weight gain. Feed conversion for all treatments except 160 ppm salinomycin were comparable.
Human Skin in Organ Culture and Human Skin Cells (Keratinocytes and Fibroblasts) in Monolayer Culture for Assessment of Chemically Induced Skin Damage

Human skin cells (epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts) in monolayer culture and human skin in organ culture were exposed to agents that are known to produce irritation (redness, dryness, edema and scaly crusts) when applied topically to skin. Among the agents used were three well accepted contact irritants (i.e., all-trans retinoic acid [RA], sodium lauryl sulfate [SLS] and benzalkonium chloride) as well as the corrosive organic mercury compound, aminophenyl mercuric acetate (APMA), and 5 contact sensitizers (oxazolone, nickel sulfate, eugenol, isoeugenol and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate [EGDM]). As a group, the contact irritants (including the corrosive mercuric compound) were cytotoxic for keratinocytes and fibroblasts and suppressed growth at lower concentrations than the contact sensitizers. The contact irritants also produced histological changes (hyperplasia, incomplete keratinization, loss of the granular layer, acantholysis and necrosis) in organ-cultured skin at dose levels at which the contact sensitizers appeared to be inert. Finally, the profile of secreted molecules from organ-cultured skin was different in the presence of contact irritants versus contact sensitizers. Taken together, these data suggest that the use of organ-cultured skin in conjunction with cells derived from the skin in monolayer culture may provide an initial approach to screening agents for deleterious changes in skin.
Emerging gene editing strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy targeting stem cells

The progressive loss of muscle mass characteristic of many muscular dystrophies impairs the efficacy of most of the gene and molecular therapies currently being pursued for the treatment of those disorders. It is becoming increasingly evident that a therapeutic application, to be effective, needs to target not only mature myofibers, but also muscle progenitors cells or muscle stem cells able to form new muscle tissue and to restore myofibers lost as the result of the diseases or during normal homeostasis so as to guarantee effective and lost lasting effects. Correction of the genetic defect using oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) or engineered nucleases holds great potential for the treatment of many of the musculoskeletal disorders. The encouraging results obtained by studying in vitro systems and model organisms have set the groundwork for what is likely to become an emerging field in the area of molecular and regenerative medicine. Furthermore, the ability to isolate and expand from patients various types of muscle progenitor cells capable of committing to the myogenic lineage provides the opportunity to establish cell lines that can be used for transplantation following ex vivo manipulation and expansion. The purpose of this article is to provide a perspective on approaches aimed at correcting the genetic defect using gene editing strategies and currently under development for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), the most sever of the neuromuscular disorders. Emphasis will be placed on describing the potential of using the patient own stem cell as source of transplantation and the challenges that gene editing technologies face in the field of regenerative biology.
Applications of RF and microwave sampling to instrumentation and measurement

Measurement of microwave and UHF signals is often done with sampling techniques. In this review, the techniques and technology of sampling of electrical signals is reviewed from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. It includes both references to the open literature as well as an extensive review of relevant patents. This review is specifically oriented toward applications and not theory. It was written to introduce the Special Session on "High Speed Sampling Circuits and Techniques" at IMS 2003.
Simple Chemical Extraction Method for DNA Isolation from Aspergillus fumigatus and Other Aspergillus Species

DNA was successfully isolated from numerous Aspergillus spp. by use of a commercial kit. DNA that was easily digested and yielded PCR products up to 8.5 kb in size was recovered from broth or agar cultures. The ease and speed of this protocol provide an alternative to physical methods of DNA isolation.
Vibrational energy relaxation in the condensed phases: Quantum vs classical bath for multiphonon processes

We develop a theory for relating quantum and classical time correlation functions in the context of vibrational energy relaxation. The treatment is based on the assumption that both the quantum and the classical systems are characterized by effective harmonic Hamiltonians with identical normal modes; and the solute-solvent interaction is taken to be linear in the solute vibrational coordinate, but nonlinear in the bath coordinates. We propose an approximate “quantum correction” which allows the determination of the quantum energy relaxation rates from the classical force-force time correlation functions in the limit of large solute’s vibrational frequency. We test the accuracy of this approximate correction against exact numerical results for two forms of the solute-solvent interaction (exponential and power law), and find it to be accurate for a wide range of solute vibrational frequencies and for different solvent thermodynamic states. A simple form of the “quantum correction” is proposed for the models...
Delaminated titanate and peroxotitanate photocatalysts

Abstract Delaminated layered titanates are effective, versatile, robust and practical photocatalytic materials for degradation of organic and microbiological contaminants. In prior studies, these have generally been obtained from Cs-titanate lepidocrocite-analogue parent materials. In this study we show that delaminated sodium nonatitanate (SNT) is equally effective as the delaminated Cs-titanate; yet it is cheaper to synthesize and is obtained in about one-third as many processing steps. Two chemical modifications; ligation with peroxide and treatment with phosphate resulted in improved photodegradation of common dyes; bromophenol-blue and methyl-orange. Together these two dyes provided experimental conditions ranging from pH ∼4.5–9. All layered titanate materials proved to be more effective colloidal suspension photocatalysts than standard TiO2. Although most common characterization techniques could not distinguish significant differences between the different delaminated titanates (from different parent materials, with chemical modifications), band-gap measurement via UV–vis spectroscopy proved informative. Generally the closer the match between the band-gap and the UV-light source, the more effective the catalyst. Finally, these layered titanates were electrostatically adhered to a surface, and photocatalytic activity was retained in this form. Furthermore, in this surface-adsorbed form we could see clear morphological differences between the Cs-titanate and SNT derived materials, as well as measure the height of the adsorbed layers. All observations by Atomic Force Microscopy indicated that the titanates layers that adhere to mica have a thickness of 1–10 layers thick (∼1–4 nm). These materials in their surface-fixed forms are very promising for water treatment technologies.
Prediction of magnetically induced electric fields in biological tissue

Noninvasive magnetic stimulation of neurons in the brain can be realized by high-intensity rapidly changing magnetic fields. Attention is focused on the calculation of the induced electric fields commensurate with rapidly changing magnetic fields in biological tissue. The problem is not a true eddy current problem in that the magnetic fields induced do not influence the source fields. Two techniques are introduced for numerically predicting the fields, each employing a different gauge for the potentials used to represent the electric field. The first method employs a current vector potential and is best suited to two-dimensional (2-D) models. The second represents the electric field as the sum of a vector plus the gradient of a scalar field; because the vector can be determined quickly using the Biot-Savart rule (which for circular coils degenerates to an efficient evaluation employing elliptic integrals), the numerical model is a scalar problem even in the most complicated three-dimensional geometry. These two models are solved for the case of a circular current carrying coil near a conducting body with sharp corners. >
Evaluación económica en salud: de la investigación a la toma de decisiones

La evaluacion economica se esta consoli-dando en muchos paises como una herra-mienta para el analisis de las tecnologias yprogramas sanitarios. Existe un sectorimportante de empresas consultoras y cen-tros academicos que se dedican de formaexclusiva o preponderante a lo que se cono-ce como investigacion de resultados ensalud, que incluye la propia evaluacion eco-nomica, los estudios de calidad de vida y uti-lizacion de tecnologias y otras tecnicas quevan mas alla de la investigacion clinica tradi-cional. Sin embargo, la utilizacion sistemati-ca, explicita y transparente de la evaluacioneconomica para la toma de decisiones y laasignacion de recursos por parte de los entesaseguradores y reguladores del sistema sani-tario solo se da en un numero relativamentereducido de paises, entre los que destacan elReino Unido, Australia y Estados Unidos.Espana es uno de los paises en que, a pesarde que existe la capacidad para llevar a caboestudios de calidad y un volumen significati-vo y creciente de trabajos sobre el tema, suaplicacion practica es esporadica y pococonocida.En los parrafos siguientes analizare algu-nas de las causas e inconvenientes de estasituacion y propondre algunas lineas deavance.Posiblemente, la causa mas importante esla inadecuacion de los incentivos que actuansobre los gestores de los sistemas sanitariospara decidir de forma eficiente. En muchoscasos se obtienen mayores ventajas economi-cas y prestigio utilizando tecnologias nuevasde baja o incierta evidencia que utilizando lasopciones mas eficientes o coste-efectivas. Enla situacion habitual de precio nulo para elconsumidor de servicios y de retribucion noligada al comportamiento ni al uso de recur-sos para el profesional, es muy optimistaesperar que las consideraciones de coste jue-guen un papel importante. La etica medica, lamedicina defensiva o el prestigio asociado ala utilizacion de las novedades tecnologicasson todos ellos factores que a menudo juegancontra el criterio de eficiencia. Los estudiosde evaluacion economica no son mas queinformacion sobre los costes y beneficiospotenciales de opciones de decision, y solotendran un impacto real en la mejora de la efi-ciencia del sistema sanitario si informan lasdecisiones de asignacion de recursos, pero nosi se utiliza solo para defender o legitimardecisiones tomadas por otras razones.Pero incluso en los casos en que existe porparte de los gestores una motivacion o preo-
On Simulation and the Teaching of Statistics

The use of simulation as an instructional tool can promote a deep conceptual understanding of statistics and lead to misunderstandings. Teachers need to be aware of the misconceptions that can arise as a result of simulation and carefully structure classroom activities so as to derive the benefits of this powerful instructional tool.
Segmentation, classification and watermarking for image/video semantic authentication

We propose a novel technique for image/video authentication at the semantic level. This method uses statistical learning, visual object segmentation and classification schemes for semantic understanding of visual content. This system embeds either the classification output or the user annotated model labels into multimedia data as watermarks. A robust rotation, scaling, and translation public watermarking method is used for embedding. The authentication process is executed by comparing the classification result with the information carried by the watermark. This method leads the authentication system to learn the semantic content of multimedia data and performs the authentication task in the semantic level.
Spirituality as an essential domain of palliative care: Caring for the whole person

In spite of Dr Saunders pioneering work, recognition of the spiritual domain as part of the care of patients, and the increased body of scholarly writing and research in spirituality and palliative care, this domain of care has been overlooked. 9 The focus of hospice and palliative care has been largely on attending to physical symptoms and psychosocial issues. In part, this has been because of a lackof a common definition of spirituality as well as ethical concerns regarding roles of providers in this seemingly personal area of clinical inquiry. Furthermore, the role chaplaincy has not been clearly understood by clinicians. This has contributed to clinicians’ apprehension of addressing an area in which there may be no clear way to treat and alleviated spiritual concerns and issues. Clinicians also have practical concerns regarding time, expertise, and ways to integrate spirituality into a medical model of care. Finally, while there has been considerable progress in curricula in spirituality and health, 10–13 there is great need for standardized education programmes for all clinical disciplines in spirituality and health. To address these concerns, the National Consensus Conference entitled Improving the Spiritual Domain of Palliative Care was convened. 9 An interdisciplinary group of palliative care clinicians, chaplains, clergy, spiritual directors, and others developed guidelines for implementing the required domain of palliative care – spiritual, religious, and existential issues. The conference attendees developed a definition of spirituality and spiritual care as well as an innovative implementation model; guidelines on assessment, treatment and care plans, and education; interdisciplinary team functioning with regard to spiritual care; and recommendations for quality improvement research in this area. The attendees highlighted the need for immediate recognition of and attention to spiritual distress, which should be responded to with the same intensity as physical pain. The conference also endorsed the important role of the board eligible or board certified chaplain as the spiritual care specialist in clinical care with the other clinicians being the generalists, in a generalist-specialist model of care. 14 Finally, the participants cited the importance of
Optical spectra and kinetics of single impurity molecules in a polymer: spectral diffusion and persistent spectral hole burning

With high-efficiency fluorescence excitation techniques optical spectra of single impurity molecules of perylene in a polyethylene matrix can be obtained at 1.5 K. Analysis of such spectra shows a variety of spectral diffusion effects, including fast (<2 s) resonance frequency changes on the 1–100-MHz scale, which lead to a range of apparent linewidths, as well as discontinuous jumps in the resonance frequency of 10–1000 MHz on a longer time scale. In addition, light-induced changes in the resonance frequency of a single molecule (persistent spectral hole burning) have been conclusively observed by showing that the burning time decreases with increased laser power. Surprisingly, hole-burned single molecules often spontaneously return to the original frequency in 1–100 s. Measurements of the burning time for a large number of hole-burning events for the same single molecule yield an exponential burn-time distribution, which is the first direct measurement to our knowledge of the stochastic kinetics of a single molecule. Analysis of the signal-to-noise function appropriate to these experiments gives the conditions under which other systems may permit single-molecule detection: strong absorption, high fluorescence yield, weak bottlenecks in the optical pumping process, and low hole-burning quantum efficiency.
P03.01. Characteristics of residents and training sites influence successful completion of the Integrative Medicine in Residency program

Methods Resident and residency site characteristics were examined to determine factors influencing completion of the Integrative Medicine in Residency (IMR) curriculum for the 2011 graduating class. Completion criteria included finishing ≥80% of the online courses plus a final score on the medical knowledge test of ≥70%. Resident characteristics used as predictors included demographics; medical school type [US MD, DO, foreign medical graduates (FMG)]; and, responses to a post-match survey administered before the residency began in 2008 on previous participation in CAM courses or experiences, importance of the IMR in choosing residency, and interests in learning IM and applying IM after graduation. Site characteristics included: extent of IM in the residency culture (e.g., faculty practicing IM consultations; IM consultation on site; an IM 4th year fellowship at the site); faculty characteristics (i.e., faculty leader IM fellowship trained; faculty leader with designated IM teaching time); and curriculum delivery (i.e., using the IMR plus other IM teaching/rotation/electives; monthly IM case conferences; resident IM clinical application).
Template-Directed Dye-Terminator Incorporation with Fluorescence Polarization Detection for Analysis of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms Implicated in Sepsis

Sepsis continues to be a common source of morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) present in genes encoding inflammatory mediators have been associated with predisposition and outcome in this syndrome. The use of high throughput SNP analysis in large epidemiological studies is necessary to more fully understand the genetic underpinnings of this disease. We adapted template-directed dye-terminator incorporation with fluorescence polarization detection (TDI-FP) to the analysis of eight SNPs implicated in mediating the sepsis syndrome: TNF-α (−308), TNF-α (−238), TNF-β (+250), IL-1β (+3953), IL-6 (−174), IL-10 (−592), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1 (−675)), and TLR4 299 (+1032). Optimization of PCR, amplicon purification, and template-directed dye-terminator incorporation reactions were necessary to achieve acceptable performance characteristics for these assays. Sequence validated samples served as controls. Using this method we were able to assign genotype in 99.3% of assays and identified 64 unique genotypes in samples obtained from 90 individuals. TDI-FP is a flexible and robust method of SNP detection that can be optimized in a systematic fashion. This method has potential advantages compared with other high throughput genotyping techniques and appears well suited to clinical situations requiring analysis of large numbers of samples.
Parametric Study of Dynamic Surface Roughness as a Mechanism for Flow Control

*† A numerical study was performed to investigate the use of dynamic surface roughness for controlling flow separation from aerodynamic surfaces. The work focused on parametrically examining the effects of Reynolds number, roughness height and frequency on the impact of dynamic roughness for flow separation. The simulations involved two-dimensional roughness geometries in the leading-edge region of an airfoil. Flow separation was initiated by setting the airfoil at a finite angle of attack to produce leading-edge separation or setting the airfoil in a rapid pitch-up maneuver to form the dynamic stall vortex. Comparisons were made for three geometric configurations: the clean airfoil surface, static roughness and dynamic roughness. A majority of the roughness tested had amplitudes that were contained within the oncoming laminar boundary layer. The dynamic surface roughness examined in this study showed that it can have a major impact on the flow field as compared to the clean surface and similar static roughness cases. The dynamic roughness was able to delay or suppress the unsteady flow separation for the conditions tested at a dynamic stall regime and shows strong potential as an aerodynamic flow control mechanism.
A Content Analysis of News Coverage of Asian Female Olympic Athletes

Asian female athletes' prominent performances have caught the media's attention for coverage. Despite the success of Asian female athletes, stereotypes and expectations of feminine characteristics ...
James Cone and the Problem of a Black Ethic

James Cone is without question the leading proponent of Black theology in America. His books, articles, and lectures have exercised great influence inside and outside the black community. Thus far, however, Cone has not explicitly stated his theological ethic, although much of significance for ethics is embedded in his works. It will be our purpose in this short essay to stimulate him and others to articulate the ethical aspects of his theology. Our aim, then, is to set forth what we believe to be the ethic implicit in his first two books, Black Theology and Black Power and Liberation: A Black Theology of Liberation. Our essay will be critical in nature and will attempt to deal with theoretical questions.
Ductile versus brittle behaviour of crystals

Abstract A necessary criterion for brittle fracture in crystals is established, in terms of the spontaneous emission of dislocations from an atomically sharp cleavage crack. We have calculated the stability of a sharp crack against emission of a blunting dislocation for a number of crystals and crystal types in two dimensions and the energy to form a stable loop of dislocation from the crack tip in three dimensions. We find that contrary to previous expectations, an atomically sharp cleavage crack is stable in a wide range of crystal types, but that in the face centred cubic metals investigated, blunting reactions occur spontaneously. Of the body centred metals investigated, iron is an intermediate case between the brittle and ductile cases, and the ionic and covalent crystals investigated are all stable against dislocation emission. Qualitatively, we find that crystals whose dislocations have wide cores, and small values of the parameter μb/γ (μb/γ⋦7·5 to 10) are ductile while crystals with narrow cores ...
HETEROSPECIFIC FACILITATION OF FOREST-BOUNDARY CROSSING BY MOBBING UNDERSTORY BIRDS IN NORTH-CENTRAL FLORIDA

Abstract Perception of predation risk by animals living in habitat mosaics moderates movement behaviors, potentially influencing the connectivity of landscapes. Perception of risk varies with environmental factors, which opens the possibility of managing connectivity for animals in fragmented landscapes. Observing understory forest birds wintering in north-central Florida, we tested the hypothesis that the presence of the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor), a vigilant, socially dominant flocking species, would increase the propensity of multispecies flocks engaged in mobbing to cross forest boundaries and move into open areas. Eastern Screech-Owl (Megascops asio) calls were broadcast next to an owl model at sites within continuous oak forest habitats (control) or just outside of forest in either old-field habitats with clustered saplings and shrub cover (shrub treatment) or in early successional habitats (open treatment; 11 trials in each habitat). In both treatments (forest adjacent to open or shrub), ...
Smart Pixel Array Module Based on VCSEL to Si ASIC Integration

This paper describes a smart pixel array module (APSM) technology based on a monolithically integrated two-dimensional array VCSELs and photodetectors, and its heterogeneous integration with Si ASICs and passive optics. All component and integration approaches are compatible with low cost manufacturing practices, and consistent with the ultimate goal of addressing the electrical interconnect density bottleneck problem.
Let's Restore Freedom of Contract to the Montana Code

This short piece reflects my continuing fascination with – and abhorrence of – the Field Code. In past articles, I expressed disgust with the fact that the Field Code as enacted in Montana does not contain a provision expressly permitting parties to contract around it. I then discovered that the original Field Code did contain such a provision, but it was inadvertently removed by the Montana legislature. This piece describes that history and encourages the legislature to remedy the problem.
Green Downlink Radio Management Based Cognitive Radio LTE HetNets

In this paper, the problem of radio and power resource management in underlay cognitive radio heterogeneous networks is investigated, where macro and pico Base Stations (BSs) are considered as primary BSs while femto BSs are considered as secondary BSs. The goal is to minimize the total primary power consumption and maximize the secondary utility of the network while satisfying the primary user quality of service determined by target data rate and interference constraints. Furthermore, a green communication algorithm is implemented based on a sleeping strategy. Simulations study investigates the performance of the proposed scheme and shows an important saving in terms of total power consumption.
Improvements and disparities in types of foods and milk beverages offered in elementary school lunches, 2006-2007 to 2013-2014

Introduction Children consume much of their daily energy intake at school. School district policies, state laws, and national policies, such as revisions to the US Department of Agriculture's school meals standards, may affect the types of foods and beverages offered in school lunches over time. Methods This study evaluated changes and disparities in school lunch characteristics from 2006-2007 to 2013-2014. Data were obtained from annual cross-sectional surveys at 4,630 public elementary schools participating in the National School Lunch Program. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to examine lunch characteristics. Results The percentage of schools regularly offering healthful items such as vegetables (other than potatoes), fresh fruit, salad bars, whole grains, and more healthful pizzas increased significantly from 2006-2007 to 2013-2014, and the percentage of schools offering less healthful items such as fried potatoes, regular pizza, and high-fat milks decreased significantly. Nevertheless, disparities were evident in 2013-2014. Schools in the West were significantly more likely to offer salad bars than were schools in the Northeast, Midwest, or South (adjusted prevalence: West, 66.3%; Northeast, 22.3%; Midwest, 20.8%; South, 18.3%). Majority-black or majority-Latino schools were significantly less likely to offer fresh fruit than were predominantly white schools (adjusted prevalence: majority black, 61.3%; majority Latino, 73.0%; predominantly white, 87.8%). Schools with low socioeconomic status were significantly less likely to offer salads regularly than were schools with middle or high socioeconomic status (adjusted prevalence: low, 38.5%; middle, 47.4%; high, 59.3%). Conclusion Much progress has been made in improving the quality of school lunches in US public elementary schools, but additional opportunities for improvement remain.
Structural Transformation of Amyloid Peptides Interacting with Lipid Membranes

The inherent cytotoxicity of protein aggregates implies a common mechanism for amyloid diseases (Bucciantini et al). However, accumulated evidence suggests that the insoluble fibrils or aggregates are not the culprit. On the other hand, amyloid peptides in soluble form do interact with lipid bilayers, suggesting that the cell plasma membranes are a target of amyloid pathogeneses. In particular, Keyed et al. have demonstrated that amyloid peptides all increase membrane ion conductance without any evidence of discrete channel or pore formation. In this study we try to find the common molecular process of soluble amyloid peptides interacting with lipid membranes that might induce membrane conductivity. It is difficult to study this molecular process for most amyloid peptides because of its propensity to fibrillize at relatively low solution concentration. PrP 106-126 is a random coil in its soluble form. We study its kinetics of structural transformation in the presence of lipid vesicles. The time dependence of the structural changes was analyzed as a function of the lipid concentration. We demonstrate that the soluble peptides transform from random coils to alpha-helices upon binding to lipid bilayers. The helical state is stable, as long as the bound peptide to lipid ratio P/L on the lipid vesicle is below a critical value P/L∗. But as P/L exceeds P/L∗, the peptides transform from the helical state to beta-aggregates. This is consistent with previous studies of penetration and hIAPP in multiple lipid bilayers. Thus we found the common fibrillization process of amyloid peptides interacting with lipid bilayers. Our proposal is that the process of peptides’ transformation from random coils to helices and then to beta-aggregation creates defects in the membranes that allow ion permeation to occur as observed by Keyed et al.
Copolymerized Antioxidants in Polyether-Ester Elastomers

Abstract Antioxidants copolymerized into polyether-ester elastomers increase the resistance of the elastomers to degradation by heat aging. Resistance to heat aging increases as antioxidant content increases, with no bloom formation at high antioxidant content. The addition of a small amount of a nonbound amine antioxidant further increases the resistance to heat aging of elastomer protected by copolymerized phenolic antioxidant. The 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxybenzenepropanamido structure is a more effective antioxidant in these polyether-ester elastomers than the 3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxybenzamido structure.
Immunologic differences between iso-antibodies and auto-antibodies.

The material coating erythrocytes in acquired hemolytic anemia caused by warm-acting iso-antibodies' has been demonstrated to be a gamma globulin.'' " In many instances, the presence of the coating iso-antibody is not apparent unless either the cells are suspended in special mediums, erythrocytes treated with enzyme are used,' or an anti-human globulin (Coombs) serum is used. Such findings have led to the term incomplete iso-antibody. I t has been frequently demonstrated*'' ,55 that material may coat erythrocytes in acquired hemolytic anemia of the idiopathic and secondary types. The coating effect is demonstrated with the same procedures that are used in determining the presence of the incomplete iso-antibodies, and accordingly, this coating material has been regarded as an incomplete antibody. Inasmuch as obvious sensitization is not present, the concept of auto-immunization has been developed. This concept is based on the premise that the coating material represents an auto-antibody ,41 ,42 that develops as the sequela of active immunization against an antigen in the patient's own cells. Because such antigens have not been demonstrated and the theory seems to violate the law of "horror autotoxicus," this concept has not been universally accepted. The study described in this paper was an attempt to determine the relation between the coating material that is characteristic of the secondary hemolytic anemias and iso-immune incomplete antibodies.
Role of combined embolization and ablation in management of renal masses.

Combination of minimally invasive treatment modalities is being increasingly utilized to improve local tumor control and overall survival. In the liver, the combination of embolization and ablation results in equivalent overall survival and intrahepatic disease progression as surgical resection for lesions smaller than 7 cm. Ablation alone for small renal masses up to 4 cm results in excellent local tumor control and lack of residual enhancement to suggest viable tumor. A small number of studies have been performed combining embolization and ablation, which result in high rates of local tumor control for tumors smaller than 5 cm. Based on this small cohort, combined embolization and ablation may be most indicated for central or mixed tumors where ablation alone suffers from the greatest degree of “heat sink” effect. This article reviews the theory, methods, and outcomes of combining percutaneous ablative and embolic modalities in the treatment of renal masses.
Stiff Neck, Torticollis, and Pseudotumor Cerebri

Three prepubertal children diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri and presenting with stiff neck and torticollis are reported from Schneider Children’s Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel.
The thrill of everyday science: Images of science and scientists on children's educational science programmes in the United States

Several media effects perspectives suggest that televised images can influence children's perceptions of science and scientists. This study analysed images of science and scientists in four childre...
Abstract 03: The impact of chromosomal translocation locus and fusion oncogene coding sequence in synovial sarcomagenesis

Synovial sarcoma, the most common soft-tissue sarcoma in young adults bears a t(X;18) translocation that generates a fusion between SS18 (formerly SYT) and an SSX gene. SS18-SSX1 and SS18-SSX2 differ by only 13 amino acids. Clinically, SS18-SSX1 is more common, portends a worse prognosis, and demonstrates increased prevalence of biphasic histology. We conditionally expressed each fusion in otherwise identical mouse models, unexpectedly finding SS18-SSX2 to be more sarcomagenic than SS18-SSX1 and equally prone to biphasic histology. This suggested that coding sequence does not account for clinical differences between the fusions. Reanalysis of patient series found a gender bias in the prevalence of SS18-SSX2-expressing tumors, suggesting an X-linked effect and implicating the loss of native SSX2 by translocation as a hinderance to SS18-SSX2-driven synovial sarcomagenesis in males. Next, we confirmed that human synovial sarcomas almost universally express native SSX2, but not SSX1 and knock-down of native SSX2 in human synovial sarcoma cell lines blunted proliferation whereas overexpression of SSX2 enhances cell proliferation. In conclusion, we hypothesize that SSX2 facilitates sarcomagenesis in SS18-SSX1-expressing tumors and because our model of SS18-SSX2-expressing mice does not disrupt native SSX2 it recapitulates the prevalence and phenotype of SS18-SSX1 tumors. Citation Format: Kevin B. Jones, Jared J. Barrott, Huifeng Jin, Malay Haldar, Mario R. Capecchi. The impact of chromosomal translocation locus and fusion oncogene coding sequence in synovial sarcomagenesis. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Precision Medicine Series: Integrating Clinical Genomics and Cancer Therapy; Jun 13-16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2016;22(1_Suppl):Abstract nr 03.
Interaction Patterns of Agile Development.

Of course, this is not the first work that has been done in the area. There is a significant inventory of pattern languages on method design in the literature. Some of the patterns already published are very similar to patterns of this paper, some are variants or applications of them in a different context. I have listed these patterns as related with their specific counterparts. In particular you may want to check the following sources too:
Adhering to inpatient geriatric consultation recommendations.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the rate of and factors associated with attending physicians' adherence to geriatric consultation recommendations in an urban community hospital. METHODS A retrospective review was performed of the charts of 47 patients referred for inpatient geriatric consultation over the previous 1 1/2-year period. Study variables included patient and attending physician demographics, length of stay in hospital before geriatric consultation, status of patient on discharge, level of expertise of consultant, number of diagnoses per patient, and types and number of recommendations per patient made by consultant and acted upon by attending physicians. RESULTS The recommendations made included medical (23.4%), medication (28.6%), laboratory (15.8%), radiological (2.6%), nutritional (11.7%), psychosocial (7.7%), skin care (1.6%), rehabilitative (6.4%), and other (2.2%). The percentage of total recommendations acted upon was 55.5%. By multivariate analysis, decreasing length of time prior to consultation was statistically associated with referring physician adherence to consultation recommendations (P=.03). Slightly more than 40% of the variability in adherence was explained by this single variable. CONCLUSIONS Inpatient geriatric consultations are aimed at providing a comprehensive assessment for attending physicians. Recommendations are acted upon more than 50% of the time. Physician adherence to recommendations does not appear to be dependent on patient or physician demographic variables, but to some extent, adherence is associated with less time in the hospital prior to consultation. This is a relatively new concept in hospital medicine.
Costa Rican Aid

In many respects Costa Rica’s economic and cultural environment differs from those in East Asia. In addition, the world market environment has been severely restrictive in the years during Costa Rica’s emergence. The past twenty years, for example, have included the debt crisis of the 1980s and structural adjustments in the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, however, Costa Rica has resisted forces that have devastated many other Latin American countries. Costa Rican growth rates have been slower than growth rates of the Asian NICs, but they were higher than most Latin American countries. Costa Rica started at a higher level of development than the Asian NICs because of the social democratic institutions and policies maintained there since the 1950s. Growth rates increased in the late 1980sand early 1990s, before falling during the mid-1990s recession.
Robust phase-waves in chains of half-center oscillators

Many neuronal circuits driving coordinated locomotion are composed of chains of half-center oscillators (HCOs) of various lengths. The HCO is a common motif in central pattern generating circuits (CPGs); an HCO consists of two neurons, or two neuronal populations, connected by reciprocal inhibition. To maintain appropriate motor coordination for effective locomotion over a broad range of frequencies, chains of CPGs must produce approximately constant phase-differences in a robust manner. In this article, we study phase-locking in chains of nearest-neighbor coupled HCOs and examine how the circuit architecture can promote phase-constancy, i.e., inter-HCO phase-differences that are frequency-invariant. We use two models with different levels of abstraction: (1) a conductance-based model in which each neuron is modeled by the Morris-Lecar equations (the ML-HCO model); and (2) a coupled phase model in which the state of each HCO is captured by its phase (the phase-HCO model). We show that one of four phase-waves with inter-HCO phase-differences at approximately 0, 25, 50 or 75 % arises robustly as a result of the inter-HCO connection topology, and its robust existence is not affected by the number of HCOs in the chain, the difference in strength between the ascending and descending nearest-neighbor connections, or the number of nearest-neighbor connections. Our results show that the internal anti-phase structure of the HCO and an appropriate inter-HCO connection topology together can provide a mechanism for robust (i.e., frequency-independent) limb coordination in segmented animals, such as the 50 % interlimb phase-differences in the tripod gate of stick insects and cockroaches, and the 25 % interlimb phase-differences in crayfish and other long-tailed crustaceans during forward swimming.