cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Detection of target nucleic acids and proteins by amplification of circularizable probes

Circularizable oligonucleotide probe (C-probe) is a unique molecule that offers significant advantages over conventional probes. Closed circular structure can be formed through ligation of its ends after hybridizing onto a target and locked on its target due to the helical turns formed between the complementary sequences of the target and the C-probe (padlock probe). Under an isothermal condition, C-probe can be amplified by rolling circle amplification, to generate multimeric single-stranded DNA. This multimeric single-stranded DNA can be further amplified by a ramification mechanism through primer extension and upstream DNA displacement, resulting in an exponential amplification. Usually, an unbiased product is generated by either rolling circle amplification or ramification mechanism due to the generic primers of C-probe and is localized on targets. These advantages make C-probe amplification very useful for research and molecular diagnosis, especially in the areas where other techniques are not adequa...
TERMINAL AREA REQUIRED TIME OF ARRIVAL (RTA) CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS AND AUTOMATION PROTOTYPE

A ground-centric concept for merging and sequencing aircraft on Area Navigation (RNAV) and/or Required Navigation Performance (RNP) procedures in the terminal area leveraging the advanced flight deck capability of meeting required time of arrival (RTA) instructions is defined. Automation to provide time-based resolution advisories—RTAs, speed control, and lateral offsets (LOs)—to the controller to achieve efficient merging and sequencing is proposed. Closed-loop simulations using the proposed automation were conducted to assess the viability of the advisory heuristics and to examine coupling dependencies in multiple merge systems.
Power and Political Institutions

Rational choice theory tends to view political institutions as structures of voluntary cooperation that resolve collective action problems and benefit all concerned. Yet the political process often gives rise to institutions that are good for some people and bad for others, depending on who has the power to impose their will. Political institutions may be structures of cooperation, but they may also be structures of power—and the theory does not tell us much about this. As a result, it gives us a one-sided and overly benign view of what political institutions are and do. This problem is not well understood, and indeed is not typically seen as a problem at all. For there is a widespread sense in the rational choice literature that, because power is frequently discussed, it is an integral part of the theory and just as fundamental as cooperation. Confusion on this score has undermined efforts to right the imbalance. My purpose here is to clarify the analytic roles that power and cooperation actually play in this literature, and to argue that a more balanced theory—one that brings power from its periphery to its very core—is both necessary and entirely possible.Terry M. Moe is the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution (moe@hoover.stanford.edu). An earlier version of this article was presented at the Yale Conference on Crafting and Operating Institutions, April 11–13, 2003. The author would like to thank Sven Feldmann, Lloyd Gruber, James Fearon, Peter Hall, Jennifer Hochschild, Stephen Krasner, Chris Mantzavinos, Gary Miller, Paul Pierson, Theda Skocpol, Barry Weingast, and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.
Improving basic thread operations with batches of threads

Multi-core architectures provide the means to efficiently handle more fine-grained and larger numbers of parallel tasks. However, software still does not take advantage of these new possibilities, retaining the high cost associated with managing large numbers of threads. Batches of Threads have been introduced to reduce this cost and allow applications to express their inherent parallelism in a more fine-grained manner. In this paper, their use is extended, in order to improve two significant aspects of threading run-time systems. Firstly, to schedule large numbers of threads to processors. Secondly, to recycle data structures of threads that have finished execution. Both improvements can be implemented internally in threading run-time systems and thus are transparent to the programmer. The experimental evaluation demonstrates that basic thread operations improve significantly.
Patient tolerability of bowel preparation is associated with polyp detection rate during colonoscopy.

Background & Aims: A number of factors have been identied that inuence the yield of screening colonoscopy. �e perceived tolerability of bowel preparation has not been studied as a predictor of quality outcomes in colonoscopy. We aimed to characterize the association between patient-perceived tolerability of bowel preparation and polyp detection during colonoscopy. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional cohort study of 413 consecutive adult patients presenting for outpatient colonoscopy at two outpatient endoscopy centers at our institution. We developed a standardized questionnaire to assess the patient's experience with bowel preparation. Bowel preparation quality was measured using the validated Ottawa scale and colonoscopicndings were recorded for each patient. �e primary outcome was polyp detection and the secondary outcome was the quality of bowel preparation. Results: Patient-reported clarity of euent during bowel preparation correlated poorly with Ottawa score during colonoscopy, �=0.15. Female gender was an independent risk factor for a poorly tolerated bowel prep (OR 3.93, 95% CI 2.30 - 6.72, p<0.001). Report of a poorly tolerated bowel prep was independently associated with the primary outcome, polyp detection (OR 0.39, 95% CI 0.18 - 0.84, p=0.02) and also with the secondary outcome, lower quality bowel preparation (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.17 - 4.9, p=0.02). Conclusions: A patient-perceived negative experience with bowel preparation independently predicted both a lower quality bowel preparation and a lower rate of polyp of detection. Assessment of the tolerability of bowel preparation before colonoscopy may be a clinically useful predictor of quality outcomes during colonoscopy.
Human T-Lymphotrophic Virus Type-I: A Unique Association with Myelopathy in Sjögren's Syndrome.

Alexandria Voigt1 and Cuong Q Nguyen1,2* 1Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, 2015 SW 16th Ave, Gainesville Florida, USA 2Center for Orphan Autoimmune Disorders, University of Florida College of Dentistry, 1600 SW Archer Rd, Gainesville, Florida, USA *Corresponding author: Cuong Q. Nguyen, PhD, Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, PO Box 110880, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0880 USA, Tel: 352-294-4180; Fax: 352-392-9704; E-mail: Nguyenc@ufl.edu
Structure of unsaturated polyester resins crosslinked with styrene as studied by raman spectroscopy

An unsaturated polyester resin and the styrene-crosslinked polyester were studied with laser Raman spectroscopy. Following the polyesterification reaction, Raman measurements showed that the polyester contained 55% fumarate and 45% maleate unsaturation. Additionally, the glycol fragment was indicated to exist as the gauche isomer. The 1213 cm−1 line is assigned to the glycol-ester linkage and can be measured to follow the conversion to polymer. After the crosslinking reaction, styrene was found to copolymerize preferentially with the fumarate unsaturation. There was no evidence of forming long-chain polystyrene crosslinks. Our results indicate that, after crosslinking, 41% of the fumarates have reacted with styrene and there is an average of two styrene molecules in each link.
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS):fabrication, design and applications

Micromachining and micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technologies can be used to produce complex structures, devices and systems on the scale of micrometers. Initially micromachining techniques were borrowed directly from the integrated circuit (IC) industry, but now many unique MEMS-specific micromachining processes are being developed. In MEMS, a wide variety of transduction mechanisms can be used to convert real-world signals from one form of energy to another, thereby enabling many different microsensors, microactuators and microsystems. Despite only partial standardization and a maturing MEMS CAD technology foundation, complex and sophisticated MEMS are being produced. The integration of ICs with MEMS can improve performance, but at the price of higher development costs, greater complexity and a longer development time. A growing appreciation for the potential impact of MEMS has prompted many efforts to commercialize a wide variety of novel MEMS products. In addition, MEMS are well suited for the needs of space exploration and thus will play an increasingly large role in future missions to the space station, Mars and beyond. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)
The ST pinch: A side chain‐to‐side chain hydrogen‐bonded motif

The ST Pinch is a 12-membered hydrogen-bonded motif (Ser/Thr-Xaa-Ser/Thr) involving the side chain oxygen atoms of two Ser/Thr residues. We identified the ST Pinch in 104 proteins in a database containing high-resolution crystal structures. Conformational analysis of the ST Pinch in these proteins points to specific preferences for the Xaa residue and a high propensity of this residue to adopt positive φ angles. Our results suggest that this motif serves as a linker of secondary structural elements within proteins and is a new addition to the existing list of short hydrogen bond-stabilized motifs in proteins.
Discrimination among Populations of Sockeye Salmon Fry with Fourier Analysis of Otolith Banding Patterns Formed during Incubation

Abstract We used otolith banding patterns formed during incubation to discriminate among hatchery- and wild-incubated fry of sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka from Tustumena Lake, Alaska. Fourier analysis of otolith luminance profiles was used to describe banding patterns; the amplitudes of individual Fourier harmonics were discriminant variables. Correct classification of otoliths to either hatchery or wild origin was 83.1 % (cross-validation) and 72.7% (test data) with the use of quadratic discriminant function analysis on 10 Fourier amplitudes. Overall classification rates among the six test groups (one hatchery and five wild groups) were 46.5% (cross-validation) and 39.3% (test data) with the use of linear discriminant function analysis on 16 Fourier amplitudes. Although classification rates for wild-incubated fry from any one site never exceeded 67% (cross-validation) or 60% (test data), location-specific information was evident for all groups because the probability of classifying an individual to i...
Mercury activates vascular endothelial cell phospholipase D through thiols and oxidative stress.

Currently, mercury has been identified as a risk factor of cardiovascular diseases among humans. Here, the authors tested the hypothesis that mercury modulates the activity of the endothelial lipid signaling enzyme, phospholipase D (PLD), which is an important player in the endothelial cell (EC) barrier functions. Monolayers of bovine pulmonary artery ECs (BPAECs) in culture, following labeling of membrane phospholipids with [ 32 P]orthophosphate, were exposed to mercuric chloride (inorganic form), methylmercury chloride (environmental form), and thimerosal (pharmaceutical form), and the formation of phosphatidylbutanol as an index of PLD activity was determined by thin-layer chromatography and liquid scintillation counting. All three forms of mercury significantly activated PLD in BPAECs in a dose-dependent (0 to 50 μM) and time-dependent (0 to 60 min) fashion. Metal chelators significantly attenuated mercury-induced PLD activation, suggesting that cellular mercury-ligand interaction(s) is required for the enzyme activation and that chelators are suitable blockers for mercury-induced PLD activation. Sulfhydryl (thiol-protective) agents and antioxidants also significantly attenuated the mercury-induced PLD activation in BPAECs. Enhanced reactive oxygen species generation, as an index of oxidative stress, was observed in BPAECs treated with methylmercury that was attenuated by antioxidants. All the three different forms of mercury significantly induced the decrease of levels of total cellular thiols. For the first time, this study revealed that mercury induced the activation of PLD in the vascular ECs wherein cellular thiols and oxidative stress acted as signal mediators for the enzyme activation. The results underscore the importance of PLD signaling in mercury-induced endothelial dysfunctions ultimately leading to cardiovascular diseases.
The ankle examination

Ankle injuries are among the most common musculoskeletal complaints a physician will see. A thorough understanding of the bony, ligamentous, and musculotendinous anatomy and an appreciation of the biomechanics of the ankle and mechanisms of injury are important to the accurate assessment of ankle injuries.
Baseline troponin level: key to understanding the importance of post-PCI troponin elevations

Aims The adverse prognostic significance of biomarker elevations after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is well established. However, often baseline troponin values are not included in the analysis or sensitive criteria are not employed. Accordingly, we assessed the timing and magnitude of post-PCI troponin T (cTnT) levels and their relationships to outcomes in patients with and without pre-PCI baseline cTnT elevations using a sensitive assay and sensitive cut-off values. Methods and results cTnT was measured at baseline (pre-PCI), 8 and 16 h post-PCI in 2352 patients. A cTnT elevation was defined as ≥0.03 ng/mL. No baseline cTnT elevations were detected in 1619 patients undergoing mostly (97%) non-urgent procedures (cTnT=0.01±0.002 ng/mL; mean±SD). 733 patients had baseline cTnT elevations. Only the baseline troponin value had prognostic importance. Patients with elevated cTnT baseline levels had a higher overall cumulative 12-month death/MI rate of 11.1% compared with those without elevated baseline levels of 4.7% ( P <0.05). Neither the timing nor the magnitude of the post-procedure cTnT elevations was predictive of long-term death/MI rates when baseline elevations were included in the analysis. Similar findings were observed for baseline creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) levels. Late increases in cTnT levels (16 h post-PCI) presaged in-hospital events only. Conclusion Long-term prognosis is most often related to the baseline pre-PCI troponin value and not the biomarker response to the PCI. These results support a re-evaluation of the use of biomarker data in relation to PCI.
Measured, simulated, and analytical fields radiated by patch antennas conformal to spherical geometries

The electromagnetic fields radiated by class of patch antennas conformal to spherical geometries are discussed in this paper. The fields of these antennas are determined analytically, computer simulated, and the results compared to measured data.
Biomechanics of Hyperflexion and Kneeling before and after Total Knee Arthroplasty

The capacity to perform certain activities is frequently compromised after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) due to a functional decline resulting from decreased range of motion and a diminished ability to kneel. In this manuscript, the current biomechanical understanding of hyperflexion and kneeling before and after TKA will be discussed. Patellofemoral and tibiofemoral joint contact area, contact pressure, and kinematics were evaluated in cadaveric studies using a Tekscan pressure measuring system and Microscribe. Testing was performed on intact knees and following cruciate retaining and posterior stabilized TKA at knee flexion angles of 90°, 105°, 120°, and 135°. Three loading conditions were used to simulate squatting, double stance kneeling, and single stance kneeling. Following TKA with double stance kneeling, patellofemoral contact areas did not increase significantly at high knee flexion angle (135°). Kneeling resulted in tibial posterior translation and external rotation at all flexion angles. Moving from double to single stance kneeling tended to increase pressures in the cruciate retaining group, but decreased pressures in the posterior stabilized group. The cruciate retaining group had significantly larger contact areas than the posterior stabilized group, although no significant differences in pressures were observed comparing the two TKA designs (p < 0.05). If greater than 120° of postoperative knee range of motion can be achieved following TKA, then kneeling may be performed with less risk in the patellofemoral joint than was previously believed to be the case. However, kneeling may increase the likelihood of damage to cartilage and menisci in intact knees and after TKA increases in tibiofemoral contact area and pressures may lead to polyethyelene wear if performed on a chronic, repetitive basis.
Crested Wheatgrass Defoliation Intensity and Season on Medusahead Invasion

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.) defoliation intensity and timing on medusahead density and biomass. We hypothesized that crested wheatgrass defoliation greater than 60% during the spring would provide maximum medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medsae [L.] Nevski subsp. asperum [Simk.] Melderis; taxonomy from US Department of Agriculture) density and biomass. Eighteen treatments (six defoliation levels, three seasons of defoliation) were applied to 2-m2 plots in a randomized complete block design on two sites with varying clay content. Blocks were replicated five times at each site. Plants were clipped in 2004 and 2005. Crested wheatgrass was hand clipped to defoliation levels of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% in the spring, summer, or fall. Density of crested wheatgrass and medusahead was sampled in June 2005 and 2006, but their biomass was harvested only in 2006. Data were analyzed with least square means analysis of variance. Over the two seasons, site had much more of an impact on medusahead invasion than either defoliation intensity or timing of defoliation. The results support previous suggestions that clayey soils favor medusahead and that perennial grasses with high biomass can resist this invasive species. On the clayey site where medusahead did persist, fall defoliation of crested wheatgrass reduced the density of this invasive species by 50% or more compared to spring defoliation. Given the developmental pattern of medusahead, the goal of any management program should be to maximize resource use by the desirable species during April to late July.
The interaction of radiation with charged particles. — I

We employ the Bogoliubov-Tyablikov transformation and an equation of motion method, utilizing part of the Hamiltonian for a system of interacting electrons and photons, to obtain the familiar dispersion relation, ω2=k2c2+ω p 2 , for a system of quasi-photons. The equation of motion method can be used to obtain an extended dispersion relation when more terms of the Hamiltonian are taken into account.
A Neurocomputing Approach to Optimizing the Performance of a Satellite Communication Network

Satellite communications plays an important role in both the military and the civilian sector. The properties that are intrinsic to satellite communications, such as broadcasting and geographical flexibility, explain the use of this system mainly in Wide Area Networks. With the commercial sector expanding, especially in terms of number of locations and distances between them becoming more widespread, there is potential for growth in satellite communication networks to take advantage of the relatively constant cost [1].
Automatic Variance Control and Variance Estimation Loops

A closed-loop servo approach is applied to the problem of controlling and estimating variance in nonstationary signals. The new circuit closely resembles, but is not the same as, automatic gain control, which is common in radio and other circuits. The closed-loop nature of the solution to this problem makes this approach highly accurate, and it can be used recursively in real time.
Variable Presentations of Rare Genetic Renal Interstitial Diseases

In his book entitled How Doctors Think , Jerome Groopman uses case studies to shed light on the thought processes that physicians use when they encounter a patient and attempt to make a diagnosis and formulate a treatment plan ([1][1]). One of the points that he emphasizes is how much doctors rely
Financial Reporting And Tax Issues At JC Construction Corporation: An Instructional Case

C Construction Corporation (JCCC) is a privately held corporation with 10 shareholders, who are all members of the Carpenter family. The company was founded by Joe Carpenter in the late 1990s. The company’s projects involve mostly comparatively small commercial building construction, such as restaurants and smaller-scale stores. JCCC specializes in renovation and restoration projects rather than new construction, but does occasionally take on some new construction projects. The company does not build or renovate single family homes. JCCC is located in Minnesota, near the Minneapolis/St. Paul area where remodeling contractors are in high demand.
Ultrasonic Propagation at Cylindrical Metal-Ceramic Interfaces in Composites

The nature of ultrasonic propagation at cylindrical interfaces is being explored as a potential method for inferring the modulus of the interface in metal matrix composites. In many metal matrix composite systems leaky interface waves have been found to propagate along the interface. The velocity of these waves depends sensitively upon the local moduli and provides a potential basis for measuring these quantities. The opportunity exists to exploit the leaky character of these waves for microscopic imaging at the interface.
Using blends of cerambycid beetle pheromones and host plant volatiles to simultaneously attract a diversity of cerambycid species

We evaluated the attraction of native species of cerambycid beetles to blends of cerambycid pheromones and the host plant volatiles ethanol and α-pinene to determine whether such blends could be ef...
Effect of growth hormone upon thyroid secretion rate in the rat.

SummaryThe effect of 1 mg/day GH upon thyroid activity has been studied in non-lactating and lactating rats. GH did not alter thyroid secretion (TSR) or affect rate of release of thyroidal I131 in non-lactating rats though body weight was increased 2 g/day. During days 8–16 of lactation, the average TSR of 2.9 μg/100 g L-thyroxine for lactating rats receiving GH was significantly greater than the 2.2 μg/100 g obtained for untreated lactating rats. Rate of release of thyroidal I131 also was significantly increased suggesting GH in some manner effects an increase in output of TSH or thyroid hormones in the lactating rat.
Variation in vulnerability to tuberculosis in America today: random, or legacies of different ancestral epidemics?

OBJECTIF : Tester l'hypothese selon laquelle la vulnerabilite a l'infection par Mycobacterium tuberculosis est le norme pour l'homme, mais que la resistance innee a l'infection est repandue aujourd'hui aux Etats Unis en tant que heritage de differentes epidemies ancestrales de tuberculose. MESURES : On a utilise une reaction de 10 mm ou plus au test tuberculinique cutane (TST) pour comparer la prevalence de l'infection apres des mini-epidemies de la maladie dans la collectivite. On a mene une enquete sur la prevalence de la reactivite tuberculinique chez les travailleurs de sante exposes de nombreuses fois a des patients tuberculeux au cours de la bronchoscopie et du recueil des expectorations. RESULTATS : Soixante pour cent des Americains d'origine africaine exposes au cours de 26 mini-epidemies dans la collectivite etaient positifs au TST, alors que 40% des blancs le restent dans des conditions d'exposition comparables. De meme, 56 seulement (41,2%) de 136 travailleurs de sante blancs, fortement exposes, ont developpe une reaction positive au TST. CONCLUSION : Ces observations, couplees avec les differentes heritages ancestrales de l'exposition a la tuberculose, suggerent qu'il existe des variations dans la capacite innee de monter a la fois une reponse protectrice a M. tuberculosis et un mecanisme efficace pour le detruire. Ceci est expliquee au mieux par une selection naturelle parmi les differents ancetres lourdement exposes. Plusieurs travaux recents ont identifie des mecanismes a base genetique pour l'immunite a la tuberculose qui pourraient etre impliques dans la reduction de la susceptibilite a la tuberculose. Une meilleure comprehension de ce processus serait utile dans le developpement d'agents d'immunomodulation ou de vaccins.
REDUCED POSTPARTUM ANESTRUS OF SUCKLED BEEF COWS TREATED WITH MICROENCAPSULATED LUTEINIZING HORMONE-RELEASING HORMONE ANALOG

This study evaluated the effect of microencapsulated LHRH agonist (D-Trp6-LHRH) on gonadotropin release and occurrence of estrus in early postpartum beef cows. Angus cows (n = 54) were assigned randomly to two treatment groups at d 5 postpartum. Group 1 received a single i.m. injection of D-Trp6-LHRH (LHRH-A) encapsulated in poly-DL-lactide-coglycolide, calculated to release 15 micrograms of LHRH-A per day for 30 d (n = 23). Group 2 received vehicle only (control, n = 31). Blood samples (15-min intervals for 6 h) were obtained on d 5, 10, 20, 30, and 40 postpartum for evaluation of LH and FSH concentrations (n = 12 per group). Days to first postpartum estrus were reduced by treatment with LHRH-A (Group 1, 43.7 +/- 4.2 d vs Group 2, 55.9 +/- 4.7 d; P < .05). However, days to conception were similar between groups (68.9 +/- 7.9 vs 76.7 +/- 6.7 d, respectively). On the day of treatment, cows treated with LHRH-A had higher mean concentrations of LH and FSH than did controls (8.3 +/- 1.4 vs 2.0 +/- .4 ng/mL for LH and 211.0 +/- 8.6 vs 51.2 +/- 2.7 ng/mL for FSH (P < .05). There were no differences in mean concentrations of LH or FSH between treatment groups on d 10, 20, 30, and 40 postpartum. Cows given LHRH-A had more (P < .05) LH pulses on d 10 and 30 postpartum than did controls. This study demonstrated that microencapsulated D-Trp6-LHRH reduced the postpartum anestrous interval in suckled beef cows.
An outsider's experiences in conducting field research in an African-American community.

Researchers agree that the conduct of field research is a challenging and enlightening experience. This article describes an African-American (AA) researcher's experiences in accessing and conducting field research in an AA community. These experiences were from a Grounded Theory (GT) qualitative research study to understand the social contexts and processes, and other interrelated factors such as beliefs in God or a higher being and role expectations on mammography-screening decision-making in older, urban AA women of various socioeconomic strata. The field experience of accessing and recruiting AA women into a GT study were partly influenced by two prior historical studies conducted by the Federal government that resulted in violation of human rights. These historical experiences greatly impacted the researcher's entree into the AA community and success in conducting the GT study. The researcher realized the benefit of establishing professional relationship with key informants (church nurses) for the success of accessing and recruiting individuals into research studies. Of utmost importance, the researcher was viewed as an "outsider" and represented the separate, distinct world of the university. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that holding the same ethnicity of the AA community does not guarantee automatic initial or ongoing entree into the community or recruitment of participants.
Contesting Children’s Citizenship Education: What Should Japanese Children Know?

Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak addresses four questions about children’s citizenship education, as a way to understand how power is constructed in contemporary Japan. In crafting and contesting curriculum, diverse political actors construct power among themselves and weave webs of meaning that remain available for future generations. More specifically, Tegtmeyer Pak argues that the popular arguments of right-wing traditionalists versus leftist opposition oversimplify the complex contingencies of children’s citizenship education. The Japanese school curriculum teaches multiple values about power, because diverse, contested interactions stretch across the Parliament, bureaucracy, and into the schools. The formal curriculum follows global patterns as it combines national history, patriotism, and democratic values. The hidden curriculum, which guides how children interact with each other and teachers, demonstrates some national distinctiveness.
Developing An Instrument To Measure Enterprise System Users’ Perceptions Of System-User Collaboration

This paper reports on the development of a survey instrument for measuring enterprise system users’ perceptions of collaboration between the system and the user. Based on philosophical and computational models of collaboration, the instrument was designed to assess three features of system-user collaboration: Commitment to Joint Activity (CJA), Mutual Responsiveness (MR), and Commitment to Mutual Support (CMS). The development process included a series of deliberate steps to ensure content validity: reviewing related literature, creating the initial item set, iteratively adding, deleting, and revising the items, three rounds of item sorting with experts and users, and two pilot tests. The result was a 34-item set measuring six constructs regarding enterprise system users’ perceptions regarding the levels of collaborativeness exhibited by the system (CJA-S, MR-S, CMS-S) and the user (CJA-U, MR-U, CMS-U). Statistical analyses showed that the instrument achieved satisfactory levels of construct validity and high levels of reliability. This instrument will make theoretical contributions by helping explore the relationship between users’ perceptions regarding an enterprise system’s collaborativeness and usability and enhance the scholarly understanding of the relationships between the collaborativeness constructs and other key constructs related to information systems use, such as ease of use and usefulness. Practically, this instrument will contribute to the development of design principles and guidelines for next-generation enterprise systems and other large-scale information systems.
Planning of Resource Replenishment Location for Service Trucks Under Network Congestion and Routing Constraints

It is often very challenging to plan expedient and cost-effective operations for service trucks under network design constraints, particularly on congested urban roadways. Hence, it is beneficial to account simultaneously for decisions on truck facility location design and network expansion to mitigate the additional congestion caused by trucks and facilitate their routing. This study developed an integrated mathematical model for facility location design under network routing and congestion constraints. The model determines the optimal number and location of replenishment facilities, minimizes truck routing costs on the basis of proposed network design, assigns traffic in the network (for both general roadway users and service trucks), and selects candidate links for possible roadway capacity expansion. The model aims to minimize the total costs for new facility construction, truck routing, transportation infrastructure expansion, and transportation delay. A genetic algorithm framework was developed that...
Circulating Cell-Free DNA to Determine the Fetal RHD Status in All Three Trimesters of Pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the accuracy of a new assay to determine the fetal RHD status using circulating cell-free DNA. METHODS This was a prospective, observational study. Maternal blood samples were collected in each trimester of pregnancy in 520 nonalloimmunized RhD-negative patients. Plasma samples were analyzed for circulating cell-free DNA using the SensiGENE RHD test, which used primers for exons 4 and 7 as previously described and incorporated a new primer design for exon 5 of the RHD gene. Neonatal serology for RhD typing using cord blood at birth was undertaken and results were stored in a separate clinical database. After unblinding the data, results of the DNA analysis were compared with the neonatal serology. RESULTS Inconclusive results secondary to the presence of the RHD pseudogene or an RHD variant were noted in 5.6%, 5.7%, and 6.1% of the first-, second-, and third-trimester samples, respectively. The incidence of false-positive rates for RhD (an RhD-negative fetus with an RHD-positive result) was 1.54% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.42-5.44%), 1.53% (CI 0.42-5.40%), and 0.82% (CI 0.04-4.50%), respectively. There was only one false-negative diagnosis (an RhD-positive fetus with an RHD-negative result), which occurred in the first trimester (0.32%; 95% CI 0.08-1.78%). Genotyping for mismatches across repeated samples revealed that this error was related to mislabeling of samples from two patients collected on the same day at one of the collection sites. Overall test results were in agreement across all three trimesters (P>.99). CONCLUSION Circulating cell-free DNA can accurately predict the fetal RhD status in all three trimesters of pregnancy.
Association of the Female Athlete Triad Risk Assessment Stratification to the Development of Bone Stress Injuries in Collegiate Athletes

Background:The female athlete triad (referred to as the triad) contributes to adverse health outcomes, including bone stress injuries (BSIs), in female athletes. Guidelines were published in 2014 for clinical management of athletes affected by the triad.Purpose:This study aimed to (1) classify athletes from a collegiate population of 16 sports into low-, moderate-, and high-risk categories using the Female Athlete Triad Cumulative Risk Assessment score and (2) evaluate the predictive value of the risk categories for subsequent BSIs.Study Design:Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.Methods:A total of 323 athletes completed both electronic preparticipation physical examination and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scans. Of these, 239 athletes with known oligomenorrhea/amenorrhea status were assigned to a low-, moderate-, or high-risk category. Chart review was used to identify athletes who sustained a subsequent BSI during collegiate sports participation; the injury required a physician diagnosis and imaging ...
Removal of artifacts from resting-state fMRI data in stroke

We examined the effect of lesion on the resting-state functional connectivity in chronic post-stroke patients. We found many instances of strong correlations in BOLD signal measured at different locations within the lesion, making it hard to distinguish from the connectivity between intact and strongly connected regions. Regression of the mean cerebro-spinal fluid signal did not alleviate this problem. The connectomes computed by exclusion of lesioned voxels were not good predictors of the behavioral measures. We came up with a novel method that utilizes Independent Component Analysis (as implemented in FSL MELODIC) to identify the sources of variance in the resting-state fMRI data that are driven by the lesion, and to remove this variance. The resulting functional connectomes show better correlations with the behavioral measures of speech and language, and improve the out-of-sample prediction accuracy of multivariate analysis. We therefore advocate this preprocessing method for studies of post-stroke functional connectivity, particularly in samples with large lesions.
Language-Level Syntactic and Semantic Constraints Applied to Visual Word Recognition

Various aspects of using language-level syntactic and semantic constraints to improve the performance of word recognition algorithms are discussed. Following a brief presentation of a hypothesis generation model for handwritten word recognition, various types of language-level constraints are reviewed. Methods that exploit these characteristics are discussed including intra-document word correlation, common vocabularies, part-of-speech tag cooccurrence, structural parsing with a chart data structure, and semantic biasing with a thesaurus.
Thompson Sampling for Optimizing Stochastic Local Search

Stochastic local search (SLS), like many other stochastic optimization algorithms, has several parameters that need to be optimized in order for the algorithm to find high quality solutions within a short amount of time. In this paper, we formulate a stochastic local search bandit (\(\mathtt{SLSB}\)), which is a novel learning variant of SLS based on multi-armed bandits. \(\mathtt{SLSB}\) optimizes SLS over a sequence of stochastic optimization problems and achieves high average cumulative reward. In \(\mathtt{SLSB}\), we study how SLS can be optimized via low degree polynomials in its noise and restart parameters. To determine the coefficients of the polynomials, we present polynomial Thompson Sampling (\(\mathtt{PolyTS}\)). We derive a regret bound for \(\mathtt{PolyTS}\) and validate its performance on synthetic problems of varying difficulty as well as on feature selection problems. Compared to bandits with no assumptions of the reward function and other parameter optimization approaches, our \(\mathtt{PolyTS}\) assuming polynomial structure can provide substantially better parameter optimization for SLS. In addition, due to its simple model update, \(\mathtt{PolyTS}\) has low computational cost compared to other SLS parameter optimization methods.
Helium: Is the Sky the Limit?

The concept of helium, specifically a helium/oxygen mixture (heliox), as a medical therapy was first suggested by Barach in 1934 as a way to improve air flow in patients with airway obstruction from asthma and obstructive lesions.[1][1] Due to the impact of World War II, heliox was largely forgotten
Epigenetic regulation of the circadian genePer1in the hippocampus mediates age-related changes in memory and synaptic plasticity

Aging is accompanied by impairments in both circadian rhythmicity and long-term memory. Although it is clear that memory performance is affected by circadian cycling, it is unknown whether age-related disruption of the circadian clock causes impaired hippocampal memory. Here, we show that the repressive histone deacetylase HDAC3 restricts long-term memory, synaptic plasticity, and learning-induced expression of the circadian gene Per1 in the aging hippocampus without affecting rhythmic circadian activity patterns. We also demonstrate that hippocampal Per1 is critical for long-term memory formation. Together, our data challenge the traditional idea that alterations in the core circadian clock drive circadian-related changes in memory formation and instead argue for a more autonomous role for circadian clock gene function in hippocampal cells to gate the likelihood of long-term memory formation.
A Research Agenda for Remediation in Medical Education

The evidence base underlying remediation in medical education is limited but growing rapidly as better competency-based assessments allow us to identify increasing numbers of struggling learners. In this chapter the authors frame a research agenda for remediation in four major areas: diagnosis of learner deficits, strategies for remediation, outcomes of remediation, and faculty development. They briefly review the key issues within each area and identify questions that need to be addressed through further research. Finally, they frame a research agenda, call for a coordinated multi-institutional approach to address this pressing educational need, and identify emerging domains where research questions and opportunities are likely to arise.
Neither Prepared Nor Rehearsed: The Role of Public Health in Disability and Caregiving

Decades of research in social gerontology and disability have addressed the family dynamics of caregiving—characterizing family caregiving, the hierarchy of care, and the burden that caregiving responsibilities create. More recent investigations are addressing health concerns of caregiving, including caregivers’ lack of access to preventive medical care and mortality related to intense caregiving. Although some health dimensions of caregiving are being identified, current approaches neglect public health principles, which are needed to address family caregiving more completely. These public health approaches can serve to organize and enhance current research, develop new and critically needed interventions, and inform policy. For example, it is critical to document the number, characteristics, and health circumstances of caregivers and care recipients at national and state levels.
Synthesis and characterization of photocatalytic TiO 2 -ZnFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles

A new coprecipitation/hydrolysis synthesis route is used to create a TiO2-ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite that is directed towards extending the photoresponse of TiO2 from UV to visible wavelengths (> 400 nm). The effect of TiO2's accelerated anatase-rutile phase transformation due to the presence of the coupled ZnFe2O4 narrow-bandgap semiconductor is evaluated. The transformation's dependence on pH, calcinations temperature, particle size, and ZnFe2O4 concentration has been analyzed using XRD, SEM, and UV-visible spectrometry. The requirements for retaining the highly photoactive anatase phase present in a ZnFe2O4 nanocomposite are outlined. The visible-light-activated photocatalytic activity of the TiO2-ZnFe2O4 nanocomposites has been compared to an Aldrich TiO2 reference catalyst, using a solar-simulated photoreactor for the degradation of phenol.
Surveillance and genome stability in budding yeast: Implications for mammalian carcinogenesis

The recognition of cancer as a genetic disease has brought with it the observation that tumor development is the outcome of multiple independent mutational events occurring during somatic tissue growth (Peto et al. 1975; Fearon and Vogelstein 1990). These mutations in combination lead to abnormalities in growth control and genome instability in cancer cells. Advances in model organism studies have shown that these two attributes are frequently linked; that abnormalities in the control of cell cycle progression are often associated with increased errors in replicating and transmitting the parental genome to daughter cells. Because fundamental aspects of cell cycle control and chromosome distribution are clearly conserved in eukaryotic organisms, studies in model experimental systems are highly relevant to elucidation of the roles of these processes in tumor development in humans (Hartwell and Kastan 1994). This review will focus on recent advances in cell cycle control and genetic instability in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with emphasis on experimental topics in which loss of cell cycle progression control decreases the fidelity of chromosome transmission to daughter cells. Viable single gene mutations that perturb both cell cycle control and genome stability in model organisms represent promising candidate tumor suppressor homologues. At this time, the connections between these functions in yeast and mammalian carcinogenesis are largely speculative, although the parallels are strong and warrant consideration.
Introduction to Angiology

Angiology is the study of the bloodvascular system—its evolution (angiogenesis), its patterns of distribution, and its central function of protecting the body from ischemic disease. A major characteristic of the circulatory system is its versatility and redundancy: most arteries or veins carrying blood to and from regions of the body have overlapping distributions, and virtually all communicate or establish connections (anastomoses) as need dictates.
Learning optimal representations for image retrieval applications

This paper presents an MCMC stochastic gradient algorithm for finding representations with optimal retrieval performance on given image datasets. For linear subspaces in the image space and the spectral space, the problem is formulated as that of optimization on a Grassmann manifold. By exploiting the underlying geometry of the manifold, a computationally effective algorithm is developed. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm are demonstrated through extensive experimental results.
Stressful life events and internalizing symptoms in emerging adults: The roles of mindfulness and gratitude

Abstract The present study examines the indirect effect of stressful life events (SLEs) on internalizing symptoms via two cognitive assets, mindfulness and gratitude, in a sample of emerging adults (N = 256). The study of stressful life events and internalizing symptoms is particularly salient for the emerging adult population given the high rates of both SLEs and psychopathology during this developmental period. Mindfulness and gratitude have both been linked with mental health outcomes, yet they have not been examined in relation to SLEs and psychopathology. Results showed that the indirect association between SLEs and internalizing symptoms through mindfulness was statistically significant. Psychoeducational interventions for emerging adults following SLEs may benefit from the inclusion of cognitive assets such as gratitude and mindfulness.
Amygdala-orbitofrontal functional connectivity mediates the relationship between sensation seeking and alcohol use among binge-drinking adults.

Abstract Background Decreased amygdala-orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) neural functional connectivity (FC) positively predicts alcohol use among adolescents. Low amygdala-OFC FC is also associated with poor emotion regulation, a trait robustly linked to alcohol use. Thus, decreased amygdala-OFC connectivity may represent a risk factor for the development of alcohol use disorder (AUD) via impaired emotion regulation or reward processing. In this study, we examined amygdala-OFC FC among young adult binge drinkers at high risk for AUD. We also tested if amygdala-OFC FC mediates the relationship between externalizing personality traits and alcohol use. Methods Healthy male and female (n = 39) binge drinkers completed a resting state fMRI scan and the Eysenck Impulsive Personality questionnaire. We utilized seed-based connectivity of the left and right amygdala to prefrontal regions as well as mediation analysis. Results Individuals with higher weekly alcohol use displayed decreased right amygdala-OFC FC. Furthermore, high trait venturesomeness, but not impulsivness, was associated with decreased right amygdala-OFC FC. Finally, right amygdala-OFC FC mediated the relationship between trait venturesomeness and weekly drinking; individuals with high trait venturesomeness displayed decreased right amygdala-OFC FC, which in turn predicted greater weekly drinking. Conclusions Our findings corroborate and extend the adolescent literature by showing that decreased amygdala-OFC FC is associated with higher alcohol consumption among adults at elevated risk for AUD. This study also demonstrates for the first time that this neural profile reflects a tendency to sensation seeking. In sum, our findings suggest that amygdala-OFC FC may be an objective neural target for alcohol use prevention and intervention.