cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diagnosing Calciphylaxis: A Review With Emphasis on Histopathology.

Calciphylaxis is a cutaneous vasculopathy with high morbidity and mortality characterized by vascular intimal fibrosis, calcification, stenosis, thrombosis, and eventual tissue death due to ischemia. Histopathologic diagnosis is often difficult, frequently necessitating multiple tissues samples due to lack of specific histopathologic features and subtle changes on biopsies of early lesions. In this study, we review the reported clinical and histopathologic features of calciphylaxis, correlating them with relevant imaging, ancillary studies, and pathophysiology. Although many histopathologic changes seen in calciphylaxis are also reported in other conditions (eg, Monckeberg sclerosis, lupus panniculitis, pancreatic panniculitis, and peripheral artery disease), calcification of subcutaneous small vessels, thrombosis and/or ischemic changes, pseudoxanthoma elasticum-like changes in the subcutis, and perieccrine calcification may serve as helpful clues. von Kossa and Alizarin red stains can assist in the identification of subtle calcification. Netlike calcification of the affected blood vessels on imaging further supports the diagnosis. Studies into the pathophysiology of calciphylaxis are ongoing and will hopefully facilitate the development of additional diagnostic adjuncts to increase sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of this disease.
A Deficiency of Donors or an Abundance of Barriers? Title IX Fundraising Challenges from the Perspective of Athletic Department Fundraisers

This paper explores how Title IX effects college athletic fundraising, particularly how athletic fundraisers creates an unfair environment for non-football and basketball programs. Using distributive justice as a theoretical lens, we examine the perspective of athletic department fundraisers working at NCAA, Power Five athletic departments. Interviews from participants gleaned insights into only meeting the minimum legal requirements of Title IX, fighting between non-revenue programs for remaining resources, elevated requirements for program success for non-football and basketball programs, and more. This paper aims at providing insight into a distinct context of fundraising, which often avoids Title IX scrutiny, but is the primary outlet for athletic departments to raise additional funds for their sport programs.
The Sufficiency of Spinozistic Attributes for their Finite Modes

Some passages throughout Spinoza’s body of works suggest that an attribute in its absolute nature provides a sufficient condition for all of its modes, including the finite ones. Other passages suggest that an attribute in its absolute nature fails to provide a sufficient condition for its finite modes. My aim is to dispel this apparent tension. I argue that all finite modes are ultimately entailed by the absolute nature of their attribute. Furthermore, I explain how the Spinozistic positions that appear incompatible with this view are in fact compatible. As I see it, we should read those passages where Spinoza says that no finite mode ultimately follows from the absolute nature of its attribute as saying merely that no finite mode ultimately follows in one-by-one fashion, independent of an infinite series of other modes, from the absolute nature of its attribute.
General principles governing the amount of neuroanatomical overlap between languages in bilinguals

The literature has identified many important factors affecting the extent to which languages in bilinguals rely on the same neural populations in the specific brain region. The factors include the age of acquisition of the second language (L2), proficiency level of the first language (L1) and L2, and the amount of language exposure, among others. What is lacking is a set of global principles that explain how the many factors relate to the degree to which languages overlap neuroanatomically in bilinguals. We are offering a set of such principles that together account for the numerous sources of data that have been examined individually but not collectively: (1) the principle of acquisition similarity between L1 and L2, (2) the principle of linguistic similarity between L1 and L2, and (3) the principle of cognitive control and effort. Referencing the broad characteristics of language organization in bilinguals, as presented by the principles, can provide a roadmap for future clinical and basic science research.
Prescription opioid use among women of reproductive age in the United States: NHANES, 2003-2018.

Women are prescribed opioids more often than men. Prescription opioid use among women of reproductive age is a public health concern because opioid use during pregnancy is associated with decreased prenatal care and increased risk of adverse perinatal and maternal outcomes. Recent prevalence estimates and correlates of prescription opioid use and long-term use among women of reproductive age are limited. Using the 2003-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), we estimated the national prevalence, trend, and correlates of prescription opioid use, long-term use (≥ 90 days of use), and use of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) among women aged 15-44 (n = 13,558). Prescription opioid use within the last 30 days and prescription duration were collected through interviews and identified using prescription codes. Trend analysis was conducted using the National Cancer Institute Joinpoint Trend Analysis Software. The prevalence of prescription opioid use significantly decreased from 5.2% in 2003-2004 to 3.0% in 2017-2018 (p < .05). MOUD use increased significantly from 0.1% in 2005-2006 to 0.4% in 2011-2012. Long-term opioid use did not significantly change over time. Correlates of prescription opioid use and long-term use included ages 35-44, non-Hispanic White, public insurance, and women with poor or fair health status. As policy makers and clinicians strive to reduce the negative impacts of the opioid epidemic, they should consider the demographic groups most likely to use prescription opioids long-term. Additionally, reductions in opioid prescribing should be balanced with increased availability of nonopioid therapies and monitoring for opioid use disorder.
Identifying Causative Microorganisms in Left Ventricular Assist Device Infections as a Guide for Developing Bacteriophage Therapy.

Background As more left ventricular-assist devices (LVADs) are implanted, multidrug-resistant LVAD infections are becoming increasingly common, partly due to bacterial biofilm production. To aid in developing bacteriophage therapy for LVAD infections, we have identified the most common bacterial pathogens that cause LVAD driveline infections (DLIs) in our heart transplant referral center. Materials and methods We studied a retrospective cohort of patients who received LVADs from November 2003 to August 2017 to identify the common causative organisms of LVAD infection. We also studied a prospective cohort of patients diagnosed with DLIs from October 2018 to May 2019 to collect bacterial strains from DLIs for developing bacteriophages to lyse causative pathogens. LVAD infections were classified as DLI, bacteremia, and pump/device infections in the retrospective cohort. Results In the retrospective cohort of 582 patients, 186 (32.0%) developed an LVAD infection, with 372 microbial isolates identified. In the prospective cohort, 96 bacterial strains were isolated from 54 DLIs. The microorganisms causing DLIs were similar in the two cohorts; the most common isolate was Staphylococcus aureus. We identified 6 prospective S. aureus strains capable of biofilm formation. We developed 3 bacteriophages that were able to lyse 5 of 6 of the biofilm-forming S. aureus strains. Conclusions Similar pathogens caused LVAD DLIs in our retrospective and prospective cohorts, indicating our bacterial strain bank will be representative of future DLIs. Our banked bacterial strains will be useful in developing phage cocktails that can lyse ≥80% of the bacteria causing LVAD infections at our institution.
Molecular characterization of the HIV-1 gag nucleocapsid gene associated with vertical transmission

The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) nucleocapsid (NC) plays a pivotal role in the viral lifecycle: including encapsulating the viral genome, aiding in strand transfer during reverse transcription, and packaging two copies of the viral genome into progeny virions. Another gag gene product, p6, plays an integral role in successful viral budding from the plasma membrane and inclusion of the accessory protein Vpr within newly budding virions. In this study, we have characterized the gag NC and p6 genes from six mother-infant pairs following vertical transmission by performing phylogenetic analysis and by analyzing the degree of genetic diversity, evolutionary dynamics, and conservation of functional domains. Phylogenetic analysis of 168 gag NC and p6 genes sequences revealed six separate subtrees that corresponded to each mother-infant pair, suggesting that epidemiologically linked individuals were closer to each other than epidemiologically unlinked individuals. A high frequency (92.8%) of intact open reading frames of NC and p6 with patient and pair specific sequence motifs were conserved in mother-infant pairs' sequences. Nucleotide and amino acid distances showed a lower degree of viral heterogeneity, and a low degree of estimates of genetic diversity was also found in NC and p6 sequences. The NC and p6 sequences from both mothers and infants were found to be under positive selection pressure. The two important functional motifs within NC, the zinc-finger motifs, were highly conserved in most of the sequences, as were the gag p6 Vpr binding, AIP1 and late binding domains. Several CTL recognition epitopes identified within the NC and p6 genes were found to be mostly conserved in 6 mother-infant pairs' sequences. These data suggest that the gag NC and p6 open reading frames and functional domains were conserved in mother-infant pairs' sequences following vertical transmission, which confirms the critical role of these gene products in the viral lifecycle.
Zero Knowledge in the Random Oracle Model, Revisited

We revisit previous formulations of zero knowledge in the random oracle model due to Bellare and Rogaway (CCS '93) and Pass (Crypto '03), and present a hierarchy for zero knowledge that includes both of these formulations. The hierarchy relates to the programmability of the random oracle, previously studied by Nielsen (Crypto '02). We establish a subtle separation between the Bellare-Rogaway formulation and a weaker formulation, which yields a finer distinction than the separation in Nielsen's work. We show that zero-knowledge according to each of these formulations is not preserved under sequential composition. We introduce stronger definitions wherein the adversary may receive auxiliary input that depends on the random oracle (as in Unruh (Crypto '07)) and establish closure under sequential composition for these definitions. We also present round-optimal protocols for NP satisfying the stronger requirements. Motivated by our study of zero knowledge, we introduce a new definition of proof of knowledge in the random oracle model that accounts for oracle-dependent auxiliary input. We show that two rounds of interaction are necessary and sufficient to achieve zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge according to this new definition, whereas one round of interaction is sufficient in previous definitions. Extending our work on zero knowledge, we present a hierarchy for circuit obfuscation in the random oracle model, the weakest being that achieved in the work of Lynn, Prabhakaran and Sahai (Eurocrypt '04). We show that the stronger notions capture precisely the class of circuits that is efficiently and exactly learnable under membership queries.
An overview of a synergetic combination of local search with evolutionary learning to solve optimization problems

We describe a method for solving combinatorial optimization problem that combines best aspects of local search and genetic algorithms. We formulate combinatorial optimization problems as state space search problems. While local search methods, such as hill climbing, are computationally efficient, they suffers from local minima traps. Global search methods are guaranteed to find optimal solutions, but are not always feasible. We favor a polynomial time technique that delivers solutions closer to optimal by modifying the search space of the local search method. We demonstrate our strategy on a single-machine scheduling problem with two objective functions: (1) minimizing average job completion time, and (2) minimizing total tardiness. We apply the technique to optimally schedule the robot arm of an automated retrieval system. Obtaining optimal solutions to such scheduling problems is computationally intractable, but experimental results show our technique produces better solutions than those found by genetic algorithm with random key encoding.
Heat and water transport models for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Owing to conflicting requirements of membrane hydration and avoiding flooding by liquid water, water management is very critical for polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). Water saturation pressure is strongly dependent on temperature around the PEFC operating temperatures. Therefore water transport and water management are strongly dependent on temperature distribution and thermal transport within the fuel cell. In this article, heat and water management in PEFCs is explored with a focus on modeling of the coupled heat and water transport. Effect of membrane hydration on fuel cell operation and performance is investigated in detail. Heat generation in PEFCs is described and breakdown of heat sources is given, and models describing the thermal transport and temperature distribution are reviewed. Coupled two-phase heat and mass transport is elucidated along with the results from the computational models describing the phenomena. Keywords: polymer electrolyte; flooding; membrane hydration; water management; thermal management; anisotropy
Emerald: Enhance scientific workflow performance with computation offloading to the cloud

Scientific computational experiments often span multiple computational and analytical steps, and during execution, researchers need to store, access, transfer, and query information. Scientific workflow is a powerful tool to streamline and organize scientific application. Numbers of tools have been developed to help build scientific workflows, they provide mechanisms for creating workflow but lack a native scheduling system for determining where code should be executed. This paper presents Emerald, a system that adds sophisticated computation offloading capabilities to scientific workflows. Emerald automatically offloads computation intensive steps of scientific workflow to the cloud in order to enhance workflow performance. Emerald minimizes the burden on developers to build workflows with computation offloading ability by providing easy-to-use API. Evaluation showed that Emerald can effectively reduce up to 55% of execution time for scientific applications.
A Study of the Cytoplasmic Receptors for Glucocorticoids in Intestine of Pre- and Postweanling Rats*

Glucocorticoids cause both enzymic and morphologic changes in the rat intestine during the time of weaning. To obtain information regarding the mechanism of these actions, we examined the cytoplasmic fraction of intestines from 18-day-old rats for the presence of specific glucocorticoid-binding proteins which are characteristics of target tissues. Incubation of slices of intestine with [3H]dexamethasone in a physiological medium at 2 degrees showed the presence of a cytoplasmic binding macromolecule with high specificity for steroids having glucocorticoid activity. The binding reaction was saturable (concentration of binding sites equals 0.24 pmol per mg of protein) and of high affinity (dissociation constant equals 9.3 nM). Binding was reversible on addition of nonlabeled dexamethasone (t 1/2 equals 5.2 hours), indicating that the usual assay procedure measured both corticosterone-filled and unoccupied binding sites. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation showed that the receptor-dexamethasone complex from intestinal cytosol sedimented at the same rate as that from liver (8.2 S). The receptor-dexamethasone complex was stable at 2 degrees for at least 24 hours in intestinal slices, but in isolated cytosol fractions there was considerable loss of binding even in the presence of high concentrations of [3H]dexamethasone. Furthermore, mixing experiments showed that the presence of cytosol from intestinal mucosa (but not from the muscle layers) caused a dissociation of dexamethasone from receptors of liver cytosol. This suggested the presence of some interfering factor in isolated mucosal cytosol and meant that quantitative studies had to be confined to intact slices. Although the reasons for the instability of steroid-receptor complexes in the presence of isolated intestinal cytosol are not understood, the instability is believed to be associated with homogenization and, therefore, is believed to have no physiological significance. Finally, the ontogenesis of cytoplasmic glucocorticoid receptors in intestinal slices was examined and the pattern compared with that in liver and lung. Receptor activity was present in intestine from late fetal life through adulthood, but concentrations were significantly higher during the first two postnatal weeks than at all other times. By contrast, receptor activity detected in cytosol prepared from rat lung was high around the time of birth, while that in liver rose steadily during the first postnatal week and remained at high levels. Thus specific receptors for glucocorticoids are present in the rat intestine during periods of both responsiveness and unresponsiveness. This suggests that although corticosteroids exert their effects through the cytoplasmic receptors, this early event in glucocorticoid action may not be a controlling step for changes in responsiveness during development.
A model of bureaucratic growth using GPSS

A model of bureaucratic growth, based completely upon the communication among people in an organizational structure, has been formulated and is described here. The model has been simulated using GPSS/360. The model uses less than 250 blocks and takes advantage of the interpretative language capability of GPSS. Results of the simulation show growth values similar to that of Parkinson and yield a great deal of information about organizations and communication within them.The model yields general results, since it is formulated in general terms. It can be used to simulate both abstractions of variety of organizations and various configurations of specific organizations when real data is available. The program requires parameter values and algorithms that describe action as input. While the model is indeterministic until these are supplied, the general nature of the solution is invariant as these change. This implies that the basic nature of the process has been modelled, not a particular situation.
Essay: Initial Conditions for a Universe

In physical theories, boundary or initial conditions play the role of selecting special situations which can be described by a theory with its general laws. Cosmology has long been suspected to be different in that its fundamental theory should explain the fact that we can observe only one particular realization. This is not realized, however, in the classical formulation and in its conventional quantization; the situation is even worse due to the singularity problem. In recent years, a new formulation of quantum cosmology has been developed which is based on quantum geometry, a candidate for a theory of quantum gravity. Here, the dynamical law and initial conditions turn out to be linked intimately, in combination with a solution of the singularity problem.
Direct measurements of skin friction

A device has been developed to measure local skin friction on a flat plate by measuring the force exerted upon a very small movable part of the surface of the flat plate. These forces, which range from about 1 milligram to about 100 milligrams, are measured by means of a reactance device. The apparatus was first applied to measurements in the low-speed range, both for laminar and turbulent boundary layers. The measured skin-friction coefficients show excellent agreement with Blasius' and Von Karman's results. The device was then applied to high-speed subsonic flow and the turbulent-skin-friction coefficients were determined up to a Mach number of about 0.8. A few measurements in supersonic flow were also made. This paper describes the design and construction of the device and the results of the measurements.
Laminate Plate Theory for Spatially Distributed Induced Strain Actuators

Classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) is applied to a laminate plate with induced strain actuators, such as piezoceramic patch, bonded to its surface or embedded within the laminate to develop an induced strain actuation theory that allows for the actuator patch to be spatially distributed. When piezoceramic patches are subjected to voltage fields, the equivalent external forces induced by piezoceramic patches can be determined upon the assumption of free constraint for the expansion or contraction of piezoceramic patches. This assumption is generally done in thermal expansion problem. Several examples, including pure bending and pure extension, are illustrated. For the case of pure bending, a comparison between the current work and that of Dimitriadis et al. (1989) is given. In addition, an orthotropic angle-ply laminate with an embedded piezoceramic patch is presented to show the coupling of bending and extension.
Use of a robotic device to measure age-related decline in finger proprioception

Age-related changes in proprioception are known to affect postural stability, yet the extent to which such changes affect the finger joints is poorly understood despite the importance of finger proprioception in the control of skilled hand movement. We quantified age-related changes in finger proprioception in 37 healthy young, middle-aged, and older adults using two robot-based tasks wherein participants' index and middle fingers were moved by an exoskeletal robot. The first task assessed finger position sense by asking participants to indicate when their index and middle fingers were directly overlapped during a passive crisscross movement; the second task assessed finger movement detection by asking participants to indicate the onset of passive finger movement. When these tasks were completed without vision, finger position sense errors were 48 % larger in older adults compared to young participants (p < 0.05); proprioceptive reaction time was 78 % longer in older adults compared to young adults (p < 0.01). When visual feedback was provided in addition to proprioception, these age-related differences were no longer apparent. No difference between dominant and non-dominant hand performance was found for either proprioception task. These findings demonstrate that finger proprioception is impaired in older adults, and visual feedback can be used to compensate for this deficit. The findings also support the feasibility and utility of the FINGER robot as a sensitive tool for detecting age-related decline in proprioception.
Early intraneuronal Aβ deposition in the hippocampus of APP transgenic mice

Increasing evidence suggests that intraneuronal amyloid-beta (Abeta) accumulation may be an early event in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. However direct in vivo evidence regarding initial Abeta seeding is missing. Using an APP transgenic mouse model, our sensitive immunocytochemical procedures revealed a novel intraneuronal Abeta deposition in the somas of hippocampal CA1/subiculum neurons far in advance of the occurrence of extracellular Abetaplaques. These deposits increased exponentially with age and were elevated approximately 4-fold (p < 0.001) by high fat/high cholesterol diet. Abeta40 and Abeta42 were the major constituents of these deposits and were co-localized with lysosomal markers. Our results are consistent with the notion that the earliest Abeta deposition occurs intraneuronally, prior to extracellular amyloid plaque formation.
Geometrically correct imagery for teleconferencing

Current camera-monitor teleconferencing applications produce unrealistic imagery and break any sense of presence for the participants. Other capture/display technologies can be used to provide more compelling teleconferencing. However, complex geometries in capture/display systems make producing geometrically correct imagery difficult. It is usually impractical to detect, model and compensate for all effects introduced by the capture/display system. Most applications simply ignore these issues and rely on the user acceptance of the camera-monitor paradigm.This paper presents a new and simple technique for producing geometrically correct imagery for teleconferencing environments. The necessary image transformations are derived by finding a mapping between a capture and display device for a fixed viewer location. The capture/display relationship is computed directly in device coordinates and completely avoids the need for any intermediate, complex representations of screen geometry, capture and display distortions, and viewer location. We describe our approach and demonstrate it via several prototype implementations that operate in real-time and provide a substantially more compelling sense of presence than the standard teleconferencing paradigm.
Quality Change Under Trade Restraints in Japanese Autos

In this paper we investigate the quality change in Japanese car and truck imports over 1979–1985. Car imports have been subject to a quota restraint since April 1981, while compact trucks have faced an ad valorem tariff of 25 percent since August 1980. We find evidence of substantial upgrading in Japanese car imports, with ambiguous quality change in trucks. The welfare cost of the quota restraint in cars exceeds $1,000 per import in 1983 and 1984.
Phaser: phased methodology for modeling the system-level effects of soft errors

This paper presents an overview of Phaser, a toolset and methodology for modeling the effects of soft errors on the architectural and microarchitectural functionality of a system. The Phaser framework is used to understand the system-level effects of soft-error rates of a microprocessor chip as its design evolves through the phases of preconcept, concept, high-level design, and register-transfer-level design implementation. Phaser represents a strategic research vision that is being proposed as a next-generation toolset for predicting chip-level failure rates and studying reliability-performance tradeoffs during the phased design process. This paper primarily presents Phaser/M1, the early stage of the predictive modeling of behavior.
Fetal vs adult mesenchymal stem cells achieve greater gene expression, but less osteoinduction

AIM: To investigate adenoviral transduction in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and effects on stemness in vitro and function as a cell therapy in vivo. METHODS: Bone marrow-derived adult and fetal MSC were isolated from an equine source and expanded in monolayer tissue culture. Polyethylenimine (PEI)-mediated transfection of pcDNA3-eGFP or adenoviral transduction of green fluorescent protein (GFP) was evaluated in fetal MSCs. Adenoviral-mediated transduction was chosen for subsequent experiments. All experiments were carried out at least in triplicate unless otherwise noted. Outcome assessment was obtained by flow cytometry or immunohystochemistry and included transduction efficiency, cell viability, stemness (i.e., cell proliferation, osteogenic and chondrogenic cell differentiation), and quantification of GFP expression. Fetal and adult MSCs were then transduced with an adenoviral vector containing the gene for the bone morphogenic protein 2 (BMP2). In vitro BMP2 expression was assessed by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, MSC-mediated gene delivery of BMP2 was evaluated in vivo in an osteoinduction nude mouse quadriceps model. New bone formation was evaluated by microradiography and histology. RESULTS: PEI provided greater transfection and viability in fetal MSCs than other commercial chemical reagents. Adenoviral transduction efficiency was superior to PEI-mediated transfection of GFP in fetal MSCs (81.3% ± 1.3% vs 35.0% ± 1.6%, P < 0.05) and was similar in adult MSCs (78.1% ± 1.9%). Adenoviral transduction provided significantly greater expression of GFP in fetal than adult MSCs (7.4 ± 0.1 vs 4.4 ± 0.3 millions of mean fluorescence intensity units, P < 0.01) as well as significantly greater in vitro BMP2 expression (0.16 pg/cell-day vs 0.10 pg/cell-day, P < 0.01). Fraction of fetal MSC GFP positive cells decreased significantly faster than adult MSCs (1.15% ± 0.05% vs 11.4% ± 2.1% GFP positive at 2 wk post-transduction, P < 0.05). Cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation in vitro were not affected by Ad transduction in both fetal and adult MSCs, but fetal MSCs had reduced chondrogenic differentiation in vitro when compared to adult (P < 0.01). Chondrogenic differentiation was also significantly reduced in Ad-GFP transduced cells (P < 0.05). Ad-BMP2 transduced adult MSCs induced new bone formation in more thighs than Ad-BMP2 transduced fetal MSCs (83% vs 17% of the six treated thighs per group, P < 0.05) and resulted in increased femur midshaft diameter due to greater extent of periosteal new bone (1.57 ± 0.35 mm vs 1.27 ± 0.08 mm, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Fetal MSCs may be genetically manipulated ex vivo with adenoviral vectors. Nonetheless, the abbreviated expression of the exogenous gene may limit their applications in vivo.
Lack of susceptibility of baboons to infection with hepatitis B virus.

Historically, hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been considered species specific and unable to infect baboons. Based on this premise, two patients with HBV end-stage liver disease underwent baboon liver xenotransplantation. To study whether baboons are susceptible to HBV infection, four baboons (two receiving immunosuppressive therapy) were inoculated with HBV. Animals were followed for 6 months: clinical examinations and biochemical studies were normal, hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis B core antigen staining of biopsies was negative, and HBV serology remained negative. HBV polymerase chain reaction was transiently positive in one animal, which most likely reflects the initial inoculation. This pilot study corroborates historical evidence and beliefs that baboons are resistant to HBV.
The pathway by which the tetrameric protein transthyretin dissociates.

The homotetrameric protein transthyretin (TTR) must undergo rate-limiting dissociation to its constituent monomers in order to enable partial denaturation that allows the process of amyloidogenesis associated with human pathology to ensue. The TTR quaternary structure contains two distinct dimer interfaces, one of which creates the two binding sites for the natural ligand thyroxine. Tetramer dissociation could proceed through three distinct pathways; scission into dimers along either of the two unique quaternary interfaces followed by dimer dissociation represents two possibilities. Alternatively, the tetramer could lose monomers sequentially. To elucidate the TTR dissociation pathway, we employed two different TTR constructs, each featuring covalent attachment of proximal subunits. We demonstrate that tethering the A and B subunits of TTR with a disulfide bond (as well as the symmetrically disposed C and D subunits) allows urea-mediated dissociation of the resulting (TTR-S-S-TTR)2 construct, affording (T...
Suppressed cytokine production in whole blood cultures may be related to iron status and hepcidin and is partially corrected following weight reduction in morbidly obese pre-menopausal women.

Abstract Objective: Assess ex vivo whole-blood (WB) cytokine production and its association with iron status and serum hepcidin in obese versus non-obese women. Determine the change in ex vivo WB cytokine production 6 months after restrictive bariatric surgery in the obese group. Subjects: Seventeen obese (BMI: 46.6 ± 7.9 kg/m 2 ) and 19 non-obese (BMI: 22.5 ± 3.0 kg/m 2 ), pre-menopausal women; frequency matched for hemoglobin, age and race. Measurements: At baseline control and ex vivo stimulated IL-6, IL-10, IL-22, IFNγ, and TNFα from heparinized WB cultures, hemoglobin from finger-stick and transferrin receptor, hepcidin, CRP, IL-6, HOMA-IR from fasted serum samples and anthropometric parameters were assessed in the women. All parameters were reassessed 6-months following restrictive bariatric surgery in the obese women only. Results: Whole blood ex vivo LPS and ZY stimulated production of IL-6, TNFα, and IFNγ was reduced, IL-22 increased, and IL-10 was unaffected in obese compared with the non-obese women. Furthermore, ex vivo stimulated production of IL-6 and TNFα normalized, but IFNγ production remained unchanged with weight loss following restrictive bariatric surgery. In the obese women, serum transferrin receptor (a marker of iron status) and serum hepcidin were correlated with ex vivo stimulated IFNγ production at baseline. Conclusion: Ex vivo LPS and ZY stimulated cytokine production from WB cultures was altered in pre-menopausal women with morbid obesity. Significant weight loss resulted in normalization of some but not all observed alterations. Furthermore, iron status and serum hepcidin were associated with ex vivo LPS and ZY stimulated IFNγ in obesity.
Impact of Transit Signal Priority on Level of Service at Signalized Intersections

The assessment of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) impacts at traffic signals is typically based on simulation and field studies. There is a need for macroscopic procedures for analysis of TSP as part of the Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) analysis methodology for signalized intersections. This capability will allow prediction of TSP impacts (and related control strategies) at a planning and operations level without the complexity of simulation modeling. The paper presents a technique of estimating the average green times for each lane group, and modifications to the HCM formula for estimating control delay in order to estimate the impact of TSP on the Level of Service (LOS) at each approach and the whole intersection. The technique uses readily available information on the frequency of the transit vehicles, TSP features (e.g., green extension, or red truncation), and also takes into consideration the additional delays because of the residual queues that are likely to occur on non priority approaches operating close to saturation. Application of the method at a signalized intersection with signal priority in the San Francisco Bay Area, and comparisons with simulated data show that the proposed methodology provides reasonable estimates of the TSP impacts, and it can be incorporated into the HCM analysis procedures for signalized intersections.
The Effect of Positive vs. Negative Emotion on Multitasking

Emotions have been shown to affect cognition and performance on a multitude of individual tasks; however, people increasingly choose (or are required) to perform multiple tasks simultaneously (mult...
Dose-Related Adverse Effects of Anticonvulsants

The serum concentration at which a given drug has full efficacy in delivering seizure control bears no predictable relationship to the concentration at which adverse effects will appear. In theory, the threshold for adverse effects should be considerably higher than that for efficacy. For each agent this obviously happens most of the time, or the anticonvulsant would not be on the market, but there are also patients in whom this relationship is reversed. The adverse effects of this class of drugs are discussed from three points of view: the adverse effect type, the kinetic factors that so frequently determine the presence of adverse effects, and the specific characteristics of each drug. Some less well recognised adverse effects syndromes that are not strictly dose related are considered. The importance of adverse effects in therapeutic monitoring is then addressed, and some strategies for maximising efficacy without the burden of long term functional impairment or distress are discussed. The usefulness of monotherapy is stressed with due attention to rational choice of second drugs, when necessary, based on mechanisms of antiepileptic action and adverse effects profiles. While most of these symptoms evolve gradually, there are times when acute, drastic, and even life threatening clinical overdose situations present themselves. Special attention is given to these scenarios, drawing on the drug profiles and clinical pharmacokinetics that define these events to propose methods of coping with the problems efficiently and effectively.
Stock market reactions to the issuance of FAS 33 and its preceding exposure drafts

. This study examines the stock market reactions to the following events: (1) the issuance of Financial Accounting Standards Board's (FASB) exposure draft in December 1978 requiring disclosure of price-level adjusted data, (2) the issuance of a second exposure draft in March 1979, and (3) the issuance of FAS 33 in September 1979. A sample of 119 test firms and 88 control firms is used. The statistical tests show that the results are sensitive to the choice of method used to assess information content. When cross-sectional dependency is taken into account, the hypothesis that FAS 33 and its preceding exposure drafts did not convey information to the market is rejected. Thus the issuance of a later statement that made compliance with FAS 33 optional may have been premature. Resume. Les auteurs examinent les reactions du marche boursier aux evenements suivants: 1) l'emission de l'expose-sondage du Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) en decembre 1978 exigeant la presentation d'information indexee sur le niveau general des prix, 2) remission d'un second expose-sondage en mars 1979 et 3) l'emission par le FASB, en septembre 1979, de la Norme no 33. Les auteurs ont eu recours a un echantillon de 119 entreprises qu'ils ont soumises au test a un groupe controle de 88 entreprises. Les tests statistiques demontrent que les resultats sont sensibles a la methode choisie pour evaluer le contenu informationnel. La prise en compte de l'effet interactif des facteurs les amene a rejeter l'hypothese selon laquelle la Norme no 33 et les exposes-sondages qui l'ont precedee ne transmettaient pas d'information au marche. La decision subsequente du FASB de rendre facultative l'application de la Norme no 33 etait peut-etre prematuree.
Incorporating Remote Capabilities in Undergraduate Lab Instruction

The goal of the Department of Technology Systems at East Carolina University (1, 2, 3) is to support the economic development requirements of Eastern North Carolina by creating professionals to meet the general engineering and technology needs of its private and public sectors. The various programs in the department emphasize the application of engineering and technology theories to solve real world problems. For this reason students are engaged in hands-on activities beginning with their first semester and do not wait for several semesters or years to experience real engineering activities. During the last three year there has been a tremendous effort to modify and update the curricula of all the department’s programs. Due to the rapid growth of the department in the last few years, the department has embarked on a mission to include distance education (DE) capabilities in its various courses. To accommodate this, various components of the course have been devised as stand alone modules woven together in a distributed environment. This will help sustain and strengthen the enrollment of the department by offering lab centric courses remotely. The model will also minimize the burden of purchase, support and maintenance of lab equipment and help reallocate excessive resources from face-to-face lab instruction. This paper will describe various strategies for integrating a DE lab model into the existing curriculum. The model will be realized through leveraging the exiting DE resources with the proposed model, creating a scalable DE enrollment model (96, 48 students, etc), integrating existing college and university computer hardware and software capabilities with the proposed model.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
Hostility and social support explain physical activity beyond negative affect among young men, but not women, in college.

We examined social support as a moderator of cynical hostility in relation to physical activity and body mass index among college students (n = 859; M = 18.71 years (SD = 1.22); 60% women, 84% White). After controlling for negative affect in hierarchical linear regression models, greater hostility was associated with lesser physical activity among those with low social support, as expected. Greater hostility was also associated with greater physical activity among those high in social support, ps .05. Young men with a hostile disposition and low social support may be at risk for a sedentary lifestyle for reasons other than negative affect.
Surgical airway management in the intensive care unit.

Tracheostomy is one of the most common surgical procedures performed on critically ill and injured patients in the United States today. Despite decades of experience among surgeons, there is still controversy over specific indications, techniques, and timing of performing the surgical airway. New techniques, such as percutaneous dilatational tracheostomy and minitracheostomy, have challenged critical care physicians to tailor operative airway methods to each individual patient. Older procedures, such as cricrothyroidotomy, have found a new niche in the intensive care unit. These new techniques, along with new ways to perform traditional tracheostomies, have made the practice of operative airway management dynamic and controversial.
Short stature in a patient with Klinefelter syndrome and growth hormone deficiency.

We report on a child with Klinefelter syndrome and short stature due to idiopathic growth hormone deficiency (IGHD). His height was below the mid-parental height, with a significant delay in bone age. Height velocity increased from 4.5 to 8.2 cm/year during 1 year of GH therapy and typical catch-up growth was observed. No adverse reactions to the treatment were observed. We wish to emphasize the rare association between Klinefelter syndrome and IGHD and the apparent effectiveness and safety of recombinant somatotropin treatment in aneuploid patients. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
An automated microcomputer systems for analyzing shaped-charge jet radiographs

Abstract A microcomputer-based system that can optimally digitize and process radiographic test information has been developed. This system allows the user to analyze radiographic experiments in a cost-effective manner made available with the recent technological advances in microcomputer digital image processing capabilities. This paper will examine the related hardware and software features of such a system developed to analyze shaped-charge jet radiographic tests. The system provides a quick inexpensive method of obtaining detailed information of shaped-charge tests. With the capability to analyze our tests in a repeatable accurate manner, we can now readily evaluate the performance of analytical design tools. Our results to date have been encouraging, showing good agreement between experiment and calculation.
Grid History: A Geostationary Satellite Technique for Estimating Daily Rainfall in the Tropics

Abstract A new technique is described for estimating daily rainfall by means of visible and infrared geostationary satellite imagery. It is designed for the tropics and warm-season midlatitudes. Because it operates on a grid of points and measures time changes at these points, the technique has been named “grid history.” It is assumed that at any grid point in some image belonging to a sequence, by means of spectral, textural and evolutionary information, it is possible to classify instantaneous rain rate as nil, light, moderate or heavy. Then the total rainfall over a day is the sum over three classes of the product of frequency and class average rate. The class average rates have been determined by least-squares multivariate linear regression of frequencies on observed rainfalls. The areas treated are South China Sea, India, Arabian Sea, tropical North Atlantic Ocean and Amazonia. Inland India had the lowest (driest) class average rates (coefficients), coastal India the largest (wettest) coefficients. D...
Density functional/Wannier function theory for systems of very many atoms

Conventional theoretical methods for calculating ground-state energies of multi-atom systems in general become impractical when the number of atoms, Na, exceeds ∼ 102, because the computing time rises with Nαa, where 2 < α < 3. Using so-called generalized Wannier functions in conjunction with density functional theory, we develop a procedure for the direct calculation of the GWFs (not requiring single particle eigenfunctions) whose computing time behaves as Na. The method allows the transfer of GWFs from one physical or chemical system to another.
The timing of crustal extension and the eruption of continental flood basalts

THE association between mantle plumes, continental flood basalt eruption and the extension and rifting of the crust is well recognized1–3, but there has always been controversy as to whether the plume or the rifting was the initiating factor4,5. Was rifting triggered by doming above the thermal plume2,3,6, or was rifting the driving force, preceding the associated volcanicity7,8? Here I show that recent flow-by-flow mapping of two continental flood basalt provinces, the Columbia River Basalt Group and the Deccan Basalt Group, allows one to infer the relative timing of volcanicity and crustal extension. In both provinces, eruption of the main tholeiitic phase preceded significant extension and crustal thinning. This suggests that the primary event in the formation of these provinces was the upwelling of a mantle plume, and that the subsequent crustal extension, rifting and decompression was in part a consequence of the initiation of that plume.
On the accuracy of center of mass acceleration estimation during high-impact movement

Abstract Injuries in the lower limb occur mainly at the transition from swing to stance phase during high impact movements. Because body kinematics and kinetics at this transition has higher frequency components than that during other portions of the movement, the traditional biomechanical approaches in quantifying these variables, such as image-based motion analysis system, are not satisfactory. This paper reports on the use of the Integrated Kinematic Sensor (IKS) for studying kinematics of high-impact activities such as heel-strike during running. The accuracy of estimating segmental center of mass acceleration (COM) in the lower limb using the traditional differentiation approach and the IKS approach was investigated. The results suggested that the COM acceleration estimates using the differentiation approach is not able to capture the true kinematic details, while the IKS approach is less dependent on the frequency range and provides detailed, high quality description of the COM acceleration. Furthermore, the relative contributions of the different components of the IKS was examined and the results suggested that by adding either angular velocity or linear acceleration measurement to the traditional differentiation approach, the impact acceleration at heel strike can be discovered for either proximal or distal body segments. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the complexity of the IKS approach and yet to achieve an acceptable quality of the information.
The Inductive-Deductive Controversy Revisited.

that culture that are reflected in its literature (cf. Hall 1963; 1964: 406-410). Those of us who teach language can make good use of the approach put forward in this article, from the very beginning of our students' contact with literary works. It can help us to give them, in an unpretentious and unaffected fashion, an understanding of the merits of whatever texts they read. (Many present-day students have found pretentious claims and abstract discussions of litera-