cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Visual encodings that support physical navigation on large displays

Visual encodings are the medium through which information is displayed, perceived, interpreted, and finally transferred from a visualization to the user. Traditionally, such encodings display information as representations of length, color, size, slope, position, and other glyphs. Guidelines for such encodings have been proposed, but they generally assume a small display, small datasets, and a relatively static user. Large, high-resolution visualizations are able to display far more information simultaneously, allowing users to leverage physical navigation (movement) as an effective interaction through which to explore the data space. In this paper, we analyze if and how the choice of visual encodings for large, high-resolution visualizations affects physical navigation, and ultimately task performance for a spatial information visualization task.
Immunotoxicity of the semiconductor gallium arsenide in female B6C3F1 mice

Abstract The effects of gallium arsenide (GaAs) exposure on immunocompetence of B6C3F1 female mice were investigated. GaAs was administered as a single intratracheal instillation at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg. Fourteen days after exposure, various cellular and humoral immune parameters were assessed. GaAs exposure increased spleen cellularity in a dose-dependent manner. However, the percentages of Thy 1.2 positive and Ig positive cells were decreased and that of F 4 80 positive cells was increased dose dependently. The IgM and IgG antibody-forming cell response of the spleen to the T-dependent antigen sheep erythrocytes was reduced by 66 and 48%, respectively, at 200 mg/kg. Level of the serum complement protein, C3, were increased by as much as 16% with no significant change in CH50 levels. The mitogenic response of splenic T cells to Con A and PHA was unaffected by GaAs, but that of B cells to LPS was increased by 52%. The delayed hypersensitivity response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin and mixed lymphocyte response were significantly reduced in a dose-dependent manner by GaAs exposure. Natural killer cell activity against the YAC-1 mouse lymphoma was enhanced in treated mice. Analysis of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) revealed a dose-dependent decrease in number and a shift in the composition of PECs. The percentage of PEC monocytes increased from 53% of the population to 81%, while the lymphocytes decreased from 46 to 20%. The adherent PEC population demonstrated decreased phagocytosis of covaspheres and increased phagocytosis of chicken erythrocytes (CRBC). GaAs exposure had no effect on host resistance to Plasmodium yoelii or Streptococcus pneumoniae, but dose dependently increased resistance of the mouse to Listeria monocytogenes. Treated mice demonstrated a significantly decreased resistance to the B16F10 melanoma with a sevenfold increase in tumor burden at 200 mg/kg. GaAs affects both humoral and cellular immune parameters in mice and impairs the ability of the immune system to protect against B16F10 tumor challenge.
The integration of planted and natural forests in a regional landscape

The 10,700 km2 region of northwestern Oregon, USA, is dominated by mountainous forested landscapes fringed by agricultural lands and rapidly expanding urban areas. The Douglas-fir/western-hemlock trees, admixed with other species, in the mild, moist regional climate with rich soils are among the most highly productive of temperate forests. Timber harvest has been the dominant land use for much of this century. Many current forest stands are planted, and have the potentials to be managed and shaped for a variety of traditional and evolving forestry objectives. The ages, resilience and productivity of these forests and mosaics of land ownerships permit a variety of future scenarios of forested landscapes, constrained largely by capacities of social organizations to plan and execute management for desired future conditions.
Underdrain Configuration to Enhance Bioretention Exfiltration to Reduce Pollutant Loads

The bioretention drainage configuration of raising the outlet to create an internal water storage (IWS) layer in the media was originally intended to promote denitrifying conditions. The goal was to reduce nitrate and total nitrogen concentrations in nutrient-sensitive watersheds. Two field studies in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, where the in situ soils typically have high clay content, showed this design feature had potential to enhance exfiltration and reduce drainage from bioretention. Two bioretention cells in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, were monitored for two year-long periods to measure the impact of varying IWS zone depths over sandier underlying soils. Nearly 99% of runoff entering the bioretention cell with sand underlying soil (sand cell) was never directly discharged to the storm water network. However, the hydraulic retention time (contact time) of runoff in the media was less than 3 h, and except for total suspended solids (TSS), minimal pollutant removal was achieved. The other bi...
Characterization of paramylon morphological diversity in photosynthetic euglenoids (Euglenales, Euglenophyta)

Abstract Monfils A.K., Triemer R.E. and Bellairs E.F. 2011. Characterization of paramylon morphological diversity in photosynthetic euglenoids (Euglenales, Euglenophyta). Phycologia 50: 156–169. DOI: 10.2216/09-112.1 A characteristic feature of euglenoid cells is the presence of a β1–3 glucan storage product called paramylon. The euglenoid lineage is tremendously diverse, with a great deal of variation in paramylon grain morphology. Number, shape, location and external morphology of paramylon have been used as diagnostic features for several euglenoid species. The goals of this study were to examine and characterize the paramylon grains from a variety of different species in vivo and in vitro, provide a consistent, descriptive terminology that can be used to describe paramylon grain types, and discuss the potential phylogenetic utility of paramylon grain morphology. Over 1000 light microscopy images were examined to survey paramylon diversity across the Euglenales, and scanning electron microscopy was use...
Syrian Urban Politics in Transition: The Quarters of Damascus During The French Mandate

For urban politics in Syria, the interwar years were pivotal. The country was in a transitional phase, uncomfortably suspended between four centuries of Ottoman rule and national independence. Although the Empire had collapsed and new forms of social and political organization were available, there remained a distinctive Ottoman cast to Syria's urban elites. Meanwhile, France had occupied the country, but was ruling clumsily and with a growing measure of uncertainty. The Mandate system itself dictated that the French could not remain in Syria indefinitely and Arab nationalism, however inconsistent and inarticulate, had become the reigning political idea of the age. The cry of independence rang across much of Syria, and nowhere more loudly and clearly than in her cities, the traditional centers of political life.
Aspartate 205 in the Catalytic Domain of Naphthalene Dioxygenase Is Essential for Activity

The naphthalene dioxygenase enzyme system carries out the first step in the aerobic degradation of naphthalene by Pseudomonas sp. strain NCIB 9816-4. The crystal structure of naphthalene dioxygenase (B. Kauppi, K. Lee, E. Carredano, R. E. Parales, D. T. Gibson, H. Eklund, and S. Ramaswamy, Structure 6:571–586, 1998) indicates that aspartate 205 may provide the most direct route of electron transfer between the Rieske [2Fe-2S] center of one α subunit and mononuclear iron in the adjacent α subunit. In this study, we constructed four site-directed mutations that changed aspartate 205 to alanine, glutamate, asparagine, or glutamine to test whether this residue is essential for naphthalene dioxygenase activity. The mutant proteins were very inefficient in oxidizing naphthalene to cis-naphthalene dihydrodiol, and oxygen uptake in the presence of naphthalene was below detectable levels. The purified mutant protein with glutamine in place of aspartate 205 had identical spectral properties to wild-type naphthalene dioxygenase and was reduced by NADH in the presence of catalytic amounts of ferredoxinNAP and reductaseNAP. Benzene, an effective uncoupler of oxygen consumption in purified naphthalene dioxygenase, did not elicit oxygen uptake by the mutant protein. These results indicate that electron transfer from NADH to the Rieske center in the mutant oxygenase is intact, a finding consistent with the proposal that aspartate 205 is a necessary residue in the major pathway of electron transfer to mononuclear iron at the active site.
Energy dissipation mechanisms in hollow metallic microlattices

When properly designed at ultra-low density, hollow metallic microlattices can fully recover from compressive strains in excess of 50%, while dissipating a considerable portion of the elastic strain energy. This article investigates the physical mechanisms responsible for energy loss upon compressive cycling, and attributes the most significant contribution to a unique form of structural damping, whereby elastic local buckling of individual bars releases energy upon loading. Subsequently, a simple mechanical model is presented to capture the relationship between lattice geometry and structural damping. The model is used to optimize the microlattice geometry for maximum damping performance. The conclusions show that hollow metallic microlattices exhibit exceptionally large values of the damping figure of merit, (Young’s modulus)1/3(loss coefficient)/(density), but this performance requires very low relative densities (<1%), thus limiting the amount of energy that can be dissipated.
Environmental burden of disease: HRQoL and statistical perspectives

Environmental toxicity and pollution mingled with substandard sanitation and public health practice can lead to serious health problems. Some of these toxics can be identified and subjected to preventive measures but together with some other major factors they form the environmental burden of disease, more seriously in developing countries. As a result, in health related quality of life risk assessments, especially relating to cancer of various types, as well as chronic and intestinal diseases, we need to incorporate toxicology as well as environmental epidemiology. Statistical perspectives in this challenging task are appraised with special attention to the arsenite contamination of the groundwater problem.
Discrimination of Tumorigenic Triazole Conazoles from Phenobarbital by Transcriptional Analyses of Mouse Liver Gene Expression

Conazoles are fungicides used to control fungal growth in environmental settings and to treat humans with fungal infections. Mouse hepatotumorigenic conazoles display many of the same hepatic toxicologic responses as the mouse liver carcinogen phenobarbital (PB): constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) activation, hypertrophy, Cyp2b induction, and increased cell proliferation. The goal of this study was to apply transcriptional analyses to hepatic tissues from mice exposed to PB, propiconazole (Pro) or triadimefon (Tri) at tumorigenic exposure levels to reveal similarities and differences in response among these treatments. Mice were administered diets containing PB (850 ppm), Pro (2500 ppm), or Tri (1800 ppm) for 4 and 30 days. Targeted transcriptomic analyses were conducted at the gene level examining differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and subsets of DEGs: cell cycle genes, and transcription factors. Analyses were also conducted on function, pathway and network levels examining Ingenuity Pathway Analysis Tox Lists and Canonical Pathways, and Gene-Go MetaCore dynamic networks and their central hubs. Genes expressed by PB or the two conazoles were also compared with those genes associated with human hepatocellular cancer. The results from these analyses indicated greater differences between PB and the two conazoles than similarities. Significant commonalities between the two conazole treatments were also noted. We posit that the transcriptional profiles of tissues exposed to toxic chemicals inherently contain their mechanisms of toxicity. We conclude that although PB and these 2 conazoles induce mouse liver tumors and exhibit similar toxicological responses, their transcriptional profiles are significantly different and thus their mechanisms of tumorigenic action are likely to differ.
Multidimensional Analysis of the Abnormal Neural Oscillations Associated With Lexical Processing in Schizophrenia

The neural mechanisms of language abnormalities, the core symptoms in schizophrenia, remain unclear. In this study, a new experimental paradigm, combining magnetoencephalography (MEG) techniques and machine intelligence methodologies, was designed to gain knowledge about the frequency, brain location, and time of occurrence of the neural oscillations that are associated with lexical processing in schizophrenia. The 248-channel MEG recordings were obtained from 12 patients with schizophrenia and 10 healthy controls, during a lexical processing task, where the patients discriminated correct from incorrect lexical stimuli that were visually presented. Event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) was computed along the frequency, time, and space dimensions combined, that resulted in a large spectral–spatial–temporal ERD/ERS feature set. Machine intelligence techniques were then applied to select a small subset of oscillation patterns that are abnormal in patients with schizophrenia, according to ...
The emergence of genomic and proteomic biomarkers in heart transplantation.

C b o v s i m g m r he field of heart transplantation has received strong linical impetus by the advent of two separate events. irst, the discovery of calcineurin inhibitors for rejecion prophylaxis was responsible for the shift of expermental transplantation to the clinical arena. Second, efinements in immunosuppression to minimize toxicty were only possible by an understanding of cardiac llograft pathology coupled by development of an in ivo technique of an endomyocardial biopsy. Although hese important advances are entrenched in clinical ractice, renewed efforts to enhance long-term outomes by decreasing malignancy risk and the developent of cardiac allograft vasculopathy, while maintainng appropriate control of acute rejection, have irected attention toward other less invasive markers hat provide insight into underlying molecular and ellular events associated with the immune response nd graft function. Thus, the field of proteomic and enomic biomarkers is advancing rapidly to define a lace in clinical therapeutics by allowing for the use of mmunosuppression guided by new insight into moleclar mechanisms of disease.
Electrospinning of polymer nanofibers with specific surface chemistry

Electrospinning is a process by which sub-micron polymer fibers can be produced using an electrostatically driven jet of polymer solution (or polymer melt). Electrospun textiles are of interest in a wide variety of applications including semi-permeable membranes, filters, composite applications, and as scaffolding for tissue engineering. The goal of the research presented here is to demonstrate that it is possible to produce sub-micron fibers with a specific surface chemistry through electrospinning. This has been accomplished by electrospinning a series of random copolymers of PMMA-r-TAN from a mixed solvent of toluene and dimethyl formamide. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis shows that the atomic percentage of fluorine in the near surface region of the electrospun fibers is about double the atomic percentage of fluorine found in a bulk sample of the random copolymer, as determined by elemental analysis. These results are in good agreement with XPS and water contact angle results obtained from thin films of the same copolymer materials.
Scientific Productivity and Idea Acceptance in Nobel Laureates.

We investigated how new ideas become accepted for Nobel laureates in science. Archival data were collected for 204 Nobel laureates from 1980 to 2009 in physics, chemistry, and medicine or physiology. Acceptance was evaluated for Nobel laureates by Prize area and three key publications in the Nobel laureates' publishing careers: (a) first publication concerning their Nobel idea (FN), (b) highest cited publication concerning their Nobel idea (HN), and (c) last publication concerning their Nobel idea (LN). Acceptance was defined primarily in terms of academic prestige for the journal articles (journal impact factors, article citation counts, Eigenfactor scores [journal impact and journal citations] and journal-cited half-life ratings). We found that acceptance for these publications mostly followed LN < FN < HN for all measures and Prize areas—except for physics on impact factor only, which followed FN < LN < HN, as hypothesized. In sum, recent ideas are least accepted rather than original ideas even for established and eminent Nobel laureates.
Predictors of the necessity for early tracheostomy in patients with acute cervical spinal cord injury: a 15-year experience.

BACKGROUND: The need for mechanical ventilation (MV) after spinal cord injury (SCI) is a risk factor for prolonged critical care. The ‘‘purpose’’ of this study was to identify the level of cervical SCI that requires MV, thereby defining candidates for tracheostomy. METHODS: Patients with cervical SCI over a 15-year period were reviewed. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-three patients sustained cervical SCI. Of 76 complete injuries, 91% required MV for greater than 48 hours. By injury level, MV incidence was 100% for C2–4, 91% for C5, 79% for C6, and 80% for C7. Only one quarter of patients with incomplete SCI required MV for greater than 48 hours; Glascow Coma Score and Injury Severity Score were significantly worse compared with patients not requiring MV. CONCLUSIONS: Factors influencing the decision for tracheostomy in cervical SCI patients include the presence of a complete SCI, anatomic level of injury, Glascow Coma Score, Injury Severity Score, and associated thoracic injury. Patients with complete cervical SCI often require prolonged MV. Conversely, the minority of incomplete SCI required MV; the need for tracheostomy was likely performed for associated injuries. Utilizing identified factors permits a thoughtful approach to tracheostomy in this patient population.
Motion-based nonuniformity correction in DoFP polarimeters

Division of Focal Plane polarimeters (DoFP) operate by integrating an array of micropolarizer elements with a focal plane array. These devices have been investigated for over a decade, and example systems have been built in all regions of the optical spectrum. DoFP devices have the distinct advantage that they are mechanically rugged, inherently temporally synchronized, and optically aligned. They have the concomitant disadvantage that each pixel in the FPA has a different instantaneous field of view (IFOV), meaning that the polarization component measurements that go into estimating the Stokes vector across the image come from four different points in the field. In addition to IFOV errors, microgrid camera systems operating in the LWIR have the additional problem that FPA nonuniformity (NU) noise can be quite severe. The spatial differencing nature of a DoFP system exacerbates the residual NU noise that is remaining after calibration, and is often the largest source of false polarization signatures away from regions where IFOV error dominates. We have recently presented a scene based algorithm that uses frame-to-frame motion to compensate for NU noise in unpolarized IR imagers. In this paper, we have extended that algorithm so that it can be used to compensate for NU noise on a DoFP polarimeter. Furthermore, the additional information provided by the scene motion can be used to significantly reduce the IFOV error. We have found a reduction of IFOV error by a factor of 10 if the scene motion is known exactly. Performance is reduced when the motion must be estimated from the scene, but still shows a marked improvement over static DoFP images.
Experts' Retrieval with Multiword-Enhanced Author Topic Model

In this paper, we propose a multiword-enhanced author topic model that clusters authors with similar interests and expertise, and apply it to an information retrieval system that returns a ranked list of authors related to a keyword. For example, we can retrieve Eugene Charniak via search for statistical parsing. The existing works on author topic modeling assume a "bag-of-words" representation. However, many semantic atomic concepts are represented by multiwords in text documents. This paper presents a pre-computation step as a way to discover these multiwords in the corpus automatically and tags them in the term-document matrix. The key advantage of this method is that it retains the simplicity and the computational efficiency of the unigram model. In addition to a qualitative evaluation, we evaluate the results by using the topic models as a component in a search engine. We exhibit improved retrieval scores when the documents are represented via sets of latent topics and authors.
Post-Hospital Discharge Venous Thromboembolism in Colorectal Surgery

There are limited data regarding the criteria for prophylactic treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after hospital discharge. We sought to identify risk factors of post-hospital discharge VTE events following colorectal surgery. The NSQIP database was utilized to examine patients developed VTE after hospital discharge following colorectal surgery during 2005–2013. Multivariate analysis using logistic regression was performed to quantify risk factors of VTE after discharge. We evaluated a total of 219,477 patients underwent colorectal resections. The overall incidence of VTE was 2.1 % (4556). 33.8 % (1541) of all VTE events occurred after hospital discharge. The length of postoperative hospitalization had a strong association with post-discharge VTE, with the highest risk in patients who were hospitalized for more than 1 week after operation (AOR 9.08, P 70 (AOR 1.21, P = 0.04), and open surgery (AOR 1.36, P < 0.01). Patients who were hospitalized for more than 1 week after an open colorectal resections had a 12 times higher risk of post-discharge VTE event compared to patients hospitalized less than 4 days after a laparoscopic resection (AOR 12.34, P < 0.01). VTE is uncommon following colorectal resections; however, a significant proportion occurs after patients are discharged from the hospital (33.8 %). The length of postoperative hospitalization appears to have a strong association with post-discharge VTE. High-risk patients may benefit from continued VTE prophylaxis after discharge.
The mainstreaming of verbally aggressive online political behaviors.

Abstract The purpose of this paper was to investigate the relationship between verbal aggression and uncivil media attention on political flaming. More specifically, this paper examines whether the use of uncivil media programming is associated with the perceived acceptability and intention to engage in aggressive online discussions (i.e., online political flaming) and whether this relationship varies by verbal aggression. The results show that individuals less inclined to engage in aggressive communication tactics (i.e., low in verbal aggression) become more accepting of flaming and show greater intention to flame as their attention to uncivil media increases. By contrast, those with comparatively higher levels of verbal aggression show a decrease in acceptance and intention to flame as their attention to these same media increases.
Ernst-Rüdiger Olderog: A Life for Meaning

While it is indubitably impossible to summarize all the many important aspects of Ernst-Rudiger Olderog’s scientific contributions and to do justice to each and every one of the areas that he contributed to, it is remarkably easy to identify and characterize the common core behind his investigations. An important leitmotif in his research agenda is semantics, the study of meaning.
GWRM electrification: The design challenge

Presents a collection of slides covering the following topics: GWRM electrification; innovation; develop design deliver; and electrification design.
A ligand field series for the 4f-block from experimental and DFT computed Ce(IV/III) electrochemical potentials

Understanding of the sensitivity of the reduction potential of cerium(IV) cations to ligand field strength has yet to benefit from systematic variation of the ligand environment. Detailed analyses for a series of seven cerium(IV) tetrakis(pyridyl-nitroxide) compounds and their cerium(III) analogues in varying ligand field strengths are presented. Electrochemical, spectroscopic, and computational results reveal a close correlation of electronic properties with ligand substituents. Together with electrochemical data for reported eight-coordinate compounds, DFT calculations reveal a broad range of the cerium(IV/III) redox potentials correlated to ligand field strengths, establishing a semiempirical, predictive model for the modulation of cerium redox thermodynamics and ligand field strengths. Applications over a variety of scientific disciplines make use of the fundamental redox thermodynamics of cerium. Such applications will benefit from a combined experimental and theoretical approach for assessing redox ...
Correlation of the Rates of Solvolysis of 3,4,5-trimethoxy- and 2,4,6-trichlorobenzoyl chlorides:

The introduction of methoxy groups into the 3- and 5-positions of 4-methoxybenzoyl chloride leads to a reduction in specific rates of solvolysis. An extended Grunwald–Winstein equation correlation ...
The Research and application of Rice Seedling-broadcasting with No-tillage(RSB-NT) cultivation technology featured with high-efficiency and water saving

The technique of RSB-NT is an innovative achievement of farming in Guangxi.Accordingly,the extension and application of the innovative achievement is introduced in this paper.And the advantages and effect of the technique of RSB-NT is also analyzed.As a result,five countermeasures of the extension of new agricultural techniques are put forward on the basis of the successful practices.
Fusion peptide of HIV-1 as a site of vulnerability to neutralizing antibody

The HIV-1 fusion peptide, comprising 15 to 20 hydrophobic residues at the N terminus of the Env-gp41 subunit, is a critical component of the virus-cell entry machinery. Here, we report the identification of a neutralizing antibody, N123-VRC34.01, which targets the fusion peptide and blocks viral entry by inhibiting conformational changes in gp120 and gp41 subunits of Env required for entry. Crystal structures of N123-VRC34.01 liganded to the fusion peptide, and to the full Env trimer, revealed an epitope consisting of the N-terminal eight residues of the gp41 fusion peptide and glycan N88 of gp120, and molecular dynamics showed that the N-terminal portion of the fusion peptide can be solvent-exposed. These results reveal the fusion peptide to be a neutralizing antibody epitope and thus a target for vaccine design.
Reflections on rehabilitation engineering history: are there lessons to be learned?

This author’s perspective is possibly unique among the other contributors to this volume because he witnessed the early evolution of rehabilitation engineering in Canada and the United States, first working as a young clinical rehabilitation engineer and later as an academic researcher in both countries. This contribution focuses largely on the Canadian contribution, with emphasis on the political backdrop that created the impetus and funding for program development and the productive partnerships that lead to significant early outcomes. Of course, as with the evolution of any field, key people with vision stepped forward to provide the leadership. These individuals should not be forgotten. Their commitment and contribution to the formation of the field was paramount— and possibly not without equal to this day. Recognition of the early pioneers is not intended to be all-inclusive; it is limited by the personal experiences of the author and largely from the Canadian perspective. In order to provide the reader with a time frame and career activities that largely influenced the following perspectives, a brief review of this author’s education and work experiences follows. • Education: Mechanical Engineering, 1965, University of Manitoba, PhD, University of Strathclyde, 1989. • 1963–68: Research Engineer, Prosthetic and Orthotic Research and Development Unit (PORDU), Manitoba Rehabilitation Center, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Development of lower-limb modular prosthesis and mobility devices for thalidomide children.) • 1969: Research Associate, Biomedical Research Unit, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick. (Upper-limb myoelectric prosthetics.) • 1970–74: Director, Rehabilitation Engineering Program, Shriners Hospital, Winnipeg Unit, Canada. (Development of seating and mobility devices for children and development and provision of prosthetics and orthotics and RE client services.) • 1974–90: Director, Rehabilitation Engineering Center, University of Tennessee, Memphis. (Development of seating, mobility, prosthetic and orthotic technologies for children, provision of prosthetics and orthotics and RE services.) • 1990–92: Founding President, ARCOR, Winnipeg, Canada. (Nonprofit, government-funded organization for the purpose of developing and marketing technology for the elderly.) • 1992–96: Director, Center for Assistive Technology, University of Pittsburgh. (Development and management of assistive technology service center.) • 1992–01: Associate Professor, Codirector, RERC on Wheeled Mobility, University of Pittsburgh. (Academic research, teaching and administration of RERC on wheeled mobility.) Reflection on the past can also provide knowledge and insights that can guide us in the present. Of particular interest to this author are the political and social environments,
I Just Can’t Lick This Problem

This case discusses a complex pharmacodynamic interaction between digoxin and natural licorice, resulting in digoxin toxicity.
P037 : LACK OF C1Q REACTIVITY IN POST-LVAD PATIENT SERA

End stage heart disease can be treated with implantation of a mechanical circulatory support device to assist the left ventricle (LVAD) as a bridge to heart transplantation. During the LVAD operation patients may be exposed to large volumes of blood and blood products resulting in production of anti-HLA antibodies (Abs). This higher degree of HLA antigen exposure/sensitization may result in positive virtual crossmatches, eliminating many potential donor-recipient pairings for transplantation. However, when LVAD patients are transplanted they do not have a different rejection frequency or poorer graft outcome than non-LVAD or non-sensitized heart transplant recipients. We hypothesized that while these LVAD treated patients present with anti-HLA Abs these Abs may not be C1q reactive and therefore may not be functionally deleterious. We evaluated 90 patients (61 male and 29 female with a mean age of 54 years). Seventy-three patient sera were evaluated pre-LVAD and 17 patient sera post-LVAD for the presence of cI and cII HLA Abs and C1q reactivity using One Lambda, Inc. reagents and following manufacturer’s instructions. The cI and cII PRAs pre and post LVAD were divided into three groups. The cI PRAs of 0–5% were seen in 57% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 59% of patients post-LVAD. PRAs of >5–50% were seen in 23% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 29% of patients post-LVAD. Finally, PRAs of >50% were seen in 20% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 12% of patients post-LVAD. Class II PRAs of 0–5% were seen in 83% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 59% of patients post-LVAD. Class II PRAs of >5–50% were seen in 7% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 29% of patients post-LVAD (p ⩽ 0.05). Finally, PRAs of >50% were seen in 10% of patients pre-LVAD vs. 12% of patients post-LVAD. Pre-LVAD C1q reactivity was seen in 38% of patients with cI HLA Abs and 45% of patients with cII HLA Abs. However, in contradistinction to the pre-LVAD C1q positive reactivity only 8% of both cI and/or cII post-LVAD sera were C1q positive (8% vs. 38%, p These data suggest that while HLA antibodies are present in post-LVAD patient sera 92% of these antibodies tested as C1q non-reactive. This may explain why these identifiable HLA antibodies do not adversely impact LVAD treated heart transplant patients.
Heat Processing of Oysters Naturally Contaminated with Vibrio cholerae Serotype 01

Pathogenic Vibrio cholerae 0-Group 1 survived for more than 3 weeks in artificial sea water with little loss in viability. Live oysters placed in such contaminated, artificial sea water took up but did not concentrate V. cholerae . Heat treatments provided by an in-can pasteurization process and by preparation of naturally contaminated oysters according to common recipes effectively reduced the numbers of V. cholerae by 5 logs/g.
A simple proof of threshold saturation for coupled vector recursions

Convolutional low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes (or spatially-coupled codes) have now been shown to achieve capacity on binary-input memoryless symmetric channels. The principle behind this surprising result is the threshold-saturation phenomenon, which is defined by the belief-propagation threshold of the spatially-coupled ensemble saturating to a fundamental threshold defined by the uncoupled system. Previously, the authors demonstrated that potential functions can be used to provide a simple proof of threshold saturation for coupled scalar recursions. In this paper, we present a simple proof of threshold saturation that applies to a wide class of coupled vector recursions. The conditions of the theorem are verified for the density-evolution equations of: (i) joint decoding of irregular LDPC codes for a Slepian-Wolf problem with erasures, (ii) joint decoding of irregular LDPC codes on an erasure multiple-access channel, and (iii) admissible protograph codes on the BEC. This proves threshold saturation for these systems.
The intestinal microenvironment in sepsis

The gastrointestinal tract has long been hypothesized to function as "the motor" of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. The gastrointestinal microenvironment is comprised of a single cell layer epithelia, a local immune system, and the microbiome. These three components of the intestine together play a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis during times of health. However, the gastrointestinal microenvironment is perturbed during sepsis, resulting in pathologic changes that drive both local and distant injury. In this review, we seek to characterize the relationship between the epithelium, gastrointestinal lymphocytes, and commensal bacteria during basal and pathologic conditions and how the intestinal microenvironment may be targeted for therapeutic gain in septic patients.
Great Sexpectations: The Impact of Participant Gender, Defendant Desirability, and Date Cost on Attributions of a Date Rape Victim and Defendant:

We investigated the effect of the desirability of the defendant and the cost of a date on how participants assigned blame in a date rape context. Community participants (N = 211) read one of four d...
Pasolini’s Saint Paul and early Christianity in communist historiography

This article is a survey of twentieth-century communist historical scholarship concerning early Christianity. It is inspired by the recent publication in English of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s (1922–1975) screenplay Saint Paul. The historiography will be of interest to those concerned with the rise and fall of proletarian government. It focuses on the resistance to Roman imperialism, slavery and emperor worship that helped overthrow the Empire. It summarises left historiography concerning Christian resistance among Judean Ebionites, Montanists in Asia Minor, Donatists in North Africa, bagaudae in Spain, Gaul and Germany, and Arians in Italy.
The future of high angular resolution x-ray optics for astronomy (Conference Presentation)

Beginning with the Einstein Observatory in 1978, continuing with ROSAT in the 1990’s and currently the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, high angular resolution focusing telescopes have been the premier X-ray astronomy instruments of their time. However, as they have acquired larger area and improved angular resolution they have become increasingly massive and expensive. The successor to Chandra planned for the late 2020’s currently named “Lynx” will rely on active optics to allow the use of much lower mass segmented mirrors with the goal of gaining an order of magnitude larger area than Chandra with a lower ratio of mass to effective area and perhaps slightly better angular resolution than Chandra’s 0.5 arc second half power diameter and/or over a somewhat larger field. The goals for Lynx are probably at the limit of what is possible with grazing incidence X-ray optics. Success in the development of higher angular resolution, lower mass telescopes will come at the expense of effective area. A diffractive-refractive pair consisting of a Fresnel zone plate and a diffractive lens that transmits rather than reflects X-rays is capable in theory of achieving mili arc second resolution with a much lower ratio of mass to effective area than the grazing incidence reflective Wolter optics. However, the focal lengths of this system are thousands of kilometers necessitating formation flying between one spacecraft hosting the optics and another hosting the detectors, most likely in a Sun-Earth L2 orbit. The trajectory of one of the two spacecraft can be in a true orbit but the other must be powered by an ion engine to maintain the alignment. The growing interest in deep space astronaut operations may allow the ion engines to be replaced when depleted.
Symptom Diary Use and Improved Survival for Patients With Heart Failure

Background:Attention to symptoms of weight gain and dyspnea are central tenets of patient education in heart failure (HF). However, it is not known whether diary use improves patient outcomes. The ...
The Urban-Industrial Frontier. Edited by David Popenoe

(1969). The Urban-Industrial Frontier. Edited by David Popenoe. Journal of Leisure Research: Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 355-356.
Hidden state models improve the adequacy of state-dependent diversification approaches using empirical trees, including biogeographical models

The state-dependent speciation and extinction models (SSE) have recently been criticized due to their high rates of "false positive" results and many researchers have advocated avoiding SSE models in favor of other "non-parametric" or "semi-parametric" approaches. The hidden Markov modeling (HMM) approach provides a partial solution to the issues of model adequacy detected with SSE models. The inclusion of "hidden states" can account for rate heterogeneity observed in empirical phylogenies and allows detection of true signals of state-dependent diversification or diversification shifts independent of the trait of interest. However, the adoption of HMM into other classes of SSE models has been hampered by the interpretational challenges of what exactly a "hidden state" represents, which we clarify herein. We show that HMM models in combination with a model-averaging approach naturally account for hidden traits when examining the meaningful impact of a suspected "driver" of diversification. We also extend the HMM to the geographic state-dependent speciation and extinction (GeoSSE) model. We test the efficacy of our "GeoHiSSE" extension with both simulations and an empirical data set. On the whole, we show that hidden states are a general framework that can generally distinguish heterogeneous effects of diversification attributed to a focal character.
A 3-Micron-Radius Bend for SOI TE 0 /TE 1 Multiplexing

We propose a 3-micron-radius, TE 0 /TE 1 multiplexed 90-degree bend that numerically exhibits 0.8 dB bending loss and 20 dB crosstalk suppression over 30nm bandwidth on an silicon-on-insulator platform. An S-bend shows >37 dB colorless crosstalk suppression.
Acoustic phonetic measurements of grammatical tones in Anyi

Talkers and hearers of Anyi, a West African language of the Akan family, are very adept at discriminating between sentences containing verbs conjugated in the indicative, the intentional, and the subjunctive moods just by relying on subtle variations in pitch. A phonetic investigation is undertaken to determine as precisely as possible the acoustic cues that contribute the most to intelligibility. Ten speakers produced five sentences each in all three moods for a total of 150 utterances. The tone bearing units (TBU) on the subject pronoun and the disyllabic verbs are analyzed acoustically. The acoustic correlates investigated are F0, intensity, and duration. All in all, 810 TBUS are measured. The main findings are as follows. The F0 of the subject pronoun and of the verb are the most robust cues for discriminating between the declarative and the intentional moods. The differentiation between the intentional and the subjunctive moods rests principally on the F0 of the subject pronoun. The distinction betwe...
Calcium metabolism in postpartum lactation: the effect of estrogen status.

Postpartum lactation represents a unique state of increased calcium demand in which women are also hyperprolactinemic and hypoestrogenic. This is associated with increased calcium mobilization from bone and bone loss. To better understand the effect of estrogen (E) status on calcium metabolism during lactation, we studied 10 long-term lactating women at 12 weeks postpartum when they were hypoestrogenic and again at 37.4 ± 3.4 (±SD) weeks during the midfollicular phase of their second ovulatory cycle. Urinary and serum markers of calcium metabolism were measured at these intervals. The results revealed that when E was low, osteocalcin and hydroxyproline were increased with a lower circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) level, whereas reciprocal changes were noted when E was increased. The findings suggest that E status can modulate PTH's ability to mobilize one's stores of calcium.
Biomedical Applications of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from differentiated somatic cells offers innovative biomedical applications that are significantly advancing human medicine. Patient-specific iPS cells can self-renew indefinitely and serve as a limitless source of autologous cells to treat a number of human degenerative diseases without the risk of immune rejection. In the near-term, iPS cells from patients with inheritable disorders will offer novel platforms for dissecting disease mechanisms, identifying new molecular therapeutic targets and pharmacological/toxicological testing for drug discovery. But several challenges in validating safety of iPS cells exist before its potential in clinical therapeutics can be realized.
Uniform resource visualization: software and services

Computing environments continue to increase in scale, heterogeneity, and hierarchy, with resource usage varying dynamically during program execution. Computational and data grids and distributed collaboration environments are examples. To understand performance and gain insights into developing applications that efficiently use the system resources, performance visualization has proven useful. However, visualization tools often are specific to a particular resource or level in the system, possibly with fixed views, and thus limit a user's ability to observe and improve performance. Information integration is necessary for system-level performance monitoring. Uniform resource visualization (URV) is a component-based framework being developed to provide uniform interfaces between resource instrumentation, called resource monitoring components (RMC) and performance views, called visualization components (VC). URV supports services for connecting VCs to RMCs, and creating multi-level views, as well as visual schema definitions for sharing and reusing visualization design knowledge.
Experimental Models for Joint Allografting

Advances in the management of musculoskeletal tumors have enabled surgeons to perform limb-sparing procedures. Salvage procedures for periarticular trauma, congenital abnormalities, and degenerative processes also require large osteochondral bone grafts [11, 14, 18–20, 29]. Resurfacing osteochondral surfaces with allografts for degenerative joint disease has also been performed with varying success [11]. As a result, there has been an increased need for osteochondral grafts. Judet in 1908 first reported experimental transplantation of hemijoints and whole joints with a preservation of joint surface geometry, but with gradual cartilage deterioration and bony collapse [15]. Subsequently, many reports have confirmed these results with both autografts and allografts and have identified the major problems leading to failure [14, 18–20, 29]. These include technical difficulties with fixation and joint fit and biological causes such as delayed and incomplete revascularization and inadequate mineralization. When allografts have been used, an immune response directed toward donor antigens may be responsible for graft failure, but no studies to date have correlated the clinical outcome with this event. These problems are still unsolved, and additional experimental studies are necessary to delineate the role of these factors in determining the success or failure of osteoarticular grafts. This chapter reviews some of the experimental models that have been utilized to study hemijoint and whole joint transplantation.
Interactions Between the Actin Cytoskeleton and an Auxin Transport Protein

In shoots, polar auxin transport is basipetal (i.e., from the shoot apex toward the base), and is driven by the basal localization of the auxin efflux carrier complex. One mechanism by which this efflux carrier complex could be localized to the basal membrane is through attachment to the actin cytoskeleton. The efflux carrier protein complex is believed to consist of several polypeptides, including a regulatory subunit that binds auxin transport inhibitors such as naphthylphthalamic acid (NPA). Several lines of experimentation have been used to determine whether the NPA-binding protein interacts with actin filaments. The NPA-binding protein has been shown to partition with the actin cytoskeleton during detergent extraction. Agents that specifically alter the polymerization state of the actin cytoskeleton also change the amount of NPA-binding protein and actin recovered in these cytoskeletal pellets. Actin affinity columns were prepared with polymers of actin purified from zucchini hypocotyl tissue. NPA-binding activity was eluted in a single peak from the actin filament column. Cytochalasin D, which fragments the actin cytoskeleton, was shown to reduce polar auxin transport in zucchini hypocotyls. The interaction of the NPA-binding protein with the actin cytoskeleton may localize it in one plane of the plasma membrane, and thereby control the polarity of auxin transport.
Exercise promotes recovery after motoneuron injury via hormonal mechanisms

Injuries to spinal motoneurons manifest in a variety of forms, including damage to peripheral axons, neurodegenerative disease, or direct insult centrally. Such injuries produce a variety of negative structural and functional changes in both the directly affected and neighboring motoneurons. Exercise is a relatively simple behavioral intervention that has been demonstrated to protect against, and accelerate recovery from, these negative changes. In this article, we describe how exercise is neuroprotective for motoneurons, accelerating axon regeneration following axotomy and attenuating dendritic atrophy following the death of neighboring motoneurons. In both of these injury models, the positive effects of exercise have been found to be dependent on gonadal hormone action. Here we describe a model in which exercise, hormones, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor might all interact to produce neuroprotective effects on motoneuron structure following neural injury.