cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design of a Compact V -Band Transceiver and Antenna for Millimeter-Wave Imaging Systems

In this paper, we introduce a synthetic aperture radar (SAR)-based millimeter-wave imaging system for high-resolution imaging of human skin, in addition to traditional nondestructive testing applications. The imaging system, which operates in the 58–64-GHz frequency range, forms the basic building block of a future millimeter-wave camera suitable for imaging burned skin and skin cancers. The system is composed of a coherent transceiver and two antennas, principally enabling a quasi-monostatic measurement configuration. The designed antenna is an antipodal Vivaldi antenna with 5.0–8.0-dB gain and half-power beamwidths of ~79.0° and ~76.0°in its $E$ – and $H$ -planes, respectively. The transceiver is designed using a complete system-on-chip transmitter and receiver capable of $I/Q$ detection. The fully designed imaging system has 47 dB of dynamic range and is phase-calibrated using a robust wideband calibration procedure based on single-frequency SAR imaging approach. Examples of images produced with this system include burned pigskin skin and a small balsa wood panel with four small embedded rubber pieces.
Nerve growth factor receptor TrkA signaling in streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes rat brain.

Abstract Previous work from our lab demonstrated a new role of TrkA in the insulin signaling pathway. The kinase activity of TrkA is essential for its interaction with the insulin receptor (IR) and insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) and activation of Akt and Erk5 in PC12 cells. Here we show in brain from streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic rats that the expression of the inactive proNGF is elevated, whereas the expression of mature NGF is reduced. In addition, tyrosine phosphorylation of TrkA is decreased in STZ-induced diabetes compared to control. Results of the co-immunoprecipitation experiments indicate that the interaction of TrkA with the IR and IRS-1 is also reduced in the brain of diabetic rats. Moreover, tyrosine phosphorylation of the IR and IRS-1, and Akt activation is decreased in STZ diabetes compared to control. Our results suggest that the NGF-TrkA receptor is involved in insulin signaling and is impaired in the brain of STZ-induced diabetic rats.
Experimental Validation of Thermo-mechanical Part-Scale Modeling for Laser Powder Bed Fusion Processes

Abstract Numerical simulation has been posited as a key tool to reduce the unwanted distortion which occurs during laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing, yet the scale and speed of the process makes traditional moving source modeling impractical. In this work a part-scale model is validated for the distortion modeling of laser powder bed fusion manufacture. The model uses an automatically generated adaptive voxel mesh which reduces the size of the finite element mesh and thus the computational time required to simulate large and complex additive geometries. The approach address several of the major challenges of effects part-scale modeling, namely the addition of new material into the simulation, the voxel meshing of thin or detailed geometry sections, and the efficient meshing of thick cross sections. The part-scale simulation uses input from a detailed small-scale analysis as part of a multi-scale approach. However, the part-scale approach could also be applied as part of a traditional experimentally calibrated inherent strain modeling approach. Validation is achieved by comparing the three-dimensional scans of three manufactured parts, a small thin walled Inconel 625 Compliant Cylinder, a small Inconel 718 build with both very thin and very thick sections, and an industrial scale part formed from AlSi10Mg. The models show a maximum peak distortion error of 13% and a minimum Correlation of 90.5% for comparisons made at selected points. A comparison of build versus simulation time shows that the adaptive meshing allows the model to run in much less time than it takes for the parts to be constructed. A presentation of thermal and mechanical results demonstrates the part-scale model's ability to capture the complex evolution of the thermo-mechanical behavior of components formed using powder bed fusion.
Biomechanical Testing of Additive Manufactured Proximal Humerus Fracture Fixation Plates

Achieving satisfactory fracture fixation in osteoporotic patients with unstable proximal humerus fractures remains a major clinical challenge. Varus collapse is one of the more prominent complications that may lead to screw cutout. This aim of this study was to compare the fixation provided by conventional locking plates with novel design concepts that are only feasible through additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. In addition to reversed engineered implants, two novel implant designs with integrated struts were included in the study to provide medial support to humeral head. The medial strut was either solid or included a porous lattice structure intended to promote bone ingrowth. Biomechanical tests were performed using low density synthetic bones with simulated 3-part comminuted fractures. Nondestructive torsion and compression were performed, followed by increasing cyclic loading. The relative displacements between the bone fragments were determined using a 3D motion capture system. The AM manufactured implants with medial strut showed significant reduction of varus displacement during the increasing cyclic loading when compared to conventional designs. AM reversed-engineered locking plates showed similar mechanical behavior to conventional plates with identical geometry. This study demonstrates the feasibility and potential of employing alternative design via AM for fixation of unstable comminuted proximal humerus fractures to reduce fragment displacement.
Self-directed Motion in Spontaneous and Translated English: A Comparable Corpora Study

Abstract This paper tests Tirkkonen-Condit's (2004) Unique Item (UI) Hypothesis, which claims that UI are under-represented in translated texts and, on the other hand, Baker's (1993) Simplification...
Climate change disrupts local adaptation and favours upslope migration.

Contemporary climate change is proceeding at an unprecedented rate. The question remains whether populations adapted to historical conditions can persist under rapid environmental change. We tested whether climate change will disrupt local adaptation and reduce population growth rates using the perennial plant Boechera stricta (Brassicaceae). In a large-scale field experiment conducted over five years, we exposed > 106 000 transplants to historical, current, or future climates and quantified fitness components. Low-elevation populations outperformed local populations under simulated climate change (snow removal) across all five experimental gardens. Local maladaptation also emerged in control treatments, but it was less pronounced than under snow removal. We recovered local adaptation under snow addition treatments, which reflect historical conditions. Our results revealed that low elevation populations risk rapid decline, whereas upslope migration could enable population persistence and expansion at higher elevation locales. Local adaptation to historical conditions could increase vulnerability to climate change, even for geographically widespread species.
Lanthanide-Binding Tags for 3D X-ray Imaging of Proteins in Cells at Nanoscale Resolution

We report the application of lanthanide-binding tags (LBTs) for two- and three-dimensional X-ray imaging of individual proteins in cells with a sub-15 nm beam. The method combines encoded LBTs, which are tags of minimal size (ca. 15-20 amino acids) affording high-affinity lanthanide ion binding, and X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM). This approach enables visualization of LBT-tagged proteins while simultaneously measuring the elemental distribution in cells at a spatial resolution necessary for visualizing cell membranes and eukaryotic subcellular organelles.
Review of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Location Planning

Government of India is ramping up efforts to increase the use of electric vehicles in the country, by formally announcing higher Electric Vehicle (EV) incentives and on-going discussions on regulating the sale of conventional 2 and 3-wheelers by 2025. National standards for charging infrastructure are expected to be finalized soon, allowing both public and private sector to deploy their charging fleet to cater the EV charging demands. Centralized strategic planning and optimization in charging station location selection is proven to drastically reduce the initial cost required to serve the EV charging demand and reduce range anxiety. This review focuses on the most significant parameters considered in charging station location planning by various researches, its relevance and pitfalls.
Real-Time Microscale Temperature Imaging by Stimulated Raman Scattering.

Microscale thermometry of aqueous solutions is essential to understand the dynamics of local heat generation and dissipation in chemical and biological systems. A wide variety of fluorescent probes...
Trends in Birth Rates After Elimination of Cost Sharing for Contraception by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Importance Reducing out-of-pocket costs is associated with improved patterns of contraception use. It is unknown whether reducing out-of-pocket costs is associated with fewer births. Objective To evaluate changes in birth rates by income level among commercially insured women before (2008-2013) and after (2014-2018) the elimination of cost sharing for contraception under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Design, Setting, and Participants This cross-sectional study used data from Clinformatics Data Mart database from January 1, 2008, to December 31, 2018, for women aged 15 to 45 years who were enrolled in an employer-based health plan and had pregnancy benefits for at least 1 year. Women without household income information and women with evidence of having undergone a hysterectomy were excluded. Exposure Section 2713 of the ACA. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was the proportion of reproductive-aged women with a live birth by year (measured yearly from 2008 to 2018 [11 time points]) within 3 income categories. The secondary outcome was the distribution of contraceptive method fills in 3 categories by year: (1) most effective methods (long-acting reversible contraception or sterilization), (2) moderately effective methods (pill, patch, ring, and injectable), and (3) no prescription or surgical method. Results The analytic sample included 4 590 989 women (mean [SD] age; 30.8 [9.1] years in 2013; 3 069 053 White [66.9%]) enrolled in 47 721 health plans. A total of 500 898 participants (40.8%) resided in households with incomes less than 400% of the federal poverty level in 2013. In all 3 years (2008, 2013, and 2018), women in the lowest income category were younger than women in the other income groups (median range, 21-22 years vs 30-34 years) and in households with a higher median number of dependents (9-10 vs 2-4). There was an associated decrease in births in all income groups in the period after the elimination of out-of-pocket costs. The estimated probability of birth decreased most precipitously among women in the lowest income group from 8.0% (95% CI, 7.4%-8.5%) in 2014 to 6.2% (95% CI, 5.7%-6.7%) in 2018, representing a 22.2% decrease (P < .001). The estimated probability decreased in the middle income group by 9.4%, from 6.4% (95% CI, 6.3%-6.4%) to 5.8% (95% CI, 5.7%-5.8%) (P < .001), and in the highest income group by 1.8%, from 5.6% (95% CI, 5.6%-5.7%) to 5.5% (95% CI, 5.4%-5.5%) (P < .001) in the period after the elimination of cost sharing. Conclusions and Relevance In this cross-sectional study, the elimination of cost sharing for contraception under the ACA was associated with improvements in contraceptive method prescription fills and a decrease in births among commercially insured women. Women with low income had more precipitous decreases than women with higher income, suggesting that enhanced access to contraception may address well-documented income-related disparities in unintended birth rates.
Two-terminal conductance of a fractional quantum Hall edge

We have found a solution to a model of tunneling between a multichannel Fermi liquid reservoir and an edge of the principal fractional quantum Hall liquid (FQHL) in the strong-coupling limit. The solution explains how the chiral edge propagation makes the universal two-terminal conductance of the FQHL fractionally quantized and different from that of a 1D Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid wire, where a similar model, but preserving the time reversal symmetry, predicts unsuppressed free-electron conductance.
IL-33-mediated Eosinophilia Protects against Acute Lung Injury.

Pneumonia-induced lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome can develop because of an inappropriate inflammatory response to acute infections, leading to a compromised alveolar barrier. R...
Coupling Power Laws Offers a Powerful Method for Problems such as Biodiversity and COVID-19 Fatality Predictions

Power laws have been found to describe a wide variety of natural (physical, biological, astronomic, meteorological, geological) and man-made (social, financial, computational) phenomena over a wide range of magnitudes, although their underlying mechanisms are not always clear. In statistics, power law distribution is often found to fit data exceptionally well when the normal (Gaussian) distribution fails. Nevertheless, predicting power law phenomena is notoriously difficult because some of its idiosyncratic properties such as lack of well-defined average value, and potentially unbounded variance. TPL (Taylor's power law), a power law first discovered to characterize the spatial and/or temporal distribution of biological populations and recently extended to describe the spatiotemporal heterogeneities (distributions) of human microbiomes and other natural and artificial systems such as fitness distribution in computational (artificial) intelligence. The power law with exponential cutoff (PLEC) is a variant of power-law function that tapers off the exponential growth of power-law function ultimately and can be particularly useful for certain predictive problems such as biodiversity estimation and turning-point prediction for COVID-19 infection/fatality. Here, we propose coupling (integration) of TPL and PLEC to offer improved prediction quality of certain power-law phenomena. The coupling takes advantages of variance prediction using TPL and the asymptote estimation using PLEC and delivers confidence interval for the asymptote. We demonstrate the integrated approach to the estimation of potential (dark) biodiversity and turning point of COVID-19 fatality. We expect this integrative approach should have wide applications given the duel relationship between power law and normal statistical distributions.
Reduction of surface roughness emittance of Cs3Sb photocathodes grown via codeposition on single crystal substrates

Alkali antimonide photocathodes are capable of generating high brightness electron beams given their high quantum efficiency and low mean transverse energy (MTE). Increasing the brightness of the photoemitted electron beams beyond the current state of the art requires surface control of the photocathode at the atomic scale, since the beam brightness at the cathode is degraded by a rough, inhomogeneous surface. In this work, we grow cesium antimonide photocathodes on single crystal substrates (Al2O3, TiO2, 3C–SiC, and a control sample on Si) and study the resulting surface morphology with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We observe dramatic changes in surface morphology across substrates. In particular, we demonstrate 10 times larger island size and significantly reduced roughness on two samples grown on 3C–SiC(100) substrates as compared to samples on other substrates. By computing the local electric fields which these surfaces would generate in an electron accelerator source, we estimate the roughness-induced contribution to MTE. Across samples, the calculated contribution to MTE varies by a factor of 17, and the smallest value computed is 12 meV at an extraction field of 50 MV/m, which is smaller than typical values for alkali antimonides. Additionally, we show that oxidation, commonly encountered in vacuum transfer and in accelerator operation, does not affect the measured surface morphology. Our findings suggest that even in high field environments, the brightness of the photocathodes grown on 3C–SiC will be primarily determined by the material's electronic properties rather than by spurious fields generated by photocathode roughness.
A scalable 3D tissue culture pipeline to enable functional therapeutic screening for pulmonary fibrosis.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a lethal lung disease targeting the alveolar gas exchange apparatus, leading to death by asphyxiation. IPF progresses on a tissue scale through aberrant matrix remodeling, enhanced cell contraction, and subsequent microenvironment densification. Although two pharmaceuticals modestly slow progression, IPF patient survival averages less than 5 years. A major impediment to therapeutic development is the lack of high-fidelity models that account for the fibrotic microenvironment. Our goal is to create a three-dimensional (3D) platform to enable lung fibrosis studies and recapitulate IPF tissue features. We demonstrate that normal lung fibroblasts encapsulated in collagen microspheres can be pushed toward an activated phenotype, treated with FDA-approved therapies, and their fibrotic function quantified using imaging assays (extracellular matrix deposition, contractile protein expression, and microenvironment compaction). Highlighting the system's utility, we further show that fibroblasts isolated from IPF patient lungs maintain fibrotic phenotypes and manifest reduced fibrotic function when treated with epigenetic modifiers. Our system enables enhanced screening due to improved predictability and fidelity compared to 2D systems combined with superior tractability and throughput compared to 3D systems.
Stenichnus grebennikovi n. sp. from Yunnan, China (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Scydmaeninae)

A new species of Cyrtoscydmini, Stenichnus (s. str.) grebennikovi n. sp. is described and illustrated. This is only the third species of this large and diverse genus known to occur in the People’s Republic of China, and the second discovered in Yunnan.
LabLink: Journaling via Multimedia in Anatomical Dissections

Thorough laboratory procedure and findings documentation is a valuable asset, as it fosters active participation and provides resources for further study outside of the classroom. We propose an ele...
Recent advances in Lanczos-based iterative methods for nonsymmetric linear systems

In recent years, there has been a true revival of the nonsymmetric Lanczos method. On the one hand, the possible breakdowns in the classical algorithm are now better understood, and so-called look-ahead variants of the Lanczos process have been developed, which remedy this problem. On the other hand, various new Lanczos-based iterative schemes for solving nonsymmetric linear systems have been proposed. This paper gives a survey of some of these recent developments.
The blood chemistry in normal and abnormal pregnancy

r r 0 THOSE interested in investigating eclampsia and its allied dis1 turbances a new approach has been opened by the recent advent o.f microchemical methods for the determination of the several nonp,rotein nitrogen constituents of the blood. In this paper we present for consideration the results obtained from a chemical analysis for these constituents as they are found, first, in normal pregnancy and then in toxemias of pregnancy and in eclampsia. In the normal cases the blood specimens were obtained from the antepartum clinic of the New York Nursery and Child’s Hospital. The blood of the cases of eclampsia and toxemia came from the maternity service of Bellevue Hospital. The chemical analyses were calrried out at the Harriman Research Laboratory by chemists who have been using practically the same technic since 1916.f The figures in our tables represent milligrams per hundred cubic centimeters of blood. As a result of more than 5000 chemical examinations, the Harrim,an Research Laboratory has come to regard the following nitrogen partition (mg. per hundred C.C. of blood) as a normal blood picture in a healthy nonpregnant woman :
Near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure study of disordering in Gd2(Ti1-yZry)2O7 pyrochlores.

Disorder in Gd2(Ti1-yZry)2O7 pyrochlores, for y = 0.0−1.0, is investigated by Ti 2p and O 1s near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Ti4+ ions are found to occupy octahedral sites in Gd2Ti2O7 with a tetragonal distortion induced by vacant oxygen sites. As Zr substitutes for Ti, the tetragonal distortion decreases, and Zr coordination increases from 6 to 8. The migration of oxygen ions from 48f or 8b sites to vacant 8a sites compensate for the increased Zr coordination, thereby reducing the number of vacant 8a sites, which further reduces the tetragonal distortion and introduces more disorder around Ti. This is evidence for simultaneous cation disorder with anion migration.
Spread-of-Disease Modeling in a Microbiology Course

Microbiology is the study of microorganisms. Most college courses in microbiology emphasize the biology of bacteria and viruses, including those that are human pathogens. One challenging aspect of the course is to introduce students to epidemiology, which considers the causes, dispersal, and control of disease. Although disease transmission models have helped develop successful strategies for managing epidemics, most science students are unaware of their advantages and complexities. To address this challenge, the microbiology course at Wofford College has incorporated a sequence of three or four laboratories on modeling the spread of disease. Emphasis in Computational Science students who have studied modeling and simulation in depth serve as laboratory assistants and mentors. Evidence from test scores and self-assessment support the hypothesis that the sequence of laboratories has improved student understanding of human disease dynamics and demonstrated the utility of computational models.
Una nueva especie de Uncinia (Cyperaceae) del Nuevo Mundo y primera cita de U. chilensis para la Argentina

A new species of Uncinia (Cyperaceae), U. austroamericana , is described and illustrated from austral South America and from the Tristan da Cunha archipelago in the south-Atlantic Ocean. This species grows in persistently wet, base-poor sites, particularly in Sphagnum bogs, and is known from southern Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and from the largest island of the Tristan da Cunha group. It differs both morphologically and ecologically from the similar-appearing U. macrolepis , a minerotrophic species best known from moist depressions in grasslands. The new species differs morphologically from U. macrolepis by possessing achenes that, when mature, are pale-colored and conspicuously-thickened at the apex and, also, by having more or less loosely-flowered spikes that frequently exceed 2 cm in length. Additionally, U. chilensis is reported for the first time from Argentina.
LabVIEW-based position control system with synchro [radio telescope control application]

A closed-loop DC motor position control system is investigated that allows a radio telescope to be accessed and controlled via the Internet. The project involves the use of LabVIEW to provide a low-cost solution. In addition, it employs a data acquisition board (DAQ) and data acquisition accessory board which is a multifunction I/O device having two 8 bit digital I/O lines, 16/spl times/12 bit single ended analog inputs and two 12 bit analog output lines. The motor position information is obtained from a synchro mounted on the shaft of the motor. The synchro output is measured, interpreted and appropriate control signals are generated by the LabVIEW program. The data transfer to and from the computer is conducted via the DAQ's input and output ports respectively. The system is tested in the laboratory set-up for different angular displacements and initial positions of the motor. Initial results are found to be satisfactory.
Extremely Intense Hurricanes: Revisiting Webster et al. (2005) after 10 Years

AbstractTen years ago, Webster et al. documented a large and significant increase in both the number as well as the percentage of category 4 and 5 hurricanes for all global basins from 1970 to 2004, and this manuscript examines whether those trends have continued when including 10 additional years of data. In contrast to that study, as shown here, the global frequency of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has shown a small, insignificant downward trend while the percentage of category 4 and 5 hurricanes has shown a small, insignificant upward trend between 1990 and 2014. Accumulated cyclone energy globally has experienced a large and significant downward trend during the same period. The primary reason for the increase in category 4 and 5 hurricanes noted in observational datasets from 1970 to 2004 by Webster et al. is concluded to be due to observational improvements at the various global tropical cyclone warning centers, primarily in the first two decades of that study.
Waiting and Not Knowing: The Diagnosis of Cancer in a Child

A subset of data from a longitudinal grounded theory study was analyzed to describe the experience families have during the period immediately surrounding the time of diagnosis of cancer in a child. A convenience sample consisted of 40 members of seven families with a child who was recently diagnosed with cancer with a favorable prognosis. All family members 5 years of age and older participated. Data collection consisted of three tape-recorded, semistructured interviews with family members in the home. It was found that the "waiting and not knowing" of this period was most distressing for family members. This period is further described and implications for nursing practice are discussed. Factors limiting generalizability of the findings include the small sample size, single site, and the short length of time families were followed.
Is there any relation between the amount of curve correction and postoperative neurological deficit or pain in patients undergoing stand-alone lateral lumbar interbody fusion?

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective analysis of 73 standalone lateral lumbar interbody fusion (LLIF) procedures to identify any association between the amount of coronal curve correction and lumbosacral plexus injuries and/or postoperative pain. OBJECTIVE To address if there is any association between the amount of correction in both the coronal and sagittal planes and the development of postoperative neurological deficit and/or anterior thigh/groin pain. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA LLIF is a powerful tool for the restoration of spinal alignment including correction of small degenerative curves of the lumbar spine and increase of lumbar lordosis. Concerns remain about its safety regarding injuries of the lumbosacral plexus, which occur with a prevalence ranging from 0.7% to 23%. METHODS The medical records and spinal radiographs of patients undergoing standalone LLIF for symptomatic degenerative scoliosis of the lumbar spine were retrospectively reviewed during a 6-year period. RESULTS Thirty patients (73 levels) met the inclusion criteria and were followed for a mean of 21 months (range, 9-39 mo). Average age at the time of surgery was 67 years (range, 50-78 yr). Immediately after surgery, a motor deficit was recorded in 6 patients and a sensory deficit in 17 patients. Statistical analysis did not reveal any significant association between the amount of coronal curve correction, restoration of lumbar lordosis or increase in lumbar spine height, and the development of postoperative motor or sensory deficits. Seventeen patients complained of anterior thigh/groin pain immediately postoperative. A statistically significant association was identified between postoperative anterior thigh/groin pain and the magnitude of curve correction (P = 0.005), as well as the increase in lumbar lordosis (P = 0.040). CONCLUSION There is a strong association between the development of postoperative anterior thigh/groin pain and the amount of coronal curve correction, as well as the increase in lumbar lordosis. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4.
Selective binding of Drosophila BR-C isoforms to a distal regulatory element in the hsp23 promoter.

Abstract The Broad-Complex ( BR-C ) gene plays a key role in the ecdysone regulatory hierarchy. Together with other early ecdysone-inducible genes BR-C transmits the hormonal signal to a set of secondary response genes in a tissue-specific manner. Among its targets is the hsp23 gene. Previously we showed that expression of the hsp23 gene in late third instar is BR-C -dependent, and accompanied by the appearance of a BR-C -dependent DNase I hypersensitive site at position -1400 (DHS-1400). BR-C encodes a family of transcription factors, and we show here that at least three BR-C protein isoforms — Z1, Z2, and Z3 — bind to the sequences around DHS-1400 in vitro. A DNase I footprinting assay reveals five protected regions, designated site 1 to site 5, each of which specifically associates with one or several BR-C protein isoforms. We also show that a 100 bp region overlapping site 5, which binds all three isoforms in vitro, is required for hsp23 activity in vivo. The deletion of binding site 5 in a reporter gene construct reproduced the effect of the npr class mutations, that is, hsp23 is no longer expressed in any tissue tested except brain. Thus, BR-C regulates hsp23 expression via direct interaction of the predominant isoform with the distal regulatory element.
Perioperative Neuropathies, Blindness, and Positioning Problems

Transfusion-associated graft-vs-host disease (GvHD) is a very rare complication of blood transfusion; there are no identifiable cases in the most recent SHOT report. This reduction in incidence has resulted from the implementation of universal leucodepletion. GvHD can complicate allogenic bone marrow transplants, but in those who are immunocompromised, it can occur after simple blood transfusion. Ninety per cent of cases are fatal. Donor derived immune cells, particularly T-lymphocytes, mount an immune response against host tissue. Clinical features include a maculopapular rash (typically affecting the face, palms and soles), abdominal pain, diarrhoea and abnormal liver function tests. Destruction of bone marrow stem cells by donor T-lymphocytes causes pancytopenia. Prevention is by irradiation of blood products, which inactivates any donor lymphocytes.4
A modification of α-bungarotoxin amino group residues with retention of binding properties to isolated and membrane-bound acetylcholine receptor

Abstract α-Bungarotoxin (α-Bgt), an α-neurotoxin, has been 14 C-methylated by treatment with [ 14 C]formaldehyde following NaCNBH 3 reduction. The methylation rate is fast (about 84% methylation in 15 min), with 12 methyl groups incorporated per mole of α-Bgt or a mean of 1.7 methyl groups per available amine residue. The specific activity of α-[ 14 C]Bgt is 768 mCi/mmol. Unlike most of the reported chemical modifications of α-neurotoxins, involving a high decrease of the toxin activity after modification, α-[ 14 C]Bgt retains 100% of its unmodified ability to bind to both isolated acetylcholine receptor (AcChR) and AcChR-enriched membrane fragments prepared from Torpedo californica . This lysyl residue modification does not perturb the toxin binding activity, probably, because the net positive charges of the ϵ-amino groups and amino-terminal residue remain unaltered. 14 C-Methylated α-Bgt appears better suited than 125 I-α-Bgt for use in AcChR binding studies because of the longer half-life of the isotope, and the apparent high uniformity of labeling of the toxin preparations.
A study of the occurrence of atopic traits in patients with keratoconus.

Abstract The reported high frequency of atopic disease in patients with keratoconus seemed of interest because of a postulated membrane defect or peculiarity in atopic individuals. Accordingly, a group of 31 patients with keratoconus was compared with 30 unselected control subjects with respect to the occurrence of atopic traits as judged by: (1) the stated past or present occurrence of atopic manifestations in the subject or in his family; (2) the frequency and intensity of skin reactivity; and (3) the level of the total eosinophil count. The two groups exhibited no significant differences with respect to these except for a higher frequency of asthma in the keratoconus group and their families. Reasons are presented for questioning the relevance of this difference, and it was concluded that the two groups did not differ significantly with respect to atopic traits.
Nonlinear local image preprocessing using coherent optical techniques.

Two coherent optical systems are described that can realize local nonlinear preprocessing operators such as the Sobel edge-enhancement function in parallel on a 2-D input image. By local, we refer to the size of the image region rather than a nonstationary process. Realization of such operators using a multiple-exposure matched spatial filter and a computer-generated hologram is discussed. Experimental results using these techniques for 3 × 3 and 5 × 5 Sobel operators, respectively, are presented. Our techniques can be extended to larger window sizes and other edge-enhancement operators. These new operators are achieved by novel coherent systems using complex arithmetic with magnitude evaluation of the output pattern.
Interannual and interdecadal oscillation patterns in sea level

Relative sea-level height (RSLH) data at 213 tide-gauge stations have been analyzed on a monthly and an annual basis to study interannual and interdecadal oscillations, respectively. The main tools of the study are singular spectrum analysis (SSA) and multi-channel SSA (M-SSA). Very-low-frequency variability of RSLH was filtered by SSA to estimate the linear trend at each station. Global sea-level rise, after postglacial rebound corrections, has been found to equal 1.62±0.38 mm/y, by averaging over 175 stations which have a trend consistent with the neighboring ones. We have identified two dominant time scales of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) variability, quasi-biennial and low-frequency, in the RSLH data at almost all stations. However, the amplitudes of both ENSO signals are higher in the equatorial Pacific and along the west coast of North America. RSLH data were interpolated along ocean coasts by latitudinal intervals of 5 or 10 degrees, depending on station density. Interannual variability was then examined by M-SSA in five regions: eastern Pacific (25°S–55°N at 10° resolution), western Pacific (35°S–45°N at 10°), equatorial Pacific (123°E–169°W, 6 stations), eastern Atlantic (30°S, 0°, and 30°N–70°N at 5°) and western Atlantic (50°S–50°N at 10°). Throughout the Pacific, we have found three dominant spatio-temporal oscillatory patterns, associated with time scales of ENSO variability; their periods are 2, 2.5–3 and 4–6 y. In the eastern Pacific, the biennial mode and the 6-y low-frequency mode propagate poleward. There is a southward propagation of low-frequency modes in the western Pacific RSLH, between 35°N and 5°S, but no clear propagation in the latitudes further south. However, equatorward propagation of the biennial signal is very clear in the Southern Hemisphere. In the equatorial Pacific, both the quasi-quadrennial and quasi-biennial modes at 10°N propagate westward. Strong and weak El Nino years are evident in the sea-level time series reconstructed from the quasi-biennial and low-frequency modes. Interannual variability with periods of 3 and 4–8 y is detected in the Atlantic RSLH data. In the eastern Atlantic region, we have found slow propagation of both modes northward and southward, away from 40–45°N. Interdecadal oscillations were studied using 81 stations with sufficiently long and continuous records. Most of these have variability at 9–13 and some at 18 y. Two significant eigenmode pairs, corresponding to periods of 11.6 and 12.8 y, are found in the eastern and western Atlantic ocean at latitudes 40°N–70°N and 10°N–50°N, respectively.
Cultural Ecology and Environmental Education

ABSTRACT:Resource depletion, environmental degradation, and related problems are not simply the results of technology and economy. The underlying cause is the collective behavior of individuals in a society, behavior that is predominantly cultural. Cultural ecology can contribute to environmental science and education as well as to the solution of environmental problems by providing concrete case studies that demonstrate the importance of the cultural factor and by providing a broader cross-cultural and diachronic perspective on human-environment interactions and environmental problems. After a brief survey of various ecological approaches in anthropology, cultural ecology is reviewed with particular attention to concepts, methods, resources, and relevance for teaching this subject in environmental studies.
Cell Organelle Positioning of Micropatterned Single C2C12 Mouse Myoblasts

Chirality, or a position bias, is found in many living organisms and has previously been shown to be of critical importance to normal development. Cellular and multicellular observations have begun to show that chirality is indeed found due to unknown mechanisms. To further study this behavior, single C2C12 cells were seeded on rain droplet shaped micropatterns. We hypothesized that this revealed intrinsic characteristics that can be readily determined by image analysis. The droplet shaped patterns allow for easy defining of the polar axis and bias testing. This is an on-going experiment, but preliminary results showed that single cell C2C12 mouse myoblasts have a general preference, with cell nuclei biased in either defined direction (i.e. left or right) and not particularly to one. We propose that single cell micropatterning might be an in vitro tool to study chirality in cells and the mechanisms by which this bias originates.
Pattern of Mortality in Avian Nephrosis

Abstract Cosgrove (1962) described a disease of chickens which has been termed avian nephrosis because of the tubular degenerative lesions in the kidneys. He observed that this acute malady, found in many flocks of young chickens, is characterized by ruffled feathers, watery diarrhea, trembling, depression, and severe prostration. In 2- to 15-week old chickens sudden signs show in 10 to 20 percent of the flock. The mortality rate is generally 1 to 15 percent, averaging about 5 percent in 2- to 5-week-old affected birds. He also reported that mortality is higher in 2-to 4-week-old birds than in 4- to 5-week-old birds and generally lasts 5 to 7 days. Lesions included severe dehydration, hemorrhages in the leg and thigh muscles, enlarged kidneys, ureters filled with urates, and an enlarged bursa of Fabricus. In field trials to try to find a product or management practice which would eliminate or lessen this malady in…
Novel computer-aided diagnosis of mesothelioma using nuclear structure of mesothelial cells in effusion cytology specimens

diagnostic standard is a pleural biopsy with subsequent histologic examination of the tissue demonstrating invasion by the tumor. The diagnostic tissue is obtained through thoracoscopy or open thoracotomy, both being highly invasive procedures. Thoracocenthesis, or removal of effusion fluid from the pleural space, is a far less invasive procedure that can provide material for cytological examination. However, it is insufficient to definitively confirm or exclude the diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma, since tissue invasion cannot be determined. In this study, we present a computerized method to detect and classify malignant mesothelioma based on the nuclear chromatin distribution from digital images of mesothelial cells in effusion cytology specimens. Our method aims at determining whether a set of nuclei belonging to a patient, obtained from effusion fluid images using image segmentation, is benign or malignant, and has a potential to eliminate the need for tissue biopsy. This method is performed by quantifying chromatin morphology of cells using the optimal transportation (Kantorovich–Wasserstein) metric in combination with the modified Fisher discriminant analysis, a k-nearest neighborhood classification, and a simple voting strategy. Our results show that we can classify the data of 10 different human cases with 100% accuracy after blind cross validation. We conclude that nuclear structure alone contains enough information to classify the malignant mesothelioma. We also conclude that the distribution of chromatin seems to be a discriminating feature between nuclei of benign and malignant mesothelioma cells.
Introduction to Big Data: Challenges, Opportunities, and Realities Minitrack

Big Data is still a maturing and evolving discipline. Big data databases and files have scaled beyond the capacities and capabilities of commercial database management systems. Structured representations become a bottleneck to efficient data storage and retrieval. Gartner has noted four major challenges (the four Vs): increasing volume of data, increasing velocity (e.g., in/out and change of data), increasing variety of data types and structures, and increasing variability of data. We have suggested a fifth V: value, which is the contribution big data has to decision making. Add to these the increasing number of disciplines and problem domains where big data is having an impact and one sees an increase in the number of challenges and opportunities for big data to have a major impact on business, science, and government.
Polymerization-induced phase separation of a liquid crystal-polymer mixture

Abstract We study the phase separation, induced by polymerization, of a liquid crystal-polymer mixture by using the Flory-Huggins mean-field free energy and a simple kinetic model of polymerization. Equilibrium phase behavior and the kinetic processes are analyzed separately. These results are then combined under the assumption that the polymerization rate is sufficiently slow, or the diffusive processes sufficiently rapid, that phase separation occurs at a well defined degree of polymerization. This allows the calculation of the critical time at which phase separation begins.
Cystic dilation of the conus ventriculus terminalis presenting as an acute cauda equina syndrome relieved by decompression and cyst drainage: case report.

OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: The ventriculus terminalis of the conus, or "fifth ventricle" refers to the ependymal-lined space in the middle of the conus that is present in childhood and whose persistence into adulthood is rare. A number of cases of cystic dilatation of the ventriculus terminalis (CDVT) have been described in adulthood. Patients tend to present with either pain alone or gradually progressive conus or cauda equina syndromes with varying degrees of recovery after cyst drainage. Presentation with an acute cauda equina syndrome and its successful surgical management has not been previously reported. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 57-year-old woman experienced back pain and bilateral sciatica for two years ascribed to diabetic neuropathy. Over a 24-hour period she developed bilateral lower extremity weakness, saddle anesthesia and bowel and bladder incontinence. Lumbosacral magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated a large cystic dilation of the ventriculus terminalis. INTERVENTION: She was taken for emergency surgical decompression and cyst drainage. Immediately after surgery, she experienced significant increase in lower extremity strength and has regained continence. CONCLUSION: Cystic dilation of the ventriculus terminalis should be part of the differential diagnosis for a cauda equina syndrome; surgical decompression with simple cyst drainage can result in excellent clinical results.
A Recursive Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Converter Achieving $2^{N}-1$ Ratios With High Efficiency Over a Wide Output Voltage Range

A Recursive Switched-Capacitor (RSC) topology is introduced that enables reconfiguration among 2 N -1 conversion ratios while achieving minimal capacitive charge-sharing loss for a given silicon area. All 2 N -1 ratios are realized by strategically interconnecting N 2:1 SC cells either in series, in parallel, or in a stacked configuration such that the number of input and ground connections are maximized in order to minimize cascaded losses. Importantly, all ratios are dynamically reconfigurable without disconnecting a single capacitor, all while ensuring optimal capacitance/conductance relative-sizing. The RSC topology is inherently regular, enabling recursive inter-cell connection and recursive binary-slicing that implement ratio-reconfiguration with minimum complexity and losses. A scalable all-digital binary search controller is employed to perform ratio-reconfiguration among the available 2 N -1 ratios without using any ratio-threshold generation circuitry. To validate the topology, a 4 bit RSC is fully integrated in 0.25 μm bulk CMOS using MIM capacitors, achieving greater than 70% efficiency over a 0.8-2.2 V output voltage range with 85.8% peak-efficiency from a 2.5V input supply. Compared to a co-fabricated three-ratio (1/3, 1/2, 2/3) Series-Parallel SC converter, the RSC achieves a 40.4% larger output operating range (from 0.04 to 2.2 V), and fills the efficiency-drops in-between the three-ratios by 8% with a 940 Ω load.
Environmental allergies and respiratory morbidities in cystic fibrosis

Background Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by recurrent respiratory infections and progressive lung disease. Although environmental factors account for 50% of the variation in CF lung function, few specific exposures have been identified. Studies using small study samples focusing on environmental allergies in CF have had inconsistent results. Our objective was to examine the role of environmental allergies in upper and lower respiratory tract morbidities in CF. Methods A total of 1,321 subjects with CF were recruited through the U.S. CF Twin–Sibling Study. Questionnaires were used to determine the presence/absence of environmental allergies. Questionnaires, chart review, and U.S. CF Foundation Patient Registry data were used to track outcomes. Results Within the study sample 14% reported environmental allergies. Environmental allergies were associated with a higher risk of sinus disease (adjusted OR: 2.68; P < 0.001) and nasal polyps (adjusted OR: 1.74; P = 0.003). Environmental allergies were also associated with a more rapid decline in lung function (additional −1.1%/year; P = 0.001). However, allergies were associated with a later median age of acquisition of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.6 years vs. 4.4 years; log rank P = 0.027). The reported use of common allergy medications, anti-histamines and leukotriene inhibitors, did not alter the frequency of respiratory morbidities. Conclusions Environmental allergies are associated with an increased risk of sinus disease and nasal polyps and a more rapid decline in CF lung function, but may have a protective effect against the acquisition of P. aeruginosa. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these associations which have implications for more aggressive management of allergies. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2013; 48:857–864. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.