cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reactive mercury in the troposphere: Model formation and results for Florida, the northeastern United States, and the Atlantic Ocean

Received 7 November 2006; revised 22 June 2007; accepted 13 August 2007; published 11 December 2007. [1] We describe the development of a model for transport and photochemistry of atmospheric mercury at the regional scale, along with an application to the eastern United States and adjacent Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and comparison with aircraftbased measurements in Florida. The model is the Community Multiscale Air Quality model (CMAQ) with modifications to include an integrated solution for gas phase and aqueous photochemistry. The expanded chemistry includes O3 ,N Ox, organics, sulfur, halogens and mercury. Divalent reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) is formed slowly through gas phase reactions and removed rapidly by aqueous reactions in cloud water. Model results show that elevated RGM (up to 260 pg m � 3 ) forms intermittently over the Atlantic Ocean in air masses that have a cloud-free history. Aircraft measurements in Florida show RGM varying between 10 and 250 pg m � 3 and increasing with altitude, a pattern that is consistent with model results. Ambient RGM would increase by 50% if aqueous reduction reactions were omitted. The model predicts that ambient elemental mercury and RGM anticorrelate in regions where RGM is produced photochemically and correlate in regions dominated by direct emissions. Model results also suggest positive correlations between RGM and SO2, reactive nitrogen and H2O2, which may be used to identify photochemically produced versus directly emitted RGM. RGM in the model is strongly correlated with O3 during pollution events, and ozone formation from anthropogenic precursors is predicted to cause a significant increase in RGM.
Purification and characterization of two new c-type cytochromes involved in Fe2+ oxidation from Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

Two new c-type cytochromes have been purified from cell membranes of the acidophilic Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. In contrast to a soluble cytochrome c with molecular mass of 14 kDa reported earlier, a membrane-bound cytochrome c with a mass of 21 kDa was solubilized with octylthioglucoside and purified to homogeneity. In addition, a high molecular mass c-type cytochrome (68 kDa) was also solubilized and purified using Triton X-100 as a detergent. Both acid-stable species are partially released during osmotic shock and chloroform treatment of the bacteria; they are integral components in the respiratory chain donating electrons to the terminal cytochrome oxidase.
Cross-weighted moments and affine invariants for image registration and matching

A framework for deriving a class of new global affine invariants for both object matching and positioning based on a novel concept of cross-weighted moments with fractional weights is presented. The fractional weight factor allows for a more flexible range to balance between the capability to discriminate between objects that differ only in small shape details and the sensitivity of small shape details to the presence of the noise. Moreover, it makes it possible to arrive at low order (zero order) affine invariants that are more robust than those derived from higher order regular moments. The affine transformation parameters are recovered from the zero and the first order cross-weighted moments without requiring any feature point correspondence information. The equations used to find the affine transformation parameters are linear algebraic. The sensitivity of the cross-weighted moment invariants to noise, missing data, and perspective effects is shown on real images.
The hp mortar domain decomposition method for problems in fluid mechanics

We consider the incompressible Stokes equations in primal velocity–pressure variables and present the mortar finite element formulation for this problem. The local approximation within each subdomain is designed using divergence stable hp-mixed finite elements. The velocity is computed in a mortared space while the pressure is not subjected to any constraints across the interfaces. Our computational results show that the mortar finite element method for the Stokes problem satisfies similar rates of convergence as the conforming finite element method, in the presence of various h, p and hp discretizations (including the case of exponential hp convergence over geometric meshes). We also present the numerical results for the Lagrange multiplier when the method is implemented as a mixed method. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Dense fibers protect mammalian sperm against damage.

The relative tensile strengths of the sperm of seven mammalian species and sea urchins have been measured by determining the minimum shear necessary to kill them (assayed by lack of motility) when they are suspended in a viscous fluid. In general, long sperm are killed by smaller shears than short sperm. However, the longer sperm are not as fragile as would be expected from theoretical predictions. Their additional tensile strength correlates well with the size of their dense fibers; a theory that Includes the dense fiber contributions accurately predicts the sperm tensile strength for most of the species in which this has been measured. This added strength may be necessary to protect sperm from shear forces encountered during epididymal transport and especially during ejaculation, as these forces are strong enough to kill long sperm if they are not strengthened.
A Theory of Economic Sanctions and Issue Linkage: The Roles of Preferences, Information, and Threats

A realistic theory of economic sanctions should be built on the facts that sanctions are a game of issue linkage involving two or more issues, players may not know each other's preferences for the outcome of the game, and threatening sanctions may be as important as imposing sanctions as a strategy in international disputes. The threat and use of economic sanctions are modeled as a multistage game of two-sided incomplete information between a target and a coercer. The threat stage is critically important for understanding the outcome of sanctions, and current empirical studies suffer from a case selection bias. Economic sanctions are likely to be imposed when they are not likely to succeed in changing the target's behavior. Sanctions that are likely to succeed will do so at the mere threat of sanctions. Despite the unlikely success of sanctions, coercers must sometimes impose sanctions, even after the threat of sanctions has failed to change the target's behavior.
Multiple Cavernous Hemangiomas of the Lung: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Cavernous hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors most commonly seen in the head and neck region in childhood. They have been described rarely in the lungs. We describe a patient with incidental pulmonary nodules discovered at autopsy, which measured up to 0.9 cm and which were present in the lung parenchyma, as well as on the pleura. The nodules were composed of dilated vascular spaces lined by flattened bland cells. Immunohistochemical studies of the lining cells revealed CD34 and factor VIII immunoreactivity, consistent with a lesion of endothelial origin. Taken together, the gross, microscopic, and immunohistochemical findings support the diagnosis of multiple pulmonary cavernous hemangiomas.
Matrix assisted growth of nanoparticles and nanoporous thin films: An emerging approach

Complex inorganic nanoparticles and nanoporous films have been synthesized by ultraviolet decomposition of metal based acetate precursors. Unary, alloyed and oxide crystalline nanoparticles where characterized via transmission electron microscopy.
Do young breast cancer patients have worse outcomes

Abstract Introduction Previous studies have suggested that young breast cancer patients have poorer survival as compared with their older counterparts. Most of this research reflects single institution experiences that may not be representative of the population. This study was designed to determine whether young breast cancer patients have poorer survival as compared with an older cohort using a national population-based cancer registry and, more specifically, to determine whether differences in survival are caused by more advanced tumor stage, more aggressive disease, or patient-specific characteristics. Materials and methods Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer database (1992–1998), data for all patients with a diagnosis of invasive breast cancer were extracted. Two age categories were analyzed: young group (≤35 years old, n = 4,616) and older group (50–55 years old, n = 20,319). Patient demographics, 5-year survival rates, tumor characteristics (stage, grade, and receptor status), surgical treatment, and use of radiation were compared between the groups. Results Overall, young patients had worse 5-year survival when compared with the older group (74.3% vs. 85.1%). Stage for stage, the young patients also had poorer survival (except for stage IV). They present with more advanced stage disease and have more aggressive tumor characteristics, that is, higher grade tumors and more estrogen- and progesterone receptor-negative tumors. Even after controlling for patient characteristics, tumor factors, and receipt of treatment, a multivariate regression showed that young age was an independent risk factor for death (HR = 1.095). Conclusions Young breast cancer patients have poorer outcomes, which are in part attributed to later stage disease, more aggressive tumors, and less favorable receptor status. There still appears to be other important factors, not included in our study, that are contributing to the worse outcomes for these young patients, such as socioeconomic status. Physicians need to have heightened awareness when evaluating this population, and increasingly efficacious adjuvant therapies need to be developed.
Granular computing in privacy-preserving data mining

Granular computing is an emerging computing paradigm of information processing. It concerns the processing of complex information entities, called ldquoinformation granulesrdquo, which appear in the process of data abstraction and derivation of knowledge from information. The granular computing paradigm has been applied to many applications and we will address the application of granular computing in privacy-preserving data mining. We will use privacy-preserving association rule mining and privacy-preserving k-nearest neighbor classification to illustrate how the paradigm of granular computing has been applied.
Octreotide Long-Acting Repeatable among Elderly Patients with Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Survival Analysis of SEER-Medicare Data

Background: Octreotide long-acting repeatable (LAR) is approved in the United States for the management of carcinoid syndromes among patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET). The objective of our study is to evaluate the impact of octreotide LAR on overall survival (OS), as it has not been established. Methods: NET patients of 65 years and older diagnosed between January 1999 and December 2009 were identified from the SEER-Medicare database. We compared the OS of NET patients who started octreotide LAR within 12 months of diagnosis with those who did not receive it during the same period. We conducted Kaplan–Meier estimations and Cox proportional hazard models to examine the association between octreotide LAR and OS. Results: Among 1,176 distant stage patients, 233 (20%) received octreotide LAR within 12 months of diagnosis, compared with 2% (96 in 5,764) of local/regional stage patients. Median OS for patients who started octreotide LAR within 12 months was 35.22 months [95% confidence interval (CI), 27.96–47.77], longer than those who did not receive it (19.15 months; 95% CI, 16.36–22.80; P < 0.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that octreotide LAR was associated with significant survival improvement for distant stage patients (HR, 0.68; P < 0.001) and in the subgroups with (HR, 0.65; P , 0.003) and without (HR, 0.55; P , 0.002) carcinoid syndrome. No survival benefit was found among local/regional stage patients. Conclusion: This population-based study suggests potential survival benefits of octreotide LAR among elderly distant stage NET patients, both with or without carcinoid syndrome. Impact: The study provides population-based evidence of a positive association between octreotide LAR and overall survival among elderly distant stage NET patients. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 24(11); 1656–65. ©2015 AACR .
Resonance neutron capture in Fe-58, Fe-56, and Fe-54

Neutron capture ..gamma..-ray measurements following resonance capture have been performed upon enriched samples of /sup 54/Fe and /sup 58/Fe, and upon a natural Fe (91.7% /sup 56/Fe) sample. Twenty-eight ..gamma.. rays were observed from two resonances of the /sup 58/Fe (n,..gamma..) reaction, and nineteen were incorporated into a level scheme for /sup 59/Fe. Thirty-seven ..gamma.. rays were observed from the 1.167-keV resonance of the /sup 56/Fe(n,..gamma..) reaction, and twenty-eight were incorporated into a level scheme for /sup 57/Fe. Two ..gamma.. rays were observed from four resonances of the /sup 54/Fe(n,..gamma..) reaction. The neutron separation energy for /sup 59/Fe was determined to be 6580.8 +- 1.0 keV.
A Retrospective: Blacks in U.S. Foreign Policy

This historical essay, written in commemoration of TransAfrica Forum’s tenth anniversary in 1987, surveyed the contributions of, and implications for, U.S. foreign policy toward Africa and the African Diaspora.
Pediatric Palliative Care Pilot Curriculum: Impact of "Pain Cards" on Resident Education.

Background:Prior research has shown that less than 40% of pediatric program directors believe their graduating residents competent in palliative care. While many curricula have been developed to ad...
Life History, Synonymy, and Description of Neoprociphilus aceris (Homoptera: Aphididae)

Neoprociphilus aceris (Monell 1882) was originally described in the genus Pemphigus from Acer saccharum Marshall. Pemphigus attenuatus Osborn and Sirrine (1893) was described from Smilax rotundifolia L. In 1912 Patch established the genus Neoprociphilus for aceris . The present paper proves that attenuatus is a synonym of aceris . Fundatrispuriae, the spring migrants, were transferred from sugar maple, Acer saccharum Marshall, the primary host, to greenbriar, Smilax hispida Muhlenberg, a secondary host, where they completed 2 generations before producing sexuperae, which are the return migrants. N. aceris may also remain on Smilax the entire year, overwintering as nymphs in the debris. Descriptions and figures are given of the different morphs. N. aceris has been recorded in the United States from Maine to Florida and west to Utah.
Zeta Potential of Ion-Conductive Membranes by Streaming Current Measurements

Surface charge properties have a significant influence on membrane retention and fouling performance. As a key parameter describing the surface charge of membranes used in aqueous applications, zeta potential measurements on membranes of various types have attracted great attention. During the zeta potential characterization of a series of ion-conductive sulfonated poly(sulfone) membranes, it was found that the measured streaming current varied with the thickness of the sample, which is not predicted by the classical Smoluchowski equation. Moreover, for higher conductivity membranes with an increased concentration of sulfonate groups, the zeta potential tended toward zero. It was determined that the influence of membrane bulk conductance on the measured streaming current must be taken into account in order to correctly interpret the streaming current data for ion-conductive polymers and understand the relationship between membrane chemical composition and zeta potential. Extrapolating the measured streaming current to a membrane thickness of zero has proven to be a feasible method of eliminating the error associated with measuring the zeta potential on ion conductive polymer membranes. A linear resistance model is proposed to account for the observed streaming currents where the electrolyte channel is in parallel with the ion-conductive membranes.
Passive cutaneous anaphylaxis in chickens.

SummaryThe conditions for eliciting PCA reactions in chickens were described. Optimal reactions were obtained in 3-week-old chickens with an antigen dose of 0.06 mg of BSA/g of body weight administered after a latent period of 3 hr. As determined by the high-salt precipitin test, 0.28 μg of chicken anti-BSA N gave minimal reactions in 3-week-old chickens. Older chickens required larger amounts of antibody to yield minimal reactions. Skin sensitizing antibody resided in the electrophoretically fast-moving globulin fractions.
Partially-averaged Navier-Stokes method for turbulent flows: k-w model implementation

Kolmogorov's k-ω model lacked a production term in the equation for ω making the model flawed. Also the model lacked a molecular diffusion term making the model strictly applicable to high Reynolds number flows and unable to be integrated through the viscous sub-layer. Wilcox 2 proposed the k-ω model with the production term included in the ω equation. This two equation model has proven to be numerically more stable that the standard k-e model primarily in the viscous sub-layer near the wall. The model does not require explicit wall-damping functions compared to the k-e model as the specific dissipation rate, ω is large in the wall region. In a numerical computation, specifying the wall boundary condition requires only the specification of the distance from the wall to the first point off the wall without any viscous corrections. In the logarithmic region, the model gives good agreement with experimental results for adverse pressure gradient flows due to the lack of a cross diffusion term in the ω equation. The model predicts the turbulent kinetic energy behavior close to the solid boundary with good accuracy and even describes the boundary-layer transition reasonably well. However, the lack of a cross diffusion term causes the model to be sensitive to small freestream values of ω, adversely affecting the performance of the model in free shear flows. Even though, the sensitivity of the model is reduced for complex flows 3 such as flow past a circular cylinder, the presence of small freestream ω in the wake imparts ambiguity in the predicted results. In the present work, we consider the revised k-ω model 4
Amnion Rupture Sequence with 'Exencephaly': MR Findings in a Surviving Infant

Summary: In an infant who survived the amnion rupture se­ quence, MR findings included a large defect in the cranial vault, a Chiari II malformation, rotation of the hemispheres relative to the skull base, and a cleft lip and palate.
Tangible Interface for Controlling Toys-To-Life Characters Emotions

The emerging games-to-life genre is gaining popularity in the computer games market. This type of games makes use of physical figurines that represent in-game characters, and permits the control of certain aspects of the game. This makes it possible for designers to create new types of game play that blend physical and virtual space. Play can be classified as intervention or performative [apperley2006genre]. In existing games-to-life games, the interactions that entail both spaces are performed only during intervention play. In contrast, interactions during performative play are still performed with standard controllers. This work presents a novel interface to be used in performative play. This interface is composed by a physical toy with an attached sensor device, and enables users to control the emotions of a virtual character. The interface has been evaluated with a user test. Results shows that it performs at least as well as a standard touch interface in several usability aspects.
High-throughput endogenous measurement of S-nitrosylation in Alzheimer's disease using oxidized cysteine-selective cPILOT

Reversible cysteine modifications play important physiological roles such as modulating enzymatic catalysis, maintaining redox homeostasis and conducting cellular signaling. These roles can be critical in the context of disease. Oxidative modifications such as S-nitrosylation (SNO) are signatures of neurodestruction in conditions of oxidative stress however are also indicators of neuroprotection and normal signaling in cellular environments with low concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. SNO is a dynamic and low abundance modification and requires sensitive and selective analytical methods for its detection in biological tissues. Here we present an enhanced multiplexing strategy to study SNO in complex mixtures arising from tissues. This method, termed oxidized cysteine-selective cPILOT (OxcyscPILOT), allows simultaneous analysis of SNO-modified peptides in 12 samples. OxcyscPILOT has three primary steps: (1) blocking of free thiols by a cysteine-reactive reagent, (2) enrichment of peptides containing SNO on a solid phase resin, and (3) isotopic labeling and isobaric tagging of enriched peptides on the solid phase resin. This approach offers the advantage of allowing total protein abundance levels to be measured simultaneously with endogenous SNO levels and measurement of SNO levels across four biological replicates in a single analysis. Furthermore, the relative amount of SNO on a specific cysteine site can also be determined. A well-known model of Alzheimer's disease, the APP/PS-1 transgenic mouse model, was selected for demonstration of the method as several SNO-modified proteins have previously been reported in brain and synaptosomes from AD subjects. OxcyscPILOT analysis resulted in identification of 138 SNO-modified cysteines in brain homogenates that correspond to 135 proteins. Many of these SNO-modified proteins were only present in wild-type or AD mice, whereas 93 proteins had SNO signals in both WT and AD. Pathway analysis links SNO-modified proteins to various biological pathways especially metabolism and signal transduction, consistent with previous reports in the literature. The OxcyscPILOT strategy provides enhanced multiplexing capability to current redox proteomics methods to study oxidative modifications of cysteine.
Effects of Two Hirsutella minnesotensis on Soybean Cyst Nematode and Soybean Growth

Hirsutella minnesotensis is a endoparasitic fungi in juveniles of soybean cyst nematodes(SCN).In this study,the effects of two H.minnesotensis isolates on population distribution of SCN and soybean growth were evaluated.Experiments were conducted to inoculate with either 0.4 g fresh mycelium of Hirsutella minnesotensis alone,9 000 eggs of soybean cyst nematode alone,or both treatments and no-treatment in 300 cm3 autoclaved soil in greenhouse.Thirty-five days after inoculation on soybean,the fresh weight of soybean plant inoculated with H.minnesotensis isolates 1-10 and HLJ07-21-3 increased by 30.98% and 27.66%,respectively.Hirsutella minnesotensis significantly reduced the number of SCN egg,root female incect and soil cyst.Compared with CK,isolates 1-10 and HLJ07-21-3 significantly(P0.05) decreased the densities of egg by 63.7% and 46.7%,respectively.Moreover,compared with only inoculated with SCN,they reduced the total number of nematode(sum of eggs and J2) by 43.6% and 35.8%,respectively.In conclusion,isolate 1-10 could reduce the nematode population more efficiently than HLJ07-21-3.
Contemporary diet and body weight of Navajo women receiving food assistance: An ethnographic and nutritional investigation

Preceded by 6 months of ethnographic research, a survey of 107 Navajo women, primarily food assistance participants, was conducted to describe and evaluate the contemporary Navajo diet. On the basis of results of 1-day dietary recalls, mean nutrient intakes were found to be below the RDA for calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin A, and energy. Sixty-three percent of the women in the sample were overweight or obese. The overall percentages of energy from fat, carbohydrate, and protein were closer to those recommended in the Dietary Goals than those in the current U.S. diet. The fat in the diet appeared to be primarily saturated, however, and fiber intake was lower than the U.S. average. Traditional foods were infrequently consumed. Women with higher incomes tended to have better diets. Commodity foods supplied by USDA's Food Distribution Program provided 43% of caloric intake and 37% to 57% of the intakes of all other nutrients except fat and vitamin C for the 72% of the sample participating in that program. It is concluded that the Food Distribution Program provides an important nutritional contribution to the contemporary Navajo diet.
Marital Problems and Relationship Difficulties and Integrated Care Among Hispanic Populations

Although Hispanic couples experience marital distress at similar rates when compared to non-Hispanic couples, there is a disparity in the field in terms of access to evidence-based interventions for Hispanic couples. Given known associations between marital distress and individual emotional and physiological symptomatology, and barriers to obtaining behavioral health care, improving access to marital interventions through primary care services, using an integrated care model, is promising. A key component to an integrated behavioral health care approach would be to teach physicians about screening tools for marital distress. Many empirically supported, brief screening measures exist, and through routine use by medical professionals, marital distress could be more easily detected and treated. Once risk for marital distress is determined, the next step for low-distress couples would be for health professionals to provide information and education about marital health, including marital distress prevention programs. If this step is not sufficient, the second step would be to provide couples with information about brief or web-based interventions. Finally, for more severely distressed couples, an appropriate referral would be to empirically supported, in-person treatment. There are a variety of evidence-supported options for treating couple/marital distress. Few programs are directly tailored to the needs of Hispanic couples, but suggestions for possible modifications or specific issues to be addressed are reviewed in this chapter. Future research is needed to make adaptations to empirically supported interventions that are more culturally sensitive.
Virtual machine memory access tracing with hypervisor exclusive cache

Virtual machine (VM) memory allocation and VM consolidation can benefit from the prediction of VM page miss rate at each candidate memory size. Such prediction is challenging for the hypervisor (or VM monitor) due to a lack of knowledge on VM memory access pattern. This paper explores the approach that the hypervisor takes over the management for part of the VM memory and thus all accesses that miss the remaining VM memory can be transparently traced by the hypervisor. For online memory access tracing, its overhead should be small compared to the case that all allocated memory is directly managed by the VM. To save memory space, the hypervisor manages its memory portion as an exclusive cache (i.e., containing only data that is not in the remaining VM memory). To minimize I/O overhead, evicted data from a VM enters its cache directly from VM memory (as opposed to entering from the secondary storage). We guarantee the cache correctness by only caching memory pages whose current contents provably match those of corresponding storage locations. Based on our design, we show that when the VM evicts pages in the LRU order, the employment of the hypervisor cache does not introduce any additional I/O overhead in the system. We implemented the proposed scheme on the Xen para-virtualization platform. Our experiments with microbenchmarks and four real data-intensive services (SPECweb99, index searching, TPC-C, and TPC-H) illustrate the overhead of our hypervisor cache and the accuracy of cache-driven VM page miss rate prediction. We also present the results on adaptive VM memory allocation with performance assurance.
Learning from learning curves: discovering interpretable learning trajectories

We propose a data driven method for decomposing population level learning curve models into mutually exclusive distinctive groups each consisting of similar learning trajectories. We validate this method on six knowledge components from the log data from an online tutoring system ASSIST-ment. Preliminary analysis reveals interpretable patterns of "skill growth" that correlate with students' performance in the subsequently administered state standardized tests.
Une infrastructure flexible de collecte et de traitement de données d’un réseau de capteurs urbain mutualisé

Dans les reseaux de capteurs urbains, les nœuds emettent des signaux en utilisant plusieurs protocoles de communication qui coexistent. Ces protocoles etant en evolution permanente, une approche orientee radio logicielle semble etre la meilleure maniere d’integrer tous les protocoles sur la passerelle collectant les donnees. Tous les signaux sont donc numerises en une fois. La grande plage dynamique des signaux recus est alors le principal probleme : ceux-ci peuvent etre recus avec une puissance tres variable selon les conditions de propagation. Dans le cas d’une reception simultanee, le Convertisseur Analogique-Numerique (CAN) doit etre capable d’absorber une telle dynamique. Une premiere etude est menee afin d’etablir les caracteristiques requises du CAN sur une passerelle d’un tel reseau de capteurs. La resolution minimale de 21 bits obtenue s’averant trop importante pour etre atteinte au vu de l’etat de l’art actuel, deux approches differentes sont explorees pour reduire la plage dynamique des signaux avant la numerisation. La premiere approche s’appuie sur la technique du companding. Des lois de compression connues sont explorees afin d’etudier leur viabilite dans le cas de la numerisation de signaux multiples, et deux nouvelles implementations sont proposees pour la plus performante d’entre elles. La deuxieme technique proposee consiste en une nouvelle architecture de reception utilisant deux voies de reception. La premiere d’entre elles est dediee au signal le plus fort sur la bande : celui-ci est demodule et sa frequence d’emission est mesuree. A partir de cette mesure, la seconde branche est reconfiguree de maniere a attenuer ce signal fort, en reduisant ainsi la plage dynamique. Les autres signaux sont ensuite numerises sur cette branche avec une resolution du CAN reduite. Cette deuxieme approche semblant plus prometteuse, elle est testee en experimentation. Sa viabilite est demontree avec des scenarios de reception de signaux predefinis representant les pires cas possibles.
Functional morphology of the venom apparatus of Prorhynchus stagnalis (Platyhelminthes, Lecithoepitheliata)

The microturbellarian Prorhynchus stagnalis quells prey with a venom apparatus that also serves as its copulatory organ when the animal is mature. While it has long been known to comprise a tubular, sharp-pointed stylet surrounded concentrically by two mantles of longitudinally aligned rods, our examination of it by electron microscopy and confocal microscopy reveal unexpected details of its structure and mode of operation. The stylet actually has two distinct pieces, of two kinds of extracellular matrix (ECM): a sheet rolled into a tube with a sharp-pointed tip, and a sheet folded into a torus that fits into the proximal end of the tube to create a broadened base on which muscles and the male canal insert. The supporting rods are yet other phases of ECM in the mesenchyme. The six inner ones merge distally to ensheath the stylet, and that sheath bears five channels conducting the secretions of gland cells flanking the stylet to minute pores around the stylet tip. Confocal microscopy of the stylet apparatus in different phases of protrusion show that the outer rods are retracted from a protective position around the tip as the apparatus is protruded by protractors. The stylet is likely then protruded farther by contraction of the penis bulb, so that the stylet pore is exposed to allow the flow of secretions from the prostatic vesicle. The venom could be those secretions, as has been assumed, or secretions of the newly discovered gland cells of the inner mantle.
Proof-Loaded Finger-Joints for Structural Glued Laminated Timber

Most structural finger-joints are of very good quality when produced by well trained, quality-conscious personnel with good equipment and process. However, a small percentage of joints can be bad when one or more of the many variables affecting joint strength is out of tolerance. Visual inspection by itself is inadequate for end-joint strength evaluation and identification of sub-standard end joints by non-destructive methods has not been proven.
A pulmonologist's guide to understanding network meta-analysis.

Network meta-analysis allows comparisons between interventions, even in the absence of head-to-head trials http://ow.ly/exI630kfB4m
Primary Structure of Rabbit Apolipoprotein A-I High Performance Liquid Chromatography, PTC-Amino Acid Analysis, and Microsequencing

Apolipoprotein A-1 [apo A-1], the major protein of high density lipoproteins [HDL] [1], is an activator of the plasma enzyme lecithin, cholesterol acyltrans-ferase [LCAT]. This enzyme transfers fatty acids from lecithin to cholesterol in high density lipoproteins and is responsible for the formation of nearly all plasma cholesteryl esters [2]. It has been suggested that the activation of LCAT by apo A-1 is due in part to its amphiphilic character. Synthetic models of apolipopeptides with a primary structure different from that of apo A–I, but having a similar amphiphilic character and helical potential, also activate LCAT [3,4]. The role of apo A-1 in the mechanism of LCAT activation is important but poorly understood.
Negotiating Control of HIV: A Qualitative Analysis of HIV-Positive Latino MSM in North Carolina

The majority of HIV disease management happens outside of clinical encounters. As such, understanding how HIV fits into the lives of patients is key to improving HIV outcomes. The concept of control is a vital part of the social context within which health is managed. This qualitative study explores how a sample of Latino men who have sex with men living with HIV in North Carolina (n = 16) conceptualize and negotiate control in the context of living with HIV. We found that participants use a range of strategies to exert control over their lives including: understanding their infection, engaging with health care, and developing relationships with health professionals. By considering how individuals make sense of their HIV diagnosis and integrate it into their lives, HIV providers can direct efforts at strategic points of control decision-making and advanced clinicians can prioritize issues to address during clinical encounters.
Judgements about Computer Ethics: Do Individual, Co-worker, and Company Judgements Differ? Do Company Codes Make a Difference

When faced with an ambiguous ethical situation related to computer technology (CT), the individual's course of action is influenced by personal experiences and opinions, consideration of what co-workers would do in the same situation, and an expectation of what the organization might sanction. In this article, the judgement of over three-hundred Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) members concerning the actions taken in a series of CT ethical scenarios are examined. Respondents expressed their personal judgement, as well as their perception of their co-workers' judgement, and their understanding of the organization's judgement of the actions described in the scenarios. The findings show that there are differences in respondents' judgements for self, co-workers, and organization. Definitive patterns were also found between groups with and without organizational codes related to CT.
Clinical Approach to Treatment of Fungal Infections

In the last 20 years, we have begun to see some progress in the treatment of viruses. The treatment of viral infections other than HIV-1 has not reached the level of sophistication that treatment of bacterial infection has. Therefore, we have devoted less time to this subject than to the treatment of bacteria. The treatment of HIV-1 is a subject for a separate textbook, so in this book we are only presenting basic principles of treatment. The actual drug used changes dramatically from 1 year to the next based on availability of new agents as well as the development of resistance to some old drugs.
Microbial Production of a Crisnatol Metabolite

Microbial metabolism studies of crisnatol (1), a new DNA interca-lator, has resulted in the isolation and characterization of a major metabolite identified as the C-l hydroxylated crisnatol (2). The structure of the metabolite was established by comparison of its spectral data to that of crisnatol. Complete 13C-NMR assignments for crisnatol and its C-l hydroxylated metabolite were also made.
Aspirin Triggered Resolvin D1 reduces inflammation and restores saliva secretion in a Sjögren's syndrome mouse model.

Objectives SS is characterized by chronic inflammation of the salivary glands leading to loss of secretory function, thereby suggesting specialized pro-resolving mediators targeting inflammation to be a viable option for treating SS. Previous studies demonstrated that aspirin-triggered resolvin D1 (AT-RvD1) prevents chronic inflammation and enhances saliva secretion in a SS-like mouse model when applied before disease onset. However, this therapy cannot be used in SS patients given that diagnosis occurs post-disease onset and no reliable screening methods exist. Therefore, we examined whether treatment with AT-RvD1 reduces SS-like features in a mouse model post-disease onset. Methods Tail vein injections were performed in a SS-like mouse model both with and without AT-RvD1 post-disease onset for 8 weeks, with salivary gland function and inflammatory status subsequently determined. Results Treatment of a SS-like mouse model with AT-RvD1 post-disease onset restores saliva secretion in both females and males. Moreover, although AT-RvD1 treatment does not reduce the overall submandibular gland lymphocytic infiltration, it does reduce the number of T helper 17 cells within the infiltrates in both sexes. Finally, AT-RvD1 reduces SS-associated pro-inflammatory cytokine gene and protein expression levels in submandibular glands from female but not male mice. Conclusion AT-RvD1 treatment administered post-disease onset reduces T helper 17 cells and successfully restores salivary gland function in a SS mouse model with variable effects noted by sex, thus warranting further examination of both the causes for the sex differences and the mechanisms responsible for the observed treatment effect.
A System-Level Transprecision FPGA Accelerator for BLSTM Using On-chip Memory Reshaping

The large amount of processing and storage of modern neural networks challenges engineers to architect dedicated and tailored hardware with high energy efficiency. At the inflection point of choosing among the most appropriate acceleration platform, FPGAs offer a competitive advantage with their irregular parallelism and bit-level re-programmability, at the cost of development effort. One critical problem is the lack of a common development flow between CPU and FPGA that combines advantages of both software and hardware world, i.e. integrated programmability and adaptable acceleration. This work presents a system-level FPGA implementation framework for BLSTM-based neural networks acceleration that introduces a) flexible reduced-precision (transprecision) data-paths and b) on-chip memory reshaping for storing model parameters. By evaluating the proposed architecture to an OCR application, it was possible to decrease the energy-to-solution by 21.9x and 2.6x compared to that of a POWER8 processor and a P100 GPU, respectively.
Retrograde gastroesophageal intussusception: Initial presenting feature of achalasia in a teenager

Abstract A 16-year-old Caucasian male presented with acute vomiting and dysphagia. Imaging studies revealed retrograde gastroesophageal intussusception (RGEI), which reduced prior to diagnostic laparoscopy. No clear etiology for RGEI was identified at that time, so further surgical intervention was deferred. He returned several months later with persistent dysphagia. Imaging, endoscopy, and endoluminal function imaging probe then diagnosed achalasia. He underwent a second laparoscopy for Heller myotomy and Dor fundoplication. This is the first report of RGEI preceding a diagnosis of achalasia.
Unique features of epicardial ventricular arrhythmias/premature ventricular complexes ablated from coronary venous system in veteran population.

Abstract Introduction Ventricular arrhythmias/premature ventricular complexes (VA/PVCs) that can be ablated from within the coronary venous system (CVS) have not been described in the United States Veterans Health Administration (VHA) population. We retrospectively studied the VA/PVCs ablations that were performed in the VHA population. Methods Data from 42 consecutive patients who underwent VA/PVCs ablation at Veterans Affairs Hospital, Indianapolis, IN, with 44 VA/PVCs was included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups (CVS group [n = 10], and non-CVS group [n = 32]) based on where the earliest pre-systolic activation was seen with >95% pacematch. Results The mean age in CVS group was 65 ± 8 years versus 64 ± 12 years (p = 0.69) in non-CVS group. Overall there was a statistically significant reduction in PVC burden post ablation (27.7% (pre-ablation) versus 4.7% (post-ablation). In the 10 patients in the CVS group, either ablation or catheter-related mechanical trauma resulted in complete (n = 6 [60%]) or partial (n = 4 [40%]) long-term suppression of VA/PVCs. Right bundle branch block-type VA/PVC (9/11: 82%) was the most common morphology in the CVS group, whereas in the non-CVS group, this type was seen in only 3/33 (9%). The CVS group (25% of total VA/PVCs) had shorter activation time compared to non CVS group. Conclusion In our experience VA/PVCs with electrocardiograms suggestive of epicardial origin can often be safely and successfully ablated within the coronary venous system. These arrhythmias have unique features in Veterans patient population.
25 – Electrogenesis of Membrane Excitability

Publisher Summary This chapter explains the electrogenesis of membrane excitability, which is a fundamental property of nerve and muscle cells (skeletal, cardiac, and smooth), including certain other cell types, such as few endocrine cells. An excitable cell is one that, in response to certain environmental stimuli (electrical, chemical, or mechanical), generates an all-or-none electrical signal or action potentials (AP). The AP is sometimes called an "impulse," for example, a nerve impulse. The chapter discusses characteristics of action potential (AP), electrogenesis of AP, effect of resting potential on AP, and electrogenesis of afterpotentials. Characteristics of AP include the following: local-circuit currents, threshold and all-or-none property, refractoriness, strength-duration curve, accommodation, and anodal-break excitation. Electrogenesis of AP includes voltage-clamp method, voltage-clamp analysis, whole-cell voltage-clamp, overview of action potential generation, fast Na+ channel activation, gating current, Na+ inactivation, process of recovery, K+ activation, model for activation and inactivation of Na+ and K+ channels, mechanisms of repolarization, skeletal muscle repolarization, and types of K+ channels. The AP is triggered by a depolarization of the membrane, which is produced by the applied stimulus. Some cells display the property of automaticity; that is, they produce APs spontaneously without any externally applied stimulus. In some excitable cell types (such as cardiac), a slow inward Ca2+ current contributes to the long plateau of the AP, and in others (such as smooth muscle) the Ca2+ current itself generates the upstroke. The membrane currents that contribute to the AP can be studied by the voltage-clamp method. Each channel molecule has a region that senses the transmembrane potential and acts as a gate to open or close the channel to ion passage through its central pore. The pattern of minute currents that flow through individual voltage–dependent ion channels can be studied using the patch-clamp method. Single-channel current measurement and structural information have given a greater understanding of the molecular basis of membrane excitability.
Evaluation of the accuracy of algorithms to identify soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in administrative claims

Lack of using a validated algorithm to select patients is a source of selection bias in oncology studies using administrative claims. The objective of this study to evaluate published algorithms to identify patients with soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in administrative claims and to evaluate new algorithms to improved performance. Two cancer populations including STS cases and non-STS controls were selected from the MarketScan Explorys Linked Claims-Electronic Medical Record (EMR) Database between January 1, 2000 and July 31, 2018. Eligible cases had a diagnosis on a clinical record for STS in the EMR while controls had no evidence of STS on any EMR records. Both cases and controls were enrolled in administrative claims during a period of observation and were aged ≥ 18 years. A split sample was used to test and validate algorithms using data from administrative claims. Values for sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) were calculated for 14 algorithms. Prior literature validating algorithms in administrative claims across other cancer types report both sensitivity and specificity ranging from as low as 73% to as high as 95%. This was used as a benchmark for defining algorithm success. There were 784 STS cases and 249,062 non-STS cancer controls eligible for analysis. Requiring at least two claims with an ICD-CM diagnosis code for STS achieved a sensitivity of 67% but had a specificity of 72%. Algorithms that required NCCN-recommended systemic treatment for STS improved the specificity to over 90% but dropped the sensitivity to below 20%. Other combinations of diagnostic tests, symptoms, and procedures did not improve performance. The algorithms tested in this study sample did not achieve sufficient performance and suggest the ability to accurately identify the STS population in administrative data is problematic. Difficulties are likely due to the origin of STS in a variety of locations, the non-specific symptoms of STS, and the common diagnostic tests recommended to diagnose the disease. Future research applying machine learning to examine timing and patterns of variables that comprise the diagnostic process may further investigate the ability to accurately identify STS cases in claims databases.
Infraspinatus and Deltoid Length and Patient Height: Implications for Lateralization and Distalization in Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty.

Abstract Background Restoration of muscular strength is predicated on restoration of muscle length. The purpose of this study was to describe infraspinatus and deltoid length preoperative to reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) to guide distalization and lateralization to restore preoperative muscle length. Methods This was a retrospective radiographic study. On preoperative computed tomographic imaging we measured infraspinatus length. On preoperative x-ray we measured deltoid length. For all measurements, reliability was first established by comparing measurements between two observers and intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) were calculated. We then calculated descriptive statistics for these muscular lengths and developed a formula to predict these muscular lengths from patient demographics. Results We measured infraspinatus length in 97 patients and deltoid length in 108 patients. Inter-rater reliability was excellent, with all ICCs >0.886. Mean±standard deviation infraspinatus length was 15.5±1.3 cm but ranged from 12.6 to 18.9 cm, while deltoid length was 16.2±1.7 cm but ranged from 12.5 to 20.2 cm. Both infraspinatus (r=0.775, p Conclusion Deltoid and infraspinatus length are variable but highly correlated with patient height. To maintain tension, two mm of lateralization and distalization should be added for every 6 inches (∼15 cm) of height above average for a Grammont-style RTSA. Level of Evidence Anatomy Study; Imaging