cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis: clinical characteristics, etiologic associations, treatments, and outcomes in a series of 28 patients at Mayo Clinic, 1996–2013

Background Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) is a rare skin condition typically caused by medications. The objective of this study was to examine the clinical features, causes, and outcomes of AGEP at a sole tertiary care center. Methods A retrospective review of patients with AGEP (European Study of Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions score of ≥ 5) seen at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA) between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2013, was conducted. Results Of 28 patients (mean age at onset: 56 years), 17 (61%) were women. The development of AGEP was attributed to medications in 25 patients (89%), with clindamycin the most common culprit (six patients). Three patients (11%) had mucous membrane involvement, and 21 (75%) showed systemic involvement. Ten patients (36%) received systemic corticosteroids for treatment of AGEP. Skin findings resolved within 15 days in 26 patients (93%) (mean time to resolution: 7.6 days). In three patients (11%), generalized skin eruptions or dermatitis developed weeks to months after the resolution of AGEP. Twenty-four patients (86%) had a personal history of drug reactions before the development of AGEP. Conclusions A previous history of drug reactions and clindamycin causation were more common in the present cohort than in prior reports. A small subset of patients experienced new-onset non-AGEP skin eruptions within a few months of the resolution of AGEP.
Inflammatory Bone Loss Drives Skeletal Deterioration in a Murine Model of Sickle Cell Disease

Abstract Abstract 4855 Sickle cell disease (SCD) results from a point mutation in the beta globin gene that leads to the replacement of glutamic acid with a valine at the sixth position of the beta globin chain of hemoglobin. Children with SCD experience delayed skeletal maturation and more than 70% of adult SCD patients' exhibit osteopenia or osteoporosis. The underlying mechanisms responsible are unclear; however in a number of disorders inflammation is established to drive bone loss. Importantly, persistent immune-activation in SCD leads to a chronic inflammatory state that may be pertinent. In this study we characterized the skeletons of four month old Berkeley SCD mice, an animal model that recapitulates key features of SCD including inflammation. We show that as in children with SCD, the skeletons of SCD mice have significantly reduced bone mineral density (BMD). Micro-computed tomography shows that homozygous sickle cell mice were also significantly denuded in cancellous and cortical bone volumes, a consequence of an enhanced pro-osteoclastogenic bone microenvironment. Similarly to animal models of postmenopausal osteoporosis we found a significant increase in T cell activation state and TNFa production in SCD mice, and an elevated expression of receptor activator of NF-kB ligand (RANKL), the key osteoclastogenic cytokine in the bone marrow. Finally, we show a significantly elevated number of monocytes (early osteoclast precursors) that likely further amplifies osteoclastogenesis in the context of elevated RANKL in SCD. Taken together our data validate the Berkeley sickle mouse as a suitable model to explore the mechanisms of bone loss in SCD, and suggest a disruption in the immuno-skeletal interface resulting from chronic inflammation as key to bone loss in SCD. Download : Download high-res image (29KB) Download : Download full-size image Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
What is next for Brillouin microscopy in biology and medicine

Brillouin microscopy is an emerging technique in biomedical imaging capable of non-invasive assessing viscoelastic properties on a microscopic scale. In this report, we outline the latest developments in Brillouin spectroscopy instrumentation and applications in an attempt to anticipate the future impact areas of this new imaging modality.
COUNSELING AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR DISTANCE LEARNERS AT ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY PAKISTAN

In the system of distance education counselling and support services has great significance. Without proper support services and counseling to the students in their study difficulty distance education system cannot flourish. This paper indicates the growth and concept of counseling and support services provision at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. This article would certainly highlight the prose and coins of such services in the environmental situation of Pakistan. The process, procedure and elements of counseling are discussed in this paper.
Excrescent stops in American English

This study investigates whether excrescence is phonological epenthesis or articulatory overlap by investigating whether a prosodic domain boundary intervening between the nasal and the fricative affects insertion. Articulatory overlap effects are expected to remain constant across the board, whereas phonological epenthesis is expected to be targeted for domain-final lengthening. The duration results are that neither excrescence nor underlying segments are affected by domain-final lengthening, but excrescent closure is significantly shorter than underlying closure. The short segments support an articulatory overlap hypothesis, but the lack of final lengthening opens up new questions for further research.
Wilhelm Busch: Die Erfindung eines literarischen Nationalhelden (1902-1908)

This article is less concerned with Wilhelm Busch himself and more with his reception in early twentieth-century Germany. It explores the sudden elevation of Wilhelm Busch to the status of a national cultural hero between 1902 and 1908, although drawings and poems produced decades earlier had already made him the most beloved humorist of nineteenth-century Germany. The article focuses on the experiential meaning of the celebration of Wilhelm Busch. Attending first to a series of contradictions that characterized the creation of Busch as a German cultural hero and then analyzing the most striking paradox of the published response to the humorist between 1902 and 1908, this article seeks to use the Busch reception to understand something about the way those celebrating him in the crucial decade before the outbreak of the First World War experienced themselves and the world in which they lived.
Western Diet–Induced Dysbiosis in Farnesoid X Receptor Knockout Mice Causes Persistent Hepatic Inflammation after Antibiotic Treatment

Patients who have liver cirrhosis and liver cancer also have reduced farnesoid X receptor (FXR). The current study analyzes the effect of diet through microbiota that affect hepatic inflammation in FXR knockout (KO) mice. Wild-type and FXR KO mice were on a control (CD) or Western diet (WD) for 10 months. In addition, both CD- and WD-fed FXR KO male mice, which had hepatic lymphocyte and neutrophil infiltration, were treated by vancomycin, polymyxin B, and Abx (ampicillin, neomycin, metronidazole, and vancomycin). Mice were subjected to morphological analysis as well as gut microbiota and bile acid profiling. Male WD-fed FXR KO mice had the most severe steatohepatitis. FXR KO also had reduced Firmicutes and increased Proteobacteria, which could be reversed by Abx. In addition, Abx eliminated hepatic neutrophils and lymphocytes in CD-fed, but not WD-fed, FXR KO mice. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes persisted in WD-fed FXR KO mice even after Abx treatment. Only polymyxin B could reduce hepatic lymphocytes in WD-fed FXR KO mice. The reduced hepatic inflammation by antibiotics was accompanied by decreased free and conjugated secondary bile acids as well as changes in gut microbiota. Our data revealed that Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, and Coprococcus protect the liver from inflammation.
A Simpler World? On Pruning Risks and Harvesting Fruits in an Orchard of Whispering Algorithms

This article explores some of the law-related challenges and trade-offs associated with the accelerating importance of “artificial intelligence” for organizations and the public. I consider the relevance of emergent phenomena that may arise from the interaction of humans and artificially intelligent systems even when no one intended or expected such phenomena to arise, new problems in deliberation, and organizational choices with legal consequences that may be triggered by developments in artificial intelligence, and will in turn shape how such technology develops. Although many of these developments may deliver distinctive benefits and in some cases have little if any precedent, in some respects they also evoke some of the experiences that societies confronted in the related realms of food, agriculture, and public health. In those contexts, advancing technology and scientific knowledge reduced the price of feeding ever-larger populations and contributed to substantial improvements in human health. But certain changes, such as large-scale industrialization of the alimentary sector and the rise of motorized transportation available on a massive scale, brought their own societal challenges and second-order regulatory problems that may illuminate trade-offs associated with artificial intelligence. Ultimately, society’s understanding of the emerging role of artificial intelligence and its associated legal dilemmas is best served –– as has been true in the food and public health contexts –– by questioning reassuring assumptions about the self-correcting, social welfare-advancing nature of conventional markets or public deliberation. Societies will instead tend to make more sensible legal choices governing artificial intelligence by taking seriously the changing nature of human goals and values, the reality of time-inconsistent preferences, and subtle and potentially unintended organizational consequences of technologies that are reshaping our relationship to information, institutions, and each other.
YAP1 inhibition radiosensitizes triple negative breast cancer cells by targeting the DNA damage response and cell survival pathways.

// Daniel Andrade 1 , Meghna Mehta 1 , James Griffith 1 , Janani Panneerselvam 2 , Akhil Srivastava 2 , Tae-Dong Kim 3 , Ralf Janknecht 3, 4 , Terence Herman 1, 4 , Rajagopal Ramesh 2, 4 and Anupama Munshi 1, 4 1 Department of Radiation Oncology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA 2 Department of Pathology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA 3 Department of Cell Biology, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA 4 Stephenson Cancer Center, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA Correspondence to: Anupama Munshi, email: anupama-munshi@ouhsc.edu Keywords: yes associated protein 1, triple negative breast cancer, DNA damage, radiotherapy, verteporfin Received: June 14, 2017 Accepted: September 29, 2017 Published: October 20, 2017 ABSTRACT The Hippo pathway is an evolutionarily conserved signaling pathway that regulates proliferation and apoptosis to control organ size during developmental growth. Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1), the terminal effector of the Hippo pathway, is a transcriptional co-activator and a potent growth promoter that has emerged as a critical oncogene. Overexpression of YAP1 has been implicated in promoting resistance to chemo-, radiation and targeted therapy in various cancers. However, the role of YAP1 in radioresistance in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is currently unknown. We evaluated the role of YAP1 in radioresistance in TNBC in vitro , using two approaches to inhibit YAP1: 1) genetic inhibition by YAP1 specific shRNA or siRNA, and 2) pharmacological inhibition by using the small molecule inhibitor, verteporfin that prevents YAP1 transcriptional activity. Our findings demonstrate that both genetic and pharmacological inhibition of YAP1 sensitizes TNBC cells to radiation by inhibiting the EGFR/PI3K/AKT signaling axis and causing an increased accumulation of DNA damage. Our results reveal that YAP1 activation exerts a protective role for TNBC cells in radiotherapy and represents a pharmacological target to enhance the anti-tumor effects of DNA damaging modalities in the treatment of TNBC.
Projected Temperature-Related Years of Life Lost From Stroke Due To Global Warming in a Temperate Climate City, Asia: Disease Burden Caused by Future Climate Change.

Background and Purpose— Global warming has attracted worldwide attention. Numerous studies have indicated that stroke is associated with temperature; however, few studies are available on the projections of the burden of stroke attributable to future climate change. We aimed to investigate the future trends of stroke years of life lost (YLL) associated with global warming. Methods— We collected death records to examine YLL in Tianjin, China, from 2006 to 2011. We fitted a standard time-series Poisson regression model after controlling for trends, day of the week, relative humidity, and air pollution. We estimated temperature–YLL associations with a distributed lag nonlinear model. These models were then applied to the local climate projections to estimate temperature-related YLL in the 2050s and 2070s. We projected temperature-related YLL from stroke in Tianjin under 19 global-scale climate models and 3 different greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Results— The results showed a slight decrease in YLL with percent decreases of 0.85%, 0.97%, and 1.02% in the 2050s and 0.94%, 1.02%, and 0.91% in the 2070s for the 3 scenarios, respectively. The increases in heat-related annual YLL and the decreases in cold-related YLL under the high emission scenario were the strongest. The monthly analysis showed that the most significant increase occurred in the summer months, particularly in August, with percent changes >150% in the 2050s and up to 300% in the 2070s. Conclusions— Future changes in climate are likely to lead to an increase in heat-related YLL, and this increase will not be offset by adaptation under both medium emission and high emission scenarios. Health protections from hot weather will become increasingly necessary, and measures to reduce cold effects will also remain important.
The effects of body-worn cameras on police organisation and practice: a theory-based analysis

This study applies the technical/rational model of organisations to help explain the effects of body-worn cameras on police organisation and practice in a single police agency in the United States....
Emerging Impacts of Smartphone: An Exploratory Study

Smartphones has provided their users many niches, particularly for mobile commerce, known as mcommerce. As smartphone penetration around the globe, it has rapidly altered the phone users and the market places, as US mobile devices have penetrated more than 80% of the population in 2017. The average adult daily usage of mobile devices outpaced personal computers for the first time, and the users have conducted more commerce activities on their mobile devices than on their personal computers. As a result, predicted by eMarketer, US mcommerce will be a half of the total ecommerce by 2022. The marketers realize that they can better find their customers on the move, and enable them to better target these customers for their products. This research, through an empirical survey, focuses on the smartphone user behavior. The research results provide some useful insights for marketers in their future marketing endeavors.
Integrating Clustering with Ranking in Heterogeneous Information Networks Analysis

Heterogeneous information networks, ie, the logic networks involving multi-typed, interconnected objects, are ubiquitous. For example, a bibliographic information network contains nodes including authors, conferences, terms and papers, and links corresponding to relations exiting between these objects. Extracting knowledge from information networks has become an important task. Both ranking and clustering can provide overall views on information network data, and each has been a hot topic by itself. However, ranking objects globally without considering which clusters they belong to often leads to dumb results, e.g., ranking database and computer architecture conferences together may not make much sense. Similarly, clustering a huge number of objects (e.g., thousands of authors) into one huge cluster without distinction is dull as well. In contrast, a good cluster can lead to meaningful ranking for objects in that cluster, and ranking distributions for these objects can serve as good features to help clustering. Two ranking-based clustering algorithms, RankClus and NetClus, thus are proposed. RankClus aims at clustering target objects using the attribute objects in the remaining network, while NetClus is able to generate net-clusters containing multiple types of objects following the same schema of the original network. The basic idea of such algorithms is that ranking distributions of objects in each cluster should be quite different from each other, which can be served as features of clusters and new measures of objects can be calculated accordingly. Also, better clustering results can achieve better ranking results. Ranking and clustering can be mutually enhanced, where ranking provides better measure space and clustering provides more reasonable ranking distribution. What’s more, clusters obtained in this way are more informative than other methods, given the ranking distribution for objects in each cluster.
Influenza Virus Entry

As all the enveloped viruses, the entry of influenza viruses includes a number of steps in host cell infection. This chapter summarizes the current knowledge of the entry pathway and the role of the fusion protein of influenza virus, hemagglutinin, in this process. Hemagglutinin (HA) is a trimeric glycoprotein that is present in multiple copies in the membrane envelope of influenza virus. HA contains a fusion peptide, a receptor binding site, a metastable structural motif, and the transmembrane domain. The first step of influenza virus entry is the recognition of the host cell receptor molecule, terminal α-sialic acid, by HA. This multivalent attachment by multiple copies of trimetric HA triggers endocytosis of influenza virus that is contained in the endosome. The endosome-trapped virus traffics via a unidirectional pathway to near the nucleus. At this location, the interior pH of the endosome becomes acidic that induces a dramatic conformational change in HA to insert the fusion peptide into the host membrane, induce juxtaposition of the two membranes, and form a fusion pore that allows the release of the genome segments of influenza virus. HA plays a key role in the entire entry pathway. Inhibitors of virus entry are potentially effective antiviral drugs of influenza viruses.
Predicting matrix and delamination fatigue in fiber-reinforced polymer composites using kinetic theory of fracture

Abstract Prediction of fatigue in fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites demands progressive damage analysis tools that account for constituent physics of the problem. In this work, a matrix fatigue failure methodology based on the kinetic theory of fracture (KTF) is developed that uses the physics of the matrix constituent to track damage in both lamina and interlaminar regions. This model is calibrated from either off-axis lamina or ±45 laminate fatigue tests. Using this methodology, finite element simulations of open-hole coupons comprised of three different laminates subjected to tension-tension fatigue loading are performed. The coupons consist of the unidirectional IM7/977-3 lamina with available calibration and validation data. In this work, both intra-ply matrix cracks and inter-ply delamination mechanisms are simulated. The resultant residual stiffness and the damage accumulation inside the plies due to matrix failure with a specific number of fatigue cycles are benchmarked against published experimental data. The results show good agreement with this data for all three laminates.
Partnering With Families to Improve Emergency Medical Services for Children

Abstract Patient and family engagement is increasingly promoted as a central element in ensuring high-quality care in health care systems. Across the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) continuum, families experience care within individual settings and in care transitions across settings. In 1999, the federal EMSC program in partnership with the EMSC National Resource Center established the Family Advisory Network (FAN) to integrate the family perspective in all EMSC activities and initiatives. With the recent conversion of EMSC's coordination center to one embedded in improvement science, the role of FAN warrants renewed focus to ensure its success as a strategic partner. An environmental scan and a strategic plan based on representation, transparency, impact, and commitment will position FAN as a vital component in the future success of EMSC.
Sjogren’s Syndrome

Abstract This chapter reviews the current understanding of clinical and scientific aspects of Sjogren's syndrome. It discusses current treatments and research that will lead to new forms of treatment.
Image Analysis for Ophthalmology: Segmentation and Quantification of Retinal Vascular Systems

The retina is directly connected to the central nervous system and the vascular circulation, which uniquely enables three-dimensional retinal tissue structures and blood flow dynamics to be imaged and visualized from the exterior using non-invasive imaging modalities. Rapid advances in the types of diagnostic imaging modalities, combined with image processing, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and machine learning algorithms for quantitative image analytics are opening up a host of new possibilities for early diagnosis and treatment of a broad range of eye and systemic diseases with clinical impact. Incorporating patient-specific imaging to estimate geometric structures of vessel morphology and boundary conditions as input to the mathematical and computational fluid-dynamics modeling frameworks described in earlier chapters will enable new ways to predict treatment outcomes and model physiological effects at the systemic level. This chapter describes a set of widely used retinal imaging modalities, including fundoscopy, fluorescein angiography (FA), and optical coherence tomography (OCT), along with emerging modalities to measure retinal blood flow dynamics like optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG). We use vessel segmentation and quantification as a prototypical ophthalmology image analysis pipeline that can be applied across imaging modalities, to describe processing techniques for measuring geometrical vascular structures. Current challenges and future opportunities especially in using artificial intelligence and deep learning architectures for patient optimized precision medicine and clinical efficacy are highlighted.
Embodied Healthcare Intuition: A Taxonomy of Sensory Cues Used by Healthcare Providers

Although healthcare providers’ decision-making is informed by data and proto­cols for care, recent research suggests that individuals’ intuition—which integrates previous experiences with situational awareness and sensory knowledge—also plays a large role in directing action. Drawing on two different datasets from research on EMS providers and nurses in clinical nursing simulations, this article intro­duces a taxonomy for the various cues that trigger intuitive action and unpacks how intuition manifests at different stages of care. We argue that healthcare providers rhetorically navigate a wide range of both external and internal intuitive cues, and that external cues draw on sensory engagement with bodies, technology, and the environment as well as collaborative interpersonal exchanges. Intuition, then, is more than an unconscious ability to inform action—it is a type of intelligence that develops from experience, and from the ability to be attuned to the surrounding environment and material conditions of a workplace. By creating a taxonomy for articulating intuition’s complex and diverse cues, this article aims to provide both rhetoricians of health and medicine and healthcare providers with an impetus for recognizing and valuing its key role in patient care.
Effects of Brand Name versus Empowerment Advertising Campaign Hashtags in Branded Instagram Posts of Luxury versus Mass-Market Brands

Through two studies, this research examined consumer responses to empowerment hashtags in social media–based fashion advertising. The findings of Study 1 indicated that consumers showed more favora...
A Multi Recipient Aggregate Signcryption Scheme Based on Elliptic Curve

A cryptographic technique called signcryption combines the role of digital signature and encryption in a single logical step. This helps in reducing the computational cost associated with the traditional approach of signature-then-encryption technique. In last two decades, several signcryption schemes were proposed for single and multiple recipients, each having its own drawbacks and benefits. In this paper, we introduced an efficient signcryption scheme that uses the elliptic curve cryptography and is capable of transmitting data to multiple recipients. The scheme generates single signature by aggregating the multiple signatures for authentication and verification of data. This reduces the communication and computational cost associated with the signature generation and verification process. The analysis of the scheme shows that it has resistance against many known cryptographic attacks. Our scheme has the security features of non-repudiation, unforgeability, message confidentiality, forward secrecy, integrity, authentication and unforgeability.
Solvent effects on methane 1J(13C,H), 1H chemical shift and 13C–1H isotope shift

Abstract Three methane NMR parameters, 1J(13C,H), 1H chemical shift and 13C–1H isotope shift, have been measured in a set of solvents and D2O at ambient pressure and 21 °C. Although the magnitude of the chemical shifts changes are significant, changes of the other two parameters are small. These results bear on the selection of reference molecules for correlations between molecular structure and NMR. After considering the properties of the various solvents, where known, no significant correlations could be found. The values of the 13C–1H isotope shift reported here agree with current theory.
Drivers learn city-scale dynamic equilibrium

Understanding collective human behavior and dynamics at urban-scale has drawn broad interest in physics, engineering, and social sciences. Social physics often adopts a statistical perspective and treats individuals as interactive elementary units,while the economics perspective sees individuals as strategic decision makers. Here we provide a microscopic mechanism of city-scale dynamics,interpret the collective outcome in a thermodynamic framework,and verify its various implications empirically. We capture the decisions of taxi drivers in a game-theoretic model,prove the existence, uniqueness, and global asymptotic stability of Nash equilibrium. We offer a macroscopic view of this equilibrium with laws of thermodynamics. With 870 million trips of over 50k drivers in New York City,we verify this equilibrium in space and time,estimate an empirical constitutive relation,and examine the learning process at individual and collective levels. Connecting two perspectives,our work shows a promising approach to understand collective behavior of subpopulations.
On planar embeddings of pseudoplanar affine curves of genus ≤1

Abstract We show that any two planar cubic embeddings of a pseudoplanar curve of genus 1 (over complex numbers) are linearly equivalent. We describe the ‘abstract moduli’ of nonsingular affine plane cubic curves with 3 places at infinity. We note some examples of inequivalent planar embeddings of a nonsingular affine curve of genus 0 having 2 places at infinity.
Smartphone-based single-channel speech enhancement application for hearing aids

This work presents a single-channel speech enhancement (SE) framework based on the super-Gaussian extension of the joint maximum a posteriori (SGJMAP) estimation rule. The developed SE algorithm is an open-source research smartphone-based application for hearing improvement studies. In this algorithm, the SGJMAP-based estimation for noisy speech mixture is smoothed along the frequency axis by a Mel filter-bank, resulting in a Mel-warped frequency-domain SGJMAP estimation. The impulse response of this Mel-warped estimation is obtained by applying a Mel-warped inverse discrete cosine transform (Mel-IDCT). This helps in filtering out the background noise and enhancing the speech signal. The proposed application is implemented on an iPhone (Apple, Cupertino, CA) to operate in real time and tested with normal-hearing (NH) and hearing-impaired (HI) listeners with different types of hearing aids through wireless connectivity. The objective speech quality and intelligibility test results are used to compare the performance of the proposed algorithm to existing conventional single-channel SE methods. Additionally, test results from NH and HI listeners show substantial improvement in speech recognition with the developed method in simulated real-world noisy conditions at different signal-to-noise ratio levels.
Transcriptional regulation of cyclophilin D by BMP/SMAD signaling and its role in osteogenic differentiation

Cyclophilin D (CypD) promotes opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) which plays a key role in both cell physiology and pathology. It is, therefore beneficial for cells to tightly regulate CypD and MPTP but little is known about such regulation. We have reported before that CypD is downregulated and MPTP deactivated during differentiation in various tissues. Herein, we identify BMP/Smad signaling, a major driver of differentiation, as a transcriptional repressor of the CypD gene, Ppif. Using osteogenic induction of mesenchymal lineage cells as a model of BMP/Smad-dependent differentiation, we show that CypD is in fact transcriptionally repressed during this process. The importance of such CypD downregulation is evidenced by the negative effect of CypD ‘rescue’ via gain-of-function on osteogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In sum, we characterized BMP/Smad signaling as a regulator of CypD expression and elucidated the role of CypD downregulation during cell differentiation.
7 The Origin and Morphogenesis of Amphibian Somites

The origin and development of the amphibian somitie mesoderm is summarized and reviewed with the goal of identifying issues most profitably pursued in these organisms. The location of the prospective somitic mesoderm as well as the cell movements bringing this tissue into its definitive position varies among amphibians. These variations have implications for the tissue interactions patterning the embryo, the design of the gastrulation movements, the role of the somitic mesoderm in early patterning and morphogenic processes, and the nature of the developmental pathway leading to somites. The presegmentation morphogenesis, the process of segmentation, and the subsequent, postsegmentation morphogenesis of the somitic mesoderm also varies considerably among amphibians. Although segmentation in amphibians shares what may be highly conserved and general patterning mechanisms with other vertebrates, the somitic developmental pathway as a whole is not conservative and has been capable of accommodating the use of a number of quite different morphogenic processes, all leading to very similar ends. The major challenges in studying amphibian somitogenesis are to develop molecular markers for major components of the somite, to determine the derivatives of the somite with better cell tracing experiments, and learning to work with the small dermatomal and sclerotomal cell populations found in most species. A potential advantage is that the diversity of somitogenesis among the amphibians makes this group ideal for studying the evolution of developmental processes. In addition, many amphibians allow direct observation of somitogenesis with great resolution and permit biomechanical analysis of tissues participating in morphogenesis, thus making it possible to analyze cellular mechanisms of morphogenesis in ways not possible in most other systems.
Global change. That sinking feeling.

The land and sea soak up much of the carbon dioxide emitted into the atmosphere. But one set of simulations suggests that global warming could greatly impair this ability.
Endothelial Microparticles (EMP) as Vascular Disease Markers

Publisher Summary Endothelial cells (ECs) have long been implicated in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of a myriad of vascular, thrombotic, and inflammatory disorders. The prevalence of endothelial perturbation in vascular disease has underscored the need for noninvasive sensitive and specific markers to monitor endothelial status. The popularity of endothelial microparticles (EMPs) as markers of perturbed has increased because of its promising clinical applications in the area of noninvasive EC monitoring. An overview of the main aspects of endothelial dysfunction as they relate to thrombogenesis and inflammation is important to provide a background of the factors affecting EMP release and their phenotype. General properties of microparticles such as mechanisms of microparticles generation and antigenic characterization of EMP are also discussed in this chapter. EMPs have emerged as a preferred direct method for assessing EC injury in different disorders. EMP analysis could provide insight into the actual status of the endothelium in vivo by a simple blood analysis. The main challenge remains in the selection of specific and sensitive monoclonal antibodies that may yield consistent results among different laboratories. Clinical endothelial research has been hampered by the difficulty of accessing and sampling ECs in a noninvasive manner. EMPs in clinical disease such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and preeclampsia, inflammatory and infectious disease, autoimmune disorders, hematological disorders, and neurological disease are also discussed in this chapter.
BoronNitrogen compounds: LXXI. Preparation and properties of (2-pyridylamino)diethylborane

Abstract (2-Pyridylamino)diethylborane has been obtained in good yield and purity by the reaction of triethylborane with 2-aminopyridine in 2 1 molar ratio in the absence of solvent. Carbon-13 NMR data suggest that at room temperature and below the compound exists in at least two forms; only at higher temperatures does the normal aminoborane form become exclusive. Pyrolysis of the compound leads to the formation of B-triethyl-N-tri-2-pyridylborazine, [BC2H5N(2-CHN)]3.
New algorithms for quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (qubo) with applications in engineering and social sciences

This dissertation investigates the Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problem, i.e. the problem of minimizing a quadratic function in binary variables. QUBO is studied at two complementary levels. First, there is an algorithmic aspect that tells how to preprocess the problem, how to find heuristics, how to get improved bounds and how to solve the problem with all the above ingredients. Second, there is a practical aspect that uses QUBO to solve various applications from the engineering and social sciences fields including: via minimization, 2D/3D Ising models, 1D Ising chain models, image binarization, hierarchical clustering, greedy graph coloring/partitioning, MAX–2–SAT, MIN–VC, MAX–CLIQUE, MAX–CUT, graph stability and minimum k–partition. Several families of fast heuristics for QUBO are analyzed, which include a novel probabilistic based class of methods. It is shown that there is a unique maximal set of persistencies for the linearization model for QUBO. This set is determined in polynomial time by a maximum flow followed by the computation of the strong components of a network that has 2n+2 nodes, where n is the number of variables. The identification of the above persistencies leads to a unique decomposition of the function, such that each component can be optimized separately. To find further persistencies, two additional techniques are proposed: one is based on the second order derivatives of Hammer et al. [121]; the other technique is a probing procedure on the two possible values of the variables. These preprocessing tools work remarkably well for certain classes of problems. We improved the Iterated Roof–Dual bound (IRD) of [51] by proposing two combinatorial methods: one was named the squeezed IRD; and the second was called the project–and–lift IRD method. The cubic–dual bound can be found by means of linear programming by adding a set of triangle inequalities to the standard linearization, whose number is cubic in the number of variables. We show that this set can be reduced depending on the coefficients of the terms of the function. This leads to the possibility of computing the cubic–duals of larger QUBOs.
Determinants of firms' propensity of e-enabled communication adoption: the internal push and external pull factors

Although extant studies have argued that market orientation is one of the key forces driving a firm's adoption of innovation, empirical study based on senior managers in four industries suggests otherwise in the context of e-enabled communication. In this study, we examine a firm's propensity to e-enabled communication based on two forces: (1) internal push factors, and (2) external pull factors. Structural equation modeling is used to test the model. Findings strongly indicate that external factors, particularly customer pressure and normative pressures, are far more critical in inducing the adoption of e-enabled communication than internal factors which suggest a reactive nature of organization's behavior towards the adoption of e-enabled communication.
Grouping ., -, →,formula], into Regions, Curves, and Junctions

We address the problem of extracting segmented, structured information from noisy data obtained through local processing of images. A unified computational framework is developed for the inference of multiple salient structures such as junctions, curves, regions, and surfaces from any combinations of points, curve elements, and surface patch elements inputs in 2D and 3D. The methodology is grounded in two elements: tensor calculus for representation and nonlinear voting for data communication. Each input site communicates its information (a tensor) to its neighborhood through a predefined (tensor) field and, therefore, casts a (tensor) vote. Each site collects all the votes cast at its location and encodes them into a new tensor. A local, parallel routine such as a modified marching cube/square process then simultaneously detects junctions, curves, regions, and surfaces. The proposed method is noniterative, requires no initial guess or thresholding, can handle the presence of multiple curves, regions, and surfaces in a large amount of noise while it still preserves discontinuities, and the only free parameter is scale. We present results of curve and region inference from a variety of inputs.
Impact of Advanced Material Processing Techniques on Spread Spectrum Systems Technology

Many organizations that are involved in driving military communications components and system technologies to higher levels of performance and integration must be aware of the impacts these technologies will have on manufacturing, technology transfer delays, yield, cost and manpower. Advanced material processing techniques can provide the degree of structural control to produce devices and semiconductor chips with a variety of performance capabilities far exceeding conventional performance levels. However, the yield and cost reductions associated with some of these advanced material processing techniques may not be at the same level as those associated with more conventional processing methods utilized in the fabrication of conventional devices and semiconductor chips. Also, some of the advanced processing techniques may be quite difficult to implement and automate in a manufacturing environment.
Intestinal glucose transport in carnivorous and herbivorous marine fishes

The influx and transepithelial movements of glucose and their effects on the electrophysiology and Na transport in upper and lower intestines of the herbivorous surgeonfish,Acanthurus mata, and carnivorous eel,Gymnothorax undulatus, were measured. TheK t G andJ max G of glucose influx into the tissues were higher in the surgeonfish upper intestine than in the surgeonfish lower intestine or in both segments of the eel intestine. A prominent diffusion-like transport component was also measured in all four segments during influx experiments. Net transepithelial glucose fluxes (0.05 mM) were greater in eel intestine than in those of the surgeonfish largely due to an apparent lower apical membrane permeability of the former coincident with reduced backflux of glucose from epithelium to lumen. All four stripped intestinal segments exhibited non-significant (from zero;P>0.05) or small, serosa-negative transepithelial potential differences (−0.1 to −2.2 mV), and low transepithelial resistances (40–88 Ω cm−2). Each tissue displayed significant (P 0.05) change the transepithelial resistance, but did induce a significant (P 0.05). It is concluded that coupled Na-glucose transport occurs in these tissues, but that metabolic enhancement of unrelated current-generating mechanisms also takes place and may modify depolarizing effects of organic solute transfer.
The lattice stability of interfacial cracks

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanical stability of a crack on an interface in a 2D hexagonal lattice. The force laws are chosen to highlight both low trapping and moderate trapping situations. The results are that the continuum crack extension law is centered within the stability region, but that the stability region is limited in the shear direction by lattice breakdown in shear at the crack tip and consequent dislocation emission. Dislocation formation is found to be an easy process for moderate sized cracks due to the mode mixing at the crack tips.
Stimulus biasing: A comparison between cochlear hair cell and organ of corti response patterns

Responses from the organ of Corti (OC) fluid space and from individual hair cells are collected for short duration tone pips measured alone and in the presence of a 20 Hz bias tone. Because of the relatively long period of the acoustic bias signal, a probe can be selectively placed at precise locations within a single response period. Since bias effects produced during maximum basilar membrane velocity are negligible, this report documents changes associated with basilar membrane displacements to scala vestibuli and scala tympani. Hair cell response patterns are compared with those measured nearby in the OC to determine the degree to which inner (IHC) and outer hair cells (OHC) contribute to the gross cochlear potentials. It is shown that intracellular OHC and OC dc responses are strongly influenced by the bias while intracellular IHC dc responses are minimally affected. Although an association has been established between the cochlear microphonic and outer hair cell ac receptor potentials, the well correlated changes in the outer hair cell dc receptor potential and the organ of Corti summating potential suggest that gross cochlear potentials reflect dc as well as ac contributions from nearby OHCs. Since IHC responses are not influenced by the bias, they appear to contribute less than OHCs to extracellular potentials. These conclusions, however, are restricted to the moderately high input levels required to produce these effects (Durrant and Dallos, 1974) and to the central region of the cochlea where the recordings are made. Finally, the degree to which bias effects are contaminated by two-tone suppression is discussed.
A survey of high-voltage electron microscope operations

Abstract The relation between the degree of use and the available assistance has been surveyed for 18 high-voltage (⩾1 MV terminal voltage) electron microscope operations. The survey elicited information about the available time, the budget, the technical staff, and the numbers of users, projects, and micrographs produced. Large differences in activity were found among the installations. High output seems to depend on the extent of local and regional interest and also on the expertise and numbers of the technical staff. Only five of the installations regularly operate more than one shift a day. Restriction to one shift is usually due either to lack of user demand or to lack of funding for additional technicians. Except at three dedicated biological HVEMs in the United States, biologists have made much less use of the HVEM than have materials scientists. The reasons have not been established. Some additional suggestions (based upon information not derived from the survey) are offered for improved management of HVEM operations.
A density based scheme to countermeasure spectrum sensing data falsification attacks in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive radio networks are a promising solution to the spectrum scarcity issue. In cognitive radio networks, because of the low reliability of individual spectrum sensing by a single secondary user, cooperative spectrum sensing is critical to accurately detect the existence of a primary user signal. However, cooperative spectrum sensing is vulnerable to the spectrum sensing data falsification (SSDF) attack. Specifically, a malicious user can send a falsified sensing report to mislead other (benign) secondary users to make an incorrect decision on the PU activity. Therefore, detecting the SSDF attack or identifying the malicious sensing reports is extremely important for robust cooperative spectrum sensing. This paper proposes a distributed density based SSDF detection (DBSD) scheme to countermeasure the SSDF attack. DBSD can effectively exclude the malicious sensing reports from SSDF attackers, so that a benign secondary user can effectively detect the PU activity in distributed cooperative spectrum sensing. Furthermore, DBSD can also exclude abnormal sensing reports from ill-functioned secondary users. Simulation results show that DBSD achieves very good performance in cooperative spectrum sensing.
Dissociation reactions of CuI(hfac)L compounds relevant to the chemical vapor deposition of copper

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been performed for ligand copper bond energies of typical copper β-diketonate compounds used in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of copper films. The molecules have the general formula CuI(hfac)L, where hfac is hexafluoroacetylacetonate, and L represents vinyltrimethylsilane (VTMS), trimethylphosphine (PMe3), 2-butyne (2-butyne), or 1,5-cyclooctadiene (COD). The DFT method is used with the three-parameter Becke exchange and the Lee–Yang–Parr correlation functionals (B3LYP) with different basis sets. The optimized structures correspond to the crystal structures determined using crystal X-ray diffraction. Two different structures, CuI(hfac)(η2-COD) and CuI(hfac)(η4-COD), are determined for the CuI(hfac)(COD) complex, the latter being more stable by ∼3 kcal mol−1. The strength of the ligand–copper interaction is studied for the reaction CuI(β-diketonate)L → CuI(β-diketonate) + L. Bond energies of 32.1, 35.6, 33.6 and 38.4 kcal mol−1 are calculated for typical Cu CVD precursors, CuI(hfac)(butyne), CuI(hfac)(COD), CuI(hfac)(VTMS) and CuI(hfac)(PMe3), respectively. The similarity between these bond energies and reported experimental activation energies for CVD suggests that the dissociation of the ligand L could be the rate determining step for the film growth under certain conditions. The rate parameters for the dissociation reaction of CuI(hfac)(VTMS) are evaluated based upon the results of the DFT calculations. A simple reaction mechanism for Cu CVD is proposed and combined with transport phenomena simulations of two reported reactors configurations. Good agreement with experimental observations is obtained with a CuI(hfac)(VTMS) dissociation rate constant of 1.5 × 1014exp(−13.5/T), which is consistent with the computed rate constant.