cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Predictability of SST-Modulated Westerly Wind Bursts

Westerly wind bursts (WWBs), a significant player in ENSO dynamics, are modeled using an observationally motivated statistical approach that relates the characteristics of WWBs to the large-scale sea surface temperature. Although the WWB wind stress at a given location may be a nonlinear function of SST, the characteristics of WWBs are well described as a linear function of SST. Over 50% of the interannual variance in the WWB likelihood, zonal location, duration, and fetch is explained by changes in SST. The model captures what is seen in a 17-yr record of satellite-derived winds: the eastward migration and increased occurrence of wind bursts as the western Pacific warm pool extends. The WWB model shows significant skill in predicting the interannual variability of the characteristics of WWBs, while the prediction skill of the WWB seasonal cycle is limited by the record length of available data. The novel formulation of the WWB model can be implemented in a stochastic or deterministic mode, where the deterministic mode predicts the ensemble-mean WWB characteristics. Therefore, the WWB model is especially appropriate for ensemble prediction experiments with existing ENSO models that are not capable of simulating realistic WWBs on their own. Should only the slowly varying component of WWBs be important for ENSO prediction, this WWB model allows a shortcut to directly compute the slowly varying ensemble-mean wind field without performing many realizations.
A nuclear function of Hu proteins as neuron-specific alternative RNA processing regulators

Recent advances in genome-wide analysis of alternative splicing indicate that extensive alternative RNA processing is associated with many proteins that play important roles in the nervous system. Although differential splicing and polyadenylation make significant contributions to the complexity of the nervous system, our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying the neuron-specific pathways is very limited. Mammalian neuron-specific embryonic lethal abnormal visual-like Hu proteins (HuB, HuC, and HuD) are a family of RNA-binding proteins implicated in neuronal differentiation and maintenance. It has been established that Hu proteins increase expression of proteins associated with neuronal function by up-regulating mRNA stability and/or translation in the cytoplasm. We report here a novel function of these proteins as RNA processing regulators in the nucleus. We further elucidate the underlying mechanism of this regulation. We show that in neuron-like cells, Hu proteins block the activity of TIA-1/TIAR, two previously identified, ubiquitously expressed proteins that promote the nonneuronal pathway of calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) pre-mRNA processing. These studies define not only the first neuron-specific regulator of the calcitonin/CGRP system but also the first nuclear function of Hu proteins.
From informed consent to shared consent: a developing process in paediatric oncology

Little research has been done on consent in clinical management of cancer in children. Many parents think that the informed-consent process is helpful but often confusing; discussions regularly prove more helpful. It can be difficult for parents to understand the notion of randomisation, not to mention the request for consent to this procedure. In this essay, we discuss the clinical problems that arise in the informed-consent process for treatment and research in paediatric oncology and that need an understanding of bioethical issues and psychological principles. We suggest that the process of informed consent is managed as a negotiated shared-consent process, using the problem-based learning method as a guide. Our model provides appropriate and honest information to children and adolescents through easy-to-understand dialogues with the doctor and we propose that medical students and doctors receive specific skills instruction in communications, relational behaviour, and ethics.
Distributional Comments on the Teiid Lizards (Squamata: Teiidae) of Florida with a Key to Species

Florida presently has a large number (44) of established non-native amphibians and reptiles, 36 of which are lizards. There are currently one native and four non-native teiid lizards in Florida, and difficulty arises when trying to distinguish them from other similar species, especially in small individuals and/or deteriorated or faded preserved specimens. Because of the potential for their misidentifications in both the field and laboratory, we present a key to the established teiid species in Florida along with their current geographic distributions.
Confronting Challenges in Intervention Research with Ethnically Diverse Older Adults: The USC Well Elderly II Trial

Background Community-dwelling older adults are at risk for declines in physical health, cognition, and psychosocial well-being. However, their enactment of active and health-promoting lifestyles can reduce such declines.Purpose The purpose of this article is to describe the USC Well Elderly II study, a randomized clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle program for elders, and document how various methodological challenges were addressed during the course of the trial.Methods In the study, 460 ethnically diverse elders recruited from a variety of sites in the urban Los Angeles area were enrolled in a randomized experiment involving a crossover design component. Within either the first or second 6-month phase of their study involvement, each elder received a lifestyle intervention designed to improve a variety of aging outcomes. At 4—5 time points over an 18—24 month interval, the research participants were assessed on measures of healthy activity, coping, social support, pe...
Information-theoretic analysis of watermarking

An information-theoretic analysis of watermarking is presented in this paper. We formulate watermarking as a communication problem with side information at the encoder and decoder and determine the hiding capacity, which upper-bounds the rates of reliable transmission and quantifies the fundamental tradeoff between three quantities: the achievable watermarking rates and the allowed distortion levels for the information hider and the attacker. The hiding capacity is the value of a game between the information hider and the attacker. The optimal attack strategy is the solution of a particular rate-distortion problem, and the optimal hiding strategy is the solution to a channel coding problem. For several important problems, the hiding capacity is the same whether or not the decoder knows the host data set. It is also shown that existing watermarking systems in the literature operate far below capacity.
Voice and Inequality: The Transformation of American Civic Democracy

white men now includes a rainbow of persons, and it has just witnessed the first instance of a woman president handing off the gavel to a female successor. Despite the many changes over the decades, there have been important continuities—so many that Goodnow and his colleagues would surely recognize us today as inheritors of the association and disciplinary vision they launched. Now, as then, organized political science encompasses normative theory as well as empirical research. Now, as then, APSA features comparative research, area studies, and a focus on international politics as well as studies of American politics; and our membership is international. APSA fosters both pedagogy and research. We nurture ties to neighboring disciplines and proudly include scholars who started elsewhere in our ranks. Now, as then, we aim to link responsible citizenship in the larger society to scholarly studies of government and politics. In the words of Pendleton Herring, delivered in his APSA presidential address 50 years ago: “[A]s we . . . develop political science as a discipline we both serve our professional needs and perform the vital function of helping our democracy to know itself better.” Above all, as Goodnow put it in his first presidential address, APSA aspires to be “inclusive.” We do not define political science narrowly, and yet we still seek to nurture solidarity and fellowship, especially by sponsoring “annual sessions” that “offer a common meeting ground in more ways than one for those whose work is mainly or largely political rather than economic or historical.” Ours is a vital association, still benefiting from active member involvement and support, a model of unity nourished by diversity. For 100 years, we political scientists have stuck together and flourished. Let us hope that a century from now our successors can look back and say that we built well on earlier foundations, opening the way for still further growth and intellectual and practical engagement. The centenary of APSA, a thriving voluntary membership group, is a fitting time to reflect on the changing shape of the American civic democracy of which we are a part. U.S. democracy has long been considered distinctive—and a model of sorts for the rest of the world. This is somewhat owing to the U.S. Bill of Rights and electoral contests; perhaps even more so, it is because Americans have long been portrayed as preeminent organizers and joiners of voluntary associations that shape and supplement the activities of government. In the 1890s, Lord Bryce—who later served as the
Emittance growth due to decoherence and wakefields

Suddenly induced coherent centroid oscillations about the closed orbit will decohere due to nonlinearities in the magnetic optics-at the expense of a stored beam's emittance. Collective effects mediated by the vacuum chamber wakefield and dependent on the beam current, can however damp the coherent oscillations-ameliorating the emittance growth. Closed form expressions for both the beam centroid and the beam size are obtained in the absence of collective effects. Simultaneous turn-by-turn measurements of beam centroid and size in the SLC damping ring are presented, and the importance and intricacy of collective effects is discussed.
Heterogeneity in Symptom Profiles among Older Adults Diagnosed with Major Depression

Background Late-life depression may be undiagnosed due to symptom expression. These analyses explore the structure of depressive symptoms in older patients diagnosed with major depression by identifying clusters of patients based on their symptom profiles.
14 Collapse and Sustainability: Rome, the Maya, and the Modern World

The factors that make a society sustainable, or vulnerable to collapse, can rarely be discerned within a human lifetime. Sustainability challenges develop over periods of decades, generations, or centuries. Sustainability must therefore be a historical science. A major challenge of the IHOPE program is how to draw valid comparisons among different kinds of societies, existing at different times, that can clarify our contemporary problems of sustainability. This paper develops and illustrates a theory for understanding sustainability and collapse that has cross-cultural applicability. Illustrating the theory by the collapse of the Western Roman Empire yields new insights into what it means to be a sustainable society. Comparison to the Maya reveals that, despite many differences, the Roman Empire and Maya polities underwent similar patterns of cultural evolution, and developed similar vulnerabilities. Comparison of both historical cases to the sustainability challenges of today demonstrates that contemporary industrial societies face evolutionary processes similar to those experienced by the Romans and the Maya. This analysis yields several points that are worthwhile for policy makers to understand.
Introduction: A Primer on Adaptationism

Thirty years ago Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin published a article called ‘‘The Spandrels of San Marco and the Panglossian Paradigm: A Critique of the Adaptationist Programme.’’ This article initiated the debate over the fate of adaptationism. While the prevalence and exact nature of adaptationism were not immediately clear in 1979, the target of Gould and Lewontin’s critique was: the practice of accepting adaptation hypotheses too quickly based on little or no evidence. The critique generated a discussion of lasting influence, a discussion still relevant to both evolutionary biology and philosophy. Indeed, the reach of the Spandrels article is such that Rose and Lauder (1996, pp. 1–8) claim that one task of contemporary evolutionary biology is to articulate a viable ‘‘post-spandrels adaptationism.’’ This special issue commemorates both the seminal article and the literature it inspired. The contributions here provide extensions and elaborations of many threads woven into this complex debate. There is little chance of successfully summarizing all complicated contours of the Spandrels literature in sufficient detail. Instead, I will briefly provide my take on why the article enjoys lasting relevance, and attempt to locate the contributions in the conceptual landscape. The explanation for the Spandrels phenomenon rests on four features of the critique. First, the article attempts to identify and make explicit a coherent program of research in evolutionary biology with the goal of criticizing and reforming the practices of the program. Second, as the title makes clear, the Spandrels article uses rich cultural metaphors to inform our perspective on biological science. Third, the critique targets a specific and central sort of inference—inferring evolutionary origin from current utility—and the often lax evidential standards taken to warrant the inference. And fourth, the article argues for the evolutionary significance of development and constraint.
HMGB1 and TLR4 mediate skeletal muscle recovery in a murine model of hindlimb ischemia

Background We have previously shown that the danger signal high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) promotes angiogenesis when administered to ischemic muscle. HMGB1 signals through Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) as well as the receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE). However, the actions of these receptors in ischemic injury and muscle recovery are not known. We hypothesize that TLR4 mediates tissue recovery and angiogenesis in response to ischemia. Methods Femoral artery ligation was performed in control, TLR4 competent (C3H/HeOuJ) and incompetent (C3H/HeJ) mice, as well as RAGE knockout mice and their C57B6 control counterparts. In other experiments, control mice were pretreated with anti-HMGB1 neutralizing antibody before femoral artery ligation. After 2 weeks, limb perfusion was evaluated using laser Doppler perfusion imaging and reported as the ratio of blood flow in the ischemic to nonischemic limb. Muscle necrosis, fat replacement, and vascular density in the anterior tibialis muscle were quantified histologically. In vitro, TLR4 and RAGE expression was evaluated in human dermal microvascular endothelial cells in response to hypoxia. Human dermal microvascular endothelial cells treated with HMGB1 alone and in the presence of anti-TLR4 antibody were probed for phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), a signaling molecule critical to endothelial cell (EC) angiogenic behavior. Results Both anti-HMGB1 antibody as well as defective TLR4 signaling in HeJ mice resulted in prominent muscle necrosis 2 weeks after femoral artery ligation. Control HeOuJ mice had less necrosis than TLR4 incompetent HeJ mice, but a greater amount of fat replacement. In contrast to control C3H mice, control C57B6 mice demonstrated prominent muscle regeneration with very little necrosis. Muscle regeneration was not dependent on RAGE. While vascular density did not differ between strains, mice with intact RAGE and TLR4 signaling had less blood flow in ischemic limbs compared with mutant strains. In vitro, EC TLR4 expression increased in response to hypoxia while TLR4 antagonism decreased HMGB1-induced activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase. Conclusions Both HMGB1 and TLR4 protect against muscle necrosis after hindlimb ischemia. However, muscle regeneration does not appear to be tied to vascular density. HMGB1 likely activates angiogenic behavior in ECs in vitro, and this activation may be modulated by TLR4. The improvement in blood flow seen in mice with absent TLR4 and RAGE signaling may suggest anti-angiogenic roles for both receptors, or vasoconstriction induced by TLR4 and RAGE mediated inflammatory pathways.
How Does an Initial Expectation Bias Influence Auditors' Application and Performance of Analytical Procedures?

ABSTRACT : Prior research demonstrates that knowledge of unaudited balances biases auditors' expectations during analytical procedures. What is less understood is how these biases affect auditors' subsequent investigations and their conclusions about the reasonableness of a particular balance. We employ the selective accessibility model to examine the differences in analytical procedure performance when auditor expectations are formed with versus without knowledge of the client's unaudited financial statement balances. In an experimental setting, we found that auditors with knowledge of unaudited balances favored hypotheses and supporting information indicating that the client's balance was reasonably stated. Auditors who formed expectations without current-year figures were more willing to evaluate competing alternatives, could better identify the most pertinent information, and were significantly more likely to identify a material misstatement using an analytical procedure. Data Availability: Data are ...
Observer's performance and perceptual sensitivity for detecting critical patterns in static maternal-fetal heart rate images

The present study examined detection performance and perceptual sensitivity for critical patterns in maternal-fetal heart rate (MFHR) signals in single and combined formats. Forty-one undergraduate students viewed simulated images of MFHR signals under four different signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios. The images contained an acceleration, early deceleration, late deceleration, or no deviation. Further, the deviations varied in amplitude. The results showed that as variability increased and amplitude decreased perceptual sensitivity also decreased and participants experienced reduced ability to detect signals and committed more false alarms. These effects were more pronounced when performing the combined condition compared to the single condition. These findings highlight that interpretation of MFHR signals is subject to misinterpretation and underscores the need for countermeasures.
Remote control structural exciters for structural data acquisition system calibrations

The Air Force invented a new calibration technique, which allows one person to perform multiple end-to-end mechanical calibrations of structural dynamics measurement systems. An end-to-end calibration means a full calibration of instrumentation from the physical input to the transducer to the output where the analog or digital signal is normally analyzed. It is difficult to stimulate mounted and embedded transducers with known physical inputs. Normally two people calibrate-one at the transducer holds or attaches the exciter and one operates the recorder. This new technique uses remote control structural exciters to stimulate measurement transducers contained in structures, with a measurable input level, and the output signal is communicated to a data recorder. The Air Force demonstrated this patented technique by using accelerometers in the laboratory. A commercial off-the-shelf vibration paging system sends a signal from a master control unit to individual exciters that stimulate accelerometers mounted on structures. A reference accelerometer measures the input. Engineers validated the technique using eight different exciters in a completely randomized block design experiment consisting of three 2-level factors: material, structural thickness and excitation mode. The engineers measured amplitude, frequency and transfer function between the accelerometers. This paper describes the invention and looks at potential field applications to insure data integrity in structural data acquisition systems on aging commercial and military vehicles.
Sharing the World's Advanced Rheology Knowledge through Rheo‐Hub

Recent advances in rheometer design and rheology theory have led to an abundance of rheological information, both experimental and theoretical. In response to this wonderful opportunity, many of the world's leading rheologists began to share their expert software codes with the wider community of materials researchers and practitioners. This became possible through “Rheo‐Hub”, a central computer platform from which the user interrogates rheological expert codes (”engines”) and rheological data by comparing, merging, and funneling these into further interrogations and explorations. In this virtual environment, results are returned to the computer screen as visuals so that the visual intelligence of the user gets involved in the cognition process. Rheological explorations may be repeated in different ways (using different expert codes for answering the same research question) and viewed from different graphical viewpoints. This creates the multi‐scale and multi‐expertise workspace that is needed to support quantitative rheological explorations and to prepare for discovery. The virtual environment technology will be presented and examples will be shown. Rheo‐Hub's strengths are data analysis, integration of experimental results with theoretically predicted rheology, visuals for communicating results, and introduction of a rheological data standard.
Transformation by Fos proteins requires a C-terminal transactivation domain.

Abstract The Fos family of proteins now includes seven members: the retroviral proteins FBR-v-Fos and FBJ-v-Fos and the cellular proteins c-Fos, FosB, FosB2, Fra1, and Fra2. Four proteins (FBR-v-Fos, FBJ-v-Fos, c-Fos, and FosB) transform established rodent fibroblast cell lines, while three (FosB2, Fra1, and Fra2) do not. As all family members display sequence-specific DNA-binding activity as part of a heterodimeric complex with Jun proteins, other features must account for the differences in transforming potential. We demonstrate here that all transforming members have a C-terminal transactivation domain that is lacking in nontransforming members. The nontransforming proteins Fra1 and Fra2 can be converted to transforming proteins by fusion of a transactivation domain from either FosB or VP16. We also demonstrate that differences in the basic region-leucine zipper domain affecting either the affinity or sequence specificity of DNA binding are not determinants of the difference in transforming potential among members of the Fos family. The results further define the functional requirements for transformation by Fos proteins and suggest that the subunit composition of AP1 complexes is an important determinant of mitogenic signalling capability.
Multistage block-spreading for impulse radio multiple access through ISI channels

Transmitting digital information using ultra-short pulses, impulse radio (IR) has received increasing interest for multiple access (MA). When IRMA systems have to operate in dense multipath environments, the multiple user interference (MUI) and intersymbol interference (ISI) induced, adversely affect system capacity and performance. Analog IRMA utilizes pulse position modulation (PPM) and random time-hopping codes to mitigate ISI and suppress MUI statistically. We develop an all-digital IRMA scheme that relies on multistage block-spreading (MS-BS), and judiciously designed transceiver pairs to eliminate MUI deterministically, and regardless of ISI multipath effects. Our proposed MS-BS-IRMA system can accommodate a large number of users and is capable of providing different users with variable transmission rates, which is important for multimedia applications. Unlike conventional IRMA systems, MS-BS-IRMA exhibits no degradation in bit-error rate performance, as the number of users increases.
Advancing Interagency Collaboration Through Constructive Simulation: Results from the 2015 Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds Workshop

Immersive, 3D conferences are becoming viable using OpenSimulator, open source software. The act of planning for an immersive conference using the software dependent on the conference success strengthens the community of users that participate in the platform. This paper describes three conference events held from 2013–2015 involving an emerging consortium of leading developers and researchers of virtual worlds. The implications of technological success of immersive conferences hold promise for government and military agencies facing training requirements under fiscal restrictions. A workshop was conducted during the writing of this paper establishing the inaugural, immersive workshop for the Federal Consortium of Virtual Worlds sponsored by the US Army and Avacon Incorporated, a non-profit organization producing conference events.
Southwestern Internal Medicine Conference: Urinary Incontinence in the Elderly

Urinary incontinence is a prevalent problem among the elderly and has a significant clinical, social, psychological, and economical impact. In spite of these consequences, often very little is done to evaluate the problem. Furthermore, patients may be reluctant to bring their complaint to the attention of their health care provider. This broad review will discuss the anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology of urinary incontinence. The initial evaluation and treatment options will also be outlined. As the aged population continues to grow, physicians can expect to see this problem with greater frequency. It is hoped that this discussion will facilitate the evaluation and management of this common but frequently neglected problem.
Effect of surface texture on freezing in nanopores: surface-induced versus homogeneous crystallization.

Freezing of argon in ordered and disordered carbon pores of a similar diameter D ∼ 2.4 nm is investigated using extensive molecular simulations with large system sizes up to 104 atoms. While crystallization in the atomistically smooth pore consists in a surface-induced phase transition occurring at a temperature larger than the bulk, crystallization in the disordered pores, which is only partial as it is spatially restricted to the pore center, occurs through homogeneous crystallization. These results shed light on solidification in pores by showing that there is a crossover between surface-induced and homogeneous crystallization upon increasing the surface disorder of the host material. In the latter case, the Gibbs–Thomson equation, in which crystallization is assumed to occur when the crystal size equals the pore size corrected for the thickness of the unfreezable layer at the pore surface, is in reasonable agreement with the observed freezing temperature.
The effect of vitamin A deficiency and Newcastle disease on lymphoid cell systems in chickens.

SummaryA diet without vitamin A but otherwise nutritionally complete was given to chicks from time of hatching. Control diets with adequate vitamin A were given to two other groups. At age 21 days, Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was nasally inoculated into all 3 groups; controls of each group remained uninoculated. Between Days 1 and 3 after NDV inoculation the A-depleted chicks showed significant loss of lymphocytes from the cortex of both the thymus and the bursa of Fabricius, while those on control diets did not show any loss. On Days 5 to 9, there were minimal to moderate effects on populations of lymphocytes in these organs of the group of chicks given adequate vitamin A, but consistently much more severe effects became apparent in the A-depleted group in which 3 of 7 (42%) of the cortices were essentially devoid of lymphocytes. Granulocytes were prominent in areas of thymic and bursal cortex depleted lymphocytes. Noninfected A-deprived chicks and chicks on a normal diet showed relatively modest deple...
Cluster III of low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 binds activated blood coagulation factor VIII.

Low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP) mediates clearance of blood coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). In LRP, FVIII binds the complement-type repeats (CRs) of clusters II and IV, which also bind a majority of other LRP ligands. No ligand is known for LRP cluster I, and only three ligands, including the LRP chaperone alpha-2 macroglobulin receptor-associated protein (RAP), bind cluster III. Using surface plasmon resonance, we found that in addition to clusters II and IV, activated FVIII (FVIIIa) binds cluster III. The specificity of this interaction was confirmed using an anti-FVIII antibody fragment, which inhibited the binding. Recombinant fragments of cluster III and its site-directed mutagenesis were used to localize the cluster’s site for binding FVIIIa to CR.14–19. The interactive site of FVIIIa was localized within its A1/A3′-C1-C2 heterodimer (HDa), which is a major physiological remnant of FVIIIa. In mice, the clearance of HDa was faster than that of FVIII and prolonged in the pres...
A Complete History of Breast Reconstruction

Reconstruction of the female breast has become a common component of the overall management plan for breast cancer. Throughout ancient times, great controversy regarding such surgical treatment had produced many theories of why and how breast cancer occurred and what was the best treatment of this disease. William Halsted’s introduction of the “Radical Mastectomy” in 1889 revolutionized the realm of breast cancer treatment as it was markedly effective at achieving local control of the disease. Due to beliefs that closure of mastectomy sites could conceal tumor recurrence, breast reconstruction did not gain wide acceptance until the mid-1900s. Today, a plastic surgeon has a variety of autologous techniques to reconstruct the breast. The author describes the historical development of breast reconstruction with the large variety of techniques.
Campaigning in Poetry, Governing in Prose

The final ingredient in New Labour’s strategy to narrow the UK’s productivity gap was its commitment, as we noted in the last chapter, to ‘improve productivity in public services’. Though that commitment invariably came last in any listing of the strategy’s component elements, it was never a minor or a residual one. On the contrary, the condition, delivery and expansion of public services in the UK since 1997 has been, and remains, absolutely central to the New Labour project, and critical to its potential for regular re-election. Public sector productivity preoccupied the Treasury under Gordon Brown as part of his campaign to raise living standards without raising direct taxation, and it preoccupied Number 10, as one of the defining elements of what is ‘new’ in New Labour. The Chancellor has invariably approached the issue of productivity in the services that his budgets finance in primarily cost terms: the cost to the taxpayer, and the cost to UK business and its competitiveness if government departments do not play their ‘part in meeting the productivity challenge’.2 The Prime Minister has shared those concerns and on occasions that vocabulary, but more normally Tony Blair has presented the ‘modernization’ of the UK’s welfare state as the only way of protecting old Labour values in an increasingly competitive and globalized world.
Tart Cherry Extracts Reduce Inflammatory and Oxidative Stress Signaling in Microglial Cells

Tart cherries contain an array of polyphenols that can decrease inflammation and oxidative stress (OS), which contribute to cognitive declines seen in aging populations. Previous studies have shown that polyphenols from dark-colored fruits can reduce stress-mediated signaling in BV-2 mouse microglial cells, leading to decreases in nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression. Thus, the present study sought to determine if tart cherries—which improved cognitive behavior in aged rats—would be efficacious in reducing inflammatory and OS signaling in HAPI rat microglial cells. Cells were pretreated with different concentrations (0–1.0 mg/mL) of Montmorency tart cherry powder for 1–4 h, then treated with 0 or 100 ng/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS) overnight. LPS application increased extracellular levels of NO and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and intracellular levels of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). Pretreatment with tart cherry decreased levels of NO, TNF-α, and COX-2 in a dose- and time-dependent manner versus those without pretreatment; the optimal combination was between 0.125 and 0.25 mg/mL tart cherry for 2 h. Higher concentrations of tart cherry powder and longer exposure times negatively affected cell viability. Therefore, tart cherries (like other dark-colored fruits), may be effective in reducing inflammatory and OS-mediated signals.
Rotation-Advancement Superomedial Pedicle Mastopexy Following Massive Weight Loss

Bariatric surgery continues to offer the greatest degree of sustained weight loss to the morbidly obese patient [1]. As plastic surgeons embrace the growing need for body contouring procedures, we are beginning to recognize the complexity of the contour deformities following massive amounts of weight loss [2, 3]. Although the breast represents only one aspect of the MWL patient, the deformity is often complex, blending into the upper abdomen, lateral chest, and arm. The long, deflated ptotic breast following MWL is still poorly understood, and although we are familiar with intricacies related to breast ptosis as the result of age, pregnancy, and gravity, those following MWL pose additional challenges. Numerous physiological and anatomical factors exist, and the traditional mastopexy reduction techniques are often insufficient. In order to best manage these patients, it is crucial to examine and understand the deformity to best achieve the goals. The two main issues following MWL are that the breast has an unstable envelope with significant skin laxity and an unstable mound with loss of volume and form. The breast is often very ptotic, laterally displaced, and with a flat upper pole. The chest can be wide, with ill-defined landmarks and a loose inframammary fold (IMF). The patient’s body habitus is also a contributing factor. These are some of the reasons why management of the breast following MWL is challenging and often requires additional steps in order to maintain shape and size expectations, and minimize recurrence of the deformity. The superomedial technique is an option for managing the massive weight loss breast.
To a problem on direct tunneling charge carriers through the ultrathin gate dielectric in MOSFETs

The problem on validity of leakage currents calculation is considered on the basis of a value of a barrier transmittivity obtained within the framework of WKB-approximation. In WKB frameworks more strict expressions linking boundary conditions on wave functions and transmittivity of a barrier are obtained. The possibility of resonant tunneling in a MOS-structure is indicated, that explains nonmonotone dependence of the tunnel current density on gate voltage (V/sub g/<0.5B).
A Novel Technique for Identification and Condition Monitoring of Nonlinear Loads in Power Systems

This paper deals with centroid-Concordia patterns for characterization of harmonic producing three-phase loads in a power system distribution network. The three-phase currents (ia, ib, and ic) at the point of common coupling (PCC) are sensed and processed through the Concordia mathematical formulation resulting in two-phase orthogonal currents (ialpha-ibeta). The currents (ialpha-ibeta) are used to obtain the Concordia patterns needed for centroid calculation. The centroid of the Concordia pattern reveals characteristics of the load connected at the PCC. In the majority of cases, the developed Concordia patterns do not differ much from each other as the centroid remains at the origin; this leads to a failure if conventional Concordia patterns are used to discern faults and condition monitoring of loads at power system distribution. Therefore, we proposed modified Concordia pattern methods. In the modified Concordia pattern, we exploit pattern symmetry around the alpha-beta axes of the transform currents (ialpha-ibeta). The computed value of the centroid of the modified Concordia pattern can be used to develop a drift pattern of the centroid location. Using the drift pattern over time, deterioration of system condition can be monitored and discerned. The drift pattern will allow us to develop the mathematical formulation for load modeling. This is an important aspect of the proposed investigation due to an increasing proliferation of nonlinear loads on aging power system network. The proposed method will be simple, non-invasive, and require reduced data sets and memory; therefore, it may prove to be easier for real-time load modeling, condition monitoring, and condition prediction for an ever changing nature of loads on power system networks.
Competition and Gaming Behavior by Medicare Home Health Agencies in the United States

Under the Medicare home health prospective payment system, agencies could make large profits by targeting the 10th therapy visit. The objective of this study is to examine the influence of market c...
Robust odd-parity superconductivity in the doped topological insulator Nb x Bi 2 Se 3

We present resistivity and magnetization measurements on proton-irradiated crystals demonstrating that the superconducting state in the doped topological insulator ${\mathrm{Nb}}_{x}{\mathrm{Bi}}_{2}{\mathrm{Se}}_{3}$ ($x=0.25$) is surprisingly robust against disorder-induced electron scattering. The superconducting transition temperature ${T}_{c}$ decreases without indication of saturation with increasing defect concentration, and the corresponding scattering rates far surpass expectations based on conventional theory. The low-temperature variation of the London penetration depth $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\lambda}(T)$ follows a power law $[\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}\ensuremath{\lambda}(T)\ensuremath{\sim}{T}^{2}]$ indicating the presence of symmetry-protected point nodes. Our results are consistent with the proposed robust nematic ${E}_{u}$ pairing state in this material.
Global and Regional Context of Salmonids and Urban Areas

Although many of the world’s surface waters lack salmonids, they range extensively across the Northern Hemisphere and have been introduced successfully into cold Southern Hemisphere waters. Likewise urbanization is a global phenomenon, making the patterns and principles discussed in this book relevant elsewhere. Unlike many urbanized regions of Europe, Asia, and the eastern and north-central United States, salmonid populations continue to persist in urban areas of the Pacific Northwest. In addition, some of the most progressive land use regulations and stream rehabilitation efforts occur in that region, particularly in Oregon. Finally, salmon and trout fisheries are major contributors to local economies in the Pacific Northwest and are a major source of food for many families. In this chapter, we document the regional importance of salmonids and the interest in rehabilitating them via case studies from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Assessing service quality and organizational goal alignment for service units

ABSTRACTPrevious articles in this column have studied how technical service units provide value to their organizations. Those articles explored ways in which cataloging units provide service to libraries and how to develop and market those services to communicate their value. This article builds on this previous work by studying assessment approaches broadly for departments like technical services that provide “building block” or supporting services for user-facing organizations like libraries. The author proposes a framework for identifying an assessment outcome and connecting it back to a specific research question and design (i.e., intended outcome, assessment question[s], data gathering approach, data gathering method, data analysis method). Issues around question design, privacy, and organizational culture are discussed as factors to consider in the assessment of building-block services.
Dietary K+ and Cl− independently regulate basolateral conductance in principal and intercalated cells of the collecting duct

The renal collecting duct contains two distinct cell types, principal and intercalated cells, expressing potassium Kir4.1/5.1 (KCNJ10/16) and chloride ClC-K2 (ClC-Kb in humans) channels on their basolateral membrane, respectively. Both channels are thought to play important roles in controlling systemic water-electrolyte balance and blood pressure. However, little is known about mechanisms regulating activity of Kir4.1/5.1 and ClC-K2/b. Here, we employed patch clamp analysis at the single channel and whole cell levels in freshly isolated mouse collecting ducts to investigate regulation of Kir4.1/5.1 and ClC-K2/b by dietary K+ and Cl− intake. Treatment of mice with high K+ and high Cl− diet (6% K+, 5% Cl−) for 1 week significantly increased basolateral K+-selective current, single channel Kir4.1/5.1 activity and induced hyperpolarization of basolateral membrane potential in principal cells when compared to values in mice on a regular diet (0.9% K+, 0.5% Cl−). In contrast, basolateral Cl−-selective current and single channel ClC-K2/b activity was markedly decreased in intercalated cells under this condition. Substitution of dietary K+ to Na+ in the presence of high Cl− exerted a similar inhibiting action of ClC-K2/b suggesting that the channel is sensitive to variations in dietary Cl− per se. Cl−-sensitive with-no-lysine kinase (WNK) cascade has been recently proposed to orchestrate electrolyte transport in the distal tubule during variations of dietary K+. However, co-expression of WNK1 or its major downstream effector Ste20-related proline-alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) had no effect on ClC-Kb over-expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Treatment of mice with high K+ diet without concomitant elevations in dietary Cl− (6% K+, 0.5% Cl−) elicited a comparable increase in basolateral K+-selective current, single channel Kir4.1/5.1 activity in principal cells, but had no significant effect on ClC-K2/b activity in intercalated cells. Furthermore, stimulation of aldosterone signaling by Deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) recapitulated the stimulatory actions of high K+ intake on Kir4.1/5.1 channels in principal cells but was ineffective to alter ClC-K2/b activity and basolateral Cl− conductance in intercalated cells. In summary, we report that variations of dietary K+ and Cl− independently regulate basolateral potassium and chloride conductance in principal and intercalated cells. We propose that such discrete mechanism might contribute to fine-tuning of urinary excretion of electrolytes depending on dietary intake.
Topography of the Mantle Transition Zone Discontinuities Beneath Alaska and its Geodynamic Implications: Constraints from Receiver Function Stacking

The 410 and 660 km discontinuities (d410 and d660, respectively) beneath Alaska and adjacent areas are imaged by stacking 75,296 radial receiver functions recorded by 438 broadband seismic stations with up to 30 years of recording period. When the 1-D IASP91 Earth model is used for moveout correction and time depth conversion, significant and spatially systematic variations in the apparent depths of the d410 and d660 are observed. The mean apparent depth of the d410 and d660 for the entire study area is 417 ± 12 km and 665 ± 12 km, respectively, and the mean mantle transition zone (MTZ) thickness is 248 ± 8 km which is statistically identical to the global average. For most of the areas, the undulations of the apparent depths of the d410 and d660 are highly correlated, indicating that lateral velocity variations in the upper mantle above the d410 contribute to the bulk of the observed apparent depth variations by affecting the traveltimes of the P-to-S converted phases from both discontinuities. Beneath central Alaska, a broad zone with greater than normal MTZ thicknesses and shallower than normal d410 is imaged, implying that the subducting Pacific slab has reached the MTZ and is fragmented or significantly thickened. Within the proposed Northern Cordilleran slab window, an overall thinner than normal MTZ is observed and is most likely the result of a depressed d410. This observation, when combined with results from seismic tomography investigations, may indicate advective thermal upwelling from the upper MTZ through the slab window.
Recreational Drug and Psychosocial Profile in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients Seeking Antiviral Therapy.

Abstract Background and aims. Practitioners treating hepatitis C (HCV) provide healthcare to a special population with high rates of substance abuse and psychiatric disorders. We investigated the psychosocial profile in HCV patients and tested what variables affect commencement of antiviral therapy. Material and methods. Recreational drug use (RDU), marijuana (THC), alcohol use, and psychiatric history were initially investigated with a questionnaire prior to history and physical. Following an educational intervention, we reinterrogated patients for RDU and THC use, and revision of initial statement was documented. Variables affecting commencement of antiviral therapy were analysed with logistic regression. Results. Out of 153 patients, 140 (92%) answered the questionnaire. Intervention increased total yield by 6%, however, 39% (11/28) of those initially denying use revised their statement. Drug screening identified 9 more patients with RDU/THC use. Half of patients consuming alcohol were heavy drinkers, and psychiatric disease was identified in 54%. Only 73 (48%) of 139 patients eligible for antivirals received treatment. Multivariable analysis revealed that younger patients (OR = 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.08), and those testing positive on drug screen (OR = 0.41, 95% CI 0.19-0.92) were less likely to be treated. Denial by insurance and loss to follow-up were the most common reasons for not starting antiviral treatment. Conclusion. Substance abuse is highly prevalent among HCV patients, and it is difficult to tell prior from current users. Integral care of HCV patients should include a diligent screen for substance abuse and rehabilitation referral, aiming to increase the pool of patients eligible for antiviral therapy. This can only be achieved through a multidisciplinary approach.
On-Line Monitoring for Consistent and Optimal Production of Biologicals from Mammalian Cell Cultures

Despite all efforts, process monitoring and control of mammalian cell cultures are still limited to physical variables such as pH, DO, and temperature. Although these are important parameters, cellular activities are equally governed by the biochemical composition of the media in the fermenter. If the cellular environment is not controlled, then cells alter their physiological state leading to batch-to-batch variations in production. To overcome some of these problems, we have developed a new process control system that allows on-line continuous determination of cell density, respiration activity, and metabolite and product concentrations. Cell densities are estimated by using on-line optical sensors. The respiration activities are determined using DO control output coupled with a mass transfer model. Measurement of glucose, lactate, and monoclonal antibody concentrations for a hybridoma cell culture was accomplished by using a YSI analyzer and a BioCad/RPM system operated in series. The application of this highly instrumented fermenter system is discussed in batch and continuous fermentation. Both direct and indirect (metabolic rate based) cell density measurements allowed adjustment of perfusion rate proportional to cell density. Using this “cell specific perfusion rate” control we could establish a constant environment for the cells and minimize variations in production.