cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Future climate change promotes novel gene-climate associations in balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), a forest tree species

ABSTRACT A central challenge to predicting climate change effects on biodiversity is integrating information on intraspecific variation, specifically population-level local adaptation to climate. Assessing how climate change could disrupt local adaptation to climate can provide a new way of understanding population risk and vulnerability to climate change. For the wide-ranging boreal tree species, balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), we used models of existing population-level genetic differentiation to estimate three key components of population’s vulnerability to climate change: (1) predicted shifts in genetic composition with and without migration, (2) the potential for future novel gene-climate associations, and (3) the distance populations would need to migrate to minimize future maladaptation. When assessed across the range of balsam poplar, these three metrics suggest that vulnerability to climate change is greatest in the eastern portion of balsam poplar’s range, where future maladaptation peaked, migration distances to sites that minimized maladaptation were greatest, and the emergence of novel gene-climate associations were highest. Our results further suggest greater maladaptation to climate when migration distances were limited – consistent with the possibility of migration to lessen maladaptation to future climate. Our work provides a comprehensive evaluation of population’s vulnerability to climate change by simultaneously assessing population maladaptation to future climate and the distances populations would need to migrate to minimize maladaptation, in a way that goes beyond species-level bioclimatic modelling. In doing so, our work helps advance towards the long-held goal of incorporating genomic information in models of species responses to climate change.
Fast, facile synthesis method for BAL-mediated PVP-bismuth nanoparticles

Abstract Bismuth is a water-insoluble non-toxic metallic element used in a wide array of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics, and catalysts, among others. Yet, the research regarding the use of bismuth nanoparticles (BiNPs) for antimicrobial treatments is scarce. Most of the current protocols for synthesizing BiNPs suitable for medical uses cannot be easily replicated in non-specialized laboratories. The objective of this work is to provide a fast, facile and economical method for synthesizing BiNPs. Bismuth nanoparticles were synthesized by a chemical reduction process, in less than 1 h, in a heated alkaline glycine solution; by the chelation and reduction of the bismuth (III) ions using dimercaptopropanol (BAL) and sodium borohydride respectively, and then coated and stabilized by polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The resulting PVP-BiNPs were characterized by UV–Vis spectrophotometry and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). • We describe a simple, rapid and inexpensive method for the synthesis of bismuth nanoparticles. • This method allows synthesizing small nanoparticles with an aspect ratio close to one. • Bismuth nanoparticles have antimicrobial properties, this easy-to-replicate protocol may further the research on bismuth nanoparticles for biomedical applications.
Epidemic situation of imported malaria in Chengdu City from 2012 to 2016

Objective To understand the malaria epidemic situation in Chengdu City, so as to provide the evidence for effectively carrying out the malaria elimination work. Methods The data of imported malaria in Chengdu City from 2012 to 2016 were collected from the Disease Surveillance Information Reporting System of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and analyzed respectively. Results A total of 240 imported malaria cases were reported in Chengdu City from 2012 to 2016. In detail, 68.75% of the cases were falciparum malaria cases, 20.41% were vivax malaria cases, 2.50% were quartan malaria cases, 6.25% were ovale malaria cases, and 2.08% were mixed Plasmodium infections. Among them three patients died, with a mortality of 1.25%. All of the cases were infected overseas, among which 224 patients returned from Africa and 16 patients from Southeast Asia. The annual average morbidity was 0.28/100 000, and there was a significantly difference among annual average morbidities (χ2 = 23.87, P 0.05). Conclusion The number of overseas imported malaria in Chengdu City increases year by year. The effective measures to control the overseas imported malaria should be strengthened to consolidate the achievements of malaria elimination.
Contact with the CsrA core is required for allosteric inhibition by FliW in Bacillus subtilis

The RNA-binding protein CsrA is a post-transcriptional regulator that is encoded in genomes throughout the bacterial phylogeny. In the gamma-proteobacteria, the activity of CsrA is inhibited by small RNAs that competitively sequester CsrA binding. In contrast, the firmicute Bacillus subtilis encodes a protein inhibitor of CsrA called FliW, that non-competitively inhibits CsrA activity but the precise mechanism of antagonism is unclear. Here we take an unbiased genetic approach to identify residues of FliW important for CsrA inhibition that fall into two distinct spatial and functional classes. Most loss-of-function alleles mutated FliW residues that surround the critical regulatory CsrA residue N55 and abolished CsrA interaction. Two loss-of-function alleles however mutated FliW residues near the CsrA core dimerization domain and maintained interaction with CsrA. One of these two alleles reversed charge at what appeared to be a salt bridge with the CsrA core region, charge reversal of the CsrA partner residue phenocopied the FliW allele, and charge reversal of both residues simultaneously restored antagonism. We propose a model in which initial interaction between FliW and CsrA is necessary but not sufficient for antagonism which also requires salt bridge formation with, and deformation of, the CsrA core domain to allosterically abolish RNA binding activity.
Deep Networks from the Principle of Rate Reduction

This work attempts to interpret modern deep (convolutional) networks from the principles of rate reduction and (shift) invariant classification. We show that the basic iterative gradient ascent scheme for maximizing the rate reduction of learned features naturally leads to a deep network, one iteration per layer. The architectures, operators (linear or nonlinear), and parameters of the network are all explicitly constructed layer-by-layer in a forward propagation fashion. All components of this ``white box'' network have precise optimization, statistical, and geometric interpretation. Our preliminary experiments indicate that such a network can already learn a good discriminative deep representation without any back propagation training. Moreover, all linear operators of the so-derived network naturally become multi-channel convolutions when we enforce classification to be rigorously shift-invariant. The derivation also indicates that such a convolutional network is significantly more efficient to learn and construct in the spectral domain.
447 VISTA targeting remodels the tumor microenvironment to overcome adaptive resistance

Background VISTA is a negative checkpoint regulator prominently expressed in the TME of a wide variety of cancers. In a preclinical model of colorectal cancer, monotherapy of small tumors (40 mm3) with anti-VISTA results in markedly slowed tumor growth. Mice bearing significantly larger tumors (600 mm3) are resistant to anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA4 treatment and all mice die following treatment, indicating checkpoint resistance. Inclusion of anti-VISTA leads to complete rejection of 50% of tumors. Methods The underlying therapeutic mechanisms of leading to enhanced anti-tumor immunity in both models was investigated by high-dimensional scRNAseq of the CD45+ immune infiltrate of tumors 10 days after treatment initiation. Results In both modes, anti-VISTA treatment stimulated several pathways involving myeloid activation and antigen-presentation. Multi-spectral imaging of anti-VISTA treated tumors supported increased antigen presentation, and suppression assays showed that the myeloid infiltrate was less suppressive to T cells. Transcriptional analysis of tumor-specific CD8 T cells showed that anti-VISTA therapy induced T cell pathways highly distinct from the anti-exhaustion effects of anti-PD-1 therapy. Conclusions These data document the unique and complementary impact of targeting VISTA in contrast to PD-1 and CTLA-4 in both the myeloid and T cell lineages. These mechanistic insights strongly support the use of anti-VISTA to overcome the checkpoint resistance seen in contemporary treatments involving PD-1. Ethics Approval All mouse studies described in this work were carried out in accordance with the principles of the Guide for the Care and Use of Animals and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Dartmouth College, NH, USA (protocol 2012).
Introducing the Health Coach at a Primary Care Practice: Impact on Quality and Cost

The cost of healthcare in U.S. is a poor value proposition. One of the primary goals of the healthcare reform act is to reduce cost while improving healthcare quality. We believe that adding a health coach will help in achieving this goal. The health coach is a medical professional who supports both the physician and the patient by meeting previously established goals. This research presents and analyzes the key roles of a health coach in a primary care practice.
Systemische medikamentöse Therapie

Die systemische medikamentose Therapie neuroorthopadischer Erkrankungen bezieht sich vor allem auf die drei Symptome Spastik, Dystonie und Ataxie (hier vor allem Tremor). Wahrend die Spastik mit den klassischen Antispastika wie Baclofen oder Tizanidin haufig auch in Erganzung mit einer fokalen Botulinumtoxin-Therapie gut behandelt werden kann, sind die Moglichkeiten bei der Dystonie oder Ataxie meist deutlich begrenzt. In diesem Kapitel soll auf die einzelnen Substanzen, die Wirkmechanismen, die Limitationen und typische Nebenwirkungen eingegangen werden.
Supporting the Next-Generation ILS: The Changing Roles of Systems Librarians

This paper compares current responsibilities of systems librarians supporting the traditional ILS with anticipated responsibilities associated with supporting the next- generation ILS. An examination of how the roles of systems librarians will change due to the migration to the next-generation ILS is included. The method used for this study was content analysis of online job banks with archives of five years of job postings. The analysis results demonstrate a shift is happening in the primary roles and responsibilities of systems librarians supporting the next-generation ILS. The job responsibilities are becoming more human/organizations related than those positions supporting the traditional ILS where responsibilities are concentrated on information technology. Overall, this suggests that systems librarians are expected to manage much less in terms of tasks directly related to information technology. Consequently, systems librarians should re-engineer themselves accordingly so that they will be able to support more critical issues in the library. Â Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE
The conversion of lignocellulosics to fermentable sugars - A survey of current research and applications to CELSS

An overview of the options for converting lignocellulosics into fermentable sugars as applied to the Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) is given. A requirement for pretreatment is shown as well as the many available options. At present, physical/chemical methods are the simplest and best characterized options, but enzymatic processes will likely be the method of choice in the future. The use of pentose sugars by microorganisms to produce edibles at levels comparable to conventional plants is shown. The possible use of mycelial food production on pretreated but not hydrolyzed lignocelluloscis is also presented. Simple tradeoff analysis among some of the many possible biological pathways to regeneration of waste lignocellulosics was undertaken. Comparisons with complete oxidation processes were made. It is suggested that the NASA Life Sciences CELSS program maintain relationships with other government agencies involved in lignocellulosic conversions and use their expertise when the actual need for such conversion technology arises rather than develop this expertise within NASA.
The retinylidene Schiff base counterion in bacteriorhodopsin.

Abstract Previous studies of bacteriorhodopsin have indicated interactions between Asp-85, Asp-212, Arg-82, and the retinylidene Schiff base. The counterion environment of the Schiff base has now been further investigated by using single and double mutants of the above amino acids. Chromophore regeneration from bacterioopsin proceeds to a normal extent in the presence of a single aspartate or glutamate residue at position 85 or 212, whereas replacement of both charged amino acids in the mutant Asp-85----Asn/Asp-212----Asn abolishes the binding of retinal. This indicates that a carboxylate group at either residue 85 or 212 is required as counterion for formation and for stabilization of the protonated Schiff base. Measurements of the pKa of the Schiff base reveal reductions of greater than 3.5 units for neutral single mutants of Asp-85 but only decreases of less than 1.2 units for corresponding substitutions of Asp-212, relative to the wild type. Substitutions of Asp-85 show large red shifts in the absorption spectrum that are partially reversible upon addition of anions, whereas mutants of Asp-212 display minor red shifts or blue shifts. We conclude, therefore, that Asp-85 is the retinylidene Schiff base counterion in wild-type bacteriorhodopsin. In the mutant Asp-85----Asn/Asp-212----Asn formation of a protonated Schiff base chromophore is restored in the presence of salts. The spectral properties of the double mutant are similar to those of the acid-purple form of bacteriorhodopsin. Upon addition of salts the folded structure of wild-type and mutant proteins can be stabilized at low pH in lipid/detergent micelles. The data indicate that exogenous anions serve as surrogate counterions to the protonated Schiff base, when the intrinsic counterions have been neutralized by mutation or by protonation.
Retrospective Review Of Inpatient Headache Admissions: Looking At Determinants Of A Successful Admission (P7.339)

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to improve quality by determining certain headache characteristics to determine features that suggest a failed inpatient admission. BACKGROUND: Refractory headache patients are often admitted to the hospital from the ED for further treatment, however, not much is known on how to improve outcome of these admissions or determine which patients would benefit from outpatient as compared to inpatient treatment. DESIGN/METHODS: Admissions of 80 pediatric patients seen in the ED with chief complaint of headache to the BCH pediatric neurology service from 06/01/2009- 6/01/201 were assessed. The admissions outcomes were analyzed based on overall improvement of headache, length of stay and return after discharge. Patient characteristics such as family history of migraine, prior known psychiatric diagnosis and inpatient headache admission were included. RESULTS: For children reporting no improvement in headache, and subsequent failed admisison, they were more likely to have had an ED visit for headache in the previous month compared to those who had improvement in their headache (79% versus 43%, p-value 0.02). There were also more likely to have a known prior psychiatric diagnosis (46% vs. 14%, p-value- 0.02), current Fioricet or Fiorinal use (50%, p-value 0.05), steroids (60%, p-value 0.04), compared to those that did have improvement in headache. CONCLUSIONS: Certain factors such as prior known psychiatric diagnosis, current Fioricet, Fiorinal, or anti-emetic use, recent steroid use, and prior ED visits in the last month should be considered when determining admission for continued inpatient headache treatment for pediatric patients with refractory headache. Study Supported by: Boston Children9s Hospital Department of Neurology Disclosure: Dr. Sansevere has nothing to disclose.
Geomorphic expression of midcrustal extension in convergent orogens

[1] Channel orientation, gradient, drainage basin spacing, drainage patterns, and alluvial fan sedimentology define a set of geomorphic observables for fingerprinting modes of extensional tectonism in convergent settings. Anomalous, finely textured trellis drainage patterns in the Alps are spatially coincident with the low-angle Simplon and Brenner detachments. The detachment footwalls are characterized by numerous high-angle brittle faults, which are etched out by low-order stream gullies and channels. We quantify the relationship between these faults and watershed-scale geomorphology using high-resolution digital topography to extract channel and basin metrics. Topographic data are complemented by a field data set of channel gradients and the integrated erosional response of the watersheds preserved in valley bottom alluvial fans. In footwall regions adjacent to the detachments, channels are steeper, more closely spaced, have statistically coherent orientations, and feed coarse, steep alluvial fans. Drainage spacing increases in the footwall away from the detachment, and the trellis pattern diminishes. In the detachment hanging walls, which typically lack high-angle brittle faults, there is a poor correlation between channel steepness, density, or orientation, and hanging wall alluvial fans tend to be relatively larger, gentler, and debris-flow dominated. Comparisons are made to the Ticino dome region of the Alps as well as to the Pioneer core complex of central Idaho. In both cases, our analysis suggests high-angle brittle faulting of the footwall is particularly well preserved in the region adjacent to a detachment. These results are consistent with a subvertical simple shear model for footwall extrusion as well as annealing or a lack of reactivation of brittle structures in the footwall distal to the rolling hinge.
A general theory of broadband matching of an active load

Given a passive frequency-dependent source impedance and an active or passive load and a preassigned transducer power-gain characteristic, necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the existence of a lossless reciprocal equalizer which, when operating between the given source and the given load, yields the desired transducer power-gain characteristic. The significance of the present approach is that the realization of the equalizer involves only driving-point synthesis by the Darlington theory.
Islamic Law in Europe? Legal Pluralism and its Limits in European Family Laws

ANDREA BUCHLER, 2011 Farnham, Surrey & Burlington, VT: Ashgate 159 pp., £60.00, US$114.95 (hb) ISBN 978–1–4094–2849–7 (hb), ISBN 978–1–4094–2850–3 (eb) Because many European nations have significan...
On the motion of various vertical modes of transient, very long waves: Part I. Beta Plane Approximation*

The motion and structure of very long, transient waves are investigated by solving the perturbation problem using a basic state characterized by no motion and a constant lapse rate. It has been assumed that the motion is adiabatic and frictionless, and a beta-plane geometry has been used. Using the method of separation of variables it has been shown that the solution consists of a discrete set of vertical structure functions each characterized by an equivalent depth which decreases as the eigenvalue increases. The existence of the smallest eigenvalue depends on the use of a boundary condition of co ? ? 0 at the surface of the earth, while the higher eigenvalues are influenced only slightly if the boundary condition ? = 0 is used. The phase speed corresponding to the smallest eigenvalue is in good agreement with the results obtained from observational studies from 500 mb data or for the first vertical mode, and the wave corresponding to this eigenvalue behaves in a way similar to waves in a homogeneous fluid with a free surface. For the larger eigenvalues we obtain phase speeds which agree with the motion observed for the higher vertical modes. It is finally shown that the equations based on Burger's assumption give good results for the higher vertical modes, but not for the mode corresponding to the smallest eigenvalue. DOI: 10.1111/j.2153-3490.1971.tb00549.x
Recent Developments in Macroeconomics

Underlying the existence of macroeconomics as a separate field of study are the phenomena of economy-wide fluctuations of output and prices, and sometimes persistent high levels of unemployment. Two basic views of macroeconomic behavior have persisted even as conceptual innovati ons and the application of more powerful analytic and empirical techn iques have brought significant changes in understanding of the macroe conomy. Copyright 1988 by Royal Economic Society.
Initial Stages of Tumor Cell-Induced Angiogenesis: Evaluation Via Skin Window Chambers in Rodent Models

Background There is a paucity of information about events that follow immediately after tumor cells are triggered to initiate the process of angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels). Such information is relevant to the issue of when micrometastases vascularize and has implications for the accessibility of micrometastases to various treatments. In this study, we attempted to monitor events at the initiation of angiogenesis at the earliest possible stage of tumor growth in vivo. Methods Two different rodent mammary tumor cell lines, R3230Ac from the Fischer 344 rat and 4T1 from the BALB/c mouse, were stably transfected with a gene that encodes an enhanced version of green fluorescence protein (GFP). GFP-labeled R3230Ac or 4T1 cells (about 20-50 cells) were implanted into dorsal skinfold window chambers of Fischer 344 rats or BALB/c mice, respectively. Tumor angiogenesis was then monitored serially and noninvasively for up to 4 weeks. Results Clear evidence of modification of the host vasculature was observed when tumor mass reached approximately 60-80 cells, and functional new blood vessels were seen when tumor mass reached roughly 100-300 cells. Individual tumor cells exhibited a chemotaxis-like growth pattern toward the pre-existing host vasculature. When ex-flk1 (a soluble, truncated vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptor protein known to be antiangiogenic) was injected with the tumor cells, the initial angiogenic and tumor growth activities were inhibited considerably, indicating that angiogenesis inhibitors may halt tumor growth even before the onset of angiogenesis. Conclusion Angiogenesis induced by tumor cells after implantation in the host begins at a very early stage, i.e., when the tumor mass contains roughly 100-300 cells. Identification of chemotactic signals that initiate tumor cell migration toward the existing vasculature may provide valuable targets for preventing tumor progression and/or metastases.
Passivation of pinhole defect microelectrode arrays in ultrathin silica films immobilized on gold substrates

Abstract Nanoscopic defects present in ultrathin (~ 6 nm) silica films covalently attached to gold substrates through a gold oxide layer exhibit a voltammetric response consistent with a random array of ultramicroelectrodes. These pinholes can be passivated via electrochemical polymerization of phenol to create insulating poly(phenylene) oxide plugs as documented by atomic force microscopy and infrared reflectance-absorbance spectroscopy. Passivation of pinholes is ~ 99.5% complete after 550 voltammetric cycles of oxidative electropolymerization.
Tau-associated neuropathology in ganglion cell tumours increases with patient age but appears unrelated to ApoE genotype

Ganglion cell tumours, including gangliogliomas and gangliocytomas, are low grade neoplasms with a mature neuronal component. Ganglion cells within these lesions occasionally exhibit neurodegenerative changes including neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) similar to those in Alzheimer's disease. The frequency and spectrum of degenerative pathology in these lesions have not been defined, nor has their relation to patient age or factors such as apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype that predispose to Alzheimer's disease. We studied 72 ganglion cell tumours (61 gangliogliomas, 11 gangliocytomas) from patients 7 months to 72-years-old. Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E), silver stains (Hirano method) and immunohistochemistry for tau, alpha-synuclein and beta-amyloid were performed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue from surgical specimens. Tau-and silver-positive NFT and neuropil threads (NPT) were present in four of 26 ganglion cell tumours from patients over 30-years-old (ages 31, 38, 50, and 58 years). Neuronal granulovacuolar degeneration (GVD) was noted in five of 26 tumours from patients over 30-years-old (mean, 48 years). NFT, NPT, and GVD were not seen in ganglion cell tumours from patients under 30-years-old[0/46]. Cytoplasmic argentophilic bodies distinct from NFT were present in five of 26 tumours from patients over 30-years-old and in two of 46 under 30 years. Neither alpha-synuclein positive neuronal inclusions nor beta-amyloid immunoreactivity was noted in ganglion cell tumours from any age group. The distribution of ApoE genotypes was similar among those tumours that contained tau-associated neuropathology and those that did not. Neurodegenerative changes are uncommon in ganglion cell tumours, but increase in frequency with patient age. GVD, tau-positive NFT and NPT, and argentophilic bodies occur more often in ganglion cell tumours from patients over 30-yrs-old, but do not appear to be associated with a specific ApoE genotype.
Resonant Circuits with Time-Varying Parameters

With renewed interest in the superregenerator and similar circuits there has developed a need for a solution to the differential equation of a resonant circuit with time-varying parameters. An approximate solution is presented along with a criterion of error which determines the limits of accuracy of the solution. This error criterion shows that the solution may be applied to most communications problems with high accuracy. The method and ease of manipulation of the solution are demonstrated by application of the mathematics to the constant-parameter case. If direct manipulation of the formulas is not feasible, it may be easily applied to graphical analysis.
A PDA-Kalman approach to multiuser detection in asynchronous CDMA

The probabilistic data association (PDA) method for multiuser detection in synchronous code-division multiple-access (CDMA) communication channels is extended to asynchronous CDMA, where a Kalman filter or smoother is employed to track the correlated noise arising from the outputs of a decorrelator. The estimates from the tracker, coupled with an iterative PDA, result in impressively low bit error rates. Computer simulations show that the new scheme significantly outperforms the best decision feedback detector. The algorithm has O(K/sup 3/) complexity per time frame, where K is the number of users.
On Eskaleutian Linguistics, Archaeology and Prehistory

IN THIS paper some efforts to classify the Eskimoan branch of the Eskaleutian languages will be briefly reviewed and the ethnic relationships implied by the classification will be noted. Subsequently, archaeological material will be examined in an attempt to determine if these implied relationships find archaeological support. Finally, some hypotheses in regard to Eskaleutian prehistory will be proposed.
Hand—arm vibration syndrome. A double-blind case—control study with a new esthesiometer

This double-blind case-control study on hand-arm vibration syndrome was sponsored by the Society of Occupation Medicine Golden Jubilee Travelling Scholarship Committee in 1987. It involved collaborative work between the author and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland. The procedure consisted of administration of a questionnaire, clinical examination of subjects in the study group and depth-sense esthesiometry for all subjects including the controls. Of 34 subjects admitted to the study, 14 out of 15 patients were positively diagnosed as suffering from the syndrome and one out of 19 in the control group had a false positive result. The study showed that the new esthesiometer, although not totally objective, could be regarded as an effective tool for the diagnosis of hand-arm vibration syndrome in clinical and field studies.
Ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography with a fiber laser source at 1 μm

We report a compact, high-power, fiber-based source for ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT) near 1 microm. The practical source is based on a short-pulse, ytterbium-doped fiber laser and on generation of a continuum spectrum in a photonic crystal fiber. The broadband emission has an average power of 140 mW and offers an axial resolution of 2.1 microm in air (<1.6 microm in biological tissue). The generation of a broad bandwidth is robust and efficient. We demonstrate ultrahigh-resolution, time-domain OCT imaging of in vitro and in vivo biological tissues.
Cerebral endothelial GABA-T activity: Effects of in vivo GABA-T inhibition

Abstract The effects of γ-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) inhibitors on rat endothelial GABA-T activity has been studied utilizing a modified tetrazolium salt histochemical technique. Blue-diformazan staining of cerebrovascular and parenchymal sites of GABA catabolism in normal brain was almost completely prevented in unfixed frozen brain sections from rats subjected to ‘in vivo’ GABA-T inhibition using aminooxyacetic acid or gabaculine. These results provide histochemical evidence for the efficacy of using systemically administered GABA-T inhibitors to inhibit endothelial GABA-T activity.
Tolerance of aversive stimuli in relation to life change.

This study investigated the relation between an individual's tendency to tolerate and/or report discomfort and the amount of life change experienced by that individual. The role of attention in this relation was also examined and manipulated through instruction. Eighty college freshman were selected and divided into three groups (high, medium, low) as a function of scores obtained on the College Schedule of Recent Experience (CSRE). Participants were asked to experience two known discomforting stimuli, the cold pressor and loud broad-band noise. Dependent measures included participant's tolerance time, report of discomfort, and amount of attention paid to each of the stimuli. Results indicated that “high”-life change groups tolerated the two discomforting stimuli significantly less than either the “low”- or the “medium”-life change groups. Neither discomfort ratings nor attention was significantly different across groups. Findings are discussed in relation to epidemiological studies of the life change and illness relation.
On the Art of Advancing The Science of Fluidics

Limitations in our understanding of the fluid dynamic phenomena encountered in fluidic elements and the resulting difficulty of the quantitative characterization for simple cataloging of the performance of fluidic devices are discussed. Finally, a number of recommendations are made for additional experimental, analytical, and phenomenological insights and the need is stressed for the integration of the existing elements, regardless of their present state of analysis, into a variety of useful and competitively priced devices by those who are interested in sustaining motion from the field of fluidics.
Oxidation of amines by flavoproteins

Many flavoproteins catalyze the oxidation of primary and secondary amines, with the transfer of a hydride equivalent from a carbon-nitrogen bond to the flavin cofactor. Most of these amine oxidases can be classified into two structural families, the D-amino acid oxidase/sarcosine oxidase family and the monoamine oxidase family. This review discusses the present understanding of the mechanisms of amine and amino acid oxidation by flavoproteins, focusing on these two structural families.
Acute appendicitis in a chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)

Background A 7-year old, female chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) developed acute abdominal pain and anorexia. An irregular, mineral opacity was identified in the caudal right quadrant of the abdomen on radiographs and computed tomography scan, which appeared to be in the region of the cecal appendage. Results and conclusions A diagnosis of acute appendicitis was made based on clinical signs, abnormal haematology findings, and consultation with a human radiologist. Exploratory laparotomy was performed and the cecal appendage was removed. On histologic examination, the mucosal epithelium contained eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation. The inflammation extended through the tunica muscularis to the serosal surface and adjacent mesentery. The histologic findings were consistent with acute appendicitis in humans. The chimpanzee recovered well from surgery with immediate improvement in clinical signs and no post-operative complications.
Isometric force regulation in children

Abstract Isometric pinch force regulation was investigated in children and adults using a visuo-motor tracking paradigm. Younger children (5-7 years) performed significantly worse than older children (9-11 years) and adults in terms of an overall error score as well as a correlation score, which is believed to reflect the ability to predict the target pattern. Older children had similar overall error scores to adults and were equal to them in terms of correlation scores by the fourth block of trials. A temporal (lag) measure indicated high variability in the youngest age group. An important finding was a cluster of young children whose maximum performance on the correlation measure was equal to that of older children and adults. The temporal (lag) measure indicated varying rates of acquisition of the subcomponents of this task in the youngest age group. In addition, interlimb transfer of learning was demonstrated in all age groups, reflecting the strong central component of this task.
Heterokaryon incompatibility in fungi—more than just another way to die

In filamentous fungi heterokaryon (vegetative) compatibility is regulated by a number of different loci. Vegetative incompatibility is most often detected as the inability to form a prototrophic heterokaryon under forcing conditions, or as the formation of a barrage when two incompatible strains interact. Vegetative compatibility has been used as a multilocus phenotype in analysis of fungal populations. In some highly clonal populations the vegetative-compatibility phenotype is correlated with pathogenicity. The molecular basis for vegetative compatibility is not well understood. Fourhet loci have been cloned fromNeurospora crasset orPodospora anserina, inch but no two are alike and it is clear that thehet genes themselves do not encode the gene products that are directly responsible for cell death. We suggest that a broader view of vegetative compatibility would include genes that are responsible for prefusion, fusion, and postfusion activities. Postfusion activities could include the fungal apoptotic apparatus since microscopic observations of cell death resemble those in higher plants and animals.
Transnational Oaxacan indigenous identity: The Case of Mixtecs and Zapotecs

This paper examines cultural and political dynamics that result when migrants from indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico, migrate to the United States. Forced from their homeland because of economic conditions and prevented from complete settlement and incorporation in the United States due to their “illegal” status and economic and social barriers, the migrants create and live within a third sociocultural and political space popularly referred to as Oaxacalifornia, The cultural politics of this third space are shaped by tensions between the indigenous communities and various instances of the Mexican state that attempt to retain political hegemony over the indigenous communities within Mexico and abroad. Central to the transnational projects of the transnational indigenous organizations is the construction of pan‐Mixtec, pan‐Zapotec, and pan‐Oaxacan indigenous identities, which is a strategy with some contradictions, but one that appears to be effective for advancing the objectives of the organizations...
Determination of Microtubule Polarityin Vitroby the Use of Video-Enhanced Differential-Interference Contrast Light Microscopy andChlamydomonasFlagellar Axonemal Pieces

Abstract Microtubules nucleated by sea urchin sperm-tail axonemes have polar ends that differ both functionally and structurally but cannot be distinguished from one another when viewed by light microscopy. Ambiguity and circularity surround any classification of microtubule polarity by conventional methods. Chlamydomonas flagellar axonemal pieces have distinct morphological differences at their plus- and minus-ends, and microtubules nucleated from these pieces can be distinguished as plus- or minus-ended based on the morphological differences present in the Chlamydomonas flagellar axonemal pieces. Plus- and minus-ended microtubules were polymerized in this fashion and analyzed for differences in growth rates, shortening rates, and frequencies of transitions. The results were in good agreement with similar data generated by the more time-consuming and difficult use of kinesin-coated beads (R. J. Kowalski, and R. C. Williams, Jr. (1993) Cell Motil. Cytoskeleton 26, 282–290) to determine microtubule polarity. This is a relatively simple and effective method for determining the polarity of microtubules in vitro by video-enhanced differential-interference contrast light microscopy.
Robust methods for estimating pose and a sensitivity analysis

Abstract This paper mathematically analyzes and proposes new solutions for the problem of estimating the camera 3D location and orientation (pose determination) from a matched set of 3D model and 2D image landmark features. Least-squares techniques for line tokens, which minimize both rotation and translation simultaneously, are developed and shown to be far superior to the earlier techniques which solved for rotation first and then translation. However, least-squares techniques fail catastrophically when outliers (or gross errors) are present in the match data. Outliers arise frequently due to incorrect correspondences or gross errors in the 3D model. Robust techniques for pose determination are developed to handle data contaminated by fewer than 50.0% outliers. Finally, the sensitivity of pose determination to incorrect estimates of camera parameters is analyzed. It is shown that for small field of view systems, offsets in the image center do not significantly affect the location of the camera in a world coordinate system. Errors in the focal length significantly affect only the component of translation along the optical axis in the pose computation.
Structure-activity relationships in corpora allata of the cockroach Diploptera punctata: roles of mating and the ovary

Morphometric studies were made on corpora allata of the cockroach Diploptera punctata from animals in which increasing gland size is not coupled to hormone synthesis (ovariectomized mated females; last-instar larvae) and in which gland size is coupled to hormone synthesis (normal mated and virgin females; penultimate-instar larvae). Cell number, gland volume, and juvenile hormone synthesis were measured. From electron micrographs, nuclear, cytoplasmic, and extracellular volumes; and cell membrane area were calculated; and fine structure described. Low-activity glands of ovariectomized mated females resembled high-activity glands from mated females in high cell number, large overall and cytoplasmic volume, and low nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio; they differed in having organelles typical of low-activity glands, mitochondria with dense matrices and large whorls of smooth endoplasmic reticulum. Inactive last-instar larval glands resembled mated ovariectomized female glands in increased cell number and organelles characteristic of inactive glands; however, their nuclear-cytoplasmic volume ratio was much higher. Penultimate larval glands with high activity per cell resembled active glands of normal mated females. Ovariectomy did not change morphometric parameters of virgin female glands; thus mating results in increase in size of adult female glands whereas the growing ovary is needed for changes in mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum associated with high juvenile hormone synthesis.
Cost evaluation in design with form features

Reducing the cost of a product at the design stage is more effective than at the manufacturing stage. In this paper, an attempt is presented to quantify the manufacturing cost in feature-based design. Machining form features are classified as simple and complex. The machining cost of a part depends not only on the type of form features, but also on the relationship among the features. This cost is calculated for four different cases: traditional machining, simultaneous machining, simultaneous set-up and changeover, and multiple machine tools. A manufacturing process is represented with a digraph. The feature-based evaluation of manufacturing cost is formulated as the shortest path problem, and a mathematical model as well as an algorithm are presented to determine the minimum cost design alternative.
VirtualRC: a virtual FPGA platform for applications and tools portability

Numerous studies have shown significant performance and power benefits of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). Despite these benefits, FPGA usage has been limited by application design complexity caused largely by the lack of code and tool portability across different FPGA platforms, which prevents design reuse. This paper addresses the portability challenge by introducing a framework of architecture and middleware for virtualization of FPGA platforms, collectively named VirtualRC. Experiments show modest overhead of 5-6% in performance and 1% in area, while enabling portability of 11 applications and two high-level synthesis tools across three physical platforms.
Bitcoin and the age of bespoke silicon

Recently, the Bitcoin cryptocurrency has been an international sensation. This paper tells the story of Bitcoin hard-ware: how a group of early-adopters self-organized and financed the creation of an entire new industry, leading to the development of machines, including ASICs, that had orders of magnitude better performance than what Dell, Intel, NVidia, AMD or Xilinx could provide. We examine this story for clues as to how we can foster greater innovation in the semiconductor industry and enable this phenomenon to occur more broadly for more application areas, spawning a new age of hardware innovation tailored to emerging application domains-an Age of Bespoke Silicon.
Comparison of ordinary kriging and artificial neural network for spatial mapping of arsenic contamination of groundwater

In this technical note, we investigate the hypothesis that ‘non-linearity matters in the spatial mapping of complex patterns of groundwater arsenic contamination’. The spatial mapping pertained to data-driven techniques of spatial interpolation based on sampling data at finite locations. Using the well known example of extensive groundwater contamination by arsenic in Bangladesh, we find that the use of a highly non-linear pattern learning technique in the form of an artificial neural network (ANN) can yield more accurate results under the same set of constraints when compared to the ordinary kriging method. One ANN and a variogram model were used to represent the spatial structure of arsenic contamination for the whole country. The probability for successful detection of a well as safe or unsafe was found to be atleast 15% larger than that by kriging under the country-wide scenario. The probability of false hopes, which is a serious issue in public health monitoring was found to be significantly lower (by more than 10%) than that by kriging.
Real Time Three-Dimensional Echocardiographic Evaluations of Fetal Left Ventricular Stroke Volume, Mass, and Myocardial Strain: In Vitro and In Vivo Experimental Study

Background Left ventricular stroke volume, mass, and myocardial strain are valuable indicators of fetal heart function. This study investigated the feasibility of nongated real time three-dimensional echocardiography (RT3DE) to determine fetal stroke volume (SV), left ventricular mass (LVM), and myocardial strain under different conditions. Methods To evaluate fetal hearts, fetal-sized rabbit hearts were used in this study. The in vitro portion of this study was carried out using a balloon inserted into the LV of eight fresh rabbit hearts and driven by a calibrated pulsatile pump. RT3DE volumes were obtained at various pump-set SVs. The in vivo experiments in this study were performed on open-chest rabbits. RT3DE volumes were acquired at the following conditions: baseline, simulated hypervolemia, inferior vena cava (IVC) ligation, and ascending aorta (AAO) ligation. Displacement values and sonomicrometry data were used as references for RT3DE-derived SV, LVM, longitudinal strain (LS), and circumferential strain (CS). Results Excellent correlations between RT3DE-derived values and reference values were demonstrated and accompanied by high coefficients of determination (R2) for both in vitro and in vivo studies for SV, LVM, LS, and CS (in vitro: SV: R2 = 0.98; LVM: R2 = 0.97; LS: R2 = 0.87, CS: R2 = 0.80; in vivo: SV: R2 = 0.92; LVM: R2 = 0.98; LS: in vivo: R2 = 0.84; CS: in vivo: R2 = 0.76; all P < 0.05). Conclusions RT3DE is capable of quantifying the SV, LVM, and myocardial strain of fetal-sized hearts under different conditions. This nongated RT3DE may aid the evaluation of fetal cardiac function, providing a superior understanding of the progress of fetal heart disorders.
Abstractions to separate concerns in semi-regular grids

In various applications including atmospheric and ocean simulation programs, stencil computations occur on semi-regular grids where subdomains of the grid are regular (e.g., can be stored in an array) but boundaries between sub-domains connect in an irregular fashion. Implementations of stencils on semi-regular grids often have grid topology details tangled with stencil computation code. This tangling of details makes updating stencil code difficult as it requires the programmer to have full knowledge of the current grid topology. Existing libraries and tools for separating the concerns of stencil computations from grid connectivity have not dealt with semi-regular grids and instead have focused on purely regular grids with possible periodicity or purely irregular grids. In this paper we introduce programming abstractions for the class of semi-regular grids and describe a prototype Fortran 90+ library called GridLib that implements these abstractions. Implementing these abstractions requires solving issues involving nodes in the grid with a non-standard number of neighbors and determining the communication schedule given an orthogonal specification of the grid decomposition. We present solutions to these issues that work within the context of grids used in atmospheric and ocean simulations. We also show that to maintain the performance while still providing this separation of concerns, it is necessary for a source-to-source translator to perform inlining between user code and the GridLib run-time library code. We present performance results for a stencil computation extracted from the Parallel Ocean Program.
The effect of chemotherapeutic agents upon peripheral nerves.

Summary Studiles are described wherein the sciatic nerve of the dog was exposed to chemotherapeutic agents by topical application, subepineurial injection or regional limb perfusion. Histologic and nerve potential conduction changes are reported. The relation of these findings to various neuropathies observed clinically following treatment with these agents is discussed.