cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Remote sensing of chlorophyll in an atmosphere-ocean environment: a theoretical study.

A Monte Carlo program was written to compute the effect of chlorophyll on the ratio of upwelling to downwelling radiance and irradiance as a function of wavelength, height above the ocean, and depth within the ocean. This program simulates the actual physical situation, since a real atmospheric model was used, i.e., one that contained both aerosol and Rayleigh scattering as well as ozone absorption. The complete interaction of the radiation field with the ocean was also taken into account. The chlorophyll was assumed to be uniformly mixed in the ocean and was also assumed to act only as an absorbing agent. For the ocean model both scattering and absorption by hydrosols was included. Results have been obtained for both a very clear ocean and a medium turbid ocean. Recommendations are made for optimum techniques for remotely sensing chlorophyll both in situ and in vitro.
A note on adjusted replicator dynamics in iterated games

Abstract We establish how a rich collection of evolutionary games can arise as asymptotically exact descriptions of player strategies in iterated games. We consider arbitrary normal-form games that are iteratively played by players that observe their own payoffs after each round. Each player’s strategy is assumed to depend only past actions and past payoffs of the player. We study a class of autonomous reinforcement-learning rules for such players and show that variants of the adjusted replicator dynamics are asymptotically exact approximations of player strategies for small values of a step-size parameter adopted in learning. We also obtain a convergence result that identifies when a stable equilibrium of the limit dynamics characterizes equilibrium behavior of player strategies.
Acquisition of the stop-spirant alternation in bilingual Mexican Spanish–English speaking children: Theoretical and clinical implications

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics of typical acquisition of the Mexican Spanish stop-spirant alternation in bilingual Spanish-English speaking children and to shed light on the theoretical debate over which sound is the underlying form in the stop-spirant allophonic relationship. We predicted that bilingual children would acquire knowledge of this allophonic relationship by the time they reach age 5;0 (years;months) and would demonstrate higher accuracy on the spirants, indicating their role as the underlying phoneme. This quasi-longitudinal study examined children's single word samples in Spanish from ages 2;4-8;2. Samples were phonetically transcribed and analyzed for accuracy, substitution errors and acoustically for intensity ratios. Bilingual children demonstrated overall higher accuracy on the voiced stops as compared to the spirants. Differences in substitution errors across ages were found and acoustic analyses corroborated perceptual findings. The clinical implication of this research is that bilingual children may be in danger of overdiagnosis of speech sound disorders because acquisition of this allophonic rule in bilinguals appears to differ from what has been found in previous studies examining monolingual Spanish speakers.
Is Gut the “Motor” for Producing Hepatocellular Dysfunction after Trauma and Hemorrhagic Shock?

Abstract Background. Although studies suggest that the gut may be the “motor” responsible for producing sepsis and multiple organ failure after injury, it is not known whether enterectomy prior to the onset of hemorrhage alters proinflammatory cytokines TNF and IL-6 and, if so, whether hepatocellular dysfunction and damage are prevented or attenuated under such conditions. Materials and methods. Under methoxyflurane anesthesia, an enterectomy in the rat was performed by excision of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. The rats were then bled to and maintained at a mean arterial pressure of 40 mm Hg until 40% of the maximal shed volume was returned in the form of Ringer's lactate. The animals were then resuscitated with four times the volume of shed blood with Ringer's lactate over 1 h. At 1.5 h after the completion of resuscitation, hepatocellular function [i.e., the maximal velocity ( V max ) and transport efficiency ( K m ) of indocyanine green (ICG) clearance] was assessed by an in vivo ICG clearance technique. Blood samples were taken for the measurement of TNF, IL-6, and liver enzymes (i.e., SGPT and SGOT). Cardiac output and microvascular blood flow were determined by ICG dilution and laser Doppler flowmetry, respectively. Results. The increase in circulating levels of TNF but not IL-6 was prevented by enterectomy prior to hemorrhage. The reduced V max and K m and elevated SGPT and SGOT following hemorrhage and resuscitation, however, were not significantly affected by prior enterectomy. Moreover, enterectomy before hemorrhage further reduced hepatic perfusion. Conclusion. Since enterectomy prior to the onset of hemorrhage does not prevent or attenuate the reduced ICG clearance and elevated liver enzymes despite downregulation of TNF production, it appears that the small intestine does not play a significant role in producing hepatocellular dysfunction and injury following trauma and hemorrhagic shock.
SU-C-17A-03: Evaluation of Deformable Image Registration Methods Between MRI and CT for Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy

Purpose: We evaluated the performance of two commercially available and one open source B-Spline deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms between T2-weighted MRI and treatment planning CT using the DICE indices. Methods: CT simulation (CT-SIM) and MR simulation (MR-SIM) for four prostate cancer patients were conducted on the same day using the same setup and immobilization devices. CT images (120 kVp, 500 mAs, voxel size = 1.1x1.1x3.0 mm3) were acquired using an open-bore CT scanner. T2-weighted Turbo Spine Echo (T2W-TSE) images (TE/TR/α = 80/4560 ms/90°, voxel size = 0.7×0.7×2.5 mm3) were scanned on a 1.0T high field open MR-SIM. Prostates, seminal vesicles, rectum and bladders were delineated on both T2W-TSE and CT images by the attending physician. T2W-TSE images were registered to CT images using three DIR algorithms, SmartAdapt (Varian), Velocity AI (Velocity) and Elastix (Klein et al 2010) and contours were propagated. DIR results were evaluated quantitatively or qualitatively by image comparison and calculating organ DICE indices. Results: Significant differences in the contours of prostate and seminal vesicles were observed between MR and CT. On average, volume changes of the propagated contours were 5%, 2%, 160% and 8% for the prostate, seminal vesicles, bladder and rectum respectively. Corresponding mean DICE indices were 0.7, 0.5, 0.8, and 0.7. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.9 among three algorithms for the Dice indices. Conclusion: Three DIR algorithms for CT/MR registration yielded similar results for organ propagation. Due to the different soft tissue contrasts between MRI and CT, organ delineation of prostate and SVs varied significantly, thus efforts to develop other DIR evaluation metrics are warranted. Conflict of interest: Submitting institution has research agreements with Varian Medical System and Philips Healthcare.
Case Report: Neutropenia and Thrombocytopenia: Antibodies Directed Against Circulating Neutrophils and Bone Marrow Myeloid Progenitor Cells (CFU-C)

ABSTRACT The pathophysiology of a neutropenic disorder was evaluated in a 60-year-old man using myeloid progenitor cell (CFU-C), colony stimulating activity (CSA), and antineutrophil antibody assays. An immunoglobulin, present in the patient’s serum at presentation, was directed against peripheral blood neutrophils, and autologous and allogeneic bone marrow CFUC. A course of prednisone resulted in resolution of the neutropenia and a disappearance of the cytotoxic antibody. This study suggests that the patient’s neutropenic disorder resulted from antibody-mediated destruction of circulating neutrophils and a suboptimal bone marrow granulopoietic response.
Fluid Flow Applications of Solid Freeform Fabrication: Valves in Single Build

There is a constant need for custom designed and manufactured valves that are capable of precision flow control. The applications vary, such as medically related fluid situations; a check valve for a feeding tube for example. The fluids under consideration are diverse: air, water and blood, to name a few. Solid freeform fabrication (SFF) has immense potential for creating intricate valve structures without the limitations and numerous machining processes involved in conventional methods of valve assembly. This research demonstrated the usefulness of SFF in novel fluid mechanics applications. The primary goal was the design and fabrication of a functional valve in one build using a stereolithography apparatus. A valve with linear motion was designed that was rapid prototyping compatible and was fabricated using stereolithography under the NSF sponsored REU program in the summer of 2002. The valve was fully functional as a sealed system. Its performance was evaluated and compared to that of a traditional gate valve. Precision flow control and improved sealing were two goals that this research program achieved in summer of 2003. Through proper design, an angle valve has been built that retains the flow and sealing characteristics of a traditional valve, but has the advantages associated with SFF. The highlight of this work was the fact that moving parts, integral O-rings, and threaded connections were all shown to be possible and the entire valve prototyped in a single build using SFF. In addition, a downsized valve, 0.4 inch inside diameter, has been built that will broaden the applications of this technology. The accomplishments of this research will allow functional prototypes of valves to be built and tested using solid freeform fabrication and influence the use of specialty valves in medical and engineering applications.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
Heidegger's Kantian idealism revisited

I offer a revised interpretation of Heidegger's ‘ontological idealism’ – his thesis that being, but not entities, depends on Dasein – as well as its relationship to Kant's transcendental idealism. I build from my earlier efforts on this topic by modifying them and defending my basic line of interpretation against criticisms advanced by Cerbone, Philipse, and Carman. In essence, my reading of Heidegger goes like this: what it means to say that ‘being’ depends on Dasein is that the criteria and standards that determine what it is to be, and hence whether an item (or anything at all) is, are conceptually interwoven with, and hence conceptually dependent upon, a structure that could not obtain without Dasein (namely, time). For this reason, to ask whether entities (e.g., nature) would exist, even if we (Dasein) did not, is either to ask an empirical question with an obvious negative answer (viz., According to our best current theories, does everything depend causally upon us?), or to ask a meaningless questio...
Radiation Dose Levels Associated With Newer CT Scanner Units

The recent awareness of higher radiation levels associated with some of the latest CT scanners points to the need for dissemination of meaningful quantitative dose data about these valuable imaging units. Examples of such data, from radiation protection surveys, will be presented. Such information should afford CT users a basis for proper utilization of this modality within current radiation protection guidelines.
Accelerating Bayesian network parameter learning using Hadoop and MapReduce

Learning conditional probability tables of large Bayesian Networks (BNs) with hidden nodes using the Expectation Maximization algorithm is heavily computationally intensive. There are at least two bottlenecks, namely the potentially huge data set size and the requirement for computation and memory resources. This work applies the distributed computing framework MapReduce to Bayesian parameter learning from complete and incomplete data. We formulate both traditional parameter learning (complete data) and the classical Expectation Maximization algorithm (incomplete data) within the MapReduce framework. Analytically and experimentally we analyze the speed-up that can be obtained by means of MapReduce. We present the details of our Hadoop implementation, report speed-ups versus the sequential case, and compare various Hadoop configurations for experiments with Bayesian networks of different sizes and structures. For Bayesian networks with large junction trees, we surprisingly find that MapReduce can give a speed-up compared to the sequential Expectation Maximization algorithm for learning from 20 cases or fewer. The benefit of MapReduce for learning various Bayesian networks is investigated on data sets with up to 1,000,000 records.
Growth and persistence of a recent invader Carcinus maenas in estuaries of the northeastern Pacific

During the summer of 1998 a new year class of the invasive European green crab, Carcinus maenas, appeared in Oregon and Washington estuaries as well as in northern California, USA, and on Vancouver Island, Canada. This invader was first discovered in San Francisco Bay almost a decade earlier and by 1995 it had spread to northern California. The coast-wide colonization event we studied in 1998 (El Nino cohort) was correlated with unusually strong north flowing coastal currents from September 1997 to April 1998. Larval transport by ocean currents from established populations to the south appeared to be the mechanism for the colonization. Crabs from the 1998-year class grew faster than counterparts from Maine and Europe, averaging 14 mm in carapace width in June, and 46 mm by September 1998. By the end of their second summer, males ranged from 52 to 80 mm in carapace width, and by fall of 2000 some males attained a carapace width of over 90 mm. The life span for C. maenasit in Oregon, Washington and British Columbia is estimated to be similar as in Europe and Maine: 4–6 years. Even though the initial colonists (98-year class) are dying of senescence, and coastal currents have not been favorable for larval transport from source populations in California, green crabs do persist in Oregon and Washington estuaries. It appears that local reproduction and recruitment in some years is high enough to keep this population from going extinct.
Cronbach's alpha reliability: Interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and sample size planning

Summary Cronbach's alpha is one of the most widely used measures of reliability in the social and organizational sciences. Current practice is to report the sample value of Cronbach's alpha reliability, but a confidence interval for the population reliability value also should be reported. The traditional confidence interval for the population value of Cronbach's alpha makes an unnecessarily restrictive assumption that the multiple measurements have equal variances and equal covariances. We propose a confidence interval that does not require equal variances or equal covariances. The results of a simulation study demonstrated that the proposed method performed better than alternative methods. We also present some sample size formulas that approximate the sample size requirements for desired power or desired confidence interval precision. R functions are provided that can be used to implement the proposed confidence interval and sample size methods. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Recruitment of rat diaphragm motor units across motor behaviors with different levels of diaphragm activation

Phrenic motor neurons are recruited across a range of motor behaviors to generate varying levels of diaphragm muscle (DIAm) force. We hypothesized that DIAm motor units are recruited in a fixed ord...
Broken Scale Invariance in Scalar Field Theory

We use scalar-field perturbation theory as a laboratory to study broken scale invariance. We pay particular attention to scaling laws (Ward identities for the scale current) and find that they have unusual anomalies whose presence might have been guessed from renormalization-group arguments. The scaling laws also appear to provide a relatively simple way of computing the renormalized amplitudes of the theory, which sidesteps the overlapping-divergence problem.
Molecular cloning of the gene (poxB) encoding the pyruvate oxidase of Escherichia coli, a lipid-activated enzyme

The pyruvate oxidase structural gene (poxB) of Escherichia coli was cloned into derivatives of plasmid pBR322. The gene was first cloned into a cosmid vector by selection for the tetracycline resistance determinant of a closely linked Tn10 insertion (no direct selection for the gene was available). Subsequent subcloning resulted in localization of the gene to a 3.1-kilobase-pair DNA segment. Two of the smaller poxB plasmids were shown to cause the overproduction of oxidase activity (by six- to eightfold), and one of these plasmids was shown to encode a protein having the size and antigenic determinants of pyruvate oxidase. Introduction of poxB plasmids into strains (aceEF) lacking pyruvate dehydrogenase activity relieved the aerobic growth requirement of the strains for exogenous acetate.
Multipath Fading in FSK Communication Links - An Experimental al Investigation

The results of an experimental investigation of binary error rates in an FSK channel experiencing nonselective fading are presented. For all cases considered, the received frequency uncertainty is large compareded to the bit rate, requiring the use of an envelope detector rather than a matched filter. Both slow and fast fading rates are considered and include the effects of differential Doppler shift between the direct and reflected energy. A simplified mathematical analysis is presented to support the observed results. Both the theoretical examination and the data obtained demonstrate that fast fading and/or differential Doppler generally improve the link error rate performance with respect to the nonfading case.
A strategy for the implementation of automated information systems.

1. The design phase There are several basic strategies that an information system designer can employ in the design of an automated information system. One of the more popular is the component design strategy [l]. An information system component can be classified according to the function the component performs. When the component design strategy is used to guide system design, the designer must identify candidate system components that have been tested and proven reliable in environments similar to the one under consideration. The designer then selects and integrates alternative sets of these identified components to form candidate system design alternatives for evaluation. As part of the synthesis process, minor changes may be made in the operation of the components where such alterations are required to conform to the design objectives. System evaluation criteria are used to select design alternatives that offer acceptable performance. To create the most effective system design using the component design strategy, the designer must be aware of all the possible alternative system components that might be aggregated to meet design objectives and satisfy design constraints. Some component information is available from vendors. Other information is shared among designers. .4dditional information is provided by publications. Component information provided by these sources may not be totally suitable for the design process. The designer needs a complete data-base that includes a standardized and detailed description of the cost and performance of components. The Automated Hospital Information System (AHIS) Component Catalog [2] provides just such a data-base. This catalogue was developed by the Health Services Research Center of the University of X'Iissouri-Columbia. It provides data describing 112 commercially-available components that might be used in the design of an AHIS. Standardized descriptions of cost and performance are presented for each AHIS component. Information describing the total data-processing operation of 250 hospital sites where many of the AHIS components are in use is also included in the catalogue, as is information describing the hospital environments. The hospital site descriptions also note information functions automated through in-house developed software and no-longer-available commercially-purchased software.
Readiness to change and risk drinking women

Abstract The predictive value of the Readiness to Change Questionnaire (RTCQ) for subsequent drinking was evaluated in 499 women. These women had medical problems potentially exacerbated by alcohol use and were enrolled in an intervention study. Correlates and predictors of stage of change were analyzed. Results indicated that the categorical application of the RTCQ did not predict drinking in the 6–12 months after enrollment. Preliminary findings support rescoring the RTCQ into a continuous measure. Following this conversion, situational risks factors for drinking were examined as potential mediators of readiness to change (RTC). Heightened risk for alcohol consumption during argument or boredom was found to attenuate the association between one's RTC and later drinking. Finally, medical condition moderated the association of RTC on later drinking; women with diabetes, infertility, or osteoporosis drank the most in the contemplation stage. In contrast, hypertensive women drank more when action oriented to change. The implications for treating risk drinking in women are discussed.
Human Milk: Mother Nature’s Prototypical Probiotic Food?

The concept of "probiotic" is generally attributed to Dr. Ilya Mechnikov, who hypothesized that longevity could be enhanced by manipulating gastrointestinal microbes using naturally fermented foods. In 2001, a report of the FAO and WHO (2001 Oct, http://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/fs_-management/en/probiotics.pdf) proposed a more restrictive definition of probiotic, as follows: "a live micro-organism which, when administered in adequate amounts, confers a health benefit on the host." As such, answering the fundamental question posed here-"Is human milk a probiotic?"-requires first grappling with the concept and meaning of the term probiotic. Nonetheless, one must also be convinced that human milk contains bacteria. Indeed, there are scores of publications providing evidence of a paradigm shift in this regard. Variation in the human-milk microbiome may be associated with maternal weight, mode of delivery, lactation state, gestation age, antibiotic use, and maternal health. Milk constituents (e.g., fatty acids and complex carbohydrates) might also be related to the abundance of specific bacterial taxa in milk. Whether these bacteria affect infant health is likely, but more studies are needed to test this hypothesis. In summary, a growing literature suggests that human milk, like all other fluids produced by the body, indeed contains viable bacteria. As such, and recognizing the extensive literature relating breastfeeding to optimal infant health, we propose that human milk should be considered a probiotic food. Determining factors that influence which bacteria are present in milk and if and how they influence the mother's and/or the recipient infant's health remain basic science and public health realms in which almost nothing is known.
Indifferentiability of Permutation-Based Compression Functions and Tree-Based Modes of Operation, with Applications to MD6

MD6 [17] is one of the earliest announced SHA-3 candidates, presented by Rivest at CRYPTO'08 [16]. Since then, MD6 has received a fair share of attention and has resisted several initial cryptanalytic attempts [1,11]. Given the interest in MD6, it is important to formally verify the soundness of its design from a theoretical standpoint. In this paper, we do so in two ways: once for the MD6 compression function and once for the MD6 mode of operation. Both proofs are based on the indifferentiability framework of Maurer et al. [13](also see [9]). The first proof demonstrates that the "prepend/map/chop" manner in which the MD6 compression function is constructed yields a compression function that is indifferentiable from a fixed-input-length (FIL), fixed-output-length random oracle. The second proof demonstrates that the tree-based manner in which the MD6 mode of operation is defined yields a hash function that is indifferentiable from a variable-input-length (VIL), fixed-output-length random oracle. Both proofs are rather general and apply not only to MD6 but also to other sufficiently similar hash functions. These results may be interpreted as saying that the MD6 design has no structural flaws that make its input/output behavior clearly distinguishable from that of a VIL random oracle, even for an adversary who has access to inner components of the hash function. It follows that, under plausible assumptions about those inner components, the MD6 hash function may be safely plugged into any application proven secure assuming a monolithic VIL random oracle.
Estimation of local mean population densities of Japanese beetle grubs (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera)

Insect populations tend to be patchy in distribution. Even when the mean population density is low, there may be local patches with high densities. As a result, estimates of mean populations may provide little information about the size or intensity of local patches within the sampled area. We compared the following 3 methods of estimating local population densities of insects: (1) with moving averages, a local mean population density is estimated as the mean of samples taken within a given radius of a central point, (2) with inverse distances, local means are estimated as weighted averages of samples; each sample is given a weight proportional to a power of the reciprocal of its distance from the center of the region for which the mean is to be estimated, (3) kriging is a geostatistical algorithm for estimating local means as weighted averages of samples. Weighting is based on the spatial covariance of the samples, or the degree to which samples that are near to each other are related. The first 2 methods are relatively easy to calculate but were unreliable when used with standard parameters to estimate local Japanese beetle grub densities. When an optimum radius was used with moving averages and an optimum exponent was used with inverse distances, the advantage of ease of calculation was lost, yet both methods were still inferior to kriging in providing accurate estimates of local means.
Haptenation: Chemical Reactivity and Protein Binding

Low molecular weight chemical (LMW) allergens are commonly referred to as haptens. Haptens must complex with proteins to be recognized by the immune system. The majority of occupationally related haptens are reactive, electrophilic chemicals, or are metabolized to reactive metabolites that form covalent bonds with nucleophilic centers on proteins. Nonelectrophilic protein binding may occur through disulfide exchange, coordinate covalent binding onto metal ions on metalloproteins or of metal allergens, themselves, to the major histocompatibility complex. Recent chemical reactivity kinetic studies suggest that the rate of protein binding is a major determinant of allergenic potency; however, electrophilic strength does not seem to predict the ability of a hapten to skew the response between Th1 and Th2. Modern proteomic mass spectrometry methods that allow detailed delineation of potential differences in protein binding sites may be valuable in predicting if a chemical will stimulate an immediate or delayed hypersensitivity. Chemical aspects related to both reactivity and protein-specific binding are discussed.
Unusual case of HIV with Kaposi sarcoma and neuroendocrine tumour.

A 50-year-old Black man with a 3-year history of HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (efavirenz/emtricitabine/tenofovir) presented with cough and dyspnoea. He had no significant medical history aside from HIV and had no history of opportunistic infections. He denied any history of smoking, alcohol or illicit drug abuse, and denied receiving blood transfusions. He had had unprotected sex with male partners in the past. His family history was positive for his mother having had a stroke. He had a history of non-compliance with antiretroviral therapy. Examination showed numerous brownish skin macules and purple coloured exophytic palatal lesions (figures 1 and 2). His CD4 count was 222 and viral load 1130 K copies/mL. Chest X-ray showed perihilar infiltrates …
Pharmacological Rescue of Mutant CFTR Function for the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis

The vast majority of morbidity and mortality in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is due to lung disease caused by mutations in the gene encoding the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). CFTR is a PKA-regulated anion channel localized in the apical membrane of bronchial epithelia where it controls salt and fluid regulation to facilitate bacteria clearance. There are over 1000 disease-causing mutations in the gene encoding CFTR and, depending on the type of mutation, the cell surface density and/or functional activity of CFTR in the apical membrane is reduced. A therapeutic strategy for the treatment of lung disease in CF patients is to use pharmacological agents that increase mutant CFTR-mediated anion secretion. High-throughput screening strategies have identified multiple chemotypes that increase mutant CFTR-mediated anion secretion. These chemotypes can be grouped into two classes based on their mode of action. The first class is known as CFTR correctors because they correct the processing and trafficking of CFTR to increases its cell surface density. The second class is known as CFTR potentiators as they potentiate the amount of anion secretion through CFTR at the cell surface. In vivo analysis of CFTR activity in CF patients indicates that it is correlated with the severity of lung disease and supports the hypothesis that CFTR modulators that restore mutant CFTR activity to >10% of wild-type-CFTR would improve lung function. The use of high-throughput screening and medicinal chemistry optimization to improve the efficacy, potency, and pharmaceutical properties of the multiple potentiator or corrector scaffolds identified to date offers a promising approach for the treatment of CF by directly targeting the root cause of the disease.
Gamma Radiation from the Reaction C 13 ( p , γ ) N 14

The capture radiation from ${\mathrm{C}}^{13}(p, \ensuremath{\gamma}){\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ has been investigated and found to show cascade transitions which involve bound levels in ${\mathrm{N}}^{14}$ at 2.31, 3.95, 5.09, 5.81, 6.26, and 6.44 Mev in addition to the resonance levels at 8.06, 8.62, 8.70, 8.90, 8.98, 9.17, and 9.49 Mev.
Case 11-2010: A 69-Year-Old Woman with Lethargy, Confusion, and Abnormalities on Brain Imaging

A 69-year-old woman presented to this hospital because of a 2-month period of increasing apathy, confusion, and depression. She had a history of connective-tissue disease and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. Ten days before admission, a magnetic resonance image of the brain was obtained, which was abnormal.
The Gift of Philosophy: Between otium and negotium

That man most distinguished in character and learning, Plato, thought that republics would be prosperous, finally, if learned and wise men began to lead them, or if those who lead put all their eff...
A Modern Era in Approaching Cystic Fibrosis

Tel: 562933-8748 Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by multi-system manifestations and limited life expectancy. Although it is a multi-system disease its main manifestation is expressed as a progressive chronic lung disease which at the present time accounts for the vast majority of morbidity and mortality. The CF lung disease is chronic and progressive represented by bronchiectasis, recurrent pulmonary infections with tenacious secretions, mucus plugging and gradual decline in lung function. The essence of Cystic Fibrosis is a dysfunctional Cystic Fibrosis Trans membrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) protein which is deficient or defective. Median life expectancy before 1950 was less than five years, but with the introduction of pancreatic enzymes median life expectancy rose to 10 years by 1960. As anti-staphylococcal antimicrobials were introduced into the care of CF median life expectancy by 1970 was approximately 15 years. In the 1970s anti-pseudomonas regimens were deployed and by 1980 median life expectancy approximated 20 years. In the 1980’s and in subsequent years additional aggressive therapeutic regimens targeting primarily the lungs were introduced and they included among others better anti-pseudomonas treatments in oral and intravenous forms but more importantly in inhaled or aerosolized forms. The main prototype of antimicrobial delivered by inhalation was “TOBI" (tobramycin by inhalation). Other important regimens included more effective airway clearance devises, inhaled Pulmozyme (DNase), hypertonic saline, anti-inflammatory agents and the ultimate intervention with lung transplantation for end-stage lung disease. The success in the period between 1980 and 2006 was manifested by improvement in the median life expectancy to approximately 37.5 years. Presently, in 2015, median life expectancy is about 40 years.
Research and Application of the Heat Shrinkable Tube Heating Machine

Heat shrinkable tube is a kind of protection material generally used in cable fitting process.The method conventionally use a hot air gun to make tube shrink little by little.Which is low efficiency and high cost.By means of our experiments,developed a kind of heating machine and optimized the process.The reliability and efficiency had also been improved at the same time.Now,the heating machine had been widely used in manufacture.
A Representation of Effort in Decision-Making and Motor Control

Given two rewarding stimuli, animals tend to choose the more rewarding (or less effortful) option. However, they also move faster toward that stimulus [1-5]. This suggests that reward and effort not only affect decision-making, they also influence motor control [6, 7]. How does the brain compute the effort requirements of a task? Here, we considered data acquired during walking, reaching, flying, or isometric force production. In analyzing the decision-making and motor-control behaviors of various animals, we considered the possibility that the brain may estimate effort objectively, via the metabolic energy consumed to produce the action. We measured the energetic cost of reaching and found that, like walking, it was convex in time, with a global minimum, implying that there existed a movement speed that minimized effort. However, reward made it worthwhile to be energetically inefficient. Using a framework in which utility of an action depended on reward and energetic cost, both discounted in time, we found that it was possible to account for a body of data in which animals were free to choose how to move (reach slow or fast), as well as what to do (walk or fly, produce force F1 or F2). We suggest that some forms of decision-making and motor control may share a common utility in which the brain represents the effort associated with performing an action objectively via its metabolic energy cost and then, like reward, temporally discounts it as a function of movement duration.
Cruising Politics: Sexuality, Solidarity and Modularity after Gezi

Emrah Yildiz places the LGBTQ individuals and their collective action at and beyond Gezi at the center of the analysis, redefining them as political subjects of their own right, with a view to shedding light on the connections between sexuality and solidarity, Focusing in particular on the intricate alignment of Kurdish and queer politics in contemporary Turkey, this chapter highlights the emancipatory potential of Gezi Park’s “expressive and explosive political momentum” and its contribution to the ways in which queer politics could be imagined and practiced anew.
Vascular Abnormalities and Pulmonary Hypertension in the Berkeley Sickle Mouse.

Abstract Clinically, pulmonary hypertension is a major risk factor for mortality in adults with sickle cell disease. Contributing factors probably include red cell hemolysis and vaso-occlusive injury with their associated oxidative and inflammatory stimuli. Previously, we have described RBC hemolysis and endothelial oxidative stress in the Berkeley sickle mouse model and extend those studies in this work to investigate cardiovascular and endothelial dysfunction. Eight to ten month old homozygous and hemizygous Berkeley sickle mice and C57BL/6 control mice were used for all aspects of these experiments. In vivo measurements of mean arterial pressure and right ventricular pressures were conducted in fully anesthetized mice using a pressure transducer inserted in the carotid and right ventricle respectively. Following in vivo readings hearts were excised for measurement of ventricular mass. The ascending aorta was removed and cut into 5 mm rings for in vitro studies of agonist- induced contractility and relaxation. The mean arterial pressure of the hemizygous sickle mice (70.6 ± 3.4) was significantly lower than the control mice (86.0 ± 3.1) and the mean arterial pressure of homozygous sickle mice (59.0 ± 2.2 mmHg) was significantly lower than the hemizygous and control mice (p≤0.05 and p≤0.001, respectively). The right ventricular pressure showed a trend that approached significance (p= 0.08) such that pressures in homozygous mice were ≥ than those in hemizygous which were ≥ than those in control mice. Increased basal cardiac output was suggested by significant left ventricular hypertrophy. In vitro examination of potassium chloride activation of voltage gated calcium channels showed no significant difference in sensitivity or maximal contraction. Similarly, there was no difference in sensitivity to the α1 agonist, phenylephrine. However, both hemi- and homozygous mice showed a significant reduction in maximal force of contraction (normalized to cross sectional area when compared to controls. Maximal acetylcholine induced relaxation of aortic rings was significantly reduced (p≤0.05) in homozygous sickle mice compared to controls. The same effect was not seen with sodium nitroprusside induced relaxation indicating that the acetylcholine effect was not due to effects on the smooth muscle but was endothelium-dependent. The Berkeley mouse model shows cardiac hypertrophy consistent with the increased cardiac output associated with chronic anemia and a reduced basal mean arterial blood pressure similar to that seen in humans. 8–10 month old mice have increased right ventricular pressure and RV mass indicative of pulmonary hypertension. Further endothelial dysfunction is characterized by a reduction in the maximal relaxation elicited by acetylcholine. Therefore, the Berkeley mouse is a good model for investigating sickle related endothelial dysfunction.
Abstract IA11: Pancreatic cancer biology and medicine

Pancreatic cancer remains the most deadly of the common malignancies. To increase our basic understanding of this disease and advance medical approaches, we have recently co-developed with Hans Clevers mouse and human organoid model systems. Our organoid cultures representative of either normal or neoplastic ductal cells facilitate the systematic analysis of neoplastic biochemical cascades, provide a platform to explore therapeutic and diagnostic strategies, and also enable the reconstitution of tumor microenvironment interactions. We have found that Nrf2, a principal regulator of redox metabolism, promotes proliferation in KRAS mutant pancreatic ductal cells in part by regulating the reduced state of the cellular proteome. As a consequence of proteome oxidation, central pathways of homeostasis are impaired, including protein translation. The genes with markedly impaired translation include a number of critical proto-oncogenes. Additionally, diagnostic and therapeutic approaches have revealed new avenues to explore for early detection and disease treatment. Finally, the co-culture of organoids with pancreatic stellate cells promotes the activation of each cell type and results in the production of extracellular matrix. Co-cultures reveal distinct subtypes of stellate cells and provide an opportunity to identify and target novel mediators of the tumor microenvironment. Citation Format: David Tuveson.{Authors}. Pancreatic cancer biology and medicine. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; 2016 May 12-15; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(24 Suppl):Abstract nr IA11.
Sovereign Credit Ratings and Central Banks: Do Analysts Pay Attention to Institutions?

This paper studies the effect of the governance of modern central banks on the ratings assigned by the credit rating agencies Standard and Poor's and Moody's. Until recently, the rating process was not public. Even still, the factors or precise methodologies used by the agencies remain uncertain and analyst judgment remains important. We argue that, given uncertainty over the future paths of countries, the quality of the central bank governance serves as a useful heuristic for a stable and favorable country trajectory. In particular, the central bank's independence signals that the government is committed to general macroeconomic stability, including debt repayment. Additionally, central bank transparency clarifies who is the principal of the bank and provides information about how the central bank understands the economy and monetary policy. Finally, tensions between the central bank and the government, as reflected by irregular turnover of central bank governors, raise doubts about countries’ future prospects. Empirically, we use a variety of models, including mediation analysis, to ensure that the effect we identify stems from the central bank governance itself, as a heuristic for the future paths of countries, and not the central bank's direct contribution to the macroeconomy, as reflected in the available data.
Abstract 5818: Disrupting the Aurora kinase A interactome in pediatric cancer

Neuroblastoma is the most common extra-cranial solid tumor of childhood. Amplification of the MYCN proto-oncogene occurs in 50% of the high-risk neuroblastoma and indicates an aggressive and lethal form of the disease. As a transcription factor with no apparent small-molecule surfaces, direct inhibition of MYCN has proven challenging. Proteolytic cleavage of MYCN is regulated in part by an activity-independent scaffold function of Aurora Kinase A (AURKA). The dynamic expression and activation of AURKA allows for precise cell cycle regulation of several substrates identified by protein-protein interaction studies that are also viable anti-cancer targets, such as the aforementioned MYCN oncoprotein. Utilizing co-immunopreciptation, flow cytometry, and other pertinent cell biology techniques, we aim to delineate a novel mechanism of targeting the AURKA interactome by conformation disruption of AURKA. We have recently described a neoteric class of confirmation disrupting “amphosteric” inhibitors of AURKA (CD-AURKAi) that orthosterically inhibit the ATP-binding pocket to dramatically disrupt the active conformation of AURKA to dissociate and degrade MYCN, a critical oncogenic driver of the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma. In addition to MYCN, our preliminary results show CD532 will also dissociate other oncogenic proteins that interact with AURKA. We hypothesize that conformation disruption of AURKA and subsequent blockade of an array of protein-protein interactions will delineate the roles of AURKA, MYC, and MYCN in the cell cycle and expand the clinical applications for CD-AURKAi in cancer to include non-MYCN driven diseases. Citation Format: Sucheta Mukherjee, Carolyn Tu, Clay Gustafson. Disrupting the Aurora kinase A interactome in pediatric cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5818. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-5818
Garment compensation in marker-less motion tracking for medical imaging

To mitigate image artifacts resulting from patient motion, detection and tracking of motion is necessary. Existing techniques to track patient motion are either image-derived or utilize systems external to the imaging modality such as visual tracking systems (VTS). VTS methods adopted in clinical research often use optical stereo cameras to track retro-reflective markers placed on the patient to provide a measure of motion for a target structure. However, these systems have important limitations including: high equipment costs, hindrance to patient workflow, marker slippage, and frequent calibration and maintenance. An alternative is to use marker-less VTS, which employ small low-cost depth-sensing optical cameras that can be placed inside the imaging bore and track 1000's of points without markers using disturbances in reflected light patterns. Despite the advantages of size and not needing markers, marker-less VTS cannot directly see the patient's body surface, only the surface of the garments covering their body. In lieu of asking the patients to disrobe, we have developed a method to enable tracking of the body surface of patients despite being fully clothed. Our method is based on physical simulation of Newtonian forces acting on the clothing's fabric to accurately predict how a garment will deform from a given a body shape and motion. This work leverages recent advances in the computer graphics field that now enable robust methods for capturing and modeling the shape, motion, elasticity, and other properties of garments. In simulations, we show the ability to track points on the surface of the torso despite loose and wrinkled garments and our findings confirm that garment compensation will be a necessary and important part of the overall motion tracking methods which utilize marker-less VTS.
Decolonising violence: revolutionary affinities between the U.S. Black power movement and the Moroccan journal Souffles*

This article examines how the U.S. Black Power movement and Souffles, the Moroccan journal of culture and politics, sought through their publications and political activism to critique the violence...
Free Energy Minimization Using the 2-D Cluster Variation Method: Initial Code Verification and Validation.

A new approach for general artificial intelligence (GAI), building on neural network deep learning architectures, can make use of one or more hidden layers that have the ability to continuously reach a free energy minimum even after input stimulus is removed, allowing for a variety of possible behaviors. One reason that this approach has not been developed until now has been the lack of a suitable free energy equation. The Cluster Variation Method (CVM) offers a means for characterizing 2-D local pattern distributions, or configuration variables, and provides a free energy formalism in terms of these configuration variables. The equilibrium distribution of these configuration variables is defined in terms of a single interaction enthalpy parameter, h, for the case of equiprobable distribution of bistate units. For non-equiprobable distributions, the equilibrium distribution can be characterized by providing a fixed value for the fraction of units in the active state (x1), corresponding to the influence of a per-unit activation enthalpy, together with the pairwise interaction enthalpy parameter h. This paper provides verification and validation (V&V) for code that computes the configuration variable and thermodynamic values for 2-D CVM grids characterized by different interaction enthalpy parameters, or h-values. This work provides a foundation for experimenting with a 2-D CVM-based hidden layer that can, as an alternative to responding strictly to inputs, also now independently come to its own free energy minimum and also return to a free energy-minimized state after perturbations, which will enable a range of input-independent behaviors. A further use of this 2-D CVM grid is that by characterizing local patterns in terms of their corresponding h-values (together with their x1 values), we have a means for quantitatively characterizing different kinds of neural topographies.