cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ultrastructure of the carotid body of the cat as revealed by various fixatives and the use of reserpine.

Carotid bodies from 11 cats were prepared for study with the electron microscope. All cats used were initially healthy and weighed from 1.5 to 4.0 Kg. Four cats were given daily doses of reserpine 1.5 mg/Kg for 2, 3, 4 or 12 days; the other cats were untreated. Carotid bodies were fixed by immersion in Dalton's fluid, collidine buffered osmic acid or 3% potassium permanganate in 0.1 M phosphate buffer. Other carotid bodies were fixed by perfusion with buffered formalin or with 3% glutaraldehyde in phosphate buffer. Each fixative produced distinct differences in the appearance of the carotid body, particularly in the size and opacity of the granules within the characteristic vesicles of glomus cells (type I). After Dalton's fixative the granules were faint and inconspicuous whereas after osmic acid fixation the granules were very dense but small in comparison to the size of the enclosing vesicular membrane. Aldehyde fixation resulted in very dense granules that almost completely filled the vesicles but permanganate fixation produced vesicles that were devoid of the dense central cores except for a very few. Carotid bodies from reserpine treated cats that were fixed in osmic acid displayed empty vesicles while those from reserpinized animals fixed by perfusion with glutaraldehyde revealed granules that differed little from normal in numbers, size and density. However, vesicles in the adrenal medulla and in sympathetic nerve endings in the pineal gland from the same animals contained empty vesicles. The results are regarded as evidence of a different degree or method of binding between catecholamines and other components of the vesicles in glomus cells when compared to similar vesicles in sympathetic nerve endings and the adrenal medulla.
Molecular Imaging of Bone Marrow Mononuclear Cell Homing and Engraftment in Ischemic Myocardium

Bone marrow mononuclear cell (BMMC) therapy shows promise as a treatment for ischemic heart disease. However, the ability to monitor long-term cell fate remains limited. We hypothesized that molecular imaging could be used to track stem cell homing and survival after myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. We first harvested donor BMMCs from adult male L2G85 transgenic mice constitutively expressing both firefly luciferase (Fluc) and enhanced green fluorescence protein reporter gene. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis revealed ∼0.07% of the population to consist of classic hematopoietic stem cells (lin-, thy-int, c-kit+, Sca-1+). Afterward, adult female FVB recipients (n = 38) were randomized to sham surgery or acute I/R injury. Animals in the sham (n = 16) and I/R (n = 22) groups received 5 × 106 of the L2G85-derived BMMCs via tail vein injection. Bioluminescence imaging (BLI) was used to track cell migration and survival in vivo for 4 weeks. BLI showed preferential homing of BMMCs to hearts with I/R injury compared with sham hearts within the first week following cell injection. Ex vivo analysis of explanted hearts by histology confirmed BLI imaging results, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (for the male Sry gene) further demonstrated a greater number of BMMCs in hearts with I/R injury compared with the sham group. Functional evaluation by echocardiography demonstrated a trend toward improved left ventricular fractional shortening in animals receiving BMMCs. Taken together, these data demonstrate that molecular imaging can be used to successfully track BMMC therapy in murine models of heart disease. Specifically, we have demonstrated that systemically delivered BMMCs preferentially home to and are retained by injured myocardium. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is found at the end of this article.
Managing a subsidized predator population: reducing common raven predation on desert tortoises.

Human communities often are an inadvertent source of food, water, and other resources to native species of wildlife. Because these resources are more stable and predictable than those in a natural environment, animals that subsist on them are able to increase in numbers and expand their range, much to the detriment of their competitors and species they prey upon. In the Mojave Desert, common ravens (Corvus corax) have benefited from human-provided resources to increase in population size precipitously in recent years. This trend has caused concern because ravens prey on juvenile desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii), a federally threatened species. In this paper, I discuss management strategies to reduce raven predation on desert tortoises. The recommendations fall into three categories: (1) managing raven populations by reducing access to anthropogenic resources; (2) removing offending ravens or other birds in specially targeted tortoise management zones; and (3) continuing research on raven ecology, raven behavior, and methods of reducing raven predation on tortoises. I also recommend approaching the problem within an adaptive management framework: management efforts should first be employed as scientific experiments—with replicates and controls—to yield an unbiased assessment of their effectiveness. Furthermore, these strategies should be implemented in concert with actions that reduce other causes of desert tortoise mortality to aid the long-term recovery of their populations. Overall, the approaches outlined in this paper are widely applicable to the management of subsidized predators, particularly where they present a threat to a declining species of prey.
Comparison of acute hemodynamic responses to prostacyclin with standard vasodilators in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension.

Ithough the benefit of long-term vasodilator therapy in patients with primary pulmonary hypertension (PPH) is still unsettled, efforts have been made to assess the role of evaluations of acute pulmonary vascular reactivity as a guide to long-term pharmacologic therapy.’ Because of problems inherent in these studies and the lack of a specific pulmonary arterial vasodilator, many potential pulmonary vasodilator agents from different pharmacologic classes have been tried in these acute studies.2 These acute drug studies can be lengthy and carry risk of substantial morbidity and even potential mortality. Recently, IV prostacycin (PCI2) has become available and has been proposed as the optimal agent for evaluating pulmonary vascular reactivity’ We compared the acute effects of PCI2 with that of standard vasodilator agents in 10 patients with PPH. The 10 patients had a mean age of 35.6 years (range 18-’ 70 years); 7 were female, 3 were male. Their mean PA pressure was 65.2 mm Hg (range, 46-82 mm Hg), and their mean PVR was 1,630 dyne-s cm(range, 705-2,695 years dyne-scm 5). Their mean cardiac output was 3.41 L/min (range, 2.00-5.15 L/min); their mean cardiac index was 1.89 Llmin/m2 (range, 1.16-2.77 L/minlm2). All patients were evaluated using a standard protocol to exclude identifiable etiologies of pulmonary hypertension. Balloon flotation right heart catheterization was performed in the supine position. After establishment and recording of the baseline hemodynamic state, prostacyclin was administered IV in incremental doses up to a maximum infusion rate of 12 ngfkg/min while hemodynamic parameters were recorded. Following termination of the prostacyclin infusion, the patient was observed until reestablishment of the baseline hemodynamic state. The standard vasodilators were then administered sequentially, each to the maximally tolerated dose, while hemodynamic parameters were recorded and each followed by the reestablishment of the baseline hemodynamic state before the administration of the next vasodilator agent. Patients were tested using an average of 5 vasodilator agents (range, 3-8 agents). In addition to PCI2, the agents tested included acetylcholine, nitroglycerin, isoproterenol, nifedipine, nitroprusside, phentolamine, and hydralazine. Changes in mean pulmonary artery (PA) pressure, pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and cardiac output (CO) were used to assess the responses to the vasodilator agents. Table 1 details the % changes (mean ± SD) of the measured hemodynamic parameters in response to the various vasodilators administered. For each individual patient, the “maximal” vasodilator response was that agent with evoked Agent No. of Subjects % Change in Mean PA Pressure % Change % Change in PVR in CO
Integration of Linearized Evolution Equations

This paper treats the problem of solving the linear equation which arises when a nonlinear evolution equation is linearized around some particular solution. It is shown that if the original equation is of completely integrable Hamiltonian form there are an infinity of explicit solutions of the linearized equation. These are almost always linearly independent.
Metabotropic glutamate receptor antagonist, (R,S)-α-methyl-4-carboxyphenyglycine, blocks two distinct forms of long-term potentiation in area CA1 of rat hippocampus

The necessity of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) has recently been questioned. We examined the effect of (R,S)-alpha-methyl-4-caboxyphenylglycine (MCPG), a selective mGluR antagonist, on two independent forms of LTP. One form induced by a 25 Hz/1 s tetanus is solely N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent. The other form induced by four 200 Hz/0.5 s bursts in the presence of APV is NMDA receptor-independent. In both paradigms the presence of MCPG prevented the induction of LTP by afferent activation.
Impact of sex and gonadal steroids on prolongation of ventricular repolarization and arrhythmias induced by I(K)-blocking drugs.

Background—Mechanisms for longer rate-corrected QT intervals and higher incidences of drug-induced torsade de pointes in women than in men are incompletely defined, although gonadal steroids are assumed to be important determinants of these differences. Methods and Results—We used microelectrode techniques to study isolated rabbit right ventricular endocardium from control male and female and castrated male (ORCH) and female (OVX) rabbits. Action potential duration to 30% repolarization (APD30) was significantly shorter in male than female and in ORCH than OVX at a cycle length of 500 ms. The IKs blocker chromanol 293B had no effect on APD in males or females. The IKr blocker dofetilide prolonged APD in female and ORCH more than in male and OVX. At 10−6 mol/L dofetilide (cycle length=1 second), the incidence of early afterdepolarizations was: female, 67%; ORCH, 56%; male, 40%; and OVX, 28%. Serum 17β-estradiol levels were unrelated to the effects of dofetilide, but as testosterone levels increased, the do...
Vaccinia Virus A26 and A27 Proteins Form a Stable Complex Tethered to Mature Virions by Association with the A17 Transmembrane Protein

During vaccinia virus replication, mature virions (MVs) are wrapped with cellular membranes, transported to the periphery, and exported as extracellular virions (EVs) that mediate spread. The A26 protein is unusual in that it is present in MVs but not EVs. This distribution led to a proposal that A26 negatively regulates wrapping. A26 also has roles in the attachment of MVs to the cell surface and incorporation of MVs into proteinaceous A-type inclusions in some orthopoxvirus species. However, A26 lacks a transmembrane domain, and nothing is known regarding how it associates with the MV, regulates incorporation of the MV into inclusions, and possibly prevents EV formation. Here, we provide evidence that A26 forms a disulfide-bonded complex with A27 that is anchored to the MV through a noncovalent interaction with the A17 transmembrane protein. In the absence of A27, A26 was unstable, and only small amounts were detected. The interaction of A26 with A27 depended on a C-terminal segment of A26 with 45% amino acid identity to A27. Deletion of A26 failed to enhance EV formation by vaccinia virus, as had been predicted. Nevertheless, the interaction of A26 and A27 may have functional significance, since each is thought to mediate binding to cells through interaction with laminin and heparan sulfate, respectively. We also found that A26 formed a noncovalent complex with A25, a truncated form of the cowpox virus A-type inclusion matrix protein. The latter association suggests a mechanism for incorporation of virions into A-type inclusions in other orthopoxvirus strains.
Solvation effects on reactions of triplet benzophenone in supercritical fluids

Laser flash photolysis of the hydrogen abstraction reaction of triplet benzophenone ({sup 3}BP) from 2-propanol and 1,4-cyclohexadiene in supercritical ethane and fluoroform was investigated. Bimolecular rate constants based on bulk concentrations decrease with an increase in pressure along both isotherms studied. These results corroborate previous studies in CO{sub 2} that show increased reaction rates due to enhanced local compositions of cosolvent around the {sup 3}BP solute. Analysis of the results includes prediction of the thermodynamic pressure effect on the rate constant, which suggests an increase in the rate constant with pressure, as well as the effects of increased local cosolvent concentrations about {sup 3}BP. Spectroscopic measurements of the local composition of 2-propanol about a solute in supercritical CO{sub 2} are used to explain the apparent discrepancy between experiment and prediction, providing reasonable evidence that the local environment can influence kinetically controlled reactions in supercritical fluids.
Racial and ethnic differences in diabetic patient-reported depression symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment

Abstract Aims Depression is common in diabetes, but little is known about depression in minorities with diabetes. This study investigated (1) racial/ethnic variation in depressive symptoms, (2) racial/ethnic variation in patient-reported physician-diagnosed depression, (3) racial/ethnic variation in patient-reported pharmacological depression treatment, and (4) the effects of demographic and diabetes variables on these outcomes. Participants A community sample of 740 persons with diabetes attending diabetes health fairs in the northeastern US participated. Design Cross-sectional, observational. Participants were paid $5 on-site for completing a one-time, anonymous self-report questionnaire. Measurements The questionnaire asked about demographics and diabetes, as well as physician-diagnosed depression and medication for depression. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale was used to determine depressive symptoms. Results ANCOVA revealed that rates of depressive symptoms were similar among White, African-American, and Latino persons with diabetes. One quarter (24.2%) endorsed physician-diagnosed depression, and 40.2% of them (9.7% of the total sample) reported pharmacological treatment. In logistic regression, African-Americans reported lower rates of physician-diagnosed depression than Whites, OR = 0.470. In logistic regression, those African Americans who endorsed depression diagnosis reported marginally lower rates of pharmacotherapy than Whites, OR = 0.415. Conclusions Providers are encouraged to address depression in their diabetic patients, paying particular attention to minorities.
Hazing Typologies: Those Who Criminally Haze and Those Who Receive Criminal Hazing

Abstract This study addressed the reality of criminal hazing by college sororities and fraternities in terms of offenders and victims. Specifically, this study identified typologies of those who haze (i.e., offenders) and those who receive hazing (i.e., victims). The data was culled using focus groups at the local and national levels and by review of three years of archived data on the subject. With an increasing level of societal concern being placed on such behavior, this study provides some understanding as to the views of college students belonging to these organizations.
SPECIES DISCRIMINATION AMONG PELAGIC HETEROPODS: RESOLUTION OF THE PTEROTRACHEA HIPPOCAMPUS—P. MINUTA PROBLEM

Four species of Pterotrachea are currently recognized, two of which (P. hippocampus Philippi, 1836, and P. minuta Bonnevie, 1920) have very similar morphologies. These two species have been distinguished mainly on the basis of eye and visceral nucleus shapes; the former with wide, triangular eyes and a short, broad nucleus, and the latter with narrower, triangular eyes and a taller, more slender nucleus. Quantitative and qualitative morphological data were obtained from specimens of P. hippocampus and P. minuta collected during two oceanographic sampling programs in the North Atlantic Ocean. Comparisons of eye and visceral nucleus shapes (represented by their length to width and length to retinal width ratios, respectively), plotted against body length showed linear decreases, with no justification for the recognition of two separate species. Examination of eye shape across a wide range of body sizes showed that the width of the retina increases disproportionately with body growth (by elongation and medial upturning) beginning at a length of about 21‐22 mm. As a result, the overall appearance of the eye at this body size changes such that smaller animals (less than 21‐22 mm) have eyes corresponding with those of P. minuta, while the eyes of individuals larger than this body length match those of P. hippocampus. Several authors have distinguished females of the two species by the presence (P. hippocampus) or absence (P. minuta) of cuticular spines anterior to the eyes. Examination of female specimens showed that those less than about 30 mm lacked these spines, while those above this size possessed them. Thus, cuticular spines represent a secondary female sexual characteristic. Other morphological features that have been used by previous authors to distinguish the two species were examined and rejected. Because P. hippocampus was described prior to P. minuta, it is herein regarded as the senior synonym of P. minuta.
Uncertainty in training large vocabulary speech recognizers

We propose a technique for annotating data used to train a speech recognizer. The proposed scheme is based on labeling only a single frame for every word in the training set. We make use of the virtual evidence (VE) framework within a graphical model to take advantage of such data. We apply this approach to a large vocabulary speech recognition task, and show that our VE-based training scheme can improve over the performance of a system trained using sequence labeled data by 2.8% and 2.1% on the dev01 and eva101 sets respectively. Annotating data in the proposed scheme is not significantly slower than sequence labeling. We present timing results showing that training using the proposed approach is about 10 times faster than training using sequence labeled data while using only about 75% of the memory.
En bloc spondylectomy for spinal metastases: a review of techniques.

Object. Spinal metastases are prevalent in the population of patients with cancer. Effective cancer therapy must incorporate treatment strategies for these lesions. Increasingly, surgery is being recognized as an effective treatment modality both for the patient’s quality of life and potential oncological cure. En bloc spondylectomy is the surgical procedure of choice to obtain these goals. The purpose of this study was to examine critically the rationale, indications, and outcomes of en bloc spondylectomy for spinal metastases. Methods. Outcomes in the authors’ series of patients who underwent en bloc spondylectomy for spinal metastases are critically analyzed. The rationale and indications for this procedure are discussed. The Weinstein, Boriani, and Biagini surgical staging system for spinal tumors is described. A review of the literature is performed to examine further the rationale underlying this aggressive surgical approach to metastatic spinal disease. Conclusions. En bloc spondylectomy is the treatment of choice for solitary and oligometastatic spinal metastases with biologically favorable histological findings. In appropriately selected patients, neurological outcome, pain control, and oncological control are significantly better after en bloc spondylectomy compared with radiation therapy. Oncological outcomes also exceed those of intralesional techniques. The Weinstein, Boriani, and Biagini surgical staging system provides a standard with which to plan surgical approaches and to compare surgical outcomes.
Exploiting Parallelism with Dependence-Aware Scheduling

It is well known that a large fraction of applications cannot be parallelized at compile time due to unpredictable data dependences such as indirect memory accesses and/or memory accesses guarded by data-dependent conditional statements. A significant body of prior work attempts to parallelize such applications using runtime data-dependence analysis and scheduling. Performance is highly dependent on the ratio of the dependence analysis overheads with respect to the actual amount of parallelism available in the code. We have found that the overheads are often high and the available parallelism is often low when evaluating applications on a modern multicore processor. We propose a novel software-based approach called dependence-aware scheduling to parallelize loops with unknown data dependences. Unlike prior work, our main goal is to reduce the negative impact of dependence computation, such that when there is not an opportunity of getting speedup, the code can still run without much slowdown. If there is an opportunity, dependence-aware scheduling is able to yield very impressive speedup. Our results indicate that dependence-aware scheduling can greatly improve performance, with up to 4x speedups, for a number of computation intensive applications. Furthermore, the results also show negligible slowdowns in a stress test, where parallelism is continuously detected but not exploited.
Miller Fisher syndrome in adult onset Still's disease: case report and review of the literature of other neurological manifestations

Adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) is a multi-system inflammatory disorder characterized by high spiking fevers, evanescent salmon-coloured rash, arthralgias or arthritis, hepatosplenomegaly, lymphadenopathy and sore throat. There is no specific test or combination of tests that can establish the diagnosis of AOSD and patients may present with other systemic involvement including neurological manifestations in 7-12% of cases. We present a complex case of a patient with AOSD who developed the Miller-Fisher variant of Guillain-Barre syndrome. This immunological disorder of the nervous system has not been described in association with AOSD before. We also review the literature on other neurological manifestations in AOSD. AOSD mimics different disease processes and its multi-system manifestations may complicate the picture further.
Variations of Twentieth-Century Temperature and Precipitation Extreme Indicators in the Northeast United States

An examination of five temperature and five precipitation extreme indicators reveals an increase in both temperature and precipitation extremes over the 1926–2000 period in the northeast United States, with most of this increase occurring over the past four decades. Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of winter frost days (FD) and warm nights (TN90) and also winter consecutive dry days (CDD) and very wet days (R95T) over the 1950–2000 period reveals that some of the variability associated with changes in these extremes may be explained by variations in the Arctic Oscillation (AO), El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and Pacific–North American (PNA) pattern. The most prominent feature of these results was the high correlation between the leading EOF of frost days and warm nights and the AO. Winter composites of temperature and precipitation extreme indicators were examined for different phases of the AO and ENSO during the 1926–2000 period. Overall, the AO is a better predictor of winter warm nights, while the ENSO is a better predictor of consecutive dry days in the northeast United States.
Cultural influences on global firms' decisions to cut the strategic brand ties that bind: A commentary essay

article i nfo Today's global firms face increasing pressure to protect their brand identity from encroachments of copycat brands that seek to benefit from associations firms have established in the minds of consumers. This essay is a commentary to the article "Marking your trade: cultural factors in the prolongation of trademarks" by Melnyk, Giarratana and Torres that raises several important issues warranting further attention by researchers. This essay comments on the paper's contributions, limitations, and opportunities contributing to future research about trademark practices and strategies. Furthermore, the essay suggests useful extensions relative to the more general strategic issue of prolongation or abandonment of intangible brand assets in global markets and the dynamic interface between firm-created and consumer-created brand meaning.
The application of intertidal foraminifera to reconstruct coastal subsidence during the giant Cascadia earthquake of AD 1700 in Oregon, USA

Abstract Changes in species assemblages of intertidal foraminifera can be used to estimate the amount of earthquake-related subsidence during plate-boundary earthquakes at the Cascadia subduction zone. The accuracy and precision of foraminiferal methods in paleoenvironmental reconstruction is underpinned by the relations between contemporary taxa and their environment, which are used to calibrate fossil foraminiferal assemblages in sediment sequences. A contemporary training set of surface sediment samples from five intertidal marshes along the Oregon coast was used to determine foraminiferal distributions and prevailing environmental control(s) along elevational transects. Dominant taxa include Balticammina pseudomacrescens , Trochamminita irregularis , Haplophragmoides wilberti , Trochammina inflata , Jadammina macrescens and Miliammina fusca. Unconstrained cluster analysis and detrended correspondence analysis was used to identify two elevation-dependent faunal zones: Faunal Zone I (upland, high marsh, middle marsh) dominated by Balticammina pseudomacrescens , Haplophragmoides wilberti and Trochammina inflata , and Faunal Zone II (low marsh and tidal flat) dominated by Miliammina fusca . Site-specific differences in assemblages at three marshes enabled further subdivision of Faunal Zone I. Zone Ia is based on one or more of Balticammina pseudomacrescens, Trochammina inflata , Trochamminita irregularis and Haplophragmoides sp., and Zone Ib on Jadammina macrescens , Haplophragmoides sp., Trochammina inflata and Miliammina fusca . Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and partial CCA of the training set from the Nehalem River marsh transect was used to infer that the zonation of foraminifera is elevation-dependent (39% of explained variance). A transfer function was developed to reconstruct sudden changes in relative sea-level during plate-boundary earthquakes in Oregon. The results indicate a robust performance of the transfer function ( r jack 2 = 0.82) with the error estimate (RMSEP jack = 0.20 m) comparable to local and regional transfer functions from other temperate marshes. To illustrate the potential of the technique, the transfer function was applied to reconstruct subsidence during the AD 1700 earthquake using at Alsea Bay, Oregon. The reconstruction (0.18 ± 0.20 m) is less than half the subsidence estimate of Nelson et al. [2008. Great-earthquake palogeoesy and tsunamis of the past 2000 years at Alsea Bay, central Oregon coast, USA. Quaternary Science Reviews, 27, 747–768] using their foraminiferal transfer function, perhaps because of differences in taxonomy and the species relationship to elevation.
Human, Model and Machine: A Complementary Approach to Big Data

In this paper, we describe a framework for processing big data that maximizing the efficiency of human data scientists by having them primarily operate over information that is best structured to human processing demands. We accomplish this through the use of cognitive models as an intermediary between machine learning algorithms and human data scientists. The ACT-R cognitive architecture is a computational implementation of a unified theory of cognition. ACT-R cognitive models can take weakly structured data and learn to filter information and make accurate inferences orders of magnitude faster than machine learning, and then present these well-structured inferences to human data scientists. The role for human data scientists is both oversight and feedback; one complementary piece of a hierarchy of cognitive and machine learning techniques that are computationally appropriate for their level of information complexity.
Studies on Gonococcus Infection V. Observations on In Vitro Interactions of Gonococci and Human Neutrophils

Abstract The association of in vitro human leukocytes with pilated, type 2 Neisseria gonorrhoeae exceeds that for nonpilated, type 4 organisms but is less than that for nonpilated, type 4* gonococci. The two nonpilated forms of gonococci (types 4 and 4*) attach to tissue culture cells to a much lesser extent than do pilated, type 2 organisms of the same strain. Trypsin treatment of either pilated (type 2) or nonpilated (type 4*) gonococci markedly reduces the attachment-ingestion of these organisms with leukocytes, but the same trypsin treatment does not depilate the type 2 organisms nor visibly alter the morphology of their pili. Similar reductions in association with leukocytes are found if the gonococci are pretreated with chymotrypsin, heat, or glutaraldehyde. High levels of association between gonococci and leukocytes are reestablished if the trypsin or chymotrypsin-treated organisms are reincubated in protease-free medium. These data suggest that interactions between gonococci and human neutrophils are mediated through surface characteristics of the bacteria, different from those which influence attachment of the organisms to tissue culture cells. In the latter instance, pili appear to positively influence gonococcal attachment, whereas in the former a nonpilus bacterial cell wall nonpilus protein is probably the major determiner in the interaction between leukocytes and gonococci.
Dapagliflozin for the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical trials, and adverse effects of dapagliflozin, a sodium glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT-2) inhibitor. Data Sources: Data were gathered from articles indexed in PubMed, International Pharmaceutical from (2006 to April 2014) was performed using the following terms “dapagliflozin,” “SGLT-2 inhibitor,” and “Farxiga.” Abstracts and manufacturer’s package insert were also used as an additional reference. Study Selection and Data Extraction: All English language prospective randomized, double-blinded trials evaluating the efficacy of dapagliflozin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes were identified. Data Synthesis: We evaluated 9 clinical trials with dapagliflozin as monotherapy or add-on therapy. Results from these studies demonstrated that dapagliflozin to be noninferior to metformin in treatment naive patients for reduction in A1C. Additionally, dapagliflozin was noninferior to glimepiride when added on to metformin. As an add-on therapy to insu...
The Effect of In Ovo Injection of l-Carnitine on Hatchability of White Leghorns

Abstract Two experiments were conducted to determine if l -carnitine injected in ovo affected hatchability. Eggs of experiment 1 were injected with sterilized saline (0.85%) or l -carnitine (0.25, 0.50, 1.00, or 2.00 μmol dissolved in saline). An additional group of eggs served as noninjected controls. Hatchabilities were unaffected by treatment (94% for noninjected controls; 94% for saline injected eggs; and 87, 87, 88, and 88% for eggs injected with 0.25, 0.50, 1.00, or 2.00 μmol of l -carnitine, respectively; SEM = 1). Yolk sac weights retrieved from hatchings that were subjected to 0, 0.25, or 0.50 μmol of l -carnitine as embryos through in ovo injection were 3.9, 3.8, and 3.6 g, respectively (SEM = 0.1, P = 0.71). Eggs used in experiment 2 were injected with a wider dosimetry of l -carnitine. Fertile eggs were injected with sterilized saline (0.85%) or l -carnitine (0.05, 0.5, 5, or 10 μmol dissolved in saline). An additional group of eggs served as noninjected controls. Chick BW and % hatch were unaffected by treatment (76% for noninjected controls; 74% for saline injected eggs; and 77, 77, 68, and 76% for eggs injected with 0.05, 0.5, 5, or 10 μmol of l -carnitine, respectively; SEM = 3). In ovo injection of l -carnitine into fertile chicken eggs at 17 or 18 d of incubation did not affect hatchability, yolk sac weight, or BW.
Compression Molding of Phenolic Resin and Corn-based DDGS Blends

With the rapid growth in the ethanol fuel industry in recent years, considerable research is being devoted to optimizing the use of processing coproducts, such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), in livestock diets. Because these residues contain high fiber levels, they may be amendable to incorporation into bio-based composites. Thus, the goal of this study was to demonstrate the viability of using corn-based DDGS as a biofiller with phenolic resin, in order to produce a novel biomaterial. DDGS was blended with phenolic resin at 0, 10, 25, 50, 75, and 90%, by weight, and then compression molded at 51 MPa (3.7 tons/in2) and 174 °C (345°F). Molded specimens were then tested for tensile strength. Tensile yield strengths ranged from 32 MPa (4,700 psi) to 7.6 MPa (1,100 psi), while the engineering strain ranged from 0.6% to 1.25%. Results indicate that DDGS concentrations between 25% and 50% retained sufficient mechanical strength and thus represent reasonable inclusion values. Additionally, data were similar to those from other studies that have investigated biofillers. Follow-up studies should quantify the effects of altering molding parameters, including molding pressure, temperature, and time, as well as pretreatment of the DDGS. Additionally, strength of the DDGS composites should be optimized through the use of coupling agents or other additives.
Patterns of mast cell alterations and in vivo mediator release in human allergic skin reactions

Patterns of in vivo histamine release in skin sites challenged with ragweed antigen were compared in five human subjects sensitive to this antigen and four nonallergic individuals, using a newly developed skin-chamber technique. These findings were compared with inflammatory cell responses in the reaction sites and patterns of ultramicroscopic mast cell alterations in biopsy specimens of skin tests in the same subjects. Definite mast cell alterations occurred within 15 sec and appeared maximal within 5 to 10 min after antigen injection. Histamine levels in appended chambers increased after a lag of 10 to 30 min and were elevated for at least 60 min after antigen challenge. Eosinophils accumulated only in antigen-induced reaction sites. However, there was no precise quantitative correlation among the degree of change in these three measurements. These appear to be promising approaches to further in vivo studies of human allergic reactions.
Output Feedback Form and Adaptive Stabilization of a Nonlinear Aeroelastic System

The question of output feedback representation and the design of a new adaptive control system for the control of an aeroelastic system using a single output feedback are treated. The chosen dynamic model describes the nonlinear plunge and pitch motion of a wing. The parameters of the system are assumed to be completely unknown. For the derivation of control law, the existence of output feedback forms of the model is examined. It is shown that for the choice of pitch angle as an output, an output feedback form of the system can be derived, but this kind of representation is not possible if the plunge displacement is chosen as an output. As such, adaptive control of the aerolastic model based on the backstepping design technique by plunge displacement feedback is not feasible. Then a global diffeomorphism is constructed for obtaining an output feedback form'of the model when the pitch angle is the output. Based on this output feedback form and a backstepping design technique, an adaptive control law for the trajectory control of the pitch angle is derived. For the synthesis of the controller, only the pitch angle is used. It is shown that, in the closed-loop system, pitch angle trajectory control is accomplished and that the state vector asymptotically converges to the origin in spite of the uncertainties in the model using only pitch angle feedback.
Modeling the throughput of TCP Vegas

Previous analytic models of TCP Vegas throughput have been developed for loss-free (all-Vegas) networks. This work develops a simple and accurate analytic model for the throughput of a TCP Vegas bulk transfer in the presence of packet loss, as a function of average round trip time, minimum round trip time, and loss rate for the transfer. Similar models have previously been developed for TCP Reno. However, several aspects of TCP Vegas need to be treated differently than their counterparts in Reno. The proposed model captures the key innovative mechanisms that Vegas employs during slow start, congestion avoidance, and congestion recovery. The results include (1) a simple, validated model of TCP Vegas throughput that can be used for equation-based rate control of other flows such as UDP streams, (2) a simple formula to determine, from the measured packet loss rate, whether the network buffers are overcommitted and thus the TCP Vegas flow cannot reach the specified target lower threshold on throughput, (3) new insights into the design and performance of TCP Vegas, and (4) comparisons between TCP Vegas and TCP Reno including new insights regarding incremental deployment of TCP Vegas.
Minimizing database repros using language grammars

Database engines and database-centric applications have become complex software systems. Ensuring bug-free database services is therefore a very difficult task. Whenever possible, bugs that are uncovered during testing are associated with a repro, or sequence of steps that deterministically reproduce the problem. Unfortunately, due to factors such as automated test generation, repros are generally too long and complex. This issue prevents developers reacting quickly to new bugs, since usually a long manual "repro-minimization" phase occurs before the actual debugging takes place. In this paper we present a fully automated technique to minimize database repros that leverages underlying language grammars and thus is significantly more focused than previous approaches. Our approach has been successfully used in two commercial database products to isolate and simplify bugs during early development stages. We show that our technique consistently results in repros that are as concise or simpler and obtained much faster than alternative ones carefully constructed manually.
Experimental investigation of bare silicon wafer warp

IC packaging trends demand smaller packaging, which translates to thinner silicon; in some cases as thin as 50 /spl mu/m. Thinning below 305 /spl mu/m induces significant warp in product/metal wafers, which continues to increases as wafers are thinned further. Increased wafer warp results in handling/processing issues. Studies have been performed on product/metal wafers to characterize warp. These studies have shown a linear relationship between wafer warp and 1/thickness?2. Several factors, in combination, have been shown to contribute to warp in product/metal wafers such as: metal layers, polyimide layers, BCB layers, metal density, thermal stress, tilt direction, front side tension, backside tension, and gravity. The wafer warp phenomenon observed in product/metal wafers is also observed in bare silicon wafers. The difference between bare silicon test wafers and product wafers is the layering of the circuitry side on product/metal wafers, which has shown to be a large contributor to wafer warp. Damage to the wafer backside during conventional grinding can induce a large amount of warp in both product/metal and bare silicon wafers.
The Reason/Emotion Divide in Contemporary Philosophy of Psychology

Reason and emotion have long been regarded as separate faculties or functions of the mind, and this dichotomy, in turn, has been associated with binary constructions of gender difference. Throughout the history of Philosophy, men have tended to be viewed as more active, intellectual, and rational, whereas women have tended to be viewed as more passive, corporeal, and emotional. Furthermore, the alleged distinction between emotion and thought has served to reinforce the notions that women and men are fundamentally different, and that men are superior. This way of thinking continues to influence philosophical discourse. Indeed, much of the work being done in contemporary Philosophy of Psychology involves an implicit acceptance of the reason/emotion divide. I will argue that if we reject this reason/emotion divide, we thereby can undermine any ideological support it provides in favor of dichotomous gender categories.
Company Stock in 401(K) Plans: Results of a Survey of ISCEBS Members

In January 2002, CEBS graduates were surveyed in an attempt to provide a context to the current debate on company stock in retirement plans. The survey found CEBS graduates fairly united in certain responses, providing insights about the role of company stock in retirement plans. CEBS graduates were most notably divided about public policy issues related to company stock in 401(k) plans, suggesting a need for additional study and discussion before a consensus can be reached even among benefits professionals.
Synchrotron X-ray studies of rapidly evolving morphology of self-assembled nanoparticle films under lateral compression.

Interfacial nanostructures represent a class of systems that are highly relevant to studies of quasi-2D phases, chemical self-assembly, surfactant behavior, and biologically relevant membranes. Previous studies have shown that under lateral compression a Langmuir film of gold (Au) nanoparticles assembled at the liquid–air interface exhibits rich mechanical behavior: it undergoes a rapid structural and morphological evolution from a monolayer to a trilayer via an intermediate hash-like phase. We report the results of studying this structural evolution using grazing incidence X-ray off-specular scattering (GIXOS). We utilize GIXOS to obtain a quantitative mapping of electron density profile normal to the liquid surface with a subnanometer resolution and follow the structural evolution of the Au nanoparticle film under lateral compression with a subminute temporal resolution. As the surface pressure is increased, the self-assembled nanoparticle monolayer first crinkles into a double-layer phase before formin...
Irritable bowel syndrome: new perspectives on management.

Long classified as psychosomatic, irritable bowel syndrome is now considered a motor disorder in which a number of factors are at play.
Disproportionation of bromous acid HOBrO by direct O-transfer and via anhydrides O(BrO)2 and BrO-BrO2. An ab initio study of the mechanism of a key step of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky oscillating reaction.

The results are reported of an ab initio study of the thermochemistry and of the kinetics of the HOBrO disproportionation reaction 2HOBrO (2) ⇄ HOBr (1) + HBrO3 (3), reaction (R4′), in gas phase (MP2(full)/6-311G*) and aqueous solution (SMD(MP2(full)/6-311G*)). The reaction energy of bromous acid disproportionation is discussed in the context of the coupled reaction system R2–R4 of the FKN mechanism of the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction and considering the acidities of HBr and HOBrO2. The structures were determined of ten dimeric aggregates 4 of bromous acid, (HOBrO)2, of eight mixed aggregates 5 formed between the products of disproportionation, (HOBr)(HOBrO2), and of four transition states structures 6 for disproportionation by direct O-transfer. It was found that the condensation of two HOBrO molecules provides facile access to bromous acid anhydride 7, O(BrO)2. A discussion of the potential energy surface of Br2O3 shows that O(BrO)2 is prone to isomerization to the mixed anhydride 8, BrO–BrO2, and to d...
Analysis on the Situation of Protection for Geographical Indications of Rice Products in China

Geographical indications of agricultural products is an important intellectual property in rice industry.The work have done and the achieved results in the protection of geographical indications was reviewed,and the application and registration of geographical indications of rice products in these years was analyzed.Furthermore,the problems in the protection of geographical indications were proposed,as well as the corresponding recommendations and countermeasures for these problems.
Case 35: Tips on How to Get the Institutional Review Board (IRB) Submission Completed and Passed

You must have an IRB approval to do clinical research, even if it consist of something as simple and risk-free as noninvasively taking the patient’s pulse. Although a study which consists of just taking the patient’s pulse is not considered a risk to the subject, informed consent is required. If you are unsure of whether you need informed consent, always contact your local IRB.
Megafires: an emerging threat to old-forest species

Increasingly frequent “megafires” in North America's dry forests have prompted proposals to restore historical fire regimes and ecosystem resilience. Restoration efforts that reduce tree densities (eg via logging) could have collateral impacts on declining old-forest species, but whether these risks outweigh the potential effects of large, severe fires remains uncertain. We demonstrate the effects of a 2014 California megafire on an iconic old-forest species, the spotted owl (Strix occidentalis). The probability of owl site extirpation was seven times higher after the fire (0.88) than before the fire (0.12) at severely burned sites, contributing to the greatest annual population decline observed during our 23-year study. The fire also rendered large areas of forest unsuitable for owl foraging one year post-fire. Our study suggests that megafires pose a threat to old-forest species, and we conclude that restoring historical fire regimes could benefit both old-forest species and the dry forest ecosystems they inhabit in this era of climate change.
114 – Acute Ethanol Dosing Regimens: Methods and Approaches

This chapter focuses on the effects of acute administration of alcohol in animals, especially rats and mice. Experimental acute administration of alcohol involves methods and approaches that differ from the chronic administration. The main method for the former is intubation. While animals can also be chronically intubated, chronic treatment now typically involves administering alcohol in a liquid diet formula. Intubation has several advantages over other methods, such as consistent dosing regiments for all animals and related procedures for correlating blood alcohol levels with different dosing regiments. Among the main advantages of animal experimentation is a ‘control’ that experimenters can bring to bear in the laboratory to isolate and study variables related to alcohol's actions that would not be feasible in human experimentation. Animal experimentation also permits more intensive and methodological examination of important parameters in alcohol-related studies—such as dose-response relations, peak blood levels, pharmacokinetic, and genetic and environmental factors that may influence pharmacokinetics, and so on. Studies in animals also enable investigators to evaluate such factors in a much shorter time period than is possible in humans.