cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
NATURAL AND INDUCED PARTHENOCARPY IN MAIZE AND ITS RELATION TO HORMONE PRODUCTION BY THE DEVELOPING SEED

ALTHOUGH PARTHENOCARPY occurs commonly in maize, it has received little attention from investigators. This is understandable since it appears only on ears with partial seed set and has no economic importance. This lack of attention is in marked contrast to the reception accorded the appearance of parthenocarpy in plants where the seedless condition is economically desirable. These latter cases have led investigators not only to seek the causes of natural parthenocarpy but also to attempt to induce it by artificial means. The accepted explanation of parthenocarpy in corn has been pollination which has not resulted in fertilization. The present investigation offers a new interpretation of the cause of natural parthenocarpy and also describes methods of inducing the condition artificially. REVIEW OF LITERATURE.-Mangelsdorf (1926) was probably the first writer to refer by name to parthenocarpy in corn, although there is the possibility that Jones (1920) was alluding to parthenocarpic fruits when he made the following statement in connection with seed defectives in corn: "In its extreme manifestation the pericarps develop but are completely empty. Such unfilled capsules are distinct from partially developed ovules due to incompleted growth or ineffective fertilization . . ." Mangelsdorf studied the cause of the condition after observing it on an ear in which the silks had grown to a considerable length below the bag protecting them, so that they had become exposed to pollination. Development of some of the ovaries occurred. Examination of sections of these ovaries revealed that development "was due entirely to a marked growth of the, nucellus." Mangelsdorf concluded from this and other observations that parthenocarpy in maize was caused by growtll down the silk of pollen tubes which, however, failed to accomplish fertilization. Only two other papers have been found which mention parthenocarpy in maize (Mangelsdorf and Reeves, 1931, 1939). These papers repeat Mangelsdorf's original interpretation. Since parthenocarpic fruits must have been encountered by most corn breeders, it may be assumed that all who have noticed them have accepted
Cobalt phosphonates: an unusual polymeric cobalt phosphonate containing a clathrated phosphonate anion and a layered bisphosphonate.

Novel cobalt phosphonates [Co(H2O)4(H4L)][H2L]·2H2O, 1, and Co2(H2O)2(L), 2, have been synthesized from 1,8-octylenediphosphonic acid (H4L). 1 has been fully characterized by X-ray single-crystal data, TGA, IR spectroscopy, and chemical analysis. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 with a = 5.5415(8) A, b = 8.6382(8) A, c = 16.794 (2) A, α = 87.694(2)°, β = 80.859(2)°, γ = 76.005(2)°, V = 770.11(19) A3, and Z = 1. A cobalt atom lies in the center of symmetry and is octahedrally coordinated by two oxygen atoms from two undissociated diphosphonic ligands H4L and four molecules of water. The cobalt atom and undissociated ligand H4L are combined to form polymeric chains along the c-axis, resulting in the formation of a one-dimensional framework. The positive charge on the cobalt atom remains upon coordination and is balanced by a negatively charged uncoordinated ligand (H2L) found as a clathrate in the lattice. Two lattice water molecules, hydrogen-bonded with the coordinated and uncoor...
Methylphenidate in the ‘hard to wean’ patient

Patients on mechanical ventilation are occasionally hard to wean because of fatigue and/or depression. It is difficult to diagnose depression in this population, and treatment with traditional antidepressants has too slow an onset to be useful. Two cases are presented which suggest the possible utility of psychostimulants in this setting.
Lipiodol Absorption and Urinary Iodide Excretion as a Screening Test for Steatorrhea

The Lipiodol absorption test, quantifying urinary iodide concentration 8-12 hr. after ingestion of Lipiodol, is proposed as an effective screening technic for lipid malabsorption. Urinary iodide is converted to free iodine with nitrous acid; the free iodine is extracted into chloroform, producing a characteristic pink color which is quantified photometrically. Under the dosage conditions used, a urinary iodide concentration of less than 0.4 mM/L strongly suggests abnormal absorption of fat. The results of this test have been correlated with fat balance studies in 12 patients with symptoms of intestinal disease and 12 patients asymptomatic for intestinal disease. The screening test was abnormal in all 7 patients with abnormal fat balance studies and in 2 patients with normal fat balance studies. The remaining 15 patients had a normal screening test and normal fat balance studies. No false negatives were found. The simplicity of the test, coupled with its high correlation with the fat balance studies, recommend its use in the clinical laboratory as a valid screening procedure in all patients with suspected steatorrhea.
Multiple-signal duplicate detection for search evaluation

We consider the problem of duplicate document detection for search evaluation. Given a query and a small number of web results for that query, we show how to detect duplicate web documents with precision ~0.91 and recall ~77. In contrast, Charikar's algorithm, designed for duplicate detection in an indexing pipeline, achieves precision ~0.91 but with a recall of ~0.58. Our improvement in recall while maintaining high precision comes from combining three ideas. First, because we are only concerned with duplicate detection among results for the same query, the number of pairwise comparisons is small. Therefore we can afford to compute multiple pairwise signals for each pair of documents. A model learned with standard machine-learning techniques improves recall to ~0.68 with precision ~0.90. Second, most duplicate detection has focused on text analysis of the HTML contents of a document. In some web pages the HTML is not a good indicator of the final contents of the page. We use extended fetching techniques to fill in frames and execute Java script. Including signals based on our richer fetches further improves the recall to ~0.75 and the precision to ~0.91. Finally, we also explore using signals based on the query. Comparing contextual snippets based on the richer fetches improves the recall to ~0.77. We show that the overall accuracy of this final model approaches that of human judges.
The Magnetron Amplifier and Power Oscillator

As an introduction, details of tube design are discussed, together with a partial list of the sizes studied. A resume of the general theory of magnetic control is then given. The first part of the paper is taken up with the application of the magnetron as an amplifier at 8,000 meters wave length. The circuit is described and the results of tests on tube impedance, design of control coils, the variation of amplification with anode voltage, design of polarizing field coils, and description of a four-stage amplifier are given. The second part is concerned with the use of the magnetron as a generator. Since the magnetron is a rather unfamiliar tube, the circuit and necessary apparatus are described in considerable detail. The conditions necessary for efficient operation are then discussed. Based on observed wave shapes of anode voltage and anode, current, formulas suitable for circuit design are developed, and the complete calculation of a typical circuit given. The results of tests at various voltages are then compared with calculated performance and representative oscillograms shown. In conclusion, a few factors which may cause departure from theoretical results are briefly discussed.
Completeness and super-valuations

This paper uses the notion of Galois-connection to examine the relation between valuation-spaces and logics. Every valuation-space gives rise to a logic, and every logic gives rise to a valuation space, where the resulting pair of functions form a Galois-connection, and the composite functions are closure-operators. A valuation-space (resp., logic) is said to be complete precisely if it is Galois-closed. Two theorems are proven. A logic is complete if and only if it is reflexive and transitive. A valuation-space is complete if and only if it is closed under formation of super-valuations.
The Empty Carriage: Lessons in Leadership from Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale made a profound statement about leadership when she returned from the Crimean War without the fanfare offered to her. Promoters paraded her empty carriage around the city of Southampton England to applaud her accomplishments in the war. Her absence signaled a new leadership, one of quiet determination, humility, and political strategy to improve quality of life. The lessons to be learned for today's nurse leaders revolve around mindfulness, clarity of purpose, reverence for human life, collaborative partnerships, co-evolution, engagement, keeping up with a world in motion, and making meaning.
Transcriptional Regulation of the Mouse Angiotensin II Type 2 Receptor Gene

Abstract The promoter region of the mouse angiotensin II type 2 receptor gene was cloned, and the nucleotide sequences were determined. A computer homology search for a 1.5-kb promoter region showed that there are several consensus cis DNA elements such as C/EBP , NF-IL6 , and AP-1 in this region. Primer extension experiments showed that there are two transcription initiation sites 16 bp apart in the mouse type 2 receptor gene. Deletion mutants of this 1.5-kb segment were prepared and fused to a luciferase reporter gene. These type 2 receptor promoter–luciferase constructs were introduced into PC12W cells, which are from a pheochromocytoma cell line expressing the type 2 receptor, and luciferase activity was measured. It showed that a DNA segment between nucleotides −1497 and −874 suppresses the promoter activity of the type 2 receptor gene and that a DNA segment between nucleotides −47 and +56 is important for the basal promoter activity of the type 2 receptor gene. This proximal segment showed very weak promoter activity when introduced into vascular smooth muscle cells. Gel mobility shift assay with nuclear extracts from PC12W cells showed the presence of three DNA binding proteins that bound to a DNA probe between nucleotides −47 and +8. One DNA binding protein was only very weakly expressed in nuclear extracts from vascular smooth muscle cells, which do not express the type 2 receptor. Two other DNA binding proteins were not observed in nuclear extracts from vascular smooth muscle cells. These data suggest that this DNA segment between nucleotides −47 and +56 is important not only for basal transcription but for differential expression of the type 2 receptor gene in PC12W cells and vascular smooth muscle cells.
Repositioning the Human Resource Function: Transformation or Demise?

Executive Overview The human resource department is being presented with an opportunity to become a significant player on the management team. This is occurring because the human resource (HR) function is being transformed into a significant management function. Environmental changes are confronting organizations with people issues of great importance and uncertainty. People issues are thus becoming formulated as significant business issues. One result is that line managers are reaching out to take control and ownership over the HR function. This is being facilitated by many HR departments that remain focused on issues involving functional expertise rather than business-relatedness. Examples exist, however, of companies in which the HR departments are seizing the opportunity to become vital members of the management team and working with line managers to tackle the people-related business issues. Doing so, however, appears to require a virtual repositioning of the HR department. This, in turn, involves ne...
Carbon nanotube fracture - differences between quantum mechanical mechanisms and those of empirical potentials

We present quantum mechanical (QM) studies of carbon nanotube (CNT) fracture using two different semiempirical methods. One proposed mechanism for CNT fracture – based mainly on studies with empirical potentials – involves an aggregation of Stone–Wales defects followed by a ring-opening step whereby a bond between two 5-membered rings is severed. We have performed QM studies which instead predict that this bond is a particularly strong one, and that the failing bonds lie within the pentagons. We also explore why empirical bond-order potentials (in particular, a potential of Brenner and coworkers) predict qualitatively different fracture mechanisms than quantum mechanical calculations do.
Recent progress in automatically extracting information from the pharmacogenomic literature

The biomedical literature holds our understanding of pharmacogenomics, but it is dispersed across many journals. In order to integrate our knowledge, connect important facts across publications and generate new hypotheses we must organize and encode the contents of the literature. By creating databases of structured pharmocogenomic knowledge, we can make the value of the literature much greater than the sum of the individual reports. We can, for example, generate candidate gene lists or interpret surprising hits in genome-wide association studies. Text mining automatically adds structure to the unstructured knowledge embedded in millions of publications, and recent years have seen a surge in work on biomedical text mining, some specific to pharmacogenomics literature. These methods enable extraction of specific types of information and can also provide answers to general, systemic queries. In this article, we describe the main tasks of text mining in the context of pharmacogenomics, summarize recent appli...
Sylvester-resultants for bivariate polynomials with planar newton polygons

We derive necessary and sufficient conditions which guarantee that a multiplying set of monomials generates exactly a Sylvester A-resultant for three bivariate polynomials with a given planar Newton polygon. We show that valid multiplying sets come in complementary pairs, and any two complementary pairs of multiplying sets can be used to index the rows and columns of a pure Bezoutian A-resultant for the same Newton polygon.The necessary and sufficient conditions include a set of Diophantine equations that can be solved to generate the multiplying sets and therefore the corresponding Sylvester $A$-resultants. Examples relevant to Geometric Modeling are provided, including a new family of hexagonal examples for which Sylvester formulas were not previously known. These examples not only flesh out the theory, but also demonstrate that none of the conditions are superfluous and that all the conditions are mutually independent. The proof of the main theorem makes use of tools from algebraic geometry, including sheaf cohomology on toric varieties and Weyman's resultant complex.
Comparison of Fasting and Postfeeding Metabolic Rates in a Sedentary Shark, Cephaloscyllium ventriosum

Abstract We measured the standard and postfeeding metabolic rates of a sedentary shark, the swellshark, Cephaloscyllium ventriosum (Scyliorhinidae). The average standard metabolic rate (SMR) of juvenile swellsharks (0.14–0.23 kg) was 44.3 ± 6.4 mg O2 kg−1 h−1. Metabolic rate increased and reached a maximum approximately 9 h postfeeding. The maximum postfeeding metabolic rate averaged 2.3 times SMR, and the entire duration of the response was approximately 12 h. The overall pattern and magnitude of the postfeeding response is similar to those previously reported for the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula; Scyliorhinidae) and for many teleosts. The return to a prefeeding metabolic rate appears to be much more rapid in the swellshark than in the small-spotted catshark. Section editor: R. E. Gatten Jr
The power of the collective: battered migrant farmworker women creating safe spaces.

In this article I describe the use of a participatory action research (PAR) methodology to address the problem of domestic violence among migrant farmworker (MFW) women in California. The article was generated from a variety of data sources used by the investigator over a 4-year period. These include the investigator's observations, field notes, informal conversations, written stories from the women, and interviews. The ''power of the collective'' is discussed as the development of a power base for battered MFW women to support and take care of one another. The concepts of liberation, enlightenment, and ''conscientizacion'' are used to describe the evolution of the collective.
High-angular-momentum states in Ag-106 and their rotational interpretation

Levels in /sup 106/Ag have been studied using heavy-ion reactions. The experiments included ..gamma..-ray yields as a function of bombarding energy, ..gamma..-ray angular distributions, ..gamma..-ray linear polarizations, and three-detector ..gamma..-..gamma.. coincidence measurements. The decay scheme includes four collective bands with low-lying bandheads. The energies, ..gamma..-ray mixing ratios, and branching ratios of states in these bands are shown to be in good agreement with the corresponding quantities calculated using a two-particles-plus-rotor model at a small, symmetric deformation (delta=0.12). The Coriolis and recoil effects are explicitly included and a variable moment of inertia is used. The calculation also shows that the four bands have predominant configurations ..nu..(d/sub 5/2/)x..pi..(g/sub 9/2/), ..nu..(g/sub 7/2/)x..pi..(g/sub 9/2/), ..nu..(h/sub 11/2/)x..pi..(p/sub 1/2/), and ..nu..(h/sub 11/2/)x..pi..(g/sub 9/2/), respectively. The ..delta..I=1 and ..delta..I=2 level sequences in the bands can be understood on the basis of the positions of the neutron and proton Fermi surfaces in the respective Nilsson bases. Another band observed experimentally on a 10/sup -/ bandhead at 2.4416 MeV is thought to have a four-quasiparticle structure.
High data rate multi-path transmit/receive system with on-site coding

We propose a new class of transceivers operating over large bandwidths on the order of 10 GHz using ultra-wideband phased arrays. Specifically, a novel coding approach that combines frequency and code multiplexing is proposed. This is essential for secure communications and interference mitigation and for accessing such large bandwidths. Equally important is power reduction. For the latter, a low power on-site coding beamforming is proposed to reduce power requirements for the digitizers by a factor of 10 to 32. In this paper, we present a description of the proposed high data system. Also, a noise analysis is conducted to assess the impact of coding on the system's noise floor. Preliminary results show minimal degradation using orthogonal Walsh-Hadamard codes with ideal filters and a minimum digitizer resolution of 5 bits.
The systemic mediator-associated response test identifies patients in failed sepsis clinical trials among whom novel drugs reduce mortality.

BACKGROUND Clinical trials using American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine Consensus sepsis definitions as entry criteria fail to reduce septic mortality. We hypothesized that the systemic mediator-associated response test (SMART) methodology could match sepsis therapies biologically to individual patients by relating baseline data statistically to outcomes and treatment effects. This article reports the SMART analyses of four failed sepsis investigations. METHODS Databases from the E5 antiendotoxin antibody, North American Sepsis Trial (NORASEPT) and NORASEPT II anti-tumor necrosis factor antibody (TNFMAb), interleukin (IL)-1ra, and platelet-activation factor acetylhydrolase (PAF-AH) sepsis clinical trials were evaluated with SMART using multivariate logistic regression. From baseline data, within each study, mortality prediction models were built separately for the placebo and active drug populations. Subjects among whom each drug's effects were greatest were then identified by excluding from efficacy analysis subjects predicted by SMART to survive on placebo or to expire on active drug. Finally, prerandomization data from patients in each study were entered into SMART models, and placebo or active drug treatment effects were evaluated for parent populations and SMART cohorts. RESULTS E5-consensus mortality: 27.4% placebo, 26.2% E5; SMART mortality: 17.1% placebo, 8.0% E5 (p < 0.01). NORASEPT-consensus mortality; 33.4% placebo, 29.5% TNFMAb; SMART mortality: 47.2% placebo, 34.7% TNFMAb (p = 0.03). IL-1ra-consensus mortality: 33.9% placebo, 29.8% IL-1ra; SMART mortality: 55.6% placebo, 34.9% IL-1ra (p < 0.001). PAF-AH-consensus mortality: 22.4% placebo, 23.9% PAF-AH; SMART mortality: 17.7% placebo, 28.9% PAF-AH (p = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS Using prerandomization clinical trial data, SMART identifies septic patients whose host-inflammatory responses can benefit from specific drugs. SMART also predicts ineffective drugs and patients whom they might harm.
Land, Labor and Violence in Highland Guatemala: San Juan Ixcoy(Huehuetenango), 1893-1945

“ A few days ago,” reported the newspaper El Bien Publico (Quezaltenango), “in the town of San Juan Ixcoy…the Indians rose up, killing the ladinos, including several habilitadores (labor recruiters)”. As first news of this soon-to-be famous massacre filtered out of the Cuchumatan mountains, it became clear that some of the country's highland Indians had struck back, as many ladinos long had feared they might, against the intrusions of the rapidly expanding coffee economy. The sanjuaneros' tumulto was, in fact, simply a particularly dramatic instance of a struggle played out in various forms throughout the western highlands of Guatemala in the one hundred years after 1850. With the onset of the new crop of coffee, export monoculture threatened the integrity of Indian peasant agriculture as no crop before had done. If, in this case, the immediate target of the Indians' wrath was a hapless group of habilitadores, the more serious underlying problem for the indigenous population was access to and control of land. It is on land, and particularly on the land of San Juan Ixcoy as an example of the struggle, that this paper will concentrate.
Fast Temperature Programming on Fused-Silica Open-Tubular Capillary Columns by Direct Resistive Heating

A method for extremely fast temperature-programmed gas chromatography is described. The column is heated by passing an electric current through a thin conductive film applied to the outer surface of a fused-silica open-tubular column. The low thermal mass of the column allows rapid heating and cooling. A computer generated voltage ramp may be empirically adjusted to produce a linear separation of the members of a homologous series. Sample introduction is by on-column thermal modulation. High-speed detection is by a micro thermal conductivity detector. Repetitive chromatograms can be generated as often as 1/s with peaks as sharp as 40 ms at the baseline
Field Verification of Simplified Bridge Weigh-in-Motion Techniques

AbstractThis study addresses the feasibility of using a single-span bridge as a weigh-in-motion (WIM) tool to quantify the gross vehicle weights (GVWs) of trucks inexpensively with a small number of sensors and without using axle detectors. Field testing was performed on an interstate without any lane closures. Four preweighed trucks with different axle configurations traveled over a bridge at three different speeds and in two separate lanes. Measured strain data were used to implement bridge weigh-in-motion (B-WIM) algorithms and calculate the corresponding velocities and GVWs. A comparison was made between calculated and actual measured static weights, and between the calculated and specified speeds of the trucks. In addition to field testing, a finite-element (FE) model of the tested bridge was created and calibrated based on the measured strains at different locations. This calibrated FE model enabled the acquisition of the influence values for the bridge at any location (influence surface). Ten diffe...
Analysis on the epidemic situation of hand-foot-mouth disease after included in notifiable infectious diseases in Zhaoqing City(2008-2010)

Objective To understand the epidemiological features of HFMD in Zhaoqing,and explore effective measures for the prevention and control.of HFMD.Methods Surveillance data were managed and descriptively analyzed.Results A total of 13 946 HFMD cases were reported from May,2008 to December,2010.The annual incidence rate was 44,58% and 263 per 100 000 respectively.The peak appeared from April to October,89.31% of the cases occurred in this period.91.35% of the cases were children under 5 years of age,and 75.07% were cases living in a scattered pattern.EV71 was detected in 44.53% of the cases.There were 76 severe cases with 8 deaths in 2010.Conclusions Zhaoqing City,with high incidence of HFMD,should strengthen the surveillance system and prevention,especially in the high risk population.It is also necessary to improve the capability of diagnosis and treatment for severe cases.
Test Review: An Interview With Amy Gabel: About the WISC-V

Whenever a major intelligence or achievement test is revised, there is always renewed interest in the underlying structure of the test as well as a renewed interest in the scoring, administration, ...
Epidemiological Characteristics of Measles in Linying County of Henan Province during 2005-2009

[Objective]to understand the epidemiological characteristics of measles in Linying County.[Methods]Statistical analysis was performed on epidemic data of measles in Linying County during 2005-2009.[Results]The measles incidence during 2005-2009 was 4.57/100 000,9.66/100 000,6.05/100 000,4.53/100 000 and 3.03/100 000,respectively.The cases distributed in the whole year.There was an epidemic season from December to April of next year.The high incidence was in 1 year age group,with the tendency of developing in older age groups( 20 years cases accounted for 14.08%).[Conclusion]There is a certain vulnerability in routine immunization of measles that need to be further strengthened.Prevention strategies should be considered in the older age groups by vaccination against measles.It is necessary to improve measles surveillance system,to enhance the quality of monitoring and improve the national health education efforts.
Influence of growth temperature on inactivation and injury of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by heat, acid, and freezing.

The influence of growth temperature on heat- , lactic acid-, and freeze-induced inactivation and injury of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in 0.1% peptone water was investigated. Three strains of E. coli O157:H7 isolated respectively from salami, apple cider, and ground beef were evaluated. Growth of strains at 10°C compared with growth at 37°C had a significant impact on reducing (P < 0.01) D values obtained for heating (DH value), acid exposure (DA value), and freezing (DF value), with the exception of the cider strain stored in lactic acid Solutions. When strains were cultivated at 10 and 37°C and heated at 54 and 56°C, the salami strain possessed the highest (P < 0.01) DH values (5.9 to 59.7 min). When grown at 10°C, the beef strain had the lowest (P < 0.01) DH values after heating at 52, 54, and 56°C (11.2, 4.1, and 2.5 min, respectively). The salami strain grown at 10°C had the highest (P < 0.01) DA values in all concentrations of lactic acid. When grown at 37°C, the salami strain had the highest (P < 0.01...
The concentration of 13,14-dihydro-15-keto prostaglandin F2α and prostaglandin E2 in peritoneal fluid of infertile patients with and without endometriosis

Prostaglandin F 2α (PGF 2α ) metabolite (13,14-dihydro-15-keto PGF 2α ) and prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ) were assayed in the cul-de-sac fluid aspirated from 15 patients with endometriosis, in saline peritoneal washings of 5 patients with unexplained infertility, and in 5 control subjects. The fluid from the cul-de-sac of patients with endometriosis showed wide variations in the concentrations of PGF 2α metabolite and PGE 2 . There was no correlation between the concentration of these prostaglandins (PGs) and the stage of the cycle. Saline peritoneal washings from patients with unexplained infertility had significantly higher concentrations of PGF 2α metabolite than the control subjects. The concentration of PGE 2 in the saline peritoneal washings was higher in the group with unexplained infertility than in the control group; however, the difference was not significant. The concentration of PGF 2α metabolite and PGE 2 in the peritoneal saline washings from patients with unexplained infertility were no different from the concentrations of these PGs in the peritoneal fluid (PF) from patients with endometriosis. PG concentration in PF of infertile patients with or without endometriosis is a new variable for evaluation in these patients.
Trace Element Composition of Athabasca Tar Sands and Extracted Bitumens

The Athabasca Tar Sands represent a potential petroleum resource in excess of 1011 bb1 oil and thus form one of the world’s major deposits of petroleum. The deposits consist of sandstones impregnated with a viscous heavy bitumen similar to a very heavy petroleum. Although the origin of the tar sand bitumen has not been established in detail, most theories involve the water washing and/or bacterial alteration of a conventional crude oil and that the Athabasca deposits are genetically related to other Cretaceous W. Canada Basin heavy oils.
COMT-A and COMT-B: catalytic differences and role of disulfides bonds

The enzyme, catechol-O-methyltransferase, is present in two principal forms, COMT-A and COMT-B, in rat liver and brain tissues (Marzullo and Friedhoff 1975, 1979). Among other differences, the two enzymes are also distinguishable in their relative ability to methylate the meta or the para hydroxy group of catechols. The ability of COMT to methylate either position is believed to reflect two possible orientations in the binding of catechols to the active site (Creveling et al. 1970). The ratio of methylation of the two hydroxy groups is a powerful tool for investigations probing the configuration and substituents at the active site. The studies described here illustrate the essential differences between COMT-A and COMT-B and partially define the mechanism which is involved in the production of different meta/para methylation ratios.
Tofacitinib for the treatment of tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor refractory esophageal Crohn’s disease: a case report

Esophageal Crohn’s disease is reported as a rare manifestation, although its prevalence may be underestimated because upper endoscopies are not routinely performed in asymptomatic adults. Tofacitinib, an oral janus kinase inhibitor, is a new biologic that has shown promise in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and may be effective in the treatment of Crohn’s disease according to phase 2 trials. We report the first case of esophageal Crohn’s disease successfully treated with tofacitinib in a patient with worsening symptoms despite maintenance therapy with a tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor. A 67-year-old Caucasian woman presented with new dysphagia and had findings of esophageal Crohn’s disease on endoscopy. The dosage of her current biologic therapy—adalimumab—was increased in frequency, without improvement. Our patient was started on tofacitinib and demonstrated an improvement in symptoms, with a repeat endoscopy showing resolution of the previous lesions. Esophageal Crohn’s disease is likely underdiagnosed but is an important consideration in a patient with new symptoms of dysphagia and known Crohn’s disease. Tofacitinib, while a novel agent, could have a role in the treatment of esophageal Crohn’s disease that does not improve with intensification of the current biologic therapy. It provides a different mechanism in patients who become refractory to maintenance therapy.
ROBUST DESIGNS FOR REGRESSION PROBLEMS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses robust designs for regression problems and presents a regression design setup given by Y(xi) = f(xi) + ɛi i = 1, …, n, where the errors {ɛi} are i.i.d. with mean 0 and constant variance σ2, xi ɛ [-1, 1], f is a function of class that is commonly a linear combination of specified functions f0, …, fk. The regression problem is concerned with inference about the (unknown) coefficients of these specified fjs and the associated design problem is to choose the xis in an optimal way for this inference. Numerous papers by Kiefer and others have been addressed to this problem.
Research on the winding and iron core operation state of transformer based on the vibration acoustic fingerprint

Extensive studies show that the winding and iron core is the component of power transformer which is most prone to failure. The vibration detection of transformer is an effective method to evaluate the operation state and diagnose the condition of the winding and iron core. In this paper, the vibration system is applied to detection the signal of tow 220kV transformers. The spectrum distribution of the transformer vibration signal is analyzed by means of the wavelet transform, through which the vibration acoustic fingerprint and two typical characteristic parameters, i.e., the energy ratio of odd and even harmonics, and the waveform distortion ratio, are extracted respectively. The analysis results show there is a certain degree of deformation in the winding of the 1# transformer. It is discovered that the equivalent capacitance of the low voltage C phase winding of the 1# transformer is increased by 7% by off-line test. It further confirms the conclusion of the vibration detection and indicates the validity and practicability of the transformer vibration acoustic fingerprint and the two typical characteristic parameters.
Assembling Arguments: Multimodal Rhetoric & Scientific Discourse, by Jonathan Buehl

In Assembling Arguments, Jonathan Buehl accomplishes an impressive amount of theoretical, analytical, and pedagogical work on what some might assume to be a contemporary phenomenon: multimodality i...
Predicting survival in primary amyloidosis

Source Citation Gertz MA, Kyle RA, Greipp PR, Katzmann JA, O'Fallon WM. Beta2-microglobulin predicts survival in primary systemic amyloidosis. Am J Med. 1990;89:609-14. 2239980
Longitudinal Tire Force Estimation Using Youla Controller Output Observer

Advanced powertrain and vehicle dynamics controls often require estimates of longitudinal tire force to maximize the vehicle’s performance. One of the key advantages of hybrid electric vehicles and electric vehicles (EVs) is that measurements of the traction motor torque are readily available with good accuracy. This letter introduces a unique longitudinal tire force estimation strategy using the Youla controller output observer framework which only relies on motor torque and wheel speed measurements. The estimation strategy is applied to a rear-wheel-drive EV in order to obtain estimates of the rear axle longitudinal tire forces. A simple drivetrain model of the system is developed using bond graphs and is used in co-simulation with a high fidelity vehicle model from CarSim. It is shown in the simulation environment that the proposed estimation strategy is able to obtain accurate estimates of longitudinal tire force on high, low, and split- $\mu $ road surfaces. The proposed estimation strategy only requires information on the tire’s effective rolling radius and does not require a tire model.
Some Methods of Computing First Extensions Between Modules of Graded Hecke Algebras

In this paper, we establish connections between the first extensions of simple modules and certain filtrations of of standard modules in the setting of graded Hecke algebras. The filtrations involved are radical filtrations and Jantzen filtrations. Our approach involves the use of information from the Langlands classification as well as some deeper understanding on some structure of some modules. Such module arises from the image of a Knapp-Stein type intertwining operator and is a quotient of a generalized standard module. As an application, we compute the Ext-groups for irreducible modules in a block for the graded Hecke algebra of type C 3, assuming the truth of a version of Jantzen conjecture.
Gender differences in sexual interest

A common gender stereotype is that males are more interested than females in sex for purely physical reasons. Sociobiologists claim that this difference is biologically determined. In contrast, many sociologists and anthropologists claim that the difference is cultural. The debate about nature versus nurture regarding sexual interest has been long-standing without resolution. We propose a biosocial model that integrates data about nature and nurture to show (i) how several biological factors tilt males and females in different directions related to sexual interest, and (ii) how numerous social factors influence the way the biological tilts can be redirected in countless different ways as individuals grow up in subsets of their culture and subculture. This interactionist approach does not down-play the importance of either biological or social factors: It avoids nature-nurture debates that pit nature against nurture by showing how biological and social factors act in concert, combining their influences. The resulting work contributes to both the theoretical and practical literature, not only showing how sexology can deal with issues of nature and nurture but also providing information useful to people who are troubled about common gender differences in sexual interest.
POSTHUMAN REVISIONS OF ORGANIC FORM IN POETRY

What does the posthuman have to do with contemporary revisions of organic form in poetry? Do these revisions of organic form have anything to offer to posthumanist theory? Given that literary organicism, in its most familiar Romantic and New Critical forms, evokes holism, aesthetic closure, and the humanizing function of poetry, this pairing seems an unlikely one. Donna Haraway, in the well-known “Cyborg Manifesto” that launched one strand of posthumanism, sees political promise in the cyborg precisely because it escapes the naturalizing logic of organic tropes: “The cyborg skips the step of original unity, of identification with nature . . . The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust” (Haraway1991, 51). But can decay figure otherwise than as a reactionary reinscription of origins? I argue that Jed Rasula and Frank Bidart, from two disparate poetic lineages, both use figures of decay—even posthumous decay—to revise literary organicism.
5 – ADENOVIRAL VECTORS FOR PROTEIN EXPRESSION

Adenoviruses (Ad) are a large family of nonenveloped, doublestranded DNA viruses. Many features of this viral system make Ad-based vectors especially useful in gene transfer. Vectors based on several Ad serotypes have been used for gene expression work both in vitro and in vivo . This chapter discusses the use of adenoviral vectors for protein expression. Adenoviral gene transfer vectors are extremely versatile and widely used both for protein expression in vitro and for studies of protein function in vivo . The high insert capacity of these vectors means that large genes or combinations of different genes can be transferred to cells. By using transcriptional and translational control elements from adenoviral late genes, a very high-level expression of recombinant proteins has been demonstrated. Many tissue-specific or regulatable promoters have been shown to retain their function when placed on Ad chromosomes. This allows foreign genes to be expressed in a predictable way in the desired cell type. As Ad vectors are becoming more widely used in gene-therapy work, there has been much interest in improving the technology. Plasmid-based systems for vector construction have simplified the generation of recombinant Ad and the new Ad vector/packaging cell systems becoming available will provide further increases in capacity and effectiveness of in vivo gene transfer.
Dermatology at Baylor University Medical Center

Humans seem to have been ready victims of disease—including diseases of the skin—since they emerged from simian darkness >500,000 years ago. Diseases of the skin and other disease forms have remained essentially the same throughout the millennia (1). The skin is the body's largest and most exposed organ. Its diseases, myriad in number and variation, have challenged dermatologists and other physicians for centuries.
Principal Curvature Guided Surface Geometry Aware Global Shape Representation

A surface principal curvature preserving local geometry aware global shape representation for 3D shapes is proposed. The shape representation computes the shortest quasi-geodesic path between all possible pairs of points on the shape manifold that enforces minimal variation of geodesic curvature along the path. The normal component of the principal curvature along the quasi-geodesic paths is dominant and shown to preserve the local shape geometry. The eigenspectrum of the proposed representation is exploited to characterize self-symmetry. The commutative property between shape spectra is exploited to compute region-based correspondence between isometric 3D shapes without requiring an initial correspondence map to be specified a priori. The results of the region-based correspondence are extended to characterize the compatibility of the commutative eigen-spectrum in order to address the problem of shape deformation transfer. Eigenspectrum-based characterization metrics are proposed to quantify the performance of the proposed 3D shape descriptor for self-symmetry detection and correspondence determination. The proposed shape descriptor spectrum-based optimization criterion is observed to yield competitive performance compared to relevant state-of-the-art correspondence determination techniques.
Generalized Loss-Sensitive Adversarial Learning with Manifold Margins

The classic Generative Adversarial Net and its variants can be roughly categorized into two large families: the unregularized versus regularized GANs. By relaxing the non-parametric assumption on the discriminator in the classic GAN, the regularized GANs have better generalization ability to produce new samples drawn from the real distribution. It is well known that the real data like natural images are not uniformly distributed over the whole data space. Instead, they are often restricted to a low-dimensional manifold of the ambient space. Such a manifold assumption suggests the distance over the manifold should be a better measure to characterize the distinct between real and fake samples. Thus, we define a pullback operator to map samples back to their data manifold, and a manifold margin is defined as the distance between the pullback representations to distinguish between real and fake samples and learn the optimal generators. We justify the effectiveness of the proposed model both theoretically and empirically.
Dynamically negotiating capacity between on-demand and batch clusters

In the era of rapid experimental expansion data analysis needs are rapidly outpacing the capabilities of small institutional clusters and looking to integrate HPC resources into their workflow. We propose one way of reconciling on-demand needs of experimental analytics with the batch managed HPC resources within a system that dynamically moves nodes between an on-demand cluster configured with cloud technology (OpenStack) and a traditional HPC cluster managed by a batch scheduler (Torque). We evaluate this system experimentally both in the context of real-life traces representing two years of a specific institutional need, and via experiments in the context of synthetic traces that capture generalized characteristics of potential batch and on-demand workloads. Our results for the real-life scenario show that our approach could reduce the current investment in on-demand infrastructure by 82% while at the same time improving the mean batch wait time almost by an order of magnitude (8x).
Genetic abnormalities and pregnancy loss

Genetic abnormalities, whether occurring in the conceptus or the parents, can predispose to sporadic or recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Abnormalities in the conceptus include aneuploidy, copy number changes, skewed X inactivation, and single gene disorders or mutations. Among parents who suffer RPL, the best studied genetic cause is balanced chromosomal translocations. For evaluation of genetic abnormalities in cases of pregnancy loss, chromosomal microarray is more likely to yield interpretable results than karyotype due to cell culture failure. For parents, karyotype remains the standard since microarray may not detect truly balanced translocations. For those with an identified underlying genetic abnormality, preimplantation genetic testing has been proposed to optimize the live birth rate. This approach shows promise, but currently lacks supporting evidence. In summary, various genetic causes for recurrent pregnancy loss are known, but when such a cause is identified, the implications for management remain unclear.
Military Veterans in Federal Agencies: Organizational Inclusion, Human Resource Practices, and Trust in Leadership as Predictors of Organizational Commitment:

Military veterans comprise a significant demographic that is adding to the diversity of the U.S. federal workforce. Using data from the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, this study examined t...
Eliminating Device Related Hospital Acquired Pressure Injuries in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Through Quality Improvement Methods

Background: CPAP is used as a method to support ventilation and oxygenation in pre-term infants. In addition to having an immature respiratory system, pre-term infants also have very immature and fragile skin. The interfaces most commonly used with CPAP devices are known to cause pressure injuries in this patient population. The aim of this quality improvement project was to develop a multidisciplinary team to reduce the incidence of device related hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPI) in the NICU due to Q3 of 2014 presenting with an increased Stage II rate. Methods: A multidisciplinary team formed and evaluated risk factors for pressure injuries. A key driver diagram (see fig. 1) was created with the following primary drivers: 1. Skin integrity by providing education to identify pressure injury, applying skin protectant, and introducing an RT/RN coordinated skin assessments. 2. Evaluation of interface by alternating the interfaces of mask and prongs, adopting Bubble CPAP (BCPAP), encouraged a decreased usage of mask (due to fixation limitations), changing interfaces only as needed due to skin protectant. 3. Developed the team by creating a core RT/RN group, encouraged collaboration with wound service, and provided re-education on the usage of BCPAP and skin protectant. 4. Event review, communication, and awareness by implementing reporting process for skin concerns, reviewed events at multidisciplinary meetings, and displayed 9I9m bubbling9 sign outside of patient9s room. The outcome measure is the rate of HAPI per NICU patient census. Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to test and learn from change were utilized. After the first PDSA cycle was complete HAPIs were continued to be noted. Upon completion on the second PDSA cycle HAPIs were eliminated; therefore, the team maintained the current assessment and patient care routine. Results: Quarter 3 of 2014 had an increase in device related HAPI in the NICU with a rate of 6.12. All subsequent quarters have maintained a HAPI rate of zero. It was noted that with over 3,100 BCPAP days per year, there was no increase in HAPI. Conclusions: Based on the above mentioned interventions our team has eliminated device related HAPI. We continue to monitor skin integrity with RT and RN simultaneously; assessing includes in and around nares, behind and in ears, and entire head. We continue to review literature and develop a best practice guideline for the utilization of BCPAP in premature infants.