cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of α2-Adrenergic agonist preincubation on subsequent forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity and [3H]forskolin binding in membranes from HT29 cells

Abstract α 2 -Adrenergic agonist preincubation resulted in a leftward shift in the subsequent concentration-response curve to forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in membranes from HT29 cells, a human colon adenocarcinoma cell line. This effect was much less pronounced than the effect seen in the intact cell cyclic AMP production assays. Removal of GTP from the assay caused a further slight leftward shift in the concentration-response curve. In [ 3 H]forskolin binding experiments, α 2 -adrenergic agonist preincubation caused a doubling of the maximal number of binding sites (80 vs 31 fmol/mg protein) compared to control. The addition of MgCl 2 and NaF to the assay buffer increased control binding 5-fold. With agonist preincubation, there was a further increase in binding in the presence of MgCl 2 and NaF which was not significantly different from the appropriate control. Pertussis toxin pretreatment blocked both the leftward shift in the forskolin concentration-response curve and the increase in maximal number of binding sites, indicating that a pertussis toxin sensitive protein is involved in these changes. Activation of cyclic AMP production in the intact cell by cholera toxin followed by norepinephrine preincubation and then stimulation by forskolin resulted in a degree of sensitization similar to that seen in the membrane adenylate cyclase and binding assays. Pertussis toxin also blocked this sensitization. It appears that if the cyclase system is highly activated, then the degree of sensitization is similar in the membrane and intact cell assay.
Numerical Simulations of the Effect of Soil Moisture and Vegetation Cover on the Development of Deep Convection

Abstract A one-dimensional (column) version of a primitive equations model has been used to study the impact of soil moisture and vegetation cover on the development of deep cumulus convection in the absence of dynamical forcing. The model includes parameterizations of radiation, turbulent exchange, deep convection, shallow boundary layer convective clouds, vegetation, and soil temperature and moisture. Multiple one-dimensional experiments were performed using the average July sounding for Topeka, Kansas, as the initial condition. A range of volumetric soil moisture from one-half of the wilting point to saturation and vegetation cover ranging from bare soil to full cover were considered. Vegetation cover was found to promote convection, both by extraction of soil moisture and by shading the soil so that conduction of heat into the soil was reduced (thereby increasing the available energy). The larger values of initial soil moisture were found to delay the onset of precipitation and to increase the precipi...
Plugging metal connectors into enzymes.

Turnover of an enzyme is accelerated when the co-reactants are electron vacancies delivered through a gold nanoparticle.
Experimental protocols and preparations to study respiratory long term facilitation

Respiratory long-term facilitation is a form of neuronal plasticity that is induced following exposure to intermittent hypoxia. Long-term facilitation is characterized by a progressive increase in respiratory motor output during normoxic periods that separate hypoxic episodes and by a sustained elevation in respiratory activity for up to 90 min after exposure to intermittent hypoxia. This phenomenon is associated with increases in phrenic, hypoglossal or carotid sinus nerve inspiratory-modulated discharge. The examination of long-term facilitation has been steadily ongoing for approximately 3 decades. During this period of time a variety of animal models (e.g. cats, rats and humans), experimental preparations and intermittent hypoxia protocols have been used to study long-term facilitation. This review is designed to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the models, preparations and protocols that have been used to study LTF over the past 30 years. The review is divided into two primary sections. Initially, the models and protocols used to study LTF in animals other than humans will be discussed, followed by a section specifically focused on human studies. Each section will begin with a discussion of various factors that must be considered when selecting an experimental preparation and intermittent hypoxia protocol to examine LTF. Model and protocol design recommendations will follow, with the goal of presenting a prevailing model and protocol that will ultimately ensure standardized comparisons across studies.
Reaction diffusion and associated nonequilibrium effects in the Au-Co system

Inerdiffusion in two-phase Au-Co couples was investigated using metallographic and elec-tron microprobe analyses. Deviations from local equilibrium at the moving α-@#@ α interface were observed. These deviations were significant for short (1 to 2 h duration) anneals and, as the annealing time increased, the interface compositions approached the equilibrium val-ues. The interdiffusion coefficients (~D) and intrinsic diffusivities (DAu and DCo) in the α-Au terminal solid solution at 950° and 900°C were determined.
Mid-wave infrared interband cascade photodetectors and focal plane arrays based on InAs/GaSb superlattices

In recent years, type-II InAs/GaSb superlattices (T2-SLs) have demonstrated dramatic advances and are a serious contender for the high performance infrared (IR) imaging market. The improved understanding of the material properties, as well as the implantation of advanced device architectures, has substantially improved the device performance. Here we will report our efforts to develop mid-IR type-II T2-SL photodetectors and focal plane arrays based on interband cascade structure. The interband cascade photodetector exploits the energy band alignment in the nearly lattice-matched “6.1-Å-family” (InAs, GaSb, AlSb, and their alloys) material system. The InAs/GaSb T2-SL is adopted as the absorber, and two unipolar barriers are placed at each side of the absorber.
Antagonist-induced opiate receptor upregulation in cultures of fetal mouse spinal cord-ganglion explants.

Abstract Chronic exposure of fetal mouse spinal cord-ganglion explants to the opioid antagonist naloxone (10 μM, 7 days) produced a pronounced upregulation of μ opioid receptors. The antagonist action was stereospecific, as it was produced by (−)-, but not by (+)-naloxone, and was dose-dependent. Half-maximal naloxone-induced receptor upregulation occurred after two days; receptor density was maximal at 5 days. Exposure of the explant cultures to naloxone (10 μM) in the presence of the protein synthesis inhibitor, cycloheximide (1 μM; a concentration which blocks >90% protein synthesis) resulted in receptor density changes that were similar to those observed in cultures exposed to naloxone alone. This finding suggests that antagonist-induced opiate receptor upregulation does not require the synthesis of new receptor molecules.
Measurement of Tool-Workpiece Interface Temperature Distribution in Friction Stir Welding

The objective of this work is to develop an improved temperature measurement system for friction stir welding (FSW). FSW is a solid-state joining process enabling welds with excellent metallurgical and mechanical properties, as well as significant energy consumption and cost savings compared to traditional fusion welding processes. The measurement of temperatures during FSW is needed for process monitoring, heat transfer model verification and process control, but current methods have limitations due to their restricted spatial and temporal resolution. Previous work showed that temperatures at the tool shoulder-workpiece interface can be measured and utilized for closed-loop control of temperature. Adding an additional thermocouple at the tool pin-workpiece interface and performing a calibration of the measurement to gain better insight into the temperature distribution in the weld zone improved the method. Both thermocouples were placed in through holes right at the interface of tool so that the sheaths are in direct contact with the workpiece material. This measurement strategy reveals dynamic temperature variations at the shoulder and the pin within a single rotation of the tool in real-time. It was found that the highest temperatures are at the shoulder interface between the advancing side and the trailing edge of the tool, closer to the advancing side. The temperature distribution was mostly affected by travel speed and the temperature difference within one tool rotation was found to be between 10 °C and 50 °C, depending on the process parameters. The dynamic temperature measurements obtained with the current system are of unmatched resolution, fast, and reliable and are likely to be of interest for both fundamental studies and process control of FSW.
Utility of 18F-FDG PET/CT in follow-up of patients with low-grade serous carcinoma of the ovary

Objective Ovarian low-grade serous carcinoma (LGSC) is a rare and indolent tumor. The utility of 18F-FDG PET/CT in monitoring patients with LGSC has not been established. We assessed the accuracy and clinical impact of 18F-FDG PET/CT in patients with ovarian LGSC after initial treatment.
PKA mediates constitutive activation of CFTR in human sweat duct.

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl− channels are constitutively activated in sweat ducts. Since phosphorylation-dependent and -independent mechanisms can activate CFTR, we sought to determine the actual mechanism responsible for constitutive activation of these channels in vivo. We show that the constitutively activated CFTR Cl− conductance (gCFTR) in the apical membrane is completely deactivated following α-toxin permeabilization of the basolateral membrane. We investigated whether such inhibition of gCFTR following permeabilization is due to the loss of cytoplasmic glutamate or due to dephosphorylation of CFTR by an endogenous phosphatase in the absence of kinase activity (due to the loss of kinase agonist cAMP, cGMP or GTP through α-toxin pores). In order to distinguish between these two possibilities, we examined the effect of inhibiting the endogenous phosphatase activity with okadaic acid (10−8 M) on the permeabilization-induced deactivation of gCFTR. We show that okadaic acid (1) inhibits an endogenous phosphatase responsible for dephosphorylating cAMP but not cGMP or G protein-activated CFTR and (2) prevents deactivation of CFTR following permeabilization of the basolateral membrane. These results indicate that distinctly different phosphatases may be responsible for dephosphorylating different kinase-specific sites on CFTR. We conclude that the phosphorylation by PKA alone appears to be primarily responsible for constitutive activation of gCFTR in vivo.
Multiclass transaction scheduling and overload management in firm real-time database systems

Real-Time Database Systems (RTDBSs), have attracted considerable amount of research attention in the recent past and a number of important applications have been identified for such systems, such as telecommunications network management, automated air traffic control, automated financial trading, process control and military command and control systems. Due to the rapidity of change of the system state in such applications, as well as the inherent complexities in controlling such systems (which result in frequent violation of consistency requirements and consequent repeated firings of control actions), it is likely that the transaction load in these systems would be fairly high. Thus RTDBSs need to be equipped with overload management mechanisms. Unfortunately overload management has been a fairly neglected area in real-time systems research in general and real-time database research in particular. In this paper we introduce Adaptive Access Parameter (AAP), a scheduling mechanism for multiclass transactions in real-time database systems that employs an explicit admission control policy to manage overload as well as system bias towards particular transaction classes. We show the theoretical underpinnings behind AAP and then report a thorough performance study that demonstrates AAP's substantial superiority over current algorithms with regard to performance metrics as well as computational overhead.
Retention and leaching losses of atmospherically-derived nitrogen in the aggrading coastal watershed of Waquoit Bay, MA

Extensive areas of the eastern United States are being exposed to elevated levels of nitrogen in precipitation, with levels of inorganic N in wet deposition ranging from 5 to over 20 times preindustrial, background levels. This increase in N loading to the terrestrial system, coupled with changes in land use in coastal regions in particular, has dramatically increased the level of nutrient loading from watersheds to the point that coastal waters are today among the most intensely fertilized ecosystems on earth. Studies in upland, aggrading forests have generally found that precipitation N inputs are efficiently sequestered in forest biomass and soil organic matter. However, acidic soils, sandy, porous parent substrates, and chronic inputs of salt spray common to coastal watersheds may all reduce the potential for N sequestration by the terrestrial community. We assessed the role of coastal forests in the long-term storage and retention of atmospherically-derived N in the watersheds of Waquoit Bay, MA, an increasingly eutrophic estuary on Cape Cod, by measuring precipitation inputs, storage, and lysimeter outputs below the rooting zone in a chronosequence of sites released from agriculture at different times. Calculated annual retention efficiencies were relatively low for an N-limited, aggrading forest (40–62%), and leaching losses did not vary with site age from young pine stands to mature beech forests. Nearly all nitrogen input was retained during summer months except in months with very high rainfall events. Nitrogen was released during the dormant-season in proportion to water flux through the forest floor. The composition of lysimeter output was 76% DON, 11% NO 3 − , and 13% NH 4 − . Total water flux and infiltration appear to be more important determinants of N retention in this sandy, coastal site than in more upland forest ecosystems; sandy systems may inherently have a low N retention efficiency.
Optimization of near-infrared laser tissue welding of porcine cornea: a Monte Carlo-aided dosimetry study

Monte Carlo simulations were performed to delineate the role of local fluence rates and absorption in histologic success and tensile strength analysis of laser welding of ocular corneal tissue using an erbium fiber laser system operating at 1455nm wavelength. Porcine cornea was used for in vitro welding, while varying power, scan time, and irradiance. Immediate histologic analysis was performed, as well as tensile strength studies. Simulations were performed using MCML code, with a total of 10 9 photons started. CONV code was used to convolve the output from MCML for a flat photon beam of 80-800 μ focal spot size and power specified by the experiment. The absorption coefficient, μa, was assumed to reflect that of water, 28.6 cm -1 . The scattering coefficient, μs, and anisotropy factor, g, were both neglected due to the poor scattering capabilities of water in the wavelength of the laser beam. Fluence rates were determined and were within 0.3%-4% of surface dose calculations for a beam diameter of 80 μ. Interactive Data Language (IDL) was used to sum the dose for one convolved beam to an experiment with multiple scans across the porcine cornea. Achieving optimal usage of the laser system requires maximal use of the variables (power, scan patterns, scan time, irradiance) available to use, and the correlation between Monte Carlo-aided dosimetry and the histopathological and tensile strength studies was performed. Optimal parameters for use in this 1455 nm laser system can be studied, and will allow users the ability to predict histology scores of welding success and tissue injury based on absorption values. These results can refine our experience with laser tissue welding of porcine cornea and aid in determining optimal delivered dose for successful tissue apposition and minimal adverse thermal heating.
The Price of Femininity or Just Pleasing Myself? Justifying Breast Surgery

Breasts are defining features of the female body and the basis upon which women’s bodies are judged. They also are central to the identities of (some) women. This paper reports the justificational accounts of 40 US women who have undergone, or refused, elective breast surgery. We explore the reasons for their choice. Three categories of accounts were identified: self-evaluation, interpersonal relations, and material practices. Women who had augmentation surgery were most likely, followed by women who had reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy, to offer a self-evaluation account whereas women who had not elected breast surgery favored a material practices account. Interpersonal relations were invoked least often. The discussion addresses women’s engagement in cultural body projects that involve breasts, the meanings women attach to their breasts, and the links between breasts and a feminine identity. Because personal motives and beauty system norms mutually shape each other, we cannot ascertain whether elective breast surgery is a genuine individual choice. Longitudinal research on large representative samples is needed to sort out the cause-effect dynamics between individual actions and beauty system influences.
Using Haplotype Trees for Phylogeographic and Species Inference in Fish Populations

Genetic variation is now routinely screened at the DNA sequence level in many studies. If the DNA region being screened has not experienced excessive amounts of recombination, it is often possible to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the genetic variation in the form of a haplotype tree. This tree estimates the evolutionary pathway that interconnects all the different haplotypes (sequence variants) observed in the sample. This haplotype tree can be used to define a series of nested branches (clades) that reflects the relative temporal history of the haplotypes and groups of haplotypes. Geographical information can then be overlaid upon this temporal series to test for significant associations between geography and temporal position in the haplotype tree. This allows a reconstruction of how the genetic variation arose and spread in both space and time. Such reconstructions can yield many insights into the joint roles of recurrent events such as gene flow and of historical events such as fragmentation or range expansion. These points are illustrated with studies on the chub, Leuciscus cephalus. There is also a need to extend such nested phylogeographic analyses to a phylo/reticulate geographic analysis that incorporates both assortment and recombination between and within DNA regions. A preliminary phylo/reticulate geographic analysis is presented of the transferrin locus in the brown trout, Salmo trutta, species complex that reveals the importance of hybridization in the recent evolutionary history of this group. This example shows the inadequacy of a strictly phylogenetic approach and illustrates the need to incorporate reticulate evolution. The results of nested clade phylogeographic analysis and the new phylo/reticulate geographic analysis are then used for inferring species status of the marbled trout. The results indicate that an old hybridization event may have played a role in the origin of the marbled trout. Currently the marbled trout is primarily endangered by hybridization with introduced brown trout. These results show both the positive and negative impacts of hybridization upon biodiversity. Such phylo/reticulate geographic studies will challenge both our concepts of species and our conservation management strategies.
Pseudomonas biofilm matrix composition and niche biology.

Biofilms are a predominant form of growth for bacteria in the environment and in the clinic. Critical for biofilm development are adherence, proliferation, and dispersion phases. Each of these stages includes reinforcement by, or modulation of, the extracellular matrix. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been a model organism for the study of biofilm formation. Additionally, other Pseudomonas species utilize biofilm formation during plant colonization and environmental persistence. Pseudomonads produce several biofilm matrix molecules, including polysaccharides, nucleic acids, and proteins. Accessory matrix components shown to aid biofilm formation and adaptability under varying conditions are also produced by pseudomonads. Adaptation facilitated by biofilm formation allows for selection of genetic variants with unique and distinguishable colony morphology. Examples include rugose small-colony variants and wrinkly spreaders (WS), which over produce Psl/Pel or cellulose, respectively, and mucoid bacteria that over produce alginate. The well-documented emergence of these variants suggests that pseudomonads take advantage of matrix-building subpopulations conferring specific benefits for the entire population. This review will focus on various polysaccharides as well as additional Pseudomonas biofilm matrix components. Discussions will center on structure–function relationships, regulation, and the role of individual matrix molecules in niche biology.
Beyond the P. I: Problems with probability.

This is the first in a 4-part series discussing the proper use, interpretation and limitations of P values.
The tris­(malonato)­chromate(III) anion with an organic cation

The structure of 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)­ethyl­enium tris­(malonato-κ2O,O′)­chromate(III) octahydrate, (Hbpe)3[Cr(mal)3]·8H2O, where mal is the malonate dianion (C3HO42−) and bpe is 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)­ethyl­ene (C12H12N2), is presented. The crystal structure is made up of [Cr(mal)3]3− anions, Hbpe+ cations and water mol­ecules of crystallization. The anions are connected through hydrogen bonding involving malonate O atoms and uncoordinated water mol­ecules in distinct layers, with the cations stacked in separate layers. One of the Hbpe cations is located on a center of inversion, another one on a twofold rotation axis.
New frontiers in competition for pollination.

†Background Co-flowering plant species frequently share pollinators. Pollinator sharing is often detrimental to one or more of these species, leading to competition for pollination. Perhaps because it offers an intriguing juxtaposition of ecological opposites ‐ mutualism and competition ‐ within one relatively tractable system, competition for pollination has captured the interest of ecologists for over a century. †Scope Our intent is to contemplate exciting areas for further work on competition for pollination, rather than to exhaustively review past studies. After a brief historical summary, we present a conceptual framework that incorporates many aspects of competition for pollination, involving both the quantity and quality of pollination services, and both female and male sex functions of flowers. Using this framework, we contemplate a relatively subtle mechanism of competition involving pollen loss, and consider how competition might affect plant mating systems, overall reproductive success and multi-species interactions. We next consider how competition for pollination might be altered by several emerging consequences of a changing planet, including the spread of alien species, climate change and pollinator declines. Most of these topics represent new frontiers whose exploration has just begun. †Conclusions Competition for pollination has served as a model for the integration of ecological and evolutionary perspectives in the study of species interactions. Its study has elucidated both obvious and more subtle mechanisms, and has documented a range of outcomes. However, the potential for this interaction to inform our understanding of both pure and applied aspects of pollination biology has only begun to be realized.
Microbial activity and diversity during extreme freeze-thaw cycles in periglacial soils, 5400 m elevation, Cordillera Vilcanota, Peru ´

High-elevation periglacial soils are among the most extreme soil systems on Earth and may be good analogs for the polar regions of Mars where oligotrophic mineral soils abut with polar ice caps. Here we report on preliminary studies carried out during an expedition to an area where recent glacial retreat has exposed porous mineral soils to extreme, daily freeze-thaw cycles and high UV fluxes. We used in situ methods to show that inorganic nitrogen (NO(3) (-) and NH(4) (+)) was being actively cycled even during a period when diurnal soil temperatures (5 cm depth) ranged from -12 to 27 degrees C and when sub-zero, soil cooling rates reached 1.8 degrees C h(-1) (the most rapid soil cooling rates recorded to date). Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses of microbial phylotypes present at our highest sites (5410 m above sea level) showed the presence of nitrifying bacteria of the genus Nitrospira and newly discovered nitrite-oxidizing Betaproteobacteria. These soils were overwhelmingly dominated (>70% of phylotypes) by photosynthetic bacteria that were related to novel cyanobacteria previously found almost exclusively in other plant-free, high-elevation soils. We also demonstrated that soils from our highest sites had higher potential for mineralizing glutamate and higher microbial biomass than lower elevation soils that had been more recently covered by ice. Overall, our findings indicate that a diverse and robustly functioning microbial ecosystem is present in these previously unstudied high-elevation soils.
Genetic interactions suggest multiple distinct roles of the arch and core helicase domains of Mtr4 in Rrp6 and exosome function

The RNA exosome is responsible for a wide variety of RNA processing and degradation reactions. The activity and specificity of the RNA exosome is thought to be controlled by a number of cofactors. Mtr4 is an essential RNA-dependent adenosine triphosphatase that is required for all of the nuclear functions of the RNA exosome. The crystal structure of Mtr4 uncovered a domain that is conserved in the RNA exosome cofactors Mtr4 and Ski2 but not in other helicases, suggesting it has an important role related to exosome activation. Rrp6 provides the nuclear exosome with one of its three nuclease activities, and previous findings suggested that the arch domain is specifically required for Rrp6 functions. Here, we report that the genetic interactions between the arch domain of Mtr4 and Rrp6 cannot be explained by the arch domain solely acting in Rrp6-dependent processing reactions. Specifically, we show that the arch domain is not required for all Rrp6 functions, and that the arch domain also functions independently of Rrp6. Finally, we show that the arch domain of Ski2, the cytoplasmic counterpart of Mtr4, is required for Ski2's function, thereby confirming that the arch domains of these cofactors function independently of Rrp6.
Somatic mutation as a mechanism of Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation in CLL

One major goal of cancer genome sequencing is to identify key genes and pathways that drive tumor pathogenesis. Although many studies have identified candidate driver genes based on recurrence of mutations in individual genes, subsets of genes with nonrecurrent mutations may also be defined as putative drivers if they affect a single biological pathway. In this fashion, we previously identified Wnt signaling as significantly mutated through large-scale massively parallel DNA sequencing of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Here, we use a novel method of biomolecule delivery, vertical silicon nanowires, to efficiently introduce small interfering RNAs into CLL cells, and interrogate the effects of 8 of 15 mutated Wnt pathway members identified across 91 CLLs. In HEK293T cells, mutations in 2 genes did not generate functional changes, 3 led to dysregulated pathway activation, and 3 led to further activation or loss of repression of pathway activation. Silencing 4 of 8 mutated genes in CLL samples harboring the mutated alleles resulted in reduced viability compared with leukemia samples with wild-type alleles. We demonstrate that somatic mutations in CLL can generate dependence on this pathway for survival. These findings support the notion that nonrecurrent mutations at different nodes of the Wnt pathway can contribute to leukemogenesis.
Effects of Glutamate, N‐Methyl‐d‐Aspartate, High Potassium, and Hypoxia on Unit Discharges in CA1 Area of Hippocampal Slices of DBA and C57 Mice

We studied effects of L-glutamate, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), high K+, and hypoxia on spontaneous unit discharges in stratum pyramidale of CA1 region of hippocampal slices in DBA and C57 mice aged 3-4 and 5-6 weeks. Application of L-glutamate (0.5-2.0 mM), NMDA (5-20 microM), high K+ (8.5 mM), and a brief period of hypoxia (1 min) to the perfused artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) all produced different degrees of spontaneous high-frequency discharges from CA1 area of hippocampal slices of both DBA and C57 mice. Two types of responses recorded extracellularly occurred after these manipulations: high-frequency repetitive single spikes and bursts of multiple population spikes. The rate and type of responses from CA1 region of hippocampal slices after these manipulations were different and depended on the strain and age of mice and the nature of manipulations. In general, hippocampal slices from audiogenic seizure-susceptible DBA mice were more sensitive than those from audiogenic seizure-resistant C57 mice, and hippocampal slices from younger animals were more susceptible than those from older ones. Thus, DBA mice aged 3-4 weeks of age were most susceptible and C57 mice aged 5-6 weeks were least susceptible to all these pharmacological, ionic, and hypoxic manipulations. Bursts of multiple population spikes were the most common responses in DBA mice and in younger animals, and repetitive single spikes were the predominant responses in C57 mice and in older animals. In all groups of animals, the average spontaneous discharge rate was highest after L-glutamate perfusion, next highest after NMDA, and lowest after high K+ and hypoxia. The latency of the appearance of spontaneous epileptiform activity from CA1 region of hippocampal slices was long (> 2 min) after NMDA perfusion and short ( 3 min) after high K+ and hypoxia, and between short and long after NMDA perfusion. These results suggest that age and strain of animal and nature of stimulus precipitate different patterns of epileptiform activity in CNS.
Comparing Proportions of Different Samples

Sometimes we have a sample divided into subsamples as in the example in Chapter 13, but the comparison we wish to make between the subsamples concerns not the mean of some measurement but rather another set of categories. Such a comparison can be approached by estimating population proportions from the various subsamples and attaching error ranges to the estimates. Then the estimated population proportions with their error ranges can be compared to each other with a bullet graph just as we did for means in Chapter 13.
Dementia Diary: A Personal and Professional Journal

This article is not traditional social work writing, because it is in the form of a memoir. It offers a window into lived experience, from which most professional writing is more distant. It explores the last year of life of an elderly woman, seen through the eyes of her daughter-in-law, who is a social worker and social work educator. The article chronicles the day-to-day experiences of progressive memory loss and the challenges of caregiving. Social work can develop similar narratives of other life experiences that can increase its practitioners' understanding and wisdom.
CACSD tools for loop gain-phase shaping design of SISO robust controllers

The steps in loop gain-phase shaping (LGPS) and a family of CAD tools that make LGPS a realistic design procedure are described. Several examples demonstrating the use of these tools and the performance advantages of LGPS over classical loop shaping and its derivatives are presented. It is reported that the LGPS approach uses phase information explicitly, providing an increased range of applicability, reduced bandwidth requirements, more accurate control of performance robustness, and convenient control of relative stability robustness. >
Broadband phased array concepts

Phased array antennas have a basic problem when it comes to providing broad instantaneous bandwidth. Three techniques are suggested here for increasing the instantaneous bandwidth of the array: (1) discrete time delay, (2) beam broadening, and (3) a combination of (1) and (2). >
Clopidogrel-Associated Leukopenia:

OBJECTIVE:To report a case of leukopenia in a patient receiving clopidogrel following intracoronary stent placement.CASE SUMMARY:A 58-year-old white man presented to the emergency department (ED) with fever and chills. Seven days prior to presentation, he underwent intracoronary stent placement and clopidogrel 75 mg once daily was initiated. In the ED, laboratory evaluation revealed leukopenia with negative blood and urine cultures. The patient was released but returned the following day with fever and sweating. Infectious complications were ruled out, and clopidogrel was discontinued. Leukopenia resolved within 7 days, and the patient has experienced no further hematologic complications. Based on the Naranjo probability scale, the leukopenia was rated as a probable reaction to clopidogrel.DISCUSSION:Ticlopidine and clopidogrel are the 2 commercially available thienopyridine antiplatelet agents. Risk of myelotoxicity with ticlopidine is well known and requires frequent hematologic monitoring. Clopidogrel ...
Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review

This paper discusses the discounted utility (DU) model: its historical development, underlying assumptions, and "anomalies" - the empirical regularities that are inconsistent with its theoretical predictions. We then summarize the alternate theoretical formulations that have been advanced to address these anomalies. We also review three decades of empirical research on intertemporal choice, and discuss reasons for the spectacular variation in implicit discount rates across studies. Throughout the paper, we stress the importance of distinguishing time preference, per se, from many other considerations that also influence intertemporal choices.
A comparison of filtered vs. unfiltered metal concentrations in treatment wetlands

Filtered vs. unfiltered metals analyses are compared from two demonstration wetlands built by ARCO in Butte, Montana. The Wetlands Demonstration Project 1 (WDP1) facility was an anaerobic, subsurface flow wetland, whereas the Colorado Tailings (CT) facility was a lime-added, aerobic system. At both sites, a significant fraction of each metal of concern (Cu, Cd, Zn, Fe, and Mn) existed in particulate form in some parts of the treatment system. The anaerobic WDP1 wetland removed dissolved metals to very low levels, but had mixed success in filtering out fine-grained sulfide precipitates of Cu, Cd and Zn. The CT wetland showed better capacity to remove particulate metals. Based on these two case studies, the importance of obtaining both filtered and unfiltered (total recoverable) samples at treatment wetlands is stressed.
An adaptive threshold approach for the design of an actuator failure detection and identification scheme

Typical logic schemes associated with failure detection and identification algorithms rely on a set of constant thresholds. The selection of the values for these thresholds is generally a tradeoff between the goals of maximizing failure detectability while minimizing false alarm rates. The main purpose of this brief is to propose an alternative to this conventional approach for defining the thresholds of a specific aircraft actuator failure detection and identification scheme. A specific set of detection and identification criteria for failures of the decoupled stabilators, canards, ailerons, and rudders of the NASA Advanced Control Technology for Integrated Vehicle F-15 aircraft have been formulated in terms of neural network estimates and correlation functions of the angular rates. The proposed scheme is based on the use of adaptive thresholds through the floating limiter concept. This new approach eliminates the need for parameter scheduling and has shown to be able to reduce the delays associated with the constant threshold method. The functionality of the approach has been illustrated through numerical simulations on the West Virginia University NASA Intelligent Flight Control System F-15 simulator.
Emerging drugs for common conditions of sleepiness: obstructive sleep apnea and narcolepsy.

Introduction: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and narcolepsy are sleep disorders associated with high prevalence and high symptomatic burden including prominent sleepiness, daytime dysfunction and poor nocturnal sleep. Both have elevated risk of poor health outcomes. Current therapies are often underutilized, cumbersome, costly or associated with residual symptoms.Areas covered: This review covers current available therapies for OSA and narcolepsy as well as discusses areas for potential drug development, and agents in the therapeutic pipeline, including the cannabinoid dronabinol (OSA), the histamine inverse agonist/ antagonist pitolisant (narcolepsy), and stimulants with uncertain and/or multiple activities such as JZP-110 and JZP-386 (narcolepsy, possibly OSA). Finally it addresses new approaches and uses for therapies currently on the market such as the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor acetazolamide (OSA).Expert opinion: Both OSA and narcolepsy are conditions of sleepiness for which lifelong treatments are ...
Unilateral Cleft Lip Repair—State of the Art

Abstract Objective: A number of surgical techniques are utilized to correct the unilateral cleft lip, including variations of the rotation-advancement technique. This attests to the variability of the original deformity and the esthetic and functional results from any one technique, especially those based on traditional geometric rearrangement of the skin and associated tissues. Results: Most recent advances in cleft lip repair have occurred in two main areas. The morphological result has been improved by functional muscular reconstruction of the lip with or without orthopedic molding. Early correction of the nasal deformity has also been readvocated based on newer principles with excellent results demonstrated. Conclusion: Further work continues in these areas and improved outcomes will continue to be seen along with a clearer understanding of surgical affects on growth and development. Editor's Note: These are the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth in a series of state-of-the-art papers covering all as...
Multiscale registration algorithm for alignment of meshes

Taking a multi-resolution approach, this research work proposes an effective algorithm for aligning a pair of scans obtained by scanning an object's surface from two adjacent views. This algorithm first encases each scan in the pair with an array of cubes of equal and fixed size. For each scan in the pair a surrogate scan is created by the centroids of the cubes that encase the scan. The Gaussian curvatures of points across the surrogate scan pair are compared to find the surrogate corresponding points. If the difference between the Gaussian curvatures of any two points on the surrogate scan pair is less than a predetermined threshold, then those two points are accepted as a pair of surrogate corresponding points. The rotation and translation values between the surrogate scan pair are determined by using a set of surrogate corresponding points. Using the same rotation and translation values the original scan pairs are aligned. The resulting registration (or alignment) error is computed to check the accuracy of the scan alignment. When the registration error becomes acceptably small, the algorithm is terminated. Otherwise the above process is continued with cubes of smaller and smaller sizes until the algorithm is terminated. However at each finer resolution the search space for finding the surrogate corresponding points is restricted to the regions in the neighborhood of the surrogate points that were at found at the preceding coarser level. The surrogate corresponding points, as the resolution becomes finer and finer, converge to the true corresponding points on the original scans. This approach offers three main benefits: it improves the chances of finding the true corresponding points on the scans, minimize the adverse effects of noise in the scans, and reduce the computational load for finding the corresponding points.
The Hypercomplex Solution of the Dirac Equation

It is shown that the hypercomplex Dirac equation describes the system of connected fields: 4-scalar, 4-pseudoscalar, 4-vector, 4-pseudovector and antisymmetric 4-tensor second rank field. If mass is assumed to be zero this system splits into two subsystems. Equations containing tensor, scalar and pseudoscalar fields coincide with Maxwell equations complemented by scalar and pseudoscalar fields. This system describes the electrodynamics of non-conserved charges. The scalar and pseudoscalar fields are generated only by the non-conserved charges-electric and hypothetical magnetic. The influence of these fields on the charged particles is very unusual-it causes a change of their rest mass. This allows us to give a new look at the Wigner paradox and mechanism of mass renormalization.
Convergence Rate Analysis of Several Splitting Schemes

Operator-splitting schemes are iterative algorithms for solving many types of numerical problems. A lot is known about these methods: they converge, and in many cases we know how quickly they converge. But when they are applied to optimization problems, there is a gap in our understanding: The theoretical speed of operator-splitting schemes is nearly always measured in the ergodic sense, but ergodic operator-splitting schemes are rarely used in practice. In this chapter, we tackle the discrepancy between theory and practice and uncover fundamental limits of a class of operator-splitting schemes. Our surprising conclusion is that the relaxed Peaceman-Rachford splitting algorithm, a version of the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMM), is nearly as fast as the proximal point algorithm in the ergodic sense and nearly as slow as the subgradient method in the nonergodic sense. A large class of operator-splitting schemes extend from the relaxed Peaceman-Rachford splitting algorithm. Our results show that this class of operator-splitting schemes is also nearly as slow as the subgradient method. The tools we create in this chapter can also be used to prove nonergodic convergence rates of more general splitting schemes, so they are interesting in their own right.
Study of generation mechanism of OH radical in an atmospheric pressure argon microwave plasma jet with addition of water content

Hydroxyl (OH) radical is an important reactive agent in various plasma applications, such as plasma assisted combustion, plasma medicine, and material processing. Quantification of the absolute number densities of OH radical in atmospheric plasma jets can help better understand plasma chemistry, reaction kinetics as well as plasma design. A 2.45 GHz microwave plasma source along with UV pulsed cavity ringdown spectroscopy of OH (A - X) (1 - 0) band at 308 nm was employed to study the effect on OH radical generation due to addition of low water content to argon (feeding gas) and to measure the absolute number density of OH. With addition of 0, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, and 14 ppm water vapor in argon gas, the OH number densities vary from 2.34 × 1015 to 2.85 × 1016, 3.73 × 1014 to 3.75 × 1016, 2.11 × 1014 to 3.04 × 1016, 1.73 × 1015 to 2.72 × 1016, 2.30 × 1015 to 3.12 × 1016, 1.31 × 1015 to 5.13 × 1016, and 1.20 × 1015 to 3.39 × 1016 molecules/cm3 in different locations along the plasma jet axis. The plasma jet length decreased from 11 mm to 4 mm with increase in water content. With the addition of water, the plasma gas temperature increased due to the global heating of plasma gas resulting from the collisional relaxation of H 2 O molecules. Optical emission spectra show a drastic increase in OH (A-X) emission intensity with increase in water fraction in the Ar/ H 2 O mixture. The formation mechanism of OH radicals is influenced by the water content in the gas mixture. Various reaction channels can be responsible for OH formation in different regions of the plasma jet, e.g., dissociative electron excitation of water and dissociative recombination of water ions in the plasma jet plume; dissociative recombination, electron impact excitation and dissociation of water due to radicals and metastable species in the vicinity of the jet tip; and dissociative recombination of water ions in the downstream/far downstream region.
Microdialysis in the rat striatum: effects of 24 h dexamethasone retrodialysis on evoked dopamine release and penetration injury.

The power of microdialysis for in vivo neurochemical monitoring is a result of intense efforts to enhance microdialysis procedures, the probes themselves, and the analytical systems used for the analysis of dialysate samples. Our goal is to refine microdialysis further by focusing attention on what happens when the probes are implanted into brain tissue. It is broadly acknowledged that some tissue damage occurs, such that the tissue nearest the probes is disrupted from its normal state. We hypothesize that mitigating such disruption would refine microdialysis. Herein, we show that the addition of dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug, to the perfusion fluid protects evoked dopamine responses as measured by fast-scan cyclic voltammetry next to the probes after 24 h. We also show that dexamethasone stabilizes evoked dopamine responses measured at the probe outlet over a 4–24 h postimplantation interval. The effects of dexamethasone are attributable to its anti-inflammatory actions, as dexamethasone had n...