cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessing the integrity of auditory processing and sensory memory in adults with cystinosis ( CTNS gene mutations)

Cystinosis, a rare lysosomal storage disease, is characterized by cystine crystallization and accumulation within tissues and organs, including the kidneys and brain. Its impact on neural function appears mild relative to its effects on other organs, but therapeutic advances have led to substantially increased life expectancy, necessitating deeper understanding of its impact on neurocognitive function in adulthood. We previously demonstrated intact auditory sensory processing, accompanied by mild sensory memory difficulties, in children and adolescents with cystinosis. We investigated whether further progressive decrements in these processes would be observed in adults with cystinosis, comparing high-density auditory-evoked potential (AEP) recordings from adults with cystinosis (N = 15; ages: 19–38 years) to those of age-matched controls (N = 17). We employed a duration oddball paradigm with different stimulation rates, in which participants passively listened to regularly occurring standard tones interspersed with infrequently occurring deviant tones. Analyses focused on AEP components reflecting auditory sensory-perceptual processing (N1 and P2), sensory memory (mismatch negativity, MMN), and attentional orienting (P3a). Overall, adults with cystinosis produced highly similar sensory-perceptual AEP responses to those observed in controls suggesting intact early auditory cortical processing. However, significantly increased P2 and P3a amplitudes and reduced MMN at slower stimulation rates were observed, suggesting mild-to-moderate changes in auditory sensory memory and attentional processing. While cognitive testing revealed lower scores on verbal IQ and perceptual reasoning in cystinosis, these did not correlate with the AEP measures. These neurophysiological data point to the emergence of subtle auditory processing deficits in early adulthood in cystinosis, warranting further investigation of memory and attentional processes in this population, and of their consequences for perceptual and cognitive function.
Viruscape: A Microscopic Adventure Game to Guide Conceptual Learning of SARS-CoV-2 Mechanisms

This paper presents the pilot version of Viruscape, a novel adventure PC and console game designed to facilitate the conceptual learning of Coronavirus mechanisms and expand the civic science education toolkit. Medical illustration using 3D modeling and motion graphics software has long been a niche practice to help advance education, research, and practice in healthcare-related fields. In Viruscape, we leverage the unexploited potential of such software to create interactive virtual worlds and gameplay experience to promote a more systematic learning of human health concepts and advance medical literacy for the general public. Viruscape immerses players in a microscopic world through the “eyes” of viruses whose goal is to defeat the human immune system. We translate the relevant immunology mechanisms into game play mechanisms that players learn to master, while providing a unique and interactive gaming experience. Future development of the game could focus on involving diverse users and health experts in co-design or consultation sessions and customizing the game world to represent players’ real-world health condition. The concept of Viruscape can be used to further develop parallel episodes of the game that feature other human health mechanisms such as other types of infection, heart disease or cancer.
Bandwidth enhancement of injection-locked 1.3 μm quantum-dot DFB laser

Optical injection locking of a quantum-dot distributed-feedback laser at 1.3 mum is reported. Using an injection ratio of 5.3 dB, an optical detuning of -40 pm, and a slave laser biased at 20 mA, the modulation bandwidth of the injection-locked laser was 16.3 GHz. This is over four times higher than the modulation bandwidth of the free-running quantum-dot laser. At a slave laser bias of 5.0 mA, injection locking resulted in a resonance frequency of 21.9 GHz, over eleven times higher than the relaxation frequency of the free-running slave laser.
A high performance microprocessor for DSP applications

Currently available single chip programmable DSP processors share a common characteristic - they all include some portion of the system memory on-chip. Even with advanced semiconductor technology, the tradeoff between memory size and processing functionality is not a good one. Both must be severely compromised in order to combine them into a single integrated circuit. These compromises have been a problem for many high performance application areas. This paper describes a new DSP processor which contains no primary on-chip memory. Instead, it is designed to access external memory efficiently. The silicon area saved by excluding the memory is used to add functionality and increase processing throughput significantly beyond that of existing single chip designs.
Catholics, Carlisle, and Casting Stones: Richard Henry Pratt and the 1890 Ghost Dance

In 1889, just four years before Frederick Jackson Turner famously announced the close of the American frontier, news of an Indigenous revitalization movement spread across the Plains. As both Nativ...
China-U.S. Relations: Current Issues and Implications for U.S. Policy

The bilateral relationship between the U.S. and the People's Republic of China (PRC) is vitally important, touching on a wide range of areas including, among others, economic policy, security, foreign relations, and human rights. This report addresses relevant policy questions in current U.S.-China relations, discusses trends and key legislation in the current Congress, and provides a chronology of developments and high-level exchanges.
Insuring against Neighboring Crises : International Reserves in Latin America

This paper revisits the traditional literature on optimal demand for international reserves by exploring the possibility that perceived contagion risk originating from neighboring countries influences a country’s own demand for reserves. In addition, it highlights another reason why the mechanisms of local coordination and support within the framework of regional integration might be desirable additions to the current international financial structure. Using a sample of the seven largest Latin American economies, the empirical evidence presented here suggests that countries take into consideration the volatility conditions of their neighbors when determining their own optimal level of reserves. Moreover, given that countries in Latin America appear to purchase insurance against contagion risk, this paper argues that a mechanism of reserve pooling that increases the protection of all members of the pool might reduce the risk of contagion and thereby also reduce the opportunity cost faced by individual countries.
Embedded automotive system development process - steer-by-wire system

Model based design enables the automatic generation of final-build software from models for high-volume automotive embedded systems. This paper presents a framework of processes, methods and tools for the design of automotive embedded systems. A steer-by-wire system serves as an example.
Further evidence by gene dosage for the regional assignment of erythrocyte acid phosphatase (ACPI) and malate dehydrogenase (MDHI) loci on chromosome 2p

Quantitative studies of erythrocyte acid phosphatase (ACP1) and soluble malate dehydrogenase (MDH1), both assigned to distal chromosome 2p, were performed by colorimetric methods on the red cells of four patients in an attempt to demonstrate a gene dosage effect. The patients inherited the unbalanced form of a familial reciprocal translocation, t(2;10)(p24;q26), and had partial duplication 2p. Parents of all patients and siblings of some were included in the study. All patients had increased levels of ACP1 corresponding to the presence of three structural genes. Levels of MDH1 were not increased. Evidence shows that the ACP1 gene is in the region 2p24 leads to 2pter and that MDH is not.
Charged Polymers via Controlled Radical Polymerization and their Implications for Gene Delivery

Non-viral gene delivery agents are notorious for their poor nucleic acid transfection efficiency and relatively high cell cytotoxicity. Thus, many investigators are exploring the important parameters involved in charged polymer-mediated gene delivery, such as chemical composition, molecular weight, structural architecture, surface charge, etc. It is important to develop clear structure-property relationships in order to design successful nucleic acid delivery agents for gene therapy. To elucidate these relationships, well-defined materials are necessary. Controlled radical polymerization methods offer a facile route to systematically produce well-defined, structurally distinct gene delivery agents. The use of charged polymers prepared via controlled radical polymerizations to elucidate transfection mechanisms or develop new delivery vectors will be reviewed herein.
Biological variability in maximum aerobic power

The biological variation in maximum aerobic power (V O2max) was examined in four trained females and one trained male. An average of 8-20 repeat VO2max treadmill tests over a 2-4 wk period were performed on each subject (80 total tests). Biological variation (Si) in VO2max was computed as the standard deviation for the VO2max values for each individual, after subtracting net technological error (Se). Technological error was computed for each piece of equipment as the standard deviation of multiple trials. Results revealed that Si + Se amounted to +/- 5.6%. Biological variability accounted for 90% or more of this variability, while technological error accounted for less than 10%. In light of the magnitude of biological variation for VO2max, the necessity for securing control data when attempting to study training effects is pointed out.
The optimal velocity of constant kinetic energy constant L/D long rod projectiles

Abstract The existence of an optimal velocity (Vopt) in the higher than ordnance velocity range, for constant kinetic energy constant L/D long rod projectiles, is a crucial factor to understand the potential consequences of hypervelocity military launchers. Frank and Zook [1] have shown how to obtain Vopt when P/L (V) is given analytically or in graphical form. Bless and Anderson [2] used Tate's model to evaluate P/L (V) curves for constant energy, constant shape (L/D) projectiles into RHA and into alumina targets, for different values of target resistance (Rt). From these curves they obtained Vopt and plotted Vopt (Rt). It would seem useful to have an analysis to predict Vopt as a function of the material parameters without having to go through the evaluation of P/L (V) curves for a range of values of these parameters. Hopefully, such an analysis can yield some general information on the dependence of Vopt on the relevant material parameters. We present such an analysis based on an approximation of Tate's model (which we call the linear approximation). It turns out that for a constant resistance target, a very close approximation to Vopt can be found by very simple calculations.
Addition as fuzzy mutual entropy

Abstract A sum of real numbers equals the mutual entropy of a fuzzy set and its complement set. A “fuzzy” or multivalued set is a point in a unit hypercube. Fuzzy mutual (Kullback) entropy arises from the logarithm of a unique measure of fuzziness. The proof uses the logistic map, a diffeomorphism that maps extended real space onto the fuzzy cube embedded in it. The logistic map equates the sum of a vector's components with the mutual entropy of two dual fuzzy sets. Diffeomap projection offers a new way to study the fuzzy structure of real algorithms.
Advances in minimally invasive surgery in children

Minimal access pediatric surgery has developed more slowly than its adult counterpart for several reasons. Surgical pain and perioperative stress associated with open procedures have been underappreciated in children. Appropriately sized instrumentation was slow to develop because the focus of the marketplace was the adult. The advanced techniques required for pediatric laparoscopic procedures are associated with a relatively long learning curve. Reports documenting the safety, efficacy, and cost effectiveness of pediatric endosurgery are fueling a rapid evolution in instrumentation and minimal access procedures for children. This evolution will eventually influence most pediatric surgical procedures, changing the paradigm of the practice of pediatric surgery. It is the pediatric patient who has the most to gain from these alterations in their surgical care with less pain, decreased hospital days, and earlier return to regular activities.
Empathy and Human-Machine Interaction

This paper presents the framework of the author's practice and research exploring empathy and human-machine interaction in projects involving robotic art and video installations and performance. The works investigate emotions and embodiment, presence and absence, relationships and loss, and ways to implicate these ideas in encounters between technology-based artwork and the viewer.
Evidence that wild-type TP53, and not genes on either chromosome 1 or 11, controls the tumorigenic phenotype of the human fibrosarcoma HT1080

The specific transfer of normal chromosomes via microcell fusion has been instrumental in identifying putative tumor suppressor gene loci in a variety of human cancers. Using this same technique it has been proposed that the tumorigenicity of the human fibrosarcoma cell line HT1080 is controlled by functionally distinct tumor suppressor genes on human chromosomes 1 and 11. To address these results and perhaps further localize the suppressive effect to particular regions on these two chromosomes, we transferred into HTI080 seven different fibroblast-derived human chromosomes containing either intact or discrete portions of chromosome I or II. Interestingly, we found no evidence of genes on these chromosomes that could alter the growth of HT1080 either in vitro or in vivo. Based on these results we were left with the possibility that a gene, or genes, residing on an entirely different chromosome(s) was involved in the tumorigenesis of HTI080. Since TP53 mutation has been documented in a variety of human tumor types, and we found both copies of TP53 to be mutated in HTI080, we were prompted to examine its role by both cDNA transfection and chromosome transfer. Although by cDNA transfection we found that expression of exogenous wild-type TP53 was incompatible with continued proliferation of HTI080 cells in vitro, chromosome 17 transfer studies revealed that a more physiologic expression of exogenous wild-type TP53 could be tolerated in vitro while being completely incompatible with growth in vivo. These studies demonstrate a differential effect of TP53 growth inhibition and clearly show that TP53 tumor suppressing function can be independent from its potent growth suppressing effect in vitro. Genes Chrom Cancer 9:266-281 (1994). © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Development of a Thrombus Mimic in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) represent a significant disease in the western world as rupture of AAA is currently the 15th leading cause of death in the United States [1,2]. The rate of incidence of this disease is also thought to be increasing given the aging population. While AAA rupture is attributed to the gradual weakening of the wall, the mechanisms of aneurysm initiation, growth, and development remain relatively unclear. The role of biomechanics in the diagnosis and prevention of AAA rupture has been reported [3].Copyright © 2007 by ASME
The Effect of Encoding and an External Memory Device on Note Taking

College students were randomly assigned to seven note-taking and review conditions in order to determine the relative importance of the functions of encoding and either an externally provided or a personally produced memory device. Results of the post-test showed that a combination of encoding and reviewing either one’s own notes or an outline of the lecture produced the best recall scores, while either personally encoding notes or being provided with a lecture outline during the lecture accompanied by “mental” review produced the least recall. The findings are discussed in terms of practical suggestions for professors and their students.
Thermodynamics of FeSi.

We show that a simple model involving two narrow (\ensuremath{\simeq}500 K) peaks in the density of states (DOS) at the edges of a narrow (\ensuremath{\simeq}1000 K) gap can account for the observed anomalies in the magnetic susceptibility, specific heat, thermal expansion, and elastic response of FeSi. We also show that the resistivity of FeSi, including the metal-insulator ``transition'' at about 300 K, is well described by this model. Recent band-structure calculations, although predicting the correct value for the semiconducting gap, are unable to account for the narrow peaks in the DOS needed to explain the thermodynamics. We conclude that, given the available alternatives, a Kondo insulator description---involving an extreme renormalization of the noninteracting bands---is most appropriate for FeSi.
A functional approach to polariton quantum crystals

Abstract We study a generalized Dicke model of polaritons, with a pair-potential interaction between excited states of the spin component, in the functional integral formalism. With a potential that is attractive over a finite momentum range and otherwise repulsive, we determine stability conditions for a spatially homogeneous state. We find that depending on the potential, the interaction may induce an instability in the sound mode of the polariton condensate, or destroy the condensate altogether. In the case of an instability, we study the existence and excitations of weakly periodic states in a triangular lattice.
Pentostatin, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab regimen in older patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

BACKGROUND. The prevalence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) increases with age. Although chemoimmunotherapy (CIT) has dramatically improved response rates in patients with CLL, some CIT regimens are not well tolerated by many patients ≥70 years of age. METHODS. Sixty-four previously untreated patients with CLL and serum creatinine <1.5 times the upper limit of normal who met National Cancer Institute (NCI) 96-WG criteria for treatment received pentostatin (2 mg/m2), cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2), and rituximab (375 mg/m2). The authors measured performance status at study entry and used age, weight, and baseline creatinine to calculate creatinine clearance (CrCl). RESULTS. Eighteen of 64 (28%) patients were ages ≥70 years. Although individuals ages ≥70 years were more likely to have delayed treatment cycles (28% vs 7%; P = .03), there were no significant differences in the number of cycles administered, need for dose reductions, or grade 3–4 hematologic, infectious, or other toxicities. No significant differences in overall response rate, complete response rate, or progression-free survival were observed by age. Twenty-five (39%) patients had a CrCl < 70 mL/min (range, 34–67). Although individuals with CrCl < 70 were more likely to require dose reduction (24% vs 5%; P = .05), there were no significant differences in the number of cycles administered or grade 3–4 hematologic, infectious, or other toxicities. No significant difference in overall response rate, complete response rate, or progression-free survival were observed between patients with CrCl ≥ 70 mL/min and those with CrCl < 70 mL/min. CONCLUSIONS. In this clinical trial, the PCR regimen was well tolerated by older patients and individuals with CrCl ≤ 70. The efficacy of PCR was not significantly affected by age or renal function. These findings suggest PCR may be a good therapeutic option for older patients and those with modestly decreased renal function. Cancer 2007; 109:2291–8. © 2007 American Cancer Society.
Kinetics of cyclic adenosine monophosphate changes in rat heart following epinephrine administration.

ALTHOUGH it has become generally accepted1 that epinephrine causes glycogenolysis in cardiac muscle by a series of enzymatic reactions involving the formation of cyclic AMP, activation of phosphorylase b kinase, and finally conversion of phosphorylase b to the active a form, direct evidence in favour of this mechanism in the intact heart is so far not conclusive2. Furthermore, a possible relation between cyclic AMP and the inotropic effect of catecholamines is also tentative.
Quality level and price in Japanese apple market

This research quantitatively analyzed the relationship between selected internal apple characteristics and prices. It shows that wholesale prices for apples in Japan are very associated with brix, acid, and juice content. In the final analysis, the current prices and quality of apples imported from New Zealand and the United States cannot be competitive with Japanese ones. It is necessary to improve the quality of apples and lower the price in order to gain the popularity of imported apples among Japanese consumers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Learning to Look for Language: Development of Joint Attention in Young Deaf Children

Joint attention between hearing children and their caregivers is typically achieved when the adult provides spoken, auditory linguistic input that relates to the child's current visual focus of attention. Deaf children interacting through sign language must learn to continually switch visual attention between people and objects in order to achieve the classic joint attention characteristic of young hearing children. The current study investigated the mechanisms used by sign language dyads to achieve joint attention within a single modality. Four deaf children, ages 1;9 to 3;7, were observed during naturalistic interactions with their deaf mothers. The children engaged in frequent and meaningful gaze shifts, and were highly sensitive to a range of maternal cues. Children's control of gaze in this sample was largely developed by age two. The gaze patterns observed in deaf children were not observed in a control group of hearing children, indicating that modality-specific patterns of joint attention behavior...
Thermophysics of the lanthanide trihydroxides IV. The heat capacity of Ho(OH)3 from 11 to 350 K. Lattice and Schottky contributions

Abstract From values of the heat capacity of microcrystalline Ho(OH)3 determined by precise adiabatic calorimetry from 11 to 350 K, the Schottky contribution associated with the Stark splitting of the ground J-manifold (5I8) was resolved by means of an extrapolation of the known lattice heat-capacity variation between La(OH)3 and Gd(OH)3. This calorimetrically deduced Schottky contribution is compared with that calculated from spectroscopically derived energy levels of Ho3+ doped Y(OH)3. Because the lattice parameters of Y(OH)3 and Ho(OH)3 are nearly identical it is assumed that the electronic energy levels of the Ho3+ ions are the same in either host lattice. These results together with independent heat-capacity measurements made at lower temperatures were used to adjust the low-temperature thermophysical functions to evaluate C p R , S o R , and −[ “G o − H o (0)’ RT ] , at 298.15 K as 13.80, 15.64, and 7.855.
Changes in subcellular distribution of S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in regenerating and in developing rat liver

Abstract Distribution of the activity of S -adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in homogenates of rat liver generating after partial hepatectomy and during development are reported. In the stages of rapid growth of liver remaining after partial hepatectomy, and increased activity of S -adenosylmethionine decarboxylase in the supernatant fractions is accompanied by a decreased activity in the crude nuclear fractions. Prior to birth, in the liver of the developing rat, all activity of S -adenosylmethionine decarboxylase is in the supernatant fraction. After birth, activity in the crude nuclear fraction increases rapidly, reaching adult values by the end of weaning.
The Proper Province of Philosophy: Conceptual Analysis and Empirical Investigation

The practice of conceptual analysis has undergone a revival in recent years. Although the extent of its role in philosophy is controversial, many now accept that conceptual analysis has at least some role to play. Granting this, I consider the relevance of empirical investigation to conceptual analysis. I do so by contrasting an extreme position (anti-empirical conceptual analysis) with a more moderate position (non-empirical conceptual analysis). I argue that anti-empirical conceptual analysis is not a viable position because it has no means for resolving conceptual disputes that arise between seemingly competent speakers of the language. This is illustrated by considering one such dispute that has been pressed by a prominent advocate of anti-empirical conceptual analysis: Bennett and Hacker (2003) assert that psychological predicates only logically apply to whole living animals, but many scientists and philosophers use the terms more broadly. I argue that to resolve such disputes we need to empirically investigate the common understanding of the terms at issue. I then show how this can be done by presenting the results of three studies concerning the application of “calculates” to computers.
Effect of Soil Phosphorus Levels on Phosphorus Runoff Concentrations from Turfgrass

Phosphorus (P) loss from urban areas has been identified as a major contributor to declining surface water quality. The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between extractable soil P, depth of soil sampling, and dissolved reactive P (DP) concentration in runoff from turfgrass areas. At each site, runoff was generated on turfgrass and adjoining areas where turfgrass cover was removed. Across all six locations and the wide range of nutrient management schemes, variation of extractable soil P concentration and saturation ratios of 0–2cm samples accounted for 49–59% (r 2 = 0.49–0.59, n = 92) of variation of DP concentration in runoff from bare soil and soil with turfgrass cover. Despite a high degree of soil P stratification, changing sampling depth generally did not improve the relationship between soil test P and runoff DP concentrations. Across the narrower range of soil P levels common to lawns in New York (0–50mg kg−1 Morgan extractable soil P), none of the soil tests or P saturation levels (for 0–2cm depth) could accurately predict runoff P concentrations from soil with turfgrass cover (r 2 = 0.02 to 0.23, n = 72). For bare soil plots, restricting the analysis to the same range (<50mg kg−1 Morgan extractable P) did not alter the relationship between soil test P and runoff DP concentrations observed for the entire range (0–658mg kg−1) of soil-test P concentrations. These results suggest soil testing will not be an effective tool to predict runoff from turfgrass areas across the range of soil P levels common to New York State.
Fairness Strategies for Multi-user Multimedia Applications in Competitive Environments using the Kalai-Smorodinsky Bargaining Solution

With the emergence of shared overlay network infrastructures and the recent deregularization of spectrum policies, a new, more dynamic network resource "market" is emerging. To effectively operate this new market, resource management becomes of paramount importance. This is especially important for multimedia streaming applications that require a large amount of resources to guarantee an acceptable level of multimedia quality to the end users. However, providing the necessary resources to various networked multimedia users is challenging since they have different requirements in terms of multimedia characteristics, delay, or network constraints. To simplify this problem, we propose a novel utility-based resource management scheme for multi-user multimedia transmission over networks. To manage the available resources, the resource manager deploys bargaining solutions from economics in order to explicitly consider the utility impact for different resource allocation schemes. We focus on the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargaining solution (KSBS) because it can successfully model relevant noncollaborative utility-aware fairness policies for multimedia users. The KSBS explicitly considers the application-specific utility domain (i.e., resulting multimedia quality) when performing the resource allocation. The proposed KSBS allocates the resources in such a way that the achieved utility of every participating station incurs the same quality penalty, i.e., the same decrease in video quality as opposed to their maximum achievable qualities. Our simulations show that the proposed game-theoretic resource management provides a fairer and more efficient allocation of resources in terms of derived multimedia quality.
Hydrophobic interactions in model enclosures from small to large length scales: non-additivity in explicit and implicit solvent models.

The binding affinities between a united-atom methane and various model hydrophobic enclosures were studied through high accuracy free energy perturbation methods (FEP). We investigated the non-additivity of the hydrophobic interaction in these systems, measured by the deviation of its binding affinity from that predicted by the pairwise additivity approximation. While only small non-additivity effects were previously reported in the interactions in methane trimers, we found large cooperative effects (as large as −1.14 kcal mol−1 or approximately a 25% increase in the binding affinity) and anti-cooperative effects (as large as 0.45 kcal mol−1) for these model enclosed systems. Decomposition of the total potential of mean force (PMF) into increasing orders of multi-body interactions indicates that the contributions of the higher order multi-body interactions can be either positive or negative in different systems, and increasing the order of multi-body interactions considered did not necessarily improve the accuracy. A general correlation between the sign of the non-additivity effect and the curvature of the solute molecular surface was observed. We found that implicit solvent models based on the molecular surface area (MSA) performed much better, not only in predicting binding affinities, but also in predicting the non-additivity effects, compared with models based on the solvent accessible surface area (SASA), suggesting that MSA is a better descriptor of the curvature of the solutes. We also show how the non-additivity contribution changes as the hydrophobicity of the plate is decreased from the dewetting regime to the wetting regime.
Handling Communication Restrictions and Team Formation in Congestion Games

There are many domains in which a multi-agent system needs to maximize a "system utility" function which rates the performance of the entire system, while subject to communication restrictions among the agents. Such communication restrictions make it difficult for agents that take actions to optimize their own "private" utilities to also help optimize the system utility. In this article we show how previously introduced utilities that promote coordination among agents can be modified to be effective in domains with communication restrictions. The modified utilities provide performance improvements of up to 75 over previously used utilities in congestion games (i.e., games where the system utility depends solely on the number of agents choosing a particular action). In addition, we show that in the presence of severe communication restrictions, team formation for the purpose of information sharing among agents leads to an additional 25 improvement in system utility. Finally, we show that agents' private utilities and team sizes can be manipulated to form the best compromise between how "aligned" an agent's utility is with the system utility and how easily an agent can learn that utility.
Notes on estimation of proportion ratio under a non-compliance randomized trial with missing outcomes

When measuring the efficacy of an experimental treatment in dichotomous data, we often employ the proportion ratio (PR) of a positive response (or an adverse event) between the experimental and standard treatments. In this paper, we consider a non-compliance randomized clinical trial with outcomes missing at random (MAR). We derive the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) for the PR under the model in which missingness depends only on assigned treatments, and the model in which missingness depends on both assigned and received treatments. We develop three asymptotic interval estimators for the PR under the latter situation. We apply Monte Carlo simulation to evaluate and compare the performance of these estimators in a variety of situations. We note that the point estimator assuming outcomes missing completely at random (MCAR) can be subject to a serious bias under various models with MAR, and the point estimators developed here may consistently perform reasonably well when the number of patients per assigned treatment is large. We find that the interval estimator using Wald's statistic tends to lose accuracy with respect to the coverage probability, while the interval estimator using the logarithmic transformation tends to lose precision with respect to the average length. We also find that an ad hoc combination of the previous two interval estimators can consistently perform well in many situations. Finally, we use data taken from a multiple risk factor intervention trial for reducing mortality of coronary heart disease to illustrate the bias of the point estimator for MCAR and the use of these point and interval estimators for the PR under the assumed MAR.
Improving Surgical Wound Healing with Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor after Radiation

Objectives/Hypothesis: Delayed wound healing in surgical patients who have received previous irradiation continues to be a significant problem. We investigated whether radiation decreases basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) production in skin and whether supplemental bFGF can improve irradiated postsurgical soft tissue healing. Study Design: Experimental study in the porcine skin flap model. Methods: Pigs were subjected to orthovoltage radiation (1,300 cGy). To test whether radiation alters bFGF production in skin, semiquantitation of bFGF message was compared in irradiated and nonirradiated skin by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). To determine whether supplemental bFGF can improve postsurgical soft tissue healing after radiation, bFGF was given intravenously or intracuticularly preoperatively. To investigate whether additional oxygen tissue levels would modify the effects of supplemental bFGF, one test group received hyperbaric oxygen. Six weeks later, 108 skin flaps (random and arterial) were created in 27 pigs and monitored over 2 weeks. Tissues were analyzed for flap viability, vascularity, endothelial cell apoptosis by caspase-3 activation, and histologic analysis. Results: Radiation statistically increased endothelial cell apoptosis in porcine skin by 650%. Radiation also significantly reduced bFGF message by 75% in porcine skin by RT-PCR analysis. Supplemental intravenous bFGF in irradiated tissue significantly increased skin flap viability by 25% compared with controls (P < .001). Intravenous bFGF also significantly reduced gastrointestinal side effects from irradiation by 50% compared with controls. BFGF treatment induced a trend to decrease endothelial cell apoptosis in irradiated skin, but this was not statistically significant. Histologically, the intravenous bFGF-treated flaps had similar cellularity, fibroblasts, and extracellular acid mucopolysaccharides as controls. When bFGF was administered by intracuticular injection with and without hyperbaric oxygen, skin flap survival and flap vascularity were similar to controls. Conclusions: Decreased local levels of bFGF in skin may play an important role in the delayed healing of irradiated wounds. Radiation appears to decrease bFGF production by significantly reducing bFGF message in irradiated tissue. Supplemental intravenous bFGF reduced irradiated soft tissue injury and improved random skin flap viability in this porcine model. More studies are needed to investigate the effects of bFGF in the surgical healing of irradiated wounds.
Mineral Concentrations in Whole Crop and Pressed Forage of Three Legumes

Pressed forages of all species were lower in P, K, Ca, and Mg than their respective WC. Potassium decreased the most and, averaged over all species, was 26.5% lower in the PF. Presssed forages averaged 21% lower in Mg than the WC, but remained above the critical concentration of 2.0 g kg −1 at all maturity stages. Pressed forage from the most mature alfalfa and red clover had P concentrations insufficient for some classes of livestock. Pressing and shoot maturation reduced S concentrations of all species, but pressing affected S more in alfalfa than in the other species. Alfalfa, red clover, and birdsfoot trefoil N/S ratios differed widely and averaged 11.8, 14.7, and 17.7, respectively
Mitrecin A, an endolysin-like bacteriolytic enzyme from a newly isolated soil streptomycete.

An open reading frame with homology to known endolysin genes was identified in the genome of Streptomyces sp. strain 212, which is a newly isolated soil bacterium. The heterologously expressed gene product of this endolysin-like gene, called Mitrecin A, demonstrated bacteriolytic activity against several Gram-negative bacteria. The genome of the bacterial strain was sequenced to draft quality using pyrosequencing followed by genome assembly and gene annotation. Within the sequence, a chromosomally located endolysin-like open reading frame was predicted. The gene product, designated Mitrecin A, was heterologously expressed and isolated from contaminating proteins as a fusion protein to a 6-histidine tag. Mitrecin A consists of 127 amino acids arranged in modular domains of activity. It has an estimated molecular weight of 14·3 kDa and retains sequence homology to the M15C peptidase subfamily of zinc metallocarboxypeptidases. The heat-labile purified recombinant protein has an overall positive charge, has optimal catalytic activities at 26°C in solution of pH 9 with 1% saline and has bacteriolytic activity against Gram-negative bacteria of the medically important genera Aeromonas, Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio and Yersinia. Significance and Impact of the Study The gene of a new protein antimicrobial, Mitrecin A, was discovered in the genome of a soil bacterium. The purified recombinant enzyme, resulting from heterologous over expression of the gene, was found to be tolerant of increased pH conditions and to have bacteriolytic activity against Gram-negative bacteria of the medically important genera Aeromonas, Escherichia, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio and Yersinia. Characterization of enzymes such as Mitrecin A from previously uncharacterized bacteria provides potential options for new biocontrol agents in medically and economically important applications like therapeutics, disinfectants, food preservatives, agricultural livestock antimicrobials, and inhibitors of biofilm production.
Arbitrarily Accurate Dynamical Control in Open Quantum Systems

We show that open-loop dynamical control techniques may be used to synthesize unitary transformations in open quantum systems in such a way that decoherence is perturbatively compensated for to a desired (in principle arbitrarily high) level of accuracy, which depends only on the strength of the relevant errors and the achievable rate of control modulation. Our constructive and fully analytical solution employs concatenated dynamically corrected gates, and is applicable independently of detailed knowledge of the system-environment interactions and environment dynamics. Explicit implications for boosting quantum gate fidelities in realistic scenarios are addressed.
Estimates of possible diffusional effects in trace element separations

Measurements of ionic diffusion coefficients in melts by A.W. Hofmann have permitted estimates of the possible role of diffusion in causing variations in trace element abundance ratios. Of specific interest is whether differing diffusion constants may cause random changes in ratios whereas differing partition coefficients tend to develop unidirectional changes with decreasing trace element abundance. An evaluation of the two basic driving mechanisms suggests that gravity-induced inhomogeneities would optimally apply in stagnant regions in the low-velocity zone of the asthenosphere, while diffusional separation due to changing proportions of partial melt may develop in rising mantle diapirs. In the first case the variations would occur in systems of the order of kilometers in depth extent that are stable for 107 years; and in the second case in systems of the order of meters in size and tens of years in time duration. Significant effects may arise from the latter case, but the former case can probably be ignored.
Weight-Bearing Asymmetry During Sit-Stand Transitions Related to Impairment and Functional Mobility After Total Knee Arthroplasty

Abstract Christiansen CL, Bade MJ, Judd DL, Stevens-Lapsley JE. Weight-bearing asymmetry during sit-stand transitions related to impairment and functional mobility after total knee arthroplasty. Objectives To examine changes in weight-bearing (WB) asymmetry during sit-stand transitions for individuals during the first 6 months after unilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Relationships between WB asymmetry, clinical measures of knee impairment, and functional mobility also were evaluated. Design Prospective repeated-measures design. Setting Clinical research laboratory. Participants People (N=36) with knee osteoarthritis (OA) scheduled to undergo unilateral TKA and a control (CTL) group (N=17 healthy people) were enrolled. Intervention The TKA group participated in acute, home, and outpatient phases of exercise-based rehabilitation. Main Outcome Measures WB asymmetry measured during a 5-Times Sit-to-Stand Test (FTSST) based on average vertical ground reaction force under each foot, self-reported knee pain using a numerical pain rating scale, knee active range of motion symmetry, knee extensor strength symmetry, FTSST time, 6-minute walk test distance, and Stair Climbing Test time. Results Compared with preoperative values, the TKA group showed greater WB asymmetry at 1 month after surgery ( P P Conclusions Patients with unilateral knee OA showed WB asymmetry during sit-stand transitions early after unilateral TKA that improved by 6 months after surgery and was no different from that for healthy people of similar age. For people in the first 6 months after TKA, greater symmetry was related to better function and strength symmetry.
Negative Feedback Mechanisms and Their Roles during Pattern Formation

Throughout the examples described above, it is apparent that negative feedback mechanisms provide intricate levels of control and are commonly used to orchestrate various patterning events. Remarkably, as is the case of the EGFR, multiple negative feedback mechanisms that include proteins that act in a cell-autonomous (Sty and Kek1) or non–cell autonomous (Aos) manner have been identified for a single signaling pathway (Figure 1Figure 1). Similarly, in the case of Dpp/TGFβ signaling, multiple negative feedback mechanisms have been identified (Brk, SMADs, and Dad). As other pathways are explored in more depth, it is likely that negative feedback mechanisms operating at multiple levels within a signal transduction pathway will become a recurring theme.Figure 1Multiple Levels of Control of a Signaling Pathway by Negative Feedback MechanismsMolecules that act in a negative feedback mechanism are indicated. 1, 2, and n refer to the various molecules that transduce the signal from the membrane to the nucleus.View Large Image | View Hi-Res Image | Download PowerPoint SlideImportantly, little or no information is available on the transcriptional regulation of a number of negative regulators (i.e., Axins for Wnt signaling, some of the SMADs, and SOCS/JABS/CIS and PIAS for JAK/STAT pathways). Thus, careful examination of the transcriptional regulation of these negative regulators may reveal that some of them are indeed regulated by the activity of the signaling pathway they inhibit. Finally, several secreted negative regulators of specific signaling pathways have been described that are not thought to work in feedback mechanisms (i.e., Chordin/SOG for Dpp/BMPs and sFRPs for Wnts). It will be of interest to determine whether this is true in all aspects of their embyronic and/or adult roles. Understanding how they are regulated may well provide insight into the cross-talk between different signaling pathways.In summary, we can expect that studies of negative feedback mechanisms will reveal a great number of new insights into pattern formation. Clearly, a critical issue in understanding the biological functions of negative feedback mechanisms will be to characterize their thresholds for inhibitor induction, diffusion ranges, and cellular autonomy. Understanding these parameters will be particularly important in understanding how graded signaling through a field of cells is established. For example, inhibitors that have low thresholds for induction (i.e., Kek1 or Dad) uniformally reduce signaling, thus maintaining the graded signaling pattern. On the other hand, diffusible inhibitors that have a high threshold for induction generate local elaborations of the pattern if their diffusion is limited compared to that of the activating ligands (i.e., Aos in dorsal appendage formation). However, if such inhibitors are made in the same cells that produce the secreted ligand but can diffuse more efficiently, they essentially fulfill the same role as cell-autonomous inhibitors.
Biotechnology and the Modern Liberal Project

Biotechnological enhancement of human capabilities reveals a characteristically modern stance toward nature: Human nature, as given, is an impediment to be overcome on the way to full human freedom. As a form of metaphysical partisanship, the biotech enterprise seems to further the political intention of Thomas Hobbes to nullify human diversity. Commerce in biotech enhancements, and the individual liberty such commerce instantiates, is likely to have the ironic effect of psychic homogenization.
The molecular weights of ribonuclease and bovine plasma albumin

Abstract With the methodology outlined, it now appears possible, by use of the Archibald procedure, to obtain a reliable value for the molecular weight of a protein within an hour of sedimentation in the ultracentrifuge. The ultracentrifugal data so obtained need be supplemented only by a measurement of partial specific volume. As previously demonstrated, the same method also holds through the whole molecular weight range down to 504, and recent data of Wade (25) obtained in this laboratory for glycyl- l -leucine indicate equal precision for a molecular weight of only 188.
The Monocyclic Motor

The theory of the constant-torque motor has been extended and presented herewith along with new circuits and experimental data showing the characteristics of a monocyclic single-phase motor. In some of the systems described the field windings of the motor serve a dual purpose of (a) supplying the field flux (b) providing the inductive reactances of a monocyclic system which delivers a constant current to the armature. While the motor thus connected cannot be defined accurately as a constant-torque drive, it provides only small variations in torque with changes in speed. For many applications (such as windings of tape, wire, thread, etc.) it would be as suitable as the constant-torque motor. Other systems described, show circuits that provide a constancy of torque. The theory presented is supported by illustrative phasor diagrams and test results.