cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mitochondriopathy in Parkinson Disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

The causes of the selective neurodegeneration in Parkinson disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are unknown and commonalities among these and other age-related neurodegenerative diseases continue to be sought. Morphologic, biochemical, molecular genetic, and cell/animal model studies suggest that mitochondria might be a convergence point for neurodegeneration. The functions and properties of mitochondria might render subsets of selectively vulnerable neurons intrinsically susceptible to cellular aging and stress. In PD, mutations in putative mitochondrial proteins have been identified recently and mitochondrial DNA mutations have been found in nigral neurons. In ALS, changes occur in mitochondrial respiratory chain enzymes and in mitochondrial cell death proteins, indicative of an activation of programmed cell death pathways. Mouse models are beginning to reveal possible principles governing the biology of selective neuronal vulnerability that implicate mitochondria in neuronal death processes ranging from apoptosis to necrosis. This review presents how malfunctioning mitochondria might contribute to neuronal death in PD and ALS.
Pedestrian Impedance of Turning-Movement Saturation Flow Rates: Comparison of Simulation, Analytical, and Field Observations

TRAF-NETSIM and its successor CORSIM are comprehensive micro-simulation environments that have been widely used to model the urban traffic environment in the United States and abroad. CORSIM is employed in this study to simulate and evaluate the effects of pedestrian flows on right-turn saturation flow rates at signalized intersections. The saturation flow rates returned by CORSIM were compared with field data collected throughout the United States and with three existing analytical models in the United States, Australia, and Canada. These comparisons indicated that CORSIM models pedestrian interference with the turning vehicles more severely than the three analytical methods, but with a smaller effect than the empirical data indicate. Further, the empirical data exhibit a logarithmic relationship between saturation flow rate and opposing pedestrian volume, compared with the linear relationship used in the simulation and analytical models. Implications for the design and analysis of signalized intersectio...
Development of Electro-Optical Instrumentation for Reactor Safety Studies

The development of new electro-optical instrumentation for reactor safety studies is described. The system measures the thickness of the water film and droplet size and velocity distributions which would be encountered in the annular two-phase flow in a reactor cooling system. The water film thickness is measured by a specially designed capacitance system with a short time constant. Water droplet size and velocity are measured by a subsystem consisting of a continuously pulsed laser light source, a vidicon camera, a video recorder, and an automatic image analyzer. An endoscope system attached to the video camera is used to image the droplets. Each frame is strobed with two accurately spaced UV light pulses, from two sequentially fired nitrogen lasers. The images are stored in the video disk recorder. The modified automatic image analyzer is programmed to digitize the droplet size and velocity distributions. Many special optical, mechanical and electronic system components were designed and fabricated. They are described in detail, together with calibration charts and experimental results.
Reduced clearance of proteins labeled with diisopropylfluorophosphate in portacaval-shunted rats

Portacaval shunting is a model for hepatic encephalopathy that causes chronic hyperammonemia, disruption of metabolic, signaling, and neurotransmitter systems, and progressive morphological changes. Exposure of cultured cells to ammonia raises intralysosomal pH and inhibits proteolysis, and the present study tested the hypothesis that proteolytic capacity is diminished in portacaval-shunted rats. Proteins were labeled in vivo with tracer doses of diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP) and clearance of label was assayed. This approach labeled proteins independent of protein synthesis, which is reported to be altered in shunted rats, and avoided complications arising from re-utilization of labeled amino acids that causes underestimation of degradation rate. Characterization of DFP labeling showed that protein labeling was fast, about 50 % of the label was released during a 24 h interval, labeling by DFP metabolites was negligible, inhibition of brain acetylcholinesterase was not detectable, and labeling by [3H]- and [14C]DFP was equivalent. To assay degradative capacity, proteins were first labeled with [3H]DFP, followed by labeling with [14C]DFP that was given 24 or 72 h later. The 3H/14C ratio in each animal was used as a relative measure of removal of 3H-labeled proteins. 3H/14C ratios were generally significantly higher in portacaval-shunted rats than in controls, consistent with reduced proteolytic capacity. Assays of amino acid incorporation into brain protein generally replicated literature reports, supporting the conclusion that protein synthesis unlikely to be markedly inhibited and amino acid recycling influences calculated protein synthesis rates in shunted rats. Therapeutic strategies to reduce ammonia level would help normalize lysosomal functions and protein and lipid turnover.
Treating co-morbid chronic medical conditions and anxiety/depression.

Aims.This systematic review examines interventions for care of people with co-morbid chronic medical illness and anxiety/depression disorders – a group with high risks for morbidity and mortality.Methods.Systematic search of Medline 1995 to January 2011 for randomized controlled trials of treatment interventions designed for adult outpatients with diagnosed chronic medical illness (diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disorders, and chronic respiratory disorders) and anxiety/depression disorders.Results.Six trials studied complex interventions based on the chronic care model, and eight trials studied psychosocial interventions. Most interventions addressed the mental health aspect of the co-morbidity and showed improvements in anxiety/depression but not in the co-morbid medical disorder.Conclusions.Further research might focus on interventions integrating mental health treatment with enhanced medical care components, incorporating shared-decision making and information technology advances.
Curriculum and Transformation: Rethinking Leadership and Schools All Over Again

In this article I present the complex multiplicities of leadership and power in schools by examining leadership and curriculum in sustainable change for K-12 schools. I argue that stakeholders need to value an open community based upon ideals in which freedom of expression is protected, civility is affirmed, and appreciation and understanding of individual differences are honored; where stakeholders value a caring community in which the well-being of each person is important. I speculate that change will take place when we see leadership as value-laden and when power and empathy in decision making is reflective. This article concludes that transformational leadership will occur when all stakeholders in K-12 education engage in an active process of questioning the visible and hidden curricula, understand affective change for learners, and confront the complexity of the social, political, economic, and historical influences on our schools.
Conserved zinc fingers mediate multiple functions of ZFP100, a U7snRNP associated protein

Formation of the 3' end of replication-dependent histone mRNAs is most robust during S phase and is mediated by both the stem-loop binding protein (SLBP) and the U7 snRNP. We previously identified a 100-kDa zinc finger protein (ZFP100) as a component of U7 snRNP that interacts with the SLBP/pre-mRNA complex. Here, we show that myc- or GFP-tagged ZFP100 overexpressed after transfection is concentrated in Cajal bodies (CBs), and unlike components of the spliceosomal snRNPs, photobleaching experiments demonstrate that ZFP100 is stably associated with CBs. Of the 18 zinc fingers contained within ZFP100, the region encompassing fingers 2-6 is sufficient to maintain CB localization. Zn fingers 5-10 are required for maximal binding of ZFP100 to a 20-amino-acid region of Lsm11, a U7 snRNP core protein. Expression of ZFP100 stimulates histone mRNA processing in vivo, assayed by activation of a reporter gene that encodes a GFP mRNA ending in a histone 3' end. Importantly, the domain that is required for CB localization and Lsm11 binding is also sufficient to stimulate histone pre-mRNA processing in vivo. Comparisons with other mammalian ZFP100 orthologs show that the central Zn fingers sufficient for in vivo activity are most highly conserved, whereas the number and sequence of the Zn fingers in the N- and C-terminal domains vary.
Robotic mapping assisted by local magnetic field anomalies

This paper presents a method to incorporate measurement of local magnetic field anomalies into the SLAM (Simultaneous Localization And Mapping) algorithm. One of the key problems of SLAM is loop closure, which means to map the same place into the same location on the generated map when the place is revisited by the robot. It is particularly important for large area map consistency. Steel structures, furniture and equipment inside a building disturb the natural magnetic field of the earth. These local anomalies of magnetic field are usually considered as noise when using an electronic compass on a robot. But, in this paper, we utilize these data to help solving the SLAM loop closure problem, since the magnetic anomaly patterns are different across a given building and stay relatively stable over time. We used particle filter as the basic algorithm for SLAM. In the weight calculation step of the particle filter algorithm, it assigns a weight value to each particle based on its matching score to the current sensor data. This step allows us to incorporate different sensor data from both laser range finder, and magnetometer into SLAM process. To verify the effectiveness of this method, we have done experiments involving a robot runs through a building hallway. At some point, it is hijacked to an unknown place in the same hallway, and continues to run. The SLAM assisted by local magnetic field anomaly data has generated more consistent maps than those without the assistance.
Governance and adaptive management for estuarine ecosystems: The case of Chesapeake Bay

This article analyzes the governance system of the Chesapeake Bay Program in order to examine the hypothesis that it operates according to adaptive management principles. After a discussion of adaptive management and implementation, we analyze the development of the program from its inception in 1976 until the present day. We argue that adaptive management in the program came about via a dynamic relationship between science and governance that evolved through three phases over 16 years. During this time, the Chesapeake Bay Program developed a learning, adaptive capacity whereby program elements and institutional structures underwent significant changes in light of new information. This approach encouraged the evolution of the program from one that initially addressed a limited number of issues using a rudimentary management structure to the current program, which uses a sophisticated set of baywide indicators of ecosystem health and is governed by an institutional structure that coordinates management act...
Micromechanical analysis of the effective elastic properties of carbon nanotube reinforced composites

Abstract Effective elastic properties for carbon nanotube reinforced composites are obtained through a variety of micromechanics techniques. Using the in-plane elastic properties of graphene, the effective properties of carbon nanotubes are calculated utilizing a composite cylinders micromechanics technique as a first step in a two-step process. These effective properties are then used in the self-consistent and Mori–Tanaka methods to obtain effective elastic properties of composites consisting of aligned single or multi-walled carbon nanotubes embedded in a polymer matrix. Effective composite properties from these averaging methods are compared to a direct composite cylinders approach extended from the work of Z. Hashin and B. Rosen [1964. The elastic moduli of fiber-reinforced materials. Journal of Applied Mechanics 31, 223–232] and R. Christensen and K. Lo [1979. Solutions for effective shear properties in three phase sphere and cylinder models. Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 27, 315–330]. Comparisons with finite element simulations are also performed. The effects of an interphase layer between the nanotubes and the polymer matrix as result of functionalization is also investigated using a multi-layer composite cylinders approach. Finally, the modeling of the clustering of nanotubes into bundles due to interatomic forces is accomplished herein using a tessellation method in conjunction with a multi-phase Mori–Tanaka technique. In addition to aligned nanotube composites, modeling of the effective elastic properties of randomly dispersed nanotubes into a matrix is performed using the Mori–Tanaka method, and comparisons with experimental data are made.
What Our Colour Experiences Don't Teach Us: A Reply to Boghossian and Velleman

P. Boghossian et D. Velleman ont soutenu que les theories physicalistes des couleurs - celles qui identifient les proprietes de couleur avec certaines proprietes physiques des objets ou de la lumiere - ne peuvent accomoder l'intuition profonde selon laquelle nous ne pouvons pas etre dans l'erreur au sujet des contenus representationnels de nos experiences de couleur. Contre Boghossian et Velleman, l'A. soutient que cette intuition pretendue que les theories physicalistes ne reussissent pas a accommoder, n'est pas elle-meme intuitivement plausible. en fait, c'est clairement un avantage des theories physicalistes que selon elles, les experiences de couleur n'affichent pas avec evidence leurs contenus rerpesentationnels
Treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes: an acute, iatrogenic complication of diabetes

Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes (also referred to as insulin neuritis) is considered a rare iatrogenic small fibre neuropathy caused by an abrupt improvement in glycaemic control in the setting of chronic hyperglycaemia. The prevalence and risk factors of this disorder are not known. In a retrospective review of all individuals referred to a tertiary care diabetic neuropathy clinic over 5 years, we define the proportion of individuals that present with and the risk factors for development of treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes. Nine hundred and fifty-four individuals were evaluated for a possible diabetic neuropathy. Treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes was defined as the acute onset of neuropathic pain and/or autonomic dysfunction within 8 weeks of a large improvement in glycaemic control-specified as a decrease in glycosylated haemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) of ≥2% points over 3 months. Detailed structured neurologic examinations, glucose control logs, pain scores, autonomic symptoms and other microvascular complications were measured every 3-6 months for the duration of follow-up. Of 954 patients evaluated for diabetic neuropathy, 104/954 subjects (10.9%) met criteria for treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes with an acute increase in neuropathic or autonomic symptoms or signs coinciding with a substantial decrease in HbA1c. Individuals with a decrease in HbA1c had a much greater risk of developing a painful or autonomic neuropathy than those individuals with no change in HbA1c (P 4% points over 3 months the absolute risk of developing treatment-induced neuropathy in diabetes exceeded 80%. Treatment-induced neuropathy of diabetes is an underestimated iatrogenic disorder associated with diffuse microvascular complications. Rapid glycaemic change in patients with uncontrolled diabetes increases the risk of this complication.
Does evolutionary innovation in pharyngeal jaws lead to rapid lineage diversification in labrid fishes

Major modifications to the pharyngeal jaw apparatus are widely regarded as a recurring evolutionary key innovation that has enabled adaptive radiation in many species-rich clades of percomorph fishes. However one of the central predictions of this hypothesis, that the acquisition of a modified pharyngeal jaw apparatus will be positively correlated with explosive lineage diversification, has never been tested. We applied comparative methods to a new time-calibrated phylogeny of labrid fishes to test whether diversification rates shifted at two scales where major pharyngeal jaw innovations have evolved: across all of Labridae and within the subclade of parrotfishes. Diversification patterns within early labrids did not reflect rapid initial radiation. Much of modern labrid diversity stems from two recent rapid diversification events; one within julidine fishes and the other with the origin of the most species-rich clade of reef-associated parrotfishes. A secondary pharyngeal jaw innovation was correlated with rapid diversification within the parrotfishes. However diversification rate shifts within parrotfishes are more strongly correlated with the evolution of extreme dichromatism than with pharyngeal jaw modifications. The temporal lag between pharyngeal jaw modifications and changes in diversification rates casts doubt on the key innovation hypothesis as a simple explanation for much of the richness seen in labrids and scarines. Although the possession of a secondarily modified PJA was correlated with increased diversification rates, this pattern is better explained by the evolution of extreme dichromatism (and other social and behavioral characters relating to sexual selection) within Scarus and Chlorurus. The PJA-innovation hypothesis also fails to explain the most dominant aspect of labrid lineage diversification, the radiation of the julidines. We suggest that pharyngeal jaws might have played a more important role in enabling morphological evolution of the feeding apparatus in labrids and scarines rather than in accelerating lineage diversification.
A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF LOGISTICS STRATEGY: 1990–2008

For over 45 years, the roles of logistics in the firm have been a topic of interest to practitioners, teachers, and researchers. In the 1970's, logistics' role in organizational strategy emerged as a topic of discussion. During the 1980's, Bowersox and Daugherty (1987) presented a typology which postulated three dimensions of logistics strategy: process; market; and information. Their typology has inspired a stream of empirical research over the last two decades which examined it from different perspectives. The analysis and findings reported in this article focus on the Bowersox and Daugherty typology and provides insights into logistics strategy over an 18 year period. This typology was selected because it has been the subject of multiple empirical research studies, and has a reasonable level of credibility and acceptance. The research reported in this manuscript discusses the stability of logistics strategy over time in United States manufacturing firms, alternate logistics strategies, the effects of alternate logistics strategies on three outcome assessments, and implications for practitioners, teachers, and researchers.
Probiotics in the Third Millennium

Probiotics are "living microorganisms which upon ingestion in certain numbers exert health benefits beyond inherent general nutrition". Since 1987, when the first publication on the properties of the Lactobacillus GG was done, overall, there have been over 200 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals. This paper will report the status and the prospectus of probiotics research at the beginning of the Third Millennium. Probiotics have proven benefits in treatment and prevention of rotavirus diarrhoea in children and reduction of antibiotic-associated intestinal side-effects. Interesting results have recently been published regarding food allergies and atopic eczema in children. Prevention of vaginitis and of travellers' diarrhoea have also been reported. Promising results are being reported in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, dental caries and irritable bowel syndrome. It has also been suggested that probiotics could enhance oral vaccine administration, and that they may help treatment against Helicobacter pylori infection, but further studies are needed. Future areas of research regard probiotics' role in the process of carcinogenesis, given their influence on the gut microflora, and as immune modulators in autoimmune disorders. The possibility of introducing appropriate genes to the probiotics to make them produce various compounds is also under investigation. However, there is still confusion in the minds of the authorities over whether a probiotic is a drug, a food, or a dietary supplement. The challenge is to continue research to define the appropriate uses of probiotics and discover new applications which will bring benefit to humankind.
MIMO radar detection of targets in compound-Gaussian clutter

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars with widely-separated transmitters and receivers are useful to discriminate a target from clutter using the spatial diversity of the scatterers in the illuminated scene. We consider the detection of targets in compound-Gaussian clutter fitting for example scatterers with heavy-tailed distributions for high-resolution and/or low-grazing-angle radars in the presence of sea or foliage clutter. First, we introduce a data model using the inverse gamma distribution to represent the clutter texture. Then, we apply the parameter-expanded expectation-maximization (PX-EM) algorithm to estimate the clutter texture and speckle, as well as the target parameters.We develop a generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) test target detector using the estimates and show the advantages of MIMO using Monte Carlo simulations.
Transient physicochemical microhabitats facilitate fish survival in inhospitable aquatic plant stands

1. Aquatic plants add structural complexity to aquatic environments, provide resources for the food web and generally promote diversity and stability of aquatic fauna. However, plants also alter the abiotic properties of the water and at high densities can produce physical and chemical conditions intolerable to fish. 2. We identified substantial horizontal and vertical, as well as spatial and temporal, variability in oxygen and temperature over micro-scales within macrophyte stands. Areas with suitable dissolved oxygen and temperature occurred close to areas with hypoxic and hyperthermic levels regarded as highly stressful to lethal for fish. Fish densities within the plant stands did not change between dusk and dawn, suggesting that fish did not leave the vegetation when conditions became adverse. 3. Variability in oxygen and temperature within the plant bed conceivably provided refugia for fish. Portions of the macrophyte bed, particularly the surface, provided suitable conditions during times of the day when oxygen tensions in deeper water were low, but not during times when surface conditions were hyperoxic and hyperthermic. During periods of low oxygen, fish may rise to the surface and either remain there, or use the surface as a corridor to travel until oxygenated pockets are located. 4. Aquatic plant stands may be thought of as a mosaic landscape composed of patches of transient physicochemical microhabitats. Within this landscape, physicochemical conditions can be precarious and fish may have to continuously change microhabitats to avoid being trapped in unsuitable locations during the daily reshuffling of physical and chemical conditions.
CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS AND MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER: DIFFERENTIAL ROLE OF POSITIVE RELIGIOUS COPING AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS, CARIBBEAN BLACKS AND NON-HISPANIC WHITES

Background: This study was aimed to investigate the main and buffering effects of positive religious coping on the association between the number of chronic medical conditions and major depressive disorder (MDD) among African Americans, Caribbean Blacks and Non‑Hispanic Whites. Methods: This cross‑sectional study used data from the National Survey of American Life, 2001 and 2003. This study enrolled 3,570 African Americans, 1,438 Caribbean Blacks and 891 Non‑Hispanic Whites. Number of chronic conditions and positive religious coping were independent variables, 12‑month MDD was the outcome and socio‑economic characteristics were controls. We fitted the following three ethnic‑specific logistic regressions for data analysis. In Model I, we included the number of chronic conditions and controls. In Model II, we added the main effect of religious coping. In Model III, we included an interaction between religious coping and number of chronic conditions. Results: Based on Model I, number of chronic conditions was associated with higher odds of 12‑month MDD among all race/ethnic groups. Model II showed a significant and negative association between religious coping and MDD among Caribbean Blacks (odds ratio [OR] =0.55, 95% confidence Interval [CI] =0.39‑0.77), but not African Americans or Hispanic Whites. Model III suggested that, only among Caribbean Blacks, the effect of chronic medical conditions on MDD is smaller in the presence of high positive religious coping (OR for interaction = 0.73, 95% CI = 0.55‑0.96). Conclusions: Although the association between multiple chronic conditions and MDD may exist regardless of race and ethnicity, race/ethnicity may shape how positive religious coping buffers this association. This finding sheds more light onto race and ethnic differences in protective effects of religiosity on mental health of
ASTERIX: towards a scalable, semistructured data platform for evolving-world models

ASTERIX is a new data-intensive storage and computing platform project spanning UC Irvine, UC Riverside, and UC San Diego. In this paper we provide an overview of the ASTERIX project, starting with its main goal--the storage and analysis of data pertaining to evolving-world models. We describe the requirements and associated challenges, and explain how the project is addressing them. We provide a technical overview of ASTERIX, covering its architecture, its user model for data and queries, and its approach to scalable query processing and data management. ASTERIX utilizes a new scalable runtime computational platform called Hyracks that is also discussed at an overview level; we have recently made Hyracks available in open source for use by other interested parties. We also relate our work on ASTERIX to the current state of the art and describe the research challenges that we are currently tackling as well as those that lie ahead.
A wireless sensor network for monitoring the structural health of a football stadium

We discuss the design, development, and deployment of an inexpensive, power-efficient, clustered, and scalable wireless sensor network (WSN) testbed. The testbed operates in a harsh environment in which neither GPS nor Internet connectivity are available. We use this testbed to collect real-time data during football games and other major events at Bobby Dodd stadium at Georgia Tech. The sensing devices in the testbed are synchronized without GPS or beacons, yet achieve sufficient accuracy to support modal analysis and detect if the stands are experiencing torsion. We have also developed a cognitive radio backhaul link to establish communication between the WSN in the stadium and a server in our lab. We present in detail the architecture, hardware components, and embedded software of the structural health monitoring platform. We also provide data collected during recent football games to verify the accuracy of the new synchronization algorithm and demonstrate that crowd behavior, such as rhythmic stomping, can be detected during a game.
Intellectual Property Landscape of Material Sustainability Standards

One of the most significant factors affecting building sustainability is the sustainability of the materials used in construction. This recognition has led to the emergence of a broad range of advanced new building materials, many of which are claimed to address issues of sustainability either in their composition or the processes by which they are manufactured. The emergence of these new materials, as well as heightened public sensitivity to sustainability issues, have given rise to a burgeoning field of standards and certifications that purport to assess, measure and rate the sustainability of building materials ranging from structural elements such as masonry, drywall and flooring to interior design features such as carpeting, paint and furniture. As part of an ongoing research program to study and evaluate such materials sustainability standards (MSS), we conducted an in-depth study of nine selected MSS with to the goal of identifying intellectual property issues associated with each. These nine MSS and a summary of our observations concerning the intellectual property issues implicated by each is contained in this article. We found that the practices of manufacturers and standards development and certifying organizations in this field typically address copyright, trademark, and trade secret issues explicitly, but there is also a risk that patent issues will arise in the future.
Today's Science - Tomorrow's Medicine.

Paediatric Respiratory Reviews - In Press.Proof corrected by the author Available online since mercredi 13 avril 2016
Development of Mycetomes in Larvae of Sitophilus granarius and S. oryzae

Squash preparations of mycetomes showed that Sitophilus oryzae (L.) were symbiote-infected, while Sitophilus granarius (L.), a species known in some strains to be symbiote-infected, were uninfected or aposymbiotic in the Savannah strain. Mycetomes from <l-day-old and 12-day-old larvae of S. oryzae and S. granarius reared on a meridic diet revealed striking differences in growth. In S. oryzae, they increased more than 4 times in width and 5 times in height, and the shape, especially of the lateral lobes, changed as well. Mycetomes from larvae of the Savannah strain of S. granarius increased less than 2 times in width and in height, with no change in the shape of the mycetome. Development of the mycetome may depend on the presence of the bacteroids.
A Scaphoid Osteochondral Autograft for Reconstruction of the Lunate Fossa of the Distal Part of the Radius After a Complex Open Fracture: A Case Report.

Complex fractures of the distal part of the radius in high-energy injuries or in elderly osteopenic patients often have extensive articular comminution. Often, these small fragments are not amenable to primary fixation. In high-energy open fractures, there may be substantial bone loss or missing osteochondral fragments. Moreover, concomitant carpal fractures are often present, as well as associated radiocarpal and carpal dislocations that offer additional challenges. Primary total wrist arthrodesis has been suggested for treatment of these difficult injuries1. Motion-preserving salvage procedures include total wrist arthroplasty, limited wrist fusion, and proximal row carpectomy (PRC). Total wrist arthroplasty is contraindicated in younger, more active patients because current implants require a low-demand lifestyle, and complication rates following surgery remain high2. Limited wrist fusion and PRC require an intact lunate fossa and thus may not be options in cases with substantial loss of articular surface. Autogenous osteochondral graft reconstruction of the articular surface of the distal part of the radius has been described in some small case series3-7. PRC involves resection of the scaphoid, lunate, and triquetrum, allowing the capitate to articulate with the lunate facet of the distal part of the radius. The scaphoid is therefore an ideal potential osteochondral donor graft for salvage of the lunate fossa when PRC is to be performed because it does not require a separate graft harvest procedure and does not cause additional donor-site morbidity. We report a case of a complex open radiocarpal fracture-dislocation with bone loss, demonstrating salvage of the lunate facet of the distal part of the radius with a scaphoid osteochondral autograft. The patient was informed that data concerning the case would be submitted for publication, and he provided consent. A twenty-five-year-old man was involved in a rollover motor vehicle collision and was transferred to …
Numerical simulations of bandwidth reduction in microwave photodetectors

Photodetectors (PD’s) exhibit significant nonlinear behavior when the incident optical power density is high.1–3 Numerical techniques have been used4 to analyze PD responses; however, the results contradict what is experimentally observed.1,2 This is due in part to the assumption4 that the main nonlinearity stems from a potential drop due to loading of the external circuit. However, with large photogenerated carrier densities, carrier flow leads to a large opposing space-charge field, which is shown here to collapse the applied field.
From nonspecific to specific immunosuppression facts and speculation

Following the pioneering work of Schwartz et al. [35] who showed that the formation of antibody by bovine serum albumin can be suppressed in rabbits with 6-mercaptupurine (6 MP), a number of investigators have used immunosuppressive drugs. About 20 years ago, Spiegelberg and Miescher [37] treated experimentally induced immune thyroiditis in guinea pigs with methotrexate and 6 MP, and suggested that other autoimmune diseases, including systemic lupus (SLE) might benefit from treatment with immunosuppressive drugs. At about the same time we attempted to dissociate the various immune phenomena by the administration of 6 MP in experimental animals and found that delayed hypersensitivity was more susceptible than humoral antibody formation to 6 MP [-7]. Likewise, IgG antibody was more likely to be suppressed than IgM [9]. It later became apparent that immunosuppression can also be achieved with antigens. The concept of partial or split tolerance in which one type of immune response, such as delayed hypersensitivity, can be suppressed without suppressing humoral antibody to the same antigen was found independently by three different groups of workers [3, 10, 18]. The quest to control the immune response in a specific way is in part a consequence of work in basic immunology, i. e., on the mechanism of immunologic tolerance to simple antigenic determinants. Ideally, if one can induce immunologic tolerance to any antigens, it would alleviate the need for nonspecific drug therapy. In this regard, the observation that haptens can be either immunogenic or tolerogenic depending upon the carrier molecule was particularly useful [-4, 5, 23]. This discovery helped not only the understanding of the cellular mechanism of tolerance [1], but also the therapeutic application of tolerance induction to the treatment of autoimmune disease [11].
Quantitation of Rheumatoid Factor by Latex Particle Aggregation Measurement

An electronic particle-sizing technic allowing the simultaneous detection and quantitation of rheumatoid factor in human sera is described. The assay is simple and rapidly accomplished by analysis of population differential histograms having a standardized X axis obtained by use of a Coulter Model H-4 interfaced to a Coulter ZBI unit. Briefly, as the concentration of rheumatoid factor increases, aggregate particle volumes of sensitized (IgG) latex microspheres show a consistent rightward shift in peak particle size, increasing disappearance of small particles, diminishing peak height, and an increasing left-sided tailness to resultant population differential histograms. All distributions are non-gaussian and appear log-normal. The square of the median volume of particles at the width of the histogram, identified by the integer expressed in one-half the peak height (MP), is curvilinearly related to the concentration of rheumatoid factor when corrected for the comparable observation on a control. An arbitrary expression of rheumatoid factor activity based upon the squares of the MP observation was devised for quantitative expression. Two commercial preparations (Behring Diagnostics and Hyland Laboratories) were evaluated by current standard methods and electronic particle sizing. Both preparations allowed acceptably precise electronic particle sizing as well as MP observations (C.V.’s of 1.5% and 3.4%) although rheumatoid factor MP activities differ. Using a C.D.C. Provisional Standard for rheumatoid factor, commercial Hyland latex reagent can detect concentrations of rheumatoid factor as low as 2.5 IU/ml by this method. The correlation between tube dilution methods and electronic particle sizing was acceptable (r = 0.83). Differing “normal” rheumatoid factor MP activities were found for a rheumatoid factornegative American Red Cross Donor population (Hyland, 0–3 rheumatoid factor MP; Behring, 0–7).
Effects of lamb age, muscle type, and 24-hour activity of endogenous proteinases on postmortem proteolysis.

The objectives of this study were to examine the amount of postmortem proteolysis in three different lamb muscles at different ages and to determine whether a relationship exists between the extent of myofibrillar degradation and certain endogenous proteinase activities. Wether lambs were slaughtered at 8 (n = 6) and 26 (n = 6) wk of age. Samples were taken from the longissimus (LM), gluteus medius (GM), and supraspinatus (SS) muscles for determining myofibrillar fragmentation index (MFI) at 1 and 7 d postmortem, cathepsins B and B + L, cystatin(s), mu- and m-calpain and calpastatin 24-h activities, and muscle fiber type and area. Muscle samples were removed for SDS-PAGE analysis at 0, 1, and 7 d postmortem. The SS muscle consisted of more (P less than .05) oxidative fibers, whereas no age effects (P greater than .10) were observed for fiber type. The younger lambs had higher (P less than .01) cathepsins B and B + L, cystatin, and calpastatin 24-h activities but less (P less than .01) m-calpain activity than did the 26-wk-old lambs. Within each age, the SS muscle had the highest (P less than .05) mu-calpain, m-calpain, and calpastatin specific activities. The MFI values and SDS-PAGE results indicate that less proteolysis occurred in the SS muscle. Samples from 26-wk-old lambs tended to have greater MFI values at 1 and 7 d postmortem, especially for the LM and GM muscles. From these results, it seems that less postmortem proteolysis occurs in younger and more oxidative muscles and this may be attributed to the greater calpastatin 24-h activity.
Therapy strategies in psoriatic arthritis.

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a heterogeneous condition with a myriad of different clinical presentations. It commonly affects the skin and musculoskeletal system causing psoriasis, peripheral arthritis, axial arthritis, enthesitis and dactylitis. Many patients also have related conditions, such as those within the metabolic syndrome and associated spondyloarthritis (SpA) conditions including inflammatory bowel disease and uveitis. Any therapeutic strategy must be tailored to the individual patient, taking into account her/his complete clinical presentation and comorbidities. New treatment recommendations from the Group for Research and Assessment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis (GRAPPA) provide evidence based recommendations on effective therapies for the management of each different manifestation of PsA, and how treatment may be affected by comorbidities (1). However, the limited evidence comparing different treatment strategies in PsA is recognised as a limitation in these recommendations and further information is detailed below. Treatment plans: step up versus step down? Research into therapeutic strategies in PsA is limited. When using disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), one of the common questions, more widely studied in RA, involves step up versus step down therapy. In step up, one therapy is prescribed initially, before moving onto combined therapies if there is an incomplete response (or none) according to defined criteria. By contrast, step down therapy directs that treatment is initiated aggressively with combination therapies, and these are gradually reduced if patients achieve a predefined goal. To date, no research in PsA has compared these approaches. The potential benefits of early combination or aggressive treatment strategies should be examined in an
Large-scale hierarchical classification with rare categories and inconsistencies

Structuring data is crucial for managing massive amount of available data. Hierarchy (taxonomy) provides a natural and convenient way to organize the information. It has been extensively used in several domains, such as gene taxonomy for organizing gene sequences, international patent hierarchy for easy browsing and retrieval of patent documents, DMOZ taxonomy for web-pages categorization, and ImageNet database for indexing millions of images according to WordNet hierarchy. Given, a hierarchy containing thousands of classes (categories) and millions of instances (examples), there is an essential need to develop an efficient and automated approaches to categorize unlabeled test instances. This problem is referred to as Hierarchical Classification (HC) task. HC is an important machine learning problem that has been researched and explored extensively in the past few years (Silla Jr & Freitas, 2011).The popularity of large-scale HC problem is evident from various HC competitions organized in the past few years such as LSHTC1, BioASQ2 and ILSVRC3. HC poses several challenges due to the following reasons: (i) Data imbalance with large number of classes having very few positive examples for training (rare categories), (ii) Multi-label classification, (iii) Feature selection, (iv) Inconsistent hierarchy due to domain experts manual design, and (v) Scalability due to large number of examples, features and classes. Several approaches that address these issues individually (or multiple issues together) have been developed over the years (Gopal & Yang, 2013; Babbar et al., 2013), however there are many possibilities of improving the existing methods. Specifically, we have developed the methods for handling rare categories and inconsistent hierarchy problem.
Behavior, Paternalism, and Policy: Evaluating Consumer Financial Protection

This paper examines the relationship between behavioral law and economics (BLE) as a policy prescription platform and its influence on the regulations emerging from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). We show how these regulations are inconsistent with the intent and purpose of improving consumer choices. We further demonstrate that the selective modeling of behavioral bias in the BLE framework causes an overestimation of the ability of regulators, who in actuality use inefficient, heavy-handed rules based on little if any real empirical findings of “consumer irrationality.” Accordingly, the broader lesson on the misapplication of behavioral economics goes beyond the ill-considered policies emerging from the CFPB.
Near-Field, Broadband Adaptive Beamforming for Ultrasound Imaging

For over fifty years adaptive beamforming (ABF) algorithms have been applied in RADAR and SONAR signal processing. These algorithms reduce the contribution of undesired off-axis signals while maintaining a desired response along a specific look direction. Typically, ABF achieves higher resolution and contrast than conventional beamforming (CBF), at the price of an increased computational load. In this paper we describe a novel ABF designed for medical ultrasound, named the time-domain optimized near-field estimator, or TONE. We performed a series of simulations using ultrasound data to test the performance of this algorithm and compare it to conventional, data independent, delay and sum beamforming. We also performed experiments using a Philips SONOS 5500. CBF was applied using the default parameters of the Philips scanner, whereas TONE was applied on single-channel, unfocused data with plane wave transmit. TONE images were reconstructed at a sampling of 67 mum laterally and 19 mum axially. The results obtained for a series of 5 20 mum wires in a water tank show a significant improvement in spatial resolution when compared to CBF. We also analyzed the performance of TONE as a function of speed of sound errors and array sparsity, finding TONE robust to both.
Social Risk and Portfolio Choice

This study examines whether social discrimination affects the risk perceptions and, subsequently, the investment decisions of individual investors. We conjecture that minority groups such as gays/lesbians, African Americans, and women, who are more likely to experience discrimination, over-estimate their risk exposures (i.e., they experience social risk) and invest more cautiously. Consistent with our conjecture, we find that minorities with high social risk participate less in the stock market and allocate a lower proportion of their wealth to risky assets. These results indicate that non-financial risks, such as social risk, influence financial risk-taking behavior of U.S. households.
Incremental Delaunay triangulation

Dani Lischinski 580 ETC Building Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14850, USA danix@graphics.cornell.edu } Introduction } This gem gives a simple algorithm for the incremental construction of the Delaunay triangulation (DT) and the Voronoi diagram (VD) of a set of points in the plane. A triangulation is called Delaunay if it satis es the empty circumcircle property: the circumcircle of a triangle in the triangulation does not contain any input points in its interior. DT is the straight-line dual of the Voronoi diagram of a point set, which is a partition of the plane into polygonal cells, one for each point in the set, so that the cell for point p consists of the region of the plane closer to p than to any other input point (Preparata and Shamos 1985,Fortune 1992). Delaunay triangulations and Voronoi diagrams, which can be constructed from them, are a useful tool for e ciently solving many problems in computational geometry (Preparata and Shamos 1985). DT is optimal in several respects. For example, it maximizes the minimum angle and minimizes the maximum circumcircle over all possible triangulations of the same point set (Fortune 1992). Thus, DT is an important tool for high quality mesh generation for nite elements (Bern and Eppstein 1992). It should be noted, however, that standard DT doesn't allow edges that must appear in the triangulation to be speci ed in the input. Thus, in order to mesh general polygonal regions the more complicated constrained DT should be used (Bern and Eppstein 1992). The incremental DT algorithm given in this gem was originally presented by Green and Sibson (Green and Sibson 1978), but the implementation is based entirely on the quad-edge data structure and the pseudocode from the excellent paper by Guibas and Stol (Guibas and Stol 1985). I will brie y describe the data structures and the algorithm, but the reader is referred to Guibas and Stol for more details.
Ecological modularity as a means to reduce necessary training environments in evolutionary robotics

Due to the large number of evaluations required, evolutionary robotics experiments are generally conducted in simulated environments. One way to increase the generality of a robot's behavior is to evolve it in multiple environments. These environment spaces can be defined by the number of free parameters (f) and the number of variations each free parameter can take (n). Each environment space then has nf individual environments. For a robot to be fit in the environment space it must perform well in each of the nf environments. Thus the number of environments grows exponentially as n and f are increased. To mitigate the problem of having to evolve a robot in each environment in the space we introduce the concept of ecological modularity. Ecological modularity is here defined as the robot's modularity with respect to free parameters in the its environment space. We show that if a robot is modular along m of the free parameters in its environment space, it only needs to be evolved in nf-m+1 environments to be fit in all of the nf environments. This work thus presents a heretofore unknown relationship between the modularity of an agent and its ability to generalize evolved behaviors in new environments.