cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Blood and liver concentrations of glutathione, and plasma concentrations of sulfur-containing amino acids in chicks fed deficient, adequate, or excess levels of dietary cysteine.

AbstractExperiments were conducted with young male chicks to examine the influence of cysteine status on blood and liver glutathione (GSH) concentrations and plasma sulfur amino acids. The equivalence of cystine, cysteine, and GSH as sources of dietary cysteine for the chick was reconfirmed. Whole-blood GSH was unresponsive to dietary cysteine level, but liver GSH increased as dietary cysteine increased from a deficient level to the required level. Excess levels of cysteine (two or four times the chick's requirement) elicited no further increase in hepatic GSH. Plasma cystine concentration increased markedly (i.e., ninefold) and in a linear fashion while plasma cysteine increased only modestly (i.e., twofold) as dietary cysteine level increased.
Role of cAMP-phosphodiesterase isozymes in pathogenesis of murine nephrogenic diabetes insipidus

To test the hypothesis that rapid adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) catabolism via cyclic 3',5'-nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE) is a cause of the unresponsiveness to vasopressin (VP) in mice with hereditary nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI), we investigated properties of PDEs and other aspects of the VP-dependent cAMP-signaling system in segments of collecting ducts [inner medullary (IMCD), cortical (CCD), and outer medullary (OMCD) ducts] microdissected from control mice and mice with NDI. The activity of cAMP-PDE, but not of cGMP-PDE, was markedly higher in IMCD (+109%), and to a lesser degree in OMCD (+41%) and CCD (+27%), of NDI mice than in normal controls. The cAMP-PDE in IMCD of NDI mice was more sensitive to inhibition by the PDE isozyme-specific inhibitors rolipram and cilostamide, but not by 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, than was the cAMP-PDE in controls. Levels of cAMP in intact IMCD and CCD from NDI mice completely failed to increase in response to 10(-6) M VP. Incubation with rolipram alone, but not with cilostamide alone, restored VP-dependent cAMP accumulation in IMCD of NDI mice to the levels found in control mice; addition of cilostamide further enhanced the effect of rolipram. Analogous (but quantitatively lesser) anomalies of the VP-dependent cAMP system, including the effects of PDE inhibitors, were observed also in CCD of NDI mice. However, the activity of VP-stimulated adenylate cyclase assayed in permeabilized IMCD did not differ in NDI and control mice. These results indicate that anomalously high activities of low-Km cAMP-PDE isozymes account for the failure of collecting ducts of NDI mice to increase cAMP levels in response in VP.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Serum vitamin A level in bronchiolitis with respiratory syncytial virus infection

To explore the relation between vitamin A and lower respiratory infection caused by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) confirmed by antigen test and (or) viral culture, we studied 46cases of bronchiolitis with RSV infection and26controls . Serum vitamin A level of46 patients during acute illness (day 0, 7), convalescence (day 15) and of control infants were measured. Serum vitamin A level between mild and severe patients (Lowell's criterion) was also compared. The results showed that serum vitamin A level at acute stage, convalescence of illness and controls was0.94±0.15μEmol/L, 1.38±0.30μmol/L and1.47±0.30μmol/L, respectively. Twelve severe cases out of 20 (60%) had serum vitamin A level below the mean minus2SD of the value of control infants, whereas only5mild patients out of 26 (19.2%) had vitamin A level below such value (χ2=8.06, p<0.01). The results of this study indicate that serum concentration of vitamin A decreases at acute stage of illness and is spontaneously recovered at convalescence. The degree of the decrease in serum vitamin A at acute stage of bronchiolitis was associated with the severity of illness.
Size and shape information serve as labels in the alarm calls of Gunnison’s prairie dogs Cynomys gunnisoni

Some animals have the capacity to produce different alarm calls for terrestrial and aerial predators. However, it is not clear what cognitive processes are involved in generating these calls. One possibility is the position of the predator: Anything on the ground receives a terrestrial predator call, and anything in the air receives an aerial predator call. Another possibility is that animals are able to recognize the physical features of predators and incorporate those into their calls. As a way of elucidating which of these mechanisms plays a primary role in generating the structure of different calls, we performed two field experiments with Gunnison’s prairie dogs. First, we presented the prairie dogs with a circle, a triangle, and a square, each moving across the colony at the same height and speed. Second, we presented the prairie dogs with two squares of differing sizes. DFA statistics showed that 82.6 percent of calls for the circle and 79.2 percent of the calls for the triangle were correctly classified, and 73.3 percent of the calls for the square were classified as either square or circle. Also, 100 percent of the calls for the larger square and 90 percent of the calls for the smaller square were correctly classified. Because both squares and circles are features of terrestrial predators and triangles are features of aerial predators, our results suggest that prairie dogs might have a cognitive mechanism that labels the abstract shape and size of different predators, rather than the position of the predator.
Life after WikiLeaks

If the opposite of secrecy is revelation, then one would expect one of the most important leaks in history to have had a profound effect on the life of liberal democracy. Yet, according to one astute commentator on the WikiLeaks phenomenon, after WikiLeaks everything changed and nothing changed.1 This chapter examines the basis for this rather puzzling claim and in so doing uses the case of WikiLeaks to illuminate the status of secrets in early twenty-first-century political life.
Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease in Postmenopausal Women

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the epidemiology and pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women and the risk factors involved, with special emphasis on gender-related differences and relation between estrogen deficiency and heart disease. Ischemic heart disease, commonly referred to as coronary heart disease (CHD), is the single leading cause of CVD deaths in women and in men. CHD in women is predicted to become the pandemic of the 21st century due to escalating increases in CHD risk factors from childhood. The consequences to women could be an earlier onset of CHD, increased prevalence of cardiovascular morbidity and diminished quality of life, decreased life expectancy, and premature death. Active prevention of CHD in women should aim at attenuating the impact of cardiovascular risk factors, beginning as early as childhood. Efforts should include control of eating habits and diet; early detection of plasma lipidemia, diabetes, and hypertension; avoidance of primary and secondary cigarette smoking; and providing education and support for the proper active lifestyle. The role of estrogen replacement in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women for the primary prevention of CVD remains to be determined.
Reemergence of rapidity-scale uncertainty in soft-collinear effective theory

The artificial separation of a full-theory mode into distinct collinear and soft modes in soft-collinear effective theory leads to divergent integrals over rapidity, which are not present in the full theory. Rapidity divergence introduces an additional scale into the problem, giving rise to its own renormalization group with respect to this new scale. Two contradicting claims exist in the literature concerning rapidity scale uncertainty. One camp has shown that the results of perturbative calculations depend on the precise choice of rapidity scale. The other has derived an all-order factorization formula with no dependence on rapidity scale, by using a form of analytic regulator to regulate rapidity divergences. We deliver a simple resolution to this controversy by deriving an alternative form of the all-order factorization formula with an analytic regulator that, despite being formally rapidity scale independent, reveals how rapidity scale dependence arises when it is truncated at a finite order in perturbation theory. With our results, one can continue to take advantage of the technical ease and simplicity of the analytic regulator approach while correctly taking into account rapidity scale dependence. As an application, we update our earlier study of $WW$ production with jet veto by including rapidity scale uncertainty. While the central values of the predictions are unchanged, the scale uncertainties are increased and consistency between the next-to-leading logarithm and next-to-next-to-leading logarithm calculations is improved.
Soldiers' Experiences of Training for Emergency Performance Situations

Professions that include the risk of life-threatening emergency situations ready individuals for such extreme events through training to develop a broad range of positive psychological skills, well known in sport psychology as mental toughness. Given the relatively little attention devoted to the study of performance psychology in this area, the aim of this investigation was to provide first-person perspectives on the training of soldiers with experience in the life-threatening circumstances of hand-to-hand combat. The results of phenomenological interviews with 17 soldiers revealed four themes that characterized the participant’s experience of hand-to-hand combat training: “warrior mindset,” “confidence,” “repetition,” and “realistic.” It was concluded the hand-to-hand combat training experiences of these soldiers (a) fostered mental qualities viewed as important for performance in life-threatening settings, (b) consisted of extensive practice, and (c) were aimed at replicating the physical and psychological demands of the expected combat environment. Taken together the results are consistent with sport psychology mental toughness research and provide a number of suggestions for instructors and mental skills trainers working with soldiers and combat sport athletes.
Magnetic Analysis of the F 19 ( d , p ) F 20 and F 19 ( d , α ) O 17 Reactions

The energy spectrum of protons from the ${\mathrm{F}}^{19}(d,p){\mathrm{F}}^{20}$ reaction has been analyzed at 90 degrees to the incident deuteron beam, using an annular magnetic spectrograph with photographic detection. Nineteen proton groups have been observed and identified with this reaction. These correspond to the ground state of ${\mathrm{F}}^{20}$ and eighteen excited states in the range of excitation from 0 to 5.1 Mev. Deuteron bombarding energies ranging from 1.5 to 2.1 Mev were used.Tracks of alpha-particles, arising from the ${\mathrm{F}}^{19}(d,\ensuremath{\alpha}){\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ reaction, were also observed on the photographic plates. Alpha-particle groups corresponding to the ground state and ten excited levels of ${\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ in the range of excitation from 0 to 6.9 Mev were identified. Some of the groups corresponding to ${\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ levels of sufficient excitation to be unstable against neutron decay exhibited a broadening which may result from the natural width of the corresponding ${\mathrm{O}}^{17}$ levels.
The corporeal turn: at the intersection of rhetoric, bodies, and video games

ABSTRACTThrough a critical literature review, this article examines the trend in game studies toward studying bodies, both of players and of characters, in communication scholarship. Specifically, first I discuss how the field of rhetoric has gradually become more familiar with studying games. Second, I map rhetorical studies’ involvement in materialism, specifically through the investigation of bodies. Third, I offer an extensive, though not exhaustive, review of how game studies has hitherto approached research regarding bodies. The article concludes by forecasting the future of game bodies and game studies with an eye toward Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) gaming, augmented reality, and virtual reality. This article argues that instead of creating a single, unifying theory of gaming bodies, games scholars should identify themes of bodies in games.
Diagnostic values for egg white specific IgE levels with the skin prick test in Turkish children with egg white allergy.

Abstract Background The diagnostic values for the skin prick test (SPT) diameters and egg white-specific IgE (EW-sIgE) levels that will allow us to predict the result of the oral food challenge test (OFC) in the diagnosis of egg white allergy vary by the community where the study is carried out. Objective This study aimed to determine the diagnostic values of SPT and EW-sIgE levels in the diagnosis of egg white allergy. Methods 59 patients followed with the diagnosis of egg allergy September 2013 to September 2015 were included in our retrospective cross-sectional study. The patients were investigated in terms of egg and anaphylaxis history or the requirement of the OFC positivity. The demographic, clinical and laboratory findings of the cases were recorded, and they were compared with the patients with the suspected egg allergy but negative OFC (n = 47). Results In the study, for all age groups, the value of 5 mm in SPT was found to be significant at 96.4% positive predictive value (PPV) and 97.8% specificity and the value of 5.27 kU/L for EW-sIgE was found to be significant at 76% PPV and 86.6% specificity for egg white. The diagnostic power of the SPT for egg white (AUC: 72.2%) was determined to be significantly higher compared to the diagnostic power of the EW-sIgE (AUC: 52.3%) (p Conclusion Along with the determination of the diagnostic values of communities, the rapid and accurate diagnosis of the children with a food allergy will be ensured, and the patient follow-up will be made easier.
Relationship between vancomycin exposure and outcomes among patients with MRSA bloodstream infections with vancomycin Etest® MIC values of 1.5 mg/L: A pilot study

Data suggest that vancomycin is less effective for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infection (BSI) with vancomycin Etest® MIC (MICEtest) ≥1.5 mg/L. No published studies have evaluated the relationship between vancomycin exposure and outcomes among patients with MRSA BSIs vancomycin MICEtest ≥1.5 mg/L. This study was a retrospective cohort of 71 hospitalized, adult, non-dialysis patients with MRSA BSIs treated with vancomycin. All but three patients had a vancomycin MICEtest of 1.5 mg/L. Achievement of CART-derived AUC24–48h of at least 550 mg*h/L (AUC24–48h/MIC of 366 mg*h/L) was associated with a lower incidence of treatment failure. In multivariate analyses, the risk ratio was 0.45 for the CART-derived AUC24–48h threshold, indicating that achievement of the CART-derived AUC24–48h threshold of 550 was associated with a 2-fold decrease in treatment failure. These findings suggest a potential association between vancomycin exposure and outcomes in patients with MRSA BSIs with MICEtest ≥1.5 mg/L. As this study was retrospective, these findings provide the basis for a future large-scale, multi-center prospective study.
Spiritual well-being, religious activity, and the metabolic syndrome: results from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study.

Sociocultural risk and protective factors for developing the metabolic syndrome (MetS), a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), have not been well studied in Hispanics/Latinos residing in the United States (U.S.). Religiosity and/or spirituality (R/S), important aspects of Hispanic/Latino culture, have been inversely associated with CVD and multiple CVD risk factors. Cross-sectional associations between dimensions of R/S and prevalent MetS, and its five individual components were examined using multiple logistic and linear regression, among 3278 U.S., middle-aged and older Hispanic/Latino adults from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Sociocultural Ancillary Study. Dimensions of R/S were not associated with presence of the MetS. Certain dimensions of Spiritual Well-being (Meaning, Peace, Faith), and frequency of non-organizational religious activity were weakly but significantly associated with one or more MetS components including waist circumference, diastolic blood pressure, and systolic blood pressure. R/S variables were not associated with triglycerides, fasting glucose or HDL cholesterol levels. Prospective, longitudinal studies are needed to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the relationship between R/S and health risk factors in U.S. Hispanics/Latinos.
Comparison of Clopidogrel With Prasugrel and Ticagrelor in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: Clinical Outcomes From the National Cardiovascular Database ACTION Registry.

Background: We aimed to compare the clinical outcomes of clopidogrel, prasugrel, and ticagrelor in clinical practice using the National Cardiovascular Database ACTION Registry Â® . Treatment guidelines for patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention recommend dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) for 12 months. Few clinical trials have compared the safety and efficacy of clopidogrel with that of newer antiplatelet therapies. Methods: A retrospective study of patients hospitalized for ACS at Cleveland Clinic Akron General was conducted. Data elements included detailed medical history and clinical outcomes during hospital stay. The primary outcome was a composite of major clinical events (cardiogenic shock, atrial fibrillation, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, heart failure, bleeding, and mechanical ventilation). The independent variable was the type of DAPT. Statistical analyses were performed using Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests. AÂ post-hoc analysis was performed to compare between the antiplatelet drugs head-to-head. Results: Subjects (n = 1,388) admitted between January 2011 and March 2016 with ACS and treated with clopidogrel, prasugrel, or ticagrelor were included in the study. Mean age was 65 Â± 14 years and 46% had ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Prasugrel administration within 24 h was associated with a lower incidence of the composite outcome (P = 0.049), bleeding (P = 0.028), and heart failure (P = 0.002). Conclusion: There was a significant difference between the type of antiplatelet drug and clinical outcomes in ACS patients who were treated with DAPT. Observations from current study may provide important information for prescribers in clinical decision-making. Cardiol Res. 2017;8(3):105-110 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/cr560w Â
Understanding peace cultures

In this remarkable collection of chapters, Rebecca L. Oxford sets out to assist the reader in the discovery of peace cultures and to promote a wide variety of ways in which peace can be sought, dev...
Platelet CLEC-2: a molecule with 2 faces

In this issue of Blood , Haining et al reveal an unexpected role for platelet C-type lectin-like receptor-2 (CLEC-2) in thrombosis, which is independent of its hemi-immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif (hemITAM) signaling. 1
Research challenges involving embryo pathogen interactions

In the late 1970s, embryo pathogen research was spawned. Initially, a great deal of funding was available to groups involved in embryo pathogen research. However, following years of research, and development of competent embryo processing procedures endorsed by the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS), a growing belief developed that embryo transfer (ET) is innately safe and so funding for embryo pathogen research has since dwindled portentously. Even with continued growth of the ET industry and specifically with tremendous changes involving in vitro technologies, and recent outbreaks involving pathogens of concern, funding of ET research has not been a priority and/or a focus area for funding agencies for the last number of years. Funding issues are not the only challenge in embryo pathogen research but it is the primary challenge since no amount of research can be pursed without funding. Some of these additional challenges include; a large number and variety of pathogens which need to be systematically investigated including new and reemerging pathogens, utilization of animal origin products which have the potential to harbor and transmit pathogens, the ability of pathogens to adapt and change to their hosts and environment resulting in variation of affinity and virulence, reliable testing of these pathogens and trained personnel to perform studies, collect and interpret data and to knowledgeably handle pathogens that have zoonotic pathogens. This paper reviews these challenges facing embryo pathogen research today.
On the effects of windowing on the discretization of the fractional Fourier transform

The eigenvalue degeneracy problem inherent in the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix operator and the development of a full basis of orthogonal eigenvectors have been addressed via a commuting matrix, devoid of the aforementioned eigenvalue degeneracy problem, that also serves as a discrete version of the Gauss-Hermite (G-H) differential operator. This G-H operator is however, is not bandlimited, and existing discretization efforts run into distortion problems that manifest as deviation from the ideal linear eigenvalue spectrum, aliasing in the eigenvectors, and as a non-invertible peak to parameter mapping associated with the discretization restricting its ability to uniquely represent multicomponent chirp signals. Existing approaches do not account for the effects of windowing on discretization. In this paper, we focus on distortion issues associated with the discretization of the G-H operator and their sources. We specifically analyze the discrete version of the G-H operator based on quantum mechanics in finite dimensions (QMFD), by computing its underlying peak to parameter mapping and its invertibility to subsequently present a representation of the operator with improved mapping invertibility via use of suitable windowing of the eigenvalue spectrum.
Measurement of Electron Mobility-Lifetime Product in 3-D Position-Sensitive CdZnTe Detectors Using the VAD_UMv2.2 Digital Readout System

The electron mobility-lifetime product, $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ , was calculated for seven large volume ( $2 \times 2 \times 1.5 \,\,\text {cm}^{3}$ ), 3-D position-sensitive CdZnTe detectors using the two-bias and depth-fitting methods. The anode and cathode signals were digitally sampled from preamplifiers and read out using the VAD_UM v2.2 electronic readout system. With conventional digital filters, the measured $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values by depth-fitting were about 30% higher than the two-bias method. By analyzing the averaged waveforms, the effects of electron drift and detrapping were found to cause a significant underestimate of $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ . With an optimized filtering method (simple subtraction method), the measured $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values calculated using different methods at different biases were consistent. The $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values were also significantly higher than the results from conventional waveform filtering methods. Repeated measurements showed relative uncertainties of 20% for the $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values. Increased $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values were observed for CdZnTe detectors delivered by Redlen Technologies over the past several years. The $\mu _{e}\tau _{e}$ values from the latest large volume pixelated CdZnTe detectors were about $0.05~\text {cm}^{2}/V$ .
Máxime "Max" Kuczyński: Father of Peruvian Public Health and of the 66th President of Peru.

Maxime Kuczynski (1890-1967), a medical pioneer born in Poland, was renowned for his work in tropical medicine in the Peruvian jungle, especially on Bartonella baciliformis, the cutaneous form known as verruga peruana of deadly Oroya fever. His unique university training in anthropology, philosophy, and parasitology lead to a participatory observational method of practicing medicine. At the request of the Peruvian President, he ventured into the Peruvian Amazon in 1936 to establish a public health service in partnership with indigenous populations. In June 2016, his son Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, a former Prime Minister of Peru, was elected the 66th President of Peru.
LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS OF INTERNET USE PATTERNS AMONG OLDER ADULTS IN THE U.S.

AbstractAnalyses of internet use patterns among older adults using cross-sectional data have found that the rate of internet use is less with age. It is not clear, however, if older adults reduced internet use as they aged or they never used internet to begin with. Factors that affect technology adoption such as accessibility (cost and complexity of use) and social influences could change over time and influence internet use patterns. To investigate these issues we conducted a longitudinal study of internet use among older adults aged 50 and above from 2002–2014. We analyzed longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study using mixed effects logistic regression model to estimate the effect that various factors have on the likelihood of using internet in a given year. Rate of internet use in the sample increased from 30% in 2002 to 51% in 2014. After accounting for socio-demographic variables and several health and functional limitation indicators, we found significant cohort effects. Rate of internet use among younger age groups (50–69) was significantly higher in the baseline year and it also increased at a significant rate over time. Age groups 70 and older have significantly lower baseline rate of internet use and the change over time is mostly insignificant or small. Decline in internet use was associated with increasing impairments in vision, cognition, mobility and fine motor skills. Results inform researchers about internet use patterns in their target population and help determine when efforts will be required to ensure effective utilization of technology-based interventions.
Formal Work: State Occupations and Work in the Tourist Industry

This chapter challenges the international consensus that women were disproportionately affected by the restructuring of state jobs, using press sources to make a case that this was only initial because a concerted government effort to reincorporate women during the late 1990s reversed this trend. It explores why more women than men remained in their state professions by focusing on influential factors such as prestige, the tradition of having a profession, job security, preferable working conditions, and family wage economies. With regard to the tourism industry, Jeronimo Kersh questions the widely held perception that workers were affected by racial discrimination in this sector; instead suggesting that sexual and/or age discrimination was more prevalent.
The digital carceral: Media infrastructure, digital cultures and state surveillance in post-Arab Spring Morocco:

This paper analyzes Moroccan discourses around media infrastructures and their intersection with carceral culture, taking up Mamfakinch’s responses to state-sponsored spyware attacks and judicial h...
The Ontology of Systems Engineering: Towards a Computational Digital Engineering Semantic Framework

Abstract The goal of implementing an enterprise digital engineering strategy is to improve data sharing throughout system conceptualization, development, manufacturing, operations, sustainment and their supporting organizations. Data sharing is a critical element of interoperability of models and other digital artifacts supporting the systems engineering process. Achieving interoperability within systems engineering requires eliminating differences of syntax and semantics to take advantage of automation, augmentation, and artificial intelligence capabilities that will increase process efficiency and artifact quality. This paper describes the development of a process-centric Systems Engineering (SE) reference ontology, based upon ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288 Systems and Software Engineering – Life Cycle Processes [1]. The proposed SE reference ontology extends from the Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), which is a very small top-level ontology (TLO) designed specifically to support the integration of more specific ontologies that extend from it [2]. A reference ontology is intended to provide a comprehensive representation of the entities in a given domain encapsulating the terminological content of established knowledge. Unlike other systems ontologies, which focus on the target systems, this reference ontology is focused on the systems engineering process, providing context and purpose for the digital artifacts being built and linking the content of artifacts together into one lexicon.
Transferable-Tip Technology for Fine-Pitch Probes and Interconnections

A transferable-tip technology has been developed that has applications for wafer-level fine-pitch probe and electrical test of semiconductor devices. The tips are made by filling a mold made in a (100)-oriented Si substrate wafer, with cavities created by anisotropic etch. The tips are very sharp and planar, with a precise cone angle of 70.5°. The metal tips are then transferred to any suitable substrate, using a solder and release process. The tips, used in a probe head, enable electrical contact to large-area microbump arrays at low force. Test structures were fabricated with as many as 250 000 tips at the 50- $\mu \text{m}$ pitch. This approach also enables test electronics to be incorporated into the probe head. In this way, high-speed functional tests can be performed that minimize difficulties normally encountered in wiring and shielding many high-frequency signals in the probe head and to external test electronics. This probe tip technology also has potential for improved chip-to-chip interconnections that ensure known-good-dies are added to a chip stack. As compared to other probe contact technologies, the transferable-tip approach is potentially low-cost and amenable to new modes of probing, particularly applicable to chip stacks made with 3-D Si integration and heterogeneous integration.
Acute toxicity of intratracheal arsenic trioxide instillation in rat lungs

This study investigated the acute toxicity of different concentrations of arsenic trioxide (As2 O3 ; ATO) on rat lungs. In total, 160 Wistar rats were randomly divided into the control, low-, medium- and high-dose groups, which were exposed to 0, 0.16, 1.60 and 16 μg/kg of ATO by intratracheal instillation, respectively. Samples were collected at 6, 12, 24, 48 and 72 hours after exposure and the dynamic changes indicative of acute lung toxicity were monitored. Compared with the control group, the exposure groups exhibited significant changes such as increased lung water content ratio and protein concentration in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, pulmonary interstitial thickening, cell membrane edema, increased inflammatory factor concentration, JNK and P38 were significantly activated, and the degree of phosphorylation was increased. Furthermore, all the changes in the exposure groups were exposure concentration-dependent. ATO respiratory tract exposure can cause restrictive ventilatory disturbance in rats, and the degree of injury is exposure concentration-dependent.
Association of Model Neurotransmitters with Lipid Bilayer Membranes

Abstract Aimed to reproduce the results of electrophysiological studies of synaptic signal transduction, conventional models of neurotransmission are based on the specific binding of neurotransmitters to ligand-gated receptor ion channels. However, the complex kinetic behavior observed in synaptic transmission cannot be reproduced in a standard kinetic model without the ad hoc postulation of additional conformational channel states. On the other hand, if one invokes unspecific neuro-transmitter adsorption to the bilayer—a process not considered in the established models—the electrophysiological data can be rationalized with only the standard set of three conformational receptor states that also depend on this indirect coupling of neurotransmitters via their membrane interaction. Experimental verification has been difficult because binding affinities of neuro-transmitters to the lipid bilayer are low. We quantify this interaction with surface plasmon resonance to measure equilibrium dissociation constants in neurotransmitter membrane association. Neutron reflectometry on artificial membranes reveals the structural aspects of neurotransmitters association with zwitterionic and anionic bilayers. We establish that serotonin interacts non-specifically with the membrane at physiologically relevant concentrations whilst GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) does not. Surface plasmon resonance shows that serotonin adsorbs with millimolar affinity and neutron reflectometry shows that it penetrates the membrane deeply whereas GABA is excluded from the bilayer. Significance Receptor ion channels in the postsynaptic membrane and their neurotransmitter agonists enable fast communication between neuronal cells. Electrophysiology studies reveal surprisingly complex kinetics that apparently require a variety of protein conformational states for their quantitative interpretation, but an alternate hypothesis invoking neurotransmitter membrane association reduces the complexity of the underlying reaction schemes significantly. While their affinity may be low, and is hard to quantify experimentally, neurotransmitter membrane association can be relevant because of their large temporary concentration in the synaptic cleft. With thermodynamic and structural measurements we quantify membrane-bound states of serotonin, establishing this neurotransmitter as membrane-affine, whereas the affinity of the more hydrophilic GABA is too low to register in our sensitivity-optimized measurement techniques.
Antenna Preprocessing and Element-Pattern Shaping for Multi-Band mmWave Arrays: Multi-Port Transmitters and Antennas

Classical MIMO arrays employ a series of identical transceiver elements with periodically spaced identical and static antenna elements at a given frequency. The fixed antenna spacing limits the frequency of operation of the array due to the appearance of severe grating lobes at frequencies where the spacing approaches one wavelength. In this article, we propose element-level programmability, where each element in an array can be independently reconfigured to synthesize a set of element patterns. Through the control of element lobe and notch, new array patterns can be synthesized with strict control of side and grating lobes over a wide spectral range for multi-band arrays. In addition, we present the co-design methodology between the unit transmitter element and the integrated electromagnetic (EM) interface that allows broadband operation and unique antenna-level processing of signals that are distinct from classical arrays. This includes signal combination through the antenna, thus creating reconfigurable element patterns, dual beams for supporting wide angles of arrival and departure, and processing of more than one independent data stream in a single radiating surface (and reciprocal properties in a receiver). As a proof of concept, we present a four-port transmitter and EM interface implemented in a 65-nm bulk CMOS process. The chip demonstrates a wide effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) bandwidth approximately across 40–70 GHz at the broadside and a peak EIRP of 25.6 dBm at 60 GHz with the ability to create a wide array of transmitter element patterns in a single aperture. The multi-functional EM interface and the broadband transmitters can enable future efficient and compact MIMO arrays for reliable links exploiting frequency and pattern diversities.
Measurement of aggression in older adults.

Abstract Aggressive behaviors are prevalent in late-life and are associated with important consequences for older adults, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Age-related changes in the manifestation of aggression are precipitated in part by the rise of cognitive impairment. Such changes necessitate the use of psychometrically sound measures. The present article identifies existing measures of aggression for older adults, highlights the strengths and limitations of these measures, and proposes avenues for future research in this area. Five full-scale measures of aggression, as well as five subscales of aggression embedded within larger non-aggression measures in older adults were identified. Overall, measures of aggression specific to late-life are predominately observational and limited to individuals with dementia or older adults living in long-term care settings. The psychometric properties of aggression scales in late-life generally indicate adequate internal consistency, interrater reliability, and concurrent validity. In contrast, the reliability and validity of subscales of aggression contained within larger neuropsychiatric measures are more difficult to ascertain due to limited research. Future investigations would benefit from examining the psychometric properties of widely-used self-report measures of aggression among older adults, further evaluating the psychometric properties of aggression subscales, and developing additional measures which are predictive of aggressive behaviors.
The Differential Influence of Geographic Isolation on Environmental Migration: A Study of Internal Migration Amidst Degrading Conditions in the Central Pacific.

This study investigates how geographic isolation interacts with declining environmental and economic conditions in Kiribati, an island nation wherein which limited access to financial resources amidst degrading environmental conditions potentially constrain capital-intensive, long-distance migration. We examine whether geographic isolation modifies the tenets of two dominant environmental migration theses. The environmental scarcity thesis suggests that environmental degradation prompts migration by urging households to reallocate labor to new environments. In contrast, the environmental capital thesis asserts that declining natural resource availability restricts capital necessary for migration. Results show that the commonly applied environmental scarcity thesis is less valid and the environmental capital thesis is more relevant in geographically isolated places. Findings indicate that geographic isolation is an important dimension along which migration differences emerge. As overall environmental and economic conditions worsen, likelihoods of out-migration from less remote islands increase whereas likelihoods of out-migration from more isolated islands decrease.
South American Perspectives on Sexual Harassment: The Standpoint in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile

This study analyzed questionnaire data about sexual harassment and sexual aggression from 8198 employees in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Responses were analyzed using MANOVA, a multivariate analysis of variance. The results of testing differences between the effects of sexual harassment and sexual aggression on job satisfaction consequences were analyzed with a focus on South American perspectives, some of which are different from previous findings in U.S. studies. While previous U.S. studies show sexual harassment causes decreased job satisfaction, the findings of this study revealed that South American employees who were sexually harassed did not show significant decreases in job satisfaction. However, when the same populations were targets of the more serious offense of sexual aggression, they did report significant decreases in job satisfaction. Given the contrast between these results and the results of previous U.S. studies in the literature, these findings indicate that this perspective on sexual harassment differs between cultures. Differences in cultural values were analyzed using G. Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimensions. Further research with regard to the managerial nature of these perceptual differences is indicated.
Modification of the summative equation to estimate daily total digestible nutrients for bermudagrass pasture

In forage-animal nutrition modeling, diet energy is estimated mainly from the forage total digestible nutrients (TDN). As digestibility trials are expensive, TDN is usually estimated using summative equations. Early summative equations assumed a fixed coefficient to compute digestible fiber using the lignin-to-neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ratio. Subsequently, a structural coefficient (φ) was added to the summative equations to reflect an association between lignin and cell wall components. Additional modifications to the summative equations assumed a constant φ value, and they have been used as a standard method by many commercial laboratories and scientists. For feeds with nutritive values that do not change much over time, a constant φ value may suffice. However, for forages with nutritive values that keep changing during the grazing season owing to changes in weather and plant maturity, a constant φ value may add a systematic bias to prediction because it is associated with the variable lignin-to-NDF ratio. In this study, we developed a model to estimate φ as a function of the day of the year by using the daily TDN values of bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.], a popular warm-season perennial grass in the southern United States. The variable φ model was evaluated by using it in the TDN equation and comparing the estimated values with the observed ones obtained from several locations. Values of the various measures of fit used-the Willmott index (WI), the modeling efficiency (ME), R2, root mean square error (RMSE), and percent error (PE)-showed that using the variable φ vis-a-vis the constant φ improved the TDN equation significantly. The WI, ME, R2, RMSE, and PE values of 0.94, 0.80, 0.80, 2.5, and 4.7, respectively, indicated that the TDN equation with the variable φ model was able to mimic the observed values of TDN satisfactorily. Unlike the constant φ, the variable φ predicted more closely the forage nutritive value throughout the grazing season. The variable φ model may be useful to forage-beef modeling in accurately reflecting the impacts of plant maturity and weather on daily forage nutritive value and animal performance.
Stability of Neural Networks on Riemannian Manifolds

Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have been applied to data with underlying non-Euclidean structures and have achieved impressive successes. This brings the stability analysis of CNNs on non-Euclidean domains into notice because CNNs have been proved stable on Euclidean domains. This paper focuses on the stability of CNNs on Riemannian manifolds. By taking the Laplace-Beltrami operators into consideration, we construct an $\alpha$-frequency difference threshold filter to help separate the spectrum of the operator with an infinite dimensionality. We further construct a manifold neural network architecture with these filters. We prove that both the manifold filters and neural networks are stable under absolute perturbations to the operators. The results also implicate a trade-off between the stability and discriminability of manifold neural networks. Finally we verify our conclusions with numerical experiments in a wireless adhoc network scenario.
Dysbiosis exacerbates colitis by promoting ubiquitination and accumulation of the innate immune adaptor STING in myeloid cells

Alterations in the cGAS-STING DNA-sensing pathway affect intestinal homeostasis. We sought to delineate the functional role of STING in intestinal inflammation. Increased STING expression was a feature of intestinal inflammation in mice with colitis and in humans afflicted with inflammatory bowel disease. Mice bearing an allele rendering STING constitutively active exhibited spontaneous colitis and dysbiosis, as well as progressive chronic intestinal inflammation and fibrosis. Bone marrow chimera experiments revealed STING accumulation in intestinal macrophages and monocytes as the initial driver of inflammation. Depletion of Gram-negative bacteria prevented STING accumulation in these cells and alleviated intestinal inflammation. STING accumulation occurred at the protein rather than transcript level, suggesting post-translational stabilization. We found that STING was ubiquitinated in myeloid cells, and this K63-linked ubiquitination could be elicited by bacterial products, including cyclic di-GMP. Our findings suggest a positive feedback loop wherein dysbiosis foments the accumulation of STING in intestinal myeloid cells, driving intestinal inflammation.
Smoothed-Particle-Hydrodynamics for the control of robotic swarms and parametric associations

A swarm of robots has several macroscopic properties that are extraneous to an individual robot. This is a direct consequence of the fact that a swarm is a coupled high-dimensional system that is characterized by interactions between individual robots. In a Smoothed-Particle-Hydrodynamics (SPH) based control of a swarm of robots, the equations of motion may be parameterized by key parameters that affect the macroscopic properties of the swarm such as separation, compressibility, cohesivity, and velocity matching. In this paper, we analyze this relation between the parameters in the equations of motion and the properties of the swarm. The resulting analysis enables the design of a versatile, scalable controller that may be modified and adopted to suit the desired objectives of individual applications. We also present a new interaction potential that enables controlling the robot-robot separation, beyond maintaining the robot density, and providing a swarm cohesive force that keeps the robots in the swarm together. The constructed interaction potential is conservative, and the overall swarm stability may still be established using passivity arguments in the presence of a dissipative
Engineering Lab in Immersive VR—An Embodied Approach to Training Wafer Preparation:

This paper reports an immersive virtual reality lab (iVRLab) training environment that offers college students an immersive and embodied experience in engineering lab work. The iVRLab provides a si...
Acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is a common disease most frequently caused by gallstone disease or excess alcohol ingestion. Diagnosis is usually based on characteristic symptoms, often in conjunction with elevated serum pancreatic enzymes. Imaging is not always necessary, but may be performed for many reasons, such as to confirm a diagnosis of pancreatitis, rule out other causes of abdominal pain, elucidate the cause of pancreatitis, or to evaluate for complications such as necrosis or pseudocysts. Though the majority of patients will have mild, self-limiting disease, some will develop severe disease associated with organ failure. These patients are at risk to develop complications from ongoing pancreatic inflammation such as pancreatic necrosis, fluid collections, pseudocysts, and pancreatic duct disruption. Validated scoring systems can help predict the severity of pancreatitis, and thus, guide monitoring and intervention. Treatment of acute pancreatitis involves supportive care with fluid replacement, pain control, and controlled initiation of regular food intake. Prophylactic antibiotics are not recommended in acute pancreatitis if there is no evidence of pancreatic infection. In patients who fail to improve, further evaluation is necessary to assess for complications that require intervention such as pseudocysts or pancreatic necrosis. Endoscopy, including ERCP and EUS, and/or cholecystectomy may be indicated in the appropriate clinical setting. Ultimately, the management of the patient with severe acute pancreatitis will require a multidisciplinary approach. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2010;5:241–250. © 2010 Society of Hospital Medicine.