cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tree Species Traits Influence Soil Physical, Chemical, and Biological Properties in High Elevation Forests

Background: Previous studies have shown that plants often have species-specific effects on soil properties. In high elevation forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains, North America, areas that are dominated by a single tree species are often adjacent to areas dominated by another tree species. Here, we assessed soil properties beneath adjacent stands of trembling aspen, lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce, which are dominant tree species in this region and are distributed widely in North America. We hypothesized that soil properties would differ among stands dominated by different tree species and expected that aspen stands would have higher soil temperatures due to their open structure, which, combined with higher quality litter, would result in increased soil respiration rates, nitrogen availability, and microbial biomass, and differences in soil faunal community composition. Methodology/Principal Findings: We assessed soil physical, chemical, and biological properties at four sites where stands of aspen, pine, and spruce occurred in close proximity to one-another in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Leaf litter quality differed among the tree species, with the highest nitrogen (N) concentration and lowest lignin:N in aspen litter. Nitrogen concentration was similar in pine and spruce litter, but lignin:N was highest in pine litter. Soil temperature and moisture were highest in aspen stands, which, in combination with higher litter quality, probably contributed to faster soil respiration rates from stands of aspen. Soil carbon and N content, ammonium concentration, and microbial biomass did not differ among tree species, but nitrate concentration was highest in aspen soil and lowest in spruce soil. In addition, soil fungal, bacterial, and nematode community composition and rotifer, collembolan, and mesostigmatid mite abundance differed among the tree species, while the total abundance of nematodes, tardigrades, oribatid mites, and prostigmatid mites did not. Conclusions/Significance: Although some soil characteristics were unaffected by tree species identity, our results clearly demonstrate that these dominant tree species are associated with soils that differ in several physical, chemical, and biotic properties. Ongoing environmental changes in this region, e.g. changes in fire regime, frequency of insect outbreaks, changes in precipitation patterns and snowpack, and land-use change, may alter the relative abundance of these tree species over coming decades, which in turn will likely alter the soils.
Expanding roles for GILT in immunity

Gamma-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase (GILT), a thioredoxin-related oxidoreductase, functions in MHC class II-restricted antigen processing and MHC class I-restricted cross-presentation by reducing disulfide bonds of endocytosed proteins and facilitating their unfolding and optimal degradation. However, recent reports have greatly expanded our understanding of GILT's function. Several studies of GILT and antigen processing have shown that the influence of GILT on the peptide repertoire can alter the character of the immune response and affect central tolerance. Furthermore, a few unexpected roles for GILT have been uncovered: as a host factor for Listeria monocytogenes infection, in the maintenance of cellular glutathione (GSH) levels, and possibly outside the cell, as enzymatically active GILT is secreted by activated macrophages.
Microcapsules on Streptococcus mutans Serotypes by Electron Microscopy

Extracellular microcapsules have been demonstrated on cells of most serotypes of Streptococcus mutans by electron microscopy, using bacterial strains of the various serotypes and peroxidase labeled or unlabeled immune serum. A correlation was noted between the amount of capsular substance on the strains of S mutans examined and degree of antigenicity as expressed by the indirect fluorescent antibody (FA) title. A serotype d strain was shown to lose both antigenicity as determined by the FA reaction and capsular material as seen by electron microscopy with repeated in vitro passage. When 10% unheated rabbit serum was added to the medium, antigenicity and capsular material were restored.
Seasonal changes in the physical nature of the bark phloem parenchyma cells ofPinus strobus

Changes in the vacuome and cytoplasm of phloem parenchyma cells ofPinus strobus were observed from summer to winter over a three year period. These changes were evidence mainly by aggregation of the vacuolar contents with vital stains in summer but not usually in winter. Gelation of the vacuome could be induced in either season, but in winter the solid material appeared to take up more space in the cell when treated with 2M sucrose than in summer. The same phenomenon of aggregation appeared in fixed material in summer but not in winter in most cases.
Life cycle cost and benefits of process automation in bulk pharmaceuticals

Abstract Process automation has been implemented in many bulk pharmaceutical facilities during the last fifteen years. This paper describes actual cost and benefits of automating these facilities during the life cycle of design, start-up, and operation. These bulk facilities have been automated with varying levels of process control and information management. The tangible benefits and keys to success of several operational automated batch bulk pharmaceutical facilities will be examined.
OSU-03012 sensitizes breast cancers to lapatinib-induced cell killing: a role for Nck1 but not Nck2

Lapatinib is characterized as an ErbB1/ErbB2 dual inhibitor and has recently been approved for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. In this study, we examined mechanisms associated with enhancing the activity of lapatinib via combination with other therapies. In the present studies, estrogen receptor (ER) positive and ER negative breast cancer cells were genetically manipulated to up- or downregulate eIF2-alpha, its phospho-mutant, Nck1, or Nck2, then treated with OSU-03012, lapatinib or the combination and assayed for cytotoxicity/cytostaticity using clonogenic assays. Treatment of breast cancer cell lines with lapatinib and OSU-03012 (a small molecule derivative of the Cox-2 inhibitor celecoxib) induced synergistic cytotoxic/cytostatic effects. This combination therapy corresponded to an increase in the phosphorylation of eIF2-α at serine51 and a decrease in Nck1 expression. Ectopic expression of phospho-mutant eIF2-α (Ser51Ala) or downregulation of eIF2-α in addition to downregulation of the eIF2-α kinase PERK inhibited the synergistic and cytotoxic effects. Furthermore, ectopic expression of Nck1, but not Nck2 abolished the decrease in cell viability observed in combination-treated cells. Downregulation of Nck1 failed to “rescue” the ablation of the cytotoxic/cytostatic effects by the phospho-mutant of eIF2-α (Ser51Ala) demonstrating that Nck1 downregulation is upstream of eIF2-α phosphorylation in the anti-survival pathway activated by lapatinib and OSU-03012 treatment. Finally, co-immunoprecipitation assays indicated that eIF2-α dissociates from the Nck1/PP1 complex after OSU-03012 and lapatinib co-treatment. These data indicate that OSU-03012 and lapatinib co-treatment is an effective combination therapy, which functions to enhance cell killing through the Nck1/eIF2 complex. Hence, this complex is a novel target for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer.
Coherent nonlinear spectroscopy: from femtosecond dynamics to control.

▪ Abstract This review focuses on the study of the dynamics of isolated molecules and their control using coherent nonlinear spectroscopic methods. Emphasis is placed on topics such as bound-to-free excitation and the study of concerted elimination reactions, free-to-bound excitation and the study of bimolecular reactions, and bound-to-bound excitation and the study of intramolecular rovibrational dynamics and coherence relaxation. For each case the detailed time-resolved information reveals possible strategies to control the outcome. Experimental results are shown for each of the reactions discussed. The methods discussed include pump-probe and four-wave mixing processes such as transient grating and photon echo spectroscopy. Off-resonance transient-grating experiments are shown to be ideal for the study of ground state dynamics, molecular structure, and the molecular response to strong field excitation.
SOME APPLICATIONS OF EXTREME- VALUE METHODS

Classical applications of statistical methods, which frequently concern average values and other quantities following the symmetrical normal distribution, are inadequate when the quantity of interest is the largest or the smallest in a set of magnitudes. This is the situation in a number of fields, in many of which applications of methods for dealing with extremes have already been made. The literature on extreme value methods and applications is extensive. However, since it has largely developed in response to specific problems, it has until very recently been widely scattered in inumerous subject-matter publications and was therefore not readily accessible to the general research public. This limitation has now been removed with the publication by the National Bureau of Standards of Statistical Theory of Extreme Values and Some Practical Applications, a series of lectures [14]1 by one of the authors giving a comprehensive and unified account of the subject and including a comprehensive bibliography. A companion volume of tables was issued earlier [24]. The National Bureau of Standards has had a considerable interest in this subject, being concerned with the mathematical treatment of extreme values an-d the utilization of these and other data as a means of predicting future performance. One statistical program, originally sponsored by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, was concerned with predicting the maximum gust velocities that aircraft structures would be likely to encounter [22]. The aim of this article is to presenit a brief survey of the nature of extreme-value methods and illustrate their use by several typical applications. The text is based primarily on material in Lectures 1 and 4 of [14], anid the first application is taken from Lecture 4 of the same source. These may be consulted for further details of the methods or applications referred to here. The field is constantly growing,2 and considerable additional work has already appeared since preparation of the lectures for publication was undertaken. Some of these are listed at the end of the article.
Two-dimensional profiles of electric fields in a radio frequency argon plasma above nonuniformities present on a surface

Laser-induced fluorescence-dip spectroscopy was used to measure two-dimensional (2-D) maps of the electric field present in an argon discharge above a ratio frequency-powered, nonuniform surface. Electric fields were obtained from experimentally measured Stark shifts of the energy of argon Rydberg states. The 2-D maps of the electric fields demonstrated that nonuniformities present on an electrode have long-range effects on the structure of the sheath.
1,25(OH)2D3 suppresses expression and secretion of atrial natriuretic peptide from cardiac myocytes

We have examined the effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3] on the expression of the rat atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) gene and the secretion of the encoded protein product in neonatal rat cardiac myocyte cultures. 1,25(OH)2D3 effected a dose- and time-dependent inhibition of agonist-stimulated ANP secretion, which was accompanied by a reduction in the levels of the ANP mRNA transcript. The latter effect appeared to derive, at least in part, from suppression of ANP gene transcription. Of interest, both the reduction in mRNA levels and the inhibition of transcriptional activity were amplified by simultaneous treatment with retinoic acid, suggesting that heterodimerization of liganded 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor and retinoic acid receptor (likely retinoid X receptor) may underlie the inhibitory mechanism in the cardiac myocyte. Neither the secretory effect nor the effect on transcription proved to be calcium dependent. 22-Oxacalcitriol, a nonhypercalcemic analogue of 1,25(OH)2D3, was equally effective in suppressing ANP mRNA levels and transcription of the gene. These findings add to a growing body of data that imply an important role for 1,25(OH)2D3 in the regulation of cardiovascular function.
A probabilistic loading-dependent model of cascading failure and possible implications for blackouts

Catastrophic disruptions of large, interconnected infrastructure systems are often due to cascading failure. For example, large blackouts of electric power systems are typically caused by cascading failure of heavily loaded system components. We introduce the CASCADE model of cascading failure of a system with many identical components randomly loaded. An initial disturbance causes some components to fail by exceeding their loading limit. Failure of a component causes a fixed load increase for other components. As components fail, the system becomes more loaded and cascading failure of further components becomes likely. The probability distribution of the number of failed components is an extended quasibinomial distribution. Explicit formulas for the extended quasibinomial distribution are derived using a recursion. The CASCADE model in a restricted parameter range gives a new model yielding the quasibinomial distribution. Some qualitative behaviors of the extended quasibinomial distribution are illustrated, including regimes with power tails, exponential tails, and significant probabilities of total system failure.
Optical Pattern Recognition And Ai Algorithms And Architectures For Atr And Computer Vision

Optical Pattern Recognition has provided many attractive algorithms and architecture for advanced use in Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) and computer vision. This work is reviewed and highlighted in this paper. Attractive aspects of all of this research are: its attention to distortion-invariant, multi-target object recognition and the extensive testing which has been performed of these various architectures on large databases, as well as the design and fabrication of several quite compact optical processing architectures. Recent Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques promise to further advance optical processing. These issues are summarized herein.© (1987) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A quantitative comparison of the hominoid thalamus: III. A motor substrate—the ventrolateral complex

Nuclear volumes, nerve cell densities, numbers of neurons, and volumes of nerve cell perikarya of the thalamic ventrolateral complex (VL), a neural substrate for movement, were measured in specimens from two gibbons, one gorilla, one chimpanzee, and three humans, and the values were compared. The human VL had about one-and-a-half times as many neurons as did those of the great apes. The relative frequencies of the sizes of nerve cell perikarya differed slightly in the ventrolateral segment of VL; no differences were noted in the rest of VL. Compared with findings from other parts of the thalamus, the differences in the volumes of VL were greater than those found in the thalamic sensory nuclei, similar to those of rest of the thalamus, and less than those found in the whole brain. The increased number of neurons in human VL was similar to that of the somatosensory relay complex, but greater than those of the auditory and visual nuclei and less than those of the limbic and association nuclei. In human evolution, the numbers of neurons in the VL appeared to increase at a faster rate than did neurons of the pyramidal tract, whereas the motor cortex apparently increased at a rate greater than VL.
The Medicare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program: First Year Adoption Response from Inpatient Hospitals

This study investigates electronic health records (EHR) adoption among inpatient hospitals in response to the first operational year of the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. Profile analysis of public attestation datasets finds both system adoption rates and implemented functionalities to have been significantly influenced by the incentive program’s attributes. Key dates and periods in the program’s well-publicized timeline were usually accompanied by spikes in the number of attested systems and/or dips in advanced functionalities. The implication is that hospitals have responded to the program by swiftly implementing EHR systems with capabilities just sufficient to meet program requirements, in order to be able to promptly file attestations and thus claim their incentive payments. The program therefore appears to have yielded mixed results. While it seems to have induced more hospitals to acquire EHR systems, the implemented systems generally possess minimal functionalities, suggesting that adopters have l...
Potent sirtuin inhibition bestowed by L-2-amino-7-carboxamidoheptanoic acid (L-ACAH), a Nε-acetyl-lysine analog

Inhibitors of sirtuin-catalyzed NAD+-dependent proteinlysine deacetylation reaction possess great value for a fuller exploration of sirtuin biology/pharmacology and as potential therapeutic agents for metabolic and age-related diseases and cancer. In the current study, we discovered that L-2-amino-7-carboxamidoheptanoic acid (L-ACAH), a Ne-acetyl-lysine analog, could confer potent SIRT1 inhibition in both the peptidic and the peptidomimetic inhibitors. This inhibition was demonstrated to be mechanism-based since the in vitro studies with the peptidic inhibitor revealed that (i) the inhibitor was competitive versus the acetyl-lysine substrate, (ii) the inhibitor was of the slow, tight-binding type, and (iii) the inhibitor was able to be converted to at least one longer-lived catalytic intermediate and perhaps all the way to the product (similar to 2′-O-acetyl-ADP-ribose) as well. The in vivo characterization of the peptidomimetic inhibitor revealed its capability of inhibiting the SIRT1 inside the human colon cancer cell line HCT116. This peptidomimetic compound was also shown to be an in vitroinhibitor against SIRT2 and SIRT3 with comparable potency to that against SIRT1. These results point to the potential of developing further potent cell permeable L-ACAH-based inhibitors for sirtuins.
What's the best bet? an analysis of design scientists' perceptions of receptivity and impact of IS journals

Design Science Research is now an accepted philosophy for Information Systems scholars, yet deciding where to publish is still enigmatic. Though several mainstream IS publications modified their editorial statements to welcome DSR manuscripts, their receptivity is uncertain. We survey the DSR community regarding individual researchers' experiences publishing DSR work in journals, and summarize our findings here. We identify journals that the DSR community perceives to be both receptive to DSR work and impactful to their careers. Our goal is to aid Design Science researchers in the selection of appropriate outlets for their future work, and possibly identify potential journal outlets they may not have considered.
Are Minimum Quality Standards Imposed by Federal Marketing Orders Acting as Nontariff Trade Barriers

As the pressure to liberalize agricultural trade both regionally and globally increases, the regulation and control of nontariff trade barriers becomes of paramount concern. The legislation regulating federal marketing orders in the United States allows these producer organizations to propose minimum quality standards (MQS) on domestic production, as well as imports, raising the possibility of using MQS as a nontariff trade barrier (NTB). Industry proposals, however, are subject to approval by the federal government. This paper presents an analytical model that examines domestic producers’ incentives and opportunities to use MQS as a NTB and government's incentives to approve or reject such regulations. In the first empirical investigation of the hypothesis that MQS act as NTB, a modified gravity equation model is used to examine the impacts of MQS on imports into the U.S. Results provide little support for the claims that MQS are acting as NTB. [JEL Codes: Q18, F13]
Matching wavelet packets to Gaussian random processes

We consider the problem of approximating a set of arbitrary, discrete-time, Gaussian random processes by a single, representative wavelet-based, Gaussian process. We measure the similarity between the original processes and the wavelet-based process with the Bhattacharyya (1943) coefficient. By manipulating the Bhattacharyya coefficient, we reduce the task of defining the representative process to finding an optimal unitary matrix of wavelet-based eigenvectors, an associated diagonal matrix of eigenvalues, and a mean vector. The matching algorithm we derive maximizes the nonadditive Bhattacharyya coefficient in three steps: a migration algorithm that determines the best basis by searching through a wavelet packet tree for the optimal unitary matrix of wavelet-based eigenvectors; and two separate fixed-point algorithms that derive an appropriate set of eigenvalues and a mean vector. We illustrate the method with two different classes of processes: first-order Markov and bandlimited. The technique is also applied to the problem of robust terrain classification in polarimetric SAR images.
Novel monosaccharide fermentation products in Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus identified using NMR spectroscopy

Background: Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus is a thermophilic, Gram-positive, non-spore forming, strictly anaerobic bacterium of interest in potential industrial applications, including the production of biofuels such as hydrogen or ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass through fermentation. High-resolution, solution-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a useful method for the identification and quantification of metabolites that result from growth on different substrates. NMR allows facile resolution of isomeric (identical mass) constituents and does not destroy the sample. Results: Profiles of metabolites produced by the thermophilic cellulose-degrading bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus DSM 8903 strain following growth on different monosaccharides (D-glucose, D-mannose, L-arabinose, D-arabinose, D-xylose, L-fucose, and D-fucose) as carbon sources revealed several unexpected fermentation products, suggesting novel metabolic capacities and unexplored metabolic pathways in this organism. Both 1 H and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy were used to determine intracellular and extracellular metabolite profiles. One dimensional 1 H NMR spectral analysis was performed by curve fitting against spectral libraries provided in the Chenomx software; 2-D homonuclear and heteronuclear NMR experiments were conducted to further reduce uncertainties due to unassigned, overlapping, or poorly-resolved peaks. In addition to expected metabolites such as acetate, lactate, glycerol, and ethanol, several novel fermentation products were identified: ethylene glycol (from growth on D-arabinose), acetoin and 2,3-butanediol (from growth on D-glucose, L-arabinose, and D-xylose), and hydroxyacetone (from growth on D-mannose, L-arabinose, and D-xylose). Production of ethylene glycol from D-arabinose was particularly notable, with around 10% of the substrate carbon converted into this uncommon fermentation product. Conclusions: The present research shows that C. saccharolyticus, already of substantial interest due to its capability for biological ethanol and hydrogen production, has further metabolic potential for production of higher molecular weight compounds, such as acetoin and 2,3-butanediol, as well as hydroxyacetone and the uncommon fermentation product ethylene glycol. In addition, application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy facilitates identification of novel metabolites, which is instrumental for production of desirable bioproducts from biomass through microbial fermentation.
Lesbian and Gay Affirmative Therapy Competency, Self-Efficacy, and Personality in Psychology Trainees:

This study explored the relationship between therapist personality, self-reported lesbian and gay (LG) affirmative therapy competency, and demonstrated LG affirmative therapy competency utilizing an analogue methodology with 212 therapists-in-training. Participants were randomly assigned to review one of four vignettes that varied the sexual orientation and presenting concern of the characters depicted. The experimental design was a 3 (Openness to Experience: Very High/High/Average) × 2 (Gay/Lesbian Vignette) × 2 (Relationship/Adjustment Vignette) factorial with three dependent variables (i.e., case conceptualization ability, LGB affirmative therapy competency, LGB affirmative therapy self-efficacy), and three covariates (i.e., participant sexual orientation, relationships with LGBT individuals, and number of LGBT clients seen). The relationship between self-reported competency (i.e., self-report measures of competency scores) and demonstrated competency (i.e., case conceptualizations of LG vignettes scor...
Human Persons as Social Entities

The aim of this article is to show that human persons belong, ontologi- cally, in social ontology. After setting out my views on ontology, I turn to persons and argue that they have first-person perspectives in two stages (rudimentary and robust) essentially. Then I argue that the robust stage of the first-person per- sective is social, in that it requires a language, and languages require linguistic communities. Then I extend the argument to cover the rudimentary stage of the first-person perspective as well. I conclude by enumerating ways in which human persons differ from nonhuman animals.
On optimal energy efficient convergecasting in unreliable sensor networks with applications to target tracking

In this paper, we develop a mathematical framework for studying the problem of maximizing the "information" received at the sink in a data gathering wireless sensor network. We explicitly account for unreliable links, energy constraints, and in-network computation. The network model is that of a sensor network arranged in the form of a tree topology, where the root corresponds to the sink node, and the rest of the network detects an event and transmits data to the sink over one or more hops. This problem of sending data from multiple sources to a common sink is often referred to as the convergecasting problem. We develop an integer optimization based framework for this problem, which allows for tackling link unreliability using general error-recovery schemes. Even though this framework has a non-linear objective function, and cannot be relaxed to a convex programming problem, we develop a low complexity, distributed solution. The solution involves finding a Maximum Weight Increasing Independent Set (MWIIS) in rectangle graphs over each hop of the network, and can be obtained in polynomial time. Further, we apply these techniques to a target tracking problem where we optimally select sensors to track a given target such that the information obtained is maximized subject to constraints on the per-node sensing and communication energy. We validate our algorithms through numerical evaluations, and illustrate the advantages of explicitly considering link unreliability in the optimization framework.
Real-world nutritional translation blended with food science.

This objective of this symposium was to describe cutting-edge research efforts at the interface of food and nutrition sciences that have the potential to affect human health. It aimed to foster additional interactions between food and nutrition scientists as a basis for a future collaborative research agenda targeting innovative food for human health. Both disciplines are important to bring “farm to cell,” as food scientists investigate technical aspects of food composition, processing, and consumption (e.g., “farm to fork”) while nutrition scientists investigate metabolic and physiological responses of the body to food and diet (e.g., “fork to cell”). Dr. Mario Ferruzzi, from the Departments of Food Science and Nutrition Science at Purdue University, explained that interactions between food and nutrition scientists may be facilitated by understanding processes by which food scientists translate nutrition research into product applications to meet consumer demand for a safe, healthful, and innovative food supply that supports dietary recommendations and addresses current health issues. Nutrition science begins by defining a product’s nutritional targets and composition, including bioactive properties, and establishing nutritional needs of targeted consumers. Food science and technology are then used to deliver on this target and fuse the product into consumer demand by integration of ingredient technology, formulations, processing, packaging, and optimization of the final product. Next, clinical trials can be implemented to evaluate the food product for safety, bioavailability, functionality, and efficacy and may evaluate the targeted population’s health after food product consumption. Finally, food-manufacturing operations are responsible for product scale-up, industrialization, and regulatory compliance. Combined research at the interface of food and nutrition science can drive innovation in the general field of food and health.
Prevention of hospital-associated pneumonia and ventilator-associated pneumonia

Objective:To synthesize the available clinical data for the prevention of hospital-associated pneumonia (HAP) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) into a practical guideline for clinicians.Data Source:A Medline database and references from identified articles were used to perform a literature s
Statistical optimization of dynamic importance sampling parameters for efficient simulation of communication networks

Importance sampling (IS) is a powerful method for reducing simulation run times when estimating the probabilities of rare events in communication systems using Monte Carlo simulation and is made feasible and effective for the simulation of networks of queues by regenerative techniques. However, using the most favorable IS settings very often makes the length of regeneration cycles infinite or impractically long. To address this problem, a methodology that uses IS dynamically within each regeneration cycle to drive the system back to the regeneration state after an accurate estimate has been obtained is discussed. A statistically based technique for optimizing IS parameter values for simulations of queueing systems, including complex systems with bursty arrival processes, is formulated. A deterministic variant of stochastic simulated annealing (SA), called mean field annealing (MFA), is used to minimize statistical estimates of the IS estimator variance. The technique is demonstrated by evaluating blocking probabilities. >
A Heuristic Algorithm for Plate SelectionThat Maximizes Compound Diversity

A heuristic algorithm was developed to maximize compound diversity within a subset of screen- ing plates used in high throughput screening (HTS) to initiate the drug discovery process. The approach overcame the challenge of combinatorial explosion for selecting plate subsets with maximum compound diversity. The method yielded novel forms of plate-based diversity subsets (PBDS) for HTS screening in lead discovery. The algorithm, its validation and the application to our screening collection are outlined. (doi: 10.5562/cca2301)
Supercharged End-to-Side Anterior Interosseous to Ulnar Motor Nerve Transfer for Intrinsic Musculature Reinnervation

Functional motor recovery after peripheral nerve injury is predominantly determined by the time to motor end plate reinnervation and the absolute number of regenerated motor axons that reach target. Experimental models have shown that axonal regeneration occurs across a supercharged end-to-side (SETS) nerve coaptation. In patients with a recovering proximal ulnar nerve injury, a SETS nerve transfer conceptually is useful to protect and preserve distal motor end plates until the native axons fully regenerate. In addition, for nerve injuries in which incomplete regeneration is anticipated, a SETS nerve transfer may be useful to augment the regenerating nerve with additional axons and to more quickly reinnervate target muscle. We describe our technique for a SETS nerve transfer of the terminal anterior interosseous nerve (AIN) to the pronator quadratus muscle (PQ) end-to-side to the deep motor fascicle of the ulnar nerve in the distal forearm. In addition, we describe our postoperative therapy regimen for these transfers and an evaluation tool for monitoring progressive muscle reinnervation. Although the AIN-to-ulnar motor group SETS nerve transfer was specifically designed for ulnar nerve injuries, we believe that the SETS procedure might have broad clinical utility for second- and third-degree axonotmetic nerve injuries, to augment partial recovery and/or "babysit" motor end plates until the native parent axons regenerate to target. We would consider all donor nerves currently utilized in end-to-end nerve transfers for neurotmetic injuries as candidates for this SETS technique.
Innovation or rebranding, acute care surgery diffusion will continue.

Background Patterns of adoption of acute care surgery (ACS) as a strategy for emergency general surgery (EGS) care are unknown.
Opening the Skies: Put Free Trade in Airline Services on the Transatlantic Trade Agenda

The European Union (EU) and the United States began negotiations for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013, with the primary goals of reducing impediments to cross-border trade and investment and achieving greater economic integration between the two economic areas. Independent research organizations project significant economic benefits from an accord for both parties.Curiously, there has been a near absence of discussion in the TTIP negotiations of freeing trade and investment in commercial airline services. Given the economies of scale and the scope for specialization that increase by enlarging markets, airline services liberalization would markedly increase the gains from an agreement, as the air passenger and cargo industries’ supply chains are rife with restrictions. Commercial air service is an end product, and the restrictions on competition raise costs and, ultimately, prices for passengers. But air transportation is also an intermediate good consumed by businesses in the production of their own goods and services. If the goal of liberalization is to reduce costs and achieve efficiencies that translate into lower prices, better quality, and innovation, then trade and transportation reforms are in many ways inseparable.In 2007, the United States and the European Union signed an “Open Skies” agreement, which liberalized competition and ownership restrictions, but the supply of domestic air services (flights between two points within the United States or within the EU) is still limited to national carriers, and foreign ownership is still restricted to minority status.Before the Open Skies agreement, both the United States and Europe enjoyed periods of deregulation in their commercial airline industries, which spawned greater competition, innovation, and consumer choice. Those experiences are instructive for what would likely follow significant liberalization of competition in this sector.Of course, incumbent interests marshaling various objections to freer trade and investment in commercial air services impede progress to that end. This paper argues that the objections to liberalization lack genuine merit and describes some of the benefits that have emerged as aviation markets have been freed up over the last 35 years. It offers insights into how U.S. airline passengers and transportation-consuming businesses would benefit from opening the domestic air market to competition from foreign carriers. Finally, it urges the U.S. and EU governments to put free trade in commercial air services on the TTIP negotiating agenda.
Empirically-Derived Principles for Designing Products With Flexibility for Future Evolution

Product designers seek to create products that are not only robust for the current marketplace but also can be redesigned quickly and inexpensively for future changes that may be unanticipated. The capability of a design to be quickly and economically redesigned into a subsequent product offering is defined as its flexibility for future evolution. Tools are needed for innovating and evaluating products that are flexible for future evolution. In this paper, a comprehensive set of design guidelines is created for product flexibility by merging the results of two research studies—a directed patent study of notably flexible products and an empirical product study of consumer products analyzed with a product flexibility metric. Via comparison of the results of these two studies, the product flexibility guidelines derived from each study are merged, cross-validated, and revised for clarity. They are organized in categories that describe how and under what circumstances they increase flexibility for future evolution. Examples are included to illustrate each guideline. The guidelines are also applied to an example application—the design of a new guitar string changer.Copyright © 2007 by ASME
A novel algorithm for bias-dependent cascode FET modeling

In this paper we present a novel algorithm for a flexible table-based, bias-dependent, small-signal cascode MESFET model. The model utilizes 2-port DC and RF characterizations of a single-gate, common-source MESFET in contrast to the typical 3-port characterization approach typically applied to dual-gate and cascode FETs. Cascode FET simulations enabled by the new model are shown to track measured data over varying bias conditions. >
Strain-induced optical changes in demineralized bone.

Bone “stress-whitens,” becoming visibly white during mechanical loading, immediately prior to failure. Stress-whitening is known to make materials tougher by dissipating mechanical energy. A greater understanding of stress-whitening, both an optical and mechanical phenomenon, may help explain age-related increases in fracture risk that occur without changes in bone mineralization. In this work, we directly measure the optical properties of demineralized bone as a function of deformation and immersing fluid (with different hydrogen-bonding potentials, water, and ethanol). The change in refractive index of demineralized bone was linear: with deformation and not applied force. Changes in refractive index were likely due to pushing low-refractive-index fluid out of specimens and secondarily due to changes in the refractive index of the collagenous phase. Results were consistent with stress-whitening of demineralized bone previously observed. In ethanol, the refractive index values were lower and less sensitive to deformation compared with deionized water, corroborating the sensitivity to fluid hydration. Differences in refractive index were consistent with structural changes in the collagenous phase such as densification that may also occur under mechanical loading. Understanding bone quality, particularly stress-whitening investigated here, may lead to new therapeutic targets and noninvasive methods to assess bone quality.
Understanding Readmission After Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty: Who’s at Risk?

Readmission has been cited as an important quality measure in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We queried an electronic database for all patients who underwent Total Hip Arthroplasty or Total Knee Arthroplasty at our institution from 2006 to 2010 and identified those readmitted within 90 days of surgery, reviewed their demographic and clinical data, and performed a multivariable logistic regression analysis to determine significant risk factors. The overall 90-day readmission rate was 7.8%. The most common readmission diagnoses were related to infection and procedure-related complications. An increased likelihood of readmission was found with coronary artery disease, diabetes, increased LOS, underweight status, obese status, age (over 80 or under 50), and Medicare. Procedure-related complications and wound complications accounted for more readmissions than any single medical complication.
Educating Exceptional Students: A Comprehensive Team Approach.

(1982). Educating exceptional students: A comprehensive team approach. Theory Into Practice: Vol. 21, Exceptional Children in the Schools, pp. 88-96.
Labeled Pyrimidines in PET Imaging

Imaging with thymidine and a number of analogues has been demonstrated in a number of laboratory and clinical settings. Although thymidine can be used to accurately quantitate DNA synthesis, the short physical and biologic half-life of the compound limits its routine use for clinical evaluation. Newer analogues, such as FLT, FMAU, and FBAU, offer metabolically simpler approaches. Each radiopharmaceutical has its strengths and weaknesses. FLT is simplest to synthesize but measures the level of cellular TK1, the first step in the DNA synthetic pathway; it is not incorporated into DNA. FMAU and FBAU are incorporated into DNA but are more difficult to label with 18F. Alternatively, they can be labeled with 11C or 77Br, respectively. Clinical studies with thymidine and the analogues are still in the early stages. Use in the detection of brain tumors appears particularly promising given the low background of these tracers in the normal brain. The relative merits of pyrimidines and FDG for use in other organs and in measuring response require further studies.
When Does ICT-Enabled Citizen Voice Lead to Government Responsiveness?

This article reviews evidence on the use of 23 information and communications technology (ICT) platforms to project citizen voice to improve public service delivery. This meta-analysis focuses on empirical studies of initiatives in the global South, highlighting both citizen uptake ('yelp') and the degree to which public service providers respond to expressions of citizen voice ('teeth'). The conceptual framework distinguishes two roles played by ICT-enabled citizen voice: informing upwards accountability, and bolstering downwards accountability through either individual user feedback or collective civic action. This distinction between the ways in which ICT platforms mediate the relationship between citizens and service providers allows for a precise analytical focus on how different dimensions of such platforms contribute to public sector responsiveness. These cases suggest that while ICT platforms have been relevant in increasing policymakers' and senior managers' capacity to respond, most of them have yet to influence their willingness to do so.
Dwaj żołnierze nieznani

The sketch is a comparative analysis of two novels on World War I: Salt of the Earth by Jozef Wittlin and The First Man by Albert Camus. The author does not limit herself to analyze the depiction of war, but she treats the subject matter of war as a general context within which both writers examine the phenomenon of human anonymity against a wide background of historical events, as is also done in a narrower context of the issues of self-determination and self-cognition. Such focus allows to make a synthesis of personal and historical threads of both novels and to shed light on a range of internal consistencies decisive to the multidimensional character of the thematic structure of Salt of the Earth and The First Man . The author bases her comparison of Salt of the Earth and The First Man on the analysis of anonymity of both protagonists. The facts decisive to the specifi c character of this anonymity are: low social class, illiteracy, as well as, typically for citizens of ethnically diverse monarchies and for emigrants, an inability to identify oneself with the patriotic war ideology. Threads of social and political anonymity of the heroes intertwine with threads of anonymity of those who participate in a war, which makes the idea of the Unknown Soldier deepened by the idea of a man unknown not only at war but during peacetime.
Tracking and Locating Itinerant Subjects With a Rechargeable Incentive Card: Results of a Randomized Trial

ABSTARCTBackground: High attrition among research participants undermines the validity and generalizability of field research. This study contrasted two incentivizing methods—money orders (MOs) or rechargeable incentive cards (RICs)—with regard to rates of participants' study engagement and follow-up contact over a 6-month period. Methods: Substance abusers (N = 303) in Los Angeles, California were recruited and randomized to either an MO (control) or RIC (experimental) condition. All participants were asked to call the researchers at the beginning of each calendar month for the ensuing 5 months to update their locator information, even if nothing had changed. Each call resulted in a $10 payment, issued immediately via the RIC system or by MO by mail. Research staff located and interviewed all participants at Month 6. Contact logs assessed level of effort required to locate participants and conduct follow-up interviews. Results: Relative to controls, RIC participants, especially those with low ability to ...
Simplified method for determination of total adrenal cholesterol.

ConclusionsThe method of Zlatkis, Zak, and Boyle for the direct determination of serum cholesterol has been adapted to the determination of total adrenal cholesterol. The values thus obtained do not differ significantly from those obtained by the method of Sperry and Webb in normal, hypophysectomized and cold stressed animals. The time required to analyze 10 samples and 5 standards by the Zlatkis, Zak? and Boyle procedure requires less than one hour compared to the 2 days usually necessary when methods based on the Liebermann-Burchard reaction are utilized.
Assessing variability in neurointerventional practice patterns for acute ischemic stroke

Background Intra-arterial therapy (IAT) is increasingly used to treat patients with acute stroke with large vessel occlusions. There are minimal data and guidelines for treatment indications and performance standards. We aimed to gain a better understanding of real-world practice patterns for IAT. Methods An internet-based survey was launched to address six specific areas of IAT: practice setting, operator background, operational protocols, quality/safety, decision-making and treatment strategies. The survey invitation was distributed to members of multiple neurointerventional societies. Results Responses from 140 neurointerventionalists worldwide were analyzed. The median annual volume of IAT cases per institution was 40, and the median neurointerventional group size was three staff members. Independent predictors of case volume were presence of comprehensive stroke services and telestroke capability. The median minimum National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score for treatment consideration was 8, although 60% of respondents reported no minimum score cut-off. There was no strict time window from symptom onset to treatment among 41% of respondents for anterior circulation strokes and among 56% for posterior circulation strokes, instead basing treatment decisions on clinical and imaging findings. Despite the emphasis on imaging-based selection, there was pronounced variability in the criteria used. Only 27% used one imaging approach exclusively. IAT following full- or partial-dose intravenous tissue plasminogen activator was performed by 89%. Mechanical devices were the predominant first-line therapy, but specific device usage depended on practice location. Approximately half preferred conscious sedation during IAT. Conclusions This survey illustrates significant variation among neurointerventionalists in the real-world use of IAT. Our findings highlight the need for evidence-based practice guidelines.