cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
151. Evidence for sympathetic nervous system modulation of mammary tumor pathogenesis via tumor collagen

Our laboratory uses multiphoton laser scanning microscopy to study tumor collagen structure using an optical technique known as second harmonic generation (SHG). SHG is an endogenous optical signal produced when two excitation photons combine to produce one emission photon, “catalyzed” by a non-centrosymmetric structure such as ordered collagen triple helices. Manipulating collagen structure, as indicated by changes in SHG, also alters tumor growth and metastasis. We also study the role of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation and the neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) in breast cancer. To mimic SNS activation, mice were implanted with slow-release pellets containing desipramine (DMI), a NE uptake blocker. DMI elevated NE and its metabolite normetanephrine in spleen and in 4T1 tumors implanted orthotopically (in the mammary fat pad). Furthermore, DMI increased 4T1 mammary tumor growth, compared to placebo pellet controls. Tumor sections from DMI-implanted mice exhibited elevated SHG intensity. In these same images, fluorescent intensity generated by immunofluorescent staining with anti-collagen type 1 antibody was not altered by DMI treatment, indicating no alterations in total collagen (both SHG generating and non-SHG generating collagen). These results demonstrate that NE-induced tumor growth is associated with altered tumor collagen microstructure, and suggest that SNS activation may modulate tumor pathogenesis through a novel pathway, i.e., modulation of tumor extracellular matrix. The mechanisms linking SNS activation to collagen structure and tumor pathogenesis are currently under investigation.
Predator Power and Efficacy: A Model to Evaluate Their Impact

An attempt was made to develop a modified version of the Bombosch predator model as a predictive model for field evaluation of a predator complex against the prey complex by changing a numerical census of predator species in a specific environment to a value that would measure the reductive impact of the complex against the prey species. This reductive impact was taken to be the product of predator power (predator species classified according to degree of voracity against aphids as weighted by a coefficient that proportionates all classes) multiplied by the efficacy of the predator the variable value of voracity as it is influenced by such factors as temperature, biomass of prey, and seasonal trend. It was then used to adjust the potential rate of growth of the aphid population ( q ) as estimated from caged plants after q was used to estimate the rate of increase of the population on exposed plants when no predators are present.
The need to account for residual strains and composite nature of heart wall in mechanical analyses

We studied 19 excised, passive rabbit left ventricular walls to delineate the forms of the strain-energy functions (W) for myocardium and epicardium, to quantify residual strains across the wall, and to investigate whether the mechanical behavior of the intact wall can be predicted by accounting for the above properties. The unloaded dimensions and the stress-strain responses to equibiaxial and uniaxial loadings were obtained first for the intact wall and then individually for the epicardium and myocardium. Results show that the previously proposed W for canine myocardium and epicardium are suitable. The unloaded intact wall has residual strains: the epicardium is stretched and the myocardium shrunk from their respective isolated, unloaded states. The predicted mechanical responses of the intact wall to biaxial loadings were inaccurate when the residual strains were not taken into account. Accounting for these, however, yielded reasonable predictions. Thus information on the unloaded reference state and properties of each portion is needed to accurately predict the behavior of the intact wall.
Chronic wrist pain.

Chronic wrist pain is among the most difficult diagnostic and therapeutic challenges faced by hand surgeons. The causes are often elusive, of long duration, and not uncovered easily by routine diagnostic methods. This article outlines a systematic evaluation of the patient with chronic wrist pain to determine which of many potential conditions is the cause of the wrist pain so an effective therapeutic plan can be formulated.
On synthesis of Fe 2 SiO 4 /SiO 2 and Fe 2 O 3 /SiO 2 composites through sol–gel and solid-state reactions

Major processing factors in forming Fe2SiO4/SiO2 and Fe2O3/SiO2 powders via sol–gel synthesis followed by solid-state reactions are investigated. The results clearly indicate that the chemical compositions of the precursors, the ratio of the precursors, the nature of the catalyst used, and the gas atmosphere during solid-state reactions can all affect the outcome of the reaction product(s). The formation of Fe2SiO4/SiO2 is enhanced by using the precursor iron(III) acetylacetonate as the Fe source with the precursor ratio of iron(III) acetylacetonate to tetraethyl orthosilicate being 1:1 and the addition of formic acid. Otherwise, crystalline Fe and Fe3C are formed in place of Fe2SiO4. By altering the gas atmosphere during solid-state reactions from argon to oxygen, the reaction products change from Fe2SiO4/SiO2 to Fe2O3/SiO2. All of the observed phenomena can be rationalized via the degree of mixing of the Fe–O and Si–O domains at the molecular level in the gel network during sol–gel reactions and the presence of a reducing or oxidizing atmosphere during the solid-state reaction.
Radius and Ulna

Fractures of the radius and ulna are common in athletes and typically occur by falling on an outstretched hand (FOOSH). Diaphyseal fractures are less common than distal radius and ulna fractures, but both can be diagnosed by radiographs. Displacement and angulation of forearm fractures are not well tolerated and may require surgery. Athletes with forearm fractures who are managed without surgery typically require 8 weeks of immobilization and can return to sports around 12–16 weeks. In addition, athletes with forearm fractures may have associated injuries to the distal radioulnar joint. Fractures to the distal radius and ulna are much more common in athletes. After an initial period of splinting, athletes typically remain immobilized in a cast for 6–8 weeks as long as the fracture remains stable and in good alignment. In pediatric patients, angulation and displacement are better tolerated than in adults as children have increased potential for remodeling. Radiocarpal and ulnocarpal joint dislocations are very uncommon in sports and typically occur only in very high-energy accidents. Most patients require surgical management as there is a high risk of long-term instability after these injuries.
Relationships Among Dispositional Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, and Women's Dating Violence Perpetration: A Path Analysis.

Scant research examined mechanisms underlying the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and dating violence (DV) perpetration. Using a cross-sectional design with 203 college women, we examined whether distress tolerance mediated the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and DV perpetration (i.e., psychological aggression and physical assault). Path analyses results revealed indirect effects of mindfulness facets nonjudging of inner experiences and nonreactivity to inner experiences on both psychological aggression and physical assault through distress tolerance. Mindfulness facets observing, describing, and acting with awareness were not linked to DV perpetration through distress tolerance. Results suggest that women who allow internal experiences to come and go without assigning criticism or avoidance are better able to tolerate transient distress and less likely to abuse a dating partner. Future research may examine distress tolerance and dispositional mindfulness facets as potential ...
Effects of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Benign Breast Lesions Compared to Cancers: Should an Additional Lesion on Magnetic Resonance Imaging Responding Similar to Cancer after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy be Viewed with Suspicion?

Purpose: Determining the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) on benign breast lesions and to evaluate their response in comparison to breast cancers. Methods: A retrospective analysis performed on breast cancer patients between 2008 and 2014 to identify patients who had a pre- and post-NAC magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biopsy-proven benign lesions. Pre- and post-NAC size and intensity of enhancement of benign lesions and cancers were measured. Breast glandularity and background enhancement were graded. A 2 × 2 repeated measures ANOVAs and Sidak post hoc tests were conducted for multiple comparisons. Paired t -tests were conducted to examine changes over time, and two-tailed P values were reported. Results: The effects of NAC in 38 cancers were compared to the effects of NAC in 47 benign lesions in these patients. From pre- to post-NAC, the mean size (cm) of malignant lesions on MRI decreased from 4.09 (±standard deviation [SD] 2.51) to 1.54 (±SD 2.32), ( P P P P = 0.23). There was no significant change in glandularity from pretherapy (mean = 3.11, SD = 0.84) to posttherapy (mean = 3.13, SD = 0.82), P Conclusion: Similar to cancers, benign breast lesions also show a significant decrease in size and enhancement after NAC; however, the decrease in size is less compared to cancers.
The Anatomy to Genomics (ATG) Start Genetics medical school initiative: incorporating exome sequencing data from cadavers used for Anatomy instruction into the first year curriculum

The increasing use of next generation DNA sequencing in clinical medicine is exposing the need for more genetics education in physician training. We piloted an initiative to determine the feasibility of incorporating exome sequencing data generated from DNA obtained from cadavers used for teaching Anatomy into a first year medical student integrated block-style course. We optimized the procedure to obtain DNA for exome sequencing by comparing the quality and quantity of DNA isolated from several tissues by two different extraction methods. DNA was sequenced using exome capture and analyzed using standard methods. Single nucleotide variants (SNVs), as well as small insertions/deletions, with potential functional impact were selected by faculty for student teams to independently investigate and prepare presentations on their findings. A total of seven cadaver DNAs were sequenced yielding high quality results. SNVs were identified that were associated, with known physical traits and disease susceptibility, as well as pharmacogenomic phenotypes. Students presented findings based on correlation with known clinical information about the cadavers’ diseases and traits. Exome sequencing of cadaver DNA is a useful tool to integrate Anatomy with Genetics and Biochemistry into a first year medical student core curriculum.
Can functional traits account for phylogenetic signal in community composition

Phylogenetic and functional trait-based analyses inform our understanding of community composition, yet methods for quantifying the overlap in information derived from functional traits and phylogenies remain underdeveloped. Does adding traits to analyses of community composition reduce the phylogenetic signal in the residual variation? If not, then measured functional traits alone may be insufficient to explain community assembly. We propose a general statistical framework to quantify the proportion of phylogenetic pattern in community composition that remains after including measured functional traits. We then illustrate the framework with applications to two empirical data sets. Both data sets showed strong phylogenetic attraction, with related species likely to co-occur in the same communities. In one data set, including traits eliminated all phylogenetic signals in the residual variation of both abundance and presence/absence patterns. In the second data set, including traits reduced phylogenetic signal in residuals by 25% and 98% for abundance and presence/absence data, respectively. Our framework provides an explicit way to estimate how much phylogenetic community pattern remains in the residual variation after including measured functional traits. Knowing that functional traits account for most of the phylogenetic pattern should provide confidence that important traits for phylogenetic community structure have been identified. Conversely, knowing that there is unexplained residual phylogenetic information should spur the search for additional functional traits or other processes underlying community assembly.
Dopamine Transporter: Aging and Parkinson’s Disease

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a 12 transmembrane-spanning protein, which is responsible for transporting dopamine out of the synaptic cleft of dopaminergic neurons. During aging DAT expression declines in substantia nigra neurons. DAT, while selective for dopamine, can transport neurotoxins into substantia nigra neurons producing Parkinson's-like signs. Single positron emission computerized tomography (SPECT)–DAT brain imaging differentiates Parkinson's disease (PD) from other neurological syndromes.
Tackling Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the International Maritime Industry

No industry is as global in nature as maritime shipping and no environmental problem is as global in scope as anthropogenic climate change. The institutional responses to this issue are explored here from both the global climate change regime and the International Maritime Organization (IMO), a UN specialized agency that develops guidelines, protocols, and regulations for the maritime industry. In so doing, this chapter sheds light on the mechanisms that underlie the failure of international agreements to tackle global climate change and highlights the opportunities that have arisen to improve not only the sustainability of the shipping industry but also the future sustainability of Eurasia and our global economy.
Hoping Primacy Stays Cheap: America’s Grand Strategy

The United States is a deeply divided society on many political topics, but not on its foreign policy. There is a consensus view among the leaders of both main political parties supported by most former and current officials, senior military, and the public that the United States should remain the world’s most powerful nation and its continuing security depends upon the United States being the sole manager of global security. This stance, often labelled Primacy, stems from the lessons America’s leaders drew from the Second World War, was seemingly confirmed in the peaceful end to the Cold War, and has continued essentially unchallenged into the 21st Century because it has been cheap to maintain despite expectations to the contrary.
STASH: security architecture for smart hybrid memories

Whereas emerging non-volatile memories (NVMs) are low power, dense, scalable alternatives to DRAM, the high latency and low endurance of these NVMs limit the feasibility of NVM-only memory systems. Smart hybrid memories (SHMs) that integrate NVM, DRAM, and on-module processor logic are an efficient means to bridge the latency and endurance gaps between NVM-only and DRAM-only memory systems. However, these SHMs are vulnerable to data confidentiality and integrity attacks that can be executed on the unsecure NVM, DRAM, and/or memory buses. STASH is the first comprehensive end-to-end SecuriTy Architecture for SHMs that integrates (i) counter mode encryption for data confidentiality, (ii) low overhead page-level Merkle Tree (MT) authentication for data integrity, (iii) recovery-compatible MT updates to withstand power/system failures, and (iv) page-migration-friendly security meta-data management. For security guarantees equivalent to the closest state-of-the-art security solution extensible to SHMs, STASH reduces memory overhead by 12.7 ×, increases system performance by 65%, and improves NVM lifetime by 2.5 ×.
Case Report: “Dystextia” as a Sole Manifestation of Expressive Aphasia in Acute Ischemic Stroke (P03.175)

OBJECTIVE: Identify differing manisfestations of stroke-related symptoms through importance of a detailed language exam and the emergence of text messaging as signs of aphasia in the setting of acute infarct. BACKGROUND: Expressive Aphasia/Broca9s aphasia can be caused by a lesion in the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus. It is characterized by loss of ability to produce language, spoken or written. Bedside language examination consists of fluency, comprehension, naming, repetition, reading and writing. This case presented normal routine bedside language examination but abnormal message typing or "dystextia." DESIGN/METHODS: Case report of a patient presenting at Henry Ford Hospital. RESULTS: 40 year old, right handed, Caucasian male complained of slurred speech and right facial weakness. Patient9s NIHSS was 2. At midnight the night before, his wife received an unusual text message (SMS) from her husband. She stated that the SMS at the time were disjointed, non-fluent, and incomprehensible. [First SMS 12:22am: "Oh baby your;"] [Second SMS 12:22am: "I am happy;"] [Third SMS 12:24am: "I am out of it, just woke up, can9t make sense, I can9t even type, call if ur awake, love you."] Following day, patient had no observable neurologic deficits with exception of mild right facial asymmetry. No language deficits were noted on routine bedside examination. He was then asked to type the following sentence on a blackberry: “the doctor needs a new blackberry” and he typed “Tjhe Doctor nddds a new bb.” When asked if it was correct, he did not recognize any typing errors. CONCLUSIONS: Text messaging is a common practice of communication with >75 billion texts/month. Evaluation of "dystextia" may become a vital tool in determining language deficits in addition to the routine assessment. It also may help establish time of stroke symptom onset in patients who are in consideration for receiving acute stroke interventions as text messaging is always time/date stamped. Disclosure: Dr. Kaskar has nothing to disclose. Dr. Patel has nothing to disclose. Dr. Miller has nothing to disclose. Dr. Angus has nothing to disclose.
Functional Aspects of the Hippocampal-Septal Axis

In recent years several investigators have studied the effects of electrical stimulation of the hippocampus (7) or of the fiber pathways of the hippocampus (3,4,10) on single neuron activity in the septum. It has been shown that activation of the hippocampal efferents produces excitation as well as inhibition of long duration in septal cells. Our main concern has been with the electrophysiological consequences of the topographical organization of the hippocampal efferents.
TCT-357 Initial outcomes with a systematic application of Sentinal cerebral embolic protection for balloon expandable TAVR

While stroke rates associated with TAVR have improved over time stroke remains a significant persistent complication. The Sentinel device was aaproved for cerebral embolic protection during TAVR but its clinical efficacy remains uncertain, concerns remain as to potential complications, cost, and
Calibrating an agent-based model of longitudinal human activity patterns using the Consolidated Human Activity Database.

Patterns of human behavior over extended periods of time are important for characterizing human exposure to hazardous chemicals. Because longitudinal behavior patterns for an individual are difficult to obtain, exposure-assessors have characterized such patterns by linking daily records from multiple individuals. In an earlier publication, we developed an alternative strategy that was based on agent-based simulation modeling. Specifically, we created a software program, Agent-Based Model of Human Activity Patterns (ABMHAP), that generates year-long longitudinal behavior patterns. In this paper, we both calibrate and evaluate ABMHAP using human behavior data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Consolidated Human Activity Database (CHAD). We use the longitudinal data (data on individuals' activities over multiple days) in CHAD to parameterize ABMHAP, and we use single-day behavior data from CHAD to evaluate ABMHAP predictions. We evaluate ABMHAP’s ability to simulate sleeping, eating, commuting, and working (or attending school) for four populations: working adults, nonworking adults, school-age children, and preschool children. The results demonstrate that ABMHAP, when parameterized with empirical data, can capture both interindividual and intraindividual variation in behaviors in different types of individuals. We propose that simulating annual activity patterns via ABMHAP may allow exposure-assessors to characterize exposure-related behavior in ways not possible with traditional survey methods.
Generating partially synthetic geocoded public use data with decreased disclosure risk by using differential smoothing

Summary When collecting geocoded confidential data with the intent to disseminate, agencies often resort to altering the geographies before making data publicly available. An alternative to releasing aggregated and/or perturbed data is to release synthetic data, where sensitive values are replaced with draws from models designed to capture distributional features in the data collected. The issues associated with spatially outlying observations in the data, however, have received relatively little attention. Our goal here is to shed light on this problem, to propose a solution—referred to as ‘differential smoothing’—and to illustrate our approach by using sale prices of homes in San Francisco.
Oleuropein Aglycone Production and Formulation by Integrated Membrane Process

In this work, for the first time, the integration of a biocatalytic membrane reactor (BMR) and a membrane emulsification (ME) process, has been studied. The production and formulation of an importa...
An open trial of internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy for first year medical students.

Abstract Objective Medical students experience high rates of depression, and often face barriers to receiving traditional mental health services. Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT) programs offer a more accessible method of receiving care. Here, we conducted an open trial of an iCBT program for medical students and characterize program usage, program users, and self-reported psychosocial symptoms and coping skills. Methods All incoming first year medical students at a large state-run university were invited to use an iCBT program which focused on mood management and mood symptom prevention. Participants received access to the 16-week program and completed measures of perceived stress, quality of life, and the development of cognitive and behavioral coping skills at baseline and end of program. Results Of the 194 students in the class, 53 (27.32%) signed up to use the program. While the program attracted a representative portion of underrepresented minority students, program engagement among males was particularly low. Repeated use of the program was low. Self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety were low at baseline, and continued to be low at end of program. Slight increases were observed from baseline to end of program in the self-reported use of cognitive coping skills. Conclusions Digital mental health tools appear to be of interest to first year medical students, but need to be better designed to support continued program use and to attract specific subgroups of students who may face additional barriers to seeking mental health services.
Bankruptcy Laws and Entrepreneurship: The Moderating Effects of Culture and Environmental Munificence

Stringent bankruptcy laws are generally understood to increase the costs of failure and thus not conducive for entrepreneurship. However, the relationship between bankruptcy laws and entrepreneurial activity may be more nuanced than implied by previous work. In particular, the cultural context within which bankruptcy occurs, and the nature of the environment facing entrepreneurs could each impact the relationship between bankruptcy laws and the level of entrepreneurial activity. In this paper, theory is developed exploring these relationships. A unique dataset is compiled that tracks changes in bankruptcy laws from 1995-2008 in about 33 different countries from their legal documents and a wide range of economic and cultural variables from several different sources, i.e., International Labor organization, World Bank, Economic Freedom of the World Indices, etc. The hypotheses regarding the differences in bankruptcy laws and levels of entrepreneurial activity within and across different cultural and environmental contexts are tested using the ‘difference-in-differences’ method with this dataset. Results show that there are significant differences in the impact of bankruptcy laws and bankruptcy law changes across different cultural and environmental contexts.
Re)visiting Geographies of Beer

Beer has been an integral part of many cultures over the millennia. As a hearty social lubricant that also provided nutritional sustenance, beer has played important roles in celebrations, rituals, and social structures. The amalgamation of the four ingredients that create beer—water, malted grains, yeast, and hops (Humulus lupulus)—vary across time and space, and reflect the societies in which they are found. As such, this volume explores the geographies of beer by examining the cultural impacts and economic trends that have intersected, diverged, and shaped the current beer landscape (beerscape). Each chapter underscores the similarities and divergences within these beerscapes, from local to global scales of analysis, and from a diversity of perspectives and locales.
Plasma cell-free DNA-based predictors of response to abiraterone acetate/prednisone and prognostic factors in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer

The combination of abiraterone acetate and prednisone (AA/P) is used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, but molecular predictors of treatment response are not well elucidated. We evaluated plasma circulating tumor DNA- (ctDNA-) based copy number alterations (CNAs) to determine treatment-related predictive and prognostic biomarkers for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Serial plasma specimens were prospectively collected from 88 chemotherapy-naive mCRPC patients before and after 12 weeks of AA/P treatment. Sequencing-based CNA analyses were performed on 174 specimens. We evaluated CNA-associated 12-week responses for primary resistance, time to treatment change (TTTC) for secondary resistance, and overall survival for prognosis (P < 0.05). Associations with primary resistance were analyzed using the Fisher exact test. Kaplan–Meier survival curves and Cox regression analyses were used to determine the associations of CNAs with acquired resistance and overall survival. ctDNA reduced by 3.89% in responders and increased by 0.94% in nonresponders (P = 0.0043). Thirty-one prostate cancer-related genes from whole genome CNAs were tested. AR and AR enhancer amplification were associated with primary resistance (P = 0.0039) and shorter TTTC (P = 0.0003). ZFHX3 deletion and PIK3CA amplification were associated with primary resistance (P = 0.026 and P = 0.017, respectively), shorter TTTC (P = 0.0008 and P = 0.0016, respectively), and poor survival (P = 0.0025 and P = 0.0022, respectively). CNA-based risk scores combining selected significant associations (AR, NKX3.1, and PIK3CA) at the univariate level with TTTC were predictive of secondary resistance (P = 0.0002). and established prognoses for survival based on CNAs in ZFHX3, RB1, PIK3CA, and OPHN1 (P = 0.002). Multigene risk scores were more predictive than individual genes or clinical risk factors (P < 0.05). Plasma ctDNA CNAs and risk scores can predict mCRPC-state treatment and survival outcomes.
Hepatomegaly and short stature in a 14-year-old with type 1 diabetes mellitus: case report.

Background Mauriac syndrome is a rare consequence of poorly controlled insulin-dependent diabetes, characterized by hepatomegaly, growth failure, delayed onset of puberty, and cushingoid features. Case reports of patients with Mauriac syndrome are found infrequently in the literature given historic improvements in diabetes management due to readily available insulin therapy. Methods We describe a case of a 14-year-old girl who presented with acute onset abdominal pain, distention, and orthopnea. Results She had a history of poorly controlled insulin-dependent diabetes as well as short stature. Abdominal imaging revealed impressive hepatomegaly. Laboratory testing showed markedly elevated triglycerides and cholesterol. Mauriac syndrome was suspected and diagnosed by liver biopsy, which demonstrated significant glycogenic hepatopathy. Conclusions This case provides an illustrative example of Mauriac syndrome in a child who did not experience delayed onset of puberty and continued to have regular menses unlike what has been previously described. Furthermore, this case highlights the important consideration for significant dyslipidemia in patients with Mauriac syndrome and discusses the challenges of controlling insulin-dependent diabetes in the adolescent population.
Scalable GaSb/InAs Tunnel FETs With Nonuniform Body Thickness

GaSb/InAs heterojunction tunnel FETs are strong candidates in building future low-power ICs, as they could provide both steep subthreshold swing and large ON-state current ( $I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ ). However, at short-channel lengths, they suffer from large tunneling leakage originating from the small bandgap and small effective masses of the InAs channel. As proposed in this paper, this problem can be significantly mitigated by reducing the channel thickness, meanwhile retaining a thick source-channel tunnel junction, thus forming a design with a nonuniform body thickness. Because of the quantum confinement, the thin InAs channel offers a large bandgap and large effective masses, reducing the ambipolar and source-to-drain tunneling leakage at OFF-state. The thick GaSb/InAs tunnel junction, instead, offers a low tunnel barrier and small effective masses, allowing a large tunnel probability at ON-state. In addition, the confinement-induced band discontinuity enhances the tunnel electric field and creates a resonant state, further improving $I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ . Atomistic quantum transport simulations show that ballistic $I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}=284$ A/m is obtained at 15-nm channel length, $I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle OFF}}=1\times 10^{-3}$ A/m, and $V_{\mathrm{DD}}=0.3$ V, while with uniform body thickness, the largest achievable $I_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ is only 25 A/m. Simulations also indicate that this design is scalable to sub-10-nm channel length.
Natural killer cells activated through NKG2D mediate lung ischemia-reperfusion injury

Pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a clinical syndrome of acute lung injury that occurs after lung transplantation or remote organ ischemia. IRI causes early mortality and has no effective therapies. While NK cells are innate lymphocytes capable of recognizing injured cells, their roles in acute lung injury are incompletely understood. Here, we demonstrated that NK cells were increased in frequency and cytotoxicity in 2 different IRI mouse models. We showed that NK cells trafficked to the lung tissue from peripheral reservoirs and were more mature within lung tissue. Acute lung ischemia-reperfusion injury was blunted in a NK cell-deficient mouse strain but restored with adoptive transfer of NK cells. Mechanistically, NK cell NKG2D receptor ligands were induced on lung endothelial and epithelial cells following IRI, and antibody-mediated NK cell depletion or NKG2D stress receptor blockade abrogated acute lung injury. In human lung tissue, NK cells were increased at sites of ischemia-reperfusion injury and activated NK cells were increased in prospectively collected human bronchoalveolar lavage in subjects with severe IRI. These data support a causal role for recipient peripheral NK cells in pulmonary IRI via NK cell NKG2D receptor ligation. Therapies targeting NK cells may hold promise in acute lung injury.
Stochastic effects on a Hopf adaptive frequency oscillator

This paper explores the stochastic dynamics of a Hopf adaptive frequency oscillator when driven by noise. Adaptive oscillators are nonlinear oscillators that store information via plastic states. As noise is ubiquitous in physical systems, it is important to gain an understanding of the stochastic effects on adaptive oscillators. Previously, it has been shown that a simplified analysis of the Fokker–Planck equation results in affecting the plastic frequency state of these oscillators. However, when the full Fokker–Planck equation is considered, new behaviors are observed due to changes in oscillation amplitudes in addition to frequencies. The plastic frequency state of these oscillators may benefit from enhanced learning due to small amplitudes of noise, converge to incorrect values for medium amplitudes of noise, and even collapse to zero in the limit of large amplitudes of noise. Interestingly, not all averaged states collapse equally, which leads a two dimensional limit cycle to collapse into single dimensional oscillations when considering the averaged dynamics. These behaviors are compared analytically through the Fokker–Planck equation, numerically using the Euler–Maruyama simulations, and finally validated experimentally using an analog, electronic circuit. These results show that noise can enhance, mislead, or even reduce the dimensionality of the averaged adaptive Hopf oscillator.
Bootstrapping Dialog Models from Human to Human Conversation Logs.

State-of-the-art commercial dialog platforms provide powerful tools to build a conversational agent. These platforms provide complete control to the dialog designer to model user-agent interactions. However, a dialog designer needs to rely on domain experts to manually build the dialog model -- by creating dialog flow nodes and modeling user intents. This process is laborious, time consuming and expensive and does not allow the designer to exploit human to human conversation logs effectively. In this work, we present a research prototype that can ingest human-to-human conversation logs between an end-user and an agent, and suggest user-intents and agent-responses, given a conversation context. We utilize human to human conversation logs to build two emulators: user and agent. An agent emulator models an agent response given the conversation context so far, and a user emulator outputs possible user responses. Our system is able to recommend conversational intents as well as conversation flow using emulators based on real-world data, thus making the process of designing a bot more efficient. To the best our knowledge this is the first system that enables data-driven dialog model creation by emulating users and agents.
Genetic identification of preoptic neurons that regulate body temperature in mice

There has been an explosion recently in our understanding of the neuronal populations in the preoptic area involved in thermoregulation of mice. Recent studies have identified several genetically s...
Dexamethasone induction of hypertension and diabetes is PPAR-α dependent in LDL receptor–null mice

Hypertension and diabetes are common side effects of glucocorticoid treatment. To determine whether peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) mediates these sequelae, mice deficient in low-density lipoprotein receptor (Ldlr-/-), with (Ppara+/+) or without (Ppara-/-) PPAR-alpha, were treated chronically with dexamethasone. Ppara+/+, but not Ppara-/-, mice developed hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and hypertension. Similar effects on glucose metabolism were seen in a different model using C57BL/6 mice. Hepatic gluconeogenic gene expression was increased and insulin-mediated suppression of endogenous glucose production was less effective in dexamethasone-treated Ppara+/+ mice. Adenoviral reconstitution of PPAR-alpha in the livers of nondiabetic, normotensive, dexamethasone-treated Ppara-/- mice induced hyperglycemia, hyperinsulinemia and increased gluconeogenic gene expression. It also increased blood pressure, renin activity, sympathetic nervous activity and renal sodium retention. Human hepatocytes treated with dexamethasone and the PPAR-alpha agonist Wy14,643 induced PPARA and gluconeogenic gene expression. These results identify hepatic activation of PPAR-alpha as a mechanism underlying glucocorticoid-induced insulin resistance.
Nocturnal increases in the use of near-surface water by pond animals

We assessed diel animal habitat use in three shallow ponds, using unbaited funnel traps, a large column sampler, and sweep net collections in the upper stratum (0–0.3 m) of littoral and open habitats. In all three ponds, more animals were caught at night than during the day, indicating that use of near-surface waters was greatest at night, particularly in the fishless ponds. All methods yielded similar patterns. Our results demonstrate that nocturnal observations of pond animals are necessary to describe their ecology, even in fishless ponds where diel differences in habitat use or behavior might not be anticipated.
Amphetamine Withdrawal Alters Bistable States and Cellular Coupling in Rat Prefrontal Cortex and Nucleus Accumbens Neurons Recorded In Vivo

Repeated amphetamine administration is known to produce changes in corticoaccumbens function that persist beyond termination of drug administration. We have found previously that long-term alteration in dopamine systems leads to changes in gap junction communication, expressed as dye coupling, between striatal neurons. In this study, the cellular bases of amphetamine-induced changes were examined using in vivo intracellular recordings and dye injection in ventral prefrontal-accumbens system neurons of control and amphetamine-treated rats. Rats that had been withdrawn from repeated amphetamine displayed a significant increase in the incidence of dye coupling in the prefrontal cortex and nucleus accumbens, which persisted for up to 28 d after withdrawal. The increased coupling was limited to projection neurons in both prefrontal cortical and accumbens brain regions, as identified by their axonal trajectory or the absence of interneuron-selective immunocytochemical markers. These changes occurred with no substantial loss of tyrosine hydroxylase-immunoreactive terminals in these cortical and accumbens regions, ruling out dopamine degeneration as a precipitating factor. Previous studies showed that nitric oxide plays a role in the regulation of coupling; however, amphetamine-withdrawn rats had fewer numbers of neurons and processes that stained for nitric oxide synthase immunoreactivity. In amphetamine-treated rats, a higher proportion of cortical cells fired in bursts, and a larger proportion of accumbens and prefrontal cortical neurons exhibited bistable membrane oscillations. By increasing corticoaccumbens transmission, amphetamine withdrawal may lead to neuronal synchronization via gap junctions. Furthermore, this adaptation to amphetamine treatment persists long after the drug is withdrawn.
An Experimental Search for Causal Mechanisms in Sun/Weather-Climatic Relationships

The stratosphere and lower mesosphere are strong candidate regions for the occurrence of Sun/weather coupling processes. The approach presented here investigates the role of the middle atmosphere as a buffer region; i.e., where external energy inputs are modulated, filtered, amplified, and/or reflected. An ongoing experimental program is presented. It is designed to investigate atmospheric responses to the energetics of high latitude corpuscular radiations, which are closely related to solar activity. Many Sun/weather relationships show their best correlation at high latitudes during local winter, when direct solar insolation is least competitive, thereby qualifying the high latitude atmosphere as a primary region for causal-mechanism search. Satellite data (Nimbus IV BUV O3) are currently under study to measure O3 response to high latitude energetics. Furthermore, two complex and highly coordinated rocket-balloon programs (Aurorozone I and II) have been conducted at Poker Flat, Alaska to measure the direct penetration of energetic radiations to stratospheric depths, and their effect on the local electrical and neutral atmospheric properties. Preliminary findings exhibit an unexpected depletion in O3 during two modest X-ray auroral events, and display ionic effects which could imply significant changes in the local aeronomy. Future plans for continued studies incorporating the Spacelab are also discussed.
Find Your Beat: Therapeutic Drumming for Parkinson’s Disease

As of 2012, approximately 1 million people had Parkinson’s disease in the United States, and that figure is projected to increase as the population continues to age. Parkinson’s disease symptoms can impair an individual’s ability to communicate, in some cases contributing to social isolation. Effective complementary treatments for Parkinson’s disease are needed, particularly to address the non-motor symptoms, including depression and anxiety. This article examines a therapeutic drumming program offered to patients with Parkinson’s disease at a large teaching hospital in the United States.
Substance abuse in schizophrenia: a review.

Approximately half of the patients who suffer from schizophrenia are also substance abusers at some time during their illness. The motivational drive toward abusive consumption is compounded in individuals with schizophrenia who turn toward substances with reinforcing properties to alleviate aspects of psychosis. This review examines the prevalence, etiology, and clinical effects of substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, nicotine, cocaine) among individuals with schizophrenia. Clearly, substance abuse persists despite and in spite of treatment with typical antipsychotics. The efficacy of newer generation antipsychotics in the reduction of substance abuse among the schizophrenic population has yet to be established, but clozapine has been shown to reduce alcohol, smoking, and cocaine use. Hence, clozapine is a therapeutic option for dually diagnosed patients because of its superior efficacy relative to conventional neuroleptics and its capacity to control substance abuse.
Safety and Efficacy of the Infraclavicular Nerve Block Performed at Low Current

It has recently been suggested that peripheral nerve or plexus blocks performed with the use of a nerve stimulator at low currents (<0.5 mA) may result in neurologic damage. We studied the infraclavicular nerve block, performed with the use of a nerve stimulator and an insulated needle, in a prospective evaluation of efficacy and safety. During a one-year period, 248 patients undergoing infraclavicular nerve block were evaluated for block success rate and incidence of neurologic complication. All blocks were performed with the use of a nerve stimulator and an insulated needle at < or =0.3 mA. Success rate was 94%, which increased to 96% with surgical infiltration of local anesthetic. There were no intraoperative or immediate postoperative complications noted. After one week, only one patient had a neurologic complaint, and this was surgically related, referable to surgery performed on the radial nerve. We conclude that infraclavicular nerve blocks performed at low currents (< or =0.3 mA) are safe and effective.
Phase control of magnetic susceptibility in multiferroic composites

Dynamic magnetic susceptibility of a laminated composite of FeSiB/Pb(ZrTi)O3/FeSiB was measured. Alternating magnetic and electric fields in the ultrasonic range were simultaneously applied to excite the first mode of the longitudinal resonant vibrations of the composite sample. Significant enhancement of the susceptibility was observed when both fields had the same phase. However, the susceptibility was reduced by almost two orders of magnitude when the phase between the electric and magnetic field was shifted by 180°. This effect is interpreted in terms of combined magnetomechanical and electromechanical resonances that cause large dynamic strains in the magnetostrictive FeSiB ribbons and give rise to large changes of the magnetization when the strains in the magnetic and piezoelectric act in unison. In contrast, when the excitation fields have different phases, the strains in both materials oppose each other and the magnetoelastic contribution to the susceptibility is suppressed. The phase control of the magnetic susceptibility offers an interesting mechanism for applications, where fast modulation or rapid ON/OFF switching of susceptibility signal is required.
Development of a hybrid EPR/NMR coimaging system

Electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) is a powerful technique that enables spatial mapping of free radicals or other paramagnetic compounds; however, it does not in itself provide anatomic visualization of the body. Proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is well suited to provide anatomical visualization. A hybrid EPR/NMR coimaging instrument was constructed that utilizes the complementary capabilities of both techniques, superimposing EPR and proton-MR images to provide the distribution of paramagnetic species in the body. A common magnet and field gradient system is utilized along with a dual EPR and proton-NMR resonator assembly, enabling coimaging without the need to move the sample. EPRI is performed at approximately 1.2 GHz/ approximately 40 mT and proton MRI is performed at 16.18 MHz/ approximately 380 mT; hence the method is suitable for whole-body coimaging of living mice. The gradient system used is calibrated and controlled in such a manner that the spatial geometry of the two acquired images is matched, enabling their superposition without additional postprocessing or marker registration. The performance of the system was tested in a series of phantoms and in vivo applications by mapping the location of a paramagnetic probe in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract of mice. This hybrid EPR/NMR coimaging instrument enables imaging of paramagnetic molecules along with their anatomic localization in the body.
Effects of cutting fluid application on tool wear in machining: Interactions with tool-coatings and tool surface features

Minimal Quantity of Lubricant (MQL) application of cutting fluids (CFs), or near-dry machining, is being proposed as an environmentally and economically viable alternative to conventional flooding under conditions where dry cutting is not feasible. However, several issues related to CF application effects on cutting tool wear need further clarification, especially, the interactions of CF application with tool-coatings and chip-breakers, both of which are widely employed in industrial cutting tools, need further study. This paper presents the results of an experimental study into the effects of different CF application methods on tool wear during machining of AISI 1045 steel using flat-faced and grooved, coated carbide cutting tools. The results provide insight into the mechanisms of tool wear in the presence of CFs, as well as the influence of chip-breaking geometric features, and tool-coating systems, on CF action. The wear mode was observed to be dictated by thermal considerations, rather than by any friction reduction capability of different CF application methods, and forced attempts at achieving lubricating action were negatively affecting tool life under some conditions.
Complex phase error and motion estimation in synthetic aperture radar imaging

Attention is given to a SAR wave equation-based system model that accurately represents the interaction of the impinging radar signal with the target to be imaged. The model is used to estimate the complex phase error across the synthesized aperture from the measured corrupted SAR data by combining the two wave equation models governing the collected SAR data at two temporal frequencies of the radar signal. The SAR system model shows that the motion of an object in a static scene results in coupled Doppler shifts in both the temporal frequency domain and the spatial frequency domain of the synthetic aperture. The velocity of the moving object is estimated through these two Doppler shifts. It is shown that once the dynamic target's velocity is known, its reconstruction can be formulated via a squint-mode SAR geometry with parameters that depend upon the dynamic target's velocity.