cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Psilocybin-assisted therapy of major depressive disorder using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a therapeutic frame

Abstract Psychedelic-assisted therapy is based on the premise that psychedelic substances can act as catalysts or adjuncts to psychotherapeutic processes. Recent clinical trials involving psychedelic-assisted therapy have generally employed a similar three-part structure consisting of preparation, support during the dosing sessions, and subsequent “integration.” However, the content of these sessions and the frame through which the therapists approach participants and understand the clinical process has thus far been inconsistent among studies. In designing a manualized therapy protocol for a small clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for major depressive disorder, our group sought to delineate an explicit and replicable, evidence-based model that intentionally builds upon both the neurobiological actions of the medication and the phenomenology of the drug experience. Having identified considerable concordance in proposed mechanisms of change between Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and psilocybin therapy, we employed ACT as an overarching psychotherapeutic framework. We hypothesize that the psilocybin experience can provide direct experiential contact with ACT processes that increase psychological flexibility, and that these deeply felt experiences may in turn be reinforced during ACT-informed follow-up therapy sessions. In this paper, we describe the rationale for selecting ACT, areas of potential synergism between ACT and psilocybin-therapy, the basic structure of our treatment model, and limitations to this approach.
Brief report: Patterns of prosocial behaviors in middle childhood predicting peer relations during early adolescence.

Abstract Introduction Early adolescence is a developmental period in which peer victimization, bullying, relational aggression, and social exclusion are particularly prominent. As these behaviors have long-term implications for children, in this study, we investigated early variations of prosocial behaviors as one of the critical precedents that shape youth's subsequent peer relational outcomes. Specifically, we identified different profiles of prosocial behaviors in middle childhood (Grade 4) and related these profiles to peer relationships in early adolescence (Grade 6). Method Using longitudinal data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 914; 52% girls), a three-step latent profile analysis was conducted on Grade 4 prosocial behaviors, which were then related to Grade 6 teacher- and student-rated peer relationships (e.g., relational aggression). Results Four patterns of prosocial behaviors emerged: low prosocial (18%), high prosocial (67%), primarily friendly (8%), and primarily kind (7%). These four patterns of prosocial behaviors were differentially related to later problematic peer relationships: Low prosocial youth demonstrated the most problematic peer relationships (Mdiff = 0.36-0.93, all p Conclusion Both low prosocial and primarily friendly youth are at risk for displaying peer-related problems; interventions that build prosocial behaviors in youth with a low prosocial or primarily friendly profile may help prevent problematic peer relationships at early adolescence.
Deep Iterative and Adaptive Learning for Graph Neural Networks

In this paper, we propose an end-to-end graph learning framework, namely Deep Iterative and Adaptive Learning for Graph Neural Networks (DIAL-GNN), for jointly learning the graph structure and graph embeddings simultaneously. We first cast the graph structure learning problem as a similarity metric learning problem and leverage an adapted graph regularization for controlling smoothness, connectivity and sparsity of the generated graph. We further propose a novel iterative method for searching for a hidden graph structure that augments the initial graph structure. Our iterative method dynamically stops when the learned graph structure approaches close enough to the optimal graph. Our extensive experiments demonstrate that the proposed DIAL-GNN model can consistently outperform or match state-of-the-art baselines in terms of both downstream task performance and computational time. The proposed approach can cope with both transductive learning and inductive learning.
Chapter 4 – Competition

Competition is one of the major factors in natural selection. Darwin argued the importance of competition as a significant part of the “struggle” that organisms engage in for survival. The foundational fact of nature that all organisms tend to produce more offspring than the environment can support implies that there will then be competition among offspring of a species for those few successful places in nature. Competition also extends to interspecific competition with other species for certain resources. Many examples of competition and its outcomes have been documents by biologists and ecologists over time leading in some cases to general rules like the law of competitive exclusion. Ecological succession operates in large part through competition. Even the many instances of interspecific cooperation in mutualisms of one kind or another can mostly be explained as solutions to competition—since cooperation gives one of the species a competitive edge and perhaps creates a new niche in which it can avoid competition to some degree.
Brief talk about pediatric clinical laboratory medicine

The physiological and biochemical conditions of adults are relatively stable, while children are in the period of rapid growth and development with all kinds of physical and chemical indicators constantly changing, which brings great challenge to the pediatric clinical laboratories. In addition, children in different periods have different disease spectrum, among which many diseases are particular to children. This opens a new world for the pediatric laboratories. In this paper, a brief overview of problems, characteristics and future development of pediatric laboratory medicine is made.(Chin J Lab Med, 2017, 40: 335-337) Key words: Pediatrics; Clinical laboratory techniques; Reference values; Quality control
Misinformation debunking and cross-platform information sharing through Twitter during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma: a case study on shelters and ID checks

As the internet and social media continue to become increasingly used for sharing breaking news and important updates, it is with great motivation to study the behaviors of online users during crisis events. One of the biggest issues with obtaining information online is the veracity of such content. Given this vulnerability, misinformation becomes a very dangerous and real threat when spread online. This study investigates misinformation debunking efforts and fills the research gap on cross-platform information sharing when misinformation is spread during disasters. The false rumor “immigration status is checked at shelters” spread in both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma in 2017 and was analyzed in this paper based on a collection of 12,900 tweets. By studying the rumor control efforts made by thousands of accounts, we found that Twitter users respond and interact the most with tweets from verified Twitter accounts, and especially government organizations. Results on sourcing analysis show that the majority of Twitter users who utilize URLs in their postings are employing the information in the URLs to help debunk the false rumor. The most frequently cited information comes from news agencies when analyzing both URLs and domains. This paper provides novel insights into rumor control efforts made through social media during natural disasters and also the information sourcing and sharing behaviors that users exhibit during the debunking of false rumors.
Abstract 2667: CaMKK2 knockout in mice challenged by orthotopic GBM leads to upregulation of MHC II on TAMs and an increase in accumulation of CD4+ TILs

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adults, with the median survival time for GBM patients being only about 15 months. Although immunotherapy treatments have been successful in more immunogenic tumors, it has shown very limited success in GBM. This could be because it is difficult for T cells to infiltrate the tumor, and the tumors have a very immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) that can often consist of up to about 30 percent tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) by mass. Thus, two ways of possibly improving immunotherapy treatments on GBMs would be to increase the number of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) present, and to target tumor-supportive cells such as TAMs. Calmodulin Dependent Protein Kinase Kinase 2 (CaMKK2) is a gene that has been shown to be highly expressed in myeloid cells and is known to alter their phenotype. Recent studies in breast cancer have shown that myeloid cells adopt a more immunostimulatory phenotype in murine knockout CaMKK2 models. However, it is not well understood how CaMKK2 causes this immunosuppressive effect and warrants further exploration. The data from our experiments help to answer this question. High-dimensional flow cytometry with 15 parameters was used in order to determine the identities of immune cells found in the tumor of wildtype and CaMKK2-/- mice. The results of our experiments show that there appear to be more CD4+ TILs present in the TME of knockout mice and that there is an increase in MHC II expression on TAMs found in knockout mice. Since CD4+ TILs recognize peptides presented on MHC II molecules, and there is an increase in the number of CD4+ TILs and expression of MHC II on TAMs in knockout mice, we hypothesize that a stronger immune response could be instigated against the tumor. Therefore, it can be concluded that a possible reason that knocking out CaMKK2 leads to a less immunosupressive TME is because MHC II expression on TAMs is upregulated, and the number of CD4+ TILs in the TME is increased. Whether or not the increase in MHC II expression causes the increase in the number CD4+ TILs requires further exploration. This makes CaMKK2 a promising therapeutic target to treat tumors with immunosuppressive TMEs such as GBM. Citation Format: Molly A. Chakraborty, William H. Tomaszewski, Jessica Waibl Polania, Lauren S. Riley, Luigi Racioppi, Luis A. Sanchez-Perez, John H. Sampson. CaMKK2 knockout in mice challenged by orthotopic GBM leads to upregulation of MHC II on TAMs and an increase in accumulation of CD4+ TILs [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 2667.
The Intersection of the "Opioid Crisis" with Changes in US Immigration Policy: Contextual Barriers to Substance Abuse Research with Latinx Communities.

One of the 12 Grand Challenges facing contemporary social work is to close the health gap experienced by those in historically marginalized communities (Uehara et al., 2013). As social workers, we ...
A digital twin emulator of a modular production system using a data-driven hybrid modeling and simulation approach

Virtual commissioning is a key technology in Industry 4.0 that can address issues faced by engineers during early design phases. The process of virtual commissioning involves the creation of a Digital Twin—a dynamic, virtual representation of a corresponding physical system. The digital twin model can be used for testing and verifying the control system in a simulated virtual environment to achieve rapid set-up and optimization prior to physical commissioning. Additionally, the modular production control systems, can be integrated and tested during or prior to the construction of the physical system. This paper describes the implementation of a digital twin emulator of an automated mechatronic modular production system that is linked with the running programmable logic controllers and allow for exchanging near real-time information with the physical system. The development and deployment of the digital twin emulator involves a novel hybrid simulation- and data-driven modeling approach that combines Discrete Event Simulation and Agent Based Modeling paradigms. The Digital Twin Emulator can support design decisions, test what-if system configurations, verify and validate the actual behavior of the complete system off-line, test realistic reactions, and provide statistics on the system’s performance.
Effects of hypoxic gas admixture in functionally univentricular patients awaiting Norwood palliation

Introduction Oxygen delivery in those with functionally univentricular hearts awaiting Norwood palliation depends on a balance between systemic blood flow (Qs) and pulmonary blood flow (Qp). Modulations of pulmonary vascular resistance and systemic vascular resistance can be utilized to help maintain balance between Qp and Qs in a circulation prone to pulmonary overcirculation at the expense of systemic perfusion. While modulating pulmonary vascular resistance using a hypoxic gas admixture (subambient …
Spatial memory: Place cell activity is causally related to behavior.

A recent study using new holographic optogenetic stimulation technology has provided direct evidence that hippocampal place cell activity is sufficient to drive memory and navigation-related behaviors.
Rural Residents' Perspectives on an mHealth or Personalized Health Coaching Intervention: Qualitative Study With Focus Groups and Key Informant Interviews.

Background: Compared with national averages, rural Appalachians experience extremely elevated rates of premature morbidity and mortality. New opportunities, including approaches incorporating personal technology, may help improve lifestyles and overcome health inequities. Objective: This study aims to gather perspectives on whether a healthy lifestyle intervention, specifically an app originally designed for urban users, may be feasible and acceptable to rural residents. In addition to a smartphone app, this program—Make Better Choices 2—consists of personalized health coaching, accelerometer use, and financial incentives. Methods: We convened 4 focus groups and 16 key informant interviews with diverse community stakeholders to assess perspectives on this novel, evidence-based diet and physical activity intervention. Participants were shown a slide presentation and asked open-ended follow-up questions. The focus group and key informant interview sessions were audiotaped, transcribed, and subjected to thematic analysis. Results: We identified 3 main themes regarding Appalachian residents’ perspectives on this mobile health (mHealth) intervention: personal technology is feasible and desirable; challenges persist in implementing mHealth lifestyle interventions in Appalachian communities; and successful mHealth interventions should include personal connections, local coaches, and educational opportunities. Although viewed as feasible and acceptable overall, lack of healthy lifestyle awareness, habitual behavior, and financial constraints may challenge the success of mHealth lifestyle interventions in Appalachia. Finally, participants described several minor elements that require modification, including expanding the upper age inclusion, providing extra coaching on technology use, emphasizing personal and supportive connections, employing local coaches, and ensuring adequate educational content for the program. Conclusions: Blending new technologies, health coaching, and other features is not only acceptable but may be essential to reach vulnerable rural residents.
Hereditary Autonomic Neuropathies

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the inherited neuropathies with autonomic involvement. Fabry's disease or Anderson–Fabry's disease (angiokeratoma corporis diffusum) is an X-linked inherited slowly progressive metabolic disorder with protean and nonspecific clinical manifestations. Unlike many other lysosomal storage diseases, most patients remain clinically silent during the first few years of life. Cerebrovascular disease secondary to multifocal abnormalities of large and small vessels, including transient ischemic attacks and stroke, may also occur. Acute hepatic porphyrias (acute intermittent porphyria, variegate porphyria, and hereditary coproporphyria) are a group of autosomal dominant inherited metabolic disorders that manifest as acute or subacute, severe, life-threatening motor neuropathy, abdominal pain, autonomic dysfunction, and neuropsychiatric manifestations. The neurologic manifestations of all forms of the acute porphyrias are identical. Symptoms of the acute attack include severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, urinary frequency and hesitancy, urine discoloration, labile hypertension, tachycardia, excessive sweating, pain in limbs and back, and convulsions. The most effective treatment of porphyria attacks is the administration of hematin intravenously. With modern intensive care techniques and the advent of hematin therapy, the mortality rate for acute intermittent porphyrias is less than 10%.
Tracking Targets Using Multiple Robots: The Effect of Environment Occlusion

This paper addresses the problem of tracking multiple targets using a network of communicating robots and stationary sensors. We introduce a i>Region-based Approach which controls robot deployment at two levels. A i>coarse deployment controller distributes robots across regions using a topological map which maintains urgency estimates for each region, and a i>target-following controller attempts to maximize the number of tracked targets within a region. A behavior-based system is presented implementing the i>Region-Based Approach, which is fully distributed and scalable. We compared the i>Region-based Approach to a ‘naive’ local-following strategy in three environments with varying degree of occlusion. The experimental results showed that the i>Region-based Approach performs better than the naive strategy when the environment has significant occlusion. Second, we performed experiments (the environment was held constant) in which two techniques for computing urgency estimates were compared. Last, different combinations of mobile sensors and stationary sensors were compared in a given environment.
Current understanding of genetic factors in preterm birth

Several lines of evidence support a genetic predisposition to spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Firstly, a leading risk factor for spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth is a personal or family history. If a woman previously delivered preterm, her subsequent babies are also more likely to be born preterm. Women who experienced an early preterm birth (<32 completed weeks) in their first pregnancy have the highest rate of recurrent preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies. Spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth in subsequent pregnancies tend to recur at equivalent gestational ages. If a woman herself was born preterm, she is also at an increased risk of spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth, with the risks being highest for those women who themselves were born most preterm. This predisposition does not apply to men who were born preterm. Racial predispositions to preterm birth have also been observed. Black women suffer twice the rate of preterm birth compared with Caucasians, even when confounding social and economic variables are controlled. It is well established that upper genital tract infection and/or inflammation is seen in association with spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Previous investigations have focussed primarily on an infectious aetiology for this finding. However, an alternative hypothesis has emerged, which suggests that this finding may represent an abnormal inflammatory response. The frequent association of spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth with histological infection/inflammation and elevated body fluid concentrations of inflammatory cytokines has focussed investigations on single gene polymorphisms of these cytokines in both mother and fetus. The polymorphisms tumour necrosis factor-alpha-308 (TNF-alpha-308), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) + 3953/3954 and IL-6-174 have been most consistently associated with spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important components of the innate immune systems, which have also been linked to spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth. Both maternal and fetal polymorphisms of the TLR-4 gene have been associated with spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth in certain populations, but in others no apparent link has been observed. These findings confirm a clear genetic predisposition to spontaneous preterm labour and preterm birth and raise hopes that patient-specific therapies may be developed in the future.
Symmetry-forbidden laser-induced voltages in YBa2Cu3O7.

We report the occurrence of potentials in the absence of applied currents up to several volts between 1-mm-spaced probes in the normal state of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}$${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$${\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ films when illuminated by a laser with intensities up to \ensuremath{\sim}30 mJ/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$. For intensities \ensuremath{\le}2 mJ/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$ these potentials disappear in the superconducting state but return, time delayed, at higher intensities. The mechanism is unknown, and the results are in contradiction to expectations based on symmetry arguments.
A unifying framework for systems modeling, control systems design, and system operation

Current engineering practice in the analysis and design of large-scale multi-disciplinary control systems is typified by some form of decomposition - whether functional or physical or discipline-based - that enables multiple teams to work in parallel and in relative isolation. Too often, the resulting system after integration is an awkward marriage of different control and data mechanisms with poor end-to-end accountability. System of systems engineering, which faces this problem on a large scale, cries out for a unifying framework to guide analysis, design, and operation. This paper describes such a framework for semi-autonomous control systems that guides analysis and modeling, shapes control system software design, and directly specifies operational intent. This paper illustrates the key concepts in the context of a large-scale, concurrent, globally distributed system of systems: NASA's proposed array-based Deep Space Network.
Ethical Issues in Psychology

Professions share many common characteristics, such as the development of a code of ethics. Ethics codes serve many purposes, one of which is to state the fundamental values of the profession and to bring together the cumulative wisdom of the profession about acting morally toward those with whom the profession works. The 2002 Ethics Code of the American Psychological Association (APA) is divided into four sections: (1) the introduction, (2) the preamble, (3) general principles, and (4) ethical standards (American Psychological Association, 2002). Kitchener (1984) has argued that the ethical standards are grounded in principles that are more general and fundamental than standards and that serve as their foundation. Although slightly different from those in the 2002 APA Ethics Code, the five principles that seem central to thinking about ethical problems in psychology are (1) beneficence (do good), (2) nonmaleficence (do no harm), (3) respect for persons (treat individuals as autonomous agents, but recognize that those with diminished autonomy or competence need protection), (4) justice (be fair), and (5) fidelity (keep promises, do not lie, be faithful). These principles articulate ethical norms that are central to whatever role the psychologist is in and are quite similar to the principles in the 2002 code.
Units of length: a notational system for conceptual understanding of size and scale

A cross-sectional study (101 grade 6--14 students) and teaching experiment (24 grade 6--8 students) suggest measurement units are important in conceptual understanding of size and scale. Students were significantly better at absolute size than relative size estimation after the teaching experiment. Students appear to off-load the requirement for fractions or decimals onto the notational system of measurement units. A planned cross-cultural study will indicate likely improvements if US students had greater schooling in metric units.
Quantitative Analysis of Deoxynucleotide Substitutions in the Codon–Anticodon Helix

The role of 2′ hydroxyl groups in the codon–anticodon helix was evaluated by introducing single deoxynucleotides into each of the six positions in the helix and measuring the affinity of tRNA to either the A site or the P site of Escherichia coli 70 S ribosomes. In perfect agreement with the X-ray structure of the Thermus thermophilus 30 S subunit, A site binding was weaker in five of the six positions but P site binding was unaffected. Since the addition of paromomycin restores A site binding, it appears that the deoxynucleotide substituted complexes are impaired in their ability to promote the ribosomal conformational change that accompanies tRNA binding.
Remote superficial femoral artery endarterectomy and distal vein bypass for limb salvage: initial experience.

Purpose:To examine the results of remote superficial femoral artery endarterectomy (RSFAE) performed through a small groin incision in conjunction with distal saphenous vein (SV) bypass for limb salvage.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted of 21 patients (14 men; mean age 68.5 years, range 47–78) who underwent RSFAE and distal SV bypass between May 1998 and September 2001 for limb salvage. Thirteen had gangrene and 8 had rest pain. RSFAE was performed with the MollRing Cutter device through a femoral arteriotomy; the distal atheromatous plaque was “tacked up” with a stent. Distal SV bypass from the proximal popliteal artery was performed in situ in 7, from a transposed harvested vein in 8, or from a reversed graft in 6. All patients underwent follow-up examination with serial color-flow ultrasound scans.Results:The mean length of the endarterectomized SFA was 26.5 cm (range 12–40). There were no deaths, only 2 wound complications, and the mean hospital length of stay was 3.1 ± 0.6 days. The primary...
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF VISIBLE LIGHTNING ON JUPITER

An analysis of Voyager images of Jupiter is used to evaluate the horizontal spatial distribution of visible lightning over most of one hemisphere. Essentially all the detectable activity is confined to very narrow latitude bands at 13.5 N and 49 N. The active regions at 49 N are the brightest, most numerous, and periodic in longitude. Activity at this latitude is long-lived and is most likely associated with moist convective regions deep in Jupiter's atmosphere. The longitudinal periodicity of the lightning storms may represent the effects of a planetary scale atmospheric wave trapped at the depth of the moist convection.
Analysis of brain tumors using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy

BACKGROUND Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is superior in delineating anatomic and pathologic information and has subsequently been married to the ability of magnetic resonsance spectroscopy (MRS) to provide insight into the biochemical changes underlying pathology. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H MRS) allows the noninvasive in vivo collection and measurement of chemical information from a selected volume of tissue (voxel). METHODS We conducted a prospective trial in 23 patients with brain mass lesions and 16 normal subjects using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H MRS). The spectra were analyzed for N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA), choline compounds (Cho), creatine (Cr), and lactate (Lac). The ratios of the compounds in tumors were compared to normals. RESULTS The tumors showed significant decreases in the mean peak height ratios of NAA/Cho, NAA/Cr, and significant increases in Cho/Cr when compared to tissue from normal subjects. Cho was elevated in all of the meningiomas and gliomas. In benign tumors, Cho was usually elevated while in metastases Cho was often normal or decreased. The four metastatic tumors showed NAA/Cho, NAA/Cr, and Cho/Cr that were similar to controls. Lac varied with tumor type and was elevated in many malignant primary brain tumors. CONCLUSIONS 1 H MRS is a powerful tool for safe, noninvasive analysis of tissue chemistry in vivo. Analysis of intracranial tumors reveals significant trends that might eventually be used in the classification of tumor histology and evaluation of the efficacy of tumor treatment.
Comparing Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene as Hybrid Rocket Fuels

Acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene thermoplastic, widely mass-produced for noncombustion applications including household plumbing and structural materials, is evaluated and compared with hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene as a potential fuel for hybrid rocket motors. Acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene has several mechanical properties, including its ability to be fabricated into a wide variety of shapes using fused deposition modeling, which are very attractive as a potential hybrid rocket fuel. The acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene grains were fabricated using fused deposition modeling from existing rapid-prototyping stock materials composed of 50∶43∶7 butadiene, acrylonitrile, and styrene mole fractions. The acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene grains were burned with nitrous oxide as the matching oxidizer and compared for performance and consistency against fuel grains of equal size cast from hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene and burned with nitrous oxide. Test results demonstrate a higher burn-to-burn consistency for ...
Multiple models in social transmission of food selection by Norway rats, Rattus norvegicus

Abstract To investigate how an observer rat integrates multiple diet information from several demonstrator rats, an observer rat was allowed to interact with a group of four demonstrators simultaneously for 30 min, and was then offered a two-choice preference test. Each demonstrator group member had previous experience with one of two different flavoured diets. Based on different combinations of dietary experience of demonstrators, five types of demonstrator groups were formed. The relationship between the dietary preference of an observer and the ratio of the different demonstrator types in the group was investigated with Sprague-Dawley rats (females only) and Long-Evans rats (with both sexes and two age classes) in two experiments. The preference response differed significantly between observers of five demonstrator groups, and the difference increased in proportion to the ratio of the different demonstrator types. The results suggest that direct bias could be involved in the social transmission of food selection by Sprague-Dawley rats, but no bias is involved in the Long-Evans. The strength of social transmission did not show sex and age variation. Nevertheless, the baseline innate preference seemed to be lower for male than female rats.
Modulation of the frequency of glucose-dependent bursts of electrical activity by HCO3/CO2 in rodent pancreatic B-cells: experimental and theoretical results.

The burst pattern of electrical activity recorded from pancreatic B-cells in response to 11 mM glucose shows a large islet to islet variability. The relationship between burst frequency and glucose sensing (the threshold for electrical activity and the graded increase in electrical response to glucose, i.e. active phase %) has not been investigated within the same islet. In this work, we show that low HCO3 (5 mM) Hepes buffered solutions reversibly reduce the frequency of bursts compared to control (25 mM) HCO3 buffered solutions in the same islet. There was no change in the threshold or active phase (%). Using the mathematical model of Sherman et al. 1988, we explored mechanisms for a change in frequency independent of a change in active phase (%). Increased exchangeable calcium pool size and increased cell to cell coupling were the two theoretical treatments which could reproduce the experimental data. We conclude that burst frequency can be modulated independent of the active phase and that alteration of a calcium pool size best fits the experimental data.
Spontaneous breakdown of CP symmetry, cabbibo angle in nuclear and hypernuclear physics

Abstract Following a suggestion of Salam and Strathdee that CP violation disappears and the Cabbibo angle vanishes at high magnetic fields we infer that no CP (or T ) violation should be observed in nuclear beta decays and that stable hypernuclei are in principle possible.
Monophyletic Relationship between Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus and Group 2 Coronaviruses

Although primary genomic analysis has revealed that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS CoV) is a new type of coronavirus, the different protein trees published in previous reports have provided no conclusive evidence indicating the phylogenetic position of SARS CoV. To clarify the phylogenetic relationship between SARS CoV and other coronaviruses, we compiled a large data set composed of 7 concatenated protein sequences and performed comprehensive analyses, using the maximum-likelihood, Bayesian-inference, and maximum-parsimony methods. All resulting phylogenetic trees displayed an identical topology and supported the hypothesis that the relationship between SARS CoV and group 2 CoVs is monophyletic. Relationships among all major groups were well resolved and were supported by all statistical analyses.
13C NMR Characterization of an Exchange Reaction between CO and CO2 Catalyzed by Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase

Carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) catalyzes the reversible oxidation of CO to CO2 at a nickel−iron−sulfur cluster (the C-cluster). CO oxidation follows a ping-pong mechanism involving two-electron reduction of the C-cluster followed by electron transfer through an internal electron transfer chain to external electron acceptors. We describe 13C NMR studies demonstrating a CODH-catalyzed steady-state exchange reaction between CO and CO2 in the absence of external electron acceptors. This reaction is characterized by a CODH-dependent broadening of the 13CO NMR resonance; however, the chemical shift of the 13CO resonance is unchanged, indicating that the broadening is in the slow exchange limit of the NMR experiment. The 13CO line broadening occurs with a rate constant (1080 s−1 at 20 °C) that is approximately equal to that of CO oxidation. It is concluded that the observed exchange reaction is between 13CO and CODH-bound 13CO2 because 13CO line broadening is pH-independent (unlike steady-state CO oxidatio...
Heat transfer and pressure drop during condensation of refrigerant 134a in an axially grooved tube

Abstract Condensation experiments have been performed over a mass flux range of 75–450 kg m −2 s −1 in an 8.91 mm inside diameter, axially grooved, micro-fin tube with R134a. At 75 kg m −2 s −1 , the axially grooved tube performs marginally better than a smooth tube, but worse than a similarly grooved tube with an 18° helix angle. Mass fluxes at 150 kg m −2 s −1 and greater show broad quality ranges in which the axially grooved tube performs significantly better than both smooth and helically grooved tubes. Pressure drop characteristics of the axially grooved tube are similar to those found in an 18° helix angle tube.
Oxidant stress responses in premature infants during exposure to hyperoxia.

ABSTRACT: To assess oxidant stress responses in newborn infants treated with elevated concentrations of oxygen, we measured plasma concentrations of glutathione (GSH) and glutathione disulfide (CSSG) in newborn infants ranging from 23 to 42 wk gestational age. All infants recruited into the study were mechanically ventilated and had catheters placed in their umbilical arteries as part of their normal clinical management. Blood samples were obtained on d 1, 3, and 5 and weekly thereafter or until the catheters were removed. We observed plasma concentrations of GSSG in these infants that were frequently an order of magnitude higher than the 0.1 to 0.3 μM we find in adults. Interestingly, plasma GSSG concentrations were inversely correlated to the inspired oxygen tensions. This effect appeared to arise from the patient selection criteria whereby, of the infants studied, those breathing the lowest partial pressures of oxygen were the smallest and gestationally youngest. A second observation was that plasma concentrations of GSH in the premature infants were substantially, indeed often dramatically, lower than we have observed in adult humans (6 to 10 μM). Finally, we found that in patients with both umbilical arterial and umbilical venous catheters arterial GSSG concentrations were consistently higher than venous concentrations; conversely, arterial GSH concentrations were lower than venous concentrations. The elevated GSSG concentrations we observed in these infants indicate marked oxidant stress responses in prematurely born infants, even in those infants exposed only to room air. The positive arteriovenous gradients of GSSG concentrations across the lungs of these infants suggest that at least some of the increased plasma GSSG originates in the lung. The low plasma GSH concentrations we observed in these same infants suggest deficiencies in an antioxidant that has been shown in numerous animal studies to be critical for prevention of hyperoxia-induced lung injury. Finally, the negative arteriovenous gradients of GSH concentrations across the lung provide the first evidence in humans for pulmonary uptake of GSH.
Factors related to dysfluent speech in bilingual Cuban-American adolescents

Abstract Four bilingual Cuban-American male adolescents who were dysfluent in their primary language (Spanish) were referred to a bilingual speech pathologist. The boys and their parents were individually interviewed and administered questionnaires. Responses obtained helped explain possible reasons for the youngster's dysfluencies in only one of their acquired languages as well as reasons for the onset of the dysfluent speech. Sociological and cultural factors apparently play a major role. Parental cooperation and involvement would therefore be vital in remediation?
A 'peak shaving' approach to project staff reallocation

Abstract This paper presents an analytical model, which recomputes monthly staffing profile by truncating the original peak allocation and staffing the project before its actual start date. This staff leveling approach, which assumes the same completion date as the original one, has the benefit of avoiding delays resulting from small to no staff allocated at the scheduled start date. The approach uses the Lead Time concept from Inventory Theory to first compute the person-month value needed by the project under study at the scheduled start date. Next, it reduces (‘shaves’) the peak using an analytical equation from the original staffing allocation and adjusts the remaining person-month values by keeping the target date constant. The presented model was actually implemented in an industrial setting, but due date sensitivity, both the firm name and actual data are disguised.
Multi-contributor causal structures for planning: a formalization and evaluation

Abstract Explicit causal structure representations have been widely used in classical planning systems to guide a variety of aspects of planning, including plan generation, modification and generalization. For the most part, these representations were limited to single-contributor causal structures. Although widely used, single-contributor causal structures have several limitations in handling partially ordered and partially instantiated plans. Specifically they are (i) incapable of exploiting redundancy in the plan causal structure and (ii) force premature commitment to individual contributors thereby causing unnecessary backtracking. In this paper, we study multi-contributor causal structures as a way of overcoming these limitations. We will provide a general formulation for multi-contributor causal links, and explore the properties of several special classes of this formulation. We will then describe two planning algorithms—MP and MP-I—that use multi-contributor causal links to organize their search for plans. We will describe empirical studies demonstrating the advantages of MP and MP-I over planners that use single contributor causal structures, and argue that they strike a more favorable balance in the tradeoff between search space redundancy and premature commitment to contributors. Finally, we will present a framework for justifying plans with respect to multi-contributor causal structures and describe its applications in plan modification and generalization.
A state-space modeling approach and multi-level optimization algorithm for predictive control of multi-zone buildings with mixed-mode cooling

Abstract The paper presents a control-oriented modeling approach for multi-zone buildings with mixed-mode cooling, based on the linear state-space representation with varying coefficient matrices. Key features are the time-variant thermal resistances, associated with the heat extraction due to airflow, calculated using an airflow network model. This approach was validated with experimental data collected in a two-zone test-building under four operation modes. A forward linear time-variant state-space (LTV-SS) model, developed based on first principles, was then used as a true representation of the building, to identify the parameters of a low-order LTV-SS gray-box model. The low-order model can predict the building thermal dynamics with sufficient accuracy with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.58 °C for the air and 1.08 °C for the area-weighted mean surface temperature in the south direct gain zone. Furthermore, the study develops a progressive refinement (ProRe) optimization method, following the multi-level optimization topology and branch and bound decision trimming strategy, to find sequences of binary (open/close) decisions for the motorized windows. Due to the significant improvement in computing time, the models and algorithms presented in this paper enable long-term simulation for MPC performance evaluation and implementation of predictive strategies in real controllers.
Triple procedure of extracapsular cataract surgery, posterior chamber lens implantation, and glaucoma filter.

Abstract A triple procedure consisting of extracapsular cataract surgery, posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation, and glaucoma filtering operation was performed in 30 eyes of 28 patients. The follow-up time was six to 24 months, with a median of 11 months. Group I consisted of 21 eyes with advanced glaucoma and poor to marginal pressure control. After surgery, the pressure was
In Their Own Words: Using Narrativesto Teach Gerontology

ABSTRACT In narrative constructed in conversations, older adults often present “small stories.” These narrative fragments provide extensive information about their experiences, values, and aspects of their lives that can be used to help learners understand key concepts about aging and the life course. The authors provide an overview of approaches including exercises and activities keyed to a corpus of oral narratives, targeting graduate and undergraduate students.
Effect of Soil Properties and Surfactant on Primisulfuron Sorption

Soil properties affect the environmental fate of herbicides. Little is known about how soil organic matter and pH affect sorption and fate of the sulfonylurea primisulfuron (2-[3-(4,6-bis(difluoromethoxy)-pyrimidin-2-yl]-benzoic acid methyl ester). Primisulfuron sorption and desorption by six soils with different organic carbon (OC), iron oxide, and clay contents were investigated using batch reaction at controlled pH. Sorption was measured at a soil/solution ratio of 1 :2 with 0.01 M CaCl 2 as a background electrolyte. Sorption and desorption isotherms were linear. When pH was adjusted to values between 4 and 6.5, sorption coefficients decreased with increasing pH. At pH 4.5, sorption coefficients increased with increasing OC and ranged from 0.6 for a soil with 0.2% OC to 15.5 for a soil with 48% OC. Surfactant (Triton X-77, 0.25%, v v -1 ) caused primisulfuron sorption to increase in a low OC soil but caused decreased sorption in a soil with 1.7% OC. Sorption coefficients were correlated with dithionite-extractable iron in soils with <1% OC, but not in soils with greater OC. Desorption coefficients at native soil pH were up to five times greater than were sorption coefficients ; about 50% of sorted primisulfuron did not desorb during a single 24-h batch desorption reaction. Primisulfuron is most likely to leach in soils with high pH or low organic matter contents.
A genetic and molecular toolbox for analyzing histone ubiquitylation and sumoylation in yeast.

Combinations of phosphorylation, acetylation, methylation, ubiquitylation, and sumoylation of histones comprise what is referred to as the “histone code”. These marks influence processes from transcription to DNA replication, where gaining access to DNA organized in chromatin is necessary. Much emphasis has been placed on the role of histone ubiquitylation and sumoylation during the process of transcription. Histone H2B is monoubiquitylated at lysine 123 in budding yeast and influences gene activation. All four of the core histones are sumoylated on their amino terminal tails in this organism, and this serves to negatively regulate gene expression. Because antibodies specific for ubiquitylated or sumoylated yeast histones are not commercially available, and these marks are highly sensitive to proteolysis in native cell extracts, special genetic and molecular tools have been developed to monitor these dynamic and often rare modifications in vivo. Here, we describe some of these tools, with emphasis on how they can be used for transcriptional studies.
Adaptable optimality criterion techniques for large-scale space frames with multiple frequency constraints

Abstract This paper presents an adaptive optimality criteria (OC) approach for frequency-constrained weight minimization of large-scale space frames supporting nonstructural mass and subjected to minimum and maximum gauge restrictions. The iterative procedure involves alternately satisfying the constraints (scaling) and applying the Kuhn-Tucker (optimality) condition (resizing). The primary sizing variables (cross-sectional areas), and indirectly the secondary ones (i.e., two principal moments of inertia and a torsional constant) are uniformly scaled to the constraint surfaces using a closed-form formulation. The closed-form scaling procedure is united with an adaptable redesign strategy in which linear extrapolates of past scaled design vectors are coupled with automatically tuned OC recursive formulae. Several practical design examples are presented to demonstrate the method. On the average, the method achieves a smooth upper-bound convergence of weight minima, as it quickly dissolves the (sometimes violent) oscillations of scaled weights in the iteration history. Most of all, the present design strategy eliminates the need for adjustments of internal parameters during the redesign phase.
Utility of magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of patients with ST segment elevation on an electrocardiogram

ST segment elevation is an important electrocardiographic (ECG) change that is typically found in acute myocardial infarction, but may also be seen in a variety of other conditions. MRI plays an important role in the evaluation of these patients. MRI not only establishes the diagnosis, which is essential for appropriate management, but also helps in the assessment of other factors that are important for risk stratification. In this review, we discuss the common and uncommon causes of ST segment elevation and the role of MRI in the evaluation of these disease processes.