cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Gradients of epicardial strain across the perfusion boundary during acute myocardial ischemia

To study the mechanical interaction between acutely ischemic and adjacent perfused myocardium, nonhomogeneous distributions of end-systolic epicardial strain were measured using an array of radiopaque beads sewn on the left ventricular free wall of the pig during complete left circumflex coronary artery occlusion. The midwall perfusion boundary, demarcated by postmortem dye injection, was reconstructed over the span of the epicardial array. During ischemia, circumferential and longitudinal shortening remained significantly depressed up to 13 mm outside the ischemic region near the base of the ventricle, up to 8-9 mm at the midventricle, but only 0-1 mm near the apex (P < 0.05). Gradients of circumferential and longitudinal strain across the boundary were significantly different during both baseline conditions and acute ischemia (P = 0.0001). However, gradients of the change in the strain from baseline to ischemia were not different for the two components. These results support the concept that direction-dependent differences in the strain gradients across the boundary during ischemia were due to the preservation of the baseline regional variations of strain combined with a loss of systolic function in the ischemic region.
Computer Model of the SF 6 –H 2 ElectricalDischarge Chemical Laser

A computer simulation is presented of the SF6–H2 electrical discharge chemical laser. The model includes approximately 140 reactions involving electrons, ions, and neutral species. A Boltzmann distribution of electron energies is assumed, and electrical energy is introduced into the laser gas at the experimentally measured rate. The reaction mechanism is discussed, and results are presented for the effect of gas composition on laser energy, fuel consumption, and fluorine atom production rate. The effect of changes in electrical pulse length and several rate coefficients is also assessed. Where possible the results are compared with experimental data. The results are in good agreement with experiment; however, several fundamental processes need further experimental clarification.
Evolving views on the Pleistocene colonization of North America

Abstract Current understanding of the processes involved in the Late Pleistocene human settlement of North America has benefited from the application of theoretical perspectives derived from evolutionary ecology, human behavioral ecology, and evolutionary paradigms. These perspectives have increased and expanded our grasp of critical issues including demography and migration strategies; foraging, settlement mobility, and technological strategies; processes of social learning and cultural transmission; mobility and interaction networks; and the involvement of symbolism and prestige in social cohesion. The rapid spread of the Clovis cultural phenomenon across the entire continent has long fascinated archaeologists because of its speed, geographic extent, association with big-game hunting, and impressive degree of technological knowledge and skill. Renewed investigation of this phenomenon points toward the critical role of certain social factors behind its success. In particular, prestige-seeking and symbolic representation of inter-group relationships are increasingly viewed as driving forces in explaining this unique colonization event.
The Method of Randomization, Economic Policy, and Reasoned Intuition

The method of randomization has been a major driver in the recent rise to prominence of empirical development economics. It has helped uncover patterns and facts that had earlier escaped attention. But it has also given rise to heated debate and controversy. This paper evaluates the method of randomization and concludes that, while the method of randomization is the gold standard for description, it is not able to demonstrate causality. Nor does it, in itself, lead to policy conclusions, as is often claimed by its advocates. To get to policy conclusions requires combining the findings of randomized experiments with human intuition, which, being founded in evolution, has innate strengths. Moreover, even non-randomized empirical methods combined with reasoned intuition can help in crafting development policy.
Arterial and venous oxygen in pneumonia and influenza

A technique for the puncture of the radial artery was devised which is simple and does no injury to the artery. The blood thus obtained was studied with respect to its oxygen content and the oxygen capacity by the Van Slyke gasometric method. In addition, venous blood was obtained by the technique of Lundsgaard and studied in the same way. Fifty observations were made upon twenty-five patients. Most of these cases had bronchopneumonia, usually post-influenza. A few had lobar pneumonia and some had uncomplicated influenza.In normal controls the arterial blood varied from 85 to 98 per cent. saturated with oxygen. In patients with the type of respiratory diseases outlined above, the arterial blood is rarely more than 90 per cent. saturated. Some patients had as little as 85 per cent. of saturation without cyanosis, but, as a rule, when the arterial saturation falls below 85 per cent., it is associated with cyanosis. With an arterial saturation below 80 per cent. the cyanosis becomes marked, and in no case wh...
Estimation And Analysis of Compaction-induced Traveltime Shifts: Methodology And Parametric Study

Modeling of time shifts associated with time-lapse (4D) seismic surveys is helpful in evaluating reservoir depressurization and inverting for subsurface stress. Here, we discuss time shifts estimated from synthetic seismic data and analyze their dependence on reflector depth and pressure drop inside the reservoir. Accurate time shift measurements between baseline and monitor surveys are obtained by advanced processing techniques that are potentially applicable to field data. Coupled geomechanical and seismic modeling is used to study time shifts for parameters close to those for West Texas petroleum reservoirs. Time-shift leads and lags for P-, PS-, and S-waves are estimated for a wide range (10% to 50%) of effective depressurizations. For the largest pressure drop, P-wave time lags reach 45 ms for reflectors above the reservoir, while S-wave leads reach 90 ms for reflectors below the reservoir. We also investigate the contributions of the deviatoric and volumetric strains to the time shifts, and show that the deviatoric strain is largely responsible for P-wave anisotropy near the reservoir. Time shifts for S-waves and, to a lesser extent, PSwaves, are strongly influenced by the volumetric strain inside the reservoir. Moderate tilt of a rectangular reservoir, or its replacement with an elliptically shaped reservoir of the same aspect ratio, has little influence on time shifts. Potentially, our methodology can be applied to invert for compaction-induced stress fields using simple compartmentalized reservoir models.
Analysis on Regional Distribution of Characteristic Agro-products in Fujian

Propelling regional distribution construction of characteristic agro-products which have the strong regional,good quality and good market prospects was the main content in adjusting agricultural structure and optimizing layout of agricultural productivity.Based on the qualitative discrimination and quantitative analysis of production concentration index of the characteristic agro-products,Tea,aquatic products,edible fungus,tobacco,flowers,vegetables and fruit were selected as the characteristic agro-products in Fujian.Several recommendations were proposed for rational distribution after analyzing the regional distribution of characteristic agro-products in Fujian Province.
Alien Genes in Wheat Improvement

Wild relatives of common wheat, Triticum aestivum, are an important source for disease and pest resistance. Recently we reviewed the status of wheat-alien translocations conferring resistance to diseases and pests (45). Since then, several new transfers were reported and markers linked to resistance genes identified. Here we present an update of the available information on wheat-alien translocations.
Family Business Theories and Sub-Saharan African Family Businesses

This chapter presents a review of six of the widely used theories in the family business literature to explain the uniqueness of family businesses and why they outperform non-family businesses. The theoretical perspectives are systems theory, agency theory, stewardship theory, the resource-based view of the firm, stakeholder theory, and the socio-emotional wealth perspective. The chapter then links the applicability of these theories to the institutional and socio-cultural environments in sub-Saharan Africa in which sub-Saharan African family businesses operate. It is argued that the applicability of the theories to sub-Saharan African businesses is contingent on the institutional and socio-cultural environments in sub-Saharan Africa.
Preparation of High-Molecular-Weight DNA for Use in DNA Transfection

Calcium phosphate mediated transfection of genomic DNA samples into mammalian recipient cells can be used to isolate specific genes of interest. In theory, for any phenotype for which there is a suitable selection in cell culture, a gene sequence encoding that phenotype can be transferred and will complement the selection. If the donor sequences are derived from a different species of origin, the presence of the donor DNA in the recipient cell can be confirmed by Southern blotting, using a repeat DNA sequence probe from the donor species. Wigler and coworkers (1) found that in each cycle of transfection, the donor sequences represent approx 0.1% of the recipient cell's DNA. Therefore, after a second cycle of transfection using DNA from the first-cycle transfectant, the selected recipient cell will contain essentially a single gene and adjacent sequences.
Entropy as a Service: Unlocking Cryptography's Full Potential

Securing the Internet requires strong cryptography, which depends on good entropy for generating unpredictable keys. Entropy as a service provides entropy from a decentralized root of trust, scaling across diverse geopolitical locales and remaining trustworthy unless much of the collective is compromised.
Waste Not, Vote Not (for Third Parties)?

I develop and demonstrate evidence for a theory of strategic, state-based voting in American presidential elections. Such voting occurs when individuals anticipate the behavior of their neighbors and cater their voting decisions accordingly. I turn to an infrequently-studied phenomenon to uncover evidence for this theory: support for minor-party presidential candidates. The Electoral College in the United States determines the victors of presidential elections. Since most states allocate their electors on a winner-takes-all basis, and because voting outcomes in some states are more unpredictable than in others, presidential candidates tend to cluster their campaign resources in competitive or “battleground” states. Voters who reside in these states live in diﬀerent campaign environments than voters who reside in uncompetitive, “blackout” states. I suggest that voters in competitive states anticipate the decisions of their fellow residents and perceive that their votes have higher pivot values than votes in other states. The perceived value of votes is expected to vary across states due to diﬀerences in electoral competitiveness and the winner-takes-all nature of awarding Electoral College votes. As a result, I propose that voters in competitive states are more likely to vote strategically than voters in other states. To test my hypotheses, I turn to the election returns of third-party candidates in two recent presidential elections. I ﬁnd that support for minor parties is positively associated with wider two-party margins of victory, after adjusting for ballot access and campaign resources.
Mathematical modeling of liver fibrosis

Fibrosis is the formation of excessive fibrous connective tissue in an organ or tissue, which occurs in reparative process or in response to inflammation. Fibrotic diseases are characterized by abnormal excessive deposition of fibrous proteins, such as collagen, and the disease is most commonly progressive, leading to organ disfunction and failure. Although fibrotic diseases evolve in a similar way in all organs, differences may occur as a result of structure and function of the specific organ. In liver fibrosis, the gold standard for diagnosis and monitoring the progression of the disease is biopsy, which is invasive and cannot be repeated frequently. For this reason there is currently a great interest in identifying non-invasive biomarkers for liver fibrosis. In this paper, we develop for the first time a mathematical model of liver fibrosis by a system of partial differential equations. We use the model to explore the efficacy of potential and currently used drugs aimed at blocking the progression of liver fibrosis. We also use the model to develop a diagnostic tool based on a combination of two biomarkers.
Potential of lysophosphatidylinositol as a prognostic indicator of cardiac arrest using a rat model

AbstractAims: The potential of a lysophosphatidylinositol species, LPI(18:0), as a biomarker of ischaemia was tested using a rat model of cardiac arrest (CA).Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to asphyxia-induced CA or CA followed by cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) resuscitation. The brain, heart, kidney and liver tissues were harvested from rats after 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 60 min CA and 30 min CA followed by 60 min CPB resuscitation. Blood samples were collected from inferior vena cava and hepatic veins following 30 min CA. Phospholipids were extracted from the four tissues and blood and analysed by HPLC-MS.Results: The relative content of LPI(18:0) compared to a phosphatidylinositol species, PI(18:0,22:4), was significantly increased in the brain, heart, liver and kidney following 30 min CA and decreased following CPB resuscitation. In addition, the increase of the LPI(18:0)/PI(18:0,22:4) ratio in the four tissues was proportional to the duration of ischaemia for CA lasting up to 60 min. The r...
Scheduling ocean color observations for a GEO-stationary satellite

The GEO-Stationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission plans to put a visible spectrum imaging instrument on a satellite in geo-stationary orbit to perform ocean color remote sensing. Two different instrument designs, Filter Radiometer (FR) and COastal Ecosystems Dynamic Imager (COEDI), with different shape for the imaged area and image acquisition time, are being evaluated. Scheduling observations for either instrument requires optimizing science objectives in the presence of predicted cloud cover and available daylight. We model this scheduling problem as both Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) and Constraint Programming (CP) problems, and compare these two formulations for FR and COEDI using real cloudiness data collected at different times throughout the year. Our results show that MILP is the more suitable technique, and the schedule quality metric shows FR is the preferred design. We have reported our results to the GEO-CAPE mission team to assist them making an informed decision for the next step in formulating this mission.
Bispectrum Inversion With Application to Multireference Alignment

We consider the problem of estimating a signal from noisy circularly translated versions of itself, called multireference alignment (MRA). One natural approach to MRA could be to estimate the shifts of the observations first, and infer the signal by aligning and averaging the data. In contrast, we consider a method based on estimating the signal directly, using features of the signal that are invariant under translations. Specifically, we estimate the power spectrum and the bispectrum of the signal from the observations. Under mild assumptions, these invariant features contain enough information to infer the signal. In particular, the bispectrum can be used to estimate the Fourier phases. To this end, we propose and analyze a few algorithms. Our main methods consist of nonconvex optimization over the smooth manifold of phases. Empirically, in the absence of noise, these nonconvex algorithms appear to converge to the target signal with random initialization. The algorithms are also robust to noise. We then suggest three additional methods. These methods are based on frequency marching, semidefinite relaxation, and integer programming. The first two methods provably recover the phases exactly in the absence of noise. In the high noise level regime, the invariant features approach for MRA results in stable estimation if the number of measurements scales like the cube of the noise variance, which is the information-theoretic rate. Additionally, it requires only one pass over the data, which is important at low signal-to-noise ratio when the number of observations must be large.
Bible Criticism and Social Science

In this paper I will deal with the crucial role played by the Bible critics of the 17th century in providing some of the framework in which modern social science developed. Besides providing some of the methodology of the social science, in terms of the research approaches of the Bible critics, and posing some of the basic problems in the area,1 the Bible critics contributed greatly to forming the ideology of what Hume called ‘the science of man’. It is this latter contribution that I shall treat here. In so doing, I certainly do not wish to claim that there were not other important streams of influence, such as the theories of the dynamics of man and society presented by Machiavelli and Hobbes.
Bender Elements Successfully Quantified Stiffness Enhancement Provided by Geogrid–Aggregate Interlock

Lateral restraint is a primary mechanism of geogrid base reinforcement contributing to the performance improvement of flexible pavements, and the interlocking between the geogrid and aggregate is responsible for stiffness enhancement in a zone formed around the geogrid. A novel application of bender elements is introduced: as shear wave transducers for quantifying local stiffness increase in the vicinity of a geogrid. Several triaxial test specimens of a dense-graded granite-type aggregate were prepared at two moisture contents for resilient modulus testing. Reinforced specimens also included a punched and drawn geogrid piece placed at specimen midheight. Two pairs of bender elements installed on the membrane at two heights enabled measurement of shear waves horizontally across the specimen. Shear wave velocities and axial resilient strains were recorded under the applied stress states. The test results show that the resilient modulus of the reinforced specimen was similar to that of the unreinforced one ...
Ovarian Cancer: Prevalence in Incidental Simple Adnexal Cysts Initially Identified in CT Examinations of the Abdomen and Pelvis

The prevalence of incidental adnexal cysts reported at CT in women older than 15 years was 6.6%, with all simple-appearing cysts being benign (95% confidence interval: 99.6%, 100%), suggesting that simple-appearing cysts initially identified at CT do not require follow-up.
Does social media use improve or worsen adolescents' internalizing behaviors?: Conclusions from a systematic narrative review

Understanding connections between social media use and youth's psychosocial adjustment has emerged as a goal to both psychology and communication scholars. Conclusions are presented from a systematic narrative review of 77 qualifying studies conducted between 2000-2016 evaluating the association between social media use and three forms of internalizing behaviors (depression, anxiety, and loneliness) among 10-18 year olds. For each behavior, three questions were addressed: 1) Is there an association (and direction) between social media use and the behavior?; 2) For whom does this association emerge?; 3) What factors account for this association? For depression (36 studies), a positive association between time spent on social media and depression emerges consistently. Gender, popularity, and perceived social support serve as moderators. Specific activities and experiences on social media (e.g., social comparison and feedback-seeking, passive and active use of Facebook, cybervictimization), sleep disturbance, and "FOMO" (fear-of-missing-out) are mediators. For anxiety (15 studies), the relationship with adolescents' social media use is best represented as a positive reciprocal relationship. Gender is a moderator. Mediators include reducing uncertainty about others, concern for privacy, FOMO, and cybervictimization. For loneliness (26 studies), there is a consistent positive relationship between the frequency/intensity of social media use and loneliness; loneliness is often the precursor. Moderators are age, personality, and experiences with social media activity. Mediators are motives for pursuing specific social media activities. Across outcomes, theoretically drive studies assessing why, with whom, and how teens interact online are needed to determine specific consequences of utilizing social media.
B7 Family Molecules in the Placenta

The mechanisms of acceptance of the fetus by the maternal immune system are mediated in part by immunomodulatory proteins expressed by placental cells. The recent discovery of novel members of the B7 family of immunomodulators has prompted much excitement among the scientific community because of their role in immunological tolerance. Many members of the B7 family are now known to be expressed in the placenta, suggesting that they contribute to the modification of the surrounding immunological milieu such that the fetal allograft is tolerated. In this chapter, we will summarize recent findings regarding the expression and possible functions of B7 proteins in the placenta.
Ventricular Arrhythmias and Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator Therapy in Patients With Continuous-Flow Left Ventricular Assist Devices: Need for Primary Prevention?

Objectives This study sought to evaluate the prevalence and significance of ventricular arrhythmia (VA) and the role of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) in patients supported by a continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD). Background VAs are common in patients supported by CF-LVADs but prospective data to support the routine use of ICDs in these patients are lacking. Methods All patients supported by long-term CF-LVAD receiving care at our institution were enrolled. The ICDs were interrogated at baseline and throughout prospective follow-up. The VA was defined as ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation lasting >30 s or effectively terminated by appropriate ICD tachytherapy. The primary outcome was the occurrence of VA >30 days after CF-LVAD implantation. Results Ninety-four patients were enrolled; 77 had an ICD and 17 did not. Five patients with an ICD had it deactivated or a depleted battery not replaced during the study. Twenty-two patients had a VA >30 days after LVAD implantation. Pre-operative VA was the major predictor of post-operative arrhythmia. Absence of pre-operative VA conferred a low risk of post-operative VA (4.0% vs. 45.5%; p l 0.001). No patients discharged from the hospital without an ICD after CF-LVAD implantation died during 276.2 months of follow-up (mean time without ICD, 12.7 ± 12.3 months). Conclusions Patients with pre-operative VA are at risk of recurrent VA while on CF-LVAD support and should have active ICD therapy to minimize sustained VA. Patients without pre-operative VA are at low risk and may not need active ICD therapy.
Economic and environmental potentials for natural gas to enhance biomass-to-liquid fuels technologies

With the increased availability of low-cost natural gas (NG), co-conversion of natural gas and biomass-to-liquid (GBtL) fuels has gained interest from industry and the U.S. Department of Energy due to the potential to improve liquid fuel yields while lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this article, we explore the conceptual process design and cost comparison of liquid biofuels using both biomass-derived gas intermediates and natural gas, as well as studies on quantification and assessment of sustainability metrics including life cycle/GHG emissions. Additionally, we have performed sensitivity analysis to understand the impact from variations of the biomass-to-NG ratio, design assumptions, and NG prices on process economics. This is to understand key cost drivers, parameters influencing the environment, and to discover opportunities to optimize the use of NG along with biomass. Our analysis shows that different blending ratios of natural gas/biomass have a large effect on the economic and environmental performance of the GBtL fuels. Co-processing NG enables the economic feasibility of converting biomass to the liquid fuel but at the expense of environmental sustainability. This study determined that the maximum amount of NG that can be blended with biomass would be 28% to meet the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) GHG emission targets for advanced fuels, with a resulting minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of $2.75 per gallon gasoline equivalent (GGE). In addition, the paper demonstrates the impact of the co-conversion operation on equipment design, raw materials, utility consumption, and overall process economic performance for the GBtL system. A secondary outcome: This study shows that renewable liquid fuel could be cost competitive with fossil-derived liquid fuel if further improvements and optimizations could be made to blending ratios of NG, optimization of heat integration of the process, and reduction of excess hydrogen and excess electricity production.
Comparison of neural excitation measures from the surface electromyogram during rate-dependent muscle contractions.

Abstract Peak power and peak rate of isometric force development (RFD) predict performance and functional mobility. Surface electromyography (EMG) is used to quantify the amplitude and rate of neuromuscular excitation. To inform the selection of EMG measures in research on rate-dependent muscle contractions, this methodological study compared amplitude-, area- and rate-based measures based on their correlations with RFD. Considering populations in whom a quiet EMG baseline is challenging, we included measures that do not require the determination of EMG onset. Twenty-one young adults performed isometric dorsiflexion contractions to 40% of their maximal force at increasing RFD. EMG was recorded from tibialis anterior. Relationships between EMG measures and RFD were quantified with Spearman’s rho. RMS amplitude of the initial 75 ms of EMG had the strongest correlation with peak RFD (ρ = 0.80) among measures computed from EMG onset. Peak rate of EMG rise (RER) had the strongest relationship with peak RFD (ρ = 0.69) among measures that did not require determination of EMG onset. The strength of the relationship between RER and RFD and the strong correlation between RER and RMS75 during rapid contractions (ρ = 0.86) supports the use of RER in experiments where neural excitation might not be initiated from a quiet baseline.
Fetlock arthrodesis using DCP internal fixation in a Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) for treatment of metacarpophalangeal joint hyperextension

A 21-month-old intact, male Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) presented for bilateral metacarpophalangeal joint hyperextension. Physical and radiographic evaluation revealed evidence of soft tissue hyperextension with no bony changes. The left metacarpophalangeal joint was fused using two dynamic compression plates on the dorsal aspect of the joint along with a figure-8 tension band on the palmar aspect of the lateral fetlock for additional structural support. Twenty-seven days postoperatively, the patient was able to weightbear on both thoracic limbs. The patient was released with recommendations to have the contralateral limb corrected in the near future. Follow-up communication with the referring veterinarian revealed no known complications with the surgically corrected limb four months postrelease. This report illustrates the adaptation of a commonly reported surgical procedure in equine medicine and supports its use for correction of metacarpophalangeal joint hyperextension in artiodactylids not amenable to long-term medical management.
Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein in patients with osteoarthritis is independently associated with metastatic disease in prostate cancer

Metastatic prostate cancer has a 5-year survival rate of 30%. Identifying predictors of metastasis outcome could potentially reduce patient mortality. The objective of this study was to determine whether osteoarthritis had an impact on outcomes of prostate cancer including death, local recurrence and/or metastasis and to determine whether cartilage oligomeric matrix protein was involved. We performed a retrospective case-control study of patients with prostate cancer with and without the diagnosis of osteoarthritis and completed immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis of prostate (n=20) and lymph node (n=7) surgical specimens. We evaluated death, local recurrence and metastatic disease by various IHC biomarkers including prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), CD31, and Ki-67. Our model identified osteoarthritis as an independent risk factor for metastatic disease (OR 5.24, 95% CI 1.49 - 18.41). Most notably, when joint arthroplasty was included in the model, osteoarthritis was no longer an independent risk factor for this outcome (p=0.071). IHC demonstrated that those with osteoarthritis, had greater expression of COMP in the prostate samples (mean 23.9% vs 5.84%, p<0.05) but not of Ki-67, CD31, or PSMA. This study identified and quantified increased metastatic disease in patients with osteoarthritis. Also, patients with osteoarthritis expressed increased COMP levels in the prostate and most likely in distant lymphatic nodes. Moreover, our findings suggest that joint arthroplasty may affect the ability of osteoarthritis to promote metastasis, which could impact treatment protocols and survival outcomes of the most common cause of cancer-related death (metastasis) in the United States.
Tree species effects on understory forage productivity and microclimate in a silvopasture of the Southeastern USA

Abstract Ecosystem services provided by silvopastoral systems are mediated by specific management practices, environmental conditions, and overall design of the system. We hypothesized that selection of tree species affects understory forage nutritive value and productivity, light/shade environment, and microclimate. The silvopastoral system was located at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems in Goldsboro, North Carolina, USA. Three overstory tree-species were Pinus palustris (PP; longleaf pine), Pinus taeda (PT; lobloblly pine), and Quercus pagoda (QP; cherrybark oak). The understory forage component consisted of a four-way mixture of native warm-season grasses [big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii, ‘Eastern’, KY origin), eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides, MO origin), indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans, ‘NC ecotype’), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum, ‘Alamo’)]. The experimental design was an RCBD with 3 replicates. There was no effect of seedbed preparation (till versus no-till) on forage establishment. Understory dry matter yield, crude protein and total digestible nutrient concentrations of the harvested forage were not affected by tree species, with the exception at the 3.5 south sampling point. Overstory effects on microclimate variables were not different among tree-species, but were more noticeable during the daytime of the summer months, and were at the most 1-degree point for temperature and temperature-humidity index and 3 points for relative humidity. The silvopasture design in our study provided year-round shade by the tree-component, with varying levels of shade (ranging from 90 to 6% of incident photosynthetic active radiation) due to geographic location, tree species, and season. Our results describe and highlight the potential of trees in a silvopasture design in the southeastern USA to mitigate changes in temperature, humidity, the temperature-humidity index, and forage productivity and as a function of tree species and at different distance from the trees.
Dysregulation of the EphrinB2-EphB4 ratio in pediatric cerebral arteriovenous malformations is associated with endothelial cell dysfunction in vitro and functions as a novel noninvasive biomarker in patients.

We investigated (1) EphrinB2 and EphB4 receptor expression in cerebral AVMs, (2) the impact of an altered EphrinB2:EphB4 ratio on brain endothelial cell function and (3) potential translational applications of these data. The following parameters were compared between AVM endothelial cells (AVMECs) and human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMVECs): quantified EphrinB2 and EphB4 expression, angiogenic potential, and responses to manipulation of the EphrinB2:EphB4 ratio via pharmacologic stimulation/inhibition. To investigate the clinical relevance of these in vitro data, Ephrin expression was assessed in AVM tissue (by immunohistochemistry) and urine (by ELISA) from pediatric patients with AVM (n = 30), other cerebrovascular disease (n = 14) and control patients (n = 29), and the data were subjected to univariate and multivariate statistical analyses. Compared to HBMVECs, AVMECs demonstrated increased invasion (p = 0.04) and migration (p = 0.08), impaired tube formation (p = 0.06) and increased EphrinB2:EphB4 ratios. Altering the EphrinB2:EphB4 ratio (by increasing EphrinB2 or blocking EphB4) in HBMVECs increased invasion (p = 0.03 and p 25.7 pg/μg), AVMs were detected with high accuracy (80% vs. controls) and were distinguished from other cerebrovascular disease (75% accuracy). Post-treatment urinary EphrinB2 levels normalized in an index patient. In summary, AVMECs have an EphrinB2:EphB4 ratio that is increased compared to that of normal HBMVECs. Changing this ratio in HBMVECs induces AVMEC-like behavior. EphrinB2 is clinically relevant, and its levels are increased in AVM tissue and patient urine. This work suggests that dysregulation of the EphrinB2:EphB4 signaling cascade and increases in EphrinB2 may play a role in AVM development, with potential utility as a diagnostic and therapeutic target. Tangled blood vessel growths in the brain, known as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), can be identified with a urine test, and the test protein may also help in treatment. AVMs often have no symptoms and can go undiagnosed, but when they rupture they can cause deadly brain hemorrhage. Better diagnostic tools and nonsurgical treatments are needed. Katie Fehnel and Edward Smith at Boston Children’s Hospital, USA, and co-workers identified an imbalance in a pair of signal/receptor proteins called ephrins in AVMs. Disturbing the balance of ephrin levels in blood vessel-forming cells disrupted growth, causing disorganized vessel formation with too many sprouts and insufficient junctions. Testing ephrin levels in patients’ urine reliably identified AVMs. These results offer a rapid and noninvasive new diagnostic tool and may help find new treatments for this mostly invisible and potentially fatal condition.
A cost-effective semi-implicit method for the time integration of fully compressible reacting flows with stiff chemistry

Abstract We present a simple method to remove the stiffness associated with the chemical source terms in the fully compressible Navier-Stokes equations when the classical fourth order Runge-Kutta scheme is used.
Condensation of indirect excitons

An indirect exciton (IX), also known as an interlayer exciton, is a bound pair of an electron and a hole confined in spatially separated layers. Due to their long lifetimes, IXs can cool below the temperature of quantum degeneracy. This provides an opportunity to experimentally study cold composite bosons. This article overviews our studies of cold IXs, presenting spontaneous coherence and Bose–Einstein condensation of IXs and phenomena observed in the IX condensate, including the spatially ordered exciton state, commensurability effect of exciton density wave, spin textures, Pancharatnam–Berry phase, long-range coherent spin transport, and interference dislocations.
Disulfide High‐Mobility Group Box 1 Drives Ischemia‐Reperfusion Injury in Human Liver Transplantation

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Sterile inflammation is a major clinical concern during ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) triggered by traumatic events, including stroke, myocardial infarction, and solid organ transplantation. Despite high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) clearly being involved in sterile inflammation, its role is controversial because of a paucity of patient-focused research. APPROACH AND RESULTS Here, we examined the role of HMGB1 oxidation states in human IRI following liver transplantation. Portal blood immediately following allograft reperfusion (liver flush; LF) had increased total HMGB1, but only LF from patients with histopathological IRI had increased disulfide-HMGB1 and induced Toll-like receptor 4-dependent tumor necrosis factor alpha production by macrophages. Disulfide HMGB1 levels increased concomitantly with IRI severity. IRI+ prereperfusion biopsies contained macrophages with hyperacetylated, lysosomal disulfide-HMGB1 that increased postreperfusion at sites of injury, paralleling increased histone acetyltransferase general transcription factor IIIC subunit 4 and decreased histone deacetylase 5 expression. Purified disulfide-HMGB1 or IRI+ blood stimulated further production of disulfide-HMGB1 and increased proinflammatory molecule and cytokine expression in macrophages through a positive feedback loop. CONCLUSIONS These data identify disulfide-HMGB1 as a mechanistic biomarker of, and therapeutic target for, minimizing sterile inflammation during human liver IRI.
6 DOF calibration of profile sensor locations in an inspection station

Abstract Traditional coordinate measuring systems rely on the accurate kinematics of moving a sensor to the workpiece. This paper describes an instrument using a precision rotary stage to rotate a workpiece with respect to a set of three laser line sensors. The accuracy of the point cloud obtained from a single rotation of the workpiece is dependent on the rotational accuracy of the stage and knowledge of the location of the line sensors with respect to the rotary axis and each other. The calibration procedure required to locate these line sensors utilizes a precision artefact placed on the rotary stage.
Neuro-Kernel-Machine Network Utilizing Deep Learning and Its Application in Predictive Analytics in Smart City Energy Consumption

In the smart cities of the future artificial intelligence (AI) will have a dominant role given that AI will accommodate the utilization of intelligent analytics for prediction of critical parameters pertaining to city operation. In this chapter, a new data analytics paradigm is presented and being applied for energy demand forecasting in smart cities. In particular, the presented paradigm integrates a group of kernel machines by utilizing a deep architecture. The goal of the deep architecture is to exploit the strong capabilities of deep learning utilizing various abstraction levels and subsequently identify patterns of interest in the data. In particular, a deep feedforward deep neural network is employed with every network node to implement a kernel machine. This deep architecture, named neuro-kernel machine network, is subsequently applied for predicting the energy consumption of groups of residents in smart cities. Obtained results exhibit the capability of the presented method to provide adequately accurate predictions despite the form of the energy consumption data.
Solitary adult orbital myofibroma: Report of a case and review of the literature.

Abstract Purpose Myofibromas are benign soft tissue tumors commonly encountered in infancy and childhood. Developing usually within the first two years of life, they can be multicentric and involve deep visceral organs. Observations We present the rare occurrence of a solitary orbital myofibroma in an adult patient. The clinical, histopathologic and immunohistochemical findings of the tumor are documented. Conclusions A comprehensive review of pediatric and adult orbital and periocular involvement by myofibroma is presented. Its characteristic pathologic and molecular findings are reviewed. Importance Myofibromas are uncommon but important tumors that can occur in the head and neck region, including the orbit. Seen more often in children, they can rarely be encountered in adult patients. Diagnosis is possible with a panel of immunostains and molecular analysis can be further confirmatory.
Clinical Trials and Breast Cancer Disparities

Data generated from well-designed clinical trials represent a powerful strategy for advancing cancer care. African Americans carry a disproportionately high breast cancer mortality burden and have been under-represented in clinical trial research. This review summarizes accrual patterns for clinical trials studying prevention, medical oncology, surgical oncology and radiation oncology in breast cancer. Strengthening the diversity of breast cancer clinical trial participants can improve understanding of the multifactorial etiology of breast cancer disparities. Strategies to achieve this goal include optimizing utilization of patient navigation services, addressing the financial toxicity of clinical trial participation and educating both patients and providers regarding the importance of accrual diversity. Clinical trialists should work in partnership with disparity researchers and advocates to ensure that protocols are designed to address disparity questions, to reach diverse population subsets and to overcome financial barriers to participation.
Systemic Vasculitis Syndromes

Vasculitis, inflammation in and around the blood vessels, which is sometimes associated with fibrinoid necrosis, may be seen in many of the conditions discussed in this book. In most rheumatic diseases, vasculitis is only one feature of a well-defined, complex, pathologic process (Fig. 7.1), and the disease (e.g., SLE or dermatomyositis) is best characterized by other distinctive diagnostic clinical and laboratory features. However, in the diverse and perhaps totally unrelated syndromes discussed in this chapter, vasculitis itself is the predominant pathologic process, and the clinical manifestations are primarily a direct result of the damage to the blood vessels (Table 7.1).
Coverage-Directed Test Generation Using Symbolic Techniques

In this paper, we present a verification methodology that integrates formal verification techniques with verification by simulation, thereby providing means for generating simulation test suites that ensure coverage. We derive the test suites by means of BDD-based symbolic techniques for describing and traversing the implementation state space. In our approach, we provide a high-level of control over the generated test suites; a powerful abstraction mechanism directs the generation procedure to specific areas, that are the focus for verification, thereby withstanding the state explosion problem. The abstraction is achieved by partitioning the implementation state variables into categories of interest. We also depart from the traditional graph-algorithmic model for conformance testing; instead, using temporal logic assertions, we can generate a test suite where the set of state sequences (paths) satisfies some temporal properties as well as guaranteeing transition coverage. Our methodology has been successfully applied to the generation of test suites for IBM PowerPC and AS/400 systems.
Investigation of γ-ray induced polymer formation in the carboranes—X: Co-polymerization of 1-vinyl-o-carborane with styrene

Abstract The γ-ray induced polymerization of a 1:3 molar solution of solid 1-vinyl- o -carborane dissolved in styrene under free-radical conditions resulted in a co-polymer containing two 1-vinyl- o -carborane molecules and nine styrene molecules per co-polymer molecule. The co-polymer was found to have a polystyrene type structure but without any unsaturated end group. Radiation induced polymerization of pure styrene under the same conditions resulted in a single polymeric product with a chain length of 12 units. The rate of formation of the 1-vinyl- o -carborane and styrene co-polymer compared to that of the pure styrene was faster by a factor of 1.4.
EVERY CITIZEN IS A COP WITHOUT THE UNIFORM

This essay explores the question of sexualization in Hindi-Urdu cinema by arguing for an analysis of the effects of the movement-image-sound as sets of habituations at the level of the sub-individual, in the shocks both disrupting and producing sensorimotor schemas, and thus for a media assemblages approach to the new angry young man genre in Bollywood that thinks through the politico-ontological implication of flashbacks and interruptions in these films.
Phosphorylation of Human Cytochrome P450c17 by p38α Selectively Increases 17,20 Lyase Activity and Androgen Biosynthesis

Cytochrome P450c17, a steroidogenic enzyme encoded by the CYP17A1 gene, catalyzes the steroid 17α-hydroxylation needed for glucocorticoid synthesis, which may or may not be followed by 17,20 lyase activity needed for sex steroid synthesis. Whether or not P450c17 catalyzes 17,20 lyase activity is determined by three post-translational mechanisms influencing availability of reducing equivalents donated by P450 oxidoreductase (POR). These are increased amounts of POR, the allosteric action of cytochrome b5 to promote POR-P450c17 interaction, and Ser/Thr phosphorylation of P450c17, which also appears to promote POR-P450c17 interaction. The kinase(s) that phosphorylates P450c17 is unknown. In a series of kinase inhibition experiments, the pyridinyl imidazole drugs SB202190 and SB203580 inhibited 17,20 lyase but not 17α-hydroxylase activity in human adrenocortical HCI-H295A cells, suggesting an action on p38α or p38β. Co-transfection of non-steroidogenic COS-1 cells with P450c17 and p38 expression vectors showed that p38α, but not p38β, conferred 17,20 lyase activity on P450c17. Antiserum to P450c17 co-immunoprecipitated P450c17 and both p38 isoforms; however, knockdown of p38α, but not knockdown of p38β, inhibited 17,20 lyase activity in NCI-H295A cells. Bacterially expressed human P450c17 was phosphorylated by p38α in vitro at a non-canonical site, conferring increased 17,20 lyase activity. This phosphorylation increased the maximum velocity, but not the Michaelis constant, of the 17,20 lyase reaction. p38α phosphorylates P450c17 in a fashion that confers increased 17,20 lyase activity, implying that the production of adrenal androgens (adrenarche) is a regulated event.
Knowledge evaluation: statistical evaluations

This article introduces basic features of error estimators, including bias, variance, and loss functions. It outlines the logic behind classical hypothesis tests and explains the special challenges faced by knowledge discovery algorithms that search large model spaces. It discusses the statistical effects of multiple comparison procedures (MCPs), and several methods to adjust for those effects, including mathematical adjustments, cross-validation, and randomization tests. Finally, it outlines the basic concepts behind overfitting reduction and pruning.
MENINGOCOCCEMIA WITH MENINGITIS ACCOMPANIED BY BILATERAL GANGRENE OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES (WATERHOUSE-FRIDERICHSEN SYNDROME)

A case of meningococcemia with meningococcal meningitis, complicated by gangrene of the lower extremities, is reported. Amputation of the lower third of both legs was performed. The patient is living and in good health.