cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
HFMS: Managing the lifecycle and complexity of hybrid analytic data flows

To remain competitive, enterprises are evolving their business intelligence systems to provide dynamic, near realtime views of business activities. To enable this, they deploy complex workflows of analytic data flows that access multiple storage repositories and execution engines and that span the enterprise and even outside the enterprise. We call these multi-engine flows hybrid flows. Designing and optimizing hybrid flows is a challenging task. Managing a workload of hybrid flows is even more challenging since their execution engines are likely under different administrative domains and there is no single point of control. To address these needs, we present a Hybrid Flow Management System (HFMS). It is an independent software layer over a number of independent execution engines and storage repositories. It simplifies the design of analytic data flows and includes optimization and executor modules to produce optimized executable flows that can run across multiple execution engines. HFMS dispatches flows for execution and monitors their progress. To meet service level objectives for a workload, it may dynamically change a flow's execution plan to avoid processing bottlenecks in the computing infrastructure. We present the architecture of HFMS and describe its components. To demonstrate its potential benefit, we describe performance results for running sample batch workloads with and without HFMS. The ability to monitor multiple execution engines and to dynamically adjust plans enables HFMS to provide better service guarantees and better system utilization.
Control of JNK for an activation of NADPH oxidase in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia

NADPH oxidase is a main regulator for H(2)O(2) productivity in neuroinflammatory cells, including microglia, under various CNS diseases and its activity is controlled by mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), such as extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), p38 MAPK, and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). However, little is known about the link between NADPH oxidase-driven H(2)O(2) productivity and JNK in microglia. The purpose of this study is to uncover the link using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated BV2 microglia. LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia produced H(2)O(2) that was decreased by NADPH oxidase inhibitors, including 4-(2-aminoethyl)benzenesulfonylfluoride and diphenyleneiodonium chloride. In addition, NADPH oxidase was activated in LPS-stimulated BV2 cells. These results suggest that NAPDH oxidase is a main factor for H(2)O(2) productivity in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglia. Based on a semi-quantitative PCR analysis, two of NADPH oxidase components, p47(phox) and gp91(phox), were involved in the activation of NADPH oxidase because transcriptional levels of both components were upregulated by LPS. Role of JNK in NADPH oxidase-regulated H(2)O(2) productivity was pursued using specific inhibitors, including SP600125 and JNK inhibitory peptide (JIP). Inhibition of the JNK pathways significantly reduced H(2)O(2) productivity, which was closely related to the attenuation of NADPH oxidase activation and the upregulation of components. We conclude that JNK pathways are involved in NADPH oxidase-mediated H(2)O(2) productivity in BV2 microglia.
Family Values in Emmanuèle Bernheim's Un couple

Emmanuele Bernheim's novel Un couple (1987) offers a stark look at how changes in contemporary France are undermining the exogamic imperatives that Levi-Strauss claimed, in his monumental work Les Structures elementaires de la parente (1948), to be the essential element of all social structures. Bernheim's minimalist work points out both the artificiality and fragility of the nuclear family, and questions centuries of literary traditions which have postulated that the formation of a "couple" can be the only satisfying conclusion to a story about a love affair. This article is informed by the work of Warren Motte (Small Worlds: Minimalism in Contemporary French Literature, 1999), Peter Brooks (Body Work: Objects of Desire in Modern Narrative, 1993), Luce Irigaray (Ce sexe qui n'en est pas un, 1977) and Adam Phillips (On Flirtation, 1994).
Temperature dependence of the longitudinal relaxation rates and exchange rates of the amide protons in peptide substrates of protein kinase

The longitudinal relaxation rates (1T1app) of the amide protons of two peptide substrates for protein kinase, Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Leu and Leu-Arg-Arg-Ala-Ser-Leu-Gly, were measured as a function of temperature. Exchange rates of these protons with water (1τexH2O) were also measured, using the saturation-transfer technique. At all temperatures, (1T1app) was found to be the sum of two components: 1τexH2O and 1T1, the intrinsic relaxation rate. The NH protons of carboxy-terminal residues exchanged >10-fold slower than those of internal residues, and this behavior was duplicated by the NH protons of N-acetyl-serine and N-acetyl-serine amide, respectively. A 50-fold variation of the exchange rates at 25° was detected among the internal residues, with a trend toward progressively slower exchange at positions closer to the carboxy terminus. This trend systematically deviated from rates predicted by studies with model dipeptides (R. S. Molday, S. W. Englander, and R. G. Kallen, Biochemistry 11, 150 (1972)). While the ΔH‡ values ranged from 16 to 19 kcal/mol, differences in rates of exchange were due primarily to unequal entropy barriers. The NH2 protons of N-acetyl-serine amide exchanged both with water and with each other. For these protons, 1T1app could be adequately described as the sum of three components: 1T1, 1τexH2O, and 1τexNH2, the rate of cross-exchange which reflects the rate of intramolecular rotation about the amide CN bond. Despite the various exchange rates of the amide protons, all exhibited similar changes in chemical shift with temperature.
Fetal spinal cord homografts ameliorate the severity of lesion-induced hind limb behavioral deficits

Abstract Fetal spinal cord grafts survive for long periods in host spinal cord. We explored the ability of such grafts into a lesion in C3 fasciculus gracilis to influence the expected deterioration of hind limb performance following this lesion. Ten adult Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on a schedule of 23 h off and 1 h on water. These subjects were then trained to traverse a narrow platform for a water reward. Criterion was established as 10 trials/day completed in 15 s a trial for 2 consecutive days. Animals were ranked for hind limb and forelimb performance utilizing slips, recovery, and manner of traversing the platform. In a triple-blind experimental design, the animals' identification was coded and laminectomy performed at C3. The fasciculus gracilis was bilaterally transected at the rostral and caudal borders of the segment and aspirated. Five subjects were chosen at random immediately after the lesion was made for the implantation of two 1-mm segments of E14 spinal cord from fetuses of timed pregnant Sprague-Dawley dams at the time of the lesion. Coded lesion and lesion-transplant animals were then tested after 21, 30, 45, 60, and 90 days until criterion or for 4 days. Hind limb performance of the lesion-only (ANOVA χ 2 = 13.04, df 5; P χ 2 = 11.82, df 5; P P P P > 0.05). There were few small-caliber nerve fibers in the fasciculus gracilis at the level of C1 indicating that reinnervation was not a major factor in the reduction of the deficit.
Effects of Automation Failure in a Luggage Screening Task: A Comparison between Direct and Indirect Cueing

The present study investigated the use of two automated aids of different reliabilities in a luggage screening task. A Direct Cue consisting of a green circle around a potential target directs attention to a specific part of the luggage image, while an Indirect Cue, consisting of a green border around an image determined to have a target, does not. Direct Cues offer an advantage in visual inspection tasks because they guide attention to specific areas of the visual image but this can also cause attentional tunneling. Furthermore, the reliance on automation may negatively impact manual performance after the aid is removed or is no longer available. Thus, two issues were investigated in the current study: (1) how do failures in Direct and Indirect Cues affect reliance and (2) how does a complete failure affect performance after operators had the use of an automated aid? Results suggest that reliance patterns were more optimal with the Direct Cue than with the Indirect Cue and performance with a more reliable Indirect Cue was not much better than a less reliable one. The results also suggest that manual performance, when the aid was removed, was better for participants who had used the automated aids compared to control participants who did not have any use of the aid previously. The advantage of previously aided performance on subsequent manual performance was greatest for those who had used the more reliable Direct Cue. Explanations and implications are discussed.
Age-associated striatal dopaminergic denervation and falls in community-dwelling subjects

Older adults have a high prevalence of gait and balance disturbances and falls. Normal aging is associated with significant striatal dopaminergic denervation, which might be a previously unrecognized additional contributor to geriatric falls. This study investigated the relationship between the severity of age-associated striatal dopaminergic denervation (AASDD) and falls in community-dwelling subjects. Community-dwelling subjects who did not have a clinical diagnosis to explain falls (n = 77: 43 female, 34 male; mean age 61.4 +/− 16.4; range 20–85) completed clinical assessment and brain dopamine transporter (DAT) [11C]beta-CFT (2-beta-carbomethoxy-3beta-(4-fluorophenyl) tropane) positron emission tomography imaging followed by 6 months of prospective fall monitoring using diaries. Results showed a significant inverse relationship between striatal DAT activity and age (r = −0.82, p < 0.001). A total of 26 subjects (33.8%) reported at least one fall, with 5 subjects (6.5%) reporting two or more falls. While no significant difference was noted in striatal DAT activity between nonfallers (n = 51) and fallers (n = 26; f = 0.02, not significant), striatal DAT activity was modestly reduced in the small subgroup of recurrent fallers compared with the other subjects (f = 5.07, p < 0.05). Findings indicate that AASDD does not explain isolated self-reported falls in community-dwelling subjects. However, it may be a contributing factor in the small subgroup of subjects with recurrent falls.
Advances in screening test development for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies.

The blood of patients with transmisible spongiform encephalopathy or prion disease can no longer be considered free of infectivity. There have been two recent reports of highly probable transfusion-associated iatrogenic variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease infections, and there is supporting experimental evidence of scrapie transmission by the transfusion of blood from sheep with naturally occurring disease. In the absence of a preclinical diagnostic test for transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, the main precautionary measures undertaken by blood agencies employ donor exclusion criteria, ensuring that the number of any further iatrogenic cases will be small. The development of a sensitive, specific and reliable diagnostic test is urgently needed for early identification of infected individuals in order to ensure the safety of blood supplies. During the past 5 years, significant progress has been made in improving the sensitivity and specificity of tests using brain and lymphoreticular tissues to identify...
Record Keeping: Directions for the 1990s

In studies conducted in the late 1980s, managers and direct service workers agreed that their biggest record-keeping problems were caused by lack of time. This article describes how 114 agencies in 20 states tried to resolve this problem Agencies were more successful when they simplified recording and allocated new resources to the task. This article outlines the techniques these agencies used and contrasts those that were more successful with those that had mixed or poor results. The findings suggest directions for record keeping in social services agencies in the 1990s, when agencies will face critical choices about how to use limited resources.
Delayed Appearance of Sperm After End-to-Side Vasoepididymostomy

AbstractThe frequency and timing of the delayed appearance of sperm following an end-to-side vasoepididymostomy were determined in 89 patients. The surgical patency rate, defined as greater than 1 million sperm in the ejaculate, was 56 percent (50 of 89 consecutive patients). None of the 7 patients without sperm in the epididymal fluid at the anastomosis had sperm in the ejaculate postoperatively. Of the remaining 82 patients 31 had sperm on initial semen analysis within 3 months postoperatively. Seven of the 51 patients whose initial postoperative semen sample revealed azoospermia were lost to followup. Among the remaining 44 patients 18 (41 percent) had delayed appearance of sperm in the ejaculate (mean delay 6 months, range 3 to 15). The ultimate mean sperm count and motility in the patients with initially positive postoperative semen samples were not significantly different from those in patients with delayed appearance of sperm. In addition, the delayed anastomotic obstruction for both groups was the...
Contribution of ascites to impaired gastric function and nutritional intake in patients with cirrhosis and ascites.

Background & Aims: Protein calorie malnutrition and weight loss are common among patients with cirrhosis and ascites. The cause of these symptoms is unclear, with several putative mechanisms proposed. The primary aims of this study were to compare gastric volumes and accommodation between patients with cirrhosis complicated by ascites and healthy controls, and to evaluate the effect of large-volume paracentesis in the patient group. Methods: Patients with cirrhosis and ascites underwent assessment of gastric volumes as measured by single-photon emission computed tomography, gastric sensation assessed by a validated nutrient drink test, and a 3-day assessment of caloric intake before and after large-volume paracentesis. Age- and sex-adjusted linear regression models were used to compare gastric volumes and accommodation ratios between patients and healthy volunteers. Paired Wilcoxon rank-sum tests were used to compare gastric measures before and after paracentesis among the patient group. Results: Fifteen patients (median age, 54 y) were compared with 112 healthy (age- and sex-matched) controls. Median postprandial gastric volumes (627 mL patients vs 721 healthy controls) and gastric accommodation were reduced significantly in patients compared with healthy controls (P = .02 and .006, respectively). After paracentesis: (1) fasting gastric volumes were increased (median 312 mL post- vs 241 mL pre-, P = .04), (2) patients tolerated ingestion of larger maximum volumes (median 964 mL post- vs 738 mL pre-, P = .04), and (3) caloric intake was increased (median 34% kcal post- vs 3110 kcal pre-, P = .005). Conclusions: Postprandial gastric volumes and accommodation ratios are reduced in patients with cirrhosis and ascites compared with healthy controls. In addition, large-volume paracentesis increases fasting gastric volumes, volumes ingested until maximal satiation, and caloric intake.
Effect of Colored Rhythmic Notation on Music-Reading Skills of Elementary Students.

The researcher attempted to determine whether instruction using colored rhythmic notation affected first- and second-grade students' rhythm-reading skills. As a regular part of general music classe...
Examining the Interaction of Force and Repetition on Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk A Systematic Literature Review

Objective: Our aims were (a) to perform a system­ atic literature review of epidemiological studies that examined the interaction of force and repetition with respect to musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) risk, (b) to assess the relationship of force and repetition in fatigue failure studies of musculoskeletal tissues, and (c) to synthesize these findings. Background: Many epidemiological studies have examined the effects of force and repetition on MSD risk; however, relatively few have examined the interaction between these risk factors. Method: In a literature search, we identified 12 studies that allowed evaluation of a force­repetition interaction with respect to MSD risk. Identified studies were subjected to a methodological quality assessment and critical review. We evaluated laboratory studies of fatigue failure to examine tissue failure responses to force and repetition. Results: Of the 12 epidemiological studies that tested a Force × Repetition interaction, 10 reported evidence of interaction. Based on these results, the suggestion is made that force and repetition may be interdependent in terms of their influence on MSD risk. Fatigue failure studies of musculoskeletal tissues show a pattern of failure that mirrors the MSD risk observed in epidemiological studies. Conclusions: Evidence suggests that there may be interdependence between force and repetition with respect to MSD risk. Repetition seems to result in modest increases in risk for low­force tasks but rapid increases in risk for high­force tasks. This interaction may be representative of a fatigue failure process in affected tissues.
Excitatory Amino Acid Transporters of the Salamander Retina: Identification, Localization, and Function

The rapid re-uptake of extracellular glutamate mediated by a family of high-affinity glutamate transporter proteins is essential to continued glutamatergic signaling and neuronal viability, but the contributions of individual transporter subtypes toward cellular physiology are poorly understood. Because the physiology of glutamate transport in the salamander retina has been well described, we have examined the expression and function of glutamate transporter subtypes in this preparation. cDNAs encoding five distinct salamander excitatory amino acid transporter (sEAAT) subtypes were isolated, and their molecular properties and distributions of expression were compared. We report evidence that at least four distinct sEAAT subtypes are expressed in glial (Muller) cells. In addition, four of the five transporter subtypes are localized in neurons throughout the retina. The brightest immunostaining was seen in the synaptic regions of the inner and outer plexiform layers and in the outer nuclear layer. Using electrophysiological measurements in the Xenopus oocyte expression system, we also examined the pharmacology and ionic dependence of the four expressing transporter subtypes that make it possible to distinguish, on the basis of functional behavior, among the various subtypes. Although no simple correlation between transporter subtype and retinal cell physiology can be made, the diverse population of sEAAT transporter subtypes with unique localization and functional properties indicates that glutamate transporters play a wide variety of roles in retinal function and are likely to underlie both the uptake of glutamate by Muller cells and the glutamate-elicited chloride conductance involved in signal transduction by photoreceptors and bipolar cells.
Delayed Special Education Placement for Learning Disabilities Among Children of Immigrants

Prior theory and research suggest that children of immigrants would be at especially high risk for special education placement with learning disabilities. However, their longitudinal special education placement patterns have received scant attention. This study examines temporal patterns of special education placement among children of immigrants, focusing on the timing of special education placement for learning disabilities among first- or second-generation children compared with their third-plus generation peers. Results provide evidence that children of immigrants face comparatively lower odds of receiving early special education intervention services, but demonstrate an increasing risk as the school years progress. This relationship is explained by children of immigrants’ frequent participation in English as a second language programs in the early grades.
Magnetic vector analysis of gastrointestinal electrical control activity

The electrical control activity (ECA) of the gastrointestinal tract exists as an omnipresent slow wave that characterizes the underlying activity of the smooth muscle. In the presence of mesenteric ischemia, small intestine ECA in animal models decreases over time. One-dimensional, multichannel SQUID magnetometers can noninvasivley record magnetic fields associated with ECA activity. Using vector optimization, we can resolve three orthogonal channels into a single vector corresponding to a single loop of normal or ischemic small intestine. We recorded the magnetic fields associated with the ECA of three male pigs after induction of ischemia using optimized vectors to discern the activity of the affected loop of bowel. A Student's T-test was performed to determine if the change in ECA frequency after induction of ischemia was significant.
An improved Kahn transmitter architecture based on delta-sigma modulation

A new architecture for linear high efficiency power amplifiers and transmitters is proposed. The essential idea is to apply delta-sigma modulation to the signal envelopes in the Kahn transmitters. While in traditional Kahn techniques the original signal envelope is restored before the final-stage power amplifier is modulated, in the proposed scheme, the power amplifier undergoes digital modulations and the signal envelope is restored from passing through a high Q bandpass filter at the output. Simulations based on power GaAs FET models show 31% improvements on power efficiency and 5 dB improvement in IM3 compared to traditional Kahn techniques.
Association between Self-reported Leisure-time Physical Activity and Measures of Cardiorespiratory Fitness in an Elderly Population

Leisure-time physical activity enhances health and functioning in older populations. However, few data are available on the correlation between self-reported leisure-time physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness in the elderly. Treadmill exercise testing results were obtained for 1,006 members (median age 67 years) of a community-based sample. Subjects completed a standardized evaluation of medical/social history and measures of physical function. Leisure-time physical activity in the 12 months and 7 days before interview and over subjects' lifetimes was summarized as total and activity-specific METs/week and [METs * (hours/week)]. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the cross-sectional, sex-specific associations between peak oxygen consumption (VO2) and exercise duration. After adjustment for age, body mass index, smoking history, medical morbidity, direct measures of physical functioning, forced expiratory volumes, and maximum respiratory muscle pressure, leisure-time physical activity accounted for < or = 5% of the variance of VO2 and exercise duration. Results were unchanged when analyses were restricted to subjects who achieved high levels of exercise. These data indicate that measures of aerobic capacity cannot be used to "validate" self-reported leisure-time physical activity in older subjects, and they further suggest that beneficial effects of physical activity in the elderly are the result of metabolic effects that are not reflected well by maximal aerobic capacity during exercise testing.
Patient empowerment: reflections on the challenge of fostering the adoption of a new paradigm.

Diabetes is a self-managed illness in which the decisions most affecting the health and well being of patients are made by the patients themselves. Many of these decisions involve routine activities of daily living (e.g., nutrition, physical activity). Effective diabetes care requires patients and health care professionals to collaborate in the development of self-management plans that integrate the clinical expertise of health care professionals with the concerns, priorities and resources of the patient. Collaborative diabetes care requires a new ‘‘empowerment’’ paradigm that involves a fundamental redefinition of roles and relationships of health care professionals and patients. The challenges of fostering the adoption of a new paradigm differ substantially from those associated with the introduction of new technology. Those challenges are discussed in this paper. 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Analyzing uncertainty in TG protection graphs with TG/MC

We introduce TG/MC, a Monte Carlo approach for evaluating the impact of uncertainty about vulnerabilities upon forecasts of security for a real-world system modeled by a protection graph. A TG/MC model defines a vulnerability as a potential change to an otherwise safe initial protection graph that, if exploited, leads to an unauthorized state, a violation of the system's security policy through the application of TG rules. TG/MC captures uncertainties about vulnerabilities as probability distributions and forecasts the probability of a specific security violation. TG/MC extends beyond the rigid yes/no analysis of safety in a TG protection graph to consider uncertainty in questions of security for real-world systems.
Beowulf and the Book of Enoch

I suppose it would be generally admitted these days that the interpretation of Old English literature can often draw profitably upon Christian Latin writing of the first millennium: the Latin Bible and its commentaries, the New Testament apocrypha, and the enormous and varied corpus of patristic and later Latin literature. In addition, there are occasional signs that Old English poetry learned and unusually early as it is may owe something to a colorful body of writings no longer current in the later Middle Ages, which for present purposes can be conveniently labelled "Old Testament apocrypha." I refer, of course, not to books like Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, and I and II Machabees, which in the Middle Ages were generally accepted as canonical, but to what one is tempted to call the "real apocrypha," or more conventionally the pseudepigrapha for example the Book of Jubilees, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Adam and Eve, the Assumption of Moses, and so on.l Often enough, it would appear, such works have been permanently lost; witness the greatly lamented "Liber de Ogia nomine gigante," known to us only through a disapproving reference in the sixth-century Decretum Gelasianum.2 Sometimes they survive in early Greek or Latin translations or fragments, but usually the only complete early versions we possess are in languages calculated to dampen the enthusiasm of the honest Anglo-Saxonist Ethiopic, Syriac, Armenian, Slavic, and the like. Even so, books of this kind seem to have had some currency in Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England, presumably in early Latin translations
The effect of flow oscillations on cavity drag

An experimental investigation of flow over an axisymmetric cavity shows that self-sustained, periodic oscillations of the cavity shear layer are associated with low cavity drag. In this low-drag mode the flow regulates itself to fix the mean-shear-layer stagnation point at the downstream corner. Above a critical value of the cavity width-to-depth ratio there is an abrupt and large increase of drag due to the onset of the ‘wake mode’ of instability. It is also shown by measurement of the momentum balance how the drag of the cavity is related to the state of the shear layer, as defined by the mean momentum transport $\rho\overline{u}\overline{v}$ and the Reynolds stress $\rho\overline{u^{\prime}v^{\prime}}$, and how these are related to the amplifying oscillations in the shear layer. The cavity shear layer is found to be different, in several respects, from a free shear layer.
SecA: a potential antimicrobial target

There is a consensus in the medical profession of the pressing need for novel antimicrobial agents due to issues related to drug resistance. In practice, solutions to this problem to a large degree lie with the identification of new and vital targets in bacteria and subsequently designing their inhibitors. We consider SecA a very promising antimicrobial target. In this review, we compile and analyze information available on SecA to show that inhibition of SecA has a multitude of consequences. Furthermore, we discuss issues critical to the design and evaluation of SecA inhibitors.
Organization, Labor Force, and Jury Representation: Economic Excuses and Jury Participation

Economic excuse is the most significant form of voluntary self-exclusion from jury selection. In this paper, the sources of the economic excuse are examined with respect to jurors' organizational affiliation, occupation, and class position. Our sample comes from the 1986 California County Master Key list. More than 1,000 prospective jurors were contacted to gather information on their eligibility to serve on juries. Logit regression was the analytical method used.Our analysis suggests that company policies on jury compensation play a key role in determining the pattern of economic excuses. Our analysis also points out that prospective jurors' employment conditions and structural locations in the labor market are important in explaining the pattern of economic excuses for workers without company compensation. Labor market measures, such as employment status and employee age, are also important predictors of economic excuses for jurors with company compensation. In addition, legal variables and other non-economic excuses are important in explaining jury participation. Their impacts are especially significant for jurors with no company compensation.Individual characteristics also play an important role in predicting an economic excuse. Both white and English-speaking jurors who work in less stable, secondary economic sectors and without company compensation are more likely to request an economic excuse than racial minorities and non-English speakers.Our analysis also sheds light upon potential jurors' perceptions of jury service. While apprehension of jury service is perhaps inevitable, it is important that future research examine potential jurors' psychological perceptions of what jury service entails along with their economic status.Our empirical results suggest that while some attempts in the past have failed, it is important to establish and implement laws or regulations that encourage corporate participation through mandated reimbursement policies and/or guarantees of adequate economic reward from the company. Otherwise, the "fair cross-section" requirement may not be met by using the current jury selection process.
Regional control is preserved after dose de-escalated radiotherapy to involved lymph nodes in HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer.

Summary Objectives To analyze a cohort of patients with HPV positive, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) treated with lower radiation dose to clinically involved lymph nodes. Materials and methods We retrospectively identified patients with HPV positive, OPSCC treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (70–74.4 Gy) to the primary site and, since a post-radiation neck dissection was planned, 54 Gy to the involved nodal areas. Neck dissection was ultimately omitted in all cases due to complete response. All patients were treated with a 3 field approach with sequential boost plans. Composite plans were generated retrospectively and primary tumor and lymph node GTVs were contoured and nodes were expanded by 5 mm to form a CTV. Mean dose, dose to 95% (D95) and dose to 99% (D99) were determined. Results Fifty patients treated from 2008 to 2010 with 113 involved nodes were identified. The median age was 57 years, and 6%, 46%, and 48% were current, former, and never smokers. Ninety percent of patients received concurrent cisplatin based chemotherapy. Median D95 and D99 to involved nodes were 59.8 Gy and 55.9 Gy respectively. At a median follow up of 54.1 months, two patients developed nodal failure and four developed metastatic disease. Five year loco-regional control, disease free survival and overall survival were 96%, 81% and 86% respectively. Conclusion In this exploratory analysis, regional lymph node control in HPV positive oropharyngeal cancer was not compromised by dose de-escalated radiotherapy to involved nodes in the setting of concurrent cisplatin based chemotherapy.
Distribution of the Corn Earworm on St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Its Relation to Suppression Programs

A natural population of corn earworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), larvae was labeled with P32 as they developed on corn injected with the isotope. The movement and distribution of emerging adults was then studied through the use of a series of virgin-female traps and light traps. The labeled adults dispersed themselves in a non-random manner, seeking out and concentrating themselves in and near small plots of corn which was in a suitable stage for attack. Population estimates based on the recapture of labeled insects indicate that St. Croix is a suitable location for suppression programs.
Social media and international affairs: an opportunity and risk for democracy

With the Arab Spring, journalists and academics debated the impact of social media on events that led to it. Social media has decentralized how information is spread by bypassing traditional media ...
Megacrystic Gore Mountain–type garnets in the Adirondack Highlands: Age, origin, and tectonic implications

Spectacular exposures of the world's largest megacrystic garnets (to 35 cm diameter) occur in a coarse-grained amphibolite at the Barton Garnet Mine in the Adirondack Highlands (Gore Mountain, New York State, USA). Over the years, numerous geologists have concluded that the large size of the garnets resulted from an influx of fluids during ca. 1050 Ma upper amphibolite facies metamorphism of a ca. 1155 Ma olivine metagabbro. The presence of fluids under such mid-crustal pressure-temperature conditions is anomalous and warrants explanation. Evidence indicates that the fluids were introduced along, and close to, a steep border fault that juxtaposes charnockite against the garnet ore at the southern margin of the mine. Granitic pegmatites and quartz veins are present in the border zone and locally intrude the garnet ore. Geochronology has played a critical role in resolving the genesis of the Gore Mountain garnets. Over the past 20 yr Sm-Nd and Lu-Hf techniques have been used to date the crystallization of the garnets as 1049 ± 5 Ma, an age that coincides with the termination of the contractional phase of the Ottawan orogeny, the onset of extensional orogen collapse, and the emplacement of the Lyon Mountain Granite. New U-Pb zircon age determinations of 1045 ± 7.5 (Barton Garnet Mine) and 1055 ± 7.4 (New York State Route 3 near Cranberry Lake) for Lyon Mountain granite pegmatites directly associated with megacrystic garnet amphibolites corroborate the synchronicity of emplacement of Lyon Mountain magmas and the growth of the garnet megacrysts. It is argued that during the ca. 1050 Ma extensional collapse of the Ottawan orogen, fluids gained access to extensional fault networks and interacted with country rocks. We further suggest that increasing temperature due to advected heat from Lyon Mountain Granite carried the Gore Mountain megagarnet amphibolite into granulite facies conditions that resulted in reactions between hornblende and garnet that produced orthopyroxene and calcic plagioclase intergrowths, both as symplectites and coarsely textured pods developed in pressure shadows. Geothermal modeling of garnet zoning in metapelites ([Storm and Spear, 2005][1]) and oxygen isotope zoning in titanite ([Bonamici et al., 2011][2]) require a short period of rapid cooling ca. 1050 Ma, which we interpret to be related to the extensional collapse of the Ottawan orogen at that time ([Rivers, 2008][3]; [McLelland et al., 2010a][4], [2010b][5]). Reconnaissance of the southern and central Adirondacks reveals that a number of megacrystic garnet occurrences similar to those at Gore Mountain are present in areas that contain both metagabbros and megacrystic garnet amphibolites, and we propose that all of these formed during orogen collapse, intrusion of Lyon Mountain Granite, and fluid-related alteration at high temperature. [1]: #ref-51 [2]: #ref-5 [3]: #ref-45 [4]: #ref-37 [5]: #ref-38
Mechanistic aspects of the hematin-mediated increases in brain monooxygenase activities.

Addition of micromolar concentrations of hematin to reaction vessels containing 9000g supernatant fractions of rabbit brain homogenates together with cofactors necessary for monooxygenation resulted in up to 70-fold increases in rates of benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylation relative to rates observed for incubations performed in the absence of hematin. Time course determinations revealed the hematin-independent activity to be linear with time for at least 2 hr while the hematin-dependent activity was nonlinear, following an upward hyperbolic course of product formation. Preincubation of samples in the presence of substrate and cofactors before the additions of hematin resulted in increased initial rates for the hematin-dependent reaction. However, preincubations of supernatant fractions with hematin alone did not result in increases in initial reaction rates. At equivalent heme concentrations, hemoglobin was approximately one-ninth as effective as hematin in eliciting the stimulatory response, whereas protoporphyrin IX, biliverdin, myoglobin, catalase, and FeCl2 were essentially ineffective in producing enhanced rates of reaction. Hematin did not produce increases in metabolic rates when incubated with hepatic homogenates. Both hematin-dependent and hematin-independent activities were found to be inhibited by carbon monoxide, aniline, cytochrome c, 17β-estradio1, 7,8-benzoflavone, butylated hydroxyanisole, and 2-mercaptoethanol. Increasing enzymatic activities by pretreating animals with phenobarbital, 3-methylcholanthrene, or Aroclor 1254 caused a decrease in the stimulatory capabilities of hematin in vitro. Hematin also produced increases in rates of oxidative metabolism of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and 17β-estradiol, but not of N-2-fluorenylacetamide. Metabolic profiles obtained with high-pressure liquid chromatography and benzo[a]pyrene or 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene as substrate illustrated that additions of hematin increased the quantity of individual metabolites produced without causing qualitative changes in the metabolic profiles.
Natural history of clinical complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for urothelial carcinoma of the bladder: Updated single-institution experience.

4537Background: Approximately 30-40% of patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) have a complete pathologic response at radical cystectomy. It ...
Improving energy efficiency and security in cluster computing systems

Cluster computing systems are widely used in parallel and distributed computing research. Besides performance, energy cost and security should also be carefully concerned in large scale cluster computing systems to reduce budget and to avoid information leak. In this dissertation, I proposed a Time Aware Dynamic Voltage Scaling scheduling algorithm to conserve energy cost of processors in parallel computing systems and a design of an energy-efficient I/O System with write buffer disks to conserve energy cost of large scale storage systems. To explain when the energy consumption could be reduced in cluster computing systems, I analyzed the CPU and I/O system performance in a security-aware storage system. Security is another issue which has not been well explored in cluster computing systems. I implemented a transparent encryption/decryption layer in a popular Message Passing Interface implementation: MPICH2. Then I quantitatively evaluate the system performance on two cluster computing systems.
Plant Cells as Chemical Factories: Control and Recovery of Valuable Products

Plant sources offer a great diversity of chemicals. More than 30,000 different chemical moieties are known to be produced by plants. The question is whether some or even any of these chemicals can be more economically produced by plant cell suspension culture than by traditional field grown plants. Suspension culture has a number of distinct advantages over field derived plant sources, including better control and year around availability. The concern, however, is expense. What are the major bottlenecks to economic plant cell suspension culture? Can they be significantly reduced?
Role of a p53 polymorphism in the development of nonfunctional pituitary adenomas.

Abstract Non-functional pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are among the commonest intracranial neoplasms. While histologically benign, NFPAs sometimes become large enough to limit therapeutic options and reduce quality of life. Investigations of the molecular etiology of NFPAs have failed to identify prevalent genetic changes and, while a role for p53 has been suggested, TP53 gene alterations have yet to be described in NFPAs. We found that the polymorphism rs1042522:C > G in codon 72 of exon 4 of the TP53 gene, whose C variant produces a proline and is more common in most ethnicities, has a G variant producing an arginine in 79.8% of NFPAs (n = 42; p
Diversified cropping systems support greater microbial cycling and retention of carbon and nitrogen

Abstract Diversifying biologically simple cropping systems often entails altering other management practices, such as tillage regime or nitrogen (N) source. We hypothesized that the interaction of crop rotation, N source, and tillage in diversified cropping systems would promote microbially-mediated soil C and N cycling while attenuating inorganic N pools. We studied a cropping systems trial in its 10th year in Iowa, USA, which tested a 2-yr cropping system of corn (Zea mays L.)/soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] managed with conventional fertilizer N inputs and conservation tillage, a 3-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), and a 4-yr cropping system of corn/soybean/small grain + alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)/alfalfa. Three year and 4-yr cropping systems were managed with composted manure, reduced N fertilizer inputs, and periodic moldboard ploughing. We assayed soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and N (MBN), soil extractable NH4 and NO3, gross proteolytic activity of native soil, and potential activity of six hydrolytic enzymes eight times during the growing season. At the 0–20 cm depth, native protease activity in the 4-yr cropping system was greater than in the 2-yr cropping system by a factor of 7.9, whereas dissolved inorganic N pools did not differ between cropping systems (P = 0.292). At the 0–20 cm depth, MBC and MBN the 4-yr cropping system exceeded those in the 2-yr cropping system by factors of 1.51 and 1.57. Our findings suggest that diversified crop cropping systems, even when periodically moldboard ploughed, support higher levels of microbial biomass, greater production of bioavailable N from SOM, and a deeper microbially active layer than less diverse cropping systems.
“Original Practices” and Jonson's First Folio

Over the past twenty years or so, performance-based efforts to recreate the staging conditions and production modes of Elizabethan/Jacobean playhouses through “original practices” (OP) have develop...
A cytokine network involving IL-36γ, IL-23, and IL-22 promotes antimicrobial defense and recovery from intestinal barrier damage

The gut epithelium acts to separate host immune cells from unrestricted interactions with the microbiota and other environmental stimuli. In response to epithelial damage or dysfunction, immune cells are activated to produce interleukin (IL)-22, which is involved in repair and protection of barrier surfaces. However, the specific pathways leading to IL-22 and associated antimicrobial peptide (AMP) production in response to intestinal tissue damage remain incompletely understood. Here, we define a critical IL-36/IL-23/IL-22 cytokine network that is instrumental for AMP production and host defense. Using a murine model of intestinal damage and repair, we show that IL-36γ is a potent inducer of IL-23 both in vitro and in vivo. IL-36γ–induced IL-23 required Notch2-dependent (CD11b+CD103+) dendritic cells (DCs), but not Batf3-dependent (CD11b−CD103+) DCs or CSF1R-dependent macrophages. The intracellular signaling cascade linking IL-36 receptor (IL-36R) to IL-23 production by DCs involved MyD88 and the NF-κB subunits c-Rel and p50. Consistent with in vitro observations, IL-36R– and IL-36γ–deficient mice exhibited dramatically reduced IL-23, IL-22, and AMP levels, and consequently failed to recover from acute intestinal damage. Interestingly, impaired recovery of mice deficient in IL-36R or IL-36γ could be rescued by treatment with exogenous IL-23. This recovery was accompanied by a restoration of IL-22 and AMP expression in the colon. Collectively, these data define a cytokine network involving IL-36γ, IL-23, and IL-22 that is activated in response to intestinal barrier damage and involved in providing critical host defense.
Adapting educational hypermedia to interaction behaviors

This research investigated learner interaction with presentation, content and navigation adaptivity and its effect on time spent (efficiency) and performance (effectiveness) with three online tutorials. The tutorials were developed using a learning cycle to address the needs of all learners. Adaptivity was gradually introduced according to the learner interaction behavior with the cycle. Results from an analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicate that the amount of time spent was significantly reduced in the third and fully adaptive tutorial with comparable performance.
Upper Extremity Injuries in Adolescent Tennis Players

The majority of adolescent tennis players will have their playing temporarily interrupted by an injury, with lower extremity problems predominating. Although upper extremity injuries occur less frequently, they tend to be more troublesome. Injuries discussed in this article include "King Kong arm," slipped capital humeral epiphysis, "Osgood-Schlatter disease" of the shoulder, tennis elbow, stress synovitis and elbow flexion contracture, and friction burns and collagen stress fractures of the rotator cuff.
Benzodiazepines for Agitation in Patients with Delirium: Selecting the Right Patient, Right Time and Right Indication

Purpose of review To provide an evidence-based synopsis on the role of benzodiazepines in patients with agitated delirium. Recent findings Existing evidence supports the use of benzodiazepines in two specific delirium settings: persistent agitation in patients with terminal delirium and delirium tremens. In the setting of terminal delirium, the goal of care is to maximize comfort, recognizing that patients are unlikely to recover from their delirium. A recent randomized trial suggests that lorazepam in combination with haloperidol as rescue medication was more effective than haloperidol alone for the management of persistent restlessness/agitation in patients with terminal delirium. In patients with refractory agitation, benzodiazepines may be administered as scheduled doses or continuous infusion for palliative sedation. Benzodiazepines also have an established role in management of delirium secondary to alcohol withdrawal. Outside of these two care settings, the role of benzodiazepine remains investigational and clinicians should exercise great caution because of the risks of precipitating or worsening delirium and over-sedation. Summary Benzodiazepines are powerful medications associated with considerable risks and benefits. Clinicians may prescribe benzodiazepines skillfully by selecting the right medication at the right dose for the right indication to the right patient at the right time.