cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structural Dissection of NMDA Receptor Pharmacology

N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) belong to the family of ionotropic glutamate receptors and mediate excitatory synaptic transmission in the mammalian brain. NMDARs have been intensely studied over the past thirty years because of their critical involvement in brain development and physiology including learning and memory formation. Despite great importance, structure-function studies of NMDARs have been slow to develop compared to those of non-NMDARs. Diverse functions of NMDARs stems from the presence of pharmacological subtypes defined mainly by a combination of GluN1 subunit and four different subunits of GluN2s (GluN2A through D), which are expressed in different neuronal circuits at different developmental stages. Importantly, subtype-specific regulation of NMDAR activity is considered an effective strategy to treat neurological disorders and diseases that are caused by dysfunctional NMDARs including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, depression, and stroke. A subtype-specific compound, ifenprodil, binds to the amino terminal domain (ATD) of the GluN1/GluN2B receptor subtype and allosterically inhibits the ion channel activity. Ifenprodil and its analogues have been intensively studied over the past two decades because of their therapeutic potentials for depression, neuropathic pains, and Alzheimer's disease. However, there have been limited studies showing the mechanism of ifenprodil binding and ifenprodil-mediated allosteric inhibition. Here we show by a combination of x-ray crystallography and electrophysiology that the binding site of ifenprodil is located at the GluN1-GluN2B dimer interface and that ATD-mediated allosteric inhibition requires a conformational freedom in the GluN2B ATD. The structural and functional insights provided in this study pave the way to improve the design of therapeutic compounds.
A chase-game to teach children on a robot to follow moving objects

Due to lack of mobility, children are limited in their interaction with others. This lack of interaction with peers leads to emotional problems in children with special needs, behavior disorders, and social maladjustment. These social problems continue even when these children become adults. Hence, it is important to promote social skills at a very early age. In this study, we suggest a new training paradigm for young infants and toddlers seated on mobile robots, using force feedback joystick, to bring them closer to their peers so that it can facilitate interaction. Four healthy children participated in a game as they chase a caregiver. A haptic force feedback strategy teaches how to follow the caregiver. The force feedback guidance strategy is tested as a training tool to bring the children in close proximity to their peers.
Gas temperature above a porous radiant burner: Comparison of measurements and model predictions

Radiant burner modeling can help clarify issues related to burner development, design and performance. This paper describes a one-dimensional model that simulates bilayered reticulated ceramic radiant burner operation. We represent combustion in a porous medium with a model that includes multistep chemistry, radiative heat transfer in the porous medium, and separate gas and solid energy equations. Species predictions show that almost all of the methane is consumed within the porous medium, the concentration peaks of most radicals are inside the porous medium, and nearly all of the NO is formed in the porous medium. As part of a program to develop a comprehensive radiant burner model, temperature measurements are made above a reticulated ceramic radiant burner. Uncoated fine-wire thermocouples are used to measure gas temperature. A radiation correction that includes radiant flux from the burner is used to adjust the thermocouple measurements. Corrections of 200–300 K are calculated, owing to a relatively large bead (460 μm) and high bead emissivity. OH laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and laser absorption are also used to determine the gas temperature. The LIF-determined temperatures are corrected for trapping, partial rotational relaxation, and rotational-dependent quantum yields. OH-LIF temperature measurements are slightly higher than thermocouple measurements. Compared to experimental results, the model overpredicts the gas temperature above the burner. Several factors could account for the deviation, including uncertainty in the porous medium properties and the possibility that the chemistry is affected by the solid surface in the porous medium.
Evolutionary computational techniques for complex adaptive structures

Newly developed evolutionary computational techniques have emerged as important tools for complex design tasks. In this paper, the basic concepts involved with artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, the genetic algorithm and cellular automata will be presented. The origins of these techniques in natural complex adaptive systems will be identified, and a number of particular examples of the use of these techniques in practical applications will be discussed. Finally, the potential for the use of these techniques for the design of complex adaptive structures will be addressed.
Environmental Finance: Innovating to Save the Planet*

This article demonstrates that it is not only possible, but urgently necessary, to apply principles of finance and economics—efficient use of scarce capital, price transparency, and lowered transaction costs—to environmental issues. From limiting acid rain with the sulfur dioxide-allowance market to the implementation of the Clean Water Act, market-based solutions have proven consistently more effective in protecting the environment than government regulation alone. Project financing, public-private partnerships, and tradable permits have come to supplement or replace conventional command-and-control regulation and purely tax-based instruments. Tradable permit systems have been deployed to phase down use of leaded gasoline, end the use of ozone-depleting chloro-fluorocarbons, and even reduce air pollution in the smoggy skies above Los Angeles. And the United Nations Environment Program has launched a Finance Initiative as a formal means of mobilizing the financial sector to take a more active role in protecting the environment. Such an approach can minimize the aggregate costs of achieving environmental targets while providing dynamic incentives for the adoption and diffusion of greener technologies.
Internal migration in the USSR: 1897-1926.

The purpose of this study is to describe and to analyze internal migration in the USSR primarily by the use of data from the 1926 census of the USSR. The article is divided into two parts. The first is devoted to a description of the aggregate and regional migration patterns based on place-of-birth data. The second is an analysis of these migration patterns, primarily in terms of economic differentials by guberniya. Because only limited income data are available for the period around1926 and because other economic data are scarce or unusable owing to boundary changes, census data on labor force distribution, literacy, and urbanization are used as substitute variables to approximate income differences.
Comparative cholesterol lowering properties of vegetable oils: beyond fatty acids.

Objective: Our laboratory has previously reported that the hypolipidemic effect of rice bran oil (RBO) is not entirely explained by its fatty acid composition. Although RBO has up to three times more serum cholesterol-raising saturated fatty acids (SATS) than some unsaturated vegetable oils, we hypothesized that its greater content of the unsaponifiables would compensate for its high SATS and yield comparable cholesterol-lowering properties to other vegetable oils with less SATS.Methods: To study the comparative effects of different unsaturated vegetable oils on serum lipoprotein levels, nine cynomologus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were fed diets, for four weeks, in a Latin square design, containing rice bran, canola or corn oils (as 20% of energy) in a basal mixture of other fats to yield a final dietary fat concentration of 30% of energy. All animals were fed a baseline diet containing 36% of energy as fat with 15% SATS, 15% monounsaturated fatty acids (MONOS) and 6% polyunsaturated fatty acids (POLYS...
Successful Treatment of Previously Uncontrolled Adult Asthma with Budesonide Inhalation Suspension: Five-Year Case Histories

Objective:To determine whether nebulized budesonide inhalation suspension (BIS) is effective in treating adults with asthma that has been uncontrolled by inhaled therapies.Case Summaries:Three adults with severe persistent asthma were switched to BIS after poor outcomes with other controller medications, including inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs). BIS dosages were initiated with 1 mg twice daily. Based on physician discretion as symptoms improved, dosages were decreased to 0.5 mg twice daily (2 pts.) or once daily (1 pt.). Patients were instructed to self-manage their asthma, increasing their dosages during periods of asthma worsening. Peak expiratory flow (PEF) was assessed before and after the initiation of BIS. The number of healthcare visits and oral corticosteroid courses recorded in patient medical records during the 3 years before and 5 years after initiation of BIS therapy were compared. In all 3 cases, BIS improved asthma control. BIS consistently increased PEF and reduced the number of urgent care...
High-affinity hemoglobin and blood oxygen saturation in diving emperor penguins

The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) thrives in the Antarctic underwater environment, diving to depths greater than 500 m and for durations longer than 23 min. To examine mechanisms underlying the exceptional diving ability of this species and further describe blood oxygen (O2) transport and depletion while diving, we characterized the O2-hemoglobin (Hb) dissociation curve of the emperor penguin in whole blood. This allowed us to (1) investigate the biochemical adaptation of Hb in this species, and (2) address blood O2 depletion during diving, by applying the dissociation curve to previously collected partial pressure of O2 (PO2) profiles to estimate in vivo Hb saturation (SO2) changes during dives. This investigation revealed enhanced Hb-O2 affinity (P50=28 mmHg, pH 7.5) in the emperor penguin, similar to high-altitude birds and other penguin species. This allows for increased O2 at low blood PO2 levels during diving and more complete depletion of the respiratory O2 store. SO2 profiles during diving demonstrated that arterial SO2 levels are maintained near 100% throughout much of the dive, not decreasing significantly until the final ascent phase. End-of-dive venous SO2 values were widely distributed and optimization of the venous blood O2 store resulted from arterialization and near complete depletion of venous blood O2 during longer dives. The estimated contribution of the blood O2 store to diving metabolic rate was low and highly variable. This pattern is due, in part, to the influx of O2 from the lungs into the blood during diving, and variable rates of tissue O2 uptake.
Kinetic modeling of plasmid DNA degradation in rat plasma

A major obstacle in gene delivery is the transport of intact plasmid DNA (pDNA) to target sites. We sought to investigate the kinetic processes underlying the degradation of pDNA in a rat plasma model, as this is one of the main components responsible for the clearance of pDNA after intravenous administration. We further sought to construct a complete kinetic model to describe the degradation of all three topoforms (supercoiled, open circular, and linear) of pDNA in a rat plasma model. Supercoiled pDNA was incubated in isolated rat plasma at 37°C in vitro. At various time points, the plasma was assayed by electrophoresis for the amounts of supercoiled, open circular, and full-length linear pDNA remaining. The calculated amounts remaining were fit to linear differential equations describing this process. In this model, pDNA degradation is considered to be a unidirectional process, with supercoiled degrading to open circular and then to the linear topoform. The calculated kinetic parameters suggested that supercoiled pDNA degrades in rat plasma with a half-life of 1.2 minutes, open circular pDNA degrades with a half-life of 21 minutes, and linear pDNA degrades with a half-life of 11 minutes. Complexation of pDNA with liposomes resulted in a portion of the supercoiled plasmid remaining detectable through 5.5 hours.
A Neoclassical Model of The Phillips Curve Relation

This paper integrates the modern theory of unemployment with a limited participation model of money and asks whether such a framework can produce correlations like those associated with the Phillips curve as well as realistic labor market dynamics. The model incorporates both monetary and real shocks. The response of the economy to monetary policy shocks is consistent with recent evidence about the impact of these shocks on the economy.
BOARD-INVITED REVIEW: Fate and transport of bioaerosols associated with livestock operations and manures

Airborne microorganisms and microbial by-products from intensive livestock and manure management systems are a potential health risk to workers and individuals in nearby communities. This report presents information on zoonotic pathogens in animal wastes and the generation, fate, and transport of bioaerosols associated with animal feeding operations and land applied manures. Though many bioaerosol studies have been conducted at animal production facilities, few have investigated the transport of bioaerosols during the land application of animal manures. As communities in rural areas converge with land application sites, concerns over bioaerosol exposure will certainly increase. Although most studies at animal operations and wastewater spray irrigation sites suggest a decreased risk of bioaerosol exposure with increasing distance from the source, many challenges remain in evaluating the health effects of aerosolized pathogens and allergens in outdoor environments. To improve our ability to understand the off-site transport and diffusion of human and livestock diseases, various dispersion models have been utilized. Most studies investigating the transport of bioaerosols during land application events have used a modified Gaussian plume model. Because of the disparity among collection and analytical techniques utilized in outdoor studies, it is often difficult to evaluate health effects associated with aerosolized pathogens and allergens. Invaluable improvements in assessing the health effects from intensive livestock practices could be made if standardized bioaerosol collection and analytical techniques, as well as the use of specific target microorganisms, were adopted.
An Organic Imager for Flexible Large Area Electronics

An active-matrix organic imager suitable for large area flexible electronics is presented. The imager is fabricated using low-temperature (<95degC) processing, producing integrated organic transistors, organic photodetectors, and metal interconnects. Each pixel has a responsivity of 6 times 10-5 A/W and an on/off ratio of 880. The 4 times 4 array occupies 10.2mm2 and is powered by a 25V supply.
A reconfigurable FPGA-based readback signal generator for hard-drive read channel simulator

A hard disk readback signal generator designed to provide noise-corrupted signals to a channel simulator has been implemented on a Xilinx Virtex/spl trade/E FPGA device. The generator simulates pulses sensed by read heads in hard drives. All major distortion and noise processes, such as intersymbol interference, transition noise, electronics noise, head and media nonlinearity, intertrack interference, and write timing error, can be generated according to the statistics and parameters defined by the user. Reconfigurable implementation enables an update of the signal characteristics in runtime. The user also has the flexibility to choose from a set of bitstreams to simulate particular combinations of noise and distortion. Such customized restructuring helps reduce the area consumption and hence virtually increase the capacity of the FPGA device. The time to generate the readback signals has been reduced by four orders compared to its software counterpart.
Room-temperature oxidation of reduced Cu/ZnO surfaces by lattice oxygen diffusion

At room temperature in the absence of gas-phase oxygen, reduced Cu on Cu/ZnO extracts oxygen from the ZnO lattice to reoxidize the surface. After 120 min at room temperature, diffusion of lattice oxygen reoxidizes reduced Cu/ZnO to 3% of its completely oxidized state. When gas-phase oxygen is present, it promotes the partial reoxidation of the reduced Cu/ZnO surface at room-temperature.
Reduced β-Amyloid Production and Increased Inflammatory Responses in Presenilin Conditional Knock-out Mice

Mutations in presenilins (PS) 1 and 2 are the major cause of familial Alzheimer's disease. Conditional double knock-out mice lacking both presenilins in the postnatal forebrain (PS cDKO mice) exhibit memory and synaptic plasticity impairments followed by progressive neurodegeneration in the cerebral cortex. Here we further investigate the molecular events that may underlie the observed phenotypes and identify additional neuropathological markers in the PS cDKO brain. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay analysis showed reduced levels of the toxic beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptides in the cerebral cortex of PS cDKO mice. Interestingly, the reduction in Abeta40 and Abeta42 peptides is similar in PS1 conditional knock-out and PS cDKO mice. We further examined the gene expression profile by oligonucleotide microarrays in the PS cDKO cerebral cortex and found that a high number of genes are differentially expressed, most notably a group of up-regulated inflammatory genes. Quantitative real-time reverse transcription PCR and Western analyses confirmed the elevated levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein, complement component C1q, and cathepsin S, up-regulation of which has been associated with inflammatory responses in various neurodegenerative processes. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the increase in complement component C1q is confined to the hippocampal formation, whereas glial fibrillary acidic protein and cathepsin S are up-regulated throughout the entire neocortex and hippocampus. In addition, strong microglial activation occurs in the hippocampus and the deeper cortical layers of PS cDKO mice. These results indicate that the memory impairment and neurodegeneration in PS cDKO mice are not caused by Abeta accumulation and that loss of PS function leads to differential up-regulation of inflammatory markers in the cerebral cortex.
Models relating individual and population response to contaminants

Even when present at sub‐lethal levels, toxic compounds have an effect on the dynamics of a population, expressed through altered growth and reproduction rates. We explore some of the potential effects of toxicants on populations, using a simple model that considers a generic toxicant and populations of two species, a primary producer, and a consumer living under food‐limited conditions. The toxicant is assumed to affect the consumers only, and it may enter them either directly from the environment or via their food, the latter opening the possibility of biomagnification. The initial response of the consumer to introduction of a toxicant is invariably a decline in its fecundity and density. However, in the longer term, the equilibrium densities of both producer and consumer may increase or decrease, depending on parameter values and ambient toxicant levels. The surprising case of an increased equilibrium in response to the toxicant occurs if, in the absence of toxicant, the consumers held the producers at a very low level, analogous to ‘overfishing’ in fishery studies. If the toxicant enters the consumer via food, multiple, non‐trivial equilibria are possible. The complex, but interpretable, dynamics exhibited by these simple models will be used to guide studies with more realistic models, for whose development this study forms a prelude.
Behaviour and leg injuries in dairy cows kept in cubicle systems with straw bedding or soft lying mats

In order to reduce straw input, soft lying mats are used increasingly instead of straw bedding in cubicle systems for dairy cows. This study aimed at comparing different types of soft lying mats with straw bedding regarding cow behaviour and leg injuries. Data were collected on five farms with straw bedding and on 13 farms using four types of soft lying mats consisting of different materials. On each farm, lying behaviour of 10 cows was recorded automatically during 3 days by means of a pneumatically operated resting sensor fitted in a belt. In addition, standing up and lying down behaviour of cows was quantified by direct observations, and all cows on a given farm were checked once for leg injuries.There were no significant differences between cows kept in cubicle systems with soft lying mats and straw bedding regarding the total time spent lying per day and the number of lying bouts per day. Standing up and lying down behaviour also did not differ between cows with access to soft lying mats and straw bedding. Leg injuries were most frequent in the tarsal and carpal joints. Cows kept in cubicle systems with soft lying mats had a significantly higher incidence of both hairless patches more than 2 cm in diameter (P<0.001) and scabs or wounds less than 2 cm in diameter (P<0.001) located in the tarsal joints than cows in cubicle systems with straw bedding. With the carpal joints, on the other hand, the incidence of leg injuries did not differ significantly between these two housing conditions. In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that soft lying mats are equivalent to straw bedding in terms of cow behaviour but less favourable with respect to leg injuries located in the tarsal joints.
OPT: Optimal Protocol Tree for Efficient Tag Identification in Dense RFID Systems

We propose a novel collision resolution scheme termed the Optimal Protocol Tree (OPT), which is based on the tree search algorithm for RFID systems. The basic principle of OPT relies on taking advantage of the similarities in the identification strings of different tags, having the reader prompt the tags to send only the mutually exclusive sub-portion of their identification strings. The aim of OPT is to significantly reduce the total identification time, in order to render the deployment of dense RFID systems feasible. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the performance of OPT, and the considerable improvement it provides with respect to the existing tree search protocols.
USE OF SATELLITE CLOUD PICTURES TO ESTIMATE AVERAGE RELATIVE HUMIDITY BELOW 500 MB., WITH APPLICATION TO THE GULF OF MEXICO AREA

Abstract This paper describes a scheme for classifying the cloudiness, as determined from satellite TV pictures, of small areas in the vicinity of radiosonde stations. The classification number, c, was correlated with the observed average relative humidity below 500 mb., H, at radiosonde stations within a few hundred miles of the Gulf of Mexico and the western Caribbean Sea. For over 100 dates distributed throughout the year the relationship was found to be H = 24.6 + 7.30 c, with a correlation coefficient of 0.78. There is a slight suggestion of seasonal and latitudinal trends. Examples show suggested average relative humidity distributions based on observations made from meteorological satellites over the waters adjacent to the southeastern United States.
Top 10 landmark studies in hypertension

The field of hypertension has evolved considerably over the last 70 years, from a belief that elevated blood pressure was an inevitable consequence of aging and beneficial, to maintaining perfusion to overwhelming proof of the cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with elevated blood pressure. The authors reviewed the literature on hypertension and selected 10 studies pivotal in changing physicians' attitudes regarding the management, treatment, and outcomes of hypertensive patients. Four studies cover treatment initiation and blood pressure goals, two studies compare pharmacologic antihypertensive agents, and the final four address the approach to blood pressure control in special populations (diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease). The authors readily acknowledge the many other contributions to the field of hypertension not profiled here.
Resource Variations and Marital Status among Later-Life Elderly:

The U.S. divorced prevalence rates have increased steadily between the years 1963–2003 for the elderly and pre-elderly cohorts and will likely continue in coming decades. This study utilized Social Exchange principles in evaluating the comparative resource diminutions between female and male elderly divorced and between married and not married elderly. Results suggest that elderly divorced females have fewer financial resources, while having more social and emotional resources than males. Results also suggest that widowed, separated, divorced, and never married elderly have fewer resources than married ones. Separated elderly females notably had the fewest resources.
Multidisciplinary Management Strategy for Incidental Cystic Lesions of the Pancreas

Background At our institution, incidental pancreatic cysts are frequently identified in asymptomatic patients undergoing routine imaging for staging of nonpancreatic malignancies. Management of these patients is unclear because a small but significant number of incidental pancreatic cysts are malignant. Study Design Our institutional database was reviewed for patients with ICD-9 codes for pancreatic cysts from 1980 to 2005. Clinicopathologic factors, including CT and endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) characteristics and management strategies, were analyzed. Results Over 25 years, 942 patients were identified with pancreatic cysts. Excluding those with symptoms or pseudocysts, 350 patients remained with incidental pancreatic cysts. Mean overall survival was 41.4 months (mean follow-up 32.7 months). Forty-one patients underwent resection, of whom 38 (92.7%) had premalignant or malignant pathology. Univariate analysis of variables predicting pathologic premalignant or malignant diagnosis identified pancreatic neck or body location as significant factors. Conclusions These data suggest that most incidental pancreatic cysts can be managed nonoperatively using a selective strategy based on detailed review of CT imaging and EUS findings.
Measurement design of data exchange for distributed multi-utility operation

With power market deregulation, member companies cooperate to share one whole grid system and try to achieve their own economic goals. This paper focuses on how to improve the state estimation result of member companies or ISO by exchanging raw or estimated data with neighboring member companies/ISO. The concept of bus redundancy descriptor (BRD) is developed based on critical measurement set. BRD and leverage points are used as criteria to evaluate the quality of measurement systems. Accordingly, based on BRD a heuristic algorithm for measurement design under distributed multi-utility operation is presented to search for possible beneficial data exchange schemes. Numerical results verify that every member company, including ISO, benefits from mutual data exchange when some principles of design are carefully applied.
Temporal Relationship Between Uric Acid Concentration and Risk of Diabetes in a Community-based Study Population

Some observational studies have identified elevated uric acid concentration as a risk factor for diabetes, while others have found an inverse relationship. We examined both the association of uric acid level with incident diabetes and the change in uric acid concentration after a diabetes diagnosis. We analyzed data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study and quantified the independent association between uric acid level and incident diabetes via Cox proportional hazards models. The association between duration of diabetes and change in uric acid level was examined via linear regression. Among 11,134 participants without diagnosed diabetes at baseline (1987-1989), there were 1,294 incident cases of diabetes during a median of 9 years of follow-up (1987-1998). Uric acid level was associated with diabetes even after adjustment for risk factors (per 1 mg/dL, hazard ratio = 1.18, 95% confidence interval: 1.13, 1.23), and the association remained significant after adjustment for fasting glucose and insulin levels. Among participants with diabetes (n = 1,510), every additional 5 years' duration of diabetes was associated with a 0.10-mg/dL (95% confidence interval: 0.04, 0.15) lower uric acid level after adjustment. We conclude that uric acid concentration rises prior to diagnosis of diabetes and then declines with diabetes duration. Future studies investigating uric acid as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease should adequately account for the impact and timing of diabetes development.
Biological Sources Of Optical Variability In The Sea

Much of the optical variability in the upper sea is caused by variations in the biogenous microparticles, which include the phytoplankton, the Chroococoid cyanobaccteria, and detritus. It is instructive to consider two sources of variability in these biogenous particles. First, changes in the absorption cross section of individual cells result from responses of phytoplankton to the ambient nutrient and light fields. These responses are relatively rapid (days) and a mathematical description of the response is presented. Second,changes in the concentration of detrital particles and cells are more difficult to predict and occur on time scales of weeks. A crude hypothetical model is presented which attempts to describe the general response of the plantonic community to light and nutrient fields.
A Primer on Select U.S. Tax Considerations for ABS Sponsors and Investors

In order to properly assess the income tax effect of a given ABS structure, it is essential to understand the timing, character, and source of the taxable income or loss that may result from the transaction. In such an analysis, important considerations include the type of transaction, whether the securities constitute debt or equity for tax purposes, and whether the sponsor has issued any of the equity to a third-party investor. The author discusses these considerations, statutory alternatives for mortgage loan securitizations, and tax accounting for the sponsor9s gain on sale, stated interest, original issue discount, market discount, and premium.
Active network vision and reality: lessions from a capsule-based system

Although active networks have generated much debate in the research community, on the whole there has been little hard evidence to inform this debate. This paper aims to redress the situation by reporting what we have learned by designing, implementing and using the ANTS active network toolkit over the past two years. At this early stage, active networks remain an open research area. However, we believe that we have made substantial progress towards providing a more flexible network layer while at the same time addressing the performance and security concerns raised by the presence of mobile code in the network. In this paper, we argue our progress towards the original vision and the difficulties that we have not yet resolved in three areas that characterize a "pure" active network: the capsule model of programmability; the accessibility of that model to all users; and the applications that can be constructed in practice.
The “Final Voyage” of the Endeavor Stent⁎

The “final” 5-year outcomes of combined trials with the Endeavor zotarolimus-eluting stent (E-ZES) by Kandzari et al. ([1][1]), published in this issue of JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions , might be considered a companion to the Kirtane et al. ([2][2]) publication in the issue last month of
Tonality and transformation

Tonality and transformation, by Steven Rings, New York, Oxford University Press, 2011, xi + 243 pp., US$35.00, ISBN 978-0-19-538427-7 Steven Rings has made an important contribution to the ongoing ...
Online Ph.D. Program Delivery Models and Student Success

The purpose of this study was to provide information to an online university that offers Ph.D. programs in three formats: knowledge area modules (or KAM, a type of faculty-led, self-directed doctoral study), course-based model, and mixed model (a combination of the KAM and course-based models). The investigators sought to determine why students choose a particular delivery model; their satisfaction with the model; and if they switch, why they do so. A mixed-method approach was utilized using quantitative student characteristics and survey data as well as qualitative survey and interview data. Results indicate that students enrolled in a course-based online Ph.D. program are more likely to be retained and more satisfied than students enrolled in other online delivery models.
Theory of Fourier phase within the framework of Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography

Fourier phase in Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) has been shown to estimate the sub- resolution change in the optical depth location of a strong interface in refractive index profile of a sample using spectral-domain phase microscopy (SDPM), a derivative of FD-OCT. From first principles we show that in general Fourier phase not only estimates this sub-resolution change but also the mean spatial frequency of the coherence-gated refractive index, and both SDPM and depth-resolved spatial-domain low-coherence quantitative phase microscopy (dr-SLQPM) are special cases of this general theory. We also show that for spectral source with infinite bandwidth Fourier phase is zero. We provide analytical expressions and numerical simulations to support our results.
Trucker Shortage as Government Failure

The United States is experiencing a shortage of large-truck drivers. Such a shortage might normally be attributed to a failure in the market for driver services. Instead, this article argues that the trucker shortage is an example of government failure, wherein government regulations fail to achieve any gains and, instead, worsen existing problems in the regulated industry.
Structural and Functional Insights into Three Undercharacterized Fimbrial Adhesins

Adhesion to biotic and abiotic surfaces is an essential step in the infectious cycle of many human pathogens. To this end, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria have developed a variety of strategies to overcome innate clearance mechanisms and persist within the host. The expression and biogenesis of Chaperone-Usher Pathway (CUP) pili represent one such strategy. In addition to mediating the formation of bacterial biofilms, these proteinaceous extracellular appendages contain, at their tip, a two-domain adhesin that is composed of an N-terminal lectin domain and a C-terminal pilin domain.
Single-point kinetic energy density functionals: A pointwise kinetic energy density analysis and numerical convergence investigation

We present a comprehensive study of single-point kinetic energy density functionals (KEDFs) to be used in orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) calculations. We first propose a form of KEDFs based on a pointwise Kohn-Sham (KS) kinetic energy density (KED) and electron localization function (ELF) analysis. We find that the ELF and modified enhancement factor have a very strong and transferable correlation with the reduced density in various bulk metals. The non-self-consistent kinetic energy errors predicted by our KEDF models are decreased greatly compared to previously reported generalized gradient approximation (GGA) KEDFs. Second, we perform self-consistent calculations with various single-point KEDFs and investigate their numerical convergence behavior. We find striking numerical instabilities for previous GGA KEDFs; most of the GGA KEDFs fail to converge and show unphysical densities during the optimization. In contrast, our KEDFs demonstrate stable convergence, and their self-consistent results of various bulk properties agree reasonably well with KSDFT. A further detailed KED analysis reveals an interesting bifurcation phenomenon in defective metals and alloys, which may shed light on directions for future KEDF development.
All-Fiber Regenerative Amplifier for Nanosecond Optical Pulses at 1053 nm

An all-fiber regenerative amplifier employing amplified spontaneous emission suppression techniques amplifies 2.5-ns, 1053-nm, 180-pJ pulses to 118 nJ, achieving a gain of 28 dB, 23 nm off the gain peak of Yb-doped fiber.
Source Line Sensing in Magneto-Electric Random-Access Memory to Reduce Read Disturbance and Improve Sensing Margin

A source line sensing (SLS) scheme is presented, along with a corresponding memory core circuit architecture, for the sensing operation of magneto-electric random-access memory (MeRAM). Compared to a conventional bit-line sensing (BLS) scheme, the proposed SLS, which exploits the voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA) effect, applies a voltage across the magneto-electric tunnel junction (MEJ) with an opposite polarity. The SLS significantly reduces read disturbance and increases the sensing margin due to the enhanced coercivity of the bit during the read operation. Experimental data demonstrate that the thermal stability of nanoscale MEJs increases up to 2 times during the SLS operation compared with conventional BLS. An MEJ compact model based the SLS simulation shows that read disturbance improves by a factor greater than 10 ${}^{9}$ fJ/V $\cdot $ m and the sensing margin increases up to 3 times in the MEJ with the large VCMA coefficient $\left(>\text{100}\ \text{fJ}/\text{V}\cdot\text{m}\right)$ .
TIDAL MOTION IN BAYS

A method is proposed to investigate periodic tidal motion in single or multiple basins connected to the ocean by an inlet Non-sinusoidal tidal motion in the ocean and square friction law in the inlet are both considered The method is applied to Boca Raton inlet, Florida The calculated tidal elevation and velocity in the inlet are found to be in reasonable agreement with measured values The bottom shear friction coefficient is defined.
Significance of Development of the Information Technology Education in Whole Public

Information technology plays a very important role in every field of society during the information age. It is necessary for us to develop the information technology education in whole public,because it has become the inevitable result of social development. This article discusses the significance of development of the information technology education in whole public.
Measurement Invariance Testing Across Between-Level Latent Classes Using Multilevel Factor Mixture Modeling

This simulation study examines the efficacy of multilevel factor mixture modeling (ML FMM) for measurement invariance testing across unobserved groups when the groups are at the between level of multilevel data. To this end, latent classes are generated with class-specific item parameters (i.e., factor loading and intercept) across the between-level classes. The efficacy of ML FMM is evaluated in terms of class enumeration, class assignment, and the detection of noninvariance. Various classification criteria such as Akaike’s information criterion, Bayesian information criterion, and bootstrap likelihood ratio tests are examined for the correct enumeration of between-level latent classes. For the detection of measurement noninvariance, free and constrained baseline approaches are compared with respect to true positive and false positive rates. This study evidences the adequacy of ML FMM. However, its performance heavily depends on the simulation factors such as the classification criteria, sample size, and...
Biographical Feature: Patrick R. Murray, Ph.D.

Like a bottle of fine wine that has been allowed to age, the 40-year career in clinical microbiology of Patrick R. Murray, Ph.D., has yielded a unique and sublime blend of contributions to our discipline. From clinical laboratory director to editor extraordinaire to innovator and discoverer of
Simultaneous multiple parameter adjustment in adaptive systems using a single perturbation signal

Abstract : A gradient method is presented for adjusting the parameters of a system to optimize a performance criterion. The partial derivatives of the performance index with respect to the adjustable parameters are obtained as real time signals, using a single perturbation signal for a system with unknown structure, but favorable topology. Computer simulations are included to indicate the feasibility of the approach. The adaptive control method using a single perturbation signal, as proposed here, has many features in common with the well-known parameter perturbation scheme.
Atorvastatin inhibits the immediate-early response gene EGR1 and improves the functional profile of CD4+T-lymphocytes in acute coronary syndromes.

// Anna Severino 1,* , Chiara Zara 1,* , Mara Campioni 1 , Davide Flego 1 , Giulia Angelini 1 , Daniela Pedicino 1 , Ada Francesca Giglio 1 , Francesco Trotta 1 , Simona Giubilato 1 , Vincenzo Pazzano 1 , Claudia Lucci 1 , Antonio Iaconelli 1 , Aureliano Ruggio 1 , Luigi Marzio Biasucci 1 , Filippo Crea 1,** and Giovanna Liuzzo 1,** 1 Institute of Cardiology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy * These authors have contributed equally to this work ** These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Giovanna Liuzzo, email: // Keywords : acute coronary syndromes; T-lymphocytes; transcription factors; statins; inflammation; Pathology Section Received : December 08, 2016 Accepted : February 07, 2017 Published : February 16, 2017 Abstract Background- Adaptive immune-response is associated with a worse outcome in acute coronary syndromes. Statins have anti-inflammatory activity beyond lowering lipid levels. We investigated the effects of ex-vivo and in-vivo atorvastatin treatment in acute coronary syndromes on CD4 + T-cells, and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Approach and results- Blood samples were collected from 50 statin-naive acute coronary syndrome patients. We assessed CD4 + T-cell activation by flow-cytometry, the expression of 84 T-helper transcription-factors and 84 T-cell related genes by RT-qPCR, and protein expression by Western-blot, before and after 24-hours incubation with increasing doses of atorvastatin: 3-10-26 μg/ml (corresponding to blood levels achieved with doses of 10-40-80 mg, respectively). After incubation, we found a significant decrease in interferon-γ-producing CD4 + CD28 null T-cells ( P = 0.009) and a significant increase in interleukin-10-producing CD4 + CD25 high T-cells ( P 3-fold changes). The in-vivo effects of atorvastatin were analyzed in 10 statin-free acute coronary syndrome patients at baseline, and after 24h and 48h of atorvastatin therapy (80 mg/daily): EGR1-gene expression decreased at 24h ( P = 0.01) and 48h ( P = 0.005); EGR1-protein levels decreased at 48h ( P = 0.03). Conclusions-In acute coronary syndromes, the effects of atorvastatin on immune system might be partially related to the inhibition of the master regulator gene EGR1. Our finding might offer a causal explanation on why statins improve the early outcome in acute coronary syndromes.
Computer simulation of the breast subcutaneous and retromammary tissue for use in virtual clinical trials

Computer simulation of breast anatomy is an essential component of Virtual Clinical Trials, a preclinical approach to validate breast imaging systems. Realism of breast phantoms affects simulation studies and their acceptance among researchers. Previously, we developed a simulation of tissue compartments defined by the hierarchy of Cooper’s ligaments, based upon recursive partitioning using octrees. In this work, we optimize the simulation parameters to represent realistically the breast subcutaneous and retromammary tissue regions. As seen in clinical images, the subcutaneous and retromammary regions contain predominantly adipose tissue organized into relatively large compartments, as opposed to the predominantly glandular breast interior. To mimic such organization, we divided the phantom volume into “subcutaneous”, “retromammary”, and “interior” regions. Within each region, parameters controlling the size and orientation of tissue compartments were selected separately. In this preliminary study, we varied parameter values and calculated the corresponding average compartment volume in each region. The proposed method was evaluated using anatomic descriptors at both radiological and pathological spatial scales. We simulated the subcutaneous region as spanning 20% of the breast diameter, comparable to published analysis of breast CT images. We simulated tissue compartments with the average volume of 0.94 cm 3 , 0.89 cm 3 and 0.31 cm 3 in the subcutaneous, retromammary and interior regions, respectively. Those average volumes match within 12% the values reported from histological analysis. Future evaluation will include a comparison of simulated and clinical parenchymal descriptors. The proposed method will be extended to automate the parameter optimization, and simulate detailed spatial variation, to further improve the realism.
Fractal-Structured, Wearable Soft Sensors for Control of a Robotic Wheelchair via Electrooculograms

Neurodegenerative diseases create a significant issue by affecting the mobility of individuals. One such disease is Parkinson's disorder, which is a chronic problem for more than 1 million citizens in the United States. Typical symptoms, including tremors, imbalance, and decreased mobility, are a resultant of the death of nerve cells in the brain. As the disease continues to further deteriorate the health of a person, the individual is in need of a wheelchair. The problem is that tremors make the use of a conventional joystick difficult. Here, we propose a soft wearable electrode system for control of a robotic wheelchair without the use of a joystick. A set of skin-like electrodes enables users to control a wheelchair via electrooculograms (EOG) from eye movements. Advances in data acquisition and classification algorithms allow a wireless human-machine interface. We use a set of statistical measures with machine learning techniques. The linear discriminant analysis (LDA) classifier yields the classification accuracy of ~87% and ~92% for rigid gel electrode and soft fractal electrode, respectively. Collectively, the wearable, soft electronics with the electronic wheelchair interface provide a non-invasive, persistent human-machine interface.
Possible Existence of α-Sheets in the Amyloid Fibrils Formed by a TTR105-115 Mutant.

Herein, we combine several methods to characterize the fibrils formed by a TTR105–115 mutant in which Leu111 is replaced by the unnatural amino acid aspartic acid 4-methyl ester. We find that this mutant peptide exhibits significantly different aggregation behavior than the wild-type peptide: (1) it forms fibrils with a much faster rate, (2) its fibrils lack the long-range helical twists observed in TTR105–115 fibrils, (3) its fibrils exhibit a giant far-UV circular dichroism signal, and (4) its fibrils give rise to an unusual amide I′ band consisting of four distinct and sharp peaks. On the basis of these results and also several previous computational studies, we hypothesize that the fibrils formed by this TTR mutant peptide contain both β- and α-sheets.
Property rights in post-Soviet Russia: violence, corruption, and the demand for law

Interviewing business owners and managers in Russia in 2009, Jordan Gans-Morse would ask about the dangers of mafia rackets. “Mafia, please – that was so 1990s!” was the typical response. So much h...
Coordinates for mechanisms configuration spaces

A mechanism is a collection of rigid bodies (e.g., bars) connected by movable joints. Typically, one body is fixed (ground). Figure 10.1 shows a 4-bar mechanism. The bars, of length l i, are jointed in a way that allows them to rotate freely about their joints. The bar \(\overline {DO}\) is fixed. As the angle θ between l l and l 0 varies the position of the joint A will vary on the circle with center O and radius l l, and the position B must vary in such a way that the distance from the new position of B to the new position of A and to D remain, respectively.l 2 and l 3. Clearly, not all values of θ are feasible.