cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using identical behavioral tasks in children, monkeys, and rats to study the effects of drugs

Abstract Background: The need to use animal models to predict the effects of drugs on the nervous system has led to the development of automated systems for the assessment of specific behaviors—identical in both humans and laboratory animals—that represent aspects of specific cognitive processes. At the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR), a battery of operant behavioral tasks (the NCTR Operant Test Battery, or OTB) has been developed to model specific behaviors associated with motivation, color and position discrimination, time estimation, short-term memory and attention, and learning. Objectives: The goals of this paper were to describe interspecies similarities in specific behaviors designed to model a variety of cognitive functions and to argue for the use of such behaviors in risk assessments (preclinical studies), monitoring treatment efficacy, and postmarket surveillance. Methods: The literature search was primarily limited to automated systems that are useful in rodents, monkeys, and children. Results: Maintenance of task continuity across species allows for the determination of interspecies similarities in brain function and aids in the extrapolation of data from animals to humans. Comparative data indicate, for example, that the OTB performance of well-trained monkeys is generally indistinguishable from that of children. The demonstration that human OTB performance correlates significantly with intelligence (IQ scores) highlights the relevance of these measures. Results of comparative drug studies indicate that monkeys are good predictors of drug effects in humans. Recent studies have shown that rodent performance in some of these complex tasks is also similar to that of monkeys and children, and that for some drugs, responses are similar to those for monkeys and, presumably, humans. Conclusions: Tools such as the NCTR OTB may provide the opportunity for extensive interspecies comparisons of cognitive processes and provide the means for studying the effects of psychoactive agents by use of relevant end points in a variety of animal models. Such approaches may provide laboratory animal data that could predict adverse drug events in humans, as defined by disturbances in aspects of complex brain function. Likewise, use of similar instruments in the clinic, even in the pediatric setting, could provide longitudinal data—in the same patients—on treatment efficacy and toxicity during clinical trials and postmarket surveillance.
In Situ Ion Beam Research in Argonne’s Intermediate Voltage Electron Microscope

Since Fall 1995, a state-of-the-art intermediate voltage electron microscope (IVEM) has been operational in the HVEM-Tandem Facility with in situ ion irradiation capabilities similar to those of the HVEM of the Facility. A 300 kV Hitachi H-9000NAR is interfaced to the two ion accelerators of the Facility, with a demonstrated point-to-point spatial resolution for imaging of 0.25 nm with the ion beamline attached to the microscope. The IVEM incorporates a Faraday cup system for ion dosimetry with measurement aperture 6.5 cm from the TEM specimen, which was described in Symposium A of the 1995 MRS Fall Meeting. The IVEM is now employed for a variety of in situ ion beam studies ranging from low dose ion damage experiments with GaAs, in which damage zones individual displacement cascades are observed, to implantation studies in metals, in which irradiation-induced noble gas precipitate mobility is studied in real time. In this presentation, the new instrumentation and its specifications will be described briefly, several basic concepts relating to in situ experiments in transmission electron microscopes will be summarized and examples of in situ experiments will be presented which exploit the experimental capabilities of this new user facility instrumentation.
Hamilton-Jacobi Theory and the Quantum Action Variable

A quantum action variable is defined in the context of a quantum Hamilton-Jacobi theory. The action variable can be used to find the exact bound-state energy levels of a quantum system without solving an equation of motion for the system wave functions.
Catalytic chain‐transfer synthesis of 1,1,2,2‐tetrahydroperfluoroalkyl methacrylate macromonomers

The successful catalytic chain-transfer synthesis of 1,1,2,2-tetrahydroperfluoroalkyl methacrylate macromonomers with [bis(aqua)bis(difluoroboryl)dimethylglyoximato]cobalt(II) as a catalyst is reported. Fluoroalkyl methacrylate macromonomers were synthesized in acetone with 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4136–4141, 2006
C-V characteristics of metal-titanium dioxide-silicon capacitors

Titanium dioxide capacitors were fabricated on silicon wafers using electron-beam evaporation. The TiO2 films varied in thickness from 500 to 2000 A. Post-deposition oxidation at 1000°C in dry O2 was used to promote stoichiometric conversion of the films to the rutile phase. Capacitive densities of greater than 2 pf/sq. mil were obtained (dielectric constants ranged from 4 to 40). For long oxidation times, significant silicon dioxide grows under the TiO2 as a result of oxygen diffusing through the TiO2 film. Titanium was also shown to diffuse into the silicon during the oxidation cycle resulting in an n-type diffusion. Surface state densities ranging from 1011 to 5 × 1011 cm−2 eV−1 at midgap were obtained for good devices. Longer oxidation times result in lower capacitance, leakage current and surface state density.
Velocity Pointing Errors Associated with Spinning Thrusting Spacecraft

Because of the imperfection of spacecraft assembly, there always exist misalignment and offset torques during thrust maneuvers. In the case of an axially thrusting spin-stabilized spacecraft, these torques disturb the angular momentum vector in inertial space causing a velocity pointing error. Much insight can be gained by analytically solving the problem of time-varying torques and time-varying moments of inertia. We use approximate analytic solutionstosuggesthowthevelocitypointingerrorcan bereducedforsomepracticalassumptionsbasedoncurrent technology. For example, in the case of solid rocket motors, a signie cant improvement in velocity pointing can be realized by judicious distribution of the propellant.
Vision-based control of robotic manipulator for citrus harvesting

The main contribution of this paper is in the development of vision-based estimation and control system for robotic fruit harvesting and rigorous stability analysis to guarantee performance of the closed-loop system. The presented cooperative visual servo controller benefits from the large field-of-view of a fixed camera and the accuracy of a camera-in-hand (CiH). Computationally inexpensive perspective transformation-based range estimation method obtains 3D fruit position using a monocular camera to enable real-time manipulator control. A rotation controller is developed to orient the robot such that the target fruit selected by the fixed camera can be viewed by the CiH attached to the end-effector. Subsequently, the end-effector can be servoed to the target fruit location using the presented pursuit guidance based hybrid translation controller. Lyapunov-based stability analysis guarantees global exponential regulation of the end-effector. Numerical simulations verify the feasibility of the developed controller while the performance is evaluated on a seven degrees-of-freedom kinematically redundant manipulator using an artificial citrus tree. The position of the fruit was randomly selected, and the closed-loop visual servo control experiment was performed 21 times to analyze the repeatability and accuracy of the developed controller. With 95% confidence level the expected position of the robot end-effector is observed to lie within the confidence ellipsoid. The accuracy of the controller was observed to be about 15mm, thus making the system suitable for harvesting medium and large varieties of citrus fruit but may limit operation for small varieties such as page and blood oranges.
The acute toxicity of 2-benzylaminopyridine.

Abstract 2-Benzylaminopyridine (2-BAP) has been suspected of causing adverse reactions in man including headache, malaise, and skin rash. The purpose of this investigation was to determine and partially characterize the acute toxicity of 2-BAP. In mice the estimated LD50 of 2-BAP dissolved in equimolar HCl was 1187 mg/kg po and 224 mg/kg ip. Daily administration of 600 mg/kg po for 30 days indicated no significant cumulative toxicity. Disappearance from whole mice was determined following 50 mg/kg ip. The half-life calculated from the first order disappearance rate constant was found to be 15 min. In mice, pretreatment with 2-BAP (50 mg/kg ip) significantly prolonged the loss of righting reflex induced by ethanol (4 g/kg ip). Guinea pigs were used to study the dermal irritant and sensitizing properties of 2-BAP. Acute exposure of the bare skin to a 2% solution resulted in no primary irritation. 2-BAP solution was applied on Days 1, 3, and 5. Three weeks later a challenge application to a different area of skin resulted in a slight erythema indicating that 2-BAP may be a dermal sensitizer.
Direct Physical Measure of Conformational Rearrangement Underlying Potassium Channel Gating

In response to membrane depolarization, voltage-gated ion channels undergo a structural rearrangement that moves charges or dipoles in the membrane electric field and opens the channel-conducting pathway. By combination of site-specific fluorescent labeling of the Shaker potassium channel protein with voltage clamping, this gating conformational change was measured in real time. During channel activation, a stretch of at least seven amino acids of the putative transmembrane segment S4 moved from a buried position into the extracellular environment. This movement correlated with the displacement of the gating charge, providing physical evidence in support of the hypothesis that S4 is the voltage sensor of voltage-gated ion channels.
The number of DFAs for a given spanning tree

In the last few decades, several techniques to randomly generate a deterministic finite automaton have been developed. These techniques have implications in the enumeration and random generation of automata of size n. One of the ways to generate a finite automaton is to generate a random tree and to complete it to a deterministic finite automaton, assuming that the tree will be the automaton's breadth-first spanning tree. In this paper we explore further this method, and the string representation of a tree, and use it to counting the number of automata having a tree as a breadth-first spanning subtrees. We introduce the notions of characteristic and difference sequence of a tree, and define the weight of a tree. We also present a recursive formula for this quantity in terms of the "derivative" of a tree. Finally, we analyze the implications of this formula in terms of exploring trees with the largest and smallest number of automata in the span of the tree and present simple applications for finding densities of subsets of DFAs.
Coronary guidewire circumcision during use of a gopher support catheter: Potential adverse interaction with polymer‐jacketed wire design

Support catheters with a threaded, distal tip may be useful for crossing recalcitrant coronary lesions. The interaction between the Gopher support catheter and polymer-coated coronary guidewires may, however, result in circumferential stripping of polymer from the guidewire, with resulting wire damage or fracture. We report two cases of polymer-coated guidewire damage with use of a Gopher support catheter, suggesting that these two devices should not be used together. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Determining the Topology of Integral Membrane Peptides Using EPR Spectroscopy

This paper reports on the development of a new structural biology technique for determining the membrane topology of an integral membrane protein inserted into magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers (bicelles) using EPR spectroscopy. The nitroxide spin probe, 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl-4-amino-4-carboxylic acid (TOAC), was attached to the pore-lining transmembrane domain (M2delta) of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR) and incorporated into a bicelle. The corresponding EPR spectra revealed hyperfine splittings that were highly dependent on the macroscopic orientation of the bicelles with respect to the static magnetic field. The helical tilt of the peptide can be easily calculated using the hyperfine splittings gleaned from the orientational dependent EPR spectra. A helical tilt of 14 degrees was calculated for the M2delta peptide with respect to the bilayer normal of the membrane, which agrees well with previous 15N solid-state NMR studies. The helical tilt of the peptide was verified by simulating the corresponding EPR spectra using the standardized MOMD approach. This new method is advantageous because: (1) bicelle samples are easy to prepare, (2) the helical tilt can be directly calculated from the orientational-dependent hyperfine splitting in the EPR spectra, and (3) EPR spectroscopy is approximately 1000-fold more sensitive than 15N solid-state NMR spectroscopy; thus, the helical tilt of an integral membrane peptide can be determined with only 100 microg of peptide. The helical tilt can be determined more accurately by placing TOAC spin labels at several positions with this technique.
A mixed method for multivariable system reduction

A mixed method which combines dominant-eigenvalue concept and matrix-continued-fraction approach is proposed to obtain a stable reduced model from a stable high degree multivariable system.
Ultra-low power and the millennium generation

Millennials are a generation of young people currently in training at universities and colleges, and entering the workforce. They have several characteristics that could potentially make them one of the most productive generations ever. On the other hand the concepts of sustainability and energy awareness are part of their vocabulary and most of the jobs will be related to these terms. This work relates an attempt to tailor a microcomputers course to appeal to this generation of students. What we have found is that the traditional teaching formulas have to be adapted to make them usable by millennials who do not know a world without internet, wireless communications and social networking.
Association Between Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Infection and Offspring Mood Disorders: A Review of the Literature

The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic review of studies that have examined the association between prenatal exposure to maternal infection and development of mood disorders across the life course. Drawing from both human- and animal-based studies, we give an overview of hypothesized biological mechanisms by which exposure to maternal infection during critical periods of gestation may contribute to fetal programming of mood disorders in offspring. We discuss studies examining the association between prenatal exposure to maternal infection with pathogens including influenza as well as other respiratory viruses, herpesviruses, hepatitis viruses, and Toxoplasma gondii and mood disorders in human populations. Moreover, we outline strengths and limitations of the current body of evidence and make recommendations for future research. We also discuss findings in the context of well-documented gender and socioeconomic disparities in the prevalence and severity of mood disorders, particularly major depression, and the role that early exposure to infection may play in explaining the perpetuation of such disparities across generations. Overall, this review of the current knowledge on this topic has important implications for determining future research directions, designing interventions as well as prenatal care guidelines targeted at prevention or treatment of infection during pregnancy, and clinical practice for the identification of individuals that may be at increased risk for mood disorders beginning early in life. Importantly, such efforts may not only lower the overall burden of mood disorders but also serve to address social disparities in these adverse mental health conditions in the U.S.
The beta-adrenergic receptor kinase (GRK2) is regulated by phospholipids.

The β-adrenergic receptor kinase (βARK) is a member of growing family of G protein coupled receptor kinases (GRKs). βARK and other members of the GRK family play a role in the mechanism of agonist-specific desensitization by virtue of their ability to phosphorylate G protein-coupled receptors in an agonist-dependent manner. βARK activation is known to occur following the interaction of the kinase with the agonist-occupied form of the receptor substrate and heterotrimeric G protein βγ subunits. Recently, lipid regulation of GRK2, GRK3, and GRK5 have also been described. Using a mixed micelle assay, GRK2 (βARK1) was found to require phospholipid in order to phosphorylate the β2-adrenergic receptor. As determined with a nonreceptor peptide substrate of βARK, catalytic activity of the kinase increased in the presence of phospholipid without a change in the Km for the peptide. Data obtained with the heterobifunctional cross-linking agent N-3[125I]iodo-4-azidophenylpropionamido-S-(2-thiopyridyl)cysteine ([125I]ACTP) suggests that the activation by phospholipid was associated with a conformational change in the kinase. [125I]ACTP incorporation increased 2-fold in the presence of crude phosphatidylcholine, and this increase in [125I]ACTP labeling is completely blocked by the addition of MgATP. Furthermore, proteolytic mapping was consistent with the modification of a distinct site when GRK2 was labeled in the presence of phospholipid. While an acidic phospholipid specificity was demonstrated using the mixed micelle phosphorylation assay, a notable exception was observed with PIP2. In the presence of PIP2, kinase activity as well as [125I]ACTP labeling was inhibited. These data demonstrate the direct regulation of GRK2 activity by phospholipids and supports the hypothesis that this effect is the result of a conformational change within the kinase.
The electrostatic environments of Mars and the Moon

The electrical activity present in the environment near the surfaces of Mars and the moon has very different origins and presents a challenge to manned and robotic planetary exploration missions. Mars is covered with a layer of dust that has been redistributed throughout the entire planet by global dust storms. Dust, levitated by these storms as well as by the frequent dust devils, is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the multiple grain collisions in the dust-laden atmosphere. Dust covering the surface of the moon is expected to be electrostatically charged due to the solar wind, cosmic rays, and the solar radiation itself through the photoelectric effect. Electrostatically charged dust has a large tendency to adhere to surfaces. NASA's Mars exploration rovers have shown that atmospheric dust falling on solar panels can decrease their efficiency to the point of rendering the rover unusable. And as the Apollo missions to the moon showed, lunar dust adhesion can hinder manned and unmanned lunar exploration activities. Taking advantage of the electrical activity on both planetary system bodies, dust removal technologies are now being developed that use electrostatic and dielectrophoretic forces to produce controlled dust motion. This paper presents a short review of the theoretical and semiempirical models that have been developed for the lunar and Martian electrical environments.
Implicit-Explicit Time Integration of a High-Order Particle-in-Cell Method with Hyperbolic Divergence Cleaning.

A high-order implicit-explicit additive Rung-Kutta time integrator is implemented in a particle-in-cell method based on a high-order discontinuous Galerkin Maxwell solver for simulation of plasmas. The method satisfies Gauss law using a hyperbolic divergence cleaner that transports divergence out of the computational domain at several times the speed of light. The stiffness in the field equations induced by high transport speeds is alleviated by an implicit time integration, while an explicit time integration ensures a computationally efficient particle update. Simulations on a plasma wave and a Weibel instability show that the implicit-explicit solver is computationally efficient, allowing for computations with high divergence transport speeds that ensure an accurate representation of the governing plasma equations. The high-order method only requires two time steps per plasma wave period. Numerical instability appears when the time step exceeds the plasma frequency time scale. A divergence transport speed of approximately ten times the speed of light is shown to be optimal, since it combines an accurate representation of Gauss law with a small influence of numerical noise on the solution.
Continuing Education Requirements to Maintain Occupational Therapy Licensure

Different states use a variety of regulatory mechanisms to monitor the quality of practice in occupational therapy. The requirement for mandatory continuing education has been adopted by fewer than half of American states, but there is reason to predict that this trend will increase. This study investigates the patterns linking licensure to continuing education and recommends actions to ensure uniformity and accountability.
VARIETIES OF ENGLISH

Tense in Indian English: a Sociolinguistic Perspective. By Rama Kant Agnihotri, Amrit Lai Khanna and Aditi Mukherjee.
Cultural Norms and Subjective Disability as Predictors of Symptom Reports among Asian Americans and White Americans

Past studies have found that Asian Americans and White Americans differ not only on global levels of well- being but also on the bases for judgments of well-being. The authors examined whether cultural norms about specific mental health problems predict self-reports of those symptoms above and beyond the subjective assessment of their own functioning. Asian Americans (n = 200) and White Americans (n = 200) rated how normative they viewed depression and social anxiety syndromes and completed self-report measures of depression, social anxiety, and disability. The results revealed that perceived cultural norms about depression were related to depressive symptom reports among Asian Americans but not among White Americans. Cultural norms about social anxiety were not differentially associated with reports of social anxiety in the two ethnic groups.
Does the Nuclear Arms Race Matter

In The Nuclear Seduction: Why the Arms Race Doesn't Matter - and What Does, William A. Schwartz and Charles Derber present a provocative critique of the near universal assumption that the nuclear arms race represents the main danger of nuclear war. Despite the obsession with the technological characteristics of weaponry by peace movements, arms controllers and nuclear hawks alike, what is called 'weaponitis', the authors contend that short of near-total nuclear disarmament changes in the arms race cannot significantly affect the likelihood or the effects of nuclear war. The real danger of nuclear war, documented in seventeen case studies covering the entire postwar period, lies in superpower intervention and regional conflicts around the world. The cases indicate that during Cold War crises the risks of miscalculation, accidental use of nuclear weapons, and unanticipated dangers leading to nuclear conflict have often been much greater than commonly assumed. The book concludes with a critique of the politics of arms control, and calls for development of a peace movement which has a broader, political vision of the requirements for peace, rather than one reacting defensively to the endless, yet in the authors' view relatively insignificant, threats of technology. The Nuclear Seduction makes a strong case that there is a 'deadly connection' between superpower intervention or regional conflict and the possibility of nuclear war. The book is not successful, however, in demonstrating a necessary dichotomy between the politics of opposition to the arms race and the politics of anti-intervention. In synthesizing as well as challenging much of the recent literature on the arms race and nuclear danger, The Nuclear Seduction makes a major, and what many will find controversial, contribution to both scholarly and political discourse.
Novel brick-wall filters based on the auditory system

A novel class of narrow band filters is presented that offers great rejection of out of band noise and a flat top at the peak. The filter is unconventional, as the output of such a filter is a series of spikes, like the action potential in the auditory nerve. The product of its time and frequency window is less than unity even using 100% output cutoff points. A bank of such filters has been used to compute a spectrogram like display that has no streaks as seen in conventional spectrograms. This model differs from Lyon's (1988) cochlea in several areas particularly energy management and damping factor requirements. Its Q factor depends on the signal intensity, and it produces acoustic cubic distortion products similar to the auditory system, however, it is basically linear with a very wide dynamic range and its dynamics can be analyzed using linear filter theory.
Metacrangonyx ilvanus n. sp., the first Italian representative of the family Metacrangonyctidae (Crustacea: Amphipoda)

Metacrangonyx ilvanus n.sp. is described from Elba Island; this is the first record of the family Metacrangonyctidae from Italy. The new species belongs to the M. panousei - group, and more exactly to the M. gineti - subgroup, previously known only from Morocco. This fact supports the idea of a multiple colonization process of continental groundwaters from the sea. It is hypothesized that the ancestor of M. ilvanus n. sp. colonized brackish waters along the coasts of the Tethys sea and survived the oligomiocenic fragmentation of Thyrrhenis. A persistence of the species on a fragment of Thyrrhenis in the Tuscan archipelago or a more recent colonization of the older part of Elba Island from the Sardo-Corsican plate during the Messinian salinity crisis is suggested. More distributional data are needed to delineate the evolutionary scenario of the genus in the Mediterranean area.
On the rate-distortion performance of compressive sensing in wireless sensor networks

For many distributed sensing network applications, the goal is to detect temporal and spatial changes in the network. For this purpose, the sensor readings need to be transmitted to the base station (BS) on a regular basis. Since different sensors partially monitor the same spatial region, their sensor readings are highly correlated. Under normal condition, the readings change very slowly that makes them temporally correlated as well. To have an energy-efficient monitoring algorithm, the sensor readings need to be compressed exploiting both spatial and temporal correlations. In many applications of sensor networks, some distortion can be tolerated. In these cases, lossy compression results in compression with higher rates and consequently saves more energy and bandwidth. In this paper, we propose a practical scheme for lossy distributed compression and investigate its rate-distortion limit. The proposed scheme exploiting both spatial and temporal correlations consists of channel coding and compressive sensing. We show that our lossy distributed compression technique achieves the Wyner-Ziv rate distortion for binary sources while it has low computational encoding and decoding complexity.
Aggressive behavior as a means of avoiding depression.

This study explores further some dynamics of impulsive, antisocial, aggressive behavior in children. Special emphasis is placed on a function of this behavior as a means of avoiding feelings of depression or a depressive state. A series of clinical observations are presented, demonstrating devices apparently aimed at avoiding recognition of the fundamental state of helplessness or powerlessness of the ego which was associated with a depressed affect, and accompanied by an aggressive outburst.
Giant intra-articular synovial osteochondromata of the knee.

Background/Aim: Synovial chondromatosis associated, intra-articular loose bodies are usually small in size. Giant intra-articular loose bodies are rare. Case report: We present the case of a patient with synovial chondromatosis associated giant intra-articular loose bodies located under the patella and the intercondylar fossa, treated successfully with combined arthroscopic and open excision. Conclusion: Giant intra-articular loose bodies should be considered when treating patients with synovial chondromatosis. Arthroscopy confirms the diagnosis, allows the thorough examination of the knee joint, and subsequent excision of small or medium size attached synovial nodules or intra-articular loose bodies. Arthrotomy may be needed to excise giant loose bodies.
A Grin without a Cat: The Continuing Decline & Displacement of Trials in American Courts

Over the past half-century, the number of cases entering American federal and state courts has multiplied. But, largely unobserved by the public, the percentage of those cases that are disposed of by trial has steadily decreased. In recent decades, as the increase in filings has leveled off but the percentage of cases reaching trial has continued to fall, the absolute number of trials has decreased as well. Conducting trials is a shrinking portion of what judges do. The effects of this turn away from trials on judges, on litigants, and on public perceptions of the legal system remain to be explored.
The Value of Concentrating Solar Power and Thermal Energy Storage

This paper examines the value of concentrating solar power (CSP) and thermal energy storage (TES) in a number of regions in the southwestern United States. Our analysis shows that TES can increase the value of CSP by allowing more thermal energy from a CSP plant's solar field to be used, allowing a CSP plant to accommodate a larger solar field, and by allowing CSP generation to be shifted to hours with higher energy prices. We analyze the sensitivity of this value to a number of factors, including the optimization period, price and solar forecasting, ancillary service sales, and dry cooling of the CSP plant, and also estimate the capacity value of a CSP plant with TES. We further discuss the value of CSP plants and TES net of capital costs.
Combination immunotherapy approaches

Combination immunotherapy approaches involving radiation, chemotherapy, androgen manipulation and T-cell modulation have been studied extensively in animal models, setting the stage for clinical trials. Radiation therapy, in particular, is an interesting modality in this regard, leading to synergistic efficacy when used in combination with immunotherapies in several models. Chemotherapy, the foundation of treatment of metastatic disease, may also augment the immune response to cancer; however, the potential immunosuppressive effects of chemotherapy render issues of dosing and timing critical. Perhaps, the most exciting combinatorial approach may be the co-administration of multiple immunological treatments. For example, in preclinical investigations, combined blockade of programmed death-1 (PD1) and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), which have key roles in the negative regulation of T-cell activation, has been shown to enhance antitumour immune responses compared with either agent alone. Taken together, the available data provide a strong rationale for initiating combination clinical trials, but lend a note of caution in that issues of dosing and timing likely require careful exploration in a phase II setting.
Arboreal Ant Species Richness in Primary Forest, Secondary Forest, and Pasture Habitats of a Tropical Montane Landscape

Canopy invertebrates may reflect changes in tree structure and microhabitat that are brought about by human activities. We used the canopy fogging method to collect ants from tree crowns in primary forest, secondary forest, and pasture in a Neotropical cloud forest landscape. The total number of species collected was similar in primary forest (21) and pasture (20) habitats, but lower in secondary forest (9). Lower diversity in secondary forest was caused by lower species density (no. of species per sample). Rarefaction curves based on number of species occurrences suggest similar community species richness among the three habitats. This study has implications for conservation of tropical montane habitats in two ways. First, arboreal ant species density is reduced if secondary forest replaces primary forest, which increases the chance of extinction among rare species. Second, pasture trees may serve as repositories of primary forest ant communities due to similar tree structure.
The ‘ugliness’ of economic efficiency: technology, species-being, and global poverty

In this paper, I argue that contemporary philosophical approaches to the problem of global poverty overlook a critical issue in terms of causality: the actual labor in which the poorest people of the world engage. More specifically, I challenge the current economic system’s maniacal worship of economic efficiency in production and the way in which this goal is pursued through the implementation of labor-saving technology. Although it is considered economically efficient to save as much as possible on labor costs by using new technologies, I argue (with reference to Karl Marx’s concept of our human nature as ‘species-being’) that we are not being efficient on human terms. Instead, we are ‘wasting’ human beings by forcing them into poverty and denying them the opportunity to labor meaningfully. Given such results, I argue that we must revisit the role that economic efficiency and labor-saving technology should have in the productive process. To do so, I incorporate the work of economist and philosopher E.F. Schumacher and his focus on providing ‘good work’ through intermediate technology . This is a level of technology that is not wasteful in production but requires an appropriate amount of actual human labor. By altering our conception of efficiency to one that is ‘human’ and utilizing technology only insofar as it enhances the character of labor, there will be more opportunities for the poorest people of the world to labor in a way that not only helps them avoid poverty but also allows them to feel humanly productive. Keywords: global poverty; efficiency; Marx; E.F. Schumacher; labor; intermediate technology (Published: 9 December 2015) Citation: Ethics & Global Politics, Vol. 8, 2015, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/egp.v8.29226
Designing eco-apps to engage adult learners

This study identified the inputs, outputs, and outcomes businesses, non-profits, and government agencies can expect when planning an environmental education initiative through the use of a mobile application. Eleven eco-apps were identified out of more than 290 as offering users a uniquely mobile learning experience through use of social media, geolocation, and gaming in the palm of their hand. Results provide educators with guidance on the resources needed to create an eco-app, the design elements one should use to make a successful eco-app, and finally, the outcomes that are likely when using an app to educate and engage learners in environmental issues.
The Surface Age of Sputnik Planum, Pluto, Must Be Less than 10 Million Years

Data from the New Horizons mission to Pluto show no craters on Sputnik Planum down to the detection limit (2 km for low resolution data, 625 m for high resolution data). The number of small Kuiper Belt Objects that should be impacting Pluto is known to some degree from various astronomical surveys. We combine these geological and telescopic observations to make an order of magnitude estimate that the surface age of Sputnik Planum must be less than 10 million years. This maximum surface age is surprisingly young and implies that this area of Pluto must be undergoing active resurfacing, presumably through some cryo-geophysical process. We discuss three possible resurfacing mechanisms and the implications of each one for Pluto’s physical properties.
Dinosaurs from the Paleocene part of the Hell Creek Formation, McCone County, Montana

Dinosaur remains have been recovered from six localities in the uppermost part of the Hell Creek Formation, McCone County, Montana, which on the basis of stratigraphic placement and contained fossil pollen can be shown to be of Paleocene age. This modifies the argument that an extraterrestrial impact event at the Cretaceous/Tertiary (KIT) boundary caused dinosaur extinction (L. W. Alvarez et al., 1984; Alvarez et al., 1980). The occurrence of dinosaurs in sediments younger than the Cretaceousl Tertiary boundary (Rigby, 1985; Rigby and Sloan, 1985; Sloan et al., 1986; and others) supports the argument that dinosaurs survived the impact event. INTRODUCTION
Ventricular Arrhythmias, Part I: Prevalence, Significance, And Indications For Treatment

Evaluation and treatment of patients with ventricular arrhythmias are full of pitfalls for the unwary. In this series of articles we discuss how to recognize and avoid these pitfalls and present our approach to management. The prevalence and clinical significance of ventricular arrhythmias and indications for treatment are addressed in this initial installment.
Numerical implementation of a crystal plasticity model with dislocation transport for high strain rate applications

This paper details a numerical implementation of a single crystal plasticity model with dislocation transport for high strain rate applications. Our primary motivation for developing the model is to study the influence of dislocation transport and conservation on the mesoscale response of metallic crystals under extreme thermo-mechanical loading conditions (e.g. shocks). To this end we have developed a single crystal plasticity theory (Luscher et al (2015)) that incorporates finite deformation kinematics, internal stress fields caused by the presence of geometrically necessary dislocation gradients, advection equations to model dislocation density transport and conservation, and constitutive equations appropriate for shock loading (equation of state, drag-limited dislocation velocity, etc). In the following, we outline a coupled finite element–finite volume framework for implementing the model physics, and demonstrate its capabilities in simulating the response of a [1 0 0] copper single crystal during a plate impact test. Additionally, we explore the effect of varying certain model parameters (e.g. mesh density, finite volume update scheme) on the simulation results. Our results demonstrate that the model performs as intended and establishes a baseline of understanding that can be leveraged as we extend the model to incorporate additional and/or refined physics and move toward a multi-dimensional implementation.
Prevention of endometrial hyperplasia by progesterone during long-term estradiol replacement: influence of bleeding pattern and secretory changes*

Objective To determine the relative influences of induction of withdrawal bleeding, secretory transformation, and reduction of mitosis in glands on prevention of endometrial hyperplasia during long-term hormonal replacement therapy. Design Observational expanded clinical case report. Setting Reproductive Endocrine Department of Hopital Necker, Paris, France, and Pathology Department of Women's Hospital, Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, California. Patients Postmenopausal women seeking treatment for symptomatic menopause. Interventions Endometrial biopsy and/or ambulatory hysteroscopy. Main Outcome Measure Endometrial histology including progestational maturation patterns and glandular epithelial mitosis rates. Macroscopic endometrial appearance. Results The use of larger doses of E 2 and P induced more marked secretory changes and more frequent withdrawal bleeding than the lower doses. There was no evidence of endometrial hyperplasia after 5years of E 2 /P replacement therapy independently of bleeding pattern or progestational maturation. Consistent reduction of mitosis rates in glandular epithelium was found after 9 or more days of P administration in each cycle. Conclusions Control of endometrial growth is mainly related to control of mitosis in glands by a relatively low doses of P. Induction of withdrawal bleeding and endometrial secretory transformation, which require larger doses of Progesterone, do not provide additional benefit for prevention of hyperplasia. Induction of amenorrhea with a relatively low dose of P may be offered to women seeking hormone replacement therapy with similar levels of safety.
Metabolic Acidosis and Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease

Metabolic acidosis invariably develops as chronic kidney disease (CKD) progresses. Complications of acid retention during the course of CKD include protein-energy wasting, abnormal bone-mineral metabolism, and uremic bone disease, and also an association with higher mortality. An additional adverse effect of metabolic acidosis is kidney damage. This has been described experimentally decades ago, but it has only recently surfaced as a clinically important complication which, if treated, can result in amelioration of progressive CKD. Administration of alkali represents an affordable and probably low-risk intervention in patients with kidney disease, and hence it could become a mainstay of CKD therapy. Since it is possible, and indeed likely that large clinical trials of bicarbonate supplementation will not be conducted in the near future, a uniformly sanctioned clinical indication for kidney protection may never come to fruition for this kind of intervention. Therefore, good understanding of the physiologic background, of the practical benefits, and especially of the potential risks of bicarbonate therapy is crucial for practitioners who wish to implement such therapy. We will briefly review the physiology and pathophysiology of acid–base homeostasis in CKD, emphasizing the mechanisms responsible for kidney damage, and discuss the results of clinical trials of alkali therapy, with an emphasis towards practical aspects relevant to everyday clinical practice.
Soviet Germans: A Brief History and an Introduction to Their Emigration

The majority of contemporary Soviet Germans are ancestors of agricultural settlers invited to Russia by Catherine the Great and Alexander I.2 During 1763–1862, approximately 100 000 Germans migrated to Russia and founded over 3000 colonies. These so-called ‘German Russians’ consisted both of the Volga Germans, who arrived as early as 1763 and formed agricultural communities principally along the lower Volga River, and the Black Sea Germans (or Ukrainian Germans), who came to Russia in the early nineteenth century and settled in towns, cities and rural areas near the Black Sea. Other German immigrants joined German communities in the Caucasus, Bessarabia and Volhynia.
Dye and ring laser experiments or: Photon statistics of lasers and atoms (and a whole lot of other stuff)

Prof. Leonard Mandel not only led his students through a number of rather widely recognized experiments over the course of his career, but also through an extremely thorough investigation of lasers and other light sources. Leonard Mandel was not a self-promoter, but so many of his experiments became in some sense “famous” (at least within the quantum optics community) that some of us (who worked on the ”other“ experiments) might have felt left behind. We were, instead, inspired. We were inspired by the man, by his ideas, and by his care and regard for his students. In the following few pages I will attempt to give a brief sketch of some of the work that Leonard Mandel became involved in around the time that I had the privilege of being one of his graduate students. Although some of this research might not be well-known outside of a very narrow community, it all fits into the overall picture of what interested Leonard Mandel professionally and what he became known for over the course of his career.
The Genesis of Industrial America, 1870–1920: The Marvel of Men and Machines

The life of America is not the life it was twenty years ago. It is not the life it was ten years ago. We have changed our economic conditions from top to bottom, and with our economic conditions has changed also the organization of our life. – Woodrow Wilson T wo crucial elements combined to foster the rapid expansion of industrialization: an army of freshly minted entrepreneurs and a stunning array of new technologies that literally changed the face of America. The two were inseparable and indispensable to each other. For alert entrepreneurs, new technologies became not only the key to whatever industry they entered but also the source of a multiplier effect that increased both the scale of their operation and the size of their fortunes. However, technologies could develop only when entrepreneurs sensed their potential, took hold of them, and employed them in ways that ultimately embedded them as the foundation of the American way of production. This mutual dependence proved a potent catalyst for rapid economic expansion. This interaction between men and machines also produced a profound change in the way people looked at the world around them. Machines do not suddenly knock at society's door and ask to be put to work; nor can they be ordered to their tasks like obedient servants. Their presence in growing numbers, and their increasing productivity and sophistication, required dramatic changes in the structure of the economic system, and these in turn wrought unexpected changes in society itself.
Current Developments in the Modification of Oilseed Composition

Developments in plant cell and tissue culture, and in gene manipulation techniques, have provided new tools for generating novel plant phenotypes not attainable solely by traditional selection bree...
Multimedia Content Repurposing in Heterogeneous Network Environments

The growing diversity of clients and their network connections as well as varying user requirements pose a new challenge in accessing multimedia content over heterogeneous network environments. In such heterogeneous network environments, efficient multimedia content repurposing approach is required to tackle the challenge. In this paper, a proxy-based multimedia content repurposing prototype is described which repurpose multimedia content based on client characteristics, network characteristics and user preferences. The experimental results show that our approach is efficient means for repurposing multimedia content from one form to another.
Combination therapy for fit (younger and older) newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients: Data support carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone independent of cytogenetic risk status

In this invited paper, I was asked to critically review available literature and seek scientific and clinical evidence to argue in support of carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (KRd) as the new default therapy for fit patients with a new diagnosis of multiple myeloma (MM). When performing the review of existing data and when writing this paper it became clear to me that both KRd and bortezomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (RVd) are both recommended by established, well-respected expert guidelines. Importantly, the actual data behind guidelines supporting KRd and RVd come from phase II studies; thus, the level of scientific evidence behind KRd and RVd is the same. When reviewing efficacy and safety data for both regimens, I conclude that published peer-reviewed KRd original data are well in line with modern treatment goals for newly diagnosed MM patients: rapid, deep, and sustainable treatment effect with limited toxicity. Taken together, available scientific and clinical evidence favors KRd as the new default therapy for fit patients with a new diagnosis of MM. Original data support KRd independent of cytogenetic risk status; indeed, patients with standard-risk disease (which represents 75% of all newly diagnosed MM patients) have the strongest benefit of KRd.