cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effect of ablation rings and soil temperature on 3-year spring CO 2 efflux along the Dalton Highway, Alaska

Winter and spring soil CO 2 efflux measurements represent a significant component in the assessment of annual carbon budgets of tundra and boreal forest ecosystems, reflecting responses to climate change in the Arctic. This study was conducted in order to quantify CO 2 efflux, using a portable chamber system at representative sites along the Dalton Highway. Study sites included three tundra, two white spruce, and three black spruce forest locations during the winter and spring seasons of 2010–2012; the study of these sites promised better understanding of winter and spring carbon contributions to the annual carbon budget, as well as the respective ablation-ring effects during spring. Three-year spring CO 2 efflux depends on soil temperature at 5 cm depth on a regional scale. At their highest, Q 10 values were 4.2 × 10 6 , within the exposed tussock tundra of the upland tundra site, which tundra soils warmed from −0.9 to 0.5 °C, involving soil microbial activity. From the forest census (400 m 2 ) of the two white spruce forest sites, CO 2 emissions were estimated as 0.09–0.36 gC m −2 day −1 in winter and 0.14–4.95 gC m −2 day −1 in spring, corresponding to 1–3% and 1–27% of annual carbon, respectively. Contributions from spring CO 2 emissions are likely to increase as exposed soils widen in average length (major axis) from the east-, west-, south-, and north-side lengths (minor axis). Considering the periods of winter and spring seasons across tundra and boreal forests, average winter- and spring-seasonal CO 2 contributions to annual carbon budgets correspond roughly to 14–22% for tundra and 9–24% for boreal forest sites during 2011 and 2012. Spring carbon contributions, such as growing season CO 2 emissions, are sensitive to subtle changes at the onset of spring and during the snow-covered period in northern high latitudes, in response to recent Arctic climate change.
Experimental study of shock wave interference heating on a cylindrical leading edge at Mach 6 and 8

This paper presents the details of an experimental study of shock wave interference heating on a cylindrical leading edge representative of the cowl of a rectangular hypersonic engine inlet. The study was conducted at Mach numbers of 6.3, 6.5 and 8.0. This study has provided the first (1) detailed pressure and heat transfer rate distributions for a two-dimensional shock wave interference on a cylinder and (2) insight into the effects of temperature dependent specific heats on the phenomena. The peak pressure and heat transfer rates were 10 times the undisturbed flow stagnation point levels. The peak levels and their gradients increased with Mach number. Variation in specific heats and hence the ratio of specific heats with temperature manifest in slightly lower loads and amplification factors than for corresponding perfect gas conditions.
Targeted Knockout of the Rickettsia rickettsii OmpA Surface Antigen Does Not Diminish Virulence in a Mammalian Model System

ABSTRACT Strains of Rickettsia rickettsii, the causative agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), differ dramatically in virulence despite >99% genetic homology. Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae produce two immunodominant outer membrane proteins, rickettsial OmpA (rOmpA) and rOmpB, which are conserved throughout the SFG and thought to be fundamental to pathogenesis. rOmpA is present in all virulent strains of R. rickettsii but is not produced in the only documented avirulent strain, Iowa, due to a premature stop codon. Here we report the creation of an isogenic ompA mutant in the highly virulent strain Sheila Smith by insertion of intronic RNA to create a premature stop codon 312 bp downstream of the 6,747-bp open reading frame initiation site (int312). Targeted insertion was accomplished using an LtrA group II intron retrohoming system. Growth and entry rates of Sheila Smith ompA ::int312 in Vero cells remained comparable to those of the wild type. Virulence was assessed in a guinea pig model by challenge with 100 PFU of either ompA ::int312 Sheila Smith or the wild type, but no significant difference in either fever peak (40.5°C) or duration (8 days) were shown between the wild type and the knockout. The ability to disrupt genes in a site-specific manner using an LtrA group II intron system provides an important new tool for evaluation of potential virulence determinants in rickettsial disease research. IMPORTANCE R. rickettsii rOmpA is an immunodominant outer membrane autotransporter conserved in the spotted fever group. Previous studies and genomic comparisons suggest that rOmpA is involved in adhesion and may be critical for virulence. Little information is available for rickettsial virulence factors in an isogenic background, as limited systems for targeted gene disruption are currently available. Here we describe the creation of an rOmpA knockout by insertion of a premature stop codon into the 5′ end of the open reading frame using a group II intron system. An isogenic rOmpA knockout mutation in the highly virulent Sheila Smith strain did not cause attenuation in a guinea pig model of infection, and no altered phenotype was observed in cell culture. We conclude that rOmpA is not critical for virulence in a guinea pig model but may play a role in survival or transmission from the tick vector.
The Art of Collaborative Learning

(1987). The Art of Collaborative Learning. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 42-47.
Retinal Field Shrinkage, Age, Pulmonary Function, and Biochemistry

Retinal field shrinkage was studied with Goldmann perimetry in 144 healthy Ss of the Normative Aging Study. It has been shown that manipulation of the O2 content of inspired air to the level of hypoxia resulted in shrinkage of the visual field, attributable to reduction in O2 tension below the high metabolic requirements of the retina. In the present investigation the question was raised whether this effect occurs when breathing ordinary air, on the basis of normal variability in pulmonary function tests. Significant relationships were given by total vital capacity and FEV with age held constant. In addition the effect of a number of biochemistry variables was explored. Higher serum pepsinogin had a significant effect with pulmonary and age effects controlled. This may be related to physique since tall, lean men have been shown to have higher serum pepsinogen. The failure of serum cholesterol to figure significantly suggests that retinal field shrinkage is not due to atherosclerosis.
Protecting privacy of human subjects.

Jocelyn Kaiser's article on the U.S. federal regulations known as the HIPAA Privacy Rules ([1][1]) describes these laws as overly complicated and obstructing life-saving research (“Privacy rule creates bottleneck for U.S. biomedical researchers,” News Focus, 9 July 2004, p. 168.). It ends with
New Support for the Big Sort Hypothesis: An Assessment of Partisan Geographic Sorting in California, 1992–2010

This article empirically examines the “Big Sort hypothesis”—the notion that, in recent years, liberal and conservative Americans have become increasingly spatially isolated from one another. Using block group-, tract-, and county-level party registration data and presidential election returns, I construct two formal indices of segregation for 1992–2010 in California and evaluate those indices for evidence of growth in the segregation of Californians along ideological lines. Evidence of rising geographic segregation between Democrats and Republicans for measures generated from both party registration and presidential vote data is found. This growth is statistically significant for 10 of the 12 segregation measures analyzed. In addition, many of the increases are practically significant, with estimates of growth in segregation during the observation period ranging from 2% to 23%.
Fingerprint verification using SIFT features

Fingerprints are being extensively used for person identification in a number of commercial, civil, and forensic applications. Most of the current fingerprint verification systems utilize features that are based on minutiae points and ridge patterns. While minutiae based fingerprint verification systems have shown fairly high accuracies, further improvements in their performance are needed for acceptable performance, especially in applications involving very large scale databases. In an effort to extend the existing technology for fingerprint verification, we propose a new representation and matching scheme for fingerprint using Scale Invariant Feature Transformation (SIFT). We extract characteristic SIFT feature points in scale space and perform matching based on the texture information around the feature points using the SIFT operator. A systematic strategy of applying SIFT to fingerprint images is proposed. Using a public domain fingerprint database (FVC 2002), we demonstrate that the proposed approach complements the minutiae based fingerprint representation. Further, the combination of SIFT and conventional minutiae based system achieves significantly better performance than either of the individual schemes.
Brahms: a multi-agent modelling environment for simulating work processes and practices

Modelling and simulating work processes is often done at such an abstract level that individual work practice - collaboration, communication, 'off-task' behaviours, multi-tasking, interrupted and resumed activities, informal interactions, use of tools and movements - is left out, making the description of how the work in an organisation actually gets done impossible. This paper describes the Brahms modelling and simulation environment, developed at NASA Ames Research Center. The Brahms modelling language is geared towards modelling people's activity behaviour, making it an ideal environment for simulating organisational processes at a level that allows the analysis of the work practice and designing new work processes at the implementation level.
The effect of dynamic femoroacetabular impingement on pubic symphysis motion: a cadaveric study.

Background: A link between femoroacetabular impingement and athletic pubalgia has been reported clinically. One proposed origin of athletic pubalgia is secondary to repetitive loading of the pubic symphysis, leading to instability and parasymphyseal tendon and ligament injury.Hypothesis/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of simulated femoral-based femoroacetabular impingement on rotational motion at the pubic symphysis. The authors hypothesize that the presence of a cam lesion leads to increased relative symphyseal motion.Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.Methods: Twelve hips from 6 fresh-frozen human cadaveric pelvises were used to simulate cam-type femoroacetabular impingement. The hips were held in a custom jig and maximally internally rotated at 90° of flexion and neutral adduction. Three-dimensional motion of the pubic symphysis was measured by a motion-tracking system for 2 states: native and simulated cam. Load-displacement plots were generated between the inte...
320: Right Ventricular Size, Function & Hemodynamics Are Poor Predictors of Exercise Performance in Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension

on chronic specific PAH treatment (53 29 months) underwent 6MWT and CPET with cycle ergometer the same day. Serum NTproBNP levels were obtained. Results: NTproBNP: 649 784 pg/ml. 6MWT: 477 76 m. VO2: 17.8 3.9 ml/kg/min. AT: 12 2.3 ml/kg/min. pPO2: 8.5 2.4 ml. AT PO2: 7 2,1 ml. SAPI: 40 20 mmHg. O2Eq: 31 8,5. CO2Eq: 34 8. PetO2: 106 16 mmHg. PetCO2: 32 8 mmHg. Corretations between NTproBNP and 6MWT-CPET in table1 and 2. There were no complications while performing CPET. NTproBNP increases with FI evaluated both by 6MWT and CPET. Conclusions: CPET is safe in PAH patients. NTproBNP increases not only because of impaired SV (measured by 6MWT and CPET) but also because of VI (measured only by CPET) due to by pulmonary vasculopathy.
Enhancement of transfection by physical concentration of DNA at the cell surface.

Efficient DNA transfection is critical for biological research and new clinical therapies, but the mechanisms responsible for DNA uptake are unknown. Current nonviral transfection methods, empirically designed to maximize DNA complexation and/or membrane fusion, are amenable to enhancement by a variety of chemicals. These chemicals include particulates, lipids, and polymer complexes that optimize DNA complexation/condensation, membrane fusion, endosomal release, or nuclear targeting, which are the presumed barriers to gene delivery. Most chemical enhancements produce a moderate increase in gene delivery and a limited increase in gene expression. As a result, the efficiency of transfection and level of gene expression after nonviral DNA delivery remain low, suggesting the existence of additional unidentified barriers. Here, we tested the hypothesis that DNA transfection efficiency is limited by a simple physical barrier: low DNA concentration at the cell surface. We used dense silica nanoparticles to concentrate DNA-vector (i.e. DNA-transfection reagent) complexes at the surface of cell monolayers; manipulations that increased complex concentration at the cell surface enhanced transfection efficiency by up to 8.5-fold over the best commercially available transfection reagents. We predict that manipulations aimed at optimizing DNA complexation or membrane fusion have a fundamental physical limit; new methods designed to increase transfection efficiency must increase DNA concentration at the target cell surface without adding to the toxicity.
Recursive schemes for calculating cumulative binomial and Poisson probabilities

Abstract Cumulative probabilities for the binomial, Poisson and chi-square distributions can be formidable to calculate because of the size of the components. A simple code is given that utilizes the ratio of successive terms and thus avoids most of the computational difficulties.
Analysis of the Prader-Willi syndrome chromosome region using quantitative microsphere hybridization (QMH) array.

We previously developed a novel quantitative microsphere suspension hybridization (QMH) assay for high-throughput determination of genomic copy number by direct hybridization of unique sequence probes to genomic DNA followed by flow cytometric analysis. Herein, we describe the first clinical application of this assay examining the PraderWilli syndrome (PWS) chromosome region at 15q11–13. We designed 30 unique sequence test probes (� 60 nucleotides each) spanning 11.37 Mb of chromosome 15q11.2–q13.3 and a disomic reference probe (Actin Beta, chromosome 7p22.1), conjugated to spectrally distinct polystyrene microsphere levels. All probes were hybridized to biotin-labeled genomic DNA in multiplex QMH reactions, and hybridization was detected using phycoerythrin-labeled streptavidin and analyzed by dual-laser flow cytometry. Copy number differences were distinguished by comparing mean fluorescence intensities (MFI) of the test probes to the reference probe in 20 individuals with PWS and six controls. The mean MFI ratio for deleted loci was 0.56 � 0.09 (n ¼ 88) as compared to the MFI ratios for normal loci, 0.96 � 0.06 (n ¼ 236), and duplicated loci, 1.44 � 0.10 (n ¼ 22). A multiplex QMH assay could readily distinguish type I from type II deletions in PWS subjects, as well as small (� 4.3 kb) imprinting center (IC) deletions, with no overlap in MFI values compared with normal loci. Using this diagnostic QMH assay, the precise deleted genomic interval could be ascertained in all PWS subjects examined in the present study. 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
A novel application of Approximate Bayesian Computation for detecting male reproductive advantages due to mating order

Studies of the effects of mating order on fertilization success, classically analyzed as the proportional paternity of the second male, have advanced our understanding of the relative influences of postcopulatory male–male competition and female choice on sexual selection. However, results from these studies are often difficult to analyze because (1) distributions of offspring per dam rarely follow a normal distribution and (2) proportional paternities are never normally distributed. Previous studies partially account for these limitations by using nonparametric statistics. However, behavioral studies are often plagued by relatively small sample sizes and require a more powerful analytical approach. Here, we develop a new analytical framework for studying fertilization bias. Our Approximate Bayesian Computational (ABC) model overcomes many of the limitations of currently employed methods. We apply our model to analyze the effects of male mating order on paternity success in the brown anole lizard, Anolis sagrei. Using our ABC simulation, we find a marked first-male advantage: first males sired approximately 80 % of the offspring in our study. Next, based on re-analysis of four previously published datasets, we show that traditional statistical methods often over- or underestimate biases related to mating order. Moreover, by comparing our model to more traditional statistical tests, we show that the ABC method is robust to relatively small samples sizes and should therefore be useful for studying mating-order effects in a variety of systems. Our model is implemented as an R package, ABCp2, and is freely available for use.
A formal theory for estimating defeaturing-induced engineering analysis errors

Defeaturing is a popular CAD/CAE simplification technique that suppresses 'small or irrelevant features' within a CAD model to speed-up downstream processes such as finite element analysis. Unfortunately, defeaturing inevitably leads to analysis errors that are not easily quantifiable within the current theoretical framework. In this paper, we provide a rigorous theory for swiftly computing such defeaturing-induced engineering analysis errors. In particular, we focus on problems where the features being suppressed are cutouts of arbitrary shape and size within the body. The proposed theory exploits the adjoint formulation of boundary value problems to arrive at strict bounds on defeaturing induced analysis errors. The theory is illustrated through numerical examples.
Regional Differences of Cell Sizes in the Human. Stratum Corneum Part II. Effects of Sex and Age

Diameters and surface areas from the human stratum corneum were examined with respect to the influence of sex and age. Nine different sites of two infants, two children, four adult males, three females and three male aged subjects were measured. Distinctive and statistically significant differences were observed. In all areas, women have larger cells than men. In all sites, except for the forehead, cell sizes increase throughout life. Small cells are found in infants and children, larger cells are found in adults and aged. Cells are of more uniform size in young age groups than in older people.
Effects of turbulence on blood flow explored by finite element analysis

Abstract The paper considers the evidence for apparent turbulence in blood flow and outlines a finite element analysis to predict some of these effects. The analysis has been used to solve the problem of turbulent entry flow in pipes and the results applied to estimate wall shear stresses in the human ascending aorta under both laminar and turbulent flow conditions.
Seeking the Core: The Issues and Evidence Surrounding Recovered Accounts of Sexual Trauma

Abstract This review identifies some of the many layers that surround and potentially obscure the emotionally charged topic of recovered accounts of childhood abuse. Consideration of the, admittedly often indirect, evidence provides suggestive support for many of the components of both recovered and fabricated memories of abuse. With respect to recovered memories the available evidence suggests that: (1) although the prior accessibility of a memory may be difficult to determine, recovered memory reports can sometimes be corroborated with respect to their correspondence to actual abuse; (2) although individuals often retain memory for trauma, there is evidence for fluctuations in the accessibility of traumatic experiences, particularly for situations that are extremely difficult to talk about; (3) there are compelling mechanisms available to account for both the decreases and the subsequent increases in accessibility of traumatic memories that could lead to recovered memory reports. With respect to fabricated memories the available evidence suggests that: (1) people are highly capable of fabricating vivid recollections that can be confused with reality; (2) once fabricated, there seems to be no limit to the preposterous false memories that some individuals are capable of accepting particularly when in the presence of a persuasive individual in a position of authority. Although future research is needed to provide more direct evidence for the above claims, at present readers are urged to consider the strong likelihood that both recovered and fabricated memories correspond to real phenomena.
Diurnal Cycles of Clouds and How They Affect Polar-Orbiting Satellite Data

Abstract Diurnal cycles of clouds were investigated using the NOAA series of polar-orbiting satellites. These satellites provided four observations per day for a continuous 11-yr period from 1986 to 1997. The High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) multispectral infrared data were used from the time trend analysis of Wylie et al. The previous study restricted its discussion to only the polar orbiters making observations at 0200 and 1400 LT because gaps in coverage occurred in the 0800 and 2000 LT coverage. This study shows diurnal cycles in cloud cover over 10% in amplitude in many regions, which is very similar to other studies that used geostationary satellite data. The use of only one of the polar-orbiting satellites by Wylie et al. caused biases up to 5% in small regions but in general they were small (e.g., ≤2% for most of the earth). The only consistently large bias was in high cloud cover over land in North America, Europe, and Asia north of 35°N latitude in the summer season where the 02...
A parallel input-output system for resolving spatial data challenges: an agent-based model case study

With recent advances in data collection technologies such as remote sensing and global positioning systems, the amount of spatial data being produced has been increasing at a staggering rate. Simultaneously, a shift is being experienced in computing from single-core to multi-core processors. To effectively utilize the computational power afforded by these new generation of processors for serving data-intensive geospatial applications, parallel computing techniques need to be employed. Parallel computing, however, raises new challenges associated with handling the input and output of spatial data in parallel. This paper describes a Parallel Input/Output System (PIOS) to address challenges associated with handling large amounts of diverse spatial data. The PIOS is based on a hierarchical structure that uses a scalable file partitioning strategy and combines data and metadata to enable efficient handling of terabyte-scale data sets in parallel. A spatially-explicit agent-based model is developed as a case study. Computational experiments were conducted on a supercomputer supported by the National Science Foundation. PIOS achieved ten times speedup in parallel input/output time, and was demonstrated to efficiently scale to over one thousand processing cores and handle multiple terabytes of data.
Neurophysiologic studies of sensory gating in schizophrenia: Comparison of auditory and visual responses

Gating of visual and auditory evoked responses was assessed in chronic schizophrenic patients treated with neuroleptic drugs. Middle latency components of the visual evoked response (N90-P130) were recorded at the occiput after flash stimulus. Possible inhibitory mechanisms of sensory gating were assessed in a conditioning-testing paradigm by measuring the change in amplitude of response to a second stimulus, relative to the response to the first stimulus. Simultaneous electrooculograms were recorded to detect contamination of recordings by eye movement. Neither schizophrenic patients nor normal control subjects demonstrated significant suppression of visual evoked responses in the conditioning-testing paradigm. These results differed markedly from similar measurements of a middle latency component of the auditory evoked response (P50) recorded using the same conditioning-testing paradigm in these subjects. Normal controls showed significant decrements of the P50 response to the second auditory stimulus (mean decrement over 80%), whereas schizophrenic patients failed to show a significant decrement (mean less than 40%). This finding for auditory evoked responses replicated previous studies of normal and schizophrenic subjects. Multiple conditioning stimuli were substituted for the single conditioning stimulus used previously in an attempt to enhance gating of auditory responses, but suppression of the P50 test response did not increase in either normal or schizophrenics.
An Assessment of Larval Fish Density and Assemblage Structure within Mid-Channel and Backwater Habitats in a Mississippi Stream

ABSTRACT We investigated larval fish density and assemblage structure in mid-channel and backwater areas of Luxapallila Creek, Mississippi to better understand larval fish distribution across these two stream habitats. Our results showed backwater and mid-channel habitats not to differ with respect to total larval fish density, but rather in how larval fish taxa were apportioned across habitats. This research suggests stream alterations that reduce backwater habitats, which has occurred in Luxapallila Creek, may affect fish assemblage structure by reducing resource requirements of some fish larvae.
Separation of sperm whale click-trains for multipath rejection

In this paper an algorithm is described for grouping sperm whale clicks received at a single hydrophone into click-trains associated with a given whale and propagation path. To accomplish this, features are extracted from pairs of clicks in order to derive a statistical measure of click similarity. Then, the algorithm maximizes a global measure of similarity between the associated clicks. In addition to grouping clicks according to click-trains, it classifies click-trains into a propagation path (direct, surface, bottom reverberation). The propagation path is identified using a combination of (1) a statistical classifier operating on features extracted from individual clicks and (2) the cross-correlation of click-trains to identify the relative time delays. The algorithm is demonstrated on at-sea recorded data, showing the elimination of time-delay ambiguities associated with the reverberation paths observed at sensor pairs.
Satellite Videoconferencing for Healthcare Workers: Audience Characteristics and the Importance of Continuing Education Credits

To assess the opinions of healthcare workers (HCWs) about a satellite videoconference as a means of earning continuing education credit, a telephone survey was conducted in September 1998, 1 month after a live interactive satellite video-conference on antimicrobial use and resistance. There were 180 registered sites in 45 states surveyed, representing 1,589 viewers: 764 nurses (48.1%), 201 physicians (12.6%), and 624 other HCWs (39.3%). Continuing education credit was requested by 51% of nurses, 31% of physicians, and 27% of all other HCWs. Although preferred learning formats varied, 70% of respondents said it was important to offer continuing education credit. Furthermore, 31% of the respondents stated that the video-conference influenced institutional strategies. We concluded that satellite videoconferences are a method to reach audiences around the world efficiently and effectively, provide the latest information, facilitate interaction, and meet some of the demand for continuing education credit for HCWs.
Comparative analysis of the performance of InAs lateral and vertical band-to-band tunneling transistors

To summarize, we have shown that in comparison to a lateral device, a vertical structure may provide a larger ON current for similar OFF current. However, the subthreshold swing is degraded due to weaker gate control. We also show that there is a critical body thickness below which the vertical tunneling is greatly minimized. We find that significant vertical tunneling only starts at a large gate voltage and lateral tunneling almost acts as a leakage mechanism until this point. These facts indicate that (i) with a shallow pocket (ii) with right choice of doping densities in the source and pocket (iii) by effectively controlling the transport in lateral and vertical directions, e.g. by strain or by heterostructures, large ON currents with reasonable substreshold may be achieved.
Head and Neck Cancer Detection in Histopathological Slides

Histopathology, one of the most important routines of all laboratory procedures used in pathology, is critical for the diagnosis of cancer. Experienced pathologists read the histological slides acquired from biopsy specimen in order to outline malignant areas. Recently, in terms of histological image analysis the improvements in imaging techniques led to the discovery of virtual histological slides. In this technique, a special microscope scans a glass slide and generates a virtual slide at a resolution of 0.25 mum/pixel. Output images are of sufficiently high quality to generate immense interest within the research community. Since the recognition of cancer areas are time consuming and error prone, in this paper we describe a new method for automatic squamous cell carcinoma, known as head-neck cancer, detection using very large digital histological slides. The density-based clustering algorithm (DBSCAN) plays a key role in the determination of the corrupted cell nuclei. Using the support vector machine (SVM) classifier, the experimental results on seven head-neck slides show that the proposed algorithm performed well, obtaining an average of 96% accuracy. The classifier performance is evaluated using the standard precision and recall measures, as well as predictive accuracy
Effects of surgical variables in balancing of total knee replacements using an instrumented tibial trial

Abstract Background In total knee surgery, typically the bone cuts are made first to produce the correct overall alignment. This is followed by balancing, often using spacer blocks to obtain equal parallel gaps in flexion and extension. Recently an electronically instrumented tibial trial has been introduced, which measures lateral and medial contact forces. The goal of our study was to determine the effect of different surgical variables; changing component sizes, modifying bone cuts, or ligament releases; on the contact forces, as a method to achieve balancing. Methods A special rig was designed to fit on a standard operating table, on which tests on 10 lower extremity specimens were carried out. After making bone cuts for a posterior cruciate retaining knee using a navigation system, tibial thickness was determined in extension using the Sag Test. Different Surgical Variables were then implemented, and the changes in the condylar forces were determined throughout flexion using the Heel Push Test. Results condylar forces were found to consist of gravity forces due to the weight of the leg plus forces due to pretension in the collateral ligaments. The pretension force averaged 145 N but there was considerable variation because of ligament stiffness properties. Balancing from an imbalanced state could be achieved with adjustments within only 2° or 2 mm. Conclusion The instrumented tibial trial provided force information which indicated which surgical correction options to carry out to achieve balancing. From an initial unbalanced state, relatively small changes could produce balancing, indicating the sensitivity of the procedure. Clinical Relevance Non-clinical. This study will assist in the balancing of the knee at total knee replacement surgery.
Two-layer model of shear-driven coastal upwelling in the presence of bottom topography

A stratified two-layer fluid is brought to solid-body counterclockwise rotation inside a cylindrical tank having a conical bottom with a radial topographic ridge. A stress is then applied to the top surface by means of a clockwise differentially rotating disk. The resulting Ekman-layer flux causes the top layer to spin-down and the interface to rise near the wall and to descend a t the centre of the tank. As this process continues, the interface (front) between the two layers intersects the disk surface, and after that migrates away from the wall and allows the bottom fluid to contact the disk directly. The migration of the front continues until a steady state is reached, the front becomes stationary and the system is in geostrophic balance. The first sign of upwelled flow at the surface always occurs as a high-speed jet-like plume at the bottom topography, and only at a later time does a uniform upwelled flow appear a t the surface upstream of the topography. This plume, which always forms near the downstream edge of the topography, migrates in advance of the upstream front to produce an upwelling maximum at the bottom topography.The final width of the upstream flow in steady-state conditions is estimated by a simple theoretical model, which is in good agreement with the experimental results. We have an experimental criterion to predict the occurrence of travelling baroclinic waves on the upstream front. On the downstream side of the ridge, large standing waves are observed, with significant upwelling within them. Under some circumstances cyclones pinch-off from the upstream front, the plume on the ridge and the crests of the large downstream standing waves. We present criteria to predict the occurrence of these pinch-off processes.
Mapping-enhanced drug abuse counseling: Urinalysis results in the first year of methadone treatment

Abstract Urinalysis (UA) tests for opiates and cocaine were obtained over a 12-month period for a total of 155 long-term clients who participated in treatment in one of three urban methadone centers. At admission, clients were randomly assigned to “node-link mapping” (n = 82) or “standard” (n = 73) counseling treatment. Node-link mapping is a strategy for visually representing interrelationships between clients' ideas, feelings, and experiences. These multirelational maps are developed (usually by counselors) during individual and group counseling sessions to clarify clients' issues and problems. The results revealed that (a) mapping clients had significantly fewer opiate-positive UAs during months 2–6 of treatment and (b) session attendance was a significant predictor of cocaine-positive UAs over months 2–12 for mapping clients.
The Long-term Impact of Timber Harvesting on the Resource Base of Chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda

Commercial timber harvesting results in the loss of critical habitat for tropical forest fauna, and large-bodied frugivores (including chimpanzees and most other apes) may experience particularly detrimental effects. Few quantitative data, however, are available to evaluate the long-term impact of harvesting on chimpanzees and other apes. In particular, few data are available to compare population demographics and/or forest composition before and after timber harvesting at the same site. Utilizing detailed forestry department records of logging operations conducted in the late 1960s, present-day botanical surveys, and long-term data on the feeding ecology of chimpanzees in Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda, I examined the impact that logging has had on KNP chimpanzee communities of known size and demography. Although some important chimpanzee food resources were harvested in high abundance during commercial logging operations, the overall impact on the most predominant dietary items (those making up roughly 75% of the chimpanzees’ diet) and on presumably critical subsistence resources was limited. Furthermore, the low density of chimpanzees inhabiting the logged region of KNP is apparently not attributable to the impact of logging at the site: comparisons of resource densities at this ‘low-chimpanzee-density’ site with that of an unlogged and ‘high-chimpanzee-density’ KNP site did not differ when logging concessions at the low-chimpanzeedensity site were excluded from the analysis. This study suggests that low-intensity logging can be compatible with the conservation of large-bodied frugivores, provided that dietary data are taken into account in forest management planning.
Trends and Variation in Assortative Mating: Causes and Consequences

Assortative mating fundamentally shapes the characteristics of families and the reproduction of populations. It organizes people into families and determines the characteristics of parents. In this article, I review the literature on the causes and consequences of trends and variation in assortative mating. Explanations for why assortative mating varies have been dominated by modernization theory, but perspectives emphasizing economic inequality and gender inequality have gained momentum in recent years. Underexplored is how changes in the structure of search have affected mate selection. The idea that assortative mating affects inequality and population composition is one of the primary motivations for its study but, until recently, has rarely been tested empirically. I review the literature on the consequences of assortative mating for (a) inequality within generations, (b) inequality between generations, (c) long-run population change, and (d) relationship quality and dissolution. I conclude with sugge...
Simulation experiment design

So you have built and validated a simulation model -- how are you going to gain insight about the associated real system in order to make decisions? This introductory tutorial gives an overview of experiment design techniques for planning a series of simulation runs. These techniques make efficient use of simulation runs to uncover the impact of system design parameters on simulation output performance. The tutorial highlights graphical methods for planning the experiment and displaying the results.
Proliferative fasciitis of the hand in a child.

Proliferative fasciitis is unusual in the hand and is particularly unusual in young children. The histology of this benign process can be confusing, and it must be differentiated from a sarcoma. The proper treatment is local excision.
Developmental expression of steroidogenic factor 1 in a turtle with temperature-dependent sex determination.

Abstract A variety of reptiles possess temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) in which the incubation temperature of a developing egg determines the gonadal sex. Current evidence suggests that temperature signals may be transduced into steroid hormone signals with estrogens directing ovarian differentiation. Steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1) is one component of interest because it regulates the expression of steroidogenic enzymes in mammals and is differentially expressed during development of testis and ovary. Northern blot analysis of SF-1 in developing tissues of the red-eared slider turtle ( Trachemys scripta ), a TSD species, detected a single primary SF-1 transcript of approximately 5.8 kb across all stages of development examined. Analysis by in situ hybridization indicated nearly equivalent SF-1 expression in early, bipotential gonads at male (26°C)- and female (31°C)-producing incubation temperatures. In subsequent stages, as gonadal sex first becomes histologically distinguishable during the temperature-sensitive period, SF-1 expression increased in gonads at a male-producing temperature and decreased at a female-producing temperature, suggesting a role for SF-1 in the sex differentiation pathway. SF-1 message was also found in adrenal and in the periventricular region of the preoptic area and diencephalon, but there was no apparent sex bias in these tissues at any stage examined. The overall developmental pattern of SF-1 mRNA expression in T. scripta appears to parallel that found in mammals, indicating possible homologous functions.
Transcendental and Pragmatic Aspects of Religion1

Indian villagers generally separate the transcendental functions of their religion from the more pragmatic functions, assigning different deities, rites, and practitioners to each. The two complexes of religious beliefs and practices are taken as complementary to each other. Some tribal groups in India make a similar, but less sharp, division, while Sinhalese villagers maintain a more rigid formal separation and still use the two in complementary fashion. Such separation of religious complexes is found in many other cultures. It serves to allay certain common dilemmas that people often encounter in their religions. Four categories involving different degrees of this separation may be discerned—undifferentiated, partly differentiated, more fully differentiated, and reform. The first appears in very simple societies, the second holds true in many tribal societies, the third has been characteristic of the major civilizations, while the fourth includes the widespread modern trend to do away with the pragmatic aspects of religion.
The impacts of deacetylation prior to dilute acid pretreatment on the bioethanol process

Dilute acid pretreatment is a promising pretreatment technology for the biochemical production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass. During dilute acid pretreatment, xylan depolymerizes to form soluble xylose monomers and oligomers. Because the xylan found in nature is highly acetylated, the formation of xylose monomers requires two steps: 1) cleavage of the xylosidic bonds, and 2) cleavage of covalently bonded acetyl ester groups. In this study, we show that the latter may be the rate limiting step for xylose monomer formation. Furthermore, acetyl groups are also found to be a cause of biomass recalcitrance and hydrolyzate toxicity. While the removal of acetyl groups from native corn stover by alkaline de-esterification prior to pretreatment improves overall process yields, the exact impact is highly dependent on the corn stover variety in use. Xylose monomer yields in pretreatment generally increases by greater than 10%. Compared to pretreated corn stover controls, the deacetylated corn stover feedstock is approximately 20% more digestible after pretreatment. Finally, by lowering hydrolyzate toxicity, xylose utilization and ethanol yields are further improved during fermentation by roughly 10% and 7%, respectively. In this study, several varieties of corn stover lots were investigated to test the robustness of the deacetylation-pretreatment-saccharification-fermentation process. Deacetylation shows significant improvement on glucose and xylose yields during pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis, but it also reduces hydrolyzate toxicity during fermentation, thereby improving ethanol yields and titer. The magnitude of effect is dependent on the selected corn stover variety, with several varieties achieving improvements of greater than 10% xylose yield in pretreatment, 20% glucose yield in low solids enzymatic hydrolysis and 7% overall ethanol yield.
Hypoxia potentiates allergen induction of HIF-1α, chemokines, airway inflammation, TGF-β1, and airway remodeling in a mouse model.

Abstract Whether hypoxia contributes to airway inflammation and remodeling in asthma is unknown. In this study we used mice exposed to a hypoxic environment during allergen challenge (simulating hypoxia during an asthma exacerbation) to investigate the contribution of hypoxia to airway inflammation and remodeling. Although neither hypoxia alone, nor OVA allergen alone, induced significant neutrophil influx into the lung, the combination of OVA and hypoxia induced a synergistic 27 fold increase in peribronchial neutrophils, enhanced expression of HIF-1α and one of its target genes, the CXC-family neutrophil chemokine KC. The combination of hypoxia and OVA allergen increased eotaxin-1, peribronchial eosinophils, lung TGB-β1 expression, and indices of airway remodeling (fibrosis and smooth muscle) compared to either stimulus alone. As hypoxia is present in > 90% of severe asthma exacerbations, these findings underscore the potential of hypoxia to potentiate the airway inflammatory response, remodeling, and accelerate the decline of lung function in asthma exacerbations.
Confounding after Risk-Set Sampling in the Beryllium Study of Sanderson et al

Purpose Beryllium is classified as carcinogenic on the basis largely of limited human data showing a modest increase in lung cancer from occupational exposure. With occupational exposure now curtailed, earlier results merit more scrutiny. We simulated data to understand the design implications of a landmark case-control study. Methods We generated datasets from the original occupational cohort by randomly assigning lung cancer events to workers independently of their exposure. We analyzed the simulated data on the basis of different modes of risk-set sampling, with risk sets defined by calendar time, age, or both, to assess how much bias existed using several exposure metrics. We controlled for several time related variables to assess confounding. Finally, we re-analyzed the data from the original study, controlling for time-related covariates. Results No bias occurred using any type of risk-set sampling with unlagged exposures. When exposure was lagged 10 or 20 years, however, there was considerable confounding by year of birth and year of hire, which remained uncontrolled in the original study. Conclusions Simulations and reanalysis show that much of the reported association with lagged exposure is attributable to confounding by year of birth and year of hire. Lagging changes the exposure variable and can thus lead to changes in the amount of confounding.
B-1 cells in systemic autoimmune responses: IgM+, Fc epsilon Rdull B cells are lost during chronic graft-versus-host disease but not in murine AIDS or collagen-induced arthritis.

The potential role of B-1 cells (i.e. the CD5+ B cell and "sister" B cell subsets) in autoimmunity is controversial. CD5+ B cells have been shown to secrete antibodies of similar specificity as those found in many systemic autoimmune diseases; in addition, increases in CD5+ B cell frequency have been reported in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, myasthenia gravis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Whether these increases are due to expansion of B-1 lineage cells in the human or due to activation-induced expression of CD5 by conventional B cells is unclear. In the present study, we used three murine models of systemic autoimmunity: murine acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (MAIDS), chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGvHD), and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) to determine whether increases in B-1 cell frequency are universally seen in models of autoimmunity which are mechanistically distinct. In contrast to the aforementioned human systemic autoimmune diseases which exhibit an increase in CD5+ B cell frequency, the percentage of CD5+ B cells declined in all three murine models of systemic autoimmune disease. Even though there was a decrease in the frequency of CD5+ B cells there was no change in the actual number of CD5+ B cells. Thus, the apparent decline in CD5+ B cell frequency was due to increases in either T cells, conventional Fc epsilon R+ B cells, or both. The only actual decline in a B cell subset was the loss of IgM+, Fc epsilon Rdull cells in both the spleen and peritoneal cavity of mice undergoing a chronic graft-versus-host reaction. Therefore, our data suggests that expansion of the B-1 subset does not occur as a general feature of murine systemic autoimmune disease. These observations, consistent with previous studies of Ig gene usage in autoreactive antibodies, support the view that expansion and differentiation of the CD5+ B cell subset is not a central event leading to autoantibody production.
Leveraging Optical Interconnects in Future Supercomputers and Servers

Optical interconnects offer significant advantages for future high performance computers. Progress towards new technologies for optical interconnects are reviewed, focusing on potential improvements in wave guide-based interconnects between chips and the prospects for on-chip optics using silicon photonics.