cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Dynamic Interactions in Prefrontal Functional Connectivity During Adolescence

Cognitive abilities increase greatly between the time of puberty and adulthood, while the prefrontal cortex is still maturing. To investigate the dynamics of neuronal interactions in the immature prefrontal cortex, we recorded neuronal activity from the prefrontal cortex of monkeys around the time of puberty, as they executed working memory tasks. We then computed the spike count correlation between simultaneously recorded neurons and examined how it varies through time and how it compares with that of the adult prefrontal cortex. We found that the spike count (noise) correlation was higher in the peri-pubertal than the adult prefrontal cortex and was modulated dynamically by varying significantly at different stages of the task. Our results identify spike count correlation dynamics as a substrate of maturation associated with cognitive development.
Information from Isotopes

Stable isotopes, as their name suggests, do not undergo radioactive decay. Most of the isotopes found in nature are in this category and appear in the element as a mixture. The principal methods of separation according to isotopic mass are electromagnetic as in the large-scale mass spectrograph and thermal–mechanical as in the distillation or gaseous diffusion processes. Important examples are isotopes of elements involved in biological processes, for example, deuterium and oxygen-18. Radioactive isotopes, or radioisotopes, are available with a great variety of half-lives, types of radiation, and energy. They come from three main sources—charged particle reactions in an accelerator, neutron bombardment in a reactor, and separated fission products. The main advantages of stable isotopes are the absence of radiation effects in the specimens under study, the availability of an isotope of a chemical for which a radioactive species would not be suitable, and freedom from necessity for speed in making measurements, since the isotope does not decay in time. Their disadvantage is the difficulty of detection. This chapter describes several special methods involving radioisotopes and illustrates their use. Radioisotopes provide a great deal of information for human benefit. The characteristic radiations permit the tracing of processes such as fluid flow. Pharmaceuticals are radioactively tagged chemicals used in hospitals for diagnosis. Scanners detect the distribution of radioactivity in the body and form images of diseased tissue. Radioimmunoassay measures minute amounts of biological materials.
Regularization for Continuously Observed Ordinal Response Variables with Piecewise-Constant Functional Predictors

This paper investigates regularization for continuously observed covariates that resemble step functions. The motivating examples come from operational test data from a recent US Department of Defense test of the Shadow Tactical Unmanned Aircraft system. The response variable, quality of video provided by the Shadow to friendly ground units, was measured on an ordinal scale continuously over time. Functional covariates, altitude and distance, can be well approximated by step functions. Two approaches for regularizing these covariates are considered, including a thinning approach commonly used within the Department of Defense to address autocorrelated time series data, and a novel ‘smoothing’ approach, which first approximates the covariates as step functions and then treats each ‘step’ as a uniquely observed data point. Datasets resulting from both approaches are fit using a mixed model cumulative logistic regression, and we compare their results. While the thinning approach identifies altitude as having a significant impact on video quality, the smoothing approach finds no evidence of an effect. This difference is attributable to the larger effective sample size produced by thinning. System characteristics make it unlikely that video quality would degrade at higher altitudes, suggesting that the thinning approach has produced a Type 1 error. By accounting for the functional characteristics of the covariates, the novel smoothing approach has produced a more accurate characterization of the Shadow's ability to provide full motion video to supported units. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Focused ultrasound therapy of cervical lymph nodes in rats for alleviating EAE

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a prevalent neurological disease among adults worldwide (∼2.5 million cases). Disease modifying therapies are only modestly effective for slowing long-term progression of pathological and disability outcomes, underscoring the importance of considering other approaches for managing MS. One approach to treating MS is to reduce the load of lymphocytes that could enter the central nervous system (CNS). Most pharmaceuticals work by downgrading the immune system, but have numerous adverse side effects. We hypothesize that using focused ultrasound (FUS) to heat the cervical lymph nodes, which house the lymphocytes that primarily service the CNS, will reduce the lymphocyte load and alleviate MS with minimal side effects. In our pilot study, FUS was used to produce hyperthermia in cervical lymph nodes of rats having experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the animal model of MS, in order to alleviate severity of EAE. EAE was induced in rats through injection of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG (1–125)) and EAE disability scores, on a scale of 0 to 5, were recorded over 21 days post injection. At the onset of EAE symptoms, one set of rats was treated with FUS while another set of rats was sham treated. Specifically, rats were treated at day 9 and day 12 post MOG injection. During therapy, a focused ultrasound transducer (f/3) operating at 0.5 MHz was positioned over the jaw of a rat with the focus of the transducer placed above the skin surface to heat the superficial cervical lymph nodes just under the skin surface. A temperature of 43–44 °C was induced via FUS in the lymph nodes of the rats for 20 minutes on both the right and left side of the jaw. A thermocouple was used to record the temperature near the lymph nodes during exposures. An EAE remittance score was tallied for all rats, defined as the reduction in the EAE score achieved after the maximum EAE score was reached. On average the EAE remittance score for FUS treated rats was 1.14 ± 0.48 versus 0.33 ± 0.27 for sham treated rats. These differences were statistically significant (p = 0.037). Remittance of the EAE disability scores were highly correlated with the last therapy application. Therefore, FUS treatment of cervical lymph nodes in rats with EAE resulted in a significant reduction in EAE score, which was not observed in sham treated rats. This pilot study is the first ever FUS treatment of EAE in a rat model.
Free Exercise and Third-Party Harms: Why Scholars Are Wrong and RFRA is Right

Some scholars have argued that the outer perimeter of religious freedom should be defined where third-parties are 'harmed' - an argument especially relevant after the Hobby Lobby decision. However, these scholars employ such a broad definition of harm that this "no-harm" standard would undermine the history and substance of the Free Exercise clause. This article reviews these arguments, including recent articles by Professors Chemerinsky & Goodwin and Professors NeJaime & Siegel, and asserts that Congress was wise to implement RFRA, instead of this "no-harm" standard, which appropriately considers the rights of all parties.
Trend Analyses of Emergency Medical Services for Motor Vehicle Crashes: Michigan Case Study

The timely response of emergency medical services (EMS) personnel at a crash site may help prevent loss of life and thereby impact the quality of life for an individual at risk. Thus, availability of and access to quantitative data on EMS activities is critical. This study was conducted to review the data collected by the Michigan Department of Community Health, Emergency Medical Services Section, from a five-year period starting in 2010. The intent was to identify current EMS response, treatment, and transport trends. Among the results noted in this paper, it was identified that on average, the total times involved from the dispatch call to the drop-off of a patient from a motor vehicle collision (MVC) in Michigan were approximately 56 and 43 min for rural and urban areas, respectively. The results from this study could be utilized to guide and direct future EMS initiatives relating to MVCs. The analysis might also be beneficial in predicting the types of injuries that occur in specific types of vehicle ...
Review: High-dose inhaled corticosteroids increase the risk for some systemic adverse effects in asthma

Source Citation Lipworth BJ. Systemic adverse effects of inhaled corticosteroid therapy. A systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med. 1999 May 10;159:941-55. 99256868
Parvovirus Infection Is Associated With Myocarditis and Myocardial Fibrosis in Young Dogs

Perinatal parvoviral infection causes necrotizing myocarditis in puppies, which results in acute high mortality or progressive cardiac injury. While widespread vaccination has dramatically curtailed the epidemic of canine parvoviral myocarditis, we hypothesized that canine parvovirus 2 (CPV-2) myocardial infection is an underrecognized cause of myocarditis, cardiac damage, and/or repair by fibrosis in young dogs. In this retrospective study, DNA was extracted from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues from 40 cases and 41 control dogs under 2 years of age from 2007 to 2015. Cases had a diagnosis of myocardial necrosis, inflammation, or fibrosis, while age-matched controls lacked myocardial lesions. Conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing targeting the VP1 to VP2 region detected CPV-2 in 12 of 40 cases (30%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 18%-45%) and 2 of 41 controls (5%; 95% CI, 0.1%-16%). Detection of CPV-2 DNA in the myocardium was significantly associated with myocardial lesions ( P = .003). Reverse transcription quantitative PCR amplifying VP2 identified viral messenger RNA in 12 of 12 PCR-positive cases and 2 of 2 controls. PCR results were confirmed by in situ hybridization, which identified parvoviral DNA in cardiomyocytes and occasionally macrophages of juvenile and young adult dogs (median age 61 days). Myocardial CPV-2 was identified in juveniles with minimal myocarditis and CPV-2 enteritis, which may indicate a longer window of cardiac susceptibility to myocarditis than previously reported. CPV-2 was also detected in dogs with severe myocardial fibrosis with in situ hybridization signal localized to cardiomyocytes, suggesting prior myocardial damage by CPV-2. Despite the frequency of vaccination, these findings suggest that CPV-2 remains an important cause of myocardial damage in dogs.
Effect of microchannels on the crashworthiness of fiber-reinforced composites

Abstract The integration of microchannels within structural composites enables a range of multifunctional responses such as thermal management and self-healing. In this work, we investigate how microchannels affect the crashworthiness of the host material. Corrugated panels are fabricated with aligned microchannels (ca. 400 µm diameter) at different channel spacing (10 mm and 1.2 mm), orientation with respect to the loading direction, and alignment with respect to the surrounding fiber-reinforcement. Specific energy absorbed (SEA) is measured by compression testing of samples with a chamfer edge trigger. SEA was preserved within 10% for all test cases. Flat (non-corrugated) panels are also tested to demonstrate that microchannels can serendipitously trigger stable, energy absorbing failure modes that lead to improved crashworthiness. Non-vascular panels without an edge chamfer fail catastrophically when compressed. In dramatic contrast, vascular panels fail in a stable fashion triggered by crack initiation at the microchannels, yielding ca. 10 times more energy absorption.
Analysis and Numerics of Some Fractal Boundary Value Problems

We describe some recent results for boundary value problems with fractal boundaries. Our aim is to show that the numerical approach to boundary value problems, so much cherished and in many ways pioneering developed by Enrico Magenes, takes on a special relevance in the theory of boundary value problems in fractal domains and with fractal operators. In this theory, in fact, the discrete numerical analysis of the problem precedes, and indeed give rise to, the asymptotic continuous problem, reverting in a sense the process consisting in deriving discrete approximations from the PDE itself by finite differences or finite elements. As an illustration of this point, in this note we describe some recent results on: the approximation of a fractal Laplacian by singular elliptic partial differential operators, by Vivaldi and the author; the asymptotic of degenerate Laplace equations in domains with a fractal boundary, by Capitanelli-Vivaldi; the fast heat conduction on a Koch interface, by Lancia-Vernole and co-authors. We point out that this paper has an illustrative purpose only and does not aim at providing a survey on the subject.
Enzyme replacement therapy with alglucosidase alfa in Pompe disease: Clinical experience with rate escalation.

Abstract Patients with Pompe disease have realized significant medical benefits due to enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) infusions with alglucosidase alfa. However, regular infusions are time-consuming. Utilizing recommended infusion rates, infusion duration is 3 h 45 min for a patient receiving the standard dose of 20 mg/kg, not including additional time needed for preparation of ERT, assessment of vital signs, intravenous access, and post-infusion monitoring. Recent studies have demonstrated increased effectiveness of higher dose of ERT (40 mg/kg) in infantile-onset Pompe disease (IOPD), which increases the infusion duration to 6 h 36 min. Increased infusion durations compound the psychosocial burden on patients and families and potentially further disrupt family activities and obligations. We developed a stepwise infusion rate escalation protocol to administer higher dose ERT safely while decreasing infusion duration, which has been implemented in 15 patients to date. Reported here in detail are five patients with IOPD on 40 mg/kg/weekly ERT in whom infusion duration was decreased with individualized, stepwise rate escalation. All patients tolerated rate escalations above the recommended rates without experiencing any infusion associated reactions and experienced a reduction in infusion duration by 1 h and 24 min with a corresponding increase in reported satisfaction. Our experience with ERT rate escalation is presented. Synopsis A careful stepwise method of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) rate escalation can safely reduce infusion duration in patients with Pompe disease.
Double-Proportional Divisor Methods: Technicalities

Every divisor method induces a double-proportional variant for situations when the electoral area is subdivided into two or more districts with prespecified district magnitudes. The resulting seat matrices are shown to be unique up to ties. They are characterized by an optimization property, and by a system of inequalities. The key quantities in determining a seat matrix are district divisors and party divisors. Two algorithms are presented to determine the divisors: the alternating scaling algorithm, and the tie-and-transfer algorithm.
A Framework for Tracking Former Patients in the Electronic Health Record Using an Educational Registry.

One challenge of contemporary medical education is that shorter lengths of stay and time-limited clerkships often interrupt a student’s relationship with a patient before a diagnosis is made or treatment is completed, limiting the learning experience. Medical students sometimes use electronic health records (EHRs) to overcome these limitations. EHRs provide access to patients’ future medical records, enabling students to track former patients across care venues to audit their diagnostic impressions and observe outcomes. While this activity has potential to improve clinical training, there is a risk of unintended harm to patients through loss of privacy. Students need guidance on how to perform this activity appropriately. This article describes an ethical framework for tracking using an “educational registry,” a list of former patients housed within the EHR that one follows longitudinally for educational purposes. Guiding principles include obtaining permission from patients, having legitimate educational intent, and restricting review of records to those essential for training. This framework could serve as a foundation for institutions seeking to develop a policy on tracking former patients, and may facilitate research on the use of EHRs to improve medical education, such as reducing diagnostic error and promoting self-directed learning.
Are Patients Getting Their Aspirin's Worth in Ischemic Stroke?

Given its long history, established safety profile, and efficacy, low‐dose aspirin remains the major antiplatelet therapy utilized in secondary prevention. Recurrent ischemic events occur despite prescription of antiplatelet therapy. Residual platelet activation following agonist stimulation can
BAND STRUCTURE AND DENSITY OF STATES OF β-SILICON NITRIDE*

ABSTRACT The electronic energy band structure of β-Si3N4 has been calculated using the first principles LCAO method. The bottom of the Conduction Band (CB) is at Γ and the top of the valence band (VB) is located along A line. The very flat top VB along A accounts for a large hole effective mass. The indirect band gap obtained is very close to the experimental value of 5.2 eV. The density of states (DOS) and partial DOS are also obtained and are in good agreement with photoemission data. In the VB region from -20. to -14. eV the states are entirely composed of N 2s states while in the range from -10.5 eV up, the states are predominately N 2p in character. In the CB region, the DOS is dominated by Si 3s and 3p orbital components. These results are consistant with charge analysis which indicates that on average, 0.56 electron is transferred from Si to N per Si-N bond.
DNA damage and its processing. Relation to human disease

We are constantly exposed to sources of agents that directly damage the genetic material. This exposure comes from environmental sources but also from within our own organisms. DNA damage occurs at a high frequency due to metabolic processes and environmental factors such as various exposures and the intake of food and drugs. The stability and correct function of the DNA is necessary for normal cellular functions and there is good evidence that damage to the DNA can lead to cellular dysfunction, cancer and other diseases, or cell death. To avoid or minimize the damage to DNA we have evolved an elaborate set of DNA repair pathways that survey the DNA and fix the errors. There are several human diseases that are known to be defective in these repair pathways, and the accumulation of DNA damage with time in their genome may then be the cause of the associated high incidence of cancer or of an expedited ageing process. The prevention and/or repair of DNA damage thus represent major concerns in biology and medicine.
The Role of Phylogenetically Conserved Elements in Shaping Patterns of Human Genomic Diversity

Evolutionary genetic studies have shown a positive correlation between levels of nucleotide diversity and either rates of recombination or genetic distance to genes. Both positive-directional and purifying selection have been offered as the source of these correlations via genetic hitchhiking and background selection, respectively. Phylogenetically conserved elements (CEs) are short (∼100 bp), widely distributed (comprising ∼5% of genome), sequences that are often found far from genes. While the function of many CEs is unknown, CEs also are associated with reduced diversity at linked sites. Using high coverage (>80×) whole genome data from two human populations, the Yoruba and the CEU, we perform fine scale evaluations of diversity, rates of recombination, and linkage to genes. We find that the local rate of recombination has a stronger effect on levels of diversity than linkage to genes, and that these effects of recombination persist even in regions far from genes. Our whole genome modeling demonstrates that, rather than recombination or GC-biased gene conversion, selection on sites within or linked to CEs better explains the observed genomic diversity patterns. A major implication is that very few sites in the human genome are predicted to be free of the effects of selection. These sites, which we refer to as the human "neutralome," comprise only 1.2% of the autosomes and 5.1% of the X chromosome. Demographic analysis of the neutralome reveals larger population sizes and lower rates of growth for ancestral human populations than inferred by previous analyses.
Thermal Fluctuations Lead to Cumulative Disorder and Enhance Charge Transport in Conjugated Polymers

All conjugated polymers examined to date exhibit significant cumulative lattice disorder, although the origin of this disorder remains unclear. Using atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, the detailed structures for single crystals of a commonly studied conjugated polymer, poly(3-hexylthiophene-2,5-diyl) (P3HT) are obtained. It is shown that thermal fluctuations of thiophene rings lead to cumulative disorder of the lattice with an effective paracrystallinity of about 0.05 in the π-π stacking direction. The thermal-fluctuation-induced lattice disorder can in turn limit the apparent coherence length that can be observed in diffraction experiments. Calculating mobilities from simulated crystal structures demonstrates that thermal-fluctuation-induced lattice disorder even enhances charge transport in P3HT. The mean inter-chain charge transfer integral is enhanced with increasing cumulative lattice disorder, which in turn leads to pathways for fast charge transport through crystals.
Long-term retrospective observation reveals stabilities and variations of hantavirus infection in Hebei, China.

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an emerging zoonotic infectious disease caused by hantaviruses which circulate worldwide. So far, it was still considered as one of serious public health problems in China. The present study aimed to reveal the stabilities and variations of hantavirus infection in Hebei province located in North China through a long-term retrospective observation. The epidemiological data of HFRS cases from all 11 cities of Hebei province since 1981 through 2016 were collected and descriptively analyzed. The rodent densities, species compositions and virus-carrying rates of different regions were collected from six separated rodent surveillance points which set up since 2007. The molecular diversity and phylogenetic relationship of hantaviruses circulating among rodents were analyzed based on partial viral glycoprotein gene. HFRS cases have been reported every year in Hebei province, since the first local case was identified in 1981. The epidemic history can be artificially divided into three phases and a total of 55,507 HFRS cases with 374 deaths were reported during 1981–2016. The gender and occupational factors of susceptible population were invarible throughout, however age of that was gradually aging. The annual outbreak peak always present in spring, while the main epidemic region had gradully altered from south to northeast. Surveillance of rodents revealed that residential rodents significantly possessed higher density and virus-carring rate than field rodents. The house rat, Rattus norvegicus, was the dominant rodent species and Seoul virus S3 sub-genotype which is continued but slightly evolving perhaps to be the sole pathogen for local HFRS cases of Hebei province. This long-term province-wide surveillance and epidemiological analysis has revealed the stabilities and variations of hantavirus infection in North China. In order to improve current prevention and control strategies of HFRS in China, all surveillance should be continuously enhanced and variations should be paid more attentions.
Container Orchestration for Dispersed Computing

In the era of Internet of Things, there is an increasing demand for networked computing to support the requirements of time-constrained, compute-intensive distributed applications. We present a container orchestration architecture for dispersed computing, and its implementation in an open source software called Jupiter. The system automates the distribution of computational tasks for complex computational applications described as an Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) to efficiently distribute the tasks among a set of networked compute nodes and orchestrates the execution of the DAG thereafter. This Kubernetes based container-orchestration system supports both centralized and decentralized scheduling algorithms for optimally mapping the tasks based on information from a range of profilers: network profilers, resource profilers, and execution time profilers.
“Try Not to Giggle if You Can Help It”: The implementation of experiential instructional techniques in social studies classrooms ☆

Abstract This qualitative study examined how social studies teachers implemented experiential instructional techniques by closely analyzing videotaped lessons taught over four years in third through 12th grade classrooms across 16 school districts. Data analysis indicated that of the 438 lessons, only 14 involved experiential instructional techniques, and their implementation generally failed to reflect the potential benefits of this instructional approach. Twelve of the experiential exercises (a) lacked a clear instructional purpose related to the content; (b) did reflect an instructional purpose, but it was ultimately thwarted by the activity׳s unanticipated dynamism; or (c) encouraged the development of significant misconceptions about the content, while one of the two lessons without these problems demonstrated the strategy׳s use for reinforcement of factual recall rather than critical thinking. Implications for social studies education research and practice are considered.
Earth transformed: detailed mapping of global human modification from 1990 to 2017

Abstract. Data on the extent, patterns, and trends of human land use are critically important to support global and national priorities for conservation and sustainable development. To inform these issues, we created a series of detailed global datasets for 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2015 to evaluate temporal and spatial trends of land use modification of terrestrial lands (excluding Antarctica). We found that the expansion of and increase in human modification between 1990 and 2015 resulted in 1.6 M km2 of natural land lost. The percent change between 1990 and 2015 was 15.2 % or 0.6 % annually – about 178 km2 daily or over 12 ha min −1 . Worrisomely, we found that the global rate of loss has increased over the past 25 years. The greatest loss of natural lands from 1990 to 2015 occurred in Oceania, Asia, and Europe, and the biomes with the greatest loss were mangroves, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests. We also created a contemporary ( ∼2017 ) estimate of human modification that included additional stressors and found that globally 14.6 % or 18.5 M km2 ( ±0.0013 ) of lands have been modified – an area greater than Russia. Our novel datasets are detailed (0.09 km2 resolution), temporal (1990–2015), recent ( ∼2017 ), comprehensive (11 change stressors, 14 current), robust (using an established framework and incorporating classification errors and parameter uncertainty), and strongly validated. We believe these datasets support an improved understanding of the profound transformation wrought by human activities and provide foundational data on the amount, patterns, and rates of landscape change to inform planning and decision-making for environmental mitigation, protection, and restoration. The datasets generated from this work are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3963013 (Theobald et al., 2020).
Grade III-IV cytokine release syndrome is associated with inferior survival in patients undergoing haploidentical donor stem cell transplants.

7546Background: Haploidentical transplant (HIDT) with post-transplant cyclophosphamide (pCY) is being increasingly used because of the universal availability of donor and rapid graft acquisition ti...
Book Review: Lawyers in Business and the Law Business by Karl J. Mackie (1989)

Professor Mackie's study of the in-house lawyer in Australia and Great Britain, Lawyers in Business, touches on many current issues involving the growth of the in-house bar and suggests some useful comparisons between Great Britain and the United States. Nonetheless, this book does little to advance a serious understanding of the complicated, interrelated roles of in-house lawyers and their outside counterparts. Besides an extensive review of the pertinent scholarly literature, Lawyers in Business rests on sixty-four interviews, each lasting between ninety and one hundred and fifty minutes. Thirty-four interviews were with in-house counsel for twenty-six companies, and the others were with attorneys practicing in a variety of work environments, including sixteen lawyers in private practice and seven corporate managers. This approach to the subject gives the reader the impression he is at a large cocktail party, hearing tidbits from a number of conversations. The net result is a hazy perception that many interesting things were said but no clear sense of what ties them together.
Block-Activated Algorithms for Multicomponent Fully Nonsmooth Minimization

Under consideration are multicomponent minimization problems involving a separable nonsmooth convex function penalizing the components individually, and nonsmooth convex coupling terms penalizing linear mixtures of the components. We investigate block-activated proximal algorithms for solving such problems, i.e., algorithms which, at each iteration, need to use only a block of the underlying functions, as opposed to all of them as in standard methods. For smooth coupling functions, several block-activated algorithms exist and they are well understood. By contrast, in the fully nonsmooth case, few block-activated methods are available and little effort has been devoted to assessing them. Our goal is to shed more light on the implementation, the features, and the behavior of these algorithms, compare their merits, and provide machine learning and image recovery experiments illustrating their performance.
Detection Limit for Intermediate Faults in Memristor Circuits

Memristor crossbar structures are widely used in logic, memory, security, and neuromorphic applications. It becomes necessary to test these devices for faults since they are prone to high defect densities. In this paper, we introduce a new terminology “intermediate faults” in memristor circuits. Intermediate faults are faults whose memristor resistance values lie between low resistance state (LRS) and High resistance state (HRS) values. This paper extends the fault detection method for HRS/LRS stuck-at faults to detecting intermediate faults using sneak paths in memristor circuits. We describe the importance of setting the detection limit for testing intermediate faults. Our simulation results present the detection limit value for intermediate resistances using five long and three long sneak paths in a 3x3 crossbar array. Our fault detection scheme can be used for detecting intermediate faults along with stuck-at low resistance and stuck-at high resistance faults.
Combined silencing of Ras and Jak/Stat inhibitors results in constitutive activation of Ras and Jak/Stat pathways in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 46, 2005 2593 Although a number of oncogenic events have been described to date, the molecular pathogenesis of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains poorly understood. To better define the molecular mechanisms responsible for liver cancer development we have investigated the importance of Ras and Jak/Stat pathways in a collection of 10 normal livers, 80 HCCs and corresponding non-neoplastic surrounding livers. Strikingly, activation of Ras and Jak/Stat pathways was conspicuously enhanced in all HCCs when compared with non-neoplastic surrounding and normal livers regardless of HCC etiology or clinical outcome. We found that activation of the Ras pathway led to the induction of Ras-mediated proliferation and survival cascades (Akt, Raf, MEK, ERK, c-mos) with concomitant suppression of Ras pro-apoptotic signaling (MST1, caspase 3, p38 MAPK, and SAPK/JNK). Activation of the Jak/Stat pathway resulted in increased levels of phosphorylation at the Jak1, Jak2, and Tyk2 tyrosine kinases, Stat1, Stat3, and Stat 5 molecules as well as c-myc, cyclin D1 and 2, Mcl-1 and Bcl-xl target genes. Importantly, induction of Ras and Jak/Stat pathways in HCCs was paralleled by suppression of numerous Ras and Jak/Stat inhibitors, including RASSF1A, NORE1A, SOCS1, 2, 3, CIS, and SHP1. Subsequent analyses showed that suppression of Ras and Jak/Stat inhibitors in HCC was due to epigenetic (promoter hypermethylation) and genetic (loss of heterozygosity) mechanisms. Furthermore, treatment of HLF, Hep3B and Hep40 hepatoma cell lines with specific Ras and Jak/Stat inhibitors led to cell growth arrest mainly due to massive apoptosis. Taken together, these data clearly demonstrate the significance of Ras and Jak/Stat pathway activation in hepatocarcinogenesis and suggest that the use of Ras and Jak/Stat inhibitors as therapeutic modality for human liver cancer is justified.
A Test of Prohibition's Effect on Alcohol Production Using Crop Yields

The effects of alcohol Prohibition in the United States have been the subject of debate and research since the laws were enacted. Due to a lack of data, one question that remains unanswered is the effect Prohibition had on the actual production of alcohol. This paper attempts to answer this question by estimating Prohibition's impact on the yields of various grains which constitute one of the principal inputs in alcohol production. Understanding the impact of Prohibition on crop output plays an important role in parsing out its effect on alcohol production. Using a variety of data sources and exploiting the variation in timing of state prohibition law adoption, we estimate the effect of Prohibition on several measures of crop production. Our preferred identification strategy compares contiguous counties in states with differing prohibition laws. Our findings suggest that state prohibition laws decreased the production of barley and increased the production of corn.
Fault tolerance training improves generalization and robustness

A recurrent theme in the neural network literature is that noise is good. Other researchers have presented experimental evidence of improvements due to adding noise to the input data, randomly presenting data rather than cycling through it, truncating bits of the weights, using ad hoc modifications of the error signal, stochastic updating, and others. Another source of noise, one that also forces the network to develop a more robust internal representation, is proposed. During training, one randomly introduces the types of failures that one might expect to occur during operation. It is shown how this leads to significant improvements in the network's ability to avoid the overfitting problem, generalize to new data, and cope with internal failures. >
Lagrangian concepts for the numerical analysis of viscoelastic flow

The last ten years has seen a steady increase in work on the numerical analysis of the flows of viscoelastic fluids. An excellent account of the status of the field as of 1983 can be found in the monograph by Crochet, Davies & Walters [1]. This surge of activity is driven by the ever increasing availability of computing power, and by the coincident development of constitutive equations which appear to describe qualitatively and sometimes quantitatively the known phenomena of viscoelasticity in fluids. This is not to say that a single equation has now gained acceptance by rheologists, and that work on constitutive theory will now subside. To be specific, for polymeric fluids a handful of constitutive equations are now regarded as appropriate for the analysis of flow problems. Indeed, one of the principal aims of the numerical work is to provide a means for comparing the predictions of these theories. One can regard computer simulation as an adjunct to the theoretical, analytical and experimental methods which have previously been brought to bear on the problem of polymer rheology.
Single-operator cholangioscopy and targeted biopsies in the diagnosis of indeterminate biliary strictures: a systematic review

Background and Aims Evaluation of indeterminate biliary strictures by brush cytology and intraductal biopsies is limited by low sensitivity. The utility of SpyGlass peroral cholangioscopy for diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), in particular, remains unclear. Our aim was to study the utility of SpyGlass peroral cholangioscopy and targeted biopsy for diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures and CCA. Methods In this systematic review, PubMed and Embase databases were reviewed for studies published to October 2014. The main outcomes of interest were sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of SpyGlass cholangioscopy in the diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures. Results The search yielded 10 studies involving 456 patients. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of cholangioscopy-guided biopsies in the diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures was 60.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 54.9%-65.2%) and 98.0% (95% CI, 96.0%-99.0%), respectively. The pooled DOR to detect malignant biliary strictures was 66.4 (95% CI, 32.1-137.5). Four studies included patients who had previous negative imaging and brushings and/or intraductal biopsies. Among these 4 studies, the pooled sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures was 74.7% (95% CI, 63.3%-84.0%) and 93.3% (95% CI, 85.1%-97.8%), respectively. The pooled DOR was 46.0 (95% CI, 15.4-138.1). Only 1 study directly compared the yield of SpyBite biopsies with standard brushings and biopsies. SpyBite biopsies had a sensitivity of 76.5% compared with brushings (5.8%) and biopsies (29.4%). Six studies specifically reported the role of cholangioscopy with targeted biopsies in the diagnosis of CCA. The pooled sensitivity and specificity to detect CCA was 66.2% (95% CI, 59.7%-72.3%) and 97.0% (95% CI, 94.0%-99.0%), respectively. The pooled DOR to detect CCA was 79.7 (95% CI, 32.7-194.7). Conclusions Our study suggests that SpyGlass cholangioscopy with SpyBite biopsies has moderate sensitivity for the diagnosis of malignant biliary strictures.
Actuality and fake tense in conditionals

Sabine Iatridou (2000) and Katrin Schulz (2014) defend accounts of the past tense in subjunctive conditionals according to which the past tense has a modal reading that excludes the world of utterance or some set of epistemically possible worlds. I argue here that these views give an unsatisfactory treatment of certain subjunctive conditionals that contain embedded indicative clauses pertaining to the actual world. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/sp.8.12 BibTeX info
Analytical and Experimental Analysis of Bandgaps in Nonlinear one Dimensional Periodic Structures

Wave propagation characteristics of nonlinear one-dimensional periodic structures are investigated analytically, numerically and experimentally. A novel perturbation analysis is first applied to predict the band gap location and extent in terms of linear and nonlinear system parameters. Approximate closed-form expressions capture the effect of nonlinearities on dispersion and depict amplitude dependent cut-off frequencies. The predictions from the perturbation analysis are verified through numerical simulations of harmonic wave motion. Results indicate the possibility of input amplitude as a tuning parameter through which cut-off frequencies can be adjusted to achieve filtering properties over selected frequency ranges. A periodic diatomic chain of stainless steel spheres alternating with aluminium spheres is experimentally investigated. The dynamic behavior of the chain is governed by Hertzian interaction of spheres and by a compressive pre-load which can be adjusted to obtain linear, weakly nonlinear and highly nonlinear behavior. For a weakly nonlinear case, preliminary results in experiments show the tendency for a shift in the band gap edges by varying input amplitude. The paper is a work in progress, for which the experimental results for a weakly nonlinear system are interpreted by the perturbation analysis developed for a specific case of linear and nonlinear power law interaction of exponent 3/2
The neurotrophin receptor p75NTR mediates early anti-inflammatory effects of estrogen in the forebrain of young adult rats.

Background Estrogen suppresses microglial activation and extravasation of circulating monocytes in young animals, supporting an anti-inflammatory role for this hormone. However, the mechanisms underlying estrogen's anti-inflammatory effects, especially in vivo, are not well understood. The present study tests the hypothesis that anti-inflammatory effects of estrogen are mediated by the pan-neurotrophin receptor p75NTR. Previously, we reported that estrogen attenuated local increases of interleukin(IL)-1β in the NMDA-lesioned olfactory bulb, while further increasing NGF expression.
Notch signaling via hairy/enhancer of Split-5 (Hes5) & paired-box containing gene 6 (Pax6) controls progenitor cell reservoir for repair of airway injury

Background: The airways of the mammalian lung are lined with specialized epithelial cell types that are the target of airborne toxicants and injury. Notch signaling plays an important role in the ontogeny of these cells, but its contributions to recruitment, expansion or differentiation of resident progenitor/stem cells in repair of injured airways remains unknown. Aims & Objective: To elucidate the role of Notch signaling in repair of injured airway epithelium. Methods: We used targeted inactivation of, Notch1, via the epithelial-specific Gata5-cre line in the embryonic lung epithelium. Results: Notch1(-/-) mice are viable with intact pulmonary epithelial cell fate determination/differentiation. However, Notch1 was found to be required for normal repair of the injured airway epithelium. Absence of Notch1 reduced the ability of cells distinguished by expression of PGP9.5, a marker of pulmonary neuroendocrine cells, which serve as a reservoir for regeneration of Clara cells. Hairy/Enhancer of Split-5 (Hes5) and a paired-box containing gene 6 (Pax6) were found to be downstream targets of Notch1. Both Hes5 and Pax6 expression were significantly increased in association with Clara cell regeneration in wild type lungs. Ablation of Notch1 reduced Hes5 and Pax6 and inhibited airway epithelial repair. Thus, although dispensable in developmental ontogeny of airway epithelial cells, normal activity of Notch1 is required for repair of the airway epithelium. The signaling pathway by which Notch1 regulates the repair process also includes stimulation of Hes5 and Pax6 gene expression. Supported by NIH, NHLBI & The Hastings Foundation.
NF1 mutation analysis using a combined heteroduplex/SSCP approach.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant disorder characterized predominantly by neurofibromas, cafe-au-lait spots, and Lisch nodules. The disease is caused by disruptive mutations of the large NF1 gene, with half of cases caused by new mutation. Less than 100 constitutional mutations have thus far been published, ranging from very large deletions to point mutations. We have pursued NF1 mutation analysis by heteroduplex analysis (HDA) and single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis (SSCP) of individual exons. We streamlined these techniques to eliminate the use of radioactivity, to apply both methods to the same PCR product, and to multiplex samples in gels. Applied simultaneously to a set of 67 unrelated NF1 patients, HDA and SSCP have thus far identified 26 mutations and/or variants in 45 of the 59 exons tested. Disease-causing mutations were found in 19% (13/67) of cases studied. Both techniques detected a variety of mutations including splice mutations, insertions, deletions, and point changes, with some overlap in the ability of each method to detect variants.
Methodology for identifying urban growth potential using land use and population data: A case study of Islamabad Zone IV

Abstract Spatial growth is an inevitable phenomenon which depends on a number of factors like accessibility; availability of land for growth and favourable environment both at internal and external level are considered. In this study, a GIS based methodology has been proposed to identify future growth potential in the area Islamabad Zone IV of Islamabad, Pakistan. Village level population data (2007) is used to obtain population density and population centre; SPOT panchromatic satellite imagery (2007) shows that mostly GIS weighted overlay analysis has been used to extract relative future growth potential in the area. The study shows that nearly 63 percent of Zone IV carries a ‘High’ to ‘Very High’ future growth potential which is mainly located closer to Islamabad Highway. This methodology can be used to identify the varying future growth potential within an area. It provides useful information that which areas are more likely to become urban in future as compared to other areas. Such exercise can provide a cost effective solution to policy makers to aid future land use planning and building control.
Inflammation-related proteins in the blood of extremely low gestational age newborns. The contribution of inflammation to the appearance of developmental regulation.

Abstract Background We wanted to assess to what extent concentrations of circulating proteins appear to be developmentally regulated, and to what extent such regulation is influenced by intra-uterine inflammation. Methods We measured 22 proteins in blood obtained on postnatal days 1, 7, and 14 from 818 children born before the 28th week of gestation for whom we also had information about placenta morphology. Results Within the narrow gestational age range of this sample, some protein concentrations increase in blood with increasing gestational age. More commonly, the concentrations of inflammation-related proteins decrease with increasing gestational age. We observed this inverse pattern both in children whose placenta was and was not inflamed. Conclusions/Inferences Regardless of whether or not the placenta is inflamed, the concentrations of inflammation-related proteins in early blood specimens appear to be developmentally regulated with the most common pattern being a decrease with increasing gestational age.
Regulation of LH beta subunit mRNA in the sheep pituitary gland during different feedback states of estradiol.

Abstract The feedback effects of gonadal steroids on the amounts of in vitro translated luteinizing hormone (LH) beta subunit were examined using cell-free assays. These amounts were then correlated with serum and pituitary concentrations during various feedback states. RNA was prepared, translated and products identified by immunoprecipitation and gel electrophoresis. The amounts of beta subunit varied in a pattern similar to that observed for alpha subunit. In ovariectomized ewes, the amounts of beta were 2–3X those seen in negative feedback groups and slightly more than those seen in animals exhibiting an LH surge. The pituitary LH concentration in ovariectomized ewes was also higher than those seen in the other groups, however, the serum concentrations in the positive feedback group were the highest of all groups. These results provide evidence for: 1) a separate, but coordinate, control of gonadotropin subunit synthesis; and 2) a contribution of subunit synthesis to the effects of positive and negative steroid feedback on pituitary LH amounts.