cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cognitive imaging: Using knowledge representation for reliable segmentation of MR angiography data

The paper, co-authored by a biomedical engineer specializing in brain blood circulation modeling and by two experts in meaning-based natural language processing, suggests a cognitive computing technology for medical imaging analysis that removes image artifacts resulting in visual deviations from reality, such as discontinuous blood vessels or two vessels shown merged when they are not. It is implemented by supplying the pertinent knowledge that humans have to the computer and letting it initiate the corrective post-processing. The existing Ontological Semantic Technology (OST) resource is centered on the ontology that is made to accommodate the domain with a minor adjustment effort. The examples from the ontology demonstrate the disparities between what the image shows and what the human knows. The computer detects them autonomously and can initiate the appropriate post-processing. If and when this cognitive imaging prevails, the post-processed images may replace the current ones as legitimate artifact free MRIs.
Low power femtosecond tip-based nanofabrication with advanced control

In this paper, we propose an approach to enable the use of low power femtosecond laser in tip-based nanofabrication (TBN) without thermal damage. One major challenge in laser-assisted TBN is in maintaining precision control of the tip–surface positioning throughout the fabrication process. An advanced iterative learning control technique is exploited to overcome this challenge in achieving high-quality patterning of arbitrary shape on a metal surface. The experimental results are analyzed to understand the ablation mechanism involved. Specifically, the near-field radiation enhancement is examined via the surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect, and it was revealed the near-field enhanced plasma-mediated ablation. Moreover, silicon nitride tip is utilized to alleviate the adverse thermal damage. Experiment results including line patterns fabricated under different writing speeds and an “R” pattern are presented. The fabrication quality with regard to the line width, depth, and uniformity is characterized to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.
Effect of Protein Intake on Lean Body Mass in Functionally Limited Older Men: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance The Institute of Medicine set the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein at 0.8 g/kg/d for the entire adult population. It remains controversial whether protein intake greater than the RDA is needed to maintain protein anabolism in older adults. Objective To investigate whether increasing protein intake to 1.3 g/kg/d in older adults with physical function limitations and usual protein intake within the RDA improves lean body mass (LBM), muscle performance, physical function, fatigue, and well-being and augments LBM response to a muscle anabolic drug. Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized clinical trial with a 2 × 2 factorial design was conducted in a research center. A modified intent-to-treat analytic strategy was used. Participants were 92 functionally limited men 65 years or older with usual protein intake less thanor equal to 0.83 g/kg/d within the RDA. The first participant was randomized on September 21, 2011, and the last participant completed the study on January 19, 2017. Interventions Participants were randomized for 6 months to controlled diets with 0.8 g/kg/d of protein plus placebo, 1.3 g/kg/d of protein plus placebo, 0.8 g/kg/d of protein plus testosterone enanthate (100 mg weekly), or 1.3 g/kg/d of protein plus testosterone. Prespecified energy and protein contents were provided through custom-prepared meals and supplements. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was change in LBM. Secondary outcomes were muscle strength, power, physical function, health-related quality of life, fatigue, affect balance, and well-being. Results Among 92 men (mean [SD] age, 73.0 [5.8] years), the 4 study groups did not differ in baseline characteristics. Changes from baseline in LBM (0.31 kg; 95% CI, −0.46 to 1.08 kg; P = .43) and appendicular (0.04 kg; 95% CI, −0.48 to 0.55 kg; P = .89) and trunk (0.24 kg; 95% CI, −0.17 to 0.66 kg; P = .24) lean mass, as well as muscle strength and power, walking speed and stair-climbing power, health-related quality of life, fatigue, and well-being, did not differ between men assigned to 0.8 vs 1.3 g/kg/d of protein regardless of whether they received testosterone or placebo. Fat mass decreased in participants given higher protein but did not change in those given the RDA: between-group differences were significant (difference, −1.12 kg; 95% CI, −2.04 to −0.21; P = .02). Conclusions and Relevance Protein intake exceeding the RDA did not increase LBM, muscle performance, physical function, or well-being measures or augment anabolic response to testosterone in older men with physical function limitations whose usual protein intakes were within the RDA. The RDA for protein is sufficient to maintain LBM, and protein intake exceeding the RDA does not promote LBM accretion or augment anabolic response to testosterone. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT01275365
Accounting for the Growth of Government

Why has government grown in so many countries during the twentieth century? We present a simple model of political competition and show how different sources of the growth of government have different effects on the amount and structure of taxes, spending, and regulatory programs undertaken by the government. Those sources include: demographic shifts, more efficient taxes, more efficient spending, a shift in the “political power” from those taxed to those subsidized, shifts in political power among taxed groups, and shifts in political power among subsidized groups. We also show how the effects of each source varies according to the model of public decision-making. Based on a variety of empirical indicators of regulation, we suggest that regulation has grown from 1890 to 1990, but less rapidly than tax revenues. Regulation grew more slowly during the 1980s and, according to some measures, declined. We suggest that the long term regulatory and budgetary trends are consistent with growth in the political power of those subsidized—especially the elderly. The 1980s decline in regulation together with its growth in taxes is not consistent with any one of the theories of government growth.
Integrating Environmental Science into Information Technology Content to Generate Student Interest

In an effort to increase female student interest in computing we applied and evaluated an interdisciplinary approach at a suburban high school in eastern Los Angeles County, California. Three classes, an IB Environmental Science class, an AP Environmental Science class, and a Computer Science were surveyed to assess attitude changes toward information technology. Results indicated gender differences between the participating classes, and differences before and after the project. Although the project did not uniformly impact the attitude of female high school students, it impacted teachers who are adjusting their teaching methods, an outcome that has a long-term positive influence.
MECHANISMS OF SUPERSENSITIVITY IN THE ENKEPHALINERGIC SYSTEM

Both specific midbrain lesions and chronic naltrexone administration induced opiate receptor supersensitivity in rat forebrain regions. Scatchard analyses showed increased receptor numbers but not affinities. In the naltrexone-treated rats, similar effects were seen for binding of mu and delta ligands. The supersensitive tissue showed increased sensitivity to GTP inhibition of opiate binding.
Secure Resource Allocation for Cooperative Cognitive Radio Networks with Dedicated Energy Sources

This paper studies the secure resource allocation for an energy harvesting (EH) based cooperative cognitive radio networks (CRN), which consists of one primary user (PU), multiple secondary users (SUs), one dedicated energy source (ES), and one malicious eavesdropper. In the network, the ES not only can wirelessly power all SUs in addition to the PU, but also can relay data for the PU and send jamming signals to the eavesdropper for the PU and SUs. Specifically, the ES is employed to transmit wireless power to all SUs while simultaneously receiving the PU's information signals by operating in full duplex mode in the first transmission phase, forward the PU's data together with SUs and send jamming signals for the PU in the second transmission phase, and then transmit jamming signals to the eavesdropper for all SUs in the third transmission phase. The ES is paid by the PU and all SUs as an incentive to support wireless power transfer and wireless information transmission. We consider the joint power allocation, data transmission time allocation, and power splitting ratio selection for the considered system, with the objective to minimize the total system payment made to the ES, while concurrently guaranteeing the PU's and all SUs' secure quality-of-service (QoS) requirements. We consider both the cases with perfect and imperfect self- interference cancellation (SIC) between the ES's transmitting antenna and receiving antenna. Finally, we validate and verify the performance of the proposed resource allocation algorithms through numerical analyses.
A Behavioral Approach to Financial Supervision, Regulation, and Central Banking1

This paper describes how behavioral elements are relevant to financial supervision, regulation, and central banking. It focuses on (1) behavioral effects of norms (social, legal, and market); (2) behavior of others (internalization, identification, and compliance); and (3) psychological biases. It stresses that financial supervisors, regulators, and central banks have not yet realized the full potential that these behavioral elements hold. To do so, they need to devise a behavioral approach that includes aspects relating to individual and group behavior. The paper provides case examples of experiments with such an approach, including behavioral supervision. Finally, it highlights areas for further research.
Integrating Telemedicine Technologies in the ICU

Clinical leadership is a vital component in integrating telemedicine technologies in the eICU. These leaders must be involved in designing the space and functionality of the unit. In addition, there should be heavy involvement in technical integration and designing interfaces with the electronic medical record (EMR) as well as understanding how the eICU interacts with radiology and accessory devices. Finally, clinical integration is often the most difficult task needing leadership, forward thinking, and an eye toward constant process improvement to drive value. A case example of using data and change management tools to drive best practice improvement is given.
EdTech: Promise and Peril

In the United States, consumers and school districts are spending billions of dollars on education technology. The promises of technology in education are awesome, but to realize them, decision makers need tools to critical evaluate claims and to carefully evaluate teacher and student need. This talk highlights the challenges that entrepreneurs and educators face in integrating new education technology in the classroom. A complex web of substantive and procedural rules has made adoption of education technology a challenge in the U.S. In addition, excitement about technology has led to poor decisionmaking. The good news is that trusted resources are being developed to evaluate the efficacy of education technology, and one can learn from the U.S. experience in education technology.
Clearer than Mud: Extending Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) for Securing IoT Systems

Internet of Things (IoT) devices, expected to increase exponentially over the next several years, are easy targets for attackers. To make these devices more secure, the IETF’s draft of Manufacturer Usage Description (MUD) provides a means for the manufacturer of an IoT device to specify its intended purpose and communication patterns in terms of access control lists (ACLs), thereby defining the device’s normal behaviour. However, MUD may not be sufficient to comprehensively capture the normal behaviour specification, as it cannot incorporate variable operational settings that depend on the environment. Further, MUD only supports limited features. Our approach overcomes these limitations by allowing the administrator to define the normal behaviour by choosing combinations from a wider set of features that includes physical layer parameters, values of packet headers, and flow statistics. We developed and implemented a learning-based system that captures and demodulates wireless packets from IoT devices over a period of time, extracts the features specified in the normal behaviour specification, and uses a learning algorithm to create a normal model of each device. Our implementation also enforces these normal models by detecting violations and taking appropriate actions, in terms of ACLs on an Internet Gateway, against the misbehaving devices. Hence, our framework makes the specification tighter and clearer than what is possible with MUD alone, thereby making IoT systems more secure.
Two lipids based on lipidomics as novel biomarkers for early detection of squamous cell lung cancer.

11114 Background: Lipids play roles in membrane structure, energy storage, and signal transduction as well as lung cancer. Lipidomics, a new technology aims to measure all the lipids in a cell, has...
Original scientific articleMinimally invasive radioguided parathyroidectomy1

Background: Minimally invasive radioguided parathyroidectomy (MIRP) combines technetium sestamibi scan, intraoperative gamma probe, methylene blue dye, and measurement of circulating parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels. Study Design: All patients presented with biochemically proved primary hyperparathyroidism. A technetium sestamibi scan was performed preoperatively. Technetium sestamibi and methylene blue dye (7.5 mg/kg) were administered IV on the day of operation. Operative dissection was directed by the gamma probe. Blood samples for PTH assay were obtained before and after excision of an abnormal gland. When an appropriate decrease in the PTH assay was obtained, the exploration was concluded. Persistent PTH elevation instigated further neck exploration. Results: Thirty-six consecutive patients were explored for untreated primary hyperparathyroidism and three for recurrent hyperparathyroidism. Hypercalcemia was corrected in all 39 patients. A single adenoma was found in 32 of 36 patients with untreated primary hyperparathyroidism, and a single abnormal gland was identified in all of those with recurrent hyperparathyroidism. Persistently elevated PTH prompted further exploration in two patients, identifying a second abnormal gland in one and hyperplasia in the other. Minor local complications occurred in 8% (3 of 39) of the patients. Forty-four percent (16 of 36) of the patients were discharged on the day of operation and 83% (30 of 36) within 23 hours after the initial neck exploration for primary hyperparathyroidism. Comparison of charges for MIRP with charges for “standard” neck exploration revealed lower costs with MIRP because of decreased duration of the operation, anesthesia, and hospital stay, and elimination of intraoperative histologic analysis. Conclusions: MIRP is a safe and effective procedure, resulting in the correction of hypercalcemia in all patients. The combination of intraoperative gamma probe and methylene blue dye allows rapid identification of the abnormal gland with minimal dissection through a small incision. PTH assay after excision provides biochemical confirmation that the abnormal gland has been removed. Most patients undergoing MIRP can be treated on an outpatient basis. Low postoperative complications, a small incision, and rapid return to normal activities resulted in very high patient acceptance of the procedure. (J Am Coll Surg 2000;191:24-31. © 2000 by the American College of Surgeons)
The Development of Phonology in Unintelligible Speakers

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the development of phonology in unintelligible speakers. Three major studies form the core of speech–sound development in children. These investigations attempted to determine the ages at which specific phonemes were acquired during the course of normal speech–sound development. Children with unintelligible speech were compared to normal-speaking children between the ages of 3:1 and 3:6. The children in the normal-speaking group were intentionally selected from this age group so that they would have some degree of misarticulation. Typically, children from this age group are referred to as having developmental articulation errors. The children identified as having unintelligible speech were, on the average, a year older than the normally developing children. On the basis of this finding, it cannot be concluded that unintelligible speaking children are those whose misarticulations persist beyond some developmental milestone like the fourth birthday.
Polymersome Poration and Rupture Mediated by Plasmonic Nanoparticles in Response to Single-Pulse Irradiation

The self-assembly of amphiphilic diblock copolymers into polymeric vesicles, commonly known as polymersomes, results in a versatile system for a variety of applications including drug delivery and microreactors. In this study, we show that the incorporation of hydrophobic plasmonic nanoparticles within the polymersome membrane facilitates light-stimulated release of vesicle encapsulants. This work seeks to achieve tunable, triggered release with non-invasive, spatiotemporal control using single-pulse irradiation. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are incorporated as photosensitizers into the hydrophobic membrane of micron-scale polymersomes and the cargo release profile is controlled by varying the pulse energy and nanoparticle concentration. We have demonstrated the ability to achieve immediate vesicle rupture as well as vesicle poration resulting in temporal cargo diffusion. Additionally, changing the pulse duration, from femtosecond to nanosecond, provides mechanistic insight into the photothermal and photomechanical contributors that govern membrane disruption in this polymer–nanoparticle hybrid system.
Power in Action: Democracy, Citizenship and Social Justice: by Steven Friedman, Johannesburg, Wits University Press, 2018, 288 pp., $30.00 (paperback), ISBN 9781776143023

Democracy is neither flawless nor characterized by a state of fixity. Indeed, democracy means different things to different people. Given this, what would a “true” democracy look like? While there ...
Climate change and elevational range shifts in insects.

On mountains, unique in their steep and rapid climatic gradients, many insects are shifting their elevational range limits to track recent temperature change. In a review of the range shift literature to date, most of the 1478 montane insect populations tested so far are shifting to higher elevations, but there is conspicuous variation in the responses. We discuss the impact of study methodology as well as potential abiotic and biotic factors that may underlie this variation in climate change response. We encourage more empirical studies spanning greater insect biodiversity and directly testing how variation in species’ traits, biogeography, and abiotic–biotic context shapes variation in range shift responses.
Exploring the trend of walkability measures by applying hierarchical clustering technique

Abstract Introduction Over the last two decades, many walkability attributes and variables have been considered in the evaluation of walkability scores with various methods and approaches. This study investigates the recent trend of walkability measures in terms of the scale of analysis, the case study location, the type of measurements, the data collection tool, the analysis method, and the research field. Methods In a review of existing literature, this paper analyzes and compares the walkability studies over the past two decades. A total of 75 articles from 40 journals and conference proceedings were selected through a systematic and sequential procedure. In order to explore the research trend among the reviewed articles, we applied a hierarchical clustering technique. A meta-analysis was performed to systematically assess the results of previous walkability studies to derive conclusions about the future direction of research. Results The result of this review reveals that recent walkability studies in North America have prevailed in a street-level microscopic analysis while the others in Asia and Europe have focused on both large and small-scale walkability analysis. Advanced images and instrument audit tools are being applied nowadays in addition to traditional physical audit tools for measuring walkability. In recent years, urban design qualities objectively measuring at a street level (e.g., comfort/convenience, aesthetics, sidewalk design, etc.) have been widely used in determining walkability in lieu of the traditionally used attributes (e.g., roadway level of service). Conclusion This study presents a future direction for walkability studies along with the recent trend in walkability measures and data analysis. Walkability studies have attracted significant attention more recently than in previous years. The recent trend of automated and systematic walkability data collection will eventually enable detailed analysis at a large scale and contribute to advancing walkability studies.
A Comparison of High Spectral Resolution Infrared Cloud-Top Pressure Altitude Algorithms Using S-His Measurements

This paper presents a comparison of cloud-top altitude retrieval methods applied to S-HIS (Scanning High Resolution Interferometer Sounder) measurements. Included in this comparison is an improvement to the traditional CO2 Slicing method. The new method, CO2 Sorting, determines optimal channel pairs to apply the CO2 Slicing. Measurements from collocated samples of the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and Modis Airborne Simulator (MAS) instruments assist in the comparison. For optically thick clouds good correlation between the S-HIS and lidar cloud-top retrievals are found. For tenuous ice clouds there can be large differences between lidar (CPL) and S-HIS retrieved cloud-tops. It is found that CO2 Sorting significantly reduces the cloud height biases for the optically thin cloud (total optical depths less then 1.0). For geometrically thick but optically thin cirrus clouds large differences between the S-HIS infrared cloud top retrievals and the CPL detected cloud top where found. For these cases the cloud height retrieved by the S-HIS cloud retrievals correlated closely with the level the CPL integrated cloud optical depth was approximately 1.0.
Touchless Technologies for Decontamination in the Hospital: a Review of Hydrogen Peroxide and UV Devices

Reduction of microbial contamination of the hospital environment is a challenge, yet has potential impacts on infection prevention efforts. Fumigation and UV light devices for environmental cleaning have expanded into the health care setting with the goal of decontamination of difficult to clean or overlooked surfaces. In an era of increased scrutiny of hospital-acquired infections, increasingly, health care centers are adopting these "touchless" cleaning techniques as adjuncts to traditional manual cleaning. The evidence for improved clinical outcomes is lacking; yet, the experience with these devices continues to accumulate in the literature. We review the recently published data related to the use of hydrogen peroxide and UV light-based decontamination systems for cleaning of hospital rooms. Touchless cleaning technologies may provide an incremental benefit to standard practices by limiting cross-transmission of pathogens via environmental surfaces, though evidence of prevention of infections remains limited.
Cross-National Applicability of a Parsimonious Measure of Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture

Cleveland and Laroche presented a scale to measure Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture. This measure was the first attempt to gauge consumer mindsets regarding their adaptation to global consumerism. Because this scale consisted of 57 scale items, applying such a lengthy scale can lead to response fatigue. Past research has also suggested that as more items are added to a scale, the informational value of each additional item is marginal. As an alternative, a shorter version of the Acculturation to Global Consumer Culture Scale is presented. The psychometric properties of this scale were verified via multiple group confirmatory factor analysis. A four-country investigation of young adults in China (n = 126; M age = 22.24 yr., SD = 3.63), New Zealand (n = 196; M age = 20.12 yr., SD = 4.12), Nigeria (n = 146; M age = 23.09 yr., SD = 3.80), and the United States (n = 120; M age = 21.67 yr., SD = 4.26) provides support for the cross-national applicability of the proposed parsimonious measure. Limitations and extensions are discussed.
Prices and Quantities to Control Overfishing

Economists have long promoted fishery rationalization programs, but ITQs may fail to address the ecological consequences of fishing. Of particular concern is that economic incentives to harvest larger fish (due to size-dependent pricing or quota-induced discarding) can destabilize fish populations or lead to evolutionary changes. A substantial theoretical literature in economics has explored incentive problems in ITQ fisheries but has treated highgrading as part of the stock externality. We provide an alternative viewpoint in that the stock externality and the size-based incentives are two distinct externalities and thus require two distinct policy instruments. In this paper, we show that if managers know the price-by-size distribution and the size distribution of the population, total revenues and total catch (in weight) by vessel are sufficient statistics to design a schedule of revenue-neutral individualized landings taxes that eliminate the incentive to highgrade in an ITQ fishery. Landings taxes can be used to address the ecological consequences of fishing while using ITQs to address the open access stock externality.
Unpacking collective efficacy: the relationship between social cohesion and informal social control

The investigation of social mechanisms within social disorganization theory has led to the concept of collective efficacy. Collective efficacy has typically been measured as a composite of social cohesion and informal control; however, more work remains to be done with respect to the measurement of informal control and the modeling of the relationship between cohesion and control. The present study addresses this issue by using multiple operationalizations of informal social control. Results suggest that respondents rely upon their ability to call the police as a method, by which they exercise informal control over their area of residence. Moreover, the cohesion and control scales are distinct from one another, which adds to the literature showing that they are better treated as separate scales. In regression models, cohesion emerges as largely unrelated to individuals’ propensity to intervene in neighborhood problems, but enhances their perceptions of their neighbors’ likelihood of intervention. Future r...
Access-Condition-Table-Driven Access Control for XML Databases

Access control represented by XPath expressions allows for access restrictions on elements, attributes, and text nodes according to their locations and values in an XML document. Many XML database applications call for such node-level access control on concerned nodes at any depth. To perform such node-level access control, current approaches create heavy loads on XML database applications since these approaches incur massive costs either at runtime or for data optimization. In order to solve these problems, we introduce an access condition table (ACT), a table equivalent to an access control policy, where Boolean access conditions for accessibility checks are stored. The ACT is generated as a means of shifting the extra runtime computations to a pre-processing step. Experimental results show that the proposed ACT can handle accesses to arbitrary paths at a nearly constant speed.
On Frequency Optimisation for Power Saving in WSNs: Finding Optimum Hardware Timers Frequencies

Wireless Sensor Networks research and demand are now in full expansion, since people came to understand these are the key to a large number of issues in industry, commerce, home automation, healthcare, agriculture and environment, monitoring, public safety etc. One of the most challenging research problems in sensor networks research is power awareness and power-saving techniques. In this master's thesis, we have studied one particular power-saving technique, i.e. frequency scaling. In particular, we analysed the close relationship between clock frequencies in a microcontroller and several types of constraints imposed on these frequencies, e.g. by other components of the microcontroller, by protocol specifications, by external factors etc. Among these constraints, we were especially interested in the ones imposed by the timer service and by the serial ports' transmission rates. Our efforts resulted in a microcontroller configuration management tool which aims at assisting application programmers in choosing microcontroller configurations, in function of the particular needs and constraints of their application.
Effect of Police Expenditures on Crime Rates: Some Evidence

The main concern of this paper is the relationship between public sector use of resources for law enforcement and the rate of criminal activity. In addition, this paper reports tests of the hypothe...
Ritonavir is the best alternative to ketoconazole as an index inhibitor of cytochrome P450‐3A in drug–drug interaction studies

Aims The regulatory prohibition of ketoconazole as a CYP3A index inhibitor in drug–drug interaction (DDI) studies has compelled consideration of alternative inhibitors. Methods The biomedical literature was searched to identify DDI studies in which oral midazolam (MDZ) was the victim, and the inhibitory perpetrator was either ketoconazole, itraconazole, clarithromycin, or ritonavir. The ratios (RAUC) of total area under the curve (AUC) for MDZ with inhibitor divided by MDZ AUC in the control condition were aggregated across individual studies for each inhibitor. Results Mean (± SE) RAUC values were: ketoconazole (15 studies, 131 subjects), 11.5 (±1.2); itraconazole (five studies, 48 subjects), 7.3 (±1.0); clarithromycin (five studies, 73 subjects), 6.5 (±10.9); and ritonavir (13 studies, 159 subjects), 14.5 (±2.0). Differences among inhibitors were significant (F = 5.31, P < 0.005). RAUC values were not significantly related to inhibitor dosage or to duration of inhibitor pre-exposure prior to administration of MDZ. Conclusions Ritonavir produces CYP3A inhibition equivalent to or greater than ketoconazole, and is the best index CYP3A inhibitor alternative to ketoconazole. Cobicistat closely resembles ritonavir in structure and function, and can also be considered. Itraconazole and clarithromycin are not suitable alternatives since they do not produce inhibition comparable with ketoconazole or ritonavir, and have other significant disadvantages as well.
Phytosanitation Methods Influence Posttreatment Colonization of Juglans nigra Logs by Pityophthorus juglandis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae)

Several North American walnut species (Juglans spp.) are threatened by thousand cankers disease which is caused by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman) and its associated fungal plant pathogen, Geosmithia morbida M. Kolarik, E. Freeland, C. Utley and N. Tisserat sp. nov. Spread of this disease may occur via movement of infested black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) wood. This study evaluated the ability of P. juglandis to colonize J. nigra wood previously treated with various phytosanitation methods. Steam-heated and methyl bromide-fumigated J. nigra logs, as well as kiln-dried natural wane J. nigra lumber (with and without bark) were subsequently exposed to P. juglandis colonization pressure in two exposure scenarios. Following a pheromone-mediated, high-pressure scenario in the canopy of infested trees, beetles readily colonized the bark of steam-heated and methyl bromide-fumigated logs, and were also recovered from kiln-dried lumber on which a thin strip of bark was retained. In the simulated lumberyard exposure experiment, during which samples were exposed to lower P. juglandis populations, beetles were again recovered from bark-on steam-heated logs, but were not recovered from kiln-dried bark-on lumber. These data suggest logs and bark-on lumber treated with phytosanitation methods should not be subsequently exposed to P. juglandis populations. Further beetle exclusion efforts for phytosanitized, bark-on walnut wood products transported out of quarantined areas may be necessary to ensure that these products do not serve as a pathway for the spread of P. juglandis and thousand cankers disease.
Inhomogeneous deformation in INCONEL 718 during monotonic and cyclic loadings

The paper concentrates on the relation between microstructural observations of the dislocation structures and the macroscopic deformation responses of both aged and homogenized precipitate-hardened alloys at room temperature. The deformation responses are compared to the cyclic deformation response of an aged precipitate-hardened alloy. Early in the deformation, one deformation band per grain and little evidence of work hardening are observed; with increased deformation, work hardening begins, more bands nucleate, and their spacing becomes similar to that in the aged material. It is pointed out that the degree of coarseness of inhomogeneous deformation is not a result of a softening process within the bands due to precipitate shearing, but it is a function of the amount of work hardening within the bands.
Responses of Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Their Differentiated Progeny to Ionizing Radiation

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold promise for the treatment of many human pathologies. For example, hESCs and the neuronal stem cells (NSCs) and neurons derived from them have significant potential as transplantation therapies for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Two concerns about the use of hESCs and their differentiated derivatives are their ability to function and their ability to resist neoplastic transformation in response to stresses that inevitably arise during their preparation for transplantation. To begin to understand how these cells handle genotoxic stress, we examined the responses of hESCs and derived NSCs and neurons to ionizing radiation (IR). Undifferentiated hESCs were extremely sensitive to IR, with nearly all the cells undergoing cell death within 5–7 hours. NSCs and neurons were substantially more resistant to IR, with neurons showing the most resistant. Of interest, NSCs that survived IR underwent cellular senescence and acquired astrocytic characteristics. Unlike IR-treated astrocytes, however, the NSC-derived astrocytic cells that survived IR did not display the typical pro-inflammatory, pro-carcinogenic senescence-associated secretory phenotype. These findings suggest distinct genotoxic stress-responses of hESCs and derived NSC and neuronal populations, and suggest that damaged NSCs, while failing to function, may not cause local inflammation.
Single dose of anti–CTLA-4 enhances CD8+ T-cell memory formation, function, and maintenance

CTLA-4, an Ig superfamily molecule with homology to CD28, is one of the most potent negative regulators of T-cell responses. In vivo blockade of CTLA-4 exacerbates autoimmunity, enhances tumor-specific T-cell responses, and may inhibit the induction of T-cell anergy. Clinical trials of CTLA-4–blocking antibodies to augment T-cell responses to malignant melanoma are at an advanced stage; however, little is known about the effects of CTLA-4 blockade on memory CD8+ T-cell responses and the formation and maintenance of long-term CD8+ T-cell memory. In our studies, we show that during in vivo memory CD8+ T-cell responses to Listeria monocytogenes infection, CTLA-4 blockade enhances bacterial clearance and increases memory CD8+ T-cell expansion. This is followed by an accumulation of memory cells that are capable of producing the effector cytokines IFN-γ and TNF-α. We also demonstrate that in a vaccination setting, blocking CTLA-4 during CD8+ T-cell priming leads to increased expansion and maintenance of antigen-specific memory CD8+ T cells without adversely affecting the overall T-cell repertoire. This leads to an increase in memory cell effector function and improved protective immunity against further bacterial challenges. These results indicate that transient blockade of CTLA-4 enhances memory CD8+ T-cell responses and support the possible use of CTLA-4–blocking antibodies during vaccination to augment memory formation and maintenance.
Identifying asthma exacerbations in a pediatric emergency department: A feasibility study

Abstract Background Asthma is a common pediatric chronic disease and is estimated to account for more than 2 million emergency department visits per year. Asthma guidelines have demonstrated improved outcomes, but remain underutilized due to several barriers. Computerized methods to automatically identify asthma exacerbations may be beneficial to initiate guideline recommended treatment, but have not been described. The goal of the study was to examine the accuracy of an algorithm to identify asthma patients at triage in real-time using only electronically available data. Methods During a 9-month period, the five most frequent presenting chief complaints for Emergency Department asthma patients aged 2–18 years were identified and accounted for >95% of asthma visits: wheezing, shortness of breath, fever, cough, and dyspnea. During a following 1-month period (November 2004), medical records of all patients with one of the five chief complaints were reviewed to establish a reference standard diagnosis. An asthma identification algorithm was developed that considered only data available in electronic format at the time of triage and included the presenting chief complaint, information from the computerized problem list (past medical history; current medications, such as beta-agonists, steroids, and other asthma medications), and ICD-9 billing codes from previous encounters. Results From 1835 Emergency Department visits, 368 visits (154 with asthma) had one of the five chief complaints and were included. A problem list was available in 203 (55.2%) and an ICD-9 code in 68 (18.5%) patients. Wheezing accounted for 56.5% of asthma visits, while fever was the most frequent chief complaint among all patients (43.8%). The asthma identification algorithm had a sensitivity of 44.8% (95% CI: 36.8–53.0%), a specificity of 91.6% (CI: 87.0–94.9%), a positive predictive value of 79.3% (CI: 69.3–87.3%) and a negative predictive value of 69.8% (CI: 64.0–75.1%). The positive and negative likelihood ratios were 5.3 (CI: 3.3–8.6) and 0.6 (CI: 0.5–0.7), respectively. Conclusion The simple identification algorithm demonstrated good accuracy for identifying asthma episodes. The algorithm may represent a promising and feasible approach to create computerized reminders or automatic triggers that can facilitate the initiation of guideline-based asthma treatment in the Emergency Department.
Latent aneuploidy in father and grandfather of doubly aneuploid child: Mongolism in a child with 48 chromosomes

A female infant with typical features of mongolism and 48 chromosomes is described. Cytogenetic analysis revealed trisomy 21 plus an additional chromosome of G group size. The latter chromosome appears to have caused no detectable abnormalities and was found to be present in karyotypes of the phenotypically normal father and grandfather of the proposita. The latency of the familial aneuploidy and its relationship to the double aneuploidy are discussed.
Non-strange baryon masses with color hyperfine and pion exchange interactions

Abstract The masses of strangeness zero baryons, with quarks in the S, P, and D shells of a harmonic oscillator potential, are calculated in the nonrelativistic constituent quark model. While the color hyperfine interaction is known to be successful in describing the mass splittings, inclusion of pion exchanges markedly improve the mass predictions of nucleon resonances, particularly those of negative parity. Fitting to all well established non-strange baryon masses below ∼ 2 GeV/ c 2 significantly improves previous results.
The Liberation of Free Amino Acids in Raw and Pasteurized Milk Cheddar Cheese during Ripening

Summary A study was made of the rate of production of free amino acids, amides and amines in American cheddar cheese from the date of manufacture over a ripening period of 180 days at 60° F. Paper partition chromatography was used throughout and the compounds were determined using a rough quantitative procedure. In addition, differences in the character of the amino acids between raw- and pasteurized-milk cheese were noted. The appearance of many free amino acids was very rapid in both raw- and pasturized-milk cheeses. At the end of 2 days at 60° F., 40 per cent of the number of free amino acids that were found in the cheese had appeared. Glutamic acid, leucine-methionine, basic amino acids, valine, and phenylalanine reached high concentrations in the raw milk cheese over the 180-day ripening period, while for the pasteurized milk cheese glutamic acid, basic amino acids, phenylalanine and asparagine increased to high proportions. On the other hand, glutamine, serine, threonine, proline and α-amino-butyric acid were found in low concentrations in raw milk cheese while aspartic acid, alanine, glutamine, threonine and glycine developed in low concentrations in the pasteurized product. Proline, tyramine and α-amino-butyric acid were detected in raw-milk cheese but not in the pasteurized-milk cheese. Asparagine was present in large quantities in pasteurized milk cheese but was not observed in raw milk cheese.
Ion association in calcium phosphate solutions at 37°C

Ion association in the system Ca(OH)2−H3PO4−KCl−H2O at 37°C has been studied potentiometrically over a range of pH from 3 to 9. The experimental conditions were optimized for the accurate determination of the association constants for the formation of the ion pairs CaH2PO 4 + , CaHPO4 and CaPO 4 − which were found to be 27.9±0.1, 591±2, and (1.35±0.02)×106 L-mol−1, respectively.
Constipation symptoms before and after vaginal and abdominal pelvic reconstructive surgery.

Introduction and hypothesis This article aims to evaluate how constipation symptoms change after pelvic reconstructive surgery using the Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptom Questionnaire (PAC-SYM). Our primary hypothesis was that constipation would improve after surgery.
The Relationship Between Relative Solvent Accessibility and Evolutionary Rate in Protein Evolution

Recent work with Saccharomyces cerevisiae shows a linear relationship between the evolutionary rate of sites and the relative solvent accessibility (RSA) of the corresponding residues in the folded protein. Here, we aim to develop a mathematical model that can reproduce this linear relationship. We first demonstrate that two models that both seem reasonable choices (a simple model in which selection strength correlates with RSA and a more complex model based on RSA-dependent amino acid distributions) fail to reproduce the observed relationship. We then develop a model on the basis of observed site-specific amino acid distributions and show that this model behaves appropriately. We conclude that evolutionary rates are directly linked to the distribution of amino acids at individual sites. Because of this link, any future insight into the biophysical mechanisms that determine amino acid distributions will improve our understanding of evolutionary rates.
Similar enhancement of the discriminative stimulus effects of cocaine and GBR 12909 by heroin in squirrel monkeys.

Rationale and objectives: Heroin previously was shown to engender partial cocaine-like discriminative stimulus (DS) effects in squirrel monkeys. The present study assessed the degree to which heroin modified the DS effects of cocaine and the cocaine-like DS effects of the selective dopamine transport blocker GBR 12909. Methods and results: In squirrel monkeys discriminating cocaine (0.3 mg/kg) from saline, cocaine and GBR 12909 dose-dependently engendered levels of responding on the cocaine-associated lever greater than or equal to 90% (full substitution). Heroin engendered full substitution for cocaine in two monkeys, partial substitution (75%) in a third monkey, and no substitution in the fourth monkey. When administered as a pretreatment, heroin shifted the dose-response function for cocaine to the left in the three monkeys for which heroin engendered cocaine-lever responding, but did not alter the DS effects of cocaine in the fourth monkey. Heroin pretreatment also shifted the dose-response function for the cocaine-like DS effects of GBR 12909 to the left in the former three monkeys, and did not alter the effects of GBR 12909 in the fourth monkey. Isobolographic analysis of the DS effects of cocaine-heroin and GBR 12909-heroin combinations in the former three monkeys revealed that the potencies of the combinations were not different from predicted values based on dose-additive effects. Conclusions: These findings show that heroin can enhance similarly the DS effects of cocaine and GBR 12909, suggesting that activation of dopaminergic systems underlies enhancement of the interoceptive effects of cocaine by heroin.
Bifunctionality in Pt alloy nanocluster electrocatalysts for enhanced methanol oxidation and CO tolerance in PEM fuel cells: electrochemical and in situ synchrotron spectroscopy

Electrocatalysis of CO tolerance and direct methanol oxidation on PtMo/C (3:1 a/o) has been investigated in a PEM fuel cell environment. While a 3-fold enhancement is observed for CO tolerance when compared with PtRu/C (1:1), no such enhancement occurred for methanol oxidation. In situ XAS at the Pt L and alloying element K edges for Pt/C, PtRu/C and PtMo/C showed that in contrast to PtRu/C, both Mo and Pt surfaces play a distinct role for CO oxidation. While on the Ru surface there is a competition between oxide formation (from activation of water) and CO adsorption, Mo oxide surface showed no affinity for CO. This provided for efficient CO oxidation at low overpotentials on PtMo/C. However, the corresponding behavior for methanol oxidation showed that Mo oxy-hydroxides were inhibited from efficient removal of CO and CHO species in contrast to Ru oxides. The Mo surface oxides also showed a redox couple involving (V to VI) oxidation states in the presence of both CO and methanol.
Changes in biomolecular profile in a single nucleolus during cell fixation.

Fixation of biological sample is an essential technique applied in order to “freeze” in time the intracellular molecular content. However, fixation induces changes of the cellular molecular structure, which mask physiological distribution of biomolecules and bias interpretation of results. Accurate, sensitive, and comprehensive characterization of changes in biomolecular composition, occurring during fixation, is crucial for proper analysis of experimental data. Here we apply biomolecular component analysis for Raman spectra measured in the same nucleoli of HeLa cells before and after fixation by either formaldehyde solution or by chilled ethanol. It is found that fixation in formaldehyde does not strongly affect the Raman spectra of nucleolar biomolecular components, but may significantly decrease the nucleolar RNA concentration. At the same time, ethanol fixation leads to a proportional increase (up to 40%) in concentrations of nucleolar proteins and RNA, most likely due to cell shrinkage occurring in t...