cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A rare cause of painful cervical swelling: myositis ossificans progressiva in childhood. Report of a case

Myositis ossificans progressiva (MOP) is a rare condition of which we report a case in a 13-year-old girl with involvement of the cervical paraspinal and periscapular muscles. No ectopic ossifications were visible on plain radiographs. Computed tomography disclosed diffuse inflammation. Plain radiographs of the toes confirmed the diagnosis by visualizing characteristic bone abnormalities. Knowledge of the digital abnormalities seen in MOP is important to avoid unnecessary diagnostic investigations, most notably a surgical biopsy, which may trigger a flare of the disease. The prognosis is guarded.
Report on Patients with Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome with Severe Chronic Neutropenia ♦ 751

Patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) may exhibit a variety of hematologic manifestations including varying degrees of neutropenia. Although these patients have a known predisposition to leukemic transformation, the relationship of the predisposition to the severity of the bone marrow dysfunction or treatment is unclear. The Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry (SCNIR) has data from 13 patients with SDS associated with severe chronic neutropenia (SCN) which have been submitted to the SCNIR since the establishment of the registry in 1994. The age range was 10 months to 20 years at the time of registration. Eight patients received G-CSF therapy ranging from 0.4 mcg/kg/day to 10 mcg/kg/day. The duration of therapy ranged from 1 to 72 months. The patients responded to G-CSF therapy with an increase in the absolute neutrophil count (ANC before therapy, mean ± S.D., 0.43± 0.20 to 3.25 ± 2.50 109/L after therapy). Splenomegaly was reported in 3 of the 13 patients, in 1 case the finding was noted after initiation of G-CSF. Of the 13 SDS patients with data in the Registry to date, 3 patients (23%) have developed deletion of chromosome 7, one with transformation to AML. Two of these patients subsequently died and the third has survived 3 years following matched unrelated donor bone marrow transplant. No clonal chromosome abnormalities have been reported in the remaining 5 other patients with SDS who have been treated with G-CSF for varying lengths of time. Prospective studies need to be developed to better document the risk of leukemia and myelodysplastic transformation in SDS irrespective of whether the patients are receiving G-CSF.
Revitalizing the Public Sphere: The Current System of Discourse and the Need for the Participative Design of Social Action

Public discourse in Western democracies, particularly in the United States, is far from the Habermasian ideal of citizens engaging in a rational discussion of public affairs. Rather than providing an arena for informed deliberation, the growing expertise of the media, lobbyists, and politicians has sub-optimized the current system of discourse to focus on emotional manipulation and the creation of polarized interests, each competing with each other for dominance. Avoiding a potentially disastrous outcome from this unbalancing of public discourse requires a revitalization of the public sphere and a return of the citizen voice in public decision making. To that end, systems thinkers have a tremendous opportunity and can play an important role. This article will explore the current challenges facing public discourse and outline that potential role.
Child Development and Personality Disorder

The evidence is surprisingly strong that even early adolescent personality disorders or elevated personality disorder symptoms have a broad range of negative effects well into adulthood, for the most part comparable to or even larger than those of Axis I disorders. Current evidence suggests that the most severe long-term prognosis is associated with borderline and schizotypal PDs and elevated symptoms. And of course, childhood conduct disorder is in a peculiar status, disappearing in adulthood to be manifest as a very severe disorder—antisocial PD—in a minority of those with the adolescent disorder.
Cleavage N-Terminal to Proline: Analysis of a Database of Peptide Tandem Mass Spectra

Fragmentation at the Xxx-Pro bond was analyzed for a group of peptide mass spectra that were acquired in a Finnigan ion trap mass spectrometer and were generated from proteins digested by enzymes and identified by the Sequest algorithm. Cleavage with formation of a + b + y ions occurred more readily at the Xxx-Pro bond than at other locations in these peptides, and the importance of this cleavage varied by the identity of Xxx. The most abundant Xxx-Pro relative bond cleavage ratios were observed when Xxx was Val, His, Asp, Ile, and Leu, whereas the least abundant cleavage ratios occurred when Xxx was Gly or Pro. Rationalization for these cleavage ratios at Xxx-Pro may include contribution of the Asp or His side chain to enhanced cleavage or the conformation of Pro, Gly, and the aliphatic residues Val, Ile, and Leu at the Xxx location in the Xxx-Pro bond. Although unusual fragmentation behavior has been noted for Pro-containing peptides, this analysis suggests that fragmentation at the Xxx-Pro bond is predictable and that this information may be used to improve the identification of proteins if it is incorporated into peptide sequencing algorithms.
A Socio-Biological Look at Matrix

The article refers to Cro-Magnum Man, the origin of Generation I matrixing, and its Generation II evolution in complex organizations. Two aspects of the Generation I matrix, which originated during and after World War II, are project management and the concept of employees reporting to more than one superior. The Generation II approach focuses on supervisory autonomy for groups along a continuum of four “cells,” which are defined by task requirements and employee characteristics and take into consideration individual differences.
The project independence construction program—resource impacts

Abstract This paper evaluates the total (direct and indirect) construction requirements for the energy program proposed in the President's 1975 State of the Union Message. Using a linear model of the U.S. economic system, the total material, energy, manpower, and capital requirements are evaluated. It is shown that indirect requirements for material and manpower exceed direct inputs in most cases, so focusing on direct requirements alone can lead to serious underestimates in resource requirements. Since the proposed program involves an acceleration of capital investment in the energy sector, the impact of diverting these funds from other activities is also discussed.
An overview of night vision colorization techniques using multispectral images: From color fusion to color mapping

Multispectral images present complimentary information, which enables night vision (NV). Specifically, night vision colorization using multispectral image increases the reliability of interpretation, and thus they are good for visual analysis (human vision). The purpose of NV colorization is to resemble a natural scene in colors, which differs from false coloring. This paper gives an overview of NV colorization techniques proposed in past decade. Two categories of coloring methods, color fusion and color mapping, are discussed and compared in this paper. Color fusion directly combines multispectral NV images into a color-version image by mixing pixel intensities. A channel-based color fusion method will be reviewed. Color mapping usually maps the color properties of a false-colored NV image (source) onto that of a true-color daylight picture (target). Four coloring mapping methods, statistical matching, histogram matching, joint histogram matching, and lookup table (LUT) will be presented and compared. The joint histogram matching is newly introduced in this paper. The experimental NV imagery includes visible (RGB), image intensified, near infrared, long wave infrared. From the experimental results, the following conclusions can be made: (i) The segmentation-based color mapping method produces the most impressive and realistic colors but it requires heavy computations; (ii) Color fusion and LUT-based methods run very fast but their results are less realistic; (iii) The statistical matching method always provides acceptable results (i.e., never fails); and (iv) Histogram matching and joint-histogram matching can generate more impressive colors when the color distributions between source and target are similar.
The orientation of cognitive maps

Given the assumption that the cognitive map is picture-like, then it should have a specific orientation. Can that orientation be determined after a person has learned a path sequentially, that is, by walking through it? Two experiments were conducted to answer this question. In both experiments, subjects were blindfolded and were walked through paths laid out on a floor. In the first experiment, they were required to draw a picture of the path that they had just walked through; in the second experiment, they were required to locate targets in the path under conditions in which their presumed cognitive maps were either aligned or contraligned with the path. All of the subjects in the first experiment drew the first line segment of the path upward, suggesting that this part of the path was fixed in an upward direction in memory. In the second experiment, subjects were more accurate and faster in locating points on the path when the cognitive map was hypothesized to be aligned with the path than when it was hypothesized to be contraligned.
A Decade Of Health Care Access Declines For Adults Holds Implications For Changes In The Affordable Care Act

The pending Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act and the fall presidential election raise concerns about what would happen if the insurance expansion promised by the landmark health reform law were to be curtailed. This paper’s analysis of national survey estimates found that access to health care and use of health services for adults ages 19–64—the primary targets of the Affordable Care Act—deteriorated between 2000 and 2010, particularly among those who were uninsured. More than half of uninsured US adults did not see a doctor in 2010, and only slightly more than a quarter of these adults were seen by a dentist. We also found that children—many of whom qualify for public coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program—generally maintained or improved their access to care during the same period. This provides a reason for optimism about the ability of the coverage expansion in the Affordable Care Act to improve access for adults, but it suggests that eliminating the law...
Wide complex tachycardia in a patient with a dual-chamber defibrillator: What is the rhythm? A tale of timing cycles

Case summary A 72-year-old patient with history of ischemic cardiomyopathy and dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) was evaluated for tachycardia. The patient had undergone surgery for implantation of a HeartMate II left ventricular assist device 1 week prior to the onset of tachycardia. Postprocedure, the patient was persistently in a wide complex tachycardia except during brief episodes, where his heart rate was 80 beats/ min, and the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) of which is shown in Figure 1A. The faster rhythm was at 125 beats/min (Figure 1B) and below the tachycardia detection interval of the ICD. The telemetry strips corresponding to the 2 rhythms are shown in Figure 2. Can a definite diagnosis of his rhythm be obtained from the ECG and telemetry recordings, and what programmed pacing mode of the dual-chamber ICD can explain the findings?
Lipid diversity among botulinum neurotoxin-producing clostridia.

Clostridium botulinum has been classified into four groupings (groups I to IV) based on physiological characteristics and 16S rRNA sequencing. We have examined the lipid compositions of 11 representative strains of C. botulinum and a strain of Clostridium sporogenes by 2D-TLC and by MS. All strains contained phosphatidylglycerol (PG), cardiolipin (CL) and phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) in both the all-acyl and the alk-1′-enyl (plasmalogen) forms. Five strains in proteolytic group I, which are related to C. sporogenes, contained varying amounts of an ethanolamine-phosphate derivative of N-acetylglucosaminyl-diradylglycerol, which is also present in C. sporogenes. Three strains in group II, which are related to Clostridium butyricum, Clostridium beijerinckii and Clostridium acetobutylicum, contained lipids characteristic of these saccharolytic species: a glycerol acetal and a PG acetal of the plasmalogen form of PE. Two group III strains, which are related to Clostridium novyi, contained amino-acyl derivatives of PG, which are also found in C. novyi. A strain in group IV had PE, PG and CL, but none of the distinguishing lipids. This work shows that the lipidome of C. botulinum is consistent with its classification by other methods.
Strangers no more: Genuine interdisciplinarity

Like the Human Genome Project, the so-called nanotechnology revolution and the clinical and translational research initiative have brought with them a renewed interest in multidisciplinary interact...
Digital bimodal function: an ultra-low energy security primitive

We have developed a new security hardware primitive named digital bimodal function (DBF) that enables ultra low energy security protocols. DBF allows the computation of legitimate communicating sides to be compact and low-energy while it requires any attacker exponential computational effort and energy expense. Our new approach is competitive with the energy efficiency of traditional security key cryptographic security technique (e.g., AES) while more than three orders of magnitude more energy efficient than RSA. The implementation is demonstrated using the Xilinx FPGA platform.
Anterior cricoid split for subglottic stenosis : experience at the children's hospital of New Jersey

Twenty-five children with acquired and congenital subglottic stenosis (SGS) were managed with the anterior cricoid split (ACS) operation at the authors' institution from September 1987 to January 1990. Ages ranged from 2.5 months to 5.5 years. Twenty-one (84%) of the children were extubated after 5 to 14 days of nasotracheal intubation and have remained stable after an average follow-up of 10 months. Atelectasis was a common postoperative problem, encountered in 12 (48%) of the patients. Other complications included a tracheocutaneous fistula, prolapse of soft tissue into the tracheal lumen via the cricoid incision, a subglottic granuloma, and 2 cases of prolonged lower extremity paresis following reversal of vecuronium. The results of this retrospective study indicate that the ACS is a valuable first-line procedure for the management of SGS in a variety of pediatric patients.
Detection of an extracellular toxin produced by burn isolates ofKlebsiella pneumoniae

The present study describes a previously unrecognized toxin elaborated byKlebsiella pneumoniae burn isolates when grown in casamino-acids-yeast extract medium. This toxin was heat labile, sensitive to pH conditions of 2 and 4, and caused a dose-related cytotoxic response on intact human foreskin cells. The molecular weight of the toxin was estimated to be approximately 26,600 daltons.
A measurement of abundances of VVH nuclei above 0.6 GeV per nucleon.

The abundance distribution of very very heavy (VVH) nuclei just beyond the iron group has been measured with a balloon-borne counter telescope flown in 1971 and 1972. While the statistical accuracy of these observations is limited, they are of considerable interest since very little work has so far been done to determine the abundance of nuclei with charge between 27 and 36. It is found that the element distribution in the cosmic rays arriving at the top of the atmosphere is quite similar to the solar-system abundance distribution in this interval.
The receptor-recycling and lysosome biogenesis mutant TfT1.11 belongs to a new complementation group, End6

We have previously isolated a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) mutant with a temperature-dependent pleiotropic defect in receptor recycling. This mutant, TfT1.11, has also been shown to have defects in fluid-phase endocytosis and lysosome biogenesis. Previously isolated CHO cell mutants with defects in endocytosis have been assigned to five recessive complementation groups (End1-End5). We have performed complementation analysis using polyethylene glycol-induced fusion of genetically marked sublines of TfT1.11 with representative mutants from each of the End groups. Complementation of the receptor trapping and lysosome biogenesis defects as well as temperature lethality was observed with all groups, demonstrating that TfT1.11 defines a new complementation group, End6.
Photodissociation and Photoionization of Oxygen (O_2) as Inferred from Measured Absorption Coefficients

Absorption coefficients, k, of O2 between 1320 A and 200 A were measured using a 2-meter grazing incidence vacuum spectrograph. Three weak dissociation continua above 1040 A have been investigated. The “first continuum” between 1320 A and 1270 A had a maximum k-value of 13 cm−1 at 1295 A; another one between 1220 A and 1096 A was found to have a k=0.23 cm−1, and the third one between 1096 A and 1040 A had a value of about 3 cm−1. The absorption near Lyman α and in various other “atmospheric windows” in adjacent regions is given. Between 1040 A and 740 A strong absorption was observed due to diffuse bands, which were superimposed over the first ionization continuum with a maximum of 100 cm−1 at 920 A. The main ionization continuum had a long wavelength limit at 683 A and a flat maximum of 590 cm−1 at 510 A. (In addition low absorption coefficients of less than 1 cm−1 have been found in N2 between 1040 A and 910 A.) As an application of these data, a survey calculation on ionospheric absorption was made which showed that the formation of the E layer at 100 km may be due to the absorption of solar radiation by the first ionization continuum of O2. It is also shown that solar radiation between 1220 A and 1100 A can reach the height of the D layer by passing through the indicated atmospheric windows.
Computational analysis of Ciona intestinalis operons.

Synopsis Operons are clusters of genes that are co-regulated from a common promoter. Operons are typically associated with prokaryotes, although a small number of eukaryotes have been shown to possess them. Among metazoans, operons have been extensively characterized in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans in which � 15% of the total genes are organized into operons. The most recent genome assembly for the ascidian Ciona intestinalis placed � 20% of the genes (2909 total) into 1310 operons. The majority of these operons are composed of two genes, while the largest are composed of six. Here is reported a computational analysis of the genes that comprise the Ciona operons. Gene ontology (GO) terms were identified for about two-thirds of the operon-encoded genes. Using the extensive collection of public EST libraries, estimates of temporal patterns of gene expression were generated for the operon-encoded genes. Lastly, conservation of operons was analyzed by determining how many operon-encoded genes were present in the ascidian Ciona savignyi and whether these genes were organized in orthologous operons. Over 68% of the operon-encoded genes could be assigned one or more GO terms and 697 of the 1310 operons contained genes in which all genes had at least one GO term. Of these 697 operons, GO terms were shared by all of the genes within 146 individual operons, suggesting that most operons encode genes with unrelated functions. An analysis of operon gene expression from nine different EST libraries indicated that for 587 operons, all of the genes that comprise an individual operon were expressed together in at least one EST library, suggesting that these genes may be co-regulated. About 50% (74/146) of the operons with shared GO terms also showed evidence of gene co-regulation. Comparisons with the C. savignyi genome identified orthologs for 1907 of 2909 operon genes. About 38% (504/1310) of the operons are conserved between the two Ciona species. These results suggest that like C. elegans, operons in Ciona are comprised of a variety of genes that are not necessarily related in function. The genes in only 50% of the operons appear to be co-regulated, suggesting that more complex gene regulatory mechanisms are likely operating.
Fostering health equity: clinical and research training strategies from nursing education.

Racism, ethnocentrism, segregation, stereotyping, and classism are tightly linked to health equity and social determinants of health. They lead to lack of power, money, resources, and education which may result in poor health care access and outcomes. Health profession faculties must address the complex relationships that exist between individual, interpersonal, institutional, social and political factors that influence health outcomes in both clinical and research training. Thus, the purposes of this paper are to provide examples of training strategies from nursing education that foster cultural sensitivity. First, assumptions about health equity, culture, ethnicity and race are explored. Second, clinical training within an undergraduate and graduate context are explored, including an undergraduate cancer case study and in a graduate pediatric nursing program are described to demonstrate how cultural models can be used to integrate the biomedical and psychosocial content in a course. Third, research training for summer scholars and doctoral and post doctoral fellows (short and long term) is described to demonstrate how to increase the number and quality of scholars prepared to conduct research with vulnerable populations. Research training strategies include a summer research institute, policy fellowship, and a scholars “pipeline” program. A unique perspective is presented through collaboration between a nursing school and a center for health disparities research.
A Framework for Analysis, Design and Management of Complex Large-Scale Interconnected Open Sociotechnological Systems

Standard systems engineering processes, such as the ANSI/EIA 632 or the ISO/IEC 15288 process standards, are primarily geared towards systems with homogenous stakeholders and few tightly coupled non-linear interactions within and between physical subsystems. When dealing with Complex, Large-scale, Interconnected, Open, Sociotechnological (CLIOS) systems such as the national power grid, regional transportation systems, the world wide web or the air traffic control system or other systems with wide-ranging social and environmental impact, there is a need for a new framework that takes into consideration the physical and institutional system complexities and their respective interactions in an iterative and adaptive manner. This paper presents a 12-step framework for concurrent analysis, design and management of coupled complex technological and institutional systems in the face of uncertainty. The framework can be used to analyze a CLIOS systemâ€™s underlying structure and behavior, to explore different design options in the face of uncertainty, and to identify and deploy strategic alternatives for improving the systemâ€™s performance.
Novel, Rapid, and Inexpensive Cell-Based Quantification of Antimalarial Drug Efficacy

We report on the development of a new SYBR Green I-based plate assay for analyzing the activities of antimalarial drugs against intraerythrocytic Plasmodium falciparum. This assay is considerably faster, less labor-intensive, and less expensive than conventional radiotracer (e.g., [3H]hypoxanthine and [3H]ethanolamine)-based assays or P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase activity-based assays. The assay significantly improves the pace at which antimalarial drug discovery efforts may proceed.
Tomato and Soy Polyphenols Reduce Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I–Stimulated Rat Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation and Apoptotic Resistance In Vitro via Inhibition of Intracellular Signaling Pathways Involving Tyrosine Kinase

We examined the ability of polyphenols from tomatoes and soy (genistein, quercetin, kaempferol, biochanin A, daidzein and rutin) to modulate insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I)-induced in vitro proliferation and apoptotic resistance in the AT6.3 rat prostate cancer cell line. IGF-I at 50 micro g/L in serum-free medium produced maximum proliferation and minimized apoptosis. Polyphenols exhibited different abilities to modulate IGF-I-induced proliferation, cell cycle progression (flow cytometry) and apoptosis (Annexin V/propidium iodide and terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated deoxyuridine 5'-triphosphate nick end labeling). Genistein, quercetin, kaempferol and biochanin A exhibited dose-dependent inhibition of growth with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) between 25 and 40 micro mol/L, whereas rutin and daidzein were less potent with an IC(50) of >60 micro mol/L. Genistein and kaempferol potently induced G(2)/M cell cycle arrest. Genistein, quercetin, kaempferol and biochanin A, but not daidzein and rutin, counteracted the antiapoptotic effects of IGF-I. Human prostate epithelial cells grown in growth factor-supplemented medium were also sensitive to growth inhibition by polyphenols. Genistein, biochanin A, quercetin and kaempferol reduced the insulin receptor substrate-1 (IRS-1) content of AT6.3 cells and prevented the down-regulation of IGF-I receptor beta in response to IGF-I binding. IGF-I-stimulated proliferation was dependent on activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and phosphatidylinositide 3-kinase pathways. Western blotting demonstrated that ERK1/2 was constitutively phosphorylated in AT6.3 cells with no change in response to IGF-I, whereas IRS-1 and AKT were rapidly and sensitively phosphorylated after IGF-I stimulation. Several polyphenols suppressed phosphorylation of AKT and ERK1/2, and more potently inhibited IRS-1 tyrosyl phosphorylation after IGF-I exposure. In summary, polyphenols from soy and tomato products may counteract the ability of IGF-I to stimulate proliferation and prevent apoptosis via inhibition of multiple intracellular signaling pathways involving tyrosine kinase activity.
Improving Performance and Availability of Services Hosted on IaaS Clouds with Structural Constraint-Aware Virtual Machine Placement

The increasing popularity of modern virtualization-based datacenters continues to motivate both industry and academia to provide answers to a large variety of new and challenging questions. In this paper we aim to answer focusing on one such question: how to improve performance and availability of services hosted on IaaS clouds. Our system, structural constraint-aware virtual machine placement (SCAVP), supports three types of constraints: demand, communication and availability. We formulate SCAVP as an optimization problem and show its hardness. We design a hierarchical placement approach with four approximation algorithms that efficiently solves the SCAVP problem for large problem sizes. We provide a formal model for the application (to better understand structural constraints) and the datacenter (to effectively capture capabilities), and use the two models as inputs to the placement problem. We evaluate SCAVP in a simulated environment to illustrate the efficiency and importance of the proposed approach.
Photothermal nanoblade for single cell surgery

We report a photothermal nanoblade that utilizes a metallic nanostructure to harvest short laser pulse energy and convert it into a highly localized and specifically shaped explosive vapor bubble. Rapid bubble expansion and collapse punctures a lightly-contacting cell membrane via high-speed fluidic flows and induced transient shear stress. The membrane cutting pattern is controlled by the metallic nanostructure configuration, laser pulse polarization, and energy. Highly controllable, sub-micron sized circular hole pairs to half moon-like, or cat-door shaped, membrane cuts were realized in glutaraldehyde treated HeLa cells.
MODELING COERCIVITY OF SOFT MAGNETIC MATERIALS

Both physical and phenomenological models are necessary to obtain good descriptions of coercivity in soft magnetic materials. The former models give insight into the processes involved, while the latter models compute quickly. The differences between modeling soft and hard materials are the parameters sizes and the importance of eddy currents.
Evaluation of the Dropsonde Humidity Sensor Using Data from DYCOMS-II and IHOP_2002

Abstract The dropsonde humidity data have not been fully utilized due to lack of knowledge on performance of the dropsonde humidity sensor. This study evaluates the performance of the dropsonde humidity sensor using data collected from two field experiments, the Dynamics and Chemistry of Marine Stratocumulus Phase II: Entrainment Studies (DYCOMS-II) and the International H2O Project (IHOP)_2002. During DYCOMS-II, 63 dropsondes were dropped above marine stratocumulus clouds. It provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the performance of the dropsonde humidity sensor within clouds. Relative humidity (RH) inside clouds did not reach 100% all the time, but the maximum RH reached 100% for 28% of soundings and was within the sensor accuracy range (94%–100%). This suggests that the dropsonde humidity sensor displays no systematic dry bias near saturation. The dropsonde humidity sensor experienced large time-lag errors when it descended from a dry environment above clouds into clouds. The mean estimated time con...
A new role for ns polyprotein cleavage in Sindbis virus replication.

One of the distinguishing features of the alphaviruses is a sequential processing of the nonstructural polyproteins P1234 and P123. In the early stages of the infection, the complex of P123+nsP4 forms the primary replication complexes (RCs) that function in negative-strand RNA synthesis. The following processing steps make nsP1+P23+nsP4, and later nsP1+nsP2+nsP3+nsP4. The latter mature complex is active in positive-strand RNA synthesis but can no longer produce negative strands. However, the regulation of negative- and positive-strand RNA synthesis apparently is not the only function of ns polyprotein processing. In this study, we developed Sindbis virus mutants that were incapable of either P23 or P123 cleavage. Both mutants replicated in BHK-21 cells to levels comparable to those of the cleavage-competent virus. They continuously produced negative-strand RNA, but its synthesis was blocked by the translation inhibitor cycloheximide. Thus, after negative-strand synthesis, the ns proteins appeared to irreversibly change conformation and formed mature RCs, in spite of the lack of ns polyprotein cleavage. However, in the cells having no defects in α/β interferon (IFN-α/β) production and signaling, the cleavage-deficient viruses induced a high level of type I IFN and were incapable of causing the spread of infection. Moreover, the P123-cleavage-deficient virus was readily eliminated, even from the already infected cells. We speculate that this inability of the viruses with unprocessed polyprotein to productively replicate in the IFN-competent cells and in the cells of mosquito origin was an additional, important factor in ns polyprotein cleavage development. In the case of the Old World alphaviruses, it leads to the release of nsP2 protein, which plays a critical role in inhibiting the cellular antiviral response.
476 nm Excited laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy of human coronary arteries: Applications in cardiology

We have shown that normal coronary arteries and noncalcified and calcified atherosclerotic plaque can be differentiated on the basis of the 476 nm excited fluorescence spectra, providing the basis of a spectroscopic guidance system for coronary artery laser angiosurgery. This discrimination is based on extraction of parameters from tissue fluorescence spectra, which are proportional to the tissue concentrations of structural proteins (collagen and elastin) and ceroid via a model of tissue fluorescence. We use these parameters to calculate the likelihood that an area of interest in a coronary artery is normal, noncalcified, or calcified plaque. This method of diagnosing atherosclerosis provides information about the histochemical composition of atherosclerotic lesions and is thus fundamentally different from the diagnostic methods currently used. It may ultimately have bearing on a number of pertinent clinical problems. We have discussed applications to studying initiating factors in formation and progression of plaque, healing after interventional treatments, and the likelihood of restenosis after PTCA.
The performance of spatial smoothing techniques using the LMS algorithm

The effects of correlated interference on narrowband adaptive arrays are reviewed. The performance of the spatial smoothing technique, used in a generalized sidelobe canceler with the least mean squares algorithm, is examined in terms of weight misadjustment, mean squared error, and signal-to-noise ratio. One method of combining the algorithm with spatial smoothing is shown to obey a set of nonhomogeneous dynamical equations. A numerical example is presented to support the analysis. >
Clarifying conflict of interest.

As the debate over how to manage or discourage physicians’ financial conflicts of interest with the drug and medical device industries has become more heated, critics have questioned or dismissed the concept of “conflict of interest” itself. A satisfactory definition relates conflict of interest to concerns about maintaining social trust and distinguishes between breaches of ethical duty and temptations to breach duty. Numerous objections to such a definition have been offered, none of which prevails on further analysis. Those concerned about conflicts of interest have contributed to misunderstandings, however, by failing to demonstrate when social arrangements leading to temptations to breach duties are in themselves morally blameworthy. Clarifying “conflict of interest” is important if we are eventually going to develop productive modes of engagement between medicine and for-profit industry that avoid the serious ethical pitfalls now in evidence.
The effect of high-pressure densification on ballistic-penetration resistance of a soda-lime glass:

Molecular-level modelling and simulations of the high-pressure volumetric response and irreversible densification of a prototypical soda-lime glass are first employed. The molecular- simulation results obtained were next used to modify the pressure versus degree-of-compression (the negative of volumetric strain) and yield strength versus pressure relations in order to account for the effects of irreversible densification. These relations are next used to upgrade the equation of state and the strength constitutive laws of an existing material model for glass. This was fol- lowed by a set of transient non-linear dynamics calculations of the transverse impact of a glass test plate with a solid right-circular cylindrical steel projectile. The results obtained show that irreversible densification can provide only a minor improvement in the ballistic resistance of glass and only in the case of high-velocity (ca. 1000 m/s) projectiles. Furthermore, it was dem- onstrated that if the key irreversible compaction parameters can be adjusted by modifications in glass chemistry and microstructure, significant improvements in the glass ballistic resistance can be attained over a relatively wide range of projectile velocities.
Uses of phage display in agriculture: Sequence analysis and comparative modeling of late embryogenesis abundant client proteins suggest protein-nucleic acid binding functionality

A group of intrinsically disordered, hydrophilic proteins—Late Embryogenesis Abundant (LEA) proteins—has been linked to survival in plants and animals in periods of stress, putatively through safeguarding enzymatic function and prevention of aggregation in times of dehydration/heat. Yet despite decades of effort, the molecular-level mechanisms defining this protective function remain unknown. A recent effort to understand LEA functionality began with the unique application of phage display, wherein phage display and biopanning over recombinant Seed Maturation Protein homologs from Arabidopsis thaliana and Glycine max were used to retrieve client proteins at two different temperatures, with one intended to represent heat stress. From this previous study, we identified 21 client proteins for which clones were recovered, sometimes repeatedly. Here, we use sequence analysis and homology modeling of the client proteins to ascertain common sequence and structural properties that may contribute to binding affinity with the protective LEA protein. Our methods uncover what appears to be a predilection for protein-nucleic acid interactions among LEA client proteins, which is suggestive of subcellular residence. The results from this initial computational study will guide future efforts to uncover the protein protective mechanisms during heat stress, potentially leading to phage-display-directed evolution of synthetic LEA molecules.
Lessons Learned from 20 Years of Diabetes Self-Management Research With Mexican Americans in Starr County, Texas:

PurposeThe purpose is to provide an overview of a 20-year research program aimed at testing diabetes self-management education interventions culturally tailored for Mexican Americans residing in an...
Transparent Ceramic Scintillator Fabrication, Properties and Applications

Transparent ceramics offer an alternative to single crystals for scintillator applications such as gamma ray spectroscopy and radiography. We have developed a versatile, scaleable fabrication method, using Flame Spray Pyrolysis (FSP) to produce feedstock which is readily converted into phase-pure transparent ceramics. We measure integral light yields in excess of 80,000 Ph/MeV with Cerium-doped Garnets, and excellent optical quality. Avalanche photodiode readout of Garnets provides resolution near 6%. For radiography applications, Lutetium Oxide offers a high performance metric and is formable by ceramics processing. Scatter in transparent ceramics due to secondary phases is the principal limitation to optical quality, and afterglow issues that affect the scintillation performance are presently being addressed.
Learning Semantic Links from a Corpus of Parallel Temporal and Causal Relations

Finding temporal and causal relations is crucial to understanding the semantic structure of a text. Since existing corpora provide no parallel temporal and causal annotations, we annotated 1000 conjoined event pairs, achieving inter-annotator agreement of 81.2% on temporal relations and 77.8% on causal relations. We trained machine learning models using features derived from WordNet and the Google N-gram corpus, and they outperformed a variety of baselines, achieving an F-measure of 49.0 for temporals and 52.4 for causals. Analysis of these models suggests that additional data will improve performance, and that temporal information is crucial to causal relation identification.
Re-assessing the Role of Gender-Related Cognitions for Self-Esteem: The Importance of Gender Typicality for Cisgender Adults

Gender-related cognitions have been central to accounts of well-being in children and adults in the United States. Yet, the child and adult literatures are currently not aligned in how they measure these experiences, creating an asymmetry in scientific understanding. The current investigation aligns these literatures by using the short-form of the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI; Bem 1981) (adult literature) and a modified version of Egan and Perry’s (2001) Gender Typicality Scale (child literature) with cisgender (i.e., those whose current gender identity is the same label as their birth-assigned category) adult participants. These measures were used to determine the relative contributions of each to self-esteem using nonprobability samples of heterosexual and queer (i.e., lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and asexual) women and men in the United States. The analyzed groups consisted of cisgender individuals: heterosexual women (N = 97), heterosexual men (N = 90), queer women (N = 83), and queer men (N = 51). All groups showed significant contributions of adult gender typicality to self-esteem, over and above the BSRI dimensions. Thus, both self-reported gender typicality and self-reported endorsement of certain BSRI dimensions are important indicators of well-being in cisgender adults in the United States.
Connecting quantitative regulatory-network models to the genome

Motivation: An important task in computational biology is to infer, using background knowledge and high-throughput data sources, models of cellular processes such as gene regulation. Nachman et al. have developed an approach to inferring gene-regulatory networks that represents quantitative transcription rates, and simultaneously estimates both the kinetic parameters that govern these rates and the activity levels of unobserved regulators that control them. This approach is appealing in that it provides a more detailed and realistic description of how a gene's regulators influence its level of expression than alternative methods. We have developed an extension to this approach that involves representing and learning the key kinetic parameters as functions of features in the genomic sequence. The primary motivation for our approach is that it provides a more mechanistic representation of the regulatory relationships being modeled. Results: We evaluate our approach using two Escherichia coli gene-expression data sets, with a particular focus on modeling the networks that are involved in controlling how E.coli regulates its response to the carbon source(s) available to it. Our results indicate that our sequence-based models provide predictive accuracy that is better than similar models without sequence-based parameters, and substantially better than a simple baseline. Moreover, our approach results in models that offer more explanatory power and biological insight than models without sequence-based parameters. Contact: [email protected]
Defining and Measuring Drug Abusing Behaviors

Drug abuse epidemiologists have made great progress in developing methodologies to measure an elusive public health problem over the past three decades. As we learn more about the biology of dependence, particularly the process of moving from use to addiction, we in the field may be able to refine our own measurements. In addition, as was pointed out by the IOM (1996), there is a great need for more research to examine co-occurring drug use, physical and psychiatric problems, and to continue to refine our methods of data collection and data analyses.
Optogenetics and the mechanism of false memory

Constructivists about memory argue that memory is a capacity for building representations of past events from a generalized information store (e.g., De Brigard, in Synthese 191:155–185, 2014a; Michaelian, in Philos Psychol 24:323–342, 2012). The view is motivated by the memory errors discovered in cognitive psychology. Little has been known about the neural mechanisms by which false memories are produced. Recently, using a method I call the Optogenetic False Memory Technique (O-FaMe), neuroscientists have created false memories in mice (e.g., Ramirez et al., in Science 341:388–391, 2013). In this paper, I examine how Constructivism fares in light of O-FaMe results. My aims are two-fold. First, I argue that errors found in O-FaMe and cognitive psychology are similar behaviorally. Second, Constructivists should be able to explain the former since they purport to explain the latter, but they cannot. I conclude that O-FaMe studies reveal details about the mechanism by which false memories are produced that are incompatible with the explanatory approach to false memories favored by Constructivism.
Another Example of Anti-D in a D-positive Patient

A case of a woman whose erythrocytes typed as Rh-positive although her serum concurrently contained anti-Rh antibody is described. It is suggested that the antibody represents isoantibody (alloantibody) to Rh (D)-positive blood transfused two months previously. A weakly positive direct Coombs reaction raises the possibility of an autoantibody.
Management Orientation Characteristics and Influencing Factors:A Case Study on the Founders and Senior Management Teams of Two Successful Private Enterprises in China

Management orientation characteristics are essential for enterprise managers to carry out their job responsibilities and reach their expected work performance.The authors investigated and analyzed the management orientation characteristics and their influencing factors of the enterprise founders and the top management teams for two successful Chinese private enterprises,using biography interviews and questionnaire surveys.The results show that:(1)the founders both possess commonly acknowledged entrepreneurial characteristics including confidence,administration,contingency,diligence,etc.,but they also possess distinct personal characteristics such as not good at dealing with interpersonal difficulties;(2)family background,educational experience,critical life event,personal value,and personal management concept all influence to different extents the formation and development of the founders' management orientation;(3)the formation and development of the top management teams' management orientation are influenced by the founders' management orientation characteristics and personalities,as well as characteristics of the industry.
Discussion Leader Comments

As educators in Marketing, we all strive to create learning experiences which are challenging, dynamic, interesting and most importantly, capable of promoting learning on the part of our students. Through the research presented in this session&s papers, one can enhance their repertoire of effective teaching techniques and look at evidence of those factors that might make a difference and those variables that do not make a difference when teaching marketing courses. The papers span the marketing curriculum with specific applications in marketing principles, professional selling, consumer behavior and services marketing. Although three of the papers apply to higher education, we are presented with a rare view of marketing services, more specifically financial services in a Kindergarten to 8th grade application.
‘Lift as You Rise,’ 1934–40

Following his wife’s death, Alfred Xuma, now 41, faced new challenges. Foremost among his responsibilities were providing for his children as a single parent and attending to his growing medical practice. But his sense of duty did not end with his family or his profession. By the mid-1930s, the escalating financial crises at Wilberforce Institute began to claim more and more of Xuma’s time. Unwilling to see the AME Church’s experiment in African self-help end in failure, Xuma launched a concerted effort to keep the Institute solvent. Perhaps most important, Xuma began to feel a greater needto define and defend African interests in the public arena. The threat of harsher segregationist legislation - looming ever larger after 1934 would bring Xuma deeper into politics than ever before.
A Modest Definition

In the previous chapter, I argued in favor of three assumptions about natural kinds and against several others. The three principles that survived scrutiny are what I called the induction, science, and domain relativity assumptions — respectively (1) that natural kinds support inductive inferences, (2) that natural kinds are the categories suited for scientific enquiry, and (3) that a kind is natural only relative to a specific domain of enquiry. In this chapter, I sketch a conception of natural kinds that fits these constraints.