cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunoglobulin Synthesis in the Rat

The synthesis of immunoglobulin consists of a complex series of cellular and molecular reactions beginning soon after the injection of a specific antigen. It is established with some certainty that antigen, following administration, is taken up by macrophages and processed by these cells. A stimulus is then transmitted in a still undetermined manner to immunocompetent, undifferentiated reticular cells. These begin dividing very rapidly and give rise to differentiated lymphoid cells which are the main antibody producers. The serum antibody titer begins to rise around the third day after primary immunization, reaches a peak by the end of the first week, and then declines slowly. A second injection of antigen is followed by a more rapid rise and a slower decline of antibody titer [1–4].
Compromise and religious freedom

Compromise is surprisingly common in the context of religious freedom. In Holt v. Hobbs, for example, a Muslim prison inmate challenged his prison’s no-beards policy on religious freedom grounds. He proposed, and was eventually granted, a compromise that allowed him to grow a half-inch beard rather than the full beard normally required by his beliefs. Some have argued that such a compromise is inconsistent with the purpose of religious freedom, which is to guard against interference with an individual’s religious practices. Accepting a compromise, after all, may require a significant modification to one’s default practices. But this paper argues that compromise can be appropriate if the purpose of religious freedom is to foster the inclusion and acceptance of all people in a diverse political community. Moreover, the benefits of compromise may lend support to the inclusion-based conception of religious freedom as against the more traditional non-interference conception.
Familiarity with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP) and Differentiation of Upper Body Gait Characteristics between Children with HSP and Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy.

The aim of this two-part, prospective study was to determine therapist familiarity with HSP and examine diagnostic accuracy between individuals with HSP and those with Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Pal...
Is the full sternotomy in cardiac surgery still the preferred approach

Background There is increasing interest and patient demand for minimally invasive cardiac surgery. Aim We aimed to assess the safety and possibilities of such techniques and debated whether it would become the standard procedure. Patients and methods Since February 2013 till June 2019, 696 patients underwent variations of cardiac surgery procedures; of them, 456 patients underwent thoracoscopic minimally invasive mitral and tricuspid valve surgery; 65 patients underwent double valve replacement, and of them, 17 underwent concomitant tricuspid valve repair through upper mini-sternotomy; 88 patients underwent aortic valve replacement through upper mini-sternotomy; five cases underwent Bentall procedure through upper mini-sternotomy; five cases underwent atrial septal defect closure via thoracoscopic right mini-thoracotomy; three cases underwent excision of left atrial myxoma; one case underwent concomitant thoracoscopic mitral valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting; and 73 cases underwent coronary artery bypass grafting via right submammary incision, and of them 10 cases underwent hybrid technique. Results The procedure was successfully performed in all. Conversion rate to full sternotomy was 0% and to mini-thoracotomy procedure was 10 (1.4%) patients. Hospital mortality was seen in four (0.5%) patients, re-exploration for bleeding was done in four (0.5%) patients, and superficial wound infection was seen in 20 (2.8%) patients. Graft failure occurred in one patient who needed redo-operation, and one patient needed to lengthen the Left Internal Thoracic Artery (LIMA) with a composite vein graft. Conclusion Thoracoscopic minimally invasive mitral valve surgery and limited sternotomy incisions can be performed safely but definitely requires a learning curve. Good results and a high patient satisfaction are guaranteed. There is increased patient demand and popularity for such techniques in Egypt. Patient selection at the start of the program is essential. The progress is more rapid and promising, and by the end of this decade, there is strong possibility of becoming the standard procedure in cardiac surgery.
Summertime Sadness: Hot Weather Causes Worse Flight and Train Performance

Despite the well-known fact that flights and trains are likely to be delayed or cancelled due to bad weather, the impact of high temperature is less explored. In this study, I empirically analyze the relationship between hot weather and flight and train performances. With detailed data from performance archives and weather stations, I use flight cancellation, delay and landing performance, and train cancellation and delay as outcome variables. Under an event study design, I compare performances on the hottest days with those on the neighbor days. I find extreme heat events cause flights departing on that day experiences 17% longer arrival delay, 3-6% longer landing time and 11-15% higher possibility of flight cancellation, and 13-22% longer train delay. I also find heterogeneous responses by locations' baseline temperature and operating companies. Relying on the plausibly exogenous variation in temperature, I quantify the nonlinear relationship of temperature on performances. Potential mechanisms of heat impacts include worse catch-up performances of flights, longer take-off time gaps, higher equipment-related accidents in the railway system. My findings help to understand the vulnerability of aviation and railway system to the changing environmental conditions and expand the cost of climate change.
Brief announcement: distributed synthesis of fault-tolerance

Synthesis algorithms usually suffer from two factors of time and space complexity. In order to overcome the time complexity problem, several approaches have been proposed in the literature to incrementally add properties to existing verified programs (e.g., [1]). In order to overcome the space explosion problem, recently, an increasing interest in parallel and distributed techniques has emerged in the model checking community (e.g., [2, 3]). Such techniques parallelize the state space of a given model over a network or cluster of workstations and run a distributed model checking algorithm over the parallelized state space. On the other hand, the space explosion problem is still unaddressed in the context of automated program synthesis.
Detention Decisions and Access to Habeas Corpus for Immigrants Facing Deportation

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decisions on the legal rights of “enemy combatants,” this Article highlights the continuing problems of immigration detainees and their lack of access to adequate judicial process. Based on the author’s extensive research into habeas corpus actions aled by inmates in the Oakdale Federal Detention Facility, this Article explores the consequences of limiting habeas actions to courts in the territorial site of the prison. Because the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana refuses to issue stays of removal, detainees are deported before their habeas actions can be judged on the merits, and consequently are denied an adequate remedy for illegal government action.
Wallowing in the Wastebin

Theories on the Scrap Heap . Scientists and Philosophers on the Falsification, Rejection, and Replacement of Theories. By John Losee . University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA, 2005. 216 pp. $24.95. ISBN 0-8229- 5873-2. Using excerpts from the writings of researchers and philosophers, the author considers questions about the falsification, rejection, and replacement of scientific theories.
Denegaciones metalingüísticas y existenciales negativos

In his "Existenciales negativos como denagaciones metalinguisticas" (Garcia 2012) Eduardo Garcia presents a metalinguistic approach to negative existentials, and he argues against the dynamic correction proposal (Clapp 2008). Here I argue that Garcia's proposal is attractive because it satisfies an important criterion that many approaches to negative existentials do not satisfy. However, I also argue that Garcia has made neither a persuasive case against the dynamic correction proposal, nor a persuasive case in favor of his metalinguistic proposal.
Movie Reviews and Revenues: An Experiment in Text Regression

We consider the problem of predicting a movie's opening weekend revenue. Previous work on this problem has used metadata about a movie---e.g., its genre, MPAA rating, and cast---with very limited work making use of text about the movie. In this paper, we use the text of film critics' reviews from several sources to predict opening weekend revenue. We describe a new dataset pairing movie reviews with metadata and revenue data, and show that review text can substitute for metadata, and even improve over it, for prediction.
Cleavage and Gastrulation in Sea Urchin

Cleavage in the sea urchin initially is highly stereotypic and during this time cells are specified transcriptionally to obtain unique molecular identities. A complex series of intercellular signals assist in this diversification of the cells and coordinate their location in the blastula stage embryo. Once the cells are programmed by these early nuclear events the process of gastrulation follows. Gastrulation is characterized by a dramatic morphogenetic rearrangement of cells to form the basic body plan of the organism. In the sea urchin embryo gastrulation occurs in two phases: ingression of the skeletogenic cells and then invagination of the archenteron or the primitive gut. Key Concepts: Cleavage is the stage encompassing the earliest cell divisions after fertilization during which cells divide without an increase in embryo mass. During cleavage, in each cell a combination of transcription factors and signalling between cells establishes gene regulatory networks. Gene regulatory network states become different in subpopulations of cleaving cells through asymmetric signaling and/or asymmetric inheritance of cytoplasmic determinants, and this process is causal for cell diversification. Gastrulation in the sea urchin embryo involves two separable morphogenetic processes: ingression of primary mesenchyme cells and invagination of the archenteron, or the primitive gut. As a consequence of gastrulation, cells of the embryo are rearranged to establish the early body plan of the larval stage. Most sea urchin embryos develop indirectly. That is, embryogenesis leads to a feeding larval stage, and the larva later metamorphoses into a juvenile, which grows into an adult. Keywords: cleavage; blastula; gastrula; sea urchin; specification; cell fate
Prospective memory tasks related to goals and concerns are rated as more important by both young and older adults

There has been little research on variables that affect importance ratings for real prospective memory tasks (e.g., remembering to take medications). Our primary purpose was to test a claim in the motivational-cognitive model of prospective memory, namely that prospective memory tasks highly related to a person’s goals and concerns will be rated as more important. We also tested whether this relationship held in both young and older adults. A secondary purpose was to investigate age-related differences in the perceived importance of prospective memory tasks. Older adults and two younger adult groups completed a questionnaire that assessed current prospective memory tasks, their importance, and whether the tasks were related to participants’ goals and concerns. As predicted, participants provided higher importance ratings for prospective memory tasks that were highly relevant to their personal goals or concerns, and this was true for both young and older adults. Task importance ratings did not differ for older adults and young college students; however, young nonstudents rated their prospective memory tasks as less important than the other two groups. In all three groups, females gave higher prospective memory task importance ratings than males. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the importance of a prospective memory task is partly determined by its goal-relatedness. This newly demonstrated link suggests important avenues for future research, including research on the mechanisms through which goals improve prospective memory performance.
Do Undergraduates and MBAs Differ Online?: Initial Conclusions From the Literature:

To date, online learning research in business and management education generally assumes that degree program level does not affect effective online learning practice. However, the few studies that have examined both undergraduate and graduate business students have found differences in the learning outcomes of those groups. Because research samples tend to be exclusively either graduate or undergraduate students, researchers and practitioners of online business education are left to speculate regarding potential differences between these student populations. This article reviews the online business and management education literature and proposes differences between undergraduate and graduate business students and courses based on student and instructor characteristics, course design characteristics, technological characteristics, and preferences for and performance in courses delivered at least partially online, relative to classroom-based courses. Some of the primary conclusions from the review are that...
Increased Incidence of Neuroleptic-Induced Perioral Movements in the Rat by Hyperglycemia

It has been suggested that Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is associated with abnormal glucose metabolism. To investigate further the issue the effects of alloxan-induced hyperglycemia on the incidence and severity of haloperidol-induced perioral movements were studied in the rat. Hyperglycemic rats showed significantly higher incidence and severity of rating of abnormal perioral movements than did control rats. Severity ratings of perioral movements were significantly correlated with blood glucose levels in the hyperglycemic rats. These findings suggest that hyperglycemia may increase the severity of neuroleptic-induced perioral movements, and support the possibility that glucose intolerance may increase the risk of TD.
A Guide to Generating and Using hiPSC Derived NPCs for the Study of Neurological Diseases

Post-mortem studies of neurological diseases are not ideal for identifying the underlying causes of disease initiation, as many diseases include a long period of disease progression prior to the onset of symptoms. Because fibroblasts from patients and healthy controls can be efficiently reprogrammed into human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), and subsequently differentiated into neural progenitor cells (NPCs) and neurons for the study of these diseases, it is now possible to recapitulate the developmental events that occurred prior to symptom onset in patients. We present a method by which to efficiently differentiate hiPSCs into NPCs, which in addition to being capable of further differentiation into functional neurons, can also be robustly passaged, freeze-thawed or transitioned to grow as neurospheres, enabling rapid genetic screening to identify the molecular factors that impact cellular phenotypes including replication, migration, oxidative stress and/or apoptosis. Patient derived hiPSC NPCs are a unique platform, ideally suited for the empirical testing of the cellular or molecular consequences of manipulating gene expression.
Digital microbiology: detection and classification of unknown bacterial pathogens using a label-free laser light scatter-sensing system

The majority of tools for pathogen sensing and recognition are based on physiological or genetic properties of microorganisms. However, there is enormous interest in devising label-free and reagentless biosensors that would operate utilizing the biophysical signatures of samples without the need for labeling and reporting biochemistry. Optical biosensors are closest to realizing this goal and vibrational spectroscopies are examples of well-established optical label-free biosensing techniques. A recently introduced forward-scatter phenotyping (FSP) also belongs to the broad class of optical sensors. However, in contrast to spectroscopies, the remarkable specificity of FSP derives from the morphological information that bacterial material encodes on a coherent optical wavefront passing through the colony. The system collects elastically scattered light patterns that, given a constant environment, are unique to each bacterial species and/or serovar. Both FSP technology and spectroscopies rely on statistical machine learning to perform recognition and classification. However, the commonly used methods utilize either simplistic unsupervised learning or traditional supervised techniques that assume completeness of training libraries. This restrictive assumption is known to be false for real-life conditions, resulting in unsatisfactory levels of accuracy, and consequently limited overall performance for biodetection and classification tasks. The presented work demonstrates preliminary studies on the use of FSP system to classify selected serotypes of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in a nonexhaustive framework, that is, without full knowledge about all the possible classes that can be encountered. Our study uses a Bayesian approach to learning with a nonexhaustive training dataset to allow for the automated and distributed detection of unknown bacterial classes.
The ecology of the prosthodontic problem.

The results of two controlled studies dealing with the effect of diet and nutrition on denture tolerance were analyzed. Diet supplementation with protein and trace minerals and reduction in refined carbohydrate intake can increase denture tolerance.
A nucleotide analogue induced gain of function corrects the error-prone nature of human DNA polymerase iota

Y-family DNA polymerases participate in replication stress and DNA damage tolerance mechanisms. The properties that allow these enzymes to copy past bulky adducts or distorted template DNA can result in a greater propensity for them to make mistakes. Of the four human Y-family members, human DNA polymerase iota (hpol ι) is the most error-prone. In the current study, we elucidate the molecular basis for improving the fidelity of hpol ι through use of the fixed-conformation nucleotide North-methanocarba-2′-deoxyadenosine triphosphate (N-MC-dATP). Three crystal structures were solved of hpol ι in complex with DNA containing a template 2′-deoxythymidine (dT) paired with an incoming dNTP or modified nucleotide triphosphate. The ternary complex of hpol ι inserting N-MC-dATP opposite dT reveals that the adenine ring is stabilized in the anti orientation about the pseudo-glycosyl torsion angle, which mimics precisely the mutagenic arrangement of dGTP:dT normally preferred by hpol ι. The stabilized anti conformati...
Identifying appropriate journals in which to publish original research on vaccines against human infectious diseases

The most effective way of communicating new research findings is by publishing them in a peer-reviewed journal which is widely read and highly respected. To ensure that important new data are shared with the appropriate audience in a timely manner, a number of important considerations need to be taken into account when choosing a suitable journal. This article provides an analysis of journals which publish original articles describing studies of vaccines against human infectious diseases. A search of PubMed identified over 80 journals which recently published vaccine-related studies. These journals were filtered according to impact factor and number and percentage of vaccine-related studies published from 2006 to 2010, resulting in a core of 32 journals which frequently publish studies of vaccines against human infectious diseases. A survey was then undertaken to gather additional information with respect to acceptance rate, average time needed from manuscript submission to acceptance and from acceptance ...
A new inequality for symmetric functions

Let xi ≥ 0, yi ≥ 0 for i = 1,…, n; and let aj(x) be the elementary symmetric function of n variables given by aj(x) = ∑1 ≤ ii < … <ij ≤ nxii … xij. Define the partical ordering x <y if aj(x) ≤ aj(y), j = 1,… n. We show that x $y ⇒ xα$yα, 0 $α ≤ 1, where {xα}i = xαi. We also give a necessary and sufficient condition on a function f(t) such that x <y ⇒ f(x) <f(y). Both results depend crucially on the following: If x <y there exists a piecewise differentiable path z(t), with zi(t) ≥ 0, such that z(0) = x, z(1) = y, and z(s) <z(t) if 0 ≤ s ≤ t ≤ 1.
Congress Passes Incremental Healthcare Reform

After 4 long years of congressional debate, which generated thousands of pages of hearing records and dozens of healthcare reform proposals (some so comprehensive they would have provided “single-payer” universal coverage), Congress passed a new law simply addressing medical insurance coverage. This August, President Clinton signed into law the Health Insurance Reform Act of 1996. Although it was limited in scope, the bipartisan initiative barely survived months of political infighting over a number of its provisions. With negotiators bogged down in details and passage appearing extremely doubtful, early this past summer a group of voluntary health organizations, including the American Heart Association, came forward to help jump start the process. In a letter to key congressional negotiators the group stated, “. . . on behalf of the millions of men, women and children with chronic disease and/or disabilities, [we] urge Congress not to let the …
Approximating the k-multicut problem

We study the k-multicut problem: Given an edge-weighted undirected graph, a set of l pairs of vertices, and a target k ≤ l, find the minimum cost set of edges whose removal disconnects at least k pairs. This generalizes the well known multicut problem, where k = l. We show that the k-multicut problem on trees can be approximated within a factor of 8/3 + e, for any fixed e > 0, and within O(log2n log log n) on general graphs, where n is the number of vertices in the graph.For any fixed e > 0, we also obtain a polynomial time algorithm for k-multicut on trees which returns a solution of cost at most (2 + e) · OPT, that separates at least (1 - e) · k pairs, where OPT is the cost of the optimal solution separating k pairs.Our techniques also give a simple 2-approximation algorithm for the multicut problem on trees using total unimodularity, matching the best known algorithm [8].
Using space to talk and gesture about numbers:: Evidence from the TV News Archive

This paper examines naturally occurring gestures produced in descriptions of numbers and quantities in television newscasts. The results of our analysis show that gestures reveal the metaphorical and spatial nature of numerical thinking. That is, speakers’ hands mimic known spatial mappings between space and quantity, including horizontal mappings (smaller quantities left, larger quantities right), vertical mappings (smaller quantities down, larger quantities up) and size-based mappings (smaller quantities “small”, larger quantities “large”). Speakers frequently switch between these different spatial mappings, and they sometimes combine them within the same gesture. This points to the flexibility of how metaphors can become expressed in gesture, and how domains such as number and quantity can be conceptualized through multiple compatible source domains.
Complaints of Loss of Personal Memories After Electroconvulsive Therapy: Evidence of a Somatoform Disorder?

This selective review considers the rare complaints of the loss of personal memories after successful courses of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which are best characterized as somatoform disorders, rather than as evidence of brain damage, thus warranting psychological treatment for such disorders.
Low-Energy Proton Damage Effects in Silicon Surface-Barrier Detectors

In order to predict the useful lifetime of semiconductor detectors which operate in the Earth's trapped radiation belts, the effects of damage by 50 keV, 200 keV, 600 keV and 1 MeV protons on silicon, surface-barrier, transmission detectors have been studied for fluences from 1010 to 1014 protons/cm2. Detector current, noise and capacitance increased with fluence with significant increases occurring after 1013 protons/cm2. Bias-voltage-dependent multiple peaking was observed with Am-241 alpha particles. The effects of damage by protons with these low energies are significantly reduced in transmission detectors if the protons enter the rear, aluminum contact rather than the front, gold contact.
Generalized disruption of inherited genomic imprints leads to wide-ranging placental defects and dysregulated fetal growth

Monoallelic expression of imprinted genes, including ones solely expressed in the placenta, is essential for normal placental development and fetal growth. To better understand the role of placental imprinting in placental development and fetal growth, we examined conceptuses developing in the absence of maternally derived DNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase 1o (DNMT1o). Absence of DNMT1o results in the partial loss of methylation at imprinted differentially methylated domain (DMD) sequences in the embryo and the placenta. Mid-gestation E9.5 DNMT1o-deficient placentas exhibited structural abnormalities of all tissue layers. At E17.5, all examined placentas had aberrant placental morphology, most notably in the spongiotrophoblast and labyrinth layers. Abnormalities included an expanded volume fraction of spongiotrophoblast tissue with extension of the spongiotrophoblast layer into the labyrinth. Many mutant placentas also demonstrated migration abnormalities of glycogen cells. Additionally, the volume fraction of the labyrinth was reduced, as was the surface area for maternal fetal gas exchange. Despite these placental morphologic abnormalities, approximately one-half of DNMT1o-deficient fetuses survived to late gestation (E17.5). Furthermore, DNMT1o-deficient placentas supported a broad range of fetal growth. The ability of some DNMT1o-deficient and morphologically abnormal placentas to support fetal growth in excess of wild type demonstrates the importance of differential methylation of DMDs and proper imprinting of discrete gene clusters to placental morphogenesis and fetal growth.
Similarity solutions to some non-linear impact problems

Abstract Impact and wave propagation problems are considered for nonlinearly viscous and nonlinearly elastic materials. The governing partial differential equations are reduced to ordinary differential equations by means of similarity transformations. The resulting non-linear two point boundary value problems are then, in general, integrated numerically, although some closed form solutions are presented.
African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice. By Garth Myers

(2012). African Cities: Alternative Visions of Urban Theory and Practice. By Garth Myers. Geographical Review: Vol. 102, No. 2, pp. 264-265.
Axicon-based annular laser trap for studies on sperm activity

As a powerful and noninvasive tool, laser trapping has been widely applied for the confinement and physiological study of biological cells and organelles. Researchers have used the single spot laser trap to hold individual sperm and quantitatively evaluated the motile force generated by a sperm. Early studies revealed the relationship between sperm motility and swimming behavior and helped the investigations in medical aspects of sperm activity. As sperm chemotaxis draws more and more interest in fertilization research, the studies on sperm-egg communication may help to explain male or female infertility and provide exciting new approaches to contraception. However, single spot laser trapping can only be used to investigate an individual target, which has limits in efficiency and throughput. To study the chemotactic response of sperm to eggs and to characterize sperm motility, an annular laser trap with a diameter of several hundred microns is designed, simulated with ray tracing tool, and implemented. An axicon transforms the wavefront such that the laser beam is incident on the microscope objective from all directions while filling the back aperture completely for high efficiency trapping. A trapping experiment with microspheres is carried out to evaluate the system performance. The power requirement for annular sperm trapping is determined experimentally and compared with theoretical calculations. With a chemo-attractant located in the center and sperm approaching from all directions, the annular laser trapping could serve as a speed bump for sperm so that motility characterization and fertility sorting can be performed efficiently.
Biosonar acoustic images for target localization and classification by bats

Echolocating bats use sonar to guide interception of insects, recognize objects by shape, and even track prey in clutter. Broadcasts of the big brown bat are 0.5 to 20 ms FM signals in the 20-100 kHz ultrasonic band. Insects consist of several reflecting glints, each equivalent in cross- section to a small sphere of 2 mm to 2 cm radius, while clutter is typically composed of numerous glints distributed over a large volume. The bats' signals extend in space for many target lengths, while ka values for each glint are 0.5 to 30 across the broadcast band. Bats perceive acoustic images having echo delay as their primary dimension, and space is perceived in terms of the distribution of target glints in range. Range disparities between the ears provide two 'looks' at each target from slightly different locations as well as information about azimuth. The bats auditory system encodes the FM sweeps of broadcasts and echoes as linear-period spectrograms with integration-times of 300-400 micrometers . Bats nevertheless perceive individual glints in targets for echo-delay separations well inside the integration-time window. Deconvolution is achieved by spectrogram correlation in the time domain and spectral shape transformation in the frequency-domain, with all output evidently being displayed in the time domina. Neural responses in the bat's auditory system seem limited in time precision to 20-50 micrometers at best and 300 microsecond(s) to 3 ms in a broader sample, and stimulus phase is thought to be lost for frequencies above 1-3 kHz. Yet bats perceive echo delay with an accuracy of 10-15 ns and have two-echo resolution of about 2 microsecond(s) . Moreover, bats perceive echo phase-shifts as the correctly corresponding shifts in echo delay. Successive images are subtracted to enhance perception of shape from multiple 'looks', and echo phase is an integral part of this critical process. Utterly novel time-scale magnification appears in the bat's neural responses to ultrasonic broadcasts and echoes, with time-stretch factors of roughly 10 to 100 that account for the bat's mysteriously high temporal acuity. Bats reconstruct time-domain features of FM broadcasts and echoes in a compact, distributed format that incorporates delay, phase, glint separation, and inter-ear delay differences along the same image dimension.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Unmanned aircraft systems integration into the national airspace

This paper examines the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Regulation Roadmap as set forth in the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 as well as the evolutionary process of relative legal framework. The paper will also explore the role of industry stakeholders and semi-governmental, advisory groups such as the RTCA SC-203 to show the involvement of non-governmental organizations. Leveraging the author's involvement with RTCA on the Safety Work Group of Special Committee 203, two processes within the context of safety will be explained and problems identified.
The Dolastatins 20. A Convenient Synthetic Route to Dolastatin 15

Abstract A segment synthetic strategy was utilized for obtaining the Dolabella auricularia (Indian Ocean sea hare) depsipeptide dolastatin 15. Reaction of protected (S)-Hiva-(S)-Phe 2c with isopropenyl chloroformate followed by Meldrum's ester, cyclization (2c → 3a) of the product in toluene and finally methylation afforded the key (S)-dolapyrrolidine (Dpy) derivative 3b. Condensation of tripeptide 8 with the three unit Dpy segment 5b followed by deprotection and coupling (diethyl phosphorocyanidate) led to dolastatin 15 in 11% overall yield. The powerful and selective activity of dolastatin 15 against the U.S. National Cancer Institute's panel of human cell lines has been summarized.
Isolated transection of the common duct

A patient with complete transection of the common bile duct after blunt trauma from a steering wheel presented with severe right-sided lower chest pain. Based on results of physical examination, blood and urine analysis and chest x-ray films, he was discharged after suture of a lip laceration. Five days later upon his return for suture removal, the appearance of jaundice and mild symptoms of abdominal distention prompted hospitalization and exploratory surgery. At surgery, avulsion of the common bile duct was the only injury. In the few previously reported cases of this injury, jaundice and mild symptoms of abdominal distention appeared three to four days after injury. The minimal findings of a potentially fatal lesion emphasize the need for securing appropriate follow-up medical care for patients with a history of blunt trauma to the chest and/or abdomen.
Biomolecular screening of formylpeptide receptor ligands with a sensitive, quantitative, high-throughput flow cytometry platform

The formylpeptide receptor (FPR) family of G protein-coupled receptors contributes to the localization and activation of tissue-damaging leukocytes at sites of chronic inflammation. Here we describe a high-throughput flow cytometry screening approach that has successfully identified multiple families of previously unknown FPR ligands. The assay detects active structures that block the binding of a fluorescent ligand to membrane FPR of intact cells, thus detecting both agonists and antagonists. It is homogeneous in that assay reagents are added in sequence and the wells are subsequently analyzed without intervening wash steps. Microplate wells are routinely processed at a rate of 40 wells per minute, requiring a volume of only 2 microl to be sampled from each. This screening approach has recently been extended to identify a high-affinity, selective agonist for the intracellular estrogen-binding G protein-coupled receptor GPR30. With the development of appropriate assay reagents, it may be generally adaptable to a wide range of receptors. The total time required for the assay ranges between 1.5 and 2.5 h. The time required for flow cytometry analysis of a 96-well plate at the end of the procedure is less than 2.5 min. By comparison, manual processing of 96 samples will typically require 40-50 min, and a fast commercial automated sampler processes 96-well plates in less than 15 min, requiring the aspiration of 22 microl per sample for an analysis volume of 2 microl.
Inhibition of cell survival signal protein kinase B/Akt by curcumin in human prostate cancer cells.

Although curcumin has been shown to inhibit prostate tumor growth in animal models, its mechanism of action is not clear. To better understand the anti-cancer effects of curcumin, we investigated the effects of curcumin on cell survival factor Akt in human prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP, PC-3, and DU-145. Our results demonstrated differential activation of Akt. Akt was constitutively activated in LNCaP and PC-3 cells. Curcumin inhibited completely Akt activation in both LNCaP and PC-3 cells. The presence of 10% serum decreased the inhibitory effect of curcumin in PC-3 cells whereas complete inhibition was observed in 0.5% serum. Very little or no activation of Akt was observed in serum starved DU-145 cells (0.5% serum). The presence of 10% serum activated Akt in DU-145 cells and was not inhibited by curcumin. Results suggest that one of the mechanisms of curcumin inhibition of prostate cancer may be via inhibition of Akt. To our knowledge this is the first report on the curcumin inhibition of Akt activation in LNCaP and PC-3 but not in DU-145 cells.
Conjugative DNA synthesis: R1162 and the question of rolling-circle replication

Strand-replacement synthesis during conjugative mating has been characterized by introducing into donor cells R1162 plasmid DNA containing a base-pair mismatch. Conjugative synthesis in donors occurs in the absence of vegetative plasmid replication, but with a lag between rounds of transfer, and with most strands being initiated at the normal site within the replicative origin. These characteristics argue against the idea that multiple plasmid copies are generated for successive rounds of transfer by rolling-circle replication. However, the R1162 relaxase protein can process molecules containing multiple transfer origins in the manner expected for the conversion of single-strand multimers, generated by rolling-circle replication, to unit-length molecules. This capability appears to be the result of a secondary cleavage reaction carried out by the protein. The possibility is raised that the processing of molecules with more than one origin of transfer might be a repair mechanism directed against adventitious DNA synthesis during transfer.
Backchaining of relaxation in the extinction of avoidance.

Abstract After rats were trained in one-way avoidance, two types of nonshock treatment were given to assess the degree to which fear of the shock area is affected by (a) nonshock responding (regular extinction trials) apart from (b) repeated exposure to the shock area in the absence of shock (response prevention). Different groups of regular extinction rats received 1 or 27 trials; response prevention control rats were equated with regular extinction rats on amount of nonshock exposure to the shock area and other variables. Fear of the shock area was measured on a posttreatment passive avoidance test. Regular extinction trials led to less fear of the shock side than response prevention trials when 27 nonshock trials were given. The results (a) suggest that relaxation back-chains from the safe to the shock area over repeated avoidance extinction trials, and (b) clarify existing problems of maintained fear with the response prevention technique.
HOME CANNING OF FOOD: EFFECT OF A HIGHER PROCESS TEMPERATURE (250°F) ON THE SAFETY OF LOW‐ACID FOODS

Processing at a higher temperature for a shorter time would be expected to have fewer degradative effects on the nutritional quality and textural properties of foodstuffs. At present 240° F (10 psig) is the most commonly used temperature for home canning, although home pressure canners can be operated at higher pressures than the currently recommended 10 psi. Accordingly, home canning at a higher pressure (15 psig) for a shorter amount of time was investigated. Process values were determined for asparagus, green beans, carrots, corn, peas, squash, beef, fish, beef stew, and green soybeans, and a mean and standard deviation calculated for each product. The mean was then compared in each case with a target process value (derived from the recommended 10 psi process time) plus one standard deviation. In each experimental run the recommended procedure (10 psi) was used as a control. At 15 psi, products which heat by convection currents require approximately l/3 of the time required at 10 psi. However, this much reduction in process time is not possible with products which heat more by conduction.
A review of motion analysis methods for human Nonverbal Communication Computing

Human Nonverbal Communication Computing aims to investigate how people exploit nonverbal aspects of their communication to coordinate their activities and social relationships. Nonverbal behavior plays important roles in message production and processing, relational communication, social interaction and networks, deception and impression management, and emotional expression. This is a fundamental yet challenging research topic. To effectively analyze Nonverbal Communication Computing, motion analysis methods have been widely investigated and employed. In this paper, we introduce the concept and applications of Nonverbal Communication Computing and also review some of the motion analysis methods employed in this area. They include face tracking, expression recognition, body reconstruction, and group activity analysis. In addition, we also discuss some open problems and the future directions of this area.
The effects of display delay on simulator sickness

Abstract The experience of simulator sickness (SS) during head-mounted display (HMD) exposure continues to be a problem. The aim of these two experiments was to examine the effect of delay on SS while viewing a real, live video scene via an HMD. An object search task was performed in both experiments. Experiment 1 examined 0 and 200 ms of delay and Experiment 2 examined 0, 145, and 300 ms of delay. SS did not differ as a function of delay. However, SS increased as duration exposure increased in both experiments. In Experiment 1, SS was greater during the first experimental session than the second. SS did not differ between those who donned an HMD and a No HMD control condition in Experiment 2. It is possible that this is due to adaptation to repeated exposure to the sickening stimulus. This adaptation could have confounded the delay effects from Experiment 1. For this reason, a second experiment with an increased intersession interval was conducted. Intersession intervals for Experiment 2 were increased to 11–14 days from 7 days in Experiment 1. However, no effect of delay or session was found in Experiment 2. These results suggested that SS does not increase as a function of delay, but exposure duration increases SS. Also, performing repetitive head movements alone may have elicited symptoms of SS. As reported by other researchers, it appears that adaptation can occur to motion sickness stimuli with intersession intervals of up to 7 days, but not with 11–14 days. Other characteristics of HMD VEs need to be examined because SS occurs and delay does not appear to be as strong of a causal factor as once thought.
A Curriculum for Learning About American Indians and Alaska Natives in Psychiatry Residency Training

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is the the third of six residency training curricula written for psychiatric educators by members of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) minority and underrepresented component committees. The first curriculum (on homosexuality) appeared in the Summer 1994 issue of Academic Psychiatry, the second curriculum (on gender and women’s issues) in the Winter 1995 issue. Commissioned by the APA Assembly, these curricula are intended to represent collectively a state-of-the-art description of psychiatric residency training regarding the needs of individuals from minority and traditionally underrepresented populations within the United States. They may be seen as a companion work to the growing body of clinically oriented volumes on the subject of the interaction of culture, ethnicity, and psychiatry. They are valuable resources and serve as guideposts for psychiatric educators. The remaining three curricula will appear in upcoming issues. A curriculum is pro posed for teaching psychiatric residents about the diagnosis and treatment of American Indians and Alaska Natives. The historical context, contemporary myths, and the rationale for the inclusion of curriculum materials on Indians in residency training are presented. The curriculum for the 4 years of residency training is then briefly described, and the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed by residents are outlined. In postgraduate year (PGY)-1 and PGY-2, the curriculum includes a basic history and description of Indian people, information on myths about the group, and psychiatric epidemiology and psychopathology. In PGY-3, information is included on clinical care, as well as on related areas such as service utilization and illness prevention. In PGY-4, a seminar is proposed in which psychotherapy and other clinical cases are discussed. (Academic Psychiatry 1996; 20:5–14)
Addition of adult‐to‐adult living donation to liver transplant programs improves survival but at an increased cost

Using outcomes data from the Adult-to-Adult Living Donor Liver Transplantation Cohort Study, we performed a cost-effectiveness analysis exploring the costs and benefits of living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). A multistage Markov decision analysis model was developed with treatment, including medical management only (strategy 1), waiting list with possible deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT; strategy 2), and waiting list with possible LDLT or DDLT (strategy 3) over 10 years. Decompensated cirrhosis with medical management offered survival of 2.0 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) while costing an average of $65,068, waiting list with possible DDLT offered 4.4-QALY survival and a mean cost of $151,613, and waiting list with possible DDLT or LDLT offered 4.9-QALY survival and a mean cost of $208,149. Strategy 2 had an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $35,976 over strategy 1, whereas strategy 3 produced an ICER of $106,788 over strategy 2. On average, strategy 3 cost $47,693 more per QALY than strategy 1. Both DDLT and LDLT were cost-effective compared to medical management of cirrhosis over our 10-year study period. The addition of LDLT to a standard waiting list DDLT program is effective at improving recipient survival and preventing waiting list deaths but at a greater cost. Liver Transpl 15:148–162, 2009. © 2009 AASLD.
Analyzing trade-offs between transportation, inventory and production costs on freight networks

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to determine optimal shipping strategies (i.e. routes and shipment sizes) on freight networks by analyzing trade-offs between transportation, inventory, and production set-up costs. Networks involving direct shipping, shipping via a consolidation terminal, and a combination of terminal and direct shipping are considered. This paper makes three main contributions. First, an understanding is provided of the interface between transportation and production set-up costs, and of how these costs both affect inventory. Second, conditions are identified that indicate when networks involving direct shipments between many origins and destinations can be analyzed on a link-by-link basis. Finally, a simple optimization method is developed that simultaneously determines optimal routes and shipment sizes for networks with a consolidation terminal and concave cost functions. This method decomposes the network into separate sub-networks, and determines the optimum analytically without the need for mathematical programming techniques.
Lucretius on Religion

Abstract A number of Enlightenment thinkers of questionable piety drew inspiration from Lucretius's philosophic poem On the Nature of Things. Contemporary atheists, in their renewed vigor, have continued the Enlightenment attack on faith. Our atheists have sought to create a tradition for themselves by claiming Lucretius as an ancient exemplar of their own impious forthrightness. This study argues that Lucretius was more fully appreciative of the necessary and salutary relationship between religion and politics and would not appreciate being co-opted by either group. A return to Lucretius may be useful in understanding the foundation of the early modern project and revealing the imprudence of modern atheism.