cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Uniaxial Draw Of Poly(aryl‐ether‐ether‐ketone) by solid‐state extrusion

Poly(aryl-ether-ether-ketone) (PEEK) films and rods have been solid-state extruded at 154 and 310°C, respectively. The crystal orientation functions, melting behavior, density, and tensile properties of the drawn PEEK films (EDR ≤ 3.7) and rods (EDR ≤ 5.5) have been measured. As extrusion draw ratio (EDR) was increased, the c-axis orientation function, melting temperature, and tensile modulus and strength increased. Moduli up to 6.5 GPa and the strengths up to 600 MPa, 3 and 6 times the values of undrawn films, respectively, were obtained for the drawn films. The thermal expansivities along (α‖) and perpendicular (α⟂) to the draw direction of PEEK rods were measured from −40 to +10°C. As EDR was increased, α⟂ increased, but α‖ decreased. At EDRs of 3.8 and 5.5, α‖ even exhibited negative values (about −5 × 10−6°C−1), probably due to reversible contraction of elongated tie-molecules.
A functional method for the conditional logistic regression with errors-in-covariates

In this article, we develop a functional approach for handling errors-in-covariates in matched case–control studies which are commonly analysed through the conditional logistic regression. We propose to estimate the parameters from a set of unbiased estimating equations. We require that the moment-generating function of the measurement errors exists. We investigate the asymptotic properties of the estimators. The finite sample performance of the method is judged via simulation studies. The proposed methodology is illustrated by analysing the data from the NIH-AARP Diet and Health study.
Metabolomics: a tool for personalizing medicine?

The concept of personalized medicine is based upon using personal genetic information to predict individual responses to drug therapy. However, environmental factors such as diet, energy status, gut microbiota, health status and age will influence the expression of one’s genetic potential. Metabolomics data from biofluid and tissue sample analysis hold information regarding a patient’s genotype and phenotype. Metabolomics data can be rapidly collected from biofluid samples over time, providing temporal metabolic analyses of patient samples. In addition to metabolic markers of a patient’s phenotype, metabolomics can provide markers of drug efficacy, toxicity and clearance.
Congenital cervicofacial venous and lymphatic malformations causing severe obstructive sleep apnea—A report of 2 pediatric cases and review of the literature

Abstract Venous malformations and lymphatic malformations of the head and neck region are uncommon causes for obstructive sleep apnea in the pediatric population. The need for treatment for these malformations depends on the location and size of lesion and associated complications such as ulceration, bleeding, or chronic airway obstruction leading to obstructive sleep apnea. Treatment options for obstructive sleep apnea include conservative approach with continuous positive airway pressure therapy, surgical excision, and sclerotherapy. Management of children with large venous or lymphatic malformations that develop severe obstructive sleep apnea often requires multidisciplinary care involving otolaryngology, sleep medicine, and interventional radiology. We report 2 pediatric cases, one with congenital lymphatic malformation and another with venous malformation causing polysomnographically confirmed severe sleep apnea and discuss their management.
Temporal, spatial, and landscape habitat characteristics of moose-vehicle collisions in Western Maine.

We analyzed moose (Alces alces)-vehicle collisions (MVCs) in western Maine, USA, from 1992 to 2005 (n 5 8,156) using Geographic Information Systems to identify patterns of temporal and spatial distribution and develop predictive models based on road and landscape characteristics. We used chi-square and correlation analyses to assess temporal characteristics of MVCs, K-function and kernel analyses to identify spatial clusters of MVCs, and logistic regression to relate covariates for traffic, land-cover, land-form, and relative moose abundance to probability of MVC. We evaluated candidate models using Akaike's Information Criterion, area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and the percentage of correctly classified observations. Most (81.6%) MVCs occurred from May to October, with peak monthly frequencies in June (18.6%). Moose-vehicle collisions were clustered spatially on roads at local (0-4 km) and regional scales (22-41 km and 45- 54 km), but not at intermediate scales. Traffic-related covariates predicting MVCs included traffic volume and speed limit. For each additional 500 vehicles/day, odds of a location being an MVC increased by 57%. For each 8-km/hr increase in speed limit, odds of an MVC increased by 35%. Landscape composition covariates best predicted MVCs within a 2.5-km radius of the collision site. Mean percent cover within 2.5 km of MVCs was comprised of 36% more cutover forest, 10% more coniferous forest, 5% less deciduous-mixed forest, and 10% less nonwoody wetland than for random points. For every 5% increase in percent cutover and coniferous forest within 2.5 km of the road, predicted odds of MVC increased by 36% and 19%, respectively. Landscape configuration covariates best predicted MVCs within the 5.0-km radius. Moose-vehicle collisions were associated with areas of less interspersion of cover types; for each 5% increase in an index of interspersion-juxtaposition, predicted odds of MVC decreased by 11%. Our final model attained high predictive power (AUC 5 0.835) and validation accuracy (75.0%). The model also proved robust to physiographic variation, exhibiting high predictive power (AUC 5 0.828) and validation accuracy (68.8%). Managers seeking to prioritize resources for reducing MVCs or predicting future areas of high MVC probability should assess land-cover composition and configuration surrounding MVC hotspots at geographic extents out to 2.5-5 km and use this information to plan expensive roadside management practices such as fencing. The importance of traffic and landscape covariates in our modeling suggests that effective management to reduce MVCs will require a complex combination of driving speed reductions and modifications to forest management along roads.
Application of a general particle system model to movement of pedestrians and vehicles

This paper discusses the development of a series of models that ultimately leads to an unusual simulation approach to modeling automated guided vehicles on a factory floor. A pedestrian model was initially created from ideas taken from some models of traffic and computer animation. The first stage of this model was a cellular automata model of pedestrians crossing a street. After a model of "beasts" was located on the internet, some modifications were made to the beast model to take advantage of the object-oriented features of the beast model to model the pedestrian scenario. Not only could the pedestrian model be integrated into a traffic simulation, but it could be extended to model robots on a factory floor. The algorithms developed for this research are an example of systems modeling in which a set of rules can be applied to a variety of systems by making simple modifications.
The Determinants of the Pakistan Islamic Banking Industry Profitability: Panel Evidence

The financial sector plays an important role in the economic and fiscal development of a country. A well-built and vigorous banking system is a precondition for the sustainable financial growth of a country. Over the past few years, Islamic banking industry of Pakistan has been facing many problems and challenges to maintain the financial stability. To overcome this issue, it is vital to classify the factors that mostly impact the overall profitability of Islamic banks in Pakistan. Two models were used alternatively for ROA and ROE as dependent variable. A set of internal factors were considered as independent variables including: bank’s size, gearing ratio, operational efficiency, asset management and capital adequacy ratio for the time period 2006-2013. The results indicate that different measures of profitability depend upon different bank specific factors. The study found that profitability of Islamic banks depends on the leverage ratio, operating efficiency, asset management and bank size. Further research can be extended to explore the above findings and to include some other internal factors such as general bank charges, doubtful loans or reserves ratios, and external factor such as GDP, exchange rate and CPI as well.
The PI3K pathway: clinical inhibition in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Constitutive or mutational activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase, or PI3K, has been implicated in many cancers, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The δ isoform of the p110 catalytic subunit of PI3K has its primary physiologic function in B cells and appears to be the predominant mediator of most PI3K signals in CLL cells. Idelalisib is a first-in-class inhibitor of the PI3K delta isoform that shows near complete inhibition of AKT phosphorylation in CLL cells in vitro and in vivo. Idelalisib shows the classic pattern of response to BCR inhibition in CLL, with rapid nodal response and transient increase in lymphocytosis. The phase I study established the recommended dose as 150 mg twice per day. Subsequent registration trials have focused predominantly on antibody combinations, leading to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of idelalisib with rituximab for relapsed CLL patients for whom rituximab is appropriate therapy in summer 2014. The median progression-free survival (PFS) of idelalisib-rituximab in this heavily pretreated CLL population with multiple comorbidities and frequent 17p deletion was an impressive 19.4 months. The success of idelalisib has paved the way for the development of other PI3K inhibitors in CLL, including duvelisib and TGR-1202, which are in or moving toward registration trials.
S1.2 Applying semen biomarkers to HIV/STI research

Research on the prevention of HIV/STIs generally has relied on self reports of sexual activity, which are vulnerable to bias. Self-reported data on sexual behaviours could have poor validity for several reasons, namely social desirability bias, recall bias, lack of awareness of exposure (eg, undetected condom breakage), and poor comprehension or misinterpretations of the survey questions. This presentation will briefly describe biomarkers of semen exposure, in particular, prostate-specific antigen detected in vaginal fluid, and will give examples of the ways in which biomarkers could be used to strengthen research on (1) effectiveness of barrier methods against HIV/STIs; (2) effectiveness of behavioural interventions to prevent HIV/STIs; (3) condom “migration” from HIV/STI interventions; (4) the validity of self-reported data; and (5) methods to improve the validity of self-reported data. Limitations of biomarkers include their narrow scope, cost, relatively quick clearance, and unknown biological significance of biomarker levels in relation to risk of HIV/STIs. Finally, examples of future areas of research will be provided.
Application of Systemic Insecticides as Seed Treatment to Protect Wheat Plants against Grasshoppers and Wheat Stem Sawfly

Different methods of seed treatment and coatings were tested in the greenhouse and field to reduce the phytotoxie effect of two systemic insecticidcs, phorate and Di-Syston® ( O,O -diethyl S -[2-(ethylthio)ethyl] phosphorodithioate) applied to wheat seed. The seed was sprayed as it was tumbled in a drum, poured down a chute, or wetted with an acetone solution. The objectives were prevention of fall damage to winter wheat seedlings by grasshoppers and control of wheat stem sawfly larvae, Cephus cinctus Norton, in the stems of spring wheat. When used as stickers, rice and fish oils, glycerin, and acetone were found particularly detrimental to stands. The best stands were obtained from seed treated by the chute method, and when the insecticide was applied in a second coating of the proprietary compound Seed-Coat (a methyl cellulose formulation). In a small, replicated field experiment no significant difference was noted between the stand from untreated seed and that from seed treated with phorate at the rate of 1.5 Ib per cwt. In larger field tests stands of 82 to 101% of the check were obtained from seed treated at the rate of 0.5 Ib of phorate per cwt. Satisfactory stands were obtained also from treatments in which Plyac (polyethylene wax) was used, but toxicity to grasshoppers was greatly reduced. Treatments in which coatings of Wallpole solution (polyvinyl acetate), hydroxyethyl cellulose, or methyl cellulose were used appeared promising, but these were not applied by the chute method. In a test with different varieties it appeared that the germinating ability of the seed was a more important factor than its morphology in withstanding the adverse effects of the insecticide. The age of seed, excessive quantities of coating materials, soils with high silt and clay content, and adverse weather contributed to reduced stands from treated seed. When phytotoxicity was not a factor, one drill width of treated seed planted at the rate of 55 Ib per acre give economic protection against moderately severe grasshopper population but did not prove 100% effective. The best stands obtained were sufficiently near normal to allow use of the seed-treatment method against wheat stem sawfly provided toxicity could be retained beyond the oviposition period.
Clinical observation of salvia miltiorrhiza and ligustrazine injection solution in the treatment of cerebral thrombosis

Objective To analyze the effect of salvia miltiorrhiza and ligustrazine injection solution in the treatment of patients with cerebral thrombosis/vertebrobasilar ischemia.Methods The clinical data of 60 patients with cerebral thrombosis/vertebrobasilar ischemia treated in our hospital from April 2008 to October 2009 were retrospectively analyzed.The cases were randomly divided into treatment group(32 cases) treated with salvia miltiorrhiza and ligustrazine injection solution and control group(28 cases) treated with Xuesaitong.Results Obvious relief of symptoms reached 90.6% in treatment group while it was only 78.6% in control group indicating salvia miltiorrhiza and ligustrazine injection solution can effectively improve the flow velocity of vertebral artery and basilar artery.Conclusion Salvia miltiorrhiza and ligustrazine injection solution is effective for the treatment of vertebrobasilar ischemia.
Intensity-dependent excitations in the quasicontinua of polyatomic molecules

A recent picosecond laser study1 of the quasicontinuum (QC) of C2F5CI showed that the absorption process could be characterized as predominantly intensity dependent, contrary to generally believed fluence dependence of excitation in the QC. The small-signal absorption cross section σ0 also showed a considerable increase with decreasing pulse duration. We report here a systematic study of similar observations in C3F7I and SF6.
Placenta previa: A functional classification and a report on 408 cases☆

Abstract 1. 1. The placental overlay method of classification was applied to 408 patients who had placenta previa. The pregnancy was concluded successfully in 73 per cent of the group. 2. 2. Knowledge of the extent of placental overlay as determined by this classification was not proved to be helpful in the management of the patient whose fetus was alive and weighed at least 2,000 grams. 3. 3. The perinatal salvage rate for patients with placenta previa was highest when delivery was accomplished by cesarean section. For this reason, we believe that when the fetus is alive and weighs more than 2,000 grams vaginal delivery is seldom the procedure of choice. 4. 4. The rate of fetal growth was not affected significantly by the presence or extent of placenta previa.
Accretion by the companion

Matter that leaves the surface of one component of a binary can be partly or wholly accreted by the companion. We have seen that the loser could be losing mass either by RLOF or by stellar wind, perhaps binary-enhanced; the accretion process has even more options, and these are modelelled with even less confidence. A major reason why the accretion process can be more complex than the mass-loss process is that gainers can have a very wide range of radii, from black holes and neutron stars (at ∼3–30 km) to white dwarfs (∼10 4 km) to normal dwarfs (∼0.1–10 Gm), and even occasionally to sub-giants (∼3–30 Gm) or giants (≳10–30 Gm); whereas the loser is usually only in the last three of these categories. Not only does the available energy of the accreted material vary (inversely) over the same range, but also different physical forces (magnetic, viscous, rotational, gravitational) may dominate at different radii from the gainer. The study of accretion is one of the most active areas in stellar astrophysics. Phenomena, often dramatic, are observed to happen on timescales ranging upwards from milliseconds. This book will not attempt to cover the ground in detail – partly for lack of space, but also because this book is intended to concentrate on the long-term evolution of binaries rather than on their short-term behaviour. For a fuller treatment the reader is referred to some standard works: Lewin and van den Heuvel (1983), Frank et al. (2002).
Pandaź: A generic and scalable framework for predictive spatio-temporal queries

Predictive spatio-temporal queries are crucial in many applications. Traffic management is an example application, where predictive spatial queries are issued to anticipate jammed areas in advance. Also, location-aware advertising is another example application that targets customers expected to be in the vicinity of a shopping mall in the near future. In this paper, we introduce Panda?, a generic framework for supporting spatial predictive queries over moving objects in Euclidean spaces. Panda? distinguishes itself from previous work in spatial predictive query processing by the following features: (1) Panda? is generic in terms of supporting commonly-used types of queries, (e.g., predictive range, KNN, aggregate queries) over stationary points of interests as well as moving objects. (2) Panda? employees a prediction function that provides accurate prediction even under the absence or the scarcity of the objects' historical trajectories. (3) Panda? is customizable in the sense that it isolates the prediction calculation from query processing. Hence, it enables the injection and integration of user defined prediction functions within its query processing framework. (4) Panda? deals with uncertainties and variabilities in the expected travel time from source to destination in response to incomplete information and/or dynamic changes in the underlying Euclidean space. (5) Panda? provides a controllable parameter that trades low latency responses for computational resources. Experimental analysis proves the scalability of Panda? in evaluating a massive volume of predictive queries over large numbers of moving objects.
Unmet need, survivorship concerns, and psychosocial outcomes among testicular cancer (TC) survivors.

226Background: Although some aspects of quality of life are well described among TC survivors, particularly in Europe, unmet need for symptom management, degree of survivorship concern, and their relationship to outcomes such as anxiety and depression have been unexplored among TC survivors in the U.S. Methods: Concurrent TC survivors treated > 1 year prior with no evidence of disease were recruited in a U.S. survivorship clinic. Participants completed a measure of 13 unmet needs and a 17-item scale assessing survivorship concern in follow-up care and screening, symptom management, family and genetic issues, and fear of recurrence (0-3 scale, alpha = 0.92). Anxiety and depression were assessed using the HADS. Results: Participants (N = 199) were primarily white (96%), early middle aged (M = 41 yrs), treated for Stage I (81%) or II TC (11%) with surgery (100%), chemotherapy (39%), and/or XRT (14%) an average of 7 years earlier. 11% reported hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and 16% had experienced a relap...
Habitat age influences metacommunity assembly and species richness in successional pond ecosystems

Metacommunity theory suggests that species diversity can depend upon the time since initiation of community assembly, or habitat age, as the relative influence of regional and local structuring processes changes over succession. There are, however, few studies that evaluate the role of habitat age in structuring species richness (diversity–age) over large, fine-resolution age gradients of secondary succession in metacommunities. To test theoretical predictions of diversity–age relationships in metacommunities, zooplankton species richness and composition along a successional chronosequence in beaver (Castor canadensis) ponds were evaluated. The age of ponds was determined using dendrochronology and historical photography, and ranged from 23 to 69 yr of age. A unimodal relationship between zooplankton species richness and habitat age was observed among the successional ecosystems. This hump-shaped relationship with community assembly time is congruent with theoretical predictions of species richness in metacommunities and can be explained by the increasing importance of local, relative to regional, structuring processes over successional trajectories. Observed patterns of diversity and composition responded to age-mediated effects on the local pond environment; older ponds were deeper, had lower colored dissolved organic carbon, and were permanent. Additionally, there were weak but significant dispersal effects on community composition across the region. The lack of consistent community composition by successional stage reflected variation from differences in pond nutrient availability and species dispersal. The results indicate that regional and local age-dependent structuring mechanisms operate at each successional stage on different local colonist pools and environments yielding communities that reflect succession in their richness response. Consequently, secondary succession should be considered an influential driver of species diversity across temporal and spatial scales in metacommunities.
Abstract 1919: Twist1 modulates paclitaxel-induced cancer stem cell enrichment in triple-negative breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), the most aggressive subtype of breast cancers, is highly refractory to chemotherapy and has a high incidence of metastasis and tumor relapse. Targeted therapies for TNBC do not exist because this subtype lacks druggable hormone receptors and HER2 amplification or overexpression. Although Taxane-based chemotherapy is a standard of care for TNBC treatment, paclitaxel (Taxol)-induced cancer stem cell (CSC) enrichment presents a significant challenge to the success of breast cancer treatment. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the mechanisms by which chemotherapy induces CSC enrichment in residual tumors following anticancer therapies. Here we report that Taxol-induced enrichment for CSCs correlates well with a marked upregulation of Twist1 expression in human TNBC cells. Knockdown of Twist1 inhibits the clonogenic capacity of TNBC cells in vitro and TNBC tumorigenesis in vivo. Mammosphere formation assays indicate that silencing of Twist1 greatly diminishes the tumor sphere-forming potential of breast CSCs. Furthermore, limited dilution assays and stem cell xenotransplantation reveal that knockdown of Twist1 expression decreases the frequency of CSCs by 72-fold in human TNBC cells. More importantly, we show that silencing of Twist1 blocks Taxol-induced CSC enrichment in residual tumor cells that have survived drug treatment. Together, these results demonstrate a previously unrecognized role for Twist1 in mediating Taxol-induced CSC enrichment in residual tumors of human TNBC and suggest that targeted inhibition of the Twist1 signaling pathway may represent a novel therapeutic strategy to tackle therapy-induced CSC enrichment in breast cancer treatment. Citation Format: Aimin Yang, Xiaoyuan He, Bradley A. Schulte, Steven L. Carroll, Stephen P. Ethier, Gavin Y. Wang. Twist1 modulates paclitaxel-induced cancer stem cell enrichment in triple-negative breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1919. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-1919
Three-dimensional genome architecture and emerging technologies: looping in disease.

Genome compaction is a universal feature of cells and has emerged as a global regulator of gene expression. Compaction is maintained by a multitude of architectural proteins, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and regulatory DNA. Each component comprises interlinked regulatory circuits that organize the genome in three-dimensional (3D) space to manage gene expression. In this review, we update the current state of 3D genome catalogues and focus on how recent technological advances in 3D genomics are leading to an enhanced understanding of disease mechanisms. We highlight the use of genome-wide chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) coupled with oligonucleotide capture technology (capture Hi-C) to map interactions between gene promoters and distal regulatory elements such as enhancers that are enriched for disease variants from genome-wide association studies (GWASs). We discuss how aberrations in architectural units are associated with various pathological outcomes, and explore how recent advances in genome and epigenome editing show great promise for a systematic understanding of complex genetic disorders. Our growing understanding of 3D genome architecture—coupled with the ability to engineer changes in it—may create novel therapeutic opportunities.
Factors driving natural regeneration beneath a planted urban forest

Abstract Cities around the world are investing in urban forest plantings as a form of green infrastructure. The aim is that these plantations will develop into naturally-regenerating native forest stands. However, woody plant recruitment is often cited as the most limiting factor to creating self-sustaining urban forests. As such, there is interest in site treatments that promote recruitment of native woody species and simultaneously suppress woody non-native recruitment. We tested how three, common site treatments—compost, nurse shrubs, and tree species composition (six-species vs. two-species)—affected woody plant recruitment in 54 experimental plots beneath a large-scale tree planting within a high-traffic urban park. We identified naturally regenerating seedling and sapling species and measured their abundance six-years after the site was planted. This enabled us to examine initial recruitment dynamics (i.e. seedlings) and gain a better understanding of seedling success as they transition to the midstory (i.e. saplings). Seedling and sapling recruitment (native and total) was greater in areas with higher canopy cover. The combination of the nurse shrub treatment with compost and species composition (six-species) treatments increased seedling recruitment by 47% and 156%, respectively; however, the nurse shrub treatment by itself decreased seedling recruitment by 5% and native seedling recruitment by 35%. The compost treatment alone had no effect on the total number of recruits but resulted in 76% more non-native seedlings. The sizes of these treatment effects were strongly dependent on whether the forest plantings were in open areas, versus areas with existing tree canopy, the latter condition facilitating recruitment. Our findings therefore suggest that combinations of site treatments, paired with broad canopy tree species, may be most effective for promoting regeneration of native species resulting in more self-sustaining urban forests.
Fully Coupled 3-D Hydraulic Fracture Models—Development and Validation

Abstract This chapter discusses the development and validation of a 3-D finite element formulation for modeling fluid-driven hydraulic fractures propagating in a permeable poroelastic medium. It presents a fully coupled formulation for hydraulic fracture growth that is implemented in a finite element solver using both cohesive elements and the extended finite element method (XFEM). For the implementation based on cohesive elements, fracture trajectory remains constrained to a plane. However, for the XFEM implementation, fracture trajectory becomes entirely solution-dependent. In this chapter, it is shown that the fully coupled formulation for modeling hydraulic fractures accurately reproduces referenced asymptotic solutions for zero fluid lag, variable rock and fluid properties, and fluid loss (leak-off) conditions. It is further illustrated that, in addition to matching these asymptotic solutions pertaining to short time scales, the formulation is also suitable for considering laboratory and field-scale problems of greater time and length scales. This chapter concludes by showing simulation examples of such problems including (1) a model constructed to replicate conditions of a laboratory-scale fluid injection experiment and (2) a model constructed to replicate conditions of a field-scale fluid injection test.
Regulation and mechanisms of extracellular vesicle biogenesis and secretion

EV (extracellular vesicle) biology is a rapidly expanding field. These heterogeneous membrane vesicles, which are shed from virtually all cell types, collectively represent a new dimension of intercellular communication in normal physiology and disease. They have been shown to deliver infectious and pathogenic agents to non-infected cells whereas in cancers they are thought to condition the tumor microenvironment. Their presence in body fluids and inherent capacity for systemic delivery point to their clinical promise. All of the above only intensifies the need to better understand the classification, mode of biogenesis, and contents of the different subtypes of EVs. This article focusses on vesicle subtypes labeled as exosomes and MVs (microvesicles) and discusses the biogenesis and release of these vesicles from cells.
The use of continuity in a qualitative physics

The ability to reason about a series of complex events over time is essential in analyzing physical systems. This paper discusses the role of continuity in qualitative physics and its application in a system for analyzing the behavior of Digital MOS circuits that exhibit analog behavior. The discussion begins with a brief overview of the reasoning steps necessary to perform a qualitative simulation using Temporal Qualitative (TQ) Analysis. The discussion then focuses in on the use of continuity and the relationship between quantities and their higher order derivatives in describing how physical quantities change over time.
Immediateness and Reflection

Introspectionists cannot overlook the significance of what Grote refers to as phenomenal reality. Toward the latter part of the last chapter it was stated that phenomenal reality implies immediateness and reflection. It may be said, also, that introspection implies immediateness and reflection with equal reason. Introspection implies immediateness first and reflection afterwards. Introspection, as pointed out in the previous chapter must take into account both the ‘philosophical’ and the phenomenal approaches to epistemology. Both of these approaches and introspection — as we use this last term in referring to the British Empiricists — involve both immediateness and reflection to be considered in the present chapter. Let us now look more closely at these two terms, immediateness and reflection, and the purpose of the chapter in introducing them. Let us also consider their meanings and significance in Grote’s philosophy. Last of all critical comments applicable to these terms will be made.1
The Role of the Noradrenergic System and Its Receptors in Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia

Chronic dopamine replacement therapy with levodopa in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often complicated by the emergence of deleterious motor sequelae including levodopa-induced dyskinesia (LID). The mechanism(s) underlying the pathogenesis of LID remain speculative; however, accumulating evidence has highlighted a role for the noradrenergic system. In this chapter, we evaluate the body of research that has implicated the NA system in the development and treatment of LID and discuss the following: (1) changes in the noradrenergic system originating in the locus coeruleus in the parkinsonian brain, (2) the use of experimental models with noradrenergic lesions for the investigation of LID, and (3) the efficacy of targeting noradrenergic receptors for the treatment of LID.
The Emotional Impact of Abortion

Recent controversy about who should have access to abortion has renewed claims that abortion should be looked upon as a psychologically damaging procedure.1 Before 1960 professionals held this view, believing that guilt and shame resulting from abortion would lead to serious depression and disturbance in relationships with men.2 In addition, physicians and other health professionals opposed abortion because it was not seen as a safe medical procedure, and also because it violated the Hippocratic Oath, which contained the phrase, “I will not give to a woman an instrument to produce abortion.” This prohibition was in fact supported by the high mortality rate for abortion. As medical techniques improved and resulted in a revisal of mortality rates, so that childbirth carried a greater risk than abortion, medical risk was no longer a viable argument.3 Likewise, psychological evidence has not borne out the claims that serious repercussions follow abortion.
Development of antibodies to thrombin and factor V with recurrent bleeding in a patient exposed to topical bovine thrombin

A 65 year old patient who was exposed to topical bovine thrombin during cardiac surgery developed markedly prolonged clotting times and a severe bleeding diathesis. Mixing studies with normal plasma failed to correct the clotting times. Platelet transfusions, immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory therapies were ineffective, but plasmapheresis was effective in decreasing clotting times and in the resolution of clinical bleeding events. The patient's purified IgG reacted with bovine thrombin by immunoblotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). However, the IgG reacted minimally with human thrombin. In view of the severe bleeding, a coexisting inhibitor was sought. The patient's factor V activity was 1% of normal and was not corrected by mixing with normal plasma, demonstrating the presence of an inhibitor against factor V. The patient's IgG reacted with both bovine and human factor V. Immunoblotting localized the site of antibody binding to the light chain of activated bovine factor V. Detectable amounts of bovine factor V were found in commercial bovine thrombin preparations by ELISA. The data suggest that patients exposed to topical bovine thrombin may develop antibodies to thrombin and factor V. Anti-thrombin antibodies may mask coexisting factor V inhibitors responsible for clinical bleeding.
West African Neolithic

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: Varies by region. In the Sahel and northern savanna: 4000–2000 B.P. Chronology for beginning of food production involving yams in the savanna-forest zone is unknown. Neolithic may continue until 1000 B.P. in some areas, particularly the southwest.
Metabolic & Thermoregulatory Responses to Thermal Injury

Increased heat production characterizes the metabolic response to trauma. The degree of hype metabolism correlates closely with the extent of injury, and the most extensive and sustained increase in heat production is observed in patients following thermal injury where resting metabolic rates may increase to twice normal levels. This hypermetabolism is associated with an elevation in core temperature, which is unrelated to infection and referred to as “posttraumatic fever.” This brief review will describe the thermogenic response to burn injury, define its time course, and discuss its thermoregulatory implications.
Elevated temperatures reduce discrimination between conspecific and heterospecific sexual signals

Heat waves are rapidly increasing in frequency and length around the globe. These periods of elevated temperatures are inducing extreme thermal stress in many organisms. One dramatic result of heat waves is mass mortality events, notably in birds. Although much attention is given to lethal events, little is known about how more common sublethal temperatures affect behaviour, especially in endotherms. For example, male song sparrows, Melospiza melodia atlantica, sing at lower rates at higher temperatures. We hypothesized that simulated heat waves may also reduce the ability of females to discriminate between sexual signals. We tested this hypothesis by quantifying whether female zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, responded more to conspecific song or heterospecific song while at their typical housing temperature compared to temperatures above their upper critical temperature. We collected data on how often the birds selected conspecific over heterospecific songs and how much effort the birds invested in sampling those songs using a matched-pairs design. During housing temperature trials, females preferred conspecific song compared to heterospecific song. In contrast, females no longer showed a preference for conspecific song at temperatures above their upper critical limit, although the birds invested similar effort in sampling songs in both treatments. Our findings provide the first experimental evidence that high temperatures affect female preference for a mating signal in an endotherm. Our results highlight the need for future work to investigate this overlooked effect of climate change on endotherms. Because thermoregulatory processes are phylogenetically conserved, our results generate useful predictions for future studies of heat wave effects on mating behaviours in endotherms.
The Perception of the Scope of Practice of Podiatric Medicine in a Large Teaching Hospital Demonstrated by Internal Medicine Residents and Patients.

Background: The scope of podiatric practice has changed significantly in the past couple of decades. Despite the increased quality of training, many people outside of podiatry may not realize what ...
Effective Management of Frostbite with Sympathetic Blockade

Sympathetic interruption is probably the most effective therapy for frostbite injuries. While surgical sympathectomy has been widely used, local anesthetic blockade has been neglected as a useful alternative. The purpose of this report is to emphasize the value of sympathetic blockade for the treatment of frostbite.
Shotgun Metagenomics Reveals the Benthic Microbial Community Response to Plastic and Bioplastic in a Coastal Marine Environment

Plastic is incredibly abundant in marine environments but little is known about its effects on benthic microbiota and biogeochemical cycling. This study reports the shotgun metagenomic sequencing of biofilms fouling plastic and bioplastic microcosms staged at the sediment-water interface of a coastal lagoon. Community composition analysis revealed that plastic biofilms were indistinguishable in comparison to a ceramic biofilm control. By contrast, bioplastic biofilms were distinct and dominated by sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM). Analysis of bioplastic gene pools revealed the enrichment of esterases, depolymerases, adenylyl sulfate reductases (aprBA), and dissimilatory sulfite reductases (dsrAB). The nearly 20-fold enrichment of a phylogenetically diverse polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) depolymerase suggests this gene was distributed across a mixed microbial assemblage. The metagenomic reconstruction of genomes identified novel species of Desulfovibrio, Desulfobacteraceae, and Desulfobulbaceae among the abundant SRM, and these genomes contained genes integral to both bioplastic degradation and sulfate reduction. Findings indicate that bioplastic promoted a rapid and significant shift in benthic microbial diversity and gene pools, selecting for microbes that participate in bioplastic degradation and sulfate reduction. If plastic pollution is traded for bioplastic pollution and sedimentary inputs are large, the microbial response could unintentionally affect benthic biogeochemical activities through the stimulation of sulfate reducers.
Predicting the critical outlet width of a hopper using a continuum finite element method model

Abstract In this work, the critical outlet widths (COWs) for continuous bulk solids flow predicted by Jenike's theory, the McLean correlation, Enstad's theory, and Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis are compared. The FEM predictions use a Mohr-Coulomb elasto-plastic constitutive model. Unlike Jenike's theory and the McLean correlation, Enstad's theory and the FEM model show that the COW depends on the material height. The effects of the material internal friction angle, slope of the flow function, wall friction angle, and hopper half angle on the COW predictions are explored. Comparisons to experimental COWs from the literature show that the FEM model provides, by far, the best predictions. The primary advantage of using an FEM model for COW predictions are that complex materials and hopper geometries may be simulated, where simplifying assumptions of the standard theoretical models are not valid.
Urgently Needed Culturally Diverse, Rural Special Education Teachers:

This article addresses several issues surrounding the urgent need to recruit culturally diverse, special education teachers in our rural schools. With the increase of minority students, the number ...
Diabetic strips as coulometric sensors for hydroquinone and leukocyte esterase

Abstract The activity of leukocyte esterase (LE) is a proxy for the presence of leukocytes in the diagnosis of infection, a common cause of patient morbidity and mortality. Here, the ability of commercial glucose test strips to detect hydroquinone (HQ) down to 1.0 μM was explored for the determination of LE in human synovial (joint) fluid and urine samples. To this end, the HQ-releasing substrate (HQS) for LE was synthesized and tested by chronocoulometry at a glucose strip linked to a laboratory potentiostat. The latter was used, rather than a glucometer, to improve the limit of detection. In the presence of LE in a sample, the HQS discharged HQ that was detected at a glucose strip covering a clinically relevant range from 20 μg L−1 (0.64 nM) to 750 μg L−1 LE (R2, 0.973, N = 8). Such a coulometric assay was selective with respect to human LE and required a 20-min sample incubation with HQS, which is much shorter than the current hours-long immunoassays for LE. The assay relied on a differential signal, which circumvented the interferences including those from endogenous glucose and provided a direct measure of infection regardless of the complexity of sample matrix. The scaled-up synthesis of HQS along with the wide availability of glucose strips provides a prospect for the commercialization of such an infection assay.
Low loss Gallium Oxide core/Silica cladding planar waveguide

We demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of GaO x -core/SiO 2 -cladding waveguides. Propagation losses of –0.4 ± 0.1 dB/cm, –0.3 ± 0.2 dB/cm, and –2.4 ±0.5 dB/cm are achieved for 633 nm, 1064 nm and 1550 nm. Laser-induced damage threshold of > 2.5 J/cm2 is achieved for a 250 fs pulse.
The willingness to seek help : Its role in social workers' professional commitment

Providing help to persons in need is the central theme of the social work profession. The three elements essential to this process are the person offering the assistance, the assistance itself, and the person receiving it. The focus here is on the person offering the help and to what degree that person is willing to request help when he or she needs it. Social workers differ with regard to their willingness to seek help, and this study employs a variety of research tools to explore the relevance of these differences to their commitment to the profession and to their professional advancement. The research, carried out in Israel with a sample of 180 professional social workers, found greater willingness to seek help to be directly associated with greater professional commitment and indirectly associated with enhanced upward career mobility.
Towards a New World of Externships: Introduction to Papers from Externships 4 and 5

This article contextualizes critical issues raised in the four articles about legal externships published in this symposium: private sector placements, the impact of the economic recession on law school externships, the argument for compensating students, and the power dynamics of supervisory relationships. Written with Prof. Alexander Scherr.
Reaction between reduced diphosphopyridine nucleotide and glutamate oxalacetate transaminases.

Abstract DPNH can be bound to pig heart cytoplasmic and bovine liver mitochondrial glutamate oxalacetate transaminases. The physiological function of this binding is not known, but DPNH does protect the mitochondrial enzyme from inactivation. Not only can DPNH be bound, but in the presence of ammonium ions it can be oxidized to DPN. This reaction is inhibited by phenylhydrazine. Consequently, it is believed that in this reaction a keto group which is tightly bound to the transaminase is reductively aminated. The product of the reaction other than DPN has not yet been identified. If DPNH with tritium on the B-side is incubated, then tritium is transferred from DPNH to water. While some pyridoxamine phosphate can be produced, it is produced in considerably lesser amounts than DPN. These reactions are apparently not the result of an artifact induced during the purification of the enzymes; they are quite slow and apparently take place independent of reactions between glutamate dehydrogenase and transaminase-bound pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate. Additional evidence is presented which suggests that glutamate dehydrogenase can form an enzyme-enzyme complex with the transaminase, and in the presence of DPNH (or TPNH) plus ammonium ions, glutamate dehydrogenase reacts with transaminase-bound pyridoxal phosphate to produce equal amounts of DPN (or TPN) and pyridoxamine phosphate. In the presence of DPN (or TPN), glutamate dehydrogenase reacts with transaminase-bound pyridoxamine phosphate to produce equal amounts of DPNH (or TPNH) plus pyridoxal phosphate. In these reactions glutamate dehydrogenase is apparently reacting directly with pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate. That is, these reactions are apparently not mediated by some keto or amino acid. Glutamate dehydrogenase must have direct physical contact with the transaminase for there to be interaction between the two enzymes. In the enzyme-enzyme complex, glutamate dehydrogenase is the actual catalyst and transaminase-bound pyridoxal or pyridoxamine phosphate is the substrate.
Information retrievable from an image in natural light

A most common way to store information is to encode it in the optical properties of an object and to retrieve it by viewing the object by reflected and transmitted natural (thermalized) light—or even by light emitted by the object itself—for a specified time interval. The discreteness of the radiation degrees of freedom and the statistical properties of thermal (incoherent) radiation impose limitations on the amount of the retrieved information. We derive the maximum information that can be retrieved from the object. This amount is always finite and is proportional to the area of the object, the solid angle under which the entrance pupil of the receiver is seen from the object, and the time of observation. An explicit expression for the information in the case where the information recorded by the receiver obeys Planck's spectral distribution is obtained. The amount of information per photon of recorded radiation is a universal numerical constant, independent of the parameters of observation.