cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract P613: The Effect of Metabolic Factors on Hypoxia-Induced sFlt-1 Secretion in Rat Placental Villi

Although the etiology of preeclampsia (PE) remains unclear, evidence indicates that impaired trophoblast invasion followed by placental ischemia/hypoxia promotes the release of placental anti-angiogenic factors, such as soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt-1), into the maternal circulation. sFlt-1 blocks the pro-angiogenic actions of vascular endothelial growth factor to elicit maternal endothelial dysfunction and ultimately hypertension. Obesity is a major risk factor for PE. In addition, increased circulating metabolic factors, such as leptin and insulin have been associated with PE. However, the mechanisms whereby obesity and its related metabolic factors increase the risk for the development of PE are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether chronic leptin or insulin exposure exacerbate hypoxia-induced sFlt-1 secretion from rat placental villi. In order to address this question, placental villous explants were isolated from placentas of normal pregnant rats (n=4, 3 placentas per rat) and pregnant rats treated with either leptin (0.5 mg/kg/min i.p.; n=3, 3 placentas per rat) or insulin (1.5 mU/kg/min s.c.) supplemented with 20% glucose in drinking water (n=3, 3 placentas per rat) from gestational day 14 to 19. Placental explants were then incubated for 48 h at 37 °C under normoxia (6% O2) or hypoxia (1% O2) and sFlt-1 secretion in cultured media was measured by ELISA. While hypoxia significantly enhanced sFlt-1 release of explants from normal pregnant rats compared with normoxia (3224±224 vs 4251±236 pg/mg; P
Cognition and connectomes in nondementia idiopathic Parkinson’s disease

In this study, we investigate the organization of the structural connectome in cognitively well participants with Parkinson’s disease (PD-Well; n = 31) and a subgroup of participants with Parkinson...
The Role of Janus Kinase Signaling in Graft-Versus-Host Disease and Graft Versus Leukemia

Abstract For patients with hematologic malignancies, allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (alloHCT) offers a potential curative treatment option, primarily due to an allogeneic immune response against recipient tumor cells (ie, graft-versus-leukemia [GVL] activity). However, many recipients of alloHCT develop graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), in which allogeneic immune responses lead to the damage of healthy tissue. GVHD is a leading cause of nonrelapse mortality and a key contributor to morbidity among patients undergoing alloHCT. Therefore, improving alloHCT outcomes will require treatment strategies that prevent or mitigate GVHD without disrupting GVL activity. Janus kinases (JAKs) are intracellular signaling molecules that are well positioned to regulate GVHD. A variety of cytokines that signal through the JAK signaling pathways play a role in regulating the development, proliferation, and activation of several immune cell types important for GVHD pathogenesis, including dendritic cells, macrophages, T cells, B cells, and neutrophils. Importantly, despite JAK regulation of GVHD, preclinical evidence suggests that JAK inhibition preserves GVL activity. Here we provide an overview of potential roles for JAK signaling in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic GVHD as well as effects on GVL activity. We also review preclinical and clinical results with JAK inhibitors in acute and chronic GVHD settings, with added focus on those actively being evaluated in patients with acute and chronic GVHD.
Near Equilibrium 13 C? 18 O Bonding During Inorganic Calcite Precipitation Under Chemo-Stat Conditions

We report results of ^(13)C/^(12)C, ^(18)O/^(16)O, and ^(13)C-^(18)O “clumped” isotope analyses from a series of calcite precipitation experiments from aqueous solutions under laboratory conditions. Chemo‐stat precipitation experiments were performed to synthetically form calcite from aqueous solution onto ^(43)Ca‐labeled calcite seed crystals. Formation rate was controlled during the experiments to investigate the effect of precipitation rate and temperature on ^(13)C-^(18)O bonding in calcite, where rates ranged from 10^(−6.88) to 10^(−8.20)mol m^(−2) s^(−1) at three temperatures (10, 20, and 30°C). No relation was observed between precipitation rate and ^(13)C-^(18)O bonding proportion over the range of precipitation rates used. The relation between Δ_(47) and temperature produced was comparable to calibration studies which report a relatively high sensitivity of ^(13)C-^(18)O bonding to temperature over the range investigated. Comparing solution conditions across multiple experimental data sets indicates an inverse relation between saturation state and ^(13)C-^(18)O bonding, where high super‐saturation conditions are likely to be furthest from equilibrium ^(13)C-^(18)O partitioning. Carbon fractionation between calcite and HCO-_(3(aq)) was found to be a temperature independent value of +1.6‰. The temperature‐dependent calcite‐water ^(18)O/^(16)O fractionation relation determined in this study is slightly different (larger α_(calcite-H_2O) value) than those measured in several previous investigations. Significantly, we observe a dependence of the 18O/16O isotope fractionation factor on growth rate. Taken together, these findings suggest carbonate growth in our experiments approached equilibrium more closely than previous experiments of this type, yet did not achieve full O isotope equilibrium.
The Forgetful Witness

If witnesses always told the truth and never forgot what they once knew, trials would be simpler affairs. But witnesses do, on occasion, lie, and they often forget. The technique of impeachment and the hearsay rule1 combat these weaknesses of testimony, the first permitting exposure of falsehood or faulty memory, the second barring introduction of evidence that may be based on them. Both reflect the strong reliance the adversary system places upon cross-examination.2 Impeachment is generally accomplished through cross-examination, and the policy of the hearsay rule would be much less persuasive if cross-examination's ability to distinguish accurate from inaccurate testimony were doubted.3 But while cross-examination may indeed be a powerful device, it presupposes a witness who offers testimony that can be crossed. Perhaps the greatest challenge to the cross-examiner is not the witness who purports to know what he has never known or has forgotten, but rather the witness who purports to forget what in fact he knows. When a witness says he forgets, prior statements made or adopted by him when he made no such claim offer a backup. The examiner may seek to refresh the witness's recollection with such prior statements, and if the witness finds them useful at jogging his
Pediatric Genitourinary Tumor Imaging

Wilms tumor (4 %) and neuroblastoma (8 %) make up the largest group of extracranial solid tumors of childhood. Most of these patients present before 5 years of age. Mesoblastic nephroma and stage IVS neuroblastoma are seen in children less than 1 year of age. Several other primary renal tumors may be seen in children. Adrenocortical carcinoma and pheochromocytoma are rare. The imaging features of these tumors will be shown. Rhabdomyosarcoma of the bladder will also be discussed.
Fostering Global Citizenship

Morton Deutsch wrote in 1973: “In a cooperative situation the goals are so linked that everybody ‘sinks or swims’ together, while in the competitive situation if one swims, the other must sink.” This chapter argues that, at present, global society has not yet learned to swim together, and thus risks sinking together. Global society’s psychological, social, and societal cohesion still fails to match the requirements for cooperation that it faces. Human-made concepts, practices, and institutions still have to live up to the reality of their own embeddedness in nature, as well as the fact that in an interdependent world, local conflicts diffuse and affect everyone. This chapter makes the point that it is of utmost importance that the global community learns to cooperate, so as to create a worthwhile future for the next generation. The emergence of the imagery and reality of One World represents a historic window of opportunity and hope that must be actively seized.
Mosfet Current T-Voltage Characteristics

A CMOS integrated circuit is primarily composed of MOSFET devices connected by interconnect. Thus, an understanding of the operation of MOSFET transistors is important. Accurate characterization of the behavior of a MOSFET transistor is crucial for integrated circuit analysis and design. In this chapter, the behavior of MOSFET transistors is briefly reviewed. The basic long channel behavior of a MOSFET device is first discussed in section 4.1. This review of long channel behavior is followed in section 4.2 by a discussion of the alpha power law model that is used to characterize the current-voltage behavior of a MOSFET transistor in deep submicrometer CMOS technologies [108].
Two Televisual Guernicas: Genius: Picasso (National Geographic, 2018) and El Ministerio del Tiempo (RTVE, 2015–2017)

This article examines two recent television versions of Picasso in the USA and Spain, focusing on the production and reception of his masterpiece Guernica. Reading the TV texts within the specific context of the biopic and science fiction series and the more general framework of the tension between everyday domestic television and quality or complex TV, the article argues that National Geographic's Genius: Picasso (2018), true to its title, offers an individualist view of artistic creation in which the personal takes precedence over the political and, conversely, that RTVE's El Ministerio del Tiempo (2015–2017) integrates the aesthetic object and its creator into the lived experience of the nation and its viewers, preserving and reframing the social dimension of the original work of art.
eB4CAST: An Evidence-Based Tool to Promote Dissemination and Implementation in Community-Based, Public Health Research

eB4CAST, evidence-Based forecast C-capture, A-assemble, S-sustain, T-timelessness (eB4CAST), framework was developed from existing dissemination and implementation (D & I) constructs as a dissemination tool to promote community-based program usability and future application in targeted populations. eB4CAST captures and transforms research findings into a dissemination report that shows program need and impact to endorse program continuation and expansion. This is achieved through direct and indirect data collection of community factors and program impact that can showcase the need for program sustainability and potential for future dissemination sites. Testimonials, individual feedback, and program process and outcomes contribute to the direct data while data collected from census, county, and state databases and reports allow for indirect information to be captured and analyzed. Capturing data in the two levels allow eB4CAST to forecast program need and highlight program impact through a footprint. eB4CAST framework for dissemination tool creation is organized into four sections: Capture, Assemble, Sustainability, and Timelessness. Capture encompasses the collection of indirect and direct data related to intervention goals. Assemble is the compilation of the data into a visually appealing and easily understood media. Sustainability encourages the use of dissemination tools to provide forecast of program need and footprint of program impact back to community participants, program leaders, and key stakeholders to endorse program sustainability. Lastly, timelessness encourages cyclic movement through these constructs to continue program monitoring and data sharing to ensure timeless program evaluation and conformation to change in needs. The eB4CAST framework provides a systematic method to capture justification of program need and impact of community-based research that can be modified to fit diverse public health interventions providing a necessary D & I tool.
Magnetized Disruption of Inertially Confined Plasma Flows.

The creation and disruption of inertially collimated plasma flows are investigated through experiment, simulation, and analytical modeling. Supersonic plasma jets are generated by laser-irradiated plastic cones and characterized by optical interferometry measurements. Targets are magnetized with a tunable $B$ field with strengths of up to 5 T directed along the axis of jet propagation. These experiments demonstrate a hitherto unobserved phenomenon in the laboratory, the magnetic disruption of inertially confined plasma jets. This occurs due to flux compression on axis during jet formation and can be described using a Lagrangian-cylinder model of plasma evolution implementing finite resistivity. The basic physical mechanisms driving the dynamics of these systems are described by this model and then compared with two-dimensional radiation-magnetohydrodynamic simulations. Experimental, computational, and analytical results discussed herein suggest that contemporary models underestimate the electrical conductivity necessary to drive the amount of flux compression needed to explain observations of jet disruption.
Supporting improvements to undergraduate STEM instruction: an emerging model for understanding instructional change teams

Instructional change efforts involving teams of change agents are becoming increasingly prevalent at higher education institutions across the US. Teams may be able to make more lasting and high-quality changes to STEM courses than instructors working alone. But team-based change efforts are also risky. They tend to require more resources than individually focused efforts, and there are many ways in which teams can fail to achieve their goals. So far, research on how change leaders can best support instructional change teams has been extremely limited. We lack a context-specific model that can help us to understand how, when, and why instructional change teams are likely to generate positive outcomes. This study begins to address this limitation by exploring the decisions that project leaders make when establishing supports for instructional change teams. We use a grounded theory approach to analyze interviews with 28 leaders of team-based instructional change projects and connect our findings to existing literature about teams in other contexts. We identify five categories of key team inputs: the nature of the task, who participates, process constraints, external engagement, and access to resources. We situate these team inputs in a preliminary model of instructional change teams. In our model, we posit that these team inputs are consequential for how teams work together and for how teams think and feel about their work. This in turn leads to various kinds of team outcomes. Our current model lays out key decisions that project leaders make when setting up instructional change teams. It also highlights the mechanisms by which instructional change team inputs can lead to various outcomes. We argue that this can guide change leaders to have productive conversations when initiating new teams or troubleshooting collaboration challenges of existing teams. Our research also provides a foundation for deeper exploration into how teams work together and the consequences for team outcomes. In particular, future research focused on the perspectives of team members could test and build on this initial model.
Discretization Based Solutions for Secure Machine Learning Against Adversarial Attacks

Adversarial examples are perturbed inputs that are designed (from a deep learning network's (DLN) parameter gradients) to mislead the DLN during test time. Intuitively, constraining the dimensionality of inputs or parameters of a network reduces the “space”in which adversarial examples exist. Guided by this intuition, we demonstrate that discretization greatly improves the robustness of the DLNs against adversarial attacks. Specifically, discretizing the input space (or allowed pixel levels from 256 values or 8bit to 4 values or 2bit) extensively improves the adversarial robustness of the DLNs for a substantial range of perturbations for minimal loss in test accuracy. Furthermore, we find that binary neural networks (BNNs) and related variants are intrinsically more robust than their full precision counterparts in adversarial scenarios. Combining input discretization with the BNNs furthers the robustness, even waiving the need for adversarial training for the certain magnitude of perturbation values. We evaluate the effect of discretization on MNIST, CIFAR10, CIFAR100, and ImageNet datasets. Across all datasets, we observe maximal adversarial resistance with 2bit input discretization that incurs an adversarial accuracy loss of just ~ 1% - 2% as compared to clean test accuracy against single-step attacks. We also show standalone discretization remains vulnerable to stronger multi-step attack scenarios necessitating the use of adversarial training with discretization as an improved defense strategy.
Patterns of intergenerational child protective services involvement

Abstract Background Prior research on Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement among at-risk youth focuses on their roles as parents perpetrating maltreatment against biological offspring. Given family complexity and assortative partnering, measuring all CPS involvement – as perpetrators and non-offending parents of victims – provides new insight into intergenerational maltreatment patterns. Objectives Our objective was to investigate the risk of multiple forms of parent or perpetrator CPS involvement (PP-CPS) by age 25, among those exposed to three forms of adversity in their late teens (at ages 14–17): alleged victim on a CPS investigation, out-of-home care (OHC), and poverty. Participants and setting We used a sample of 36,475 individuals born in 1990–1991 from the Wisconsin Data Core longitudinal administrative database, and tracked their involvement in CPS, OHC, and the food assistance program (SNAP) over time. Our sample consisted of individuals who, at ages 14–17, met one of the following criteria: were in OHC; had CPS involvement as a victim but no OHC (CPSV group), or received food assistance without CPSV or OHC (SNAP group). Methods Using logistic regression, we modeled four forms of PP-CPS involvement: parent-perpetrator, resident parent non-perpetrator, nonresident parent non-perpetrator, and non-biological parent-perpetrator. Results Predicted risks of any PP-CPS involvement by age 25 were 10 % (SNAP group), 17–22 % (CPSV group), and 26–33 % (OHC group); among OHC youth known to have a biological child, rates exceeded 40 %. The proportion of CPS involvement that involved parent-perpetration varied substantially by sex and adversity type. Conclusions Focusing only on intergenerational maltreatment in which the parents are the perpetrators may substantially understate the risk of maltreatment recurring across generations.
New node anomaly detection algorithm based on nonnegative matrix factorization for directed citation networks

Outlier detection is a crucial task for network data analysis, which identifies abnormal entities that deviate from the rest of the dataset. Ranking in outlierness is often used for identifying abnormal nodes in directed citation networks containing citation relationship among nodes. A challenging issue in outlier ranking is how to leverage the rich graph data of complex citation networks. In this paper, we propose a cluster-based outlier score function to identify outliers in citation networks based on nonnegative matrix factorization (NMF). We first represent the citation data as a directed graph, and cluster the directed graph into logical groupings of nodes using NMF. Based on the clustering results, we obtain the outlier score and ranking for each node using the proposed outlier scoring function. The proposed method leverages the direct and indirect citation links between nodes to measure the graph-based outlierness. We validate the proposed outlier ranking method using small artificial dataset and the real-world U.S. patent data.
Tuning the Morphology and Electronic Properties of Single-Crystal LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4-δ: Exploring the Influence of LiCl-KCl Molten Salt Flux Composition and Synthesis Temperature.

Single-crystal materials have played a unique role in the development of high-performance cathode materials for Li batteries due to their favorable chemomechanical stability. The molten salt synthe...
The effect of a systematic change in surface roughness skewness on turbulence and drag

Abstract Previous work by the authors (Flack and Schultz, 2010) has identified the root-mean-square roughness height, krms, and the skewness, Sk, of the surface elevation distribution as important parameters in scaling the skin-friction drag on rough surfaces. In this study, three surfaces are tested in turbulent boundary layer flow at a friction Reynolds number, Reτ = 1600–2200. All the surfaces have similar root-mean-square roughness height, while the skewness is varied. Measurements are presented using both two-component LDV and PIV. The results show the anticipated trend of increasing skin-friction drag with increasing skewness. The largest increase in drag occurs going from negative skewness to zero skewness with a more modest increase going from zero to positive skewness. Some differences in the mean velocity and Reynolds stress profiles are observed for the three surfaces. However, these differences are confined to a region close to the rough surface, and the mean velocity and Reynolds stress profiles collapse away from the wall when scaled in outer variables. The turbulence structure as documented through two-point spatial correlations of velocity is also observed to be very similar over the three surfaces. These results support Townsend’s (1976) concept of outer-layer similarity that the wall boundary condition exerts no direct influence on the turbulence structure away from the wall except in setting the velocity and length scales for the outer layer.
Adenosine Receptor Modulation of Hypoxic-ischemic Injury in Striatum of Newborn Piglets.

Background Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a major cause of pediatric and adult mortality and morbidity. Unfortunately, to date, no effective treatment has been identified. In the striatum, neuronal injury is analogous to the cellular mechanism of necrosis observed during NMethyl- D-Aspartate (NMDA) excitotoxicity. Adenosine acts as a neuromodulator in the central nervous system, the role of which relies mostly on controlling excitatory glutamatergic synapses. Objective To examine the effect of pretreatment of SCH58261, an adenosine 2A (A2A) receptor antagonist and modulator of NMDA receptor function, following hypoxic-ischemia (HI) on sodium- potassium ATPase (Na+, K+-ATPase) activity and oxidative stress. Methods Piglets (4-7 days old) were subjected to 30 min hypoxia and 7 min of airway occlusion producing asphyxic cardiac arrest. Groups were divided into four categories: HI samples were divided into HI-vehicle group (n = 5) and HI-A2A group (n = 5). Sham controls were divided into Sham vehicle (n = 5) and Sham A2A (n = 5) groups. Vehicle groups were pretreated with 0.9% saline, whereas A2A animals were pretreated with SCH58261 10 min prior to intervention. Striatum samples were collected 3 h post-arrest. Sodium-potassium ATPase (Na+, K+-ATPase) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) + 4-hydroxyalkenals (4-HDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels were compared. Results Pretreatment with SCH58261 significantly attenuated the decrease in Na+, K+-ATPase, decreased MDA+4-HDA levels and increased GSH in the HI-A2A group when compared to HIvehicle. Conclusion A2A receptor activation may contribute to neuronal injury in newborn striatum after HI in association with decreased Na+, K+-ATPase activity and increased oxidative stress.
"It's Case by Case, and It's a Struggle": A Qualitative Study of Hospice Practices, Perspectives, and Ethical Dilemmas When Caring for Hospice Enrollees with Full-Code Status or Intensive Treatment Preferences.

Objective: Characterize hospice staff practices and perspectives on discussing end-of-life care preferences with patients/families, including those desiring intensive treatment and/or full code. Background: Patients in the United States can elect hospice while remaining full code or seeking intensive interventions, for example, blood transfusions, or chemotherapy. These preferences conflict with professional norms, hospice philosophy, and Medicare hospice payment policies. Little is known about how hospice staff manage patient/family preferences for full-code status and intensive treatments. Methods: We recruited employees of four nonprofit US hospices with varying clinical and hospice experience for semi-structured, in-depth interviews. Open-ended questions explored participants' practices and perceptions of discussing end-of-life care preferences in hospice, with specific probes about intensive treatment or remaining full code. Interdisciplinary researchers coded and analyzed data using the constant comparative method. Results: Participants included 25% executive leaders, 14% quality improvement administrative staff, 61% clinicians (23 nurses, 21 social workers, 7 physicians, and 2 chaplains). Participants reported challenges in engaging patients/families about end-of-life care preferences. Preferences for intensive treatment or full-code status presented an ethical dilemma for some participants. Participants described strategies to navigate such preferences, including educating about treatment options, and expressed diverse reactions, including accepting or attempting to shift enrollee preferences. Discussion: This study illuminates a rarely studied aspect of hospice care: how hospice staff engage with enrollees choosing full code and/or intensive treatments. Such patient preferences can produce ethical dilemmas for hospice staff. Enhanced communication training and guidelines, updated organizational and federal policies, and ethics consult services may mitigate these dilemmas.
Customer Concentration of Targets in Mergers and Acquisitions

We study how customer concentration of targets impacts the occurrence, structure and performance of M&A deals. We hypothesize that acquirers respond to customer concentration-related risk by (1) placing fewer bids for targets with greater customer concentration and (2) by using more stock payment in their offer. Using data on customer concentration and M&A deals from 1985 to 2016, we find consistent evidence supporting these predictions. We also find that these relations vary predictably with the uncertainty arising from major customer relationships. Finally, we examine whether acquirers are effective in screening targets and structuring deals based on customer concentration. We find that despite measures taken by acquirers, target customer concentration is negatively associated with acquirer post-acquisition abnormal returns. Our findings extend the literature by systematically documenting an important risk factor in M&A decisions and by quantifying the economic consequences of customer concentration.
Tumor necrosis factor-α promotes and exacerbates calcification in heart valve myofibroblast populations.

Pro-inflammatory cytokines play critical roles in regulating valvular interstitial cell (VIC) phenotypic changes that can cause heart valve fibrosis and calcification. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) is a cytokine known to influence VIC behavior and has been reported at high levels in calcified valves ex vivo. We sought to understand the specific effects of TNF-α on VIC phenotypes (eg, fibroblast, profibrotic activated myofibroblasts) and its link with heart valve disorders. We characterize human aortic valve tissue from patients with valve disorders and identify a high variability of fibrotic and calcific markers between tissues. These results motivated in vitro studies to explore the effects of TNF-α on defined VIC fibroblasts and profibrotic activated myofibroblasts, induced via FGF-2 and TGF-β1 treatment. Using 3D hydrogels to culture VICs, we measure the effect of TNF-α (0.1-10 ng/mL) on key markers of fibrosis (eg, αSMA, COL1A1) and calcification (eg, RUNX2, BMP2, and calcium deposits). We observe calcification in TNF-α-treated VIC activated myofibroblasts and identify the MAPK/ERK signaling cascade as a potential pathway for TNF-α mediated calcification. Conversely, VIC fibroblasts respond to TNF-α with decreased calcification. Treatment of VIC profibrotic activated myofibroblast populations with TNF-α leads to increased calcification. Our in vitro findings correlate with findings in diseased human valves and highlight the importance of understanding the effect of cytokines and signaling pathways on specific VIC phenotypes. Finally, we reveal MAPK/ERK as a potential pathway involved in VIC-mediated matrix calcification with TNF-α treatment, suggesting this pathway as a potential pharmaceutical target for aortic valve disease.
"We're a Little Biased": Medicine and the Management of Bias through the Case of Contraception.

There is a wealth of literature demonstrating the presence of bias throughout the American health care system. Despite acknowledging such presence, however, little is known about how bias functions...
Behavioral responses of Yellow-Bellied Marmots to birds and mammals

The habitat of Yellow-bellied Marmots ( Marmota flaviventris) is visited or occupied by a variety of birds and mammals. Species that interact with marmots were divided into three groups: (1) other species of ground-dwelling sciurids, (2) nonpredatory transients, and (3) predators. The rare social interactions between Yellow-bellied Marmots and other ground-dwelling sciurids were chases by marmots. Large birds elicited alarm calls by rapid flight or swooping over marmots. Domestic horses or cattle usually were watched by the marmots and alarm calls usually occurred when the ungulates approached the marmots closely. Marmots responded to foraging mule deer by running to their burrows, by alarm-calling, by immerging, or by watching the deer. Alarm-calling and watching were significantly more likely to occur than immergence. Adult females watched significantly more frequently than young or yearlings and reproductive females watched significantly more often than non-reproductive females. Deer walked toward or followed marmots or moved away when a marmot whistled, stared, or moved toward the deer. Marmots alarm-called when golden eagles soared overhead, but whistled about onethird of the time when red-tailed hawks soared overhead or swooped at marmots. Long-tailed weasels were vigorously chased, but alarm calls were not emitted. Coyote and domestic dog intrusion was greeted with alarm calls or running to burrows without calling. Marmots alarm-called to dogs less frequently. All age-classes of marmots alarm-called. Marmots typically sat or stood and watched the intruders. Experiments with a dog revealed that marmots watch the predator and change locations to keep the predator in view and flee or immerge only when the predator approaches closely. Watching characterizes marmot responses to the presence of large mammals or birds.
Sensor Applications in Analysis of Drugs and Formulations

Biosensors are currently widely used in biomedical diagnostics, as well as point-of-care assessment of therapy and disease advancement, environmental sensing, food safety, drug development, forensics, and biomedical research. Biosensors may be developed using several different approaches. Due to the growing requirement for efficient and low-cost analytical methods, biosensors have gained increasing attention for application in the quality analysis of pharmaceuticals and other pharmaceutically relevant analytes. Biosensors enable the analysis of active ingredients in pharmaceutical formulations as well as the determination of degraded products and intermediates in biological matrices. The current study discusses several types of biosensors and their applications in drug analysis and formulations.
Fundamental Gas Phase Studies of the Mechanism and Thermochemistry of Organometallic Reactions

A variety of experimental techniques, including FT-ICR, ion beam, and measurement of kinetic energy release distributions in reverse sector instruments, have been applied to examine the mechanism and energetics of organometallic reactions in the gas phase. These studies have provided a wealth of thermochemical data for organometallic species and have revealed important features of the potential energy surfaces associated with the reactions of hydrocarbons with atomic transition metal ions. The experimental methods and theoretical models used in these investigations are reviewed and presented along with representative results from recent studies.
The analysis of barriers to knowledge management

The subject of this article is to highlight the need for cooperation and exchange of knowledge among communities of the organization to develop and achieve competitive advantage in the market. On the other hand, research indicates that cooperation is not always the case, so it is worth considering why this is happening. An important part of this article is to present the latest results of research carried out under the EU project entitled Knowledge Management System Model for Enterprise. An analysis of barriers to knowledge management. A tool for analysis of barriers to knowledge management in the company.
Viral Advertising in Social Media

ABSTRACTThis study examines the potential link of Facebook group participation with viral advertising responses. The results suggest that college-aged Facebook group members engage in higher levels of self-disclosure and maintain more favorable attitudes toward social media and advertising in general than do nongroup members. However, Facebook group participation does not exert an influence on users’ viral advertising pass-on behaviors. The results also identify variations in predictors of pass-on behaviors between group members and nonmembers. These findings have theoretical and managerial implications for viral advertising on Facebook.
Balance Sheet Vulnerabilities of Mauritius During a Decade of Shocks

After reviewing the economic reform strategy of Mauritius for the past 10 years in the face of several external shocks, we apply a balance sheet analysis (BSA) focusing on currency, maturity, and intersectoral mismatches. In reviewing developments over this decade, we find that the currency and maturity mismatches have fallen across various sectors, and the intersectoral risks to each analyzed sector’s balance sheet appear controllable. The government has implemented reforms in recent years that have contributed to general improvement in the balance sheet of the Mauritian economy and its subsectors. We conclude that from a BSA perspective, the macroeconomic vulnerabilities of Mauritius seem manageable, though vulnerabilities remain, and data gaps mean that more work will be needed to support these findings.
Continuous physiological monitoring

Our research aims to add a new dimension in human-computer interaction. This will be to endow computers with the capability to monitor continuously the physiology and comfort of the users and take appropriate actions when warranted. Computers will gradually assume the role of "guardian angels" and ensure the well-being of the people with whom they are in daily contact.
Concurrence-based entanglement measures for isotropic states

We discuss properties of entanglement measures called I-concurrence and tangle. For a bipartite pure state, I-concurrence and tangle are simply related to the purity of the marginal density operators. The I-concurrence (tangle) of a bipartite mixed state is the minimum average I-concurrence (tangle) of ensemble decompositions of pure states of the joint density operator. Terhal and Vollbrecht [Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2625 (2000)] have given an explicit formula for the entanglement of formation of isotropic states in arbitrary dimensions. We use their formalism to derive comparable expressions for the I-concurrence and tangle of isotropic states.
Long-Term Retest Reliability of Interpersonal Dependency Inventory Scores in College Students:

Eighty undergraduate students (40 women and 40 men) completed the Interpersonal Dependency Inventory (IDI) twice, with the two testing sessions separated by an 84-week interval. Retest reliability coefficients for IDI whole-scale scores, r = .71, and subscale scores (rs ranged from .60 to .72) were similar to those obtained in IDI retest reliability studies that used shorter intertest intervals. Gender differences in IDI scores in the present sample paralleled those obtained in previous investigations involving clinical and nonclinical participants. Implications of these results for the construct validity of the IDI as a measure of interpersonal dependency are discussed.
Combination of GM-CSF With Fludarabine-Containing Regimens in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Indolent Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma

Abstract Background Granulocyte-monocyte colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a hematopoietic cytokine with immunomodulatory activity that has preclinical evidence for enhancement of antitumor immunity when administered in combination with chemotherapy. We evaluated the utility of GM-CSF with chemoimmunotherapy in patients with indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in a pilot study. Patients and Methods Patients with previously untreated, relapsed, or refractory indolent NHL or CLL were treated with GM-CSF, rituximab, fludarabine, and cyclophosphamide or mitoxantrone for a maximum of 6 cycles. Results Sixteen patients were enrolled, including 1 patient who did not receive study therapy. Of the 15 remaining patients, 6 received cyclophosphamide and 9 received mitoxantrone in combination with fludarabine, rituximab, and GM-CSF. The overall response rate for all patients was 87%. Nine patients have subsequently had relapse of their disease, and 6 remained in remission at last study contact. There were no toxic deaths during the study. Conclusion GM–CSF-based chemoimmunotherapy was well-tolerated and resulted in a high response rate and warrants evaluation in larger studies.
The uncertainty principle in signal analysis

We give a simple derivation for the covariance of time and frequency. The simplicity remains when applied to arbitrary variables. We show that the covariance enters into the uncertainty principle in a fundamental way. Also we present a seeming paradox: the uncertainty principle depends only on the marginals, but the marginals carry no information about covariance. Then how is it possible that the uncertainty principle involves the covariance? The resolution of the paradox clarifies a number of issues regarding the existence of well behaved manifestly positive joint distributions of time and frequency. >
On-line acquisition of link deformation for the robot of accuracy

Abstract No manipulator is rigid. The actual end-effector position deviates from the desired one. For the remedy, compensation methods have been investigated. This paper presents the on-line acquisition method of link deflection and bending angle necessary for compensation methods.
Mitochondrial formation and hydrolysis of adenosine triphosphate in the presence of some rare-earth ions☆

Investigations were made to determine whether the toxic effect of rare earths and the changes in liver lipid metabolism are due to an alteration in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) metabolism in mitochondria. In order to test the possibility that oxidative phosphorylation is impaired by the parenteral administration of lanthanide metal ions prior to manifestation of fatty infiltration of the liver, the metabolism of rat-liver mitochondria was studied 8 hr after the intravenous injection of LaCl/sub 3/ or Pr(NO/sub 3/)/sub 3/. However, the P/O ratios of the liver mitochondria isolated after such pretreatment were found to be normal. The effects of the rare earth ions on non- enzymic hydrolysis of ATP at pH 7.5 to 7.5 were also tested. The data show that the trivalent ions of the rare earths tested do not stimulate the enzymic splitting of ATP by mitochondrial digitonin fragments. The data presented then do not support the view that the ions of La, Pr, Nd, and Sm have a direct toxic effect on the synthesis or breakdown of ATP in mitochondria. (P.C.H.)
Lung cancer histologic types and family history of cancer. Analysis of histologic subtypes of 872 patients with primary lung cancer.

Background. Previous research has demonstrated that there is clustering of cancer among relatives of patients with lung cancer and that women may be at a greater risk than men, regardless of their smoking histories. Methods. The authors conducted a study to test the hypotheses that this predisposition varies by the histologic type of tumor and that women with particular histologic types will report more first-degree relatives with cancer than will men with the same cell type. The analyses were based on 872 patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer who had been admitted to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, between 1982 and 1987. Results. More patients with squamous and large cell carcinomas reported two or more relatives with cancer, and overall, women reported more family history of cancer. Among patients with squamous cell carcinoma, this difference between men and women was significant (P < 0.05). Among patients younger than 57 years, those with squamous cell were the most likely to report a family history of cancer (P < 0.01). A similar trend was observed for smoking. Persons with small cell and squamous cell carcinomas who were nonsmokers or had smoked 1–20 years had three times the risk of a family history of cancer than did those with large cell and adenocarcinomas (odds ratio [OR] = 3.01; confidence interval [ci] = 1.38–6.63), in contrast to those who had smoked more than 20 years (OR = 0.85; ci = 0.62–1.62). Conclusions. Squamous cell carcinoma is most associated with familial clustering of cancer, particularly among women, persons younger than 57 years, and individuals who smoked for fewer than 20 years.
Adsorption HPLC of tetradentate β-ketoimine copper, nickel and palladium chelates

Abstract High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), utilizing adsorption on microparticulate silica, provides analytical resolution of copper, nickel, and palladium chelates of tetradentate β-ketoimines. The chelates investigated are those of non-fluorinated, semi-fluorinated and fluorinated ligands derived from condensation of acetylacetone and trifluoroacetyl-acetone with ethylenediamine, 1,2-diaminopropane and 2,3-diaminobutane. Novel chelates are described for the latter ligand group with various geometrical isomers being prepared. HPLC separations are described related to the increase in extent of chelate fluorination, the nature of the chelated metal and the geometrical isomer forms of the complexes.
Repeatability of Mobile Retroreflectometer Unit for Measurement of Pavement Markings

The mobile retroreflectometer unit (MRU) has been recognized by highway agencies as an appealing alternative to handheld retroreflectometers because of its improved safety and efficiency. Over the past 4 years, the Florida Department of Transportation has been researching the use of the MRU for evaluating pavement markings continuously and reliably at traffic speeds. Because the stripe surface is nonuniform and the measurement process relies on the operator-driven instrument device, there is some uncertainty in evaluating pavement markings with the MRU. As part of the broader effort for MRU implementation, this research assesses MRU precision in repeatability for pavement marking retroreflectivity. Six designated sections of roadway were selected at random for testing on various pavement surfaces and pavement stripes (paint and thermoplastic). Retroreflectivity data were collected only on the white edge lines of the test sites. The survey limits were selected so that the effect of nonretroreflective-relat...
Efficient De-identification of Electronic Patient Records for User Cognitive Testing

Cognitive testing of Electronic Health Record (EHR) document presentation and practice will be increasingly valuable as institutions adopt the EHR and begin to experience information overload. Valid testing of clinical decision making requires realistic documents to validly portray clinical scenarios in context. The authors describe a system adapted from public source software that efficiently assists deidentification at considerable savings of time and with good accuracy.
Improvement of fermentative production of pyruvate from glucose by Torulopsis glabrata IFO 0005

Efficient production of pyruvate from glucose by Torulopsis glabrata IFO 0005 was investigated. A large amount of pyruvate was accumulated in a practical semisynthetic fermentation medium which contained both ammonium sulfate and soybean hydrolyzate as nitrogen sources, instead of the Polypepton used in the previous study. A significant increase in the maximum amount of pyruvate accumulated was noted in a fed-batch culture in a jar fermentor. The fermentative conditions were optimized in an Erlenmeyer flask, and then in a jar fermentor in this study. Of the fermentative conditions, the concentrations of four vitamins (nicotinic acid, thiamine, pyridoxine and biotin) and aeration affected the pyruvate fermentative productivity. The optimum concentration of nicotinic acid was 8 mg/l, which was 20 times higher than that required for full growth. The optimum concentration of thiamine was 0.03 mg/l, which is 40% lower than that for full growth. Pyruvate production was markedly dependent on aeration. The maximum final accumulation of pyruvic acid was achieved under anaerobic conditions, but a greater yield of pyruvic acid was obtained under aerobic conditions. Based on the optimum conditions in an Erlenmeyer flask, the optimal initial and feeding conditions in a jar fermentor were determined. Furthermore, we observed that cells grown under aerobic conditions developed mitochondria well compared with ones grown under anaerobic conditions, and investigated the effects of inhibitors, such as rotenone, of the electron transport chain, which exists in mitochondria, on pyruvate fermentation. The amount of pyruvate accumulated grown in the presence of 1.0 mM rotenone was 20% less than that accumulated grown in its absence by T. glabrata IFO 0005. Consequently, fed-batch fermentation with successive additions of glucose resulted in a maximum accumulation of 770 mM (67.8 g/l) pyruvic acid in 63 h (yield, 49.4%). The by-products were found to be 4 g/l of ethanol, 5 g/l of glycerol and 2 g/l of para-pyruvic acid.