cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
PCR Mutagenesis and Overexpression of Tryptophan Synthase fromSalmonella typhimurium:On the Roles of β2Subunit Lys-382

Abstract We have devised convenient methods for mutagenesis and very high level expression of wild type and mutant tryptophan synthase α and β 2 subunits and α 2 β 2 complex from Salmonella typhimurium. The trp BA genes were modified by introduction of five new restriction sites by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and were then cloned into the plasmid pTrc99A under trc promoter control. The recombinant plasmid pEBA-10 and three plasmids constructed from pEBA-10 were transformed into Escherichia coli CB149, which lacks tryptophan operon genes. Optimization of growth conditions of the transformed cells resulted in 10- to 40-fold higher yields of cells (∼22 g/liter) than attained previously. The improved expression system gave higher yields of tryptophan synthase proteins (23–70% of the soluble protein) and led to correspondingly high yields of purified α and β 2 subunits or α 2 β 2 complex (200–800 mg/liter). A plasmid containing 8 copies of the trp A gene gave the highest yield of α subunit. The PCR-based mutagenesis method permits mutation of any base pair in the trp BA genes, between suitable pairs of restriction sites, and requires only one new primer per mutation. The method is illustrated by construction of mutant β 2 subunits with any of five amino acid substitutions at Lys-382, the site of a previously described missense mutation. Characterization of the purified mutant α 2 β 2 complexes shows that Lys-382 in the wild type α 2 β 2 complex does not serve an essential catalytic role but may stabilize an active “closed” conformation of the enzyme by forming a salt bridge with Glu-350.
Microstructure at the interface between AIN and a Ag–Cu–Ti braze alloy

The joining of aluminum nitride by active metal brazing with a Ag–Cu–Ti foil has been investigated in cross section by transmission electron microscopy. The reaction of AIN with the braze alloy results in the formation of continuous TiN and (Ti, Cu, Al)6N (η-phase) layers at the interface. AIN grains at the interface often display arrays of dislocations, presumably arising from thermal expansion mismatch between the AIN and the TiN (the coefficients of thermal expansion are 43 ⊠ 10−7/°C and 80 ⊠ 10−7/°C, respectively). The adjoining TiN contains small Cu precipitates and may also contain numerous defects. Titanium preferentially penetrates the AIN grain boundaries, resulting in finger-like TiN intrusions into the substrate, which sometimes cover entire AIN grains in a TiN shell. On the other side of the TiN, a continuous layer of equiaxed, defect-free η–nitride grains is found. Beyond this η–nitride layer is the remaining mixture of metallic Ag and Cu. High-resolution electron microscopy demonstrates that the AIN–TiN and TiN–η boundaries are abrupt and contain no additional crystalline or amorphous intervening phases. Particular orientation relationships are occasionally observed at the AIN–TiN interface; these are not always the ones that produce the minimum lattice mismatch. The implications of the observed morphology with respect to the reaction sequence, transitional phases, and structural integrity of the joint are discussed.
Extramedullary hematopoiesis mimicking the appearance of carcinomatosis or peritoneal mesothelioma: Computed tomography demonstration

The computed tomographic (CT) appearance of extensive intra-abdominal extramedullary hematopoiesis is illustrated in a 51-year old woman with agnogenic myeloid metaplasia. The CT images closely simulate peritoneal carcinomatosis or peritoneal mesothelioma.
Autonomous navigation for the deep impact mission encounter with comet tempel 1

The engineering goal of the Deep Impact mission is to impact comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005, with a 370 kg active Impactor spacecraft (s/c). The impact velocity will be just over 10 km/s and is expected to excavate a crater approximately 20 m deep and 100 m wide. The Impactor s/c will be delivered to the vicinity of Tempel 1 by the Flyby s/c, which is also the key observing platform for the event. Following Impactor release, the Flyby will change course to pass the nucleus at an altitude of 500 km and at the same time slow down in order to allow approximately 800 s of observation of the impact event, ejecta plume expansion, and crater formation. Deep Impact will use the autonomous optical navigation (AutoNav) software system to guide the Impactor s/c to intercept the nucleus of Tempel 1 at a location that is illuminated and viewable from the Flyby. The Flyby s/c uses identical software to determine its comet-relative trajectory and provide the attitude determination and control system (ADCS) with the relative position information necessary to point the High Resolution Imager (HRI) and Medium Resolution Imager (MRI) instruments at the impact site during the encounter. This paper describes the Impactor s/c autonomous targeting design and the Flyby s/c autonomous tracking design, including image processing and navigation (trajectory estimation and maneuver computation). We also discuss the analysis that led to the current design, the expected system performance as compared to the key mission requirements and the sensitivity to various s/c subsystems and Tempel 1 environmental factors.
The use of clustering techniques in the analysis of judicial prose

Abstract Two different clustering techniques, one based on covariance assumptions, the other using Euclidean distance, are compared by applying them to data comprised of content category frequencies derived from selected judicial opinions of the Supreme Court. Both techniques show a capability for grouping similar opinions. The first seems quantitatively more appealing, since its groups are more separated due to the inclusion of covariances. The second results in groups which are intuitively more appealing. Both are sufficiently promising to warrant further study.
Advance yield markings and drivers’ performance in response to multiple-threat scenarios at mid-block crosswalks

This study compares, on a simulator, drivers’ performance (eye fixations and yielding behavior) at marked mid-block crosswalks in multi-threat scenarios when the crosswalks have advance yield markings and pedestrian crosswalk prompt signs versus their performance in such scenarios when the crosswalks have standard markings. Advance yield markings and prompt signs in multi-threat scenarios lead to changes in drivers’ behaviors which are likely to reduce pedestrian–vehicle conflicts, including increases in the likelihood that the driver glances towards the pedestrian, increases in the distance at which the first glance towards the pedestrian is taken, and increases the likelihood of yielding to the pedestrian.
RNA stability in terminally differentiating fibre cells of the ocular lens

During terminal differentiation of lens fibre cells all cytoplasmic organelles are degraded abruptly. This process eliminates light-scattering elements from the optical axis of the lens and thereby ensures the transparency of the tissue. With the breakdown of the nucleus, transcription ceases, but the degree to which extant RNA is translated in the anucleated cells is uncertain. Previous studies indicated that fibre cell mRNA is unusually stable. For example, full-length delta-crystallin transcripts have been detected in core fibres months after transcription in these cells ceased. In the present study, we used the embryonic chicken lens as a model to examine the fate of RNA in the period immediately before and after organelle degradation. We mapped the tissue distribution of ribosomal RNA (rRNA) using acridine orange staining, in situ hybridization, and direct visualization of ribosomes by electron microscopy. These experiments suggested that rRNA decayed in the anucleated core fibre cells with a half-life of approximately 2.5 days. Similarly, in situ hybridization analysis of polyadenylated transcripts, beta-actin, or GAPDH mRNA indicated that these sequences were not stable in the core fibre cells. However, in agreement with earlier findings, we detected a strong in situ hybridization signal for delta-crystallin in the lens core, many days after transcription had ceased. We used quantitative PCR to compare the levels of GAPDH, L14 and delta-crystallin transcripts in the core region during development. Surprisingly, all three mRNAs decayed with indistinguishable kinetics. We conclude that the persistent delta-crystallin hybridization signal was not evidence of an unusually stable mRNA but, rather, reflected the extraordinary initial abundance of this transcript. Taken together, our data indicate that the half-life of both mRNA and the protein synthetic machinery in the lens core is only a few days. Given that, in vertebrate lenses, nuclei in this region of the lens are degraded during embryonic development, protein synthesis in central lens fibre cells is probably completed well before birth.
EflFects of Endogenous Parathyroid Hormone on Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphate Metabolism in Rats11

The effects of varying dietary calcium on absorption and excretion of calcium, magnesium and phosphate by intact and parathyroidectomized rats were determined. Since varying dietary calcium in intact rats influences parathyroid activity, the role of endogenous parathyroid secretion on the metabolism of these elements was also examined. The only significant differences in calcium metabolism, between pair—fed intact and parathyroidectomized (parex) rats, were in those fed very low levels of calcium. In this instance, rats with intact parathyroids absorbed more calcium, excreted less in the urine and had higher levels of serum calcium. No significant differences in phosphate absorption or balance between intact and parex rats were found at any level of dietary calcium. Excess endogenous parathyroid secretion had no effect on phosphate absorption, but increased urinary phosphate and lowered serum phosphate. A fall in urinary phosphate of intact rats with increasing amounts of calcium intake was primarily the ...
3C intelligent home appliance control system - Example with refrigerator

This study is a creative and initial work focused on designing an intelligently automatic detecting and sensor system for home appliances being smartly interactive with mankind with speech in the living space. Since the tide of automation flowed over the industry, manufacturing business, even the living space of mankind resulting from shifting and highly developing of computer technique such as office-automation (OA), home-automation (HA), and Manufacture-automation (MA) etc. Though automation spread throughout the manufacturing in last decade, there seemed no such equal attention with home appliance. In this paper, the automation developed into the place where we spend most of our time becomes a brand-new thinking. There are so many home appliances in our living space, and how to make them intelligent so as to let our life more safety, convenient, and comfortable will be a challenge to our knowledge. In this study, some technique and skills especially related 3C (computer, communication, content) were developed to make our home appliances intelligent such as radio remote control, sensors invented by researchers, auto-dialing system, and image analysis with CCD (charged-coupled device) image-fetched. Through linking the sub-systems' function, the main function of the home appliance worked smartly - in this case, we use a refrigerator as the center of all home appliances in a family, the refrigerator could sense the lack of the food, drinks, even irregular shape fruits through all designed sensors and CCD images analysis system, and it also could auto-dial the vendors to deliver the thing those were sensed insufficient. In addition to detect capability, the refrigerator could assign works to other appliance through inter-net or wireless radio remote control system, for example, supposing that we forgot to turn off the gas oven after we had reached far away our home, we could dial cell phone or phone into the refrigerator to generate command code to turn off the fire through remote control module set up both on refrigerator and oven. This design can insure our life saved and convenience.
Single channel properties of newly synthesized acetylcholine receptors following denervation of mammalian skeletal muscle

We have examined the single channel properties of newly synthesized acetylcholine (ACh) receptors in denervated adult mouse muscle. Patch-clamp recordings were made on freshly isolated fibers from flexor digitorum brevis (fdb) muscles that had been denervated in vivo for periods up to 3 wk. Muscles were treated with alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BTX), immediately before denervation, in order to block pre-existing receptors. Denervated fibers exhibited two types of ACh receptor channels, which differed in terms of single channel conductance (45 and 70 pS) and mean channel open time (approximately 7 and 2.5 ms, respectively). In contrast to innervated muscle, where only 3% of the total openings were contributed by the low-conductance channel type, greater than 80% of the openings in the nonsynaptic membrane of denervated muscle were of this type. Importantly, a similar increase in the proportion of low-conductance channels was observed for recordings from synaptic membrane after denervation. These data argue against the proposal that, in denervated muscle, the low-conductance channels undergo continued conversion to the high-conductance type focally at the site of former synaptic contact. Rather, our findings provide additional support for the idea that the functional properties of ACh receptors are governed uniformly by the state of innervation of the fiber and not by proximity to the site of synaptic contact.
A quantitative study of ciliary injury in the small airways of mice: the effects of nitrogen dioxide.

The frequency and types of abnormal cilia prior to and following nitrogen dioxide (NO2) exposure in the small airways of an inbred strain of mice was quantitated by transmission electron microscopy. Age-matched male and female mice were exposed ta 20 ppm NO2 for 28 days. In both sexes, exposures to NO2 resulted in a significant increase (P < 0.01) in abnormal cilia characterized by (1) decreased number of ciliary structures on cell surface, (2) focal swelling of the cytoplasmic matrix of the ciliary shaft, and (3) occasional compound cilium. The basal bodies of the ciliated cells from which atypical cilia arose appeared normal. In mice killed 30 days after termination of NO2 exposure, the ciliary morphology returned to normal and the incidence of abnormal cilia decreased to levels observed in controls. These observations indicate that subacute exposure to NO2 causes injury to the ciliary shaft; these changes are reversible within 30 days following removal from NO2.
Automated malfunction diagnosis of semiconductor fabrication equipment: a plasma etch application

A general methodology for the automated diagnosis of integrated circuit fabrication equipment is presented. The technique combines the best aspects of quantitative algorithmic diagnosis and qualitative knowledge-based approaches. Evidence from equipment maintenance history, real-time tool data, and incline measurements are integrated using evidential reasoning. This methodology is applied to the identification of faults in the Lam Research Autoetch 490 automated plasma etching system located in the Berkeley Microfabrication Laboratory. >
Boiling down information retrieval test collections

Constructing large-scale test collections is costly and time-consuming, and a few relevance assessment methods have been proposed for constructing "minimal" information retrieval test collections that may still provide reliable experimental results. In contrast to building up such test collections, we take existing test collections constructed through the traditional pooling approach and empirically investigate whether they can be "boiled down." More specifically, we report on experiments with test collections from both NT-CIR and TREC to investigate the effect of reducing both the topic set size and the pool depth on the outcome of a statistical significance test between two systems, starting with (approximately) 100 topics and depth-100 pools. We define cost (of manual relevance assessment) as the pool depth multiplied by the topic set size, and error as a system pair whose outcome of statistical significance testing differs from the original result based on the full test collection. Our main findings are: (a) Cost and the number of errors are negatively correlated, and any attempt at substantially reducing cost introduces some errors; (b) The NTCIR-7 IR4QA and the TREC 2004 robust track test collections all yield a comparable and considerable number of errors in response to cost reduction, and this is true despite the fact that the TREC relevance assessments relied on more than twice as many runs as the NTCIR ones; (c) Using 100 topics with depth-30 pools generally yields fewer errors than using 30 topics with depth-100 pools; and (d) Even with depth-100 pools, using fewer than 100 topics results in false alarms, i.e. two systems are declared significantly different even though the full topic set would declare otherwise.
Acute Hemorrhage Following Gamma Knife Radiosurgery to a Clival Meningioma

Acute Hemorrhage Following Gamma Knife Radiosurgery to a Clival Meningioma Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKS) is an effective therapy for small (<3 cm) meningiomas of the skull base in medically-complex patients for whom open surgery carries an unacceptable risk of morbidity and mortality. While infrequent, hemorrhagic events after GKS do occur. To date, nine cases of intratumoral hemorrhage after GKS for meningiomas have been reported in the literature, with eight occurring in a delayed fashion.
The Similarity of Brain Activity Associated with True and False Recognition Memory Depends On Test Format

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were compared for correct recognitions of previously presented words and false recognitions of associatively related, nonpresented words (lures) When the test items were presented blocked by test type (old, new, lure), waveforms for old and lure items were different, especially at frontal and left parietal electrode sites, consistent with previous positron emission tomography (PET) data (Schacter, Reiman, et al, 1996) When the test format randomly intermixed the types of items, waveforms for old and lure items were more similar We suggest that test format affects the type of processing subjects engage in, consistent with expectations from the source-monitoring framework (Johnson, Hashtroudi, & Lindsay, 1993) These results also indicate that brain activity as assessed by neuroimaging designs requiring blocked presentation of trials (e.g., PET) do not necessarily reflect the brain activity that occurs in cognitive-behavioral paradigms, in which types of test trials are typica...
S6k1 is not required for Pten-deficient neuronal hypertrophy.

Abstract The tumor suppressor PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homolog) plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of the mammalian nervous system. Effects of inherited mutation of PTEN are highly variable and include macrocephaly, Lhermitte–Duclos disease (LDD) caused by a hamartomatous enlargement of the cerebellum, ataxia, seizures and autism, in addition to cancer predisposition. In the mouse, selective inactivation of Pten in post-mitotic granule neurons of the cerebellum and dentate gyrus showed that Pten was required for proper regulation of neuronal nuclear and soma size. Hypertrophy of Pten-deficient neurons required the activity of the serine–threonine kinase mTor. mTor is a master regulator of cell and organ growth which can trigger a cascade of downstream signaling pathways involving, in part, components of the translational machinery, including S6k1 and its substrate the ribosomal protein S6. Deletion of S6k1 in mice results in decreased size. Therefore, to determine the relative contribution of S6k1 to Pten-deficient neuronal hypertrophy in vivo, we crossed Pten brain-conditional knockouts with S6k1 null mice. Double mutant mice show no reversion or improvement in their Pten-related size and neurological defects including enlarged cerebella and dentate gyri with increased size of neuronal nuclei and somata, ataxia, and premature death. The hypertrophic Pten/S6k1-deficient neurons contained high levels of phosphorylated S6, similar to Pten-deficient neurons, suggesting that the mTor/S6k/S6 branch of the pathway was still active. Thus, we conclude that S6k1 is not required to cause hypertrophy of Pten-deficient neurons. This study reveals a cell type-dependent role for S6k1 in PI3K-dependent hypertrophy.
Analysis of the puncture of a bisphenol-a polycarbonate disc

The finite element technique is applied to analytically predict the response of a disc made of BPA-polycarbonate during a displacement-controlled puncture test with a hemispherical indenter. The analysis includes effects of contact load, large displacements and rotations, and large strains and material yielding. Two general topics are addressed with this analysis. First, it is shown that the load-displacement behavior of impacted, BPA-polycarbonate plates can be accurately predicted over a wide range of engineering interest (strains up to 30 percent) using a bilinear representation of the stress-strain curve and flow theory of plasticity. For this purpose, the von Mises criterion is applied to define yielding in a generalized biaxial stress state, and strain rate effects are incorporated through the use of a yield stress consistent with the initial strain rate during the test. Second, in order to broaden the understanding of results associated with this widely used test, a number of mechanical and material effects are discussed, including large displacements, friction at the clamped support and indenter head, and clamping pressure at the support. Lack of agreement between the present analysis and experimental results with regard to ultimate load at puncture suggests that strain hardening and strain rate hardening of the material during the high-strain portion of the test (30 percent-60 percent) must be more accurately modeled for improved predictive capability.
Joseph Priestley, oxygen, and the Enlightenment

Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was the first person to report the discovery of oxygen and describe some of its extraordinary properties. As such he merits a special place in the history of respirator...
Interpolation by asymmetric, two-dimensional cubic convolution

This paper formulates a two-dimensional, piecewise-cubic interpolator that accounts for non-separable and rotationally asymmetric scene statistics. The resulting kernel has five parameters and is designated 2D-5PCC. As a low-order polynomial with small spatial support, the kernel is easy to implement and efficient to apply. A closed-form solution, developed in this paper, yields the optimal parameter values for scene ensembles characterized by autocorrelation or power spectrum. Experiments indicate that 2D-5PCC yields higher fidelity interpolations than several other popular methods.
Analysis and Design of a Paraffin/Graphite Composite PCM Integrated in a Thermal Storage Unit

The addition of latent heat storage systems in solar thermal applications has several benefits including volume reduction of storage tanks and maintaining the temperature range of the thermal storage. A Phase change material (PCM) provides high energy storage density at a constant temperature corresponding to its phase transition temperature. In this paper, a high temperature PCM (melting temperature 80°C) made of a composite of paraffin and graphite was tested to determine its thermal properties. Tests were conducted with a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and allowed the determination of the melting and solidification characteristics, latent heat, specific heat at melting and solidification, and thermal conductivity of the composite. The results of the study showed an increase in thermal conductivity by a factor of 4 when the mass fraction of the graphite in the composite was increased to 16.5%. The specific heat of the composite PCM (i.e., CPCM) decreased as the thermal conductivity increased, while the latent heat remained the same as the PCM component. In addition, the phase transition temperature was not influenced by the addition of expanded graphite. To explore the feasibility of the CPCM for practical applications, a numerical solution of the phase change transition of a small cylinder was derived. Finally, based on the properties obtained in DSC, a numerical simulation for a known volume of CPCM in a water tank was produced and indicated a reduction in solidification time by a factor of six.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
Pathology consultation on vitamin D testing: clinical indications for 25(OH) vitamin D measurement.

To the Editor I read with great interest the recent article by Krasowski1 on the timely topic of vitamin D testing. In this review, Krasowski1 presented a common clinical case scenario about vitamin D and provided an excellent discussion on causes of vitamin D deficiency and the challenges faced by pathologists related to 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] testing, including controversy about optimal and target serum 25(OH)D concentrations, variable and confusing reference intervals, various 25(OH)D assays, and misordering of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] testing. Although Krasowski1 mentioned the dramatic increases in 25(OH)D testing volume, the article did not discuss the clinical indications for vitamin D testing, which, in my view, are even more important for pathologists in their clinical consultation on test utilization. During the past few years, the idea that nearly everyone needs extra vitamin D has gained significant attention in the general public and lay media, thanks to the speculated health benefits of vitamin D from epidemiologic association studies. More and more people are being tested for 25(OH)D, even as part of screening during routine physical examinations. As a result, the 25(OH)D assay has become one of the most ordered, if not the most ordered, esoteric test and is associated with an increasing cost burden to the often strained laboratory testing budget. Despite continued debate on the optimal 25(OH)D concentration and the cutoff values for vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency,2 according to the …
E19. From King Arthur to Mysteries of Hamiltonian Graphs

As you will recall, in the solution of Problem 19.5 we introduced for our convenience the notion of Hamiltonian cycle, or a walk along the edges through all vertices of a graph, that does not repeat a vertex (and therefore, does not repeat any edge) until it ends at the vertex it started from. When such a Hamiltonian cycle exists, the graph is called Hamiltonian.
Large-Scale Geospatial Mapping of Forest Carbon Dynamics

Digital maps of forest dynamics are emerging as a great tool for the increasingly popular area of forest carbon-offset management. We used a geospatial matrix model (GSM) to estimate the amount of carbon dioxide-equivalent sequestered by the aboveground forest under the assumptions of natural growth, constant climate conditions, no human interference, and no natural disturbance. A digital map database was developed to facilitate research and management at various spatial scales.Despite its low potential to be managed for timber yield and net present value, the Alaska boreal forest—capable of offsetting an estimated 2.90 × 107 Mg of CO2-e annually—represented a significant offset resource for the emerging carbon market. The best carbon offset areas were clustered in the moisture-abundant lowlands along the major rivers whereas the worst ones neighbored the four major Alaska urban developments. It was hypothesized that moisture limitation and inappropriate human interference were the main factors affecting ...
Relative Toxicity of Pesticides to Organophosphorus-Resistant Orchard Populations of Neoseiulus fallacis and Its Prey

Two strains of the phytoseiid Neoseiulus (Typhlodromus) fallacis (Garman) from different North Carolina apple orchards showed a high to moderate degree of resistance to azinphosmethyl and parathion when compared to a strain that had not been exposed to these compounds. One of the resistant strains was further tested and results showed a moderate degree of cross resistance to Gardona,® (2-chloro-1-(2,4,5-trichlorophenyl) vinyl dimethyl phosphate), and Imidan,® ( O, O -dimethyl Sphthalimido methyl phosphorodithioate), and a minor degree of cross resistance to Omite, (2-( p - tert -butylphenoxy) cyclohexyl 2-propynyl sulfite). Plictran® (tricydohexyltin hydroxide) was shown to be more toxic to the organ phosphorus-resistant strain than the susceptible strain. The degree of organ phosphorus resistance in N. fallacis was the same or greater than in its prey, the European red mite, Panonychus ulmi (Koch), and the twos potted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, collected from treated orchards. The level of susceptibility of the 3 mite species to amite and Plictran was: European red mite> two spotted spider mite> N. fallacis .
El bilingüismo en el mundo hispanohablante by S. Montrul

Silvina Montrul is a renowned scholar in the field of Hispanic linguistics and has worked mainly in the area of language acquisition. This book, El bilinguismo en el mundo hispanohablante [Bilingua...
Levetiracetam, Attention Deficits and Subclinical EEG Spikes

The effects of levetiracetam on neuropsychological functioning in six children (mean age 9.8 years) with attention and learning difficulties and subclinical EEG spikes without clinical seizures were determined in a prospective, open-label pilot study at the Clinical Research Center of New Jersey and Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA.
Demoralization: a precursor to physician burnout?

Demoralization is a state of hopelessness and helplessness that is akin to, but separable from, depression.
Module Theoretic Results For Feedback System Matrices

A coordinate-free, module theoretic treatment of pole and zero structure in generalized feedback systems provides a mechanism to study the effects of the feedback connection without making certain restrictive assumptions on system minimality or upon the kernel or the image of the system. This paper extends recent results on the zeros of feedback system matrices to include poles and decoupling zeros. Additionally, this research provides an alternate method of solution regarding Ω-zeros of the feedback system which supplements the previous by providing further insight into the character of such zeros.
The detection of NBOMe designer drugs on blotter paper by high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) with and without chromatography

New psychoactive substances (NPS) have been associated with fatalities and severe injuries in a number of cases in the United States and have led investigators to rethink traditional drug monitoring protocols. Of particular interest are the variable phenethylamine chemical structures known as 'NBOMes', which pose an emerging threat to public health with incidence steadily growing over the past decade. In this study, direct sample analysis (DSA)-time of flight mass spectrometry was employed to leverage rapid and sensitive ambient ionization mass spectrometry without chromatographic separation as verified with an authentic case sample. Samples for method development were prepared at Boston University School of Medicine's Biomedical Forensic Sciences program (Boston, MA) and analyzed at the State of Maine Health and Environmental Testing Laboratory's Forensic Chemistry Section (Augusta, ME). Preliminary method development work was performed at the University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL). DSA without any extraction step in addition to the evaluation of methanol, dichloromethane and hexane extractions were conducted. Methanol was found to not be a suitable extraction solvent for DSA analysis of these compounds. For the screening of NBOMe designer drug variables on blotter paper, DSA-TOFMS was successful at reducing analysis time to ∼15s per sample, for qualitative identification for the selected analytes of interest. The analysis of an authentic forensic case sample by DSA-TOFMS using the method development parameters demonstrates its utility in forensic laboratories. 25C-NBOMe was identified with an exact mass accuracy of 0.60ppm.
Introducing IT Strategy in an Introductory Course

Professionals working in technology fields face continuing challenges to be involved in the decision making process about how technology is used by organizations rather than just implementing these decisions. Developing skills for thinking and acting strategically are key skills for our students. This has been recognized by the addition of an IS strategy course in the latest revision of the recommended curriculum, but programs have been slow to add this course. This paper investigates introducing learning activities related to IS/IT strategy in an introductory IT course. Including strategy activities throughout the curriculum could provide an alternative or complement to a dedicated strategy course.
Combining Low-Density Separators with CNNs

This work explores CNNs for the recognition of novel categories from few examples. Inspired by the transferability analysis of CNNs, we introduce an additional unsupervised meta-training stage that exposes multiple top layer units to a large amount of unlabeled real-world images. By encouraging these units to learn diverse sets of low-density separators across the unlabeled data, we capture a more generic, richer description of the visual world, which decouples these units from ties to a specific set of categories. We propose an unsupervised margin maximization that jointly estimates compact high-density regions and infers low-density separators. The low-density separator (LDS) modules can be plugged into any or all of the top layers of a standard CNN architecture. The resulting CNNs, with enhanced generality, significantly improve the performance in scene classification, fine-grained recognition, and action recognition with small training samples.
The Viscosity and Density of Ionic Liquid + Tetraglyme Mixtures and the Effect of Tetraglyme on CO2 Solubility

We show that the addition of tetraglyme (TG), which is a low viscosity liquid with relatively low vapor pressure, is effective in reducing the viscosity of ionic liquids (ILs). In particular, we measure the viscosities of mixtures of 18 ionic liquids with tetraglyme at temperatures between 278.15 and 323.15 K, with a focus on mixtures that are primarily ionic liquid. Thirteen of the ionic liquids contain aprotic heterocyclic anions (AHA ILs) paired with tetra-alkylphosphonium and imidazolium cations, which we have developed for cofluid vapor compression refrigeration and postcombustion CO2 capture applications. Three bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ([Tf2N]−) ionic liquids are included for comparison, as well as trihexyltetradecylphosphonium acetate and trihexyltetradecylphosphonium dicyanamide ([P66614][acetate] and [P66614][DCA]). In addition, we present the densities of trihexyltetradecylphosphonium 1,2,3-triazolide ([P66614][3-Triz]) + tetraglyme mixtures at temperatures between 283.15 and 353.15 K. ...
Enhancing precipitation models by capturing multivariate and multiscale climate dynamics

To improve precipitation predictions and enable accurate rainfall models for smart water networks, it is imperative to account for multivariate and multiscale precipitation dynamics with long-memory temporal relationships, long-range spatial dependencies, and low-frequency variability. While prior art has motivated the use of complex networks to capture these trends, existing work is limited to specific climate phenomena (such as El Nino) and regions. In this paper we employ a comprehensive assessment of complex networks with respect to multivariate dynamics across multiple temporal and spatial scales (multiscale). Our work is the first to incorporate both carbon emissions and precipitation anomalies data into a multivariate analysis. By effectively substantiating the ability of complex networks to capture multivariate and multiscale climate dynamics, we postulate their potential as reanalysis and assessment tools to enhance regional water models of arbitrary range and granularity, and to eventually enable reliable smart water systems.
Clinical Syndromes Associated with Epstein-Barr Virus

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a double-stranded DNA virus of the herpes virus family. It is the causal agent in most cases of infectious mononucleosis and has a ubiquitous distribution, infecting over 90% of Caucasians by late adolescence 1. Since its discovery in cell lines derived from patients with Burkitt’s lymphoma in 1964, EBV has been implicated as the causal agent of this disease in endemic areas of Africa 2. Later, serologic studies suggested a role for EBV in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma 1. In both diseases, EBV serves as a co- carcinogen, acting in concert with other infectious agents (such as malaria) or with chemical factors. However, the consistent finding of serologic changes and EBV DNA in these tumors indicated an important viral role in pathogenesis 3. In recent years, EBV has been potentially associated with a wide variety of additional clinical syndromes ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to the chronic fatigue syndrome.
Cardiac-directed expression of a catalytically inactive adenylyl cyclase 6 protects the heart from sustained β-adrenergic stimulation

Author(s): Gao, Mei Hua; Lai, N Chin; Giamouridis, Dimosthenis; Kim, Young Chul; Guo, Tracy; Hammond, H Kirk | Abstract: ObjectivesIncreased expression of adenylyl cyclase type 6 (AC6) has beneficial effects on the heart through cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent and cAMP-independent pathways. We previously generated a catalytically inactive mutant of AC6 (AC6mut) that has an attenuated response to β-adrenergic receptor stimulation, and, consequently, exhibits reduced myocardial cAMP generation. In the current study we test the hypothesis that cardiac-directed expression of AC6mut would protect the heart from sustained β-adrenergic receptor stimulation, a condition frequently encountered in patients with heart failure.Methods and resultsAC6mut mice and transgene negative siblings received osmotic mini-pumps to provide continuous isoproterenol infusion for seven days. Isoproterenol infusion caused deleterious effects that were attenuated by cardiac-directed AC6mut expression. Both groups showed reduced left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, but the reduction was less in AC6mut mice (p = 0.047). In addition, AC6mut mice showed superior left ventricular function, manifested by higher values for LV peak +dP/dt (p = 0.03), LV peak -dP/dt (p = 0.008), end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (p = 0.003) and cardiac output (pl0.03). LV samples of AC6mut mice had more sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase (SERCA2a) protein (pl0.01), which likely contributed to better LV function. AC6mut mice had lower rates of cardiac myocyte apoptosis (p = 0.016), reduced caspase 3/7 activity (p = 0.012) and increased B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl2) expression (p = 0.0001).ConclusionMice with cardiac-directed AC6mut expression weathered the deleterious effects of continuous isoproterenol infusion better than control mice, indicating cardiac protection.
Atrial fibrillation in an African-American cohort: The Jackson Heart Study.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important public health problem across race/ethnic groups. Data from US cohort studies initiated in the 1980s suggest a higher prevalence of AF risk factors among African-Americans (AAs) than whites, but lower AF incidence. The Jackson Heart Study (JHS) is a community-based study of 5306 AAs recruited starting in 2000. Hypothesis Demographic, anthropometric, cardiovascular, and/or electrocardiographic factors are associated with AF incidence in JHS. Methods Using baseline participant characteristics and incident AF identified through hospital surveillance, study electrocardiogram, and Medicare claims, we estimated age- and sex-specific AF incidence rates, compared them with rates in AA participants in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) and Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS), and examined associations of cardiovascular risk factors with AF. Results A total of 66 participants had prevalent AF at baseline. Over an average follow-up of 8.5 years, 242 cases of incident AF were identified. Age- and sex-specific AF incidence rates in JHS were similar to those among AAs in MESA and appeared slightly lower than those among AAs in CHS. In an age- and sex-adjusted model, associations with incident AF were observed for modifiable risk factors: high body weight (HR = 1.23 per 15 kg, 95%CI 1.13-1.35), systolic blood pressure (HR = 1.29 per 20 mmHg, 95%CI 1.13-1.47), and current smoking (HR = 1.80, 95%CI 1.27-2.55). Risk estimates associated with these risk factors were only slightly attenuated after multivariable adjustments. Conclusions These findings underscore the potential additional benefits of interventions for weight management, control of hypertension, and smoking cessation for the prevention of AF among AAs.
Intellectual Functioning and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Can Profiles Inform Identification of Subpopulations?

Profiles of scores on measures of intellectual functioning may aid in understanding etiology and developing targeted intervention in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by providing details about specific phenotypes or subpopulations of ASD. Research investigating the relationship between ASD symptoms and intellectual functioning suggests that scores on the factors comprising global measures of intellectual functioning may be related to ASD symptoms (e.g., Joseph et al. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 43:807–821, 2002). Research has been limited by methodological problems, such as defining samples using unreliable subtypes of ASD and an overreliance on variable-centered methodological strategies. In the current paper, the authors provide a summary of existing research related to ASD symptoms and measures of intellectual functioning, review recent research identifying subpopulations in ASD, and provide goals for future areas of research in this area.
The effect of math SAT on women's chemistry competency beliefs

In chemistry, lack of academic preparation and math ability have been offered as explanations as to why women seem to enroll, perform, and graduate at lower levels than men. In this paper, we explore the alternative possibility that the gender gap in chemistry instead originates from differential gender effects of academic factors on students’ motivation. Using a sample of approximately 670 students enrolled in a mid-sized university in the United States we conducted: (1) t-tests to understand incoming academic differences between freshman students by gender, (2) regression analysis to determine which academic and attitudinal factors predict success in General Chemistry 1, and (3) a mediation analysis to understand the underlying mechanisms of how academic performance affects students’ beliefs about their competency in chemistry, which in turn has an effect on chemistry achievement. We demonstrate the importance of math ability as a contributor to chemistry achievement, but further that ability differences in math are important because they affect students’ chemistry competency beliefs. Critically, this link between ability and competency beliefs is stronger for women than men. These results suggest that interventions geared towards improving women's chemistry competency beliefs could have an important influence in improving their achievement in the classroom, and in consequence reduce the gender gap in chemistry.
Student use of imperatives in their academic writing: How research can be pedagogically applied

Abstract This paper is a contribution to the “Research into Practice” genre recently established by the journal in order to highlight the pedagogical applications of EAP research. The research in question is taken from a recently published paper (Neiderhiser et al., 2016) analyzing senior undergraduate and graduate student use of imperatives in their academic papers. Much of the paper consists of a sequence of tasks (to be done in class, online, or for homework) derived from the 2016 study, along with a rationale for the pedagogical decisions made. The sequence opens with rhetorical consciousness-raising activities, moves on to various kinds of micro-analyses to be carried out by the students, and closes with some editing tasks.
SOUTH ASIAN ETHNICITY ASSOCIATED WITH NARROW CORONARY ARTERIES: A META-ANALYSIS

Coronary artery diameter in South Asians has been investigated as a risk factor in the development of coronary artery disease with variable findings. Studies have compared the diameter but not the vessel cross-sectional area which would determine the atheroma burden required to have a
Automated Diagnosis of Plus Disease in Retinopathy of Prematurity Using Deep Convolutional Neural Networks

Importance Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a leading cause of childhood blindness worldwide. The decision to treat is primarily based on the presence of plus disease, defined as dilation and tortuosity of retinal vessels. However, clinical diagnosis of plus disease is highly subjective and variable. Objective To implement and validate an algorithm based on deep learning to automatically diagnose plus disease from retinal photographs. Design, Setting, and Participants A deep convolutional neural network was trained using a data set of 5511 retinal photographs. Each image was previously assigned a reference standard diagnosis (RSD) based on consensus of image grading by 3 experts and clinical diagnosis by 1 expert (ie, normal, pre–plus disease, or plus disease). The algorithm was evaluated by 5-fold cross-validation and tested on an independent set of 100 images. Images were collected from 8 academic institutions participating in the Imaging and Informatics in ROP (i-ROP) cohort study. The deep learning algorithm was tested against 8 ROP experts, each of whom had more than 10 years of clinical experience and more than 5 peer-reviewed publications about ROP. Data were collected from July 2011 to December 2016. Data were analyzed from December 2016 to September 2017. Exposures A deep learning algorithm trained on retinal photographs. Main Outcomes and Measures Receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to evaluate performance of the algorithm against the RSD. Quadratic-weighted κ coefficients were calculated for ternary classification (ie, normal, pre–plus disease, and plus disease) to measure agreement with the RSD and 8 independent experts. Results Of the 5511 included retinal photographs, 4535 (82.3%) were graded as normal, 805 (14.6%) as pre–plus disease, and 172 (3.1%) as plus disease, based on the RSD. Mean (SD) area under the receiver operating characteristic curve statistics were 0.94 (0.01) for the diagnosis of normal (vs pre–plus disease or plus disease) and 0.98 (0.01) for the diagnosis of plus disease (vs normal or pre–plus disease). For diagnosis of plus disease in an independent test set of 100 retinal images, the algorithm achieved a sensitivity of 93% with 94% specificity. For detection of pre–plus disease or worse, the sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 94%, respectively. On the same test set, the algorithm achieved a quadratic-weighted κ coefficient of 0.92 compared with the RSD, outperforming 6 of 8 ROP experts. Conclusions and Relevance This fully automated algorithm diagnosed plus disease in ROP with comparable or better accuracy than human experts. This has potential applications in disease detection, monitoring, and prognosis in infants at risk of ROP.