cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Epidemiology of malignant cutaneous granular cell tumors: A US population-based cohort analysis using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

Background Malignant cutaneous granular cell tumors (mcGCTs) are rare and associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. The literature includes single-institution studies. Objective To examine the incidence, secondary malignancies, treatment, overall survival, and disease-specific survival (DSS) of patients with mcGCT. Methods A population-based cohort analysis was conducted in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database from 1973 to 2013 for patients with a diagnosis of mcGCT. Risk-adjusted associations between overall survival/DSS and patient characteristics and treatment modalities were assessed by Cox proportional hazard regression. Quantile regression was used to determine median survival times. Results The 5-year DSS rate was 62.8%. Patients demonstrated an increased risk for renal and pancreatic cancers. In risk-adjusted models, male sex (hazard ratio [HR], 0.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.82; P = .02), advanced cancer stage (HR, 2.29; 95% CI, 1.40-3.72; P P = .02) predicted DSS. Median survival time in years increased for males (1.39), earlier stage (0.60), and surgical intervention (5.34). Limitations Absent or incorrect reporting in retrospective Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results data is possible. The database is more likely to include academic centers. Some subanalyses may be underpowered because of the limited sample size for a rare cancer. Conclusions Our study presents an in-depth assessment of factors that identify high-risk patients. Residency in a nonmetro area, black race, female sex, and no surgical resection were each associated with poorer DSS.
Effect of Nasal Versus Oral Breathing on Vo2max and Physiological Economy in Recreational Runners Following an Extended Period Spent Using Nasally Restricted Breathing

Background: In subjects who do not practice nasally restricted breathing, peak oxygen uptake (VO2max) and time to exhaustion in a graded exercise protocol (GXT TE) are impaired while breathing nasally versus orally. Objective: This study investigated the effect of oral versus nasal breathing on VO2max, GXT TE and physiological economy (PE) in subjects who had previously self-selected a nasal only breathing approach during training and racing. Methods: A mixed gender sample (N=10, 5 male and 5 female) of nasal breathing recreational runner’s completed a maximal GXT and high level steady state trial at 85% of their maximal GXT running velocity (SS85) in both nasally and orally restricted breathing conditions. Results: In the GXT trials the subjects exhibited no significant mean difference in GXT TE, VO2max or peak lactate. However, in the nasally restricted breathing condition they demonstrated a significantly lower mean ventilatory equivalent for both oxygen (VE/VO2) (p = 0.002), and carbon dioxide (VE/VCO2) (p = 0.043) at VO2max with large effect sizes. During the SS85 trials the subjects exhibited a significantly better PE (P = 0.05) and no significant difference in lactate production, as well as a significantly lower mean VE/VO2 (p = 0.002) and VE/VCO2 (p = 0.002) with large effect sizes. Conclusion: This study supports the ability of recreational runners to utilize a nasally restricted breathing pattern at all levels of running intensity without loss in VO2max or GXT TE, and with superior PE and VE/VO2, following an extended training period using this practice.
Concepts Around Privacy-Preserving Attribute-Based Credentials

This article provides a short overview of the concepts around privacy-preserving attribute-based authentication. It then briefly discusses the cryptographic realisation of these concepts and describes an architecture implementing them.
Catalytic activation of unstrained C(aryl)–C(aryl) bonds in 2,2′-biphenols

Transition metal catalysis has emerged as an important means for C-C activation that allows mild and selective transformations. However, the current scope of C-C bonds that can be activated is primarily restricted to either highly strained systems or more polarized C-C bonds. In contrast, the catalytic activation of non-polar and unstrained C-C moieties remains an unmet challenge. Here we report a general approach for the catalytic activation of the unstrained C(aryl)-C(aryl) bonds in 2,2'-biphenols. The key is to utilize the phenol moiety as a handle to install phosphinites as a recyclable directing group. Using hydrogen gas as the reductant, monophenols are obtained with a low catalyst loading and high functional group tolerance. This approach is also applied to the synthesis of 2,3,4-trisubstituted phenols. A further mechanistic study suggests that the C-C activation step is mediated by a rhodium(I) monohydride species. Finally, a preliminary study on breaking the inert biphenolic moieties in lignin models is illustrated.
APD Performance Enhancement: Minigap Engineering in Digital Alloys

Digital alloy APDs have recently demonstrated superior performance. This superiority is attributed to the presence of minigaps in digital alloys. We study the minigaps in different digital alloys and their possible impact on APD performance.
Esophageal tamponade in the treatment of bleeding varices

Previous reports from this hospital in 1958 and 1967 have revealed that esophageal tamponade is a relatively dangerous type of treatment. Other investigators have been able to avoid many of the hazards of this technique. We have again assessed our results in 50 episodes of esophageal tamponade in bleeding esophageal varices in 39 patients. Thirty-seven had alcoholic cirrhosis, one Wilson's disease, and one portal vein thrombosis. The diagnosis of variceal hemorrhage was established by endoscopy or angiography in virtually all. The great majority (86%) had had unsuccessful infusions of vasopressin previously. The Sengstaken-Blakemore tube (SBT) was used in 41 and the Linton tube (LT) in nine. Hemorrhage was controlled for at least 24 consecutive hours in 20 episodes (40%). Ninety percent of the patients died. Rupture of the esophagus following inflation of the gastric balloon in the esophagus caused three deaths (8%). Major nonfatal complications such as aspiration pneumonia occurred on five other occasions. Although the complications of esophageal tamponade were greatly reduced from our previous series, the efficacy of esophageal tamponade also decreased. There were no significant differences in the efficacy or complications of the SBT and LT. The high mortality and complication rates are still discouraging. We believe that the role of esophageal tamponade in the treatment of hemorrhage from varices is a secondary one.
Speaker identification using convolutional-long short-term memory neural networks

Speaker identification (SI) techniques has been used in numerous commercial products over the last decades. In SI, the main purpose is to match a voice sample from an unknown speaker to one of the labeled speaker models. To be able accomplish this task, there are two operational phases, training (can be also termed as enrollment) and testing. In both phases, feature extraction and feature matching are the two key steps. In this work, we have extracted features with Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC) because MFCC has accurate representation of the vocal tract, and a Spectral-Flux based Voice Activity Detector (VAD) is implemented to extract features from the speech segments. In feature matching task, we build a Convolutional Long short-term memory (LSTM) Neural Network for the speaker models. We examine main performance of the system in terms of identification rate and compare the proposed method with other SI methods under several noisy conditions at different signal to noise ratio (SNR) levels.Speaker identification (SI) techniques has been used in numerous commercial products over the last decades. In SI, the main purpose is to match a voice sample from an unknown speaker to one of the labeled speaker models. To be able accomplish this task, there are two operational phases, training (can be also termed as enrollment) and testing. In both phases, feature extraction and feature matching are the two key steps. In this work, we have extracted features with Mel-Frequency Cepstrum Coefficients (MFCC) because MFCC has accurate representation of the vocal tract, and a Spectral-Flux based Voice Activity Detector (VAD) is implemented to extract features from the speech segments. In feature matching task, we build a Convolutional Long short-term memory (LSTM) Neural Network for the speaker models. We examine main performance of the system in terms of identification rate and compare the proposed method with other SI methods under several noisy conditions at different signal to noise ratio (SNR) levels.
Dosing an Epidural for “Back Labor.”

A 32-year-old healthy woman, G2P1001, is in labor at 6 cm of cervical dilation. She received an epidural at 4 cm and got complete relief of her labor pain, which at that time was anterior and right above the pubic symphysis (L-1). The nurse calls the anesthesiologist and reports that the patient is now complaining of severe pain in her lower back with each contraction.
The Effects of Glaucoma on the Pressure-Induced Strain Response of the Human Lamina Cribrosa.

Purpose To measure the ex vivo pressure-induced strain response of the human optic nerve head and analyze for variations with glaucoma diagnosis and optic nerve axon damage. Methods The posterior sclera of 16 eyes from 8 diagnosed glaucoma donors and 10 eyes from 6 donors with no history of glaucoma were inflation tested between 5 and 45 mm Hg. The optic nerve from each donor was examined for degree of axon loss. The posterior volume of the lamina cribrosa (LC) was imaged with second harmonic generation and analyzed using volume correlation to calculate LC strains between 5 and 10 and 5 and 45 mm Hg. Results Eye length and LC area were larger in eyes diagnosed with glaucoma (P ≤ 0.03). Nasal-temporal EXX and circumferential Eθθ strains were lower in the LC of diagnosed glaucoma eyes at 10 mm Hg (P ≤ 0.05) and 45 mm Hg (P ≤ 0.07). EXX was smaller in the LC of glaucoma eyes with 25% axon loss than in glaucoma eyes with milder damage (P = 0.004, 10 mm Hg). Conclusions The stiffness of the LC pressure-strain response was greater in diagnosed glaucoma eyes and varied with glaucomatous axon damage. Lower LC strains in glaucoma eyes with milder damage may represent baseline biomechanical behavior that contributes to axon loss, whereas greater LC strain and altered radial LC strain variation in glaucoma eyes with more severe damage may be caused by glaucoma-related remodeling.
Sanctuary Policy Adoptions: Assessing the Effects of Ideology and Access to Labor and Housing Markets:

Sanctuary policies are generally explained as the outcome of a conflict between desires for openness and restrictionist impulses. In this view, economic factors are exogenous forces that interact w...
Does Asymmetrical Gonopodium Morphology Predict Lateralized Behavior in the Fish Xenophallus umbratilis

Why bilaterally symmetrical organisms express handedness remains an important question in evolutionary biology. In some species, anatomical asymmetries have evolved that accompany behavioral handedness, yet we know remarkably little about causal links between asymmetric morphological traits and behavior. Here, we explore if a dextral or sinistral orientation of the male intromittent organ predicts side preferences in male behaviors. Our study addresses this question in the Costa Rican livebearing fish, Xenophallus umbratilis. This fish has a bilaterally symmetrical body plan, with one exception—the male anal fin (gonopodium), used to inseminate females, terminates with a distinct left- or right-handed corkscrew morphology. We used a detour assay to test males for side biases in approach behavior when exposed to four different stimuli (predator, potential mate, novel object, empty tank control). We found that left morph males preferred using their right eye to view potential mates, predators, and the control, and that right morph males preferred to use their left eye to view potential mates and predators, and their right eye to view the control. Males of both morphs displayed no eye bias when approaching the novel object. Our results suggest that there is a strong link between behavior and gonopodium orientation, with right and left morph males responding with opposite directional behaviors when presented with the same stimuli. This presents the intriguing possibility that mating preferences—in this case constrained by gonopodial morphology—could be driving lateralized decision making in a variety of non-mating behaviors.
Aristotle and Expertise: Ideas on the Skillfulness of Virtue

Many philosophers working on virtue theory have resisted the idea that the virtues are practical skills, apparently following Aristotle’s resistance to that idea. Bucking the trend, Matt Stichter defends a strong version of this idea in The Skillfulness of Virtue by marshaling a wide range of conceptual and empirical arguments to argue that the moral virtues are robust skills involving the cognitive-conative unification of Aristotelian phronesis (‘practical intelligence’). Here I argue that Aristotle overlooks a more delimited kind of practical intelligence, strongly analogous to his own account of phronesis, that unifies complex forms of expertise such as medicine or even high-level sports. Insofar as the skill model of virtue is compelling, it must draw on a robust conception of practical expertise (techne) like the one developed here rather than the ordinary, anemic conception of practical skills.
From Policy Irrelevance to a Return to Relevance: Active Strategies in Forced Migration Research

This article traces a key logical framework in migration research: policy relevance. While many scholars and practitioners call for a closer relationship between research objectives and policy relevance, others have argued otherwise. Research which privileges the worldviews of forced migrants, rather than those of policymakers and practitioners, holds promise for moving beyond strict policy-laden and often legal categories, thereby creating new knowledge and priorities for policy itself. In this article, we unpack the denouement of this argument, that is, what has transpired in Forced Migration Studies since. Policy irrelevant research seeks to challenge taken-for-granted knowledge, and this article interrogates the politics and the imperatives, both ethical and practical, that arise from such a challenge. To that end, we look at the goals and conduct of a case study of organizations run by and for resettled refugees in the United States. This study illustrates how challenging policy-defined assumptions and categories, and raising critical perspectives drawn from forced migrants' voices, yields implications for policy. To get there, research moves beyond categories and asks new questions through a deconstructive approach; yet going from here, we argue, entails another role for forced migration research, an "active" approach that involves critical translation and application. At this juncture of forced migration research, policy irrelevant research seeks to make itself relevant and reasserts itself in policy discourses.
Censorship(s) in Translation: Constraints and Creativity

As an intellectual, creative, and cultural practice with a high potential of introducing dissident and subversive ideas to a culture, translation has historically been subjected to various censorial mechanisms in countless contexts and time periods. Translation as a vessel of the foreign content, which frequently implies damage to the native culture, attracts the attention of the censor. The means of these censorial mechanisms range from monitoring and regulating translation products at micro levels to prosecuting, jailing, and even murdering translators, with the purpose of establishing a domain within which the translator is allowed to produce.
GABAergic mechanisms regulated by miR-33 encode state-dependent fear

Fear-inducing memories can be state dependent, meaning that they can best be retrieved if the brain states at encoding and retrieval are similar. Restricted access to such memories can present a risk for psychiatric disorders and hamper their treatment. To better understand the mechanisms underlying state-dependent fear, we used a mouse model of contextual fear conditioning. We found that heightened activity of hippocampal extrasynaptic GABAA receptors, believed to impair fear and memory, actually enabled their state-dependent encoding and retrieval. This effect required protein kinase C-βII and was influenced by miR-33, a microRNA that regulates several GABA-related proteins. In the extended hippocampal circuit, extrasynaptic GABAA receptors promoted subcortical, but impaired cortical, activation during memory encoding of context fear. Moreover, suppression of retrosplenial cortical activity, which normally impairs retrieval, had an enhancing effect on the retrieval of state-dependent fear. These mechanisms can serve as treatment targets for managing access to state-dependent memories of stressful experiences.
Book Review Essay: Persuasion, Emotion, and Interdisciplinarity. A Review of Two Perspectives

“Machines designed to change humans” is the description of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab research team's website that greets visitors upon their arrival (Fogg, para 1). Further description...
Atmospheres and Thermal Continua of AGN Disks

Thermal emission from accretion disks is a popular model for the blue-ultraviolet-soft X-ray “big bump” in AGN spectra. Pros and cons of this model are briefly reviewed, and new results involving NLTE atmospheres for thin disks are presented. The Lyman edge of hydrogen is in absorption in the outer disk, but in emission in the inner disk. The overall edge, severely blurred by Doppler and gravitational redshifts, is difficult to recognize. In cases with a large black hole mass, modest accretion rate, and face-on orientation, the Lyman edge might be discernible as a change of slope near the λ ≈ 800 to 1000A region. Conspicuous, though highly broadened, features in the region of the He II edge at λ228A are likely. Soft X-ray luminosities are limited to ≲ 1046ergs-1 for Kerr holes and ≲ 1044 ergs-1 for Schwarzschild holes, so that Kerr holes are required to explain the observed luminosities. For favorable parameters, a rather steep increase of Fλ into the ultraviolet is possible (e.g., HS 1700+6416)
Incorporating the Narrative in Career Planning.

The article makes a case for the construction of narratives as major focus for career planning. Narratives can be seen as an appropriate compliment to the analysis of objective test data that has dominated our practice in the past. Narrative is described as an approach for career counselors to understand clients' vocational experiences and future plans. Subjective and objective aspects of a career narrative are explored, and emphasis is placed on co-authoring a career story that is subjectively meaningful and objectively sound. The client's subjective understanding of the career story is given importance as being pivotal information that must be considered in career counseling. Five key interventions are described from a narrative perspective.
Rapid astrocyte and microglial activation following pilocarpine‐induced seizures in rats

Astrocyte and microglial activation occurs following seizures and plays a role in epileptogenesis. However, the precise temporal and spatial response to seizures has not been fully examined. The pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy was selected to examine glial changes following seizures because morphological changes in the hippocampus closely mimic the human condition. Astrocytic and microglial changes in the hippocampus were examined during the first 5 days after pilocarpine-induced seizures in rats by analyzing GFAP, Iba1 and S100B-immunolabeling in CA1, CA3, and the hilus. Also, 3-dimensional reconstructions of microglial cells from the hilus and granule cell layer were analyzed. Lastly, astrocyte hypertrophy was examined in the hilus using electron microscopy. At 1 day after seizures and continuing throughout the 5 days examined, hypertrophied Iba1-labeled microglial cells and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)-labeled astrocytes were observed. At 1 and 2 days after seizures, significantly greater Iba1 immunolabeling was observed in CA1, CA3, and the hilus. In addition, both the area of Iba1 labeled processes and the number of their endings were increased in the hilus beginning at 1 day after seizures. S100B-immunolabeling was significantly elevated in CA3 at 1 day, in CA3 and CA1 at 2 days, and in all three hippocampal regions at 3 days after seizures. Electron microscopy confirmed astrocytic hypertrophy and demonstrated astrocytic cell bodies in the location where glial endfeet normally appear on capillaries. The differential response patterns of astrocytes and microglial cells following pilocarpine-induced seizures may signify their detrimental role in neuroinflammation after seizures.
The effects of traits and gender stereotypes on occupational suitability judgments and the recall of judgment-relevant information☆

Abstract Subjects were asked to judge the suitability of a person for stereotypically masculine or feminine jobs. This was done on the basis of information that varied with respect to (a) the gender of the candidate (male, female, or ambiguous), (b) the sex role stereotypy of the candidate's traits, and (c) the relevance of these traits to job performance. After making judgments, subjects recalled both the occupations they were asked to consider and the trait adjectives used to describe the job candidate. Results disconfirmed both the hypothesis that gender functions as a judgmental heuristic and the hypothesis that gender is used only as a last resort in judging occupational suitability. Rather, when a candidate's gender was clearly indicated by the information presented, it appeared to function as an independent job-relevant attribute of the candidate, the effects of which combined additively with the effects of other relevant attributes the candidate was believed to possess. When the candidate's gender was left ambiguous, however, subjects' inferences of the candidate's gender were unrelated to the judgments they made. The recall of trait information did not depend on its stereotypic consistency with the candidate's gender. In contrast, occupations were recalled better if they were stereotypically consistent with either the candidate's traits, or with the candidate's gender, than if they were inconsistent in these respects. A conceptualization of the cognitive processes involved in making occupational suitability judgments based on gender and trait information is proposed to integrate the implications of these various findings.
Registered Nurses Are Delaying Retirement, A Shift That Has Contributed To Recent Growth In The Nurse Workforce

The size of the registered nurse (RN) workforce has surpassed forecasts from a decade ago, growing to 2.7 million in 2012 instead of peaking at 2.2 million. Much of the difference is the result of a surge in new nursing graduates. However, the size of the RN workforce is particularly sensitive to changes in retirement age, given the large number of baby-boomer RNs now in the workforce. We found that in the period 1969–90, for a given number of RNs working at age fifty, 47 percent were still working at age sixty-two and 9 percent were working at age sixty-nine. In contrast, in the period 1991–2012 the proportions were 74 percent at age sixty-two and 24 percent at age sixty-nine. This trend, which largely predates the recent recession, extended nursing careers by 2.5 years after age fifty and increased the 2012 RN workforce by 136,000 people. Because many RNs tend to shift out of hospital settings as they age, employers seeking RNs for nonhospital roles may welcome (and seek to capitalize on) the growing nu...
Ethical Concerns for Censorship Measurement

Based on our experiences in measuring censorship in several projects, we frame various ethical questions and challenges that we have encountered. We offer this short document to highlight open questions that we view as important to consider when establishing ethical norms for censorship measurement.
Detecting repackaged smartphone applications in third-party android marketplaces

Recent years have witnessed incredible popularity and adoption of smartphones and mobile devices, which is accompanied by large amount and wide variety of feature-rich smartphone applications. These smartphone applications (or apps), typically organized in different application marketplaces, can be conveniently browsed by mobile users and then simply clicked to install on a variety of mobile devices. In practice, besides the official marketplaces from platform vendors (e.g., Google and Apple), a number of third-party alternative marketplaces have also been created to host thousands of apps (e.g., to meet regional or localization needs). To maintain and foster a hygienic smartphone app ecosystem, there is a need for each third-party marketplace to offer quality apps to mobile users.In this paper, we perform a systematic study on six popular Android-based third-party marketplaces. Among them, we find a common "in-the-wild" practice of repackaging legitimate apps (from the official Android Market) and distributing repackaged ones via third-party marketplaces. To better understand the extent of such practice, we implement an app similarity measurement system called DroidMOSS that applies a fuzzy hashing technique to effectively localize and detect the changes from app-repackaging behavior. The experiments with DroidMOSS show a worrisome fact that 5% to 13% of apps hosted on these studied marketplaces are repackaged. Further manual investigation indicates that these repackaged apps are mainly used to replace existing in-app advertisements or embed new ones to "steal" or re-route ad revenues. We also identify a few cases with planted backdoors or malicious payloads among repackaged apps. The results call for the need of a rigorous vetting process for better regulation of third-party smartphone application marketplaces.
Crystal structure of the A domain from the alpha subunit of integrin CR3 (CD11b/CD18).

Abstract We have determined the high resolution crystal structure of the A domain from the a chain of integrin CR3. The domain adopts a classic α/β "Rossmann" fold and contains an unusual Mg 2+ coordination site at its surface. One of the coordinating ligands is the glutamate side chain from another A domain molecule. We suggest that this site represents a general metal ion-dependent adhesion site (MIDAS) for binding protein ligands. We further propose that the subunits of integrins contain a MIDAS motif within a modified A domain. Our crystal structure will allow reliable models to be built for other members of the A domain superfamily and should facilitate development of novel adhesion modulatory drugs.
RRO/NRRO characteristics in mobile HDDs

The characteristics of repeatable runout (RRO) and non-repeatable runout (NRRO) of HDDs have to be clarified for higher tracks per inch since the static positional accuracy has almost reached its limit. The most dominant component in NRRO and even in RRO is torque disturbance. We experimentally estimated that the rate of windage - the dominant component of torque disturbance - using a mixture of helium and air.
Summary of the Workshop on Neutron Cross Section Covariances

A Workshop on Neutron Cross Section Covariances was held from June 24–27, 2008, in Port Jefferson, New York. This Workshop was organized by the National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, to provide a forum for reporting on the status of the growing field of neutron cross section covariances for applications and for discussing future directions of the work in this field. The Workshop focused on the following four major topical areas: covariance methodology, recent covariance evaluations, covariance applications, and user perspectives. Attention was given to the entire spectrum of neutron cross section covariance concerns ranging from light nuclei to the actinides, and from the thermal energy region to 20 MeV. The papers presented at this conference explored topics ranging from fundamental nuclear physics concerns to very specific applications in advanced reactor design and nuclear criticality safety. This paper provides a summary of this workshop. Brief comments on the highlights of each Workshop contribution are provided. In addition, a perspective on the achievements and shortcomings of the Workshop as well as on the future direction of research in this field is offered.
Sub-populations of peripheral lymphocytes from patients with shigella bacillary dysentery with associated leucocytosis

Abstract In this study we ascertained the proportion and absolute number of T, B and nul cell peripheral lymphocytes from Shigella dysenteriae type I patients and compared these results with those from age matched controls. Single blood samples were collected from 13 Bangladeshi children who complained of symptoms for one or more weeks. Patients were divided into two categories, with and without a leukaemoid response. The leukaemoid response was primarily granulocytic in nature, but there was a substantial increase in the mean number of lymphocytes. Over one third of the lymphocytes were nul cells. These cells rose proportionally to the decrease of T-cells, as the proportion of B-cells remained within normal range. One leukaemoid patient died. The absolute number of lymphocytes was normal and the B-cells were normal in respect of both proportions and absolute numbers. T-cell percentage and numbers were well below normal values.
Effect of Fabric Structures on the Mechanical Properties of 3-D Textile Composites

This article reports on an experimental study to evaluate the effect of fabric structures on the mechanical properties of three-dimensional (3-D) textile composites reinforced with 3-D braid, 3-D woven fabric, and 3-D woven fabric with twisted yarns. The mechanical properties are tested in uniaxial tension, compression, three-point flexure, and short-beam shear. The failure modes and mechanisms under such loading conditions are examined. While the mechanical properties and failure modes of these composites vary considerably, they are directly influenced by the fiber architecture of the perform fabrics. When more fibers are placed to strengthen the composite in a given direction, the composite could be weakened by the shift of fiber placement in some other directions. The structure–property relations of such 3-D composites are discussed in this article.
Neutron capture cross sections of 130 , 132 , 134 , 136 , 138 Ba

Cross sections for radiative capture of neutrons have been measured by the activation technique for stable isotopes of Ba with mass numbers 130, 132, 134, 136, and 138. From separate irradiations using thermal and epithermal neutrons, independent values for the thermal cross sections and effective resonance integrals have been determined. Improved values for the radioactive decay half-lives of ${}^{131}$Ba${}^{g}$, ${}^{131}$Ba${}^{m}$, ${}^{133}$Ba${}^{m}$, ${}^{135}$Ba${}^{m}$, and ${}^{139}$Ba were also obtained. Results of a new measurement of the energies and intensities of the \ensuremath{\gamma} rays in the decay of ${}^{139}$Ba are reported, along with \ensuremath{\beta} feedings and energies for the excited states in the daughter ${}^{139}$La.
Teaching operating systems with simple low-cost portable energy efficient devices

Among others, a good platform in teaching operating systems (OS) includes a simple hardware architecture, a small open sourced OS, a friendly user interface for debugging and programming, and the ability to directly interact with the hardware, which should be portable for anytime anywhere learning, and the curriculum should cover the latest technologies to expose students in the recent advancement in computing systems. We propose a new pedagogical model for OS curriculum based on an inexpensive simple microprocessor with the latest low power capability, and a small open sourced operating system. This device has been widely deployed, and has a potential to be reused in other computing courses. Its inexpensive characteristics promote broad adoption especially in resource limited institutions.
Adulthood functioning: the joint effects of parental alcoholism, gender and childhood socio‐economic stress

The popular literature has publicized the adjustment difficulties of adult children of an alcohol-dependent parent (ACOAs); however, empirical studies do not provide consistent support. We examined the impact of parental alcoholism, degree of childhood socio-economic stress and gender on three broad categories of adulthood functioning (psychopathology, socio-economic attainment and marital stability). These effects were investigated with a heterogeneous sample of 400 men and 226 women participating in studies at the University of Michigan Alcohol Research Center. Parental alcoholism and childhood socio-economic stress exerted significant independent effects on most adulthood functioning measures. Men and women differed substantially only on socio-economic attainment measures, and effects of parental alcoholism and childhood economic stress on men and women were generally similar. For marital stability, parental alcoholism and childhood socio-economic stress interacted. These results suggest that researchers who study the impact of family history for alcoholism on psychological functioning should consider other aspects of the family of origin that promote wellbeing. In addition, results of this study point to the need for more research on gender differences, protective factors that promote good adjustment and outcome measures reflecting general life adaptation.
On being optimistic about real-time constraints

Performance studies of concurrency control algorithms for conventional database systems have shown that, under most operating circumstances, locking protocols outperform optimistic techniques. Real-time database systems have special characteristics - timing constraints are associated with transactions, performance criteria are based on satisfaction of these timing constraints, and scheduling algorithms are priority driven. In light of these special characteristics, results regarding the performance of concurrency control algorithms need to be re-evaluated. We show in this paper that the following parameters of the real-time database system - its policy for dealing with transactions whose constraints are not met, its knowledge of transaction resource requirements, and the availability of resources - have a significant impact on the relative performance of the concurrency control algorithms. In particular, we demonstrate that under a policy that discards transactions whose constraints are not met, optimistic concurrency control outperforms locking over a wide range of system utilization. We also outline why, for a variety of reasons, optimistic algorithms appear well-suited to real-time database systems.
Prevention and treatment of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome: lessons learned and future prospects.

Gram-negative bacteria commonly cause serious infections in hospitalized patients, and those that lead to bacteremic episodes and sepsis syndrome are associated with the highest mortality rate. Sepsis syndrome frequently progresses to multisystem organ dysfunction and failure, with as many as 400,000 cases occurring annually. Unfortunately, the associated mortality rate remains about 40%. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS, endotoxin), an integral component of the gram-negative bacterial outer membrane, plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of this lethal disease process. It is capable of interacting with host macrophages, a process that leads to the secretion of an increasingly well-characterized array of macrophage cytokines. Several different classes of compounds that bind directly to LPS and thereby neutralize its effects are being examined. These consist of anti-LPS monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), naturally occurring proteins and their derivatives (e.g., bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein [BPI], Limulus anti-LPS factor [LALF]), and certain antibiotics (polymyxin B, taurolidine). The molecular biology of BPI, LALF, and LPS binding protein (LBP, which augments the host response to LPS) is of considerable interest, as each demonstrates considerable genetic sequence homology. Although two anti-LPS monoclonal antibodies (HA-1A, E5) did not demonstrate efficacy during sepsis syndrome, information obtained from these clinical trials provided investigators with the ability to better understand this disease process. However, a detailed understanding of the biology of endotoxin antagonism is beginning to emerge, and the application of this knowledge in the clinical setting provides hope that it may be possible to reduce the mortality of sepsis syndrome caused by these microorganisms to a statistic well below the current 40%.
Assessment of Solar Development in Taiwan

A study of the state of solar energy development in Taiwan has been performed. In this work, general energy use, solar research issues, and solar manufacturing status and applications were surveyed in late 2011. It was found that there are active research efforts underway in a variety of solar technologies, primarily in photovoltaics, and to a limited extent in solar domestic water heating. Significant manufacturing capabilities in photovoltaic cells have developed within the last decade, and this has grown rapidly, such that Taiwan has edged out Germany for the number two spot in the list of top manufacturers. Very little in the line of photovoltaic installations are found on the island, however. Another characteristic in terms of solar water heating manufacturing and application is that not much is found in Taiwan in contrast to what has taken place on the mainland of China. Some government efforts to stimulate the Taiwanese consumer market both in photovoltaics as well as water heating are outlined, but goals for the PV installations seem overly optimistic based upon recent history.Copyright © 2012 by ASME
Vibrational spectroscopy of adsorbed species on nickel by neutron inelastic scattering

Abstract In a test of the utility of neutron inelastic spectroscopy (NIS) for studying molecular vibrations in surface reactions, we have examined the adsorption, co-adsorption, and reaction of hydrogen and carbon monoxide on Raney nickel catalysts.
Walsh-Like Nonlinear Phase Orthogonal Codes for Direct Sequence CDMA Communications

Walsh codes are perfectly orthogonal binary (antipodal) block codes that found their use in many popular applications over several decades including synchronous multiuser communications. It is well known in the literature that they perform poorly for the case of asynchronous multiuser communications. Therefore, the near-orthogonal and nonlinear phase gold codes with better performance are the preferred user codes in asynchronous direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) communications standards. In this paper, we relaxed linear phase requirements and new sets of Walsh-like nonlinear phase binary orthogonal user codes (transforms) are obtained for asynchronous and synchronous spread spectrum multiuser communications. It is shown that the proposed binary user code family outperforms the Walsh codes significantly and they match in performance with the popular, nearly orthogonal gold codes closely for asynchronous multiuser communications in additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels. It is also shown that all of the binary code families considered in this paper performed comparable for Rayleigh flat-fading channels. We present in this paper that there are a good number of such desirable code sets available in the binary sample space with different transform sizes. These new binary sets with good performance and flexible code lengths might help us to improve the spread spectrum multiplexing capabilities of future wireline and wireless CDMA communications systems.
Differential expression of heme oxygenase-1 in cultured cortical neurons and astrocytes determined by the aid of a new heme oxygenase antibody. Response to oxidative stress

Abstract Heme oxygenase exists as two isoenzymes designated heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1)and heme oxygenase-2 (HO-2). HO-2 is made constitutively in many cell types whereas HO-1 is a stress protein inducible by heat, heavy metals, ultraviolet irradiation, and oxidative stress. Recombinant rat HO-1 was expressed in bacteria and antiserum designated HO-1713 was raised against the purified protein. HO-1713 detected recombinant rat HO-1 and recombinant rat HO-2. In rat tissues it detected HO-1 and a second, unidentified band designated HO-L (heme oxygenase-like immunoreactivity)which was not HO-2. Cultured rat cortical neurons and forebrain astrocytes were exposed to hydrogen peroxide (0.14-0.7 micromolar for 30 or 60 min). Neurons which contained little detectable HO-1 and which were sensitive to hydrogen peroxide at the high end of the dose curve failed to induce HO-1 by Western blot analysis. In contrast, cultured rat forebrain astrocytes which contained HO-1 under normal culture conditions and which were resistant to injury by hydrogen peroxide, increased their content of immunoreactive HO-1 by 7-fold within 3 h after exposure. Our results support a protective role for HO-1 in oxidative injury and suggest that the relative inability of neurons to increase HO-1 after oxidative stress may contribute to their selective vulnerability vis-a-vis astrocytes. They also suggest that differential expression of heme oxygenase in studies utilizing CNS cultures may alter normal cell physiology and cell survival.
Analysis of Agreement Among Findings of Pathologists in ED01 Experiment1

The ED01 experiment, which involved determination of the effective dose to produce a 1% tumor rate, was carried out by the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR). The study involved greater than 20,000 BALB/c female mice exposed to various doses of 2-acetylaminofluorene, a chemical known to produce bladder and liver carcinomas. After death, tissues from each animal were evaluated for the presence of several types of tumors by one of a team of NCTR pathologists. After the ED01 experiment was completed, the Society of Toxicology commissioned another pathologist to carry out an independent review of the bladder and liver specimens from a stratified sample of the mice. There were substantial differences in the diagnoses of both tumor types by the pathologists, but the implications for detection of a dose-response relationship are important only for liver carcinomas.
Interactions of human truncated DISC1 proteins: implications for schizophrenia

Numerous genetic linkage and association reports have implicated the Disrupted-in-Schizophrenia (DISC1) gene in psychiatric illness. The Scottish family translocation, predicted to encode a C-terminus-truncated protein, suggests involvement of short isoforms in the pathophysiology of mental disorders. We recently reported complex alternative splicing patterns for the DISC1 gene and found that short isoforms are overexpressed in the brains of patients with schizophrenia and in carriers of risk-associated alleles. Investigation into the protein–protein interactions of alternative DISC1 isoforms may provide information about the functional consequences of overexpression of truncated forms in mental illness. Human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells were transiently co-transfected with human epitope-tagged DISC1 variants and epitope-tagged NDEL1, FEZ1, GSK3β and PDE4B constructs. Co-immunoprecipitation assays demonstrated that all truncated DISC1 variants formed complexes with full-length DISC1. Short DISC1 splice variants LΔ78, LΔ3 and Esv1 showed reduced or no binding to NDEL1 and PDE4B proteins, but fully interacted with FEZ1 and GSK3β. The temporal expression pattern of GSK3β in the human postmortem tissue across the lifespan closely resembled that of the truncated DISC1 variants, suggesting the possibility of interactions between these proteins in the human brain. Our results suggest that complexes of full-length DISC1 with truncated DISC1 variants may result in cellular disturbances critical to DISC1 function.
Positive giant magnetoresistance in Dy/Sc superlattices

We have discovered large positive magnetoresistance in Dy/Sc superlattices at low temperatures. These and other magnetotransport phenomena lack the hysteresis of the observed Dy magnetization. We offer a speculative interpretation in terms of interfacial reflectivity.
Physical properties of rod-shaped molecules in solution.

Several theories describing the physical properties of solutions containing rod-shaped molecules are reviewed. The results of the various theories are presented in a convenient form for implementation on a calculator or microcomputer. Expressions are derived for light scattering from thin rods using rational approximations for the sine and cosine integrals. These expressions apply to turbidity, Rayleigh, and dynamic light-scattering measurements. Accurate approximating equations are given for the various diffusional motions involved in dynamic light scattering. For shear-dependent viscosity and flow birefringence, empirically derived interpolation formulas are given. These provide values of the Simha factor, extinction angle and orientation function for a wide range of axial ratios and velocity gradients with relative errors less than 1%. We demonstrate how these equations can be applied to predict or model the properties of a solution containing thin rods of various lengths.
Role of the Kidney in the Pathogenesis of Congestive Heart Failure

The pathogenesis of sodium retention in congestive heart failure has been a difficult problem to elucidate. The production in dogs of cardiac valvular lesions of increasing severity has enabled investigators to study the sequential alterations in salt and water balance in the same animal from the normal state through the progressive stages of cardiac impairment until frank failure is present. The findings in dogs suggest that: 1. Abnormalities in sodium metabolism are detectable in mild heart disease long before overt failure is present. 2. Total exchangeable sodium may be increased in animals with mild valvular damage. These animals have normal exercise tolerance and normal basal glomerular filtration rates. 3. Increased sympatho-adrenal (adrenergie) activity is responsible, in large measure, for the decreased sodium and water excretion in dogs with cardiac impairment. 4. Preliminary experiments suggest that the carotid sinus may be the receptor organ initiating the reflex increase in sympatho-adrenal tone, and may be the elusive "volume receptor" for which investigators have been searching. 5. Evidence is also available that the carotid sinus may play a major role in the regulation of the zona glomerulosa of the adrenal cortex, the site of aldosterone production.
An Active Duty Patient With Common Variable Immune Deficiency With Early Diagnosis With the Help of the Electronic Record

Electronic medical records have become an integral part to the practice of both military and civilian medicine. One key benefit is the ability to observe the patient as a whole, as opposed to one presenting symptom at a time. We report a case of common variable immunodeficiency in an active duty male who presented with a variety of soft tissue and sinopulmonary tract infections. With the assistance of the electronic medical record, we could view the entirety of the patient’s medical history with ease and were able to make the diagnosis. Because treatment with IVIG has been shown to reduce both morbidity and mortality, it is necessary for diagnosis to be made early in our active duty population. J Med Cases. 2015;6(2):62-64 doi: https://doi.org/10.14740/jmc1838w