cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Abstract 150: Hypoxia and Ischemia Promote a Maladaptive Platelet Phenotype

Background: An understudied area of platelet biology is that ischemic diseases such as peripheral vascular disease (PVD) can alter the platelet phenotype, and this may lead to unpredictable effects of anti-platelet agents. Methods: Isolated murine and human platelets were exposed to a reduced oxygen environment (hypoxia chamber, 5% O 2 ). Platelet activation was assessed as mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of surface p-selectin by flow cytometry, and morphologic changes by confocal microscopy. A murine model of critical limb ischemia (CLI) was used to assess changes in platelet activity in wild-type (WT) and in platelet ERK5 -/- mice. Limb blood flow was assessed by laser Doppler imaging. Hypoxia was additionally examined in mice by unilateral pneumonectomy. Western blotting was used to assess protein expression. Results: In human platelets ex vivo at 5% O 2 , platelet activation increased to 5076 MFI±409 from 3548 MFI±187 at 20% O 2 (P=0.005). With the ERK5 inhibitor XMD892, platelet activation at 5% O 2 decreased from 5677 MFI±312 to 3175 MFI±247 (p=0.001). In a murine model of PVD, enhanced platelet activation was sustained for weeks vs. sham, and limb blood flow in platelet ERK5 -/- mice one week after ischemia was augmented by 26%: 0.61±0.03 vs 0.87±0.03 vs, WT mice (p=0.0002), with 50% less platelet activity. In mice with unilateral pneumonectomy vs. sham surgery, observed hypoxia was accompanied by increased platelet ERK5 activation coincident with enhanced platelet activation. In patients with CLI, augmented platelet activation in spite of aspirin treatment was observed via the thromboxane and the PAR1 receptors, and especially via P2Y 12 receptor. Conclusions: Hypoxia and ischemic tissue injury, such as with critical limb ischemia, change the phenotype of the platelet, promoting a pro-thrombotic state that is partly dependent on platelet ERK5. Platelet phenotype and function should be better characterized in ischemic diseases.
The Influence of Country-Level Emotions on Opportunity Recognition and Entrepreneurial Intentions (WITHDRAWN)

Although the importance of emotions as factors in entrepreneurial behavior has been well-established at the individual level, this relationship has not been elaborately studied at the national leve...
Huron-to-Erie Water Quality Data Platform

To address the challenges of environmental degradation, creation of a sustainable urban environment, and increased public engagement and awareness, a mass-oriented, user-friendly and cloud-based data platform has been developed and deployed to provide integrative water quality data in one of the most critical urban corridors of the Laurentian Great Lakes system. In this paper, we describe the data platform developed for the watershed and connecting channels between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, including the St. Clair River, Lake St. Chair, and the Detroit River. This data platform greatly facilitates the access of data across data providers and agencies. Several example applications are provided of platform use for temporal and spatial characterization of intake water source quality and urban beach health through consideration of Escherichia coli, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, and blue-green algae detections along the Huron-to-Erie corridor. Although data collection for each of these parameters was designed for unique purposes and supported through varied agencies, this paper shows the collective advantages of applying the data beyond the original scope of collection.
Spatial Pooling and Perceptual Framing by Synchronizing Cortical Dynamics

The primate visual system performs the complex task of analyzing the visual environment in several stages. At the first stage, the retina, the incoming image is transduced into neural signals. These signals are then transmitted to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and from there to the striate cortex (VI). Cells in all these stages have comparatively small receptive fields, with the biggest being in VI. The maximum size of striate receptive fields have a diameter of about one degree (Hubel & Wiesel, 1968). Unlike the receptive fields of cells in the retina and the LGN, receptive fields of striate neurons tend to have a preferred orientation.
Management of Adolescent Chronic Pelvic Pain from Endometriosis: A Pain Center Perspective

Abstract Objectives: To review the options for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain in adolescents with endometriosis. Methods: Review of publications and description of author's experience relating to adolescent endometriosis and pain treatment. Results: Pain treatment services offer a multidisciplinary approach for the treatment of chronic pelvic pain consisting of analgesic trials, cognitive-behavioral therapy, physical therapy, and complementary and alternative therapies. Patients are also evaluated for other conditions that might contribute to their chronic pain. Medication trials of antidepressants, anticonvulsants, tramadol, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are frequently used; however, there are limited data on efficacy. Biobehavioral techniques such as relaxation and biofeedback can help patients modify their experience of pain. Cognitive behavioral therapy can improve coping skills and promote improved functioning, particularly in patients who are debilitated from chronic pain. Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) and physical therapy approaches may be helpful in patients with musculoskeletal conditions that contribute to their pelvic pain. Complementary and alternative therapies are frequently used in the treatment of chronic pain; controlled trials are needed to assess efficacy. Conclusions: An individualized, multidisciplinary approach may be effective in improving overall outcome in patients with chronic pelvic pain in reducing pain and normalizing function.
On the Age of Information in Multi-Source Multi-Hop Wireless Status Update Networks

This paper studies a multi-source “age of information” problem in multi-hop wireless networks with packetized status updates and explicit channel contention. Specifically, the scenario considered in this paper assumes that each node in the network is a both a source and a monitor of information. Nodes take turns broadcasting their information to other nodes in the network while also maintaining tables of status updates for the information received from all other nodes in the network. Lower bounds on the peak and average age of information are derived and are found to be a function of fundamental graph properties including the connected domination number of the graph and the average shortest path length. In addition to these converse results, achievability results are developed through the presentation of an explicit algorithm for constructing near-optimal status update schedules along with an analytical upper bound for the average and peak age of these schedules. Finally, numerical results are presented that compute the bounds, construct schedules, and compute the achieved average and peak ages of these schedules exhaustively over every connected network topology with nine or fewer nodes. The results show that the the developed schedules achieve a peak age exactly matching the lower bounds and an average age within a multiplicative factor of 1.035 of the lower bound in all tested cases.
WAND2—A versatile wide angle neutron powder/single crystal diffractometer

Wide Angle Neutron Diffractometer Squared is a high-flux versatile diffractometer with a 2-Dimensional Position Sensitive Detector at the High Flux Isotope Reactor. The instrument has strengths in both powder and single crystal diffraction. It is a unique instrument in the neutron scattering landscape of North America, and its capabilities are at least equal to similar instruments in the world.
Electromechanical Mode Estimation in the Presence of Periodic Forced Oscillations

Electromechanical modes are inherent to any interconnected power systems which provide a measure of the small-signal stability margin of the system. A number of algorithms have been developed for the estimation of these modes using synchrophasor measurements. However, most of these algorithms are not designed to operate in the presence of forced oscillations (FO). These FOs are results of periodic rogue input driving the system. When FOs are present, estimates of system modes can be biased depending on the frequency and the amplitude of the FOs. To tackle this problem, a new algorithm is proposed in this paper to estimate system modes in the presence of FOs. In the proposed method, the over-determined modified Yule–Walker method which is used to estimate autoregressive coefficients of an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) signal model is extended to an ARMA with exogenous input (ARMAX) model that incorporates the presence of FOs. Two versions of the proposed method are included in this paper based on the requirement of the information of the duration of FOs in the signal. Results obtained by implementing the proposed algorithm on simulated data and real-world data validate the effectiveness of both versions of the proposed method.
Unconsciously Regarded as Disabled: Implicit Bias and the Regarded-As Prong of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Much scholarly work has been written detailing the shift away from the original congressional intent behind the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), starting with the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in Sutton v. United Air Lines. While the U.S. Congress intended the protections under the ADA to be broad, courts have interpreted the act very narrowly, denying protections for many whom Congress intended to protect.Missing from this scholarship, however, is an examination of how the shift has been particularly harmful for potential plaintiffs in light of recent findings in behavioral science. More discrimination than once thought is the result not of explicit and conscious attitudes, but of unconscious implicit bias. The specific ways in which the Court narrowed the ADA resulted in a lack of protection for victims of implicit bias discrimination. Further, evidence shows that implicit bias against individuals with disabilities is particularly pronounced in American society. It is primarily this kind of discrimination that courts have been unable to protect against after Sutton. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 goes a long way towards reinstating protections for those whom are discriminated against as the result of implicit bias. This Comment cautiously endorses the Amendments and calls for increased research into how implicit bias affects individuals with disabilities. The fact that the Amendments are not a perfect solution to the prevalence of implicit bias discrimination may be a sign that this particular type of discrimination is not adequately well known and deserves further research and attention.
Stroke Mimic Secondary to IV Fentanyl Administration.

Fentanyl is a potent opioid used commonly in acute care because of its rapid onset and short duration of action. It has fewer side effects when compared with commonly available opioids, such as morphine and hydromorphine. We report an unusual side effect of transient aphasia following fentanyl administration. A 61-year-old female presented for an elective embolization of a periophthalmic artery aneurysm. She developed immediate episodes of aphasia on two separate occasions following administration of intravenous (IV) fentanyl. The high lipid solubility explains the rapid onset of action of fentanyl as it rapidly passes through the blood–brain barrier and through cell membranes. Immediately following the administration of fentanyl, the patient developed aphasia. There were no other clinical or neurological imaging findings that could account for these symptoms. We believe that aphasia may be an unusual side effect of fentanyl, and it is something clinicians should be aware of.
Control of Invasive Sea Lamprey in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, and Finger Lakes of New York

Sea lamprey invaded the Laurentian Great Lakes above Lake Ontario in the 1900s, and were a factor in the collapse of several major fish stocks. Whether the species is native to Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain, and the Finger Lakes of New York is debated; nevertheless, it is considered to be a nuisance species in these waters. Early control of sea lamprey included use of barriers in streams to prevent upstream spawning, and use of lampricides to kill larvae; these methods are the mainstay of the current control program. Sterile males were used to reduce spawning success for several years in the St. Marys River, but this practice has been discontinued due to challenges with evaluating its success and the availability of improved lampricide options. Success of the control program is measured as reduction in number of spawning adults that ascend streams, and reduction in lake trout wounding. Both metrics have been substantially reduced and either meet or are close to targets for each of the Great Lakes; targets for the Finger Lakes and Lake Champlain are considerably higher than in the Great Lakes, and have not yet been met. Concerns about the effect of lampricides and barriers on non-target species and on ecosystem integrity have prompted a search for additional control methods. Research has focused on the use of pheromones and repellants, genetic strategies, and improving the specificity and efficacy of existing control methods. Prevention of the spread of sea lamprey into new bodies of water is also a priority. Over 60 years of sea lamprey control efforts have considerably advanced our understanding of sea lamprey behavior, physiology, genomics, and chemical communication.
Heat kernel asymptotics on sequences of elliptically degenerating Riemann surfaces

This is the first of two articles in which we define an elliptically degenerating family of hyperbolic Riemann surfaces and study the asymptotic behavior of the associated spectral theory. Our study is motivated by a result which Hejhal attributes to Selberg, proving spectral accumulation for the family of Hecke triangle groups. In this article, we prove various results regarding the asymptotic behavior of heat kernels and traces of heat kernels for both real and complex time. In Garbin et al. (2018) [8], we will use the results from this article and study the asymptotic behavior of numerous spectral functions through elliptic degeneration, including spectral counting functions, Selberg's zeta function, Hurwitz-type zeta functions, determinants of the Laplacian, wave kernels, spectral projections, small eigenfunctions, and small eigenvalues. The method of proof we employ follows the template set in previous articles which study spectral theory on degenerating families of finite volume Riemann surfaces (Huntley et al. (1995) [14] and (1997) [15], Jorgenson et al. (1997) [20] and (1997) [17]) and on degenerating families of finite volume hyperbolic three manifolds (Dodziuk et al. (1998) [4].) Although the types of results developed here and in Garbin et al. (2018) [8], are similar to those in existing articles, it is necessary to thoroughly present all details in the setting of elliptic degeneration in order to uncover all nuances in this setting.
Geochemical narrowing of cement fracture aperture during multiphase flow of supercritical CO2 and brine

Abstract For carbon capture and storage operations, wells are used as a necessary conduit for injecting CO2 at depth, but they can also act as leakage conduits if the cement seals are compromised. The specific objective of this research was to experimentally investigate the nature of self-healing of a fracture within cement under multiphase flow of CO2 and brine, and to compare the findings with the predictions of a recently developed model. This was accomplished by flowing a multiphase mixture of supercritical CO2 and brine through a cement fracture. The influent end of the fracture was degraded as evidenced by the formation of cracks across the surface. At the effluent end of the fracture, the initial aperture of 137 μm was reduced to 50 μm. This reduction by 87 μm compared well with an aperture reduction of 80 μm predicted by a recently developed model tested in this study. Self-healing of the fracture contributes to permeability reduction through the potential leakage pathway.
The promise and pitfalls of mobile markets: an exploratory survey of mobile food retailers in the United States and Canada

In recent years innovative approaches have emerged across the United States and Canada to improve access to healthful foods. Mobile markets—traveling food retailers that specifically target food deserts—are one such strategy. Given the recent emergence of mobile markets, and their positioning as a solution to disparities in food access, research is needed to understand potentials and limitations of the model. In this article, we report on findings from a survey of mobile market operators in the United States and Canada. Results identify tensions between the intended goals of mobile markets and constraints of the model itself. Further study, including applied research, is needed to better understand potential opportunities to strengthen mobile markets as an intervention strategy.
Case 13-2020: A 29-Year-Old Man with High Blood Pressure, Renal Insufficiency, and Hematuria

A Man with High Blood Pressure, Renal Insufficiency, and Hematuria A 29-year-old man was evaluated because of hypertension, renal insufficiency, and hematuria. He had a blood pressure of 160/102 mm...
Recurrence in Patients Achieving Pathological Complete Response After Neoadjuvant Treatment for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer.

Objective The aim of this study was to characterize the patterns and treatment of disease recurrence in patients achieving a pathological complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemoradiation for advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Summary of background data A pCR is an independent predictor for improved survival in PDAC. However, disease recurrence is still observed in these patients. Methods Patients with advanced PDAC who were treated with neoadjuvant therapy and had a pCR were identified between 2009 and 2017. Overall survival (OS) was determined from the initiation of neoadjuvant, disease-free survival (DFS) from the date of surgery, and post-recurrence survival (PRS) from the date of recurrence. Factors associated with recurrence were analyzed using a Cox-regression model. Results Of 331 patients with borderline resectable or locally advanced PDAC, 30 achieved a pCR following neoadjuvant treatment and pancreatectomy. The median DFS for pCR patients was 29 months and OS 76 months. Recurrence was observed in 14 patients. No clinicopathologic or treatment characteristics were associated with survival. The median PRS following recurrence was 25 months. Treatment following recurrence included chemotherapy, radiation or ablation, and surgical resection. Hepatectomy or completion pancreatectomy was accomplished in 2 patients that remain alive 13 and 62 months, respectively, following metastasectomy. Conclusions A pCR following neoadjuvant therapy in patients with advanced PDAC is associated with remarkable survival, although recurrence occurs in about half of patients. Nevertheless, patients with pCR and recurrence respond well to treatment and survival remains encouraging. Advanced molecular characterization and longitudinal liquid biopsy may offer additional assistance with understanding tumor biologic behavior after achieving a pCR.
Rate-Based Process Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis for Ionic-Liquid-Based Post-Combustion Carbon Capture

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a promising class of absorbents for next-generation carbon-capture processes. In particular, aprotic heterocyclic anion ILs (AHAs) have received significant attention due to...
Color vision in anterior ischemic optic neuropathy

Abstract Purpose The non-arteritic form of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION) is the most common acute optic neuropathy among individuals over the age of fifty, yet little is known about how the disorder affects color vision. We tested the hypothesis that color vision correlates with visual acuity in patients with non-arteritic AION. We also evaluated the patterns of visual field loss in a subgroup of patients who manifested relative sparing of color vision. Observations Records of forty-five patients with non-arteritic AION who had been evaluated at Duke University over a consecutive four-year period were reviewed retrospectively. Statistical analysis of the relationship between color vision and visual acuity was carried out using a linear regression model. Color vision tended to correlate with acuity with respect to visual acuities between 20/16 and 20/63. However, nine patients were identified in whom color vision was relatively spared in comparison with acuity. Most of the affected eyes in this subgroup had a distinctive pattern of visual field loss consisting of a dense, steep-walled cecocentral defect centered below the horizontal meridian. Conclusions and importance In patients with non-arteritic AION, color vision tends to correlate with visual acuity for acuities better than 20/70. Sparing of color vision relative to acuity, a heretofore unreported finding in AION, occurs in approximately 15% of cases. Sparing of color vision reflects damage to foveal projections coupled with preservation of extrafoveal macular projections. The results of color vision testing in patients with non-arteritic AION help to differentiate this condition from other optic neuropathies such as optic neuritis.
CORE DESIGN ACTIVITIES OF THE VERSATILE TEST REACTOR – CONCEPTUAL PHASE

The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) is a new fast spectrum test reactor being developed in the United States under the direction of the US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. The VTR mission is to enable accelerated testing of advanced reactor fuels and materials required for advanced reactor technologies. This includes neutron irradiation capabilities which would support alternate coolants including molten salt, lead/lead-bismuth eutectic mixture, gas, and sodium. The VTR aims at addressing most of the needs of the various stakeholders, which is primarily composed of advanced reactor technologists, developers and vendors, as well as a number of others interested parties.Design activities are underway targeting a first criticality date by 2026, with General Electric recently joining the project to contribute to the VTR plant design. Current efforts are focused on all aspects of the VTR design, with the core design being at the center of the initial steps. The VTR is currently proposed as a 300 MWth sodium-cooled fast reactor able to reach peak fast flux levels in excess of 4.0x1015 n/cm2-s (and total flux level of about 6.0x1015 n/cm2-s). In this configuration, it is using ternary metallic fuel with reactor-grade plutonium and 5% low-enriched uranium.
Summary and Discussion

This, the final chapter of the book, reviews the topics covered and offers the author’s insight into the launch, evolution and eventual fate of CMEs.
Constitutionalizing Consumer Financial Protection: The Case for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

This Article proceeds as follows. First, the Article traces a history of the Supreme Court’s executive agency jurisprudence and outlines a framework to understand where the Bureau is situated in relation to prior precedents. Next, the Article focuses on reframing the debate by situating the CFPB’s constitutionality within the foundational executive agency case, Humphrey’s Executor. Following that, it analyzes the D.C. Circuit’s dual opinions in PHH-1 and PHH-2, focusing on defending the CFPB from its legal critics. Concluding briefly, for reasons different than many of its critics, the Article calls for a revision to the CFPB’s structure by changing to the five-member commissioner structure common among other regulatory agencies. Switching to a five-member commission may also solve, in part, any remaining open questions surrounding the constitutionality of the Bureau’s structure, notwithstanding that it already survives constitutional muster.
A rapid method for analysis of non-equilibrated 90Sr/90Y in infant formula

A rapid analytical method for quantifying 90Sr in infant formula prior to secular equilibrium is presented. The approach is dependent on the use of two separations of 90Sr from 90Y, with the first providing an 90Y ingrowth start point and the second providing an 90Y ingrowth end point. Data were obtained at activity concentrations of approximately 6 Bq/kg and 160 Bq/kg, the latter of which is representative of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Derived Intervention Levels (DIL). Experiments were designed to collect data from ingrowth periods ranging from 16 h to 2 weeks. Activities obtained with a separation interval as low as 16 h ranged from 92.7 to 109.4% of the known value. When 90Y ingrowth was allowed to occur for 24 h or longer, the activities ranged from 93.2 to 106.2% of the known value and the precision of this group improved from 5.2 to 3.1%. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.5 Bq/kg using 250 g sample portions.
Structure-Function Studies of the Thermotoga maritima ADPGlucose Pyrophosphorylase: Probing the Role of the C-terminus in the glgC and glgD subunits

ADPGlucose pyrophosphorylase (ADPG PPase) catalyzes a key step in glucan biosynthesis. Structure-function studies of the enzyme will facilitate the engineering of a more active enzyme to increase b...
A Probabilistic Graphical Model for Recognizing NP Chunks in Texts

We present a probabilistic graphical model for identifying noun phrase patterns in texts. This model is derived from mathematical processes under two reasonable conditional independence assumptions with different perspectives compared with other graphical models, such as CRFs or MEMMs. Empirical results shown our model is effective. Experiments on WSJ data from the Penn Treebank, our method achieves an average of precision 97.7% and an average of recall 98.7%. Further experiments on the CoNLL-2000 shared task data set show our method achieves the best performance compared to competing methods that other researchers have published on this data set. Our average precision is 95.15% and an average recall is 96.05%.
Mesenteric vascular occlusion and varices complicating midgut malrotation

Long-standing complete obstruction of the superior mesenteric artery and vein and recurrent gastrointestinal bleeding from varices within the bowel were encountered in a child as a complication of midgut malrotation and volvulus. This condition is unusual, but should be considered in cases of gastrointestinal bleeding, or when small bowel biopsy is contemplated for the evaluation of diarrhea or malabsorption in cases of malrotation.
Normed and Function Spaces

Metric spaces were defined and studied in Chap. 5. Despite their importance, general metric spaces do not share the algebraic properties of the fields \(\mathbb{R}\) and \(\mathbb{C},\) because a metric space need not be an algebra or even a vector space. Any (nonempty) subset of a metric space is again a metric space with the metric it borrows from the ambient space.
Robust services in dynamic systems

Our growing reliance on online services accessible on the Internet demands highly-available systems that work correctly without interruption. This thesis extends previous work on Byzantine-fault-tolerant replication to meet the new requirements of current Internet services: scalability and the ability to reconfigure the service automatically in the presence of a changing system membership. Our solution addresses two important problems that appear in dynamic replicated services: First, we present a membership service that provides servers and clients in the system with a sequence of consistent views of the system membership (i.e., the set, of currently available servers). The membership service is designed to be scalable, and to handle membership changes mostly automatically. Furthermore, the membership service is itself reconfigurable, and tolerates arbitrary faults of a subset of the servers that are implementing it at any instant. The second part of our solution is a generic methodology for transforming replicated services that assume a fixed membership into services that support a dynamic system membership. The methodology uses the output from the membership service to decide when to reconfigure. We built two example services using this methodology: a dynamic Byzantine quorum system that supports read and write operations, and a dynamic Byzantine state machine replication system that supports any deterministic service. The final contribution of this thesis is an analytic study that points out an obstacle to the deployment of replicated services based on a dynamic membership. The basic problem is that maintaining redundancy levels for the service state as servers join and leave the system is costly in terms of network bandwidth. To evaluate how dynamic the system membership can be, we developed a model for the cost of state maintenance in dynamic replicated services, and we use treasured values from real-world traces to determine possible values for the parameters of the model. We conclude that certain deployments (like a volunteer-based system) are incompatible with the goals of large-scale reliable services. We implemented the membership service and the two example services. Our performance results show that the membership service is scalable, and our replicated services perform well, even during reconfigurations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Advanced Nutrition Micronutrients

Human Health, Food, and Nutrition Overview Population Studies Diet and Disease Relationships Food Intake Studies in Humans Recommended Daily Allowances Water Chemical and Physical Properties of Water The Functions of Water Are Based on Its Physical and Chemical Properties Body Water Body Composition Water Balance Regulation of Water Balance Water Needs Supplemental Readings Energy Overview Energy Need Abnormal Energy States Regulation of Food Intake Supplemental Readings Proteins Overview Amino Acids Peptides and Proteins Protein Structure Classification of Proteins Protein Use Functions of Proteins Proteins in the Immune System Protein Requirements Protein Deficiency Integration of the Metabolic Features of Protein Nutrition Supplemental Readings Carbohydrates Classification Structure and Nomenclature Sources of Carbohydrate Digestion and Absorption Metabolism Abnormalities in the Regulation of Glucose Homeostasis: Diabetes Mellitus Other Health Concerns in Carbohydrate Nutrition Carbohydrate Requirements Supplemental Readings Lipids Classification Structure and Nomenclature of Saponifiable Lipids Sources of Lipids Digestion and Absorption Transport Metabolism Supplemental Readings Glossary Appendix
Mechanism of Action and Regulation of Protein Synthesis Initiation Factor 4E: Effects on mRNA Discrimination, Cellular Growth Rate, and Oncogenesis

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the progress in laboratory and those of others in understanding one point at which regulation of the rate of protein synthesis occurs, the mRNA-binding step. It focuses on the structure, function, and regulation of protein synthesis initiation factor 4E (eIF-4E). Initiation of protein synthesis is a complex and highly regulated process, and there are numerous mechanisms by which regulation occurs, both of a global nature and mechanisms targeted for individual mRNAs. This chapter explains on only one factor and one step in protein synthesis, eIF-4E and the binding of mRNA to ribosomes. Thus, one may think of eIF-4E as a proto-oncogene and consider translational routes to oncogenesis, to complement and broaden current transcriptional models. In fact, some of the poorly translated proto-oncogene mRNAs listed in table that is given in the chapter, encode transcription factors, such that a general stimulation of translation would be expected to produce a disproportionate increase in transcription factor levels.
The home disadvantage in championship competitions: team sports

Abstract Objectives The possibility that home teams might choke in decisive games of championship series was first proposed by Baumeister and Steinhilber in 1984. Their hypothesis was that when the home team was on the verge of winning a championship, it tended to choke. As a result, the home advantage would be smaller in last games than in early games of the same series. The present paper updates the original data for baseball and basketball to 2012 and adds a parallel study of ice hockey. Design/Method The analysis compares home win percentage early in a championship series with home advantage in the regular season. Its main focus, however, is on the games in a championship series between the early and late games. Results The first of two main results is that in all three sports the percentage of home wins in Game 1 of a championship series is substantially higher than home advantage in the same sport in the regular season. The second result is that, while the tendency for percent home wins to decrease regularly over the course of a best-of-seven series is confirmed in all three sports, this decrease is complete or almost complete by Game 4, well before the home choke, according to Baumeister and Steinhilber, is supposed to occur. Conclusion The home-choke hypothesis as originally advanced in 1984 is not supported by subsequent results and analysis.
Reorientational Dynamics and Intermolecular Cooperativity of Reactive Systems

An investigation was conducted of the effects of the advancement of chemical reactions and the prepolymer molecular weight on the reorientational dynamics and intermolecular cooperativity in reactive epoxy-amine systems. Experimental results were obtained by dielectric spectroscopy over a wide range of frequency (1 mHz to 1 GHz) and temperature (− 170 to + 200 °C). A strong effect of the progress of reaction on reorientational dynamics was noted and, for the first time, an explanation was put forward within the framework of the coupling theory. It was proposed that the molecular-level characteristics of a reactive system that affect its intermolecular cooperativity can be classified into two categories: 1) molecular architecture - determined by molecular symmetry, rigidity and steric hindrance; and 2) dielectric architecture - determined by the type and concentration of all dielectrically active species.
Super resolution mapping of the near optical field and the gradient optical force

We have developed a NSOM technique that can map both the near optical field and the optical force using an atomic force microscope. This technique could be very useful for characterizing MEMs/NEMs devices, plasmonic nanoantennas, nano-photonic devices and biologically active substrates. Unlike conventional NSOM techniques that rely on an aperture fabricated on the end of an AFM tip to collect the optical signal this apertureless technique uses a lockin amplifier locked to the AFM tip vibrational frequency, to correlate the amplitude modulation of the back reflected optical signal to the strength of the optical field. And since we are not limited by the fabrication of an aperture the spatial resolution of the map is limited only by the size of a sharp AFM tip which for metallic coated tips can have a radius of curvature of 10 to 20 nm. For optical force mapping the incident laser is modulated and the lock-in amplifier is used to correlate the amplitude modulation of the vibrating AFM tip to strength of the optical gradient force. And in this way one can get a very accurate mapping of both the optical force and the optical field for any substrate of interest as long as it can be back illuminated. Lastly with an electrically monolithic substrate it is possible to correlate the amplitude modulation of the tunneling current to the optical field and obtain a spatial mapping that has a resolution of an STM, about 1 nm or maybe less.
Continuous feedback approach for controlling chaos.

We show that the continuous feedback approach is highly effective for controlling chaotic systems. The control design for the Lorenz system is presented as an example to demonstrate the strength of this approach. The proposed control is able to eliminate chaos and bring the system toward any of the three steady states. Two different control input locations are considered. Only one system variable is used in the feedback. The control scheme can tolerate both measurement noise and modeling uncertainty as long as they are bounded.
Direct conversion of los acceleration data to vertical gravity anomalies: A new approach

Most of the existing lunar and planetary gravity data are in the form of LOS (line-of-sight) components which cannot be used for conventional geophysical modelling. Current methods to invert LOS data yield non-unique or poorly constrained results or results of low spatial resolution. An alternate method presented here promises to produce unique, detailed and more reliable results. It utilizes the fact that three non-coplanar LOS acceleration vectors determined at different times at some point of observation uniquely define the total acceleration vector at that point. Vector analysis shows that the local cartesian componentsgi of the total gravity anomaly vector may be obtained by inversion of the system $$a_{ij} g_j = A_i^2 $$ where theaij andAi's are, respectively, the local cartesian components and scalar magnitudes of the three required LOS acceleration vectors.
On the Simulation of Discontinuous Functions

Discontinuous function constraints arise during the calculation of surface contact, stiction, and friction effects in studies of the behavior of complex systems. These nonlinear effects are mathematically defined by inequality constraints of the form 0 ≥ g (x(t),t). The unknown in the problem is the time, t * , when the equality condition is reached. This paper presents an exact solution for t * , which is obtained by introducing a slack variable that replaces time as the independent variable, leading to an extended state-space that is noniteratively integrated to the constraint surface. Several applications are presented to demonstrate the method.
Three-Dimensional Electrically Interconnected Nanowire Networks Formed by Diffusion Bonding

We demonstrate a new strategy to bond nanowires (NWs) using diffusion bonding of gold (Au). The strategy was used to form very large scale, electrically interconnected 3D NW networks composed of both homogeneous and heterogeneous (multisegmented) NWs. The size of the networks ranged from tens of micrometers to millimeters. We have measured the electrical characteristics of the networks and explored one application of the networks in 3D spatial chemical sensing.
Imagination and Politics in Iris Murdoch's Moral Philosophy

Abstract I defend Murdoch's moral philosophy from Lovibond's charge that it treats the imagination as an enemy of moral and political progress. I argue that this criticism rests on a failure to recognize Murdoch's distinction between ‘moral imagination’ and ‘fantasy.’ For Murdoch, only ‘fantasy’ is morally problematic; in contrast, ‘moral imagination’ is constitutive of virtue. I argue further that a proper understanding of virtue, on Murdoch's account, shows it to be intimately tied to the appreciation of human individuality, where this has appealing political ramifications. I offer as an example the case of human rights, showing how the exercise of moral imagination, as Murdoch conceives it, would seem to be essential to their full and proper recognition. While the discussion is necessarily preliminary in some respects, it should allay any suspicion that Murdoch's moral philosophy is blind to the moral and political importance of the imagination or indifferent to widely shared political concerns.
Confocal laser-scanned microscopy: Analog signal processing

Biological samples labelled with fluorescent markers often result in specimens with a dynamic range that is less than ideal for imaging with the confocal laser-scanned microscope. This range can be either too great or too small, and thus prevents the entire image from being processed and/or displayed at the same time. The effect of analog signal processing to overcome this limitation was tested using a modified GW Electronics Image Enhancer in the image pipeline of a Bio-Rad MRC-500 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope. The analog preprocessing did not interfere with subsequent digital processing. The use of homomorphic filtering allowed the dynamic range to be compressed. Fine structures with low signal levels were imaged with improved contrast while structures with high signal levels, did not saturate the detection and display systems. When the black levels were properly manipulated, the processor could be used to enhance signals that were near the noise level, in effect expanding the dynamic range. Both applications resulted in improved image quality and signal to noise. Other analog functions, notably logarithmic and exponentiation were also evaluated. Analog preprocessing produces images with better signal to noise than standard images after contrast stretching and background subtraction by off-line digital processing. Since the analog processor functions in real time, image collection could be optimized directly, and subsequent digital processing further improved the images.
Studies on filariasis. II. The relation between hormonal activities of the adult mosquito and the growth of Dirofilaria immitis.

In Anopheles quadrimaculatus decapitated immediately after blood meal on an infected dog, carrier of Dirofilaria immitis, microfilariae proceed to and invade the Malpighian tubules and develop there uniformly to sausage forms within 40 to 48 hours. The interruption of the gonadotropic hormone cycle in these mosquitoes, as observed by the failure of their ovarian development, does not prevent the normal metamorphosis and growth of D. immitis in this suitable mosquito vector.
Scalable video compression using longer motion compensated temporal filters

Three-dimensional (3-D) subband/wavelet coding using a motion compensated temporal filter (MCTF) is emerging as a very effective structure for highly scalable video coding. Most previous work has used two-tap Haar filters for the temporal analysis/synthesis. To make better use of the temporal redundancies, we are proposing an MCTF scheme based on longer biorthogonal filters. We show a lifting based coder capable of subpixel accurate motion compensation. If we retain the fixed size GOP structure of the Haar filter MCTFs, we need to use symmetric extensions at both ends of the GOP. This gives rise to loss of coding efficiency at the GOP boundaries resulting in significant PSNR drops there. This performance can be considerably improved by using a 'sliding window,' in place of the GOP block. We employ the 5/3 filter and its non-orthogonality causes PSNR variation, which can be reduced by employing filter-based weighting coefficients. Overall the longer filters have a higher coding gain than the Haar filters and show significant improvement in average PSNR at high bit rates. However, a doubling in the number of motion vectors to be transmitted, translates to a drop in PSNR at the lower video bit rates.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Two-way a-transducers and AFL

For each (abstract family of languages) AFL ℒ, two families of languages, the family ℐ(ℒ) of nondeterministic and the family Download : Download full-size image of deterministic two-way a-transducer mappings of languages in ℒ are defined. For each (abstract family of acceptors) AFA Download : Download full-size image , two associated AFA, Download : Download full-size image , are defined. It is proved that Download : Download full-size image . If ℒ is an AFL, then ℐ(ℒ) and Download : Download full-size image are full AFL and are closed under reversal. If ℒ is a full principal AFL, then so is ℐ(ℒ). If a full AFL ℒ is closed under substitution, then so are ℐ(ℒ) and Download : Download full-size image . If ℒ is a full AFL, then each one-letter language in Download : Download full-size image is also in ℒ. For each AFL Download : Download full-size image . In contrast, if ℒ is a subAFL of the family of context-free languages, then Download : Download full-size image and hence ℐ ℐ(ℒ) ≠ ℐ(ℒ).
Binge Drinking and Rape: A Prospective Examination of College Women With a History of Previous Sexual Victimization

The current study prospectively examined the longitudinal relationships between binge drinking behavior and rape experiences among a multisite sample of college women with a history of prior attempted or completed rape (N = 228). Rates of binge drinking among this high-risk sample were high. Prospective analyses indicated that binge drinking significantly increased risk for subsequent rape. Monthly binge drinkers were significantly more likely to experience alcohol-involved rape than forcible rape at follow-up. Only prior binge drinking, and not type of rape experience, predicted subsequent binge drinking. Findings have direct implications for targeted programming addressing combined risks for binge drinking and rape among college women.
Identification of a scatterer embedded in elastic heterogeneous media using dynamic XFEM

Abstract A numerical approach for identifying a scatterer embedded in elastic heterogeneous media is described. This scatterer may be a crack, a void, or an inclusion with properties that have detectable contrasts from those of the host medium. The forward (wave propagation) problem is solved using the dynamic extended finite element method (XFEM), which allows the boundary of the scatterer to be easily relocated over a stationary background mesh. The inverse problem is cast as a minimization problem whereby the unknown shape parameters of the scatterer—e.g., a line crack’s center coordinates, size, and orientation—are the updating parameters. A gradient-based method is utilized to solve the minimization problem. In order to alleviate the potential manifestation of multiple solutions to the inverse problem, various deployment patterns for multiple sensors are investigated, and also a divide-and-conquer approach is adopted, wherein a set of independent inversions using multiple initial guesses are carried out.
Naturalistic Fallacy Errors and Behavioral Science News: The Effects of Editorial Content and Cautions on Readers' Moral Inferences and Perceptions of Contributors

Naturalistic fallacy (NF) errors occur when empirical descriptions of nature are presumed to dictate moral positions or courses of action. Two research summaries prepared as media essays for lay audiences were used to explore whether brief editorial warnings—placed at either the beginning or the end—would discourage NF errors. For both research topics, warnings yielded a “sleeper effect,” with initially suppressed NF errors returning to the level of no-warning controls over a 2-week period. Warning location, however, did not impact errors. Readers also estimated the moral views of essay authors and cited researchers to be similar to their own views and similar to each other's. Better author–researcher differentiation occurred when authors and not the researchers were recognized as responsible for the writing in essays that asserted moral claims.