cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fingerprints of Intrinsic Phase Separation: Magnetically Doped Two-Dimensional Electron Gas

In addition to Anderson and Mott localization, intrinsic phase separation has long been advocated as the third fundamental mechanism controlling the doping-driven metal-insulator transitions. In electronic system, where charge neutrality precludes global phase separation, it may lead to various inhomogeneous states and dramatically affect transport. Here we theoretically predict the precise experimental signatures of such phase separation-driven metal-insulator transitions. We show that anomalous transport is expected in an intermediate regime around the transition, displaying very strong temperature and magnetic field dependence but very weak density dependence. Our predictions find striking agreement with recent experiments on Mn-doped CdTe quantum wells, a system where we identify the microscopic origin for intrinsic phase separation.
Localization of sulfated sialic acids in the dentinal tubules during tooth formation in mice.

Summary Lectin-like properties of the major enamel protein amelogenin suggest that it binds to glycoconjugates in dentinal tubules released at the dentin–enamel junction (DEJ) during enamel formation. Therefore, a detailed mapping of glycosylation in dentinal tubules during tooth formation was undertaken using histochemistry and lectin-binding assays. The tubular content exhibited sialidase-susceptible γ -metachromasia with Toluidine Blue (pH 2.5) and staining with Alcian Blue (pH 1.0). The presence of sulfate groups was confirmed by benzidine reactions (Bracco-Curti's and tetrazonium assays). α 2,3-, α 2,6- and α 2,8-sialidases entirely abolished staining with the benzidine reactions. The presence of sialic acids in dentinal tubules was confirmed with the Bial's reaction and sialidase-susceptible binding of Limax flavus lectin suggesting that sialic acids are the major sulfated sugars in the glycoconjguates. Immunostaining with the monoclonal antibody 5-D-4 before and after treatment with chondroitin-4- and chondroitin-6-sulfatase confirmed the presence of keratan sulfate (KS), a sialylated proteoglycan, in dentinal tubules. We suggest that sulfated sialic acids are part of the KSs. The sulfated glycoconjugates are also found in dentin and the DEJ but not in predentin suggesting that amelogenin binds to the sialoconjugate during enamel formation.
Contribution of meson exchange currents to pion double charge exchange at low energies

The magnitude of the effect of meson exchange currents on low-energy pion nucleus double charge exchange is reexamined. In particular, the role of chiral symmetry in limiting the size of the effect is studied, using the method of effective Lagrangians. The equivalence of two commonly used versions of the theory is shown, which resolves some of the disagreements in the literature. The effect is calculated for the case of $^{42}\mathrm{Ca}$, and found to be smaller than that of ordinary multiple scattering.
Excitation of an External Terminated Longitudinal Conductor on a Rocket by a Transverse Electromagnetic Field

A single conductor of arbitrary length is placed close to the surface of a conducting cylinder parallel to its axis. Impedances are connected between the ends of the cable and the cylinder. An incident monochromatic plane electromagnetic wave propagates in the longitudinal direction and is thus polarized in a transverse plane with respect to the axes of the external conductor and the cylinder. The component of the electric field tangent to the terminating impedance excites the circuit. The objective is to derive formulas for the currents in these impedances. The transverse dimensions of the conductor satisfy the inequalities a1 ? a2 ? ?, where a1 is the radius of the external conductor and a2 is the radius of the cylinder. It is assumed that the distance d between adjacent points on the conductor and the rocket is small compared with the wavelength.
The rhetorical opposition to controversial wars: Rhetorical timing as a generic consideration

In this essay, the claim is advanced that loosely structured, complex rhetorical situations often possess a strong internal structure with regard to their development or maturation over the course of time. It is argued that this position has important implications for the generic criticism of rhetorical discourse. These implications are developed via an analysis of the discourse delivered in response to two complex rhetorical situations in American history: the American Revolution and the Vietnam War.
Infiltration of supermicron aerosols into a simulated space telescope

Purging is a common scheme to protect sensitive surfaces of payloads and spacecraft from airborne contaminant intrusion during ground assembly, integration, and launch vehicle encapsulation. However, the purge for space volumes must be occasionally interrupted. Thus it is important to gain insights into the transport of ambient particles penetrating through vent holes and entering the interior of a confined space system, such as a space telescope, during a purge outage. This study presents experimental work performed to measure time-dependent aerosol concentration changes during a purge outage. The laboratory results from the aerosol experiments were compared with a mass balance based mechanistic model which had been experimentally validated for aerosols ranging from 0.5 to 2 μm. The experimental data show that the steady-state aerosol concentration inside a simulated space telescope (SST) is governed by the surrounding particle concentration, SST air exchange rate, and the particle deposition rate.
Diagnosis and assessment of pulmonary hypertension in infants and children

Abstract The diagnostic strategy for evaluating children with pulmonary hypertension is accepted with a high degree of consensus among clinicians. Utilizing current medical technology, the diagnosis and severity of pulmonary hypertension in a given child can be made with a high level of confidence. Following a general systematic approach to evaluating pulmonary hypertension can bring focus to specific problematic areas. This article discusses the work-up and evaluation of infants and children who present with pulmonary arterial hypertension, are suspected of having it, or are at high risk for developing the condition.
Live-cell monitoring of periodic gene expression in synchronous human cells identifies Forkhead genes involved in cell cycle control

We developed a system to monitor periodic luciferase activity from cell cycle–regulated promoters in synchronous cells. Reporters were driven by a minimal human E2F1 promoter with peak expression in G1/S or a basal promoter with six Forkhead DNA-binding sites with peak expression at G2/M. After cell cycle synchronization, luciferase activity was measured in live cells at 10-min intervals across three to four synchronous cell cycles, allowing unprecedented resolution of cell cycle–regulated gene expression. We used this assay to screen Forkhead transcription factors for control of periodic gene expression. We confirmed a role for FOXM1 and identified two novel cell cycle regulators, FOXJ3 and FOXK1. Knockdown of FOXJ3 and FOXK1 eliminated cell cycle–dependent oscillations and resulted in decreased cell proliferation rates. Analysis of genes regulated by FOXJ3 and FOXK1 showed that FOXJ3 may regulate a network of zinc finger proteins and that FOXK1 binds to the promoter and regulates DHFR, TYMS, GSDMD, and the E2F binding partner TFDP1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing analysis identified 4329 genomic loci bound by FOXK1, 83% of which contained a FOXK1-binding motif. We verified that a subset of these loci are activated by wild-type FOXK1 but not by a FOXK1 (H355A) DNA-binding mutant.
A simple method for extracting models for protocol code

The use of model checking for validation requires that models of the underlying system be created. Creating such models is both difficult and error prone and as a result, verification is rarely used despite its advantages. In this paper, we present a method for automatically extracting models from low level software implementations. Our method is based on the use of an extensible compiler system, xg++, to perform the extraction. The extracted model is combined with a model of the hardware, a description of correctness, and an initial state. The whole model is then checked with the Murφ model checker. As a case study, we apply our method to the cache coherence protocols of the Stanford FLASH multiprocessor. Our system has a number of advantages. First, it reduces the cost of creating models, which allows model checking to be used more frequently. Second, it increases the effectiveness of model checking since the automatically extracted models are more accurate and faithful to the underlying implementation. We found a total of 8 errors using our system. Two errors were global resource errors, which would be difficult to find through any other means. We feel the approach is applicable to other low level systems.
Electromagnetic decay of the 1.7 and 2.43 MeV levels in 9Be

The 1.7- and 2.43-MeV levels in 9Be were populated with the reaction 11B(d, α)9Be* by bombarding thin boron on carbon foils with 1.7-MeV deuterons. The alpha particles were analyzed in energy with a surface-barrier counter set at the unique kinematically determined angle and the recoiling 9Be nuclei at 90o were analyzed in rigidity with a magnetic spectrometer, in energy by a surface-barrier counter at the spectrometer focus, and in velocity by the time delay between an alpha and a 9Be count. When a pulse from the spectrometer counter was in the appropriate delayed coincidence with a pulse from the alpha counter, the two pulses were recorded in a two-dimensional pulse height analyzer. Most of the 9Be* decay by particle breakup. Only those that gamma decay are detected by the spectrometer counter. Thus the experiment provides a direct measurement of Γrad/Γ. Analysis of 384 observed events gives Γrad/Γ = (1.16 ± 0.14) X 10-4 for the 2.43-MeV level. Combining this ratio with the value of Γrad = 0.122 ± 0.015 eV found from inelastic electron scattering gives Γ = (1.05 ± 0.18) keV. For the 1.7-MeV level, an upper limit, Γrad/Γ ≤ 2.4 = 10-5, was determined.
A polymeric fastener can easily functionalize liposome surfaces with gadolinium for enhanced magnetic resonance imaging.

Common methods of loading magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents into nanoparticles often suffer from challenges related to particle formation, complex chemical modification/purification steps, and reduced contrast efficiency. This study presents a simple, yet advanced process to address these issues by loading gadolinium, an MRI contrast agent, exclusively on a liposome surface using a polymeric fastener. The fastener, so named for its ability to physically link the two functional components together, consisted of chitosan substituted with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) to chelate gadolinium, as well as octadecyl chains to stabilize the modified chitosan on the liposome surface. The assembly strategy, mimicking the mechanisms by which viruses and proteins naturally anchor to a cell, provided greater T1 relaxivity than liposomes loaded with gadolinium in both the interior and outer leaflet. Gadolinium-coated liposomes were ultimately evaluated in vivo using murine ischemia models to h...
Effects of sample matrix and injection plug on dsDNA migration in capillary gel electrophoresis

Reproducible DNA migration times are required for accurate basepair assignment in restriction fragment mapping and polymerase chain reaction product identification. Our data shows DNA migration time shifts with changes in sample ionic strength. Secondly, loss of resolution with replaceable polyacrylamide gels was observed when increasing the length of the sample plug with pressure injection. An easy way to correct for the migration time shifts is to incorporate an internal DNA standard directly into the separation process by consecutively injecting the DNA sample and the DNA standard. This allows for compensation of any possible migration time variation caused by high ionic strength sample matrices. Also high-resolution separations can be maintained with large injection volumes (long injection plug) by using consecutive injections of 0.1 M Tris-acetate buffer and the DNA sample.
Test compaction by using linear-matrix driven scan chains

This paper presents a linear matrix driven scan based test methodology for ASIC designs which, compared to conventional scan methodology, reduces the test application time as well as the required tester memory and test data by an order of magnitude - without deteriorating the test quality. The proposed test methodology uses a linear matrix to drive a large number of parallel scan chains from a small set of chip pins. A multi-input-signature-register (MISR) is used at the output of chains to compress the test output response. By increasing the number of parallel scan chains, the length of the chains is reduced, which directly impacts the number of test cycles required to shift test data through the chains. This allows one to considerably reduce the test application time required for shifting data through scan chains. It also reduces the test data required to be stored in tester memory, thus considerably reducing the manufacturing test cost, and allowing the reuse of older generations of less expensive testers with smaller memory.
Predicting protein function from protein/protein interaction data: a probabilistic approach

Motivation: The development of experimental methods for genome scale analysis of molecular interaction networks has made possible new approaches to inferring protein function. This paper describes a method of assigning functions based on a probabilistic analysis of graph neighborhoods in a protein-protein interaction network. The method exploits the fact that graph neighbors are more likely to share functions than nodes which are not neighbors. A binomial model of local neighbor function labeling probability is combined with a Markov random field propagation algorithm to assign function probabilities for proteins in the network. Results: We applied the method to a protein-protein interaction dataset for the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae using the Gene Ontology (GO) terms as function labels. The method reconstructed known GO term assignments with high precision, and produced putative GO assignments to 320 proteins that currently lack GO annotation, which represents about 10% of the unlabeled proteins in S. cere
Privacy And Publicity In Criminal Procedure: Ancient Mysteries Crying Out For Understanding

Conflict between fundamental values is inevitable, necessary, and healthy for any complex, developing society. Most analysts decry conflict; this article sings its praises and argues its functions. The privacy-publicity debate illustrates the clash of one set of fundamental values; there are many others. This article lists the values and disvalues underlying the demands for privacy and publicity, explains how they are manipulated in public policy debates, and then illustrates how the private-public dichotomy and values permeate the Supreme Court's analyses of Fourth Amendment cases at the same time that the Court is expressly, and rather adamantly, trying to eliminate the private-public analyses from Fifth Amendment cases. The article ends with 1) a summary of the thesis that conflict between fundamentally opposite values can be constructive, 2) a list of methods to follow when faced with these polarities, and 3) a call for a more philosophical recognition that dichotomous words are mere symbols which we ...
Medicolegal stress at work

Connections between work, stress, and emotional distress have become the object of extensive litigation in the workers' compensation system and other legal forums. This article examines some of this activity from the perspective of medicolegal sociology. It explores five forums in which discussion of these connections takes place-every day life, science, within organizations, adjudicatory inquiries, public policy-and the moral stress discourse that helps bind these discussions together. Particular attention is paid to stress litigation stemming from investigations into violations of the law, principdy police work. Workers' compensation stress claims are viewed as part of an extensive societal medicolegal inquiry into the emotional underlife of work organizations. Language: en
Brief Report: Psychosocial Factors and Pediatric Noncardiac Chest Pain

Objective To investigate the associations between children’s perceived chest pain severity, somatization symptoms, depressive symptoms, anxiety sensitivity, and maternal somatization symptoms in children and adolescents with noncardiac chest pain (NCCP). Methods Measures of chest pain and psychosocial functioning were collected from 35 participants (M age ¼ 12.5 years, 54% female) with NCCP and their parents during evaluation at cardiology clinics. Results Among children presenting for cardiac evaluations, wide variation in ranges of pain severity, episode frequency, and history were observed. Children’s somatic symptoms and fear of physiological arousal predicted significant variance in children’s chest pain severity. Additionally, children’s depressive symptoms and maternal somatization were both significant predictors of children’s somatic symptoms. Conclusions These results suggest NCCP may be part of a broader pattern of somatic responding and sensitivity to physiological arousal. This pattern is associated with both child and maternal functioning. Suggestions for future research are provided.
A PLA based asynchronous micropipelining approach for subthreshold circuit design

Power consumption is a dominant issue in contemporary circuit design. Sub-threshold circuit design is an appealing means to dramatically reduce this power consumption. However, sub-threshold designs suffer from the drawback of being significantly slower than traditional designs. To reduce the speed gap between sub-threshold and traditional designs, we propose a sub-threshold circuit design approach based on asynchronous micropipelining of a levelized network of PLAs. We describe the handshaking protocol, circuit design and logic synthesis issues in this context. Our preliminary results demonstrate that by using our approach, a design can be sped up by about 7/spl times/, with an area penalty of 47%. Further, our approach yields an energy improvement of about 4/spl times/, compared to a traditional network of PLA design. Our approach is quite general, and can be applied to traditional circuits as well.
Home Range and Foraging Ecology of Juvenile Hawksbill Sea Turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata) on Inshore Reefs of Honduras

Abstract Despite the recognition of the historical importance of hawksbills in the Caribbean region of Honduras, prior sea turtle research in the area has been extremely limited, and little is known about hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) ecology from this region. We tracked 6 juvenile hawksbills (28.7–35.6 cm, straight carapace length [SCL]) with radiotelemetry off the coast of Roatan in the Bay Islands of Honduras, conducted habitat assessments at 14 sites, and examined the diet of 5 juvenile hawksbills (19.8–49.7 cm, SCL) using gastric (n = 4) and fecal (n = 1) samples. Home ranges of all 6 turtles were small, with 100% minimum convex polygons from 0.15 to 0.55 km2, and a 50% fixed kernel density for all animals pooled of 5.46 km2. The habitat assessment showed that common prey items in hawksbill diets were abundant in areas where juvenile hawksbills were resident and in nonresident areas, with sponges (Chondrilla sp., Geodia sp.) and octocorals (Pseudopterogorgia sp.) being most prevalent....
Irrational Beliefs and Depressive Symptoms among Younger and Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Comparison

The present study explored age differences in the expression of depression. Such differences were quite apparent. Among 118 young adults and 107 community-residing elderly individuals, it was found that in the young adult groups, cognitive belief factors labeled "externality/control" and "dependency/emotionality" were associated with both affective and cognitive aspects of depression, but not somatic depressive symptoms over and above the influence of sociodemographic factors. In contrast, among older adults, a cognitive belief factor labeled "cognitive-emotional rigidity/dependency" was uniquely associated with both affective and somatic depressive symptoms. Additionally, a second cognitive factor, labeled "adaptation/internal control" defined in terms of the absence of irrational thinking about adaptation and control, was negatively related to somatic depressive symptoms. For each sample, poorer health was associated with greater depressive symptomatology. While these findings generally tend to support a cognitive view of depression in adulthood, they also underscore the importance of cognitions that may be adaptive which mitigate distress among older persons.
Optimal decision making in a complex business simulation

The author provides insights into the possibility of inculcating the next generation of management with a commitment to consider optimization of management decision models. The approach used was to integrate the Business Management Laboratory/Systems Laboratory for Information Management (BML/SLIM) and the Interactive Financial Planning System/Optimum (IFPS/Optimum) in a semester-long course on decision support and expert systems. Eight groups of three second-year MBA students participated for a series of three trial decisions and 12 'real' decisions with the conceptual goal of optimizing the firm's operations. The research method was a complex case-study approach modified to fit a classroom situation. One insight indicates that optimization may follow a similar trend in usage as discounted cash-flow techniques experienced in financial analysis. >
Gender, sex, and professional ethics in child and adolescent psychiatry

The professional obligations of the child and adolescent psychiatrist are complicated by three vectors of responsibility. Distinct sets of ethical duties are owed to the minor patient, the child’s parents, and the state. Each has a distinct stake in the character of the professional’s work and is entitled to deference and respect. When the minor’s problem involves a sex- or gender-related issue, the presence of multiple stakeholders can pose challenging ethical problems. How should child psychiatrists understand these constellations of duties? Given the many possibilities for conflict, how are they to be prioritized? Child and adolescent psychiatry must attend to the ethical dimension of its practices. Because practitioners sometimes need authoritative guidance when duties seem to conflict, the definition and prioritization of professional obligations is a core responsibility of the profession. This article aims to survey these professional obligations and to explore some tensions that arise among them. Although ethical guidance occasionally is offered, there is no intention to be thorough. Rather, the goal is to provide a revealing overview of the ethical terrain. Professional ethics is an intellectual—and ideally—an organizational process that, when well conducted, can advance the collective conscience of a field. What follows is an effort to make a clarifying contribution to the enterprise of professional ethics in child and adolescent psychiatry. In focusing on the ethical tensions that arise within this triad, particularly when sex and gender issues are on the table, I pass over some peripheral questions that others might consider to be pertinent. Although these issues are worthy of attention and can be researched elsewhere, some implications may be extrapolated from what is said here. Omitted are issues that arise when children are used as research subjects [1,2], when off-label pharmaceutical usage is being considered, when adolescents whose parents are out of the picture present on
Distortion conspicuity on stereoscopically viewed 3D images may correlate to scene content and distortion type

We describe two studies that were aimed towards increasing our understanding of how the visibility of distortions on stereoscopically viewed 3D images is affected by scene content and distortion types. By assuming that subjects' performance would be highly correlated with the visibility of local distorted patches, we analyzed subjects' performance in locating distortion patches when viewing stereoscopic 3D images. Subjects' performances are measured by whether they successfully locate a local distorted patch, the times they spent to finish the task, and subjective quality ratings given by subjects. The visual data used in this work are co-registered stereo images with co-registered “ground truth” range (depth) data. Varied statistical analysis methods were used to discuss the significance of our observations. Three observations are drawn from our analyses. First, blur, JPEG, and JP2K distortions in stereo 3D images may be suppressed if one of the left or right views is undistorted. Second, contrast maskinga does not occur, or is reduced, while viewing white noise distorted stereo 3D images. Third, there is no depth/disparity masking effect when viewing stereo 3D images, but there may be (conversely) depth-related facilitationb effects for blur, JPEG, and JP2K distorted stereo 3D images.
Does Adding Characters with Missing Data Increase or Decrease Phylogenetic Accuracy

Missing data are a widely recognized nuisance factor in phylogenetic analyses, and the fear of missing data may deter systematists from including characters that are highly incomplete. In this paper, I used simulations to explore the consequences of including sets of characters that contain missing data. More specie cally, I tested whether the benee ts of increasing the number of characters outweigh the costs of adding missing data cells to a matrix. The results show that the addition of a set of characters with missing data is generally more likely to increase phylogenetic accuracy than decreaseit, butthe potential benee ts of adding thesecharacters quickly disappear as the proportion of missing data increases. Furthermore, despite the overall trend, adding characters with missing datadoes decreaseaccuracy in somecases.In thesesituations, themissing data entries are not themselves misleading, buttheir presence may mimic the effects of limited taxon sampling, which can positively mislead. Criteria are discussed for predicting whether adding characters with missing data may increase or decrease accuracy. The results of this study also suggest thataccuracy can beincreased toa surprising degreeby (1) " e lling the holes" in a data matrix as much as possible (even when relatively few taxa are missing data), and (2) adding fewer characters scored for all taxa rather than adding a larger number of characters known for fewer taxa. Missing data can also be eliminated from an analysis through the exclusion of incomplete taxa rather than incomplete characters, but this approach may reduce the usefulness of the analysis and (in some cases) the accuracy of the estimated trees. (Accuracy; missing data; parsimony; simulations.)
Value of a facilitated quality improvement initiative on cardiovascular disease risk: findings from an evaluation of the Aggressively Treating Global Cardiometabolic Risk Factors to Reduce Cardiovascular Events (AT GOAL)

Rationale, aims and objectives In the United States, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contracted an evaluation of the Aggressively Treating Global Cardiometabolic Risk Factors to Reduce Cardiovascular Events (AT GOAL) programme as part of its effort to identify strategies to address CVD risk factors. Methods This study analysed patient-level data from 7527 patients in 43 primary care practices. The researchers assessed average change in control rates for CVD-related measures across practices, and then across patients between baseline and a patient's last visit during the practice's tenure in the programme (referred to as ‘end line’) using repeated measures analysis of variance and random effects generalized least squares, respectively. Results Among non-diabetic patients, there were significant increases in control rates for overall blood pressure (74.3% to 78.0%, P = 0.0002), systolic blood pressure (70.3% to 80.6%, P = 0.0099), diastolic blood pressure (90.1% to 92.7%, P = 0.0001) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL; 48.6% to 53.1%, P = 0.0001) between baseline and end line. Among diabetic patients, there was a significant increase in diastolic blood pressure control (59.8% to 61.9%, P = 0.0141). While continuous CVD-related outcomes show an overall trend between baseline and end line, patients with uncontrolled measures at baseline showed a decrease between baseline and end line relative to their counterparts who were controlled at baseline. Conclusions Findings from the AT GOAL evaluation support the value of a facilitated quality improvement (QI) initiative on managing CVD risk.
Mechanical equilibrium determines the fractal fiber architecture of aortic heart valve leaflets

In this work, the structure of the aortic valve is derived from its function, which (in the closed-valve configuration) is to support a uniform pressure load. It is assumed that this load is transferred to the aortic wall by a one-parameter family of fibers under tension. The equation of equilibrium for this fiber structure turns out to be equivalent to the equation of motion of vortex lines in the self-induction approximation. The method of Buttke (J. Comput. Phys. 76:301–326, 1988) is used to solve these equations and, hence, to determine the fiber architecture of the aortic leaflets. Because of a singularity at the center of the aortic valve, the computed fiber architecture has a fractal character with increasing complexity at progressively smaller scales. The computed fiber architecture resembles the branching braided structure of the collagen fibers that support the real aortic valve.
Molecular and cytological characterization of an actin gene from Hessian fly (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae)

Abstract A clone of the Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) gene Act5C was used to isolate an actin gene from a Hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say), genomic library in phage lambda. A combined molecular and cytological analysis with the Hessian fly actin gene (designated MdA1) was undertaken. The coding region of this gene was contiguous and encoded a protein that was 99% identical to the intersegmental muscle actins 57A and 87E from D. melanogaster. Additionally, the protein was >97% identical to the flight-muscle-specific actin 88E from D. melanogaster as well as muscle actins 1 and 2 from Bombyx mori (L.). Only the muscle actin 79B from D. melanogaster, a muscle actin in leg and thorax, showed <97% identity with actin 1 from Hessian fly. The actin 1 from Hessian fly shared less amino acid identity (94–95%) with the cytoplasmic actins from D. melanogaster, Anopheles gambiae (Giles), and B. mori, with differences occurring in a conserved region of the cytoplasmic actins proposed to function in interacti...
Improving Stroke Outcomes: Implementation of a Postdischarge Care Management Model

• Objective: To describe the theoretical basis for an interdisciplinary poststroke care management model currently being tested for effectiveness in a randomized trial. • Methods: The Strategies To Enhance Post Stroke Care And REcovery (STEPS CARE) study is testing the effectiveness of a comprehensive interdisciplinary postdischarge stroke care management intervention in improving a profile of indicators of health recovery and effects of secondary prevention for 190 stroke survivors as compared with 190 patients who receive usual postdischarge stroke care. The model incorporates elements of chronic illness care models including (1) organizational leadership, incentives, and resources for providers; (2) delivery system redesign in which an advanced practice nurse (APN) functions as a care manager and performs in-home assessments and regular follow-up; (3) clinical information systems that allow assessment findings and care plans to be communicated directly to the primary care physician and others; (4) community linkages facilitated by a social worker who provides referrals to local social services; (5) self-management support provided by the APN; and (6) decision support for primary care physicians, including evidence-based protocols and academic detailing. • Results: A pilot study of this model of care showed a significant positive effect of the intervention. • Conclusion: A chronic illness care model can be adapted for poststroke care to improve patient outcomes.
A Low-Cost Image Processing Facility Employing a New Hardware Realization of High-Speed Signal Processors

In this paper, we describe a low-cost image-processing facility, assembled at the IBM Israel Scientific Center in Haifa, for computer aided processing of data obtained from medical ultrasonic imaging instruments. The system comprises of (1) an IBM Series/1 (S/1) minicomputer that serves as the overall system resources manager and programmer interface, (2) an experimental low cost high speed signal processor — the Simple Signal Processor (SSP) utilizing new reduced computational complexity (RCC) signal processing algorithms for convolution and discrete Fourier transform (DFT), (3) a Ramtek 9351 gray scale/pseudo color display, (4) a 20 MHz analog to digital converter, and (5) high speed microprocessor based interfaces between the SSP, the Ramtek, and the S/1 allowing burst block transfers between any pair.
Interferon-α: still useful after all these years

Comment on Braiteh et al, page [2992][1] Erdheim-Chester disease is a rare form of non-Langerhans histiocytosis that is rapidly fatal. No specific therapy has been proven effective. A report in this issue establishes a rationale for and effectiveness of interferon in this disorder. Interest in
Purification and characterization of chlorotoxin, a chloride channel ligand from the venom of the scorpion

We have previously demonstrated that the venom of the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus blocks small-conductance Cl- channels, derived from epithelial cells, when applied to the cytoplasmic surface. We have now purified to near homogeneity, and characterized, the component responsible for this blocking activity. It is a small basic peptide of 4,070 Da. The primary amino acid structure shows considerable homology to a class of previously described putative short insectotoxins. A brief characterization of the kinetics of Cl- channel block as well as a demonstration of toxicity to arthropods is also presented.
Vertices of Entropy in Economic Modeling

The economic process can be modeled in terms of eight elementary vertices that take account of entropy generation and energy and mass flows in specific processes. This representation emphasizes aspects of the economic process that are frequently neglected in other models, particularly the role played by materials in facilitating specific processes.
Aldosterone Effect on Canine Gastric Juice.

SummaryAdrenalectomy had no effect on fasting canine Heidenhain pouch juice components. It reduced the volume, hydrogen ion and electrolyte output per minute of the secretion from pouches stimulated with histamine or food. The depression in stimulated gastric juice was greater when the dog was maintained with DCA than with cortisone. The slight stimulation of Heidenhain pouch secretion of intact dogs seen with aldosterone is probably an artifact related to the injections. Aldosterone had no effect on the resting or stimulated Heidenhain pouch secretion of adrenalectomized dogs whether they were well maintained with hormone or severely deficient. If aldosterone has an effect on electrolytes of gastric juice, it cannot be detected by measuring whole juice components of Heidenhain pouches.
Multivariate Normal Distribution

IN THIS CHAPTER, we generalize the bivariate normal distribution from the previous chapter to an arbitrary number of dimensions. We also make use of the matrix notation. The mathematics is generally more dense and relies on the linear algebra notation covered in Chap. 4 In Sect. 4.5 we pointed out there is a limit on what computations we can reasonably perform by hand. For this reason, we illustrate these various operations with the help of R.
A survey of high-performance computing scaling challenges

Commodity clusters revolutionized high-performance computing when they first appeared two decades ago. As scale and complexity have grown, new challenges in reliability and systemic resilience, energy efficiency and optimization and software complexity have emerged that suggest the need for re-evaluation of current approaches. This paper reviews the state of the art and reflects on some of the challenges likely to be faced when building trans-petascale computing systems, using insights and perspectives drawn from operational experience and community debates.
Spinal Accessory Nerve Entrapment

The spinal accessory nerve, the 11th cranial nerve, innervates the trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles. It has a long superficial course in the neck, which makes it prone to injury with neck trauma or surgical interventions. Patients will present with weakness of the innervated muscles, myofascial pain, winged scapula, and shoulder pain. The symptoms can vary based on the extent of injury. The diagnosis is mainly based on the history and physical exam, although EMG, CT, and MRI can occasionally add certainty to the diagnosis. Treatment is based on physical therapy, rehabilitation and medication management, but if these options are exhausted, surgical solutions are available. Following a positive diagnostic injection, neurolytic procedures, surgical nerve repair or nerve transplant can be performed.
Revisiting protein structure, function, and evolution in the genomic era

The expansion of genomic data, three-dimensional structures of proteins, and computing power continues to improve our understanding of the evolution of protein structure and function relationships. As of June 2016, publically available databases contain more than 60 million unique protein sequences that group into 16,295 protein families that adopt ∼1400 different three-dimensional folds. This data supports the exploration of evolutionary relationships on protein structure and function to answer a basic question - how do changes in gene sequence lead to alterations in protein structure and to the tailoring of biological and chemical function? This mini-review aims to provide a primer on the basics of protein structure, how evolution of sequence leads to diversity in protein structure and function, how these changes occur, and the role of domains in protein evolution. Understanding how to use the vast amount of sequence and structural information may also aid in assessing if changes in protein sequence and/or structure are relevant for safety assessments of new commercial biotechnology products.
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders

The prominence of somatic symptoms associated with significant clinical distress and functional impairment is the hallmark of illness within the class of disorders called somatic symptom and related disorders. Patients suffering from these conditions more commonly present in primary care or acute care settings. It is only after initially presenting in this setting that they are able to receive necessary psychiatric mental health support. Somatic symptom disorder, illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorder (functional neurological symptom disorder), psychological factors affecting other medical conditions, factitious disorder, other specified somatic symptom and related disorders, and unspecified somatic symptom and related disorders belong to this diagnostic class. Due to the diagnostic and treatment challenge that these disorders present, physician awareness becomes crucial for early diagnosis.
Minireview on Glutamine Synthetase Deficiency, an Ultra-Rare Inborn Error of Amino Acid Biosynthesis

Glutamine synthetase (GS) is a cytosolic enzyme that produces glutamine, the most abundant free amino acid in the human body. Glutamine is a major substrate for various metabolic pathways, and is thus an important factor for the functioning of many organs; therefore, deficiency of glutamine due to a defect in GS is incompatible with normal life. Mutations in the human GLUL gene (encoding for GS) can cause an ultra-rare recessive inborn error of metabolism-congenital glutamine synthetase deficiency. This disease was reported until now in only three unrelated patients, all of whom suffered from neonatal onset severe epileptic encephalopathy. The hallmark of GS deficiency in these patients was decreased levels of glutamine in body fluids, associated with chronic hyperammonemia. This review aims at recapitulating the clinical history of the three known patients with congenital GS deficiency and summarizes the findings from studies done along with the work-up of these patients. It is the aim of this paper to convince the reader that (i) this disorder is possibly underdiagnosed, since decreased concentrations of metabolites do not receive the attention they deserve; and (ii) early detection of GS deficiency may help to improve the outcome of patients who could be treated early with metabolites that are lacking in this condition.
Patterns of Care in Hospitalized Vascular Surgery Patients at End of Life.

Importance There is limited literature reporting circumstances surrounding end-of-life care in vascular surgery patients. Objective To identify factors driving end-of-life decisions in vascular surgery patients. Design, Setting, and Participants In this cohort study, medical records were reviewed for all vascular surgery patients at a tertiary care university hospital who died during their hospitalization from 2005 to 2014. Main Outcomes and Measures Patient, family, and hospitalization variables potentially important to influencing end-of-life decisions. Results Of 111 patients included (67 [60%] male; median age, 75 [range, 24-94] years), 81 (73%) were emergent vs 30 (27%) elective admissions. Only 15 (14%) had an advance directive. Of the 81 (73%) patients placed on comfort care, 31 (38%) had care withheld or withdrawn despite available medical options, 15 (19%) had an advance directive, and 28 (25%) had a palliative care consultation. The median time from palliative care consultation to death was 10 hours (interquartile range, 3.36-66 hours). Comparing the 31 patients placed on comfort care despite available medical options with an admission diagnosis–matched cohort, we found that more than 5 days admitted to the intensive care unit (odds ratio [OR], 4.11; 95% CI, 1.59-10.68; P P P P Conclusions and Relevance Palliative care consultations may be underused at the end of life. A large percentage of patients were transitioned to comfort measures despite available treatment, yet few presented with advance directives. In high-risk patients, discussions regarding extended stays in the intensive care unit, prolonged ventilator management, and possible dialysis and tracheostomy should be communicated with patients and families at time of hospitalization and advance directives solicited.
Hybrid matrix converter based on instantaneous reactive power theory

A matrix converter is a single-stage direct AC/AC converter. By employing only nine bidirectional switches, the matrix converter is able to generate variable amplitude and frequency output voltages. Matrix converters would inject a significant amount of current harmonics and voltage harmonics back in to the power source and the load, respectively, if filtering measures are not properly implemented. These harmonics cause distortion and adversely impact the operation of the whole system. The increasing demand for high power makes the conventional solution of passive filters no longer sufficient to solve the power quality problem in matrix converters, beside the other drawbacks of using bulky passive components such as, short life time, big size, and high cost. This paper presents a hybrid matrix converter for medium voltage high power applications. By utilizing a low-frequency modulation techniques, combined with a shunt active filter implemented to the input side of the matrix converter to eliminate current harmonics and a series active filter is applied to the output side of the matrix converter to eliminate the voltage harmonics. This approach is more efficient in terms of reducing the total number of passive components used in the system, reducing the switching power losses, and improving voltage transfer ratio. The explanation of predicting the compensation current and the compensation voltage waveforms is based on the instantaneous reactive power theory. The feasibility and effectiveness proposed topology have been verified by the simulation results.
Radiologic Evaluation of Femur Fractures

Femur fractures in children and adolescents are injuries that require careful management in order to achieve optimum outcome. Most femoral fractures in the pediatric age group are the result of high-energy trauma in the adolescent or a twisting injury or simple fall in the ambulatory toddler [1]. When this history is absent, pathologic and non-accidental fractures should be considered. Appropriate diagnosis and treatment of a femur fracture nearly always requires some form of imaging evaluation. Imaging plays a pivotal role in determining the extent of the fracture, evaluating the degree of comminution and displacement, and evaluating for damage to critical structures such as the physis and surrounding vascular structures. Imaging also plays a critical role in evaluating for post-traumatic or post-operative complications of femur fracture, such as avascular necrosis and growth disturbance. This chapter focuses on imaging techniques most commonly employed in the diagnosis and management of children with femur fractures, including a brief overview of the various imaging modalities.
Joint Deep Learning of Foreground, Background and Shape for Robust Contextual Segmentation

Encouraged by the success of CNNs in classification problems, CNNs are being actively applied to image-wide prediction problems such as segmentation, optic flow, reconstruction, restoration etc. These approaches fall under the category of fully convolutional networks [FCN] and have been very successful in bringing contexts into learning for image analysis. In this work, we address the problem of segmentation from medical images. Segmentation or object delineation from medical images/volumes is a fundamental step for subsequent quantification tasks key to diagnosis. Semantic segmentation has been popularly addressed using FCN (e.g. U-NET) with impressive results and has been the fore runner in recent segmentation challenges. However, there are a few drawbacks of FCN approaches which recent works have tried to address. Firstly, local geometry such as smoothness and shape are not reliably captured. Secondly, spatial context captured by FCNs while giving the advantage of a richer representation carries the intrinsic drawback of overfitting, and is quite sensitive to appearance and shape changes. To handle above issues, in this work, we propose a hybrid of generative modeling of image formation to jointly learn the triad of foreground (F), background (B) and shape (S). Such generative modeling of F, B, S would carry the advantages of FCN in capturing contexts. Further we expect the approach to be useful under limited training data, results easy to interpret, and enable easy transfer of learning across segmentation problems. We present \({\sim }8\%\) improvement over state of art FCN approaches for US kidney segmentation and while achieving comparable results on CT lung nodule segmentation.
Abstract 175: High Glucose Pre-treatment Suppresses Rankl-induced Macrophage Activation via Down-regulation of Glucose Uptake Through Decreased Insulin Receptor and Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 Expression

Background: Previous studies have suggested that the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is associated with the local proteinases activation and the degradation of matrix proteins by ma...