cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Growth and Characterization of Lu 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ Thin Films on Single-Crystal Yttria-Doped Zirconia

Lu2O3 doped with Eu3+ has been established as an excellent scintillator material for numerous applications such as lasers, optical lenses, and radiography. The material is typically manufactured via hot pressing. This process, apart from being prohibitively expensive, can also introduce major structural defects because it requires grinding/polishing to achieve high transparency and spatial resolution. To overcome these process limitations that have restricted the commercial viability of Lu2O3:Eu3+ scintillators, a technique to deposit thin films (1–10 μm) of Lu2O3:Eu3+ has been developed. This investigation characterized the growth of such thin films by radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering on single-crystal cubic yttria doped zirconia (YSZ) substrates. At a deposition rate of 3.3 A/s, the effects of substrate heating and orientation on coating structure property and the resultant effect on performance were evaluated. Additionally, the effect of deposition parameters and growth conditions on the radioluminescence of the coatings, excited by x-rays, was systematically examined.
Electrospun chitosan fibers

This chapter presents an overview of the electrospinning of chitosan. The properties of chitosan solutions relevant to electrospinning are discussed, followed by a summary of studies on electrospinning of unmodified and modified chitosan and experimental setups to produce core–shell and aligned nanofibers from chitosan. Finally, some highlights on applications of electrospun chitosan are presented.
The Community Weekly Newspaper: Telling America's Stories

(2010). The Community Weekly Newspaper: Telling America's Stories. American Journalism: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 151-157.
Assessment of Seed Infestation Level of Brown Spot (Bipolaris Oryzae) in Different Rice Genotypes under Natural Epiphytotic Conditions

Bipolaris oryzae , the causal agent of brown spot disease, is an economically important pathogen of rice found in several rice growing countries in the world. Seed samples were collected from the rice experimental field comprised of different rice genotypes at National Rice Research Program, Hardinath, Dhanusha, Nepal in 2014 to determine the infestation level of B. oryzae and taxonomic identification of seed borne fungi by standard blotter method. The major recovered fungal mycoflora were B. oryzae , Pyricularia oryzae, Ustilaginoidea virens, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Curvularia oryzae, Rhizopus oryzae, Alternaria sp. , Cercospora sp. and Penicillium sp. Seeds of all rice genotypes were infected with these fungi however frequency of fungal association varied among rice genotypes (from 12% to 96%). The percentage infection of B. oryzae was recorded maximum in all the rice genotypes compared to other seed-borne fungi. Madhaya dhan 845 and BI-0530-5-10-1-2 were the most infected genotypes and the infection percentage was 72% and 68%, respectively. Similarly, the least infected genotypes were Sabitri and TN-1 and infection level of 8% was recorded in both genotypes. Our findings may be used to predict disease occurrence and fungal transfer to new uninfected areas. Moreover, this study suggests that rice seed should be properly detected to check contamination by pathogens before sowing for effective and healthy crop production. Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol 4(3): 294-297
A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial of Aspirin Effects on Immune Activation in Chronically Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Adults on Virologically Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy.

Author(s): O'Brien, Meagan P; Hunt, Peter W; Kitch, Douglas W; Klingman, Karin; Stein, James H; Funderburg, Nicholas T; Berger, Jeffrey S; Tebas, Pablo; Clagett, Brian; Moisi, Daniela; Utay, Netanya S; Aweeka, Fran; Aberg, Judith A | Abstract: BackgroundImmune activation persists despite suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and predicts non-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) comorbidities including cardiovascular disease. Activated platelets play a key role in atherothrombosis and inflammation, and platelets are hyperactivated in chronic HIV infection. Aspirin is a potent inhibitor of platelet activation through the cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) pathway. We hypothesized that platelet activation contributes to immune activation and that aspirin would reduce immune activation and improve endothelial function in ART-suppressed HIV-infected individuals.MethodsIn this prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled 3-arm trial of 121 HIV-infected participants on suppressive ART for g48 weeks, we evaluated the effects of 12 weeks of daily aspirin 100 mg, aspirin 300 mg, or placebo on soluble and cellular immune activation markers, flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, and serum thromboxane B2, a direct readout of platelet COX-1 inhibition.ResultsThe 300-mg and 100-mg aspirin arms did not differ from placebo in effects on soluble CD14, interleukin (IL)-6, soluble CD163, D-dimer, T-cell or monocyte activation, or the other immunologic endpoints measured. Endothelial function, as measured by FMD, also was not significantly changed when comparing the 300-mg and 100-mg aspirin arms to placebo.ConclusionsAspirin treatment for 12 weeks does not have a major impact on soluble CD14, IL-6, soluble CD163, D-dimer, T-cell or monocyte activation, or FMD, suggesting that inhibition of COX-1-mediated platelet activation does not significantly improve HIV-related immune activation and endothelial dysfunction. Although future studies are needed to further identify the causes and consequences of platelet activation in ART-treated HIV infection, interventions other than COX-1 inhibition will need to be explored to directly reduce immune activation in treated HIV infection.
Identification of the Physical Parameters of a Noisy Process in Discrete and Continuous-Time Domains

Abstract In recent years, techniques from the areas of system identification and parameter estimation have found extensive use in the modeling and control of power systems. From an applications view point, an important consideration arises for implementation with parallel versus serial data acquisition procedures. Factors such as cost, model accuracy, parameter value convergence, and so on dictate the necessity of careful investigations of such issues. This paper addresses the problem of the identification of physical parameters in noisy processes from both discrete and continuous time models. Simulation results are given for generalized least squares estimation, for both cases of parallel and serial data acquisition, and the effects of phase lag introduced are compared and analyzed. Finally, results are given for parameter estimation exercises with a single phase transformer
Economic and environmental evaluations of dedicated and residential electric tariffs for plug‐in electric vehicles

Summary Plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) owners may have multiple different electric tariffs offered by their local utility companies from which to choose. The offered PEV tariffs are designed mainly to shift the electric demand for charging cars to the time when the grid is less strained. This paper investigates both the economic and the environmental impacts of adopting dedicated PEV electric tariffs from the PEV owners' perspective. The overall conclusion is that the dedicated tariffs are well designed for PEVs from the economical perspective but not from the environmental perspective. Case studies of the cost minimization model show that on average the dedicated PEV tariffs will result in approximately half the cost of the electric bill and slightly lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (less than 1%) compared with the standard flat-rate residential tariffs. Case studies of the emission minimization model show that the GHG emissions can be reduced by 10.47% as compared with the cost minimization model, but this will lead to an increase in the total charging cost that can be as high as 15.44% on average.
Measurement of urinary Benzo[a]pyrene tetrols and their relationship to other polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites and cotinine in humans.

Abstract Biomonitoring of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) typically uses measurement of metabolites of PAHs with four or less aromatic rings, such as 1-hydroxypyrene, even though interest may be in exposure to larger and carcinogenic PAHs, such as benzo[ a ]pyrene (B[ a ]P). An improved procedure for measuring two tetrol metabolites of B[ a ]P has been developed. Using 2 mL urine, the method includes enzymatic deconjugation of the tetrol conjugates, liquid-liquid extraction, activated carbon solid phase extraction (SPE) and Strata-X SPE, and gas chromatography–electron capture negative ionization–tandem mass spectrometric determination. Limits of detection were 0.026 pg/mL (benzo[ a ]pyrene- r -7,t-8,t-9,c-10-tetrahydrotetrol, BPT I-1) and 0.090 pg/mL (benzo[ a ]pyrene- r -7,t-8,c-9,c-10-tetrahydrotetrol, BPT II-1). We quantified BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 in urine from a volunteer who consumed one meal containing high levels of PAHs (barbequed chicken). We also measured urinary concentrations of BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 in smokers and nonsmokers, and compared these concentrations with those of monohydroxy PAHs (OH-PAHs) and cotinine. Urinary elimination of BPT I-1 and BPT II-1 as a function of time after dietary exposure was similar to that observed previously for OH-PAHs. While the median BPT I-1 concentration in smokers’ urine (0.069 pg/mL) significantly differs from nonsmokers (0.043 pg/mL), BPT I-1 is only weakly correlated with cotinine. The urinary concentration of BPT I-1 shows a weaker relationship to tobacco smoke than metabolites of smaller PAHs, suggesting that other routes of exposure such as for example dietary routes may be of larger quantitative importance.
Deep brain stimulation lead migration in a child secondary to osteogenesis at the burr hole site

Abstract The frequency of deep brain stimulation (DBS) complications is low; however, lead migration is a common way DBS therapy can become ineffective. We present a case of a nine-year-old male with generalized dystonia who underwent bilateral GPi DBS lead placement. The efficacy of the DBS system was diminished over two years and one of the leads was noted to be displaced on skull X-rays and confirmed with a head CT. During surgery to replace it, bone growth within the burr hole site was noted to have occurred and determined to be the cause for the lead migration. This is the first known case reporting osteogenesis at the burr hole site as a cause of lead migration. This complication should be kept in mind when performing DBS in children to refine a surgical technique that could prevent osteogenesis at the burr hole.
Epistemic Things in Charles and Ray Eames’s Powers of Ten

Woods uses an analysis of Charles and Ray Eames’s film Powers of Ten to discuss the aesthetic and theoretical implications of texts that represent scientific objects of knowledge—“epistemic things” such as cells and atoms—which exist outside our sensory worlds. Engaging with the work of Hannah Arendt, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, and Hans-Jorg Rheinberger, and exploring definitions of “scale variance” and the “scale domain,” the chapter considers how epistemic things affect human lifeworlds. Powers of Ten invites both a critical reading, which suggests that our relation to entities such as atoms is inevitably anthropomorphic, and a speculative reading, which suggests that modern phenomenological worlds are produced, at least in part, by the traces of objects from nonhuman scale domains.
The role of cytochrome b5 in cytochrome P-450 enzymes.

The possible involvement of cytochrome b5 in NADPH-mediated cytochrome P-450 reactions in liver microsomes was first suggested by Estabrook and co-workers (1,2). Two years ago we presented immunochemical evidence that the synergistic effect of NADH on NADPH-mediated ethylmorphine metabolism by rat liver microsomes is indeed mediated through cytochrome b5 by showing that an antibody against rat liver cytochrome b5 blocks the increase in NADH-oxi-dation and ethylmorphine N-demethylation in the presence of NADPH, ethylmorphine and liver microsomes (3). We recently presented evidence that a sheep antibody against cytochrome b5 (4,5) also inhibits the omega hydroxylation of lauric acid by rat liver and kidney cortex microsomes in the presence of either NADH or NADPH (Table I). In order to differentiate the inhibitory effect of sheep antibody against cytochrome b5 on the omega hydroxylation of lauric acid from some nonspecific inhibitor present in the antibody preparation, we preincubated the antibody with varying amounts of purified, trypsin-solubilized cytochrome b5 from rat liver and then examined the reversibility of the inhibitory effect.
Insights into cell motility provided by the iterative use of mathematical modeling and experimentation

Cell movement is a complex phenomenon that is fundamental to many physiological and disease processes. It has been the subject of study for more than 200 years, and yet we still do not fully understand this process. Cell movement consists of four steps; protrusion and adhesion formation at the front followed by contractile force generation and detachment at the rear. Much is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying these steps however, it is not clear how they are integrated at the cellular level. Part of the problem is the incorporation of a vast amount of molecular and biophysical data into a basic working model of motility. A promising solution to this problem is the combined approach of mathematical modeling and experimentation, using the fish epithelial keratocyte as a model system. The goal of this review is to illustrate, using examples, how the reciprocity between experimentation and modeling can provide new insights into the mechanism of cell motility. Several modeling approaches are described including: conceptual models, “bottom-up” models based on molecular dynamics, and “top-down” models that consider cell shape and movement. The Graded Radial Extension (GRE) model forms the basis of a several mathematical models, from a simpler 1D model that links actin filament dynamics to cell shape, to more complex 2D and 3D simulations of keratocyte movement. Together these models suggest that cell movement emerges from the mechanical interaction between different sub-processes of motility, namely, the treadmilling actin meshwork, the plasma membrane, adhesion turnover and contractile force generation. In addition, the feedback regulation between these sub-processes is important for the robust, self-organizing nature of movement.
The Young Sun

Meteorites and the Moon yield information on solar flares and the solar wind which, though patchy, spans 109 yr. However, as the solar wind and flares are primarily creatures of the corona they are poor measures of solar activity as a whole. According to the Standard Solar Model the Sun’s luminosity has increased from 0.7 to 1.0 L☉ in the course of the last 4.5 Gyr. The widespread presence of liquid water on the Earth’s surface at least during the last 3.8 Gyr conflicts with this finding. Various mechanisms have accordingly been proposed for warming the early Earth, including atmospheric greenhouse effects, variations in cloud cover, and the prevalence of oceans with a low albedo. Changes in the mass of the early Sun and in its activity have also been suggested in order to reconcile the SSM with the geological evidence on Earth.
Myocardial infarction, infarct repair, and strategies for muscle regeneration

Despite impressive advances in the last decade at treating coronary atherosclerosis, myocardial infarction remains the number one cause of death and disability in industrialized countries. A great deal of effort has been expended over the last 25 years toward identifying strategies to limit the amount of myocardium lost to infarction [4, 5]. Although infarct size limitation remains a highly desirable goal, it has been extremely difficult to achieve clinically. Over the last 5 years, our group has become increasingly interested in working on strategies to enhance the repair phase of myocardial infarction [31-33, 42, 43]. Our long-term goals are to induce muscular regeneration of the infarcted region. An intermediate goal, however, is to understand the molecular biology of infarct healing and to find strategies to prevent complications of infarction such as ventricular dilation that contribute to heart failure. This chapter will review the pathobiology of myocardial infarction and infarct repair, and then summarize some of our recent work in cardiomyocyte transplantation for creation of new myocardium.
Comorbidities of Rare Epilepsies: Results from the Rare Epilepsy Network

Objective To describe the prevalence and characteristics of comorbidities in persons with rare epilepsies. Study design Persons with rare epilepsies and caregivers of those affected were recruited through the Epilepsy Foundation and more than 30 rare epilepsy advocacy organizations affiliated with the Rare Epilepsy Network (REN). A web-based survey was conducted using a questionnaire consisting of core sections to collect data from affected persons on various aspects, including comorbidities. Comorbidity information was grouped into 15 classes, 12 of which had a stem question followed by detailed branch questions and 3 that were created from a combination of related questions. Results Of 795 persons with more than 30 different rare epilepsy diagnosis groups, one-half had ≥5 comorbidity classes and 97% were classified as complex chronic disease (C-CD). The highest number of comorbidity classes reported per person were persons with Aicardi syndrome, Phelan-McDermid syndrome (median, 7.0; IQR, 5.0-9.0), and tuberous sclerosis complex (median, 6.0; IQR, 4.0-8.0). The most common comorbidity classes were learning/developmental disability (71%), mental health issues (71%), sleep disorders (60%), brain abnormalities (52%), oral issues (49%), bone-joint issues (42%), hyper/hypotonia (42%), and eye-vision disorders (38%). The prevalence of brain abnormalities, hyper/hypotonia, eye, and cardiac disorders was significantly higher in persons first diagnosed with epilepsy at a younger age ( Conclusions Nearly all persons with rare epilepsies are medically complex, with a high prevalence of multiple comorbidities, especially those who were diagnosed with epilepsy in the first year of life. Comorbidities should be carefully considered in the diagnosis and management of persons with rare epilepsies.
Registries in Spine Care in the United States

Spinal disorders are extremely common, debilitating, and costly to patients, payers, and society as a whole (Skovrlj B, Gologorsky Y, Haque R, Fessler RG, Qureshi SA. Complications, outcomes, and need for fusion after minimally invasive posterior cervical foraminotomy and microdiscectomy. Spine J 14:2405–2411, 2014). The increasing frequency of spinal related interventions along with increasing cost has triggered a paradigm shift to the delivery of value-based spine care (Roder C, Muller U, Aebi M. The rationale for a spine registry. Eur Spine J 15:S52–S56, 2006). The goal of this shift is the expected convergence of the interests of patients, payers, politicians, and clinicians. Value in healthcare is expressed as patient-centered outcomes (effectiveness of care) divided by related cost of care. Integral to the value equation is the ability to track patient outcomes longitudinally over time. Health registries, when designed properly, have the potential to provide the necessary statistical power and real-world setting required for true value measurement in both individuals and populations. In this chapter, we provide a summary of spinal registries in the United States.
Right/Left Thyroid Lobectomy/Total

This chapter describes the surgical procedure for right/left thyroid lobectomy/total thyroidectomy. The text includes an introduction that outlines the indications, risks, alternatives, essential steps needed, equipment, and variations in technique for the procedure in question. This is followed by a template operative dictation that provides the reader with an operative report, such as is found in a patient chart or electronic medical record. A description is provided of the following critical concepts for this procedure: developing subplatysmal flaps, exposing the thyroid gland, ligation of superior pole vessels, medial mobilization of each lobe, preservation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve, preservation of the parathyroid glands, and dissecting the thyroid free from the trachea.
Sustainable polycarbonate adhesives for dry and aqueous conditions with thermoresponsive properties.

Pressure sensitive adhesives are ubiquitous in commodity products such as tapes, bandages, labels, packaging, and insulation. With single use plastics comprising almost half of yearly plastic production, it is essential that the design, synthesis, and decomposition products of future materials, including polymer adhesives, are within the context of a healthy ecosystem along with comparable or superior performance to conventional materials. Here we show a series of sustainable polymeric adhesives, with an eco-design, that perform in both dry and wet environments. The terpolymerization of propylene oxide, glycidyl butyrate, and CO2, catalyzed by a cobalt salen complex bearing a quaternary ammonium salt, yields the poly(propylene-co-glycidyl butyrate carbonate)s (PPGBC)s. This polymeric adhesive system, composed of environmentally benign building blocks, implements carbon dioxide sequestration techniques, poses minimal environmental hazards, exhibits varied peel strengths from scotch tape to hot-melt wood-glue, and adheres to metal, glass, wood, and Teflon® surfaces. Adhesives are ubiquitous in commodity products, however it it essential that their synthesis and degradation be sustainable without compromising their performance. Here, the authors report a library of adhesives based on environmentally benign building blocks that perform in both dry and wet environments.
Topiramate causing type II renal tubular acidosis: A case and review of the mechanism

Topiramate has a wide array of pharmacologic effects, including proximal renal tubular acidosis (RTA). Clinicians must be wary of the possibility for development of somnolence due to compensatory hyperventilation and cardiac dysrhythmias.
A Systematic Methodological Review of Hierarchical Linear Modeling in Mixed Methods Research

The use of advanced quantitative methods within mixed methods research has been investigated in a limited capacity. In particular, hierarchical linear models are a popular approach to account for m...
Emotional Intelligence for Librarians

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one's emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships effectively within your library. Theories about developing emotionally intelligent staff through training, mentoring, and succession planning are discussed specifically in relation to librarianship. The theories and discussed philosophies and practices of EI will encompass and blend new concepts into existing and widely valued library literature with theorists from within the business sector. This article discusses how EI is used in the employment selection process and how it defines the core competencies we see in our employees. This article will delve into training, benefits, challenges, and how It is used in the change management process. In healthy libraries, EI is for leaders, managers, and employees at all levels.
Neural tracking of the speech envelope is differentially modulated by attention and language experience

The ability to selectively attend to a speech signal amid competing sounds is a significant challenge, especially for listeners trying to comprehend non-native speech. Attention is critical to direct neural processing resources to the most essential information. Here, neural tracking of the speech envelope of an English story narrative and cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) to non-speech stimuli were simultaneously assayed in native and non-native listeners of English. Although native listeners exhibited higher narrative comprehension accuracy, non-native listeners exhibited enhanced neural tracking of the speech envelope and heightened CAEP magnitudes. These results support an emerging view that although attention to a target speech signal enhances neural tracking of the speech envelope, this mechanism itself may not confer speech comprehension advantages. Our findings suggest that non-native listeners may engage neural attentional processes that enhance low-level acoustic features, regardless if the target signal contains speech or non-speech information.
Differential Dynamic Behavior of Prefusion Spike Proteins of SARS Coronaviruses 1 and 2

The coronavirus spike protein, which binds to the same human receptor in both SARS-CoV-1 and 2, has been implied to be a potential source of their differential transmissibility. However, the mechanistic details of spike protein binding to its human receptor remain elusive at the molecular level. Here, we have used an extensive set of unbiased and biased microsecond-level all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of SARS-CoV-1 and 2 spike proteins to determine the differential dynamic behavior of prefusion spike protein structure in the two viruses. Our results indicate that the active form of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is more stable than that of SARS-CoV-1 and the energy barrier associated with the activation is higher in SARS-CoV-2. Our results also suggest that not only the receptor binding domain (RBD) but also other domains such as the N-terminal domain (NTD) could play a role in the differential binding behavior of SARS-CoV-1 and 2 spike proteins.
Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Presenting as a Subacute Headache in a Young Man With Undiagnosed Factor V Leiden Mutation.

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is a rare but potentially life-threatening condition that presents with non-specific symptoms. This condition is more common in women and can be associated with local infection and hypercoagulable conditions, including protein C and S deficiency, factor V Leiden mutation, anti-thrombin III deficiency, thrombophilia, vasculitis, and malignancy. We report the case of a 24-year-old man who presented with a left temporal headache and right upper and lower extremity paresthesia. He also experienced impaired vision (altered spatial sensation), dental pain, bruxism, nausea, and vomiting. Magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance venography of the brain revealed widespread thrombosis of the cerebral sinuses as well as left superior cerebral cortical veins bilaterally. No evidence of venous infarct was found. Subsequent hematologic evaluation showed the presence of heterozygous factor V Leiden mutation. Testing of family members subsequently revealed the presence of this same mutation in his mother and all three siblings, although there was no family history of stroke, hypercoagulability, or atypical headaches. The patient was started on low-molecular-weight heparin and later transitioned to apixaban. Progression of his headache and visual abnormalities led to the discovery of increased intracranial pressure as demonstrated by papilledema and characteristic findings on computed tomography scan. He was treated with acetazolamide with improvement of his symptoms. CVT is uncommon and can be a diagnostic challenge due to its atypical presentation. Clinicians should consider this diagnosis in patients with a subacute onset of atypical headache, especially when accompanied by seizures, focal neurological deficits, or altered consciousness.
Profiling single-cell level phagocytic activity distribution with blood lactate levels

The ability to kill infecting microbes is an essential facet of our immune response to an infection. However, phagocytic ability is often overlooked as a part of immunological profile in infected patients' diagnosis, as the understanding of phagocytic capabilities in disease states is incomplete. In this work, we have evaluated for the first time the relationship between blood lactate level and the neutrophil phagocytic activity at a single-cell level. Blood samples (N = 19) were grouped on the basis of their blood lactate levels i.e., below (control) or above 2 mmol L−1 (high-risk) (i.e., 2 mmol L−1 is a common clinical lactate threshold used for patients' triage). Neutrophils were isolated from whole blood and then incubated with fluorescent IgG coated beads for 40 minutes, and the ability of each neutrophil to internalize beads was quantified. Single-cell phagocytic activity analysis has shown interesting findings such as: (i) a single neutrophil was able to internalize up to 7 beads, (ii) for a control group, 39.76% cells didn't internalize any beads, while for a high-risk group, 30.65% cells didn't show any phagocytic activity, (iii) similarly, 30.46% cells internalize only 1 bead in a control group, while for a high-risk group the activity is slightly higher with only 31.73% cells showing single bead internalization, and (iv) 7 bead internalization activity was much higher for samples in a high-risk group (0.6% cells) compared to a control group (0.17% cells). We used multiple statistical tests to compare these differences. For a two-tailed T-test, we used the mean phagocytic activity of the cells (i.e., the average number of beads internalized by cells) isolated from the blood samples in the two groups (1.14 vs. 1.35) and found the p-value to be 0.08. We also used principal component analysis (PCA) on this high dimensional phagocytic activity distribution data and performed dimension reduction. However, the first 3 principal components didn't show a clear distinction between groups. Next, we developed machine learning models using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to differentiate between the distribution of phagocytic activity in neutrophil populations of the two groups. Our models yielded area under curve (AUC) values below 0.7 for receiver operator characteristic curves. Although our study highlighted interesting phagocytic activity findings at a single cell level, it further highlights the need for integration of an individual patient's medical record to get more personalized insights into individual phagocytic activity in the future.
Pintar las palabras

Sonadores de pajaros. Santiago Mutis Duran. Fundacion Simon y Lola Guberek, Bogota, 1987, 53 pags.
Solubility chromatography of serum proteins: II. Partial purification of the second component of guinea pig complement by solubility chromatography in concentrated ammonium sulfate solutions

Abstract A method for the chromatographic separation of serum proteins by solubility in concentrated ammonium sulfate solutions has been developed. The fraction of serum proteins which is soluble in 2.20 M (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 at pH 6.0 can be resolved into six distinct components detectable by absorbance at 278 or 412 nm. The method is useful for the preliminary purification of the second component of complement from guinea pig serum; recoveries ranged from 23 to 73%, with a ten-fold increase in specific activity. The effects of a number of variables on separation efficiency are described.
Experimental approaches for the study of oxytocin and vasopressin gene expression in the central nervous system.

Intron-specific probes measure heteronuclear RNA (hnRNA) levels and thus approximate the transcription rates of genes, in part because of the rapid turnover of this intermediate form of RNA in the cell nucleus. Previously, we used oxytocin (Oxt)- and vasopressin (Avp)- intron-specific riboprobes to measure changes in Oxt and Avp hnRNA levels in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) by quantitative in situ hybridization (ISH) after various classical physiological perturbations, including acute and chronic salt loading, and lactation. In the present experiments, we used a novel experimental model to study the neurotransmitter regulation of Oxt and Avp gene expression in the rat SON in vivo. Bilateral cannulae connected via tubing to Alzet osmotic mini-pumps were positioned over the SON. In every experiment, one SON was infused with PBS and served as the control SON in each animal, and the contralateral SON received infusions of various neurotransmitter agonists and antagonists. Using this approach, we found that Avp but not Oxt gene expression increased after acute (2–5 h) combined excitatory amino acid agonist and GABA antagonist treatment, similar to what we found after an acute hyperosmotic stimulus. Since both OXT and AVP are known to be comparably and robustly secreted in response to acute osmotic stimuli in vivo and glutamate agonists in vitro, our results indicate a dissociation between OXT secretion and Oxt gene transcription in vivo.
Hardware evolution of analog speed controllers for a DC motor

Evolvable hardware provides the capability to evolve analog circuits to produce amplifier and filter functions. Conventional analog controller designs employ these same functions. Analog controllers for the control of the shaft speed of a DC motor are evolved on an evolvable hardware plaform utilizing a Field Programmable Transistor Array (FPTA). The performance of these evolved controllers is compared to that of a conventional proportional-integral (PI) controller. It is shown that hardware evolution is able to create a compact design that provides good performance, while using considerably less functional electronic components than the conventional design.
A note of an O(n3/logn) time algorithm for all pairs shortest paths

We improve the all pairs shortest path algorithm given by Takaoka to time complexity O(n^3/logn). Our improvement is achieved by using a smaller table and therefore saves time for the algorithm.
On the projected descent direction methods for solving convex programming problems

A recent paper [14] has considered the possibility of combining interior point strategy with steepest descent method when solving convex programming problems, in such a way that the convergence property of the interior point method remains valid but many iterations do not request the solution of a system of equations. Motivated by this general idea, the paper [14] proposed a hybrid algorithm which combines a primal-dual potential reduction algorithm with the use of the steepest descent direction of the potential function. The O(√n|ln e|) complexity of the potential reduction algorithm remains valid but the overall computational cost can be reduced. In this paper, we discuss the relation between this method and general projected descent direction methods, and compare it with a projected steepest descent direction method for solving complex programming problems.
Ordinal One-Switch Utility Functions

We study the problem of finding ordinal utility functions to rank the outcomes of a decision when preference independence between the attributes is not present. We propose that the next level of complexity is to assume that preferences over one attribute can switch at most once as another attribute varies from low to high. We refer to this property as ordinal one-switch independence. We present both necessary and sufficient conditions for this ordinal property to hold and provide families of functions that satisfy this new property.
UV curable electrodeposition systems

This article reviews the development of a UV curable electrodeposition system. Tailor-made acrylic functionalized polyurethane resins, which have been designed, are described and basic properties of the final e-coat system are shown. In addition several fundamental studies have been performed in order to analyze as well the homogeneity of the deposition as the efficiency of the UV curing process.
Some nonlinear problems in astrophysics

Abstract Astrophysical magnetic fields, in the hydromagnetic approximation, pose a rich class of nonlinear problems. Of primary interest is the behavior and properties of the magnetic field interacting with the plasma in the presence of gravity. Substantial progress has been made recently with these problems arising in the study of interstellar clouds, stellar structures and magnetospheres, and structures on the Sun, such as prominences, sunspots and coronal magnetic fields. This paper reviews recent theoretical work, concentrating on steady state problems and emphasizing the use of analytic methods.
There’s No Place Like Home: The Discursive Creation of Homelessness

In this article, the author examines the cultural production of homelessness in the United States, with particular concern for the intimate connection between discursive practices and material cond...
Hydrogen Production by Selective Photo-dissociation of Water in Aqueous Colloidal Nano-particles of Doped Iron (III) Oxides Semiconductors

Homogenous and heterogeneous production of hydrogen via photo-dissociation of water has been achieved with visible range solar radiation without any external potential at room temperature. Potassium ferrocyanide as a solvated-electron supplier and electron exchanger in basic buffers was used as a homogenous media for hydrogen production. Aqueous colloidal solutions of p-type Fe2O3 doped with MgO (Fe1.8Mg0.2O3) or with ZnO (Fe1.9Zn0.1O3) suspensions in ferrocyanide solutions were used as heterogeneous media for hydrogen generation by reduction of ferricyanide. The effects of the hole-scavengers such as oxo-anions and solvated-electron- suppliers were investigated. Results showed that Fe2O3 doped with ZnO was more efficient than that doped with MgO. The studies also showed that the aqueous nano-systems we used retained their stability as indicated by the reproducibility of their photocatalytic activities. Solar radiated assemblies of doped Fe2O3/[Fe(CN)6]−4 sustained cyclic systems for continuous hydrogen production.
Content based multimedia retrieval: lessons learned from two decades of research

In the past two decades, we have witnessed bourgeoning research on content based multimedia information retrieval, covering a wide range of topics such as feature extraction, content matching, structure parsing, semantic annotation, multimodal analysis, 3D content retrieval, and user-in-the-loop interaction. More than ten years have also passed since the publication of the influential survey paper by Smeulders et al on content based image retrieval. Recently, exciting solutions are emerging in several practical contexts such as mobile media search, augmented reality, and Web-scale copy detection. However, many fundamental problems remain open, including but not limited to large-scale semantic annotation, multimedia ontological organization, and human-machine interaction for searching complex events. In this talk, I will discuss lessons learned from our past research, drawing from successes and failures in developing and deploying a few image/video search systems in different domains, and then share views about promising future directions.
Reading Hopkins after Hubble: The Durability of Ignatian Creation Spirituality

The Victorian poet Gerard Manley Hopkins already demonstrated a special sensitivity to nature as a young Anglican. But his conversion to Catholicism, followed by his formation as a Jesuit, nurtured a creation spirituality that moved him from the rather cold view of the cosmos typical of his Victorian era to a vibrant sense of God intimately revealed in nature. This new sense of being a creature involved in an intimate personal relationship with the Creator comes from Hopkins' appropriation of the creation spirituality of Ignatius of Loyola. After reviewing the evolution of worldviews from the medieval synthesis melded with the Newtonian mechanical model (the Victorian picture) to our contemporary cosmic “story,” this article then samples poems that illustrate the creation spirituality that Hopkins absorbed from Ignatius' vision. This vision is remarkably in tune with the new sense of the place of the human creature in the cosmic story that the sciences now tell regarding the emergence of matter, life, and persons.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Crime Control Policies in Knoxville’s Public Housing: Using Mapping Software to Filter Part I Crime Data

Crime in Knoxville’s public housing is an ongoing problem for the Knoxville Police Department and the Knoxville Community Development Corporation (KCDC). The purpose of this study is to determine whether public policies and programs that attempted to reduce crime in seven of Knoxville’s public-housing developments were effective. They include (a) a “One-Strike” eviction policy, (b) the demolition of one housing project with funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’sHOPEVI grant program, (c) a “team-based” approach to policing, and (d) a new residency-applicant-screening process. Descriptive statistics were generated by using Arcview mapping software to separate the yearly Part I serious crime incidents for 1996 to 2001 in two distinct geographical regions: (a) the area represented by the KCDC study sites where the policies were implemented and (b) the remainder of the City of Knoxville. Crimes of opportunity and property crimes were minimally affected by some of the policies at best, y...
The Rcs Phosphorelay Is a Cell Envelope Stress Response Activated by Peptidoglycan Stress and Contributes to Intrinsic Antibiotic Resistance

Gram-negative bacteria possess stress responses to maintain the integrity of the cell envelope. Stress sensors monitor outer membrane permeability, envelope protein folding, and energization of the inner membrane. The systems used by gram-negative bacteria to sense and combat stress resulting from disruption of the peptidoglycan layer are not well characterized. The peptidoglycan layer is a single molecule that completely surrounds the cell and ensures its structural integrity. During cell growth, new peptidoglycan subunits are incorporated into the peptidoglycan layer by a series of enzymes called the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs). To explore how gram-negative bacteria respond to peptidoglycan stress, global gene expression analysis was used to identify Escherichia coli stress responses activated following inhibition of specific PBPs by the β-lactam antibiotics amdinocillin (mecillinam) and cefsulodin. Inhibition of PBPs with different roles in peptidoglycan synthesis has different consequences for cell morphology and viability, suggesting that not all perturbations to the peptidoglycan layer generate equivalent stresses. We demonstrate that inhibition of different PBPs resulted in both shared and unique stress responses. The regulation of capsular synthesis (Rcs) phosphorelay was activated by inhibition of all PBPs tested. Furthermore, we show that activation of the Rcs phosphorelay increased survival in the presence of these antibiotics, independently of capsule synthesis. Both activation of the phosphorelay and survival required signal transduction via the outer membrane lipoprotein RcsF and the response regulator RcsB. We propose that the Rcs pathway responds to peptidoglycan damage and contributes to the intrinsic resistance of E. coli to β-lactam antibiotics.
Space-time stick-breaking processes for small area disease cluster estimation.

We propose a space-time stick-breaking process for the disease cluster estimation. The dependencies for spatial and temporal effects are introduced by using space-time covariate dependent kernel stick-breaking processes. We compared this model with the space-time standard random effect model by checking each model’s ability in terms of cluster detection of various shapes and sizes. This comparison was made for simulated data where the true risks were known. For the simulated data, we have observed that space-time stick-breaking process performs better in detecting medium- and high-risk clusters. For the real data, county specific low birth weight incidences for the state of South Carolina for the years 1997–2007, we have illustrated how the proposed model can be used to find grouping of counties of higher incidence rate.
Stochastic calculus of variations for stochastic partial differential equations

Abstract This paper develops the stochastic calculus of variations for Hilbert space-valued solutions to stochastic evolution equations whose operators satisfy a coercivity condition. An application is made to the solutions of a class of stochastic pde's which includes the Zakai equation of nonlinear filtering. In particular, a Lie algebraic criterion is presented that implies that all finite-dimensional projections of the solution define random variables which admit a density. This criterion generalizes hypoellipticity-type conditions for existence and regularity of densities for finite-dimensional stochastic differential equations.
Implications of the differences between daytime and nighttime CloudSat observations over the tropics

[1] Using 1 year of CloudSat level 2B Cloud Geometrical Profile product, the vertical structures, geographical distributions, and seasonal variations of cloud occurrence at the daytime (1330 LT) and the nighttime (0130 LT) overpasses and their differences over tropical land and ocean are presented separately. The differences between the cloud and precipitation occurrence at 0130 and 1330 LT and the 24 h mean are quantitatively evaluated using climatologies of diurnal variation from 9 years of TRMM observations. Then the vertical structures, geographical distributions, and seasonal variations of cloud and precipitation near the two CloudSat overpass times are generated from 9 years of TRMM observations and compared to those from CloudSat. Larger differences between cloud and precipitation occurrences at 0130 LT and those at 1330 LT were found at high altitudes because the amplitude of diurnal variation increases with height. Cloud and precipitation occurrences show day versus night differences which are opposite with respect to each other in the upper troposphere over the tropics. For example, near 1330 LT over tropical oceans, there are more clouds, but less precipitation at 13–14 km than near 0130 LT except over Panama. This may be explained with the phase lags between precipitation and clouds in the life cycles of the convective systems over land and ocean. The differences between the seasonal cycles of cloud and precipitation sampled at the 0130 and 1330 LT A-Train overpass times and the seasonal cycles generated from full day samples are shown.
Educating families and caretakers of traumatically brain injured patients in the new health care environment : a three phase model and bibliography

Shorter inpatient stays for traumatically brain injured patients frequently allow less time for comprehensive education of families and caretakers. What is needed to compensate for the shortened duration of brain injury rehabilitation in many settings is a family educational programme that 1 satisfies the family s acute information needs as they arise, and 2 standardizes the delivery of information so that certain knowledge criteria are met. The following article proposes a three phase model of family and caretaker education with an accompanying bibliographical index.