cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Vendor-Owned Inventory Management Arrangements in Retail: An Agency Theory Perspective

This paper undertakes two related tasks to augment current understanding regarding vendor-owned inventory management (VOIM) arrangements implemented in the retail industry. The first task formally juxtaposes three prevalent forms of VOIM arrangements (i.e., Consignment, Pay-On-Scan, and Scan-Based Trading) to one another and identifies three dimensions (i.e., Relevant Data Visibility, Timeliness of Information Release, and Shrink Responsibility) that serve to discriminate among them. The second task applies an Agency Theory lens to uncover differing profiles of characteristics underlying the retailer-vendor relationship across the Consignment, Pay-On-Scan, and Scan-Based Trading arrangements. These conceptual results contribute to and have implications for the science and practice of VOIM arrangements in the retail industry.
Snapshot SoC identification with Pulse Injection Aided Machine Learning

Abstract Machine learning, in the form of a fully connected feedforward network, is applied to predict the state of charge (SoC) of lithium ion batteries injected with a series of pulses applied at different SoCs and states of health (SoHs). A snapshot of the normalized voltage response to these pulses is the only required input. Neither previous data nor Coulomb counting are needed. The Pulse Injection Aided Machine Learning (PIAML) algorithm is able to predict the SoC to better than 1% error on average for fresh, unaged cells and to below 2% error on average for a dataset of both fresh and aged cells. It provides SoC estimates without the need for rest periods, knowledge of capacity, or other equivalent parameters found in other methods. This algorithm can be used as a standalone estimator or as a periodic adjuster to other SoC estimation methods whose results may drift over time. PIAML is validated with constant discharge and drive cycle data.
The Proteome of Preretinal Tissue in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.

Background and objective Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is the leading cause of retinal detachment repair failure. However, the molecular pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Determining the proteome of PVR will help to identify novel therapeutic targets. Materials and methods Preretinal tissue samples, delaminated during surgery from six PVR cases and one idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Tandem mass spectra were extracted using the UniProt database, generating a list of 896 proteins, which were subjected to pathway set and fold-change (ERM vs PVR) analyses. Results Two pathways were enriched in PVR: extracellular matrix (ECM) organization and extracellular structure organization. A fold-change analysis comparing mean total spectral counts from PVR to an ERM control identified fibronectin, the ECM glycoprotein, as the protein most significantly elevated in PVR compared to ERM. Conclusion These data identify pathwayskey to PVR progression, including thoseinvolved in cell-mediated ECM assembly and thus tractional force generation at the cellular level. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2021;52:S5-S12.].
Mechanically stretchable metamaterial with tunable mid-infrared optical properties

Over the past decade, tremendous efforts have been devoted to the design of metamaterials with ultrahigh absorption. These perfect absorbers can realize the annihilation of incident electromagnetic waves by eliminating reflection and transmission of microwaves, infrared, visible, and ultraviolet. However, the optical properties are usually unchanged due to a rigid structure. In this work, we propose a mechanically stretchable metamaterial composed of polydimethylsiloxane and gold with tunable optical properties in the mid-infrared region. A large variation of absorptances with different gold filling ratios is demonstrated as well as the corresponding electric field distributions. Under moderate uniaxial and biaxial tensions, the proposed two-dimensional grating structure has achieved a dynamic tuning of infrared thermal properties, including a sharp reflectance-absorptance switch. This mechanically stretchable metamaterial can serve different optical and sensing functions due to its facile tunability.
Conversational Storytelling Among Japanese Women: Conversational Circumstances, Social Circumstances, and Tellability of Stories

This book presents research findings on the overall process of storytelling as a social event in Japanese everyday conversations focusing on the relationship between a story and surrounding talks, the social and cultural aspects of the participants, and the tellability of conversational stories. Focusing on the participants’ verbal and nonverbal behavior and their use of linguistic devices, the chapters describe how the participants display their orientation to the a) embeddedness of the story in the conversation, b) their views of past events, c) their knowledge about the story content and elements, and d) their social circumstances, and how these four elements are relevant for a story becoming worth telling and sharing. The book furthers the sociolinguistic analysis of conversational storytelling by describing how the participants’ concerns about social circumstances as members of a particular community, specifically their role relationships and interpersonal relationships with others, influence the shape of their storytelling.
The Primary Cilium as a Hedgehog Signal Transduction Machine

The Hedgehog (Hh) signal transduction pathway is essential for the development and patterning of numerous organ systems, and has important roles in a variety of human cancers. Genetic screens for mouse embryonic patterning mutants first showed a connection between mammalian Hh signaling and intraflagellar transport (IFT), a process required for construction of the primary cilium, a small cellular projection found on most vertebrate cells. Additional genetic and cell biological studies have provided very strong evidence that mammalian Hh signaling depends on the primary cilium. Here, we review the evidence that defines the integral roles that IFT proteins and cilia play in the regulation of the Hh signal transduction pathway in vertebrates. We discuss the mechanisms that control localization of Hh pathway proteins to the cilium, focusing on the transmembrane protein Smoothened (Smo), which moves into the cilium in response to Hh ligand. The phenotypes caused by loss of cilia-associated proteins are complex, which suggests that cilia and IFT play active roles in mediating Hh signaling rather than serving simply as a compartment in which pathway components are concentrated. Hh signaling in Drosophila does not depend on cilia, but there appear to be ancient links between cilia and components of the Hh pathway that may reveal how this fundamental difference between the Drosophila and mammalian Hh pathways arose in evolution.
A Joint Master's Level Software Engineering Subtrack

The Departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Iowa are establishing a 12 semester hour sequence of courses or subtrack in software engineering within their established Master's programs. Students completing the subtrack receive a special designation on their transcript. The design of the subtrack is discussed and comparisons of the resulting Masters programs with programs for separate Master degrees in software engineering are made. Surprisingly, the differences are not as large as one might expect. Moreover, the specific differences provide insight into the relationship between the subtrack approach and the separate degree approach. A possible evolution of a subtrack into a complete degree program is also made evident. With the current shortage of resources for starting new degree programs, this subtrack approach should be attractive to many other universities.
The ecology and control of bacterial pathogens in animal feed

Abstract: Animal feed is vulnerable to the introduction of bacteria along the entire production chain. The presence of pathogens in feed can arise due to usage of contaminated raw ingredients, or due to contamination during transportation, at the feed mill, or on-farm. Since bacterial contaminants are not uniformly distributed in feed, bacteria that are present may be damaged or injured and difficulties may arise during microbial analysis; laboratory testing of feed and feed ingredients may produce false negative results. The goal of pathogen control in feed should be to make sure that feed contaminants are below a critical threshold to minimize the risk to human and animal health. Reducing the incidence of pathogens in feed requires both improvement of programs to monitor feed production and the use of sensitive and rapid pathogen detection methods. It also requires intervention strategies including chemical and physical treatments to reduce and/or eliminate multiple and/or specific feedborne pathogens.
NRC Research Activities on Environmentally-Assisted Fatigue

Over the past ten years, evaluation for license renewal and new reactors has provided significant experience and insight on the use of the environmental fatigue multiplier (Fen) approach, and recognized the need for further refinement of this methodology, as well as its application to other areas. Hence, the NRC has initiated further research work on environmentally assisted fatigue (EAF). The objectives of these research activities are as follows: 1. Develop a transient stress evaluation software tool for rapidly determining thermal transient stresses in reactor components. 2. Develop an American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (Code) fatigue calculation software tool for estimating fatigue usage factors in reactor components. 3. Develop revised fatigue cumulative usage factor (CUF) limit criteria for postulated high energy line break (HELB) locations. 4. Update existing EAF methodology, develop application techniques for applying the methodology, and revise U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.207 accordingly, if appropriate. 5. Participate in a round-robin study, conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advisory Panel on Environmental Fatigue, to solve a fatigue sample problem Each of these activities is briefly described in this paper.
Considerations For Small Detectors In High Reynolds Number Experiments

High Reynolds number experiments performed in liquid helium will require ultra-small detectors to measure spatial and temporal velocity profiles. In this paper we consider the many length and time scales involved and the limits to the scaling of detectors based on principles of hot-wire/film anemometry.
Maximum margin ranking algorithms for information retrieval

Machine learning ranking methods are increasingly applied to ranking tasks in information retrieval (IR). However ranking tasks in IR often differ from standard ranking tasks in machine learning, both in terms of problem structure and in terms of the evaluation criteria used to measure performance. Consequently, there has been much interest in recent years in developing ranking algorithms that directly optimize IR ranking measures. Here we propose a family of ranking algorithms that preserve the simplicity of standard pair-wise ranking methods in machine learning, yet show performance comparable to state-of-the-art IR ranking algorithms. Our algorithms optimize variations of the hinge loss used in support vector machines (SVMs); we discuss three variations, and in each case, give simple and efficient stochastic gradient algorithms to solve the resulting optimization problems. Two of these are stochastic gradient projection algorithms, one of which relies on a recent method for l1,∞-norm projections; the third is a stochastic exponentiated gradient algorithm. The algorithms are simple and efficient, have provable convergence properties, and in our preliminary experiments, show performance close to state-of-the-art algorithms that directly optimize IR ranking measures.
Histamine‐receptor blockade reduces blood flow but not muscle glucose uptake during postexercise recovery in humans

Skeletal muscle vasodilatation persists following a single bout of exercise and can potentially influence glucose uptake by recovering muscle. To investigate whether blood flow is a rate-limiting component in postexercise muscle glucose uptake, we tested the hypothesis that oral ingestion of H(1)- and H(2)-receptor antagonists, known to attenuate the sustained postexercise vasodilatation, would reduce leg glucose uptake after a bout of cycling. Healthy, recreationally active subjects (n = 8) exercised for 1 h at 60% of peak oxygen consumption on each of two days, with (blockade) and without (control) histamine-receptor antagonism. For 2 h of recovery following exercise, arteriovenous glucose differences were assessed from the radial artery and femoral vein, and leg blood flow was measured using Doppler ultrasonography on the common femoral artery. Femoral blood flow following exercise was 65.4 ± 16.4 ml min(-1) lower on the blockade day compared with the control day (P < 0.05). Likewise, glucose delivery was 0.177 ± 0.045 mmol min(-1) lower with blockade (P < 0.05). However, histamine-receptor antagonism produced no consistent effect on leg glucose uptake following exercise, due to high interindividual variability. In conclusion, while oral ingestion of H(1)- and H(2)-receptor antagonists alters postexercise recovery by attenuating vasodilatation, leg glucose uptake is not universally affected in recreationally active individuals.
Effects of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) on myogenesis in C2C12 cells (1142.14)

An organochlorine insecticide, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), has been widely used on agricultural products during the twentieth century and is still present in the environment and foods. Based on emerging body of evidences indicating that exposure to persistent organic pollutants, including organochlorine insecticides, is linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes, we investigated the role of DDT on myogenesis, which may have significant implications regarding glucose uptake. C2C12 myoblasts were treated with various concentrations of DDT (0.1-10 μM) for 8 days, during differentiation into myotubes. Myotube formation and gene and protein expressions for myogenic factors were determined. DDT reduced myotube formation dose-dependently. DDT treatment decreased mRNA expression of MyoD, an early myogenic factor, while no effects of DDT were observed in other myogenic factors. Phosphorylation of protein kinase B (pAKT) was significantly reduced by DDT treatment. These results suggest that DDT inhibits myoge...
DYNAMIC TEAR ENERGY - A PRACTICAL PERFORMANCE CRITERION FOR FRACTURE RESISTANCE.

Abstract : The Dynamic Tear (DT) method of testing for fracture toughness was developed to overcome the limitations of the Charpy V (C sub v) test and to provide information of engineering design significance. Key features of the DT test are described, including specimen design, impact test machines, and methods of energy measurement. A relationship exists between the DT energy and the fracture mechanics stress-intensity factor K sub Ic which allows the translation of these energy values into design parameters, such as critical flaw size and stress level, by means of suitable charts. The current need for the use of the DT test in the development and selection of high-strength structural metals has become evident through examples of conditions to which the C sub v test has been shown to be inadequate. For example, when fracture toughness criteria defined by the C sub v and DT tests are compared for a high-strength titanium alloy, a 180-ksi yield strength steel, a 140-ksi yield strength steel weld metal, and a Q and T 2-1/4% Cr - 1% Mo steel of 90-ksi yield strength, the C sub v test is shown to provide information in variance to that from the DT, DWT-NDT, and Robertson tests. Therefore, it is concluded that the DT test method has desirable features for general industrial use which provide broad-scope characterization of the fracture resistance of steels, titanium alloys, and aluminum alloys. (Author)
Chapter 18. Inhibitors of Integrin Alpha 4 Beta 1 (VLA-4)

Publisher Summary This chapter presents an overview of inhibitors of integrin alpha 4 beta 1. The α4 integrins, α4β (VLA-4), and α4β7, are heterodimeric cell-surface proteins expressed on leukocytes, involved in both cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. These integrins are key regulators of physiologic and pathologic responses in inflammation and autoimmune disease. Their central role in animal models of inflammatory disease has been extensively documented using α4-specific monoclonal antibodies. Integrins are proven, valid targets for small molecule drugs as is well documented by the development of both parenteral and orally active antagonists of platelet integrin αIIbβ3 and, more recently, integrin αVβ3. There is a significant effort in many laboratories to develop small molecule inhibitors of α4 integrins for immunoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Recent advances in the α4βl arena have been summarized in the chapter with particular emphasis on the chemistry of small molecule antagonists and on inflammation as a clinical target. An overview of linear peptides and peptide analogs is presented and cyclic peptides are also explained.
Determinants of cabinet size

A large literature examines the composition of cabinets in parliamentary systems, but very little attention has been paid to the size of those cabinets. Yet not only is the size of the cabinet related to the division of portfolios that may take place, cabinet size is also related to policy outcomes. In this article, a theory of party size is considered which examines how coalition bargaining considerations, intra-party politics and efficiency concerns affect the size of cabinets. Hypotheses derived from the theory are examined using an extensive cross-national dataset on coalition governments which allows us to track changes in cabinet size and membership both across and within cabinets.
IMPAIRED SOMATOMEDIN (SM) GENERATION TEST IN POORLY CONTROLLED INSULIN DEPEDENT DIABETES MELLIITUS (IDDM)

Recent studies have suggested a partial block in SM production or growth hormone (GH) action in IDDM. Twelve diabetic children (9 males and 3 females with a mean age of 11.2 ± 3.3 years), six in good control (HbA1C 7.9 - 11.2%) and six in poor control (HbA1C 12 - 15.6%) were studied as follows: the GH response following 100 ug of oral clonidine and the SM generation capacity after i.m. administration of 0.2 u/kg/dose of hGH for 4 days. Poorly controlled diabetics had a significantly higher mean ± SD GH increase after clonidine than did well controlled patients (17.4 ± 4.9 vs 5.7 ± 6.0 ng/ml; p<0.004); the basal GH of both groups were similar (1.6 ± 0.7 vs 2.3 ± 1.4 ng/ml). In contrast the SM response to hGH was significantly decreased in poorly controlled children as compared to well controlled (Δ of 0.3 ± 0.3 vs 1.2 ± 0.4 U/ml, p<0.002). The basal SM levels of both groups were normal for age. Δ GH and Δ SM correlated with HbA1C levels (r = + 0.80, p<0.01;r = -0.79, p < 0.01, respectively);there was no correlation with plasma and urine glucose or serum cholesterol, cortisol and transferin. Our data indicate a blunted SM response to hGH in poorly controlled diabetes; this defect in SM generation is apparently not present in well controlled IDDM. A biologically inactive GH molecule seems unlikely, but circulating inhibitory factors or a still unclear metabolic desangement may be contributing to this defect.
CFD Study of Hydrodynamics and Separation Performance of a Novel Crossflow Filtration Hydrocyclone (CFFH)

This research addresses various hydrodynamic aspects and the separation performance of a novel cross-flow filtration hydrocyclone (CFFH) using computational fluid dynamics. A CFFH is a device that combines the desirable attributes of a cross-flow filter and a vortex separator into one unit to separate oil from water. The velocity and pressure fields within the CFFH are estimated by numerically solving the filtered Navier-Stokes equations (by using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach). The Lagrangian approach is employed for investigating the trajectories of dispersed droplets based on a stochastic tracking method called the Discrete Phase Model (DPM). The mixture theory with the Algebraic Slip Model (ASM) is also used to compute the dispersed phase fluid mechanics and for comparing with results obtained from the DPM. In addition, a comparison between the statistically steady state results obtained by the LES with the Wall Adaptive Local Eddy-Viscosity (WALE) subgrid scale model and the Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS) closed with the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) is performed for evaluating their capabilities with regards to the flow field within the CFFH and the impact of the filter medium. Effects of the Reynolds number, the permeability of the porous filter, and droplet size on the internal hydrodynamics and separation performance of the CFFH are investigated. Results indicate that for low feed concentration of the dispersed phase, separation efficiency obtained based on multiphase and discrete phase simulations is almost the same. Higher Reynolds number flow simulations exhibit an unstable core and thereby numerous recirculation zones in the flow field are observed. Improved separation efficiency is observed at a lower Reynolds number and for a lower permeability of the porous filter.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Identification of regulatory mechanisms of the hepatic response to thermal injury

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the hypothesis that a systems biology approach can be developed such that a set of transcription factors, relevant to burn-induced inflammatory response can be identified and modulated to control the host response. We explore a novel method for identifying coherent and informative expression motifs and we subsequently determine conserved transcription factor binding sites for the sub-sets of co-expressed genes. The responses are rationalized in the context of burn-induced inflammation and the putative transcription factors are rationalized in the context of intervention targets for controlling gene expression.
Cell Type-Specific Functions of Period Genes Revealed by Novel Adipocyte and Hepatocyte Circadian Clock Models

In animals, circadian rhythms in physiology and behavior result from coherent rhythmic interactions between clocks in the brain and those throughout the body. Despite the many tissue specific clocks, most understanding of the molecular core clock mechanism comes from studies of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus and a few other cell types. Here we report establishment and genetic characterization of three cell-autonomous mouse clock models: 3T3 fibroblasts, 3T3-L1 adipocytes, and MMH-D3 hepatocytes. Each model is genetically tractable and has an integrated luciferase reporter that allows for longitudinal luminescence recording of rhythmic clock gene expression using an inexpensive off-the-shelf microplate reader. To test these cellular models, we generated a library of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) against a panel of known clock genes and evaluated their impact on circadian rhythms. Knockdown of Bmal1, Clock, Cry1, and Cry2 each resulted in similar phenotypes in all three models, consistent with previous studies. However, we observed cell type-specific knockdown phenotypes for the Period and Rev-Erb families of clock genes. In particular, Per1 and Per2, which have strong behavioral effects in knockout mice, appear to play different roles in regulating period length and amplitude in these peripheral systems. Per3, which has relatively modest behavioral effects in knockout mice, substantially affects period length in the three cellular models and in dissociated SCN neurons. In summary, this study establishes new cell-autonomous clock models that are of particular relevance to metabolism and suitable for screening for clock modifiers, and reveals previously under-appreciated cell type-specific functions of clock genes.
Killing bacterial spores by organic hydroperoxides

Killing of wild-type spores of Bacillus subtilis by t-butyl hydroperoxide, cumene hydroperoxide and peracetic acid was not through DNA damage, as shown by the absence of mutations in the survivors and the identical sensitivity of spores of strains with or without a recA mutation. In contrast, B. subtilis spores (termed α−β−) lacking the DNA protective α/β-type small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASP) were more sensitive to t-butyl hydroperoxide and cumene hydroperoxide, and their killing was in large part through DNA damage, as shown by the high frequency of mutations in the survivors and the greater sensitivity of α−β− recA spores. Analysis of t-butyl hydroperoxide-treated spores showed that generation of DNA damage in α−β− spores was more rapid than in wild-type spores; α/β-type SASP also protected against DNA strand breakage in vitro caused by t-butyl hydroperoxide. α/β-Type SASP appeared to play no role in protection of spores from killing by peracetic acid; wild-type and α−β− spores exhibited identical peracetic acid sensitivity and their killing by this agent appeared to be not through DNA damage.
Sustainable Product Design by a Simultaneous Consideration of Pre-Life and End-of-Life of Products

Product recovery has become a field of rapidly growing interest for product manufacturers as a promising solution for product stewardship as well as economic viability. As product recovery is a process highly dependent upon the way a product is designed, it should be considered early at the design stage so that the product may be designed to facilitate efficient and effective recovery at its end-of-life stage. To make a product easy to recover, manufacturing companies first need to understand the links between product design and recovery profit. They should be able to evaluate which design is better than others and why that is so. To accommodate such companies that seek for a design-for-recovery method, in this paper, a comparative study is conducted to analyze how design differences affect product recovery and what architecture characteristics are desirable from the end-of-life perspective. Three cell phone handset designs sharing the same design concept but entailing different architecture are created, for which the individual designs and the recovery potential of each design are evaluated under three different scenarios. The results highlight preferred design alternatives with their design implications for sustainable product design.Copyright © 2009 by ASME
Religion, Sexual Orientation, and School Policy: How the Christian Right Frames Its Arguments

The Christian Right opposes the inclusion of sexual orientation in school policies, charging that the schools are legitimating and promoting homosexuality. The arguments have moved past the trite, “God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” to claims of violations of parental rights and the First Amendment, often positioning Christians as the ones who are now being discriminated against. The purpose of this study is to examine if opponents frame their arguments using language that's agreeable to the larger and more liberal public to garner more broad based support; if so, what are some examples; and to see if opponents' arguments are aligned with a Christian Right worldview. The findings of this ethnographic case study focus on the Christian Right's perceived threat to its hegemony over American social life and highlight the debate over the purposes of schooling.
THEORETICAL SURFACE CORE-LEVEL SHIFTS FOR BE(0001)

Core-ionization potentials (CIP's) are computed for Be(0001). Three core features are observed in corresponding photoelectron spectra, with CIP's shifted relative to the bulk core level by [minus]0.825, [minus]0.570, and [minus]0.265 eV. The computed CIP shifts for the outer and subsurface layers, [minus]0.60 and [minus]0.29 eV, respectively, agree with the latter two of these. It is surmised that the [minus]0.825-eV shift is associated with a surface defect. The negative signs of the Be(0001) surface core-level shifts do not fit into the thermochemical picture widely used to explain CIP shifts. The reason is that a core-ionized Be atom is too small to bond effectively to the remainder of the unrelaxed Be lattice.
A coupled configurational description of boundary shape based on distance and directionality

A configurational method for describing shape is proposed based on two measures that gauge human experiences of moving through space: distance and changes in direction of travel. Boundary shapes from the built environment and nature are studied in a morphospace composed of two axes: one corresponding to each measure, to yield a typological classification of form. It is shown that the covariance between distance and directionality is mediated by the topological structure of embedded main circulation. Three kinds of circulation-elementary, ring, and linear-thus affect three fundamentally different balancing conditions between distance and directionality in boundary shapes. The analysis of large samples of shapes thus far demonstrates a "unique shape" status, where no two different shapes have the same pair of relative distance and directional fragmentation values.
The Existence of Constant Mean Curvature Foliations of Gowdy 3-Torus Spacetimes*

We consider the class of smooth, maximally extended, globally hyperbolic, vacuum, Gowdy spacetimes onT3×R and prove that these spacetimes are globally foliated by space-like, constant mean curvature hypersurfaces. Our results can easily be extended to cover electrovac solutions of the same symmetry type and can probably be extended to cover other spacetime topologies as well.
Role of excitatory amino acids in brainstem activation of spinal locomotor networks in larval lamprey

Abstract An in vitro brain/ spinal cord preparation from larval lamprey was used to determine the role of excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors in the descending activation of spinal locomotor networks. The general EAA receptor blockers KYN, PDA, and DGG completely blocked locomotor activity initiated from the brainstem. The NMDA receptor blocker APV and the non-NMDA receptor blocker DNQX usually attenuated but did not block locomotor activity. Relatively long and short cycle times were attenuated about equally by APV or DNQX, and therefore the attenuation was not cycle time dependent. Receptor blockers for EAAs attenuated locomotor activity, but often with little or no change in the cycle time of burst activity. Although both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors for EAAs are important for the descending initiation of locomotor activity in the lamprey, it is unclear whether these receptors are concentrated in areas of the spinal locomotor networks that control cycle time.
Colicin factor DNA: a single non-homologous region in Col E2-E3 heteroduplex molecules.

COLICIN factors E2 and E3 (Col E2 and Col E3) are stably maintained extrachromosomal genetic elements carried by Escherichia coli that have been identified as small circular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecules with the same molecular weights (5 × 106)1. Cells carrying one of these Col factors can produce a specific antibiotic protein2, colicin E2 or colicin E3 and also exhibit an “immunity” to the lethal action of the specific colicin it produces3. While the mechanisms of action of colicin E2 and E3 are quite different4–6, structural and immunological comparisons suggest the proteins are related2 as does the shared receptor sites for colicin adsorption7–9. The partial immunity that cells colicinogenic for Col E2 exhibit for colicin E310 suggests another possible relation may exist between the two colicin factors. In order to further understand the relationships of these two small colicin factors, an examination of the presence and location of homologous base sequences in their DNA molecules was undertaken. The experiments reported here include the electron microscopic examination of heteroduplex molecules formed by renaturing mixtures of denatured Col E2 and Col E3 DNA in formamide solutions11–14, as well as measurements of competitive annealing between both DNA molecules using DNA-DNA membrane filter hybridization techniques15.
DARPA challenge: developing new technologies for brain and spinal injuries

The repair of traumatic injuries to the central nervous system remains among the most challenging and exciting frontiers in medicine. In both traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injuries, the ultimate goals are to minimize damage and foster recovery. Numerous DARPA initiatives are in progress to meet these goals. The PREventing Violent Explosive Neurologic Trauma program focuses on the characterization of non-penetrating brain injuries resulting from explosive blast, devising predictive models and test platforms, and creating strategies for mitigation and treatment. To this end, animal models of blast induced brain injury are being established, including swine and non-human primates. Assessment of brain injury in blast injured humans will provide invaluable information on brain injury associated motor and cognitive dysfunctions. The Blast Gauge effort provided a device to measure warfighter's blast exposures which will contribute to diagnosing the level of brain injury. The program Cavitation as a Damage Mechanism for Traumatic Brain Injury from Explosive Blast developed mathematical models that predict stresses, strains, and cavitation induced from blast exposures, and is devising mitigation technologies to eliminate injuries resulting from cavitation. The Revolutionizing Prosthetics program is developing an avant-garde prosthetic arm that responds to direct neural control and provides sensory feedback through electrical stimulation. The Reliable Neural-Interface Technology effort will devise technologies to optimally extract information from the nervous system to control next generation prosthetic devices with high fidelity. The emerging knowledge and technologies arising from these DARPA programs will significantly improve the treatment of brain and spinal cord injured patients.
A new perspective of microbial survival and dissemination in a prospectively contaminated air-fluidized bed model

A major concern of users of air-fluidized beds has been the possibility that such beds might be a source of microbial contamination. The purpose of this series of prospective, controlled experiments was to measure quantitatively the dissemination and survival of Bacillus subtilis, a species of bacterium that forms desiccation-resistant spores, as it was associated with circulating and clumped microbeads after challenge in an air-fluidized bed operating under decontamination conditions of heating at 48 degrees C and microbead agitation by an air flow of 100% at 110 cu ft/min. Microbead samples collected after B. subtilis challenge from predesignated depths and locations within the air-fluidized bed at 0.25, 1, 2, 4, 24, and 48 hours were assayed for colony-forming units (CFU) of challenge bacteria by end point dilution and streak-plate assays. Results of three experiments with an average challenge of 1110 CFU of B. subtilis per gram of microbeads indicated that no more than 0.46 CFU of B. subtilis per gram of circulating microbeads and 0.78 CFU per gram of clumped microbeads were detected after 24 to 48 hours at decontamination conditions. Few microbes were detected during three control (sterile water) challenges of the air-fluidized bed operating at 33 degrees C with 95% to 100% air flow. This study has demonstrated that an air-fluidized bed operating at the described decontamination conditions for 24 to 48 hours caused significant decreases, averaging a thousandfold per gram, in levels of microbead-associated challenge bacteria.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A greener organic chemistry experiment: reduction of citronellal to citronellol using poly(methylhydro)siloxane

Abstract An undergraduate organic chemistry experiment based on literature reports in which the aldehyde functionality of citronellal is reduced to the primary alcohol is reported. The reducing agent, poly(methylhydro)siloxane (PMHS), is activated via a catalytic amount of fluoride. This polymeric reducing agent can be introduced as a safer, and thus, greener, alternative to sodium borohydride in the undergraduate laboratory setting, as PMHS is stable to air and water. The execution of this experiment requires standard organic chemistry techniques and the reduced substrate is analyzed via IR spectroscopy.
Three Ways to Kill Innocent Bystanders: Some Conundrums Concerning the Morality of War

1. IntroductionThis essay deals with the hard topic of the permissible killing of the innocent. The relevance of this topic to the morality of war is obvious. For even the most defensive and just wars, i.e., the most defensive and just responses to existing or imminent large-scale aggression, will inflict harm upon – in particular, cause the deaths of – innocent bystanders.1 The most obvious and relevant example is that of innocent Soviet noncombatants who would be killed by even the most precise defensive strike against Soviet strategic weapons or troop formations that is now possible. Should there be no vindication or, at least, no excuse for some killings of such innocent bystanders, morality would dictate that even defensive counterforce measures against largescale attacks should be renounced.
Comparison of gross and microscopic gastric lesions produced in rats after single doses of aspirin and 2-deoxyglucose

Abstract Gross and microscopic examination was made of the stomachs from vagotomized or sham-vagotomized rats 4 hours after single doses of (1) 128 mg/kg aspirin po, (2) aspirin and 3 ml of 0.075 n hydrochloric acid po, (3) 256 mg/kg 2-deoxyglucose sc, or (4) 2-deoxyglucose sc and hydrochloric acid po. In the sham-vagotomized rats, aspirin and 2-deoxyglucose both produced 100% incidence of gastric hemorrhage and microscopic erosions. When aspirin was given to vagotomized rats, no gastric hemorrhage was observed grossly, but microscopic erosions were seen in each rat. When hydrochloric acid was given with aspirin in vagotomized rats, the incidence of gastric hemorrhage returned to 100% and microscopic examination showed deeper erosions. The incidence of gastric hemorrhage with 2-deoxyglucose was reduced from 100% to 0 by vagotomy, and on microscopic examination, only one animal was found to have an erosion; no gross or microscopic lesions were found in a group of vagotomized rats given hydrochloric acid with 2-deoxyglucose. Acid in the gastric lumen increased the severity of the erosions produced in vagotomized rats given aspirin but did not influence the production of gastric lesions in 2-deoxyglucose-treated rats.
Kurt Goldstein's role in the development of neuropsychology

Abstract “You in others—this is your soul. This is what you are—You have always been in others and you will remain in others. And what does it matter to you if later on that is called your memory? This will be you—the you that enters the future and becomes a part of it”.
t-PA promotes glomerular plasmin generation and matrix degradation in experimental glomerulonephritis.

t-PA promotes glomerular plasmin generation and matrix degradation in experimental glomerulonephritis. Background In addition to its well-known role in degrading fibrin, recent evidence suggests that plasmin degrades matrix proteins and activates prometalloproteinases. Plasmin is generated from plasminogen by tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA). We hypothesized that t-PA treatment increases plasmin generation in nephritic glomeruli and degrades pathological matrix leading to a therapeutic reduction in matrix accumulation. Methods Anti–Thy-1 nephritis was induced by injection of OX-7 antibody. Rats were given twice daily intravenous injections of saline (disease control group) or human recombinant t-PA (rt-PA; 1 mg/kg body weight) on days 3 through 5. Proteinuria, glomerular matrix protein staining, and glomerular mRNA levels for transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), fibronectin, and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) were evaluated at day 6. Localization of rt-PA, plasmin generation by glomeruli in vitro, and glomerular production and content of active TGF-β1 were also investigated. Results Compared with disease control animals, proteinuria and staining score for periodic acid-Schiff (2.75 ± 0.17 vs. 1.41 ± 0.09), fibronectin-EDA+ (19 ± 2 vs. 14 ± 1), laminin (35 ± 2 vs. 25 ± 2), type I collagen (33 ± 1 vs. 21 ± 3), and type IV collagen (27 ± 2 vs. 23 ± 1) were significantly reduced in treated rats ( P Conclusions These results show that injected rt-PA binds to fibrin in nephritic glomeruli, thus increasing plasmin generation and promoting pathological matrix degradation without activating latent TGF-β. Agents that increase plasmin generation, such as t-PA, may have potential as antifibrotic therapies.
Compliance with cardiovascular disease prevention strategies: A review of the research

The efficacy of cardiovascular risk-reduction programs has been established. However, the extent to which risk-reduction interventions are effective may depend on adherence. Non-compliance, or non-adherence, may occur with any of the recommended or prescribed regimens and may vary across the treatment course. Compliance problems, whether occurring early or late in the treatment course, are clinically significant, as adherence is one mediator of the clinical outcome. This article, which is based on a review of the empirical literature of the past 20 years, addresses compliance across four regimens of cardiovascular risk reduction: pharmacological therapy, exercise, nutrition, and smoking cessation. The criteria for inclusion of a study in this review were: (a) focus on cardiovascular disease risk reduction; (b) report of a quantitative measure of compliance behavior; and (c) use of a randomized controlled design. Forty-six studies meeting these criteria were identified. A variety of self-report, objective, and electronic measurement methods were used across these studies. The interventions employed diverse combinations of cognitive, educational, and behavioral strategies to improve compliance in an array of settings. The strategies demonstrated to be successful in improving compliance included behavioral skill training, self-monitoring, telephone/mail contact, self-efficacy enhancement, and external cognitive aids. A series of tables summarize the intervention strategies, compliance measures, and findings, as well as the interventions demonstrated to be successful. This review reflects the progress made over two decades in compliance measurement and research and further, advances made in the application of behavioral strategies to the promotion of cardiovascular risk reduction.
Should an iridectomy be routinely performed as a part of trabeculectomy? Two surgeons' clinical experience.

Should an iridectomy be routinely performed as a part of trabeculectomy? two surgeons' clinical experience
Genomic dissection for characterization of cancerous oral epithelium tissues using transcription profiling

Genome-wide and high-throughput functional genomic tools offer the potential of identifying disease-associated genes and dissecting disease regulatory patterns. There is a need for a set of systematic bioinformatic tools that handles efficiently a large number of variables for extracting biological meaning from experimental outputs. We present well-characterized statistical tools to discover genes that are differentially expressed between malignant oral epithelial and normal tissues in microarray experiments and to construct a robust classifier using the identified discriminatory genes. Those tools include Wilks' lambda score, error rate estimated from leave-one out cross-validation (LOOCV) and Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA). High Density DNA microarrays and Real Time Quantitative PCR were employed for the generation and validation of the transcription profile of the oral cancer and normal samples. We identified 45 genes that are strongly correlated with malignancy. Of the 45 genes identified, six have been previously implicated in the disease, and two are uncharacterized clones.
A Clinical Grade Sequencing-Based Assay for CEBPA Mutation Testing: Report of a Large Series of Myeloid Neoplasms

Diagnostic testing for CEBPA mutations is the standard of care for cytogenetically normal acute myeloid leukemia. Widespread implementation of this testing is hampered by technical challenges associated with the GC content of the gene, the variability of the mutations, and the complexity of the sequence analysis and variant interpretation. We developed a robust Sanger-sequencing test to detect CEBPA mutations in diagnostic acute myeloid leukemia specimens. Our experience with testing 2393 cases of suspected myeloid neoplasms is presented. NPM1, FLT3–internal tandem duplication (ITD), and FLT3-D835 mutation status were determined in parallel; 160 (6.7%) cases harbored CEBPA mutations, including 86 with a single mutation and 74 with double mutations. Nineteen single-mutant cases and 3 double-mutant cases showed only nucleotide substitutions that could not be detected by fragment-analysis–based tests. A subset of cases harbored double mutations with uneven mutant allele frequency and required careful interpretation because of possible leukemic heterogeneity. NPM1 and FLT3-ITD mutations were more frequent in single- compared with double-mutation cases (31% versus 5% for NPM1, and 28% versus 16% for FLT3-ITD). This sequencing-based assay provides an efficient and reliable CEBPA mutation testing platform, permitting detection of all mutations with immediate distinction of single- and double-mutation cases. Given the technical challenges, robust Sanger-sequencing assays continue to maintain an important role in clinical CEBPA testing despite the development of multigene next-generation sequencing assays.
The spring meetings-- are they dying?

Sharing hot dogs slathered in ballpark mustard with my former chairman at the 1992 Spring Meetings made me wonder if this rite of spring had lost more than its flavor. Since 1917, the Association o...
Developing an Industrial-Grade Heuristic Problem-Solving Procedure

An approach for developing heuristic problem-solving procedures for solving the types of operational problems with significant combinatorial components that commonly occur in production and distribution systems is demonstrated with a variation of the well-known one-dimensional cutting stock problem. The primary elements of the approach are identifying important solution characteristics, developing a sequential solution procedure, selecting the program control parameters, and developing a multiple-pass feature to obtain improved solutions.
A Bertrand model of pricing of complementary goods under information asymmetry

Parties in a supply chain, being independent firms, have private information about various aspects of the business not normally available to other parties. We consider a market where customers need to buy two complementary goods as mixed bundle, offered by two separate firms. The demand for each firm is dependent on the pricing strategy of both firms, which, in turn, depends on the quantities offered as per their own forecasts. We present a profit maximization model to obtain optimal strategies for a firm making decisions under information asymmetry. The model follows a simultaneously played Bertrand type game. We contrast and compare three scenarios: (1) when forecast information is asymmetric between the firms; (2) when forecast information is shared between the firms; and (3) when the firms form a strategic alliance.