cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Properly Structured, Any Metal Can Produce Intense Surface Enhanced Raman Spectra

While silver and gold have been the dominant plasmonic metals used for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) since the field’s inception. We argue that virtually any metal, when appropriately nanostructured as a grating, has the potential to be an efficient SERS substrate. This conclusion provides the basis for making SERS a general tool for studying surface processes and catalysis and allows SERS substrates to be routinely based on earth-abundant, low-cost, and chemically interesting metals. We illustrate the above premise by producing highly performing SERS substrates using aluminum, nickel, and copper in addition to silver and gold as benchmarks. All five metals were found to yield high SERS intensities. The approximately three orders enhancement variation among the five substrates based on differing metals is ascribed mainly to local field effects associated with individual grating elements. This conclusion is supported by local field calculations. This suggests that the largest contribution to t...
A subpopulation of germinal center B cells differentiate directly into antibody forming cells upon secondary immunization.

Considerable evidence implicates germinal center (GC) B cells in the development of the B memory cell pool (1,2).However, the ability of GC B cells to differentiate directly into antibody forming cells (AFC) has not been well established although the idea that GC B cells may be involved in production of antibody is not new. Plasma cells near follicular dendritic cells (FDC) in the GCs have been observed (3) and electron microscopic (EM) studies have shown specific AFC in GCs after antigen challenge (4,5). The objective of the present study was to determine if GC B cells are capable of differentiating directly into AFCs. The data reported here confirm that: 1- Some GC B cells differentiate into AFCs in the GC. 2- By day five after secondary immunization large numbers of GC B cells appeared to migrate into the medullary cords where they may fully differentiate into plasma cells. 3- GC B cells isolated at various times after immunization produced specific antibody in culture in the absence of any in vitro stimulation by antigen or T cells. This was dramatic in GC B cells isolated 4 days after booster immunization and had declined by day 7. Examination of these cells indicated that many of the cultured cells differentiated into plasma cells in culture. We conclude that at least a subpopulation of GC B cells receive all the stimulation in vivo by antigen and T cells needed to fully differentiate into plasma cells.
Intraoperative Electrocochleographic Characteristics of Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder in Cochlear Implant Subjects

Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) is characterized by an apparent discrepancy between the measures of cochlear and neural function when viewed by surface electrode auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing. Clinical indicators of ANSD are otoacoustic emissions and/or cochlear microphonic (CM) combined with a small or absent wave V brainstem potential. Many patients with ANSD have speech impairment severe enough that cochlear implantation (CI) is indicated. To better understand the cochleae that give rise to properties requiring implantation, we performed intraoperative round window electrocochleography (ECochG) to tone bursts in children (n=167) and adults (n=163) who were undergoing CI. Magnitudes of the responses to tones of different frequencies were summed to measure the “total response” (ECochG-TR), a metric often dominated by hair cell activity, and auditory nerve activity was estimated visually from the compound action potential (CAP) and auditory nerve neurophonic (ANN) as a ranked “Nerve Score”. Subjects with hearing loss due to ANSD (45 ears in children, 3 in adults) had higher values of ECochG-TR, and particularly at higher frequencies (>1000 Hz), than in adult and pediatric non-ANSD subjects also receiving CIs. However, nerve scores of the ANSD group were similar to the other cohorts, and were dominated by the ANN to low frequencies. To high frequencies, a common morphology of ANSD cases was a large CM and summating potential, and small or absent CAP. Common morphologies in other groups were either only a CM, or a combination of CM and CAP. These results indicate that responses to high frequencies, derived primarily from hair cells, are the main source of the CM used to evaluate ANSD in the clinical setting. However, the clinical tests do not capture the wide range of neural activity seen to low frequency sounds.
Observations and Recommendations on the Fossil Dinocyst Genera Ctenidodinium, Dichadogonyaulax, and Korystocysta

The fossil dinocyst genus Dichadogonyaulax, erected by Sargeant in 1966, has proven to be very controversial. It has been synonymized with Ctenidodinium at least twice and resurrected at least twice. The separation of the two genera was based on the equal development of paracingular ornamentation in Dichadogonyaulax and the unequal development of those features in Ctenidodinium. This paracingular differentiation is a somewhat variable feature and probably not of generic significance. There is, however, a fundamental difference in the paratabulation of the epicyst between representatives of the two genera. The type species of Ctenidodinium, C. ornatum, exhibits a preapical paraplate separating the second and fourth apical pa1·aplates and also possesses anterior intercalary paraplate(s); whereas the type of Dichadogonyaulax, D. culmula, either has no preapical para plate or it is reduced and displaced toward the ventral surface, thus allowing contact between the second and fourth apical paraplates. No anterior intercalary paraplates are present in D. cuimula. Korystocysta, erected by Woollam in 1983, has a Ctenidodinium style epicystal paratabulation and differs from Ctenidodinium in having an abbreviated apical horn and accessory parasutural ("growth bands'') ridges.
The U.S. Supreme Court and Federalism in the Twenty-first Century:

This article analyzes the U.S. Supreme Court’s record in twenty-first-century federalism cases and compares these rulings with rulings issued in the late twentieth century, a time when the Court wa...
Behavioral Effects of β-Endorphin in Depression and Schizophrenia

The existence of specific opiate receptors in primate brain and pituitary (Kuhar et al., 1973) and of endogenous peptide ligands for these receptors (Goldstein, 1976; Wilkes et al., 1980) suggests that these endogenous opiates (endorphins) may have a role in regulating human behavior. In addition to possible involvement in nociception (Hosobuchi and Li, 1978; Oyama et al., 1980; von Knorring et al., 1979), a role of the endorphins in mental illness has been a focus of scientific interest. There are several reasons that suggest such a role: (1) endorphins and opiate receptors are found in brain areas thought to be important in regulating behavior (Watson et al., 1979); (2) there is an interaction of endorphins with neurotransmitter systems, especially dopamine (Van Loon and Kim, 1978; Watson et al., 1979), thought to be important in mental illness; (3) preliminary animal research has indicated a neurolepticlike effect of endorphins, based on alteration of conditioned avoidance behavior (de Wied et al., 1978a) and production of catalepsy (Bloom et al., 1976; Jacquet and Marks, 1976); and (4) the common exogenous opiate alkaloids (e.g., morphine, heroin) have psychoactive properties that include production of psychoticlike states or euphoria, as well as a reduction of symptoms in some psychopathologic states (Verebey et al., 1978).
Site-selective serotonin agonists as discriminative stimuli.

Various direct- and indirect-acting serotonin (5-HT) agonists serve as training drugs in tests of stimulus control of behavior; such agents include: 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-methoxy-N,N-di- methyltryptamine, and fenfluramine. However, with the recent discovery of multiple populations of central 5-HT binding sites, the concept of site-selective serotonergic agents needs to be addressed. Certain 4-substituted 1-(2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-2-aminopropanes such as DOM (4- methyl), DOB (4-bromo), and DOI (4-iodo) appear to be 5-HT2-selective agonists and serve as effective training drugs in rats. Stimulus generalization occurs among these agents regardless of which is used as the training drug, although stimulus generalization does not occur with 5-HT1A- selective agonists [e.g., 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH DP AT)] or with 5-HT1B- selective agonists [e.g., 1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine (TFMPP)]. 8-OH DPAT and TFMPP also serve as training drugs; the 8-OH DPAT-stimulus generalizes to other 5-HT1A agonists, but not to 5-HT1B or 5-HT2 agonists, whereas the TFMPP-stimulus generalizes to other 5-HT1B agonists, but not to 5-HT1A or 5-HT2 agonists. Classical serotonin antagonists, most of which are rather selective for 5-HT2 sites, and 5-HT2-selective antagonists are able to block the stimulus effects of DOM, DOB, and DOI, but not those of 8-OH DPAT or TFMPP. The results of such studies reveal that, in rats, site-selective 5-HT agonists produce stimulus effects that are also selective; although generalization may occur with nonselective 5-HT agonists, animals trained to discriminate site-selective 5-HT agonists apparently do not recognize other 5-HT agonists that are selective for a different site. Animals trained to discriminate such agents from saline might be useful for the identification and/or investigation of novel site-selective agonists and antagonists (for example, the 8-OH DPAT-stimulus generalizes to members of a new class of anxiolytics that display high affinity for 5-HT1A binding sites), and might also aid in the overall understanding of central serotonergic mechanisms.
Narration and the Normative Theory of Freedom

The author examines how the normative account of freedom might be profitably supplemented by a theory of narrative configuration, according to which narrating action is concomitant with the formation of the identity of a character. A normative-narrative conception of freedom would require neither an abandonment of the basic intuitions underlying our practices of moral responsibility nor a commitment to the untenable metaphysics of the causa sui. Freedom, according to this account, is something of an achievement of narrative self-understanding. By recounting our own story, by owning up to our past, by claiming responsibility for past actions, we not only come to better understand ourselves, but in some sense we even reclaim the possibility of becoming—within the narrative of our lives—our own beginning.
Transcriptomic analysis reveals the potential of Highly Pathogenic Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus to modulate immune system activation related to host-pathogen and damage associated signaling in infected porcine monocytes.

One of the largest risks to the continued stability of the swine industry is by pathogens like porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) that can decimate production as it spreads among individuals. These infections can be low or highly pathogenic, and because it infects monocytic cells, PRRSV can undermine the innate immune response. This is especially true of the interferon stimulated inflammatory response. To shed light on the effect of PRRSV pathogenicity on activation status of the immune response, we polarized infected and control monocyte-derived cells (mDCs), applied transcriptomic analysis, and predicted protein-protein interactions as networks to elucidate the interconnected biological processes related to low and highly pathogenic PRRSV infection. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from each polarized/unpolarized and PRRSV infected/ uninfected comparison was used to predict networks and subsequent molecular functions affected by the viruses and mediators. The analysis uncovered previously uncharacterized evidence of the ability of PRRSV to effect M1 activation by altering expression of genes related to viral defense, the extra-cellular matrix (ECM), toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling, and damage induced inflammatory signaling. Genes showing variability in expression, as well as the most common predicted biological network from the comparisons, were related to cellular structure and inflammatory immune responses. These results supply additional insight into the interplay of PRRSV pathogenicity and immune system evasion by affecting multiple routes of host inflammatory signaling, as well as mDC polarization.
Kleine Düse, große Wirkung

Mit dem CO2-Schneestrahlen konnen Kunststoffoberflachen vor dem Lackieren schonend und umweltfreundlich gereinigt werden. Nun gibt es fur das CO2-Reinigen besonders kurze Breitdusen auf dem Markt, mit denen sich auch grose Flachen oder Werkstucke mit komplizierten Teilegeometrien vollautomatisch strahlen lassen.
Influence of ATD versus PMHS reference sensor inputs on computational brain response in frontal impacts to advanced combat helmet (ACH).

Objective: This study analyzed the influence of reference sensor inputs from anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) versus postmortem human subjects (PMHSs) on simulations of frontal blunt impacts to ...
Agent, Gatekeeper, Drug Dealer: How Content Creators Craft Algorithmic Personas

Online content creators have to manage their relations with opaque, proprietary algorithms that platforms employ to rank, filter, and recommend content. How do content creators make sense of these algorithms and what does that teach us about the roles that algorithms play in the social world? We take the case of YouTube because of its widespread use and the spaces for collective sense-making and mutual aid that content creators (YouTubers) have built within the last decade. We engaged with YouTubers in one-on-one interviews, performed content analysis on YouTube videos that discuss the algorithm, and conducted a wiki survey on YouTuber online groups. This triangulation of methodologies afforded us a rich understanding of content creators' understandings, priorities, and wishes as they relate to the algorithm. We found that YouTubers assign human characteristics to the algorithm to explain its behavior; what we have termed algorithmic personas. We identify three main algorithmic personas on YouTube: Agent, Gatekeeper, and Drug Dealer. We propose algorithmic personas as a conceptual framework that describes the new roles that algorithmic systems take on in the social world. As we face new challenges around the ethics and politics of algorithmic platforms such as YouTube, algorithmic personas describe roles that are familiar and can help develop our understanding of algorithmic power relations and accountability mechanisms.
The Holocaust in Works by Two Yiddish Writers in Argentina: Simja Sneh and Israel Aszendorf

This essay considers two Yiddish writers from Poland who settled in Argentina and whose work deals with the Holocaust. Simja Sneh (1908–1999), who arrived in his new country in 1947, describes the general movement of wartime Polish Jewish refugees through the Soviet Union and beyond, emphasizing the collective fate of Jews facing the Nazi and the Soviet regimes, as victims but also as valiant soldiers in the Red Army, Polish forces and the Jewish Brigade. Israel Aszendorf (1909–1956) also spent the war in the Soviet Union, but unlike Sneh, he returned to live in Poland in 1945, before settling in Paris in 1948 and then Buenos Aires in 1953. Aszendorf’s fiction focuses on individuals caught in strange post-Holocaust situations.
4 – Phonological Sketches

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the concepts and principles applied to the analysis of selected aspects of the phonological structure of four widely divergent languages. Primary consideration is given to the motivation of underlying representations and the interrelationships among the rules. Details of rule formalism are largely ignored. These sketches illustrate the characteristic problems that a phonologist encounters in actual descriptive practice. The chapter also describes the morphophonemics of the verbal system of the Yawelmani dialect of Yokuts. The phonological rules that specify the phonetic shape of Yawelmani verbal words are also operative in the nominal system. The voiced stop letters represent unaspirated voiceless lax consonants, while the voiceless stop letters stand for tense, voiceless, aspirated consonants. A raised comma indicates glottalization, while a dot under a letter indicates an apical alveolar point of articulation. Moreover, the rule of vowel harmony has been formulated, despite its ability to account for a wide range of facts about the pronunciation of Yawelmani suffixes, and superficially appears to be unable to account for a rather significant number of examples.
Time series accommodation of renewable energy considering economy

Recent years, renewable energy has received extensive attention in the field of power generation. It is important to improve the ability of renewable energy accommodation in power grid. In this paper, an enhanced time series method in view of maximum profit is proposed for renewable energy accommodation. Firstly, considering the unit maintenance cost, unit start-up and shutdown cost, fuel power generation cost and environmental cost, the objective function is established in view of the minimum total cost of power generation. Then, the problem about constraints, which is gotten from output characteristics, load characteristics and rotating reserve capacity of wind power and photovoltaic power, is solved by Penalty Function(PF) method and Feasible Processing Mechanism(FPM). Finally, in view of the time series through the Particle Swarm Optimization(PSO), the optimal energy consumption can be obtained. Through the actual power grid data of province, the correctness of enhanced time series method in view of maximum profit is verified, providing guidance for the renewable accommodation and grid dispatching operation in the future.
Reliability Analysis of Edge Scenarios Using Pedestrian Mobility

Edge computing is actively being adopted by various organizations and applications owing to its bandwidth saving and faster response times. However, this is accompanied by its own set of reliability issues and serves as an excellent target for optimizations and analysis. Our work analyzes the effect of mobile clients on task failure rates and proposes a low overhead location and network congestion aware optimization. In this paper, we discuss our motivations, provide details about the dataset, present some statistical analysis, and propose an improved mobile-side edge selection policy.
Specific and Spillover Effects on Vectors Following Infection of Two RNA Viruses in Pepper Plants.

Mixed infection of plant viruses is ubiquitous in nature and can affect virus–plant–vector interactions differently than single virus infection. While several studies have examined virus–virus interactions involving mixed virus infection, relatively few have examined effects of mixed virus infection on vector preference and fitness, especially when multiple vectors are involved. This study explored how single and mixed viral infection of a non-persistently transmitted cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and propagative and persistently-transmitted tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV) in pepper, Capsicum annum L., influenced the preference and fitness of their vectors, the green peach aphid, Myzus persicae (Sulzer), and the tobacco thrips, Frankliniella fusca (Hinds), respectively. In general, mixed infected plants exhibited severe symptoms compared with individually infected plants. An antagonistic interaction between the two viruses was observed when CMV titer was reduced following mixed infection with TSWV in comparison with the single infection. TSWV titer did not differ between single and mixed infection. Myzus persicae settling preference and median developmental were not significantly different between CMV and/or TSWV-infected and non-infected plants. Moreover, M. persicae fecundity did not differ between CMV-infected and non-infected pepper plants. However, M. persicae fecundity was substantially greater on TSWV-infected plants than non-infected plants. Myzus persicae fecundity on mixed-infected plants was significantly lower than on singly-infected and non-infected plants. Frankliniella fusca fecundity was higher on CMV and/or TSWV-infected pepper plants than non-infected pepper plants. Furthermore, F. fusca-induced feeding damage was higher on TSWV-infected than on CMV-infected, mixed-infected, or non-infected pepper plants. Overall, our results indicate that the effects of mixed virus infection on vectors were not different from those observed following single virus infection. Virus-induced host phenotype-modulated effects were realized on both specific and non-specific vectors, suggesting crosstalk involving all vectors and viruses in this pathosystem. The driving forces of these interactions need to be further examined. The effects of interactions between two viruses and two vectors towards epidemics of one or both viruses also need to be examined.
Recognize Everyone’s Interests: An Algorithm for Ethical Decision-Making about Trade-Off Problems

This article addresses a dilemma about autonomous vehicles: how to respond to trade-off scenarios in which all possible responses involve the loss of life but there is a choice about whose life or lives are lost. I consider four options: kill fewer people, protect passengers, equal concern for survival, and recognize everyone’s interests. I solve this dilemma via what I call the new trolley problem, which seeks a rationale for the intuition that it is unethical to kill a smaller number of people to avoid killing a greater number of people based on numbers alone. I argue that killing a smaller number of people to avoid killing a greater number of people based on numbers alone is unethical because it disrespects the humanity of the individuals in the smaller-numbered group. I defend the recognize-everyone’s-interests algorithm, which will probably kill fewer people but will not do so based on numbers alone.
Performance of Risk Factor-Based Guidelines and Model-Based Chest CT Lung Cancer Screening in World Trade Center-Exposed Fire Department Rescue/Recovery Workers.

Background Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer incidence and death in the United States. Risk factor-based guidelines and risk model-based strategies are used to identify patients who could benefit from low-dose chest CT (LDCT) screening. Few studies compare guidelines or models within the same cohort. We evaluate lung cancer screening performance of two risk factor-based guidelines (US Preventive Services Task Force 2014 recommendations [USPSTF-2014] and National Comprehensive Cancer Network Group 2 [NCCN-2]) and two risk model-based strategies, Prostate Lung Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening (PLCOm2012) and the Bach model) in the same occupational cohort. Research Question Which risk factor-based guideline or model-based strategy is most accurate in detecting lung cancers in a highly exposed occupational cohort? Study Design and Methods Fire Department of City of New York (FDNY) rescue/recovery workers exposed to the September 11, 2001 attacks underwent LDCT lung cancer screening based on smoking history and age. The USPSTF-2014, NCCN-2, PLCOm2012 model, and Bach model were retrospectively applied to determine how many lung cancers were diagnosed using each approach. Results Among the study population (N = 3,953), 930 underwent a baseline scan that met at least one risk factor or model-based LDCT screening strategy; 73% received annual follow-up scans. Among the 3,953, 63 lung cancers were diagnosed, of which 50 were detected by at least one LDCT screening strategy. The NCCN-2 guideline was the most sensitive (79.4%; 50/63). When compared with NCCN-2, stricter age and smoking criteria reduced sensitivity of the other guidelines/models (USPSTF-2014 [44%], PLCOm2012 [51%], and Bach[46%]). The 13 missed lung cancers were mainly attributable to smoking less and quitting longer than guideline/model eligibility criteria. False-positive rates were similar across all four guidelines/models. Interpretation In this cohort, our findings support expanding eligibility for LDCT lung cancer screening by lowering smoking history from ≥30 to ≥20 pack-years and age from 55 years to 50 years old. Additional studies are needed to determine its generalizability to other occupational/environmental exposed cohorts.
Alimentos Ciencia e Ingeniería 17-1

La riqueza de las naciones depende de su capacidad para generar y utilizar conocimientos en beneficio de los seres humanos. El paradigma impuesto por la sociedad del conocimiento es asi de contundente. No hay forma de soslayarlo. Las universidades, principales centros de investigacion del pais, constituyen la piedra angular del Estado para generar pensamiento cientifico que propicie y garantice un solido desarrollo. Solo la generacion de nuevos conocimientos puede asegurar una produccion alimentaria propia e independiente, crear tecnologias autonomas y generar recursos financieros, provenientes de fuentes diversas no tradicionales. Una investigacion que no se difunda es una investigacion no realizada, de ahi la importancia de que los paises de menor desarrollo y escaso protagonismo cientifico comprometan esfuerzos en la publicacion de los resultados de las investigaciones. Para todo investigador, publicar su contribucion al saber, en revistas establecidas propias, o en las de paises de mayor tradicion cientifico-tecnologica, significa resguardar su aporte al saber universal. Una mayor difusion y visibilidad de los hallazgos conducen, obviamente, a una mejor posi¬bilidad de influir en el avance mundial de la ciencia. De alli mi reconocimiento al esfuerzo realizado por la Revista Alimentos Ciencia e Ingenieria Vol. 17 (1) de nuestra Facultad de Ciencia e Ingenieria en Alimentos. Nuestra vision no puede ser otra que asumir la inversion en investigacion como un asunto de primer orden para la Universidad Tecnica de Ambato, la cual se justifica por si misma, tenemos que ser capaces de garantizar la efectividad de la asignacion de los recursos en terminos de unidad cientifica, utilidad y pertinencia de la investigacion. Desde su fundacion, cada edicion de la Revista Alimentos, Ciencia e Ingenieria ha confirmado su importancia como medio de comunicacion y difusion de la actividad cientifica alimentaria, siendo un canal idoneo para el intercambio y la discusion entre paises nacionales e internacionales. Una revista consolidada a traves de diecisiete ediciones que le han permitido cumplir su mision de publicar articulos tecnicos de las Tesis de Grado y de Proyectos de Investigacion. Esta edicion de la Revista Cientifica continuara siendo un vehiculo para la proyeccion social del conocimiento que nace de una constante busqueda del saber; que vibra en la capacidad y talento de sus investigadores, que se legitima por su aplicacion y pertinencia institucional.
Mendelian randomization analysis of the association between human blood cell traits and uterine polyps.

Human blood cells (HBCs) play essential roles in multiple biological processes but their roles in development of uterine polyps are unknown. Here we implemented a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate the effects of 36 HBC traits on endometrial polyps (EPs) and cervical polyps (CPs). The random-effect inverse-variance weighted method was adopted as standard MR analysis and three additional MR methods (MR-Egger, weighted median, and MR-PRESSO) were used for sensitivity analyses. Genetic instruments of HBC traits was extracted from a large genome-wide association study of 173,480 individuals, while data for EPs and CPs were obtained from the UK Biobank. All samples were Europeans. Using genetic variants as instrumental variables, our study found that both eosinophil count (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.79–0.93, P = 1.06 × 10−4) and eosinophil percentage of white cells (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.77–0.91, P = 2.43 × 10−5) were associated with decreased risk of EPs. The results were robust in sensitivity analyses and no evidences of horizontal pleiotropy were observed. While we found no significant associations between HBC traits and CPs. Our findings suggested eosinophils might play important roles in the pathogenesis of EPs. Besides, out study provided novel insight into detecting uterine polyps biomarkers using genetic epidemiology approaches.
WHY STORIES BEAR REPEATING: NEUROSCIENCE, POLITICS, POWER, HISTORY, AND NARRATIVE OPERATIONS.

This long essay begins with a statement about what any theory the essay proposes needs to have. The first section concerns a slight modification of neuroscience’s notions about how a person’s nervous system responds to and organizes the information it receives. For the purposes of the essay, this involves a lengthy discussion of the way a sensory neuron filters the information it receives, organizes it, and sends it on to the body’s neural pathways. How, in a sense, a person’s nervous system organizes the information the person’s brain needs in order to act appropriately to outside stimuli. I discuss this process as one of exclusion of disruption, paralleling it with a definition of a narrative operation which does the same thing, exclude a disruption. The essay suggests that the neural processes share a pattern with the operation of narrative, the material for which a person’s neural processes provide the information. The relation of the neural process and the narrative operation is both direct and similar; they share an affinity for each other. The essay defines the narrative operation as one of movement from an unnarratable beginning stasis through a disruption in time and space and an effort to exclude the disruption and in order to return to return to the original stasis, a return which resembles but does not duplicate the original stasis. This final stasis becomes the beginning stasis of the next narrative operation. The essay compares this narrative operation to definitions of narrative by a number of literary scholars and theorists, including Aristotle, Propp, Todorov, Ricoeur, Jameson, and Bakhtin. It applies the notions of narrative operation to a passage in Henry Grady’s The New South, published in 1890, and then to the entire book, developing methods for linking narrative operations together in larger and larger units. The end of the essay develops a relation between politics, power, and narrative operations.
Moving toward the Internationalization of an Academic Society: Twenty-First Century Perspectives and Collaborations

International perspectives and collaborations are critical to the health of the kinesiology discipline during this supercomplex age. To that end, the National Association for Kinesiology in Higher ...
Taking Action to Topple the Great Wall Around American Pharmaceutical 'Trade Secrets'

The Food and Drug Administration is one of the most stringent regulatory bodies in the world. As American consumers continue to ingest more pharmaceuticals yearly, the ingredients within these products are increasingly outsourced. Due to the strict oversight of the FDA, American pharmaceutical companies have moved towards outsourcing the majority of ingredients abroad, specifically to China and India. While these products are consumed by millions of Americans daily, inspection occurs only at import, and the ingredients are then assembled domestically and sold as if they were made entirely in the United States. Because these ingredients come from facilities that are largely under-regulated, this presents a legitimate risk to the health of consumers. Beyond that, the average consumer does not even know, because the companies claim this sourcing information to be protected by “trade secret” and thus not a required disclosure. As China and India gain a larger share of the pharmaceutical market yearly, it is essential that Congress take action to ensure proper oversight of the ingredients in U.S. products and necessary disclosure to the consumer.
Collimation Effect in Strongly Modulated Anisotropic Photonic Crystals with Near-Zero Refractive Indices

A strongly modulated photonic crystal with rectangular lattice was designed to realize the collimation effect for diverging waves entering the crystal at frequencies, providing near-zero refractive indices at unidirectional transmission.
Query by Image of Brain SPECT Database

In contrast to search engines for medical image databases that use age, gender, or disease classification, Query by Image search allows an image to be presented as input to the search engine. Images together with clinical reports are returned that best match the presenting image. Work on query by image systems have been ongoing for more than two decades, predominately in fields outside of medical imaging. In these fields, features are often identified and used in the search for similar images. Corresponding strategies have been taken in medical imaging, especially MRI where it is reasonable to match based on a feature. However, in brain SPECT imaging, clinicians are often interested in the global pattern of brain activity for making diagnoses such as Small Vessel Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s Disease, which have some commonalities as “Global Brain Impairment” patterns. By utilizing robust spatial normalization methods to transform images to a common stereo-tactic space, we are able to use simple methods for measuring and ranking the closeness between the presenting image and images in the database. Our decomposition of the Brain SPECT dataset shows that images within the dataset have very high similarity. However, subtle differences can be reliably utilized for selecting best image matches. Throughout testing, highly relevant cases were consistently returned for our image queries. Our method is fast, robust, intuitive for users, and practical.
Music and Motion

This paper explores the simultaneous occurrence and sometimes partnership of music and motion in the field of dance, within which motion and music are repeatedly linked and displayed. At the outset of the paper, I ask: How have simultaneous occurrences of and partnerships between music and motion been discussed? Are the conclusions of these discussions well grounded? Do they provide a complete account of the relations between music and motion? In addressing these questions, I argue for six main theses. First, music is partly constituted by motion in the sense that the constitutive element?in this case, motion?gives rise to the constituted element?in this case, music. Second, there are abstract motion-blueprints for motion, which are potential, and there is concrete motion , which is actual. Third, abstract motion-blueprints involve a reference to rhythm but are not rhythmic themselves, while concrete motion in music is quite often, if not always, rhythmic? where ?rhythm? is understood to mean recurring stress, release, and other repeated functions of entities . Fourth, music often involves concrete motion, and it is quite often, if not always, rhythmic. Fifth, abstract motion-blueprints and concrete motion can be and often are involved in music performance. Sixth, and finally, the relation between concrete motion and music is not uni-directional but bi-directional?i.e., the two do not exist in isolation from each other, but instead co-exist interactively. I call this a constitutive relation. I close the paper with discussion of this relation and why it is a more plausible and useful understanding of the relationship between music and movement.
Modeling the thermal state of tires for power loss calculations

A combined thermo-mechanical model has been developed to aid in reducing tire power loss. The thermal analysis portion of this tire power loss model is the subject of this paper. A brief overview is first given of existing tire power loss thermal models. The present thermal analysis is then described in detail. It provides solutions to the basic equation of heat transfer within the tire structure and to its surroundings. The solutions are obtained by interpolating between an array of solutions that has been previously generated by use of the finite element nonlinear thermal analysis and stored in a data base. Required experimental inputs are detailed. Examples demonstrating the accuracy of this interpolation scheme are then presented. Conclusions reached are that: interpolation between an array of previously obtained solutions is a viable computational method for determining the thermal state of tires; and by interpolation, cost and time of the computer analysis are reduced while accuracy is maintained.
Nerve growth factor receptors on cultured rat Schwann cells

Neonatal rat Schwann cells were grown in tissue culture and assayed for NGF receptors with time in culture. NGF receptor levels on freshly prepared Schwann cells (day 0) were low but increased dramatically during the first week in culture. Characterization of 125I-NGF binding to resuspended cells grown for 4 d in culture revealed that binding was not saturable at high ligand concentrations (50–70 nM) and that a high- capacity, low-affinity NGF binding component existed on these cells as compared to PC12 cells. The monoclonal antibody, 192-IgG, which recognizes the rat NGF receptor, was used as an immunohistochemical tool to verify the presence of NGF receptors on the cultured rat Schwann cells. In contrast to radiolabeled NGF, 125I-192-IgG demonstrated saturable binding to Schwann cells in suspension, with Kd and Bmax values of 4 nM and 115 fmol/10(6) cells, respectively. Schwann cells showed no evidence of slow dissociation or internalization of NGF binding at any of several NGF concentrations. 192-IgG was used to immunoprecipitate 125I-NGF chemically crosslinked to cell membranes. SDS-PAGE and subsequent autoradiography of the immunoprecipitated NGF receptors revealed that 2 species of NGF receptors were precipitated from Schwann cells and PC12 cells. In PC12 cells, 2 bands with molecular weights of 90 and 210 kDa were identified. The Schwann cell NGF receptor species migrated slower on the gels, with apparent molecular weights of 95 and 220 kDa. Further analysis of glial cell NGF receptors showed that Schwann cells isolated from the vagus nerve of neonatal rats also expressed NGF receptors in culture; however, astrocytes cultured from neonatal rat cerebral cortex, cultured under conditions reported here, were devoid of detectable NGF receptors. These results show that NGF receptor levels on Schwann cells increase with time in culture, and this resembles what is observed in Schwann cells in vivo when adult peripheral nerve is injured. The data are discussed in terms of a supportive role for the Schwann cell in facilitating peripheral nerve development and regeneration.
What Information Theory Says About Bounded Rational Best Response

Probability Collectives (PC) provides the information-theoretic extension of conventional full-rationality game theory to bounded rational games. Here an explicit solution to the equations giving the bounded rationality equilibrium of a game is presented. Then PC is used to investigate games in which the players use bounded rational best-response strategies. Next it is shown that in the continuumtime limit, bounded rational best response games result in a variant of the replicator dynamics of evolutionary game theory. It is then shown that for team (shared-payoff) games, this variant of replicator dynamics is identical to Newton-Raphson iterative optimization of the shared utility function.
The Reaction of Acetylcholinesterase with Diethylphosphoryl Esters of Quaternary and Tertiary Aminophenols

The second order rate constant values were measured for the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (electric eel) by a number of diethylphosphoryl esters (anhydrides) containing different leaving groups. These groups include the tertiary, quaternary, and some diquaternary derivatives of hydroxyquinoline, hydroxyisoquinoline, hydroxystilbazole, and hydroxyphenylazopyridine. The values of the rate constants for the uncharged inhibitors formed a monotonic sequence when plotted against the value of the pK a of the leaving group. As the pK a value of the leaving group increased, the rate fell slowly at first but then very rapidly as the pK a value exceeded 7-8. The cationic inhibitors, except for two compounds, were far more active than would be expected for the pK a values of the leaving groups, and it was concluded therefore that these inhibitors were more active because they were attracted to the enzyme by the anionic site.
Vascular responsiveness in adrenalectomized rats with corticosterone replacement

To determine under resting, unstressed conditions the circulating glucocorticoid concentrations that best maintain sensitivity of the vascular smooth muscle and baroreceptor responses to vasoactive agents, rats with vascular cannulas were sham-adrenalectomized (sham) or adrenalectomized (ADRX) and provided with four levels of corticosterone replacement (approximately 100 mg fused pellets of corticosterone: cholesterol 0, 20, 40, and 80% implanted subcutaneously at the time of adrenal surgery). Changes in vascular and baroreflex responses were determined after intravenous injection of varying doses of phenylephrine and nitroglycerin with measurement of arterial blood pressure and heart rate in the conscious, chronically cannulated rats. Vascular sensitivity was decreased, and resting arterial blood pressure tended to be decreased in the adrenalectomized rats; both were restored to normal with levels of corticosterone (40%), which also maintained body weight gain, thymus weight, and plasma corticosteroid binding globulin concentrations at normal values. The baroreflex curve generated from the sham group was different from the curves generated from the ADRX+0, 20, and 40% groups, but not different from that of the ADRX+80% group, suggesting that the baroreflex is maintained by higher levels of corticosterone than are necessary for the maintenance of the other variables. These data demonstrate that physiological levels of corticosterone (40% pellet) restore vascular responsiveness, body weight, thymus weight, and transcortin levels to normal in ADRX rats, whereas higher levels (80% pellet) are necessary for restoration of the baroreflex.
Adhesion- and Degranulation-Promoting Adapter Protein Is Required for Efficient Thymocyte Development and Selection

Adhesion- and degranulation-promoting adapter protein (ADAP) is required in TCR-induced activation and proliferation of peripheral T cells. Loss of ADAP also impairs TCR-initiated inside-out activation of the integrin LFA-1 (CD11a/CD18, α L β 2 ). In this study, we demonstrate that ADAP-deficient CD4/CD8 double-positive (DP) cells have a diminished ability to proliferate, and that these DP thymocytes up-regulate CD69 poorly in vivo. Moreover, in both MHC class I- and class II-restricted TCR transgenic models, loss of ADAP interferes with both positive and negative selection. ADAP deficiency also impairs the ability of transgene-bearing DP thymocytes to form conjugates with Ag-loaded presenting cells. These findings suggest that ADAP is critical for thymocyte development and selection.
A Proposed Curvilinearity Index for Quantifying Airflow Obstruction

BACKGROUND: Though forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) is the primary indicator of airway obstruction, curvilinearity in the expiratory flow-volume curve is used to support the quantitative assessment of obstruction via FEV1. Currently there is no available index to quantify a pathological contour of curvilinearity. STUDY PURPOSE: We propose a “curvature” index ( k max) and compare FEV1 values to the index with a sequential sample of spirometry data. METHODS: The hyperbolic function b Q + b 1 QV + b 2 V = 1 (in which Q = flow rate, V = volume, and b , b 1, and b 2 are estimated from the patient's flow-volume data) is fit to a fixed segment of the descending phase of the expiratory flow-volume curve. A previously developed biomechanical interpretation of this relationship associates the coefficient b 1 with the rate of airway-resistanceincrease as exhaled volume increases. A global curvature index k max = b 1/ 2 ( b 0 b 2 + b 1 ) is defined to quantify the curvilinearity phenomenon. We used statistics software to determine the k max of spirometry data from 67 sequential patients, and to determine the relationship of k max to FEV1. RESULTS: Individual k max estimates appeared to correspond well with the degree of curvilinearity observed and were related in an exponential manner to FEV1. CONCLUSIONS: We defined a curvature index to quantify the curvilinearity phenomenon observed in the expiratory limb of flow-volume loops from patients with obstructive lung disease. This index uses data from a major segment of the flow-volume curve, and our preliminary data indicate an exponential relationship with FEV1. This new index allows the putative association between curvilinearity and obstructive lung disease to be examined quantitatively in clinical practice and future studies.
Sequential Lateral Solidification of Silicon Thin Films on Cu BEOL-Integrated Wafers for Monolithic 3-D Integration

We demonstrate that wafers integrated with copper (Cu) Damascene interconnects are suitable substrates for the excimer laser crystallization of silicon thin films. This approach allows for the monolithic 3-D integration of transistors on the back end of line (BEOL) of silicon wafers for VLSI monolithic 3-D integration. This is supported by a 1-D finite-element method simulation of the integrated structure, which shows that, upon excimer laser irradiation, the temperature of the buried Cu layer stays below 320 °C, which is a favorable condition for monolithic 3-D integration. The crystallization of a 100-nm amorphous silicon layer on a 1- $\mu \text{m}$ SiO2 dielectric is demonstrated on a BEOL-integrated wafer. The Raman spectrum of the silicon layer after laser irradiation shows a polycrystalline peak centered around 513 cm $^{-1}$ . Optical microscopy shows polycrystalline silicon with no physical damage of the Cu lines. The electrical characterization of the Cu buried layer, with and without undergoing the irradiation process, shows no variation or degradation in Cu conductivity.
Induction of meiotic maturation in mouse oocytes by adenosine analogs

In this study we have examined the meiosis-inducing influence of adenosine analogs in mouse oocytes. When a varied group of nucleosides and nucleotides were tested on overnight cultures of hypoxanthine-arrested, cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO), halogenated adenosine nucleosides, but not native adenosine, exhibited a significant meiosis-inducing capability. When tested under a variety of conditions, meiotic induction by 8-bromo-adenosine (8-Br-Ado) and a second adenosine analog, methylmercaptopurine riboside (MMPR), was especially potent in denuded oocytes (DO) compared to CEO and was not dependent on the type of inhibitor chosen to maintain meiotic arrest. Germinal vesicle breakdown (GVB) was stimulated with rapid kinetics and was preceded by an increase in AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) activity. Moreover, compound C, an inhibitor of AMPK, blocked the meiosis-inducing activities of both adenosine analogs. When tested for an effect on meiotic progression to metaphase II (MII) in spontaneously maturing CEO, 8-Br-Ado and the AMPK activator, 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide 1-β-D-ribofuranoside (AICAR), increased the percentage of MII-stage oocytes, but MMPR decreased this number. Adenosine and inhibitors of de novo purine synthesis had no effect on the completion of maturation, while compound C suppressed this process. These results support the proposition that oocyte AMPK mediates the positive influence of AICAR and 8-Br-Ado on both the initiation and completion of meiotic maturation. The role of AMPK in MMPR action is less clear. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 1159–1168, 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.