cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Data Constraints Applied to Models of the Ocean General Circulation. Part I: The Steady Case

Abstract In this work we take a first step in the process of assimilating data into models of the ocean general circulation. The goals is not prediction but rather understanding how the data insertion process affects, and is affected by, the dynamics governing the model. The chosen model ocean is steady, weakly nonlinear and highly frictional Strong vertical friction plays the role of eddy fluxes in driving the circulation in the deep layers. In the data insertion process we capitalize upon the two principles that (i) the available dynamical models are imperfect; (ii) oceanographic data are measured locally. Three major questions are addressed; 1) what is the influence of local data insertion in terms of improving estimates of the model general circulation? 2) how does the model dynamics affect the spreading of information from the data insertion region? 3) what can we learn about the model physics from the effects of data insertion Density (or temperature) measurements along long hydrographic or tomograp...
Functional incapacitation in rheumatoid arthritis: a rehabilitation challenge. A correlative study of function before and after hospital treatment.

Clinical investigation has demonstrated a high degree of success in the treatment of the incapacitated patient with rheumatoid arthritis (Class IV of the American Rheumatism Association functional classification). 1. The study was based on experience at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital in the management of 183 patients admitted during the four years between July 1962 and July 1966 with attention directed primarily to eighty-seven Class-IV patients, ten of whom were discharged early and not actually treated because rehabilitation was not possible. 2. Class IV was appropriately divided into two categories, depending on both the degree of incapacity at the time of admissions (wheel chair or bedridden), and the functional potential of each individual patient (independent ambulation or wheel chair). 3. Sixty-four (83 per cent) of the seventy-seven patients treated in Class IV improved functionally during hospital treatment. 4. Eight (10 per cent) of the seventy-seven patients treated in Class IV had functional relapses following discharge. More realistic functional goals, determined early in the course of hospitalization, might have reduced the number of postdischarge relapses. 5. Of fifty-four patients who were followed adequately for a period of approximately four years, forty (74 per cent) maintained their discharge functional level. 6. Surgical procedures were performed on 73 per cent of all patients treated. In those individuals operated on as part of their over-all treatment, initial improvement occurred in 90 per cent. 7. If functional incapacity is to be avoided, debility, generalized weakness (particularly in the upper extremities), and contractural deformity must be prevented.
Gene trap, gene knockout, gene knock-in, and transgenics in vascular development.

Introduction: The vascular system is one of the first organ systems to develop in our bodies. Normal development and maturation of the physiological functions of almost all of the other organs are critically dependent on the accurate and tightly controlled establishment of the vascular system. Our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the formation of the vascular system during development is still in its infancy. With further understanding of these mechanisms, we may eventually be able to correct the abnormal development and the malfunctioning of many organs by therapeutically modulating the morphology and/or physiological function of the vascular system. Our further understanding of the vascular development can, in part, be achieved by discovering the molecules that play critical roles in this process. We could also achieve this goal by learning more about the functions of previously identified molecules in the vascular system. Discovery of new processes underlying the development of the vascular system will also contribute to further understanding of these molecular mechanisms. Recent advances, using the whole genome approach, have resulted in a flood of new information. This trend will continue, and fortunately, a number of molecular reagents will become available. Therefore, the field will likely experience an exponential growth in terms of novel biological insights and discovering the mechanisms of vascular system development. Occasionally, reductionistic approaches help to systematically address a number of biological problems, including the problems associated with vascular system development. One such approach is to choose an organism that allows us to systematically address these biological questions. The choice of animal models that are well-suited for the study of a particular question has led to a large number of discoveries. To address questions in vascular system development, current research has focused on animal models, including fish, frog, bird, and mouse, and also studies involving humans. It is also worthwhile to note that the branching morphogenesis of the fly trachea system has been utilized to address fundamental questions of vascular morphogenesis. This chapter will summarize the genomic manipulation of the murine vascular system to address questions regarding vascular development. In addition, the advances that have been made in this field using such methods will be summarized.
Health, Medical Innovation, and Disability Insurance: A Care Study of HIV Antiretroviral Therapy

The growth of the US Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program has raised questions about whether the program targets the disabled population effectively. To address these questions, this study examines the direct effect of health on SSDI outcomes. The effect is identified by a new antiretroviral therapy introduced in late 1995 and early 1996 to treat the human immunodeficiency virus. Administrative data on SSDI applications come from the Disability Research File. According to the analysis, the new therapy had an immediate and persistent effect on program entry. By 1997, the therapy decreased HIV-related applications by 35.2 percent and new awards by 36.7 percent. The therapy did not substantially increase program exits for work and, instead, decreased program exits through death. By 1999, the therapy increased HIV-related expenditures by $43.6 million, reflecting a decrease in mortality among existing beneficiaries who continued to receive benefits.
Prostate Cancer Immunotherapy: Exploiting the HLA Class II Pathway in Vaccine Design

Prostate cancer is the second most diagnosed cancer in men and current treatment of advanced prostate cancer is ineffective. Immunotherapy has emerged as a promising treatment option for metastatic prostate cancer but its clinical application is still in the early stages of development. In order to treat metastatic prostate tumors, new directions must be taken to improve current immunotherapeutic strategies. These include the identification of effective tumor antigens (Ags), the induction of the HLA class II pathway for Ag processing and CD4+ T cell activation, and the ability of tumor cells to act like Ag presenting cells. In this review, we suggest a model for tumor Ag selection, epitope modification and self-processing for presentation by class II proteins as a means of restoring immune activation and tumor clearance. We also outline the importance of a Gamma-IFN-inducible Lysosomal Thiol reductase (GILT) in Ag and modified peptide processing by tumor cells, generation of functional epitopes for T cell recognition, and inclusion of immune checkpoint blockers in cancer immunotherapy. Taken together, this review provides a framework for the future development of novel cancer vaccines and the improvement of existing immunotherapeutics in prostate cancer.
Recreational Gamblers: Gambling Once Too Often?

In a practice article, Scott R. Fouch, a professor at Truman State University, Kirksville, Mo., highlights documentation issues that practitioners may face in dealing with taxpayers' gambling income and losses.
Methanol to Dimethyl Ether over ZSM-22: A Periodic Density Functional Theory Study

Methanol-to-DME conversion over ZSM-22 Bronsted acid sites is investigated on the basis of periodic density functional theory calculations. DME formation has been speculated to take place via the dissociative or associative pathway. It is shown that the dissociative pathway is the predominant pathway. We find that water lowers the activation energies of key reactions but that the lowering of the activation energies is insufficient to increase the rate because of the entropy loss associated with water adsorption. The consequence of acid strength on the methanol-to-DME conversion pathways is investigated on the basis of Al-, Ga-, or In-induced Bronsted acid sites. We show that linear correlations between activation energies and acid strength exist. It is found that weaker acidity leads to higher activation energies. We find that changes in acidity will not change the conclusion that the dissociative pathway is the predominant pathway.
RAD SIM

"RAD SIM" is a GPSS model developed to simulate Radiology Room utilization. The model provides reports that facilitate the interaction of the management consultant and the appropriate client. The simulation methodology provides the users with the ability to respond to "what if" questions, and to test changes to the Radiology operating system without implementing the modifications.The model requires data to be collected on patient arrivals, procedure scheduling criteria, and radiology room capabilities. Output from the model reports individual room utilization and waiting lines. Other statistical information is provided in the simulation report."RAD SIM" has been used in a number of consulting engagements with major success. Radiologist and consultant interface has proved to be quite beneficial for the long-term success of systems changes.
Comparison and analysis of energy storage technology to balance fluctuation of wind power output

Wind power output fluctuation affects its efficiency and power system security. Using energy storage device can reduce the influence of the wind power output fluctuation. The characteristics and efficiency of different energy storage technologies are researched in order to find the available devices for stabilizing wind power output fluctuation. This paper collects and studies various technical parameters of existing energy storage devices, and makes technical and economic comparison of the methods connected to the grid, functions and scale effect. By use of a lot of data analysis and the findings of other related topics, this paper finds out that power grid is the only energy storage system can gather a huge ability of regulate, which is currently the most effective and economical energy storage system. Ultimately it proves that China should develop wind power in the three-north region on a large scale to reduce pollution in energy industry and enhance energy security, while the construction of large power grid is the way of the development of wind power in China.
Color Photography in Open Urological Surgery

The quality of intraoperative color slide photography can be improved by 1) orienting the viewer with landmark outline and constant camera position during the procedure, 2) brown gloves to avoid contrast within the operative field, 3) blue sponges to absorb blood, 4) contrasting stay sutures or tapes and 5) taking multiple pictures at different exposures. These points are illustrated with the photographic record of the repair of multiple renal artery aneurysms to provide the urologist with helpful hints in the recording of his interesting or challenging operative procedures.
Interannual Signature in Daily ITCZ States in the East Pacific in Boreal Spring

AbstractThe intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) in the east Pacific is located north of the equator during most of the year. In daily data it is most variable in March–April when it may be located north of the equator (nITCZ), on both sides of the equator (dITCZ), or south of the equator (sITCZ), or it may be absent (when convection does not take on a zonally elongated form). Additionally, in strong El Nino years it is located on the equator during the boreal winter half-year. Here the focus is on conditions when the ITCZ has a presence south of the equator (dITCZ, sITCZ) and composites of various fields are compared to “normal conditions” [i.e., when the ITCZ is north of the equator (nITCZ)]. Composites of sea surface temperature (SST), precipitation, outgoing longwave radiation, and the upper-level circulation show very similar patterns for dITCZ and sITCZ days, where the latter cases have almost double the amplitude of the former. The sITCZ state is viewed as an extreme case of the dITCZ state. Both ...
Rickettsia Sca4 Reduces Vinculin-Mediated Intercellular Tension to Promote Spread

Summary Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae are human pathogens that infect cells in the vasculature. They disseminate through host tissues by a process of cell-to-cell spread that involves protrusion formation, engulfment, and vacuolar escape. Other bacterial pathogens rely on actin-based motility to provide a physical force for spread. Here, we show that SFG species Rickettsia parkeri typically lack actin tails during spread and instead manipulate host intercellular tension and mechanotransduction to promote spread. Using transposon mutagenesis, we identified surface cell antigen 4 (Sca4) as a secreted effector of spread that specifically promotes protrusion engulfment. Sca4 interacts with the cell-adhesion protein vinculin and blocks association with vinculin's binding partner, α-catenin. Using traction and monolayer stress microscopy, we show that Sca4 reduces vinculin-dependent mechanotransduction at cell-cell junctions. Our results suggest that Sca4 relieves intercellular tension to promote protrusion engulfment, which represents a distinctive strategy for manipulating cytoskeletal force generation to enable spread.
Laying Down the RUG: Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Really Useful Group, and Musical Theatre in a Global Economy

Owned by British musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, the Really Useful Group produces, licenses, records, and publishes his musicals. This synergized approach to the production and distribution of musical theatre established a new model for the industry in the 1980s. RUG’s Asia Pacific division also recognizes the profit potential in an increasingly globalized industry.
Quantum Simulation and Quantum Metrology of Many-Body Decoherence

We introduce a scheme for the quantum simulation of many-body decoherence via stochastic Hamiltonians. Our proposal can be readily implemented on a variety of quantum platforms such as optical lattices and trapped ions. We also show new perspective on quantum metrology with many-body decoherence.
Rage against the machine? Google's self-driving cars versus human drivers.

Abstract Introduction Automated driving represents both challenges and opportunities in highway safety. Google has been developing self-driving cars and testing them under employee supervision on public roads since 2009. These vehicles have been involved in several crashes, and it is of interest how this testing program compares to human drivers in terms of safety. Methods Google car crashes were coded by type and severity based on narratives released by Google. Crash rates per million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) were computed for crashes deemed severe enough to be reportable to police. These were compared with police-reported crash rates for human drivers. Crash types also were compared. Results Google cars had a much lower rate of police-reportable crashes per million VMT than human drivers in Mountain View, Calif., during 2009–2015 (2.19 vs 6.06), but the difference was not statistically significant. The most common type of collision involving Google cars was when they got rear-ended by another (human-driven) vehicle. Google cars shared responsibility for only one crash. Conclusions These results suggest Google self-driving cars, while a test program, are safer than conventional human-driven passenger vehicles; however, currently there is insufficient information to fully examine the extent to which disengagements affected these results. Practical application Results suggest that highly-automated vehicles can perform more safely than human drivers in certain conditions, but will continue to be involved in crashes with conventionally-driven vehicles.
Automated testing of the medical device

Medical devices can be checked for efficiency and effectiveness using automated tests. A medical device generally consists of knobs, switches and pushbuttons to operate. While manual testing of the efficacy of the functioning associated with the switches is possible, its often not possible to stress the functionality by manual testing. Stress testing of the functionality associated with the knobs is possible by tapping into the electrical point receptive to the input action associated with the switch. The first part of automated testing is to automate the manual switches which are the part of medical device. These switches are used for rebooting, ventilating etc. This can be done by using software that assists programming switches that operate on electrical signals, like those offered by NI LabVIEW. The next part is to send the desired key presses from the computer to the device and then to verify whether the action corresponding to the keypress is executed. This can be done by using Python scripts. By automating, a couple of advantages are increased test efficiency, and a reliability statistic by way of the number of automated tests run before we see errors otherwise not seen during normal human operation.
Building Bridges: Coauthoring a Class Handshake, Building a Classroom Community.

ABSTRACTCollaborative social practices that people participate in to coauthor, or co-create, support, and sustain, a classroom community are challenging to research and represent because they are fluid and emergent, and interdependent and cumulative, as they develop across time and space, across experiences and relations. In this article, we take a year-long look at how a weekly whole class greeting ritual, a Class Handshake, serves as a socio-epistemic-embodied-community building practice. We provide a rich description of the dialogic what and how of the Class Handshake ritual, and articulate connections between the Class Handshake and other classroom values and practices. We explore ways this collaborative social practice enacted values and relations that anchored a dialogic teaching and learning stance in this classroom community. We find that the Class Handshake functions like a “polyphonic web,” manifesting and perpetuating a sense of “We”-ness of this classroom community of practice. This study adds...
A robust optimisation approach for identifying multi-state collaborations to reduce CO2 emissions

AbstractCo-firing woody biomass with coal is one approach electricity providers can take to achieve emissions reductions without significantly modifying their existing infrastructure. An important aspect of EPA recommendations for reducing carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants is an allowance for states to enter into multi-state compliance partnerships. This study presents mixed integer linear programming models to identify min-cost approaches for reducing carbon emissions via biomass co-firing subject to spatially-explicit biomass availability constraints, utilising a robust optimisation approach to address uncertainties in costs and emission rates. We apply these models to a set of 18 states in the Northern US, to demonstrate how one state could identify efficient sets of multi-state collaborators.
TFLMS: Large Model Support in TensorFlow by Graph Rewriting.

While accelerators such as GPUs have limited memory, deep neural networks are becoming larger and will not fit with the memory limitation of accelerators for training. We propose an approach to tackle this problem by rewriting the computational graph of a neural network, in which swap-out and swap-in operations are inserted to temporarily store intermediate results on CPU memory. In particular, we first revise the concept of a computational graph by defining a concrete semantics for variables in a graph. We then formally show how to derive swap-out and swap-in operations from an existing graph and present rules to optimize the graph. To realize our approach, we developed a module in TensorFlow, named TFLMS. TFLMS is published as a pull request in the TensorFlow repository for contributing to the TensorFlow community. With TFLMS, we were able to train ResNet-50 and 3DUnet with 4.7x and 2x larger batch size, respectively. In particular, we were able to train 3DUNet using images of size of $192^3$ for image segmentation, which, without TFLMS, had been done only by dividing the images to smaller images, which affects the accuracy.
Enhancement of human serum bactericidal activity by specific IgM antibodies of normal and anti-O immune rabbit sera against pseudo-serum-resistant strains of Serratia marcescens.

Abstract Fresh and heat-inactivated (56 °C, 30 min) normal (control) rabbit sera (at 40 vol%) were found to “enhance” the bactericidal activity of fresh human serum (50 vol%) against two „non-serum-sensitive“ (NSS) assay strains of Serratia marcescens (strains CDC O6:H3 and CDC O10:H8). Cells of these two strains were killed in a delayed fashion following addition of normal rabbit serum to human serum. However, strain PO16:H-proved as resistant as before. The crude gamma globulin fractions (at 10 vol%) derived from control rabbit sera “enhanced” human serum bactericidal activity against strains CDC O6:H3 and CDC O10: H8. Homologous anti-O rabbit immune serum, when added at 40 vol % to 50 vol% of fresh human serum, augmented the latter serum's bactericidal activity against S. marcescens strain CDC O6:H3, but not against the other two NSS assay strains. Dual absorptions of heat-inactivated normal rabbit serum with homologous O-cells of S. marcescens abolished the “enhancing” effect. In contrast, dual absorpitons of rabbit control sera with gently killed, protein A-carrying cells of Staphylococcus aureus strain Cowan I, a treatment known to selectively remove rabbit IgG but not IgM immunoglobulins, did not remove the “enhancing” effect against strains CDC O6:H3 and CDC O10:H8. Also, dual absorptions of homologous rabbit anti-O immune sera with protein A resulted in “enhancement” of human serum bactericidal activity against strains CDC O6:H3 and CDC O10:H8, a finding explicable by selective removal of competing (“blocking”) immune IgG antibodies by this treatment. It was concluded that O-antigen-specific, natural and immune antibodies from normal (control) and anti-O immune rabbit sera, respectively, of the IgM immunoglobulin class accounted for the observed “enhancement” of the bactericidal activity of fresh human serum against two of the three assay strains of S. marcescens. Since these two strains were merely apparently serum-resistant, in that their serum-resistance was overcome by the presence of adequate amounts of natural or immune specific IgM antibodies in this in vitro system, or by removal of competing (“blocking”) IgG immune antibodies from anti-O immune sera, it is proposed that these 2 strains be designated as “pseudo-serum-resistant” (PSR), in order to differentiate these from genuinely NSS strains of S. marcescens, such as strain PO16:H-.
Classic Operating Systems: From Batch Processing to Distributed Systems

An essential reader containing the 25 most important papers in the development of modern operating systems for computer science and software engineering. The papers illustrate the major breakthroughs in operating system technology from the 1950s to the 1990s. The editor provides an overview chapter and puts all development in perspective with chapter introductions and expository apparatus. Essential resource for graduates, professionals, and researchers in CS with an interest in operating system principles.
Cognitive Solutioning of Highly-Valued IT Service Contracts

Different service providers compete to win high valued IT service contracts in a tender kind of process, by providing comprehensive solutions that would fulfil the requirements of their client. Client requirements include services such as account management, storage systems, databases, and migrating the client infrastructure to the cloud. Preparing a solution is a step-wise process where a client shares the Request for Proposals (RFP) which documents the details of services required, and then service providers prepare solutions to fulfil these RFPs. The latter, usually referred to as “solutioning”, can be a lengthy, time-consuming process. Therefore, solutioning automation could result in efficiency increases and cost reductions for the providers. In this paper, we propose an automated, cognitive, end-to-end solutioning methodology that is comprised of 3 steps. The first step involves a textual analytics approach for mining the RFP documents, and extracting the client requirements and constraints. Second, we formulate an optimization model that chooses the optimal set of offerings (that the provider can offer) and their attribute values that cover the client requirements at a minimum cost. Finally, we require market benchmarks to compute pricing of the chosen offerings. Market benchmarks are sometimes unknown for some offerings or for some attributes of these offerings. Thus, in that third step, we show an iterative method to estimate the missing benchmarks along with a confidence score. We validate our methodology by applying it to a real-world application with a comprehensive dataset. We show that it takes minutes to run our method, compared to the days and sometimes weeks for the case of manual solutioning. We also illustrate that our methodology provides more accurate solutions compared to manual solutioning.
Sampling large data on graphs

We consider the problem of sampling from data defined on the nodes of a weighted graph, where the edge weights capture the data correlation structure. As shown recently, using spectral graph theory one can define a cut-off frequency for the bandlimited graph signals that can be reconstructed from a given set of samples (i.e., graph nodes). In this work, we show how this cut-off frequency can be computed exactly. Using this characterization, we provide efficient algorithms for finding the subset of nodes of a given size with the largest cut-off frequency and for finding the smallest subset of nodes with a given cut-off frequency. In addition, we study the performance of random uniform sampling when compared to the centralized optimal sampling provided by the proposed algorithms.
Thermal tolerance in the urban heat island: thermal sensitivity varies ontogenetically and differs between embryos of two sympatric ectotherms

ABSTRACT Most studies of thermal tolerance use adults, but early-life stages (e.g. embryos) are often more sensitive to thermal agitation. Studies that examine effects on embryos rarely assess the potential for thermal tolerance to change with ontogeny or how effects differ among sympatric species, and often utilize unrealistic temperature treatments. We used thermal fluctuations from nests within the urban-heat island to determine how thermal tolerance of embryos changes across development and differs among two sympatric lizard species (Anolis sagrei and Anoliscristatellus). We applied fluctuations that varied in frequency and magnitude at different times during development and measured effects on embryo physiology and survival, and hatchling morphology, growth and survival. Thermal tolerance differed between the species by ∼2°C: embryos of A. sagrei, a lizard that prefers warmer, open-canopy microhabitats, were more robust to thermal stress than embryos of A. cristatellus, which prefers cooler, closed-canopy microhabitats. Moreover, thermal tolerance changed through development; however, the nature of this change differed between the species. For A. cristatellus, thermal tolerance was greatest mid-development. For A. sagrei, the relationship was not statistically clear. The greatest effects of thermal stress were on embryo and hatchling survival and embryo physiology. Hatchling morphology and growth were less affected. Inter-specific responses and the timing of stochastic thermal events with respect to development have important effects on embryo mortality. Thus, research that integrates ecologically meaningful thermal treatments, considers multiple life-history stages and examines interspecific responses will be critical to make robust predictions of the impacts of global change on wildlife.
Addressing contemporary challenges in the Unified Code of Ethics for Health Educators

Background:The Unified Code of Ethics (COE) for Health Educators adopted in 1999 was developed in the USA from the 1983 Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) COE and the 1993 American Associa...
Einsatz eines modifizierten Gammanagels bei der Versorgung proximaler Femurfrakturen

In einer prospektiven Studie zur operativen Stabilisierung proximaler Femurfrakturen wurde ein modifizierter langer Gammanagel 10 mm (LGN10) mit dem handelsublichen LGN 11 mm (LGN11) verglichen. Vom Mai 1998 bis Januar 2000 wurden jeweils 50 Patienten alternierend mit dem LGN10 bzw. LGN11 versorgt. Das Durchschnittsalter der Patienten betrug 79 Jahre. Die Antekurvation der Femurdiaphyse wurde aus den angefertigten seitlichen Rontgenaufnahmen ermittelt und lag in beiden Studiengruppen uberwiegend zwischen 6° und 10°, bei Maximalwerten bis 14°. Bei Einsatz des LGN10 waren signifikant (p=0,046) weniger Markraumerweiterungen erforderlich.Weitere signifikante Unterschiede traten in den erhobenen Operations- und postoperativen Verlaufsdaten nicht auf. In der LGN10-Gruppe kam es intraoperativ in 2 Fallen, in der LGN11-Gruppe in 1 Fall zu einer Perforation im mittleren Femurdiaphysendrittel. In 1 Fall kam es postoperativ zum kranialen "cut out" der Schenkelhalsschraube beim LGN10. Weitere spezifische Komplikationen wurden bis zur Entlassung aus dem stationaren Bereich nicht beschrieben. Klinische Kontrolluntersuchungen stehen noch aus. Mit dem LGN10 ist eine weitere Reduzierung der Markraumtraumatisierung moglich.
Investigating the Role of Western Acculturation, Ethnocentrism, and Consumer Cosmopolitanism in Predicting Preferences for Apparel Brands Among Indian Consumers

Purpose of the present study was to understand whether or not (i) the country of residence (Indian vs. the U.S.) influences the relationship between western acculturation and consumer ethnocentrism in apparel consumption amongst the Indian consumers; (ii) consumer cosmopolitanism influences the relationship between ethnocentrism and attitude toward western apparel brands; (iii) attitude toward western apparel brands influences purchase intentions from the western apparel brands. The sample included Indians residing in India and the U.S. (n=550). We found that (i) Indians residing both in India and the U.S. are highly ethnocentric, despite being highly acculturated; (ii) consumer cosmopolitanism aids in having a positive attitude toward western apparel brands, translating into a positive purchase intention from those brands, despite being highly ethnocentric. Therefore, instead of just promoting a pro-Indian image and targeting the ethnocentric Indian consumers in the U.S. and India, the western apparel brands should project their cosmopolitan brand image.
Suction mitigation of airborne particulate generated during sinonasal drilling and cautery.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted endonasal surgery, and recent experimentation has demonstrated that sinonasal drilling and cautery have significant propensity for airborne particulate generation immediately adjacent to the surgical field. In the present investigation, we assessed nasopharyngeal suctioning as a mitigation strategy to decrease particulate spread during simulated endonasal surgical activity. METHODS: Airborne particulate generation in the 1-µm to 10-µm range was quantified with an optical particle sizer in real-time during cadaveric-simulated anterior and posterior endonasal drilling and cautery conditions. To test suction mitigation, experiments were performed both with and without a rigid suction placed in the contralateral nostril, terminating in the nasopharynx. RESULTS: Both anterior (medial maxillary wall and nasal septum) and posterior (sphenoid rostrum) drilling produced significant particulate generation in the 1-µm to 10-µm range throughout the duration of drilling (p < 0.001) without the use of suction, whereas nasopharyngeal suction use eliminated the detection of generated airborne particulate. A similar effect was seen with nasal cautery, with significant particle generation (p < 0.001) that was reduced to undetectable levels with the use of nasopharyngeal suction. CONCLUSION: The use of nasopharyngeal suctioning via the contralateral nostril minimizes airborne particulate spread during simulated sinonasal drilling and cautery. In the era of COVID-19, this technique offers an immediately available measure that may increase surgical safety.
Polymer and Crosslinker Content Influences Performance of Encapsulated Live Biotherapeutic Products

Live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), or therapeutic microbes, are an emerging therapeutic modality for prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Since LBPs are living, they are uniquely sensitive to external stresses (e.g., oxygen, acid) encountered during manufacturing, storage, and delivery. Here, we systematically evaluate how polymer and crosslinker concentration affects the performance of an encapsulated LBP toward developing a comprehensive framework for the characterization and optimization of LBP delivery systems. We encapsulate a model LBP, Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393, in calcium chloride (CaCl2)-crosslinked alginate beads, and evaluate how alginate and CaCl2 concentrations influence LBP formulation performance, including: (i) encapsulation efficiency, (ii) shrinkage upon drying, (iii) survival upon lyophilization, (iv) acid resistance, (v) release, and (vi) metabolite secretion. Approaches from microbiology (e.g., colony forming unit enumeration), materials science (e.g., scanning electron microscopy), and pharmaceutical sciences (e.g., release assays) are employed. LBP-encapsulating alginate beads were systematically evaluated as a function of alginate and CaCl2 concentrations. Specifically: (i) encapsulation efficiency of all formulations was >50%, (ii) all alginate beads shrunk (after lyophilization) and recovered (after rehydration) similarly, (iii) at 10% alginate concentration, lower CaCl2 concentration decreased survival upon lyophilization, (iv) 10% alginate improved acid resistance, (v) sustained release was enabled by increasing alginate and CaCl2 concentrations, and (vi) encapsulation did not impair secretion of l-lactate as compared to free LBP. This research demonstrates that polymer content and crosslinking extent modulate the performance of polymer-based LBP delivery systems, motivating research into the optimization of material properties for LBP delivery systems.
Comparison of Dac and Monaco Dsmc Codes with Flat Plate Simulation

Various implementations of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method exist in academia, government and industry. By comparing implementations, deficiencies and merits of each can be discovered. This document reports comparisons between DSMC Analysis Code (DAC) and MONACO. DAC is NASA's standard DSMC production code and MONACO is a research DSMC code developed in academia. These codes have various differences; in particular, they employ distinct computational grid definitions. In this study, DAC and MONACO are compared by having each simulate a blunted flat plate wind tunnel test, using an identical volume mesh. Simulation expense and DSMC metrics are compared. In addition, flow results are compared with available laboratory data. Overall, this study revealed that both codes, excluding grid adaptation, performed similarly. For parallel processing, DAC was generally more efficient. As expected, code accuracy was mainly dependent on physical models employed.
Klebsiella pneumoniae O antigen loss alters the outer membrane protein composition and the selective packaging of proteins into secreted outer membrane vesicles

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a nosocomial pathogen which naturally secretes lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cell envelope associated proteins into the environment through the production of outer membrane vesicles (OMVs). The loss of the LPS O antigen has been demonstrated in other bacterial species to significantly alter the composition of OMVs. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze the impact of O antigen loss on the sub-proteomes of both the outer membrane and secreted OMVs from K. pneumoniae. As determined by LC-MS/MS, OMVs were highly enriched with outer membrane proteins involved in cell wall, membrane, and envelope biogenesis as compared to the source cellular outer membrane. Deletion of wbbO, the enzyme responsible for O antigen attachment to LPS, decreased but did not eliminate this enrichment effect. Additionally, loss of O antigen resulted in OMVs with increased numbers of proteins involved in post-translational modification, protein turnover, and chaperones as compared to secreted vesicles from the wild type. This alteration of OMV composition may be a compensatory mechanism to deal with envelope stress. This comprehensive analysis confirms the highly distinct protein composition of OMVs as compared to their source membrane, and provides evidence for a selective sorting mechanism that involves LPS polysaccharides. These data support the hypothesis that modifications to LPS alters both the mechanics of protein sorting and the contents of secreted OMVs and significantly impacts the protein composition of the outer membrane.
Structure, Function and Inhibition of Aromatase

Human cytochrome P450 aromatase catalyzes with high substrate specificity the synthesis of estrogens from androgens. The crystal structure of human aromatase has revealed an androgen-specific active site. The structural insights have been utilized in the investigation of its transmembrane integration, roles of critical residues, reaction mechanism, implications of motion and flexibility on its function, ligand-binding interactions, and oligomeric states. Some of these results provide glimpses into the enzyme function as a membrane-embedded molecule. The structural and chemical basis of steroid-protein interactions have been harnessed to rationally design novel steroidal inhibitors with exclusive aromatase specificity. Several of these compounds exhibit superior inhibitory properties in purified human aromatase when compared with the breast cancer drug exemestane. The antiproliferative potencies of some of these compounds assayed in an MCF-7 breast cancer cell line exceed that of exemestane. The X-ray structures reveal that these new inhibitors exploit previously unknown aromatase-specific interactions. The newly developed structural and chemical biology knowledge lay the foundation for understanding the mechanisms of modulation of enzyme activity upon estrogen-dependent phosphorylation, and novel non-genomic aromatase-estrogen signaling feed-back reported in malignant breast cells as well as in neuroendocrine systems. The structural insights also provide the molecular basis for discovery of next generation inhibitors.
Explanation in Causal Inference: Methods for Mediation and Interaction

PART I: MEDIATION ANALYSIS Chapter 1. Explanation and Mechanism Chapter 2. Mediation: Introduction and Regression-Based Approaches Chapter 3. Sensitivity Analysis for Mediation Chapter 4. Mediation Analysis with Survival Data Chapter 5. Multiple Mediators Chapter 6. Mediation Analysis with Time-Varying Exposures and Mediators Chapter 7. Selected Topics in Mediation Analysis Chapter 8. Other Topics Related to Intermediates PART II: INTERACTION ANALYSIS Chapter 9. An Introduction to Interaction Analysis Chapter 10. Mechanistic Interaction Chapter 11. Bias Analysis for Interactions Chapter 12. Interaction in Genetics: Independence and Boosting Power Chapter 13. Power and Sample-Size Calculations for Interaction Analysis PART III: SYNTHESIS AND SPILLOVER EFFECTS Chapter 14. A Unification of Mediation and Interaction Chapter 15. Social Interactions and Spillover Effects Chapter 16. Mediation and Interaction: Future and Context Appendix. Technical Details and Proofs References
Fatal verapamil poisoning.

A case of fatal verapamil poisoning is reported. The pathologic and toxicologic findings are discussed.
ECop (EGFR-coamplified and overexpressed protein), a novel protein, regulates NF-kappaB transcriptional activity and associated apoptotic response in an IkappaBalpha-dependent manner.

In the present study, we describe the function of a novel protein, ECop (EGFR-Coamplified and overexpressed protein), in the regulation of NF-κB activity. Ectopic expression of ECop increases NF-κB transcriptional activity by promoting nuclear translocation and DNA binding of NF-κB, and ECop-induced NF-κB activation confers cellular resistance to apoptotic challenge. In ECop knockdown cells, NF-κB transcriptional activity is suppressed due to delayed IκBα degradation, which results in a delayed nuclear translocation as well as decreased DNA binding of NF-κB. Suppression of NF-κB activation by ECop knockdown increases cellular susceptibility to apoptosis. These results suggest that ECop is a key regulator of NF-κB signaling, and that high-level, amplification-mediated ECop expression, such as that occurring in tumors with amplified EGFR, could contribute to resistance to apoptosis.
The Social in the Virtual

Virtuality is often defined solely as that which lacks or is not material reality, and as such, much of the social order that is uniquely engendered within technologically-mediated realities has been inadequately described. This panel attempts to define virtuality on its own terms, instead of as reality-negative, by showcasing four perspectives of social interaction in virtual space. Panelists Elizabeth Churchill, Thomas Erickson, Cliff Lampe, and Rosanne Siino will share insights into the social orders in the virtualities of their interests. Presentations will be followed by a discussion among panelists and panel participants.
Automation in Financial Services

This chapter addresses automation in the financial services industry with a focus on small banks and credit unions. The financial services industry includes all organizations that engage in or facilitate financial transactions. Automation is essential for these firms to both lower cost and differentiate their services. Small banks and credit unions are an important subset of this industry, with unique automation needs to enable them to compete with large, international firms.
Chemical Enrichment and Central Star Properties

We have selected a sample of planetary nebulae, for which the core masses are determined using distance-independent parameters (Zhang and Kwok 1992). The chemical abundances of He, N, O, and C are taken from the literature for them. Relationships of the ratios of He/H, N/O, and C/O with various stellar parameters of planetary nebulae (PN), such as the core mass, the mass of the core plus the ionized nebular gas, the stellar age and temperature, are examined. It is found that the N/O increases with increasing mass, while the C/O first increases and then decreases with the core mass. No strong correlation seems to exist between the He/H and the core mass. A correlation of the N/O and He/H with the stellar temperature exists. The current dredge-up theory for the progenitor AGB stars cannot satisfactorily account for these patterns of chemical enrichment in PN. Furthermore, the correlations of the N/O and He/H with the stellar age and temperature indicate that besides the dredge-ups in the RG and AGB stages, physical pfocesses that happen in the planetary nebula stage may also play a role in forming the observed patterns of chemical enrichment in the planetary nebulae.
IONIZATION EFFECTS IN A MODEL FLUID

A free energy model is considered for a system consisting of neutral atoms, ions, molecules, and molecular ions, neutralized by a Fermi gas of electrons. The ionization balance is determined by extremizing the system free energy with respect to the density of either sign charges. The system exhibits a vapor-liquid phase transition and an insulator-metal transition. The dependence of the results on material parameters is discussed.
Immune memory redefined: characterizing the longevity of natural killer cells

Natural killer (NK) cells respond rapidly to transformed, stressed, or virally infected cells and provide a first-line immune defense against pathogen invasion and cancer. Thought to involve short-lived effector cells that are armed for battle, NK cells were not previously known to contribute in recall responses to pathogen re-encounter. Here, we highlight recent discoveries demonstrating that NK cells are not limited to driving primary immune responses to foreign antigen but can mount secondary responses contributing to immune memory. We also further characterize the phenotype and function of long-lived memory NK cells generated during viral infection.
Erythema annulare centrifugum

Erythema annulare centrifugum (EAC) is a gyrate erythema, which is typically characterized by annular, erythematous plaques with trailing scale. It is considered to be a reactive condition with a wide variety of inciting causes but unclear pathophysiology. The mean duration of the eruption is 11 months. We present a patient with a 50-year history of recurrent EAC with no known cause. Although it does follow a previously reported pattern of seasonal recurrence, this case represents the longest reported duration of EAC.
The Process of Infection with Bacteriophage øX174 XIII. Evidence for an Essential Bacterial “Site”

The burst of a starved bacterium infected with several oX174 bacteriophage was usually found to contain genetic traits of only one of the possible parents; less often, two phage multiplied in the same host cell. Unstarved cells, in contrast, supported the growth of at least four parental phage types. The unproductive phage seemed to be able to undergo the intracellular transition from parental single-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid to the double-stranded "replicative form" (RF). These results are taken to mean that some bacterial factor required for a step between RF synthesis and maturation of progeny is limited in starved cells.
Membrane glycoprotein M-2 protects against Leishmania amazonensis infection.

Abstract Previous passive antibody transfer experiments have indicated that immunity to a 46-kilodalton membrane glycoprotein (M-2) of Leishmania amazonensis may protect against infection with this parasite. In the studies described in this paper, we investigated the ability of the purified M-2 molecule to elicit a protective immune response in conjunction with Freund incomplete and complete adjuvants, saponin, and Corynebacterium parvum. Both relatively susceptible (BALB/c and CBA) and resistant (C57BL/6) strains of mice were examined. C. parvum appeared to be the most effective adjuvant in the three mouse strains tested. The level of protection varied with the mouse strain, although all animals received identical preparations of antigen and adjuvant. Immunization of CBA mice with the M-2 glycoprotein and C. parvum resulted in complete protection against a challenge infection of 10(4) and 10(6) late log-phase promastigotes of L. amazonensis. In the BALB/c strain, complete protection was observed in some of the immunized animals (28 to 50%); in the rest of the mice the onset of infection was significantly delayed. Protective immunity for C57BL/6 mice was observed only at the low infecting dose (10(4) L. amazonensis organisms). The level of protection observed is reflected by increased antibody response (immunoglobulins G1 and G2) developed to the M-2 molecule. The relationship of pure T-cell (nonantibody) immunity to this protection remains to be elucidated.