cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of autoantibodies as diagnostic markers of autoimmune hepatitis

Autoantibody testing is the first step towards the diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis, and it is essential in the evaluation of acute and chronic hepatitis of undetermined cause and allograft dysfunction following liver transplantation. A standard diagnostic repertoire has been promulgated, and other autoantibodies are emerging that may have prognostic value. Supplemental autoantibodies may prove useful in assessing patients who lack the standard markers or who are distinctive among those with conventional markers. Serologic testing will improve as assays are standardized by serum exchange workshops, core diagnostic batteries are codified and promulgated, and markers emerge that are tightly associated with pathogenic mechanisms, and closely reflect disease activity and outcome.
Feeding Ecology of Deepwater Lutjanid Snappers at Penguin Bank, Hawaii

Abstract Deepwater snappers are a valuable component of fisheries on slopes and banks in Hawaii and in much of the world's tropics. Their ecology and trophic relationships in these deepwater habitats are poorly known. Line fishing in this study simultaneously collected six of the seven lutjanid species that commonly occur in the major deepwater snapper fishery at Penguin Bank, Hawaii. The catch rate of each species showed diel variability; the patterns of some species were distinctly different. The depth distribution of feeding, as indicated by depth of capture, differed considerably among species; all species were taken within several meters of the bottom. Size (fork length) of the predator species did not appear to be stratified by time of capture (daylight versus darkness) or median capture depth. Regurgitation of gut contents seemed to be reduced when fish were retrieved at a rate that was slower than used in commercial practice but rapid enough to prevent death or morbidity while hooked. The food rem...
El Nino-like Climate Teleconnections in New England during the Late Pleistocene

A glacial varve chronology from New England spanning the 4000-year period from 17,500 to 13,500 calendar years before the present was analyzed for evidence of climate variability during the late Pleistocene. The chronology shows a distinct interannual (3 to 5 years) band of enhanced variability suggestive of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) teleconnections into North America during the late Pleistocene, when the Laurentide ice sheet was near its maximum extent and climatic boundary conditions were different than those of today. This interannual variability largely disappears by the young end of the 4000-year chronology, with only the highest frequency components (roughly 3-year period) persisting. This record provides evidence of ENSO-like climate variability during near-peak glacial conditions.
Anthropomorphic Four Fingered Robot Hand And Its Glove Controller

The paper describes a new mechanical hand system whose hand looks and functions just like a human hand, except it has no little finger. The hand's actuators are located in the forearm, extending the hand structure to the elbow and including the wrist. The hand is controlled through an exoskeleton glove controller that the operator wears. The glove provides the man-machine interface in teleoperational control mode: it senses the operator's inputs to guide the mechanical hand in hybrid position and force control. The glove receives positional feedback. A new state of the art control and electronics design was developed for this hand system. Application possibilities are discussed.
Associations of BMI and adipose tissue area and density with incident mobility limitation and poor performance in older adults

Background: Obesity is a risk factor for disability, but risk of specific adipose depots is not completely understood. Objective: We investigated associations between mobility limitation, performance, and the following adipose measures: body mass index (BMI) and areas and densities of visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) in older adults. Design: This was a prospective population-based study of men (n = 1459) and women (n = 1552) initially aged 70–79 y and free from mobility limitation. BMI was determined from measured height and weight. Adipose tissue area and density in Hounsfield units were measured in the thigh and abdomen by using computed tomography. Mobility limitation was defined as 2 consecutive reports of difficulty walking one-quarter mile or climbing 10 steps during semiannual assessments over 13 y. Poor performance was defined as a gait speed <1 m/s after 9 y of follow-up (n = 1542). Results: In models adjusted for disability risk factors, BMI, and areas of VAT, abdominal SAT, and IMAT were positively associated with mobility limitation in men and women. In women, thigh SAT area was positively associated with mobility limitation risk, whereas VAT density was inversely associated. Associations were similar for poor performance. BMI and thigh IMAT area (independent of BMI) were particularly strong indicators of incident mobility limitation and poor performance. For example, in women, the HR (95% CI) and OR (95% CI) associated with an SD increment in BMI for mobility limitation and poor performance were 1.31 (1.21, 1.42) and 1.41 (1.13, 1.76), respectively. In men, the HR (95% CI) and OR (95% CI) associated with an SD increment in thigh IMAT for mobility limitation and poor performance were 1.37 (1.27, 1.47) and 1.54 (1.18, 2.02), respectively. Conclusions: Even into old age, higher BMI is associated with mobility limitation and poor performance. The amount of adipose tissue in abdominal and thigh depots may also convey risk beyond BMI.
Progeny performance when dams and chicks are fed supplemental zinc.

Three consecutive trials involving approximately 700 to 800 broilers (0 to 28 days) were conducted to examine effects on growth and immunity of chicks after supplementing dams with inorganic Zn versus organic Zn. Offspring from hens fed a basal diet (72 mg Zn/kg) or diets with 152 mg Zn/kg supplemented with ZnO or organic Zn-Met were randomized across four battery brooders. Chicks were fed a starter diet without supplemental Zn containing 100 mg Zn/kg or diets supplemented with 40 mg/kg Zn from ZnO and DL-Met or Zn-Met containing 140 mg Zn/kg. No differences among treatments (P greater than .05) were found in feed conversion or average BW. Supplemental Zn-Met in hen diet increased (P less than .06) cellular immune response in progeny. Embryonic bone weights were higher (P less than .05) in progeny when dams were fed Zn-Met. Zinc as Zn-Met in diets of dams and progeny enhanced primary antibody titers to Salmonella pullorum antigen.
Registration of brain resection MRI with intensity and location priors

Images with missing correspondences are difficult to align using standard registration methods due to the assumption that the same features appear in both images. To address this problem in brain resection images, we have recently proposed an algorithm in which the registration process is aided by an indicator map that is simultaneously estimated to distinguish between missing and valid tissue. We now extend our method to include both intensity and location information for the missing data. We introduce a prior on the indicator map using a Markov random field (MRF) framework to incorporate map smoothness and spatial knowledge of the missing correspondences. The parameters for the indicator map prior are automatically estimated along with the transformation and indicator map. The new method improves both segmentation and registration accuracy as demonstrated using synthetic and real patient data.
Long-term study of Cryptosporidium and Giardia occurrence and quantitative microbial risk assessment in surface waters of Arizona in the USA

A four-year systematic study of microbial water quality in the surface waters of central Arizona was performed. The objectives of this study were to investigate the occurrence of microbial pathogens and indicators in the waters. A total of 192 water samples from five sites were analyzed for Cryptosporidium, Giardia, and various microbial and physical indicators. Ten percent (16/162) of the samples collected using EnviroChek filters were positive for Cryptosporidium oocysts, whereas no oocysts (<1 in 5 L) were detected in the grab samples (0/30). Giardia cysts were detected in 10% (3/30) of the grab samples and in 27% (44/162) samples collected using EnviroChek filters. Mean concentrations of oocysts in the source waters at the treatment plants were lower than the Bin 1 category of the USEPA Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule; therefore no additional treatment is required by the plants. The annual risks of infection from Cryptosporidium met the annual acceptable risk of 10(-4) at all sampling sites, whereas the risks of Giardia infection at the Verde River and the Salt River were 5.70E-04 and 2.66E-04, respectively.
Comparison of heat and cold stress to assess thermoregulatory dysfunction in hypothyroid rats

How borderline impairment of thyroid function can affect thermoregulation is an important issue because of the antithyroidal properties of a many environmental toxicants. This study compared the ef...
Factors determining percutaneous metal absorption

Metals play a vital role in human, animal and plant physiology, and important research, past and ongoing, is directed towards exploring the interrelated mechanisms that govern their penetration through skin. Much insight has been gained through these efforts, but our understanding of the process is still incomplete, mainly due to the failure to allow for the effects of chemical speciation of metallic elements, especially the transition metals. Also, the skin as target organ presents imponderable and wide margins of variability. In vivo permeability is subject to homeostasis regulating the overall organism; in vitro, the sections of skin used for diffusion experiments are likely to present artifacts. Endeavors to define rules governing skin penetration to give predictive quantitative structure-diffusion relationships for metallic elements for risk assessment purposes have been unsuccessful, and penetration of the skin still needs to be determined separately for each metal species, either by in vitro or in vivo assays. Phenomena observed by us and other investigators, which appear to determine the process of skin permeation for a number of metals, are reviewed, separating the exogenous factors from the characteristics of the skin or other endogenous factors.
Texture Illumination Separation for Single-Shot Structured Light Reconstruction

Active illumination based methods have a trade-off between acquisition time and resolution of the estimated 3D shapes. Multi-shot approaches can generate dense reconstructions but require stationary scenes. Single-shot methods are applicable to dynamic objects but can only estimate sparse reconstructions and are sensitive to surface texture. We present a single-shot approach to produce dense shape reconstructions of highly textured objects illuminated by one or more projectors. The key to our approach is an image decomposition scheme that can recover the illumination image of different projectors and the texture images of the scene from their mixed appearances. We focus on three cases of mixed appearances: the illumination from one projector onto textured surface, illumination from multiple projectors onto a textureless surface, or their combined effect. Our method can accurately compute per-pixel warps from the illumination patterns and the texture template to the observed image. The texture template is obtained by interleaving the projection sequence with an all-white pattern. The estimated warps are reliable even with infrequent interleaved projection and strong object deformation. Thus, we obtain detailed shape reconstruction and dense motion tracking of the textured surfaces. The proposed method, implemented using a one camera and two projectors system, is validated on synthetic and real data containing subtle non-rigid surface deformations.
Origin of Reduced Graphene Oxide Enhancements in Electrochemical Energy Storage

Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) has become a common substrate upon which active intercalation materials are anchored for electrochemical applications such as supercapacitors and lithium ion batteries. The unique attributes of RGO, including high conductivity and porous macrostructure, are often credited for enhanced cycling and capacity performance. Here we focus on probing the electrochemical response of α-MnO2/RGO composite used as an electrode in a lithium ion battery cell and elucidating the mechanistic aspects of the RGO on the commonly observed improvements in cycling and capacity. We find that electron storage properties of RGO enables better electrode kinetics, more rapid diffusion of Li+ to intercalation sites, and a greater capacitance effect during discharge. Further investigation of the length of the one-dimensional nanowire morphology of the α-MnO2 has allowed us to differentiate between the innate characteristics of the MnO2 and those of the RGO. RGO coupled with long nanowires (>5 μm) exhibite...
A Light-Weight Countermeasure to Forwarding Misbehavior in Wireless Sensor Networks: Design, Analysis, and Evaluation

Due to the lack of centralized coordination, physical protection, and security requirements of inherent network protocols, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) are vulnerable to diverse denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that primarily target service availability by disrupting network routing protocols or interfering with on-going communications. In this paper, we propose a light-weight countermeasure to a selective forwarding attack, called SCAD, where a randomly selected single checkpoint node is deployed to detect the forwarding misbehavior of malicious node. The proposed countermeasure is integrated with timeout and hop-by-hop retransmission techniques to quickly recover unexpected packet losses due to the forwarding misbehavior or bad channel quality. We also present a simple analytical model and its numerical result in terms of false detection rate. We conduct extensive simulation experiments for performance evaluation and comparison with the existing CHEMAS and CAD schemes. The simulation results show that the proposed countermeasure can improve the detection rate and packet delivery ratio (PDR) as well as reduce the energy consumption, false detection rate, and successful drop rate.
Graphitic Mesoporous Carbons with Embedded Prussian Blue-Derived Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Synthesized by Soft Templating and Low-Temperature Graphitization

A series of highly graphitized mesoporous carbons was synthesized by self-assembly of polymeric carbon precursors and block copolymer template in the presence of poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP)-coated Prussian blue (PB) nanoparticles used as a graphitization catalyst. Resorcinol and formaldehyde were used as carbon precursors, poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) triblock copolymer (Pluronic F127) was employed as a soft template. The carbon precursors were polymerized in hydrophilic domains of block copolymer along with PVP-coated PB nanoparticles, followed by carbonization. This recipe gave carbons with cylindrical mesopores created by thermal decomposition of the soft template, and with PB-derived iron oxide nanoparticles. In addition, the presence of iron species catalyzed graphitization at relatively low temperature. The XRD and TEM measurements revealed that the resulting carbons obtained with smaller amounts of PB exhibited ordered mesostructures with relatively high degree o...
Automated Transition State Searches without Evaluating the Hessian.

Accurate and speedy determination of transition structures (TSs) is essential for computational studies on reaction pathways, particularly when the process involves expensive electronic structure calculations. Many search algorithms require a good initial guess of the TS geometry, as well as a Hessian input that possesses a structure consistent with the desired saddle point. Among the double-ended interpolation methods for generation of the guess for the TS, the freezing string method (FSM) is proven to be far less expensive compared to its predecessor, the growing string method (GSM). In this paper, it is demonstrated that the efficiency of this technique can be improved further by replacing the conjugate gradient optimization step (FSM-CG) with a quasi-Newton line search coupled with a BFGS Hessian update (FSM-BFGS). A second crucial factor that affects the speed with which convergence to the TS is achieved is the quality and cost of the Hessian of the energy for the guessed TS. For electronic structure...
Peg and Dowel Fusion of the Proximal Interphalangeal Joint

The clawtoe or hammertoe deformity is frequently encountered in office practice. The etiology of this condition remains obscure, although intrinsic atrophy or imbalance was suspected as early as 1863 by Duchenne. Arthrodesing the proximal interphalangeal joint converts the more powerful flexor tendon to a flexor of the metatarsophalangeal joint, thereby alleviating pressure on the metatarsal head and distributing the weight more evenly on the forefoot. Arthrodesing is accomplished by the peg and dowel method, with the fourth toe presenting the most technical difficulties. An extensor tenotomy or dorsal capsulotomy of the metatarsophalangeal joint is frequently necessary to realign the toe with the corresponding metatarsal ray. A collodian dressing is used to immobilize the toe for a period of 4 to 6 weeks, with a fusion rate of 97% in 73 toes. All patients were contacted, with 87% responding favorably and stating that they had relief of their pain and were able to resume wearing normal footwear.
Alternatives to the Al–Si Eutectic System in Aluminum Casting Alloys

Many of the aluminum casting alloys used today are based on the aluminum–silicon eutectic system, because it imparts excellent casting ability to the alloys. However, the high temperature strength of these alloys is limited. Therefore, it is desirable to find alternate eutectic systems that would become the basis for a new generation of aluminum casting alloys that possess higher strength at room and elevated temperatures. In this study, the aluminum–nickel, aluminum–iron and aluminum–iron–nickel eutectic systems are presented as potential alternatives to the aluminum–silicon eutectic system for constituting aluminum casting alloys. The casting ability and tensile properties at room and elevated [350 °C (662 °F)] temperatures were measured and compared to those of the aluminum–silicon eutectic. The casting ability and room temperature tensile properties of the alternative eutectics were found to be competitive with those of the aluminum–silicon eutectic, while the alternative eutectic systems have a significant advantage in elevated temperature tensile strength.
Good Things Grow in Scaled Packages: Africa’s Agricultural Challenge in Historical Context

This paper describes sub-Saharan Africa’s contemporary small-holder agricultural challenges in relation to the 20th century’s "green revolutions," especially in Asia. Distilling evidence from the agronomics and economics literatures, four key points stand out. First, each country’s deployment of its own green revolution package typically amounted to a discernible policy event, driven by active public sector involvement rather than emerging as a simple product of factor scarcities or market forces. Second, green revolutions are not characterized by a breakthrough in any single intervention technology, but instead by a set of key inputs — namely seeds, fertilizer, water and farmer extension — that are successfully deployed as complements in production. Third, the specific biophysical sub-elements of the package differ by crop type, geography and farming system, so the process of technology diffusion is limited by physical factors. Fourth, much of Africa has faced unique challenges to wide-scale deployment of modern input packages, and there is little evidence of policy efforts having been appropriately targeted to overcoming the region’s core constraints.
Determination of Nicotine in Indoor Air by GC-NPD

A GC-NPD method was established to determine nicotine residues in indoor air,as the basis for evaluation of tobacco smoke(ETS) pollution degree of indoor air. This method used passive samplers for sampling; glass fiber diaphragm was dipped with 1% of sodium hydrogen sulfate; 2 mL methylene chloride was used as extraction solvent,4 mL 1.5 mol / L sodium hydroxide was used as eluent; ultrasonic extraction time was 20 min,and eddy mixing time was 2 min; at last,the sample was determined by GC-NPD. The results show that,the linear range is 0.050 ~ 5.0 μg/mL,the correlation coefficient is 0.9996,the limit of detectable concentration(S/N=3)is 5.0 μg/m3,the relative standard deviation(RSD) of actual samples analysis is 3.1 %~ 4.9 %. The method has high selectivity,high sensitivity and accuracy. It can be applied to determine nicotine content in indoor air.
Dosimetry for photobiomodulation therapy: response to Sommers et al.

In a recent article by Sommer et al. in Annals of Translational Medicine , the authors make several key comments on our recent article in Scientific Reports entitled “Molecular pathway of near infrared laser phototoxicity involves ATF-4 orchestrated ER stress” (1). Firstly, we would like to thank the authors for their laudatory, constructive comments, specifically appreciating the rigorous effort and potential impact of our work. However, this editorial also raised a few key issues regarding methodology and interpretations in our study. We feel these points could be further clarified for the increasingly enthusiastic audience following nuances of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy.
Ubiquitination Upregulates Influenza Virus Polymerase Function.

ABSTRACT The influenza A virus polymerase plays an essential role in the virus life cycle, directing synthesis of viral mRNAs and genomes. It is a trimeric complex composed of subunits PA, PB1, and PB2 and associates with viral RNAs and nucleoprotein (NP) to form higher-order ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes. The polymerase is regulated temporally over the course of infection to ensure coordinated expression of viral genes as well as replication of the viral genome. Various host factors and processes have been implicated in regulation of the IAV polymerase function, including posttranslational modifications; however, the mechanisms are not fully understood. Here we demonstrate that ubiquitination plays an important role in stimulating polymerase activity. We show that all protein subunits in the RNP are ubiquitinated, but ubiquitination does not significantly alter protein levels. Instead, ubiquitination and an active proteasome enhance polymerase activity. Expression of ubiquitin upregulates polymerase function in a dose-dependent fashion, causing increased accumulation of viral RNA (vRNA), cRNA, and mRNA and enhanced viral gene expression during infection. Ubiquitin expression directly affects polymerase activity independent of nucleoprotein (NP) or ribonucleoprotein (RNP) assembly. Ubiquitination and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway play key roles during multiple stages of influenza virus infection, and data presented here now demonstrate that these processes modulate viral polymerase activity independent of protein degradation. IMPORTANCE The cellular ubiquitin-proteasome pathway impacts steps during the entire influenza virus life cycle. Ubiquitination suppresses replication by targeting viral proteins for degradation and stimulating innate antiviral signaling pathways. Ubiquitination also enhances replication by facilitating viral entry and virion disassembly. We identify here an addition proviral role of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, showing that all of the proteins in the viral replication machinery are subject to ubiquitination and this is crucial for optimal viral polymerase activity. Manipulation of the ubiquitin machinery for therapeutic benefit is therefore likely to disrupt the function of multiple viral proteins at stages throughout the course of infection.
Active Slip System Identification in Polycrystalline Metals by Digital Image Correlation (DIC)

In this paper, a novel approach was proposed to increase the confidence of active slip system identification in polycrystalline metals. The approach takes advantage of microscale deformation tracking via Digital Image Correlation (DIC) combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The experimentally-obtained high-resolution deformation fields were mapped to an undeformed configuration, which gives slip traces suitable for comparison with undeformed crystal orientation data. A metric, named herein as the ‘relative displacement ratio’ (RDR), is calculated from the displacement fields near slip traces to characterize the localized deformation due to slip. In validation cases, the experimentally-measured RDRs matched well with RDRs theoretically-calculated from active slip systems. In test cases, active slip system identification by incorporating RDR as an additional constraint was demonstrated to be preferable to using Schmid factor alone as a constraint. The proposed approach supplements existing techniques for slip system identification with increased confidence.
Quine and the Problem of Truth

Widespread deflationistic readings of Quine misrepresent his view of disquotation’s significance and the truth predicate’s utility. I demonstrate this by answering a question that philosophers have not directly addressed: how does Quine understand the philosophical problem of truth? A primary thesis of this paper is that we can answer this question only by working from within Quine’s naturalistic framework. Drawing on neglected texts from Quine's corpus, I defend the view that, for Quine, the problem of truth emerges from the development of science, in particular, from logical theorizing. I show that disquotation itself, from this Quinean point of view, is the problematic phenomenon calling for philosophical reflection. I conclude by arguing that Quine does not envisage the kind of explanatory role for disquotation taken up by contemporary deflationists, and he shows no interest in the task that animates deflationism, namely, to show that concerns with truth’s nature are fundamentally confused.
Defining Embodied Conscious Experience for the 21st Century

Thank you, Jeanne, for that lovely introduction. Jeanne Schul has been my professional colleague for over 25 years. I feel honored to have been introduced by such an accomplished professional, but ...
Lignin‐based carbon fibers: Accelerated stabilization of lignin fibers in the presence of hydrogen chloride

Organosolv switchgrass lignin (SGL) and hardwood lignin (HWL) polymers are used as precursors to prepare low cost carbon fibers (CFs). Lignin powder and fiber samples are stabilized and carbonized at different conditions to investigate the effect of HCl on thermal-oxidative stabilization time, mass yield, fiber diameter, and mechanical properties. The results show that HCl can accelerate stabilization and reduce the stabilization time from many hours to 75 min for the SGL fibers, and to 35 min for the HWL fiber. The rate of rapid stabilization in HCl/air is at least four times faster than conventional stabilization in air. The CFs prepared with two different stabilization methods have almost the same strength and modulus, but higher carbon yield is obtained with the rapid stabilization due to a short time of oxidation. Pores and defects observed on the surface and the cross-section of the CFs across all stabilization conditions contribute to low fiber strength. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45507.
How Can a Personal Connection Build Confidence in Your Graduate Nursing Journey

I wrapped my bright yellow stethoscope around my neck, pockets heavy with essential nursing tools and my clipboard clenched in my right hand. It was my first shift off orientation on the bone marrow transplantation unit at a teaching hospital in North Carolina. As I listened to the change-of-shift report, I felt my nerves on edge. I repeated "be the best nurse you can be" over and over in my head as I did my best to keep calm on that first day. That is what I remember from the first day and now, a few months later, I can reflect on what I learned and what "be the best nurse you can be" means to me.
RESPONSE OF LAMBS TO NORMAL AND IRRADIATED HAEMONCHUS CONTORTUS LARVAE

Publisher Summary This chapter explains the response of lambs to normal and irradiated Hemonchus contortus larvae. In a study discussed in the chapter, six to seven month-old helminth-free lambs were given, as a drench, 10, 000 ten-day old larvae that had been exposed to 4000 roentgens of X-irradiation. The larvae to be irradiated were removed from the culture sample, placed in a 60 × 15 mm plastic dish, and covered with a layer of distilled water 9 mm deep. The irradiation was done at room temperature using a General Electric Maximar unit. Two of the challenge control lambs died of hemonchosis 40 and 47 days, respectively, after they were infected. None of the vaccinates died, although the PCV dropped as low as 15% for one animal. At necropsy, the mean number of adult H. contortus recovered from the vaccinates was 8475, and the range was from 310 to 18, 260. The challenge controls had a mean of 13724 nematodes with a range of 1170 to 29460. The average body weights for both groups of lambs were the same at necropsy, although the total group weights were different as two of the control lambs had died.
“Standing by” for Bystander Effects: Dual-Isotope Imaging of Antibody–Drug Conjugate and Payload Distribution

> See the associated article on page [1461][1]. Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are a promising class of therapeutics for the molecular targeting of cancer. There is a significant pharmaceutical investment in this area, with more than 70 ADCs in various stages of clinical trials and 4 clinical
Regulation of type I interferon: It's HIP to be K2.

Uncontrolled expression of type I interferon (IFN-I) drives autoimmunity, necessitating the need for tight regulation. In this issue, Cao et al . reveal a role for the kinase HIPK2 in the transcriptional control of IFN-I during antiviral immune responses.
History of adolescent birth and diabetes in adulthood: a cross-sectional study of a nationally representative sample of American women.

Background: In the USA, 12–14% have type 2 diabetes mellitus and the incidence is rising. Adolescent birth has been shown to be associated with significant gestational weight gain and obesity in ad...
H. G. Wells and Planetary Prose

H. G. Wells’s novel, The First Men in the Moon (1901), presents a cogent and sustained challenge to the supremacy of empire, and does so from the standpoint of astronomy and the increasing knowledge of the heavens by the end of the nineteenth century. This planetary moment in early modernist writing signals a critical tradition of planetary consciousness that links astronomical research to critiques of capitalism. This chapter asks how Wells’s proto-modernist aesthetic (often occluded by his popular and romantic strains) co-emerges with a critique of imperialism sharpened by the new time and space scales of the globe(s) that emerge at the turn of the last century, to form a planetary prose.
Plasma-Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition of Acetylene on Codeposited Bimetal Catalysts Increasing Graphene Sheet Continuity Under Low-Temperature Growth Conditions

Here, we report a novel method for low-temperature synthesis of monolayer graphene at 450 °C on a polycrystalline bimetal Ni-Au catalyst. In this study, low-temperature chemical vapor deposition synthesis of graphene was performed at 450 °C on codeposited Ni-Au which shows successful monolayer graphene formation without an extra annealing process. The experimental results suggest that electron beam codeposition of bimetal catalyst is the key procedure that enables the elimination of the pre-growth high-temperature annealing of the catalyst prior to graphene synthesis, an indispensable process, used in previous reports. The formation was further improved by plasma-assisted growth in which the inductively coupled plasma ionizes the carbon precursors that interact with codeposited Ni-Au catalyst of 50 nm in thickness at 450 °C. These combined growth conditions drastically increase the graphene’s sheet uniformity and area connectivity from 11.6% to 99%. These fabrication parameters enable the graphene formation that shifts from a bulk diffusion-based growth model towards a surface based reaction. The technique reported here opens the opportunity for the low-temperature growth of graphene for potential use in future CMOS applications.
Complications After Soft Tissue With Plate vs Bony Mandibular Reconstruction: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

ObjectiveMandibular reconstruction for segmental defects is a well-studied topic. However, there are conflicting data on the risks of delayed plate-related complications. The objective of this syst...
Diagnosis and Treatment of Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Review.

Importance Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease, affecting an estimated more than 240 million people worldwide, including an estimated more than 32 million in the US. Osteoarthritis is the most frequent reason for activity limitation in adults. This Review focuses on hip and knee OA. Observations Osteoarthritis can involve almost any joint but typically affects the hands, knees, hips, and feet. It is characterized by pathologic changes in cartilage, bone, synovium, ligament, muscle, and periarticular fat, leading to joint dysfunction, pain, stiffness, functional limitation, and loss of valued activities, such as walking for exercise and dancing. Risk factors include age (33% of individuals older than 75 years have symptomatic and radiographic knee OA), female sex, obesity, genetics, and major joint injury. Persons with OA have more comorbidities and are more sedentary than those without OA. The reduced physical activity leads to a 20% higher age-adjusted mortality. Several physical examination findings are useful diagnostically, including bony enlargement in knee OA and pain elicited with internal hip rotation in hip OA. Radiographic indicators include marginal osteophytes and joint space narrowing. The cornerstones of OA management include exercises, weight loss if appropriate, and education—complemented by topical or oral nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in those without contraindications. Intra-articular steroid injections provide short-term pain relief and duloxetine has demonstrated efficacy. Opiates should be avoided. Clinical trials have shown promising results for compounds that arrest structural progression (eg, cathepsin K inhibitors, Wnt inhibitors, anabolic growth factors) or reduce OA pain (eg, nerve growth factor inhibitors). Persons with advanced symptoms and structural damage are candidates for total joint replacement. Racial and ethnic disparities persist in the use and outcomes of joint replacement. Conclusions and Relevance Hip and knee OA are highly prevalent and disabling. Education, exercise and weight loss are cornerstones of management, complemented by NSAIDs (for patients who are candidates), corticosteroid injections, and several adjunctive medications. For persons with advanced symptoms and structural damage, total joint replacement effectively relieves pain.
People before highways: Boston activists, urban planners, and a new movement for city making

The juggernaut of interstate highway development has left a profound imprint on every corner of the United States, fundamentally altering metropolitan regional space and literally paving the way fo...
Breast Cancer Stage Is Associated With Exceeding Target Price in the Oncology Care Model.

PURPOSE:To explore mean difference between Oncology Care Model (OCM) total costs and target price among breast cancer episodes by stage under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services OCM paym...
Determination of deoxynivalenol in whole wheat flour and wheat bran.

A liquid chromatographic (LC) method was developed for determining deoxynivalenol (DON) in whole wheat flour and wheat bran. A 15 g test sample was extracted with acetonitrile-water (84 + 16, vlv) and applied to a Romer MycoSep cleanup column. The eluate was dried and then reconstituted in a 0.1 M phosphate buffer, pH 7.0, and applied to a Vicam DONtest-LC cleanup column. The methanol eluate was chromatographed with a methanol-water (17 + 83, v/v) mobile phase on a C 18 column with UV detection at 220 nm. Five replicates at each of 5 fortification levels (0.25, 0.50, 1.0, 2.0, and 4.0 ppm), plus 5 controls, were determined for both whole wheat flour and wheat bran. For flour, the average recoveries were 72.2-91.5% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 4.9-18.4%. The intra-assay flour recovery was 82.4% with 9.8% RSD. A 5 replicate sample of naturally incurred wheat had an average of 1.1 ppm DON with 6.7% RSD. For bran, average recoveries of fortified samples were 69.5-99.7% with RSDs of 1.7-18.8%. The intra-assay bran recovery was 81.5% with 8.9% RSD. The limit of detection (about 3x noise) for the method is 0.05 ppm; the correlation coefficient (linearity) was >0.9995. The DON peak was clearly identified and easily integrated in the chromatograms.
Specification and verification of multi-user data-driven web applications

We propose a model for multi-user data-driven communicating Web applications. An arbitrary number of users may access the application concurrently through Web sites and Web services. AWeb service may have an arbitrary number of instances. The interaction between users and Web application is data-driven. Synchronous communication is done by shared access to the database and global application state. Private information may be stored in a local state. Asynchronous communication is done by message passing. A version of first-order linear time temporal logic (LTL-FO) is proposed to express behavioral properties of Web applications. The model is used to formally specify a significant fragment of an e-business application. Some of its desirable properties are expressed as LTL-FO formulas. We study a decision problem, namely whether the model satisfies an LTL-FO formula. We show the undecidability of the unrestricted verification problem and discuss some restrictions that ensure decidability.
The Soul of Justice: Bentham on Publicity, Law, and the Rule of Law

Publicity is a central concept of Bentham’s theory of law and governing. In Bentham’s view, security of society and its individual members is the focal aim and fundamental task of law. But law must be made, administered, adjudicated, and enforced; so if law is introduced into a political community, human beings must be entrusted with making, applying, and enforcing that law. Although law is the primary mode or instrument of governing, law governs only through the efforts of those who govern with it. But then, even as it seeks to secure us against the abuse of power, it creates new opportunities and resources for such abuse. Who is to guard the guardians? In Bentham’s view, the only effective solution to this problem lies in publicity, a robust and comprehensive system of public oversight of public power in all its forms. The rule of law is robust in a political community only when law rules, and law can only when there is among officials and law-subjects a rich ethos of reciprocal responsibilities and commitments to holding each other accountably under that law. This view articulates an ethics of the rule of law, but we also need an articulated account of the infrastructure of the rule of law, of the social conditions in which it thrives and the institutions that enable and empower it. Bentham’s reflections on publicity and “securities against misrule” promise to address this need and offer something of value to the long tradition of thinking about the rule of law. They offer not an alternative to the idea and ideology of the rule of law, but rather than an elaborated conception of the rule of law.
Preclinical Evaluation of 4-[18F]Fluoroglutamine PET to Assess ASCT2 Expression in Lung Cancer.

Purpose Alanine-serine-cysteine transporter 2 (ASCT2) expression has been demonstrated as a promising lung cancer biomarker. (2S,4R)-4-[18F]Fluoroglutamine (4-[18F]fluoro-Gln) positron emission tomography (PET) was evaluated in preclinical models of non-small cell lung cancer as a quantitative, non-invasive measure of ASCT2 expression.
In Vitro Sperm Capacitation and In Vitro Fertilization with Normal Development in the Rabbit

The objective was to obtain in vitro sperm capacitation and fertilization to approximate the normal in vivo processes. Rabbit oocytes from follicles, ovarian surfaces, and oviducts were fertilized in vitro with ejaculated spermatozoa which were treated with high ionic strength followed by preincubation in defined conditions for 12 to 22 hours. Five bucks were studied and, in general, high sperm motility scores favored high levels of fertilization. In all, 305 (55%) of 553 oocytes were fertilized and 244 (80% of those fertilized) developed to the four-cell stage within 24 hours; early blastocysts developed in culture. Transfer of 39 four-cell embryos into three recipients resulted in seven live young. Marked improvement both in percentages of fertilization and in four-cell stage development within 24 hours followed the transfer of oocytes from sperm suspensions after 6 hours. In vitro capacitated spermatozoa fertilized 62% of ova in vivo after tubal insemination 13 hours after Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG). Thus, in vitro capacitation and in vitro fertilization approximate the normal in vivo events.
Effect of geometric discontinuities on failure of pultruded GFRP columns in axial compression

Abstract This paper presents the failure characteristics of pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) columns loaded in concentric compression. Of interest is the effect of geometric discontinuities on the behavior of the columns, including a bolted splice or utility holes. The local- and global-responses of the columns are examined through a hybrid approach consisting of laboratory experiment and finite element modeling: the test encompasses a total of 50 columns and the model has varying slenderness ratios up to 150. Bolted connections at column supports result in stress concentrations accompanied by crack initiation and propagation, thereby reducing the load-bearing capacity. Tear-up or edge-splitting dominates failure modes at the bolted connections. Spliced members experience fiber misalignment and out-of-plane behavior because of displacement incompatibility between the inner and outer GFRP members bolted together. A weak link provided by side holes, whether symmetric or asymmetric configurations, causes a reduction in axial stiffness and diagonal shearing. The results of modeling indicate that buckling capacity of the column significantly decreases beyond a slenderness ratio of 75 and the presence of side holes is not a contributing factor to the stability of the columns. The design expressions proposed are simpler than existing ones, while provide sufficiently accurate capacity prediction for practice.
Specification, analysis and generation of a reusable FMS flight planning architecture

This paper describes the iterative process used to model, analyze, and generate a reusable flight management system (FMS) flight planning architecture. This reusable architecture, designed to address existing and anticipated requirements of the changing CNS/ATM environment, has been modeled using multiple, concurrent architectural views. This paper describes these views and the tools used to model and evolve this reusable architecture into its associated product implementations. Finally, the paper briefly describes the insertion of this architecture across our company's FMS product lines.
On the use of log-transformation versus nonlinear regression for analyzing biological power laws

Xiao and colleagues re-examined 471 datasets from the literature in a major study comparing two common procedures for fitting the allometric equation y = axb to bivariate data (Xiao et al., 2011). One of the procedures was the traditional allometric method, whereby the model for a straight line fitted to logarithmic transformations of the original data is back-transformed to form a two-parameter power function with multiplicative, lognormal, heteroscedastic error on the arithmetic scale. The other procedure was standard nonlinear regression, whereby a two-parameter power function with additive, normal, homoscedastic error is fitted directly to untransformed data by nonlinear least squares. Xiao and colleagues articulated a simple (but explicit) protocol for fitting and comparing the alternative models, and then used the protocol to examine each of the datasets in their compilation. The traditional method was said to provide a better fit in 69% of the cases and an equivalent fit in another 15%, so the investigation appeared to validate findings from a large majority of prior studies on allometric variation. However, focus for the investigation by Xiao and colleagues was overly narrow, and statistical models apparently were not validated graphically in the scale of measurement. The present study re-examined a subset of the cases using a larger pool of candidate models and graphical validation, and discovered complexities that were overlooked in their investigation. Some datasets that appeared to be described better by the traditional method actually were unsuited for use in an allometric analysis, whereas other datasets were not described adequately by a two-parameter power function, regardless of how the model was fitted. Thus, conclusions reached by Xiao and colleagues are not well supported and their paradigm for fitting allometric equations is unreliable. Future investigations of allometric variation should adopt a more holistic approach and incorporate graphical validation on the original arithmetic scale. © 2014 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 113, 1167–1178.
Fine pitch thermosonic wire bonding

Characterization in a manufacturing environment, under normal operating conditions using standardized material, provides further information on machine performance, capillary suitability, and potential problems to be anticipated and prepared for during manufacturing implementation. The current work has focused on establishing process capability for bonding both 85 /spl mu/m (3.4 mil) and 73 /spl mu/m (2.9 mil) minimum pad dimensions on 107 /spl mu/m (4.2 mil) and 92 /spl mu/m (3.6 mil) centers, respectively. Two state-of-the-art fully automatic thermosonic gold wire bonders, from two different equipment manufacturers, were used.
Averaged model of vibration of a damped elastic medium

We consider an initial boundary-value problem used to describe the nonstationary vibration of an elastic medium with large number of small cavities filled with a viscous incompressible fluid. We study the asymptotic behavior of the solution in the case where the diameters of the cavities tend to zero, their number tends to infinity, and the cavities occupy a three-dimensional region. We construct an averaged equation to describe the leading term of the asymptotics. This equation serves as a model of propagation of waves in various media, such as damped soil, rocks, and some biological tissues.