cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Domain of E. coli DNA polymerase I showing sequence homology to T7 DNA polymerase

Escherichia coli contains three DNA polymerases that differ in their size, ability to interact with accessory proteins and biological function1. Monomeric DNA polymerase I (Pol I) has a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 103,000 (103K) and is involved primarily in the repair of damaged DNA and the processing of Okazaki fragments; polymerase II is of Mr 120K, and polymerase III has a Mr of 140K, is responsible for the replication of the DNA chromosome and is just one of several proteins that are required for replication. DNA polymerases from bacteriophage as well as those of eukaryotic viral and cellular origin also differ with respect to their size and the number of associated proteins that are required for them to function in replication1. However, the template-directed copying of DNA is identical in all cases. The crystal structure2 of the large proteolytic fragment of Pol I shows that it consists of two domains, the larger of which contains a deep crevice whose dimensions are such that it can bind duplex DNA. The T7 polymerase consists of two subunits, the 80K gene 5 protein and the host-encoded 12K thioredoxin of E. coli3,4. We show here that there is an amino acid sequence homology between at least eight polypeptide segments that form the large cleft in the Klenow fragment and polypeptides in T7 DNA polymerase gene 5 protein, suggesting that this domain evolved from a common precursor. The parts of the Pol I and T7 DNA polymerase molecules that bind the DNA substrate appear to share common structural features, and these features may be shared by all of these varied DNA polymerases.
Progesterone metabolism by uterine tissue of pregnant rats

Abstract The amount of progesterone metabolized during one hour incubations of uterine tissue from pregnant rats was determined. A tenfold increase in metabolic activity was observed between day 11 and day 21 of pregnancy when the results were expressed as nanograms of progesterone metabolized per gram of tissue per hour. A seventyfold increase was observed in the same period when the results were expressed in terms of nanograms of progesterone metabolized per whole uterus per hour. The major products were identified as 5α-pregnane-3,20-dione and 3a-hydroxy-5α-pregnan-20-one. Administration of luteinizing hormone and estrone in midpregnancy significantly increased the rate of in vitro progesterone metabolism by the uterus. Administration of progesterone and prolactin afer day 18 prevented normal parturition and significantly decreased the rate of in vitvo progesterone metabolism by the uterus. The results suggest a possible relationship between the progesterone-reducing activity of the rat uterus and uterine progesterone concentration during pregnancy, and suggest an effect of several hormones on uterine enzyme activity.
Splenectomy in patients with traumatic brain injury: Protective or harmful? A National Trauma Data Bank analysis

BACKGROUND: Experimental data have demonstrated a potential survival benefit for animals undergoing splenectomy immediately after traumatic brain injury. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of splenectomy on survival in patients with moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). METHODS: This is a National Trauma Data Bank (2002-2009) analysis and included patients sustaining moderate or severe blunt head trauma (head Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] score, 3-5), with an associated splenic injury and an exploratory laparotomy. The population was divided into two arms: those that had a splenectomy and those who did not. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Logistic regression was performed to adjust for factors that were significantly different between the study groups. RESULTS: During the 9-year study period, 2,625 patients met the criteria for inclusion in the analysis. Of these, 1,450 (55%) had a splenectomy, and 1,175 (45%) did not. Mortality was 13% for the splenectomized compared with 9% for the nonsplenectomized population (p = 0.001). After logistic regression, mortality remained significantly higher in the splenectomized population (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-2.26; p = 0.005). After stratification according to the severity of brain injury, the association between splenectomy and increased mortality persisted for both patients with moderate head injury (8% vs. 6%; AOR, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.26-4.71; p = 0.008) and for patients with severe head injury (17% vs. 10%; AOR, 1.49; 95% CI, 1.03-2.19; p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Splenectomy was independently associated with increased mortality in patients with moderate or severe TBI. This finding warrants further investigation regarding splenic preservation in patients with TBI. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic study, level IV. Language: en
Auditory systems of heteromyidae: cochlear diversity.

Cochleae (125) from 26 species of the rodent family Heteromyidae (genera Dipodomys. Microdipodops, Perognathus, and Liomys) were compared. In Perognathus and Liomys the scala tympani in the apical portion is extremely narrow with a correspondingly minute helicotrema. In Liomys there is no bone separating scala tympani from spiral ganglion in the upper second and entire third turn. In all species studied the zona pectinata of the basilar membrane is enlarged, with a hyaline mass between upper and lower basilar membrane fibers. This zona pectinata hypertrophy is least at the base of the cochlea and greatest in the upper second turn, decreasing again toward the apex. Basilar membrane width increases rapidly in the first turn and then changes only slightly. Except for Liomys, all the heteromyids studied have hypertrophied Hensen's cells with long apical processes supporting and forming an elevated reticular lamina. These Hensen's cells reach their maximum size in the upper second and lower third turns; throughout they rest on inner Claudius' cells rather than the basilar membrane. Relative to naso-occipital length the cochlear specializations are greatest in Microdipodops and least in Liomys just as is the case for middle ear modifications. The morphological data are consistent with the concept that standing wave phenomena may be important in heteromyid cochlear biomechanics. Single unit data of other workers are also consistent with this interpretation. Like middle ear morphology, inner ear morphology appears adapted to low-frequency sensitivity–especially in Dipodomys and Microdipodops.
64.3: Flicker Visibility: A Perceptual Metric for Display Flicker

Display flicker is an old problem with renewed importance in modern displays. Current metrics of display flicker are overly complicated and do not report the visibility of the artifact in just-noticeable differences (JNDs). We propose a new perceptual metric - flicker visibility - measured in JNDs.
Transmission failure rate for computed tomography examinations in a filmless imaging department

The purpose of the study was to determine the frequency and causes of unsuccessful computed tomography (CT) transmissions in a filmless imaging department and to determine the added efficiency gains provided by the sequential addition of modality worklist software and a major network upgrade. Prospective data on CT transmission error rates were recorded over an 18-month period. During the study interval, modality worklist functionality was added, followed by a network upgrade. Failed transmissions were categorized as to the source of the error (humanv technical), and the specific problem encountered. Prior to the introduction of modality worklist software, the initial CT transmission failure rate was 7.6%, which was primarily the result of human error (69%), in the form of data entry error. Upon the introduction of modality worklist software, the transmission failure rate decreased to 3.5%, with human error accounting for only 16% of all failed transmissions. The subsequent addition of a network upgrade from shared Ethernet to switched Ethernet further reduced the transmission failure rate to 2.0%, which was believed to be the result of a reduction in the number of network collisions. Other sources of failed transmission occur at the levels of the CT scanner (network interface card), picture archiving and communication system (PACS)/hospital information system (HIS) interface, and modality gateway. When planning the transmission from film-based to filmless operation, one should consider various hardware, software, and infrastructural requirements to ensure successful PACS implementation. Software upgrades, in the form of modality worklist software, serve to improve technologist productivity by minimizing data entry error. Infrastructural changes, in the form of network upgrading, ensure proper dissemination of electronic data with decreased frequency of network collisions. Collectively, these improvements lead to enhanced transmission of digital images, resulting in productivity gains within the filmless CT department.
Solid-phase permethylation of glycans for mass spectrometric analysis

A miniaturized approach was developed for quantitative permethylation of oligosaccharides, which involves packing of sodium hydroxide powder in microspin columns or fused-silica capillaries (500 microm i.d.), permitting effective derivatization in less than a minute at microscale. Prior to mass spectrometry, analytes are mixed with methyl iodide in dimethyl sulfoxide solution containing traces of water before infusing through the microreactors. This procedure minimizes oxidative degradation and peeling reactions and avoids the need of excessive clean-up. Picomole amounts of linear and branched, sialylated and neutral glycan samples were rapidly and efficiently permethylated by this approach and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.
Amplification of tumor inducing putative cancer stem cells (CSCs) by vitamin A/retinol from mammary tumors.

Highlights: •Vitamin A supports self renewal of putative CSCs from mammary tumors. •These cells exhibit impaired retinol metabolism into retinoic acid. •CSCs from mammary tumors differentiate into mammary specific cell lineages. •The cells express mammary stem cell specific CD29 and CD49f markers. •Putative CSCs form highly metastatic tumors in NOD SCID mouse. -- Abstract: Solid tumors contain a rare population of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are responsible for relapse and metastasis. The existence of CSC however, remains highly controversial issue. Here we present the evidence for putative CSCs from mammary tumors amplified by vitamin A/retinol signaling. The cells exhibit mammary stem cell specific CD29{sup hi}/CD49f{sup hi}/CD24{sup hi} markers, resistance to radiation and chemo therapeutic agents and form highly metastatic tumors in NOD/SCID mice. The cells exhibit indefinite self renewal as cell lines. Furthermore, the cells exhibit impaired retinol metabolism and do not express enzymes that metabolize retinol into retinoic acid. Vitamin A/retinol also amplified putative CSCs from breast cancer cell lines that form highly aggressive tumors in NOD SCID mice. The studies suggest that high purity putative CSCs can be isolated from solid tumors to establish patient specific cell lines for personalized therapeutics for pre-clinical translational applications. Characterization ofmore » CSCs will allow understanding of basic cellular and molecular pathways that are deregulated, mechanisms of tumor metastasis and evasion of therapies that has direct clinical relevance.« less
Are species sets

I construe the question ‘Are species sets?’ as a question about whether species can be conceived of as sets, as the term ‘set’ is understood by contemporary logicians. The question is distinct from the question ‘Are species classes?’: The conception of classes invoked by Hull and others differs from the logician's conception of a set. I argue that species can be conceived of as sets, insofar as one could identify a set with any given species and that identification would satisfy three desiderata: the set would be a set of organisms, the identification would be apposite, and the identification would permit the formulation of statements about species in set-theoretic terms. One cannot, however, identify a species with any given set. Understanding the claim that species are sets in this way enables one to understand better the dispute between some who accept the claim (e.g., Kitcher 1984, 1987) and some who apparently reject it (e.g., Mayr 1987).
The Viability Index: A survival score for perfusion patients

Abstract The Oxygen Pressure Field Theory predicts the development of a lethal corner (LC) within each capillary unit caused by a pathologic or iatrogenic reduction of perfused capillary density. The theoretical LC is defined by anoxic and/or hypercapnic tissues within individual capillary units. The LC configuration is theoretical, but tissues that are, for any reason, partially anoxic and/or hypercapnic can be detected using the corrected anion gap and the venoarterial carbon dioxide gradient of the blood. These two values are combined to yield a ‘Viability Index’ (VI). The VI is predictive of morbidity and mortality in patients prior to the initiation of extracorporeal support, can guide the perfusionist in designing a strategy that employs tactics more likely to result in a successful outcome among perfusion patients, and is helpful in assessing the status of patients whose vital signs are artificially sustained by extracorporeal perfusion support.
Adverse outcomes associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease are rare following an apparent life‐threatening event

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate for adverse outcomes associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) following an apparent life-threatening event (ALTE) and potential risk factors of these outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study of well-appearing infants (<12 months) admitted for ALTE. Patients were followed for adverse outcomes associated with GERD (including aspiration pneumonia, failure-to-thrive, or anti-reflux surgery), second ALTE, or death. Risk factors evaluated included: age, prematurity, gender, previous event, diagnosis of GERD, gastrointestinal (GI) testing positive for gastroesophageal reflux, length of stay (LOS), and neurologic impairment diagnosed in follow-up. RESULTS: Four hundred sixty-nine patients met inclusion criteria, mean age was 45 days, 110 (22%) were premature. Patients were followed for an average of 7.8 years; 3.8% of all patients had an adverse outcome associated with GERD. The only significant risk factors were a longer LOS, and development of neurological impairment. A diagnosis of GERD and positive reflux testing during the initial hospitalization were not associated with adverse outcomes associated with GERD. CONCLUSIONS: Adverse outcomes associated with GERD are rare following an ALTE. Patients who developed neurological impairment and a longer initial LOS were at higher risk for developing these outcomes. Positive testing for gastroesophageal reflux during hospitalization for ALTE did not predict adverse outcomes associated with GERD. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012;. © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine
Studying chaos via 1-D maps-a tutorial

In this introductory tutorial paper, we show how 1-D maps can be useful in analyzing experimentally the chaotic dynamics and bifurcations of circuits and systems. We illustrate this by means of Chua's circuit. >
Beyond “Making It” or Not: Future Talk by Incarcerated Young Men

This article explores how incarcerated young men talked about the future. I use theories of cultural capital and methods informed by critical discourse analysis to analyze interviews with 15 young ...
Imaging of Port Wine Stain Lesions Using a Multi-Sensor Photoacoustic Probe

Successful treatment of port wine stain (PWS) birthmarks in human skin utilizes cryogen spray cooling (CSC) in conjunction with laser treatment. CSC pre-cools the epidermis to protect it from subsequent laser irradiation which raises the temperature of both the epidermis and the deeper PWS. As the epidermal temperature is depressed by cryogen, damage to the skin surface is minimized while the PWS reaches temperatures sufficient to permanently damage the lesion. In order to optimize cooling and laser heating dosages and to properly guide laser therapy, the spatial relationship of epidermal melanin and PWS must be known. Photoacoustic depth profiling of human skin uses low energy, nanosecond pulses of laser light to induce acoustic waves in optically absorbing media, such as blood and melanin. We used a 532 nm Nd:YAG laser to measure total epidermal melanin content in human skin, comparing the results with visible reflectance spectroscopy. Furthermore, we performed numerical simulations of photoacoustic generation in skin, showing that a hemisperical acoustic sensor array could be used to reconstruct the rete pattern of epidermal melanin in the basal layer. Finally, we built a hemispherical probe for use in future experiments for imaging of human skin.
Template-Based Information Extraction without the Templates

Standard algorithms for template-based information extraction (IE) require predefined template schemas, and often labeled data, to learn to extract their slot fillers (e.g., an embassy is the Target of a Bombing template). This paper describes an approach to template-based IE that removes this requirement and performs extraction without knowing the template structure in advance. Our algorithm instead learns the template structure automatically from raw text, inducing template schemas as sets of linked events (e.g., bombings include detonate, set off, and destroy events) associated with semantic roles. We also solve the standard IE task, using the induced syntactic patterns to extract role fillers from specific documents. We evaluate on the MUC-4 terrorism dataset and show that we induce template structure very similar to hand-created gold structure, and we extract role fillers with an F1 score of .40, approaching the performance of algorithms that require full knowledge of the templates.
Indicator-dilution methods: Indicators, injection, sampling and mixing problems in measurement of ventricular volume

Abstract The indicator-dilution method for measuring left ventricular volume is reviewed as to theory, historical development, indicators and sensing devices employed, results obtained and criticisms of the method. This method is a further development of the indicator-dilution technic originally described by Stewart in 1894 for studying the circulation. In measuring ventricular volume, indicator is injected into the ventricle, and its concentration in the ejected blood is recorded immediately down-stream to the aortic valve by means of a system having a short dynamic response-time. The record obtained is a logarithmically decaying, step-function, indicator concentration-beat curve. Since the quantity of injected indicator is known, the end-diastolic, end-systolic and stroke volumes can be calculated if it is assumed that the aortic blood concentrations measured from beat to beat represent the concentrations in the ventricle before each ejection. Studies employing numerous indicators (concentrated sodium chloride solution, T-1824, indocyanine green, cold solutions and radio-active I-131-labeled Diodrast) on a variety of mammals ranging in body size from the horse to the rabbit, and including man, have shown that the left ventricle normally ejects slightly less than half of its end-diastolic volume with each beat. This ejected fraction is frequently reduced in cardiac disease. Although the volumes and residual fractions obtained by the wide variety of indicator-dilution technics are in general agreement, the end-systolic volumes and residual fractions estimated by means of the angiocardiographic technic are smaller. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are discussed.
Nuclear translocation and DNA recognition signals colocalized within the bZIP domain of cyclic adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate response element-binding protein CREB.

CREB is a cAMP-responsive nuclear DNA-binding protein that binds to cAMP response elements and stimulates gene transcription upon activation of the cAMP signalling pathway. The protein consists of an amino-terminal transcriptional transactivation domain and a carboxyl-terminal DNA-binding domain (bZIP domain) comprised of a basic region and a leucine zipper involved in DNA recognition and dimerization, respectively. Recently, we discovered a testis-specific transcript of CREB that contains an alternatively spliced exon encoding multiple stop codons. CREB encoded by this transcript is a truncated protein lacking the bZIP domain. We postulated that the antigen detected by CREB antiserum in the cytoplasm of germinal cells is the truncated CREB that must also lack its nuclear translocation signal (NTS). To test this hypothesis we prepared multiple expression plasmids encoding carboxyl-terminal deletions of CREB and transiently expressed them in COS-1 cells. By Western immunoblot analysis as well as immunocyto...
Automated component insourcing for mobile applications: undoing premature or ill-conceived offloading optimizations

To alleviate the resource constraints of mobile devices, developers of mobile applications commonly apply the cloud offloading optimization-placing an application's energy and performance intensive functionality to execute at a remote cloud server. Because of the high heterogeneity of mobile hardware and the variability of mobile networks, a cloud offloading optimization may become detrimental to energy consumption and performance efficiency. Reverting to the original, non-distributed version of the application may be infeasible, as the client and server parts may since have been maintained and enhanced independently. In that case, the components executed at the server for optimization purposes need to be moved to be executed on the mobile device; the moved components must be integrated with the rest of the application's functionality. To assist software developers with this non-trivial program restructuring, this paper introduces component insourcing, an automated program transformation that moves a remotely accessed component to be invoked locally, within a shared address space. This position paper motivates the need for component insourcing and demonstrates how this transformation can be implemented in the Java realm. The paper also discusses the technical difficulties of preserving the original component behavior and ensuring good performance in the presence of component insourcing.
Discriminating ripple-fired explosions with high-frequency (> 16 Hz) data

Most ripple-fired explosions have a unique signature in the spectrum that can be used to quickly identify them when monitoring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We want to know the importance of high-frequency (> 16 Hz) seismic data in identifying these explosions. The deployable seismic verification system (DSVS) in Wyoming records data up to 50 Hz with good signal to noise, so it is an excellent source for determining the benefits of recording data over 16 Hz. We developed a database of 118 known earthquakes and 176 known ripple-fired explosions. We calculated a binary spectrogram and an average binary spectrum for each event and developed criteria based on the number of peaks and nulls above certain thresholds to classify events as ripple-fired explosions. Using data at frequencies up to 50 Hz, 50% of the known ripple-fired explosions were correctly identified, and another 22% had banding in the spectrogram but did not meet the established criteria. The other 27% of the known ripple-fired explosions had no banding. To test the importance of high-frequency (> 16 Hz) data, we recalculated spectrograms between 0 and 16 Hz for the 135 known ripple-fired explosions and earthquakes that had banding. Eleven of the 135 could not be identified correctly if data over 16 Hz was excluded; 5 had information at frequencies over 16 Hz that was critical to seeing any banding. But the vast majority of events were correctly identified in the pass band of 0 to 16 Hz, suggesting that higher-frequency data do not significantly help to identify most ripple-fired explosions in Wyoming.
Design studies for distributed Bragg reflectors for short-cavity edge-emitting lasers

In conventional edge-emitting lasers, mirror reflectivity is /spl sim/0.3-0.4 so that very short cavities have an unacceptable loss. To decrease the mirror losses, one can conceive of an external distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) structure produced by etching. We examine the design considerations for such mirrors. Using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) scheme, we numerically simulate the propagation of a Gaussian wave packet in a laser cavity with an external DBR structure on one end. We find that despite the divergence of light at the semiconductor-air interface, high reflectivities (>90%) can be obtained using only a few mirrors, provided a low refractive index material (such as air) is one of the components of the DBR period. In our modeling, we include fluctuations based on factors such as lithographical error, etch error, and off-design wavelength lasing. Our results indicate that the external DBR is highly tolerant of such factors. In addition, simulations done using material with higher refractive index than air in the DBR structure indicate that it is possible for insulators to be deposited in the DBR structure, yet allow high reflectivity.
Enhanced Vascular Reactivity During Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthesis in Pregnant Rats

Pregnancy-induced hypertension has been suggested to be mediated by several mechanisms, including reduced nitric oxide (NO) synthesis. In this study, the effects of chronic treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) on blood pressure and the underlying changes in vascular reactivity were investigated in virgin and late-pregnancy Sprague-Dawley rats. The systolic blood pressure was 120+/-2, 124+/-5, 116+/-4, and 171+/-5 mm Hg in untreated virgin, virgin treated with L-NAME, untreated pregnant, and pregnant treated with L-NAME rats, respectively. The rats were killed, and the thoracic aorta was cut into strips for measurement of active stress in response to alpha1-adrenergic stimulation with phenylephrine and membrane depolarization by high KCl. In pregnant rats, the maximal active stress to phenylephrine (0.31+/-0.03 x 10(4) N/m2) and the high-KCl-induced active stress (0.55+/-0.09 x 10(4) N/m2) were smaller than those in virgin rats. By contrast, in the L-NAME-treated pregnant rats, the maximal phenylephrine-induced active stress (0.76+/-0.1 x 10(4) N/m2) was greater than that in virgin rats (0.52+/-0.1 x 10(4) N/m2), whereas the high-KCl-induced active stress (1.08+/-0.14 x 10(4) N/m2) was indistinguishable from that in virgin rats (1.03+/-0.14 x 10(4) N/m2). Treatment with L-NAME did not affect the phenylephrine-releasable Ca2+ stores in pregnant rats and had minimal effect on active stress in virgin rats. Thus, reduction of NO synthesis during late pregnancy is associated with a significant increase in blood pressure and vascular responsiveness to alpha-adrenergic stimulation, which can possibly be explained in part by enhanced Ca2+ entry from extracellular space. However, other mechanisms such as increased myofilament force sensitivity to Ca2+ and/or activation of a completely Ca2+-independent mechanism cannot be excluded.
Ghost image behavior in Wolter type I x-ray telescopes

In Wolter type I grazing incidence telescopes, ghost images result whenever unreflected x rays or singly reflected x rays pass through the telescope and impinge on the focal plane. These ghost images degrade image quality and can be eliminated by appropriately positioned stops and baffles. However, conflicting demands can be placed on an aperture design by requirements for field of view, vignetting, and ghost image control. These problems are particularly severe for high energy x-ray telescopes which require very small grazing angles of incidence. We have developed and used analytical and numerical tools to perform parametric analyses of ghost image behavior and to obtain an aperture plate design capability that can be utilized to satisfy specific ghost image requirements.
Intraspecific priority effects and disease interact to alter population growth

Intraspecific variation may shape colonization of new habitat patches through a variety of mechanisms. In particular, trait variation among colonizing individuals can produce intraspecific priority effects (IPEs), where early arrivers of a single species affect the establishment or growth of later conspecifics. While we have some evidence for the importance of IPEs, we lack a general understanding of factors affecting their presence or magnitude across a landscape. Specifically, IPEs should depend strongly on success of colonizers in the new habitat patch. This success hinges on interactions between colonizer traits and local selective pressures, but such context dependence remains unexplored experimentally. We addressed this gap by looking for the dynamical signature of IPEs in environments with and without a selective (parasite) pressure. We tested whether IPEs affected the population dynamics of a zooplankton host species (Daphnia dentifera) collected from two populations showing a tradeoff between growth rate and resistance to a fungal parasite (Metschnikowia bicuspidata). Differences in arrival order significantly altered population growth during a period of rapid resource depletion, driving large (up to 65%) differences in population abundance. Furthermore, the presence of IPEs was context dependent, as parasites reduced the impact of early arrivers on later arrivers. Such context-dependent IPEs, mediated by colonizer traits, colonization order, and selective pressures, may play an unanticipated role in the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of natural metapopulations. This mechanism highlights the overall importance of intraspecific variation for understanding ecological patterns.
Balancing QCA logic gates under image charge neutralization

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) devices for computing through energy relaxation via quantum mechanical effects, promise high speed, very low power, and extremely high density. Steady progress has been made in implementing QCA; a small binary logic device has recently been manufactured and its logical switching behavior demonstrated. However, computation with hierarchical assemblies of primitive logic devices has not yet been demonstrated. Earlier work has shown that the four ground states of the originally proposed automata for implementing AND and OR are at slightly different energy levels. Because of this, certain combinations of these gates relax to ground states that encode an incorrect computation. A previously proposed construct, which essentially computes all four ground states simultaneously and thus evens out the disparities, works well under the idealized charge neutralization scheme originally proposed by the inventors of QCA. Unfortunately, under the more realistic image charge neutralization, the construction has only slightly better characteristics than the original gates and only then when the separation distance between the automaton and the metal layer generating the image charges is rather small. This paper investigates methods for evening out the disparate ground states in the presence of image charge neutralization. Previously, it was shown that the more symmetric the automaton, the better its computational behavior under image charge neutralization. It is shown that adding symmetry also reduces the disparity in ground states and a new construct for balancing QCA logic gates is presented.
Attribute fusion in a latent process model for time series of graphs

We consider anomaly/change point detection given a time series of graphs with categorical attributes on the edges. Various attributed graph invariants are considered, and their power for detection as a function of a linear fusion parameter is presented.
{Efficient Second-Order Gradient Boosting for Conditional Random Fields}

Conditional random elds (CRFs) are an important class of models for accurate structured prediction, but eective design of the feature functions is a major challenge when applying CRF models to real world data. Gradient boosting, which is used to automatically induce and select feature functions, is a natural candidate solution to the problem. However, it is non-trivial to derive gradient boosting algorithms for CRFs due to the dense Hessian matrices introduced by variable dependencies. Existing approaches thus use only rst-order information when optimizing likelihood, and hence face convergence issues. We incorporate second-order information by deriving a Markov Chain mixing rate bound to quantify the dependencies, and introduce a gradient boosting algorithm that iteratively optimizes an adaptive upper bound of the objective function. The resulting algorithm induces and selects features for CRFs via functional space optimization, with provable convergence guarantees. Experimental results on three real world datasets demonstrate that the mixing rate based upper bound is eective for learning CRFs with non-linear potentials.
Response: Pew Research Center

We are grateful that the Pew Research Center’s 2013 Survey of U.S. Jews and our follow-up report, “A Portrait of American Orthodox Jews,” continue to generate discussion among scholars of American Jewry. In this essay, we provide additional background about how and why we produced the portrait of Orthodox Jews and attempt to answer some of the questions raised by the essays in this volume, especially regarding differences between Orthodox Jewish men and women.
An insight into non-emissive excited states in conjugated polymers

Conjugated polymers in the solid state usually exhibit low fluorescence quantum yields, which limit their applications in many areas such as light-emitting diodes. Despite considerable research efforts, the underlying mechanism still remains controversial and elusive. Here, the nature and properties of excited states in the archetypal polythiophene are investigated via aggregates suspended in solvents with different dielectric constants (ɛ). In relatively polar solvents (ɛ>∼ 3), the aggregates exhibit a low fluorescence quantum yield (QY) of 2-5%, similar to bulk films, however, in relatively nonpolar solvents (ɛ<∼ 3) they demonstrate much higher fluorescence QY up to 20-30%. A series of mixed quantum-classical atomistic simulations illustrate that dielectric induced stabilization of nonradiative charge-transfer (CT) type states can lead to similar drastic reduction in fluorescence QY as seen experimentally. Fluorescence lifetime measurement reveals that the CT-type states exist as a competitive channel of the formation of emissive exciton-type states.
Hemodynamics of Endotoxin Shock in the Rat and the Effects of Phenoxybenzamine.

SummaryWe have investigated the hemo-dynamics of endotoxin shock in the rat and the influence of phenoxybenzamine. Within a few minutes after injecting endotoxin there was a marked rise in portal venous pressure and a fall in both arterial pressure and mesen-teric blood flow. Considerable recovery of these values toward control occurred within 30 minutes after administration of endotoxin, following which there was a gradual decline in measured parameters till death. Animals pretreated with phenoxybenzamine had lower portal and arterial pressures and mesenteric blood flow before injection of endotoxin. The magnitude and direction of the early vascular responses to endotoxin were the same as in rats not administered the adrenergic blocking agent; however, arterial pressure and mesenteric perfusion failed to recover from the early effects of endotoxin in rats receiving phenoxybenzamine. Furthermore, prior treatment with phenoxybenzamine conferred no protection against the lethality of endotoxin although it r...
MODEL SELECTION FOR CORRELATED DATA WITH DIVERGING NUMBER OF PARAMETERS

High-dimensional longitudinal data arise frequently in biomedical and genomic research. It is important to select relevant covariates when the dimension of the parameters diverges as the sample size increases.We propose the penalized quadratic inference function to perform model selection and estimation simultane- ously in the framework of a diverging number of regression parameters. The penal- ized quadratic inference function can easily take correlation information from clus- tered data into account, yet it does not require specifying the likelihood function. This is advantageous compared to existing model selection methods for discrete data with large cluster size. In addition, the proposed approach enjoys the oracle property; it is able to identify non-zero components consistently with probability tending to 1, and any finite linear combination of the estimated non-zero compo- nents has an asymptotic normal distribution. We propose an efficient algorithm by selecting an effective tuning parameter to solve the penalized quadratic inference function. Monte Carlo simulation studies have the proposed method selecting the correct model with a high frequency and estimating covariate effects accurately even when the dimension of parameters is high. We illustrate the proposed approach by analyzing periodontal disease data.
Legionella feeleii–Associated Pneumonia in Humans

Legionella feeleii has been implicated by serologic studies as the causative agent in an outbreak of Pontiac fever and has been recovered from an institutional water source. Pneumonia caused by this agent has not been described previously. The authors have isolated L. feeleii from two immunosuppressed patients with community-acquired pneumonia and from an institutional water source. One patient survived after treatment with erythromycin. The other patient was leukopenic and died of pneumonia. Isolates exhibited typical cultural and biochemical features of L. feeleii and reacted with L. feeleii serogroup 1 antiserum. L. feeleii serogroup 1 is now known to cause not only Pontiac fever but also pneumonia in humans.
Seasonal Occurrence of Heliothis Larvae on Cotton in Louisiana

The bollworm, Heliothis zea (Boddie), and the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens (F.), are becoming increasingly important as cotton pests in Louisiana. Resistance to DDT in H. zea was first detected during 1958 (Graves et al. 1963) and now occurs in all the major cotton-producing areas of the State. However, H. virescens collected from the same fields where H. zea exhibited high levels of resistance to DDT showed no signs of having developed resistance to any of the insecticides used for cotton-insect control (Graves et al. 1964). As a result, the need arose for a thorough evaluation of the relative numbers of the 2 species on cotton throughout the growing season.
Motion Characteristics of the Knee During Functional Daily Activities

Due to technology advancement, many studies have reported on in-vivo human knee kinematics recently (Dannis, 2005; Moro-oka, 2008; Tashman, 2003; Koo, 2008). This abstract summarized the joint kinematics during three motions usually seen in our daily living, i.e. gait, step-up (stair ascending) and single-legged lunge that was measured using a combined dual-fluoroscopic imaging system and MRI based modeling technique (Li, 2008). Cartilage contacts or condylar motion using transepicondylar axis (TEA)/geometric center axis (GCA) were used to describe the motion characters of the knee during these motions. In the treadmill gait, the movement of the medial femoral condyle along the anteroposterior direction was significantly greater than that of the lateral femoral condyle during the stance phase using either TEA (9.7 ± 0.7 mm vs. 4.0 ± 1.7 mm, respectively; p In the step-up motion, both medial and lateral contact points moved anteriorly on the tibial articular surfaces along the step-up motion path. The contact points on the medial and lateral tibial plateau moved anteriorly (13.5 ± 3.2 mm vs. 10.7 ± 5.0 mm, respectively; p > 0.05; Fig. 2A) with knee extension. Using the TEA (Fig. 2B), the femoral condylar motions presented a similar pattern as the contact points; nonetheless, using the GCA (Fig. 2C), the femoral condylar motion pattern was dramatically different. The medial condyle moved anteriorly, while the lateral condyle shifted posteriorly. However, none of them showed a significant pivoting phenomenon (Li, 2013). In the single-legged lunge, both medial and lateral contact points moved similarly before 120° of knee flexion, but the lateral contact moved posteriorly and significantly more than the medial compartment in high flexion (1.9 ± 2.1 mm vs. 4.8 ± 2 mm, respectively; p These data provide baseline knowledge for the understanding of normal physiological function of the knee during gait, step-up and lunge activities. The findings of these studies demonstrated that knee joint kinematics is activity-dependent and indicated that the knee joint motions could not be described using a single motion character such as “medial-pivoting” that has recently been popularized in total knee arthroplasty design areas.
Do thiazides reduce intestinal oxalate absorption?: a study in vitro using rabbit colon.

1. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of various diuretics on intestinal oxalate transport. Transmural oxalate fluxes were measured across isolated, short-circuited tissue segments removed from rabbits and placed in Ussing chambers. 2. The net absorptive flux of oxalate across the distal colon was significantly reduced in the presence of trichlormethiazide at 10 −4 mol/l. In contrast, this diuretic had no effect on oxalate transport in the other intestinal segments examined. Several of the thiazide diuretics tested had some inhibitory effect on colonic oxalate absorption, but at higher concentrations of 10 −3 mol/l or 10 −2 mol/l. 3. We conclude that the previously reported hypooxaluric effects of hydrochlorothiazide and chlorthalidone are most likely not the result of an exclusive or primary effect on intestinal oxalate transport. It is suggested that the reduction in colonic oxalate absorption that was observed with the thiazides probably involves the transport system responsible for oxalate efflux across the basolateral membrane of the colonocyte.
Energy Dependence of Water and Lipid Calibration Materials for Three-Compartment Breast Imaging

Approximately 75i¾?% of biopsies performed in women with suspicious lesions are not found to have cancer. To reduce the number of false positive mammographic findings and the resulting biopsies, we have developed a combination of 3-compartment lipid, water, protein mammogram analysis and quantitative descriptors of lesions morphometry. The solution for lesion composition requires the calibration of dual energy mammogram attenuations to tissue equivalent standards. However, these phantom substitutes for actual breast tissue have inherent differences in energy-dependent X-ray characteristics that may lead to systematic errors in estimating composition. Here, we investigate the energy dependence of two biological materials oil and water to their phantom equivalents at different X-ray energies through both theoretical and empirical considerations. We first derived the relationship of the oil and water to the phantom materials at each energy and then compared to experimental measures. We found that the errors as large as 20i¾?% in actual oil/water fraction when compared to the phantom materials at different energies. We conclude that calibrating breast composition to phantom materials at each dual-energy acquisition is not sufficient to ensure accuracy. A further basis transformation derived from bovine tissues greatly reduced these errors.
Image Quality in Consumer Digital Cameras

Abstract This chapter discusses image quality in consumer digital cameras, both still and video. The primary aspects of camera design are highlighted, including system trade-offs and the ways they affect image quality. The perceptual impact caused by multiple distinct image problems is also discussed, including a way to model disparate quality problems by quantifying and combining them in perceptual terms. A digital camera image processing chain and associated image processing algorithms are presented, emphasizing methods for providing the best possible image quality within the constraints appropriate for consumer cameras.
Identification of Novel, Non-Synonymous Sequence Changes in the Tyrosine Kinase Genes of Patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Abstract Activating mutations in receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) genes (including FLT3 and KIT) occur in more than 30% of newly diagnosed patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML); we and others have speculated that mutations in other TK genes may be present in the remaining 70%. We therefore examined the expression of all annotated RTK and cytoplasmic tyrosine kinase (CTK) genes to prioritize these genes for sequencing. We performed high-throughput re-sequencing of the kinase domains of 24 TK genes (9 RTK and 15 CTK) using amplified genomic DNA from the bone marrow (tumor) and matched skin biopsy samples (“germline”) from 94 patients with de novo AML, and validated positive findings in an additional 94 AML tumor samples (14.4 million base pairs of double-stranded coverage). In addition to previously reported somatic mutations in FLT3, KIT, and JAK2 (which occurred at expected frequencies), we found novel somatic mutations in four patients in JAK1, NTRK1 and DDR1. Unexpectedly, we also identified novel non-synonymous germline sequence changes in 14 genes, including TYK2. We examined frequencies of known polymorphisms in our patients versus controls. We determined that the previously reported JAK3P132T allele is a germline variant that occurs in 19% of normal African Americans. Even when controlling for race, the TYK2G363S allele was found significantly less frequently in AML samples (12/376 alleles, 3.2%) compared to 147 normal controls (27/294 alleles, 9.2%, p=0.0013). Notably, there was loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at TYK2 in 2 patients. Additional population based studies and biologic validation will be required to define the significance of these sequence changes for AML pathogenesis. Lastly, we compared the expression of RTK and CTK genes in AML samples (n=92) to highly enriched normal human CD34+, promyelocyte, or polymorphonuclear neutrophil populations (n=5 each). We found several RTKs (FLT3, KIT, LTK) and CTKs (FYN, LCK, ITK, HCK and FGR) were tightly regulated in normal hematopoietic development but were dysregulated in many AML samples. Taken together, our data suggest that RTK or CTK mutations are not required for AML development but may be disease modifying events. Our data also suggest that germline variants and dysregulated expression of RTK and CTK genes may play significant roles AML pathogenesis.
A Probabilistic Analysis of Positional Errors on Satellite Remote Sensing Data Using Scattered Interpolation

With the recent development of CubeSats, several ultracompact, low cost, and rapidly deployable satellites have been developed for earth observation missions. Because of the geometry of the acquisition process, measurements are irregularly sampled, whereas in meteorological applications, data are preferred on a regular grid. This problem is further complicated by the fact that, due to CubeSats’ compact sizes and constraints, such as limited power, errors occur in geolocation calibration, resulting in positional errors. In this letter, we analyze how the commonly used triangulation-based linear data interpolation scheme behaves under probabilistic models for the positional errors. The derived distribution of interpolation error caused by positional error is intractable even under a Gaussian distribution for positional errors. To address this problem, we developed an analytical closed-form solution to the first two moments of the interpolation error. Using models for positional errors motivated by our prior work, experimental results show that, compared with the first-order linear model, the second-order one provides a better approximation in terms of the mean and variance, which is very close to that is obtained using more computationally intensive Monte Carlo simulations. This model also allows for the closed-form calculation of mean squared interpolation error, which can be of use in the context of system design where the impact of positional errors on remote sensing products must be considered.