cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Influence of Microglial Elimination and Repopulation on Stress Sensitization Induced by Repeated Social Defeat.

Abstract Background Stress is associated with an increased prevalence of anxiety and depression. Repeated social defeat (RSD) stress in mice increases the release of monocytes from the bone marrow that are recruited to the brain by microglia. These monocytes enhance inflammatory signaling and augment anxiety. Moreover, RSD promotes stress sensitization, in which exposure to acute stress 24 days after cessation of RSD causes anxiety recurrence. The purpose of this study was to determine whether microglia were critical to stress sensitization and exhibited increased reactivity to subsequent acute stress or immune challenge. Methods Mice were exposed to RSD, microglia were eliminated by colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor antagonism (PLX5622) and allowed to repopulate, and responses to acute stress or immune challenge (lipopolysaccharide) were determined 24 days after RSD sensitization. Results Microglia maintained a unique messenger RNA signature 24 days after RSD. Moreover, elimination of RSD-sensitized microglia prevented monocyte accumulation in the brain and blocked anxiety recurrence following acute stress (24 days). When microglia were eliminated prior to RSD and repopulated and mice were subjected to acute stress, there was monocyte accumulation in the brain and anxiety in RSD-sensitized mice. These responses were unaffected by microglial elimination/repopulation. This may be related to neuronal sensitization that persisted 24 days after RSD. Following immune challenge, there was robust microglial reactivity in RSD-sensitized mice associated with prolonged sickness behavior. Here, microglial elimination/repopulation prevented the amplified immune reactivity ex vivo and in vivo in RSD-sensitized mice. Conclusions Microglia and neurons remain sensitized weeks after RSD, and only the immune reactivity component of RSD-sensitized microglia was prevented by elimination/repopulation.
Radiation Therapy Practice Patterns for Brain Metastases in the United States in the Stereotactic Radiosurgery Era.

Abstract Purpose Utilization of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for brain metastases (BM) has increased, prompting reassessment of whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT). A pattern of care analysis of SRS and WBRT dose-fractionations was performed in patients presenting with BM at the time of cancer diagnosis. Methods and Materials Adults with BM at cancer diagnosis between 2010 to 2015 and no prior malignancy were identified in the National Cancer Database. SRS was defined using published thresholds. Short (ShWBRT), standard (StWBRT), and extended (ExWBRT) dose-fractionations were defined as 4 to 9, 10 to 15, and >15 fractions. Radioresistant histology was defined as melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, sarcoma or spindle cell, or gastrointestinal primary. Results Of 4,087,967 adults with their first lifetime cancer, 90,388 (2.2%) had BM at initial diagnosis. Of these, 11,486 (12.7%) received SRS and 24,262 (26.8%) WBRT as first-course radiation therapy. The proportion of annual WBRT use decreased from 27.8% to 23.5% of newly diagnosed patients, and SRS increased from 8.7% to 17.9%. Common dose-fractionations were 30 Gy in 10 fractions (56.8%) for WBRT and 20 Gy in 1 fraction (13.0%) for SRS. On multivariate analysis, factors significantly associated with SRS versus WBRT included later year of diagnosis (2015 vs 2010, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.4), radioresistance (aOR = 2.0), academic facility (aOR = 1.9), highest income quartile (aOR = 1.6), chemotherapy administration (aOR = 1.4), and longer travel distance (>15 vs Conclusions Utilization of WBRT, particularly ExWBRT, decreased while SRS utilization doubled as the first radiation therapy course in patients with BM at diagnosis. Patients with radioresistant histologies were more likely to receive SRS. Those not receiving chemotherapy, potentially owing to poor performance status, were less likely to receive SRS and more likely to receive ShWBRT.
Common-Coil Nb 3 Sn Dipole Program at BNL

This chapter summarizes the common-coil dipole research and development program at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The program goals included: (a) the development of accelerator-quality dipoles based on the common-coil design concept; (b) the demonstration of “react-and-wind” technology for high field collider dipole magnets; and (c) the development and demonstration of a novel background field test facility with a large open space.
Assigning Blame: How Local Narratives Shape Community Responses to Extreme Flooding Events in Detroit, Michigan and Waterbury, Vermont

Different interest groups lobby for decisions about resources that align with their “heritage narratives,” or selective representations of a community’s history. There is limited understanding of h...
Greater Goods: Morality and Attitudes toward the Use of Nuclear Weapons:

Recent research into the public’s attitude toward the use of nuclear weapons repeats long-standing mistakes in how international relations theorists think about morality. Falsely equating consequen...
A Dual-Parameter Internally Calibrated Fabry-Perot Microcavity Sensor

We propose and experimentally demonstrate multi-parameter sensors based on the antiresonant (AR) reflecting guidance in a single-mode fiber (SMF)-capillary-SMF structure. The sensor is manufactured by simply fusion splicing a certain length of hollow silica capillary between two commercial SMFs. Two prototypes with different lengths of the sandwiched capillary are fabricated and tested. The first sensor works in a reflection mode, based on the combined mechanisms of Fabry-Perot (FP) interference and AR reflecting guidance. As the length of the silica capillary exceeds the critical length for the transition of FP and AR, a typical amplitude modulation (AM) signal can be observed in the reflection spectrum of the device, including the AR envelope and the FP interference signal. Both the FP interference signal and the AR envelope can be used for sensing applications so that multi-parameter measurements can be realized. Measurements of temperature and strain were investigated in the demonstration experiment. The second sensor works in a transmission fashion. Multiple lossy dips exist at the sensor’s transmission spectrum as the length of the sandwiched capillary increases due to the AR reflecting guidance in the capillary. The sensor was demonstrated for measuring bending and temperature. Due to macro-bending loss, the intensities of the lossy dips changed with bending; the wavelengths of the lossy dips shifted with temperature due to the temperature-induced changes in the resonance condition. The proposed SMF-capillary-SMF structure-based sensor and the multi-parameter codifying concept could find applications in the multi-parameter sensing field due to its compactness and simplicity.
Structure-property studies of a new one-dimensional Fe(III)/Mn(II) chain

Abstract The preparation, structure, and magnetic properties of a one-dimensional chain, {[(pzTp)FeIII(CN)3][MnII(phen)2][ClO4]}n (1), are described. It is readily obtained from methanolic solutions containing [NEt4][(pzTp)FeIII(CN)3]·H2O, MnII(ClO4)·6H2O, and two equivalents of 9,10-phenanthroline. Magnetic data indicate that the low spin FeIIILS (S = ½) and high spin MnIIHS (S = 5/2) ions experience weak cyanide-mediated antiferromagnetic exchange [Jiso = −0.92(1) cm−1 and giso = 2.06(2)] owing to the presence of highly distorted FeIII(μ-CN)MnII units.
Emerging opportunities to harness real world data: An introduction to data sources, concepts, and applications

While randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for comparative effectiveness research, they are unable to provide the answers to all pertinent clinical and research questions. Real world evidence (RWE), that is, clinical evidence obtained outside RCTs and often through routine clinical practice, offers the potential to conduct observational studies that accelerate advances in care, improve outcomes for patients, and provide important insights that can answer important questions. Once appropriate information technology is available, real world data can be cost-effective to generate. RWE serves a vital role in the evaluation of treatment strategies for which there are no RCTs and for describing patterns of care. RWE also serves as an important adjunct to RCTs and can be used to determine if benefits seen in RCTs extend to clinical practice, provide insight into the findings of RCTs, generate hypotheses for future RCTs, and inform the design of future RCTs. These potential benefits must be balanced against some of the important limitations of RWE, including variable data quality, lack of granularity for important clinical variables, and the potential for bias and confounding. By using appropriate analytic techniques and study design, these limitations can be minimized but not eliminated. Going forward, RWE studies may be enhanced by using rigorous data quality standards, incorporating randomization, developing more prospective registries, and better leveraging data from electronic health records.
P116 : T CELL POSITIVE AND B CELL NEGATIVE FCXM WITH PRONASE TREATED DONOR CELLS OBSERVED IN AN HIV INFECTED PATIENT

Introduction Un-expected positive flow crossmatch was occasionally observed in solid organ transplanations. The un-expected crossmatch could be caused by presence of multiple factors. Viral infections could be one of those factors. In this abstract we describe a persistent un-expected T cell positive, B cell negative flow cytometry crossmatch (FCXM) observed in an HIV patient who was on waitlist for kidney transplant. Materials and methods Patient and donor HLA typing was performed by rSSOP. Percent Reactive Antibody (PRA) and antibody specificity testing were conducted by flow cytometry and Luminex Single Antigen Bead Assay (SAB), respectively. Crossmatch (XM) testing was performed by flow cytometry. Donor cells for FCXM are used with or without pronase treatment. Results Flow PRA presented single peak, clear negative histogram for both HLA class I and II, however SAB class II had a very weak positive DP17. Despite of the negative PRA, the patient’s FCXM were T cell positive and B cell negative with all deceased donors (CDO) tested in our standard method using low dose (0.5 mg/ml) of pronase. CDO3-CDO5 XM were performed only with low dose pronase treated donor cells and all results were T positive and B negative. When XM was performed with non-pronased donor cells (CDO6), both T and B cell XM became negative. The following XM were performed with both pronase treated and non-treated donor cells. All “Positive” T-XM testing with low dose pronase treated donor cells (CDO7-CDO9) were turned to “Negative” with non-pronased donor cells. B-XM results were negative but with slight shifts in both protocols. Conclusion Endogenous antigen peptides, like viral antigens are presented on CD8+ T cells and therefore activate almost only cellular immunity. Since, T cells express fewer Fc receptors; the pronase treatment might expose cryptic epitopes on T cell surface that could be reacted with virus specific antibodies present in patient’s sera probably through molecular mimicry.
Emergent patterns in deterministic modelling

Synthesis and diffusion of a pigment molecule can be simulated using deterministic equations in computer software. These lesson materials describe how tiger stripes emerge from manipulations in thi...
Gemmobacter serpentinus sp. nov., isolated from conserved forages.

A Gram-stain-negative, long-rod-shaped and facultative aerobic bacterium, designated HB-1T, was isolated from a round hay bale at the Kansas State University Beef Stocker Unit. The results of phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain HB-1T clustered within the genus Gemmobacter and its closest relatives were Gemmobacter aquaticus A1-9T (98.0 %), Gemmobacter lutimaris YJ-T1-11T (98.0 %), Gemmobacter fontiphilus JS43T (97.8 %), Gemmobacter aquatilis DSM 3857T (97.5 %) and Gemmobacter lanyuensis Orc-4T (96.9 %). Additional phylogenomic analysis also indicated that strain HB-1T belongs to the genus Gemmobacter . The draft genome of strain HB-1T had a total length of 4.23 Mbp and contained 4071 protein-coding genes. The average nucleotide identity values between the genomes of strain HB-1T and the three most-related type strains ranged from 77.5 to 78.1 %. The DNA G+C content of strain HB-1T was 63.7 mol%. The novel strain grew at 10–37 °C, pH 5–10 and with 0–2 % NaCl. Oxidase and catalase activities were positive. Cells were 0.3–0.4 µm wide, 3.0–7.0 µm long and usually found in pairs or chains of cells. The major respiratory quinone of strain HB-1T was Q-10 (90 %), with a minor amount of Q-9 (10 %). The major fatty acids were C18 : 1 ω7c (54.6 %) and C16 : 0 (18.2 %). On the basis of phenotypic, phylogenetic and chemotaxonomic data, strain HB-1T (=DSM 109828T=ATCC TSD-211T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Gemmobacter , for which the name Gemmobacter serpentinus sp. nov. is proposed.
Inclusive Considerations for Optimal Online Learning in Times of Disasters and Crises

Emergencies can create situations where traditional face-to-face courses need to quickly be transferred to be online. When transitioning, it is easy to focus on simply moving content into an online learning management system quickly and training instructors and students in the basics of how to use the platform in a pared-down learning structure. However, this article argues that approaching emergency course redesign with accessibility in mind at the start of the transition will ensure that more students, including students with disabilities, succeed in the online learning environment. This also helps ensure the course is designed for optimal student learning outcomes.
The Potential Impact of COVID-19 on the Medical School Application

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on the medical community. It is suspected that the pandemic will impact the medical school application process due to effects on standardized testing, performance measures, financial burdens, and interview strategies. It is important to consider these issues early to optimize success of future strategies and mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on the application cycle.
Poisson regression for count outcomes

Abstract This chapter considers the analysis of count outcomes. A brief review of the Poisson distribution is given and one- and two-sample tests of Poisson rates are developed. Poisson regression is introduced as a statistical tool for estimating the association between a count outcome and one or more covariates. The covariates may be either discrete or continuous. Interpretations of model parameters are covered as well as tests of association. Methods for obtaining predicted rates from Poisson regression models are also shown.
Digital hyperconnectivity and the self

Digital hyperconnectivity is a defining fact of our time. In addition to recasting social interaction, culture, economics, and politics, it has profoundly transformed the self. It has created new ways of being and constructing a self, but also new ways of being constructed as a self from the outside, new ways of being configured, represented, and governed as a self by sociotechnical systems. Rather than analyze theories of the self, I focus on practices of the self, using this expression in a looser, more general sense than that used by Foucault. I begin by considering and reformulating two early lines of argument about the web as a medium for exploring and emancipating the self. Subsequent sections show how digital hyperconnectivity has engendered new ways of objectifying, quantifying, producing, and regulating the self—considered both as active, reflexive practices and as systemic, data- and algorithm-driven processes. I conclude by reflecting on the broader implications of contemporary modes of governing the self and by underscoring the ways in which hyperconnectivity has colonized the territories of the self, conscripting the self into the service of techno-social systems.
Interaction of low-level jets with wind turbines: On the basic mechanisms for enhanced performance

A common, worldwide atmospheric phenomenon known as a low-level jet (LLJ) offers benefits to wind energy production. Despite the fact that this effect may be used to increase the capacity factor of wind farms, the interaction between LLJs and wind power plants is not entirely known. By producing a synthetic LLJ velocity profile under well-controlled laboratory conditions, we show that this phenomenon enhances energy entrainment in the wake of wind turbines. The mechanism is associated with the increased velocity shear around the wind farm canopy height, which leads to higher turbulent mixing and, consequently, more energy flux for inner turbines within wind farms. The new insight from this work offers an opportunity to strategically develop, configure, and operate wind farms by taking into account the particular modulation of LLJs.
Revisiting the Association between Race, Ethnicity, and Beliefs about Pregnancy.

Objective: Black and Latinx individuals are often the focus of health educational efforts to ‘correct’ perceived flawed beliefs about pregnancy, in order to increase contracep­tive use and reduce unintended pregnan­cies. We sought to revisit the association between race, ethnicity, and beliefs about pregnancy. Methods: We administered a web-based survey to 2,099 heterosexual men and women aged 21-44 years, using non-proba­bility quota sampling. We analyzed a subset who were not currently pregnant (n=1,884) and conducted chi-square tests to examine the association between race/ethnicity and beliefs about avoiding pregnancy (can be avoided, determined by fate/God, ‘just happens,’ and is a natural process). We then performed a two-stage multinomial logistic regression, modeling the belief that pregnancy can be avoided. The first model included sociodemographic characteristics and the second model added feelings about pregnancy. Results: Bivariate analyses revealed that, compared with Whites, those who identi­fied as Black/African American or Latinx were significantly more likely to believe that pregnancy was determined by fate/God (15%,13% vs 9%, respectively) or a natural process (13%,13% vs 9%, respectively) and less likely to report that it can be avoided (57%,56% vs 67%, respectively; P=.001). In the first regression model, these differences persisted. However, in the second model, being Black/African American or Latinx was not significantly associated with beliefs about avoiding pregnancy. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that once more nuanced beliefs about pregnancy prevention are considered, Black and Latinx individuals do not hold strongly different beliefs than Whites. Efforts that exclusively focus on people of color to change beliefs about pregnancy appear unwarranted. Ethn Dis. 2020;30(4):525-532; doi:10.18865/ed.30.4.525
Uncertainty-Aware Multi-Modal Ensembling for Severity Prediction of Alzheimer's Dementia.

Reliability in Neural Networks (NNs) is crucial in safety-critical applications like healthcare, and uncertainty estimation is a widely researched method to highlight the confidence of NNs in deployment. In this work, we propose an uncertainty-aware boosting technique for multi-modal ensembling to predict Alzheimer's Dementia Severity. The propagation of uncertainty across acoustic, cognitive, and linguistic features produces an ensemble system robust to heteroscedasticity in the data. Weighing the different modalities based on the uncertainty estimates, we experiment on the benchmark ADReSS dataset, a subject-independent and balanced dataset, to show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods while also reducing the overall entropy of the system. This work aims to encourage fair and aware models. The source code is available at this https URL
Review Paper on Leaf Diseases Detection and Classification Using Various CNN Techniques

Majority of Indian population depends on agribusiness for its survival, and it plays a vital role in every nation’s economy. The disease is spread to other plants. Early detection of disease is a significant thing. Detection models to detect the disease are built by direct observation of every plant. This is essential as we can take parameters to restrict. Hence, healthy cropping is necessary for the growing agricultural economy. A better yield of crop is dependent on many factors including disease detection. The on time disease detection helps the farmers to save their crop yield as the remedies can be given on time. In order to solve the problem, various convolution neural network architectures have been designed and tested on labelled data to obtain high accuracy in classification and detection of disease. This work deals with the brief and detailed study of various techniques used for classification and detection of disease in plants based on feature extraction and different training methods.
Entanglement in many-body quantum systems

Here we briefly revisit entanglement in bipartite quantum systems and mention issues to its extension to multipartite situations. Finally, we indicate the role of entanglement in the description of many-body systems through matrix product states.
Call Center-Agents lernen in Zukunft direkt am PC: Multimediales Lernen

Aus- und Weiterbildung im Call Center lauft zukunftig zum Grosteil interaktiv am Computer ab. MindMedia hat fur den Call Center-Markt ein spezielles Lernsystem entwickelt. Bestarkt wurde das Augsburger Unternehmen durch eine zuvor in Auftrag gegebene Studie.
The Integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives into Business Activities:Can Lessons be learnt from Gender Diversity Programs?

While proponents of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have suggested that CSR initiatives should be integrated into mainstream business activities as ‘strategic CSR’ or ‘shared value’, research is lacking that explores how CSR initiatives are integrated in companies. This article compares CSR initiatives to human resource management (HRM) initiatives, which have a longer tradition of being integrated into company strategy. The focus is on gender diversity and CSR initiatives in a US multinational corporation (MNC). The MNC sees gender diversity as an integral part of business activities. In contrast, the MNC lacks a clear justification for the much broader CSR agenda, CSR activities seem not to reflect an overall set of values or purpose, integration into business activities is unclear, and targets are lacking.
Inferring mammalian tissue-specific regulatory conservation by predicting tissue-specific differences in open chromatin

ABSTRACT Background Evolutionary conservation is an invaluable tool for inferring functional significance in the genome, including regions that are crucial across many species and those that have undergone convergent evolution. Computational methods to test for sequence conservation are dominated by algorithms that examine the ability of one or more nucleotides to align across large evolutionary distances. While these nucleotide alignment-based approaches have proven powerful for protein-coding genes and some non-coding elements, they fail to capture conservation at many enhancers, distal regulatory elements that control spatio-temporal patterns of gene expression. The function of enhancers is governed by a complex, often tissue- and cell type-specific, code that links combinations of transcription factor binding sites and other regulation-related sequence patterns to regulatory activity. Thus, function of orthologous enhancer regions can be conserved across large evolutionary distances, even when nucleotide turnover is high. Results We present a new machine learning-based approach for evaluating enhancer conservation that leverages the combinatorial sequence code of enhancer activity rather than relying on the alignment of individual nucleotides. We first train a convolutional neural network model that is able to predict tissue-specific open chromatin, a proxy for enhancer activity, across mammals. Then, we apply that model to distinguish instances where the genome sequence would predict conserved function versus a loss regulatory activity in that tissue. We present criteria for systematically evaluating model performance for this task and use them to demonstrate that our models accurately predict tissue-specific conservation and divergence in open chromatin between primate and rodent species, vastly out-performing leading nucleotide alignment-based approaches. We then apply our models to predict open chromatin at orthologs of brain and liver open chromatin regions across hundreds of mammals and find that brain enhancers associated with neuron activity and liver enhancers associated with liver regeneration have a stronger tendency than the general population to have predicted lineage-specific open chromatin. Conclusion The framework presented here provides a mechanism to annotate tissue-specific regulatory function across hundreds of genomes and to study enhancer evolution using predicted regulatory differences rather than nucleotide-level conservation measurements.
Conversational Epistemic Injustice: Extending the Insight from Testimonial Injustice to Speech Acts beyond Assertion

Testimonial injustice occurs when hearers attribute speakers a credibility deficit because of an identity prejudice and consequently dismiss speakers’ testimonial assertions. Various philosophers e...
Transient electrical behavior of glass membranes: Part II. The impedance

Summary Using solutions of the mass transport problem of ions in a fixed site matrix under a voltage pulse step, given in Part I, the impedance function has been derived. An ideal glass membrane appears electrically as a parallel network of apparent d.c. (pseudo steady state) resistance, double-layer capacitance and infinite diffusive transmission line impedance. The decomposed surface films without high fixed site densities contribute a further finite transmission line impedance due to mass transport under diffusion-migration from the solution bulk to the fixed sites of the intact-glass. The theoretical behavior of both cases in illustrated in Z (real), Z (imaginary) vs . frequency plots and analogous Cole-Cole type plots. Diagnostic criteria are suggested for demonstrating agreement between experimental data and theory.
Populism Repackaged: The World Bank's Perspective on Equity and Youth

shows a 1948 mural by communist artist Diego Rivera titled ‘Dream of aSunday Afternoon in Almaeda Park’ and is a fantastic representation of theinequalities in Mexican society, of aristocratic men and women enjoying thepark oblivious to poor workers and peasants around them, while state policeareshownpushingawaypoorcountryfolktocleartheparkfortheenjoymentof the rich. Lenin’s lookalike peers at the scene from above. An ironic thoughrefreshing choice for the cover of a World Bank report. One must mentionhere that in 1934 Diego Rivera’s depiction of a similar Lenin likeness in hismural ‘Man at the Crossroads’ in the lobby of the Rockefeller Center in NewYork City created such controversy that the large mural was taken apart anddestroyed overnight. In the absence of the ‘communist threat’, the WorldBank appreciates Rivera’s painting as just that, as art
Guilt vs. Guiltiness: Are the Right Rules for Trying Factual InnocenceInevitably the Wrong Rules for Trying Culpability?

It is an asserted principle of ancient lineage dating at least to the 17th century that, while standards of proof may vary depending on the kind of case or issue involved, rules of admissibility (at least those not explicitly based on policies extrinsic to rectitude of decision) ought ideally to be the same in every context, civil or criminal. It was an explicit policy of Wigmore to bring the rules of evidence more in line with this ideal. The reason given has always been that information tending to prove a fact has that same tendency whether the fact is a material issue in a criminal case or in a civil case, for the plaintiff, prosecution or defense. If all we asked the factfinder to do in our system of litigation was to deal with fact reconstruction strictly speaking, and if contextual pressures on factfinders attempting to evaluate evidence were the same in every context, there would be some force to this argument. But it is clear that our trial system assigns other important functions to the jury besides fact reconstruction strictly defined, and that the pressures and potential distortions of contextual atmosphere in which we expect factfinders to work varies greatly from case to case. To be sure, we ask factfinders to determine the empirical details of facts in the world. But we also ask factfinders to make some determinations which are clearly not facts (e.g. negligence; insanity), but are rather value judgments about facts. And we ask factfinders to determine other things (states of mind) whose factual status is epistemically different from (and less clear than) exterior facts in the world, and which are generally inseparable from normative evaluations of responsibility and guilt. Might the kinds of information which are appropriate for one function be inappropriate to the proper performance of other functions? In addition, in the criminal setting, might the mindset which is directed toward investigating and producing evidence of guiltiness not be that best suited to investigating and producing reliable evidence of guilt? Can the proper structuring of the trial, and adjustments in the rules of evidence, help resolve this and similar conflicts, or by the time the trial starts is it already too late, given the potentials for the pre-trial distortion of information which are inevitably a part of a system run largely by partisan adversaries?
Intraoperative autotransfusion. Preliminary report of a new blood suction device for anticoagulation of autologous blood.

Abstract The historical experience and methodology of auto-transfusion is briefly reviewed. A new anticoagulating suction device is described which is capable of anticoagulating blood being aspirated from the surgical field, making it immediately available for reinfusion into the patient. The volume of anticoagulant delivered per volume of blood is prescribed by the use of a Venturi device in the suction apparatus. The obvious advantage of this device which provides reliable anticoagulation as close to the source of bleeding as possible is the avoidance of manual regulation of anticoagulation at the collecting reservoir by an assistant and the avoidance of systemic anticoagulation.
The Role of Reclamation and Reuse in Addressing Community Water Needs in Israel and the West Bank

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the role of reclamation and reuse in addressing community water needs in Israel and the West Bank. The reclamation of wastewater and its reuse for the myriad nonpotable purposes that can be met by water of less than potable quality has proven to be an environmentally and economically attractive option for addressing local and regional shortages throughout the United States. Various advantages of urban over agricultural reuse have been presented. Urban reuse often involves dual distribution systems, one system delivering water drawn from fresh water sources for potable uses and the other drawn from reclaimed wastewater for nonpotable uses. Urban uses of reclaimed water include (1) cooling, (2) toilet flushing, (3) cleansing, and (4) groundwater recharge. Reclamation plants differ from treatment plants, which are intended only for disposal of effluent to receiving waters, in various ways, such as the location of the plant is influenced by potential markets for the reclaimed water rather than by disposal and receiving water requirements.
Simple quantification of blood and plasma antimicrobial capacity using spectrophotometry

Summary 1 Ecologists are becoming increasingly interested in characterizing immunological variation among and within species. However, many of the techniques available to immunologists are not viable for use in non-model species, which limits the resolution and progress of ecoimmunological research. Recently, an assay was developed to quantify the capacity of blood or plasma to kill microorganisms in vitro. Such assays are ideal for ecologists because they provide holistic, integrated measures of immune function with minimal sample size and equipment. 2 Although informative, the assay suffers from several shortcomings in its current form. Specifically, intra-assay variation is often prohibitive, quantification of results is time consuming, sample volumes required are somewhat high (especially for small-bodied species), and materials (e.g. Petri dishes for microbe culturing) are costly and generate excessive waste. 3 Here, we describe a modified version of the assay for use against Gram-negative, Gram-positive, and fungal microbes using spectrophotometry. This assay decreases sample processing time, reduces blood/plasma volume (to 1·5 μL), and eliminates the need to score results manually. This technique was 3× more reliable than the alternative method when using house sparrow Passer domesticus plasma and Escherichia coli. 4 We expect this assay will enable quantification of immune defence in a variety of contexts previously difficult to study (e.g. endangered species) because of the small volumes needed and the simplicity of the protocol. We also provide a list of pathogens that affect passerine populations as potential candidates in future studies. Anti-microbial activity in other animal species should also be easy to characterize using our approach and the quantification of antimicrobial capacity of tissue and other body fluids should also be possible with only minor modifications of the assay.
Food soiling and diet discrimination of mouse lines divergently selected for response to a nutritional toxicosis

Abstract Mouse lines were selected for eight generations for resistance (R) versus susceptibility (S) to growth depression from toxins in endophyte-infected tall fescue seed. To examine a possible correlated response to that selection, three experiments subsequently were conducted to examine food soiling behaviour of the mice. In Experiment 1, the average food soiling score was higher for R mice than S mice; but males had higher scores than females and soiling of the toxin-containing diet (T+) was greater than soiling of the non-toxin-containing diet (T−) only in the R line. When all mice received the T− diet during the first two weeks of Experiment 2, neither line, sex nor their interaction affected food soiling scores. During the second two weeks of Experiment 2, R mice had higher average food soiling scores than S mice on both the T− and the T+ diet; but within the R line, neither sex, diet nor their interaction significantly affected food soiling scores. In Experiment 3, when all mice had simultaneous access to both diets, bowls containing the T− diet were more heavily soiled than bowls containing the T+ diet, lines did not differ in soiling of the two diets, but males expressed greater diet soiling differences than females. In summary, after eight generations of divergent selection for growth depression from ingestion of fungal toxins, resistant and susceptible lines differed in food soiling behaviour, but not consistently across experiments. Differences could be attributable to genetic drift but might also represent correlated selection response in social, nutritional or emotional aspects of eliminative behaviour. Speculations about the biological and behavioural bases for observed differences may lead to testable hypotheses about how toxicosis resistance is inherited and expressed.
PMU Placement for enhancing dynamic observability of a power grid

Power grids are operated in an increasingly complicated environment. However, operators lack effective and accurate tools for real-time monitoring and control of power systems. The U.S. Department of Energy, along with several utilities and system operators, is making a major $108 million investment in the Western Interconnection for phasor measurement unit (PMU) installation and phasor application development. This phasor measurement network opens up many opportunities for the estimation and prediction of power system states in real time, which enable operators to evaluate the system dynamic security in advance and allow them more time to respond to disturbances. Kalman filter based dynamic state estimation offers a solution suitable for this purpose. Our work indicates that the performance of Kalman filters in dynamic state estimation would degrade if PMU measurements cannot adequately capture the system dynamics. This paper develops a framework to identify how to place PMUs to improve dynamic observability of the power grid. Simulation results validate the concept, and the guidelines for PMU placement are derived.
Pérdidas de vidas, viviendas, infraestructura y embarcaciones por el tsunami del 27 de Febrero de 2010 en la costa central de Chile

El terremoto Mw = 8.8 del 27 de febrero de 2010 en Chile se encuentra entre los sismos de mayor magnitud registrados por instrumentos a la fecha, posicionandose como el segundo mas fuerte en la historia del pais y uno de los diez mas fuertes en el mundo registrados mediante instrumentos. Una de sus principales consecuencias fue la generacion de un tsunami destructivo por la deformacion del fondo marino. Las olas asolaron casi 600 km de la costa de Chile central y fueron la causa de un tercio de las victimas fatales (181 sobre un total de 521), convirtiendose asi en el tsunami con mayor numero de muertes asociadas a este tipo de eventos en Sudamerica en los ultimos 30 anos. En el presente trabajo se reunen y sistematizan una serie de antecedentes entre los que se contemplan informes, articulos y campanas de investigacion y evaluacion post-tsunami, realizados en el litoral afectado. Se establece una caracterizacion cualitativa y estadistica de las perdidas de vidas humanas, viviendas, infraestructura costera y embarcaciones, separando perdidas asociadas al tsunami de aquellas atribuibles exclusivamente al sismo. Mediante este catastro que integra informacion proveniente de fuentes de diferente naturaleza, se espera contribuir a evaluar los danos asociados al tsunami. The Mw = 8.8 2010 Chile Earthquake is among the largest recorded by instruments to date, ranking as the second strongest in the country's history and one of the ten strongest worldwide. One of its main consequences was a destructive tsunami caused by the deformation of seafloor. The waves struck nearly 600 km of the coast of central Chile and the event caused about one third of the total casualties (181 out of 521), becoming the highest death toll due to this type of phenomena in South America in the last 30 years. In this paper the authors gather and systematize information from reports, papers and post-tsunami surveys carried out along the affected coastline. A qualitative and statistical characterization of the loss in lives, homes, infrastructure and fishing vessels is provided, separating tsunami effects to those attributable solely to the earthquake. Through the classification and integration of various data sources the authors expect to better explain and assess the damage specifically associated with the tsunami.
Estimating the Accuracy of Polarimetric Radar–Based Retrievals of Drop-Size Distribution Parameters and Rain Rate: An Application of Error Variance Separation Using Radar-Derived Spatial Correlations

AbstractThe accuracy of retrieving the two drop size distribution (DSD) parameters, median volume diameter (D0), and normalized intercept parameter (NW), as well as rain rate (R), from polarimetric C-band radar data obtained during a cool-season, long-duration precipitation event in Huntsville, Alabama, is examined. The radar was operated in a special “near-dwelling” mode over two video disdrometers (2DVD) located 15 km away. The polarimetric radar–based retrieval algorithms for the DSD parameters and rain rate were obtained from simulations using the 2DVD measurements of the DSD. A unique feature of this paper is the radar-based estimation of the spatial correlation functions of the two DSD parameters and rain rate that are used to estimate the “point-to-area” variance. A detailed error variance separation is performed, including the aforementioned point-to-area variance, along with variance components due to the retrieval algorithm error, radar measurement error, and disdrometer sampling error. The spat...
Effects of residence time and webbing upon dicofol-avoidance behavior in two-spotted spider mites (Acari: Tetranychidae)

Two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae Koch) placed upon leaves treated with checkerboard-like discontinuous residues of 100 ppm dicofol were observed at time 0,3 h, 6 h and 24 h after application (h0,h3,h6 andh24, respectively). In one experiment, the mites were allowed to reside undisturbed upon a single leaf for the duration of the observations. In a second experiment, mites of one group were transferred to another webbing-free leaf with discontinuous dicofol residue for each observation period, while those of a control group were lifted off the leaf surface and returned to it (on the same leaf) prior to each observation period. The mites in all three groups eventually began to avoid the dicofol-treated squares during their nonlocomotory activities, in no instance was dicofolavoidance displayed by moving mites. Mites that lomained undisturbed upon leaves treated with discontinuous residue began to avoid the dicofol-treated squares byh3. The mites lifted above their leaf and replaced on it prior to each observation period did not begin to avoid the dicofol-treated squares untilh6. The mites transferred to a webbing-free leaf prior to each observation period did not begin to avoid the dicofol-treated squares untilh24. Attributes of tetranychid webbing, that may cause the last-mentioned group of mites to expend considerable energy in searching for a webbed area of leaf surface, are discussed.
An angle-based optimization approach for 2D finite element mesh smoothing

A new mesh smoothing algorithm that can improve poor-quality meshes, such as meshes with badly shaped elements, is presented. Such meshes are problematic for finite element analysis since the presence of poorly formed mesh elements can reduce the accuracy of the analysis. The new algorithm introduced here improves mesh quality by adjusting the position of the mesh's internal nodes based on optimization of a torsion spring system. The Gauss-Newton method is used to optimize this spring system's objective function to obtain the optimal location of each internal node. Demonstration of the improvement offered by application of the algorithm to real meshes is also made.
Temporal Changes in VOC Discharge to Surface Water from a Fractured Rock Aquifer During Well Installation and Operation, Greenville, South Carolina

Analysis of the vapor in passive vapor samplers retrieved from a streambed in fractured rock terrain implied that volatile organic carbon (VOC) discharge from ground water to surface water substantially increased following installation of a contaminant recovery well using air rotary drilling. The air rotary technique forced air into the aquifer near the stream. The injection produced an upward hydraulic gradient that appears to have transported water and contaminants from deeper parts of the aquifer through fractures into shallow parts of the aquifer. Once in the shallow flow regime, the contamination was transported to the stream, where it discharged during the next several weeks following well installation. After the recovery well was activated and began continuously pumping contaminated ground water to a treatment facility, the VOC concentrations in the stream bottom passive vapor samplers decreased to below detectable concentrations, suggesting that the withdrawal had captured the contaminated ground water that previously had discharged to the stream.
Targeted therapy in leukemia

Research conducted over the last two decades has yielded a detailed understanding of the molecular lesions that contribute to the malignant transformation of hematopoietic stem cells and committed progenitors into the various forms of acute and chronic leukemia. Although our understanding of the molecular pathology of leukemia remains incomplete, the information gained to date has had a profound impact on the way these malignancies are both diagnosed and monitored during therapy. More recently, targeted therapies have been developed against some of the identified genetic lesions. These therapies have led to significant improvements in patient outcomes while simultaneously decreasing therapy-related toxicity. With the advent of genome-wide methods to define the total complement of genetic and epigenetic lesions involved in leukemogenesis, new targeted therapies can be anticipated. This review highlights some of the targeted therapies that are presently being used to treat hematopoietic malignancies and describes some of the recent advances that should have a significant impact on the development of future target therapies.
Axisymmetric Mirror as a Driver for a Fusion–Fission Hybrid: Physics Issues

The axisymmetric mirror has a number of attractive features as a driver for a fusion-fission hybrid system: geometrical simplicity, inherently steady-state operation, and the presence of natural divertors in the form of end tanks. Operation at Q ~ 1 allows for relatively low electron temperatures, in the range of 4 keV, for the DT injection energy ~80 keV. A simple mirror with the plasma diameter of 1 m and mirror-to-mirror length of 35 m is discussed. A brief qualitative discussion of three groups of physics issues is presented: axial heat loss, MHD stability in the axisymmetric geometry, and the microstability of sloshing ions.
GABA and dopamine interaction in the basal ganglia: dopaminergic supersensitivity following chronic elevation of brain γ-aminobutyric acid levels

Abstract The influence of chronic activation of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) system on dopaminergic function was evaluated in male rats. Activation of the GABA system was achieved by raising the brain concentration of GABA with aminooxyacetic acid (AOAA), a GABA-transaminase (GABA-T) inhibitor. Repeated i.p. injection (40 or 80 mg/kg/day for 8 days) of AOAA produced a sustained elevation of GABA concentration in the striatum. Beginning 26 h following the last dose of a regimen of AOAA treatment (80 mg/kg/ day for 8 days), the animals exhibited a characteristic spontaneous ‘sham-fighting’ behavioral stereotypy which peaked at 34 h after the last dose of AOAA; this spontaneous behavior dissipated by 38 h postdose. When challenged with apomorphine, the sham-fighting behavior was interspersed with intense fighting episodes; these precipitated behaviors were evident for up to 2 weeks posttreatment observation period. Animals given a lower dose of AOAA (40 mg/kg/day x 8) did not show signs of spontaneous sham-fighting, but responded with fighting upon apomorphine challenge. Qualitatively similar behavioral effects were obtained when γ-acetylenic GABA (30 mg/kg/day, i.p. for 8 days) was used as the inhibitor of GABA-T. Measurement of dopamine and its acid metabolites in the striatum showed an enhanced turnover of dopamine during the spontaneous behavioral response, suggesting a rebound phenomenon. The levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine or its acid metabolite or neuroactive amino acids such as glutamate, aspartate, taurine, glycine, glutamine in the striatum were not altered by any of the treatments. The behavioral and neurochemical observations indicate that chronic activation of the GABA system leads to the development of dopaminergic supersensitivity, emphasizing the existence of a functional interaction between GABA and dopamine in the basal ganglia. Furthermore, such an interaction may be clinically significant in treatments which require chronic elevation of GABA concentration in the brain.