cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Maternal health prior to pregnancy and preterm birth among urban, low income black women in Baltimore: the Baltimore Preterm Birth Study.

OBJECTIVES: Black women have increased risk of preterm birth compared to white women, and overall black women are in poorer health than white women. Recent recommendations to reduce preterm birth have focused on preconception health care. We explore the associations between indicators of maternal prepregnancy health with preterm birth among a sample of black women. DESIGN: The current study was prospective. SETTING: Enrollment occurred in prenatal clinics in Baltimore. PARTICIPANTS: Women (N=922) aged > or =18 were enrolled in the study. Data on maternal health, behaviors, and pregnancy outcome were abstracted from clinical records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Logistic regression was used to evaluate associations between behavioral and health status variables with preterm birth. RESULTS: In bivariate analysis, alcohol use, drug use and chronic diseases were associated with preterm birth. In the logistic regression analysis, drug use and chronic diseases were associated with preterm birth. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate an association between maternal health and behaviors prior to pregnancy with preterm birth among black women. Providing access to health care prior to pregnancy to address behavioral and health risks may improve pregnancy outcomes among low-income black women. Ethn Dis . 2012 Winter;22(1):85-9.
Procedural Sedation and Analgesia Research

The study of procedural sedation and analgesia has experienced significant development recently. As specific procedural sedation and analgesia agents have been developed and introduced into clinical practice, safety and efficacy studies have been conducted. The principle difficulty in conducting these studies has been the relatively low frequency of traditional outcome measures. As procedural sedation and analgesia research has expanded, measurement techniques have been refined to allow for precise comparisons between smaller groups of subjects to improve the capacity to compare these procedures. We have used capnography, bispectral EEG analysis, and subject perceptions of pain and recall as surrogate predictors of adverse events in order to compare agents and procedural techniques in procedural sedation and analgesia.
Unsafe time handling in smartphones

Time manipulation, typically done using gettime() and settime(), happens extensively across all software layers in smartphones, from the kernel, to the framework, to millions of apps. This paper presents the first study of a new class of software bugs on smartphones called sleep-induced time bugs (SITB). SITB happens when the phone is suspended, due to the aggressive sleeping policy adopted in smartphones, in the middle of a time critical section where time is being manipulated and delay caused by unexpected phone suspension alters the intended program behavior. We first characterize time usages in the Android kernel, framework, and 978 apps into four categories and study their vulnerabilities to system suspension. Our study shows time manipulation happens extensively in all three software layers, totaling 1047, 1737 and 7798 times, respectively, and all four usage patterns are vulnerable to SITBs. We then present a tool called KLOCK, that makes use of a set of static analyses to systematically identify sleep-induced time bugs in three of the four time usage categories. When applied to five different Android Linux kernels, KLOCK correctly flagged 63 SITB-vulnerable time manipulation instances as time bugs.
An MDP-based approximation method for goal constrained multi-MAV planning under action uncertainty

This paper presents a fast approximate multi-agent decision theoretic planning method extended from the well-known Markov Decision Process (MDP). Our objective is to plan motions for a team of homogeneous micro air vehicles (MAVs) toward a set of goals, such that each MAV at any state at any moment follows an action policy toward a unique goal, while considering action uncertainty. We pursue an efficient formulation by first considering a deterministic abstraction of the stochastic system based on approximate initial paths. These deterministic and decoupled sub-problems are converted to the stochastic domain and improved by individual agents or a subset of agents. The resulting decoupled formulation requires processing of a partial state space and enables online operation given applications with emerging tasks.
Challenges to Managing Microbial Fecal Pollution in Coastal Environments: Extra-Enteric Ecology and Microbial Exchange Among Water, Sediment, and Air

Human population growth, especially in coastal urban cities, increases the potential for fecal pollution of adjacent waterways, requiring continued advances in pollution monitoring and management. Infections remain the largest health risk from contact with fecal- and sewage-polluted waters, and a small number of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) are used as primary pollution assessment tools. While FIB continue to be useful tools, some of the assumptions about the behavior of FIB in the environment, and the associated pathways for pathogen exposure, have come into question. Research into the extra-enteric ecology of these indicators has identified management-relevant complexities including particle association, prolonged environmental persistence, and multidirectional microbial exchange among water, sediment, and air. These complexities provide opportunities for improving current monitoring and modeling strategies and to better understand exposure pathways for sewage-related infections.
To Be or Not To Be Linked: Job Search Using Online Social Networks by Unemployed Workforce

Prior research suggests that social connections, including acquaintances, friends, and family, are valuable in a job search process. In these studies the size of an average job seeker’s network was much smaller and limited by the available modes of communication and the costs associated with maintaining social connections. However, the recent growth of online social networks has enabled job seekers to stay connected with many connections, weak or strong. Thus, the number of online connections – especially weak – has increased significantly. In this paper, we first examine whether an individual’s social network plays a role in driving job search behavior, taking into account online social networking sites (e.g., LinkedIn) and other job search modes. Second, we examine how ties in online social networks (both weak and strong) and affect job search outcomes (modeled sequentially as job leads, interviews, and offers), and we compare the findings to job outcomes from traditional job search modes (e.g., career fairs, newspaper, Internet postings, and friends and family). To do so, we first constructed an economic model of search behavior incorporating cost and benefit functions; we then estimated the model to recover structural parameters using the survey data of 424 users. Our findings show that users are spending more time searching for jobs on social networking sites. In addition, users’ strong ties play a significant role in job search and are especially helpful in generating job leads, interviews, and offers; the weak ties, on average, are ineffective in generating positive outcomes and marginally negative in some cases.
On the impossibility of epistemology

L'A. rejette l'argument de la justification epistemique que R. Almeder lui attribue et qu'il critique en l'opposant au probleme du critere. Distinguant deux types d'arguments, les arguments-E fondes sur une definition de la justification, et les arguments-J fondes sur le role de la premiere personne dans la justification, l'A. souligne la validite de l'argument critique par Almeder; il montre qu'il n'y a pas d'analyse de la justification, mais que cet argument n'est pas le sien
Complete guide RNA design for CRISPR-mediated regulation of human long noncoding RNA transcription

Transcription inhibition and activation of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) mediated by clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology provides potential advantages in high-throughput functional genomics studies over RNA interference or overexpression platforms. In this work, we identify over 90,000 lncRNA transcription start sites (TSSs) based on the MiTranscriptome human genome annotation and design single guide RNA (sgRNA) libraries with strong predicted activities and low off-target effects for CRISPR-mediated inhibition and activation (CRISPRi/a) of their transcription. A large fraction of these TSSs correspond to putative genes that are not annotated in common reference genome annotations and have never been functionally studied. Our CRISPRi/a libraries, or their context-dependent subsets, are potentially useful in genome-scale functional studies of human lncRNAs.
Impaired health-related quality of life and related risk factors among US adults with asthma.

Objective: This study assessed health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related risk factors among adults with asthma in the United States. Using the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Syst...
Simultaneous Occurrence of Transitional, Squamous and Adenocarcinoma of the Bladder After 15 Years of Cyclophosphamide Ingestion

AbstractWe report on a patient who had a urothelial tumor with tri-differentiation into transitional, squamous and adenocarcinoma after ingestion of 285 gm. cyclophosphamide during a 15-year period. The possibility is again raised that the use of high doses of this drug over long periods may be associated with an increased incidence of carcinoma of the bladder. Frequent cystoscopic examinations may be warranted in patients who have received large cumulative amounts of the drug.
COMPUTATION AND APPLICATION OF TAYLOR POLYNOMIALS WITH INTERVAL REMAINDER BOUNDS

The expansion of complicated functions of many variables in Taylor polynomials is an important problem for many applications, and in practice can be performed rather conveniently (even to high orders) using polynomial algebras. An important application of these methods is the field of beam physics, where often expansions in about six variables to orders between five and ten are used.
Parallelizing MPI Using Tasks for Hybrid Programming Models

Many-core architectures such as the Intel® Xeon PhiTM provide dozens of cores and hundreds of hardware threads. For these machines, a basic MPI implementation is inefficient, as it does not take advantage of the shared data across the ranks on the same node. A hybrid-programming model called MPI+X, where MPI is used between the nodes and a threading model X (Pthreads or OpenMP*, among others) can better utilize the compute and memory resources. In this paper, we investigate how the MPI library can run in parallel without competing with the threads of X that are running the application, and in particular without oversubscribing the available hardware resources. We assess whether MPI can use tasks that can be executed by idle threads in X. To prototype such a system, we have chosen X to be OpenMP. Our experimental results show that parallelizing MPI calls using OpenMP tasks can provide significant speedups.
fac-99mTc/Re-tricarbonyl complexes with tridentate aminocarboxyphosphonate ligands: suitability of the phosphonate group in chelate ligand design of new imaging agents.

Abstract Ligands that coordinate via dianionic phosphonate groups have not been widely utilized in radiopharmaceuticals. N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid (1, PMIDA) and N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine (2, PMG) were investigated as new chelators for the 99mTc/Re-tricarbonyl “core” (fac-M(CO)3, M = 99mTc, Re) present in a major class of radiopharmaceuticals. fac-M(CO)3(PMIDA) and fac-M(CO)3(PMG) complexes were studied by HPLC and 1H/13C/31P NMR methods for M = Re (Re-1 and Re-2) and by HPLC for M = 99mTc (99mTc-1 and 99mTc-2). Re-1 and 99mTc-1 complexes exhibit a similar pH-dependent equilibrium between geometric linkage isomers (M-1a and M-1b). However, only one isomer exists for M-2 under all conditions. Structural characterization by X-ray crystallography reveals the presence of a bond between a phosphonate oxygen and the Re(I) center in fac-Re(CO)3(PMG) (Re-2). Detailed comparisons of NMR data for Re-2 conclusively demonstrate that the phosphonate group is coordinated in Re-1b (isomer favored at high pH) but not in Re-1a, which has a dangling N-(phosphonomethyl) group. To our knowledge, Re-1b and Re-2 and their 99mTc analogs are the first well-documented examples of complexes with these metal-tricarbonyl cores having a dianionic phosphonate group directly coordinated in a fac-M(CO)3-O-P grouping. Pharmacokinetic studies using Sprague-Dawley rats reveal that 99mTc-2 is a robust tracer. Hence, phosphonate groups should be considered in designing 99mTc and 186/188Re radiopharmaceuticals, including agents with bioactive moieties attached to dangling carboxylate or phosphonate groups.
What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is indispensable to a properly conceived doctrine of the immanent Trinity?: A response to Jeffrey Hensley

Let me begin by thanking Jeff Hensley for taking the time and expending the effort to respond to my book on the Trinity. Naturally I appreciate his positive assessments offered in the opening pages of his paper. As any reader might expect, I was less enthusiastic about his Rahnerian proposals, together with his other two critical questions. As Hensley mentioned, it might very well be helpful to discuss these issues in greater depth so that we might come to a deeper appreciation of how and why a properly conceived doctrine of the immanent Trinity might help us recognise more clearly both divine and human freedom at a time when God's freedom for us so frequently takes the form of a purely economic trinitarianism which leaves no room for God really to act for us within history in his own distinctive way. And it is worth noting, of course, that the purpose of my book was not to discuss any and every possible implication of a properly conceived doctrine of the immanent Trinity; my purpose, rather, was to clear the ground of misconceptions of divine freedom, in order that any theology claiming to be based on sound trinitarian doctrine could be seen to be grounded in God rather than being the product of human projection. My book, then, was not a book about social justice, which certainly is a worthy topic of discussion in its own right, even though it seems Hensley would have preferred such a work.
A near-optimal decoupling principle for nonlinear stochastic systems arising in robotic path planning and control

We consider nonlinear stochastic systems that arise in path planning and control of mobile robots. As is typical of almost all nonlinear stochastic systems, optimally solving the problem is intractable. Moreover, even if obtained it would require centralized control, while the path planning problem for mobile robots requires decentralized solutions. We provide a design approach which yields a tractable design that is quantifiably near-optimal. We exhibit a decoupling result under a small noise assumption consisting of the optimal open-loop design of nominal trajectory followed by decentralized feedback law to track this trajectory. As a corollary, we obtain a trajectory-optimized linear quadratic regulator design for stochastic nonlinear systems with Gaussian noise.
Counterpublic and counterprivate: Zoe Leonard, David Wojnarowicz, and the political aesthetics of intimacy

In this paper we explore the space that dyadic intimacy plays within the counterpublic world-building of political activism. We reflect on a particular encounter between the artists and ACT UP acti...
Growth Control of ‘Taylortown Red’ and ‘Homestead Purple’ Verbena with Pistill in Nursery Production

Abstract Verbena canadensis ‘Homestead Purple’ and ‘Taylortown Red’ were treated with one or two spray applications of the plant growth regulator (PGR) Pistill (ethephon) at 0, 250, 500, 750, or 10...
What Is the Size and Legal Composition of the US Foreign-Born Population?:

We assess government estimates of the size and legal composition of the US foreign-born population from 2007 to 2015. We examine annual Census Bureau estimates of the total number of foreign born (...
“Buy everything”: the model consumer-citizen of Disney’s Zootopia

Given its history and status as a purveyor of quality children’s entertainment, Disney’s animated films are often associated with notions of “wholesomeness” and “family fun” by audiences. Consequen...
Greater functional connectivity between sensory networks is related to symptom severity in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

Background Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) emerge in the first years of life. Yet, little is known about the organization and development of functional brain networks in ASD proximally to the symptom onset. Further, the relationship between brain network connectivity and emerging ASD symptoms and overall functioning in early childhood is not well understood. Methods Resting-state fMRI data were acquired during natural sleep from 24 young children with ASD and 23 typically developing (TD) children, aged 17-45 months. Intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) within and between resting-state functional networks was derived with independent component analysis (ICA). Results Increased iFC between visual and sensorimotor networks was found in young children with ASD compared to TD participants. Within the ASD group, the degree of overconnectivity between visual and sensorimotor networks was associated with greater autism symptoms. Age-related weakening of the visual-auditory between-network connectivity was observed in the ASD but not the TD group. Conclusions Taken together, these results provide evidence for disrupted functional network maturation and differentiation, particularly involving visual and sensorimotor networks, during the first years of life in ASD. The observed pattern of greater visual-sensorimotor between-network connectivity associated with poorer clinical outcomes suggests that disruptions in multisensory brain circuitry may play a critical role for early development of behavioral skills and autism symptomatology in young children with ASD.
Vertical ground-based radiometric observations of the atmosphere at millimeter wavelengths

A series of measurements of the atmosphere with ground-based radiometers is described. Radiometers at 94, 130 and 183 GHz have been employed. The 183 GHz radiometer has three double-sidebands on the sides of the water vapor line. The results of calculations for both long-term and short-term effects are presented.
Particle Acceleration at High-$\gamma$ Shock Waves

First-order Fermi acceleration processes at ultrarelativistic shocks are studied with Monte Carlo simulations. The accelerated particle spectra are obtained by integrating the exact particle trajectories in a turbulent magnetic field near the shock, with a few ``realistic'' features of the field structure included. We show that the main acceleration process at oblique shocks is the particle compression at the shock. Formation of energetic spectral tails is possible in a limited energy range for highly perturbed magnetic fields. Cut-offs in the spectra occur at low energies in the resonance range considered. We relate this feature to the structure of the magnetic field downstream of the shock, where field compression produces effectively 2D turbulence in which cross-field diffusion is very small. Because of the field compression downstream, the acceleration process is inefficient also in parallel high-$\gamma$ shocks for larger turbulence amplitudes, and features observed in oblique shocks are recovered. For small-amplitude perturbations, particle spectra are formed in a wide energy range and modifications of the acceleration process due to the existence of long-wave perturbations are observed. The critical turbulence amplitude for efficient acceleration at parallel shocks decreases with shock Lorentz factor. We also study the influence of strong short-wave perturbations downstream of the shock on the particle acceleration processes. The spectral indices obtained do not converge to the ``universal'' value . Our results indicate inefficiency of the first-order Fermi process to generate high-energy cosmic rays at ultrarelativistic shocks with the considered perturbed magnetic field structures.
The Late Prof. Harvey R. Miller, A Man for All Seasons: A Student's Tribute

Prof. Harvey R. Miller passed away after his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly called Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2015. Before and after his passing, his substantial contributions and legacy have been discussed at length. An exceedingly rare individual, he had an extraordinary impact on the field of restructurings and bankruptcies, the large law firm community, the business landscape, academic institutions, and, perhaps most important, the younger generation, including his classroom students. This brief article, written by his former student at Columbia Law School, is intended as a tribute to this gifted practitioner, scholar, leader, and teacher, focusing on the reason this particular individual was so unique and compelling to the young men and women he encountered and how he transcended the practice and, in many ways, his era.
Combination of structured light scanning and external fiducials for coordinate system transfer in hybrid manufacturing

Abstract This paper describes a method for establishing and transferring coordinate systems through multiple hybrid manufacturing operations. To demonstrate the approach, an additively manufactured preform is finish machined to produce the desired part geometry. A set of external fiducials is temporarily attached to the preform using a polymer frame. The assembly is inspected using a structured light scanner and the resulting scan is used to define an alignment and coordinate system which respects the physical requirements of the manufacturing processes. The coordinate system is then used to program subsequent machining operations. Once the part is set up on the milling machine, the fiducials are used to establish the shared coordinate system for the machining operation using standard on-machine probing. After the part is machined, the same fiducial/scanning process is repeated for a second machining operation to complete the part (i.e., some features could not be accessed in the first setup). Finally, the method performance is assessed.
Tissue-specific differences in detection of Yersinia ruckeri carrier status in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Effective monitoring for subclinical infections is a cornerstone of proactive disease management in aquaculture. Salmonid fish that survive enteric redmouth disease (ERM) can carry Yersinia ruckeri as a latent infection for several months, potentially facilitating cryptic spread between facilities that exchange fish. In this study, fingerling rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were infected by immersion and sampled for up to 14 weeks post-infection. Yersinia ruckeri was cultured from the posterior kidney of more than 89% of fish up to 4 weeks post-infection, but from 2% or fewer of fish sampled at later time points. In contrast, qPCR-based detection of the Y. ruckeri 16s rRNA gene in intestine and spleen extracts revealed a much higher rate of infection: at 14 weeks post-infection Y. ruckeri was detected in nearly 50% of spleens and 15% of intestines. The difference between spleen and intestine is likely due at least in part to technical limitations of qPCR on intestinal DNA extracts; accordingly, we propose that qPCR of spleen DNA ought to be considered the preferred standard for detection of carriers of Y. ruckeri.
Taxing the Cyborg

What role will tax play in realizing utopia? Or bringing about a future dystopia? The tax policy of decades past shares much of the blame for the profound economic inequality of today. Tax has ripple effects—how it responds to present challenges shapes the future. One such challenge is understanding tax’s role in the nascent regulatory regime of gene editing and modification. CRISPR—clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats—is a pattern of DNA discovered in bacteria. Paired with “Cas” genes to form a CRISPR/Cas system, the system essentially functions as a “cut and paste”, enabling the targeted modification of a genetic sequence. This Article considers how tax may respond to CRISPR and similar emerging medical technologies. Doing so exposes inadequacies and gaps in current tax doctrine that intersects with the body and reveals the underappreciated role of dichotomous thinking in tax. Beyond these doctrinal challenges, this Article argues that foundational cracks emerge when one considers tax in this space. Simply put essential concepts upon which tax relies such as ability to pay and human capital are fundamentally-flawed in the face of emerging medical technologies. Taxing the cyborg will be no easy task.
The Unresolved Sino–Indian Border Dispute: An Interpretation

This paper posits that China’s insistence on the ‘return’ to China of the territory constituting Arunachal Pradesh, and even China’s insistence on Indian cession of a salient of territory in the Tawang area of that region, is a form of Chinese deterrence of what Beijing takes to be potentially dangerous ‘anti-China’ behaviour by India. Deep divergence of Chinese and Indian perceptions of Tibet, plus the history of Indian support for unarmed and armed Tibetan resistance to Chinese Communist rule of Tibet, makes Beijing fearful that India might again, someday, work to undermine Chinese rule in Tibet. An open territorial dispute serves as a standing threat to ‘teach India a lesson’, underlining for New Delhi the need for great circumspection in dealing with China. Indian strategic alignment with the United States exacerbates Chinese fears. The intensity of China’s implicit threat can be turned up or down by Beijing as the perversity of Indian policy indicates. Keeping the border issue open dovetails with Chi...
Upper bounds of wavelets on 2-D lipschitz class and zerotrees

The wavelet transform method has become one of the most powerful tools in image compression applications. It has a number of advantages with respect to other spectral transforms. With lossy compression, after a suitable wavelet transform is chosen two basic procedures — zonal and threshold coding — are usually applied to the spectral image [1]. In zonal coding only a fixed small "zone" of transformed image is encoded and the optimal zonal coding method ensures the best selection of spectral zones at which a minimum mean-square error of reconstruction is achieved. In order to determine optimal zonal coding method for the chosen transform one has to obtain the estimates of its spectra on a given class of input images. We suggest in this paper a unified approach to obtain exact upper bounds of a given wavelet transform on the class of discrete images with bounded first order finite differences. The presented estimates allow to apriori identify the spectral "zones" that are likely to be of significance in image reconstruction for a given wavelet transform.
Modeling Textures with Total Variation Minimization and Oscillating Patterns in Image Processing

This paper is devoted to the modeling of real textured images by functional minimization and partial differential equations. Following the ideas of Yves Meyer in a total variation minimization framework of L. Rudin, S. Osher, and E. Fatemi, we decompose a given (possible textured) image f into a sum of two functions u+v, where u∈BV is a function of bounded variation (a cartoon or sketchy approximation of f), while v is a function representing the texture or noise. To model v we use the space of oscillating functions introduced by Yves Meyer, which is in some sense the dual of the BV space. The new algorithm is very simple, making use of differential equations and is easily solved in practice. Finally, we implement the method by finite differences, and we present various numerical results on real textured images, showing the obtained decomposition u+v, but we also show how the method can be used for texture discrimination and texture segmentation.
Maintaining Connectivity in Mobile Robot Networks

While there has been significant progress in recent years in the study of estimation and control of dynamic network graphs, limited attention has been paid to the experimental validation and verification of such algorithms on distributed teams of robots. In this work we conduct an experimental study of a non-trivial distributed connectivity control algorithm on a team of seven nonholonomic robots as well as in simulation. The implementation of the algorithm is completely decentralized and asynchronous, assuming that each robot only has access to its pose and knowledge of the total number of robots. All other necessary information is determined via message passing with neighboring robots. We show that such algorithms, requiring complex inter-agent communication and coordination, are feasible as well as highly successful in enabling a network of robots to adapt to disturbances while preserving connectivity.
A method to enhance the fault coverage obtained by output response comparison of identical circuits

We consider designs where the same processing units (or circuits) appear multiple times. This is prevalent in current microprocessors and in reliable systems. Fault detection in such designs can be done by comparing output responses of identical circuits when identical input sequences are applied to them. The main advantage of this method over other methods of fault detection is that output responses do not need to be precomputed, and therefore, arbitrary, unknown input sequences can be used for testing. We propose a design-for-testability method for such designs that applies the same modifications to the states of the circuits being compared. If the circuits are fault free, they continue to produce identical output sequences after their states are modified in the same way. However, if one of the circuits is faulty, state modification can help increase the distance between the circuit states and eventually contribute to the detection of the fault. The proposed state modifications can be implemented by using hardware that supports assignment statements in the instruction sets of microprocessors. Depending on the state modification used, the proposed method may be applicable to concurrent, on-line or off-line testing. We present experimental results to support the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Abstract 8: APE1 Upregulation Reduces Oxidative DNA Damage and Protects Hippocampal Neurons from Ischemic Injury

Background and purpose: Apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease 1 (APE1) is a multifunctional enzyme that participates in base-excision repair of oxidative DNA damage and the redox activation of transcription factors. We tested the hypotheses that APE1 upregulation protects neuronal structure and function against transient global cerebral ischemia (tGCI). Methods: Transient GCI was induced for 12 min in male Sprague-Dawley rats with the 4-vessel occlusion method. Low-dose proton irradiation or transgenic overexpression was generated to upregulate APE1. Lentiviral vectors expressing shRNA against rat APE1 were stereotaxically infused in the dorsal hippocampus to knockdown APE1 expression. Golgi staining and immunofluorescence staining of synaptophysin-1 and PSD-95 were used to label dendritic spines and synapses. Field excitatory postsynaptic potentials in the Schaffer collateral pathway were measured to assess the hippocampal synaptic function. Morris water maze was performed 22-27 days after tGCI to assess th...
Time-Delay Systems: Analysis and Control Using the Lambert W Function

Time-Delay Systems Delay Differential Equations Lambert W Function Stability Controllability Observability Feedback Control Eigenvalue Assignment State Observer Chatter in Machining Human Immunodeficiency Virus Diesel Engine Control Robust Control Time-Domain Specification
Continuous delivery of ions or drugs into single cells by a diffusional microburet

The diffusional microburet (DMB) is a pulled glass capillary with a diffusion membrane at its tip. It is a useful tool to analyze ultramicro chemical samples and to study intracellular activities in single cells. In this work, a numerical simulation of a complete transport model for the DMB/cell interaction is obtained. A simplified analytical solution is also derived by assuming a uniform intracellular reagent/drug distribution and a quasi-steady state diffusion in the DMB. The simulation results compare well with the simplified analytical solution. More complicated cellular membrane transports are also discussed. >
International experiences lead to using postcolonial feminism to transform life sciences curriculum

Abstract Three recent international science experiences in Kenya, Saskatchewan, and Sweden led to my rethinking feminism and postcolonial critiques in ways to apply insights into life sciences curriculum and research agendas in the United States. Postcolonial feminist theories and critiques open windows to understanding new biases in science. The conscious de-development of southern continents under colonization by countries in northern continents in the 19th and early 20th centuries created a historical backdrop in which centuries of indigenous knowledge of the environment, health, natural resources, and appropriate technologies were erased. This and the conditions of colonization create an atmosphere which allows most Western scientists to fail to challenge the notion that they have everything to give and nothing to learn from science, scientists, and technologies of developing countries. Current practices, such as the new laws and patents claimed through Trade Related Intellectual Property (TRIP) rights in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades (GATT), may exacerbate the conditions of this atmosphere. Integrating knowledge gained from postcolonial feminism into the science curriculum insures that the next generation of scientists knows the contributions from indigenous peoples and developing countries.
Cardiopulmonary response to acute altitude exposure: Water loading and denitrogenation

Abstract In order to determine if a positive water balance would impair cardiovascular and ventilatory adjustment during acute altitude exposure, six healthy male subjects were exposed to 4570 m for 2 h with and without water loading. No significant differences in any of the measured variables were observed normal and overhydrated subjects. In order to determine if rapid ascent to altitude involves the formation of nitrogen bubbles which could impair gas exchange, 11 subjects were exposed to 4570 m with and without denitrogenation (by breathing 100% O2 prior to ascent) and 6 subjects were exposed to normobaric hypoxia (14% O2). Prior O2 breathing reduced the hyperventilatory and alkalotic responses to altitude, tachycardia did not develop, and systemic blood pressure fell, despite the fact that arterial desaturation was similar to that during the untreated altitude exposure. Reduced urine flow and increased urine osmolality were observed in two subjects at 4570 m, but these changes were not observed in the same subjects after O2 breathing. Breathing 14% O2 also produced the same degree of arterial desaturation but the hyperventilatory response was significantly greater than in the prior altitude exposures. Heart rate, blood pressure, and urine flow and osmolality were not altered and symptoms of altitude illness were minimal. Thus, neither of our hypotheses proved to be correct; however, we did observed a prolonged effect of O2 breathing on the hypoxic ventilatory response, and a potential effect of hypobaria on ventilation.
The Sμ Tandem Repeat Region Is Critical for Ig Isotype Switching in the Absence of Msh2

Deficiencies of the Msh2 protein or the Sμ tandem repeat (SμTR) sequences each reduce isotype switching in mice by about 2- to 3-fold. We find that switching in mice deficient for both Msh2 and SμTR is nearly ablated. We propose that the SμTR provides closely spaced cleavage sites that can undergo switch recombination independent of Msh2, whereas cleavages in sequences flanking the SμTR require Msh2 processing to allow recombinational joining. We also find that changes in Sμ sequences alter the focus of switch junctions within Sγ sequences, indicating that sequences of switch regions act together in the choice of switch recombination junctions. These findings help to explain the conservation of tandemly repeated switch regions associated with heavy chain constant genes in species capable of switching.
The Family Talk About Smoking (FTAS) Paradigm: New Directions for Assessing Parent–Teen Communications About Smoking

INTRODUCTION Smoking experimentation represents transient risk taking for some youth, whereas for others, it is the onset of a chronic smoking trajectory. However, distinguishing these groups during the experimentation phase has proved challenging. We theorized that variations in parent and teen discourse about smoking might be informative for characterizing this heterogeneity. However, standardized methods for direct assessments of these family processes have been lacking. METHODS We examined the predictive utility of directly observed facets of smoking-specific communication for predicting persistence of teen smoking experimentation using a novel method, the Family Talk About Smoking (FTAS) paradigm. The FTAS was tested in a sample of 344 teens with a history of smoking experimentation during interactions with their mothers and fathers. Level of disapproval, smoking expectancies, elaboration of consequences, and quality of personal disclosure were coded during videotaped parent-teen discussions about smoking. RESULTS Patterns of observed smoking-specific communication varied by teen and parent smoking status. Predictive validity of the FTAS for teen persistent experimentation was demonstrated, net effects of reported smoking-specific socialization, general quality of communication, and parental smoking status. Teen smoking expectancies, disclosure, and disapproval predicted teen persistent experimentation with some differences based on whether interactions were with mothers or fathers. Prediction of persistent experimentation by observed maternal disclosure and elaboration of consequences was moderated by maternal smoking status. CONCLUSIONS Direct observations show promise for generating detailed characterization of individual differences in patterns of family communication about smoking. Implications for targeted prevention and future research are discussed.
Remarks on multiplicity fluctuations and KNO scaling in pp collider experiments

Abstract It is suggested that a major source of the recently observed large multiplicity fluctuation satisfying KNO scaling in p p collider experiments is the fluctuation of the impact parameter b. Conssequences of the association of the KNO variable z with b are discussed.
An eigenvalue search method using the Orr-Sommerfeld equation for shear flow

A physically-based computational technique was investigated which is intended to estimate an initial guess for complex values of the wavenumber of a disturbance leading to the solution of the fourth-order Orr-Sommerfeld (O-S) equation. The complex wavenumbers, or eigenvalues, were associated with the stability characteristics of a semi-infinite shear flow represented by a hyperbolic-tangent function. This study was devoted to the examination of unstable flow assuming a spatially growing disturbance and is predicated on the fact that flow instability is correlated with elevated levels of perturbation kinetic energy per unit mass. A MATLAB computer program was developed such that the computational domain was selected to be in quadrant IV, where the real part of the wavenumber is positive and the imaginary part is negative to establish the conditions for unstable flow. For a given Reynolds number and disturbance wave speed, the perturbation kinetic energy per unit mass was computed at various node points in the selected subdomain of the complex plane. The initial guess for the complex wavenumber to start the solution process was assumed to be associated with the highest calculated perturbation kinetic energy per unit mass. Once the initial guess had been approximated, it was used to obtain the solution to the O-S equation by performing a Runge-Kutta integration scheme that computationally marched from the far field region in the shear layer down to the lower solid boundary. Results compared favorably with the stability characteristics obtained from an earlier study for semi-infinite Blasius flow over a flat boundary.
A sandwich structure beam pipe for storage rings

Abstract A beam pipe fabricated from aluminum foil and plastic honeycomb has been used in the DELCO detector on the PEP storage ring at SLAC for one year. The pipe has a radiation thickness of 5.8×10 −3 X 0 , a failure pressure of 3.5 atm and was baked for high vacuum service.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Neutron Activation of Holmium Metallofullerenes

Isolation of the first macroscopic quantities of endohedral holmium metallofullerenes (principally Ho@C{sub 82}, Ho{sub 2}@C{sub 82}, and Ho{sub 3}@C{sub 82} by LD-TOF mass spectrometry) has been accomplished by carbon-arc and preparative HPLC methodologies. The detailed procedure for production and isolation of the metallofullerenes includes a new technique whereby holmium-impregnated electrodes are prepared simply by soaking porous graphite rods in an ethanolic solution of Ho(NO{sub 3}){sub 3}.xH{sub 2}O. Monoisotopic {sup 165}Ho offers a unique combination of advantages for neutron-activation studies of metallofullerenes, and purified samples containing {sup 165}Ho@C{sub 82}, {sup 165}Ho{sub 2}@C{sub 82}, and {sup 165}Ho{sub 3}@C{sub 82} have been activated by high-flux neutron irradiation ({Phi} = 4 x 10{sup 13}n cm{sup -2} s{sup -1}) to generate {sup 166}Ho metallofullerenes, which undergo {beta}{sup -} decay to produce stable {sup 166}Er. Chemical workup of the irradiated samples, followed by re-irradiation, has been used to demonstrate that observed decomposition of holmium metallofullerenes is due mainly to `fast` neutron damage rather than to holmium atom nuclear recoil (E{sub max} = 200 eV). This implies that metallofullerene damage can be minimized by using neutron fluxes with the highest possible thermal component. 60 refs., 4 figs.
Capacitively-loaded CPW shunt stub notch filters

This paper describes optimal coplanar waveguide (CPW) 2nd harmonic notch filters that utilize metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors at each discontinuity, eliminating the need for conventional air-bridges and significantly reducing the filter footprint. The circuits were fabricated on a high resistivity, 400 μm-thick silicon substrate. Theoretical and experimental data for 42 GHz notch filters employing straight and bent shunt stubs are presented. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 36: 292–295, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.10745
Thymine ring saturation and fragmentation products: lesion bypass, misinsertion and implications for mutagenesis

We have used thymine glycol and dihydrothymine as representative ring saturation products resulting from free-radical interaction with DNA pyrimidines, and urea glycosides and beta-ureidoisobutyric acid (UBA) as models for pyrimidine-ring fragmentation products. We have shown that thymine glycol and the ring-fragmentation products urea and beta-ureidoisobutyric acid, as well as abasic sites, are strong blocks to DNA polymerases in vitro. In contrast, dihydrothymine is not a block to any of the polymerases tested. For thymine glycol, termination sites were observed opposite the putative lesions, whereas for the ring-fragmentation products, the termination sites were primarily one base prior to the lesion. These and other data have suggested that thymine glycol codes for an A, and that a base is stably inserted opposite the damage, whereas when a base is inserted opposite the non-coding lesions, it is removed by the 3-->5 exonuclease activity of DNA polymerase I. Despite their efficiency as blocking lesions, thymine glycol, urea and UBA can be bypassed at low frequency in certain specific sequence contexts. When the model lesions were introduced individually into single-stranded biologically active DNA, we found that thymine glycol, urea, beta-ureidoisobutyric acid, and abasic sites were all lethal lesions having an activation efficiency of 1, whereas dihydrothymine was not. Thus the in vitro studies predicted the in vivo results. When the survival of biologically active single-stranded DNA was examined in UV-induced Escherichia coli cells where the block to replication was released, no increase in survival was observed for DNA containing urea or abasic sites, suggesting inefficient bypass of these lesions. In contrast, beta-ureidoisobutyric acid survival was slightly enhanced, and transfecting DNA containing thymine glycols was significantly reactivated. When mutation induction by unique lesions was measured using f1-K12 hybrid DNA containing an E. coli target gene, thymine glycols and dihydrothymine were found to be inefficient as premutagenic lesions, suggesting that in vivo, as in vitro, they primarily code for A. In contrast, urea and beta-ureidoisobutyric acid were efficient premutagenic lesions, with beta-ureidoisobutyric acid being about 4-5-fold more effective than urea glycosides, which have approximately the same rate of mutation induction as abasic sites from purines. Sequence analysis of the mutations resulting from these ring-fragmentation products shows that the mutations produced are both lesion and sequence context dependent. The possible roles that bypass efficiency and lesion-directed misinsertion might play in mutagenesis are discussed.
Infill Drilling Enhances Waterflood Recovery

Two sets of west Texas carbonate reservoir and waterflood data were studied to evaluate the impact of infill drilling on waterflood recovery. Results show that infill drilling enhanced the current and projected waterflood recovery from most of the reservoirs. The estimated ultimate and incremental infill-drilling waterflood recovery was correlated with well spacing and other reservoir and process parameters. Results of the correlation indicate that reducing well spacing from 40 to 20 acres (16 to 8 ha) per well would increase the oil recovery by 8 to 9% of the original oil in place (OOIP). Because of the limited data base and regressional nature of the correlation models, the infill-drilling recovery estimate must be used with caution.
Blocking of pregnancy in mice as a function of stress. Supplementary note.

Maternal injections of adrenalin and saline 3 to 4 days after mating, as compared to injections during the second and third trimesters, resulted in significantly fewer litters in an inbred strain of mice (A/J). However, no such effect was noted in the C57BL/6J strain, suggesting the presence of a genotype-environment interaction. The possibility that the blocking of pregnancy in the A/J strain results from a failure of implantation is discussed.