cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Brain/behavior relationships, gender differences, and the learning disabled

The rapidly developing field of neuroscience is beginning to provide new understanding in the study of learning and behavior. By looking at the covert processes of the brain as they relate to overt behavior, researchers are gaining insights which go beyond the traditional behavioral approaches. Much of the current knowledge about brain/ behavior relationships has been generated by investigating individuals who differ from the norm. Drawing comparisons between exceptional and "normal" individuals allows us to better understand
Restricted Distribution Automatizability in PAC-Semantics

We consider the proof search (--automatizability--) problem for propositional proof systems in the context of knowledge discovery (or data mining and analytics). Discovered knowledge necessarily features a weaker semantics than usually employed in mathematical logic, and in this work we find that these weaker semantics may result in a proof search problem that seems easier than the classical problem, but that is nevertheless nontrivial. Specifically, if we consider a knowledge discovery task corresponding to the unsupervised learning of parities over the uniform distribution from partial information, then we find the following: Proofs in the system polynomial calculus with resolution (PCR) can be detected in quasipolynomial time, in contrast to the nO(√n)-time best known algorithm for classical proof search for PCR.By contrast, a quasipolynomial time algorithm that distinguishes whether a formula of PCR is satisfied a 1-e fraction of the time or merely an -e-fraction of the time (for polynomially small -e would give a randomized quasipolynomial time algorithm for NP, so the use of the promise of a small PCR proof is essential in the above result.Likewise, if integer factoring requires subexponential time, we find that bounded-depth Frege proofs cannot be detected in quasipolynomial time.The final result essentially shows that negative results based on the hardness of interpolation [31, 13, 11] persist under this new semantics, while the first result suggests, in light of negative results for PCR [22] and resolution [2] under the classical semantics, that there are intriguing new possibilities for proof search in the context of knowledge discovery and data analysis.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in children with heart disease and del22q11 syndrome: a review of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization Registry

The study objective was to evaluate outcomes among children with del22q11 (DiGeorge) syndrome supported on ECMO for heart disease. The ELSO registry database was queried to include all children <18 years undergoing heart surgery for either common atrio-ventricular canal, tetralogy of Fallot, truncus arteriosus or transposition of the great vessels and interrupted aortic arch and requiring ECMO, from 1998-2011. The outcomes evaluated included mortality, ECMO duration and length of hospital stay in patients with del22q11 syndrome and with no del22q11 syndrome. Eighty-eight ECMO runs occurred in children with del22q11 syndrome while 2694 ECMO runs occurred in children without del22q11 syndrome. For patients with heart defects receiving ECMO, del22q11 syndrome did not confer a significant mortality risk or an increased risk of infectious complications before or while on ECMO support. Neither the duration of ECMO nor mechanical ventilation prior to ECMO deployment were prolonged in patients with del22q11 syndrome compared to the controls.
Two interior-point algorithms for a class of convex programming problems

This paper describes two algorithms for the problem of minimizing a linear function over the intersection of an affine set and a convex set which is required to be the closure of the domain of a st...
Radiation Effects in Optoelectronic Devices

This review paper discusses radiation effects in a variety of optoelectronic devices. The main emphasis is on displacement and total dose damage under conditions that are representative of various space missions. However, the mechanisms for degradation in space are also applicable to other environments, such as nuclear reactors, and the extremely high-energy particles associated with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In addition to permanent damage effects, there is also an abbreviated treatment of single-event effects in optoelectronic devices.
Graded expectations: Predictive processing and the adjustment of expectations during spoken language comprehension

The goal of this study was to investigate the use of the local and global contexts for incoming words during listening comprehension. Local context was manipulated by presenting a target noun (e.g., “cake,” “veggies”) that was preceded by a word that described a prototypical or atypical feature of the noun (e.g., “sweet,” “healthy”). Global context was manipulated by presenting the noun in a scenario that was consistent or inconsistent with the critical noun (e.g., a birthday party). Event-related potentials (ERPs) were examined at the feature word and at the critical noun. An N400 effect was found at the feature word, reflecting the effect of compatibility with the global context. Global predictability and the local feature word consistency interacted at the critical noun: A larger N200 was found to nouns that mismatched predictions when the context was maximally constraining, relative to nouns in the other conditions. A graded N400 response was observed at the critical noun, modulated by global predictability and feature consistency. Finally, post-N400 positivity effects of context updating were observed to nouns that were supported by one contextual cue (global/local) but were unsupported by the other. These results indicate that (1) incoming words that are compatible with context-based expectations receive a processing benefit; (2) when the context is sufficiently constraining, specific lexical items may be activated; and (3) listeners dynamically adjust their expectations when input is inconsistent with their predictions, provided that the inconsistency has some level of support from either the global or the local context.
Single Event Effects Test Results for Advanced Field Programmable Gate Arrays

Reconfigurable field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) from Altera and Actel and an FPGA-based quick-turn application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) from Altera were subjected to single-event testing using heavy ions. Both Altera devices (Stratix II and HardCopy II) exhibited a low latchup threshold (below an LET of 3 MeV-cm2/mg) and thus are not recommended for applications in the space radiation environment. The flash-based Actel ProASIC Plus device did not exhibit latchup to an effective LET of 75 MeV-cm2/mg at room temperature. In addition, these tests did not show flash cell charge loss (upset) or retention damage. Upset characterization of the design-level flip-flops yielded an LET threshold below 10 MeV-cm2/mg and a high LET cross section of about 1times10-6 cm2/bit for storing ones and about 1times10-7 cm2/bit for storing zeros. Thus, the ProASIC device may be suitable for critical flight applications with appropriate triple modular redundancy mitigation techniques
Increased Estrogen and the Risk of Papillary Thyroid Cancer

Objectives/Hypothesis: Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is more common in women with a female:male incidence ratio of 3:1. Estrogen has been implicated in the development of thyroid cancer. The study investigates the relationship between various estrogenassociated risk factors, including benign and malignant uterine and breast disease and pregnancy, in a large group of women with thyroid disease.
Localized excitations in a vertically vibrated granular layer

THE formation of two-dimensional patterns in biological, chemical and physical systems is often described by the nonlinear interaction of plane waves1. An alternative approach views patterns as ensembles of interacting localized objects, analogous to the assembly of crystals from atoms. For macroscopic pattern-forming systems, one objection to the latter approach is that no 'atoms' exist; however spatially localized excitations can play an analogous role. One-dimensional localized states are observed in many systems—for example, solitary waves in water2–4 and optical fibres5—and can organize into simple patterns6,7. But few examples of two-dimensional localized states are known, and these tend to be unstable and/or do not show simple pattern-forming interactions8–11. Here we report the observation of stable, two-dimensional localized excitations zin a vibrating layer of sand. These excitations, which we term 'oscillons', have a propensity to assemble into 'molecular' and 'crystalline' structures. Our experimental results, together with the observation of similar localized excitations in model differential equations12–14, indicate a crucial, cooperative role for hysteresis and dissipation in the formation of oscillons, and suggest that similar behaviour may occur in continuous media.
A Comparison of Objective Lenses for Multiphoton Microscopy: Improved Epifluorescence Collection from Turbid Samples

Over the past two decades, multiphoton microscopy (MPM) has launched a revolution in high-resolution in vivo imaging with its combination of molecular contrast, optical sectioning and depth penetration. However, as with other optical microscopies, the imaging depth of MPM is ultimately limited by the scattering of both excitation light and emitted fluorescence. Since multiphoton excitation is largely confined to a diffraction-limited focal volume, MPM can theoretically utilize any fluorescence as signal and most collection schemes seek to collect as many photons as possible. The collected fraction depends on the choice of objective lens and the design of the post-objective light collection path, as well as the optical properties of the specimen. In particular, this fraction decreases significantly in turbid samples. Recently, there has been a concerted effort by lens manufacturers to develop objective lenses that are specially tailored for MPM and aim to collect as much scattered light as possible. In order to assess the advancements made by this “second generation” of MP objectives, we directly measure the collected fraction from a sample consisting of a fluorescein layer below a solution of scattering microspheres. Trans- and epi-fluorescence are collected in separate channels to give a relative measure of the collected fraction and the dependence on sample scattering is compared for five different lenses. We also observe that the angular divergence of the light cone exiting the objective back increases with sample scattering- a practical detail that has implications on design of collection pathways.
Lost enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab conquest to Tamerlane

S. Frederick Starr has written a new history of Central Asia from the seventh to the fourteenth century – a book, he writes in his preface, ‘written not because I knew the answers to the questions ...
Topical Review: Theoretical Frameworks in Pediatric Adherence-Promotion Interventions: Research Findings and Methodological Implications

Objective To summarize the guiding theoretical frameworks included in pediatric adherencepromotion interventions and characterize targeted domains using the theoretical domains framework (TDF), a standardized system developed by adult behavior change researchers. Methods A systematic review of PubMed, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases identified 47 articles describing pediatric adherence-promotion interventions. Data extraction was completed independently by two authors. Targeted intervention domains were classified using the TDF. Results The majority of interventions did not cite a guiding theoretical framework or cited multiple theories with overlapping domains. The TDF was a reliable categorization system and suggested that pediatric adherence-promotion interventions most commonly target knowledge, skills, and social influences. Conclusions Pediatric adherence-promotion interventions draw from a variety of theories and lack a consistent language for describing targeted domains. The adapted TDF proposed here is one method of reducing variability in intervention development and reporting and may facilitate efforts to identify the processes that improve adherence.
A review of the effects of expansion of the nasal base on nasal airflow and resistance.

Purpose The purpose of this article is to inform the reader of the current literature regarding nasal airflow resistance. The anatomy and physiology of nasal airflow resistance will be examined and the known effects of widening of the nasal airway upon airflow will be described. Materials and Methods This article is a review of the current literature regarding nasal airflow and resistance and the effects of widening of the nasal base. No patient data were collected. Results The literature shows that nasal airflow resistance can be changed by surgical manipulation and by rapid palatal expansion, but that the effects on airflow resistance and future growth and development are unpredictable. Conclusion Patients with a maxilla that is constricted in the transverse dimension and nasal airflow problems may benefit from expansion of the nasal base. The resultant effects upon nasal airflow resistance and subsequent growth and development are unpredictable and therefore airflow issues alone may not be a primary reason to increase the transverse dimension of the nasal base.
Gynecomastia and increased urinary steroids during treatment with phenaglycodol (Ultran): Report of a case and observations in a normal subject☆

Abstract A 32-year-old man who was taking phenaglycodol had gynecomastia but no galactorrhea, feminization, loss of libido, or evidence of hepatic dysfunction. On different days the values for urinary 17-ketosteroids were 113 and 45.6 mg. 24 hr. and for ketogenic steroids, 173 and 118 mg. 24 hr . The plasma cortisol values were normal. When the administration of phenaglycodol was discontinued, the gynecomastia disappeared and the urinary steroid values returned to normal. The administration of 300 mg. of phenaglycodol four times a day to a normal volunteer for 7 days caused the value for urinary 17-ketosteroids to increase from a control of 15.2 mg. 24 hr. to 38.7 mg. 24 hr. and the value for 17-ketogenic steroids to increase from a control of 6.6 mg. 24 hr. to 100 mg. 24 hr. The values for plasma cortisol showed no significant change. The increased values for the urinary steroids were thought to be caused by the presence of phenaglycodol in the urine. The fact that the plasma cortisol values did not change during the administration of phenaglycodol suggests that this substance did not alter adrenal function.
A bus energy model for deep submicron technology

We present a comprehensive mathematical analysis of the energy dissipation in deep submicron technology buses. The energy estimation is based on an elaborate bus model that includes distributed and lumped parasitic elements that appear as technology scales. The energy drawn from the power supply during the transition of the bus is evaluated in a closed form. The notion of the transition activity of an individual line is generalized to that of the transition activity matrix of the bus. The transition activity matrix is used for statistical estimation of the power dissipation in deep submicron technology buses.
A case for bayesianism in clinical trials

This paper describes a Bayesian approach to the design and analysis of clinical trials, and compares it with the frequentist approach. Both approaches address learning under uncertainty. But they are different in a variety of ways. The Bayesian approach is more flexible. For example, accumulating data from a clinical trial can be used to update Bayesian measures, independent of the design of the trial. Frequentist measures are tied to the design, and interim analyses must be planned for frequentist measures to have meaning. Its flexibility makes the Bayesian approach ideal for analysing data from clinical trials. In carrying out a Bayesian analysis for inferring treatment effect, information from the clinical trial and other sources can be combined and used explicitly in drawing conclusions. Bayesians and frequentists address making decisions very differently. For example, when choosing or modifying the design of a clinical trial, Bayesians use all available information, including that which comes from the trial itself. The ability to calculate predictive probabilities for future observations is a distinct advantage of the Bayesian approach to designing clinical trials and other decisions. An important difference between Bayesian and frequentist thinking is the role of randomization.
Pulmonary Capillary Hemangiomatosis With Atypical Endotheliomatosis: Successful Antiangiogenic Therapy With Doxycycline

We report here our experience in achieving remission in a 20-year-old man with pulmonary capillary hemangiomatosis (PCH) with atypical endotheliomatosis following therapy with doxycycline. PCH is a rare disorder characterized by proliferating capillaries that invade the pulmonary interstitium and alveolar septae, and occlude the pulmonary vasculature. The patient's symptoms, lung function, and radiographic findings had worsened despite treatment with both prednisone and α-interferon. He was considered to be a candidate for transplantation. Given the elevated levels of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in urine and the capillary proliferation noted on biopsy specimens, we elected to treat the patient with doxycycline, a matrix metalloproteinase and angiogenesis inhibitor. Following several weeks of therapy, a gradual resolution of symptoms was noted, with normalization of pulmonary function test results and urine bFGF levels. After 18 months of therapy, the patient remains in complete remission.
A Comparison of Hostile Behavior of Decision-Makers in Simulate and Historical Data

The origin of wars is to be found … in the minds … of men,” said Frederick S. Dunn in the course of his argument that the United Nations should improve educational opportunities and raise living standards throughout the world. Such reforms, he believed, would alleviate ignorance and mass dissatisfaction, two of the principal causes of war. But Dunn's statement, in the light of recent research, also lends itself to a totally different interpretation.
Preoperative Assessment of High-Risk Candidates to Predict Survival After Heart Transplantation

Background— Alternate waiting list strategies expand listing criteria for patients awaiting heart transplantation (HTx). We retrospectively analyzed clinical events and outcome of patients listed as high-risk recipients for HTx. Methods and Results— We analyzed 822 adult patients who underwent HTx of whom 111 patients met high-risk criteria. Clinical data were collected from medical records and outcome factors calculated for 61 characteristics. Significant factors were summarized in a prognostic score. Age >65 years (67%) and amyloidosis (19%) were the most common reasons for alternate listing. High-risk recipients were older (63.2±10.2 versus 51.4±11.8 years; P 2 prior sternotomies were associated with poor survival after HTx. A prognostic risk score (CARRS [CVA, albumin, re-HTx, renal dysfunction, and sternotomies]) derived from these factors stratified survival post-HTx in high-risk (3+ points) versus low-risk (0–2 points) patients (87.9% versus 52.9% at 1-year; 65.9% versus 28.4% at 5-year post-HTx; P <0.001). Low-risk alternate patients had survival comparable with regular patients (87.9% versus 87.0% at 1-year and 65.9% versus 74.5% at 5-year post-HTx; P =0.46). Conclusions— High-risk patients had reduced survival compared with regular patients post-HTx. Among patients previously accepted for alternate donor listing, application of the CARRS score identifies patients with unacceptably high mortality after HTx and those with a survival similar to regularly listed patients.
High Speed, Low Noise Integrated Circuits for Experiments at LHC/SSC Colliding Beams

Experiments to be performed at future high energy colliding beams facilities such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) will use 106--107 high speed sensors. A wide range of high speed, low noise, and low power mixed analog/digital systems are being developed for the readout of these sensors. Highlights of these systems include a 12 bit, 60 Megahertz 16 channel 256 deep analog memory with on chip A/D, a floating-point flash ADC to achieve very large dynamic range, and a fast low power system for time measurement.
Technological advances and information science: impact on men's health.

The evolution of men’s health as a concept in the social, psychological, emotional, and physical aspects of health continues to advance and create an awareness and presence in the general public. Men’s health is currently being integrated into many aspects of our lives. Whether this integration is a legitimate aspect of promoting men’s health status or a marketing strategy is yet to be fully known. For example, vitamins are promoted as targeting the health care needs of men and nutritional drink and snacks being promoted as nutritionally balanced for men’s specific health care needs. A question continues to surface regarding the evidence base for the promotion of these products, goods, or services. Regardless of the intent of this promotion of men’s health, these promotional strategies are increasingly presenting men’s health as something that needs to be addressed. As men’s health care professionals, this creates new challenges and provides a need for our increased awareness of the promotion of men’s health in a variety of nontypical health care areas. Furthermore, information science has facilitated information explosion regarding men’s health. In addition, technological advances in our very mobile and electronically connected society have further promoted the explosion of information available to men’s health consumers, beyond the Internet. A simple search for apps on men’s health identified more than 134 apps available for free or a nominal fee that can be used by individuals interested in men’s health. These apps are diverse, from magazine apps to apps targeting general and specific men’s health information. The availability of this information presents further challenges for health care providers to remain current and knowledgeable about what information is available to men’s health consumers. This information explosion has been a great impetus for the evolution of men’s health; however, we must remain vigilant regarding the accuracy of this information. These advances in information technology provide opportunities for men’s health care professionals to partner with technology developers and information scientists to advance men’s health using these various technology modalities. I support these technological advances in the area of men’s health; however, my remaining concern after exploring some of the information on men’s health on the Internet and available on mobile apps is regarding the accuracy and evidence to support what is promoted in the area of men’s health. Let us capitalize on these current initiatives but ensure that these products, goods, and services represent the best evidence in the area of men’s health. 495269 JMH7510.1177/1557988313495269American Journal of Men’s HealthPorche research-article2013
A flexible active and reactive power control strategy for a variable speed constant frequency generating system

Variable-speed constant-frequency generating systems are used in wind power, hydroelectric power, aerospace, and naval power generation applications to enhance efficiency and reduce friction. In these applications, an attractive candidate is the slip power recovery system comprising a doubly excited induction machine or doubly excited brushless reluctance machine and PWM power converters with a DC link. In this paper, a flexible active and reactive power control strategy is developed, such that the optimal torque-speed profile of the turbine can be followed and overall reactive power can be controlled, while the machine copper losses have been minimized. At the same time, harmonics injected into the power network have also been minimized. In this manner, the system can function as both a highly-efficient power generator and a flexible reactive power compensator. >
Linear time optimization of partially solved floorplans

Efficient optimization of floorplans is studied. For a given geometric figure (GF) which represents a partially solved floorplan, the problem of finding a realization in the form of a floorplan for which the enclosing rectangle has the minimum area and the adjacent cells touch one another along a side for at least one unit length is discussed. An O(n) time algorithm for finding a solution, if GF is fully triangulated, is provided. This result is extended to the case when the minimum horizontal and vertical lengths of cells and minimum contact requirements between cells are given. The linear-time algorithm can also be extended to provide channels of prescribed widths between adjacent cells. It is demonstrated that if certain adjacencies can be satisfied by contact through vacant rectangular areas, then the solution may not be optimal. A solution to this version of the problem is proposed. The difficulty of the problem when GF is not fully triangulated is explored, and an efficient heuristic algorithm for this version of the problem is provided. Extension to three-dimensional space-plan optimization is discussed. >
An Improved UPFC Control for Oscillation Damping

This paper proposes a new control approach for a unified power flow controller (UPFC) for power system oscillation damping. This control is simple to implement, yet is valid over a wide range of operating conditions. It is also effective in the presence of multiple modes of oscillation. The proposed control is implemented in several test systems and is compared against a traditional PI control.
Iterative packet combining schemes for intersymbol interference channels

We study packet combining techniques for retransmission schemes over intersymbol interference (ISI) channels. Two types of combining schemes are investigated, namely, maximum-likelihood combining (MLC) and iterative combining (IC). By first employing a precoding technique and then by interpreting the ISI channel as a trellis code, the transmissions of the same data packet at different times through the channel can be treated as the parallel concatenation of recursive trellis codes. If interleavers are used in between retransmissions, "turbo" coding gains can be achieved by iterative equalization. It is shown that IC provides excellent performance and outperforms other forms of combining in terms of frame error rate performance both analytically and through simulations.
Lack of a role of DNA methylation in tumor promoter 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced synthesis of ornithine decarboxylase messenger RNA in T24 cells.

Abstract Association of alteration in DNA methylation pattern in triggering 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA)-induced transcription of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) gene in T24 cells was determined. In accord with our previous findings (Archiv. Biochem. Biophys., 262: 326–336, 1988), TPA treatment of T24 cells, cultured in serum-free medium, resulted in a dramatic (∼15-fold) increase in ODC activity which was accompanied by a proportional increase in hybridizable amount of ODC mRNA. Data from nuclear run-off transcription assay revealed that TPA-induced accumulation of ODC mRNA is the result of increased transcription initiation. Since DNA hypomethylation has been proposed to be a mechanism involved in the regulation of transcription of some gene(s), we examined the changes in the methylation patterns in the ODC gene isolated from the vehicle (ethanol)- and TPA-treated T24 cells. The autoradiograms resulting from the Southern blot analysis of DNA cleaved with several methylation-sensitive restriction endonucleases [e.g., HpaII, MspI, cfoI (HhaI), SalI, XhoI] exhibited no difference in methylation pattern of ODC gene in T24 cells. Also, a single or chronic application of TPA to either noninitiated or 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-initiated mouse skin failed to alter DNA methylation pattern of ODC gene. Furthermore, the hypomethylation agent 5-azacytidine failed to induce ODC mRNA in T24 cells. These results indicate that TPA does not affect the methylation status of ODC gene and hypomethylation may not be sufficient for TPA-increased ODC gene transcription in T24 cells.
Interaction between emission and cleavage at crack tips

Abstract Whether a crack cleaves first or instead emits a dislocation has been explored extensively to understand the ductile and brittle nature of crack response. Recently, Rice and co-workers have used a single-plane Peierls approach to identify a critical energy release rate for dislocation emission from a crack tip in terms of γ, the maximum unit area energy required to uniformly shear a candidate slip plane, and SI, a Schmid-type factor to resolve the mode I crack loading onto the candidate slip plane. Comparison with a separate cleavage analysis based on surface energy γs yields an approximate single-plane condition γus/2γs = S 2 1, to distinguish between emission and cleavage. This work attemps to assess this result by treating dislocation emission and cleavage as interacting rather than isolated processes. In particular, two nonlinear Peierls-type planes are considered as in a similar model by Beltz and Schmauder, so that the interactive competition between cleavage and dislocation emission on dif...
On the design of single-loop single-input-output feedback control systems in the complex-frequency domain

This paper is concerned with single-loop, single-input-output, feedback control systems consisting of a plant, controller, and feedback sensor each modeled by a rational transfer function. The plant can be unstable, nonminimum phase, and even improper. The objective is the determination of the controller transfer function for which the system is asymptotically stable and design objectives are met. This has always been the goal in feedback system design. What is novel about the approach presented here is that the family of all stabilizing controller transfer functions is parameterized in terms of a rational function K (s) . The design method allows for complete freedom in the selection of all closed-loop system poles (except those associated with hidden modes). This is accomplished through the choice of the denominator polynomial for K (s) . The remaining design freedom lies in the selection of the numerator of K (s) . This freedom is utilized to shape the system sensitivity function and to achieve specified steady-state error coefficients. A numerical example in which the plant is unstable and nonminimum phase is presented to illustrate the above points. The final design is compared with alternative designs and the tradeoffs are clearly displayed.
RESEARCH NOTES AND APPLICATION REPORTS DATING THE AEGEAN LATE BRONZE AGE WITH RADIOCARBON

The beginning of the Late Bronze Age in the Aegean has usually been thought to coincide with the start of the Eighteenth Dynasty in Egypt, and radiocarbon dates (which consistently suggest an earlier chronology) have been rejected by Aegean specialists because they do not agree with this view. Evidence from pottery is used to re-examine the links between the Aegean and Egypt, with the conclusion that the Aegean Late Bronze Age began during the Hyksos period.
A Forkhead Transcription Factor Is Important for True Hyphal as well as Yeast Morphogenesis in Candida albicans

Candida albicans is an important pathogen of immunocompromised patients which grows with true hyphal, pseudohyphal, and yeast morphologies. The dynamics of cell cycle progression are markedly different in true hyphal relative to pseudohyphal and yeast cells, including nuclear movement and septin ring positioning. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, two forkhead transcription factors (ScFKH1 and ScFKH2) regulate the expression of B-cyclin genes. In both S. cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe, forkhead transcription factors also influence morphogenesis. To explore the molecular mechanisms that connect C. albicans morphogenesis with cell cycle progression, we analyzed CaFKH2, the single homolog of S. cerevisiae FKH1/FKH2. C. albicans cells lacking CaFkh2p formed constitutive pseudohyphae under all yeast and hyphal growth conditions tested. Under hyphal growth conditions levels of hyphae-specific mRNAs were reduced, and under yeast growth conditions levels of several genes encoding proteins likely to be important for cell wall separation were reduced. Together these results imply that Fkh2p is required for the morphogenesis of true hyphal as well as yeast cells. Efg1p and Cph1p, two transcription factors that contribute to C. albicans hyphal growth, were not required for the pseudohyphal morphology of fkh2 mutants, implying that Fkh2p acts in pathways downstream of and/or parallel to Efg1p and Cph1p. In addition, cells lacking Fkh2p were unable to damage human epithelial or endothelial cells in vitro, suggesting that Fkh2p contributes to C. albicans virulence.
Harnessing parallelism in multicore clusters with the all-pairs and wavefront abstractions

Both distributed systems and multicore computers are difficult programming environments. Although the expert programmer may be able to tune distributed and multicore computers to achieve high performance, the non-expert may struggle to achieve a program that even functions correctly.We argue that high level abstractions are an effective way of making parallel computing accessible to the non-expert. An abstraction is a regularly structured framework into which a user may plug in simple sequential programs to create very large parallel programs. By virtue of a regular structure and declarative specification, abstractions may be materialized on distributed, multicore, and distributed multicore systems with robust performance across a wide range of problem sizes. In previous work, we presented the All-Pairs abstraction for computing on distributed systems of single CPUs. In this paper, we extend All-Pairs to multicore systems, and introduce Wavefront, which represents a number of problems in economics and bioinformatics. We demonstrate good scaling of both abstractions up to 32-cores on one machine and hundreds of cores in a distributed system.
Detecting dense communities in large social and information networks with the Core & Peel algorithm

Detecting and characterizing dense subgraphs (tight communities) in social and information networks is an important exploratory tool in social network analysis. Several approaches have been proposed that either (i) partition the whole network into clusters, even in low density region, or (ii) are aimed at finding a single densest community (and need to be iterated to find the next one). As social networks grow larger both approaches (i) and (ii) result in algorithms too slow to be practical, in particular when speed in analyzing the data is required. In this paper we propose an approach that aims at balancing efficiency of computation and expressiveness and manageability of the output community representation. We define the notion of a partial dense cover (PDC) of a graph. Intuitively a PDC of a graph is a collection of sets of nodes that (a) each set forms a disjoint dense induced subgraphs and (b) its removal leaves the residual graph without dense regions. Exact computation of PDC is an NP-complete problem, thus, we propose an efficient heuristic algorithms for computing a PDC which we christen Core and Peel. Moreover we propose a novel benchmarking technique that allows us to evaluate algorithms for computing PDC using the classical IR concepts of precision and recall even without a golden standard. Tests on 25 social and technological networks from the Stanford Large Network Dataset Collection confirm that Core and Peel is efficient and attains very high precison and recall.
Causality enforcement in fast EM-based simulation of multilayer transmission lines

This paper proposes an efficient method for 2-D EM-based simulation of multilayer transmission lines making use of causal, frequency-dependent dielectric loss models. Frequency-dependent loss modeling overcomes causality violations introduced by classical, static loss descriptions, but it poses significant challenges to efficient applications of EM-based models in both time and frequency-domain circuit simulations. The proposed method overcomes this challenge by introducing a modeling approximation which preserves causality, maintains accuracy and achieves speed-up of several orders of magnitude compared to direct application of the frequency-dependent dielectric loss model in EM-based simulations.
Thomas Wilfred and Intermedia: Seeking a Framework for Lumia

The most successful early-20th-century artist of colored light in the United States was undoubtedly Thomas Wilfred (1889–1968). In the 1920s, his “Lumia” compositions were praised by art critics and performed throughout the U.S. After initially embracing a musical analogy to explain Lumia, in the early 1930s he shifted to an analogy based on painting. In pursuit of this new context, Wilfred sought to legitimize Lumia through a relationship with the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His career is emblematic of the difficulties inherent in the creation of art using technology early in the 20th century, years before the postmodern embrace of pluralism.
Experimental and numerical investigation of ion signals in boosted HCCI combustion using cesium and potassium acetate additives

Abstract A sparkplug ion sensor can be used to measure the ion current in a homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engine, providing insight into the ion chemistry inside the cylinders during combustion. HCCI engines typically operate at lean equivalence ratios ( ϕ ) at which the ion current becomes increasingly indistinguishable from background noise. This paper investigates the effect of fuel additives on the ion signal at low equivalence ratios, determines side effects of metal acetate addition, and validates numerical model for ionization chemistry. Cesium acetate (CsOAc) and potassium acetate (KOAc) were used as additives to ethanol as the primary fuel. Concentration levels of 100, 200, and 400 mg/L of metal acetate-in-ethanol are investigated at equivalence ratios of 0.08, 0.20, and 0.30. The engine experiments were conducted at a boosted intake pressure of 1.8 bar absolute and compared to naturally aspirated results. Combustion timing was maintained at 2.5° after top-dead-center (ATDC), as defined by the crank angle degree (CAD) where 50% of the cumulative heat release occurs (CA50). CsOAc consistently produced the strongest ion signals at all conditions when compared to KOAc. The ion signal was found to decrease with increased intake pressure; an increase in the additive concentration increased the ion signal for all cases. However, the addition of the metal acetates decreased the gross indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP g ), maximum rate of heat release (ROHR), and peak cylinder pressure. Experimental results were used to validate ion chemistry mechanisms for cesium and potassium using a single-zone numerical engine model.
Packaging Models versus Modeling Packaging

For over 50 years, bacteriophage have stood as some of the most informative systems used to investigate the fundamental aspects of macromolecular interaction and allostery, yielding insight into how complex structures form. The tractable nature of these systems presents both the simplicity needed to rapidly adopt and develop new experimental technologies and a level of complexity valued in revealing insights that reside at the leading edge of our understanding of biological molecular processes. Of the events that comprise phage assembly, the DNA packaging step that occurs in the dsDNA phages remains one of the most dramatic and complex.
Solubility of various hydrocarbons in aqueous solutions of sodium p-cymenesulfonate and 1-butanol

Miscibilities of various hydrocarbons in systems containing n-butanol and aqueous solutions of sodium p-cymenesulfonate (sodium-2-methyl-5-isopropyl-benzenesulfonate) (2.5 moles/kg H/sub 2/O) have been determined at 25 C. The hydrocarbons included aliphatic hydrocarbons, cyclohexane, aromatic hydrocarbons, and various hydrocarbon mixtures. The amount of n-butanol required to achieve miscibility increases with increasing chain length of the aliphatic hydrocarbons and with an increasing number of alkyl carbons on the benzene ring of the aromatic hydrocarbons. The 2-phase region with cyclohexane is smaller than with n-hexane, and similar to that with butylbenzene. For mixtures of 2 hydrocarbons, the amount of n-butanol required seems to vary linearly with weight fraction of the hydrocarbon components.
Sweepnet Sampling for the Cereal Leaf Beetle, Oulema melanopus

Two interrelated models were developed to predict cereal leaf beetle density from sweepnet catch. The mathematical model requires knowledge of sweepnet diameter, length of sweep, the proportion of the insect population that is in the net's path, and the probability of capture given that the insect is in the net's path. Difficulty in submodeling the last 2 variables led to the development of an alternative regression model. This model is specific to adult cereal leaf beetles and assumes a 15-inch net and a 5-foot sweep. It requires knowledge of wind speed, temperature, solar radiation intensity, and crop height. The regression has an r2 of 0.87. Variance analysis showed that between-field variance is much greater than within-field variance and that the difference increases as density increases. Optimal allocation of sampling resources requires one sample per field and as many fields as possible with those resources. Normally if 60% of the fields of one crop in an area are sampled, then for that crop the standard error of the catch is within 10% of the mean. For detection purposes it is best to sample during peak larval densities to insure the greatest chance of a positive find. The sweepnet is an extremely efficient detection device down to densities as low as one insect per acre. Even if no cereal leaf beetles are caught in a region, probabilistic statements can be made regarding maximum likely densities.
Potential aldose reductase inhibitors: 1,2,4-triazolidine-3,5-diones and 2-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl)-4,4-diethyl-3,5-isoxazolidinedione .

1,2,4-Triazolidine-3,5-diones and the 3,5-isoxazolidinedione were, observed to be, potent inhibitors of rat lens aldose reductase activity. In vivo in streptozotocin-diabetic rats, selected agents at 20 mg/kg/day, orally for 21 days reduced significantly the sorbitol levels of rbc, lens and sciatic nerves, suggesting that these derivatives may have some usefulness to treat clinical complications of diabetes mellitus.
Metastatic melanoma: is biochemotherapy the future?

Current treatment options in metastatic melanoma are of limited efficacy. Achievement of durable responses with biological agents, and the possibility to complement the higher response rate of chemotherapy and combined chemotherapy by prolonged duration of responses, led to development of biochemotherapy. Although a clear improvement in response rate (40–60% OR) resulted in some studies of the combined modality, several phase III studies had mixed results on the duration of survival. Various timeframes between the administration of chemotherapy and biologics have been tested, ranging between concurrent biochemotherapy, 1 d (immediately sequential), and up to 3 wk (long sequence or alternating). An analysis of the trend of responses and survival versus the duration of the chemobiotherapy sequence showed that, as the timeframe between chemo and bio components increases, the overall survival, survival of complete responders, and survival of partial responders appear to increase, but the effect is only present for the chemo-bio, and not for the bio-chemo sequence. Because there is no current explanation for this observation, it appears possible that the interaction between components of biochemotherapy results in a double effect: an increase in the immediate response reflected in the OR, CR, PR on one side, and an increase in survival on the other side. An analysis of mechanisms involved in the response leads us hypothesize that macrophage activation, as measured by the neopterin levels, may correlate with the survival of patients undergoing biochemotherapy, while the generation of nitric oxide, acting synergistically with chemotherapy in producing tumor cell killing, may be reflected in the overall response rate seen with the biochemotherapy combinations.
Diabetic Dyslipidemia Review: An Update on Current Concepts and Management Guidelines of Diabetic Dyslipidemia

Abstract Background Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes and the major source of cost in the care of diabetes. Treatment of dyslipidemia with cholesterol-lowering medications has been shown to decrease cardiovascular events. However, available guidelines for the treatment of dyslipidemia often contain significant differences in their recommendations. Methods Lipid guidelines from National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology were reviewed. In addition a literature review was performed using PubMed to research diabetic peculiarities to the topic of lipids. Results Summarized within this article are the aforementioned, commonly-used guidelines as they relate to diabetes, as well as information regarding the diabetic phenotype of dislipidemia and the association between statins and new-onset diabetes. Conclusions While the multitude of guidelines and the differences between them may contribute to confusion for practitioners, they are best viewed as tools to help tailor appropriate treatment plans for individual patients.
Neighborhood and Family Environment of Expectant Mothers May Influence Prenatal Programming of Adult Cancer Risk: Discussion and an Illustrative DNA Methylation Example.

Childhood stressors including physical abuse predict adult cancer risk. Prior research portrays this finding as an indirect mechanism that operates through coping behaviors, including adult smoking, or through increased toxic exposures during childhood. Little is known about potential direct causal mechanisms between early-life stressors and adult cancer. Because prenatal conditions can affect gene expression by altering DNA methylation, with implications for adult health, we hypothesize that maternal stress may program methylation of cancer-linked genes during gametogenesis. To illustrate this hypothesis, we related maternal social resources to methylation at the imprinted MEG3 differentially methylated regulatory region, which has been linked to multiple cancer types. Mothers (n = 489) from a diverse birth cohort (Durham, North Carolina) provided newborns’ cord blood and completed a questionnaire. Newborns of currently married mothers showed lower (−0.321 SD, p < .05) methylation compared to newborns of...