cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Development of a novel murine model of aortic aneurysms using peri-adventitial elastase.

Background Our aim was to establish a novel model of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in mice using application of peri-adventitial elastase. Methods C57BL/6J male mice underwent infrarenal peri-adventitial application of either (1) sodium chloride (control; n = 7), (2) porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE; n = 14), or (3) PPE and doxycycline (PPE + doxycycline 200 mg/kg; n = 11) for 14 days. Aortas were analyzed by video micrometry, immunohistochemistry, qualitative polymerase chain reaction, and zymography. Groups underwent Mann–Whitney U comparisons. Results At day 14 compared with baseline, control animals had minimal aortic dilation, whereas fusiform aneurysms were seen in PPE (control, 20 ± 3%; PPE, 82 ± 15%; P ≤ .003). Doxycycline abrogated aneurysm formation (PPE, 82 ± 15%; PPE + doxycycline, 37 ± 10%; P ≤ .03). Compared with control and PPE + doxycycline, immunohistochemistry demonstrated greater elastin fiber degradation, macrophage infiltration, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in PPE. Ki-67 and cleaved caspase-3 were lower in control versus PPE. The loss of smooth muscle marker expression seen with PPE was preserved in PPE + doxycycline. Zymography confirmed that both MMP-2 and -9 were more active in PPE than PPE + doxycycline. Conclusion Peri-adventitial application of elastase is a simple, reproducible in vivo model of aneurysm formation leading to consistent infrarenal aortic aneurysm development by day 14, with inflammatory cell infiltration and MMP upregulation. Doxycycline inhibits AAA progression in this model via limiting matrix degradation and preserving differentiated smooth muscle cells.
Fracture and Stiffness Characteristics of Particulate Composites of Diamond in Zinc Sulfide

Diamond particles have been embedded in hot-pressed zinc sulfide (ZnS) ceramic to improve various mechanical properties while preserving special optical properties. Roomtemperature mechanical tests on small specimens have shown that adding 10 wt% diamond to ZnS has no effect on the yield stress, but increases the tensile strength and the elastic moduli ∼20%, and increases the fracture toughness ∼100%. The doubling in fracture toughness can be explained by elastic interaction of the diamond particles with the crack-tip stress field. The results and the interpretation presented here are believed to represent a class of composite materials where both constituents are brittle but the dispersed phase has a much higher elastic modulus than the matrix.
Local recurrence in lumpectomy patients after imprint cytology margin evaluation.

Background: This is a follow-up study to our previously reported data on local recurrence rates in patients whose lumpectomy margins were evaluated by intraoperative imprint cytology (IIC M ). The purpose of this study was to compare local recurrence rates for patients whose lumpectomy margins were evaluated with IIC M with local recurrence rates of those not evaluated by IIC M . Methods: A total of 1713 patients underwent lumpectomy treatment for breast cancer from 1988 to 2001 were prospectively entered into a computerized database and subsequently included in this study. Of the patients, 520 (group 1) had their surgery performed at an outside institution where conventional margin analysis was performed. Another 1193 (group 2) had their surgery performed at our institution where margins were evaluated by IIC M . For each histologic type and for the overall sample, probabilities of recurrence with time were estimated using the method of Kaplan and Meier. Results: IIC M overcomes sampling error inherent in the frozen section analysis and results in a diminished incidence of overall 5-year local recurrence from 8.8% to 2.8% (P 0.0001). The recurrence rates for each respective histologic subtype are reported for both absolute recurrences and probability of recurrence with time. Conclusions: IIC M provides an accurate evaluation of lumpectomy margins for patients undergoing breast-conservation treatment. IIC M was associated with an overall lower local recurrence rate. This series defined the utility of intraoperative imprint cytology for evaluation of margins in patients undergoing breast-conservation treatment. © 2004 Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved.
Optimal Linear-Consensus Algorithms: An LQR Perspective

Laplacian matrices play an important role in linear-consensus algorithms. This paper studies optimal linear-consensus algorithms for multivehicle systems with single-integrator dynamics in both continuous-time and discrete-time settings. We propose two global cost functions, namely, interaction-free and interaction-related cost functions. With the interaction-free cost function, we derive the optimal (nonsymmetric) Laplacian matrix by using a linear-quadratic-regulator-based method in both continuous-time and discrete-time settings. It is shown that the optimal (nonsymmetric) Laplacian matrix corresponds to a complete directed graph. In addition, we show that any symmetric Laplacian matrix is inverse optimal with respect to a properly chosen cost function. With the interaction-related cost function, we derive the optimal scaling factor for a prespecified symmetric Laplacian matrix associated with the interaction graph in both continuous-time and discrete-time settings. Illustrative examples are given as a proof of concept.
Quantifying the effects of phenology on ecosystem evapotranspiration in planted grassland mesocosms using EcoCELL technology

Use of plant phenological variables in models predicting evapotranspiration (ET) has largely relied on relatively simple (e.g., linear) relationships which may not be sufficiently accurate to predict small—yet ecologically significant—changes in plant phenology that are expected to occur in response to global climate change. A dearth of experimental data reflects the difficulties in quantifying these relationships against the background of large environmental variability that occurs in the field. Our main objective was to quantify how plant phenology (leaf area index [LAI] and root length density [RLD]) affect ET and its components during an entire vegetation cycle in large-scale model grassland (Bromus tectorum) ecosystems using the Ecologically Controlled Enclosed Lysimeter Laboratory (EcoCELL)—a unique open flow and mass balance laboratory. We also aimed to compare the three methods employed by the EcoCELL laboratory to measure ecosystem ET (whole-ecosystem gas exchange, weighing lysimetry, and weighing lysimetry combined with time domain reflectometry [TDR]) in order to independently confirm the performance of the unique gas exchange technology. Cumulative ET during the 190 days of the experiment measured with the three different methods compared very well with each other (mean errors <1%). We found that ET reached maximum levels at relatively low LAI (2–3), but as LAI increased beyond this value, small increase in transpiration were more than offset by decreases in soil evaporation, thereby causing declines in ET. A combined rectangular hyperbola (effects on transpiration) and linear (effects on soil evaporation) function between LAI and ET accounted for almost 90% of all variability in measured daily ET. RLD showed relationships to ET similar to those observed for LAI due to high covariance between RLD and LAI, but root length densities did not explain any additional variability in daily ET beyond that explained by LAI under the well-watered conditions of the experiment. Taken together, our results show that: (i) the EcoCELL mesocosm laboratory can precisely and accurately quantify hydrologic processes of large soil–plant monoliths under controlled environmental conditions; (ii) plant canopy phenological changes affect ecosystem ET, and the contribution of transpiration, in non-linear ways; (iii) these non-linear responses must be accounted for when assessing the consequences of changes in plant phenology—e.g., due to global environmental change—on ecosystem hydrology. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Numerical Simulations of Electromigration and Stress-Driven Diffusion in Polycrystalline Interconnects

Finite element solutions to problems of electromigration and stress-driven diffusion in polycrystalline films are presented. The numerical formulation accounts for diffusion along grain boundaries and through the bulk. The procedures are validated by comparing the finite element solutions to an existing analytic solution of an idealized, isolated grain boundary lying parallel to current flow. A simple polycrystalline interconnect is then considered and the effects of diffusion along each grain boundary and through the bulk are each added separately to the analysis so that the importance of each mechanism can be ascertained. In some cases, the inclusion of additional diffusion paths result in significant reductions in predicted stress levels.
Evaluation of the Comprehension of Noncontinous Sped-Up Vocoded Speech: A Strategy for Coping with Fading HF Channels

A novel technique for coping with fading and burst noise on HF channels used for digital voice communication has been developed and evaluated. The technique transmits digital voice only during the high signal-to-noise ratio time intervals, i.e., channel "on" times, and speeds up the speech when necessary in order to avoid delays which would hinder conversation. The technique was evaluated using a spoken version of a reading comprehension test. The test involved 15 spoken, 2-min paragraphs processed by a real-time channel vocoder simulation which had been modified to also simulate the on/ off characteristics of a fading HF channel. Based on informal listening tests, four test conditions were selected in order to characterize those conditions of interrupting the speech that would render it comprehensible or incomprehensible. One of the test conditions, 2 s on \frac{1}{2} s off on the average, produced percentage correct test scores comparable to the reference continuous speech case. Since this condition represents a reasonable match to the temporal variations of a disturbed ionosphere, and also represents a more difficult condition than the slower variations of an undisturbed ionosphere, it is concluded that the sped-up speech technique is appropriate for HF digital voice communication systems.
Small noncoding RNAs: Biogenesis, function, and emerging significance in toxicology

In recent years, the discovery of small ncRNAs (noncoding RNAs) has unveiled a slew of powerful riboregulators of gene expression. So far, many different types of small ncRNAs have been described. Of these, miRNAs (microRNAs), siRNAs (small interfering RNAs), and piRNAs (Piwi-interacting RNAs) have been studied in more detail. A significant fraction of genes in most organisms and tissues is targets of these small ncRNAs. Because these tiny RNAs are turning out to be important regulators of gene and genome expression, their aberrant expression profiles are expected to be associated with cellular dysfunction and disease. In fact, an ever-increasing number of studies have implicated miRNAs and siRNAs in human health and disease ranging from metabolic disorders to diseases of various organ systems as well as various forms of cancer. Nevertheless, despite the flurry of research on these small ncRNAs, many aspects of their biology still remain to be understood. The following discussion focuses on some aspects of the biogenesis and function of small ncRNAs with major emphasis on miRNAs since these are the most widespread endogenous small ncRNAs that have been called "micromanagers" of gene expression. Their emerging significance in toxicology is also discussed.
Comparative Effects of Oral and Inhaled Verapamil on Antigen-Induced Bronchoconstriction*

We investigated the comparative effects of oral and inhaled verapamil on specific airway conductance (SGaw) and allergic bronchial reactivity. Ten asymptomatic subjects with ragweed hypersensitivity and a history of bronchial asthma were studied on four different days, without and with pre-treatments by oral (160 mg) or inhaled (20 mg) verapamil. Bronchial reactivity was measured as the cumulative provocative dose of ragweed antigen which caused a 35 percent decrease in SGaw, ie PD35. The amount of inhaled verapamil actually deposited in the tracheobronchial tree was estimated to be 0.56 mg. Mean SGaw was not affected by either mode of administration; mean SGaw (SE) was 0.13(.02) and 0.12(.02) L/sec−1 before and .14(.62) and 0.12(.62) L/sec−1 after oral and inhaled verapamil, respectively. Mean (SE) PD35 was reproducible on two control days, ie 0.9(.4) and 0.8(.4) breath units, respectively. Inhaled verapamil increased mean PD35 to 18.8 (10.8) breath units (p
The Effects of Ad Valorem and Specific Taxes on Prices

Introduction, 649. — I. Specific taxes, 651. — II. Ad valorem taxes, 653.— III. Ad valorem versus specific taxes, 655. — IV. Conclusion, 655.
Anomalous connection between the sinus node artery and the A-V node artery.

Anomalous connection between the sinus node artery and A-V node artery is an extremely rare coronary variant. Angiographic and clinical data from an adult with this finding are reported. Coronary embryogenesis and normal nodal arterial blood supply are reviewed. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Incorporating knowledge of geometric dimensioning and tolerancing into a feature-based CAD system

A system is described which aids a designer in assigning dimensions and tolerances to designs of mechanical parts. The system is constructed using an object-oriented approach. Designs are created using geometric features such as slots and holes. For each feature, there is knowledge about the object regarding appropriate ways to dimension and tolerance that feature. The tolerancing system used is unambiguous and is similar to geometric dimensioning and tolerancing (GD&T), the standard system used in industrial practice. >
The Politics of Risking Peace: Do Hawks or Doves Deliver the Olive Branch?

This article explores the politics of risking international cooperation with a distrusted adversary. It develops a model in which two states attempt to learn over the course of two periods whether or not mutual cooperation is possible given their (initially unknown) preferences. In one of the states, the government is engaged in domestic political competition with an opposition party. One party is known to have more hawkish preferences than the other, on average, and voters must decide which party to elect after observing the international interaction in the first period. The model shows that, when trust is low but continued conflict is costly, cooperation is most likely to be initiated by a moderate hawk—a leader with moderate preferences from the more hawkish party. Moreover, while dovish leaders are better at eliciting cooperation in the short run, mutual cooperation is most likely to endure if it was initiated by a hawk. Some empirical implications and illustrations of the model are discussed.I gratefully acknowledge thoughtful comments received from Andrew Kydd, James Morrow, Brett Ashley Leeds, T. Clifton Morgan, Kenneth Scheve, Deborah Larson, Bruce Russett, Alex Mintz, and the anonymous reviewers. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 43rd annual meeting of the International Studies Association, March 2002.
High power quasi-optical millimeter-wave beam control array using resonant tunneling devices

At UCLA, multifunction beam control arrays have been fabricated, and have successfully demonstrated amplitude modulation, phase shifting, beam steering (/spl plusmn/6/spl deg/) and beam focusing at frequencies up to 170 GHz. High speed switching arrays capable of generating subnanosecond pulses with octave bandwidths have also been designed. A new lossless millimeter-wave beam controller family based on Schottky diodes and resonant tunneling diodes (RTDs) is described here. Negative differential resistance (NDR) is used to dramatically reduce the loss in beam control applications. Simulations demonstrate that a 300/spl deg/ phase range with virtually no loss can be obtained at 60 GHz with a pair of stacked grids. Lossless wide angle beam steering should be realizable. An improved electronically controlled beam switching array can be obtained with a contrast ratio (on-off radio) of at least 35 dB. >
Random testing of interrupt-driven software

Interrupt-driven embedded software is hard to thoroughly test since it usually contains a very large number of executable paths. Developers can test more of these paths using random interrupt testing---firing random interrupt handlers at random times. Unfortunately, naive application of random testing to interrupt-driven software does not work: some randomly generated interrupt schedules violate system semantics, causing spurious failures. The contribution of this paper is the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of RID, a restricted interrupt discipline that hardens embedded software with respect to unexpected interrupts, making it possible to perform random interrupt testing and also protecting it from spurious interrupts after deployment. We evaluate RID by implementing it in TinyOS and then using random interrupt testing to find bugs and also to drive applications toward their worst-case stack depths.
Deep structures along the boundary of a collisional belt: attenuation tomography of P and S waves in the Greater Caucasus

SUMMARY Seismic attenuation (Q’1 )o fP and S waves shows a major discontinuity from the Russian platform to the tectonically active Greater Caucasus. Broadband records show this boundary over paths 4° long, as revealed by the decay of amplitude spectra from a digital seismic network flanking the Greater Caucasus. We measure attenuation from individual spectra, using a non-linear least-squares procedure to determine an attenuation parameter (t*) simultaneously with source parameters at frequencies between 1 and 15 Hz. The t* measurements are then inverted for spatial variations of Q’1, with parametrizations of varying complexity. Model variance for heterogeneous structures improves by more than 30 per cent compared with homogeneous parametrizations. Site corrections also significantly improve the fit. In these inversion results, mountainous regions exhibit Q values 2‐3 times lower (Q S =775±75) than do the adjacent shields (Q S =2060±315), showing that the discontinuity is large. For both regions, Q P is roughly equal to Q S . Comparison of body-wave to coda spectra indicates that intrinsic absorption rather than scattering dominates the Q’1 measurements, at least beneath the mountains. Hence Q’1 variations may give a reasonable proxy for temperature; if so, then temperature beneath the mountains exceeds that beneath the shield by 70°‐400°C. These temperature increases may not be high enough to generate widespread partial melting beneath the mountains, but could produce regional metamorphism and could contribute substantially to isostatic compensation of the mountains. Whatever their origin, the boundary in seismic attenuation is abrupt and large between stable craton and an adjacent mountain belt, demonstrating that Q’1 is a sensitive indicator of tectonic process.
Adoption of agroforestry innovations in the tropics: A review

The period since the early 1990s has witnessed an explosion of research on the adoption of agroforestry innovations in the tropics. Much of this work was motivated by a perceived gap between advances in agroforestry science and the success of agroforestry-based development programs and projects. Achieving the full promise of agroforestry requires a fundamental understanding of how and why farmers make long-term land-use decisions and applying this knowledge to the design, development, and ‘marketing’ of agroforestry innovations. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature that has developed during the past decade analyzing agroforestry adoption from a variety of perspectives and identifies needed future research. Much progress has been made, especially in using binary choice regression models to assess influences of farm and household characteristics on adoption and in developing ex-ante participatory, on-farm research methods for analyzing the potential adoptability of agroforestry innovations. Additional research-needs that have been identified include developing a better understanding of the role of risk and uncertainty, insights into how and why farmers adapt and modify adopted systems, factors influencing the intensity of adoption, village-level and spatial analyses of adoption, the impacts of disease such as AIDS and malaria on adoption, and the temporal path of adoption.
Individual differences affect honest signalling in a songbird.

Research in the past decade has established the existence of consistent indi- vidual differences or 'personality' in animals and their important role in many aspects of animal behaviour. At the same time, research on honest sig- nalling of aggression has revealed that while some of the putative aggression signals are reliable, they are only imperfectly so. This study asks whether a significant portion of the variance in the aggression-signal regression may be explained by individual differences in signalling strategies. Using the well- studied aggressive signalling system of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), we carried out repeated assays to measure both aggressive behaviours and aggressive signalling of territorial males. Through these assays, we found that aggressive behaviours and aggressive signalling were both highly repeatable, and moreover that aggressive behaviours in 2009-2010 predicted whether the birds would attack a taxidermic mount over a year later. Most significantly, we found that residual variation in signalling behaviours, after controlling for aggressive behaviour, was individually consistent, suggesting there may be a second personality trait determining the level of aggressive signalling. We term this potential personality trait 'communicativeness' and discuss these results in the context of honest signalling theories and recent findings reporting prevalence of 'under-signalling'.
Heterogeneity in Response to Interferon Beta in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: A 3-Year Monthly Imaging Study

Objectives To investigate the heterogeneity in magnetic resonance image (MRI) patterns of response to interferon beta across patients with multiple sclerosis or within an individual patient over time. Design, Setting, and Patients Fifteen patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis underwent monthly MRIs and clinical examinations (6-month pretherapy phase and 36-month therapy phase) and bimonthly neutralizing antibody tests. On each MRI, the total number of contrast-enhancing lesions was noted. Therapy MRI responders were defined as those with a reduction of 60% or more in the total number of contrast-enhancing lesions during each semester of therapy. Intervention Subcutaneous administration of interferon beta-1b, 250 μg, every other day for 3 years. Main Outcome Measure Reduction in the number of contrast-enhancing lesions. Results Eight patients (53.3%) were MRI responders and 7 (46.7%) were nonresponders. Of those 7, 3 (20.0%) had only an initial optimal reduction of the total number of contrast-enhancing lesions, 2 (13.3%) never reached an optimal response, and 2 (13.3%) had a delayed optimal response. No clear association between neutralizing antibody profile and MRI response was evident. Conclusions Multiple MRI evaluations disclose that approximately only half of the patients treated with interferon beta achieve and maintain a full response to the drug over time, although an additional small number of individuals may still restore an optimal response to the drug after an initial failure. Published online November 10, 2008 (doi:10.1001/archneur.66.1.noc80047).
PHOSPHATIZED ANIMAL EMBRYOS FROM THE NEOPROTEROZOIC DOUSHANTUO FORMATION AT WENG'AN, GUIZHOU, SOUTH CHINA

Phosphorites of the uppermost Neoproterozoic Doushantuo Formation (ca. 570 6 20 Ma) exposed at Weng'an, South China, contain globular microfossils characterized by distinctively sculpted outer coverings and precise patterns of cell division. Forms assigned to the genera Megasphaera and Parapandorina were originally interpreted as problematica and volvocacean green algae, respectively, but newly discovered populations support their reinterpretation as the eggs and embryos of early animals. The fossils' large size (about half a millimeter in diameter), persistent enveloping membrane, precise cleavage pattern, and inferred physiology are fundamentally different from those of volvocaceans or other algae, but are expected features of animal embryos preserved in early stages of cleavage. In this light, Megasphaera is interpreted as an egg enveloped within its egg case, and Parapandorina represents equally and totally cleaving stereoblastulas. Despite their exquisite preservation, the phylogenetic placement of Megasphaera and Parapandorina cannot be resolved with confidence, due largely to the absence of recognizable adult morphologies to which they might be linked. Individual characters of Megasphaera and Parapandorina can be found in eggs and embryos of extant sponges, cnidarians, and bilaterians. Three other distinctive globular forms, Megaclonophycus onustus, Caveasphaera costata n. gen. and sp., and Spiralicellula? bulbifera? occur in the same deposit. Interpretations of these fossils are more problematic, although they may also be animal embryos.
A Decision Support System For Integration Of Vendor Selection Task

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the usefulness of a particular decision support system, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), for developing and implementing integrated procurement systems. The purchasing decision support system (PDSS) proposed in this paper provides each participant involved in the purchasing process with a procedure to communicate their preferences and the reasons for those preferences. All of the participants preferences may be aggregated to determine an overall preference, or in some cases, the results may simply be used to gain a better understanding of the values the individual place on various attributes.
Abstract 39: Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Mediates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation and Cell Cycle Progression Through Epigenetic Regulation of E2F Target Genes

INTRODUCTION: By maintaining the stability of telomeres, DNA-protein complexes that protect the ends of chromosomes, telomerase is rate limiting for tissue renewal and cell proliferation. In addition to this telomere maintenance function, mounting evidence suggests that the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) exhibits a direct regulatory role in the activation of mitotic gene expression without apparent involvement of its well-established function in telomere homeostasis. In the present study, we investigated the role of TERT in vascular remodeling and the hypothesis that TERT regulates vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation through an epigenetic activation of an S Phase gene expression program. METHODS AND RESULTS: We first demonstrate high levels of TERT expression in replicating SMC of the developing neointima of human atherosclerosis. Studies in VSMC isolated from genetically engineered TERT-deficient mice with normal telomere length establish that TERT is necessary for cell proliferation. Conversely, overexpression of TERT induces cell proliferation without extending telomere length. Although TERT-deficient VSMC are not senescent, decreased proliferation is associated with stable and irreversible silencing of S phase gene expression, including target genes of the S Phase transcription factor E2F. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirm that TERT is recruited to E2F target sites and promotes chromatin accessibility by facilitating the acquisition of permissive histone modifications. Finally, using a model of guide-wire induced arterial injury, we demonstrate these observations are applicable in vivo and identify decreased neointima formation in TERT-deficient mice. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate a previously unrecognized role for TERT in the epigenetic regulation of proliferative gene expression in VSMC.
Values and Evidence in Feminist Philosophy and in Neuroscience

Feminist critics of neuroscience have often focused on research that searches for a neural basis for purported sex/gender differences in behavior or psychological characteristics. Their analyses have shown that neither the differences themselves, nor the neurobiological explanations of how the differences arise, are well-supported by the evidence. To date, feminist philosophy of science has largely focused on changing these and other problematic research programs by changing the social practices of scientists (both the composition of science communities and the practices by which these communities produce knowledge). I argue that, instead, we should concentrate on developing ways to critically assess the way that social beliefs about gender permeate and shape empirical research. This will allow us to better understand why scientists to continue to draw on problematic research studies and theories in their search for sex/gender differences—in spite of both specific feminist criticisms and broader social changes in the way that we understand gender and gender differences.
Living with depression : family members' experiences and treatment needs

The social psychological process of family transformations was described as the cognitive and behavioral changes that occur within the family from the time initial depressive systems are exhibited through recovery and remission. Family members often lacked information about symptoms of depression and treatment alternatives; they believed psychoeducational and support groups would be helpful, and should be offered to all family members regardless of the treatment status of the ill member. Families needed information on how to facilitate communication, decrease negative interactions, and handle stigma, and required help to gain a new perspective, to shift the responsibility to the ill member, to care for self, and to redesign relationships. Education, support, and partnering could move family members through the various stages of illness more quickly and would decrease the negative impact of depression on all members of the family.
Reliability and Productivity Modeling for the Optimization of Separated Spacecraft Interferometers

As technological systems grow in capability, they also grow in complexity. Due to this complexity, it is no longer possible for a designer to use engineering judgement to identify the components that have the largest impact on system life cycle metrics, such as reliability, productivity, cost, and cost effectiveness. One way of identifying these key components is to build quantitative models and analysis tools that can be used to aid the designer in making high level architecture decisions. Once these key components have been identified, two main approaches to improving a system using these components exist: add redundancy or improve the reliability of the component. In reality, the most effective approach to almost any system will be some combination of these two approaches, in varying orders of magnitude for each component. Therefore, this research tries to answer the question of how to divide funds, between adding redundancy and improving the reliability of components, to most cost effectively improve the life cycle metrics of a system. While this question is relevant to any complex system, this research focuses on one type of system in particular: Separate Spacecraft Interferometers (SSI). Quantitative models are developed to analyze the key life cycle metrics of different SSI system architectures. Next, tools are developed to compare a given set of architectures in terms of total performance, by coupling different life cycle metrics together into one performance metric. Optimization tools, such as simulated annealing and genetic algorithms, are then used to search the entire design space to find the "optimal" architecture design. Sensitivity analysis tools have been developed to determine how sensitive the results of these analyses are to uncertain user defined parameters. Finally, several possibilities for the future work that could be done in this area of research are presented.
Acrylamide gel electrophoresis studies of human erythrocyte membrane.

A sensitive system has been presented for the isolation of erythrocyte membrane and the separation of its solubilized components by acrylamide gel electrophoresis. Comparisons were made between the membrane from both normal patients and patients with hereditary spherocytosis. While variation in a specific band on electrophoresis could be correlated with the disease state, no such variation existed among the normal membrane samples. The possible reasons for these observations are discussed.
Simulating Tidal Flushing Response to the Construction of a Low-Crested Weir Connecting Port Canaveral to the Banana River, Florida

AbstractIndian River Lagoon (IRL) is a restricted estuary along the east coast of Florida. Although Banana River, a 50-km-long subbasin of IRL, has an outlet to the ocean through the Port Canaveral Locks, the locks remain closed when there is no passing vessel, resulting in limited circulation, long flushing time, and poor water quality. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which constructing a low-crested weir adjacent to Port Canaveral can improve flushing in this region. A computer program was used to simulate the hydrodynamic properties of the study area and determine the two-dimensional (2D) depth-averaged velocity field. Then, passive particles were placed in the Banana River, and their movement was tracked using the Lagrangian particle-tracking model (LPTM). Transport timescales were then computed. Results indicate an improvement in flushing in both the Banana River and the central IRL. In the portion of the Banana River to the south of the port complex, the flushing time was de...
Citizen Science: The Small World Initiative Improved Lecture Grades and California Critical Thinking Skills Test Scores of Nonscience Major Students at Florida Atlantic University

Course-based undergraduate research is known to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics student achievement. We tested "The Small World Initiative, a Citizen-Science Project to Crowdsource Novel Antibiotic Discovery" to see if it also improved student performance and the critical thinking of non-science majors in Introductory Biology at Florida Atlantic University (a large, public, minority-dominant institution) in academic year 2014-15. California Critical Thinking Skills Test pre- and posttests were offered to both Small World Initiative (SWI) and control lab students for formative amounts of extra credit. SWI lab students earned significantly higher lecture grades than control lab students, had significantly fewer lecture grades of D+ or lower, and had significantly higher critical thinking posttest total scores than control students. Lastly, more SWI students were engaged while taking critical thinking tests. These results support the hypothesis that utilizing independent course-based undergraduate science research improves student achievement even in nonscience students.
Ab Initio Studies of the GaH3−H2O, GaF3−H2O, and GaCl3−H2O Molecular Complexes

We have performed Hartree−Fock ab initio calculations on GaH3−H2O, GaF3−H2O, and GaCl3−H2O to determine minimum-energy geometries, vibrational frequencies, and binding energies between the two molecular moieties. Qualitatively, the structures and binding energies were very similar to those for the corresponding aluminum complexes, and the binding energy was much larger than that for BF3−H2O. The potential energy surface as determined by rotation about the Ga−O bond shows some unusual features. An estimate of the basis set superposition error is also presented.
Effect of Nonlinear Phase on the Passive Phase Locking of an Array of Fiber Lasers of Random Lengths

We find support for the idea that the nonlinear phase shift can force the spontaneous locking of the output of an array of fiber lasers or regenerative amplifiers with random length differences.
Experimental Emphysema in Rats: Elastolytic Titer of Inducing Enzyme as Determinant of the Response

SummaryEmphysema-like lesions have been produced in rat lungs by iv administration of various proteolytic enzymes. The severity of the reaction was found to depend on the activity of the enzyme injected. The effect of six microbial proteases was compared in terms of ease of emphysema induction, degree of damage of the fiber structure and accompanying hemorrhage. A positive relationship was established between elastolytic titer of the inducing enzyme and development of emphysematous lesions. On the other hand, hemorrhage was proportional to total proteolytic titer. Best results were obtained when the ratio of specific elastolytic to total proteolytic activity was high.We thank Mr. John Moret for skillful performance of the animal experiments and Miss Mabel Wong for determining enzyme activities.
Protective effect of a 21-aminosteroid against hemorrhage-induced ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat stomach: role of lipid peroxidation.

We investigated the role that lipid peroxidation plays in a hemorrhage-induced ischemia-reperfusion model of gastric injury. Rats were pretreated with an inhibitor of this process, a 21-aminosteroid (U-74389G, 10 mg/kg), or an appropriate control solution intravenously 15 min prior to 20 min of ischemia, followed by 20 min of reperfusion. Results indicated that U-74389G pretreatment significantly attenuated gastric damage compared with corresponding control animals (19.8 vs. 176.8 mm2, p < .001). Enaldehyde levels (picomoles/mg protein), a biochemical index of lipid peroxidation, paralleled these injury findings (12 vs 960, p < .001). Histologically, U-74389G pretreatment almost completely prevented gastric injury compared to control stomachs. Additional studies revealed that lipid peroxidation preceded the formation of gastric damage, and injury occurred predominantly during reperfusion, because animals subjected to ischemia alone without reperfusion failed to develop appreciable injury or enhanced enaldehyde formation. Further, if U-74389G was given intravenously after ischemia, but prior to reperfusion, gastric injury and enaldehyde formation were similarly attenuated. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that lipid peroxidation likely plays an important role in hemorrhage-induced ischemia-reperfusion injury to the stomach.
EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations: Incidence and clinicopathologic characteristics in U.S. patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

10560 Background: Activating insertion mutations in exon 20 of EGFR are reported in a small subset of lung adenocarcinomas (ADC). In contrast to the classic EGFR mutations, they appear to confer primary resistance to currently approved EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Their incidence and clinicopathologic features are not well established. Methods: Lung ADCs (n=1500) were screened for major activating mutations in EGFR (exons 19 and 21) and KRAS (exon 2). Negative cases were tested for EGFR exon 20 insertions by a PCR-based sizing assay. Extended testing for additional recurrent point mutations in EGFR, KRAS, BRAF, NRAS, PIK3CA, MEK1 and AKT was performed in all cases by Sequenom mass spectrometry. A subset of cases was also tested for ALK rearrangements by FISH. Results: We identified 32cases withEGFRexon 20 insertions, accounting for 11% of all EGFR mutations. EGFRexon 20 insertions were mutually exclusive with the other genetic alterations tested except for PIK3CA mutations. The incidence was higher am...
Multicore processors: Status quo and future directions

Words like multicore, manycore, Moore's law ending, have been around for more than a decade. How do these words describe the current status quo of computer architecture? How do they give a glimpse of the future? In this paper, we will present the status quo of the current multicore/manycore processors, and the expected future directions in light of several advances both in process technology and in system software.
Unpacking Reasons for Genetic Testing of Adoptees.

We begin this commentary by acknowledging our collective expertise in psychology, ethnic studies, and adoption studies, as well as research experiences involving genetic testing and genetic counsel...
Daptomycin-induced acute eosinophilic pneumonia

Acute eosinophilic pneumonia (AEP) is a rare but important and potentially fatal complication of daptomycin therapy. Here, we present the case of an 85-year-old man with a history of resected esophageal cancer and osteomyelitis treated with daptomycin on two separate occasions who presented for workup of recurrent pneumonia. X-ray and computed tomography of the chest showed right upper lobe and left lower lobe infiltrates. Bronchoscopy with bronchoalveolar lavage showed a WBC of 200/µL with 75% eosinophils. No infectious etiology was found despite multiple cultures for pathogens. His presenting symptoms improved over the course of hospitalization despite cessation of all antibiotics. Given the clinical picture and bronchoscopy results, his presentation was attributed to daptomycin-related eosinophilic pneumonia. Since the approval of daptomycin in 2003, approximately 20 case reports have been published demonstrating AEP associated with daptomycin use. We suggest that daptomycin-associated AEP is an under recognized complication and that the incidence will increase with greater use of the drug. Physicians should be especially cognizant of elderly male patients being treated with prolonged courses.
Vision-Language Fusion for Object Recognition

While recent advances in computer vision have caused object recognition rates to spike, there is still much room for improvement. In this paper, we develop an algorithm to improve object recognition by integrating human-generated contextual information with vision algorithms. Specifically, we examine how interactive systems such as robots can utilize two types of context information--verbal descriptions of an environment and human-labeled datasets. We propose a re-ranking schema, MultiRank, for object recognition that can efficiently combine such information with the computer vision results. In our experiments, we achieve up to 9.4% and 16.6% accuracy improvements using the oracle and the detected bounding boxes, respectively, over the vision-only recognizers. We conclude that our algorithm has the ability to make a significant impact on object recognition in robotics and beyond.
Prioritization Scheme for Proposed Road Weather Information System Sites: Montana Case Study

Weather presents considerable challenges to highway agencies both in terms of safety and operations. From a safety standpoint, snow, ice and other forms of precipitation may reduce pavement friction, increasing the potential for crashes when vehicles are traveling too fast for the conditions. From an operations standpoint, heavy snow storms may affect the connectivity of the highway network due to closures that need to be cleared in an efficient and timely fashion. Further, travelers should be informed about unusual pavement conditions and road closures on time to minimize the effect of adverse weather on the safety and mobility of the traveling public. For the aforementioned reasons, road weather information has become increasingly important for highway agencies particularly in regions that experience harsh winter weather conditions. Road Weather Information System (RWIS) consists of the hardware, software, and communications interfaces to collect and transfer road weather observations from or near the roadway to a display device at the user’s location (1). Today, most environmental sensor stations (ESS) for RWIS include various atmospheric sensors, some form of pavement sensor, and camera imaging. Additional sensors are also being added to some ESS locations to measure traffic volumes, traffic speeds, and vehicle classifications and weights (2). Road weather information has been used by highway agencies in many applications such as winter maintenance, traveler information, and other weather-related intelligent transportation systems (ITS) applications. Data adequacy, reliability, and geographic coverage are critical attributes to consider for these transportation applications. Highway agencies are often faced with the challenge of selecting a limited number of ESS sites from a larger pool of proposed sites given the limited budgets available. This process has been largely subjective in practice, relying on the expertise and judgement of the agency staff involved. Therefore, there is a need for an objective prioritization scheme for proposed ESS stations, which should guide future RWIS expansion and ensure maximum utility (benefits) from new ESS installations.
Data sets describing the circle of life in Ruby hosting, 2003–2016

Studying software repositories and hosting services can provide valuable insights into the behaviors of large groups of software developers and their projects. Traditionally, most analysis of metadata collected from software project hosting services has been conducted by specifying some short window of time, typically just a few years. To date, few - if any - studies have been built from data comprising the entirety of a hosting facility’s lifespan: from its birth to its death, and rebirth in another form. Thus, the first contribution of this paper is to present two data sets that support the historical analysis of over ten years of collected metadata from the now-defunct RubyForge project hosting site, as well as the follow-on successor to RubyForge, the RubyGems package (“gem”) hosting facility. The data sets and samples of usage demonstrated in this paper include: analyses of overall forge growth over time, presentation of data and analyses of project-level characteristics on both forges and their changes over time (for example in licenses, languages, and so on), and demonstration of how to use developer-level metadata (for example counts of new developers and calculation of developer-project density) to assess changes in person-level activity on both sites over time. Finally, because RubyForge was phased out and the gem-hosting portion of it was replaced by RubyGems, all the gems within RubyForge projects were transferred by project owners and by the site owners themselves into the RubyGems hosting facility. Thus, the data sets in this paper represent a unique opportunity to study projects as they moved from one ecosystem to another, and as such we show several methods for locating related projects between the two forges, and for building a cross-forge, longitudinal project history using information from both forges. These data sets and sample analyses in this paper will be relevant to researchers studying long-term software evolution, and distributed, hosted, or collaborative software development environments.
A Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Research Misconduct Using FDA-Issued Warning Letters and Clinical Investigator Inspection List From 2010 to 2014.

BACKGROUND:The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducts inspections of clinical investigation sites as a component of clinical trial regulation. The FDA describes the results of these inspections in the Clinical Investigator Inspection List (CLIIL). More serious violations are followed up in F
Blood Group Systems

Blood groups are antigenic determinants on the surface of blood cells, encoded either by a single gene or by a cluster of closely linked, homologous genes. There are 30 blood group systems, some of which contain only one determinant while others contain many. The genes controlling blood group systems have been cloned and sequenced and located on specific chromosomes. There are additional blood group antigens, mostly of very high or very low prevalence, which have not been assigned to a system due to insufficient genetical evidence. Antibodies to blood groups are usually formed in response to antigen-positive red cells as the result of transfusion or pregnancy. Some of these antibodies are clinically relevant in terms of transfusion reactions and hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. The structure and function of most components carrying blood group antigens have been elucidated.