cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Racial and Age Differences in Colon Examination Surveillance Following a Diagnosis of Colorectal Cancer

Purpose: The purpose of this analysis is to describe factors associated with colorectal surveillance following diagnosis and treatment of nonmetastatic colorectal cancer. Methods: Subjects were identifi ed as part of the HMO Cancer Research Network’s study of colorectal cancer survivors. To be eligible for the main study, patients had to be part of the staff model components of health maintenance organizations in southeastern Michigan and Minnesota. Using computerized databases, individuals were identifi ed who were 40 years or older with incident nonmetastatic colorectal cancer diagnosed between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 2000. Using data current through 2002, we analyzed the cohort using chisquare test statistics, life tables, and Cox proportional hazards models to understand variations in posttreatment surveillance practices. Subjects were followed up from date of diagnosis to date of recurrence, death, disenrollment from the health plan, or loss to follow-up, which ever came fi rst. We assessed factors associated with colorectal surveillance at 1, 3, and 5 years after treatment. We also included an analysis comparing those who received an exam and those who didn’t regardless of exam timing. Results: A total of 908 patients were eligible for the main study. Of these, we excluded subjects who were not white or African American (n = 27), resulting in an analytic sample of 881 (97% of the eligible cohort). Twenty-fi ve percent of subjects were African American, 43% were female, and 48% were aged 70 years or older. The proportion who received an exam at 1 year was 18%, at 3 years was 60%, and at 5 years was 67%. Chi-square tests showed that African Americans were statistically signifi cantly less likely than whites to receive an exam at all three time points. The Cox proportional hazards model for examinations regardless of timing and adjusted for confounders showed that African Americans were still less likely than whites to receive an exam (hazard ratio = 0.62; 95% confi dence interval [CI] = 0.51 to 0.75). The same trend in undersurveillance was also observed for those 80 years of age or older at diagnosis, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.39 (95% CI = 0.26 to 0.57). Conclusion: Our data indicate that colorectal cancer survivors who are African American or aged 80 years or more at diagnosis are less likely to receive posttreatment colorectal surveillance. Whether these differences are due to system or patient level barriers needs further study. [J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr 2005;35:96 – 101]
Electricity Markets: How Many, Where and When?

Most markets compromise the economists ideal of matching the marginal benefits to consumers with the marginal cost of supply for incremental purchases because individual buyers and sellers are aggregated over space, time and/or other product attributes like quality or reliability. These aggregations into discrete market segments are designed to facilitate transactions by reducing search and distribution costs, and they may enhance the competitiveness of each market segment by encompassing a larger number of buyers and sellers, but at some loss of precise efficiency matches. Furthermore, as individual market segments grow in size, the price differences across their boundaries may also increase which can raise the transactions costs associated with increased arbitrage. These are important considerations for electricity markets since significant physical, operational and capacity barriers separate and define these markets over space and time. Thus principles for the optimal structure of these markets are developed, and in particular, it is shown that forward markets with lead times longer than the gestation period required to construct new generation capacity are essential to insure efficient subsequent spot markets. By comparison, if these forward markets occur only after new construction is begun, as with existing installed capacity markets, spot market prices may be higher. Similarly, the extent of separation and spacing of markets across regions and control areas, particularly in the face of transport congestion or operational boundaries, is important for enhanced efficiency.
Extensions of the Jacobi identity for generalized vertex algebras

Abstract In this paper the (generalized) Jacobi identity for generalized vertex algebras is extended to multi-operator identities. This work is based on the book of Dong and Lepowsky on generalized vertex algebras and relative vertex operators (Dong and Lepowsky, 1993), on the work of the author on the Jacobi identity for vertex operator algebras in Husu (1993), Section 1, and on the work in Husu (1993) and Husu (1995) on the A 1 (1) -case of the Jacobi identity for relative vertex operators. The multi-operator extensions of the (generalized) Jacobi identity (in the present paper) generalize the corresponding results on vertex operator algebras in Husu (1993), Section 1, and provide a general framework both for the vertex operator construction of generating function identities for standard A 1 (1) -modules in Husu (1995) and for further applications of the vertex operator construction to other affine Lie algebras.
Improving Networked File System Performance Using a Locality-Aware Cooperative Cache Protocol

In a distributed environment, the utilization of file buffer caches in different clients may greatly vary. Cooperative caching has been proposed to increase cache utilization by coordinating the shared usage of distributed caches. It allows clients that would more greatly benefit from larger caches to forward data objects to peer clients with relatively underutilized caches. To support such coordination, global cache utilization must be dynamically evaluated. This, in turn, requires an effective analysis of application data access patterns. Existing coordination protocols are demonstrably suboptimal in this respect, exhibiting inefficient memory utilization and undue interference among clients. We propose a locality-aware cooperative caching protocol, called LAC, that is based on analysis and manipulation of data block reuse distance to effectively predict cache utilization and the probability of data reuse at each client. Using a dynamically adaptive synchronization technique, we keep local information up to date and consistently comparable across clients. The system is highly scalable in the sense that global coordination is achieved without centralized control. We have conducted thorough trace-driven simulation experiments to assess the performance differences between LAC and various existing protocols representative of the general class. Using a realistic and representative cost model, we show that the LAC protocol significantly and consistently outperforms existing cooperative caching protocols, demonstrating high and balanced utilization of caches across all clients. In our experiments, LAC reduces block access time by up to 36 percent, with an average of 31 percent, over the system without peer cache coordination, and reduces block access time by up to 22 percent, with an average of 13 percent, over the best performer of the existing protocols.
Agnew’s General Strain Theory Reconsidered: A Phenomenological Perspective

Since its inception, strain theory has attempted to explore the dynamic evoked between the process of goal identification and the process of goal acquisition as this relates to subsequent criminal behavior. Over the years of its development, strain theorists have attempted to broaden the initial scope of this perspective. Robert Agnew with his general strain theory has sought to introduce a variety of other factors relative to the experience of strain and the capacity they represent concerning subsequent criminal activity. However, these recent developments have not addressed until recently, and only in somewhat limited ways, the theoretical and methodologic implications and limits of this theoretical approach. This article proposes that the way in which Agnew's formulation of general strain, particularly in its most recent conceptualization as story lines, fundamentally transforms the theoretical and methodological grounding of this approach but fails to offer a clearly articulated alternative theoretical perspective by which to conceptualize this "turn." Phenomenology provides such an alternative perspective and helps to greatly expand our understanding of the human experience of strain.
How You Gonna Save Y/our Soul? Tempering Corporate Identity in a Global Age

This article considers how the intersection of cultural theory and pedagogy in the classroom might be utilized to foster greater global awareness and engagement. Specifically, it addresses how critical examinations of theories regarding the constitution of subjectivity relate to developing and advancing progressive conceptions of global corporate behavior and how liberatory pedagogies (i.e., addressing questions of culture, knowledge, power, representation, and agency) might intercede in the development of more ethically conscious conceptions of corporate professionalism. Such exercises force new considerations for imagining the world and one’s role in it, potentially stimulating new forms of social engagement within and against the logics and reality of global capital; forms that promote progressive thinking and social justice while reinvigorating how we collectively conceptualize and engage the dynamics of the corporate sphere in our global age.
Characterization of C/EBPbeta isoforms in normal versus neoplastic mammary epithelial cells.

A member of the CCAAT Enhancer Binding Proteins (C/EBPs) family of transcription factors, C/EBPbeta, has recently proven to be an important player in both growth and differentiation of the epithelial cells in the mammary gland. When the gene for C/EBPbeta is disrupted in mice, these mice fail to either develop normal mammary ducts during puberty or pregnancy, or to lactate upon parturition. C/EBPbeta can be present in cells in three isoforms: C/EBPbeta-1, -2, and -3. These isoforms have the same carboxy terminus but different N-termini due to alternative translational initiation at three different initiator codons within the C/EBPbeta mRNA. Using a commercially available antibody specific to the C-terminus of C/EBPbeta and a novel antibody specific to the N-terminus of C/EBPbeta-1, we have uncovered a striking difference in the forms of C/EBPbeta present in normal mammary epithelial cells versus breast cancer cell lines. C/EBPbeta- 1 is found exclusively in normal mammary epithelial cells, whereas C/EBPbeta- 2 is found only in dividing cells, both normal and neoplastic. Our preliminary data suggest that the prevalent form of C/EBPbeta in cancer cells, C/EBPbeta- 2, can activate genes which push the cell to divide, such as cyclin D1.
Relationship between a self-reported health questionnaire and laboratory tests at initial office visits.

Background: Dental patients routinely complete a medical questionnaire and have an oral interview during their initial visit, but may have undiagnosed systemic problems which can affect their dental treatment. Methods: Thirty-nine consecutive patients referred for a periodontal evaluation completed a medical questionnaire and an oral interview. They were referred to a hospital laboratory for an urinalysis, complete blood count, and a standard blood chemistry panel. Results: The self-reported medical history responses were compared with the laboratory data and several abnormalities were noted. Abnormal levels were found with cholesterol, (26/39 patients, 67%); triglycerides, (13/39, 33%); glucose, (6/39, 15%); eosinophils, (18/39, 46%); and monocytes, (10/39, 26%). Smokers (17/39, 44%) had a higher number of abnormal levels or percentages of cholesterol, triglycerides, basophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and monocytes. Gender differences were seen in elevated triglyceride levels, abnormal aspartate aminot...
Hydromagnetic waves in weakly-ionized media – I. Basic theory, and application to interstellar molecular clouds

We present a comprehensive study of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves and instabilities in a weakly-ionized system, such as an interstellar molecular cloud. We determine all the critical wavelengths of perturbations across which the sustainable wave modes can change radically (and so can their decay rates), and various instabilities are present or absent. Hence, these critical wavelengths are essential for understanding the effects of MHD waves (or turbulence) on the structure and evolution of molecular clouds. Depending on the angle of propagation relative to the zeroth-order magnetic field and the physical parameters of a model cloud, there are wavelength ranges in which no wave can be sustained as such. Yet, for other directions of propagation or different properties of a model cloud, there may always exist some wave mode(s) at all wavelengths (smaller than the size of the model cloud). For a typical model cloud, magnetically-driven ambipolar diffusion leads to removal of any support against gravity that most short-wavelength waves (or turbulence) may have had, and gravitationally-driven ambipolar diffusion sets in and leads to cloud fragmentation into stellar-size masses, as first suggested by Mouschovias more than three decades ago - a single-stage fragmentation theory of star formation, distinct from the then prevailing hierarchical fragmentation picture. The phase velocities, decay times and eigenvectors (e.g. the densities and velocities of neutral particles and the plasma, and the three components of the magnetic field) are determined as functions of the wavelength of the disturbances in a mathematically transparent way and are explained physically. Comparison of the results with those of nonlinear analytical or numerical calculations is also presented where appropriate, excellent agreement is found, and confidence in the analytical, linear approach is gained to explore phenomena difficult to study through numerical simulations. Mode splitting (or bifurcation) and mode merging, which are impossible in single-fluid systems for linear perturbations (hence, the term 'normal mode' and the principle of superposition), occur naturally in multifluid systems (as do transitions between wave modes without bifurcation) and have profound consequences in the evolution of such systems.
Efficient and accurate discovery of patterns in sequence datasets

Existing sequence mining algorithms mostly focus on mining for subsequences. However, a large class of applications, such as biological DNA and protein motif mining, require efficient mining of “approximate” patterns that are contiguous. The few existing algorithms that can be applied to find such contiguous approximate pattern mining have drawbacks like poor scalability, lack of guarantees in finding the pattern, and difficulty in adapting to other applications. In this paper, we present a new algorithm called FLAME (FLexible and Accurate Motif DEtector). FLAME is a flexible suffix tree based algorithm that can be used to find frequent patterns with a variety of definitions of motif (pattern) models. It is also accurate, as it always find the pattern if it exists. Using both real and synthetic datasets, we demonstrate that FLAME is fast, scalable, and outperforms existing algorithms on a variety of performance metrics. Using FLAME, it is now possible to mine datasets that would have been prohibitively difficult with existing tools.
Effects of Age-Related Aortic Root Anatomic Changes on Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Pace-Mapping Morphologies: A Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging Validation Study.

Age-Related Changes in the Left Outflow Tract Introduction Outflow tract ventricular arrhythmias (OT VAs) are common and catheter ablation is an effective treatment option. We sought to investigate the relationship between age-related anatomic aortic root changes and QRS morphology during left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) pace-mapping using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. Methods and Results Fifty-one patients undergoing CMR imaging were divided into 3 groups based on age ( 60 years). We measured the angle of the aortic root, the aorta to ventricular septal angle, the distance between the right coronary cusp (RCC) and left coronary cusp (LCC), and the distance between the ascending and descending aorta. Additionally, we evaluated the QRS morphologies obtained during pace-mapping from the LVOT. In older patients, LCC was more superior to the RCC (P < 0.01). Age was positively correlated with the aortic root angle (r2 = 0.481, P < 0.01) as well as the distances between the ascending and descending aorta at a level below the arch (r2 = 0.569, P < 0.01). In older patients, LVOT pace-mapping (performed in 16 patients) demonstrated higher maximal R-wave amplitude, and was greater when pacing from the LCC versus the RCC in lead III (1.8 ± 0.7 vs. 1.0 ± 0.5 mV, P = 0.02). Conclusion The anatomy of the aortic root changes with age, and age-related aortic root changes may affect the QRS morphology during pace-mapping. Understanding the potential anatomic changes that accompany aging is important to maximize the efficacy of catheter ablation of OT VAs.
Do gender differences in spatial skills mediate gender differences in mathematics among high-ability students?

Based on Geary's theory, intelligence may determine which males utilize innate spatial knowledge to inform their mathematical solutions. This may explain why math gender differences occur mainly with higher abilities. In support, we found that mental rotation ability served as a mediator of gender differences on the math Scholastic Assessment Test for two high-ability samples. Our research suggests, however, that environment and biology interact to influence mental rotation abilities.
Teacher sociality and information diffusion in educational digital libraries

Understanding the social aspects of digital resource utilization is an area of active research. In this study, we examine the digital library resource utilization and social behaviors of middle and high school Earth Science teachers of a large United States urban school district. We present the results of three analysis based on teachers using an online curriculum planning tool called the Curriculum Customization Service (CCS), and examine the social networks that emerge among the participating teachers. We explore these networks in the context of the digital library resources that were part of the CCS and the use of socio-centric features around those resources. Our initial findings show promise toward developing a broader understanding of the social networks of teachers, their behaviors around and usage of digital library resources, as well as the diffusion of information through those networks.
Dual functions of bacteriophage T4D gene 28 product: structural component of the viral tail baseplate central plug and cleavage enzyme for folyl polyglutamates. I. Identification of T4D gene 28 product in the tail plug.

Abstract The T4D bacteriophage gene 28 product is a component of the central plug of the tail baseplate, as shown by the following two independent lines of evidence. (i) A highly sensitive method for radioactive labeling of only tail baseplate plug components was developed. These labeled plug components were incorporated by a complementation procedure into new phage particles and were analyzed by radioautography after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Three new structural proteins were found in addition to the three known tail plug proteins (i.e., gP29, gP27, and gP5). One of the three newly identified components had a molecular weight of 24,000 to 25,000 and appeared to be a product of T4D gene 28. (ii) Characterization of mutants of Escherichia coli bacteriophage T4D which produced altered gene 28 products also indicated that the gene 28 product was a viral tail component. T4D 28ts phage particles produced at the permissive temperature had altered heat labilities compared with parent T4D particles. We isolated a single-step temperature revertant of T4D 28ts and found that it produced phage particles which phenotypically resembled the original T4D particles. Since the properties of the phage baseplate components usually determine heat lability, these two changes in physical stability after two sequential single mutations in gene 28 supported the other evidence that the gene 28 product was a viral baseplate component. Also, compared with parent T4D particles, T4D 28ts and T4D 28am viral particles adsorbed at different rates to various types of host cells. In addition, T4D 28ts particles exhibited a different host range than parent T4D particles. This T4D mutant formed plaques with an extremely low efficiency on all E. coli K-12 strains tested. We found that although T4D 28ts particles adsorbed rapidly and irreversibly to the E. coli K-12 strains, as judged by gene rescue experiments, these particles were not able to inject their DNA into the E. coli K-12 strains. On the other hand, the T4D 28ts revertant had a plating efficiency on E. coli K-12 strains that was quite similar to the plating efficiency of the original parent, T4D. These properties of phage particles containing an altered gene 28 product supported the analytical finding that the gene 28 product is a structural component of the central plug of the T4D tail baseplate. They also indicated that this component plays a role in both host cell recognition and viral DNA injection.
Multi-class biclustering and classification based on modeling of gene regulatory networks

The attempt to elucidate biological pathways and classify genes has led to the development of numerous clustering approaches to gene expression. All these approaches use a single metric to identify genes with similar expression levels. Until now, the correlation between the expression levels of such genes has been based on phenomenological and heuristic correlation functions, rather than on biological models. In this paper, we derive six distinct correlation functions based on explicit thermodynamic modeling of gene regulatory networks. We then combine these correlation functions with novel biclustering algorithms to identify functionally enriched groups. The statistical significance of the identified groups is demonstrated by precision-recall curves and calculated p-values. Furthermore, comparison with chromatin immunoprecipitation data indicates that the performance of the derived correlation functions depends on the specific regulatory mechanisms. Finally, we introduce the idea of multi-class biclustering and with the help of support vector machines we demonstrate its improved classification performance in a microarray dataset.
Nitrogen sources in Adirondack wetlands dominated by nitrogen-fixing shrubs

Abstract In the Adirondack region of northern New York, USA, Alnus incana ssp. rugosa and Myrica gale often dominate wetland shrub communities and fix nitrogen in symbiosis with actinomycetes of the genus Frankia. The objective of this study was to examine the contribution of these shrubs to the N economies of whole wetlands in the Adirondacks where N has been considered a potential pollutant and contributor to low acid-neutralizing capacity, and where N deposition may reduce rates of nitrogen fixation in actinorhizal plants. Nitrogen chemistry of plant foliage was examined, and density and foliar biomass of nitrogen fixing shrubs were estimated in plots or belt transects in six shrub wetlands near atmospheric deposition monitoring stations in order to estimate the fraction of N derived from fixation in A. incana ssp. rugosa and M. gale tissues. Lake-inlet-wetlands were dominated by alder that derives ≥85% foliar N from fixation, but M. gale was most abundant in lake outlet wetlands and seemed to rely les...
Selenium hyperaccumulation by Astragalus (Fabaceae) does not inhibit root nodule symbiosis.

from A. bisulcatus, A. praelongus, and A. racemosus had Se throughout, with a majority stored in C-Se-C form. Finally, an evaluation of nodulation in Se-hyperaccumulators and nonhyperaccumulators indicated that there was no nodulation inhibition because of plant Se tolerance. Rather, we found that in Se-hyperaccumulators higher levels of Se treatment (up to 100 µM Se) corresponded with higher nodule counts, indicating a potential role for dinitrogen fi xation in Se-hyperaccumulation. The effect was not found in nonhyperaccumulators.  Conclusions: As the evolution of Se hyperaccumulation in Astragalus developed, root-nodule symbiosis may have played an integral role.
Modifying Thermal Transport in Colloidal Nanocrystal Solids with Surface Chemistry

We present a systematic study on the effect of surface chemistry on thermal transport in colloidal nanocrystal (NC) solids. Using PbS NCs as a model system, we vary ligand binding group (thiol, amine, and atomic halides), ligand length (ethanedithiol, butanedithiol, hexanedithiol, and octanedithiol), and NC diameter (3.3-8.2 nm). Our experiments reveal several findings: (i) The ligand choice can vary the NC solid thermal conductivity by up to a factor of 2.5. (ii) The ligand binding strength to the NC core does not significantly impact thermal conductivity. (iii) Reducing the ligand length can decrease the interparticle distance, which increases thermal conductivity. (iv) Increasing the NC diameter increases thermal conductivity. (v) The effect of surface chemistry can exceed the effect of NC diameter and becomes more pronounced as NC diameter decreases. By combining these trends, we demonstrate that the thermal conductivity of NC solids can be varied by an overall factor of 4, from ∼0.1-0.4 W/m-K. We complement these findings with effective medium approximation modeling and identify thermal transport in the ligand matrix as the rate-limiter for thermal transport. By combining these modeling results with our experimental observations, we conclude that future efforts to increase thermal conductivity in NC solids should focus on the ligand-ligand interface between neighboring NCs.
Handheld, rapidly switchable, anterior/posterior segment swept source optical coherence tomography probe

We describe the first handheld, swept source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT) system capable of imaging both the anterior and posterior segments of the eye in rapid succession. A single 2D microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) scanner was utilized for both imaging modes, and the optical paths for each imaging mode were optimized for their respective application using a combination of commercial and custom optics. The system has a working distance of 26.1 mm and a measured axial resolution of 8 μm (in air). In posterior segment mode, the design has a lateral resolution of 9 μm, 7.4 mm imaging depth range (in air), 4.9 mm 6dB fall-off range (in air), and peak sensitivity of 103 dB over a 22° field of view (FOV). In anterior segment mode, the design has a lateral resolution of 24 μm, imaging depth range of 7.4 mm (in air), 6dB fall-off range of 4.5 mm (in air), depth-of-focus of 3.6 mm, and a peak sensitivity of 99 dB over a 17.5 mm FOV. In addition, the probe includes a wide-field iris imaging system to simplify alignment. A fold mirror assembly actuated by a bi-stable rotary solenoid was used to switch between anterior and posterior segment imaging modes, and a miniature motorized translation stage was used to adjust the objective lens position to correct for patient refraction between −12.6 and + 9.9 D. The entire probe weighs less than 630 g with a form factor of 20.3 x 9.5 x 8.8 cm. Healthy volunteers were imaged to illustrate imaging performance.
Identification as Gifted and Implicit Beliefs About Intelligence: An Examination of Potential Moderators

The current study investigated whether the developmental timing of a student's identification as gifted (i.e., when a student is first identified) was associated with later implicit beliefs about intelligence, and whether this relation is moderated by academic ability. A sample of 1,743 high-ability college students reported on whether and when they had been identified as gifted, academic ability (SAT scores), and implicit beliefs of intelligence. Timing of identification was unrelated to implicit beliefs; academic ability was the only significant predictor. Higher ability students who had been previously identified as gifted at any point in time reported implicit beliefs more toward entity beliefs than relatively lower ability students who had also been identified; however, this effect was quite small. Implicit beliefs did not vary by ability level for nonidentified students. These findings suggest that identification as gifted at any age modestly (but not necessarily meaningfully) relates to implicit beliefs for high-ability students.
ESTIMATES OF LONG WAVES IN THE WESER ESTUARY

Long waves of small amplitudes can excite harbour oscillations as well as the motion of floating structures or vessels. Field data from the Weser Estuary, German Bight of the North Sea were analysed with respect to waves with periods greater than 8 s. After preprocessing of the mostly noisy data records, special analysis incorporated the reconstruction of incorrectly recorded frequency components below .03 Hz and bivariate distributions of heights and periods. Results suggest that long wave activity increases towards the inner estuary. Grouping properties are dependent on wind direction and on directionality of the sea state. Further investigations and model studies for the response of travelling vessels to this wave climate are recommended.
Non-Gaussian 1 / f Noise and Conductance Fluctuations in Hydrogenated Amorphous Silicon

Statistical analysis of the 1/f noise power spectrum of co-planar current fluctuations in n-type doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) find that the noise arises from a small number of correlated fluctuators. The noise power displays a complicated time dependence with the noise power changing in both magnitude and as a function of frequency. Spectral analysis of these noise power fluctuations display an approximate 1/f frequency dependence. These results are surprising given the effective volume ( ∼10-7 cm3) of the sample, and indicate that cooperative dynamics govern conductance fluctuations in a-Si:H.
The Great War at Sea: A Naval History of the First World War

Why do we need another history of the First World War at sea? Paul Halpern posed the question two decades ago in the preface to his naval history of World War I, and he answered it with a detailed ...
Analysis on Lodging Resistance of Japonica Hybrid Rice with Higher Stems and Drooping Panicles

The lodging resistance capability of five japonica hybrid rice combinations with higher stems and drooping panicles,including Tiyou 418,Liaoyou 5218,Liaoyou 2005,Liaoyou 2006 and Liaoyou 2016 was investigated under higher fertility conditions.The results showed that these japonica rice hybrids possessed ideal stalk physical characteristics of lodging resistance,such as shorter basal and second internodes,longer major and minor axis of oval cross section,larger oval cross section area,thicker walls and bigger wall cross section area of basal stems,resulting in stronger lodging resistance capability of the plants.By shortening the length of the first and second internodes,improving the physical intensity of basal stalks,lowering the position of panicles and increasing the length of panicles and the neck internodes properly,lodging resistance of japonica hybrid rice with higher stems and drooping panicles could be strengthened.Thus,the contradiction between lodging resistance and high biomass with higher plants could be settled at a higher yield level.
Restoring cigarette smoke-induced impairment of efferocytosis in alveolar macrophages

Cigarette smoke has been associated with susceptibility to different pulmonary and airway diseases. Impaired alveolar macrophages (AMs) that are major phagocytes in the lung have been associated with patients with airway diseases and active smokers. In the current report, we show that exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke (SHS) significantly reduced efferocytosis in vivo. More importantly, delivery of recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to the alveolar space restored and refurbished the efferocytosis capability of AMs. Exposure to SHS significantly reduced expression of CD16/32 on AMs, and treatment with GM-CSF not only restored but also significantly increased the expression of CD16/32 on AMs. GM-CSF treatment increased uptake and digestion/removal of apoptotic cells by AMs. The latter was attributed to increased expression of Rab5 and Rab7. Increased efferocytosis of AMs was also tested in a disease condition. AMs from GM-CSF-treated, influenza-infected, SHS-exposed mice showed significantly better efferocytosis activity, and mice had significantly less morbidity compared with phosphate-buffered saline-treated group. GM-CSF-treated mice had increased amphiregulin levels in the lungs, which in addition to efferocytosis of AMs may have attributed to their protection against influenza. These results will have great implications for developing therapeutic approaches by harnessing mucosal innate immunity to treat lung and airway diseases and protect against pneumonia.
Time meets frequency

Listeners hear the time variation of the sound frequencies while listening to music. These localized frequency events are not pure tones but are packets of close frequencies. The properties of sounds are revealed by transforms that decompose signals over elementary functions that are well concentrated in time and frequency. Windowed Fourier transforms and wavelet transforms are two important classes of local time-frequency decompositions. Measuring the time variations of instantaneous frequencies is an important application that illustrates the limitations imposed by the Heisenberg uncertainty. There is no unique definition of time-frequency energy density, which makes this topic difficult. Yet, some order can be established by proving that quadratic time-frequency distributions are obtained by averaging a single quadratic form called the Wigner-Ville distribution. This unified framework gives a more general perspective on windowed Fourier transforms and wavelet transforms.
Abstract 105: High Salt Activates Immune Cells to Promote Hypertension

High salt intake and inflammation are implicated in the genesis of hypertension. We have previously shown that hypertension activates dendritic cells (DCs), by promoting the formation of immunogenic isoketal-protein adducts. Recently it has become clear that sodium can accumulate in the interstitial space and promote inflammation. We hypothesized that high salt activates antigen presenting cells including monocytes and DCs to produce immunogenic isoketals. Exposure of mouse splenic DCs to high salt (190 mM) for 24 hours led to an increase in superoxide production compared to regular RPMI media (146.3±9.5 vs. 100.0±5.0 % control, p
Case Study #9: My Last Duchess by Robert Browning

The poem is the duke’s side of a conversation about the duchess with an emissary who has come representing a family potentially interested in having their daughter marry the duke and become his next duchess. The duke and duchess rule the mythical duchy of Ferrara in an Italy of long ago. That makes them the executive officers, chief administrators, and designated heads of government over the people within the duchy: A pair of top cats. For us, what is interesting about this pair is the strong contrast of their leadership styles. The duke is autocratic and direct; the duchess he describes is quite the opposite — and, at least for the duke, unsettlingly effective. Through his conversation, the duke gives us many clues with regard to how they both rule. Who do you think is the better leader?
Subjective referral of the timing for a conscious sensory experience: a functional role for the somatosensory specific projection system in man.

Subjective experience of a peripherally-induced sensation is found to appear without the substantial delay found for the experience of a cortically-induced sensation. To explain this finding, in relation to the putative delay of up to about 500 ms for achieving the "neuronal adequacy" required to elicit the peripherally-induced experience, a modified hypothesis is proposed: for a peripheral sensory input, (a) the primary evoked response of sensory cortex to the specific projection (lemniscal) input is associated with a process that can serve as a 'time-marker'; and (b), after delayed neuronal adequacy is achieved, there is a subjective referral of the sensory experience backwards in time so as to coincide with this initial 'time-marker'. A crucial prediction of the hypothesis was experimentally tested in human subjects using suitably implanted electrodes, and the results provide specific support for the proposal. In this, the test stimuli to medial lemniscus (LM) and to surface of somatosensory cortex (C) were arranged so that a minimum train duration of 200 ms or more was required to produce any conscious sensory experience in each case. Each such cerebral stimulus could be temporally coupled with a peripheral one (usually skin, S) that required relatively negligible stimulus duration to produce a sensation. The sensory experiences induced by LM stimuli were found to be subjectively timed as if there were no delay relative to those for S, that is, as if the subjective experience for LM was referred to the onset rather than to the end of the required stimulus duration of 200 ms or more. On the other hand, sensory experiences induced by the C stimuli, which did not excite specific projection afferents, appeared to be subjectively timed with a substantial delay relative to those for S, that is, as if the time of the subjective experience coincided roughly with the end of the minimum duration required by the C stimuli. The newly proposed functional role for the specific projection system in temporal referral would be additional to its known role in spatial referral and discrimination. A temporal discrepancy between corresponding mental and physical events, i.e., between the timing of a subjective sensory experience and the time at which the state of 'neuronal adequacy' for giving rise to this experience is achieved, would introduce a novel experimentally-based feature into the concept of psychophysiological parallelism in the mind-brain relationship.
Global evaluation of particulate organic carbon flux parameterizations and implications for atmospheric pCO2

The shunt of photosynthetically derived particulate organic carbon (POC) from the euphotic zone and deep remineralization comprises the basic mechanism of the “biological carbon pump.” POC raining through the “twilight zone” (euphotic depth to 1 km) and “midnight zone” (1 km to 4 km) is remineralized back to inorganic form through respiration. Accurately modeling POC flux is critical for understanding the “biological pump” and its impacts on air-sea CO2 exchange and, ultimately, long-term ocean carbon sequestration. Yet commonly used parameterizations have not been tested quantitatively against global data sets using identical modeling frameworks. Here we use a single one-dimensional physical-biogeochemical modeling framework to assess three common POC flux parameterizations in capturing POC flux observations from moored sediment traps and thorium-234 depletion. The exponential decay, Martin curve, and ballast model are compared to data from 11 biogeochemical provinces distributed across the globe. In each province, the model captures satellite-based estimates of surface primary production within uncertainties. Goodness of fit is measured by how well the simulation captures the observations, quantified by bias and the root-mean-square error and displayed using “target diagrams.” Comparisons are presented separately for the twilight zone and midnight zone. We find that the ballast hypothesis shows no improvement over a globally or regionally parameterized Martin curve. For all provinces taken together, Martin's b that best fits the data is [0.70, 0.98]; this finding reduces by at least a factor of 3 previous estimates of potential impacts on atmospheric pCO2 of uncertainty in POC export to a more modest range [−16 ppm, +12 ppm].
Revival of the fittest: exploding core-collapse supernovae from 12 to 25 M⊙

We present results of 2D axisymmetric core-collapse supernova simulations, employing the FORNAX code, of nine progenitor models spanning 12 to 25 M$_{\odot}$ and evolved over a 20,000-km grid. We find that four of the nine models explode with inelastic scattering off electrons and neutrons as well as the many-body correction to neutrino-nucleon scattering opacities. We show that these four models feature sharp Si-O interfaces in their density profiles, and that the corresponding dip in density reduces the accretion rate around the stalled shock and prompts explosion. The non-exploding models lack such a steep feature, suggesting that Si-O interface is one key to explosion. Furthermore, we show that all of the non-exploding models can be nudged to explosion with modest changes to macrophysical inputs, including moderate rotation and perturbations to infall velocities, as well as to microphysical inputs, including changes to neutrino-nucleon interaction rates, suggesting that all the models are perhaps close to criticality. Exploding models have energies of few $\times$10$^{50}$ ergs at the end of our simulation, and are rising, suggesting the need to continue these simulations over larger grids and for longer times to reproduce the energies seen in Nature. We find that the morphology of the explosion contributes to the explosion energy, with more isotropic ejecta producing larger explosion energies. However, we do not find evidence for the Lepton-number Emission Self-Sustained Asymmetry. Finally, we look at PNS properties and explore the role of dimension in our simulations. We find that convection in the proto-neutron star (PNS) produces larger PNS radii as well as greater "$\nu_\mu$" luminosities in 2D compared to 1D.
Abstract 17515: Factors Associated with Stent Thrombosis Causing ST- Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction

Background: Stent thrombosis (ST) causing ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is a devastating complication following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). We sought to identify clinical and procedural factors leading to ST and subsequent STEMI. Methods & Results: Of 23,676 patients who underwent PCI at the Cleveland Clinic between January 1994 to July 2012, 244 patients presented with STEMI complicating ST. Clinical and procedural variables were analyzed(Table). The timing of ST was classified as early (≤30 days) or late (>30 days) following index PCI. Compared with patients presenting with late ST (n=164), those with early ST (n=80) were older, had a higher HbA1c, higher platelet count and were more likely to present with Kilip class III/IV heart failure, a hypercoagulable state and undergo multiple stent insertion. Late ST was more likely associated with discontinuation of dual anti-platelet therapy (DAT), lower aspirin dose (81 vs 325 mg) and use of drug eluting stents (DES) compared with early ST. In 58 patients (19 early ST, 39 late ST) at the time of STEMI, intravascular ultrasonography showed early ST to be associated with smaller minimal lumen (3.1 vs. 4.2 mm 2 , p=0.02) and vessel areas (14.8±3.0 vs. 17.9±3.9 mm 2 p=0.007), and numerically more edge dissections (p=0.02). Neoatherosclerosis was equally evident in 17% of very late ST following both BMS and DES insertion. A multivariable model assessing timing of ST found increasing age (p=0.003), higher platelet count (p=0.004) and use of multiple stents (p Conclusion: This largest consecutive series of ST to date outlines a number of systemic, vessel and procedural factors predisposing to the nature and timing of this rare, but serious complication following PCI.
Multi-scale Tribological Characterization

Tribology is very important to hair care and product development.While the current state of the art is to use an AFM to measure the nanoscale tribological properties of hair in contact with an AFM tip, macroscale tribological measurements provide an excellent simulation of skin–hair and hair–hair contacts (Bhushan et al., 2005). The friction and wear of hair were measured using a flat-on-flat tribometer. Friction and wear studies on various hair are presented, including effect of load, velocity, and skin size. In addition, the effect of humidity and temperature on hair tribological properties is discussed.
3.311 – Molecular Simulation Methods to Investigate Protein Adsorption Behavior at the Atomic Level

Although protein adsorption to biomaterial surfaces is widely recognized as being an important mediator of biological response, a molecular-level understanding of protein–surface interactions is still lacking. Molecular simulation provides a means to study and understand these types of processes at the molecular level. Before this potential can be realized, however, appropriate methods must first be developed to enable protein adsorption behavior to be accurately represented in a molecular simulation. This chapter begins with an overview of some of the fundamentals of protein adsorption. It then introduces the field of molecular simulation and covers a series of topics regarding how molecular simulations are performed, with specific focus on three of the most important issues for the simulation of protein adsorption behavior: force field parameterization, representation of solvent effects, and sampling of the molecular system. A summary is then presented regarding how these methods have been developed and applied to simulate protein–surface interactions over the past two decades. This is followed by a discussion of the key areas for the continued development of molecular simulation methods toward the goal of providing these methods as powerful tools to guide the design of biomaterial surfaces to control protein adsorption behavior for a broad range of applications in biomedical engineering and biotechnology.
The Epidemiology of Vestibular Migraine: A Population-based Survey Study.

Objectives:1. Describe the epidemiology of vestibular migraine (VM) in the United States, using data from the 2008 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). 2. Characterize the sociodemographic and clinical attributes of people with VM.Study Design:Population-based nationwide survey study of US adult
Development of a PEO-based lithium ion conductive epoxy resin polymer electrolyte

Abstract Epoxy resins have a newly found role as polymer hosts in solid and gel polymer electrolyte systems. Originally sought for their mechanical properties, advantages also include high atom economy and minimal waste stream in their preparation. This report details solid state polymer electrolytes prepared with PEO-based epoxy resins cured with 4,4′-methylenebis(cyclohexylamine) and doped with a solution of lithium salts in PC. The resulting solid state polymer electrolyte has room temperature conductivity nearing 10−3 S cm−1 and notable mechanical strength (up to 970 kPa ultimate tensile strength and 2.6 MPa ultimate compressive strength). Chemical and thermal analyses give insight into the molecular structure and curing behavior of the solid state polymer electrolyte relative to lithium salt concentration as well as over time. The effects of salt solubility on composition and conductivity of the electrolyte are further elucidated through computational studies of ion behavior in a PEO membrane.