cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On the Application of the Complexity Zeta Function to Quantify Complexity in Bioengineering Systems

Emergent properties are an issue that effects all aspects of engineering. When behaviors and properties arise in a system, that were not intended, they can have a deleterious effect on system performance. Emergent properties are often the root cause of engineering failures that are otherwise indeterminate. This is particularly true for bioengineering. In bioengineering the engineered system must integrate with biological systems. This creates a complex system of systems that is likely to generate emergent properties. Currently the literature is inadequate on the topic of predicting emergence or even quantifying the complexity of a system. In this paper a methodology for quantifying complexity in a system is posited, thus supporting the ability to predict the probability of emergence.
Chronic Pain: Lesions

Though neuromodulation, either through neurostimulation or intrathecal drug delivery, has become the mainstay of chronic pain treatment, the use of lesional techniques remains an invaluable approach for the treatment of medically intractable pain. Lesional approaches targeting both the brain and spinal cord are used for intractable pain, largely in the setting of cancer. However, in selected cases, ablation for non-cancer chronic pain is appropriate. Cordotomy and myelotomy are two techniques for lesioning the two main spinal cord pain pathways, the spinothalamic tract and the dorsal columns visceral pain pathway, respectively. Cingulotomy is an approach for lesioning the anterior cingulate cortex, of use in patients with widespread intractable pain which has a significant affective component to the pain.
Per-Pixel Time Constant Measurement of Bolometer Cameras

A novel system to measure the time constant of microbolometer cameras per-pixel to create a 2-D time constant map is presented. The measurements take place at the camera level and do not require any special control of the camera beyond the ability to capture raw data. Detailed simulations are run for a broad range of variables and values to demonstrate the usefulness of the system in extracting even extremely fast time constants with high accuracy and repeatability. Measurements are taken on a proof of concept system with an example camera, and a 2-D time constant map is reported. These results are compared with measurements from a linear motion stage system.
Individualizing Treatment for Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia

There is increasing awareness that AML is a widely heterogeneous disease, not only based on clinical characteristics and demographics of the patients we treat but also based on the genomics of the disease. Wider accessibility to next-generation DNA sequencing in AML has identified recurrent genetic abnormalities that drive disease biology, define overall prognosis, and predict for response to newly developed target-specific therapies. This knowledge has allowed the field to move away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach in newly diagnosed AML, to a more thoughtful, individualized approachy based on these factors. The first steps in realizing this new approach involve developing systems to efficiently obtain and analyze patient- and disease-related factors prior to starting therapy and having available clinical trials to address each subtype.
Conserved Expression of Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 Contribute to the Spontaneous and Thermally Evoked Excitability in IL-6 and NGF-Sensitized Adult Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons In Vitro

Sensory neurons respond to noxious stimuli by relaying information from the periphery to the central nervous system via action potentials driven by voltage-gated sodium channels, specifically Nav1.7 and Nav1.8. These channels play a key role in the manifestation of inflammatory pain. The ability to screen compounds that modulate voltage-gated sodium channels using cell-based assays assumes that key channels present in vivo is maintained in vitro. Prior electrophysiological work in vitro utilized acutely dissociated tissues, however, maintaining this preparation for long periods is difficult. A potential alternative involves multi-electrode arrays which permit long-term measurements of neural spike activity and are well suited for assessing persistent sensitization consistent with chronic pain. Here, we demonstrate that the addition of two inflammatory mediators associated with chronic inflammatory pain, nerve growth factor (NGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), to adult DRG neurons increases their firing rates on multi-electrode arrays in vitro. Nav1.7 and Nav1.8 proteins are readily detected in cultured neurons and contribute to evoked activity. The blockade of both Nav1.7 and Nav1.8, has a profound impact on thermally evoked firing after treatment with IL-6 and NGF. This work underscores the utility of multi-electrode arrays for pharmacological studies of sensory neurons and may facilitate the discovery and mechanistic analyses of anti-nociceptive compounds.
Conics in Greek Geometry: Apollonius, Harmonic Division, and Later Greek Geometry

Why would Greek geometers study the conic sections? We have no direct answer to that question in any ancient text that has survived. It was not, generally, for the scientific applications of conic sections. The earliest practical applications we know of are in sundials, with medieval Arabic scientists. Only in the early modern period, with Galileo (1564–1642), was the parabolic path of bodies in motion recognized. And only with Kepler (1571–1630) were the orbits of planets seen to be ellipses. An exception to this picture is a short work, On Burning Mirrors, whose author, Diocles, was active about 200 BC. It was, it seems, the first to give the focus of a parabola, with the property that a surface formed by revolving a parabola about its axis would reflect the sun’s rays to the focus of that parabola. But it did not spark work in applications; there is no surviving mention of On Burning Mirrors until the sixth century AD, by Eutocius of Askalon, and, again, in Islamic work of the eleventh century.
Improving architectural traits of maize inflorescences

The domestication and improvement of maize resulted in radical changes in shoot architecture relative to its wild progenitor teosinte. In particular, critical modifications involved a reduction of branching and an increase in inflorescence size to meet the needs for human consumption and modern agricultural practices. Maize is a major contributor to global agricultural production by providing large and inexpensive quantities of food, animal feed, and ethanol. Maize is also a classic system for studying the genetic regulation of inflorescence formation and its enlarged female inflorescences directly influence seed production and yield. Studies on the molecular and genetic networks regulating meristem proliferation and maintenance, including receptor-ligand interactions, transcription factor regulation, and hormonal control, provide important insights into maize inflorescence development and reveal potential avenues for the targeted modification of specific architectural traits. In this review, we summarize recent findings on the molecular mechanisms controlling inflorescence formation and discuss how this knowledge can be applied to improve maize productivity in the face of present and future environmental challenges.
Mental Health Professionals, Health Law, and the Supreme Court 2020: Insanity, 'Sex' Discrimination, DACA, and Abortion

During its most recent Term, the U.S. Supreme decided an unusually large number of cases of interest to health care and mental health professionals on topics that included abortion, capital punishment, contraception, DACA, HIV prevention, the insanity defense, jury verdicts, Obama Care, police-official immunity, and sex. The degree of interest among health professionals in these issues was evidenced by the large number if amicus curiae briefs filed this Term by health-related organizations. The Court also decided a variety of other issues of general interest and importance, including asylum and immigration, elections, international child custody, gun laws, presidential subpoenas, religious schools, and robocalls. The work of the Court was interrupted by COVID, and near the end of the Term, the Court held some oral arguments by telephone. The Court decided 60 cases, including 53 “signed” merits opinions after oral argument, an unusually low number of cases. Chief Justice Roberts was the “median” justice—in the majority in 12 of the 13 5-4 decisions. The Court will undoubtedly open with only eight justices. On September 18, 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at age 87. She had served on the Court since 1993. She was a gifted lawyer and justice. She also became a cultural icon—“the Notorious RBG.” Her death in the middle of a presidential campaign set off a major political struggle. The cases already selected for the October 2020 Term (beginning October 5), suggest another extraordinary Term ahead.
Process and Dynamics of Mediterranean Neolithization (7000–5500 bc )

Why did the farming lifestyle appear and proliferate so rapidly through the Mediterranean basin between 7000 and 5500 bc? In this paper, I review the archaeological and bioarchaeological data pertinent to Mediterranean Neolithization, suggesting that a preponderance of evidence indicates that this process involved migration—long-distance, targeted colonization along the north Mediterranean littoral. I argue that this process was driven by rapid fissioning within early farming communities, fissioning in turn caused by competing centrifugal and centripetal economic forces within small-scale egalitarian groups.
Mechanisms of Photosensitivity in Autoimmunity

Aberrant responses to UV light frequently lead to the formation of skin lesions and the activation of systemic inflammation in some autoimmune diseases, especially systemic lupus erythematosus. Whereas the effects of UV light on the skin have been studied for decades, only recently have some of the mechanisms that contribute to abnormal responses to UV light in patients with autoimmune diseases been uncovered. This review will discuss the biology of UV in the epidermis and discuss the abnormal epidermal and inflammatory mechanisms that contribute to photosensitivity. Further research is required to fully understand how to normalize UV-mediated inflammation in patients with autoimmune diseases.
Package Degradation’s Impact on SiC MOSFETs Loss: A Comparison of Kelvin and Non-Kelvin Designs

Aging-related electrical parameter shifts in SiC MOSFETs can adversely affect the power converter performance. In this paper, the package degradation’s effect on the device’s switching loss is comprehensively investigated. Both the TO-packaged 3-pin and 4-pin devices are evaluated, and the device’s on-resistances and switching losses are compared before and after the package degradation. From the experimental results, it is observed that the wire bond degradation can significantly affect the switching loss of the 3-pin devices: more than 23.8% / 27% turn-on/off loss increase is observed, and it becomes more noticeable at higher current and faster switching conditions. The increased package resistance and electrical coupling to the gate loop contribute to the loss variation. In contrast, the switching loss in the 4-pin Kelvin connected SiC MOSFET is not affected by package degradation as the Kelvin-source connection helps to decouple the package degradation’s impact on gate drive circuits. The findings serve as a guideline for SiC MOSFETs based converter designs to ensure robust operation and avoid potential thermal instability issues in the long-term operation.
A model of the editorial process in academic journals

Abstract Editors of academic journals make their acceptance or rejection decisions about submitted papers based on their own prior assessment of the intrinsic quality of these papers augmented by the information in reviewer recommendations. In this paper, we theoretically analyze the editorial process of academic journals, and in particular, the editors’ extraction of information about intrinsic paper quality from reviewers. We assume that, if a reviewer’s own research is close to the research area of a paper, he is likely to have greater expertise in evaluating that paper (i.e., be an “expert” reviewer) but is also more likely to be positively or negatively biased with respect to it. On the other hand, “generalist” reviewers, whose own research is further away from the research area of the paper, are likely to be unbiased about it; however, their expertise in evaluating the paper is likely to be lower as well. We further argue that the editorial decisions of journals will deviate considerably from the socially optimal rule of accepting good papers and rejecting bad papers if the above potential reviewer biases are not taken into account by editors when choosing reviewers. We show that editors can make better editorial decisions if they choose the appropriate type of reviewer to evaluate a paper (in the one reviewer case) or the appropriate combination of reviewer types (in the two reviewer case), based on their own prior assessment of submitted papers. We also show that, if the editor can aggregate the information contained in multiple reviews efficiently, two reviewers are better than one as long as the cost of using an additional reviewer is moderate; however, two reviewers may be worse than one if the editor adopts ad hoc decision making rules such as requiring both reviewers to recommend acceptance of a paper before the journal can accept it.
Review of, "Design Thinking in Technical Communication: Solving Problems Through Making and Collaboration"

The book targets two main audiences. It primarily addresses students and instructors of technical communication, and also addresses industry practitioners. The book provides practical and theoretical examples that both the primary and secondary audiences can incorporate in their pedagogy and industry practices. The author includes learning activities at the end of each chapter that teachers/instructors can emulate in the technical communication classroom. The approaches in the book make it a significant contribution for the teaching and practice of technical communication. The author admonishes students, instructors, professionals, and industry practitioners to change technical communication by paving the way for design thinking and making. He summarizes the need to adopt design thinking as a methodology in technical communication to make designs user- and human-centered, and to advocate for social justice in our approaches to teaching, learning, and practice in the field. Thus, he calls for a rethinking of technical communication pedagogy “to focus less on genres.". The author also argues that design thinking is a necessary component of technical communication and shows how it can be incorporated into technical communication practice and pedagogy. The examples and learning activities presented in the book make it a valuable guide for students, teachers, and practitioners of technical communication. Instructors of technical communication will find the learning activities presented throughout each chapter of the book particularly useful.
Runaways and Fugitive-Catchers during the Third Dynasty of Ur

The study of flight provides insight into life at the bottom of society during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100-2000 bce). Examples of individual rebellion and its consequences display the perspectives of members of non-elite and elite, advancing Adams’s conclusion (2010, §6.1) that the boundaries between slaves and other lower-stratum individuals were fluid and poorly defined. This study also references the earliest known attestation of the concept of reform through detainment.
Lipid Exchange: Transmembrane Movement, Spontaneous Movement, and Protein-Mediated Transfer of Lipids and Cholesterol

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses transmembrane movement, spontaneous movement, and protein-mediated transfer of lipids and cholesterol. The kinetics of cholesterol exchange between donor and acceptor can be mediated by the lipid composition of the donor. Spontaneous transfer of phospholipids among membranes occurs via the aqueous phase. The spontaneous transfers of pyrene, free fatty acids, diglycerides, and cytochrome b, among membranes have been reported. Movement of pyrene between either lipid vesicles or high-density lipoproteins is an extremely rapid process, occurring with a half-time of seconds or less via the aqueous phase. Transfer proteins for esterified cholesterol is identified and purified from plasma. Properties of these latter proteins are reviewed. Measurements of the transmembrane movement of phospholipids in several biological membranes are reported. The data can be divided into three groups. In the first group, the reported half-times for transmembrane movement of phospholipids are extremely long, of the order of several days. In the second group, the reported half-times for the transmembrane movement of phospholipids are in the range of 2-7 hrs. These include vesicular stomatitis virus membranes and intact erythrocyte membranes from humans and rats. In the third group, there are two membranes, microsomal vesicles from rat liver and Bacillus megaterium, where the measured half-times for the transmembrane movement of phospholipids are a few minutes or less.
TINMAN: A Resource Bound Security Checking System for Mobile Code

Resource security pertains to the prevention of unauthorized usage of system resources that may not directly cause corruption or leakage of information. A common breach of resource security is the class of attacks called DoS (Denial of Service) attacks. This paper proposes an architecture called TINMAN whose goal is to efficiently and effectively safeguard resource security for mobile source code written in C. We couple resource usage checks at the programming language level and at the run-time system level. This is achieved by the generation of a resource skeleton from source code. This resource skeleton abstracts the resource consumption behavior of the program which is validated by means of a resource usage certificate that is derived from proof generation. TINMAN uses resource-usage checking tools to generate proof obligations required of the resource usage certificate and provides full coverage by monitoringan y essential property not guaranteed by the certificates. We shall describe the architecture of TINMAN and give some experimental results of the preliminary TINMAN implementation.
Introduction to Operator Space Theory

The theory of operator spaces is very recent and can be described as a non-commutative Banach space theory. An 'operator space' is simply a Banach space with an embedding into the space B(H) of all bounded operators on a Hilbert space H. The first part of this book is an introduction with emphasis on examples that illustrate various aspects of the theory. The second part is devoted to applications to C*-algebras, with a systematic exposition of tensor products of C*-algebras. The third (and shorter) part of the book describes applications to non self-adjoint operator algebras, and similarity problems. In particular the author's counterexample to the 'Halmos problem' is presented, as well as work on the new concept of 'length' of an operator algebra. Graduate students and professional mathematicians interested in functional analysis, operator algebras and theoretical physics will find that this book has much to offer.
Spatial analytic approaches to explaining the trends and patterns of drug overdose deaths

To effectively utilize and interpret spatial analyses, substance use researchers, public health practitioners and policy makers should be familiar with some of the available data analytic techniques, each of which comes with advantages and drawbacks. In this chapter we first discuss three cluster detection tools and their associated software applications. We then present a Bayesian hierarchical approach, briefly reviewing its theoretical underpinnings, commonly used models, and how inferences may be drawn from a sample-based posterior distribution. We demonstrate the use of each approach on a set of substance abuse mortality data, comparing the results across the four tools. Our empiric illustration considers the role of neighborhood-level socioeconomic status (SES) in explaining opiate-related overdose deaths in New York City. We end with a discussion of the implications of the choice of technique and software on interpreting spatial analyses of substance abuse and conclude that the choice of a method will be driven by the question to be answered, data and software availability and the intended audience or context in which the research is being conducted.
Influence of Chromium and Molybdenum on the Corrosion of Nickel Based Alloys

Abstract The addition of chromium and molybdenum to nickel creates alloys with exceptional corrosion resistance in a diverse range of environments. This study examines the complementary roles of ch...
The political economy of tariff policy: A case study of the United States

Economic historians generally agree that the Civil War marks a watershed in the history of 19th century American tariff policy. With few exceptions, antebellum tariff legislation had reduced duties on imports. During the three decades prior to the war, tariff rates systematically declined. Import duties were to reach their lowest level of the century with the passage of the 1857 tariff act. With the outbreak of the Civil War, however, legislation was passed which dramatically increased tariff rates. While originally intended for the purpose of raising revenue, the “war tariffs” remained in effect throughout the rest of the century. Given such a fundamental change in American tariff policy it is not surmising that economic historians have written extensively on the subject. Many scholars have focused attention on the political history of the legislative shift.’ Others have directed their inquiries to specific industry studies.2 Recently, attention has turned to an examination of the relationship between tariff policy and social welfare.3 Curiously enough, however, recent research has not generally considered the determinants of tariff policy.4 In the case of the postbellum period no systematic reassessment of tariff formation has been made since the work dane by Taussig (1931). The conventional wisdom on postbellum policy still reflects Taussig’s perception of the political and industrial vested interests working to maintain a protectionist policy. Taussig complained at length about “the process by which the protective system has gradually been brought to
A Note on Estimating Expenditure Elasticities in Metropolitan Areas

Several attempts have been made to explain the causes of variations in retail sales between geographic areas. The factors manipulated in such studies have included the explanatory variables, the size of the geographic unit under analysis, and the type of measure employed. The present study presents a method that reduces the likelihood of biased elasticity estimates and therefore facilitates the explanation of the causes of retial sales variation.
The amiodarone odyssey.

A paradoxic agent. Amiodarone-that pharmacologic enigma-has been seeking its place as a cardiovascular therapeutic agent for >20 years. First developed by Labaz Laboratory in Belgium as an antianginal compound, it was later found to possess antiarrhythmic and electrophysiologic properties
A multi-perspective concept mapping study of problems associated with traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To develop a model of the problems of persons with traumatic brain injury that includes multiple perspectives as well as the multi-dimensional nature of the phenomena.Design: Concept mapping, a multi-variate modelling strategy, was employed to produce an exhaustive inventory and concept map of TBI-related problems based on input from patients, family caregivers and professional providers.Results: The eight-cluster concept map included the following dimensions: social competence, intimacy, behavioural, maturity/independence, neurophysiological, mood, executive functions and non-executive functions.Conclusions: An underlying two-dimensional conceptual model of TBI problems is proposed with relevance for theory, practice and further research.
Wide field fluorescence imaging in narrow passageways using scanning fiber endoscope technology

An ultrathin scanning fiber endoscope (SFE) has been developed for high resolution imaging of regions in the body that are commonly inaccessible. The SFE produces 500 line color images at 30 Hz frame rate while maintaining a 1.2-1.7 mm outer diameter. The distal tip of the SFE houses a 9 mm rigid scan engine attached to a highly flexible tether (minimum bend radius mm ) comprised of optical fibers and electrical wires within a protective sheath. Unlike other ultrathin technologies, the unique characteristics of this system have allowed the SFE to navigate narrow passages without sacrificing image quality. To date, the SFE has been used for in vivo imaging of the bile duct, esophagus and peripheral airways. In this study, the standard SFE operation was tailored to capture wide field fluorescence images and spectra. Green (523 nm ) and blue (440 nm ) lasers were used as illumination sources, while the white balance gain values were adjusted to accentuate red fluorescence signal. To demonstrate wide field fluorescence imaging of small lumens, the SFE was inserted into a phantom model of a human pancreatobiliary tract and navigated to a custom fluorescent target. Both wide field fluorescence and standard color images of the target were captured to demonstrate multimodal imaging.
Observing Thermobifida fusca cellulase binding to pretreated wood particles using time-lapse confocal laser scanning microscopy

We report on studies of Thermobifida fusca cellulases Cel5A, Cel6B and Cel9A binding to pretreated wood particles using Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM). Hydro-thermal pretreated wood particles were immobilized on borosilicate substrates before fluorescently-labeled cellulase solutions at various concentrations were added. Time-lapse CLSM revealed that cellulases Cel5A, Cel6B and Cel9A quickly bound to certain areas of wood particles, slowly diffused into and adsorbed to less accessible areas, but showed little affinity for other areas of the wood. Cellulase-to-substrate association constants were estimated using a transient enzyme binding kinetics model, and were found to be in agreement with published values. In order to accurately account for the fluorescence signal of labeled enzyme mixed with wood autofluorescence, we also developed a spectral deconvolution method to separate signals from multiple fluorochromes.
Theoretical Methodology for Prediction of Gas-Condensate Flow Behavior

Theoretical and experimental evidence has shown that the flow of condensate in the early stages of condensate formation up to {sigma} < {sigma}{sub c} is represented by film flow. After a transition state in which the gas saturation reaches critical condensate saturation, the condensate flow is subsequently reduced to bulk flow. The condensate is formed in the smaller pores, fills these pores and will continue into the larger pores. In the presence of interstitial water saturation, the condensate is formed in the water surface in the early stages of condensate formation. In addition, the gravity field has an important effect on S{sub cc}. Therefore, ignorance of the gravity effect in the experimental and theoretical calculations leads to an overestimation of the value for S{sub cc}. It is also shown that the shape of relative permeability curves are suddenly changed for a given critical IFT value ({sigma}{sub c}).
Inhibition of human neutrophil function by 6-aminonicotinamide: The role of the hexose monophosphate shunt in cell activation

Abstract Stimulation of polymorphonuclear leukocytes with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) or chemotactic factors such as f-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP) activates a membrane oxidase which results in the generation of the superoxide anion (O2−) and the oxidation of NADPH to NADP+. The subsequent reduction of NADP+ to NADPH is believed to be directly dependent upon activation of the hexose monophosphate shunt (HMPS). To further understand the role of the HMPS in the oxidative burst, we examined the kinetics of HMPS activation by fMLP and PMA. Both of these agents stimulate an increase in HMPS activity that parallels their production of O2−. To examine the role of the HMPS in cell activation, we treated polymorphonuclear leukocytes with the specific HMPS inhibitor, 6-aminonicotinamide. This pretreatment inhibited fMLP- and PMA-stimulated HMPS activity and O2− release by 80% and 60% respectively with a 50% inhibitory dose (ID50) of 5 × 10−7 M. Measurement of reduced NADPH using 350 nm ultraviolet light-stimulated fluorescence and flow cytometry indicated that 6-aminonicotinamide had no effect on resting levels of NADPH fluorescence but significantly inhibited the fluorescence recovery following stimulation with fMLP or PMA. In contrast, PMA- and fMLP-stimulated membrane depolarization measured with the carbocyanine dye 3,3′-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodide and chemotaxis to fMLP were unaffected by 6-aminonicotinamide treatment. On the contrary, fMLP- or PMA-stimulated myeloperoxidase release by fMLP or PMA was enhanced by 30% and 150%, respectively, following treatment with 6-aminonicotinamide, suggesting a decreased oxidative inactivation of myeloperoxidase. These findings show that 6-aminonicotinamide can be used to preferentially inhibit the oxidative burst in neutrophils by inhibiting the HMPS and suggest that the HMPS functions primarily to reduce NADP+ for the production of O2− and has minimal involvement in neutrophil chemotaxis and enzyme release.
Transformations of solvents and spectral factors of matrix polynomials, and their applications†

The relationships between solvents and spectral factors of a high-degree matrix polynomial are explored. Various new transformations are developed to convert right (left) solvents into spectral factors and vice versa. The transformation of a right (left) solvent to a left (right) solvent is also established. The newly established algorithms are then applied to determine the spectral factorization of a matrix polynomial for optimal control problems. The developed algebraic theory enhances the capability of the analysis and synthesis of a system described by a high-degree matrix differential equation.
Little people, big discovery

Mutations in the pericentrin (PCNT) gene cause primordial dwarfism Anita Rauch et al. (2008) Science 319: 816–819
Uncorrelated observations processing at Naval Space Command

The Naval Space Command (NSC) uses a program called SAD (Search and Determine) to construct satellite orbits from uncorrelated observations. The process involves constructing orbits from pairs of observations that are notassociated with a known object. A lot of computer time is required to explore all of the candidate orbits, which can be constructed from the several thousand uncorrelated observations that are maintained. To shorten the run time, a parallel-processing approach was taken. This distributes the processing across multiple computers, which allows significantly more data to be processed than with the previous serial program. This has resulted in a greater number of orbits being discovered than was previously possible, and the run times have been significantly reduced. This revised program is now run in an off-line mode at NSC. It represents the first known parallel-processing application to be used at a Navy Operational Command. The next iteration of the software will come with appropriate database and user-interface modifications to allow its full-scale integration into the operational environment at NSC.
Clinical Genomic Database

Technological advances have greatly increased the availability of human genomic sequencing. However, the capacity to analyze genomic data in a clinically meaningful way lags behind the ability to generate such data. To help address this obstacle, we reviewed all conditions with genetic causes and constructed the Clinical Genomic Database (CGD) (http://research.nhgri.nih.gov/CGD/), a searchable, freely Web-accessible database of conditions based on the clinical utility of genetic diagnosis and the availability of specific medical interventions. The CGD currently includes a total of 2,616 genes organized clinically by affected organ systems and interventions (including preventive measures, disease surveillance, and medical or surgical interventions) that could be reasonably warranted by the identification of pathogenic mutations. To aid independent analysis and optimize new data incorporation, the CGD also includes all genetic conditions for which genetic knowledge may affect the selection of supportive care, informed medical decision-making, prognostic considerations, reproductive decisions, and allow avoidance of unnecessary testing, but for which specific interventions are not otherwise currently available. For each entry, the CGD includes the gene symbol, conditions, allelic conditions, clinical categorization (for both manifestations and interventions), mode of inheritance, affected age group, description of interventions/rationale, links to other complementary databases, including databases of variants and presumed pathogenic mutations, and links to PubMed references (>20,000). The CGD will be regularly maintained and updated to keep pace with scientific discovery. Further content-based expert opinions are actively solicited. Eventually, the CGD may assist the rapid curation of individual genomes as part of active medical care.
Safety analysis for the loss-of-flow and loss-of-heat sink without scram tests in EBR-II☆

Abstract This paper discusses the safety considerations and the analysis that was done to support the conduct of the Loss-of-Flow and Loss-of-Heat Sink Without Scram tests in EBR-II. The plant safety limits and the analysis codes and methods are presented. The impact of the tests and off-normal conditions on the fuel and plant structures is evaluated. Conclusions are that the test program had no impact on plant operations and the accumulated fuel damage was negligible.
Serum PTH and ionized calcium levels as predictors of symptomatic hypocalcemia after parathyroidectomy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether perioperative PTH levels or ionized calcium levels are associated with symptomatic hypocalcaemia, in patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism. STUDY DESIGN Prospective noncontrolled study of a cohort of 100 patients, undergoing parathyroidectomy at a single tertiary care medical centre. METHODS Prospectively collected data from January 2002 to April 2008 on 100 unique patients undergoing parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism were evaluated for age, sex, preoperative and intraoperative PTH levels, and preoperative and postoperative ionized calcium levels, extent of operation, final pathology, and postoperative symptomatic hypocalcaemia. Comparisons of those with and without symptomatic hypocalcaemia were made with Fisher's exact test for binary characteristics and with the Wilcoxon test for continuous characteristics. Results were deemed statistically significant at the 5% level (p < 0.05) with no correction for multiple comparisons. RESULTS Twelve patients (12%) developed symptomatic hypocalcaemia in the post operative period. Neither, initial levels nor subsequent changes in PTH or ionized calcium were found to be associated with symptomatic postoperative hypocalcaemia. Patients developing hypocalcaemia tended to be younger (p = 0.057) and showed a significantly higher percentage when multiple glands were removed (p = 0.026). CONCLUSION Initial levels or subsequent changes in PTH or ionized calcium were not found to be associated with symptomatic hypocalcaemia. The removal of more than one gland did correlate with symptomatic post operative hypocalcaemia.
Earthquakes, faults, and nuclear power plants in southern New York and northern New Jersey

Seismic activity in the greater New York City area is concentrated along several northeast-trending faults of which the Ramapo fault appears to be the most active. Three nuclear power plants at Indian Point, New York, are situated close to the Ramapo fault. For a reactor site in use for 40 years, the probability that the site will experience an intensity equal to or in excess of the design (safe shutdown) earthquake is estimated to be about 5 to 11 percent.
Characterization of Liquid Crystals: The Low Frequency Raman Scattering of Cholesteryl Propionate Nonanoate and Palmitate

Abstract The low frequency Stokes Raman spectra of polycrystalline cholesteryl propionate, nonanoate and palmitate at room temperature are reported. Two high intensity peaks (18 and 26 cm−1) and two lower intensity peaks (52 and 60 cm−1) were found in all three materials. The bands were shown to be very sensitive to the degree of short range ordering. It is tempting to associate the 18 cm−1 band with the LO mode and the 26 cm−1 band with the TO mode of the intermolecular vibrations.
Plasma Androgens in Women with Acne Vulgaris

We have studied a group of young adult women of mean age 23.8 +/- 6.5 (SD) years with only acne (A, n = 46), only hirsutism (H, n = 10), and acne plus hirsutism (A + H, n = 19) who sought dermatologic care. We measured the androgens, total and free testosterone (T), free 17 beta-hydroxysteroids (17-beta), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DS), and the androgen precursors 17 alpha-hydroxypregnenolone (17-Preg) and 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone (17-Prog), as well as testosterone-estrogen binding globulin in all patients. Plasma hormone levels of the patients were compared to those of 23 controls of mean age 25.6 +/- 6.6 years who had neither acne nor hirsutism. Mean levels of all hormones measured, except 17-Preg, were elevated in the women with acne. Fifty-two percent of Group A, 60% of Group H, and 63% of Group A + H patients had at least one abnormal hormone level. The most frequently elevated plasma androgens in all the women with acne were: free T 25%, free 17-beta 23%, and DS 19%. Total T was high in only 12%. Elevations of plasma androgens were present in some women who did not have hirsutism or irregular menses. Identification of endocrine abnormalities in women with acne may potentially offer an opportunity for hormonal therapy.
Characterization and Comparison of Metal Accumulation in Two Escherichia coli Strains Expressing Either CopA or MntA, Heavy Metal-Transporting Bacterial P-Type Adenosine Triphosphatases

MntA from Lactobacillus plantarum and copA from Enterococcus hirae both encode membrane proteins that are members of the P-type family of adenosine triphosphatases (ATPases). Both transporters act as metal importers to take up nutritionally required substrates; MntA translocates Mn(II) and CopA translocates Cu(I). Both ATPases can also translocate secondary substrates, Cd(II) and Ag(I), respectively. Although functionally and sequentially similar, these ATPases differ in several key residues and in their membrane topologies. The bioaccumulation properties of these two proteins were examined by coexpressing the transporters with overexpressed metallothionein in Escherichia coli cells, a system that has previously shown high levels of substrate-specific uptake. Both strains exhibited rapid metal accumulation, both saturated at around 50 µM metal, and both displayed temperature-sensitive uptake. However, the transporters responded differently when external conditions were varied; MntA displayed increased sensitivity to ionic strength, while CopA was more pH sensitive and more inhibited by chelating agents. The differences in accumulation are likely owing to structural differences in the transmembrane region of these two ATPases.
Active one-way avoidance to a heat aversive stimulus in tegu lizards (Tupinambus teguixen)

Eight tegu lizards (Tupinambus teguixen) were trained on a one-way active avoidance paradigm with an auditory—visual conditioned stimulus. The results show that tegu lizards can learn avoidance and that excessive heat is an adequate motivating stimulus for these subjects. Support is provided for the results of previous studies that longer CS—UCS intervals have a significant effect upon reptilian avoidance performance. Preexposure to the experimental environment was also found to facilitate avoidance acquisition. The importance of temperature as a contributing factor in reptilian learning studies is discussed.
Destroying memories to strengthen them.

A paper in this issue reports that the core mechanisms that strengthen memories have more in common with the mechanisms that support reconsolidation than those that participate in their initial storage.
Successful Grafting in a Patient With Recalcitrant Pemphigus: A Case Report

Introduction: This article reports the successful management of a gingival graft in a patient with both oral manifestations of chronic systemic disease and oral sequelae of chemotherapy. In addition to proper clinical technique, a case such as this requires clear communication among health care providers and a sustained program of symptom-specific oral hygiene.Case Presentation: A patient with pemphigus vulgaris (PV) who was in remission after 7 years of treatment presented with a periodontal abscess. Concerned that a fatal infection could originate from the tooth in this immunocompromised patient, the treating physician referred the patient to a periodontist for a gingival graft. Throughout, candid communication among periodontist, physician, and patient produced improvements in an already deliberate approach to oral hygiene. In the presence of persistent chronic disease and associated oral inflammation, a patient-specific oral-hygiene regimen including non-traditional methods can contribute to a success...
Middle-Class Motives for Non-Medical Prescription Stimulant Use among College Students

Among policymakers and media in the United States, there is growing concern over increasing rates of illicit prescription drug use among college students. Using semi-structured interviews with 22 college students who misused prescription stimulants, we find that they draw on conventional middle-class beliefs (e.g., success and moderation) to make sense of their drug use. They do this by creating identities as people who are focused on success and use stimulants only as a tool to perform their best. They use excuses and justifications rooted in middle-class values to create symbolic boundaries between themselves (as legitimate users) and others (as hedonistic users). This allows them to persist with their illegal behaviors while maintaining an identity as conventional citizens.
Automated alternation flicker for the detection of optic disc haemorrhages.

Purpose: Optic disc haemorrhages are associated with active glaucomatous neurodegeneration and ongoing visual field loss. We sought to determine whether automated alternation flicker enhances the detection of disc haemorrhages in serial images from patients with glaucoma when compared to sideby-side photographic evaluation and single-image display. Methods: Serial sets of optic nerve photographs of 394 eyes from 234 patients followed for glaucoma at the authors’ institutions were included in this study. Eyes with disc haemorrhages were graded for difficulty level and randomized along with nondisc haemorrhage control images into one of three presentation groups (automated alternation flicker, side-by-side or single image). Seven graders viewed all images and assessed for the presence or absence of disc haemorrhages. Results: The sensitivity of automated alternation flicker for disc haemorrhage detection (0.878) was higher than side-by-side (0.705; p = 0.002) and single photographs (0.757; p = 0.01). There was no specificity difference between pairs of presentation groups (all p ‡ 0.7). Conclusion: Automated alternation flicker was a more sensitive method for disc haemorrhage detection than the current clinical standards and may have an important role in the management of glaucoma.
Exploiting session-like behaviors in tag prediction

In social bookmarking systems, existing methods in tag prediction have shown that the performance of prediction can be significantly improved by modeling users' preferences. However, these preferences are usually treated as constant over time, neglecting the temporal factor within users' behaviors. In this paper, we study the problem of session-like behavior in social tagging systems and demonstrate that the predictive performance can be improved by considering sessions. Experiments, conducted on three public datasets, show that our session-based method can outperform baselines and two state-of-the-art algorithms significantly.
Distribution of plasma α1-antichymotrypsin levels in Alzheimer disease patients and controls and their genetic controls

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a complex multifactorial disease in which many genetic and environmental factors are involved. Recent studies have shown that α1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) is one of the candidate genes for AD. Elevated levels of ACT have been widely, but not universally reported in the cerebrospinal fluid and plasma of AD patients. The genetic association between the ACT/codon -17*A allele of the signal peptide polymorphism and AD has been shown in some studies. One hypothesis is that the ACT/codon -17*A allele is in linkage disequilibrium with unknown functional mutation(s) in the ACT gene. Alternatively, the more hydrophobic character of the alanine (codon -17*A) may enhance ACT translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus, thus being secreted at higher levels. Therefore, this study was undertaken to determine the distribution of ACT plasma levels in cases (n = 397) and controls (n = 118) and the impact of ACT polymorphisms, including codon –17, on plasma ACT levels. In our cohort, plasma ACT levels were significantly higher in AD patients than controls (542.13 ± 7.11 mg/liter vs. 496.62 ± 12.79 mg/liter; P = 0.002). The ACT/codon –17 polymorphism showed significant association with ACT levels in male AD patients, while the effect of the intron 4 polymorphism was significant in both male and female patients. Codon 227 polymorphism was associated with lower ACT levels in AD patients. In conclusion, ACT may play an important role in the AD pathogenesis and genetic variation in the ACT gene appears to have some effect on plasma ACT concentrations.
Trade policy with endogenous entry revisited

Abstract This paper revisits the effects of tariffs and quotas in a competitive setting where three results are thought to hold. These are: that quotas are equivalent to specific tariffs, the form of tariffs—specific or ad valorem—does not matter, and that the way in which a quota is allocated has no real effects as it only affects the allocation of rents, not their size. We show that all three of these results are false when entry/exit is endogenous. Equivalence holds only if the initial level of entry is set at the long-run level under the quota.
Selenium content of selected hospital diets

Abstract Selenium has been recently recognized as an essential trace element for humans with a daily intake of 50–200 μg suggested. Typical hospital meals were collected during a seven-day period at breakfast, lunch and dinner for regular meat-based, ovo-lacto-vegetarian, and low calorie-low protein renal diets. The selenium content of each diet was determined using neutron activation analysis. Total selenium content of the daily diets averaged 85.5 μg for regular, 118 μg for vegetarian and 54.6 μg for renal diets. The actual intakes of selenium by the subjects would be less because frequently all of the food was not consumed. Thus, the mean selenium level fell within the recently suggested range of 50–200 μg per day. However, the low-calorie-low protein renal diet was barely adequate and the regular diet was near the lower limit of the recommended range estimated as safe and adequate.