cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thermal derepression of alkaline phosphatase synthesis.

Abstract Cases have recently been reported of temperature sensitive repression of enzym synthesis ( Horiuchi et al., 1961 ; Halpern, 1961 ) and of vegetative phage developmen ( Sussman and Jacob, 1962 ). The significance of such thermolabile repressor systems is that they provide a simple means of tampering experimentally with regulatory mechanisms whose response is normally exceedingly specific. In this communication we report the isolation of another such mutant, a strain of E. coli in which the repression of alkaline phosphatase synthesis by inorganic phosphate ( Torriani, 1960 ) is strongly dependent on the temperature of incubation. Three other mutants have been obtained which show a weaker temperature effect.
Towards a constructivist perspective: An intervention study of mathematics teacher development

A constructivist perspective provided the basis for a four stage intervention with teachers. The intervention which combined intensive summer courses with ongoing support in the classroom was designed to stimulate teachers' development of a constructivist view of learning to serve as a basis for their instructional decision-making. Impact of the intervention was studied through analysis of teachers' writings and the use of an interview-based instrument developed by the researchers. The results indicated that this intervention had an important effect on teachers' beliefs about learning which in turn affected the decisions that they made in the classroom.
Significance of the Reductase-dependent Pathway for the β-Oxidation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids with Odd-numbered Double Bonds MITOCHONDRIAL METABOLISM OF 2-TRANS-5-CIS-OCTADIENOYL-CoA

Abstract The β-oxidation of unsaturated fatty acids with odd-numbered double bonds proceeds by reduction of the double bond (reductase-dependent pathway) in addition to the well established isomerization of the double bond (isomerase-dependent pathway). The metabolic significance of the reductase-dependent pathway was assessed with 2-trans-5-cis-octadienoyl-CoA (2,5-octadienoyl-CoA) and its products, all of which are metabolites of α-linolenic acid. A kinetic evaluation of β-oxidation enzymes revealed that the presence of a 5-cis double bond in the substrate most adversely affected the activity of 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase although not enough to become rate-limiting. Concentration-dependent and time-dependent measurements indicated that most (80%) of 2,5-octadienoyl-CoA is metabolized via the isomerase-dependent pathway. The reason for the greater flux through the isomerase-dependent pathway is the higher activity of l-3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase as compared with Δ3,Δ2-enoyl-CoA isomerase. These two enzymes catalyze the rate-limiting steps in the isomerase-dependent and reductase-dependent pathways, respectively. Once 2,5-octadienoyl-CoA is converted to 3,5-octadienoyl-CoA (perhaps fortuitously because of the presence of Δ3,Δ2-enoyl-CoA isomerase), the only effective route for its degradation is via the reductase-dependent pathway. It is concluded that the reductase-dependent pathway assures the degradation of 3,5-dienoyl-CoA intermediates, thereby preventing the depletion of free coenzyme A and a likely impairment of mitochondrial oxidative function.
Analysis of vocal-fold motion from laryngeal image sequences

Analysis of vocal-fold vibration from high speed laryngeal images has been shown to have diagnostic value in the assessment of normal and abnormal voice production. This paper presents a new way to define the boundaries of the vocal-fold opening that is computationally efficient and operates successfully over a range of threshold settings. The area within these boundaries is computed for each image frame to produce the glottal area waveform (GAW) as a function of time. The frequency content of the GAW is analyzed to compare with previous results used for clinical evaluation. In addition, analysis of the glottal area waveform used by others is extended to include new parameters using Fourier descriptors of the boundary contours.
Ambiguous Identities: The 'Marriage' Vase of Niqmaddu II and the Elusive Egyptian Princess

A fourteenth century BC alabaster vase found at Ugarit on the coast of Syria bears a representation of a man and a woman often interpreted as husband and wife. The man is identified as Syrian both in an inscription stating he is Niqmaddu, ruler of Ugarit, and in his physical rendering. The identity of the lady, dressed in Egyptian court fashion, remains uncertain. The image has been used both to support and refute a claim made in a contemporary international letter that Egypt never gave its princesses in marriage to foreign rulers. This article examines how the image deploys the indeterminate identity of the woman within an explicitly identified scene of royal representation. The rationale for such intentional ambiguity lies in Ugarit's role in the political relations of the Late Bronze Age, a world of diplomacy in which the Ugaritic king operated on both the foreign and domestic levels. The element of ambiguity serves as a critical component in status negotiations, and images present an ideal vehicle for coding flexible messages in diplomatic maneuvers.
Fractal analysis of radiologists' visual scanning pattern in screening mammography

Several researchers have investigated radiologists’ visual scanning patterns with respect to features such as total time examining a case, time to initially hit true lesions, number of hits, etc. The purpose of this study was to examine the complexity of the radiologists’ visual scanning pattern when viewing 4-view mammographic cases, as they typically do in clinical practice. Gaze data were collected from 10 readers (3 breast imaging experts and 7 radiology residents) while reviewing 100 screening mammograms (24 normal, 26 benign, 50 malignant). The radiologists’ scanpaths across the 4 mammographic views were mapped to a single 2-D image plane. Then, fractal analysis was applied on the composite 4- view scanpaths. For each case, the complexity of each radiologist’s scanpath was measured using fractal dimension estimated with the box counting method. The association between the fractal dimension of the radiologists’ visual scanpath, case pathology, case density, and radiologist experience was evaluated using fixed effects ANOVA. ANOVA showed that the complexity of the radiologists’ visual search pattern in screening mammography is dependent on case specific attributes (breast parenchyma density and case pathology) as well as on reader attributes, namely experience level. Visual scanning patterns are significantly different for benign and malignant cases than for normal cases. There is also substantial inter-observer variability which cannot be explained only by experience level.
Long Term Primary Mondayer Culture of Adult Murine Magnocellular Neurons

Primary monolayer culture of adult murine hypothalamic cells has been carried out for 2 months. Neuron-like cells as well as fibroblast, glial, and ependymal-like cells demonstrated characteristic morphological features which distinguished them from one another. In addition, immunocytochemical identification of cytoplasmic substances cross-reactive with neurophysin and (8-arginine)vasopressin further characterized specific magnocellular neuronal populations throughout the culture period. This culture system should provide a basis for studying neurosecretion at the cellular and molecular levels. (Endocrinology 108: 1810, 1981)
Cardiac function in adolescents and young adults with anorexia nervosa

Twelve patients with anorexia nervosa (mean age 17.6 years) underwent noninvasive cardiac evaluation. All patients had normal sinus rhythm at rest, during exercise, and following 24-hr electrocardiographic monitoring. The chest roentgenograms demonstrated a small heart secondary to a loss of left ventricular mass. Three of four patients studied had left ventricular mass measurements less than 100 g (normal is 90–360 g). Most patients had an elevated heart rate response to exercise with a slightly blunted systolic and a normal diastolic blood pressure response. Eleven of the 12 patients had reduced overall maximal working capacity. All but one had normal left ventricular ejection fraction at rest. There was no evidence of arrhythmias at rest, during exercise, or with continuous electrocardiographic recording. Young patients with anorexia nervosa appeared to have essentially normal cardiac function with a reduction in left ventricular muscle mass.
Prepubertal cyclicity in feeding behavior and body weight regulation in the female rat

Abstract Periodic alterations in feeding behavior were observed in the weanling female rat between 21 and 50 days of age. Systematic changes were detected by spectral analysis in total eating time, number of meals, meal duration and body weight gain, and were found to be related to the occurrence of vaginal opening (VO) and the subsequent vaginal cycle. Although periodic alterations in food intake per 100 g body weight and meal size occurred prior to puberty, no consistent changes in these parameters were noted on the day of VO or at the first proestrus period. While ovariectomy at 21 days of age did not affect the steady increase in either food intake or body weight before puberty, it did abolish the periodic changes noted in relative food intake and body weight gain during this period. These data suggest the importance of ovarian hormones in generating prepubertal 4-day cyclicity in feeding behavior.
Polymer-Based Sensors for Dynamic Intravascular Shear Stress Analysis

This paper describes a polymer-based shear stress sensor built on catheter for in vivo measurements and potential application in atherosclerosis diagnosis. MEMS shear stress sensor with backside wire bonding has been used to address in vitro applications for micro-scale hemodynamics with high temporal and spatial resolution. However, to assess shear stress in the tortuous and dynamic arterial circulation, we had to develop a new generation of polymer- and catheter-based sensors that are both flexible and deployable. The individual sensor was packaged near the tip of a catheter for intravascular shear stress analysis. The wire bonding and electrode leads were insulated by a film of Parylene C and were connected to the external circuit along the guide-wire. The sensor was deployed through the catheter into the aorta of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits by the femoral cut-down procedure. Based on the heat transfer principle, the device was able to detect small temperature perturbation in response to the pulsatile flow at ∼200 beats/minutes in the rabbits. The sensor was calibrated in the presence of rabbit blood flow at 37.8°C. We demonstrated the feasibility of translating a polymerbased device for dynamic intravascular measurement with a potential for clinical applications in detecting coronary artery disease and stroke.Copyright © 2008 by ASME
High-enthalpy test environments, flow modeling and in situ diagnostics for characterizing ultra-high temperature ceramics

Ultra-high temperature ceramic materials and composites under development as nose-tip and wing leading edge components for hypersonic flight vehicles must operate in extreme aerothermal heating environments. The performance of ultra-high temperature ceramics for this application is ultimately evaluated using high-enthalpy, long duration flow facilities that simulate the reactive gas environment encountered in hypersonic flight. In this paper, we describe the test environments generated by two types of these ground test facilities – subsonic inductively coupled plasma tunnels and supersonic arc-jet tunnels – and discuss the important roles of computational fluid dynamics modeling and in situ optical diagnostics for interpreting test results from a materials science perspective.
1172 RELATIVE INCREASE IN SATURATED LECITHINS IN PROLACTIN -TREATED FETAL LUNG CULTURES

Fetal lung maturation is typified by independent increases in both lecithin (TL) and disaturated lecithin (DSL). A recent in vivo study (Hamosh, M., and P. Hamosh, J.C.I. 59:1002, 1977) has suggested that administration of prolactin (ovine NIH) to fetal rabbits can cause similar changes in lung phospholipid metabolism. We have studied the effect of prolactin on the production of TL and DSL by 28-day fetal rabbit lung cells in tissue culture. At confluence the cultures were incubated with ovine prolactin (Sigma, 22 IU/mg) for 24 hours and subsequently incubated for 6 hours with tritiated choline. There was a significant increase in DSL(p <.05) without a detectable change in the amount of TL produced, resulting in a marked rise in the percent saturation. This is the first reported observation in vitro that production of DSL and TL can be independently regulated. In contrast, other regulators of surfactant synthesis (eg, T4, glucocorticoids) increase TL and DSL production without changes in % saturation. The experiment was repeated using a single batch of prolactin (ovine NIH)without any demonstrable effect, which suggests caution is needed in attributing the response to prolactin. Partially supported by The Parker B. Francis Foundation.
Exercising women with menstrual disturbances consume low energy dense foods and beverages

Women with exercise-associated menstrual cycle disturbances (EAMD) restrict energy intake. Reducing energy density (ED; kcals·g–1 of food or beverage) may be a strategy employed by EAMD women to maintain lower energy intake. The purpose of this study was 3-fold: to determine whether EAMD women consume low ED diets; to identify food groups associated with low ED; and to determine concentrations of total peptide YY (PYY), a satiety factor. Twenty-five active females were divided into 2 groups, according to menstrual status: EAMD (n = 12) and ovulatory controls (OV) (n = 13). Two 3-day diet records were analyzed for ED and other parameters. Body composition, fitness, resting metabolic rate, and PYY were measured. Groups did not differ in age, age of menarche, body mass index, maximal aerobic capacity, body fat (%), or amount of exercise per week. For fat mass (12.4 ± 1.7 vs. 14.9 ± 3.5 kg; p = 0.046), energy availability (28.8 ± 11.5 vs. 42.1 ± 9.2 kcal·kg–1 FFM; p = 0.006), and energy intake (29.8 ± 9.2 vs....
Adrenergic differentiation and Ret expression in rat pheochromocytomas.

Pheochromocytomas are catecholamine-producing tumors of the adult adrenal medulla. They are rare in humans and most other species but common in laboratory rats. However, the relevance of rat pheochromocytomas as a model for their human counterparts is uncertain. Previous studies of spontaneous and drug-induced rat pheochromocytomas and the PC12 pheochromocytoma cell line suggested a distinctive noradrenergic phenotype, possibly reflecting origin from a progenitor not present in the adult human adrenal. In this study, we studied 31 pheochromocytomas derived from test and control male and female rats in toxicologic studies for expression of the epinephrine-synthesizing enzyme phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (PNMT) and the receptor tyrosine kinase Ret. PNMT, which defines adrenergic chromaffin cells, is frequently expressed in human pheochromocytomas, often in tumors that also overexpress RET. We also tested for the expression of the cell cycle checkpoint protein p27Kip1, which recently was reported absent in pheochromocytomas from a strain of rats with a hereditary mixed multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN)-like syndrome. Using immunoblots, we demonstrated PNMT expression in almost 50% of the 31 tumors, although often at lower levels than in normal rat adrenal medulla. The majority of tumors overexpressed Ret. There was no apparent correlation between PNMT and Ret. However, in this study, PNMT expression was strongly associated with tumors arising in female rats, while overexpression of Ret did not show a sex predilection. Robust expression of p27Kip1 was seen in all tumors from the toxicologic studies and also in a small sample of pheochromocytomas from Long–Evans rats, which were reported to have a mixed MEN-like syndrome in the 1980s. The present results show that rat pheochromocytomas have greater phenotypic diversity than previously believed and greater similarity to their human counterparts with respect to these two important markers. Loss of p27Kip1 does not appear to account for the high frequency of pheochromocytomas in commonly utilized rat strains.
If You’re Not With Me You’re . . . ? Examining Prototypes and Cooperation in Leader–Follower Relationships

This study investigated how congruence between dyadic partners’ leader and follower prototypes affects leader–member exchange (LMX) quality. Specifically, we examined cooperation as a process varia...
Experiments on picosecond pulse propagation in a diffuse medium

We present an experimental study of the pulse shape, delay, and spread of an optical pulse transmitted through a medium containing uniform latex microspheres using a mode-locked Nd:glass laser with a 20-psec pulse width. The delay of the arrival time of the peak intensity and the half-power pulse width for three different particle sizes are shown for an optical distance of up to 45.
An Air Core Quadrupole System for Fast Tune Control in CESR

The guide field magnets in CESR have a frequency response of 0.5 Hz. To allow fast control of betatron tunes we have installed a system of air core quadrupoles. We describe the air core quadrupoles and present results of tests of the system for tune control, hysteresis free beta function measurements, and tune feedback.
A highly versatile beamforming ASIC for application in broad-band fixed wireless access systems

This paper presents the architecture and implementation of a highly versatile beamforming ASIC (VBASIC) for application in broad-band fixed wireless access systems. The architecture accommodates a large number of user-programmable parameters, which broaden the chip's application base to a variety of present and future systems for fixed wireless access. These features include: (a) a novel structure for variable-rate interpolation that allows operation at any user specified symbol rate from 625 kBaud to 10 MBaud; (b) operation in both the transmit and receive modes; (c) support for arrays consisting of up to 64 elements; (d) a unique shaping filter structure with programmable canonic signed digit coefficients; (e) complete reconfiguration of all parameters on a per-time-slot basis; and f) digital intermediate-frequency interface. The resulting layout measures 7.1 mm on each side in the 0.6-/spl mu/m HPCMOS14 process and consists of a total of 787 987 transistors.
Corrigendum: Global analysis of urban surface water supply vulnerability (2014 Environ. Res. Lett. 9 104004)

Salem, Oregon was inadvertently included in the analysis, but it does not meet the study threshold population of 750 000 people. This reduces the number of cities in this study from 71 to 70. Changes to figure 1, and tables 1, 2 and 3 as well as the text are shown below. The changes do not affect the overall results or conclusions.
Orientation to oceanic waves by green turtle hatchlings

Summary Minutes after emerging from underground nests, hatchling green turtles (Chelonia my das L.) enter the sea and begin a migration towards the open ocean. To test the hypothesis that migrating hatchlings use wave cues to maintain their seaward headings, we released turtles offshore during unusual weather conditions when waves moved in atypical directions. Hatchlings swam into approaching waves in all experiments, even when doing so resulted in orientation back towards land. These data suggest that green turtle hatchlings normally maintain seaward headings early in the offshore migration by using wave propagation direction as an orientation cue. Because waves and swells reliably move towards shore in shallow coastal areas, swimming into waves usually results in movement towards the open sea. The physiological mechanisms that underlie wave detection by sea turtle hatchlings are not known. Calculations indicate that, at the depth at which hatchlings swim, accelerations produced beneath typical waves and swells along the Florida coast are sufficient to be detected by the vertebrate inner ear. We therefore hypothesize that hatchlings determine wave direction while under water by monitoring the sequence of horizontal and vertical accelerations that occur as waves pass above.
Performance analysis of Root-Music

The authors analyze the performance of Root-Music, a variation of the MUSIC algorithm, for estimating the direction of arrival (DOA) of plane waves in white noise in the case of a linear equispaced sensor array. The performance of the method is analyzed by examining the perturbation in the roots of the polynomial formed in the intermediate step of Root-Music. In particular, asymptotic results for the mean squared error in the estimates of the direction of arrival are derived. Simplified expressions are presented for the one- and two-source case and compared to those obtained for least-squares ESPRIT. Computer simulations are also presented, and they are in close agreement with the theory. An important outcome of this analysis is the fact that the error in the signal zeros has a largely radial component. This provides an explanation as to why the Root-Music is superior to the spectral MUSIC algorithm. >
Biform Analysis of Inventory Competition

This paper provides a model of the competitive newsvendor problem in which there is price competition following the inventory decisions. Using the biform game formalism of Brandenburger and Stuart (2004), the price competition is modeled by considering the core of the induced cooperative game. Such an analysis allows price competition to be modeled without a priori assumptions about price-setting power or pricing procedures. The paper shows that with no uncertainty, the inventory decision is equivalent to the capacity decision in Cournot competition. With uncertainty, the analysis again reduces to Cournot competition if the demand uncertainty is characterized by an appropriately constructed, expected demand curve. The results highlight the critical role of the fixed-price assumption in newsvendor models.
Failure to Maintain Eye-Specific Segregation in nob, a Mutant with Abnormally Patterned Retinal Activity

Axon terminals from the two eyes initially overlap in the dorsal-lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) but subsequently refine to occupy nonoverlapping territories. Retinal activity is required to establish and maintain this segregation. We show that despite the presence of retinal activity, segregated projections desegregate when the structure of activity is altered. Early in development, spontaneous retinal activity in the no b-wave (nob) mouse is indistinguishable from that of wild-type mice, and eye-specific segregation proceeds normally. But, around eye-opening, spontaneous and visually evoked activity in nob retinas become abnormal, coincident with a failure to preserve precise eye-specific territories. Dark-rearing studies suggest that altered visual experience is not responsible. Transgenic rescue of the mutated protein (nyctalopin) within nob retinal interneurons, without rescuing expression in either retinal projection neurons or their postsynaptic targets in the dLGN, restores spontaneous retinal activity patterns and prevents desegregation. Thus, normally structured spontaneous retinal activity stabilizes newly refined retinogeniculate circuitry.
Regular CC-banyan networks

Construction algorithms for rectangular and nonrectangular CC-Banyan networks are presented. Routing algorithms for double and single-ended rectangular and non-rectangular CC-Banyan networks are also presented. The time complexities of the routing algorithms are O(l), where l is the number of stages in the network.
The Role of a Nurse Practitioner in an Ambulatory Surgery Unit

ABSTRACT • NURSES IN advanced practice are expanding the roles they perform. • NURSE PRACTITIONERS (NPs) are the largest group of advanced practice nurses, and they have moved beyond primary care to practice in acute care environments, including peri-operative settings. • THIS ARTICLE provides a brief overview of advanced practice nursing and describes the role of NPs in a hospital-based ambulatory surgery unit (ASU). • THE ASU NPs provide preoperative care and ensure that patients are ready for surgery, which minimizes OR delays. AORN J 79 (March 2004)
Design of reconfigurable semiconductor manufacturing systems with maintenance and failure

Due to expensive, highly complex and time-consuming processes, semiconductor manufacturing systems have been given special attention. In Tang et al. (2000), a heuristic algorithm to design the reconfigurable automated production system was proposed. However, machine breakdowns and planned and unplanned maintenance were not considered. This paper extends that work and addresses the related design issues in reconfigurable back-end semiconductor manufacturing systems with failures and maintenance. Considering different conditions of machines, queuing network approaches are used to derive the throughput of machines to enhance the proposed virtual production line design methodology in which the throughput was originally computed using the deterministic-machine processing time. A priority is assigned to each idle machine according to its past performance and adaptive algorithms for reconfiguration are proposed.
A human computer integrated approach for content based image retrieval

Advances in digital photography accompanied by the overwhelming usage of internet in the past few years have resulted in millions of images being uploaded on the Web (internet) every day. Most of the information is not readily accessible as the images are not organized to allow efficient browsing, searching and retrieval. The image search engines have been largely based on the annotations, as the process of image retrieval by the features and contents of the image is still in its infancy. Humans and computers have their own strengths and limitations. While the human cognitive skills limit themselves when voluminous data has to be interpreted and analyzed, computer algorithms can fail when the need for semantic knowledge is required from the image. Research in other areas has supported the claim that a hybrid computer aided and operator guided solution can potentially improve the performance of the system. Very little research has been done on the area of human computer interaction with respect to image retrieval based on annotations and image content. This paper mainly focuses on the use of human computer interaction with respect to image retrieval and also discusses the issues of semantic gap, indexing and correlation of images. A sports image data base will be used to demonstrate and evaluate our approach.
Are primary childhood brain tumours increasing in incidence in South Australia

A retrospective review of the Department of Histopathology files at the ACH was undertaken to determine the number and type of primary brain tumours biopsied/excised over a 20 year period from 1974-93. A total of 203 cases were found. The majority of tumours were either astrocytomas (811 or medulloblastomas (38). Other tumours consisted of gangliogliomas (17), craniopharyngiomas (17), ependymomas (12), glioblastoma multiformes (7), oligodendrogliomas (6), meningiomas (5) and a miscellaneous category (20). Analysis of the data showed an apparent increase In both gangliogliomas and astrocytomas, particularly in recent years. The remaining tumour subgroups remained relatively static in number. Although possible reasons for an increase in the rate of tumour diagnosis include Improved radiological investigative techniques, changing referral patterns, changing diagnostic parameters and increase or alteration in the local population, none of these factors could adequately explain all of the observed changes. For example, while the introduction of CT scans and MRI may have contributed to the earlier diagnosis of indolent tumours such as gangliogliomas, it is not considered that improved Imaging techniques would have resulted in a marked increase in the numbers of astrocytomas being diagnosed. During the past 20 years the majority of childhood brain tumours in South Australia have been treated at the ACH and there was no change found in diagnostic criteria for these lesions in the department. There has been a slight decrease in the population under 18 years of age. Of possible significance, there has been a change in the ethnic composition of the local population. This study has demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the numbers of astrocytomas and gangliogliomas within the paediatric population of South Australia treated at the ACH since 1974. Although the reasons for this finding remain unclear the possibility of a genuine rise in incidence should be considered.
Induction of antitumor immunity by direct intratumoral injection of a recombinant adenovirus vector expressing interleukin-12.

Direct intratumoral (i.t.) injection of adenoviruses (Ads) expressing specific immunostimulatory cytokines represents an attractive strategy for the clinical implementation of cytokine gene therapy of cancer. Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a heterodimeric cytokine produced by antigen-presenting cells and promotes a T helper 1-like immune response. We have constructed an Ad vector (AdCMV-mIL-12) containing both chains of the murine IL-12 (mIL-12) gene linked by an internal ribosomal entry site sequence under the transcriptional control of the cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene promoter, which is able to mediate the transient expression of very high levels of biologically active mIL-12 both in vitro and in vivo. An i.t. injection of 4x10(8) plaque-forming units of AdCMV-mIL-12 resulted in a complete regression of day 7 established subcutaneous MC38 murine adenocarcinomas and MCA205 murine fibrosarcomas. Treated animals rejected a subsequent rechallenge with MC38 and MCA205, respectively, demonstrating the induction of long-lasting antitumor immunity. Specific antitumor cytotoxic T lymphocyte reactivity was detected in splenocytes harvested from treated animals. A significant increase in the numbers of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the AdCMV-mIL-12-infected tumors was observed. Ad-mediated IL-12 gene therapy was also associated with measurable serum levels of mIL-12 and profound changes in the composition of splenic lymphocytes. Taken together, these results demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of delivering IL-12 directly i.t. using a recombinant adenoviral vector.
Examining the moderating role of gang involvement on the context and impact of victimization

Purpose – Research suggests that gang-involved youth are more likely than non-gang youth to experience victimization. However, very little research has addressed the issue of whether the relationship between gang involvement and victimization depends on the context in which victimization takes place. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the relation between gang involvement and violent victimization in both street and school contexts. Design/methodology/approach – Data were provided by youth (n=421; ages 11-18; 70 percent male; 66 percent non-white) referred by the justice system for intensive home and community-based treatment of problem behavior. At intake, youth reported on their experiences of violent victimization, mental health status, problem behavior, and substance use. Youth and therapist reports were utilized to indicate gang involvement. Findings – Approximately 62 percent of gang-involved youth in the sample were victimized across both contexts. Linear and censored regression ...
The Victims of Stalking

Publisher Summary This chapter highlights that stalking cases stimulate a good deal of interest. Unfortunately the tendency is to look at the more glamorous and sensational aspects of stalking rather than the more common characteristics. There is a common misperception regarding the stalking victim. The most popular image is that of a celebrity who is stalked by a crazed fan or a battered woman who has left a physically abusive relationship and is now being stalked by her ex-spouse or ex-lover. The emphasis on the victim allows researchers to uncover valuable information that is not available through official records or from interviewing individual offenders. Male respondents feel that their gender is a handicap in stalking situations, especially if they were being stalked by females. Most of the research to date is from a feminist bent investigating the effect of victimization of women. Little is known about the victimization of men despite the fact that most victims of violence are men. This chapter also emphasizes that the majority of stalking victims are women, who are being stalked by men who wish to either reestablish or initiate a relationship with them.
Lifestyle habits in females with metastatic breast cancer: A pilot study in support of future interventions.

e20600 Background: Women with metastatic breast cancer are excluded from lifestyle trials under the assumptions that diet and physical activity are burdensome or such behaviors will have minimal im...
ВивлiоѲика 2.0

Welcome to the inaugural issue of ВИВЛIОθИКА: E-Journal of Eighteenth-Century Russian Studies , published by the Eighteenth Century Russian Studies Association and Duke University Library . This new, open access, electronic journal has been christened with a title written in the old, pre-Revolutionary orthography at least partly in order to honor its eighteenth-century namesake, Древняя Россiйская Вивлiоѳика , the historical and literary monthly that rolled off the presses of N. I. Novikov's Типографическая компания over 240 years ago. And it is with the utmost humility that the editors of Вивлiоѳика 2.0 invoke the name of, and express their intellectual debt to our secular patron saint.
Ballance Agri-Nutrients in New Zealand: Greg Delaney and Continuous Process Improvement

In August 2010, Greg Delaney, general manager of distribution and logistics for Ballance Agri-Nutrients (BAN), had participated in a four-week executive development program, the Executive Program (TEP). He returned home armed with a list of ideas and a commitment to help BAN achieve its goal of developing a continuous process improvement (CPI) culture. Seven months later, Delaney is considering the approaches he took after the CEO appointed him to plan and lead a CPI journey at Ballance. He and some colleagues had seen some success, but more important decisions were on the horizon, such as whether to expand or consolidate the CPI activites. Excerpt UVA-OM-1507 Dec. 17, 2013 BALLANCE AGRI-NUTRIENTS IN NEW ZEALAND: GREG DELANEY AND CONTINUOUS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT March 2011 Greg Delaney, general manager of distribution and logistics for New Zealand's largest fertilizer manufacturer and distributor, Ballance Agri-Nutrients (BAN), oversaw the operations of 45 distribution centers, each staffed with two to five employees and located in different regions of New Zealand. In August 2010, Delaney had participated in a four-week executive development program, the Executive Program (TEP), and returned home armed with a list of ideas contributed by classmates, fresh momentum, and a commitment to help BAN achieve its goal of developing a continuous process improvement (CPI) culture. . . .
La sutileza de lo fantástico en la realidad de Jaime Hernández a través del personaje de Izzy (Isabel Ortíz Ruebens)

El imaginario del universo grafico-narrativo de las tramas de Jaime Hernandez se construye, con un aparente tono realista, alrededor de un lugar llamado Hoppers, un vecindario Mexicano en Huerta, en el estado de California, y que esta inspirado en Oxnard, el pueblo donde el autor nacio en 1959 y en donde paso la mayor parte de su infancia y adolescencia. Sin embargo, ese poso realista, esta impregnado a su vez de tramas fantasticas que juegan con los lectores y los propios personajes que las experimentan. Jaime Hernandez lleva la verosimilitud al limite con guinos metaliterarios y mezclas de generos. La atmosfera de sus historias, la personalidad de sus protagonistas y el magnifico dibujo de cada vineta atrapa a unos lectores que asumen todo lo que van viendo con curiosidad y sorpresa. La plasticidad grafica de los comics ofrece un doble lenguaje donde las palabras y las imagenes conviven e interactuan en la construccion de las tramas y sus formas de representacion.
The 2016 ESPEN Arvid Wretlind lecture: The gut in stress

The gut has a major influence on the course of the human stress response in critical illness for several reasons; the quantity of its immune tissue, the extent of interface with the external environment, the expanse of the microbiome, and its access to the systemic circulation. In critical illness, it is not uncommon to lose mucosal barrier function, which exposes the host to the downside effects of luminal contents and epithelial cell regulation. In that setting, the microbiome is converted to a pathobiome, upregulation of metabolic and immune responses occurs, and homeostatic defense systems are compromised. Awareness of this process mandates that greater attention be given to the interplay between the gut and systemic responses, and that modulation of the gastrointestinal tract be considered in every therapeutic intervention in the critical care setting.
Challenges and Barriers to Identifying Pain in the Special Education Classroom: A Review

Although special education professionals are primarily responsible for the well-being of students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), these professionals often lack training in determining whether a child with IDD is experiencing pain. Pain that is not assessed or managed restricts student access to learning. This systematic review describes potential challenges or barriers to adequate pain assessment in the special education classroom. The review methods yielded 36 sources. Five themes emerged following summative content analysis. These themes point to a critical need to identify special educators’ current practices related to pain. Understanding these practices will inform research and development for a needed training program for special educators related to pain occurrence, identification, and assessment in students with IDD.
An optimization-based approach for high-order accurate discretization of conservation laws with discontinuous solutions

Abstract This work introduces a novel discontinuity-tracking framework for resolving discontinuous solutions of conservation laws with high-order numerical discretizations that support inter-element solution discontinuities, such as discontinuous Galerkin or finite volume methods. The proposed method aims to align inter-element boundaries with discontinuities in the solution by deforming the computational mesh. A discontinuity-aligned mesh ensures the discontinuity is represented through inter-element jumps while smooth basis functions interior to elements are only used to approximate smooth regions of the solution, thereby avoiding Gibbs' phenomena that create well-known stability issues. Therefore, very coarse high-order discretizations accurately resolve the piecewise smooth solution throughout the domain, provided the discontinuity is tracked. Central to the proposed discontinuity-tracking framework is a discrete PDE-constrained optimization formulation that simultaneously aligns the computational mesh with discontinuities in the solution and solves the discretized conservation law on this mesh. The optimization objective is taken as a combination of the deviation of the finite-dimensional solution from its element-wise average and a mesh distortion metric to simultaneously penalize Gibbs' phenomena and distorted meshes. It will be shown that our objective function satisfies two critical properties that are required for this discontinuity-tracking framework to be practical: (1) possesses a local minima at a discontinuity-aligned mesh and (2) decreases monotonically to this minimum in a neighborhood of radius approximately h / 2 , whereas other popular discontinuity indicators fail to satisfy the latter. Another important contribution of this work is the observation that traditional reduced space PDE-constrained optimization solvers that repeatedly solve the conservation law at various mesh configurations are not viable in this context since severe overshoot and undershoot in the solution, i.e., Gibbs' phenomena, may make it impossible to solve the discrete conservation law on non-aligned meshes. Therefore, we advocate a gradient-based, full space solver where the mesh and conservation law solution converge to their optimal values simultaneously and therefore never require the solution of the discrete conservation law on a non-aligned mesh. The merit of the proposed method is demonstrated on a number of one- and two-dimensional model problems including the L 2 projection of discontinuous functions, Burgers' equation with a discontinuous source term, transonic flow through a nozzle, and supersonic flow around a bluff body. We demonstrate optimal O ( h p + 1 ) convergence rates in the L 1 norm for up to polynomial order p = 6 and show that accurate solutions can be obtained on extremely coarse meshes.
Skeleton-based bio-inspired human activity prediction for real-time human–robot interaction

Activity prediction is an essential task in practical human-centered robotics applications, such as security, assisted living, etc., which is targeted at inferring ongoing human activities based on incomplete observations. To address this challenging problem, we introduce a novel bio-inspired predictive orientation decomposition (BIPOD) approach to construct representations of people from 3D skeleton trajectories. BIPOD is invariant to scales and viewpoints, runs in real-time on basic computer systems, and is able to recognize and predict activities in an online fashion. Our approach is inspired by biological research in human anatomy. To capture spatio-temporal information of human motions, we spatially decompose 3D human skeleton trajectories and project them onto three anatomical planes (i.e., coronal, transverse and sagittal planes); then, we describe short-term time information of joint motions and encode high-order temporal dependencies. By using Extended Kalman Filters to estimate future skeleton trajectories, we endow our BIPOD representation with the critical capabilities to reduce noisy skeleton observation data and predict the ongoing activities. Experiments on benchmark datasets have shown that our BIPOD representation significantly outperforms previous methods for real-time human activity classification and prediction from 3D skeleton trajectories. Empirical studies using TurtleBot2 and Baxter humanoid robots have also validated that our BIPOD method obtains promising performance, in terms of both accuracy and efficiency, making BIPOD a fast, simple, yet powerful representation for low-latency online activity prediction in human–robot interaction applications.
MR-Compatible Haptic Display of Membrane Puncture in Robot-Assisted Needle Procedures

Multilayer electroactive polymer films actuate a small hand-held device to display tool tip forces during MR-guided interventions. The display produces localized skin stretch at the tips of the index finger and thumb. Tests confirm that the device does not significantly affect MR imaging and produces detectable stimuli in response to forces measured by a biopsy needle instrumented with fiber Bragg grating sensors. Tests with human subjects explored robotic and teleoperated paradigms to detect when the needle contacted a silicone membrane. The membrane was embedded in a tissue phantom that approximated the properties of porcine liver. In the robotic paradigm, naive users detected membranes with a 98.9 percent success rate as the needle was driven at fixed speed. In the teleoperated paradigm, users with experience in needle-based procedures controlled the needle insertion and detected membranes embedded in tissue phantoms with a 98.1 percent success rate; some experienced users detected membranes with very light contact forces, but there was greater subject-to-subject variation.
Comparison Between Femoral and Dorsal Coccygeal Venipuncture Techniques on Packed Cell Volumes and Hemoglobin Concentration in the Diamondback Terrapin, Malaclemys terrapin

ABSTRACT Blood sample contamination by lymph is known to occur in turtles. A small study was undertaken to compare hematocrit and hemoglobin values from two different sites in diamondback terrapins, Malaclemys terrapin. The results showed that samples from the dorsal coccygeal vein usually yielded significantly lower hematocrit and hemoglobin values than samples from the femoral vein which was presumed to be due to lymph dilution.
Unexplained reciprocal regulation of diabetes and lipoproteins.

Purpose of review Type 2 diabetes is associated with a characteristic dyslipidemia that may exacerbate cardiovascular risk. The causes of, and the effects of new antihyperglycemia medications on, this dyslipidemia, are under investigation. In an unexpected reciprocal manner, lowering LDL-cholesterol with statins slightly increases the risk of diabetes. Here we review the latest findings. Recent findings The inverse relationship between LDL-cholesterol and diabetes has now been confirmed by multiple lines of evidence. This includes clinical trials, genetic instruments using aggregate single nucleotide polymorphisms, as well as at least eight individual genes - HMGCR, NPC1L1, HNF4A, GCKR, APOE, PCKS9, TM6SF2, and PNPLA3 - support this inverse association. Genetic and pharmacologic evidence suggest that HDL-cholesterol may also be inversely associated with diabetes risk. Regarding the effects of diabetes on lipoproteins, new evidence suggests that insulin resistance but not diabetes per se may explain impaired secretion and clearance of VLDL-triglycerides. Weight loss, bariatric surgery, and incretin-based therapies all lower triglycerides, whereas SGLT2 inhibitors may slightly increase HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol. Summary Diabetes and lipoproteins are highly interregulated. Further research is expected to uncover new mechanisms governing the metabolism of glucose, fat, and cholesterol. This topic has important implications for treating type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
A ruthenium-platinum metal complex that binds to sarcin ricin loop RNA and lowers mRNA expression.

IT127 is a dinuclear transition metal complex that contains a Pt(II) and a Ru(III) metal center. We have shown that IT127 is significantly more effective in binding the 29-base sarcin ricin loop (SRL) RNA in comparison to Cisplatin, a hallmark anticancer agent. Binding site analysis shows that IT127 prefers purine bases and the GAGA tetraloop region of SRL RNA. Our results with a dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) model system reveal that IT127 binding to mRNA reduces translation of DHFR enzyme and that the Ru(III) and Pt(II) centers in IT127 appear to work in a synergistic manner.
Medical Malpractice Law and the Psychiatrist

The threat of being sued for malpractice exerts a relatively consistent and powerful influence on every physician. No matter how it is resolved, a malpractice suit is a substantial source of punishment for the doctor. It is always time-consuming. If the doctor feels he has done no wrong, there is no way he can avoid powerful feelings of anger toward the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorney. If he feels that he may have done wrong, he must deal with painful feelings of self-recrimination. Malpractice suits may drag on for years. During this time the physician will be haunted by the possibility of an adverse judgment that might result in loss of professional prestige, higher liability insurance premiums, cancellation of insurance, legal fees not covered by insurance, or even a financially devastating judgment in excess of insurance coverage.