cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Design of a novel polydactyl zinc finger with binding specificity for the proximal promoter region of PLN in the proposed treatment of cardiomyopathy.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Cardiomyopathy, a form of heart disease, is one of the many areas of clinical interest and is characterized as a disease of the heart myocardium. Phospholamban (PLN) is one of the many proteins linked with this disease. Its primary function in the cell is the inhibition of the sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA2) calcium transporter located in muscle tissue. There is a direct causal link between when PLN is over-expressed, super-inhibitory or non-existent and the development of various forms of cardiomyopathy. In an effort to counteract the development of cardiomyopathy, we have designed a novel zinc finger protein named Dandy, which specifically binds form the –77 to -95 region of the proximal promoter of the PLN gene. This protein is expected to transiently block the binding of the NFY promoter and thus, the initiation of transcription. Blocking initiation of transcription should result in an overall decrease in the concentration of PLN. Dandy is a zinc finger protein made up of two three-fingered peptides. It recognizes a 18 bp sequence with a 1 bp gap in the middle. Tertiary structure predictions of Dandy show that the protein has the intended structure of the design. More clinical research into the specific binding interactions will need to be completed before in vivo function and overall efficacy of Dandy is elucidated.
EVOLUTION OF SPECIES ASSEMBLAGES: EFFECTS OF ENERGETIC CONSTRAINTS AND SPECIES DYNAMICS ON THE DIVERSIFICATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN AVIFAUNA

Characteristics of the terrestrial avifauna of North America can be viewed as adaptations by a taxonomically, geographically, and ecologically defined assemblage of many species to the constraints imposed by its own biology and by the environment. We have identified distinctive patterns in the variation among species in population density, body size, area of geographical range, and trophic status. The patterns observed in bivariate plots of log-transformed variables can be characterized provisionally in terms of polygons that enclose combinations of the variables exhibited by species. The sides of these polygons may be either abrupt or indistinct. We suggest that sharp, clear-cut boundaries separating combinations of characteristics that species possess from those combinations that are not observed in any species are the result of absolute constraints. As a trivial example, the maximum size of the geographical range is determined by the size of the continent. A more interesting example of an apparently ab...
Verification Driven Formal Architecture and Microarchitecture Modeling

Our ability to verify complex hardware lags far behind our capacity to design and fabricate it. We argue that this gap is partly due to the limitations of RTL models when used for verification. Higher level models such as SystemC and SystemVerilog aim to raise the level of abstraction to enhance designer productivity; however, they largely provide for executable but not analyzable descriptions. We propose the use of formally analyzable design models at two distinct levels above RTL: the architecture and the microarchitecture level. At both these levels, we describe concurrent units of data computation termed transactions. The architecture level describes the computation/state updates in the transactions and their interaction through shared data. The microarchitecture level adds to this the resource usage in the transactions as well as their interaction based on shared resources. We then illustrate the applicability of these models in a top-down verification methodology which addresses several concerns of current methodologies.
Teaching Communication Skills in Psychology

In this article, I describe a sophomore-level course on communication skills in psychology that includes library research skills, writing research reports and term papers in American Psychological Association (APA) style, making behavioral observation notes, and giving oral presentations. Students learn by listening to topical minilectures, seeing examples of students' writing, and doing their own writing and editing. Scores on written examinations testing knowledge of specific APA principles and application in writing showed steady improvement throughout the course. Student evaluations also reflected satisfaction with the course. The article includes suggestions for future refinement.
Shape-induced biaxial anisotropy in thin magnectic films

Measurements taken in the presence of an orienting field were made on four-pointed star-shaped films etched from planar uniaxial films. These yielded large biaxial anisotropy terms. In analyzing the effect, this film was presumed to consist of small partitions (typically 500). Within each partition the magnetization was assumed to be uniform and in the plane of the film, but its direction was allowed to vary from partition to partition. The non-uniform spatial M distribution over the whole film was obtained by numerically iterating to the minimum energy condition. The high-energy state occurred when the average M was oriented from tip to tip in the star-shaped film, while the low-energy state corresponded to the average M pointing diagonally (across the short dimension). The calculated biaxial anisotropy was then obtained under the assumption that all the energy difference between these two states can be attributed to the biaxial property of this film. The biaxial term is a result of the nonuniform distribution of M , which is field dependent. The measured biaxial terms were obtained from torque measurements and were in good agreement with the calculated values.
A supervised method for calculation of perfusion/diffusion mismatch volume in acute stroke

We present our initial experience with a supervised technique for calculating the mismatch between lesion volumes on perfusion and diffusion weighted images of acute stroke. Our method was designed to be reliable and easy to use. It requires the intervention of a trained user at two points during the segmentation process: first to identify normal and lesion tissue, and second, to match a filter to artifact size. The time to analyze a single patient is 15 minutes or less. Statistical test showed us effect of rater or day. This performance suggests that personnel at multiple sites could use this method in future studies to evaluate the meaning and utility of the mismatch volume. Most of the variability in our measurements appears to be due to variability in the perfusion (MTT) images. We expect that this variability would be minimized with higher doses of contrast agent.
Human and Simian Immunodeficiency Virus-Mediated Upregulation of the Apoptotic Factor TRAIL Occurs in Antigen-Presenting Cells from AIDS-Susceptible but Not from AIDS-Resistant Species†

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections lead to AIDS in humans and rhesus macaques (RM), while they are asymptomatic in species naturally infected with SIV, such as chimpanzees, sooty mangabeys (SM), and African green monkeys (AGM). Differential CD4 + T-cell apoptosis may be responsible for these species-specific differences in susceptibility to disease. To identify factors that influence the different apoptotic responses of these species, we analyzed virus-infected human and nonhuman primate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). We found that the apoptotic factor TRAIL was present at higher levels in human and RM PBMC cultures and was mediating, at least in part, CD4 + T-cell apoptosis in these cultures. The species-specific increase in TRAIL and death receptor expression observed with cultures also occurred in vivo in SIV-infected RM but not in SIV-infected SM. In human and RM myeloid immature dendritic cells and macrophages, the virus-induced expression of TRAIL and other interferon-inducible genes, which did not occur in the same cells from chimpanzee, SM, and AGM, was Tat dependent. Our results link the differential induction of TRAIL in human and nonhuman primate cells to species-specific differences in disease susceptibility.
Urban Healers: An Experiential Description of American Healing Touch Groups

There is an increasing interest in alternative healing in the United States. Healing touch has gained in popularity both within organized religious groups and in more secularized groups. Despite this interest, there are very few reports of the experiences of the healers and the recipients of these healings. This ethnographic report describes the healing sessions as well as the physical, emotional, visual, and interpretive experiences of both healers and recipients. The healings are contrasted with biomedicine according to setting, interaction, and the cognitive process involved in the treatment. Reflected values of each respective group are discussed.
The Path-Cycle Symmetric Function of a Digraph

Recently, Stanley [21] has defined a symmetric function generalization of the chromatic polynomial of a graph. Independently, Chung and Graham [4] have defined a digraph polynomial called the cover polynomial which is closely related to the chromatic polynomial of a graph (in fact, as we shall see, the cover polynomial of a certain digraph associated to a poset P coincides with the chromatic polynomial of the incomparability graph of P) and also to rook polynomials. The starting point for the present paper is the suggestion in Chung and Graham's paper that the cover polynomial might generalize to a symmetric function in much the same way that the chromatic polynomial does. This is indeed the case, and in this paper we shall study this symmetric function generalization of the cover polynomial. As one would expect, there are a number of generalizations and analogues of known results about the cover polynomial, the rook polynomial, and Stanley's chromatic symmetric function. In addition, however, we will obtain some unexpected dividends, such as a combinatorial reciprocity theorem that answers a question of Chung and Graham and ties together a number of known results that previously seemed unrelated ([2, Theorem 7.3], [19, Chapter 7, Theorem 2], [21, Theorem 4.2], [23, Theorem 3.2]), and a new symmetric function basis that appears to be a natural counterpart of the polynomial basis ( x+n d )n=0, ..., d . One reason for these unexpected results is that this topic lies at the intersection of several branches of combinatorics; their interaction naturally gives rise to new connections and ideas. We shall indicate several directions for further research in this potentially very rich area of study.
Human Coronary Arteriolar Dilation to Arachidonic Acid Depends on Cytochrome P-450 Monooxygenase and Ca2+-Activated K+ Channels

Endothelium-dependent hyperpolarization of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) plays a crucial role in regulating vascular tone, especially in resistance vessels. It has been proposed that metabolites of arachidonic acid (AA), formed by cytochrome P-450 monooxygenase (P450), are endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factors (EDHFs). These metabolites have been reported to mediate dilation to endogenous vasoactive compounds, such as bradykinin and acetylcholine. However, it is not known whether these metabolites of AA contribute to dilation of human resistance vessels. This is important since it has been proposed that EDHF serves as a compensatory mechanism to maintain dilation in disease states. Therefore, we studied the effect of AA on vessel diameter and VSMC membrane potential in isolated human coronary microvessels. Arterioles (81+/-5 microm, n=70) were dissected from right atrial appendages at the time of cardiac surgery and cannulated at a distending pressure of 60 mm Hg and zero flow. Changes in internal diameter were recorded with videomicroscopy. Some vessels were impaled with glass microelectrodes to measure membrane potential of VSMCs while internal diameters were simultaneously recorded. After constriction (47+/-2%) with endothelin-1, AA (10(-10)to 10(-5)mol/L) induced substantial dilation of human coronary microvessels, which was abolished by removal of the endothelium. Treatment with 17-octadecynoic acid (17-ODYA, 10(-5) mol/L; a P450 inhibitor) attenuated maximal dilation to AA (49+/-9% versus 91+/-4% [control]; P<0.05 versus control), whereas indomethacin (INDO, 10(-5) mol/L; a cyclooxygenase inhibitor) and N omega-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 10(-4) mol/L; a NO synthase inhibitor) were without effect. Both 17-ODYA and miconazole (10(-5) mol/L, a chemically distinct P450 inhibitor) further reduced the dilation to AA in the presence of INDO. The presence of 40 mmol/L KCl or charybdotoxin (10(-8) mol/L, a blocker of large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels) impaired dilation to AA (19+/-9% [KCI] versus 76+/-5% [control] and 47+/-6% [charybdotoxin] versus 91+/-3% [control]; P<0.05 for both). After depolarization with endothelin-1 (-26+/-1 mV from -48+/-3 mV [before endothelin]), AA (10(-5)mol/L) in the presence of INDO and L-NAME induced hyperpolarization of VSMCs (-57+/-5 mV). In the presence of 17-ODYA together with INDO and L-NAME, endothelin produced similar depolarization (-26+/-2 mV from - 48+/- 3 mV), but hyperpolarization to AA was reduced (-33+/-2 mV; P<0.05 versus absence of 17-ODYA). AA metabolites formed primarily by P450 produce potent endothelium-dependent dilation of human coronary arterioles via opening of Ca2+-activated K+ channels and hyperpolarization of VSMCs. These findings support an important role for P450 metabolites in the regulation of human coronary arteriolar tone.
Duplex scanning for carotid artery disease: Is angiographic confirmation required?

Requests for reprints should be addressed to Richard Sanders, MD, Rose Medical Center, 4545 East Ninth Avenue, Suite 240, Denver, Colorado 80220-3950. D uplex scanning has a reported accuracy of 87 to 95 percent in predicting carotid stenosis [1,2]. As a resuit, in selected patients, some surgeons in the United States are proceeding to endarterectomy on the basis of data from duplex scanning, which combines real-time Bmode ultrasound scanning, gated and pulsed Doppler ultrasound signal, and spectral analysis. The argument for Dr. Sanaers the duplex scan as a primary diagnostic tool includes the elimination of morbidity, mortality, and the increased cost associated with cerebral angiography [2,4]. Tables I and II list advantages and disadvantages of duplex scanning and cerebral arteriography for diagnosis of carotid artery disease.
Space power amplification with active linearly tapered slot antenna array

A space power amplifier composed of active linearly tapered slot antennas (LTSAs) has been demonstrated and shown to have a gain of 30 dB at 20GHz. In each of the antenna elements, a GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) three-stage power amplifier is integrated with two LTSAs. The LTSA and the MMIC power amplifier have a gain of 11 dB and a power added efficiency of 14%, respectively. The design is suitable for constructing a large array using monolithic integration techniques. >
Effects of green light on biological systems.

Summary Green light (510–565 nm) constitutes a significant portion of the visible spectrum impinging on biological systems. It plays many different roles in the biochemistry, physiology and structure of plants and animals. In only a relatively small number of responses to green light is the photoreceptor known with certainty or even provisionally and in even fewer systems has the chain of events leading from perception to response been examined experimentally. This review provides a detailed view of those biological systems shown to respond to green light, an evaluation of possible photoreceptors and a review of the known and postulated mechanisms leading to the responses.
Sum-Product Based Optimization for Scalable Video Streams in Peer-to-Peer Mesh Network

Receiver heterogeneity of a P2P network can be effectively addressed by scalable video streams. Due to the discontinuous nature of scalable video, traditional convex-optimization approach is not applicable. We propose a message-passing based approach for optimization using the sum- product update algorithm. Advantage of this simple but elegant approach over other heuristic-based algorithm is that the optimization algorithm itself is independent of the underlying constraints. The algorithm iteratively updates layer allocation decision based on a given set of codewords. The codewords are binary representation of various network and video constraints. Therefore, any number of constraints can be used to generate a set of codewords without modifying the algorithm. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work that systematically addresses the scalable video optimization problem. Preliminary simulation with up to 8 layers shows that the sum- product update process achieves an average layer delivery of 95% or higher.
Is Optimum Currency Area Feasible In East Asia? A Regional Study On Mainland China And Hong Kong

This paper evaluates the possibility of forming a common currency area in Mainland China and Hong Kong using five economic indices that are used as criterion for the optimality of a currency area in the literature and finds mixed results. The higher product diversification in Mainland China, low correlations in real output growth, money growth, nominal interest rate and real interest rate, dissimilarity of industry structures and inflation rates do not support the formation of a currency union between the two regions. However, the analysis of degrees of openness is in favor of Hong Kong forming a monetary union with Mainland China.
Productivity of dry seeded and transplanted rice (Oryza sativa) in Aman season.

Abstract not available DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v39i1.20171 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 39(1): 185-187, March 2014
Developing Preservice Literacy Teachers' Observation Skills: Two Stories, Two Technologies.

Systematic observation is a foundational skill teachers use in order to document children’s reading development and plan developmentally appropriate instruction. However, a variety of challenges make it difficult for teacher educators to help preservice teachers develop systematic observation skills. The purpose of this study is to tell two stories of two technologies (multimedia and video) used to help preservice literacy teachers develop systematic observation skills. These stories include descriptions of each technology and the results of sequential mixed methods studies used to examine the preservice teachers, development of systematic observation. Results indicate that the multimedia group showed similar or better performance than the video group for all measures. Discussion is offered to explore possible explanations for the findings and suggest further investigations.
Creative Synthesis and TPACK: Supporting Teachers through a Technology and Inquiry-Rich Graduate Degree Program.

This study offers a new way to assess TPACK within the context of a graduate program revitalized to focus on new literacies. Whereas previous studies have focused on teacher lesson planning or modeling best practices, our research examines TPACK by exploring the Creative Synthesis Projects of graduates from our program. These projects reveal the manner in which the teachers synthesized personal and professional insights gained over the course of graduate study. Portraits of four teachers provide a holistic understanding of the evolving nature of teacher professional knowledge, especially within the context of prolonged, authentic inquiry and reflection.
Synthesis of DNA-Binding Peptoids

Programmable molecular recognition through nucleic acid base pairing has enabled applications in nano- and biotechnology using DNA, RNA, PNA, and more recently, bifacial PNA (bPNA). We describe herein the synthesis and DNA recognition properties of peptoid backbones bearing the bifacial synthetic nucleobase melamine. These ‘peptoid nucleic acids’ hybridize with thymine-rich DNA, like their peptide cognate (bPNA). DNA complexation is highly sensitive to peptoid side-chain length and overall charge. Peptoids isomeric with peptide bPNA were less efficient at DNA recognition, possibly due to conformational and steric differences. 1 Triazines and DNA Molecular Recognition 2 Synthesis of DNA-Binding Peptoids 3 Peptoid–DNA Binding Studies
The Enlightenment: Enlightenment and government: new departure or business as usual?

A properly constituted state must be exactly analogous to a machine, in which all the wheels and gears are precisely adjusted to one another, and the ruler must be the foreman, the mainspring, or the soul – if one may use the expression – who sets everything in motion. (Johann von Justi) Absolute monarchies are but one step away from despotism. Despotism and Enlightenment: let anyone who can try to reconcile these two. I can't. (Franz Kratter (1787)) I go about, I learn, I see, I inform myself, and I make notes. That's more like being a student than a conqueror. (Joseph II (1773)) A major theme of this enquiry so far has been the relationship between knowledge, critical reflection and power. As we have seen, it was not only philosophers like Immanuel Kant who reflected on the lengths to which unlimited Enlightenment could be taken, before it began to disrupt, rather than illuminate, the structures of society. In this chapter we confront the issue in the most direct way. We examine the extent to which Enlightenment ideas were used by governments in this period, and what impact if any these ideas had not only on government policy, but also on the nature of government itself. We will see if debates on government intervention in the economy, and in church–state relations as well as much wider ranging controversy on what constituted legitimate government may have prepared the way for the wave of revolutionary movements which accompanied the Enlightenment and which was to culminate in the upheavals in France from 1789 onwards (Chapter 10). We will also try to establish how Enlightenment ideas helped or hindered rulers in their search for international success, and internal stability and prosperity.
Principles of effective visual communication for graphical user interface design

Abstract Researchers and developers should develop a high-quality, integrated approach to the graphical presentation of all elements of human-computer (user) interface (HCI) design. Principles from information-oriented, systematic design can assist in providing guidance for simple, clear, consistent solutions to the design of menus, windows, icons, dialogue boxes, and control panels that are not explicitly specified by current graphical user interface (GUI) paradigms.
Inhibiting Interfacial Recombination Events in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells using Self-Assembled Bilayers.

The rate and efficiency of electron transfer events at the semiconductor–dye–electrolyte interface is of critical importance to the overall performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and dye-sensitized photoelectrosynthesis cells. In this work, we introduce self-assembled bilayers composed of a metal oxide electrode, bridging molecules, linking ions, and dye as an effective strategy to manipulate interfacial electron transfer events at the photoanode of DSSCs. Spectroelectrochemical measurements including current–voltage, incident photon-to-current efficiency, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are used to quantify interfacial electron transfer and transport events with respect to the length of the bridging molecules. The general trend in increased lifetime and diffusion length in TiO2 as well as an increase in open circuit voltage with bridge length indicate that the bilayer is an effective strategy in inhibiting the TiO2(e–) to redox mediator recombination events. However, the increased s...
ASSESSMENT OF CARDIAC STRESS TESTS

Objective: The goal of our study was to perform a quality assurance evaluation of our nuclear cardiology laboratory to ensure that patients who underwent exercise stress testing reached an adequate exercise level to accurately evaluate coronary blood flow with a nuclear cardiology perfusion scan. Methods: We evaluated 282 outpatient cardiac stress test studies. A drug usage evaluation checklist was completed for each patient to determine what test to perform on the patient. Results: Exercise stress tests were done on 180 of 282 patients (63.8%), and 102 of 282 (36.2%) had pharmacologic stress testing. Of exercise stress test patients, 145 of 180 (80.6%) met at least one of the criteria and the exercise was considered adequate. Of the 35 patients who did not meet any of the criteria, 26 (74.3%) were on calcium channel antagonists or beta blockers. Conclusions: We concluded: (1) 80% of the exercise stress tests done in our laboratory are adequate by usual criteria; (2) reaching a heart rate ≥ 85% of maximum comprised the majority of the adequate tests (>80%); (3) ischemic endpoints (angina, positive ECG or both) at a lower heart rate occurred in
Studies on Dispersed Unincubated Chick Blastoderm Cells. I. Early Phases of Aggregation

Abstract Early phases of aggregation of dispersed unincubated chick blastoderm cells were investigated. Dispersed cells, when maintained in appropriate cultures, began adhering to one another almost immediately and eventually formed spherical aggregates without any recognizable structures except for occasional blood islands after 24 hr of incubation. The number and size of aggregates derived from dispersed cells depended largely upon the speed of rotation and initial cell density. Treatment with colchicine (4 μg/ml) had no apparent effect on adhesion of cells, although it yielded smaller aggregates than controls, especially after 14 hr of incubation. Direct observation on mitotic activity, estimations of cell number and nucleic acid content, and pulse labeling experiments with 3 H thymidine clearly showed that aggregates were derived entirely from adhesion of free cells and/or fusion of smaller aggregates during the first 12 to 13 hr of incubation. In addition, all cell types present in the unincubated blastoderm contributed to the formation of aggregates, not one particular cell type.
0363 Marginal structural models to account for time-varying confounding variable and the health worker survivor effect (for a mini-symposium on ‘dynamics of exposure and disease’, organised by Vermeulen)

Objectives Marginal structural models (MSMs) in longitudinal studies are needed when time-varying confounders are themselves predicted by previous exposure, and are intermediate variables on the pathway between exposure and disease. The epidemiologist is left with the unenviable choice of adjusting or not for the confounder/intermediate variable. An example would be whether aspirin decreases cardiovascular mortality, in which the confounder/intermediate variable is cardiovascular morbidity. Method MSMs use inverse-probability weights based on an ‘exposure’ model which assesses the probability that each subject has received their own exposure and confounder history up to time t, with the follow-up period divided into T (t=1 to T) categories. These weights are then used in standard regression models (eg., pooled logistic regression models across T categories) relating exposure to disease. Their use creates a pseudo-population where time-varying confounding is eliminated. Results Empirical results show that standard methods to control for time-varying confounders can result in bias towards the null, compared to MSMs. A recent simulation study showed MSMs lead to unbiased results under a variety of assumptions. Conclusions Some studies have used somewhat different but related methods (“g-estimation”) to account for the healthy worker survivor effect, where employment status is a time-varying confounder which predicts future exposure and may predict disease, but may also act as an intermediate variable because prior exposure may cause illness which results in leaving employment. Here we will present an overview of MSMs and the related g-estimation models.
Using Lego Mindstorms NXT in the classroom

The Lego Mindstorms kit has been a popular educational tool for several years. Recently, Lego introduced a vastly improved upgrade to the kit, Lego Mindstorms NXT. The NXT kits feature improved sensors, motors, and programmability. They also have a very different physical design.
Numerical simulation of thin wall Ti-tube heating bending process with large diameter

Finite element software ANSYS was used to simulate the thin wall Ti-tube heating bending process with large diameter.The finite element model of tube heating process and the finite element model of tube bending process were established respectively with ANSYS parametric design language APDL.The models could fit different tube diameter,bending radius and mould dimension.The results show that the heating temperature significantly influence the quality of tube bending process,and the quality of tube bending process is well when the heating temperature at 650 ℃ to 700 ℃.
Fault Diagnosis for Grounding Grids Based on Tabu Search

A Tabu search based approach to diagnose the fault of grounding grids is presented.Shifting the positions of the current exciter within the touchable nodes and measuring the voltages between touchable nodes,the information of the grounding grid is remarkably increased.The index of the proposed method is to minimize the summation of the squared errors between testing voltages and evaluation values.The proposed Tabu search starts with the initial values of the designed resistances of the branches of a grounding grid.A tabu list is formed for the branches.In each iteration step,a set of neighborhood is formed by increasing or decreasing the resistance of each branch at a certain level respectively,while the other branches are not changed.The optimum one in the neighborhood without being tabooed is selected to be the solution of the corresponding iteration step.The global aspiration criterion is adopted,as well.Experiments are made on a grounding grid with sixty branches.A current exciter of 10A is injected at fifteen positions.Eighty-nine voltages between touchable nodes are measured.The diagnosis results show that the proposed approach is feasible and also has the advantage of not sensitive to the testing error.
Detection of Angiogenesis Activity in Malignant Bladder Tissue and Cells

Abstract Neoplastic and non-neoplastic mammalian urothelium was tested for angiogenesis activity in the rabbit iris assay. Tiny fragments of tissue were placed on a rabbit’s iris and observed through a slit lamp stereoscope for as long as 4 days after implantation. Angiogenesis activity was demonstrated either by the appearance of new capillary growth or, following an injection of fluorescein, by a green fluorescence around an implant. Capillary proliferation was stimulated by 99 per cent of the specimens containing malignant urothelium, while only 9 per cent of normal urothelial specimens had this effect (p
What is a Culture of Evidence? How do you Get One? and … Should you Want One?:

Background/ContextContemporary state and national policy rhetoric reflects increased press for “evidence-based” decision making within programs of teacher education, including admonitions that prog...
Putnam, James Jackson

Boston neurologist James J. Putnam (1846–1918) provided an important clinical description of carpal tunnel syndrome (Putnam's acroparesthesia), described beriberi among fishermen in a temperate climate, and provided an early clinical–pathological description of subacute combined degeneration in pernicious anemia (Putnam-Dana syndrome). Later in his career, Putnam became an active proponent of Freudian psychoanalysis.
Disciplinary perspectives on multicultural research: Reply to Dvorakova (2016) and Yakushko et al. (2016).

In their comments on Hall, Yip, and Zarate (2016), Dvorakova (2016) addresses cultural psychology methods and Yakushko, Hoffman, Consoli, and Lee (2016) address qualitative research methods. We provide evidence of the neglect of underrepresented groups in the publications of major journals in cultural psychology and qualitative psychology. We do not view any particular research method as inherently contributing to "epistemological violence" (Yakushko et al., 2016, p. 5), but it is the misguided application and/or interpretation of data generated from such methods that perpetuate oppression. We contend that best practices for representing ethnocultural diversity in research will require a diverse toolbox containing quantitative, qualitative, biological, and behavioral approaches. (PsycINFO Database Record
Visual features for context-aware speech recognition

Automatic transcriptions of consumer generated multi-media content such as “Youtube” videos still exhibit high word error rates. Such data typically occupies a very broad domain, has been recorded in challenging conditions, with cheap hardware and a focus on the visual modality, and may have been post-processed or edited.
New Roles for Humans in Free Flight

Abstract Humans are central to the operation of modem air traffic management systems. Free flight will require controllers to use significant strategic management skills in addition to their more familiar tactical aircraft separation functions. This necessitates rethinking controller selection and training processes. Some guidance for such training comes from an understanding of free flight, man/machine interactions and psychology.
Electrolyte, acid-base, and hemoglobin oxygen affinity alterations following irradiation and storage of canine packed red blood cells.

BACKGROUND Irradiation of RBC before transfusion is required to prevent transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease for human patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Additional applications for irradiated blood may exist in oncologic surgery. The effect of irradiation on canine packed RBC (pRBC) is unknown. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to explore and characterize the in vitro electrolyte, acid-base, and oxygen-carrying capacity changes to pRBC immediately following irradiation and during storage. METHODS Ten units of pRBC were irradiated using a linear accelerator. Concentration of potassium and glucose, percentage of free hemoglobin (fHb), hemoglobin oxygen saturation (sO2 ), total oxygen content, partial pressure of oxygen (pO2 ), the pO2 at which 50% of hemoglobin is saturated (p50), lactate, pH, and methemoglobin were measured before and following irradiation, and at 7 and 17 days post irradiation. RESULTS In both irradiated and nonirradiated units, a significant decrease in pH and glucose, and a significant increase in lactate and potassium were noted. The pO2 , fHb, and the p50 value in both groups increased over the first 7 days. Immediately following irradiation, the pH was significantly lower, and the potassium, lactate, and fHb were significantly higher in irradiated units compared with controls. Small but significant differences were noted between irradiation status in pH, fHb, sO2 , total oxygen content, and p50 value at 7 days post irradiation. CONCLUSIONS This hypothesis-generating study found irradiation and storage significantly altered in vitro properties of pRBC. The magnitude of these differences was small and the clinical impact of irradiation on pRBC may be negligible.
Lenin Studies: Method and Organisation

The growing field of Lenin Studies has been nurtured by the growth of crises and struggles in our own time and may contribute to present-day activists’ efforts at developing revolutionary strategy, organisation and struggle. Surveying this field, it is worth focusing on three recent studies by Antonio Negri, Tamas Krausz and Alan Shandro which give attention to the methodological core of what can be called ‘Leninism’. All three distinguish Lenin’s approach to Marxism from that of such prominent Marxists as Kautsky. The result, highlighted by aspects of Lenin’s functioning in the early Communist International, provides a more consistent activist- and revolutionary edge that might have relevance for future struggles, particularly in relation to the question of organisation.
The NCAR Research Aviation Facility Fleet Workshop 18–19 February 1982, Boulder, Colo.

A workshop was held at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) during February of 1982 to consider the scientific needs for research aircraft in the next decade and the impacts of these...
Hepatitis A vaccine immune response 22 years after vaccination

In the United States, the incidence of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection has been reduced through universal childhood vaccination. However, the duration of immunogenicity for the hepatitis A vaccine is not known. We report on the 22 year follow-up time point of a cohort of Alaska children who were randomized to three different vaccine schedules: A) 0, 1, and 2 months; B) 0, 1, and 6 months; and C) 0, 1, and 12 months. Among 46 participant available for follow-up, 40 (87%) maintained protective levels of anti-hepatitis A antibody. These results indicate that a supplemental booster dose is not yet necessary at or before the 22-year time point.
Weight Loss Strategies for Treatment of Obesity: Lifestyle Management and Pharmacotherapy

Obesity is one of the most serious and prevalent non-communicable diseases of the twenty-first century. It is also a patient-centered condition in which affected individuals seek treatment through a variety of commercial, medical and surgical approaches. Considering obesity as a chronic medical disease state helps to frame the concept of using a three-stepped intensification of care approach to weight management. As a foundation, all patients should be counseled on evidence-based lifestyle approaches that include diet, physical activity and behavior change therapies. At the second tier, four new pharmacological agents, lorcaserin, phentermine/topiramate, naltrexone/bupropion and liraglutide have been approved since 2012 as adjuncts to lifestyle modification. The third step, bariatric surgery, has been demonstrated to be the most effective and long-term treatment for individuals with severe obesity or moderate obesity complicated by co-morbid conditions that is not responsive to non-surgical approaches. By using a medical model, clinicians can provide more proactive and effective treatments in assisting their patients with weight loss.
Impact of Paranoia Levels on the Effectiveness of the ModSecurity Web Application Firewall

Organizations use various approaches to safeguard their web applications. One such approach is to deploy a web application firewall. These firewalls work when configured with appropriate rules. Optimal selection of rules ensure that the firewall will properly identify attacks and hence block them or take appropriate actions. Our study analyzes various bypass attack vectors against the popular ModSecurity web application firewall with the open source Core Rule Set (CRS) version 3. The attack vectors focus on the OWASP Top 10 risks, and are tested against different settings of the paranoia level in ModSecurity. Our aim is to assist in better transparency about the default configuration of the CRS with ModSecurity and hence help administrators in taking informed decisions about web applications security for different paranoia levels configurations.
Hermite interpolation with radial basis functions on spheres

We show how conditionally negative definite functions on spheres coupled with strictly completely monotone functions (or functions whose derivative is strictly completely monotone) can be used for Hermite interpolation. The classes of functions thus obtained have the advantage over the strictly positive definite functions studied in [17] that closed form representations (as opposed to series expansions) are readily available. Furthermore, our functions include the historically significant spherical multiquadrics. Numerical results are also presented.
Visual Modeling of Dynamic Gestures Using 3D Appearance and Motion Features

We present a novel 3-D gesture recognition scheme that combines the 3-D appearance of the hand and the motion dynamics of the gesture to classify manipulative and controlling gestures. Our method does not directly track the hand. Instead, we take an object-centered approach that efficiently computes 3-D appearance using a region-based coarse stereo matching algorithm. Motion cues are captured by differentiating the appearance feature. An unsupervised learning scheme is carried out to capture the cluster structure of these features. Then, the image sequence of a gesture is converted to a series of symbols that indicate the cluster identities of each image pair. Two schemes, i.e., forward HMMs and neural networks, are used to model the dynamics of the gestures. We implemented a real-time system and performed gesture recognition experiments to analyze the performance with different combinations of the appearance and motion features. The system achieves recognition accuracy of over 96% using both the appearance and motion cues.
Standing Single Channel Cystometry

The standing single channel cystometrogram may reveal most of the unstable bladders missed by supine cystometry studies. When compared to multichannel urodynamic studies, some have found the single channel cystometrogram to be remarkably accurate. Our investigations have shown even standing single channel studies to be not only less specific (69%), but also less sensitive (84%) than multichannel urethrocystometry. Despite these limitations, single channel cystometry is an excellent screening method during the evaluation of the incontinent female. Cystometry is an essential part of the workup of all incontinent women who are contemplating anti- incontinence surgery.
Subcutaneous Leydig Stem Cell Autograft: A Promising Strategy to Increase Serum Testosterone

Exogenous testosterone therapy can be used to treat testosterone deficiency; however, it has several adverse effects including infertility due to negative feedback on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Leydig stem cell (LSC) transplantation could provide a new strategy for treating testosterone deficiency, but clinical translatability of injecting stem cells inside the testis is not feasible. Here, we explore the feasibility of subcutaneously autografting LSCs in combination with Sertoli and myoid cells to increase testosterone. We also studied whether the grafted LSCs can be regulated by the HPG axis and the molecular mechanism behind this regulation. LSCs were isolated from the testes of 12-week-old C57BL/6 mice, and subcutaneously autografted in combination with Sertoli cells and myoid cells. We found that LSCs alone were incapable of self-renewal and differentiation. However, in combination with Sertoli cells and myoid cells, LSCs underwent self-renewal as well as differentiation into mature Leydig cells. As a result, the recipient mice that received the LSC autograft showed testosterone production with preserved luteinizing hormone. We found that testosterone production from the autograft was regulated by hedgehog (HH) signaling. Gain of function and loss of function study confirmed that Desert HH (DHH) agonist increased and DHH antagonist decreased testosterone production from autograft. This study is the first to demonstrate that LSCs, when autografted subcutaneously in combination with Sertoli cells and myoid cells, can increase testosterone production. Therefore, LSC autograft may provide a new treatment for testosterone deficiency while simultaneously preserving the HPG axis. Stem Cells Translational Medicine 2019;8:58-65.
A small molecule Hedgehog agonist HhAg1.5 mediated reprogramming breaks the quiescence of noninjured liver stem cells for rescuing liver failure

Liver is the second most transplanted organ according to United network for organ sharing. Due to shortage of compatible donors, surgical difficulties, immunological hindrance, and high postoperative cost, stem cell therapy is an attractive substitute of liver transplant for millions of patients suffering from hepatic failure. Due to several technical limitations such as viral integration, inefficient differentiation, and adult phenotypes and epigenetic memory of fibroblasts, induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, or induced hepatocyte may not present a great clinical substitute for liver transplant. We pioneered a novel technology for robust expansion of quiescent liver stem cells (LSCs) from mice via utilizing of Hedgehog agonist HhAg1.5 for 3 weeks. These expanded LSCs retained stem-like properties after multiple passaging and differentiated to hepatocytes and cholangiocytes. Grafting of ex vivo expanded LSCs in Fah-/- Rag2-/- Il2rg-/- knockout mice, significantly increased life span compared to control group (P < 0.001). Thus in this study, we provide a promising viable substitute for primary hepatocytes for regenerative medicine and for life-threatening metabolic liver diseases.
Increasingly Powerful Tornadoes in the United States

Storm reports show an upward trend in the power of tornadoes from longer and wider paths and higher damage ratings. Quantifying the magnitude of the increase is difficult given diurnal and seasonal influences on tornadoes embedded within natural variations and made worse by changes for rating damage. Here the authors solve this problem by fitting a statistical model to a metric of power during the period 1994--2016. They find an increase of 5.5\% [(4.6, 6.5\%), 95\% CI] per year in tornado power controlling for the diurnal cycle, seasonality, natural climate variability, and the switch to a new damage scale. A portion of the trend is attributed to long-term changes in convective storm environments involving dynamic and thermodynamic variables and their interactions. Increasing tornado power is occurring in environments where the effect of convective available potential energy is enhanced by increasing vertical wind shear.
Zero Bias Anomalies in Tunneling: A Review

The measured conductance σ (V) of a tunnel junction between two metals may depart from the simple idealization of a constant σ0, independent of applied bias voltage V for several more or less basic reasons, which will be the topic of this review. First, a nearly temperature independent quadratic increase in conductance σ = σ0 + σ1 (V−V0)2 is often observed, and may reasonably be ascribed to the distortion of a rectangular or trapezoidal insulating tunnel barrier with variation of V. An offset V0 of the structure may arise from a built-in electric field across the barrier. Such an effect is almost an intrinsic feature, therefore, of a tunnel junction. Two other frequently observed temperature-dependent structures which occur precisely at V = 0, on the other hand, are evidence for tunneling mechanisms additional to direct elastic tunneling and are associated with additional localized electron states in or near the barrier. A “giant resistance peak,” or conductance minimum has convincingly been ascribed to two-step tunneling across the barrier via real intermediate states occurring on small metal particles imbedded in the barrier. Variations of this effect have been seen in other contexts, including that of metal-semiconductor tunneling. The narrower and weaker conductance peak can be attributed to magnetic scattering of tunneling electrons from paramagnetic impurities at the edge of the barrier, effects which may be described as Kondo and spin-flip scattering across the tunneling barrier. Finally, the effect of a narrow conduction band in lead­ing to an asymmetric tunnel conductance will be briefly described.
Rubric Development and Validation for Assessing Comprehensive Internationalization in Higher Education

The purpose of this study was to determine if the Institutional Assessment Rubric on Comprehensive Internationalization in Higher Education could be developed and validated following Gehlbach and B...