cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Oral anticoagulation therapy and subsequent risk of venous thromboembolism in atrial fibrillation patients.

Objective: Oral anticoagulation (OAC) prescribed to AF patients for the prevention of cardioembolic complications likely has the added benefit of preventing venous thromboembolism (VTE). This study...
Selected Factors Contributing to Teacher Job Satisfaction: A Quantitative Investigation Using 2013 TALIS Data

This study aims to analyze how selected student and school factors may affect teacher job satisfaction, in addition to teacher factors, through multilevel regression and commonality analysis of U.S...
Albert Jay Nock: Pessimism About Education by State or Market

Albert Jay Nock (1870–1945) was a news magazine writer and social critic who wrote, among other things, a book called Theory of Education in the United States. For Nock, an anarchist who favored laissez-faire capitalism, state education was an impermissible intrusion on individual liberty less suited to true education than to training good workers. Yet, influenced by Matthew Arnold, Nock was equally skeptical that private enterprise could provide the kind of truly good (because rigorous and scholastic) education Nock believed customers would not want.
Calculus students’ fraction and measure schemes and implications for teaching rate of change functions conceptually

Abstract This paper investigates the implications of three students’ fraction and measure schemes for their understanding of rate of change functions. Steffe and Olive's (2010) descriptions of students’ reasoning about fraction and measure and Thompson's (1994) descriptions of students’ reasoning about rate of change serve as the theoretical foundation of the paper. Two of the students’ fraction and measure schemes obstructed their ability to make sense of rate of change functions. These two students assimilated with two levels of units and had additive fraction schemes. The student who assimilated with three levels of units and had multiplicative fraction schemes efficiently developed a productive meaning for rate of change functions. This study provides additional evidence from 2049 students showing difficulty with fraction and measure is typical for calculus students. Teachers implementing conceptual calculus instruction should consider how students who have only additive fraction schemes will make sense of rate of change functions.
Skewed-Load Tests for Transition and Stuck-at Faults

Test generation procedures target a variety of fault models in order to produce test sets that are effective for defect detection. This paper considers the likely scenario where two-cycle skewed-load tests are generated to detect single transition faults, and the test set is complemented with tests for single stuck-at faults that are not detected by the transition fault test set. For this scenario, this paper makes several unique observations that can be utilized to produce a single compact test set that consists only of two-cycle skewed-load tests for both fault models. The first observation is that a single-cycle test for a stuck-at fault can be transformed into a skewed-load test that is guaranteed to detect the stuck-at fault without performing logic or fault simulation. The second observation is that skewed-load tests, which are transformed from single-cycle tests for stuck-at faults, sometimes detect more transition and stuck-at faults than tests that were generated for transition faults. The third observation is that a static test compaction procedure, which is based on the modification and removal of tests, is effective in this context because it allows tests for stuck-at faults to detect more transition faults and vice versa. This paper describes a test compaction procedure based on these observations and presents experimental results for benchmark circuits to demonstrate the effectiveness of the procedure.
SHE: A Fast and Accurate Privacy-Preserving Deep Neural Network Via Leveled TFHE and Logarithmic Data Representation.

Homomorphic Encryption (HE) is one of the most promising security solutions to emerging Machine Learning as a Service (MLaaS). Several Leveled-HE (LHE)-enabled Convolutional Neural Networks (LHECNNs) are proposed to implement MLaaS to avoid the large bootstrapping overhead. However, prior LHECNNs have to pay significant computational overhead but achieve only low inference accuracy, due to their polynomial approximation activations and poolings. Stacking many polynomial approximation activation layers in a network greatly reduces the inference accuracy, since the polynomial approximation activation errors lead to a low distortion of the output distribution of the next batch normalization layer. So the polynomial approximation activations and poolings have become the obstacle to a fast and accurate LHECNN model. In this paper, we propose a Shift-accumulation-based LHE-enabled deep neural network (SHE) for fast and accurate inferences on encrypted data. We use the binary-operation-friendly leveled-TFHE (LTFHE) encryption scheme to implement ReLU activations and max poolings. We also adopt the logarithmic quantization to accelerate inferences by replacing expensive LTFHE multiplications with cheap LTFHE shifts. We propose a mixed bitwidth accumulator to expedite accumulations. Since the LTFHE ReLU activations, max poolings, shifts and accumulations have small multiplicative depth, SHE can implement much deeper network architectures with more convolutional and activation layers. Our experimental results show SHE achieves the state-of-the-art inference accuracy and reduces the inference latency by 76.21%~94.23% over prior LHECNNs on MNIST and CIFAR-10.
Servant-Multicultural Leadership: An Effective Instructional Approach in Higher Learning

Multiculturalism has been in existence through decades in all aspects of our social lives, and yet, it stays controversial in our own domestic realm of leading and managing our public or private educational institutions/organizations. Bordas (2012) echoed: "The rapidly increasing cultural and racial diversity of the U.S. workforce, consumer base, and citizenry is challenging leadership to better reflect the values and worldviews inherent to our multicultural society" (p. ix). With optimism, Bordas (2012) remarked: "Authentic diversity will be realized only when the voices, values, and contributions of all Americans are integrated into mainstream leadership" (p. ix). In this view, this reflection offers to highlight Bordas's (2012) perspective on multicultural leadership in relation to servant leadership theory coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in the seventies, and other servant leadership thinkers such as Barbuto and Wheeler (2006), Beazley (2003) and others. In doing this, I define and explain servant leadership, multicultural leadership by Juana Bordas (2012) and other multicultural leadership thinkers, and multicultural education; and interconnect these theories; and draw my conclusion on the topic.
Machine-learning-based three-qubit gate design for the Toffoli gate and parity check in transmon systems

We use machine-learning techniques to design three-qubit entangling gates with fidelities of g99.9% and duration of 50 ns for nearest-neighbor coupled flux-tunable transmons in circuit quantum electrodynamics architectures. The gate design procedure enforces realistic constraints and analyzes the robustness of the new gates under decoherence, distortion, and random noise. The controlled-controlled-phase gate in combination with two single-qubit gates realizes a Toffoli gate which is widely used in quantum circuits, logic synthesis, and quantum error correction. We also introduce a three-qubit entangling Parity Checker gate which has applications in quantum arithmetic circuits and quantum error correction schemes. Using these three-qubit gates, we design a circuit for Shor's nine-qubit quantum error correction code and compare its performance to conventional realizations.
Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins—namely, IGF-I and IGF-II. The IGFs are purified from human plasma and cell culture medium by virtue of their ability to stimulate the growth of cartilage or cultured fibroblasts, or their insulin-like activity. The IGFs are synthesized in many fetal and postnatal tissues and are capable of acting locally. IGF-I and IGF-II are single-chain 7.5-kDa polypeptides that are chemically related to insulin. They bind with high affinity to IGF-I receptors that are thought to mediate most of their biological actions. The IGF-I receptor is a homolog of the insulin receptor, having a heterotetrameric structure and a tyrosine kinase domain in the cytoplasmic portion of the β-subunit that phosphorylates the receptor and other substrates, and presumably is involved in transmembrane signaling. Hybrid receptors consisting of one αβ IGF-I receptor heterodimer and one αβ insulin receptor heterodimer are described. IGF-II also binds with high affinity to the IGF-II/Mannose 6-phosphate receptor. IGF-II added with the IGF-II/Mannose 6-phosphate receptor stimulated the activation of the guanosine triphosphate (GTP) binding protein G i-2 . The IGFs participate in the physiological growth of the developing child, fetus, and embryo.
An anisotropic damage model based on dislocation-mediated nucleation of cracks under high-rate compression

Abstract We developed a thermodynamically-consistent, rate-dependent micromechanics model for brittle damage nucleated by dislocation plasticity applicable for large deformations. Dislocation substructure evolution was used to inform a nucleation criterion for a microcrack. Under global compression, the sliding of a microcrack induces formation of wing cracks. Effective stress drives dynamic growth of these cracks under a 3D stress state, resulting in an anisotropic material stiffness. The model was further advanced to predict grain size dependence of a polycrystalline solid. Internal variables were constrained based on the laws of thermodynamics. Material constants were calibrated for polycrystalline beryllium to demonstrate the applicability of the model to simulate dynamic failure under compression. We demonstrate the versatility of the model to capture brittle to ductile transition governed by temperature and strain rate. The predictive capability of the model to simulate failure stress and failure strain is compared with dynamic and quasistatic data on beryllium.
Patient with Fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia is a syndrome of widespread pain that has been a challenge for physicians to diagnose and manage in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Since the introduction of the disease in the 1970s, both the diagnostic criteria and understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms have undergone dramatic changes as a result of modern clinical data and functional imaging studies that support a state of altered pain processing known as central sensitization. This chapter describes the historical development of the diagnosis of fibromyalgia and presents the current opinion of the pathophysiologic mechanisms. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) diagnostic criteria are presented with a discussion of the changes implemented since the original criteria was published in 1990. Management of inpatients with fibromyalgia is outlined in a manner that includes both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions, perceived challenges in management, pain assessment tools, modalities to avoid, and a discharge plan for pain management.
Neighborhood Disorder, Social Ties, and Preventive Healthcare Utilization among Urban-Dwelling Older Adults.

Objectives: This research examines whether perceived neighborhood disorder influences the use of preventive healthcare services (i.e. influenza vaccine, pneumonia vaccine, cholesterol screening, co...
Abstract 3789: Therapeutic targeting of the YAP/TAZ pathway in glioblastoma with verteporfin

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a particularly lethal brain neoplasm accounting for half of malignant primary brain tumors diagnosed in adults and maintains a devastating diagnosis, with a median survival of 14 months despite standard clinical interventions of surgical, chemotherapeutic, and radiation treatments. GBM tumorigenicity is often driven by aberrations in receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) such as EGFR, and the Pi-3 kinase (PI3K) signaling pathway. Using a Drosophila glioma model and human patient-derived glioma cells, we identified YAP/TAZ, effectors of the Hippo pathway that promote expression of stemness factors and oncogenes via activation of the TEAD transcription factors, as drivers of glioma tumorigenicity. This led to the discovery that YAP/TAZ are highly expressed in human patient-derived glioma stem cells and that knockdown of these inhibits cell growth. We hypothesized that Verteporfin, a benzoporphyrin derivative approved by the FDA for the treatment of macular degeneration, may have therapeutic benefit for glioblastoma due to its published ability to inhibit interaction between YAP and TEAD transcription factors. Using in vitro culture-based assays and in vivo in GBM xenograft models, we observed Verteporfin specifically induces apoptosis in GBM cells, slows tumor growth, and durably suppressesexpression of known and novel TEAD transcriptional targets in tumor tissue. We validated several direct targets using chromatin immunoprecipitation, and are seeking to further identify the full transcriptional program controlled by YAP/TAZ-TEAD in GBM. Our efforts have led to a phase 0 clinical trial where we were able to observe Verteporfin uptake in GBM tumors in human patients. These data indicate that Verteporfin is a promising therapeutic target for GBM. Citation Format: Nathaniel H. Boyd, Krish Vigneswaran, Shoeb Lallani, Se-Yeong Oh, Andrew Boucher, Jeffrey Olson, Renee Read. Therapeutic targeting of the YAP/TAZ pathway in glioblastoma with verteporfin [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 3789.
How to Create a Teaching Script for a Chalk Talk

This book provides teaching scripts for 48 chalk talks on a variety of inpatient and outpatient internal medicine topics. We hope that the teaching scripts will be exceedingly useful, but we also aspire to encourage readers to create their own teaching scripts to use and share. Creating a teaching script can seem like an intimidating proposition. In this chapter, we provide guidance to clinical teachers on how to create their own teaching scripts.
Interfaces in Solid Electrolyte Interphase: Implications for Lithium-Ion Batteries

The existence of passivating layers at the interfaces is a major factor enabling modern lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. Their properties determine the cycle life, performance, and safety of batteries. A special case is the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), a heterogeneous multi-component film formed due to the instability and subsequent decomposition of the electrolyte at the surface of the anode. The SEI acts as a passivating layer that hinders further electrolyte disintegration, which is detrimental to the Coulombic efficiency. In this work, we use first-principles simulations to investigate the kinetic and electronic properties of the interface between lithium fluoride (LiF) and lithium carbonate (Li$_2$CO$_3$), two common SEI components present in Li-ion batteries with organic liquid electrolytes. We find a coherent interface between these components that restricts the strain in each of them to below 3%. We find that the interface causes a large increase in the formation energy of the Frenkel defect, generating Li vacancies in LiF and Li interstitials in Li$_2$CO$_3$ responsible for transport. On the other hand, the Li interstitial hopping barrier is reduced from $0.3$ eV in bulk Li$_2$CO$_3$ to $0.10$ or $0.22$ eV in the interfacial structure considered, demonstrating the favorable role of the interface. Controlling these two effects in a heterogeneous SEI is crucial for maintaining fast ion transport in the SEI. We further perform Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations to explore Li ion conduction in our interfacial structure, which reveal an enhanced Li ion diffusion in the vicinity of the interface. Understanding the interfacial properties of the multiphase SEI represents an important frontier to enable next-generation batteries.
Accounting for Differences in Population : Predicting Intervention Impact at Scale

An assumption often made (implicitly or explicitly) is that the evidence regarding program effectiveness from a randomized trial can directly help inform the effects of a program in potential new locations. This assumption in some ways underlies the thinking behind evidence-based policy; that we can identify “what works” using rigorous designs, and then disseminate or scale up that program or policy to other locations. However, trials are not always directly informative about the effects in a new environment. This chapter provides an overview of threats to the ability to generalize effect estimates from a trial to a new population, with a focus on differences in impacts due to differences between the trial participants and the population of interest on characteristics that also contribute to treatment effect heterogeneity. It discusses design and analysis strategies that can help enhance our ability to take results from trials and inform likely effectiveness of programs and policies in new locations. A key lesson is the need to incorporate available data with subject matter expertise and strong theory, to identify where and when an intervention is likely to be most effective.
Aeromechanics and Aeroelastic Stability of Coaxial Rotors

Coaxial rotor aeroelasticity is complex due to the counter-rotating wake system, rotor lift offset, periodic blade passage loads, unsteady rotor wake interactions, reduced rotor speed, and stiff hi...
Rescripting Shakespeare: Compressing Henry VI

“Commanded always by the greater gust” 3 Henry VI , 3.1.88 When dealing with Shakespeare's Henry VI on the page or on the stage, a critic, an editor, or a director immediately confronts the question of the integrity of the three plays as they have survived in the 1594 Quarto of Part II and the 1595 Octavo of Part III (among the earliest of Shakespeare's works to appear in print) and the First Folio (where Part I first appears). Since the eighteenth century, scholars and theatrical professionals have shown little confidence in or enthusiasm for these histories as intact entities, worthy of analysis as discrete units, but rather have either lumped them together as one item that can be dealt with summarily or raided them so as to appropriate detachable elements that suit the interpreter's agenda. As noted in chapter 3, directors often graft Richard of Gloucester's speeches from Part III onto Richard III ; several scholars have written tellingly about Joan de Pucelle; and other distinctive parts have been singled out for attention or analysis, with one line (“The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers” – Part II, 4.2.76–77) achieving a cult status. Admittedly, starting in the 1960s and 1970s a few academic critics have argued forcefully in behalf of thematic or imagistic integrity; at least three directors (Terry Hands, Jane Howell, Michael Boyd) have treated the scripts with respect.
Actin' up: RhoB in cancer and apoptosis

RhoB is a small GTPase that regulates actin organization and vesicle transport. It is required for signalling apoptosis in transformed cells that are exposed to farnesyltransferase inhibitors, DNA-damaging agents or taxol. Genetic analysis in mice indicates that RhoB is dispensable for normal cell physiology, but that it has a suppressor or negative modifier function in stress-associated processes, including cancer.
Chronic pruritus: a paraneoplastic sign

Chronic itch could be a presenting sign of malignancy. Pruritus of lymphoma is the common prototype of paraneoplastic itch and can precede other clinical signs by weeks and months. Paraneoplastic pruritus has also been associated with solid tumors and is an important clinical symptom in paraneoplastic skin diseases such as erythroderma, Grovers disease, malignant acanthosis nigricans, generalized granuloma annulare, Bazex syndrome, and dermatomyositis. In any case with high index of suspicion a thorough work-up is required. This review highlights the association between itch and malignancy and presents new findings related to pathophysiological mechanisms and the treatment of itch associated with malignancy. Combinative therapies reducing itch sensitization and transmission using selective serotonin and neuroepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, Kappa opioids, and neuroleptics are of prime importance in reducing this bothersome symptom.
An Entity-Relationship-Based Methodology for Distributed Database Design: An Integrated Approach Towards Combined Logical and Distribution Designs

This paper presents an integrated, general methodology (SEER-DTS Methodology) for relational homogeneous distributed database (DDB) design. The SEER-DTS methodology employs two ER-based data models: SEER (Synthesized Extended Entity-Relationship model) for static data modeling and DTS (Distributed Transaction Scheme) for dynamic data modeling. Rules are provided to transform the application semantics represented by SEER and DTS into “performance-oriented” logical and fragmentation design schemata. The formal treatment of distributed transaction information by DTS leads to an integrated requirement/distribution analysis and conceptual design as well as allows for a combined logical and fragmentation design. This simplifies the DDB designer's tasks and thus increases their effectiveness and productivity. The SEER-DTS methodology has been subjected to validation through a real-world case study and a laboratory experiment. Moreover, a computer-aided DDB design tool (Auto-DDB) which automates the SEER-DTS methodology has been prototyped.
An empirical analysis of the application of forward error correction to meteor burst communication

Presents the results of an analysis of data gathered during a meteor burst experiment in Greenland. Bit error patterns are obtained and the performance of automatic request for retransmission and forward error correction (FEC) are compared from the standpoint of throughput and encountered delays with respect to the delivery of a 40-character message. It is demonstrated that throughput can be increased and delays decreased with respect to the delivery of short messages over a meteor burst communications channel by the use of simple FEC techniques. The addition of a low degree interleaver provides additional substantial improvement. >
Narrative Exposure Therapy: A Short-Term Treatment for Traumatic Stress Disorders, by M. Schauer, F. Neuner, and T. Elbert

“Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can't remember who we are or why we're here” (Kidd, 2003, p. 107). Storytelling has been used to entertain, to teach, and to provide a wa...
An integrated process modeling methodology and module for sequential multi-layered substrate fabrication using a coupled cure-thermal-stress analysis approach

An integrated process modeling methodology using a coupled cure-thermal-stress analysis approach has been developed to determine the evolution of warpage and stresses during the sequential fabrication of high-density electronic packaging structures. The process modeling methodology has been demonstrated, for example, with a bi-layer structure consisting of a 3 mil (76.2 /spl mu/m) thick Vialux 81 photo-definable dry film (PDDF) polymer on a silicon substrate. Extensive material characterization of the thermo-mechanical properties of the thin film polymer is presented, including the development of a viscoelastic material model. The predicted warpage values have been validated with shadow Moire experiments, while the predicted stress values have been validated with experimental data using the Flexus Thin Film Stress Measurement Apparatus. Good agreement is seen between the predicted and the experimental warpage and stress values during the entire cure cycle. Finally, the importance of incorporating viscoelastic polymer behavior and processing history is emphasized in the context of developing the multi-layered high-density wiring integrated substrate fabrication process.
The pressure dependence of the thermal decomposition of N2O

The pressure dependence of the thermal decomposition of nitrous oxide was investigated behind shock waves at temperatures between 1570 K and 3100 K and pressures from 0.3 atm to 450 atm. Nitrous oxide concentration profiles were measured using IR emission from the 4.5-μm ν1 band of N2O. The pressure dependence of the measured rate constant was described using simple Lindemann fits, resulting in the following low- and high-pressure limiting rate coefficients: These values were used to extrapolate current measurements of the rate coefficient to lower temperatures, where the agreement with past work is excellent. Therefore the limiting rate coefficients given above should be suitable for kinetic modeling over a temperature range of 800–2000 K and pressures up to 450 atm. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Globalisation, economic literacy and native economic development

While Canada is not considered to be economically disadvantaged, certain peoples within Canada are. For example, economic 'mastery in one's own house' is important to native peoples in Northwest British Columbia (NWBC) but has not yet been achieved. Thus arises the yet unanswered question: How can such economic dependency be eliminated? In this paper, I make the case for a new economic literacy in native economic development. I argue that the elimination of economic dependency can only occur by conscientiously repairing the damage from 19th century globalisation, while not missing globalisation opportunities in the 21st century. This means going beyond a simplistic resource redistribution approach, and fostering high levels of economic literacy, based on: (1) key transaction cognitions (as defined herein) in a larger portion of people on-reserve, (2) providing equal opportunities for on-reserve capital formation through attention to property rights and (3) adjusting or transforming native governance structures; all to minimise the economic entropy from transaction costs.
The Red Cross Bureau of Pictures, 1917–1921: World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Sultan of Turkey's harem

(1990). The Red Cross Bureau of Pictures, 1917–1921: World War I, the Russian Revolution and the Sultan of Turkey's harem. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television: Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 47-70.
A technique to increase jejunal mucosa surface area

Abstract Ingrowth of new jejunal mucosa over a colon-patched jejunal defect occurs in dogs. An increase in jejunal surface area has thus been achieved.
Individual Differences in Behavioral and Subjective Responses to Alcohol

The reinforcing properties and subjective effects of alcohol were assessed in 29 normal volunteers using a seven-session choice procedure. On the first four sessions, subjects sampled an alcohol (0.5 g/kg) and a placebo beverage twice each. On three subsequent choice sessions, subjects chose the drink they preferred. The number of times they chose alcohol was the measure of its reinforcing properties. On all sessions subjects completed mood questionnaires before and several times after consuming the beverage. Other dependent measures during the experiment included a cognitive performance task, drug liking and identification questionnaires, and breathalyzer alcohol determinations. Demographic and personality data also were obtained. Approximately one-third of the subjects chose the alcohol-containing beverage on all three choice sessions, one-third alternated in their choices of alcohol and placebo, and one-third consistently chose the placebo. When the subjective effects of alcohol (determined during sampling sessions) were compared across the three choice groups, qualitative differences in response to alcohol were observed. For example, alcohol increased elation and vigor scores in the consistent choosers of alcohol, whereas it decreased scores on these measures in the consistent placebo choosers. Consistent alcohol choosers did not differ from placebo choosers in gender or age but they reported more marijuana use and slightly more alcohol use outside the laboratory. They also scored higher on certain measures of arousal and depression, on the Sensation Seeking Scale and on the Psychopathic State Inventory. The results are discussed in terms of individual differences in vulnerability to excessive use of alcohol.
Prospects for overcoming maturational and genetic barriers to the human antibody response to the capsular polysaccharide of Haemophilus influenzae type b

The isolated capsular polysaccharide induces antibody protective against invasive infections by H. influenzae b. Maturation of responsiveness is slow such that infants are not protected. Several protein-coupled versions of the antigen are being tested for immunogenicity in early infancy. The relation of structure to immunogenicity is not completely defined, but all induce a booster-type antibody response with protective potential. Primary vaccination in infancy appears to mimic natural priming, activating clones of B lymphocytes that can later be restimulated by uncoupled polysaccharide. Prospects appear good for immunizing normal infants and also children with immunoregulatory defects predisposing to infection.
Teacher Ratings from Incomplete Student Ranking Data.

A method for obtaining teacher ratings from incomplete student ranking data is presented. The procedure involves finding the scores for the teachers on the first principal component of a student intercorrelation matrix, where the missing data are supplied by least squares.
Cholinesterase Activity and Sulfonamide Absorption in Rats

Rats administered, orally, a combination of neostigmine methylsulfate and sulfonamide showed an increased 4-hr. blood sulfonamide level as compared to animals administered only sulfonamide. Blood cholinesterase activity, 4 hr. after treatment, was determined and compared with that of control animals.
An Almanac of Martian Dust Storms for InSight project energy system design

The power and thermal systems of NASA's new InSight lander must be designed to tolerate Martian dust storms, which have been observed to rise up and obscure much of the planet, approximately once in every three Mars years. To quantify the nature of the challenge posed by dust storms in terms of their seasonal occurrence, range of durations, and intensities, the project has performed an up-to-date, comprehensive assessment and inter-calibration of archived, historic Martian dust storm data. This unique assessment, captured in a new Dust Storm Almanac, combines direct measurements of Martian atmospheric optical depth made by both landed assets and orbital assets, in the Viking era (ca 1976) and also the present era of Martian spacecraft and instruments (1996–2013). The orbital observations of optical depth, which are in infrared, have been scaled based on calibration with contemporaneous visible-spectrum optical depth data made by surface assets. Implications of the observed dust storms for the design and operation of the InSight mission, as well as for Mars surface missions in general, are discussed.
Toward Triboluminescent Sensor Realization for SHM: Statistical Modeling of Triboluminescent Composites

Triboluminescence (TL) is a mechanical and luminescent phenomena enabling damage sensing capabilities in materials. Depending on material compound, various excitation mechanisms result in emissions stimulated by rubbing or fracture, and give an indication of internal stress. Design of Experiments helped ascertain experimental knowledge of the multiphase composite system containing ZnS:Mn phosphors (0 - 40%) and vinyl ester resin (VER). This statistical approach proffered an empirical model used to validate triboluminescent production. Data shows concentration compiled with impact energy has a significant effect on the luminous intensity. Light intensity was measured by a photomultiplier tube and a photo-voltaic detector. The signal intensity range was determined for each. The photovoltaic detector acts as a low-light sensor in the range of 0.61 - 0.116 A for impacts less than 0.4 J. Microscopy revealed plates with reasonable dispersion and view of micro-structural inclusions. DMA indicates the inclusion of ZnS:Mn produces a moderate change in Young's modulus and thermo-kinetic properties.
Fresh porcine cardiac valves are not rejected in primates

Abstract Objective: Transplanted porcine hearts are hyperacutely rejected by human immunoglobulin M antibodies against a porcine vascular endothelial molecule, galactose α-1,3-galactose, with ensuing human complement activation and membrane attack complex deposition. It is unclear, however, whether porcine valve endothelium triggers a similar immune response. We sought to investigate whether fresh porcine valves implanted into primates are rejected. Methods: Wild-type porcine hearts before (n = 6) and after (n = 3) heterotopic transplantation into baboons underwent sectioning and were examined by hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry for galactose α-1,3-galactose, primate immunoglobulin M, and membrane attack complex. Results: Examination of untransplanted porcine hearts showed that although cardiac microvascular endothelium strongly expressed the galactose α-1,3-galactose antigen, galactose α-1,3-galactose was not detected on the endothelium of porcine aortic and pulmonary valves. Porcine hearts transplanted into baboon recipients were hyperacutely rejected 60 to 80 minutes after implantation. Despite dramatic tissue damage associated with extensive immunoglobulin M and membrane attack complex binding on the microvascular endothelium, the aortic and pulmonary valves were entirely spared. Valves remained morphologically intact at explant and showed no signs of immunoglobulin M– and membrane attack complex–mediated damage. Conclusions: The absence of galactose α-1,3-galactose expression may protect unfixed porcine valves from xenograft rejection in primates. Further investigation of viable porcine valves appears warranted. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2000;119:1216-20)
The intramolecular dynamics of allene in the region around 6000 cm -1 via eigenstate resolved IR spectroscopy

Abstract We have recorded and analyzed the molecular beam spectra of allene in the regions of the ν1 + ν5 and 2 ν8 bands around 5947.5 and 6135.5 cm−1, respectively. The ν1 + ν5 band only shows minor perturbations and we suspect the presence of a doorway state that causes parallel Coriolis coupling to the bath states. Perpendicular Coriolis interactions do not seem to play an important role since the size of the matrix elements does not increase systematically with J′. The spectrum in the region of the 2 ν8 band is more complicated; a total of six sub-bands has been identified with K = 0–2. Based on the lack of any systematic dependence on J′ and an inverse dependence of the coupling on K, we expect that neither parallel nor perpendicular Coriolis coupling is present in this band. The effective lifetime for both bands is calculated to be about 200 ps, which is very similar to the lifetimes of an acetylenic CH stretch overtone.
The role of the nucleus in the maintenance of ribonucleic acid in Amoeba proteus.

Abstract The RNA content of whole amoebae, nucleated half amoebae, and enucleated half amoebae has been followed as a function of time after the cells are cut and placed in a balanced salt solution. The curves for the loss of RNA by the three cell types are used to calculate initial rates of loss for each type. An RNA replacement rate is calculated for the nucleus of both the nucleated half amoebae and the intact amoebae. The two rates agree reasonably well.
Inside-out connections: the ER meets the plasma membrane.

Junctions that connect the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the plasma membrane (PM) are unique yet ubiquitous subcellular compartments. Giordano et al. now report that extended synaptotagmins (E-Syts) promote their formation, providing fundamental insight into the molecular machinery controlling ER and plasma membrane crosstalk.
Tumorigenicity of chloral hydrate, trichloroacetic acid, trichloroethanol, malondialdehyde, 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal, crotonaldehyde, and acrolein in the B6C3F1 neonatal mouse

The tumorigenicity of chloral hydrate (CH), trichloroacetic acid (TCA), trichloroethanol (TCE), malondialdehyde (MDA), crotonaldehyde, acrolein, and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE) was tested in the B6C3F(1) neonatal mouse. Mice were administered i.p. injections of CH (1000, 2000, 2500, and 5000 nmol per animal), TCA (1000 and 2000 nmol), TCE (1000 and 2000 nmol), MDA (1500 and 3000 nmol), crotonaldehyde (1500 and 3000 nmol), acrolein (75 and 150 nmol), and HNE (750 and 1500 nmol) at 8 and 15 days of age. At 12 months, only male mice treated with the positive control chemicals, 4-aminobiphenyl (500 and 1000 nmol) and benzo[a]pyrene (150 and 300 nmol), had incidences of tumors in the liver significantly higher than the solvent control. Additional male mice were dosed as described above and their livers were excised at 24, 48 h, and 7 days after the final dose. Liver DNA was isolated and analyzed by 32P-postlabeling/high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and HPLC/electrochemical detection for MDA-derived adduct (M(1)G) and 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) formation, respectively. At 24 and 48 h after the final dose, CH- and TCA-treated mice exhibited significantly higher M(1)G levels than the controls. 8-OHdG formation was also induced by CH, TCA, and MDA. These results suggest that under these experimental conditions the B6C3F(1) neonatal mouse is not sensitive to carcinogens that induce an increase in endogenous DNA adduct formation through lipid peroxidation or oxidative stress.
Reversible Hypercalcemic Cerebral Vasoconstriction with Seizures and Blindness: A Paradigm for Eclampsia?

Although hypercalcemia may cause drowsiness, lethargy, weakness, confusion and coma it rarely causes seizures or cerebral infarction. The patient presented had a clinical evolution from hallucinosis to a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, and subsequent cortical blindness with occipital cerebral ischemia as evidenced by SPECT and MRI scans. EEG revealed occipital PLEDs. With reversal of hypercalcemia, there was a return of vision, resolution of EEG epileptiform activity, although with some residual occipital infarction. This case, in concert with a literature review of hypercalcemia, reveals examples of occipital and watershed ischemia, blindness, seizures and hypertension, a pattem markedly similar to that of eclampsia. Furthermore, medications such as magnesium sulfate, believed to reverse cerebrovasospasm responsible for the eclamptic neurologic findings, may counter the effects of hypercalcemia at a cellular level, lending support to a calcium-mediated injury in eclampsia.
Oxygen consumption is linearly related to O2 supply in critically ill patients

Experimental data from animals, in which the delivery of oxygen (ḊO 2 ) has been progressively reduced, show a biphasic relationship between ḊO 2 and O 2 consumption (VO 2 ). However, data from patients with the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) show thi relationship to be linear. We studied 30 intensive care unit patients with different diseases to determine whether the linear dependency of VO 2 on ḊO 2 is a phenomenon exclusive to ARDS. A regression analysis with six different curves was applied to each patient data individually. No evidence of a biphasic relationship was found in these patients, and the data could be adequately described by a straight line. Furthermore, it appears that the linear dependency of VO 2 on ḊO 2 is not exclusive to ARDS since other disease entities, in particular gastrointestinal bleeding, also exhibited a linear association between O 2 delivery and consumption. Depending upon the strength of the relationship between ḊO 2 and the O 2 extraction ratio, two different patient populations were identified. One group had a well-defined, linear relationship between O 2 delivery and O 2 consumption, but were unable to raise their O 2 extraction in response to a decrease in ḊO 2 . This group was characterized by a high mortality and disease states that may effect microcirculatory O 2 transport, such as sepsis and ARDS. The other group had a significantly lower mortality and was able to maintain VO 2 independent of ḊO 2 to very low levels of O 2 supply by raising the O 2 extraction. This group consisted mainly of patients with congestive heart failure, although there were some patients in this group with sepsis and ARDS. A conceptual feedback model of tissue oxygenation is proposed to help explain these findings.
Role of dopamine in the therapeutic and reinforcing effects of methylphenidate in humans: results from imaging studies

Methylphenidate is the most commonly prescribed drug for the treatment of ADHD. We have used positron emission tomography to assess the role that methylphenidate's effects in brain dopamine have on its therapeutic and reinforcing effects. We have documented that in the human brain therapeutic doses of methylphenidate block more than 50% of the dopamine transporters and significantly enhance extracellular DA, an effect that appears to be modulated by the rate of DA release. Thus, we postulate that methylphenidate's therapeutic effects are in part due to amplification of DA signals, that variability in responses is in part due to differences in DA tone and that methylphenidate's effects are context dependent. Methylphenidate-induced increases in DA are also associated with its reinforcing effects but only when this occurs rapidly, as with intravenous administration. Moreover, abuse of methylphenidate is constrained by its long half-life, which we postulate limits the frequency at which it can be administered.
ATP-dependent mineralization of hyaline articular cartilage matrix vesicles.

Cartilage matrix vesicles are particulate structures found in the extracellular matrix of epiphyseal and articular cartilage (1). These membrane-bound particles of membranes contain enzyme activities including ATP pyrophosphohydrolase and 51 nucleotidase (Figure 1). Mineralization of matrix vesicles is believed to play an important role in cartilage calcification (1, 2). In some in vitro systems, the mineralization of matrix vesicles is an ATP-dependent process (3, 4). Adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, an inborn error of metabolism that causes severe combined immunodeficiency disease, is associated with chondro-osseous dysplasia (5, 6). The chondro-osseous dysplasia is associated with radiographic and histologic evidence of abnormal calcification of growth plate cartilage (7, 8). The cause of the abnormal calcification is unknown. In vitro, a model of ADA deficiency is toxic to growth plate cartilage. The toxicity is associated with accumulatuion of deoxyATP but correlates with ATP depletion in chondrocytes (9). Studies were performed to understand the biochemistry of matrix vesicle mineralization and to test the hypothesis that the abnormal calcification observed in the chondro-osseous dysplasia of ADA deficiency is caused by abnormal matrix vesicle mineralization secondary to ATP depletion.
Comparison of center-tapped and inverted load-coil geometries for inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Abstract A non-commercial inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) instrument is used to compare a center-tapped ICP load-coil geometry with the standard inverted-coil arrangement. This direct comparison on the same ICP-MS unit shows that the load coil exerts only a minor influence on analytical characteristics such as sensitivity, doubly charged ion and oxide-ion ratios, and detection limits. The influence of operating parameters (nebulizer flow rate, sampling depth, generator rf frequency and applied power) on analyte-ion signals and oxide-ion ratios similarly appears to be independent of the load coil. However, the load-coil geometry is found to dictate the particular nebulizer flow rate, sampling depth, and biaspotential setting that are optimal and how these parameters affect doubly charged ion ratios and backgroundion signal magnitudes. Also, there is a greater loss in sensitivity for higher-mass elements with the center-tapped unit.
Robust joint down- and cross-range sparse recovery of raw ultra-wideband SAR data

Ultra-wideband (UWB) Synthetic Aperture Radars (SAR) often operate in environments where other systems are present or some of the frequency bands may be reserved for other purposes. In this paper we propose a novel method based on sparse representation to recover SAR signals from radio frequency interference (RFI) and missing spectral information. The new method makes use of correlation between SAR data records in the cross-range direction in addition to the correlation in down-range direction as previously proposed by us[1, 2]. We demonstrate that the proposed method yields robust recovery results in the presence of high levels of RFI (up to 20dB) and up to 75% of frequency bands missing.
Infant state in relation to its environmental context

Abstract Two neonatal intensive care units (NICU) were observed every 15 minutes for at least 72 consecutive hours. Although infants on both NICUs were exposed to considerable amounts of stimulation, there were differences between the units for each environmental measure in the amount of stimulation and/or the pattern of circadian periodicity. The two NICUs also differed in the amount of time infants spent in various states and in the pattern of state periodicity. In general, the diurnal rhythms of the infant states were associated with the diurnal rhythms of different environmental events; furthermore, the patterns of association were not the same on the two NICUs. The results point to potential problems in depicting a “typical” NICU. More importantly, they suggest that the environmental of NICUs has a recognizable influence on aspects of their inhabitants' behavior and that the nature of influence is different from NICU to NICU. The effects are potentially significant for physical, social, and cognitive development.
Canadian surgeons are warned of legal suits after bariatric surgery

The Canadian Medical Protective Association (Canada’s provider of medical liability protection) has advised its members to consider fully the risks when caring for patients having bariatric surgery. “Understanding the medicolegal risks of caring for patients having bariatric surgery in Canada allows surgeons, and other physicians involved in caring for these patients, to better manage those risks,” Diane Heroux, a medical analyst, and Gordon Wallace, the association’s director of education, write in an association journal.1 Between 2006 and 2011 the association dealt with 27 medicolegal cases relating to bariatric surgery, 21 of which were settled. A review of the closed cases showed that the …
Investigating the Role of Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling in the North Pacific Ocean

AbstractAir–sea interaction over the North Pacific is diagnosed using a simple, local coupled autoregressive model constructed from observed 7-day running-mean sea surface temperature (SST) and 2-m air temperature TA anomalies during the extended winter from the 1° × 1° objectively analyzed air–sea fluxes (OAFlux) dataset. Though the model is constructed from 1-week lag statistics, it successfully reproduces the observed anomaly evolution through lead times of 90 days, allowing an estimation of the relative roles of coupling and internal atmospheric and oceanic forcing upon North Pacific SSTs. It is found that east of the date line, SST variability is maintained by, but has little effect on, TA variability. However, in the Kuroshio–Oyashio confluence and extension region, about half of the SST variability is independent of TA, driven instead by SST noise forcing internal to the ocean. Including surface zonal winds in the analysis does not alter this conclusion, suggesting TA adequately represents the atmo...