cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with interest in novel interfaces for upper limb prosthesis control.

Background Surgically invasive interfaces for upper limb prosthesis control may allow users to operate advanced, multi-articulated devices. Given the potential medical risks of these invasive interfaces, it is important to understand what factors influence an individual’s decision to try one. Methods We conducted an anonymous online survey of individuals with upper limb loss. A total of 232 participants provided personal information (such as age, amputation level, etc.) and rated how likely they would be to try noninvasive (myoelectric) and invasive (targeted muscle reinnervation, peripheral nerve interfaces, cortical interfaces) interfaces for prosthesis control. Bivariate relationships between interest in each interface and 16 personal descriptors were examined. Significant variables from the bivariate analyses were then entered into multiple logistic regression models to predict interest in each interface. Results While many of the bivariate relationships were significant, only a few variables remained significant in the regression models. The regression models showed that participants were more likely to be interested in all interfaces if they had unilateral limb loss (p ≤ 0.001, odds ratio ≥ 2.799). Participants were more likely to be interested in the three invasive interfaces if they were younger (p < 0.001, odds ratio ≤ 0.959) and had acquired limb loss (p ≤ 0.012, odds ratio ≥ 3.287). Participants who used a myoelectric device were more likely to be interested in myoelectric control than those who did not (p = 0.003, odds ratio = 24.958). Conclusions Novel prosthesis control interfaces may be accepted most readily by individuals who are young, have unilateral limb loss, and/or have acquired limb loss However, this analysis did not include all possible factors that may have influenced participant’s opinions on the interfaces, so additional exploration is warranted.
Molecular genetics of lignin-degrading fungi and their applications in organopollutant degradation

This chapter provides an overview of the physiology and associated molecular genetics of wooddecaying fungi as they relate to organopollutant degradation. White-rot fungi are characterized by an ability to fragment all major structural polymers of wood including lignin. More poorly understood are the brown-rot fungi, which rapidly depolymerize cellulosic materials while only modifying lignin. Collectively, these wood- and litter-degrading fungi play a pivotal role in the carbon cycle. In fact, white-rot fungi are the only microbes known to efficiently mineralize fully lignified tissue.
Vancomycin Dosing and Monitoring: Critical Evaluation of the Current Practice.

After more than six decades of its use as the mainstay antibiotic for the treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram-positive bacterial infections, dosing and monitoring of vancomycin therapy have not been optimized. The current vancomycin therapeutic guidelines recommend empiric doses of 15–20 mg/kg administered by intermittent infusion every 8–12 h in patients with normal kidney function. Additionally, the guidelines recommend trough concentration of 15–20 mg/L as a therapeutic goal for adult patients with severe infections. This review critically discusses the current guidelines considering the basic pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of vancomycin and the recent published reports from clinical studies. More in-depth discussion will be focused on (1) providing evidence of advantages of administering vancomycin by continuous infusion compared to intermittent infusion; (2) revising the current practice of trough-only monitoring versus the area under concentration–time curve (AUC); and (3) assessing the current practice of weight-based dosing versus AUC-based dosing. Using the gathered information presented in this paper, two user-friendly and scientifically based dosing strategies are proposed to improve the efficiency of vancomycin dosing while avoiding the risk of nephrotoxicity and minimizing the cost of therapeutic drug monitoring.
Use-Dependent Block of Human Cardiac Sodium Channels by GS967

GS967 is a recently described selective late sodium current (INaL) blocker that has been shown to exert potent antiarrhythmic effects in rabbit ventricular myocytes exposed to ATX-II. The antiarrhythmic mechanism was attributed to preferential suppression of INaL with little effect on peak sodium current (INaP). We examined the effects of GS967 on INaP and INaL recorded in tsA201 cells expressing human NaV1.5. As previously described, we observed that 1 µM GS967 exhibited tonic block of INaL (63%) to a significantly greater extent than INaP (20%) without modifying the inactivation kinetics. To test the use-dependent block (UDB) of NaV1.5, we applied a series of 50 short depolarizing pulses (20 ms) at −20 mV with different frequencies (2, 10 and 20 Hz). GS967 caused a reduction of INaP in a frequency-dependent manner (block of 31%, 73% and 85% at 2, 10 and 20 Hz, respectively) consistent with UDB. This UDB was best explained by a significant slowing of recovery from fast and slow inactivation with a significant enhancement of slow inactivation in the presence of GS967. Using the SyncroPatch 384, we observed GS967 to be a more potent use-dependent blocker of INaP (IC50 = 0.07 µM) than ranolazine (16 µM) and lidocaine (17 µM). While, GS967 was found to exert these same effects on a prototypical long-QT syndrome mutation (delKPQ), an engineered mutation at an interaction site for local anesthetics (LA) (F1760A) attenuated the effect of GS967 on UDB. Lastly, an engineered mutation known to blunt slow inactivation (F1417C) also significantly reduced the effect of GS967 on UDB. We conclude that GS967 is a preferential inhibitor of INaL human NaV1.5, but it also exerts a previously unreported strong effect on slow inactivation and recovery from inactivation resulting in substantial UDB.
Existence Results to Some Integrodifferential Equations

In this chapter we study the existence of asymptotically almost automorphic mild solutions to the abstract partial neutral integrodifferential equation $$\displaystyle\begin{array}{rcl} \frac{d} {dt}D(t,u_{t})& =& AD(t,u_{t}) +\int _{ 0}^{t}B(t - s)D(s,u_{ s})ds + g(t,u_{t}),\ t \in [\sigma,\sigma +a),{}\end{array}$$ (8.1) $$\displaystyle\begin{array}{rcl} u_{\sigma }& =& \varphi \in \mathcal{B},{}\end{array}$$ (8.2) where \(A,B(t): D(A) \subset \mathcal{X} \rightarrow \mathcal{X}\) are densely defined closed linear operators with a common domain D(A), which is independent of t; the history $$\displaystyle{u_{t}: (-\infty,0] \rightarrow \mathcal{X},\ \ \mbox{ defined by}\ \ u_{t}(\theta ):= u(t+\theta )}$$ belongs to an abstract phase space \(\mathcal{B}\) defined axiomatically, f, g are functions subject to some additional conditions, and $$\displaystyle{D(t,\varphi ) =\varphi (0) + f(t,\varphi ).}$$ For that, we will make extensive use of the concept of compact asymptotically almost automorphy and the so-called resolvent of operators.
Heuristic information retrieval: a competition-based connectionist model

In this paper, we adapt a competition-based connectionist model, which has been proposed for diagnostic problem solving, to information retrieval. In our model, documents are treated as "disorders" and user information needs as "manifestations", and a competitive activation mechanism is used which converges to a set of disorders that best explain the given manifestations. By combining the ideas of Bayesian inferencing and diagnostic inferencing using parsimonious covering theory, this model removes many difficulties of direct application of Bayesian inference to information retrieval, such as the unrealistically large number of conditional probabilities required as part of the knowledge base, the computational complexity, and unreasonable independence assumptions. Also, Bayesian inference strengthens the parsimonious covering model by providing a likelihood measure which can be used to rank documents as well as to guide the search to the most likely retrieval. We also incorporate two types of relevance information to improve the model. First, the 1911 Roget's thesaurus is used to provide semantic relevance information among the index terms. Second, the associations between documents and index terms are represented by the node connections in the model specifying the cause-effect relations. Our experimental results using 4 standard document collections demonstrate the efficiency and the retrieval precision of this model, comparable to or better than that of various information retrieval models reported in the literature.
Synthetic and Thermal Studies of Bisphenol-C containing Poly(aryletherketone)s

Poly(aryletherketone)s containing 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethene (BPC) were synthesized by the cesium fluoride initiated polymerization of 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-t-butyldimethylsiloxyphenyl)ethane with 4,4'-difluorobenzophenone (BP-F). These polymers exhibit high char yields by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and low heat release capacities were measured by pyrolysis combustion flow calorimetry (PCFC). Poly(aryletherketone)s were prepared from BP-F and various ratios of BPC and bisphenol-A (BPA), and their thermal properties characterized by TGA and PCFC.
Delimitación de regiones pluviometricas en el norte de la península ibérica

This paper reviews one of the most common methodology of climatic regionalization, by combinig a reduction method, the Principal Components Analysis, and a classification method, the Cluster Analysis, applied to a specific area of the Iberian Peninsule. Results show that the dynamical behavior of the atmosphere in this area can be reduced to three components, named Atlantic, Cantabric and Continental, which combinad provide us a division in three larga areas, 8 subareas and 24 sectors.
A configurable cloud-scale DNN processor for real-time AI

Interactive AI-powered services require low-latency evaluation of deep neural network (DNN) models—aka ""real-time AI"". The growing demand for computationally expensive, state-of-the-art DNNs, coupled with diminishing performance gains of general-purpose architectures, has fueled an explosion of specialized Neural Processing Units (NPUs). NPUs for interactive services should satisfy two requirements: (1) execution of DNN models with low latency, high throughput, and high efficiency, and (2) flexibility to accommodate evolving state-of-the-art models (e.g., RNNs, CNNs, MLPs) without costly silicon updates. This paper describes the NPU architecture for Project Brainwave, a production-scale system for real-time AI. The Brainwave NPU achieves more than an order of magnitude improvement in latency and throughput over state-of-the-art GPUs on large RNNs at a batch size of 1. The NPU attains this performance using a single-threaded SIMD ISA paired with a distributed microarchitecture capable of dispatching over 7M operations from a single instruction. The spatially distributed microarchitecture, scaled up to 96,000 multiply-accumulate units, is supported by hierarchical instruction decoders and schedulers coupled with thousands of independently addressable high-bandwidth on-chip memories, and can transparently exploit many levels of fine-grain SIMD parallelism. When targeting an FPGA, microarchitectural parameters such as native datapaths and numerical precision can be "synthesis specialized" to models at compile time, enabling atypically high FPGA performance competitive with hardened NPUs. When running on an Intel Stratix 10 280 FPGA, the Brainwave NPU achieves performance ranging from ten to over thirty-five teraflops, with no batching, on large, memory-intensive RNNs.
Surveillance After Colonoscopic Polypectomy: Assessing Each Patient’s Risk

Because of the polyp-cancer relationship and the high rate of synchronous and metachronous polyps, most patients who have undergone resection of colorectal adenomatous polyps should be offered follow-up colonoscopic surveillance. Rather than applying the same surveillance strategies to all post-polypectomy patients, we need to address each follow-up to the individual’s specific assessed risk of subsequent cancer. The results of a large number of studies, including a recently completed national polyp study, are utilized in this article.
Methods for toxicology studies in echinoderm embryos and larvae.

Abstract Sea urchin embryos have been used in toxicological studies for many decades as they are an accepted model system for investigations of chemicals that impact development. Here we describe methods for using pulse-chase experiments to study the impacts of environmental chemicals on early development as well as development of larvae. This includes the application of fluorescence plate assays with living embryos and fluorescent probes to assess cell functions (mitochondrial membrane potential, lysosome abundance, reactive oxygen species, and esterase activity) based on total cell numbers. We also describe how to use some of these fluorescent probes in embryos/larvae with confocal microscopy for the localization of cellular damage in response to toxics exposure. Finally, we assess skeleton formation in sea urchin larvae and present methods for using polarized light microscopy to examine spicule morphology.
Ciprofloxacin for BK viremia prophylaxis in kidney transplant recipients: Results of a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

In kidney transplantation, BK virus infection has historically resulted in high rates of graft dysfunction and graft loss. Unlike other opportunistic infections, no therapies have been shown to prevent BK. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ciprofloxacin for the prevention of BK viremia in kidney transplant recipients. Two hundred kidney transplant recipients were enrolled in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing a 3-month course of ciprofloxacin (n = 133) vs placebo (n = 67) for the prevention of BK viremia. The primary endpoint of BK viremia at month 6 posttransplant occurred in 25 (18.8%) patients in the ciprofloxacin group and 5 (7.5%) in the placebo group (P = .03). Higher rates of BK viremia (23.3% vs 11.9%; P = .06) and BK nephropathy (5.8% vs 1.5%; P = .26) remained at 12 months in the ciprofloxacin group. Ciprofloxacin use was associated with a significantly higher rate of fluoroquinolone-resistant gram-negative infections (83.3% vs 50%; P = .04). A 3-month course of ciprofloxacin was ineffective at preventing BK viremia in kidney transplant recipients and was associated with an increased risk of fluoroquinolone-resistant infections. Clinical trial registration number: NCT01789203.
Genetic determinants of adverse events in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors.

2586Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) can cause profound immune-related adverse events (irAEs). The host genetic background is likely to play a role in irAEs susceptibility as the phen...
Ethics and Religion

Toward the end of one of his last courses on the philosophy of world history, Hegel looked back on the French revolution of July 1830 and summarized his diagnosis of the political situation with the following words: Again a rupture has been accomplished and the [French] government is fallen. After forty years of wars and immense confusion, an old heart could finally enjoy the satisfactory perspective of an end to all those troubles; one could cherish the hope that a lasting reconciliation would establish itself. However, though a fundamental problem has been solved, there now remains this rupture [caused] on the one hand by the catholic principle, and on the other hand by the principle of the subjective will.
Lessons Learned from Teaching Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing to High School Students

This paper describes an experience in teaching Machine Learning (ML) and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to a group of high school students over an intense one-month period. In this work, we provide an outline of an AI course curriculum we designed for high school students and then evaluate its effectiveness by analyzing student's feedback and student outcomes. After closely observing students, evaluating their responses to our surveys, and analyzing their contribution to the course project, we identified some possible impediments in teaching AI to high school students and propose some measures to avoid them. These measures include employing a combination of objectivist and constructivist pedagogies, reviewing/introducing basic programming concepts at the beginning of the course, and addressing gender discrepancies throughout the course.
Simultaneous input-state estimation with direct feedthrough based on a unifying MMSE framework with experimental validation

Abstract This paper addresses the simultaneous input-state estimation problem for discrete-time linear stochastic systems with unknown input. A unifying minimum-mean-square-error (MMSE) estimation framework is presented for a comprehensive characterization and direct comparison among a few popular input estimation approaches. In this work, the dynamical model of the input is assumed to be unknown and the input is treated as a random variable at each time step. To account for the unknown input dynamics, we propose an input estimator that adopts a white Gaussian input model with a finite covariance, short-named as the FIC (finite input covariance) estimator. Theoretical formulation of the FIC estimator is first compared with two other estimators, one using a Gaussian random walk input model combined with augmented Kalman filter (AKF) and another one using a deterministic input model with weighted least squares (WLS) estimation. Based on the unifying MMSE framework presented in this paper, it is proved that when the input covariance of the FIC estimator approaches infinity and the feedthrough matrix has full-column rank, the estimator is equivalent to the well-known WLS estimator. The FIC estimator is validated and compared with the AKF and WLS estimator using simulated measurements from 2-story shear structure and experimental measurements from a full-scale concrete frame. The 2-story shear structure is excited by two different types of input and the corresponding acceleration responses are used to compare estimator performance. With only acceleration measurements, the FIC estimator eliminates a low-frequency drift error in the estimated input and states with a tight estimation confidence interval. Detailed discussion on the effect of estimator covariances on input estimation is also provided. A priori knowledge of the statistical property of the unknown input can provide insights in the tuning of FIC estimator covariances. In addition, field acceleration measurements from a full-scale concrete frame under shaker excitation are used to compare the estimation results and validate the proposed FIC estimator. The FIC estimator is shown to provide better estimates with tighter estimation confidence interval in comparison to the AKF and WLS estimators.
Assessment of Visual and Retinal Function Following In Vivo Genipin-Induced Scleral Crosslinking.

Purpose Genipin has been proposed as a possible neuroprotective therapy in myopia and glaucoma. Here, we aim to determine the effects of prolonged genipin-induced scleral stiffening on visual function. Methods Eyes from Brown Norway rats were treated in vivo with either a single 15 mM genipin retrobulbar injection or sham retrobulbar injection and were compared to naive eyes. Intraocular pressure, optomotor response, and electroretinograms were repeatedly measured over 4 weeks following retrobulbar injections to determine visual and retinal function. At 4 weeks, we quantified retinal ganglion cell axon counts. Finally, molecular changes in gene and protein expression were analyzed via real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and proteomics. Results Retrobulbar injection of genipin did not affect intraocular pressure (IOP) or retinal function, nor have a sustained impact on visual function. Although genipin-treated eyes had a small decrease in retinal ganglion cell axon counts compared to contralateral sham-treated eyes (-8,558 ± 18,646; mean ± SD), this was not statistically significant (P = 0.206, n = 9). Last, we did not observe any changes in gene or protein expression due to genipin treatment. Conclusions Posterior scleral stiffening with a single retrobulbar injection of 15 mM genipin causes no sustained deficits in visual or retinal function or at the molecular level in the retina and sclera. Retinal ganglion cell axon morphology appeared normal. Translational significance These results support future in vivo studies to determine the efficacy of genipin-induced posterior scleral stiffening to help treat ocular diseases, like myopia and glaucoma.
Star configurations are set-theoretic complete intersections

Let \({\mathcal{A} \subset \mathbb P^{k-1}}\) be a rank k arrangement of n hyperplanes, with the property that any k of the defining linear forms are linearly independent (i.e., \({\mathcal{A}}\) is called k-generic). We show that for any \({j=0,\ldots,k-2}\), the subspace arrangement with defining ideal generated by the (n − j)-fold products of the defining linear forms of \({\mathcal{A}}\) is a set-theoretic complete intersection, which is equivalent to saying that star configurations have this property.
Inferring parameters of cancer evolution from sequencing and clinical data

As a cancer develops, its cells accrue new mutations, resulting in a heterogeneous, complex genomic profile. We make use of this heterogeneity to derive simple, analytic estimates of parameters driving carcinogenesis and reconstruct the timeline of selective events following initiation of an individual cancer. Using stochastic computer simulations of cancer growth, we show that we can accurately estimate mutation rate, time before and after a driver event occurred, and growth rates of both initiated cancer cells and subsequently appearing subclones. We demonstrate that in order to obtain accurate estimates of mutation rate and timing of events, observed mutation counts should be corrected to account for clonal mutations that occurred after the founding of the tumor, as well as sequencing coverage. We apply our methodology to reconstruct the individual evolutionary histories of chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients. Fitting our model to longitudinal patient data reveals strengths and weaknesses of using an exponential model of cancer growth with constant mutation rate to estimate parameters of cancer evolution.
What I know and what you know: The role of metacognitive strategies in preschoolers’ selective social learning

Selective social learning has been the focus of many recent studies, however the mechanisms which guide this selectivity in young children is a source of controversy. The purpose of this study was to gather evidence in support of lower-order and higher-order mechanisms involved in learning selectivity in young children. We administered tasks measuring both lower-order (paired-associate learning) and higher-order (metacognition) potential concurrent correlates of selective learning to preschoolers (Mage= 4 years). Their accuracy scores on these tasks were analyzed in relation to their performance on a selective social learning task. Results from a hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that explicit metacognitive abilities emerged as the sole statistically significant predictor of selective social learning performance after accounting for age, gender, and paired-associate learning abilities. These results provide evidence for the view that children’s development of sophisticated selective learning strategies might be dependent on their ability to explicitly reason about their own thoughts. This study provides support for a higher-order interpretation of selective social learning in preschoolers.
The discontinuous Galerkin method for general nonlinear third-order ordinary differential equations

Abstract In this paper, we propose an optimally convergent discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for nonlinear third-order ordinary differential equations. Convergence properties for the solution and for the two auxiliary variables that approximate the first and second derivatives of the solution are established. More specifically, we prove that the method is L 2 -stable and provides the optimal ( p + 1 ) -th order of accuracy for smooth solutions when using piecewise p-th degree polynomials. Moreover, we prove that the derivative of the DG solution is superclose with order p + 1 toward the derivative of Gauss-Radau projection of the exact solution. The proofs are valid for arbitrary nonuniform regular meshes and for piecewise P p polynomials with arbitrary p ≥ 1 . Several numerical results are provided to confirm the convergence of the proposed scheme.
Enhanced Modeling of Contingency Response in Security-constrained Optimal Power Flow.

This paper provides an enhanced modeling of the contingency response that collectively reflects high-fidelity physical and operational characteristics of power grids. Integrating active and reactive power contingency responses into the security-constrained optimal power flow (SCOPF) problem is challenging, due to the nonsmoothness and nonconvexity of feasible sets in consequence of piece-wise curves representing generator characteristics. We introduce a continuously-differentiable model using functions that closely resemble PV/PQ switching and the generator contingency response. These models enforce physical and operational limits by optimally allocating active power imbalances among available generators and deciding the bus type to switch from the PV type to the PQ type. The efficacy of this method is numerically validated on the IEEE 30-bus, 300-bus, and 118-bus systems with 12, 10, and 100 contingencies, respectively.
Identification and Worker Responses to Workplace Change: Evidence from Four Cases in India:

This article uses ethnographic and interview data about four cases in two work settings in India to examine identification as a factor in workers’ reactions to workplace change. Novel technology an...
Media Framing of Race and Football in Colonial Nigeria: 1914 to 1950s

This paper examines 41 Nigerian newspaper articles, selected purposively, from 1914 to 1953. The newspapers identify racial framing of football under British colonial rule. Although there are studi...
Organic carbon burial by river meandering partially offsets bank-erosion carbon fluxes in a discontinuous permafrost floodplain

Abstract. Arctic river systems erode permafrost in their banks and mobilize particulate organic carbon (OC). Meandering rivers can entrain particulate OC from permafrost many meters below the depth of annual thaw, potentially enabling OC oxidation and the production of greenhouse gases. However, the amount and fate of permafrost OC that is mobilized by river erosion is uncertain. To constrain OC fluxes due to riverbank erosion and deposition, we collected riverbank and floodplain sediment samples along the Koyukuk River, which meanders through discontinuous permafrost in central Alaska. We measured sediment total OC (TOC), radiocarbon content, water content, bulk density, grain size, and floodplain stratigraphy. Radiocarbon abundance and TOC were higher in samples dominated by silt as compared to sand, which we used to map OC content onto floodplain stratigraphy and estimate carbon fluxes due to river meandering. Results showed that sediment being eroded from cutbanks and deposited as point bars had similar OC stocks (mean ± 1SD of 125.3 ± 13.1 kgOC m−2 in cutbanks versus 114.0 ± 15.7 kgOC m−2 in point bars) whether or not the banks contained permafrost. We also observed radiocarbon-depleted biospheric OC in both cutbanks and permafrost-free point bars. These results indicate that a significant fraction of aged biospheric OC that is liberated from floodplains by bank erosion is subsequently re-deposited in point bars, rather than being oxidized. The process of aging, erosion, and re-deposition of floodplain organic material may be intrinsic to river-floodplain dynamics, regardless of permafrost content.
Segmentation of the Retinal Vasculature within Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Volumes of Mice

Automated approaches for the segmentation of the retinal vessels are helpful for longitudinal studies of mice using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). In the SD-OCT volumes of human eyes, the retinal vasculature can be readily visualized by creating a projected average intensity image in the depth direction. The created projection images can then be segmented using standard approaches. However, in the SD-OCT volumes of mouse eyes, the creation of projec- tion images from the entire volume typically results in very poor images of the vasculature. The purpose of this work is to present and evaluate three machine-learning approaches, namely baseline, single-projection, and all-layers approaches, for the automated segmentation of retinal ves- sels within SD-OCT volumes of mice. Twenty SD-OCT volumes (400 ◊ 400 ◊ 1024 voxels) from the right eyes of twenty mice were obtained using a Bioptigen SD-OCT machine (Morrisville, NC) to evaluate our methods. The area under the curve (AUC) for the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the all-layers approach, 0.93, was signifi- cantly larger than the AUC for the single-projection (0.91) and baseline (0.88) approach with p < 0.05.
UV-B damage amplified by transposons in maize

While absorbing visible light energy for photosynthesis, plants are unavoidably exposed to ultraviolet radiation, which is particularly harmful at shorter wavelengths (UV-B radiation). Ozone depletion in the atmosphere means that plants receive episodic or steadily increasing doses of UV-B, which damages their photosynthetic reaction centres, crosslinks cellular proteins, and induces mutagenic DNA lesions1. Plant adaptive mechanisms of shielding and repair are therefore critical to survival — for example, somatic tissues of maize and Arabidopsis defective in phenolic sunscreen pigments2, 3 incur increased DNA damage, and mutants defective in DNA repair4,5 are killed by UV-B.
Cross-Media Color Matching Using Neural Networks

Cross-media color reproduction is receiving a great deal of attention as a result of the increasing availability of color devices. A practical approach to accurate color reproduction, integrating colorimetric and interactive methods by means of feed-forward neural networks trained by back-propagation, is proposed. Experimental results confirming the feasibility of this approach are reported.
Subgroups and hulls of Specker lattice-ordered groups

In this article, it will be shown that every l-subgroup of a Specker l-group has singular elements and that the class of l-groups that are l-subgroups of Specker l-group form a torsion class. Methods of adjoining units and bases to Specker l-groups are then studied with respect to the generalized Boolean algebra of singular elements, as is the strongly projectable hull of a Specker l-group.
Abstract 1689: Synergistic effect of JQ1 and rapamycin for treatment of human osteosarcoma

Bromodomain and extra terminal domain (BET) proteins are important epigenetic regulators facillitating the transcription of genes in chromatin areas linked to acetylated histones. JQ1, a BET protein inhibitor, has antiproliferative activity againts many hematological and solid cancers, mainly through inhibition of c-myc and upregulation of p21. In this research, we investigated the use of JQ1 for human osteosarcoma (OS) treatment, due to the frequent copy number gain and overexpression of c-myc in OS cells. JQ1 significantly inhibited the proliferation and survival of seven OS cells (U2OS, G292, MG-63, HT-161, MNNG/HOS, SAOS-2, SJSA), at a relatively higher dose than other cancers (median IC50 = 7.35 μM). JQ1 induced G1 cell cycle arrest and premature senescence of OS cells, but produced little apoptosis. Interestingly, c-myc protein levels in JQ1-treated cells remained unchanged, whereas the upregulation of p21 protein was still observable, as noted by Western blots. Although effective in vitro, JQ1 failed to reduce the size of the MNNG/HOS xenografts in immunocompromised mice in vivo. To overcome the resistance of OS cells to JQ1 treatment, we tested JQ1 in combination with rapamycin. Rapamycin inhibits the assembly of mTOR complexes which is one of the important growth signaling pathways in many cancers including OS. JQ1 and rapamycin synergistically inhibited the growth and survival of OS cells in vitro. The drug combination nearly abrogated expression of c-myc protein, enhanced levels of p21, and induced apoptosis in OS cells in vitro. After 24 days of treatment in vivo, JQ1 (50mg/kg body weight) or rapamycin (1.5 mg/kg body weight) alone showed little effect on the size of human OS xenografts in nude mice. However, combination of both drugs significantly inhibited tumor growth by 85% and 73% (p In conclusion, JQ1 inhibited proliferation and survival of OS cells in vitro but failed to reduce growth of OS xenografts in immunodeficient mice. When combined with rapamycin, JQ1 synergistically inhibited proliferation of OS cells both in vitro and in vivo. Citation Format: Dhong Hyun Tony Lee, Jun Qi, James Bradner, Jonathan Said, Ngan Doan, Charles Forscher, H Phillip Koeffler. Synergistic effect of JQ1 and rapamycin for treatment of human osteosarcoma. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1689. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1689
METABOLISM OF SULFATE BY THE CHROMATOPHORE OF RHODOSPIRILLUM

Ibanez, M. L. (The Pennsylvania State University, University Park) and E. S. Lindstrom. Metabolism of sulfate by the chromatophore of Rhodospirillum. J. Bacteriol. 84:451–455. 1962.—The chromatophore of Rhodospirillum rubrum was shown to possess enzymes for the activation and reduction of inorganic sulfate. The chromatophore was able to synthesize 3′-phosphoadenosine 5′-phosphosulfate (PAPS), using either exogenous adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or ATP synthesized via photophosphorylation. Light was required for the reduction of sulfate to a volatile form, presumably sulfite. Light enhanced the incorporation of sulfate-sulfur into cystine, cysteine, and cysteic acid of the chromatophore. This incorporation was probably the result of exchange reactions of reduced sulfur, not the result of net synthesis. The 100:1 ratio of the activation to reduction of sulfate and the inhibition of the reduction by exogenous ATP suggested that PAPS might not be the substrate for chromatophoral sulfate reduction.
Reducing Cervical Cancer Incidence Using Evidence-Based Programs in Community Settings.

Considering the tremendous public health challenges in the U.S., including obesity, cardiovascular disease, substance abuse, diabetes, and a host of issues related to unintentional injuries, at least one disease remains quite mutable: cervical cancer. By taking advantage of the ability to intervene in the slow progression of cervical dysplasia to invasive cancer, screening programs have been successful in lowering age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer. The advent of effective vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV) magnifies the potential to dramatically reduce endemic levels of cervical cancer incidence and mortality. Unlike other public health crises such as obesity and diabetes, which require transformation of individuals’ sociocultural contexts and physical environments to support lifestyle changes, cervical cancer control is well within the reach of current cancer prevention practices. Thus, the ability of public health systems to respond to the opportunity to prevent cervical cancer through vaccination and screening can be viewed as a test of whether these same systems are equipped to respond to more-complex public health challenges requiring socioecologic paradigm shifts. Coordinating U.S. public health system efforts to address the need for cervical cancer prevention has not been seamless. HPV vaccine adoption and coverage rates in the U.S. have been disappointing and lag far behind rates in other developed nations. The near disappearance of genital warts in Australia, for instance, is a direct consequence of its public health system’s success in vaccinating the vast majority of young people in that nation. Also, despite decades of experience with delivering this screening service, the public health systemmisses far too many U.S. women in need of Pap testing. This theme issue offers a practice-based perspective on how academic–community partnerships can support the
F+ decay in SLAC lattice QCD

We derive, in the SLAC lattice QCD theory, the relevant large-distance effective interactions for the processes\(c + \bar s \to u + \bar d + G\) and\(c + \bar s \to u + \bar d + q\bar q\), q=u, d, s, where G is a gluon. In this way, we find the F+ decay rate Γ(F+ → all) ⋍ 2.1Γ(D+ → all) formF=2.02 GeV.
A randomized, 'head-to-head' pilot study comparing the effects of etanercept monotherapy vs. etanercept and narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy in obese psoriasis patients.

Background Etanercept is a tumour necrosis factor-alpha antagonist used for the treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Current opinion suggests that etanercept may have reduced efficacy in obese patients. Narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy is unaffected by body weight and the addition of NB-UVB to etanercept therapy may supplement the efficacy of etanercept in these patients. Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of NB-UVB phototherapy when administered in conjunction with 50 mg of etanercept once weekly in the treatment of obese patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Methods Thirty psoriasis patients with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30 were enrolled into this randomized, ‘head-to-head’ comparison study. All subjects received 50 mg of etanercept twice weekly for 12 weeks and then randomized to receive either etanercept monotherapy or combination etanercept and NB-UVB three times weekly for an additional 12 weeks. Treatment response was evaluated using Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), body surface area (BSA) and Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA) scores. Results Twenty-five subjects completed the study. At 12 weeks, 48% of all patients achieved PASI 75. By Week 24, 62.5% of all patients achieved PASI 75. Patients in the etanercept monotherapy and combination etanercept and NB-UVB phototherapy arms had similar rates of achieving PASI 75 (46.7% vs. 53.3% of each group, respectively). Conclusion Combination etanercept and NB-UVB has similar efficacy to etanercept monotherapy in obese patients. This result indicates that even in the setting of obesity, the majority of patients respond well to etanercept, with or without NB-UVB.
Differential susceptibility of retinal ganglion cells to reactive oxygen species.

PURPOSE. Retinal light exposure is a source of oxidative stress, and retinal cells contain molecules that scavenge or inactivate reactive oxygen species (ROS). Yet, ROS also play a role in signal transduction, and some retinal cells (e.g., neurotrophin-dependent retinal ganglion cells, RGCs) may use ROS as part of the signaling process for cell death. RGCs might therefore have specialized mechanisms for regulating ROS levels. The hypothesis that RGCs might regulate ROS differently from other retinal cells was tested by studying their differential response to oxidative stress in vitro. METHODS. RGCs were retrogradely labeled by injecting the fluorescent tracer DiI into the superior colliculi of postnatal day 2 through 4 Long-Evans rats. At postnatal days 7 through 9 the retinas were dissociated with papain and cultured with and without specific ROS-generating systems and/or scavengers. RGCs were identified by their DiI positivity using rhodamine filters. Living cells, determined by metabolism of calcein-AM viewed with fluorescein filters, were counted in triplicate. Degenerate reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using primers specific to peroxidase homology regions was used to survey for novel peroxidases expressed within normal retinas. RESULTS. Compared with other retinal cells, RGCs were remarkably resistant to cell death induced by superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, or hydroxyl radical. Catalase counteracted the effect of each ROS-generating system on retinal cells, consistent with damage occurring via a hydrogen peroxide intermediate. Aminotriazole, L-buthionine sulfoximine, and sodium azide partly abrogated the RGC resistance to oxidative stress, suggesting that this resistance may be mediated by catalase and/or glutathione peroxidase. A limited expression survey within the retina using degenerate RT-PCR did not demonstrate novel peroxidases. CONCLUSIONS. These data suggest a role for one or more endogenous peroxidases within RGCs, which could possibly be protective under conditions of axonal damage. Exploration of the unique characteristics of RGC resistance and susceptibility to injury may help in better understanding the pathophysiology of diseases associated with primary axonal damage.
Reponse suppression by extending sine-wave gratings within the receptive fields of neurons in visual cortical area V3A of the macaque monkey

Abstract Even though there are many more cycles of the “optimal” grating extending across the receptive fields of cells in V3A than of cells in V1 and V2, the spatial frequency bandwidths in V3A are no narrower than in V1 or V2. Thus, the inputs to V3A cells are not combined in a phase coherent manner across the entire receptive field. Moreover, the defined receptive fields of cells in V3A are generally surrounded by suppressive regions which are, on average, much stronger than those found for neurons in V1 and V2. Even within the classical receptive field, most neurons in V3A respond far more vigorously to a limited patch of a few cycles of a grating at the preferred spatial frequency than to wider grating stimuli. This intra-receptive field suppression demonstrates a new level of response complexity, and suggests that V3A cells may antagonistically combine nonlinear mechanisms that themselves encode stimulus energy over a restricted region of space and spatial-frequency.
Multiple Vehicle Visual Tracking from a Moving Vehicle

In order to realize collision warning and avoidance, a robust and real-time dynamic vehicle detection and tracking system regardless of occlusion is required for driver assistant system (DAS). In this paper, a novel classify Vehicle Tracking method is presented for the DAS, which can be applied to general road condition and the tracking stability under swerve and occlusion conditions is well resolved. With the thought of the intelligence tracking device, the targets are classified into three classes. Edge feature localization combined with template match is used for normal state target tracking, the tracking window drifting problem is solved and tracking precision is improved by the template update mechanism realized with target feature comparability. Multiple vehicle targets tracking under swerve and occlusion conditions in complex traffic circumstance is realized by the reformed template match tracking algorithm with cutting pieces template and reverse template.
Scaling Exponents near the Onset of Turbulence.

Velocity measurements made in the wake of a circular cylinder near the onset of turbulence have been analyzed to determine various scaling exponents. One conclusion is the apparent divergence of a correlation length as one approaches a ``critical'' Reynolds number. Other aspects analyzed are the scaling of turbulent energy and energy dissipation rate, as well as the circulation around square boxes of various sizes.
Characterisation of proteins in the seminal plasma of stallions, geldings and geldings supplemented with testosterone

Abstract The major proteins in stallion seminal plasma were characterised by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and compared with the patterns of proteins in normal geldings (castrated males) and geldings supplemented with testosterone. The major proteins or groups of proteins identified according to their approximate relative molecular weight in kilodaltons (kDa) and apparent isoelectric point (pl) were: 1) 60 kDa, pl 7; 2) 23 kDa, pl 4–5; 3) 25–30 kDa, pl 5·5–6; 4) 23 kDa, pl 7–8; and 5) 15–20 kDa, pl 6–7·5. Protein groups 1 and 2 were more prominent in the seminal plasma from the stallions and supplemented geldings than that from the unsupplemented geldings, while protein groups 3, 4 and 5 were more prominent in the seminal plasma from the unsupplemented geldings.
First report of leaf smut of tomatillo caused by Entyloma australe.

The causal agent was identified as Entyloma australe Speg. based on host and on pathogen morphology and ITS region sequence. The size, shape, and color of teliospores and the production of fascicle...
The maximum-likelihood strategy for determining transcranial magnetic stimulation motor threshold, using parameter estimation by sequential testing is faster than conventional methods with similar precision.

BACKGROUND The resting motor threshold (rMT) is the basic unit of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) dosing. Traditional methods of determining rMT involve finding a threshold of either visible movement or electromyography (EMG) motor-evoked potentials, commonly approached from above and below and then averaged. This time-consuming method typically uses many TMS pulses. Mathematical programs can efficiently determine a threshold by calculating the next intensity needed based on the prior results. Within our group of experienced TMS researchers, we sought to perform an illustrative study to compare one of these programs, the Maximum-Likelihood Strategy using Parameter Estimation by Sequential Testing (MLS-PEST) approach, to a modification of the traditional International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) method for determining rMT in terms of the time and pulses required and the rMT value. METHODS One subject participated in the study. Five researchers determined the same subject's rMT on 4 separate days-twice using EMG and twice using visible movement. On each visit, researchers used both the MLS-PEST and the IFCN methods, in alternating order. RESULTS The MLS-PEST approach was significantly faster and used fewer pulses to estimate rMT. For EMG-determined rMT, MLS-PEST and IFCN derived similar rMT, whereas for visible movement MLS-PEST rMT was higher than for IFCN. CONCLUSIONS The MLS-PEST algorithm is a promising alternative to traditional, time-consuming methods for determining rMT. Because the EMG-PEST method is totally automated, it may prove useful in studies using rMT as a quickly changing variable, as well as in large-scale clinical trials. Further work with PEST is warranted.
The chromosomes and causation of human cancer and leukemia: XXXVIII. Cytogenetic experience in Ph1-negative chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML)

Among 300 patients with chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML) followed at our institute during the last ten years, 36 (12%) were thought to have Ph1-negative CML. In eight of these patients, chromosomal abnormalities were found in the leukemic cells; in four, the karyotypic abnormalities were established with banding techniques. The data of the present study and a review of the literature regarding chromosomal changes in Ph1-negative CML indicate that: 1) no characteristic or consistent karyotypic change is present in Ph1-negative CML and that diploidy is more common in this than any other leukemia; 2) the most common changes involve group C chromosomes (particularly +8); and 3) a missing Y is less common in Ph1-negative CML than in its Ph1-positive counterpart. The karyotypic changes in Ph1-negative CML resemble more those encountered in Ph1-positive CML than in acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). The much shorter survival of the Ph1-negative CML patients vs that of the Ph1-positive group was again substantiated, and some of the previously reported clinical and laboratory findings unique to Ph1-negative CML were confirmed. On the basis of the cytogenetic findings it is concluded that Ph1-negative CML appears to be an entity unto itself.