cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Rapid Neuroendocrine Responses to Auditory Courtship Signals

In many species, courtship signals enhance reproductive function in the receiver. How these social signals are processed by the brain, particularly how they induce an endocrine response, is not well understood. Songbirds provide an ideal model in which to study this phenomenon because of the large existing literature on both their auditory neurobiology and the control of their reproductive physiology by environmental cues. To date, all of the relevant studies on songbirds have involved measuring the effects of male vocalizations on ovarian function over a period of weeks, a time course that precludes detailed analysis of the neuroendocrine mechanisms operating during song perception. We played recordings of conspecific male song to laboratory-housed female white-throated sparrows and quantified the resulting rapid changes in LH as well as the induction of the immediate early gene Egr-1in the GnRH system and mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH). Hearing song for 42 min induced LH release and Egr-1 expression in t...
Change of membrane performance due to chlorination of crosslinked polyamide membranes

A systematic investigation of the relationship between chlorine exposure of a thin film composite crosslinked polyamide membrane (LE membrane, FilmTec©) and changes in membrane performance (water flux and salt rejection) is discussed here. Performance change of crosslinked polyamide membranes due to chlorination depended on pH and concentration of chlorine in the soaking bath. Membranes chlorinated at low pH and high chlorine concentration showed flux decreases at an early stage of filtration and then increases with filtration time. On the other hand, membranes chlorinated at high pH and low chlorine concentration showed flux increases at an early stage and then decreases with filtration time. Performance of chlorinated polyamide membranes was determined by the balance between rearrangement of polymer chains and the distortion of the chains due to chlorination. A conceptual model of performance change was proposed consistent with the chlorination of polyamide membranes. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 5895–5902, 2006
Design of process parameters using robust design techniques and multiple criteria optimization

This paper presents a methodology for the design of products/processes that makes use of the concepts of robust design and the techniques of multiple criteria optimization for simultaneously optimizing many quality characteristics. First, a systematic approach to the selection of an efficient matrix experiment for a design problem is presented. Appropriate performance measures are obtained so that their joint optimization results in the minimum variation of product characteristics. The use of transformations is highlighted as a useful technique to statistically validate the design process. A discrete multiple criteria optimization algorithm that incorporates the methods of dominated approximations and reference points is developed to obtain nondominated solutions for the design problem. The methodology is illustrated using a case study gleaned from the literature. >
Determining Maximum Overvoltages Produced by EHV Circuit Breaker Closure

A method of determining voltage levels due to energizing or reclosing EHV transmission lines by using traveling phasor concepts is described. The major advantage over previously described methods is economy in computation since the energizing phase need not be varied. Comparisons with field tests and analog results show good agreement.
Status of Fiber Optic Acoustic Sensing

In the past few years a great deal of development effort has gone into fiber optic hy drophones for a variety of Naval applications. Significant demonstrations of fiber optic hydrophone technology have taken place in fixed undersea, towed array, submarine and Arctic environments.
Optimizing Expedited Safety Reporting for Drugs and Biologics Subject to an Investigational New Drug Application

In September 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a final rule governing the requirements for expedited safety reporting for products subject to an investigational new drug application. The rule clarified the types of safety information that qualify for expedited reporting. Its intent was to improve the overall quality of safety reporting by reducing the number of uninterpretable individual reports sent to the FDA and clinical investigators. In December 2011, we surveyed pharmaceutical and biotechnology sponsors regarding their safety reporting practices. We convened a group of experts and a biostatistics work group to review the survey results and identify gaps between current practice and the final safety reporting rule. Most sponsors had not changed their approach to expedited reporting of serious adverse events. We devised recommendations to help sponsors optimize their premarket safety systems to reduce the number of uninformative expedited reports and ensure recognition of important safety issues for an investigational drug as early as possible in development.
Frequency discriminator based on ring-assisted fiber sagnac filter

We build and experimentally investigate the characteristics of a frequency discriminator based on a ring-assisted fiber Sagnac filter. By adding an intracavity fiber ring resonator to a Sagnac filter, we introduce additional phase shifts which linearize the transfer function around the quadrature point under proper polarization conditions. Compared to a standard Sagnac filter frequency discriminator, the proposed device improves the dynamic range of the filter by 3 dB. This corresponds to a 4-dB improvement in the dynamic range for the recovered radio-frequency signals.
Simulation of GOES-R ABI aerosol radiances using WRF-CMAQ: a case study approach

Abstract. In anticipation of the upcoming GOES-R launch we simulate visible and near-infrared reflectances of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) for cases of high aerosol loading containing regional haze and smoke over the eastern United States. The simulations are performed using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF), Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE), and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) models. Geostationary, satellite-derived, biomass-burning emissions are also included as an input to CMAQ. Using the CMAQ aerosol concentrations and Mie calculations, radiance is computed from the discrete ordinate atmospheric radiative transfer model. We present detailed methods for deriving aerosol extinction from WRF and CMAQ outputs. Our results show that the model simulations create a realistic set of reflectances in various aerosol scenarios. The simulated reflectances provide distinct spectral features of aerosols which are then compared to data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We also present a simple technique to synthesize green band reflectance (which will not be available on the ABI), using the model-simulated blue and red band reflectance. This study is an example of the use of air quality modeling in improving products and techniques for Earth-observing missions.
The role of culture in psychiatric care.

History Ms. A was a 55-year-old Hispanic American woman of Cuban extraction who was referred to me by a local Catholic priest for psychiatric assessment and possible treatment. Ms. A’s symptoms consisted of early morning awakening, crying spells, loss of appetite, weight loss of approximately 20 pounds in 3 months, headaches, pain in the back of her neck, and suicidal ideations. The symptoms had appeared approximately 4 months earlier and had become progressively worse. Two months before the appearance of Ms. A’s symptoms, her mother in Cuba had suddenly died from a stroke at the age of 78 years. Shortly after her mother died, Ms. A began to blame herself for departing from Cuba at the age of 25 years and leaving behind her mother and father. In addition, Ms. A thought that she was not a good daughter and that her obligation was to stay in Cuba and take care of her parents during their older years. She also felt extremely guilty because she was not able to visit her mother after leaving Cuba or to be present during her mother’s funeral. Furthermore, Ms. A felt that her symptoms and feelings were the result of God’s punishment for the abandonment of her mother in Cuba. Shortly after the appearance of Ms. A’s symptoms, her daughter, a 31-yearold high school teacher, fully bilingual and bicultural, took her to see a psychiatrist after they had consulted their family doctor about Ms. A’s symptoms. The psychiatrist to whom Ms. A was referred was an American, highly respected in the community and trained in Canada. He did not speak Spanish, so he consulted with her in English. Ms. A, however, was able to speak and comprehend English fairly well. Moreover, she was accompanied to the consultation by her daughter, a secondgeneration Hispanic American who had no problem whatsoever in communicating with the psychiatrist and, when necessary, assisting her mother during the psychiatric evaluation. Permitting the daughter to be present in the interview had advantages and disadvantages. In a way, the participation of Ms. A’s daughter provided an opportunity for support and assistance based on the extended family network system, which is very predominant in Hispanic communities. Her daughter’s presence, however, also generated tensions for Ms. A because she was exposing her vulnerabilities in front of her daughter. Such advantages and disadvantages, related to clinical and cultural issues, need to be assessed in each occasion. At the end of the visit, the psychia
Quantification of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide DNA‐adducts by stable isotope dilution liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants found in car exhausts, charbroiled food, and tobacco smoke. Three pathways for the metabolic activation of B[a]P to ultimate carcinogens have been proposed. The most widely accepted pathway involves cytochrome-P450 (CYP) 1A1- and/or 1B1-mediated formation of B[a]P-7,8-oxide, which undergoes epoxide hydrolase-mediated metabolism to the proximate carcinogen B[a]P-7,8-dihydro-7,8-diol. Further CYP1A1- and/or CYP1B1-mediated activation of the dihydrodiol results in the formation of 7,8-dihydroxy-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (B[a]PDE), the ultimate carcinogen. In previous studies, it was demonstrated that (+)-anti-B[a]PDE was the most potent tumorigen of the CYP-derived B[a]PDE diastereomers. We have developed a stable isotope dilution, liquid chromatography multiple reaction monitoring/mass spectrometry (LC-MRM/MS) assay for all eight (±)-anti-B[a]PDE-derived dGuo and dAdo DNA-adducts. The LC-MRM/MS assay was rigorously validated and used to show that (+)-anti-trans-B[a]PDE-dGuo was the major adduct formed when naked DNA and human bronchoalveolar adenocarcinoma H358 cells were treated with (±)-anti-B[a]PDE. The preference for DNA-adducts derived from (+)-anti-B[a]PDE was even more apparent in cellular DNA. Thus, the increased potency of (+)-anti-B[a]PDE as a tumorigen is most likely due its ability to preferentially form DNA-adducts when compared with (−)-anti-B[a]PDE. Also, the adduct profile suggests that this occurs by binding of (+)-anti-B[a]PDE to DNA in a manner that facilitates covalent binding to dGuo rather than dAdo residues. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Thermal effects and instability in unipolar resistive switching devices

Metal oxide based resistive switching devices have demonstrated promising characteristics for next-generation nonvolatile memory applications [1–4]. These devices can be electrically switched between a high-resistance state (HRS, or OFF-state) and a low-resistance state (LRS, or ON-state). The switching from HRS to LRS is called SET and that from LRS to HRS is RESET. Resistive switching may be bipolar (i.e., SET and RESET in opposite bias directions) or unipolar (i.e., SET and RESET in the same bias direction). Unipolar resistive switching devices are more compatible with two-terminal selection devices (e.g., diodes) for 3D stackable crossbar arrays. Although the resistive switching mechanisms are not yet clearly understood, it is generally believed that the switching is caused by mixed ionic/electronic effects involving some defects (e.g., mobile ions, charge traps, oxygen vacancies, etc). The RESET in bipolar resistive switching can be explained by the reversal of the physical process that causes SET [1]. For example, the reverse migration of ions/vacancies during RESET may annihilate the conductive channels formed during SET. Since no such reversal exists in unipolar resistive switching, the RESET process in unipolar switching is often explained by thermal effects. The similarity between SET and RESET operation conditions in unipolar switching devices may cause competition between SET and RESET processes, which reflects as instability in the switching characteristics. This paper presents some experimental evidences supporting the hypothesis of power-induced thermal nature of RESET and analyzes the instability associated with the SET-RESET competition in unipolar resistive switching, using data measured on Cu 2 O-based resistive switching devices [2, 3].
Action Research In Teacher Preparation: An Inclusive Seminar

The article focuses on a teacher education program at a Carnegie I Research Institution in the southwestern part of the United States; also, classified as a minority-serving institution. Teacher candidates in elementary, special, and bilingual education were enrolled in a combined student teaching seminar which is a collaborative initiative between the Departments of Special Education/Communication Disorders and Curriculum and Instruction. The authors of this manuscript are the researchers, seminar instructors, and directors of their student teaching components. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of action research with teacher candidates during the student teaching semester. The research question that guided this research is: How effective is the use of action research with teacher candidates to determine evidence of student learning in the K-12 classroom?
Efficient Object Tracking using Control-Based Observer Design

Kernel-based tracking approaches have proven to be more efficient in computation compared to other tracking approaches such as particle filtering. However, existing kernel-based tracking approaches suffer from the well-known "singularity" problem. In this paper, we propose a novel object tracking frame work to handle this problem by using a control-based observer design. Specifically, we formulate object tracking as a recursive inverse problem, thus unifying several approaches to video tracking, including kernel-based tracking, into a consistent theoretical framework. Moreover, we interpret the inverse equation as a measurement process and supplement it by introducing state dynamics as a constraint. The augmented recursive inverse equation forms a state-space model, which is solved by using a control-based optimal observer. By exploiting observability theory from control engineering, we extend the current approach to kernel-based tracking and provide explicit criteria for kernel design and dynamics evaluation. The tracking performance of our approach has been demonstrated on both synthetic and real-world video data
Synthetic Poliovirus and Other Designer Viruses: What Have We Learned from Them?

Owing to known genome sequences, modern strategies of DNA synthesis have made it possible to recreate in principle all known viruses independent of natural templates. We describe the first synthesis of a virus (poliovirus) in 2002 that was accomplished outside living cells. We comment on the reaction of laypeople and scientists to the work, which shaped the response to de novo syntheses of other viruses. We discuss those viruses that have been synthesized since 2002, among them viruses whose precise genome sequence had to be established by painstakingly stitching together pieces of sequence information, and viruses involved in zoonosis. Synthesizing viral genomes provides a powerful tool for studying gene function and the pathogenic potential of these organisms. It also allows modification of viral genomes to an extent hitherto unthinkable. Recoding of poliovirus and influenza virus to develop new vaccine candidates and refactoring the phage T7 DNA genome are discussed as examples.
Cloud Droplet Coalescence: Statistical Foundations and a One-Dimensional Sedimentation Model1

Abstract A derivation of the coalescence equation is given, stressing the statistical nature of the model and the questionable assumptions that are necessary to ensure its validity. It is concluded that the equation is probably adequate for real clouds, but inadequate when applied to small-volume coalescence experiments in the laboratory. The equation is then extended to include a sedimentation term and results are presented for droplet coalescence up to a radius of 50 μ. Significant numbers of larger droplets are produced in shorter times than those reported by other writers. The distribution of droplets as a function of altitude both within and below a 500-m cloud is also given. After approximately 350 sec there appear to be more large droplets directly below the cloud base than within the cloud proper. An argument for the reasonableness of this result follows. Lastly, some early results and cautionary statements about the use of “continuous collection” models above 50 μ are given.
Transport at the Epitaxial Interface between Germanium and Functional Oxides

Combining functional oxides with conventional semiconductors provides the potential for transformational advancement of microelectronic devices. Harnessing the full spectrum of oxide functionalities requires current transport between the oxide and the semiconductor. This aspect is addressed by controlling the electronic barrier at an interface between a ferroelectric oxide, BaTiO3, and germanium. For the aligned conduction bands of germanium and BaTiO3, as measured by spectroscopy, current transport is controlled by the barrier between the top metal electrode and the bands of the BaTiO3. Capacitance–voltage analysis of metal–oxide–semiconductor devices further shows that the semiconductor's Fermi level can be moved by a field effect. These results demonstrate a viable approach for electronically bridging the functionalities of oxides directly with a common semiconductor.
Executive functioning in TBI from rehabilitation to social reintegration: COMPASS goal, a randomized controlled trial (grant: 1I01RX000637-01A3 by the VA ORD RR&D, 2013–2016)

Traumatic brain injury is a major health problem that frequently leads to deficits in executive function. Self-regulation processes, such as goal-setting, may become disordered after traumatic brain injury, particularly when the frontal regions of the brain and their connections are involved. Such impairments reduce injured veterans’ ability to return to work or school and to regain satisfactory personal lives. Understanding the neurologically disabling effects of brain injury on executive function is necessary for both the accurate diagnosis of impairment and the individual tailoring of rehabilitation processes to help returning service members recover independent function. The COMPASSgoal (Community Participation through Self-Efficacy Skills Development) program develops and tests a novel patient-centered intervention framework for community re-integration psychosocial research in veterans with mild traumatic brain injury. COMPASSgoal integrates the principles and best practices of goal self-management. Goal setting is a core skill in self-management training by which persons with chronic health conditions learn to improve their status and decrease symptom effects. Over a three-year period, COMPASSgoal will recruit 110 participants with residual executive dysfunction three months or more post-injury. Inclusion criteria combine both clinical diagnosis and standardized scores that are >1 SD from the normative score on the Frontal Systems Rating Scale. Participants are randomized into two groups: goal-management (intervention) and supported discharge (control). The intervention is administered in eight consecutive, weekly sessions. Assessments occur at enrollment, post-intervention/supported discharge, and three months post-treatment follow-up. Goal management is part of the “natural language” of rehabilitation. However, collaborative goal-setting between clinicians/case managers and clients can be hindered by the cognitive deficits that follow brain injury. Re-training returning veterans with brain injury in goal management, with appropriate help and support, would essentially treat deficits in executive function. A structured approach to goal self-management may foster greater independence and self-efficacy, help veterans gain insight into goals that are realistic for them at a given time, and help clinicians and veterans to work more effectively as true collaborators.
Looking back from the field: Student affairs practitioners’ perceptions of a graduate-level community college course

ABSTRACTWe examined perceptions of 12 graduates from a master’s-level student affairs preparation program who took a course about community colleges via interviews. Participants were required to be: (a) graduates of the student affairs program at Midwestern Public University (MPU) and (b) employed in the field of student affairs in higher education. Four findings emerged from the data: (a) having a pragmatic curiosity about community colleges; (b) harboring initial unfavorable perceptions of community colleges; (c) experiencing a significant learning experience; and (d) the transferability of learning to their current institutions and students in higher education, regardless of institutional type.
Nexum: Mental Health Advance Directives by Contract

The "Nexum" (the Latin term for the first contract recognized by Roman law) is a new approach for advance directives for persons with mental illness that can ameliorate many of the problems occurring with general health care advance directives. The Nexum contract provides that the patient and treatment system/provider negotiate for: (1) the definition incapacity and consequential need for mental health treatment; (2) acceptable choices within available and appropriate treatments and (3) agreement to honor the patient?s wishes in good faith or submit the issues, disagreements or ambiguities to an effective, inexpensive and expeditious quasi-judicial adjudication system. For the first time in law a patient?s advance instructions and consents for mental health care are based on a contractual model, rather than the ubiquitous testamentary model that is nothing more than a unilateral declaration by the patient without reciprocity from treatment providers. Since a Nexum contract is inherently bilateral its mutuality would not only commit the patient to treatment of his or her choice but would significantly commit the treatment system to the patient through a promise to honor his or her choices in good faith or refer the matter for advice, interpretation or enforcement under a well-regarded mandatory arbitration system. This Nexum article provides national charts of current mental health and general heath advance directives as well as a model law for implementing the Nexum system. Despite all fifty states and territories have laws authorizing advance directives, they unfortunately have not had widespread acceptance by patients or faithful implementation by physicians as desired by Congress when it encouraged their use as a national policy under the Patient Self-Determination Act. Congress? intent was to have to enhance patient rights of autonomy, reduce costs and minimize uncertainties of health care. Studies have found that advance directives for general health care have not been successful because most patients do not get help from their physicians and even when they do exist, many physicians often do not know about them or won?t follow the patient?s instructions. A large majority of patients would sign one if their physicians would directly participate. However, physicians are reluctant to do so without an economic incentive or a reduction of associated legal disincentives. For persons with mental illness general health advance directives sometimes present another pernicious problem by permitting inadvertent self-cancellation by recognizing an incompetent revocation by the patient. This "Catch-22" thus defeats the purpose, benefit and autonomy enhancement underlying its creation. The Nexum addresses these and provides some solutions to these problems that includes a model statute and a national chart of related state statutes.
Development of Alfalfa Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Larvae When Reared on Perennial Glandular-haired Medicago Species in the Greenhouse

Resistance of two diploid ( M. glandulosa David and M. prostrata Jacquin) and one tetraploid ( M. glutinosa Marshall Von Bieberstein) glandular-haired perennial Medicago species to alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal), larvae was tested in the greenhouse and compared with resistance in nonglandular perennial M. sativa L. and the glandular annuals M. scutellata (L.) Mill. and M. disciformis DC. M. prostrata and M. glandulosa were highly resistant, and were comparable with M. disciformis .
Atomic-Scale Engineering of the Electrostatic Landscape of Semiconductor Surfaces

A low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope was used in conjunction with density functional theory calculations to determine the binding sites and charge states of adsorbed Ga and Mn atoms on GaAs(110). To quantify the adatom charge states (both +1e), the Coulomb interaction with an individual Mn acceptor is measured via tunneling spectroscopy and compared with theoretical predictions. Several methods for positioning these charged adatoms are demonstrated, allowing us to engineer the electrostatic landscape of the surface with atomic precision.
Local Atomic Structure and Electrical Activity of Arsenic Implanted in Silicon

We summarize the results of an extensive investigation on ion implanted arsenic in silicon after pulsed laser annealing and laser plus furnace annealing. The experiments are aimed at determining the structural and chemical environment around an arsenic impurity atom and relating that information to the electrical behavior of arsenic in silicon. We have implanted silicon with arsenic, 6×1016 As/cm2 at 100 KeV, followed by laser annealing, to obtain epitaxial regrowth with peak As concentrations of about 8 at.%. Subsequent furnace annealing at 800°C for 30 minutes reduces the apparent electrical activity of the arsenic atoms, increasing the electrical resistivity by a factor of three. We have used EXAFS, together with RBS and ion channeling, to investigate the structural and chemical origins of this deactivation. EXAFS measurements are consistent with As occupying tetrahedral sites in both laser ann-ealed and laser plus furnace annealed samples. Average As-As coordination numbers, found from fitting the EXAFS data, were 0.2 and 4.5 for nearest neighbors and for next nearest neighbors respectively. These coordination numbers suggest that there are regions with As concentrations much greater than the nominal maximum concentration mentioned above, and that the preferred local chemical order in regions of high As content resembles that in GaAs, with Si preferentially occupying Ga-sites. This short-range chemical order is unchanged by the furnace annealing. However, we find that furnace annealing does reduce the As-As second neighbor distance by approximately 0.1A.
Unglycosylated Mtaa expresses an Mtab-like determinant.

Antigenic polymorphism of the class I-like maternally transmitted antigen (Mta) is controlled by a maternally transmitted factor (Mtf) thought to reside in mitochondria. However, the mechanisms by which Mtf generates antigenic polymorphism are not known. To address this issue, we investigated a possible role of post-translational oligosaccharide addition in the formation of Mta determinants. We examined the expression of Mta on cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) target cells cultured in tunicamycin (TM), a known inhibitor of asparagine(N)-linked glycosylation. Of 18 Mtab-specific CTL lines, 8 lysed TM-treated Mtaa targets. Furthermore, a subclone of one of these eight lines, 17D5.G2, lysed TM-treated targets from all Mtaa strains tested, regardless of H-2K/D haplotype. On the other hand, this CTL clone did not lyse TM-treated target cells from the Mta null, but H-2 expressing strain B10. CAS2. Therefore expression of this Mtab-like determinant is concordant with the expression of Mtaa and seems unlikely to represent a cross-reactive H-2K/D epitope. Our data suggest that an Mtab-like determinant is expressed on unglycosylated Mtaa molecules. Thus, N-linked oligosaccharides probably prevent the expression of an Mtab-like determinant on the Mtaa molecule. We discuss how Mtf may contribute to Mta polymorphism through glycosylation.
Dark matters: on the surveillance of blackness

In Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, Simone Browne re-imagines the theoretical framework undergirding the interdisciplinary field of surveillance studies: “how is the frame necessaril...
CT diagnosis of abdominal lymphangioma in children

Objective:To discuss CT manifestations of abdominal lymphangioma in children.Materials and Methods:The CT manifestations of abdominal lymphangioma proved surgically and pathologically were analyzed.Age ranged from4months to nine years old,with an average of six years and3months old.All were male.All had plain CT scanning,while enhanced CT scanning was performed in six cases.Results:The mass showed multilocular and water-like attenuation with thin wall.The cystic lesions grew along the vascular-neural axis.The structures of the cyst were intact.Six cases were multilocular and1case was unilocular.The density within the cyst was inhomogeneous with laminated appearance.Those originated from mesentery usually surrounded intestine.Four cases originated from small intestinal mesentery,1case from omentum,1case from sigmoid colon mesentery,1case originated from posterior abdominal wall,1case associated with cyst volvulus and1case with mesentery volvulus.Conclusion:Abdominal lymphangiomas in childhood usually are thin walled multilocular,non-en-hanced masses,grow along the vascular-neural axis.Complications include volvulus,bleeding and infection.
Tubular Duplication of the Rectum with a Rectourethral Fistula

AbstractAn infant with pneumaturia and fecaluria was found to have a rectal duplication with a fistula between the duplicated rectum and the urethra. Rectal duplication, although rare, should be considered in cases of bizarre lower bowel symptoms in children.1, 2 Correction in our case was effected by exclusion of the duplicated segment along with removal of its mucosal lining and division of its urethral fistula. The termination of the duplicated rectum in the urinary tract, as in cases of imperforate anus, suggests a related embryologic mechanism for the 2 types of anomalies.
The Economics of Globalization

There has been a seismic shift in the global business landscape—those companies who clung to previously successful business models are frantically trying to reinvent themselves or dying. One only has to look at the demise of Eastman Kodak and Circuit City to see that the old business models no longer apply. A phrase being bantered about is the “global hyper-competitive marketplace” (Harvey, Kiessling, and Novicevic, 2003) in which the global landscape is a combination of rapidly changing variables, technology, uncertainty, and quickly appearing competitive threats (Ilinitch, Soderstrom, and Thomas, 1998). The world is increasingly diverse, complicated, and moving quickly. Everyone understands that the nature of competitive advantage is changing but no one is sure what will be required in ten years. Most understand what is needed: flexibility, adaptability, innovation, and the ability to replicate this across a number of markets. It is the ability to manage innate tensions from thinking globally but acting locally, not once but in 190 different locations. Some organizations are able to do this, others have failed, and still others choose not to even try.
δ-Opioid receptors: Pivotal role in intermittent hypoxia-augmentation of cardiac parasympathetic control and plasticity.

Abstract Background Intermittent hypoxia training (IHT) produces robust myocardial protection against ischemia-reperfusion induced infarction and arrhythmias. Blockade of this cardioprotection by antagonism of either β 1 -adrenergic or δ-opioid receptors (δ-OR) suggests autonomic and/or opioidergic adaptations. Purpose To test the hypothesis that IHT shifts cardiac autonomic balance toward greater cholinergic and opioidergic influence. Methods Mongrel dogs completed 20 d IHT, non-hypoxic sham training, or IHT with the δ-OR antagonist naltrindole (200 μg/kg sc ). The vagolytic effect of the δ-OR agonist met-enkephalin-arg-phe delivered by sinoatrial microdialysis was evaluated following IHT. Sinoatrial, atrial and left ventricular biopsies were analyzed for changes in δ-OR, the neurotrophic monosialoganglioside, GM-1, and cholinergic and adrenergic markers. Results IHT enhanced vagal bradycardia vs. sham dogs ( P 2 -OR mediated vagolytic effect of met-enkephalin-arg-phe. The GM-1 labeled fibers overlapped strongly with cholinergic markers, and IHT increased the intensity of both signals ( P P P 2 -OR signaling described above. Furthermore, blockade of δ-OR signaling with naltrindole during IHT increased the protein content of δ-OR (atria and ventricle) and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (atria) vs. sham and untreated IHT groups. IHT also reduced the sympathetic marker, tyrosine hydroxylase in ventricle ( P Summary IHT shifts cardiac autonomic balance in favor of parasympathetic control via adaptations in opioidergic, ganglioside, and adrenergic systems.
Artificial Dreams: Cyc: Knowledge-Intensive AI

Cyc is one of the most ambitious projects in the history of AI. Launched in 1984, it was originally envisioned as a three-decade research program that would proceed in three distinct stages (see Figure 4.1): slow hand-coding of a large knowledge base; fast and self-initiated acquisition of more knowledge through reading and assimilation of databases by the machine, leading to a point at which the system, according to its creators, having gone “beyond the frontiers of human knowledge,” would be capable of: conducting its own research-and-development projects through learning by discovery, in order to continue ever expanding its knowledge base. The first stage was envisaged as ending in 1994, the second by the late 1990s, and, as Doug Lenat, the main figure behind the project, put it, “Soon after, say by 2001, we planned to have it learning on its own, by automated discovery methods” (Lenat 1997b). By going through these stages, Cyc was intended to break out of AI's so-called knowledge acquisition bottleneck. According to initial estimates, the critical mass for passing through the first stage of hand-coding was on the order of one million facts. Putting such a large number of facts together with the heuristics necessary to apply them under the right circumstances was a daunting task that called for a “large, high-risk, high-payoff, decade-sized project” (Lenat and Guha 1990: Preface). Cyc was supposed to be exactly such a system – a $50 million project that in its first decade would require two person-centuries for data entry.
An environmental antiandrogen.

Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of a study that determines the biochemical mechanism responsible for the antiandrogenic effects of vinclozolin exposure. 2-[[(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-carbamoyl]oxy]-2-methyl-3-butenoic acid (M1) and 3′,5′-dichloro-2-hydroxy-2-methylbut-3-enanilide (M2) are degradation products, detectable both within the soil and leaves of treated plants and in the serum of treated rats. The study suggests that some of the detrimental effects of vinclozolin exposure are likely to be mediated via the formation of the antiandrogenic vinclozolin metabolites M1 and M2. It is demonstrated in this chapter that vinclozolin, M1, or M2 was unable to alter the ability of epididymal 5α-reductase to convert testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone and/or 5α-androstane-3a, 17β-diol (IC50 > 1000μM). The primary vinclozolin degradation products, M1 and M2, act as pure competitive antagonists of androgen receptor binding with Ki values of 92 and 9.7 μM, respectively. Vinclozolin, the parent compound, does not appear to be capable of androgen receptor binding at concentrations that are likely to exist in vivo.
A Positioning System for Photodiode Device Using Collocated LEDs

This paper proposes a novel light-emitting diode (LED)-based system that can estimate the 3-D position of an object from the measurements of received signal strength (RSS). This work presents an alternative and relatively cheap approach for remotely estimating the location of an object. Unlike other LED-based positioning systems, the proposed method employs a single base station, including a few LEDs with different orientations. In addition, the proposed system does not require a ceiling on which the positioning LEDS are installed. To illustrate the performance capabilities of the proposed system, we support our scheme analytically and numerically.
49. Feasibility of direct VMAT treatment planning on MRI generated Pseudo-CT image

Introduction In radiation therapy, MRI images are necessary to precisely delineate patient’s structures.Several commercially available algorithms exist that generate Pseudo-CT (pCT) images, directly from MRI sequences, allowing dose calculation without realizing any supplementary CT-simulation acquisition.In this study, an optimized algorithm is used to produce the pCT images for pelvic regions.VMAT plans were then calculated using these images and compared to the calculations realized on the conventional CT (cCT) data. Methods Generally, the pCT image generation is realized by algorithms that work on existing patient databases (Atlas-based algorithms), that include CT and MRI series, already matched.A mean value (MV) image is generated from the atlas, and an elastic fusion is performed on the patient MRI, in order to produce the pCT image required.The new proposed algorithm realizes a locally weighted (LW) selection from the atlas images, before proceeding with the fusion and pCT generation. A retrospective study was realized, for a sample of 12 patients treated for rectal tumors.pCT images generated by classic algorithms (MV), by the new optimized algorithm (LW), as also homogeneous patient body images (HU=0) were inserted to the treatment planning system (TPS). The initial treated plan (reference) was re-calculated on the different image series, and the resulting dose matrices were compared in terms of DVH and 2D Gamma Index (GI). The absolute isodose volumes corresponding to the dose differences were also calculated. TPS: Eclipse v13 – Calculation algorithm: AAA v.10 – Energy: 6MegaVolt – Irradiation technique: VMAT – Calculation resolution: 2.5 × 2.5 mm Results The dosimetric comparison showed that calculations based on the new optimized algorithm (LW) are well precise.However, the difference between calculations on the different series is not clinically relevant.The GI based differences were only visible for 1% dose and 1mm distance criteria.In that case, the percentage of points with GI > 1 were (mean ± 1SD in %) 91.40 ± 7.56 CT-RT vs homogeneous image, 96.00 ± 4.11 CT-RT vs MV image (classic pCT), 97.67 ± 3.60, CT-RT vs LW image (improved pCT) The results for the mean volume of the dose differences are visible in the annex (Fig.1). Download : Download high-res image (91KB) Download : Download full-size image Conclusions The treatment planning on pCT images is possible and sufficiently precise of pelvic regions. The new algorithm proposed showed a promising potential for use on dose calculations in MRI-only treatment planning.
The Wave Equation

In this chapter we will develop the wave equation as a model for the vibrating string problem, and derive d’Alembert’s explicit solution in one dimension using the method of characteristics introduced in Chap. 3.
Modulation of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase and Retinoid Signaling Induces the Expansion of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells.

Aldehyde dehydrogenases are cytosolic enzymes that convert aldehydes into carboxylic acids. Human aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1) is highly expressed in the liver and in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Although ALDH1 is a selectable marker of HSCs, its HSC-specific function is unknown. We hypothesized that ALDH might play a critical role in HSC fate determinations since it is required for the production of retinoic acids, which are broadly implicated in tissue differentiation, tissue patterning and embryonic development in vertebrates. In this study, highly purified human CD34+CD38−lin− HSCs were cultivated with early acting cytokines, thrombopoietin, stem cell factor and Flt-3 ligand (TSF) in the presence or absence of the competitive ALDH inhibitor, diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB). Treatment of human BM and CB HSCs with TSF x 7 days caused a loss of CD34+CD38− cells in culture, morphologic differentiation, amplification of committed colony forming cells (CFCs) and a loss of primitive cells capable of repopulating non-obese diabetic/severe combined immunedeficient mice (SCID-Repopulating Cells, SRCs). Conversely, 7 day culture of BM and CB HSCs with TSF plus 100 μM DEAB blocked the morphologic differentiation and lineage commitment of HSCs in culture, expanded the CD34+CD38− population, and amplified SRCs 2-fold compared to input, indicating a fundamental role for ALDH in HSC differentiation. The effects of DEAB could be reversed by the co-administration of the retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonist, all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), suggesting that the ability of ALDH to produce retinoic acids is important in determining HSC fate. Via screening studies of direct ligands of RAR and RXR, we also identified a selective RXR modulator which functioned similarly to DEAB by impeding HSC differentiation and causing the 4-fold expansion of SRCs. Interestingly, treatment with either DEAB or the RXR modulator reversed the down-modulation of HOXB4 transcription that was otherwise observed in CD34+CD38−lin- cells during culture with cytokines, suggesting that inhibition of ALDH or RXR modulation may promote HSC self-renewal via discrete interactions with other regulatory pathways. Modulation of ALDH activity and retinoid signaling is a novel and effective strategy to amplify human HSCs.
Insulin Receptor Signaling in POMC, but Not AgRP, Neurons Controls Adipose Tissue Insulin Action.

Insulin is a key regulator of adipose tissue lipolysis, and impaired adipose tissue insulin action results in unrestrained lipolysis and lipotoxicity, which are hallmarks of the metabolic syndrome and diabetes. Insulin regulates adipose tissue metabolism through direct effects on adipocytes and through signaling in the central nervous system by dampening sympathetic outflow to the adipose tissue. Here we examined the role of insulin signaling in agouti-related protein (AgRP) and pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in regulating hepatic and adipose tissue insulin action. Mice lacking the insulin receptor in AgRP neurons (AgRP IR KO) exhibited impaired hepatic insulin action because the ability of insulin to suppress hepatic glucose production (hGP) was reduced, but the ability of insulin to suppress lipolysis was unaltered. To the contrary, in POMC IR KO mice, insulin lowered hGP but failed to suppress adipose tissue lipolysis. High-fat diet equally worsened glucose tolerance in AgRP and POMC IR KO mice and their respective controls but increased hepatic triglyceride levels only in POMC IR KO mice, consistent with impaired lipolytic regulation resulting in fatty liver. These data suggest that although insulin signaling in AgRP neurons is important in regulating glucose metabolism, insulin signaling in POMC neurons controls adipose tissue lipolysis and prevents high-fat diet–induced hepatic steatosis.
Some Special Distributions

Poisson random variables are used to model the number of occurrences of certain events that come from a large number of independent sources, such as the number of calls to an office telephone during business hours, the number of atoms decaying in a sample of some radioactive substance, the number of visits to a website, or the number of customers entering a store.
The Deemed Dividend Problem

Subpart F currently taxes US shareholders on deemed dividends of Subpart F income from controlled foreign corporations (CFCs), rather than taxing the CFCs directly. This approach is based on a similar approach taken in the 1930s to taxing US shareholders in foreign personal holding companies (FPHCs). The reason for this approach was that in 1937, when the FPHC regime was first enacted, the Treasury took the view that it would be a breach of international law to tax a foreign person (the FPHC) directly on foreign source income. However, today it is clear that the US can in fact tax US-controlled foreign persons on foreign source income, as evidenced by the application of the personal holding corporation (PHC) regime to foreign corporations. Moreover, the deemed dividend approach leads to considerable complexity and planning opportunities, as evidenced in the Brown Group case and in Enron's Apache transaction. Instead of trying to close these loopholes one by one, Congress should substitute direct taxation of CFCs (and repeal the FPHC regime, which is obsolete). This can be done without resolving the continuing debate on what should be the scope of Subpart F income.
Evaluating Remote Experiment from a Divergent Thinking Point of View

In recent years, education talks have shifted from the areas: “classes,” “schools”, “universities” to the “learning environment”. This is because the Internet has introduced “virtual environment” into education. The map of study places has been significantly changed, adding to temporal, spatial and geographical learning, learning in an environment without geographical and temporal boundaries. The term “learning environment” now includes the classes, schools and universities we are talking about above, but also the virtual environment with its own classes, schools and universities, or other forms of education that have not been seen before (e.g. MOOC’s). This process has determined a strong modification of the current teaching theories of learning.