cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
On Genetics of Dilated Cardiomyopathy and Transgenic Models: All Is Not Crystal Clear in Myopathic Hearts

The αB-crystallin protein, the predominant structural protein of the ocular lens, is a member of the small heat shock proteins that is also expressed abundantly in the heart and skeletal muscle.1 The αB-crystallin was initially discovered in the vertebrate ocular lens and was dubbed crystallin because of its role in maintenance of lens transparency.2 It is also essential for maintenance of microtubular integrity in striated muscles.3 In the heart, as in the ocular lens, αB-crystallin forms soluble multimeres that function as chaperone molecules, facilitating protein folding and translocation.4 Thus, the principal function of αB-crystallin protein is to prevent unfolding of cellular proteins damaged by all forms of stress. Ischemia and oxidative stress increase the expression of αB-crystallin in the heart.5 In response to stress, intracellular kinases phosphorylate αB-crystallin,6 leading to its translocation from the cytosolic pool to Z lines and intercalated disks. Translocated αB-crystallin binds to the components of the intermediary filaments and cytoskeletal proteins, such as actin and desmin, and prevents their aggregation.3 7 The protective role of αB-crystallin in the maintenance of cytoskeletal integrity has been confirmed in gene transfer studies in cultured cardiac myocytes8 and in transgenic mice.9 Overexpression of αB-crystallin protects cardiac myocytes against apoptosis and reperfusion injury.8 9 Interest in αB-crystallin has been heightened because of recent elucidation of the genetic basis of desmin-related myopathy (DRM), a familial muscular disorder characterized by skeletal myopathy, heart failure, conduction defect, and arrhythmias. Pathologically, …
Genetic gains in annual egg production from selection on early part-records.

The use of early partial egg records as a selection criterion for improving annual egg production was proposed by Dempster and Lerner (1947). Their proposal was based on the contention of Dickerson and Hazel (1944) that genetic gain should be evaluated per unit of time, and that, under certain conditions, the genetic gain per unit of time could be increased by reducing the age of the parents.
Use of CoZmonitor® in youth with type 1 diabetes*

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of directly integrating self-monitoring blood glucose (BG) information with insulin pump therapy on overall glycemic control. Methods: In this randomized trial, 34 youth with type 1 diabetes using insulin pump therapy were trained on the use of the Deltec Cozmo® Insulin Pump. Seventeen were randomized to use the CoZmonitor® Blood Glucose Module, a device that attaches to the back of the pump using FreeStyle® technology to perform BG tests which read directly on the pump screen. The remaining 17 (control group) used a FreeStyle Flash meter, a stand-alone BG meter, for their BG testing. At baseline, 3 and 6 months, the subjects filled out a questionnaire, had a hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test, and had pumps and meters downloaded. Results: After 3 months of study, there were no changes in mean HbA1c (± SD) values for the experimental (8.7 ± 1.1 to 8.6 ± 1.1) or the control groups (9.1 ± 1.4 to 9.2 ± 1.5). There were also no significant differences in HbA1c values after 6 months. The average number of BG tests per day did not change significantly in either group during the study. After 3 and 6 months, the experimental group rated satisfaction with the use of the CoZmonitor at 4.4 and 3.8 (respectively) on a five-point Likert scale, with 5 being the most satisfied. Conclusions: Although significant changes in HbA1c values or the number of BG tests were not found, use of the BG module had a positive level of satisfaction.
Principal components analysis corrects for stratification in genome-wide association studies

Population stratification—allele frequency differences between cases and controls due to systematic ancestry differences—can cause spurious associations in disease studies. We describe a method that enables explicit detection and correction of population stratification on a genome-wide scale. Our method uses principal components analysis to explicitly model ancestry differences between cases and controls. The resulting correction is specific to a candidate marker’s variation in frequency across ancestral populations, minimizing spurious associations while maximizing power to detect true associations. Our simple, efficient approach can easily be applied to disease studies with hundreds of thousands of markers. Population stratification—allele frequency differences between cases and controls due to systematic ancestry differences—can cause spurious associations in disease studies 1‐8 . Because the effects of stratification vary in proportion to the number of samples 9 , stratification will be an increasing problem in the large-scale association studies of the future, which will analyze thousands of samples in an effort to detect common genetic variants of weak effect. The two prevailing methods for dealing with stratification are genomic control and structured association 9‐14 . Although genomic control and structured association have proven useful in a variety of contexts, they have limitations. Genomic control corrects for stratification by adjusting association statistics at each marker by a uniform overall inflation factor. However, some markers differ in their allele frequencies across ancestral populations more than others. Thus, the uniform adjustment applied by genomic control may be insufficient at markers having unusually strong differentiation across ancestral populations and may be superfluous at markers devoid of such differentiation, leading to a loss in power. Structured association uses a program such as STRUCTURE 15 to assign the samples to discrete subpopulation clusters and then aggregates evidence of association within each cluster. If fractional membership in more than one cluster is allowed, the method cannot currently be applied to genome-wide association studies because of its intensive computational cost on large data sets. Furthermore, assignments of individuals to clusters are highly sensitive to the number of clusters, which is not well defined 14,16 .
LEADER RESPONSIVENESS, EQUITY SENSITIVITY, AND EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

This study investigated the relationships between leader responsiveness to employee requests and employee attitudes and behaviors in a sample of managers and their subordinates. Additionally, the study investigated the moderating effect of an individual difference variable (equity sensitivity), on the relationships between leader responsiveness and employee attitudes and behaviors. Leader responsiveness related significantly with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, equity sensitivity moderated the relationships between leader responsiveness and job satisfaction. Entitleds reported lower job satisfaction when manager fulfillment of employee requests was low than did Benevolents, whereas differences were minimal when manager request fulfillment was high. Implications of the findings were discussed.
The drug-eluting stent information gap.

Acute ischemic chest pain at rest consistent with unstable angina or non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction is a common problem that may cause death or recurrent myocardial infarction within 30 days unless identified and risk stratified acutely. The latter may be done within 15 minutes by the history, physical exam, and electrocardiogram, and is aided by the measurement of troponin T/I. According to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines, low-risk patients can be discharged home and rechecked within 72 hours. Intermediate-risk patients with no ST-segment changes with continuous monitoring and no elevation of troponin should undergo exercise stress testing by electrocardiogram (or nuclear or echocardiographic evaluation if electrocardiogram is non-analyzable). Patients with a negative stress test are low risk (no death or myocardial infarction at 30 days or 6 months) and can be discharged home. Patients with a positive test or who are at high risk according to the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research guidelines should undergo acute invasive testing for possible revascularization. Aspirin and low molecular weight heparin or unfractionated heparin, along with anti-ischemia therapy, is indicated in intermediate- or high-risk patients. The addition of clopidogrel is indicated in these patients, except in those who are potential candidates for coronary artery bypass graft. Platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors are indicated in high-risk patients likely to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention, should be started early if recurrent ischemia occurs, but are not indicated in lower-risk patients who do not require percutaneous coronary intervention. Intensive secondary prevention should be started before dismissal.
Pediatric Patients Seen in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Port-au-Prince and southern Haiti were at the epicenter of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, resulting in massive widespread destruction. About 3 million people were affected by the earthquake; the Haitian Government reported that 230 000 people had died, 300 000 were injured, and 1 000 000 made homeless, resulting from severe damage to 250 000 residences and 30 000 commercial buildings. Of the population of Haiti, 45% are in the pediatric age group and may constitute a higher proportion of those who were injured. In response to this disaster, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital dispatched a surgical/trauma team to Port-auPrince, Haiti, on January 30. The team included 3 surgeons, 1 anesthesiologist, and 5 physicians, who were supported by a nurse anesthetist, surgical technician, emergency medical technician, and communications specialist. Medical supplies and equipment for treating earthquake victims with surgical interventions and medical conditions were sent, together with water, food, and other supplies for sustaining the team in Haiti. Humanitarian efforts were provided at a private hospital located in downtown Port-au-Prince. The hospital opened its doors for providing free care to all patients after the earthquake. We propose that the limited health care resources in Haiti must be mobilized and tailored to meet the health care needs of children.
The effect of size and competition on tree growth rate in old-growth coniferous forests

Tree growth and competition play central roles in forest dynamics. Yet models of competition often neglect important variation in species-specific responses. Furthermore, functions used to model ch...
Joins for Hybrid Warehouses: Exploiting Massive Parallelism in Hadoop and Enterprise Data Warehouses

HDFS has become an important data repository in the enterprise as the center for all business analytics, from SQL queries, machine learning to reporting. At the same time, enterprise data warehouses (EDWs) continue to support critical business analytics. This has created the need for a new generation of special federation between Hadoop-like big data platforms and EDWs, which we call the hybrid warehouse. There are many applications that require correlating data stored in HDFS with EDW data, such as the analysis that associates click logs stored in HDFS with the sales data stored in the database. All existing solutions reach out to HDFS and read the data into the EDW to perform the joins, assuming that the Hadoop side does not have the efficient SQL support. In this paper, we show that it is actually better to do most data processing on the HDFS side, provided that we can leverage a sophisticated execution engine for joins on the Hadoop side. We identify the best hybrid warehouse architecture by studying various algorithms to join database and HDFS tables. We utilize Bloom filters to minimize the data movement, and exploit the massive parallelism in both systems to the fullest extent possible. We describe a new zigzag join algorithm, and show that it is a robust join algorithm for hybrid warehouses which performs well in almost all cases.
Root System Architecture

Abstract Plants develop most organs post-embryonically, which allows the incorporation of environmental information into decisions concerning when and where to produce new organs. This developmental plasticity is evident in the plant root system, which in dicotyledonous plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana is mostly comprised of lateral and adventitious roots that develop along the length of the primary root. The rate of primary root growth and the location, spacing and growth rate of lateral roots are influenced by the availability of environmental cues such as water and nutrients, which can have dramatic effects on the final architecture of the root system. These environmental responses must intersect with the intrinsic developmental programme of the plant, which is responsible for the general formation and maintenance of the root system. The final root system architecture of any plant is then the product of both intrinsic and environmental response pathways. Carbohydrates and plant hormones such as auxin and cytokinins are required for both intrinsic root development and modulating root system architecture in response to different growth conditions, thus facilitating the optimisation of root growth in complex, heterogeneous environments.
Medical Terminology Systems: A Body Systems Approach, ed 5

Gylys BA, Wedding ME. Philadelphia, PA 19103, FA Davis Co, 2005, paperback, 559 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-8036-1249-4, $46.95. Health care professionals must be able to communicate effectively with each other and with patients, both verbally and in writing. Patients and clients need information and instruction in terms that are clear and accessible to the layperson. But communication among health care professionals requires that practitioners use technical language and medical terminology to convey information concisely and unambiguously. These 2 medical terminology texts are straightforward and uncomplicated resources for those in health care and for the layperson, and they attempt to explain and teach the language of health care and medicine. Medical Terminology Simplified: A Programmed Learning Approach by Body Systems is meant to provide an easy and quick way to learn basic medical terminology. The programmed-learning approach uses a word-building method to develop vocabulary in a workbook format. Readers actively participate in learning by filling in blanks as they read the text, completing interpretive activities as new terms are introduced and reinforced, and answering matching questions that reflect current usage. The step-by-step …
Granulomatous Drug Reactions

One approach to classification of drug-induced cutaneous manifestations involves the histopathology identified in a biopsy of affected skin. Certain pharmaceutical agents may induce a variety of clinical lesions with the common histologic feature of granuloma formation, showing collections of inflammatory cells with predominant histiocytes. Drug-associated granulomatous dermatitis is a relatively infrequently described occurrence. Two distinct conditions with granulomatous inflammation on biopsy are methotrexate-induced accelerated nodulosis (MIAN) and interstitial granulomatous drug reaction (IGDR). MIAN is most often characterized by the rapid development of cutaneous rheumatoid nodules in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with methotrexate. IGDR generally appears as plaques, with affinity for the skin folds, after the administration of a wide assortment of different pharmaceutical agents.
Dual Trajectories of Cigarette Smoking and Smokeless Tobacco Use From Adolescence to Midlife Among Males in a Midwestern US Community Sample

Introduction Identifying trajectories of tobacco use is critical for understanding its natural history and targeting interventions, but research on trajectories of smokeless tobacco and dual use of smokeless tobacco and cigarettes is very limited. This study identified tobacco use trajectories from adolescence to midlife and tested correlates of trajectory group membership. Methods This study included all male participants in a longitudinal study who reported cigarette smoking or smokeless tobacco use in 1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, or 2011 (N = 2230). Group-based trajectory analyses were conducted with zero-inflated Poisson models. Analysis of covariance was used to test adolescent health beliefs associated with trajectory group membership. Results Five smoking trajectory groups were identified: (1) consistent abstinence from cigarettes; (2) late onset intermittent, then cessation; (3) early onset regular, then cessation; (4) delayed onset regular, then cessation; and (5) consistent regular. Four smokeless tobacco trajectory groups were identified: (1) early onset, then cessation; (2) consistent abstinence from smokeless tobacco; (3) late onset, escalating; and (4) consistent regular. The proportion of participants in trajectory groups representing dual use was low. Adolescent beliefs favorable to smoking and smokeless tobacco were associated with membership in consistent regular use groups. Conclusions The prevalence of dual use of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco was low, and there was little evidence to suggest switching between tobacco products. Participants who held more positive beliefs about smoking and smokeless tobacco as adolescents were more likely to be consistent regular users of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco into adulthood.
In vitro Degradation of I131 Labeled Angiotensin II by Normotensive and Hypertensive Human Serum.

SummaryRefrigeration of angiotensin II-I131in vitro with human sera from normotensive, untreated primary benign hypertensive and secondary renal hypertensive subjects demonstrated that greater quantities of angiotensin II-I131 were degraded by the untreated primary benign hypertensive patients than by the normotensive or secondary renal hypertensive patients. Evidence for presence of a serum factor (or factors) enhancing angiotensin II-I131 degradation and for a heat labile inhibitor has been advanced. The greater in vitro degradation of angiotensin II-I131 by untreated primary benign hypertensive patients than by normotensive subjects contrasts with the in vivo turnover rates.
Design and implementation of an underlay control channel for NC-OFDM-based networks

This paper designs an underlay control channel for noncontiguous-OFDM-based cognitive networks. Noncontiguous OFDM (NC-OFDM) provides a fast and flexible manner of accessing disjoint parts of the spectrum and is ideally suited for dynamic spectrum access. While similar to OFDM, NC-OFDM explicitly restricts transmission to only certain subcarriers that are free of incumbent transmissions. In particular, this paper considers designing a control channel for a cognitive network consisting of multiple point-to-point (p2p) links that operate over a wide bandwidth that might encompass some primary transmissions. In such a scenario, control channel becomes vital not only to share basic transmission parameters but also to aid timing and frequency recovery of NC-OFDM transmission; a nontrivial problem in itself. The proposed design is a low-power underlay transmission that spans the entire bandwidth regardless of any incumbent transmissions and uses direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). The control channel operates in one of two modes. The first mode aids timing and frequency recovery through a two-step process, while the second mode is used for control data transmission. To enable multiple access, the p2p links use orthogonal pseudo-noise (PN) sequences. The proposed control channel is implemented on USRPs in the ORBIT testbed using GNU Radio. Experimental results suggest robust timing and frequency offset recovery even in the presence of concurrent primary transmissions and support for about 10 to 20kbps over a 1 MHz bandwidth at an uncoded symbol-error-rate of about 10−2 under typical operating conditions.
Application of Decomposition Products Detection of SF_6 in Switchgears

Field experiences show that the fault diagnosis and state estimation of internal insulation of power equipment by detecting the decomposition products of SF6 in switchgears possess the advantages such as high anti-interference ability and high sensitivity and so on,so they are widely utilized in field detection and analysis of internal insulation of equipment.By means of analyzing the gas detection theory for SF6 in switchgears and under the guidance of detection technology for decomposition products of SF6,the detection and result analysis on decomposition products of SF6 in equipment being operated,faulty equipment,the post-type-test equipment are performed,then the gas compositions of SF6 and their contents in equipment in different states are determined.Based on field detection results of decomposition products of SF6 in lots of equipment,the characteristic gas to characterize the feature of the fault occurred in SF6 gas-insulated equipment as well as its application prospect are pointed out.
On the Contribution of Religious Charity Cause to Building a Socialist Harmonious Society

Contemporary China's society and economy has been developing rapidly,but behind the economic development,there arise a series of issues,such as the widening of the gap between the rich and the poor,the population and environmental issue,as well as an increase of vulnerable groups.These issues have a negative impact on building a socialist harmonious society,so there is a need to vigorously develop charity as a supplement to the government social security system.This paper discusses the development and the contribution of religious charity in history,analyses the current state of religious charity development in contemporary China,and explores the positive contribution of China's religious cause to the building of a socialist harmonious society.
Production of Size-Defined Heparosan, Heparan Sulfate, and Heparin Oligosaccharides by Enzymatic Depolymerization

Glycosaminoglycans (GAG) are most commonly isolated as large polymers from various animal origins, the functional units of which are oligosaccharides, which bind their target proteins to induce conformational changes, compete with other ligands, or facilitate the formation of signaling complexes. One example, the extensively studied heparin pentasaccharide sequence-which binds antithrombin-III, inducing a conformational change that increases its serpin protease activity by 1,000-fold-is unique in that no other specific GAG-protein structure-function relations have been described to the same degree. Thus, production of heparan sulfate (HS) oligosaccharides is critical for obtaining specific structural information regarding the binding interactions of GAG and their ligands (typically proteins). Purely synthetic methods of oligosaccharide synthesis are possible, but the cost, time requirement, and difficulty of their preparation prohibit library synthesis in significant amounts. Herein, the use of bacterial heparin lyases for the production of HS oligosaccharides via enzymatic depolymerization of HS polymers is discussed. The separation and purification of these oligosaccharides by liquid chromatography are also described.
Anticholinergic Drug Use and Risk to Cognitive Performance in Older Adults with Questionable Cognitive Impairment: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Age-associated decline in central cholinergic activity makes older adults susceptible to the harmful effects of anticholinergic (AC) medications; however, there is an inadequate understanding of the association and possible effects of AC drugs on cognition. This cross-sectional study examines the associations of AC medications on cognition among older adults with questionable cognitive impairment (QCI). For this cross-sectional study, we used a multicenter database of community-dwelling older adults (N = 7351) aged 60+ years with QCI, from September 2005 to March 2014, as the baseline data. The Anticholinergic Drug Scale was used to categorize AC drug load into no, low, or moderate/high groups. Individuals with a Clinical Dementia Rating–Sum of Boxes score between 0.5 and 2.5 were identified as having QCI, while cognitive performance was evaluated using the Neuropsychological Test Battery. The mean z-scores of neuropsychological tests were grouped into a global cognition score. Participants who took AC medications were older, largely female, and had a higher prevalence of incontinence than those without AC exposure. Global cognition was significantly greater in the moderate/high-AC group than the no-AC group (−0.23 ± 0.53 vs. −0.32 ± 0.53). Multivariable linear regression showed that the global cognition score among the low- and moderate/high-AC groups, compared with the no-AC group, was 0.064 higher (p = 0.006 and p = 0.12, respectively). This cross-sectional study indicates that older adults with QCI who were exposed to AC medications might have higher global cognitive scores than those without AC exposure. The observed associations indicate that older adults might experience some beneficial cognitive effects from AC drugs, possibly due to the therapeutic effects of these medications in controlling comorbidities, thus outweighing their adverse effects on cognition.
New taxa of amazonian chrysobalanaceae

Five new taxa of Amazonian Chrysobalanaceae are described based on recently collected material: Couepia cidiana Prance, Hirtella radamii Prance, Licania heteromorpha Benth. var. revoluta Prance, Licania miltonii Prance, and Licania tocantina Prance. The continued collection of many undescribed taxa indicates that there is still much to be done in the basic botanical inventory of Amazonia.
Identification of a functional genetic variant driving racially dimorphic platelet gene expression of the thrombin receptor regulator, PCTP

Platelet activation in response to stimulation of the Protease Activated Receptor 4 (PAR4) receptor differs by race. One factor that contributes to this difference is the expression level of Phosphatidylcholine Transfer Protein (PCTP), a regulator of platelet PAR4 function. We have conducted an expression Quantitative Trait Locus (eQTL) analysis that identifies single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) linked to the expression level of platelet genes. This analysis revealed 26 SNPs associated with the expression level of PCTP at genome-wide significance (p < 5×10-8). Using annotation from ENCODE and other public data we prioritised one of these SNPs, rs2912553, for functional testing. The allelic frequency of rs2912553 is racially-dimorphic, in concordance with the racially differential expression of PCTP. Reporter gene assays confirmed that the single nucleotide change caused by rs2912553 altered the transcriptional potency of the surrounding genomic locus. Electromobility shift assays, luciferase assays, and overexpression studies indicated a role for the megakaryocytic transcription factor GATA1. In summary, we have integrated multi-omic data to identify and functionalise an eQTL. This, along with the previously described relationship between PCTP and PAR4 function, allows us to characterise a genotype-phenotype relationship through the mechanism of gene expression.
Ellen Grass Memorial Lecture: The Utility of Neurodiagnostics-It's Never Too Late to Make a Difference: Epilepsy and Seizures as a Continuum through Case Studies.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the continuum of epilepsy and seizures, and in particular how the work of neurodiagnostic technologists makes a pivotal difference in diagnosing and tr...
Impact of Gentamicin Concentration and Exposure Time on Intracellular Yersinia pestis.

The study of intracellular bacteria pathogens in cell culture hinges on inhibiting extracellular growth of the bacteria in cell culture media. Aminoglycosides, like gentamicin, were originally thought to poorly penetrate eukaryotic cells, and thus, while inhibiting extracellular bacteria, these antibiotics had limited effect on inhibiting the growth of intracellular bacteria. This property led to the development of the antibiotic protection assay to study intracellular pathogens in vitro. More recent studies have demonstrated that aminoglycosides slowly penetrate eukaryotic cells and can even reach intracellular concentrations that inhibit intracellular bacteria. Therefore, important considerations, such as antibiotic concentration, incubation time, and cell type need to be made when designing the antibiotic protection assay to avoid potential false positive/negative observations. Yersinia pestis, which causes the human disease known as the plague, is a facultative intracellular pathogen that can infect and replicate in macrophages. Y. pestis is sensitive to gentamicin and this antibiotic is often employed in the antibiotic protection assay to study the Y. pestis intracellular life cycle. However, a large variety of gentamicin concentrations and incubation periods have been reported in the Y. pestis literature without a clear characterization of the potential influence that variations in the gentamicin protection assay could have on the intracellular growth of this pathogen. This raised concerns that variations in the gentamicin protection assay could influence phenotypes and reproducibility of data. Therefore, to provide a better understanding of the potential consequences that variations in the gentamicin protection assay could have on Y. pestis, we systematically examined the impact of multiple variables of the gentamicin protection assay on Y. pestis intracellular survival in macrophages. We found that prolonged incubation periods with low concentrations of gentamicin, or short incubation periods with higher concentrations of the antibiotic, have a dramatic impact on intracellular growth. Furthermore, the degree of sensitivity of intracellular Y. pestis to gentamicin was also cell type dependent. These data highlight the importance to empirically establish cell type specific gentamicin protection assays to avoid potential artificial data in Y. pestis intracellular studies.
Thermal analysis of a novel dual-stator 6/4 flux-switching permanent magnet machine

This paper presents a thermal study of a novel highspeed dual-stator 6/4 FSPM machine. The novel dual-stator 6/4 FSPM machine is developed to provide a viable solution for low pole FSPM machines at high speed conditions. However, the highspeed machine generates losses and the heat dissipation is crucial in keeping the performance of the electric machine. In this paper, the thermal aspects of the design are investigated. Critical thermal model issue such as anisotropic thermal conductivity, contact thermal resistance are discussed. The lumped-parameter thermal network (LPTN) model of this machine is first developed for preliminary studies. Then finite element analysis (FEA) is performed to obtain more accurate results. With different cooling methods applied, FEA results verified that this proposed machine maintains a safe temperature range under the rated condition. The analytical method discussed in this paper is applicable to other types of FSPM machine where the main heat source is located in the stator.
Pharmacokinetic evaluation and safety of topical 1% morphine sulfate application on the healthy equine eye.

Objective To determine if corneal epithelial cell integrity is detrimentally affected by short-term administration of 1.0% morphine sulfate. Additionally, we sought to determine if topical 1.0% morphine applied to the equine cornea would result in ocular or systemic absorption. Animal studied Six healthy horses. Procedure Morphine sulfate (1.0%) was applied topically to one eye every four hours for 72 h before horses were euthanized. Serum samples were collected at varying time points during the study and aqueous and vitreous humor were collected immediately after euthanasia. Morphine quantification in serum, aqueous, and vitreous humor was performed by ELISA. Treated and control corneas were submitted for histopathology. Horses were monitored for adverse ocular and systemic effects throughout the study period. Results All horses developed mild mucoid ocular discharge in the treated eye. One horse developed a fever during treatment. Morphine was detected in the aqueous humor of the treated eye for all horses with mean ± standard deviation of 165.18 ng/mL ± 87.69 ng/mL. Morphine was detected in vitreous humor of the treated eye of 5 of 6 horses with mean ± standard deviation of 4.87 ± 4.46 ng/mL. Morphine was detected in the serum of 5 of 6 horses at varying time points. Maximum systemic concentration reached in a single horse was 6.98 ng/mL. Corneal histopathology revealed no difference in microscopic appearance between morphine-treated and control corneas. Conclusions Topical administration of 1.0% morphine sulfate did not appear to cause any significant ocular or systemic adverse effects. Topical ophthalmic morphine application resulted in both ocular and systemic absorption.
Disruption of Epithelial HDAC3 in Intestine Prevents Diet-Induced Obesity in Mice.

Background & Aims Intestinal microbiota modulate metabolism and associate closely with epithelial cells in the intestine. In intestinal epithelial cells (IECs), histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) integrates microbiota-derived signals to control intestinal homeostasis. We investigated whether HDAC3 in IECs regulates metabolism and the development of obesity in mice. Methods Adult C57BL/6 (control) mice and mice with constitutive or inducible IEC-specific disruption of Hdac3 (HDAC3ΔIEC mice) were placed on a standard chow or high-fat diet (HFD, 60% kcal from fat). We measured body composition, weight, glucose tolerance, and energy expenditure. IECs were isolated from small intestine and gene expression, and lipid levels were analyzed. HDAC3 levels were determined in 43 pediatric patient ileal biopsy samples and compared with body weight. Results Control mice fed an HFD gained weight, became obese, and had reduced glucose tolerance with increased serum insulin, whereas HFD-fed HDAC3ΔIEC mice did not develop obesity. Serum levels of triglycerides were reduced in HDAC3ΔIEC mice, and these mice had less liver fat and smaller adipocytes, compared with HFD-fed control mice. HDAC3ΔIEC mice had similar food intake and activity as control mice, but higher energy expenditure because of increased catabolism. IECs from HDAC3ΔIEC mice had altered expression levels of genes that regulate metabolism in response to the microbiota (such as Chka, Mttp, Apoa1, and Pck1) and accumulated triglycerides compared with IECs from control mice. The microbiota-derived short-chain fatty acid butyrate was decreased in obese mice. Butyrate significantly reduced the activity of HDAC3 and increased Pck1 expression in only control IECs. Administration of butyrate to control mice with diet-induced obesity, but not HDAC3ΔIEC mice, led to significant weight loss. Disruption of HDAC3 in IECs of mice after they became obese led to weight loss and improved metabolic profile. Levels of HDAC3 in intestinal biopsy samples correlated with patient weight. Conclusions We found that epithelial HDAC3 promotes development of diet-induced obesity in studies of mice and that butyrate reduces activity of HDAC3 in IECs to prevent diet-induced obesity. This pathway might be manipulated to prevent or reduce obesity-associated disease.
State of the Art in Image Processing

Image processing is a loosely defined term whose meaning varies greatly among diverse fields such as digital signal processing, computer vision, computer graphics, remote sensing, neural networks, etc. Naturally, the image processing techniques have diversified involving optics, statistics, mathematics, psychophysics, neurophysics, etc. This paper examines the state of the art in image processing in a limited context where image processing is viewed strictly as a method for retrieving information about an imaged object.
Shear Property Measurements of Adhesives in Composite Material Bonded Joints

A test specimen has been designed and procedures developed for determining the effective shear modulus, shear proportional limit, and ultimate shear strength for adhesive materials used in bonded lap joints between adherends of either metals or composite materials. By utilizing adhesives in their joint geometry, effects of errors from using bulk property data are avoided. Surface interaction phenomena between adhesive and adherend, surface roughness effects, etc. are automatically included. Test data to date are presented for adherends of 1002 S-glass uniply and angle-ply construction, and Hysol EA951 adhesive. Effects of adhesive thickness and joint length are also presented.
Population Persistence and Community Diversity in a Naturally Patchy Landscape: Plants on Serpentine Soils

Serpentine soils in California are patchily distributed at multiple spatial scales and support a distinctive flora. In a region of 10 x 30 km in Northern California, I compared plant species richness on 24 small ( 1 km2) outcrops. For serpentine endemic plants, alpha (local) diversity was lower but beta (differentiation) diversity was higher on small outcrops compared to sites within large outcrops. For alien plants, local diversity was higher on small outcrops than on sites within large outcrops. Experimental work examined mechanisms underlying these patterns. Two alien grasses (Avena fatua and Bromus hordeaceus) appeared to be more prevalent on small outcrops because of edge effects rather than because of habitat quality. One serpentine endemic herb (Calystegia collina) exhibited lower reproductive success on small outcrops, evidently because of a shortage of compatible pollen. Another endemic herb (Helianthus exilis) was absent from small outcrops because of the absence of seeps, a specialized habitat found within large serpentine outcrops. Direct evidence for local extinction and recolonization was found in five herbaceous species that inhabit serpentine seeps. These results illustrate the importance of largescale landscape structure for population persistence and community diversity in plants.
Hairless regulates p53 target genes to exert tumor suppressive functions in glioblastoma

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common malignant brain tumor and is associated with a poor prognosis, with most patients living less than a year after diagnosis. Given that GBM nearly always recurs after conventional treatments, there is an urgent need to identify novel molecular targets. Hairless (HR) is a nuclear factor enriched in the skin and has been previously implicated in hair cycling. HR is also highly expressed in the brain, but its significance is unknown. We found that human hairless gene (HR) expression is significantly decreased in all GBM subtypes compared with normal brain tissue and is predictive of prognosis, which suggests that loss of HR expression can contribute to GBM pathogenesis. HR was recently discovered to bind to and regulate p53 responsive elements, and thus we hypothesized that HR may have a tumor suppressive function in GBM by modulating p53 target gene expression. We found that HR indeed regulates p53 target genes, including those implicated in cell cycle progression and apoptosis in the GBM-derived U87 cell line, and restoring HR expression triggered G2/M arrest and apoptosis. An analysis of sequenced genomes from patients with GBM revealed 10 HR somatic mutations in patients with glioma, two of which are located in the histone demethylase domain of HR. These two mutations, P996S and K1004N, were reconstructed and found to have impaired p53 transactivating properties. Collectively, the results of our study suggest that HR has tumor suppressive functions in GBM, which may be clinically relevant and a potential avenue for therapeutic intervention.
Globalization and National Income Inequality: Observations and Lessons from the U.S. Experience

Significant changes in the global economy with respect to trade, investment and technology are casting a shadow over the system at a time when concerns about who has benefited from globalization and who has not is affecting the conduct of national economic policies. Widening inequality in many countries, but principally the U.S., is a concern since America is still the world’s largest and in many respects most open economy. A shift away from openness would harm not only emerging market economies, but also create worries for the maintenance of the system. For this reason, exploring what has driven the rising income inequality in the U.S. is important to understand and this paper lays out those trends in the context of broader issues affecting the future of globalization.
Spectroscopic and Electronic Structure Study of ETHE1: Elucidating the Factors Influencing Sulfur Oxidation and Oxygenation in Mononuclear Nonheme Iron Enzymes

ETHE1 is a member of a growing subclass of nonheme Fe enzymes that catalyzes transformations of sulfur-containing substrates without a cofactor. ETHE1 dioxygenates glutathione persulfide (GSSH) to glutathione (GSH) and sulfite in a reaction which is similar to that of cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), but with monodentate (vs bidentate) substrate coordination and a 2-His/1-Asp (vs 3-His) ligand set. In this study, we demonstrate that GSS– binds directly to the iron active site, causing coordination unsaturation to prime the site for O2 activation. Nitrosyl complexes without and with GSSH were generated and spectroscopically characterized as unreactive analogues for the invoked ferric superoxide intermediate. New spectral features from persulfide binding to the FeIII include the appearance of a low-energy FeIII ligand field transition, an energy shift of a NO– to FeIII CT transition, and two new GSS– to FeIII CT transitions. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations were used to simulate the experime...
Generation Of Microplasma In A Reverse-Biased Silicon Carbide Schottky Diode

In 2001, Wagner et al. reported the generation of a microplasma with a reverse-biased silicon $pn$ junction 1. In that paper, the authors noted that “higher pressure operation is undoubtedly feasible as is the realization of similar devices using pin or Schottky barrier designs.” 1 We report here, the realization of microplasmas driven by a silicon carbide $p^{+}n$ Schottky diode. Cylindrical microcavities of 300 to $400 \mu \mathrm {m}$ in diameter were fabricated with an ultrasonic mill, through SiC $p^{+}n$ junctions manufactured by Cree. The SiC die is 6 x 6 mm2 in surface area and has a measured reverse breakdown voltage of $\sim 1700\mathrm {V}$, thus allowing for the study of gases and vapors having significant breakdown voltages. This device constitutes a robust and compact microplasma and optical emission source.
Getting patients with cardiovascular disease to move more: cardiac rehabilitation and beyond.

Exercise is a vital medicine that every individual should be taking, from apparently healthy individuals to those diagnosed with one or more chronic conditions [1]. In fact, expanding on this parad...
Training Youth With SCI to Improve Efficiency and Biomechanics of Wheelchair Propulsion: A Pilot Study

Background: Long-term manual wheelchair users are at an increased risk of developing upper extremity (UE) joint pain and injuries due to the repetitive nature of wheelchair propulsion. Youth who su...
End-to-End Traceability of ICs in Component Supply Chain for Fighting Against Recycling

The rise of recycled integrated circuits (ICs) in the critical infrastructures causes a major concern to the government and industry because these chips exhibit lower performance and have shorter remaining useful life. The detection of these ICs becomes extremely challenging when they are in the supply chain. It is necessary to power up a chip at a distributor’s site to measure different electrical parameters for verifying whether it is used before. However, this can be challenging, as many of the distributors may not be equipped with proper test infrastructures. Moreover, the reliability of authentic chips may be reduced if they have been removed from the packaging boxes for testing purposes. In this paper, we propose a robust and low-cost solution for enabling the traceability of an IC. The proposed solution builds a chain of trust among the manufacturer, distributors, and system integrator by enabling end-to-end traceability from manufacturing to system integration and provides protection against IC recycling. The proposed solution utilizes a small passive radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag, which needs to be placed on the package. Any entity in the supply chain can verify the authenticity of a chip using a commercial RFID reader.
A robust nickel catalyst with an unsymmetrical propyl-bridged diphosphine ligand for catalyst-transfer polymerization

A new nickel diphosphine catalyst has been synthesized in which the bidentate ligand has two different phosphine donors, a typical PPh2 group and a stronger σ-donating PEt2 group. The catalyst was highly effective for the chain-growth polymerization of a 3-alkylthiophene monomer using a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling. The catalyst is particularly effective for this polymerization in the presence of excess free ligand. The unsymmetrical diphosphine nickel complex reported here represents a new approach to tuning metal-ligand reactivity in the chain-growth polymerization of aromatic monomers. In addition, this new nickel catalyst exhibited increased hydrolytic resistance in the polymerization as compared to commercially available 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphino)propane nickel dichloride. A new nickel diphosphine catalyst was synthesized and evaluated for Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling polymerization. The diphosphine is comprised of two electronically and sterically distinct phosphine donors, a PPh2 group and a PEt2 group. The catalyst was employed to bring about controlled polymerization of a 3-hexylthiophene monomer to afford poly(3-hexylthiophene). The catalyst was particularly effective for bringing about this polymerization in the presence of excess free ligand. The catalyst resting state was also probed using NMR spectroscopy and an externally initiated catalyst.
Analysis on the content of nitrite in cooked meat products in Dalian from 2011-2012

[Objective]To understand the content of nitrite in cooked meat products in Dalian. [Methods]According to " Food Safety Risk Monitoring Plan of Dalian",the content of nitrite in 160 cooked meat products collected from 2011-2012 were detected and analyzed. [Results]The detection rate of nitrite was 59. 4%,exceeded rate was 6. 2%,and the maximum value was 121. 7mg / kg. 10 samples exceeded the standard,including 6 sauce halogen meat and 4 smoked meat products. The detection rate in samples in bulk was 70. 5%,in stereotyped packaging was 38. 2%,and the difference of detection rate was statistically significant( P 0. 01). [Conclusion]Nitrite is wildly used in cooked meat,it has a higher risk to exceed the standard in cooked meat products in bulk saled at the farmers' market.
IoT Platform: Smart Devices, Gateways, and Communication Networks

Dozens of smart devices can easily be found by a glance view of the objects surrounding us. This chapter reviews the most important features of the smart devices which make a device to be considered as smart. The recent trend over the last few decades is toward being smarter. A careful analysis is needed before updating the currently existing platform based on the IoT principles. The core of the IoT platform is the ability of the components to exchange information in terms of data. Smart devices usually transfer the measurements into the smart gateways in order to filter and translate the collected data based on the accepted standards of the edge and cloud service providers. Smart gateways are directly connected to the central cloud to exchange the information. In this chapter, the benefits of the abovementioned architecture, such as security and latency, are discussed. Various types of communication can be classified into device to device (D2D), device to smart gateways (D2S), and device to cloud (D2C). This chapter also reviews the detail of the communication types and the most important features of network service providers for an IoT platform.