cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modulation of thermal stability and heat-induced gelation of β-lactoglobulin by high glycerol and sorbitol levels

Abstract The influence of glycerol and sorbitol on the thermal stability and heat-induced gelation of β-lactoglobulin (β-lg) in aqueous solutions was investigated. The thermal stability of β-lg was characterized by measuring the thermal denaturation temperature ( T m ) using differential scanning calorimetry, while its gelation properties were characterized by measuring the gelation temperature ( T gel ) and final gel rigidity ( G ∗ ) using dynamic shear rheology. All experiments were carried out using aqueous solutions containing 10% (w/w) β-lg, glycerol (0–70% w/w) or sorbitol (0–55% w/w), and 5 mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.0). No salt was added to these solutions so that there was a relatively strong electrostatic repulsion between the protein molecules, which usually prevents gelation. When the cosolvent concentration was increased from 0% to 50%, T m increased from 74 to 86 °C for sorbitol, but only from 74 to 76 °C for glycerol, which indicated that sorbitol was much more effective at stabilizing the native state of the globular protein than glycerol. Protein solutions containing sorbitol (0–55%) did not form a gel after heating, but those containing glycerol formed gels when the cosolvent concentration exceeded about 10%, with G ∗ increasing with increasing glycerol concentration. We attribute these effects to differences in the preferential interactions of polyols and water with the surfaces of native and heat-denatured proteins, and their influence on the protein–protein collision frequency.
On the relationship of flare size and particle anisotropy in solar gamma-ray flares

The effects of radiation directivity on the interpretation of SMM gamma-ray flare observations. If the electron anisotropy is independent of flare size, the size distribution of 300 keV-1 Mev flare is much flatter than that of X-ray flares. This implies that larger flares have, on average, harder electron spectra. Distributions of electrons strongly peaked downward into the solar photosphere are not consistent with the data.
Semiparametric methods in applied econometrics: do the models fit the data?:

Much empirical research in economics and other fields is concerned with estimating the mean of a random variable conditional on one or more explanatory variables (conditional mean function). The most frequently used estimation methods assume that the conditional mean function is known up to a finite number of parameters, but the resulting estimates can be highly misleading if the assumed parametric model is incorrect. This paper reviews several semiparametric methods for estimating conditional mean functions. These methods are more flexible than parametric methods and offer greater estimation precision than do fully nonparametric methods. The various estimation methods are illustrated by applying them to data on the salaries of professional baseball players in the USA. We find that a parametric model and several simple semiparametric models fail to capture important features of the data. However, a sufficiently rich semiparametric model fits the data well. We conclude that semiparametric models can achiev...
Managing Multistate Quantum Entanglement

Good experiments minimally perturb the sample under study, but in the quantum realm, measurement cannot be separated from the system. Before the measurement, all possible outcomes can form an entangled state; measurement then causes this entangled state to collapse to one outcome. In 1935, Schrodinger presented a thought experiment to show how strange this situation really is. A cat is hidden in a box along with a sample of radioactive nuclei. If a nuclear decay occurs, poison is released and the poor cat dies. However, until we look in the box, the state of the cat entangles both a live and a dead cat. Experiments with Schrodinger-cat states that entangle several particles continue to provide deep insights into the measurement process. One such state, called a NOON state, entangles a fixed number of photons N , all of which are in one of two possible states (if these were coins, they would be all heads or all tails). On page 879 of this issue, Afek et al. ( 1 ) achieved a record by making NOON states in an interferometer with five entangled photons. Their approach may have implications for other implementations of interferometry, such as gravity wave detectors.
NONVISUAL COMPONENTS IN VISUAL FORM PERCEPTION.

Since certain curvature aftereffects require active movements during prismatic adaptation, non-visual components must affect some (but not all) visual shape perception.
Genetic variation in the transforming growth factor β1 gene in multiple sclerosis

Abstract Transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) is a Th2 cytokine encoded on chromosome 19q13, a region possibly linked to multiple sclerosis (MS). TGFβ1 exerts favorable effects on experimental allergic encephalomyelitis. We performed a comprehensive search for genetic variants in this gene in 122 population-based sporadic cases of MS. We detected six variants, including three missense variants. We tested for association of the variants with susceptibility and course of MS and for linkage and transmission disequilibrium in a family series consisting of 395 samples in 59 pedigrees. Genetic variation in TGFB1 does not appear to contribute in a major way to susceptibility to MS.
Design of novel melanotropin agonists and antagonists with high potency and selectivity for human melanocortin receptors.

α-MSH and γ-MSH are the natural endogenous hormones for the human melanocortin-1, 3, 4 and 5 receptors (hMC1R, hMC3R, hMC4R and hMC5R). These and more potent, stable and prolonged acting analogues such as NDP-α-MSH, MT-II and SHU-9119 are not very receptor selective. To develop potent and selective agonist and antagonist ligands for the melanocortin receptors we have used state-of-the-art biophysical studies, computational chemistry, and design of conformational and topographical constraints with novel templates.
Long-term variability of galactic X-ray sources

THE long-term (days to months) variability of 32 persistent galactic X-ray sources brighter than Cas A in the energy range 3–10 keV is discussed here, using data from the MIT experiment on the OSO 7 satellite1. For each X-ray source, we compiled a list of counting rates for all observations made during the first 600 d of operation of the experiment2 (typically six or seven observations for each source). The results in these lists show the well-known high variability of the massive early-type X-ray binaries. Of special interest, however, are the variability characteristics of the sources associated with old populations. These include several near the galactic centre which are generally referred to as ‘bulge’ sources, and several which are known to lie in globular clusters. They share certain similar X-ray characteristics, namely, spectra which are markedly softer than those of massive binaries and an apparent absence of pulsations and eclipses3–6. Because of their similarities, it has been suggested that they are all systems of the same kind, such as neutron stars in low mass binary systems7,8, or the products of core collapse in globular clusters9. However, our results show that the long-term variability of the bulge sources is generally much less than that of the sources which lie in globular clusters. This suggests that there is a substantial difference between the bulge and globular cluster sources either in their nature or, at least, in certain critical properties of their components such as the masses of the nuclear-burning companions which may supply the material for accretion by compact objects in binary systems.
The mechanism of killing and exiting the protozoan host Acanthamoeba polyphaga by Legionella pneumophila

The ability of Legionella pneumophila to cause legionnaires' disease is dependent on its capacity to replicate within cells in the alveolar spaces. The bacteria kill mammalian cells in two phases: induction of apoptosis during the early stages of infection, followed by an independent and rapid necrosis during later stages of the infection, mediated by a pore-forming activity. In the environment, L. pneumophila is a parasite of protozoa. The molecular mechanisms by which L. pneumophila kills the protozoan cells, after their exploitation for intracellular proliferation, are not known. In an effort to decipher these mechanisms, we have examined induction of both apoptosis and necrosis in the protozoan Acanthamoeba polyphaga upon infection by L. pneumophila. Our data show that, although A. polyphaga undergoes apoptosis following treatment with actinomycin D, L. pneumophila does not induce apoptosis in these cells. Instead, intracellular L. pneumophila induces necrotic death in A. polyphaga, which is mediated by the pore-forming activity. Mutants of L. pneumophila defective in expression of the pore-forming activity are indistinguishable from the parental strain in intracellular replication within A. polyphaga. The parental strain bacteria cause necrosis-mediated lysis of all the A. polyphaga cells within 48 h after infection, and all the intracellular bacteria are released into the tissue culture medium. In contrast, all cells infected by the mutants remain intact, and the intracellular bacteria are ‘trapped’ within A. polyphaga after the termination of intracellular replication. Failure to exit the host cell after termination of intracellular replication results in a gradual decline in the viability of the mutant strain bacteria within A. polyphaga starting 48 h after infection. Our data show that the pore-forming activity of L. pneumophila is not required for intracellular bacterial replication within A. polyphaga but is required for killing and exiting the protozoan host upon termination of intracellular replication.
The problem of publication-pollution denialism.

The world is facing a huge threat from pollution. The scientific community seems unable or unwilling to do anything about the problem and appears to be in a state of denial. The pollution crisis I’m describing is not the warming of the Earth’ sa tmosphereduetoanaccumulationofgreenhouse gasses. It is not the tragedy of plastic materials accumulating in the oceans. It is not the air pollution that is overwhelming many major urban areas and contributing to respiratory and other diseases in the local populations. It is, instead, the pollution of science and medicine by plagiarism, fraud, and predatory publishing. If the medical and scientific communities continue to remain in publication pollution denial, the trustworthiness, utility, and value of science and medicine will be irreparably damaged.
Investigation of submarine topography during the past year

During the past year the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey charted several areas of considerable scientific importance. With the help of a grant received from the Geological Society of America and through the cooperation of the Survey, the writer was able to accompany the vessels during the most important parts of this work. The areas of special interest which were examined included the submarine canyon off the Hudson, the submarine trough southwest of the Mississippi Delta, and the great escarpment off Punta Gorda along the Northern California Coast. The submarine valley off the Hudson has been known to geologists since 1863 when it was described by Dana. It was not, however, till last summer that data became available to give us more than a very crude idea of this feature. It was formerly supposed that the shallow valley which extends across the shelf off Hew York Harbor connected with a canyon which extended down the slope beyond. The new survey shows that the two features are not actually connected but that the shallow valley dies out near the shelf-margin and the canyon heads about six miles to the northeast of the terminus of the Valley. However, tracing the canyon down the slope it is shown to make a double bend and come into line with the inner valley for most of its length. This suggests the possibility that the two were formerly connected, but that they were separated as a result of a complex series of sea-level oscillations which allowed the filling in of the head of the canyon and the production of a new head as the result of a diversion of the inner valley.
CARBONIC ANHYDRASE IN THE CHLOROPLAST OF A COCCOLITHOPHORID (PRYMNESIOPHYCEAE)1

The activity and subcellular distribution of carbonic anhydrase in a coccolithophorid alga, CCMP 299, was examined. The enzyme could not be detected in crude cell homogenates but was present at high specific activity (27.5 unit.mg −1 protein) in chloroplasts (density, 1.14 g.cm −3 ) isolated in a sucrose gradient. The carbonic anhydrase activity was sensitive to known inhibitors. Inhibition at 5O% (I 50 ) was obtained with concentrations of 4.60 mM and 2.35 mM for acetazolamide and NaN 3 respectively. These levels are more consistent with patterns of inhibition previously observed for chloroplastic (as compared to periplasmic) carbonic anhydrase. In this organism, carbonic anhydrase was localized in the chloroplast stroma. These findings are discussed in terms of the relationship among dissolved inorganic carbon interconversions, photosynthesis, and calcification
Increased metastasis with loss of E2F2 in Myc -driven tumors

In human breast cancer, mortality is associated with metastasis to distant sites. Therefore, it is critical to elucidate the biological mechanisms that underlie tumor progression and metastasis. Using signaling pathway signatures we previously predicted a role for E2F transcription factors in Myc induced tumors. To test this role we interbred MMTV-Myc transgenic mice with E2F knockouts. Surprisingly, we observed that the loss of E2F2 sharply increased the percentage of lung metastasis in MMTV-Myc transgenic mice. Examining the gene expression profile from these tumors, we identified genetic components that were potentially involved in mediating metastasis. These genes were filtered to uncover the genes involved in metastasis that also impacted distant metastasis free survival in human breast cancer. In order to elucidate the mechanism by which E2F2 loss enhanced metastasis we generated knockdowns of E2F2 in MDA-MB-231 cells and observed increased migration in vitro and increased lung colonization in vivo. We then examined genes that were differentially regulated between tumors from MMTV-Myc, MMTV-Myc E2F2-/-, and lung metastases samples and identified PTPRD. To test the role of PTPRD in E2F2-mediated breast cancer metastasis, we generated a knockdown of PTPRD in MDA-MB-231 cells. We noted that decreased levels of PTPRD resulted in decreased migration in vitro and decreased lung colonization in vivo. Taken together, these data indicate that E2F2 loss results in increased metastasis in breast cancer, potentially functioning through a PTPRD dependent mechanism.
Downscaling Climate over Complex Terrain: High Finescale (<1000 m) Spatial Variation of Near-Ground Temperatures in a Montane Forested Landscape (Great Smoky Mountains)*

Landscape-driven microclimates in mountainous terrain pose significant obstacles to predicting the response of organisms to atmospheric warming, but few if any studies have documented the extent of such finescale variation over large regions. This paper demonstrates that ground-level temperature regimes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina) vary considerably over fine spatial scales and are only partially linked to synoptic weather patterns and environmental lapse rates. A 120-sensor network deployed across two watersheds in 2005‐06 exhibited finescale (,1000-m extent) temperature differences of over 28C for daily minima and over 48C for daily maxima. Landscape controls over minimum temperatures were associated with finescale patterns of soil moisture content, and maximum temperatures were associated with finescale insolation differences caused by topographic exposure and vegetation cover. By linking the sensor array data to 10 regional weather stations and topographic variables describing site radiation load and moisture content, multilevel spatial models of 30-m resolution were constructed to map daily temperatures across the 2090-km 2 park, validated with an independent 50-sensor network. Maps reveal that different landscape positions do not maintain relative differences in temperature regimes across seasons. Near-stream locations are warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, and sites of low elevation more closely track synoptic weather patterns than do wetter high-elevation sites. This study suggests a strong interplay between near-ground heat and water balances and indicates that the influence of past and future shifts in regional temperatures on the park’s biota may be buffered by soil moisture surfeits from high regional rainfall.
${\rm M}^{3}$ -Deterministic, Multiscale, Multirobot Platform for Microsystems Packaging: Design and Quasi-Static Precision Evaluation

The dawn of next generation robots and systems era which is quietly emerging, requires miniaturized and integrated sensors, actuators, and entire microrobots. One of the defining characteristics of these microsystems is their multiscale nature, e.g., the span of their size, features, and tolerances across multiple dimensional scales, from the meso to the micro and nanoscales. Another defining characteristic is the need to reliably integrate heterogeneous materials via assembly and packaging, in a cost-effective manner, even in low quantities. Thus, it is argued in this paper that cost-effective manufacturing of complex microsystems requires special precision robotic assembly cells with modular and reconfigurable characteristics. This paper presents recent research aimed at developing theoretical underpinnings for how to construct such a manufacturing platform. M3 is a multirobot system spanning across the macro-meso-microscales and specifically configured to package. The M3 robots are systematically characterized in terms of quasi-static precision measures and assembly plans are generated using kinematic identification, inverse kinematics and visual servoing. The advantage of our approach the fact that high assembly yields for our system are a consequence of a set of so-called precision resolution-repeatability-accuracy (RRA) rules introduced in this paper. Experimental results for packaging of a microelectromechanical systems switch are provided to support our findings.
Predictors of Faculty Intent to Exit the Organization: Potential Turnover in a Large University

A comprehensive model of intent to exit (leave) the employing organization was developed to include personal traits, early childhood socialization, higher education socialization, occupational status, personal values, general attitudes, professionalism, dissatisfaction, and support for collective bargaining variables. A representative stratified random sample yielded a 69.7% return rate of university faculty of a major state university in the midwest. The findings of the regression analysis of all variables in the model demonstrated that attitudinal support for collective bargaining, job dissatisfaction variables, personal traits of age and sex, and selected measures of professionalism were the major predictors of intent to exit the organization. This analysis further demonstrated the need for a more comprehensive model of intent to exit which includes not only the more often used psychological variables but also structural variables and alternative methods of modifying the employing organization which ma...
Freeze, Wait, Reanimate: Cryonic Suspension and Science Fiction

This essay takes as its chief point of departure Jacques Ellul’s contention that imaginative treatments of malevolent technology in antitechnological science fiction, by way of inviting rejection, ...
Land Use in an Urban Hinterland: Ethnography and Remote Sensing in the Study of African Intensification

In the study of African agricultural intensification, stronger inferences may be drawn by combining ethnographic study of small samples with the comprehensive coverage afforded by remote sensing than would be possible with either method alone. Study in the hinterland of Ibadan, Nigeria, suggests that land use by small-scale farmers is tending to diverge into two different patterns of cropping, land use and labor intensity. Remote sensing analysis allows us to suggest that, largely due to market response, agricultural practice is developing in a dynamic fashion in advance of population pressure on Ruthenberg's threshold for humid savanna agriculture of four years of cultivation to eight years of fallow.
An Extraribosomal Function of Ribosomal Protein L13a in Macrophages Resolves Inflammation

Inflammation is an obligatory attempt of the immune system to protect the host from infections. However, unregulated synthesis of proinflammatory products can have detrimental effects. Although mechanisms that lead to inflammation are well appreciated, those that restrain it are not adequately understood. Creating macrophage-specific L13a-knockout mice, we report that depletion of ribosomal protein L13a abrogates the endogenous translation control of several chemokines in macrophages. Upon LPS-induced endotoxemia, these animals displayed symptoms of severe inflammation caused by widespread infiltration of macrophages in major organs causing tissue injury and reduced survival rates. Macrophages from these knockout animals show unregulated expression of several chemokines (e.g., CXCL13, CCL22, CCL8, and CCR3). These macrophages failed to show L13a-dependent RNA binding complex formation on target mRNAs. In addition, increased polyribosomal abundance of these mRNAs shows a defect in translation control in the macrophages. Thus, to our knowledge, our studies provide the first evidence of an essential extraribosomal function of ribosomal protein L13a in resolving physiological inflammation in a mammalian host.
Sharpness measure: towards automatic image enhancement

We propose a measure for image sharpness, which facilitates automatic image sharpness enhancement. This way blurry images will be sharpened more whereas sufficiently sharp images will not be sharpened at all. The measure employs localized frequency content analysis in a feature-based context. The proposed sharpness measure correlates well with perceived sharpness, and is to a large degree invariant to image content. Furthermore, we show that the proposed measure can be used to drive an enhancement algorithm, which will sharpen an input image to a nominal measure. Last but not least, the proposed sharpness measure is computationally efficient, and requires fewer computations than a 3/spl times/3 convolution.
Obesidad y Esperanza de Vida en México Obesity and life expectancy in Mexico.

The high and increasing prevalence of overweight an d obesity in Latin American and the Caribbean and the increasing prevalence of some obesity-related c hronic diseases could be changing the current mortality patterns and the improvements in life exp ectancy of this population. The main objective of t his study is to measure the effect of overweight and ob esity on mortality in Mexico among elderly people ( 60 years and older). We use the Mexican Health and Ageing Study (MHAS, 2001 and 2003) that is a panel nationally-representative study of the population 5 0 years and older in Mexico. Our results show that excess body weight (defined by the two highest quin tiles of Body Mass Index-BMI-) increases the risk o f mortality at 60 years and older in Mexico. As much as 11% of the deaths among elderly that occurred during the period 2001-2003 in Mexico would have been avoided if overweight and obese people (individuals belonging to the highest two quintiles of BMI) had had the “ideal” weight (defined by the middle quintile, or third quintile, of BMI). At ind ividual level, we estimate that individuals 60 year s old with excess body weight (fourth and fifth quintiles of BMI) survive four years less, in average, than individuals with normal body weight (third quintile of BMI).
Anti-angiogenic peptides identified in thrombospondin type I domains

Thrombospondin 1, the prototypical protein of the thrombospondin protein family, is a potent endogenous inhibitor of angiogenesis. Although the effects of the thrombospondin 1 on neovascularization have been well studied, little is known about the anti-angiogenic potency of other proteins or peptide fragments derived from the proteins in this family. Here we identify a set of 18 novel, anti-angiogenic 17- to 20-amino acid peptides that are derived from proteins containing type I thrombospondin motifs. We have named these peptides adamtsostatin-4, adamtsostatin-16, adamtsostatin-18, cartilostatin-1, cartilostatin-2, fibulostatin-6.2, fibulostatin-6.3, papilostatin-1, papilostatin-2, properdistatin, scospondistatin, semastatin-5A.1, semastatin-5A.2, semastatin-5B, thrombostatin containing-1, thrombostatin contaning-3, thrombostatin contaning-6, and wispostatin-1 to reflect their origin. We further demonstrate that these peptides inhibit the proliferation and migration of human umbilical vein endothelial cells in vitro. The anti-proliferative and anti-migratory properties of the identified peptides may be important in maintaining angiogenic homeostasis in vivo and make these peptides suitable candidates for use as anti-angiogenic pharmaceutical agents in numerous therapeutic applications.
Message and protein-level elevation of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and TNFα-modulating cytokines in spinal cords of the G93A-SOD1 mouse model for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Recent data indicate that certain pro-inflammatory cytokines are transcriptionally upregulated in the spinal cords of G93A-SOD1 mice, a model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We previously showed that the receptor for tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-R1) was notably elevated at late presymptomatic as well as symptomatic phases of disease (J. Neurochem. 82 (2002) 365). We now extend these findings by showing that message for TNFalpha, as well as mRNA for interferon gamma (IFNgamma) and transforming growth factor beta1/2 (TGFbeta1, TGFbeta2), is simultaneously increased. Furthermore, TNFalpha protein is significantly increased in G93A-SOD1 mouse spinal cords, as are protein levels for interleukin-6 (IL6), IFNgamma, and the chemokines RANTES (CCL5) and KC. The interaction of TNFalpha, IL6, and IFNgamma proteins was modeled in vitro using Walker EOC-20 murine microglia with nitrite (NO(2)(-)) efflux as a quantitative index of cell response. TNFalpha alone caused robust NO(2)(-) flux, while IL6 had a lesser effect and neither IFNgamma nor IL1beta was active when applied singly. The TNFalpha stimulus was potently magnified in the presence of IL6 or IFNgamma. When applied in combination at very low concentrations, IFNgamma co-synergized with IL6 to produce a multiplicative increase in NO(2)(-) after stimulation with TNFalpha. Taken together, these data suggest that modest increases in multiple synergistic cytokines could produce a disproportionately severe activation of microglia within the degenerating spinal cord. Our data support a model wherein TNFalpha acts as a principal driver for neuroinflammation, while several co-stimulating cytokines and chemokines act to potentiate the TNFalpha effects.
Economic Organization: The Case For Candor

The article reports on transitional cost economics (TCE) and opportunism in business. The author focuses on discussing the economic theory of industrial organization. It is suggested that research related to self-interest and cognitive styles is especially useful when considering aspects of organizational behavior. It is further suggested that TCE and industrial efficiency are connected to one another. The author discusses the strengths and weaknesses present in many professional contracts. Prediction methods are also examined.
Description of the adult male Cypridinodes plax Kornicker, 1991, from Samoa (Crustacea: Ostracoda: Myodocopa)

ABSTRACT The adult male of Cypridinodes plax Kornicker, 1991 collected on the Dana Expedition of 1928 in Apia Harbor, Samoa, is described and illustrated. Two male specimens from the same station that had been previously referred to Cypridinodes asymmetrica (Muller, 1906) by Poulsen (1962) were examined and found to be Cypridinodes plax Kornicker, 1991.
An Increase in Medical Student Knowledge of Radiation Oncology: A Pre-post Examination Analysis of the Oncology Education Initiative

Purpose: The Oncology Education Initiative was created to advance oncology and radiation oncology education by integrating structured didactics into the existing core radiology clerkship. We set out to determine whether the addition of structured didactics could lead to a significant increase in overall medical student knowledge about radiation oncology. Methods and Materials: We conducted a pre- and posttest examining concepts in general radiation oncology, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. The 15-question, multiple-choice exam was administered before and after a 1.5-hour didactic lecture by an attending physician in radiation oncology. Individual question changes, overall student changes, and overall categorical changes were analyzed. All hypothesis tests were two-tailed (significance level 0.05). Results: Of the 153 fourth-year students, 137 (90%) took the pre- and posttest and were present for the didactic lecture. The average test grade improved from 59% to 70% (p = 0.011). Improvement was seen in all questions except clinical vignettes involving correct identification of TNM staging. Statistically significant improvement (p {<=} 0.03) was seen in the questions regarding acute and late side effects of radiation, brachytherapy for prostate cancer, delivery of radiation treatment, and management of early-stage breast cancer. Conclusions: Addition of didactics in radiation oncology significantly improves medical students'more » knowledge of the topic. Despite perceived difficulty in teaching radiation oncology and the assumption that it is beyond the scope of reasonable knowledge for medical students, we have shown that even with one dedicated lecture, students can learn and absorb general principles regarding radiation oncology.« less
Low-dose carbicarb improves cerebral outcome after asphyxial cardiac arrest in rats

Abstract Study Objective: Controversy surrounds the use of buffers during cardiac arrest to correct acidosis. The objective of this study was to determine whether attenuation or neutralization of cerebral acidosis by Carbicarb alters hippocampal glutamate levels, neuronal cell death, and neurologic deficits after reperfusion from asphyxial cardiac arrest in rats. Methods: Rats were prospectively randomized to either a control (n=45), low-dose Carbicarb (LDC; 3 mL/kg, n=45), or high-dose Carbicarb (HDC; 6 mL/kg, n=45) group in a blinded fashion during resuscitation after 8 minutes of asphyxial cardiac arrest. Microdialysis was used to assess brain pH and glutamate. A neurologic deficit score and neuronal cell death in the hippocampus were determined at day 7. Results: Resuscitation was greatest in LDC rats (42/45) and least in HDC rats (28/45) versus that in control rats (34/45). Brain pH was higher in the LDC and HDC rats 10 minutes after resuscitation and remained higher than that of control rats for 120 minutes after resuscitation. Glutamate levels at 10 to 120 minutes after reperfusion were lowest in the LDC rats. LDC rats had the lowest neurologic deficit score (1±2) versus that of control rats (13±8) and HDC rats (19±6). Hippocampal neuronal cell death was lowest in LDC rats (30±20) versus that in control rats (86±47) and HDC rats (233±85). Conclusion: LDC administered during resuscitation from asphyxial cardiac arrest attenuated acidosis, improved resuscitation, and reduced neurologic deficits and the number of dead hippocampal neurons. Neutralization of cerebral acidosis with HDC increased the number of dead hippocampal neurons and neurologic deficits after resuscitation from cardiac arrest in rats. [Katz LM, Wang Y, Rockoff S, Bouldin TW. Low-dose Carbicarb improves cerebral outcome after asphyxial cardiac arrest in rats. Ann Emerg Med. April 2002;39:359-365.]
An Integrated Model and Solution Approach for Fleet Sizing with Heterogeneous Assets

This paper addresses a fleet-sizing problem in the context of the truck-rental industry. Specifically, trucks that vary in capacity and age are utilized over space and time to meet customer demand. Operational decisions (including demand allocation and empty truck repositioning) and tactical decisions (including asset procurements and sales) are explicitly examined in a linear programming model to determine the optimal fleet size and mix. The method uses a time-space network, common to fleet-management problems, but also includes capital cost decisions, wherein assets of different ages carry different costs, as is common to replacement analysis problems. A two-phase solution approach is developed to solve large-scale instances of the problem. Phase I allocates customer demand among assets through Benders decomposition with a demand-shifting algorithm assuring feasibility in each subproblem. Phase II uses the initial bounds and dual variables from Phase I and further improves the solution convergence without increasing computer memory requirements through the use of Lagrangian relaxation. Computational studies are presented to show the effectiveness of the approach for solving large problems within reasonable solution gaps.
Krüppel-Like Factor 5 Protects against Murine Colitis and Activates JAK-STAT Signaling In Vivo

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which is characterized by chronic or recurring inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, affects 1.4 million persons in the United States alone. KLF5, a Kruppel-like factor (KLF) family member, is expressed within the epithelia of the gastrointestinal tract and has been implicated in rapid cell proliferation, migration, and remodeling in a number of tissues. Given these functions, we hypothesized that constitutive Klf5 expression would protect against the development of colitis in vivo. To examine the role of KLF5 in vivo, we used the Villin promoter to target Klf5 to the entire horizontal axis of the small intestine and colon. Villin-Klf5 transgenic mice were born at normal Mendelian ratios and appeared grossly normal to at least 1 year of age. Surprisingly, there were no significant changes in cell proliferation or in the differentiation of any of the intestinal lineages within the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon of Villin-Klf5 mice, compared to littermate controls. However, when Villin-Klf5 mice were treated with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to induce colitis, they developed less colonic injury and significantly reduced disease activity scores than littermate controls. The mechanism for this decreased injury may come via JAK-STAT signaling, the activation of which was increased in colonic mucosa of DSS treated Villin-Klf5 mice compared to controls. Thus, KLF5 and its downstream mediators may provide therapeutic targets and disease markers for IBD or other diseases characterized by injury and disruption of intestinal epithelia.
Socrates in a Different Key: James Baldwin and Race in America

This essay interprets Baldwin as continuing the Socratic practice of self-examination and social criticism while also shifting his Socratic undertaking by charting the limits of examination created by the harsh effects of race and slavery in the United States. The author argues that Baldwin’s Socratic practice inflects not only his essays—the center of previous analyses—but also his fictions. By transposing Socrates to issues of race in twentieth-century America and confronting the incoherent effects of a racialized society, James Baldwin thus carries forward and transforms a pivotal figure in the history of political thought.
Deposition Patterns of Nebulized Drugs: Is the Pattern Important?

ABSTRACT It is logical to assume that the efficacy of an aerosolized drug should be related to the local airway dose. To test this assumption, it is necessary to have some index of the distribution of deposited drug within the airway and a measure of efficacy. However, most studies, in which the regional disftribution of a deposited radiolabeled aerosol throughout the lung has been carefully measured, have not been directly related to the efficacy of any drug. For example, the deposition pattern is critical in terms of interpreting studies of mucociliary clearance but, in those cases, the radiolabel is usually not tied to a therapeutic agonist. Most classical studies measuring the efficacy of an aerosolized drug involve bronchodilators. While bronchodilatation itself has been shown to affect subsequent regional ventilation and particle deposition, targeting specific airways has never been shown to be critical for bronchodilator efficacy. This situation may be different for agents which have a more delayed...
Positional Identity as a lens for Connecting Elementary Preservice Teachers to Teaching in Urban Classrooms

Using qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, this study explores positional identity as a lens for understanding elementary preservice teachers’ discourse around identity and science teaching. The three preservice teachers in the study were enrolled in a 16-week science methods course. At the conclusion of the course, they agreed to participate in this study to explore early understandings of positional identity and science teaching. The findings suggest that positional identity is a useful lens for understanding the complex ways in which preservice teachers discuss who they are, and how they view self and teaching.
Incorporating Health-related Quality of Life Into the Assessment of Outcome Following Strabismus Surgery.

Purpose To evaluate changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in adult strabismus patients classified as surgical failures by standard motor and diplopia criteria. Design Prospective cohort study evaluating outcomes. Methods Adults undergoing strabismus surgery in a single clinical practice, with preoperative and 1-year-postoperative Adult Strabismus-20 HRQOL questionnaires, were included. Motor and diplopia criteria were applied to classify outcomes (success, partial success, or failure). For those classified as failure, the medical record of the 1-year examination was reviewed to determine whether the patient reported subjective improvement. We evaluated improvement in HRQOL, defined as exceeding 95% limits of agreement on at least 1 of the 4 Adult Strabismus-20 domains. We compared proportions exceeding 95% limits of agreement in those reporting subjective improvement vs those who did not. Results Forty of 227 patients (18%) were classified as failure by motor and diplopia criteria, with 39 of 40 able to exceed Adult Strabismus-20 95% limits of agreement. Overall, 21 of 39 (54%) showed improved HRQOL by exceeding 95% limits of agreement on at least 1 of the 4 Adult Strabismus-20 domains (54% vs predicted 10% by chance alone; P Conclusions Many apparent surgical failures report subjective improvement, often reflected in improved HRQOL scores. We propose incorporating quantitative HRQOL criteria into the assessment of strabismus surgery outcomes, defining success as either meeting motor and diplopia criteria or showing improvement in HRQOL beyond test-retest variability.
On-line charge breeding using ECRIS and EBIS

Abstract The efficient and rapid production of a high-quality, pure beam of highly charged ions is at the heart of any radioactive ion beam facility. Whether an electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source or an electron beam ion source (EBIS) is used to produce these highly charged ions, their operating characteristics will set the boundaries on the range of experiments which can be performed. In addition, time structure and duty cycle have to be considered when defining the operating parameters of the accelerator system as a whole. At Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), an ECR charge breeder was developed as part of the Californium Rare Ion Breeder Upgrade (CARIBU) program. The charge breeding efficiency and high charge state production of the source is at the forefront of ECR charge breeders, but its overall performance as part of the accelerator system is limited by pervasive background and relatively long breeding times. As such, an EBIS charge breeder has been developed and is running in an off-line configuration. It has already demonstrated good breeding efficiencies, shorter residence times, and reduced background and is scheduled to replace the ECR charge breeder in late 2015. The resultant change in duty cycle and time structure necessitates changes to the overall operation of the facility. The experiences with these breeders, as well as from several other facilities which already utilize an ECR or EBIS for charge breeding, help to define the operational characteristics of each technology – their strengths, their weaknesses, and the possible paths to improvement.
Analysis of the rate of non-target disease progression in patients with stable or responding target disease by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)

6603 Background: RECIST suggests progression of non-target disease is rare in patients with stable or responding target disease. We reviewed outcomes by RECIST to determine the rate of non-target (...
CPLOAS_2 user manual

Weak link (WL)/strong link (SL) systems are important parts of the overall operational design of high-consequence systems. In such designs, the SL system is very robust and is intended to permit operation of the entire system under, and only under, intended conditions. In contrast, the WL system is intended to fail in a predictable and irreversible manner under accident conditions and render the entire system inoperable before an accidental operation of the SL system. The likelihood that the WL system will fail to deactivate the entire system before the SL system fails (i.e., degrades into a configuration that could allow an accidental operation of the entire system) is referred to as probability of loss of assured safety (PLOAS). This report describes the Fortran 90 program CPLOAS_2 that implements the following representations for PLOAS for situations in which both link physical properties and link failure properties are time-dependent: (i) failure of all SLs before failure of any WL, (ii) failure of any SL before failure of any WL, (iii) failure of all SLs before failure of all WLs, and (iv) failure of any SL before failure of all WLs. The effects of aleatory uncertainty and epistemic uncertainty in the definition andmore » numerical evaluation of PLOAS can be included in the calculations performed by CPLOAS_2.« less
Shock-Fitted Calculations of Unsteady Detonation in Ozone

An ultra-ne, sub-micron discrete grid is used to capture the unsteady dynamics of a one-dimensional detonation in an inviscid O O2 O3 mixture. The ultra-ne grid is necessary to capture the length scales revealed by a complementary analysis of the steady detonation wave structure. For the unsteady calculations, shock-tting coupled with a high order spatio-temporal discretization scheme combine to render numerical corruption negligible. As a result, mathematically veried solutions for a mixture initially of all O3 at one atmosphere and 298:15 K have been obtained; the solutions are converging at a rate much faster than the sub-rst order convergence rate of all shock-capturing schemes. Additionally, the model has been validated against limited experimental data. Transient calculations show that strongly overdriven waves are stable and moderately overdriven waves unstable.
Multilingual data selection for training stacked bottleneck features

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) trained on multilingual data have proven useful for improving speech recognition in languages with limited resources. In this framework, data from rich resource languages are pooled together to train a single system and then adapted to a new language. However, data from a rich language that are similar to the target language are generally more helpful. We explore methods of training bottleneck features by using data that are more similar to the target language. Our experiments on speech recognition and keyword spotting tasks with IARPA-Babel languages show that our proposed methods outperform typical multilingual DNNs.
Application of drug-use review principles to intravenous administration set use: a preliminary study.

A quantitative study of the use of intravenous administration sets in a 556-bed hospital was conducted as a first step in establishing a use-review program for administration sets. Central supply and pharmacy distribution points for i.v. administration sets were identified. Patient use of i.v. administration sets was recorded twice daily for seven-day periods on each of six patient-care units; data for all units were collected within a three-month period. Use of six common administration sets was studied. For each patient-care unit studied, the majority of sets used were of two of the six types; the specific set types differed by unit. More sets were used between the hours of 0801 and 2000. The number of sets per i.v. patient day (one patient receiving i.v. therapy on one day) was greatest in the intensive-care units. Through application of components of drug-use review, the numbers and types of i.v. administration sets used in various patient-care areas were identified.
Placing the Marginalized Ahmadiyya in Context with the Traditional Sunni Majority

This essay attempts to describe the Ahmadiyya, a persecuted minority group within Islam, according to the writings of their founder, Hadhrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. The Ahmadi differ from traditional Sunni Islam in three major ways: their interpretations of jihad, the person- and prophethood of Jesus Christ, and their understandings of Muhammad as the Final Prophet, which has led to accusations of apostasy. Accordingly, this essay intends to compare and contrast Ahmadi interpretations with both Quranic and Biblical texts in order to accurately describe where it is the Ahmadi community fits on a globalized scale. Largely ostracized due to their interpretative variances with the larger Sunni community, this essay argues that the Ahmadi, while admittedly different, must be accepted based on their similarities.
The Concept of Magnitude and What It Tells Us About How Struggling Students Learn Fractions

This commentary summarizes emerging research into fractions instruction for students who are at risk for failure. Each of the three articles emphasizes a measure conception of fractions. Teaching fractions as measurement helps students learn the magnitude of rational numbers. However, measurement is only part of the way that students should conceptualize fractions. Instruction also needs to emphasize fractions as division. The article also draws attention to the teaching qualifications of those who typically instruct at-risk students in Tier 2 and 3 settings. More often than not, these individuals lack the pedagogical content knowledge needed to adapt instruction and address student misconceptions. This is a critical issue going forward as the field attempts to balance procedural understanding with key underlying fractional ideas such a measurement and division.
Linear Viscoelastic Boundary Value Problems

In most published works on viscoelastic stress analysis the constitutive equations of the materials are expressed in linear differential operator forms. However, due to the mathematical complexity which arises when a realistic number of terms are used to properly characterize the material, these analyses have generally been limited to either short time intervals or unrealistic material representations. To overcome this difficulty, a more general method of representation for the constitutive equations of linear viscoelastic materials is achieved through the use of the hereditary integrals. Use of such constitutive equations permits an easy formulation of the time dependent expressions in the form of integral equations involving multiple convolution integrals which involve all the time dependent variables. The evaluation of these convolution integrals and the numerical solution of the integral equations then provides the response of the materials over broad time intervals. The general applicability of this method and practical techniques for its execution are discussed.