cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Goldilocks Zone of Type I IFNs: Lessons from Human Genetics

Type I IFNs (IFN-Is) are powerful cytokines. They provide remarkable protection against viral infections, but their indiscriminate production causes severe self-inflicted damage that can be lethal, particularly in early development. In humans, inappropriately high IFN-I levels caused by defects in the regulatory mechanisms that control IFN-I production and response result in clinical conditions known as type I interferonopathies. In essence, type I interferonopathies define the upper limit of safe, IFN-related inflammation in vivo. Conversely, the loss of IFN-I responsiveness increases susceptibility to viral infections, but, surprisingly, most affected individuals survive despite these inborn errors of immunity. These findings suggest that too much IFN-I early in life is toxic, but that insensitivity to IFN-I is perhaps not the death sentence it was initially thought to be. Human genetic analyses have suggested that seemingly insignificant levels of IFN-regulated gene activity may be sufficient for most of the antiviral defenses used by humans in natura.
Attachment: The Bond in Pair-Bonds

A recent issue of the New York Times Magazine featured an article about summer love songs. Included was a photograph of the rapper, Method Man, whose song is the current favorite among young lovers; in the photo, he is sitting with his arms wrapped around his long-term girlfriend, Shortie. The caption reports that, while on tour, Method "got lonely" for Shortie, arranged to have her fly cross country to join him, and then wrote the song, "I'll Be There for You," upon her arrival. It seems reasonable to assume that Method had other options for female company available to him. As a physically strong, high-status, amply-resourced male (musician), he likely had easy access to a variety of novel and fertile potential sexual partners (fans). But it was Shortie he longed for. Only she would do.
Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for Early Detection of Viral Outbreaks

The immense global burden of infectious disease outbreaks and the need to establish prediction and prevention systems have been recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States Agency of International Development (USAID), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the international scientific community. Despite multiple efforts, this infectious burden is still increasing. For example, it has been reported that between 1.5 and 12 million people die each year from waterborne diseases and diarrheal diseases are listed within the top 15 leading causes of death worldwide. Rapid population growth, climate change, natural disasters, immigration, globalization, and the corresponding sanitation and waste management challenges are expected to intensify the problem in the years to come.
MR image reconstruction using deep learning: evaluation of network structure and loss functions

Background To review and evaluate approaches to convolutional neural network (CNN) reconstruction for accelerated cardiac MR imaging in the real clinical context. Methods Two CNN architectures, Unet and residual network (Resnet) were evaluated using quantitative and qualitative assessment by radiologist. Four different loss functions were also considered: pixel-wise (L1 and L2), patch-wise structural dissimilarity (Dssim) and feature-wise (perceptual loss). The networks were evaluated using retrospectively and prospectively under-sampled cardiac MR data. Results Based on our assessments, we find that Resnet and Unet achieve similar image quality but that former requires only 100,000 parameters compared to 1.3 million parameters for the latter. The perceptual loss function performed significantly better than L1, L2 or Dssim loss functions as determined by the radiologist scores. Conclusions CNN image reconstruction using Resnet yields comparable image quality to Unet with 10X the number of parameters. This has implications for training with significantly lower data requirements. Network training using the perceptual loss function was found to better agree with radiologist scoring compared to L1, L2 or Dssim loss functions.
2487 Same-Day Discharge after Hysterectomy: Identifying Reasons for Unplanned Admissions and Evaluating Institutional Compliance with a Standardized Protocol

Study Objective Same-day discharge (SDD) has been the goal of most of minimally invasive hysterectomies. Our institution adopted a standardized operating procedure (SOP) for planned SDD in 2013. The aims of this study were to identify the reasons for unplanned admissions after minimally invasive hysterectomies at our institution and critically review the SDD SOP. Design Quality assurance, retrospective cohort study Setting Single academic institution Patients or Participants We reviewed charts of 74 patients between January to June 2017 and from June to December 2018 who underwent minimally invasive hysterectomy for benign gynecologic indications. Urogynecology patients were excluded. Interventions No interventions, descriptive study. Measurements and Main Results The peri-operative hospital course our sample was compared to our institution's SOP for same-day discharge. The average age of our cohort was 44 with an average body mass index of 27. Mean post-operative acute care unit stay was 4.7 hours (range 2.5 - 11.1 hours); 34% of patients stayed less than the 4 hours required in the SDD SOP, but none of these patients had post-operative emergency room visits or hospital re-admissions. Documentation of SDD SOP-recommended pre-operative counseling (43%) and intra-operative bladder backfilling (8%) was poor. Unplanned admissions on the day of surgery occurred in 17 (22.9%): 9 (52.9%) were for medical (23.5%) or surgical (29) complications, while 2 (12%) had voiding dysfunction and 2 (12%) had pain. Age, hysterectomy route, length of surgery, and estimated blood loss were not associated with these unplanned admissions. Conclusion Our quality assurance project identified that our unplanned admissions for nausea and pain could potentially be avoided with implementation of enhanced recovery after surgery protocol, including pre-operative counseling of expectations and same-day discharge information. Voiding dysfunction requiring admission could be decreased by performing active voiding trials in recovery area. Consider creating a protocol for goals at recovery room before discharge instead of a time frame to discharge.
Surface Morphology and Chemical Mapping of UV-Aged Thin Films of Bitumen

This study decouples effects of ultraviolet (UV) exposure on the surface and bulk properties of bituminous composites. UV exposure accelerates oxidative aging of bitumen, but its effects are concen...
Neither Utopia nor Juvenile Transgression: Retracing the Link between the Movimento del ’77, Autonomy, and Literature

This article analyses the link between Italian Autonomy, the Bolognese Movimento del ’77, and associated literary works: Enrico Palandri’s Boccalone and Andrea Pazienza’s Pentothal. Scholars have g...
Efficient Sparse Matrix-Vector Multiplication on Intel PIUMA Architecture

Intel PIUMA is a novel architecture tailored for graph analytics. SpMV is a core component of graph analytics and we report on an early performance study of SpMV on the Intel PIUMA architecture.
Co-Optimization of Design and Fabrication Plans for Carpentry.

Past work on optimizing fabrication plans given a carpentry design can provide Pareto-optimal plans trading off between material waste, fabrication time, precision, and other considerations. However, when developing fabrication plans, experts rarely restrict to a single design, instead considering families of design variations, sometimes adjusting designs to simplify fabrication. Jointly exploring the design and fabrication plan spaces for each design is intractable using current techniques. We present a new approach to jointly optimize design and fabrication plans for carpentered objects. To make this bi-level optimization tractable, we adapt recent work from program synthesis based on equality graphs (e-graphs), which encode sets of equivalent programs. Our insight is that subproblems within our bi-level problem share significant substructures. By representing both designs and fabrication plans in a new bag of parts(BOP) e-graph, we amortize the cost of optimizing design components shared among multiple candidates. Even using BOP e-graphs, the optimization space grows quickly in practice. Hence, we also show how a feedback-guided search strategy dubbed Iterative Contraction and Expansion on E-graphs(ICEE) can keep the size of the e-graph manage-able and direct the search toward promising candidates. We illustrate the advantages of our pipeline through examples from the carpentry domain.
Duodenal switch versus Roux-en-Y gastric bypass: a perioperative risk comparative analysis of the MBSAQIP Database (2015-2019).

Background Biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch (BPD/DS) is a procedure that has long been considered to have a higher early postoperative morbidity than Roux-En-Y gastric bypass (RYGB). However, patients who undergo BPD/DS have more baseline co-morbidities that may affect the reported early postoperative morbidity. Objective To compare 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality between BPD/DS and RYGB propensity score-matched cohorts obtained from the MBSAQIP database. Setting Analysis of data obtained from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) database. Methods Retrospective analysis of 21-variable propensity score-matched patients in the BPD/DS and RYGB groups obtained from the MBSAQIP database between 2015 and 2019. Variables included age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, and pertinent medical co-morbidities. Data were analyzed for 30-day postoperative morbidity, mortality, reoperation, reintervention, and readmissions. Results Before matching, RYGB and BPD/DS cohorts contained 134 188 and 5079 patients, respectively. After multivariable propensity score matching, each cohort contained 5050 patients. The RYGB group had a higher rate of surgical-site infections than the BPD/DS group (1% versus .5%, P = .007) and a higher rate of blood product transfusions (1.1% versus .6%, P = .018). The rate of other early postoperative complications was similar between the 2 groups (P > .05). There was no statistically significant difference in the 30-day mortality, readmission rate, reoperation rate, or reintervention rate between the 2 groups (P > .05). Conclusion When matched for baseline body mass index and co-morbidities, BPD/DS does not lead to a higher 30-day postoperative morbidity and mortality than RYGB. Patients can be counseled that in the short term, BPD/DS is as safe as RYGB.
AI's Legitimate Interest: Towards a Public Benefit Privacy Model

Health data uses are on the rise. Increasingly more often, data are used for a variety of operational, diagnostic, and technical uses, as in the Internet of Health Things. Never has quality data been more necessary: large data stores now power the most advanced artificial intelligence applications, applications that may enable early diagnosis of chronic diseases and enable personalized medical treatment. These data, both personally identifiable and de-identified, have the potential to dramatically improve the quality, effectiveness, and safety of artificial intelligence. Existing privacy laws do not 1) effectively protect the privacy interests of individuals and 2) provide the flexibility needed to support artificial intelligence applications. This paper identifies some of the key challenges with existing privacy laws, including the ineffectiveness of de-identification and data minimization protocols in practice and issues with notice and consent as they apply to artificial intelligence applications, then proposes an alternative privacy model. This model specifically rejects a notice and consent model in favor of legitimate interest analysis. This approach introduces a more restrictive application of health privacy law while adopting a flexible, interest-balancing approach to permit additional data uses that primarily benefit individuals and communities.
Transforming the cost of solar-to-electrical energy conversion: Integrating thin-film GaAs solar cells with non-tracking mini-concentrators

Practical solar energy solutions must not only reduce the cost of the module, but also address the substantial balance of system costs. Here, we demonstrate a counter-intuitive approach based on gallium arsenide solar cells that can achieve extremely low-cost solar energy conversion with an estimated cost of only 3% that of conventional gallium arsenide solar cells using an accelerated, non-destructive epitaxial lift-off wafer recycling process along with a lightweight, thermoformed plastic, truncated mini-compound parabolic concentrator that avoids the need for active solar tracking. Using solar cell/concentrator assemblies whose orientations are adjusted only a few times per year, the annual energy harvesting is increased by 2.8 times compared with planar solar cells without solar tracking. These results represent a potentially drastic cost reduction in both the module and the balance of system costs compared with heavy, rigid conventional modules and trackers that are subject to wind loading damage and high installation costs. Thin-film GaAs solar cells integrated with wide-acceptance-angle compound parabolic concentrators could slash solar energy costs. Researchers at the University of Michigan in the USA have dramatically reduced the material and fabrication costs of GaAs solar cells by using an accelerated, non-destructive epitaxial lift-off fabrication process and by incorporating mini concentrators. They estimate that the material and fabrication costs of these solar cells are a mere 3% those of analogous substrate-based GaAs cells and 11% those of solar cells produce by conventional epitaxial lift-off methods. The wide acceptance angles of the concentrators means that the solar cell orientation only needs adjusting a few times per year, eliminating the need to use expensive active solar tracking. Furthermore, the solar cells can be operated at or near room temperature, and hence do not require active cooling.
Morphological Evolution of Radio Galaxies

Powerful radio galaxies are unique at the present time in that they have optically resolvable structures that can observed over a range of look-back times comparable to the Hubble time. This allows us to examine how their morphologies evolve with cosmic time in their stellar continuum, thermal line-emitting gas, and non-thermal synchrotron emitting plasmas. The continuum shapes of high redshift radio galaxies become more elongated at high redshift and are closely aligned with their radio source axes. The extended emission line regions were larger and more luminous in the past and they too are well aligned with their radio source axes. Finally, the radio sources themselves were more asymmetric in the past both in terms of their structures and in the flux densities, spectral indices and polarization of the diffuse lobes.
Striated muscle-type tropomyosin in a chordate smooth muscle, ascidian body-wall muscle.

Abstract Body-wall muscle tropomyosin (Tm) of a marine chordate, the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, was studied by protein and cDNA clone analyses. Our results indicate that body-wall muscle of Ciona contains one major Tm isoform encoded by a single gene. Unexpectedly, the sequence of this Tm resembles vertebrate-striated muscle Tm isoforms, rather than those of smooth muscle or nonmuscle tissues, despite the fact that body-wall muscle is a nonsarcomeric (i.e. smooth) muscle. We also found that an apparently identical Tm isoform, derived from the same gene, is expressed at high levels in Ciona heart, a striated muscle. This is the first example of an organism in which a single Tm isoform is prominently expressed in both sarcomeric and non-sarcomeric tissues. Our results demonstrate that the characteristic features of "sarcomeric" Tm isoforms are not primarily related to sarcomeric ultrastructure per se. Instead, because ascidian body-wall muscle, unlike vertebrate smooth muscle, contains troponin, we suggest that it is the interaction with troponin that generates the selective pressure to maintain the characteristic C-terminal structure of so-called sarcomeric Tm isoforms. Our results further document the remarkable molecular similarity between the nonsarcomeric ascidian body-wall muscle and vertebrate-striated muscle. We suggest that these muscle types represent sarcomeric and nonsarcomeric variants of a fundamental class of troponin/Tm-regulated muscles, contrary to the traditional smooth/striated classification of muscle types. The possible relationship of this class of muscle to vertebrate smooth muscle is discussed.
Analysis of the components of the Miranda warnings

Differences in people's understandings of the Miranda warnings have been demonstrated through a number of research studies. However, little research exists on the differences between the parts of the Miranda used by law enforcement in various jurisdictions. This study investigated the differences between the warnings used in various jurisdictions across the U.S. Results indicated that the fourth prong (i.e., appointment of an attorney for an indigent defendant) was more difficult to read compared with the other main prongs. Results also revealed that juvenile versions of the Miranda are significantly more difficult to read than the adult versions. The results continue to support the necessity of careful and thorough evaluation of waiver competency.
Automated design of a Petri net feedback controller for a robotic assembly cell

This paper has presented an extended example demonstrating a particularly simple and computationally efficient method for constructing feedback controllers for untimed Petri nets, even in the face of uncontrollable and unobservable plant transitions. The method is based on the idea that specifications representing desired plant behaviors can be enforced by making them invariants of the controlled net, and that simple row operations on a matrix containing the uncontrollable/unobservable columns of the plant incidence matrix can be used to eliminate controller use of illegal transitions. The significance of this particular approach to Petri net controller design is that the control net can be computed efficiently and automatically based on the plant constraints. The method shows promise for controlling large, complex systems, or for recomputing control laws online due to some plant failure, such as the loss of a required resource, the break down of an actuator, or the corruption of a sensor.
(MP) 2 T: multiple people multiple parts tracker

We present a method for multi-target tracking that exploits the persistence in detection of object parts. While the implicit representation and detection of body parts have recently been leveraged for improved human detection, ours is the first method that attempts to temporally constrain the location of human body parts with the express purpose of improving pedestrian tracking. We pose the problem of simultaneous tracking of multiple targets and their parts in a network flow optimization framework and show that parts of this network need to be optimized separately and iteratively, due to inter-dependencies of node and edge costs. Given potential detections of humans and their parts separately, an initial set of pedestrian tracklets is first obtained, followed by explicit tracking of human parts as constrained by initial human tracking. A merging step is then performed whereby we attempt to include part-only detections for which the entire human is not observable. This step employs a selective appearance model, which allows us to skip occluded parts in description of positive training samples. The result is high confidence, robust trajectories of pedestrians as well as their parts, which essentially constrain each other's locations and associations, thus improving human tracking and parts detection. We test our algorithm on multiple real datasets and show that the proposed algorithm is an improvement over the state-of-the-art.
How Passive 'Face Time' Affects Perceptions of Employees: Evidence of Spontaneous Trait Inference in Context

We examine how and why passive face time (being passively observed at work) might affect perceptions of employees in professional settings. Findings from a qualitative study suggest that passive face time exists in two forms: (1) being seen at work during normal business hours - or expected face time, and (2) being seen at work outside of normal business hours - or extracurricular face time. These two forms of passive face time appear to affect employee perceptions because they lead to trait inferences. Expected face time leads to inferences that an employee is "dependable," while extracurricular passive face time leads to inferences that an employee is "committed". Findings from an experimental study provide confirmation of our qualitative findings and suggest that trait inferences are made spontaneously. We discuss the implications of our findings for theories of organizational citizenship behavior and trait inference, and for the practice of performance evaluation.
Multiple Foreign Bodies in the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract: Report Of Three Unusual Cases

Summary Three rather unusual cases of multiple foreign bodies of the upper gastrointestinal tract are described. In the first case two successive trichobezoars formed in the stomach of a young neurotic girl, within a period of two months. Both of the "hair balls" were removed surgically. In the second case, the stomach contained two phytobezoars. One was removed surgically; the other apparently disintegrated and passed through the gastrointestinal tract. In the third case, a cholecysto-duodenal fistula developed spontaneously with erosion of two gallstones into the duodenum, one of which migrated into the stomach. Both stones were removed surgically. Four of the 6 foreign bodies were observed through the gastroscope.
Clinical Implications of the Vascular Laboratory in the Diagnosis of Peripheral Arterial Disease

Our understanding of the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, and natural history of peripheral vascular disorders must constantly be coupled with an appreciation of current diagnostic and therapeutic tools (noninvasive vascular testing, CTA, magnetic resonance angiography, conventional angiography, and angioplasty/stenting). This chapter will provide an entry point into clinical problem solving by considering the areas of screening, assessment prior to and immediately after intervention, surveillance (long-term, usually after intervention), and certain special areas of the peripheral arterial system. These include: selection of arterial reconstruction, healing response, amputation sites, compression syndromes, penile circulation, upper extremity ischemia, arteriovenous malformation, hemodialysis access graft, and arterial aneurysms.
MEASURING FEMINIST ATTITUDES

Henley and colleagues' results, obtained in the process of developing a scale to measure the diversity of feminist attitudes, highlight a dilemma for feminist researchers in psychology. On the one hand, we advocate research based on feminist theory. On the other, we believe that research should begin with the lived experiences of women, from which theory should be generated, rather than forcing women's responses into a predetermined theoretical mold. Several aspects of Henley and colleagues' results contradict feminist theory. I argue that researchers should use empirical data to refine feminist theories.
A rapid ELISA for measurement of antibodies to nucliec acid antigens using UV-treated polystyrene microplates

Pretreatment of polystyrene microplate wells with certain doses of UV light enhances their capacity for binding to single-stranded DNA, double stranded DNA and various synthetic polynucleotides. The use of UV-irradiated plates to immobilize nucleic acid antigens provides a simple, rapid, and specific ELISA for measuring anti-nucleic acid antibodies. The assay is at least as sensitive as the more complex method of precoating plates with poly(L-lysine). It is useful for detection of anti-DNA antibodies in sera of systemic lupus erythematous patients, as well as in culture fluids of murine and human anti-DNA-secreting hybridomas.
Hostile behavior links negative childhood family relationships to heart rate reactivity and recovery in young adulthood

Prior research has demonstrated that vulnerability to stress is influenced by early life experiences. This study evaluates the impact of negative childhood family relationships on cardiovascular stress reactivity in young adulthood. Participants (age 18–22) from families characterized by negative (n = 39) or positive relationships (n = 36) engaged in a role-play conflict task. Hostile/aggressive verbal behaviors during the task were observed, and blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses were measured before, during, and after the task. Participants from negative families engaged in more hostile/aggressive verbal behavior during the task and showed attenuated HR reactivity. Hostile/aggressive verbal behavior predicted attenuated HR reactivity and recovery. Path analyses linked negative family relationships to more hostile verbal behavior during the task, and attenuated HR reactivity and recovery. These results support the development of hostile/aggressive behavior in social situations as a pathway linking childhood adversity to stress vulnerability across the lifespan.
Fractal Patterns in Burned Hele-Shaw Cells of Liquid Crystals and Oils

Abstract Fractal patterns in burned Hele-Shaw cells of nematic MBBA and mineral oil are observed when the DC or AC voltage across the cell increases beyond a threshold value. Each pattern consists of continuous strings etched on the plates, which can be thin and smooth, or thick and wrinkled. The two types may connect to each other in the same string. The overall pattern depends sensitively on the cell thickness, and whether DC or AC is used. Fractal dimensions of some of these patterns are calculated.
Novel NKX2.1 mutation associated with hypothyroidism and lethal respiratory failure in a full-term neonate

We report a case of lethal neonatal hypoxic respiratory failure and hypothyroidism in an infant with a novel missense mutation in NKX2.1.
The experimental induction of growth of the cow's udder and the initiation of milk secretion.

This bulletin reports on Department of Dairy Husbandry research project 80, Endocrine Genetics--P. [2].
Troponin I Ser-150 Phosphorylation Sustains Troponin Ca2+ Sensitivity in an Acidic Environment

A hallmark of cardiac ischemia is decreased intracellular pH which can affect a number of cellular processes. Such an acidic environment alters cardiac troponin (Tn) myofilament regulation to decrease Ca2+ sensitive force production. Tn also undergoes cardiac ischemia-induced AMPK troponin I (TnI) Ser-150 phosphorylation. We recently characterized the effects of TnI Ser-150 phosphorylation demonstrating that it blunted the functional effects of canonical TnI Ser-23/24 phosphorylation; however, the role of Ser-150 phosphorylation in ischemia remains unknown. As an initial step, we sought to investigate the effect of acidic pH on myofilament regulation in the presence of TnI Ser-150 phosphorylation alone and in combination with Ser-23/24 phosphorylation. We first investigated the effect of in vivo cardiac ischemia on levels of TnI Ser-150 and Ser-23/24 phosphorylation. Exposure to 30 minutes of regional ischemia resulted in elevation of both TnI Ser-150 and Ser-23/24 phosphorylation. Next we determined the effects of TnI Ser-150 pseudo-phosphorylation (S150D) on the myofilament by measuring troponin C (TnC) Ca2+ binding properties at normal and acidic pH. Results demonstrate acidic pH decreases steady-state Ca2+ binding to TnC in reconstituted thin filaments across all Tn (WT, S150D, S23/24D, and S23/24/150D) such that TnI S150D Ca2+ sensitivity at pH 6.5 is similar to WT at pH 7. Decreasing the pH had no effect on Ca2+ dissociation such that compared to WT, S23/24/150D remained fast while S150D was slowed. We conclude that TnI Ser-150 phosphorylation imparts resistance to acidic pH-induced myofilament Ca2+ desensitization while retaining increased Tn Ca2+ dissociation when in combination with Ser-23/24 phosphorylation suggesting the potential for an increase in force while maintaining accelerated Ca2+ dissociation. Future investigations are aimed at examining the effect of TnI Ser-150 and Ser-23/24 phosphorylation on protease cleavage of TnI.
Detection, location, and identification of building occupants using a robot-mounted through-wall radar

We have assembled, programmed, and demonstrated a robot- mounted motion-detection radar suitable for through-wall operation. Our radar, which employs pulse-Doppler techniques, is designed to look through building walls and locate moving targets. The radar's signal-processing algorithms use both time-domain and frequency-domain clues to classify detected motion as arising from: (1) the ambient background; (2) mechanical motion; or (3) human activity. In the case of human motion, our routines also attempt to identify the occupant's particular activity, e.g., resting, walking, talking.
Nature of the heat capacity anomaly in CuMn at Tsg

Abstract Precise measurements near Tsg show anomalies in the temperature and field derivatives of the heat capacity of Cu Mn, but no discontinuities. Thermodynamics fails to predict the observed relationship between the temperature dependence of the susceptibility and the field dependence of the heat capacity.
A Look at CDO Equity in a Portfolio Context: A Yield Enhancer, Diversifier

The equity tranches of collateralized debt obligations are risky, but offer high potential returns. Mean variance optimizations of portfolios containing traditional and alternative asset classes that include CDO equity of different collateral types indicate that: 1) CDO equity can enhance returns on portfolios of traditional asset classes through only partially correlated non-recourse leverage on the underlying collateral and 2) CDO equity in a portfolio of typical alternative assets (i.e., hedge funds, private equity, etc.) acts as a diversifier, thereby improving risk-adjusted returns. A portfolio of CDO equity tranches with differing underlying collateral has greater expected returns and lower volatility than CDO equity from any one of the underlying asset classes, supporting its characterization as a unique alternative asset class.
Imaging of an object behind a random phase screen using light of arbitrary coherence: reply to comment

It is shown that the speckle results presented by the author [ J. Opt. Soc. Am. A.2, 2318 ( 1985)] are correct, provided that the random phase introduced by the screen is complex so that the screen introduces both amplitude and phase fluctuations on the light.
Effects of amphetamine on single cell activity in a catecholamine nucleus, the locus coeruleus.

THE action of amphetamine on the central nervous system has been related to its ability to release and inhibit the re-uptake of dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NA) at presynaptic terminals1–4. Abundant catecholamine (CA) stores have been demonstrated in the cells of the locus coeruleus5–7. These two observations suggest that amphetamine causes the release and decreased re-uptake of CA from locus coeruleus cells. The drug, by promoting the accumulation of CA post-synaptically, might thereby initiate neuronal feedback inhibition of locus coeruleus units; such a mechanism has been postulated to explain biochemical observations on CA systems treated with amphetamine8. The opposite effect, feedback stimulation, has also been postulated to explain observations of the CA blocking effects of neuroleptics (chlorpromazine and haloperidol)9–11.
Effects of phase cancellation on broadband ultrasonic attenuation for in vitro human trabecular bone using a 2-D synthetic array

The average BV/TV, TB.Th and Tb.Sp for the trabecular bone are 0.154±0.052, 0.203±0.025 mm and 0.812±0.151 mm, respectively. After normalization with sample thickness, the average normalized BUA (nBUA) is 24.8±9.5 dB/MHz/cm and 19.2±5.5 dB/MHz/cm for PS and PI respectively. PS nBUA is significantly different than PI BUA (paired t-test, p<;0.0001). On average, PS nBUA is 28.5% higher than PI BUA, and linear regression shows that PS nBUA can explain 81.2% of the variability in PI nBUA. Both PI nBUA and PS nBUA are highly correlated with BV/TV with coefficients of R=0.911 and R=0.898 (p<;0.0001), respectively. Both PI nBUA and PS nBUA are also highly correlated with Young's modulus with coefficients of R=0.906 and R=0.822 (p<;0.0001), respectively. Results show that phase cancellation does have a significant effect on BUA. However, both PS nBUA and PI nBUA correlate well with the structural parameter, BV/TV and mechanical strength parameter, Young's modulus.
Glucose microsensors based on carbon paste enzyme electrodes modified with cupric hexacyanoferrate

Abstract The incorporation of cupric hexacyanoferrate within a glucose-oxidase containing carbon paste microelectrode (200 μm i.d.) results in a highly selective, fast-responding, reagentless glucose biosensor. The hexacyanometallate modifier retains its strong electroacatalytic action towards the reduction of the enzymatically liberated hydrogen peroxide upon confinement within the carbon-paste matrix, to allow tuning of the operating potential to a region (−0.2 to 0.0 V) where unwanted reactions are negligible. The use of cupric hexacyanoferrate circumvents stability problems inherent to Prussian-Blue films in alkaline solutions, and hence permits convenient operation at the physiological pH of 7.4. Various parameters affecting the response have been examined and optimized. Such one-step route for preparing hexacyanometallate-modified bioelectrodes obviates the need for multistep electrodepostion/polymer-casting schemes, and holds great promise for selective detection of glucose in biological fluids.
Elastic nonlinearity in metal-matrix composites

The elastic behavior of a solid consists of linear and nonlinear contributions. The linear part is represented by the well known Hooke’s law which is given in tensorial notation as $$\sigma _{ij} = C_{ijkl} \varepsilon _{kl}$$ (1) where σij and ekl are the stress and strain tensors, respectively, and Cijkl is the tensor of the second order elastic constants (SOEC). This relationship is sufficient for many engineering calculations since deviations from a purely linear elastic behavior are small. Hooke’s law, however, is not sufficient for an advanced characterization of the elastic behavior of materials. This is due to the fact that many of the physical and mechanical properties of materials are of nonlinear nature. The nonlinear elastic behavior can be investigated using ultrasonic techniques because of their high sensitivity for small nonlinear effects. Among the nonlinear effects are the stress and the temperature dependences of ultrasonic velocities in the solid. These effects have gained considerable interest in the last decade, particularly for the nondestructive evaluation of applied and residual stresses [1], and also for the microstructural characterization of materials [2]. Another physical manifestation of the nonlinear elastic behavior of solids is the acoustic nonlinearity parameter. This parameter can be determined from measurements of the amplitudes of fundamental and second harmonic when an originally sinusoidal wave gets distorted while propagating through the solid. The nonlinearity parameter can also be calculated from a combination of second and third order elastic constants. In previous studies [3], the nonlinearity parameter was found to be sensitive to microstructural changes in aluminum alloys and in particular to the content of precipitates of the second phase.
Serum leucine aminopeptidase in twin pregnancy.

SummarySerum leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activity during third trimester of pregnancy was significantly increased in 11 patients with documented twin pregnancy, when compared with 25 patients with a single fetus of same gestational age.
Muscle fructose 1,6-diphosphatase deficiency associated with an atypical central core disease.

Abstract A 25-year-old woman with a non-familial congenital nonprogressive myopathy was found to have atypical core-like lesions in type 1 muscle fibers. Typical core lesions (approximately 13 μm in diameter) and smaller, PAS positive (4.1 μm in diameter) atypical cores were associated with a predominant type 1 fiber myopathy. A specific deficiency of fructose 1, 6-diphosphatase was found with normal values for nine other muscle glycolytic and mitochondrial marker enzymes. The data provide evidence for a specific muscle enzyme deficiency in a patient with atypical central core disease.
The generation of doctorates and their feedback into higher education

Abstract The dynamic effects of alternative manpower policies and programs can be “pretested” in a computer based simulation. It is generally recognized that the production of Doctorates depends to a large degree on the Doctorate-holding faculty. Because the doctorate holders are in great demand by the other sectors of the economy, a circular or a “feedback” situation exists. The problem is further complicated by the availability of developed student talent and by various socioeconomic conditions existing at different periods of time within two or three decades prior to the time a study is made. This paper attempts to develop a conceptual and a mathematical model to study the production of Doctorates, Masters' and Baccalaureate degrees and their feedback into higher education. The model consisting of over 200 non-linear difference equations is programmed for computer simulation and validation against historical data. Currently simulation is used to describe what has happened in the past. Once this phase is accomplished, the model can be used to prescribe what will happen in the future with a fair level of confidence.
Medication waste reduction in pediatric pharmacy batch processes

OBJECTIVES: To inform pediatric cart-fill batch scheduling for reductions in pharmaceutical waste using a case study and simulation analysis. METHODS: A pre and post intervention and simulation analysis was conducted during 3 months at a 205-bed children's center. An algorithm was developed to detect wasted medication based on time-stamped computerized provider order entry information. The algorithm was used to quantify pharmaceutical waste and associated costs for both preintervention (1 batch per day) and postintervention (3 batches per day) schedules. Further, simulation was used to systematically test 108 batch schedules outlining general characteristics that have an impact on the likelihood for waste. RESULTS: Switching from a 1-batch-per-day to a 3-batch-per-day schedule resulted in a 31.3% decrease in pharmaceutical waste (28.7% to 19.7%) and annual cost savings of $183,380. Simulation results demonstrate how increasing batch frequency facilitates a more just-in-time process that reduces waste. The...
The modern American university: a love story

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to survey areas of admiration, anguish, and anticipation in higher education.Design/methodology/approach – The article takes the form of a reflective essay.Findings – There is much to admire about higher education; much that causes anguish; and much to anticipate in the years ahead.Originality/value – This is an original approach and an original piece of work.
Detection of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I using the polymerase chain reaction

To develop the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of simian T-lymphotropic virus type I (STLV-I) infection, cell lines or peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 2 non-human primate species [African green monkeys (AGM), Cercopithecus aethiops; baboon, Papio cynocephalus] were evaluated for their STLV-I status using oligonucleotide primer pairs and probes specific for the tax and pol gene regions of the closely related human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I). These PCR results were compared with serologic (Western blot assay) and viral culture (p24-antigen capture assay) data. PCR products for both gene regions were detected in established baboon, Japanese macaque and rhesus macaque STLV-I-producing cell lines. STLV-I tax and pol products were also detected in PBMC from 4 of 4 infected AGM and 4 of 4 infected baboons, each of which were also Western-blot-positive and p24-antigen-capture-positive. Of the remaining AGM (n = 7) and baboon (n = 1) which were PCR-negative, each was also Western-blot-negative and p24-antigen-capture-negative. Two seronegative and virus-culture-negative AGM were classified as PCR indeterminate with weak reactivity using tax primers. These primer pairs failed to amplify DNA from uninfected human PBMC, an uninfected human lymphoid cell line, a simian immunodeficiency virus macaque (SIVmac251)-infected cell line and a simian-retrovirus-type-D(SRV-D)-infected cell line. HTLV-II-pol-specific primer pairs failed to amplify DNA from STLV-I-infected cell lines and PBMC from STLV-I-infected monkeys. Further, HTLV-I pol and tax primer pairs successfully amplified RNA from HTLV-I- and STLV-I-infected cell lines by reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR. We have demonstrated excellent specificity in the detection of STLV-I by PCR using these HTLV-I-derived primers and probes. Additionally, our data suggest that the tax and pol gene regions are conserved between HTLV-I and STLV-I strains found among these diverse species of non-human primates.
Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy with Adjunct Immunohistochemistry in Intraocular Tumor Management

OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness of fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB), with and without immunohistochemistry (IHC), in the management of solid intraocular tumors. STUDY DESIGN Thirty-three consecutive adults undergoing FNAB of suspected intraocular tumors were studied. Clinical, cytologic and histologic diagnoses were correlated. The positive predictive value, sensitivity and specificity of FNAB for detecting malignancy, the effect of lHC on the final cytologic diagnosis and the number of patients in whom clinical management was altered as a result of cytologic evaluation were determined. RESULTS The positive predictive value was 96% with and 93% without adjunct IHC. The sensitivity and specificity of FNAB for detecting malignancy were 96% and 83%, respectively, with IHC. Without IHC, the sensitivity was unaltered, but the specificity was 67%. IHC confirmed the morphologic diagnosis in 75% of cases, made a diagnosis in 12.5% and changed a malignant diagnosis from carcinoma to melanoma in 6% of cases. The planned management was changed by the FNAB findings in 24% of patients. In 3 patients (9%), IHC was essential for diagnosis and management. No patients exhibited local tumor dissemination or recurrence associated with the biopsy. CONCLUSION FNAB is a safe, sensitive and specific method of establishing a tissue diagnosis in a subset of patients with solid intraocular tumors. The routine use of immunohistochemical stain ing increases the diagnostic utility of the technique and may change clinical management.
Workplace fun matters … but what else?

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend research on fun in the workplace by focussing on its relationship with job embeddedness among Millennials. This research examined the influence of four dimensions of fun, including fun activities, manager support for fun, coworker socializing, and fun job responsibilities, on embeddedness. In addition, this research assessed the impact of fun relative to other aspects of the employment experience. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from 234 full-time working Millennials via survey methodology. Findings Fun job responsibilities were the most dominant predictor of embeddedness followed by perceived career opportunities and praise and rewards. The other dimensions of fun accounted for significant variance in embeddedness, yet their influence was more modest. Research limitations/implications The research demonstrated that fun plays a role in enhancing Millennials’ embeddedness, accounting for significant additional variance beyond other important aspects of the employment experience. At the same time, some aspects of fun were more dominant predictors of embeddedness than others, and other aspects of the employment experience were more dominant predictors than certain aspects of fun. These findings should be interpreted in the context of the primary limitation that the data were cross-sectional. Practical implications Workplace fun may play a role in enhancing embeddedness, but organizations should not lose sight of other human resource management practices. Originality/value The present study examined the role of workplace fun in a more nuanced perspective by examining its relationship on embeddedness relative to other important constructs.
Tissue factor–protease-activated receptor 2 signaling promotes diet-induced obesity and adipose inflammation

Fahumiya Samad and her colleagues have shown that the serine protease tissue factor, a key regulator of coagulation, has a role in obesity and metabolic disease. They find that tissue factor signaling in adipocytes promotes obesity, whereas its signaling in adipose tissue macrophages promotes local inflammation and insulin resistance. Tissue factor, the initiator of the coagulation cascade, mediates coagulation factor VIIa–dependent activation of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2). Here we delineate a role for this signaling pathway in obesity and its complications. Mice lacking PAR2 (F2rl1) or the cytoplasmic domain of tissue factor were protected from weight gain and insulin resistance induced by a high-fat diet. In hematopoietic cells, genetic ablation of tissue factor–PAR2 signaling reduced adipose tissue macrophage inflammation, and specific pharmacological inhibition of macrophage tissue factor signaling rapidly ameliorated insulin resistance. In contrast, nonhematopoietic cell tissue factor–VIIa-PAR2 signaling specifically promoted obesity. Mechanistically, adipocyte tissue factor cytoplasmic domain–dependent VIIa signaling suppressed Akt phosphorylation with concordant adverse transcriptional changes of key regulators of obesity and metabolism. Pharmacological blockade of adipocyte tissue factor in vivo reversed these effects of tissue factor–VIIa signaling and rapidly increased energy expenditure. Thus, inhibition of tissue factor signaling is a potential therapeutic avenue for improving impaired metabolism and insulin resistance in obesity.