cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Global Reaction Model for the HCCI Combustion Process

This paper presents a new global reaction model to simulate the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) combustion process. The model utilizes seven equations and seven active species. The model includes five reactions that represent degenerate chain branching in the low temperature region, including chain propagation, termination and branching reactions and the reaction of HOOH at the second stage ignition. Two reactions govern the high temperature oxidation, to allow formation and prediction of CO, CO2, and H2O. Thermodynamic parameters were introduced through the enthalpy of formation of each species. We were able to select the rate parameters of the global model to correctly predict the autoignition delay time at constant density for n-heptane and iso-octane, including the effect of equivalence ratio. Keeping the same reactions and rate parameters, simulations were compared with measured and calculated data from our engine operating at the following conditions: speed – 750 RPM, inlet temperature – 393 K to 453 K, fuel – PRF 20, equivalence ratio - 0.4 and 0.5, and volumetric efficiency - 71% and 89%. The simulations are in good agreement with the experimental data for this initial set of runs using PRF 20, including temperature, pressure, ignition delay, combustion duration, and heat release.
Effects of music notation reinforcement on aural memory for melodies

The purpose of this study was to investigate effects of music notation reinforcement on aural memory for melodies. Participants were 41 undergraduate and graduate music majors in a within-subjects ...
Binding of the glycosaminoglycan [3H]heparin to bovine granulosa cells varies with size and estrogen content of ovarian follicles

Bovine ovarian follicles were individually aspirated to obtain granulosa cells and follicular fluid, and estrogen concentrations in fluid were measured with a radioimmunoassay. Granulosa membranes were harvested by centrifugation and were pooled from follicles containing statistically high or low estrogen. Granulosa cell concentrations were estimated by comparing their protein content to cell standards. Results showed that cell numbers increased with increasing follicle size, and follicles with high estrogen concentrations possessed more granulosa than follicles with low estrogen. Specific binding of [3H]heparin decreased with advancing follicle size and was higher to granulosa harvested from follicles containing low estrogen.
Performance Testing and Stall Assessment of the Induced Draft Fan in 600MW Unit

Aiming to the induced draft fan stall problem during 600 MW supercritical unit operation,a series of field performance tests were made and induced draft fan performance curves were obtained.Based on the numerical study,the stall characteristics were assessed and the reasons for the stall were analyzed,the corresponding solutions were given out.
Chemical plume detection with an iterative background estimation technique

The detection of chemical vapor plumes using passive hyperspectral sensors operating in the longwave infrared is a challenging problem with many applications. For adequate performance, detection algorithms require an estimate of a scene’s background statistics, including the mean and covariance. Diffuse plumes with a large spatial extent are particularly difficult to detect in single-image schemes because of contamination of background statistics by the plume. To mitigate the effects of plume contamination, a first pass of the detector can be used to create a background mask. However, large diffuse plumes are typically not removed by a single pass. Instead, contamination can be reduced by using smoothed detection results as a background mask. In the proposed procedure, a detector bank is run on the cube, and a threshold applied to produce a binary image. The binary image can be modeled as a spatial point process consisting of high density and low density regions. By applying a spatial filter to the detection image, regions with overall higher intensity are detected as containing plume and can be removed from background statistic estimates. The key intuition is that regions with a higher density of hits are more likely to contain plume since plumes are spatially contiguous. We demonstrate with real plume data that this method can drastically improve detection performance over the single-pass method, and explore tradeoffs between different filter sizes and thresholds.
Discovery of Potent Gamma Secretase Modulators for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Substantial progress in our understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has occurred over the past 25 years. However, we are still in search of a truly disease-modifying therapeutic agent capable of either preventing or significantly delaying the progression of this fatal neurodegenerative disorder. In this chapter, we describe the discovery methods, optimization, target deconvolution, and preclinical development of a novel series of compounds known as gamma-secretase modulators or GSMs. We also describe the rationale behind why we believe GSMs are ideally suited as a therapeutic approach for the heritable early-onset form of AD (EOAD). Importantly, we contrast GSMs from gamma-secretase inhibitors (GSIs) from the standpoint of side effects and mechanism of action. Furthermore, we differentiate the two major classes of GSMs: (1) Carboxylic acid-containing NSAID derived GSMs and (2) non-NSAID derived GSMs from a structural, mechanistic, and pharmacological perspective. Finally, we will describe the types of clinical trials that we feel hold the most promise for the demonstration of disease-modifying efficacy for these types of GSMs.
Hepatitis B virus polymerase localizes to the mitochondria and its terminal protein domain contains the mitochondrial-targeting signal

UNLABELLED To understand subcellular sites of hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, we visualized core (Cp), polymerase (Pol), and pregenomic RNA (pgRNA) in infected cells. Interestingly, we found that the majority of Pol localized to the mitochondria in cells undergoing viral replication. The mitochondrial localization of Pol was independent of both the cell type and other viral components, indicating that Pol contains an intrinsic mitochondrial targeting signal (MTS). Neither Cp nor pgRNA localized to the mitochondria during active replication, suggesting a role other than DNA synthesis for Pol at the mitochondria. The Pol of duck hepatitis B virus (DHBV) also localized to the mitochondria. This result indicates that localization of Pol to mitochondria is likely a feature of all hepadnaviruses. To map the MTS within HBV Pol, we generated a series of Pol-green fluorescent protein (Pol-GFP) fusions and found that a stretch spanning amino acids (aa) 141 to 160 of Pol was sufficient to target GFP to the mitochondria. Surprisingly, deleting aa 141 to 160 in full-length Pol did not fully ablate Pol's mitochondrial localization, suggesting that additional sequences are involved in mitochondrial targeting. Only by deleting the N-terminal 160 amino acids in full-length Pol was mitochondrial localization ablated. Crucial residues for pgRNA packaging are contained within aa 141 to 160, indicating a multifunctional role of this region of Pol in the viral life cycle. Our studies show an unexpected Pol trafficking behavior that is uncoupled from its role in viral DNA synthesis. IMPORTANCE Chronic infection by HBV is a serious health concern. Existing therapies for chronically infected individuals are not curative, underscoring the need for a better understanding of the viral life cycle to develop better antiviral therapies. To date, the most thoroughly studied function of Pol is to package the pgRNA and reverse transcribe it to double-stranded DNA within capsids. This study provides evidence for mitochondrial localization of Pol and defines the MTS. Recent findings have implicated a non-reverse transcription role for Pol in evading host innate immune responses. Mitochondria play an important role in controlling cellular metabolism, apoptosis, and innate immunity. Pol may alter one or more of these host mitochondrial functions to gain a replicative advantage and persist in chronically infected individuals.
TUTORIAL: Entanglement and Quantum Information Theory

In this tutorial I'll review the old and modern definitions of entanglement, discuss why we think entanglement is useful, and present various methods that can be used to detect entanglement in an experiment. Article not available.
Inactivation of Milkborne Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus at Ultra-High Temperatures

Milk from cows with foot-and-mouth disease containing 103-7 to 106-4 plaque-forming units of virus/ml was exposed to several ultra-high temperature treatments for 2-5 sec. Results indicated that the virus in such milk could be reliably inactivated when held at 148 C for 3 sec or longer.
Membranes and the Origin of Life: A Century of Conjecture

Cells are the units of all life today, and are defined by their membranous boundaries. The membranes have multiple functions; the most obvious being that, in the absence of a boundary, the systems of functional macromolecular components of the cytosol would spill into the environment and disperse. Membranes also contain the pigments essential for photosynthesis, electron transport enzymes that pump and maintain proton gradients, the ATP synthase that uses proton gradients to produce energy for the cell, and enzymes that use ATP to maintain ion gradients essential for life. But what about the function of membranes in the first forms of cellular life? Could life have begun in the absence of membranous boundaries? In order to answer that question, this review presents a history of the key research observations that began over a century ago.
Antiemesis prophylaxis among breast cancer (BC) patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

e12005 Background: Chemotherapy-induced emesis has important medical implications and is associated with a decrease in QoL. According to guidelines, patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherap...
Quantification and characterization of leakage errors

We present a general framework for the quantification and characterization of leakage errors that result when a quantum system is encoded in the subspace of a larger system. To do this we introduce metrics for quantifying the coherent and incoherent properties of the resulting errors and we illustrate this framework with several examples relevant to superconducting qubits. In particular, we propose two quantities, the leakage and seepage rates, which together with average gate fidelity allow for characterizing the average performance of quantum gates in the presence of leakage and show how the randomized benchmarking protocol can be modified to enable the robust estimation of all three quantities for a Clifford gate set.
Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Simple Algorithm Analysis for Rapid and Non-Destructive Assessment of Developmental Cotton Fibers.

With cotton fiber growth or maturation, cellulose content in cotton fibers markedly increases. Traditional chemical methods have been developed to determine cellulose content, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, mostly owing to the slow hydrolysis process of fiber cellulose components. As one approach, the attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR FT-IR) spectroscopy technique has also been utilized to monitor cotton cellulose formation, by implementing various spectral interpretation strategies of both multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and 1-, 2- or 3-band/-variable intensity or intensity ratios. The main objective of this study was to compare the correlations between cellulose content determined by chemical analysis and ATR FT-IR spectral indices acquired by the reported procedures, among developmental Texas Marker-1 (TM-1) and immature fiber (im) mutant cotton fibers. It was observed that the R value, CIIR, and the integrated intensity of the 895 cm−1 band exhibited strong and linear relationships with cellulose content. The results have demonstrated the suitability and utility of ATR FT-IR spectroscopy, combined with a simple algorithm analysis, in assessing cotton fiber cellulose content, maturity, and crystallinity in a manner which is rapid, routine, and non-destructive.
Selection in 3D Graphics Enviornments (Abstract Only)

The level of detail portrayed in graphics environments is steadily increasing, and so does the challenge to enable users to accurately select 3D objects from a graphics scene in real time [2]. From a gaming perspective, complexity in computer graphics has increased drastically because thousands of users can now participate together in games that involve a high frequency of selecting objects. This poses a challenge because each three-dimensional object exists in a native, local coordinate system which will eventually be realistically displayed on a two-dimensional screen and then selected by users. Our project is broken down into two phases -- phase one will focus on the theory and mathematics behind these operations and phase two will evaluate the more efficient picking algorithm, ray casting [3] or color picking [4]. Our criteria for determining the better algorithm is to discover which algorithm is faster and more accurate in complex graphics scenes, with the ultimate goal of minimizing delay responses associated with selection.
Changing the Narrative: The New History That Was and Is to Come

Historians’ engagement with the social sciences, which was promising and multi-dimensional into the 1970s, shriveled soon thereafter. The factors that seemed to justify this turning away appear today to be much less compelling. Times have changed, and both historians and social scientists may now be ready to re-engage with an interrupted project to intensify interdisciplinary dialogue, improve the methods of historical explanation, and construct a more historical body of social theory.
Pediatric Hoverboard and Skateboard Injuries

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the characteristics of hoverboard injuries compared with skateboard injuries in children presenting to US emergency departments (EDs). METHODS: Data regarding hoverboard and skateboard injuries in children RESULTS: There were an estimated 26 854 hoverboard and 121 398 skateboard injuries treated in US EDs between 2015 and 2016. The mean and median ages for hoverboard and skateboard injuries were 11 and 13 years, respectively. In both groups, boys were more commonly injured. The majority of hoverboard injuries occurred at home, whereas skateboard injuries occurred on the street. The wrists were the most common injured body part, and fractures were the most common diagnosis in both groups. The majority of patients in both groups were discharged from the hospital. Approximately 3% of the patients with skateboard injuries and hoverboard injuries were admitted to the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of injuries among hoverboard riders and skateboarders was similar. Fractures, contusions, and sprains and/or strains were the most common types of injuries in both riders. However, there was a higher number of sprains and/or strains in skateboarders when compared with hoverboard users. This difference may be attributed to the way users ride these boards. Fractures were the most common reason for hospital admission for both toys. By elucidating the characteristics of hoverboard injuries, preventive measures can be implemented to decrease the incidence of these injuries as well as ED visits.
Reconciliation of Conflicting Phenotypic and rRNA Gene Phylogenies of Fungi in Glomeromycota Based on Underlying Patterns and Processes

A true species phylogeny requires congruence amongst all independent character data sets that inform on continuity of descent. A morphology-based phylogeny conflicts with rRNA phylogenies in basal nodes, but all are in greater accord at the family level and above. Incongruent patterns are attributed to population-level processes in gene evolution that create signals of homoplasy and distorted relationships widely recognized as problematic in other higher eukaryotic lineages. A species phylogeny can be misrepresented by two processes, either separately or together. Prerequisites for both are: (1) cladogenesis of a gene occurs prior to species cladogenesis, and (2) polymorphisms from gene cladogenesis are preserved in both diverging species lineages and then are sorted by selection or loss. Invoking the former process, polymorphisms arise in rRNA gene loci on different chromosomes and therefore are not homogenized by concerted evolution. Conflicts arise biologically, when extinction or sorting of these polymorphisms do not correspond with other characters indicative of speciation, or methodologically when intra-isolate clones are undersampled. With the latter process, polymorphisms arise at a single multicopy locus, after which sorting of lineages in subsequent cladogenic events can result in orthologous sequences in one lineage and paralogous sequences in another. A species phylogeny will be misleading when sequences from different fungal isolates of a species are undersampled. When either process is considered, the discord between rRNA gene and morphology-based trees can be explained. There is no definitive data to support either process, but credence is reflected in the complete lack of support for the proposed rRNA gene phylogeny from morphological, biochemical, and ecological characters correctly assessed as homologs. New gene trees can clarify species evolution at the molecular level, but they also can be in conflict. When this occurs, data from all classes of characters must be analyzed within the framework of a balanced multidisciplinary approach.
Perceptions of vaccination within a Christian homeschooling community in Pennsylvania.

Abstract Background More than 1.8 million American children ages 5–17 are being educated at home. The percentage of school-aged children in the United States who are homeschooled increased from 1.7% in 1999 to 3.4% in 2012. Every state has established school-entry vaccination requirements for kindergarten students, but most states exempt homeschoolers from these regulations. The goal of this study was to use qualitative methods to examine the vaccination perceptions and practices of Christian homeschooling families in Pennsylvania. Methods A qualitative study (focus groups) of Christian homeschooling parents representing a diversity of vaccination practices (full, partial/delayed, and no vaccination) was conducted in south-central Pennsylvania in 2017. An analysis using a grounded theory approach identified themes that strongly aligned with constructs from the Health Belief Model. Results Many of the perspectives expressed by the study population aligned with those of the general American population, including uncertainty about the risk from vaccine-preventable diseases, concerns about the efficacy and safety of vaccines, and confusion about conflicting vaccine information. The Christian homeschooling parents expressed two especially prominent perceptions: a belief that they had a very low risk of contracting infectious diseases because God has provided them with the natural tools necessary for health and a stronger-than-typical sense of empowerment related to parental decision-making and autonomy. Participants expressed that they were generally open to honest communication about vaccination with physicians who respect parental authority. Conclusions Homeschooling families have diverse vaccination practices. Pediatricians and other healthcare practitioners should not make assumptions about health beliefs in this community, and should instead engage parents in conversations about their risk perceptions and vaccine decisions.
Perceived burden among caregivers of patients with frontotemporal degeneration in the United States.

Background:Frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) dementia often begins before age 60 and predominantly presents as four subtypes with prominent features of language, behavior, cognition, and motor symptoms. The early onset and unique symptoms place a distinct burden on caregivers of individuals with FTD versus other dementia types, such as Alzheimer’s disease. This is the first known study to examine the domains of the FTD caregiver burden and the caregiver and patient characteristics associated with these domains.Methods:In 2017, 674 FTD caregivers in the United States (US) completed a web-based survey of caregiver and patient demographics, disease severity/symptoms, caregiver burden, and financial costs of caregiving. The major factors of caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Inventory) were determined using a principal axis factor analysis with varimax rotation. Multiple linear regression analyses examined caregiver and patient characteristics associated with overall burden and three major factors of burden: role strain, personal strain, and performance strain.Results:Increased neuropsychiatric symptoms was associated with overall caregiver burden and greater role, personal, and performance strain. Younger caregivers experienced greater overall burden and performance strain, female caregivers experienced increased role strain, and male caregivers experienced greater performance strain. Financial costs of caregiving and experiencing a caregiving crisis in the past year were associated with higher overall burden and role strain.Conclusions:This study suggests that the severity and sources of burden differ for caregivers of FTD patients versus patients with other dementia types. Differing predictors for each burden domain suggest targeted interventions to address the unique FTD caregiving challenges.
Feminist Theories of Development in Farida Benlyazid’s Double-Bildung Story, La vida perra de Juanita Narboni (2005)

AbstractFarida Benlyazid’s film, La vida perra de Juanita Narboni (2005), offers viewers a novel iteration of the classic coming-of-age genre. As a film, it lies outside the preferred medium of exp...
Zero-inflated count time series models using Gaussian copula

Count time series data are observed in several applied disciplines such as environmental science, biostatistics, economics, public health, and finance. In some cases, a specific count, usually zero...
The Ultimate News Value: Journalism Textbooks, the U.S. Presidency, and the Normalization of Donald Trump

U.S. journalists covering Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and early administration submitted to unprecedented abuse while normalizing and legitimizing his candidacy and official acts. Many jus...
Reconfigurable 3D-Printed headplates for reproducible and rapid implantation of EEG, EMG and depth electrodes in mice

Abstract Background Mouse models are beneficial to understanding neural networks given a wide array of transgenic mice and cell-selective techniques. However, instrumentation of mice for neurophysiological studies is difficult. Often surgery is prolonged with experimental error arising from non-concurrent and variable implantations. New method We describe a method for the rapid, reproducible and customizable instrumentation of mice. We constructed a headplate that conforms to the mouse skull surface using script-based computer aided design. This headplate was then modified to enable the friction-fit assembly prior to surgery and printed with a high-resolution resin-based 3D printer. Using this approach, we describe an easily customized headplate with dural screws for electrocorticography (ECoG), electromyogram (EMG) electrodes, cannula hole and two microdrives for local field potential (LFP) electrodes. Results Implantation of the headplate reliably takes less than 40 min, enabling a cohort of eight mice to be implanted in one day. Good quality recordings were obtained after surgical recovery and the headplate was stable for at least four weeks. LFP electrode placement was found to be accurate. Comparison with existing methods While similar approaches with microelectrodes have been used in rats before, and related approaches exist for targeting one brain region with tetrodes, we do not know of similar head-plates for mice, nor a strictly source-code and easily reconfigurable approach. Conclusions 3D printing and friction-fit pre-assembly of mouse headplates offers a rapid, easily reconfigurable, consistent, and cost-effective way to implant larger numbers of mice in a highly reproducible way, reducing surgical time and mitigating experimental error.
Animal Health and Welfare

This chapter examines the ethical significance of gene technology on the health and well-being of livestock, poultry and any other animal species kept for agricultural purposes. Agricultural biotechnologies include drugs and feeds developed for use on livestock, as well as genetic transformations and cloning. Key applications are reviewed and examples are given. Bernard Rollin’s early work on this topic is summarized and used as a basis for further analysis. Philosophical alternatives to Rollin’s approach to understanding the basis of human obligations to other animals are discussed, including the welfarist approach of Peter Singer and the rights approach of Tom Regan. Though not a welfarist in general, Rollin argues that impact on the welfare of the transformed animal is the sole criterion for evaluating the ethics of genetically engineered animals. Additional literature on the ethics of using genetic engineering tools on animals is reviewed, with emphasis on views laying stress on the inherent wrongness of transforming an animal’s nature, irrespective of the impact on pain, suffering or disease. Although many arguments against any and all applications of animal biotechnology are philosophically flawed, they cannot simply be dismissed. Only a more extensive philosophical debate can clarify when a genetic change in an agricultural animal’s nature is inappropriate.
A break in the gradient: relational social class and high-impact chronic pain

The association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health is usually depicted by a monotonic gradient, where higher SES is associated with better health outcomes. We aimed to investigate whether the association between high-impact chronic pain (HICP) and a newly adapted measure of social class was consistent with relational class theories predicting non-gradient patterns. This study included a nationally-representative sample of 50,860 adults aged ≥25 years who had ever worked, from the National Health Interview Survey 2016-2017. HICP was defined as pain that interferes with life or work activities on most days or every day for 6 months or longer. We constructed a 5-category measure of relational social class based on the UK National Statistics Socio-Economic Classification (NS-SEC), using occupational codes, employment type and firm size (managerial and professional occupations, intermediate occupations, small employers and own account workers, lower supervisory and technical occupations, semi-routine and routine occupations). We used Poisson regression weighted for survey sampling, adjusted for age, sex, race, ethnicity, US citizenship, marital status, education and census region to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between social class and HICP. HICP prevalence was similar between the reference class, managerial and professional occupations, and intermediate occupations (PR=0.99, 95% CI 0.88, 1.12); both lower than all other classes. Despite not being hierarchically lowest, lower supervisory and technical occupations had the highest prevalence of HICP relative to the reference class (PR=1.37, 95% CI 1.23, 1.53). That was higher than semi-routine and routine occupations (PR= 1.27, 95% CI 1.15, 1.40), and small employers and own account workers (PR=1.27, 95% CI 1.10, 1.47). HICP prevalence by social class is compatible with the concept of ‘contradictory class location’. Relational class measures can provide insight into the complexity of socioeconomic position and illuminate potential targets for interventions to reduce pain disparities. Scan|Design Foundation Innovative Pain Research Grant (2019), American Academy of Orofacial Pain Research Grant (2019).
MINA: A Multitasking Intelligent Nurse Aid Robot

Nurses have to carry out a myriad of tasks, which is one of the main reasons for burnout. In this paper, a robotic Multitasking Intelligent Nurse Aid (MINA) is proposed to assist nurses with everyday tasks and tackle nurse burnout. MINA uses Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) to map shelves in a storage room and pointcloud using an RGB-Depth camera. The barcode of the item is first detected using zbar library, and then the pointcloud is generated in ROS and saved accordingly. Preliminary experiments with respect to the creation of a pointcloud map with barcode detection are presented. The preliminary results reveal that the system shows a 100% barcode detection rate, and with each barcode detection a corresponding pointcloud map is generated and saved automatically without any intervention.
Superfluid Effective Field Theory for Dark Matter Direct Detection

We develop an effective field theory (EFT) framework for superfluid ${}^4$He to model the interactions among quasiparticles, helium atoms and probe particles. Our effective field theory approach brings together symmetry arguments and power-counting and matches to classical fluid dynamics. We then present the decay and scattering rates for the relevant processes involving quasiparticles and helium atoms. The presented EFT framework and results can be used to understand the dynamics of thermalization in the superfluid, and can be further applied to sub-GeV dark matter direct detection with superfluid ${}^4$He.
Successful memory formation is driven by contextual encoding in the core memory network

To understand how memories are successfully formed, scientists have compared neural activity during the encoding of subsequently remembered and forgotten items. Though this approach has elucidated a network of brain regions involved in memory encoding, this method cannot distinguish broad, non-specific signals from memory specific encoding processes, such as associative encoding. Associative encoding, which is a key mechanism of learning, can be seen in the tendency of participants to successively recall, or cluster, study neighbors. We assessed the electrophysiological correlates of associative processing by comparing intracranially recorded EEG activity during the encoding of items that were subsequently recalled and clustered; recalled and not clustered; or not recalled. We found that high frequency activity (HFA) in left prefrontal cortex, left temporal cortex and hippocampus increased during the encoding of subsequently recalled items. Critically, the magnitude of this effect was largest for those recalled items that were also subsequently clustered. HFA temporally dissociated across regions, with increases in left prefrontal cortex preceding those in hippocampus. Furthermore, late hippocampal HFA positively correlated with behavioral measures of clustering. These results suggest that associative processes linking items to their spatiotemporal context underlie the traditionally observed subsequent memory effect and support successful memory formation.
Effects of Certain Synthetic Plant Growth Regulators on the Development of Selected Species

Modification of growth and development of esthetically and economically important plants and selective elimination of undesirable species by the application of chemicals already is a demonstrated successful practical application of plant physiology. The potential for future developments in this field is nothing short of tremendous. Naturally it is of utmost importance to give close attention to prevention of pollution of the environment with toxic compounds. But even with this obviously necessary and desirable restriction, rapid progress can be expected in the use of chemicals to control plants.
Electrodiagnosis and outcome prediction for persons with upper limb symptoms: A pilot study.

CONTEXT In the evaluation of patients with upper limb symptoms, electrodiagnosis (EDX) provides valuable information regarding neurological disorders such as radiculopathies and entrapment neuropathies. What is less clear from the literature is whether or not EDX findings contribute to the prediction of outcomes. OBJECTIVE In order to examine the relationship between EDX findings and outcomes, this pilot study was conducted. METHODS Thirty-eight patients with neck and upper limb symptoms who underwent EDX testing and standardized data collection as part of a previously conducted prospective study were contacted by telephone a mean of 30 months after testing to determine their outcomes. Patients were classified into three categories according to EDX findings: i) 15 had radiculopathies, ii) 13 had normal studies, and iii) 10 had other electrodiagnostic findings. Primary outcome variables of interest were the interval verbal pain rating scale and a subjective report of symptom improvement. RESULTS None of the patients with radiculopathies or normal studies worsened, whereas 30% of persons with other findings on EDX significantly worsened. CONCLUSIONS The findings from this small pilot study raise many questions regarding electrodiagnosis and its relationship to outcome. A larger prospective study is necessary to fully examine this relatively unexplored but potential use for EDX testing.
Transborder Labour Liberalization: A Path to Enforcement of the Global Social Contract for Labour

The failure to liberalize labor undermines the vision for a globalized world. Individual labor providers seeking to exchange their labor for value are stymied by state barriers (borders). The path to the framing, implementation and enforcement of a global social contract for the protection of labor is to liberalize labor from the nation state constraints to which the transborder labor market is subject. While the demands of the globalized transnational economy call for the movement of labor from one domestic economy to another, individual nation state domestic immigration law and the near-silence of multilateral trade law block such movement, barricading domestic labor providers from access to transborder labor markets. Labor is hampered in its ability to operate in the global sphere, with a consequent negative impact on its ability to transpose and enforce domestic social contracts onto the global sphere, or to enforce those international standards (such as ILO conventions) that already exist. The transnational labor market is characterized by the illegality and temporariness that is assigned by states to mobile and would-be mobile human providers of labor. Both Western and less developed nations participate in an extensive transborder trade in labor through, among other mechanisms, bilateral and multilateral agreements and understandings, some of long standing. Opportunities for exploitation and conditions of inequality are increased in both the formal and informal transnational labor market as less powerful states transmit their unequal bargaining status to their nationals. The liberalization of labor under the auspices of the WTO will allow human labor providers to compete and collaborate with capital on the global stage. Global competition and collaboration between and among labor and capital are more likely sources of the formation of a global social contract than is reliance on the current framework of global labor standards.
Autotically Synthesized Term Denotation Predicates: A Proof Aid

In goal-directed proofs, such as those used in HOL, tactics often must operate on one or more specific assumptions. But goals often have many assumptions. Currently there is no good way to select or denote assumptions in HOL88. Most mechanisms are sensitive to inconsequential changes or are difficult to use.
Rat Genome ( Rattus norvegicus )

The Brown Norway rat was the third mammalian genome to be sequenced. The three-way comparison of the human, rat, and mouse sequences resolves details of mammalian evolution and allows divergence events to be placed on different branches of the evolutionary tree. The comparison of the human to invertebrate and rodent genomes highlights the consequences of evolution over 1000 million years and 75 million years, while the comparison of the two rodent genomes describes changes that occurred in the 12 to 24 million years since the common ancestor of the rat and mouse. A number of insights came from these comparisons: The rat genome is 2.75 gigabases (Gb), smaller than human (2.9 Gb), and slightly larger than mouse (2.6 Gb). The three genomes encode similar numbers of genes. The majority of the genes have persisted without deletion or duplication and with well-conserved intron–exon structures. The exceptions are members of gene families that have expanded through gene duplication. Genes found in rat, but not mouse included genes producing pheromones, or involved in immunity, chemosensation, detoxification, or proteolysis. Human genes known to be associated with disease have orthologs in the rat, but their rates of synonymous substitutions are significantly different from other genes. Three percent of the rat genome is in large segmental duplication, primarily located near the centromeres. Expansions of major gene families are due to these genomic duplications. About 40% of the rat genome aligns orthologously to mouse and human; this eutherian core of the genome contains the vast majority of exons and known regulatory elements (which comprise 1–2% of the genome). Only a portion of this core (5–6%) appears to be under selective constraint in rodents and primates, while the remainder appears to be evolving neutrally. Outside the eutherian core, the majority of the 30% of the rat genome that aligns only with mouse is rodent-specific repeats. More than half of the nonaligning sequence is rat-specific repeats. More genomic changes have occurred in the rodent lineages than in the primate. Large rearrangements include approximately 250 rearrangements between a murid ancestor and human (the majority between the eutherian ancestor and the murid ancestor, and approximately 50 each from the murid ancestor to the rat and mouse). There is a threefold higher base substitution rate in neutral DNA along the rodent lineage than along the human lineage, with the rate on the rat branch 5 to 10% higher than along the mouse branch. Microdeletions are more frequent than microinsertions in both the rat and mouse branches. Most interestingly, there is a strong correlation between local rates of microinsertions and microdeletions, nucleotide substitutions, and transposable element insertions in the rat and mouse lineages, although the events occurred independently since the divergence of the two branches. Keywords: BAC; Contig; Finished sequence; Genome; Nonsynonymous; ORF; Orthologous; Scaffold; Synonymous; Whole-genome Shotgun (WGS)
Inhibition of bactericidal and bacteriolytic activities of poly-D-lysine and lysozyme by chitotriose and ferric iron.

In a previous report from this laboratory (N. J. Laible and G. R. Germaine, Infect. Immun. 48:720-728, 1985), evidence was presented to suggest that the bactericidal actions of both reduced (i.e., muramidase-inactive) human placental lysozyme and the synthetic cationic homopolymer poly-D-lysine involved the activation of a bacterial endogenous activity that was inhibitable by N,N',N"-triacetylchitotriose (chitotriose). In the present investigation however, we found that the bactericidal and bacteriolytic action of poly-D-lysine could be prevented only by some commercially available chitotriose preparations and not by others. Analysis by physical and chemical methods failed to distinguish protective chitotriose (CTa) and nonprotective chitotriose (CTi) preparations. CTi and CTa preparations displayed equal capacities to competitively inhibit binding of [3H]chitotriose by immobilized lysozyme and were indistinguishable in their abilities to block the lytic activity of lysozyme against Micrococcus lysodeikticus cells. Elemental analysis revealed significantly higher levels of phosphorus, calcium, iron, sodium, manganese, and copper in CTa. Removal of metals from CTa by chelate chromatography completely abolished the poly-D-lysine-protective capacity. Of the metals detected, only ferric iron (5 to 10 microM) mimicked the protective action of CTa. A Fe(III) concentration of 50 microM was required to inhibit lysozyme (5 micrograms/ml). Both Fe(III) and CTa (but not CTi) quantitatively blocked the labeling of poly-D-lysine by fluorescamine, suggesting that the primary amino groups of the lysine residues participate in iron binding. Thus, it appears that the poly-D-lysine-protective capacity of certain chitotriose preparations was due not to the chitotriose itself but to contaminating metal ions which interact directly with the polycationic agent. In contrast, Fe(III) cannot account for inhibition of either the bactericidal or bacteriolytic activity of lysozyme by chitotriose.
On Wall's classification of highly-connected manifolds

THE OBJECT of this paper is to clarify (and in certain cases correct) Wall’s work on the classification of almost-closed (s 1)-connected (2s + 1)-manifolds. (A compact manifold is almost-closed if its boundary is a homotopy sphere.) In a long series of papers in this journal [ll ; I-VI], Wall classified such manifolds up to diffeomorphism and also computed the cobordism group A, “+’ of such manifolds. We will give a straightforward calculation of the groups AS2’+l for s = 0 mod 4 which differs from Wall’s result when s = 4. In fact,
A Generalization of Electrodynamics with Applications to the Structure of the Electron and to Non-Radiating Orbits.

Generalization of Electrodynamics.\char22{}If every element of charge is assumed to be the center of equal electric and magnetic fields, each of which is capable of rotation, the electromagnetic equations assume a symmetrical form, containing Lorentz's formulation of Maxwell's equations as a special case.
A neurorobotic model of bipedal locomotion based on principles of human neuromuscular architecture

In this paper, we present a walking biped, based on principles of mammalian neuromuscular architecture. Walking in mammals is a fluid, dynamical interaction between a central pattern generator, the biomechanics of the body, the environment, and sensory feedback. Our robot is designed based on principles of human leg muscle architecture. We incorporate load detecting force sensors that model Golgi tendon organs in the muscles, as well as foot pressure and joint angle sensors. These sensory feedback sources model those available in the human body. The robot is controlled by a spiking neuron simulation that integrates centrally generated (CPG) with peripheral (reflexive) responses. Using recent understanding of the neurobiology of locomotion, we are able to generate an effective and stable walking pattern using interactions between the biomechanics, CPG, and reflexive responses. The CPG drives overall limb motion at the hips, while phase modulated reflexive responses adapt the pattern of the lower limb to the needs of the step cycle. Load detection by the force sensors in the limb generates propulsive stepping, and controls entrainment of the CPG through positive force feedback. These concepts are important ones for locomotion in mammals that should be considered by roboticists developing walking robots.
Understanding Decision-Making in Data Warehousing and Related Decision Support Systems: An Explanatory Study of a Customer Relationship Management Application

Many businesses have made or are making significant investments in data warehouses that reportedly support a myriad of decision support systems DSS. Due to the newness of data warehousing and related DSS DW-DSS, the nature of the decision support provided to DW-DSS users and the related impact on decision performance have not been investigated in an applied setting. An explanatory case study was undertaken at a financial services organization that implemented a particular type of DW-DSS, a Customer Relationship Management CRM system. The DSS-decision performance model has provided some theoretical guidance for this exploration. The case study results show that the decision-making support provided by these systems is limited and that an extended version of the DSS-decision performance model may better describe the factors that influence individual decision-making performance.
943 CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) BIOGENIC AMINE METABOLISM IN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (ALL)

943 CEREBROSPINAL FLUID (CSF) BIOGENIC AMINE METABOLISM IN CHILDREN WITH ACUTE LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA (ALL)
Cerebellar infarct: Late complication of the Fontan procedure?

Abstract Cardiac disease is present in approximately 30% of children with stroke. Other case reports have documented stroke in patients who have previously undergone the Fontan procedure for correction of tricuspid atresia. Most of these strokes have occurred in the immediate postoperative period. There has been one report of a cerebral infarction 3½ months after surgery. We report a child with superior cerebellar artery distribution infarction after undergoing the Fontan procedure 24 months previously. Previous reports of stroke in patients having undergone the Fontan procedure and possible etiologies for these strokes are discussed. We believe our patient had the longest procedure-to-stroke interim yet reported.
CNS fungal meningitis to the “Top of the basilar”

Abstract Central nervous system (CNS) infections are a rare complication of epidural steroid injections and without strong clinical suspicion, fungal organisms may be overlooked among the long differential of causes of meningitis. Rare sequela of fungal meningitis is the development of stroke. To our knowledge, we present the first case of post epidural steroid injection (ESI) fungal meningitis leading to a basilar artery stroke, otherwise known as “top of the basilar” syndrome. We present a 49-year-old female with a history of ESIs who presented to the emergency department with headache, neck stiffness, and abdominal pain. She was discharged after her labs and symptoms were deemed inconsistent with meningitis. She was eventually admitted and twelve days after her original ED visit, she was diagnosed with meningitis and started on anti-fungal treatment. She was discharged 88 days later but was readmitted due to left sided weakness and mental status changes. She quickly lost motor and bulbar functions. An MRA showed diminished distal flow through the basilar artery, suggesting near complete occlusion. Although appropriate long term anti-fungal treatment was started, the patient still succumbed to a rare vascular event. Physicians who are treating patients for ESI meningitis should be aware of the potential for vasculitic and encephalitic complications.
Carotid artery thrombus associated with severe iron-deficiency anemia and thrombocytosis.

Background Thrombus within the carotid artery usually occurs in vessels with severe atherosclerotic disease and may embolize to cause transient ischemic attacks and cerebral infarctions. The risk factors for carotid artery thrombus formation in the absence of atherosclerosis are not well characterized. A case series is presented that suggests an association of carotid artery thrombus with severe iron-deficiency anemia and thrombocytosis. Case Descriptions We describe three women with severe iron-deficiency anemia and thrombocytosis secondary to menorrhagia who developed carotid artery thrombi. Thrombi were detected radiographically. The patients were treated with anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy. In two patients, follow-up neuroimaging 10 to 14 days later demonstrated resolution of the thrombus and no identifiable vascular disease. Conclusions Severe iron-deficiency anemia with thrombocytosis may be a risk factor for carotid artery thrombus formation. Medical management with anticoagulation and an...