cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SPF: A Spatial and Functional Data Analytic Approach to cell Imaging data

The tumor microenvironment (TME), which characterizes the tumor and its surroundings, plays a critical role in understanding cancer development and progression. Recent advances in imaging techniques enable researchers to study spatial structure of the TME at a single-cell level. Investigating spatial patterns and interactions of cell subtypes within the TME provides useful insights into how cells with different biological purposes behave, which may consequentially impact a subject9s clinical outcomes. We utilize a class of well-known spatial summary statistics, the K-function and its variants, to explore inter-cell dependence as a function of distances between cells. Using techniques from functional data analysis, we introduce an approach to model the association between these summary spatial functions and subject-level outcomes, while controlling for other clinical scalar predictors such as age and disease stage. In particular, we leverage the additive functional Cox regression model (AFCM) to study the nonlinear impact of spatial interaction between tumor and stromal cells on overall survival in patients with non-small cell lung cancer, using multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) data. The applicability of our approach is further validated using a publicly available Multiplexed Ion beam Imaging (MIBI) triple-negative breast cancer dataset.
2000s: Structural Heart Disease

The history of interventional therapeutic cardiology can be regarded as a set of overlapping eras initiated by a flurry of innovation, followed by rapid diffusion of new technologies and procedures. Such eras include the development of balloon angioplasty, the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, the advent of coronary stents, particularly drug-eluting stents, and more recently the development of procedures designed to treat macro-cardiac structures. Going to work in the heart, cardiologists took their knowledge and enthusiasm for balloon technology and applied it to aortic and mitral valve disease. While success in the aortic position was limited, percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty rapidly became standard of care for carefully selected patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis. The development of transcutaneous heart valve technology for the treatment of calcific aortic stenosis resulted in a permanent transformation of the treatment of cardiac patients. Despite initial continued significant resistance, transcutaneous aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is now commonplace and the preferred treatment for many patient subsets. The development of TAVR followed the familiar timeline: An innovation initially regarded not feasible and perhaps not safe (“crazy”) became fully developed through innovation funded by medical device companies, validated in prospective studies, and applied worldwide. Now, rather than being considered bizarre or inappropriate, we wonder “why didn’t we think of that?” Perhaps the answer lies in ex arca or out-of-the-box thinking when approaching patient problems. Innovation in structural heart interventions continues rapidly, and now encompasses all four heart valves, with the development of procedures using off-the-shelf technology, as well as innovative novel valve designs. Pioneers, who often do not know what lays over the horizon, industry partners, skilled operators, and clinical researchers are all necessary to make this ecosystem work. The future is bright, and we expect patients with structural heart disease to look forward to more minimally invasive and hybrid technologies brought to bear to their problems.
Leveraging Electronic Health Records for Phenotyping

With the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and subsequent increase in the availability of clinical data in electronic form has come the opportunity to use that data for research. While using EHR data for research has been suggested for decades, specific changes in research capabilities in the last few years have exploded their potential. Genome-wide association studies use many more genotype-phenotype pairs to identify associations. The cost of genotyping data has dropped to the point that the cost of creating phenotypes can now be the limiting factor in a study. EHR data can be extracted inexpensively from existing records, overcoming that limit. Other research activities, such as comparative effectiveness research and creating a learning healthcare system, also benefit from analysis using EHR data. Through initiatives like eMERGE and i2b2, researchers have advanced our capabilities and understanding of using EHRs for phenotyping. Challenges remain, and overcoming these challenges will be critical in maximizing the promise of secondary use for EHR data.
Microwave breakdown studies of He-N/sub 2/ mixtures in a pillbox cavity from 760 to 3040 torr

Microwave breakdown of various He-N/sub 2/ mixture combinations is investigated utilizing an S-band double window pillbox cavity. The objective is to determine the best combination of the two gases to maximize the mixture's ability to cool a dielectric surface while maintaining high breakdown thresholds. Helium is known to be an excellent source to dissipate heat from a dielectric, but it also has a low microwave breakdown threshold. Nitrogen does not transport heat as well, but has a much higher breakdown threshold. The studies focused on generating a series of E-field vs pressure curves for breakdown to help identify optimum He-N/sub 2/ mixture ratios. The S-band double window pillbox has a 333 cm/sup 3/ cavity with two ports to flow the gas mixture through. The pillbox is placed in a traveling wave resonant ring (TWRR) coupled to a 2.85 GHz, 4 MW, magnetron. This combination of double window pillbox and TWRR allows for testing power levels up to 40 MW. High speed diagnostics are used to measure the incident/reflected power and discharge luminosity. Coupled mass flow controllers maintain the gas mixture ratio and continuous gas flow through the cavity. Investigations can be conducted with single or multiple pulsed operations. Results ranged from a minimum of 5 MW for pure helium at 760 torr, to greater than 40 MW for pure nitrogen at 3040 torr.
Potential Health Hazards from Thermal Degradation Events: Particulate vs. Gas Phase Effects

The effect of instillation of ultrafine TiO2 particles (10-nm anatase-TiO2 and 12-nm rutile-TiO2 (administered in doses from 60 to 1000 microg/rat and 500 microg/rat, respectively) on the respiratory tract of exposed rats was compared to the effects of larger (250 nm anatase-TiO2 and 220-nm rutile-TiO2 particles (given in doses 500 or 1000 microg/rat and 500 microg/rat, respectively). These effects were also compared to the effects of inhalation of 20-nm and 250-nm anatase-TiO2 particles and inhalation with surrogate gas phase components (HF and HCl). It was found that ultrafine TiO2 particles induced greater inflammatory reaction in the lung, had greater adverse effect on alveolar macrophage-mediated clearance function, and had a greater potential to induce mediators which can adversely affect other lung cells than did larger-sized particles. Inhalation of surrogate gas phase components caused injury only to the upper respiratory tract, in contrast to the ultrafine particles, which affected the deep lung.
A Working Report on Statistically Modeling Dative Variation in Mandarin Chinese

Dative variation is a widely observed syntactic phenomenon in world languages (e.g. I gave John a book and I gave a book to John). It has been shown that which surface form will be used in a dative sentence is not a completely random choice, rather, it is conditioned by a wide range of linguistic factors. Previous work by Bresnan and colleagues adopted a statistical modeling approach to investigate the probabilistic trends in English dative alternation. In this paper, we report a similar study on Mandarin Chinese. We further developed Bresnan et al.'s models to suit the complexity of the Chinese data. Our models effectively explain away a large proportion of the variation in the data, and unveil some interesting probabilistic features of Chinese grammar. Among other things, we show that Chinese dative variation is sensitive to heavy NP shift in both left and right directions.
Hierarchical, Parameter-Free Community Discovery

Given a large bipartite graph (like document-term, or userproduct graph), how can we find meaningful communities, quickly, and automatically? We propose to look for community hierarchies, with communities- within-communities. Our proposed method, the Context-specific Cluster Tree (CCT)finds such communities at multiple levels, with no user intervention, based on information theoretic principles (MDL). More specifically, it partitions the graph into progressively more refined subgraphs, allowing users to quickly navigate from the global, coarse structure of a graph to more focused and local patterns. As a fringe benefit, and also as an additional indication of its quality, it also achieves better compression than typical, non-hierarchical methods. We demonstrate its scalability and effectiveness on real, large graphs.
Guaranteed cost dynamic output feedback control of satellite formation flying: Centralized versus decentralized control

The main objective of this paper is to develop a guaranteed cost controller synthesis method for both centralized and decentralized control of satellite formation flying architectures. The main contributions of this paper are twofold. First, guaranteed cost centralized controller design is formulated as a convex optimization problem subject to a set of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). Second, decentralized guaranteed cost output feedback control is formulated as a nonconvex optimization problem subject to a set of Bilinear Matrix Inequalities (BMIs). The controller design techniques offer two main advantages over previous approaches. First, they rely only on output measurements. Second, they optimize a functional that weights the formation control energy. The simulation results for a leader-follower architecture show that the choice of a decentralized versus a centralized control scheme is an engineering trade off between communication bandwidth and control energy expenditure.
Neuroanatomical and neurophysiological aspects of vibrational processing in the central nervous system of semi-terrestrial crabs

1. The response properties and morphology of five types of vibration sensitive interneurons in the central nervous system of the fiddler crab,Uca minax, were determined by extracellular and intracellular recording and staining techniques. 2. When presented with artificial calls (pulsed tone bursts), two neuron types (Phasic-I and Phasic-II) respond to pulse onset with a brief burst of one to five spikes. Two (Tonic-I and Tonic-II) emit a sustained discharge during the duration of every pulse, and one, (Inhibited) shows a spontaneous discharge which is either reduced in rate, or suppressed altogether, for the duration of the call. 3. Phasic-I and Phasic-II units function as temporal filters, failing to follow stimuli beyond certain pulse repetition rates with a 1∶1 relationship between stimulus and response. The high frequency cut-off point is dependent upon pulse duration and is greater for Phasic-II than Phasic-I units (Fig. 6). 4. Tonic-II, but not Tonic-I units, function as low-pass frequency filters. They are excited by stimuli between 100 and 300 Hz and inhibited at frequencies between 350 and 1000 Hz (Fig. 1). Both Tonic-I and Tonic-II units code the temporal fine structure (pulse repetition rate, pulse duration) of artificial calls. 5. The natural mating calls of both conspecific and heterospecific crabs elicit responses from all units which are predictable, based upon responses to synthetic calls. All the major temporal features of the mating calls are encoded by the combined activity of the neurons. 6. The morphology of three of the five unit types (Phasic-I, Phasic-II and Inhibited) in the ventral nerve cord is described. All are multisegmental and unilateral, with proximal branches located within each thoracic hemi-ganglion (Fig. 8). The cell bodies lie in the fifth thoracic segment. The units differ with respect to their branching pattern within each hemi-ganglion and in the size of the cell body. 7. In the brain all unit types project into the tritocerebrum. Phasic-I cells also project into the protocerebrum and optic ganglia. The primary projection is within the dorso-medial aspect of the tritocerebrum. Projections here are bilateral (Fig. 9). 8. The structural and functional implications of these findings are discussed. Of particular interest is a comparison with analogous system in the acoustically sensitive insects.
SURGICAL TREATMENT OF PEPTIC ULCER IN THE UNITED STATES: Trends before and after the introduction of cimetidine

Abstract The number of operations for peptic ulcer fell significantly further in 1978 than expected. The greater number of operations in 1979 was still significantly below that predicted by the trend from 1966 to 1977, but not significantly below that predicted by the figures from 1973 to 1977. Cimetidine, introduced in the U.S.A. in August, 1977, was widely used and proved clinically effective. These events and the course of ulcer disease after the withdrawal of cimetidine treatment provide a possible explanation for the unexpectedly large decline in ulcer surgery in 1978 and the subsequent rise in 1979.
Zen Practice: A Training Method to Enhance the Skills of Clinical Social Workers

The use of Zen Buddhist meditation in clinical practice has received specific attention from mental health disciplines in the West. A study was undertaken to examine the influence of a personal practice of Zen on the professional work of clinical social workers. Ten experienced clinical social workers who were long-term Zen practitioners were interviewed. Findings from this qualitative study suggest that Zen meditation has direct application to clinical social work in three areas: (1) cultivating Awareness, (2) enhancing Acceptance, and (3) nurturing Responsibility. This article reports on the findings in the area of Awareness. Awareness increases a social worker's focus on the present moment with the client, providing for a suspension of preconceived ideas about the client. Building on the view that social work is both art and science, the author proposes the use of Zen in the training of clinical social workers.
Ferroelectric polymers as multifunctional electroactive materials: recent advances, potential, and challenges

As multifunctional electroactive materials, ferroelectric polymers are unique owing to their exceptionally high dielectric strength (>600 MV/m), high flexibility, and easy and low-temperature fabrication into required shapes. Although polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF)-based ferroelectric polymers have been known for several decades, recent findings reveal the potential of this class of electroactive polymers (EAPs) to achieve giant electroactive responses by tuning the molecular, nano, and meso-structures. This paper presents these advances, including giant electrocaloric effect, giant electroactuation, and large, hysteresis-free polarization response. New developments in materials benefit applications, such as environmentally benign and potentially highly energy-efficient electrical field controlled solid-state refrigeration, artificial muscles, and high-energy and power density electric energy storage devices. The challenges in developing these materials to realize these applications, and strategies to further improve the responses of EAPs will be also discussed.
Using TEC and radio scintillation data from the CITRIS radio beacon receiver to study low and midlatitude ionospheric irregularities

[1] Unique data on ionospheric plasma irregularities from the Naval Research Laboratory Scintillation and TEC Receiver in Space (CITRIS) instrument is presented. CITRIS is a multiband receiver that recorded Total Electron Content (TEC) and radio scintillations from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on STPSat1. The 555 ± 5 km altitude 35° inclination orbit covers low and midlatitudes. The measurements require propagation from a transmitter to a receiver through the F region plasma. CITRIS used both 1) satellite beacons in LEO and 2) the French sponsored global network of ground-based Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) beacons. This paper is both a brief review of the CITRIS experiment and the first combined TEC and scintillation study of ionospheric irregularities using a satellite-borne beacon receiver. It primarily focuses on CITRIS/DORIS observations and is a case study of the ionospheric irregularities and associated scintillation characteristics at 401.25 MHz during the 2008 equinox solar minimum. In addition, CITRIS was operated in a complementary fashion with the Communication/Navigations Outages Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite during C/NOFS' first year of operations and comparison with measured C/NOFS irregularity characteristics are made. Several types of irregularities have been studied including Spread–F and the newly discovered dawn-side depletions.
An important reference book for research on barriers between blood and the CNS

The health of the central nervous system (CNS) is a subject that impacts on all people and especially on those who have the misfortune to be afflicted by CNS injury or disease. The cerebrovascular barriers at the CNS capillaries and the choroid plexus play a vital role in maintaining the microenvironment of the cells in the brain and spinal cord. The stated aim of this book is to act as a stimulus for research directed towards minimizing the effects of CNS stress, injuries and insults. With seven sections that include 27 chapters from 59 contributors and 605 pages in total, this book covers many topics including: basic aspects of the barriers, in vitro models, physiological transport mechanisms, neurochemical mediators, stress situations, changes in disease conditions and clinical aspects. Each chapter consists of a review, together with up-to-date original data. The chapters are laid out clearly in a consistent format with informative illustrations. This is an important wide-ranging book aimed at researchers in neuroscience, drug discovery and development, and neuropathology. Although large, it contains a wealth of information on contemporary research with an impressive 29-page index from arachadonic acid to zonula occludens proteins. The bulk of the text deals with research relating to the cerebrovascular barriers in the brain. However, in contrast with past books on the blood-brain barriers, this one contains several chapters concerned with the blood-spinal cord barrier. Considering the volume of research on spinal cord injury in recent decades, this serves as a useful source of information and a reminder that barrier function is important throughout the CNS. Furthermore, it reinforces the probability that information obtained from research on barriers in the brain can be applied to the therapeutic treatment of spinal cord injury. One rather disappointing aspect of this otherwise excellent book is the small amount of space devoted to the choroid plexus and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This is the alternative route to the brain, the blood-CSF barrier with somewhat different properties to the blood-brain barrier. Only two chapters contribute to this very important aspect of brain homeostasis and to the potential for manipulation of the CSF for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Overall, 'Blood-Spinal Cord and Brain Barriers in Health and Disease' is a contemporary and very informative volume that should be a ready source of reference for all researchers and clinicians concerned with the CNS in health and disease.
Rewriting Australia's Racist Past: How Historians (Mis)Interpret the ‘White Australia’ Policy1

This article examines recent writing on the ‘White Australia’ policy and its origins in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. For the most part, this body of work falls into two distinct and opposing categories. On the one hand, historians who take an ‘essentialist’ approach to the problem view ‘White Australia’ as a natural and inevitable by-product of Anglo-Australian racism, which, they argue, permeated Australian culture from the moment the British invaded the continent. Believing that Australian racism thus has something of an ‘inherent’ quality about it, these historians often regard any harsh or unfair decision in the immigration arena as prima facie evidence for the ‘White Australia’ policy's continuing ‘legacy’. On the other hand, ‘apologists’ for ‘White Australia’ deny that it was ever a racist policy and suggest instead that it was a sensible and at the time progressive attempt on the part of its founders to protect Australian economic standards, political conventions and cultural norms from people with vastly different attitudes and ways of life. It is the contention of this article that both interpretations succumb to an ahistorical perspective which ignores the particular ideas and circumstances that led to the policy's formal adoption in 1901. In arguing this case, it also offers a new interpretation which suggests that the rise at this time of race nationalism in Australia provides a more credible explanation for the Commonwealth's decision to embrace the principle of ‘White Australia’.
SURFACTANT ALTERS LUNG LIQUID PRODUCTION AND EPITHELIAL ION TRANSPORT IN FETAL SHEEP. † 1949

Surfactant content progressively increases in the lung lumen around the time of birth. During this same period, net production of lung liquid slows and reabsorption of liquid across the lung epithelium begins. To see if surfactant participates in the regulation of net production of lung liquid(Jv), we placed tracheal catheters in 9 fetal lambs (studied at 132 ± 2 d gestation; term 147 d) to measure Jv before and after surfactant (Infasurf, 350 mg) instillation into the lung lumen. We measured Jv by calculating changes in lung liquid volume over time as determined by the concentration of125 I-albumin placed into the lung lumen before each experiment. When we found that surfactant significantly decreased Jv (n=8, baseline: 12 ± 7; surfactant: 2 ± 9 ml/h; mean ± SD), we performed studies in which we measured Jv following the instillation of surfactant together with amiloride (≈10-4M), an inhibitor of transepithelial Na movement. Jv was significantly greater following the combination of surfactant and amiloride than after surfactant alone (n=8, baseline: 14 ± 7; amiloride/surfactant: 9 ± 7 ml/h), suggesting that enhanced Na reabsorption was in part responsible for the decrease in Jv after surfactant instillation. Because changes in lung liquid movement around the time of birth occur in association with increased Na-K-ATPase activity in distal lung epithelium, we studied fetal lamb distal lung epithelial cells in culture following acute surfactant exposure and assessed Na-K-ATPase activity by calculating the fraction of 86Rb (a K substitute) uptake that was inhibited by ouabain (10-4M). In 6 studies (passages 5-9), surfactant(160 μg/ml) increased ouabain-sensitive 86Rb uptake on average by 88% (control: 82 ± 29; surfactant: 132 ± 37 nmol/106 cells/h). These results suggest that surfactant slows net production of lung liquid by a mechanism involving Na transport and Na-K-ATPase. Thus, in addition to promoting alveolar stability, surfactant may help regulate water balance in the perinatal lung through an effect on lung epithelial ion transport. (Supported by NIH HL49098).
Is life improbable

E. P. Wigner's argument that the probability of the existence of self-reproducing units, e.g., organisms, is zero according to standard quantum theory is stated and analyzed. Theorems are presented which indicate that Wigner's mathematical result in fact should not be interpreted as asserting the improbability of self-reproducing units.
Influence of Heterogeneity and Sampling Method on Aqueous Concentrations Associated with NAPL Dissolution

The purpose of this work is to examine the effects of nonuniform distributions of nonaqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) saturation, porous-media heterogeneity, and sampling method on the magnitude of aque...
SPECTROSCOPIC STUDIES OF HEXADECYLQUINOLINIUM TRICYANOQUINODIMETHANIDE

Hexadecylquinolinium tricyanoquinodimethanide (1), a unimolecular rectifier of electrical current with a large ground-state dipole moment (43 ± 8 D), reveals large hypsochromic shifts of the absorption spectrum. Two fluorescent emissions were observed: one in the visible region (quantum yield φ ≈ 0.01, not solvatochromic) and one in the near-infrared spectrum (weakly solvatochromic). Using a prolate spheroidal cavity model and the absorption maxima measured in eight solvents, the excited-state dipole moment of 1 is estimated as 8.7 D. The NMR spectral lines broaden above 330 K and lose the multiplet structure. The core-level N 1s XPS spectrum reveals the three expected N valence states. The valence-level XPS spectrum can be correlated with theory. Simultaneous cyclic voltammetry and electron spin resonance of the radical anion of 1 shows that the spin density in the LUMO of 1 is concentrated on the tricyanoquinodimethanide portion of the anion. The molecule is clearly zwitterionic in the ground state, bo...
The structure of parvoviruses

Abstract Capsids of autonomous parvoviruses are assembled from two proteins, VP1 and VP2, which overlap in sequence, with VP1 having additional amino-terminal residues. Empty capsids can be assembled from VP2 alone. Post-translational cleavage of assembled particles can modify some of the proteins by truncation of a few of the amino-terminal residues of VP2 to generate VP3 in full virions. The structures of canine parvovirus (CPV) and feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) have been solved to better than 3·5 A resolution, while the structure of human parvovirus, B19, has been determined to 8 A resolution only. In each case the T=1 icosahedron is made up of 60 copies of a mixture of VP1, VP2 and VP3, where each subunit has a structural motif common to many other RNA and DNA viruses, consisting of an eight-stranded anti-parallel β-barrel. The surface of the capsid is made up primarily of large elaborate loops which connect the β-strands that make up the barrel. Variation in the amino acid sequence and topology of these loops account for differing biological properties.
Managing the three 'P's to improve patient safety: nursing administration's role in managing information technology

The Institute of Medicine's landmark report asserted that medical error is seldom the fault of individuals, but the result of faulty healthcare policy/procedure systems. Numerous studies have shown that information technology (IT) can shore up weak systems. For nursing, IT plays a key role in eliminating nursing mistakes. However, managing IT is a function of managing the people who use it. For nursing administrators, successful IT implementations depend on adroit management of the three 'P's: People, processes and (computer) programs. This paper examines critical issues for managing each entity. It discusses the importance of developing trusting organizations, the requirements of process change, how to implement technology in harmony with the organization and the significance of vision.
Thermodynamic properties of chloro-complexes of silver chloride in aqueous solution

Available data on the solubility of silver chloride in aqueous solutions of HCl, NaCl, KCl, LiCl, and NH4Cl, along with potentiometric measurements of the activity of Ag+ in aqueous NaCl−NaClO4 mixtures, have been analyzed to obtain the thermodynamic properties of the (AgCl)0, AgCl 2 − , AgCl 3 2− , and AgCl 4 3− complexes. Results obtained include the stability constants of the complexes and 25°C, the virial parameters needed to calculate the activity coefficients of the complexes and the heats of the reactions by which they are formed. These results are sued to calculate tables of recommended values for the solubility of silver chloride in the host solutions as a function of concentration from 0 to 150°C and to make a critical evaluation of the reliability of previously published data.
Using rhythmic nonces for puzzle-based DoS resistance

To protect against replay attacks, many Internet protocols rely on nonces to guarantee freshness. In practice, the server generates these nonces during the initial handshake, but if the server is under attack, resources consumed by managing certain protocols can lead to DoS vulnerabilities. To help alleviate this problem, we propose the concept of rhythmic nonces, a cryptographic tool that allows servers to measure request freshness with minimal bookkeeping costs. We explore the impact of this service in the context of a puzzle-based DoS resistance scheme we call "SYN puzzles". Our preliminary results based on mathematical analysis and evaluation of a prototype suggests that our scheme is more resistant than existing techniques.
Structural monitoring of composite marine piles using fiber optic sensors

This paper discusses structural health monitoring data obtained using an optical fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor system consisting of sensors embedded in the filament-wound composite marine pile. A composite marine pile is a tube containing a cement core that is used to support bridges, piers, and other structures. This system has applications for structural health monitoring of these structures. This paper presents the results of tests that retrofit two existing composite piles with 30 Bragg grating sensors. Each pile was retrofitted with three arrays, two arrays consisting of 6 gratings and one consisting of 3 gratings for strain and temperature measurements, respectively. Grooves were cut in the piles to allow for adhesive installation of the sensor arrays, and fiberglass cloth tape was laminated over the arrays to protect the optical fiber during the pile driving process. Data were collected prior to and during the pile driving process using a commercial off-the-shelf FBG interrogation system. The purposes of these tests were to (1) determine the survivability of the sensor arrays during the pile driving process, (2) measure residual strains on the filament wound composite tube following the pile driving process, and (3) determine whether structural integrity issues are observed from the strain data.
Colloidal self-assembly: Reversible actuation.

Janus ellipsoids self-assemble into self-limiting fibres that can be reversibly actuated by applying an electric field.
Pharmacy student professionalism and the internet

Abstract User modifiable internet applications, often termed Web 2.0 and social media have the ability to quickly broadcast opinions, beliefs, and personal details. Pharmacy education has begun to integrate this technology for educational and outreach purposes and is also grappling with the negative issues that surface with respect to student professionalism. The objective was to investigate academic administrators' reports of unprofessional online postings of pharmacy students and how this related to policies at their respective institutions. This study was an online survey of Deans of student affairs, or their proxies, at United States colleges of pharmacy in December 2009. The survey collected information on school setting and respondent characteristics, incidents of student-posted unprofessional content, respondents' level of concern and institutional policies. Fifty-four percent of schools responded (60/111). Of these, 51% (31/60) reported incidences of student-posted online unprofessional content. Patient confidentiality was involved in 7% of these incidents (2/28). Profanity (74%; 20/27), discriminatory language (39%; 11/28), depicting intoxication (50%; 13/26), and sexually suggestive content (32%; 8/25) were also reported. Of the respondents who reported incidents and answered the question regarding disciplinary actions, 20 resulted in informal warnings (67%). Fifty-six percent of respondents believe that current policies do not cover student-posted online content (32/57). Of these schools without policies, 25% (9/32) were adjusting policies to cover this issue. There was no difference between schools reporting incidents and amount of policies, school characteristics, or Deans' level of concern. Online student-posted unprofessional content appears equally prevalent regardless of schools' policies to address it.
CONSTRAINTS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PLANTS ALONG A FLUCTUATING WATER-DEPTH GRADIENT

We used simulation modeling to investigate the relative importance of current environmental conditions and factors affecting establishment of different plant species on the formation of vegetative zonation patterns. We compared the results from a series of six models that incorporated increasing amounts of information about key factors affecting species' ability to adjust to water-level fluctuations. We assessed model accuracy using aerial photographs taken of a 10-yr field experiment, in which 10 wetlands were flooded to 1 m above normal water level for 2 yr, drawn down for 1 or 2 yr, and reflooded for 5 yr to three different water levels (normal, 10.3 m, 10.6 m). We compared each model's ability to predict relative areal cover of five dominant emergent species and to recreate the spatial structure of the landscape as measured by mean area of monospecific stands of vegetation and the degree to which the species were intermixed. The simplest model predicted post-treatment species distributions using logistic re- gressions based on initial species distributions along the water-depth gradient in the ex- perimental wetlands. Subsequent models were based on germination, rhizomatous dispersal, and mortality functions implemented in each cell of a spatial grid. We tested the effect on model accuracy of incrementally adding data on five factors that can alter the composition and distribution of vegetative zones following a shift in environmental conditions: (1) spatial relationships between areas of suitable habitat (landscape geometry), (2) initial spatial distribution of adults, (3) the presence of ruderal species in the seed bank, (4) the distribution of seed densities in the seed bank, and (5) differential seedling survivorship. Because replicated, long-term data are generally not available, the evaluation of these models represents the first experimental test, of which we are aware, of the ability of a cellular-automaton-type model to predict changes in plant species' distributions. Establishment constraints, such as recruitment from the seed bank, were most important during low-water periods and immediately following a change in water depth. Subsequent to a drop in water level, the most detailed models made the most accurate predictions. The accuracy of all the models converged in 1-2 years after an increase in water level, indicating that current environmental conditions became more important under stable conditions than the effects of historical recruitment events.
Translational science: past, present, and future.

The concept of translational science is at least 15 years old. However, in its most recent incarnation, it represents the identification of a funding category designed to encourage academic partici...
Identification of a potential artifact in the use of electron microscope autoradiography to localize saturated phospholipids in cells.

Abstract The suitability of electron microscope autoradiography for studying the uptake and intracellular localization of lipid vesicles (liposomes) containing radiolabeled saturated phospholipids has been examined. Data are presented showing that preparation of specimens for electron microscope autoradiography by conventional methods is accompanied by significant translocation and intercellular redistribution of radiolabeled saturated lipids, causing spurious labeling patterns. Intercellular redistribution of radiolabeled lipid was demonstrated by mixing glutaraldehyde-fixed mouse L1210 cells that had been incubated with sonicated lipid vesicles containing [3H]dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine with an indicator cell population (fixed avian erythrocytes) which had not been exposed to vesicles and showing that after electron microscope processing radiolabeled grains were present in both cell types. The same redistribution artifact also probably affects the intracellular localization of radiolabeled lipids. This artifact is discussed in relation to previous work in which autoradiographic methods have been used for ultrastructural localization of saturated phospholipids in cells and tissues.
The Relation Between Psychometric Test Performance and Physical Performance in Older Adults

Background. The relationship between cognitive function and physical disability in nondemented older adults is not well characterized. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between performance on psychometric measures and a modified Physical Performance Test (modified PPT) in older men and women. Methods. One hundred twenty-five men and women aged 75 years and older, who were enrolled inrandomized, controlled trials of exercise or hormone replacement therapy, were recruited from the community-at-large and from congregate living sites. Measures obtained included Trailmaking A and B tests, Cancellation Random Figure tests, Weschler Associate Learning and 20-minute Delayed Recall, Verbal Fluency test, a modified PPT, and self-reports about performance of activities of daily living, medication use, and hospitalization in the previous year. Results. Simple regression analysis demonstrated that speed of performance on the Trailmaking B and Cancellation Random Figure tests was significantly associated with total modified PPT score (r =.29, p < .001 and r =.36, p < .00 I, respec­ tively). A factor analysis of the psychometric test battery demonstrated that two factors, a cognitive speed factor and a memory factor, accounted for 55% of the variance in cognitive test performance. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that age, number of medications, and the cognitive speed factor were independent predictors of total modified PPT score. Conclusions. Cognitive processing speed is a significant component of physical frailty in this population, although it ac­ counts for a small percentage of variance on a standardized physical performance test.
Rising total cross sections and the flavoring of the pomeron

Abstract The relationship of the non-diffractive renormalization of the bare pomeron via K K and B B production - or its “flavoring” by λ quark loops and di-quark loops - and the shape of the NN total cross section is studied in some detail. The “unflavored” bare pomeron P generated by non-strange quark loops with intercept α =0.85 is non-diffractively renormalized into the “flavored” (Gribov) bare pomeron P with intercept α above one ( α = 1.06 here). We utilize inclusive data on K K and B B production as well as inelastic diffraction to constrain parameters, and we fit the combination 1 2 (σ pp + σ p p ) from s = 10 GeV 2 through ISR energies, including the new Fermilab data, to high accuracy. No pronounced long wavelength oscillations are observed. We suggest that these data favor the Chew-Rosenzweig realization of the topological expansion over that of Harari-Freund. We show that our scheme is consistent with the rising behavior of 2 σ KN − σ π N .
Shear Rupturing of Droplets in Complex Fluids

We have experimentally studied the shear-induced rupturing of viscous droplets in viscoelastic complex fluids. Remarkably, a premixed emulsion of large, polydisperse droplets can be ruptured into monodisperse emulsions of uniform colloidal droplets. The monodispersity becomes most pronounced when the premixed emulsion is viscoelastic and has a shear-thinning viscosity. Since viscoelastic materials may fracture, we reduce the gap of our shear cell to ensure a spatially uniform strain rate for rupturing. We observe monodispersity whether the viscoelasticity arises from the suspending fluid (e.g., concentrated surfactant solution) or droplet deformation as in compressed emulsions. Our observations suggest that the monodispersity results from droplet rupturing alone and that the capillary instability is inhibited by the partial elasticity of the complex fluid. We use the monodispersity to study how the droplet size depends upon the shear rate and composition.
Aqueous Solubility Enhancement Through Engineering of Binary Solid Composites: Pharmaceutical Applications

Limits to the aqueous solubility of emerging new chemical entities, as well as older drug molecules, represent a barrier to solid oral dosage form development. Numerous techniques are conventionally employed in aqueous solubility enhancement, although a universal strategy has proven elusive. Formation of binary solid composites, such as eutectics or amorphous solid dispersions, offers an alternative to traditional solubility enhancement techniques. The reality of these systems, however, is that very few examples have been made commercially available, ultimately stemming from a lack of understanding regarding structural and thermodynamic stability-indicating phenomena associated with higher-energy solid materials. In the present work, a comprehensive structurally based review of the fundamental solid-state properties of binary composite materials is presented. Specific emphasis is placed on current topics of research in the area of binary composite formation and the relationship to the underutilization of this technology with the pharmaceutical industry.
Off-shell extrapolation of Regge-model NN -scattering amplitudes describing final-state interactions in 2 H( e , e ′ p )

In this paper, an off-shell extrapolation is proposed for the Regge-model $\mathit{NN}$ amplitudes presented in a paper by Ford and Van Orden [Phys. Rev. C 87, 014004 (2013)] and in an eprint by Ford (arXiv:1310.0871 [nucl-th]). A prescription for extrapolating these amplitudes for one nucleon off-shell in the initial state is given. Application of these amplitudes to calculations of deuteron electrodisintegration is presented and compared to the limited available precision data in the kinematical region covered by the Regge model.
Mapping of neural crest pathways in Xenopus laevis using inter- and intra-specific cell markers

This study examines the pathways of migration followed by neural crest cells in Xenopus embryos using two recently described cell marking techniques. The first is an interspecific chimera created by grafting Xenopus borealis cells into Xenopus laevis hosts. The cells of these closely related species can be distinguished by their nuclear dimorphism. The second type of marker is created by microinjection of lysinated dextrans into fertilized eggs which can then be used for intraspecific grafting. These recently developed fluorescent dyes are fixable and identifiable in both living and fixed embryos. After grafting labeled donor neural tubes into unlabeled host embryos, the distribution of neural crest cells at various stages after grafting was used to define the pathways of neural crest migration. To control for possible grafting artifacts, fluorescent lysinated dextran was injected into a single blastomere which gives rise to a large number of neural crest cells, thereby labeling the neural crest without grafting. By all three techniques, Xenopus neural crest cells were observed along two predominant pathways in the trunk. The majority of neural crest cells were observed along a “ventral” route, between the neural tube and somite, the notochord and somite, and along the dorsal mesentery. A second group of neural crest cells was observed “dorsally” where they populated the dorsal fin. A third minor “lateral” pathway was observed primarily in borealis/laevis chimerae and in blastomere-injected embryos; some neural crest cells were observed underneath the ectoderm lateral to the neural tube. Along the rostrocaudal axis, neural crest cells were not continuously distributed but were primarily located across from the caudal two-thirds of the somite. Fewer than 3% of the neural crest cells were observed across from the rostral third of each somite. When grafted to ventral locations, neural crest cells were not able to migrate dorsally but migrated laterally along the dorsal mesentery. Labeled neural crest cells gave rise to cells of the spinal, sympathetic, and enteric ganglia as well as to adrenal chromaffin cells, Schwann cells, pigment cells, mesenchymal cells of the dorsal fin, and some cells in the integuments and in the region of the pronephros. These results show that the neural crest migratory pathways in Xenopus differ from those in the avian embryo. In avians NC cells migrate as a closely associated sheet of cells while in Xenopus they migrate as individual cells. Both species exhibit a metamerism in the neural crest cell distribution pattern along the rostrocaudal axis. However, in chick embryos NC cells migrate through the rostral sclerotome of each somite and are never observed in the perinotochordal area.
A Geometric Proof of the Gap Theorem

Hollmann, Korner, and Litsyn used generalized Steiner systems to prove that it is impossible to partition ann-cube intokHamming spheres if 2
Examining workgroup influence on technology usage: a community of practice perspective

This paper develops a new theoretical model with which to examine the factors that determine employees' technology usage within organizational settings. Much of the prior IS training literature has assumed an underlying relationship between necessary conditions for technology adoption — such as user training and support resources — and actual technology use. Whereas these “facilitating conditions” for technology usage [38, 80, 81] have been taken for granted as factors that influence system adoption and usage, the reality of learning and working in organizational settings suggests an entirely different mode of influence on employees' technology-related behavior. Drawing from research in cognitive anthropology [35], and acknowledging the role of communities of practice that shape learning, behavior, and memory [5, 65, 87, 88], we develop an alternative theoretical framework to explain employees' adoption of technology and their degree of system usage. Contrasting this novel theoretical framework with traditional notions that presume technology usage to be directly related to the amount or perceived quality of user training and support, we evaluate both frameworks with empirical data obtained from a technology implementation initiative across five sites of one nonprofit organization. While both theories receive some support from our data, we argue for the recognition that social influences exert an effect not just on whether employees adopt IT [77], but more importantly on how and how much employees use technology for their jobs. Implications for research and practice related to IT training are provided, as well as to more general lessons for managing technology implementation.
Objective tinnitus resulting from internal carotid artery stenosis

Objective tinnitus represents sound wave energy that, by definition, may be heard or recorded by an examiner. It may occur as a result of either muscular contraction or turbulent blood flow. We report two cases of vascular objective tinnitus resulting from internal carotid artery stenosis. The first patient, a 74-year-old man, underwent ligation of the right internal carotid artery because of the distal extent of atherosclerosis. The second patient, a 75-year-old man, underwent a right carotid endarterectomy. Both patients noted complete relief of their tinnitus. The spectrum of vascular causes and treatment options are reviewed.