cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Material hermeneutics and Heelan’s philosophy of technoscience

This essay raises the question of material hermeneutics in Heelan’s philosophy of techno-science. For Heelan, a continental philosophy of technoscience, referring to Husserl and Heidegger and especially to Merleau-Ponty, features hermeneutic contexts of mathematics and measurement as well as laboratory observation, including what the later Heelan spoke of as “portable laboratories,” for the sake of objectivity and “meaning making.” For Paul Feyerabend, this material practice corresponded to the use of both techniques of observation and instrumentation, and not less “propaganda” in the case of Galileo which practice for Heelan included the ontological status of measures and numbers as well as apprenticeship in what Heelan called “contingent local practical cultural milieus.” The essay includes a discussion of Heidegger on mathematics and Bruno Latour on pasteurization.
Geometric Mean--What Does It Mean?.

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and numerous mathematics educators promote the combination of conceptual understanding and procedural learning in the successful instruction of mathematics. Despite this, when geometric mean is taught in a typical American geometry class, it is taught as a process only despite the many connections that could be made. This paper discusses a number of the connections that can be made when geometric mean is taught in the mathematics classroom.
Breastfeeding History, Preschool Children’s Sleep, and Obesity

Breastfeeding and sleep are both considered medically and physiologically protective factors for child health. Most existing research studied their impact on child health outcomes, respectively. Fe...
Biases in Fingerprint Recognition Systems: Where Are We At?

Biometric technologies based on fingerprints are widely deployed in systems of national importance to safeguard our society through prevention of identity theft, access control to sensitive facilities (e.g., airports, military bases) and identification of suspected terrorists. Fingerprint technology is subject to biases depending upon the dataset available and the conditions in which the algorithms are created. Common countermeasures to discovered biases consist of exposing machines to more fresh data, feature engineering, algorithm selection, hyper-parameter optimization and retraining the machine to reduce or eliminate the biased outcome. Although gathering data from several random sources may increase the quality of machine learning approaches, systematic research is needed to understand and minimize biases influencing performance and security of biometric systems. The contribution of this paper includes examining biases affecting fingerprint technology from a holistic perspective as well as enumerating the fundamental challenges encountered by current systems operating in real-world applications.
High circularly polarized luminescence brightness from analogues of Shibasaki's lanthanide complexes.

To reach the promising potential of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emitters, high CPL brightness must be achieved. We describe the synthesis of analogues of the C3-symmetrical Shibasaki's lanthanide complexes (Sm, Tb, Dy) supported by enantiopure 5,5′,6,6′,7,7′,8,8′-octahydro-1,1′-bi-2-naphthol (H8-Binol). The complexes exhibit visible luminescence in solution with exceptionally high quantum yields for Sm (4%) and Dy (17%), and strong circularly polarized luminescence for Sm, Tb, and Dy (|glum| up to 0.44, 0.32, 0.33, respectively). Altogether, these complexes possess amongst the strongest CPL brightness reported to date in lanthanide molecular complexes (up to 782 M−1 cm−1 for Tb).
Philanthropic Foundations and Higher Education: The Politics of Intermediary Organizations

Intermediary organizations (IOs) are influential policy actors in higher education. Yet, little is known regarding the role of philanthropic foundations in sponsoring IOs for policy promotion. By r...
Proficiency in Basic Data Structures among Various Subpopulations of Students at Different Stages in a CS Program

Previous studies show that CS students may not learn as much from their courses as we might expect. This could have ramifications on how students succeed in their future careers and may explain why researchers report a gap between industry expectations and the abilities of recent CS graduates. However, previous studies have also shown that students improve their prerequisite knowledge in subsequent courses. This study investigates the introductory data structures proficiency of students in different courses at various stages in our CS program, employing the validated Basic Data Structures Inventory (BDSI). Additionally, we investigate whether subpopulations, including transfer students and underrepresented groups, may be more prone to not attaining as much knowledge from our courses as we might expect. We find that students' knowledge of basic data structures is, on average, better in later courses. However, we also find subpopulations of students that perform worse than others or seem to not improve their knowledge in later courses. Specifically, we find students that transferred to our institution from a different school perform significantly worse on the BDSI than other students and do not improve their BDSI performance in later courses. We also find students from demographic backgrounds that are underrepresented in computing scored slightly, though not statistically significantly, worse than others. Our findings warrant future investigations on how our programs can better serve the students in the affected subpopulations.
Systematic dissection of σ70 sequence diversity and function in bacteria.

Summary Primary σ70 factors are key conserved bacterial regulatory proteins that interact with regulatory DNA to control gene expression. It is, however, poorly understood whether σ70 sequence diversity in different bacteria reflects functional differences. Here, we employ comparative and functional genomics to explore the sequence and function relationship of primary σ70. Using multiplex automated genome engineering and deep sequencing (MAGE-seq), we generate a saturation mutagenesis library and high-resolution fitness map of E. coli σ70 in domains 2–4. Mapping natural σ70 sequence diversity to the E. coli σ70 fitness landscape reveals significant predicted fitness deficits across σ70 orthologs. Interestingly, these predicted deficits are larger than observed fitness changes for 15 σ70 orthologs introduced into E. coli. Finally, we use a multiplexed transcriptional reporter assay and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to explore functional differences of several σ70 orthologs. This work provides an in-depth analysis of σ70 sequence and function to improve efforts to understand the evolution and engineering potential of this global regulator.
Southeast and East Asian immigrant women's transnational postpartum experiences: A meta-ethnography.

The increase in births to Southeast and East Asian (SEEA) immigrants in their adopted countries is of international importance. SEEA women experience the postpartum period differently than that of the general population. Despite the documented difference, there is limited representation of SEEA women in the literature. The purpose of this meta-ethnography is to synthesise the qualitative findings from different research studies examining the experiences of SEEA immigrant women during the first 4-6 weeks of the postpartum period and has been written in adherence with enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research (PRISMA). Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnographic approach was used. Seven articles (four qualitative and three mixed-methods studies) were reviewed, analysed and synthesised. Four themes emerged: two were facilitators of birth culture (availability and quality of social support and maternity care provider cultural knowledge and response) and two were barriers to birth culture (lack of structural and social support and cultural alienation after childbirth). Due to lack of structural and social support in SEEA immigrant women's adopted countries, they also experienced social and economic hardships after childbirth and made conscious decisions to modify their postpartum cultural practices out of convenience and practicality. SEEA immigrant women also experienced discrimination from maternity care providers, which prevented them from fully engaging in postpartum cultural practices. Maternity care providers can advocate and intervene for SEEA immigrant women by eliciting any postpartum cultural beliefs, assess their social and economic needs early on in prenatal care and make culturally congruent referrals based on those assessments.
Normal subspaces of products of finitely many ordinals

Let X be a subspace of the product of finitely many ordinals. If X is normal, then X is strongly zero-dimensional, collectionwise normal, and shrinking. The proof uses (κ 1 ,...,κ n )-stationary sets.
BEEF THAWING AND COOKERY METHODS.

Steaks and roasts from Angus and Simmental crossbred steers were evaluated by a nine-member panel, and sample cores were sheared on the Instron Universal Testing Device equipped with a Warner-Bratzler shear head. The meat was subjected to five different thawing and cooking methods and two storage periods. There was a difference (P < 0.01) in microbial numbers (log counts) found on the roasts due to incubation temperature (37°C vs 7°C) and time in storage (fresh, 5 months and 10 months). The fresh roasts had higher (P < 0.01) mean log counts. Slightly higher total cooking losses were observed for the roasts than for the steaks. The highest Instron shear values for both roasts and steaks were recorded for the microwave-thawed and cooked meat. Overall panel satisfaction for both cuts of meat was positively correlated with flavor, juiciness and tenderness. Storage time was negatively correlated with flavor. Breed had no significant effect on flavor, juiciness, tenderness, overall satisfaction or shear values. Differences (P < 0.025) were found between the microwave and conventionally cooked meat, with the microwave-cooked meat having the greatest cooking losses.
Don't Leave Me in the Dark: Implementation of Bedside Postpartum Depression Screening

In 2006 maternity nurses at a large metropolitan hospital wanted to implement postpartum depression (PPD) screening for all postpartum patients. A trial using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was completed. Due to the large volume of births, it was determined there were limited in-patient and community resources to meet the needs of identi¢ed patients. The nurses developed a brochure and implemented patient/family
The genes for the trophoblast interferons and the related interferon-alpha II possess distinct 5'-promoter and 3'-flanking sequences.

Abstract The genes for trophoblast interferons (IFN) bovine trophoblast protein-1 (bTP-1) and ovine trophoblast protein-1 (oTP-1) are expressed massively in the trophectoderm of preimplantation bovine and ovine concepti during the period of maternal recognition of pregnancy. These 172-amino acid IFN are closely related to the IFN-alpha II, a family of "long" IFN expressed in virus-induced leukocytes. Genomic Southern blotting with a full-length bTP-1 cDNA revealed about 15 genes that bind the probe with varying intensities. By using more specific probes for the 3'-ends of the cDNA, we have shown that only four to five of these represent bTP-1 genes, whereas no more than another four are IFN-alpha II. Genes for bTP-1 and IFN-alpha II, all of which are intronless, have been isolated from bovine genomic libraries, and their nucleotide sequences were compared. Additional bTP-1 genes and two distinct oTP-1 genes have been isolated from bovine and ovine genomic DNA by using the polymerase chain reaction procedure in conjunction with specific 3'- and 5'- primers (derived from the bTP-1 gene sequences determined above). The promoter region up to 100 bases upstream from the transcription start sites of the trophoblast IFN are almost completely conserved across different genes and across species, yet show only limited sequence identity with IFN-alpha II. Two putative binding regions for interferon regulatory factor-1 as well as several GAAANN motifs (where N is any nucleotide) that have been implicated in viral responsiveness of alpha 1- and beta-IFN genes are retained at identical positions in all of the trophoblast genes. Putative interferon regulatory factor-1-binding nucleotide hexamers and GAAANN motifs are also present in the IFN-alpha II genes, but these are organized very differently than in the trophoblast IFN genes. A GAAATG motif is present in IFN-alpha II promoters but is absent in trophoblast IFN genes. Based on the evidence presented, it is proposed that the trophoblast interferons constitute a separate subclass of IFN-alpha distinct from IFN-alpha II and IFN-alpha I.
Protein synthesis on reticulocyte ribosomes. II. The binding of peptidyl-sRNA to ribosomes.

Evidence is provided that the stability of the binding of the growing peptide chain to reticulocyte ribosomes is related to the degree of dissociation of the ribosomes. Under conditions where all 80 s particles are dissociated into 60 s and 40 s subunits, roughly half of the radioactivity in the growing peptide chains is released. The remaining label in the peptidyl-sRNA is bound to both subunits. Studies in which both parts of the molecule are differentially labeled suggest that the longest chains are attached to the 60 s subunits. Treatment of dissociated ribosomes with RNase does not increase the amount of label released from the subunits under conditions which result in a partial digestion of the smaller subunits. Trypsin renders soluble part of the remaining label on the ribosomes. These results are compared with those reported with bacterial ribosomes.
Looking for Law in All the Wrong Places: Outlaw Texts and Early Women's Advocacy

Recent Supreme Court decisions such as Atkins v. Virginia and Lawrence v. Texas specifically address the linkages between shifting cultural attitudes and the evolution of law. In this Article, I examine the mutually constitutive relationship between legal and cultural developments from a historical perspective and illustrate the necessity of looking to sources that I define as outlaw texts in order to access invaluable information about the process of legal change. To demonstrate how a study of outlaw texts can enrich our understanding and critical consideration of law and legal history, this Article presents detailed analyses of specific examples of nineteenth-century women's narrative advocacy. The outlaw texts examined in the Article include narratives of nonfiction and fiction. While critical race, feminist, and cultural study of law scholars have emphasized the importance of looking beyond official legal texts such as statutes, judicial opinions, and legislative histories, this Article breaks new ground by arguing that this expanded inquiry also should include a heretofore unacknowledged source of legal history - the novel. The novel was the most popular form of women's writing in the nineteenth century and, as this Article shows, an important public legal forum for women. By providing a space where women's stories could be told and read, calling into question the law's claim to truth, and creating new knowledge through the shared tellings of women's experiences, nineteenth-century novels performed what today we would call feminist jurisprudence. Outlaw texts, whether real-life or fictional narratives, document the everyday effects and negotiations of law that ultimately influence how the law is revised and refined. With respect to the nineteenth century, these texts are records of experiences and perspectives that clearly were driving the significant legal reforms that took place at this time in the areas of married women's property, divorce, child custody, and domestic abuse. Through its specific study of the historical performance of feminist jurisprudence and early women's advocacy, this Article contributes to our knowledge of women's important but often overlooked roles in legal history. With its cross-disciplinary approach to what constitutes a legal text, as well as its analyses of the legal work performed in novels such as Wuthering Heights, this Article also suggests new and invigorating directions for the law and literature movement. But, most significantly, this Article concludes that the study of outlaw texts has broader implications for the study of law and legal education than its potential impacts on certain specialized fields. Outlaw texts bring into sharp focus the omissions of certain views, arguments, and experiences from traditional legal texts; they also illuminate the ways in which legal outsiders have produced, contested, and transformed law and legal meanings. Keywords: Law and Literature, Feminism
Investigations of the Chymotrypsin-catalyzed Hydrolysis of Specific Substrates II. CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SPECTRAL CHANGES OF THE ENZYME AT 290 mµ AND DETERMINATION OF OVER-ALL ENZYME-SUBSTRATE DISSOCIATION CONSTANTS

Abstract Spectral changes of chymotrypsin near 290 mµ, previously observed by us in the reaction of chymotrypsin with an inhibitor and with model substrates, have now been shown to accompany the binding to the enzyme of a specific amide substrate, N-acetyl-l-phenylalaninamide. Investigations of these substrate-induced spectral changes by equilibrium experiments and kinetic measurements have yielded the following new information important to an understanding of chymotrypsin-catalyzed reactions. As in the reaction of chymotrypsin with its specific inhibitor diisopropyl fluorophosphate, these spectral changes of the enzyme observed during the amide hydrolysis are associated with an enzyme-substrate complex and not with a covalently bound enzyme-substrate compound. The process associated with these spectral changes precedes the bond-breaking step and is much faster; it has a half-time of less than 3 msec (kobs g 230 sec-1 or g1.1 x 104 m-1 sec-1 for a second order rate constant) at pH 8 and 24°, while the bond-breaking step has a kobs value less than 0.07 sec-1. The dependence of the spectral changes of the enzyme near 290 mµ on substrate concentration allowed the determination of an enzyme-substrate dissociation constant, K's. The dissociation constants pertaining to specific substrates and chymotrypsin have not previously been determined. K's values for N-acetyl-l-phenylalaninamide and δ-chymotrypsin at pH 8 and pH 10 were found to be 15 mm and 51 mm, respectively, while the catalytic rate constant was found to be pH independent in this pH region. This is consistent with our previous experiments which indicate that the pH dependence of the chymotrypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of the specific amide substrate above pH 8 is due to the pH dependence of the formation of an enzyme-substrate complex and not due to the effect of pH on the bond-breaking step. The K's values for N-acetyl-l-phenylalaninamide and α-chymotrypsin determined from measurements of the substrate-induced spectral changes of the enzyme near 290 mµ were checked by an independent method, the proflavin-displacement method, and excellent agreement between these two methods was obtained.
JOINT RANGE OF MOTION AND MOBILITY OF THE HUMAN TORSO

THE OBJECT HAS BEEN TO DEVELOP A QUANTITATIVE DESCRIPTION OF THE MOBILITY OF THE HUMAN TORSO, INCLUDING THE SHOULDER GIRDLE, NECK, THORACIC AND LUMBAR VERTEBRAL COLUMN, AND PELVIS. THIS HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED BY A SYSTEMATIC MULTIDISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION INVOLVING TECHNIQUES OF CADAVER DISSECTION AND MEASUREMENT, UTILIZING CINERADIOFLUOROSCOPY FOR JOINT CENTER OF ROTATION LOCATION, ANTHROPOMETRY, RADIOGRAPHY AND PHOTOGRAMMETRY FOR SELECTED POSITIONS AND MOTIONS OF LIVING SUBJECTS, AND COMPUTER ANALYSIS. THE MAJOR RESULTS OF THE STUDY ARE PREDICTION EQUATIONS AND GRAPHS DESCRIBING HOW THE BASE OF THE SPINE REFERENCE POINT (FIFTH LUMBAR SPINAL SURFACE MARKER) MOVES IN RELATION TO DEFINED SEATED AND STANDING REFERENCE POINTS FOR GIVEN REACHES, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNIQUES BY WHICH THE LENGTHS AND EXCURSIONS OF TORSO AND LIMB LINKS MAY BE ESTIMTED AND LOCATED. IT WAS FOUND THAT THE SURFACE LANDMARKS SELECTED COULD PREDICT PRECISE LOCATION OF THE UNDERLYING ANATOMICAL LANDMARKS. THE RESULTS PROVIDE INITIAL BASIC DATA REGARDING HUMAN TORSO MOTION, JOINT CENTER OF MOTION, AND LINK RELATIONSHIPS. /SAE/
Peritoneal Ultrafiltration: Mechanisms and Measures

The net ultrafiltration during peritoneal dialysis equals the osmotic ultrafiltration minus the fluid loss. Fluid loss is made up primarily of hydrostatic pressure-driven convection to the tissues surrounding the peritoneal cavity and a lesser amount of lymph flow. The cellular and blood capillary sources of water are distributed in an interstitial matrix, which decreases the effective osmotic pressure in the vicinity of the microvasculature. The interstitial matrix makes the process of fluid removal far less efficient than it would be if the blood capillaries were actually in direct contact with the peritoneal fluid. Osmotically driven water transport occurs chiefly across the blood capillary endothelium into the interstitium and ultimately out into the peritoneal cavity. Aquaporin-1, water-only channels, are important for solute-free water transport from blood capillaries. There may also be specialized water channels in cells, but this likely provides only a small component of solute-free water to the peritoneal cavity. Signs of ultrafiltration failure include loss of solute-free ultrafiltration and general decrease in ultrafiltration below 400 ml with a 4-h dwell of hypertonic dialysate.
Driving-related risks and outcomes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescents and young adults: a 3- to 5-year follow-up survey.

OBJECTIVE. To determine whether teenagers and young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have more motor vehicle citations and crashes and are more careless drivers than their normal peers. DESIGN. A comparison of two groups of teenagers and young adults (ADHD and normal) followed up 3 to 5 years after original diagnosis. SETTING. A university medical center clinic for ADHD patients. PATIENTS. Thirty-five subjects with ADHD and 36 control subjects between 16 and 22 years of age, all of whom were licensed drivers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES. Parent ratings of current symptoms of ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder, and conduct disorder, a survey of various negative driving outcomes, and a rating scale of driving behavior. RESULTS. Subjects with ADHD used less sound driving habits. This deficiency was associated with greater driving-related negative outcomes in all categories surveyed. Subjects with ADHD were more likely than control subjects to have had auto crashes, to have had more such crashes, to have more bodily injuries associated with such crashes, and to be at fault for more crashes than control subjects. They were also more likely to have received traffic citations and received more such citations than control subjects, particularly for speeding. The sub-group of teenagers with ADHD having greater comorbid oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder symptoms were at highest risk for such deficient driving skills/habits and negative driving-related outcomes. CONCLUSIONS. ADHD, and especially its association with oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder, is associated with substantially increased risks for driving among teenagers and young adults and worthy of attention when clinicians counsel such patients and their parents. Language: en
HYDROPOWER COSTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS AND CLIMATE WARMING IN CALIFORNIA'S UPPER YUBA RIVER WATERSHED

Understanding the trade-offs between water for the environment and water for hydropower in regulated rivers can inform decision making about hydropower system planning, policy and operations, especially with anticipated climate warming–induced changes in runoff. This study used a multireservoir optimisation model to assess the hydropower effects of increasing minimum instream flows (MIFs) and imposing weekly scale down ramp rates (DRRs) in three locations in California's Upper Yuba River (UYR). The UYR is currently used for hydropower generation yet has high potential for freshwater habitat restoration. Trade-offs between DRRs, MIFs and hydropower generation and revenue are explored with uniform air temperature increases of 0 °C, 2 °C, 4 °C and 6 °C to approximate anticipated regional climate warming. With 6 °C warming, the most ecologically beneficial MIF and DRR reduced hydropower generation by 7.9% and revenue by 5.5% compared with base case management and a historical climate. This has important implications for licensure of the UYR project and other hydropower projects, where multiple benefits under current and potential future conditions must be balanced. This study provides a methodological approach that can be used by water managers, regulators and stakeholders to better understand inherent trade-offs in allocating water for multiple beneficial uses in a nonstationary hydroclimate. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Elastic Energy Driven Polymerization

We present a molecular system where polymerization is controlled externally by tuning the elastic energy of the monomers. The elastic energy, provided by a DNA molecular spring, destabilizes the monomer state through a process analogous to domain swapping. This energy can be large (of ∼10 kT) and thus drive polymerization at relatively low monomer concentrations. The monomer-dimer equilibrium provides a measurement of the elastic energy of the monomer, which in this construction appears limited by kink formation in the DNA molecular spring, in accord with previous theoretical and experimental investigations of the elasticity of sharply bent DNA.
A cluster of hydrophobic amino acid residues required for fast Na(+)-channel inactivation

Abstract The inward Na+ current underlying the action potential in nerve is terminated by inactivation. The preceding report shows that deletions within the intracellular linker between domains III and IV remove inactivation, but mutation of conserved basic and paired acidic amino acids has little effect. Here we show that substitution of glutamine for three clustered hydrophobic amino acids, Ile-1488, Phe-1489, and Met-1490, completely removes fast inactivation. Substitution of Met-1490 alone slows inactivation significantly, substitution of Ile-1488 alone both slows inactivation and makes it incomplete, and substitution of Phe-1489 alone removes inactivation nearly completely. These results demonstrate an essential role of Phe-1489 in Na(+)-channel inactivation. It is proposed that the hydrophobic cluster of Ile-1488, Phe-1489, and Met-1490 serves as a hydrophobic latch that stabilizes the inactivated state in a hinged-lid mechanism of Na(+)-channel inactivation.
Driven Pattern Formation in Organic Thin Film Materials: Complex Mesoscopic Organization in Microcontact Printing on Si/SiO2 via the Spontaneous Dewetting of a Functionalized Perfluoropolyether Ink†

Polyfluoropolyether (PFPE) films have long been used as lubricant coatings for magnetic recording media. In this paper, we demonstrate that the unique wetting properties of PFPEsmore specifically, the dynamical organizations that result from spontaneous dewettingcan be harnessed to generate mesoscopically patterned features of these materials on SiO2. In this work, a functionalized PFPE amphiphile with the formula CF3CF2CF2O(CF(CF3)CF2O)nCF(CF3)CONHCH2CH2CH2Si(OCH3)3 (Krytox SA, DuPont) was deposited on a SiO2 surface by both spin-casting and contact printing. Both methods produce complex surface structures comprised of beaded domains and depletion regions (and in the case of spin-casting, also thin films) that result from dewetting processes. Spontaneous dewetting was used to generate self-organizing PFPE bead patterns by microcontact printing. The wetting transitions in this latter case occur directly on the printing tool and, via the bias provide by the topography of the stamp, provide a means for gene...
Biomedical information from a national collection of spine x-rays: film to content-based retrieval

We summarize research and development for the extraction and distribution of biomedical information from a collection of 17,000 spine x-ray images collected by the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). We present a history of the technical milestones of this work, including the data collection as film, digitization, quality control, archiving technology, database organization, medical expert content evaluation, and Web data distribution. We conclude by presenting our current work in content-based image retrieval (CBIR) to exploit the information content of these images directly by using image processing. We provide an overview and current research results from this CBIR work, which includes: extensive segmentation research, focusing on Active Shape Modeling and Active Contour methods; alternative techniques for shape representation, including invariant moments, simple polygon approximation, and Fourier descriptors; neural network classification of shapes into biomedical categories, such as “anterior osteophytes present/not present”; and the implementation of a prototype CBIR system for the vertebrae that supports hybrid text/image queries using MATLAB and the MySQL relational database system.
Cerebellar dyssynergia in humans—A quantitative analysis

Patients with cerebellar lesions and limb ataxia performed two types of continuous tracking tasks involving flexion and extension of the index finger. In both tasks, patients were provided cutaneous and proprioceptive cues, but visual feedback was given in the first task (visual tracking) and not in the second (arbitrarily termed proprioceptive tracking). Raw records and Fourier-analyzed power spectra were compared with results in normal controls. Harmonic distortion was determined for each task. In all patients, as well as normal subjects, tracking performance was markedly improved and harmonic distortion substantially reduced during proprioceptive tracking. This surprising finding may result from a much shorter feedback loop for proprioceptive stimuli compared to visual stimuli. The tracking records, power spectra analysis, and determination of harmonic distortion provide both qualitative and quantitative data in patients with dyssynergia.
Herbicidal Action of Nitrophenyl Pyrazole Ether MON 12800: Immunolocalization, Ultrastructural, and Physiological Studies

Abstract The effects of MON 12800 [4-chloro-3-(3-methoxy-4-nitrophenoxy)-1-methyl-5-trifluoromethyl-pyrazolel on photosynthetic electron transport in chloroplasts from velvetleaf ( Abutilon theophrasti ) plants, on the ultrastructural morphology of morning glory ( Ipomea hederecia ) leaves, and on immunolocalization of incorporated herbicide are described, as are correlations of herbicidal injury with light quality. Application of herbicide caused leaf desiccation in light-grown plants, whereas plants incubated in the dark did not develop desiccation symptoms. Phytotoxicity was attenuated in plants exposed to red light, an observation consistent with data implicating accumulated protoporphyrin IX as the mediator of photodamage. At the ultrastructural level, leaves of morning glory plants exposed to light for 4-24 hr developed abnormalities in the plasma membrane, tonoplast, chloroplasts, and mitochondria of palisade and mesophyll cells. Immunolocalization studies on morning glory plants incubated 24 hr in the dark after herbicide application indicated that herbicide MON 12800 was present in mitochondria, chloroplasts, peroxisomes, and nuclei; the herbicide was associated with grana and stroma in chloroplasts and with mitochondrial cristae. Unlike acifluorfen, MON 12800 is an effective inhibitor of electron transport in vitro , though not as potent an inhibitor as oxyfluorfen. This difference probably accounts for the relatively greater and more rapid effects on chloroplast ultrastructure than have been reported for acifluorfen. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that this pyrazole phenyl ether herbicide acts primarily by inhibiting protoporphyrinogen oxidase, and illustrates the interplay among organellar systems in mediating damage by accumulated protoporphyrin IX.
Translations of network languages

Abstract In this paper, we describe new results of research on geometrical properties of complex control systems, the so-called Linguistic Geometry. This research includes the development of syntactic tools for knowledge representation and reasoning about large-scale hierarchical complex systems. It relies on the formalization of search heuristics of high-skilled human experts that have resulted in the development of successful applications in different areas. A hierarchy of subsystems of a complex system, the networks of paths, is represented as a hierarchy of formal languages. In this paper, we investigate transformations of these networks while a system moves from one state to another. The investigation consists of formal, constructive separation of changed and unchanged parts of system representation, the hierarchy of languages. Thus, we address a problem relative to the well-known Frame Problem for planning systems. A partial solution is presented in the form of the theorem about translations of network languages. Formal considerations are illustrated by example of Air Force robotic vehicles.
Epidemiologic patterns of acute lower respiratory disease of children in a pediatric group practice

Comprehensive surveillance of acute lower respiratory illnesses of children seen in apediatric group practice was maintained for 67 months in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The common pathogenic agents associated with these illnesses were respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus types 1 and 3, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae . Consistent patterns have been observed in the clinical manifestations, seasonal occurrence, and age and sex distribution of infections; these provide guidelines for clinicians, which allow reasonable estimates of the etiologic diagnoses. These studies have important implications for the understanding of disease pathogenesis and for the development of optimal methods of prophylaxis.
Fluorescence and the structure of proteins VIII. Iodination of ribonuclease modified by subtilisin

Abstract 1. 1. Loss of fluorescence during initial stages of iodination of ribonuclease S was identical with that observed for ribonuclease A. These results indicate that ribonuclease A and ribonuclease S are very similar in general conformation and that each has a minimum of 3 and possible 4 tyrosyl residues initially susceptible to iodination. During more extensive iodination of ribonuclease S, the molecule dissociated into S-peptide and iodinated S-protein. These results suggest that extensive iodination of a protein may not be a reliable guide to the number and identity of exposed tyrosyl residues in the native molecule. 2. 2. Iodination of S-protein gave a loss of fluorescence similar to that observed for urea-denatured ribonuclease A; the results indicate that all six tyrosyl residues of S-protein are susceptible to iodination as though the structure were more open than for ribonuclease A or ribonuclease S. 3. 3. A large increase in fluorescence of partially iodinated ribonuclease A occurred during denaturation by dodecyl sulfate. This change is consistent with the proposal that non-fluorescent tyrosyl residues in the interior of the native molecule are exposed and made fluorescent during denaturation.
Remarks on the Critical Time Period and the Schwarzschild Exponent in Photographic Processes

The formation of a stable sublatent image as a result of the action of pairs of light quanta has been investigated theoretically on the basis of transitions from a ground stage through an unstable level to a higher level. Expressions for the fraction of grains in the sublatent image stage for continuous as well as for intermittent exposures have been derived, the latter for the purpose of determining the critical time period. The possibility that the absorption of more light quanta is necessary for the formation of a developable image has been taken into account. A model including low and high intensity reciprocity failure is outlined briefly.
Utility of p16, Ki-67, and HPV Test in Diagnosis of Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia and Atrophy in Women Older Than 50 Years With 3- to 7-Year Follow-up

Background. Differentiating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) from atrophy in postmenopausal women based on morphology alone is challenging. p16 and Ki-67 help distinguish CIN2/3 from atroph...
Acidic pH induces fusion of cells infected with baculovirus to form syncytia.

The enveloped baculovirus⧹insect cell system has been used extensively for expression of recombinant proteins. including viral fusion proteins. We tested wild-type baculovirus for endogenous fusion protein activity. Syncytia formation, dye transfer, and capacitance changes were observed after incubating infected Spodoptera frugiperda cells in acidic media, consistent with fusion protein activity. Only a short acidic pulse or 10 s is needed to trigger syncytia formation. Identical results were obtained with recombinant baculovirus. This new system convenient for studying pH activated cell-cell fusion. However, using this enveloped virus to study the mechanism of recombinant fusion proteins requires caution.
An integrated approach with feedback control for robust Web QoS design

There is a growing demand for provisioning of different levels of quality of service (QoS) on scalable Web servers to meet changing resource availability and to satisfy different client requirements. In this paper, we investigate the problem of providing proportional QoS differentiation with respect to response time on Web servers. We first present a processing rate allocation scheme based on the foundations of queueing theory. It provides different processing rates to requests of different client classes so as to achieve the differentiation objective. At application level, process is used as the resource allocation principal for achieving processing rates on Apache Web servers. We design and implement an adaptive process allocation approach, guided by the queueing-theoretical rate allocation scheme, on an Apache server. This application-level implementation, however, shows weak QoS predictability because it does not have fine-grained control over the consumption of resources that the kernel consumes and hence the processing rate is not strictly proportional to the number of processes allocated. We then design a feedback controller and integrate it with the queueing-theoretical approach. It adjusts process allocations according to the difference between the target response time and the achieved response time using a proportional integral derivative controller. Experimental results demonstrate that this integrated approach can enable Web servers to provide robust proportional response time differentiation.
Revolutionary medicine: Health and the body in post-Soviet Cuba

Revolutionary medicine: Health and the body in post-Soviet Cuba, by P. Sean Brotherton, Durham, NC, Duke University Press, 2012, 256 pp., US$24.95 (paperback), ISBN 9780822352051 P. Sean Brotherton...
TH-E-M100F-07: Amplitude Gated Breath-Hold Treatment for Upper Abdominal Lesions with On Board Imaging Guidance

Purpose: To apply on‐boardmdash;image (OBI) guided amplitude gating for breath‐hold treatment and to assess treatment margin adequacy by analyzing the isocenter placement based on orthogonal 2D kV radiographs and 3D cone‐beam CT(CBCT) acquired under amplitude‐gated breath‐hold. Method and Materials: 25 patients with liver, pancreas, bile duct, or adrenal lesions were treated by using amplitude‐gated breath‐hold technique during the last 18 months. 2D orthogonal kV and 3D CBCTimages were acquired under amplitude‐gated breath‐hold and matched to the corresponding DRRs and planning CTimages, respectively, for isocenter placement. A total of 438 sets of 2D kV images and 70 sets of CBCTimages were analyzed. The margin of 95% probability, which warrants that the target will be within the treatment fields with a probability of 95%, was used to quantify the margin reduction of using image‐guidance for the breath‐hold treatment. Results: The average isocenter shifts based on 2D kV OBI matching over the breath‐hold laser alignment were 0.31 ± 0.27 cm, 0.28 ± 0.28 cm and 0.29 ± 0.28 cm along the lateral (LR), longitudinal (SI) and vertical (AP) directions, respectively. After the patients were moved to the isocenter based on 2D images, the additional shifts based on 3D CT‐CBCT matching were 0.28 ± 0.28 cm, 0.30 ± 0.37 cm and 0.32 ± 0.27 cm along LR, SI, and AP directions, respectively. The 95% probability margins of daily 2D OBI matching with respect to the 3D CBCT matching were 0.6 cm, 1 cm and 0.9 cm along LR, SI and AP directions. If image guidance technique was not used, the required margins of 95% probability increased to 1.1, 1.3 and 1.2 cm along the LR, SI and AP directions. Conclusion: Amplitude gated breath‐hold technique is useful for the treatment of upper abdominal lesions. Image‐guidance technique substantially reduced treatment margin.
Early Results from a Novel Quality Outcomes Program: The American Society of Breast Surgeons’ Mastery of Breast Surgery

Background In 2008, the American Society for Breast Surgeons launched its Mastery in Breast Surgery Pilot Program to demonstrate feasibility of a Web-based tool for breast surgeons to document and monitor quality outcomes.
A homogeneous gas phase mechanism for use in a regional acid deposition model

A chemical mechanism for the EPA/NCAR regional acid deposition model has been created by simplifying state-of-the-art chemical mechanisms. The RAD M mechanism models smog chamber data to a reasonable level of performance. The RADM mechanism, the carbon bond mechanism of Whitten et al. (1985, U.S. EPA Contract No. 68-02-3735), and the explicit mechanism of Leone and Seinfeld (1985, Atmospheric Environment19, 437–464) give SO2 and nitrogen oxide oxidation rates which are in good agreement. The importance of Criegee intermediates for the oxidation of SO2 varies between the different mechanisms, and Criegee intermediates are much more important in the carbon bond mechanism. There is considerable variation in the predicted amounts of hydrogen peroxide among all three mechanisms. More data such as HO2 and H2O2 concentration measurements from laboratory studies, smog chambers and field data will be required before chemical mechanisms for regional acid deposition modeling can be thoroughly tested.
A Comprehensive Calorimetric Investigation of an Entropically Driven T Cell Receptor-Peptide/Major Histocompatibility Complex Interaction

The ab T cell receptor (TCR) is responsible for recognizing peptides bound and ''presented'' by major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules. We recently reported that at 25C the A6 TCR, which recognizes the Tax peptide presented by the class I MHC human leukocyte antigen-A*0201 (HLA-A2), binds with a weak DH, a favorable DS, and a moderately negative DCp. These observations were of interest given the unfavorable binding entropies and large heat capacity changes measured for many other TCR-ligand interactions, suggested to result from TCR conformational changes occurring upon binding. Here, we further investigated the A6-Tax/HLA-A2 interaction using titration calorimetry. We found that binding results in a pKa shift, complicating interpretation of measured binding thermodynamics. To better characterize the interaction, we measured binding as a function of pH, temperature, and buffer ionization enthalpy. A global analysis of the resulting data allowed determination of both the intrinsic binding thermodynamics separated from the influence of protonation as well as the thermodynamics associated with the pKa shift. Our results indicate that intrinsically, A6 binds Tax/HLA-A2 with a very weak DH, an even more favorable DS than previously thought, and a relatively large negative DCp. Comparison of these energetics with the makeup of the protein-protein interface suggests that conformational adjustments are required for binding, but these are more likely to be structural shifts, rather than disorder-to-order transitions. The thermodynamics of the pKa shift suggest protonation may be linked to an additional process such as ion binding.
Experiments on Synchronization and Control of Chaos on Coupled Electrochemical Oscillators

Experiments were carried out on synchronization and control of complex chaotic dynamics observed during the dissolution of two and four coupled nickel electrodes in sulfuric acid under potentiostatic conditions. In a given potential range the individually measured currents exhibit asynchronous chaotic oscillations. The complexity (as measured by the correlation dimension) of the chaotic oscillations depends on the extent of coupling among the electrodes. Thus, the effectiveness of a combined synchronization-delayed-feedback procedure can be tested on systems with increasing complexity. We show that the asynchronous chaotic oscillations can be converted to synchronized and simple, periodic current oscillations by a two-step procedure. The chaotic current oscillations of coupled electrodes are first synchronized by perturbations of external resistors that are connected individually to each electrode. Then, the desired periodic orbit is stabilized by perturbations of the potential. We also observed that cert...
Antigenic and immunogenic properties of recombinant hemagglutinin proteins from H1N1 A/Brisbane/59/07 and B/Florida/04/06 when produced in various protein expression systems

Antibodies directed against the influenza hemagglutinin (HA) protein largely mediate virus neutralization and confer protection against infection. Consequently, many studies and assays of influenza vaccines are focused on HA-specific immune responses. Recombinant HA (rHA) proteins can be produced in a number of protein expression and cell culture systems. These range from baculovirus infection of insect cell cultures, to transient transfection of plants, to stably transfected human cell lines. Furthermore, the rHA proteins may contain genetic modifications, such as histidine tags or trimerization domains, intended to ease purification or enhance protein stability. However, no systematic study of these different forms of the HA protein have been conducted. It is not clear which, if any, of these different protein expression systems or structural modifications improve or diminish the biological behavior of the proteins as immunogens or antigens in immune assays. Therefore we set out to perform systematic evaluation of rHA produced in different proteins expression systems and with varied modifications. Five rHA proteins based on recent strains of seasonal influenza A and five based on influenza B HA were kindly provided by the Biodefense and Emerging Infections Reagent Repository (BEIR). These proteins were evaluated in a combination of biochemical and structural assays, in vitro humoral and cellular immune assays, and in an animal vaccination model. Marked differences in the behavior of the individual proteins was evident suggesting that they are not equal when being used to detect an immune response. They were, nevertheless, similar at eliciting neutralizing antibody responses.