cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Toward Improving Path Selection in Tor

Tor (The Onion Router) is a popular anonymity overlay network that seeks to provide anonymity without significant cost to performance. Tor's support for anonymity is indeed strong, but its network performance is a problem, and one that is widely recognized. While there are some studies that investigate changing the structure of the Tor network to improve performance, we focus on investigating different path selection strategies given the Tor network as is. Specifically, we explore varying the number of hops in a circuit, varying the performance flags in a circuit, and varying the geographic distance between routers in a circuit. We show how much improvement can be had by reducing the path length, which gives the user guidance on how to trade off anonymity for performance.
Inmates and their Families Conjugal Visits, Family Contact, and Family Functioning

The impact of incarceration on the family was studied in 63 inmates and 39 wives, half of whom received conjugal visits through the Family Reunion Program (FRP). Interview data and standardized measures assessed family functioning. Families in both groups were cohesive but not adaptable, and FRP inmates reported feeling closer to their families than non-FRP inmates.
Minimizing flow time on a constant number of machines with preemption

We consider offline algorithms for minimizing the total flow time on O(1) machines where jobs can be preempted arbitrarily but migrations are disallowed. Our main result is a quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme for minimizing the total flow time. We also consider more general settings and give some hardness results.
Mycoplasma gallisepticum: Current and Developing Means to Control the Avian Pathogen

SUMMARY Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a persistent, highly transmissible chicken and turkey pathogen. Infections of the organism can yield significant losses in performance and associated economics to all sectors of the poultry industry. In this paper, potential and realized effects of MG on the poultry industry are discussed along with currently available and developing control methods. Available methods of MG control largely include stringent biosecurity and biosurveillance practices within the turkey and broiler sectors of the poultry industry and live attenuated MG vaccine strains that are approved for use only within the commercial egg layer industry. Although largely effective, MG breaks within these industries still occur, demonstrating that further means of control are required. Alternative means for consideration include bacterins and subunit vaccines, although their applicability may be limited by associated vaccination protocols. Further means under consideration include novel live attenuated MG strains and recombinant bacterial and viral species. Optimally, control methods would be applicable to all poultry and be safe, cost effective, and efficacious. Current research regarding novel MG vaccines is addressed herein.
Hardness of Max 3SAT with no mixed clauses

We study the complexity of approximating Max NM-E3SAT, a variant of Max 3SAT when the instances are guaranteed to not have any mixed clauses, i.e., every clause has either all its literals unnegated or all of them negated. This is a natural special case of Max 3SAT introduced Guruswami (2004), where the question of whether this variant can be approximated within a factor better than 7/8 was also posed. We prove that it is NP-hard to approximate Max NM-E3SAT within a factor of 7/8 + /spl epsiv/ for arbitrary /spl epsiv/ > 0, and thus this variant is no easier to approximate than general Max 3SAT. The proof uses the technique of multilayered PCPs, introduced by Dinur et al. (2003), to avoid the technical requirement of folding of the proof tables. Circumventing this requirement means that the PCP verifier can use the bits it accesses without additional negations, and this leads to a hardness for Max 3SAT without any mixed clauses.
NOMAD: Deterministic collision-free channel access with channel reuse in wireless networks

The Neighborhood Ordering for Medium Access with Determinism (NOMAD) protocol is introduced. NOMAD defines collision-free transmission schedules dynamically and with no need for a predefined number of time slots per transmission frame by coordinating circular permutations of the identifier of nodes in the neighborhoods shared among nodes. NOMAD is shown to attain feasible transmission schedules within a short finite time and to provide channel access intervals of negligible variance. The performance of the NOMAD is compared with the performance of 802.11 DCF and the node activation multiple access (NAMA) protocol, which is representative of distributed transmission scheduling based on probabilistic elections. NOMAD is shown to attain higher throughput than 802.11 and NAMA in static and dynamic ad hoc networks, and to eliminate the large variances in channel access times present in contention-based schemes and prior transmission-scheduling schemes that do not use reservations.
Drug-Induced Dysphagia

Abstract Dysphagia is commonly defined as difficulty swallowing. Although the disorder can have several causes, the patient's medication is often overlooked as a source of the problem. This type of dysphagia, one of the most readily corrected, is known as drug-induced dysphagia. A thorough literature search was undertaken to determine the potential for drug-induced dysphagia. Drug-induced dysphagia can be classified into one of three categories: dysphagia as a side effect, dysphagia as a complication of therapeutic action, and medication-induced esophageal injury. Examples of medications in each category are provided based on therapeutic classification. Specifically, the role of dysphagia in multiple sclerosis and the agents that have been linked with dysphagia are discussed. The most valuable method of preventing drug-induced dysphagia is obtaining a thorough and accurate medication history from each patient. Other prevention strategies and compensatory techniques are also explored.
Alcohol Use in Methadone Maintenance Clinics

A study was undertaken to determine the frequency of alcohol use and the amount consumed by methadone maintenance patients. In four clinics of the Beth Israel Medical Center Methadone Maintenance Treatment Program, every fifth patient from an alphabetical clinic list was selected for interview. Among the 101 patients who were interviewed, mean alcohol consumption was 1.2 ounces per day. Among those who drank, there was a continuum in terms of amount consumed. Forty-three percent had totally abstained from alcohol during the prior 3 months, and an additional 30% drank one or less ounces per day. Independently obtained staff rankings generally approximated interview results, and thus supported the reliability of the interview. Since staff rankings for participants and nonparticipants in the interview were similar, it appears that those who participated were typical of the group selected for study.
Essentials Of Service Design

This paper is a conspectus of service design for service scientists.Historically, science has been concerned with the discovery and study of natural and socially developed phenomena, and the role of design has been to create new artifacts and processes and to improve existing ones.Service has been an important part of the fabric of societal culture from ancient times, so the notion of service as the co-creation of value by provider and client is well established.It necessarily follows that the objective of service design is to add value by enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness, and efficacy of older service systems and to create newer ones with requisite attributes.This is a topic that has not been covered in traditional service science research.Thus, service design, as a discipline, seeks to facilitate the operation of the modern global economy that is now based on service.The necessary elements of service design are introduced and important concepts are identified.
Swelling clays and related complex layered oxides

The geological term “clay” refers to any naturally occuring material with a particle size less than 2μ. However, the term “clay mineral” refers to a specific composition of matter and a discrete structure, but with a particle size less than 2μ. Clay minerals are usually layered oxides. Included in this family are the layered silicate clays.
Clinically Non-Functioning Adenomas

Clinically non-functioning adenomas (CNFA’s) range from being completely asymptomatic, and therefore detected either at autopsy or as incidental findings on head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans performed for other reasons1to causing significant hypothalamic/pituitary dysfunction and visual field compromise due to their large size.2About three-quarters of CNFA’s are actually gonadotroph adenomas, based upon the finding that patients with such tumors produce intact gonadotropins or their glycoprotein subunits (alpha and/or beta)in vivoorin vitroas shown by measurement of these products in the blood, staining on immunohistochemistry, or measurement of the mRNA for these products in the tumors.3 4Rarely, clinically non-functioning tumors will be found to stain positively for prolactin (PRL), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), growth hormone (GH) or thyrotropin (TSH) but do not secrete these hormones in excess and such patients do not have Cushing’s disease, acromegaly or hyperthyroidism; such tumors are referred to as “silent”lactotroph, corticotroph, somatotroph, or thyrotroph adenomas.5
Oral Cannabidiol does not Alter the Subjective, Reinforcing or Cardiovascular Effects of Smoked Cannabis

Cannabidiol (CBD), a constituent of cannabis with few psychoactive effects, has been reported in some studies to attenuate certain aspects of Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) intoxication. However, most studies have tested only one dose of CBD in combination with one dose of oral THC, making it difficult to assess the nature of this interaction. Further, the effect of oral CBD on smoked cannabis administration is unknown. The objective of this multi-site, randomized, double-blind, within-subject laboratory study was to assess the influence of CBD (0, 200, 400, 800 mg, p.o.) pretreatment on the reinforcing, subjective, cognitive, and physiological effects of smoked cannabis (0.01 (inactive), 5.30-5.80% THC). Non-treatment-seeking, healthy cannabis smokers (n=31; 17M, 14 F) completed eight outpatient sessions. CBD was administered 90 min prior to cannabis administration. The behavioral and cardiovascular effects of cannabis were measured at baseline and repeatedly throughout the session. A subset of participants (n=8) completed an additional session to measure plasma CBD concentrations after administration of the highest CBD dose (800 mg). Under placebo CBD conditions, active cannabis (1) was self-administered by significantly more participants than placebo cannabis and (2) produced significant, time-dependent increases in ratings of 'High', 'Good Effect', ratings of the cannabis cigarette (eg, strength, liking), and heart rate relative to inactive cannabis. CBD, which alone produced no significant psychoactive or cardiovascular effects, did not significantly alter any of these outcomes. Cannabis self-administration, subjective effects, and cannabis ratings did not vary as a function of CBD dose relative to placebo capsules. These findings suggest that oral CBD does not reduce the reinforcing, physiological, or positive subjective effects of smoked cannabis.
Vasectomy and Vasovasostomy. I. Timing of Histologic Changes in Immature and Mature Dog Testis After Vasectomy

The effects of vasectomy on the development and maintenance of spermatogenesis was studied using immature and mature dog testes. Bilateral vasectomy in immature dogs delayed the development of advanced spermatocytes, spermatids, and spermatozoa for about 3 months postsurgery, Spermatogenesis appeared to be recovered to control levels by 4 months postvasectomy. Spermatogenesis in mature dogs was also altered after bilateral vasectomy. Decreased numbers of advanced spermatocytes as well as maturation arrest was observed by 3 weeks postvasectomy. Seminiferous tubule cell layers quickly decreased to one to three layers as the lumina became occluded with sloughed cells by 3 to 6 weeks postvasectomy· Recovery in terms of the numbers of spermatocytes, spermatids, and spermatozoa was evident by 13 weeks postvasectomy, although occasional dog testes did not recover and appeared to be more sensitive to vasectomy-induced damage. It thus appears that vasectomy temporarily inhibits both the development and maintenance of spermatogenesis in immature as well as mature dog testes. Spermatogenesis does recover but may be maintained at somewhat lower levels after vasectomy. Changes are rapid in onset and take several weeks to be reversed. Some dog testes appear to be more sensitive to the damage and it may be irreversible in these testes.
Internal external locus of control and the practice of birth control.

The Internal-External locus of control contruct suggests that those with external orientations might be less likely to attempt to control their pregnancies. Data from a larger study including drug and alcohol use and sexual behavior showed that engagement in premarital coitus was not related to locus of construct. 62 percent of unmarried subjects with internal locus scores practiced some form of birth control versus 37 percent of those with external locus scores. Data for married subjects showed the same trend but was not significant.
Sediments and Soils Act as Reservoirs for Taxonomic and Functional Bacterial Diversity in the Upper Mississippi River

In this study, we utilized Illumina next-generation sequencing of 16S rDNA to characterize the bacterial communities in water, sediments, and soils at four sites along the Mississippi River and Minnesota River, in Minnesota, in order to evaluate community exchanges between these habitats. Communities in water and sediment were hypothesized to show greater taxonomic similarity than those in soil, while microbial communities in sediment and soil would show greater functional similarity. Habitat-specific communities showed significant differences in phylogenetic structure and β-diversity (P < 0.001), but site-specific differences in community structures within a single habitat type did not differ greatly (P ≥ 0.083). Community exchange among habitats generally influenced < 5% of the total community composition in a single sample, with the exception of the sediment community at the Minnesota River site, which contributed to a mean of 14% of the microbial community in the water column. Communities from all habitat types were significantly correlated with each other (r = 0.44-0.64, P ≤ 0.004). Furthermore, approximately 33% of the taxonomic units were found in all samples and comprised at least 40% of the bacterial community. Functional annotation of shotgun sequencing data revealed similar functional profiles for sediment and soil communities that were distinct from those in the water. Results of this study suggest that sediments, when disturbed, contribute significantly to bacterial communities in the water and that a core bacterial community may be supported in the soils and sediments. Furthermore, a high degree of functional redundancy results in similar functional profiles in sediment and soil communities.
Generalized Lambert series

Let q = exp(2πiτ) with Im τ > 0, so 0 < |q| < 1. For any positive integer n, define $$S_n = \sum\limits_{k \ne 0} {\frac{{( - 1)^k q^{(k^2 + k)/2} }}{{(1 - q^k )^n }},}$$ where the sum is over all nonzero integers k. Malcolm Perry needed to know the modular properties of S 2, which arose in his work in quantum string theory. Ramanujan evaluated S 2 in terms of Eisenstein series. We prove a general transformation formula that enables us to evaluate each sum S n in terms of Eisenstein series, and to thus determine the modular properties of S n . Moreover, our formula yields systematic proofs of related q-series identities of Ramanujan, proofs which are considerably simpler than those in the literature.
Beyond Engagement? Rethinking America’s China Policy

Since the Nixon Administration, the US strategy towards China has been predicated on the assumption that if the bilateral relationship is properly managed conflict can be avoided. Many Americans ac...
Antagonistic effects of cortisone and growth-hormone on the developing chick embryo.

Summary1) Single injections of 1 mg egg of cortisone on the chorio-allantoic membrane of chick embryos produce a striking and specific syndrome: mortality of the embryos is highly increased, growth of surviving embryos is markedly retarded and characteristic developmental modifications are produced: electrolytes and sugar metabolisms are disturbed. 2) Simultaneous administration of Tyrode's solution, consisting of saline and glucose, to such embryos brings about a slight rise in survival rate of embryos, owing probably to its compensation therapy effect upon loss of sodium chloride and sugar (reducing substance). 3) Treatment of cortisone-injected embryos with growth hormone (STH) results in striking alleviation of most of the cortisone caused changes. Mortality rate is lowered almost to the level of that occurring spontaneously during incubation: inhibition of growth as well as many deleterious modifications are successfully counteracted. 4) Various aspects of the interaction of hormones applied are disc...
Dermo-Optical Perception Or Human Extraocular Color Sensitivity: A Clarification of Current Soviet Research and an Article in Science (1)

Discussing "clairvoyance" in the first volume of his Modern Spiritualism, Frank Podmore wrote in 1902: "With some persons, at any rate, a very small chink at the side of the nose suffices for the purpose of vision [and] there is practically no means of blindfolding the eyes, without injuring the patient, which would preclude the possibility of vision by this means." (2)
Introducing Health Management and Improving Public Health System in China

Health management only has a short development as an academic subject in foreign country,it hasn't become an independent professional field in China.From the views of the significance,function,and origin,health management has close relationship with public health,especially,the health maintenance and promotion advocated by health management are also the core targets of public health system,i.e.,prevention and control of disease,improving people's health.Since 2003,the public health system has been formed in China based on the disease control/prevention and health inspection institutions,which has played active role in the prevention and control of communicable disease,but there are also some problems exiting,i.e.,non-fully use of the system and loss of professional personnel.Based on the health reform and improvement of public health system in China,this paper summaries the introducing of health management into public health system from 3 aspects of organization structure,CDC network construction and health service item.
One-stage repair of coarctation of aorta in neonates and infants associated with cardiac anomalies

Objective: To summarize the clinical experience of one-stage repair of coarctation o f the aorta in neonates and infants associated with cardiac anomalies.Methods: There were 42 patients with coarctation of the aorta associated with cardiac anomalies were surgically repaired from January 2007 to June 2011.Patients age from 6 days to 3 years(1.6±0.9)years,with the mean body weight from(7.2 ±2.5) kg(2.8~12 kg).Coarctation of the aorta consisted of ventricle septal defect in 37 cases and atrial septal defect 5 cases.Patients were one-stage repaired through median sternotomy in 37cases,through two sternotomy in 5 cases.We perform the subclavian flap aortoplasty technique(8 cases),Prosthetic patch aortoplasty(6 cases),Resection with Extended End-to-End Anastomosis(15 cases),Resection with extended end-to-end anastomosis and patch aortoplasty(13 cases).Results: There were 1 in hospital deaths for pulmonary infection.Mortality is 2.4%.The echocardiography revealed no residual aortic arch obstruction.There were systolic pressure difference between arm and leg in 3 patients.The systolic pressure of upper limb was higher than that of lower limb in 6 patients and the pressure difference was 2.67 kpa to 5.32 kpa in 3patients.Conclusion: The short-term result of one-stage repair of coarctation of the aorta with selective antegrade cerebral perfusion in neonates and infants associated with cardiac anomalies was excellent.Completely resection is the key of operation.
Immunophenotypes of Reed-Sternberg cells: a study of 19 cases of Hodgkin's disease in plastic-embedded sections

The immunophenotype of Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells in Hodgkin's disease (HD) has not been clearly defined, partly owing to difficulties in studying RS cells in cell suspensions or identifying them with certainty in frozen sections. We studied the immunophenotype of RS cells with a recently developed plastic section immunohistochemical technique on acetone-fixed tissues that affords superior morphological detail while preserving a wide variety of lymphoid differentiation antigens. Nineteen cases of HD [16 nodular sclerosing (NS), 2 mixed cellularity (MC), and 1 lymphocyte depleted (LD)] were embedded in plastic and stained for pan-B, pan-T, and various T-subset markers, as well as leukocyte common antigen (CD45), interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor (CD25), and RS cell markers CD15 and CD30. RS cells were positive for CD45, CD15, CD30, and CD25, except for 3 cases (2 NS, 1 MC) that were CD15 negative and 2 cases (NS) that were CD45 negative. In 10 cases (NS), RS cells were positive for at least two pan-T-cell markers and CD4; pan-B cell markers were uniformly negative. RS cells in 6 cases (3 NS, 2 MC, 1 LD) were positive for at least one T-cell marker (CD2) and one B-cell marker (CD22). Two cases of NSHD showed no T- or B-cell marking. These data provide further evidence that RS cells in some cases of NSHD have T-cell phenotypes and that RS cells are not homogeneous in their immunoreactivity.
Ileal Loop Stenosis: A Late Complication of Urinary Diversion

Stenosis of the ileal conduit was a late complication in 12 patients (10 adults) who underwent urinary diversion by this means at our hospital. The duration of the ileal loop at diagnosis ranged from 4 to 14 years, averaging 9 years. Loop stenosis was generally without symptoms and was suggested only by routine excretory urography, while loopography confirmed the diagnosis. The etiology of the condition is not clear. A variety of possible factors is considered, including microvascular ischemia, urine-borne toxic material, infectious and allergic stimuli and an immunologic defect. The pathogenesis of the condition appears to be based upon a chronic inflammatory reaction, with progressive fibrosis in the mucosa and submucosa of the ileal segment.
The Indiana Librarian Leadership Academy: Perspectives of Four Academic Librarians

The Indiana Library Leadership Academy (InLLA) was established in 2012 by the Professional Development Committee of the Indiana State Library (ISL). Modeled after the American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leaders program, the InLLA brings together librarians accepted into the program from public, school, academic, and special libraries throughout Indiana. A new cohort of librarians is invited each year to a week-long workshop in July, where participants are divided into teams to work on a year-long capstone project and facilitate InLLA group meetings via webinar. This paper chronicles experiences of four academic librarians from the 2013 cohort of the InLLA. It will highlight four different capstone projects for which each of the academic librarians contributed, respectively, with their fellow group members. This paper will identify the greatest challenges each respective group faced during their year-long collaboration, as well as the learning experiences of each author’s participation in InLLA.
Modeling of laser-induced damage and optic usage at the National Ignition Facility

Modeling of laser-induced optics damage has been introduced to benchmark existing optic usage at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) which includes the number of optics exchanged for damage repair. NIF has pioneered an optics recycle strategy to allow it to run the laser at capacity since fully commissioned in 2009 while keeping the cost of optics usage manageable. We will show how the damage model is being used to evaluate strategies to streamline our optics loop efficiency, as we strive to increase the laser shot rate without increasing operating costs.
ATNT-13A PHASE I DOSE ESCALATION AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (CNS) PHARMACOKINETIC STUDY OF DEXANABINOL IN PATIENTS WITH BRAIN CANCER

BACKGROUND: Dexanabinol is a synthetic analogue of tetrahydrocannabinol previously developed as a neuroprotector and subsequently identified through a network pharmacology platform as a potential anti-cancer therapeutic by e-Therapeutics PLC. Dexanabinol was selected for further investigation based on its tumoricidal activity observed in vitro and in vivo, presumably due to inhibitory activity against NFκB, COX-2, and TNFα. This phase I dose-escalation trial examines the safety of multiple dosing of dexanabinol and drug penetration into the central nervous system in patients with brain cancer. METHODS: Patients having failed prior therapy or having no further available standard therapies and Karnofsky Performance Score of ≥ 60% were included. Dose escalation was performed using a‘3 + 3’ design. Patients received weekly dexanabinol via an intravenous infusion. The objectives were to determine the safety, tolerability, recommended phase 2 dose, pharmacokinetics, and antitumor activity. RESULTS: 26 patients have been enrolled at escalating doses of dexanabinol (range 2 to 36 mg/kg). Two patients at the highest dose level were non-evaluable for dose tolerability and no dose limiting toxicities occurred in this study. Dose escalation was stopped due to emerging data in another clinical study (ETS2101-001). To date, adverse events attributed to dexanabinol were grades 1 or 2 and consisted of a depressed level of consciousness and lightheadedness in 3/26 pts; diarrhea and itching in 2/26 pts; fatigue, chest discomfort and tingling in mouth in 1/26 pts. From 2 to 36 mg/kg, systemic exposure to dexanabinol (AUC0-∞ and Cmax) increased greater than dose proportionately; dexanabinol was present in appreciable levels in the CSF, which implies the possibility of exposure of intracranial tumors to drug. Four of 24 efficacy-evaluable patients (17%) experienced stable disease with median duration of two cycles (28-day cycle) as best response. CONCLUSIONS: Dexanabinol was safe and well-tolerated warranting continued investigation. A Phase 1b program with dexanabinol is planned.
An examination of a federal land transfer from a civil and environmental engineering perspective: Evaluating the triple bottom line

This paper chronicles an innovative pedagogical method for coordinating a multi-participant feasibility study in an upper division technical communication course for engineers. Centered on a Utah Legislature-commissioned report on the viability of a federal land transfer to Utah state governance, this investigation demonstrates how to guide students through the research, analysis, and consensus building stages of writing a technical report while coordinating student research on current engineering challenges. Utilizing the triple bottom line and the Delphi technique as a methodology, this paper provides engineering and technical communication faculty a framework for organizing research questions in a comprehensive and systematic manner. This research asks: What significant benefits and consequences would a federal land transfer entail for civil engineers and how are engineering students best taught to research such topics? This study responds to this research question with a holistic teaching approach that helps students learn to study infrastructure and land use planning while learning to communicate about the multidimensional problems they will face as future engineers.
A computational approach to relative aesthetics

Computational visual aesthetics has recently become an active research area. Existing state-of-art methods formulate this as a binary classification task where a given image is predicted to be beautiful or not. In many applications such as image retrieval and enhancement, it is more important to rank images based on their aesthetic quality instead of binary-categorizing them. Furthermore, in such applications, it may be possible that all images belong to the same category. Hence determining the aesthetic ranking of the images is more appropriate. To this end, we formulate a novel problem of ranking images with respect to their aesthetic quality. We construct a new dataset of image pairs with relative labels by carefully selecting images from the popular AVA dataset. Unlike in aesthetics classification, there is no single threshold which would determine the ranking order of the images across our entire dataset. We propose a deep neural network based approach that is trained on image pairs by incorporating principles from relative learning. Results show that such relative training procedure allows our network to rank the images with a higher accuracy than a state-of-art network trained on the same set of images using binary labels.
New insights into shear stress-induced endothelial signalling and barrier function: cell-free fluid versus blood flow.

Aims Fluid shear stress (SS) is known to regulate endothelial cell (EC) function. Most of the studies, however, focused on the effects of cell-free fluid-generated wall SS on ECs. The objective of this study was to investigate how changes in blood flow altered EC signalling and endothelial function directly through wall SS and indirectly through SS effects on red blood cells (RBCs). Methods and results Experiments were conducted in individually perfused rat venules. We experimentally induced changes in SS that were quantified by measured flow velocity and fluid viscosity. The concomitant changes in EC [Ca2+]i and nitric oxide (NO) were measured with fluorescent markers, and EC barrier function was assessed by fluorescent microsphere accumulation at EC junctions using confocal imaging. EC eNOS activation was evaluated by immunostaining. In response to changes in SS, increases in EC [Ca2+]i and gap formation occurred only in blood or RBC solution perfused vessels, whereas SS-dependent NO production and eNOS-Ser1177 phosphorylation occurred in both plasma and blood perfused vessels. A bioluminescent assay detected SS-dependent ATP release from RBCs. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic modification of pannexin-1 channels on RBCs abolished SS-dependent ATP release and SS-induced increases in EC [Ca2+]i and gap formation. Conclusions SS-induced EC NO production occurs in both cell free fluid and blood perfused vessels, whereas SS-induced increases in EC [Ca2+]i and EC gap formation require the presence of RBCs, attributing to SS-induced pannexin-1 channel dependent release of ATP from RBCs. Thus, changes in blood flow alter vascular EC function through both wall SS and SS exerted on RBCs, and RBC released ATP contributes to SS-induced changes in EC barrier function.
Development of a S-adenosylmethionine analog that intrudes the RNA-cap binding site of Zika methyltransferase.

The Zika virus (ZIKV) has emerged as a major health hazard. We present here a high resolution structure (1.55 A) of ZIKV NS5 methyltransferase bound to a novel S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) analog in which a 4-fluorophenyl moiety substitutes for the methyl group. We show that the 4-fluorophenyl moiety extends into a portion of the RNA binding tunnel that typically contains the adenosine 2′OH of the RNA-cap moiety. Together, the new SAM analog and the high-resolution crystal structure are a step towards the development of antivirals against ZIKV and other flaviviruses.
Biocontrol of locusts in Madagascar: developing indigenous pathogens

Since 1993, MSU, Mycotech, and Malagasy scientists have been evaluating indigenous entomopathogens in Madagascar for biocontrol of Locusta migratoria capito. Initial surveys isolated 39 fungal pathogens and 2 protozoa (one of which appears to have excellent potential for long-term suppression of locusts). The fungal strains were subjected to extensive evaluations for virulence and spore productivity and stability. The five most promising strains underwent standard toxicological testing involving rats and rabbits. Three of these strains (Metarhizium flavoviride SP3 and SP9 and Beauveria bassiana SP16) exhibited no adverse effects and were selected for laboratory biotests involving non-target insects, including honeybees and three lepidopteran species. None of the strains were significantly pathogenic to the non-target insects used in these tests.
The Innovation Scorecard for Continuous Improvement Applied to Translational Science

Introduction This paper reports on the baseline stage of a qualitative evaluation of the application of the Innovative Scorecard (ISC) to the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston. The ISC is adopted from the established Balanced Scorecard system for strategic planning and performance management. In formulating the evaluation, we focused on the organizational identity literature. Methods The initial evaluation consisted of a series of semi-structured interviews with 22 participants of the ISC Boot Camp conducted in July 2015. Results The logic of grounded theory pointed to the clustering of perceptions of the ISC around respondents' occupational locations at UTMB. Administrators anticipate the expansion of planning activities to include a wider range of participants under the current CTSA award period (2015-2020) than under our first CTSA approval period (2009-2014). A common viewpoint among the senior scientists was that the scientific value of their work will continue to speak for itself without requiring the language of business. Junior scientists looked forward to the ISC's emphasis on increasingly horizontal leadership that will give them more access to and more control over their work and resources. Postdocs and senior staff welcomed increased involvement in the total research process at UTMB. Conclusion The report concludes with strategies for future follow-up.
Phasic and tonic cell types in the zebra finch auditory caudal mesopallium

In songbirds, the caudal mesopallium is a key brain area involved in recognizing the songs of other individuals. This study identifies three cell types in this area with distinct firing patterns (t...
Love Makes the Daredevil, Mating Mindset and Proactive Tendency: An Abstract

Individuals have the inflated preference for options that do not require action (i.e., default option), a phenomenon known as the “omission bias” (Anderson, 2003; Spranca, Minsk, & Baron, 1991). An example of the omission bias is the vaccination experiment (Ritov & Baron, 1995). Suppose children are exposed to a fatal flu while an inexpensive vaccine is available to the public to prevent the flu, but the vaccine itself carries a rare chance of fatality. In anticipation of knowing the outcome of deaths, most participants would choose not taking the vaccine (omission). Literature generally agrees that omission bias is linked to the aversion to anticipated regret (Anderson, 2003; Zeelenberg et al., 2002). Individuals regret unfortunate outcomes that result from actions more than identical outcomes resulting from omission. Compared to maintaining the status quo, actions require more justification which signals an individual’s responsibility for the outcome. As a result, in the case of an unfavorable outcome, the individual is more likely to experience self-blame (Baron & Ritov, 2004; Spranca et al., 1991; Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007; Zeelenberg et al., 2002).
Multispectral and polarimetric photodetection using a plasmonic metasurface

We present a metasurface-integrated Si 2-D CMOS sensor array for multispectral and polarimetric photodetection applications. The demonstrated sensor is based on the polarization selective extraordinary optical transmission from periodic subwavelength nanostructures, acting as artificial atoms, known as meta-atoms. The meta-atoms were created by patterning periodic rectangular apertures that support optical resonance at the designed spectral bands. By spatially separating meta-atom clusters with different lattice constants and orientations, the demonstrated metasurface can convert the polarization and spectral information of an optical input into a 2-D intensity pattern. As a proof-of-concept experiment, we measured the linear components of the Stokes parameters directly from captured images using a CMOS camera at four spectral bands. Compared to existing multispectral polarimetric sensors, the demonstrated metasurface-integrated CMOS system is compact and does not require any moving components, offering g...
Expanding the molecular weaponry of bacterial species

The type VI secretion system (T6SS) delivers toxic effectors between Gram-negative bacteria. Most antibacterial T6SS effectors are peptidoglycanases, nucleases, or lipases. In the current work, Tang et al. structurally and functionally characterize a novel family of NAD(P)+-hydrolyzing effectors (NADases), thus expanding the documented types of T6SS substrates. Bioinformatic identification of NADase family members putatively secreted by the bacteriolytic type VII secretion system (T7SS) of Gram-positive bacteria further points to NADases as a diverse and important class of effectors.
Analysis of Infrared Radiation at an Air-Water Interface

The problem of determining the strength of the infrared radiation from an air-water interface has been addressed analytically. The approach taken here is to express the Planck spectrum as a linear function of the temperature, an approximation valid for small variations of the temperature from the surface temperature, and to assume a linear temperature profile across the thermal boundary layer. The main result shows that the deviation of the surface radiation intensity from the Planck spectrum due solely to thermal stratification, is linearly proportional to the temperature change across the thermal boundary layer and the optical depth, but is inversely proportional to the thermal boundary layer thickness. This signal was shown to be about one order of magnitude greater than the noise level expected from modern CCD IR sensors at a wavelength of about 3.8 microns. It is suggested that controlled laboratory experiments be conducted to verify these theoretical estimates.
Sex differences influence intestinal epithelial stem cell proliferation independent of obesity.

The intestinal epithelium is continuously regenerated by cell renewal of intestinal epithelial stem cells (IESCs) located in the intestinal crypts. Obesity affects this process and results in changes in the size and cellular make-up of the tissue, but it remains unknown if there are sex differences in obesity-induced alterations in IESC proliferation and differentiation. We fed male and female mice a 60% high-fat diet (HFD) or a 10% low-fat diet (LFD) for 3 months and investigated the differences in (1) the expression of markers of different intestinal epithelial cell types in vivo, and (2) lasting effects on IESC growth in vitro. We found that the growth of IESCs in vitro were enhanced in females compared with males. HFD induced similar in vivo changes and in vitro early growth of IESCs in males and females. The IESCs isolated and grown in vitro from females, though, showed an enhanced growth that was independent of obesity. To determine whether this effect was driven by sex steroid hormones, we used primary intestinal crypts isolated from male and female mice and investigated the differences in (1) the expression of steroid hormone receptors, and (2) cell proliferation in response to steroid hormones. We found that estrogen receptor α was expressed in crypts from both sexes, but estrogen had no effect on proliferation in either sex. These results suggest that obesity similarly effects IESCs in males and females, but IESCs in females have greater proliferation ability than males, but this is not driven by a direct effect of sex steroid hormones on IESCs or other crypt cells that provide essential niche support for IESCs.
Trademark Hybridity and Brand Protection

What’s in a word? As it turns out, quite a lot. The vast majority of words in our language, including trademarked terms, signify a variety of conceptual meanings and senses. This idea of splintered definition— described in the psycholinguistics literature as “semantic ambiguity” and offered in two flavors: “homonymy” (divergent and unrelated meanings) and “polysemy” (divergent yet related senses)—is underrepresented in trademark law. As a result, there has been a proliferation of legal doctrines that fail to accurately describe our linguistic lives, most notably including dilution and genericness. This Article draws on psycholinguistics literature on semantic ambiguity resolution to highlight these doctrinal failures and proposes several ways in which the law might better account for polysemy and homonymy. In addition to bringing the law into line with the lived experience of language, these changes have the added benefit of promoting the communicative and competitive interests at the heart of trademark law.
Activation of Eosinophil CCR3 Signaling and Eotaxin Using a Bioinformatics Analysis of a Mouse Model of Obliterative Airway Disease

The role of eosinophils in the development and progression of chronic allograft rejection is recognized in multiple organ transplantation settings. The CCR3 signaling pathway is one of the key regulatory pathways in eosinophil migration to the engrafted tissue. Eotaxin is a ligand for CCR3 and reflects eosinophilic inflammation, which can lead to fibrosis. We hypothesized that the CCR3 pathway would be upregulated in obliterative airway disease (OAD) in an established model of chronic airway allograft rejection. The mouse gene microarray data from a heterotopic mouse model of OAD in the NIH Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) repository were analyzed for differentially expressed eosinophil pathways, using the Partek Suite and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. A P value of <0.005 was defined as significant for differential expression, and P value of <0.05 for pathways. Day 25 allografts were defined as chronic allograft rejection and day 4 as acute allograft rejection. The isografts and allografts at day 25 showed significant upregulation of the eosinophil CCR3 pathway (P=0.04), based on the analysis of 1,299 uniquely expressed genes. The isografts at day 4 were compared with those at day 25 based on the identification of 1,859 unique genes, and there was a trend toward the CCR3 pathway upregulation over time (P=0.06). CCR3 pathways were not upregulated during the progression of alloimmune rejection in the allografts at day 4 versus day 25 in comparison, based on the analysis of 1,603 genes. Eotaxin was upregulated in chronic allograft rejection by 2.5-fold. The eosinophil signaling pathway CCR3 and eotaxin were significantly expressed in chronic allograft rejection and our results imply a role in controlling early alloimmune damage in controls.
Increased CO2 stimulates K/Rb reabsorption mediated by H-K-ATPase in CCD of potassium-restricted rabbit

Apical H-K-ATPase in the cortical collecting duct (CCD) plays an important role in urinary acidification and K reabsorption. Our previous studies demonstrated that an H-K-ATPase mediates, in part, ...
Noticing Extroversion Effects Attention: How Robot and Participant Personality Affect Gaze Cueing:

Social robots with expressive gaze have positive effects on human-robot interaction. In particular, research suggests that when robots are programmed to express introverted or extroverted gaze beha...
Rod Bundle Heat Transfer Thermal-Hydraulic Program

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been conducting thermal-hydraulic research using the Rod Bundle Heat Transfer (RBHT) facility at the Pennsylvania State University since 2001. The facilit...
Eccentric and Concentric Resistance Exercise Comparison for Knee Osteoarthritis.

INTRODUCTION This study aimed to compare the efficacy of eccentrically focused resistance exercise (ECC RT) to concentrically focused resistance exercise (CNC RT) on knee osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms and strength. METHODS Ninety participants consented. Participants were randomized to CNC RT, ECC RT, or a wait-list, no-exercise control group. Four months of supervised exercise training was completed using traditional weight machines (CNC RT) or modified-matched machines that overloaded the eccentric action (ECC RT). Main outcomes included one-repetition maximal strength (knee extension, leg flexion, and leg press), weekly rate of strength gain, Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) total score and subscores. RESULTS Fifty-four participants (60-85 yr, 61% women) completed the study. Both CNC RT and ECC RT groups showed 16%-28% improvement relative to the wait-list, no-exercise control group (P = 0.003-0.005) for all leg strength measures. The rate of weekly strength gain was greater for CNC RT than for ECC RT for leg press and knee flexion (by 2.9%-4.8%; both, P < 0.05) but not knee extension (0.7%; P = 0.38). There were no significant differences in WOMAC total and subscores across groups over time. Leg press strength change was the greatest contributor to change in WOMAC total scores (R = 0.223). The change in knee flexion strength from baseline to month 4 was a significant predictor of the change in WOMAC pain subscore (F ratio = 4.84, df = 45, P = 0.032). Both modes of strength training were well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS Both resistance training types effectively increased leg strength. Knee flexion and knee extension muscle strength can modify function and pain symptoms irrespective of muscle contraction type. Which mode to pick could be determined by preference, goals, tolerance to the contraction type, and equipment availability.
Optimization of Coagulation/Flocculation Treatment of Brewery Wastewater Employing Organic Flocculant Based of Vegetable Tannin

The brewing industry is an important sector in the world economy, and its production process generates a large amount of wastewater. It is essential the proper treatment of this wastewater and a significant amount of biomass may be recovered by coagulation/flocculation process. When using vegetable tannin as an organic flocculant, biomass can be used in the preparation of organic fertilizer, unlike what would occur if a metal base flocculant was used, some of which are considered to be toxic. This work presents a study on the use of vegetable tannin as flocculant agent (Tanfloc SL) for the treatment of brewery wastewater, which also contains microalgae originated from an aerated pond of a local brewery industry. Experiments of coagulation/flocculation and sedimentation were carried out using jar test equipment. A sequential 22 factorial design and two-factor Doehlert design were used to determine the optimum levels of pH and tannin concentration for turbidity and apparent color removals from the wastewater. The higher efficiency results in the biomass separation were obtained by employing 0.23 mL L−1 of vegetable tannin at pH = 4.9, resulting in the substantial removal of approximately 99% of turbidity and apparent color. The removals of biomass and nutrient components were also evaluated: N-NH4+ (80.8%), N-NO2- (83.6%), N-NO3 (56.9%), total phosphorus (82.3%), orthophosphate (76.2%), COD (96.5%), BOD (69.4%), and total solids (40.8%). The Tanfloc SL showed to be efficient in flocculation of the brewery effluent, allowing the reuse of water in industry and the recovered biomass material containing nutrients in agriculture.