cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fabrication and friction characteristics of arbitrary biosurfaces

There are many different types of surfaces found in nature which can increase or reduce friction, such as the well-studied frog toe or lotus leaf. However, methods for replicating these surfaces on a large scale for use in industrial applications are needed in order to take advantage of this natural friction engineering. Most replication processes rely on molding that requires an input surface size comparable to the desired output surface. We present a novel approach of replicating large-scale biosurfaces using a laser scanning confocal microscope for surface digitization and 3D two-photon lithography for the fabrication of the digitized surface. Two different natural surfaces (banana skin and daffodil petal) were replicated. An intermediary tiling process was used to cover a target area of arbitrary size independent of the input texture size. The surfaces were coated with a thin layer of ZnO, and the frictional and wettability characteristics of the replicated surfaces were then examined, demonstrating significant friction reduction up to 42% and increased hydrophobicity due to the presence of texture.
A rare manifestation of choriocarcinoma syndrome in a child with primary intracranial germ cell tumor and extracranial metastases: A case report and review of the literature

Choriocarcinoma syndrome is an uncommon, potentially fatal complication of germ cell tumors (GCTs) in adults, but it is not well documented in children. Pediatric central nervous system (CNS) GCTs comprise a rare group of malignancies not usually associated with extra-CNS metastatic disease. Here, we report the case of a pediatric patient with a suprasellar mixed GCT and pulmonary metastases who presented with intratumoral hemorrhage and stroke. Choriocarcinoma syndrome developed soon after initiating chemotherapy. The primary tumor and pulmonary metastases were successfully treated using a multidisciplinary approach, including neurovascular intervention, chemotherapy, and craniospinal irradiation.
Bold Tweets: Female Politicians Shed Classical Language Norms

I examine the interaction between gender-based language norms and political success. I analyzed 50 tweets from each of 107 female and 109 male members of the U.S. congress using IBM’s Tone Analyzer. Contrary to the standard hypothesis that women are less forceful in their speech than men, I find that female politicians tweet with as or more confident and analytical tones than male congressmen (p < .0002), an effect not explained away by party affiliation or age. Additionally, these women are not overly agreeable in the sense of tweeting with vanilla joyful tones: women’s tones are at least as sad and no more joyful (p < .01) visa-vie men. Instead, joyfulness and agreeableness seem to have more to do with party affiliation and being in power (Democrats tweet with less joy than Republicans (p < .0005)). Finally, while women are actively encouraged by Twitter users to be confident (p < .0005), this encouragement is less strong than what men receive (p ≈ .05). This data suggests that female politicians, in attaining their positions, have shed much of the gendered language norms that may exist; meanwhile, Twitter followers are becoming increasingly (but not yet completely) equally supportive of women’s powerful speech patterns.
Children’s Concern for Equity and Ownership in Contexts of Individual-based and Group-based Inequality

All societies have resource inequality, wherein some possess more resources than others. How should one respond to such inequality? We tested how children 4–13 years (N= 298) balance concerns about...
p-multigrid with partial smoothing: An efficient preconditioner for discontinuous Galerkin discretizations with modal bases

Abstract Multigrid methods are efficient tools for the solution of linear systems arising in the discretization of partial differential equations and in other applications. While traditional multigrid methods often exhibit optimal or near-optimal computational cost, their application to advanced discretizations and complex geometries is challenging. In this work, we combine p -multigrid methods with algebraic multigrid (AMG) techniques to obtain scalable preconditioners for modal discontinuous Galerkin discretizations on complex, three-dimensional domains. We introduce the notion of partial smoothers, which update only a subset of the unknowns at each level of the multigrid hierarchy. Using partial smoothing, we incorporate hierarchical scale separation (HSS), a two-level p -multigrid-like technique with a more complete separation of high-order and low-order unknowns, into the existing p -multigrid framework. The resulting p -multigrid methods with partial smoothing are a generalization of existing HSS methods, offering tradeoffs between p -multigrid convergence and computational performance. In numerical experiments, we show that combined p -multigrid-AMG preconditioners can significantly accelerate large-scale simulations of pore scale flow, and we demonstrate that partial smoothing can further reduce computational cost by as much as 23%.
Collagenous Mineralized Tissues: Composition, Structure, and Biomineralization

Mineralized tissues play multiple essential roles in the body, including locomotion, mechanical protection and support of the soft tissues, mastication; sense of gravity and linear acceleration, mineral ion depot, and others. The vast majority of mineralized tissues in the human body, such as bone, dentin, and cementum, belong to the family of collagenous mineralized tissues (CMTs). Two major components of these tissues are collagen type I fibrils and nonstoichiometric carbonated apatite nanocrystals which comprise the mineralized collagen fibrils—the basic building blocks of CMTs. The mineralized collagen fibrils organize into a variety of structural patterns at several hierarchical levels from nano- to macroscale. In addition to the two major components, CMTs contain a number of noncollagenous extracellular matrix components, including proteins and proteoglycans, carbohydrates, and lipids. These noncollagenous biomolecules play a role in the regulation of the mineralization process of CMTs. CMTs are biogenic hierarchical nanocomposite materials and understanding of their formation and function requires interdisciplinary efforts of researchers from different fields of study including chemists, material scientists, and biologists. Not only these studies help us to understand how mineralized tissues form and function, they also provide inspiration for the design of novel materials using principles learned in nature. This chapter provides a general overview of the composition, structural organization, and biomineralization of CMTs with the emphasis on recent advances in the field.
Constructing the self

Constructing the Self analyzes the narrative conception of self, filling a serious gap in philosophy and grounding discussion in other disciplines. It answers the questions: • What are the connections between our interpretations, selfhood, and conscious phenomenal experience? • Why do we believe that our interpretations of our life-defining events are narrative in nature? • From the myriad of thoughts, actions, and emotions which constitute our experiences, how do we choose what is interpretively important, the tiny subset that composes the self? By synthesizing the different approaches to understanding the self from philosophy of mind, developmental psychology, psychopathology, and cognitive science, this monograph gives us deeper insight into what being minded, being a person, and having a self are, as well as clarifies the difference and relation between conscious and unconscious mental states and normal and abnormal minds. The explication also affords new perspectives on human development and human emotion. (Series A)
Ripe Mango, A Philosophy of Thought/Emotion, Mud Woman, disTorting noTions of fReeDom, Sisters

my teeth penetrate like a knife peeling back the cover to your insides I begin to taste you, juices flowing sweetness running into my mouth
Genetic Exchange Between Escherichia coli Strains in the Mouse Intestine

Abstract Germ-free mice contaminated with selected Escherichia coli strains were used for experiments designed to demonstrate gene transfer and recombinant formation in vivo. The well-characterized conjugation system of E. coli K-12 was examined in these experiments. Contamination of germ-free mice with a polyauxotrophic F− strain followed by the addition of isogenic Hfr, F′, or F+ strains resulted in the appearance of all recombinant classes at frequencies that would be expected from an in vitro mating experiment. Inheritance of unselected donor markers occurred at frequencies that were dependent on linkage relationships established in experiments in vitro. The presence of Lactobacillus had no influence on gene transfer and recombinant formation in an F′ × F− in vivo mating. The R factor ROR-1 was transferred from E. coli strain M7-18 to an E. coli F− strain in the mouse intestine.
One-bit Time Reversal for WLAN Applications

Time reversal (TR) is a technique that can achieve remarkable temporal focusing (delay spread reduction) and spatial focusing (low spatial interference) in the context of wideband multiple/single input-single output systems. In this paper, we investigate a simplified form of time-reversal, referred to as one-bit time reversal. The efficiency of this technique has already been demonstrated for ultrasound applications. We apply it to radio waves and demonstrate that it can preserve the spatial focusing properties of TR, while requiring much simpler transmitters. However, it does not have as good temporal focusing properties as pure TR
Aspect and Adverbials

The aim of this article is to introduce a treatment of the prepositions heading temporal adverbials as binary operators which select for certain aspectual properties of their arguments and order these arguments temporally. I extend the Dowty [19861!Taylor [1977] characterization of the aspectual classes to include certain basic properties of events and argue that a treatment of the selectional properties of temporal adverbials based on such a framework avoids certain incorrect predictions. I motivate this treatment with an analysis of until and suggest a treatment of the interaction of negation with adverbials. Finally I discuss how this treatment can be extended to other prepositions, such as for and in. Karttunen [1974] (following Lakoff [1969] , Lindholm [1969] , Hom [1971; 1972] , and others) proposes that until is ambiguous between a durative until and a punctual, negative-polarity item. Consider the following sentences from Karttunen [1974) 1 :
10. 'And I'm a (Social Media) Mormon: Digital Ritual, Techno-faith, and Religious Transmedia

Digital religion seems like a brand new phenomenon but it is actually best conceptualized by historically grounding these mediated practices within technological and cultural practices. Digital ethnographic observations are used to investigate the role of digital rituals in developing religious techno-faith surrounding Mormon social media usage. This paper seeks to apply a transmediated religious framework to understanding how digital religion works in the daily lives of religious congregations. Digital rituals are offered as a sub-category of media rituals, which serve as a lynchpin to inter-animate digital and face-to-face religious practice as techno-faith. Techno-faith mediates the central authority of the Mormon Church with the publication of individual, personal worship. Live-tweeting during Mormon General Conference, LDSTech, and the ‘And I'm a Mormon' campaign are the major sites of inquiry. Three major themes are identified in the data on Mormon social media: the role of ritual in digital ethnography, the role of publication and exposure within religious identity, and the role of techno-faith.
Improved performance of top-emitting, oxide-confined VCSELs with self-aligned contact and Cu-plated heatsink

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) with a self-aligned top contact and copper-plated heatsink were fabricated and characterized. Thermal resistance was reduced by 44%, and output power and bandwidth were increased by 38% and 12% respectively.
Mesenchymal stem cells in autism spectrum and neurodevelopmental disorders: pitfalls and potential promises.

Objectives. In this conceptual review, the authors discuss the promises and pitfalls in the use of mesenchymal stem cells as a potential experimental therapeutic for autism spectrum and other neuro...
Neuromorphic acceleration for context aware text image recognition

Although existing optical character recognition (OCR) tools can achieve excellent performance in text image detection and pattern recognition, they usually require a clean input image. Most of them do not perform well when the image is partially occluded or smudged. Humans are able to tolerate much worse image quality during reading because the perception errors can be corrected by the knowledge in word and sentence level context. In this paper, we present a brain-inspired information processing framework for context-aware Intelligent Text Recognition (ITR) and its acceleration using memristor based crossbar array. The ITRS has a bottom layer of massive parallel Brain-state-in-a-box (BSB) engines that give fuzzy pattern matching results and an upper layer of statistical inference based error correction. The framework works robustly in noisy environment. A parallel architecture is presented that incorporates the memristor crossbar array to accelerate the pattern matching. Compared to traditional microprocessor, the accelerator has the potential to provide tremendous area and power savings and more than 8,000 times speedups.
New surprises in genetic coding and how an ingenious experiment was almost scooped, by evolution

summary In 1962, one of the most creative and cogent experiments on the protein coding problem was published. Now it has been discovered that archaebacteria had been doing a related kind of “experiment” all along. Both involve a trick: changing an amino acid that is already attached to a “correct” transfer RNA.
Violence Exposure in Home and Community: Influence on Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Army Recruits.

This study assessed the levels and types of violence exposure, levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms, and the relationship among exposure to violence, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and early discharge in U.S. Army recruits at Basic Combat Training (BCT). The study applied a modified ABCX model of family stress adaptation developed by McCubbin, Thompson, and McCubbin (1996). A sample of 779 BCT recruits were surveyed before training began. At the end of training, data was collected on those recruits who had been discharged before completion of training. Statistical measures of association were used to assess the relationship between the variables. Results supported all three of the hypotheses tested. Significant positive relationships were found between violence exposure and trauma symptoms, as well as levels of trauma symptoms and odds of early discharge. Patterns of association were found between types of exposure to community versus home violence and specific symptom clusters of traumatic stress.
Convergence of a multiscale finite element method for elliptic problems with rapidly oscillating coefficients

We propose a multiscale finite element method for solving second order elliptic equations with rapidly oscillating coefficients. The main purpose is to design a numerical method which is capable of correctly capturing the large scale components of the solution on a coarse grid without accurately resolving all the small scale features in the solution. This is accomplished by incorporating the local microstructures of the differential operator into the finite element base functions. As a consequence, the base functions are adapted to the local properties of the differential operator. In this paper, we provide a detailed convergence analysis of our method under the assumption that the oscillating coefficient is of two scales and is periodic in the fast scale. While such a simplifying assumption is not required by our method, it allows us to use homogenization theory to obtain a useful asymptotic solution structure. The issue of boundary conditions for the base functions will be discussed. Our numerical experiments demonstrate convincingly that our multiscale method indeed converges to the correct solution, independently of the small scale in the homogenization limit. Application of our method to problems with continuous scales is also considered.
An amino acid code for protein folding

Direct structural information obtained for many proteins supports the following conclusions. The amino acid sequences of proteins can stabilize not only the final native state but also a small set of discrete partially folded native-like intermediates. Intermediates are formed in steps that use as units the cooperative secondary structural elements of the native protein. Earlier intermediates guide the addition of subsequent units in a process of sequential stabilization mediated by native-like tertiary interactions. The resulting stepwise self-assembly process automatically constructs a folding pathway, whether linear or branched. These conclusions are drawn mainly from hydrogen exchange-based methods, which can depict the structure of infinitesimally populated folding intermediates at equilibrium and kinetic intermediates with subsecond lifetimes. Other kinetic studies show that the polypeptide chain enters the folding pathway after an initial free-energy-uphill conformational search. The search culminates by finding a native-like topology that can support forward (native-like) folding in a free-energy-downhill manner. This condition automatically defines an initial transition state, the search for which sets the maximum possible (two-state) folding rate. It also extends the sequential stabilization strategy, which depends on a native-like context, to the first step in the folding process. Thus the native structure naturally generates its own folding pathway. The same amino acid code that translates into the final equilibrium native structure—by virtue of propensities, patterning, secondary structural cueing, and tertiary context—also produces its kinetic accessibility.
Periodic solutions in a model of recurrent neural feedback

An equation which Plant used to model recurrent neural feedback with delay is analyzed to determine its periodic solution structure. As a two-parameter Hopf bifurcation problem, the model exhibits ...
Accuracy checks of physical beam modifier factors algorithm used in computerized treatment planning system for a 15 MV photon beam

Abstract In order to optimize the tumour dose by using wedge filters, systematic studies were carried out to investigate the accuracy of the beam modifier algorithm in a computerized treatment planning system (Theraplan plus, version 3.8). The effect of different parameters such as beam hardening and softening coefficients on the wedge factor was also studied. A 15 MV photon beam obtained from a linear accelerator was used throughout the experiments. Normalized wedge factors were determined experimentally as well as with the Theraplan plus system as a function of field size and depth in a water phantom for 15°, 30°, 45°, and 60° wedge filters. The attenuation coefficients, beam hardening coefficient, and beam softening coefficients were also determined experimentally using the 15 MV photon beam for each wedge angle. The measured normalized wedge factor was found to increase with increasing depth and field size for the 15 MV beam. The Theraplan plus calculated normalized wedge factor was found to be in good agreement with the experimental values. This study indicated that ignoring the dependence of the wedge factor on depth and field size will result in underexposure of the tumour.
The Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System in Hypertension: Roles of Insulin Resistance and Oxidative Stress

Hypertension (HTN) is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD)-related morbidity and mortality. Several abnormalities participate in the development of HTN. Inappropriately activated systemic and local tissue renin angiotensin aldosterone systems (RAAS) contribute to the hemodynamic and metabolic abnormalities that lead to endothelial dysfunction, HTN, CVD, and CKD. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating a close relationship between RAAS activation, excessive production of reactive oxygen species, insulin resistance, and HTN. From a therapeutic standpoint, RAAS blockade results in improved insulin resistance, glucose homeostasis, and improved cardiovascular and renal outcomes. This article is focused on the role of RAAS-mediated insulin resistance and oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of HTN, CVD, and CKD.
Variation in the value of travel time savings and its impact on the benefits of managed lanes

This paper examines the variation in the value of travel time savings (VTTS) for travelers with a managed lane (ML) option when taking an ordinary trip versus a trip that is unusual in some way. VTTS estimates vary substantially depending on the urgency of the trip made. At the low end, the mean VTTS for a traveler who wants to make extra stops and still arrive on time is approximately 10% higher than that for an ordinary trip. At the high end, a traveler running late for an appointment shows a mean VTTS that is approximately 300% higher than that for an ordinary trip. These estimates vary widely over the population of travelers. In light of these variations, the value of an uncongested travel alternative (such as MLs) is examined and found to be greatly undervalued if using typical VTTS estimates.
Effects of ethanol on ouabain inhibition of mouse brain (Na+,K+)ATPase activity

Abstract Plots of ouabain inhibition of mouse cerebral cortical (Na + K + ATPase activity fitted a two-site model significantly better than a one-site model, consistent with the presence of two forms of the enzyme with different affinities for ouabain. The fraction of enzyme activity with high affinity for ouabain (HAO: K i = 500 nM), suggested to be localized neuronally, constituted the major portion (60–70%) of activity. Ouabain inhibition of both components of enzyme activity was reduced as KC1 concentrations were increased. In vitro , only high concentrations of ethanol affected (Na + ,K + )ATPase activity and ouabain inhibition of activity. Ethanol (500 mM) selectively reduced the activity, and increased the sensitivity to ouabain inhibition, of the HAO component, with no significant effect on the low-affinity (LAO) component. On the other hand, following chronic treatment of mice with ethanol in vivo , in a paradigm that produced tolerance and physical dependence, the sensitivity to ouabain of the HAO form of the enzyme was selectively increased. The relative proportions, and the activities of the HAO and LAO components, were not altered. The effects of ethanol, added in vitro , on the HAO component were decreased in ethanol-tolerant animals. The selective effect of chronic ethanol ingestion on (Na + ,K + )ATPase activity indicates the specificity of action of ethanol in the CNS.
Seasonal patterns of CO2 and water vapor exchange of three salt marsh succulents.

Diurnal carbon dioxide exchange patterns of three salt marsh succulents, Borrichia frutescens, Batis maritima and Salicornia virginica, were determined on a seasonal basis in the marsh at Sapelo Island, Georgia. Year-round photosynthetic activity was observed in these species though winter rates of CO2 exchange were reduced. Net primary productivity, estimated using gas exchange techniques, agreed with previously reported harvest data. The role of light and temperature in the control of seasonal photosynthetic changes was investigated. A similar variation in light utilization with season was found in all three species, while seasonal temperature acclimation was species dependent. Less than 20% of fixed CO2 was lost through dark respiration in any of the species.Water use in the salt marsh succulents was found to be relatively inefficient. High rates of transpiration were observed both summer and winter in the succulents.The succulents were judged to be C3 plants on the basis of several criteria.
State estimation Kalman filter using optical processing: noise statistics known.

Reference is made to a study by Casasent et al. (1983), which gave a description of a frequency-multiplexed acoustooptic processor and showed how it was capable of performing all the individual operations required in Kalman filtering. The data flow and organization of all required operations however, were not detailed in that study. Consideration is given here to a simpler Kalman filter state estimation problem. Equally spaced time-sampled intervals (k times T sub s, with k the iterative time index) are assumed. It is further assumed that the system noise vector w and the measurement noise vector v are uncorrelated and Gaussian distributed and that the noise statistics (Q and R) and the system model (Phi, Gamma, H) are known. The error covariance matrix P and the extrapolated error covariance matrix M can thus be precomputed and the Kalman gain matrix K sub k can be precomputed and stored for each input time sample.
Heat transfer enhancement from micro pin fins subjected to an impinging jet

Abstract An experimental investigation was carried out to study the single-phase stagnation point jet impingement heat transfer on smooth and micro pin fin structures using water and R134a. The experiments were carried out for a single jet (dj = 2.0 mm) impinging on a 2 × 2 mm micro-heater over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. Both an unfinned and a micro structured impingement surfaces were investigated. The micro structures consisted of an array of 64 circular micro pin fins fabricated using MEMS microfabrication. The micro pin fins had diameters of 125 μm, heights of 230 μm, and pitches of 250 μm with an area enhancement of Atotal/Abase = 2.44. The jet stand-off ratio and area ratio (Aj/Abase) were 0.86 and 0.785, respectively. Nusselt numbers were found to increase with increasing Reynolds numbers. Correlations from the literature for impingement zone Nusselt numbers were found to underpredict the experimental results. Significant enhancement of the heat transfer coefficients were observed as a result of the presence of the micro pin fins on the impingement surface. Enhancement factors as high as 3.03 or about 200% increase in the heat transfer coefficients were demonstrated. Enhancements are attributed to flow mixing, interruption of the boundary layers, and augmentation of turbulent transport.
Low-shear limit of the secondary electroviscous effect

Abstract A theory has been developed for the isotropic zero-shear viscosity of electrostatically stabilized suspensions of spheres at concentrations dilute enough that pair interactions dominate. Brownian motion of and viscous forces on individual spheres are included, but the weak flow coupled with strong electrical repulsions allows hydrodynamic pair interactions and double-layer distortion to be neglected. The viscosity, expressed in terms of the volume fraction φ as μ μ 0 −1=A θ+ B (ακ) 5 θ 2 +…, includes the secondary electroviscous effect in B∾(ln α ln α ) 4.5 where α = electrostatic forces/Brownian forces ⪢ 1. The results compare favorably with available data but suggest the importance of multiparticle electrostatic interactions as φ increases.
Descent and modification of the overflow plume in the Denmark strait

Bulk properties of the Denmark Strait overflow (DSO) plume observed in velocity and hydrography surveys undertaken in 1997 and 1998 are described. Despite the presence of considerable short-term variability, it is found that the pathway and evolution of the plume density anomaly are remarkably steady. Bottom stress measurements show that the pathway of the plume core matches well with a rate of descent controlled by friction. The estimated entrainment rate diagnosed from the rate of plume dilution with distance shows a marked increase in entrainment at approximately 125 km from the sill, leading to a net dilution consistent with previous reports of a doubling of overflow transport measured by current meter arrays. The entrainment rate increase is likely related to the increased topographic slopes in the region, compounded by a decrease in interface stratification as the plume is diluted and enters a denser background.
Particle decays in 28Si: The destruction of 27Al in red giants and novae

Abstract The 27 Al( 3 He, d) 28 Si reaction has been used to populate states near the 27 Al+p threshold and the ensuing proton and alpha decay has been measured. No evidence for new 27 Al(p , α) 24 Mg resonance strength was observed and consequently revised limits have been placed on the thermonuclear reaction rate. As a result, the 27 Al(p , α) 24 Mg reaction is found to be astrophysically unimportant at red-giant and nova temperatures.
Matrix fracture in brittle matrix fiber-reinforced composites

Abstract A linear elastic fracture mechanics analysis of matrix cracking in a brittle matrix uniaxially fiber-reinforced composite due to uniform longitudinal strain is presented. The concentric circular cylinders model is used while perfect bonding is assumed at the fiber matrix interface. The axisymmetric problem of an elastic fiber surrounded by the elastic matrix containing an annular crack is formulated in terms of a singular integral equation of the first kind with a Cauchy-type kernel. Four possible crack configurations are considered as follows : (a) internal annular crack with inner crack tip away from the interface: (b) internal annular crack with inner crack tip at the interface: (c) annular edge crack with inner crack tip away from the interface; (d) annular edge crack with inner crack tip at the interface (fully cracked matrix). Stress intensity factors are given for a wide range of crack sizes for different ratios of shear moduli. Stress fields are presented for a typical brittle matrix fiber-reinforced composite. SiC/CAS calcium aluminosilicate glass ceramic reinforced with silicon carbide fibers.
Atherogenic diets and neutral-lipid organization in plasma low density lipoproteins.

Abstract The plasma low density lipoproteins (LDL) of rhesus monkeys fed 3 atherogenic diets exhibited thermal transitions at temperatures much higher (37–43°C) than those observed in control animals or in normal humans (20–33°C). The same differences were noted in the neutral lipids (cholesteryl esters and triglycerides) which were isolated from the respective lipoproteins. In particular, the difference in thermal properties between the normal and abnormal LDLs was attributable to subtle differences in their cholesteryl ester compositions (mainly an increase in the saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid moieties), with altered triglyceride contents playing only a minor role. Thus, at body temperature, the hyperlipidemia that follows the administration of atherogenic diets is associated with a high degree of order of the neutral lipids in the core of the LDL particle. This, in turn, may be related to the atherogenicity of the abnormal lipoprotein species.
Clinical Characteristics, Diagnostic Criteria, And Therapeutic Outcomes In Autoimmune Optic Neuropathy

Background/aims: Autoimmune optic neuropathy (AON) is characterised by chronically progressive or recurrent visual loss associated with serological or cutaneous evidence of autoimmunity, without a defined systemic autoimmune illness. It may improve with large doses of corticosteroids alone, or in combination with immunosuppressive agents. The aim was to determine the relative effectiveness of various therapeutic regimens in AON. Methods: All patients in this study fulfilled these criteria: (1) multiple attacks in one eye or attacks in both eyes (at least three total attacks); (2) a minimum of 12 months of neuro-ophthalmic follow-up; (3) serological abnormalities or skin biopsy changes consistent with AON; (4) no diagnosis of a defined collagen vascular disease or neurological autoimmune disease throughout follow-up, with the exception of one patient, later shown to be shown to be neuromyelitis optic antibody positive. Results: Nine cases were found (female = 7, male = 2, ages 8–74). One case received corticosteroids alone, the others received corticosteroids in combination with methotrexate/gammaglobulin (n = 1), methotrexate (n = 1), gammaglobulin (n = 1), chlorambucil (n = 2), cyclophosphamide (n = 1) and azathioprine/chlorambucil (n = 1), and one received multiple combinations of agents. Criteria for diagnosis are proposed. Conclusion: As AON is quite rare, no formal recommendation can be made regarding its best therapy, although there is a suggestion that chlorambucil, although potentially toxic, may yield long-term remission.
The real time calculation of cloud motion in infrared image sequences using mathematical morphology operations

The real time calculation of local cloud motion may be useful in aiding the discrimination of small targets from backgrounds by infrared search and track systems. While the apparent motion of clouds in image sequences can be considered to be optical flow, the standard methods of optical flow calculation are not suited to real time calculation of cloud motion. In this paper a method is presented for estimating the local apparent cloud motion based on mathematical morphology operations. The method is illustrated with a 1D analogue of a moving cloud mass. The extension to 2D images is straight forward.
Listening with a dual brain: Hemispheric asymmetry in sustained attention

Subjects listened for increments in the duration of recurrent white-noise pulses during an 80-min vigil. Critical signals for detection appeared in either a temporally regular or an irregular manner while acoustic stimulation was delivered either binaurally or monaurally to the left or to the right ear. Temporal regularity had no significant effect on performance, but performance was influenced by the input conditions and by time on task. Response times (RTs) to the detection of binaural and left-ear signals had a common origin and increased in a negatively accelerated fashion over time. By contrast, RTs to right-ear signals were relatively sluggish early in the vigil and remained stable over time. The results suggest a functional asymmetry in hemispheric organization during the maintenance of sustained attention.
Breaking van der Waals molecules with magnetic fields

It is demonstrated that weakly bound van der Waals complexes can dissociate in a magnetic field through coupling between the Zeeman levels. The Zeeman predissociation process is shown to be efficient and it can be controlled by external magnetic fields.
Genetic diversity and population structure of the serpentine endemic Calystegia collina (Convolvulaceae) in northern California.

We used enzyme electrophoresis to evaluate genetic diversity in 32 populations of Calystegia collina, a clonal plant species endemic to serpentine outcrops in northern California (USA). Of 34 loci examined 56% were polymorphic, but on average only 17% were polymorphic within local populations. Neither the total number of alleles nor the number of multilocus genotypes differed significantly between populations in small vs. large serpentine outcrops. Genetic and geographic distances between populations were positively correlated, but this relationship was not significantly affected by the isolation of serpentine outcrops. Populations were highly differentiated (Fst 5 0.417) and little genetic variation was explained by geographic region or serpentine outcrop. Observed heterozygosity within populations almost always exceeded Hardy-Weinberg expectations. In many populations, all 30 sample ramets were uniformly heterozygous at one or more loci yet were genetically variable at other loci. These results imply that many C. collina populations originate from one or a few genetic founders, with little recruitment from seeds. Genetic variation within uniformly heterozygous populations must be the product of multiple, closely related founders or somatic mutations within the population. We conclude that vegetative reproduction, perhaps coupled with somatic mutation, helps maintain genetic diversity in these isolated but long-lived populations.
An Alternative to Efron's Redistribution-of-Mass Construction of the Kaplan—Meier Estimator

Abstract Kaplan and Meier (1958) derived the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimator of the survival function for the case in which some survival times are right-censored. Efron (1967) proposed a redistribution-of-mass construction of the Kaplan—Meier estimator that emphasized and illustrated the contribution of the censored observations. This article presents an alternative construction that, unlike Efron's method, redistributes the mass initially associated with each censored observation directly to the uncensored observations. The proposed construction avoids distributing a given mass more than once and provides additional insight into the nature of the Kaplan—Meier estimator.
Spine pruning in 5xFAD mice starts on basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons.

Transgenic mice with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) mutations have been widely used to model changes in neuronal structure and function. While there are clear gross structural changes in post-mortem brains of AD patients, most mouse models of AD do not recapitulate the considerable loss of neurons. Furthermore, possible connections between early subtle structural changes and the loss of neurons are difficult to study. In an attempt to start unraveling how neurons are affected during the early stages of what becomes full neurodegeneration, we crossed a mouse model of familial AD, which displays massive neocortical neurodegeneration (the 5xFAD mouse), with the fluorescent H-line YFP mouse. This novel bigenic mouse model of AD, which we have named the 5XY mouse, expresses YFP in principal neurons in the cortex such that even fine details of cells are clearly visible. Such bright fluorescence allowed us to use high-resolution confocal microscopy to quantify changes in spine density in the somatosensory cortex, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. A significant loss of spines on basal dendrites in the somatosensory and prefrontal cortices of 6-month-old 5XY female mice was found. There was no observed spine loss at 6 months of age on the oblique dendrites of the hippocampus in the same mice. These data suggest that spine loss is an early event in the degeneration of the neocortical neurons in 5xFAD mice and a likely contributor to the cognitive impairments reported previously in this AD mouse model.
Work perceptions and their implications for professional identity: An exploratory analysis of public health nurses

Abstract Our story has two themes. The first embodies a description of how a group of public health nurses tackled the problem of professional identification. This in turn involved two processes. The first was an intergroup one whereby they told who they were almost entirely by stressing who they were not; namely by contrasting their work with that of traditional hospital nursing. The second process of the search for identity was reflected by an intra-group phenomenon called by some “segmentation”. This was crystallized in the formation of two rather distinct groups, the ‘medically-oriented’ and the ‘socially-oriented’, who differed rather dramatically on what they thought were the most appropriate goals and tasks of public health nursing. The second theme is a frankly speculative projection of the implication of both these processes for the development of public health nursing as a professional specialty.
Inhibition of Gingival Collagenase Gene Expression by Dexamethasone

Glucocorticoids are potent immunosuppressants shown to be effective in the treatment of inflammatory diseases. Reportedly, they work, in part, by inhibiting cytokines and other transcription factors including AP-1. In this study we investigated the mechanisms of efficient repression of collagenase gene expression by dexamethasone in the human gingival fibroblast. Northern analyses showed that IL-1-dependent collagenase mRNA production was significantly decreased in the presence of dexamethasone. The influence of dexamethasone on the transcription factor NF-kappaB, STAT3, and AP-1 was investigated by using the gel mobility shift assay with nuclear extracts prepared from the cells grown in the presence of dexamethasone. We observed that in addition to AP-1, binding of NF-kappaB and STAT3 to DNA was also decreased significantly. Additionally, dexamethasone induced the transcription of the I kappaB-alpha gene suggesting that in the presence of dexamethasone, NF-kappaB quickly reassociates with newly synthesized I kappaB-alpha and markedly reduces the amount of NF-kappaB. CAT transfection studies utilizing collagenase promoter demonstrated a dose-dependent transcriptional inhibition of IL-1-induced gingival collagenase gene expression by dexamethasone. These data reveal that collagenase gene expression can be regulated by the impairment of IL-1-stimulated NF-kappaB, STAT3, and AP-1 activities, and can highlight a possible molecular mechanism for the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids.
Rapid measurement of total antioxidant capacity in plants

There is growing interest in measuring the antioxidant status of plant tissues. This protocol describes the oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) assay, which measures antioxidant inhibition of peroxyl radical-induced oxidations and is a measure of total antioxidant capacity. The assay is performed in a microplate and is assessed with a 96-well multi-detection plate reader. Total antioxidant capacity of 64 experimental samples can easily be analyzed in 1 d. This assay is presented along with rapid assays for total phenolic content and total ascorbate content. Overall, these assays provide a general diagnostic tool of the antioxidant capacity in leaf tissue extracts.
TQM and the Transcendental Meditation program in a Swedish top management team

Drawing on a case study of a Swedish top management team whose members were practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation1 (TM1) technique, this article argues for developmental maturity as an important causal factor for effective TQM behaviors and success. It suggests that, first, increased maturity permits expression of more effective cognitive, affective, and team TQM behaviors, as indicated by improved team functioning and successful TQM planning, and, second, practice of the TM technique promotes the psychological maturation that allows a greater range of appropriate TQM behaviors. Thus, the inner development provided by the Transcendental Meditation program has practical value for managers engaged in TQM implementation.
The Effect of Image Vividness on Reality Monitoring

In this experimental study of “reality monintoring” as in an earlier study by Johnson, Raye, Wang, and Taylor, each of thirty-six pictures was visually perceived two, five, or eight times and was visually imaged two, five, or eight times. When subjects in these studies were asked to estimate how many times each picture had actually been perceived, their frequency estimates were higher not only for pictures that had been perceived more often, but also for pictures that had been imaged more often. Such misremembered imaging in the experiment by Johnson, et al., was significantly more pronounced in subjects with better visual memory. In contrast, the misremembrance of frequent images in the current experiment was significantly less pronounced in subjects with more vivid imagery. The implications of these findings for immediate “reality testing” and memorial “reality monitoring”, as described by Kunzendorf and Johnson respectively, are discussed.
Degradable biomaterials with elastomeric characteristics and drug-carrier function

Abstract The design of drug-carrying elastomers based on poly(phosphoester-urethanes) (PPUs) is presented. Bis(2-hydroxyethyl)phosphite and bis(6-hydroxyhexyl)phosphite were used as the chain extenders and 1,4-butane diisocyanate was the basis of the hard segment. The labile phosphoester linkage in the backbone of the PPU confers biodegradability on the polymer. Using the reactive phosphite side chain in the PPUs, p -aminosalicylic acid and benzocaine were attached pendantly to the polymer with or without a spacer. In vitro release of both drugs was complete in several hours. In contrast, ethambutol incorporated into the backbone of the polymer was released in over 10 days. Preliminary cytotoxicity of the drug-carrier to a macrophage cell line was also assessed.
Mechanistic investigation into the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from the pyrolysis of plant steroids

Abstract There have been many studies on the pyrolysis of biomass model compounds but most have not been performed under the high heating rate, short residence time conditions currently used in the thermochemical conversion of biomass. In this investigation, the pyrolysis of plant steroids is investigated by flash vacuum pyrolysis (FVP) and flow pyrolysis at residence times of 0.1–2.0 s and temperatures of 550–800°C to determine if the native cyclic ring structure in the steroid leads to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or whether PAHs are formed by pyrosynthesis. FVP of stigmasterol, stigmasterol acetate, β-sitosterol, and stigmasta-3,5-diene at 700°C showed that PAHs, such as acenaphthylene, phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, chyrsene, benz[a]anthracene, and their monomethylated derivatives were formed in the absence of bimolecular reactions, and the yield of PAHs was dependent of the structure of the steroid. Similar products were found in the flow pyrolysis of stigmasterol, and the yields of PAHs were found to increase with increasing temperature and residence time. Thermochemical kinetic estimates were used to postulate pathways for the formation of the primary pyrolysis products.
Cytotoxicity and antibody binding by flow cytometry: A single assay to simultaneously assess two parameters†

Background: Cell death, as determined by complement-dependent cytotoxicity or antibody binding, as assessed by flow cytometry, are the two main methods histocompatibility laboratories use to identify HLA antibodies. Conventional cytotoxicity assays, even anti-human globulin (AHG) enhanced, are relatively insensitive, subjective and require complement fixation. In contrast, antibody binding assays (e.g.: flow cytometry crossmatch, FCXM) are sensitive, objective, and complement independent. When sera from potential transplant recipients test positive by both methods, most centers would not proceed to transplant unless patients undergo desensitization. However, when the CDC crossmatch is negative but the FCXM positive, how or whether to proceed is controversial. Frequently, both assays are performed. Methods: In this study, we developed a comprehensive procedure that determines cell death, and antibody binding in a single assay: the cytotoxic flow crossmatch (cFCXM). The assay was validated in parallel studies with two other conventional methodologies, namely AHG and FCXM. Results: Using a combination of eight cells and 15 sera, we have determined an optimal method for the simultaneous detection of HLA antibody binding and cytotoxicity using a single platform. Additionally, we have identified three distinct patterns of HLA antibody reactivity: (1) AHGpos/cFCXMpos/FCXMpos, (2) AHGneg/cFCXMneg/FCXMpos, and (3) a previously unrecognized category, namely, AHGneg/cFCXMpos/FCXMpos. Conclusions: These studies document that cytotoxicity and antibody binding can be simultaneously assessed and marks the first demonstration of complement-dependent HLA antibodies undetectable by conventional cytotoxicity. Routine application of this assay may provide new insights regarding transplantation of patients presenting as AHGneg/FCXMpos by classifying them according to their cFCXM status. © 2008 Clinical Cytometry Society