cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Luminescence of LuCl3:Pr3+ under interconfigurational (4f2 → 4f15d1) and band gap excitations

Abstract The optical properties of Pr3+ activated LuCl3 under interconfigurational 4f2 → 4f15d1 and band gap (λex = 193 nm; X-ray) excitations have been evaluated. The luminescence of LuCl3:Pr3+ is found to be strongly dependent on the excitation energy: for energies less than the absorption edge of the host, the luminescence of LuCl3:Pr3+ is dominated by the 4f15d1 → 4f2 interconfigurational optical transitions. When luminescence is excited by photons with energies corresponding to the absorption edge or the band gap of the host, the emission spectrum is dominated by the Pr3+ 4f2 → 4f2 intraconfigurational optical transitions. A model to account for the dependence of the emission behavior on the excitation energy is presented. The Cl− → Pr3+ charge transfer band is identified in the excitation spectrum of LuCl3:Pr3+. A comparative study of the Pr3+ luminescence in LuCl3 and LaBr3 is offered.
Application of statistical methods in quantitative microscopy.

SUMMARY The purpose of the paper is twofold: first, to describe the aspects of quantitative microscopy where statistical ideas are being applied today; and second, to describe some ways in which more complete use of statistics could improve quantitative microscopy. The typical estimation problem in quantitative microscopy is described with emphasis on the modelling of variability in estimation. A Poisson field model for imbedded particulates is used to illustrate the value of theoretical treatments of variability. Sampling, estimation and multivariate analysis are cited as areas of statistics presently used by quantitative microscopists. The potential role of statistics in quantitative microscopy is discussed. Examples from particle sizing and characterization of alveolar lung structure illustrate the value of statistical ideas. Automatic image analysers, while making the collection of large amounts of data feasible, have complicated statistical estimation. An investigation of the size distribution of random chord lengths through alveolar chambers illustrates how statistical methodology must be modified for valid inference.
Oral iron chelation and the treatment of iron overload in a pediatric hematology center.

Background Recent advances have led to the development of oral iron chelators, which have changed clinical practice. The objective of this study was to descriptively assess the use of one such agent, deferasirox, as standard of care treatment in a large pediatric hematology center. Procedure We retrospectively studied all patients at the Texas Children's Hematology Center who were previously or currently treated with deferasirox. We gathered data on demographics, clinical diagnoses, length of time on chronic transfusions, previous use of deferoxamine, adherence to therapy, and reasons for discontinuation. We also assessed changes in serum ferritin, liver function tests, and creatinine for those on deferasirox for a minimum of 12 months. Results Fifty-nine patients were studied. Eighty-one percent of patients treated with deferasirox had a diagnosis of sickle cell disease. The mean baseline ferritin level for our study population was 2,117 ng/ml (range 754–7,211). Fifty-three percent of patients had been previously treated with deferoxamine. Adherence to oral therapy was documented in 76% of patients. For those on deferasirox for a minimum of 12 months, serum ferritin decreased in 30% of patients (44% of compliant patients, 11% of poorly compliant patients). Changes in creatinine and liver function tests were mild and did not result in long-term discontinuation of deferasirox in any cases. Conclusions Outside of controlled clinical trials, deferasirox can be utilized safely as an oral iron chelator in children although adherence to therapy and the complex interaction of factors that contribute to iron overload still present challenges for clinicians. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2009;52:616–620. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Efficient Power Management of Heterogeneous Soft Real-Time Clusters

With growing cost of electricity, the power management of server clusters has become an important problem. However, most previous researchers only address the challenge in homogeneous environments. Considering the increasing popularity of heterogeneous systems, this paper proposes an efficient algorithm for power management of heterogeneous soft real-time clusters. It is built on simple but effective mathematical models. When deployed to a new platform, the software incurs low configuration cost because no extensive performance measurements and profiling are required. To strive for efficiency, a threshold-based approach is adopted. In this paper, we systematically study this approach and its design decisions.
Long-lived quantum coherence in photosynthetic complexes at physiological temperature

Photosynthetic antenna complexes capture and concentrate solar radiation by transferring the excitation to the reaction center that stores energy from the photon in chemical bonds. This process occurs with near-perfect quantum efficiency. Recent experiments at cryogenic temperatures have revealed that coherent energy transfer—a wave-like transfer mechanism—occurs in many photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes. Using the Fenna–Matthews–Olson antenna complex (FMO) as a model system, theoretical studies incorporating both incoherent and coherent transfer as well as thermal dephasing predict that environmentally assisted quantum transfer efficiency peaks near physiological temperature; these studies also show that this mechanism simultaneously improves the robustness of the energy transfer process. This theory requires long-lived quantum coherence at room temperature, which never has been observed in FMO. Here we present evidence that quantum coherence survives in FMO at physiological temperature for at least 300 fs, long enough to impact biological energy transport. These data prove that the wave-like energy transfer process discovered at 77 K is directly relevant to biological function. Microscopically, we attribute this long coherence lifetime to correlated motions within the protein matrix encapsulating the chromophores, and we find that the degree of protection afforded by the protein appears constant between 77 K and 277 K. The protein shapes the energy landscape and mediates an efficient energy transfer despite thermal fluctuations.
Automatic alignment and graph map building of panoramas

Panoramic cameras can capture a 360/spl deg/ view from a point providing new capabilities for multimedia, tele-presence and robotic applications. For example, virtual walk-throughs of an environment can be created from a sequence of panoramic images, where perspective views are created according to a user's position and view direction. For this and other applications, the panoramic images need to be aligned to one another and a topological or metric map created. An automatic method to achieve this would remove a lot of tedious preparations for multimedia systems and enable robotic positioning systems. This paper presents three methods to address these problems; finding the relative orientation between panoramas, using the essential matrix is created to determine the relative rotation and translation direction, and an image search based algorithm to detect when the camera path crosses over itself for creating a topological map. The SIFT feature detector is used to find correspondences between panoramic images. Experimental results are shown for determining the rotation and cross-overs.
Plasmon-Waveguide Interband Cascade Lasers Near 7.5 $\mu$ m

Broad-area plasmon-waveguide interband cascade lasers with emission wavelengths near 7.5 mu m were demonstrated at temperatures up to 121 K in continuous-wave mode. Their threshold current densities and voltages varied from 72 A/cm2 and 2.1 V at 84 K to 400 A/cm2 and 2.7 V at 121 K, showing very efficient use of bias voltage (e.g., voltage efficiency of about 90% at 84 K) at this long wavelength. These plasmon-waveguide lasers also operated in pulsed mode at temperatures up to 165 K with emission wavelengths near 7.6 mum and threshold current density of 1100 A/cm2.
Migrating Autonomic Self-Testing to the Cloud

The cloud computing model continues to gain much attention from software industry practitioners. As such, leading companies are investing in the development, packaging and delivery of cloud services over the Internet. However, although much work is being done to model and build cloud applications and services, there is significantly less research devoted to testing them. In this paper, we describe our research-in-progress towards migrating autonomic self-testing (AST) to the cloud. Our approach combines the development of an automated test harness for a cloud service, with the delivery of test support as-a-service (TSaaS). Both AST and TSaaS are supported by a virtual test environment, which utilizes the power of the cloud to enhance the self-testing process.
Reduction of Target Gene Expression by a Modified U1 snRNA

Although the primary function of U1 snRNA is to define the 5' donor site of an intron, it can also block the accumulation of a specific RNA transcript when it binds to a donor sequence within its terminal exon. This work was initiated to investigate if this property of U1 snRNA could be exploited as an effective method for inactivating any target gene. The initial 10-bp segment of U1 snRNA, which is complementary to the 5' donor sequence, was modified to recognize various target mRNAs (chloramphenicol acetyltransferase [CAT], beta-galactosidase, or green fluorescent protein [GFP]). Transient cotransfection of reporter genes and appropriate U1 antitarget vectors resulted in >90% reduction of transgene expression. Numerous sites within the CAT transcript were suitable for targeting. The inhibitory effect of the U1 antitarget vector is directly related to the hybrid formed between the U1 vector and target transcripts and is dependent on an intact 70,000-molecular-weight binding domain within the U1 gene. The effect is long lasting when the target (CAT or GFP) and U1 antitarget construct are inserted into fibroblasts by stable transfection. Clonal cell lines derived from stable transfection with a pOB4GFP target construct and subsequently stably transfected with the U1 anti-GFP construct were selected. The degree to which GFP fluorescence was inhibited by U1 anti-GFP in the various clonal cell lines was assessed by fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. RNA analysis demonstrated reduction of the GFP mRNA in the nuclear and cytoplasmic compartment and proper 3' cleavage of the GFP residual transcript. An RNase protection strategy demonstrated that the transfected U1 antitarget RNA level varied between 1 to 8% of the endogenous U1 snRNA level. U1 antitarget vectors were demonstrated to have potential as effective inhibitors of gene expression in intact cells.
The modified obstetric metabolic equivalent (MET): finding a MET that fits in pregnancy.

The Compendium of Physical Activities (CPA) provides the energy expenditure (EE) for hundreds of daily activities reported in metabolic equivalents (MET). It remains to be determined if the metabolic changes of pregnancy alter the use of the CPA MET (METCPA) in this population. The energy cost of rest, activities of daily living (ADL; typing, folding laundry and sweeping) and treadmill walking [2.0, 2.5, 3.0 mph (0% incline), 3.0 mph (3% incline)] were compared with the METCPA from the 2000 and 2011 CPA in 30 pregnant women (10–14 weeks gestation) using indirect calorimetry (IC). The METCPA for each activity was compared against two measured IC values: METabsolute (3.5 ml O2/kg/min) and METratio (EEactivity/EErest). Means for both comparisons were tested by one-sample t-test. Measured MET correlated with the 2011 METCPA: METabsolute v. METCPA R 2 = 0.906, P < 0.0001; METratio v. METCPA R 2 = 0.861, P < 0.0001. Differences between measured MET values and the 2011 METCPA ranged from 16% underestimation to 48% overestimation. Using the absolute definition, the METCPA significantly overestimated the ADL (P < 0.0005); yet, no significant differences were found between walking at 0% grade and METCPA. Conversely, only folding laundry was significantly different with the ratio definition, whereas walking at a level grade was significantly underestimated (P < 0.0001). Similar observations were found using the 2000 CPA. The use of the METCPA to estimate EE in pregnant women can result in significant over- or underestimation, depending on the activity and the definition of the MET that is used.
Strategies to improve continuous positive airway pressure compliance: A review

Normal 0 7.8 磅 0 2 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:普通表格; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the gold standard of treatment for patients diagnosed with significant Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Although CPAP is highly effective in preventing the repetitive upper airway collapses in OSA, compliance to treatment is poor, which in turn leads to poorer health outcomes. In this study an extensive review of the literature was completed using the Cochrane library, CINAHL, PubMed and Embase databases. The research objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of interventions designed to increase compliance with CPAP. The themes that were found to be effective in increasing compliance with CPAP were increased patient education and intensive patient support. Improvements in CPAP compliance will positive impact patients, patient’s families and the health care system. In conclusion, the evidence points to the necessity of implementation of an intensive patient education and patient support program for all OSA patients.
On the Determination of the Impulse Response of the Seismograph Systems With Emphasis on the SRO System

The direction of theoretical seismology today is to- ward the realistic description of ground motion in the time domain. The adequacy of theoretical models is tested by comparing recorded ground motions to theoretically predicted instrumental records. A requirement for making such a com- parison is that the response of the seismograph system be known for an impulse in ground displacement. This in turn requires that the amplitude and phase response of the seismograph system be known. This paper reviews calibration techniques currently used and indicates the deficiencies in such techniques. A multistep procedure is developed in which a Hilbert transform relating the phase response to the amplitude response of a minimum-phase causal system is used together with experimental band-limited data for the phase and amplitude response of a seismograph system. Because as- sumptions must be made about the nature of the amplitude response outside the range for which data are available, an additional step of using the computed frequency response to generate the theoretical system response to a step in ac- celeration which can be compared to actual calibration pulses is proposed. Using this approach, the impulse response of the SRO long-period system is estimated.
Multiple-detect ATPG based on physical neighborhoods

Multiple-detect test sets detect single stuck line faults multiple times, and thus have a higher probability of detecting complex defects. But current definitions of what constitutes a new test for a single stuck line fault do not leverage defect locality. Recent work has proposed a new metric to capture quality of a multiple-detect test set based on the number of unique states on lines in the physical neighborhood of a targeted line. This paper presents a new ATPG strategy that uses this metric to generate higher quality multiple-detect test sets.
Signal predictions for a proposed fast neutron interrogation method

We have applied the Monte Carlo radiation transport code COG to assess the utility of a proposed explosives detection scheme based on neutron transmission. In this scheme a pulsed neutron beam is generated by an approximately seven MeV deuteron beam incident on a thick Be target. A scintillation detector operating in the current mode measures the neutrons transmitted through the object as a function of time. The flight time of unscattered neutrons from the source to the detector is simply related to the neutron energy. This information along with neutron cross-section excitation functions is used to infer the densities of H, C, N, and O in the volume sampled. The code we have chosen to use enables us to create very detailed and realistic models of the geometrical configuration of the system, the neutron source, and of the detector response. By calculating the signals that will be observed for several configurations and compositions of interrogated objects we can investigate and begin to understand how a system that could actually be fielded will perform. Using this modeling capability, many aspects of the design of a system can be optimized early on with substantial savings in time and cost and with improvements in performance. We will present our signal predictions for simple single element test cases and for explosive compositions. From these studies it is clear that the interpretation of the signals from such an explosives identification system will pose a substantial challenge.
Design and implementation of differential cascode voltage switch with pass-gate (DCVSPG) logic for high-performance digital systems

In this paper, a new high-speed circuit technique called differential cascode voltage switch with pass-gate (DCVSPG) logic tree is presented. The circuit technique is designed using a pass-gate logic tree in DCVSPG instead of the nMOS logic tree in the conventional DCVS circuit, which eliminates the floating node problem. By eliminating the floating node problem, the DCVSPG becomes a new type of ratioless circuit, and it also provides superior performance with less power dissipation and better silicon area tradeoff. The basic DCVSPG design technique, the methodology for optimization, and synthesis of the pass-gate logic tree are described. The standard cell library development taking advantage of the dual-rail outputs of DCVSPG gates is also discussed. The performance comparisons with other existing pass-gate circuit techniques [complimentary pass-transistor logic (CPL), double pass-transistor logic (DPL), and swing restored pass-transistor logic (SRPL)] are presented. For more robust design, the DCVSPG with inverter buffers is also the best choice. A Viterbi macro design using the DCVSPG circuit technique is demonstrated. The process that the design is based upon is a 0.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology with 0.25-/spl mu/m effective channel length and five layers of metal. This macro can run up to 500 MHz at the nominal process condition. In comparison with other existing dynamic circuit techniques, the results also clearly show that the dynamic DCVSPG has the superior power-delay performance.
PIP-enhanced "at system" diagnosis on the flightline

Flightline component false removals are costly and add to the logistics tail of every weapon system. Integrating portable maintenance aids (PMAs) and maintenance information systems into the test repertoire can help significantly; however, these solutions do little to augment the information available for failure diagnosis. Adding conventional test instrumentation under PMA control would provide the additional information we seek; however, these hardware intensive solutions are typically large, heavy and expensive. VXI offers an opportunity to consolidate instrumentation into a convenient package, however, the majority of VXI products provide a single function. Therefore many VXI modules are required to provide the needed functionality, resulting in an instrumentation package that is large and awkward to use at best, and quite often just not useable on the flightline. This paper addresses false removals, the challenges involved in addressing this issue, and solutions that are being implemented on the RAH-66 Comanche program. The PMA Instrument Pack (PIP) approach to flightline instrumentation facilitates powerful test techniques that augment diagnostic capability at the weapon system.
An examination of teacher attitudes towards children with autism

Since Leo Kanner first described it in 1943, autism has attracted a flurry of research. That research has transformed an esoteric condition into a better understood disorder. In addition to shifting conceptualisations, the new research seems to have influenced people's attitude towards the disorder. However, few studies have examined people's attitudes towards the disorder within the context of this robust research. This current study was designed to examine teachers' attitudes towards children with autism and to find out if teachers' attitudes have changed amidst this research. Results demonstrated that most of the teachers had positive attitude towards children with autism.
A multipurpose microfluidic device designed to mimic microenvironment gradients and develop targeted cancer therapeutics

The heterogeneity of cellular microenvironments in tumors severely limits the efficacy of most cancer therapies. We have designed a microfluidic device that mimics the microenvironment gradients present in tumors that will enable the development of more effective cancer therapies. Tumor cell masses were formed within micron-scale chambers exposed to medium perfusion on one side to create linear nutrient gradients. The optical accessibility of the PDMS and glass device enables quantitative transmitted and fluorescence microscopy of all regions of the cell masses. Time-lapse microscopy was used to measure the growth rate and show that the device can be used for long-term efficacy studies. Fluorescence microscopy was used to demonstrate that the cell mass contained viable, apoptotic, and acidic regions similar to in vivo tumors. The diffusion coefficient of doxorubicin was accurately measured, and the accumulation of therapeutic bacteria was quantified. The device is simple to construct, and it can easily be reproduced to create an array of in vitro tumors. Because microenvironment gradients and penetration play critical roles controlling drug efficacy, we believe that this microfluidic device will be vital for understanding the behavior of common cancer drugs in solid tumors and designing novel intratumorally targeted therapeutics.
Variation on a theme of herbivory: Corallina-hermit crab relationship on a temperate-subtropical rocky shore

Elucidation of species interactions involving multiple processes is an important task in ecology, as diff erent processes may operate in non-apparent, opposing directions. While herbivory is a major form of interspecifi c interaction aff ecting plants, calcareous algae are generally thought to be protected from herbivory due to CaCO 3 deposition. However, fi eld observations and experiments in temperate-subtropical intertidal rockpools showed that hermit crabs (Paguroidea, Decapoda) did not ingest Corallina but cut short its fronds. We tested the implications of this frond-cutting behaviour with fi eld experiments where hermit crab density and Corallina frond length were artifi cially manipulated. Hermit crab guts were fuller and contained more microscopic animals when Corallina fronds were shorter, suggesting that frond-cutting aff ects accessibility to food resources that exist in the basal part of algal mat. Corallina showed compensatory growth when fronds were artifi cially reduced in length/density, simulating the cutting by hermit crabs. Frond density increased, probably due to increased exposure to light of the basal part of Corallina coupled with a reduction in apical dominance. Th e present study revealed a direct, non-trophic relationship between hermit crabs and Corallina in which the former aff ected the latter for gaining access to food resources. Overall, the combination of positive and negative eff ects of hermit crab led to a positive, facilitative eff ect on Corallina. In terms of the eff ect on algae or plants, this relationship is functionally analogous to herbivory, without involving direct consumption. We discuss the problem of extending the concept of ecological engineering to herbivory and herbivory-like phenomena and suggest the term ‘pseudo-herbivory’ to describe relations in which animals have non-trophic but herbivory-like eff ects on plants/algae, as seen in the hermit crab–Corallina relationship.
Hearing the Irrational: Music and the Development of the Modern Concept of Number

ABSTRACT Because the modern concept of number emerged within a quadrivium that included music alongside arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, musical considerations affected mathematical developments. Michael Stifel embedded the then‐paradoxical term “irrational numbers” (numerici irrationales) in a musical context (1544), though his philosophical aversion to the “cloud of infinity” surrounding such numbers finally outweighed his musical arguments in their favor. Girolamo Cardano gave the same status to irrational and rational quantities in his algebra (1545), for which his contemporaneous work on music suggested parallels and empirical examples. Nicola Vicentino's attempt to revive ancient “enharmonic” music (1555) required and hence defended the use of “irrational proportions” (proportiones inrationales) as if they were numbers. These developments emerged in richly interactive social and cultural milieus whose participants interwove musical and mathematical interests so closely that their intense controv...
Urban Growth Management in Portland, Oregon

The Portland Metro Region is unique in the United States, having an elected governing body with significant planning and land use regulatory powers. This paper traces the legislative and administrative history of Portland Metro with particular attention to its function of setting and changing a regional urban growth boundary (UGB) that involves 24 cities and the urban portions of 3 counties. The UGB must allocate sufficient land for urban uses over a 20-year period and changes to that boundary are often hotly contested. Among other things, the paper deals with major and minor boundary changes, each having its own standards and procedures, with urban and rural reserves (which deal with urban and rural land allocations for between 20 and 50 years in the future. The paper concludes with observations on the effectiveness of Metro and its UGB process.
The nucleopolyhedroviruses of Rachiplusia ou and Anagrapha falcifera are isolates of the same virus.

The 7·8 kb EcoRI-G fragment of Rachiplusia ou multicapsid nucleopolyhedrovirus (RoMNPV), containing the polyhedrin gene, was cloned and sequenced. The sequence of the fragment was 92·3% identical to the sequence of the corresponding region in the Autographa californica (Ac)MNPV genome. A comparison of the EcoRI-G sequence with other MNPV sequences revealed that RoMNPV was most closely related to AcMNPV. However, the predicted amino acid sequence of RoMNPV polyhedrin shared more sequence identity with the polyhedrin of Orygia pseudotsugata MNPV. In addition, the RoMNPV sequence was almost completely identical (99·9%) to a previously published 6·3 kb sequence of Anagrapha falcifera MNPV (AfMNPV). The Eco RI and HindIII restriction fragment profiles of RoMNPV and AfMNPV also were nearly identical, with an additional EcoRI band detected in RoMNPV DNA. Bioassays of these viruses with three different hosts (the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis H ubner, the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea Boddie, and the tobacco budworm, Heliothis virescens Fabricius) failed to detect any differences in the biological activities of RoMNPV and AfMNPV. These results indicate that RoMNPV and AfMNPV are different isolates of the same virus. The taxonomic relationship of Ro/AfMNPV and AcMNPV is discussed.
Silicone Gel Implants and Monoclonal Gammopathies: Three Cases of Multiple Myeloma and the Prevalence of Multiple Myeloma and Monoclonal Gammopathy of Undetermined Significance

In 1994, Potter reported that plasmacytomas were inducible in susceptible BALB/C mice by the intraperitoneal injection of silicone gel [1]. These findings raised the possibility that long-term exposure to silicone gel in humans could result in plasma cell proliferation resulting in either monoclonal gammopathy of unknown significance (MGUS) or multiple myeloma (MM). We report three cases of MM in women with silicone gel breast implants (SGBIs) and preliminary data on the prevalence of increased immunoglobulins and MGUS in symptomatic women with breast implants.
Segmenting motion capture data using a qualitative analysis

Many interactive 3D games utilize motion capture for both character animation and user input. These applications require short, meaningful sequences of data. Manually producing these segments of motion capture data is a laborious, time-consuming process that is impractical for real-time applications. We present a method to automatically produce semantic segmentations of general motion capture data by examining the qualitative properties that are intrinsic to all motions, using Laban Movement Analysis (LMA). LMA provides a good compromise between high-level semantic features, which are difficult to extract for general motions, and low-level kinematic features, which often yield unsophisticated segmentations. Our method finds motion sequences which exhibit high output similarity from a collection of neural networks trained with temporal variance. We show that segmentations produced using LMA features are more similar to manual segmentations, both at the frame and the segment level, than several other automatic segmentation methods.
Hot-water Treatment for Control of Anastrepha suspensa (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Mangos

Heated water was tested as an alternative quarantine treatment method for ethylene dibromide fumigation to control Anastrepha suspensa (Loew) infestations of eggs and 1- to 2-day-old larvae in ‘Tommy Atkins’ and ‘Keitt’ Florida mangos. Submersion of fruit (size 8 to 12 or 881 ± 40–469 ± 18 g) for 45–65 min in water at 46.1–46.7°C produced 10 and 7 pupae, respectively, that did not eclose in an estimated treated population of 37,896 from ‘Tommy Atkins’ and 49,026 from ‘Keitt’ mangos. The treatment produced no visible injury to the fruit.
Inactivation of wild-type BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase in hematopoietic cells by mild hyperthermia.

Temperature-sensitive mutants of BCRIABL tyrosine kinase have been extensively used to study the mechanisms of cell transformation and signal transduction. However, little is known about the effect of temperature on the activity of wild-type BCRIABL gene product. In this study, we demonstrate that in vivo tyrosine kinase activity of p210, p190 BCRIABL and v-abl are temperature-sensitive when expressed in hematopoietic cells and decline when temperature is raised 2°C above normal range. In vitro tyrosine kinase activities of purified recombinant Abl and immunoprecipitated p210 BCRIABL were also sensitive to increased temperature. Tyrosine phosphorylation of cellular proteins was markedly reduced in BCRIABL transformed cells after 16 h at 39°C, whereas the expression of BCRIABL was unchanged. Temperature-induced downregulation of BCRIABL kinase activity was reversible when cells were shifted back to 37°C. The downregulation of Abl tyrosine kinase activity was not influenced by mutation or deletion of SH2 or SH3 domains or mutation of the GRB2 binding site. No increase in functional activity or expression of protein-tyrosine phosphatases, PTP-1B, SH-PTP1 or SH-PTP2 was detected in cells grown at 39°C. Temperature-induced downregulation in tyrosine kinase activity correlated with decline in phosphotyrosine-associated PI 3-kinase whereas there was no change in growth factor independence of transformed hematopoietic cells. In conclusion, Abl tyrosine kinase has intrinsic sensitivity to temperature and BCRIABL expressed in hematopoietic cells is downregulated by increasing temperature 2°C. These observations provide a unique opportunity to identify cellular factor(s) which regulate BCRIABL kinase in vivo and suggests possible novel treatment of CML by a mild hyperthermia.
A Ruthenium(II) Polypyridyl Nucleoside as a Potential Photodynamic Therapy Agent

A new ruthenium(II) nucleoside Ru(II)-PPY has been synthesized and characterized by NMR and high resolution mass spectrometry. This complex couples a ruthenium(II) polypyridyl light absorber to a nucleoside through a pyridyl group. The absorption spectroscopy of the complex shows a Ru(II) to bipyridyl metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) transition in the visible region of the spectrum. Cyclic voltammetry of the nucleoside and the ruthenium(II) nucleoside confirms coordination of the ruthenium moiety to the nucleoside with a quasi-reversible Ru(III/II) redox couple of E1/2 = 0.82 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Irradiation of buffered solutions of plasmid DNA and the Ru(II)-PPY complex using a long band pass filter to block out ultraviolet light indicate that the complex is capable of photo-nicking the dsDNA. Additional irradiation experiments in the presence of singlet oxygen and superoxide inhibitors suggest that the Ru(II)-PPY complex generates both singlet oxygen and oxygen radicals when photo-excited.
Septic Systems in the Coastal Environment: Multiple Water Quality Problems in Many Areas

Septic systems are among the most common means of treating human sewage in coastal regions, especially in areas distant from metropolitan sewage-treatment facilities. Septic systems can function well, given suitable hydrological and soil conditions; however, numerous reports from coastal regions in the United States find that these systems discharge excessive levels of nutrients and fecal microbes into coastal waters, including those used for shellfishing. In many situations, coastal soils are sandy and porous, allowing rapid transmission of constituents. When this is coupled with a high groundwater table, treatment is insufficient, resulting in septic leachate plumes that can extend over 100 m into coastal waters. In some areas such as the Florida Keys, carbonate karst soils allow very rapid movement of pollutants from septic drain fields. Nutrient plumes can significantly contribute to coastal eutrophication, and microbial pollution is a human health issue in shellfish consumption and water recreation; thus, alternative treatment options should be adopted in such situations.
State violence, nature, and primitive accumulation: dispossession in Dersim

This paper analyzes recent struggles surrounding dam projects and extractive industry in Dersim, a Kurdish-Alevi municipality in Eastern Turkey, as both a continuation of state violence against outsider populations, reproducing historical forms of repression, and a more recent neoliberal turn in economic policy and rhetoric, introducing what could be described as accumulation by dispossession to the region. This combination illustrates how the accumulation of capital and resistance to its logic are shaped by other political and cultural struggles that are not generated by the economic logic of capital. We pay particular attention to the active role of nature in these struggles.
Effect of Redox Partner Binding on Cytochrome P450 Conformational Dynamics.

Previous crystal structures of cytochrome P450cam complexed with its redox partner, putidaredoxin (Pdx), shows that P450cam adopts the open conformation. It has been hypothesized that the Pdx-induced shift toward the open state frees the essential Asp251 from salt bridges with Arg186 and Lys178 so that Asp251 can participate in a proton relay network required for O2 activation. This in part explains why P450cam has such a strict requirement for Pdx. One problem with this view is that looser substrate–protein interactions in the open state may not be compatible with the observed regio- and stereoselective hydroxylation. In the present study, molecular dynamics simulations show that Pdx binding favors a conformation that stabilizes the active site and decreases camphor mobility yet retains a partially open conformation compatible with the required proton relay network. The R186A mutant which frees Asp251 in the absence of Pdx retains good enzyme activity, and the crystal structure shows that product, 5-exo-...
Physiologic Artifacts in Neonatal Electroencephalography: The Importance of Technical Comments

ABSTRACT.Portable EEG recordings in the neonatal intensive care unit demand both technical proficiency and accurate interpretation. Attention must be directed towards the polygraphic as well as electrographic portion for the proper identification of sleep state as well as abnormal behavior including seizure states. Both physiologic and nonphysiologic artifacts must be rapidly identified since they may interfere with the interpretation of the genuine cerebral activity. Physiologic artifacts are particularly challenging because an accurate technical description can also assist the electroencephalographer in the correlation of neonatal neurological disorders. A variety of physiologic artifacts will be discussed, including facial, head, body, and autonomic types, which illustrate normal as well as abnormal newborn behavior.
Architecture Of Depth: Gravicells As A Critical Spatial Practice In The 21st Century

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Gravicells , by Seiko Mikami and Sota Ichigawa as an architectural experimentation of twenty-first-century media that materializes virtual dimensions of our spatiotemporal experiences. This project revolves around my study of a transdisciplinary field of study directed toward points of overlap and spaces of co-operation between art, architecture and technology that operate as experiential interfaces generating alternative experiences of space. In particular, this essay examines virtual operations behind the perception of space that reveals itself as the primordial spatiality grounding the interconnectedness of bodies and spaces through affective engagement in Gravicells . By inviting participants into a data-saturated environment that visualizes gravitational relations, Gravicells offers an affective experience of the intrinsic interconnectedness of the space and the participant’s body as well as a sense of space that opens up across time and space. To unpack this complex spatiotemporality of the embodied experience of Gravicells , the essay provides a phenomenological reconstruction of the notion of depth. Challenging academic and conventional designations of the notion of depth, the study reconstructs the phenomenological dimension of depth that comprises both distance and voluminosity; distance reveals the immediate link between the subject and the world, while voluminosity describes an atmospheric dimension that indicates the possibility of voluminous bodies involved in the world. As both an origin and a means of enveloping the subject in the world, depth is best understood as the general milieu or primary condition that grounds the continuous inter-implication between body, time, and space; depth supports their envelopment, while they are fundamentally all structured in depth. In my study, thus, depth is no longer treated as an abstract geometrical space that is indirectly inferred from two-dimensional retinal images but as the primary spatial medium that grounds the co-existence of the world. By materializing the structure of depth, Gravicells radically reframes the sense of space, and surfaces our understanding of the ways in which we define ourselves in relation to others and environments.
Companion Animals in Everyday Life: Situating Human–Animal Engagement within Cultures

(2017). Companion Animals in Everyday Life: Situating Human–Animal Engagement within Cultures. Anthrozoos: Vol. 30, No. 4, pp. 690-691.
Michigan Journal of Medicine as a Learning Tool: Perspectives From the Editor-in-Chief

Abstract The Michigan Journal of Medicine (MJM) is a peer-reviewed, student-run medical journal. It serves as a unique learning opportunity for those involved including the Editor-in-Chief (EiC), Editors, Reviewers, and authors. In its second year, there was one EiC (fourth-year medical student), 12 Editors (fourth-year medical students), and 42 Reviewers (second- and third-year medical students). Manuscripts were reviewed and edited by Editorial Teams made up of the EiC, one Editor, and three to four Reviewers. This infrastructure allowed for senior to junior student mentoring as well as multiple rounds of manuscript review, which generated high quality, thorough feedback for authors. No manuscripts were rejected without providing thorough feedback to authors. Struggles from the second year of this initiative included low submission volume and hierarchy hardships leading to difficulty leading peers and tough decisions related to delegation.
Sleep fragmentation as the cause of daytime sleepiness and reduced performance

Studies in healthy young adults revealed that periodic arousals during the night result in increasing sleepiness as a function of the interval of time between arousals. When arousals are frequent, deficits similar to those seen after total sleep deprivation have been found. Observed decrements appear to be specifically related to EEG arousals and do not require complete awakening. In patients with fragmenting sleep disorders such as periodic leg movements and central sleep apnea, improved nocturnal sleep is related to increased alertness and daytime performance.
Paternal Care and Its Effect on Maternal Behavior and Pup Survival and Development in Prairie Voles (Microtus ochrogaster)

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on a laboratory experiment, the purpose of which is to determine whether paternal care evolved in prairie voles because such care increases male reproductive success through enhanced survival and development of offspring. Effects on offspring could result either directly from paternal care or indirectly from enhanced maternal condition as a result of reduced maternal workload. Prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) are small rodents that inhabit grasslands and agricultural fields of the midwestern United States. Live trapping and radio-telemetric monitoring of field populations indicate that individuals live in communal groups typically comprised of a male-female pair, their philopatric offspring, and a few unrelated adults. This field data indicate the potential for paternal care in prairie voles, because paternal care is often associated with a monogamous mating system and with nest sharing by males and females. Males and females spend similar amounts of time in the nest with young; they coordinate their visits to and from the nest such that pups are rarely left unattended; and males brood, groom, and retrieve pups at levels similar to those of females.
The Neuropsychological Basis of Assessment

Publisher Summary This chapter deals with the theoretical relationship between brain functioning and neuropsychological testing. This relationship has recently received a great augmentation by the introduction of scanning techniques in neurology. Until the development of scanning methods, the functioning of the brain was considered to exist in a black box so that it could not be perceived. Psychology developed tests unrelated to brain functioning, and neuroscience examined brain functioning with little emphasis on tests. However, although scanning determines the location of a function, it does not determine the nature of that function. This nature of a function is determined by the form of neuropsychological tests. The test is a task that the brain is required to perform and that demonstrates the function of a particular area of the brain. Thus, the relationship between neuropsychological tests and brain functioning can be determined with greater precision than previously.
On Performance of Time-Delay Linear Consensus Networks with Directed Interconnection Topologies

We study performance of noisy linear time-invariant (LTI) consensus networks in the presence of time-delay with directed graph topologies. The $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm squared of the network is adopted as the performance measure. One of our main results provides an explicit expression for the $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm of directed networks with normal Laplacian matrices. This expression is in terms of Laplacian eigenvalues and time-delay. Furthermore, we exploit topology of some well-known graphs and show how their $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm scale with network size and time delay. It is also proven that $\mathcal{H}_{2}$ -norm of a directed network with normal Laplacian is an increasing function of time-delay.
Agreement and reliability statistics for shapes

We describe a methodology for assessing agreement and reliability among a set of shapes. Motivated by recent studies of the reliability of manually segmented medical images, we focus on shapes composed of rasterized, binary-valued data representing closed geometric regions of interest. The methodology naturally generalizes to N dimensions and other data types, though. We formulate the shape variance, shape correlation and shape intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) in terms of a simple distance metric, the Manhattan norm, which quantifies the absolute difference between any two shapes. We demonstrate applications of this methodology by working through example shape variance calculations in 1-D, for the analysis of overlapping line segments, and 2-D, for the analysis of overlapping regions. We also report the results of a simulated reliability analysis of manually delineated shape boundaries, and we compare the shape ICC with the more conventional and commonly used area ICC. The proposed shape-sensitive methodology captures all of the variation in the shape measurements, and it provides a more accurate estimate of the measurement reliability than an analysis of only the measured areas.
Classifying Specimens of Gothic Fenestration: Edmund Sharpe’s New Taxonomy of English Medieval Architecture

This essay investigates the pictorial practices used by Edmund Sharpe (1809–77) to visualize the evolution of English Gothic architecture. Examining his 1849 Treatise on the Rise and Progress of th...
Pain management and safety profiles after preoperative vs postoperative thoracic epidural insertion for bilateral lung transplantation.

Objective Thoracic epidural analgesia provides effective pain control after lung transplantation; however, the optimal timing of placement is controversial. We sought to compare pain control and pulmonary and epidural morbidity between patients receiving preoperative vs postoperative epidurals. Methods Institutional records were reviewed for patients undergoing a bilateral lung transplant via a bilateral anterior thoracotomy with transverse sternotomy incision between January 2014 and January 2017. Pain control was measured using visual analog scale pain scores (0-10). Pulmonary complications included a composite of pneumonia, prolonged intubation, and reintubation/tracheostomy. Results Among 103 patients, 72 (70%) had an epidural placed preoperatively and 31 (30%) had an epidural placed within 72 hours posttransplant. There were no differences in the rates of cardiopulmonary bypass (3% vs 0%, P = 0.59); however, patients with a preoperative epidural were less likely to be placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation intraoperatively (25% vs 52%, P = 0.01). Pain control was similar at 24 hours (1.2 vs 1.7, P = 0.05); however, patients with a preoperative epidural reported lower pain scores at 48 (1.2 vs 2.1, P = 0.02) and 72 hours posttransplant (0.8 vs 1.7, P = 0.02). There were no differences in primary graft dysfunction (42% vs 56%, P = 0.28), length of mechanical ventilation (19.5 vs 24 hours, P = 0.18), or adverse pulmonary events (33% vs 52%, P = 0.12). No adverse events including epidural hematoma, paralysis, or infection resulted from epidural placement. Conclusion Preoperative thoracic epidural placement provides improved analgesia without increased morbidity following lung transplantation.