cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evolving discriminators for querying video sequences

In this paper we present a framework for content based query and retrieval of information from large video databases. This framework enables content based retrieval of video sequences by characterizing the sequences using motion, texture and colorimetry cues. This characterization is biologically inspired and results in a compact parameter space where every segment of video is represented by an 8 dimensional vector. Searching and retrieval is done in real- time with accuracy in this parameter space. Using this characterization, we then evolve a set of discriminators using Genetic Programming Experiments indicate that these discriminators are capable of analyzing and characterizing video. The VideoBook is able to search and retrieve video sequences with 92% accuracy in real-time. Experiments thus demonstrate that the characterization is capable of extracting higher level structure from raw pixel values.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Distinct Cellular Localization of Membrane-Bound and Soluble Forms of Catechol-O-Methyltransferase in Brain

The cellular localization of the two forms of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) was investigated by measuring their activities in rat striatum following unilateral stereotaxic injection of kainic acid, which causes degeneration of striatal neurons followed by proliferation of astroglial cells. Membrane-bound COMT activity was decreased in the lesioned striatum, while soluble COMT activity was increased. There was a statistically significant correlation between the ratio of lesioned to control activity for membrane-bond COMT and the neuronal marker enzyme glutamate decarboxylase. Similarly the increase in soluble COMT activity paralleled that of the astroglial marker enzyme, glutamine synthetase. These results indicate that the low-Km membrane-bound catechol-O-methyltransferase may be localized predominantly in neurons, whereas the high-Km soluble enzyme is found in glial cells.
Multiresolution Reproducing Kernel Particle Methods in Acoustics

In the analysis of complex phenomena of acoustic systems, the computational modeling requires special attention in order to give a realistic representation of the physics. As a powerful tool, the finite element method has been widely used in the study of complex systems. In order to capture the important physical phenomena, p-finite elements and/or hp-finite elements are employed. The Reproducing Kernel Particle Methods (RKPM) are emerging as an effective alternative due to the absence of a mesh and the ability to analyze a specific frequency range. In this study, a wavelet particle method based on the multiresolution analysis encountered in signal processing has been developed. The interpolation functions consist of spline functions with a built-in window which permits translation as well as dilation. A variation in the size of the window implies a geometrical refinement and allows the filtering of the desired frequency range. An adaptivity similar to hp-finite element method is obtained through the choice of an optimal dilation parameter. The analysis of the wave equation shows the effectiveness of this approach. The frequency/wave number relationship of the continuum case can be closely simulated by using the reproducing kernel particle methods. A similar methodology is also developed for the Timoshenko beam.
Nonsurgical treatment of pelvic rhabdomyosarcoma: A case report

A 2 1/2-year-old male child with rhabdomyosarcoma of the prostate was treated with radiation of the pelvis, consisting of 5,600 rads in 7 1/2 weeks, and combination chemotherapy of Vincristine and Actinomycin D. Surgery had been refused. The child is alive and disease-free more than 5 years after diagnosis, and over 2 years following the cessation of all therapy. Recent advances in radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy have significantly improved the outlook in this aggressive childhood neoplasm and have made a less aggressive and less mutilating surgical approach often desirable. This, in turn, holds out the prospect of improved quality of survival in children so afflicted.
The impact of same-day tests versus traditional overnight testing

Within the last decade, major technologic advances have been made in clinical microbiology that have resulted in the availability of a wide variety of different methods for the rapid reporting of test results. Included among these technologies are rapid methods for producing antimicrobial susceptibility reports that many regard as the most important information generated by the microbiology laboratory. Ideally, the early availability of this important information should favorably affect patient care by enabling the more judicious use of alternative drug therapies that are equally efficacious yet less toxic and less costly to the patient. Clinicians appear to have been reluctant to modify initial empiric therapies, however, despite the availability of the rapid antimicrobial susceptibility report. This article addresses some of the issues responsible for this long-standing problem and discusses and explores various strategies that can be implemented for improving the use and for controlling the cost of antimicrobial agents within the hospital.
Maturation and vesicle-mediated egress of primate gammaherpesvirus rhesus monkey rhadinovirus require inner tegument protein ORF52.

The tegument layer of herpesviruses comprises a collection of proteins that is unique to each viral species. In rhesus monkey rhadinovirus (RRV), a close relative of the human oncogenic pathogen Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus, ORF52 is a highly abundant tegument protein tightly associated with the capsid. We now report that ORF52 knockdown during RRV infection of rhesus fibroblasts led to a greater than 300-fold reduction in the viral titer by 48 h but had little effect on the number of released particles and caused only modest reductions in the levels of intracellular viral genomic DNA and no appreciable change in viral DNA packaging into capsids. These data suggested that the lack of ORF52 resulted in the production and release of defective particles. In support of this interpretation, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that without ORF52, capsid-like particles accumulated in the cytoplasm and were unable to enter egress vesicles, where final tegumentation and envelopment normally occur. TEM also demonstrated defective particles in the medium that closely resembled the accumulating intracellular particles, having neither a full tegument nor an envelope. The disruption in tegument formation from ORF52 suppression, therefore, prevented the incorporation of ORF45, restricting its subcellular localization to the nucleus and appearing, by confocal microscopy, to inhibit particle transport toward the periphery. Ectopic expression of small interfering RNA (siRNA)-resistant ORF52 was able to partially rescue all of these phenotypic changes. In sum, our results indicate that efficient egress of maturing virions and, in agreement with studies on murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (MHV-68), complete tegumentation and secondary envelopment are dependent on intact ORF52. IMPORTANCE The tegument, or middle layer, of herpesviruses comprises both viral and cellular proteins that play key roles in the viral life cycle. A subset of these proteins is present only within members of one of the three subfamilies (alphaherpesviruses, betaherpesviruses, or gammaherpesviruses) of Herpesviridae. In this report, we show that the gammaherpesvirus-specific tegument protein ORF52 is critical for maturation of RRV, the closest relative of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) (a human cancer-causing pathogen) that has undergone this type of analysis. Without ORF52, the nascent subviral particles are essentially stuck in maturation limbo, unable to acquire the tegument or outer (envelope) layers. This greatly attenuates infectivity. Our data, together with earlier work on a murine homolog, as well as a more distantly related human homolog, provide a more complete understanding of how early protein interactions involving virus-encoded tegument proteins are critical for virus assembly and are also, therefore, potentially attractive therapeutic targets.
Whisker stimulation increases expression of nerve growth factor- and interleukin-1β-immunoreactivity in the rat somatosensory cortex

Abstract Activity-dependent changes in cortical protein expression may mediate long-term physiological processes such as sleep and neural connectivity. In this study we determined the number of nerve growth factor (NGF)- and interleukin-1β (IL1β)-immunoreactive (IR) cells in the somatosensory cortex (Sctx) in response to 2 h of mystacial whisker stimulation. Manual whisker stimulation for 2 h increased the number of NGF-IR cells within layers II-V in activated Sctx columns, identified by enhanced Fos-IR. IL1β-IR neurons increased within layers II-III and V-VI in these activated columns and IL1β-IR astrocytes increased in layers I, II-III and V as well as the external capsule beneath the activated columns. These whisker-stimulated increases in the Sctx did not occur in the auditory cortex. These data demonstrate that expression of NGF or IL1β in Sctx neurons and IL1β in Sctx astrocytes is, in part, afferent input-dependent.
Automatic and conscious processing in retarded and nonretarded adolescents.

Abstract Educable mentally retarded and nonretarded adolescents participated in incidental learning tasks that emphasized the utilization of processes that were consciously controlled but not deliberately aimed at memory (Experiment 1). Retarded individuals' performance on a standard recognition test was equivalent to that of nonretarded subjects following phonetic encoding and nonstrategic encoding, but was deficient following semantic encoding. Retarded subjects also demonstrated a lower level of performance on a rhyme recognition task. In Experiment 2, retarded subjects provided a pattern of responding identical to that of nonretarded subjects on a picture-word interference task designed to assess automatic processing. The two groups produced equivalent levels of semantic activation. It was argued that the results of the two experiments indicate deficient semantic processing on the part of retarded individuals relative to that of nonretarded individuals that cannot be accommodated by a structural-deficiency model, a developmental-lag model, or a hypothesis that predicts intelligence-related differences only when the task involves the use of deliberate mnemonic strategies.
Effects of Verbal Decision Behavior upon Respiration During Speech Production

This study tests the hypothesis that respiratory activity during induced silent pausing decreases when the speaker is faced with increased demands upon decision behavior. Two conditions, reasoned t...
Attention and visual feedback: the bimanual frame of reference

We investigate the synergy of the two hands for virtual object manipulation. We report results from an experiment which suggest that the two hands together provide sufficient perceptual cues to form a frame of reference which is independent of visual feedback. The same is not true for one hand moving in empty space. Our interpretation is that users may not have to constantly maintain visual attention when both hands can be involved in a manipulation. Our results suggest that using two hands can provide more than just a time savings over one-handed manipulation. Two hands together provide the user with information which one hand alone cannot. Our results also suggest that using two hands can potentially impact performance at the cognitive level by changing how users think about a task. Since the user can potentially integrate subtasks controlled by each hand without an explicit cost to switch between subtasks, this encourages exploration of the task solution space. Finally, to illustrate why one might expect this to be true, we present a task analysis which helps to reason about the differences between one and two-handed interfaces.
A mathematical model of the coupled mechanisms of cell adhesion, contraction and spreading.

Recent research has shown that cell spreading is highly dependent on the contractility of its cytoskeleton and the mechanical properties of the environment it is located in. The dynamics of such process is critical for the development of tissue engineering strategy but is also a key player in wound contraction, tissue maintenance and angiogenesis. To better understand the underlying physics of such phenomena, the paper describes a mathematical formulation of cell spreading and contraction that couples the processes of stress fiber formation, protrusion growth through actin polymerization at the cell edge and dynamics of cross-membrane protein (integrins) enabling cell-substrate attachment. The evolving cell’s cytoskeleton is modeled as a mixture of fluid, proteins and filaments that can exchange mass and generate contraction. In particular, besides self-assembling into stress fibers, actin monomers able to polymerize into an actin meshwork at the cell’s boundary in order to push the membrane forward and generate protrusion. These processes are possible via the development of cell-substrate attachment complexes that arise from the mechano-sensitive equilibrium of membrane proteins, known as integrins. After deriving the governing equation driving the dynamics of cell evolution and spreading, we introduce a numerical solution based on the extended finite element method, combined with a level set formulation. Numerical simulations show that the proposed model is able to capture the dependency of cell spreading and contraction on substrate stiffness and chemistry. The very good agreement between model predictions and experimental observations suggests that mechanics plays a strong role into the coupled mechanisms of contraction, adhesion and spreading of adherent cells.
A laser doppler assay for the antigen—antibody reaction

The specific combination of antigen with antibody was detected rapidly and with high sensitivity by an assay based on particle electrophoresis and laser light scattering. Antibody attachment to dilute suspensions of submicroscopic polystyrene spheres coated with antigen was detected as changes in the Doppler shift of scattered laser light when the suspended particles were subjected to an electric field. Antibody or antigen concentrations in the range of 5--10 nanograms per ml can be detected in 30 min. The principal experimental features of the technique are described and include: a) choice of particles; b) coating procedures; c) treatment for non-specificity; d) choice of measurement medium.
Clinical efficacy of propantheline bromide in neurocardiogenic syncope: pharmacodynamic implications.

The pharmacological response with tilt-table testing predicts long-term efficacy in neurocardiogenic syncope. However, beta-blockers for neurocardiogenic syncope are often not tolerated or are ineffective. Since cholinergic tone is important in the efferent part of the neurocardiogenic reflex, we investigated the pharmacodynamics and efficacy of propantheline bromide in preventing neurocardiogenic syncope. We studied 16 patients (11 males) with a mean age of 48.8 (± 15.1) years with presyncope or syncope and who had positive baseline tilt-table studies at a mean of 15.8 (± 10.3) minutes into the upright 60° tilt. They were given propantheline bromide orally, an anticholinergic agent, at a dose of 64.3 (± 21.8) mg/day for 7 days, and tilt-table testing was repeated 1 hour after readministration of propantheline bromide, 30 mg orally. After propantheline bromide treatment, 13 of 16 patients (81%) had no inducible presyncope or syncope on repeat tilt-table testing. In this group of responders, the mean minimum heart rate during upright tilt-table testing increased from 43.2 (± 77.3) beats/min to 77.3 (± 17.2) beats/min after propantheline bromide (p<0.005). More significantly, the minimum mean arterial blood pressure increased from 42.2 (± 25) mmHg to 81.3 (± 16.7) mmHg (p<0.0005) during upright tilt. At a follow-up of 15.2 (± 7.4) months, in the responder group (12 patients with long-term follow-up), the average dose of propantheline bromide was 32.5 (± 23.8) mg/day, which was significantly reduced from the initial dose (p<0.05). A clinical recurrence of symptoms occurred in only 4 out of 12 patients on propantheline bromide (33%), none of which were directly attributable to drug failure. It was concluded from this study that propantheline bromide is highly effective in preventing neurocardiogenic syncope. In addition, propantheline bromide's effectiveness is more than would be expected by prevention of cardioinhibition in neurocardiogenic syncope and would support a role for direct cholinergic control of vascular tone.
Regulation of enzyme activity by glucagon: increased hormonal activity of iodinated glucagon.

Abstract Iodination of glucagon enhanced its ability to activate adenyl cyclase in vitro , to elevate cyclic AMP levels in plasma in vivo , to induce two aminotransferases (PPT and TAT) in rat liver, and to stimulate amino acid uptake into rat liver in vivo . The degree of enhanced hormonal activity was proportional to the degree of iodination. Presumably the iodination of glucagon either confers on it greater intrinsic activity on the adenyl cyclase receptor or renders it less susceptible to degradation so that more glucagon molecules are available to act on the receptor.
Acculturative Dissonance and Risks for Proactive and Reactive Aggression Among Latino/a Adolescents: Implications for Culturally Relevant Prevention and Interventions

There is a dearth of studies concerning the functions of aggression among Latino/a youth despite the fact they are one of the fastest growing youth populations in the United States. We examined individual, peer, cultural, and community level indicators of reactive and proactive aggression and determined whether these relationships were moderated by acculturative dissonance (e.g., culturally specific family conflicts arising from the acculturation process) among a sample of Latino/a adolescents who were predominantly of Mexican heritage. Consistent with prior evidence, results revealed that peer delinquency was uniquely associated with proactive aggression, whereas impulsivity was uniquely associated with reactive aggression. Further, acculturative dissonance was uniquely associated with proactive but not reactive aggression. No moderating effects for acculturative dissonance were found, indicating that the significant risk factors in our study were associated with proactive and reactive aggression regardless of the level of acculturative dissonance experienced. Notably, acculturative dissonance was a unique risk factor for proactive aggression and thus may be an important target for prevention and interventions among Latino/a youth. Consequently, interventions designed to prevent culturally specific family conflicts and promote family functioning may be particularly useful in mitigating the risk of aggression intended to achieve social and material awards among in this population.
Mechanical Pain Sensitivity and the Severity of Chronic Neck Pain and Disability Are Not Modulated Across the Menstrual Cycle

Abstract Despite the high prevalence of neck pain among women, menstrual effects on regional pain outcomes have not been investigated in this clinical population. This study evaluated menstrual effects on mechanical pain sensitivity (pressure pain threshold [PPT]), neck pain intensity (numeric pain rating scale [NPRS]), and neck-related disability (Neck Disability Index [NDI]) in 22 normally menstruating (NM) and 17 hormonal contraceptive users with chronic neck pain. Sex hormones, PPT, and NDI were measured during the early follicular (F1), late follicular (F2), and luteal (L) menstrual phases. Daily NPRS scores were recorded in an online symptom diary and averaged within each phase. Estradiol and progesterone increased only for NM women in F2 and L, respectively. Phase effects on PPT (η 2 = .003), NDI (η 2 = .003), and NPRS (η 2 = .016) for NM women were small and did not differ from those for the hormonal contraceptive users ( P ≥ .386). Averaged across the menstrual cycle, PPT scores explained 29% of the variance in NPRS scores for NM women but were not associated with NDI scores in either group. Results indicate that the magnitude of menstrual effects on mechanical pain sensitivity and the severity of neck pain and disability do not exceed thresholds of clinically detectable change in women with chronic neck pain. Perspective Fluctuations in evoked and clinical pain outcomes across the menstrual cycle do not appear to be of sufficient magnitude to impact clinical decision making for women with chronic neck pain.
Globalization and third world women: exploitation, coping and resistance

Ligaya Lindio-McGovern and Isidor Wallimann, Aldershot, UK and Burlington, VT, Ashgate, 2009, 214 pp., £55.00 (hardback), ISBN 978-0-7546-7463-4 Within the fields of development and foreign policy,...
Future change of global monsoon in the CMIP5

This study investigates future changes of Global Monsoon (GM) under anthropogenic global warming using 20 coupled models that participated in the phase five of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) by comparing two runs: the historical run for 1850–2005 and the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 run for 2006–2100. A metrics for evaluation of models’ performance on GM is designed to document performance for 1980–2005 and best four models are selected. The four best models’ multi-model ensemble (B4MME) projects the following changes in the twenty-first century under the RCP4.5 scenario. (1) Monsoon domain will not change appreciably but land monsoon domain over Asia tends to expand westward by 10.6 %. (2) The annual mean and range of GM precipitation and the percentage of local summer rainfall will all amplify at a significant level over most of the global region, both over land and over ocean. (3) There will be a more prominent northern-southern hemispheric asymmetry and eastern-western hemispheric asymmetry. (4) Northern Hemisphere (NH) monsoon onset will be advanced and withdrawal will be delayed. (5) Changes in monsoon precipitation exhibits huge differences between the NH and the Southern hemisphere (SH). The NH monsoon precipitation will increase significantly due to increase in temperature difference between the NH and SH, significant enhancement of the Hadley circulation, and atmospheric moistening, against stabilization of troposphere. There is a slight decrease of the Walker circulation but not significant against the inter-model spread. There are important differences between the CMIP 3 and CMIP5 results which are discussed in detail.
A graph traversal based framework for sequential logic implication with an application to C-cycle redundancy identification

This paper presents a new graph traversal based framework for sequential logic implication called GRAPH-SIMP. Due to the prohibitive time and space cost, few previous works target the discovery of sequential indirect implications that span multiple time frames. By using an efficient graph data structure and incorporating a graph reduction step into the implication generation process, our approach provides an efficient support for sequential implication. Sequential logic implication has many useful applications, one of which is sequentially redundant fault identification. We show that sequential implications found by GRAPH SIMP allow us to find more sequential redundancies than previously reported. Results of testing our implication algorithm against ISCAS89 circuits show that high implication coverage is essential to identifying redundant faults.
An alternate approach to ensemble ENSO forecast spread: Application to the 2014 forecast

Evaluating the 2014 El Nino forecast as a “bust” may be tapping into a bigger issue, namely that forecast “overconfidence” from single-model ensembles could affect the retrospective assessment of El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) predictions. The present study proposes a new approach to quantifying an “expected” spread and uncertainty from noise-driven processes and supplementing these measures with actual ENSO forecasts. Expanding on a previously developed coupled model framework that isolates noise-driven ENSO-like errors, an experimental design is implemented to generate an expected December Nino-3.4 spread from March initial condition sea surface temperature errors that have similar structure to the 2014 and 2015 observed. Results reveal that the 2014 ENSO forecast falls within the expected uncertainty generated by ENSO-independent, forecast-independent, noise-driven errors.
Vitamin D deficiency in preoperative bariatric surgery patients.

Abstract Background Obese patients are at risk of hypovitaminosis D. This is particularly concerning for those considering bariatric surgery because of the risk of postoperative nutritional deficiency. We hypothesized that it is necessary to screen for vitamin D deficiency preoperatively and conducted a study to identify the patterns of vitamin D deficiency among prospective bariatric surgery patients. Methods A retrospective analysis of available preoperative laboratory values was conducted for all consecutive patients (n = 312) scheduled to undergo bariatric surgery from January 2004 to October 2006. Results Of the 312 patients, 179 (57.4%) were deficient in vitamin D preoperatively (25-hydroxyvitamin D ≤20 ng/mL). The average body mass index was 52.3 kg/m 2 and the average age was 42.4 years. Of the 139 black patients evaluated, 109 (78.4%) were vitamin D deficient; of the 156 white patients evaluated, 57 (36.5%) were vitamin D deficient; and of the 14 Hispanic patients evaluated, 11 (78.6%) were vitamin D deficient. We also evaluated serum red blood cell folate, vitamin B 12 , and free retinol vitamin A levels preoperatively. Of the 312 patients, 39 (12.5%) were vitamin A deficient and 11 (3.5%) were vitamin B 12 deficient. No patient had a red blood cell folate deficiency. Patients with hypovitaminosis D were also checked for secondary hyperparathyroidism; 42 patients (23.5%) fit the criteria (parathyroid hormone levels >75 pg/mL). Many patients with low vitamin D levels were being considered for the duodenal switch procedure. Conclusion The results of our study have shown that prospective bariatric surgery patients, particularly candidates for highly malabsorptive procedures, should be screened for hypovitaminosis D preoperatively. Our findings also showed that blacks are particularly at risk of vitamin D deficiency.
Understanding Residential Energy Conservation through Attitudes and Beliefs

The role of beliefs, attitudes, social influence, and intentions as predictors of residential energy conservation behaviour is explored in the context of Fishbein and Ajzen's theory of reasoned action. Empirical analysis of survey data from Decatur, Illinois provides support for the theory and insight into barriers to energy conservation.
The Hamster Model of Intraperitoneal Burkholderia mallei (Glanders)

Thirty-one female Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) were inoculated intraperitoneally with a lethal dose of Burkholderia mallei (Budapest strain). Hamsters were killed postinoculation on days 0 through 6. Lesions were first noted in the spleens on postinoculation day 1, and in mediastinal and mesenteric lymph nodes, mediastinum, liver, and bone marrow on day 2. Lesions were present in the lung and submandibular lymph nodes on day 3, and in the brain on day 5. The characteristic histopathologic change was necrotizing pyogranulomatous inflammation, often with hemorrhage. Lesions indicative of impaired vascular perfusion, such as ischemia and infarction, were evident at the later time points. Pathologic changes generally increased in severity and distribution with time, and almost all tissues were ultimately affected. Our findings suggest that intraperitoneal bacteria were rapidly transported to mediastinal lymph nodes by transdiaphragmatic lymphatics and ultimately seeded other tissues hematogenously. The results of the study indicate that the Syrian hamster is a useful small animal model for glanders.
Parameter de-embedding accuracy dependency upon material sample dimensions

The sensitivity of the sample fit in rectangular waveguide fixtures is examined for constitutive parameter de-embedding. The sensitivity is characterized through a percent error figure between the de-embedded and known parameter values when an air gap exists between the sample and the side walls of the fixture. The de-embedding process assumed a completely filled waveguide in which rigorously calculated S parameters for material sample air gaps in either the E- or H-plane walls of the waveguide were used. The presence of an air gap was very noticeable for a E-plane gap. Commonly used gap correction factors provided limited improvement in reducing air gap related errors. >
Transplantation of Entire Bones with their Joint Surfaces

Arthur Bruce Gill was born in Western Pennsylvania and obtained his undergraduate degree at Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio [1]. He then obtained his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1905, interned there, and remained on the staff for 47 years. He became the third chairman of that department in 1920. He was active in a large number of organizations well into the 1950s.
Nutrition of Volvulina Playfair

SYNOPSIS. Vitamin B12, biotin and thiamine requirements of 10 strains of Volvulina steinii and 1 strain of V. pringsheimii were studied. Vitamin B12 is required for growth of both species, thiamine stimulates growth slightly, and biotin has no discernible effect on growth. The minimum concentration of vitamin B12 giving a growth response in V. steinii, strain SC-2, was 10−8 g/ml, and maximum growth response was obtained with 1.1 × 10−7 g/ml. An organic carbon source is required for growth of V. steinii but not of V. pringsheimii. Growth of V. steinii, strain SC-2, occurred in 20 of 21 carbon sources tested. Optimal growth with each carbon source was largely dependent upon pH. Except for pyruvate, acetate, and ethanol, carbon source utilization was light-dependent, and growth in ethanol was reduced in the dark. Isocitric lyase activity was detected in V. steinii grown on acetate medium.
Small-angle X-ray scattering studies of oxidized and reduced cytochrome oxidase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Abstract Small-angle X-ray scattering experiments were performed with oxidized and reduced cytochrome oxidase purified from Pseudomonas aeruginosa . The radii of gyration were calculated to be 40.5 A for the oxidized form and 37.0 A for the reduced. The longest dimension of the oxidized enzyme was 120 A while for the reduced it was 100 A. The volume of the oxidized protein was observed to be slightly greater than that of the reduced. These data indicate that there is a contraction of the structure of the enzyme during reduction of its constituent heme groups.
GaN-based photonic crystals and integrated optics

We have developed growth techniques for GaN-based multilayer films suitable for low-loss optical waveguides, as well as precision patterning for integrated optics and photonic crystal structures with sub-100 nm critical features.
Whole body and regional fuel metabolism during early postexercise recovery

We studied whole body and regional fuel metabolism 1-4 h after cycle exercise [70% maximum O2 consumption (VO2max)], using the insulin clamp technique (40 mU.M-2.min-1) with indirect calorimetry. S...
Constitutive activation of STAT-3 and downregulation of SOCS-3 expression induced by adrenalectomy.

Removal of adrenal steroids by adrenalectomy (ADX) slows or reverses the development of many forms of obesity in rodents, including those that are leptin or leptin receptor deficient. Obesity is as...
Engineering Education: Computer Design of Plants

Teaching civil engineering design courses is important and difficult. Civil engineering faculty are usually better prepared to teach the theoretical and scientific aspects of civil engineering. A design course, emphasizing wastewater treatment plant design, is proposed. The course makes extensive use of the computer design program developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, called CAPDET. A brief introduction to CAPDET is included, along with an explanation to how CAPDET is effectively integrated into the design course. CAPDET has proven to be an effective educational tool, and is recommended to other civil engineering educators as a means of improving substantially design courses that emphasize wastewater treatment.
Retrogenic ICOS Expression Increases Differentiation of KLRG-1hiCD127loCD8+ T Cells during Listeria Infection and Diminishes Recall Responses

Following T cell encounter with Ag, multiple signals are integrated to collectively induce distinct differentiation programs within Ag-specific CD8(+) T cell populations. Several factors contribute to these cell fate decisions, including the amount and duration of Ag, exposure to inflammatory cytokines, and degree of ligation of cosignaling molecules. The ICOS is not expressed on resting T cells but is rapidly upregulated upon encounter with Ag. However, the impact of ICOS signaling on programmed differentiation is not well understood. In this study, we therefore sought to determine the role of ICOS signaling on CD8(+) T cell programmed differentiation. Through the creation of novel ICOS retrogenic Ag-specific TCR-transgenic CD8(+) T cells, we interrogated the phenotype, functionality, and recall potential of CD8(+) T cells that receive early and sustained ICOS signaling during Ag exposure. Our results reveal that these ICOS signals critically impacted cell fate decisions of Ag-specific CD8(+) T cells, resulting in increased frequencies of KLRG-1(hi)CD127(lo) cells, altered BLIMP-1, T-bet, and eomesodermin expression, and increased cytolytic capacity as compared with empty vector controls. Interestingly, however, ICOS retrogenic CD8(+) T cells also preferentially homed to nonlymphoid organs and exhibited reduced multicytokine functionality and reduced ability to mount secondary recall responses upon challenge in vivo. In sum, our results suggest that an altered differentiation program is induced following early and sustained ICOS expression, resulting in the generation of more cytolyticly potent, terminally differentiated effectors that possess limited capacity for recall response.
Variations in the Blood Picture of Cattle Following an Induced Infection with Brucella Abortus

A previous report' of the effect of Brucella infection on the blood picture of cattle showed certain general trends during the course of the disease as compared with the blood picture of animals not infected with this organism. These were, briefly: (1) a decrease in the average number of both erythrocytes and leucocytes per cmm of blood; (2) an increase in the average percentage of polymorphonuclear cells; (3) a definite increase in the mean percentage of monocytes in the animals susceptible to the infection, but only a slight increase in those resistant; and (4) a decrease in the mean proportion of lymphocytes. As a result of further observations on
Analysis on Abnormality of Time Synchronization System in Digital Substation and Rectification Measures

Aiming at problem of differential protection interlock caused by abnormality of field time synchronization system in digital substation,this paper analyzes reasons for abnormal time hack.By analysis on production principles for B code signal and hardware circuit for realizing B code,it proposes scheme for solution and to build a simple system to proceed comparison test in order to verify effectiveness of the solution.
A system for systems epidemiology: The example of inference from agent-based models

The past 10 years have seen a growth in interest in systems approaches in non-infectious disease epidemiology. A fair body of literature in the field has discussed how these methods, in theory, can capture non-linearity, dynamic feedback loops, and emergence in policy-relevant epidemiologic research. However, while calls for these approaches have grown, empiric research that has effectively used these approaches to yield new insight regarding the etiology of high-burden diseases lags behind. Systems epidemiology is hampered by a paucity of guidelines, best practices, and illustrative applications of systems tools to epidemiologic questions. Agent-based modeling is one such systems tool with promise for meaningful applications, yet lacking with respect to a methodologic framework for valid implementation. Here, I establish a conceptual paradigm to designing, parameterizing, and implementing agent-based models in epidemiology. Using this conceptual paradigm, I compare and contrast differing approaches to the parameterization and validation of agent-based models via the design and implementation of two agent-based epidemiologic models, one exploring the role of social networks in obesity, and the other exploring the relationship between collective efficacy and community violence. With robust methodologic frameworks, systems epidemiology has the potential to expand our toolkit with respect to understanding the causes and consequences of chronic disease.
Effect of spinal cord compression on local vascular blood flow and perfusion capacity by Alshareef M, Krishna V, Ferdous J, Aishareef A, Kindy M, Kolachalama VB, et al.

BACKGROUND Different degrees of blood flow/vascular compromise occur with anterior, posterior, or circumferential spinal cord compression/spinal cord injury (SCI). SCI is also divided into primary and secondary injury. Primary SCI refers to the original neurological damage to tissues, whereas secondary injury reflects interruption of normal blood flow leading to further inflammatory response/other local changes which contribute to additional neurological injury. METHODS The authors developed a quantitative "3-D finite element fluid structure interaction model" of spinal cord blood flow to better document the mechanisms of secondary ischemic damage occurring in the spinal cord anteriorly, posteriorly, or circumferentially. This included assessment of the anterior spinal artery (ASA) and five arterial branches (L1, L2, L3, R1, R2), but excluded the microvasculature. RESULTS Different locations of cord compression resulted in alternative patterns of spinal cord ischemia. Anterior spinal artery (ASA) flow was substantially reduced by direct anterior compression, but resulted in the least vascular compromise. Alternatively, posterior compression resulted in a significant and critical reduction of distal ASA blood flow and, therefore, correlated with the greatest susceptibility to acute ischemia. Counterintuitively, they concluded "at equivalent degrees of dural occlusion, the loss of branch blood flow under anterior posterior compression was intermediate to predictions for purely posterior or anterior loading." CONCLUSION Utilizing a computational three-dimensional model, Alshareef et al. observed that anterior cervical cord compression resulted in the least severe compromise of ASA blood flow to the spinal cord, whereas posterior cord compression/SCI maximally reduced distal ASA blood flow potentiating acute ischemia. Therefore, the latter warranted the earliest surgical intervention.
Learning the structural vocabulary of a network

Networks have become instrumental in deciphering how information is processed and transferred within systems in almost every scientific field today. Nearly all network analyses, however, have relied on humans to devise structural features of networks believed to be most discriminative for an application. We present a framework for comparing and classifying networks without human-crafted features using deep learning. After training, autoencoders contain hidden units that encode a robust structural vocabulary for succinctly describing graphs. We use this feature vocabulary to tackle several network mining problems and find improved predictive performance versus many popular features used today. These problems include uncovering growth mechanisms driving the evolution of networks, predicting protein network fragility, and identifying environmental niches for metabolic networks. Deep learning offers a principled approach for mining complex networks and tackling graph-theoretic problems.
L’Homme in Psychology and Neuroscience

L’Homme presents what has been termed Descartes’ “physiological psychology.” It envisions and seeks to explain how the brain and nerves might yield situationally appropriate behavior through mechanical means. On occasion in the past 150 years, this aim has been recognized, described, and praised. Still, acknowledgement of this aspect of Descartes’ writing has been spotty in histories of neuroscience and histories of psychology. In recent years, there has been something of a resurgence. This chapter argues that Descartes ascribed a range of active functions to the brain acting on its own in seeking to explain psychological functions such as sense perception, attention, memory, and emotional response.
Introduction to the Special Issue: Measuring the Business Value of Information Technology in e-Business Environments

There has been a significant investment in e-business initiatives in recent years. Leveraging the growth of the Internet, worldwide commerce on the Internet topped $1.3 trillion in 2003. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, on-line spend ing was 35 percent higher during the 2003 holiday season than in 2002 [5]. Senior managers concerned about falling behind the technology curve are in terested in investing in information technology (IT) infrastructures to make their organizations e-business enabled. E-business initiatives, however, must compete with other business projects for funding. It is incumbent on the re search community to provide the business community with objective evidence that a well-planned and well-executed e-business initiative will provide ben efits to a business entity. Demonstrating the benefits of dynamic and unpre dictable e-business technology is, however, a challenging proposition. Research on the business value of IT investment has provided significant insights in the context of the traditional brick-and-mortar economy [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7], but the e-business investment and performance area is still nascent, and more progress is needed, especially with regard to tools, techniques, and ap proaches for evaluating e-business initiatives. This Special Issue of I/EC, con sisting of seven papers, taken together with the Special Section of the Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS, 21, 1 [summer 2004]), consisting of four papers, makes a significant contribution to the ongoing debate about the value of e-business investment by shedding new light on business experience with e-business initiatives. The research studies presented in these publica tions offer new insights that move this important research area to a new level of inquiry. They focus on critical dimensions of the e-business-investment payoff question. Selected from many manuscripts submitted by authors within and without the United States, these 11 papers collectively exemplify the study of this critical question. We believe that they will ignite further research in the area. We introduce below the research papers included in this Special Issue. Please also see the JMIS Special Section. Leading off the Special Issue is a paper by Mahmood, Bagchi, and Ford. As they observe, e-commerce is a worldwide phenomenon, but it is usually stud ied at the national level. Their research, they claim, is one of the first studies based on international data. Using data from 26 nations, they test the ways that on-line shopping behavior is affected by on-line shoppers' trust, techno logical savvy, demographics, and lifestyle characteristics. The paper identi fies the factors that predict global on-line shopping behavior. A structural
Introduction to Out of Crisis: Rethinking Our Financial Markets

Introduction of Out of Crisis: Rethinking Our Financial Markets. What have we learned? What does the financial crisis mean as a matter of the intellectual history of the present? What are our opportunities?
Toward point-of-care management of chronic respiratory conditions: Electrochemical sensing of nitrite content in exhaled breath condensate using reduced graphene oxide

We present a portable non-invasive approach for measuring indicators of inflammation and oxidative stress in the respiratory tract by quantifying a biomarker in exhaled breath condensate (EBC). We discuss the fabrication and characterization of a miniaturized electrochemical sensor for detecting nitrite content in EBC using reduced graphene oxide. The nitrite content in EBC has been demonstrated to be a promising biomarker of inflammation in the respiratory tract, particularly in asthma. We utilized the unique properties of reduced graphene oxide (rGO); specifically, the material is resilient to corrosion while exhibiting rapid electron transfer with electrolytes, thus allowing for highly sensitive electrochemical detection with minimal fouling. Our rGO sensor was housed in an electrochemical cell fabricated from polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS), which was necessary to analyze small EBC sample volumes. The sensor is capable of detecting nitrite at a low over-potential of 0.7 V with respect to an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. We characterized the performance of the sensors using standard nitrite/buffer solutions, nitrite spiked into EBC, and clinical EBC samples. The sensor demonstrated a sensitivity of 0.21 μA μM−1 cm−2 in the range of 20–100 μM and of 0.1 μA μM−1 cm−2 in the range of 100–1000 μM nitrite concentration and exhibited a low detection limit of 830 nM in the EBC matrix. To benchmark our platform, we tested our sensors using seven pre-characterized clinical EBC samples with concentrations ranging between 0.14 and 6.5 μM. This enzyme-free and label-free method of detecting biomarkers in EBC can pave the way for the development of portable breath analyzers for diagnosing and managing changes in respiratory inflammation and disease. Important biomarkers of respiratory stress that can be found inside exhaled breath can now be spotted with a graphene-powered portable device. Recent studies have shown that excess levels of nitrite ions in the breath of a patient are a strong indicator of inflamed airways and possible asthma. Now, Mehdi Javanmard and his colleagues from Rutgers University in New Jersey, United States, have developed a micro-electrochemical cell that analyses small samples of exhaled breath condensate for nitrites without the need for enzyme or labelling pretreatments. Central to the team’s device is a thin layer of reduced graphene oxide, fabricated onto electrodes through a custom drop-cast method, which is considerably more sensitive to nitrites than metals alone. Tests in complex biological matrices revealed that the instrument had precise quantification capabilities in clinically relevant concentration ranges and exhibited minimal fouling.
Costs Associated With Intravenous Darbepoetin Versus Epoetin Therapy in Hemodialysis Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background:Anemia of chronic kidney disease is associated with adverse outcomes and a reduced quality of life. Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) have improved anemia management, and 2 agents...
Augmented-pressure distal colostogram: the most important diagnostic tool for planning definitive surgical repair of anorectal malformations in boys

There is little current literature on the augmented-pressure distal colostogram, the single most important diagnostic study performed in boys with imperforate anus prior to definitive repair. Accurate understanding of the anatomy of the anorectal malformation including an associated fistulous communication between the rectum and the urogenital tract is essential for optimal surgical management. Specifically, the position of the rectal pouch and recto-urinary fistula relative to posterior sagittal structures of the perineum, especially the sacral spine, dictates the operative approach. This pictorial essay is a guide for those who encounter such children with relative infrequency to become more comfortable with the technique. We report how to perform this radiologic exam and the potential pitfalls from our experience of performing the technique in our large pediatric colorectal practice.