cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TFAM overexpression reduces pathological cardiac remodeling

Heart failure (HF) is a functional lack of myocardial performance due to a loss of molecular control over increases in calcium and ROS, resulting in proteolytic degradative advances and cardiac remodeling. Mitochondria are the molecular powerhouse of cells, shifting the sphere of cardiomyocyte stability and performance. Functional mitochondria rely on the molecular abilities of safety factors such as TFAM to maintain physiological parameters. Mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) creates a mitochondrial nucleoid structure around mtDNA, protecting it from mutation, inhibiting NFAT (ROS activator/hypertrophic stimulator), and transcriptionally activates Serca2a to decrease calcium mishandling. Calpain1 and MMP9 are proteolytic degratory factors that play a major role in cardiomyocyte decline in HF. Current literature depicts major decreases in TFAM as HF progresses. We aim to assess TFAM function against Calpain1 and MMP9 proteolytic activity and its role in cardiac remodeling. To this date, no publication has surfaced describing the effects of aortic banding (AB) as a surgical HF model in TFAM-TG mice. HF models were created via AB in TFAM transgenic (TFAM-TG) and C57BLJ-6 (WT) mice. Eight weeks post AB, functional analysis revealed a successful banding procedure, resulting in cardiac hypertrophy as observed via echocardiography. Pulse wave and color doppler show increased aortic flow rates as well as turbulent flow at the banding site. Preliminary results of cardiac tissue immuno-histochemistry of HF-control mice show decreased TFAM and compensatory increases in Serca2a fluorescent expression, along with increased Calpain1 and MMP9 expression. Protein, RNA, and IHC analysis will further assess TFAM-TG results post-banding. Echocardiography shows more cardiac stability and functionality in HF-induced TFAM-TG mice than the control counterpart. These findings complement our published in vitro results. Overall, this suggests that TFAM has molecular therapeutic potential to reduce protease expression.
The Microbiome and Ocular Surface Disease

The human body lives in a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that make up the microbiome. In this review, we discuss the compositions of the gut and ocular surface microbiomes in relationship to health and disease. The gut microbiome is dominated by Firmicutes, whereas the ocular surface is dominated by Proteobacteria. The compositions of the microbiome are similar between individuals at the phyla level, but differ at the genus level. Alterations in the microbiome have been associated with disease. For example, ocular diseases such as uveitis, dry eye, and keratitis have been associated with gut dysbiosis. In addition, ocular surface dysbiosis has been reported in diseases including dry eye, blepharitis, keratitis, and diabetic retinopathy. Compositions of the gut and ocular surface microbiomes have been found to differ in disease states compared with controls. Further understanding of dysbiosis specific to a disease is needed to target these surfaces for therapeutic strategies.
A System of Axioms for Cardinal Utility

In this chapter we will formalize the ideas discussed and illustrated in Chapter 2. There we indicated that the decision-maker can determine the strength of his preferences and a cardinal utility function representing not only his preferences but also the strength of his preferences by considering sequences of identical choice situations and proceeding to order, according to his preferences, the corresponding sequences of available actions.
Do simple infinitesimal parts solve Zeno’s paradox of measure?

In this paper, I develop an original view of the structure of space—called infinitesimal atomism—as a reply to Zeno’s paradox of measure. According to this view, space is composed of ultimate parts with infinitesimal size, where infinitesimals are understood within the framework of Robinson’s (Non-standard analysis. North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1966) nonstandard analysis. Notably, this view satisfies a version of additivity: for every region that has a size, its size is the sum of the sizes of its disjoint parts. In particular, the size of a finite region is the sum of the sizes of its infinitesimal parts. Although this view is a coherent approach to Zeno’s paradox and is preferable to Skyrms’s (Physics, philosophy and psychoanalysis. Volume 76 of the series Boston studies in the philosophy of science, pp 223–254, 1983) infinitesimal approach, it faces both the main problem for the standard view (the problem of unmeasurable regions) and the main problem for finite atomism (Weyl’s tile argument), leaving it with no clear advantage over these familiar alternatives.
Quantitative 1H NMR Metabolomics Reveal Distinct Metabolic Adaptations in Human Macrophages Following Differential Activation

Macrophages (MΦs) are phagocytic immune cells that are found in nearly all human tissues, where they modulate innate and adaptive immune responses, thereby maintaining cellular homeostasis. MΦs display a spectrum of functional phenotypes as a result of microenvironmental and stress-induced stimuli. Evidence has emerged demonstrating that metabolism is not only crucial for the generation of energy and biomolecular precursors, but also contributes to the function and plasticity of MΦs. Here, 1D 1H NMR-based metabolomics was employed to identify metabolic pathways that are differentially modulated following primary human monocyte-derived MΦ activation with pro-inflammatory (M1) or anti-inflammatory (M2a) stimuli relative to resting (M0) MΦs. The metabolic profiling of M1 MΦs indicated a substantial increase in oxidative stress as well as a decrease in mitochondrial respiration. These metabolic profiles also provide compelling evidence that M1 MΦs divert metabolites from de novo glycerophospholipid synthesis to inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. Furthermore, glycolysis and lactic acid fermentation were significantly increased in both M1 and M2a MΦs. These metabolic patterns highlight robust metabolic activation markers of MΦ phenotypes. Overall, our study generates additional support to previous observations, presents novel findings regarding the metabolic modulation of human MΦs following activation, and contributes new knowledge to the rapidly evolving field of immunometabolism.
A Learning Approach to Interactive Advertising

An interactive advertising system is proposed comprising of a flat screen display, a collocated sensing camera and an outcome feedback camera. The display presents an Avatar that has the goal of convincing people to enter a store. The Avatar has a repertoire of actions that it can perform such as offer a coupon or present a piece of merchandise. A sensing camera is used to represent the state of a possible customer. State variables include affective pose, facial expressions, gaze direction and eyeball movement. The outcome feedback camera is used to detect if and when a customer elects to enter the store. Given access to such feedback, a reinforcement learning algorithm is then used to construct a policy that indicates which actions should be taken as a function of observed customer state. The efficacy of this approach is considered via synthetic experiments as well as real world demonstrations. The paper includes a discussion regarding new descriptors based on emergent languages that can be used to augment the state space representation.
Epidemiological analysis and countermeasures discussion on imported malaria in Zhangjiagang City

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of imported malaria in Zhangjiagang City. Methods The epidemiological data were collected and retrospectively analyzed for the distribution, cost, and exit-entry mode and port of imported malaria cases in Zhangjiagang City from 2005 to 2015. Results There were 25 imported malaria cases in Zhangjiagang City from 2005 to 2015, and among them, there were 16 cases of falciparum malaria (64%), 6 cases of vivax malaria (24%), and 3 cases of ovale malaria (12%); there was 1 cases of critically ill (4%), there were 8 cases of serious ill (32%) and 16 cases of mild ill (64%). The time of onset was in accordance with the circular distribution. The peak of the incidence of the imported malaria was one month earlier than that of the domestic infection. The seasonal peak was gentle, and there was also the occurrence in the non-epidemic season in the city. The imported malaria patients were mainly from Africa, followed by Southeast Asia and Oceania. Conclusion The information technology should be applied to improve the key population coverage on the basis of improving the ability of malaria diagnosis and treatment of medical staff and the multi-sector's cooperation for the imported malaria prevention and control in Zhangjiagang City.
The structure of human ATG9A and its interplay with the lipid bilayer

ATG9, the only transmembrane protein in the core macroautophagy/autophagy machinery, is a key player in the early stages of autophagosome formation. Yet, the lack of a high-resolution structure of ...
Estimation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Without Exercise Testing: Cross-Validation in Midlife and Older Women

Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with important health risk outcomes, including the development of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Measures of maximal or peak o...
Observing spontaneous, accelerated substrate binding in molecular dynamics simulations of glutamate transporters

Glutamate transporters are essential for removing the neurotransmitter glutamate from the synaptic cleft. Glutamate transport across the membrane is associated with elevator-like structural changes of the transport domain. These structural changes require initial binding of the organic substrate to the transporter. Studying the binding pathway of ligands to their protein binding sites using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations requires micro-second level simulation times. Here, we used three methods to accelerate aspartate binding to the glutamate transporter homologue Gltph and to investigate the binding pathway. 1) Two methods using user-defined forces to prevent the substrate from diffusing too far from the binding site. 2) Conventional MD simulations using very high substrate concentrations in the 0.1 M range. The final, substrate bound states from these methods are comparable to the binding pose observed in crystallographic studies, although they show more flexibility in the side chain carboxylate function. We also captured an intermediate on the binding pathway, where conserved residues D390 and D394 stabilize the aspartate molecule. Finally, we investigated glutamate binding to the mammalian glutamate transporter, excitatory amino acid transporter 1 (EAAT1), for which a crystal structure is known, but not in the glutamate-bound state. Overall, the results obtained in this study reveal new insights into the pathway of substrate binding to glutamate transporters, highlighting intermediates on the binding pathway and flexible conformational states of the side chain, which most likely become locked in once the hairpin loop 2 closes to occlude the substrate.
Neuronal glucose metabolism sets cholinergic tone and controls thermo-regulated signaling at the neuromuscular junction

Cholinergic and sympathetic counter-regulatory networks control numerous physiologic functions including learning/memory/cognition, stress responsiveness, blood pressure, heart rate and energy balance. As neurons primarily utilize glucose as their primary metabolic energy source, we generated mice with increased glycolysis in cholinergic neurons by specific deletion of the fructose-2,6-phosphatase protein TIGAR. Steady-state and stable isotope flux analyses demonstrated increased rates of glycolysis, acetyl-CoA production, acetylcholine levels and density of neuromuscular synaptic junction clusters with enhanced acetylcholine release. The increase in cholinergic signaling reduced blood pressure and heart rate with a remarkable resistance to cold-induced hypothermia. These data directly demonstrate that increased cholinergic signaling through the modulation of glycolysis has several metabolic benefits particularly to increase energy expenditure and heat production upon cold exposure. HighlightsO_LIDeficiency of a negative regulator of glycolysis (TIGAR) in cholinergic neurons increases the biosynthesis and content of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. C_LIO_LIIncreased cholinergic tone reduces blood pressure and heart rate while enhancing signaling at neuromuscular junction. C_LIO_LIUpregulation of neuromuscular junction activation provides protection against the paralytic curare and cold-induced hypothermia. C_LIO_LIModulation of cholinergic neuron glycolysis may provide a novel therapeutic approach for treatment of diseases stemming from reduced acetylcholine signaling such as myasthenia gravis and sarcopenic pre-synaptic dysfunction. C_LI
Truth and Holiness

Newman’s commitment to truth and holiness constitutes a bedrock foundation for his understanding of religious morality. He was a vigorous controversialist who engaged disputes as they arose throughout his life to advance his ideas and defend religious belief. From his many conflicted endeavors there emerged two substantive concerns that guided his religious quest from the beginning. His conversion in 1845 brought these concerns to the surface: his concern with doctrine led him away from Anglicanism to Catholicism as the champion of orthodoxy; and his concern with his own salvation led him to a sense of urgency to convert. However, he did not resort to faith to deal with these. Rather, he relied on reason to address matters of truth and on conscience to address matters of holiness. His deliberative process towards conversion illustrates his use of the principle of economy that clarified how truth and holiness progress over time. He expressed this progression in his own life as a constant battle against religious liberalism that he perceived to be a form of rationalism. Yet his opposition to liberalism did not prevent him from supporting a new movement of Liberal Catholics that defended a robust role for the faithful as well as for theologians in the Church. His commitment to truth and holiness that inspired his view of the faithful and theology became a leitmotif for his approach to religious morality.
Recent advances in recommender systems and future directions

This article presents an overview of recent methodological advances in developing nearest-neighbor-based recommender systems that have substantially improved their performance. The key components in these methods are: (i) the use of statistical learning to estimate from the data the desired user-user and item-item similarity matrices, (ii) the use of lower-dimensional representations to handle issues associated with data sparsity, (iii) the combination of neighborhood and latent space models, and (iv) the direct incorporation of auxiliary information during model estimation. The article will also provide illustrative examples for these methods in the context of item-item nearest-neighbor methods for rating prediction and Top-N recommendation. In addition, the article will present an overview of exciting new application areas of recommender systems along with the challenges and opportunities associated with them.
Predicting correctness of problem solving in ITS with a temporal collaborative filtering approach

Collaborative filtering (CF) is a technique that utilizes how users are associated with items in a target application and predicts the utility of items for a particular user. Temporal collaborative filtering (temporal CF) is a time-sensitive CF approach that considers the change in user-item interactions over time. Despite its capability to deal with dynamic educational applications with rapidly changing user-item interactions, there is no prior research of temporal CF on educational tasks. This paper proposes a temporal CF approach to automatically predict the correctness of students' problem solving in an intelligent math tutoring system. Unlike traditional user-item interactions, a student may work on the same problem multiple times, and there are usually multiple interactions for a student-problem pair. The proposed temporal CF approach effectively utilizes information coming from multiple interactions and is compared to i) a traditional CF approach, ii) a temporal CF approach that uses a sliding-time-window but ignores old data and multiple interactions and iii) a combined temporal CF approach that uses a sliding-time-window together with multiple interactions. An extensive set of experiment results show that using multiple-interactions significantly improves the prediction accuracy while using sliding-time-windows doesn't make a significant difference.
Presidential Campaign Songs of the Progressive Era : The Political Language of Personality

The Progressive Era’s emphasis on political personalities stands in contrast to most other eras in American history, including our own, and the resultant political discourse encouraged a rich and charismatic political atmosphere. The presidential campaign songs from this era are a testament to this atmosphere. Since these songs were written during the campaigns, for the specific purpose of swaying voters, they can be seen as cultural constructs and as political propaganda. They provide insight into the political atmosphere of the era: into the language that was used to discuss the issues and the rhetoric that was effective at mobilizing public opinion for an era of change. Colored by a number of predictable appeals, including those to racism, nativism, history, jingoism, and militarism, as well as some rare discussion of the issues, this language that incited popular involvement and political reform was centered on the personalities, often caricatured, of the candidates. This article is available in Constructing the Past: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/constructing/vol8/iss1/4 The Political Language of Personality 1 Presidential Campaign Songs of the Progressive Era: The Political Language of Personality
Impact of elevated cardiac biomarkers on mortality after vascular surgery procedures

Concurrent cardiac disease is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in vascular surgical patients. Increasingly, cardiac biomarkers are used to identify cardiac injury in these high-risk patients. This review provides data demonstrating that perioperative troponin elevation correlates with poor short- and long-term outcomes for vascular surgical patients. In addition, the data demonstrate that patients with high circulating troponin levels fair worse than those with lower levels. Early identification of patients with cardiac injury using biomarkers allows timely diagnosis, risk stratification, and aggressive medical therapy for vascular surgical patients.
Breaking the Cycle: Future Faculty Begin Teaching with Learner-Centered Strategies after Professional Development

The availability of reliable evidence for teaching practices after professional development is limited across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines, making the identification of professional development “best practices” and effective models for change difficult. We aimed to determine the extent to which postdoctoral fellows (i.e., future biology faculty) believed in and implemented evidence-based pedagogies after completion of a 2-yr professional development program, Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching (FIRST IV). Postdocs (PDs) attended a 2-yr training program during which they completed self-report assessments of their beliefs about teaching and gains in pedagogical knowledge and experience, and they provided copies of class assessments and video recordings of their teaching. The PDs reported greater use of learner-centered compared with teacher-centered strategies. These data were consistent with the results of expert reviews of teaching videos. The majority of PDs (86%) received video ratings that documented active engagement of students and implementation of learner-centered classrooms. Despite practice of higher-level cognition in class sessions, the items used by the PDs on their assessments of learning focused on lower-level cognitive skills. We attributed the high success of the FIRST IV program to our focus on inexperienced teachers, an iterative process of teaching practice and reflection, and development of and teaching a full course.
Co‐inheritance of mild hemophilia A and heterozygosity for type 2N von Willebrand disease: A diagnostic and therapeutic challenge

Hemophilia A and von Willebrand disease are the two most common inherited bleeding disorders. Despite their frequency, however, there are very few reports of co-inheritance of the two disorders. We present the first report of a patient with mild hemophilia A and heterozygosity for type 2N von Willebrand disease (VWD). We discuss the patient's phenotype and highlight the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges caused by this co-inheritance.
Using rationale to support pattern-based architectural design

Architectural design rationale describes the decisions made, alternatives considered, and reasons for and against each alternative considered when defining a software architecture. At least some of these reasons should reference the non-functional requirements (NFRs) for the system. The SEURAT_Architecture system uses a pre-defined pattern library and the NFRs for a software system to guide the selection of architectural patterns. Each pattern recommended by the system serves as an alternative to the architectural decision made and comes with rationale for why this pattern is considered useful. This system serves several purposes---to guide the architect through the decision-making process, to ensure that NFRs are considered when making these critical early decisions, and to capture the rationale for the architecture as a byproduct of the tool-supported selection process.
A random discrete equation and non-linear stochastic control system†

A stoehastic discrete Volterra equation in the form is studied, where ω∈Ω, the supporting set of the probability measure space (Ω, A, P). A theorem is presented which guarantees the existence of a unique random solution of the equation. A random solution is defined to be a discrete parameter second-order stochastic process xn (ω) which satisfies the equation with probability one. An application of the results to a non-linear stochastic control system is also given.
Continuous flow mesofluidic synthesis of Cu2ZnSnS4 nanoparticle inks

Abstract Copper zinc tin sulfide (CZTS) nanoparticles were synthesized using ethylene glycol as a solvent via a continuous flow mesofluidic reactor. In this study reaction temperature, residence time, and precursor concentrations were used to control CZTS composition. It was found that CZTS initially forms by the nucleation of Cu2−xS with subsequent incorporation of the remaining metal species as dictated by the cation reactivity, where Cu+>Sn+4>Zn+2. CZTS nanoparticle films annealed in a selenium-containing atmosphere resulted in the formation of copper zinc tin selenide nanoparticles with much larger particle sizes.
A first principle study of terahertz (THz) spectra of acephate

Abstract Using first principles calculations based on the density functional method we have studied THz spectra of molecular and solid forms of acephate. The computations are preformed using different functionals for both isolated-molecule as well as solid-state periodic system. The computed infrared spectra are compared with experimental data using FTIR techniques and terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) over a wide range of frequencies method. While isolated-molecule calculations of the harmonic frequencies were found to be deficient to reproduce the experimental spectrum, the same calculations performed in the solid-state have achieved better agreement with observed THz spectral characters. Detailed normal mode analyses have been carried out for both molecular and solid-state calculations. Our results show that the normal modes at low frequencies not only correspond to the inter-molecular vibrations but also arise due to the coupling between inter- and intra-molecular motions, as well as due to the formation of the hydrogen bonds between molecules in the crystal. Moreover Car–Parrinello molecular dynamics is used to obtain dipole-active vibrations at room temperature, thus revealing non-negligible temperature effects due to anharmonicity.
Sub-surface iridium depletion in dilute solution tungsten-iridium alloys due to high temperature work function testing

Abstract Dilute solution tungsten-iridium alloys with less than 2 wt % Ir have been found to exhibit the highest work functions among candidate alloys for thermionic emitters. Recent studies have investigated the effect of iridium on the work function of tungsten-iridium alloys fabricated either by arc-melting or sintering. In the present paper, an attempt has been made to understand the interrelationship between work function, composition and microstructure in these alloys. The ultimate aim was to ascertain the role of iridium in the modification of the work function. The effective work function was determined using a vacuum emission vehicle (VEV) employing the thermionic method. Electron probe microanalysis was used to characterize the sub-surface iridium depletion caused by elevated temperature testing. Theoretical estimates of the equilibrium segregation of iridium in tungsten could not adequately account for the magnitude of iridium depletion found at the electrode surfaces. An alternative explanation for the sub-surface iridium depletion has been proposed and involves the creation of iridium-rich surface layers during the pre-test heat treatment of the alloys.
Metal-halogen bonding studies with group IV A trialkylmetal halides

Abstract Halogen redistribution reactions have been found to take place between benzyl bromide or benzyl iodide and the Group IVA silicon, germanium, tin, and lead containing triakylmetal chlorides. However, for the reactions of the Si, Ge and Sn compounds, a quaternary ammonium halide catalyst was necessary to enable the equilibria to be established at reasonably rapid rates. The equilibrium constants at 50°C have been measured for each at these halogen redistributions. They have been found to increase gradually on going down in Group IV A from silicon to lead, being considerably less than unity in the case of silicon and somewhat greater than unity in the case of lead for both the R 3 MCl + BzBr and R 3 MCl + BzI reactions. The Δ G ° values for these equilibria have been calculated, and it is suggested that their differences may be explained in terms of the relative importance of p π d π contributions to the halogen—metal bonding in the various Group IV A trialkylmetal halide systems.
Substrate Specificity of Rabbit Aldehyde Oxidase for Nitroguanidine and Nitromethylene Neonicotinoid Insecticides

The nitroguanidine or nitromethylene moiety of the newest major class of insecticides, the neonicotinoids, is important for potency at insect nicotinic receptors and selectivity relative to mammalian receptors. Aldehyde oxidase (AOX) was recently identified as the imidacloprid nitroreductase of mammalian liver, producing both nitrosoguanidine and aminoguanidine metabolites. The present study considers the ability of AOX, partially purified from rabbit liver, to reduce five commercial nitroguanidine (i.e., imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, and dinotefuran) and nitromethylene (i.e., nitenpyram) neonicotinoid insecticides and three derivatives thereof (i.e., the N-methyl and nitromethylene analogues of imidacloprid and desmethylthiamethoxam). LC/MS/MS was used to demonstrate that AOX reduces nitroguanidines to both nitroso- and aminoguanidines, while nitromethylenes are reduced only to the corresponding nitroso metabolites. Additionally, nitrosonitenpyram was found to spontaneously dehydrate to form ...
52.1: Invited Paper: High, Wide, & Deep: Displayed Image Color Appearance and Perception

Color imaging technologies with higher dynamic range, wider color gamut, and greater bit depth require new and/or different ways of thinking about color. In particular, color appearance issues become more important. This paper discusses some recent research on the application of color and image appearance modeling to high-dynamic-range and wide-color-gamut imaging.
Enhanced localized surface plasmonic resonances in dielectric photonic band gap structures: Fabry-Perot nanocavities and photonic crystal slot waveguides

We describe approaches to enhance localized surface plasmons by placing metallic nanoparticles into two different structures: (i) Fabry-Perot (F-P) resonant cavities, and (ii) Photonic crystal slot waveguides. Through synchronization of the plasmonic and resonant modes, electric field at the surface of the nanoparticles is enhanced by a factor of 4~20 compared with the nanoparticles in free space, depending on the device structure and coupling mechanism. We report key differences between the F-P enhancement and the slow-light enhancement to the plasmonic effect in details. This theoretical investigation reveals a new method to strengthen plasmonic resonances and suggests that the sensitivity of existing plasmonic sensors can be further improved if they are integrated with dielectric resonant photonic devices.
Topical glaucoma therapy and ocular surface disease: a prospective, controlled cohort study.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the association between the intensity and duration of glaucoma topical therapy and severity of signs and symptoms of ocular surface disease (OSD). Design Single-site, prospective, controlled, cross-sectional study. Participants Sixty-one patients with no diagnosis of or previous treatment for OSD were identified. Methods Patients were assigned to 2 groups: the glaucoma group with 31 patients diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma and using at least 1 topical intraocular pressure (IOP)–lowering medication and the control group including 30 patients with no diagnosis of glaucoma or history of topical therapy usage. The right eye of each patient was arbitrarily chosen. Each patient completed an Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and underwent evaluation of the ocular surface by conjunctival and corneal lissamine green (LG) staining and tear breakup time (TBUT). The intensity index (drops/wk × therapy duration in years) was calculated to quantify the topical therapy. Results OSDI scores of the glaucoma group correlated to the intensity index ( r = 0.46, CI 0.13–0.69). The glaucoma group had a higher mean OSDI score than the control group (18.97 ± 9.5 versus 6.25 ± 5.7, p = 5.85E-08). Abnormal TBUT and LG staining scores were prevalent in the glaucoma group compared with the control group (68% vs 17%, p = 0.000078; 65% vs 3%, p = 2.9E-07). Conclusions Patients on glaucoma therapy have a greater prevalence of OSD symptoms, and their intensity index correlates to the OSDI score. The intensity index reflects quantitatively the amount of treatment and can be further validated in future studies as a predicting tool for OSD development.
The reality of qualia

This paper argues for the reality of qualia as aspects of phenomenal experience. The argument focuses on color vision and develops a dispositionalist, subjectivist account of what it is for an object to be colored. I consider objections to dispositionalism on epistemological, metaphysical, and 'ordinary' grounds. I distinguish my representative realism from sense-data theories and from recent 'representational' or 'intentional' theories, and I argue that there is no good reason to adopt a physicalist stance that denies the reality of qualia as phenomenally available intentional contents in Brentano's original sense of 'intentionality'.
Ungulate winter habitat selection as a driver of herbaceous-layer heterogeneity in northern temperate forests

Concentrated seasonal habitat use by ungulates may amplify their influence on ecosystem processes. For example, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) depend on forests of coniferous trees, such as Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr. (eastern hemlock), for winter cover and forage in the northern portion of their range. We hypothesized that winter habitat use influences summer herbaceous-layer plant communities through cascading indirect effects resulting from the deposition of nitrogenous wastes and browsing of woody plants. Deer use was monitored from 2006–2008 via fecal pellet group counts in 15 T. canadensis stands across the western Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Detailed vegetation and soil sampling was performed during the summer of 2008. Estimates derived from winter inputs of fecal pellets, suggest that overwintering white-tailed deer deposit 3.3 ± 0.8 kg N ha−1 yr−1. Results from nonmetric multidimensional scaling ordinations and permutational ANOVAs of distance to group centroids of ground-layer vegetation and soil attributes indicated that high levels of winter deer-use were significantly associated with greater heterogeneity in ground-layer community composition and relative soil nutrient variability within and between stands. Our results highlight potentially important feedbacks between habitat selection by ungulates, site productivity, and plant community structure in forest ecosystems.
The atomization energy of gaseous ThC3 and predicted stability of gaseous transition metal tricarbides

Abstract The atomization energy, D o o,a , of the molecule ThC 3 has been determined by Knudsen cell mass spectrometry as 1840 ± 33 kJ mol −1 . This value can be interpreted in terms of the bond additivity concept assuming a CMC 2 structure. Estimated atomization energies are presented for several not yet known tricarbides.
A mitochondria-targeted nitroxide/hemigramicidin S conjugate protects mouse embryonic cells against gamma irradiation

Purpose To evaluate the in vitro radioprotective effect of the mitochondria-targeted hemigramicidin S–conjugated 4-amino-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine- N -oxyl (hemi-GS-TEMPO) 5-125 in γ-irradiated mouse embryonic cells and adenovirus-12 SV40 hybrid virus transformed human bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B and explore the mechanisms involved in its radioprotective effect. Methods and Materials Cells were incubated with 5-125 before (10 minutes) or after (1 hour) γ-irradiation. Superoxide generation was determined by using dihydroethidium assay, and lipid oxidation was quantitated by using a fluorescence high-performance liquid chromatography–based Amplex Red assay. Apoptosis was characterized by evaluating the accumulation of cytochrome c in the cytosol and externalization of phosphatidylserine on the cell surface. Cell survival was measured by means of a clonogenic assay. Results Treatment (before and after irradiation) of cells with 5-125 at low concentrations (5, 10, and 20 μm) effectively suppressed γ-irradiation–induced superoxide generation, cardiolipin oxidation, and delayed irradiation–induced apoptosis, evaluated by using cytochrome c release and phosphatidylserine externalization. Importantly, treatment with 5-125 increased the clonogenic survival rate of γ-irradiated cells. In addition, 5-125 enhanced and prolonged γ-irradiation–induced G 2 /M phase arrest. Conclusions Radioprotection/mitigation by hemi-GS-TEMPO likely is caused by its ability to act as an electron scavenger and prevent superoxide generation, attenuate cardiolipin oxidation in mitochondria, and hence prevent the release of proapoptotic factors from mitochondria. Other mechanisms, including cell-cycle arrest at the G 2 /M phase, may contribute to the protection.
Sediment Fingerprinting: Review of the Method and Future Improvements for Allocating Nonpoint Source Pollution

Sediment fingerprinting has been developed by researchers over the past three decades for watershed sediment transport research. Sediment fingerprinting is a method to allocate sediment nonpoint source pollutants in a watershed through the use of natural tracer technology with a combination of field data collection, laboratory analyses of sediments, and statistical modeling techniques. The method offers a valuable tool for total maximum daily load assessment to aid in developing efficient remediation strategies for pollution in watersheds. We review the methodological steps of sediment fingerprinting including classification of sediment sources in a watershed, identification of unique tracers for each sediment source, representation of sediment sources and sinks using field sampling, accounting for sediment and tracer fate during transport from source to sink, and utilization of an unmixing model to allocate sediment sources. This review places additional emphasis upon tracers used to discriminate sediment sources during past studies performed on different continents and across different physiogeographic regions. Review and analysis of tracer dependence upon watershed variables provides an additional resource for tracer selection to the community. Finally, future improvements needed for sediment fingerprinting are discussed in order to practically apply the technology for sediment nonpoint source pollution allocation within the context of total maximum daily load assessments.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM BRITTON CHANCE

In this personal and reflective article, I honor the memory of Britton Chance and explain how his mentorship during my tenure at the Johnson Research Foundation greatly impacted my scientific career. I emphasize the critical role of mentors on the development of scientists and present some wonderful and remarkable attributes that characterized Britton Chance's scientific and personal style.
Electric Fields and Secondary Emission near a Dielectric-Metal Interface

Dielectric surface charge distributions near a metaldielectric interface in vacuum depend upon secondary emission processes in the presence of normal and tangential components of electric field. From measured charge distributions created by exposing a specimen of fluorinated-ethylene-propylene to monoenergetic electron fluxes, it has been possible to calculate potentials and fields on and near the dielectric surface. The effect of normal electric field upon secondaryemission is measured directly and the effect of thetangential field is inferred from the charge distributiondata. The critical point (unity crossover)for secondary emission is shifted by the applicationof fields so that it occurs at much higher primaryenergies than normally. Primary beams having energiesup to 20 keV are used and surface fields are as highas 20 kV/mm.
Crystallization phenomena in seeded zeolite syntheses

Abstract Evidence of several different crystallization phenomena is shown under different circumstances. Polycrystalline breeding, surface nucleation, and particle agglomeration are shown to occur in different zeolite systems. These pheomena have been observed in simpler classical crystallization systems, but have not been discussed in detail for zeolite syntheses.
White rust infection and leaf chlorosis in relation to crop strategies in spinach

Abstract The interaction of spinach ( Spinacia oleracea L.) crop management strategies on white rust caused by Albugo occidentalis G. W. Wils., leaf chlorosis, aphid numbers, root growth and yield were evaluated in 1992. Irrigation levels were low ( I-low ), medium ( I-med ) and high ( I-high ); fungicides were none ( F 0 ), metalaxyl at planting ( F 1 ), and metalaxyl at planting plus experimental CGA 2014 foliar ( F 2 ); and genotypes were ACX 5044 and ARK 88-354. The Gompertz model best described the white rust disease progress. At all irrigation levels, ACX 5044 had a higher rate of disease increase ( r G ) and an earlier disease onset than ARK 88-354. Metalaxyl delayed disease onset and r G in ACX 5044 only at I-low , but not at I-med and I-high . ARK 88-354 was the less sensitive genotype to fungicides. Chlorosis, estimated by spectrophotometry, was higher at I-med and I-high , while ARK 88-354 had less chlorosis than ACX 5044. Root diameter was increased with F 1 compared to F 0 . Lateral and tap root dry weights were higher for ARK 88-354. Yields for ARK 88-354 were significantly higher than ACX 5044. No treatments influenced the number of live green peach aphids [ Myzus persicae (Sulzer)] or aphids parasitized by Pandora neoaphidis (Remaudiere and Hennebert) Humber. Genotypes with partial resistance to white rust, superior leaf color and growth are recommended to use with minimum irrigation for winter plantings.
Use of clustering analysis in randomized controlled trials in orthopaedic surgery

Background The effects of clustering in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and the resulting potential violation of assumptions of independence are now well recognized. When patients in a single study are treated by several therapists, there is good reason to suspect that the variation in outcome will be smaller for patients treated in the same group than for patients treated in different groups. This potential correlation of outcomes results in a loss of independence of observations. The purpose of this study is to examine the current use of clustering analysis in RCTs published in the top five journals of orthopaedic surgery.
Efficient and reliable digital media archive for content-based retrieval

Recent years have witnessed a significant price reduction in many enabling technologies for wide-spread deployment of multimedia to desktop PCs and workstations. This advancement has lead to an increasing demand for systems that can store, retrieve, and manipulate large volumes of multimedia information. For a multimedia information system to better meet information users' needs, it must provide suitable access structures and methods. The answers to this demand fall into the research area of what most people called content-based multimedia indexing and retrieval. Existing approaches to content-based indexing and retrieval have limitations. What we need is a digital-media-archiving system that is both efficient and reliable. By reliable, we mean that users should be able to retrieve documents that have the most potential for being relevant to their queries. On the other hand, an efficient digital-media-archiving system should provide an environment that allows human operators to create document indices without the need to manually watch every multimedia object and enter keyword descriptions. This can be done by providing initial structure information of the video to the user, by guiding the human operator through the indexing process, and by offering tools to create multiple media representations in a hierarchical structure.
Effect of minerals on activity of microbial uricase to reduce ammonia volatilization in poultry manure

Inhibition of microbial uricase in poultry manure is critical to reduce NH3 volatilization, because hydrolysis of uric acid by microbial uricase is the first step in the production of NH3 gas in poultry manure. Three experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of minerals on uricase activity and NH3 volatilization from poultry manure. In Experiment 1, an in vitro enzyme assay was used to evaluate the effects of Zn, Cu, Mg, and Mn on the activity of microbial uricase. There were three treatments: uricase, uricase + minerals, and uricase preincubated with minerals. Uric acid concentration was measured at 293 nm with a spectrophotometer. The results indicated that Zn and Cu greatly blocked the activity of microbial uricase (>90% inhibition), whereas Mg and Mn were less inhibitory. Experiment 2 was designed to evaluate the effect of ZnSO4 on the growth of uric acid-utilizing microorganisms by an in vitro assay. There were three treatments: control, ZnSO4 (10 mM), and ZnSO4 (50 mM). The results indicated that ZnSO4 significantly reduced the number of uric acid-utilizing microorganisms compared to the control. In Experiment 3, an NH3-trapping system was used to evaluate the effect of different levels of ZnSO4 on NH3 volatilization and nitrogen retention in poultry manure. Poultry manure (300 g) was mixed with 0, 0.15, 0.3, 1.5, 3, or 6 g ZnSO4 to create manure concentrations of Zn at 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, or 2% (wt/wt), respectively. The 1 and 2% ZnSO4 treatments significantly increased manure uric acid and total nitrogen retention by reducing NH3 volatilization compared to the control during the 3-wk incubation.
Detection of Phosphorus and Nitrogen Deficiencies in Corn Using Spectral Radiance Measurements

Applications of remote sensing in crop production are becoming increasingly popular due in part to an increased concern with pollution of surface and ground waters due to over-fertilization of agricultural lands and the need to compensate for spatial variability in a field. Past research in this area has focused primarily on N stress in crops. Other stresses and the interactions have not been fully evaluated. A field experiment was conducted to determine wavelengths andlor combinations of wavelengths that are indicative of P and N deficiency and also the interaction between these in corn (Zea mays L.). The field experiment was a randomized complete block design with four replications using a factorial arrangement of treatments in an irrigated continuous corn system. The treatment included four N rates (0, 67, 134, and 269 kg N ha -1 ) and four P rates (0, 22, 45, and 67 kg P ha -1 ). Spectral radiance measurements were taken at various growth stages in increments from 350 to 1000 nm and correlated with plant N and P concentration, plant biomass, grain N and P concentration, and grain yield. Reflectance in the near-infrared (NIR) and blue regions was found to predict early season P stress between growth stages V6 and V8. Late season detection of P stress was not achieved. Plant N concentration was best predicted using reflectance in the red and green regions of the spectrum, while grain yield was estimated using reflectance in the NIR region, with the particular wavelengths of importance changing with growth stage.
Real-time volumetric 3D capture of room-sized scenes for telepresence

This paper describes a 3D acquisition system capable of simultaneously capturing an entire room-sized volume with an array of commodity depth cameras and rendering it from a novel viewpoint in real-time. The system extends an existing large-scale capture system with a volumetric measurement integration and rendering engine that has been adapted for use with a fixed array of cameras. New techniques are explored to improve image quality, decrease noise, and reduce the number of required depth cameras while preserving support for a fully dynamic scene.
Fibroblast growth factor. Chemical structure and biologic function.

Abstract Basic and acidic fibroblast growth factor (FGF) are two closely related growth factors that interact with the same receptor. Structurally related to FGF are five different oncogenes that have been involved in mammary, stomach, and bladder cancers but whose precise functions in physiologic processes are presently unknown. Both basic and acidic FGF exert similar biologic effects on a wide range of mesoderm- and neuroectoderm-derived cells, acting both as morphogens and mitogens. In addition, basic FGF has been shown to act as a ventrovegetalizing factor, inducing, at the midblastulae stage, mesoderm formation from animal pole cells destined to form ectodermal structures. This primordial role explains the wide variety of tissues, ranging from the central and peripheral nervous system to the vascular system, that are affected by FGF during the late embryonic, neonatal, and adult phases of development.
Optimal Hypercontractivity for Fermi Fields and Related Non-Commutative Integration Inequalities

Optimal hypercontractivity bounds for the fermion oscillator semigroup are obtained. These are the fermion analogs of the optimal hypercontractivity bounds for the boson oscillator semigroup obtained by Nelson. In the process, several results of independent interest in the theory of non-commutative integration are established.