cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Neuron-specific and state-specific differences in calcium homeostasis regulate the generation and degeneration of neuronal architecture.

Many stimuli (e.g., neurotransmitters and electrical activity) regulate neuromorphogenesis by changing intracellular calcium. The ionophore A23187 was employed as a receptor-independent method to investigate neuronal calcium homeostasis. Distinctive neuron-specific (B5 versus B19) and state-specific (growing versus non-growing) differences in calcium homeostasis were observed in cultured identified Helisoma neurons. Fura-2 studies revealed that A23187 induced a transient rise in intracellular calcium in growing neurons B5 but a sustained rise in growing neurons B19. In stable-state (non-growing) cells A23187 evoked only a transient calcium rise. Both neuron-specific and state-specific differences in calcium homeostasis were dependent on extracellular sodium. Morphological studies also indicated that such differences in calcium-regulatory capacity can have profound consequences on the generation and degeneration of neuronal architecture.
Seed oil content and fatty acid composition in a genebank collection of Cucurbita moschata Duchesne and C. argyrosperma C. Huber

Data on intra-specific variability for seed oil content, physical characteristics and fatty acid composition in Cucurbita moschata and Cucurbita argyrosperma are lacking in the scientific literature. We examined 528 genebank accessions of C. moschata and 166 accessions of C. argyrosperma – which included members of both subsp. argyrosperma and subsp. sororia – for seed oil content, oil physical characteristics and fatty acid composition. The oil of both species had near-identical viscosities, viscosity indices, colour and oxidative stabilities while the oil of C. argyrosperma had a slightly higher pour point, cloud point, percentage of free fatty acids and acid value when compared with C. moschata. Mean oil content values of the two species were similar at 28.7 ± /2.7 and 29.8 ± /2.6% for C. moschata and C. argyrosperma, respectively. The mean seed oil content of C. argyrosperma subsp. argyrosperma var. palmeri (32.1%) was significantly higher than that of the other taxa examined. The average (mean) percentage of total seed weight attributable to the kernel was 77.2% in C. moschata (n= 34) and 74.5% in C. argyrosperma (n= 46). The percentage of total seed weight attributable to the hull was correlated with seed oil content, in both species. Linoleic was the predominant fatty acid in all the samples analysed. Means for individual fatty acids in C. moschata were linoleic 48.5%, oleic 22.6%, palmitic 20.7% and stearic 7.5%. Means for individual fatty acids in C. argyrosperma were linoleic 47.3%, oleic 27.5%, palmitic 16.5% and stearic 8.0%.
Highly Effective Teams: A Relational Analysis of Group Potency and Perceived Organizational Support

Group potency is one key determinant shown to positively influence the effectiveness and performance of groups and teams. This article presents research on potency of work groups in higher education and perceived organizational support as an antecedent. A total of 192 working professionals who were either holding or earning advanced degrees in human resource development, education, or consumer and family sciences completed questionnaires to determine the association of these two variables. The data were analyzed at the individual and group levels, and findings reveal there is a significant positive relationship between group potency and perceived organizational support.
The role of death qualification in venirepersons' evaluations of aggravating and mitigating circumstances in capital trials.

Previous research has found that death qualification impacts jurors' receptiveness to aggravating and mitigating circumstances (e.g., J. Luginbuhl & K. Middendorf, 1988). However, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether death qualification affects jurors' endorsements of aggravating and mitigating circumstances when Witt, rather than Witherspoon, is the legal standard for death qualification. Four hundred and fifty venirepersons from the 11th Judicial Circuit in Miami, Florida completed a booklet of stimulus materials that contained the following: two death qualification questions; a case scenario that included a summary of the guilt and penalty phases of a capital case; a 26-item measure that required participants to endorse aggravators, nonstatutory mitigators, and statutory mitigators on a 6-point Likert scale; and standard demographic questions. Results indicated that death-qualified venirepersons, when compared to excludables, were more likely to endorse aggravating circumstances. Excludable participants, when compared to death-qualified venirepersons, were more likely to endorse nonstatutory mitigators. There was no significant difference between death-qualified and excludable venirepersons with respect to their endorsement of 6 out of 7 statutory mitigators. It would appear that the Gregg v. Georgia (1976) decision to declare the death penalty unconstitutional is frustrated by the Lockhart v. McCree (1986) affirmation of death qualification.
Still in the closet: the invisible minority in medical education.

Background: To investigate the relationship between sexual orientation and gender identity in regard to levels of depression; levels of perceived social support; comfort with disclosure of orientation; and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) campus climate. Methods: E-mail invitations to participate in the current cross-sectional questionnaire-based study were sent to all thirty US osteopathic medical schools in August 2012; six schools responded and disseminated the survey to their students. Participating students completed an anonymous web-based survey, and informed consent was obtained when they accessed the survey. The survey was designed specifically for the current study but contained scales used with permission from previously published research. Analysis procedures included nonparametric tests, one-way analysis of variance and Pearson’s correlations. Results: Of the 4112 students invited to participate in the survey, 1334 (32.4%) completed it. Approximately 85% of respondents self-identified as heterosexual only. No respondents identified as transgender. In general, LGB students indicated higher levels of depression (P < .001), slightly lower levels of perceived social support (P < .001), and more discomfort with disclosure of sexual orientation (P < .001). A majority of students rated their campus climate as noninclusive. Conclusions: Results of the current study indicated a relationship between sexual orientation and depression, perceived social support, comfort with disclosure of orientation, and the LGBT campus climate in osteopathic medical students. In the future, osteopathic medical schools should consider closely examining their campus culture in order to create a more positive and inclusive environment for all its students.
Determination of catalyst surface area from desorption characteristics of physisorbed gases

A new experimental method for the measurement of catalyst surface area of supported catalysts has been developed using selective physisorption. The desorption characteristics of a gas are studied separately on the catalyst, the support, and the supported catalyst by carrying out thermal desorption experiments in a continuous flow sorptometer. Differences in the coverage vs. temperature curves, obtained from the thermal desorption experiments, are a measure of the selectivity of the physisorbing gas, and allow calculation of the fraction of total surface area occupied by the catalyst. Two systems have been studied utilizing the thermal desorption with carbon dioxide as adsorbate: potassium carbonate/carbon black and silver/alumina. Supported catalyst surface area was determined for each system; the results were confirmed using physical mixtures of the two components (where the actual area of each component is known) and oxygen chemisorption for the silver/alumina system. The experimental technique allows for straightforward calculation of the catalyst area.
Cohort Profile: The KPSC Children’s Health Study, a population-based study of 920 000 children and adolescents in southern California

Increasing concerns focus on the effects ofobesity on morbidity and health-related quality of lifeissues, particularly in cases of paediatric onset ofobesity. However, the economic burden and long-termhealth consequences of extreme childhood obesity arelargely unknown and ill-defined because there havebeen no large prospective epidemiological studies thatincluded enough extremely obese children to deliverstable estimates of the health consequences.To address current gaps in the knowledge aboutthe health consequences of extreme childhood obes-ity, we created a contemporary cohort study of chil-dren and adolescents 2–19 years of age in southernCalifornia who are actively enrolled in a large, pre-paid, integrated managed healthcare system. TheKaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC)Children’s Health Study is an ongoing cohort studythat currently includes 4920000 children and adoles-cents and continues to enrol new patients joiningthe health plan. The study is currently supported bya grant from the National Institute of Diabetes andDigestive and Kidney Disorders (R21DK085395;Principal Investigator: Koebnick) and by KaiserPermanente Direct Community Benefit Funds.Since 2007, new screening guidelines for paediatricweight management have been implemented at KPSCoffering a unique opportunity to fill current know-ledge gaps regarding the disease burden associatedwith childhood obesity. These guidelines include regu-lar screening of blood lipids, liver enzymes and mark-ers of glucose metabolism recommended for childrenat or above the 95th percentile of BMI-for-age accord-ing to the 2000 sex-specific Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) growth charts
Separating Fact from Fear: Tracking Flu Infections on Twitter

Twitter has been shown to be a fast and reliable method for disease surveillance of common illnesses like influenza. However, previous work has relied on simple content analysis, which conflates flu tweets that report infection with those that express concerned awareness of the flu. By discriminating these categories, as well as tweets about the authors versus about others, we demonstrate significant improvements on influenza surveillance using Twitter.
X-Ray Studies of Tilted Hexatic Phases in Thin Liquid-Crystal Films

X-ray-diffraction studies of the structures and phase transitions of the tilted hexatic phases (smectic $F$ and smectic $I$ in thin liquid-crystal films of 4-$n$-heptyloxybenzylidene-4-n-$n$-heptylaniline (70.7) are reported. The measured correlation lengths were strongly anisotropic in both phases. The smectic-$I$ to smectic-$F$ transition is first order as expected from the symmetry change. The smectic-$F$ to smectic-$G$ transition is first order with strong pretransition effects and becomes nearly second order as the film thickness is decreased.
Control of composition in co-evaporated Cu(InGa)(SeS) 2 thin films

Cu(InGa)(SeS) 2 thin films have been prepared using multi source thermal co-evaporation. The incorporation of the volatile chalcogen species Se and S into the films depends on the fluxes of the evaporated species during growth and the relative [Cu]/[In+Ga] and [Ga]/[In+Ga] compositions. The dependence of the relative Se and S incorporation in Cu(InGa)(SeS) 2 on the substrate temperature is characterized with various [S]/[Se+S] flux rate ratios for substrate temperatures of 300, 450, and 550°C. The relative chalcogen incorporation is the same at 450 – 550°C for both Cu-excess and Cu-deficient growth. However, at 300°C the relative [S]/[Se+S] incorporation changes. The chalcogen incorporation is compared to predictions from equilibrium thermodynamics and to an empirical kinetic model. Deposition processes with sequential layers including Cu-excess and Cu-poor fluxes have inhomogeneous composition and microstructural models for these processes are proposed.
Metronidazole Induces Gametocytogenesis In Gregarine Associations Maintained In Vitro

Abstract: Gametocytogenesis was induced in mature associations of Protomagalhaensia wolfi and Protomagalhaensia blaberae maintained in vitro by inclusion of metronidazole in the culture medium. The response was neither strictly dosage dependent nor uniform across gregarine species. We hypothesize that metronidazole induces gregarine gametocytogenesis by disrupting PUF2 proteins responsible for the translational control of sexual development and gametocytogenesis in apicomplexans.
A practical nonlinear model for magnetic recording channels

In this paper, a practical nonlinear model for high density magnetic recording channels is proposed. Unlike previous Volterra series methods, this model can be constructed based on simple measurements of the isolated transition response and dibit responses. The experimental results show that the proposed nonlinear model accurately predicts the channel output over the entire length of the 1023-bit maximum length pseudo-random binary testing sequence. >
Occurrence of Selected Herbicides and Herbicide Degradation Products in Iowa's Ground Water, 1995

Herbicide compounds were prevalent in ground water across Iowa, being detected in 70% of the 106 municipal wells sampled during the summer of 1995. Herbicide degradation products were three of the four most frequently detected compounds for this study. The degradation product alachlor ethanesulfonic acid was the most frequently detected compound (65.1%), followed by atrazine (40.6%), and the degradation products deethylatrazine (34.9%), and cyanazine amide (19.8%). The corn herbicide acetochlor, first registered for widespread use in the United States in March 1994, was detected in a single water sample. No reported herbicide compound concentrations for this study exceeded currem U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant levels or health advisory levels for drinking water, although the herbicide degradation products examined have yet to have such levels established. The occurrence of herbicide compounds had a significant, inverse relation to well depth and a significant, positive relation to dissolved-oxygen concentration. It is felt that both well depth and dissolved oxygen are acting as rough surrogates to ground-water age, with younger ground water being more likely to contain herbicide compounds. The occurrence of herbicide compounds was substantially different among the major aquifer types across Iowa, being detected in 82.5% of the alluvial, 81.8% of the bedrock/ karst region, 40.0% of the glacial-drift, and 25.0% of the bedrock/nonkarst region aquifers. The observed distribution was partially attributed to variations in general ground-water age among these aquifer types. A significant, inverse relation was determined between total herbicide compound concentrations in ground water and the average soil slope within a 2-km radius of sampled wells. Steeper soil slopes may increase the likelihood of surface runoff occurring rather than ground-water infiltration–decreasing the transport of herbicide compounds to ground water. As expected, a significant positive relation was determined between intensity of herbicide use and herbicide concentrations in ground water.
Savings from drug discount cards: relief for Medicare beneficiaries?

ABSTRACT: Beginning in mid-2004, Medicare beneficiaries can enroll in prescription drug discount card programs approved by the federal government. We estimate modest savings for beneficiaries witho...
Reproducibility of antipyrine half-lives in elderly subjects.

Antipyrine half-life determined on three to five separate occasions over a period ranging from 3 weeks to 1 year was highly reproducible in each of 20 elderly subjects (12 women and 8 men; mean age, 83 years). The mean within-subject coefficient of variation for antipyrine half-life was 9.6%, whereas the between-subject coefficient of variation was 33.3%. These findings indicate high reproducibility of individual rates of drug metabolism in medically stable elderly subjects. Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1993) 54, 150–157; doi:10.1038/clpt.1993.126
Rodent brain imaging with SPECT/CT

We evaluated methods of imaging rat models of stroke in vivo using a single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) system dedicated to small animal imaging (X-SPECT, Gamma Medica-Ideas, Northridge, CA). An animal model of ischemic stroke was developed for in vivo SPECT/CT imaging using the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) technique. The presence of cerebral ischemia was verified in ex vivo studies using triphenyltetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining. In vivo radionuclide imaging of cerebral blood flow was performed in rats following MCAO using dynamic planar imaging of 99mTc-exametazime with parallel hole collimation. This was followed immediately by in vivo radionuclide imaging of cerebral blood flow with 99mTc-exametazime in the same animals using 1-mm pinhole SPECT. Correlated computed tomography imaging was performed to localize radiopharmaceutical uptake. The animals were allowed to recover and ex vivo autoradiography was performed with separate administration of 99mTc-exametazime. Time activity curve of 99mTc-exametazime showed that the radiopharmaceutical uptake could be maintained for over 9 min. The activity would be expected to be relatively stable for a much longer period, although the data were only obtained for 9 min. TTC staining revealed sizable infarcts by visual observation of inexistence of TTC stain in infracted tissues of MCAO rat brains. In vivo SPECT imaging showed cerebral blood flow deficit in the MCAO model, and the in vivo imaging result was confirmed with ex vivo autoradiography. We have demonstrated a capability of imaging regions of cerebral blood flow deficit in MCAO rat brains in vivo using a pinhole SPECT dedicated to small animal imaging.
An RF/DSP Test Bed for Baseband Pre-Distortion of RF Power Amplifiers

A baseband-to-baseband test bed for characterization of RF power amplifiers and linearization algorithms is proposed. Using this system, algorithms for baseband pre-distortion may be tested in automated fashion, simulating the performance of a real-time DSP processor operating in conjunction with actual RF power amplifier circuits. Full characterization capability to 6 GHz, and up to 6 MHz of baseband bandwidth at 5X oversampling rate is available. The utility of the system is demonstrated with a GaAsFET power amplifier linearized for CDMA use at 1.9 GHz using a lookup table baseband model for amplitude and phase distortion extracted iteratively from oversampled baseband data.
Formal program optimization in nuprl using computational equivalence and partial types

This paper extends the proof methods used by the Nuprl proof assistant to reason about the computational behavior of its untyped programs. We have implemented new methods to prove non-trivial bisimulations between programs and have successfully applied these methods to formally optimize distributed programs such as our synthesized and verified version of Paxos, a widely used protocol to achieve software based replication. We prove new results about the basic computational equality relation on terms, and we extend the theory of partial types as the basis for stating internal results about the computation system that were previously treated only in the meta theory of Nuprl. All the lemmas presented in this paper have been formally proved in Nuprl.
Hydrological and Dynamical Characteristics of Summertime Droughts over U.S. Great Plains

Abstract A drought pattern and its time evolution over the U.S. Great Plains are investigated from time series of climate divisional monthly mean surface air temperature and total precipitation anomalies. The spatial pattern consists of correlated occurrences of high (low) surface air temperature and deficit (excess) rainfall. The center of maximum amplitude in rain fluctuation is around Kansas City; that of temperature is over South Dakota. Internal consistency between temperature and precipitation variability is the salient feature of the drought pattern. A drought index is used to quantify drought severity for the period 1895–1996. The 12 severest drought months (in order) during this period are June 1933, June 1988, July 1936, August 1983, July 1934, July 1901, June 1931, August 1947, July 1930, June 1936, July 1954, and August 1936. Hydrological conditions are examined using National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis precipitable water (PW) and monthly surface observations from K...
Summary of Workshop 2a: Lipid-Membrane Interactions of Platelets and Coagulation

This workshop centered attention on approaches to an understanding of lipid interactions in biological systems. To this end, the topics for discussion focused on the behavior of phospholipids in the intrinsic coagulation process, the mechanism of exchange of cholesterol between vascular compartments and constituents, and the manner in which the lipid exchange proteins can be employed as membrane probes. In order to fully understand the complexities of lipid biochemistry in situ, one must know first about the behavior of purified cell components or comparable model substances in in vitro systems and then armed with this information to investigate their characteristics in the intact cell. Hence, it was the intent of this workshop to illustrate how the first part of this two pronged objective may be accomplished.
Strategic Planning in Small Firms: Activity and Process Realities

Research on small firm planning has established that small firms plan and has generally indicated that planning has value. Strategic plan content research often focuses on developing a written plan. Little research has focused on who engages in planning and who does not. This study investigated the relationship between individual and firm differences and the extent to which planning takes place in the firm. Owner demographics, such as education, age, and years in business, had little relationship with planning activity levels while firm sales and number of employees were related to several planning activity measures.
The Social Context of Decisions

The past 40 years of psychological research on decision making has identified a number of important cognitive biases. However, the psychological study of decision making tends to focus on individuals making decisions in isolation. This article explores the social context of individual decision making by considering three lenses: individual contributions in social decision processes, individuals as social products, and individuals as sources of social preferences. The social context of decision making both improves decision making by allowing diverse knowledge to be pooled and creates shared perspectives—including shared blind spots. The article offers conjectures on managerial insight about social settings that can inform future research.
P057 Cellules β dérivées à partir des iPSCs de patients avec MODY3 comme modèle du diabète dû à une déficience dans le gène HNF1a

Introduction L’utilisation de cellules souches comme un outil pour modeler les maladies humaines est deja entrain d’aider a la comprehension des mecanismes moleculaires derriere la defaillance des cellules β dans le contexte du diabete. En utilisant des cellules souches pour generer des cellules β, je vais me concentrer sur le diabete monogenique le plus prevalent, MODY3, qui est cause par un seul (dominant) allele hypomorphique du gene HNF1a. Ce gene est associe avec le diabete autosomal dominant en alterant le developpement des cellules β, leur proliferation, survie et secretion d’insuline, mais les cibles transcriptionels sont meconnues. Pendant ma recherche je vais essayer d’identifier ces cibles et decouvrir les mecanismes moleculaires menant au mal fonctionnement des cellules β. Materiels et methodes Nous avons pu generer des iPSCs de quatre patients avec MODY3 (mutation heterozygote). Je propose de manipuler ces iPSCs 1) pour corriger la mutation et 2) pour generer des homozygote isogeniques. Ces control isogeniques sont necessaire pour controler les effets du background genetique de chaque patient et nous permettra de decouvrir de maniere precise le role de HNF1a. Resultats En utilisant CRISPR/Cas9, j’ai pu generer des iPSC avec le gene corrige et des homozygotes isogeniques pour HNF1a. Je vais ensuite generer des cellules β a partir de ces cellules pour caracteriser le phenotype cellulaire et molecules avec les essais suivants : 1) Mesure de la production d’insuline, stock et secretion ; 2) mesure de la proliferation cellulaire et apoptose par IHC avec BrdU/Ki67 et TUNNEL ; 3) analyse transcriptionel par RNAseq ; 4) transplantation des cellules β mutantes et « corrigees » dans des souris pour mesure de la secretion d’insuline in vivo . Conclusion J’estime que les cellules β avec mutation du gene HNF1a auront un contenu en insuline reduite, diminution dans la secretion et proliferation, et la correction du gene en question pourra restaurer le phenotype. Declaration d’interet Les auteurs declarent ne pas avoir d’interet direct ou indirect (financier ou en nature) avec un organisme prive, industriel ou commercial en relation avec le sujet presente.
Proust and the New Novel in France

All of the characteristics of the New Novel can be found in Proust: a search for an unknown reality, participated in by the reader whose vision of the world is thereby transformed. The unknown reality consists of ordinary events juxtaposed in such a way that they reveal a new truth or reality to the reader. The characters habitually misunderstand one another; the impossibility of really knowing anyone else makes solitude an inherent state of each character, so that any attempt at possession is necessarily absurd. The New Novelist, therefore, tries to grasp the form of society as a whole rather than to describe the life of one individual. This results in a presentation of existences rather than essences.
Managed infrastructure with IBM Cloud OpenStack Services

In this paper, we discuss how OpenStack®, an open source cloud computing software platform, can be used to deliver a managed private cloud by describing the IBM Cloud OpenStack Services offering. IBM Cloud OpenStack Services is an enterprise-class infrastructure-as-a-service, running on OpenStack in a selection of worldwide IBM SoftLayer® data centers. This managed service provides the necessary levels of control so that businesses can focus on applications and services, not on the infrastructure and cloud management systems beneath them. We discuss the design challenges that customers encounter when choosing managed private clouds and illustrate an architecture that addresses these challenges using open source technologies.
Contributions to Silicon-Hydrogen Bond-Stretching Frequency in Amorphous Si Alloys

We have performed ab initio calculations and determined the bond-energies and vibrational frequencies of Si-H groups that are: i) attached to Si-atoms as their immediate, and also more distant neighbors; and ii) attached to three O-atoms as their immediate neighbors, but are connected to an all Si-atom matrix. These arrangements simulate bonding geometries on Si surfaces, and the calculated frequency for i) is in good agreement with that of an Si-H group on an Si surface. To compare these results with a-Si:H alloys it is necessary to take into account an additional factor: the effective dielectric constant of the host. We show how to do this, demonstrating the way results of the ab initio calculations should then be compared with experimental data.
Effect of TIE ZHIYUAN and ferrous lactate on iron deficiency anemia rat

【Objective】To study the effect of TIE ZHIYUAN and ferrous lactate on iron deficiency anemia(I-DA) rat.【Methods】A total of 60 SPF weanling female Wistar rats weighing 50-60 g were fed with low iron diet for 4 weeks,and 50 of them with Hb less than 100 g/L were randomly divided into 5 groups,the control group was given deionized water,and the remaining four groups were given the different concentrations of TIE ZHIYUAN or ferrous lactate for 30 days.The change of body weight,Hb,FEP,SI and SF of five groups were observed at last.【Results】TIE ZHIYUAN or ferrous lactate significantly increased the body weight of rats,Hb,SI and SF,and significantly reduced the FEP.The parameters of TIE ZHIYUAN group were significantly different from those of ferrous lactate group(P0.05).【Conclusion】TIE ZHIYUAN or ferrous lactate can improve IDA in rats and the role of TIE ZHIYUAN is more obvious.
Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and management of AIDS-related lymphoma.

The incidence of AIDS-related lymphoma continues to rise, as HIV-infected patients live longer owing to effective antiretroviral therapy and prophylactic therapy for various opportunistic infections. The pathologic, epidemiologic, and clinical characteristics of AIDS-related lymphoma are described, as well as data regarding current treatment strategies and prognostic factors for survival.
Disinfection Efficacy of Current Regenerative Endodontic Protocols in Simulated Necrotic Immature Permanent Teeth

Abstract Introduction The lack of mechanical debridement and reduced concentrations suggested for chemical debridement to maintain stem cell viability call into question the disinfection efficacy of current regenerative protocols. Current protocols vary in the concentration and type of antibiotic medicaments used. The aim of this study was to determine if simulated immature teeth infected with Enterococcus faecalis can be completely disinfected by following current standardized regenerative protocols and to evaluate the probable effects of residual bacteria on stem cell toxicity. Methods Sixty-eight caries-free maxillary incisors were used. S1 sampling protocols were validated in both negative and positive control groups via culture, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. All teeth, except the negative controls, were inoculated with E. faecalis . The teeth were divided into the following groups: group 1, triple antibiotic paste (ciprofloxacin:metronidazole:minocycline) at concentrations of 10, 1, and 0.1 mg/mL; group 2, double antibiotic paste (ciprofloxacin:metronidazole) at concentrations of 10, 1, and 0.1 mg/mL; group 3: Ultracal XS calcium hydroxide (Ultradent, St Louis, MO); and controls, negative and positive controls. Current regenerative protocols recommended by the American Association of Endodontists were followed. S2 sampling was performed after 4 weeks and tested for bacterial presence via culturing, scanning electron microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopic analysis. Results The data showed that calcium hydroxide and the current recommended antibiotic concentrations are not capable of completely eliminating bacteria from simulated necrotic immature permanent teeth. Conclusions Overall, this study focuses on the need to re-evaluate the balance between stem cell toxicity and bacterial elimination in order to determine the appropriate concentrations and medicaments for successful regenerative endodontic procedures.
Signaling with Hormones

Failure to communicate is rarely a good thing. At a personal level, it can ruin a relationship; at a national level, it can lead to war and strife. The same is true in our own bodies. Diseases like diabetes are the direct result of failure to communicate. Our bodies are very big, and our cells are very small, so they need to talk to one another to make sure that everyone is working towards the same goals. But when this communication breaks down, it causes deadly problems.
Surgical management of complications of burn injury

Abstract Various surgical complications can occur in burn patients resulting from pathologic progression of the burn injury itself or from iatrogenic etiologies. Burn patients are at risk for potential surgical complications involving multiple organ systems. Complications requiring operative management in the setting of a burn injury are relatively common and can compound an already overwhelming physiological response. These complications are often unavoidable, and clinicians must be thorough in the evaluation of patients with a significant burn injury. This chapter reviews the frequently encountered nonthermal surgical complications in burn patients with respect to diagnosis and management.
Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology of the Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)

Museum specimens (maxillae and/or mandibles) from 317 polar bears (Ursus maritimus) were examined macroscopically according to predefined criteria and 249 specimens were included in this study. The specimens were acquired between 1906 and 2011. There were 126 specimens (50.6%) from male animals, 93 (37.3%) from female animals and 30 (12.1%) from animals of unknown sex. The ages of the animals ranged from neonate to adult, with 125 adults (50.2%) and 124 young adults (49.8%) included and neonates/juveniles excluded from the study. The number of teeth available for examination was 7,638 (73.5%); 12.3% of teeth were absent artefactually, 0.8% were deemed absent due to acquired tooth loss and 13.4% were absent congenitally. With respect to tooth morphology, 20 teeth (0.26% of available teeth) in 18 specimens (7.2% of available specimens) were small vestigial structures with crowns that were flush with the level of surrounding alveolar bone. One supernumerary tooth and one tooth with enamel hypoplasia were encountered. Persistent deciduous teeth and teeth with an aberrant number of roots were not found. Relatively few teeth (3.7%) displayed attrition/abrasion, 90% of which were the maxillary and mandibular incisor teeth, in 41 polar bears (16.5%). Nearly twice as many adult specimens exhibited attrition/abrasion as those from young adults; significantly more males were affected than females. Dental fractures were noted in 52 polar bears, affecting 20.9% of specimens and 1.3% of the total number of teeth present. More adult polar bears had dental fractures than young adults. There were 21 specimens (8.4%) that displayed overt periapical disease, affecting a total of 24 dental alveoli (0.23%). Some degree of periodontitis was seen in 199 specimens (79.9%); however, only 12.6% of dental alveoli had bony changes indicative of periodontitis. Lesions consistent with temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ-OA) were found in 23 specimens (9.2%). TMJ-OA was significantly more common in adults than in young adults and in males than in females. Although the clinical significance of dental and TMJ pathology in the polar bear remains elusive, the occurrence and severity of these lesions may play an important role in the morbidity and mortality of this species.
Optimizing data scheduling on processor-in-memory arrays

In the study of PetaFlop project, Processor-in-Memory array was proposed to be a target architecture in achieving 10/sup 15/ floating point operations per second computing performance. However one of the major obstacles to achieve the fast computing was interprocessor communications, which lengthen the total execution time of an application. A good data scheduling, consisting of finding initial data placement and data movement during the run-time, can give a significant reduction in the total communication cost and the execution time of the application. In this paper, we propose efficient algorithms for the data scheduling problem. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. Compared with default data distribution methods such as row-wise or column-wise distributions, the average improvement for the tested benchmarks can be up to 30%.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ☆: Introduction

Abstract This is the introductory article to a special series in Cognitive and Behavioral Practice on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Instead of each article herein reviewing the basics of ACT, this article contains that review. This article provides a description of where ACT fits within the larger category of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT): CBT is an overarching term for a whole cluster of therapies, and ACT is one of many forms of CBT. Functional contextualism and how it informs ACT is briefly reviewed. The behavior analytic account of cognition that informs ACT, relational frame theory (RFT), and rule-governed behavior are covered. Psychological flexibility and the 6 resulting psychological processes of change (acceptance, defusion, being present, self as context, values, and committed action) are described. The empirical support for ACT and its related model are presented. Finally, characteristics of the ACT model, including its therapeutic approach, desired outcomes, and processes of change, are reviewed.
Final Value Abelian Theorems for the Stieltjes Transform of Generalized Functions

Abstract Limit results are obtained for the Stieltjes transform of generalized functions as the domain complex variable s approaches ∞ (final value results) in the right half plane. These results are of equivalent form as results for the transform as s approaches 0 (initial value results) in the right half plane.
Mitral valve surgery in the presence of leaflet elongation

One option of valvuloplasty in cases of a prolapsed leaflet with elongation of the chordae is to correct the length of such chordae tendinae [16]. First, the extent of relative chorda elongation is measured by applying traction at both free edges of the leaflet with fine nerve hooks. Then, the body of the concerned papillary muscle is split longitudinally from the tip; the portion with elongated chordae is shifted and this is fixed to the rest of the muscle (Fig. 24.1–3).
Consumer Responses to For-Profit Firms Exercising Religious Freedom in the Marketplace

Abstract Two judgments are at the heart of the controversy surrounding state-level religious freedom legislation and for-profit firms. For some, firms choosing to limit product/service access due to the owner’s religious beliefs are viewed as appropriately asserting their First Amendment rights to religious freedom. Others posit that such laws legalize discrimination. The authors offer a theory in which homophily mediates consumers’ perceptions of a firm that chooses to exercise its religious convictions in the for-profit market, and an orthodox worldview moderates this relationship. When these practices are perceived to be discriminatory, there is a strong negative effect on behavior intentions; however, perceptions that the firm is appropriately asserting religious freedoms are unlikely to increase customer traffic. The authors examine the policy implications from these investigations for states and local municipalities.
The Darker Side of American Military Mental Healthcare—Part Three: Five More Harmful Strategies to Manage Its Mental Health Dilemma

As we reported in the previous two articles in this series, the U.S. military has actively attempted to deal with its mental health dilemma by utilizing 10 approaches. These strategies function to help the military avoid learning its war trauma lessons to the contrary, and it appears that their approach is to prevent or reduce mass psychiatric attrition and exorbitant costs associated with psychiatric treatment and disability pensions, to the clear detriment of its fighting force and their families denied adequate mental healthcare. In this final review, we examine the remaining five harmful approaches designed to prevent the so-called evacuation syndromes that the military worries might arise should psychiatric lessons of war ever be implemented, such as eliminating stigma and elevating mental health services on par with medical services. The five avoidance strategies we cover include (6) delay, deception, and delay; (7) faulty diagnosis and “backdoor” discharges; (8) maintaining diffusion of responsibility and unaccountability; (9) provision of inadequate, experimental, or harmful treatment; and (10) perpetuating neglect, indifference, and self-inflicted crises. We conclude our analysis by asserting that the U.S. military has tried every conceivable way to unburden itself from the psychological realities of modern warfare, with the notable exception of actually committing to learning its war trauma lessons and genuinely implementing the required policies for good.
Revisiting historical beech and oak forests in Indiana using a GIS method to recover information from bar charts.

Historical GIS involves applying GIS to historical research. Using a unique method, I recovered historical tree survey information stored in bar chart figures of a 1956 publication. I converted PDF files to TIF files, which is a format for a GIS layer. I then employed GIS tools to measure lengths of each bar in the TIF file and used a regression (R2 = 97%) to convert bar lengths to numerical values of tree composition. I joined this information to a spatial GIS layer of Indiana, USA. To validate results, I compared predictions against an independent dataset and written summaries. I determined that historically (circa 1799 to 1846) in Indiana, oaks were 27% of all trees, beech was 25%, hickories and sugar maple were 7% each, and ash was 4.5%. Beech forests dominated (i.e., >24% of all trees) 44% of 8.9 million ha (i.e., where data were available in Indiana), oak forests dominated 29%, beech and oak forests dominated 4.5%, and oak savannas were in 6% of Indiana, resulting in beech and/or oak dominance in 84% of the state. This method may be valuable to reclaim information available in published figures, when associated raw data are not available.
Water Pollution from Oil Spills

Nearly 9 million barrels of oil are released into the oceans annually. However, about half of this amount comes from natural seepage; 35% comes from human activities such as urban runoff or improper disposal of petroleum products; 12% is from transportation (tankers, barges, and pipelines); and only 3% is from petroleum extraction activities. Yet, tanker explosions or oil drilling accidents receive the most attention in the news media. This is not necessarily misplaced attention – as extremely large spills close to coastlines often do the most harm. Damages and costs associated with oil pollution can vary dramatically depending not only on the size of the spill but also on the type of oil, organisms exposed, weather conditions, and proximity to human activities. Among the damages that might be caused by oil pollution are injuries and death to ocean life, humans (directly, or indirectly through the food chain), business (fishing, tourism, etc.), and natural resources (beaches, marshes, etc.). While most oil spills are unintentional and private parties do have incentives to avoid them, those incentives are generally inadequate if government involvement is lacking. Deterring oil spills from occurring requires a combination of laws (e.g., requirements for training, equipment, and contingency plans, double-hulled tankers, and liability laws), government monitoring, and government enforcement activities.
Converting to an Overall Site Score

Abstract This chapter describes several options for rolling up multiple scores or ratings for a site into a single overall site score or rating. Pitfalls and limitations of some types of commonly used roll-up approaches are described. Decisions must also be made regarding what to include in the roll-up and how to prioritize or weight the items that are included.
Sedimentary structure of the western Bohai Bay basin and other basins in North China revealed by frequency dependent P-wave particle motion

Abstract High-resolution seismic models of sediment basins are critical inputs for earthquake ground motion prediction and petroleum resource exploration. In this study we employed a newly developed technique that utilizes the frequency-dependent nonlinear P-wave particle motion to estimate sedimentary structure beneath the Bohai Bay basin. A recent study suggests that the delay of the P wave on the horizontal component relative the vertical component and its variations over frequency are caused by interference of the direct P wave with waves generated at the sediment base. The frequency-dependent delay time can be used to constrain sediment thickness and seismic velocity beneath recording stations. We measured the particle motions of teleseismic P waves recorded by 249 broadband stations of the North China Array, which covers the western Bohai Bay basin and its surrounding areas. We found that the P waves of 90 stations inside the Bohai Bay basin and other local basins within the Taihang and Yanshan mountain ranges exhibit significant frequency-dependent nonlinear particle motions, and used the particle motion data to invert the sediment thickness (Z0) and surface S-wave velocity (β0). The estimated sediment thickness inside the Bohai Bay Basin varies from 1.02 km to 3.72 km, with an average of 3.20 km, which roughly agrees with previous active source studies.
Rare-event simulation without structural information: a learning-based approach

Importance sampling has been extensively studied as a variance reduction tool in rare-event simulation. The design and efficiency of this method often relies on structural knowledge about the target problem in hand. In this paper, we consider a simple rare-event setting, driven by Gaussian input variates, where there is no direct information about the system of interest, or where the system of interest can only be evaluated through a "black-box" model. This setting mimics, on a basic level, situations where the system of interest could be too complex to analyze as in the conventional importance sampling literature. We investigate an approach based on two-stage sampling, where the first stage learns the rare-event set of interest, and the second stage uses a change of measure that exploits the first-stage finding. We present some guarantees and discuss comparisons of this scheme with more naive approaches.
PERSIA for Direct Fluorescence Measurements of Transcription, Translation, and Enzyme Activity in Cell-Free Systems.

Quantification of biology’s central dogma (transcription and translation) is pursued by a variety of methods. Direct, immediate, and ongoing quantification of these events is difficult to achieve. Common practice is to use fluorescent or luminescent proteins to report indirectly on prior cellular events, such as turning on a gene in a genetic circuit. We present an alternative approach, PURExpress-ReAsH-Spinach In-vitro Analysis (PERSIA). PERSIA provides information on the production of RNA and protein during cell-free reactions by employing short RNA and peptide tags. Upon synthesis, these tags yield quantifiable fluorescent signal without interfering with other biochemical events. We demonstrate the applicability of PERSIA in measuring cell-free transcription, translation, and other enzymatic activity in a variety of applications: from sequence–structure–function studies, to genetic code engineering, to testing antiviral drug resistance.