cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Retapamulin: focus on its use in the treatment of uncomplicated superficial skin infections and impetigo

Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes are the predominant bacterial pathogens associated with uncomplicated superficial skin infections and impetigo. Treatment of these infections has been compromised by the development of antimicrobial resistance, including resistance to β-lactams (‘methicillin’ resistance), fluoroquinolones, macrolides, clindamycin and mupirocin in S. aureus, and to macrolides and clindamycin in S. pyogenes. Retapamulin is a semisynthetic antimicrobial agent belonging to the pleuromutilin class, which prevents protein synthesis in bacteria via a unique mode of action. This agent has in vitro activity against staphylococci and streptococci resistant to other classes of agents, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and has a low potential for the development of mutational resistance. Over 3000 patients were studied in clinical trials of retapamulin, which is now the first pleuromutilin introduced into human use as a topical agent for the treatment of skin and skin structur...
Moisture Sorption and the Degree of Starch Polymer Degradation on Flours of Popped and Malted Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor)

Abstract Moisture sorption characteristics of flours from malted and popped sorghum (MSF and PSF) were investigated based on results of moisture sorption isotherms at 25 °C and 35 °C and differential heat of sorption. The polymer degradation of flour samples was also investigated. The moisture content for optimum stability of flour samples from popped and malted sorghum lies between 4·6–7·0% under conditions that stimulated distribution and marketing of the products. No marked difference existed between the moisture–starch-binding behaviours of PSF and MSF. Higher polymer degradation was observed in the malted sample than in the popped sample.
Wave propagation in anisotropic thin-film optical waveguides

Propagation of guided waves in layered crystalline media is investigated. Two-dimensional guided-mode dispersion curves are computed and classified for a three-layer uniaxial configuration with arbitrary optic-axis orientation in each layer. It is found that the dispersion curves can be either circular or elliptical and can also be discontinuous. Other interesting aspects of wave behavior include wave tilt of the evanescent fields and independent TE and TM mode-existence criteria.
New town leisure: a British-US comparison

The relative influences of resource and cultural differences on leisure behaviour and orientations in a pair of new towns, one in the United States (Reston) and the other in England (Telford) are compared. Three kinds of data were obtained: (a) the investigator lived in Telford for six weeks and participated in formal and informal leisure activities, supplementing observation with informal interviewing; (b) the planning department of Telford Development Corporation supplied materials on residents and their backgrounds, recreation provision and participation, and plans for the future; (c) the survey instrument used with 215 adults in the Reston study was revised and administered to 40 Telford adults.
Weak Phase-Resetting in Neural Oscillators

Phase-resetting experiments have frequently been employed to understand the input/output dynamics of oscillatory physiological systems, such as the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Analogous techniques based on phase-oscillator models have often been used in computational studies of neuronal networks. These models are often simplified by assuming weak coupling between neurons. This assumption has powerful ramifications for both experimental and theoretical studies, yet it has never been demonstrated in living neurons. Here we examine phase response curves (PRCs) for neurons with different stimulus waveforms. Focusing on amplitude, we show that weak amplitude stimuli create PRCs that scale linearly with amplitude, while strong do not. This is the first step in demonstrating that weak coupling occurs in living neurons. We also show that this notion of weak coupling is more stringent than the geometric classification of weak coupling frequently associated with experimental PRC analysis
Ecological Modernization in Evolutionary Perspective

Ecological modernization theory (EMT) has emerged as a major theoretical and policy-making perspective. Despite its growing influence, EMT has significant limitations both as a descriptive and as a...
Modeling and optimal design of a chemical vapor deposition reactor

The flow dynamics of a homogeneous gas inside a vertical, cylindrical reactor are modeled with a commercially available computational fluid dynamics code. The transport process in chemical vapor deposition are described using conservation of mass, momentum, energy, and mass transfer equations. Navier-Stokes equations for a Newtonian fluid and laminar flow are used to describe the momentum conservation. The buoyancy effect is included in the model through the gravitational term in the momentum equation. The thermal (Soret) effect is included in the model to account for binary diffusion in the presence of large temperature gradients typical of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Results of a 2-D, steady, axisymmetrical flow are presented using a finite element method with non-uniform Cartesian meshes. The formulation of the optimal reactor design problem for CVD is discussed. >
Upper extremity physical therapy for stroke patients using a general purpose robot

In recent years, the potential of robot-mediated upper extremity therapy has been widely acknowledged in stroke rehabilitation. The primary focus of rehabilitation robotics has been on building exoskeleton robots as well as devising control strategies that leverage robotic forces to adaptively assist and resist the movements of patients' impaired arms during repetitive reach-touch exercises. In our single subject case study, a robot presents exercise target positions that are successively more difficult to the patient. This serves to adaptively challenge the patient, while inducing voluntary reach-touch movements. Through data collected during 12 weeks of therapy with a single subject, we demonstrate that a general purpose robot can induce desired therapeutic exercise movements from a patient. In addition, we have observed that the challenge level can be adapted as the patient improves his motor function, which leads to observable improvements in the motor function of the patient.
Decision Makers and Socializers, Social Networks, and the Role of Individuals as Participants

Models explaining and predicting human travel behavior have gone through many changes in the past few decades. As researchers attempt to explain more and predict with more accuracy, the inclusion of social interactions in modeling and simulation is being recognized as a necessity. Among these efforts, researchers have focused on issues such as the composition of social networks, and the constraints and influences that others have on spatial decisions. An important aspect that has been understudied however is the variability or heterogeneity of individuals both as social network members and as participants in these social networks. Understanding the role individuals play in decision-making in different social networks can further define our models to include more accurate representations of human behavior. This research explores the differences between social network composition, and the decision roles members play within different social networks specifically when deciding where to participate in activities. A survey was conducted in Santa Barbara, California on social network involvement, network attributes and decision-making roles within each network. Two separate latent class cluster analysis models were developed to classify social network involvement and roles. Results show that there are clearly different types of social involvement and roles within networks. Further data collection and analysis will be used to better understand how these decision-making roles manifest themselves in activity decision-making.
Report: Writing a Code of Ethics by E-Mail My Adventures with Some Software Engineers

The Computer Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association of Computing Machinery set up a joint committee (Software Engineering Ethics and Professional Practices [SEEPP]) to write a code of ethics for software engineers. Work was to be “primarily” by e-mail. SEEPP has now completed its work. Acting as participant observers, we concluded the following: (1) e-mail, while perhaps saving travel, did not (as hoped) speed the process of code writing; (2) e-mail exchanges resembled those of conventional mail rather than those via the phone; (3) e-mail was not as reliable as phone, fax, or conventional mail (a surprising number of messages went astray); (4) e-mail did not encourage communication among strangers, overcome apathy, or cure the effects of overcommitment; and (5) e-mail was no substitute for face-to-face meetings (indeed, it seemed to require some such meetings to work well).
Precision immunophenotyping by high-throughput TCR sequencing in human glioma

Meeting abstracts Immunotherapy for glioblastoma (GBM) is the subject of numerous clinical trials, given the potential for the adaptive immune response to combat this diffusely infiltrating tumor. However, rational application of immunotherapy to these tumors is challenging because of the peculiar
The Concept concept

This paper describes the application of formal concept analysis to the representation of relationships among word senses. The word "concept" is used as an exemplary case for three different formal contexts and their concept lattices. Formal contexts comprise both objects and attributes, explicitly indicating which objects share which attributes and which attributes share which objects. This information is then used to identify the concept nodes (for which there may or may not be a word ['label']) and the relationships among the nodes which form the Concept lattice. >
Genetic and environmental correlations among hormone levels and measures of body fat accumulation and topography.

In this study we partition the phenotypic correlations between body fat measures and serum levels of hormones with known, or suspected, lipolytic effects into their genetic and environmental components. Using variance decomposition techniques, we are able to estimate the pleiotropic effects of genes and/or shared environmental factors that give rise to the phenotypic correlations previously reported between these traits. We used data from a large sample of randomly ascertained Mexican-American families living in San Antonio, TX. Data were available for 582 individuals in 26 pedigrees. Levels of sex hormone-binding globulin, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, insulin, insulin-like growth factor I, total T4, and total T3 were assayed. The measures of body fat accumulation and topography included body mass index, subscapular/triceps ratio, and relative fat patterning index. The results of this analysis demonstrate that significant phenotypic correlations among these traits can arise from three underlying condit...
Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube-Nickel/Nickel Oxide Core/shell Nanoparticle Heterostructures Incorporated in Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-nickel/nickel oxide (Ni/NiO) core/shell nanoparticles (CNC) heterostructures were prepared in a unique single-step synthetic route by direct chemical precipitation of nanoparticles on CNT surface. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown CNTs (average diameter ˜42.7±12.3 nm) allowed for direct nucleation and uniform coating of Ni/NiO core/shell nanoparticles (average diameter ˜11.8±1.7 nm). The crystal structure, morphology, and phases in CNC heterostructures were studied using high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Subsequently, the as-produced CNC heterostructures were incorporated into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogel resulting in CNC heterostructure-PVA hydrogel with ˜ 75% water absorbing capability. These novel hydrogels were also characterized by SEM and showed actuation under 0.2 T magnet. They are promising for smart analytical devices and platform.
Nitroglycerin-induced coronary vasodilation is not enhanced in patients with impaired endothelium-dependent dilation

Abstract Objectives. This study was designed to determine whether enhanced sensitivity to exogenous nitrovasodilators is present in the coronary arteries of patients with impaired endothelium-dependent dilation. Background. Animal studies have demonstrated that the dilator response to exogenous nitrovasodilators is exaggerated in the setting of endothelial dysfunction (diminished nitric oxide activity). Whether such relative hyperresponsiveness to exogenous nitrates occurs and is important in humans is unknown. Methods. We assessed coronary vasomotion in 110 patients (mean [±SD] age 56 ± 10 years) by serial intracoronary infusions of acetylcholine (10−8 to 10−6 mol/liter) to test endogenous nitric oxide and nitroglycerin (40 μg) to test responses to exogenous nitrovasodilators. Results. The vasomotor response to 10−6 mol/liter of acetylcholine differed between patients with (n = 95) and those without (n = 15) normal endothelial dysfunction (−21 ± 14% vs. 12 ± 8% respectively, p Conclusions. The coronary vasodilator response to nitroglycerin is not significantly enhanced in patients with impaired endothelium-dependent dilation but decreases with increasing age. This finding provides indirect evidence that basal coronary tone is not increased in patients with endothelial dysfunction and that supersensitivity to exogenous nitrates is not clinically important in humans.
FUZZY CAUSAL MAPPING (F-CMAP) — A PROPOSAL TO DEVELOP A NEW SYSTEMS BIOLOGY TOOL

Biological systems are complex, consisting of many elements of different nature. As a whole, they are robust, and a general system description can be done in a semi-quantitative way when it comes to phenotype behaviors. We used these properties earlier1 to develop a new systems biology method, causal mapping (CMAP). In this paper, we pinpoint some problems with the earlier version of CMAP, and develop it further. CMAP used linguistic variables (LV) to describe the behaviour of biological systems, and here we use the procedure of fuzzyfications to improve CMAP. The numerical methods to calculate the ranges of LV are agreeable to reality in a very intuitive manner. The new version of CMAP reproduced the physical data on cortical oscillations2 in spreading cells with depolymerized microtubules. Further, predictions were made on the dependency of the myosin activity on the period of oscillations. The presented development lies on the way to a more general approach that should be able to address questions of biological robustness, modularity and hierarchy.
Viscous thermocapillary convection at high Marangoni number

A liquid, contained in a quarter plane, undergoes steady motion due to thermocapillary forcing on its upper boundary, a free surface separating the liquid from a passive gas. The rigid vertical sidewall has a strip whose temperature is elevated compared with the liquid at infinity. A boudnary-layer analysis is performed that is valid for large Marangoni numbers M and Prandtl numbers P. It is found that the Nusselt number N for the horizontal heat transport satisfies N proportional to min (M to the 1 2/7/power, M to the 1 1/5/power, M to the 1 1/10/power) Generalizations are discussed.
Two generalized beta distributions

Two new distributions which contain several of the known generalizations of the beta distribution as particular cases are introduced. Various structural properties of each distribution are derived, including its cdf, moment generating function, characteristic function, moments, mean deviation about the mean, mean deviation about the median, entropy, asymptotic distribution of extreme order statistics, maximum-likelihood estimates and the Fisher information matrix.
Clarifying the Origin of Biological Abnormalities in PTSD Through the Study of Identical Twins Discordant for Combat Exposure

A biological abnormality found to be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be, among other things, a pretrauma vulnerability factor, that is, it may have been present prior to the event's occurrence and increased the individual's likelihood of developing PTSD upon traumatic exposure. Alternately, it may be an acquired PTSD sign, that is, it may have developed after the traumatic exposure, along with the PTSD. We have studied pairs of Vietnam combat veterans and their noncombat-exposed, identical twins in an effort to resolve these competing origins. Combat veterans were diagnosed as current PTSD or non-PTSD (i.e., never had). Average heart rate responses (HRRs) to a series of sudden, loud-tone presentations were larger in Vietnam combat veteran twins with PTSD, but these larger responses were not shared by their noncombat-exposed cotwins, whose responses were similar to those of the non-PTSD combat veterans and their noncombat-exposed cotwins. These results suggest that larger HRRs to sudden, loud tones represent an acquired sign of PTSD. In contrast, increased neurological soft signs (NSSs), diminished hippocampal volume, and presence of abnormal cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) were found in Vietnam combat veteran twins with PTSD and their "high-risk," unexposed cotwins compared to Vietnam combat veteran twins without PTSD and their "low-risk," unexposed cotwins. These results support the conclusion that the latter abnormalities represent antecedent, familial vulnerability factors for developing chronic PTSD upon exposure to a traumatic event.
Treatment of neonatal fungal infections.

Invasive candidiasis is a leading cause of infection-related morbidity and mortality in premature infants (Stoll et al. Kremer et al. Lee et al. Mittal et al. Friedman et al. Benjamin et al. Risk factors for candidiasis include extreme prematurity, post natal age, and center (Kaufman, ). Several studies have reported a 20% mortality rate, despite antifungal treatment (Stoll et al. Benjamin et al., ). Antifungal therapy failure is correlated with birthweight: for those with a birthweight 751–1000 g the failure rate is 14%, and for those with a birthweight of 400–750 g, it is 31% (Benjamin et al.). While much progress has been made in this area, definitive management guidelines for prophylaxis and treatment are limited (Benjamin et al., ). Routine prophylaxis is not recommended for neonates and use of either fluconazole or amphotericin B deoxycholate is considered 1st line therapy for treatment of invasive disease. However, new therapeutic options that may be safer and more efficacious are on the horizon
The Antiquity Of Grinding Stones In Semi-Arid Western New South Wales

Western New South Wales is well known as one of the largest regional data sets of Pleistocene archaeological material in Australia. Dating of aeolian sediments has been possible through the archaeological accumulation and subsequent preservation of organic remains within dune sequences associated with lakes and waterways. The identifiable stratification within these, produced by fluctuations in lake and river levels, has provided good potential to interpret the age of archaeological material within them. However, western NSW archaeological sites are generally exposed, and partially eroded, open sites. Once exposed, and during the process of erosion, non-contemporaneous materials become mixed. Eroded sites can be expected to exhibit both laterally and vertically mixed materials. Organic remains, particularly highly visible shellfish, are often seen eroding from within dated dune sediments but in situ artefacts and mammalian bones are less frequently found in situ because they occur in isolation, not in larger clumps. Dating of these by their association with dated material is thus very difficult. Establishing contemporaneity of archaeological materials in large blowouts or exposures is also problematic.
Alternate pathways for chloride conductance activation in normal and cystic fibrosis airway epithelial cells

Using whole cell patch-clamp and perforated patch recording techniques on human cystic fibrosis (CF) and non-CF airway epithelial cells, we sought to determine whether a single Cl- conductance (GCl) could be modulated via different regulatory pathways or whether multiple conductances could be identified. Cl- current in both CF and non-CF cells was activated by cellular swelling as well as by an elevation in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i). While the adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-activated GCl was absent in CF cells, its activation in non-CF cells was only observed in the perforated patch configuration at lower temperatures (24 degrees C) or infrequently in the whole cell configuration at elevated temperatures (33 degrees C). Currents activated by all three regulatory pathways were sensitive to the Cl- channel blocker 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic acid (DIDS). Further increases in current activation could be produced by cellular swelling after maximal Ca2+ or cAMP-induced current activation. Intracellular application of a peptide inhibitor of Ca(2+)-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase selectively blocked the Ca(2+)-dependent current activation while leaving the swelling-induced current increase intact. These results are consistent with the presence of multiple anion conductances in both CF and non-CF airway cells. The heterogeneity of the responses to the three regulatory stimuli, however, prevented the correlation of a specific anion conductance with a separate modulatory pathway based on characteristic voltage-dependent kinetics and conductance.
Le traitement des fractures de l’humérus proximal par prothèse totale d’épaule est plus coûteux en dépense hospitalière malgré une durée de séjour plus courte

Abstract Background Operation choice is a complex decision in the surgical management of proximal humerus fractures. Recently, there has been an increase in the use of total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) for complex fracture patterns. Hypothesis Patients with proximal humerus fractures who receive TSA are more likely to have higher hospital charges and a prolonged length of stay relative to patients receiving hemiarthroplasty (HA), open reduction with internal fixation (ORIF) or closed reduction with internal fixation (CRIF). Materials and methods A statewide electronic database was used to identify 13,316 hospital admissions from 2000–2011 where a proximal humerus fracture was surgically managed in an effort to determine the effect of operation choice on cost and length of stay. A univariate analysis was preformed to examine overall trends in surgical management. Additionally, a periodic, multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine how operation choice affected the odds of a high cost hospital stay or a prolonged length of stay after controlling for age, comorbidity burden, gender, and insurance type. Results After controlling for confounding factors, patients receiving total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) were 2.25 times more likely to have high total hospital charges than patients receiving HA and 3.21 times more likely than patients receiving ORIF. Additionally, TSA was found to be a significant negative predictor of prolonged length of stay (pLOS). HA, ORIF and CRIF did not significantly predict pLOS. Discussion The use of TSA for acute proximal humerus fractures is associated with increased hospital costs despite a shorter length of stay when compared to other operative choices. As reverse total shoulder arthroplasty becomes more popular for treatment of this injury, it is important that functional outcomes be interpreted in the context of relative cost trade-offs. Level of evidence Level IV.
Gratitude and Revenge: Reconciliation as the Activity of Justice Roger Berkowitz

Justice, legal theorists tell us, is opposed to revenge. Nietzsche inverts the formula and writes that justice is simply spiritualized revenge, the thought that where suffering is, there should be punishment. As the best thought of man, this vengeful justice must, like man himself, be overcome. What, however, would a good revenge, a more just justice, look like? Nietzsche’s answer is that unlike punishment, which is revenge at its most human its worst, gratitude is good revenge. The act of gratitude, therefore, is of the essence of justice. Justice, therefore, bears more of a relation to reconciliation, the act of accepting the world as it is, than to punishment. This paper explores Nietzsche’s notion of gratitude and reconciliation in order to ask how Nietzsche understands justice.
Evaluation of the Rh(II)-Rh(II) bond dissociation enthalpy for [(TMTAA)Rh]2 by 1H NMR T2 measurements: application in determining the Rh-C(O)- BDE in [(TMTAA)Rh]2C═O.

Toluene solutions of the rhodium(II) dimer of dibenzotetramethylaza[14]annulene ([(TMTAA)Rh]2; (1)) manifest an increase in the line widths for the singlet methine and methyl 1H NMR resonances with...
Intraionic transition in Mn2+ in zinc-blende semiconductors

This paper gives a discussion of a proposed mechanism for the conversion of an ionic transition, forbidden in free Mn2+, to allowed in a zinc-blende crystal by virtue of a modulation of the crystal potential by dynamic polarization of the anions of the crystal. We prove that this proposed mechanism is not effective in this context.
Carbon Filter Process for Flue-Gas Carbon Capture on Carbonaceous Sorbents: Steam-Aided Vacuum Swing Adsorption Option

A low-pressure carbon filter process can capture carbon dioxide from combustion flue gas. This filter is filled with a carbonaceous sorbent, such as activated carbon, which has a high chemical affinity to and hence high capacity to retain CO2 but not nitrogen. This in turn leads to a high CO2/N2 selectivity, especially at low pressures. While CO2 sorption is spontaneous and rapid, its recovery from the sorbent is a challenge that determines the process efficiency. Among the desorption methods considered in this work, direct steam can produce nearly pure CO2, but it results in condensed water in the bed that reduces the sorbent capacity and requires sorbent cooling, which is slow. Vacuum desorption in the absence of water also works, but it requires low pressures, much lower than 30 Torr, to achieve substantial CO2 yields. However, a hybrid approach, referred to as “steam-aided vacuum swing adsorption” (SA-VSA), proposed in this work, is found to alleviate or eliminate these problems. Water vapor serves as...
Effect of Aliphatic Oxime and Isatin Thiosemicarbazones on Vaccinia Infection in the Mouse and in the Rabbit

Summary1. Serial passage of vaccinia virus intracerebrally in mice treated with isatin thiosemicarbazone results in a gradual diminution in the amount of virus demonstrable in the brain. 2. Treatment with isatin thiosemicarbazone fails to protect rabbits inoculated intracerebrally with vaccinia virus. 3. Aliphatic oxime thiosemicarbazones may be as effective as benzene or heterocyclic derivatives as chemoprophylactic agents against vaccinia virus in mice.
Studies on Simple and Differential Methods of Staining Encapsulated Pneumococci in Smear and Section

In the course of some experimental studies on pneumococcus infection, the technic of previous observers recommended for the staining of the encapsulated organisms was tested, and various new methods were devised in the hope of securing reliable procedures by which pneumococci may be differentially stained in cover-glass preparations and in sections of tissue. My experience with these methods, old and new, it is the purpose of this paper to record.
Plasma protein. IV. Results with generally labeled plasma protein.

SummaryIt is possible to produce generally labeled plasma protein with very high specific activity in rats by feeding them suitable bacteria (Rhodospirillum rubrum) cultured in media containing labeled bicarbonate. These bacteria have protein in which all the amino acids present are labeled. The metabolism, in the recipient rats; of the C14 in the plasma protein from these donor animals (B) has been investigated and compared with that already described (1,2,7) for plasma protein labeled by feeding donor rats serine-β-C14 (A), with the following results: (1) The disappearance of the C14-labeled protein B from the circulation, following its intravenous injection, follows the same curve as that found when protein A was employed. (2) The appearance of C14O2 in the respiratory gases is significantly less in these animals following the parenteral injection, but more following the oral administration than in recipients A. (3) As compared with A, the tissues of recipients B contain more C14-labeled protein no mat...
Surface Flux Transport and the Evolution of the Sun’s Polar Fields

The evolution of the polar fields occupies a central place in flux transport (Babcock–Leighton) models of the solar cycle. We discuss the relationship between surface flux transport and polar field evolution, focusing on two main issues: the latitudinal profile of the meridional flow and the axial tilts of active regions. Recent helioseismic observations indicate that the poleward flow speed peaks at much lower latitudes than inferred from magnetic feature tracking, which includes the effect of supergranular diffusion and thus does not represent the actual bulk flow. Employing idealized simulations, we demonstrate that flow profiles that peak at mid latitudes give rise to overly strong and concentrated polar fields. We discuss the differences between magnetic and white-light measurements of tilt angles, noting the large uncertainties inherent in the sunspot group measurements and their tendency to underestimate the actual tilts. We find no clear evidence for systematic cycle-to-cycle variations in Joy’s law during cycles 21–23. Finally, based on the observed evolution of the Sun’s axial dipole component and polar fields up to the end of 2015, we predict that cycle 25 will be similar in amplitude to cycle 24.
A Bi-objective Scheduling Optimization of Job Shop

The job shop scheduling problem mainly focus on simple objective problems and a big gap between scheduling theory and practice still exists at present.A bi-objective job shop scheduling with alternative machines was researched by combining GASA algorithms in this paper.Bi-direction scheduling meets both(users') requirement and production efficiency,which possesses a strong practical application value.The combination of GA and SA is using GA excellent global search ability and SA efficient to avoid getting into part minimum,which has higher degree of convergence precision.The results of the examples show that the procedure is available and efficient.
Nutrition knowledge and preferences of food cooperative shoppers.

Supermarket customers showed relatively more preference for meats, sugared desserts, and snack foods, while cooperative shoppers showed higher preferences for some vegetable items as well as for yogurt and tofu.
A Baseline Investigation into the Population Structure of White Seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, in California and Mexican Waters Using Microsatellite DNA Analysis

Abstract The white seabass, Atractoscion nobilis, is a commercially important member of the Sciaenidae that has experienced historic exploitation by fisheries off the coast of southern California. For the present study, we sought to determine the levels of population connectivity among localities distributed throughout the species’ range using nuclear microsatellite markers. Data from the present study have revealed distinct genetic breaks between the Southern California Bight, Pacific Baja California, and the Peninsula of Baja California.
N-Way Factor Analysis for Obtaining Personality, Situation, and Test Form Contributions to a Psychological Response

The present contribution can be regarded by statisticians as a first mathematical-statistical illustration of N-way factoring as previously given in algebraic outline (Cattell, 1980). But to the psychologist it is something more, namely, an answer to the problem raised in various ways over the last 30 years of integrating personality traits, specific behaviors, and environmental situations in a single predictive system (Cattell, 1934, 1968, 1972). Indeed, it was in the psychological context that a behavior specification equation was first proposed by Cattell (1978, 1979) combining the factorial properties and values of person, stimulus, response form, and ambient situation.
Testosterone inhibits expression of lipogenic genes in visceral fat by an estrogen-dependent mechanism

The influence of the aromatase enzyme on the chronic fat-sparing effects of testosterone requires further elucidation. Our purpose was to determine whether chronic anastrozole (AN, an aromatase inh...
Targeted imaging of urothelium carcinoma in human bladders by an ICG pHLIP peptide ex vivo.

Abstract Bladder cancer is the fifth most common in incidence and one of the most expensive cancers to treat. Early detection greatly improves the chances of survival and bladder preservation. The pH low insertion peptide (pHLIP) conjugated with a near-infrared fluorescent dye [indocyanine green (ICG)] targets low extracellular pH, allowing visualization of malignant lesions in human bladder carcinoma ex vivo. Cystectomy specimens obtained after radical surgery were immediately irrigated with nonbuffered saline and instilled with a solution of the ICG pHLIP construct, incubated, and rinsed. Bladders were subsequently opened and imaged, the fluorescent spots were marked, and a standard pathological analysis was carried out to establish the correlation between ICG pHLIP imaging and white light pathological assessment. Accurate targeting of bladder lesions was achieved with a sensitivity of 97%. Specificity is 100%, but reduced to 80% if targeting of necrotic tissue from previous transurethral resections or chemotherapy are considered as false positives. The ICG pHLIP imaging agent marked high-grade urothelial carcinomas, both muscle invasive and nonmuscle invasive. Carcinoma in situ was accurately diagnosed in 11 cases, whereas only four cases were seen using white light, so imaging with the ICG pHLIP peptide offers improved early diagnosis of bladder cancers and may also enable new treatment alternatives.
Adaptive Immune System reinforcement Learning-Based algorithm for real-time Cascading Failures prevention

Abstract Artificial intelligent algorithms have found a wide-range of applications in power systems, especially in solving long-existing problems immune to non-intelligent algorithms. Cascading Failures (CF), one of such problems, require load shedding as a current industrial solution. Load shedding results in losses to all power system stakeholders. This work proposes the use of an Artificial Immune System (AIS) algorithm to intelligently adjust the power output of the generators in the power system relative to one another in real time to prevent CF. AIS gives the artificial intelligent algorithm reinforcement learning capability by enabling it to pick the appropriate combination(s) for a particular system state; hence, the algorithm is called Immune System Reinforcement Learning-Based (ISRL-Based) algorithm. The algorithm was trained offline using both static and dynamic power equations and the effectiveness of both approaches was evaluated through statistical deviation. Analyses showed that using dynamic equations resulted in a more accurate solution than the static equations. CF was dynamically simulated on the IEEE 118-Bus system after an N-2 contingency, the results obtained agrees with the results from the analysis of the 2003 Northeast USA CF event. The effectiveness of the algorithm and online training were also experimentally validated after an N-1-1 contingency in a nine-bus system.
Are Permanent Residents of High Altitude Fully Adapted to Their Hypoxic Environment

Abstract West, John B. Are permanent residents of high altitude fully adapted to their hypoxic environment? High Alt Med Biol. 18:135–139, 2017.—Millions of people live permanently at high altitude and many have been there for generations. It is sometimes claimed that these people have completely adapted to their environment, and certainly some remarkable genetic adaptations have recently been described. However there is now strong evidence that permanent residents are not completely adapted to the high altitude in the sense that they have fully compensated for the environmental hypoxia. By sea level standards, highlanders have severe chronic arterial hypoxemia. Furthermore, their maximum oxygen uptake increases if they descend, and recent measurements suggest that cognitive function is reduced in this population compared with a matched group at a lower altitude. Reproductive success is reduced at high altitude because neonatal mortality increases with altitude. The topic has recently gained importance be...
Stock market one-day ahead movement prediction using disparate data sources

A financial expert system for predicting the daily stock movements.Knowledge base captures both traditional and online data sources.The inference engine uses three artificial intelligence techniques.Prediction accuracy of 85% is higher than the reported results in the literature.The system is hosted online and freely available for investors and researchers. There are several commercial financial expert systems that can be used for trading on the stock exchange. However, their predictions are somewhat limited since they primarily rely on time-series analysis of the market. With the rise of the Internet, new forms of collective intelligence (e.g. Google and Wikipedia) have emerged, representing a new generation of crowd-sourced knowledge bases. They collate information on publicly traded companies, while capturing web traffic statistics that reflect the publics collective interest. Google and Wikipedia have become important knowledge bases for investors. In this research, we hypothesize that combining disparate online data sources with traditional time-series and technical indicators for a stock can provide a more effective and intelligent daily trading expert system. Three machine learning models, decision trees, neural networks and support vector machines, serve as the basis for our inference engine. To evaluate the performance of our expert system, we present a case study based on the AAPL (Apple NASDAQ) stock. Our expert system had an 85% accuracy in predicting the next-day AAPL stock movement, which outperforms the reported rates in the literature. Our results suggest that: (a) the knowledge base of financial expert systems can benefit from data captured from nontraditional experts like Google and Wikipedia; (b) diversifying the knowledge base by combining data from disparate sources can help improve the performance of financial expert systems; and (c) the use of simple machine learning models for inference and rule generation is appropriate with our rich knowledge database. Finally, an intelligent decision making tool is provided to assist investors in making trading decisions on any stock, commodity or index.
Modified N-Heterocyclic Carbene Ligand for the Recovery of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts via Noncovalent Host–Guest Interactions

A general method, focusing upon olefin metathesis, was developed for the recovery of homogeneous olefin metathesis catalysts from crude reaction solutions. This method utilizes the supramolecular host–guest interaction between an azobenzene-modified N-heterocyclic carbene ligand and a silica-grafted β-cyclodextrin to remove homogeneous catalyst in a heterogeneous manner, allowing for the recovery of more than 97% of ruthenium in solution. The robust and simple nature of the guest molecule allows for the application of this method to a wide range of homogeneous catalysts. This study reports the synthesis and characterization of the said precatalyst and host compound as well as proof-of-concept recovery trials for a number of common substrates, with the residual ruthenium content of reaction mixtures evaluated by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
Ribocyclophanes A–E, Glycosylated Cyclophanes with Antiproliferative Activity from Two Cultured Terrestrial Cyanobacteria

The cell extracts of two cultured freshwater Nostoc spp., UIC 10279 and UIC 10366, both from the suburbs of Chicago, showed antiproliferative activity against MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cancer cell lines. Bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of five glycosylated cylindrocyclophanes, named ribocyclophanes A–E (1–5) and cylindrocyclophane D (6). The structure determination was carried out by HRESIMS and 1D and 2D NMR analyses and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The structures of ribocyclophanes A–E (1–5) contain a β-d-ribopyranose glycone in the rare 1C4 conformation. Among isolated compounds, ribocyclophane D (4) showed antiproliferative activity against MDA-MB-435 and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells with an IC50 value of less than 1 μM.
A Clinical Decision Support Tool to Predict Cancer Risk for Commonly Tested Cancer-Related Germline Mutations

The rapid drop in the cost of DNA sequencing led to the availability of multi-gene panels, which test 25 or more cancer susceptibility genes for a low cost. Clinicians and genetic counselors need a tool to interpret results, understand risk of various cancers, and advise on a management strategy. This is challenging as there are multiple studies regarding each gene, and it is not possible for clinicians and genetic counselors to be aware of all publications, nor to appreciate the relative accuracy and importance of each. Through an extensive literature review, we have identified reliable studies and derived estimates of absolute risk. We have also developed a systematic mechanism and informatics tools for (1) data curation, (2) the evaluation of quality of studies, and (3) the statistical analysis necessary to obtain risk. We produced the risk prediction clinical decision support tool ASK2ME (All Syndromes Known to Man Evaluator). It provides absolute cancer risk predictions for various hereditary cancer susceptibility genes. These predictions are specific to patients' gene carrier status, age, and history of relevant prophylactic surgery. By allowing clinicians to enter patient information and receive patient-specific cancer risks, this tool aims to have a significant impact on the quality of precision cancer prevention and disease management activities relying on panel testing. It is important to note that this tool is dynamic and constantly being updated, and currently, some of its limitations include (1) for many gene-cancer associations risk estimates are based on one study rather than meta-analysis, (2) strong assumptions on prior cancers, (3) lack of uncertainty measures, and (4) risk estimates for a growing set of gene-cancer associations which are not always variant specific. All of these concerns are being addressed on an ongoing basis, aiming to make the tool even more accurate.
Evaluation of Organic Pest Management Treatments for Bean Leaf Beetle and Soybean Aphid--Neely-Kinyon Trial, 2004

Introduction Annual organic soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production in the U.S. has risen to more than 150,000 acres (USDA-ERS, 2005). Critical challenges associated with organic soybean production include weed control, bean leaf beetles (CerotomatrifurcataForster), soybean aphid (Aphis glycines Matsumura), and soybean diseases, including the potential for soybean rust. Bean leaf beetle primarily vectors the seed-staining bean pod mottle virus (BPMV) and for providing sites for other seed-staining fungi such as purple stain [Cercosporakikuchii (Mastsumoto& Tomoyasu) M.W. Gardener] and Fusarium spp. Bean leaf beetles generally have two generations a year in Iowa, with overwintering adults from the previous year’s second generation primarily feeding on vegetative soybean stages. First-generation adults, which require an average of 1,212 degree days with a developmental base threshold of 46 °F, usually peak during the early reproductive soybean stage (Lam et al., 2001). Second-generation adults, whose numbers are dependent on the firstgeneration population size, peak during the pod-filling stage. Feeding by firstgeneration beetles on soybean leaves seldom results in economic yield losses, but when the second-generation adults emerge from the soil to feed on seed pods, crop damage in late summer can be very significant. The second-generation adults overwinter in the soil and leaf litter where they remain until spring of the following year. The severity of the over-wintering period is a key factor in determining insect survival, with snow cover (Lam and Pedigo, 2000a) and woodland areas (Lam and Pedigo, 2000b) aiding survival. Both generations of bean leaf beetles can transmit the BPMV, although disease incidence is generally greater during pod setting and filling because higher amounts of rainfall often create ideal conditions for spreading the disease. BPMV has been reported to cause yield losses >50% and in 1999, it was estimated that soybean yield losses reached 155,778 metric tons in Iowa due to soybean viruses. The soybean aphid (Aphis glycinesMatsumura) is native to China and Japan, and was a new pest in Iowa in 2000. Soybean aphid can reduce yields by direct feeding, and interfering with photosynthesis and growth. Natural enemies, including beneficial fungi, such as Pandora neoaphidis, can infect aphids and give them a red color. Spraying fungicides can decrease the activity of this beneficial fungus.
Data collection from very thin HLA crystals using synchrotron radiation.

HLA molecules are polymorphic cell surface glycoproteins involved in the cellular immune response against viruses. Cytotoxic T-cells recognize viral peptides derived from intracellular processing that are complexed to HLA (Townsend et al., 1986; Maryanski et al., 1986). HLA class I molecules are heterodimers: the heavy chain has three domains (alpha1, alpha2, alpha3), and the light chain (beta2-microglobulin) consists of a single domain with homology to immunologlobulin constant regions. The heavy chain alphal and alpha2 domains are polymorphic between specificities, and the more constant alpha3 domain has homology to antibody constant domains and to the HLA light chain (reviewed in Hood et al., 1983). In order to understand how the polymorphic residues are distributed on the HLA structure, and how HLA interacts with peptides and T-cell receptors, we initiated a structure determination of HLA-A2, a human histocompatibility molecule. The structure of HLA-A2 and the implications for understanding how HLA molecules function have been previously described (Bjorkman et al., 1987a; Bjorkman,1987b). This report will concentrate only upon the data collection and processing of HLA films taken using synchrotron radiation as an X-ray source. Most of the HLA data were collected at a synchrotron facility in order to maximize the amount of diffraction data available from each crystal. Both HLA crystals and protein were in short supply, and HLA crystals are very thin (~20 microns).
Shape Feature Extraction

In this paper we present a method for automatic extraction of shape features, called crest lines. Shape features are important because they provide an alternative to describing an object, using its most important characteristics and reduce the amount of information stored. The algorithm is comprised of a curvature approximation technique, crest point classification and a crest lines tracing algorithm.
Innovation, Dynamic Capabilities, and Leadership:

The world in which today’s businesses operate has become not only riskier but also more volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Organizations that hew too closely to traditional ways of...