cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Assessment of the CFTR and ENaC association.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is one of the most common lethal genetic disorders. It results primarily from mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (cftr) gene. These mutations cause inadequate functioning of CFTR, which in turn leads to the severe disruption of transport function in several epithelia across various organs. Affected organs include the sweat glands, the intestine, and the reproductive system, with the most devastating consequences due to the effects of the disease on airways. Despite aggressive treatment, gradual lung failure is the major life limiting factor in patients with CF. Understanding of the exact manner by which defects in the CFTR lead to lung failure is thus critical. In the CF airway, decreased chloridesecretion and increased salt absorption is observed. The decreased chloridesecretion appears to be a direct consequence of defective CFTR; however, the increased salt absorption is believed to result from the failure of CFTR to restrict salt absorption through a sodium channel named the epithelial Na+ channel, ENaC. The mechanism by which CFTR modulates the function of ENaC proteins is still obscure and somewhat controversial. In this short review we will focus on recent findings of a possible direct CFTR and ENaC association.
Controlling information display in larger pixel spaces: a study of window snipping by multiple-monitor users

We evaluate snip, a region-based window operation, in the context of multiple-monitor usage. Snip allows users to restrict the view of any window to a specified subregion. For example snip is suitable for displaying appropriate reference information, a task of increased importance on multiple-monitor systems. Our field study results indicate that everyday multiple-monitor users employed snip to show more windows simultaneously than without snip and favored a specific monitor on which to show snipped windows. In short, the field study demonstrated an expected space-efficiency gain by using snip in multiple-monitor environments.
Effects of stepwise variation of albedo on reflectivity and transmissivity of an isotropically scattering slab

Abstract The reflectivity and transmissivity of an isotropically scattering plane-parallel slab with stepwise variation of the single scattering albedo within the medium are determined for an isotropically incident radiation. Tabulated results, covering a wide range of albedos, are presented.
Wafer Bonding of CdZnTe / Si Structures

In this work, we demonstrate the transfer of Cd0.96Zn0.04Te layers to Si substrates by both bond and etch back and by ion exfoliation techniques. The (211)A face was employed for the bonding face to expose the pre-ferred (211)B face for subsequent HgCdTe growth. SiN intermediate lay-ers were used to facilitate the bond process. For the bond-and-etch proc-ess, 10 mm CdZnTe layers were transferred to silicon substrates. For ion-exfoliated layers, layers of 0.3 - 1 μm were transferred. The low level of implant-induced strain in the rpe-exfoliated layer is consistent with results from other materials. After transfer, these structures exhibited no strain and exhibited high crystal quality (as determined by double crystal x-ray topography and triple axis x-ray diffraction).
Oviposition Habits of Trichogramma minutum on Artificial Concentrations of Eggs of the European Pine Shoot Moth

Pupae of the European pine shoot moth, Rhyacionia buoliana (Schiffenmiiller), were placed in 18/inch-mesh screen cages attached to red pine branches. The eggs produced by the resulting moths were examined for relationships between egg-mass size and location on needles, to parasitism by Trichogramma minutum Riley and occurrence of nondevelopment. From 1 to 18 eggs were laid at each site; eggs were laid singly at 40% of the sites, and at 93% of the sites 5 eggs or fewer were laid. The rate of parasitism was 30% in egg masses with 4 eggs each, and was progressively lower in masses with more or fewer eggs. T. minutum oviposited in every egg in masses of 2-5 eggs 20% more frequently than would be expected if oviposition were random. Most eggs (87%) were deposited on the concave surface of needles. Nondevelopment of eggs was most common in eggs laid singly and in those laid on the convex surface of the pine needles.
Blooms of surf-zone diatoms along the coast of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington. XI. Regeneration of ammonium in the surf environment by the Pacific razor clam Siliqua patula

A 20 month field study was conducted on ammonium excretion rates of the Pacific razor clam Siliqua patula Dixon along the beaches of Washington State, USA. Excretion rates of all those nutrients likely to be regenerated in sufficient quantity to affect surf diatom growth were measured; ammonium appeared to be the most important metabolite. Excretion of ammonium by razor clams far exceeded that by other beach fauna. Ammonium excretion rates of razor clams were positively correlated with shell length, but no correlation between ammonium excretion rate and water temperature was evident. This may be an artifact or may represent some degree of seasonal acclimation of the species to temperature. Weight-specific ammonium excretion rates were negatively related to clam size, indicating a possible large (and unknown) contribution of regenerated ammonium by smaller clams in their first year of growth; smaller clams were rarely captured during this study.
Neutral gas transport calculations for ITER

In modeling the neutral transport in the edge plasma for tokamak divertor design, geometry can play as important a role as the plasma density and temperature profiles. We have developed a novel interface between the neutral transport code, DEGAS, and CAD images of the tokamak and magnetic field geometry, which provides an accurate representation of the wall geometry for neutral transport modelling. In addition to superior spatial resolution of the vessel geometry, the interface allows subset regions of special interest to be selected out for modeling and permits the wall geometry to be readily modified by point and click techniques. Neutral transport results for the two divertor geometries under consideration for ITER, the gas bag design and the v-shaped target design, are presented.
Advantages and disadvantages of pregnancy and contraception: Teenagers' perceptions

Research has shown that teenagers' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of pregnancy and contraception are significant predictors of pregnancy risk taking. This analysis examines the content and determinants of these cost-benefit sets, using data from 425 sexually active adolescents. The results indicate that teens' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of pregnancy and contraception are neither strongly nor systematically related to each other. Moreover, the determinants of the four cost-benefit sets are varied, although there is some overlap between sets. Explanations of these findings and implications for future research and for the delivery of family planning services to teenagers are suggested.
Factor analysis as a tool for data analysis

The use of factor analysis in analyzing real data is influenced not only by mathematical models but also by the objectives of the research at hand, the amount of data to be analyzed and the departures of the data from the model. Factor analysis is a process performed in several steps, including data screening and assessment of assumptions necessary for the model as well as the actual computations—the new analyst may need assistance in deter-mining the initial method of extraction, how many factors to request, the method of rotation and how to interpret the factors— these steps are discussed with reference to figures containing computer output for a real problem. The importance of auxiliary information and graphical displays to aid the statistician during the factor analysis process is stressed.
Effects of Background Noise on Communication in a Collaborative Team Environment

Many command and control operations involve complex collaborative tasks that cannot be successfully completed without effective team communication. However, the ability to communicate efficiently in these tasks is often compromised by environmental factors, such as the presence of ambient noise. In this study, we attempted to quantify the effect that ambient noise might have on the completion of team tasks in an airborne conference room, where there is a severe cost and weight penalty for the noise countermeasures used to achieve each additional decibel of attenuation. Rather than relying on current ambient noise standards, which are based solely on point-to-point word intelligibility, we chose to base our measurement on a collaborative team “communicability” task that required subjects to achieve a consensus on the ordering of four random faces in each of eight labeled columns. Completion time in the task was measured with and without visual line-of-sight in three levels of ambient noise (55dBA, 70dBA & ...
Smoking cessation interventions for patients with heart disease

Smoking is major risk factor for cardiovascular disease; 40% of cardiovascular deaths are attributed to smoking.1 For individuals who have been smokers and who experience a cardiac event, quitting reduces the risk of a recurrent event by 50%.1 In July 1996, Kaiser Permanente-Colorado implemented the MULTIFIT cardiac rehabilitation and risk reduction program. The MULTIFIT program is a nurse case managed, home based model with risk reduction interventions for smoking cessation, diet management, exercise, and lipid management with drug treatment. It is the result of a research study which took place from 1988 to 1991 conducted by Stanford University and Northern California Kaiser Permanente.2Candidates of the program include individuals recently hospitalised for …
Lacunar Skull Deformity Related to Intelligence in Children with Myelomeningocele and Hydrocephalus

It has been suggested that the presence of lacunar skull deformity in infants with myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus is indicative of later lowered intelligence and therefore is a useful criterion in early selection for treatment. In the present study, retrospective investigations were made of the clinical records and skull X-rays of 169 surviving children who had been admitted immediately after birth with myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus to the Children's Hospital, Sheffield. Adequate X-rays were available for 131 of the children, of whom 97 per cent exhibited some degree of lacunar skull deformity. At five years of age or older, the 131 children were tested on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. The differences in mean IQ between the various degrees of severity were not large, and it was found that 82 per cent of children with the most severe degree of lacunar skull deformity had IQs above 70. These findings do not support the use of lacunar skull deformity as an important measure in selection for treatment of children with myelomeningocele and hydrocephalus.
An Agent-Oriented Logic for Belief and Trust

The newly envisioned Semantic Web contains as a component what may be called a Web of Trust, consisting of the trust relationships held between its participants. In terms of this, the degree to which participant A believes what is believed by participant B depends on the degree to which A trusts B. This paper presents a formal language with well-defined semantics within which such a participant (or agent) can express the relevant conditions of belief and trust, and outlines some key techniques for reasoning with these expressions. Novel in this treatment is the use of linguistic, rather than numeric, measures of belief. The aim in this is to make the language and reasoning system more intuitive for the human user. Also novel is an explicit delineation of the context within which the language and reasoning techniques are to be applied.
Interview with Dr Badrinath Konety

Badrinath Konety received his undergraduate training in science at St Joseph's College, Bangalore University, India. He went on to earn his MBBS at the MS Ramaiah Medical College of Bangalore University. Konety was a research fellow with the UCSF Department of Urology at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center prior to completing his medical training at the University of Pittsburgh with residencies in General Surgery and Urology. Following his residency training, Konety was an AFUD Research Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Urology and Cancer Institute, concurrently studying business and receiving a MBA from the University of Pittsburgh Katz School of Business. Konety completed his medical education at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as Chief Clinical Fellow. Konety joined UCSF from the University of Iowa where he was Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics. Konety has authored or co-authored ...
In vitro studies of the effect of intermittent compressive forces on cartilage cell proliferation.

Intermittent compressive (IC) forces (96 mm Hg, 0.3 Hz) inhibit by 35–60% the serum stimulated increase in ornithine decarboxylase activity (ODC) in chick embryo epiphyseal cartilage cells and rat chondrosarcoma cells. IC had no effect on mouse fibroblast L-cells ODC. The dose-response pattern of the IC effect indicated an all-or-none response with a threshold at 80 mm Hg, a pressure roughly equivalent to the in vivo weight bearing force. The km of the cartilage cell ODC, measured at four hours, was about 0.1 mM and was not affected by IC. The Vmax, on the other hand, was significantly reduced by IC which is consistent with less enzyme or non-competitive inhibition. IC also produced a significant increase in cAMP levels in both cartilage explants and isolated cells in the presence and absence of serum and a significant reduction in 3H-thymidine incorporation into DNA. The findings show that cellular cAMP, on one hand, and ODC and DNA synthesis, on the other hand, change in opposite directions following exposure to serum and/or IC. Investigation of the IC effect on DNA synthesis in serum-deprived synchronized cartilage cells revealed that IC reduced the number of cells going into S but did not lengthen the G1 phase. Exposure to IC early in G1 (0–13 hours) produced the full effect, whereas IC application between 13 to 24 hours (pre S) had no effect. IC had no effect on 3H-thymidine incorporation in L-cells.
Genetic and Environmental Sources of Variation in Heart Rate Response to Infused Nicotine in Twins

The heart rate response to nicotine may be an important component of the process leading to dependence. The present study is the first to determine the extent to which genetic and environmental sources play a role in various components of the heart rate response. One hundred and ten monozygotic and 29 dizygotic twin pairs received an i.v. infusion of nicotine and cotinine over 30 min. Before, during, and for 30 min after infusion, heart rate was measured via an electronic monitor. The clearance of nicotine was determined as a measure of the rate of nicotine metabolism. Average resting heart rate before infusion was 64.7 beats per minutes (bpm), and at the termination of infusion, heart rate had increased to an average of 72.7 bpm. At 30 min after infusion, heart rate had decreased to 67.5 bpm. Age, current smoking status, body mass index, and nicotine clearance were associated significantly with heart rate levels over the full 60 min of measurement. After adjustment for several covariates, including dose of administered nicotine and rate of nicotine clearance, the variance in several characteristics of the heart rate response curve was examined for the relative contribution from genetic and environmental sources. In the total sample, as much as 30.3% of the variance in the acceleration of heart rate was due to additive genetic sources. In nonsmokers, 34.8% and 31.0% of variance in the acceleration and deceleration of heart rate, respectively, was due to genetic sources. Heart rate acceleration and deceleration may be a reflection of central nervous system responsiveness to nicotine. The contribution from genetic sources to heart rate response characteristics should be investigated further as a potential endophenotype for use in genetic studies of nicotine dependence.
Firm, Purplish-Red Nodular Mass in the Hard Palate

A jL JL 55-year-old man with a 50pack-year history of smoking and heavy use of alcohol had shortness of breath, fatigue, and weakness. At his first hospital admission, one year pre­ viously, amyloidosis with congestive heart failure, sick sinus syndrome, and peripheral neuropathy were diag­ nosed and documented by rectal, lymph node, and pulmonary biopsy examinations. The patient received several units of packed red cells to cor­ rect a low hematocrit level. A review of bone marrow aspirate slides suggested that the patient could be suffering from pure red cell hypoplasia. The patient was discharged two days after admis­ sion with a prescription of Prednisone, 40 mg orally every morning, in addi­ tion to other medications. Frequent transfusions of packed red cells al­ lowed the patient to be followed on an outpatient basis. At the follow-up ex­ amination, a hyperpigmented, indu­ rated plaque and a nodular lesion were noted on the patient’s left leg (Fig 1). A biopsy specimen of the leg lesion was suggestive of Kaposi’s sarcoma; how­ ever, pyogenic granuloma could not be ruled out. A repeat biopsy examina­ tion was performed. Several bluish, nodular masses of unknown duration with surrounding swelling were also present in the palate (Fig 2, 3). Biop­ sies of these oral lesions were also done. Oral and skin lesions of another patient are shown in Figures 4-6. Diagnosis
Sustainable digital infrastructure

Modern society is built upon information and communications technologies that have permeated all aspects of our lives. Industries including e-commerce, healthcare, media, and finance are all dependent on network access to data and media services for their daily operations. Taken together, the hardware, software, and organizations that work together to provide network access, data storage, computation resources, and digital services constitute an information and communications infrastructure (ICI). As is the case with any true societal lifeline, ICI must be adaptable and available to changes and demands; and it must be energy-efficient and sustainable. It is this second requirement that will be the focus of my talk. In particular, I will begin by providing a broad definition of sustainability followed by a review of technology, system, and software solutions needed to achieve sustainable ICI.
The Future of Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)

: MEMS-based products produced in 2005 had a value of $8bn, 40% of which was sensors. The balance was for products that included micromachined features, such as ink jet print heads, catheters and RF IC chips with embedded inductors. Growth projections follow a hockey stick curve, with the value of products rising to $40bn in 2015 and $200bn in 2025! Growth to date has come from a combination of technology displacement, as exemplified by automotive pressure sensors and airbag accelerometers and new products, such as miniaturised guidance systems for military applications and wireless tire pressure sensors. Much of the growth in MEMS business is expected to come from products that are in the early stages of development or yet to be invented. Some of these devices include disposable chips for performing assays on blood and tissue samples, which are now performed in hospital laboratories, integrated optical switching and processing chips, and various RF communication and remote sensing products.The key to enabling the projected 25-fold growth in MEMS products is development of appropriate technologies for integrating multiple devices with electronics on a single chip. At present, there are two approaches to integrating MEMS devices with electronics. Either the MEMS device is fabricated in polysilicon, as part of the CMOS wafer fabrication sequence or a discrete MEMS device is packaged with a separate ASIC chip. Neither of these approaches is entirely satisfactory, though, for building the high-value, system-on-chip products that are envisioned. It is this author's opinion that a combination of self-assembly techniques in conjunction with wafer stacking, offer a viable path to realizing ubiquitous, complex MEMS systems.
Advanced techniques for maintaining reliability of complex computer systems

Complex computer systems often involve complex coordination among distributed components that are susceptible to failure and reconfiguration during normal execution. New advanced techniques are required for maintaining the reliability of complex computer systems; traditional techniques used in conventional systems are based on assumptions that are invalid in complex computer systems. These advanced techniques permit complex interactions and exploit the semantics of complex applications to improve the efficiency of concurrency and recovery from failure. During failure recovery, global consistency is maintained by automatically analyzing dependencies among operation executions that are defined in terms of properties of the behavioral model. By analyzing application behavior, this technique provides the benefit of efficient recovery to a consistent intermediate state and reduces loss of computation or external work.
The Effects of Extended Work on Multi‐Dimensional Judgments of a Manufacturing Process

The literature suggests that extended work periods are associated with performance decrements on a variety of analytical tasks such as, numeric manipulation, logical reasoning, and search and recognition. However, little empirical research has been conducted examining the effects of extended work regimes on inference tasks. The present study investigated the effects of an extended computerized work regime on inferential and analytical task performance. Statistically significant performance accuracy decrements on an inference task were observed, while no significant accuracy decrements on analytical task performance were found. These results are evaluated in the context of the time-at-work explanation for decrements found in extended performance research.
Did Max Weber's Agony and Ecstasy Influence His Scholarship?

When exploring the intellectual history of a discipline, one cannot help but wonder about the “real” person behind the scholarship. To what extent do personal life experiences inﬂ uence a scholar’s theories, conceptualizations, and expectations? Max Weber, the German scholar whose intellectual curiosity was, at least partially, inspired by strong personal anxieties, became one of the most inﬂ uential social scientists of the twentieth century. His own intellectual and personal obsessions, along with the eﬀ orts of his wife and colleagues to present his work to a larger audience, had much to do with who he was, as well as the body of scholarship that he created.Joachim Radkau.
'Twixt the Cup and the Lip': Field Notes on the Way to Print

Typically—very typically—fledgling African historians launch their careers by engaging in a bout of fieldwork, sometimes in archives, but more often on location among a group of people whose activities have somehow captured their interest. Almost as typically, this work in the field then becomes the principal source for historians' future published work, which often never proceeds beyond the bounds set by the initial fieldwork. In this process of course the data accumulated in the field—field notes—become, possibly over and over again, the primary sources for this subsequent work. In some ways this process is not particularly different from that undertaken by other historians who use printed sources more heavily. There are differences, though, not the least of which is that these orally derived field notes grow stale with the passing of time and cannot be revivified as easily as archival notes. Moreover, of course, far more often than not, field notes are never allowed to escape into the public domain, whereas archival sources are usually already there when the historian sets about using them. What were once laboriously handwritten notebooks, and then audio tapes are now more likley to be 3.5″ diskettes, but otherwise they are as jealously guarded in the 1990s as they were in the 1950s. Indeed, perhaps moreso, in that the usable lifespan of a diskette is likely to be significantly less than that of the notebook, if not of the audio tape. In short, in perhaps twenty years posterity will find itself forced to rely on the published products—maybe yet in paper format?—rather than on the raw data which once underpinned them. In the circumstances, it might be worth considering once again the implications of this, with reference to a particular instance of respectable vintage.
Silencing of the IKKε gene by siRNA inhibits invasiveness and growth of breast cancer cells

Introduction IκB kinase e (IKKe) is a member of the IKK family that plays an important role in the activation of NF-κB. Overexpressed in more than 30% of breast cancers, IKKe has been recently identified as a potential breast cancer oncogene. The purpose of the present study is to examine the therapeutic potential of IKKe siRNA on human breast cancer cells.
Recent Developments in Engineering Design Research

Engineering design is that phase of the product realization process which, given the output of what is commonly called ‘industrial design’, adds the information needed for manufacturing a product. That is a lotof information. The industrial designers essentially provide only a marketing concept for a product, including some usually incomplete and vague requirements of the market. Manufacturing, of course, requires complete information about the material, dimensions, and tolerances for every part, as well as how the parts are to be assembled into a product. Thus, the amount of information about a product that is added in the engineering design phase is huge - and the product’s cost and quality are extremely sensitive to the decisions made during engineering design.
Social and Political Foundations of Constitutions: South Sudan’s Dualistic Constitution

In a seven-day referendum held in January 2011, 98.8 percent of Southern Sudanese voters elected to sever Southern Sudan’s ties with the Republic of Sudan and form an independent nation. With the referendum, the Southern Sudanese people gave themselves the right to decide for themselves the core principles that would underlie their new sovereignty. One of the prerogatives of this sovereignty was adopting a new constitution. In contrast to the populist exercise that enabled South Sudan’s independence, the country’s first constitution was developed and shaped largely by two very different influences: international constitutional models and the political priorities of leaders within the dominant domestic party. It is unsurprising that an important political process would lack meaningful, broad public participation in a country whose parent is notorious for its autocratic rule and abysmal human rights. But what makes South Sudan’s constitution noteworthy is its dualistic structure. That is, the two influences – international models and domestic politics – primarily operated on one of the constitution’s two discrete components, namely, the bill of rights and the structural provisions, respectively. With a few key exceptions, the bill of rights replicates an international template reflecting an emerging global consensus on human rights. In contrast, the document’s structural provisions, although certainly not untouched by external influence, have largely been crafted to advance the priorities of the drafters. Some of these provisions flout both democratic and liberal values, making them quite incongruous with the structural provisions of model democratic countries, such as South Africa, Canada, and Germany. Because of this arrangement, domestic officials and participating foreign consultants can point to their successes in helping codify important human rights, while party and government officials enjoy the fruits of their structural power play.
Fighting for the American Dream: perceptions of homeowners on accessibility of homeownership programs

Homeownership represents a considerable source of investment, upward mobility, and intergenerational transfer of resources and has, therefore, been labeled as the American Dream. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to discuss Community Development Corporations (CDCs), Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), and Faith-based CDCs and examine the perception of homeowners on the aforementioned programs. Two hundred out of 400 homeowners elected to participate in this quantitative study. The results revealed several statistically significant findings regarding the perceptions of homeowners on homeownership programs.
CD1 and Tuberculosis

This chapter reviews the immunobiology of CD1 and its potentially important role in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Importantly, CD1 is expressed on dendritic cell (DC) within granulomas from patients with both M. tuberculosis and M. leprae infections, although the role of DC in granuloma formation and maintenance is unclear. One of the hallmarks of M. tuberculosis bacteria is the capacity to survive within the intracellular environment. A significant increase in CD1c-restricted Tcell proliferation was observed in the tuberculosis group compared to the purified protein derivative (PPD)-negative control group. Interestingly, patients with clinically active pulmonary tuberculosis showed no significant response to lipid antigens or whole bacterial sonicates. Lipid-immunized guinea pigs challenged with virulent M. tuberculosis via aerosol administration exhibit reduced pulmonary pathology compared to negative control animals. M. tuberculosis bacilli possess one of the more unusual cell walls in the bacterial kingdom, with many of the lipid molecules being unique to this genus. A more thorough understanding of how CD1 antigen presentation fits into the overall host immune response to infection may lead to novel interventional therapies and improved vaccine formulations for tuberculosis and other infectious diseases.
The Role of Laboratory Supervision in Improving the Quality of Malaria Diagnosis: A Pilot Study in Huambo, Angola

Abstract In 2006, the Angolan National Malaria Control Program introduced clinical guidelines for malaria case management, which included diagnostic confirmation of malaria before administration of treatment; however, diagnostic practices were inconsistent and of unknown quality. In 2009, a laboratory supervision program was implemented in Huambo Province, with the goal of assessing and improving diagnosis of malaria within the confines of available in-country resources. Supervisions were carried out from 2009 to 2014 using a standardized supervision tool by national laboratory trainers. Data from the first supervision were compared with that from the final supervision. Over the study period, the number and level of training of laboratory technicians increased, and there was a nonstatistically significant trend toward improved laboratory conditions. There was a significant reduction in false-positive microscopy slide reading (P = 0.0133). Laboratory infrastructural capacity to diagnose other communicable diseases, including syphilis, human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis B virus infections (P = 0.0012, 0.0233 and 0.0026, respectively), also improved significantly. Laboratory supervision for malaria diagnosis found significant areas for improvement, and in combination with concurrent capacity-building activities, it improved the diagnostic capacity for malaria and other diseases. Importantly, this study demonstrates that locally available resources can be used to improve the accuracy of malaria diagnosis.
Femtosecond laser processing of transparent materials for assembly-free fabrication of photonic microsensors

In this paper, we summarize our recent research progresses on the understanding, design, fabrication, characterization of various photonic sensors for energy, defense, environmental, biomedical and industry applications. Femtosecond laser processing/ablation of various glass materials (fused silica, doped silica, sapphire, etc.) will be discussed towards the goal of one-step fabrication of novel photonic sensors and new enabling photonic devices. A number of new photonic devices and sensors will be presented.
Adaptive Hot-Spot Cooling of Integrated Circuits Using Digital Microfluidics

Thermal management is becoming an increasingly important issue in integrated circuit (IC) design. The ability to cool ICs is quickly reaching a limit with today’s package-level solutions. While a number of novel cooling methods have been introduced, many of which are microfluidic approaches, these methods are unable to adaptively address the uneven thermal profiles and hot-spots generated in high performance ICs. In this paper, we present a droplet-based digital microfluidic cooling system for ICs that can adaptively cool hot-spots through real-time reprogrammable flow. This paper characterizes the effectiveness of microliter-sized droplets for cooling by determining the heat transfer coefficient of a droplet shuttling back and forth in an open system over a hot-spot at various speeds. Cooling is found to be significantly enhanced at higher flow rates of droplets. In order to further enhance cooling, the effect of varying droplet aspect ratio (width/height) in a confined system was also studied.Copyright © 2005 by ASME
Cystic Leukoencephalopathy with Normocephaly

A new syndrome of nonprogressive encephalopathy with normo- or microcephaly and early onset of psychomotor impairment is described in 15 children, in a report from the University of Gottingen and other centers in Europe and the US.
Enterostatin efflux in cat intestinal lymph: relation to lymph flow, hyaluronan, and fat absorption

The question addressed in this study was whether enterostatin, the pancreatic procolipase activation peptide, modulates intestinal hyaluronan turnover via lymph. In anesthetized cats, segments of ileum were surgically isolated from the proximal and distal gut, the draining lymphatic was cannulated, and the segment was autoperfused in situ. In several groups, concentrations of immunoreactive enterostatin in lymph were compared with that in plasma at baseline and elevated lymph flow and in the absence and presence of fat absorption. The baseline ratio of lymph enterostatin to that in plasma (L/P) in the absence of fat absorption was 1.44 +/- 0.29 compared with 4.93 +/- 0.42 after cream feeding (P < 0.05). In a separate group, when the intestinal lumen was perfused for 2 h with a mixture of oleic acid and taurocholate, enterostatin L/P doubled compared with baseline. At high lymph flows, enterostatin concentrations fell in all groups, resulting in an L/P of 0.47 +/- 0.09 (P < 0.05) in the absence of fat absorption, 0.77 +/- 0.35 after oleic acid, and 1.26 +/- 0.13 in the cream-fed group. These changes correlate with the pattern of hyaluronan efflux from the ileum into lymph after fat absorption [R.K. Reed, M.I Townsley, V.H. Pitts, T.C. Laurent, and A.E. Taylor. Am. J. Physiol, 263 (Gastrointest. Liver Physiol. 26): G6-G11, 1992] However, in separate groups when enterostatin was introduced into ileum, either as a close intra-arterial bolus or via the intestinal lumen, there were no resultant changes in efflux of hyaluronan from the intestine into lymph. In conclusion, despite the fact that delivery of pancreatic exocrine secretions to the ileal lumen was blocked in this model, enterostatin concentration in lymph increased after fat absorption. Nonetheless, it seems clear that enterostatin does not modify intestinal hyaluronan turnover.
Development Disparities in Himachal Pradesh, 1991-2001: A District Level Analysis

During the past six decades, perceptible development has taken place across various regions in India. Not withstanding all these achievements, issue of uneven development has reared its ugly head more often than expected. This disparate development achievement has, led to serious socio-economic and political ramifications. Himachal Pradesh has become a quintessence of success of development planning for the mountain areas of the Indian subcontinent. This article attempts to sketch out different levels of development at a disaggregated level of districts during 1991-2001. The findings clearly brought out that the process of development has been more favourable to high hill districts as compared to mid and low hill districts. The tribal districts have witnessed spectacular development during this period. While the overall disparities in development across the districts appear to be on a 'converging mode', those with respect to some of the individual indicators were found to be 'diverging'. For instance, while the disparities in development with respect to industrialization, health facilities, sex ratio. etc. appear to have grown, those for education. per capita income, etc. have come down during the study period. Thus, there is a need to apply corrective policy interventions with respect to these indicators so as to have equitable development across districts.
Retinal Diseases Caused by Mutations in Genes Not Specifically Associated with the Clinical Diagnosis

Purpose When seeking a confirmed molecular diagnosis in the research setting, patients with one descriptive diagnosis of retinal disease could carry pathogenic variants in genes not specifically associated with that description. However, this event has not been evaluated systematically in clinical diagnostic laboratories that validate fully all target genes to minimize false negatives/positives. Methods We performed targeted next-generation sequencing analysis on 207 ocular disease-related genes for 42 patients whose DNA had been tested negative for disease-specific panels of genes known to be associated with retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, or exudative vitreoretinopathy. Results Pathogenic variants, including single nucleotide variations and copy number variations, were identified in 9 patients, including 6 with variants in syndromic retinal disease genes and 3 whose molecular diagnosis could not be distinguished easily from their submitted clinical diagnosis, accounting for 21% (9/42) of the unsolved cases. Conclusion Our study underscores the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of retinal disorders and provides valuable reference to estimate the fraction of clinical samples whose retinal disorders could be explained by genes not specifically associated with the corresponding clinical diagnosis. Our data suggest that sequencing a larger set of retinal disorder related genes can increase the molecular diagnostic yield, especially for clinically hard-to-distinguish cases.
Clinical Approach for Patient-Centered Physical Activity Assessment and Interventions

Background A physical activity algorithm for adults was created with the aim of reducing patients' barriers for physical activity by providing healthcare professionals with a standardized process to guide clinical discussions on physical activity to reduce the risk of chronic diseases, specifically cancer. Objectives The physical activity algorithm was designed as an applicable process that could be adopted in many professional settings with the mission to provide relevant, safe, and appropriate physical activity interventions. Methods A multidisciplinary team designed a physical activity algorithm that incorporated guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. Findings The algorithm is a road map for nurses or physicians to provide evidence-based recommendations, knowledge of physical activity importance, and personalized exercise prescriptions for chronic disease risk reduction and to improve quality of life in a target population.
Nanoridge Arrays for Integrated and Free-Space Nonlinear Optical Applications

We report on the characterization of nanoridge array waveguides consisting of silicon, Al2O3, and SiO2. We determine the loss of these devices using ring resonators and measure enhanced third-harmonic generation from similarly patterned silicon surfaces.
Accuracy is in the eyes of the pathologist

Display Omitted Pathologists reviewed digital whole slide images and rendered diagnoses.During interpretation, eye movements and image navigation behavior were recorded.Pathologist experience positively predicted accuracy.Case characteristics and eye movement patterns interactively predicted accuracy.Higher zooming behavior predicted diagnostic over-interpretation. Digital whole slide imaging is an increasingly common medium in pathology, with application to education, telemedicine, and rendering second opinions. It has also made it possible to use eye tracking devices to explore the dynamic visual inspection and interpretation of histopathological features of tissue while pathologists review cases. Using whole slide images, the present study examined how a pathologists diagnosis is influenced by fixed case-level factors, their prior clinical experience, and their patterns of visual inspection. Participating pathologists interpreted one of two test sets, each containing 12 digital whole slide images of breast biopsy specimens. Cases represented four diagnostic categories as determined via expert consensus: benign without atypia, atypia, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and invasive cancer. Each case included one or more regions of interest (ROIs) previously determined as of critical diagnostic importance. During pathologist interpretation we tracked eye movements, viewer tool behavior (zooming, panning), and interpretation time. Models were built using logistic and linear regression with generalized estimating equations, testing whether variables at the level of the pathologists, cases, and visual interpretive behavior would independently and/or interactively predict diagnostic accuracy and efficiency. Diagnostic accuracy varied as a function of case consensus diagnosis, replicating earlier research. As would be expected, benign cases tended to elicit false positives, and atypia, DCIS, and invasive cases tended to elicit false negatives. Pathologist experience levels, case consensus diagnosis, case difficulty, eye fixation durations, and the extent to which pathologists eyes fixated within versus outside of diagnostic ROIs, all independently or interactively predicted diagnostic accuracy. Higher zooming behavior predicted a tendency to over-interpret benign and atypia cases, but not DCIS cases. Efficiency was not predicted by pathologist- or visual search-level variables. Results provide new insights into the medical interpretive process and demonstrate the complex interactions between pathologists and cases that guide diagnostic decision-making. Implications for training, clinical practice, and computer-aided decision aids are considered.
Hydroxyl radical formation and soluble trace metal content in particulate matter from renewable diesel and ultra low sulfur diesel in at-sea operations of a research vessel

Reactive oxygen species, including hydroxyl radicals generated by particles, play a role in both aerosol aging and PM2.5 mediated health effects. We assess the impacts of switching marine vessels f...
Abstract IA21: Opportunities for integration of PDX models into clinical trials

Patient-derived xenograft models (PDX) provide opportunities to evaluate efficacy, pharmacodynamics, response durability, and resistance mechanisms in greater details than traditionally possible with sampling of patient tumors. When PDX models are integrated with patients enrolled in clinical trials, or treated with novel agents, there are opportunities to interrogate aspects of cancer biology not traditionally evaluable, while maintaining clinical relevance. This presentation will explore the strengths and limitations of the models, with examples on how these models are being integrated into clinical trials, validation efforts, and novel insights derived from this approach. The concept of a co-clinical trial has been variously defined, including a definition proposed by the NCI as parallel or sequential trials of combination therapy in patients and in mouse and human-in-mouse models of appropriate genotypes to represent the patients. This concept is being extended for PDX models to incorporate tumor models derived from the same patients participating in the clinical trial, both with a goal of improving translational interrogation of the novel agent efficacy as well as emerging efforts to use the PDX models to guide patient therapy. Validation of the PDX models for treatment response/regression will be demonstrated, including recently completed clinical trials utilizing inhibitors of BRAF and MEK with a comparison of the response of the matched PDX models to radiographic measurements from the treated patients. Cohort based validation will be demonstrated through examples with EGFR targeted therapy and comparison to randomized clinical trial results. Limitations of these approaches will be described. PDX models from clinical trials have been demonstrated to model and replicate mechanisms of resistance in some settings, and examples from colorectal and lung cancer will be used to demonstrate this. Resistance of lung cancer to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors is being explored on PDXs obtained from post-progression biopsies. Tumor heterogeneity as a mechanism of resistance has been successfully modeled in BRAF-mutant colorectal cancer, and has been integrated into prospective clinical trials. Finally, efforts to integrate PDX models as predictors of treatment response are described. These include efforts to use matched PDX models to guide treatment decisions in patients as part of prospective clinical trials. Regulatory, logistic, and biologic limitations of such efforts will be discussed. Citation Format: Scott Kopetz. Opportunities for integration of PDX models into clinical trials. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Patient-Derived Cancer Models: Present and Future Applications from Basic Science to the Clinic; Feb 11-14, 2016; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2016;22(16_Suppl):Abstract nr IA21.
Isotope effect for cation diffusion in CoO

The simultaneous diffusion of 55Co and 60Co has been measured in CoO as a function of equilibrium oxygen pressure in the range 10−9 < po2 < 1 atm at 1200°C. The slope of the log D∗Co vs logpo2 plot changes from a value of about 14 at high po2 to about 15 at low po2, in agreement with the extensive measurements of Dieckmann. The isotope effect is independent of po2, which suggests that diffusion by defect clusters, interstitial Co ions and impurity-induced defects is not important in the present measurements. Conductivity, diffusion, stoichiometry and isotope-effect results are consistent with diffusion by neutral, singly charged, and doubly charged vacancies; the relative contributions from the various vacancies varies with po2.
Abstract WP276: Drag Reducing Polymers Based Resuscitation Fluid Improves Cerebral Microcirculation After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Hemorrhagic Shock

Introduction: Hemorrhagic shock (HS), causing arterial hypotension, often occurs after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Current resuscitation fluids do not ameliorate the impaired cerebral microvascul...
Physical activity and fiber prevented diverticular disease in men

Source Citation Aldoori WH, Giovannucci EL, Rimm EB, et al. Prospective study of physical activity and the risk of symptomatic diverticular disease in men. Gut. 1995 Feb;36:276-82.