cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Using NASA remote sensing data for coastal monitoring in the northern Gulf of Mexico: a case study

The coastal region comprising the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas is frequently impacted by meteorological events such as frontal passages and hurricanes. The region is also influenced by the Mississippi river, which is seventh largest in terms of water and sediment discharge among the major rivers of the world that strongly influences the physical and biogeochemical properties in the northern Gulf of Mexico. NASA remote sensing data such as winds from QuikSCAT, sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) from Jason-1, ocean color and sea surface temperature (SST) from MODIS satellite sensors were assessed during the period that Hurricane Rita made landfall on 24 September 2005 along the Louisiana-Texas border in the western Gulf of Mexico. QuikSCAT winds revealed the northwestward movement of the hurricane and gradients in the distribution of wind speed around the hurricane center. Altimeter data indicated changes in pattern of the SSH anomaly field and a displacement of the warm and cold core eddies following the hurricane. Although limited by cloud cover, the MODIS 8-day average chlorophyll imagery obtained before and after the hurricane indicated an offshore displacement of higher chlorophyll concentrations while the MODIS 250 m resolution true color imagery showed high levels of suspended particulate matter in the impacted coastal region. MODIS SST indicated a cooling of the surface waters around and east of the track following Hurricane Rita. The use of multiple remote sensing products provided better insights of the oceanographic response to Hurricane Rita.
From Aural Reception to Visual Paratext: The Reader in the Manuscripts of Chrétien de Troyes’s Romances

Like the romance reader in Le Chevalier au Lion (Roques 1960/1982, ll. 5358–5368), the reader of Chretien de Troyes’s romances lives on in the manuscripts. Bridging the gap that estranges us from the irrecoverable medieval audience member, the manuscript remains the most reliable witness to the reception of Chretien’s works. Departing from the premise that circumstantial and material features of manuscript transmission of medieval literature conditioned the reader’s mode of reception, this examination of major author-based thirteenth-century romance collections of Chretien’s romances suggests that the transition from aural to ocular reading moved alongside subtle yet significant changes in manuscript transmission. Following the chronology of the production of these collections, this essay focuses particularly on codicological features (such as, content, format, text, and page layout) and paratextual elements (such as, bookmarks, incipits, titles, rubrics, running headlines, and marginalia found on the manuscripts) to evince the figure of the reader that the manuscripts of Chretien de Troyes contextualized.
CO-ANIMATION OF AND RESISTANCE TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF WITNESS, VICTIM, AND PERPETRATOR IDENTITIES IN FORENSIC INTERVIEWS WITH CHILDREN

This article examines how the interrelated identities of witness, victim, and perpetrator are co-constructed in forensic interviews occurring after allegations of child sexual abuse are made. Work related to issues of power in the area of forensic interviews with children tends to focus on coerciveness, and interviewers have power relative to children in interviews. Children seem to be aware of the consequences of being co-constructed as victims, and their interactions with the interviewer reveal this awareness. Children may resist being constructed as agentively responsible for actions. They may co-construct themselves as resistant to events within the account being co-animated. However, when children demonstrate resistance to the interview process itself, they can affect the co-construction of their identities as both witnesses and victims in turn affecting the co-construction of the identity of perpetrator. Children, then, as authors and co-animators of the accounts being generated, display power in th...
The effects of direct and hydrodynamic forces on macromolecular diffusion

Abstract A rigorous treatment of the N-particle Smoluchowski—Einstein equation by Ackerson is extended to incorporate more exact hydrodynamics, including the zero-velocity-of-approach-at-contact constraint due to stick boundary conditions, and is reformulated to give a more transparent result. In the absence of hydrodynamic interactions, the N-particle treatment differs from the result of conventional irreversible thermodynamics by the correction factor (1-c2 V 2), due to neglect of solvent—solute interactions. For dilute hard-spheres in the long-wavelength limit, the effect of the contact constraint is to eliminate all contributions of direct and hydrodynamic forces to the diffusion coefficient, apart from backflow and solvent—solute correction terms. It is shown how the alternate approximate treatments of Phillies and Lee and Schurr can be obtained rigorously in the long-wave length limit. However, a critical assumption in those theories is seen to fail at large wavevector. For dilute solutions of macromolecules interacting by long-range repulsive forces, it may still be concluded that hydrodynamic interactions always oppose the direct forces, but never reverse the sign of the correction term.
Transforming growth factor-β in in vivo resistance

The potential role of transforming growth factor-beta in in vivo resistance was examined by administration of transforming growth factor-beta-neutralizing antibodies to animals bearing the EMT-6/Parent tumor or the antitumor alkylating resistance tumors, EMT-6/CTX or EMT-6/CDDP. Treatment of tumor bearing animals with anti-TGF-beta antibodies by intraperitoneal injection daily on days 0-8 post-tumor cell implantation increased the sensitivity of the EMT-6/Parent tumor to cyclophosphamide (CTX) and cisplatin (CDDP) and markedly increased the sensitivity of the EMT-6/CTX tumor to CTX and the EMT6/CDDP tumor to CDDP, as determined by tumor cell survival assay. Bone marrow granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming units (CFU-GM) survival was determined from these same animals. The increase in the sensitivity in the tumors upon treatment with the anti-TGF-beta antibodies was also observed in increased sensitivity of the bone marrow CFU-GM to CTX and CDDP. Treatment of non-tumor-bearing animals with the anti-TGF-beta regimen did not alter blood ATP or serum glucose level but did decrease serum lactate levels. This treatment also decreased hepatic glutathione, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase in non-tumor bearing animals by 40-60% but increased hepatic cytochrome P450 reductase in these normal animals. Animals bearing the EMT-6/CTX and EMT-6/CDDP tumors had higher serum lactate levels than normal or EMT-6/Parent tumor-bearing animals; these were decreased by the anti-TGF-beta regimen. Treatment of animals bearing any of the three tumors with the anti-TGF-beta regimen decreased by 30-50% the activity of hepatic glutathione S-transferase and glutathione peroxidase, and increased by 35-80% the activity of hepatic cytochrome P450 reductase. In conclusion, treatment with transforming growth factor-beta-neutralizing antibodies restored drug sensitivity in the alkylating agent-resistant tumors, altering both the tumor and host metabolic states.
Basic inferences of scientific reasoning, argumentation, and discovery

Helping students better understand how scientists reason and argue to draw scientific conclusions has long been viewed as a critical component of scientific literacy, thus remains a central goal of science instruction. However, differences of opinion persist regarding the nature of scientific reasoning, argumentation, and discovery. Accordingly, the primary goal of this paper is to employ the inferences of abduction, retroduction, deduction, and induction to introduce a pattern of scientific reasoning, argumentation, and discovery that is postulated to be universal, thus can serve as an instructional framework to improve student reasoning and argumentative skills. The paper first analyzes three varied and presumably representative case histories in terms of the four inferences (i.e., Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons, Rosemary and Peter Grants' research on Darwin's finches, and Marshall Nirenberg's Nobel Prize–winning research on genetic coding). Each case history reveals a pattern of reasoning and argumentation used during explanation testing that can be summarized in an If/then/Therefore form. The paper then summarizes additional cases also exemplary of the form. Implications of the resulting theory are discussed in terms of improving the quality of research and classroom instruction. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed94:336–364, 2010
The Elastic Rod Model for DNA and Its Application to the Tertiary Structure of DNA Minicircles in Mononucleosomes

Explicit solutions to the equations of equilibrium in the theory of the elastic rod model for DNA are employed to develop a procedure for finding the configuration that minimizes the elastic energy of a minicircle in a mononucleosome with specified values of the minicircle size N in base pairs, the extent w of wrapping of DNA about the histone core particle, the helical repeat h(0)b of the bound DNA, and the linking number Lk of the minicircle. The procedure permits a determination of the set Y(N, w, h(0)b) of integral values of Lk for which the minimum energy configuration does not involve self-contact, and graphs of writhe versus w are presented for such values of Lk. For the range of N of interest here, 330 < N < 370, the set Y(N, w, h(0)b) is of primary importance: when Lk is not in Y(N, w, h(0)b), the configurations compatible with Lk have elastic energies high enough to preclude the occurrence of an observable concentration of topoisomer Lk in an equilibrium distribution of topoisomers. Equilibrium distributions of Lk, calculated by setting differences in the free energy of the extranucleosomal loop equal to differences in equilibrium elastic energy, are found to be very close to Gaussian when computed under the assumption that w is fixed, but far from Gaussian when it is assumed that w fluctuates between two values. The theoretical results given suggest a method by which one may calculate DNA-histone binding energies from measured equilibrium distributions of Lk.
Heart Disease and Aging

Age-related changes in the cardiovascular system, overt and occult cardiovascular disease, and reduced physical activity affect cardiovascular function in elderly persons [1]. With aging, there is a loss of myocytes in the left and right ventricles, with a progressive increase in myocyte cell volume per nucleus in both ventricles [2]. With aging, there also is a progressive reduction in the number of pacemaker cells in the sinus node, with 10% of the number of cells present at age 20 remaining at age 75 [3]. There is a progressive loss of myocytes and hypertrophy of the remaining myocytes with aging. The maximal heart rate, maximal cardiac output, and maximal VO2 decrease progressively with aging. The maximal stroke volume may be maintained or decreased with aging. Systemic vascular resistance is increased with aging [1]. With aging, left ventricular (LV) stiffness is increased, LV compliance is decreased, systolic blood pressure is increased, LV wall thickness is increased, early LV diastolic filling is decreased with a greater contribution to LV filling resulting from left atrial systole, and LV relaxation is impaired. The increase in LV diastolic dysfunction with aging predisposes elderly persons to develop congestive heart failure (CHF) with normal LV ejection fraction [1].
Saúde pública e direitos humanos

O artigo discute questoes envolvendo programas e politicas de Saude Publica e o respeito aos direitos humanos. Avalia ate que ponto se deve zelar pela saude publica sem interferir nos direitos individuais das pessoas quando ha a necessidade. por exemplo, de conter epidemias como a da AIDS. Chama a atencao para a omissao das politicas de Saude Publica em relacao as populacoes mais pobres. o que caracterizaria tambem uma violacao dos direitos humanos, na medida em que todos devem ter igual acesso a saude. Evoca a Declaracao Universal dos Direitos do Homem e propoe que se faca uma avaliacao de impacto das politicas de Saude Publica sobre os direitos humanos, na tentativa de promover, dessa forma, a melhoria tanto da qualidade da Saude Publica quanto da sensibilidade desta em relacao aos direitos humanos.
The relationship between sensitivity and integral accuracy further comments on optimum tip angle and relaxation delay for quantitative analysis

An evaluation of the relationship between signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) and integral accuracy, as a function of tip angle and relaxation delay, shows that the SIN decreases with increasing integral accuracy. At the expense of a slight decrease in integral accuracy, a substantial increase in SIN can be realized, and a procedure is presented for selecting the appropriate tip angle and relaxation delay.
Endogenous glucocorticoids protect against TNF-alpha-induced increases in anxiety-like behavior in virally infected mice

Endogenous glucocorticoids restrain proinflammatory cytokine responses to immune challenges such as viral infection. In addition, proinflammatory cytokines induce behavioral alterations including changes in locomotor/exploratory activity. Accordingly, we examined proinflammatory cytokines and open-field behavior in virally infected mice rendered glucocorticoid deficient by adrenalectomy (ADX). Mice were infected with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), and open-field behavior (36 h post-infection) and plasma concentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6 (42 h post-infection) were assessed. Compared to sham-ADX-MCMV-infected animals, ADX-MCMV-infected mice exhibited significant reductions in total distance moved, number of center entries, and time spent in center. These behavioral alterations were accompanied by significantly higher plasma concentrations of TNF-alpha and IL-6, both of which were correlated with degree of behavioral change. To examine the role of TNF-alpha in these behavioral alterations, open-field behavior was compared in wild-type (WT) and TNF-R1-knockout (KO), ADX-MCMV-infected mice. TNF-R1-KO mice exhibited significantly attenuated decreases in number of rearings, number of center entries and time spent in center, but not distance moved, which correlated with plasma IL-6. Given the potential role of brain cytokines in these findings, mRNA expression of TNF-alpha, IL-1 and IL-6 was assessed in various brain regions. Although MCMV induced increases in proinflammatory cytokine mRNA throughout the brain (especially in ADX animals), no remarkable differences were found between WT and TNF-R1-KO mice. These results demonstrate that endogenous glucocorticoids restrain proinflammatory cytokine responses to viral infection and their impact on locomotor/exploratory activity. Moreover, TNF-alpha appears to mediate cytokine-induced changes in open-field behaviors, especially those believed to reflect anxiety.
Thermal Transport in Suspended and Supported Monolayer Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition

Graphene monolayer has been grown by chemical vapor deposition on copper and then suspended over a hole. By measuring the laser heating and monitoring the Raman G peak, we obtain room-temperature thermal conductivity and interface conductance of (370 + 650/−320) W/m K and (28 + 16/−9.2) MW/m2 K for the supported graphene. The thermal conductivity of the suspended graphene exceeds (2500 + 1100/−1050) W/m K near 350 K and becomes (1400 + 500/−480) W/m K at about 500 K.
Quantitative assessment of FGF regulation by cell surface heparan sulfates

Heparin/heparan sulfate-like glycosaminoglycans (HSGAGs) modulate the activity of the fibroblast growth factor (FGF) family of proteins. Through interactions with both FGFs and FGF receptors (FGFRs), HSGAGs mediate FGF-FGFR binding and oligomerization leading to FGFR phosphorylation and initiation of intracellular signaling cascades. We describe a methodology to examine the impact of heparan sulfate fine structure and source on FGF-mediated signaling. Mitogenic assays using BaF3 cells transfected with specific FGFR isoforms allow for the quantification of FGF1 and FGF2 induced responses independent of conflicting influences. As such, this system enables a systematic investigation into the role of cell surface HSGAGs on FGF signaling. We demonstrate this approach using cell surface-derived HSGAGs and find that distinct HSGAGs elicit differential FGF response patterns through FGFR1c and FGFR3c. We conclude that this assay system can be used to probe the ability of distinct HSGAG species to regulate the activity of specific FGF-FGFR pairs.
Perceived somatic response inventory: Three scales developed by factor analysis

Studies of autonomic reactivity and of voluntary control of autonomic responses have suggested the importance of individual differences. An inventory of scales was developed to improve the assessment of different dimensions of somatic functioning. In order to enhance their specificity and incremental validity, the scales were constructed to be relatively independent of already known general personality variables such as Stress Reaction (neuroticism), Locus of Control, Hypochondriasis, and Absorption. Three scales, derived from orthogonal factor analyses, were developed and cross-validated: (1) Autonomic Response Frequency, assessing spontaneous fluctuations in autonomic responding; (2) Autonomic Response to Stress, assessing the amount of autonomic arousal perceived by a subject in stress situations; and (3) Somatic Response Control, a self-report measure of capacity to control both autonomic and fine muscle responses. The hypothesis that sympathetic and parasympathetic awareness might define two distinct dimensions was not supported by the data. The new scales will be useful in testing hypotheses of possible relationships among the factors measured and behavioral and psychophysiological indicators of the response to stress.
Effect of food toxicants on voluntary wheel running in rats.

Voluntary wheel running in rats in reaction to a dietary deficiency of iron or food toxicants of natural ( dioscin ) and environmental ( cadmium ) origins was used to develop a behavioral model by which rapid detection of food contaminants was accomplished following induction of spontaneous activity by techniques of feed restriction. High levels of volun tary wheel running in reference controls were followed by significant de pressions in running activity in animals fed the dietary toxicants. Analyses of blood and liver tissues and depressions of testes size confirmed the presence of the insults to metabolism. J. Nutr. 109: 767-772, 1979.
Notions of integral input-to-state stability

The input-to-state stability (ISS) property is a nonlinear version of stability with respect to the uniform norm. The paper introduces two variations of the ISS concept, to allow consideration of integrals when measuring the magnitude of an input or of a state trajectory. It is proved that one of the two properties is strictly weaker than ISS and the other one is equivalent to ISS.
β-Myosin Heavy Chain Gene Mutations in Familial Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy The Usual Suspect?

Familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (FHC) is a genetic disorder arising from mutations in sarcomeric protein genes. Human genetic studies have implicated at least 9 different genes in FHC, emphasizing the enormous genetic and allelic heterogeneity associated with FHC.1 β-Myosin heavy chain (βMyHC, MYH7 ) is the most commonly mutated gene in FHC, and at least 60 different MYH7 gene mutations have been described in human FHC subjects.2 The vast majority of these are single base pair mutations that produce missense amino acid substitutions. Myosin is a hexamer composed of 2 heavy chains and 2 each of the regulatory and essential light chains (see Figure). Myosin is a highly asymmetric protein with a long rod domain and 2 globular heads. The globular domain of myosin, heavy meromyosin (HMM), can be proteolyzed into subfragment 1 (S1) and subfragment 2 (S2). The S1 head is the enzymatic “business” end of the molecule in that it possesses actin-activated ATPase activity and is capable of directing the sliding of actin filaments in vitro. The crystal structure of S1 has been determined, shedding light on the potential conformational changes that occur in response to ATP hydrolysis and that ultimately are responsible for myocyte shortening, skeletal muscle movement, and the beating of our hearts.3 Myosin was one of the first proteins to be purified and proteolytically separated into distinct functional domains contributing to the domain theory of proteins. Similarly for human genetic studies, the domain structure of myosin has proved useful because all the reported missense mutations in βMyHC map to the head and neck region, a region of the rod most proximal to the globular head. Within the S1 head, FHC mutations cluster to …
The Use of Predictive Dependencies in Language Learning

To what extent is linguistic structure learnable from statistical information in the input? This research investigated the role played by statistical learning in the acquisition of rudimentary phrase structure. One type of statistical cue which might assist in the discovery of hierarchical phrase structure given serially presented input is the dependencies, or predictive relationships, present between form classes within phrases. In order to determine whether learners can use this statistical information, adult and child participants were exposed to an artificial language which contained predictive dependencies as a cue to phrase structure. The results suggest that humans possess statistical learning mechanisms which may assist in the acquisition of this abstract component of natural language. ©Academic Press 2001
On measuring and evaluating synchronization and virtual memory performance of a multiprocessor with multistage interconnection network

Two important system effects on a multiprocessor with multistage interconnection network are studied and examined: the critical section and barrier for synchronization, and processor locality and virtual memory computing for memory management. Several synchronization algorithms using the interconnection network have been evaluated and implemented. The performance of these algorithms has been measured and compared through several numerical examples. Parallel computing makes a new type of locality, called processor locality which requires that data references to memory from a single processor. The issue of processor locality on the interconnection network has been investigated experimentally. The virtual memory computing effects are measured and evaluated on the multiprocessor system. All the experiments and measurements have been done on the BBN GP1000, a shared-memory multiprocessor with multistage interconnection network. >
Creating a power-aware structured ASIC

In an attempt to enable the cost-effective production of low-and mid-volume application-specific chips, researchers have proposed a number of so-called structured ASIC architectures. These architectures represent a departure from traditional standard-cell-based ASIC designs in favor of techniques which present more physical and structural regularity. This paper presents circuits which provide power-performance exibility in this regular, structured ASIC environment. These circuits, which employ gate sizing and voltage scaling for energy efficiency, enable delay-constrained power optimization to be performed for structured ASIC designs.
Relationship Management: Secure collaboration in a ubiquitous environment

Intel recently engaged in an experiment that focused on local identity management. Researchers developed a relationship management module that runs on various devices. Using RM, groups of people can securely share documents, text messages, and other electronic media.
Spontaneous Pattern Formation from Focused and Unfocused Ion Beam Irradiation

We study the formation and self-organization of “ripples” and “dots” spontaneously appearing during uniform irradiation of Si, Ge, and GaSb with energetic ion beams. Features have been produced both with sub-keV unfocused Ar+ ions and with a 30 keV Ga+ Focused Ion Beam. We follow the evolution of features from small amplitude to “nanospikes” with increasing ion dose. It appears that the edge of the sputtered region influences the patterns formed, an effect that may make it possible to guide the self-organization by the imposition of lateral boundary conditions on the sputter instability.
Naturally Occurring TAP-Dependent Specific T-Cell Tolerance for a Variant of an Immunodominant Retroviral Cytotoxic T-Lymphocyte Epitope

Upon immunization and restimulation with tumors induced by the endogenous AKR/Gross murine leukemia virus (MuLV), C57BL/6 mice generate vigorous H-2K b -restricted cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses to a determinant (KSPWFTTL) derived from the p15E transmembrane portion of the viral envelope glycoprotein. By contrast, the highly homologous determinant RSPWFTTL, expressed by tumor cells induced by Friend/Moloney/Rauscher (FMR) MuLV, is not immunogenic, even when presented to the immune system as vaccinia virus-encoded cytosolic or endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-targeted minigene products. Such minigene products are usually highly immunogenic since they bypass the need for cells to liberate the peptide or transport the peptide into the ER by the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP). Using KSPWFTTL-specific CTLs that cross-react with RSPWFTTL, we previously demonstrated that presentation of RSPWFTTL from its natural viral gene product is TAP dependent. Here, we show first that C57BL/6 mice express mRNA encoding RSPWFTTL but not KSPWFTTL and second that the ER-targeted RSPWFTTL minigene product is highly immunogenic in C57BL/6 mice with a targeted deletion in TAP1. These findings provide the initial demonstration of TAP-dependent tolerance induction to a specific self peptide and demonstrate that this contributes to the differential recognition of RSPWFTTL and KSPWFTTL by C57BL/6 mice.
Growth and voltinism of lotic midge larvae: Patterns across an Appalachian Mountain basin

The intluence of thermal regime upon community-level growth rates and voltinism was estimated for larval Chironomidae inhabiting litter accumulations in four streams located in an Appalachian Mountain basin. Groups of larvae were confined in growth chambers and incubated in situ at time intervals representing the observed range of annual thermal variation. Estimates of daily growth rates (g) were derived from change in average length over the incubation period. Using multiple regression, I found temperature and larval size to have significant positive and negative effects on g, respectively. Equations derived for each stream described a substantial proportion of the variance among observed g values (X2 = 0.7 l-0.82) but did not differ significantly. Therefore, the data from all streams were combined to derive a single general equation which, along with larval size distribution, biomass, and temperature data, was used to model the variation in annual biomass turnover(G) and hypothetical size-dependent voltinism among the study streams. Size distribution of larvae did not differ significantly among streams and variation in G (range = 12.8-18.6) was attributed primarily to variation in thermal regime. Differences in voltinism were predicted to be minor but were closely dependent on both terminal size of larvae and thermal regime. The model provides evidence that spatial variation of G on the order of 31% can be expected for midge communities within a < 30 km2 area of this Appalachian Mountain basin.
ARE ETHICISTS ANY MORE LIKELY TO PAY THEIR REGISTRATION FEES AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS

Lists of paid registrants at Pacific Division meetings of the American Philosophical Association from 2006–2008 were compared with lists of people appearing as presenters, commentators or chairs on the meeting programme those same years. These were years in which fee payment depended primarily on an honour system rather than on enforcement. Seventy-four per cent of ethicist participants and 76% of non-ethicist participants appear to have paid their meeting registration fees: not a statistically significant difference. This finding of no difference survives scrutiny for several possible confounds. Thus, professional ethicists seem no less likely to free-ride in this context than do philosophers not specializing in ethics. These data fit with other recent findings suggesting that on average professional ethicists behave no morally better than do professors not specializing in ethics.
The effect of nicotinamide on gene expression in a traumatic brain injury model

Microarray-based transcriptional profiling was used to determine the effect of nicotinamide on gene expression in an experimental traumatic brain injury (TBI) model. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was used to evaluate the effect on relevant functional categories and canonical pathways. At 24 h, 72 h, and 7 days, respectively, 70, 58, and 76%, of the differentially expressed genes were up-regulated in the vehicle treated compared to the sham animals. At 24 h post-TBI, there were 150 differentially expressed genes in the nicotinamide treated animals compared to vehicle; the majority (82%) down-regulated. IPA analysis identified a significant effect of nicotinamide on the functional categories of cellular movement, cell-to-cell-signaling, antigen presentation and cellular compromise, function, and maintenance and cell death. The canonical pathways identified were signaling pathways primarily involved with the inflammatory process. At 72 h post-cortical contusion injury, there were 119 differentially expressed genes in the nicotinamide treated animals compared to vehicle; the majority (90%) was up-regulated. IPA analysis identified a significant effect of nicotinamide on cell signaling pathways involving neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, growth factors, and ion channels with little to no effect on inflammatory pathways. At 7 days post-TBI, there were only five differentially expressed genes with nicotinamide treatment compared to vehicle. Overall, the effect of nicotinamide on counteracting the effect of TBI resulted in significantly decreased number of genes differentially expressed by TBI. In conclusion, the mechanism of the effect of nicotinamide on secondary injury pathways involves effects on inflammatory response, signaling pathways, and cell death.
Interleukin-12 Is the Optimum Cytokine To Expand Human Th17 Cells In Vitro

Recently, a new lineage of CD4+ T cells in humans and in mice has been reported. This T helper cell secretes interleukin-17 (IL-17) and has been defined as T helper 17 (Th17). Th17 cells express the IL-23 receptor (IL-23R) and play an important pathogenic role in different inflammatory conditions. In this study, our aim was to characterize the optimum conditions for isolation and propagation of human peripheral blood Th17 cells in vitro and the optimum conditions for isolation of Th17 clones. To isolate Th17 cells, two steps were taken. Initially, we negatively isolated CD4+ T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of a normal human blood donor. Then, we isolated the IL-23R+ cells from the CD4+ T cells. Functional studies revealed that CD4+ IL-23R+ cells could be stimulated ex vivo with anti-CD3/CD28 to secrete both IL-17 and gamma interferon (IFN-γ). Furthermore, we expanded the CD4+ IL-23R+ cells for 1 week in the presence of anti-CD3/CD28, irradiated autologous feeder cells, and different cytokines. Our data indicate that cytokine treatment increased the number of propagated cells 14- to 99-fold. Functional evaluation of the expanded number of CD4+ IL-23R+ cells in the presence of different cytokines with anti-CD3/CD28 revealed that all cytokines used (IL-2, IL-7, IL-12, IL-15, and IL-23) increased the amount of IFN-γ secreted by IL-23R+ CD4+ cells at different levels. Our results indicate that IL-7 plus IL-12 was the optimum combination of cytokines for the expansion of IL-23R+ CD4+ cells and the secretion of IFN-γ, while IL-12 preferentially stimulated these cells to secrete predominately IL-17.
Nutrigenomics, Rumen-Derived Bioactive Fatty Acids, and the Regulation of Milk Fat Synthesis

Mammary synthesis of milk fat continues to be an active research area, with significant advances in the regulation of lipid synthesis by bioactive fatty acids (FAs). The biohydrogenation theory established that diet-induced milk fat depression (MFD) in the dairy cow is caused by an inhibition of mammary synthesis of milk fat by specific FAs produced during ruminal biohydrogenation. The first such FA shown to affect milk fat synthesis was trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid, and its effects have been well characterized, including dose-response relationships. During MFD, lipogenic capacity and transcription of key mammary lipogenic genes are coordinately down-regulated. Results provide strong evidence for sterol response element-binding protein-1 (SREBP1) and Spot 14 as biohydrogenation intermediate responsive lipogenic signaling pathway for ruminants and rodents. The study of MFD and its regulation by specific rumen-derived bioactive FAs represents a successful example of nutrigenomics in present-day animal nutrition research and offers several potential applications in animal agriculture.
Probing strategies for distributed admission control in large and small scale systems

The aim of this article is to propose and analyse measurement-based admission control schemes. We distinguish between large-scale and small-scale systems, where scale is measured in the number of concurrent applications that can run simultaneously. For large scale systems, we show that simple end-user probing strategies, based on ECN-type feedback provided by the network, achieve a good utilisation/quality trade-off. We explicitly take account of feedback delay, and use limiting results for assessing performance. We illustrate the benefits of using ECN-type feedback rather than relying on loss. For small-scale systems, the previous strategies are no longer adequate and we propose alternative, more gradual probing strategies.
Managing BPO Service Workers in India: Examining Hope on Performance Outcomes

Much attention has been given to the explosion in business process outsourcing (BPO) operations in India. Little concern, however, has been paid to the performance of Indian service workers in these fast-paced and sometimes turbulent environments. Using a sample of 160 service workers from a privately held BPO firm in India, we examine the relationship between Indian service workers’ hope and their performance outcomes. Regression and structural equation model analyses indicated a significant positive relationship between Indian service workers’ lev els of hope and their performance. These promising results highlight the importance of measuring and managing employee hope to maximize employee productivity and performance. By effectively developing and managing levels of employee hope, Indian BPO firms can effectively combat employee problems such as attrition, stress, and burnout that have plagued the BPO industry. Hope may also help mitigate the influence of aspects of Indian culture on human resource man agement practices in Indian BPOs.
Day of injury CT scan as an index to pre-injury brain morphology

This study compared the ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR) of the day-of-injury (DOI) computerized tomogram (CT) in traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients with post-injury (2 months or greater) magnetic resonance (MR) VBRs in the same patients and in medical control subjects. The DOI VBR did not differ significantly from the medical controls, but both (DOI and medical control VBR) differed significantly from post-injury VBR. Additionally, a case study is presented wherein MR imaging studies were obtained prior to TBI so that a direct comparison of pre-injury to DOI to post-injury changes could be made. In this case the pre-injury and DOI VBRs were within approximately 9% of each other. In contrast, the post-injury VBR demonstrated over a 100% increase in comparison to either the pre-injury or DOI scan. This case and another case are illustrated using three-dimensional image analysis to represent ventricular change over time. These cases, along with the similarity of the DOI VBR with the medical controls, sugg...
Significance of internal mammary lymph nodes in patients after mastectomy with tissue-expander reconstruction: a case-control study.

Aim To retrospectively assess the frequency of internal mammary lymph nodes (IMNs) in patients after mastectomy and tissue-expander reconstruction. Materials and methods Statistical analysis was performed for all available data in patients with mastectomy and tissue-expander reconstruction from 2004–2007 (study group). The data were compared with that of a control population with mastectomy who did not have reconstruction (control group). Patients with recurrent breast cancers, previous breast reconstruction, surgeries performed at outside hospitals, no available pre- or postoperative computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, or inadequate imaging follow-up were excluded. Results There were eight patients in the study group (median age 50.5 years, seven breast cancers), and eight patients in the control group (median age 52 years, seven breast cancers). No patients had IMNs on their preoperative imaging examinations. New IMNs were present in postoperative imaging in seven of eight patients (7/8, 87.5%) in the study group. All of them were stable or decreased in size on subsequent imaging examinations. None of the patients in the control group had IMNs (0/8). Conclusion IMNs are common on imaging after mastectomy and tissue-expander placement. The IMNs decreased or remained stable on follow-up imaging and may represent reactive nodes.
Inconvenient facts about pathological amyloid fibrils.

Mass per-length measurements of Alzheimer's amyloid fibrils, now reported in a recent issue of PNAS (1), contradict the conviction that such fibrils should be constructed with an integral number of molecules in their ≈4.7-A axial repeat period, which is the signature periodicity of the amyloid cross-β structure. Solid-state NMR spectra of various pathological amyloids show that their cross-β spines are built from layers of parallel in-register β-strands (2), which requires an integral number of identically bonded molecules per layer. Schmidt et al. (1) count close to 2½ Aβ molecules per layer in a single protofilament form of the 42-residue Alzheimer's Aβ peptide and in protofilaments of two distinct double-stranded forms of the more common 40-residue Aβ peptide; their image reconstructions from electron cryomicrographs suggest similar morphology for the different protofilaments. Where is the fractional molecule?
Data Mashups for Situational Applications

Situational applications require business users to create combine, and catalog data feeds and other enterprise data sources. Damia is a lightweight enterprise data integration engine inspired by the Web 2.0 mashup phenomenon. It consists of (1) a browser-based user-interface that allows for the specification of data mashups as data flow graphs using a set of Damia operators specified by programming-by-example principles, (2) a server with an execution engine, as well as (3) APIs for searching, debugging, executing and managing mashups. Damia provides a base data model and primitive operators based on the XQuery Infoset. A feed abstraction built on that model enables combining, filtering and transforming data feeds. This paper presents an overview of the Damia system as well as a research vision for data-intensive situational applications. A first version of Damia realizing some of the concepts described in this paper is available as a webserivce [17] and for download as part of IBM’s Mashup Starter Kit [18].
Comfort levels of nursing students regarding clinical assignment to a patient with AIDS.

Abstract For educators, preparing nursing students for the care of persons with AIDS is an important responsibility. A review of the literature suggests that many nursing students are fearful of occupational transmission of HIV and that educational interventions may improve the students' attitudes toward caring for patients with AIDS. The author administered Form A of the Nursing Care Comfort scale to a sample of 122 baccalaureate students. Findings revealed variations in comfort levels relative to specific nursing skills.
Outcome Measures in Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Trauma. 2nd ed.

Paul B. Pynsent, Jeremy C.T. Fairbank, and Andrew J. Carr, editors. New York: Oxford University Press; 2004. 381 pages. $98.50. This effort was spearheaded by the director of the Research and Teaching Centre at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and by two well-known and experienced clinical researchers from Oxford, United Kingdom. Outcome Measures in Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Trauma, 2nd ed., is the combination of these editors' two previously published efforts: Outcome Measures in Orthopaedics (1993) and Outcome Measures in Trauma (1994). The object of the newer, combined book is to “provide references to sources of instruments and techniques that are used for outcome measurement in orthopaedics and trauma and to advise on the optimum choice of instrument.” The book is directed toward medical staff who work in orthopaedic and trauma units. The first five …
The Anisotropic Friction Characteristics of Crystalline Materials: A Review

A thorough understanding of friction mechanisms is needed for the successful development of future microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). Standard macro as well as advanced micro/nano friction experiments are reviewed, which address anisotropic friction characteristics of crystalline materials such as polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) used for MEMS devices. Theoretical studies that predict these characteristics using the fundamentals of mechanics, thermodynamics, and associated molecular dynamics simulations are also reviewed. Results are discussed in light of our current understanding of fundamental friction mechanisms developed from both a macrotribological standpoint as well as a micro/nanotribological standpoint. The important roles of crystal orientation and grain boundaries in determining the magnitude of friction are considered.
Existence and Uniqueness of Interpolating Rational Functions

(1962). Existence and Uniqueness of Interpolating Rational Functions. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 69, No. 8, pp. 751-759.
Analysis on risk factors of overweight and obesity among primary school children in certain unban district in Chongqing

Objective To explor risk factors of overweight and obesity among children in 2 primary schools in certain unban district in Chongqing,and provide basis for overweight and obesity prevention and control. Methods A crosssectional survey with stratified cluster sampling method was carried out in a urban district. 511 students and their parents in 2 primary schools were randomly selected. Height,body weight,waist circumference and blood pressure were measured for all these students. General information,diet behaviors and habits and physical activities for children was obtained by student questionnaire. Results The prevalence of overweight and obesity were 10. 57% and 10. 18%. The result of logistic multifactors regression analysis showed that influence factors were gender,school type,eating speed and birth weight. Male(OR = 2. 427,95% CI: 1. 444- 4. 077),urban school( OR = 2. 537,95% CI: 1. 578- 4. 079),fast eating( OR = 2. 013,95% CI: 1. 183- 3. 424) and high birth weight( OR = 3. 344,95% CI: 2. 098- 5. 331) were the risk factors. Conclusion The results in our study indicate that it is necessary to pay attention to effective methods for overweight and obesity control and prevention among children and adolescents.
Asynchronous Nested Parallelism for Dynamic Applications in Distributed Memory

Nested parallelism is of increasing interest for both expressivity and performance. Many problems are naturally expressed with this divide-and-conquer software design approach. In addition, programmers with target architecture knowledge employ nested parallelism for performance, imposing a hierarchy in the application to increase locality and resource utilization, often at the cost of implementation complexity. While dynamic applications are a natural fit for the approach, support for nested parallelism in distributed systems is generally limited to well-structured applications engineered with distinct phases of intra-node computation and inter-node communication. This model makes expressing irregular applications difficult and also hurts performance by introducing unnecessary latency and synchronizations. In this paper we describe an approach to asynchronous nested parallelism which provides uniform treatment of nested computation across distributed memory. This approach allows efficient execution while supporting dynamic applications which cannot be mapped onto the machine in the rigid manner of regular applications. We use several graph algorithms as examples to demonstrate our library's expressivity, flexibility, and performance.
Usurping the usable past: How Fox News remembered the Great Depression during the Great Recession:

This article examines how Fox News’ top-rated programs attempted to reshape the ‘collective memory’ of the Great Depression during the Great Recession. In their retelling of the Depression’s histor...
Fracture mechanics concepts, stress fields, strain energy release rates, delamination initiation and growth criteria

Publisher Summary When two or more materials are combined to form a material with improved functionality, such a material is termed as a composite material. Composite materials usually exhibit the best qualities of their constituents and qualities that neither of the constituents possesses. One of the most common failure modes of composite structures is delamination between plies. Delamination is a crack that forms between adjacent plies. The plies on either side of the delamination can have different fiber orientations. A complete understanding of composite delamination requires an appreciation for the fundamental principles of fracture mechanics and how these principles have been extended from the original concepts developed for isotropic materials to include the anisotropy typically present in composite materials. These extensions include the complexities of oscillatory singularities that occur for interface cracks in anisotropic media, and how these singularities are resolved for delamination growth prediction. Full implementation of Interlaminar Fracture Mechanics [“ILFM―] in design requires development of composite delamination codes to calculate strain energy release rates and advancements in delamination growth criteria under mixed mode conditions for residual strength and life prediction.
Architecture-level thermal behavioral models for quad-core microprocessors

In this paper, we study a new architecture level thermal modeling problem from behavioral modeling perspective to address the emerging thermal related analysis and optimization problems for high-performance quad-core microprocessor designs. We propose a new approach to build the thermal behavioral models by using transfer function matrix from the measured thermal and power information at the architecture level. The new method builds behavioral thermal model using generalized pencil-of-function (GPOF) method, which was developed in the communication community to build the rational modeling from the measured data of real-time systems. To effectively model transient temperature changes, we propose two new schemes to improve the GPOF. First we apply logarithmic-scale sampling instead of traditional linear sampling to better capture the temperature changing characteristics. Second, we modify the extracted thermal impulse response such that the extracted poles from GPOF are guaranteed to be stable without accuracy loss. Experimental results on a practical quad-core microprocessor show that generated thermal behavioral models match the measured data very well.