cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Palmitoylation regulates glutamate receptor distributions in postsynaptic densities through control of PSD95 conformation and orientation

Postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95) and synapse-associated protein 97 (SAP97) are homologous scaffold proteins with different N-terminal domains, possessing either a palmitoylation site (PSD95) or an L27 domain (SAP97). Here, we measured PSD95 and SAP97 conformation in vitro and in postsynaptic densities (PSDs) using FRET and EM, and examined how conformation regulated interactions with AMPA-type and NMDA-type glutamate receptors (AMPARs/NMDARs). Palmitoylation of PSD95 changed its conformation from a compact to an extended configuration. PSD95 associated with AMPARs (via transmembrane AMPAR regulatory protein subunits) or NMDARs [via glutamate ionotropic receptor NMDA-type subunit 2B (GluN2B) subunits] only in its palmitoylated and extended conformation. In contrast, in its extended conformation, SAP97 associates with NMDARs, but not with AMPARs. Within PSDs, PSD95 and SAP97 were largely in the extended conformation, but had different orientations. PSD95 oriented perpendicular to the PSD membrane, with its palmitoylated, N-terminal domain at the membrane. SAP97 oriented parallel to the PSD membrane, likely as a dimer through interactions of its N-terminal L27 domain. Changing PSD95 palmitoylation in PSDs altered PSD95 and AMPAR levels but did not affect NMDAR levels. These results indicate that in PSDs, PSD95 palmitoylation, conformation, and its interactions are dynamic when associated with AMPARs and more stable when associated with NMDARs. Altogether, our results are consistent with differential regulation of PSD95 palmitoylation in PSDs resulting from the clustering of palmitoylating and depalmitoylating enzymes into AMPAR nanodomains segregated away from NMDAR nanodomains.
CD117 (KIT) is a useful marker in the diagnosis of plasmablastic plasma cell myeloma.

Aims Plasmablastic plasma cell myeloma (PPCM) is a rare morphological presentation of multiple myeloma, and can resemble plasmablastic lymphoma (PBL), a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related lymphoid neoplasm, morphologically and immunophenotypically. The aim of this study was to retrospectively search for factors that could help to differentiate these two entities. Methods and results We used clinical looking glass, a data mining tool, to identify patients with a diagnosis of either PPCM or PBL with a CD117 test performed. We identified 27 cases from 16 patients in our institution with a diagnosis of either PPCM or PBL. There were 14 cases of PBL from eight patients and 13 cases of PPCM from eight patients. We found that six of eight patients with PPCM were positive for CD117, whereas no patients with PBL (0/8) showed positivity (P = 0.007 for patients). All (8/8) PPCM patients had a paraproteinaemia, whereas only two of eight PBL patients had a paraproteinaemia (P = 0.007). Lytic bone lesions were more indicative of a PPCM, with six of eight patients showing these lesions, and only one of eight PBL patients showing these lesions (P = 0.0406). HIV status was more likely to be positive in PBL patients, with six of seven patients showing positivity, and only one of five PPCM patients showing positivity (P = 0.072). Epstein–Barr virus-encoded RNA in-situ hybridization did not differentiate these two entities, with seven of eight PBL patients showing positivity, and two of five PPCM patients showing positivity (P = 0.2168). Conclusions This study reveals that CD117 can be a useful marker to help differentiate PPCM from PBL and give the patient an appropriate prognosis and options for treatment.
Tracking dynamics of photoreceptor disc shedding with adaptive optics-optical coherence tomography

Absorption of light by photoreceptors initiates vision, but also leads to accumulation of toxic photo-oxidative compounds in the photoreceptor outer segment (OS). To prevent this buildup, small packets of OS discs are periodically pruned from the distal end of the OS, a process called disc shedding. Unfortunately dysfunction in any part of the shedding event can lead to photoreceptor and RPE dystrophy, and has been implicated in numerous retinal diseases, including age related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. While much is known about the complex molecular and signaling pathways that underpin shedding, all of these advancements have occurred in animal models using postmortem eyes. How these translate to the living retina and to humans remain major obstacles. To that end, we have recently discovered the optical signature of cone OS disc shedding in the living human retina, measured noninvasively using optical coherence tomography equipped with adaptive optics in conjunction with post processing methods to track and monitor individual cones in 4D. In this study, we improve on this method in several key areas: increasing image acquisition up to MHz A-scan rates, improving reliability to detect disc shedding events, establishing system precision, and developing cone tracking for use across the entire awake cycle. Thousands of cones were successfully imaged and tracked over the 17 hour period in two healthy subjects. Shedding events were detected in 79.5% and 77.4% of the tracked cones. Similar to previous animal studies, shedding prevalence exhibited a diurnal rhythm. But we were surprised to find that for these two subjects shedding occurred across the entire day with broad, elevated frequency in the morning and decreasing frequency as the day progressed. Consistent with this, traces of the average cone OS length revealed shedding dominated in the morning and afternoon and renewal in the evening.
Household water insecurity and its cultural dimensions: preliminary results from Newtok, Alaska

Using a relational approach, I examine several cultural dimensions involved in household water access and use in Newtok, Alaska. I describe the patterns that emerge around domestic water access and use, as well as the subjective lived experiences of water insecurity including risk perceptions, and the daily work and hydro-social relationships involved in accessing water from various sources. I found that Newtok residents haul water in limited amounts from a multitude of sources, both treated and untreated, throughout the year. Household water access is tied to hydro-social relationships predicated on sharing and reciprocity, particularly when the primary treated water access point is unavailable. Older boys and young men are primarily responsible for hauling water, and this role appears to be important to male Yupik identity. Many interviewees described preferring to drink untreated water, a practice that appears related to cultural constructions of natural water sources as pure and self-purifying, as well as concerns about the safety of treated water. Concerns related to the health consequences of low water access appear to differ by gender and age, with women and elders expressing greater concern than men. These preliminary results point to the importance of understanding the cultural dimensions involved in household water access and use. I argue that institutional responses to water insecurity need to incorporate such cultural dimensions into solutions aimed at increasing household access to and use of water.
Synthesis of a behavior-guided controller for lead vehicles in automated vehicle convoys

Abstract Reliable cooperative adaptive cruise control on highways requires the lead vehicle of a vehicle convoy to be capable of resisting disturbances outside the convoy. This paper proposes a controller synthesis approach adopting behavior classification to improve the lead vehicle’s ability to deal with outer disturbances. First, a behavior classifier is developed based on hidden Markov models to detect dangerous driver behaviors of surrounding traffic participants. The classification results with corresponding predicted trajectories are then imported to a model predictive controller for the lead vehicle. A behavior-guided cost function of the controller is carefully designed to react to behavior differences and to contribute to convoy string stability. The impact of the lead vehicle’s state deviation on the convoy is studied based on leader-to-formation stability properties. Furthermore, a nonlinear bound is also given to state the performance of the proposed controller. Simulations of a cut-in scenario are conducted using the CarSim simulation environment to show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.
Support grain architecture design for additive manufacturing

Abstract Supporting the overhang section, restraining the model deformation or warping, minimizing the residual stress and controlling the cooling rate are some common functions of support structure in multiple additive manufacturing (AM) process. Since it needs to be removed at the post processing stage of fabrication, it is a considerable waste in terms of material, energy and time employed for their construction. Hence, it is advantageous to minimize the amount of support which eventually can improve the overall efficiency of the AM process. In this paper, a novel support architecture design methodology is proposed considering the amount of support volume, maximum contact interface, lower fabrication time, and ease of fabrication. First, the support needed points on the object surface are identified considering their normal direction. The points are clustered considering their uniform curvature and location. Afterward, each cluster of points is segmented iteratively into closed-convex regions i.e. grain boundary, considering the geometric factors such as aspect ratio, fill factor, and contour area to ensure the ease of fabrication and supportability. These convex grains are the model-support interface segments where a partial contact based support removal technique is implemented. Finally, self-supported slanting and pillar support structures are generated that minimizes support material consumption and consequently saving build time. The proposed research is implemented on free-form objects and the results are evaluated with the available support generator software. The result shows the improvement is build time, reduction in support volume and ease of support removal.
Distributed Spatiotemporal Motion Planning for Spacecraft Swarms in Cluttered Environments

This paper focuses on trajectory planning for spacecraft swarms in cluttered environments, like debris fields or the asteroid belt. Our objective is to reconfigure the spacecraft swarm to a desired formation in a distributed manner while minimizing fuel and avoiding collisions among themselves and with the obstacles. In our prior work we proposed a novel distributed guidance algorithm for spacecraft swarms in static environments. In this paper, we present the Multi-Agent Moving-Obstacles Spherical Expansion and Sequential Convex Programming (MAMO SE-SCP) algorithm that extends our prior work to include spatiotemporal constraints such as time-varying, moving obstacles and desired time-varying terminal positions. In the MAMO SE-SCP algorithm, each agent uses a spherical-expansion-based sampling algorithm to cooperatively explore the time-varying environment, a distributed assignment algorithm to agree on the terminal position for each agent, and a sequential-convex-programming-based optimization step to compute the locally-optimal trajectories from the current location to the assigned time-varying terminal position while avoiding collision with other agent and the moving obstacles. Simulations results demonstrate that the proposed distributed algorithm can be used by a spacecraft swarm to achieve a time-varying, desired formation around an object of interest in a dynamic environment with many moving and tumbling obstacles.
Exploring the dynamics of surge pricing in mobility-on-demand taxi services

Dynamic pricing implemented in the form of a surge price multiplier (SPM) by mobility-on-demand services such as Uber, Lyft, etc. have significantly altered the demand-supply dynamics of the fixed fare rate traditional taxi market. However, it bears a fair share of criticism for being opaque, opportunistic, and socially insensitive, especially during large public events and emergency situations. In this paper, we collect and mine the operational data of one of the largest mobility service provider: Uber in the New York City (NYC) to understand the underlying mechanism behind the dynamic pricing generation. We find the common spatiotemporal patterns in the SPM and identify the cost-effectiveness of its most popular service, UberX as compared to UberBlack and street hailing taxis. We model the underlying phenomenon behind the SPM generation as a function of demand, supply, the time of the day, the day of the week, and expected time to arrival (ETA) using various machine learning classifiers. Support vector machines, k-nearest neighbor, and decision tree classifiers are found to model the SPM the best with the average classification loss for the 10-fold cross validation being as low as 0.001 for the rapidly changing SPM for UberX.
Occult Abusive Injuries in Children Brought for Care after Intimate Partner Violence: An Exploratory Study

Children in homes with intimate partner violence (IPV) are at increased risk for physical abuse. We determined the frequency and injury patterns in children who underwent child abuse consultation after IPV exposure by retrospectively analyzing the "Examination of Siblings To Recognize Abuse" cohort of children referred for physical abuse. Children were selected who presented after IPV exposure. Among 2890 children evaluated by child abuse pediatricians, 61 (2.1%) patients presented after IPV exposure. Of the 61, 11 (18.0%) were exposed to IPV, but had no direct involvement in the IPV event, 36 (59.0%) sustained inadvertent trauma during IPV, and 14 (23.0%) were directly assaulted during IPV. Thirty-six patients (59.0%) had an injury: 31 (51.0%) had cutaneous injuries and 15 (24.6%) had internal injuries including fracture(s), intracranial or intra-abdominal injury. Of the 15 patients with internal injuries, 14 (93.3%) were less than 12 months old. Among the 36 patients with injuries, 16 (44.4%) had no report of direct injury, a report of a mechanism that did not explain the identified injuries, or a report of trauma without a specific mechanism. Five (13.9%) did not have physical examination findings to suggest the extent of their internal injuries. Injuries are present in a significant proportion of children presenting to Emergency Departments after IPV exposure. History and physical examination alone are insufficient to detect internal injuries especially in infants. These preliminary results support the need for future, prospective studies of occult injury in children exposed to IPV.
Topical Adjuncts to Pulsed Dye Laser for Treatment of Port Wine Stains: Review of the Literature.

Background Port wine stains (PWS) pose a therapeutic challenge. Pulsed dye laser (PDL) is the treatment of choice; however, treatment is often ineffective and recurrences are common. Objective This article provides a review of topical therapies that have been investigated to improve efficacy of PDL for the treatment of PWS. Materials and methods A literature search was performed through PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CINAHL, using the search terms "port wine stain," "pulsed dye laser," and "topical." Results Clinical trials have investigated the topical agents, timolol, imiquimod, and rapamycin (RPM) in combination with PDL for the treatment of PWS. Topical timolol with PDL failed to show improved efficacy compared with PDL alone. Two clinical trials using imiquimod and PDL showed enhanced blanching of PWS compared with controls. Rapamycin and PDL were more effective than controls for facial PWS, but not for nonfacial PWS. Conclusion Topical imiquimod and RPM have shown some efficacy in treating PWS with PDL, but to date there is no topical adjuvant to PDL that reliably improves results for PWS.
Neuroimaging Abnormalities in Neurological Patients with Criminal Behavior

Criminal behavior occurs in previously law-abiding neurological patients, including patients with traumatic brain injury, focal brain lesions, and dementia. Neuroimaging abnormalities in these patients allow one to explore the potential neuroanatomical correlates of criminal behavior. However, this process has been challenging because (1) It is difficult to determine the temporal relationship between criminal behavior and neurological disease onset; (2) Abnormalities in several different brain regions have been associated with criminal behavior; and (3) It is difficult to quantify neuroimaging abnormalities in individual subjects. Recent studies have begun to address these concerns, showing that neuroimaging abnormalities in patients with criminal behavior localize to a common brain network, rather than a single specific brain region. New methods have been developed to identify atrophy patterns in individual patients, but have not yet been used in neurological patients with criminal behavior. Future advances will be important for making sure that neuroimaging data is used in a responsible manner in legal cases involving criminal behavior.
Consequences of Excessive Overhead Irrigation on Runoff during Container Production of Sweet Viburnum

Abstract The effects of irrigation rate on volume and nutrient content of runoff were investigated. Runoff (leachate plus un-intercepted irrigation and rain) was collected weekly for 20 weeks durin...
Network Virtualization and Survivability of 5G Networks: Framework, Optimization Model, and Performance

5G networks are slated to provide a wide range of services. A critical issue in service delivery in 5G network is its resilience. In this work, we present a framework for network survivability in next generation 5G networks. We propose a 5G network architecture with network virtualization with multiple providers, and a self organizing ad hoc network among the eNBs (macrosites) that may use another provider for network resilience when the aggregation network and the backhaul network fail. We then present an optimization formulation for network survivability for our proposed 5G networks. We present results on the trade-off between using a provider's own network or rely on auxiliary capacity from another provide. Our simulation shows promising results in terms of percentage of demands that can be met during such failures.
Bilateral pulmonary emboli following macular hole surgery with postoperative prone positioning.

Abstract Purpose To report a rare case of bilateral pulmonary emboli following pars plana vitrectomy with postoperative prone positioning. Observations A 60 year-old female presented with a fourmonth history of unilateral distorted vision. Ocular coherence tomography revealed a full thickness macular hole. Two weeks later, the patient underwent a 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane peeling and 12% perfluoropropane gas tamponade. Postoperatively, she completed two weeks of prone positioning. Five days later, she presented with a two day history of abdominal pain and shortness of breath. Computed tomography angiography revealed bilateral pulmonary emboli. The patient received six months of anticoagulation to prevent further thromboembolic events. Conclusions Life threatening blood clots can form due to prolonged immobilization from prone positioning. Patients should be educated to perform light exercise postoperatively to prevent complications of blood stasis.
Clinical Reasoning: A 47-year-old man with diffuse white matter disease and rapidly progressive dementia

A 47-year-old right-handed man without previous medical history presented to the University of Miami Memory Disorder Clinic for evaluation of progressive cognitive decline over a period of 4 months. He was initially noticed to have difficulty in finding his keys and documents and was not able to recall whether he had eaten lunch or dinner. The patient also had word-finding difficulties as well as remembering the meaning of a specific word. Upon further questioning, he also endorsed experiencing poor concentration and difficulty carrying out familiar tasks and for this reason he had to stop working. Additionally, there was also a reported weight loss of 20 pounds over the last 4 months. There was no known family history of dementia.
Low-dose imaging technique (LITE) MRI: initial experience in breast imaging.

Objectives:To compare a low-dose dynamic contrast-enhanced breast MRI protocol (LITE MRI) to standard-dosage using a dual-dose injection technique.Methods:8 females with a total of 10 lesions with ...
Encirclement of Moving Targets using Relative Range and Bearing Measurements

This paper presents a controller that uses relative range and bearing measurements to steer unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to circular trajectories around a constant velocity target. Estimates of the range rate and angular rate to the target are used to improve the error in the range and bearing. For moving targets, their velocity is also estimated and used in the control law. Theoretical proofs using Lyapunov theory for stationary targets and feedback linearization for moving targets are provided. Numerical simulations show vehicles converging to circular formations around both stationary and moving targets.
Use of Standardized Letters of Recommendation for Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Applications: A Single-Institution Retrospective Review.

Background Standardized letters of recommendation (SLORs) were introduced to provide a more objective method of evaluating applicants for orthopaedic surgery residency positions. We sought to establish whether there exists an association between the SLOR summative rank statement (SRS), which is a question that asks the letter-writing authors where they would rank a student relative to other applicants, and success in matching into orthopaedic surgery residency. Methods We reviewed 858 applications to an orthopaedic surgery residency program from 2017 to 2018. Data on 9 assessment categories, SRSs, and written comments in the SLORs were extracted. The match success of applicants was determined by an internet search algorithm. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between the SRSs and match success. The Spearman correlation was performed between the SRSs and other variables. Results Only 60% of all LORs were SLORs. With 24% of the SLORs, a supplemental letter was used. Median percentile rank ranged from 90% to 100% for the 9 categories in the SLORs. Recommendations of "high rank" or higher were found in 88% of the SRSs. The mean of the SLOR SRSs was associated with match success. Conclusions The mean of the SLOR SRSs was associated with match success. However, the SLOR is not uniformly used. Future efforts should be devoted to improving question design and validity in order to better discriminate among applicants, increase adherence to the rating scale, and quantify the strength of the written comments in the SLOR.
Post traumatic stress symptom variation associated with sleep characteristics

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and sleep problems are highly related. The relationship between nighttime sleep characteristics and next day post traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) is not well known. This study examined the relationship between the previous night’s sleep duration, number of awakenings, sleep quality, trouble falling asleep, and difficulty staying asleep and PTSS the following day. Using an ecological momentary assessment methodology, individuals with probable PTSD (N = 61) reported their nighttime sleep characteristics daily and PTSS four times per day for 15 days. Univariate and multivariate linear mixed models were used to examine the previous night’s (within-subjects) and person’s mean (between-subjects) associations between sleep characteristics and PTSS. The previous night’s sleep duration (p < .001), sleep quality (p < .001), trouble falling asleep (p < .001), and difficulty staying asleep (p < .001) significantly predicted the next day’s PTSS. When examined in a multivariate model including all characteristics simultaneously, previous night’s sleep duration (p = .024), trouble falling asleep (p = .019), and difficulty staying asleep (p < .001) continued to predict PTSS, but sleep quality (p = .667) did not. When considering a person’s mean, trouble falling asleep (p = .006) and difficulty staying asleep (p = .001) predicted PTSS, but only difficulty staying asleep (p = .018) predicted PTSS in a multivariate model. Among individuals with PTSD, the previous night’s sleep duration, trouble falling asleep, and difficulty staying asleep predict next day PTSD symptoms. Interventions that facilitate falling and staying asleep and increase time slept may be important for treating PTSD.
Manifestations of Athletic Identity in Black Male Collegiate Student-Athletes: Introduction of a Model

The socialization of Black males into athletics leads to a heightened attention placed on their athletic identity. Once these student-athletes enter the collegiate environment, the institutions of higher education and associated athletic departments have neglected to holistically develop identity within Black male student-athletes. With this population representing less than 3% of the entire student-body population on college campuses (Harper, 2018), the support that they receive also does not help to counter the negative experiences that they have. Negative experiences then lead to negative outcomes such as becoming susceptible to stereotype threat and identity foreclosure. This paper presents a conceptual model to center race while connecting athletic identity within Black male student-athletes to their experiences on campus and the outcomes related to this identity.
Exceptional Survival Among Kentucky Stage IV Non‐small Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Appalachian Versus Non‐Appalachian Populations

PURPOSE To determine differences in exceptional survival (ES)-survival of 5 years or more past diagnosis-between stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients residing in the Appalachian versus non-Appalachian regions of Kentucky. METHODS This was a population-based, retrospective case-control study of Kentucky patients, diagnosed with stage IV NSCLC between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2011. The data were drawn from the Kentucky Cancer Registry. FINDINGS Findings from the multivariable logistic regression revealed no significant differences in the odds of ES between patients who resided in Appalachian versus non-Appalachian Kentucky. Being female and undergoing surgery only as the first course of treatment were associated with higher odds of ES. Increasing age, unspecified histology, having poorly differentiated or undifferentiated carcinomas, and receiving radiation therapy only as the first course of treatment were associated with decreased odds of ES. CONCLUSION Differences in the odds of ES among stage IV NSCLC patients were not related to residence in Appalachian versus non-Appalachian Kentucky. ES was associated with other nongenetic and treatment factors that warrant further investigations.
Clinical and Biological Features of Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer

Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is an aggressive histologic subtype of prostate cancer that most commonly arises in later stages of prostate cancer as a mechanism of treatment resistance. The poor prognosis of NEPC is attributed in part to late diagnosis and a lack of effective therapeutic agents. Here, we review the clinical and molecular features of NEPC based on recent studies and outline future strategies and directions. NEPC can arise “de novo” but most commonly develops as a result of lineage plasticity whereby prostate cancer cells adopt alternative lineage programs as a means to bypass therapy. Dependence on androgen receptor (AR) signaling is lost as tumors progress from a prostate adenocarcinoma to a NEPC histology, typically manifested by the downregulation of AR, PSA, and PSMA expression in tumors. Genomic analyses from patient biopsies combined with preclinical modeling have pointed to loss of tumor suppressors RB1 and TP53 as key facilitators of lineage plasticity. Activation of oncogenic drivers combined with significant epigenetic changes (e.g., EZH2 overexpression, DNA methylation) further drives tumor proliferation and expression of downstream neuronal and neuroendocrine lineage pathways controlled in part by pioneer and lineage determinant transcription factors (e.g., SOX2, ASCL1, BRN2). These biologic insights have provided a framework for the study of this subgroup of advanced prostate cancers and have started to provide rationale for the development of biomarker-driven therapeutic strategies. Further study of the dynamic process that leads to NEPC is required for the development of effective strategies to identify and treat patients developing lineage plasticity as a mechanism of treatment resistance.
Making space: the natural, cultural, cognitive and social niches of human activity.

This paper is in two parts. Part 1 examines the phenomenon of making space as a process involving one or other kind of legal decision-making, for example when a state authority authorizes the creation of a new highway along a certain route or of a new park in a certain location. In cases such as this, a new abstract spatial entity comes into existence - the route, the boundaries of the area to be set aside for the park - followed only later by concordant changes in physical reality. In Part 2, we show that features identified in studying this phenomenon of legal spacemaking can be detected in other spheres of human activity, for example in planning (where spacemaking is projected into the future), and in reasoning about history (where spacemaking is projected back through time). We shall see that these features display themselves in especially complex ways in our everyday use of language, and we conclude by examining the implications of this complexity for attempts to create an artificial intelligence that would enjoy a mastery of language that would be equivalent to that of human beings.
An evolutionary algorithm for the joint replenishment of inventory with interdependent ordering costs

The joint replenishment of inventory problem (JRP) requires independence of minor ordering costs. In this paper we propose an evolutionary algorithm (EA) for a modification of the JRP. The modified JRP allows for interdependence of minor ordering costs. Our proposed EA (EARP) is a nested EA that searches for a solution to minimize the total cost of inventory replenishment. It combines an EA which uses a direct grouping method with an EA_that uses an indirect grouping approach (EA_ind) by nesting EA ind inside EARP. We test EARP against partial enumeration and show that it provides close to optimal results for some problems. We know of no other algorithm to solve this problem.
Representation Theory of Finite Groups: Algebra and Arithmetic

Dedication page Introduction Semisimple rings and modules Semisimple group representations Induced representations and applications Introduction to modular representations General rings and modules Modular group representations Some useful results Bibliography Index.
Returns to Scale in DEA

This chapter discusses returns to scale (RTS) in data envelopment analysis (DEA). The BCC and CCR models described in Chap. 1 of this handbook are treated in input-oriented forms, while the multiplicative model is treated in output-oriented form. (This distinction is not pertinent for the additive model, which simultaneously maximizes outputs and minimizes inputs in the sense of a vector optimization.) Quantitative estimates in the form of scale elasticities are treated in the context of multiplicative models, but the bulk of the discussion is confined to qualitative characterizations such as whether RTS is identified as increasing, decreasing, or constant. This is discussed for each type of model, and relations between the results for the different models are established. The opening section describes and delimits approaches to be examined. The concluding section outlines further opportunities for research and an Appendix discusses other approaches in DEA treatment of RTS.
MyoD and myogenin protein expression in skeletal muscles of senile rats

We analyzed the level of protein expression of two myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs), MyoD and myogenin, in senile skeletal muscles and determined the cellular source of their production in young adult (4 months old), old (24, 26, and 28 months old), and senile (32 months old) male rats. Immunoblotting demonstrated levels of myogenin ~3.2, ~4.0, and ~5.5 times higher in gastrocnemius muscles of 24-, 26-, and 32-month-old animals, respectively, than in those of young adult rats. Anti-MyoD antibody recognized two major areas of immunoreactivity in Western blots: a single MyoD-specific band (~43–45 kDa) and a double (or triple) MyoD-like band (~55–65 kDa). Whereas the level of MyoD-specific protein in the 43- to 45-kDa band remained relatively unchanged during aging compared with that of young adult rats, the total level of MyoD-like immunoreactivity within the 55- to 65-kDa bands was ~3.4, ~4.7, ~9.1, and ~11.7 times higher in muscles of 24-, 26-, 28-, and 32-month-old rats, respectively. The pattern of MRF protein expression in intact senile muscles was similar to that recorded in young adult denervated muscles. Ultrastructural analysis of extensor digitorum longus muscle from senile rats showed that, occasionally, the area of the nerve-muscle junction was partially or completely devoid of axons, and satellite cells with the features of activated cells were found on the surface of living fibers. Immunohistochemistry detected accumulated MyoD and myogenin proteins in the nuclei of both fibers and satellite cells in 32-month-old muscles. We suggest that the up-regulated production of MyoD and myogenin proteins in the nuclei of both fibers and satellite cells could account for the high level of MRF expression in muscles of senile rats.
Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Unknown Primary in the Head and Neck

Squamous cell carcinoma of unknown primary (SQCUP) in the head and neck is defined by malignancy in the cervical lymph nodes without identification of the primary tumor after extensive workup. Potential sites of the occult primary tumor include the nasopharynx, oropharynx, larynx, and hypopharynx (Fig. 1). The most common primary sites that are eventually identified upon workup for patients with SQCUP are the tonsils and base of the tongue (~90 %) (2009). The distribution of lymph node metastases from a SQCUP of the head and neck is shown in Fig. 2. The most common sites of involvement are levels II and III.
The chemistry of the sugar-sulfite reaction and its relationship to food problems.

Publisher Summary This chapter summarizes the current knowledge of sugar-bisulfite addition compounds in the studies of general problem of browning. It suggests and discusses three modes of action to explain the inhibition of non-enzymatic browning by sulfur dioxide: the “antioxidant theory”, the “addition compound theory’’, and the “bleaching theory”. The well-known binding of sulfur dioxide or bisulfite by active carbonyl groups seems to offer an attractive and logical explanation for the established efficacy of sulfur dioxide in protecting dried fruits and vegetables as well as some fruit juices and fruit concentrates. It was observed that the addition of fructose and glucose to fermented syrups in amounts equivalent to the sugars originally present resulted in a restoration of the normal browning rate. Indirect evidence of the involvement of free carbonyl groups in the browning of fruit juices has been provided.
Gradient and Microfluidic Library Approaches to Polymer Interfaces

We present an overview of research conducted at the National Institute of Standards and Technology aimed at developing and applying combinatorial and high-throughput measurement approaches to polymer surfaces, interfaces and thin films. Topics include (1) the generation of continuous gradient techniques for fabricating combinatorial libraries of film thickness, temperature, surface chemistry and polymer blend composition, (2) high-throughput measurement techniques for assessing the mechanical properties and adhesion of surfaces, interfaces and films, and (3) microfluidic approaches to synthesizing and analyzing libraries of interfacially-active polymer species.
Changes in Protein Isoprenylation during the Growth of Suspension-Cultured Tobacco Cells

Isoprenylation facilitates the association of proteins with intracellular membranes and/or other proteins. In mammalian and yeast cells, isoprenylated proteins are involved in signal transduction, cell division, organization of the cytoskeleton, and vesicular transport. Recently, protein isoprenylation has been demonstrated in higher plants, but little is currently known about the functions of isoprenylated plant proteins. We report that inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (lovastatin) or prenyl:protein transferases (perilly alcohol) severely impair the growth of cultured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cells but only when added within the first 2 d following transfer to fresh medium, before any increase in culture volume is detectable. This “window” of sensitivity to inhibitors of protein isoprenylation correlates temporally with an increase in [14C]mevalonate incorporation into tobacco cell proteins in vitro. We have also observed a marked increase in farnesyl:protein transferase activity at this early time in the growth of tobacco cultures. In contrast, type I geranylgeranyl:protein transferase activity does not change significantly during culture growth. Although these events coincide with the replication of DNA, I [mu]M lovastatin-treated cells are capable of DNA synthesis, suggesting that lovastatin-induced cell growth arrest is not due to inhibition of DNA replication. Together, these data support the hypothesis that protein isoprenylation is necessary for the early stages of growth of tobacco cultures.
Ceftobiprole: in‐vivo profile of a bactericidal cephalosporin

Resistance to antimicrobials is a significant and growing problem, limiting treatment options, especially for serious Gram-positive infections. Ceftobiprole is a novel broad-spectrum cephalosporin that is active in vitro against streptococci and staphylococci, including penicillin-resistant strains of pneumococci and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It maintains the activity of extended-spectrum cephalosporins against Gram-negative bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae. The in-vivo activity of ceftobiprole has been demonstrated in mouse sepsis and subcutaneous abscess models of infection. Its activity also has been examined in several discriminative models of infection that mimic specific diseases in humans and permit testing of antimicrobial activity under a variety of defined pharmacokinetic conditions. These include experimental pneumonia in mice, a tissue cage model of foreign body infection in rats, and endocarditis models in rats and rabbits. In these models, ceftobiprole exhibits activity equivalent or superior to that of comparators against MRSA, including vancomycin-intermediate strains. These models also confirm the in-vivo activity of ceftobiprole against Gram-negative bacteria that are susceptible in vitro. The results from animal models support the evaluation of the clinical efficacy of ceftobiprole in humans and also predict clinical efficacy in the empirical treatment of severe infections. The broad spectrum of activity may allow ceftobiprole to be used as monotherapy for serious hospital-acquired infections where combination therapy would otherwise be required.
Hydrocarbons from human meninges and meningiomas.

A lipid fraction more non-polar than sterol ester was isolated in the analysis of lipid extracts from a comparative study of normal brain meninges (dura mater) and neoplastic tissue (meningiomas) from human brain. This fraction was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography and found to consist of hydrocarbons. The principal component was an homologous series of n-alkanes (C15-C34). Also indicated were squalene and in minor proportions two additional homologous series of alkanes. The hydrocarbon fractions of meninges and meningiomas contained the same components, but in different proportions.
Introduction to the concept of structural HMM: application to mining customers' preferences in automotive design

We have introduced in this paper the concept of structural hidden Markov models (SHMM). This new paradigm adds the syntactical (or structural) component to the traditional HMM. SHMM introduce relationships between the visible observations of a sequence. These observations are related because they are viewed as evidences of a same conclusion in a rule of inference. We have applied this novel concept to predict customer's preferences for automotive designs. SHMM has outperformed both the k-nearest neighbors and the neural network classifiers with an additional 12% increase in accuracy.
High-quality bilingual subtitle document alignments with application to spontaneous speech translation

In this paper, we investigate the task of translating spontaneous speech transcriptions by employing aligned movie subtitles in training a statistical machine translator (SMT). In contrast to the lexical-based dynamic time warping (DTW) approaches to bilingual subtitle alignment, we align subtitle documents using time-stamps. We show that subtitle time-stamps in two languages are often approximately linearly related, which can be exploited for extracting high-quality bilingual subtitle pairs. On a small tagged data-set, we achieve a performance improvement of 0.21 F-score points compared to traditional DTW alignment approach and 0.39 F-score points compared to a simple line-fitting approach. In addition, we achieve a performance gain of 4.88 BLEU score points in spontaneous speech translation experiments using the aligned subtitle data obtained by the proposed alignment approach compared to that obtained by the DTW based alignment approach demonstrating the merit of the time-stamps based subtitle alignment scheme.
An Interleaved-Trace Time-Compression Radar Display

Detection information from conventional surveillance radars is frequently presented in the form of a display known as the plan position indicator map. In this display, new data are displayed while data from previous scans fade from the display. Target blips typically persist for several scans, making possible operator integration or correlation. However, the noise from previous scans often masks signals from small moving targets. To avoid the loss in signal-to-noise ratio caused by the addition of noise to signal plus noise, a digital signal processing display unit has been designed and is presented here.
Parathyroid adenoma localization: surgeon-performed ultrasound versus sestamibi.

Objectives: Compare surgeon-performed ultrasound versus sestamibi for preoperative parathyroid adenoma localization. Study Design: Single-institutional cohort. Methods: One hundred six consecutive patients undergoing parathyroidectomy at an academic institution between 2004 to 2005 were included. Of those, 103 underwent both surgeon-performed ultrasound and sestamibi-Tc99m localization preoperatively. Primary outcome is sensitivity for adenoma localization to correct quadrant (right vs. left, superior vs. inferior). Results: Hypercalcemia resolved in 97% of patients. Sensitivities for correct quadrant localization for ultrasound versus sestamibi were 87% versus 58% (P <.001). Specificities were 95%. Positive and negative predictive values were 85% versus 78% and 96% versus 87%, respectively. Combined sensitivity was 93%. Sensitivities for correct side localization were 91% and 74% (P =.002). Conclusions: Ultrasound appears more sensitive than sestamibi for localization to correct quadrant or side when performed in-office by the author in this cohort.
The Internet Self-Perception Scale: Measuring Elementary Students' Levels of Self-Efficacy regarding Internet Use.

This study investigated fourth grade students' perceptions of abilities to use the Internet. The 31-item research instrument measuring Internet Self-Perceptions was adapted for use from the Reader Self-Perception Scale (RSPS) developed by Henk and Melnick (1995). The RSPS survey was based upon Bandura's (1977, 1986, 1995) research in the areas of perceived self-efficacy. Information from an administration of the Internet Self-Perception Scale (ISPS) uncovered four correlated factors, which described children's self-perceptions about their Internet skills. These four dimensions matched factors found with previous studies of self-efficacy and self-perceptions in other content areas and showed high reliability (Cronbach's alpha ranged .73–.87). Additionally, cluster analysis revealed five different types of Internet learners thought to be present in elementary school classrooms. Suggestions for teaching strategies and fostering children's perceptions of Internet skills are provided.
Characteristics of β-phenethylamine self-administration by dog☆

Abstract Phenethylamine (PEA), a biologically active amine found in the brain, maintained intravenous self-administration behavior by dogs previously trained to respond for amphetamine. Systematic changes in the unit dose of PEA (1.5 to 6.0 mg/kg/infusion) were negatively related to the number of infusions (91.3 to 29.5, respectively) per 4 hr session. The mean intake of PEA was 165 mg/kg/session. Pretreatment with chlorpromazine (0.5 to 2.0 mg/kg, IV, 30 min prior to the session) produced a dose-dependent increase in the number of self-administered PEA infusions. However, there were no changes in responding for PEA following pretreatment with either the dopaminergic antagonist pimozide (5 to 40 μg/kg, IV, 30 min prior to the session) or the adrenergic antagonist phenoxybenzamine (1 to 8 mg/kg, IV, 30 min prior to the session). These data suggest that the reinforcing properties of PEA are not dependent on either a dopaminergic or adrenergic system.
Reaction of nitrenes with strained olefins. Preparation and reactions of some 6‐azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes

A number of examples of the 6-azabicycIo[3.1.0]hexane ring system have been prepared by the oxidation of N-aminophthalimide or 3-amino-2-methyl-4-quinazoIone with lead tetraacetate in the presence of variously substituted cyclopentenes. Thus, 6-phthalimidyl-6-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane, dimethy 1–6-phthalimidyl-6-azabicyclo[3.1.0]-hexane-1,5-dicarboxylate, 2,3-benzo-6-phthalimidyl-6-azabicycIo[3.1.0]hexane and N-3-(2-methyl-4-quinazolyl)-6-azabicyclo [3.1.0]hexane were prepared for the first time. All of the new compounds were found to be stable in refluxing carbon tetrachloride and chlorobenzene. Refluxing 6-phthalimidyl-6-azabieyclo[3,1.0]hexane in acetic acid for 24 hours resulted in quantitative rearrangement to a phthalohydrazide, 8.
Mast Cells Can Amplify Airway Reactivity and Features of Chronic Inflammation in an Asthma Model in Mice

The importance of mast cells in the development of the allergen-induced airway hyperreactivity and inflammation associated with asthma remains controversial. We found that genetically mast cell–deficient WBB6F1-W/Wv mice that were sensitized to ovalbumin (OVA) without adjuvant, then challenged repetitively with antigen intranasally, exhibited much weaker responses in terms of bronchial hyperreactivity to aerosolized methacholine, lung tissue eosinophil infiltration, and numbers of proliferating cells within the airway epithelium than did identically treated WBB6F1-+/+ normal mice. However, W/Wv mice that had undergone selective reconstitution of tissue mast cells with in vitro–derived mast cells of congenic +/+ mouse origin exhibited airway responses that were very similar to those of the +/+ mice. By contrast, W/Wv mice that were sensitized with OVA emulsified in alum and challenged with aerosolized OVA exhibited levels of airway hyperreactivity and lung tissue eosinophil infiltration that were similar to those of the corresponding +/+ mice. Nevertheless, these W/Wv mice exhibited significantly fewer proliferating cells within the airway epithelium than did identically treated +/+ mice. These results show that, depending on the “asthma model” investigated, mast cells can either have a critical role in, or not be essential for, multiple features of allergic airway responses in mice.