cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The diagnostic utility of heart rate–corrected ST-segment depression during adenosine nuclear stress testing

Abstract Background Vasodilator stress testing relies heavily on the imaging portion so that clinically useful information from the electrocardiogram may be overlooked. Stress-induced ST-segment depression, although uncommon, is highly predictive of severe disease. We investigated whether minor ST depressions during adenosine nuclear stress testing corrected for the modest heart rate increases (ST/HR slope and ST/HR index) might be clinically relevant. Methods The study included 74 consecutive patients with electrocardiograms interpretable for ischemia who underwent coronary angiography within the following 6 months. Results Abnormal responses using conventional thresholds for ischemic ST depression, the ST/HR slope, and ST/HR index were present in 8%, 20%, and 27%, respectively. The sensitivity for conventional ST depression was 11% and, when corrected for heart rate, increased to 27% and 36%, ( P = .012), without adversely affecting the high positive predictive accuracy (83%, 80%, and 80%). Even with a normal perfusion scan, heart rate correction was highly predictive of multivessel coronary artery disease (4/5 patients). Summary Heart rate correction of ST depression during adenosine nuclear stress improves on conventional ST depression and may compliment perfusion imaging in detecting multivessel disease.
Proactive QoS negotiation in asynchronous real-time distributed systems

We present a fast, proactive, quality of service (QoS) negotiation algorithm called Best Effort Negotiation (or BEN), for asynchronous real-time distributed systems. BEN considers an application model where trans-node application timeliness and fault-tolerance requirements are expressed using benefit functions, and anticipated workload and system failure rates during future time intervals are expressed using adaptation functions and reliability functions, respectively. Furthermore, BEN considers an adaptation model where subtasks of application tasks are replicated at run-time for tolerating failures as well as for sharing workload increases. Given such models, the objective of the algorithm is to maximize the sum of aggregate real-time and fault-tolerance benefits during the time window of adaptation functions. Since determining the optimal solution is computationally intractable, BEN heuristically computer sub-optimal resource allocations in polynomial-time. To determine how well BEN performs, we describe another algorithm called HLC, that is inspired by the well-known Hill Climbing heuristic. We show that HLC is significantly slower than BEN. However, our experimental studies reveal that the performance of BEN, in general, is as good as that of HLC.
Low Cycle Fatigue: Probability and Statistical Modeling of Fatigue Life

Low cycle fatigue (LCF) induces damage accumulation in structural components used in various applications. LCF typically describes conditions for which plastic strains are larger than elastic strains. In order to certify and qualify a structural component, manufactured from a given material, that requires high reliability for operation and safety, fundamental material properties should be experimentally investigated and validated. The traditional strain–life approach serves as the underlying experimental method for most LCF investigations. Building upon that background, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the statistical variability and appropriately model that variability for life in LCF. Specifically, the variability associated with the median behavior in a strain–life graph for data is examined. The ensuing analyses are based on data for a cold-rolled, low carbon, extra deep drawing steel; ASTM A969 which is appropriate for applications where extremely severe drawing or forming is envisioned. It is frequently used in the automotive industry for components such as inner door components and side body components. For substantiation of the proposed modeling techniques, data for 9Cr-1Mo steel is also investigated. Such steel is frequently used in the construction of power plants and other structures that experience operating temperatures in excess of 500°C. The commonly used universal slopes approach for fatigue life modeling for which the strain–life computation employs the standard Coffin–Manson relationship is compared to a statistical methodology using a distribution function frequently used in structural reliability. The proposed distribution function for characterizing the fatigue life is a generalized Weibull distribution function that empirically incorporates load history and damage accumulation.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
ULTRASTRUCTURE OF TETRASPOROGENESIS IN THE PARASITIC RED ALGA LEVRINGIELLA GARDNERI (SETCHELL) KYLIN12

SUMMARY Ultrastructural studies on tetraspore formation in Levringiella gardneri revealed that 3 stages may be recognized during their formation. The youngest stage consists of a uninucleate tetraspore mother cell with synaptonemal complexes present during early prophase of meiosis I. Mitochondria are aggregated around the nucleus, dictyosome activity is low, and chloroplasts occur in the peripheral cytoplasm. A 4-nucleate tetraspore mother cell is formed prior to tetrahedral cell cleavage, and an increase in the number of chloroplasts and mitochondria occurs. Small straight-profiled dictyosomes secrete vesicles into larger fibrous vesicles or contribute material to the developing tetraspore wall. During the second stage of tetraspore formation, striated vesicles form within endoplasmic reticulum, semicircular profiled dictyosomes secrete vesicles for fibrous vesicles or wall material, and starch formation increases. The final stage is characterized by the disappearance of striated vesicles, presence of straight, large dictyosomes which secrete cored vesicles, and an abundance of starch grains. Cleavage is usually complete at this stage and the tetraspore wall consists of a narrow outer layer of fibrillar material and an inner, electron transparent layer. These spores are surrounded by a tetrasporangial wall which was the original wall surrounding the tetraspore mother cell.
Statistical Design and Estimation for the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project

Objectives. The paper discusses the sample design of the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) and how the design affects how estimates should be calculated from the survey data. The NSHAP study allows researchers to study the links between sexuality and health in older adults. The goal of the design was to represent adults aged 57 – 85 years in six demographic domains. Methods. The sample design begins with a national area probability sample of households, carried out jointly with the 2004 round of the Health and Retirement Study. Selection of respondents for NSHAP balanced age and gender subgroups and oversampled African Americans and Latinos. Data collection was carried out from July 2005 to March 2006. Results. The survey obtained an overall response rate of 75.5%. Discussion. The complex sample design requires that the selection probabilities and the fi eld implementation be accounted for in estimating population parameters. The data set contains weights to compensate for differential probabilities of selection and response rates among demographic groups. Analysts should use weights in constructing estimates from the survey and account for the complex sample design in estimating standard errors for survey estimates.
Personal mobile hub

As advances are made in wearable computing, there is a need for a personal mobile hub that can manage interactions between the wearable devices and act as a proxy for these devices. In this paper we describe why this is a good model, why the interfaces need to be open, and why different parties in the value chain, such as wireless service providers and device manufacturers, may prefer such architecture. Our personal mobile hub supports multiple wireless protocols, some short range and some wide area so that the power of the Internet is available even to body worn sensors. We describe custom hardware that we built for this purpose and also the software necessary to make this concept work. We have tested out this architecture with an end-to-end application. The working system was demonstrated at the annual IBM Stockholders meeting in 2004 and is also available for customers to see at the IBM Industry Solutions Lab in Zurich.
Intravenous Subdissociative-Dose Ketamine Versus Morphine for Analgesia in the Emergency Department: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study objective We assess and compare the analgesic efficacy and safety of subdissociative intravenous-dose ketamine with morphine in emergency department (ED) patients. Methods This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial evaluating ED patients aged 18 to 55 years and experiencing moderate to severe acute abdominal, flank, or musculoskeletal pain, defined as a numeric rating scale score greater than or equal to 5. Patients were randomized to receive ketamine at 0.3 mg/kg or morphine at 0.1 mg/kg by intravenous push during 3 to 5 minutes. Evaluations occurred at 15, 30, 60, 90, and 120 minutes. Primary outcome was reduction in pain at 30 minutes. Secondary outcome was the incidence of rescue analgesia at 30 and 60 minutes. Results Forty-five patients per group were enrolled in the study. The primary change in mean pain scores was not significantly different in the ketamine and morphine groups: 8.6 versus 8.5 at baseline (mean difference 0.1; 95% confidence interval −0.46 to 0.77) and 4.1 versus 3.9 at 30 minutes (mean difference 0.2; 95% confidence interval −1.19 to 1.46; P =.97). There was no difference in the incidence of rescue fentanyl analgesia at 30 or 60 minutes. No statistically significant or clinically concerning changes in vital signs were observed. No serious adverse events occurred in either group. Patients in the ketamine group reported increased minor adverse effects at 15 minutes post–drug administration. Conclusion Subdissociative intravenous ketamine administered at 0.3 mg/kg provides analgesic effectiveness and apparent safety comparable to that of intravenous morphine for short-term treatment of acute pain in the ED.
Effects of heme proteins on nitric oxide levels and cell viability in isolated PMNs: a mechanism of toxicity.

Isolated human PMNs served as a model to determine oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) binding and the effects of oxymyoglobin (oxyMb) or oxyHb on production of both nitric oxide (NO·) and superox- ide (O2· 2 ) and the resulting cytotoxicity. Physiologi- cally relevant concentrations of NO · and H2O2 oxidized, to a similar extent, 2,7-dichlorodihydro- fluorescein (DCFH) loaded into polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs). Activation of PMNs with phor- bol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) markedly in- creased the internalization of extracellular oxyHb (10-250 µg/mL). OxyMb (10-300 µg/mL) or oxyHb (30-300 µg/mL) enhanced DCFH oxidation by a concentration-dependent mechanism in unstimu- lated, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-a)-, and PMA-stimulated PMNs. This increased DCFH oxidation was eliminated by NO · synthase inhibitors, glutathione and ascorbate, and was reduced by albumin. Nitrite accumulation in PMN filtrates mirrored NO · -induced DCF fluores- cence. OxyMb-induced increases in NO · levels par- alleled alterations in DNA and cell membrane damage and ATP levels in PMNs and co-cultured lymphocytes, and were attenuated by NO · synthase inhibitors. OxyMb eliminated extracellular O2· 2 at protein concentrations 100- to 1000-fold above those of superoxide dismutase. These results sug- gest that heme proteins bind and internalize into PMNs and increase NO · -induced damage in neigh- boring cells by inhibiting O2· 2 -scavenging of NO · . We propose a mechanism whereby heme protein- induced NO · levels may contribute to immunosup- pression and increased infection rates associated with transfusions and cellular damage during inflam- mation. J. Leukoc. Biol. 67: 357-368.
Chiral High-Performance Liquid Chromatographic Analysis of Fluoxetine and Norfluoxetine in Rabbit Plasma, Urine, and Vitreous Humor Using an Acetylated β-Cyclodextrin Column

Fluoxetine (Prozac) is a potent selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used for the treatment of major depression. Both fluoxetine (F) and its demethylated metabolite, norfluoxetine (NF), are racemic. S-Fluoxetine (SF) and S-norfluoxetine (SNF) are more
Failing at retailing: the decline of the Larkin Company, 1918‐1942

– The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the causes of the failure of the Larkin Company (Buffalo, NY), once one of the nation's largest mail‐order houses in the decades surrounding 1900., – Borrowing conceptual frameworks from both recent management and historical scholarship on organizational failure that integrates exogenous and endogenous factors, this study employs traditional historical methods to explain the causes of Larkin's failure. The main primary sources include the Larkin Company records, government documents, personal papers, trade journals, and other primary sources., – Begun as a modest soap manufacturer by John D. Larkin, in Buffalo, in 1875, the Larkin Company grew to become one of the largest mail‐order houses in the USA in the decades surrounding 1900 owing to its innovative direct marketing practices, called the “factory‐to‐family” plan, that relied on unpaid women to distribute its products. In 1918, anticipating the chain store boom, Larkin established two grocery store chains (other retail ventures followed). The company regularly lost money in these ventures and, combined with a shrinking mail‐order economy, struggled during the 1920s and 1930s, and eventually liquidated in 1941‐1942. A number of exogenous and endogenous factors, acting alone and in various combinations, proved too challenging to second‐ and third‐generation family members who ran the company after 1926., – This research paper tries to understand the decline of an important progressive firm during the interwar period. Whereas Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward were able to make the transition from mail order to stores, Larkin Company failed to navigate this transition successfully. It also adds to the small but important literature in management and business history on organizational failure and may serve as a cautionary tale for family businesses.
Left Atrial scar assessment using imaging with isotropic spatial resolution and compressed sensing

Summary We assess left atrial scar using late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) with isotropic spatial resolution of 1.4mm 3 by using highly accelerated LOST [1] reconstruction. Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia [2]. Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using radiofrequency (RF)-ablation is the leading treatment for AF. Recently, LGE imaging of the LA has been used to identify atrial wall scar due to RF-ablation [3]. However, current LGE methods have limited spatial resolution that substantially impact assessment of scar in the complex geometry of PVs and LA. In this study, we sought to utilize prospective random k-space sampling and LOST [1] for accelerated LGE imaging, where reduction in imaging time was traded-off for improved isotropic spatial-resolution.
Evaluation of the Sommerfeld integral for a dipole over a layered earth model

Summary form only given. This paper revisits the classic Sommerfeld integral problem of determining the fields radiated from a dipole placed over a half-space. The approach to solving this problem has a wide range of applications from microstrip antenna design to VLF radio wave propagation. Analytic expressions are derived to determine the field solutions for a set of geologic cases by asymptotically evaluating the spectral domain integral using the saddle-point method. A significant advantage of developing a set of analytical models over other methods such as FDTD is the physical insight gained from separating surface and lateral wave terms from radiated field expressions while enabling analysis with minimal computational overhead. A primary focus of this work is to examine the impact of singularities within the complex plane on the evaluated integrand as their existence and location can lead to numerical instability when integrating over an arbitrary range of scan angles and therefore care must be taken when choosing a path of integration. It is well known that the location of poles in the complex plane are associated with surface wave modes which can be accounted for by modifying the saddle-point approach as required. In addition, under certain conditions a branch point, which is physically realized as a lateral wave mode, may be located in close proximity to the saddle-point and integration along a branch cut must be considered. In order to understand the conditions under which surface and lateral waves are produced a set of geologic case studies are analyzed including: 1) a dipole located in air above the earth and 2) a dipole located within water beneath an ideal atmosphere. The analytical expressions derived for these cases are presented in this paper along with field pattern plots and a discussion of the key results.
Rab5a and rab11a mediate agonist-induced trafficking of protease-activated receptor 2

We evaluated the contribution of rab5a and rab11a to trafficking and signaling of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2), a receptor for trypsin and tryptase. Agonists stimulated internalization of PAR2 into early endosomes containing rab5a. Dominant negative rab5aS34N disrupted early endosomes and inhibited agonist-stimulated endocytosis of PAR2. Internalized PAR2 was sorted to lysosomes, and rab5a remained in early endosomes. Rab5a promoted and rab5aS34N impeded resensitization of trypsin-induced calcium mobilization. Rab11a was detected in the Golgi apparatus with PAR2, and PAR2 agonists stimulated redistribution of rab11a into vesicles containing PAR2 that migrated to the cell surface. Dominant negative rab11aS25N was mostly confined to the Golgi apparatus. Although expression of rab11aS25N caused retention of PAR2 in the Golgi apparatus, it did not abolish trafficking of PAR2 to the cell surface. However, expression of wild-type rab11a accelerated both recovery of PAR2 at the cell surface and resensitization of PAR2 signaling. Thus rab5a is required for PAR2 endocytosis and resensitization, whereas rab11a contributes to trafficking of PAR2 from the Golgi apparatus to the plasma membrane.
Avascular necrosis of the humeral head treated by core decompression. A retrospective review

Thirty shoulders, in 20 patients, which had undergone core decompression for symptomatic avascular necrosis of the humeral head were reviewed 2 to 14 years later (average 5.6). Twenty-two showed good or excellent clinical results; the other eight shoulders had required arthroplasty. All 14 shoulders with stage I or II radiological changes (Ficat and Arlet 1980) at operation had good or excellent results. We advocate early core decompression for symptomatic avascular necrosis of the humeral head.
A block cipher cryptosystem using wavelet transforms over finite fields

We present a new private key cryptosystem based on the finite-field wavelet. The encryption and decryption are performed by the synthesis and analysis banks of the nonlinear finite-field wavelet transform, whose filter coefficients are determined by the keys of the users. We exploit the polyphase representation of the wavelets to introduce a shared key mechanism for the wavelet cryptosystem. We propose to use wavelets that operate over GF(256) and a nonlinear device that performs a mapping on the field elements to their inverse in the field. The introduced cryptographic system can operate in either stream-cipher or block-cipher modes depending on whether the filterbanks perform linear or circular convolution. The block cipher system has a key length of 16 symbols (128 bits) and an input block size of 30 symbols (240 bits). To evaluate the efficiency of the developed two-round wavelet cryptographic scheme, we compare it with DES and AES. Our results suggest that the wavelet cryptosystem has comparable computational complexity to AES and approximately half the complexity of DES. The security is tied to the length of the wavelet basis function and to the nonlinearity within the wavelet transform. We study the security of the block-cipher wavelet cryptosystem in response to classical attacks and those specific to this algorithm, particularly those which use variations of the divide and conquer, interpolation attack, and discrete Fourier transform techniques. We show that chosen ciphertext attacks of the wavelet encryption system can reduce to the problem of solving a set of nonlinear equations over finite fields. By considering existing classical and structure-specific attacks, we conclude that the lowest complexity of any of these attacks is greater than an exhaustive key search.
Detecting Spoofing Attacks in Mobile Wireless Environments

The flexibility and openness of wireless networks enables an adversary to masquerade as other devices easily. Identity-based spoofing attacks are serious network threats as they can facilitate a variety of advanced attacks to undermine the normal operation of networks. However, the existing mechanisms can only detect spoofing attacks when the victim node and the spoofing node are static. In this paper, we propose a method for detecting spoofing attacks in the mobile wireless environment, that is when wireless devices, such as the victim node and/or the spoofing node are moving. We develop the DEMOTE system, which exploits Received Signal Strength (RSS) traces collected over time and achieves an optimal threshold to partition the RSS traces into classes for attack detection. Further, our novel algorithm alignment prediction (ALP), when without the knowledge of spatial constraint of the wireless nodes, utilizes temporal constraints to predict the best RSS alignment of partitioned RSS classes for RSS trace reconstruction over time. Our approach does not require any changes or cooperation from wireless devices other than packet transmissions. Through experiments from an office building environment, we show that DEMOTE achieves accurate attack detection both in signal space as well as in physical space using localization and is generic across different technologies including IEEE 802.11 b/g and IEEE 802.15.4.
Kinetic theory for the Heisenberg paramagnet; High temperature behavior.

Abstract A kinetic theory for the Heisenberg paramagnet is proposed. The dynamical susceptibility at high temperatures is calculated approximately from the theory, and used to evaluate the temperature dependent NMR linewidth in RbMnF3, KMnF3, and MnF2.
Video in the Proficiency‐Based Advanced Conversation Class: An Example from the Russian‐Language Curriculum

This article describes the principles underlying the design of an advanced-level conversation class in Russian and the learning outcomes of the course. After a review of research on proficiency levels attained by foreign language students, the author describes the advanced conversation course, a course geared toward students who have achieved intermediate-mid or intermediate-high oral proficiency in the target language and who are striving towards advanced level speech according to the ACTFL oral proficiency guidelines. The article describes the integration of feature films, on video, into the course as the basis of tasks (as defined by Murphy 1993) for student partner work, as well as self-analyses the students themselves conduct during the course of the semester. While the description of the course focuses on Russian-language students at the college level, the article describes how the principles illustrated herein can be adapted for use with other languages and at other levels of instruction.
Public Reporting of Patient Survival (Mortality) Data on the Dialysis Facility Compare Web Site

We studied Medicare's Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) Web site, which publicly reports patient survival (mortality) data. We conducted qualitative research to evaluate how well patients and family members understand the patient survival data as it is currently explained and presented on DFC, and their view of its value. We also tested potential improvements using alternative language and display formats. Overall, participants responded positively to the patient survival data, indicating that publicly reporting this type of information has value for patients and family members. Participants could identify facilities with better performance but had difficulty understanding the statistical differences between patient survival ratings.
Innate immune responses and control of acute simian immunodeficiency virus replication in the central nervous system

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) can invade the central nervous system (CNS) during acute infection but virus replication is apparently controlled because clinical and pathological manifestations of CNS disease in HIV/SIV-infected individuals usually present later in infection, coincident with immunosuppression and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Using an established SIV/macaque model of HIV dementia, the authors recently demonstrated that acute virus replication is down-regulated (to undetectable viral RNA levels) in the brain, but not the periphery, as early as 21 days post inoculation (p.i.). Viral DNA levels in the brain remain constant, suggesting that infected cells persist in the CNS and that replication is inhibited largely at a transcriptional level. In vitro, active replication of HIV in macrophages can be inhibited by treatment with interferon (IFN)β via a mechanism involving induction of a dominant-negative form of the transcription factor C/EBP (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein)β. Because macrophages are the primary cell types infected with HIV/SIV in the CNS and HIV replication in macrophages requires C/EBP sites within the viral long terminal repeat (LTR), the authors considered the possibility that suppression of C/EBP-dependent transcription contributes to the mechanism by which acute HIV/SIV replication is inhibited in the CNS. Here, the authors report that IFNβ can also inhibit ongoing SIV replication in macaque macrophages in vitro. Further, the authors demonstrate that IFNβ levels in the brain increase between 7 and 21 days p.i. in parallel with increased expression of the dominant-negative isoform of C/EBPβ. These results suggest that innate immune responses involving IFNβ may contribute to the mechanism(s) controlling acute SIV replication in the CNS.
Evaluating State Representations for Reinforcement Learning of Turn-Taking Policies in Tutorial Dialogue

Learning and improving natural turn-taking behaviors for dialogue systems is a topic of growing importance. In task-oriented dialogue where the user can engage in task actions in parallel with dialogue, unrestricted turn taking may be particularly important for dialogue success. This paper presents a novel Markov Decision Process (MDP) representation of dialogue with unrestricted turn taking and a parallel task stream in order to automatically learn effective turn-taking policies for a tutorial dialogue system from a corpus. It also presents and evaluates an approach to automatically selecting features for an MDP state representation of this dialogue. The results suggest that the MDP formulation and the feature selection framework hold promise for learning effective turn-taking policies in taskoriented dialogue systems.
Let's Talk: An Analysis of the "Vote vs. Negotiated Withdrawal" Decision for Social Activist Environmental Health Shareholder Resolutions

Social and environmental shareholder activists engage in a form of corporate social governance by submitting proxy resolutions for a specific change in corporate behavior deemed to be harmful to society. Using a unique data-set for environmental health shareholder resolutions filed by shareholder activists at 70 different companies during 2006–2011, we examine the success rate of resolutions and characteristics affecting the “vote vs. negotiated withdrawal” decision. Supporting a self-interest hypothesis, resolutions targeting specific consumer/retail companies, with regard to chemicals in products or product safety issues, are more likely to be negotiated and withdrawn, while firms with entrenchment-related governance characteristics are more likely to be voted on. Examining wealth effects, consumer/retail companies with a resolution vote experience a −0.38% stock price reaction surrounding the annual meeting date, resulting in a significant economic average loss of −$453.5 million.
EndoU is a novel regulator of AICD during peripheral B cell selection.

Balanced transmembrane signals maintain a competent peripheral B cell pool limited in self-reactive B cells that may produce pathogenic autoantibodies. To identify molecules regulating peripheral B cell survival and tolerance to self-antigens (Ags), a gene modifier screen was performed with B cells from CD22-deficient C57BL/6 (CD22−/−[B6]) mice that undergo activation-induced cell death (AICD) and fail to up-regulate c-Myc expression after B cell Ag receptor ligation. Likewise, lysozyme auto-Ag–specific B cells in IgTg hen egg lysozyme (HEL) transgenic mice inhabit the spleen but undergo AICD after auto-Ag encounter. This gene modifier screen identified EndoU, a single-stranded RNA-binding protein of ancient origin, as a major regulator of B cell survival in both models. EndoU gene disruption prevents AICD and normalizes c-Myc expression. These findings reveal that EndoU is a critical regulator of an unexpected and novel RNA-dependent pathway controlling peripheral B cell survival and Ag responsiveness that may contribute to peripheral B cell tolerance.
Patching It Up, Pulling It Forward

An important reason for making any software open source is to encourage code and other community contributions, resulting in more diverse developer communities coalescing around valuable software efforts. We believe the full picture of open developer communities is underappreciated by scientific and cyberinfrastructure open source software efforts. Free and open source licensing is popular in scientific and cyberinfrastructure software, and Web-based tools for source code management (such as GitHub and Bitbucket) are in common use, but community building efforts and associated governance models that foster these communities need improvement. We propose here a simple mechanism to address this problem: developers should be given incentives to submit patches and to make other measurable contributions to code bases that they use but are not otherwise connected to, and projects should be given incentives to accept these outside contributions. As an example implementation, we outline a contest system with small monetary rewards for individuals and recognition for both individuals and projects. The goal is to change the mindset of scientific and cyberinfrastructure developers, converting them from passive downstream users to active contributors. We hypothesize that this easily measurable concrete action will contribute to the sustainability of many projects and also create a more flexible scientific workforce. Building this effort on currently available, federally funded software will establish a foundation of public data that can be used to verify our hypothesis. More broadly, the effort will demonstrate the benefits for scientific and cyberinfrastructure projects that adopt workable governance models that are already well established in the broader open source software ecosystem.
GAMETOPHYTIC SELECTION IN RAPHANUS RAPHANISTRUM: A TEST FOR HERITABLE VARIATION IN POLLEN COMPETITIVE ABILITY.

Competition among many microgametophytes for a limited number of ovules can lead to both nonrandom fertilization by pollen genotypes and selection for greater sporophytic vigor. The evolutionary implications of this process depend on the extent of heritable genetic variation for pollen competitive ability. Using flower color in wild radish as a genetic marker, we demonstrate differences among pollen donors in competitive ability. Significant differences were found in four out of five pairs of donors. For three pairs of donors, competitive differences were observed in certain maternal plants but not others. To test for heritability of pollen performance, we conducted a selection experiment. We manip- ulated the intensity of pollen competition for two generations and then tested for differences in the performance of pollen from two selected lines. Competitive ability of pollen derived from each line was assessed relative to a standard unrelated pollen donor, using pollen mixtures on six wild maternal plants. The intensity of previous pollen competition had no overall effect on the proportion of seeds sired by each selected line. In two maternal plants, pollen from intense previous competition was actually inferior, contrary to expectation. Thus, we found no evidence for heritable variation in this trait. Other factors, such as male-female interactions, may influence the outcome of pollen competition. Prevailing theory on the genetic basis of effects of pollen competition on subsequent generations is not supported by our results. Improved protocols for future experiments are discussed.
Introduction: Understanding Ecological Programming: Merging Theory, Research, and Practice

In this collection, we examine the application of the ecological model in prevention programs. A review of the literature presents a historical account of the development of the model and provides a basis for the rationale behind its use. Four empirical articles then provide a method for measuring the application of an ecological framework in program design and implementation, and evaluations of programs using components of the model. We conclude that ecological programming, while popular in rhetoric, is complex in both its design and implementation. Ecological approaches show merit over one-sided solutions, but need further investigation to show when these are the most efficacious approach and when only limited adherence is optimal.
T-cell activation, both pre- and post-HAART levels, correlates with carotid artery stiffness over 6.5 years among HIV-infected women in the WIHS.

Objective: T-cell activation is a major pathway driving HIV disease progression. Little is known regarding the impact of T-cell activation on HIV-associated atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, a common comorbidity in HIV infection. We hypothesized that T-cell activation will predict vascular stiffness, a measure of subclinical atherosclerosis. Design: Linear regression models evaluated the covariate-adjusted association of T-cell activation with vascular stiffness. Methods: CD38 and HLA-DR expression on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells was assessed by flow cytometry among 59 HIV-negative and 376 HIV-infected (185 hepatitis C coinfected) women in the Women's Interagency HIV Study. T-cell activation was defined by CD8+CD38+DR+ and CD4+CD38+DR+. Multiple activation assessments over 6.5 years were averaged. In 140 women, T-cell activation was measured before and after highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) initiation. Carotid artery ultrasounds were completed a median of 6.5 years after last measurement of T-cell activation and carotid artery stiffness including distensibility and elasticity were calculated. Results: Percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell activation were significantly higher in HIV- infected compared with HIV-negative women. Among HIV-negative women, T-cell activation was not associated with carotid artery stiffness. Among HIV-infected women, higher CD4+ T-cell activation levels significantly predicted increased arterial stiffness independent of CD4 cell count and HIV RNA. The association was stronger among HIV/hepatitis C–coinfected women compared with HIV-monoinfected women; however, the difference was not statistically significant (P for interaction >0.05). Pre- and post-HAART levels of CD4+ T-cell activation significantly predicted carotid artery stiffness. Conclusions: Persistent T-cell activation, even after HAART initiation, can contribute to structural and/or functional vascular damage accelerating atherogenesis in HIV infection. These results need to be confirmed in a longitudinal prospective study.
Experimental archaeology: a new outlook

The potential contributions which imitative experiments can make to archaeology are far greater in scope, complexity, and overall "value" than is commonly realized. A sketch of some of these potential contributions is given and, in support of the claims advanced, a method of measuring the efficiency of hand operated implements is described and then applied in a comparison of different agricultural practices. The results show that experiments can provide important data unobtainable by traditional research methods and aid in the analysis of past subsistence and technological systems.
Imaging biophysics of axonal transport with MEMRI: Optic tract transport is altered in mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Recent evidence implicates transport defects in neurodegeneration, epilepsy, and glaucoma. The oriented neuronal projections from the retinal ganglion cells in the optic tract proved an excellent system in which to detect the effects of genetics or disease on axonal transport. Manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI) allows tracing of neuronal tracts in the optic tract of living animals, which thus offers the potential to measure the dynamics of axonal transport over time in genetically controlled animals (1, 2). We previously reported in timelapse MRI of intensity changes along the optic tract that Mn^(++) transports more slowly in the optic tract of mice with a genetic knock-out of the kinesin light chain gene (3). Conventional kinesin is the cellular motor thought to mediate a portion of axonal transport. This result demonstrated that MEMR imaging is sensitive enough to detect transport differences between genetically distinct mice. Here we report the effect of genetic manipulation of amyloid precursor protein (APP) on Mn^(++) transport by time-lapse T1-weighted slab images acquired at 6 min intervals over the course of 3.0 hr after injection of Mn^(++) into the posterior chamber of the eye. We tested 16 mo old mice expressing a human APP mutant protein known to cause Alzheimer's disease (SwAPP) and their wildtype littermates (TTA)(4). At this age, this mutant mouse strain has Alzheimer's-type plaques in the brain.
AN ESTIMATION OF THE UPPER BOUNDARY FOR THE BUFFER OF FLOW-SHOP SYSTEMS

It is well-known that the productivity of Flow-Shop systems is not only relared with the number of parts pallets, but also with the capacity of machine buffers. However, up to now there is not any practical approach for quantitative description for the buffer of Flow-Shop systems. In this paper, to both 2xn systems and mxn systems we present an estimation of the upper bound of the capacity of minimal buffer of each machine and bottle neck machine can be utilized sufficiently. This result provides us some theoretical basis for both increasing the productivity of Flow-Shop systems and optimizing the system design.
Experimental methods for interface behaviors of geosynthetics in landfills

The pull-out tests,direct shear tests and simple shear tests are often used to investigate the interface behaviors of landfill liner systems.Pull-out tests for the interfaces of geomembrane-sand,geomembrane-clay,geotextile-sand and geotextile-clay,direct shear tests for the interfaces of geotextile-sand and geomembrane-clay,and simple shear tests for the composite liner interfaces of geonet-geomembrane-clay are presented.The test results show that the interface behaviors of geosynthetics and soil mainly depend on the surface characteristics of geosynthetics.The initial slope of stress-displacement curve from the direct tests and simple shear tests is steeper than that from the pull-out tests.The results from the simple shear tests show that the critical interface with the largest displacement in the composite liner is not fixed at a single interface.It can shift from one to another with changing normal stress.The strength envelop is the steepest for the pull-out tests,middle for the simple shear tests,and the lowest for the direct shear tests.The condition of composite liner in landfills can be reasonably simulated by the simple shear tests.The simple shear tests are suggested to investigate the interface strength of liner systems in landfills.
Mouth Pain with Red Gums

A man presented with diffuse erythema of the gums with mild edema and tenderness. The patient had thick deposits at the gum line that could not be wiped off.
Neuropeptides and Control of the Anterior Pituitary

Neuropeptides are short chains of amino acids that are produced in neurons throughout the body; when released, they bind to specific receptors on target cells, thereby communicating neural information to other neurons or to nonneural tissues (eg, hormone-secreting cells of the anterior pituitary gland, vascular smooth muscle, and secretory glands). Neuropeptides access the anterior pituitary via a portal vessel system and set into action complex pathways of neuroendocrine control.
Capsule Commentary on Goodwin et al., Receipt of Cancer Screening is a Predictor of Life Expectancy

C ancer screening among adults with <10 year life expectancy is increasingly being recognized as low-value care. Therefore, policy makers are interested in developing algorithms to identify and avoid low-value use of cancer screening among older adults. To identify older adults who receive low-value cancer screening, it is necessary to accurately estimate their life expectancy. Therefore, a previous study using Medicare claims data created and validated an algorithm to estimate beneficiary life expectancy based on beneficiary age, sex, and the presence of comorbidities. Ideally, this algorithm could now be used to help health systems identify low-value cancer screening among their older patients. However, Goodwin et al. in this manuscript identified an important limitation of using claims-based estimates of life expectancy. Using data from a 5 % sample of Medicare beneficiaries, aged 69–90 years by the end of 2002 (543,970 women and 362,753 men), Goodwin et al. examined the association of the receipt of screening mammography (in 2001/2002) or PSA (in 2002) on beneficiaries’ overall survival through 2012. They found that women who underwent screening mammography lived around 2 years longer than women that did not get screened and men that received PSA screened lived around 1 year longer than those who were not screened. Of note, excluding beneficiaries diagnosed with cancer as a result of these tests did not affect the overall findings. However, since claims data do not capture beneficiaries’ function, cognition, disease severity, or social support, and these factors affect receipt of cancer screening, the prolonged survival associated with receipt of cancer screening among older adults is likely explained by these factors and probably reflects that providers are screening based on their judgement about patient’s life expectancy. Based on this study, it is important for policy makers to realize that claims-based estimates of life expectancy likely underestimate life expectancy among older adults receiving cancer screening. Therefore, using these measures could overestimate overuse of these tests. To overcome this limitation, policy makers could consider using shorter life expectancy estimates (e.g., 7 rather than 10 years) to identify low-value receipt of cancer screening among older adults.
Representing 3D shapes based on implicit surface functions learned from RBF neural networks

We propose a 3D shape representation method based on neural network classifier.The combination of radial base functions can implicitly represent complex shapes.The use of neural network can represent the shape with 3 classes of points.We conduct extensive experiments on medical and non-medical data.Our method can accurately and memory-efficiently represent shapes.We introduced a new prostate dataset. We propose to represent the shape of 3D objects using a neural network classifier. The 3D shape is learned from a neural network, where Radial Basis Function (RBF) is applied as the activation function for each perceptron. The implicit functions derived from the neural network is a combination of radial basis functions, which can represent complex shapes. The use of RBF provides a rotation, translation and scaling invariant feature to represent the shape. We conduct experiments on a new prostate dataset and public datasets. Our testing results show that our neural network-based method can accurately represent various shapes.
NPM-RAR Binds to Tradd and Impedes the Extrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

Abstract 5126 The t(5;17)(q35;q21) variant of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia fuses nucleophosmin (NPM) to the retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARA). The resultant NPM-RAR fusion protein blocks myeloid differentiation, and leads to a leukemic phenotype similar to that caused by the t(15;17)(q22;q21) PML-RAR fusion. The contribution of the N-terminal 117 amino acids of NPM contained within NPM-RAR has not been well studied. NPM is a molecular chaperone, and binds to a variety of proteins implicated in leukemogenesis. We performed a proteomic analysis to identify NPM-RAR interacting proteins. Vectors encoding NPM-RAR or RARA (as control) fused in frame to calmodulin binding peptide and Protein A were expressed in HEK293 cells, and interacting proteins subjected to tryptic digest. Peptides were analyzed by nanoflow reversed-phase liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. Amongst other targets, we identified tumor necrosis factor receptor type 1-associated DEATH domain protein (TRADD) as a distinct binding partner for NPM-RAR. TRADD did not bind to wild-type RARA or NPM, suggesting that the interaction was unique to the fusion protein. The NPM-RAR/TRADD interaction was verified by reciprocal co-precipitation. Though NPM-RAR localizes primarily in the nucleoplasm, we also found a low level of NPM-RAR/TRADD dimer in the cytoplasm utilizing confocal microscopy. Expression of NPM-RAR in U937 cells impaired TNF activation of caspase 8 and caspase 3. TNF-induced acquisition of Annexin V, generation of sub-G0/G1 nuclear content, and cleavage of PARP were all blunted, indicating that NPM-RAR blocks TNF-induced apoptosis. Our studies identify a novel mechanism through which NPM-RAR impacts leukemogenesis. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.