cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Immunomodulatory properties of substance P: the gastrointestinal system as a model.

Communication between nerves and immune and inflam- matory cells of the small and large intestine plays a major role in the modulation of several intestinal functions, including intestinal motility, ion transport, and mucosal permeability. Neuroimmune interactions at intestinal sites have been associated with the pathophysiology of infec- tious and enterotoxin-mediated diarrhea and intestinal inflammation, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). During the past 20 years the neuropeptide substance P (SP) has been identified as an important mediator in the development and progress of intestinal inflammation by binding to its high-affinity neurokinin-1 receptor (NK-1R). This pep- tide, released from enteric nerves, sensory neurons, and inflammatory cells of the lamina propria during intestinal inflammation, participates in gut inflammation by interacting, directly or indirectly, with NK-1R ex- pressed on nerves, epithelial cells, and immune and inflammatory cells, such as mast cells, macrophages, and T cells. SP-dependent activation of these cells leads to the release of cytokines and chemokines as well as other neuropeptides that modulate diarrhea, inflammation, and motility associated with the pathophysiology of several intestinal disease states. The recent development of specific nonpeptide NK-1R antagonists and NK-1R-deficient mice helped us understand the functional importance of the SP-NK-1R system in mediating intestinal neuroimmune interac- tions and to identify the particular cells and signaling pathways involved in this response. This review summarizes our understanding on the im- munomodulatory properties of SP and its receptor in the intestinal tract with particular focus on their involvement in intestinal physiology as well as in the pathophysiology of several intestinal disease states at the in vivo and cell signaling level.
Fast wavelet techniques for near-optimal image processing

The authors present a unified mathematical approach that allows one to formulate both linear and nonlinear algorithms in terms of minimization problems related to the so-called K-functionals of harmonic analysis. They then summarize the previously developed mathematics that analyzes the image compression and Gaussian noise removal algorithms. >
An Integrated Collection of Tools for Continuously Improving the Processes by Which Health Care Is Delivered: A Tool Report

This report will present a collection of tools that supports the precise definition, careful analysis, and execution of processes that coordinate the actions of humans, automated devices, and software systems for the delivery of health care. The tools have been developed over the past several years and are currently being evaluated through their application to four health care processes, blood transfusion, chemotherapy, emergency department operations, and identity verification. The tools are integrated with each other using the Eclipse framework or through the sharing of artifacts so that the internal representations generated by one might be used to expedite the actions of others. This integrated collection of tools is intended to support the continuous improvement of health care delivery processes. The process definitions developed through this framework are executable and intended for eventual use in helping to guide actual health care workers in the performance of their activities, including the utilization of medical devices and information systems.
An Evaluation of Filming Speeds for Dynamic Biomechanical Modeling and Recommendation for Optimum Speed

This paper recommends the optimum filming speed for developing kinetic biomechanical models for analyzing manual materials handling activities. Using a high speed camera, the lifting activity was filmed at 500 frames per second. Different filming speeds were simulated by skipping one, two or more film frames. The analysis of film data indicated that selection of filming speed based upon cost and accuracy trade-off is a better criterion than any other criteria which have been suggested from time to time. Language: en
Immunohistochemical Staining of Feline Malignant Fibrous Histiocytomas

Malignant fibrous histiocytoma was diagnosed in seven cats from biopsy specimens received at the University of Missouri Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory during a 4-year period from 1987-1991. Tissue blocks from formalin-fixed specimens were resectioned and stained for type I (AE1) and type II (AE3) cytokeratins, desmin, S100 protein, vimentin, and alpha 1-antitrypsin by the avidin biotin peroxidase complex method with diaminobenzidine (DAB) chromogen. None of the tumors stained positively for alpha 1-antitrypsin. Four of seven of the tumors had similar immunohistochemical staining results, with positive staining for type I and type II cytokeratins, desmin, S100 protein, and vimentin. Of the remaining three, one stained positively only for S100 protein and vimentin; one stained positively for vimentin only; and one was negative for all six antigens. Based only on immunohistochemical staining results, three of the tumors could possibly be reclassified: one as a melanoma, one as a probable fibrosarcoma, and one as unknown. These results also indicate that feline malignant fibrous histiocytomas show a diversity of intermediate filament expression, as do human tumors. Our results also do not support the theory that malignant fibrous histiocytomas are of histiocytic origin.
Improved rat model of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia: induced laboratory infections in Pneumocystis-free animals.

An immunosuppressed rat model of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia is described that utilizes simple, noninvasive intratracheal (i.t.) inoculation of cryopreserved parasites and results in development of severe P. carinii pneumonia within 5 weeks. This is an improvement over the most commonly used models of P. carinii pneumonia that rely on immune suppression to activate latent P. carinii infections and that often require 8 to 12 weeks to produce heavy infections of P. carinii. It is also less labor intensive than more recent models requiring surgical instillation of parasites. Our report describes a series of preliminary studies to select an appropriate strain of rat; to determine suitable methods for inducing uniform immunosuppression, P. carinii inoculation, and laboratory maintenance of P. carinii; and to determine effective animal husbandry methods for maintaining animals free from serious secondary infections. Results of our more detailed studies demonstrate that animals receiving two or three i.t. inoculations of approximately 10(6) cryopreserved P. carinii organisms have a predictable course of disease progression which includes moderate P. carinii infections within 3 weeks, severe P. carinii pneumonia in 5 weeks, and a high percentage of mortality due to P. carinii pneumonia in 6 weeks. Parasites were distributed evenly between the right and left lungs, regardless of the number of P. carinii inoculations administered. Non-P. carinii-inoculated immunosuppressed control rats maintained in microisolator cages remained free of P. carinii, thus providing an important control that is missing from many P. carinii pneumonia models. Most non-P. carinii-inoculated control animals and P. carinii-inoculated rats treated with trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole that were housed in open caging in the same room containing heavily infected animals had no detectable infections after 5 to 6 weeks of immunosuppression; however, some had a small number of P. carinii in their lungs. Because heavy, reproducible infections are achieved 5 weeks after i.t. inoculation, because few animals are lost to secondary infections, and because animals can be maintained as noninfected contemporaneous controls, this animal model is useful for the maintenance of P. carinii strains, for studies of the transmission and natural history of P. carinii, for the production of large numbers of organisms for laboratory studies, and for the evaluation of potential anti-P. carinii drugs.
Intrapocket anesthesia for scaling and root planing in pain-sensitive patients.

Background: In 2 previous multicenter studies evaluating the efficacy of a novel anesthetic gel (lidocaine 25 mg/g plus prilocaine 25 mg/g), there was a rather small, although statistically significant, overall difference between the active and placebo gels. There were, however, large center variations. At centers where the placebo-treated patients reported high pain scores, the difference between treatments was large, suggesting that the anesthetic gel is most effective in patients who experience the procedure as painful. The present multicenter, double-blind, randomized study evaluated the anesthetic effect of this gel in pain-sensitive patients by using a visual analog scale (VAS) and a verbal rating scale (VRS). Methods: One hundred thirteen (113) patients with moderate to severe periodontitis were screened for pain sensitivity upon probing. Eighty-five reported VAS ≥30 mm on probing and were included in the treatment phase (43 anesthetic and 42 placebo gel). The periodontal pockets of one quadrant in...
ExoS of Pseudomonas aeruginosa induces apoptosis through a Fas receptor/caspase 8-independent pathway in HeLa cells.

Summary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection is a serious complication in immunocompromised individuals and in patients with cystic fibrosis. We have previously shown that the type III secreted effector ExoS triggers apoptosis in various cultured cell lines via its ADP-ribosyltransferase (ADPRT) activity. The apoptosis process was further shown to involve intrinsic signalling pathway requiring c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)-initiated mitochondrial pathway. In the present study, we investigated the role of Fas pathway activation in P. aeruginosa-induced apoptosis. P. aeruginosa infection resulted in caspase 8 cleavage in HeLa cells, which was inhibited by overexpression of a dominant negative version of Fas-associated death domain (FADD), suggesting that Fas pathway was activated. In fact, confocal laser scanning microscopy showed that P. aeruginosa induced clustering of FasR. In addition, the ADPRT activity of the ExoS was required for the induction of FasR clustering and caspase 8 cleavage. However, blocking the FasR–FasL interaction by antagonistic antibodies to FasR or to FasL had no effect on P. aeruginosa-induced caspase 8 and caspase 3 activation, neither did the silencing of FasR by small interfering RNA (siRNA), suggesting that caspase 8 activation through the FADD bypasses FasR/FasL-mediated signalling. Thus, FADD-mediated caspase 8 activation involves intracellular ExoS in an ADPRT-dependent manner. Furthermore, silencing of caspase 8 by siRNA did not interfere with P. aeruginosa-induced apoptosis, whereas it rendered HeLa cells markedly increased resistance towards FasL-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, our findings indicate that ExoS of P. aeruginosa induces apoptosis through a mechanism that is independent of Fas receptor/caspase 8 pathway.
Synthesis of Electro-Statically Actuated MEMS

This chapter presents a synthesis methodology for electrostatically driven microelectromechanical systems. It addresses issues of simulation, sensitivity analysis and optimization. As an application of the general methodology, design of variable gap comb drives (shape motors) is presented. Direct simulation of the electrostatic field is carried out by the exterior, indirect boundary element method and shape sensitivities are obtained by the direct differentiation approach. The inverse problem determines the shapes of fingers of a comb drive such that the driving force is a desired function of its travel distance. Commercially available optimization codes are used to solve the synthesis problems. Numerical results are presented for shape motors that produce linear, quadratic or cubic force profiles. Based on the design, a cubic motor was fabricated using the SCREAM process. The driving forces were measured and the results were compared with the theoretical predictions.
Advanced alignment technique for precise printing over selective emitter in c‐Si solar cells

Significant improvements in c-Si solar cells performance can be achieved acting on the emitter or on the contact formation side. At the moment, an efficiency gain around 0.5–0.6%abs [1] has been demonstrated for selective emitter (SE) cells, mainly caused by the improvement of the blue response of the shallow emitter. Nevertheless, in case of sub-optimal alignment of the printed metal with the deep emitter, the shallow junction depth leads to a significantly narrower firing process window, consequently causing high contact resistance and poor shunting behavior. Moreover, after Anti Reflective Coating (ARC) the contrast between differently doped areas is poor and often prevents the screen printer vision system from correctly recognizing the pattern for metal printing alignment. Thus, we developed a new equipment, high precision selective emitter, for precise alignment over SE able to guarantee recognition of every SE pattern and consequent printing repeatability within +/-30 µm without rejections or misalignments. In this work, results from experimental investigations and mass production are reported and discussed, including also comparison with standard alignment methods and further feasible applications. New equipment for precise alignment over SE able to guarantee recognition of every SE pattern and consequent printing repeatability within +/-30μm without rejections or misalignments has been developed (examples of SE patterns are reported in the following pictures). Test performed at production sites confirm that an efficiency gain of 0.1% and a significant reduction of rejection can result from the increased robustness of the presented method. Finally, also a correlation between sheet resistance of heavily doped area and image contrast has been demonstrated. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Entropy of Mixing and the Glass Transition of Amorphous Mixtures

Different equations have been proposed for estimating the glass transition temperature of amorphous mixtures. All such expressions lack a term to account for the effect of the entropy of mixing on the glass transition. An entropy based analysis for the glass transition of amorphous mixtures is presented. The treatment yields an explicit mixing term in the expression for the glass transition temperature of a mixture. The obtained expression reduces to the Couchman-Karasz equation in the limiting case where the contribution of the entropy of mixing approaches zero. Equivalent expressions are obtained for the glass transition temperature of a mixture of two glass formers as for the effect of a plasticizing liquid diluent on the glass transition temperature of an amorphous material.
Thermo-mechanical instabilities in Dean and Taylor Couette flows: mechanisms and scaling laws

The influence of fluid thermal sensitivity on the centrifugal flow instabilities in pressure-driven (Dean) and drag-driven (Taylor–Couette) Newtonian shear flows is investigated. Thermal effects are caused by viscous heating or an externally imposed temperature difference between the outer and inner cylinders, and the flow type. Finally, we perform a nonlinear stability analysis for the Dean flow which shows that the bifurcation is supercritical for both stationary and time-dependent modes of instability.
Medical physics: the perfect intermediate level physics class

Medical physics is currently a rapidly growing field of physics. Numerous academic, clinical and industrial opportunities are open to physicists in the medical world. I report on an intermediate level physics course on medical physics taught at Carleton College. The topics covered in this course cover all areas of physics, but with examples drawn from medical applications. In addition to physics majors, this course appeals to biology, chemistry and pre-medical students who have a keen interest in physics.
Recall memory in children with Down syndrome and typically developing peers matched on developmental age.

Background Whereas research has indicated that children with Down syndrome (DS) imitate demonstrated actions over short delays, it is presently unknown whether children with DS recall information over lengthy delays at levels comparable with typically developing (TD) children matched on developmental age. Method In the present research, 10 children with DS and 10 TD children participated in a two-session study to examine basic processes associated with hippocampus-dependent recall memory. At the first session, the researcher demonstrated how to complete a three-step action sequence with novel stimuli; immediate imitation was permitted as an index of encoding. At the second session, recall memory was assessed for previously modelled sequences; children were also presented with two novel three-step control sequences. Results The results indicated that group differences were not apparent in the encoding of the events or the forgetting of information over time. Group differences were also not observed when considering the recall of individual target actions at the 1-month delay, although TD children produced more target actions overall at the second session relative to children with DS. Group differences were found when considering memory for temporal order information, such that TD children evidenced recall relative to novel control sequences, whereas children with DS did not. Conclusions These findings suggest that children with DS may have difficulty with mnemonic processes associated with consolidation/storage and/or retrieval processes relative to TD children.
A Lesson of Lost Political Capital in Public Higher Education: Leadership Challenges in a Time of Needed Organizational Change.

All higher education institutions are struggling with a rapidly changing market and financial landscape. Here is a management-centered analysis of what happened when a college president, recognizing the need to make a radical adaptation to those changes, tried moving a campus community to a new organizational model, without collegial consensus, and too quickly. The result was that the president lost political capital and the college underwent a change in leadership. Yet the need for a new management model still remains.
On the Geo-Indicativeness of non-Georeferenced Text

Geographic location is a key component for information retrieval on the Web, recommendation systems in mobile computing and social networks, and place-based integration on the Linked Data cloud. Previous work has addressed how to estimate locations by named entity recognition, from images, and via structured data. In this paper, we estimate geographic regions from unstructured, non geo-referenced text by computing a probability distribution over the Earth’s surface. Our methodology combines natural language processing, geostatistics, and a data-driven bottom-up semantics. We illustrate its potential for mapping geographic regions from non geo-referenced text.
Inhibition of Growth of Rat by Oral Administration of Methyl-cholanthrene. Effects of Dietary Cystine and Methionine Supplements.

In the present communication it is desired to report preliminary results obtained in studies of the effects of certain carcinogenic substances on sulfur metabolism. The experimental approach employed in the first series of investigations is similar to that which has resulted in the demonstration that bromobenzene,1 cholic acid,2 naphthalene,3 and iodoacetic acid4 exert an inhibiting effect on the growth of the young white rat when any one of these compounds is incorporated into a basal diet of relatively low protein content. The addition of either 1-cystine or dl-methionine to the basal diet containing either bromobenzene, cholic acid, naphthalene, or iodoacetic acid resulted in a prompt stimulation of growth, despite the continued presence of the foreign organic compound in the diet. It was suggested that these organic substances are capable of producing a specific deficiency in the sulfur-containing amino acids, probably through the requirements of the organism for organic sulfur, in the form of cystine...
Online “Sound Bites”: A Novel Method for Teaching and Learning Cytopathology

Introduction: Medical education has seen a shift from hierarchical, lecture-centered instruction to learner-directed modalities including online tools. A host of studies have demonstrated the value of such “eLearning” tools, however, many focus primarily on medical students, and recommendations for residency sub-specialties are lacking. Cytopathology represents fertile ground for eLearning innovations due to the immense depth and breadth of knowledge required for mastery of this corner of Pathology. Materials and Methods: We addressed learning challenges faced by Pathology residents through 4 short (w10 minute) web-based tutorials (dubbed “Sound Bites”) covering selected topics in Cytopathology: 1) salivary gland tumors; 2) Bethesda Criteria for thyroid fine needle aspirations; 3) fluid interpretation; and 4) glandular lesions of the cervix. Sound Bites included “unknown” cases for self-assessment. We tracked utilization of these online modules and surveyed residents about their experiences using them. We compared resident access of Sound Bites to their utilization of existing Cytopathology glass slide study sets. Results: 83% (10/12) of residents reported utilizing the Cytopathology Sound Bites within the first month of release, and those who had not yet accessed them stated that they planned to in the future. Residents reported accessing the modules from work computers (80%, 8/10), home computers (80%, 8/10) and/or mobile devices (50%, 5/10). Easy accessibility, brevity, and self-assessments were uniformly reported as important variables contributing to Sound Bite utilization. Within one month of the release of the first Sound Bite, individual Sound Bites were accessed a total of 30 times. In contrast, existing Cytopathology slide sets are accessed only about once a month. Conclusions: Web-based “Sound Bite” tutorials represent a valuable and well-utilized adjunct to resident Cytopathology education. This model not only represents a valuable resource for trainees, but also offers instructors a method for recording and storage of teaching modules.
Power Attributions in the Local Community: Theoretical and Research Considerations

IN THE fall of 1952, a research program for comparative community studies of policy formation was initiated at the University of Oregon. In a conscious effort to build upon existing theory and research of relevance for the investigation of power and politics in a local community setting, in whatever discipline these were to be found, the first research team of the Community Studies Project was greatly influenced by a socialpsychological field study of the process of attributing power in groups of children reported by Ronald Lippitt, Norman Polansky and Sidney Rosen early in 1952.1' Whereas political scientists have long concerned themselves with authority, legitimacy, and the psychological process of people attributing power to others in politics, systematic attempts to measure these phenomena have been pretty much left to other disciplines. Selected aspects of the Lippitt, Polansky and Rosen study are presented to illustrate and underline the real possibilities of using social psychological formulations and methods in political science research even when the unit of observation in the one case is behavior in a small group and, in the other, behavior in a community setting. Such possibilities are much talked about in these days of verbal commitment to a political "behavior" approach but infrequently used.2 Avenues of future research are suggested that have been stimulated in some measure by the L-P-R study as well as by the on-going Community Studies Project at Oregon. Some of these are being pursued currently and some are in the researchdesigning stage. Others are mentioned in the hope of stimulating additional research in this area.
Ritual and Family Solidarity

T HAS long been recognized that ritual plays a functional part in the integration of human groups. Durkheim made it an essential part of his theory of mechanical solidarity. Anthropologists have made many important studies of the role of ritual in tribal and kinship groups.' There has also been some application of the idea to modern society, notably W. Lloyd Warner's study of Memorial Day rites2 and observations of the political role of ritual.3 In the modern as well as the traditional family, ritual is seen to have an important part; for example, Burgess and Locke say, "The closer the family, the longer its continuous existence, the richer the ceremonials"; they consider such events among eight factors in family unity.4 Bossard and Boll have made the most extensive study of this aspect of modern family life, using interviews and case documents.5 Despite these interesting observations and the obviously large amount of ritual in modern life, there has been little space devoted to it in sociological textbooks and, what is more to the point here, little effort to measure the amount of ritual or its association with other group variables. This article reports the results of an exploratory quantitative study of (1) the amount and kinds of ritual practiced in the families of college students, and (2) the relationship of such ritual to the solidarity of those families, the hypothesis being that if ritual is a factor increasing group solidarity then a correlation is to be expected between family ritual and family solidarity.
A Computer-Generated Model to Simulate Mating Behavior of Lygus Bugs

A computer was programmed to use a random-number generator to initially position males and females of Lygus hesperus Knight in a simulated field. The position of the bugs was visualized on a data-display scope. If both sexes were physiologically able, and if the males were within an area encompassed by the females’ sex pheromone, mating occurred. The random generator, by using a uniform distribution, was next called upon to move, or reposition, the bugs, which were again tested for mating. Simulations were run with varying densities of both sexes, and with varying sex ratios. With L. hesperus , successful mating did not occur if the density of bugs (sex ratio = 1:1) was below 10/2500 ft2 of field. When the female density was low, a large number of males (sex ratio = 19:1) was required to effect 100% matings in 1 hour, but when female density was high (125 females/2500 ft2) only a slight excess of males was required to obtain 100% mating in 1 hour.
Racial disparities in 30-day readmission rates after elective spine surgery a single institutional experience

Study design Retrospective cohort review. Objective The aim of this study is to investigate whether patient race is an independent predictor of unplanned 30-day hospital readmission after elective spine surgery. Summary of background data Racial disparities are known to exist for many aspects of surgical care. However, it is unknown if disparities exist in 30-day readmissions after elective spine surgery, an area that is becoming a prime focus for clinical leaders and policymakers. Methods Records of 600 patients undergoing elective spine surgery at a major academic medical center were reviewed. We identified all unplanned readmissions within 30 days of discharge. Unplanned readmissions were defined to have occurred as a result of either a surgical or a nonsurgical complication. Patient's records were reviewed to determine the cause of readmission and the length of hospital stay. The main outcome measure was risk-adjusted odds of all-cause 30-day readmission. We used multivariate logistic regression to determine if Black patients had an increased likelihood of 30-day readmission compared with White patients. Results Baseline characteristics were similar between both groups. Black patients had higher readmission rates than White patients (10.56% vs. 7.86%, P = 0.04). In a univariate analysis, race, body mass index, sex, patient age, smoking, diabetes, and fusion levels were associated with increased 30-day readmission rates. However, in a multivariate logistic regression model, race was an independent predictor of 30-day readmission after elective spine surgery. In addition, no significant differences in baseline, 1-year and 2-year patient reported outcomes measures were observed between both groups. Conclusion This study suggests that Black patients are more likely to be readmitted within 30-days of discharge after elective spine surgery. Efforts at reducing disparities should focus not only on race-based measures but also effective post discharge care. Level of evidence 3.
Investigation and Analysis on mild cognitive impaiment among the elderly in the communities of Taicang city

Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of mild cognitive impairment(MCI) in the el derly in Taicang city.Methods MoCA version questionnaire and general health questionnaire were investigated in the elderly of three communities selected by cluster sampling from the city.MCI criteria included:(1) memory loss for 6 months;(2) with a score lower than 7,15,19 in elderly receiving illiterate,primary,secondary and above education respectively.Results The prevalence of MCI was 18.29%.MCI was significantly related to gender,age,occupation,social activities,hobbies,physical exercise(P0.05),but not to education level,diabetes,high blood pressure,smoking,drinking(P0.05).Conclusions Age,gender,different careers would affect the development of MCI.Participating social activities,establishing hobbies and carrying out physical exercise are protective factors of MCI.
A digital RF power amplification technique based on the switched-capacitor circuit

Abstract A digital power amplifier (DPA) architecture utilizes switched-capacitor techniques combined with envelope elimination and restoration (EER). The switched-capacitor PA (SCPA) operates as a linear RF envelope digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and employs a switching PA to amplify non-constant envelope-modulated signals with large peak-to-average power ratios (PAPR) at high efficiency. In addition to the standard SCPA, a class-G SCPA architecture and a power combining technique are employed to further improve the efficiency and output power, respectively. Due to the high linearity of the class-G SCPA architecture no digital pre-distortion is required. To increase the output power, four SCPAs are combined using a four-way power-combining transformer. Prototypes for all three amplifiers were fabricated and characterized. A standard SCPA prototype in a 90 nm CMOS process shows maximum output power and power-added efficiency (PAE) of 25.2 dBm and 45%, respectively. When amplifying an 802.11 g 64-QAM orthogonal frequency-division multiplexed (OFDM) signal the average output power and PAE are 17.7 dBm and 27%, respectively, with a measured EVM of 2.6%. A class-G SCPA implemented in a 65 nm CMOS process shows measured peak output power and PAE of 24.3 dBm and 43.5%, respectively. The average output power is 16.8 dBm with a significantly improved average PAE of 33%. The ratio of the average- to peak-efficiency is 75% with an OFDM signal and the measured EVM is 2.9% without the use of digital pre-distortion techniques. Finally, the power-combined SCPA prototyped in a 90 nm CMOS process delivers a higher peak output power of 27.0 dBm with a peak PAE of 26%.
A new method to study the change of miRNA-mRNA interactions due to environmental exposures.

Motivation Integrative approaches characterizing the interactions among different types of biological molecules have been demonstrated to be useful for revealing informative biological mechanisms. One such example is the interaction between microRNA (miRNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA), whose deregulation may be sensitive to environmental insult leading to altered phenotypes. The goal of this work is to develop an effective data integration method to characterize deregulation between miRNA and mRNA due to environmental toxicant exposures. We will use data from an animal experiment designed to investigate the effect of low-dose environmental chemical exposure on normal mammary gland development in rats to motivate and evaluate the proposed method. Results We propose a new network approach-integrative Joint Random Forest (iJRF), which characterizes the regulatory system between miRNAs and mRNAs using a network model. iJRF is designed to work under the high-dimension low-sample-size regime, and can borrow information across different treatment conditions to achieve more accurate network inference. It also effectively takes into account prior information of miRNA-mRNA regulatory relationships from existing databases. When iJRF is applied to the data from the environmental chemical exposure study, we detected a few important miRNAs that regulated a large number of mRNAs in the control group but not in the exposed groups, suggesting the disruption of miRNA activity due to chemical exposure. Effects of chemical exposure on two affected miRNAs were further validated using breast cancer human cell lines. Availability and implementation R package iJRF is available at CRAN. Contacts pei.wang@mssm.edu or susan.teitelbaum@mssm.edu. Supplementary information Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A Dynamic Error Concealment for Video Transmission over Noisy Channels

A dynamic mode-weighted error concealment method is proposed for video packets transmitted over noisy channels in this work. We first introduce two error concealment approaches. One is to reconstruct lost pixels by interpolating candidate pixels indicated by neighboring motion vectors. The other is to estimate the motion vector by a side matching algorithm. Four corrupted block reconstruction modes are described based on the two error concealment approaches. Then, the value of an erroneous pixel is replaced by a weighted sum of those reconstructed by two modes. The property of the weighted sum is analyzed. It is shown that the optimal weighting coefficients can be expressed as a formula in terms of the error variance and the correlation coefficients associated with the reconstruction modes. Furthermore, based on the decoder-based error tracking model, these weighting coefficients are dynamically updated to minimize the instant propagation and concealment error variance. Extensive simulations are provided to demonstrate that the proposed method can lead to a satisfying performance in an error-prone environment.
Virginia Tech: The Place for Materials Education and Research

These are exciting times for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). In August 2004, we hired fi ve faculty members with a range of expertise including ceramics, photonics, and nanomaterials. Our existing faculty and staff have worked hard to prepare space and provide resources for the new faculty.
Energy savings using biofuel in a developing-country water distribution system

The practical energy minimization algorithm (EMA) is introduced here to determine if a water distribution system (WDS) can be less energy dependent. The EMA is a simple algorithm that can be used by practitioners in the planning and management of WDSs. The EMA employs the Jatropha Curcas (JC) tree as a source of oil for fueling water pumps. The EMA is demonstrated on a WDS in Senegal, West Africa, and calculates the level of JC production required to be self-sufficient in fueling the water system to meet drinking, sanitation, and JC irrigation requirements. It was found that the EMA successfully showed that the demonstration WDS can be energy self-sufficient to provide recommended amounts of drinking water for the people and enough irrigation for the JC trees, but only if greywater was used to supplement the irrigation and if a mechanical press was used in lieu of a hand press to extract the oil from the JC leaves. An adequate amount of oil was thus produced to power the required mechanical press as well. Payback periods of significantly less than the life of the required equipment indicate the viability of JC oil as fuel and the feasibility of having an energy independent WDS.
Meeting the Mathematics and Science Education Needs of Grandparent-Headed Families: Reflections on a School-University Partnership

In the United States, 2.7 million grandparents are raising their grandchildren (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014) due to family crises such as parent incarceration, death, substance and mental health issue...
Data Modeling for Undergraduate Data Science: (Abstract Only)

Widespread interest in developing and enhancing undergraduate data science education is evidenced by the interim report Envisioning the Data Science Discipline: The Undergraduate Perspective recently released by the National Academies of Science/Engineering/Medicine. The report identifies data modeling as one of the key concepts for developing and applying data acumen (making good decisions and judgements with data). We define data modeling as a process for documenting how data is connected, processed, and stored; a particular data model may address one or more of these aspects. This BoF session is proposed to focus specifically on data modeling skills for data science study. Traditional data models taught in computing curriculum include Entity-Relationship, UML, and relational models; these topics can be covered at various points in the curriculum, but are typically included in database courses. The proliferation of advanced data models and systems (for example, but not limited to, document stores, graph databases, column stores, key-value stores, and relational + map reduce) provides an opportunity for developing/enhancing database curriculum at the undergraduate level to support programs in data science. A goal of this BoF is to identify faculty who wish to develop and share best practices for teaching data modeling for data science, including course learning objectives and outcomes, techniques, and materials.
Towards Declarative Debugging of Concurrent Constraint Programs

The concurrent constraint (cc) framework [17] describes a family of concurrent programming languages that use constraints for the synchronization of processes. In this paper, we describe an approach to the declarative debugging of cc programs. We develop the concept of observable and specified behaviors of cc processes, define incorrect processes based on differences between these behaviors, and present a top-down debugging algorithm for the detection of incorrect processes in finite computations. We also investigate the meaning of behaviors in infinite computations. This allows us to define a debugging algorithm for partial computations (prefixes of infinite computations) that can search for an incorrect process as soon as a wrong behavior is observed.
Differential multiple quantum relaxation caused by chemical exchange outside the fast exchange limit.

Differential relaxation of multiple quantum coherences is a signature for chemical exchange processes in proteins. Previous analyses of experimental data have used theoretical descriptions applicable only in the limit of fast exchange. Theoretical expressions for differential relaxation rate constants that are accurate outside fast exchange are presented for two-spin-system subject to two-site chemical exchange. The theoretical expressions are validated using experimental results for 15N-1H relaxation in basic pancreatic trypsin inhibitor. The new theoretical expression is valuable for identification and characterization of exchange processes in proteins using differential relaxation of multiple quantum coherences.
The Role of Deep-Sea Zooplankton in Carbon Cycles

Zooplankton in the deep sea and benthic boundary layer are involved in the processes of carbon utilization, particle repackaging, and direct transport of carbon in their bodies. However, they are often ignored in deep-sea models because of the difficulty of quantifying these roles. This paper summarizes previous work on deep-sea zooplankton carbon utilization, presents new data on deep-sea zooplankton feeding rates in relation to various environmental parameters, and discusses unique perspectives on deep-sea zooplankton food webs gained from gut contents analysis relative to available particles in the water column. In situ deep-sea near-bottom zooplankton feeding rates, measured with an alginate-microsphere tracer bead technique, were more closely related to ambient particulate organic carbon than to depth, temperature, or oxygen at five sites from 740 to 3000 m in two geographic locations (Santa Catalina Basin in the California Borderland, Volcano 7 seamount in the Eastern Tropical Pacific). Differences in copepod gut contents between the 1300 m sites in the two geographic locations included less algal material in the Santa Catalina Basin animals and the presence of abundant bacteria-like bodies (suggesting ingestion of bacterial aggregates) in the seamount copepods. Thus, even at similar depths, there is geographic variability in feeding rates and food webs of deep-sea zooplankton.
Labor Standards and Trade Agreements: Raising Standards or Raising the Walls of Protectionism?

Several major trade agreements in recent years have included a provision that addresses labor standards. Other trade agreements that are now in the discussion stage are considering incorporating labor standards as an integral part of the final agreement. The goals of such agreements are noble - to raise the conditions under which the workers of poor countries must work. The arguments are framed in such a way that anyone who opposes raising labor standards appears to be cold and heartless. The problem with raising labor standards by law rather than by the market process is that imposition of higher labor standards has unintended consequences, some of which hurt the very people the new standards are intended to help. But worse yet, some of the people who advocate raising labor standards in poor countries do so knowing that making poor countries comply with new and higher requirements will make it more difficult for them to sell their products in international markets. This paper looks at the economics and politics of harmonizing labor standards and explores some of the unintended consequences of imposing higher labor standards on poor countries and focuses on the protectionist aspects of such policies.
Evaluation of Frailty as an Unmeasured Confounder in Observational Studies of Antidiabetic Medications.

BACKGROUND It is unknown whether observational studies evaluating the association between antidiabetic medications and mortality adequately account for frailty. Our objectives were to evaluate if frailty was a potential confounder in the relationship between antidiabetic medication regimen and mortality and how well administrative and clinical electronic health record (EHR) data account for frailty. METHODS We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a single Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare system of 500 hospitalizations-the majority due to heart failure-of Veterans who received regular VHA care and initiated type 2 diabetes treatment from 2001 to 2008. We measured frailty using a modified frailty index (FI, >0.21 frail). We obtained antidiabetic medication regimen and time-to-death from administrative sources. We compared FI among patients on different antidiabetic regimens. Stepwise Cox proportional hazards regression estimated time-to-death by demographic, administrative, clinical EHR, and FI data. RESULTS Median FI was 0.22 (interquartile range 0.18, 0.27). Frailty differed across antidiabetic regimens (p < .001). An FI increase of 0.05 was associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio 1.45, 95% confidence interval 1.32, 1.60). Cox proportional hazards model for time-to-death including demographic, administrative, and clinical EHR data had a c-statistic of 0.70; adding FI showed marginal improvement (c-statistic 0.72). CONCLUSIONS Frailty was associated with antidiabetic regimen and death, and may confound that relationship. Demographic, administrative, and clinical EHR data, commonly used to balance differences among exposure groups, performed moderately well in assessing risk of death, with minimal gain from adding frailty. Study design and analytic techniques can help minimize potential confounding by frailty in observational studies.
Reaction-Diffusion Mechanisms Underlying Hirschprung’s Disease and their Practical Impications

The erratic extent of aganglionic and hypoganglionic segments in Hirschsprung9s disease (HD) makes it difficult to predict the amount of the intestine to remove in order to restore the proper functional motility. Our aim was to assess whether the embryonic rostro-caudal intestinal colonization by neuroblasts from the neural crest follows a predictable pattern in HD. In touch with Turing9s reaction diffusion model (RD), which describes biological patterns (such as leopard spots and lung branching morphogenesis) in terms of interactions/competitions between activating and inhibiting factors, we hypothesized that intestinal neural density could be triggered by local gut factors that counteract the proximal-distal embryonic progression of neural progenitors. While the neuronal number is approximately the same throughout the whole intestine in healthy subjects, in HD neural density decreases rostro-caudally towards the rectal region, due to an augmented activity and concentration of distal local inhibitors. In order to prove our hypothesis of HD9s nervous rostro-caudal adjustments driven by Turing-like processes, we compared the neuronal density patterns achieved through RD models9 simulations with the neuronal numbers detected in different colonic regions from affected children. We showed that the virtual and the real plots display fully overlapping and matching features. The fact that neuronal decreases in impaired colons match Turing equations9s previsions points towards the human intestine (both healthy and sick) as colonized through a diffusive proximal-distal neural pattern that is predictable, allowing us to straightforwardly calculate the length of the gut to resect during surgical procedures for HD.
Metabolic Acidosis in a Patient with CKD.

A 62-year-old woman with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and CKD stage 3b presented for a routine evaluation. Her medications included lisinopril 10 mg daily, hydrochlorothiazide 12.5 mg daily, metoprolol succinate 50 mg daily, rosuvastatin 10 mg daily, and baby aspirin. She is a nonsmoker and had
Designing Interactive Study Guides with Word Pictures for Teleclass Teaching.

Interactive Study Guides were developed by educators who recognized that while students were spending much time and effort on note-copying, the organization and sequence of the transcribed information was often faulty or not useful after class. The two unique aspects of the Interactive Study Guide are (1) the addition of Word Pictures to emphasize the visual potential of most information, and, (2) the designing in of interactivity by intentionally leaving out some of the key concepts for the students to fill in. The potential usefulness to the instructor in terms of precise presentation organization and to the students in terms of note-taking accuracy, completeness of notes, and study references far outweigh the time and energy required to design and produce them. For the individual instructor, this approach has applications for the more complex concepts of a lecture or course. For teleclass teaching, the Interactive Study Guide is the wave of the future.