cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Indigenous Gastrointestinal Microbiota

Although representatives of only few species have been studied in detail, little doubt now exists that birds, adult mammals including man, and animals of many other species have microbiotas (microfloras) indigenous to their alimentary canals (1,2). These biotas develop soon after birth, consist of prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms of many genera and species, and are essential for the health and welfare of their animal hosts. Mammals of many species (i.e. ungulates) and insects of certain species (i.e. termites) are known to derive as adults essential elements of their nutrition from products of their alimentary microbiotas (3). Even when their essential nutrients need not be microbial products, animals of many and perhaps even all species physiologically interact in various ways with their biotas (3–5). Indeed, their capacity to survive in nature depends upon the biota. Thus, mammals and animals of most if not all species can be regarded as creatures consisting of eukaryotic animal cells in symbiosis with eukaryotic and prokaryotic microbial cells. In other words, animals exist under natural conditions as complex interactive organic units consisting of both animal and microbial cells.
Analysis of cardiovascular regulation

Adequate characterization of hemodynamic and autonomic responses to physical and mental stress can elucidate underlying mechanisms of cardiovascular disease or anxiety disorders. We developed a physiological signal processing system for analysis of continuously recorded ECG, arterial blood pressure (BP), and respiratory signals using the programming language Matlab. Data collection devices are a 16-channel digital, physiological recorder (Vitaport), a finger arterial pressure transducer (Finapres), and a respiratory inductance plethysmograph (Respitrace). Besides the conventional analysis of the physiological channels, power spectral density and transfer functions of respiration, heart rate, and blood pressure variability are used to characterize respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), 0.10-Hz BP oscillatory activity (Mayer-waves), and baroreflex sensitivity. The arterial pressure transducer waveforms permit noninvasive estimation of stroke volume, cardiac output, and systemic vascular resistance. Time trends in spectral composition of indices are assessed using complex demodulation. Transient dynamic changes of cardiovascular parameters at the onset of stress and recovery periods are quantified using a regression breakpoint model that optimizes piecewise linear curve fitting. Approximate entropy (ApEn) is computed to quantify the degree of chaos in heartbeat dynamics. Using our signal processing system we found distinct response patterns in subgroups of patients with coronary artery disease or anxiety disorders, which were related to specific pharmacological and behavioral factors.
A 3D Topology Optimization Scheme for M2M Communications

Communication networking leverages emerging network technologies such as topology management schemes to satisfy the demand of exponentially increasing devices and associated network traffic. Particularly, without efficient topology management, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications will likely asymmetrically congest gateways and eNodeBs in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and Long-Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) networks, especially when M2M devices are massively deployed to support diverse applications. To address this issue, in this paper, we propose a 3D Topology Optimization (3D-TO) scheme to obtain the optimal placement of gateways and eNodeBs for M2M communications. By taking advantage of the fact that most M2M devices rarely move, 3D-TO can specify optimal gateway positions for each M2M application, which consists of multiple $M$ 2 $M$ devices. This is achieved through global optimization, based on the distances between gateways and M2M devices. Utilizing the optimization process, 3D-TO likewise determines optimal eNodeB positions for each M2M application, based on the distances between eNodeBs and optimal M2M gateways. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed 3D-TO scheme towards M2M communications, with regard to throughput, delay, path loss, and packet loss ratio.
Institute for Colored Youth

This chapter highlights the Institute for Colored Youth, a school founded to provide a quality education to young African American students. One of the first of its kind, the Institute for Colored Youth taught a variety of disciplines, but its major focus was to prepare African American students to become teachers. This chapter provides insight into the structure and progress of the school, which is now Cheney University.
Web Exclusive. Annals On Call - Weighing the Potential Benefits and Harms of E-Cigarettes.

In this episode of Annals On Call, Dr. Centor discusses electronic cigarette use with Dr. Nancy Rigotti of Massachusetts General Hospital.
Field Emission from Silicon Nanocones Cathodes

High-current electron beams have a wide range of applications. Generating such beams in a compact and robust way is appealing for some of these applications. Among the various high-current emission processes, field emission appears to be promising. One of its appealing featuring being its simplicity. In this paper, we report on preliminary experimental results on field-emission cathode consisting of self-assembled silicon nanocones. We discuss the setup employed for the measurements and present the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curves along with the inferred field-enhancement factors.
Molecular evolution of non-fertilizing sperm in Lepidoptera suggests minimal direct involvement in sperm competition

Abstract Sperm are among the most variable cells in nature. Some of this variation results from non-adaptive errors in spermatogenesis, but many species consistently produce multiple sperm morphs, the adaptive significance of which remains unknown. Here, we investigate the evolution of dimorphic sperm in Lepidoptera, the butterflies and moths. Males of this order produce both fertilizing sperm and a secondary, non-fertilizing type that lacks DNA. Previous organismal studies suggested a role for non-fertilizing sperm in sperm competition, but this hypothesis has never been evaluated from a molecular framework. We combined published datasets with new sequencing in two species, the monandrous Carolina sphinx moth and the highly polyandrous monarch butterfly. Based on population genetic analyses, we see evidence for increased adaptive evolution in fertilizing sperm, but only in the polyandrous species. This signal comes primarily from a decrease in non-synonymous polymorphism in sperm proteins compared to the rest of the genome, suggesting stronger purifying selection, consistent with selection via sperm competition. Non-fertilizing sperm proteins, in contrast, do not show an effect of mating system and do not appear to evolve differently from the background genome in either species, arguing against the involvement of non-fertilizing sperm in direct sperm competition. Based on our results and previous work, we suggest that non-fertilizing sperm may be used to delay female remating in these insects and decrease the risk of sperm competition rather than directly affect its outcome.
Chapter 22 Targets and instruments of monetary policy

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the major conceptual developments in the literature of targets and instruments of money policy, with particular emphasis on the broader strategic issues defining the overall framework within which policy operates. The instrument problem of the selection of specific price or quantity that the central bank directly and immediately controls is examined in the chapter. It is a fact that what most people mean by money in discussions of monetary policy is not a plausible policy instrument at all, because it is endogenous in the kind of fractional reserve banking system common to most modern market economies. Hence, money is at best an intermediate target of monetary policy. The chapter discusses the implications of alternative monetary policy frameworks for the information available to the economy's private sector, the positive empirical question of when and whether any given central bank has actually based its operations on one kind of targeting strategy or another, and the empirical basis for making the normative selections of monetary policy targets and instruments.
Anhedonia Reduction and the Association Between Left Ventral Striatal Reward Response and 6-Month Improvement in Life Satisfaction Among Young Adults.

Importance Anhedonia is a symptom of multiple psychiatric conditions in young adults that is associated with poorer mental health and psychosocial function and abnormal ventral striatum reward processing. Aberrant function of neural reward circuitry is well documented in anhedonia and other psychiatric disorders. Longitudinal studies to identify potential biomarkers associated with a reduction in anhedonia are necessary for the development of novel treatment targets. Objective To identify neural reward-processing factors associated with improved psychiatric symptoms and psychosocial function in a naturalistic, observational context. Design, Setting, and Participants A longitudinal cohort follow-up study was conducted from March 1, 2014, to June 5, 2018, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center after baseline functional magnetic resonance imaging in 52 participants between the ages of 18 and 25 years who were experiencing psychological distress. Main Outcomes and Measures Participants were evaluated at baseline and 6 months. At baseline, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging during a card-guessing monetary reward task. Participants completed measures of affective symptoms and psychosocial function at each visit. Neural activation during reward prediction error (RPE), a measure of reward learning, was determined using Statistical Parametric Mapping software. Neural reward regions with significant RPE activation were entered as regions associated with future symptoms in multiple linear regression models. Results A total of 52 young adults (42 women and 10 men; mean [SD] age, 21.4 [2.2] years) completed the study. Greater RPE activation in the left ventral striatum was associated with a decrease in anhedonia symptoms during a 6-month period (β = −6.152; 95% CI, –11.870 to –0.433;P = .04). The decrease in anhedonia between baseline and 6 months mediated the association between left ventral striatum activation to RPE and improvement in life satisfaction between baseline and 6 months (total [c path] association: β = 0.245;P = .01; direct [c′ path] association: β = 0.133;P = .16; and indirect [ab path] association: 95% CI, 0.026-0.262). Results were not associated with psychotropic medication use. Conclusions and Relevance Greater left ventral striatum responsiveness to RPE may serve as a biomarker or potential target for novel treatments to improve the severity of anhedonia, overall mental health, and psychosocial function.
Correlation between CYP1A1 polymorphisms and susceptibility to glyphosate-induced reduction of serum cholinesterase: A case-control study of a Chinese population.

Abstract Glyphosate (GLP) is one of the most common herbicides worldwide. The serum cholinesterase (ChE) may be affected when exposed to glyphosate. Reduction of serum ChE by herbicides is probably related to cytochrome P450 (CYP450) family polymorphisms. We suspect that the abnormal ChE caused by GLP could be correlated with the CYP family members. To determine whether CYP1B1 (rs1056827 and rs1056836) and CYP1A1 (rs1048943) gene polymorphisms and individual susceptibility to GLP-induced ChE abnormalities were interrelated in the Chinese Han population, we performed this genetic association study on a total of 230 workers previously exposed to GLP, including 115 cases with reduced serum ChE and 115 controls with normal serum ChE. Two even groups of cases and controls were enrolled. The CYP1A1 and CYP1B1 polymorphisms in both groups were genotyped using TaqMan. Subjects with the CYP1A1 rs619586 genotypes showed an increased risk of GLP-induced reduction of serum ChE, which was more evident in the following subgroups: female, > 35 years old, history of GLP exposure time 10 years, nonsmoker and nondrinker. The results show that CYP1A1 rs619586 was significantly associated with the GLP-induced reduction in serum ChE and could be a biomarker of susceptibility for Chinese GLP exposed workers. Because of a large number of people exposed to glyphosate, this study has a significance in protecting their health.
Broadening Participation in Computing through Transforming Media and Technologies

Broadening participation in computing ensures that a diversity of perspectives are involved in creating new technologies. Yet despite initiatives aimed at bringing more diverse groups into computer science as a discipline, underrepresented groups are still under threat to be crowded out of formal computing spaces. However, there are informal spaces where these populations engage in computational projects, learning computing skills outside of traditional academic or industry computing spaces. One such space is transformative fandom. We propose exploring how people in transformative fandom innovate and transform technologies, with an emphasis on their involvement in computational projects by and for marginalized communities.
Postpartum supplementation with fermented ammoniated condensed whey altered nutrient partitioning to support hepatic metabolism.

ABSTRACT Our previously published paper demonstrated that fermented ammoniated condensed whey (FACW) supplementation improved feed efficiency and metabolic profile in postpartum dairy cows. The objective of this study was to further explore the effects of FACW supplementation on liver triglyceride content, hepatic gene expression and protein abundance, and plasma biomarkers related to liver function, inflammation, and damage. Individually fed multiparous Holstein cows were blocked by calving date and randomly assigned to postpartum (1 to 45 d in milk, DIM) isonitrogenous treatments: control diet (n = 20) or diet supplemented with FACW (2.9% dry matter of diet as GlucoBoost; Fermented Nutrition, Luxemburg, WI, replacing soybean meal; n = 19). Liver biopsies were performed at 14 and 28 DIM for analysis of mRNA expression, protein abundance, and liver triglyceride content. There was marginal evidence for a reduction in liver triglyceride content at 14 DIM in FACW-supplemented cows compared with the control group. Cows supplemented with FACW had greater mRNA expression of glucose-6-phosphatase at 14 DIM relative to control. Supplementation with FACW increased mRNA expression of pyruvate carboxylase (PC), but did not alter cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PCK1), resulting in a 2.4-fold greater PC:PCK1 ratio for FACW-supplemented cows compared with control. There was no evidence for a FACW effect on mRNA expression of propionyl-CoA carboxylase nor on mRNA expression or protein abundance of lactate dehydrogenase A or B. Cows supplemented with FACW had lower plasma urea nitrogen compared with control. Plasma l -lactate was greater for FACW-supplemented cows compared with control at 2 h before feeding time at 21 DIM. There was no evidence for altered expression of IL1B or IL10, or blood biomarkers related to liver function and damage. Greater glucose-6-phosphatase and PC gene expression, together with greater blood glucose and similar milk lactose output, suggests that FACW increased the supply of glucose precursors, resulting in greater gluconeogenesis between 3 and 14 DIM. Greater hepatic PC:PCK1 ratio, together with previously reported decreased plasma β-hydroxybutyrate and the marginal evidence for lower liver triglyceride content at 14 DIM, suggests greater hepatic capacity for complete oxidation of fatty acids in FACW-supplemented cows compared with control. Overall, improvements in metabolite profile and feed efficiency observed with postpartum supplementation of FACW may be attributed to increased gluconeogenic and anaplerotic precursors, most likely propionate, due to modulated rumen fermentation.
Radiotherapy in adult low-grade glioma: nationwide trends in treatment and outcomes

Management of WHO grade II gliomas (LGG) can include a combination of observation, surgery, radiotherapy (RT), and chemotherapy; however, optimal management remains unclear in regards to RT. The current study seeks to investigate the usage of RT in LGG and its effect on survival outcomes. Patients with diagnosis codes specific for LGG were queried from the National Cancer Database (NCDB) during the years 2004–2016. Kaplan–Meier curves with log-rank testing, univariate and multivariate Cox regression analysis, and comparisons of estimated 3- and 7-year survival were performed to investigate the effect of RT on overall survival. 19,382 patients with LGG were identified with histologically confirmed disease. Kaplan–Meier testing demonstrated RT impacted survival in patients undergoing biopsy or no surgery (p < 0.0001), no chemotherapy (p < 0.0001), and in regimens with early RT (p < 0.0001) and high-dose RT (p < 0.0001). Cox multivariate regression demonstrated RT and age less than 40 (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.89–0.97, p = 0.001), no chemotherapy (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.77–0.87, p < 0.001), and astrocytoma histology (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.66–0.79, p < 0.001) were associated with improved survival. 3-year survival of RT versus non-RT groups showed increased survival rates for age less than 40 years (+ 5.7%, p < 0.0001), no surgery or biopsy (+ 8.1%, p < 0.0001), no chemotherapy (+ 10.3%, p < 0.0001), mixed glioma (+ 6.7%, p < 0.0001), astrocytoma (+ 7.1%, p < 0.0001), and in regimens with early RT (+ 7.6%, p < 0.0001) and high-dose RT (+ 4.7%, p < 0.0001). This nationwide analysis of LGG patients found that RT was associated with improved survival outcomes in patients less than 40 years of age, with histology subtypes of astrocytoma and mixed glioma, undergoing biopsy or no surgery, and in regimens with early RT and high-dose RT.
Community Courts & Race: An Examination of Community Court Judges, Staff, and Racial Dynamics:

Current research has found racial disparities in outcomes of problem-solving courts throughout the country. However, most of the research has not explored the causes of these racial disparities. Th...
Studying effect of glyceryl palmitostearate amount, manufacturing method and stability on polymorphic transformation and dissolution of rifaximin tablets

Abstract Rifaximin (RFX) exhibit polymorphism and commercial formulation contains the α form. The polymorphic transformation of the RFX in the drug product have significant effect on the clinical outcome. The focus of present work was to understand effect of formulation component and manufacturing method, and exposure to stability condition on polymorphic stability and dissolution of RFX tablets. The RFX tablets containing 2.5, 5 and 10% glyceryl palmitostearate (GPS) were manufactured by direct-compression and wet-granulation followed by compression. Ethanol was used as a granulating solvent. The tablets were packed in pharmacy vials and exposed to 40 °C/75% RH for four weeks. The tablets were characterized for polymorphic form by X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) and Fourier infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), assay and dissolution. Before exposure to stability condition, dissolution ranged from 78.0 ± 2.3 to 81.9 ± 3.5%, and 72.7 ± 2.0 and 75.9 ± 5.8% in directly compressed and ethanol-granulated formulations, respectively. GPS amount of 10% caused a decrease in dissolution albeit insignificant (p > 0.05). The polymorphic forms of RFX were α and γ in directly compressed and ethanol-granulated formulations, respectively. There was a decrease in dissolution rate and extent after exposure to 40 °C/75% RH in directly compressed formulations. On the other hand, only dissolution rate was affected in ethanol-granulated formulations. The dissolution ranged from 52.8 ± 2.0 to 70.0 ± 3.0% in directly compressed formulations after four weeks exposure to 40 °C/75% RH exposure. A decrease in dissolution was linked to polymorphic transformation of the drug and GPS in the formulations after exposure to stability condition. XRPD and FTIR data indicated α to β transformation in directly compressed formulations while no polymorphic change was observed in ethanol-granulated formulations. In conclusion, this study clearly showed effect of formulation and manufacturing variables, and stability exposure on the polymorphic stability and dissolution of RFX, which may have clinical ramification.
Reply to Wang and Unruh

I reply to a Comment by Q. Wang and W.G. Unruh regarding my paper "Hiding the Cosmological Constant" [Phys. Rev. Lett. 123, 131302].
Dizzying Dialogue: Canadian Courts and the Continuing Justification of the Dispossession Of Aboriginal People

Since Aboriginal rights have found protection within Canada’s Constitution, a new relationship has emerged between Canada’s Aboriginal Peoples and the Crown. This relationship is characterized by the need for “reconciliation.” In its growing jurisprudence, the Supreme Court of Canada applies reconciliation doctrine to several important Aboriginal claims. Each application, however, brings with it a restriction on Aboriginal rights. This paper argues that the Court’s conception of reconciliation is designed to facilitate the integration of Aboriginal peoples into larger society rather than to protect their collective interests. To demonstrate this argument, this paper examines the Supreme Court’s discussion of the doctrine of reconciliation from Sparrow (1990) to Little Salmon (2010). Depuis que les droits des autochtones sont proteges par la constitution canadienne, une nouvelle relation, ayant comme caracteristique le besoin de « reconciliation », a vu le jour entre les peuples autochtones du Canada et la Couronne. La Cour supreme du Canada a applique la doctrine de la reconciliation dans la serie d’arrets ou elle s’est penchee sur plusieurs importantes revendications autochtones. Dans chaque cas, l’application de la doctrine de la reconciliation a cependant abouti a une restriction des droits des autochtones. Dans cet article, l’auteur soutient que, dans l’esprit de la Cour, la reconciliation vise a faciliter l’integration des peuples autochtones dans la societe en general plutot qu’a proteger leurs interets collectifs. Pour etayer cette opinion, il examine l’analyse qu’a faite la Cour supreme de la doctrine de reconciliation de l’arret Sparrow (1990) a l’arret Little Salmon (2010).
A Novel Photovoltaic Inverter for Railway Application

A high-voltage-gain dc-dc converter is proposed. The proposed converter resembles a two-phase interleaved boost converter on its input side while having a Dickson-charge-pump-based voltage multiplier (VM) on its output side. This converter offers continuous input current, which makes it more appealing for the integration of renewable sources like solar panels. the proposed converter is capable of drawing power from either a single source or two independent sources. Furthermore, the VM used offers low voltage ratings for capacitors that potentially leads to size reduction.
Thermodynamic stability of hard sphere crystals in dimensions 3 through 10

Although much is known about the metastable liquid branch of hard spheres-from low dimension d up to [Formula: see text]-its crystal counterpart remains largely unexplored for [Formula: see text]. In particular, it is unclear whether the crystal phase is thermodynamically stable in high dimensions and thus whether a mean-field theory of crystals can ever be exact. In order to determine the stability range of hard sphere crystals, their equation of state is here estimated from numerical simulations, and fluid-crystal coexistence conditions are determined using a generalized Frenkel-Ladd scheme to compute absolute crystal free energies. The results show that the crystal phase is stable at least up to [Formula: see text], and the dimensional trends suggest that crystal stability likely persists well beyond that point.
A Consensus Study: Generational Differences in Neurosurgeons' Perception of Retirement and Practice Limits.

Background Concerns about the changing demographics in the United States and the aging of the neurosurgical workforce exist. Both the importance and inherent risk of surgical responsibilities suggest that thought be given to whether workloads should change later in surgeons' careers. We sought to assess current neurosurgeons' expectations concerning their late-stage careers. Methods A survey was sent to 3317 U.S. board-certified neurosurgeons. It was designed to assess surgeons' perceptions of call and operative responsibilities in the later stages of their careers. Statistical analyses were completed in R version 3.6.1, with an alpha set to 0.05. Results Six-hundred and fifty-nine neurosurgeons completed the questionnaire. Seventy-seven percent believed that the call burden should decrease later in practice, and 66% planned to decrease their own call burden later in their career. The most common age range for planned retirement was 65 to 69 years (36%), followed by 70+ years (33%). Most (67%) believed that there should not be a mandatory age to stop operating. More recent year of residency completion was negatively associated with the belief that call burden should decrease at older age groups and positively associated with support for a mandatory age to stop operating as well as an earlier retirement age. Conclusions This study suggests that neurosurgeons have differing views on how workloads should change later in their careers. Younger neurosurgeons support an earlier decrease in workload or even a policy-mandated stop to operating after a certain age. These results may give insight into future trends and turnover in neurosurgery and provide a valuable tool to help practices anticipate workforce changes.
COSAIM: Counter-based Stochastic-behaving Approximate Integer Multiplier for Deep Neural Networks

In this work, we propose a new counter-based stochastic-behaving approximate integer unsigned multiplier, called COSAIM, for many emerging error tolerant application workloads such as deep neural networks. Unlike existing approximate multipliers, which are based on some deterministic ad-hoc methods or mathematical formula, the new design is an improved stochastic multiplier, which performs improved sequential counting for multiplication operation in a deterministic way. In this work, we further improve the counting efficiency by introducing approximate schemes to significantly speed up the counting process, which leads to significant clock cycle reduction with no accuracy loss. COSAIM bears all the advantages of stochastic computing such as built-in configurability for progressive performance-accuracy trade-off. At the same time, it shows very small latency and high energy efficiency. Our evaluation shows that the COSAIM with error improvement operation can achieve very low error bias (0.06%), along with lower mean error (0.30% to 3.49%), and low peak errors (around 1.81%) with variance of 1. $47\times 10^{-4}$ %. Experimental results obtained from Xilinx ISE show that compared with the 8-bit exact multiplier baseline, COSAIM can save up to 53.95%, 32.84%, 52.24%, 21.05% in area, power, energy and the product Area. 1/Throughput, respectively. Furthermore, by doing shared parallel design, COSAIM can further lead to improvements in area, power and energy reduction by 60.44%, 53.33% and 68.54%, respectively compared to the baseline. We also implement COSAIM in a Convolution Neural Network (CNN) and test it on CIFAR10 dataset and find that CNN with COSAIM delivers similar inference accuracy compared to some state of art approximate multipliers.
Wideband all-optical BEAMTAP

A holographically-cohered approach to the all-optical implementation of time-delay-and-sum array processing for large, wideband adaptive-beamforming and jammer-nulling antenna arrays that requires only two coherent-fiber tapped-delay-lines with 20 GHz squint-free bandwidth capability is presented.
A type of path derivative.

In this paper a type of path derivative, which is not based on the non-empty path intersection, is introduced. Such derivatives share some basic properties with sequencial derivatives but there exist some sharp contrasts between them. The path derivative here restricts the speed of convergence in the definition of limits naturally and has a sharp contrast with the classical Dini derivatives for the typical continuous function.
Gene expression profiling in murine autoimmune arthritis during the initiation and progression of joint inflammation.

We present here an extensive study of differential gene expression in the initiation, acute and chronic phases of murine autoimmune arthritis with the use of high-density oligonucleotide arrays interrogating the entire mouse genome. Arthritis was induced in severe combined immunodeficient mice by using adoptive transfer of lymphocytes from proteoglycan-immunized arthritic BALB/c mice. In this unique system only proteoglycan-specific lymphocytes are transferred from arthritic mice into syngeneic immunodeficient recipients that lack adaptive immunity but have intact innate immunity on an identical (BALB/c) genetic background. Differential gene expression in response to donor lymphocytes that migrated into the joint can therefore be monitored in a precisely timed manner, even before the onset of inflammation. The initiation phase of adoptively transferred disease (several days before the onset of joint swelling) was characterized by differential expression of 37 genes, mostly related to chemokines, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α signaling, and T cell functions. These were designated early arthritis 'signature' genes because they could distinguish between the naive and the pre-arthritic state. Acute joint inflammation was characterized by at least twofold overexpression of 256 genes and the downregulation of 21 genes, whereas in chronic arthritis a total of 418 genes with an equal proportion of upregulated and downregulated transcripts were expressed differentially. Hierarchical clustering and functional classification of inflammation-related and arthritis-related genes indicated that the most common biological activities were represented by genes encoding interleukins, chemokine receptors and ligands, and by those involved in antigen recognition and processing.
Dynamics of the surface phase transformations in the K/Al(111) system

Second harmonic generation has been used to study the dynamics of the phase transformations which occur for submonolayer films of potassium on the (111) face of aluminum. The second harmonic signal is very sensitive to the geometrical structure, symmetry, and electronic structure of the adsorbed layer. This system reveals an intricate phase diagram including two-dimensional condensation, co-existence regimes between a lattice gas and ordered islands, and order-preserving irreversible transformation. The latter transformation which occurs as a function of temperature shows a damped-oscillatory behavior.
Improving Decision Making by Means of Dissent1

Antidotes to problems associated with uniformity of viewpoints have generally involved dissent in one form or another (Katzenstein, 1996), one being “devil's advocate.” Research on authentic dissent has documented additional advantages in that it stimulates divergent and original thought (Nemeth, 1995). In this study, authentic disscnt was compared with devil's advocate and with no dissent. Findings indicate that authentic dissent was superior in (a) stimulating a greater proportion of original thoughts, (b) considering the opposite position, and (c) direct attitude change. Devil's advocate was found to stimulate cognitive boistcring of the initial position, thus raising concerns about the unintended consequences of techniques such as devil's advocate and the subtle task facing attempts to foster original thought and yet maintain cohesion.
Development of an electrostatic levitator and containerless processing of metals, alloys, and semiconductors

Present capability of the High Temperature Electrostatic Levitator (HTESL) at JPL for the containerless materials processing is described. The capability includes the measurements of various thermophysical properties and the studies of undercooling and nucleation phenomena. The thermophysical reports that can be measured include the density, the volume expansion, and ratio between the specific heat capacity and the hemispherical total emissivity, the surface tension,the viscosity, the spectral emissivity, and the electrical resistivity. For liquids where the Wiedemann-Franz-Lorenz law applies, their thermal conductivities can be determined indirectly from the electrical resistivities. The capability of determining the statistical nature of nucleation and the Temperature-Time-Transformation (T-T-T)curves has also been demonstrated. Experimental results on pure metals, alloys, and semiconductors were used to support the argument.
Pediatric Fluid and Electrolyte Therapy

Fluid and electrolyte therapies in pediatric patients are reviewed. Physiologically, the proportion of body water to body weight is different in infants and children than adults. This difference makes managing the pediatric patient an intricate task. Several factors that may increase or decrease fluid needs are discussed.The main goals of deficit/replacement and maintenance therapies are reviewed. Laboratory analyses assist in evaluating the types of dehydration states. The degree of dehydration may be established by patient history and physical examination. The 5%, 10%, and 15% rule of dehydration is an adequate method for estimating proper fluid replacement.Maintenance fluid therapy is evaluated and described for certain pediatric disease states, such as pyloric stenosis, burns, and surgery. Guidelines are presented for each situation, but each patient should be treated on an individual basis.
Glatiramer Acetate in the Reduction of Relapse Frequency in Multiple sclerosis

Glatiramer acetate (GA; Copaxone®) is a heterogeneous polymer of four amino acids. It is one of the therapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1996 for treatment of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). GA reduces the relapse rate for RRMS, and has a good safety profile and moderate efficacy. Preclinical and clinical studies reveal that GA plays a role in modulating the cells of the immune system as well as in neuroprotection. In this article, we review the role of GA in reducing the frequency of relapses in MS, as well as its efficacy, safety, and current place in therapy.
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of metabolic syndrome: an ancillary analysis in the Diabetes Prevention Program.

Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of metabolic syndrome: an ancillary analysis in the Diabetes Prevention Program
The Urbanists, 1865-1915:

Preface: The Modern City: Real and Perceived Widening Urban Vistas, 1865-1885 Comprehending Metropolis, 1885-1900 Governing Great Cities, 1885-1900 Cities of Extremes, 1885-1900 Toward Equilibrium, 1885-1900 Appendix: A Note on Method Bibliographical Essay Index
In vivo and ex vivo measurements of the mean ADC values of lipid necrotic core and hemorrhage obtained from diffusion weighted imaging in human atherosclerotic plaques.

Purpose: To determine the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of lipid and hemorrhage in atherosclerotic plaque in human carotid arteries in vivo and compare the values obtained from ex vivo carotid endarterectomy specimens. Materials and Methods: In vivo diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of carotid plaques was performed using a 2D single shot Interleaved Multislice Inner Volume Diffusion Weighted Echo Planar Imaging (2D ss-IMIV DWEPI) on 8 subjects who subsequently underwent carotid endarterectomy. A total of 32 slices used to construct the ADC maps were reviewed for the measurement of the mean ADC values in vessel wall, hemorrhage, and lipid necrotic core. The 8 endarterectomy specimens were scanned using by three-dimensional ms-IV-DWEPI. After the ADC maps were created, the mean ADC values in the same locations selected for in vivo values were calculated. Results: The mean ADC values obtained from in vivo DWI in normal vessel wall, lipid rich core, and hemorrhage were 1.27 ± 0.16, 0.38 ± 0.1, and 0.98 ± 0.25 × 10−3 mm2/s, respectively. The mean ADC values in ex vivo lipid necrotic core, and hemorrhage were 0.33 ± 0.08, 1.28 ± 0.10 × 10−3 mm2/s, respectively. These components mean ADC values obtained from in vivo and ex vivo ADC maps were compared. Conclusion: ADC values of the carotid plaque components in vivo are consistent with values obtained from ex vivo endarterectomy specimens. The ability to obtain consistent plaque ADC values in vivo indicates that this technique could be an integral part of the basis for plaque component identification in conjunction with other MRI techniques. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Therapeutic Engagement With Adolescents in Psychotherapy.

Therapeutic engagement of adolescents is critical to maximizing the success of any psychotherapy intervention. Therapists have found that engaging adolescents is especially challenging and that there are several reasons for this. Most psychotherapy models are based on treatments that work for adults. These methods are frequently not conducive to engaging adolescents because of their developmental
On the polynomial equivalence of subsets E and f(E) of $\Bbb Z$

For a subset E of an integral domain D and an integer-valued polynomial f over D, we investigate conditions under which the subsets E and f(E) of D determine the same integer-valued polynomials on D (this is the definition of polynomial equivalence of E and f(E)). Our primary interest in this problem lies in the case where D is the ring of rational integers. Using work of McQuillan, the case where E is finite is resolved completely in Section 3. For E infinite we show in several cases that polynomial equivalence of E and f(E) implies that f is linear, but whether this is true in general for, say, $D = \Bbb Z $ is an open question.
Dynamic regulation of Oct1 during mitosis by phosphorylation and ubiquitination.

Background Transcription factor Oct1 regulates multiple cellular processes. It is known to be phosphorylated during the cell cycle and by stress, however the upstream kinases and downstream consequences are not well understood. One of these modified forms, phosphorylated at S335, lacks the ability to bind DNA. Other modification states besides phosphorylation have not been described. Methodology/Principal Findings We show that Oct1 is phosphorylated at S335 in the Oct1 DNA binding domain during M-phase by the NIMA-related kinase Nek6. Phospho-Oct1 is also ubiquitinated. Phosphorylation excludes Oct1 from mitotic chromatin. Instead, Oct1pS335 concentrates at centrosomes, mitotic spindle poles, kinetochores and the midbody. Oct1 siRNA knockdown diminishes the signal at these locations. Both Oct1 ablation and overexpression result in abnormal mitoses. S335 is important for the overexpression phenotype, implicating this residue in mitotic regulation. Oct1 depletion causes defects in spindle morphogenesis in Xenopus egg extracts, establishing a mitosis-specific function of Oct1. Oct1 colocalizes with lamin B1 at the spindle poles and midbody. At the midbody, both proteins are mutually required to correctly localize the other. We show that phospho-Oct1 is modified late in mitosis by non-canonical K11-linked polyubiquitin chains. Ubiquitination requires the anaphase-promoting complex, and we further show that the anaphase-promoting complex large subunit APC1 and Oct1pS335 interact. Conclusions/Significance These findings reveal mechanistic coupling between Oct1 phosphorylation and ubquitination during mitotic progression, and a role for Oct1 in mitosis.
Bilinear state space realization for polynomial stochastic systems

The Wiener approach to the non-linear stochastic systems permits the representation of single-valued systems with memory for which a small perturbation of the input produces a small perturbation of the output. The Wiener functional series representation contains infinitely many transfer functions to describe entirely the input output connections. One of the most important class of stochastic systems, especially in the statistical point of view, is the case when all the transfer functions are determined by finitely many parameters. The question of realizability, i.e., to construct a state space model for a system given in terms of a set of transfer functions, is a central problem in many cases for example in engineering. There are several results in this direction for systems with deterministic inputs see [1,2]. The realization of linear systems with stochastic Gaussian input was treated by Akaike [3] and studied intensively afterwards, see [4,5]. The bilinear system seems to be the next step leading from the linear towards non-linear ones. The realization problem of bilinear systems appeared in the papers [6–8], mainly by the time series side. In this work, we follow the early Akaike work and the results for the deterministic systems by Rugh [2] and also Brillinger [9], who investigated the identification of finite degree functional series by spectral analysis. First the bilinear realization problem is considered together with a simplest non-linear system, i.e., the second Hermite degree bilinear process. In the second section, the transfer function system with its main properties is given by a recursive formula for the bilinear states. Next, we show that these properties are necessary and sufficient for the transfer functions to be bilinear realizable. In section four, the stationarity of the bilinear state space model is investigated. We are constructing the abstract bilinear minimal realization for a time invariant stationary degree-N non-linear system driven by Gaussian white noise. Concerning to the identification of the bilinear model with Hermite degree-2 explicit formula of the bispectrum is given for this family of models.
Responses of Schizaphis graminum (Homoptera: Aphididae) to leaf excision in resistant and susceptible sorghum

Summary Greenbugs, Schizaphis graminum (Rondani), were reared on intact and excised leaves of varieties of sorghum which differed in their suitability as hosts for this aphid. Aphids grew poorly on intact leaves of three resistant varieties, but grew well on excised leaves of the same varieties. Leaf excision did not affect aphid growth on three susceptible varieties. By electronically monitoring the feeding behaviour of aphids on two resistant and one susceptible variety, significant differences were found in many parameters between aphids assayed on excised vs. intact leaves of only the resistant varieties. Aphids on excised leaves of the resistant varieties, and on excised or intact leaves of the susceptible variety, made fewer probes to the phloem, spending more time ingesting from phloem during each probe, compared to aphids on intact resistant plants. There was a higher level of free amino acids in excised leaves of all varieties, but aphid growth and feeding behaviour improved as a result of excision only on resistant varieties. This observation, coupled with the fact that intact plants of all varieties have similar amino acid levels, indicates that these nutrients are not of primary importance in sorghum suitability to the greenbug. Other explanations for the aphids' responses to excised leaves are discussed.
A Potential Peptide Therapeutic Derived from the Juxtamembrane Domain of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is involved in many cancers and EGFR has been heavily pursued as a drug target. Drugs targeting EGFR have shown promising clinical results for several cancer types. However, resistance to EGFR inhibitors often occurs, such as with KRAS mutant cancers, therefore new methods of targeting EGFR are needed. The juxtamembrane (JXM) domain of EGFR is critical for receptor activation and targeting this region could potentially be a new method of inhibiting EGFR. We hypothesized that the structural role of the JXM region could be mimicked by peptides encoding a JXM amino acid sequence, which could interfere with EGFR signaling and consequently could have anti-cancer activity. A peptide encoding EGFR 645–662 conjugated to the Tat sequence (TE-64562) displayed anti-cancer activity in multiple human cancer cell types with diminished activity in non-EGFR expressing cells and non-cancerous cells. In nude mice, TE-64562 delayed MDA-MB-231 tumor growth and prolonged survival, without inducing toxicity. TE-64562 induced non-apoptotic cell death after several hours and caspase-3-mediated apoptotic cell death with longer treatment. Mechanistically, TE-64562 bound to EGFR, inhibited its dimerization and caused its down-regulation. TE-64562 reduced phosphorylated and total EGFR levels but did not inhibit kinase activity and instead prolonged it. Our analysis of patient data from The Cancer Genome Atlas supported the hypothesis that down-regulation of EGFR is a potential therapeutic strategy, since phospho- and total-EGFR levels were strongly correlated in a large majority of patient tumor samples, indicating that lower EGFR levels are associated with lower phospho-EGFR levels and presumably less proliferative signals in breast cancer. Akt and Erk were inhibited by TE-64562 and this inhibition was observed in vivo in tumor tissue upon treatment with TE-64562. These results are the first to indicate that the JXM domain of EGFR is a viable drug target for several cancer types.
Optical constants of water in the infrared: Influence of temperature*

We have compared the near-normal-incidence spectral reflectance of water at 1, 16, 39, and 50 °C with the corresponding spectral reflectance of water at 27°C, at which temperature the optical constants n(ν) and k(ν) have been previously determined. By applying Kramers-Kronig analyses to the resulting values of spectral reflectance we have obtained the optical constants of water at each of the above temperatures. We present the results in graphical form for the spectral region 400–5000 cm−1 and in tabular form in the vicinity of major absorption and dispersion features. The bearing of our results on the intermolecular structure of water is discussed.