cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
CYTOGENETIC ABNORMALITIES AND THERAPY-RELATED MYELODYSPLASTIC SYNDROMES IN RHEUMATIC DISEASE

Objective To describe the myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and cytogenetic abnormalities that occur in patients who have been treated with alkylating drugs for their rheumatic disease. Methods Patients with rheumatic disease who developed MDS after current or previous treatment with alkylating drugs were selected for evaluation by chart review and cytogenetic studies. Results Eight patients with rheumatic disease (mean age 56.9 years) developed MDS over the study period. Seven had received oral cyclophosphamide and 1 chlorambucil as their main immunosuppressive drug. The mean total cumulative dose of cyclophosphamide or chlorambucil was 118 gm and 6.5 gm, respectively, over a period of 2-10 years. The cytogenetic abnormalities included a deletion of all or part of chromosome 7 in 5 patients, while 4 had a deletion of part of the long arm of chromosome 5. Six of the patients have since died. Conclusion Large cumulative doses of cyclophosphamide and chlorambucil were associated with the development of MDS, the occurrence of abnormalities of chromosome 5 and/or chromosome 7 deletions, and a poor prognosis.
Historical Analysis of the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997

Congress enacted the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997 in an attempt to provide safety, stability, and permanency for maltreated children. To help provide a historical context, child welfare legislation preceding ASFA is reviewed. In this historical analysis, the precipitating events that led to the creation of ASFA are assessed. In addition, a detailed review of congressional hearings related to this Act is given. The key components and goals of this policy are outlined. Finally, revisions made to ASFA are discussed, and its influence on proceeding legislation is presented.
Parameter optimization with ACSL models

A method whereby a parameter optimization program, written in FORTRAN, can be used in conjunction with ACSL (Advanced Continuous Simulation Language) models of dynamic systems is described. The opt...
Probability table compression using distributional clustering for scanning n-tuple classifiers

A method for compressing tables of probability distributions using distributional clustering is presented and applied to shrink the look-up tables of a scanning n-tuple handwritten character recognizer. Lossy compression is realized by clustering n-tuples that are observed to induce similar class probability distributions. A new distance metric called "weighted mean KL divergence" is introduced to assess similarity and account for the cumulative effect of merging two distributions. After compression, cluster membership is rebalanced in an annealing-like process. The proposed method is evaluated on three isolated-character subsets of the UNIPEN database. Compression ratios in excess of 2000:1 are demonstrated for 5-tuple classifiers.
Contracting Benefits of Corporate Giving: An Experimental Investigation

ABSTRACT: We use a laboratory experiment to examine whether corporate giving to charity motivates employees. We find a strong altruism effect. Even when employees cannot be remunerated for their actions, employee contributions to employers significantly increase as the level of corporate giving increases. We also find a signaling effect. When employees can be remunerated for their actions, employee contributions initially increase as the level of corporate giving increases. Thus, even though corporate giving to charity decreases the amount that can be shared between employees and employers, employees behave as if more charitable employers will return proportionally more to employees. It is not until relatively high levels of corporate giving that employee contributions to employers eventually decrease. Collectively, our results suggest that corporate giving is an effective lever for motivating employee effort and contributions to organizational endeavors. Corporate giving can increase the efficacy of impl...
Intergranular creep fracture in aggressive environments

Abstract Gaseous species can diffuse along a boundary and oxidize impurities or precipitates. In nickel alloys O 2 can attack C or carbides to produce CO at high virtual pressures. This provides a driving force for cavity nucleation and growth at particle interfaces, which acts in addition to the applied stress in forcing fracture. In this paper it is shown that the oxidation pressure can become comparable to, or even larger than, the stresses normally applied in stress-rupture tests. The dependence of this pressure on temperature and oxygen pressure is derived for various oxidation reactions. Since oxide-dispersion-strengthened alloys are known to be more susceptible to cavitation than precipitate strengthened alloys, it is also possible that internal oxidation enhances cavitation by producing oxide particles from elemental impurities, or by converting metal-carbide and metal-intermetallic interfaces to metal-oxide interfaces. The kinetic steps which may become rate limiting when cavity nucleation and growth is induced by oxidation, are discussed.
Land‐Mobile Satellite Communications*

Land mobile satellite communications systems are discussed. Topics covered include a brief description of current and future LMSC systems characteristics, an overview of the LMSC propagation channel, error mitigation strategies, multiple access schemes, and network aspects. Most topics are covered in moderate detail with relevant equations and illustrative figures. Major references are also included so that topics of interest can be pursued in more depth by interested readers. Keywords: land mobile satellite communications; propagation channel; multipath fading; shadowing; antenna mispointing; satellite diversity; multiple access; TCP performance
An approach for improving the levels of compaction achieved by vector omission

We describe a method referred to as sequence counting to improve on the levels of compaction achievable by vector omission based static compaction procedures. Such procedures are used to reduce the lengths of test sequences for synchronous sequential circuits without reducing the fault coverage. The unique feature of the proposed approach is that test vectors omitted from the test sequence can be reintroduced at a later time. Reintroducing of vectors helps reduce the compacted test sequence length beyond the length that can be achieved if vectors are omitted permanently. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the levels of compaction achieved by the sequence counting approach.
A comparative study of mobility prediction schemes for GLS location service

The performance of geographic routing suffers from mobility-induced location errors. Location errors can also occur due to infrequent and/or lost updates to location servers, especially when the nodes are highly mobile. In GLS (grid location service) the location update frequency to the higher order location servers is very low. A query to a location server fails when a node moves far away from its previous location, rendering the cached location in the location servers invalid. In this work, we present a detailed study on the impact of node velocity on query failure rates and failure reasons in GLS, across different mobility models. Correct and efficient mobility prediction by the location servers themselves can improve the query success rate in the grid/GLS framework. We present a comparative study to investigate the performance of various prediction schemes with GLS over a rich set of mobility models.
Multiscale mechanics of biological and biologically inspired materials and structures

The world of natural materials and structures provides an abundance of applications in which mechanics is a critical issue for our understanding of functional material properties. In particular, the mechanical properties of biological materials and structures play an important role in virtually all physiological processes and at all scales, from the molecular and nanoscale to the macroscale, linking research fields as diverse as genetics to structural mechanics in an approach referred to as materiomics. Example cases that illustrate the importance of mechanics in biology include mechanical support provided by materials like bone, the facilitation of locomotion capabilities by muscle and tendon, or the protection against environmental impact by materials as the skin or armors. In this article we review recent progress and case studies, relevant for a variety of applications that range from medicine to civil engineering. We demonstrate the importance of fundamental mechanistic insight at multiple time- and length-scales to arrive at a systematic understanding of materials and structures in biology, in the context of both physiological and disease states and for the development of de novo biomaterials. Three particularly intriguing issues that will be discussed here include: First, the capacity of biological systems to turn weakness to strength through the utilization of multiple structural levels within the universality-diversity paradigm. Second, material breakdown in extreme and disease conditions. And third, we review an example where the hierarchical design paradigm found in natural protein materials has been applied in the development of a novel biomaterial based on amyloid protein.
Experimentally induced autoantibody to heat-stable alkaline phosphatase in the baboon.

Experimental evidence has been collected which signifies that autoantibody has been induced against lung heat-stable alkaline phosphatase which represented 60% of the total alkaline phosphatase of that tissue. Immunization of a male baboon with highly purified human placental alkaline phosphatase (heat-stable and cross-reactive with the baboon heat-stable enzyme) resulted in production of a precipitating factor in the immune serum which reacted with the heat-stable enzyme of both the human and baboon but not the heat-labile form of alkaline phosphatase of either species. This precipitating factor is a baboon autoantibody because 1) it had a gamma mobility on immunoelectrophoresis and retarded the electrophoretic mobility of the heat-stable enzyme from both normal and immunized baboons; 2) its titer increased as more booster injections were administered; 3) it formed a well-defined precipitin rocket with the baboon heat-stable enzyme in the Laurell's antigen-antibody crossed electrophoresis; 4) in immunodi...
Neuropeptides and other mediators in the central nervous system

Some general principles of peptide and other transmitter actions in the CNS may be applicable to determining how central, autonomic, or blood-borne transmitter signals may regulate the responsiveness of the cells of the immune system. For the resolution of how and where transmitters act in the CNS, cellular neurobiology has made substantial recent progress in three specific areas of work: neuronal connectivity, synaptic mechanisms, and neuronal transmitters. Together, the new circuits, new transmitters, and new receptor mechanisms provide a rich repertoire of signalling mechanisms that transcend earlier notions of “classical” excitatory or inhibitory transmission modes, and that are pertinent to regulation of immune response mechanisms.
Sample entropy analysis of neonatal heart rate variability

Abnormal heart rate characteristics of reduced variability and transient decelerations are present early in the course of neonatal sepsis. To investigate the dynamics, we calculated sample entropy, a similar but less biased measure than the popular approximate entropy. Both calculate the probability that epochs of window length m that are similar within a tolerance r remain similar at the next point. We studied 89 consecutive admissions to a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit, among whom there were 21 episodes of sepsis, and we performed numerical simulations. We addressed the fundamental issues of optimal selection of m and r and the impact of missing data. The major findings are that entropy falls before clinical signs of neonatal sepsis and that missing points are well tolerated. The major mechanism, surprisingly, is unrelated to the regularity of the data: entropy estimates inevitably fall in any record with spikes. We propose more informed selection of parameters and reexamination of studies where approximate entropy was interpreted solely as a regularity measure.
Feasible regions quantify the probabilistic configuration power of arrays with multiple fault types

The bulk of results for the performance of configuration architectures treat the case of failed processor, but neglect switches that are stuck open or closed. By contrast, the present work characterizes this multivariate problem in the presence of either independent and identically distributed (iid) or clustered faults. Suppose that the designer wishes to assure, with high probability, a fault-free s/spl times/t array. If local sparing is used then, as we report, the resulting area is (i) /spl Theta/(st log st) in the presence of faulty elements or faulty elements and switches stuck open; (ii) /spl Theta/(st log/sup 2/ st) in the presence of faulty elements and switches stuck closed; (iii) /spl Theta/([st]/sup 2/ log st) in the presence of faulty elements and switches that may be either stuck open or stuck closed. We also furnish bounds on maximum wirelength and an optimal configuration algorithm.
Production and Deactivation of Biosurfactant by Bacillus licheniformis JF-2

Bacillus licheniformis JF-2 produces a lipopeptide surfactant with excellent interfacial properties (Lin et al., 1990, 1992). An HPLC assay was developed to monitor the concentration of the lipopeptide in the fermentation broth and was employed to determine the effect of the composition of the growth medium on biosurfactant production. A maximum concentration of 110 mg/L lipopeptide was obtained in optimized media with 1.0% (w/v) glucose as the carbon source. The maximum amount of surfactant was obtained in early stationary-phase cultures, but subsequently decreased rapidly and disappeared completely from the fermentation broth within 8 h. It was shown that the surfactant is chemically stable in the culture supernatant but becomes internalized by stationary-phase cells. The apparent rate of surfactant internalization was not inhibited by carbonyl cyanide (m-chlorophenyl) hydrazone (CCCP), an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation, suggesting that it is not dependent on the availability of ATP and/or a charged membrane. A variety of physical and chemical treatments failed to release the surfactant from the cells. In minimal media the rate of surfactant internalization could be reduced by optimizing the concentration of phosphate and by increasing the amount of magnesium, whereas the nitrogen source, calcium, and trace salts had no effect. Since a related lipopeptide has been shown to be responsible for DNA transformation competence in certain Bacillus subtilis strains, it is possible that the internalization of the B. licheniformis JF-2 surfactant may be a developmentally important process related to the ability of the cells to take up extraneous DNA.
Modeling multiple human operators in the supervisory control of heterogeneous unmanned vehicles

In the near future, large, complex, time-critical missions, such as disaster relief, will likely require multiple unmanned vehicle (UV) operators, each controlling multiple vehicles, to combine their efforts as a team. However, is the effort of the team equal to the sum of the operator's individual efforts? To help answer this question, a discrete event simulation model of a team of human operators, each performing supervisory control of multiple unmanned vehicles, was developed. The model consists of exogenous and internal inputs, operator servers, and a task allocation mechanism that disseminates events to the operators according to the team structure and state of the system. To generate the data necessary for model building and validation, an experimental test-bed was developed where teams of three operators controlled multiple UVs by using a simulated ground control station software interface. The team structure and interarrival time of exogenous events were both varied in a 2×2 full factorial design to gather data on the impact on system performance that occurs as a result of changing both exogenous and internal inputs. From the data that was gathered, the model was able to replicate the empirical results within a 95% confidence interval for all four treatments, however more empirical data is needed to build confidence in the model's predictive ability.
Medroxyprogesterone acetate impairs human dendritic cell activation and function

STUDY QUESTION Does medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) impair human dendritic cell (DC) activation and function?
The metabolic syndrome and the impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease mortality in women and men: the San Antonio Heart Study.

Purpose An explanation for the differential impact of diabetes on coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality in men and women is that diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share a common antecedent that differentially affects men and women. In the San Antonio Heart Study we examined the relationship between gender, the metabolic syndrome defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-MetS) and diabetes and their ability to predict CHD mortality. Methods Over 15.5 years, 4996 men and women 25 to 64 years of age experienced 254 cardiovascular deaths, including 121 from CHD ( International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes 410–414). Results At baseline, NCEP-MetS occurred more often in men than in women among those with normal glucose levels (12.3% vs. 9.7%, p p Conclusion When diabetes occurred with NCEP-MetS, gender was a strong modifier of the joint effect of diabetes and NCEP-MetS on CHD mortality.
Effects of test anxiety and coacting groups on learning and performance.

This experiment dealt with the relationship between a personality variable and behavior in coacting groups. 96 male Ss differing in test anxiety (high, middle, low) were equally divided at random into 2 groups and given either a paired-associate learning task or 2 performance tasks (vowel cancellation and multiplication problems) under 1 of 2 conditions. Half the Ss worked in coacting groups of 4 members each while the remainder worked on the tasks alone. With the learning task, no significant differences were found between Ss who learned in groups and those who learned alone regardless of anxiety level. With the performance tasks, the group situation was detrimental for both the high- and middle-anxious Ss while facilitative for the low-anxious Ss on the vowel cancellation task; however, no significant effects were found on the multiplication task.
Raman and infrared spectra, conformational stability, barriers to internal rotation and ab initio calculations of fluorocarbonyl isocyanate

The Raman (3100–10 cm−1) and infrared (3100–30 cm−1) spectra of fluorocarbonyl isocyanate, FC(O)NCO, were recorded for the gas and solid. Additionally, the Raman spectrum of the liquid was recorded and qualitative depolarization values were obtained. The observed bands are assigned on the basis of the more stable cis conformer (isocyanate group cis to the carbonyl bond) in the fluid states but only the trans conformer remains in the annealed solid. From temperature dependence studies of the Raman spectra of the gas and liquid, two pairs of conformer peaks were used to determine Δ H values of 258 ± 47 cm−1 (738 ± 134 cal mol−l) and 140 ± 29 cm−1 (400 ± 83 cat mol−1), respectively, with the cis conformer the more stable rotamer in both phases. Additionally, variable-temperature studies of the infrared spectrum of the sample dissolved in liquified Kr gave ΔH = 150 ± 28 cm−1 (429 ± 80 cal mol−1), which should closely represent the ΔH value for the gas. A complete vibrational assignment is proposed for both conformers based on infrared bard contours, Raman depolarization data, group frequencies, relative intensities and normal coordinate calculations. The experimental conformational stability, barriers to internal rotation, structural parameters and fundamental vibrational wavenumbers were compared with those obtained from ab initio gradient calculations employing the RHF/3–21G, RHF/6-31G* and /or MP2/6-31G* basis sets and to the corresponding quantities obtained for some similar molecules.
SnapshotDx Quiz: January 2016

Editorial note: Welcome to the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (JID) SnapshotDx Quiz. In this monthly online-only quiz, the first question (“What is your diagnosis?”) relates to the clinical image found below, while additional questions concern the findings reported in a JID article that provides new information about that disease entity. The quiz questions may be found in the menu bar on the right-hand side of this page. A list of references relevant to the quiz follows the image. Questions 2 & 3 refer to the article by Alexander Egeberg et al. (http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1038/JID.2015.350)
Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Transport and Separation of Carbon Dioxide–Alkane Mixtures in a Nanoporous Membrane Under Sub- and Supercritical Conditions

Extensive nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to study the transport and separation of binary mixtures of $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ and n-alkane chains in a molecular pore network model of nanoporous carbon molecular-sieve membrane. Separation of both sub- and supercritical mixtures was studied. The membrane was generated atomistically by the Voronoi tessellation of the space, using tens of thousands of atoms. The simulations indicate that there is an optimal pressure drop for separation of mixtures of $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ and n-alkanes, when the mixtures enter the membrane under supercritical conditions. In addition, separation of $$\hbox {CO}_2$$ from n-alkanes becomes increasingly more efficient as the size of the alkane increases.
The Minkowski measure and multifractal anomalies in invariant measures of parabolic dynamic systems

The author has recently shown that an important singular non-random measure defined in 1900 by Hermann Minkowski is multifractal and has the characteristic that a is almost surely infinite. Hence αmax = ∞ and its f(α) distribution has no descending right-side corresponding to a decreasing f(α). Its being left-sided creates many very interesting complications. Denjoy observed in 1932 that this Minkowski measure is the restriction to [0, 1] of the attractor measure for the dynamical system on the line based on the maps (Math) and (Math). This paper points out that it follows from Denjoy’s observation that the new “multifractal anomalies” due to the left-sidedness of f(α) extend to the invariant measures of certain dynamical systems.
The todas in time perspective

W. H. R. Rivers. The Todas. London and New York: Macmillan, 1906. xviii + 755 pp. Preface, appendices, glossary, genealogical tables, photographs and index. Reprint edition: New York, Humanities Press, 1967.
A numerical investigation of supersonic turbulent shear layers - Compressibility effects

Eric Loth** University of Illinois at UrbaM-Champaign The objective of [his research was to employ an unstructured finite element scheme to investigate the nonlinear inviscid physics of spatially evolving supersonic free shear layers, in order to both improve physical understanding and evaluate the simulation fidelity by direct comparisons with deiailed experimental measurements. With a physically consistent penurbation model, the compressibility effects on the nature of the shear layer were investigated by employing three different convective Mach numbers @Ic): 0.35, 0.45 and 0.7, while holding velocity and density ratios fixed. Reduction in eddy coherency as compressibility increased was found to be related to modifications in Ibe merging process (slapping v vs. rotational merges). Turbulence slatistics of velocity and mixture fraction exhibited reductions in the peak values of v', and f , as Mc increases, while U' , peak values remain constant. In addition, a triple inflection point profile for the mean mixture fraction distribution and a secondary peak for the mixture fraction distribution were found to reduce in intensity as M, increases. The initial condition sensitivity was also found to be greater at higher M c due to the reduction of large scale structure development. While these results compared well with experimenls and were verified with grid resolution studies, the lack of three-dimensional modes is a profound limitation.
Sex Differences in Reproductive Behavior of Atlantic Puffins

Female Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) incubated eggs longer and fed chicks more often than males, whereas males spent more time maintaining and defending the nesting burrow. Although time together was greatest during the pre-laying period, pair members were apart most of the time, suggesting limited mate guarding. Males attempt extra-pair copulations, but because copulations occurred on the water where females can dive to escape, copulations were never forced and may have been successful only between mates. These data suggest that the paired female's ability and willingness to prevent mating with additional males may be important in the evolution of mate guarding. Sex differences in time budgets and male mating attempts were consistent with suggestions that even with shared parental care in monogamous species, females invest more in direct care of the young (parental effort), while males invest more in territorial defense and attempted extra matings (mating effort).
Laser Annealing of Semiconductor Clusters: Trimethylamine Reactions with Positive and Negative Clusters

Reaction studies with trimethylamine on positively charged laser-annealed silicon clusters of 39, 43, and 48 atoms magnetically levitated in a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer reveal the same relative reaction pattern as previously observed for identical studies with ammonia and ethylene. The 39th cluster was found to be considerably less reactive than the other positive cluster sizes, and significantly, its negative ion is also relatively less reactive than the 43rd and 48th. The continued observation of this reactivity trend provides additional experimental evidence that the annealed clusters adopt well-organized structures, and that these crystal forms are similar for both charge states.
ENDOCARDITIS DUE TO A LANTHANIC, UNCLASSIFIED GRAM-NEGATIVE BACTERIUM (GROUP IV d)

lungs were clear to percussion and ausculta­ tion. The heart was enlarged, with the point of maximal intensity in the sixth left inter­ costal space 2 cm. lateral to the midclavicular line. There was a grade IV/VI harsh sys­ tolic murmur at the apex which was trans­ mitted to the axilla. The tender edge of the liver was palpable 3 cm. below the right costal margin. The spleen was not palpable. Any movement of the trunk or lower ex­ tremities elicited pain in the sacral region. A trace of edema was present in the ankles. No embolic lesions were noted in the ex­ tremities and there was no clubbing of the fingers.
Theoretical study on stable small clusters of oxalic acid with ammonia and water.

Thermodynamically stable small clusters of oxalic acid (CO2H)2, ammonia (NH3), and water (H2O) are studied through quantum chemical calculations. The (CO2H)2–NH3 core system with up to three waters of hydration was examined by B3LYP density functional theory and MP2 molecular orbital theory with the aug-cc-pVDZ basis set. The (CO2H)2–NH3 core complexes are observed to hydrogen bond strongly and should be found in appreciably significant concentrations in the atmosphere. Subsequent hydration of the (CO2H)2–NH3 core, however, is found to be somewhat prohibitive under ambient conditions. Relative populations of the examined clusters are predicted and the binding patterns detailed. Atmospheric implications related to new particle formations are discussed.
Hypertension and some diseases of the small vessels of the kidney.

Pathologic changes in the kidneys in essential and malignant hypertension are described, and clinical and pathologic features of a number of disease processes associated with hypertension are reviewed, among them diabetes mellitus, polyarteritis nodosa, amyloidosis, scleroderma and systemic lupus erythematosus.
The Women’s Olympics? A Gender Analysis of NBC’s Coverage of the 2012 London Summer Games:

This study examines NBC’s U.S. prime-time broadcast coverage of the 2012 summer Olympic games for gender equality and compares that coverage to previous years. Olympic coverage is particularly important to female athletes because many receive little media attention beyond Olympic competition. The study found that, for the first time since 1996, NBC gave more airtime to women’s sports than to men’s sports. However, most of that coverage devoted to women’s events was confined to “socially acceptable” sports.
SU-F-I-43: A Software-Based Statistical Method to Compute Low Contrast Detectability in Computed Tomography Images

Purpose: The low contrast detectability (LCD) of a CT scanner is its ability to detect and display faint lesions. The current approach to quantify LCD is achieved using vendor-specific methods and phantoms, typically by subjectively observing the smallest size object at a contrast level above phantom background. However, this approach does not yield clinically applicable values for LCD. The current study proposes a statistical LCD metric using software tools to not only to assess scanner performance, but also to quantify the key factors affecting LCD. This approach was developed using uniform QC phantoms, and its applicability was then extended under simulated clinical conditions. Methods: MATLAB software was developed to compute LCD using a uniform image of a QC phantom. For a given virtual object size, the software randomly samples the image within a selected area, and uses statistical analysis based on Student's t-distribution to compute the LCD as the minimal Hounsfield Unit's that can be distinguished from the background at the 95% confidence level. Its validity was assessed by comparison with the behavior of a known QC phantom under various scan protocols and a tissue-mimicking phantom. The contributions of beam quality and scattered radiation upon the computed LCD were quantified by using various external beam-hardening filters and phantom lengths. Results: As expected, the LCD was inversely related to object size under all scan conditions. The type of image reconstruction kernel filter and tissue/organ type strongly influenced the background noise characteristics and therefore, the computed LCD for the associated image. Conclusion: The proposed metric and its associated software tools are vendor-independent and can be used to analyze any LCD scanner performance. Furthermore, the method employed can be used in conjunction with the relationships established in this study between LCD and tissue type to extend these concepts to patients’ clinical CT images.
Encrinurine trilobites from the Silurian Brownsport Formation of Tennessee

Encrinurinae from the Ludlovian Brownsport Formation in west central Tennessee include Balizoma ramskoeldi n. sp., Fragiscutum glebale Campbell, 1967, and Mackenziurus sp. Balizoma ramskoeldi is most similar to Ludlovian species in England and Gotland. The discovery of F. glebale in Tennessee extends the geographic range of this species, known also from the correlative Henryhouse Formation in Oklahoma. Fragiscutum is an eastern/southern Laurentian endemic; Balizoma is of Wenlockian–Přidolian range, with its most widespread Euramerican distribution in the Ludlow. The stratigraphic range of Mackenziurus is extended into the Ludlow.
Fog Networks in Healthcare Application

Fog computing is a recently proposed computing paradigm that extends Cloud computing and services to the edge of the network. The new features offered by fog computing (e.g., distributed analytics and edge intelligence), if successfully applied for time-sensitive healthcare applications, has great potential to accelerate the discovery of early notification of emergency situations to support smart decision making. While promising, how to design and develop real-world fog computing-based data monitoring system is still an open question. As a first step to answer this question, in this research, we employ a fog-based cloud paradigm for time-sensitive medical applications and also propose to show the practical applicability and significance of such a novel system. The ubiquitous deployment of mobile and sensor devices is creating a new environment, namely the Internet of Things (IoT) that enables a wide range of future Internet applications. In this work, we present dynamic Fog, a high level programming model for time-sensitive applications that are geospatially distributed, large–scale, and latency–sensitive. We also analyze our fog model with healthcare data, more specifically with Heartrate data that is one of the most time-sensitive medical data which deals with life and death situations. Our experiments show that our proposed system achieves minimum delay while it also achieves the data accuracy and data consistency which are very important in many applications like medical data.
Aristotle on God: Divine Nous as Unmoved Mover

Aristotle conceives of God as an unmoved mover, the primary cause responsible for the shapeliness of motion in the natural order, and as divine nous, the perfect actuality of thought thinking itself, which, as the epitome of substance, exercises its influence on natural beings as their final cause. These two aspects of God reflect the two defining aspects of Classical Greek Philosophy: the experience of the intelligibility of the natural order and the search for the first principle(s) responsible for its intelligibility, on the one hand, and the experience of nous both as the capacity to behold nature’s intelligibility and as the source of order in the human soul, soul itself being a source of shapely motion in the natural order. This article comments on each of these aspects of Aristotle’s conception of God, indicating that he finds evidence for his speculative-metaphysical conception in the experience of the rational soul.
Antimicrobial resistance of 3 types of gram-negative bacteria isolated from hospital surfaces and the hands of health care workers

Background There has been an increased focus in recent years on antimicrobial resistance of bacteria isolated from clinical samples. However, resistance of bacteria from hospital environments has been less frequently investigated. Methods According to hygienic standard for disinfection in hospitals, samples were collected from hospital inanimate surfaces and the hands of health care workers after daily cleaning. An automatic microorganism analyzer was used to identify bacteria and test for antimicrobial susceptibility. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect antimicrobial resistance genes. Results The detection rate of bacteria in general wards was significantly higher than that in intensive care units. The isolates were predominantly gram-negative (GN) bacteria, with Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Enterobacter cloacae , and Klebsiella pneumoniae being the most common. P aeruginosa isolates from other surfaces were much higher than those from medical instruments. E cloacae was isolated more frequently from the hands of other staff than medical staff. Most P aeruginosa and K pneumoniae were resistant to sulfonamides and β-lactam antimicrobials. Only 1 strain of P aeruginosa and 1 strain of K pneumoniae showed multiple antimicrobials resistance. Conclusions The GN bacteria isolated from hospital environments demonstrate variable resistance to antimicrobials.
Intravitreal Steroids and Glaucoma

Intravitreal injection of pharmaceuticals has gained widespread acceptance. As the roles of inflammation and neovascularization in eye pathologies are being elucidated, the indications for intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) are expanding. First introduced in 1974 as a treatment for proliferative vitreoretinopathy, IVTA is currently employed in the treatment of diabetic macular edema, macular edema associated with branch and central retinal vein occlusion, exudative age-related macular degeneration, pseudophakic cystoid macular edema, and uveitic cystoid macular edema.
Self-monitoring and reminder text messages to increase physical activity after colorectal cancer (CRC): A pilot randomized controlled trial.

615Background: Over 1.3 million people in the US are living with CRC. Physical activity is associated with lower risk of CRC mortality. Interventions are needed to increase physical activity after ...
Dried Distillers Grains as Creep Feed for Yearling Beef Cattle Grazing Sandhill Range1

Seventy-nine crossbred steers and heifers born in June or August were stratified by weight, calving group, and sex and assigned to treatment or control. Yearlings in the treatment group (TRT; n = 40)
The transforming protein of avian sarcoma viruses and its homologue in normal cells.

Avian sarcoma viruses (ASVs) are a particularly useful and interesting group of agents for the study of biochemical aspects of malignant transformation. They produce fibrosarcomas upon injection into a variety of avian and mammalian species and rapidly transform avian fibroblasts in culture. Investigation with these viruses is aided greatly by the fact that the transforming agent is nondefective (nd) replicating without a helper virus, and this fact may have contributed to a more rapid development of a molecular biologic description of these viruses than has been the case for other RNA tumor viruses. There are several recent and relevant reviews concerning issues to be discussed here that the reader should note (Vogt 1977; Hanafusa 1977; Bishop 1978). In this review, only limited and relevant aspects from these reviews will be covered.
Computer Applications in Neuropsychological Assessment

The microcomputer has opened up a potential new era in neuropsychological assessment. The clinical use of computerized assessment is still in its early stages, and current hardware and software do not address all needs of clinicians and patients. Nevertheless, the potential contribution of the computer to neuropsychological assessment is large and the continued development of these procedures is inevitable.
A Strategy for Preserving Privacy in the CCN

Content-centric networking (CCN) is one of many promising future Internet architectures adopted by the Named Data Networking (NDN) project to accommodate the needs of modern systems and applications. It enhances network efficiency by allowing network nodes to store obtained content (or data) in their caches for future requests. If the same content is later requested by different users, it can be delivered directly without contacting the original source of the content. However, this benefit may lead to privacy threats since not only is the content information itself vulnerable to potential breaches, but just as well any information concerning both the sender and the recipient. Thus, in this paper, we propose a strategy to preserve privacy of both the sender and recipient while maintaining such benefits of CCN as temporally storing transmitted content and Interest aggregation.
A Critique of Human Progress: A New Definition and Inconsistencies in Society

In this paper, we discuss the concept of human progress and its inconsistencies in society suggesting a new general definition that synthetises previous concepts and endeavours to improve them. This study proposes, within a pragmatic point of view, human progress as an inexhaustible process driven by an ideal of maximum wellbeing of purposeful people, which, on attainment of any of its goals for increasing wellbeing, then seek another consequential goal in new socioeconomic contexts over time and space. The human progress enhances the fundamental life-interests of people represented by health, wealth, expansion of knowledge, technology and freedom directed to increase wellbeing in society. These factors lead to better and more complex forms of life. However, this study also shows the inconsistency of the equation economic growth – social progress because human progress – during its continuous process without limit – generate negative effects for human being such as a higher pollution and incidence of cancer in society. This study is propaedeutic for further studies focusing social-political and economic characteristics of human progress.
The Cosmos in a Cabinet: Performance, Politics, and Mechanical Philosophy in Henry Bridges' 'Microcosm'.

Abstract How did ordinary people – artisans, laborers, servants, and children – come to know the Newtonian universe? And what effects did this knowledge have on how they contextualized their place in society? When it appeared in 1733, Henry Bridges’ “Modern Microcosm” promised to give paying customers a view of the entire universe ingeniously recreated in a ten-foot-tall automaton theater. A hit with audiences, this clockwork wonder was displayed in Britain and the American colonies until disappearing mysteriously in the 1770s. This paper attempts to recover non-elite understandings of public science by examining the career of an astronomical wonder in the rowdy marketplace of ideas that was the London show scene.
Optimization of RF Emission from Ultrashort Pulse Laser Filament via Genetic Algorithm and Deformable Mirror

A genetic algorithm is used to drive a deformable mirror and optimize the RF emission from an ultrashort pulse plasma filament. The optimization process increases the plasma volume, linking plasma conductance to RF emission. © 2019 The Author(s).
A prospective field study of U.S. Army trainees to identify the physiological bases and key factors influencing musculoskeletal injuries: a study protocol

Musculoskeletal injuries (MSKIs) are common in military trainees and present a considerable threat to occupational fitness, deployability, and overall military readiness. Despite the negative effects of MSKIs on military readiness, comprehensive evaluations of the key known and possible risk factors for MSKIs are lacking. The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine (ARIEM) is initiating a large-scale research effort, the ARIEM Reduction in Musculoskeletal Injury (ARMI) Study, to better understand the interrelationships among a wide range of potential MSKI risk factors in U.S. Army trainees in order to identify those risk factors that most contribute to MSKI and may be best targeted for effective mitigation strategies. This prospective study aims to enroll approximately 4000 (2000 male and 2000 female) U.S. Army trainees undergoing Basic Combat Training (BCT). Comprehensive in-person assessments will be completed at both the beginning and end of BCT. Participants will be asked to complete surveys of personal background information, medical history, physical activity, sleep behaviors, and personality traits. Physical measurements will be performed to assess anthropometrics, tibial microarchitecture and whole body bone mineral density, muscle cross-sectional area, body composition, and muscle function. Blood sampling will be also be conducted to assess musculoskeletal, genetic, and nutritional biomarkers of risk. In addition, participants will complete weekly surveys during BCT that examine MSKI events, lost training time, and discrete risk factors for injury. Participants’ medical records will be tracked for the 2 years following graduation from training to identify MSKI events and related information. Research hypotheses focus on the development of a multivariate prediction model for MSKI. Results from this study are expected to inform current understanding of known and potential risk factors for MSKIs that can be incorporated into solutions that optimize Soldier health and enhance military readiness.
Targeting Transcriptional Co-Activator PGC-1a for the Treatment of Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited human hematologic disease, which causes hemolytic anemia, pain, disability, progressive multi-organ damage and early mortality. Clinical studies have shown that increased synthesis of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in sickled erythroid cells leads to diminished severity of many clinical features of SCD. Therefore, therapeutic agents that can increase HbF production will be of benefit to SCD patients. Hydroxyurea (HU) is a FDA-approved therapeutic for treatment of SCD, but not all patients respond favorably or adequately. Therefore, other methods of targeting HbF are highly desired, particularly those that act by different mechanisms that might be used in combination with HU or alone (for those who do not tolerate HU). Transcriptional co-activator PGC-1α has recently been showed to play a crucial role in globin gene regulation and erythropoiesis by our group. Loss of function in the PGC-1α knock out mice significantly reduced the expression of murine embryonic ey- and βh1-globin genes; both of them are homologues of the human e- and γ-globin genes. Forced overexpression of PGC-1α in vitroby adenovirus infection in bone marrow cells from SCD mice resulted in significantly increased human γ- and murine ey- and βh1-globin genes. These results directly validate a role for PGC-1α in human γ-globin induction and provide significant support for the hypothesis that modulating PGC-1α activity, or the signaling pathways that it regulates, in SCD patients may be an effective approach that could therapeutically benefit individuals with SCD. Here we report the effects of PGC-1α in inducing HbF in human primary erythoid progenitor CD34+cells. We infected CD34+cells with lentivirus carrying PGC-1α and found that over-expression of PGC-1α resulted in significantly increased F-cells in the culture, from 1.6% up to 41.1%. We further discovered several PGC-1α agonists that are highly selective for PGC-1α. We found that one of the PGC-1α agonists, Compound SR-18292, induces PGC-1α mRNA expression in a dose dependent manner (2.6-fold at 1 μM, 5.7-fold at 10 μM) in cultured CD34+cells without effecting cell viability. Consistent with the increase of PGC-1α levels, the percentage of F-cells increased from 2.76% (vehicle control) to 32.1% when cells exposed to 1 µM SR-18292, which is comparable to that of 25 µM HU (32.2%). The mean fluorescence intensity of F-cells in SR-18292 treated cells was higher than in controls, suggesting that the treatment not only increased the number of F-cells but also increased the concentration of HbF in F-cells. The increased levels of PGC-1α reactivates the expression of fetal γ-globin genes resulting in significant HbF accumulation in adult erythrocytes, suggesting that the transcriptional co-activator PGC-1α comprises a new molecular target for possible therapeutic intervention in treating SCD. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Comparative study of BeMgZnO/ZnO heterostructures on c-sapphire and GaN by molecular beam epitaxy

Growth of ZnO directly on c-plane sapphire, with a large in-plane lattice mismatch of 18%, is relatively well understood for O-polar variety. However, the two-dimensional (2D) growth of Zn-polar ZnO on c-sapphire, needed for 2D electron gas formation, with low background electron density is in its infancy. While Zn-polar ZnO can be grown on GaN with the resulting small lattice mismatch (1.8%), the parallel conduction through GaN (bulk and/or surface) in fabricated BeMgZnO/ZnO heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs) limits its utility for the time being. In this contribution, the authors report on the growth of high-quality Zn-polar BeMgZnO/ZnO HFET structures directly on sapphire substrates, in an effort to avoid the aforementioned parallel conduction, by employing an MgO and low-temperature ZnO buffer stack. The residual 2D equivalent concentration in the HFET structure on GaN is ∼2 × 1012 cm−2, which is detrimental, while highly resistive (>100 Ω.cm) Zn-polar ZnO layers with smooth surfaces on c-sapphire have been obtained via controlling the buffer stack growth conditions, which is vital to the realization of HFET device structures. Compared with the highest room temperature electron mobility of ∼250 cm2/V s in BeMgZnO/ZnO HFETs on GaN templates, a slightly lower electron mobility of ∼220 cm2/V s was achieved on c-sapphire due to a somewhat lower overall crystalline quality.