cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Factors Involved in Parental Decision Making for Surgical Correction of Vesicoureteral Reflux

Purpose: Surgical management of vesicoureteral reflux has changed with the use of endoscopic correction. We evaluated the possible factors that may affect parental decision making with regard to this procedure, and assessed subsequent parent satisfaction.Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who underwent surgery for vesicoureteral reflux during a 3-year period. We used a telephone based survey, rating factors affecting decision making and overall satisfaction.Results: A total of 74 parents of children 1.5 to 18 years old participated in the study, and 77 procedures were evaluated. Among the 52 cases of open reimplantation success was rated as “most important” in 47 (90.4%) and long-term history was rated as “most important” in 30 (57.7%). Among the 25 cases of endoscopic correction success was rated as “most important” in 13 (52%) and invasiveness/lack of invasiveness was rated as “most important” in 21 (84%). The need for postoperative voiding cystourethrogram was ra...
Interference suppression to aid acquisition in direct-sequence spread-spectrum communications

The acquisition and tracking systems of a spread-spectrum receiver are probably the most critical components of the receiver, since if they fail to function properly, it is doubtful that the desired signal can be successfully detected. This means that the affect of interference (such as jamming) on the receiver while it is attempting to learn the correct phase position of the incoming code might be especially harmful, since the interference might not allow the receiver to acquire the signal. To address this problem, a narrow-band interference suppression filter is used to enhance the performance of a serial search acquisition scheme for a direct-sequence spread-spectrum receiver. Analytical expressions for the probabilities of error in both the search and lock modes are derived, and numerical results are used to illustrate the sensitivity of the receiver to various system parameters. It is shown that the presence of the rejection filter can be significantly improves the performance of the acquisition system. >
Taxonomic Study of the Carex tenera Group (Cyperaceae)

According to previous molecular study, the Carex tenera group sensu lato consists of C. tenera s. l. and C. normalis in one clade and C. festucacea , C. oronensis , and C. tincta in a sister clade. We found that Carex tincta , clarified by thorough review of herbarium materials, has a much narrower geographic range than previously thought, centering on Maine (U. S. A.), adjacent states, and adjacent portions of Canada with rare scattered occurrences to western Lake Superior. Carex tenera has traditionally been thought to consist of two varieties: the transcontinental variety tenera and the upper Midwest (U. S. A.) variety echinodes . In light of ecological and chromosomal differences, AFLP genetic distances, and morphological analysis the latter should be recognized as a distinct species, Carex echinodes comb. et stat. nov. Carex echinodes and narrow- leaved forms of C. normalis can be challenging to differentiate morphologically, but widest leaf width, inflorescence internode length, peduncle diameter, and growth habit separate the two taxa. New chromosome numbers are reported, with those of C. tenera ( n = 24 + 2III, 26, 27, 28) hav- ing a lower range than either those of C. echinodes ( n = 37, 38, 39) or C. normalis ( n = 34, 35, 36).
Experimental Examination of Performance Consequences of Change Implementation for Sales Force Integration

This study designs and conducts a laboratory experiment that replicates the experimental study of Weber and Camerer (2003). In the replication, however, this study includes a more realistic aspect of real-world strategic changes, the different employee cultural compositions within the post-change groups. The findings confirm that cultural conflicts are one of the major reasons for post-change performance deterioration. This study also finds that cultural dominance is present in the post-change group and affects the post-change performance when the group includes a different composition of salespersons from the pre-change groups. The managerial implications are provided to help build a strategy for successful strategic changes to manage the post-change integration process, because dominating post-change group structures are common in the real world. This study also investigates the learning process within the experimental setting and finds that the development of collaborative learning contributes to competitive knowledge development, which in turn contributes to organizational performance.
An Exploration of the Copper CMP Removal Mechanism

Copper CMP is emerging as the next generation process technology enabling feature size reduction to .15μm and beyond[1]. We propose a copper removal mechanism in the context of a slurry consisting of an oxidizer and an abrasive. The body of evidence suggests that we are polishing in an oxidation complex rate limited regime. We observed low removal rate of copper in the absence of either oxidizer or abrasive, but rate was still dependent on CMP parameters and strongly tied to temperature. Any proposed mechanism must explain the observed dependence of rate on CMP aggressiveness and the role of each of the components. For the slurry used in this work we propose that an increase in temperature resulting from an increase in CMP intensity drives the kinetics of the oxidation reaction, and that the removal process can be classified as temperature-activated, abrasion assisted dissolution.
CA-019: Pharmacologie in vitro de LY IGlar (LY2963016, Insulin Glargine)

Introduction Les analogues de l'insuline basale sont importants pour un controle glycemique correct des patients diabetiques. LY IGlar est un nouvel analogue de l'insuline, avec la meme sequence d'amino-acides que l'insuline glargine (Sanofi-Aventis ; IGlar). Materiels et Methodes Les proprietes pharmacologiques de six lots independants de LY IGlar ont ete comparees a IGlar par des tests in vitro. L'affinite de liaison au recepteur (Ki) de LY IGlar pour le recepteur de l'insuline humaine (hIR), les isoformes A (hIR-A) et B (hIR-B) et le recepteur de l'IGF-1 humain (hIGF-1R) a ete determinee par liaison competitive de radioligand sur membranes de cellules HEK-293 sur-exprimant les recepteurs clones. Les concentrations de chaque ligand atteignant une reponse demi-maximale (CE50) ont ete determinees pour (1) la phosphorylation du recepteur tyrosine des cellules HEK-293 exprimant hIR-A ou hIR-B (activation fonctionnelle de la voie de signalisation de l'hIR), (2) la lipogenese de novo a partir du glucose- [14C] dans des adipocytes 3T3-L1 (activite metabolique), et (3) la proliferation cellulaire par incorporation de thymidine- [3H] dans la lignee cellulaire dominante IGF-1R, Saos-2, et la lignee cellulaire IR dominante, H4IIE (potentiel mitogene). Des comparaisons statistiques pour les reponses Ki/CE50 ont ete effectues par Sidak et les methodes d'ajustement de Holm-Bonferroni (seuil de significativite α = 0,05). Resultats Les valeurs de Ki de LY IGlar etaient 0,41 ± 0,01, 0,45 ± 0,03 et 16,0 ± 0,4 nM pour hIR-A, hIR-B et hIGF-1R, respectivement, similaires a celles de IGlar (0,40 ± 0,02, 0,45 ± 0,04 et 15,5 ± 0,6 nM, respectivement). Les valeurs CE50 d'activation fonctionnelle de LY IGlar etaient 3,7 ± 0,2 nM pour hIR-A et 2,1 ± 0,1 nM pour hIR-B ; les valeurs respectives d'IGlar etaient 4,5 ± 0,2 et 2,5 ± 0,1 nM. LY IGlar et IGlar ont une efficacite maximum avec des valeurs EC50 comparables pour la stimulation de la lipogenese (LY IGlar : 0,97 ± 0,09 nM ; IGlar : 0,87 ± 0,08 nM). Les valeurs EC50 de la stimulation de la proliferation cellulaire etaient 0,53 ± 0,03 nM (LY IGlar) et 0,53 ± 0,03 nM (IGlar) dans Saos-2 et 9,0 ± 0,3 (LY IGlar) et 8,4 ± 0,4 nM (IGlar). Conclusions Les proprietes pharmacologiques in vitro de LY IGlar ne sont pas differentes de celles d'IGlar, confirmant LY IGlar comme alternative therapeutique chez les patients diabetiques.
Topology Optimization of Cellular Materials With Maximized Energy Absorption

While topology optimization is typically employed for design at the component-level scale, it is increasingly being used to design the topology of high performance cellular materials. The design problem is posed as an optimization problem with governing unit cell and upscaling mechanics embedded in the formulation, and solved with formal mathematical programming. While design for linear elastic properties is generally well-established, this paper will discuss including nonlinear mechanics in the topology optimization formulation, also in the domain of cellular materials. In particular, the problem of maximizing total energy absorption of a cellular Bulk Metallic Glass material is considered and numerical and experimental analyses of the new design show that it has enhanced performance compared to conventional cellular topologies.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Effect of apolipoprotein C-I peptides on the apolipoprotein E content and receptor-binding properties of beta-migrating very low density lipoproteins

To evaluate the role of apolipoprotein (apo) C-I in inhibiting lipoprotein binding to the low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP), a putative lipoprotein remnant receptor, apoC-peptide fragments were prepared by chemical synthesis or by cyanogen bromide cleavage of intact apoC-I. In ligand-blotting assays, peptides corresponding to residues 1-38, 10-57, 20-57, 30-57, and 40-57 proved ineffective, but intact apoC-I was very effective, at inhibiting the binding of apoE-enriched beta-migrating very low density lipoproteins (beta-VLDL) to the LRP. Studies of the displacement of 125I-labeled apoE from apoE-enriched beta-VLDL showed that the largest peptide (residues 10-57) was two-thirds as effective as intact apoC-I; the other peptides were highly ineffective (residues 40-57, 1-38) or only partly effective (residues 20-57, 30-57). Changes in the intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence and helix content indicated that the largest peptide was similar to apoC-I in lipid binding affinity, while the other peptide fragments showed little or no affinity for either unilamellar or multilamellar vesicles of dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine. These findings suggest that the ability of apoC-I fragments to displace apoE from beta-VLDL is largely, but perhaps not exclusively, a reflection of their ability to bind to membranous bilayers and that apoC-I blocking of the interaction between apoE-rich beta-VLDL and the LRP probably involves displacement of a critical amount of the apoE from the surface of this lipoprotein.
Venous Thromboembolism in Minimally Invasive Compared With Open Hysterectomy for Endometrial Cancer.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether minimally invasive surgery for endometrial cancer is independently associated with a decreased odds of venous thromboembolism compared with open surgery. METHODS We performed a secondary analysis cohort study of prospectively collected quality improvement data and examined patients undergoing hysterectomy for endometrial cancer from 2008 to 2013 recorded in the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database. Patients undergoing minimally invasive (laparoscopic or robotic) surgery were compared with those undergoing open surgery with respect to 30-day postoperative venous thromboembolism. Demographic and procedure variables were examined as potential confounders. Data regarding receipt of perioperative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis were not available. Bivariable tests and logistic regression were used for analysis. RESULTS Of 9,948 patients who underwent hysterectomy for the treatment of endometrial cancer, 61.9% underwent minimally invasive surgery and 38.1% underwent open surgery. Patients undergoing minimally invasive surgery had a lower venous thromboembolism incidence (0.7%, n=47) than patients undergoing open surgery (2.2%, n=80) (P<.001). In a multivariate model adjusting for age, body mass index, race, operative time, Charlson comorbidity score, and surgical complexity, minimally invasive surgery remained associated with decreased odds of venous thromboembolism (adjusted odds ratio 0.36, 95% confidence interval 0.24-0.53) compared with open surgery. CONCLUSION Minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of endometrial cancer is independently associated with decreased odds of venous thromboembolism compared with open surgery.
A Neural Network with Central Pattern Generators Entrained by Sensory Feedback Controls Walking of a Bipedal Model

A neuromechanical simulation of a planar, bipedal walking robot has been developed. It is constructed as a simplified musculoskeletal system to mimic the biomechanics of the human lower body. The controller consists of a dynamic neural network with central pattern generators (CPGs) entrained by force and movement sensory feedback to generate appropriate muscle forces for walking. The CPG model is a two-level architecture, which consists of separate rhythm generator (RG) and pattern formation (PF) networks. The presented planar biped model walks stably in the sagittal plane without inertial sensors or a centralized posture controller or a “baby walker” to help overcome gravity. Its gait is similar to humans’ with a walking speed of 1.2 m/s. The model walks over small obstacles (5 % of the leg length) and up and down 5° slopes without any additional higher level control actions.
Dysphagie - ein Symptom der amyotrophen Lateralsklerose

Zusammenfassung. Schluckstorungen sind ein haufiges Problem im klinischen Alltag. Dahinter stecken oft neurologische Krankheitsbilder, wie die selten anzutreffende amyotrophe Lateralsklerose (ALS). Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird anhand zweier Fallbeispiele aus unserer Klinik auf die Schwierigkeiten in der Diagnostik der Dysphagie und speziell der ALS hingewiesen. Zielfuhrend fur die Ursachensuche und die Diagnosestellung ist neben einer umfassenden korperlichen Untersuchung, vor allem eine grundliche Anamnese.
Onboard Wind Velocity Estimation Comparison for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

This paper presents a novel wind estimation approach, which is compared with existing ideas utilizing different combinations of common aircraft sensors to estimate the wind velocity in real time at the location of an aircraft. These different techniques were evaluated using simulation data as well as two experimental unmanned aircraft flight tests using validation data from a ground weather station. Significant performance advantage was shown of the new filtering technique over the existing approaches.
Prognostic relevance of gene signatures in high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma.

5510 Background: Transcriptional profiling of ovarian cancers has proven to be complex. As such it has been difficult to validate existing signatures across studies. Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) rese...
Ionoluminescence properties of polystyrene-hosted fluorophore films induced by helium ions of energy 50–350 keV

We report on measurements and analysis of ionoluminescence properties of pure polystyrene films and polystyrene films doped with four types of fluorophores in low kinetic energies (50--350 keV) of ion irradiation. We have developed a theoretical model to understand the experimentally observed ionoluminescence behaviors in terms of scintillation yield from individual ion tracks, photophysical energy transfer mechanisms, and irradiation-induced defects. A comparison of the model and experimental results suggests that singlet up-conversion resulting from triplet-triplet annihilation processes may be responsible for enhanced singlet emission of the fluorophores at high ion beam flux densities. Energy transfer from the polystyrene matrix to the fluorophore molecules has been identified as an effective pathway to increasing the fluorescence efficiency in the doped scintillator films.
Circadian Rhythm Sleep-Wake Disorders in Older Adults

The timing, duration, and consolidation of sleep result from the interaction of the circadian timing system with a sleep-wake homeostatic process. When aligned and functioning optimally, this allows wakefulness throughout the day and a long consolidated sleep episode at night. Mismatch between the desired timing of sleep and the ability to fall and remain asleep is a hallmark of the circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders. This article discusses changes in circadian regulation of sleep with aging; how age influences the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders; and how neurologic diseases in older patients affect circadian rhythms and sleep.
A brief history (and geography) of Supergravity: the first 3 weeks... and after

I summarize, at its 41st – and what would have been Bruno Zumino’s 94th – birthday, the history of the discoveries of Supergravity, and some of its structure and later developments.
An Early Upper Bound Method for Shakedown of Beams and Frames

Placing this paper, which mainly describes a 50 year old and quite elementary approach to the shakedown problem, in the honored position of an introductory chapter in the Proceedings volume, serves at least to make evident the enormous increase in both the scope and the general sophistication of the more recent research efforts in this area of structural mechanics.
Mormon Missionaries and the Emergence of Modern Argentine Sport, 1938–1943

In 1938, Mormon missionaries from North America, under the leadership of Frederick Salem Williams, formed an athletic club, Club Atletico Los Mormones (‘The Mormons Athletic Club’, CALM), in Buenos...
The Healing Constitution: Updating the Framers' Design for a Hyperpolarized Society

The genius of the Framers lay in identifying and systematically planning for the known pathologies of democratic government. That said, most of their evidence was limited to Greek and Roman history. This gave little warning of the disastrous polarization that would destabilize European mass democracies over the next two centuries. This paper asks how the Framers might have extended their design had they understood these dangers. The paper starts by noting that the well-known “median voter theorem,” which holds that successful American political parties must position themselves near the center, depends on very special assumptions about how public opinion is actually distributed. This implies that American politics can and probably will behave very differently as polarization increases. This paper presents a typology of possible polarizations, and argues from both theory and history that each is associated with its own unique political style. Significantly, only some of these styles favor consensus politics. Others are confrontational, with extremists deliberately sabotaging government to coerce opponents. Recent government shutdowns are an extreme expression of these tactics. One peculiarity of coercive politics is that it depends at least as much on political passion (“intensity”) as raw vote totals. Asking whether such politics are democratically legitimate necessarily forces us beyond the familiar language of one-man-one-vote (“OMOV”) theories that count all votes equally. This philosophical question also has a practical side. After all, no real government can go on passing laws that increase public anger forever. The paper develops a simple baseline model of intensity-weighted voting and asks how familiar American rules like supermajorities, presidential vetoes, and filibusters have modified OMOV to avoid oppressive outcomes in the past. In doing so, the paper relies heavily on European historical precedents and ask how these might change in American circumstances. The paper concludes by arguing that coercive politics, while sometimes pathological, is an essential tool for measuring and accommodating voter intensity. It follows that reform should aim less to suppress coercive methods than to make them less costly. Suitably reformed versions of government shutdowns, supermajorities, sunset legislation, regular order, and stiffened rule of law incentives offer the fastest path to restoring cooperative politics.
Perceptually-motivated Environment-specific Speech Enhancement

This paper introduces a deep learning approach to enhance speech recordings made in a specific environment. A single neural network learns to ameliorate several types of recording artifacts, including noise, reverberation, and non-linear equalization. The method relies on a new perceptual loss function that combines adversarial loss with spectrogram features. Both subjective and objective evaluations show that the proposed approach improves on state-of-the-art baseline methods.
Demographic stratification of inflammatory signature in lung cancer patients in North Carolina: A prospective cohort study.

e14200Background: Lung Cancer remains the major cause of cancer related mortality in the state of North Carolina. There is a growing body of evidence that implicates inflammation as a mechanism of ...
Quantitative µMRI and PLM study of rabbit humeral and femoral head cartilage at sub-10 µm resolutions.

This study aimed to establish the baseline characteristics in humeral and femoral cartilage in rabbit, using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) relaxation times (T2, T1ρ, and T1) at 9.75 and 70-82 µm pixel resolutions, and quantitative polarized light microscopy (PLM) measures (retardation, angle) at 1.0 and 4.0 µm pixel resolutions. Five intact (i.e., unopened) shoulder joints (the scapula and humeral heads) and three femoral heads of the hip joints from five healthy rabbits were imaged in MRI at 70-82 µm resolution. Thirteen cartilage-bone specimens were harvested from these joints and imaged in µMRI at 9.75 µm resolution. Subsequently, quantitative PLM study of these specimens enabled the examination of the fibril orientation and organization in both intact joints and individual specimens. Quantitative MRI relaxation data and PLM fibril structural data show distinct features in tissue properties at different depths of cartilage, different in individual histological zones. The thicknesses of the histological zones in µMRI and PLM were successfully obtained. This is the first correlated and quantitative MRI and PLM study of rabbit cartilage at sub-10 µm resolutions, which benefits future investigation of osteoarthritis using the rabbit model. © 2019 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 38:1052-1062, 2020.
Preventing polyspermy in mammalian eggs—Contributions of the membrane block and other mechanisms

The egg's blocks to polyspermy (fertilization of an egg by more than one sperm) were originally identified in marine and aquatic species with external fertilization, but polyspermy matters in mammalian reproduction too. Embryonic triploidy is a noteworthy event associated with pregnancy complications and loss. Polyspermy is a major cause of triploidy with up to 80% of triploid conceptuses being the result of dispermic fertilization. The mammalian female reproductive tract regulates the number of sperm that reach the site of fertilization, but mammals also utilize egg-based blocks to polyspermy. The egg-based blocks occur on the mammalian egg coat (the zona pellucida) and the egg plasma membrane, with apparent variation between different mammalian species regarding the extent to which one or both are used. The zona pellucida block to polyspermy has some similarities to the slow block in water-dwelling species, but the mammalian membrane block to polyspermy differs substantially from the fast electrical block that has been characterized in marine and aquatic species. This review discusses what is known about the incidence of polyspermy in mammals and about the mammalian membrane block to polyspermy, as well as notes some lesser-characterized potential mechanisms contributing to polyspermy prevention in mammals.
Food intake dependent and independent effects of heat stress on lactation and mammary gland development

With a growing population, a reliable food supply is increasingly important. Heat stress reduces livestock meat and milk production. Genetic selection of high producing animals increases endogenous heat production, while climate change increases exogenous heat exposure. Both sources of heat exacerbate the risk of heat-induced depression of production. Rodents are valuable models to understand mechanisms conserved across species. Heat exposure suppresses feed intake across homeothermic species including rodents and production animal species. We assessed the response to early-mid lactation or late gestation heat exposure on milk production and mammary gland development/function, respectively. Using pair-fed controls we experimentally isolated the food intake dependent and independent effects of heat stress on mammary function and mass. Heat exposure (35˚C, relative humidity 50%) decreased daily food intake. When heat exposure occurred during lactation, hypophagia accounted for approximately 50% of the heat stress induced hypogalactia. Heat exposure during middle to late gestation suppressed food intake, which was fully responsible for the lowered mammary gland weight of dams at parturition. However, the impaired mammary gland function in heat exposed dams measured by metabolic rate and lactogenesis could not be explained by depressed food consumption. In conclusion, mice recapitulate the depressed milk production and mammary gland development observed in dairy species while providing insight regarding the role of food intake. This opens the potential to apply genetic, experimental and pharmacological models unique to mice to identify the mechanism by which heat is limiting animal production.
Progress in Kawasaki disease with coronary artery lesions

Kawasaki disease,which is an acute multisystem vasculitis of unknown cause,leads to pathognomonic feature of coronary artery lesion.Recent studies show that genetic polymorphism,neutrophils,monocytes,cytokines and other factors are involved in the development of coronary artery disease.Long-term use of anticoagulant drugs may reduce coronary artery damage. Key words: Mucocutaneous lymphnode syndrome; Coronary artery lesion
Bivalent chromatin protects reversibly repressed genes from irreversible silencing

Bivalent chromatin is characterized by the simultaneous presence of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3, histone modifications generally associated with transcriptionally active and repressed chromatin, respectively. Prevalent in embryonic stem cells, bivalency is postulated to poise lineage-controlling developmental genes for rapid activation during embryogenesis while maintaining a transcriptionally repressed state in the absence of activation cues, but its function in development and disease remains a mystery. Here we show that bivalency does not poise genes for rapid activation but protects reversibly repressed genes from irreversible silencing. We find that H3K4me3 at bivalent gene promoters--a product of the underlying DNA sequence--persists in nearly all cell types irrespective of gene expression and confers protection from de novo DNA methylation. Accordingly, loss of H3K4me3 at bivalent promoters is strongly associated with aberrant hypermethylation and irreversible silencing in adult human cancers. Bivalency may thus represent a distinct regulatory mechanism for maintaining epigenetic plasticity. HIGHLIGHTSO_LIBivalent chromatin does not poise genes for rapid activation C_LIO_LIH3K4me3 at bivalent promoters is not instructive for transcription activation C_LIO_LIH3K4me3 at bivalent promoters protects reversibly repressed genes from de novo DNA methylation C_LIO_LILoss of H3K4me3/bivalency is associated with aberrant DNA hypermethylation in cancer C_LI
Fixed-Parameter Tractability of Crossover: Steady-State GAs on the Closest String Problem

We investigate the effect of crossover in the context of parameterized complexity on a well-known fixed-parameter tractable combinatorial optimization problem known as the closest string problem. We prove that a multi-start ( $$\mu$$ +1) GA solves arbitrary length-n instances of closest string in $$2^{O(d^2 + d \log k)} \cdot t(n)$$ steps in expectation. Here, k is the number of strings in the input set, d is the value of the optimal solution, and $$n \le t(n) \le {\text {poly}}(n)$$ is the number of iterations allocated to the ( $$\mu$$ +1) GA before a restart, which can be an arbitrary polynomial in n. This confirms that the multi-start ( $$\mu$$ +1) GA runs in randomized fixed-parameter tractable (FPT) time with respect to the above parameterization. On the other hand, if the crossover operation is disabled, we show there exist instances that require $$n^{\varOmega (\log (d+k))}$$ steps in expectation. The lower bound asserts that crossover is a necessary component in the FPT running time.
Circular RNAs in cardiovascular diseases.

Abstract In eukaryotes, precursor mRNAs (pre-mRNAs) produce a unique class of biologically active molecules namely circular RNAs (circRNAs) with a covalently closed-loop structure via back-splicing. Because of this unconventional circular form, circRNAs exhibit much higher stability than linear RNAs due to the resistance to exonuclease degradation and thereby play exclusive cellular regulatory roles. Recent studies have shown that circRNAs are widely expressed in eukaryotes and display tissue- and disease-specific expression patterns, including in the cardiovascular system. Although numerous circRNAs are discovered by in silico methods, a limited number of circRNAs have been studied. This review intends to summarize the current understanding of the characteristics, biogenesis, and functions of circRNAs and delineate the practical approaches for circRNAs investigation. Moreover, we discuss the emerging roles of circRNAs in cardiovascular diseases.
CROSS-MODAL PLASTICITY OF TACTILE PERCEPTION IN BLINDNESS

This review focusses on cross-modal plasticity resulting from visual deprivation. This is viewed against the background of task-specific visual cortical recruitment that is routine during tactile tasks in the sighted and that may depend in part on visual imagery. Superior tactile perceptual performance in the blind may be practice-related, although there are unresolved questions regarding the effects of Braille-reading experience and the age of onset of blindness. While visual cortical areas are clearly more involved in tactile microspatial processing in the blind than in the sighted, it still remains unclear how to reconcile these tactile processes with the growing literature implicating visual cortical activity in a wide range of cognitive tasks in the blind, including those involving language, or with studies of short-term, reversible visual deprivation in the normally sighted that reveal plastic changes even over periods of hours or days.
A (corrected) DAA scheme using batch proof and verification

Direct anonymous attestation (DAA) is a cryptographic primitive for providing anonymous signatures, and is a part of trusted computing technology from the Trusted Computing Group (TCG). DAA offers a nice balance between user authentication and privacy. One active research topic in trusted computing community is to develop DAA schemes that require minimum TPM resources. In 2010, Chen introduced a new DAA scheme using batch proof and verification. In this scheme, the TPM only needs to perform one or two exponentiations to create a DAA signature, depending on whether linkability is required. In this paper, we demonstrate an attack to this DAA scheme. The attack allows any malicious host to forge linkable DAA signatures without knowing the private key. We also present a patch to this DAA scheme to mitigate the attack. Our new DAA scheme has the same computational requirement for a TPM. We formally prove the new DAA scheme is secure in the random oracle model under the blind-4 bilinear LRSW assumption, the DDH assumption, and the gap-DL assumption.
Biclustering of data matrices in systems biology via optimal re-ordering

Abstract In this work we present an optimal method for the biclustering data matrices in systems biology. Our approach is based on the iterative optimal re-ordering of submatrices to generate biclusters. A network flow model is presented for performing the row and column permutations for a specified objective function, which is general enough to accommodate many different metrics. The proposed biclustering approach is applied to a set of metabolite concentration data and we demonstrate that our methods arranges the metabolites in an order which more closely reflects their known metabolic functions and has the ability to classify related objects into groups.
Play in Supervision: Exploring the Sandtray with Beginning Practicum Students.

Abstract Clinical supervision is a fundamental component of counselor education training. Counselor Educators play an active and dynamic role in helping beginning practicum students conceptualize their work with clients. The use of expressive arts in counseling has been shown to be effective in creating a deeper level and meaning to counselor and client interactions. This article describes the use of a particular expressive art technique, a sandtray, based on Sandplay Therapy, with students enrolled in beginning practicum. Additionally, results from a pilot study comparing ratings of traditional supervision and ratings of sandtray supervision with students enrolled in a beginning practicum experience are provided. Results of the pilot study indicated some preliminary support for the viability of the application comparing ratings of traditional supervision sessions with ratings of supervision using sandtray.
677 CONGENITALLY MALFORMED INFANTS AND ASSOCIATED GESTATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS II. Parental Factors

The obstetric records of all mothers who gave birth to congenitally malformed infants live or stillborn in the Boston Lying-in Hospital during the years 1930 through 1941, together with the pediatric records of their live babies during the neonatal period, have been abstracted and analyzed. Statistical evaluation of data from such a source offers a means to study the etiology of congenital anomalies; and many factors have been found to be associated with pregnancies which result in the birth of defective infants. The statistical method presents several difficulties, however, and it must be used with careful regard for proper sampling and controls, if fallacious conclusions are to be avoided. It is suggested that in future studies from large maternity hospitals analysis of all neonatal deaths and stillbirths be made in conjunction with analysis of defective infants. Such analysis of current records both of malformed and of normal infants should serve eventually to clarify the relations between the factors and to indicate which are the causes and which the effects.
Crystallization of proteins by dynamic control of supersaturation

The growth of protein crystals is known to be the limiting factor in the determination of the three-dimensional structures of most proteins. It is expected that the kinetics of supersaturation, which is directly related to solvent evaporation, will affect protein crystal growth and nucleation and accordingly determine the quality, number, size, and morphology of the crystals. With a technique that controls the evaporation of solvent from a protein solution with N2(g) it is possible to determine the effect of different evaporation profiles on hen egg white lysozyme crystals. Hen egg white lysozyme was chosen as the model protein because it crystallizes easily and has solubility data available for most salt, pH, and temperature ranges. Commercially available lysozyme was further purified by a number of methods. Crystals grown with the purified lysozyme and with the unpurified lysozyme in citrate buffer were different shapes but were found to be of the same symmetry space group by precession photos. Differences were seen in the lysozyme crystals grown using different evaporation rates. At three of the four initial conditions for lysozyme crystal growth, longer evaporation times yielded better crystals. The evaporation times required to see a change in the appearance of the crystals was much longer than expected. The number of rates studied so far represent only a small fraction of the ones now available with the gas evaporation device. The technique also provides for control of both solution pH and temperature which are related to the solubilities of proteins.
Invariant theoretic derivation of the connection between momentum and velocity

The significance of the energy-momentum conservation laws, as consequences of the general invariance principles, is much enhanced if the momentum, and hence the energy, can be coupled, still by means of the invariance principles, to some directly observable quantity. If the positions of particles can be measured in the quantum-mechanical sense, and if the corresponding operator satisfies the obvious invariance requirements, the velocity can also be ascertained and its relation to the momentum four-vector can easily be derived from the displacement invariances. Serious doubts have been cast, however, on the measurability of the position. Hence, a more primitive method of measuring the velocity, by means of « traps » is described; it is essentially the experimental method. The connection between momentum and velocity is then derived, for the velocity measured in this way, from the displacement invariance principle.
Even cycles in graphs

Let G be a 3-connected simple graph of minimum degree 4 on at least six vertices. The author proves the existence of an even cycle C in G such that G-V(C) is connected and G-E(C) is 2-connected. The result is related to previous results of Jackson, and Thomassen and Toft. Thomassen and Toft proved that G contains an induced cycle C such that both G-V(C) and G-E(C) is 2-connected. G does not in general contain an even cycle such that G-V(C) is 2-connected. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 45: 163–223, 2004
The effects of a 6-month resistance training and dried plum consumption intervention on strength, body composition, blood markers of bone turnover, and inflammation in breast cancer survivors

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of resistance training (RT) and dried plum (DP) consumption on strength, body composition, blood markers of bone, and inflammation in breast cancer survivors (BCS). Twenty-three BCS (RT, n = 12; RT+DP, n = 11), aged 64 ± 7 years, were evaluated at baseline and after 6 months of intervention on the following: muscular strength (chest press and leg extension) via 1-repetition maximums (1RMs); body composition, specifically bone mineral density (BMD) by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry; biochemical markers of bone turnover (bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BAP), tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP-5b)); and inflammation (C-reactive protein (CRP)). Target RT prescription was 2 days/week of 10 exercises, including 2 sets of 8-12 repetitions at ∼60%-80% of 1RM. RT+DP also consumed 90 g of DP daily. There were no baseline differences between groups or any group-by-time interactions for any of the variables. BCS increased upper (p < 0.05) (RT: 64 ± 14 to 80 ± 17 kg; RT+DP: 72 ± 23 to 91 ± 20 kg) and lower (p < 0.05) (RT: 69 ± 20 to 87 ± 28 kg; RT+DP: 78 ± 19 to 100 ± 21 kg) body strength. Body composition and BMD improvements were not observed. TRAP-5b decreased in the RT group (p < 0.05) (4.55 ± 1.57 to 4.04 ± 1.63 U/L) and the RT+DP group (p = 0.07) (5.10 ± 2.75 to 4.27 ± 2.03 U/L). Changes in BAP and CRP were not observed. RT was effective for improving biochemical markers of bone turnover and muscular strength in BCS. A longer and higher intensity intervention may be needed to reveal the true effects of RT and DP on body composition and biochemical markers of inflammation.
Kinetics of the reactions of SiH3 with O2 and N2O

Abstract The kinetics of the reactions SiH 3 + O 2 and SiH 3 + N 2 O have been investigated using time-resolved photoionization mass spectrometric detection of SiH 3 . Rate constants for the SiH 3 +O 2 reaction were determined from 296 to 500 K ( k = 4.96 × 10 −12 exp (275/ T ) cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 . An upper limit for the SiH 3 + N 2 O rate constant at 500 K was also established (5 × 10 −15 cm 3 molecule −1 s −1 ).
Antimicrobial selection and its impact on the incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea.

The study objective was to determine which antimicrobials place patients at a higher risk for Clostridium difficile–associated diarrhea (CDAD) and which interventions can reduce their risk. All pat...
Co-expression of the β2-adrenoceptor and dopamine D1-receptor with Gsα proteins in Sf9 insect cells: limitations in comparison with fusion proteins

The G-protein Gsα exists in three isoforms, the Gsα splice variants Gsαshort (GsαS) and Gsαlong (GsαL), and the G-protein Gαolf that is not only involved in olfactory signaling but also in extrapyramidal motor regulation. Studies with β2-adrenoceptor (β2AR)-Gsα fusion proteins showed that Gsα proteins activate adenylyl cyclase (AC) in the order of efficacy GsαS>GsαL∼Gαolf and that Gsα proteins confer the hallmarks of constitutive activity to the β2AR in the order of efficacy GsαL>Gαolf>GsαS. However, it is unclear whether such differences between Gsα proteins also exist in the nonfused state. In the present study, we co-expressed the β2AR and dopamine D1-receptor (D1R) with Gsα proteins at different ratios in Sf9 insect cells. In agreement with the fusion protein studies, nonfused Gαolf was less efficient than nonfused GsαS and GsαL at activating AC, but otherwise, we did not observe differences between the three Gsα isoforms. Thus, it is much easier to dissect differences between Gsα isoforms using β2AR-Gsα fusion proteins than nonfused Gsα isoforms.
Carbon storage potential of short rotation tropical tree plantations

Abstract Forests are a major sink for carbon and play an important role in the global carbon cycle. Not only do forests contain huge amounts of carbon, they exchange it very actively with the atmosphere. Expanding the world's forests, therefore, may present an opportunity to increase the terrestrial carbon sink, and slow the increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration. The tropical zones of the world seem particularly attractive for forestation because of the high rates of productivity that can potentially be attained there, and because there appear to be large areas of land that would benefit from tree planting. The analysis described here examines the carbon storage potential of short rotation tropical tree plantations in particular. Mean long-term carbon storage over multiple rotations was calculated for several commonly grown species. Rotation length, and hence the potential to accumulate biomass, is shown to be a key factor in the ability of plantations to remove carbon from the atmosphere over the long-term.
Sequences of the Serratia marcescens rplS and trmD genes

Abstract The trmD and rplS genes from the Serratia marcescens trmD operon are presented. These genes are about 85% similar to those of Escherichia coli and encode very nearly identical proteins. However, there are an additional 22 nt around the beginning of trmD in S. marcescens which in addition uses a GUG start codon.
Determination of static microstructure of dilute and concentrated suspensions of anisotropic particles by ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering

Ultra-small-angle X-ray scattering was performed on suspensions of anisotropic polystyrene particles of varying degrees of anisotropy. The wave vector dependence of particle form factors is well described by a model developed by Debye for the scattering from fused spheres. As volume fraction is raised, all suspensions undergo a disorder/order phase transition. The scattering from disordered and ordered suspensions of anisotropic particles is the same as that of spheres up to volume fractions of 0.45, suggesting that, in the dilute crystalline phase, the anisotropic particles order into a rotator or plastic crystal phase, where the particle centers of mass are ordered, but the particle directors are randomly distributed. Further increase in particle volume fraction leads to differences in scattering between homonuclear dicolloids and spheres, implying that the homonuclear dicolloids form a body-centered tetragonal phase with both positional and directional order. This conclusion is supported by real-space imaging of dried films of the particles.
Enumeration of small and large numerosities: the effect of element visibility.

Precise enumeration is associated with small numerosities within the subitizing range ( 4 items). To date, there is still debate on whether a single continuous process or dual mutually exclusive processes mediate enumeration of small and large numerosities. Here, we evaluated a compromise between these two notions: that the precise representation of number is limited to small numerosities, but that the approximate representation of numerosity spans across both small and large numerosities. We assessed the independence of precise and approximate enumeration by looking at how luminance contrast affected enumeration of elements that differ by ones (1–8) or by tens (10–80). We found that enumeration functions of ones and tens have different characteristics, which is consistent with the presence of two number systems. Subitizing was preserved for small numerosities. However, simply decreasing element visibility changed the variabil...
A toolkit for automating and visualizing VLAN configuration

Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) are extensively used in enterprise networks. However, their configuration remains an ad-hoc, complex and error-prone process today. We believe that to eliminate these difficulties, there is need for automation tools, and also need for visualization tools. In this paper, we report on our experience building a VLAN management toolkit, which automates and visualizes common VLAN configuration tasks. We begin by describing common misconfigurations, and their impact on network performance and security. We next present a set of algorithms that automate the VLAN configuration tasks. These algorithms form the back end of the toolkit. The front end of the toolkit consists of an interactive graphical user interface which provides visualization of VLAN operations at multiple granularities, and can be accessed remotely from a web browser. We are in the process of deploying the toolkit at a large campus network which has thousands of switches, and around 800 VLANs. Our initial operational experience shows that the toolkit is effective in both automating configuration tasks, and identifying common misconfigurations. In particular, we have found that (i) more than 40% of the VLANs in the network have redundant links that may lead to security and performance issues. (ii) more than 30% of the VLANs in the network have missing links which may result in connectivity issues and (iii) the root-bridge placements of more than 30% of the VLANs are not optimum, which again may result in performance issues. We believe these insights highlight the benefit and importance of such a toolkit.
Analysis and Optimization of Electromechanical Devices Based upon a Kinematic Model

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, an effective method for analyzing the electromechanical responses of piezoelectric devices is developed based upon a kinematic model. The predictability of the model is validated by comparing it with the results obtained from finite element analysis. Next, an example of optimization of the design of electromechanical devices is carried out. By using an alternate configuration of polarization, a one-fold increase in device performance has been realized. The model devices considered are an oval flextensional actuator and a moonie actuator with PZT ceramics. The results of this research effort benefit the design and fabrication of electromechanical devices, which now can be produced in increasing complexity using SFF techniques.