cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy after periviable birth: making the case for innovative delivery of interpregnancy care.

Objective: Women who have had a spontaneous periviable delivery are at high risk for recurrent preterm delivery. The objective of our study was to determine interpregnancy interval (IPI) after peri...
Hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis to the condyle: a case report and review of the literature.

ABSTRACT Background Metastatic tumor invasion of the condyle from the liver is rare. It is important for dental practitioners to differentiate tumor involvement from musculoskeletal disorders such as temporomandibular disorders. Case Description The authors present a case report of a patient with temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction consistent with musculoskeletal disorders. Because of the patient's medical history, comprehensive examination results and findings of imaging studies performed, the dental practitioners referred him to other health care providers for further and more in-depth investigation. This resulted in the establishment of an accurate diagnosis, with treatment directed at the primary source. Practical Implications A thorough medical history, comprehensive clinical examination and adjunctive testing, when necessary, are paramount in establishing a definitive diagnosis for patients with orofacial pain, thereby enabling the delivery of appropriate treatment.
In vitro multiplication and growth improvement of Olea europaea L. cv Canino with temporary immersion system (Plantform

Olea europaea L. cv Canino shoots were micropropagated to test two different culture systems: (1) on conventional semi-solid medium in glass jars and (2) in liquid culture in a Plantform™ bioreactor. The temporary immersion system, Plantform™, is a new propagation approach that uses liquid culture, where shoots undergo periodic immersion in liquid medium alternated with dry periods, avoiding gas accumulation through forced ventilation. This study proposes a protocol to improve in vitro propagation of olive reducing production costs. Our findings revealed that olive shoots propagated in Plantform™, with an immersion frequency of 8 min every 16 h and additional ventilation, showed good adaptability and better growth rates than those cultured in conventional system. Overall, the Plantform™ improves in vitro culture of ‘Canino’, showing higher proliferation, shoot length and better vigour of shoots. Moreover, the study found no significant differences in shoot length when 5 or 10 µM zeatin was applied in Plantform™ (3.04 and 3.13 cm, respectively); it is, therefore, possible to achieve efficient olive proliferation also with half hormone concentration. The positive performance of the bioreactor approach was also confirmed by Relative Growth Rate index. This is the first documented study of the Plantform™ technique for olive propagation.
Sugarcane yield response to calcium silicate on Florida mineral soils

Silicon (Si) is a beneficial nutrient for sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) and yield responses to Si amendment have been determined on soils with low soluble Si. Because a soil test Si calibration has no...
Direct Power Control Strategy of Single-Phase MMC with Harmonic Control Capability

At present, the research of MMC is mainly focused on the field of three-phase DC transmission. In this paper, the expression of MMC in dark coordinate is established, and the direct power control strategy of single-phase MMC is deduced and the resonant controller is introduced in the power loop. At the same time, considering the control of harmonic current by MMC, a frequency-adaptive power splitter is designed to obtain the expectation of compensation. Finally, a simulation experiment is designed in Matlab / Simulink. It is proved that the single phase MMC with direct power control is not only flexible in power control, but also has the ability of harmonic control.
The leukemia strikes back: a review of pathogenesis and treatment of secondary AML

Secondary AML is associated with a disproportionately poor prognosis, consistently shown to exhibit inferior response rates, event-free survival, and overall survival in comparison with de novo AML. Secondary AML may arise from the evolution of an antecedent hematologic disorder, or it may arise as a complication of prior cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiation therapy in the case of therapy-related AML. Because of the high frequency of poor-risk cytogenetics and high-risk molecular features, such as alterations in TP53, leukemic clones are often inherently chemoresistant. Standard of care induction had long remained conventional 7 + 3 until its reformulation as CPX-351, recently FDA approved specifically for secondary AML. However, recent data also suggests relatively favorable outcomes with regimens based on high-dose cytarabine or hypomethylating agents. With several investigational agents being studied, the therapeutic landscape becomes even more complex, and the treatment approach involves patient-specific, disease-specific, and therapy-specific considerations.
Abstract C70: A community guide systematic review of multicomponent interventions to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening: Findings in underserved populations

Background: Underserved adults are disproportionately not up-to-date with cancer screening. This systematic review examined effectiveness of multicomponent interventions (MCIs) to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Special attention was paid to underserved populations and interventions that engage community health workers (CHWs) and patient navigators (PNs). Methods: This systematic review consists of studies in high-income countries with eligible screening outcomes (recent or repeat mammography, Pap test, or CRC screening). Summary effects were calculated and stratified by income, insurance, involvement of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) or community health centers (CHCs), and involvement of CHWs and PNs. Results: Eighty-eight studies were included. Among majority low-income populations, MCIs increased breast (median increase 10.5 percentage points (pp), interquartile interval (IQI) 6.5-25.7; 10 arms), cervical (median 7.0 pp, IQI 5.3-58.9; 7 arms), and CRC screening (median 15.5 pp, IQI 6.9-23.6; 13 arms). Screening use increased among majority uninsured populations across all three cancers (median 31.8 pp, range 23.2-40; 3 arms). MCIs involving FQHCs or CHCs increased breast and cervical (median 7.0 pp, IQI 2.3-11.0; 5 arms) and CRC screening (median 16.3 pp, IQI 13.9-23.8; 8 arms). Interventions engaging CHWs and PNs among low-income, majority-uninsured populations, or those utilizing FQHCs or CHCs also increased screening use across all three cancer types combined (CHWs: median 15.5 pp, IQI 5.8-60.1; 10 arms; PNs: median 11.9 pp, IQI 7.0-15.5; 11 arms). Conclusions: MCIs targeting underserved populations are effective in increasing breast, cervical, and CRC screening. MCIs engaging CHWs and PNs are effective among these populations. Citation Format: Devon Okasako-Schmucker, Yinan Peng, Susan Sabatino, Ismaila Ramon, Kristin Tansil Roberts, Shawna L. Mercer, Randy Elder. A community guide systematic review of multicomponent interventions to increase breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening: Findings in underserved populations [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Tenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2017 Sep 25-28; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2018;27(7 Suppl):Abstract nr C70.
Molecular Origins of Cancer

Cancer is caused by genetic mutations. In most patients with cancer, these mutations are acquired, but some patients inherit a germline tumor-predisposing mutation. Although the specific genetic abnormalities in cancers can be extremely complex, most mutations involve a few general cellular functions: impairment of the control of cell division (tumor suppressor genes and their proteins), aberrant activation of pathways that stimulate cell proliferation (oncogenes and their proteins), and inactivation of pathways that lead to cell death (apoptosis). The relative importance of these types of mutation varies among tumors. For example, retinoblastoma is caused by loss of activity of the pRB tumor suppressor protein, chronic myeloid leukemia is caused by activation of the Abelson proto-oncogene, and follicular cell lymphoma is commonly associated with activation of pathways that inhibit bcl-2-mediated apoptosis. By the time tumors come to clinical attention they may have acquired very complex genetic disturbances involving multiple pathways that regulate cell proliferation, stimulate angiogenesis, and confer metastatic capability. Thus, although the principles discussed below form a useful framework for studying the molecular basis of cancer, the complete profile of molecular abnormalities in any tumor is likely to be very complex.
Impact of Reconfigurable Antennas on MU-MIMO Over Measurements in a Reverberation Chamber

While the theoretical multiplexing gains of multiuser (MU) MIMO are substantial, the performance gains in practical systems such as IEEE 802.11ac and LTE/LTE-Advanced have been limited. One of the key limiting factors are spatially correlated user channels. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of pattern reconfigurable antennas (PRA) on downlink MU-MIMO transmission. PRAs are capable of dynamically adjusting their radiation pattern, providing an additional degree of freedom that can be leveraged to improve MU-MIMO performance by treating the array configuration and radiation characteristics as additional components in the joint optimization of adaptive system parameters. We conduct measurements in a statistically repeatable environment and demonstrate the gains provided by pattern diversity in decorrelating user channels. Our experimental results show significant gains in SINR and achievable sum rates of MU-MIMO linear precoders when appropriate directional beams are used to decorrelate the channel matrices and provide directional gain.
The evolving systemic biomarker milieu in obese ZSF1 rat model of human cardiometabolic syndrome: Characterization of the model and cardioprotective effect of GDF15

Abstract Cardiometabolic syndrome has become a global health issue. Heart failure is a common comorbidity of cardiometabolic syndrome. Successful drug development to prevent cardiometabolic syndrome and associated comorbidities requires preclinical models predictive of human conditions. To characterize the heart failure component of cardiometabolic syndrome, cardiometabolic, metabolic, and renal biomarkers were evaluated in obese and lean ZSF1 20-to 22-week-old male rats. Cardiac function, exercise capacity, and left ventricular gene expression were also analyzed. Obese ZSF1 rats exhibited multiple features of human cardiometabolic syndrome by pathological changes in systemic renal, metabolic, and cardiovascular disease circulating biomarkers. Hemodynamic assessment, echocardiography, and decreased exercise capacity confirmed heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. RNA-seq results demonstrated changes in left ventricular gene expression associated with fatty acid and branched chain amino acid metabolism, cardiomyopathy, cardiac hypertrophy, and heart failure. Twelve weeks of growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) treatment significantly decreased body weight, food intake, blood glucose, and triglycerides and improved exercise capacity in obese ZSF1 males. Systemic cardiovascular injury markers were significantly lower in GDF15-treated obese ZSF1 rats. Obese ZSF1 male rats represent a preclinical model for human cardiometabolic syndrome with established heart failure with preserved ejection fraction. GDF15 treatment mediated dietary response and demonstrated a cardioprotective effect in obese ZSF1 rats.
Transdermal Delivery of the Free Base of 3-Fluoroamphetamine: In Vitro Skin Permeation and Irritation Potential.

This work aimed to continue our effort in establishing the feasibility of 3-fluoroamphetamine (also known as PAL-353) to be a transdermal drug candidate by studying the delivery of the base form through the human cadaver skin in lieu of the previously investigated salt form, and for the first time using an EPIDERM™–reconstructed human epidermal model to predict the skin irritation potential of PAL-353, in support of development for a matrix-type transdermal delivery system. Passive and enhanced (with chemical permeation enhancers) transdermal delivery were investigated via in vitro permeation studies that were performed on Franz diffusion cells with dermatomed human cadaver skin. After 24 h, PAL-353 free base revealed high passive permeation of 417.49 ± 30.12, 1577.68 ± 165.41, and 4295.16 ± 264.36 μg/cm2, with applied formulation concentrations of 5.5 (F1), 20 (F2), and 40 (F3) mg/mL, respectively. Oleyl alcohol produced an approximately threefold steady-state flux enhancement at 5% or 10% w/w but may not be needed as the free base alone provided therapeutically relevant permeation. Further, it was predicted that therapeutically relevant delivery would be unlikely to cause skin irritation using the EPIDERM™–reconstructed human epidermal model. In conclusion, the present study further supported the development of PAL-353 transdermal delivery systems.
Eustachian valve endocarditis: Its presentation and clinical characteristics.

A 25-year-old female with history of intravenous drug abuse and tricuspid valve endocarditis presented for evaluation of recurrent endocarditis. Transthoracic echocardiography followed by transesophageal echocardiography revealed vegetation on the eustachian valve and was without evidence of vegetation on the tricuspid valve. Blood cultures were positive for methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. She was treated with six weeks of intravenous antibiotic therapy but ultimately required tricuspid valve replacement due to severe tricuspid regurgitation. One month later, the patient was found to have bilateral septic pulmonary emboli. We report this rare finding of Eustachian valve endocarditis and review similar previously reported cases in the literature. .
SIMAETHA GOT IT RIGHT, AFTER ALL: THEOCRITUS, IDYLL 2, A COURTESAN'S PANTRY AND A LOST GREEK TRADITION OF HEXAMETRICAL CURSES

Theocritus divides his second Idyll into two roughly equal sections, each punctuated by ten refrains: in the first half, a courtesan named Simaetha describes an ongoing erotic spell that she and her servant are performing and at the same time she enacts it by reciting a series of short similia-similibus incantations; in the second half, she speaks to Selene in the night sky and tells her the story of her brief affair with and betrayal by a handsome young athlete named Delphis. Literary scholars have written much about this poem, but they are more often concerned with the second, confessional half, with its complicated narrative layers and its charmingly naive and unreliable narrator. Historians of religion and magic, on the other hand, have focussed most of their energies on the first half of the poem, using as comparanda the much later evidence of Roman-era curse tablets (katadesmoi) and late antique magical papyri to make sense of what Simaetha does and says during her long ritual, an approach that was enshrined by Gow in the middle of the last century, when he argued that, because of the conservative nature of these later magical spells, there was little risk of serious anachronism in using them for comparison.
The 737MAx Is Ready to Fly Again, but Plane Certification Still Needs to Be Fixed — Here’s How

The 737MAX suffered from design flaws in the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). The flaws should have been detected by the regulatory authority but were missed. This article highlights the changes necessary on a systemic level.
On the detection of differentially encoded polyphase signals.

Discussion of the transmission and detection of differentially encoded polyphase signals and of the ambiguity resolution problem which results from suppression of the transmitted carrier. In particular, an analysis is made of the performance of differentially encoded coherent multiple phase-shift keyed (MPSK) systems which reconstruct coherent reference signals by means of generalized Costas or nth-power loops. The performance of such systems is then compared with that of ideal reception of MPSK signals and differentially coherent detection of differentially encoded MPSK signals. Emphasis is placed upon the special cases of quadriphase and octaphase signaling.
Lipid Droplets and Their Autophagic Turnover via the Raft-Like Vacuolar Microdomains.

Although once perceived as inert structures that merely serve for lipid storage, lipid droplets (LDs) have proven to be the dynamic organelles that hold many cellular functions. The LDs’ basic structure of a hydrophobic core consisting of neutral lipids and enclosed in a phospholipid monolayer allows for quick lipid accessibility for intracellular energy and membrane production. Whereas formed at the peripheral and perinuclear endoplasmic reticulum, LDs are degraded either in the cytosol by lipolysis or in the vacuoles/lysosomes by autophagy. Autophagy is a regulated breakdown of dysfunctional, damaged, or surplus cellular components. The selective autophagy of LDs is called lipophagy. Here, we review LDs and their degradation by lipophagy in yeast, which proceeds via the micrometer-scale raft-like lipid domains in the vacuolar membrane. These vacuolar microdomains form during nutrient deprivation and facilitate internalization of LDs via the vacuolar membrane invagination and scission. The resultant intra-vacuolar autophagic bodies with LDs inside are broken down by vacuolar lipases and proteases. This type of lipophagy is called microlipophagy as it resembles microautophagy, the type of autophagy when substrates are sequestered right at the surface of a lytic compartment. Yeast microlipophagy via the raft-like vacuolar microdomains is a great model system to study the role of lipid domains in microautophagic pathways.
Somatic PIK3CA mutations occur in later stage MSI(H) and MSS colorectal cancers

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 90 Background: PIK3CA has been identified as an oncogene in multiple forms of human malignancies including glioblastoma multiforme, gastric adenocarcinoma head and neck squamous cell, cervical, and ovarian cancers. To date, however, colorectal cancer (CRC) has been evaluated for somatic PIK3CA mutations in only one published series and to be involved nearly one third of CRC. Data suggest that the gene may be involved in the metamorphosis of dysplastic cells to invasive cancer, not as an initiating event in carcinogenesis. Methods: Paired normal/tumor tissue, and in some cases blood, was collected from 197 patients with colorectal cancer. Patients were selected from a number of ongoing studies specifically to enrich for cases with defective mismatch repair. Tumor DNA was extracted from microdissected frozen or paraffin-embedded tissue sections by a standard phenol/chloroform procedure or with a DNA extraction kit.The corresponding normal control DNA for each patient was derived from adjacent normal mucosa or blood leukocytes. For blood specimens, DNA was extracted using the Puregene nucleic acid isolation kit. Microsatellite instability testing (MSI) was analyzed with 6 dinucleotide microsatellite markers (D5S346, MYCL, D18S55, D17S250, D10S197, and ACTC) and one mononucleotide repeat (BAT 26).Tumors were classified as MSH-H if >30% markers demonstrated instability, MSH-L if <30% demonstrated MSI, and MSS if no marker exhibited MSI. Mutational screening and direct sequencing of PIK3CA gene was done using PCR primers for amplifying exons 9 and 20, the two mutational hotspots. Results: Among the 197 CRC samples, a total of 49 cases showed exonic variations. By comparing with corresponding normal tissues, 26 of 49 tumors had a polymorphic T to G transversion at base pair position 1779. Thus, from the analysis of the two major hotspots, exon 9 and 20, there were a total of 24 tumors with PIK3CA mutation (12.2 %). Of these mutations, 8 were in exon 9 (33.3%); 14 in exon 20(58.3%); and 2 in both exons (8.3%). We found that significantly more tumors with regional or distant metastases (16/95) had PIK3CA mutations compared to earlier stage tumors (p =0.049). There were no statistically significant differences according to age (p=0.32), gender (p=0.22), ploidy (p=0.19), tumor location (p=0.42), or MSI status (p=0.39) and BRAF mutation status (p=0.70). Discussion: PIK3CA mutations were detected in 12.2% of CRC. The only clinical feature associated with somatic PIK3CA mutations was that of advanced stage disease with either regional or distant metastasis. This finding offers support for the involvement of PIK3CA mutation in the activation of a tumor's metastatic potential.
Multiple Distortion of a Supersonic Turbulent Boundary Layer

Two experiments were performed to study the response of a supersonic turbulent boundary layer to successive distortions. In the first experiment (Case 1), the flow passed over a forward-facing ramp formed by 20° compression corner followed by a 20° expansion corner located about 4δo downstream, where δo is the incoming boundary layer thickness. In the second experiment (Case 2), the forward-facing ramp was constructed of curved compression and expansion surfaces with the same turning angles and total step height as in Case 1. The radii of curvature for the compression and expansion surfaces were equal to 12δo. In both experiments, the flow relaxation was observed over a distance equal to 12δo. In this relaxation region, the mean and turbulent flow behavior of the boundary layer was measured. The mean velocity profile was found to be altered by the distortion. Recovery of the profile began near the wall and occurred rapidly, but in the outer part of the boundary layer, recovery proceeded slowly. Turbulence measurements revealed a dramatic reduction in the turbulence shear stress and a progressively decaying streamwise Reynolds stress profile.
A design and an application of a regional coupled atmosphere‐ocean model for tropical cyclone prediction

[1] The prediction of tropical cyclone (TC) track has improved greatly in recent decades due in part to the implementation and improvement of numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. However, the prediction of TC intensity using NWP models remains difficult. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the factors contributing to the TC intensity prediction errors and one of the leading candidates is the implication of an evolving sea-surface temperature (SST) boundary condition beneath the TC. In this study, a regional scale coupled atmosphere-ocean model is developed using the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (ARW) model and the HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). A coupling algorithm and a methodology to define appropriate ocean initial conditions are provided. Experiments are conducted, during the lifecycle of TC Ike (2008), using both the coupled-model and static (e.g., temporally fixed) SST to illustrate the impacts of the coupled-model for the TC track, intensity, and structure, as well as upon the larger (synoptic) scale. The results from this study suggest that the impact of the evolving SST (e.g., from a coupled atmosphere-ocean model) begin to impact the intensity, size, and thermodynamic structure for TC Ike (2008) at forecast lead-times beyond 48-hours. Further, the forecast trajectories (i.e., tracks) do not illustrate large differences between the non-coupled and coupled-models. Finally, the impact of the SST boundary condition upon TC Ike (2008) appears to be a function of the strength of the atmospheric forcing – in particular the size and intensity of the TC wind field.
Welcome to the Unregulated Wild, Wild, Digital West

An impasse between Hollywood and Silicon Valley over streaming rights to home entertainment has created a power vacuum, prompting a number of virtual entrepreneurs to look for alternative ways to monetize online media. This essay examines the "transmedia" industries and multichannel networks as transitional workspaces — innovative new forms of industrial organization, emerging forms of creative work, new technologies and economic models, and creative relations among consumers, marketers, and producers. A number of cultural industries scholars are engaged in productive critiques of digital media labor practices. 2 In contrast, humanities-based critical and cultural studies scholars tend to ignore the economic realities of web-based production, focusing instead on the unpaid (albeit volunteer) labor of fans. Far fewer consider the more widespread, invisible labor associated with the wholesale data mining of consumer preferences that are being sold en masse to advertisers by major internet technology companies like Google and Facebook. Even fewer explore the paradox of YouTube talent partners, who eschew deals with Hollywood to avoid creative interference but tolerate Faustian deals with Google to profit from surveillance-based advertising.
Cellular Mechanisms and Physiology of Nucleotide and Nucleoside Release from Cells: Current Knowledge, Novel Assays to Detect Purinergic Agonists, and Future Directions

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses some novel assays to detect purinergic agonists and discusses the future directions of cellular mechanisms and the physiology of nucleotide and nucleoside release from cells. Extracellular nucleotide and nucleoside signaling is initiated only with the release of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and adenosine from physiological sources. These physiological sources are cells that synthesize ATP as their chief intracellular fuel. A list of cell types implicated or studied for their ATP release capacity is provided in the chapter. The bacterial adherence, anoxia, ischemia, apoptosis, and necrosis can lead to partial or complete cell lysis and subsequent ATP release. There are multiple physiological stimuli that activate physiological mechanisms, which potentiate ATP release from cells. The aforementioned lytic stimuli are pathophysiological triggers. There is an enormous chemical concentration gradient for ATP release from cells. Because no assay has measured a steady state extracellular concentration above 10 μM under stimulated conditions (likely because of degradative enzymes competitively clearing a portion of the released ATP) a mammalian cell releases only 0.1% of its total intracellular ATP pool. Adenosine receptors have 50% effective concentration EC 50 values that are equal to or less than 1 μ M. The ATP and adenosine that are released from cells and the concentrations that are measured in detection assays are sufficient to stimulate any and all purinergic receptors expressed by that cell, with the metabolism of that cell proceeding unaltered.
Haptography: Capturing and Recreating the Rich Feel of Real Surfaces

Haptic interfaces, which allow a user to touch virtual and remote environments through a hand-held tool, have opened up exciting new possibilities for applications such as computer-aided design and robot-assisted surgery. Unfortunately, the haptic renderings produced by these systems seldom feel like authentic re-creations of the richly varied surfaces one encounters in the real world. We have thus envisioned the new approach of haptography, or haptic photography, in which an individual quickly records a physical interaction with a real surface and then recreates that experience for a user at a different time and/or place. This paper presents an overview of the goals and methods of haptography, emphasizing the importance of accurately capturing and recreating the high frequency accelerations that occur during tool-mediated interactions. In the capturing domain, we introduce a new texture modeling and synthesis method based on linear prediction applied to acceleration signals recorded from real tool interactions. For recreating, we show a new haptography handle prototype that enables the user of a Phantom Omni to feel fine surface features and textures.
Role of host proteins in gene expression of nonsegmented negative strand RNA viruses.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews the recent progress in the understanding of the role of host proteins in the life cycle of nonsegmented negative strand (ns)RNA viruses. The likelihood that multiple cellular proteins are involved in the regulation of RNA polymerase activity of nsRNA viruses opens avenues for further detailed investigation. Central fields of interest include (1) protein kinases that play a key role in signal transduction and oncogenesis, (2) elongation factors involved in protein biosynthesis, the cytoskeletal framework that regulates cell shape, size, and multiplication, (3) heat shock protein in protein folding and chaperone function, and (4) RNA-binding proteins that mediate essential RNA metabolism have become the central fields of interest. The most pressing issues are to confirm the importance of the implicated molecules, to determine their precise roles, and to delineate their mode of action. Themes of protein kinase-mediated regulation of gene expression are emerging from studies with different nonsegmental nsRNA viral systems. Surprisingly, different kinases were implicated in the activation of their P proteins, and in some cases even related viruses were found to require different protein kinase(s). Thus, it seems that specific cellular protein kinases, depending on their level of expression, may determine tissue tropism and pathogenicity. It is important to learn how these viruses have evolved to interact with specific cellular kinases for the activation of their RNA polymerase activity. Clearly, the next breakthrough will come from elucidation of the three-dimensional structure of the P proteins, which may allow identification of interacting domains and the mechanism of activation of the P protein.
Modelling stomatal conductance in response to environmental factors

Stomata are an attractive system for modellers for many reasons, and the literature contains a large number of papers describing models that predict stomatal conductance as a function of environmental factors. The approaches and goals of these models vary considerably. This review summarizes these different approaches and discusses their strengths and weaknesses with a focus on mechanistically based models. The critical unresolved questions are highlighted and placed in the context of current research on stomatal physiology. Finally, directions for future research are considered.
Using Visual Information for Grounding and Awareness in Collaborative Tasks

When pairs work together on a physical task, seeing a common workspace facilitates communication and benefits performance. When mediating such activities, however, the choice of technology can transform the visual information in ways that impact critical coordination processes. In this article we examine two coordination processes that are impacted by visual information—situation awareness and conversational grounding—which are theoretically distinct but often confounded in empirical research. We present three empirical studies that demonstrate how shared visual information supports collaboration through these two distinct routes. We also address how particular features of visual information interact with features of the task to influence situation awareness and conversational grounding, and further demonstrate how these features affect conversation and coordination. Experiment 1 manipulates the immediacy of the visual information and shows that immediate visual feedback facilitates collaboration by impro...
Child Advocacy in the Twenty-first Century

Key points � The professional role of pediatricians should include advocacy. � Children’s physical, mental, and behavioral health are affected by social determinants of health. � Several components of the Affordable Care Act are directed at improving the health of US children, but lack of health insurance for children, including those who are undocumented, remains a significant problem. � There are numerous avenues that physicians may take in advocating for children, including patient-level, community-level, and legislative advocacy. � Advocacy training is an important component of residency to ensure that the next generation of pediatricians has the skills necessary to address the growing challenges of health disparities.
Near-threshold ω and φ meson productions in pp collisions

Using a relativistic effective Lagrangian at the hadronic level, near-threshold $\omega$ and $\phi$ meson productions in proton proton ($pp$) collisions, $p p \to p p \omega/\phi$, are studied within the distorted wave Born approximation. Both initial and final state $pp$ interactions are included. In addition to total cross section data, both $\omega$ and $\phi$ angular distribution data are used to constrain further the model parameters. For the $p p \to p p \omega$ reaction we consider two different possibilities: with and without the inclusion of nucleon resonances. The nucleon resonances are included in a way to be consistent with the $\pi^- p \to \omega n$ reaction. It is shown that the inclusion of nucleon resonances can describe the data better overall than without their inclusion. However, the SATURNE data in the range of excess energies $Q < 31$ MeV are still underestimated by about a factor of two. As for the $p p \to p p \phi$ reaction it is found that the presently limited available data from DISTO can be reproduced by four sets of values for the vector and tensor $\phi NN$ coupling constants. Further measurements of the energy dependence of the total cross section near threshold energies should help to constrain better the $\phi NN$ coupling constant.
Iron nutrition does not account for the hemoglobin differences between blacks and whites

Many researchers have reported lower hemoglobin concentrations in blacks than in whites, but the reason for this difference is unknown. Data for 2515 persons (in 3-12 y and 18-45 y age groups) from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) were evaluated to investigate the roles of iron intake and biochemical iron status indicators in explaining black and white differences in hemoglobin concentration. Dietary iron intake was estimated from one 24-h food recall, and hemoglobin, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation and erythrocyte protoporphyrin were measured by standard laboratory methods. Hemoglobin levels were substantially lower in black children (120.3 g/L) than in white children (126.8 g/L). Hemoglobin concentrations were also lower in black women (128.4 g/L) than in white women (133.9 g/L), and in black men (144.8 g/L) than in white men (153.2 g/L). Blacks had lower hemoglobin concentration than whites at most levels of dietary iron intake, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation and erythrocyte protoporphyrin. Despite their lower hemoglobin levels, blacks had higher serum ferritin levels than whites. These results suggest that the difference in hemoglobin concentrations between blacks and whites in the United States is the result of factors other than iron intake and iron status. More specific investigations of both the genetic and environmental determinants of iron utilization in blacks are needed.
The role of building design and interiors in ageing actively at home

This systematic research review examines the role of building- and interior-scale environmental factors of homes and residential developments in promoting or inhibiting older adults’ sedentary behaviour and active living. Using an adaptation of the Cochrane Review protocol, the search and screen for relevant, rigorous research studies resulted in 37 research articles. The review focuses on six built environment characteristics: (1) barriers, supports and features that ‘fit'; (2) spatial organization and layout; (3) environmental cues; (4) ambient qualities; (5) assistive technologies; and (6) gardens and outdoor spaces. Accessibility-oriented features dominated the studies and findings. Pathway and corridor design, and environmental cues that convey an instrumental function of a space also facilitated active living. Ambient features such as lighting quality and meaningful sounds and aromas were important facilitators to active living among residents with dementia. To strengthen the knowledge base of the f...
Crop area monitoring within an advanced agricultural information system

Abstract This paper describes a framework for an image processing procedure for operational agricultural crop area estimation. This operational framework has been conceived within the development of an Advanced Agricultural Information System (AAIS) for the “Regione del Veneto “ (RdV ‐ Veneto Region) in northeastern Italy. The objective of this program is to develop the ability to generating timely and accurate area estimates and production information for four major agricultural crops: soybeans, sugar beets, corn, and small grains. AAIS uses state of the art methods in remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) technology and integrates a variety of data types including satellite imagery. This paper describes the methodology developed for image and ancillary data processing for the production of crop area statistics. Using a combination of standard unsupervised classification and GIS operations that incorporate knowledge about the agricultural system, a “sequential masking” classification pr...
Use of a microtiter plate assay to detect the rate of killing of adherent Candida albicans by antifungal agents

Objectives Candida albicans may become adherent to prosthetic devices of various kinds and thereby produce infections that are difficult to treat with standard antifungal therapy. The objective of the present work was to study the effectiveness of antifungal agents against adherent C. albicans yeast cells. Study design A microtiter plate assay was developed to assess the time required for killing of the fungal cells by three antifungal agents. Results The assay initially was validated by demonstrating that the percentage of organisms adhering to the test wells was relatively constant and that exposure to the antifungal agents caused only minimal dislodgement of viable organisms from the plates. In studies that used this assay to determine the time required for killing the adherent yeast cells, chlorhexidine was found to be the most effective; in fact, in comparing the minimal lethal concentrations of the agents for exposures of 2 minutes versus 4 hours, a ratio of 2.9 was obtained for chlorhexidine versus 1050 for amphotericin B and 556 for nystatin. Conclusion The microtiter plate assay used in these studies may therefore be useful as a screening test to determine which antifungal agents have the most rapid fungicidal effects on adherent fungal organisms.
Post-buckling of a clamped-simply supported elastica

The complete post-buckling and large deformations of an elastica rod, one end fixed and one end pinned, is studied through perturbations near bifurcation, asymptotic analysis for large loads and a numerical integration scheme. The bifurcation curve is not monotonic. The post-buckling behavior exhibits non-linear phenomena such as limit load, non-uniqueness, hysteresis, and violent jumps.
Electrical Design and Steady State Performance of Generrex * Excitation Systems

This paper presents a description of the steady-state electrical performance objectives of the new GENERREX* excitation system now being applied to large steam turbine-generators. Some of the considerations entering into the proper selection of the design characteristics for the various components are also discussed. Analytical performance predictions are compared to test results obtained during on-site operation of a generator unit with the prototype GEERREX excitation system.
Hemoproteins in Trypanosoma cruzi with emphasis on microsomal pigments

Abstract 1. 1. Spectroscopic examination of T. cruzi microsomal fractions and intact epimastigotes have provided evidence for the presence of cytochrome P-450. the terminal oxidase of a reduced pyridine nucleotide-linked monooxygenase system involved in the metabolism of several lipid soluble compounds. 2. 2. The hemoprotein is consistently shown in cells previously treated with phenobarbital or in their microsomal fractions. 3. 3. Treatment with phenobarbital increases the levels of cytochrome P-450, which correlates well with increases in the N -demethylation of aminopyrine. 4. 4. The induction phenomenon is clearly observed in intact cells but is obscured in microsomal fractions apparently due to the presence of proteolytic enzymes that denature and/or degrade cytochrome P-450. Spectroscopic examination of mitochondria confirms the presence of two additional terminal oxidases, cytochrome oxidase and cytochrome o . 5. 5. No carbon monoxide-binding pigments are observed in the cytosolic fraction. 6. 6. It is suggested that the cytochrome-P-450-linked monooxygenase system in T. cruzi may be responsible for the resistance of the parasite to antimicrobial drugs.
Cyton II: a subtegumental cell type in the cercaria of Schistosoma mansoni.

In Schistosoma mansoni cercaria, an aggregate of subtegumental cells is found in a small, dorsoanterior area of the body (middivision). These cells are nestled between two laterally positioned flame cells and the muscle that delimits the anterior end of the body, and the anterior end of the central ganglion. This highly amorphous cell type, designated as cyton II, has a heterochromatic nucleus and a cytoplasm that is elaborated into coarse, tortuous processes. Its cytoplasm contains ribosomes, mitochondria, sparse amounts of endoplasmic reticulum, and two types of circular-to-oval concentric membranous bodies. One type has an electron-dense core and measures 200–250 nm on the short axis, and the other is completely membranous and measures 100–125 nm on the short axis. The cell body of cyton II communicates with the tegument that covers a small, dorsoposterior area of the anterior organ (oral sucker); however, we could not confirm a tegumental connection with the body division. When cercariae transform into schistosomules, the concentric membranous bodies of cyton II migrate into the anterior organ's tegument via cytoplasmic processes of the cell. The major function of previously described cells that have similar membranous bodies is to supply additional membranes to the outer tegument during development into an adult worm. A multilaminated outer membrane is an adaptation to the survival of the schistosomule and adult worm in the bloodstream of the vertebrate host (Hockley amd McLaren [′73]). The presence of membranous bodies from cyton II in the tegument does not confirm that this cell type participates in the formation of multilaminated membranes. Its precise function remains to be determined. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Segmentation of frames in a video sequence using motion and other attributes

Motion-compensated video coders typically segment a scene into arbitrary tiles, resulting in a compressed bitstream which is not physically or semantically related to the scene structure. This paper presents a method for segmenting video frames and coding motion of regions, where the regions are defined in terms of a number of different properties. The goal is a video coder which gives good compression while identifying coherent regions in a manner useful for both human users and automated scene-understanding processes. Both a supervised and an unsupervised clustering algorithm are used to segment an image sequence; both algorithms make use of multiple features including motion, texture, position, and color. By utilizing both the structure and motion information, we preserve the semantic/structural content of the different regions, and simultaneously remove the redundancy (in successive frames) by describing the motion information in each region with a six-parameter affine model. In the supervised clustering algorithm, the first frame is manually segmented and used as training data. The classification of subsequent frames is done automatically, by using a MAP estimate, and modeling the n-dimensional feature-space as jointly Gaussian. The unsupervised algorithm is an iterative process that reassigns the classification of each point to the region corresponding to the nearest mean among each region of the segmentation from the previous iteration. In both algorithms, the distance and/or the mean is an n-dimensional measurement, n being the number of features used.
THE MYTH OF A NATURAL PRAIRIE BELT IN ALABAMA: AN INTERPRETATION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS

(1957). THE MYTH OF A NATURAL PRAIRIE BELT IN ALABAMA: AN INTERPRETATION OF HISTORICAL RECORDS. Annals of the Association of American Geographers: Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 392-411.
Thermal Conductivity of Individual Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes

Despite the significant amount of research on carbon nanotubes, the thermal conductivity of individual single-wall carbon nanotubes has not been well established. To date only a few groups have reported experimental data for these molecules. Existing molecular dynamics simulation results range from several hundred to 6600 W/m K and existing theoretical predictions range from several dozens to 9500 W/m K. To clarify the several-order-of-magnitude discrepancy in the literature, this paper utilizes molecular dynamics simulation to systematically examine the thermal conductivity of several individual (10, 10) single-wall carbon nanotubes as a function of length, temperature, boundary conditions and molecular dynamics simulation methodology. Nanotube lengths ranging from 5 nm to 40 nm are investigated. The results indicate that thermal conductivity increases with nanotube length, varying from about 10 W/m to 375 W/m K depending on the various simulation conditions. Phonon decay times on the order of hundreds of fs are computed. These times increase linearly with length, indicating ballistic transport in the nanotubes. A simple estimate of speed of sound, which does not require involved calculation of dispersion relations, is presented based on the heat current autocorrelation decay. Agreement with the majority of theoretical/computational literature thermal conductivity data is achieved for the nanotube lengths treated here. Discrepancies in thermal conductivity magnitude with experimental data are primarily attributed to length effects, although simulation methodology, stress, and intermolecular potential may also play a role. Quantum correction of the calculated results reveals thermal conductivity temperature dependence in qualitative agreement with experimental data.
Women Engineering Students: Competence Perceptions and Achievement Goals in the Freshman Engineering Course

Research suggests that women engineering students in the United States typically have lower competence perceptions than their male classmates. According to achievement goal theory, low competence perceptions are associated with avoidance achievement goals which involve a preoccupation with avoiding failure rather than a focus on approaching success. The current study was conducted to see if women in a freshmen engineering course would rate their competence lower than their male classmates and if they would be more likely to adopt avoidance achievement goals. Further, would lower competence perceptions (i.e., perceived ability, self-efficacy) and avoidance goals have negative effects on grades and interest in the freshman engineering course? A sample of 117 first-semester engineering students from a U.S. Midwestern University completed surveys several times during the semester. Data were also collected from a sample of 82 first-semester students enrolled in an introductory psychology course for comparison purposes. Women in the freshman engineering course reported lower competence perceptions and higher levels of avoidance achievement goals than did men in the engineering course and than men and women in the psychology course. However, there were no significant gender differences in course grades or interest in the engineering course. Further analyses revealed indirect effects of gender on grades and interest in the engineering course through the competence perceptions. The indirect effects were negative suggesting lower values for women in engineering. The avoidance achievement goals were not influential in the indirect effects. The implications of these finding for the persistence of women in engineering are discussed.