cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Meningoradiculitis and transaminitis from neuroborreliosis: A case of variant Bannwarth syndrome.

Abstract Background Lyme disease is a common vector-borne illness in the U.S. caused by Borrelia species spirochetes. Neuroborreliosis has variable presentations, rarely manifesting as meningoradiculitis or "Bannwarth Syndrome", characterized by painful radiculopathy, neuropathy, varying degrees of motor weakness, peripheral facial nerve palsy and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocytic pleocytosis. We present a case of Bannwarth Syndrome manifesting with transaminitis and significant weight loss. Case presentation A 60-year-old man with history of hypertension presented with 3 weeks of progressive back pain, bilateral arm and leg weakness, bilateral hand numbness and a right facial droop in absence of sphincter dysfunction. He reported an 11.3 kg unintentional weight loss and recent holiday to Egypt. Patient was afebrile with normal vital signs but with profound transaminitis on presentation. Exam revealed a lower motor neuron right facial nerve palsy, diffuse quadriparesis, areflexia but isolated brisk ankle reflexes. A left complete facial palsy developed shortly after admission. Concern for leptomeningeal plus peripheral nerve involvement led to consideration of oncologic, infectious and inflammatory etiologies, along with Guillain-Barre variants. Contrasted MRI of the brain and total spine was normal. CSF revealed lymphocytic pleocytosis (cell count 134), elevated protein (156) with normal glucose, cytology, AFB culture, viral PCRs and paraneoplastic antibodies. Serum and CSF Lyme IgG and IgM were positive. IV Ceftriaxone 2 g daily was started one day after admission. EMG/Nerve conduction studies showed diffuse polyradiculopathy without evidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome. Babesia co-infection was considered given unexplained transaminitis but PCR and quantitation were negative. CSF following 1 week of antibiotics showed improving cell and protein counts with resolving transaminitis. On follow-up at 2 months, facial paralysis, pain, motor and sensory deficits had resolved with return to baseline weight and liver function tests. Conclusions Bannwarth syndrome, a subacute painful meningoradiculitis caused by Borrelia species infection, is an uncommon presentation of neuroborreliosis in the U.S. Our case demonstrates previously unreported features such as profound transaminitis and weight loss without evidence of co-infection. Clinical manifestations of neuroborreliosis are variable, thus it is important to consider Bannwarth syndrome in the differential of meningoradiculitis in areas where Lyme Disease is prevalent.
A new symbiotic lineage related to Neisseria and Snodgrassella arises from the dynamic and diverse microbiomes in sucking lice

Abstract Phylogenetic diversity of symbiotic bacteria in sucking lice suggests that lice have experienced a complex history of symbiont acquisition, loss, and replacement during their evolution. By combining metagenomics and amplicon screening across several populations of two louse genera (Polyplax and Hoplopleura) we describe a novel louse symbiont lineage related to Neisseria and Snodgrassella, and show its’ independent origin within dynamic lice microbiomes. While the genomes of these symbionts are highly similar in both lice genera, their respective distributions and status within lice microbiomes indicate that they have different functions and history. In Hoplopleura acanthopus, the Neisseria-related bacterium is a dominant obligate symbiont universally present across several host’s populations, and seems to be replacing a presumably older and more degenerated obligate symbiont. In contrast, the Polyplax microbiomes are dominated by the obligate symbiont Legionella polyplacis, with the Neisseria-related bacterium co-occurring only in some samples and with much lower abundance.
A novel cross-species model of Barlow's disease to biomechanically analyze repair techniques in an ex vivo left heart simulator

Abstract Objective Barlow's disease remains challenging to repair, given the complex valvular morphology and lack of quantitative data to compare techniques. Although there have been recent strides in ex vivo evaluation of cardiac mechanics, to our knowledge, there is no disease model that accurately simulates the morphology and pathophysiology of Barlow's disease. The purpose of this study was to design such a model. Methods To simulate Barlow's disease, a cross-species ex vivo model was developed. Bovine mitral valves (n = 4) were sewn into a porcine annulus mount to create excess leaflet tissue and elongated chordae. A heart simulator generated physiologic conditions while hemodynamic data, high-speed videography, and chordal force measurements were collected. The regurgitant valves were repaired using nonresectional repair techniques such as neochord placement. Results The model successfully imitated the complexities of Barlow's disease, including redundant, billowing bileaflet tissues with notable regurgitation. After repair, hemodynamic data confirmed reduction of mitral leakage volume (25.9 ± 2.9 vs 2.1 ± 1.8 mL, P Conclusions This study provides insight into the biomechanics of Barlow's disease, including sharply fluctuating force profiles experienced by elongated chordae prerepair, as well as restoration of primary chordae forces postrepair. Our disease model facilitates further in-depth analyses to optimize the repair of Barlow's disease.
Cloud-Based Class Attendance Record System

Traditional class attendance registering is based on the roll-calling of professors, sign-in and other ways with low efficiency. Though face recognition got widely used in recent years at home and abroad, there is no practical application system available for this purpose in Chinese university campuses. The paper presents an automatic class attendance registering system CBCA System based on face detection and recognition on cloud computing, students just need to stand in front of the camera for a few seconds, and sign-in is completed, and sign-in data can be stored in a local or central database. This system greatly helps professors to improve roll-calling efficiency in classes. Moreover, students can be more focused on the teaching contents instead of spending some time on passing sign-in sheets. After a few months’ usage for different classes, we have found that the application is flexible, reliable, and achieves 100% recognition rate in real-time.
Covid-19, accessibility, and libraries: A call to action

As the COVID-19 pandemic manifested, institutions of higher education moved their teaching online, libraries closed, and there was a rapid shift in libraries to more fully support digital learning environments as much as possible. During this pandemic, how are college and university libraries supporting their most vulnerable patrons? Times of crisis are exactly when we should be thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion. Many academic institutions and libraries have recognized that students need wireless hotspots and laptops if they are in situations with limited access to technology, but have we thoroughly considered the needs of patrons with disabilities?
SARS-CoV-2 infection induces protective immunity and limits transmission in Syrian hamsters.

A critical question in understanding the immunity to SARS-COV-2 is whether recovered patients are protected against re-challenge and transmission upon second exposure. We developed a Syrian hamster model in which intranasal inoculation of just 100 TCID50 virus caused viral pneumonia. Aged hamsters developed more severe disease and even succumbed to SARS-CoV-2 infection, representing the first lethal model using genetically unmodified laboratory animals. After initial viral clearance, the hamsters were re-challenged with 105 TCID50 SARS-CoV-2 and displayed more than 4 log reduction in median viral loads in both nasal washes and lungs in comparison to primary infections. Most importantly, re-challenged hamsters were unable to transmit virus to naive hamsters, and this was accompanied by the presence of neutralizing antibodies. Altogether, these results show that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces protective immunity that not only prevents re-exposure but also limits transmission in hamsters. These findings may help guide public health policies and vaccine development and aid evaluation of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
'Spatial Distance' and Preferences for Redistribution in Cities: Localized Risk from the Spatial Externalities of Inequality

The redistributive politics literature examines how income inequality shapes preferences for redistribution. In this article, I show that inequality has reduced explanatory power in predicting preferences as population density increases. I argue that in cities, socioeconomic segregation - "spatial" instead of "social distance" - is a stronger predictor of redistributive preferences. To causally identify segregation, I propose a novel instrument that interacts rural-to-urban migration of the poor with the destination city's "urban form." I find that spatial integration (reduced segregation) causally increases the incidence of the negative spatial externalities of inequality (e.g., crime, contamination), breeding a level of cross-class aversion. While "social distance" models predict that social proximity generates empathy, actual physical proximity to the poor generates aversion. Spatially integrated cities, thus, have reduced support for redistribution. I argue that beyond the risk of income loss featured in insurance models of redistribution, there are more localized forms of risk from spatial spillovers.
Gender Differences in Vocational Rehabilitation Service Predictors of Successful Competitive Employment for Transition-Aged Individuals with Autism.

As males and females with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience different symptomology, their needs for vocational rehabilitation (VR) are unique as they transition into adulthood. This study examined the effects of gender differences in VR service predictors on employment outcomes for transition-aged individuals with ASD. A total of 1696 individuals (857 males and 839 females) were analyzed from a sample of RSA-911 data of FY 2011. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed both gender-independent VR service predictors (with job placement and on-the-job supports more beneficial for both genders) and gender-specific predictors of employment (with counseling and guidance, job search assistance, and other services more beneficial for the male group). This study provides support for individualized gender-specific VR services for people with ASD.
Bacterial adenylyl cyclases.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the enzyme (adenylyl cyclase) that effect the synthesis of Adenosine 3’,5’-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) in various bacterial species. The content will rather reflect current major interests. The adenylyl cyclase from Escherichia coli has been a major subject of research interest ever since it was identified as the probable point for physiological regulation of cAMP levels in that organism and therefore a prime candidate for a protein mediator of the catabolite repression response mechanism. cAMP functions as a cytoplasmic element mediating some reactions crucial for efficient cellular function. An activity that has been found only in eukaryotic cells is the CAMP-dependent protein kinase. This enzyme is a well-known target of the action of cAMP as a second messenger, in which action this ligand transmits a signal generated by an extracellular hormone. The manner in which cAMP acts on the cAMP-dependent protein kinase involves a release of the catalytic moiety of the enzyme from a complex in which its activity is inhibited as a result of binding to a regulatory subunit.
Fast quantitative susceptibility mapping with L1-regularization and automatic parameter selection.

Purpose To enable fast reconstruction of quantitative susceptibility maps with total variation penalty and automatic regularization parameter selection. Methods l1-Regularized susceptibility mapping is accelerated by variable splitting, which allows closed-form evaluation of each iteration of the algorithm by soft thresholding and fast Fourier transforms. This fast algorithm also renders automatic regularization parameter estimation practical. A weighting mask derived from the magnitude signal can be incorporated to allow edge-aware regularization. Results Compared with the nonlinear conjugate gradient (CG) solver, the proposed method is 20 times faster. A complete pipeline including Laplacian phase unwrapping, background phase removal with SHARP filtering, and l1-regularized dipole inversion at 0.6 mm isotropic resolution is completed in 1.2 min using MATLAB on a standard workstation compared with 22 min using the CG solver. This fast reconstruction allows estimation of regularization parameters with the L-curve method in 13 min, which would have taken 4 h with the CG algorithm. The proposed method also permits magnitude-weighted regularization, which prevents smoothing across edges identified on the magnitude signal. This more complicated optimization problem is solved 5 times faster than the nonlinear CG approach. Utility of the proposed method is also demonstrated in functional blood oxygen level–dependent susceptibility mapping, where processing of the massive time series dataset would otherwise be prohibitive with the CG solver. Conclusion Online reconstruction of regularized susceptibility maps may become feasible with the proposed dipole inversion. Magn Reson Med 72:1444–1459, 2014. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Stochastic Optimization of Smooth Loss

In this paper, we first prove a high probability bound rather than an expectation bound for stochastic optimization with smooth loss. Furthermore, the existing analysis requires the knowledge of optimal classifier for tuning the step size in order to achieve the desired bound. However, this information is usually not accessible in advanced. We also propose a strategy to address the limitation.
A low-power circuit architecture for transistor electrical overstress (EOS) protection

As the transistor dimension keeps shrinking following trend predicted by Moore's Law, the voltage that transistor can sustain reliably is also reducing. For certain serial interface protocols (like the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus (USB)) and some legacy input/output interfaces, high voltages like 1.8V, 3.3V and even 5.0V are still being used for protocol compliance. It is costly in silicon fabrication to provide transistors with different gate-oxide thickness to cater for various high voltage and speed requirements. In order to minimize the type of gate oxide thickness in advanced silicon process, circuit innovation is usually required to enable transistor to operate with voltage higher than its reliability limit, yet protected from electrical overstress (EOS). This paper discusses a new circuit architecture that is able to detect voltage source as well as to switch between external source and internal biasing voltage to ensure all transistors operating with high voltage are not exposed to the voltage limit. This circuit is low power in nature since it does not consume static current. By having this protection scheme, this would enable the use of transistor to support high-voltage application without incurring cost of having additional thicker gate-oxide transistor. In terms of application, this architecture can be used in integrated chip design involving various high-voltage supplies.
Lexical Processing during Sentence Comprehension: Effects of Higher Order Constraints and Implications for Representation

Publisher Summary A fundamental problem in language comprehension is to obtain an accurate characterization of lexical processing and of the influence of contextual information upon that processing. This chapter examines evidence concerning the effects of so-called “higher-order” constraints upon the various stages of lexical processing and outlines a model of the representation and processing of lexical material during sentence comprehension. The conclusions that will result from this examination derive from a particular point of view about the general nature of cognitive processing and mental representation. Thus, some preliminary discussion of this view is important. In order to make meaningful (and testable) statements about the nature of representation in language, and to evaluate the relative role of the various representational facts that have been garnered from theoretical linguistics and experimental psycholinguistics, the assumptions about the processes operating on those representations must be detailed. This position is certainly not novel to psycholinguistic inquiry. However, it appears to be overlooked far too often. The meanings of lexical ambiguities can be differentiated rather easily, and thus the selective effects of higher order contextual constraints upon the functional activation of these meanings are relatively available to empirical examination. Further, not only are lexical ambiguities arguably as common as unambiguous words in language use, but nearly all words exhibit some type of indeterminacy in characterizations of their meanings anyway. Thus, ambiguous words provide a useful and well founded vehicle for examining the effects of context upon lexical processing. Given a sufficiently sensitive task, one should be able to determine whether strongly predictive (higher order) contexts constrain the various stages of lexical processing by examining which meanings of the ambiguities are functional in the presence of these contexts.
The role of plasmacytoid dendritic cells in the delay of Th17 production during Bordetella pertussis infection in mice (MPF6P.738)

Whooping cough, caused by Bordetella pertussis (Bp), is a highly contagious respiratory disease. Pertussis toxin (PTX) is largely responsible for extreme leukocytosis and chronic disease. Th17 cells have been implicated in host defense and control of mucosal pathogens, including Bp. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) have been shown to participate in Th17 commitment through secretion of IL-6. However, stimulation of pDCs through Toll-like receptor 7 leads to the secretion of IFN-α, a cytokine documented to inhibit Th17 differentiation. pDCs are activated during lung inflammation in response to pathogens, but their role during Bp infection is understudied. Using murine infection models of Bp and BpΔPTX (Bp strain devoid of PTX), we test the hypothesis that the functions of pDCs can manipulate the rise of Th17 cells during infection. Lung Th17 cells increase significantly in Bp-infected mice only by 10 days post-infection (p.i.), while lung pDCs emerged 2-3 fold at 5 days p.i. During the late rise in Th17 cells, the frequency of pDCs secreting IFN-α drops while those secreting IL-6 increase. In addition, blocking IFN-α production in mice results in an earlier increase in Th17 cells during infection. The recruitment and cytokine secretion of lung pDCs during infection with Bp correlate with the delayed Th17 responses, suggesting a role for pDCs in Th17 differentiation that may account for a longer-lasting disease.
Can You Have Your Cake and Eat It Too? Achieving Capital Gain Treatment While Keeping the Property

Although the Internal Revenue Code clearly requires a "sale or exchange" for capital gain treatment, a surprisingly large body of case law and indeed IRS administrative rulings routinely ignore this requirement in the case of lawsuit recoveries for damage or injury to the taxpayer's property. This article concludes that the failure to apply the "sale or exchange" requirement is inconsistent with the statutory scheme and the prevailing capital gain jurisprudence, and that it constitutes bad policy.
Simple Yet Efficient Improvements of SAT Based Bounded Model Checking

In this paper, we show how proper benchmarking, which matches day-to-day use of formal methods, allows us to assess direct improvements for SAT use for formal methods. Proper uses of our benchmark allowed us to prove that previous results on tuning SAT solver for Bounded Model Checking (BMC) were overly optimistic and that a simpler algorithm was in fact more efficient.
Reading Sartre: The Family Idiot

The almost three thousand pages of The Family Idiot defies adequate summary or paraphrase. I suspect that any such attempt would leave out more of what is important than what it contained. Thus, Hazel Barnes in her comprehensive study, Sartre and Flaubert , has not attempted that task, although she has accomplished a great deal. Still, each book should be a separate enterprise, and I must here attempt to fulfill my own promise of providing a study of the entire work. What shall this be like? The most that I plan to offer my reader is a “taste,” as it were, of the overall structure of Sartre's massive work, whose aim is simply to understand the man Gustave Flaubert and his writings. THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE Let us begin simply with the physical appearance of work. It was published by the French publisher Gallimard as L' Idiot de la Famille: Gustave Flaubert de 1821 a 1857 , appearing in three large volumes, the first two in 1971 and the third in 1972 – revised editions followed in 1988). A projected fourth volume was never completed, and Sartre's notes on this volume – which were to discuss Madame Bovary – appear to be mere suggestions and not at all as complete as Critique 2. In her excellent translation into English, Carol Cosman divided the three volumes into five – volume 1 is the same as the first Gallimard volume; volumes 2, 3, and 4 give her translation of the original second Galllimard volume, and volume 5 is her translation of the third Gallimard volume.
Nutrition and Immune Function: Overview

Malnutrition can have adverse, even devastating effects on the antigen-specific arms of the immune system and on generalized host defensive mechanisms. Protein/energy malnutrition and/or deficiencies of single nutrients that assist in nucleic acid metabolism generally lead to atrophy of lymphoid tissues and dysfunctions of cell-mediated immunity. Deficiencies of single nutrients can impair production of key proteins. Trace element deficiencies are often multifactorial. Essential fatty acid deficiencies can reduce or perturb the synthesis of cytokine-induced eicosanoids. Arginine deficiency can diminish the production of nitric oxide, and deficiencies of antioxidant nutrients can allow increases in the damaging effects of free oxygen radicals. Humoral immunity continues to be maintained, although new primary responses to T-cell-dependent antigens are generally subnormal in both magnitude and quality. Immunological dysfunctions associated with malnutrition have been termed Nutritionally Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (NAIDS). Infants and small children are at great risk because they possess only immature, inexperienced immune systems and very small protein reserves. The combination of NAIDS and common childhood infections is the leading cause of human mortality. NAIDS can generally be corrected by appropriate nutritional rehabilitation, but from a viewpoint highly important to this Workshop, AIDS and NAIDS are intensely synergistic. AIDS-induced malnutrition can lead to the secondary development of NAIDS, with its much broader array of additional immunological dysfunctions. The complex and far reaching insults to the immune system caused by NAIDS, and the synergistic combination of NAIDS and AIDS, thereby hasten the demise of many victims of AIDS. Aggressive nutritional support for children with HIV infections could delay, or lessen, the development of NAIDS and avoidance of NAIDS would improve both quality and length of life.
Comparisons of cane handle designs for use by elders with arthritic hands

In the United States, the population over 65 years old has been increasing rapidly in this century, There are many impairments and chronic diseases associated with aging. Fifty-five percent of elderly persons in the United States have arthritis. Arthritis can affect both upper and lower extremities. Hands impacted by arthritis may have pain, swelling, contractures and deformities. Lower extremities affected by arthritis may cause difficulty in ambulation and balance. One of the most widely used assistive devices for walking is the cane. While canes can support up to 25% of the users' body weight, the user's hand receives much pressure from the cane handle. The design of the cane handle is important for persons with arthritis, the material, size, shape and texture can impact on user comfort. The purpose of this study was to evaluate five cane handles designed specifically for users with arthritic hands and gain an understanding of the factors in the design of cane handles that contribute to user satisfaction for persons with painful arthritis in their hands. Three of the cane handles were developed by the University at Buffalo Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Aging (RERC-Aging). The other two were commercially available, All study participants were selected from the RERC-Aging Consumer Assessment's study sample pool which includes more than 500 participants over 60 years of age with various disabilities and who require assistive devices or home modifications. The present study selected 12 participants with arthritis in their hands who used canes as walking or balance aids at the time of the study. The study participants were asked to use each of the five cane handles and the cane they owned and used, to perform five typical cane tasks. After each trial, a questionnaire with six categories of evaluation criteria was used to gather participants' responses for each cane handle. Results indicate the Ortho-Ease, a commercially available cane handle received the overall highest scores. The aesthetics, functional and physical criteria were identified as predictive factors for user satisfaction of cane handles. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.
Further Normative and Correlational Data on the Internal-External (I-E) Control of Reinforcement Scale:

Rotter's measure of Internal-External control (I-E) was administered to a large group of adult Ss in the course of a smoking control research program. The obtained scores were lower than reported norms for college students. While I-E was unrelated to years of education, there was a small (r = −.14) but significant tendency for older Ss to be more internally oriented. Although I-E was not related to outcome of smoking treatment, relationships with personality and attitudinal variables were generally congruent with theoretical expectations.
Novel ESD protection solution for single-ended mixer in GaAs pHEMT technology

Abstract This paper develops an improved electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection solution built with a novel dual-gate, depletion-mode pHEMT device in the GaAs technology. The successful implementation of this ESD clamp in a single ended passive RF mixer with a Human Body Model (HBM) ESD protection level of over 1.8 kV is also demonstrated. The ESD protected mixer is also shown to maintain its RF integrity with only a minimal degradation in the conversion loss and noise figure.
URBAN DEVELOPMENT UNDER SOCIALISM: THE POLISH EXPERIENCE

Considering cities as reflections of larger economic and social forces, evolution of the urban fabric is determined by change in political and economic structures. This paper examines the influence of socialist ideology upon urban development in Poland since the restructuring of social and production relations that took place 40 years ago. It specifically focuses on explaining reasons for the development of gaps between theoretical tenets and the practical outcomes of Polish spatial policy. lt is argued that spatial conflicts and social dissatisfaction emerged from internal contradictions among economic developmental priorities, policy making, and management systems. Development of urban space was determined not by disregard for urban goals but by inability to implement them.
Optimal stopping of Markov chains and three abstract optimization problems

There is a well-known connection between the three problems related to the optimal stopping of Markov chains and the equality of three corresponding indices: the classical Gittins index (GI) in the ratio maximization problem, the Kathehakis–Veinott index in a restart problem and Whittle index in a family of retirement problems. In Sonin [Statist. Probab. Lett. 78 (12,1) (2008), pp. 1526–1533], these three problems and these three indices were generalized in such a way that it became possible to use the state elimination algorithm [Sonin, Math. Meth of Oper. Res. (1999), pp. 111–123] to calculate this common generalized GI α. The main goal of this note is to demonstrate that the equality of these (generalized) indices is a special case of a more general relation between three simple abstract optimization problems.
Content as Context: The Role of School Subjects in Secondary School Teaching:

In this article we argue that understanding subject-matter differences among high school teachers is crucial for the analysis and reform of secondary schools. An emerging line of research suggests that high school teachers belong to distinctive subject subcultures; these subcultures are characterized by differing beliefs, norms, and practices. We report findings from surveys and interviews with high school teachers that illustrate salient aspects of subject subcultures. Shared beliefs about the possibilities and constraints posed by different school subjects may complicate efforts to restructure high schools or redesign curriculum.
Lipid Content and Water Permeability of Skin and Oral Mucosa

It has been claimed that total lipid content may be the critical factor determining the water permeability of skin. The present study examined this relationship in various oral epithelia and epidermis. Epithelia was heat separated from specimens of porcine skin, gingiva, buccal mucosa, palate, and floor of mouth. Lipids were solvent extracted and separated by thin layer chromatography with appropriate standards. The plates were sprayed with sulfuric acid and charred, and the concentration of lipids was determined by densitometry as mg lipid/gm tissue dry weight. Permeability constants were determined for each tissue by using tritiated water in perfusion chambers. When these values were com- pared over all regions, total lipid did not appear to be related to the permeability of these tissues. However, in the keratinized regions (epidermis, gingiva, and palate) a lower water permeability was related to a greater content of total lipid, nonpolar lipid, ceramide, and glucosylceramide. In non-keratinized tissues, a lower permeability corresponded to in- creased amounts of an unidentified glycosylceramide. The role of lipid in the permeability barrier of these tissues was further demonstrated by extracting specimens of skin and oral mucosa with chloroform/methanol and then determining Kp values; in both tissue regions, there was a significant increase in water permeability. Thus, although lipid is a component of the water permeability barrier in both skin and oral mucosa, different lipid components subserve this function in keratinized and non-keratinized tissues.
Microplasma Electron Number Density Measurement by Resonant Coherent Microwave Scattering

In this paper, current efforts of measuring sodium plasma decay processes in the mixture of sodium and argon by Radar REMPI, coherent microwave scattering from Resonance Enhanced Multi-Photon Ionization are presented. First the method for quantitative and nonintrusive measurement of electron number density in a microplasma by resonant coherent microwave scattering is described. In principle, coherent microwave scattering reaches its maximum when the microwave frequency is at its resonance frequency. Details are discussed for both Rayleigh and Mie scatterings. A minimal detectable electron number density is estimated based on the resonance condition. In experiments, laser-induced microplasma in the mixture of sodium and argon up to 900K is generated by 2+1 REMPI process of sodium, which generates negligible ionization of argon. Microwave measurement of plasma decay processes in the microplasma is conducted. Prediction from a plasma dynamic model matches the experimental results.
What Do Patrons Really Do in Music Libraries? An Ethnographic Approach to Improving Library Services

Traditional approaches to gathering the data necessary to make informed decisions aimed at improving library services begin with librarians identifying issues they think may be in need of investigation. The ethnographic approach, on the other hand, allows the actions of library patrons to identify the issues of importance to their specific patron population. For this to occur, librarians must become participant observers, carefully recording what patrons do and then using the mixed methods approach to verify the findings. In this study, investigators based the methods they employed on the “sweeps” concept—an observation technique gaining popularity in current-day patron observation studies.
Pericardial fat is associated with prevalent atrial fibrillation: the Framingham Heart Study.

Background— Obesity represents an important risk factor for atrial fibrillation (AF). We tested the hypothesis that pericardial fat, a unique fat deposit in close anatomic proximity to cardiac structures and autonomic fibers, is associated with prevalent AF. Methods and Results— Participants from the Framingham Heart Study underwent multidetector computed tomography from 2002 to 2005. We estimated the association between quantitative pericardial, intrathoracic and visceral adipose tissue volumes (per standard deviation of volume) with prevalent AF adjusting for established AF risk factors (age, sex, systolic blood pressure, blood pressure treatment, PR interval, and clinically significant valvular disease). Of the 3217 eligible participants (mean age, 50.6±10.1 years; 48% women), 54 had a confirmed diagnosis of AF. Pericardial fat but not intrathoracic or visceral abdominal fat was associated with prevalent AF in multivariable-adjusted models (odds ratio per standard deviation of pericardial fat volume, 1.28; 95% confidence intervals, 1.03 to 1.58). Further adjustments for body mass index, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and intrathoracic fat volume did not materially change the association between pericardial fat and AF. Conclusions— Pericardial fat was associated with prevalent AF even after adjustment for AF risk factors, including body mass index. If this association is replicated, further investigations into the mechanisms linking pericardial fat to AF are merited.
Ki-67 immunostaining in node-negative stage I/II breast carcinoma. Significant correlation with prognosis

Prognostic predictors for node-negative breast carcinoma have not been clearly established. Immunostaining with Ki-67 antibody was performed on frozen sections of histologically proved node-negative breast carcinomas from 42 patients to examine its prognostic value and its association with other clinicopathologic and biochemical parameters, i.e., patient age and tumor size, histologic type, nuclear grade, mitotic rate, presence of vascular or lymphatic invasion, DNA ploidy, percentage of cells in S-phase, estrogen content, and c-erbB-2 amplification. Thirty-seven of the 42 tumors showed immunoreactivity with Ki-67 antibody in 1% to 55% of the tumor cells. A strongly significant correlation was observed between Ki-67 staining percentage and, respectively, nuclear grade, age, and mitotic rate. Nuclear grade 1 (the most anaplastic) tumors showed a significantly higher median percentage of cells stained (median, 14; range, 3 to 40) compared with nuclear grade 3 tumors (median, 0.5; range, 0 to 8). Thirteen patients developed recurrence; six of them died of disease. On univariate analysis, both 5-year disease-free and overall survivals were strongly associated with percentage of cells stained with Ki-67 antibody. Our results suggest that Ki-67 immunostaining correlates well with nuclear grade and clinical outcome in node-negative breast carcinoma. Because of small sample size analyzed in this study we were unable to do multivariate analysis. Therefore, further studies with larger number of cases are needed to determine whether tumor proliferative activity determined by Ki-67 immunostaining is an independent prognostic parameter or it merely reflects histopathologic features such as nuclear grade or mitotic activity.
Effect of temperature and yeast extract on microbial respiration of sediments from a shallow coastal subsurface and vadose zone.

As a part of our study on microbial heterogeneity in subsurface environments, we have examined the microbial respiration of sediment samples obtained from a coastal site near Oyster, VA. The sediments at the site are unconsolidated, fine to coarse beach sand and gravel. A Columbus Instruments Micro-Oxymax Respirometer was used to measure the rate of carbon dioxide (CO2) production during the respiration of the sediment samples. The rate of respiration of the sediment samples ranged from 0.035-0.6 µL CO2/h/g of the sediment. The sediment samples showing maximum (0.6 µL CO2/h/g) and minimum (0.035 µL CO2/h/g) production of CO2were selected to study the effect of micronutrientyeast extract (0.5 and 1.0 p.g/g of the sediment) and water (0.5 and 1.0 mL) on the rate of CO2production. The rate of CO2production increased with the addition of water, but increased approx 2 orders of magnitude (from 0.26 to an average of 23.5µL CO2/h/ g) when 1.0 g/g yeast extract was added to the sediment samples. In these coastal sediments, temperature, depth, and addition of water influenced microbial activity, but the addition of 1.0.µg/g yeast extract as a micronutrient rapidly increased the rate of CO2production 2 orders of magnitude.
Microcystin-induced activation of prostaglandin synthesis and phospholipid metabolism in rat hepatocytes.

The effects of microcystin-LR, a trichothecene, T-2 and saxitoxin on membrane lipid mediators of inflammatory processes were evaluated in cultured rat hepatocytes using [14C]arachidonic acid. Microcystin-LR significantly stimulated the release of prostacyclin, measured as 6-keto PGF1α, by 38%, and thromboxane B2 by 50%, in a concentration-dependent manner. The trichothecene toxin T-2 enhanced the release of prostaglandin F2α by 24% and arachidonic acid by 29%; while saxitoxin did not affect the release prostaglandins or arachidonic acid. Incorporation of arachidonic acid into the lipid pool was reduced by 47% by 1 μm microcystin-LR. Changes in the distribution of radioactivity derived from [14C]arachidonic acid within phospholipid classes indicated that prostaglandin formation induced by microcystin-LR was also due to the release of arachidonic acid from the phosphatidylinositol pool. No statistically significant effect of toxin was observed on the contribution of [14C]arachidonic acid release by other classes of phospholipids or neutral lipids. These effects may be important in the mechanism of microcystin-LR-induced toxicity in the liver.
Prototypical Near-Infrared Projection System: A Potential Training System For Image Intensifier Devices

A prototype near-IR projection system (Patent Pending) was developed by the U.S. Army Research Institute Aviation R&D Activity and the U.S. Army Center for Night Vision and Electro-Optics. The system uses a near-IR cathode ray tube, projection lens, and an optical cut-off filter to project daytime video in the 830-1000nm range of the electromagnetic spectrum, observable only with image intensifier devices. Research is being conducted to determine the system's effectiveness as a supplemental Night Vision Goggle training aid.
A Small Molecule Binding to the Coactivator CREB-Binding Protein Blocks Apoptosis in Cardiomyocytes

As a master transcription factor in cellular responses to external stress, tumor suppressor p53 is tightly regulated. Excessive p53 activity during myocardial ischemia causes irreversible cellular injury and cardiomyocyte death. p53 activation is dependent on lysine acetylation by the lysine acetyltransferase and transcriptional coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) and on acetylation-directed CBP recruitment for p53 target gene expression. Here, we report a small molecule ischemin, developed with a structure-guided approach to inhibit the acetyl-lysine binding activity of the bromodomain of CBP. We show that ischemin alters post-translational modifications on p53 and histones, inhibits p53 interaction with CBP and transcriptional activity in cells, and prevents apoptosis in ischemic cardiomyocytes. Our study suggests small molecule modulation of acetylation-mediated interactions in gene transcription as a new approach to therapeutic interventions of human disorders such as myocardial ischemia.
The solvent extraction of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) with benzil mono(2-quinolyl)hydrazone

Abstract Benzil mono(2-quinolyl)hydrazone, BmQH, has been studied as an extracting agent for Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II). Though the uncomplexed ligand remains undissociated in the pH range 3.5–10, it can lose a proton on complexation with metals, owing to the electron-withdrawing effects of neighbouring groups. The dependence of degree of extraction on pH indicates that complexes of both Cu 2+ and Cu(OH) + are extracted. Cu(BmQH) 2 and Cu(OH)BmQH species are extracted into MIBK, and the Cu(OH)BmQH complex is extracted into benzene. In the vicinity of pH 5.5–6, extraction efficiencies greater than 95% can be achieved with both solvents. Both Ni(II) and Co(II) also show dependence of extraction on pH, but precipitation of both metals in the vicinity of pH 6 limits further studies.
Oligonucleotide duplexes containing CC(A/T)GG stimulate cleavage of refractory DNA by restriction endonuclease EcoRII.

Some DNA species are resistant towards the restriction endonuclease EcoRII despite the presence of unmodified recognition sites. We show that 14 base-pair oligonucleotide duplexes containing the EcoRII recognition site 5′-CC(A/T)GG are cleaved by this enzyme and are able to stimulate EcoRII cleavage of such resistant DNA molecules (e.g. DNA of bacterial virus T3). A direct correlation between the concentration of oligonucleotide duplex molecules and the degree of EcoRII digestion of the primarily resistant DNA is observed. This indicates a stoichiometric rather than a catalytic mode of enzyme activation. An excess of DNA devoid of EcoRII sites (‘non-site’ DNA, e.g. MvaI-digested T7 DNA) does not interfere with the activity of EcoRII.
Survival and Heat Resistance of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Peanut Butter

Significant differences (P < 0.05) were found between the survival rates of Salmonella enterica and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in peanut butter with different formulations and water activity. High carbohydrate content in peanut butter and low incubation temperature resulted in higher levels of bacterial survival during storage but lower levels of bacterial resistance to heat treatment.
Polarizabilities of Nitrogen Heterocyclic Molecules from Atom Monopole−Dipole Interaction Theory

The atom monopole−dipole interaction (AMDI) model has been previously used to treat aromatic hydrocarbons with success. This model is used here to obtain the atom parameters of nitrogen and neighbo...
Fast inverse kinematics of five-revolute-axis robot manipulators

Abstract Based on the kinematic properties of 4-DOF arms presented in a companion paper, we show that all 5-DOF robot manipulators can be solved by use of a simple 1-D iterative technique or simply in closed-form. The 1-D technique is computationally fast and suitable for real-time control of robot manipulators. We are also able to establish a number of sufficient structural conditions that allow closed-form solutions for most 5-revolute-DOF robot manipulators.
Penetration of coliforms through municipal drinking water filters

Abstract The penetration of coliform bacteria through municipal drinking water filters was studied under normal operating conditions of water treatment plants. Samples of filtered water were taken during the 5 h immediately following the backwash cycle and analyzed for turbidity and coliform bacteria. Coliforms were enumerated using both m-Endo and m-T7 media to evaluate coliform passage and injury. Elevated turbidity and intermittent peaks of coliforms (as high as 60/100 ml) were observed during the post backwash period. Highest numbers of coliforms were observed during the flow through time for the interface of the backwash remnants and the influent water after backwash. In addition, most of the coliforms passing through the filters during this period were injured because they failed to grow on m-Endo but were enumerated on m-T7 medium. These results indicate that the post backwash period can be characterized by comparatively higher levels of turbidity as well as coliforms that cannot be detected using accepted enumeration methods. Furthermore, such undetected bacteria may seed the distribution system. Therefore, improved bacteriological surveillance for injured coliforms in filter effluents could guide the establishment and design of filter-to-waste periods. This would reduce the incidence of coliforms in some municipal potable water systems.
How children with special health care needs affect the employment decisions of low-income parents.

Objectives: To better understand the impact of having a child with special health care needs (CSHCN), on low-income parents' employment decisions. Methods: Using data from the 1999 and 2000 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), we estimate multivariate statistical regressions (logit and tobit models) to estimate the relationship between having a CSHCN and the likelihood of employment and hours of employment for a sample-of low-income single parents. Results: Controlling for differences in demographic and family characteristics, we find no significant association between having a CSHCN and the probability of work or the number of hours worked among low-income single-parent families. Separate analysis of different dimensions of special health care needs shows that parents of children with activity limitations are significantly less likely to work and work fewer hours. This result does not hold true for the group of children defined based on elevated or special service use, or for the group of children with specific chronic conditions. Conclusions: These results indicate that only a specific subset of children with special needs present difficulties for low-income parents' work. This suggests that policies to help low-income single parents of children with disabilities move into work should target this specific subset of children with special health care needs.
A Continuous-flow Gas Sampling System for Engines

Abstract This paper describes the design and operation of a sampling valve suitable for time resolved sampling of gases from the cylinder of an operating engine. A continuous flow of cylinder gas passes through the valve orifice. The valve diverts a small portion of this flow to a sample collection volume upon demand. The flow diversion is accomplished by action of an internal rotating sampling tube mechanism. The sampling period is 1 msec or less. The sampling system has been operated successfully in a fired Diesel engine for insertion depths of up to one-quarter inch.