cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sequence and localization of the mouse sperm autoantigenic protein, Sp17.

The present study characterizes the sperm protein Sp17 in the mouse. Sp17 is a mammalian testis- and sperm-specific protein that has been isolated, sequenced, and characterized from rabbit testis and spermatozoa. In this study, a rabbit Sp17 cDNA probe representing the entire protein coding region was used to screen a mouse testis cDNA library to obtain the mouse Sp17 sequence. The mouse mRNA for Sp17 encodes a 149-amino acid protein with a predicted molecular weight of 17 296. The mouse Sp17 (MSp17) cDNA sequence is 82% identical to the rabbit Sp17 cDNA sequence while the MSp17 protein sequence is 74% identical to the rabbit protein sequence. The presence of native Sp17 in mouse spermatozoa and testis was demonstrated by Western blot analysis, immunoprecipitation, and immunolocalization. After SDS-PAGE, the native Sp17 has an apparent molecular mass of 24 kDa. The sequence of the native Sp17 was confirmed by Western blots of mouse testis and spermatozoa probed with two anti-peptide antibodies-one, anti-G22C, made against amino acids 6182 in the rabbit sequence (61-83 in the mouse), and a second, anti-K18C, made against amino acids 120-136 in the C-terminal region in the human sequence (118-134 in the mouse sequence). In the absence of proteolytic inhibitors, part of the C-terminal of native MSp17 is cleaved, giving rise to an 18-kDa band. Sp17 is present in spermatocytes and spermatids in the testis. In spermatozoa, Sp17 is not available to bind antibody on the surface of live, acrosome-intact spermatozoa, but it is present on the equatorial surface of live, acrosome-reacted spermatozoa. In fixed spermatozoa, staining is observed along the length of the principal piece, weakly along the midpiece, and over the acrosomal region of the head. When the acrosome reaction begins, acrosomal staining is seen throughout the equatorial region of the acrosome. Using mimotope analysis, this study has also demonstrated that native Sp1 7 is a sperm autoantigen and that recombinant mouse Sp17 is immunogenic in males with a highly restricted linear epitope.
Strain Capacity of X70 Pipeline Steel Subjected to Biaxial Loading Condition

In this work the tensile capacity of circumferentially pressurized cracked pipes with varying crack parameters and pipe dimensions are numerically investigated. The biaxial loading mode includes internal pressure and tensile load, which are applied in sequence. The present physics-inspired fracture model based upon the original Mohr-Coulomb criterion enables not only the computation of global fracture response of pipe subjected to complex loading condition but also a thorough determination of the local evolving stress state around the growing cracks.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Investible Benchmarks for Actively Managed Mutual Funds

I use exchange traded funds to construct low cost benchmarks for actively managed mutual funds. The benchmarks can be identified in advance, require no leverage or shorting, and require only annual rebalancing. The average fund underperforms its benchmark by 1% per year after expenses, a difference in performance equivalent to a $25 billion per year opportunity cost for investors selecting active management. The fees charged by actively managed funds are the primary reason they underperform. Active management comes at a significant cost, but without any offsetting benefit.
Practical considerations of genetic rodent models for neurodegenerative diseases

In recent years, the rapid advances in human genetics have identified many genes that are responsible for inherited diseases. In the effort to understand pathogenic pathways and develop therapeutics, researchers have developed genetic animal models as critical tools for the purpose of neurodegenerative disease study. In this overview chapter, we do not intend to cover all the transgenic models for particular diseases, their phenotypical analyses, and their specific usage in this research field. Instead, we outline methods of genetic manipulation and their usage in disease modeling, explain the underlying principles of these methods, and compare the advantages and pitfalls to these different transgenic methods.
Comparison of Lateral Closing-Wedge Versus Medial Opening-Wedge High Tibial Osteotomy on Knee Joint Alignment and Kinematics in the ACL-Deficient Knee.

Background:Lateral closing-wedge (LCW) and medial opening-wedge (MOW) high tibial osteotomies (HTOs) correct varus knee alignment and stabilize the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)–deficient knee. Tibiofemoral and patellofemoral alignment and kinematics after HTO are not well quantified.Purpose:To compare the effect of LCW and MOW HTO on tibiofemoral and patellofemoral alignment in the ACL-deficient knee.Study Design:Controlled laboratory study.Methods:Anterior drawer, Lachman, and pivot-shift tests were performed on cadaveric specimens (N = 16), and anterior tibial translation and tibial rotation were measured for the native and ACL-sectioned knee. The right and left knee of each cadaveric specimen underwent an LCW and MOW HTO, respectively, and stability testing was repeated. All cadavers underwent pre- and postosteotomy computerized tomography with 3-dimensional computer modeling to determine the effect of HTO on posterior tibial slope, as well as tibial and patellofemoral axial plane alignment (tibial...
If you build it, will they come? Getting consumers on board with the future of the smart grid

Inside a smart home, smart appliances operate automatically. Outside, a smart meter receives and transmits information to the utility. In an instant, the smart grid optimizes the use of distributed resources to ensure that an uninterrupted supply of power is delivered to the home. This is the vision that energy technology experts have held of the smart grid, but there is one key piece of this picture missing -people. However, the goals of the smart grid can only be achieved with the cooperation of the consumer. Moreover, one of the defining characteristics of the smart grid is that it enables informed participation by customers. Thus, the consumer is integral to the success of the future of the smart grid. This chapter provides a roadmap for interdisciplinary collaboration between technology experts and social scientists, and provides concrete suggestions for getting consumers on board with the future of the smart grid.
156 OVIDUCTAL FLUID SUPPLEMENTATION DURING MATURATION AND FERTILIZATION IMPROVES IN VITRO EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT IN PIGS

Oviducal fluid has a major role in the maturation of gametes and the process of fertilization. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of oviducal fluid supplementation in vitro, during oocyte maturation and IVF on fertilization characteristics and early embryonic development rates. Oocytes from aspired aspirated mature follicles (3–6 mm diameter) were obtained from a local abattoir. During the last 24 h of maturation, oocytes (n = 1303) were placed into maturation media supplemented either 1% (vol/vol) or 5% (vol/vol) thawed snap-frozen oviducal fluid. Fertilization was performed using pooled frozen-thawed semen from 3 different boars. During IVF, the fertilization medium was supplemented with 1% (vol/vol) or 5% (vol/vol) oviducal fluid. Fertilization characteristics were evaluated 12 h after IVF and rates of embryonic cleavage and blastocyst development were observed at 48 and 144 h after IVF, respectively. Data were analysed using ANOVA with the main effects including treatment, well, and replicate. Chi-square analysis was used to determine percentages of embryos reaching the different developmental stages for each treatment. There were no significant differences in the percentages of oocytes that reached metaphase II by the end of maturation or in sperm penetration rates after IVF. However, oocytes treated with 1% (vol/vol) oviducal fluid during the end of maturation and IVF (33.33 ± 2.61) and 5% (vol/vol) oviducal fluid during maturation (33.33 ± 2.66) or IVF (39.53 ± 3.78) had significantly less (P < 0.05) incidence of polyspermic penetrations and a significantly higher (P < 0.05) incidence of male pronuclear formation (87.50 ± 4.01; 86.67 ± 4.83; 86.05 ± 3.19, respectively) compared with no oviducal fluid supplementation. Oocytes supplemented with 5% (vol/vol) oviducal fluid during maturation and IVF had significantly lower (P < 0.05) incidences of polyspermic penetration (27.91 ± 2.50) and significantly higher (P < 0.05) percentages of embryos reaching the 2-cell stage (81.76 ± 3.72) and blastocyst stage of development (37.74 ± 1.09) by 48 and 144 h, respectively, compared with all other groups. The results of this study suggest that supplementing 5% (vol/vol) oviducal fluid during maturation and IVF improves the success rates of in vitro embryo development in pigs.
Intraoperative Decision-Making Process in Complex Surgery

The intraoperative decision-making process is complex, and despite its importance, it has not been elucidated. Some atribute these decisions as “intuition” or “gut-level” responses. However, often we surgeons may have difficulties describing how we made decisions even when that decision was the most correct one. Clearly, there are many factors that affect decision-making of surgeons before and during operations. These include surgeon’s education, clinical experience, leadership ability, mental state, physiology, and creativity, as well as objective data from the patient’s physiology and anatomy.
Infections of the Nervous System.

Abstract Microorganisms can affect the entire neuraxis, producing a variety of neurologic complications that frequently entail prolonged hospitalizations and complicated treatment regimens. The spread of pathogens to new regions and the reemergence of opportunistic organisms in immunocompromised patients pose increasing challenges to health care professionals. Because rapid diagnosis and treatment may prevent long-term neurologic sequelae, providers should approach these diseases with a structured, neuroanatomic framework, incorporating a thorough history, examination, laboratory analysis, and neuroimaging in their clinical reasoning and decision-making.
Application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics to Basic Industrial Processes

The aim of the present study was to perform the analysis of selected industrial processes principally with respect to the second law of thermodynamics. These processes have been choosen among the largest energy consuming industrial branches; moreover, they are representative of a major energy saving type of problem. Process performance has been appraised according to its “exergy” efficiency and to its total exergy losses. Irreversibilities have been determined in the various process sections. The incentive for process improvements has thus been defined for the sections which show up high exergy losses. The method is a powerful tool which provides guidance for developping an energy saving RD it should be used in conjunction with automatic process evaluation methods which globally determine the economic trend for process improvements. It is well suited for the definition of the best heat integration scheme which will allow the efficient use of potential work. However, even if the best heat integration scheme for the whole industry could be established, some heat would still be rejected at temperatures close to ambient. This heat has almost no exergy value and should be used, if possible, for pure low temperature thermal applications. A need for R&D is also required in this latter field.
Controlled Exciton Transport via a Conveyer

This chapter presents an excitonic conveyer—a moving lattice created by a set of seven independently controlled electrodes controlled by AC voltages to create a moving sine wave potential. The excitonic conveyer realizes controlled transport of excitons as charged coupled devices (CCD) realize controlled transport of electrons.
Comments on Ackermann’s ‘Problems’

Professor Ackermann’s paper touches on so many complex issues that it would be impossible to do justice to them all in the space allotted for these comments. For this reason, I shall direct my comments to what I consider to be the core of his paper: his definitions of ‘inductive argument’ and ‘inductively valid argument’.
Chronic low-intensity exercise attenuates cardiomyocyte contractile dysfunction and impaired adrenergic responsiveness in aortic-banded mini-swine

Conventional treatments have failed to improve the prognosis of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients. Our findings show chronic low-intensity exercise training can preven...
Mining Domain Similarity to Enhance Digital Indexing

Indexing research articles in scientific publications can be arduous. The authors tag their articles by the topics or domains relevant to their research. A publication's organizers may tag them by the broad topics of the specific publication. A third-party may index or tag these articles based on their subject knowledge. Hence indexing of articles can be uneven due to inconsistencies in area knowledge by third-parties or the niche topic representation by the authors. Publications may have schemes in place for indexing or tagging the articles but such schemes cannot keep up with the continuously changing landscape of research. These schemes may need to be updated with newer topics or domains being churned out by the state of the art research. Our technique endeavors to address this problem. We present a methodology to find similarity among domains extracted from the content of research papers, and cluster related domains. Analysis of these clusters provides insights into how the existing indexing schemes may be enhanced by adding newer domains.
Perses: syntax-guided program reduction

Given a program P that exhibits a certain property Ψ (e.g., a C program that crashes GCC when it is being compiled), the goal of program reduction is to minimize P to a smaller variant P′ that still exhibits the same property, i.e., Ψ(P′). Program reduction is important and widely demanded for testing and debugging. For example, all compiler/interpreter development projects need effective program reduction to minimize failure-inducing test programs to ease debugging. However, state-of-the-art program reduction techniques --- notably Delta Debugging (DD), Hierarchical Delta Debugging (HDD), and C-Reduce --- do not perform well in terms of speed (reduction time) and quality (size of reduced programs), or are highly customized for certain languages and thus lack generality. This paper presents Perses, a novel framework for effective, efficient, and general program reduction. The key insight is to exploit, in a general manner, the formal syntax of the programs under reduction and ensure that each reduction step considers only smaller, syntactically valid variants to avoid futile efforts on syntactically invalid variants. Our framework supports not only deletion (as for DD and HDD), but also general, effective program transformations. We have designed and implemented Perses, and evaluated it for two language settings: C and Java. Our evaluation results on 20 C programs triggering bugs in GCC and Clang demonstrate Perses's strong practicality compared to the state-of-the-art: (1) smaller size --- Perses's results are respectively 2% and 45% in size of those from DD and HDD; and (2) shorter reduction time --- Perses takes 23% and 47% time taken by DD and HDD respectively. Even when compared to the highly customized and optimized C-Reduce for C/C++, Perses takes only 38-60% reduction time.
Identification of Acoustic Emission Sources by Pattern Recognition Techniques

Computer pattern recognition has been used to identify and separate acoustic emission (AE) signals that are similar in appearance but are due to different sources. Simulated joint specimens were tested in the laboratory in which a fatigue crack was grown from the edge of a central loading pin hole. The hardened steel loading pin produced fretting AE by its contact with the 7075 T651 aluminum plate specimens during cyclic loading. The fatigue crack produced AE due to crack growth and to crack face rubbing during load cycling. The AE signals detected at two transducers mounted on opposite sides of the loading pin hole, at 2 in. and 4 in. from the fatigue crack, were digitally recorded at a 5 MHz digitization rate. The waveform features that were extracted from these AE signals and used in the pattern recognition were derived from the frequency spectral content of the waveforms. Better than 90% separation of crack growth from crack face rubbing was achieved using frequency features of the waveforms from either transducer separately. Better than 95% separation of fretting from crack growth or crack face rubbing, separately or combined, was achieved using the ratios of the spectral energies detected at the two transducers.
Artificial Crack in Steel: An Ultrasonic-Resonance-Spectroscopy and Modeling Study

The problem of detecting and characterizing cracks in solids is a major research area involving contributions from mathematics, physics, mechanics, and materials science.
Expertise and the fragmentation of intellectual autonomy

In The Great Endarkenment, Elijah Millgram argues that the hyper-specialization of expert domains has led to an intellectual crisis. Each field of human knowledge has its own specialized jargon, knowledge, and form of reasoning, and each is mutually incomprehensible to the next. Furthermore, says Millgram, modern scientific practical arguments are draped across many fields. Thus, there is no person in a position to assess the success of such a practical argument for themselves. This arrangement virtually guarantees that mistakes will accrue whenever we engage in cross-field practical reasoning. Furthermore, Millgram argues, hyper-specialization makes intellectual autonomy extremely difficult. Our only hope is to provide better translations between the fields, in order to achieve intellectual transparency. I argue against Millgram’s pessimistic conclusion about intellectual autonomy, and against his suggested solution of translation. Instead, I take his analysis to reveal that there are actually several very distinct forms intellectual autonomy that are significantly in tension. One familiar kind is direct autonomy, where we seek to understand arguments and reasons for ourselves. Another kind is delegational autonomy, where we seek to find others to invest with our intellectual trust when we cannot understand. A third is management autonomy, where we seek to encapsulate fields, in order to manage their overall structure and connectivity. Intellectual transparency will help us achieve direct autonomy, but many intellectual circumstances require that we exercise delegational and management autonomy. However, these latter forms of autonomy require us to give up on transparency.
Modeling of the tumor microenvironment to highlight nonlinear interactions between chemotherapeutic response and macrophage polarization state.

e24120Background: The influence of tumor microenvironment characteristics on cancer progression and efficacy of chemotherapy has been the focus of intensive research. In particular, macrophages are...
Long-Term Administration of Angiotensin (1–7) to db/db Mice Reduces Oxidative Stress Damage in the Kidneys and Prevents Renal Dysfunction

Aims. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of long-term (16 weeks) administration of angiotensin (1–7) [A(1–7)] on kidney function in db/db mice and to identify the protective mechanisms of this therapy. Methods. db/db mice and heterozygous controls were treated with A(1–7) or vehicle daily, subcutaneously for up to 16 weeks. Kidney injury was assessed by measuring blood flow in renal arteries, plasma creatinine levels, and proteinuria. Effects of treatment on oxidative stress were evaluated by histological staining and gene expression. Results. 16 weeks of daily administration of A(1–7) to a mouse model of severe type 2 diabetes (db/db) prevented the progression of kidney damage. Treatment with A(1–7) improved blood flow in the renal arteries, as well as decreased plasma creatinine levels and proteinuria in diabetic mice. Reduction of oxidative stress was identified as one of the mechanisms of the renoprotective action of A(1–7). Treatment prevented formation of nitrotyrosine residues, a marker of oxidative stress damage. A(1–7) also reduced the expression of two enzymes involved in formation of nitrotyrosine, namely, eNOS and NOX-4. A(1–7) regulated the phosphorylation pattern of eNOS to enhance production of NO in diabetic animals, possibly through the Akt pathway. However, these elevated levels of NO did not result in increased nitrosylation, possibly due to reduced NOX-4 levels. Conclusions. Long-term administration of A(1–7) improved kidney function and reduced oxidative stress damage in db/db mice.
Henry Peach Robinson’s “Fading Away”: a learning resource for narrative of illness

"Fading Away", the combination photograph by Henry Peach Robinson, has been critically reviewed by many authors in the past. This article attempts to interpret it using an imaginative process. The objective is to examine how Fading Away can be used as a learning resource for a 'Narrative of illness' session in a medical humanities class in undergraduate medical education. The authors demonstrate that the combination photograph could be used to explain how the coping concept is different for a dying patient. Depressive cognition, or in other words - coping in isolation - could lead to a strategy of visual rumination that can influence the dying patient to adopt a self-reflective style in dealing with death. It could be argued that this reasoning neatly corresponds with Kubler-Ross's well-known model of the five stages of grief that most patients go through upon facing death - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It explains how dying patients can adopt a strategy and style of temporal travel of mind to relive the past and "prelive" the future that they will never get to see.
Mathematical Functions and Techniques

This chapter summarizes many of the mathematical functions and techniques required to analyze relaxation phenomena quantitatively. Elementary mathematical results are given in Appendix B, and additional specialized results are presented in Chaps. 2, 3 and 5. Elementary statistics is briefly summarized in Chap. 4.
Refining and expanding nonribosomal peptide synthetase function and mechanism

Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are involved in the biosynthesis of numerous peptide and peptide-like natural products that have been exploited in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology, among other fields. As a consequence, there have been considerable efforts aimed at understanding how NRPSs orchestrate the assembly of these natural products. This review highlights several recent examples that continue to expand upon the fundamental knowledge of NRPS mechanism and includes (1) the discovery of new NRPS substrates and the mechanism by which these sometimes structurally complex substrates are made, (2) the characterization of new NRPS activities and domains that function during the process of peptide assembly, and (3) the various catalytic strategies that are utilized to release the NRPS product. These findings continue to strengthen the predictive power for connecting genes to products, thereby facilitating natural product discovery and development in the Genomics Era.
Teaching Sustainability in Fashion Design Courses Through a Zero-Waste Design Project:

With the increased importance of learning about sustainability in fashion design curriculum, this article reports the teaching zero-waste design in existing fashion design courses that teach skills...
Harnessing regulatory T cell neuroprotective activities for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

Emerging evidence demonstrates that adaptive immunity influences the pathobiology of neurodegenerative disorders. Misfolded aggregated self-proteins can break immune tolerance leading to the induction of autoreactive effector T cells (Teffs) with associated decreases in anti-inflammatory neuroprotective regulatory T cells (Tregs). An imbalance between Teffs and Tregs leads to microglial activation, inflammation and neuronal injury. The cascade of such a disordered immunity includes the drainage of the aggregated protein antigens into cervical lymph nodes serving to amplify effector immune responses. Both preclinical and clinical studies demonstrate transformation of this altered immunity for therapeutic gain. We posit that the signs and symptoms of common neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and stroke can be attenuated by boosting Treg activities.
Lessons from the Lunar Module Program: The Director's Conclusions

Abstract Half a century after the first piloted lunar landing, it is time to consider the program, lessons, and legacy of the lander that made it possible. This article does so from the perspective of Joseph Gavin, Jr., who led Apollo's Lunar Module (LM) Program from its unofficial origins as a controversial dream at Grumman in 1960, to its official inception by NASA in 1962, to its successful conclusion in 1972. He directed as many as 7500 employees in developing the LM and ultimately building twelve operational vehicles. All met mission requirements, and those that actually made a lunar landing worked every time. Developing the state-of-the-art machine required unprecedented innovations and maximization of reliability amid inherently unknown and untestable conditions. When congratulated on the success of each landing, Gavin typically replied that he would not be satisfied until his spacecraft and its crew got off the moon and arrived home safely. This process required three procedures in unison (firing of explosive bolts, severing by guillotine of wires and other connections between the descent and ascent stages, and firing of the ascent engine). Each function could be tested on Earth individually, but not under lunar conditions at systems level. Gavin drew lessons from his Grumman Corporation team and its subcontractors' experience that the author distills into eight principles: (1) Above all, return astronauts safely to Earth; accordingly: (2) create conditions for success, (3) attain reliability, (4) prioritize innovation over schedule over cost, (5) don't complicate things unnecessarily; (6) remove hierarchical barriers; (7) empower individuals, and (8) share information. Serving in top management subsequently returned Gavin to the naval aircraft development that remained Grumman's specialty. He applied the best practices learned from LM development, particularly improving initial construction to reduce the need for tests (per principle three). Drawing on extensive interviews with Gavin and thorough examination of his personal materials, this article explores his lessons and explains how he envisioned and applied them in practice as an aerospace project engineer leading one of history's greatest engineering achievements.
Platinum–Nickel Nanowires with Improved Hydrogen Evolution Performance in Anion Exchange Membrane-Based Electrolysis

Platinum–nickel (Pt–Ni) nanowires were developed as hydrogen evolving catalysts for anion exchange membrane electrolyzers. Following synthesis by galvanic displacement, the nanowires had Pt surface...
Herbicide Protection Pods (HPPs) Facilitate Sagebrush and Bunchgrass Establishment under Imazapic Control of Exotic Annual Grasses

Abstract Revegetation of exotic annual grass−invaded rangelands is a primary objective of land managers following wildfires. Controlling invasive annual grasses is essential to increasing revegetation success; however, preemergent herbicides used to control annual grasses prohibit immediate seeding due to nontarget herbicide damage. Thus, seeding is often delayed 1 yr following herbicide application. This delay frequently allows for reinvasion of annual grasses, decreasing the success of revegetation efforts. Incorporating seeds into herbicide protection pods (HPPs) containing activated carbon (AC) permits concurrent high preemergent herbicide application and seeding because AC adsorbs and renders herbicides inactive. While HPPs have, largely in greenhouse studies, facilitated perennial bunchgrass emergence and early growth, their effectiveness in improving establishment of multiple species and functional groups in the field has not been assessed. Five bunchgrass species and two shrub species were seeded at two field sites with high imazapic application rates as bare seed and seed incorporated into HPPs. HPPs significantly improved establishment of sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata Nutt. Spp. wyomingensis Beetle & Young) and crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.) over the 2-yr study. Three native perennial grass species were protected from herbicide damage by HPPs but had low establishment in both treatments. The two remaining shrub and grass species did not establish sufficiently to determine treatment effects. While establishment of native perennial bunchgrasses was low, this study demonstrates that HPPs can be used to protect seeded bunchgrasses and sagebrush from imazapic, prolonging establishment time in the absence of competition with annual grasses.
Time-varying effects of 'optimized smoking treatment' on craving, negative affect and anhedonia.

AIMS To identify when smoking cessation treatments affect craving, negative affect and anhedonia, and how these symptoms relate to abstinence, to help evaluate the effects of particular intervention components in multi-component treatments and accelerate treatment refinement. DESIGN Secondary analysis of data from a two-arm randomized controlled trial. SETTING Seven primary care clinics in Wisconsin, United States. PARTICIPANTS Adult primary care patients who smoked daily (n = 574). INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR Intervention was abstinence-optimized treatment (A-OT, n = 276) comprising 3 weeks of nicotine mini-lozenges pre-target quit day (TQD), 26 weeks of combination nicotine patch and mini-lozenges post-TQD and extensive psychosocial support. The comparator was recommended usual care (RUC, n = 298), comprising brief counseling and 8 weeks of nicotine patch post-TQD. MEASUREMENTS Time-varying effect models examined dynamic effects of A-OT (versus RUC) on the primary outcomes of nightly cigarette craving, negative affect and anhedonia from 1 week pre- to 2 weeks post-TQD. Exploratory models examined within-person relations between nicotine medication use and same-day symptom ratings. Secondary logistic regression analyses examined associations between post-TQD craving, negative affect and anhedonia and 1-month post-TQD abstinence. FINDINGS A-OT significantly suppressed pre- and post-TQD craving (β = -0.27 to -0.46 across days) and post-TQD anhedonia (β = -0.24 to -0.38 across days), relative to RUC. Within individuals, using patches was associated with lower negative affect in RUC (β = -0.42 to -0.52), but not in A-OT. Using more mini-lozenges was associated with greater craving (β = 0.04-0.07) and negative affect (β = 0.03-0.05) early, and with lower anhedonia (β = -0.06 to -0.12) later. Greater post-TQD craving (OR = 0.68) and anhedonia (OR = 0.85) predicted lower odds of abstinence 1 month post-TQD. CONCLUSION Time-varying effect models showed that a multi-component treatment intervention for smoking cessation suppressed significant withdrawal symptoms more effectively than recommended usual care among daily adult smokers motivated to quit. The intervention reduced craving pre- and post-target quit day (TQD) and anhedonia post-TQD.
Magnetic Resonance Molecular Imaging of Extradomain B Fibronectin Improves Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer Tumor Xenografts

The survival of pancreatic cancer patients can be greatly improved if their disease is detected at an early, potentially curable stage. Magnetic resonance molecular imaging (MRMI) of oncoproteins is a promising strategy for accurate, early detection of the disease. Here, we test the hypothesis that MRMI of extradomain-B fibronectin (EDB-FN), an abundant oncoprotein in the tumor extracellular matrix, can overcome the stromal barriers of pancreatic cancer to facilitate effective molecular imaging and detection of small tumors. Specimens of normal, premalignant, and malignant human pancreatic tissues were stained with a peptide-fluorophore conjugate (ZD2-Cy5.5) to assess EDB-FN binding and expression. MRMI with ZD2-N3-Gd(HP-DO3A) (MT218) specific to EDB-FN and MRI with Gd(HP-DO3A) were performed in three murine models bearing human pancreatic cancer xenografts, including a Capan-1 flank model, a BxPC3-GFP-Luc and a PANC-1-GFP-Luc intrapancreatic xenograft model. Tumor enhancement of the contrast agents was analyzed and compared. Staining of human tissue samples with ZD2-Cy5.5 revealed high EDB-FN expression in pancreatic tumors, moderate expression in premalignant tissue, and little expression in normal tissue. MRMI with MT218 generated robust intratumoral contrast, clearly detected and delineated small tumors (smallest average size: 6.1 mm2), and out-performed conventional contrast enhanced MRI with Gd(HP-DO3A). Quantitative analysis of signal enhancement revealed that MT218 produced 2.7, 2.1, and 1.6 times greater contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) than the clinical agent in the Capan-1 flank, BxPC3-GFP-Luc and PANC-1-GFP-Luc intrapancreatic models, respectively (p < 0.05). MRMI of the ECM oncoprotein EDB-FN with MT218 is able to generate superior contrast enhancement in small pancreatic tumors and provide accurate tumor delineation in animal models. Early, accurate detection and delineation of pancreatic cancer with high-resolution MRMI has the potential to guide timely treatment and significantly improve the long-term survival of pancreatic cancer patients.
A multi-objective linear threshold influence spread model solved by swarm intelligence-based methods

Abstract The influence maximization problem (IMP) is one of the most important topics in social network analysis. It consists of finding the smallest seed of users that maximizes the influence spread in a social network. The main influence spread models are the linear threshold model (LT-model) and the independent cascade model (IC-model). These models have mainly been treated by using the single-objective paradigm which covers just one perspective: maximize the influence spread starting by given seed size, or minimize the seed set to reach a given number of influenced nodes. Sometimes, this minimization problem has been called the least cost influence problem (LCI). In this work, we propose a new optimization model for both perspectives under conflict, through the LT-model, by applying a binary multi-objective approach. Swarm intelligence methods are implemented to solve our proposal on real networks. Results are promising and suggest that the new multi-objective solution proposed can be properly solved in harder instances.
Benchmarking print quality of additively manufactured ceramic nanosuspensions toward consistent fabrication using laser stereolithography

Architected materials present an opportunity to overcome the limited ability of brittle piezoelectric ceramics to strain under electromechanical load. In the absence of a commercially available resin containing piezoelectric nanoparticles, this work seeks to investigate the printability and thermal processability of a prepared piezoelectric particle loaded slurry using laser stereolithography. This was accomplished by comparing the cure depth, in-plane resolution, and the dimensional accuracy achieved with a piezoelectric slurry prepared with barium titanate, to a commercially available silica and alumina-based suspension. The study of thermal processability revealed the dimensional sensitivity of fabricated open architectures to sintering temperature and duration. The prepared piezoceramic slurry, containing barium titanate, was successfully polymerized using laser-stereolithography and its cure depth exhibited a similar response to exposure duration and fluence level as the commercial slurries. The in-plane resolution of the barium titanate-based slurry was unexpectedly high, and may be due to the opacity of the piezoelectric particles. Open architectures with millimeter sized features were successfully fabricated using laser stereolithography. Dimensional accuracy was highest for the alumina-based material system, and the inverse relationship between cured depth and in-plane resolution was reflected in the dimensions of the silica-based parts. Open architected structures further withstood thermal processing. During thermal processing, there was a greater reduction in height for all parts due to higher in-plane concentrations of ceramic particles, relative to the z-direction. Both an increase in sintering temperature and duration resulted in a uniform change of 1%, respectively, in part dimensions. Data collected in this work is to be used as a benchmark to inform formulation requirements, laser stereolithography parameter settings and thermal processing procedures for a custom ceramic slurry containing piezoelectric nanoparticles.
Fictional Narratives for Environmental Sustainability Communication

An increasing amount of fictional films, books or television series address themes of sustainability. This chapter defines fictional sustainability narratives and provides an overview about existing research. First, studies analyzing the content of fictional sustainable books and films are summarized. Second, we shed light on existing audience effects research about fictional sustainability narratives. Third, we give an overview of existing models that explain narrative persuasion effects of sustainability narratives. Given that models of narrative persuasion are hardly integrated in empirical research on sustainability narratives yet, we argue that a deeper understanding of narrative engagement processes may provide a useful background to specify effects of sustainability narratives in future.
SU-E-T-536: LINAC-Based Single Isocenter Frameless SRT for Brain Metastases

Purpose: Single-isocenter Stereotactic Radiotherapy of multiple brain metastases with Varian 21 IX LINAC, using Aktina Pinpoint system for patient setup. Methods: In 2014, five single-isocenter RapidArc SRT plans were delivered to five patients with 2 to 8 brain metastases using Varian 21 IX. Aktina Pinpoint system was used for setup and 2mm PTV margin were used. CBCT was acquired before and after the beam delivery. The prescription is 2100 cGy in 3 fractions. Eclipse planning system was used for treatment planning. Depending on the number of metastases and their locations, 1 to 5 coplanar or non coplanar arcs were used. Typically, 2 or 3 arcs are used. IMRT QAs were performed by comparing an A1SL ion chamber point dose measurement in solid water phantom to point dose of the plan; also, based on EPID measurement, 3D spatial dose was calculated using DosimetryCheck software package from MathResolutions Inc. The EPID system has an active area of 40cm by 30cm with 1024 by 768 photodiodes, which corresponds to a resolution of 0.4mm by 0.4mm pixel dimension. Results: for all the plans, at least 95% PTV coverage was achieved for full prescription dose, with plan normalization > 75%. RTOG conformity indices are lessmore » than 1.1 and Paddick gradient indices are less than 4.5. The distance from prescription IDL to 50% IDL increases as the number of metastases increases, and it ranges from 0.6mm to 0.8mm. Treatment time varies from 10mins to 30mins, depending on the number of arcs and if the arcs are coplanar. IMRT QA shows that the ion chamber measurement agree with the eclipse calculation within 3%, and 95% of the points passed Gamma, using 3% dose difference and 3mm DTA Conclusion: High quality single isocenter RapidArc SRT plan can be optimized and accurately delivered using Eclipse and Varian 21IX.« less
Subpixel reconstruction of line drawings: a tree searching approach

An algorithm for reconstruction of line drawings from their chain codes is presented. A variation of the (M-L) algorithm called the M, L, delta algorithm is used for suboptimal searching. This algorithm requires a priori knowledge of the source statistics. It is assumed that the line drawing to be encoded is a smooth curve, with curvatures at a set of sample points along the curve forming a first-order autoregressive source. This algorithm, when used on curves of different variances, was found to work well, yielding low reconstruction distortion. Surprisingly, the algorithm was found to work well for arbitrary curves. This algorithm achieves significant reduction in bit rate without significant increase in distortion. For a given bit rate the proposed algorithm compared favorably with existing methods. >
Internet-accessible speech recognition technology

Speech recognition systems can be viewed as an application of complex pattern recognition and machine learning algorithms. The development of such a system is a time-consuming and infrastructure-intensive task. The Institute for Signal and Information Processing (ISIP) developed one of the first fully-functional public domain speech recognition systems. In this paper, we introduce the major components of this system which include: a digital signal processing front end that generates feature vectors from the speech signal, a hidden Markov Model (HMM) trainer which estimates acoustic model parameters and a hierarchical search decoder which implements an efficient time-synchronous Viterbi beam search.
Molecular genetics of cranial nerve development in mouse

Over the past decade, we have begun to understand the molecular genetics of cranial nerve development through the analysis of mouse mutants. Nerve identity is imparted by genes involved in anteroposterior patterning, such as the Hox genes, kreisler and Krox20. Neuronal determinants, including Lim homeobox genes, dictate neuronal subtype along the dorsoventral axis. Subsequent neuronal differentiation, and cell body and axon migration, is governed by subtype-specific gene expression, which is transient at times. So far, only a few cranial-axon-specific guidance molecules have been identified. The insights from these genetic analyses will help to guide future analyses of cranial nerve development in vertebrates.
Interplanetary dust dynamics: II. Poynting-Robertson drag and planetary perturbations on cometary dust

Abstract A statistical analysis of a portion of the calculated orbital evolution of some 200 cometary dust particles as they spiral from just inside the orbit of Jupiter to within 0.3 AU from the Sun reveals an increase in the descent rate as calculated for drag forces alone (i.e., Poynting-Robertson drag and corpuscular drag). This increase appears when planetary perturbations are accounted for in the orbital integrations and are, at least in part, due to planet-induced orbital eccentricities leading to enlarged drag. Trajectories originating from Comet P/Encke are thought to be representative of debris from short-period comets due in part to a redistribution in orbital elements while the dust crossed Jupiter's orbit. Statistical methods indicate that any dependence of the increased descent rate on orbital elements other than semimajor axis and eccentricity were insignificant. There are indications that the planet-induced acceleration of the mean descent rate decreases with decreasing eccentricity. The increase in mean descent rate is only a few percent inside 1 AU; it increases to 6–10% in the asteroid belt and reaches 50% in the 3 1 resonance with Jupiter. By contrast, the mean rate is slower near the 4 1 Jovian commensurability than in nearby regions of phase space. An empirical relation is presented for the descent rate of cometary dust particles subjected to planetary perturbations in addition to Poynting-Robertson and corpuscular drags. The analytic expression is suitable to improve estimates of the contribution from short-period comets' to the zodiacal dust, and the resulting particle number density distribution.
Call TIAs “TIBs”

To the Editor: The term transient ischemic attack (TIA) is problematic. New evidence of an even greater than previously appreciated risk of impending stroke is accumulating. The recent article by Lovett et al provides resounding data in support of this.1 An article published several months previously is particularly pertinent in this regard. Albers and others were more forthright in their revocation of the long-overdue recision of the term TIA .2 Albers et al recommended that we should keep the term TIA but that we must understand it should mean something different! However, TIA and its connotations in clinical practice demand a catchy replacement acronym. The term must somehow satisfy medical and nonmedical people and yet be accurate, brief, and remembered. The term TIA was also regarded as a relatively benign syndrome with nonemergent status. This needs to be urgently corrected. The call for a more appropriate and sinister term is particularly …
Antibody Response to Related Leukosis Viruses Induced in Chickens Tolerant to an Avian Leukosis Virus

White Leghorn chickens congenitally infected with a subgroup A avian leukosis virus ALV-F42 were challenged at various ages with the serologically related subgroup A avian leukosis viruses (ALV) RAV-1, RAV-3, and RAV-5 and their antibody responses and viremic status determined. Birds given injections of RAV-1 failed to produce neutralizing antibody to any of the pseudotype sarcoma viruses of the various ALV, whereas many birds challenged with RAV-3 or RAV-5 produced neutralizing antibody directed against the heterologous RAV-1 as well as the homologous viruses, but not against the tolerated virus ALV-F42. Virtually all birds remained viremic despite the presence of neutralizing antibody. The results suggested that a phenomenon akin to circumvention or abrogation of tolerance to ALV-F42 was effected, and that there are multiple determinants of the viral envelope antigens of ALV as measured by neutralization.
Development and characterization of a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay for rat galanin: measurement in brain tissue, hypophyseal portal and peripheral serum

Galanin (GAL), a 29 amino acid peptide, is extensively distributed in both brain and intestine having been described as a putative neuroendocrine modulator. Up to this date, available radioimmunoassays for measuring GAL have the problem of nonparallel responses when rat biological samples are used. Due to the recent availability of synthetic rat GAL (rGAL), we pursued the development of a specific RIA for rGAL. Our RIA system presents a high specificity since porcine GAL (pGAL), which differs from rGAL in three carboxy-terminus substitutions, displays negligible crossreactivity. In addition, in the RIA a sensitivity of at least 1 pg/tube can be obtained. All biological samples tested in this study (serum samples from both peripheral and portal blood and arcuate-nucleus median eminence extracts) displayed perfect parallelism to synthetic rGAL standard. The RIA is suitable for measuring minute amounts of rGAL directly in serum samples from both portal and peripheral circulation. Interestingly, the IC50 for portal serum was approximately 10-fold lower than that for peripheral serum. This indicates that rGAL may be present in higher concentrations in portal than in peripheral blood. In addition, our data suggest that the pituitary gland contributes approximately 30% to the total levels of rGAL measured in peripheral serum. Together, this data reinforces the concept that GAL is involved in mechanisms controlling and/or regulating neuroendocrine functions.
Resonance Raman spectra and biological significance of high-valent iron(IV,V) porphyrins

Abstract Extensive research in the past decades has shown that nature relies on high-valent iron (IV,V) porphyrins in a number of enzyme-directed processes of heme proteins. For example, hydroxylation reaction catalyzed by cytochrome P450 involves an iron porphyrin intermediate which contains the oxoferryl moiety (Fe(IV)O). Liver microsomal cytochrome P450-LM 3,4 is known to catalyze the transfer of a functionalized nitrogen atom intra- as well as inter-molecularly, and the proposed reaction cycle presumably involves a high-valent iron porphyrin intermediate which contains the nitrido-iron moiety(Fe(V)N). This review is focused on the biological significance of these high-valent iron(IV,V) porphyrins and their Fe(IV)O and Fe(V)N stretching vibrations observed in resonance Raman spectra.