cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sclerostin activity plays a key role in the negative effect of glucocorticoid signaling on osteoblast function in mice.

Stress during prenatal development is correlated with detrimental cognitive and behavioral outcomes in offspring. However, the long-term impact of prenatal stress (PS) and disrupted glucocorticoid signaling on bone mass and strength is not understood. In contrast, the detrimental effect of lead (Pb) on skeletal health is well documented. As stress and Pb act on common biological targets via glucocorticoid signaling pathways and co-occur in the environment, this study first sought to assess the combined effect of stress and Pb on bone quality in association with alterations in glucocorticoid signaling. Bone parameters were evaluated using microCT, histomorphometry, and strength determination in 8-month-old male mouse offspring subjected to PS on gestational days 16 and 17, lifetime Pb exposure (100 p.p.m. Pb in drinking water), or to both. Pb reduced trabecular bone mass and, when combined with PS, Pb unmasked an exaggerated decrement in bone mass and tensile strength. Next, to characterize a mechanism of glucocorticoid effect on bone, prednisolone was implanted subcutaneously (controlled-release pellet, 5 mg·kg−1 per day) in 5-month-old mice that decreased osteoblastic activity and increased sclerostin and leptin levels. Furthermore, the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethasone alters the anabolic Wnt signaling pathway. The Wnt pathway inhibitor sclerostin has several glucocorticoid response elements, and dexamethasone administration to osteoblastic cells induces sclerostin expression. Dexamethasone treatment of isolated bone marrow cells decreased bone nodule formation, whereas removal of sclerostin protected against this decrement in mineralization. Collectively, these findings suggest that bone loss associated with steroid-induced osteoporosis is a consequence of sclerostin-mediated restriction of Wnt signaling, which may mechanistically facilitate glucocorticoid toxicity in bone. Research has provided new insight into the mechanism by which lead exposure and prenatal stress detrimentally affect bones. The adverse effects of lead exposure on bones are well documented, and evidence suggests that prenatal stress has a similar impact. The effects of both are thought to result from an excess of hormones called glucocorticoids, but the molecular pathways are unclear. J Edward Puzas from the University of Rochester, USA, and colleagues studied the effects of combined lead exposure and prenatal stress in mice. The combination reduced bone mass and strength, and affected bone development. The researchers found that the mechanism involved glucocorticoid-mediated increases in levels of sclerostin, a protein that blocks a signaling pathway important for bone formation. The finding suggests that sclerostin could be a target for treatments to improve bone health.
New Constructions for Pointwise Degenerate Systems

Abstract New constructions are proposed for pointwise degenerate systems of both retarded and neutral-type equations. Control of the null plant to a given subspace is accomplished using the derived techniques. The paper is self-contained.
Collisional Diffraction Emerges from Simple Control of Limbless Locomotion

Snakes can utilize obstacles to move through complex terrain, but the development of robots with similar capabilities is hindered by our understanding of how snakes manage the forces arising from interactions with heterogeneities. To discover principles of how and when to use potential obstacles, we studied a desert-dwelling snake, C. occipitalis, which uses a serpenoid template to move on homogeneous granular materials. We tested the snake in a model terrestrial terrain—a single row of vertical posts—and compared its performance with a robophysical model. Interaction with the post array resulted in reorientation of trajectories away from the initial heading. Combining trajectories from multiple trials revealed an emergent collisional diffraction pattern in the final heading. The pattern appears in both the living and robot snake. Furthermore, the pattern persisted when we changed the maximum torque output of the robot motors from 1.5 N-m to 0.38 N-m in which case local deformation of the robot from the serpenoid curve appears during interaction with the posts. This suggests the emergent collisional diffraction pattern is a general feature of these systems. We posit that open-loop control of the serpenoid template in sparse terrains is a simple and effective means to progress, but if adherence to a heading is desired more sophisticated control is needed.
Evidence that Blueberry Floral Extracts Influence Secondary Conidiation and Appressorial Formation of Colletotrichum fioriniae

Blueberry anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum fioriniae, is a pre- and postharvest disease of cultivated highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum). During disease development, the pathogen undergoes several lifestyle changes during host colonization, including epiphytic, quiescent, and necrotrophic phases. It is not clear, however, what if any host signals alter the pattern of colonization during the initial epiphytic phase and infection. This research investigated the role of blueberry floral extracts (FE) on fungal development. Results show that FE significantly increased both the quantity and rate of secondary conidiation and appressorial formation in vitro, suggesting that floral components could decrease the minimum time required for infection. Activity of FE was readily detected in water collected from field samples, where secondary conidiation and appressorial formation decreased as rainwater collections were further removed from flowers. A comparison of FE from four blueberry cultivars with different levels of field susceptibility revealed that appressorial formation but not secondary conidiation significantly increased with the FE from susceptible cultivars versus resistant cultivars. Inoculum supplemented with FE produced higher levels of disease on ripe blueberry fruit as compared with inoculum with water only. Flowers from other ericaceous species were found to also induce secondary conidiation and appressorial formation of C. fioriniae. This research provides strong evidence that flowers can contribute substantially to the infection process of C. fioriniae, signifying the importance of the bloom period for developing effective disease management strategies.
DynaMed Plus®: An Evidence-Based Clinical Reference Resource

DynaMed Plus® from EBSCO Health is an evidence-based tool that health professionals can use to inform clinical care. DynaMed Plus content undergoes a review process, and the evidence is synthesized in detailed topic overviews. A unique three-level rating scale is used to assess the quality of available evidence. Topic overviews summarize current evidence and provide recommendations to support health providers at the point-of-care. Additionally, DynaMed Plus content can be accessed via a desktop computer or mobile platforms. Given this, DynaMed Plus can be a time-saving resource for health providers. Overall, DynaMed Plus provides evidence summaries using an easy-to-read bullet format, and the resource incorporates images, clinical calculators, patient handouts, and practice guidelines in one place.
Noncontact nonlinear resonance ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) for small metallic specimens

Abstract The objective of this research is to use nonlinear resonance ultrasound spectroscopy (NRUS) to evaluate the sensitivity of the nonclassical hysteretic nonlinearity parameter, α to microscopic material damage in metallic specimens. The proposed NRUS procedure uses both a noncontact source and receiver – an air-coupled piezoelectric transducer source and a laser vibrometer receiver – to excite and detect the axial motion of a slender rod. This fully noncontact configuration avoids mechanical contact which can adversely influence the measurements. This NRUS procedure measures α f and α Q by calculating the amount of the shift of the resonance frequency and the change of quality factor (Q) as a function of increasing excitation amplitudes. The sensitivity of this NRUS measured α parameters to small changes in microstructure is demonstrated on a series of thermally aged 17-4 PH stainless steel samples. These hysteretic nonlinearity ( α f and α Q ) results are then compared to (quadratic) acoustic nonlinearity parameter (β) values previously measured on these same 17-4 PH samples to demonstrate the sensitivity of the hysteretic nonlinearity parameters to changes in microstructure due to precipitate formation.
Classification of Airborne Multispectral Lidar Point Clouds for Land Cover Mapping

Airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) data are widely used for high-resolution land cover mapping. The lidar elevation data are typically used as complementary information to passive multispectral or hyperspectral imagery to enable higher land cover classification accuracy. In this paper, we examine the capabilities of a recently developed multispectral airborne laser scanner, manufactured by Teledyne Optech, for direct classification of multispectral point clouds into ten land cover classes including grass, trees, two classes of soil, four classes of pavement, and two classes of buildings. The scanner, Titan MW, collects point clouds at three different laser wavelengths simultaneously, opening the door to new possibilities in land cover classification using only lidar data. We show that the recorded intensities of laser returns together with spatial metrics calculated from the three-dimensional (3D) locations of laser returns are sufficient for classifying the point cloud into ten distinct land cover classes. Our classification methods achieved an overall accuracy of 94.7% with a kappa coefficient of 0.94 using the support vector machine (SVM) method to classify single-return points and an overall accuracy of 79.7% and kappa coefficient of 0.77 using a rule-based classifier on multireturn points. A land cover map is then generated from the classified point cloud. We show that our results outperform the common approach of rasterizing the point cloud prior to classification by ∼4% in overall accuracy, 0.04 in kappa coefficient, and by up to 16% in commission and omission errors. This improvement however comes at the price of increased complexity and computational burden.
Analysis of MTDC Inertia Emulation Impact on Connected AC Systems

The frequency decoupling effect of the voltage source converter (VSC)-based high voltage dc (HVDC) transmission makes frequency support unavailable between two ac subsystems interconnected by the HVDC link. Recently, several algorithms have been proposed and demonstrated to improve the ac system stability by implementing inertia emulation (IE) functions in the HVDC VSC stations. However, the capability of the VSC-HVDC to achieve the IE control is not clear. According to the previous research, the IE control strategy has been studied without concerning the impact of the practical control process, which will introduce some time delay into the IE realization. In this paper, a detailed multi-terminal HVDC VSC control module, including the phase-locked loop (PLL) and low pass filter (LPF), is considered in order to analyze the multi-terminal HVDC network impact on the IE performance. The analysis indicates that the frequency performance of the ac network with IE integrated HVDC transmission can be nearly as good as that directly connected with the ac subsystem which involves a high penetration of conventional generation units, except for the short time delay introduced by the VSC control modules. The effectiveness of IE performance will be compromised if the response delay is significant. The simulation results have verified the analysis.
The Impact of Providers on Consumer Satisfaction and Price in Hearing Aid Purchases

A consumer mail panel was used to locate persons who had purchased a hearing aid within the past two years in order to determine the relationship between price paid, and overall satisfaction as a f...
Strain-Stabilized Ceramic-Sulfide Electrolytes

Ceramic-sulfide solid electrolytes are a promising material system for enabling solid-state batteries. However, one challenge that remains is the discrepancy in the reported electrochemical stability. Recent work has suggested that it may be due to the sensitivity of ceramic sulfides to mechanically induced stability. Small changes in ceramic-sulfide microstructure, for example, have been shown to cause substantial differences in the electrochemical stability. In this work, a rigorous theoretical framework is constructed to enable the simulation of such mechanically induced stability for a generalized constraint mechanism. It is shown that the susceptibility for voltage widening in ceramic sulfides can be significantly influenced by the choice of different decay morphology models. This results in a less intrusive microstructure requirement for improved stability, which stems from the tendency of sulfides to decay via inclusions rather than homogeneously. This predicted decay morphology is experimentally confirmed. Li10 GeP2 S12 is stabilized by a thin amorphous shell, which prior models predict is too thin for stabilization. The generality of this framework is discussed in light of stabilization methods beyond microstructure, such as on the battery cell level. The relation of our picture to the observed lithium metal formation in ceramic sulfides is also discussed.
Increased Preauricular Wrinkles in Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia Compared to Age-Matched Controls: A Prospective Study of 64 Patients.

Introduction Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is a scarring alopecia affecting mainly postmenopausal females. Associated clinical signs include facial papules, glabellar red dots, depression of frontal veins, and lichen planus pigmentosus. Our objective was to establish the validity of increased preauricular lines as another clinical marker of FFA. Materials and methods Thirty-two females with FFA were compared to 32 age-matched females with either androgenetic alopecia or chronic telogen effluvium. Bilateral images of the preauricular area were taken, and disease severity was calculated in all FFA patients using the FFA severity scale (FFASS). The average number of preauricular lines were determined and compared based on group, age, and severity. Results Patients with FFA had a significantly higher mean number of preauricular lines than controls (p = 0.002). Intergroup analysis among the FFA patients revealed no significant difference between FFASS and the number of wrinkles or the number of wrinkles in patients ≥60 years old. Discussion and conclusion Females with FFA have increased preauricular lines compared to age-matched controls regardless of age, and disease severity was not correlated to increased lines. Although the cause is unknown, atrophy and loss of elastic fibers in biopsies of the preauricular area in diseased patients may contribute. These findings reveal another potential clinical marker of FFA.
GPU-Enabled Visual Analytics Framework for Big Transportation Datasets

Transportation agencies rely on a variety of data sources for condition monitoring of their assets and making critical decisions such as infrastructure investments and project prioritization. Recent exponential increase in the volumes of these datasets has been causing significant information overload problems for data analysts; data curation process has increasingly become time consuming as legacy CPU-based systems are reaching their limits for processing and visualizing relevant trends in these massive datasets. There is a need for new tools that can consume these new datasets and provide analytics at rates resonant with the speed of human thought. The current paper proposes a new framework that allows for both multidimensional visualization and analytics to be carried seamlessly on large transportation datasets. The framework stores data in a massively parallel database and leverages the immense computational power available in graphical processing units (GPUs) to carry out data analytics and rendering on the fly via a Structured Query Language which interacts with the underlying GPU database. A front-end is designed for near-instant rendering of queried results on simple charts and maps to enable decision makers to drill down insights quickly. The framework is used to develop applications for analyzing big transportation datasets with over 100 million rows. Performance benchmarking experiments conducted showed that the methodology developed is able to provide real-time visual updates for big data in less than 100 ms. The performance of the developed framework was also compared with CPU-based visual analytics platforms such as Tableau and D3.
The role of absolute humidity on transmission rates of the COVID-19 outbreak

A novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019 and has caused over 40,000 cases worldwide to date. Previous studies have supported an epidemiological hypothesis that cold and dry (low absolute humidity) environments facilitate the survival and spread of droplet-mediated viral diseases, and warm and humid (high absolute humidity) environments see attenuated viral transmission (i.e., influenza). How-ever, the role of absolute humidity in transmission of COVID-19 has not yet been established. Here, we examine province-level variability of the basic reproductive numbers of COVID-19 across China and find that changes in weather alone (i.e., increase of temperature and humidity as spring and summer months arrive in the North Hemisphere) will not necessarily lead to declines in COVID-19 case counts without the implementation of extensive public health interventions.
Carbidic Mo is the sole kinetically-relevant active site for catalytic methane dehydroaromatization on Mo/H-ZSM-5

Abstract Systematic variation of Mo/Al = {0.10, 0.25, 0.35} in Mo/H-ZSM-5 catalysts effects ∼20x change of Mo-to-H+ ratio during methane dehydroaromatization (DHA) reactions at steady state and on deactivating catalysts. Mo and Bronsted-acid site count, respectively enumerated by ethane hydrogenolysis probe reaction and dimethyl ether chemical titration, evolve disparately during DHA catalysis, indicating the two sites reduce in number by distinct mechanisms. The deactivation of Mo/H-ZSM-5 catalytic activity is uniquely attributed to the loss of active, or accessible, Mo sites, evinced by (i) the non-selective nature of deactivation (i.e. that deactivation occurs without modification of residual active sites), (ii) invariance in product distribution from Mo/H+ = 0.10 – 2.1, and (iii) linear correspondence between Mo-catalyzed ethane hydrogenolysis rate and active site count during DHA on deactivating samples. DHA forward rate – the intrinsic kinetic descriptor of catalyst activity – normalizes by Mo content at steady state and on deactivating catalysts with Mo/Al = 0.10 – 0.35 for Mo-based contact times in the range τMo = 0.79 – 44 molMo s mol C -1 , unequivocally establishing Mo aggregates as the sole kinetically-relevant active site on Mo/H-ZSM-5. Bronsted-acid site content over a ∼40x range in τH+ = 1.4 – 54 molH+ s mol C -1 has no discernable correlation with or effect on DHA rate, methane conversion, or product distribution – demonstrating H+ does not catalyze any rate- or selectivity-determining steps in the benzene formation pathway and suggesting that the benefits of zeolitic acid sites are only to disperse Mo during catalyst synthesis and, conceivably, to catalyze equilibrated reaction steps.
Vitamin D: its impact on disease and the microbiome

Abstract Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common micronutrient deficiencies affecting infants and children. Preterm infants are especially susceptible to deficiency, which has implications not just on skeletal health, but also sepsis, atopic disease, and necrotizing enterocolitis. Vitamin D is being increasingly recognized as an important regulator of the innate immune system as well as the intestinal microbiome. The therapeutic implications of vitamin D on the intestinal microbiome, infant health, and diseases of immune dysregulation such as inflammatory bowel disease are growing areas of research.
Foot and Mouth Disease: An Exotic Animal Disease that must be Alert of Entry into Indonesia

Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease that attacks cloven hoofed animals. Among the animals primarly livestock that sensitive to FMD include cattle, bufalloes, pigs, sheep, and goats. The causative agent of FMD is the Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV). This disease is greatly feared by all countries because it may cause great loss of economic impact. There are still many countries in the world that are not yet free from FMD. The World Animal Health Organization (OIE/ Office des Internationale Epizootis) has included this disease in the list of disease that must be reported as “notifiable disease”. This FMD has become exotic for Indonesia since 1990, and currently it is included in the list of strategic infectious animal diseases in Indonesia. With current situation where the traffic of people and goods between countries in the world is very fast and frequent, it is possible for the disease to enter Indonesian territory. This paper discusses the FMD with aim of increasing alertness and readiness in preventing the entry and spread of the disease to Indonesia.
Reflections on Children with Developmental and Behavioral Challenges Who Are Thriving While Sheltering in Place

Pesch et al reflect on children with developmental and behavioral challenges who are thriving while sheltering in place For many families, navigating life's natural changes and transitions while attending to their child's additional behavior or developmental needs is not an easy undertaking When the COVID-19 pandemic spread throughout the world, life shut down abruptly As developmental and behavioral clinicians, finding the delicate balance between therapies, school services, medication, and social supports to meet the evolving needs of patients is often challenging, even in the restrospective stability of the past
Gibberellic acid decreases Melanocallis caryaefoliae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) population density and chlorotic feeding injury to foliage in pecan orchards.

Background Melanocallis caryaefoliae (Davis), Monellia caryella (Fitch), and Monelliopsis pecanis Bissell (Hemiptera: Aphididae) attack pecan foliage (Carya illinoinensis [Wangenh.] K. Koch). Unlike M. caryella and M. pecanis, feeding by M. caryaefoliae triggers a physiological change within foliage mimicking natural leaf senescence; it can lead to defoliation. Pretreatment of pecan foliage with gibberellic acid (GA3 ) mitigates M. caryaefoliae-elicited physiological disturbances. GA3 application to pecan was evaluated for efficacy regarding effects on M. caryaefoliae populations and possible negative side-effects on two natural enemy species and on return bloom of pecan. Results All GA3 treatment rate schedules significantly reduced M. caryaefoliae nymphs but not adults or adults and nymphs of M. caryella or M. pecanis. Percentage leaf chlorosis elicited by M. caryaefoliae was significantly reduced by GA3 (i.e., 39.5 to 197.7 g a.i./ha). No negative side-effects of GA3 treatment were detected regarding certain key natural enemy species or on return bloom of pecan. Conculusion Application of GA3 to the orchard canopy protects foliage from senescence-like physiological responses triggered by M. caryaefoliae. This reduces detrimental leaflet chlorosis, both senescence and abscission processes and horticulturally significant feeding injury. Additionally, the absence of apparent negative side-effects on key natural enemies and return bloom is suggestive of a practical means for efficacious non-insecticidal control of M. caryaefoliae populations in orchards. This novel protective effect of GA3 against aphid-elicited, senescence-like physiological responses may merit investigation as an IPM tool to manage aphid species eliciting similar senescence-like damage to other crop species. Published 2020. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
Sleep moderates symptom experience in combat veterans.

Abstract Background Though sleep disturbance has shown to negatively affect outcomes related to post-deployment conditions, it is unclear whether and how sleep disturbance affects mental health symptoms beyond these conditions. We evaluated the independent and moderating effects of sleep quality on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive, and neurobehavioral symptoms beyond mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD diagnosis. Methods Participants were 274 US combat veterans who deployed after 9/11. All completed diagnostic TBI and PTSD interviews and self-report measures of sleep quality, as well as PTSD, depressive, and neurobehavioral symptoms. Only those who passed symptom validity were included in analyses. Hierarchical regression evaluated the contribution of sleep quality to outcomes beyond PTSD and mild TBI. Moderation analyses evaluated interactions between mild TBI, PTSD, and sleep quality on symptom outcomes. Results Mild TBI was only significantly associated with PTSD (p = .006) and neurobehavioral (p = .003) symptoms. PTSD diagnosis was associated with PTSD (p Limitations Sleep was evaluated subjectively and therefore must be interpreted in this context. Conclusions These results provide support that sleep quality is an independent contributing factor to health outcomes in post-deployment veterans and should be considered in etiology of complaints.
Spetzler-Martin Grade III Arteriovenous Malformations: A Multicenter Propensity-Adjusted Analysis of the Effects of Preoperative Embolization.

Background Spetzler-Martin (SM) grade III arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are at the boundary of safe operability, and preoperative embolization may reduce surgical risks. Objective To evaluate the benefits of preoperative AVM embolization by comparing neurological outcomes in patients with grade III AVMs treated with or without preoperative embolization. Methods All microsurgically treated grade III AVMs were identified from 2011 to 2018 at 2 medical centers. Neurological outcomes, measured as final modified Rankin Scale scores (mRS) and changes in mRS from preoperative baseline to last follow-up evaluation, were compared in patients with and without preoperative embolization. Results Of the 102 patients with grade III AVMs who were treated microsurgically, 57 (56%) underwent preoperative embolization. Significant differences were found between the patients with and without embolization in AVM eloquence (74% vs 93%, P = .02), size ≥ 3 cm (47% vs 73%, P = .01), diffuseness (7% vs 22%, P = .04), and mean final mRS (1.1 vs 2.0, P = .005). Poor outcomes were more frequent in patients without embolization (38%) than with embolization (7%) (final mRS > 2; P 2; odds ratio, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.1-16; P = .03). Conclusion Nonembolization of SM grade III AVMs is associated with an increased risk of poor neurological outcomes after microsurgical resection. Preoperative embolization of intermediate-grade AVMs selected because of large AVM size, surgical inaccessibility of feeding arteries, and high flow should be employed more often than anticipated, even in the context of increasing microsurgical experience with AVMs.
Micro-Lawyering and Simulations in Trusts and Estates Courses

This article provides a description of the microlawyering and simulation exercises I use in my three trusts and estates courses. An ideal exposure to trusts and estates practice is gained through microlawyering – a term I use to mean small-scale, real legal experiences. In addition to microlawyering, simulations offer students the opportunity to develop skills in a practice-like context. Unbound by the restrictions of real legal practice, simulations are remarkably flexible and well-suited to a variety of classes. Like microlawyering, simulations illustrate the importance of learning to do and not just to think. They can be critical in not only providing experience and feedback in a safe setting, but in developing confidence in nascent lawyers.
Passive Reflective Metasurfaces for Far-Field Beamforming

A single-layer, passive metasurface is designed that controls the amplitude and phase of an aperture using the method of moments and gradient descent optimization. The single layer metasurface is backed by a grounded dielectric substrate. An integral equation is used to model the mutual coupling between surface currents on the homogenized elements, ground plane, and the polarization currents in the dielectric. The integral equation is solved by the method of moments. The metasurface is designed to transform an incident cylindrical wave into a scattered far field beam with a Taylor distribution sidelobe envelope that is scanned to 30° off broadside. Surface waves are introduced through the optimization to obtain a purely reactive and thus passive metasurface. Back-projection of the optimized far field shows both the amplitude and phase are reshaped in the near field.
Nanoemulsion: An emerging technology for oilfield applications between limitations and potentials

Abstract Nanoemulsions (NEs) are kinetically stable dispersions with droplet sizes on the order of 100 nm. Properties of NEs, such as the kinetic stability and rheology, have attracted substantial consideration in the oil and gas industry. This comprehensive review stretches from the theoretical mechanisms and fundamentals all the way to oilfield applications. Current low-energy and high-energy laboratory and industrial scale emulsification routes are included with detailed insight on synthesis challenges and opportunities. An included compendium of NE characterization techniques encompasses their applicability, advantages, and disadvantages. The oilfield applications segment covers recent uses of NEs in drilling, reservoir, and production operations. The review touches economical aspects for NEs oilfield scale implementations, and proposes solutions to mitigate foreseen challenges. This review emphasizes the scientific aspects of NE preparation and provides insight from the engineering and economic point of view of the oil and gas industry.
Multivariate Gaussian Pattern Classification: Effects of Finite Sample Size and the Addition of Correlated of Noisy Features on Summary Measures of Goodness

The addition of correlated or noisy features to a given feature set can degrade estimates of certain figures of merit used to characterize the class separability offered by the set. We review three such figures of merit and consider the effects of correlation and noise on their estimation from a finite training set. These effects cause some measures to be biased optimistically, others pessimistically. Previous studies of these biases have tended to overlook the large variances involved, particularly in low-dimensional space. Several methods of bias reduction are compared. A method due to Fukunaga and Hayes is compared with the “jackknife”; only the former reduces the bias without increasing the variance of the estimate for problems considered here.
STEROID SYNTHESIS IN THE CRYPTORCHID TESTES OF THREE CASES OF THE "TESTICULAR FEMINIZATION" SYNDROME.

Abstract 1. 1. Results of in vitro incubations of extirpated gonadal tissue from three cases of the “testicular feminization syndrome” are reported. Production of steroids in these studies compares favorably with estimates of in vivo steroid elaboration by the same tissues reported previously. 2. 2. Two types of the syndrome as defined clinically are substantiated by hormone production. In the “complete” form, both androgens and estrogens are produced by the gonad, the former in amounts equivalent to the fetal testis. However, the tissue of the “incomplete” for shows very limited steroid productivity. 3. 3. In the complete form of the syndrome, abnormal steroid production does not appear to be a factor in the genesis of the clinical disorder.
The Myth of Mirror Neurons: The Real Neuroscience of Communication and Cognition

In The Myth of Mirror Neurons, neuroscientist Gregory Hickok re-examines the mirror neuron story and finds that it is built on a tenuous foundation-a pair of co-dependent assumptions about mirror neuron activity and human understanding. Drawing on a broad range of observations from work on animal behaviour, modern neuroimaging, neurological disorders and more, Hickok argues that the foundational assumptions fall flat in light of the facts. He then explores alternative explanations of mirror neuron function while illuminating crucial questions about human cognition and brain function: Why do humans imitate so prodigiously? How different are the left and right hemispheres of the brain? Why do we have two visual systems? Do we need to be able to talk to understand speech? What's going wrong in autism? Can humans read minds? The Myth of Mirror Neurons not only delivers an instructive tale about the course of scientific progress-from discovery to theory to revision-but also provides deep insights into the organisation and function of the human brain and the nature of communication and cognition.
Prefrontal Cortical Circuits in Schizophrenia

Impaired cognitive functioning, including deficits in working memory, is considered to be a core and disabling feature of schizophrenia that is difficult to treat. Deficits in working memory in schizophrenia are attributable, at least in part, to specific pathological alterations in the neuronal circuitry of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that involve, but are not restricted to, disturbances in glutamate, GABA, and dopamine neurotransmission. Cannabis use provides an example of an environmental exposure that may have a deleterious impact on these neurotransmitter systems and thereby contribute to worsening of cognitive functioning in schizophrenia. Increasing knowledge of the nature of the molecular alterations in these cortical circuits may lead to the development of new pathophysiologically informed treatment options for cognitive deficits in schizophrenia.
Ethnicity, race, and advance directives in an inpatient palliative care consultation service.

Objective:Although race and ethnic background are known to be important factors in the completion of advance directives, there is a dearth of literature specifically investigating the effect of race and ethnicity on advance directive completion rate after palliative care consultation (PCC).Method:A chart review of all patients seen by the PCC service in an academic hospital over a 9-month period was performed. Data were compiled using gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and primary diagnosis. For this study, advance directives were defined as: “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) and/or “Do Not Intubate” (DNI).Results:Of the 400 medical records reviewed, 57% of patients were female and 71.3% documented their religion as Christian. The most common documented diagnosis was cancer (39.5%). Forty-seven percent reported their race as white. White patients completed more advance directives than did nonwhite patients both before (25.67% vs. 12.68%) and after (59.36% vs. 40.84%) PCC. There was a significantly higher proportion of whites who signed an advance directive after a PCC than of nonwhites (p = 0.021); of the 139 whites who did not have an advance directive at admission, 63 signed an advance directive after a PCC compared with 186/60 nonwhites (45% vs. 32%, respectively, p = 0.021). Further analysis revealed that African Americans differed from whites in the likelihood of advance directive execution rates pre-PCC, but not post-PCC.Significance of results:This study demonstrates the impact of a PCC on the completion of advance directives, on both whites and nonwhites. The PCC Intervention significantly reduced differences between whites and African Americans in completing advance directives, which have been consistently documented in the end-of-life literature.
Completing visual contours: The relationship between relatability and minimizing inflections

Visual completion is a ubiquitous phenomenon: Human vision often constructs contours and surfaces in regions that have no sharp gradients in any image property. When does human vision interpolate a contour between a given pair of luminance-defined edges? Two different answers have been proposed: relatability and minimizing inflections. We state and prove a proposition that links these two proposals by showing that, under appropriate conditions, relatability is mathematically equivalent to the existence of a smooth curve with no inflection points that interpolates between the two edges. The proposition thus provides a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for two edges to be relatable. On the basis of these conditions, we suggest a way to extend the definition of relatability (1) to include the role of genericity, and (2) to extend the current all-or-none character of relatability to a graded measure that can track the gradedness in psychophysical data.
Desensitization of Mitochondrial Ca2+ and Insulin Secretion Responses in the Beta Cell

The role of mitochondria in the desensitization of insulin secretion was investigated. In rat pancreatic beta cells, both insulin secretion and mitochondrial [Ca2+] increases were desensitized following two challenges with the mitochondrial substrate methyl succinate. In the beta cell line INS-1, similar results were observed when a 5-min interval separated two 5-min pulses. In contrast, ATP generation monitored in luciferase-expressing INS-1 cells was stimulated to the same extent during both exposures to methyl succinate. Succinate, like alpha-glycerophosphate, activates the electron transport chain at complex II. As a consequence, the mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarizes, promoting ATP synthesis and Ca2+ influx into the mitochondria through the uniporter. The mitochondrial desensitization was further studied in permeabilized INS-1 cells. Increasing extramitochondrial [Ca2+] from 100 to 500 nM enhanced succinate oxidation 4-fold. At 500 nM Ca2+, 1 mM succinate caused a blunted mitochondrial [Ca2+] increase upon the second, compared with the first, stimulation. These effects were mimicked by alpha-glycerophosphate, and there was cross-desensitization between the two compounds. Succinate hyperpolarized the mitochondrial membrane during both the first and second applications. This suggests that the uniporter itself, rather than the respiratory chain, is desensitized. These results emphasize the key role of the mitochondria not only in the stimulation of insulin secretion, but also in its desensitization.
Optimized isocratic conditions for the simultaneous determination of serotonin precursors and metabolites by reversed-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection.

Abstract We describe an analytical procedure for the simultaneous determination of 5-hydroxyindole derivatives using high-pressure liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection. The procedure clearly resolves 5-hydroxytryptophan, 5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-hydroxytryptophol, and 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid. The C-18 extraction column methodology and high-pressure liquid chromatography-electrochemical detection parameters have been developed to provide a rapid, sensitive, and reproducible quantitative determination of these 5-hydroxyindoles with picogram sensitivity. Chromatograms obtained from the analysis of whole normal mouse brain by the present technique clearly resolve the 5-hydroxyindoles and appear to be uncomplicated by interfering substances.
A sodium- and potassium-stimulated tyrosine transporter from Leptinotarsa decemlineata midguts

Abstract Tyrosine transport across the midgut brush border membrane of Leptinotarsa decemlineata was characterized using brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV). The concentrations of tyrosine in potato foliage that are potentially available to the insect and the hemolymph tyrosine concentration were estimated. l -Tyrosine transport into BBMV is stimulated by SCN− and Cl− salts of K+ and Na+ under isosmotic conditions. Compared to ion-independent l -tyrosine transport, KSCN and NaSCN increased both the Jmax and Kt for l -tyrosine uptake. Ion independent l -tyrosine uptake was strongly inhibited by leucine, phenylalanine, proline and serine and moderately inhibited by lysine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. The NaSCN stimulated tyrosine transporter was not affected by d -tyrosine and only cysteine inhibited uptake in the presence of NaSCN. This is the first report of ion-dependent amino acid transport in the Coleoptera and the first characterization of a tyrosine transporter in insects.
Power sequencing approach to fault isolation in dc systems: Influence of system parameters

We show that medium-voltage dc power buses can be protected against short circuit faults by coordinating the action of a converter that supplies power to the bus with the action of contactors that are used to reconfigure the bus connections. Following a fault, the bus is de-energized (so there is no large current to interrupt), one or more contactors are reconfigured, and the dc bus is then reenergized. For a typical industrial dc bus, we show that it is possible to execute this de-energize-reconfigure-re-energize process 10 times faster than an AC bus can be protected and reconfigured using traditional circuit breakers. We show how the de-energizing and reconfiguring times depend on the output capacitance of the main converter and on the distance to the fault, and we show how to size each hold-up capacitor so that loads on unfaulted circuits can ride through the process uninterrupted.
Inhibition of ethylene-induced α-farnesene synthase gene PcAFS1 expression in ‘d’Anjou’ pears with 1-MCP reduces synthesis and oxidation of α-farnesene and delays development of superficial scald

Abstract Pre-storage treatment of superficial scald-susceptible apple and pear fruits with the blocker of ethylene action 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) inhibits the synthesis of α-farnesene. Consequently, accumulation of α-farnesene and its conjugated trienol (CTol) oxidation products in the fruit skin is diminished, and scald is largely prevented. In cold-stored apple fruit, a marked increase in expression of AFS1, the gene encoding α-farnesene synthase (AFS), precedes the rapid accumulation of α-farnesene. A Pyrus communis L. gene encoding AFS (PcAFS1) was cloned using RT-PCR with primers based on apple AFS1 and RNA from peel tissue of ‘d’Anjou’ pears cold-stored for 33–94 days. Non-treated control and 1-MCP-treated (300 nL L−1 for 6 h at 1 °C) pears were stored at −1 °C in air for up to 216 days. PcAFS1 expression in control fruit increased sharply over the first 63 days, remained high through 123 days, fell to much lower levels from 157 to 183 days, then increased again to maximum levels at 216 days. In comparison, expression of PcAFS1 was attenuated in 1-MCP-treated fruit. PcAFS1 transcript was almost nil through 94 days, rose sharply at 123 days and reached a maximum at 183 days that was two-fold lower than the highest level in controls. Maximum concentrations of α-farnesene and CTols in control fruit occurred at 94 and 123 days, respectively, and scald incidence was 100% after 94 days. α-Farnesene and CTol levels at these time points were, respectively, 9- and 19-fold lower in 1-MCP-treated fruit, which had no scald at 157 days, 13% at 183 days and 40% at 216 days. Post-storage ripening, with the associated increases in softening, respiration and ethylene production, was fully enabled in control fruit after 63 days at −1 °C, whereas 1-MCP-treated pears failed to ripen properly even after 216 days.
The Presidencies of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler

Wearied by the hotly contested "Log Cabin and Hard Cider" campaign that unseated the Democratic incumbent, Martin Van Buren, Harrison succumbed to pneumonia after only one month in office, the first chief executive to die in the White House. His death precipitated a governmental crisis, which Vice President John Tyler promptly resolved to the consternation of his Whig Party by claiming the office and title of president, thus setting a precedent that only later was codified in the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Instead of the pliable Harrison, the Whigs confronted in Tyler a tenacious defender of presidential prerogative and a formidable foe of their plan to establish congressional supremacy over the executive branch. Threatened with impeachment, repeatedly exhorted to resign, banished from the Whig Party, abandoned by his cabinet, and burned in effigy, Tyler stood firm and maintained the integrity of the presidential office. Peterson argues that the Tyler administration deserves more credit than it has received for what was accomplished and preserved under difficult circumstances."
Electron ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry: historical review and current applications.

This review presents an overview of electron ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy (EITOFMS), beginning with its early development to the employment of modern high-resolution electron ionization sources. The EITOFMS is demonstrated to be ideally suited for analytical and basic chemical physics studies. Studies of the formation of positive ions by electron ionization time-of-flight mass spectroscopy have been responsible for many of the known ionization potentials of molecules and radicals, as well as accepted bond dissociation energies for ions and neutral molecules. The application of TOFMS has been particularly important in the area of negative ion physics and chemistry. A wide variety of negative ion properties have been discovered and studied by using these methods including: autodetachment lifetimes, metastable dissociation, Rydberg electron transfer reactions and field detachment, SF6 Scavenger method for detecting temporary negative ion states, and many others. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Mass Spec Rev 27: 237–285, 2008
Quartet S wave neutron deuteron scattering in effective field theory

Abstract The real and imaginary part of the quartet S wave phase shift in nd scattering (4S3/2) for centre-of-mass momenta of up to 300 MeV (E cm ≈70 MeV ) is presented in effective field theory, using both perturbative pions and a theory in which pions are integrated out. As available, the calculation agrees with both experimental data and potential model calculations, but extends to a higher, so far untested momentum regime above the deuteron breakup point. A Lagrangean more feasible for numerical computations is derived.