cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Right ventricular hypertrophy in monocrotaline pyrrole treated rats.

Abstract Single, tail-vein injections of 2–4 mg/kg body weight of monocrotaline pyrrole produced an endothelial lesion in the cells lining the capillaries and arterioles of the rat lung. Within 4 weeks, numerous pulmonary vessels became partially or completely occluded by fibrin and platelet thrombi, by enlargement of the endothelium, and by hypertrophy of smooth muscle cells in the tunica media. Impairment of the pulmonary blood flow led to tissue hypoxia which was reflected by an increase in hemoglobin, hematocrit, and erythrocyte count values. In addition, there was a fourfold increase in peak systolic blood pressure within the lumen of the right ventricle. This hypertension was progressive and caused an increase in the workload of the right heart. Right ventricular hypertrophy developed gradually over 2–3 weeks so that by 4 weeks the right side of the heart weighed almost 3 times that of the controls. It is suggested that monocrotaline pyrrole injected animals provide a readily reproducible model for experimental cardiac hypertrophy which mimics the gradual onset of cardiac disease observed clinically in man.
Approaches and Application of Comparative Risk Assessment Concepts to Oil Spill Preparedness Planning and Response

ABSTRACT Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) is emerging as a methodology that may be applied to facilitate decision-making when various possible activities compete for limited resources. The CRA framework may be an especially valuable tool for prioritization of remediation efforts and for making choices among various environmental policies specific to oil industry operations. This paper will show that CRA is an efficient and cost-saving tool that assists in developing oil spill response priorities based on the broadest possible range of concerns and issues important to all stakeholders. In addition, the CRA approach allows the cost/benefit evaluation of alternative environmental policies and strategies relative to the baseline risks and disruptions associated with oil spills (as well as other costs and benefits of petroleum use).
Collaborative teaming to support students with augmentative and alternative communication needs in general education classrooms

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the use of a team collaboration process to increase the academic achievement and social participation of three students with augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) needs who were members of general education classrooms. Three educational teams, comprised of the general education teacher, inclusion support teacher, instructional assistant, speech-language pathologist, and one of the student's parents, developed and collaboratively implemented Unified Plans of Support for the students that consisted of academic adaptations and communication and social supports. The effectiveness of the support plans was evaluated through behavioral observations and team interviews. Evaluation outcomes suggest that consistent implementation of the plans of support by team members was associated with improvements in academic skills, social interactions with peers, engagement in classroom activities, and use by the students of a variety of AAC devices. Implications of the col...
REP-rate operation of a ∼200 KV sealed-tube reflex-triode vircator at ∼200 A/cm 2

Thermal limitations of anode and cathode materials have shown to negatively impact operation of cold-cathode high-power microwave (HPM) sources. High pulse-repetition-frequency (PRF) operation of these devices exacerbates the problems already experienced in single shot mode where cold-cathode devices, specifically carbon fiber cathodes, are plagued by plasma formation on the anode and cathode followed by plasma/gas expansion that causes impedance collapse of the anode-cathode (A-K) gap. Hence, for frequency stable, repetitive operation, cold-cathode HPM devices require the use of thermally robust electrode materials and ultra-clean surfaces, leading to repeatable tube operation. This study focuses on burst-mode operation of an HPM sealed tube reflex-triode virtual-cathode-oscillator (vircator) for PRFs greater than 100 Hz. The vircator is driven by a 54 J, ∼200 kV Marx generator with an approximate pulse width of 50 ns FWHM, and the vircator chamber has an empty volume of approximately 5 L with background pressures in the low 10−9 Torr. The anode materials studied include grade-1 titanium (TiG1), nickel 201L (Ni201L), and stainless steel 316L (SS316L); all in combination with a carbon fiber cathode. Empirically observed outgassing characteristics in conjunction with anode thermal modeling are presented under single-shot and rep-rate conditions. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) techniques were employed to investigate anode and cathode surface integrities before and after vircator operation.
Investigation of electron tunneling between cytochrome c peroxidase and cytochrome c

The nature of electron transfer between the bound complex cytochrome c and cytochrome c peroxidase has been investigated. Experimental verification of the predicted charge-transfer band provides evidence of electron tunneling as the mechanism of transfer between these molecules in solution at room temperature. The measured transfer distance is congruent to 7 angstroms between heme edges, which results in a distance of congruent to 15 to 20 angstroms between iron atoms.
“You Won't Believe What They Said in Class Today”: Professors’ Reflections on Student Resistance in Multicultural Education Courses

“If privilege exists, then how did my grandparents come to the United States from Ireland and make themselves a good life from nothing?”“How can I create a safe space for gay students when I just d...
Normal vector generation for sampled data using fourier filtering

A three-dimensional surface is a useful graphic representation of a two-dimensional function which has been sampled on a regular grid. Shading the surface to simulate the effects of direct lighting makes visible small changes in the surface orientation, and enhances realism when the data represents a physical surface such as terrain. Shading interpolation calculations and surface patch generation techniques require the specification of a surface normal vector (or related slope information) at each sample point. These normal vectors are usually generated by averaging local data such as the normal vectors of the surfaces of a triangular mesh connecting the points. This paper describes a technique which uses Fourier filtering to generate normal vectors for two-dimensional sampled data. Images and analysis of frequency spectra are included to show how this technique preserves detail which is lost using the averaging method. Performance figures show that this enhancement of detail in the final image can be achieved for only a small increase in computation time.
Type 1 protease resistant prion protein and valine homozygosity at codon 129 of PRNP identify a subtype of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

A man was studied with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) who had serial cortical syndromes evolving over 15 months without significant ataxia, prominent myoclonus, or periodic complexes on EEG examinations. This clinical phenotype correlated with a predominantly cortical and striatal distribution of lesions and accumulation of protease resistant prion protein with relative sparing of the brainstem or cerebellum. No amyloid plaques were seen and prion protein (PrP) immunohistochemistry only demonstrated very faint granular deposits in the cerebral cortex. Molecular analysis showed homozygosity for valine at codon 129 in the prion protein gene (PRNP) and protease resistant prion protein type 1 deposition. The comparison of molecular and clinicopathological features of the present case with those previously reported in sCJD, indicates that valine homozygosity at codon 129 and type 1 protease resistant prion protein are associated with a distinct phenotypic variant of sCJD. The data also support the view that the PRNP codon 129 polymorphism and the physicochemical properties of the protease resistant prion protein are major determinants of phenotypic variability in sCJD.
Near IR nonlinear absorption of an organic supermolecule [Invited]

The photophysics of bis(terpyridyl)osmium-(porphinato)zinc-bis(terpyridyl)osmium (OsPZnOs), a D-π-A-π-D symmetric supermolecule, were investigated in the femtosecond and nanosecond regimes. The supermolecule exhibits a two-photon absorption (δpeak ~900 GM) in the near IR (900-1300 nm) and optical pumping by two-photon absorption leads to a broad excited state absorption (σpeak ~1.1 × 10−16 cm2) in the same near IR region. Since the excited state has a long lifetime, OsPZnOs exhibits a strong nanosecond nonlinear absorption in this region. That nonlinear absorption is substantially enhanced when OsPZnOs is incorporated into a multimode waveguide. When two-photon pumping is the dominant mechanism, an additional enhancement of up to ~100 × in the nonlinear absorption is observed in a microchannel waveguide. OsPZnOs is a promising material for photonic applications such as optical noise suppression and optical limiting in the near IR.
The Architecture of Yeast DNA Polymerase ζ

DNA polymerase ζ (Polζ) is specialized for the extension step of translesion DNA synthesis (TLS). Despite its central role in maintaining genome integrity, little is known about its overall architecture. Initially identified as a heterodimer of the catalytic subunit Rev3 and the accessory subunit Rev7, yeast Polζ has recently been shown to form a stable four-subunit enzyme (Polζ-d) upon the incorporation of Pol31 and Pol32, the accessory subunits of yeast Polδ. To understand the 3D architecture and assembly of Polζ and Polζ-d, we employed electron microscopy. We show here how the catalytic and accessory subunits of Polζ and Polζ-d are organized relative to each other. In particular, we show that Polζ-d has a bilobal architecture resembling the replicative polymerases and that Pol32 lies in proximity to Rev7. Collectively, our study provides views of Polζ and Polζ-d and a structural framework for understanding their roles in DNA damage bypass.
Knowledge acquisition and transfer among engineers: effects of network structure

This paper examines the association between the structure of formal intra-firm networks and productivity. We focus on two network structure components—department centralization and centrality, within a four department engineering organization. Centrality indicates the number of connections between one department and others within the organization, while centralization captures how much of those connections are concentrated among the workers within the department. Both of these represent specific managerial decisions in a formal network structure. We use learning curve theory to measure accumulated organizational knowledge, its depreciation and intra-firm transfers. We hypothesize that the departments are more productive, experience less depreciation and realize more knowledge transfer if they have more intra-firm connections among more workers. The findings suggest a significant yet moderate association between the formal network structure and productivity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
An assessment of the MODSIM/TWOS parallel simulation environment

The authors assert that the major flaw with the ModSim/TWOS (Time Warp Operating System) system as it currently exists is that there is no compiler support for mapping a ModSim application into an efficient C/TWOS application. Moreover, the ModSim language as currently defined does not provide explicit hooks into the TWOS and hence the developer is unable to tailor a ModSim application in the same fashion that a C application can be tailored. Without sufficient compiler support, there is a mismatch between ModSim's object-oriented, process-based execution model and the Time Warp execution model. The authors present their assessment of ModSim/TWOS and also discuss both components in isolation. >
The High-Volume Return Premium and Post-Earnings Announcement Drift*

This paper investigates the relationship among trading volume around earnings announcements, earnings forecast errors, and subsequent returns. Prior research finds a positive relation between earnings announcement period trading volume and subsequent returns (the high-volume return premium) and between earnings forecast errors and subsequent returns (post-earnings announcement drift). We find that for a sample of firms followed by analysts these effects are complementary, i.e., each retains incremental ability to predict post-earnings announcement returns. Prior research provides two competing explanations for the high-volume return premium: changes in firm visibility versus differences in risk. We provide evidence that seems to rule out risk-based explanations while supporting the visibility hypothesis.
Tailoring Exchange Coupling between Magnetic Nano-Grains of High Density Magnetic Recording Media

Intergranular exchange coupling between magnetic nano-grains is one of important parameters to develop magnetic recording media towards the areal density of 1000 Gbits/in 2 . In this presentation, various processings, involving oxide co-sputtering for perpendicular media, spontaneous phase separation for longitudinal media, and grain boundary (GB) diffusion derived from underlayer or overlayer to induce tunable exchange coupling, have been reviewed to tailor the exchange coupling, including their main principles, present achievements and engineering challenges. Much attention is paid to the physical origin of magnetically induced phase separation of Co-Cr-based alloy, which governs media noise and coercivity, and its applications to the longitudinal media. A proposal of GB diffusion is also highlighted in detail to show a feasibility to tailor the exchange coupling, including calculation results and experimental evidences.
Alignable liftoff transfer of device arrays via a single polymeric carrier membrane

The authors report epitaxial liftoff and direct bonding of GaAs-Al/sub x/Ga/sub 1-x/As heterostructure device arrays and continuous films, using a single transparent polymer membrane to support the material during etch of the sacrificial layer and to manipulate it into position for bonding. Au-Sn eutectic alloy bonding leads to a metallurgical bond in minutes. Photoluminescence and current-voltage characteristics show that material quality is not substantially degraded in the transfer process.
CP violation from surface terms in the electroweak theory without fermions

We consider the effect of adding a $\mathrm{CP}$-odd, $\ensuremath{\theta}F\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{F}$ term to the electroweak Lagrangian without fermions. This term affects neither the classical nor perturbative quantum physics, but can be observed through nonperturbative quantum processes. We give an example of such a process by modifying the theory so that it supports Higgs-winding solitons, and show that the rates of decay of these solitons to specific final states are $\mathrm{CP}$ violating. We also discuss how the $\mathrm{CP}$ symmetry is restored when fermions are included.
Distributed Diagnosis in Formations of Mobile Robots

Multirobot systems are being increasingly used for a variety of tasks in manufacturing, surveillance, and space exploration. These systems can degrade or develop faults during operation, and, therefore, require online diagnosis algorithms to ensure safe operation. Centralized approaches to online diagnosis of robot formations do not scale well for two primary reasons: 1) the computational complexity of the algorithm grows significantly with the number of robots, and 2) the individual robots must communicate a large number of measurements to a central diagnoser. To overcome these problems, we present a distributed, model-based, qualitative fault-diagnosis approach for formations of mobile robots. The approach is based on a bond-graph modeling framework that can deal with multiple sensor types and isolate process, sensor, and actuator faults. The diagnosis scheme employs relative measurement orderings to discriminate among faults by exploiting the temporal order of measurement deviations. This increases the discriminatory power of the measurement set and produces a more efficient fault-isolation algorithm. We describe a distributed diagnoser design algorithm applied to robot formations. Experimental results demonstrate the improvement in both the discriminatory power of the measurements produced by the relative measurement orderings, and the computational efficiency achieved by the distributed-diagnosis approach
The neural correlates of non-spatial working memory in velocardiofacial syndrome (22q11.2 deletion syndrome)

Velocardiofacial syndrome (VCFS), also known as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, is a neurogenetic disorder that is associated with both learning disabilities and a consistent neuropsychological phenotype, including deficits in executive function, visuospatial perception, and working memory. Anatomic imaging studies have identified significant volumetric reductions in the parietal lobe of individuals with VCFS, but several studies have reported that the frontal lobe is relatively preserved. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of non-spatial working memory in 17 youths with VCFS, 10 of their unaffected siblings, and 10 community controls (with the same proportion of learning disabilities as the VCFS youths). Task performance of siblings tended to be more accurate than children with VCFS, who did not differ from community controls. All three-study groups recruited parietal regions that were equivalent in location and magnitude. Whereas the sibling group also recruited the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), Broca's area, and anterior cingulate, DLPFC activation was absent in the whole brain analyses of children with VCFS and controls. Moreover, the magnitude of frontal activation in VCFS participants was restricted relative to both siblings and controls. These findings suggest that VCFS participants exhibit frontal hypoactivation that is not attributable to performance. In addition, VCFS children and controls (many with idiopathic learning disabilities) appear to rely on phonological rehearsal to hold information on line instead of the DLPFC. Despite previous anatomic MRI reports of preserved frontal lobe volumes in VCFS therefore, these fMRI findings suggest that the frontal component of the distributed network subserving executive function and working memory may be disrupted in youth with this disorder.
Guide to measuring privacy concern: Review of survey and observational instruments

The debate about online privacy gives testimony of Web users' concerns. Privacy concerns make consumers adopt data protection features, guide their appreciation for existing features, and can steer their consumption choices amongst competing businesses. However, approaches to measure privacy concern are fragmented and often ad-hoc, at the detriment of reliable results. The need for measurement instruments for privacy concern is twofold. First, attitudes and opinions about data protection cannot be established and compared without reliable mechanisms. Second, behavioural studies, notably in technology acceptance and the behavioural economics of privacy require measures for concern as a moderating factor. In its first part, this paper provides a comprehensive review of existing survey instruments for measuring privacy concerns. The second part focuses on revealed preferences that can be used for opportunistically measuring privacy concerns in the wild or for scale validation. Recommendations for scale selection and reuse are provided.
Implicit coalitions in a generalized prisoners's dilemma

The presence of a third party can affect attempts by two players to cooperate in a three-player, continuous-alternative, repeated Prisoner's Dilemma-like game. If the third player is uncooperative, two players may find it advantageous to cooperate implicitly, at a level somewhere between full (i.e., three-way) cooperation and full defection. We examine this phenomenon of implicit coalitions via two sequential computer tournaments (38 algorithms in tourney 1, 44 algorithms in tourney 2). In both tournaments, each with a different payoff function, the ability to recognize and/or encourage implicit coalitions seems to be a key indicator of success. This result holds up in a test of robustness. We also examine other properties, including those identified earlier by Axelrod (1980a, 1980b).
Effect of microscopic inhomogeneity of the medium on reaction-diffusion front velocity

A model of random walks on an inhomogeneous lattice is used to analyze the effect of microscopic inhomogeneity of the medium on reaction-diffusion front velocity. It is shown that the front velocity can be substantially higher on an inhomogeneous lattice as compared to that on a homogeneous one with the same onsite waiting time. The increase in velocity is due to a bias in the particle distribution between sites of different types toward those with shorter waiting times. The amount of bias depends on the rate of chemical reaction: the higher the rate, the stronger the bias. The front velocity also strongly depends on the reaction mechanism, more precisely, on how product particles are distributed between sites of different types.
Exosomes from Bone Marrow Dendritic Cells Pulsed with Diphtheria Toxoid Preferentially Induce Type 1 Antigen-Specific IgG Responses in Naive Recipients in the Absence of Free Antigen

Exosomes derived from dendritic cells (DC) activate T cells in vivo, but whether exosomes are able to induce and/or modulate humoral immune responses is still unknown. We show that murine bone marrow DC pulsed in vitro with an intact protein (diphtheria toxoid (DT)) produce exosomes that induce, in the absence of free protein, in vivo Ig responses specific for DT in naive recipients. Furthermore, these exosomes stimulate secondary IgG anti-DT responses in mice primed with intact DT. Exosomes from mature, relative to immature, DC were more effective at inducing primary, although not secondary, IgG anti-DT responses. Whereas intact DT preferentially induced a type 2 (IgG1) anti-DT response, exosomes from DT-pulsed bone marrow DC favored induction of type 1 (IgG2b and IgG2a) DT-specific IgG. These results are the first to demonstrate the ability of exosomes derived from Ag-pulsed DC to induce and modulate Ag-specific humoral immunity in vivo.
A variable range bi-phasic current stimulus driver circuitry for an implantable retinal prosthetic device

This paper reports a driver circuitry to generate bi-phasic (anodic and cathodic) current pulses for stimulating the retinal layer through electrodes which is part of a retinal prosthetic device for implants in blind patients affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dual voltage architecture is used to halve the number of interface leads from the chip to the stimulation sites compared to a single voltage supply. The driver circuitry is designed to deliver currents with six bit resolution for a wide range of full scale currents up to 600 /spl mu/A. To cater to the varying stimulus requirements among patients and different regions of the retina, variable gain architecture is used to achieve fine resolution even for a narrow range of stimulus. 1:8 demultiplexing feature is embedded within the output stage thus allowing one DAC for eight outputs. A novel charge cancellation circuitry with current limiting capability is implemented to discharge the electrodes for medical safety. Measurement results of a prototype chip fabricated in 1.5-/spl mu/m CMOS technology are presented.
What is the optimal surgery for localized breast cancer

In a treatise on th.e uses of persuasive communication, Steinberg?’ states, “The question we most profitably put to most communication in its logical phase is: What are we dealing with?” In any discussion of the treatment of localized cancer of the breast it is of paramount importance that we do understand precisely and in detail what we are dealing with. The generally accepted view of the meaning of the term localized breast cancer is that it refers to cancer in those patients in whom the results of clinical appraisal and appropriate study define the disease as limited to the breast. It should be recognized that this includes, but is not synonymous with the following wide variety of clinical sub-stages of breast cancer: Lobular or intraductarl cancer in situ, non-invasive and micro-invasive carncer, occult cancer (non-palpable), most cases that would be called “early cancer” and many fully developed invasive cancers. In the commonly employed systems of classification, cancers classified as Tl and T2, N-O M-0,26 Manchester Stage 1 and Columbia Stage A’* all would fall within the limits of this definition. Columbia Stage A, it should be remembered, imposes no limit on the size of the primary tumor. Obviously, no single treatment method can be appropriate for patients in these different clinical settings. Four additional factors are of major importance in their bearing on the choice of treatment. 1. Multicentric Involvement. Table 1 shows the incidence of multicentricity as reported by various authors. This high prevalence of multi-focal involvement alone is a powerful argument against the choice of any operative procedure short of total mastectomy, even for minimal cancer. 2. The virtual absence of axillary lymph node involvement in certain subsets of patients; the term
Some musings on four ways humans couple: implications for systems design

Humans interact with their environments in many ways, and that interaction has become the focus of ever-greater interest as technology empowers the physical environment with new sensor and computer-based intelligence. This paper describes four different types of coupling between the human and environment, where "coupling" here refers to two-way interactions which are sufficiently tight that causality between human and environment is obscure and even arbitrary. These are not four mutually exclusive categories, but rather four ways of characterizing the relationship between the human and environment. Some generalizations of these relationships are discussed, along with hints on how we might improve our designs of intelligent technology, especially the interfaces to human users.
Ideological Consistency and Contextual Adaptation U.S. Peace Movement Emotional Work Before and After 9/11

The authors examine how the U.S. peace movement responded to the Bush administration’s attempts to generate and capitalize on a heightened sense of threat after the 9/11 attacks. Longitudinal analysis of statements by U.S. peace movement organizations issued before and after 9/11 indicates that the movement’s discourse is both ideologically consistent and contextually adaptive. In each period, movement discourse highlighted the U.S. government as a source of threat and people living outside of the United States as the targets of that threat. Nonetheless, the movement’s discourse changed significantly in the exacerbated climate of fear in the first 4 months after the 9/11 attacks and then began to revert to pre-9/11 patterns during the Iraq War when the salience of threat declined. This research significantly advances knowledge of social movement discourse by establishing that ideological consistency and contextual adaptation are not mutually exclusive, by highlighting the contextual and dialogical factors...
NAP for high level language identification

Varying channel conditions present a difficult problem for many speech technologies such as language identification (LID). Channel compensation techniques have been shown to significantly improve performance in LID for acoustic systems [1]. For high-level token systems, nuisance attribute projection (NAP) has been shown to perform well in the context of speaker identification [2]. In this work, we describe a novel approach to dealing with the high dimensional sparse NAP training problem as applied to a 4-gram phonotactic LID system [3] run on the NIST 2009 Language Recognition Evaluation (LRE) [4] task. We demonstrate performance gains on the Voice of America (VOA) portion of the 2009 LRE data.
Potential resources from coal fly ash

Recent studies at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and elsewhere have identified various chemical processes for recovering useful materials, such as alumina and iron oxides, from coal-composition fly ash. Based on certain assumptions, each of these processes can yield useful products at economical prices. Most processes leave a residual solid waste with a volume only slightly less than that of the original waste. This residue may not present a serious hazard, but its volume alone makes disposal difficult for utilities with limited land available for disposal sites. Characteristics of some of the residues are being studied to determine possible beneficial uses or applications of these by-products. 15 references, 2 figures, 4 tables.
Capsule Commentary on Turner et al., Chronic Opioid Therapy Risk Reduction Initiative: Impact on Urine Drug Testing Rates and Results

This study assessed the impact of a multi-faceted risk reduction initiative for patients on opioid therapy.1 It focused on urine drug screening (UDS), and noted that although the initiative increased UDS (from 7 to 50 %), that rate was well below the initiative’s target. Moreover, there was no commensurate impact on the rate of abnormalities identified, such as marijuana or illicit drugs. Opioid agreements (between prescribing physician and patient) that incorporate random UDS have been touted as an important strategy in the management of patients with chronic noncancer pain.2 This practice is more prevalent in pain medicine than in primary care.3 These results could have been impacted by confounding factors in Washington, such as the legality of medicinal marijuana in Washington and the potential impact of the Washington State Interagency Guideline on Opioid Dosing for Chronic Non-cancer Pain, which has been criticized for its potentially deleterious effect on physicians’ willingness to provide opioid therapy for patients with chronic pain.4 There is a need for further research on, among other aspects of pain management, the effectiveness of separate opioid contracts (in contradistinction to a detailed informed consent document) and UDS for all patients in reducing opioid diversion and abuse. Such measures are new to the primary care setting, and physicians are understandably concerned, in the absence of strong evidence as to their efficacy, that these measures may have a deleterious effect on the quality of physicians’ relationships with patients whose level of function and quality of life may be dependent on opioid analgesia. The approach of “trust but verify” may have had merit in the Cold War, but it could have a chilling effect on the physician–patient covenant.5
Effective Curriculum and Instructional Models for Talented Students

This article presents an historical perspective on the evolution of three curiculum and instructionial models that have been shown to be effective with gifted learners in various contexts and at va...
Modeling of Gene Regulatory Network Dynamics Using Threshold Logic

Gene regulation modeling is one of the most active research topics in systems biology. The aim of modeling gene regulation is to understand how individual genes function and interact with each other to create complex biological phenomena. In this paper we propose a novel gene regulatory model based on threshold logic. The approach is developed by a combination of threshold logic properties and perceptron learning techniques. This work does not focus on determination of the pair-wise interactions among genes. Instead, the objective of this work is to generate a model that will describe and predict phenomena associated with a biological system. The utility of the approach is demonstrated by modeling a cellular system of 50 genes. The model could effectively replicate both the steady state and the transient behavior of genes.
A new tool for visualization and animation of power component and system operation

A new tool for computing and visualizing the operation of power system components and systems is presented. One component of the tool is a time domain simulator that operates in the background within a multitasking environment. Visualization and animation objects can retrieve data in real time from the time domain simulator and display a detailed picture of a component or system operation. As the system state evolves, the pictures are updated, resulting in an animated visualization of the process. The tool has been implemented in a multitasking environment, thus permitting user interaction in real time with the system parameters and immediate reflection of the results in animations and visualizations. Several examples of visualization and animation are presented, including animation of Mho relay operation, visualization of small signal stability, load dynamics and voltage sensitivity and synchronous machine operation.
Identification of matrix metalloproteinases in canine cutaneous mast cell tumors.

Presence of matrix metalloproteinases has been associated with tumor invasion and metastasis in human neoplasia. The presence of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 was determined in canine mast cell tumor tissue and normal stromal tissue from 24 dogs with spontaneously occurring cutaneous mast cell tumors. Seventeen of the mast cell tumors were of histologic grade 2, and 7 were of histologic grade 3. Gelatin zymography and computer assisted densitometry image analysis were used to quantify matrix metalloproteinase concentration. Bands from canine tissues migrated in the same location as human proenzyme and active enzyme matrix metalloproteinase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 standards. A semiquantitative value for each patient sample was obtained by comparing the optical assessment density of each unknown band to the optical density of the human standard. The presence of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 in histologic grade 2 mast cell tumors and histologic grade 3 mast cell tumors was compared, as was presence of matrix metalloproteinases in tumor and stromal tissue. There was dramatically more proenzyme matrix metalloproteinase 9 activity in histologic grade 3 mast cell tumors when compared to grade 2 tumors (P = .03). There was also dramatically more active enzyme matrix metalloproteinase 2 and active enzyme matrix metalloproteinase 9 activity in tumor tissue compared to stromal tissue (P = .02, P < .0001). This study demonstrates that the proenzyme and active enzyme forms of matrix metalloproteinase 2 and matrix metalloproteinase 9 are present in canine mast cell tumors. This appears to be related to the degree of histologic malignancy, although histologic grade 1 tumors were not evaluated.
Viral Clearance by Traditional Operations With Significant Knowledge Gaps (Session II): Cation Exchange Chromatography (CEX) and Detergent Inactivation.

At the previous viral clearance symposium, insights into the general mechanism of viral clearance by cation exchange chromatography (CEX) were shared by Amgen and Novartis ([1][1]). Amgen presented data from multiple monoclonal antibody (mAb) products that consistently revealed ≥4 log10 murine
Televideo conferencing: is it as effective as "in person" lectures for nurse anesthesia education?

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of televideo conferencing (TVC) on the academic performance of graduate students in anesthesiology nursing. The study compared local-site students who viewed lectures in person to their distant-site counterparts who viewed lectures via TVC. There were no statistically significant differences in the admission qualifications data between the groups of students studied. The results of the Self-Evaluation Examination (SEE), administered by the CCNA, were compared at the completion of the first year of the curriculum. No statistically significant differences were found between groups in the mean SEE scores of the students. These findings support the contention that instruction through TVC can be as effective as lectures conducted using the “in person” format.
Somnogenic relationships between tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1.

Both tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-1 are somnogenic cytokines. They also induce each other’s production and both induce nuclear factor kappa B activation, which in turn enhances ...
Book Review: Hotel Ritz-Comparing Mexican and U.S. Street Prostitutes: Factors in HIV/AIDS Transmission and Book Review: Women's Experiences with HIV/AIDS: Mending Fractured Selves

Title: Hotel Ritz-Comparing Mexican and U.S. Street Prostitutes: Factors in HIV/AIDS Transmission Author: David J. Bellis, Ph.D. Reviewers: J. Gary Linn & Carol Bompart Publisher: The Haworth Press, 2003 ISBN 0-7890-1776-8, 128 pp. Cost: $18.00 USD Title: Women's Experiences with HIV/AIDS: Mending Fractured Selves Author: Desiree Ciambrone, Ph.D. Publisher: The Haworth Press, 2003 ISBN 0-7890-1758-X, 213 pp. Cost: $20.00 USD
CELLULAR SLIME MOLDS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

Soil populations of cellular slime molds (CSM) are generally smaller and less diverse in soils of Rocky Mountain forests than in eastern deciduous forests. CSM were found at all elevations and habitats sampled, including desert scrub, pinyon-juniper, ponderosa pine, spruce-fir and tundra. Of these, which exist along an altitudinal gradient, the subalpine sprucefir belt, the most humid of the forest belts in this relatively dry region, had the largest and most diverse populations. Almost all sites were dominated by Dictyostelium mucoroides and D. sphaerocephalum. Since Rocky Mountain soils are exposed to severe environmental fluctuations these two species are the most tolerant of the dictyostelids, particularly to moisture and temperature stresses. Dictyostelium septentrionalis was the only rare species discovered.
Students' perceptions of teachers' use of affinity-seeking and its relationship to teachers' competence

Summary.-As explored here, 140 undergraduate students' perceptions of teachen' competence were influenced by instructors' use of affinity-seeking strategies. Trustworthiness, assumption of equality, peaonal autonomy, altruism, and listening contributed to the perceptions. In this study, the relationship between students' perceptions of teachers' use of affinity-seeking and competence was investigated. Affinityseeking was defined as "the social-communicative process by which individuals attempt to get others to like and feel positive toward them" (1, p. 1). Use of affinity-seeking has been associated with cognitive and affective learning (6, 7), increased lihng of teachers by students (3), and students' perceptions of teachers' credibility (4). Teachers' competence was defined as teachers' ability to interact and adapt well with others and has not been explored in the classroom, thereby prompting this research. A questionnaire was distributed to 140 undergraduate students requesting them to complete a revised affinity-seeking measure (5) and a modified version of the Rating of Alter-Competence (2) with reference to the instructor of the class which they had just attended. Values of Cronbach alpha for these measures were .89 and .96, respectively. The affinity-seeking measure correlated .54 with the teachers' competence measure. The affinity-seeking strategies having the highest correlations with teachers' competence were altruism (r= .42, p< .01), assume equality (r = .48, p< .01), dynamism (r = 39, p< .01), elicit others' disclosure (r = .46, p< .Ol), listening (r = .45, p< .Ol), sensitivity (r = .38, PC .01), and trustworthiness (r = .54, p< .OI). Stepwise regression analysis indicated that five affinity-seeking strategies contributed unique variance in predicting teachers' competence, namely, trustworthiness (R2 = .3O; F = 57.65, p< .0001), assumption of equality (R2 = .40; F= 45.22, p< .0001), persona! autonomy (R2 = .43; F= 33.78, p< .01), altruism (RZ = .46; F = 28.36, p< .01), and listening (R2 = .48; F = 25.09, p < .01). Findings support previous research recommending teachers' use of affinity-seeking strategies to promote students' positive perceptions of teachers, including their competence.
The Influence of Tibialis Anterior Muscle Activity on Rearfoot Motion during Walking

The purpose of this study was to determine whether tibialis anterior muscle activity influences the rate of rearfoot motion during walking. Two-dimensional rearfoot motion was recorded from 23 feet. The feet were assigned to one of two experimental groups. Muscle activity was recorded from the tibialis anterior muscle using surface electrodes. The early pronators (N = 12) reached maximal pronation within the first 20K of the stance phase. The late pronators (N = 11) reached maximal pronation only after 40% of the stance phase. The results of a C-test showed that there was a significant difference (P < .05) in the time to minimal tibialis anterior muscle activity between the two groups. These results indicate that tibialis anterior muscle activity can influence rearfoot motion during the stance phase of walking. A clinician should consider the muscular system when evaluating and designing a treatment program for patients with foot-related problems. The results of this study also indicate that static nonwei...
Attempted propagation of Nasonia vitripennis on the face fly.

A review of the available literature has revealed only 2 references to parasitism of the face fly, Musca autumnalis DeGeer, in North America, and the role of parasites as control factors has not been ascertained. Blickle (1961) discovered 3 hymenopterous parasites of this livestock pest in New Hampshire and reported high parasitism in some instances. Rather extensive parasitism of the face fly in nature by Aphaerta pallipes (Say) has been reported by Benson and Wingo (1963), but they were unable to determine the actual effect of this parasitism on the subsequent fly population.
The Effectiveness of Acute Post-Concussion Cognitive and Physical Rest (S11.003)

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of an acute period of cognitive and physical rest on concussion. Background: Cognitive and physical rest acutely post-concussion has been identified as the cornerstone of concussion management; however, limited evidence supports this recommendation. Most previous studies investigations evaluated patients in concussion clinics or emergency departments in younger populations; however prospective data on collegiate student-athletes is limited. Methods: 50 consecutive patients with diagnosed concussions were assessed before (N=25) and after (N=25) a policy change which incorporated cognitive and physical rest. The Rest group patients were withheld from activities, including classes, for the remainder of the injury day and the following day whereas the No-Rest group patients were not provided any post-injury accommodations. Patients were assessed on a graded symptom checklist, Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), Standard Assessment of Concussion (SAC), and computerized neuropsychological tests (CNT) with comparison to their own baseline performance. The number of days until each test achieved baseline values was compared between groups with independent sample t-test. Results: The No-Rest group achieved asymptomatic status sooner than the Rest group (5.2+2.9 days and 3.9+1.9 days respectively, P=0.047). There was no difference between Rest and No-Rest group for time to baseline for the BESS (2.7 ± 1.9 days and 2.1 ± 1.3 days respectively, P=0.183), SAC (2.6 ± 1.9 days and 2.1 ± 1.5 days respectively, P=0.368), CNT (5.7 ± 5.0 days and 7.1 ± 6.3 days respectively, P=0.395) Conclusions: These results suggest that a day of cognitive and physical rest during the acute post-concussion period was not effective at improving concussion recovery in this sample of 50 collegiate student-athletes. It is currently unknown if additional rest or earlier light exercise would be more effective in improving recovery. Study Supported by: NIH/NINDS (1R15NS070744) Disclosure: Dr. Buckley has nothing to disclose. Dr. Munkasy has nothing to disclose. Dr. Clouse has nothing to disclose.
Research on Technology of Real-time Multipath Mitigation in Satellite Positioning System

The global navigation satellite systems(GNSS) bring great convenience to transportation,but satellite signals with multipath received by ground receivers have negative influence.On the basis of the previous research on multipath suppression technology,this paper proposes some solutions of accelerating multipath suppression in order to improve the real-time performance of multipath mitigation.
Ethanol production in biofilm reactors from potato waste hydrolysate and optimization of growth parameters for Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract Bioethanol production is of great interest to meet the renewable energy demand and reduce the negative environmental impacts of petroleum fuel while providing energy security for countries. In order to make ethanol production cost-competitive, inexpensive and easily available feedstocks are needed as well as novel processing technologies with higher productivities. In this study, biofilm reactors have been utilized as a novel approach for production of bioethanol from potato waste hydrolysate by optimizing the growth parameters for Saccharomyces cerevisiae in repeated-batch biofilm reactor. First of all, in order to achieve a successful biofilm formation, plastic composite supports (PCS) evaluated and the PCS composed of polypropylene, soybean hull, soybean flour, yeast extract, and salts was selected for ethanol fermentation with S. cerevisiae. Then Box–Behnken design of response surface method (RSM) was employed to optimize the growth parameters, pH, temperature, and agitation. Optimum conditions for ethanol fermentation was found to be pH 4.2, temperature 34 °C, and 100 rpm resulting 37.05 g/L ethanol with a 2.31 g/L/h productivity and 92.08% theoretical yield. The results indicated that biofilm reactors with PCS can enhance the ethanol fermentation from industrial potato wastes.
Significance of Immediate Preoperative Bacteriuria with Pyuria in Renal Transplant Recipients

AbstractThe presence of bacteriuria and pyuria on urinalysis immediately before renal transplantation has resulted in cancellation of surgery because of concern about post-transplant wound infection. Of 113 renal transplant recipients reviewed 41 (36 per cent) had 5 or more white blood cells per high power field with bacteria in either a voided urine or bladder washout specimen obtained just before grafting. Of those 41 patients 2 suffered postoperative wound infections. Of 72 patients (64 per cent) with less than 5 white blood cells or no bacteria on a preoperative specimen 1 suffered a wound infection (p not significant by Fisher’s exact test). Preoperative urine cultures and operative bladder cultures of all 3 patients failed to yield the organisms found later in the wound infections. The factors of sex, insulin-dependent diabetes, delayed graft function, living related versus cadaver donor and pre-transplant splenectomy had no significant relationship to wound infection rates. Renal transplantation ca...
Nonlinear Quantum Fluctuations Near Bifurcations

Intracavity nonlinear optical systems exhibit a variety of bifurcations. Quantum fluctuations in the vicinity of these classical instability points have been much studied since they can lead to novel quantum states such as squeezed light’. The calculation of dynamical correlations is usually made by linearizing the quantized fields around a classical steady state. This breaks down when the quantum fluctuations are sufficiently large: for example, in the strongly coupled regime of cavity QED, or near to a classical bifurcation point (or both). We developed a microscopic approach to understand nonlinear quantum fluctuations in terms of resonant multiphoton scattering from intermediate states which produce a “many-photon” polarization of the cavity modes2,3. This manifests itself in a macroscopic dependence of field correlations on characteristic photon number. Analogies with the quantum fluctuations of a partially condensed Bose gas also arise with this approach.