cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effects of Fingolimod Administration in a Genetic Model of Cognitive Deficits

Notwithstanding recent advances, cognitive impairments are among the most difficult-to-treat symptoms in neuropsychiatric disorders. Deficits in information processing contributing to memory and sociability impairments are found across neuropsychiatric-related disorders. Previously, we have shown that mutations in the DTNBP1 gene (encoding dystrobrevin-binding protein 1 [dysbindin-1]) lead to abnormalities in synaptic glutamate release in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus and to cognitive deficits; glutamatergic transmission is important for cortical recurrent excitation that allows information processing in the PFC. To investigate possible means of restoring glutamate release and improving cognitive impairments, we assess the effects of increasing endogenous levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in a dysbindin-1-deficient mouse model. Increasing endogenous levels of BDNF may aid in remediating cognitive deficits, given the roles of BDNF in synaptic transmission, plasticity, and neuroprotection. To increase BDNF, we use a novel strategy, repeated intraperitoneal injections of fingolimod (Gilenya). Sphingolipids have recently been shown to have therapeutic value in several neurology-related disorders. Both wild-type (WT) and mutant (MUT) genotypes were tested for sociability and recognition memory, followed by measuring endogenous BDNF levels and presynaptic [Ca2+ ]i within the PFC. Both genotypes were treated for 1 week with either saline or fingolimod. Relative to WT mice, MUT mice demonstrated impairments in sociability and recognition memory and lower presynaptic calcium. After fingolimod treatment, MUT mice exhibited significant improvements in sociability and recognition memory and increases in presynaptic calcium and endogenous concentrations of BDNF. These results show promise for counteracting the cognitive impairments seen in neuropsychiatric disorders and may shed light on the role of dysbindin-1. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Securing Recognizers for Rich Video Applications

Cameras have become nearly ubiquitous with the rise of smartphones and laptops. New wearable devices, such as Google Glass, focus directly on using live video data to enable augmented reality and contextually enabled services. However, granting applications full access to video data exposes more information than is necessary for their functionality, introducing privacy risks. We propose a privilege-separation architecture for visual recognizer applications that encourages modularization and least privilege---separating the recognizer logic, sandboxing it to restrict filesystem and network access, and restricting what it can extract from the raw video data. We designed and implemented a prototype that separates the recognizer and application modules and evaluated our architecture on a set of 17 computer-vision applications. Our experiments show that our prototype incurs low overhead for each of these applications, reduces some of the privacy risks associated with these applications, and in some cases can actually increase the performance due to increased parallelism and concurrency.
The chemical code

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Can Renal Biopsy Be Used to Estimate Total Nephron Number

With campaigns directed toward the global burden of kidney disease as a focus of the World Congress of Nephrology and the developmental programming of cardiovascular and kidney disease in populations worldwide, we see a surge in the medical literature to describe and validate methods to quantify
Enhanced hemodynamic responses to angiotensin II in diabetes are associated with increased expression and activity of AT1 receptors in the afferent arteriole

The prevalence of hypertension is about twofold higher in diabetic than in nondiabetic subjects. Hypertension aggravates the progression of diabetic complications, especially diabetic nephropathy. ...
Understanding Mental Illness Stigma Toward Persons With Multiple Stigmatized Conditions: Implications of Intersectionality Theory.

People with mental illness are often members of multiple stigmatized social groups. Therefore, experienced disadvantage might not be determined solely by mental illness stigma. Nevertheless, most a...
Maternal Involvement in Residential Day Treatment

This study investigated the relationship between maternal locus of control and maternal involvement in children's residential day treatment and found that mothers who believed in their power to eff...
Time-varying whole-brain functional network connectivity coupled to task engagement

Brain functional connectivity (FC), as measured by blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) signal, fluctuates at the scale of 10s of seconds. It has recently been found that whole-brain dynamic FC...
CD34− Orbital Fibroblasts From Patients With Thyroid-Associated Ophthalmopathy Modulate TNF-α Expression in CD34+ Fibroblasts and Fibrocytes

Purpose Orbital fibroblasts from patients with Graves' disease (GD-OF) express many different cytokines when treated with bovine thyrotropin (bTSH). The present study aimed to determine why TNF-α cannot be induced by bTSH in GD-OF. Methods Fibrocytes and GD-OFs were cultivated from donors who were patients in a busy academic medical center practice. Real-time PCR, Western blot analysis, reporter gene assays, cell transfections, mRNA stability assays, ELISA, and flow cytometry were performed. Results We found that bTSH induces TNF-α dramatically in fibrocytes but is undetectable in GD-OF. The induction in fibrocytes is a consequence of increased TNF-α gene promoter activity and is independent of ongoing protein synthesis. It could be attenuated by dexamethasone and the IGF-1 receptor inhibiting antibody, teprotumumab. When separated into pure CD34+ OF and CD34- OF subsets, TNF-α mRNA became highly inducible by bTSH in CD34+ OF but remained undetectable in CD34- OF. Conditioned medium from CD34- OF inhibited induction of TNF-α in fibrocytes. Conclusions Our data indicate that CD34- OF appear to release a soluble(s) factor that downregulates expression and induction by bTSH of TNF-α in fibrocytes and their derivative CD34+ OF. We proffer that CD34- OF produce an unidentified modulatory factor that attenuates TNF-α expression in GD-OF and may do so in the TAO orbit.
Big-Game Hunting in Human Evolution: The Traditional View

The “Holy Trinity” of human evolution – hunting, meat-eating, and the animal protein thereby derived – in some form or other has dominated our view of human origins and evolution for well over a century. From Darwin’s pioneering look at humans as predators in The Decent of Man (1871), to a precocious series of late nineteenth- and very early twentieth-century precursors to Dart’s (1957) bone-wielding killer-ape hypothesis (Morris 1886; Campbell 1904; Read 1914; interestingly summarized in Cartmill 1993), to Ardrey’s (1961) highly controversial popularization of Dart’s ideas, to Washburn and Lancaster’s (1968) rather amusing (and sexist) attempt to attribute virtually everything “human” to our zest for hunting, to almost every contemporary textbook treatment in paleoanthropology, the ever-more-effective pursuit of large game stands at the very core of our perceived understanding of how we came to be what we are. True, our views about hunting and meat-eating have shifted and morphed in myriad ways over the decades. Yet, through all of its many transformations and reconfigurations, at times influenced as much by issues of gender and feminism, and even political correctness, as by empirical findings in the fossil and archaeological records (see discussions, for example, in Cartmill 1993; Hart and Sussman 2008; Slocum 1975; Sussman 1999; Wrangham and Peterson 1996; Zihlman 1978), the Man the Hunter (or Man the Scavenger) focus remains very much alive and well (e.g., Bramble and Lieberman 2004; Bunn 2007a; Larsen 2003; Leonard et al. 2007a, b; Milton 1999, 2003; Pickering and Bunn 2007; Stanford 1999).
The value of red light at night for increasing basil yield

Sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is primarily used for culinary purposes, but it is also used in the fragrance and medicinal industries. In the last few years, global sweet basil production has be...
Susan Glaspell's Poetics and Politics of Rebellion by Emeline Jouve (review)

Susan Glaspell’s Poetics and Politics of Rebellion is an expansive critical study of Glaspell’s dramatic oeuvre as a drama of rebellion, treating of the various rebellion(s) staged by Glaspell and ...
Spontaneous Resolution of Symptomatic Hepatic Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory process of unknown etiology, characterized by noncaseating granulomas. Isolated extrapulmonary disease is rare. We present a case of a 60-year-old woman with chronically elevated alkaline phosphatase. Upon obtaining a liver biopsy, granulomatous hepatitis was observed, suggestive of sarcoidosis. No particular treatment was initiated, and 3 years following the onset of elevated alkaline phosphatase, her levels decreased spontaneously.
Adverse effect of material absorption on stopped light hollow waveguides with negative index metamaterial cladding

We theoretically analyze the influence of absorption losses on a hollow waveguide with negative index cladding. The losses modify the waveguide dispersion relations; thereby it has a significant effect on the ability to stop the light. The negative index metamaterial cladding with reasonable absorption losses indicates that the losses render the light trapping difficult in such waveguides.
In-situ investigation and modeling of electrochemical reactions with simultaneous oxygen and hydrogen microbubble evolutions in water electrolysis

Abstract The development of water electrolyzer is challenging as we approach theoretical limits arising from electrochemical reactions and micro-scale bubble dynamics. In this research, two-phase flow and bubble dynamics are in-situ studied in a special designed single-channel electrolyzer. The devices fabricated by a 3D printer provide a whole vision of the electrochemical reaction within the channel. In-situ observations of channel-scale hydrogen and oxygen micro-bubbles dynamics are conducted, and the whole process of hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs) and oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) are simultaneously studied. The results indicate that all bubbles generate at the interface between the proton exchange membrane and the electrode wire, and the operating conditions have a great impact on the micro bubble evolution process. The bubble detachment diameter is inversely proportional to the flow velocity, but is in direct proportion to the current density. Finally, a mathematic model has been developed, and shows a good agreement with experimental data. Those results could help to better understand the bubble evolution mechanism, in order to further understand the electrochemical reaction.
Reactivation of Epstein-Barr Virus Hepatitis in T/Natural Killer (NK) Cells Mimicking Liver T/NK-Cell Lymphoma

Diagnosis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated hepatitis, chronic active EBV infection, and EBV-associated lymphoproliferative diseases, is always challenging due to the overlapping symptoms and lack of diagnostic criteria. We report such a case of a 40-year-old man with unremarkable past medical history. He presented with fever of unknown origin for 1 month with jaundice for 2 days. Physical exams were unremarkable with body temperature at 98.6 °F. His liver function tests were elevated with alanine transaminase (ALT) 559 U/L, aspartate transaminase (AST) 892 U/L, alkaline phosphatase 319 U/L and total bilirubin 4.4 mg/dL. Computed tomography of his chest, abdomen and pelvis did not show lymphadenopathy or hepatosplenomegaly. A liver biopsy showed moderately acute hepatitis with hemophagocytosis, positive Epstein-Barr virus encoding RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization in CD3 and CD4-positive T cells and CD56-positive natural killer (NK) cells. CD20 was negative. The pathology diagnosis was consistent with reactivation of EBV hepatitis but NK-cell lymphoma needs to be excluded. Steatohepatitis with mild activity was present. His blood EBV DNA was 846,000 copies/mL and continued to increase to 2,000,000 copies/mL. Flow cytometric analysis of his bone marrow revealed an increased NK-cell activity but no T/NK-cell lymphoma was identified. Initial treatment with rituxan, etoposide and/or ruxolitinib/acyclovir failed or only had limited effect. However, subsequent valganciclovir greatly improved his conditions. In his 3 months follow-up, the patient was doing well with almost normal liver function tests except mildly elevated ALT (95 U/L) that was due to mild steatohepatitis. EBV DNA PCR was 2,009 copies/mL. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first documented case with reactivation of EBV hepatitis mimicking NK-cell lymphoma in the English literature. With appropriate anti-EBV viral treatments, the patient eventually became asymptomatic and was able to return to his routine life.
Adapting Strategies for Optimal Intervention Implementation in Nursing Homes: A Formative Evaluation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Nursing homes pose unique challenges for implementation of research and quality improvement (QI). We previously demonstrated successful implementation of a nursing home-led intervention to improve relationships between frontline staff and residents in 6 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Community Living Centers (CLCs). This article discusses early adaptations made to the intervention and its implementation to enhance frontline staff participation. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS This is a formative evaluation of intervention implementation at the first 2 participating CLCs. Formative evidence-including site visitors' field notes, implementation facilitation records, and semistructured frontline staff interviews-were collected throughout the study period. Data analysis was informed by the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior model of behavior change. RESULTS Adaptations were made to 5 a priori intervention implementation strategies: (a) training leaders, (b) training frontline staff, (c) adapting the intervention to meet local needs, (d) auditing and providing feedback, and (e) implementation facilitation. On the basis of a 6-month implementation period at the first CLC, we identified elements of the intervention and aspects of the implementation strategies that could be adapted to facilitate frontline staff participation at the second CLC. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS Incremental implementation, paired with ongoing formative evaluation, proved critical to enhancing capability, opportunity, and motivation among frontline staff. In elucidating what was required to initiate and sustain the nursing home-led intervention, we provide a blueprint for responding to emergent challenges when performing research and QI in the nursing home setting.
Utility and safety of balloon-assisted enteroscopy in patients with left ventricular assist devices: a retrospective multicenter study

Objective and study aims Patients with left-ventricular assist devices (LVADs) have an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, especially from the small bowel, often necessitating evaluation with balloon-assisted enteroscopy (BAE). Our study aimed to assess the periprocedural safety and utility of BAE for gastrointestinal bleeding in patients with LVADs. Patients and methods This was a multicenter retrospective cohort study of adults with LVADs who underwent BAE between January 2007 to December 2018. Results Thirty-four patients underwent a total of 46 BAEs (9 were single-balloon enteroscopies [SBEs] and 37 were double-balloon enteroscopies [DBEs]). Mean age of patients was 66.4 ± 8.3 years. Patients tolerated anesthesia well, without complications. There were no complications from the BAE itself. One patient required repeat BAE due to a progressive drop in hemoglobin and another patient developed paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia. One patient died within 72 hours of the procedure due to worsening of LVAD thrombosis. Diagnostic yields were 69.6 % for all procedures, 73.0 % for DBE and 55.6 % for SBE (P = 0.309). Therapeutic yields were 67.4 % overall: 73.0 % for DBE and 44.4 % for SBE (P = 0.102). In those that presented with overt gastrointestinal bleeding, DBE had a higher diagnostic yield compared to SBE (84.2 % vs. 42.9 %; P = 0.057) and a significantly higher therapeutic yield (84.2 % vs. 28.6 %; p = 0.014). Conclusions This is the largest multicenter study of patients with LVADs who underwent DBE. BAE appears to be a safe and useful modality for the evaluation of gastrointestinal bleeding in these patients.
Preliminary evidence of environmental changes at Lake Bambili (Cameroon, West Africa) since 24,000 BP

Preliminary analyses of diatoms, phytoliths, and siliceous protozoan plate records in a 16 m sediment core from Lake Bambili (Cameroon, West Africa; 2264 m AMSL) provide evidence of pronounced climatic changes in the West Cameroon Highlands since ~24,000 14 C yrs BP. Percentages of planktonic diatoms rose with increased precipitation:evaporation ratios around 24,000 BP, ~15,000-9500 BP, and ~2400-2000 BP. Since 15,000 BP, Bambili appears to have experienced climatic changes of comparable timing and magnitude, but with signs in opposition to those registered in the West African lowlands. Much of this pattern may be attributable to variability in montane stratiform cloud formation, which in turn is related to paleo-wind regimes and upwelling dynamics in the Gulf of Guinea.
Effect of Blood Product Transfusion on Perioperative Outcomes After Heart Transplantation.

OBJECTIVE(S) The objective of this study was to identify transfusion-related in-hospital outcomes in orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) recipients. DESIGN Retrospective chart review. SETTING Tertiary care hospital. PARTICIPANTS Adult OHT recipients undergoing transplantation between January 2010 and December 2016. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS The primary composite outcome was occurrence of any of the following events during admission for OHT: (1) graft dysfunction requiring mechanical circulatory support (MCS); (2) respiratory failure requiring tracheostomy; (3) renal failure requiring hemodialysis; (4) 30-day mortality; (5) complication requiring readmission to intensive care unit; (6) sepsis; and (7) stroke. The authors evaluated these outcomes in relation to all blood component transfusions received intraoperatively and in the first 24 hours postoperatively. The study included 197 patients and the primary composite outcome was present in 72 (36.6%). After adjusting for propensity score, red blood cell (RBC) transfusion was associated with composite outcomes (odds ratio [OR] 1.17, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05-1.31, p = 0.004), postoperative MCS use (OR 1.36, 95% CI 1.18-1.58, p < 0.001), acute renal failure requiring hemodialysis (OR 1.21, 5% CI 1.06-1.38, p = 0.004), and 30-day mortality (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.05-1.59, p = 0.02). Fresh frozen plasma was associated with composite outcome (OR 1.07, 95% CI [1.003-1.15], p = 0.042) and renal failure (OR 1.08, 95% CI 1.08 [1.002-1.17], p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS Intra- and postoperative transfusions (first 24 hours) of RBC and FFP were associated with adverse postoperative composite outcomes in patients undergoing OHT.
COVID-19: A Driver for Disruptive Innovation of the Emergency Medicine Residency Application Process

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on undergraduate medical education with limitation of patient care activities and disruption to medical licensing examinations. In an effort to promote both safety and equity, the emergency medicine (EM) community has recommended no away rotations for EM applicants and entirely virtual interviews during this year's residency application cycle. These changes affect the components of the EM residency application most highly regarded by program directors - Standardized Letters of Evaluation from EM rotations, board scores, and interactions during the interview. The Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine Application Process Improvement Committee suggests solutions not only for the upcoming year but also to address longstanding difficulties within the process, encouraging residency programs to leverage these challenges as an opportunity for disruptive innovation.
A mechanism for the amplification of interface distortions on liquid jets

A novel mechanism for the amplification of distortions to the material interface of liquid jets is identified. The mechanism is independent of the exponential instability of the flow and can intensify small perturbations to the material interface by several orders of magnitude. Depending on the parameters, it can amplify interfacial distortions at a faster pace than modal mechanisms such as the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability. The study is based on spatial linear stability theory in a two-fluid formulation that accounts for the effects of both viscosity and surface tension. The analysis of the mechanism is cast into an optimization problem in the surface tension energy of the interface distortion and discounts the trivial redistribution of perturbation kinetic energy. The identified mechanism is related to the Orr mechanism, and amplifies distortions to the material interface via a reorientation of perturbations by the mean shear. Analyses of the linearized energy budgets show that energy is extracted from the mean shear by the production term of the streamwise perturbation velocity component and subsequently transferred to the radial perturbation velocity component, where it is absorbed by the surface tension potential of the interface. The gain in surface tension energy attributable to the mechanism is shown to scale linearly with the Reynolds number. A critical Weber number is identified as a lower bound beyond which the mechanism becomes active, and a power-law relation to the Reynolds number is established. Nonlinear simulations based on the full two-fluid Navier–Stokes equations substantiate the observability and realizability of the mechanism.
THE MARGINAL IMPACT AND SPILLOVER EFFECTS OF INCREASED EXPENDITURE ON CYBER SECURITY IN US IT INDUSTRY AND GDP GROWTH RATES

Using simple baseline econometric equations and marginal impact differentials, the study finds that expenditure on cyber security increased over the period (2010 – 2019) to enhance security in cyber ecosystem. Furthermore, some of the legacy systems that are deployed for cyber defense are very porous and ineffective. In 2019, the threat continued to evolve and the complexities continued to increase. The expenditure variable shows positive relationship with IT growth rate. However, the marginal analysis does not indicate positive marginal impact on productivity growth rate in the US IT industry for eight years out of ten. The data show negative marginal impact for eight years except 2014 and 2017. The major reason is that these funds are spent on the protection of cyber ecosystem and not in the expansion of cyber / IT industry products. The spillover effect of this huge spending impacted positively on US GDP and increased its economic growth rate throughout the period of study.
Graph Convolutional Neural Networks for Power Line Outage Identification

In this paper, we consider the power line outage identification problem as a graph signal classification problem, where the signal at each vertex is given as a time series. We propose graph convolutional networks (GCNs) for the task of classifying signals supported on graphs. An important element of the GCN design is filter design. We consider filtering signals in either the vertex (spatial) domain, or the frequency (spectral) domain. Two basic architectures are proposed. In the spatial GCN architecture, the GCN uses a graph shift operator as the basic building block to incorporate the underlying graph structure into the convolution layer. The spatial filter directly utilizes the graph connectivity information. It defines the filter to be a polynomial in the graph shift operator to obtain the convolved features that aggregate neighborhood information of each node. In the spectral GCN architecture, a frequency filter is used instead. A graph Fourier transform operator first transforms the raw graph signal from the vertex domain to the frequency domain, and then a filter is defined using the graph's spectral parameters. The spectral GCN then uses the output from the graph Fourier transform to compute the convolved features. There are additional challenges to classify the time-evolving graph signal as the signal value at each vertex changes over time. The GCNs are designed to recognize different spatiotemporal patterns from high-dimensional data defined on a graph. The application of the proposed methods to power line outage identification shows that these GCN architectures can successfully classify abnormal signal patterns and identify the outage location.
Bayesian Approach to Non-ignorable Missingness in Latent Growth Models

Latent growth curve models (LGCMs) are becoming increasingly important among growth models because they can effectively capture individuals' latent growth trajectories and also explain the factors that influence such growth by analyzing the repeatedly measured manifest variables. However, with the increase in complexity of LGCMs, there is an increase in issues on model estimation. This research proposes a Bayesian approach to LGCMs to address the perennial problem of almost all longitudinal research, namely, missing data. First, different missingness models are formulated. We focus on non-ignorable missingness in this article. Specifically, these models include the latent intercept dependent missingness, the latent slope dependent missingness, and the potential outcome dependent missingness. To implement the model estimation, this study proposes a full Bayesian approach through data augmentation algorithm and Gibbs sampling procedure. Simulation studies are conducted and results show that the proposed method accurately recover model parameters and the mis-specified missingness may result in severely misleading conclusions. Finally, the implications of the approach and future research directions are discussed.
Anglicizing America: Empire, Revolution, Republic

Introduction -Ignacio Gallup-Diaz, Andrew Shankman, and David J. Silverman PART I. ANGLICIZATION Chapter 1. England and Colonial America: A Novel Theory of the American Revolution -John M. Murrin Chapter 2. A Synthesis Useful and Compelling: Anglicization and the Achievement of John M. Murrin -Andrew Shankman PART II. EMPIRE Chapter 3. "In Great Slavery and Bondage": White Labor and the Development of Plantation Slavery in British America -Simon P. Newman Chapter 4. Anglicizing the League: The Writing of Cadwallader Colden's History of the Five Indian Nations -William Howard Carter Chapter 5. A Medieval Response to a Wilderness Need: Anglicizing Warfare in Colonial America -Geoffrey Plank PART III. REVOLUTION Chapter 6. Anglicanism, Dissent, and Toleration in Eighteenth-Century British Colonies -Nancy L. Rhoden Chapter 7. Anglicization Against the Empire: Revolutionary Ideas and Identity in Townshend Crisis Massachusetts -Jeremy A. Stern PART IV. REPUBLIC Chapter 8. Racial Walls: Race and the Emergence of American White Nationalism -David J. Silverman Chapter 9. De-Anglicization: The Jeffersonian Attack on an American Naval Establishment -Denver Brunsman Chapter 10. Anglicization and the American Taxpayer, c. 1763-1815 -Anthony M. Joseph Conclusion. Anglicization Reconsidered -Ignacio Gallup-Diaz Notes List of Contributors Index Acknowledgments
Polysaccharide-Degrading Phages

This chapter discusses some of the recent developments and ideas and focuses on phages that possess virion-bound capsule depolymerization activities rather than those that simply bind to surface carbohydrate structures. The best-characterized polysaccharide-degrading phages are those that infect various strains of Escherichia coli. Polysaccharide-degrading phages were also isolated from other gram-negative bacteria, and in the case of Klebsiella, a tremendous amount of diversity was found. Probably the most structurally characterized extracellular polysaccharide-degrading phage tail protein is the lysogenic Salmonella P22 tailspike. The crystal structures of both the catalytic domain and the head-binding domain have been solved. P22, Sf6, and related phages are lysogenic, have very little biological or sequence relationship to the SP6 group, and based on their tail protein structures, may be categorized as their own distinct group. We may find that multispecific phages encoding more than one tail protein are fairly widespread. While much of this work can be done by the use of molecular techniques, phage typing is still a rapid and reliable method for identifying capsular antigens. In a recent study, a phage endosialidase (endo E) was used as an antibacterial to treat infections by E. coli 1 strains. Phages have long been known to play a role in bacterial pathogenesis by transducing virulence factors such as toxin genes.
Long-lived emission in Mn doped CdS, ZnS, and ZnSe diluted magnetic semiconductor quantum dots

Abstract Slow luminescence is studied in Mn doped CdS, ZnS, and ZnSe quantum dots. Because of the high degeneracy of Mn d-orbitals, we employ the multi-determinant SAC–CI computational method to determine the spin-forbidden transition from the 4 T 1 first excited to 6 A 1 ground state. We find that the transition energies for each material are in the excellent agreement with the experimental data. The computations reveal that the absorption spectra are independent of the presence of Mn impurities in quantum dots. The calculations show that the Mn impurity levels are located inside the QD gaps and the slow emission energies are independent of QD sizes. These features allow us to conclude that there are two luminescence peaks in the spectrum with fast (the higher energy) and slow (the lower energy) relaxations. In experiments sometimes the fast luminescence band disappears. This effect depends on Mn concentrations and a doping method. For different QD crystal structures the Mn–S (Se) bond lengths can vary. Therefore we find that the slow luminescence energy is very sensitive to a bond length. Indeed if we change the Mn–S bond length by 0.1 A , the energy increases by 0.2 eV within the calculated range of bond lengths.
Post Walrasian Macroeconomics: Social Interactions and Macroeconomics

This essay discusses how the growing literature on social interactions can be used in macroeconomics. This new literature represents a systematic effort to introduce sociological reasoning into economic contexts. Theoretical and empirical analyses of social interactions have proven valuable in understanding a range of aspects of individual decisionmaking and have been useful in understanding aggregate phenomena such as inequality. We describe the basic ideas underlying social interactions models and speculate on how macroeconomics might benefit from incorporating this perspective. William A. Brock Department of Economics University of Wisconsin 1180 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706-1393 wbrock@ssc.wisc.edu Steven N. Durlauf Department of Economics University of Wisconsin 1180 Observatory Drive Madison, WI 53706-1393 sdurlauf@ssc.wisc.edu Political economy...finds the laws underlying a mass of contingent occurrences. It is an interesting spectacle to observe here how all of the interconnections have repercussions on others, how the particular spheres fall into groups, influence others, and are helped or hindered by these. This interaction, which at first sight seems incredible since everything seems to depend on the arbitrary will of the individual, is particularly worthy of note... G. W. F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right
Modeling and synthesis of human growth hormone secretion mechanism using CAD tools

In this paper we present a hardware realization of a simplified human growth hormone (HGH) secretion mechanism. The mechanism is developed into a flowchart and then modeled using hardware descriptive language (HDL). HDL behavioral modeling is implemented to simulate the behavior of the mechanism on the computer's screen. After verifying the simulation results, computer aided design (CAD) tools are used to synthesize the mechanism onto Xilinx FPGAs chip. The chip is tested by inputting signals with values corresponding to the concentration of GHRH and the concentration of SRIF. A user-selected output pins on the chip show the concentration of HGH and the concentration of IGF-I. The outputs are compared with those generated by the simulation. Both the simulation and the chip generate identical patterns. We conclude that the chip mimics the HGH mechanism. The chip after synthesize is a stand-alone system that does not need a computer for operation. The chip operates on a real time basis.
The Scope of Motivation and the Basis of Practical Reason

The topic of motivation is central both in psychology and in the broad philosophical area where philosophy of mind and action overlaps moral psychology and normative ethics. Whatever else motivation is, it is manifested in our motives, and they in turn are crucial in explaining our actions, in appraising our character, and, on some views, in determining the rationality of what we do. Many kinds of things have been called motives: desires, emotions, attitudes, beliefs, and other common elements in human psychology, as well as things that are only indirectly psychological, such as theft and competition, which entail essentially motivated action but are not themselves motives. In part because of this diversity, it remains less than fully clear what motivation is.1 I believe, moreover, that even if we achieve a good account of it, important questions will remain concerning its role in the philosophy of action and the theory of practical reason. I am especially interested in the question whether there are certain kinds of objects of motivation, most notably pleasure and pain, that are essential or even foundational for motivation. For instance, are all motives ultimately hedonic, as many have thought? And quite apart from this, does every hedonic experience produce motivation?
Effect of ascorbic acid treatment on conduit vessel endothelial dysfunction in patients with hypertension

Hypertension is associated with low plasma ascorbic acid levels and impaired endothelial function. Recent evidence suggests that increased vascular oxidative stress contributes to the pathophysiolo...
Integrated, systems metabolic picture of acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum

Microbial metabolism involves complex, system-level processes implemented via the orchestration of metabolic reactions, gene regulation, and environmental cues. One canonical example of such processes is acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum, during which cells convert carbon sources to organic acids that are later reassimilated to produce solvents as a strategy for cellular survival. The complexity and systems nature of the process have been largely underappreciated, rendering challenges in understanding and optimizing solvent production. Here, we present a system-level computational framework for ABE fermentation that combines metabolic reactions, gene regulation, and environmental cues. We developed the framework by decomposing the entire system into three modules, building each module separately, and then assembling them back into an integrated system. During the model construction, a bottom-up approach was used to link molecular events at the single-cell level into the events at the population level. The integrated model was able to successfully reproduce ABE fermentations of the WT C. acetobutylicum (ATCC 824), as well as its mutants, using data obtained from our own experiments and from literature. Furthermore, the model confers successful predictions of the fermentations with various network perturbations across metabolic, genetic, and environmental aspects. From foundation to applications, the framework advances our understanding of complex clostridial metabolism and physiology and also facilitates the development of systems engineering strategies for the production of advanced biofuels.
Vietnamese American Literature in English, 1963-1994

Fortunately, it now goes without saying that in order to understand America's involvement with Viet Nam, and/or Vietnamese American culture, it is crucial that we listen to Vietnamese and Vietnamese American voices themselves. However, in practice, many who teach and research in this field have found obstacles to working with Vietnamese American literature, not least of which is the simple lack of knowledge about what is available. Since 1963, over 100 volumes of literature in English have been published by Vietnamese American authors, a figure that may surprise even scholars in the field. I hope here to offer a map of the first generation of Vietnamese American literature in English, from the period of 1963-1994, that will encourage further research and teaching in this area. Rather than offering bibliographic annotations or summaries of each work, I will delineate common themes and techniques. I also suggest that obstacles to this literature becoming well known have had an ideological as well as practic...
A novel online didactic curriculum helps improve knowledge acquisition among non-emergency medicine rotating residents.

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2011; 18:53–59 © 2011 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine Abstract Objectives: Rotating residents represent a significant proportion of housestaff in academic emergency departments (EDs), yet they rarely receive targeted didactic education during their emergency medicine (EM) rotations. The goals of this study were: 1) to determine the effectiveness of an online didactic curriculum in improving EM knowledge among rotating residents and 2) to assess rotating resident satisfaction with this curriculum. Methods: The authors created an online lecture series of six EM subject areas targeted to rotating residents called the Northwestern University Rotating Resident Curriculum (NURRC). All rotating residents at the study site were eligible, written consent was obtained, and the study was approved by the institutional review board. Consenting participants were pretested with a 42-question multiple-choice examination and then randomized to two groups: one with access to the NURRC during the first 2 weeks of the rotation (experimental) and one without (control). Halfway through the rotation, all participants were posttested with a different multiple-choice examination, and the controls were then granted NURRC access. The primary outcome was the difference between pretest and posttest scores (score delta). The t-test was used to compare mean scores, and a linear regression model was used to determine the association of NURRC access on score delta after adjustment for pretest type and resident type. A postintervention survey was administered at the end of the rotation to assess satisfaction with the NURRC and collect suggestions for improvement. Results: Fifty-four rotating residents were enrolled: 29 in the experimental group and 25 in the control group. There was no significant difference in pretest scores between the two groups. Mean score delta was 17.3% in the experimental group and 1.6% in the control group, an absolute difference of 15.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 10% to 22%). After adjustment for resident type and pretest type, the only variable positively associated with the primary outcome was NURRC access. Third-year and preliminary-year internal medicine (IM) residents demonstrated the greatest absolute improvement in score delta when granted NURRC access. Eighty percent of the participants responded to the satisfaction survey. Over 80% of the survey respondents approved of each component lecture and of the NURRC overall. Conclusions: After exposure to an online didactic curriculum, rotating residents demonstrated a significant increase in EM knowledge and reported a high level of satisfaction with the didactic program.
UMLGrader: an automated class diagram grader

We present UMLGrader, a system designed to provide automated feedback to students on class diagrams written in the Unified Modeling Language (UML). Given a diagram which is constructed to model a tightly constrained problem, the tool compares the diagram against a standard solution and provides feedback on missing elements and other errors. This supports using canned exercises to familiarize students with UML notation. We discuss tool requirements, our experiences with using it in a class at the sophomore/junior level, and possible future improvements.
Metamathematics, Machines and Gödel's Proof

1. Introduction 2. The statement of the incompleteness theorem 3. Derived inference rules 4. The representability of metatheory 5. The undecidable sentence 6. A mechanical proof of the Church-Rosser theorem 7. Conclusions.
Girl prodigies: Some evidence and some speculations

While the prodigy phenomenon has recently begun to receive attention, the gifts and fates of girl prodigies have largely remained unnoted. This article represents an effort to call attention to the existence of extraordinary talent in young girls by collecting, for the first time, a number of cases of girls’ early prodigious achievements. The ways in which the cultural milieu impacts the appearance and development of girl prodigies are discussed, including: (a) cultural support for girls’ achievements; (b) educational opportunities,” and [c] the media which influence the kinds of individuals singled out for public attention. The author wishes to thank Margaret L. Adams, T.J. Anderson, Jeanne Bamberger, Jie‐Qi Chen, John Collins, David Henry Feldman, Mark Ogonowski and Ronald E. Walton for their suggestions and comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Support for the preparation of the article was provided by a grant from the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation to David Henry Feldman.
Clearer connections: toward improved understanding of neural communications with the heart and their involvement in arrhythmias and sudden death.

Although the importance of neural mechanisms in the genesis of cardiac arrhythmias and onset of sudden cardiac death (SCD) has long been a topic of interest,1 new findings have renewed expectations that improved understanding of cardiac neural connections will provide needed effective ways to treat and prevent ventricular arrhythmias and SCD. Diurnal changes in the occurrence of cardiac sudden death, for example, have been recognized,2-4 and beta-blocker use blunts the morning peak in SCD.5 These findings and the results of several other basic and clinical studies suggest that the surge of sympathetic activity associated with wakefulness is important in ventricular arrhythmogenesis. In addition, several investigators (Cao et al.,6 Chen et al.,7 Chiladakis et al.,8 Jardine et al.9) suggest that neural remodeling in patients following myocardial infarction is important to the initiation of ventricular arrhythmias culminating in SCD. For example, Stanton et al.10 described regional sympathetic denervation in patients after myocardial infarction, and they speculated that this is related to ventricular tachyarrhythmia onset. In support of these concepts, Chen et al.7 developed the “nerve sprout hypothesis of cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death,” which assumes that myocardial infarction, and disease processes causing oxidative stress, result in cardiac nerve injury, followed by increased expression of neurotrophic genes that lead to sympathetic nerve sprouting in the stellate ganglia and cardiac intrinsic sympathetic ganglia. These investigators further suggest that augmented sympathetic nerve sprouting in remodeled myocardium increases the propensity toward development of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. More specifically, Chen et al.7 speculate that increased nerve growth factor (NGF) production resulting from increased neurotrophic gene expression induced by ischemic injury or oxidative stress promotes sympathetic nerve survival and differentiation. They hypothesize that increased NGF production results in heterogeneous cardiac nerve sprouting and myocardial sympathetic hyperinnervation. Indeed, NGF is found in ventricles,11 and the number and size of sympathetic ganglionic neurons are increased in NGFoverexpressing transgenic mice.12 The neurotrophic effects
Genetics of hearing loss: Allelism and modifier genes produce a phenotypic continuum

Recent genetic and genomic studies have greatly advanced our knowledge of the structure and function of genes involved in hearing loss. We are starting to recognize, however, that many of these genes do not appear to follow traditional Mendelian expression patterns and are subject to the effects of allelism and modifier genes. This review presents two genes illustrative of this concept that have varied expression pattern such that they may produce either syndromic or nonsyndromic hearing loss. One of these genes, cadherin 23, produces a spectrum of phenotypic traits, including presbycusis, nonsyndromic prelingual hearing loss (DFNB12), and syndromic hearing loss as part of Usher syndrome (Usher 1D). Missense mutations in CDH23 have been associated with presbycusis and DFNB12, whereas null alleles cause the majority of Usher 1D. Modifier gene products that interact with cadherin 23 also affect the phenotypic spectrum. Similarly, allelsim in the gene encoding wolframin (WFS1) causes either a nonsyndromic dominant low-frequency hearing loss (DFNA6/14/38) or Wolfram syndrome. Missense mutations within a defined region are associated with DFNA6/14/38, while more severe mutations spanning WFS1 are found in Wolfram syndrome patients. The phenotypic spectrum of Wolfram syndrome is also hypothesized to be influenced by modifier genes products. These studies provide increasing evidence for the importance of modifier genes in elucidating the functional pathways of primary hearing loss genes. Characterizing modifier genes may result in better treatment options for patients with hearing loss and define new diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Ultra-High Temperature Processing and Aseptic Packaging of Dairy Products

Abstract This status summary was prepared for participants in a National Workshop on Research Opportunities for the Dairy Foods Industry held in Berkeley, CA, November 1986. It presents brief discussions of regulations that influence progress in commercial manufacture of UHT products, equipment, and processes used in the US and elsewhere, changes in products during UHT processing and storage, some economic and consumer-related considerations, quality assurance for UHT products, and suggestions for future research.