cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Adaptive control of manipulator interaction with environment: theory and experiments

The role of adaptive controllers for controlling the force as well as the contact behavior of manipulators is examined. It is shown how the standard model-reference adaptive control (MRAC) scheme can be employed to explicitly control the force of contact for a linear system despite unknown stiffness. This is extended to the impedance control of the end-effector in contact with a similar environment. Also analyzed is an interesting case where the system achieves explicit force control as well as the desired impedance through adaptive control within the MRAC framework. It is shown that similar results hold for an end-effector with nonlinear dynamics, provided a specially-designed robust adaptive controller is used. Both simulations and experiments are performed to validate theoretical conclusions. >
Parenting in the neonatal intensive care unit

ABSTRACT Objective A systematic review of the literature was conducted to answer the following 2 questions: (a) What are the needs of parents who have infants in the neonatal intensive care unit? (b) What behaviors support parents with an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit? Data Sources Using the search terms "parents or parenting" and the "neonatal intensive care unit," computer library databases including Medline and CINAHL were searched for qualitative and quantitative studies. Only research published in English between 1998 and 2008 was included in the review. Study Selection Based on the inclusion criteria, 60 studies were selected. Data Extraction Study contents were analyzed with the 2 research questions in mind. Data Synthesis Existing research was organized into 1 of 3 tables based on the question answered. Nineteen articles addressed the first question, 24 addressed the second, and 17 addressed both. Conclusions Six needs were identified for parents who had an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit: (a) accurate information and inclusion in the infant's care, (b) vigilant watching-over and protecting the infant, (c) contact with the infant, (d) being positively perceived by the nursery staff, (e) individualized care, and (f) a therapeutic relationship with the nursing staff. Four nursing behaviors were identified to assist parents in meeting these needs: (a) emotional support, (b) parent empowerment, (c) a welcoming environment with supportive unit policies, and (d) parent education with an opportunity to practice new skills through guided participation.
The influence of queen age and quality during queen replacement in honeybee colonies.

Abstract Honeybee, Apis mellifera , colonies replace their queens by constructing many queen cells and then eliminating supernumerary queens until only one remains. The ages of the queens and the variation in their reproductive potential are important factors in the outcome of such events. Selection would favour colonies that requeen as quickly as possible to minimize the brood hiatus, therefore selecting for queens reared from older larvae. Conversely, reproductive potential (queen ‘quality’) is maximized by rearing queens from younger larvae. This potential trade-off was tested during two phases of queen replacement, namely queen rearing and polygyny reduction. Our results suggest that queen age is a significant element during both queen rearing and polygyny reduction, whereas queen quality, at least to the magnitude tested in this experiment, has little impact on the outcome of either process. The rate of queen replacement therefore appears to be an important factor in the honeybee life cycle, and further mechanisms of potential importance during this life history transition are discussed.
Nautiloid debris oriented by long‐shore currents along a late Ordovician‐early Silurian rocky shore

Siphuncular fragments from arminocerid cephalopods are abundant along 350 m of a well defined rocky shore of late Ordovician or early Silurian age exposed near Churchill in northeastern Manitoba, Canada. The paleoshore is composed of the Precambrian Churchill Quartzite, which is dramatically abutted by carbonate strata gently dipping north beneath Hudson Bay. At one end of the exposure, a former sea stack or sea arch extends prominently outward for 15 m perpendicular to the otherwise linear paleoshore. Probably it acted as a natural groin with some influence on local currents and waves. The orientations of 189 siphuncular fragments were recorded and found to be dominantly perpendicular to the trend of the ancient shore. They are far more cylindrical in shape than conical, and are interpreted to have been rolled to their final resting place pushed by long-shore currents. Concentration of nearly 80% of the fragments towards one end of the shore is consistent with transport by long-shore currents. Ripple marks preserved at a different stratigraphic level form a 45-degree angle to the trend of the paleoshore, providing additional evidence that wave trains must have set up long-shore currents from time to time.
A fractional-N PLL modulator with flexible direct digital phase modulation

A 2.6GHz fractional-N synthesizer with a flexible digital modulation scheme is presented. The PLL output is modulated by adding a digital signal directly to the output of the phase detector, in contrast to the typical method of changing the divider ratio. A pre-emphasis filter is used to allow switching rates faster than the loop bandwidth. The transmitter supports GMSK, OQPSK, BSK or any constant envelop modulation scheme. Measurements are presented at 300kBit/sec. The 0.7mm2 prototype in 0.13μm CMOS consumes 20mA from a 1.5V supply.
Carol Lasser and Stacey Robertson. Antebellum Women: Private, Public, Partisan

This anthology of documents ranging from 1791 to 1864 provides valuable first-hand evidence of women's varied activities, public and private. Lasser and Robertson's essay comprising Section I argue...
TYING THE KNOT IN THE ECONOMIC WARP OF JANE EYRE

A prominent pattern in the weave of Jane Eyre's station, attitudes, and narrative is her finances, skewed by lineage and wont. Jane's fortune and psyche are as warped when she becomes wealthy and a writer as when she was a young, anxious outcast whom poverty demeaned and challenged. Her memoirs critique religious hypocrisy, male chauvinism, and economic degradation, but also expose her pernicious outlook on matrimony and Mammon, in contrast to a proclaimed wedded bliss. “[T]he same catastrophe — marriage” (228; ch. 19) — that she wryly predicts for romances, real and fictional, is a stigma on her character. Jane Eyre records a twisted lesson about an heir straitened by serving too many masters. Jane, knowing she has mistaken wealth for a panacea, not a dangerous pharmakon, is no feminist paragon in a conventional rags-to-riches tale, but rather a disillusioned, haunted woman whose mendacity is a function and mainstay of her knotted, (under)privileged life. When she often wants “a facile word or plausible pretext… to get [herself] out of painful embarrassment” (277–78; ch. 23), candor shades into equivocation. Neither marriage nor writing makes an honest woman of her. Portraying herself as independent and principled, Jane at the end of her narrative rope seems to attain what her cousin, St. John Rivers, calls “the selfish calm and sensual comfort of civilized affluence” (417; ch. 34). However, Jane often feigns placidity, and Ferndean is “deep buried in a wood … [an] ineligible and insalubrious site … no opening anywhere” — which makes her think she “had taken a wrong direction and lost [her] way” (455; ch. 37).
Modeling pore-stiffness effects in the Middle Bakken Siltstone

Characterization of the elastic properties of the Middle Bakken Siltsone demonstrates the need to account for porestiffness effects in a seismic-based assessment of this resource play. Well data from this oil-producing interval show inconsistencies between density and velocity measurements. More specifically, the density can be modeled accurately as a function of mineralogy, porosity, and pore fluid. This same set of parameters, when used in theoretical bounds for elastic properties, over predict the bulk modulus and to some extent the shear modulus. Fracturing is the immediate choice to explain this discrepancy, and modeling results demonstrated that stiffness associated with crack-shaped pores in a lowfrequency parameterization possibly explain the bulk modulus measurements. Accordingly, it may be important to include pore-stiffness effects when predicting productive zones in the Middle Bakken from surface seismic data.
A spectral graph theoretic approach to quantification and calibration of collective morphological differences in cell images

Motivation: High-throughput image-based assay technologies can rapidly produce a large number of cell images for drug screening, but data analysis is still a major bottleneck that limits their utility. Quantifying a wide variety of morphological differences observed in cell images under different drug influences is still a challenging task because the result can be highly sensitive to sampling and noise. Results: We propose a graph-based approach to cell image analysis. We define graph transition energy to quantify morphological differences between image sets. A spectral graph theoretic regularization is applied to transform the feature space based on training examples of extremely different images to calibrate the quantification. Calibration is essential for a practical quantification method because we need to measure the confidence of the quantification. We applied our method to quantify the degree of partial fragmentation of mitochondria in collections of fluorescent cell images. We show that with transformation, the quantification can be more accurate and sensitive than that without transformation. We also show that our method outperforms competing methods, including neighbourhood component analysis and the multi-variate drug profiling method by Loo et al. We illustrate its utility with a study of Annonaceous acetogenins, a family of compounds with drug potential. Our result reveals that squamocin induces more fragmented mitochondria than muricin A. Availability: Mitochondrial cell images, their corresponding feature sets (SSLF and WSLF) and the source code of our proposed method are available at http://aiia.iis.sinica.edu.tw/. Contact: chunnan@iis.sinica.edu.tw Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Polymerization of Poly(Itaconic Acid) on Surfaces by Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization in Aqueous Solution

Poly(itaconic acid) (PIA) was grown from surface-tethered initiator sites via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The surface-tethered PIA layers were grown from hydroxyl-terminated SAMs capped with initiator molecules of 4-(chloromethyl)-benzoylchloride. This polymerization initiator molecule and a copper-based organometallic catalyst allowed tethered PIA chains to be grown via ATRP at room temperature in aqueous solutions. Ellipsometric studies and external-reflection, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ER-FTIR) confirm the presence and growth of the surface-tethered PIA layer. We describe here how changing the temperature of polymerization alters the layer growth and kinetics of the process, and demonstrate, via ER-FTIR spectroscopy, that these surface-tethered layers do bind cationic dyes through ion-exchange mechanisms.
An experiment in outpatient subspecialty medical student education

We developed a 1‐month subspecialty outpatient clinic program for third‐year medical students. The program was based on the premise that clinical education should be built on the preclinical foundation of organ‐oriented pathophysiology. The clerkship featured high volume (60 to 70 patients), library research (12 short papers), and close supervision by a mentor. Total teaching time was 10 hr/week/student. Student evaluations were obtained at the end of the rotation and on graduation. Pretest and posttest National Board of Medical Examiners scores did not distinguish clinic students from their ward peers. A year after the experience, the students reported that library research was the area in which the program had the most impact on their subsequent learning.
Phenotypic and functional characterization of hematopoietic stem cells.

Purpose of reviewThis article summarizes recent progress in understanding the developmental hierarchy of the stem cell compartment in hematopoietic organs and discusses assays and phenotypic markers that allow their identification.Recent findingsIn the past few years, we have witnessed significant p
Current Concepts in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection and AIDS

The global epidemic of AIDS has become one of the most pressing public health emergencies of this century. Initial reports of AIDS date back to 1981. However, current data suggest that AIDS has existed for at least several decades. While both forms of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), type 1
Synthetic glucagon antagonists and partial agonists

This paper reports the synthesis and the biological activities of six new glucagon analogues. In these compounds N-terminal modifications of the glucagon sequence were made, in most cases combined with changes in the C-terminal region which had been shown previously to enhance receptor affinity. The design of these analogues was based on [Lys17.18,Glu21]glucagon,1 a superagonist, which binds five times better than glucagon to the glucagon receptor, and on the potent glucagon antagonist [d-Phe4,Tyr5,Arg12]glucagon, which does not stimulate adenylate cyclase system even at very high concentrations. The N-terminal modifications involved substitution of His1 by the unnatural conformationally constrained residue, 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1H-imidazo[c]pyridine-6-carboxylic acid (Tip) and by desaminohistidine (dHis). In addition we prepared two analogues (6 and 7), in which we deleted the Phe6 residue, which was suggested to be part of a hydrophobic patch and involved in receptor binding. The following compounds were synthesized: [Tip1, Lys17.18,Glu21]glucagon (2); [Tip1,d-Phe4,Tyr5,Arg12,Lys17.18,Glu21 glucagon (3); [dHis1,d-Phe4,Tyr5,Arg12, Lys17.18,Glu21 glucagon (4); [dHis1,Asp3,d-Phe4,Tyr5,Arg12,Lys17.18,Glu21]glucagon (5); des-Phe6-[Tip1,D-Phe4,Tyr5Arg12,Glu21 glucagon (6); des-Phe6-[Asp3,d-Phe4,Tyr5,Arg12,Glu21]glucagon (7) The binding potencies of these new analogues relative to glucagon (= 100) are 3.2 (2), 2.9 (3), 10.0 (4), 1.0 (5), 8.5 (6), and 1.7 (7). Analogue 2 is a partial agonist (maximum stimulation of adenylate cyclase (AC) approximately 15% and a potency 8.9% that of glucagon, while the remaining compounds 3-7 are antagonists unable to activate the AC system even at concentrations as high as 10−5m. In addition, in competition experiments, analogues 3-7 caused a right-shift of the glucagon stimulated adenylate cyclase dose-response curve. Hence these compounds are glucagon receptor antagonists with respect to the glucagon receptor coupled to the adenylate cyclase system.
CFD Analysis of Waveriders Derived from Axisymmetric Flowfields for Reentry Applications

In this paper, waverider configurations are generated by specifying the following independent design parameters: a waverider length, L, the flight speed, V, the leading edge bluntness radius, R, the shockwave angle, , and the cone base and tip coordinates. The waveriders of interest to this analysis are limited to a flight speed, V, in the range of 1.0 km/s to 7.0 km/s, leading edge bluntness radius, R, in the range of 0.005 to 0.01 of the waverider base to height ratio, and a shockwave angle, , in the range of 15.0 to 35.0 degrees. In general, these input parameters generate waveriders that are capable of operating in the scramjet flight corridor of 30 to 90 km, and at Mach numbers ranging from 4 to 15. As part of this study, waverider configurations were derived from an inverse design approach that made use of a semi-analytical approach for solving the Euler equations. The engineering details associated with the inverse design procedure are summarized herein. In the waverider design space, the aerodynamic figure of merits, such as, the lift-to-drag ratio, L/D, the drag, D, the lift, L, the average heat flux, Q, and the volumetric efficiency, Veff, are considered functions of the design parameters; namely, the waverider length, L, the flight speed, V, the leading edge bluntness radius, R, the shockwave angle, , and the cone base and tip coordinates. In terms of design parameters, the waverider configuration and its aerodynamic performance are considered functions of eight variables. The design method yields practical vehicle shapes with acceptable volumetric efficiencies and high L/Ds. The influence of each design variable on the waverider performance parameters are studied. Further, this design method is computationally efficient and permits rapid parametric studies. Several viscous optimized waverider configurations were derived, and their aerothermodynamic performance analyzed with CFD analysis tools, such as, Fluent TM and AFRL-WPAB research code AVUS. A major objective of this paper is the independent CFD validation of the aerodynamic performance of the waverider configurations that were derived from the inverse procedure developed herein.
An overview of managed behavioral health care

The history and nature of managed behavioral health care are described in this chapter, along with its current direction, which is to pursue the Medicaid mental health and substance abuse benefit as its next target for expansion.
Making clinical decisions for dental care: concepts to consider

Clinical decisions are often made with incomplete information, yet patient care decisions are made every day. Patients vary clinically, uncertainty exists in diagnostic and prognostic information, and many preventive and treatment alternatives have not been formally assessed for their effectiveness. Because scientific information will never answer all clinical questions, clinical decisions are partially based on probabilistic information. This paper describes how to apply clinical decision making to diagnosing and managing dental caries and periodontal diseases. By using explicit information to quantify probabilities and outcomes, clinical decision making analyzes decisions made under uncertain conditions and the uncertain impact of clinical information. Clinical decision making incorporates concepts for preventing, diagnosing and treating dental caries and periodontal diseases: risk assessment, evidence-based dentistry, and multiple oral health outcomes. This information can serve as a tool for clinicians to augment clinical judgment and expertise.
The water scavenger beetles of Mongolia with new records from the Selenge River Basin (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)

ABSTRACT Species of the water beetle family Hydrophilidae (Coleoptera) occurring in Mongolia are summarized. Detailed locality records and comments on habitat preferences from species collected during the 2004 Selenge River Basin Expeditions are provided. Enochrus quadripunctatus (Herbst) is recorded from Mongolia for the first time, with new locality records for eight additional species. The total number of species recorded from Mongolia now stands at 24.
Recent Advances in Bacteroides Genetics

Bacteroides are Gram-negative, obligate anaerobes that are present in high concentrations within the intestinal tracts of humans and animals. Bacteroides are also important opportunistic pathogens of humans and animals. Methods for genetic manipulation of these important organisms have only recently begun to emerge. Shuttle vectors which can be transferred by conjugation between Escherichia coli to Bacteroides are now available. A method for transforming some strains of Bacteroides has been developed. Two Bacteroides transposons, Tn4351 and Tn4400, have been found and one of them, Tn4351, has been used for transposon mutagenesis of Bacteroides. Several different Bacteroides genes have now been cloned, including a gene that codes for resistance to clindamycin, genes that code for polysaccharidases (chondroitin lyase and pullulanase), and a gene that codes for a fimbrial subunit. These cloned genes have been used to study the organization and regulation of Bacteroides genes.
Walter Reed, Yellow Fever, and Informed Consent.

In May 1900, Surgeon General George M. Sternberg commissioned a board of Army research scientists to pursue “scientific investigations with reference to the infectious diseases prevalent on the Island of Cuba,” and, especially, yellow fever. Yellow fever was perhaps the most feared of epidemics; its mortality rate was known to reach 85%. It was unpredictable, catastrophically virulent, and there was no effective treatment. Despite years of research, all attempts to produce yellow fever in animals had failed. In July 1900, Walter Reed told Sternberg that human subject testing was the only option. The team also determined that they, too, would be put at risk: “the serious nature of the work [was] decided upon and the risks . . . were fully considered, and we all agreed as the best justification we could offer for experimentation upon others, [was] to submit the same risk of inoculation ourselves.” Reed sought volunteers from the Spanish immigrant community who had not yet contracted yellow fever. Reed asked the Governor General of Cuba to seek approval from the Spanish consul; he wanted them to know that volunteers would be of legal maturity, and that they would be provided the best medical care. Volunteers would receive payment of $100 in gold, and another $100 if they became ill. In a further unprecedented act, Reed developed a written consent document in Spanish (Fig. 1), so subjects would be fully aware of the risks and would have signed documentation promising care and compensation. This was a time when prisoners, the indigent, the mentally ill, people of color, and children were routinely used as experimental subjects, sometimes without their knowledge and almost always without their consent. There were no government or military regulations that covered medical research. The U.S. Army Yellow Fever Board is considered the first research group in history to use consent forms. There has been much speculation as to why Reed went to these lengths when he was not required to do so. It is likely that, as a scientist, Reed knew that human subjects were required to complete his research, but as a human being, the responsibility devastated him. He understood that against yellow fever medical progress required human sacrifice, and sought to ensure volunteers were fully aware of the risks.
Efficacy of pheromonal control of peachtree borer (Synanthedon exitiosa (Say)) in small‐scale orchards

The efficacy of pheromone-based mating disruption for control of the peachtree borer Synanthedon exitiosa (Say) in small-scale peach orchards (<0.1 ha) was evaluated in a total of six blocks at two locations in New Mexico, USA, from 2010 to 2015. In treated orchards, commercial pheromone dispensers were deployed at rates of approximately 500 or 600 per ha. Pheromone-based monitoring traps were installed in each block (treated and untreated), and catches of male moths were recorded throughout each growing season to assess the effectiveness of pheromone treatments and to determine the pest's seasonal flight activity. Levels of larval trunk infestation were assessed twice yearly by inspecting all trees at and below soil level. Infestation levels in an unreplicated block of mature peaches at one site (Los Lunas) declined from 57.5% to 8.4% while under pheromone treatment (2010–2011). Pheromone treatments in this block were discontinued in 2012, and infestation levels subsequently increased to 16.9% by spring 2015. In a replicated study in four other peach blocks at the same site, annual application of pheromones from 2012 to 2014 resulted in a significant difference in larval infestations in treated blocks compared to untreated blocks. In addition, when a single block of infested peaches at a second site (Alcalde) was treated with pheromone dispensers for three consecutive years, trunk infestation levels declined significantly, but were not completely eliminated. These results indicate that mating disruption can help protect even very small orchards from damage by S. exitiosa. However, the technique is likely to be more effective where such orchards are relatively isolated and/or where the surrounding pest pressure is moderate or low.
Demographic dissimilarity, value congruence, and workplace attachment: Asymmetrical group effects

Purpose – Relying on relational demography and person-organization fit perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to explore the interactive effect of demographic dissimilarity and value congruence on workplace attachment outcomes – affective and normative organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Based on optimal distinctiveness theory, asymmetrical effects across gender and race/ethnicity are also examined. Design/methodology/approach – A diverse sample of 278 restaurant workers in 30 different work units is used to test the hypotheses using hierarchical OLS regression. Findings – The results partially support the idea that perceived and objective value congruence moderate the relationship of race/ethnic and gender dissimilarity on workplace attachment. Tests for asymmetrical demographic group effects showed that value congruence had a stronger moderating effect for whites than for people of color, and for men than for women. Research limitations/implications – The results suggest that value co...
TYPO — a word processing program

TYPO is a word-processing program which operates on an HP1000 computer under an RTE-IVA/B operating system and utilizes the Diablo 1620 or NEC Spinwriter typewriter for printed output. These daisy-wheel printers produce letter-quality output at speeds to 45 chars/sec. TYPO was written to make full use of the many capabilities of these machines. Among TYPO's capabilities are right and left justification, underline, boldface, subscripts, superscripts, controllable horizontal and vertical pitch, page titles and numbering, embedded tables and figures, full footnote support, and on-line page format management. Input to TYPO is from standard ASCII text files generated with a separate text-editing program such as the standard RTE EDITR.
Foliated compressing discs for Legendrian rational tangles

We establish a new framework for diagramming both Legendrian rational tangles in the standard contact structure on ℝ3 and the signed characteristic foliations of their associated compressing discs, as well as the technical means by which these diagrams can be used to study Legendrian isotopies of such tangles. We then establish a number of results that represent new progress in the ongoing effort to classify Legendrian rational tangles under a pair of operations known as Legendrian flypes. These operations, while topologically isotopies, are known to produce distinct Legendrian objects in many circumstances, a fact that has been of much interest throughout the study and classification of Legendrian knots.
Synthesis of pyridine derivatives as potential antagonists of chemokine receptor type 4

A series of pyridine derivatives were synthesized as potential inhibitors of chemokine receptor type 4. This chemokine receptor has been linked to various disease pathways including HIV-1 proliferation, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory diseases, and cancer metastasis. The compounds were tested for activity using an affinity binding assay and an assay that tests the ability to inhibit cell invasion. Two hit compounds (2b and 2j) have been identified for further evaluation that inhibit cell invasion by at least 50% and have an effective concentration of less than 100 nM in the binding affinity assay. The structures of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by spectral data.
Direct method of simulating concentration-time data for Michaelis-Menten elimination.

For pharmacokinetic models such as those indicated by the title, one obtains an implicit equation in concentration, which cannot be used to directly obtain a value of C corresponding to a given value of t. Usually numerical integration is employed to simulate concentration-time data. By introducing f = concentration (C)/initial concentration (C0), or f = C/steady-state concentration (Css), one can replace C by either fC0 or fCss then obtain time as an explicit solution, by letting f equal an arbitrary series of values such as 0.95, 0.9, … 0.05, 0.04 … 0.01 when C0 is involved, or 0.05, 0.10, …, 0.95 when Css is involved. This procedure allows data to be simulated with just a pencil and paper, a hand-held calculator, or a microcomputer. The accuracy of the method depends only on the number of decimal places carried during the calculations. The method can provide a series of C, t values where ΔC is constant, whereas with numerical integration one obtains a series of C, t values where Δt is constant.
Relationship between content of norepinephrine or epinephrine in cortex and minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane

Objective To study the relationship between content of norepinephrine(NE) and epinephrine(E) in cortex and minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane Methods Eighteen adult male rats were inserted 0 05mm internal diameter dialysis probes into parietal cortex to be perfused with artifical cerebrospinal fluid(ACSF) to collecte the dialysate Isoflurane was inhaled at 0 6%,0 8%,1 0%,1 2% and 1 4% respectively, to measure the dialysate concentrations of NE and E at the disappearence of corneal reflex ,the MAC and quantitative EEG Later the rats were assigned randomly into three groups: In group Ⅰ (n=6) a bolus of 0 2mg/kg clonidine (over 2min) via caudal vein followed by the infusion at the rate of 0 15mg kg -1 ·h -1 ; in group Ⅱ (n=6) clonidine was added into ACSF and then was infused at the rate of 0 2mg kg -1 ·h -1 into cerebral cortex; in group Ⅲ(n=6) a bolus of normal saline 1ml (over 2min) via caudal vein followed by the infusion at the rate of 0 8ml/min,and 20 min later, again to test the MAC ,to monitor the quantitative EEG and measure the dialysate concentrations of NE and E with high pressure liquid chromatography Results The concentration of isoflurane was correlated positively with that of NE(r=0 995,P0 01), and negatively with that of E (r=-0 981, P0 05) Compared with those at the disappearence of corneal reflex,the E level decreased markedly(P0 05),but NE level remained unchanged (P0 05) at pain disappearence After intravenous clonidine ,the MAC of isoflurane decreased significantly (P0 01), the NE level decreased just slightly(P0 05),but the E level remained stable(P0 05) After intracortically local infusion of clonidine, the values of MAC,NE and E did not changeobviously (P0 05) 97% Spectral edge frequency (SEF) and median power frequency(MPF) decreased after intravenous clonidine(P0 05), but were kept stable after intracortically local infusion of clonidine (P0 05) Conclusions The contents of NE and E in cortex can indicate the inhabitive degree of isoflurane on consciousness, and the change of MAC of isoflurane is independent of the changes of NE and E contents in cortex,suggesting that the region where to determine the MAC of isoflurane is not at cortex
Monitoring dielectric materials for use in microwave components

Dielectric materials and components embodying them can be had today at reasonable cost with assurance of property reproducibility and reliability to tolerances realistic for operating equipments. They will be available more readily and will be utilized more widely when we can monitor quality more efficiently.
Tumor-induced MDSC act via remote control to inhibit L-selectin-dependent adaptive immunity in lymph nodes.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) contribute to an immunosuppressive network that drives cancer escape by disabling T cell adaptive immunity. The prevailing view is that MDSC-mediated immunosuppression is restricted to tissues where MDSC co-mingle with T cells. Here we show that splenic or, unexpectedly, blood-borne MDSC execute far-reaching immune suppression by reducing expression of the L-selectin lymph node (LN) homing receptor on naive T and B cells. MDSC-induced L-selectin loss occurs through a contact-dependent, post-transcriptional mechanism that is independent of the major L-selectin sheddase, ADAM17, but results in significant elevation of circulating L-selectin in tumor-bearing mice. Even moderate deficits in L-selectin expression disrupt T cell trafficking to distant LN. Furthermore, T cells preconditioned by MDSC have diminished responses to subsequent antigen exposure, which in conjunction with reduced trafficking, severely restricts antigen-driven expansion in widely-dispersed LN. These results establish novel mechanisms for MDSC-mediated immunosuppression that have unanticipated implications for systemic cancer immunity.
The Contribution of Womens’ Earnings to Family Income

Dual-earner families are more prevalent in some countries than in others. Even when both spouses engage, the level to which women contribute to the family income differs from country to country (Abe, 2010). Womens’ behaviour has been altering regarding their education, occupations, and fertility behaviour and homes roles. “The Transfer of women’s work from the household to commercial employment is one of the most notable features of economic development” (Goldin, 1983 in Lewis).
Equivalent reductions in body weight during the Beef WISE Study: beef's role in weight improvement, satisfaction and energy.

SummaryObjective The objective of this randomized equivalence trial was to determine the impact of consuming lean beef as part of a high protein (HP) weight-reducing diet on changes in body weight, body composition and cardiometabolic health. Methods A total of 120 adults (99 female) with overweight or obesity (BMI: 35.7 ± 7.0 kg m−2) were randomly assigned to consume either a HP diet with ≥4 weekly servings of lean beef (B; n = 60) or a HP diet restricted in all red meats (NB; n = 60) during a 16-week weight loss intervention. Results Body weight was reduced by 7.8 ± 5.9% in B and 7.7 ± 5.5% in NB (p < 0.01 for both). Changes in percent body weight were equivalent between B and NB (mean difference: 0.06%, 90% confidence interval: (−1.7, 1.8)). Fat mass was reduced in both groups (p < 0.01; B: 8.0 ± 0.6 kg, NB: 8.6 ± 0.6 kg), while lean mass was not reduced in either group. Improvements in markers of cardiometabolic health (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure) were not different between B and NB. Conclusion Results of this study demonstrate that HP diets – either rich or restricted in red meat intakes – are effective for decreasing body weight and improving body composition and cardiometabolic health.
Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia: clinical, molecular and therapeutical novelties

Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia (HI) is the most common cause of hypoglycemia in children. Impairment of cellular pathways involved in insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells, broadly classified as channelopathies and metabolopathies, have been discovered in the past two decades. The increasing use of NGS target panels, combined with clinical, biochemical and imaging findings allows differentiating the diagnostic management of children with focal forms, surgically curable, from those with diffuse forms, more conservatively treated with pharmacological and nutritional interventions. Specific approaches according to the subtype of HI have been established and novel therapies are currently under investigation. Despite diagnostic and therapeutic advances, HI remains an important cause of morbidity in children, still accounting for 26-44% of permanent intellectual disabilities, especially in neonatal-onset patients. Initial insult from recurrent hypoglycemia in early life greatly contributes to the poor outcomes. Therefore, patients need to be rapidly identified and treated aggressively, and require at follow-up a complex and regular monitoring, managed by a multidisciplinary HI team. This review gives an overview on the more recent diagnostic and therapeutic tools, on the novel drug and nutritional therapies, and on the long-term neurological outcomes.
Optimal discovery of ambient acoustic noise field

We describe a problem in which a multi-agent acoustic sensing swarm seeks to characterize the ambient acoustic noise field as an input for selecting subsequent sensing locations. We develop a method for solving this problem by applying the Pontryagin Maximum Principle to determine an optimal control law and demonstrate this application on a single agent system. An algorithm is developed for solving the resulting mixed boundary value differential equations in real time by an eigenvalue decomposition method. This technique is demonstrated on a representative ambient acoustic noise field via simulation.
Left ventricular end-diastolic volume is normal in patients with heart failure and a normal ejection fraction: a renewed consensus in diastolic heart failure.

The study published in this issue of the Journal by Maurer et al. ([1][1]) provides data which, interpreted in the context of a number of recently published studies ([2–8][2]), allow us to conclude that: 1) left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic volume (EDV) is normal in the vast majority of patients
The Sharp Electronic Organizer - A Warning

Palm-top computers such as the Sharp Electronic Organizer and theSharp Graphing Scientific Calculator present new challenges and opportunitiesin teaching chemistry. These are briefly discussed in this note.
Armed, but too dangerous? Factors associated with citizen support for the militarization of the police

AbstractImages of police officers riding in armored vehicles and carrying military-grade weapons have become part of the public consciousness following the events in Ferguson, Missouri and several other high-profile police–citizen encounters. Although a great deal of research has investigated how and why US citizens perceive the police in various ways, almost no empirical work has asked how citizens perceive the militarization of the police. The current study analyzes data from a survey of 1005 US citizens to identify characteristics that are related to support for the use of military weapons and vehicles by local police departments. The results indicate that several demographic factors and perceptions of crime and the police are significantly related with citizen support for the militarization of the police. The implications of this research are discussed.
The New Regs on Alternative Date Valuation

Treasury recently announced proposed regulations under section 2032 explaining valuation rules for assets when the decedent elects to apply the alternate valuation date. The regulations first provide background information about the statute, including legislative history and case law interpretation, and then underline their departure from Kohler, a 2006 Tax Court memorandum decision.
Severe obesity among children in New York City public elementary and middle schools, school years 2006-07 through 2010-11.

Introduction Although studies have shown that childhood obesity overall is on the decline among New York City (NYC) public school children, the prevalence of severe childhood obesity has not been studied.
Genome-wide DNA methylation encodes cardiac transcriptional reprogramming in human ischemic heart failure

Ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) is the clinical endpoint of coronary heart disease and a leading cause of heart failure. Despite growing demands to develop personalized approaches to treat ICM, progress is limited by inadequate knowledge of its pathogenesis. Since epigenetics has been implicated in the development of other chronic diseases, the current study was designed to determine whether transcriptional and/or epigenetic changes are sufficient to distinguish ICM from other etiologies of heart failure. Specifically, we hypothesize that genome-wide DNA methylation encodes transcriptional reprogramming in ICM. RNA-sequencing analysis was performed on human ischemic left ventricular tissue obtained from patients with end-stage heart failure, which enriched known targets of the polycomb methyltransferase EZH2 compared to non-ischemic hearts. Combined RNA sequencing and genome-wide DNA methylation analysis revealed a robust gene expression pattern consistent with suppression of oxidative metabolism, induced anaerobic glycolysis, and altered cellular remodeling. Lastly, KLF15 was identified as a putative upstream regulator of metabolic gene expression that was itself regulated by EZH2 in a SET domain-dependent manner. Our observations therefore define a novel role of DNA methylation in the metabolic reprogramming of ICM. Furthermore, we identify EZH2 as an epigenetic regulator of KLF15 along with DNA hypermethylation, and we propose a novel mechanism through which coronary heart disease reprograms the expression of both intermediate enzymes and upstream regulators of cardiac metabolism such as KLF15.
Left Ventricular Mass Quantification by Two-Dimensional Echocardiography in a Pediatric Population: Correlation with Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Quantification of left ventricular (LV) mass by echocardiography has not been validated against the gold standard of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in the pediatric population. The purpose of this study was to compare LV mass by two-dimensional and conventional M-mode echocardiography versus CMR in children. Consecutive CMR studies were paired with echocardiograms and retrospectively analyzed in children age ≤ 16 years (3 days old to 16 years old). Studies performed > 3 months between modalities and single ventricle anatomy were excluded. Unindexed LV mass was calculated using M-mode, area-length (AL), and truncated ellipsoid (TE) methods via echocardiography, and compared to cine stack CMR images. There were 46 patients included in the study (both MRI and echocardiography). Good correlations were observed for LV mass measured by CMR and all echocardiographic methods: M-mode (R = 0.965), AL (R = 0.975), and TE (R = 0.975). There was a significant overestimation using TE echocardiography, by a mean of 10.5 g (95% confidence interval 5.7–15.2 g, p < 0.05). There was no significant over- or underestimation of LV mass observed by M-mode or AL echocardiographic measurements, with tight limits of agreement when compared to CMR (95% confidence interval − 5.2 to 4.4 g and − 1.5 to 6.7 g, respectively). Interobserver agreement was good for each of the echocardiographic measurements, but inferior with M-mode (ICC, 0.89) compared to two-dimensional methods (ICC, 0.97). Echocardiographic estimates of LV mass have good correlation with CMR in children. Performance comparison showed AL echocardiographic method provides the most accurate measurement of LV mass with the best reproducibility compared to other methods.
Structural and biochemical characterization of the pleckstrin homology domain of the RhoGEF P-Rex2 and its regulation by PIP3

Abstract P-Rex family Rho guanine-nucleotide exchange factors are important regulators of cell motility through their activation of a subset of small GTPases. Both P-Rex1 and P-Rex2 have also been implicated in the progression of certain cancers, including breast cancer and melanoma. Although these molecules display a high level of homology, differences exist in tissue distribution, physiological function, and regulation at the molecular level. Here, we sought to compare the P-Rex2 pleckstrin homology (PH) domain structure and ability to interact with PIP3 with those of P-Rex1. The 1.9 A crystal structure of the P-Rex2 PH domain reveals conformational differences in the loop regions, yet biochemical studies indicate that the interaction of the P-Rex2 PH domain with PIP3 is very similar to that of P-Rex1. Binding of the PH domain to PIP3 is critical for P-Rex2 activity but not membrane localization, as previously demonstrated for P-Rex1. These studies serve as a starting point in the identification of P-Rex structural features that are divergent between isoforms and could be exploited for the design of P-Rex selective compounds.
Cost-utility studies in upper limb orthopaedic surgery: a systematic review of published literature.

Aims The aim of this study was to assess the quality and scope of the current cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) literature in the field of hand and upper limb orthopaedic surgery. Materials and Met...
High-SNR Channel Capacity for Communication Over Radar Waveforms

We apply recent theory in the high-SNR estimation of channel capacity to study how much information may be encoded in radar pulse waveforms. Waveforms are constrained to those which admit a high-gain, low-sidelobe pulse compression filter. Using simple numerical methods, we compute the high-SNR capacity of a Gaussian channel using such a waveform alphabet. The resulting tradeoff curves indicate a notably favorable theoretical tradeoff space between signal processing performance and high-SNR channel capacity.
Quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) associated with limitations in activities of daily living (ADL) in a large longitudinal sample of the U.S. community-dwelling older population.

Abstract Background The staging method for activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations developed by Stineman and colleagues that classifies people into five stages can reflect severity of activity limitations. Objective To assess the impact of stages of limitations in ADLs on quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and the relative severity of each ADL limitation for a large, nationally-representative sample of the U.S. community-dwelling older population. Methods Data were obtained from the Limited Dataset of the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey Cohort 15 (2012 baseline survey, 2014 follow-up survey). We included respondents aged ≥65 years (n = 105,473). We estimated expected QALYs throughout the remaining lifetime of participants stratified by the ADL limitation status and stages of ADL limitations. Results Overall, the expected QALYs was 5.6 years. QALYs decreased with increasing stages of ADL limitations. The adjusted QALYs for Stage 0 (no limitation) participants were 6.8; for Stage I (mild) participants, 3.9; for Stage II (moderate) participants, 2.2; for Stage III (severe) participants, 1.8; and for Stage IV (complete limitations) participants, 1.5. Differences in QALYs occurred between individual ADL items within an ADL stage. In Stage I, for example, participants who reported only problems with getting in or out of chairs had 6.7 QALYs which was markedly higher than participants who reported only problems with walking (3.8 QALYs). Conclusions Our findings provide additional evidence that Stineman's ADL stages serve as valid estimates of the overall health of elderly Americans. Self-reported ADL status should be routinely collected as a patient-reported outcome in the elderly population.
THE EFFECT OF DOMESTIC AIR POLLUTION MITIGATION AND FRACKING ON RETIREMENTS OF COAL POWER PLANTS

This paper quantifies the magnitude of multiple potential causes of coal-fired power plant retirements since 1997. The paper finds that although the low natural gas prices from fracking have increa...
“Strange Times to Be a Jew”: Themes of Whiteness, Identity, and Sanctuary in the Imagined Jewish Utopias of Grand Island and Sitka

This chapter examines utopian visions of nineteenth-century politician Mordecai Noah, who proposed that Grand Island in New York would become a gathering point for world Jewry, and contemporary author Michael Chabon, whose novel The Yiddish Policemen’s Union envisioned Sitka, Alaska, as a safe haven for Jews fleeing attacks on Israel. Noah and Chabon offered utopian alternatives to American assimilation—imagining Jewish utopias that fostered ethnic identity while allowing Jewish engagement in American culture. By expressing this eutopian possibility, Noah’s Ararat and Chabon’s Sitka mirror the concern of individual Jews from the nineteenth century to the present.