cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A dynamic modeling approach to investigate impacts to protected and low-income populations in highway planning

Environmental justice (EJ) assessment has traditionally focused on identifying distributive effects to protected populations. Federal and State highway improvement programs have been established to stimulate economic development for these populations. While this issue has long been recognized as part of EJ initiatives, no quantitative comparisons of highway construction impacts on protected populations have been reported in the literature. This paper presents a dynamic modeling approach to investigate impacts to protected and low-Income populations in highway planning using an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) and Genetic Algorithms (GAs) optimization framework. Using census and county level parcel data, the model integrates various socioeconomic factors into a GIS while generating highway alignments using GAs. Examples using county level census data from North Carolina are demonstrated to test the sensitivity of generated highway alignments with constrained distances from protected populations. The results indicate that it is important to consider local social and economic effects, in addition to regional planning objectives when measuring the effectiveness of feasibility studies associated with highway construction. Within the proposed modeling framework attention is directed on various EJ initiatives, such as environmental health and safety laws in minority and low-income areas. The model would help planners, designers, and policy-makers understand the intricate interrelationships among local communities, while facilitating more scientific and economically equitable planning for highway construction projects.
Adaptation in symbolic dynamic systems for pattern classification

This paper addresses the problem of pattern classification in the symbolic dynamic domain, where the patterns of interest are represented by probabilistic finite state automata (PFSA) with possibly dissimilar algebraic structures. A combination of Dirichlet and multinomial distributions is used to model the uncertainties due to the finite length approximation of symbol strings. The classifier algorithm follows the structure of a Bayes model and has been validated on a simulation test bed.
Phenotypic and phylogenetic evidence for the role of food and habitat in the assembly of communities of marine amphipods

The study of community assembly processes currently involves (a) longstanding questions about the relative importance of environmental filtering vs. niche partitioning in a wide range of ecosystems, and (b) more recent questions about methodology. The rapidly growing field of community phylogenetics has generated debate about the choice between functional traits and phylogenetic relationships for understanding species similarities, and has raised additional questions about the contribution of experimental vs. observational approaches to understanding evolutionary constraints on community assembly. In this study, we use traits, a phylogeny, and field surveys to identify the forces structuring communities of herbivorous marine amphipods and isopods living in adjacent seagrass and macroalgae. In addition, we compare our field results to a recently published mesocosm experiment that tested the effects of both trait and phylogenetic diversity on coexistence using the same species and system. With respect to community assembly processes, we found that environmental filtering was the dominant process in macroalgae habitats, that niche partitioning was the dominant process in seagrass habitats, and that the strength of these assembly mechanisms varied with seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions and resource availability. These patterns are indicated by both phylogenetic relationships and trait distances, but the type of resources being partitioned in seagrass habitats can only be deciphered using trait data. Species coexisting in seagrass in the field differed not in their feeding niche but in traits related to microhabitat use, providing novel evidence of the relative importance of competition for food vs. habitat in structuring communities of phytophagous invertebrates. With respect to methodology, the results for seagrass habitats conflict with those obtained in mesocosms, where feeding trait diversity did promote coexistence and phylogenetic diversity had no effect. This contrast arises because a greater range of traits (some of which have much stronger phylogenetic signal than feeding traits) contribute to community assembly in the field. This highlights a mismatch between the processes that drive community assembly in the field and the processes we isolated in experimental tests, and illustrates that using phylogeny as a single proxy in both contexts may impede the synthesis of observational and experimental results.
TUNNELING IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS

Tunneling measurements are important for investigations of possible new mechanism of superconductivity in the high-temperature superconductors (HTS). The magnitude of the energy gap compared to the transition temperature, is a crucial parameter to distinguish between weak and strong couplings. Its temperature dependence also reveals information about possible theories and mechanisms. With only a few exceptions, tunneling measurements have been of the point-contact type, in which the tunneling tip is also used to clean the surface. In this paper, the tunneling apparatus at Argonne is described in detail, together with a discussion of tests done on conventional superconductors, in a study of an organic superconductor.
Effects of Depression on Aspects of Self-Care in Type 2 Diabetes

Aims and Objectives: Depression is common among patients with chronic medical illnesses. The impact of depressive symptoms in patients with type 2 diabetes on self-care and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was explored. Background: Depression is known to decrease compliance with most medical regimens. This study investigated depression’s effects on different aspects of compliance with a diabetic regimen. Design: Cross-sectional, correlational, quantitative study. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using data from 126 patients with type 2 diabetes from a diabetes education class. Participants completed depression and self-care inventories. Regression analyses were performed to determine the impact of depressive symptoms on the dependent variables of compliance to diabetes self-care and HbA1c levels. Results: Levels of depression were significantly and inversely correlated with 1) total self-care scores, accounting for 5.1% of the variance, 2) compliance with glucose self-monitoring accounting for 3.4% of the variance, and 3) compliance with diet accounting for 9.3% of the variance. Levels of depression were not significantly related to HbA1c. Conclusions: Depressive symptoms are associated with poorer total self-care, poorer glucose self-monitoring, and poorer dietary compliance in type 2 diabetes patients. Depression scores help explain variations in patients’ performance with aspects of compliance to diabetes management. Relevance to clinical practice: Administering a personality questionnaire, perhaps on the initial visit could enable the clinical to know which aspects of diabetes self-care are affected by depression, which would enable the clinician to more closely monitor melancholic patients in the effort to improve glycemic control and medical outcomes.
Research, knowledge, and the art of ‘paradigm maintenance’: the World Bank's Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC)

ABSTRACT Despite widespread analysis of the World Bank's lending operations by both supporters and critics, there has been little external or systematic analysis of the Bank's research department. This is remarkable, given that the Bank has become the hub of development research worldwide. This article begins to fill in that gap by exploring the political economy of the research conducted within the World Bank's Development Economics Vice-Presidency (DEC). Despite the Bank's public presentation of its research arm as conducting ‘rigorous and independent’ work, the Bank's research has historically become skewed toward reinforcing the dominant neoliberal policy agenda. The article includes a detailed examination of the mechanisms by which the Bank's research department is able to play a central role in what Robert Wade has elsewhere termed ‘paradigm maintenance’, including incentives in hiring, promotion, and publishing, as well as selective enforcement of rules, discouragement of dissonant data, and actual...
Quantum noise properties of CT images with anatomical textured backgrounds across reconstruction algorithms: FBP and SAFIRE

Purpose: Quantum noise properties of CT images are generally assessed using simple geometric phantoms with uniform backgrounds. Such phantoms may be inadequate when assessing nonlinear reconstruction or postprocessing algorithms. The purpose of this study was to design anatomically informed textured phantoms and use the phantoms to assess quantum noise properties across two clinically available reconstruction algorithms, filtered back projection (FBP) and sinogram affirmed iterative reconstruction (SAFIRE). Methods: Two phantoms were designed to represent lung and soft-tissue textures. The lung phantom included intricate vessel-like structures along with embedded nodules (spherical, lobulated, and spiculated). The soft tissue phantom was designed based on a three-dimensional clustered lumpy background with included low-contrast lesions (spherical and anthropomorphic). The phantoms were built using rapid prototyping (3D printing) technology and, along with a uniform phantom of similar size, were imaged on a Siemens SOMATOM Definition Flash CT scanner and reconstructed with FBP and SAFIRE. Fifty repeated acquisitions were acquired for each background type and noise was assessed by estimating pixel-value statistics, such as standard deviation (i.e., noise magnitude), autocorrelation, and noise power spectrum. Noise stationarity was also assessed by examining the spatial distribution of noise magnitude. The noise properties were compared across background types and between the two reconstruction algorithms. Results: In FBP and SAFIRE images, noise was globally nonstationary for all phantoms. In FBP images of all phantoms, and in SAFIRE images of the uniform phantom, noise appeared to be locally stationary (within a reasonably small region of interest). Noise was locally nonstationary in SAFIRE images of the textured phantoms with edge pixels showing higher noise magnitude compared to pixels in more homogenous regions. For pixels in uniform regions, noise magnitude was reduced by an average of 60% in SAFIRE images compared to FBP. However, for edge pixels, noise magnitude ranged from 20% higher to 40% lower in SAFIRE images compared to FBP. SAFIRE images of the lung phantom exhibited distinct regions with varying noise texture (i.e., noise autocorrelation/power spectra). Conclusions: Quantum noise properties observed in uniform phantoms may not be representative of those in actual patients for nonlinear reconstruction algorithms. Anatomical texture should be considered when evaluating the performance of CT systems that use such nonlinear algorithms.
Commentary: Will Obama see sense about the nuclear threat?

Obama has pledged to tackle climate change, but will he be brave enough tackle the equally pressing threat of nuclear proliferation?
Association of herpes simplex virus regulatory protein ICP4 with sequences spanning the ICP4 gene transcription initiation site

The HSV gene encoding ICP4 is negatively regulated and the HSV gene encoding thymidine kinase is positively regulated by ICP4 in vivo. We report that ICP4 is a component of a stable complex that contains protein and a sequence of approximately 28 nucleotides that span the ICP4 gene transcription initiation site. The association of ICP4 with DNA sequences between positions -103 and +32 relative to the ICP4 mRNA start site was demonstrated by DNA binding immunoassays. DNase footprinting revealed that nucleotides between positions -8 and +20 are protected by ICP4. In contrast, binding of ICP4 to sequences flanking the mRNA start site in the thymidine kinase gene was not observed. Models for ICP4-mediated positive or negative regulation of HSV gene transcription are discussed.
Reactive Intermediates Molecular and MS-based Approaches to Assess the Functional Significance of Chemical–Protein Adducts

Biologically reactive intermediates formed as endogenous products of various metabolic processes are considered important factors in a variety of human diseases, including Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders, diabetes and complications thereof, and other inflammatory-associated diseases. Chemical-induced toxicities are also frequently mediated via the bioactivation of relatively stable organic molecules to reactive electrophilic metabolites. Indeed, chemical-induced toxicities have long been known to be associated with the ability of electrophilic metabolites to react with a variety of targets within the cell, including their covalent adduction to nucleophilic residues in proteins, and nucleotides within DNA. Although we possess considerable knowledge of the various biochemical mechanisms by which chemicals undergo metabolic bioactivation, we understand far less about the processes that couple bioactivation to toxicity. Identifying specific sites within a protein, which are targets for adduction, can provide the initial information necessary to determine whether such adventitious posttranslational modifications significantly alter either protein structure and/or function. To address this problem, we have developed mass spectrometry (MS)-based approaches to identify specific amino acid targets of electrophile adduction (electrophile-binding motifs), coupled with molecular modeling of such adducts, to determine the potential structural and functional consequences. Where appropriate, functional assays are subsequently conducted to assess protein function.
A general approach to nonlinear dynamic analysis on parallel/vector computers

The finite element method is widely used as a computational method to model physical system in various engineering problems. For detailed analyses of complex designs, structural models composed of several thousands of degree of freedom are no longer uncommon. The computer simulation of nonlinear dynamics response of structures, visualization and the implementation of parallel FEM systems on a high speed multiprocessor have received considerable attention in recent years (Ref. 1–3). The drivers of these activities included the reliable simulation of automotive, aircraft crash phenomena and increased performance of computers (Ref. 4–6). The development of general purpose finite element structural analysis computer programs have provided the capability to address a wide range of structures problems (Ref. 4). However, these software systems are severely limited for nonlinear transient analyses such as offshore structure, crashworthiness and aircraft design, etc. because of the available speed on current sequential computers. Parallel/Vector computers offer the promise for solution to complex problems in detail considered too time-consuming for todays sequential computers (Ref. 4, 7 and 8). To benefit from advances in parallel computers, software must be developed which take maximum advantage of parallel/vector processing features.
Sexual fantasy alternation

The purpose of this study was (a) to assess the effect of fantasy alternation on sexual arousal, and (b) to assess the means by which fantasy alternation might alter sexual arousal patterns. The rate of alternation of heterosexual and homosexual masturbatory fantasies was manipulated in four adult males with sexual orientation confusion. The results showed that fantasy alternation can change the relative strength of physiologically measured sexual arousal patterns, but the direction and magnitude of the change seems unpredictable. The effect seems to be sensitive to the rapidity of fantasy alternation. Caution in the clinical use of the procedure with actual sexual deviants appears warranted.
A further simplification to Jury's stability test

Consideration is given to R.H. Raible's table (1974), which is a simplified version of E.I. Jury's discrete stability test. It is explicitly shown that Raible's table is none other than the classical Schur algorithm performed on a certain scattering function. This directly leads to an interpretation of Raible's table as a continued fraction expansion. The connection between Raible's table and the fast triangular factorization of the Schur-Cohn matrix is given. >
En echelon Miocene rifting in the southwestern United States and model for vertical-axis rotation in continental extension

Two areas of intense early Miocene crustal extension in the southwestern United States, the Colorado River trough and the central Mojave Desert, are separated by a weakly deformed area in the eastern Mojave Desert. We propose that these areas form a left-stepping en echelon rift system linked by a ductile detachment at depth. The en echelon geometry explains the southward loss of displacement in the central Mojave Desert and northward loss of coeval displacement in the Colorado River trough, and it incorporates seismic reflection evidence that, mid-crustal Tertiary extensional mylonites continue beneath the weakly deformed area. This geometry also explains clockwise paleomagnetic declination anomalies from lower Miocene rocks as recording thin-skinned, detached rotations; large- scale block rotations are not required. Obliquity of the northeast-trending crustal-extension vector to the east-west-trending early Miocene synextensional volcanic belt may have caused the en echelon pattern to develop.
Fathers massaging and relaxing their pregnant wives lowered anxiety and facilitated marital adjustment

Summary This study examined the effects of fathers massaging their pregnant wives and practicing relaxation with them. Participants were married American fathers who completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Paternal Fetal Attachment Scale. The fathers learned to massage their pregnant wives, learned relaxation techniques with their wives, or received no intervention. Massage therapy lowered the fathers’ self-reported anxiety levels on the STAI and improved marital adjustment on the DAS.
THERM: Thermodynamic property estimation for gas phase radicals and molecules

We have developed a computer code for an IBM PC/XT/AT or compatible which can be used to estimate, edit, or enter thermodynamic property data for gas phase radicals and molecules using Benson's group additivity method. The computer code is called THERM (THermo Estimation for Radicals and Molecules). All group contributions considered for a species are recorded and thermodynamic properties are generated in old NASA polynomial format for compatibility with the CHEMKIN reaction modeling code. In addition, listings are created in a format more convenient for thermodynamic, kinetic, and equilibrium calculations. Polynomial coefficients are valid from 300–5000 K using extrapolation methods based upon the harmonic oscillator model, an exponential function, or the Wilhoit polynomials. Properties for radical and biradical species are calculated by applying bond dissociation increments to a stable parent molecule to reflect loss of H atom. THERM contains a chemical reaction interpreter to calculate thermodynamic property changes for chemical reactions as functions of temperature. These include equilibrium constant, heat release (required heat, ΔHr), entropy change (ΔSr), Gibbs free energy change (ΔGr), and the ratio of forward to reverse Arrhenius A-factors (for elementary reactions). This interpreter can also process CHEMKIN input files. A recalculation procedure is incorporated for rapid updating of a database of chemical species to reflect changes in estimated bond dissociation energies, heats of formation, or other group values. All input and output files are in ASCII so that they can be easily edited, expanded, or updated.
Single-crystal Silicon Carbide: A Biocompatible and Hemocompatible Semiconductor for Advanced Biomedical Applications

Crystalline silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon (Si) biocompatibility was evaluated in vitro by directly culturing three skin and connective tissue cell lines, two immortalized neural cell lines, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) on these semiconducting substrates. The experiments were performed specifically for the three adopted SiC polytypes, namely 3C-, 4H- and 6H-SiC, and the results were compared to those obtained for Si crystals. Cell proliferation and adhesion quality were studied using MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assays and fluorescent microscopy. For the neural cells studied AFM was also used to quantify the filopodia and lamellipodia extensions on the surface of the tested materials. Fluorescent microscopy was also used to assess platelet adhesion to the semiconductor surfaces where significantly lower values of platelet adhesion to 3C-SiC was observed compared to Si. The reported results show that SiC is indeed a more biocompatible substrate than Si. While there were some differences among the degree of biocompatibility of the various SiC polytypes tested, SiC appears to be a highly biocompatible material in vitro that is also somewhat hemocompatible. This extremely intriguing result appears to put SiC into a unique class of materials that is both bio- and hemo-compatible and is, to the best of our knowledge, the only semiconductor with this property.
The Role of High School Coaches in Helping Prevent Adolescent Sexual Aggression: Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?

In this qualitative study, we examine whether male high school coaches could effectively serve as advocates or educators for male-focused programs to prevent sexual aggression. We conduct open-ended key informant individual and focus group interviews with high school coaches and administrators. The five themes the authors identified suggest that coaches (a) believe they have influences over athletes, (b) lack education about sexual aggression, (c) endorse rape myths, (d) minimize the problem of sexual aggression, and (e) are resistant to being engaged in sexual aggression prevention. Our results reveal that coaches may need in-depth training on sexual aggression even if they do not want to engage in prevention efforts because they may be transmitting values and beliefs that support and condone sexual aggression of their athletes.
Read Something Once, Why Read it Again?: Repetitive Reading and Recall

Seventy-two college students were instructed that they would be reading a text either once or twice. Then, half of each instruction group were allowed to read the text once, and half were required to read the text twice. All subjects were then tested for factual retention and for transfer. The instruction that a text could be read twice facilitated recall, even if the text was only read once. Reduced anxiety appears to be the simplest explanation for this. Reading a text twice increased factual retention, but on the transfer test, an interaction with ability was found. Only high ability students showed improvement with a second reading on the transfer test. Results are interpreted in terms of Mayer's processing strategies in that good readers benefit both qualitatively and quantitatively from repetition. Poor readers benefit only quantitatively from the opportunity to reread.
Reciprocal phenotype alterations between two satellite RNAs of cucumber mosaic virus

Cucumber mosaic virus Y satellite RNA (Y-satRNA) induces distinctive yellow mosaic symptoms on tobacco, whereas S19 satellite RNA (S19-satRNA) causes an attenuated green mosaic on tobacco, although they show considerable sequence identity. Biological assays of infectious chimeric satellite RNA molecules synthesized from cDNA clones of Y-satRNA and S19-satRNA using common restriction sites showed that the determinant for the induction of yellow mosaic symptoms lies in the BstXI-NheI fragment, in which 14 nucleotide differences are found between the two satellite RNAs. To define more precisely the yellow mosaic determinant(s) in this fragment, several site-directed mutants of Y-satRNA were created. The replacement of AUU, at nucleotides 191 to 193 in Y-satRNA, with GC, which mimicks the S19-satRNA sequence at the corresponding site, abolished the ability of Y-satRNA to elicit a yellow mosaic. Conversely, a mutant RNA molecule derived from S19-satRNA in which GC at nucleotides 192 and 193 was changed to AUU induced the yellow mosaic symptoms. Thus, the phenotypes of two satellite RNAs on tobacco can be altered reciprocally by changing the sequences in this limited region.
The future of the Japan‐US alliance

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and in light of emerging multilateral security dialogues, there are those on both sides of the Pacific beginning to question the raison d'etre of the US‐Japan alliance. Is this alliance still viable? What kind of bilateral alliance would be most desirable in the future? Can it interact effectively with a multilateral security framework? Patrick M. Cronin, a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., asks these and other questions. In answering them, he maintains that the US‐Japan security alliance is the indispensable foundation for security in the Asia‐Pacific region.
Taking control of injury prevention

Prevention T HE WORLD IS A DANGEROUS PLACE. It can be a very nice place, but nevertheless each of us spends countless hours of psychic energy trying to improve the chances of survival and safety for ourselves and our loved ones. This is because we, as pediatricians and emergency medicine practitioners, realize that injury is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality for our children, and that up to 35% of the kids that we see in our emergency departments arrive there because of an injury.1 As a consequence, many of us already apply “injury prevention and control” strategies in our personal lives. In a way, the “control” aspect of this term connotes that, through our activities and endorsements, we have some command over how we can keep our own families safe. We can transfer this “psychic energy” to our patients by providing them, along with our lawmakers and administrators, with specific, targeted strategies to help reduce the risk of childhood injury. This is easy to say, but harder to do. One must identify the patients that are at risk for a specific injury, further assess the barriers to behavioral and systematic change, and then execute interventions in a culturally relevant, socially acceptable, and timely manner. The goal of this issue of Clinical Pediatric Emergency Medicine is to provide a case-based approach to understanding certain injury patterns, circumstances that can lead to these injuries, and demographics of populations most at-risk for these injuries. Notably, each article also discusses how we can use this information to help us prevent future morbidity. This is essential if we want to “put a dent” in pediatric injury rates. Guest Editor Joel A. Fein, MD
High-efficiency screen-printed planar solar cells on single crystalline silicon materials

In this paper we report on the fabrication, characterization and analysis of high efficiency planar screen-printed solar cells with high sheet resistance emitter /spl sim/ 100 /spl Omega//square. Three single crystalline materials were used in this study including; boron doped magnetically stabilized Cz (MCz), gallium-doped Cz (GaCz) and float zone (FZ). For these three materials, a wide range of resistivities was investigated including Fz -0.6-4.1 /spl Omega/-cm, MCz 1.2-5.3 /spl Omega/-cm and Ga-Cz 2.6-33 /spl Omega/-cm. Energy conversion efficiencies of 17.7% were achieved on both Fz (0.6-/spl Omega/-cm) and MCz (1.2-/spl Omega/-cm) while 16.9% was obtained on GaCz silicon material. The 17.7% efficiency achieved on these two materials is the highest energy conversion efficiency reported on a planar screen-printed silicon solar cell. These results demonstrate the importance of high sheet resistance emitter in achieving high efficiency manufacturable solar cells.
An electron microscope-cytochemical method for differentiating membranes of host red cells and malaria parasites.

SYNOPSIS Limiting membranes of malaria parasites and host red cells stain differently when exposed to positively charged iron colloid. Negatively charged red cell membranes avidly bind colloid, whereas parasite membranes do not. This selectivity in colloidal iron uptake by the 2 types of membranes can be utilized as an aid in discerning the amounts of contaminating host cell membranes in “free” malaria parasite preparations and in related cell-free membrane extracts.
GWAS of longitudinal amyloid accumulation on 18F-florbetapir PET in Alzheimer's disease implicates microglial activation gene IL1RAP.

Brain amyloid deposition is thought to be a seminal event in Alzheimer's disease. To identify genes influencing Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis, we performed a genome-wide association study of longitudinal change in brain amyloid burden measured by (18)F-florbetapir PET. A novel association with higher rates of amyloid accumulation independent from APOE (apolipoprotein E) e4 status was identified in IL1RAP (interleukin-1 receptor accessory protein; rs12053868-G; P = 1.38 × 10(-9)) and was validated by deep sequencing. IL1RAP rs12053868-G carriers were more likely to progress from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease and exhibited greater longitudinal temporal cortex atrophy on MRI. In independent cohorts rs12053868-G was associated with accelerated cognitive decline and lower cortical (11)C-PBR28 PET signal, a marker of microglial activation. These results suggest a crucial role of activated microglia in limiting amyloid accumulation and nominate the IL-1/IL1RAP pathway as a potential target for modulating this process.
Induction and Function of Type I IFNs During Chlamydial Infection

Chlamydia trachomatis is an obligate intracellular pathogen and a leading cause of sexually transmitted bacterial infection in the world. The first step in the host immune response to chlamydial infection is recognition of conserved microbial markers on Chlamydia spp. by host pathogen recognition receptors (PRRs) on epithelial cells. This innate immune recognition leads to a host inflammatory response, a major mediator of the oviduct disease during C. trachomatis genital infection. Type I IFNs are rapidly induced in response to chlamydial infection and have been shown to be bactericidal during in vitro infection. However, during in vivo infection, IFNAR signaling exacerbates oviduct pathology and is not protective to the host. This chapter summarizes the cooperative recognition of chlamydiae by the PRRs to induce type I IFNs, the downstream effect of these cytokines in pathogenesis, and the candidate chlamydial effectors initiating these responses.
Some Comparative Aspects of Pyridoxal Phosphate and Pyruvoyl-Dependent Amino Acid Decarboxylases

The conversion of amino acids to the corresponding amines by loss of the carboxyl group was among the first degradative reactions of amino acids to be discovered. Our understanding of the catalytic mechanism of this reaction, however, is still incomplete. Among the early milestones leading to our present understanding of these reactions was the discovery of a series of inducible bacterial amino acid decarboxylases by Gale and his colleagues (Fig. 1) and their discovery that an unidentified, heat stable coenzyme also was required for the reaction.1 A similar unidentified coenzyme, required for the bacterial degradation of tryptophan to indole, was also reported by Usawa.2 Identification of this coenzyme followed two developments: (a) discovery in our laboratory of pyridoxal as one of two previously unrecognized forms of vitamin B6 that, unlike pyridoxine, were highly active in promoting growth of lactic acid bacteria,3 and (b), the discovery by Gunsalus et al.4 (Fig. 2) that Streptococcus faecalis failed to produce tyrosine decarboxylase when grown in a medium lacking vitamin B6. Addition of pyridoxal to such cells resulted in formation of an active enzyme; addition of pyridoxine did not.
Conflict Detection Performance Analysis for Function Allocation Using Time-Shifted Recorded Traffic Data

The performance of the conflict detection function in a separation assurance system is dependent on the content and quality of the data available to perform that function. Specifically, data quality and data content available to the conflict detection function have a direct impact on the accuracy of the prediction of an aircraft's future state or trajectory, which, in turn, impacts the ability to successfully anticipate potential losses of separation (detect future conflicts). Consequently, other separation assurance functions that rely on the conflict detection function - namely, conflict resolution - are prone to negative performance impacts. The many possible allocations and implementations of the conflict detection function between centralized and distributed systems drive the need to understand the key relationships that impact conflict detection performance, with respect to differences in data available. This paper presents the preliminary results of an analysis technique developed to investigate the impacts of data quality and data content on conflict detection performance. Flight track data recorded from a day of the National Airspace System is time-shifted to create conflicts not present in the un-shifted data. A methodology is used to smooth and filter the recorded data to eliminate sensor fusion noise, data drop-outs and other anomalies in the data. The metrics used to characterize conflict detection performance are presented and a set of preliminary results is discussed.
Sex Pheromones of Lepidoptera. The Influence of Prolonged Exposure to Pheromone on the Behavior of Males of Trichoplusia ni

When males of Trichoplusia ni were continuously exposed to female sex pheromone, their pheromone-induced activity diminished more rapidly than it did for males exposed to repetitive pulses of pheromone. The males remained partially habituated for at least 15 min following many hours of pre-exposure to either the continuous supply or repetitive pulses of pheromone. When the males were continuously exposed and presumably habituated to pheromone throughout the night, there was no apparent effect on the timing of their flight or feeding behavior. An understanding of the behavior of male moths during and following prolonged exposure to sex pheromones may enhance man's utilization of the pheromones for pest control.
Progress Toward Viable Epitaxial Oxide Ferroelectric Waveguide Heterostructures on Gaas

Discoveries within the last two years have created possibilities for the fabrication of epitaxial oxide heterostructures on GaAs substrates. In particular, magnesium oxide, MgO, may have broad applications, including its use as a cladding layer in optical waveguides. This report expands upon earlier work by revealing additional epitaxial structures involving lithium niobate which have been grown. There are now five known variants of Z-lithium niobate on GaAs: direct Z-cut growth on GaAs (111)A or B, Z-cut growth on MgO (111)/GaAs (111)A or B, and Z-cut growth on MgO (HD/GaAs (001). Broad in-plane misalignment (about 15°) characterizes the latter structure, whereas the former posses a textural width of 3° to 5° in the plane. All structures contain internal boundaries resulting from 180° rotations about the Z-axis. A critical issue for any ferroelectric heterostructure is its integrity in the presence of thermally induced tensile strain. Approaches to the mitigation of thin film fracture are discussed and a novel approach to strain relief via ridge waveguide fabrication is reported.
Selective electrochemical reactivity of rutile VO 2 towards the suppression of metal-insulator transition

We demonstrate through electrolyte gating measurements of a single nanobeam that the rultile phase of ${\mathrm{VO}}_{2}$ is electrochemically more reactive than the monoclinic phase. Our results show that the complete suppression of the metal-insulator transition and stabilization of the metallic phase is possible when gate voltage is applied in the rutile metallic phase. The results are discussed based on the formation of oxygen vacancies wherein accommodation of a high concentration of vacancies in the rutile phase selectively stabilizes it by disrupting dimerization of adjacent V-V pairs required for a transition to the monoclinic phase. The creation of oxygen vacancies is proposed to proceed through the oxidation of the electrolyte. Raman spectroscopy data suggest surface metallization upon electrolyte gating with an initial coexistence of insulating monoclinic and metallic domains. The selective electrochemical reactivity of the rutile phase and the resulting defect-induced stabilization of this phase across a vastly expanded temperature window suggest a facile defect engineering route to tune electronic phase transitions.
Jacobs, Margaret D. (2014), A Generation Removed: The Fostering & Adoption of Indigenous Children in the Postwar World

A Generation Removed: The Fostering & Adoption of Indigenous Children in the Postwar World is the latest book written by Margaret D. Jacobs. As an accomplished author and Chancellor’s Professor of ...
Presidential Risk Orientation and Force Employment Decisions: The Case of Unmanned Weaponry

In this article, we explore how presidential risk orientations affect force employment decisions through an analysis of the use of unmanned weaponry during the Bush and Obama administrations. We hypothesize that the conception of risk plays an integral part in this choice of weaponry. In order to examine our hypothesis, we utilize the verbs-in-context system of operational code analysis to quantify the risk propensities of President Bush and President Obama during the Afghanistan War from 2001 to 2013. At the aggregate level, we find that the two presidents exhibit unique interpretations of risk with respect to manned versus unmanned weaponry. We further disaggregate our data to examine whether these preferences are fixed or fluctuate with situational changes. We find that President Bush’s risk calculations are influenced by a number of situational variables, highlighting the importance of changing decision contexts in explaining risk behaviors. President Obama’s risk calculations, on the other hand, rema...
Minimally Conscious State

The minimally conscious state (MCS) is a condition of severely altered consciousness that is distinguished from the vegetative state (VS) by the presence of minimal but clearly discernible behavioral evidence of self or environmental awareness. There is increasing evidence from neurobehavioral and neuroimaging studies that important differences in clinical presentation, neuropathology and functional outcome exist between MCS and VS. This chapter describes the characteristic features of MCS, discusses specialized assessment techniques required for accurate diagnosis, outlines potential pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying MCS, describes the effectiveness of existing treatment interventions, identifies key issues in clinical practice and offers new directions for further scientific inquiry.
Benefit of TeamSTEPPS Rounding Improvement Project on Infection-Related Monitoring

Abstract Background: Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) was developed to improve teamwork and patient safety. It was shown to benefit patient care in complex clinical settings including intensive care units (ICUs). Our two trauma/surgical ICUs received TeamSTEPPS training, but only Unit 1 participated in a TeamSTEPPS Rounding Improvement Project (TRIP). Our goal was to assess any unintended benefit to infection-related monitoring and prevention from TRIP. We hypothesized that TRIP implementation in ICUs would be associated with increased monitoring, resulting in improved antibiotic and invasive catheter/tube stewardship. Methods: From September through November 2014, observers prospectively collected data on rounds in both units. Unit personnel were blinded to the data collection process. Monitoring parameters obtained for each patient encounter included review of invasive catheter/tube presence and review of antibiotic indication and course. For patients who ...
Aging amplifies multiple phenotypic defects in mice with zinc transporter Zip14 (Slc39a14) deletion

Inflammation and zinc dyshomeostasis are two common hallmarks of aging. A major zinc transporter ZIP14 (slc39a14) is upregulated by proinflammatory stimuli, e.g. interleukin-6. We have evaluated the influence of age on the Zip14 KO phenotype using wild-type (WT) and Zip14 knockout (KO) mice. Aging produced a major increase in serum IL-6 concentrations that was dramatically augmented in the Zip14 KO mice. In keeping with enhanced serum IL-6 concentrations, aging produced tissue-specific increases in zinc concentration of skeletal muscle and white adipose tissue. Metabolic endotoxemia produced by Zip14 ablation is maintained in aged KO mice. Muscle non-heme iron (NHI) was increased in aged WT mice but not in aged Zip14 KO mice demonstrating NHI uptake by muscle is ZIP14-dependent and increases with age. NF-κB and STAT3 activation was greater in aged mice, but was tissue specific and inversely related to tissue zinc. Micro-CT analysis revealed that Zip14 KO mice had markedly reduced trabecular bone that was greatly amplified with aging. These results demonstrate that the inflammation-responsive zinc transporter ZIP14 has phenotypic effects that are amplified with aging.
Imaging study of a clinical PET scanner design using an optimal crystal thickness and scanner axial FOV

The aim of this study is to understand the trade-off between crystal thickness and scanner axial FOV in the use of high light output crystals for clinical PET imaging. Clinical scanner design has evolved towards using thick crystals and long scanner axial FOV, as well as TOF imaging. While Monte Carlo studies demonstrate that longer axial FOV and thick crystals will lead to higher scanner sensitivity, cost has prohibited the building of commercial scanners with > 25-cm axial FOV. We performed a series of system simulations while varying the crystal thickness and scanner axial FOV. Our results show that there is an optimal crystal thickness which maximizes the rate of change in relative sensitivity as a function of crystal thickness (about 10 mm for LSO, 20–25 mm for LaBr 3 ) and independent of the scanner axial FOV. Simulations of a line source cylinder show that a scanner design using 20-mm thick LaBr 3 crystals and 38-cm axial FOV can provide similar NEC to that achieved in an LSO scanner with 20-mm thick crystals and an 18-cm axial FOV, but with twice the crystal volume. While there is a gain in the NEC, indicating a reduction in total scan time there are additional benefits in the use of shorter crystals, such as improved timing resolution leading to improved image quality with TOF imaging. Also, reduced parallax error due to shorter crystals allows the design of a smaller ring diameter, which improves system sensitivity and also provides the ability to develop a clinical PET insert for use in a PET/MR system. Results from simulation studies of lesion phantoms will be presented for scanners using an optimized distribution of thin crystals with their intrinsic performance characteristics.
Restaurant Foods, Sugar-sweetened Soft Drinks, and Obesity Risk among Young African American Women

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of obesity is disproportionately high in African American women, and consumption of fast foods and sugar-sweetened soft drinks is also especially high among African Americans. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the relation of intakes of sugar-sweetened soft drinks and specific types of restaurant foods to obesity in the Black Women's Health Study. DESIGN: In this prospective cohort study, 19,479 non-obese women aged 21-39 years at baseline were followed for 14 years (1995-2009). Dietary intake was assessed by validated food frequency questionnaire in 1995 and 2001. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cox regression models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of intakes of restaurant foods and sugar-sweetened soft drinks with incident obesity. RESULTS: Higher intakes of burgers from restaurants and sugar-sweetened soft drinks were associated with greater risk of becoming obese. The associations were present in models that included both factors and adjusted for overall dietary pattern. The HR of obesity in relation to restaurant burger consumption of > or = 2 times/week compared with or = 2 drinks/day compared with < 1 drink/month. The associations were stronger among women younger than age 30 with normal weight at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Frequent consumption of burgers from restaurants and sugar-sweetened soft drinks contribute to obesity among young African American women.
Posterior circulation perforator aneurysms: a proposed management algorithm.

Introduction Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) from posterior circulation perforator aneurysms (PCPAs) is rare and its natural history is unknown. Diagnosis may be difficult, acute management is poorly defined, and long-term recurrent SAH rates and clinical outcome data are lacking. Methods We searched our institution9s records for cases of PCPA rupture and analyzed patient demographics, Hunt and Hess (HH) grades, diagnostic imaging, management, and clinical outcomes. We conducted telephone interviews to calculate modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores. Results We identified 9 patients (6 male, 3 female) with a ruptured PCPA who presented to the University of Virginia Health System (Charlottesville, VA, USA) between 2010 and 2016. Median and mean ages were 62 and 63 years, respectively. Median HH grade was 3. Seven of nine (78%) PCPAs were angiographically occult on initial imaging and median time to diagnosis was 5 days. Three conservatively managed patients had a mean mRS score of 0.67 (range 0–1) at mean follow-up of 35.3 months. Antifibrinolytic therapy was administered to all conservatively managed patients without thrombotic complication. Six patients receiving endovascular treatment had a mean mRS score of 2.67 (range 0–6) at mean follow-up of 49.2 months. No cases of recurrent SAH were seen in the study. Conclusions The rarity of PCPA has precluded long-term clinical follow-up until now. Our experience suggests low recurrent SAH rates. Until further studies are performed, conservative management, possibly combined with antifibrinolytic therapy, may be a viable treatment with acceptable long-term outcome.
Mechanics-based design of underactuated robotic walking gaits: Initial experimental realization

This paper presents two strategies for designing underactuated, planar robotic walking gaits and for realizing them experimentally. The methods draw upon insights gained from the authors' recent work which leverages properties of the mechanics of the robot to design a controller that stabilizes walking by regulating the transfer of angular momentum about one support pivot to the next. One proposed gait design strategy is to simulate a closed-loop hybrid model of the robot under the action of the mechanics-based controller to produce an implicit periodic orbit for each set of controller parameters. The second design strategy modifies traditional usage of nonlinear optimization to produce parameterized outputs corresponding to a stable Hybrid Zero Dynamics. The novel approach is to reformulate the HZD stability constraint using the mechanics of the system and to propose an alternative to the periodic HZD orbit existence constraint through the use of an angular momentum variant of the Linear Inverted Pendulum. The two methods are used to design gaits that are implemented in experiments with the AMBER-3M robot.
Making sense of replications

The first results from the Reproducibility Project: Cancer Biology suggest that there is scope for improving reproducibility in pre-clinical cancer research.