cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Malformations among 289,365 Births Attributed to Mutations with Autosomal Dominant and Recessive and X-Linked Inheritance.

Background The number of malformations attributed to mutations with autosomal or X-linked patterns of inheritance has increased steadily since the cataloging began in the 1960s. These diagnoses have been based primarily on the pattern of phenotypic features among close relatives. A malformations surveillance program conducted in consecutive pregnancies can identify both known and "new" hereditary disorders. Methods The Active Malformations Surveillance Program was carried out among 289,365 births over 41 years (1972-2012) at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The findings recorded by examining pediatricians and all consultants were reviewed by study clinicians to establish the most likely diagnoses. The findings in laboratory testing in the newborn period were reviewed, as well. Results One hundred ninety-six (0.06%) infants among 289,365 births had a malformation or malformation syndrome that was attributed to Mendelian inheritance. A total of 133 (68%) of the hereditary malformations were attributed to autosomal dominant inheritance, with 94 (71%) attributed to apparent spontaneous mutations. Forty-six (23%) were attributed to mutations with autosomal recessive inheritance, 17 associated with consanguinity. Seventeen (9%) were attributed to X-linked inheritance. Fifteen novel familial phenotypes were identified. The family histories showed that most (53 to 71%) of the affected infants were born, as a surprise, to healthy, unaffected parents. Conclusion It is important for clinicians to discuss with surprised healthy parents how they can have an infant with an hereditary condition. Future studies, using DNA samples from consecutive populations of infants with malformations and whole genome sequencing, will identify many more mutations in loci associated with mendelizing phenotypes. Birth Defects Research 110:92-97, 2018.© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
A Monte Carlo Study of Ideal Beams for Epithermal Neutron Beam Development for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy

A series of “ideal neutron beam” studies has been carried out using Monte Carlo simulation with the goal of providing guidance for epithermal neutron beam design for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). An “ideal beam” is defined as a monoenergetic, photon-free source of neutrons with user-specified size, shape and angular dependence of neutron current. Although discrete-energy, uncontaminated neutron sources are currently largely unobtainable, there are a number of computational techniques that allow simulation of such sources, thereby permitting an otherwise difficult or impossible investigation. For example, the Monte Carlo code MCNP1 has been used extensively in studies of beam design and dosimetry in neutron capture therapy; MCNP installed on SUN SPARC workstations in the Whitaker College Biomedical Imaging and Computation Laboratory at MIT was also used in the current study.
Predicting Substance Use Patterns Among Rural Adults: The Roles of Mothers, Fathers, and Parenthood

This study examined the role of parenthood and parental influences on substance use patterns for 710 stimulant users age 18-61 living in the rural Midwest and Mid-south U.S. Longitudinal growth analyses showed that a maternal history of drug use was associated with increased baseline drug use severity, lesser declines in severity, and greater plateau of drug use severity over time. Parental conflict was associated with lesser declines in drug use severity, and drug use severity declined more steeply for participants who were themselves parents. Participants with two parents having a history of alcohol use had a greater baseline severity of alcohol use, with paternal history of drug use associated with lower baseline alcohol use severity. These findings demonstrate the importance of identifying parental influences in evaluating adult substance use, and point to the inclusion of parents in efforts to prevent and treat substance use disorders.
A Regimen of Health

Bacon’s study of the natural sciences was directed toward the ‘use and benefit of mankind,’ because in Bacon’s humanism man’s importance went unquestioned. Bacon’s philosophy was in part a philosophy of action, and to act the Renaissance man had to be a whole man in every sense, fit, both physically and spiritually, for action. Consequently man’s health was important, though inadequately cared for. ‘Medicine hath been,’ said Bacon, ‘more professed than laboured, and yet more laboured than advanced; the labour having been, in my judgement, rather in a circle than in progression.’ For him, failure in medicine, as in the other divisions of learning, was a result of failure in method; Physicians have not, partly out of their own practice, partly out of the constant probations reported in books, and partly out of the traditions of empirics, set down and delivered over certain experimental medicines for the cure of particular diseases, besides their own conjectural and magistral descriptions ... so in the matter we now handle, they be the best physicians, which being learned incline to the tradition of experience, or being empirics incline to the methods of learning.1
Nondestructive Characterization of Beta Silicon Carbide CVD Coatings

Because of their high temperature capability, strength and erosion resistance, chemical vapor deposited (CVD) beta silicon carbide coatings are of interest in tribological and protective applications. The silicon carbide is formed by a reaction between a silicon halide, such as SiCl4 and a carbon source, such as CH4.
Chilled Food Systems. Effects of Chilled Holding on Quality of Beef Loaves

Quality of cooked beef loaves subjected to three practices currently used in chilled food systems was compared with that of the comparable freshly prepared product.
Who are the retarded

Eleven year old children in educable (N=378) and regular (N=319) classes from the five county greater Philadelphia area were compared on the Slosson Intelligence Test for Children and Adults, an ad...
Thermal Energy Systems: Design and Analysis

Thermal Energy Systems: Design and Analysis, Second Edition presents basic concepts for simulation and optimization, and introduces simulation and optimization techniques for system modeling. This text addresses engineering economy, optimization, hydraulic systems, energy systems, and system simulation. Computer modeling is presented, and a companion website provides specific coverage of EES and Excel in thermal-fluid design. Assuming prior coursework in basic thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, this fully updated and improved text will guide students in Mechanical and Chemical Engineering as they apply their knowledge to systems analysis and design, and to capstone design project work.
False-Positive Light Chain Clonal Restriction by Flow Cytometry in Patients Treated With Alemtuzumab: Potential Pitfalls for the Misdiagnosis of B-Cell Neoplasms.

Objectives To increase awareness of potential diagnostic test interference associated with alemtuzumab, which is a therapeutic immunoglobulin G1 κ monoclonal antibody used in hematologic malignancies, autoimmune diseases, and transplant-related disorders. Methods Bone marrow and blood from patients with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia treated with alemtuzumab were evaluated by flow cytometry. Healthy donor blood was analyzed with or without in vitro treatment with alemtuzumab for comparison. Results Immunophenotypic analysis of bone marrow collected 4 weeks after alemtuzumab treatment demonstrated artifactual surface κ light chain restriction in CD19+ B cells and CD3+ T cells. Similar findings were observed in blood from another patient in a specimen collected 3 days after alemtuzumab treatment. These findings were recapitulated in healthy donor blood incubated with alemtuzumab. Conclusions Alemtuzumab can produce direct interference during flow cytometry analysis, resulting in false-positive evidence of light chain clonality. Clinicians and laboratorians should be cognizant of this risk to avoid misdiagnosis of B-cell neoplasms.
Suggestions for a New Interdisciplinary Linguo-cognitive Theory in Translation Studies

In this chapter I will first briefly review current thinking about translation as an art, and then proceed to make a case for a new interdisciplinary linguistic and cognitive orientation in translation studies. I will then look at translation-relevant introspective and retrospective studies, as well as behavioral experiments and neuro-imaging studies. Finally I will propose a new interdisciplinary approach that sets out to combine a functional-linguistic translation theory with a neuro-functional theory of bilingualism.
Psychological Overinvolvement, Emotional Distress, and Daily Affect Following Marital Dissolution

Martial dissolution is associated with risk for poor mental health outcomes, but less is known about the variables and processes that may explain this risk. In a sample of recently-separated adults (N = 138), this study examined the association of psychological overinvolvement—assessed using a composite of self-reported rumination, language use, and judge-rated recounting and reconstruing—with daily affect and psychological distress. We included objective measures of sleep, behavioral displays of distress, and social engagement as potential mediators of these associations. Consistent with the preregistered hypotheses, greater psychological overinvolvement predicted higher levels of psychological distress, lower happiness, and greater sadness five months later. Psychological overinvolvement also predicted change in sadness, but not happiness or psychological distress, over five months. Contrary to our predictions, none of the candidate mediators explained these associations. Exploratory analyses suggested that the self-reported rumination component of the psychological overinvolvement composite largely accounted for the association between psychological overinvolvement and the three outcomes. People’s tendency to become overinvolved in their psychological experience after divorce predicts increased risk for distress in the months following marital separation.
Online Higher Education: Faculty Satisfaction and Its Antecedents:

The nature and antecedents of faculty satisfaction in online higher education have not received much scholarly attention yet, despite the growing literature that indicates the relevance of faculty ...
Tanggung Renteng dalam Perkara Perdata Pencemaran Udara dari Kebakaran Hutan dan Lahan

Tulisan ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kemungkinan korban pencemaran udara dari karhutla menuntut ganti rugi secara perdata terhadap beberapa pelaku pencemaran udara dari karhutla. Tulisan ini menggunakan metode penulisan yuridis normatif berdasarkan pada peraturan perundang-undangan yang berlaku di Indonesia sebagai bahan hukum primer. Tulisan ini juga bersumber pada teori dari literatur-literatur hukum dan informasi dari internet yang menjadi bahan hukum sekunder. Tulisan ini menunjukan bahwa gugatan perdata terhadap beberapa pelaku pencemaran udara dari karhutla dapat dilakukan. Gugatan tersebut dapat dilakukan dalam bentuk gugatan tanggung renteng (joint and several liability). Selain itu, pertanggungjawaban mutlak dan asas kehati-hatian dapat menjawab tantangan pembuktian kausalitas dalam gugatan ini
Associations Between Inflammatory Endotypes and Clinical Presentations in Chronic Rhinosinusitis.

Background Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a heterogeneous disease characterized by mucosal inflammation in the nose and paranasal sinuses. Inflammation in CRS is also heterogeneous and is mainly characterized by type 2 (T2) inflammation, but subsets of patients show type 1 (T1) and type 3 (T3) inflammation. Whether inflammatory endotypes are associated with clinical phenotypes has yet to be explored in detail. Objective To identify associations between inflammatory endotypes and clinical presentations in CRS. Methods We compared 121 patients with nonpolypoid CRS (CRSsNP) and 134 patients with polypoid CRS (CRSwNP) and identified inflammatory endotypes using markers including IFN-γ (T1), eosinophil cationic protein (T2), Charcot-Leyden crystal galectin (T2), and IL-17A (T3). We collected clinical parameters from medical and surgical records and examined whether there were any associations between endotype and clinical features. Results The presence of nasal polyps, asthma comorbidity, smell loss, and allergic mucin was significantly associated with the presence of T2 endotype in all patients with CRS. The T1 endotype was significantly more common in females, and the presence of pus was significantly associated with T3 endotype in all patients with CRS. We further analyzed these associations in CRSsNP and CRSwNP separately and found that smell loss was still associated with T2 endotype and pus with the T3 endotype in both CRSsNP and CRSwNP. Importantly, patients with CRS with T2 and T3 mixed endotype tended to have clinical presentations shared by both T2 and T3 endotypes. Conclusions Clinical presentations are directly associated with inflammatory endotypes in CRS. Identification of inflammatory endotypes may allow for more precise and personalized medical treatments in CRS.
How to correctly put the “subsequent” in subsequent search miss errors

Visual search, finding targets among distractors, is theoretically interesting and practically important as it involves many cognitive abilities and is vital for several critical industries (e.g., radiology, baggage screening). Unfortunately, search is especially error prone when more than one target is present in a display (a phenomenon termed the satisfaction of search effect or the subsequent search miss effect). The general effect is that observers are more likely to miss a second target if a first was already detected. Unpacking the underlying mechanisms requires two key aspects in analysis and design. First, to speak to the “subsequent” nature of the effect, the analyses must compare performance on single-target trials to performance for a second target in dual-target displays after a first has been found. Second, the design must include single-target displays that are matched in difficulty to each dual-target display to enable fair comparisons. However, it is not clear that prior research has met these two standards simultaneously. Work from academic radiology has primarily used designs with well-matched single- and dual-target trials, but most employed analyses that do not focus solely on performance after a first target has been detected. Work from cognitive psychology has generally performed the correct analyses, but relied on unmatched single- and dual-target trials, introducing a confound that could distort the results. In the current paper, we demonstrate the impact of this confound in empirical data and provide a roadmap for proper study design and analyses.
Nonparametric Inference on Tumor Incidence with Partially Identified Cause-of-Death Data

The use of survival-sacrifice experiments with animals, primarily rodents, has long been an indispensable tool for gauging the possible carcinogenic effect of a new drug or pharmaceutical agent. Because the tumor induced in the animal is generally impalpable and non-lethal, the precise time to its occurrence is unobservable. The only information that can be gleaned is its presence or absence when the animal dies from tumor-related or accidental causes. Provided that the cause of death is ascertained by a pathologist, Gomes (Braz J Probab Stat 15:135–145, 2001) provides a computationally efficient approach to nonparametric estimation of the cumulative distribution function for tumor onset time. In this article, we develop an EM-type algorithm to extend this approach to the situation where the cause of death is unknown on a subset of the animals. Such a scenario often occurs in practice as certain cases of death may elude the expertise of the pathologist. We also propose a class of logrank-type tests to compare different treatment groups on tumor incidence. Simulation studies show that, by properly accounting for missing data, the proposed methods outperform the naive approaches of complete-case analysis and simple imputations. Real data from a large-scale study on pituitary tumor in rats are analyzed as an illustration.
Graft Thickness is Associated with Subchondral Cyst Formation in Patients After Osteochondral Allograft Transplantation in the Knee

Objectives:The purpose of this study was to determine potential predictive associations between preoperative patient characteristics or osteochondral allograft (OCA) morphology, and postoperative O...
Asociación entre síndrome nefrótico y polirradiculoneuropatía inflamatoria aguda

Resumen El sindrome de Guillain-Barre incluye varios tipos de polirradiculoneuropatia aguda, con sintomas sensitivos, motores (o ambos) asi como paralisis de nervios craneales o sintomas disautonomicos. Pueden deberse a un dano axonal o desmielinizante. Por otro lado, el sindrome nefrotico es la combinacion de proteinuria en rango nefrotico con niveles bajos de albumina y edema en extremidades. Ambas enfermedades tienen una base autoinmune aunque la relacion entre ambas es infrecuente.
Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients With Primary Plasma Cell Leukemia in the Era of Novel Agent Therapy

Abstract Objective To evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients with primary plasma cell leukemia (pPCL) defined by 5% or greater clonal circulating plasma cells on peripheral blood smear and treated with novel agent induction therapies. Patients and Methods A cohort of 68 patients with pPCL diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2019, and treated with novel agent induction therapies was evaluated. Results The median follow-up was 46 (95% CI, 41 to 90) months. The median bone marrow plasma cell content was 85% (range, 10% to 100%) and median clonal circulaitng plasma cell percentage on the peripheral blood smear was 26% (range, 5% to 93%). There was a preponderance of t(11;14) primary cytogenetic abnormality in this cohort. The median time to next therapy (TTNT) and overall survival (OS) for all patients with pPCL patients in this cohort was 13 (95% CI, 9 to 17) and 23 (95% CI, 19 to 38) months, respectively. However, when stratified by cytogenetic risk, the median TTNT and OS were 16 and 51 months for standard risk vs 9 and 19 months for high risk (P=.01 for OS). Conclusion Primary plasma cell leukemia remains an aggressive disease with poor prognosis despite novel agent–based therapies. Some patients have better than expected survival and this phenomenon may be influenced by the absence of high-risk cytogenetics. Newer treatment regimens are needed to improve the prognosis of this devastating disease.
Austen’s Emergent Energies: Mansfield Park

Treating Mansfield Park as a novel on the cusp, Chap. 5 explores Austen’s dialogue with Romantic and Enlightenment attitudes toward nature, as well as her anticipation of Victorian energy concepts to come. The metaphorically Malthusian populations of Mansfield Park struggle for limited resources—a struggle exemplified by the “superfluity of children, and such a want of almost everything else” that troubles Fanny’s mother. As Austen canvasses more and less tangible forms of scarcity within systems of family, class, and nation, these all-too-human problems pre-figure the ecological anxieties that suffuse Victorian literature, among these, the perception of scarcity, the troubled place of humans in nature, the ambivalence attached to systemic closure and mobility, and the formulation of use-value. Mansfield Park wrestles with energy as a personal quality that anticipates some of the more troubling features of energy, a scientific concept that is still decades away. The scarcity of resources in a system necessitates the opening of that system to bring in, or simply let in, energy from outside. As the energetic Crawfords suggest, such inclusion may be a mixed blessing indeed, necessary to forestall fatigue and decay, but threatening to the shape and values of the system itself. Mansfield Park further makes visible some of the forms of circumlocution that will trouble our discourse of energy and resources for the next two centuries.
Clinical Course of Breast Cancer Patients with Local-Regional Progression During Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy.

Neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) is standard for locally advanced breast cancer and is now frequently considered for those with early-stage and node-positive disease. We aimed to evaluate the treatment course and outcomes in patients with disease progression during NST. Patients diagnosed with unilateral stage I–III breast cancer between 2005 and 2015 with documented local-regional progression while receiving NST, by clinical examination and/or imaging after two or more cycles of chemotherapy, were identified from a prospective database, stratified by receipt of surgery and outcomes analyzed. Of 6362 patients treated with NST during the study period, 124 (1.9%) developed disease progression. At a median live follow-up of 71 months, 23.4% were alive without disease and 70.2% had died from breast cancer. Median overall survival (OS) time for patients with progression was 26 months and median distant disease-free survival (DFS) was 14 months. Triple-negative breast cancer was associated with a higher likelihood of death (p < 0.001) and development of distant metastasis (p = 0.002). Among patients who had surgery (104, 89.3%), 40 (38.5%) developed local-regional recurrence, 67 (64.4%) developed distant metastasis, and 69 (66.3%) died from breast cancer. Median OS and median distant DFS in this subgroup was 31 and 16 months, respectively. High rates of local-regional and distant failure were seen following disease progression while receiving NST. This suggests aggressive tumor biology and the need to study novel systemic therapies. Poor survival outcomes despite surgical management highlight the importance of careful patient selection when considering operative intervention after progression while receiving NST.
Long-Lasting Desynchronization of Plastic Neural Networks by Random Reset Stimulation

Excessive neuronal synchrony is a hallmark of neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease. An established treatment for medically refractory Parkinson's disease is high-frequency (HF) deep brain stimulation (DBS). However, symptoms return shortly after cessation of HF-DBS. Recently developed decoupling stimulation approaches, such as Random Reset (RR) stimulation, specifically target pathological connections to achieve long-lasting desynchronization. During RR stimulation, a temporally and spatially randomized stimulus pattern is administered. However, spatial randomization, as presented so far, may be difficult to realize in a DBS-like setup due to insufficient spatial resolution. Motivated by recently developed segmented DBS electrodes with multiple stimulation sites, we present a RR stimulation protocol that copes with the limited spatial resolution of currently available depth electrodes for DBS. Specifically, spatial randomization is realized by delivering stimuli simultaneously to L randomly selected stimulation sites out of a total of M stimulation sites, which will be called L/M-RR stimulation. We study decoupling by L/M-RR stimulation in networks of excitatory integrate-and-fire neurons with spike-timing dependent plasticity by means of theoretical and computational analysis. We find that L/M-RR stimulation yields parameter-robust decoupling and long-lasting desynchronization. Furthermore, our theory reveals that strong high-frequency stimulation is not suitable for inducing long-lasting desynchronization effects. As a consequence, low and high frequency L/M-RR stimulation affect synaptic weights in qualitatively different ways. Our simulations confirm these predictions and show that qualitative differences between low and high frequency L/M-RR stimulation are present across a wide range of stimulation parameters, rendering stimulation with intermediate frequencies most efficient. Remarkably, we find that L/M-RR stimulation does not rely on a high spatial resolution, characterized by the density of stimulation sites in a target area, corresponding to a large M. In fact, L/M-RR stimulation with low resolution performs even better at low stimulation amplitudes. Our results provide computational evidence that L/M-RR stimulation may present a way to exploit modern segmented lead electrodes for long-lasting therapeutic effects.
New metrics to measure OPO performance are here: How do we ensure organizations receive feedback and improve organ donation?

The optimal care for the transplant candidate is to receive a timely organ transplant. Effective organ donation is critical to this equation. Organ procurement organizations (OPOs) are responsible for: 1) ensuring organ donation occurs by identifying potential donors, obtaining consent, and executing organ allocation/distribution processes, and 2) that organs are recovered safely and efficiently to allow timely transplantation.
Epigenetic Small Molecules Rescue Nucleocytoplasmic Transport and DNA Damage Phenotypes in C9ORF72 ALS/FTD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disease with available treatments only marginally slowing progression or improving survival. A hexanucleotide repeat expansion mutation in the C9ORF72 gene is the most commonly known genetic cause of both sporadic and familial cases of ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The C9ORF72 expansion mutation produces five dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs), and while the mechanistic determinants of DPR-mediated neurotoxicity remain incompletely understood, evidence suggests that disruption of nucleocytoplasmic transport and increased DNA damage contributes to pathology. Therefore, characterizing these disturbances and determining the relative contribution of different DPRs is needed to facilitate the development of novel therapeutics for C9ALS/FTD. To this end, we generated a series of nucleocytoplasmic transport "biosensors", composed of the green fluorescent protein (GFP), fused to different classes of nuclear localization signals (NLSs) and nuclear export signals (NESs). Using these biosensors in conjunction with automated microscopy, we investigated the role of the three most neurotoxic DPRs (PR, GR, and GA) on seven nuclear import and two export pathways. In addition to other DPRs, we found that PR had pronounced inhibitory effects on the classical nuclear export pathway and several nuclear import pathways. To identify compounds capable of counteracting the effects of PR on nucleocytoplasmic transport, we developed a nucleocytoplasmic transport assay and screened several commercially available compound libraries, totaling 2714 compounds. In addition to restoring nucleocytoplasmic transport efficiencies, hits from the screen also counteract the cytotoxic effects of PR. Selected hits were subsequently tested for their ability to rescue another C9ALS/FTD phenotype-persistent DNA double strand breakage. Overall, we found that DPRs disrupt multiple nucleocytoplasmic transport pathways and we identified small molecules that counteract these effects-resulting in increased viability of PR-expressing cells and decreased DNA damage markers in patient-derived motor neurons. Several HDAC inhibitors were validated as hits, supporting previous studies that show that HDAC inhibitors confer therapeutic effects in neurodegenerative models.
Mixed-Precision Orthogonalization Scheme and Adaptive Step Size for Improving the Stability and Performance of CA-GMRES on GPUs

The Generalized Minimum Residual (GMRES) method is a popular Krylov subspace projection method for solving a nonsymmetric linear system of equations. On modern computers, communication is becoming increasingly expensive compared to arithmetic operations, and a communication-avoiding variant (CA-GMRES) may improve the performance of GMRES. To further enhance the performance of CA-GMRES, in this paper, we propose two techniques, focusing on the two main computational kernels of CA-GMRES, tall-skinny QR (TSQR) and matrix powers kernel (MPK). First, to improve the numerical stability of TSQR based on the Cholesky QR (CholQR) factorization, we use higher-precision arithmetic at carefully-selected steps of the factorization. In particular, our mixed-precision CholQR takes the input matrix in the standard \(64\)-bit double precision, but accumulates some of its intermediate results in a software-emulated double-double precision. Compared with the standard CholQR, this mixed-precision CholQR requires about \(8.5\times \) more computation but a much smaller increase in communication. Since the computation is becoming less expensive compared to the communication on a newer computer, the relative overhead of the mixed-precision CholQR is decreasing. Our case studies on a GPU demonstrate that using higher-precision arithmetic for this small but critical segment of the algorithm can improve not only the overall numerical stability of CA-GMRES but also, in some cases, its performance. We then study an adaptive scheme to dynamically adjust the step size of MPK based on the static inputs and the performance measurements gathered during the first restart loop of CA-GMRES. Since the optimal step size of MPK is often much smaller than that of the orthogonalization kernel, the overall performance of CA-GMRES can be improved using different step sizes for these two kernels. Our performance results on multiple GPUs show that our adaptive scheme can choose a near optimal step size for MPK, reducing the total solution time of CA-GMRES.
Association of U.S. tornado occurrence with monthly environmental parameters

[1] Monthly U.S. tornado numbers are here related to observation-based monthly averaged atmospheric parameters. Poisson regression is used to form an index which captures the climatological spatial distribution and seasonal variation of tornado occurrence, as well as year-to-year variability, and provides a framework for extended range forecasts of tornado activity. Computing the same index with predicted atmospheric parameters from a comprehensive forecast model gives some evidence of the predictability of monthly tornado activity.
Feature subset selection using granular information

Studies in machine learning, data mining, and pattern classification often use a technique to select relevant features from a large data set. This technique is known as feature subset selection. This feature selection technique is performed in order to reduce hypothesis search space, to reduce storage, and enhance the performance of the data mining, or machine learning algorithms. In recent years researchers have been actively involved and are focusing on this particular problem from. the perspective of machine learning. This paper briefly studies the existing approaches to select features. The author deals with the effectiveness of granular information to feature selection. He also proposes a simple feature elimination based algorithm that uses granular information.
Triangulation of surface points with cameras and projectors

Several surface mapping techniques using beam-beam and sheet-beam triangulation with a pattern projector and an electronic camera are presented and compared. The techniques are grouped according the methods they use to circumvent the correspondence problem inherent to optical triangulation systems. These methods are referred to as 'time coding', 'shape coding', and 'color coding'. The common term 'coding' refers to the fact that the correspondence information is coded in a particular fashion for simpler decoding during processing. Also presented is a basic Venn diagram showing the relationship between four typical categories of 3D scene analysis. >
A Geometric Approach to Weakly Identified Econometric Models

Many nonlinear Econometric models show evidence of weak identification, including many Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium models, New Keynesian Phillips curve models, and models with forward-looking expectations. In this paper we consider minimum distance statistics and show that in a broad class of models the problem of testing under weak identification is closely related to the problem of testing a "curved null" in a finite-sample Gaussian model. Using the curvature of the model, we develop new finite-sample bounds on the distribution of Anderson-Rubin-type statistics, which we show can be used to detect weak identification and to construct tests robust to weak identification. We apply the new method to a small-scale DSGE model and show that it provides a significant improvement over existing methods.
Degradation of Rutin by Aspergillus flavus STUDIES WITH OXYGEN 18 ON THE ACTION OF A DIOXYGENASE ON QUERCETIN

Abstract The enzymatic oxygenation and cleavage of quercetin by quercetinase, an oxygenase produced by Aspergillus flavus, yield carbon monoxide and a depside, 2-protocatechuoyl-phloroglucinolcarboxylic acid. The enzyme does not incorporate oxygen from 18O2 into carbon monoxide, but incorporates both atoms of 18O2 into the depside. One atom of 18O2 is incorporated into the carboxyl group and the other into the ester carbonyl; thus quercetinase is a dioxygenase. Oxygen from H218O is not incorporated into either the depside or carbon monoxide. Both the carbon and oxygen of carbon monoxide are derived from the hydroxylated carbon 3 of quercetin. The reaction probably involves a direct and concerted addition of "activated oxygen" to quercetin at positions 2 and 4 to form an unstable cyclic peroxide intermediate which rapidly decomposes to give the products.
Reynolds Stress Evolution in Curved Two-Stream Turbulent Mixing Layers

The effects of moderate streamwise (longitudinal) curvature on the growth, development, mixing and turbulence transport in parallel, co-flowing, two-stream mixing (free-shear) layers have been experimentally investigated. Stabilizing and destabilizing configurations (in the Taylor-Gortler sense) with identical boundary and initial conditions have been studied and compared to a plane mixing layer. Flow visualization and three-component laser Doppler velocimetry (LDV) techniques have been applied to investigate these flows. It was found that destabilizing curvature enhances the streamwise growth rate of the shear layer. Turbulence production, three-dimensionality, and fine-scale mixing are enhanced by destabilizing curvature, as well.
Immunogenetic mechanisms in myasthenia gravis.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the immunogenetic mechanisms in myasthenia gravis. Myasthenia gravis (MG) results from an antibody-mediated autoimmune response to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (AChR). Individuals with MG have a higher frequency of certain major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens, particularly HLA-B8, DR3, and DQw2. Autoimmune disease results from a breakdown in self-tolerance. The root cause of many serious human diseases is the aberrant activation of self-reactive T cells. Two striking features are emerging. First, individuals expressing certain class II MHC genes are more likely to be affected. There is a common thread among the susceptible MHC genes in that, as shown for RA and IDDM, susceptibility alleles share regions of allelic hypervariability. The similarity among susceptible alleles reflects the role of MHC molecules in the maintenance of T cell tolerance. Second, a common finding in many experimental models is the oligoclonality in some human autoimmune conditions. The molecular nature of T cell recognition in human diseases to identify the antigens recognized and to correlate MHC restriction of disease-associated T cells with known susceptibility alleles is discussed in the chapter.
Task-based servoing in quaternion space

This paper introduces and analyzes a method based on vector-quaternion pairs for accomplishing task-based control. The optimal control paradigm has been extended into quaternion space with a complete definition of the control law required to control a plant in such a space. A complete set of derivations of the quaternion algebra used to accomplish the optimal control have also been developed. The advantage of this approach is that it decouples the position and orientation states, thereby reducing the complexity of the control algorithms. The intended application of this research is task-level control of the five-fingered Anthrobot mounted on a PUMA 760.
Suppression of immune responses to sheep erythrocytes by the lymphokine soluble immune response suppressor (SIRS) in vivo.

Soluble immune response suppressor (SIRS) is a protein produced by activated suppressor T lymphocytes which inhibits division by tumor cells and plaque-forming cell (PFC) responses in vitro. Although this lymphokine has been fairly well characterized in vitro, little is known about its effects in vivo. Purified murine SIRS, 10(3) to 10(4) U injected i.p., suppressed murine PFC responses to sheep erythrocytes (SRBC) in vivo. Suppression occurred when SIRS was injected into mice 5 days before assay, and also occurred when SIRS activated with 10(-6) M H2O2 was injected 24 hr before assay. These kinetics are similar to those observed in tissue culture, where suppression of PFC responses requires the addition of SIRS 4 to 5 days before assay unless SIRS is activated to SIRSox by H2O2. Levamisole, an inhibitor of SIRS-mediated suppression in vitro, also blocked suppression by SIRS in vivo. Delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to footpad injection of SRBC was also inhibited by SIRS. Suppression of PFC responses by recombinant immune interferon (IFN-gamma), which activates lymphocytes to produce SIRS in vitro, was blocked by injection of levamisole or monoclonal anti-SIRS antibodies. These results show that SIRS suppresses immune responses in vivo, and suggest that suppression of PFC responses by IFN-gamma may be largely mediated by SIRS. These findings indicate that SIRS could contribute to the development of suppressed immunity in vivo.
Elementary pre-service teachers’ conceptual understanding of dissolving: a Vygotskian concept development perspective

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify the nature and the interrelatedness of pre-service teachers’ misconceptions and scientific concepts for explaining dissolving before, during, and after a 5E learning cycle lesson on dissolving, the intervention.Sample, design, and methods: Guided by Vygotsky’s theory of concept development, the study focused specifically on the spontaneous, and spontaneous pseudo-concepts held by the 61 elementary pre-service teachers during a 15-week science methods course. Data included concept maps, interview transcripts, written artifacts, drawings, and narratives, and were thematically analyzed to classify concepts and interrelatedness.Results: Results of the study showed that spontaneous pseudo-concepts (1) dominated pre-service teachers’ understandings about dissolving throughout the study, and (2) were simply associated with scientific concepts during and after the intervention.Conclusion: Collectively, the results indicated that the...
An approach to predict Africanized honey bee migration using remote sensing

Abstract This paper describes the results of an investigation whose objective was to produce a computational algorithm driven by remotely sensed and other data to predict the migration of Africanized honey bees. Since Africanized honey bee migration is influenced in part by the level of biomass in a particular area, our approach utilizes the normalized difference vegetation index as calculated through processing data obtained from the advanced very high resolution radiometer sensor as a measure of photosynthetic activity. Results from the application of the algorithm are encouraging, yielding a percentage of correct prediction of future migration of over sixty percent for a study conducted in the State of Texas.
Exertional Heat Stroke: Strategies for Prevention and Treatment From the Sports Field to the Emergency Department

Exertional heat illness is a category of conditions commonly seen during sports participation in the hot summer months. Exertional heat stroke, in particular, is a dangerous condition involving hyperthermia and central nervous system dysfunction, which, if not properly treated, is potentially deadly. All on-site medical personnel, emergency physicians, and coaches involved in sports participation need to be aware of the recognition and treatment of heat illnesses. Emergency physicians must be equally aware of recognition, treatment, and return-to-play decisions to ensure athletes are quickly and effectively treated and return to sport participation safely.
Preparation and Characterization of 1,3:4,6-di-O-chloroethylidenegalactitol

Abstract When galactitol was allowed to react with chloroacetaldehyde diethyl acetal in concentrated hydrochloric acid, a di- O -chloroethylidenegalactiol was isolated. This product, on treatment with excess p -toluenesulfonyl chloride in pyridine, gave an extremely acid-stable di- O -chloroethylidene-di- O - p -tolylsulfonylgalactitol, which on acetolysis in boiling acetic anhydride-acetic acid containing sulfuric acid, was cleaved to give 1,3,4,6-tetra- O -acetyl-2,5-di- O - p -tolylsulfonylgalactitol in moderate yield. The identification of this tetra- O -acetyl-di- O - p -tolylsulfonylgalactitol supports the structure of 1,3:4,6-di- O -chloroethylidenegalactitol for the original diacetal.
Characteristics of fetuses with polyhydramnios and abnormal chromosome study

It is readily acknowledged that chromosomal abnormalities are associated with polyhydramnios. The purpose of this retrospective study was to identify risk factors for an abnormal chromosome study among cases with polyhydramnios. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data was collected at Magee-Womens Hospital (N=169) and Henry Ford Hospital (N=48). A routine obstetrical ultrasound examination was performed on singleton fetuses between 18 and 42 weeks gestation. Standard fetal biometric data and amniotic fluid index were obtained. A detailed fetal anatomic survey was carried out in each case. Polyhydramnios was defined as an AFI of >25.0 cm and was categorized into three groups by severity: mild (AFI: 25.0-30.0 cm); moderate (AFI: 30.1-35.0 cm); and severe (AFI> 35.1 cm). Cases with polyhydramnios secondary to isoimmunization and diabetes were excluded from the study. All patients were offered the option of amniocentesis. Patients were also offered amniocentesis due to age of ≥35 years or if a multiple marker screen indicated a risk of > 1:270 for Down syndrome or a risk for trisomy 18. A weight percentile was calculated for each neonate. RESULTS: 217 singleton pregnancies had AFI >25.0 cm. 69 patients (32%) underwent amniocentesis. 4 additional newborns underwent chromosome study due to abnormal features undetected by ultrasound. 9 cases in the study group (4.14%) had an abnormal chromosome study. Each of these 9 fetuses had at least one sonographically detectable congenital malformation. The severity of polyhydramnios in these 9 cases was variable. Three neonates in the control group underwent chromosome study because of abnormal phenotypic characteristics. All three were chromosomally normal. After controlling for maternal age, the incidence of karyotypic abnormalities was higher with polyhydramnios than with a normal amount of amniotic fluid. The distribution of neonatal weights for the cases with polyhydramnios was as follows: 14 (6.4%) were small-for-gestational age (SGA); 159 (73.4%) were average-for-gestational age (AGA); and 44 (20.2%) were large-for-gestational age (LGA). 6 of 14 SGA fetuses vs. 2 of 159 AGA fetuses were karyotypically abnormal. Although 5 of 44 (11.4%) LGA fetuses had a sonographically detectable congenital malformation, none were karyotypically abnormal. The incidence of an abnormal karyotype among SGA newborns with polyhydramnios was significantly higher than among AGA and LGA newboms (p 25.0-cm, small for gestational age, and fetuses with ultrasonically detected anomalies are at risk for abnormal chromosome study. In the absence of these findings one should not consider amniocentesis.
Early Anthracycline Cardiotoxicity

Eight patients in whom cardiac dysfunction developed within four weeks of receiving their first or second course of daunorubicin or doxorubicin are described. Four patients presented with pericarditis; three of these four had evidence of myocardial dysfunction. Histopathologic analysis of these patients was consistent with an acute myocyte damage and secondary inflammatory process. An additional group of four patients presented with symptoms and signs of heart failure. These patients were either elderly or had evidence of previous cardiac disease. One of these patients suffered a myocardial infarction 24 hours after receiving 60 mg/m2 of daunorubicin; earlier doses in the same course had been associated with evidence of myocardial ischemia. We conclude that anthracycline antibiotics may manifest clinically significant cardiotoxicity at total cumulative doses much less than have been associated with chronic cardiomyopathy.
Discrete proteolytic cleavage of high mobility group proteins.

Abstract Chromatographic fractionation on CM-Sephadex of a 0.35 M NaCl extract from calf thymus chromatin reveals the presence of a High Mobility Group (HMG) protein which comigrates electrophoretically with HMG-17. Further amino acid analysis and partial sequence determination suggest that this protein is a proteolytic degradation product of either HMG-1 or HMG-2 from which the acidic C-terminal region has been removed.
Synchronization during electrical pacing

Abstract The occurrence of synchronization (accrochage) of atria and ventricles during electronic pacing was noted in the case of a 68-year-old man treated for Adams-Stokes episodes. The nature of this phenomenon is discussed, and the mechanical and electrical theories of its etiology are mentioned briefly.
FerriBRIGHT: a rationally designed fluorescent probe for redox active metals.

The novel catechol−BODIPY dyad, 8-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-2,6-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4,4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (FerriBRIGHT) was rationally designed with the aid of computational methods. FerriBRIGHT could be prepared by standard one-pot synthesis of BODIPY fluorophores from 3,4-bis(benzyloxy)benzaldehyde (1) and 3,5-dimethyl-4-(ethoxycarbonyl)pyrrole (3); however, isolating the dipyrrin intermediate 8-[3,4-bis(benzyloxy)phenyl]-2,6-bis(ethoxycarbonyl)-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-4,4-diaza-s-indacene (7) prior to reaction with excess BF3·OEt2 led to marked improvements in the isolated overall yield of the desired compound. In addition to these improvements in fluorophore synthesis, microwave-assisted palladium-catalyzed hydrogenolysis of benzyl ethers was used to reduce reaction times and catalyst loading in preparation of the desired compound. When FerriBRIGHT is exposed to excess FeCl3, CuCl2, [Co(NH3)5Cl]Cl2, 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone, or ceric ammonium nitrate in met...
A Phosphorylation-Induced Conformation Change in Dematin Headpiece

Summary Dematin is an actin binding protein from the junctional complex of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton. The protein has two actin binding sites and bundles actin filaments in vitro. This actin bundling activity is reversibly regulated by phosphorylation in the carboxyl terminal "headpiece" domain (DHP). DHP is a typical villin-type headpiece actin binding motif and contains a flexible N-terminal loop and an α-helical C-terminal subdomain that is phosphorylated at Ser74. The NMR structure of a Ser74-to-Glu mutant (DHPs74e) closely mimics the conformation of phosphorylated DHP. The negative charge at Ser74 does not alter the conformation of the C-terminal subdomain, but attracts the N-terminal loop toward the C terminus, changing the orientation of the N-terminal subdomain. NMR relaxation studies also indicate reduced mobility in the N-terminal loop in DHPs74e. Thus, phosphorylation in DHP serves as a switch controlling the conformational state of DHP and the actin bundling activity of dematin.