cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A methodological evaluation of the determination of critical oxygen threshold in an estuarine teleost.

ABSTRACT One measure of hypoxia tolerance is the critical oxygen threshold, Pcrit, which is the point where standard metabolism can no longer be maintained through aerobic processes. Traditionally, Pcrit was determined using closed respirometry, whereby the fish9s respiration naturally lowered O2. More recently, intermittent flow techniques have been adopted, where N2 is used to displace O2, which ostensibly reduces end-product build-up. This study used a paired design on the marine teleost, red drum. Pcrit is comparable between closed (4.6±0.2 kPa; mean±s.e.m.) and intermittent flow (4.4±0.2 kPa; mean±s.e.m.) respirometry. pCO2, ammonia and pH changes within the chamber were measured prior to the onset of Pcrit and at the end of a typical Pcrit trial and revealed changes in water chemistry in both closed and intermittent flow. Pcrit values were similar in both methods of hypoxia induction regardless of subsequent water chemistry changes that occurred in both methods.
A Chopper Instrumentation Amplifier with Fully Symmetric Negative Capacitance Generation Feedback Loop and Online Digital Calibration for Input Impedance Boosting

A symmetric chopper instrumentation amplifier architecture with two identical 8-bit digitally programmable capacitor banks and online digital calibration block are presented. Designed for long-term brain signal monitoring applications, the feedback capacitor banks generate negative capacitance to cancel the input capacitance from electrode cables to boost the input impedance to above 2 GΩ at 10 Hz. These banks are controlled by an automatic digital background calibration unit that includes an oscillation prevention scheme to ensure stable operation. A chopping technique is introduced to enhance the noise performance of the instrumentation amplifier in combination with the capacitive feedback loop that also contains chopping switches. The instrumentation amplifier and online calibration blocks are designed in 0.13-µm BiCMOS technology with a 1.2V supply, consuming 115.9 µW and 176 nW, respectively. Simulations show that the amplifier has a 26.9 dB gain, 8.06 KHz bandwidth, 0.52 µV input-referred noise integrated from 0.1-100Hz, and −49.9 dB THD with 1mV peak-to-peak input. The core layout area of the calibration block is 2100 µm2.
The Risk Factors Associated with Investing in an Emerging Equity Market During the EUMembership Process

This paper identifies the risks associated with investing in the Turkish stock market. We find that Turkish firms are more volatile than firms in countries that have recently joined the EU (our control group) and that the excess volatility is significantly associated with higher financial and economic risks rather than fundamentals. Additionally, firms’ fundamentals are as important as country risk factors in explaining stock risk premiums for the control group, while the combined effect of country risk scores has a greater impact on risk premiums than firms’ fundamentals alone for Turkish firms. Also, while Turkish stocks are sensitive to all country risk factors - economic conditions, international openness, investment profile, conflicts, and social tensions - stocks of the control group are mostly affected by only two factors, namely social tensions and economic conditions. Finally, some risks have become less relevant as a result of the changes in legal, political, and economic policies that occurred from 1999 to 2004 (the candidacy period for EU membership). Overall, Turkey has been quite successful at pursuing reforms since it began its candidacy for the EU. It has liberalized its political system and relaxed restrictions on freedom. It has also reduced hyperinflation, strengthened its currency, lowered interest rates, and provided more stable growth in GDP. However, political stability and financial and economic development appear to be issues for Turkey in its quest to become an EU member.
The Interface between Keratin Structurotype and Human Disease.

In this issue of Structure, Coulombe and coworkers (Lee et al., 2020) present the crystal structure of the keratin 5/14 2B heterodimeric complex containing the keratin 14 substitution C367A. The authors identify a 2B-2B contact interface important to the elongation of mature keratin 5/14 filaments.
Readmission drivers for children with medical complexity: Home nursing shortages cause health crises.

Objective Children with medical technology dependence (MTD) are frequently readmitted to the hospital. However, due to their medical fragility, it is often difficult to untangle the root causes for readmissions to identify the most effective preventive approaches. We sought to explore environmental and family factors driving hospital readmissions for children with MTD. Design Semi-structured, in-person interviews were conducted with state-wide care coordinators for children with MTD in Illinois with at least 1 year of experience. Interview topics related to children with MTD transitioning from hospital-to-home, essential supports for living in the community, and factors which influenced and prevented hospital readmission. The interview guide served as an initial codebook which was iteratively modified as themes emerged. Results Fifteen care coordinators with on average 6.6 years of experience were interviewed. They described that lack of home nursing was one of the primary drivers of readmissions due to parental exhaustion and lack of medical expertize in the home. Unavoidable medical admissions, a lack of a plan for emergencies, and home environmental factors also contributed to readmissions. Conclusion Hospital readmission is an expected occurrence for children with MTD, yet still may be substantially reduced through consistent, quality home health nursing to bolster family capacity and allow for respite from constant caregiving. Improved incentives for the home health workforce to increase manpower would be ultimately offset by reduced hospitalizations for children with MTD. Additionally, more research is needed to understand which home nursing structures and skills optimally support families in the reality of manpower scarcity.
Threshold Point Modulation of a Wake-Up Nano-Gap Gas Sensor

This paper reports the successful demonstration of modulating the threshold point in gas concentrations at which a gas sensor turns “on/of” for wake-up operation by adjusting the tunneling areas of a nano-gap in the previously reported ultra-low-power gas sensor. The nano-gap area of the sensor determines the total binding sites and thus the total amounts of “on” tunneling-current at a given concentration. Since the total current amounts trigger wake-up, their increase per given concentration could enable a lower minimum detectable wake-up concentration. Experimental results confirmed that the increase in the nano-gap area from 6.5 to $62.5\ \mu \mathrm{m}^{2}$ by 861.5% enabled the reduction in the required wake-up gas concentrations from 250.0 to 50.0 ppm by 80.0%, showing an exponential decay trend. Such a reduction in the wakeup threshold allows the previously-reported sensor to achieve the required wake-up range of 200.0 ppm for early detection of diamine gases for health safety, while indicating the design feasibility to enable various wake-up concentrations for adjustable operation.
Magnetic Resonance Elastography of Human Hippocampal Subfields: CA3-Dentate Gyrus Viscoelasticity Predicts Relational Memory Accuracy

The hippocampus is necessary for binding and reconstituting information in relational memory. These essential memory functions are supported by the distinct cytoarchitecture of the hippocampal subfields. Magnetic resonance elastography is an emerging tool that provides sensitive estimates of microstructure vis-a-vis tissue mechanical properties. Here, we report the first in vivo study of human hippocampal subfield viscoelastic stiffness and damping ratio. Stiffness describes resistance of a viscoelastic tissue to a stress and is thought to reflect the relative composition of tissue at the microscale; damping ratio describes relative viscous-to-elastic behavior and is thought to generally reflect microstructural organization. Measures from the subiculum (combined with presubiculum and parasubiculum), cornu ammonis (CA) 1-2, and CA3-dentate gyrus (CA3-DG) were collected in a sample of healthy, cognitively normal men (n = 20, age = 18-33 years). In line with known cytoarchitecture, the subiculum demonstrated the lowest damping ratio, followed by CA3-DG and then combined CA1-CA2. Moreover, damping ratio of the CA3-DG-potentially reflective of number of cells and their connections-predicted relational memory accuracy and alone replicated most of the variance in performance that was explained by the whole hippocampus. Stiffness did not differentiate the hippocampal subfields and was unrelated to task performance in this sample. Viscoelasticity measured with magnetic resonance elastography appears to be sensitive to microstructural properties relevant to specific memory function, even in healthy younger adults, and is a promising tool for future studies of hippocampal structure in aging and related diseases.
The EARLY DETECTION RESEARCH NETWORK: A National Infrastructure to Support the Discovery, Development and Validation of Cancer Biomarkers

In 2000, the US National Cancer Institute established the Early Detection Research Network (EDRN), an investigator-driven network to conduct translational research to identify, develop and validate biomarkers for the early cancer detection and risk assessment. This consortium of more than 300 investigators at academic institutions and in the private sector are working collaboratively to bring biomarkers and imaging methods to clinical fruition. These scientists represent diverse disciplines, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, imaging, clinical medicine, and public health. Although significant roadblocks have hindered the field of biomarker discovery, the EDRN has helped overcome many of them by setting well-defined strategies and milestones focused on solving defined unmet clinical needs. The EDRN has implemented measures to improve biomarker discovery and validation, such as data sharing, use of common data elements, generating multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional collaborations within a cohesive and productive team environment, and putting emphasis on quality control and data replication for all candidate biomarkers for reaching a "go" or "no go" decision. A measure of the success of the EDRN are the number of biomarkers tests or devices approved by the Food and Drug Administration to which EDRN investigators have made significant contributions and the number of biomarkers tests developed by EDRN investigators that are available in Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) laboratories.
Approach for Determination of Maximum Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement Content in Polymer-Modified Asphalt Mixture:

Reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), commonly generated from the millings of damaged roads, contains recyclable asphalt and aggregate. Polymer-modified asphalt (PMA) binders have had proven success in...
Antifungal Activity of Plant-Derived Essential Oils on Pathogens of Pulse Crops.

Pulse crops such as chickpeas, lentils, and dry peas are grown widely for human and animal consumption. Major yield- and quality-limiting constraints include diseases caused by fungi and oomycetes....
“It’s Almost Like Bis, Pans Kind of Stick Together:” Bi + Belonging and Community Connection

Belonging and community connection are important for all people, but are particularly important for bi+ (including bisexual, pansexual, queer, and other plurisexual) individuals due to experiences ...
LIGAR: Lightweight General-purpose Action Recognition

Growing amount of different practical tasks in a video understanding problem has addressed the great challenge aiming to design an universal solution, which should be available for broad masses and suitable for the demanding edge-oriented inference. In this paper we are focused on designing a network architecture and a training pipeline to tackle the mentioned challenges. Our architecture takes the best from the previous ones and brings the ability to be successful not only in appearance-based action recognition tasks but in motion-based problems too. Furthermore, the induced label noise problem is formulated and Adaptive Clip Selection (ACS) framework is proposed to deal with it. Together it makes the LIGAR framework the general-purpose action recognition solution. We also have reported the extensive analysis on the general and gesture datasets to show the excellent trade-off between the performance and the accuracy in comparison to the state-of-the-art solutions. Training code is available at: this https URL. For the efficient edge-oriented inference all trained models can be exported into the OpenVINO format.
Adaptive Land Management for Climate-Smart Agriculture

In the 21st century we face the severe impacts of climate change in agriculture including soil erosion, reduced soil quality, and lower crop productivity which threaten future food security and global sustainability. The food security challenge will become more difficult because the world will need to produce about 70% more food by 2050 to feed an estimated 9 billion people. Agriculture is also a major contributor to the climate problem, as it currently generates about 25% of total greenhouse gases. This percentage could rise substantially as other sectors reduce their emissions. On the other hand, agricultural land management offers a potential system to adapt to the world's changing climate. Various land management practices provide different abilities and capacities to mitigate climate change depending on factors such as soils, crops, soil amendments, tillage, landscape and cropping systems. Soil management focusing on carbon and nitrogen cycles as the driving forces for better soil quality will be discussed. The paper will provide an overview of accomplishing this management through the use of soil amendments, low-input agricultural systems, cropping systems, and precision agriculture. In addition, land conservation systems such as different tillage practices, crop rotations and land restoration technologies provide opportunities to reduce global climate change through improved soil carbon sequestration. This paper suggests that (1) increased productivity, (2) enhanced resilience and (3) reduced emissions are needed as outcomes from each management system. In conclusion, agricultural land management practices that improve carbon sequestration and soil functions through increased soil quality and soil health reduce soil erosion and support the resilience of cropping are necessary to sustain food security in a changing climate. Without considering climate-smart agriculture, our land will not support soil-water conservation sufficient to provide food for the world's global growing population.
Electrotransfer of proteins following polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis: Nitrocellulose versus nylon membranes

We found that some plasma proteins such as haptoglobin (Mr 200,000) and alpha 1-acid glycoprotein (Mr 40,000) do not bind at all to nitrocellulose membranes in classical transfer conditions. In contrast, these proteins can be clearly identified when a charged nylon membrane is disposed on the anodal side of the nitrocellulose membrane. Several factors which are important in modifying the adherence between proteins and the blotting membrane have been studied. They are not directly related to the molecular weight of the protein considered but also include the presence of organic solvents in the buffer systems, the pore size of the membrane and the degree of reduction and/or glycosylation of the protein. The eventuality of decreased or absent identification of some antigens on nitrocellulose membranes stresses the importance of controls using nylon membranes.
Far from home : reading and word study

In FAR FROM HOME, everyday situations are embedded in an ongoing story line featuring a variety of characters from different cultural backgrounds. The focus of this reader is primarily on acquiring high-frequency, low-level vocabulary words and idioms in context.
Spectral Analysis of Ocean Wave Forces on Piling (Coastal Engineering Conference in Santa Barbara, California, October 1965)

A computational formula is developed for determining, from the sea-surface spectral density, the spectral density function of the force per unit length at a point on a vertical pile. An accurate and simple approximation for the formula is presented and used to explain the near proportionality between the spectral densities of force and sea surface measured in the ocean near Davenport, Calif. The computational formula and its approximation are extended to provide procedures for the determination of the spectral density of either total force or total overturning movement on a structure consisting of an array of vertical cylinders. The approximation leads to a particularly simple relationship in which the spectral density for the total structure is the spectral density for a single pile times a function which characterizes the geometry of the array. To illustrate the procedure, the total force spectral density is computed for a four-pile instrument platform in 49 ft of water.
Morphogenesis of the Nucleoprotein of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus

Accumulation of the nucleoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in the cytoplasm of BHK-21 cells and in two of four human cell lines was demonstrated. Appearance and progression of the nucleoprotein inclusions paralleled development of virus-specific immunofluorescence and production of virus progeny. The inclusions appeared early as discrete foci of filamentous material which eventually increased in size to form large masses which replaced normal cytoplasmic constituents. The filamentous strands were found in close proximity to budding virions. The inclusion material was extracted from infected cells and purified in cesium chloride gradients. The isolated filaments resembled the ribonucleoprotein isolated from purified virions. They incorporated 3 H-uridine, exhibited virus-specific complement-fixing activity, had a buoyant density of 1.32 g/cm 3 , and appeared as single wavy strands the width of which varied from 2.5 to 8.5 nm, depending on the angle of viewing. Images
Replication of tobacco mosaic virus: V. Properties of the bound and solubilized replicase

Abstract Insoluble, bound tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) replicase, isolated from leaves of TMV-infected plants has been shown to catalyze the synthesis of nucleotide sequences of both TMV-RNA and its complement. Treatment of the complex containing the bound enzyme with Nonidet P-40 and KCl releases a TMV replicase which may then be further purified by sedimentation into a glycerol gradient. The partially purified enzyme is markedly stimulated by added RNA templates, but it exhibits little specificity for any of the 9 RNAs tested. The product of the partially purified enzyme was complementary to the RNA used as template and was bound to the template forming a ribonuclease-resistant, double-stranded molecule. The partially purified enzyme exhibits characteristics expected of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase; viz., the requirement for four ribonucleoside triphosphates for maximum activity, insensitivity to added actinomycin D, rifampicin, deoxyribonuclease, and orthophosphate ion, sensitivity to added pyrophosphate or ribonuclease, and stimulation by RNA. The partially purified replicase cosediments in glycerol gradients approximately with human gamma globulin, suggesting it has a molecular weight of about 160,000.
Biopsy Gleason score and the duration of testosterone suppression among men treated with external beam radiation and 6 months of combined androgen blockade

UNLABELLED Study Type - Therapy (case series) Level of Evidence 4. What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The return of testosterone to normal levels following short-course androgen blockade in prostate cancer is variable. Factors associated with a longer time to recovery include older age and lower baseline testosterone level. In this study, we found that among men treated with 6 months of combined androgen blockade and radiation therapy, higher biopsy Gleason grade was associated with a shorter time to testosterone normalization. OBJECTIVE • To determine whether the biopsy Gleason score is associated with duration of testosterone suppression following 6 months of combined androgen blockade (CAB) and radiation therapy (RT) in men with prostate cancer (PCa). PATIENTS AND METHODS • The study cohort consisted of 221 men with PCa treated with RT and 6 months of CAB between 1996 and 2005. • We defined the duration of testosterone suppression as the time between the last day of CAB and the date the testosterone returned to ≥ 252 ng/dL. We used Cox regression multivariable analysis to relate biopsy Gleason score to duration of testosterone suppression following cessation of CAB. RESULTS • A biopsy Gleason score of 8-10 had an adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) of 1.56 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.04, 2.34; P= 0.03) for a shorter time to testosterone normalization relative to Gleason 6. Specifically, the 51 men with biopsy Gleason score of 8-10 had a median time to testosterone normalization of 17.0 months compared with 22.1 months and 23.8 months for those with biopsy Gleason ≤ 6 and 7, respectively. • Increasing age was significantly associated with a longer duration of testosterone suppression (AHR of 0.95 [95% CI 0.92, 0.97; P < 0.001]) as was a higher baseline PSA (AHR 0.82 [95% CI 0.69, 0.97; P= 0.02]). CONCLUSION • A biopsy Gleason score of 8-10 was associated with a shorter period of testosterone suppression following 6 months of CAB and RT. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that a factor released from high-grade PCa cells may impact on testosterone production.
X5. Flash Photolysis of Visual Pigments

The flash illumination of the visual chromophore, retinene produces a long lived excited state (λmax = 4400 A, t1/2 ∼ 10−5 seconds) tentatively identified as a triplet. Vitamin A as well as the protonated p-toluidine complex of retinene show no evidence of a similar long lived state. The implication of these facts relative to the primary photochemical process in vision is discussed. Solutions of cattle rhodopsin when flash illuminated near room temperature produce metarhodopsin as the first detectable photo product. The thermal decay of this intermediate (occuring in three stages) was studied at several temperatures. The rate data indicate that major reversible configurational changes (reversible denaturation) in the protein structure accompany the bleaching of metarhodopsin. L'illumination par flash du retinene, chromophore visuel, produit un etat excite a longue vie (λmax = 4400 A, t1/2 ∼ 10−5 sec.) tentativement identifie comme triplet. La vitamine A ni le complexe protone que forme la p-toluidine avec le retinene revelent l'existence d'un tel etat a longue vie similaire. La consequence de ces faits pour l'acte primaire photochimique dans le mecanisme visuel est discutee. L'illumination par flash des solutions de la rhodopsine bovine a temperature ordinaire produit la metarhodopsine comme premier produit photochimique detectable. La degradation de ce produit, qui se fait en trois etapes succesives, a ete etudiee a differentes temperatures. Les resultats indiquent que la decoloration de la metarhodopsine est accompagnee par des changements de configuration reversibles (denaturation reversible) dans la structure de la proteine. Die Blitzlichtbehandlung des Sehchromophors, Retinen, erzeugt einen langlebigen angeregten Zustand (λmax = 4400 A, t1/2 ∼ 10−5 sec) der sich unter gewissen Vorbehalten als Triplett identifizieren last. Bei Vitamin A und dem protonierten p-Toluidin-Komplex von Retinen fehlt jeder Hinweis fur einen ahnlich langlebigen Zustand. Die Folgerungen aus diesen Tatsachen fur den photochemischen Prozess des Sehvorganges werden besprochen. Losungen von Rinderrhodopsin erzeugen bei Blitzlichtbehandlung (bei ungefahr Zimmertemperatur) Metarhodopsin als erstes bestimmbares Photoprodukt. Der thermische Abklingeffekt dieses Zwischenprodukts (das in drei Stufen erscheint) wurde bei verschiedenen Temperaturen untersucht. Die Reaktionsgeschwindigkeitsdaten lassen erkennen, das vorwiegend reversible Konfigurationsveranderungen (reversible Denaturierung) der Proteinstruktur das Ausbleichen des Rhodopsins begleiten.
Knightly Complements: The Malcontent and the Matter of Wit

AbstractThis essay uses John Marston's play The Malcontent to explore the social understanding and cultural practice of wit in the early modern period. Through the interactions between its various versions, The Malcontent charts the linguistic, stylistic, and cultural boundaries of early modern wit as both intrinsic class marker and promiscuous commodity. This duality of wit helps the play negotiate the complexities of its own theatrical genealogy that not only inform the larger context of wit in the period, but also inflect, in significant ways, the play's modern reception. (I.M.)
Sectarian Gulf: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Spring That Wasn't

Toby Matthiesen's Sectarian Gulf: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab Spring That Wasn't is one of the most concise, well-written recent studies on sectarianism in that region. This relatively shor...
Extraction and concentration of phenolic compounds from water and sediment

Abstract Continuous liquid—liquid extractors are used to concentrate phenols at the μg l-1 level from water into dichloromethane; this is followed by Kuderna—Danish evaporative concentration and gas chromatography. The procedure requires 5 h for 18 l of sample water. Overall concentration factors around 1000 are obtained. Overall concentration efficiencies vary from 23.1 to 87.1%. Concentration efficiencies determined by a batch method suitable for sediments range from 18.9 to 73.8%.
The sarcoplasmic reticulum of mouse heart: Its divisions, configurations, and distribution

The sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) is a prominent, highly ramified component of mouse myocardial cells. The use of ferrocyanide-reduced osmium tetroxide (OsFeCN) as a postfixative solution facilitates appreciation of both its extent and three-dimensional architecture. We have found that the individual volume fractions (Vv) of myofibrils, mitochondria, and SR are similar in cells of the right and left ventricular walls. Vv(total SR) is approximately 7%, a value considerably larger than previously reported. We attribute this disparity in large part to the recognition factor which comes into play with OsFeCN-treated tissue. Previous observations pertaining to the stereology of myocardial SR have likely substantially underestimated both volume fraction and surface density of this membrane system, since none to this point has utilized specific staining such as that conferred by the OsFeCN regimen. Our stereological measurements of different depths of the ventricular cell indicate that although considerable differences are found between SR configuration at peripheral and deep cell levels, no significant difference exists between the volume fractions of either the total SR or its individual constituents. Two different stereologic regimens gave close agreement on volume fractions of the various SR segments; the majority (approximately 92%) of the total SR is network SR, whereas the remainder is composed of the various categories of junctional SR (peripheral, apposed to the surface sarcolemma; interior, complexed with the transverse-axial tubular system; corbular, existing free of sarcolemmal contact). In the adult mouse, interior junctional SR greatly preponderates the other types of junctional SR; corbular SR is qualitively assessed to be a far more common component of atrial cells than of ventricular cardiomyocytes.
Evidence for familial aggregation of tremor in normal individuals

Background: Tremor occurs in most normal individuals, and this tremor may offer basic clues about the mechanisms of neuromuscular control. It is not known whether genetic factors influence the magnitude of tremor in normal families. Objective: To assess the familial aggregation of tremor in normal families. Methods: Control subjects from the Washington Heights–Inwood community in northern Manhattan, NY, were enrolled in a family study. These subjects and their first- and second-degree relatives underwent a videotaped tremor examination. Two neurologists rated the severity of tremor on the videotaped examination, assigning a total tremor score (0 to 36 [maximum]). Associations between the control subjects’ and their relatives’ total tremor scores were assessed using correlation coefficients and linear regression analysis. In addition, maximum likelihood methods were used to fit a linear mixed-effects model to the total tremor scores of probands and their siblings, after excluding any relatives with essential tremor. Results: There were 56 control subjects and 226 relatives. Tremor was clinically detectable in 221 (97.8%) of 226 relatives. There was an association between the control subjects’ total tremor scores and those of their siblings ( r = 0.40; p = 0.018), those of all of their first-degree relatives (siblings and children combined, r = 0.20; p = 0.037), but not those of their second-degree relatives ( r = 0.002; p = 0.99). In analyses of probands and normal siblings, the estimate of the variance of the family-specific component of the age-adjusted total tremor score was different from zero ( p Conclusions: Tremor aggregates in normal families, suggesting that genetic factors may contribute to its etiology. Other studies might be designed by investigators to identify these genes through genetic linkage or association analysis. Identification of such genes would help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying this ubiquitous condition.
The Effect of Haptic Feedback on Laparoscopic Suturing and Knot-tying: A Learning Curve Study

Haptic feedback has been shown to benefit performance in various laparoscopic surgery tasks. However, providing haptic feedback to novice trainees in the early stages of training may be distracting. A controlled experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of haptic feedback on the learning curve of a complex laparoscopic suturing and knot-tying task. It was hypothesized that subjects would perform better and reach the first plateau in the learning curve earlier with haptics than without. Twenty novices participated in eighteen one-hour training sessions. Results indicated that training with haptics was not significantly different from training without haptics after five hours of practice. However, those who learned with haptic feedback were more consistent in their task performance and had a shorter learning curve. Therefore, haptic feedback may be omitted in a laparoscopic surgical simulator in early training provided that extensive training is possible.
Zeitabhängige BOLTZMANN‐Gleichung für Kristallelektronen und Einstellung der stationären Verteilung

Die Existenz und das asymptotische Verhalten der Losung der zeitabhangigen BOLTZMANN-Gleichung fur Kristallelektronen bei Anwesenheit konstanter auserer Felder wird untersucht. Mit Hilfe funktionalanalytischer Methoden wird die Stabilitat der stationaren Verteilung nachgewiesen.
Channel Drop Tunneling through Localized States

We present a general analysis of the tunneling process through localized resonant states between onedimensional continuums. We show that complete transfer can occur between the continuums by creating resonant states of different symmetry, and by forcing an accidental degeneracy between them. The degeneracy must exist in both the real and imaginary parts of the frequency. We illustrate the results of the analysis by performing computational simulations on the transport properties of electromagnetic waves in a two-dimensional photonic crystal. [S0031-9007(97)05091-6] Resonant tunneling processes can occur between states when they interact through a coupling element which supports localized resonances. Of particular interest is the complete channel drop tunneling between one-dimensional continuums, i.e., the selective transfer of a single propagating state (i.e., monoenergy electron, or single-frequency photon) from one continuum to the other, leaving all other states unaffected. Examples include the transfer of states between electron waveguides [1,2] through a quantum dot device, and the transfer of photonic states between dielectric waveguides through an optical resonator system. Such transfer processes are important for single-energy electron spectroscopy or wavelength demultiplexing in optical communication systems [3,4]. However, to our knowledge, the general conditions needed to realize optimal transfer until now have not been recognized. In this Letter, we determine the general characteristics of the coupling element required to achieve complete channel drop tunneling. We begin by presenting a qualitative analysis using symmetry and energy conservation arguments which identifies the important ingredients needed in constructing an analytical theory. Using a rigorous mathematical formalism, we then demonstrate that complete transfer can occur by creating resonant states of different symmetry, and by forcing an accidental degeneracy of both the real and imaginary parts of the frequency between the resonant states. We illustrate the results of the analysis by simulating the transport properties of electromagnetic waves in a two-dimensional photonic crystal.
Genetic Changes Shaping the Human Brain

The development and function of our brain are governed by a genetic blueprint, which reflects dynamic changes over the history of evolution. Recent progress in genetics and genomics, facilitated by next-generation sequencing and single-cell sorting, has identified numerous genomic loci that are associated with a neuroanatomical or neurobehavioral phenotype. Here, we review some of the genetic changes in both protein-coding and noncoding regions that affect brain development and evolution, as well as recent progress in brain transcriptomics. Understanding these genetic changes may provide novel insights into neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia.
American forestry professionalism in the third world: Some preliminary observations

Forestry, with its fulsomely developed and articulated worldview, provides an excellent case study of cultural and professional biases in projects intended to aid developing countries. Much of the forestry professional's received wisdom is defined by the ideology of the progressive era conservation movement: a preeminent emphasis on technical expertise as the basis for decision making; a related tendency to prefer comprehensive government planning and to denigrate the expertise and priorities of local resource users, who are seen as political advocates serving their own interests; a preference for managing trees, for lumber and as distinct from other forest and tree uses. This mindset leaves the forester in a poor position to understand the uses which forest users in other cultures see as important, to utilize the expertise of locals in the design and implementation of proposed aid programs, and to enquire meaningfully into alternative systems of land and tree tenure which will determine the success of those programs. Foresters are not the only professionals with trained incapacities; however, greater sensitivity to the settings in which aid projects will succeed or fail would be especially useful for western-trained foresters working in nonwestern forests, and for local foresters trained in western concepts and priorities.
Analysis of Interactive Features Designed to Enhance Learning in an Ebook

Educational psychology findings indicate that active processing (such as self-testing) is more effective for learning than passive reading or even rereading. Electronic books (ebooks) can include much more than static pictures and text. Ebooks can promote better learning by increasing the reader's interaction with the material through multi-modal learning supports, worked examples, and low cognitive load practice activities. For example, multiple choice questions with immediate feedback can help identify misconceptions and gaps in knowledge. Parsons problems, which are mixed up code segments that have to be put in the correct order, require learners to think about the order of the statements in a solution without having to worry about syntax errors. Our research group has been applying concepts from educational psychology to make learning from ebooks more effective and efficient. This paper reports on an observational study and log file analysis on the use of an ebook that incorporates interactive activities. We provide evidence that learners engaged in the interactive activities, but used some types of activities more than others. We also found evidence that learners encountered some "desirable difficulties" which can improve learning. This descriptive study informs a research agenda to improve the quality of instruction in computing education.
Behavior of basic elements during coal combustion

Abstract X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, Mossbauer spectroscopy and computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy (CCSEM) have been used to investigate the reactions of Ca, Fe and alkalies in combustion systems. Ca may either transform to a CaO fume that reacts with SO 2 to form CaSO 4 , or may react with clays, quartz and other minerals to form slag droplets, or flyash. Similarly, pyrite may devolatilize and oxidize exothermically to form molten or partially molten iron sulfide-iron oxide mixtures, or may react with other minerals to become part of the slag. Alkalies in lignites (principally Na) volatize and may react with either SO 2 to form sulfates or with clay minerals (principally kaolinite) to form aluminosilicate slag droplets. K in bituminous coal is contained in illite which melts and becomes part of the slag phase. The calcium and alkali sulfates and the iron-rich species are observed to be concentrated in the initial layers of deposits, while the complex aluminosilicate slag droplets collect to form an outer glassy layer.
West Nile Virus Infections Suppress Early Viral RNA Synthesis and Avoid Inducing the Cell Stress Granule Response

West Nile virus (WNV) recently became endemic in the United States and is a significant cause of human morbidity and mortality. Natural WNV strain infections do not induce stress granules (SGs), while W956IC (a lineage 2/1 chimeric WNV infectious clone) virus infections produce high levels of early viral RNA and efficiently induce SGs through protein kinase R (PKR) activation. Additional WNV chimeric viruses made by replacing one or more W956IC genes with the lineage 1 Eg101 equivalent in the W956IC backbone were analyzed. The Eg-NS4b+5, Eg-NS1+3+4a, and Eg-NS1+4b+5 chimeras produced low levels of viral RNA at early times of infection and inefficiently induced SGs, suggesting the possibility that interactions between viral nonstructural proteins and/or between viral nonstructural proteins and cell proteins are involved in suppressing early viral RNA synthesis and membrane remodeling during natural WNV strain infections. Detection of exposed viral double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) in W956IC-infected cells suggested that the enhanced early viral RNA synthesis surpassed the available virus-induced membrane protection and allowed viral dsRNA to activate PKR.
Innovation in hybrid spaces: 2011 UN Climate Summit and the expanding journalism landscape

Media coverage of the 2011 UN Climate Summit in Durban makes evident the blurring of the lines that once separated participants, reporters, activists, and networked publics. While journalists look ...
Spectral factorization-based current source density analysis of ongoing neural oscillations.

Abstract Background Current source density (CSD) analysis is widely used in neurophysiological investigations intended to reveal the patterns of localized neuronal activity in terms of current sources and sinks. CSD is based on the second spatial derivatives of multi-electrode electrophysiological recordings, and can be applied to brain activity related to repeated external stimulations (evoked brain activity) or ongoing (spontaneous) brain activity. In evoked brain activity, event-related time-series averages of ensembles are used to compute CSD patterns. However, for ongoing neural activity, the lack of external events requires a different approach other than ensemble averaging. New method Here, we propose a new spectral factorization-based current source density (SF-CSD) analysis method for ongoing neural oscillations. Results We validated this new SF-CSD analysis method using simulated data and demonstrated its effectiveness by applying to experimental intra-cortical local field potentials recorded on multi-contact depth electrodes from monkeys performing selective visual attention tasks. Comparison with existing methods The proposed method gives space-unbiased estimates since it does not rely on a reference for CSD calculation in the frequency-domain. Conclusion The proposed SF-CSD method is expected to be a useful tool for systematic analysis of neural sources and oscillations from multi-site electrophysiological recordings.
Abstract 2705: Novel functions of the homeoprotein SIX2 in mediating anchorage independence and metastasis in breast cancer.

Homeobox genes encode for transcription factors that are master regulators of embryogenesis, and their misexpression has been implicated in multiple cancers. The role of the homeoprotein Six2 in developing kidney has been well demonstrated; however, its role in cancer progression is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, that Six2 is causally involved in mammary tumor progression. When Six2 is knocked down (KD) in the 66cl4 mammary carcinoma cells, lung metastasis is significantly decreased compared to control KD; however, Six2 KD conferred no significant effect on growth of the primary tumor or on tumor-associated angiogenesis/lymphangiogenesis, in contrast to its closely related family member, Six1, which has been implicated in all the aforementioned properties; suggesting that Six2 may participate in later stages of the metastatic cascade. Expression of Six2 in the 4TO7 mammary carcinoma cell line (a cell line that is syngeneic with 66cl4, but expresses very low levels of endogenous Six2) led to changes in cell morphology, increased growth in soft agar, increased resistance to anoikis, and significantly enhanced lung metastasis in Balb/c mice. To determine the mechanism by which Six2 mediates metastasis, microarray analysis was performed on 4TO7-control and Six2 expressing cells. Interestingly, genes which have been implicated in lung metastasis (MMP, ANGPTL4, VCAM1) are significantly up-regulated in Six2 overexpressing 4TO7 cells; while the epithelial marker, E-Cadherin, is dramatically decreased. Finally, analysis of SIX2 expression from public microarray datasets indicates that SIX2 is increased in breast cancers compared to normal breast tissue. In addition, high expression of SIX2 correlates with poor prognosis (distant metastasis free survival, overall survival and relapse free survival) in 1881 human breast tumors examined using the GOBO (Gene Expression-Based Outcome for Breast Cancer Online) database, and upon further investigation we found that SIX2 expression is particularly associated with poor prognosis in luminal A, normal-like and ER-positive breast tumors. Together, our studies define a novel role of Six2 in breast cancer metastasis. Citation Format: Chu-An Wang, Paul Jedlicka, Vadym Zaberezhnyy, Aik-Choon Tan, Heide Ford. Novel functions of the homeoprotein SIX2 in mediating anchorage independence and metastasis in breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 2705. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-2705
Induction of interferon by temperature-sensitive mutants of newcastle disease virus

Abstract Spontaneously-selected and mutagen-induced temperature-sensitive ( ts ) mutants of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) were used to study interferon induction in chick embryo (CE) cells at temperatures permissive (37°) and nonpermissive (42°) for virus replication. Both infectious and UV-irradiated virus were tested for interferon-inducing ability in cells pretreated or not pretreated with homologous interferon. At 37°, only UV-irradiated NDV was capable of inducing interferon in cells not treated with interferon before infection. In cells pretreated with interferon, on the other hand, both unirradiated and UV-irradiated virus stimulated the production of interferon. At 42°, the interferon-inducing phenotype for some UV-irradiated ts mutants was dependent on whether or not cells were pretreated with interferon. For example, out of 10 mutants examined, one UV-irradiated ts mutant induced interferon in both untreated and interferon pretreated cells; 7 mutants failed to induce in untreated cells but induced from 25–100% of the wild-type level of interferon in cells pretreated with interferon; and two mutants failed to induce interferon in both types of cells. In addition, one mutant (NDV 0 ts -100) induced low or undetectable levels of interferon at both 37° and 42°, conditions under which wild-type virus (NDV 0 ) produced significant levels of interferon. Co-infection of cells with UV-irradiated ts -100 and a preparation of NDV 0 exposed to prolonged irradiation resulted in considerable production of interferon. These results suggest the possibility that more than one virus function may be involved in interferon induction by NDV in CE cells.
Ethiopian Love Song

In 1972, as a “defrocked” debutante, I worked at a mission hospital in Haiti. It was a summer like no other: full of life, death, and love in unexpected guises. In short, the trip was transformative, drawing me to new worlds like a moth to a flame. Before long, I decided to study tropical medicine. A decade later—as an infectious diseases trainee—my Chief took me aside. “Can you speak with an applicant?,” he asked. And so I met Abraham Verghese, an Indian-American MD raised in Ethiopia. Soon, we were deep in conversation. What sparked our rapport, I later wondered. Was it spiritual provenance? (In 52 AD, Saint Thomas visited southern India and planted the ancient church of Verghese's forbears; in 301 AD, Saint Gregory led my Armenian ancestors to embrace a similar Christian faith.) Or perhaps it was a common love of tropical medicine, history, or literature. Because our Boston fellowships did not overlap, I never found out. Now, fast forward another dozen years. In 1994, when I was back in Los Angeles, Verghese published My Own Country, his breakout non-fiction book about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) sufferers in Tennessee. In 1998, his reputation grew with The Tennis Partner, a second powerful memoir set in Texas. Soon, I invited Verghese to speak at an American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) conference (for the record, he declined, albeit graciously). Finally, at a 2011 University of California at Los Angeles lecture, we reconnected in person. “What happened to your long hair?” were his first words. What the heck?, I thought. Then, I smiled. Writers' memories run deep. Anyway, this piece is not about chance encounters or reunions but Cutting for Stone, Verghese's latest medical blockbuster largely set at an Ethiopian mission hospital. Released in 2009, the novel remains on many bestseller lists even today. Before long (assuming it does not languish in Hollywood development hell), the story will bloom anew on the silver screen. Should I write about it for the Tropical Bookshelf? I waffled earlier this year, still unsure if the sprawling work was suited to AJTMH. Then, I reread the 540-page folio, savoring its story and themes. I also sampled a handful of reviews. There is so much more to say, I gasped. How could the critics have missed so much? Here is another tasting menu of a global saga of love, loss, and redemption, an author's passion for medicine, and a modern literary classic.