cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparison of CO2 and bicarbonate as inorganic carbon sources for triacylglycerol and starch accumulation in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.

Microalgae are capable of accumulating high levels of lipids and starch as carbon storage compounds. Investigation into the metabolic activities involved in the synthesis of these compounds has escalated since these compounds can be used as precursors for food and fuel. Here, we detail the results of a comprehensive analysis of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using high or low inorganic carbon concentrations and speciation between carbon dioxide and bicarbonate, and the effects these have on inducing lipid and starch accumulation during nitrogen depletion. High concentrations of CO(2) (5%; v/v) produced the highest amount of biofuel precursors, transesterified to fatty acid methyl esters, but exhibited rapid accumulation and degradation characteristics. Low CO(2) (0.04%; v/v) caused carbon limitation and minimized triacylglycerol (TAG) and starch accumulation. High bicarbonate caused a cessation of cell cycling and accumulation of both TAG and starch that was more stable than the other experimental conditions. Starch accumulated prior to TAG and then degraded as maximum TAG was reached. This suggests carbon reallocation from starch-based to TAG-based carbon storage.
Differential Sensitivity of Mouse Hematopoietic Stem Cells to Merocyanine 540

In vivo and in vitro clonal assays of immature mouse blood cells showed that diffferent populations of hematopoietic progenitor cells differ considerably with respect to their sensitivity to photodynamic damages caused by the fluorescent dye Merocyanine 540. Late erythroid progenitors were the most sensitive cells followed in order of decreasing sensitivity by pluripotent stem cells, early erythroid progenitors, and granulocyte/macrophage progenitors. Only about 2%–4% of all nucleated marrow cells were stained with Merocyanine 540 which correlated well with current frequency estimates of progenitor cells in mouse bone marrow. Our findings indicate that the expression of Merocyanine binding sites is developmentally regulated and might, therefore, provide a useful molecular marker for blood cell differentiation and a basis for an effective purification of hematopoietic progenitor cells.
Asymmetric tonsil size in children.

Design: A prospective controlled study of asymmetric tonsil size in children scheduled for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy. Data were recorded on tonsil size and position, tonsillar fossa depth, degree of asymmetry, and pathological findings. Control patients were matched for age, sex, race, diagnosis, and surgical procedure. Patients: A total of 258 children, aged 2 to 18 years, scheduled for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy during a 27-month period. Setting: A tertiary care academic medical center. Results: Forty-seven children (18.2%) were determined to have asymmetric tonsils. There were 43 matched controls with symmetric tonsils. Three-dimensional quantitative measurements of the resected tonsils revealed little or no actual asymmetry in tonsil size even though preoperative intraoral observations gave the impression that one tonsil was larger than the other. Statistically, tonsillar asymmetry was more apparent than real. When measured by volume, there was asymmetry in both groups. However, there was no statistical difference in the degree of asymmetry between the groups (P=.50). A difference in the depth of the tonsil fossa contributed to the putative asymmetry (P.001). No malignant neoplasms were identified on microscopic examination in either group. Conclusions: Tonsillar asymmetry in children may often be an illusion secondary to a difference in the depth of the tonsillar fossa. Tonsillar asymmetry in children in the absence of other findings such as ipsilateral cervical adenopathy or other constitutional symptoms may not indicate a malignancy. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2002;128:767-769
Trainer competencies: The missing conceptual link in orientation

Abstract This article presents a conceptualization of trainer competencies hypothesized by the author to be associated with effective cross-cultural orientation, training, and education. Whereas the literature on cross-cultural training has become increasingly well-informed and sophisticated (especially with respect to pedagogy, design, and administration), much less attention has been given to the competencies that characterize the effective cross-cultural trainer. By providing a conceptual framework that articulates specific cognitive (knowledge) foundations, behavioral (performance) competencies, and personal attributes, this article attempts to fill a gap in the literature. The central ethical issues facing trainers are also identified so that cross-cultural orientation can be viewed in its moral as well as pragmatic contexts. The article focuses on trainer competencies in three categories: the cognitive domain (knowledge), the behavioral domain (performance), and the personal domain (individual attributes). The article concludes with some reflections on the training of trainers, an issue of contemporary significance for this field.
Community Happens: Anatomy of a Remarkable Teaching Experience

There is no pedagogical philosophy or technique that ensures the emergence of genuine community in the religious studies classroom. But teachers can engage in activities that create the conditions for community and student transformation. Among these is strategic self-disclosure – the practice of revealing one's own orientation toward a subject matter, a discipline, or the institutional context in which teaching and learning take place. But strategic self-disclosure is not without risks. It can permanently alter the classroom environment and may tap into the teacher's insecurities. The author explores these matters by analyzing a remarkable teaching experience in which community happened. The editors welcome readers’ comments and responses on this article (e-mail: wabashcenter@wabash.edu).
AVIAN COMMUNITY DYNAMICS IN A FRAGMENTED TROPICAL LANDSCAPE

As humans alter habitats worldwide, developing reliable methods of assessing biodiversity and community attributes of interest (e.g., species richness, turnover, and extinction rates) is important. Frequently, estimates of community-level attributes are biased because the estimators make assumptions of the data that are violated; many published studies assume equal detectability across species, sites, or time. The accuracy of estimators of species richness and community-level vital rates (e.g., extinction and colonization) can be increased by using probabilistic estimation methods, which do not assume that all species are detected, or that the data assume a particular statistical distribution. Using these estimation methods, we examined avian community dynamics in a fragmented tropical landscape using data from five years of a mark–release–recapture study. For the resident understory avifauna in each of five small (∼0.3–20 ha), isolated forest fragments in southern Costa Rica, we estimated species richnes...
Whether Weather Matters to Traffic Demand, Traffic Safety, and Traffic Operations and Flow

Weather affects many aspects of transportation, but three dimensions of weather impact on highway traffic are predominant and measureable. Inclement weather affects traffic demand, traffic safety, and traffic flow relationships. Understanding these relationships will help highway agencies select better management strategies and create more efficient operating policies. For example, it was found that severe winter storms bring a higher risk of being involved in a crash by as much as 25 times—much higher than the increased risk brought by behaviors that state governments already have placed sanctions against, such as speeding or drunk driving. Given the heightened risk of drivers' involvement in a crash, highway agencies might wish to manage better and restrict use of highways during times of extreme weather, to reduce safety costs and costs associated with rescuing stranded and injured motorists in the worst weather conditions. However, the first step in managing the transportation systems to minimize the ...
Comparing Spatial Distributions of Solar Prominence Mass Derived from Coronal Absorption

In the present work we extend the use of this mass-inference technique to a sample of prominences observed in at least two coronal lines. This approach, in theory, allows a direct calculation of prominence mass and helium abundance and how these properties vary spatially and temporally. Our motivation is two-fold: to obtain a He(exp 0)/H(exp 0) abundance ratio, and to determine how the relative spatial distribution of the two species varies in prominences. The first of these relies on the theoretical expectation that the amount of absorption at each EUV wavelength is well-characterized. However, in this work we show that due to a saturation of the continuum absorption in the 625 A and 368 A lines (which have much higher opacity compared to 195 A-) the uncertainties in obtaining the relative abundances are too high to give meaningful estimates. This is an important finding because of its impact on future studies in this area. The comparison of the spatial distribution of helium and hydrogen presented here augments previous observational work indicating that cross-field diffusion of neutrals is an important mechanism for mass loss. Significantly different loss timescales for neutral He and H (helium drains much more rapidly than hydrogen) can impact prominence structure, and both the present and past studies suggest this mechanism is playing a role in structure and possibly dynamics. Section 2 of this paper contains a description of the observations and Section 3 summarizes the method used to infer mass along with the criteria imposed in choosing prominences appropriate for this study. Section 3 also contains a discussion of the problems due to limitations of the available data and the implications for determining relative abundances. We present our results in Section 4, including plots of radial-like scans of prominence mass in different lines to show the spatial distribution of the different species. The last section contains a discussion summarizing the importance of the qualitative results found in this work. The Appendix provides a detailed derivation of how to obtain prominence mass and helium abundance (A 1) and includes the data for all prominences studied (A2).
Mycophenolate mofetil monotherapy in liver transplant recipients: A single center experience

The long-term use of calcineurin inhibitors (CIs) is associated with significant morbidity in liver transplant recipients. Although mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) is well tolerated, two small studies reported an unacceptable rate of acute allograft rejection in liver transplant recipients receiving MMF monotherapy. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the safety and efficacy of MMF monotherapy in liver transplant recipients. We reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent liver transplant at our institution. Sixteen patients were identified who received MMF either as monotherapy (n = 13) or with corticosteroids (n = 3; 2 of them for other comorbid conditions), and these patients were studied to determine the efficacy and complications. Fifteen (15/16) patients were converted from a CI to MMF because of renal insufficiency. Patients were converted to MMF monotherapy after a median of 2,056 days (range, 606-5,893) after liver transplantation. The median postconversion follow-up was 668 days (range, 60-1,509). Four patients required dialysis despite conversion; of those patients not requiring dialysis, serum creatinine stabilized and showed a trend toward improvement (2.51 ± 1.12 mg/dL to 1.85 ± .58 mg/dL, P = .1). However, there were 3 episodes (47, 107, and 1,203 days after conversion) of severe, irreversible allograft rejection after conversion resulting in death in 2 patients and necessitating retransplantation in 1 patient. There were no patient characteristics, except perhaps African-American race, that predicted the development of rejection. In conclusion, MMF monotherapy was associated with a significant risk (19%) of unpredictable, severe, and irreversible allograft rejection even among long-term transplant survivors. Caution should be exercised before converting patients to MMF monotherapy. (Liver Transpl 2004;10:1189–1194.)
Gesture avatar: a technique for operating mobile user interfaces using gestures

Finger-based touch input has become a major interaction modality for mobile user interfaces. However, due to the low precision of finger input, small user interface components are often difficult to acquire and operate on a mobile device. It is even harder when the user is on the go and unable to pay close attention to the interface. In this paper, we present Gesture Avatar, a novel interaction technique that allows users to operate existing arbitrary user interfaces using gestures. It leverages the visibility of graphical user interfaces and the casual interaction of gestures. Gesture Avatar can be used to enhance a range of mobile interactions. A user study we conducted showed that compared to Shift (an alternative technique for target acquisition tasks), Gesture Avatar performed at a much lower error rate on various target sizes and significantly faster on small targets (1mm). It also showed that using Gesture Avatar while walking did not significantly impact its performance, which makes it suitable for mobile uses.
A representation for the reproducing kernel for elliptic systems

The kernel function method of Bergman and Schiffer (see (1) and (2)) has recentlybeen used by Colton and Gilbert (see (3) and (4)) in connection with approximationtheory and the numerical treatment of elliptic differential equations. In (5) Gilbert andWeinacht have successfully extended the kernel function method to elliptic systemsof differential equations. Essential to their work is the concept of a matrix kernelsatisfying the reproducing property. This reproducing kernel is defined initially as thedifference of the Neumann matrix and the Dirichlet matrix. Thus actually to obtainthe kernel matrix from this definition one has to solve both a Neumann problem and aDirichlet problem. In view of this restriction, Gilbert and Weinacht derive an in-genious representation for the reproducing kernel in terms of purely geometricquantities which are obtained directly from the fundamental matrix for the differentialsystem.In this paper a new series representation for the reproducing kernel is given, theterms of which are more easily calculated than those appearing in the representationin (5). The terms of the series involve a certain parameter a which we introduce. Fora = 0 the representation is shown to reduce to the one given in (5). We also obtain thevalue of a leading to the fastest rate of convergence and make a comparison with thea = 0 case.
The Role of Poultry Litter Handlers in Tennessee’s Off-Farm Litter Market

Abstract Twelve poultry litter handlers were personally interviewed in 2001 regarding their role in the Tennessee off-farm litter market. The litter removed from growers’ farms by these handlers accounted for nearly one-quarter of the litter generated in the state. On average, these handlers cleaned 40 poultry houses, stored litter for 3 mo, and transported litter 25 mi to 18 different customers. These handlers charged $15.00/ton on average for land application of litter. Land application rates were highly consistent with nitrogen requirements of crops to which litter was applied but 3 to 6 times higher than phosphorus needs. These handlers were generally aware of how proposed confined animal feeding operations (CAFO) regulations might affect the industry and their businesses and were open to training programs leading to voluntary certification of litter handlers.
The artificial heart: Infection-related morbidity and its effect on transplantation

Between October, 1985, and September, 1987, a total of 195 patients received cardiac allografts and 15 candidates required mechanical support with the Jarvik-7 total artificial heart. Seven of the 15 died within 60 days of total artificial heart implant. There have been no late deaths, and survivors are unrestricted. Six of 7 deaths were related to infection (mediastinitis, 5; pneumonia and sepsis, 1), and the remaining 1 was due to failure of the transplanted heart. Respiratory tract infection occurred in each of the recipients who died with infection, and the same organisms appeared to be related to subsequent mediastinitis in 3 patients (Serratia marcescens, 2; Pseudomonas, 1) and caused fatal sepsis in another (Enterobacter aerogenes, Candida albicans). One patient died with pneumonia and sepsis prior to transplantation, and another succumbed with mediastinal infection known to be present before transplantation.
Defective TGF-β Signaling in Bone Marrow–Derived Cells Prevents Hedgehog-Induced Skin Tumors

Hedgehog signaling in cancer cells drives changes in the tumor microenvironment that are incompletely understood. Here, we report that hedgehog-driven tumors exhibit an increase in myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) and a decrease in T cells, indicative of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. This change was associated with activated TGF-β signaling in several cell types in basal cell carcinomas. We determined that TGF-β signaling in bone marrow-derived cells, not keratinocytes, regulates MDSC and promotes tumor development. Tgfbr2 deficiency in the bone marrow-derived cells also reduced the size of previously developed tumors in mice. We identified CCL2 as the major chemokine attracting MDSCs to tumor, whose expression was Tgfbr2-dependent, whereas its receptor CCR2 was highly expressed in MDSC population. CCL2 alone was sufficient to induce migration of MDSCs. Moreover, the CCR2 inhibitors prevented MDSC migration toward skin cells in vitro, and reduced MDSC accumulation and hedgehog signaling-driven tumor development in mice. Our results reveal a signaling network critical for hedgehog signaling in cancer cells to establish an effective immunosuppressive microenvironment during tumor development.
Rain splash of dry sand revealed by high-speed imaging and sticky paper splash targets

[1] Rain splash transport of sediment on a sloping surface arises from a downslope drift of grains displaced ballistically by raindrop impacts. We use high-speed imaging of drop impacts on dry sand to describe the drop-to-grain momentum transfer as this varies with drop size and grain size and to clarify ingredients of downslope grain drift. The ‘‘splash’’ of many grains involves ejection of surface grains accelerated by grain-to-grain collisions ahead of the radially spreading front of a drop as it deforms into a saucer shape during impact. For a given sand size, splash distances are similar for different drop sizes, but the number of displaced grains increases with drop size in proportion to the momentum of the drop not infiltrated within the first millisecond of impact. We present a theoretical formulation for grain ejection which assumes that the proportion of ejected grains within any small azimuthal angular interval dq about the center of impact is proportional to the momentum density of the spreading drop within dq and that the momentum of ejected grains at angle q is, on average, proportional to the momentum of the spreading drop at q. This formulation, consistent with observed splash distances, suggests that downslope grain transport involves an asymmetry in both quantity and distance: more grains move downslope than upslope with increasing surface slope, and, on average, grains move farther downslope. This latter effect is primarily due to the radial variation in the surface-parallel momentum of the spreading drop. Surface-parallel transport increases approximately linearly with slope.
Physical Mechanisms Related to Climate-Induced Drying of Two Semiarid Watersheds in the Southwestern United States

AbstractWater managers across the United States face the need to make informed policy decisions regarding long-term impacts of climate change on water resources. To provide a scientifically informed basis for this, the evolution of important components of the basin-scale water balance through the end of the twenty-first century is estimated. Bias-corrected and spatially downscaled climate projections, from phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) of the World Climate Research Programme, were used to drive a spatially distributed Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model of hydrologic processes in the Salt–Verde basin in the southwestern United States. From the suite of CMIP3 models, the authors select a five-model subset, including three that best reproduce the historical climatology for the study region, plus two others to represent wetter and drier than model average conditions, so as to represent the range of GCM prediction uncertainty. For each GCM, data for three emission scenari...
Model of thermal wave-front distortion in interferometric gravitational- wave detectors. I. Thermal focusing

We develop a steady-state analytical and numerical model of the optical response of power-recycled Fabry-Perot Michelson laser gravitational-wave detectors to nonlinear thermal focusing in optical substrates. We assume that the thermal distortions are small enough that we can represent all intracavity fields as linear combinations of basis functions derived from the eigenmodes of a Fabry-Perot arm cavity. We have included the effects of power absorption in optical substrates and coatings, mismatches between laser wave-front and mirror surface curvatures, and aperture diffraction. We demonstrate a detailed numerical example of this model using the MATLAB program Melody for the initial Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory detector.
Dendronized cavitands: A step towards a synthetic viral capsid?

Dendronized cavitands represent unique macromolecular hosts for encapsulation of biologically relevant guests. They combine the highly specific guest binding exhibited by deep-cavity cavitands, with the modular yet monodisperse macromolecular structure provided by dendrimers. Because these structures retain the ability to assemble into dimeric capsules, they resemble a simplified synthetic analog of viral capsids, displaying a modular, functionalizable outer coating while providing a protective cavity for a range of small-molecule payloads. This article highlights their preparation, their characterization, and their unique potential for probing in vivo drug delivery.
Computing the apparent centroid of radar targets

A discrete scatterer model is developed and used to study target specific tracking errors. Several examples are given illustrating how the aimpoint of a target wanders in an endgame engagement.
Using Protocols To Improve the Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients with Infection: Focus on Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and Severe Sepsis

Translating the results of research into clinical practice in critically ill patients is a challenging endeavor and often a slow, complex process. The literature is replete with evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and treatment of infections in critically ill patients aimed to standardize care, reduce costs, and improve patient outcomes [1, 2, 3, 4]. Despite the widespread publicity of such documents, non-adherence to guidelines is readily apparent and directly impacts patient morbidity and mortality [5, 6, 7]. Explanations for the lack of guideline adherence include disagreement with interpretation of clinical trials, limited evidence in support of specific pharmacologic or non-pharmacologic treatment strategies, and simply the hesitancy to change practices at the beside.
Biological Effects of Low-Frequency Shear Strain: Physical Descriptors

Biological effects of megahertz-frequency diagnostic ultrasound are thoroughly monitored by professional societies throughout the world. A corresponding, thorough, quantitative evaluation of the archival literature on the biological effects of low-frequency vibration is needed. Biological effects, of course, are related directly to what those exposures do physically to the tissue-specifically, to the shear strains that those sources produce in the tissues. Instead of the simple compressional strains produced by diagnostic ultrasound, realistic sources of low-frequency vibration produce both fast (∼1,500 m/s) and slow (1-10 m/s) waves, each of which may have longitudinal and transverse shear components. Part 1 of this series illustrates the resulting strains, starting with those produced by longitudinally and transversely oscillating planes, through monopole and dipole sources of fast waves and, finally, to the case of a sphere moving in translation-the simplest model of the fields produced by realistic sources.
Phylogenomic methods outperform traditional multi-locus approaches in resolving deep evolutionary history: a case study of formicine ants.

Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) have been successfully used in phylogenomics for a variety of taxa, but their power in phylogenetic inference has yet to be extensively compared with that of traditional Sanger sequencing data sets. Moreover, UCE data on invertebrates, including insects, are sparse. We compared the phylogenetic informativeness of 959 UCE loci with a multi-locus data set of ten nuclear markers obtained via Sanger sequencing, testing the ability of these two types of data to resolve and date the evolutionary history of the second most species-rich subfamily of ants in the world, the Formicinae. Phylogenetic analyses show that UCEs are superior in resolving ancient and shallow relationships in formicine ants, demonstrated by increased node support and a more resolved phylogeny. Phylogenetic informativeness metrics indicate a twofold improvement relative to the 10-gene data matrix generated from the identical set of taxa. We were able to significantly improve formicine classification based on our comprehensive UCE phylogeny. Our divergence age estimations, using both UCE and Sanger data, indicate that crown-group Formicinae are older (104–117 Ma) than previously suggested. Biogeographic analyses infer that the diversification of the subfamily has occurred on all continents with no particular hub of cladogenesis. We found UCEs to be far superior to the multi-locus data set in estimating formicine relationships. The early history of the clade remains uncertain due to ancient rapid divergence events that are unresolvable even with our genomic-scale data, although this might be largely an effect of several problematic taxa subtended by long branches. Our comparison of divergence ages from both Sanger and UCE data demonstrates the effectiveness of UCEs for dating analyses. This comparative study highlights both the promise and limitations of UCEs for insect phylogenomics, and will prove useful to the growing number of evolutionary biologists considering the transition from Sanger to next-generation sequencing approaches.
Element Migration in Landscapes

Like the concept of abundance, the concept of the migration or mobility of elements in landscapes can be discussed on an absolute or relative basis. Until now the tendency, outside Russia, has been to stress the study of absolute mobility of elements in landscapes. But in Russia, ever since the pioneer studies of Polynov (1937), both kinds of mobility have been considered by landscape geochemists. Consequently, as the study of environmental geochemistry becomes more sophisticated, the need for the description of relative mobilities of elements in particular landscapes will increase. For example, using simulation models in certain types of landscapes it should be possible to predict accurately the migration patterns for most mobile elements based on data and information obtained for the behavior of relatively few mobile elements.
Reconstructed rough growing interfaces: ridge-line trapping of domain walls.

We investigate whether surface reconstruction order exists in stationary growing states at all length scales or only below a crossover length ${l}_{\mathrm{rec}}.$ The latter behavior would be similar to surface roughness in growing crystal surfaces; below the equilibrium roughening temperature they evolve in a layer-by-layer mode within a crossover length scale ${l}_{\mathrm{R}},$ but are always rough at large length scales. We investigate this issue in the context of Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) type dynamics and a checkerboard type reconstruction, using the restricted solid-on-solid model with negative monatomic step energies. This is a topology where surface reconstruction order is compatible with surface roughness and where a so-called reconstructed rough phase exists in equilibrium. We find that during growth reconstruction order is absent in the thermodynamic limit, but exists below a crossover length ${l}_{\mathrm{rec}}g{l}_{\mathrm{R}},$ and that this local order fluctuates critically. Domain walls become trapped at the ridge lines of the rough surface, and thus the reconstruction order fluctuations are slaved to the KPZ dynamics.
Immunological Systematics of Prairie Dogs

Relationships within the genus Cynomys were investigated using immunoelectrophoretic characters. A method is presented for coding these characters, by which numerical phylogenies can be constructed. No intraspecific differences were observed within Cynomys . Within the white-tailed group, C. leucurus and C. parvidens are antigenically similar, whereas C. gunnisoni appears more distantly related, although retaining many of the white-tailed characteristics. In the black-tailed group, C. ludovicianus and C. mexicanus appeared antigenically similar, but differentiated in two characters. The white-tailed and black-tailed groups are distinct lineages. The relationships of these two lineages to the Spermophilus species examined is unresolved.
The effect of applicant age, job level, and accountability on perceptions of female job applicants

We used simulated videotaped employment interviews to assess the effect of accountability on impressions of female job applicants. One hundred and twenty American undergraduates majoring in business and personnel related areas were informed that they would be participating in the pilot testing of a new employee placement technique. The age of the job applicant (25, 40, or 55 years), the position for which they were being considered (assistant director or director), and the degree to which subjects were made to feel accountable for their impressions of the applicant (low or high accountability) were manipulated, resulting in a 3 x 2 x 2 between-subjects design. The predicted interaction between accountability and applicant age applicant age was found on age-related adjective checklist items. Increasing the subjects' accountability produced more stereotypical impressions of all applicants, along with a tendency to attribute the applicant's behavior to dispositional factors.
Approaches to Corporate Sustainability

We are pleased to present one article in the Current Empirical Research section of the summer issue of OMJ. This article nicely demonstrates the macro-analytical approach with an organization theor...
C1 lateral screws and C2 pedicle/pars screws.

Abstract A variety of techniques exist for fixation of the upper cervical spine. The development of universal posterior cervical screw-rod instrumentation systems has resulted in recent interest in new and stable segmental fixation into C1 and C2. The C1 lateral mass is a safe and robust anchor point; however, the anatomic corridor to access the screw entry portal is unfamiliar. Understanding the C1 bony landmarks and the course and relationship of the soft-tissue structures (such as the vertebral artery and the C2 nerve root) is critically important. Alternative techniques for achieving segmental screw fixation into C2 are being developed. With polyaxial screw heads and lateral offset connectors, screw anchors can be driven into the most sturdy and safest aspects of C2 without concern for the position of the longitudinal rod.
The public product characteristic analysis of the agriculture technique expansion

The agriculture technique extension is the bridge between the agricultural technology and the realistic productivity.What is the exit of the agricultural technique extension during the socialism market economy system the track-turning? to push it to market or be supplied by the government ? How to handle with the division of the government and market needs a theories foundation.This essay mainly used the public goods theories to analyse the agricultural technique extension,and put forward the way of reforming basing on the qusi-public goods theory.
Regioselective Toxicity by Dichlorovinylcysteine in Rabbit Renal Cortical Slices

S-(1, 2-dichlorovinyl)-L-cysteine (DCVC) is a potent specific nephrotoxin which produces proximal tubular damage in vivo and in vitro (Elfarra, 1986 a,b; Lash, 1986b). In vivo DCVC causes its primary lesion in the straight segment (S–3) of the proximal tubule. Previous in vitro systems (proximal tubule suspensions and cells) have not allowed for the expression of a specific lesion. Cultured precision-cut renal cortical slices retain their architecture thus allowing the expression of specific lesions in addition to changes in biochemical indices.
A general multi-agent control approach for building energy system optimization

Abstract Penetration of advanced building control techniques into the market has been slow since buildings are unique and site-specific controller design is costly. In addition, for medium- to large-sized commercial buildings, HVAC system configurations can be very complex making centralized control infeasible. This paper presents a general multi-agent control methodology that can be applied to building energy system optimization in a “plug-and-play” manner. A multi-agent framework is developed to automate the controller design process and reduce the building-specific engineering efforts. To support distributed decision making, two alternative consensus-based distributed optimization algorithms are adapted and implemented within the framework. The overall multi-agent control approach was tested in simulation with two case studies: optimization of a chilled water cooling plant and optimal control of a direct-expansion (DX) air-conditioning system serving a multi-zone building. In both cases, the multi-agent controller was able to find near-optimal solutions and significant energy savings were achieved.
Conditions for Ta(IV)-Ta(IV) bonding in trirutile Li(x)MTa2O6.

Stabilization of Ta–Ta bonding in an oxide across a shared octahedral-site edge of a Ta2 dimer is not known. Investigation of Li insertion into the trirutile structure of MTa2O6 with M = Mg, Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni indicates that Ta–Ta bonding across the shared octahedral-site edge of the dimer can be stabilized by a reversible electrochemical reduction of TaV to TaIV for M = Cr, Fe, Co, and Ni but not for M = Mg. Chemical reduction of MTa2O6 by n-butyl lithium only reduced NiTa2O6 to any significant extent. With M = Fe, Co, or Ni, electrochemical formation of the Ta–Ta bonds is accompanied by a partial reduction of the FeII, CoII, or NiII to Fe0, Co0, or Ni0. For M = Cr, two Li per formula unit can be inserted reversibly with no displacement of Cr0. For M = Mg, no MgII are displaced by Li insertion, but a solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer is formed on the oxide with no evidence of Ta–Ta bonding. Stabilization of Ta–Ta bonding across a shared octahedral-site edge in a dimer appears to require significan...
High Pressure ZZ-Exchange NMR Reveals Key Features of Protein Folding Transition States.

Understanding protein folding mechanisms and their sequence dependence requires the determination of residue-specific apparent kinetic rate constants for the folding and unfolding reactions. Conventional two-dimensional NMR, such as HSQC experiments, can provide residue-specific information for proteins. However, folding is generally too fast for such experiments. ZZ-exchange NMR spectroscopy allows determination of folding and unfolding rates on much faster time scales, yet even this regime is not fast enough for many protein folding reactions. The application of high hydrostatic pressure slows folding by orders of magnitude due to positive activation volumes for the folding reaction. We combined high pressure perturbation with ZZ-exchange spectroscopy on two autonomously folding protein domains derived from the ribosomal protein, L9. We obtained residue-specific apparent rates at 2500 bar for the N-terminal domain of L9 (NTL9), and rates at atmospheric pressure for a mutant of the C-terminal domain (CTL...
Abstract 385: Conversion of Established Murine Inducible T Regulatory Cells to Foxp3+IFN?+ T Cells in Atherosclerosis Occurs in an IL-12 Dependent Manner

In inflammation, T cell subsets are known to play diverse roles and recent evidence suggests that T helper cells display limited plasticity under specific stimuli. Evidence indicates that a decrease in the number of circulating Tregs corresponds with atherogenesis, and the existence of a population of Foxp3+ T regulatory cells that co-expresses inflammatory cytokines such as Interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and Interferon γ (IFNγ) has been demonstrated in models of inflammation. However, the cellular precursors and mechanisms underlying the generation of Foxp3+IL-17A+ and Foxp3+IFNγ+ T cells are unclear. Thus, we sought to study the fate of T regulatory cells during atherogenesis within 12 week western diet (WD)-fed Apolipoprotein E-deficient (Apoe-/-) mice. Apoe-/- mice have a population of Foxp3+IFNγ+ T regulatory cells within the aorta, spleen, peripheral lymph nodes (PLNs), peri-aortic LNs (PALNs), and mesenteric LNs (MLNs). To determine whether Foxp3+IFNγ+ Tregs arise from de novo differentiating naive T cells or established Tregs, we performed a series of fate tracking experiments with co-adoptively transferred naive T cells and inducible T regs in Apoe-/- mice. Both adoptively transferred T regs and naive T cells were present in the blood and emigrated to the aorta, spleen, PLNs, MLNs, and PALNs of Apoe-/- mice. While naive T cells were present in the tissues examined, they failed to appreciably differentiate to effector T cell fates. In contrast, half of the adoptively transferred Treg cells lost the expression of Foxp3 within all of the tissues examined. The remaining T regs maintained Foxp3 expression (40-45% of transferred Tregs) or adopted a Foxp3+IFNγ+ phenotype (5-10%). To assess how established T reg cells may convert to Foxp3+IFNγ+ T cells, in vitro differentiated iTregs were maintained in Treg conditions with or without IL-12 and assessed by flow cytometry. iTregs cultured without IL-12 did not become Foxp3+IFNγ+ cells. However in iTreg cultures supplemented with IL-12, 10% of Foxp3+ Tregs co-expressed IFNγ. Together, these results suggest that the pro-inflammatory conditions during atherogenesis affect the maintenance of established Treg cells, resulting in the loss of Foxp3 expression or the generation of Foxp3+IFNγ+ Tregs.
Equal Treatment at Core Allocations

We provide a necessary and sufficient condition under which core allocations treat substitute players equally. The core of a game satisfies the equal treatment property if and only if no player needs the participation of all of her substitutes to attain her core payoffs. We show how this condition generalizes and unifies other sufficient conditions proposed in the literature (in the context of large games and economies) and derive new results for particular classes of games.
Apparel CAD patternmaking with 3D simulations: impact of recurrent use of virtual prototypes on Students’ skill development

ABSTRACTThree-dimensional (3D) virtual prototyping and problem-solving have been becoming increasingly important for apparel design students entering the industry. Repeated use of 3D virtual prototypes in computer-aided design (CAD) patternmaking can improve students’ interaction skills with the software. Furthermore, it can develop their 3D visualisation and problem-solving skills. The present study examined students’ use of 3D virtual prototypes in three consecutive projects. The sequence and content of the projects steered student learning and skill development when using 3D simulations. Findings confirmed that interaction, imagining, and problem-solving skills significantly increased between the first and the last projects. Especially working in pairs had a significant positive impact on students’ patternmaking problem-solving abilities and skills as demonstrated in creating 3D simulations. Implications of this study can be used to inform practices when teaching apparel CAD patternmaking and introduci...
A parametric study of the combined effects of window property and air vent placement

The creation of energy-efficient buildings that maintain thermal comfort is a major goal of architectural design. The study on the interrelation of vent location and window properties on indoor the...
Community-acquired Acute Kidney Injury Among Children Seen in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Objectives Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a significant risk factor for morbidity and mortality in children. Little is known about community-acquired AKI (CA-AKI) in the pediatric emergency department (PED). Early recognition of AKI allows for nephroprotective measures. The goal of this investigation was to determine the incidence of CA-AKI and the frequency of clinician identified CA-AKI to better inform future nephroprotective interventions. Methods This was a retrospective cross-sectional study in the PED of a children's hospital. Children 1 month to 18 years of age seen in the PED from January 1 to December 31, 2015, and in whom at least one creatinine level was obtained were included. Patients with chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease or who died in the PED were excluded. Patients had CA-AKI based on modified Kidney Disease-Improving Global Outcomes criteria using the creatinine obtained in the PED compared to age-specific norms. Patients were considered identified if the PED clinician diagnosed AKI. The primary outcome was the incidence of CA-AKI. Secondary outcomes included frequency of AKI identification, nephrotoxic medication use, hospital length of stay, renal replacement therapy, and death. Fisher exact test or Pearson's chi-square test was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs); multivariable analyses were performed using logistic regression. Results In 2015 there were 119,151 PED visits; 15,486 met inclusion criteria. CA-AKI was present in 239 of 15,486 (1.5%) encounters. AKI was identified by PED clinicians in 46 of 239 (19%) of encounters and by the inpatient team in 123 of 199 (62%) of the encounters admitted. AKI was never recognized by a PED or inpatient clinician in 74 of 199 (37%) encounters. Encounters with AKI correctly diagnosed were older (13 years old vs. 10 years old, p = 0.0114), had more severe (stage 2 or 3) AKI (OR = 5.5, 95% CI = 2.6-11.8), and were more likely to be admitted (OR = 10.3, 95% CI = 1.38-77.4) than encounters with missed AKI. Conclusions CA-AKI remains an underrecognized entity in the PED. Better tools for early recognition of AKI in the busy PED environment are needed.
High temperature water as a clean and etch of low-k and SiO2 films

Abstract Water becomes more reactive as a function of temperature in part because the number of hydronium and hydroxyl ions increase. As one approaches the boiling point, the concentration of these species increases over seven times their concentrations at room temperature. At 150 °C, when the liquid state is maintained, these concentrations increase 15 times over room temperature. Due to its enhanced reactivity, high temperature water (HTW) has been studied as an etchant or clean of thermally grown SiO2 and low-k films. Ellipsometry, profilometry, infrared spectroscopy, and contact angle goniometry were used to study changes in film surface profiles, chemistries, and thicknesses. Interestingly, HTW demonstrated significant etching of SiO2 with minimal etching of the porous low-k. The temperature dependent etch rates of the thermal oxide were found to be in the range of reported results. To understand the reaction mechanisms of water with amorphous silica and low-k films, Reactive Force Field (ReaxFF) based molecular dynamics simulations of interface reactions of nanoporous organosilicate glass (OSG) low-k structure with water has been performed and the initial stage and steps of water/OSG reactions were identified. High temperature water could become a more selective and environmentally friendly etchant of thermally grown SiO2 layers.
The Matter with History and Making History Matter

This chapter compares the history of science with the history of social science and makes the case for the centrality of disciplinary history for the latter. Gunnell draws upon both the literature in the philosophy of science and his own work on the orders of discourse to make the argument for why history matters for the social sciences. This chapter serves as the conclusion of the volume. Gunnell turns to the philosophy of science, specifically the work of Thomas Kuhn, to demonstrate the centrality of history to understanding the nature of the social sciences. He juxtaposes the role of history in the natural sciences to that of the social sciences.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Murderers

Three case histories of men who suffered posttraumatic stress disorders after committing homicides are presented. These men were relatively young and had chaotic childhoods and minimal criminal histories. Each had killed a woman with whom he had a significant but intensely turbulent emotional relationship. The killings all occurred during altered mental states that were unrelated to the use of drugs or alcohol. The clinical significance and some of the medicolegal implications of this phenomenon are discussed.
Modeling, Simulation, and Optimization of California High-Speed Rail Bridge Under Earthquakes

To meet ever-growing demands on California transportation infrastructure, the California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) Project is underway inspired by the successful high-speed train systems worldwide. Seismic risk tends to be a critical concern to the CHSR bridges in California on the structural engineers’ side as the proposed CHSR bridges will be in close proximity to several major seismic faults such as the San Andreas and Calaveras faults. Considering the social-economic functions of high-speed rail bridges, the optimal design of such bridges based on advanced structural modeling, seismic response simulation and performance evaluation are of significant importance to guarantee the dedicated high-speed train services after earthquakes. These issues are addressed in this paper for a CHSR prototype bridge testbed. To mitigate the seismic risk, seismic isolation strategies and segmental displacement control techniques (slotted hinge joints) are integrated into the design of this bridge. Numerical modeling and seismic response simulation are carried out to predict the performance of this bridge. An optimization problem in the context of the probabilistic Performance-based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) methodology is proposed and illustrated conceptually to optimize the seismic isolator parameters to obtain a satisfactory trade-off between the deformation of the bridge piers and the deformations of the seismic isolators (inducing rail deformations).