cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evaluating Informational Inputs in Rulemaking Processes: A Cross-Case Analysis

As legislative venues are increasingly stymied by gridlock, much policymaking responsibility has devolved to the U.S. states. This article analyzes informational inputs and participation by actors within the rulemaking context, focusing on the level of state rulemaking. Specifically, we explore the rulemaking process in Colorado and North Carolina in two environmental sectors. Using data from documents and in-depth interviews, this study finds that goals of deliberative and open regulatory processes are not met in the cases studied here, in part due to informal pre-hearing processes established by agencies which can be navigated most successfully by the regulated community.
Role of Integrin CD103 in Promoting Destruction of Renal Allografts by CD8+ T Cells

Infiltration of CD8(+)TCRalphabeta(+) T-effector populations (CD8 effectors) into graft epithelial compartments has long been recognized as a key lesion in progression of clinical renal allograft rejection. While the afferent phase of allograft immunity is increasingly well-defined, the efferent pathways by which donor-reactive CD8-effector populations access and ultimately destroy the graft renal tubules (rejection per se) have received remarkably little attention. This is an important gap in our knowledge of transplantation immunology, because epithelial compartments comprise the functional elements of most commonly transplanted organs including not only kidney, but also liver, lung, pancreas, and intestine. Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that attack of graft epithelial elements by CD8-effector populations not only causes short-term graft dysfunction but is also a major contributor to development of chronic allograft nephropathy and late graft loss, which now represent the salient clinical problems. Recent studies of the T-cell integrin, alpha(E)beta(7) (CD103), have provided insight into the mechanisms that promote interaction of CD8 effectors with graft epithelial compartments. The purpose of this communication is to review the known properties of the CD103 molecule and its postulated role in the efferent phase of renal allograft rejection.
Maximum Return from a Collection of Standard and Special Appreciating Assets

In a variety of circumstances, a portion of the items in a collection of appreciating assets such as a collection of forest stands or fine wines are "special" in that their value growth with age follows a different pattern than the "standard" assets. Of interest is the order of selling, harvesting, or otherwise converting the assets that maximizes the total discounted return accrued. For a zero interest rate and no special assets, the situation is analogous to an inventory depletion model for which FIFO "first in, first out" is known to be optimal. However, we show by example that FIFO is not optimal when special assets are present. We introduce SAFO "smallest appreciation, first out" and prove it is the optimal ordering under all interest rates and for any number of special assets.
Nanotribology and nanomechanics in nano/biotechnology

Owing to larger surface area in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), surface forces such as adhesion, friction, and meniscus and viscous drag forces become large when compared with inertial and electromagnetic forces. There is a need to develop lubricants and identify lubrication methods that are suitable for MEMS/NEMS. For BioMEMS/BioNEMS, adhesion between biological molecular layers and the substrate, and friction and wear of biological layers may be important, and methods to enhance adhesion between biomolecules and the device surface need to be developed. There is a need for development of a fundamental understanding of adhesion, friction/stiction, wear, the role of surface contamination and environment, and lubrication. MEMS/NEMS materials need to exhibit good mechanical and tribological properties on the micro/nanoscale. Most mechanical properties are known to be scale dependent. Therefore, the properties of nanoscale structures need to be measured. Component-level studies are required to provide a better understanding of the tribological phenomena occurring in MEMS/NEMS. The emergence of micro/nanotribology and atomic force microscopy-based techniques has provided researchers with a viable approach to address these problems. This paper presents an overview of micro/nanoscale adhesion, friction, and wear studies of materials and lubrication studies for MEMS/NEMS and BioMEMS/BioNEMS. It also presents a review of scale-dependent mechanical properties, and stress and deformation analysis of nanostructures.
Resonances of a dielectric sphere illuminated by two counterpropagating plane waves

We consider the scattering of light by a spherical particle illuminated by two counterpropagating plane waves. Destructive and constructive interference of the two incident fields modifies the resonance contribution to the scattered and internal fields. The resonance contribution can vary between zero and twice the value of that associated with ordinary Mie scattering; the amount of the contribution is a function of the relative phase between the two beams.
Floor Pen Studies on the Anticoccidial Efficacy of Arprinocid in Turkeys

Arprinocid was tested against coccidiosis in turkeys reared in floor pens. Contamination of pens with Eimeria meleagrimitis, E. adenoeides, and E. gallopavonis was accomplished by the infected seeder bird technique. Performance improved with increasing levels of arprinocid through 120 ppm, but weight gains were depressed at 180 ppm. Lesion scores were significantly and progressively reduced by treatment with 60, 90, 120, and 180 ppm of arprinocid. Control of lesion scores and performance of birds treated with 120 ppm of arprinocid were comparable to the amprolium (125 ppm) treatment. In a separate experiment, the oocyst passage of E. meleagrimitis and of E. adenoeides was progressively reduced by increasing levels of arprinocid, and sporulation rate was decreased. Sportulation was not obtained in oocysts from birds fed arprinocid at 120 ppm or higher.
An automated stand-alone in-field remote sensing system (SIRSS) for in-season crop monitoring

Abstract A stand-alone in field remote sensing system (SIRSS) with high spatial and temporal resolution was developed in this study. System control and image processing algorithms consisted of image acquisition control, camera parameter control, crop canopy reflectance calibration, image rectification, image background segmentation and vegetation indices map generation were developed and embedded in the SIRSS. The SIRSS is able to automatically capture multispectral images over a testing field at any predefined time points during the growing season and process captured images in real-time. This paper presents the SIRSS system design, image analysis procedures and determination of vegetation indices. In a validation experiment over an 8-plot corn field with three different nutrient treatments spanning the 2006 growing season, a total of 91 images were acquired and four different vegetation indices were derived from the images of each day. The largest differences of indices values among three treatments were indentified during the V6–V8 stages which implied this period could be the best time to detect variability caused by the nitrogen stress in the cornfield. The SIRSS has shown the potential of monitoring changes in vegetation status and condition.
Dissolution Kinetics of Tuff Rock and Mechanism of Chemical Bond Formation at the Interface with Cement Grout

The interaction of tuff rock and cement was studied to evaluate the effectiveness of sealing of tuff boreholes with cementitious grouts. Previous studies indicated chemical bond formation between tuff and cement. Dissolution studies were carried out on Topopah Spring member tuff and on tuff with cement. The results indicate the formation of calcium silicate and calcium aluminosilicate hydrates; phase identification is confirmed by XRD studies. The significance of the results obtained and their implications on properties of the interfacial region are included. 7 refs., 6 figs.
Technology Integration State, Issues, Benefits, and Obstacles

As a program/project manager, you have understood where your company stands at a global market environment in terms of competitive business strategy, operational business capability, and technology integration needs. After visiting several manufacturing plants and interviewing related people, you found urgent needs of technology integration for improving operational integrity and performance. Unanimously, operational people were really concerned about operational disruption, a primary reason for deteriorating productivity and quality, and they asked your help for resolving this problem. You also found that this problem is closely related to supply, assembly, and delivery processes of automotive manufacturing along inbound and outbound logistics network. Next you may want to dig into for what technologies are available for addressing this operational problem and know their current state, issues, benefits, obstacles, regulations, and others. You recognized that operational disruptions occur because of the lack of visibility among business processes and assets. You noticed that RFID and interoperability technology could resolve most of the operational disruptions. These two technologies received so much industry attentions in the past decade, are still being under further development and validation, and will be expected to bring in a great potential. Other technologies might help address this disruption issue, but because of space limitation, we cannot cover all those technologies. This chapter only focuses on the interoperability technology within supply chain management domain. It is legitimate to consider the operational disruptions in the supply chain domain, because the supply chain network includes much more disruptive factors to be resolved than any other business domains. Investigating the interoperability technology is valuable because of its significance and prevalence in the future. Although some variations exist by technology, the interoperability technology would share the current state, issues, benefits, and obstacles with other new technologies by and large. Later chapters will discuss more about the RFID in detail.
The dynamical Casimir effect in a periodically changing domain: a dynamical systems approach

We study the problem of the behaviour of a quantum massless scalar field in the space between two parallel infinite perfectly conducting plates, one of them stationary, the other moving periodically. We reformulate the physical problem into a problem about the asymptotic behaviour of the iterates of a map of the circle, and then apply results from the theory of dynamical systems to study the properties of the map. Many of the general mathematical properties of maps of the circle translate into properties of the field in the cavity. For example, we give a complete classification of the possible resonances in the system, and show that small enough perturbations do not destroy the resonances. We use some mathematical identities to give a transparent physical interpretation of the processes of creation and amplification of the quantum field due to the motion of the boundary and to elucidate the similarities of and the differences between the classical and quantum fields in domains with moving boundaries.
Resting energy expenditure in the obese: a cross-validation and comparison of prediction equations.

Abstract Objective To examine the accuracy and precision of 12 equations or tables for predicting resting metabolic rate (RMR) in obese persons. Design Observational (correlational) study. Setting Obesity Research Center, St Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital, New York, NY. Subjects/samples One hundred twenty-six (73 women, 53 men) healthy, obese subjects recruited through the Obesity Research Center's Weight Control Unit. Measures RMR by indirect calorimetry. Weight and height were measured to the nearest 0.1 kg and to the nearest 1 cm. Statistical analyses performed Bivariate regression of predicted RMR on measured RMR; paired t tests for the difference between means of predicted RMR and measured RMR. Results Of the 12 prediction equations, 6 had intercepts or slopes that were significantly different from 0 and 1, respectively. With two exceptions, the equations accounted for between 56% and 63% of the variance in measured RMR. The Robertson and Reid (1952) equation and the Fleisch (1951) equation performed best with our obese sample. Applications/conclusions The Robertson and Reid (1952) and the Fleisch (1951) equations are recommended for clinical use with obese patients. J Am Diet Assoc. 1993; 93: 1031–1036.
From Bacterial Nutrition to Enzyme Structure: A Personal Odyssey

As a former editor or member of the Editorial Board of the Annual Review of Biochemistry I helped to select authors of the prefatory chapters for more than 20 years. Now I am asked to write one myself. The first such chapter appeared in 1953 with the prefatorial statement: “This is the first of a series in which it is the hope of the Editorial Committee that our elders in biochemistry will give us through chapters of a historical and philosophical character the benefit of their long years of experience in biochemistry.” With one exception, the chapters have appeared regularly ever since. Their authors comprise a group I am proud to join even while harboring some doubts about really belonging. Their autobiographical accounts have added much to our understanding of how and why they became biochemists, and how biochemistry itself developed. I shall continue in this tradition.
Local-density-functional theory for superfluid fermionic systems: The unitary gas

The first detailed comparison between ab initio calculations of finite fermionic superfluid systems, performed recently by Chang and Bertsch [Phys. Rev. A 76, 021603(R) (2007)] and by von Stecher, Grange, and Blume [e-print arXiv:0705.0671v1] and the extension of the density-functional theory superfluid local-density approximation (SLDA) is presented. It is shown that SLDA reproduces the total energies, number density distributions in inhomogeneous systems along with the energy of the normal state in homogeneous systems. Unlike the Kohn-Sham LDA, in SLDA the effective fermion mass differs from the bare fermion mass and the spectrum of elementary excitations is also reproduced.
Hybrid multi-core architecture for boosting single-threaded performance

The scaling of technology and the diminishing return of complicated uniprocessors have driven the industry towards multicore processors. While multithreaded applications can naturally leverage the enhanced throughput of multi-core processors, a large number of important applications are single-threaded, which cannot automatically harness the potential of multi-core processors. In this paper, we propose a compiler-driven heterogeneous multicore architecture, consisting of tightly-integrated VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) and superscalar processors on a single chip, to automatically boost the performance of single-threaded applications without compromising the capability to support multithreaded programs. In the proposed multi-core architecture, while the high-performance VLIW core is used to run code segments with high instruction-level parallelism (ILP) extracted by the compiler; the superscalar core can be exploited to deal with the runtime events that are typically difficult for the VLIW core to handle, such as L2 cache misses. Our initial experimental results by running the preexecution thread on the superscalar core to mitigate the L2 cache misses of the main thread on the VLIW core indicate that the proposed VLIW/superscalar multi-core processor can automatically improve the performance of single-threaded general-purpose applications by up to 40.8%.
Primary hyperparathyroidism and chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Although hypercalcemia is a frequent event during the course of many malignancies it has only rarely been described with patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Review of the literature revealed only eleven such case reports. The mechanism of the hypercalcemia in these patients was generally unclear although one patient was found to have a parathyroid adenoma and in another patient tested the level of osteoclast activating factor was high. Two additional chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with hypercalcemia are described in this report and in each a parathyroid adenoma was found. The patient in whom the diagnosis was made ante mortem had an excellent response to parathyroidectomy. Osteoclast activating factor level was measured in one patient and found to be within normal limits. Since three of the thirteen reported cases of chronic lymphocytic leukemia with hypercalcemia have demonstrated parathyroid adenomas, it is suggested that consideration be given to that possibility in such patients so that appropriate surgery may be done.
Using Rhetoric To Sustain Democracy: The Rhetorical Devices Utilized by Justice O’Connor in Kelo V. City of New London

Using Rhetoric To Sustain Democracy: The Rhetorical Devices Utilized by Justice O’Connor in Kelo V. City of New London
Functional and Growth Characteristics of Struma Ovarii

Summary 1. It is estimated that from 5 to 6 per cent of ovarian strumas produce thyrotoxicosis. 2. Morphologic changes do not necessarily parallel the degree of toxicosis 3. The majority of ovarian strumas store very little iodine. 4. The degree of iodine storage does not parallel morphologic changes. 5. From 5 to 6 per cent of these tumors produce metastases, half of which kill by malignant invasion. 6. Metastases are usually confined to the abdomen.
Controlling hard zone formation in friction stir processed HSLA steel

Abstract The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of friction stir process conditions on mitigating the “hard zone” often present in FSW HSLA steels. The primary parameters investigated were travel speed, heat input, and cooling rates. The hard zone consists of primarily fine lath ferrite. There are strong linear correlations between the ferrite lath width, hardness of the hard zone, and weld cooling rate. The hard zone was eliminate at cooling rates below 20 °C s −1 in FSW HSLA-65.
Bioengineering in the Repair of Irradiated Normal Tissue by Bone Marrow Derived Stem Cell Populations

While the basic principles of radiation chemistry and radiation molecular biology have not changed, there has been significant modification in our understanding of cellular interactions involved in irradiation tissue damage [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Ionizing irradiation induces radiation chemical changes in cells, principally targeting oxygen and water molecules which results in formation of superoxide, hydroxyl, and other free radical moieties, within fractions of a second after radiation exposure [2]. Formation of nitric oxide, and its combination with superoxide leads to formation of peroxynitrite, a potent pro-oxidant [6, 7], which in combination with the other radical oxygen species leads to significant lipid peroxidation as well as direct binding to nuclear DNA that results in single and double strand breaks [8, 9, 10, 11]. In the last decade, it has become clear that DNA strand breaks are repaired rapidly, certainly within 15 min after irradiation of cells in culture [4, 5], and that this repair involves a complex interaction of multiple rapid response genes, which initiate by site specific phosphorylation of the ataxia telangiectasia protein (ATM) on a specific phosphorylation site [12].
The Negotiation Calculus: Why Parties to Civil Conflict Refuse to Talk

Why do some parties to intrastate conflict refuse to negotiate? I propose a simple theory of civil conflict in which the act of negotiation itself carries costs and benefits. Several hypotheses follow: parties to civil conflict will avoid negotiation when they (1) fear alienating external supporters or internal constituencies, (2) risk granting legitimacy to their opponents or signaling weakness to other potential claimants, or (3) find it difficult to identify reliable negotiating partners. Empirical tests find support for my argument. My findings suggest that cases exist in which the parties would reach an agreement if only they could overcome the costs of negotiation and engage in talks. Diplomats and mediators should consider the costs and benefits of talks when planning the timing and form of interventions designed to bring parties to the table.
Evolutionary Science and Aestheticism: a Survey and a Suggestion

The past 30 years have witnessed a marked growth in critical studies of science and literature in late nineteenth-century Britain. This essay seeks to highlight a small, but expanding, subset of research within this larger field that specifically concerns the intersections of evolutionary science and literary aestheticism. As this essay explains, scholars have gradually uncovered the significant influence that evolutionary science brought to bear on aesthetic thought. By delving into the archive, literary historians have also come to recognize that this influence was reciprocated, in large part because the relationship between evolutionary science and aestheticism was widely recognized by Victorian readers: even as scientific language permeated aesthetic writing, popular associations between the two movements steered scientific inquiry in certain directions. In conclusion, this essay suggests areas for future critical expansion and considers several striking affinities between evolutionism and aestheticism that merit particular exploration.
Hale on the Architecture of Modal Knowledge

There are many modal epistemologies available to us. Which should we endorse? According to Bob Hale, we can start to answer this question by examining the architecture of modal knowledge. That is, we can try to decide between the following claims: (1) knowing that p is possible is essentially a matter of having a well-founded belief that there are no conflicting necessities—a necessity-based approach—and (2) knowing that p is necessary is essentially a matter of having a well-founded belief that there are no conflicting possibilities—a possibility-based approach. Hale argues for the first of these claims, but I contend that his arguments fail. However, it doesn't follow that we should endorse a possibility-based approach. I repurpose Hale's arguments to show those who would endorse possibility-based approaches need to say more about our modal knowledge concerning logic and mathematics; if they can't, then they ought to endorse a hybrid modal epistemology that doesn't give priority to one modality across the board. Additionally, those who endorse possibility-based views may be committed to Peter van Inwagen's modal skepticism.
Specific Rotation and Phosphate Content of Cold-Water-Soluble Fractions of Ground Corn and Wheat Starches.

Starch, as it occurs in nature, is not soluble in cold water, and hence one cannot determine the specific rotation of the untreated substance. The several soluble starches, which have formed the basis of numerous optical studies, represent natural starches altered either by heating or treatment with reagents, or by treatment with enzymes, or by some combination of the above procedures.The reported values of the specific rotation of the various starches range from 216.0° to 182.0°. This wide range of results indicates that the determinations were made on starches hydrolyzed to a varying extent, or on untreated solutions so opalescent as to prevent accurate evaluation of the specific rotation.It was shown by Alsberg, Griffing, and Field1 that clear solutions could be prepared from purified starch by dry-grinding in a pebblemill, dispersion in cold water, and centrifugation. This technique is particularly effective with wheat and corn starches. These solutions are water-clear, dialyze through collodion, and ...
Glucose tolerance in decerebrated rats after relatively long survival.

SummaryRats decerebrated at the pontile level exhibited a markedly elevated glucose tolerance curve 3 to 7 days after operation. One subjected to midibrain decerebration showed a shallower and less sustained curve. Hyperglyemia occurred in rats during the first few hours after pontile decerebration, which is in confirmation of previously published results on rabbits and cats.
Oxygen consumption of human leukocytes from blood, lymph nodes, and patients with leukemia.

SummaryOxygen consumption and succinic dehydrogenase activity were determined in whole cells and mitochondria isolated from peripheral leukocytes, tissue lymphocytes, and human leukemic cells. Tissue lymphocytes and leukemic leukocytes had higher respiratory activities than peripheral neutrophils and lymphocytes when calculated per mg protein, but not when expressed as a function of the number of cells. The fourfold increase in the activity of mitochondria isolated from tissue and leukemic cells compared to blood leukocytes suggests that the mitochondria in the former are more active but fewer in number.Computation was done with the assistance of the Biological Sciences Computation Center, University of Chicago, under the U.S. Public Health Service Grant FR 00013 from the Division of Research Facilities and Resources of the National Institutes of Health.
Terry L. Erwin: She Had a Black Eye and in Her Arm She Held a Skunk: Re-published from "American Entomologist" Vol. 61 (I) on the occasion of ZooKeys 500

Terry L. Erwin is Curator of Coleoptera at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C. and editor-in-chief of ZooKeys. He generated significant controversy in 1982—which continues to this day—when he published an estimate of 30 million species on Earth, which was substantially more than the nearly one million described species. He was born 1 December 1940 in St. Helena, California and spent his youth trout fishing with his maternal grandfather in the High Sierra near Lake Tahoe. As a teenager, with prodding from his father, he built hot rod cars and was a founding member and later President of the California Conquistadores, a hot rod club in the San Francisco Bay area. Erwin earned his B.S. (1964, Biology) and M.A. (1966, Biology) degrees from San Jose State College. With a desire to learn from the three greatest living carabidologists, he first obtained a Ph.D. (1969, Entomology) from University of Alberta under the direction of George Ball. This was followed by a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology with Philip J. Darlington, Jr. During that year, a position opened at the (then) United States National Museum in the Department of Entomology, which he accepted, but two months after taking the job, he departed for a year-long sabbatical at Lund University in Sweden, where he completed the carabidology “trifecta” under the mentorship of Carl H. Lindroth. While in Sweden, the Chairman of Entomology at the USNM changed from Karl Krombien to Paul D. Hurd, who saw on his desk a proposal left by Terry to study California carabid beetles. Learning that grant money was available for research in Central America, Hurd crossed out “California” and wrote in “Panama.” Terry returned to Washington in 1971, as the second coleopterist within the USNM, and was greatly surprised to find that his proposal had been changed, funding had been secured, and he was scheduled for the next flight to the Canal Zone. Thus began a lifetime career on studies of insect biodiversity in neotropical forests.
Classification of Newborn Encephalopathy

Investigators from the Department of Neurology, Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston and the Neuroepidemiology Branch, Bethesda take issue with the terms hypoxic-ischemic and post-asphyxial encephalopathy when the etiology is frequently in doubt.
Relationships between tensile behavior, physical parameters and manufacturing parameters of carbon nanotube sheet

Abstract Eight versions of CNT-sheets were characterized in order to investigate the dependence of the tensile performance data (tensile strength, Young's modulus and failure strain) on physical parameters (volumetric density and areal density) and manufacturing parameters (nominal or enhanced production method, and/or acid treated). The morphology and microstructure of CNT-sheets were also studied. An enhanced (faster) production method without any post-processing acid treatment reduces tensile strength and stiffness relative to those produced by the nominal production method due to increase of impurities in the CNT-sheet as well as due to less compactness of layers in the sheet. The acid treatment improves tensile strength and stiffness due to reduced impurities and better consolidation of layers. Increase in areal density of the CNT-sheet does not increase its tensile strength and stiffness but increase in volumetric density improves tensile strength and stiffness in CNT-sheets if impurities are not increased. However, failure strain increases with increasing either volumetric or areal density indicating it depends directly upon the amount of CNTs.
On the Sensitivity of the Resistive Thermoconductive Pressure Sensor with TaN Thin Film

Pressure dependence of the electrical properties of TaN thin films was studied in order to use the films as the resistive thermoconductive pressure sensors. These films have two advantageous properties which are large effective heat-conducting area and small geometrical size. TaN thin films were deposited by reactive sputtering onto Corning 7059 glass at 1.5×10-3 Torr in a mixture of nitrogen and argon. The sensor thus formed is sensitive to the pressure change of He, and is suggested to use the pressure sensor as the leak detector with He gas. On the other hand, for Ar gas the sensor showed low sensitivity which suggests to use the pressure sensor for the measurement of reactive gases in Ar gas during the reactive sputtering.
Fecal microbiota transplantation–early steps on a long journey ahead

“In the early days of oral antibiotics we were plagued by frequent diarrhea in our patients due presumably to killing off intestinal bacteria. I was Chief of Surgery at the VA and simplistically co...
Description and validation of the Simple, Efficient, Dynamic, Global, Ecological Simulator (SEDGES v.1.0)

Abstract. In this paper, we present a simple dynamic global vegetation model whose primary intended use is auxiliary to the land–atmosphere coupling scheme of a climate model, particularly one of intermediate complexity. The model simulates and provides important ecological-only variables but also some hydrological and surface energy variables that are typically either simulated by land surface schemes or else used as boundary data input for these schemes. The model formulations and their derivations are presented here, in detail. The model includes some realistic and useful features for its level of complexity, including a photosynthetic dependency on light, full coupling of photosynthesis and transpiration through an interactive canopy resistance, and a soil organic carbon dependence for bare-soil albedo. We evaluate the model's performance by running it as part of a simple land surface scheme that is driven by reanalysis data. The evaluation against observational data includes net primary productivity, leaf area index, surface albedo, and diagnosed variables relevant for the closure of the hydrological cycle. In this setup, we find that the model gives an adequate to good simulation of basic large-scale ecological and hydrological variables. Of the variables analyzed in this paper, gross primary productivity is particularly well simulated. The results also reveal the current limitations of the model. The most significant deficiency is the excessive simulation of evapotranspiration in mid- to high northern latitudes during their winter to spring transition. The model has a relative advantage in situations that require some combination of computational efficiency, model transparency and tractability, and the simulation of the large-scale vegetation and land surface characteristics under non-present-day conditions.
Medical and Surgical Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is one of the most lethal malignancies, with an overall 5-yr disease-free survival rate of 1–2% for all patients. Most patients with pancreatic cancer are not diagnosed until they have developed locally advanced or regionally disseminated disease that is not amenable to attempted curative surgical resection. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy have only modest benefit in this stage of the disease and typical survival is 6 mo. Among those patients with apparently resectable disease who undergo surgical exploration, between 20 and 40% are found to be unresectable, dependent on the pre-operative evaluation. Even those pancreatic cancer patients who have a margin-negative resection have a 5-yr disease-free survival of less than 30%, and approximately half of patients surviving 5 yr will relapse between 6 and 10 yr. Thus, the treatment of pancreatic cancer remains a significant challenge to the surgical, radiation, and medical oncologist.
Dietary PUFAs attenuate NLRP3 inflammasome activation via enhancing macrophage autophagy.

Dietary PUFAs reduce atherosclerosis and macrophage inflammation, but how nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain leucine-rich repeat-containing receptor protein (NLRP3) inflammasome activation and autophagy influence PUFA-mediated atheroprotection is poorly understood. We fed Ldlr−/− mice diets containing 10% (calories) palm oil (PO) and 0.2% cholesterol, supplemented with an additional 10% of calories as PO, fish oil (FO), echium oil (EO, containing 18:4 n-3), or borage oil (BO, containing 18:3 n-6). Inflammasome activation, autophagic flux, and mitochondrial function were measured in peritoneal macrophages, blood monocytes, or liver from diet-fed mice. Compared with PO, dietary PUFAs (FO, EO, or BO) markedly inhibited inflammasome activation, shown by 1) less macrophage IL-1β secretion and caspase-1 cleavage in response to NLRP3 inflammasome activators, 2) less IL-1β secretion and caspase-1 cleavage from liver or hepatocytes in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), and 3) attenuated caspase-1 activity in blood monocytes. Furthermore, PUFA-enriched diets increased LC3-II expression in macrophage, aorta, and liver samples and reduced numbers of dysfunctional mitochondria in macrophages in response to LPS and palmitate, suggesting enhanced autophagic activation. Dietary PUFAs did not attenuate NLRP3 inflammasome activation in atg5-deficient macrophages, indicating that autophagic activation is critical for the PUFA-mediated inflammasome inactivation. In conclusion, dietary PUFAs reduce atherosclerosis, in part, by activation of macrophage autophagy and attenuation of NLRP3 inflammasome activation.
Association of Seizure Occurrence with Aneurysm Treatment Modality in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients

Data on new-onset seizures after treatment of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients are limited and variable. We examined the association between new-onset seizures after aSAH and aneurysm treatment modality, as well their relationship with initial clinical severity of aSAH and outcomes. This is a retrospective cohort study of all aSAH patients admitted to our institution over a 6-year period. ‘Seizures’ were defined as any observed clinical seizure or electrographic seizure on continuous electroencephalogram (cEEG) recordings, as determined by the reviewing neurophysiologist. Subgroup analyses were performed in low-grade (Hunt–Hess 1–3) and high-grade (Hunt–Hess 4–5) patients. Outcomes measures were Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) at intensive care unit (ICU) discharge and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) at outpatient follow-up. There were 282 patients with aSAH; 203 (72.0%) suffered low-grade and 79 (28%) high-grade aSAH. Patients were treated with endovascular coiling (N = 194, 68.8%) or surgical clipping (N = 66, 23.4%). Eighteen (6.4%) patients had seizures, of whom 10 (5.5%) had aneurysm coiling and 7 (10.6%) underwent clipping (p = 0.15). In low-grade patients, seizures occurred less frequently (p = 0.016) and were more common after surgical clipping (p = 0.0089). Seizures correlated with lower GCS upon ICU discharge (p < 0.001), in clipped (p = 0.011) and coiled (p < 0.001) patients and in low-grade aSAH (p < 0.001). Seizures correlated with higher mRS on follow-up (p < 0.001), in clipped (p = 0.032) and coiled (p = 0.004) patients and in low-grade aSAH (p = 0.003). New-onset seizures after aSAH occurred infrequently, and their incidence after aneurysm clipping versus coiling was not significantly different. However, in low-grade patients, new seizures were more frequently associated with clipping than coiling. Additionally, non-convulsive seizures did not occur in low-grade patients treated with coiling. These findings may explain, in part, previous work suggesting better outcomes in coiled patients and encourage physicians to have a lower threshold for cEEG utilization in low-grade patients suspected to have acute seizures after surgical clipping.
Racial differentials in the identification of hypercholesterolemia.

BACKGROUND African Americans have higher rates of cardiovascular disease than white Americans. To address this differential, barriers to cardiovascular risk reduction need to be identified. This study examines the association of race with the likelihood of screening for and diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia. METHODS Possible associations between demographic variables and screening for and diagnosis of hypercholesterolemia were examined on data gathered in a prospective fashion in an office-based family medicine residency training program in Rochester, New York. A consecutive sample of all patients seen between December 15, 1988, and April 15, 1990, about whom there was complete data collection (age, sex, insurance, race, and other cardiovascular risk factors) were included in the multivariate analyses (N = 4256). RESULTS After controlling for age, sex, insurance status, socioeconomic status, number of visits, and other cardiovascular risk factors, it was found that minorities were less likely to have been screened for cholesterol levels than whites (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.98 to 0.72). The mean cholesterol level did not differ by race (mean cholesterol for whites, 204 mg/dL [5.28 mmol/L], and for minorities, 203 mg/dL [5.25 mmol/L], t = 0.7, P = .47). Among those screened, minorities were less likely than whites to have been diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia (AOR = 0.62, 95% CI = 0.86 to 0.44; and 0.47 (95% CI = 0.28 to 0.78] in those with a cholesterol level greater than 240 mg/dL [6.2 mmol/L]). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that provider behavior in diagnosing hypercholesterolemia varies by the race of the patient.
EXPRESSION OF THE INFLUENZA HEMAGGLUTININ USING SIMIAN VIRUS 40 VECTORS

ABSTRACT We have used deleted SV40 genomes that contain the entire early gene region, the origin of replication and late leader sequences to clone in monkey cells the hemagglutinin (HA) gene of influenza strain A/WSN. The HA gene (1775 base pairs long) was cloned in pBR322 using cDNA made from viral RNA (1). The cloned gene was further modified by treatment with nuclease Bal 31 to remove the dG:dC tails as well as some of the untranslated sequences, and recloned after addition of Bam H1 restriction endonuclease linkers. A number of SV40-HA recombinants were constructed by inserting recloned HA DNA into the late region of SV40. DNA sequencing indicated that the HA gene in different recombinants could be either expressed intact or as a fused protein from the VP2 locus of SV40. The SV40-HA recombinants complement in a lytic infection early deletion mutant helper viral genomes, and express the HA gene as detected by immunofluorescence and by immunoprecipitation of in vivo 35 S-labeled proteins.
Clinical Evaluation of Patients with Ocular Vascular Occlusive Disorders

In my Ocular Vascular Clinic at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, when patients with ocular vascular occlusive disorders are seen for the first time with a history of visual loss (usually sudden), I do the evaluations myself. The following is a detailed account of my method of evaluating these patients.
Quantification of multiplexed fluorescence peptides in human esophagus for early cancer detection (Conference Presentation)

Fluorescence endoscopy is emerging for guiding biopsy and early cancer detection in the gastrointestinal tract. A multimodal scanning fiber endoscope (mmSFE) with 2 fluorescence labeled peptides is designed to image overexpressed biomarkers associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and high-grade dysplasia (HGD), thus detecting early neoplasia. Quantification of multiplexed fluorescence images is critical, which ‘red-flags’ suspicious regions and supports diagnosis. The Target/Background (T/B) ratio is calculated to quantitatively evaluate fluorescence images. However T/B ratios are based on fluorescence intensities alone, so adding morphological features can be critical to providing evidence for diagnosis. Moreover, currently the T/B ratio is calculated for a single fluorescence channel. A protocol for multiplexed fluorescence quantification is needed. Materials and Methods: Peptides targeting EGFR and ErbB2 are labeled with NIR fluorescence Cy5 and IRdye800, respectively. A mmSFE with 2.4mm flexible shaft and wide-field forward-view imaging is designed to image these two near-infrared fluorophores with an additional reflectance channel for anatomical identification. In first-in-human clinical trials the two peptides are topically sprayed, briefly incubated, and then rinsed in subjects at high risk of EAC. Both fluorescence channels were captured simultaneously with the co-registered reflectance channel at 30Hz. After removing artifacts, frames were manually selected using morphological features. T/B ratios were then calculated for all fluorescence channels in selected frames. Results and Conclusions: T/B ratios for HGD subjects are greater than for healthy subjects in at least one of the fluorescence channels. Future work will design algorithms to automatically select suspicious regions based on morphological features. More analysis will be performed based on co-registered fluorescence channels.
Inhibition of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase is a novel therapeutic strategy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Rab proteins play an essential role in regulating intracellular membrane trafficking processes. Rab activity is dependent upon geranylgeranylation, a post-translational modification that involves the addition of 20-carbon isoprenoid chains via the enzyme geranylgeranyl transferase (GGTase) II. We have focused on the development of inhibitors against geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (GGDPS), which generates the isoprenoid donor (GGPP), as anti-Rab agents. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by abnormal mucin production and these mucins play important roles in tumor development, metastasis and chemo-resistance. We hypothesized that GGDPS inhibitor (GGDPSi) treatment would induce PDAC cell death by disrupting mucin trafficking, thereby inducing the unfolded protein response pathway (UPR) and apoptosis. To this end, we evaluated the effects of RAM2061, a potent GGDPSi, against PDAC. Our studies revealed that GGDPSi treatment activates the UPR and triggers apoptosis in a variety of human and mouse PDAC cell lines. Furthermore, GGDPSi treatment was found to disrupt the intracellular trafficking of key mucins such as MUC1. These effects could be recapitulated by incubation with a specific GGTase II inhibitor, but not a GGTase I inhibitor, consistent with the effect being dependent on disruption of Rab-mediated activities. In addition, siRNA-mediated knockdown of GGDPS induces upregulation of UPR markers and disrupts MUC1 trafficking in PDAC cells. Experiments in two mouse models of PDAC demonstrated that GGDPSi treatment significantly slows tumor growth. Collectively, these data support further development of GGDPSi therapy as a novel strategy for the treatment of PDAC.
Yours, Mine, and Ours: A Qualitative Analysis of the Impact of Type 1 Diabetes Management in Older Adult Married Couples.

Objective. The purpose of this study was to understand perceptions of diabetes management responsibilities and the impact of diabetes on day-to-day activities in older adulthood for individuals with type 1 diabetes and their spouses. Design and methods. This qualitative content analysis used a constant-compare approach to analyze individual interviews conducted with older adults and their spouses. People with type 1 diabetes (PWD) and their spouses were interviewed regarding how they coped or dealt with diabetes, what activities they carried out or avoided because of diabetes, and how they appraised diabetes as an individual or shared problem. Results. Participants (n = 52) included 26 older adults with diabetes (mean age 69 years, SD 2.56 years; 38.5% female) and their spouses (mean age 68 years, SD 5.11 years; 61.5% female). Half of the PWD (50%) and the majority of spouses (76.9%) appraised diabetes as a shared issue. Five themes emerged from the interview data: 1) Perceptions pf PWD of spouse involvement in diabetes care, 2) PWD underestimated the impact of diabetes on their spouse’s daily lives, 3) gendered nature of spouses supporting diabetes management, 4) evolution of diabetes and the relationship across developmental time, and 5) differences in diabetes management among couples. Conclusion. Older adults with type 1 diabetes and their spouses have different perspectives regarding diabetes support and responsibility and may not always realize what support is being provided or needed to optimize effective diabetes management. Advancing age with or without diabetes complications may necessitate that spouses provide diabetes support. Diabetes management training for spouses would likely be helpful.
Impact of moderate versus deep sedation on adenoma detection rate in index average-risk screening colonoscopies.

Background and Aims The debate between moderate sedation versus deep sedation for index average-risk screening colonoscopies is well known to gastroenterologists. Ensuring the best of all metrics to perform quality colonoscopies for colon cancer prevention is paramount for both patients and physicians alike, because colon cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death and is the most-used screening tool in the United States. The aim of this study was to determine if moderate sedation versus deep sedation affects outcomes of adenoma detection rate (ADR) or polyp detection rate (PDR) in index, average-risk colonoscopies for colon cancer screening. Methods A retrospective, single, tertiary care outpatient center study of 585 healthy average-risk patients who underwent index screening colonoscopy between June 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015 (moderate sedation only) and June 1, 2016,to December 31, 2016 (deep sedation only) was performed after Institutional Review Board approval. Demographic data and polyp details were collected to determine ADR and PDR. Patients who were not average risk were excluded from the study. Results A total of 585 index average-risk screening colonoscopies were included in this study with 57.7% moderate sedation and 42.2% deep sedation. Neither ADR nor PDR was significantly different between the 2 groups (44.1% vs 38.5% [P = .18] and 71.9% vs 67.6% [P = .27], respectively). Conclusions In index average-risk screening colonoscopies, deep sedation appears to have no benefit compared with moderate sedation for ADR and PDR.