cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Knowledge-guided gene ranking by coordinative component analysis

In cancer, gene networks and pathways often exhibit dynamic behavior, particularly during the process of carcinogenesis. Thus, it is important to prioritize those genes that are strongly associated with the functionality of a network. Traditional statistical methods are often inept to identify biologically relevant member genes, motivating researchers to incorporate biological knowledge into gene ranking methods. However, current integration strategies are often heuristic and fail to incorporate fully the true interplay between biological knowledge and gene expression data. To improve knowledge-guided gene ranking, we propose a novel method called coordinative component analysis (COCA) in this paper. COCA explicitly captures those genes within a specific biological context that are likely to be expressed in a coordinative manner. Formulated as an optimization problem to maximize the coordinative effort, COCA is designed to first extract the coordinative components based on a partial guidance from knowledge genes and then rank the genes according to their participation strengths. An embedded bootstrapping procedure is implemented to improve statistical robustness of the solutions. COCA was initially tested on simulation data and then on published gene expression microarray data to demonstrate its improved performance as compared to traditional statistical methods. Finally, the COCA approach has been applied to stem cell data to identify biologically relevant genes in signaling pathways. As a result, the COCA approach uncovers novel pathway members that may shed light into the pathway deregulation in cancers. We have developed a new integrative strategy to combine biological knowledge and microarray data for gene ranking. The method utilizes knowledge genes for a guidance to first extract coordinative components, and then rank the genes according to their contribution related to a network or pathway. The experimental results show that such a knowledge-guided strategy can provide context-specific gene ranking with an improved performance in pathway member identification.
The renogram: Physiologic basis and current clinical use

Externally monitored radioisotopic renal function studies have proven to be diagnostically useful in a variety of urinary tract disorders. Controversy, however, concerning everything from equipment and patient preparation to information content and interpretation has surrounded the procedure since its inception. The theses presented here are that the choice of equipment is determined by the intended use, that a few major physiologic events determine the shape of the curves produced in the studies, that the information content exceeds what has been extracted to date, and that subtle renal abnormalities are better detected by intercomparison of a patient's two kidneys than by comparison to values derived from a selected normal population. Choice of patient preparation and interpretation of the results depend on understanding the physiology involved in the procedure.
Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Harvesting Is Feasible after Treatment with Brentuximab Vedotin in CD30+ Lymphoma Patients Who Received Multiple Prior Lines of Treatment

Abstract Brentuximab vedotin (BV), an antibody-drug conjugate that targets CD30, induces high response rates in CD30+ lymphoid malignancies. It is unknown if BV use affects procurement of autologous CD34+ stem cells and hematopoietic engraftment after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). We examined 42 patients treated with BV before mobilization. Median times from diagnosis to transplantation, from initial BV treatment to transplantation, and from last BV treatment to stem cell collection were 21 months (range, 10 to 210), 5 months (range, 1.5 to 16.8), and 30 days (range, 2 to 280), respectively. Mobilization was successful on the first attempt in 38 patients (90.4%). The median number of infused CD34+ cells was 5.46 × 106/kg (range, 1.65 to 54.78 × 106/kg). The median times to neutrophil and platelet engraftment were 10 (range, 9 to 13), and 10.5 days (range, 7 to 35), respectively. BV before high-dose chemotherapy–ASCT did not adversely affect peripheral blood stem cell mobilization and subsequent engraftment in a cohort of heavily pretreated patients with CD30+ lymphomas.
A Motivational/Empowerment Model Applied to Students on Academic Probation

This article outlines a motivational/empowerment model for students on academic probation implemented at The University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). The model draws from several theoretical...
The cognitive content of anxiety: naturalistic evidence for the predominance of threat-related thoughts

Beck's (1976) hypothesis that the experience of anxiety is preceded by thoughts with a content of personal threat or danger was evaluated in a study that controlled for effects due to experimenter expectancy. Seventy introductory psychology students were exposed to one of three types of expectancy “training”: One group was trained to expect threat-related thoughts prior to experiencing anxiety, another group was trained to expect loss-related thoughts, and the final group received a neutral training. Subjects were then asked to record their thoughts preceding anxiety experiences in a free-response journal format. Each response was categorized as either a thought of threat, thought of loss, or other thought, and the number of thoughts falling into each category was the dependent variable. Threat was found to be the predominant cognitive content across groups (p < .001), while training had a small but significant (p < .05)effect on subjects' responses. These results are seen as offering qualified support to Beck's proposed threat-anxiety connection.
Effects of Acute Acetaldehyde, Chronic Ethanol, and Pargyline Treatment on Agonist Responses of the Rat Aorta

Abstract The purpose of this investigation was to determine the mechanism(s) underlying the vasorelaxant effects of acute versus chronic acetaldehyde (ACA) exposure, in particular, the role of intact endothelium on contractile responses of rat aortic ring segments to potassium chloride (KCl) or norepinephrine (NE). The acute effects of ACA were assessed in preparations from normal animals maintained on a standard rat chow (non-ethanol-ingesting). The monamine oxidase inhibitor, pargyline, elevates plasma ACA levels by decreasing acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity. Accordingly, preparations from pargyline-treated ethanol-ingesting animals (PE) were used to assess the effects of chronic (12 weeks) ACA and results were compared to those of pargyline-treated non-ethanol-ingesting (P) rats fed a standard liquid diet. In normal and P preparations, maximal inotropic response to KCl and NE were greater in endothelium-denuded than in endothelium-intact preparations. However, in aortic rings obtained from PE rats, the maximal inotropic response to KCl was depressed only in endothelium-denuded rings and that to NE was nearly identical in endothelium-denuded compared to endothelium-intact preparations. Acute ACA (30 m M ) exposure significantly reduced both NE- and KCl-induced contractile responses in muscles from all groups. The magnitude of the vasorelaxant effect of this [ACA] on NE-induced responses was endothelium-independent and was similar between groups. However, the vasorelaxant effect of ACA (30 m M ) on KCl-induced contractile responses was significantly attenuated in muscles from PE animals with greater inhibition occurring in endothelium-denuded preparations. These results suggest that chronic acetaldehyde exposure leads to an impairment in the inotropic response to membrane depolarization in endothelium-denuded preparations resulting in depressed responsiveness. In addition, the acute vasorelaxant effect of ACA on KCl-induced contractures is significantly attenuated in preparations chronically exposed to ACA which suggests a possible development of tolerance.
Characterization and comparison of intron structure and alternative splicing between Medicago truncatula , Populus trichocarpa , Arabidopsis and rice

Alignment of transcripts and genome sequences yielded a set of alternatively spliced transcripts in four angiosperm genomes: three dicotyledon species Medicago truncatula (Medicago), Populus trichocarpa (poplar) and Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis), and the monocotyledon Oryzae sativa (rice). Intron retention was the predominant mode of alternative splicing (AS) in each species, consistent with previous reports for Arabidopsis and rice. We analyzed the structure of 5′-splice junctions and observed commonalities between species. There was dependency of base composition between sites flanking the 5′-splice junction, with the potential to create a subset of splice sites that interact more weakly or strongly than average with U1 snRNA. Such altered nucleotide composition was correlated with splicing fidelity in all four species. For Medicago, poplar and Arabidopsis, but not in rice, alternative splicing was most prevalent for introns with decreased UA content, consistent with lower UA content for monocot introns and potentially reflecting evolved differences in splicing mechanisms. Similarly, the occurrence of AS between transcript Gene Ontology categories was positively correlated between Arabidopsis and Medicago, with no correlation between dicots and rice. Analysis of within-species paralogs and between-species reciprocal best-hit homologs yielded rare cases of potentially conserved AS events. Reverse transcriptase PCR and amplicon sequencing were used to confirm a subset of the in silico-predicted AS events within Medicago, as well as to characterize conserved AS events between Medicago and Arabidopsis.
Assessing plausible rates of population growth in humpback whales from life-history data

The rate of growth of any population is a quantity of interest in conservation and management and is constrained by biological factors. In this study, recent data on life-history parameters influencing rates of population growth in humpback whales, including survival, age at first parturition and calving rate are reviewed. Monte Carlo simulations are used to compute a distribution of rates of increase (ROIs) taking into account uncertainty in biological parameter estimates. Two approaches for computing juvenile survival are proposed, which taken into account along with other life-history data, resulted in the following estimates of the rate of population growth: Approach A: mean of 7.3%/year (95% CI = 3.5–10.5%/year) and Approach B: mean of 8.6%/year (95% CI = 5.0–11.4%/year). It is proposed that the upper 99% quantile of the resulting distribution of the ROI for Approach B (11.8%/year) be established as the maximum plausible ROI for humpback whales and be used in population assessment of the species. Possible sources of positive and negative biases in the present estimates are presented and include measurement error in estimation of life-history parameters, changes in the environment within the period these quantities are measured, density dependence or other natural factors. However, it is difficult to evaluate potential biases without additional data. The methods presented in this study can be applied to other species for which life-history parameters are available and are useful in assessing plausibility in the estimation of population growth rates from time series of abundance estimates.
Sensitivity analysis in molecular dynamics and inverse scattering

Abstract The computational techniques of sensitivity analysis in molecular scattering and inverse scattering problems are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the computation of functional sensitivity densities (functional derivatives) of the dynamical observables with respect to an arbitrary variation in the interaction potential. In the case of quantum mechanics, these sensitivity densities are completely determined by the scattering wave functions. Thus, it is shown that scattering wave functions may be used not only to yield the traditional dynamical observables but also the sensitivity of these observables to detailed features in the interaction potential. In the case of classical dynamical calculations, functional sensitivity analysis requires a solution of an additional set of sensitivity differential equations. These equations may require special treatment due to the singular nature of the trajectory functional sensitivities as well as the high sensitivity associated with long-lived trajectories. The functional sensitivity densities provide a means to extract maximal information from dynamical calculations. Furthermore, the sensitivity densities may be employed to establish an iterative procedure for reconstruction of the fundamental underlying interaction potential from experimentally measured dynamical observables.
An exact analysis for bimolecular band-to-band recombination lifetime under high injection conditions

The bimolecular model for predicting transient band-to-band recombination lifetime in semiconductors is nonlinear in the excess carrier concentrations. Usually a low-injection assumption is made which linearizes the problem and yields for direct recombination the well known rule-of-thumb that the excess carrier lifetime should depend inversely on the doping concentration. For applications in which the low-injection assumption is invalid a more precise analysis which produces an injection dependent lifetime is presented.
Covering an ellipsoid with equal balls

The thinnest coverings of ellipsoids are studied in the Euclidean spaces of an arbitrary dimension n. Given any ellipsoid, our goal is to find the minimum number of unit balls needed to cover this ellipsoid. A tight asymptotic bound on the logarithm of this number is obtained.
The centriole in the parthenogenetic and fertilized eggs of Habrobracon juglandis

Cyto-centrosomes containing centrioles but lacking asters originate de novo in great number throughout the ooplasm of Habrobracon eggs during the formation of the first maturation metaphase. These cyto-centrosomes apparently arise from accessory nuclei which are formed from granules extruded by the germinal vesicle. The accessory nuclei react negatively to the Feulgen nucleal test. Asters similar to those present in artificially parthenogenetic eggs appear around many of the cyto-centrosomes, thus forming cytasters. These are manifest only after the female pronucleus establishes an association with a cyto-centrosome, which thus becomes the nuclear centrosome. In the parthenogenetic egg the centriole of the nuclear centrosome is continuous from one cell generation to the next, whereas the centrioles of the cyto-centrosomes which are unassociated with nuclear material are not perpetuated and disappear during early cleavage. Concerning the origin of the first cleavage centrioles in fertilized eggs, evidence shows that in some ova it is entirely maternal, that is, from two cyto-centrosomes, one associated with the female pronucleus and occupying one pole of the first mitotic spindle, and the other associated with the male pronucleus and located at the opposite pole; while in other ova it is maternal-paternal; from two centrosomes, one the sperm centrosome which occupies one pole of the first cleavage spindle, and the other a cyto-centrosome associated with the female pronucleus and situated at the opposite pole.
Parametric mixture models to evaluate and summarize hazard ratios in the presence of competing risks with time-dependent hazards and delayed entry

In the analysis of survival data, there are often competing events that preclude an event of interest from occurring. Regression analysis with competing risks is typically undertaken using a cause-specific proportional hazards model. However, modern alternative methods exist for the analysis of the subdistribution hazard with a corresponding subdistribution proportional hazards model. In this paper, we introduce a flexible parametric mixture model as a unifying method to obtain estimates of the cause-specific and subdistribution hazards and hazard-ratio functions. We describe how these estimates can be summarized over time to give a single number comparable to the hazard ratio that is obtained from a corresponding cause-specific or subdistribution proportional hazards model. An application to the Women's Interagency HIV Study is provided to investigate injection drug use and the time to either the initiation of effective antiretroviral therapy, or clinical disease progression as a competing event.
AudioSense: Enabling real-time evaluation of hearing aid technology in-situ

AudioSense integrates mobile phones and web technology to measure hearing aid performance in real-time and in-situ. Measuring the performance of hearing aids in the real world poses significant challenges as it depends on the patient's listening context. AudioSense uses Ecological Momentary Assessment methods to evaluate both the perceived hearing aid performance as well as to characterize the listening environment using electronic surveys. AudioSense further characterizes a patient's listening context by recording their GPS location and sound samples. By creating a time-synchronized record of listening performance and listening contexts, AudioSense will allow researchers to understand the relationship between listening context and hearing aid performance. Performance evaluation shows that AudioSense is reliable, energy-efficient, and can estimate Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) levels from captured audio samples.
Peptide dependency of alloreactive CD4+ T cell responses

Alloreactivity, the capacity of a large number of T lymphocytes to react with foreign MHC molecules, represents the cellular basis for the rejection of tissue grafts. Although it was originally assumed that the TCR of alloreactive T cells focus their recognition on the polymorphic residues that differ between the MHC molecules of responder and stimulator cells, studies in the MHC class I system have clearly demonstrated that MHC-bound peptides can influence this interaction. It remains unclear, however, whether peptides play an equally important role for the recognition of MHC class II molecules by alloreactive CD4+ T cells. Another issue that remains unresolved is the overall frequency of peptide-dependent versus peptide-independent alloreactive T cells. We have addressed these questions with antigen-presenting cells (APC) from H2-M mutant mice that predominantly express a single MHC class II-peptide complex, H2-Ab bound by a peptide (CLIP) derived from the class II-associated invariant chain. APC from these mice were used as targets and stimulators for alloreactive CD4+ T cells. Results demonstrated that the vast majority of CD4+ alloreactive T cells recognize MHC class II molecules in a peptide-dependent fashion.
Race and Sex Differences in the Use of Cardiac Procedures for Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease in Maryland

This study analyzes administrative data from the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission to compare differences by race and sex in the use of cardiac procedures performed in hospitals in Maryland. African Americans discharged from Maryland hospitals were less likely than whites to have received cardiac procedures after controlling for age, insurance status, and the number of comorbidities (e.g., hypertension and diabetes). Overall, the general pattern of care suggests that African American women may receive high-technology cardiac treatment significantly less often than all other race and sex categories.
Integrated fluidic lenses and optic systems

Functionally integrated fluidic lenses and lens systems were demonstrated. Fluidic optic lenses can function as lenses with tunable focal distance, lens doublets with variable and convertible lens type, zoom lenses, and a lens system possessing both telephoto and reverse telephoto functions. High lens power and broad tuning range were achieved in a single 20-mm aperture device that can be tuned to have a convex or concave shape, with the respective tunable focal distance from 14.3 mm to infinity and from -6.1 mm to negative infinity. For fluidic adaptive zoom-lens-on-a-chip, a zoom ratio of 2.14 was achieved for 20-mm lens aperture, and a zoom ratio of 2.83 for 5-mm lens aperture. For the latter device, a tunable field-of-view from 10/spl deg/ to 80/spl deg/ was demonstrated, suggesting that the functions of telephoto and reverse telephoto systems can be achieved in a single zoom lens chip. Finally, the fluidic devices including the microfluidic pumps can be integrated with the lenses. All these integrated fluidic lenses and lens systems were microfabricated using a modified UV-LIGA process.
S-Phase Progression Mediates Activation of a Silenced Gene in Synthetic Nuclei

Aberrant expression of developmentally silenced genes, characteristic of tumor cells and regenerating tissue, is highly correlated with increased cell proliferation. By modeling this process in vitro in synthetic nuclei, we find that DNA replication leads to deregulation of established developmental expression patterns. Chromatin assembly in the presence of adult mouse liver nuclear extract mediates developmental stage-specific silencing of the tumor marker gene alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). Replication of silenced AFP chromatin in synthetic nuclei depletes sequence-specific transcription repressors, thereby disrupting developmentally regulated repression. Hepatoma-derived factors can target partial derepression of AFP, but full transcription activation requires DNA replication. Thus, unscheduled entry into S phase directly mediates activation of a developmentally silenced gene by (i) depleting developmental stage-specific transcription repressors and (ii) facilitating binding of transactivators.
Treatment of Recalcitrant Lateral Epicondylitis with Suture Anchor Repair

BackgroundChronic lateral epicondylitis has been treated with various surgical procedures with varying and often less-thansatisfactory outcomes.HypothesisThe use of suture anchor repair of the extensor carpi radialis brevis to the lateral epicondyle in the treatment of chronic lateral epicondylitis will result in a more anatomical repair, with resultant improvements in strength, pain, and return to previous sport.Study DesignCase series; Level of evidence, 4.MethodsA total of 20 patients (22 elbows) were treated surgically and were observed for a minimum of 2 years. All patients had debridement of the degenerative tissue, followed by repair of the extensor carpi radialis brevis to the lateral epicondyle with a suture anchor. The average time to follow-up was 4.2 years (range, 2.2-9.5 years). All patients completed a Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand questionnaire to assess residual disability, and 16 patients underwent a physical examination. The objective evaluation included the assessment of r...
Problems in the treatment of malabsorption in CF.

textabstractABSTRACT. Several factors play a role in the cause of malabsorption in CF. Besides the enzyme deficiency in the secretion of the exocrine pancreas, decreased bile‐salt concentration in the gut may also be an important factor in the fat malabsorption. The contribution to the fat absorption by other lipases, such as lingual lipase and gastric lipase, remains to he proved. The therapeutic measures are only partly effective because of the breakdown of swalled enzymes by gastric acid. Some improvement is reached by using a new acid‐resistant coating for the enzyme supplement. Newly developed and essential for its success is the application of small coated particles to prevent retention in the stomach, and the easy breakdown of the coating in an alkaline solution. The treatment of the bile salt deficiency has not been successful until now. A trial with additional Tween 80, with the option of supplementing the detergent activity which was found to he successful in Crohn disease, was without marked success. Copyright
Feedback performance control for computer systems: an LPV approach

There has been increasing research effort in applying control-theoretic approaches to performance management for computer systems such as Web servers, database systems, and storage systems. Since today's Internet servers and applications are often operated under dynamically changing load conditions, linear control designs may not suffice to provide desired performance guarantees. This paper presents a linear-parameter-varying (LPV) approach to the modeling and performance control of Web servers in order to achieve performance-based service level agreement (SLA). In particular, admission control for Web servers is used as a case study. By applying system identification to empirical data, an LPV system is developed to approximate the dynamics of Web server admission control from rejection ratio to response time, where the time-varying workload parameters are chosen as scheduling variables. An LPV robust control is then designed to meet response time SLA. The performance of the LPV control is compared with that of a linear design. By exploring the nature of dependence of server performance on time-varying load and operating conditions, the proposed general framework are applicable to a diverse spectrum of server-based applications. The utilization of scheduling parameters can be generalized to accommodate more sophisticated workload characterization and complicated server environments.
Antimicrobial Use in Plant Agriculture

This chapter focuses on the antibiotics and fungicides in agricultural use, problems of resistance, and effects on other organisms, particularly humans. The most common antibiotics used in plant agriculture are streptomycin and oxytetracycline, either in its hydrochloride or calcium form. Antibiotic resistance is of universal concern to human health. The antibiotics used in plant agriculture, except for kasugamycin, are also used in human clinical medicine. Azoles, used in human clinical medicine, are particularly popular in plant agriculture, because they are relatively cheap, have broad spectrum systemic action in plants for both preventive and curative effects, and are relatively stable. A potential approach to obtain new alternative antibiotics for plant agriculture might be a federal program analogous to the Orphan Drug Act. Whereas one could argue that antibiotics are of limited use in agriculture, fungicides are considered vital, necessary, and highly profitable for worldwide plant pathogen control. Data acquisition, usage, and interpretation for managing antimicrobial resistance in plant agriculture and human medicine should be coordinated. Federal and international organizations should do so as well. Such cooperation is essential to minimize and cope with microbial resistance in both plant and human pathogens.
Creating an Online Professional Writing Course for Mid- to Late-Career Nurses

This paper details the results of a project to develop an online professional writing course for mid- to late-career nurses enrolled in an online bachelor's degree completion program. Course design took into account principles of adult learning theories and attempted to provide an online learning experience that promoted self-reflection as well as connections between course material/assignments and students' prior experience. Additionally, students were provided with targeted discussion prompts to assist in drawing connections between course material and workplace practice. Although students expressed initial concerns over the online learning environment, they eventually evaluated the course as a positive experience, as well as reporting direct connections between course material and its influence on their workplace practice.
The Economics of Mandating Benefits for H-2B Workers: Written Testimony Submitted to the United States House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy

This paper contains the written testimony of Patrick A. McLaughlin submitted in conjunction with oral testimony given before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on April 23, 2009. Dr. McLaughlin stated that mandating benefits for H-2B guest workers, while well-intended, may have unintended consequences. If the goal of policymakers is to help H-2B workers avoid exploitation, then they should explore the option of adopting a "free agent" model for H-2B workers - that is, allow H-2B workers to change employers. A mandate that employers pay benefits for employees would mean that each employee becomes more expensive to employ, which may lead employers to find substitutes or to simply cut back on operations. In effect, mandating benefits for H-2B workers would lead to decreased demand for their services and increased demand for the services of substitutes. As a group, H-2B workers may not be better off because there would be less H-2B workers employed. Also, those H-2B workers who manage to get jobs with mandated benefits may be better off only if their employers do not pass the costs of the mandated benefits along to the workers in the form of lower wages. Most importantly, mandating benefits does not necessarily fix the fundamental problem, which is that an employee still cannot quit his job and find a new one if the employee dislikes the working conditions or if the employer violates the terms of the contract.Adopting a "free agent" model, on the other hand, directly addresses this problem while avoiding some of the unintended consequences. If H-2B workers are free to switch employers, then employers would have incentive not only to honor the terms of contracts but also to offer better wages and benefits in order to attract the best workers. This would empower H-2B workers with the freedom to move to the job where they are most valuable to the economy and also where they are best paid.
Threading and Near-Surface Dislocations in InGaSb/AlSb Films with Blocking and Anti-Blocking Layers

In order to mitigate the formation of threading dislocations in an In0.1Ga0.9Sb heteroepitaxial buffer layer grown on a (001) GaSb substrate, an AlSb blocking layer was grown within the buffer layer. Transmission electron microscopy measurements revealed that the film with the AlSb blocking layer had a significantly lower threading dislocation density than a buffer layer of equivalent thickness in the absence of the blocking layer. Because the AlSb blocking layer is of greater mechanical stiffness than the In0.1Ga0.9Sb buffer layer, attractive image forces that act to draw dislocations to the film surface are countered by repulsive image forces traceable to the In0.1Ga0.9Sb/AlSb interface. These experimental results are consistent with calculations based on anisotropic elasticity theory for repulsive image forces acting on a dislocation beneath the blocking layer.
Normal vitamin E status in sickle hemoglobinopathies in Colorado

Because previous studies of serum or plasma vitamin E (E) levels reported a high prevalence of E deficiency in patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA), we studied the E status in 101 patients with SCA in Colorado using both levels of serum E and ratios of serum E to total lipid (E:L). Compared with age-, sex-, and race-matched controls, 1 of 70 patients with homozygous SCA (SS), 1 of 7 with sickle beta+-thalassemia, and 0 of 24 with hemoglobin SC disease had E deficiency according to E:L and all were E-sufficient based on serum E levels. Serum cholesterol levels, lower in SS patients than in control subjects, correlated more strongly with serum E levels than did total serum lipid levels in control subjects and SS patients; hence, the ratio of serum E to cholesterol may be a useful indicator of E status in these patients. We conclude that vitamin E deficiency rarely occurs in SCA patients in Colorado.
Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia in Patients with Ischemic Cardiomyopathy

Ventricular tachycardias (VTs) occurring after prior myocardial infarction are usually caused by reentrant circuits formed by surviving myocardial bundles. Although part of the reentrant circuits may be located in the midmyocardium or epicardium, most of the VTs can be safely and successfully ablated by endocardial ablation targeting the late potentials/local abnormal ventricular activation, which are surrogates for the surviving myocardial bundles. A combination of activation, substrate, pace, and entrainment mapping, as well as the use of contact force catheters, further improves ablation success and safety.
Shell rendering

A structure model for volume rendering, called a shell, is introduced. Roughly, a shell consists of a set of voxels in the vicinity of the structure boundary together with a number of attributes associated with the voxels in this set. By carefully choosing the attributes and storing the shell in a special data structure that allows random access to the voxels and their attributes, storage and computational requirements can be reduced drastically. Only the voxels that potentially contribute to the rendition actually enter into major computation. Instead of the commonly used ray-casting paradigm, voxel projection is used. This eliminates the need for render-time interpolation and further enhances the speed. By having one of the attributes as a boundary likelihood function that determines the most likely location of voxels in the shell to be on the structure boundary, surface-based measurements can be made. The shell concept, the data structure, the rendering and measurement algorithms, and examples drawn from medical imaging that illustrate these concepts are described. >
Simulated Population Models to Appraise the Potential for Suppressing Sugarcane Borer Populations by Strategic Releases of the Parasite Lixophaga diatraeae

Hypothetical natural host population models were employed to calculate the impact of releasing parasites of Lixophaga diatraeae (Townsend) to control Diatraea saccharalis (F.). The population models indicate that release of 1000 parasites per acre in Host Generation 2 would cause a subsequent accumulative suppression of the order of 97% by the 4th or last host generation. The principles governing effectiveness of strategic releases of parasites in relation to the host density as a method of suppressing sugarcane borer populations are discussed. The feasibility of suppressing and possibly cradicating the sugarcane borer by developing an integrated parasite-sterile insect release program is considered.
Clay Surface Imaging - Atomic Force Microscope and Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope

Clays and their composites have been widely used in the past for secondary containment walls for underground storage tanks and landfills. These tanks are used commonly to store gasoline and other organic chemicals, both for industry and the commercial market. These materials also called liners are an inexpensive method of preventing seepage of chemicals into the groundwater. The behavior of clay liners for underground storage tanks or landfills is examined here on a microscopic level. Images from an Environmental Scanning Electron Microscope are presented with ramifications for clay modification to reduce seepage of chemicals through the clay liner.
Impact of Full Duplex Scheduling on End-to-End Throughput in Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

There have been some rapid advances on the design of full duplex (FD) transceivers in recent years. Although the benefits of FD have been studied for single-hop wireless communications, its potential on throughput performance in a multi-hop wireless network remains unclear. As for multi-hop networks, a fundamental problem is to compute the achievable end-to-end throughput for one or multiple communication sessions. The goal of this paper is to offer some fundamental understanding on end-to-end throughput performance limits of FD in a multi-hop wireless network. We show that through a rigorous mathematical formulation, we can cast the multi-hop throughput performance problem into a formal optimization problem. Through numerical results, we show that in many cases, the end-to-end session throughput in a FD network can exceed $2 \times$ of that in a half duplex (HD) network. Our finding can be explained by the much larger design space for scheduling that is offered by removing HD constraints in throughput maximization problem. The results in this paper offer some new understandings on the potential benefits of FD for end-to-end session throughput in a multi-hop wireless network.
Acoustic Counting of Adult Insects with Differing Rates and Intensities of Sound Production in Stored Wheat

Automated acoustic detection systems count the insects in a grain sample by analyzing the spatial and temporal distribution of sounds. The acoustic location fixing insect detector is an automated system developed originally to quantify hidden larval infestations in 1-kg samples of wheat. The detector analyzes input from an array of sensors embedded in the sample container walls. It identifies (scores) a specific pattern of input as an insect if the spatial and temporal distribution matches the criteria based on a calibration with 4 th-instar rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae (L). However, expanded testing has revealed considerable differences in the spatial and temporal distributions of sounds made by insects of different species and sizes. These differences were examined in a series of tests with insects that range an order of magnitude above and below the 1.5-mg weight of the S. oryzae larvae. A particular focus was the detection order of the first 2 sensors registering each sound. Multiple sounds from an insect ten to cluster together into a small number of contiguous Ist:2nd sensor detection pairs, but the pattern for background noises is random. It was determined that the cluster size, the number of contiguous Ist:2nd detection pairs, was proportional to insect weight. The rate of sound detection was inversely proportional to weight. Thus, to reliably count insects with widely varying sound production patterns, the sound pattern identification algorithm needs to self correct, depending on the input received from the grain sample. Adults or larvae generating large numbers of loud sounds, typically weighing> 1 mg, can be scored in a few seconds, but those generating small numbers of weak sounds, typically 10 min. The possibility of using differences in cluster size to distinguish among species is also discussed.
Nonlinear Compact Finite-Difference Schemes with Semi-Implicit Time Stepping

Atmospheric flows are characterized by a large range of length scales as well as strong gradients. The accurate simulation of such flows requires numerical algorithms with high spectral resolution, as well as the ability to provide nonoscillatory solutions across regions of high gradients. These flows exhibit a large range of time scales as well—the slowest waves propagate at the flow velocity and the fastest waves propagate at the speed of sound. Time integration with explicit methods are thus inefficient, although algorithms with semi-implicit time integration have been used successfully in past studies. We propose a finite-difference method for atmospheric flows that uses a weighted compact scheme for spatial discretization and implicit-explicit additive Runge-Kutta methods for time integration. We present results for a benchmark atmospheric flow problem and compare our results with existing ones in the literature.
A crystal plasticity model based on transition state theory

Abstract A crystal plasticity model is developed whereby explicit connections with transition state theory and with the statistics of dislocation arrangements are simultaneously enforced. Leveraging theoretical work on diffraction line profile analysis, the model predicts the distribution of internal stress (or lattice strain) resulting from that of dislocations arrangements. In turn the internal stress distribution is used to predict the activation rate of dislocation unpinning while providing an explicit connection with experimental diffraction line broadening profiles. The newly developed model is implemented into an elastic viscoplastic self-consistent (EVPSC) framework and applied to the case of stainless steel. To clearly demonstrate the additional predictive capabilities of the model, the latter is used to predict the rate sensitivity, stress and strain relaxation, Bauschinger effect, temperature effects, and evolution of the mean and the standard deviation of the lattice strains. It is found that a single set of parameters provides good agreement between the predictions and the corresponding experiments.
Gonadal differentiation: a review of the physiological process and influencing factors based on recent experimental evidence.

The sexual differentiation of a gonad is determined in normal embryology by the presence or absence of the TDF gene, a short segment of DNA localized near the tip of the short arm of the Y chromosome. Under the stimulus of this gene, the somatic cells of the genital ridge differentiate into Sertoli cells and secrete anti-mullerian hormone. This hormone inhibits the germ cells from entering meiosis and may well also trigger the formation of the primary sex cords. Once the Sertoli cells are formed, further differentiation of the gonad is independent of the TDF presence, although this gene may further contribute to the normal functioning of the male gonad. In true hermaphroditism the normal regulation of the gonadal differentiation is missing. Gonadal differentiation may revert to a more primitive evolutionary level at which the rate of growth of the gonad determines its sexual direction. When this exceeds a certain threshold a testis may develop despite the absence of the TDF gene.
Modelling the Evolution of Mutualistic Symbioses

Mutualistic microbial symbioses are one of the key innovations in the evolution of biological diversity, enabling the expansion of species' niches and the production of sophisticated structures such as the eukaryotic cell. For some of the best-studied cases, we are beginning to have network models of symbiotic metabolism, but this work is in its infancy and has not been developed with an evolutionary perspective. However, theoreticians have long been interested in how these symbioses arise and persist and have applied modelling approaches from economics, evolution, ecology, and sociobology to a number of fundamental questions. We provide an overview of these questions, followed by specific modelling examples. We cover economic game theory, including the Prisoner's Dilemma, the Snowdrift game, and biological markets. We also describe the eco-evolutionary framework of adaptive dynamics, inclusive fitness, and population genetic models. We aim to provide insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and into how current evolutionary methods can benefit an understanding of the mechanistic basis of host-symbiont interactions elucidated by molecular network models.
Single-crystal 55Mn NMR spectra of two Mn12 single-molecule magnets.

The initial application is reported of single-crystal 55Mn NMR spectroscopy, and associated orientation dependence studies, to single-molecule magnets (SMMs). The studies were performed on two members of the Mn12 family of SMMs, [Mn12O12(O2CMe)16(H2O)4]·2MeCO2H·4H2O (Mn12−Ac) and [Mn12O12(O2CCH2Br)16(H2O)4]·4CH2Cl2 (Mn12−BrAc). Single-crystal spectra give a dramatic improvement in the spectral resolution over oriented powder spectra, allowing the clear observation of quadrupolar splittings, the determination of quadrupole coupling parameters (e2qQ), and an assessment of the symmetry-lowering perturbation of the core of Mn12−Ac by hydrogen-bonding interactions with lattice solvate molecules of crystallization. The results emphasize the utility of single-crystal NMR studies to probe the cores of these magnetic molecules.
Breaking down barriers: Review of an Inside/Out prison exchange program in a jail setting, Part 1

The traditional criminal justice curriculum typically covers the three c’s – cops, courts, and corrections. In addition, students can usually choose from a variety of discipline-related special topics courses to satisfy the requirements of their major or minor in criminal justice. However, what is missing from most curricula for future criminal justice professionals is face-to-face interaction with the very individuals they will spend a good part of their careers with – those who have been accused of or sentenced for law-breaking behaviors. The current paper describes the planning and implementation of an Inside Out Prison Exchange Course in a jail setting and offers an analysis of students’ course evaluation to discuss the benefits of this educational experience. The results are intended to highlight the importance and benefit of non-traditional educational experiences for better criminal justice professionals and creating opportunities for viable reentry.
Asymmetric Induction in Hydroacylation by Cooperative Iminium Ion–Transition-Metal Catalysis

A new strategy for the rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective hydroacylation is described. This has been achieved through the merger of iminium ion catalysis and transition-metal catalysis such that asymmetric induction derives from a readily accessible, inexpensive chiral nonracemic secondary amine catalyst rather than a chiral nonracemic phosphine as is typical of conventional asymmetric hydroacylation methods.
Scale Interactions and Non-Local Flux in Hydrodynamic Turbulence

Direct numerical simulations of hydrodynamical turbulence are performed in the presence of a large-scale forcing up to Taylor-based Reynolds numbers of 800 for a Taylor-Green flow and 1000 for ABC forcing. Statistics on the triadic interactions responsible for the transfer of energy, and on their integrated counterparts are obtained from simulations with a turbulent steady state integrated for more than ten eddy turn-over times. The maximum resolution of the runs performed on regular grids are 10243 points. It is shown that the energy transfer is local but at the highest resolution as much as 20% of it comes from non-local interactions involving widely separated scales, with a particular emphasis on the forcing scale k0/-1. The scaling of the ratio of nonlocal to local energy flux with Reynolds number is found to be a power law.
Computing Team Process Measures From the Structure and Content of Broadcast Collaborative Communications

Existing approaches to compute team process measures are primarily based on survey ratings, semantic classification of communications, and social network analyses. Although existing approaches reveal important information about team performance, they face specific limitations. Survey methodologies are in general unreliable, biased, and not dynamic; communication classifications are often a-theoretical; and social network analytics ignore the meanings of messages. Accordingly, we develop a better-defined formal empirical approach for computing team process measures. Our contribution builds on existing work in semantic classification of messages in broadcast communications and proposes a general set of meanings of messages for team processes. Using the meanings of messages, we propose formal approaches to compute team process measures. We evaluate these measures using a military data set and find the following. First, our text mining approach to infer meanings of messages significantly improves over the bag of words approach and yields macroaverage and microaverage F-measures of 70% and 80%, respectively. Second, compared with baseline measures such as degree centrality, cognitive processes remain significantly stable with time, whereas measures such as affective process significantly increase with time.
Uniform, high modulation bandwidth VCSEL arrays

We show improved performance from high-speed 1×2 phased, photonic crystal VCSEL arrays. A modulation bandwidth of 37 GHz is obtained under highly single mode coherently coupled operation in the in-phase coupled mode. Modulation bandwidth > 30 GHz are found for all photonic crystal designs on the sample.