cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Evidence of single dose opioid dependence in 12- to 14-day-old chicken embryos.

Abstract We have previously reported that chicken embryos injected with a single dose of methadone (Meth) on day 3, 7 or 11 of embryogenesis fail to show dependence on day 14, measured as a significant overshoot in motility above baseline after challenge with the opioid antagonist naloxone (Nx). Constant infusion of Meth from day 7 to 14 also failed to produce evidence of dependence on day 14. To address the question of whether the 14-day-old embryo is capable of expressing withdrawal, isobutylmethylxanthine (IBMX), a compound that produces quasiopioid withdrawal, was injected directly into the embryo, resulting in a significant increase in motility. To determine whether the 14-day-old embryo could also express true opioid withdrawal, the embryos were injected with various doses of Meth or morphine (Morph), followed at different time intervals by injections of varying doses of Nx. A high dose of Morph followed 24 hours later by a low dose of Nx produced evidence of withdrawal, as did a low dose of Meth followed 1 hour later by a higher dose of Nx. U50488H, a selective kappa agonist, had no effect on motility in the 14-day-old embryo, suggesting that the decrease in motility seen after Meth was not mediated by a kappa receptor. Pretreatment with the irreversible mu antagonist, beta-funaltrexamine (B-FNA), blocked the decrease in motility seen after Meth and also prevented the overshoot in motility when Nx was given 1 hour post-Meth. We were also able to demonstrate dependence/withdrawal in the 12-day-old embryo, but higher doses of both Meth and Nx were required. Pretreatment with Morph on day 9 led to decreased motility on day 10, but apparently failed to induce dependence as a broad range of doses of Nx did not increase motility above baseline. IBMX also failed to increase motility on day 10, leading us to conclude that there may be a sensitive period during embryogenesis before which this sign of opioid withdrawal cannot be expressed. Because opioid receptors are present and functional even prior to this stage of development, the failure to induce a behavioral sign of withdrawal or quasi-opioid withdrawal on day 10 suggests that opioid detoxification without threat of withdrawal-induced morbidity or mortality may be attainable at early stages of development.
Organizational Life Cycle: A Five Stage Empirical Scale

Adapting a concept from the biological sciences, organizational researchers have proposed a life cycle of organizational development from birth to death. Several distinct models have been postulated, ranging from three to ten stages. This paper proposes a five‐stage model and tests it empirically to assess the specific stage of the life cycle of any organization. Results of a twenty‐item scale that captures managers' perceptions of their firms' position in the life cycle are discussed. Knowledge of an organization's present position or stage of development can aid top managers in understanding the relationships between organizational life cycle, competitive strategy, and performance.
Experimental Evaluation of the Value Added by Raising a Reader and Supplemental Parent Training in Shared Reading

Research Findings: In an effort toward developing a comprehensive, effective, scalable, and sustainable early childhood education program for at-risk populations, we conducted an experimental evaluation of the value added by 2 family involvement programs to the Texas Early Education Model (TEEM). A total of 91 preschool classrooms that served minority populations of low socioeconomic status were randomly assigned to TEEM, TEEM plus Raising a Reader (RAR), or TEEM plus RAR augmented by Family Nights. Assessments of oral language and print knowledge were completed by more than 500 children at the beginning and end of the school year. Multilevel analyses of covariance controlled for classroom nesting and individual differences in age, ethnicity, and pretest scores. Although RAR alone demonstrated no added value, augmentation of RAR with Family Nights demonstrated significant impacts on measures of oral language (ts = 1.81–2.51, .05 < ps < .01) and print knowledge (t = 2.39, p < .01). Practice or Policy: Thus...
The effect of fluorides on dental caries in rats after sialoadenectomy.

Abstract One hundred twenty-five rats of a caries-susceptible strain were used to study the mechanism by which a posteruptive influence of fluoride administration upon dental caries incidence is mediated. Intact and sialoadenectomized rats had similar reductions in dental caries incidence when the drinking water contained 15 ppm of fluoride. A still greater dental caries reduction in sialoadenectomized rats was observed when 30 ppm of fluoride was ingested in the drinking water. Comparable reductions in dental caries incidence were not observed when the same amounts of fluoride were injected subcutaneously. This posteruptive fluoride influence appears to result from a contact of the fluoride solution with the external surfaces of the teeth.
Internal carbon dioxide and ethylene levels in ripening tomato fruit attached to or detached from the plant

The carbon dioxide and ethylene concentrations in tomato fruit (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. Castelmart) and their stage of ripeness (characteristic external color changes) were periodically measured in fruit attached to and detached from the plant. An external collection apparatus was attached to the surface of individual tomato fruit to permit non-destructive sampling of internal gases. The concentration of carbon dioxide and ethylene in the collection apparatus reached 95% of the concentration in the fruit after 8 h. Gas samples were collected every 24 h. A characteristic climacteric surge in carbon dioxide (2-fold) and ethylene (10-fold) concentration occurred coincident with ripening of detached tomato fruit. Fruit attached to the plant exhibited a climacteric rise in ethylene (20-fold) concentration during ripening, but only a linear increase in carbon dioxide concentration. The carbon dioxide concentration increases in attached fruit during ripening, but the increase is a continuation of the linear increase seen in both attached and detached fruit before ripening and does not exhibit the characteristic pattern normally associated with ripening climacteric fruit. In tomato fruit, it appears that a respiratory climacteric per se, which has been considered intrinsic to the ripening of certain fruit, may not be necessary for the ripening of “climacteric” fruit at all, but instead may be an artifact of using harvested fruit.
Low-level phosphorus analysis in the presence of silicate

Concerns over anthropogenic contributions to phosphate in the environment have led to a demand for the development of new and more sensitive methods of phosphate detection. We have recently succeeded in reconfiguring a standard Alpkem Flow Solution IV system to analyze low-level (less than 10 ug L−1) phosphate samples using a modified version of EPA Method 365.1. By using a higher reaction temperature, longer instrument residence time and modified color-development reagents, instrument responses can be increased significantly allowing for reliable detection of extremely low levels of phosphate. However, many “real-world” environmental samples also contain appreciable amounts of silicate, which is chemically analogous to ortho-phosphate and also forms a blue molybdate complex. Under the conditions described above, even low levels of silicate cause positive interferences during ortho-phosphate analyses. It is, therefore, important that a careful evaluation of sample matrix and instrument parameters be made ...
Resistance in Nonfermenting Gram-Negative Bacteria: Multidrug Resistance to the Maximum

Nonfermenting gram-negative bacteria pose a particular difficulty for the healthcare community because they represent the problem of multidrug resistance to the maximum. Important members of the group in the United States include Pseudomonas aeruginosa , Acinetobacter baumannii , Stenotrophomonas maltophilia , and Burkholderia cepacia . These organisms are niche pathogens that primarily cause opportunistic healthcare-associated infections in patients who are critically ill or immunocompromised. Multidrug resistance is common and increasing among gram-negative nonfermenters, and a number of strains have now been identified that exhibit resistance to essentially all commonly used antibiotics, including antipseudomonal penicillins and cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, and carbapenems. Polymyxins are the remaining antibiotic drug class with fairly consistent activity against multidrug-resistant strains of P aeruginosa, Acinetobacter spp, and S maltophilia . However, most multidrug-resistant B cepacia are not susceptible to polymyxins, and systemic polymyxins carry the risk of nephrotoxicity for all patients treated with these agents, the elderly in particular. A variety of resistance mechanisms have been identified in P aeruginosa and other gram-negative nonfermenters, including enzyme production, overexpression of efflux pumps, porin deficiencies, and target-site alterations. Multiple resistance genes frequently coexist in the same organism. Multidrug resistance in gram-negative nonfermenters makes treatment of infections caused by these pathogens both difficult and expensive. Improved methods for susceptibility testing are needed when dealing with these organisms, including emerging strains expressing metallo-β-lactamases. Improved antibiotic stewardship and infection-control measures will be needed to prevent or slow the emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant, nonfermenting gram-negative bacilli in the healthcare setting.
Chaperonins Facilitate KNOTTED1 Cell-to-Cell Trafficking and Stem Cell Function

Cell-to-cell communication in plants includes the selective trafficking of transcription factors and other signals through plasmodesmata. The KNOTTED1 (KN1) homeobox (KNOX) family transcription factors, which use this pathway, are essential for stem cell establishment and/or maintenance. Here we show that KN1 trafficking requires the chaperonin complex, which belongs to a group of cytosolic chaperones that fold specific substrate proteins. Genetic and physical interaction data show a functional relevance for chaperonins in KNOX family-dependent stem cell maintenance. Furthermore, tissue-specific complementation assays indicate a mechanistic basis for chaperonin function during the posttranslocational refolding process. Our study shows that chaperonins are essential for the cell-to-cell trafficking of a subset of mobile transcription factors and demonstrates the importance of chaperonin-dependent protein trafficking for plant stem cell function.
Adult Mediterranean Flour Moth: Effects of Temperature on Sperm Production and Periodicity of Testis and Vas Deferens Activity

At constant temperatures of 17/sup 0/, 22/sup 0/, 27/sup 0/, and 32/sup 0/C, adult Mediterranean flour moths, Anagasta kuehniella (Zeller), released 3.1, 13.3, 22.6, and 12.7 bundles of eupyrene sperm/day from their testes, respectively. Several-fold more apyrene than eupyrene bundles were produced each day. From hourly samplings, sperm started out of the testes of moths held at the 3 highest temperatures at the beginning of the 8th-10th h after the start of the 12-h photophase. Sperm release from moths held at 17/sup 0/C was usually not detectable until the beginning of the 12th h of the photophase. At both 27/sup 0/C and 32/sup 0/C, most sperm passed from the upper vasa deferentia during the 8th-10th h of the scotophase. At lower temperatures, sperm remained in the upper vasa deferentia for increasing periods, and at 17/sup 0/C the upper vasa deferentia were devoid of sperm for only a few hours. When moths were exposed to alternating temperature cycles (12 h at 11/sup 0/ and 12 h at 27/sup 0/C), the quantity of sperm produced was the same whether the low temperature occurred during the photophase or the scotophase. When moths were exposed to a warm 12-h day, sperm usually started outmore » of the testes during the 7th h of the photophase; when they were exposed to a cold 12-h day, release usually started during the 3rd h of the scotophase. These patterns were shown to represent entrainment when moths of the 2 groups were transferred to continuous darkness at 27/sup 0/C. Isolated abdomens showed the same pattern of entrainment as intact moths.« less
Calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate capacities of cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum.

Abstract Both oxalate-supported and phosphate-supported calcium uptake by canine cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum initially increase linearly with time but fall to a steady-state level within 20 min. The departure from linearity could be due to a decrease in influx or to an increase in efflux of calcium. Because Ca2+-ATPase activity is linear, a decrease in the influx of calcium is an unlikely cause of the non-linear calcium uptake curves. A possible cause of an increase in calcium efflux is rupture of the vesicles. This hypothesis was tested by investigating the amount of calcium which could be released upon addition of 5 mM EGTA. The amount of rapidly releasable calcium was zero until a threshold calcium uptake of about 4–6 μmol calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate per mg was reached. After that point the rapidly releasable calcium continued to increase with calcium oxalate to reach more than 23 μmol/mg, but stayed constant at about 0.7 μmol/mg for calcium phosphate. The rapidly releasable calcium was attributed to calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate crystals externalized by vesicle rupture. The differences in the amounts of rapidly releasable calcium were attributed to different kinetics of calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate dissolution. Addition of ryanodine caused a marked increase in the threshold for rapidly releasable calcium oxalate. Transmission electron micrographs showed that vesicles can become filled with calcium oxalate crystals, but the vesicles were heterogeneous with respect to their size and their sensitivity to ryanodine. These observations support the hypothesis that calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate capacities are limited by vesicle rupture and that ryanodine increases the capacity by closing a calcium channel in a subpopulation of vesicles that otherwise would not accumulate calcium.
Frame Rate Fusion and Upsampling of EO/LIDAR Data for Multiple Platforms

We propose a method for fusing a LIDAR point cloud to camera data in real time, which will also backfill the myriad of data holes LIDAR creates. This is done in a way that also leverages the images features to weight how point clouds are filled. Multithreaded programing and GP-GPU methods allow us to obtain 10 fps with a Velodyne 64E LIDAR completely fused in 360? using a Ladybug panoramic camera. The method also generalizes to other kinds of point clouds such as those obtained by aerial vehicles. The primary advantage of our approach is it combines 360? fusion with upsampling in real time without mode smoothing.
Tachistoscopic word recognition performance under conditions of simultaneous bilateral presentation

Abstract Four experiments involving the bilateral tachistoscopic presentation of word pairs are reported. This paradigm was found to generate a right hemi-field recognition advantage across manipulations of word orientation, exposure duration, and fixation control. In two of the experiments this recognition asymmetry was maintained in spite of a significant tendency to initiate the verbal report with any available left hemi-field content. In three of the experiments the strength of the left to right order of report tendency was negatively correlated with the magnitude of the right visual field recognition advantage. A hypothesis to account for the more common finding of left hemi-field recognition superiority with bilateral displays is offered.
High resolution dry etching of III–V semiconductor materials using magnetically enhanced discharges

Abstract Anisotropic pattern transfer during device processing requires the use of low pressure dry etching techniques. Conventional methods such as reactive ion etching suffer from unacceptably low etch rates and excessive ion bombardment energies under these conditions. Magnetic confinement of the discharge produces greater dissociation efficiencies and lower ion energies (magnetron systems) and at particular B fields one can transfer energy resonantly into the electron distribution from an applied time-varying electric field (electron cyclotron resonance systems). Combined with the correct plasma chemistry and substrate temperature conditions, smooth, low-damage pattern transfer for III–V laser, bipolar transistor and other device fabrication processes is achieved. We review the use of different high density sources and etching characteristics of III–V semiconductors between −30 and 150°C.
Concussion knowledge in high school football players

Context: Participating in sports while experiencing symptoms of a concussion can be dangerous. An athlete's lack of knowledge may be one factor influencing his or her decision to report symptoms. I...
Voice Disorders in the General Population: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Occupational Impact

Objectives: Epidemiologic studies of the prevalence and risk factors of voice disorders in the general adult population are rare. The purpose of this investigation was to 1) determine the prevalence of voice disorders, 2) identify variables associated with increased risk of voice disorders, and 3) establish the functional impact of voice disorders on the general population. Study Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey. Methods: A random sample (n = 1,326) of adults in Iowa and Utah was interviewed using a questionnaire that addressed three areas related to voice disorders: prevalence, potential risk factors, and occupational consequences/effects. Results: The lifetime prevalence of a voice disorder was 29.9%, with 6.6% of participants reporting a current voice disorder. Stepwise logistic regression identified specific factors that uniquely contributed to increased odds of reporting a chronic voice disorder including sex (women), age (40–59 years), voice use patterns and demands, esophageal reflux, chemical exposures, and frequent cold/sinus infections. However, tobacco or alcohol use did not independently increase the odds of reporting of a chronic voice disorder. Voice disorders adversely impacted job performance and attendance, with 4.3% of participants indicating that their voice had limited or rendered them unable to do certain tasks in their current job. Furthermore, 7.2% of employed respondents reported that they were absent from work 1 or more days in the past year because of their voice, and 2% reported more than 4 days of voice-related absence. Conclusions: The results of this large epidemiologic study provide valuable information regarding the prevalence of voice disorders, factors that contribute to voice disorder vulnerability, and the functional impact of voice problems on the general population.
poc1: An Arabidopsis mutant perturbed in phytochrome signaling because of a T DNA insertion in the promoter of PIF3, a gene encoding a phytochrome-interacting bHLH protein

The phytochrome family of informational photoreceptors has a central role in regulating light-responsive gene expression, but the mechanism of intracellular signal transduction has remained elusive. In a genetic screen for T DNA-tagged Arabidopsis mutants affected in early signaling intermediates, we identified poc1 (photocurrent 1), which exhibits enhanced responsiveness to red light. This phenotype is absent in a phyB (phytochrome B) null mutant background, indicating that the poc1 mutation enhances phyB signal transduction. The T DNA insertion in poc1 was found to be located in the promoter region of PIF3, a gene encoding a basic helix–loop–helix protein. The mutant phenotype seems to result from insertion-induced overexpression of this gene in red-light-grown seedlings, consistent with PIF3 functioning as a positively acting signaling intermediate. These findings, combined with data from a separate yeast two-hybrid screen that identified PIF3 as a phytochrome-interacting factor necessary for normal signaling, provide evidence that phytochrome signal transduction may include a direct pathway to photoresponsive nuclear genes via physical interaction of the photoreceptor molecules with the potential transcriptional regulator PIF3.
Alcohol and Drug Abuse in Men Who Sustain Intimate Partner Violence

Extensive work has documented an association between sustaining intimate partner violence (IPV) and alcohol/drug abuse among women, yet little research has documented the same association in men, even though men comprise 25-50% of all IPV victims in a given year. This study investigates the associations among sustaining IPV and alcohol/drug abuse among both a clinical and community sample of men. The clinical sample is comprised of 302 men who sustained intimate terrorism-a form of IPV that is characterized by much violence and controlling behavior-from their female partners and sought help. The community sample is composed of 520 men, 16% of whom sustained common couple violence, a lower level of more minor reciprocal IPV. Analyses showed that among both groups of men who sustained IPV, the prevalence and frequency of alcohol/drug abuse was significantly higher than in men who did not sustain IPV. However, a dose-response relationship between sustaining IPV and alcohol/drug abuse was found only among men in the community sample. Path modeling showed that, for the community sample, the best fitting models were ones that showed that the alcohol/drug abuse predicted IPV victimization, an association that was fully mediated by their use of IPV.
On indexing error-tolerant set containment

Prior work has identified set based comparisons as a useful primitive for supporting a wide variety of similarity functions in record matching. Accordingly, various techniques have been proposed to improve the performance of set similarity lookups. However, this body of work focuses almost exclusively on symmetric notions of set similarity. In this paper, we study the indexing problem for the asymmetric Jaccard containment similarity function that is an error-tolerant variation of set containment. We enhance this similarity function to also account for string transformations that reflect synonyms such as "Bob" and "Robert" referring to the same first name. We propose an index structure that builds inverted lists on carefully chosen token-sets and a lookup algorithm using our index that is sensitive to the output size of the query. Our experiments over real life data sets show the benefits of our techniques. To our knowledge, this is the first paper that studies the indexing problem for Jaccard containment in the presence of string transformations.
Introducing the state space bounded derivative network for commercial transition control

The state space bounded derivative network (SSBDN) represents a significant evolution in universal approximating (UA) technology that has important implications for the future automation of polymer grade transitions. Until now, existing UA technologies such as neural networks have had rudimentary architectural deficiencies that result in highly inaccurate and unusable process gain predictions over dynamic transitions (Turner 2002). In such circumstances, the neural element is switched off and laboratory feedback is used to derive the process to its final setpoint. This considerable inefficiency (adding many hours to transition times) has been addressed and solved by the SSBDN technology which provides a powerful, universal approximating technology that can accurately and robustly predict process gains and dynamics over grade transitions resulting in truly predictive models that drive the process to setpoint by anticipating rather than reacting to laboratory feedback. In addition to this, because of its intrinsically safe architecture, the SSBDN can be placed within the kernel of the steady state and dynamic optimisation. This results in a full nonlinear optimisation at each control cycle. This paper will introduce this exciting new technology and present details of its successful implementation on a commercial polyethylene facility which resulted in record breaking transition times.
Dust supply varies with sagebrush microsites and time since burning in experimental erosion events

[1] Wind erosion and large dust plumes are an increasingly important attribute in cold-desert rangelands, particularly as wildfire increases. Fire reduces vegetation, which increases erosivity. Whether sediment supply increases after fire has not been determined in this environment. We asked how sediment supply varied among sites burned 2-months to 5-years previously, in comparison to unburned sagebrush steppe, across 500 km of southern Idaho, USA. We measured potential dust emissions (PM10, particles <10μm diameter) in response to step changes in friction velocity (u*), with a field-based wind tunnel analog (PI-SWERL, Portable In Situ Wind Erosion Laboratory). We evaluated how emissions, sediment supply, and a proxy of erodibility varied among the microsite soil patterning in these sites (shrub islands and interspaces). Emissions were three orders of magnitude greater on burned compared to unburned surfaces, especially where shrubs had existed and sites burned more recently. Greater emission rates were due to greater sediment supply, whereas the proxy of erodibility did not vary among the surfaces for dry conditions that prevail during large wind erosion events (near −150 MPa at the surface). Wetter surface conditions, similar to those after precipitation or snowmelt, resulted in less dust emission on a recently burned site. Dust supply increases in initial postfire years especially on microsites that previously had shrubs. Abundance of shrubs is responsive to management practices that affect prefire vegetation, and grazing-induced increases in shrubs might, for example, render a site more vulnerable to dust emissions following fire.
Piecewise approximate circuit simulation

Conventional circuit simulation methods are inflexible and slow, especially for large circuits. Piecewise approximate circuit simulation, an alternative that can be more efficient and allows variable accuracy in the simulation process, is discussed. Thus, the tradeoff between accuracy and CPU time is in the hands of the user. SPECS (simulation program for electronic circuits and systems) is the prototype implementation of a piecewise approximate, tree/link based, event driven, variable accuracy circuit simulation algorithm that uses table models for device evaluation. The models can be built at various levels of accuracy, and concomitant levels of precision are reflected in the simulation results. SPECS has been benchmarked on some large, industrial circuits and has proven to be an efficient and reliable simulator. However, it suffers a penalty in run time while simulating stiff circuits, or circuits with a wide range of time constants. The authors present enhanced algorithms used in SPECS to ensure efficient steady-state computation for stiff circuits. >
Effects of fluid media on ultra-thin SOI based pH sensors

For over 30 years, field effect transistors (FETs) have been used as ion sensors [1]. Recently, functionalized silicon nanowires have been used to detect a variety of species including proteins and single viruses [2]. In addition to the specific design of the device, careful consideration must be given to the properties of the liquid media and its interaction and coupling effects with the FET. This is paramount to the resolution of the “true” sensing signal from that of other factors, and is important not only for pH sensors, but also for bio-sensors. Some of these effects, such as screening due to salt concentrations, changes in sensitivity of devices to dielectric constants [3] and signal to noise ratios [4] have been considered. In this work, we explore other important factors including ionic response to applied voltages, salt contamination of oxides, bias dependence of signal drift and hysteresis in the presence of fluid.
The "Production" of Child Care: How Labor Markets Shape Social Policy and Vice Versa

This article examines child care policies in three countries-France, Sweden, and the United States-to explore the links between labor markets and social policy and to probe the applicability of the “varieties of capitalism” literature to the human services. Countries differ in the extent to which they subsidize early childhood care and education programs, reflecting, in part, the nature of the child care workforce. In liberal market economies such as the United States, a low-skill, low-wage workforce has enabled a private market of child care to develop, letting federal and state governments off the hook from having to subsidize these programs. In the more coordinated market economies of Western Europe, by contrast, higher labor market regulations, wages, and rates of unionization raise the cost of labor and impede the growth of a private child care market. As a result, governments aiming to promote women’s employment or assure the education of young children will feel pressed to provide extensive public subsidies for these services. While these differences reflect long-standing variations in labor market skill regimes, strong public sector unions also shape diverging trajectories in the “production” of child care services.
Genome-Wide Analysis of Branched-Chain Amino Acid Levels in Arabidopsis Seeds

Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) are three of the nine essential amino acids in human and animal diets and are important for numerous processes in development and growth. However, seed BCAA levels in major crops are insufficient to meet dietary requirements, making genetic improvement for increased and balanced seed BCAAs an important nutritional target. Addressing this issue requires a better understanding of the genetics underlying seed BCAA content and composition. Here, a genome-wide association study and haplotype analysis for seed BCAA traits in Arabidopsis thaliana revealed a strong association with a chromosomal interval containing two BRANCHED-CHAIN AMINO ACID TRANSFERASES, BCAT1 and BCAT2. Linkage analysis, reverse genetic approaches, and molecular complementation analysis demonstrated that allelic variation at BCAT2 is responsible for the natural variation of seed BCAAs in this interval. Complementation analysis of a bcat2 null mutant with two significantly different alleles from accessions Bayreuth-0 and Shahdara is consistent with BCAT2 contributing to natural variation in BCAA levels, glutamate recycling, and free amino acid homeostasis in seeds in an allele-dependent manner. The seed-specific phenotype of bcat2 null alleles, its strong transcription induction during late seed development, and its subcellular localization to the mitochondria are consistent with a unique, catabolic role for BCAT2 in BCAA metabolism in seeds.
Evaluation of Mobility Impacts of Advanced Information Systems

Advanced technologies under the aegis of advanced traveler information systems and advanced traffic management systems are being employed to address the debilitating traffic congestion problem. Broadly identified under the label intelligent transportation systems (ITS), they focus on enhancing the efficiency of the existing roadway utilization. Though ITS has transitioned from the conceptual framework stage to the operational test phase that analyzes real-world feasibility, studies that systematically quantify the multidimensional real-world impacts of these technologies in terms of mobility, safety, and air quality, are lacking. This paper proposes a simulation-based framework to address the mobility impacts of these technologies through the provision of information to travelers. The information provision technologies are labeled as advanced information systems (AIS), and include pretrip information, en route information, variable message signs, and combinations thereof. The primary focus of the paper is to evaluate alternative AIS technologies using the heavily traveled Borman Expressway corridor in northwestern Indiana as a case study. Simulation results provide insights into the mobility impacts of AIS technologies, and contrast the effectiveness of alternative information provision sources and strategies.
Particle morphology and mineral structure of heavy metal-contaminated kaolin soil before and after electrokinetic remediation.

This study aims to characterize the physical distribution of heavy metals in kaolin soil and the chemical and structural changes in kaolinite minerals that result from electrokinetic remediation. Three bench-scale electrokinetic experiments were conducted on kaolin that was spiked with Cr(VI) alone, Ni (II) alone, and a combination of Cr(VI), Ni(II) and Cd(II) under a constant electric potential of 1 VDC/cm for a total duration of 4 days. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were performed on the soil samples before and after electrokinetic remediation. Results showed that the heavy metal contaminant distribution in the soil samples was not observable using TEM and EDX. EDX detected nickel and chromium on some kaolinite particles and titanium-rich, high-contrast particles, but no separate phases containing the metal contaminants were detected. Small amounts of heavy metal contaminants that were detected by EDX in the absence of a visible phase suggest that ions are adsorbed to kaolinite particle surfaces as a thin coating. There was also no clear correlation between semiquantitative analysis of EDX spectra and measured total metal concentrations, which may be attributed to low heavy metal concentrations and small size of samples used. X-ray diffraction analyses were aimed to detect any structural changes in kaolinite minerals resulting from EK. The diffraction patterns showed a decrease in peak height with decreasing soil pH value, which indicates possible dissolution of kaolinite minerals during electrokinetic remediation. Overall this study showed that the changes in particle morphology were found to be insignificant, but a relationship was found between the crystallinity of kaolin and the pH changes induced by the applied electric potential.
Plasma standard cell for laboratory demonstrations and experiments

The design, construction, and use of an apparatus for undergraduate laboratory experimentation and demonstration in the area of plasma technology and processes are described. Specific experiments being utilized are detailed. Plans for additional equipment features are discussed. >
DNA Sequencing of Cancer: What Have We Learned?

DNA sequencing has taught us much about the structure of cancer genomes and enabled the discovery of novel genes that drive and maintain tumorigenesis. With the advent and application of next-generation massively parallel sequencing technologies, one can rapidly generate and analyze data from the cellular “-omes”: genomes, exomes, and transcriptomes. This review highlights recent genomic discoveries in signal transduction, metabolism, epigenetic modifications, cell cycle and genome maintenance, RNA processing, and transcription. Additionally, genomic sequencing has revealed the complexity of the cancer genome and has enabled the discovery of functional rearrangements with therapeutic and diagnostic potentials.
The economics of optimal health and productivity in the commercial dairy.

Summary Dairy production practices are changing; in order to remain viable, producers must optimise the health and productivity of dairy herds in economic terms. Health care is important in economic terms because disease can substantially reduce the productivity of individual animals. Preventive disease control programmes can thus result in economic gains for the dairy producer. The author describes new approaches to preventing postpartum diseases and dealing with fertility problems which can result from these diseases. Other aspects of dairy production are also changing, employing new technologies where these are judged to be profitable. Innovations include: the use of bovine somatotropin; systematic breeding/culling programmes; new mathematical modelling techniques to determine optimum feed composition and to define optimal growth levels for accelerated heifer-rearing programmes; the use of computers to collect, store and analyse data on animal production and health; and semen selection programmes. Increasing awareness of bio-security is also vital, not least because of the large investment present in dairy herds. Whatever practices are employed, they must offer economic returns to producers that compete with alternative uses of capital. Optimal levels of disease control must be determined for a particular production situation, taking into account not only the economic health of the producer, but also the well-being of the animals.
Postcolonial Borderland Legacies of Anglo-French Partition in West Africa

More than five decades after independence, Africa still struggles with the legacies of colonial partition. On the territorial frontiers between the postcolonial inheritors of the two major colonial powers, Great Britain and France, the continuing impact of European colonialism remains most acute. On the one hand, the splitting of erstwhile homogeneous ethnic groups into British and French camps gave rise to new national identities; on the other hand, it circumvented any possibility of sovereignty via ethnic solidarity. To date, however, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the ethnic groups that were divided between English- and French-speaking states in West Africa, let alone the African continent writ large. This article joins postcolonial ethnography to the emerging field of comparative borderland studies. It argues that, although norms of state-based identity have been internalized in the Anglophone–Francophone borderlands, indigenous bases of association and behavior continue to define life along the West African frontier in ways that undermine state sovereignty. Although social scientists tend to focus on national- and sub-national-level analyses, and increasingly on the effects of globalization on institutional change, study of the African borderlands highlights the continuing importance of colonial legacies and grassroots-derived research.
Protocells: Modular Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticle‐Supported Lipid Bilayers for Drug Delivery

Mesoporous silica nanoparticle-supported lipid bilayers, termed ‘protocells,’ represent a potentially transformative class of therapeutic and theranostic delivery vehicle. The field of targeted drug delivery poses considerable challenges that cannot be addressed with a single ‘magic bullet’. Consequently, the protocell has been designed as a modular platform composed of interchangeable biocompatible components. The mesoporous silica core has variable size and shape to direct biodistribution and a controlled pore size and surface chemistry to accommodate diverse cargo. The encapsulating supported lipid bilayer can be modified with targeting and trafficking ligands as well as polyethylene glycol (PEG) to effect selective binding, endosomal escape of cargo, drug efflux prevention, and potent therapeutic delivery, while maintaining in vivo colloidal stability. This review describes the individual components of the platform, including the mesoporous silica nanoparticle core and supported lipid bilayer, their assembly (by multiple techniques) into a protocell, and the combined, often synergistic, performance of the protocell based on in vitro and in vivo studies, including the assessment of biocompatibility and toxicity. In closing, the many emerging variations of the protocell theme and the future directions for protocell research are commented on.
A Coarse-Grained Implicit Solvent Model for Poly(ethylene oxide), CnEm Surfactants, and Hydrophobically End-Capped Poly(ethylene oxide) and Its Application to Micelle Self-Assembly and Phase Behavior

We parametrize a molecular dynamics force field for poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) within the Dry Martini coarse-grained (CG) implicit solvent model and show that it yields similar distributions of bond lengths, angles and torsional angles, and a similar dependence of radius of gyration on PEO chain length as those obtained from atomistic and explicit-solvent CG simulations. We apply these new parameters to simulate self-assembly of long-chain single-end-capped CnEm surfactants and double-end-capped telechelic polymers CnEmCn, where n is the number of alkane carbons and m the number of ethylene oxide monomers. We determine that the average equilibrium micelle aggregation number at high concentrations is around 23 hydrophobes for C12E100, C12E100C12, and C12E200C12, consistent with experimental/theoretical results. However, for EO block less than 200 monomers at 300 K, for example, for C12E45C12 and C12E136C12, telechelic polymers phase separate to form a polymer dense phase at low concentrations due to the fo...
Development of a simplified microfluidic injector for analysis of droplet content via capillary electrophoresis

Droplet-based microfluidic platforms sequester nanoliter to picoliter samples in an immiscible carrier phase and have gained notoriety for their ability to be used in laboratory procedures on a miniaturized scale. Recently, droplet microfluidics has been used to prevent zone diffusion in time-resolved sample collection methods and in separation techniques. The assay of droplets remains challenging, however, because the carrier phase is often incompatible with separation techniques. In this work, we report the development of a droplet injector for capillary electrophoresis (CE) which delivers 750 pL droplets to a channel for separation while excluding the fluorous carrier phase. This design is simple compared to previous reports, consisting of only two straight channels and no additional working parts such as membranes or valves. To demonstrate a proof-of-concept and characterize performance, riboflavin was used as a biologically relevant model molecule. Droplets containing a step change in riboflavin conc...
Case report. Unilateral renal vein thrombosis without proteinuria.

Abstract Unilateral renal vein thrombosis occurred in a patient who was found to have an adenocarcinoma and who had previously been subjected to trauma. Proteinuria was absent throughout the patient’s entire clinical course, despite its well known association with renal vein thrombosis. However, other findings suggestive of renal vein thrombosis, including back pain and tenderness, hematuria and an enlarged kidney were present. It is clear that proteinuria need not be the only signal to occasion a search for renal vein thrombosis. This case probably constitutes the second report of absent proteinuria when thrombus forms within a renal vein.
Analysis on common diseases and nutritional status among students in Anhui province

Objective To understand students' common diseases and nutritional status in Anhui province for evidence-based policy making.Methods Data originated from national physique and health investigation in Anhui province.The prevalence rate of poor eyesight,dental caries,anemia,overweight,obesity and common malnutrition diseases were analyzed among 7-22 year old students by chi square test.Results The total prevalence rate of poor eyesight was 63.0%,41.3% in elementary school and 80% in senior school and university(16-22 age group) that over 85% were severe patients.The rates of mixed dental caries,DMFT,decay missing,caries filling,anemia,overweight,obesity,mild malnutrition,and moderate malnutrition were46.6%,0.7,5.0%,3.3%,11.1%,8.7%,3.7%,44.2% and 7.7% respectively.Conclusion The prevalence of common diseases of students was still serious.Therefore,healthy education should be intensified in society,especidly at school and family to mitigate study burden and advocate healthy life style,so as to lower sickness incidence.
Classification of Developmental Disorders from Speech Signals Using Submodular Feature Selection

We present our system for the Interspeech 2013 Computational Paralinguistics Autism Sub-challenge. Our contribution focuses on improving classification accuracy of developmental disorders by applying a novel feature selection technique to the rich set of acoustic-prosodic features provided for this purpose. Our feature selection approach is based on submodular function optimization. We demonstrate significant improvements over systems using the full feature set and over a standard feature selection approach. Our final system outperforms the official Challenge baseline system significantly on the development set for both classification tasks, and on the test set for the Typicality task. Finally, we analyze the subselected features and identify the most important ones. Index Terms: classification, feature selection, neural networks, submodular functions
Measurement of the nonlinear gain time constant using a traveling-wave semiconductor ring laser

Spectral-hole burning1 and hot carriers2 are the physical process generally thought to be responsible for gain nonlinearity in semiconductor laser. The time constant associated with hot carriers has been identified to be -0.6 ps in the long-wavelength semiconductor laser2 while the time constant associated with spectral hole burning is assumed to be < 0.3 ps.
Wear of Cutting Tools

The mechanism of tool wear depends on the cutting conditions, tool material, and workpiece material. This paper examines the wear behavior of High Speed Steel (H.S.S.) inserts (M-42) during continuous and intermittent machining. Cutting tests were performed on 4340 steel of 33–36 Rc. The cutting performance of H.S.S. (M-42) coated with TiC and cemented carbide (C-5) inserts coated with TiC and HfN was also evaluated. Scanning Electron microscopic (SEM) examinations of the coatings after maching were conducted. Flank and crater wear measurements were carried out. Improvement in tool life was evaluated for the various coatings.
The Interprofessional Clinical Experience: Introduction to Interprofessional Education Through Early Immersion in Health Care Teams

Introduction The ability to collaborate as a member of interprofessional teams is essential for patient care and a core competency for students in health professions education. We developed a yearl...
Qudit-Basis Universal Quantum Computation Using χ^{(2)} Interactions.

We prove that universal quantum computation can be realized---using only linear optics and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ (three-wave mixing) interactions---in any ($n+1$)-dimensional qudit basis of the $n$-pump-photon subspace. First, we exhibit a strictly universal gate set for the qubit basis in the one-pump-photon subspace. Next, we demonstrate qutrit-basis universality by proving that ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ Hamiltonians and photon-number operators generate the full $\mathfrak{u}(3)$ Lie algebra in the two-pump-photon subspace, and showing how the qutrit controlled-$Z$ gate can be implemented with only linear optics and ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ interactions. We then use proof by induction to obtain our general qudit result. Our induction proof relies on coherent photon injection or subtraction, a technique enabled by ${\ensuremath{\chi}}^{(2)}$ interaction between the encoding modes and ancillary modes. Finally, we show that coherent photon injection is more than a conceptual tool, in that it offers a route to preparing high-photon-number Fock states from single-photon Fock states.