cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Healthcare industry equity risk premium and book-to-market anomaly in the US stock market

Using daily data from CRSP and COMPUSTAT, this paper first confirms the cointegrated relation between the returns of equities in the US healthcare industry and the returns of market portfolio. Then we break down the risk premia of stocks of the healthcare sector into ten subgroups and reveal an anomaly compared to the Fama-French three-factor model. We find significantly negative coefficients of the risk loadings of the book-to-market ratio. Such anomaly is robust in the White heteroskedasticity-consistent control group and differently weighted market portfolio. As a unique countercyclical sector, growth stocks with lower book value in the healthcare industry are pertinent to stable portfolio performance. We also find non-zero Fama-French alpha in several subgroups, which implies the existence of unknown factors to explain the returns of healthcare assets.
To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter

Social media technologies let people connect by creating and sharing content. We examine the use of Twitter by famous people to conceptualize celebrity as a practice. On Twitter, celebrity is practiced through the appearance and performance of ‘backstage’ access. Celebrity practitioners reveal what appears to be personal information to create a sense of intimacy between participant and follower, publicly acknowledge fans, and use language and cultural references to create affiliations with followers. Interactions with other celebrity practitioners and personalities give the impression of candid, uncensored looks at the people behind the personas. But the indeterminate ‘authenticity’ of these performances appeals to some audiences, who enjoy the game playing intrinsic to gossip consumption. While celebrity practice is theoretically open to all, it is not an equalizer or democratizing discourse. Indeed, in order to successfully practice celebrity, fans must recognize the power differentials intrinsic to the...
FIR inverses to MIMO rational transfer functions with application to blind equalization

Given a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) causal stable rational transfer function matrix H(z)=A/sup -1/(z)B(z) with N outputs and M inputs (N/spl ges/M), it is shown that full column rank of B(z) for all z is a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a finite impulse response (FIR) left inverse G(z) such that G(z)H(z)=I. Upper bounds on the length of the FIR inverse are derived in terms of the lengths of the AR and the MA parts of H(z). The presented results are less stringent than the existing results. These results are then used to design FIR MIMO equalizers in a two-step procedure. In the first step, using only the correlation function of the MIMO system output (i.e. the data record), FIR filters are designed to equalize the received signals up to a full-rank mixing matrix. In the second step, higher-order statistics are used to design a separating matrix to unmix the signals.
Nucleotide-Binding Oligomerization Domain 1 Mediates Recognition of Clostridium difficile and Induces Neutrophil Recruitment and Protection against the Pathogen

Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive obligate anaerobic pathogen that causes pseudomembranous colitis in antibiotics-treated individuals. However, host immune protective mechanisms against C. difficile are largely unknown. In this study, we show that C. difficile possesses potent stimulatory activity for nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain 1 (Nod1), an intracellular pattern recognition molecule that senses bacterial peptidoglycan-related molecules. Nod1(-/-), but not Nod2(-/-), mice exhibited increased lethality in response to C. difficile intestinal infection despite comparable levels of intestinal damage and epithelial permeability in Nod1(-/-) and control mice. The enhanced lethality was accompanied by impaired C. difficile clearance, increased bacterial translocation, and elevated levels of endotoxin and IL-1β in the serum of Nod1(-/-) mice. Histological and flow cytometric analyses revealed that Nod1(-/-) mice had defective recruitment of neutrophils, but not macrophages, to the intestine after C. difficile infection. The reduced recruitment of neutrophils correlated with impaired production of CXCL1, but not CCL2, XCL1, and other cytokines/chemokines, in infected Nod1(-/-) mice. The influx of neutrophils also was reduced when C. difficile was administered i.p., suggesting that Nod1 directly recognizes C. difficile to induce the recruitment of neutrophils to the infected site. These results indicate that Nod1 regulates host susceptibility to C. difficile and suggest that Nod1-mediated neutrophil recruitment is an important immune response against the enteric pathogen.
Giant interneurons of the cockroach neither trigger escape nor “clear all stations”

Abstract 1. 1. In American cockroaches mounted ventral-side-up with legs free to move a single shock which excited both giant and smaller axons in the abdomen evoked a brief ( 2. 2. In cockroaches tethered by stimulating and recordings wires a single shock to the abdominal nerve cord caused a tonic increase in coxal depressor activity, but only if small axons were excited. Repeated shocks summated to evoke escape. 3. 3. Stimulation of giant axons alone failed to evoke escape or any other overt behavior in tethered cockroaches, and also failed to inhibit grooming, feeding or walking.
Metal matrix composite power modules: improvements in reliability and package integration

This paper compares metal matrix composite (MMC) baseplate power modules to standard copper baseplate power modules with respect to high current applications. The comparison is made both from a reliability and a package integration perspective. Reliability continues to be a key concern in applications where motor drives are subjected to thermal cycling. Modules with copper baseplates exhibit poor mechanical reliability since the thermal mismatches are high between the baseplate and the other materials in the package. Package integration of the power stage with the rest of the package is difficult with copper based modules since the only geometry that can be economically produced is stamped two dimensional baseplates. MMC materials are combinations of metals and ceramics with variable properties. A silicon carbide/aluminum composite (a moldable material with controlled thermal expansion coefficient) offers elegant solutions to the reliability and package integration concerns of standard modules. This study, conducted at Motorola's Hybrid Power Module Operation, examines the benefits that can be realized in both of these areas by using MMC baseplates in high current power modules. Measurement and finite element methods are used to study reliability. Additionally, design concepts for integrated packaging and integrated power systems are also explored.
Primary Stenting of Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Stenoses: A Report of Seven Cases and Review of the Literature

Surgical revascularization for severe atherosclerotic stenoses of the infrarenal abdominal aorta is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. We present our experience with percutaneous stenting as a less invasive treatment alternative in seven consecutive patients with the disease (six females, mean age: 63 ± 5). Technical success was achieved in all patients with reduction of the mean percent stenosis from 85 ± 3% down to 13 ± 2%. A total of seven stents were used; 5 Wallstents and 2 Palmaz stents. No immediate complications were observed. One patient developed left leg ischemia due to worsening of a preexisting left iliac lesion a day after the procedure and was successfully stented. All patients were asymptomatic at follow-up (mean: 27 ± 3 months). The mean ABI was 0.91 ± 0.12 and 0.94 ± 0.15 on the right and left sides, respectively. These results suggest that stenting of focal infrarenal abdominal stenoses is effective and associated with favorable late outcome
Relaxation from upwelling: The effect on dissolved oxygen on the continental shelf

[1] Continental shelves in upwelling regimes are subject to sequences of upwelling and relaxation events, each on timescales of order 1 week typically. These episodes have pronounced impacts on the temperature and density structure on the shelves and also on the along-shore and cross-shore flow regimes. It had previously been demonstrated that relaxation phases advect warm water along shore (poleward) from regions of less intense upwelling, thus adding to the heat balance in upwelling locations and providing a rectification of oscillating heat fluxes. In the current paper it is shown that relaxations also modify the dissolved oxygen (DO) budget of the lower layers. On a narrow shelf, this provides enhanced DO values due to near-surface exposure, while on a wide shelf decreased DO concentrations are created due to oxygen consumption on the inner shelf. The resulting variations along the coast can lead to along-shore advection of high or low DO during a relaxation event. Observations are presented from moorings off San Diego and Del Mar, which show large departures from density-correlated DO values during relaxations and which support the proposed mechanisms.
Sodium-Channel Turnover in Rabbit Cultured Schwann Cells

Radiolabelled saxitoxin has been used as a chemical marker for the voltage-dependent sodium channels expressed in the plasmalemma of rabbit Schwann cells in culture. Proteolytic enzymes destroy this saxitoxin-binding capacity, which gradually reappears with an exponential time constant of about 3.1 days. Exposure of cultured Schwann cells to tunicamycin, an inhibitor of glycosylation, leads to a progressive exponential fall in saxitoxin-binding capacity, again with a time constant of about 3.1 days. The assumption that the steady-state density of Schwann cell sodium channels is maintained by a constant synthesis of channels in the face of a rate of loss from the membrane proportional to the amount of channel already present, leads to the conclusion that these channels have an average lifetime of about 3.1 days. The metabolic consequences of this rapid turnover of Schwann cell sodium channels is discussed.
Comparison of Severity of Motorcyclist Injury by Crash Types

The purpose of this study was to examine statewide motorcycle crash data from the state of Ohio to identify those factors most strongly associated with the level of injury sustained by motorcyclists involved in crashes. The year 2009 marked the first time since 1997 that Ohio experienced fewer motorcycle fatalities than in the previous year; this result was consistent with national trends over this same period. Since anecdotal evidence suggested that much of this result was due to decreases in motorcycle travel, an investigation of rider, crash, and environmental factors that influenced injury severity was an important step toward sustaining this reduction. The effects of such factors in various types of motorcycle crashes were compared. Multinomial logit models were developed for single-vehicle and multivehicle motorcycle crashes at both intersection and nonintersection locations. The results showed that the impacts of relevant crash factors varied by crash type and location and that severe injuries were...
The Escherichia coli proU promoter element and its contribution to osmotically signaled transcription activation.

Abstract The proU operon of Escherichia coli encodes a high-affinity glycine betaine transport system which is osmotically inducible and enables the organism to recover from the deleterious effects of hyperosmotic shock. Regulation occurs at the transcriptional level. KMnO4 footprinting showed that the preponderance of transcription initiated at a single primary promoter region and that proU transcription activation did not occur differentially at alternate promoters in response to various levels of salt shock. Mutational analysis confirmed the location of the primary promoter and identified an extended -10 region required for promoter activity. Specific nucleotides within the spacer, between position -10 and position -35, were important for maximal expression, but every mutant which retained transcriptional activity remained responsive to osmotic signals. A chromosomal 90-bp minimal promoter fragment fused to lacZ was not significantly osmotically inducible. However, transcription from this fragment was resistant to inhibition by salt shock. A mutation in osmZ, which encodes the DNA-binding protein H-NS, derepressed wild-type proU expression by sevenfold but did not alter expression from the minimal promoter. The current data support a model in which the role of the proU promoter is to function efficiently at high ionic strength while other cis-acting elements receive and respond to the osmotic signal.
The effect of individual roles on performance in innovative groups

Innovative performance of groups of scientists was related to performance of ‘colleague roles', utilizing a model of organizational decision making proposed by Farris (1971). In more innovative groups, supervisors were named less often by group members as useful for original ideas, but more often for providing critical evaluation. Members of more innovative groups named one another more often as useful for providing technical information and help in thinking about technical problems. Organizational information was available from fewer sources inside or outside the more innovative groups. Supervisors of more innovative groups named more outside sources as useful to them for original ideas. These trends are very consistent with Maier's (1967) emphasis on the leader's ‘integrative function’ in group problem solving.
The Role of Protegrins and Other Elastase-Activated Polypeptides in the Bactericidal Properties of Porcine Inflammatory Fluids

The mammalian host response to infection includes the production and secretion of antimicrobial peptides from phagocytes and epithelial cells. Protegrins, a group of broadly microbicidal peptides isolated originally from porcine neutrophil lysates, were found to be stored as inactive proforms in porcine neutrophil granules but could be activated extracellularly by neutrophil elastase. We assessed the biological role of protegrins and other elastase-activated polypeptides in the microbicidal activity of neutrophil secretions and inflammatory fluids. When stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), neutrophils generated stable microbicidal activity against both Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes under normal-salt conditions and in the presence of 0 to 10% serum. The generation of these antimicrobial substances was dependent on neutrophil elastase, since it was inhibited by 1 mM N-methoxysuccinyl-Ala-Ala-Pro-Val chloromethyl ketone when it was present during activation, but not when this inhibitor was added afterwards. However, elastase-dependent activation of proprotegrins to protegrins in PMA-stimulated neutrophils was not inhibited by the presence of 1 to 2% serum. Porcine neutrophils also released antibacterial activity during phagocytosis of latex beads, and this too was dependent in large part on elastase-activated polypeptides, including protegrins. Moreover, protegrins were found at bactericidal concentrations in cell-free abscess fluid from naturally infected pigs. Taken together, these studies show that protegrins and other elastase-activated polypeptides are important stable antibacterial factors in porcine neutrophil secretions. The potential host defense role of elastase as an activating enzyme for the precursors of microbicidal peptides must be taken into account when therapeutic inhibitors of neutrophil elastase are evaluated for clinical use as anti-inflammatory agents.
The Median Arcuate Ligament Syndrome: A Mimicker of Mesenteric Vasculitis

ABSTRACTThe median arcuate ligament syndrome is an uncommon condition characterized by the triad of postprandial abdominal pain, unintentional weight loss, and an epigastric bruit. This condition is diagnostically challenging and patients often undergo extensive laboratory, radiographic, and invasive evaluations before it is identified. Physicians should consider this syndrome in the differential diagnoses of chronic abdominal pain and mesenteric vasculitis. Once diagnosed, treatment is generally surgical with known predictors of favorable and unfavorable outcomes. Surgical candidates should be selected carefully. We describe the cases of two young active duty patients diagnosed with median arcuate ligament syndrome after suffering from chronic abdominal pain. Both were referred to our rheumatology department to evaluate for mesenteric vasculitis. Each had a different therapeutic outcome.
Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) Microscopy Illuminator for Improved Imaging of Cell Surface Events

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy is a high-contrast imaging technique suitable for observing biological events that occur on or near the cell membrane. The improved contrast is accomplished by restricting the thickness of the excitation field to over an order of a magnitude narrower than the z-resolution of an epi-fluorescence microscope. This technique also increases signal-to-noise, making it a valuable tool for imaging cellular events such as vesicles undergoing exocytosis or endocytosis, viral particle formation, cell signaling, and dynamics of membrane proteins. This protocol describes the basic procedures for setting up a through-the-objective TIRF illuminator and a prism-based TIRF illuminator. In addition, an alternate protocol for incorporating an automated deflection system into through-the-objective TIRF is given. This system can be used to decrease aberrations in the illumination field, to quickly switch between epi- and TIRF illumination, and to adjust the penetration depth during multicolor TIRF applications. In the commentary, a description of the total internal reflection phenomenon is given, critical parameters of a TIRF microscope are discussed, and technical challenges and considerations are reviewed.
Physiology of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a chytrid pathogen of amphibians

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is a patho- gen of amphibians that has been implicated in severe population declines on several continents. We inves- tigated the zoospore activity, physiology and protease production of B. dendrobatidis to help understand the epidemiology of this pathogen. More than 95% of zoospores stopped moving within 24 h and swam less than 2 cm before encysting. Isolates of B. den- drobatidis grew and reproduced at temperatures of 4- 25 C and at pH 4-8. Growth was maximal at 17-25 C and at pH 6-7. Exposure of cultures to 30 C for 8 d killed 50% of the replicates. B. dendrobatidis cul- tures grew on autoclaved snakeskin and 1% keratin agar, but they grew best in tryptone or peptonized milk and did not require additional sugars when grown in tryptone. B. dendrobatidis produced extra- cellular proteases that degraded casein and gelatin but had no measurable activity against keratin azure. The proteases were active against azocasein at tem- peratures of 6-37 C and in a pH range of 6-8, with the highest activity at temperatures of 23-30 C and at pH 8. The implications of these observations on disease transmission and development are discussed.
Understanding phototropism: from Darwin to today

Few individuals have had the lasting impact on such a breadth of science as Charles Darwin. While his writings about time aboard the HMS Beagle, his study of the Galapagos islands (geology, fauna, and flora), and his theories on evolution are well known, less appreciated are his studies on plant growth responses to a variety of environmental stimuli. In fact, Darwin, together with the help of his botanist son Francis, left us an entire book, 'The power of movements in plants', describing his many, varied, and insightful observations on this topic. Darwin's findings have provided an impetus for an entire field of study, the study of plant tropic responses, or differential growth (curvature) of plant organs in response to directional stimuli. One tropic response that has received a great deal of attention is the phototropic response, or curvature response to directional light. This review summarizes many of the most significant advancements that have been made in our understanding of this response and place these recent findings in the context of Darwin's initial observations.
Areal Distributions of Cortical Neurons Projecting to Different Levels of the Caudal Brain Stem and Spinal Cord in Rats

Distributions of corticospinal and corticobulbar neurons were revealed by tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) processing after injections of wheatgerm agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (WGA:HRP) into the cervical or lumbar enlargements of the spinal cord, or medullary or pontine levels of the brain stem. Sections reacted for cytochrome oxidase (CO) allowed patterns of labeled neurons to be related to the details of the body surface map in the first somatosensory cortical area (SI). The results indicate that a number of cortical areas project to these subcortical levels: (1) Projection neurons in granular SI formed a clear somatotopic pattern. The hindpaw region projected to the lumbar enlargement, the forepaw region to the cervical enlargement, the whisker pad field to the lower medulla, and the more rostral face region to more rostral brain stem levels. (2) Each zone of labeled neurons in SI extended into adjacent dysgranular somatosensory cortex, forming a second somatotopic pattern of projection neurons. (3) A somatotopic pattern of projection neurons in primary motor cortex (MI) paralleled SI in mediolateral sequence corresponding to the hindlimb, forelimb, and face. (4) A weak somatotopic pattern of projection neurons was suggested in medial agranular cortex (Agm), indicating a premotor field with a rostromedial-to-caudolateral representation of hindlimb, forelimb, and face. (5) A somatotopic pattern of projection neurons representing the foot to face in a mediolateral sequence was observed in medial parietal cortex (PM) located between SI and area 17. (6) In the second somatosensory cortical area (SII), neurons projecting to the brain stem were immediately adjacent caudolaterally to the barrel field of SI, whereas neurons projecting to the upper spinal cord were more lateral. No projection neurons in this region were labeled by the injections in the lower spinal cord. (7) Other foci of projection neurons for the face and forelimb were located rostral to SII, providing evidence for a parietal ventral area (PV) in perirhinal cortex (PR) lateral to SI, and in cortex between SII and PM. None of these regions, which may be higher-order somatosensory areas, contained labeled neurons after injections in the lower spinal cord. Thus, more cortical fields directly influence brain stem and spinal cord levels related to sensory and motor functions of the face and forepaw than the hindlimb. The termination patterns of corticospinal and corticobulbar projections were studied in other rats with injections of WGA:HRP in SI.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
The Role of Biased Earnings Guidance in Creating a Healthy Tension between Managers and Analysts

Analysts and the managers of firms they track have both come under fire in recent years. In particular, managers are accused of using earnings guidance to exert undue influence on analyst forecasts. This paper analyzes optimal incentive contracts that take into account the interaction between analysts and firm managers. In our setting, biased earnings guidance is a natural consequence of contract design. The bias serves to create enough uncertainty so as to motivate the analyst and, thus, may not necessarily be the scourge suggested by conventional wisdom.
Levels of prostaglandins F2α and E2 in human endometrium during the menstrual cycle

Abstract A comparison between the prostaglandins found in proliferative and secretory endometrium in normal and tumor-bearing tissues is reported. The content of prostaglandins F 2α and E 2 is related to the three phases of the menstrual cycle and correlates with cyclic ovarian hormone variations. The menstrual phase is characterized by a high content of PGF 2α . High prostaglandin levels are found in tissues from patients with pathologic diseases such as adenocarcinoma of the endometrium when compared to normal tissues.
Thermal Excitations in Solid He 4

The present paper is devoted to an extension of recent work on solid ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$ using a heuristic approach. The anomalous or negative isobaric expansion coefficients of the solid, in equilibrium with the anomalous liquid ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$II, will be re-evaluated in terms of the here derived approximate compressibilities of the solid based on sound velocity data. The entropy of solid ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$ will then be obtained in terms of the recent Los Alamos determinations of entropy changes on solidification and of two different sets of entropy values of the liquid along the melting line. The latter yield two distinct sets of solid entropy values. While numerically these are different, they appear to be much too large to be accommodated by simple phonon excitations of the solid at temperatures below ${T}_{0}({p}_{m})$, the temperature of the heat capacity anomaly of the liquid at the melting pressure line ${p}_{m}$. Below ${T}_{0}({p}_{m})$, both of these numerically different solid entropies exhibit temperature variations of such strength as to rule out their description in terms of simple phonon entropies. In addition, the two sets of solid entropies give rise to molar heat capacities of the order of the gas constant $R$, at the approaches of ${T}_{0}({p}_{m})$. The preceding thermal anomalies will be discussed from the viewpoint of the equilibrium between the fundamentally anomalous liquid and the solid. Analysis of the liquid entropy yields a new set of onset temperatures of the ordering process responsible for its peculiar transition phenomenon. The thermal anomalies, at or in the vicinity of the melting line, suggest peculiar dispersion and distribution properties of the frequency spectrum of solid ${\mathrm{He}}^{4}$. Direct experimental investigations of the above apparent anomalies of the static thermal properties as well as of transport properties of this solid near the phase separation line seem to be of interest.
A Multi-national Survey of Low-Energy and Smoking Materials Ignition Fires

The three-part study described in this paper involved a detailed evaluation of fire statistics from four countries to compare the number of deaths and injuries from structure fires started by a small open flame ignition source to casualty counts from fires started by smoking materials. First, a qualitative multi-national comparison of low-energy and smoking materials ignition fires is made based on fire statistics obtained from the U.S., the U.K., Japan, and Finland for the period between 2002 and 2012. From this comparison it can be concluded that, compared to the other nations, the U.K. appears to have more of a problem with smoking materials ignition fires resulting in fatalities; and that Japan appears to have appreciably more smoking materials ignition fires, but not fatalities from such fires, than the other nations. A more detailed quantitative analysis is then performed to examine the contribution of low-energy (match, lighter, space heater, etc.) versus smoking materials (cigar, pipe, cigarette, etc.) ignition to the U.S. fire problem. An attempt was made to address two issues with the U.S. NFIRS database, i.e., the fact that it is based on a voluntary sample of U.S. fire department incident reports and that many of the data categories relevant to the present study contain unknown fields. From this analysis it is apparent that smoking materials ignition fires tend to more commonly result in fatalities than low-energy ignition fires, while the overall volume of low-energy ignition fires and corresponding losses and injuries are greater. Finally, a logistic regression model is presented that can be used to predict the probability that a fire resulting in a fatality was started by low-energy ignition based on the age and race of the victim, the item first ignited, and the season in the year when the fire took place. The model indicates that older persons are generally more susceptible to perishing in a fire resulting from smoking materials ignition rather than low-energy ignition.
Marriage and decision-making: inter-generational dynamics in Indonesia.

In this analysis the factors that determine how much input Javanese couples are allowed into decisions regarding their marriages are explored. Perceptions of power and the factors that influence these perceptions are investigated separately for husbands and wives. It is found that over time couples have gained considerably in their ability to control decision outcomes and that the educational attainment levels of both partners fathers are consistent predictors of the couples decision-making power. Size of community prior to marriage is particularly important among women and age at marriage is especially relevant among men. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA) (EXCERPT)
Clinical findings and interventions in cancer patients referred to a cachexia clinic (CC)

e20551 Background: The cancer-related anorexia/cachexia syndrome is primarily caused by an aberrant inflammatory response and neurohormonal dysfunction. Secondary causes that contribute to diminish...
Review Article: Overwinter mortality in stem cuttings

SummaryOverwinter mortality, in which leafy cuttings of some temperate deciduous taxa root, but die during the following winter or shortly after the onset of growth the following spring, is an important practical problem. It is generally attributed to poor cold hardiness or insufficient carbohydrate reserves to sustain the cutting in spring. Where winter cold is injurious, the roots, aerial shoot or subterranean stem may be most susceptible to injury. Warmth in winter can also be damaging by deacclimating the roots, or by consuming the cutting’s reserves through an increased respiration rate or new root growth. Susceptible taxa are prone to low reserves if root growth in the season of propagation is excessive, or if the anatomy of the cutting does not allow high carbohydrate storage capacity. Shoot extension growth in the season of propagation generally increases overwinter survival and, especially if accompanied by radial growth in the main stem, creates storage capacity in the cutting. Main stem radial ...
Analysing black phosphorus transistors using an analytic Schottky barrier MOSFET model

Owing to the difficulties associated with substitutional doping of low-dimensional nanomaterials, most field-effect transistors built from carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional crystals and other low-dimensional channels are Schottky barrier MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors). The transmission through a Schottky barrier-MOSFET is dominated by the gate-dependent transmission through the Schottky barriers at the metal-to-channel interfaces. This makes the use of conventional transistor models highly inappropriate and has lead researchers in the past frequently to extract incorrect intrinsic properties, for example, mobility, for many novel nanomaterials. Here we propose a simple modelling approach to quantitatively describe the transfer characteristics of Schottky barrier-MOSFETs from ultra-thin body materials accurately in the device off-state. In particular, after validating the model through the analysis of a set of ultra-thin silicon field-effect transistor data, we have successfully applied our approach to extract Schottky barrier heights for electrons and holes in black phosphorus devices for a large range of body thicknesses.
Contribution of Spinal Cord mTORC1 to Chronic Opioid Tolerance and Hyperalgesia

Abstract Morphine and related opiates are commonly used in the clinical treatment of various types of moderate to severe pain. However, this treatment is often limited by a rapid development of opiate tolerance and hyperalgesia. A number of studies reported that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), an enzyme that controls most protein translation, is required for the genesis of opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia. Repeated intrathecal morphine injections activated spinal dorsal horn mTOR through μ opioid receptor–triggered PI3K/Akt signaling. The resulting increase in mTOR activation led to an increase in translation initiation activity and nascent protein synthesis. Blocking this activation either by the specific mTOR inhibitor rapamycin or specific mTOR siRNA attenuated the development and maintenance of morphine analgesic tolerance and hyperalgesia. Mimicking this increase decreased morphine analgesia and produced pain hypersensitivity. These findings identify mTOR as a likely target for treatment of chronic opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia.
Analysis on the laboratory results of AIDS cases with lung infection

Objective:To study the testing result of AIDS cases with lung infection in various kinds of lab indications and their relations,guiding the early diagnosis and treatment in clinic their relation.Methods:CD+4 T-1ymphocyte count,the virus loads of HIV,the pathogens and their drug susceptibility of 120 such cases were detected.Results:Along with the CD+4 T-1ymphocyte count decrease,the virus loads of HIV and the frequency of lung infection increase.E.coli,P.aeruginosa,tubercle bacillus were the main,the drug resistance strain has come to a high 1evel.Conclusion:Pneumonia in AIDS patients are usually caused by a variety of pathogens,predominantly consisting of multiresistant bacteria.Therefore,antibiotics should be rationally chosen according to drug susceptibility test.
Should all superficial bladder tumors be treated with intravesical therapy

After reviewing the data on intravesical therapy for treatment or prophylaxis of urothelial tumors of the bladder, several statements seem appropriate. Bladder tumors confined to the mucosa and lamina propria represent a heterogeneous group. Papillary, grade I, noninvasive tumors (Ta) may recur frequently, subjecting the patient to numerous endoscopic procedures but these patients very infrequently have tumor progression. Treatment should not be overly aggressive and result in significant morbidity. These patients should be informed that they have a choice and may decide that they would rather take the risk of subsequent endoscopic procedures and avoid the regular visits to the office for intravesical drug instillation. High grade tumors, be they confined to the mucosa or invade the lamina propria, place the patient at significant risk of recurrence and local progression and thus require careful monitoring (Jordan et al, 1987; Torti et al, 1987). Intravesical therapy should be seriously considered, either to eradicate residual malignant cells or prevent a subsequent tumor. Thiotepa is moderately effective in delaying the development of subsequent low grade tumors when used for prophylaxis. Toxicity with Thiotepa is low and the drug is not expensive. Mitomycin C is effective for the treatment of residual tumor as well as when instilled regularly following complete transurethral resection. Side effects are primarily confined to chemical cystitis with an occasional patient having a rash. BCG may be the most effective intravesical agent in the treatment of carcinoma in situ. Randomized trials comparing BCG and chemotherapy are in progress and are eagerly awaited. The frequency and severity of local and systemic side effects are somewhat greater than with chemotherapeutic agents.
Versioning Version Trees: The Provenance of Actions that Affect Multiple Versions

Change-based provenance captures how an entity is constructed; it can be used not only as a record of the steps taken but also as a guide during the development of derivative or new analyses. This provenance is captured as a version tree which stores a set of related entities and the exact changes made in deriving one from another. Version trees are generally viewed as monotonic---new nodes may be added but none are modified or deleted. However, there are a number of operations e.g., upgrades where this constraint leads to inefficient and unintuitive new versions. To address this, we propose a version tree without monotonicity where nodes may be modified and new actions inserted. We also propose to track the provenance of these tree changes to ensure that past version trees are not lost. This provenance is change-based; it links versions of version trees by the actions which transform the trees. Thus, we continue to track every change that impacts the evolution of an entity, but the actions are split between direct edits and changes to the version tree that affect multiple entity definitions. We show how this provenance leads to more intuitive and efficient operations on workflows and how this hybrid provenance may be understood.
Seeking a Cure for One of the Rarest Diseases: Progeria.

Article, see p 114 More than 5700 human conditions have now had their molecular causes defined, the majority of which are rare diseases that were molecularly characterized in the past 25 years.1 Yet, even today, approved therapies exist for only ≈500 of these conditions.2 Clearly, an urgent need exists for therapeutic advances to help people suffering from rare diseases, a need fraught with many challenges. The private sector’s interest in developing molecularly targeted therapies has been growing but still remains quite limited for the rarest diseases that have very little market potential. Given the costs, it is difficult to embark on such a therapeutic development effort from scratch; historically, the failure rate is very high, and it has taken an estimated 14 years and several billion dollars to develop and gain approval for a therapy aimed at a molecular target.2 The National Institutes of Health is working to overcome these obstacles through a variety of innovative efforts at its National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, with repurposing of compounds developed for other applications being one particularly attractive option. A poignant example of the pressing need for effective treatments is one of the rarest of rare diseases: Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), and this issue of Circulation reports the results of a triple-combination therapy trial for HGPS.3 Characterized by accelerated aging, HGPS has a prevalence of ≈1 in 20 million living individuals or ≈350 children worldwide at any given time. Without treatment, children with HGPS, who have completely normal intellectual development, die of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease at the average age of 14.6 years.4,5 In 2003, my laboratory at the National Institutes of Health and another group in France determined that HGPS is caused by a point mutation (C-to-T) in the lamin A ( LMNA ) gene. The …
Energy-Oriented Organelles and Activities: II The Mitochondrion

Among eukaryotes the cyclic respiratory processes just described occur for the greater part in an organelle of the cytoplasm known as the mitochondrion, while glycolysis and related activities are confined to the cytoplasm. In the prokaryotes mitochondria are absent, but many types of those organisms possess a membranous body in which the citric acid cycle may proceed. Because the eukaryotic organelle has been far more extensively explored, its structure receives attention prior to the simpler bodies found in bacteria and their relatives. Although the primary function of the mitochondrion is in cell respiration, it seems to be involved in numerous other aspects of the cell’s economy, as attested by the differing enzyme systems found from tissue to tissue. Most of these roles remain unknown, but some are coming to light at the current time. For instance, in earthworm spermiogenesis it plays an evident part in the condensation of the chromatin in the nucleus (Figure 9.1; Martinucci and Felluga, 1979). Moreover, it has been found to be active in mediating the action of luteinizing hormone in the synthesis of steroids in Amphibia (Wiebe, 1972).
677. Stabilizing the rAAV Vector Genome Increases AAV Vector Transduction Efficiency

It has been determined that AAV vector efficiency decreases due to the following mechanisms: ineffective endocytosis, endosomal degradation, inefficient trafficking, and the need to convert from a single-stranded AAV genome to a transcriptional active double-stranded form. Administering rAAV vectors in conjunction with a drug that can enhance vector transduction may overcome some of these cellular barriers encountered during infection as well as help stabilize the genome. Here we discovered that Cidofovir(CDV), a monophosphate nucleotide analogue that competitively inhibits the incorporation of deoxycytidine triphosphate into viral DNA via viral DNA polymerase, is able to increase single-stranded rAAV transgene expression in the nucleus by 2 to 9 fold, depending on the cell type and concentration. This increase has been consistently observed in 16095, HelaS3, and Hek293 cells with little toxicity to the cells. However, there is less than a two-fold increase with Cidofovir treatment when using self-complementary AAV vectors(scAAV), suggesting that CDV might enhance conversion of the AAV genome from single to double stranded form. These observations were confirmed using two different serotypes, AAV2 and AAV8, in vitro indicating that the mechanism of enhancement is not serotype dependent. Southern Blot analysis along with real-time PCR demonstrated that Cidofovir treatment in HelaS3 cells increases viral DNA accumulation 24 hours post-infection compared to PBS treated cells. Cells pretreated with CDV then infected with rAAV revealed no difference in the amount of vector present between 0 and 2 hrs post infection, suggesting CDV does not enhance viral entry. However, cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions of HelaS3 cells pretreated with CDV or PBS demonstrated that CDV pretreatment enhances viral accumulation of rAAV vectors in both the cytoplasm and nucleus 24 hours post-infection.In vivo, Hemophilia A BALB/c(BALB/c-HA) mice were treated with CDV prior to infection with a rAAV containing the fVIII Human Light chain(LC) gene. It showed that CDV treatment enhanced the amount of LC antigen when compared to control group. Approximately two fold increase was observed up to fourteen weeks post-injection. These results demonstrate that CDV treatment can enhance and sustain rAAV levels in vivo.CDV has already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The effects of CDV on small DNA viruses that lack their own viral DNA polymerase, like AAV, have not been documented. The use of drugs like Cidofovir can greatly contribute to the understanding of rAAV trafficking and eventually lead the development of novel strategies to increase overall efficiency of AAV transduction.
Personalism, Humanism, and a Freirean Spirituality Toward Humanizing Humanity

At the turn of the 12th century Giovanni di Bernardone of Assisi, a young aspiring knight, was taken prisoner between the warring Assisi and Perugia in the Umbria region in central Italy. Enduring approximately a year in the harsh conditions of prison, Giovanni di Bernardone (better known as Francesco) was released through a ransom payment, as his father was a wealthy textile merchant. Coming home extremely sick, it was during his road to recovery that Francesco experienced a deep conversion, leading him to abandon his dream to participate in the crusades, to leave behind his youthful excesses of partying, and to not follow in his father’s footsteps as a textile merchant.
Architectures for the Post-Moore Era

In this column, the guest editors introduce the six articles in the special issue on Architectures for the Post-Moore Era.
Abstract 17376: Novel Non-contrast MRI Technique for Visualization of Ablation Lesions

Introduction: Late gadolinium enhanced MRI (LGE-MRI) is widely used to assess RF ablation lesions. However, this technique requires contrast injection and lesion visibility changes with time after injection. Non-contrast T1-weighted (T1w) MRI is only applicable to reliably visualize acute ( Hypothesis: T2*-weighted MRI can be used to visualize ablation lesions. Methods: Novel non-contrast MRI technique for sub-acute (> 7 days) lesion visualization has been developed. This T2*-weighted technique exploits the difference in susceptibility between normal and ablated myocardium. Transformation of hemoglobin from blood vessels damaged during ablation into hemosiderin reduces T2* of ablated tissues. To validate the proposed technique RF ablations were performed in 3 canines using ThermoCool catheter (Biosense Webster) at 30 Watts for 30 seconds. Imaging studies were performed on a 3T MRI scanner (Verio, Siemens) at 0, 1, 4, and 8 weeks post-ablation. Scan protocol included T1w, T2*, and LGE scans with resolution of 1.25x1.25x2.5 mm. Results: Representative T1w, T2*, and LGE images are shown in Figure 1. All RF lesions (n=13) were readily detectable on non-contrast T1w images acquired acutely (Fig. 1a). Lesion visibility in T1w was drastically reduced 1 week post-ablation (Fig. 1b). Visibility of the lesions in T2* images improves with time after ablation (Fig. 1c-e). Lesions have hypointense boundaries in T2* images acquired 1 and 4 weeks post-ablation. Whole lesions are hypointense in T2* images acquired 8 weeks post-ablation. Strong correlation (R2=0.9747) between lesions volumes estimated from LGE and T2* acquired 8 weeks post-ablation was found (Fig. 2). Conclusions: Non-contrast T2* technique for visualization of RF ablations has been developed and validated. The technique can be used to detect RF lesions as early as a week post-ablation. T2* contrast of the lesions improves with time after ablation as amount of hemosiderin increases.
A Narrative Cartography of the French Indo-China War: A Journalistic Perspective

While cartography continues to be a major form of geographic study, an important line of cartographic research has moved away from the “scientific” framework of cartographic inquiry, and instead studies the narratives and social construction of maps. This article seeks to understand the visual representation of the French Indo-China War using journalistic maps from the New York Times. In doing so, it hopes to reconstruct how the policies and events of this conflict were visually represented to the American public. It draws upon critical cartographic frameworks to deconstruct the visual narrative and interpret the assumptions that were inherent within the maps. The overall visual impact of the conflict suggests an attempt to simplify the conflict into a Western narrative of national emergence without a deeper discussion of identity, ethnicity, and sovereignty at a subnational level.
Social integration and healthy aging among U.S. women

Abstract Background Social integration has been related to risk of chronic diseases and mental health conditions. Purpose We investigated the association between social integration in midlife with subsequent health and well-being in aging. Methods We included women from the Nurses' Health Study in the United States, who had no major chronic diseases in 1996 when we assessed social integration, using the Berkman-Syme Social Network Index. We defined healthy aging after 16 years of follow-up, when women ranged from 66 to 91 years, on the basis of survival along with 4 health criteria, assessed in 2012: no history of major chronic disease diagnosis, no self-reported impairment in memory, and no major impairments in physical function or mental health. Results Of the 41,013 surviving participants in 2012 with information on social integration and health criteria, 6206 (15.1%) were healthy agers (i.e., met all four criteria) and the remaining 34,807 (84.9%) were usual agers. After multivariable adjustment, women who were socially integrated at midlife had modestly better odds (odds ratio = 1.38, 95% confidence interval: 1.23, 1.55) of healthy aging compared to women who were socially isolated. Conclusions In this study, we found that women who were more socially integrated were more likely to be healthy agers. The results provide evidence for a longitudinal association between social integration and healthy aging.