cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Lattice plasmon resonance in core-shell SiO_2/Au nanocylinder arrays

Core-shell SiO2/Au nanocylinder arrays (NCAs) are studied using finite-difference time-domain simulations. The increase of height induces new surface plasmon resonances along the nanocylinders, i.e., dipole and quadrupole modes. Orthogonal coupling between superstrate diffraction order and the height-induced dipole mode is observed, which could achieve a well-defined lattice plasmon mode even for smaller NCAs in asymmetric environments. Electromagnetic field distribution has been employed to determine the coupling origin. Radiative loss could also be effectively suppressed in these core-shell NCAs, indicating the possibility of future applications in fluorescence enhancement and nanolasers.
The design and screening of drugs to prevent acquired sensorineural hearing loss.

Introduction: Sensorineural hearing loss affects a high percentage of the population. Ototoxicity is a serious and pervasive problem in patients treated with cisplatin. Strategies to ameliorate ototoxicity without compromising on antitumor activity of treatments are urgently needed. Similar problems occur with aminoglycoside antibiotic therapy for infections. Noise-induced hearing loss affects a large number of people. The use of ear protection is not always possible or effective. The prevention of hearing loss with drug therapy would have a huge impact in reducing the number of people with hearing loss from these major causes. Areas covered: This review discusses significant research findings dealing with the use of protective agents against hearing loss caused by cisplatin, aminoglycoside antibiotics and noise trauma. The efficacy in animal studies and the application of these protective agents in clinical trials that are ongoing are presented. Expert opinion: The reader will gain new insights into curr...
Paraneoplastic Gastrointestinal Dysmotility: When to Consider and How to Diagnose

In this review of dysmotility in cancer patients, we have focused on paraneoplastic GI dysmotility as it provides an excellent example of how derangements of the neuromuscular apparatus of the gut can affect GI motility. A high index of clinical suspicion, together with serologic evaluation using a panel of autoantibodies in selected patients, is important in ensuring the early diagnosis of paraneoplastic GI dysmotility and may help guide management. Although it remains unproved that paraneoplastic antibodies are pathogenic, they are useful diagnostic markers. A better understanding of the pathogenesis of these disorders, including the role of paraneoplastic antibodies, will, hopefully, lead to earlier diagnosis and improved adjunctive, immunology-based treatments. Furthermore, even though successful treatment of the underlying cancer may not lead to reversal of the GI dysmotility, the recognition of a paraneoplastic syndrome may lead to early cancer diagnosis and a better chance of successful treatment of the cancer and overall survival. Although rare, it is imperative that clinicians be aware of the association between malignancy and GI dysmotility so that they know when to investigate for an underlying malignancy.
How to capture wild passerine species to study baseline corticosterone levels

Baseline corticosterone levels have been suggested to be an effective tool to assess and monitor the health status of individuals and populations of wild birds. However, measuring baseline corticosterone levels in the field is difficult because the capture protocol may affect rates of corticosterone secretion. In passerine birds, two methods of capture are widely used: (1) passive netting consisting of monitoring mist-nets frequently to check if a bird has been caught; and (2) target netting consisting of installing a conspecific decoy and/or playing a tape-recorded conspecific song in the vicinity of a mist-net until the territorial bird is captured. Our objective here was to determine whether these methods of capture are effective at achieving non-disturbed baseline corticosterone levels in American Redstarts (Setophaga ruticilla). We found that passive netting was associated with elevated corticosterone levels, suggesting that hanging in a net for several minutes activates the HPA axis and, thus, elicits an adreno-cortical stress response. In contrast, target netting was not associated with an increase in corticosterone levels, regardless of the length of time between when the target bird first approached the net and when it was captured. Therefore, we suggest that researchers interested in estimated baseline corticosterone in this species use target netting and not passive netting.
A correlated histochemical and electron microscopic study of the intranuclear crystalline aggregates of adenovirus (RI-APC virus) in HeLa cells.

HeLa cells in tissue cultures infected with types 3, 4, or 7 of adenovirus (RI-APC virus) were studied in order to correlate certain histochemical and electron microscopic findings. Adjacent thin (ca. 0.05 µ) and thick (2–4 µ) sections of osmium-fixed, methacrylate-embedded cells were cut; by mapping the sections the same cells could be identified with both the electron and the light microscope. Intranuclear crystalline aggregates seen with the electron microscope to be composed of ordered arrays of viral particles were found by means of the Feulgen reaction to contain DNA. DNA is therefore assumed to be a constituent of the viral particle. The virus appeared to develop from an osmiophilic Feulgen-negative matrix. Displacement of nuclear chromatin occurred during this process. A Feulgen-azure staining method was found to permit clear distinction between viral and nuclear (host) DNA in thick sections.
Activism or education? implications for achieving science literacy

The authors discuss the goal of science education in the United States. The meaning of the concept "science literacy" is considered. The emphasis of the discussion is on the Earth and environmental sciences.
The Cognitive as the Social An Ethnomethodological Approach to Writing Process Research

This article explores the uses of ethnomethodology in developing a robust sociocognitive theory of writing. Ethnomethodology, a radical movement in sociology that studies people's sense-making prac...
Existentially quantified values for queries and updates of facts in transaction logic programs

In several applications of logic programming and Transaction Logic, such as, planning, trust management and independent Semantic Web Services, an action might produce incomplete facts and leave existential values in an incrementally generated data structure. The same action or other producer or consumer actions might read, modify or communicate through these facts, making this technique a powerful communication technique. In this poster, we present a definite semantics for these existentially quantified values that occur only in facts, queries and updates of facts. Although this simple semantics applies only to facts and not to clauses, it is relevant to many applications, including artificial intelligence planning, workflow modeling and verification, and updates of facts in the Semantic Web.
Purification and characterization of a membrane-associated ATPase from Natronococcus occultus, a haloalkaliphilic archaeon

Isolated membranes of the extreme haloalkaliphilic archaeon Natronococcus occultus were able to hydrolyze ATP via an ATPase, which required the presence of Mg2+, high concentrations of NaCl, and a pH value of 9. The native molecular mass of the purified ATPase was 130 kDa and was composed of 74- and 61-kDa subunits. Enzyme activity was specific for the hydrolysis of ATP with slight activity towards GTP, CTP, and ITP. The enzyme required NaCl for maximal activity but Na2SO4 and (NH4)2SO4 could substitute. The enzyme showed no activity if Na2SO3 or sodium citrate was substituted for NaCl. The ATPase from N. occultus was inhibited by NBD-Cl, NaN3, and ouabain, and was sensitive to nitrate, vanadate, DCCD, and bafilomycin A1. It was not inhibited by NEM in contrast to other previously characterized halophile ATPases. The ATPase had a KM of 0.5 mM and appeared to be non-competitively inhibited by NaN3 with a KI of 3.1 mM.
The Search for the Sources of Growth: Areas of Ignorance, Old and New

Many economic historians, like most economists, depend on standard growth accounts to provide some quantitative description of the proximate sources of growth, but this is misleading. American growth experience illustrates the difficulty. The seeming major contribution of tangible capital accumulation to nineteenth-century growth was the consequence of scale-dependent and capital-using technological progress. The large twentieth-century contributions of education and R&D conceal technology's new intangible capital-using bias. Additionally, reverse forces run from capital accumulation to technological progress. Without a greater understanding of these interactions, our knowledge of even the proximate sources of growth is incomplete.
Monoaminergic Orchestration of Motor Programs in a Complex C. elegans Behavior

Monoamines provide chemical codes of behavioral states. However, the neural mechanisms of monoaminergic orchestration of behavior are poorly understood. Touch elicits an escape response in Caenorhabditis elegans where the animal moves backward and turns to change its direction of locomotion. We show that the tyramine receptor SER-2 acts through a Gαo pathway to inhibit neurotransmitter release from GABAergic motor neurons that synapse onto ventral body wall muscles. Extrasynaptic activation of SER-2 facilitates ventral body wall muscle contraction, contributing to the tight ventral turn that allows the animal to navigate away from a threatening stimulus. Tyramine temporally coordinates the different phases of the escape response through the synaptic activation of the fast-acting ionotropic receptor, LGC-55, and extrasynaptic activation of the slow-acting metabotropic receptor, SER-2. Our studies show, at the level of single cells, how a sensory input recruits the action of a monoamine to change neural circuit properties and orchestrate a compound motor sequence.
Recommendations for the statistical analysis of Chernoff/Kavlock test data

The statistical analyses of the data related to the teratogenic testing of 60 compounds utilizing the Chernoff/Kavlock test are the basis of this paper. The hypotheses chosen to be tested and the statistical tests utilized to test those hypotheses are discussed. The topics explored are the use of comparisonwise error rate versus experimentwise error rate, the use of nonparametric tests versus more "conventional" parametric tests and the use of "historical data" in assessing and interpreting group difference.
Power estimation in global interconnects and its reduction using a novel repeater optimization methodology

The purpose of this work is two fold. First, to quantify and establish future trends for the dynamic power dissipation in global wires of high performance integrated circuits. Second, to develop a novel and efficient delay-power tradeoff formulation for minimizing power due to repeaters, which can otherwise constitute 50% of total global wire power dissipation. Using the closed form solutions from this formulation, power savings of 50% on repeaters are shown with minimal delay penalties of about 5% at the 50 nm technology node. These closed-form, analytical solutions provide a fast and powerful tool for designers to minimize power.
Diode-grid oscillators

Loading a two-dimensional grid with active devices offers a means of combining the power of solid-state devices in the microwave and millimeter-wave range. The grid structure allows a large number of negative resistance devices to be combined. This approach is attractive because the active devices do not need an external locking signal, and the combining is done in free space. The loaded grid is a simple planar structure suitable for monolithic integration. Preliminary measurements on a nine-diode grid at 10 GHz show power-combining and frequency-locking without an external locking signal. >
Holocene stratigraphy of Cobweb Swamp, a Maya wetland in northern Belize

We investigated the soils and sediments of Cobweb Swamp, adjacent to the archaeological site of Colha in northern Belize, to adumbrate landscape evolution and the impact of the ancient Maya on a tropical palustrine wetland. The Cobweb section exposes a complex and dynamically evolving landscape, with a rich interplay between natural and human forces. The Cobweb depression probably formed as a karstic doline or polje in interbedded limestone and marl of late Tertiary or Pleistocene age. During the latest Pleistocene, a terrestrial marsh covered most of the depression. Slope wash and colluviation from adjacent slopes impacted the depression during the early Holocene, possibly in response to a drier and cooler climate reported to have occurred in the region during this time. After ca. 5600 B.P., the Cobweb depression was affected by relatively rapidly rising sea levels in the area, and a brackish lagoon filled the basin. By 4800 B.P., a peat filled in the lagoon, probably because precipitation of a marl in the lagoon coupled with decreasing rates of sea-level rise enabled emergent vegetation to encroach the shallowing waters. Humans first began to affect the landscape when this peat was at the surface. Massive deforestation, resulting in increased runoff and rising water levels, is the most likely explanation for a fresh-water lagoon that again inundated the Cobweb depression between 3400 and 500 B.P. The Maya Clay was deposited on the edge of this lagoon as the result of upland erosion, almost as soon as deforestation began, but the bulk of the deposit was coincident with the sudden collapse of the Classic Maya civilization ca. 1000 B.P., suggesting that significant environmental degradation was associated with the demise of the Classic Maya. Peat began to fill the Cobweb lagoon sometime before 500 B.P., probably the result of shallower water levels from decreasing runoff resulting from reforestation after abandonment by the Maya.
Allocation of resources for hospital evacuations via simulation

Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued an order recently requiring that all hospitals have an evacuation plan with the following components: sheltering plan, transportation plan and staffing plan. Also, these hospitals carry out tests to become familiar with the sequence of events that need to occur for an effective evacuation. However, risk managers only have a limited number of scenarios that they can actually consider for testing, due to time constraints or complexity in performing the tests. They can not make sure of the efficiency and effectiveness of their plans. Inefficient and ineffective evacuation plan may result in tragic loss of life as occurred in evacuation of hospitals as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This research proposes a simulation model that can be used by the hospitals to evaluate their performances in case of an evacuation due to a hurricane.
Measured Air Infiltration and Ventilation Rates in Eight Large Office Buildings

Air infiltration and ventilation rate measurements were made during all seasons of the year in eight federal office buildings using an automatic air infiltration system designed at the National Bureau of Standards. The eight federal office buildings were located in Anchorage, Alaska; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Columbia, South Carolina; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Huron, South Dakota; Norfolk, Virginia; Pittsfield, Massachusetts; and Springfield, Massachusetts. These buildings ranged in size from 1730 m 2 (18 600 ft 2 ) for the building in Pittsfield to 45 500 m 2 (490 000 ft 2 ) for the Anchorage federal building. All were constructed within the last 10 years. Air infiltration rates were found to vary from 0.2 to 0.7 air changes per hour and constituted from 23% to 61% of the building design load. Minimum ventilation rates in the tighter buildings were found to be less than what would be recommended for occupied offices.
Elliptical trough reflector for the collection of light from linear sources

A trough reflector with a reflective, truncated elliptical surface was designed to efficiently collect freely propagating light from a linear source. The source was placed at one focus of the reflector, and light was collected through a rectangular aperture near the second focus. Collection efficiency was much greater than that of a spherical integrator and ≈6.5× greater than that of an objective lens; as much as ≈55% of the light could be captured from the full aperture. This reflector could be used to efficiently collect surface fluorescence excited by use of evanescent waves in fluorescence-based fiber optic or capillary waveguide sensors.
Recognizing and Treating Uncommon Behavioral and Emotional Disorders in Children and Adolescents Who Have Been Severely Maltreated: Somatization and Other Somatoform Disorders:

This article reviews current knowledge about somatoform disorders in children and adolescents. Somatoform disorders are likely to occur more frequently in children and adolescents who have been severely maltreated than in others. The symptoms of somatoform disorders are reviewed, strategies for distinguishing somatoform disorders from other disorders are examined, and treatment strategies are explored.
A Comparison of the Concepts of Democracy and Experience in a Sample of Major Works by Dewey and Freire

While theorizing in distinctly different times, distinctly different cultures, and under distinctly different circumstances, notable philosophical similarities can be drawn between John Dewey and Paulo Freire. This article focuses on two major themes evident in a sample of each philosopher's major works, democracy and experience, and draws theoretical comparisons between the way each philosopher approaches these concepts in terms of definition and application to educational and social practice. The author suggests that, despite some paradigmatic differences, the fundamental definitions and uses of these concepts expressed by both philosophers are largely comparable and complementary.
Amplification of local chirality within a folded dendrimer. An intramolecular sergeants and soldiers experiment

A series of pyridine-2,6-dicarboxamide dendrons having varying proportions of chiral and achiral termini have been prepared. Circular dichroism and X-ray crystallographic studies indicate that these folded dendrons propagate terminal chirality via a ‘sergeants and soldiers’ process. The extent of chiral amplification shows a dependence on dendron generation, but also is affected by the relative positioning of the chiral termini at the periphery of the dendron. Analysis of the crystal structures of the G1 dendrons, 4a–6a, reveals chain–chain and chain–dendron conformational communication, which is likely to be responsible for the chiral amplification observed in solution.
Characterizing performance of consistency algorithms by algorithm configuration of random CSP generators

In Constraint Processing, many algorithms for enforcing the same level of local consistency may exist. The performance of those algorithms varies widely. In order to understand what problem features lead to better performance of one algorithm over another, we utilize an algorithm configurator to tune the parameters of a random problem generator and maximize the performance difference of two consistency algorithms for enforcing constraint minimality. Our approach allowed us to generate instances that run 1000 times faster for one algorithm over the other.
Design of Mobile Microgrid’s Hierarchy for Power Distribution

This paper presents a hierarchy for autonomous mobile microgrids to ensure robustness and scalability of such systems for power distribution applications. Developing an autonomous mobile microgrid based on the proposed hierarchy will create a microgrid system that will autonomously connect to different power nodes (generators, loads, storage units, converters, etc.) and interact with them accordingly. This system will have the scalability characteristics of an ad hoc system and can reconfigure itself depending on available power nodes.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
The Two-Dimensional Density of States at Fractional Filling Factors

Magnetocapacitance measurements have yielded the density of states of a two-dimensional electron gas from the weak-field limit to the extreme quantum limit. Quantitative information about the density of states at filling factors of 1/3 and 2/3 has been obtained.
Fast and adaptive h.264/avc video coding for network based applications

As the state of the art video coding standard, H.264/AVC achieves significant coding performance gain comparing to its predecessors. Nevertheless, the advance comes at huge complexity increase of the encoder, which may hinder its applications to real world. In addition, network applications impose some unique requirements on existing video coding algorithms. For instance, a variable bit rate output of the encoder has to be tuned into a constant rate bit stream to fit transmission channel bandwidth. In this dissertation, two issues related to H.264/AVC video coding are to be addressed: coding complexity and bandwidth adaption (rate control), and corresponding solutions are provided. To reduce the coding complexity, the original mode decision process in H.264/AVC reference software is optimized for fast implementation. Moreover, two rate control algorithms are given to address different requirements of rate control: quality fluctuation reduction and accurate basic unit quantization decision. Experiments are performed to test and validate the proposed algorithms. The results show that the proposed algorithms provide efficient solutions to the above problems and facilitate H.264/AVC coding standard for practical deployment.
Can We Group Similar Amazon Reviews: A Case Study with Different Clustering Algorithms

The amount of unstructured text data available is growing exponentially due to the proliferation of digital information such as emails, text messages, blogs, social media posts, and product reviews. For users of e-commerce websites such as Amazon, navigating thousands of reviews before buying a product can be a daunting task. Unsupervised machine learning techniques can be used to automatically analyze preprocessed data from these websites in order to provide consumers with an improved user experience before purchasing a product. In this work, we leverage two flat clustering algorithms on Amazon review data: K-means and Peak-searching to perform clustering of product reviews based on topic. The experimental results show that K-means clustering performs better than Peak-searching clustering in terms of grouping similar reviews based on topics.
SEQUENCING, GENOMIC LOCALIZATION AND INITIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE VPG OF PEA ENATION MOSAIC ENAMOVIRUS

The amino acid sequence of the genome-linked viral protein (VPg) of pea enation mosaic enamovirus (PEMV) has been determined. The VPg is encoded by nt 1811-1894 within ORF1 of RNA1 downstream of the proteinase motif. Direct N terminus sequencing of intact and endoproteinase Asp-N-digested VPg combined with electrospray mass spectroscopy confirmed that the VPg is composed of 28 amino acids with a molecular mass of 3138 Da. The context of the N and C terminus residues as well as the position and size of the VPg suggest that the mature VPg may be generated via post-translational proteolytic processing of the polyprotein arrangement of membrane anchor-proteinase-VPg-polymerase encoded by ORFs 1 and 2. Computer comparisons did not reveal any significant similarity between the VPg of PEMV and any other sequences including those of the VPgs of related subgroup II luteoviruses.
Relation between certain myeloma proteins and normal gamma globulin.

Summary1. Antisera against two preparations of normal gamma globulin reacted quantitatively with the special myeloma protein found in the serum of 4 patients with multiple myeloma. 2. The myeloma protein from the serum of a fifth patient showing the most rapid electrophoretic mobility failed to react with gamma globulin antisera. 3. Absorption of gamma globulin antiserum with purified myeloma proteins removed only a portion of the total antiserum, thus dividing the antibody into fractions. 4. Antiserum prepared against a highly purified preparation of a gamma myeloma protein gave a precipitin reaction with normal gamma globulin.
Effects of Population Size and Cage Area on Agonistic Activity and Social Structure of White Leghorn Layers

Abstract Four caging environments consisting of two population sizes (4 vs. 6 birds/cage) and two cage area allocations (316 vs. 406 cm2/bird) were evaluated for their effects on agonistic activity, social structure, and egg production of Single Comb White Leghorn layers. Wire battery laying cages were designed and constructed to study these effects in a nonconfounded approach while maintaining feed trough space constant. Agonistic activities and dominance structure for the treatment groups were assessed during Weeks 23 to 26 and 37 to 40; egg production was obtained for Weeks 20 to 40. Cage groups demonstrated a high degree of linearity (K) for dominance hierarchies during both observational periods. Values for K ranged from a low of .69 during Period 1 to as high as .91 during Period 2. Cage groups were also very stable over observation periods; correlation coefficients for dominance ranks between Periods 1 and 2 averaged .95 and .89 for the four and six-bird groups, respectively. Greater cage area and population size resulted in more agonistic activity during Period 1, but only in the 6/406 cm2 treatment during Period 2. The alpha individual was responsible for the most aggressive acts committed in all cage groups (40 to 50%). Aggressive activity was observed to decline in a linear manner with declining dominance rank. Egg production was significantly affected by population and density treatments during Period 2; however, correlations between aggressive acts per cage and egg production were not generally significant.
SHORT-TERM CALORIC REGULATION IN THE ADULT OPOSSUM (DIDELPHIS VIRGINIANA).

SummaryThe opossum did not precisely adjust its caloric intake over all the experimental conditions. Rather, as levels of dilution and enrichment increased, the precision of caloric adjustment decreased. There was no increase in grams of food intake on diluted diets, but there was a decrease in grams of food intake with calorically enriched diets. However, this reduction in gram intake constituted an increase in caloric intake. The physical capacity of the digestive tract was not a limiting factor.The assistance in the statistical analyses provided by Professor C. C. Cockerham and R. J. Monroe is gratefully acknowledged.
Cortical Superficial Siderosis Presumed due to Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Minimum Standards for Rating and Reporting.

With great interest, I read the recent article by Inoue et al[1][1] on the diagnostic significance of cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) for Alzheimer disease in a memory clinic setting. In line with other recent studies on the topic, the authors found cSS in 12 of 347 (3.5%) patients in the
Parkinson's Disease: Assay of Phosphorylated α-Synuclein in Skin Biopsy for Early Diagnosis and Association with Melanoma.

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system, in which a small naturally unfolded protein α-synuclein plays an essential role. α-Synuclein belongs to a synuclein family comprising three members: α, β, and γ-synucleins associated with neurodegenerative and neoplastic diseases and involved in development. Several studies revealed that α-synuclein is present not only in the brain, but also in the skin and other peripheral tissues. This finding open a new approach to PD diagnosis based on the assay of α-synuclein from a biological sample of a living patient. Furthermore, PD is associated with an increased risk of skin melanoma. An important posttranslational modification of α-synuclein is phosphorylation at serine-129, which may convert the protein into pathological species both in PD and melanoma. Thus, analysis of phosphorylated α-synuclein might be an important diagnostic test for both diseases providing additional information about the mechanism of pathology.
Histone biosynthesis in pernicious anemia proerythroblasts and megaloblasts.

Histone biosynthesis was investigated in proerythroblasts and megaloblasts obtained from patients with untreated pernicious anemia. Radioautography, using tritium-labeled L-arginine, L-lysine, and L-trytophane, acrylamide gel electrophoresis of histone fractions, acrylamide gel radioautography, uptake of radioisotopes into lysine-rich and arginine-rich histone fractions, and amino acid analysis of histone fractions, was performed. In untreated pernicious anemia proerythroblasts and megaloblasts, there was a small uptake of arginine and lysine as seen radioautographically, and incorporation into isolated histone fractions was scant. Amino acid analyses showed these histones to be lysine rich. After these erythroid precursors were exposed to cyanocobalamin in vivo or to coenzyme B12 in vitro, there was a marked (up to 100-fold) incorporation of only tritium-labeled L-arginine into erythroid nuclei, as seen radioautographically, and into isolated histone fractions as well. Amino acid analyses demonstrated that the histones had become more arginine rich. These studies indicate that vitamin B12 facilitates the biosynthesis of arginine-rich histones in vitamin B12-deficient erythroid precursors.
A fixed grid, shifted stencil scheme for inviscid fluid-particle interaction

This paper presents a finite volume scheme for a scalar one-dimensional fluid-particle interaction model. When devising a finite volume scheme for this model, one difficulty that arises is how to deal with the moving source term in the PDE while maintaining a fixed grid. The fixed grid requirement comes from the ultimate goal of accommodating two or more particles. The finite volume scheme that we propose addresses the moving source term in a novel way. We use a modified computational stencil, with the lower part of the stencil shifted during those time steps when the particle crosses a mesh point. We then employ an altered convective flux to compensate the stencil shifts. The resulting scheme uses a fixed grid, preserves total momentum, and enforces several stability properties in the single-particle case. The single-particle scheme is easily extended to multiple particles by a splitting method.
Synthesis and Spectroscopy of II–VI Quantum Dots: An Overview

Small particles of II-VI semiconductors which are 10 to 100 A in diameter exhibit quantum confinement effects at room temperature. They are the zero dimensional analog of quantum wells and are often referred to as quantum dots. This review tutorial discusses the application of simple effective mass theory to these small particles in section 2. Section 3 summarizes a synthetic procedure which produces crystallites of CdSe with sizes tunable between ∼15 and 115A and with distributions <5%. Sections 4 and 5 discuss the spectroscopy of these crystallites, with section 4 focusing on the absorption event and section 5 focusing on the luminescence event. Since the intended audience of this review tutorial is the interested but uninitiated, the tone is kept simple. The number of references is also purposely kept manageable. The intent here is to convey some of the basic ideas of the field.
Does the H Index Correlate With Academic Rank Among Full-Time Academic Craniofacial Surgeons?

Objective To assess the relationship between the H index and the academic rank among full-time academic craniofacial surgeons. Design This was a cross-sectional study of full-time academic craniofacial surgeons. Setting Data were compiled and analyzed at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital. Results The study sample included 127 full-time academic craniofacial surgeons. Overall, 89% were men, the mean number of years since completion of training was 16.2 ± 11.2 years. Most surgeons had a background in plastic and reconstructive surgery. Approximately 75% had completed formal fellowship training. The mean H index for the sample was 12.4 ± 9.9. The H index was strongly correlated with academic rank ( r s = 0.62, p H index was significantly associated with academic rank (coefficient = 0.33, p=0.04). Conclusions Among full-time academic craniofacial surgeons, the H index is strongly correlated with the academic rank.
Morphological features of IFN-γ–stimulated mesenchymal stromal cells predict overall immunosuppressive capacity

Human mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) lines can vary significantly in their functional characteristics, and the effectiveness of MSC-based therapeutics may be realized by finding predictive features associated with MSC function. To identify features associated with immunosuppressive capacity in MSCs, we developed a robust in vitro assay that uses principal-component analysis to integrate multidimensional flow cytometry data into a single measurement of MSC-mediated inhibition of T-cell activation. We used this assay to correlate single-cell morphological data with overall immunosuppressive capacity in a cohort of MSC lines derived from different donors and manufacturing conditions. MSC morphology after IFN-γ stimulation significantly correlated with immunosuppressive capacity and accurately predicted the immunosuppressive capacity of MSC lines in a validation cohort. IFN-γ enhanced the immunosuppressive capacity of all MSC lines, and morphology predicted the magnitude of IFN-γ–enhanced immunosuppressive activity. Together, these data identify MSC morphology as a predictive feature of MSC immunosuppressive function.
Ultrasound Guided Interventions (25 min)

: Key features covered by this talk are, choice of transducers and needles; patient positioning; joint injections and aspirations; tendon sheath injections; cyst aspirations; Biopsies.
Six3 in a small population of progenitors at E8.5 is required for neuroretinal specification via regulating cell signaling and survival in mice

Neuroretina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) are differentiated from the progenitors in optic vesicles, but it is unclear when and how the two lineages are segregated. Manipulation of chick embryos reveals that the early anteroventral optic vesicle is crucial for neuroretinal development, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. Homeodomain transcription factor Six3 is required for neuroretinal specification and is dispensable for RPE formation, but the cell fates of Six3-deficient progenitors and the origins of remnant RPE are unknown. Here, we performed lineage tracing of Six3-Cre positive cells in wild-type and Six3-deficient mouse embryos. Six3-Cre positive progenies were found in a population of progenitors in the anteroventral optic pits/vesicles starting at E8.5, and were found in neuroretina, optic stalk, ventral forebrain, but not RPE, at E10.5. Six3-deletion in the small population of progenitors at E8.5 was sufficient to cause rostral expansion of Wnt8b and drastic reduction of Fgf8/MAPK signaling, ablating neuroretinal specification without affecting RPE. Lineage tracing revealed Six3-deficient progenitors at E8.5 were eventually lost and the remnant RPE was derived from Six3-Cre negative cells. Thus, Six3 in a small population of progenitors expressing Six3-Cre at E8.5 is required for neuroretinal specification via regulating cell signaling and survival in mice.
Political Institutions, Economic Liberty, and the Great Divergence

I argue that Europe's political fragmentation interacted with her political innovations—self-governing cities and national parliaments—to facilitate “economic liberty,” which in turn unleashed faster and more inter-connected urban growth. Examining urban growth over the period 600–1800 ce throughout Eurasia, I show that inter-city growth correlations were positive and significant only in Western Europe after 1200 ce. Within Western Europe, I show that growth correlations were greatest in the most fragmented and parliamentary areas, individual cities became significantly more tied to urban growth when their realms became parliamentary, and spillover effects (due to competition between rulers) were significant.
Biomechanics and Its Impact on Human Life: From Gene Expression to Organ Physiology

During the latter half of this century biomechanics has made an enormous impact on medicine and biology. As with virtually all of bioengineering, this started with applying existing knowledge of mechanics to problems in biology and medicine. In more recent years this has evolved to where there is a true integration between the engineering mechanics and the biology. This integration has resulted in not only the application of mechanics to problems which could not even be envisioned 40 years ago, but also has resulted in the development of the field of mechanics itself. There are at least three biomedical areas where biomechanics has had a major impact. These are cardiovascular dynamics, orthopaedics, and injury biomechanics. In all three of these areas the focus has shifted from the macroscopic to the microscopic, i.e. to molecular and cellular biomechanics. A relatively recent emerging area is that of tissue engineering, i.e. the development of biological substitutes for implantation into the body. This field is truly at the interface of the traditional medical implant industry and the biotechnology industry. It offers the possibility of implants which will have greater patency. As we move in the 21st century, the human genome project will be virtually complete. In this post-genomic era one will move from the genome to the proteome and ultimately to the physiome. The information that will be associated with this will be extensive and to the point where proper interpretation will only be possible if adequate computational models of the dynamics of biological processes can be developed. These models need to extend all the way from the regulation of gene expression to the physiological function of tissues and organs. Finally, the development of the educational programs which truly integrate biology and engineering must be a priority if we are to have the manpower needed for the future. These are the opportunities and challenges for the 21st century, ones to which the biomechanics community can make important contributions.
Mechanisms of immune evasion by gliomas.

A major contributing factor to glioma development and progression is its ability to evade the immune system. This chapter will explore the mechanisms utilized by glioma to mediate immunosuppression and immune evasion. These include intrinsic mechanisms linked to its location within the brain and interactions between glioma cells and immune cells. Lack of recruitment of naive effector immune cells perhaps accounts for most of the immune suppression mediated by these tumor cells. This is enhanced by increased recruitment of microglia which resemble immature antigen presenting cells that are unable to support T-cell mediated immunity. Furthermore, secreted factors like TGF-β, COX-2 and IL-10, altered costimulatory molecules and inhibition of STAT-3 all contribute to the recruitment and expansion of regulatory T cells, which further modulate the immunosuppressive environment of glioma. In light of these findings, multiple immunotherapeutic treatment modalities are currently being explored.
Efficient syntheses and anti-cancer activity of xenortides A–D including ent/epi-stereoisomers

A one-pot, two-step, total synthesis of naturally occurring xenortides A, B, C and D, (Xens A-D) isolated from the bacterium Xenorhabdus nematophila, and an entire complementary set of stereoisomers, has been achieved. Compounds were synthesized utilizing an isocyanide-based Ugi 4-CR followed by facile N-Boc deprotection. The reaction sequence took advantage of the chiral pool of N-Boc protected amino acids (l-Leu/Val and d-Leu/Val) with aryl isocyanides, phenyl acetaldehyde and methylamine giving the desired Xens A-D (A and B >98% ee) and all subsequent stereoisomers in reasonable yields upon deprotection followed by separation of diastereomers. Also, detailed mechanistic insights for diastereoselectivity of (-)-Xen A, as a model in the Ugi 4-CR, has been described. Moreover, for the first time, this focused library was screened for cytotoxicity against a panel of epithelial cancer cell lines as well as normal cell lines with an MTT proliferation assay. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) study demonstrated that tryptamides Xen B and D were more active than phenylethylamides Xen A and C. Furthermore, (-)-Xen B (IC50 = 19-25 μM) and ent-(+)-Xen D (IC50 = 21-26 μM) gave the highest cytotoxicity and they were also found to be non-toxic toward normal cells. Importantly, the SAR results indicate that the stereochemistry at C8 and C11 in (-)-Xen B and ent-(+)-Xen D play a critical role in cytotoxic activity.
Exercise Ventilatory Efficiency in Older and Younger Heart Failure Patients With Preserved Ejection Fraction.

ABSTRACT Background Patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) exhibit pulmonary abnormalities, but the studies to date have reported wide variability in the ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (VE/VCO2) slope. It is possible that aging may contribute to that variability. We sought to compare ventilatory efficiency and its components in older and younger HFpEF patients during exercise. Methods and Results Eighteen older (O; 80 ± 4 y) and 19 younger (Y; 59 ± 7 y) HFpEF patients performed cardiopulmonary exercise testing to volitional fatigue. Measurements of arterial blood gases were used to derive VD/VT, dead space ventilation, and alveolar ventilation. VE/VCO2 slope was greater in older compared with younger HFpEF patients (O 36 ± 7vs Y 31 ± 7; P = .04). At peak exercise, older HFpEF exhibited greater VD/VT compared with younger HFpEF (O 0.37 ± 0.10vs Y 0.28 ± 0.10; P .23), but dead space ventilation was greater in older compared with younger HFpEF at peak exercise (P = .04). Conclusions Older HFpEF patients exhibit greater ventilatory inefficiency resulting from elevated physiologic dead space during peak exercise compared with younger HFpEF patients. These results suggest that aging can worsen the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying ventilatory efficiency during exercise in HFpEF.
Unsupervised Rare Category Analysis

In this chapter, we focus on unsupervised rare category analysis, i.e., no label information is available in the learning process, and address the following two problems: (1) rare category selection, i.e., selecting a set of examples which are likely to come from the minority class; (2) feature selection, i.e., selecting the features that are relevant to identify the minority class.
Improved segmented-scan spectral stitching for stable isotope resolved metabolomics (SIRM) by ultra-high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry

Abstract We have implemented a linear ion trap (LIT)-based SIM-stitching method for ultra-high-resolution Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) that increases the S/N over a wide m/z range compared to non-segmented wide full-scan (WFS) spectra. Here we described an improved segmented spectral scan stitching method that was based on quadrupole mass filter (QMF)-SIM, which overcame previous limitations of ion signal loss in LIT. This allowed for accurate representation of isotopologue distributions, both at natural abundance and in stable isotope-resolved metabolomics (SIRM)-based experiments. We also introduced a new spectral binning method that provided more precise and resolution-independent bins for irreversibly noise-suppressed FTMS spectra. We demonstrated a substantial improvement in S/N and sensitivity (typically > 10-fold) for 13C labeled lipid extracts of human macrophages grown as three-dimensional (3D) cell culture, with detection of an increased number of 13C isotopologue ions. The method also enabled analysis of extracts from very limited biological samples.
The computational philosophy: simulation as a core philosophical method

Modeling and computer simulations, we claim, should be considered core philosophical methods. More precisely, we will defend two theses. First, philosophers should use simulations for many of the same reasons we currently use thought experiments. In fact, simulations are superior to thought experiments in achieving some philosophical goals. Second, devising and coding computational models instill good philosophical habits of mind. Throughout the paper, we respond to the often implicit objection that computer modeling is “not philosophical.”
Cellular effects of nicotine salt-containing e-liquids

"Pod-based" e-cigarettes such as JUUL are currently the most prevalent electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) in the United States. JUUL-type ENDS utilize nicotine salts protonated with benzoic acid rather than freebase nicotine. However, limited information is available on the cellular effects of these products. Cytoplasmic Ca2+ is a universal second messenger that controls many cellular functions including cell growth and cell death. Of note, dysregulation of cell Ca2+ homeostasis has been linked with several disease processes including autoimmune disease and several types of cancer. We exposed HEK293T cells and THP-1 macrophage-like cells to different JUUL e-liquids. We evaluated their effects on cellular viability and Ca2+ signaling by measuring fluorescence from calcein-AM/propidium iodide and Fluo-4, respectively. E-liquid autofluorescence was used to look for e-liquid permeation into cells. To identify the mechanisms behind the Ca2+ responses, different inhibitors of Ca2+ channels and phospholipase C signaling were used. JUUL e-liquids caused significant cytotoxic effects, with "Mint" flavor being the most cytotoxic. The Mint flavored e-liquid also caused a significant elevation in cytoplasmic Ca2+ . Using autofluorescence, the permeation of JUUL e-liquids into live cells was confirmed, indicating that intracellular organelles are directly exposed to e-liquids. Further studies identified the endoplasmic reticulum as being the source of e-liquid-induced changes in cytoplasmic Ca2+ . Nicotine salt-based e-liquids cause cytotoxicity and elevate cytoplasmic Ca2+ , indicating that they can exert biological effects beyond what would be expected with nicotine alone. These effects are flavor-dependent, and we propose that flavored e-liquids be reassessed for potential lung toxicity.
The glassy response of solid 4 He to torsional oscillations

We calculated the glassy response of solid 4He to torsional oscillations assuming a phenomenological glass model. Making only a few assumptions about the distribution of glassy relaxation times in a small subsystem of otherwise rigid solid 4He, we can account for the magnitude of the observed period shift and concomitant dissipation peak in several torsion oscillator experiments. The implications of the glass model for solid 4He are threefold: (1) The dynamics of solid 4He is governed by glassy relaxation processes. (2) The distribution of relaxation times varies significantly between different torsion oscillator experiments. (3) The mechanical response of a torsion oscillator does not require a supersolid component to account for the observed anomaly at low temperatures, though we cannot rule out its existence.