cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mitochondrial ROS and Apoptosis

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are by-products of cellular metabolism or of xenobiotic exposure. Depending on their level, ROS can be detrimental leading to oxidative modifications in cellular lipids, proteins, or DNA or can be beneficial participating in intracellular signaling or cell regulation. Mitochondria are a quantitatively relevant intracellular source of ROS which are mainly produced as a result of monoelectron reduction of oxygen at the level of the respiratory chain complexes. Additionally, mitochondrial redox systems, such us glutathione, thioredoxin, and pyridine nucleotide redox couples, are involved in the antioxidant defense participating in modulation of mitochondrial functions including apoptotic cell death. Imbalance between ROS and the antioxidant defense leads to oxidative stress and oxidative changes to cellular biomolecules. Apoptosis or programmed cell death is initiated either at the plasma membrane (extrinsic) receptor-mediated apoptosis or at the mitochondria (intrinsic)-mediated apoptosis, respectively. High levels of mitochondrial ROS (mtROS) can initiate intrinsic apoptosis leading to the release of mitochondrial apoptogenic factors like cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor, into the cytosol. Moreover, mtROS can oxidize mitochondrial glutathione (GSH) causing the loss of intramitochondrial redox homeostasis and irreversible oxidative modifications to mitochondrial macromolecules including mitochondrial DNA. In addition to glutathione, thioredoxin and thioredoxin-dependent enzymes are involved in the removal of hydrogen peroxide and in the redox regulation of mitochondrial protein functions. The reductant for these two redox systems is NADPH and mitochondrial sources, including nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and malic enzyme. A better understanding of the redox control of apoptosis initiation and execution could stem the development of novel therapeutic interventions for oxidative stress-associated pathologies.
Quantifying biliverdin in liver and spleen samples from multiple avian species

ABSTRACT Avian eggshells exhibit a variety of colors and patterns whose functions include camouflage, detection of brood parasites, and facilitation of embryonic development. In addition, eggshell coloration, specifically blue-green coloration, may signal a female's quality to her mate. This signaling hypothesis relies on the assumption that biliverdin, the pigment responsible for blue-green eggshell coloration, is an indicator of female quality. Biliverdin is the product of heme degradation and has antioxidant and immunomodulating properties, supporting the possibility that if only a limited amount of biliverdin can be produced, deposition of this pigment into eggshells may be costly to females. However, these putative physiological functions of biliverdin were established by mammal-based studies, even though mammals produce an enzyme—biliverdin reductase—that readily converts biliverdin into bilirubin. Thus, the assumed physiological properties of biliverdin stem from data based on the end-product bilir...
Can BI-RADS features on mammography be used as a surrogate for expensive genomic testing in breast cancer patients?

Medical oncologists increasingly rely on expensive genomic analysis to stratify patients for different treatment. The genomic markers are able to divide patients into groups that behave differently in terms of tumor presentation, likelihood of metastatic spread, and response to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. In recent years there has been a rapid increase in the number of genomic tests available, like the Oncotype DX test, which provides the risk of cancer recurrence for a subset of patients. Radiogenomics, a new field that investigates the relationship between imaging phenotypes and genomic characteristics, may offer a less expensive and less invasive imaging surrogate for molecular subtype and Oncotype DX recurrence score (ODRS). This retrospective study analyzes the relationship between Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) features as assessed by radiologists on mammograms with molecular subtype and ODRS. We used data from patients with BI-RADS features (shape or margin) and a genomic feature (subtype or ODRS) for the following cohort: shape vs. subtype (n=69), margin vs. subtype (n=78), shape vs. ODRS (n=20), and margin vs. ODRS (n=18). The association between features was assessed using a Fisher’s exact test. Our results show that shape assessed by radiologists according to the BI-RADS lexicon is associated with molecular subtype (p=0.0171), while BI-RADS features of shape and margin were not significantly associated with ODRS (p=0.7839, p=0.6047 respectively).
Political Philosophy of Science in Nineteenth-Century France: From Comte’s Positivism to Renouvier’s Conventionalism

Recent controversy over whether the Vienna Circle can provide a model for today’s political turn in the philosophy of science indicates the need to clarify just what is meant by the term political philosophy of science. This paper finds fourteen different meanings of the term, including both descriptive and normative usages, having to do with the roles of political values in the sciences, the political consequences and significance of the sciences and scientific modes of thought, and political processes within the sciences. These different senses are exemplified by the history of nineteenth century French philosophy of science, including Comte and Renouvier, as well as twentieth century logical positivists such as Neurath and more recent philosophers of science such as Kitcher and Longino. The paper also addresses the issue of how there could be a positivist political philosophy of science, given positivisms’ questioning of values, and considers Renouvier’s social contract approach to a political philosophy of science more promising than either Comte’s naturalism or the logical positivists’ non-cognitivism.
Dewey’s Yardstick: Contextualization as a Crosscutting Measure of Experience in Education and Learning

Although experience and context are omnibus terms, the relationship between them provides some guidance on how each can be used to inform an understanding of the other. This article presents contex...
A Framework for Understanding of Bilingual Education in Turkey: A Mixed Method Approach

This study seeks to identify the obstacles and opportunities involved in setting up a bilingual education system and to identify the challenges and benefits associated with the daily experience of maintaining a bilingual education model. This study discusses the benefits of developing a bilingual education program and what these programs can offer regarding concerns related to the lives of minority people in Turkey. Explanatory sequential mixed method was used for this study. The first phase of this study was a survey that measured the perspectives of educators regarding potential bilingual education curricula in Turkey. The second phase comprised a qualitative data collection process to expand on the findings of quantitative results. For quantitative data collection, 140 participants responded the survey instrument. Participants included 96 males and 44 females. For qualitative data collection, eight participants were interviewed. Both quantitative and qualitative data reflected the benefits of a bilingual education program. First, minority students who are taught by means of a bilingual education program can protect their linguistic knowledge, cultural heritage, ethnic, and religious identity. Second, they can increase their understanding of linguistic and cultural diversity. Third, school attendance at the primary school level could be increased. Fourth, a bilingual program could contribute to the reduction of inequalities.
Positive Airway Pressure Device Technology Past and Present: What’s in the “Black Box”?

Since the introduction of continuous positive airway pressure (PAP) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in 1981, PAP technology has diversified exponentially. Compact and quiet fixed continuous PAP flow generators, autotitrating PAP devices, and bilevel PAP devices that can treat multiple sleep-disordered breathing phenotypes including OSA, central sleep apnea (CSA), combinations of OSA and CSA, and hypoventilation are available. Adaptive servo-ventilators can suppress Hunter-Cheyne-Stokes breathing and CSA and treat coexisting obstructive events. Volume-assured pressure support PAP apparatus purports to provide a targeted degree of ventilatory assistance while also treating cooccurring OSA and/or CSA.
Pilgrimage of Eighty-Eight Temples and Whale Graves in the Shikoku Region

This chapter examines whaling culture in the Shikoku Region (on Shikoku Island). Facing the Pacific Ocean, the Tosa Classical Whaling Base in Muroto, in the southern part of the region, was one of the four major Japanese classical whaling bases. The region is the birthplace of Saint Kūkai (or Kōbō-Daishi, 774–April 835), the founder of Shingon Buddhism, and is home to the circuit of Shikou Pilgrimage of Eighty-Eight Temples. The local whaling culture is a manifestation of local people’s beliefs in Shingon Buddhism.
A Modular Microfluidic Technology for Systematic Studies of Colloidal Semiconductor Nanocrystals

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, known as quantum dots (QDs), are a rapidly growing class of materials in commercial electronics, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and photovoltaics (PVs). Among this material group, inorganic/organic perovskites have demonstrated significant improvement and potential towards high-efficiency, low-cost PV fabrication due to their high charge carrier mobilities and lifetimes. Despite the opportunities for perovskite QDs in large-scale PV and LED applications, the lack of fundamental and comprehensive understanding of their growth pathways has inhibited their adaptation within continuous nanomanufacturing strategies. Traditional flask-based screening approaches are generally expensive, labor-intensive, and imprecise for effectively characterizing the broad parameter space and synthesis variety relevant to colloidal QD reactions. In this work, a fully autonomous microfluidic platform is developed to systematically study the large parameter space associated with the colloidal synthesis of nanocrystals in a continuous flow format. Through the application of a novel translating three-port flow cell and modular reactor extension units, the system may rapidly collect fluorescence and absorption spectra across reactor lengths ranging 3 - 196 cm. The adjustable reactor length not only decouples the residence time from the velocity-dependent mass transfer, it also substantially improves the sampling rates and chemical consumption due to the characterization of 40 unique spectra within a single equilibrated system. Sample rates may reach up to 30,000 unique spectra per day, and the conditions cover 4 orders of magnitude in residence times ranging 100 ms - 17 min. Further applications of this system would substantially improve the rate and precision of the material discovery and screening in future studies. Detailed within this report are the system materials and assembly protocols with a general description of the automated sampling software and offline data processing.
Antimacrophage Serum: Its Effect on the Immunological Competence and Lymphoid Tissues of the Rat

While macrophages are thought to play a role in immune responses, their precise function has not been clearly defined. It has been suggested that macrophages “trap” antigens during the primary response, process the ingested material (1) and communicate “immunological information” to lymphocytes which initiate antibody formation (2). Macrophages may also destroy target cells, suggesting they have a role in the efferent as well as the afferent arm of the immune response (3). Since antisera raised against macrophages may further delineate the role of the cells in the immune response, this study was undertaken to determine the effects of antimacrophage serum (AMS) on lymphoid tissues and to compare these effects and the effect of AMS on cellular immunological competence with those observed after antilymphocytic serum treatment.
The DNA-Binding Domain of GATA Transcription Factors—A Prototypical Type IV Cys2-Cys2 Zinc Finger

The highly conserved DNA-binding domains (DBDs) of eukaryotic GATA factors comprise one or two zinc binding modules with four cysteines embedded in the sequence Cys-X2-Cys-X17/18-Cys-X2-Cys and an adjacent basic region. The fold has been defined as a class IV zinc finger motif and belongs to the superfamily of glucocorticoid receptor-like DNA binding domains. Members of the GATA family are found in a wide range of organisms ranging from slime molds to fungi and plants to vertebrates and exhibit differing and complex roles in transcription regulation mediated by binding to regulatory DNA sequences of the form (A/T)GATA(A/G). Fungal GATA factors control nitrogen metabolism, light induction, siderophore biosynthesis and mating-type switching, while the prototypical animal factor GATA-1 is involved in the regulation of all erythroid cell-specific genes. A unique feature of the GATA DBDs is their ability to interact with DNA as well as with proteins, leading to a multitude of intricate functionalities. One important role is associated with dramatic chromatin rearrangement.
The Discrete Time Recurrence Model

As previously mentioned, the discrete time recurrence model in the study of population is credited to Euler, and has received sporadic and incomplete attention since his time. Indeed, the only development of this topic known to the author is an unpublished work by Meyer [1]. It is, therefore, in the best interest of the field of mathematical demography that this topic receive further exposure.
Anatomic Pathology of the Kidney in Nephrotic Syndrome: Clinicopathological Abridgement

Nephrotic syndrome is a clinical condition characterized by heavy proteinuria and manifested by edema. Daily loss of protein in the urine may vary, but a 24 hr protein loss exceeding 3.5 g on more than one occasion is the most important criterion used to establish the state of nephrotic syndrome. Accompanying but less important features are hypoalbuminemia and hyperlipidemia. These clinical and laboratory findings indicate renal parenchymal disease but fail to point toward the type of renal lesion.
Strategie und Handlungsempfehlungen basierend auf den Komponenten des Smart Markets

Als Leser dieses Buches kann man in jedem Kapitel Ansatzpunkte fur Aktivitaten im Bereich Smart Market erkennen. Zum einen konnen diese Geschaftspotenziale in bereits bestehenden Feldern sein, in denen man sich einen Einstieg uberlegen sollte bzw. sein Engagement als Unternehmen verstarken kann. Zum anderen gibt es vollig neue Moglichkeiten uber die neu definierten Komponenten des Smart Markets. Hier sollte ein Einstieg entsprechend vorbereitet sein. Der folgende Beitrag beleuchtet eine komponentenbasierte Sichtweise und gibt Handlungsempfehlungen fur die Anpassung bestehender Unternehmensstrukturen fur (potenzielle) Akteure des Smart Markets.
Exposure to opposing views on social media can increase political polarization

There is mounting concern that social media sites contribute to political polarization by creating “echo chambers” that insulate people from opposing views about current events. We surveyed a large sample of Democrats and Republicans who visit Twitter at least three times each week about a range of social policy issues. One week later, we randomly assigned respondents to a treatment condition in which they were offered financial incentives to follow a Twitter bot for 1 month that exposed them to messages from those with opposing political ideologies (e.g., elected officials, opinion leaders, media organizations, and nonprofit groups). Respondents were resurveyed at the end of the month to measure the effect of this treatment, and at regular intervals throughout the study period to monitor treatment compliance. We find that Republicans who followed a liberal Twitter bot became substantially more conservative posttreatment. Democrats exhibited slight increases in liberal attitudes after following a conservative Twitter bot, although these effects are not statistically significant. Notwithstanding important limitations of our study, these findings have significant implications for the interdisciplinary literature on political polarization and the emerging field of computational social science.
Mechanistic analysis of the wave-current interaction in the plume region of a partially mixed tidal inlet

Abstract In this research, a three-dimensional coupled wave-circulation model, including meteorological forcing, freshwater inflow and time varying open boundary conditions, for New River Inlet is validated. A mechanistic approach is taken to investigate how various wave-current interaction mechanisms affect the nearshore circulation, plume expansion and surface wave field in the plume region of a relatively small partially mixed tidal estuarine system. More specifically, focus is comparing four different modeling cases including: (1) a three-dimensional ocean circulation model (no wave effects), (2) a coupled wave-circulation model, (3) a coupled wave and circulation model including vertical mixing enhancement due to wave breaking, and (4) a wave model without surface current effects. Findings reveal forces are applied by incoming waves due to various wave-current interaction mechanisms. Wave momentum released by incoming waves pushes the outgoing freshwater ebb plume back to the shoreline and prevents the plume from expanding freely towards the open ocean. Findings also reveals that releasing wave-dissipated energy in the expanding plume region enhances vertical mixing, mixes down freshwater, and therefore thickens the plume. These results are congruent with observations at the mouth of the Columbia River.
Disabled citizens as researchers – Challenges and benefits of collaboration for effective action and change

This article reports on the evaluation of an initial pilot for a collaborative research project undertaken in an English county between a service user-led Coalition of Disabled People, the local authority and local university. The project sought to map the assets and resources for/of disabled people in their local community as well as needs and gaps, to inform the Coalition’s strategic planning and raise awareness of disability issues across the county. The article discusses an inclusive, co-productive approach using participatory action research. It focuses on experiences from the pilot stage of the project and considers how the authors worked together with the required knowledge exchange and power-sharing to recruit and train researchers with expertise from their personal experience of disability. Recruitment ensured they had relevant qualities and skills that could be developed, to increase their confidence, knowledge and skills set as researchers. They then undertook photo-elicited, semi-structured interviews with other disabled people, analysed findings and created photographic exhibitions for dissemination and awareness raising. Demonstrating a commitment to emancipatory research and collective action for change, the discussion considers the promotion of shared values within the research team, and explores the benefits and challenges encountered during the process and how the particular stages were managed to achieve the beneficial outcomes of the pilot. The article seeks to add to the literature of participatory/emancipatory action research for social work.
Distributed Data Diffusion in Finite Time in Decentralized Networks

Finite-time distributed data diffusion in a decentralized network is studied in this paper. The objective of distributed data diffusion is to disseminate local data at each node to all other nodes in the network without a central controller. We propose to achieve distributed data diffusion with a linear iterative information propagation algorithm. In the proposed algorithm, each node maintains and updates a state vector with size much less than the number of nodes in the network. In each iteration a node broadcasts its current state vector to all its neighbors. The state vector at a node is iteratively updated by using a linear combination of its own state vector and those from all its neighbors in the previous iteration. The algorithm converges when all nodes have a copy of the data from all other nodes in the network. We analytically identify the design parameters that guarantee the fastest convergence of the algorithm in diameter time, that is, the number of iterations required for convergence equals the network diameter. The optimum designs of square grid networks are studied by using the analytical results. The algorithm is efficient with guaranteed diameter time convergence, and it is scalable in that the total amount of data transmitted by each node throughout the iterative process scales linearly with the number of nodes in the network.
Do central bankers dream of political union? From epistemic community to common identity

The European Central Bank (ECB) started life as a symbol of European commitment to unity and to the value of central bank independence. As such, the ECB and the euro were positive sources of identification with Europe. During the crisis, however, the role of the ECB changed. The instruments monetary policymakers used to respond to the crisis had different impacts across member states, and the decisions they took to address tensions in financial markets often appeared arbitrary. In this context, the ECB ceased to operate as a symbol of commitment to integration and central bank independence became a contested rather than a shared value. This essay explains how that transformation took place and why it is important for the constitutive role of the ECB in the European project. The argument ends with populist movements using the ECB as a symbol for negative identification. European Central Banks can only fight back by promoting some kind of European political union to shore up their unique institutional arrangement.
148 AN UNUSUAL CAUSE OF GAIT DISTURBANCE IN A CHILD.

Introduction Gait disturbance in a child could be secondary to infection, trauma, or malignancy. We therefore present an unusual case of a 13-month-old child who presented with persistent limping and inability to bear weight on his left lower extremity and subsequently was diagnosed with Chiari type I malformation. Case Report A 13-month-old child was admitted twice to the hospital for inability to bear weight on his left lower extremity. During his first hospitalization, he underwent ultrasonography and aspiration of his left hip; both tests yielded negative results, and he was diagnosed with toxic synovitis of his hip and discharged home on naproxen. He was readmitted 1 week later due to persistent limping. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the thoracolumbar spine was performed and revealed possible Chiari malformation; therefore, follow-up MRI of the brain and cervical spine was done and confirmed the Chiari malformation type I with 8 mm herniation of the cerebellar tonsils below the foramen magnum. The patient was sent home but was readmitted 6 days later due to persistent limping. The patient then underwent craniotomy and repair of the Chiari malformation. Postoperatively, the patient presented with fever up to 103°F and drainage from his craniotomy site. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis was performed that revealed white blood cell count of 20 cells/μL (68% lymphocytes, 28% monocytes, and 4% eosinophils), red blood cell count of 85,750 cells/μL, protein of 523 mg/dL, and glucose of 66 mg/dL. He was diagnosed with aseptic meningitis and given a 5-day course of oral prednisone. He defervesced and was sent home. Two days later, he was readmitted for fever to 104°F and mild diarrhea. Laboratory workup later revealed he had an adenoviral infection, and he was discharged home once stable. He returned back to the hospital 2 days later because of fever to 102°F and was again noted with watery stools. He was discharged home after 2 days. He has since been seen at the neurosurgery clinic for follow-up and has done well, with improved gait and no recurrence of fever. Conclusions This case illustrates the need to keep a high index of suspicion for other causes of gait disturbance, such as Chiari malformation, and that persistent symptoms warrant an extensive workup, including an MRI of the brain and spine. It is also interesting to note that there are patients with persistent fever after craniotomy with negative CSF studies who eventually do well.
An Operational Framework for the Adoption and Integration of New Diagnostic Tests

The gap between medical research on diagnostic testing and clinical workflow can lead to rejection of valuable medical research in a busy clinical environment due to increased workloads, or rejection of medical research in the lab that may be valuable in practice due to a misunderstanding of the system-level benefits of the new test. This has implications for research organizations, diagnostic test manufacturers, and hospital managers. To bridge this gap, we develop a Markov Decision Process (MDP) from which we create “adoption regions” that specify the combination of test characteristics medical research must achieve for the test to be feasible for adoption in practice. To address the curse of dimensionality from patient risk stratification, we develop a decomposition heuristic along with structural properties that shed light on which patients and when a new diagnostic test should be used. In a case study of a partner Emergency Department, we show that the conventional myopic medical criterion can lead to poor decision making in both research development and clinical practice. This myopic approach can lead to overvaluing or undervaluing new medical research. This mismatch is accentuated when a simple (current) policy is used to integrate research into the clinical environment compared with our MDP's policy – poor implementation of a new test can also lead to unnecessary rejection. Our framework provides easily interpretable guidelines for medical research development and clinical adoption decisions that can guide medical research as to which test characteristics to focus on to improve chances of adoption.
Abstract 13770: Experiences of Ethnic Discrimination and COMT Val158Met Polymorphism Are Associated With Depressive Symptoms in Hispanic Adults at Risk for Cardiovascular Disease

Introduction: There is emerging evidence that ethnic discrimination, commonly experienced among U.S. Hispanics, is associated with depressive symptoms, increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk....
Civic Engagement and Well-Being: Examining a Mediational Model Across Gender.

Purpose:The relationship between civic engagement and mental health is generally positive, yet particularly complex among those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and women. The current study exami...
An improved control of grid integrated doubly fed induction generator

This study proposes a vector control approach (VCA) for a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind energy conversion system (WECS) connected to the grid. Regarding the configuration of the system, the stator of the induction machine is connected directly to the power grid and the rotor is connected to the power grid via a back-to-back converter. The control schemes are presented, including the rotor side converter (RSC) control, grid side converter (GSC) converter and the pitch angle control. The RSC is used to implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The GSC regulates reactive and real power flow to the power network. Besides, it regulates the DC bus voltage and the AC side power-factor. The controller system's abilities are tested via simulations performed with MATLAB/Simulink. A complete simulation model is developed for the control of the active and reactive powers of the DFIG under varying wind conditions and system responses of open loop control are compared with those of closed loop control for different grid voltage conditions.
A Sensitive and Selective Method for Quantitative Analysis of Products of Lipid Peroxidation

We report here the development of a sensitive and specific method for measuring small amounts of lipid peroxides. The method is based on the derivatization of hydroxylated fatty acid methyl esters with fluorinated anhydrides and their analysis by gas chromatography (GC). The peroxidation products of arachidonic (20: 4) and linoleic (18: 2) acids obtained by lipoxygenase treatment have been analyzed by this method. The resulting fluoroacyl derivatives are stable, can be readily separated by capillary column GC, and can be measured at picogram levels using an electron capture detector (ECD). Moreover, since fluoroacyl moieties are incorporated exclusively into hydroxylated fatty acids, this method is well suited for the measurement of low levels of peroxidation products in the presence of much larger amounts of unmodified lipid in total lipid extracts.
Modeling speciation effects on biodegradation in mixed metal/chelate systems

A new model, CCBATCH, comprehensively couples microbially catalyzed reactions to aqueous geochemistry. The effect of aqueous speciation on biodegradation reactions and the effect of biological reactions on the concentration of chemical species (e.g. H2CO3, NH 4 + , O2) are explicitly included in CCBATCH, allowing systematic investigation of kinetically controlled biological reactions. Bulk-phase chemical speciation reactions including acid/base and complexation are modeled as thermodynamically controlled, while biological reactions are modeled as kinetically controlled. A dual-Monod kinetic formulation for biological degradation reactions is coupled with stoichiometry for the degradation reaction to predict the rate of change of all biological and chemical species affected by the biological reactions. The capability of CCBATCH to capture pH and speciation effects on biological reactions is demonstrated by a series of modeling examples for the citrate/Fe(III) system. pH controls the concentration of potentially biologically available forms of citrate. When the percentage of the degradable substrate is low due to complexation or acid/base speciation, degradation rates may be slow despite high concentrations of substrate Complexation reactions that sequester substratein non-degradable forms may prevent degradation or stopdegradation reactions prior to complete substrate utilization. The capability of CCBATCH to couple aqueous speciation changes to biodegradation reaction kinetics and stoichiometry allows prediction of these key behaviors in mixed metal/chelate systems.
Sensor Integrated Navigation for a Target Finding UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) flight control and sensor data acquisition are typically decoupled in intelligence-related missions. In the archetypal case, a UAV flies pre-programmed GPS waypoints while an on-board sensor streams data to a ground control station observed by a human or post-processed for analysis. In this paper, we present work on a simple UAV system that incorporates sensor data to statistically minimize the time to autonomously locate an RF emitter on the ground. The demonstrated system uses a two-stage approach to finding the RF target: (1) randomized Levy flight to search the ground space and, (2) simplex minimization to home in on the target. Flight tests showed that the UAV consistently located the target within 10 m accuracy in a large outdoor field. Algorithm pseudocode, heat map plots, and supplementary videos of the UAV successfully executing its search task are presented.
An effective heuristic for simple offset assignment with variable coalescing

In many Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) with limited memory, programs are loaded in the ROM and thus it is very important to optimize the size of the code to reduce the memory requirement. Many DSP processors include address generation units (AGUs) that can perform address arithmetic (auto-increment and auto-decrement) in parallel to instruction execution, and without the need for extra instructions. Much research has been conducted to optimize the layout of the variables in memory to get the most benefit from auto-increment and auto-decrement. The simple offset assignment (SOA) problem concerns the layout of variables for machines with one address register and the general offset assignment (GOA) deals with multiple address registers. Both these problems assume that each variable needs to be allocated for the entire duration of a program. Both SOA and GOA are NP-complete. In this paper, we present a heuristic for SOA that considers coalescing two or more non-interfering variables into the same memory location. SOA with variable coalescing is intended to decrease the cost of address arithmetic instructions as well as to decrease the memory requirement for variables by maximizing the number of variables mapped to the same memory slot. Results on several benchmarks show the significant improvement of our solution compared to other heuristics. In addition, we have adapted simulated annealing to further improve the solution from our heuristic.
Enhanced Virus Transformation of Hamster Embryo Cells In Vitro

Since transformation of hamster cells in vitro by simian virus 40 (SV40) is a rare event in a homogeneously infected cell population, physiochemical studies of the events of virus transformation are difficult. Similarly, other deoxyribonucleic acid-containing oncogenic viruses produce transformed-cell foci in vitro with low efficiency. Sublethal doses of X-ray irradiation, as well as preincubation of hamster embryo cells with the radiomimetic analogue, 5-iododeoxyuridine, markedly sensitized hamster embryo cells to SV40 in vitro. Agents were used at dosages which neither produced lethality nor caused neoplastic transformation in the absence of virus. Embryo cells maintained in vitro for long periods of time became increasingly more sensitive to SV40 transformation. Radiation also stimulated transformation by adenovirus 31. Delay in the addition of virus to preirradiated cells reduced the susceptibility to transformation by SV40 which was observed for cells infected immediately after irradiation, suggesting that radiation repair mechanisms or, possibly, release from radiation-induced “mitotic delay” may interfere with the process of neoplastic conversion by SV40.
Incorporating radio frequency communication into a computer integrated manufacturing test facility

Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems require a large amount of data to be transferred between different elements of the system. The large number of communication lines required for manufacturing systems makes the system highly inflexible and difficult to maintain. Radiofrequency communication systems can alleviate much of the cable congestion and make the system easier to reconfigure. A CIM system has incorporated the use of radio controlled programmable logic controllers (PLC) to demonstrate the feasibility of such a system. The arrangement has been configured to perform various tasks. Configuring the system was found to be similar to configuring other PLC systems but without the need for communications lines between the PLCs.
World's Fairs and International Expositions

The world's fairs that swept the planet between London's Crystal Palace Exhibition (1851) and Shanghai's World Expo (2010) attest to the globalization of consumerism. The hundreds of expositions that swept, in roughly chronological order, Europe, the United States, and Asia have been overstuffed theaters of agricultural and technological commodities intended to promote the definition of the good life as being synonymous with the accumulation of consumer goods. Through towering displays of surplus fruits and vegetables, fashion shows and “pest-free” gardens, television sets and dishwashers, automobiles and model homes, world expositions have served as primary vehicles for the rapid modernization of the world from the Victorian era through the present. Keywords: sociology of leisure and tourism; sociology of popular culture; sociology of tourism
Optical coherence tomography of choroidal nevus in 120 patients

Objective To describe the optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings of choroidal nevi. Methods Retrospective, single-center case series of 120 eyes of 120 consecutive patients with choroidal nevi who were evaluated by OCT. Diagnostic imaging was performed with a Zeiss StratusOCT Model 3000 (Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems, Dublin, CA) using scan acquisition protocols of 6 radial lines and retinal thickness analysis overlying the nevus. Results The mean patient age was 59 years (median, 60 years; range, 14-87 years). The choroidal nevus was a mean of 5.2 mm in basal dimension and 1.7 mm in thickness and was located a mean of 2.7 mm from the optic disk and 2.5 mm from the foveola. Related retinal findings by ophthalmoscopic evaluation included overlying retina edema (3%), subretinal fluid (16%), retinal thinning (0%), drusen (58%), and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) detachment (2%). In comparison, related retinal findings at the site of the nevus by OCT included overlying retina edema (15%), subretinal fluid (26%), retinal thinning (22%), drusen (41%), and RPE detachment (12%). Furthermore, OCT permitted classification of the overlying retinal edema as focal cystoid (3%), diffuse cystoid (8%), coalescent cystoid (3%), and noncystoid edema (1%). By OCT, the overlying retina was normal thickness (32%), thinned (22%), or thickened (45%), and photoreceptor loss or attenuation was noted in 51% of cases. Specific OCT findings of the choroidal nevus were limited to its anterior surface with minimal penetration into the mass. These findings included increased thickness of the RPE/choriocapillaris layer (68%) and optical qualities within the anterior portion of the nevus of hyporeflectivity (62%), isoreflectivity (29%), and hyperreflectivity (9%). Hyporeflectivity was observed in 68% of pigmented nevi and 18% of nonpigmented nevi. When comparing OCT with clinical examination, OCT was more sensitive in the detection of related retinal edema, subretinal fluid, retinal thinning, photoreceptor attenuation, and RPE detachment. Conclusions OCT is a useful diagnostic modality for imaging the retina overlying a choroidal nevus. Numerous overlying changes such as subretinal fluid, retinal edema, retinal thinning, and photoreceptor attenuation are visible by OCT.
The Effects of Habitat on Dispersal Patterns of an Invasive Thistle, Cynara Cardunculus

Dispersal of offspring is a critical step in the spread of invasive species, yet dispersal patterns are seldom well studied, inhibiting effective management and ecological understanding of invasions. Dispersal patterns can be affected by characteristics of the parent plant and by climatic or site characteristics, including community vegetation structure, but these factors have not been studied in the context of plant invasion processes. Cynara cardunculus (L.) is a polycarpic perennial thistle invasive in coastal grasslands in California that produces large numbers of wind-dispersed seeds. This study quantified and compared C. cardunculus dispersal patterns in an exotic grassland (vegetated site) and an agricultural field (non-vegetated site). Seed size variation in C. cardunculus was also quantified within inflorescences, between inflorescences, and between years of production, and compared across dispersal distances. Results indicate that dispersal distance increased dramatically from less than 20 m in the vegetated site to more than 40 m in the non-vegetated site. Plants producing fewer seeds produced heavier seeds and dispersal distance decreased over time, but seed size was not related to dispersal distance, which may serve to spread the risk to seeds or seedlings across the environment. C. cardunculus has great potential for dispersal in open areas such as agricultural fields or disturbed sites, but may be limited in highly structured natural communities. Management of C. cardunculus and other wind-dispersed plant invasions may be improved by prioritizing populations with open or disturbed areas downwind and minimizing the removal of vegetation during dispersal.
Cyclotron isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals—XXXIII Synthesis and structural effects of selective biliary excretion of halogenated indotricarbocyanines☆☆☆

Abstract Fine indotricarbocyanines of structure I were synthesized and labeled with 131 I in the 5 position. The substituent, R, was varied R  H, F, Cl, Br and I. The dynamics of hepatic uptake and blood clearance of the labeled compounds were determined in mice. Kidney uptake in all cases was negligible. The hepatic excretion displayed 2 components. The initial hepatic disappearance rates of R  H and R  F were 7.3 and 4.5%/min, respectively. The maximum liver activity in mice occured at 2–5 min and the % remaining in the liver at 0.5 h was 3.6, 8.5, 19, 29 and 47% for R  H, F, Cl, Br and I substitution. It is notable that a small change in the substituent at the 5′ position in the molecule has such a pronounced effect. Whether electronic and/or steric effects are controlling the mechanism of hepatobiliary clearance is not obvious. A correlation of the liver activity with the covalent radius of R was noted. The comparative studies were at an injected dose of 0.4–0.6 μmol/kg, and typically at a specific activity of 200 mCi/mol. Loading dose effects were not appreciable under these conditions. Scintigraphic results are reported for dogs and a rabbit. The results suggest that indotricarbocyanines of structure (I) labeled with 123 I or with 18 F are potential radiopharmaceuticals for dynamic hepatobiliary function studies.
An Embedded Model for Ethics Consultation: Characteristics, Outcomes, and Challenges

Background: Little has been written about models for clinical ethics consultation. By “model” we mean the way in which the engagement between the clinical ethics consultant, hospital staff, and other stakeholders is structured, with a key variable being the degree of integration with stakeholders within the institution or segments of the institution. We describe an innovative model of clinical ethics consultation, which we term “embedded ethics,” involving embedding clinical ethics consultants within clinical specialties and subspecialties based on institutional needs and areas of clinical ethicists’ expertise. Methods: The overarching methodology for this article is a case study, reporting our experience with an intervention that we evaluated using mixed methods. Results: Our results underscore the positive impact that an embedded ethics intervention can have on consultation volume and intensity, as well as clinical staff perceptions of an ethics consultation service (ECS). Conclusions: Our experience wi...
Preoperative multimodality treatment for soft tissue sarcomas

Background. Frequently, soft tissue sarcomas (STS) do not present until they are large, thus making local control difficult. Consequently, different methods of preoperative cytoreduction should be evaluated. Methods. This study evaluated a 10-day preoperative regimen of intraarterial doxorubicin (10 mg/m 2 /d), with concomitant radiation therapy (25 Gy), administered to 55 adult patients with either Stage T2 (n=41) or distal Stage T1 (n=14) STS. Seven of the tumors were low grade. All patients were treated by the Division of Surgical Oncology at the University of Illinois between 1978-1991
Quantitation of serotonin in human plasma, serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples by HPLC-EC using 6-hydroxytryptamine as an internal standard

Abstract A simple method for sample clean up and concentration of serotonin (5-HT) in biological samples, such as human cerebro-spinal fluid and serum, is described. To the sample 6-hydroxy-tryptamine (6-HT) is added as an internal standard and it is then absorbed either on C18 SEP-PAK cartridge or Biorex-70 short column. 5-HT and 6-HT are then eluted from the column with methanolic formic acid. After evaporation, the residue is dissolved in the mobile phase and an aliquot is used for LC-EC quantitation.
Networks immune to isolated failures

The notion of isolated failure immune (IFI) networks is introduced. A network is an IFI network if and only if all message transfers between operating sites can be completed as long as all site and line failures are isolated. Failures occurring at any time are isolated if they are pairwise isolated. A pair of site failures is isolated if the down sites are not neighbors. A pair of line failures is isolated if the lines are not incident to a common site. A site and a line failure are isolated if the down line is not incident to a neighbor of the down site. We show that 2-trees are minimum IFI networks. An algorithm is described which adds lines to an arbitrary tree network to produce an IFI network (a 2-tree). The algorithm also determines routing tables which allow a simple calling protocol to complete all message transfers between operative sites under isolated failures. Specializations and generalizations of our notion of IFI networks are discussed and issues for future research are proposed.
Boundary conditions for stochastic solutions of the convection-diffusion equation

Stochastic methods offer an attractively simple solution to complex transport-controlled problems, and have a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological applications. Stochastic methods do not suffer from the numerical diffusion that plagues grid-based methods, but they typically lose accuracy in the vicinity of interfacial boundaries. In this work we introduce some ideas and algorithms that can be used to implement boundary conditions in stochastic simulations of the convection-diffusion equation with accuracies comparable to the bulk phase. The algorithms have been tested in two-dimensional channel flows over a range of Peclet numbers, and compared with independent finite-difference calculations.
Regionally-specific alterations in myelin proteins in nonhuman primate white matter following prolonged cocaine self-administration

Background Neuroimaging studies of cocaine users have demonstrated white matter abnormalities associated with behavioral measures of impulsivity and decision-making deficits. The underlying bases for this dysregulation in white matter structure and function have yet to be determined. The aim of the present studies was to investigate the influence of prolonged cocaine self-administration on the levels of myelin-associated proteins and mRNAs in nonhuman primate white matter.
Stereoselective total syntheses of (±)-warburganal and (±)-isotadeonal

Abstract A short, stereoselective synthesis of (±)-warburganal ( 1 ), its C-9 epimer ( 2 ) and the related sesquiterpene dialdehyde (±)-isotadeonal is presented.
Mysticism and Meliorism: The Integrated Self of William James

Etude de la division entre le moi prometheen et le moi mystique chez W. James selon l'analyse de R. M. Gale. Examinant la doctrine de la volonte de croire dans le contexte du pragmatisme de James, l'A. met en evidence la complementarite de la conception melioriste de la croyance religieuse avec la quete mystique de l'intimite qui caracterise les derniers textes du philosophe.
Critical Variables in Singing Accuracy Test Construction A Review of Literature

The purpose of this review of literature was to identify research findings for designing assessments in singing accuracy. The aim was to specify the test construction variables that directly affect test performance to guide future design in singing accuracy assessment for research and classroom uses. Three pitch-matching tasks—single pitch, interval pitch, and patterns—plus song-singing have each been shown to be discriminators of singing accuracy. Teachers and researchers should consider incorporating more than one task type when assessing children, since performance on one song or pitch-matching task cannot easily be generalized to others. Item-level and task-level difficulty must be taken into consideration when designing singing tests. In addition to task type, the variables of singing voice development, contextual presentation, model characteristics, range, and text must be a part of a priori decision making.