cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The role of gp39 (CD40L) in immunity.

The function of CD40 and its ligand (CD40L ;gp39) has provided a molecular understanding for cognate interactions and the basis for hyper IgM syndrome. Studies using an antibody that neutralizes gp39 function in vivo have demonstrated that interactions between CD40 and gp39 are essential for primary and secondary thymus-dependent humoral immune responses, as well as for the generation of memory B cells. In addition, gp39 is critical for B cells to upregulate important costimulatory molecules and acquire professional antigen-presenting cell status. If B cells do not receive the gp39 signal, they are rendered tolerogenic for T cells. Finally, gp39-CD40 interactions are important in thymic education since blockade of this interaction interrupts negative selection. © 1995 Academic Press, Inc.
Serum levels after repository injections of penicillin.

ConclusionWhen tested in the same subject, the serum concentrations obtained after a single injection of penicillin in a water-in-oil emulsion were not superior to those obtained with the same dose given in the same volume of saline, and the levels were not better sustained. A dose of 300,000 units in 1 cc of 4.8% beeswax in peanut oil gave lower maximum concentrations, but the serum levels rlere better sustakd on a 12-hour period.
Effects of vague probabilities and of vague payoffs on preference: a model comparison analysis

Abstract Preference orders over gambles having vague probabilities or vague payoffs were investigated. Risk and worth judgments were also studied in these two vague conditions. A trade-off and a lexicographic model were compared via a new measure of model performance. This measure is defined as the mean proportion of all possible preference orders satisfying dominance, D , that are more distant from model, M , than are subjects' preferences, S . Results showed that both models describe preference data well. Furthermore, the usual aversion to vague probabilities was found, and a similar phenomenon occurred with vague payoffs. Analyses of Risk and worth judgments showed that vague gambles were evaluated as their nonvague counterparts and indicated that less risk and more worth are preferred.
Television, public opinion and the war in Iraq: the case of Britain

This article looks at the relationship between television coverage of the Iraq War and changes in British public opinion towards the war. During the war, television coverage helped create a climate in which pro-war positions became more relevant and plausible. This was not the result of crude forms of bias, but the product of news values which privileged certain assumptions and narratives over others. This, in turn, may assist a wider (and questionable) ideological strategy to link the war on terrorism to forms of military action, making both war and military spending more acceptable.
Laboratory Findings; Remembering Hakan Rydhström; Twins' Extraordinary Lives

This article explains about the DNA structures, the genetic structures and the synthesis. It also state about the twin research and the study made on forensic genetics and the twins.
Platelet aggregation in atopic and normal patients.

Abstract Platelet aggregation was used as a model to evaluate the proposed beta blockade in subjects with allergic rhinitis and asthma. Studies using epinephrine, adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and streptococcal M protein as aggregating agents showed that there was no significant difference in platelet aggregation between atopics and controls. Furthermore, aggregation induced by all three agents was inhibited by propranolol and phentolamine, as well as by caffeine and dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate (AMP). This inhibition was evidenced with platelets from both atopics and controls. The results suggest that with platelet aggregation the atopic population taken as a whole does not differ from the normal population. Although certain atopic subjects exhibit unique aggregation patterns, pharmacologic manipulation of this system fails to document that these unique patterns are due to beta blockade.
Integrative learning in a Synthesis and Design Studio: A phenomenological inquiry

Engineering education is uniquely qualified to make strides towards both a more integrated curriculum and understanding the benefits of an integrated learning experiences, due to the vast amounts of experience with innovative integrative curricular structures. This paper briefly describes an innovative approach to integrate student learning through a four year Synthesis and Design Studio. This provides the context for a phenomenological research study that investigated the nature of students' integrative learning processes. More specifically, the study examined integrative learning through the lens of students' experiences of the focus on deliberate reflection and engagement in the authentic interdisciplinary setting during an interdisciplinary Studio offered in the Fall of 2009. This study consisted of the interpretive analysis of individual reflection reports written by each student after participating in a range of reflective activities over the course of the semester. In addition, the qualitative data included open-ended responses collected from a mid and end-of-semester survey that was conducted externally. The phenomenological analysis of the students' experiences suggests that their development of a professional way of being as a key aspect of integrative learning that emerged gradually from the complex influences of the interdisciplinary educational experience and can be fostered by deliberate, continuous reflection.
Polarized superfluids near their tricritical point

We obtain a variety of predictions for the properties of population-imbalanced (or polarized) fermionic superfluids near their tricritical point. In the vicinity of the high-symmetry tricritical point, observable quantities such as the cloud shape, heat capacity, local polarization, and correlation length should exhibit distinct behavior arising from the tricritical scaling laws, as well as logarithmic corrections to scaling reflecting the marginal nature of interactions.
Calculations of spin-spin coupling constants in aromatic nitrogen heterocyclics

HH, CH, NH, CC, and NC spin-spin coupling constants were calculated using the FP-INDO method and the Fermi contact interaction for pyridine, pyridazine, pyrimidine, pyrazine, s-triazine, quinoline, quinoxaline, phthalazine, isoquinoline, cinnoline, quinazoline, acridine, phenazine, benzo[g]quinoxaline, and benzo[b]-phenazine. The agreement between theory and experiment was comparable to that for polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons reported earlier.
Numerical Simulation of Complex Tsunami Behavior

Field observations alone rarely offer a complete picture of a tsunami's nearshore impact, and they're useful mainly in areas where tsunamis have already hit. Tsunami modeling is thus crucial to understanding and preparing for tsunami inundation. Recent research offers compelling examples of how basic modeling approaches can enhance our understanding of tsunami generation and propagation.
The delayed stimulus suffix effect following arhythmic stimulus presentation

In auditory memory span experiments an extra word presented at the end of the list impairs performance on the last few items even though it is completely redundant; delaying this stimulus suffix past the time when an additional memory item would have occurred–-so that the rate of presentation is retarded for the suffix–-reduces the magnitude of the performance impairment. One account of this pattern of results is that during presentation of the items the subject adjusts periodic bursts of attention to the regular cadence of new information. Since an immediate suffix is in time with this cadence and a delayed suffix not, the larger effect of the former is explained without appeal to any process dependent on real time. In the present study the stimulus items were presented in an arhythmic manner with interstimulus intervals ranging from 100 to 900 ms on a random basis. Under these conditions the same effect of delaying the suffix was observed as is typical of rhythmic stimulus presentation; therefore, the r...
Outcomes of endoscopy and computed tomography in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Background: Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a common disease diagnosed based on a combination of symptoms, imaging, and/or endoscopy. Computed tomography (CT) is the gold standard in diagnosis of CRS due to inherent low sensitivity of endoscopy. We sought to assess the correlation between symptoms, endoscopy, and imaging in order to reduce the number of CTs without decreasing diagnostic accuracy. Methods: Retrospective review of a single practitioner's patients from 2008 to 2010 who presented for evaluation of CRS. Data on demographics, symptoms, and endoscopic and CT findings were collected and analyzed. Exclusion criteria included patients with prior surgery, no imaging, and those that failed to meet the 2007 CRS Task Force symptom criteria. Results: A total of 244 patients met the Task Force symptom criteria. Using CT as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of endoscopy alone was 36%, 95%, 89%, and 55%, respectively. The number of symptoms (NOS) strongly correlated with the absence or presence of disease (p < 0.01). Incorporating NOS into a CRS diagnostic algorithm improved sensitivity and NPV of nasal endoscopy to 82% and 79% while maintaining its specificity and PPV at 82% and 84%, respectively. Applying our algorithm retrospectively would have resulted in a reduction in the number of CTs by 69%, resulting in an acceptable 10% (n = 24/244) false negative rate and 8% (n = 20/244) false positive rate. Conclusion: Incorporating number of symptoms in a CRS diagnostic algorithm may drastically reduce the number of CTs needed. Clinical diagnostic accuracy is enhanced with this new algorithm while significantly reducing the cost and radiation burden of CTs. © 2013 ARS–AAOA, LLC.
Stress-induced corneal epithelial apoptosis mediated by K+ channel activation

One of the functional roles of the corneal epithelial layer is to protect the cornea, lens and other underlying ocular structures from damages caused by environmental insults. It is important for corneal epithelial cells to maintain this function by undergoing continuous renewal through a dynamic process of wound healing. Previous studies in corneal epithelial cells have provided substantial evidence showing that environmental insults, such as ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and other biohazards, can induce stress-related cellular responses resulting in apoptosis and thus interrupt the dynamic process of wound healing. We found that UV irradiation-induced apoptotic effects in corneal epithelial cells are started by the hyperactivation of K+ channels in the cell membrane resulting in a fast loss of intracellular K+ ions. Recent studies provide further evidence indicating that these complex responses in corneal epithelial cells are resulted from the activation of stress-related signaling pathways mediated by K+ channel activity. The effect of UV irradiation on corneal epithelial cell fate shares common signaling mechanisms involving the activation of intracellular responses that are often activated by the stimulation of various cytokines. One piece of evidence for making this distinction is that at early times UV irradiation activates a Kv3.4 channel in corneal epithelial cells to elicit activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase cascades and p53 activation leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. The hypothetic model is that UV-induced potassium channel hyperactivity as an early event initiates fast cell shrinkages due to the loss of intracellular potassium, resulting in the activation of scaffolding protein kinases and cytoskeleton reorganizations. This review article presents important control mechanisms that determine Kv channel activity-mediated cellular responses in corneal epithelial cells, involving activation of stress-induced signaling pathways, arrests of cell cycle progression and/or induction of apoptosis.
Some Commentary on Maximizing the Statistician's Value to the Pharmaceutical Industry:

The statistician is viewed as a valuable member of many drug development teams at many pharmaceutical companies. But does the value of the statistician to the team or the company reach its full potential? In this commentary, I will explore, from the viewpoint of a statistician in the pharmaceutical industry, the skills that statisticians possess and address how those skills can be better used for the benefit of the statistician, the teams on which he or she is a member, and the company paying his or her salary.
Expert crowdsourcing with flash teams

We introduce flash teams, a framework for dynamically assembling and managing paid experts from the crowd. Flash teams advance a vision of expert crowd work that accomplishes complex, interdependent goals such as engineering and design. These teams consist of sequences of linked modular tasks and handoffs that can be computationally managed. Interactive systems reason about and manipulate these teams' structures: for example, flash teams can be recombined to form larger organizations and authored automatically in response to a user's request. Flash teams can also hire more people elastically in reaction to task needs, and pipeline intermediate output to accelerate completion times. To enable flash teams, we present Foundry, an end-user authoring platform and runtime manager. Foundry allows users to author modular tasks, then manages teams through handoffs of intermediate work. We demonstrate that Foundry and flash teams enable crowdsourcing of a broad class of goals including design prototyping, course development, and film animation, in half the work time of traditional self-managed teams.
Modulation of fossil fuel production by global temperature variations

Abstract An analysis of the fossil fuel production record since 1860 shows that the exponential growth in production is modulated in the inverse sense by variations in global average temperature. Taking this modulation into account shows that the underlying rate of increase is about 25% less than the widely quoted 4.3% annual rate. This modulation may also produce a partially ameliorating feedback if the often predicted carbon dioxide greenhouse effect actually materializes.
Immunohistochemical staining for calretinin is useful for differentiating schwannomas from neurofibromas

We studied 25 cases of schwannoma and 42 cases of neurofibroma immunohistochemically with antibodies to calretinin and S-100 protein to explore the potential usefulness of calretinin in differentiating schwannomas from neurofibromas. Of 25 schwannomas, 24 (96%) showed moderate to strong staining for calretinin, with the extent of staining ranging from focal to diffuse. In contrast, only 3 (7%) of 42 neurofibromas displayed focal weak to moderate staining with calretinin. All 42 cases of neurofibromas and all 25 cases of schwannomas showed diffuse moderate to strong staining with S-100 protein. Calretinin also labeled mast cells, whose presence was confirmed further by staining for c-kit, which commonly was present in both tumor types in a scattered individual cell pattern easily differentiated from the clustered pattern of neoplastic spindle cells. Taken together, these results indicate that calretinin is detected in almost all schwannomas and in only a small percentage of neurofibromas, suggesting it is a useful marker for differentiating schwannomas from neurofibromas. Although mast cells present in these 2 neoplasms also react with calretinin, the pattern of staining can be distinguished easily from that of neoplastic cells.
The Dendritic Cell Receptor for Endocytosis, Dec-205, Can Recycle and Enhance Antigen Presentation via Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II–Positive Lysosomal Compartments

Many receptors for endocytosis recycle into and out of cells through early endosomes. We now find in dendritic cells that the DEC-205 multilectin receptor targets late endosomes or lysosomes rich in major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) products, whereas the homologous macrophage mannose receptor (MMR), as expected, is found in more peripheral endosomes. To analyze this finding, the cytosolic tails of DEC-205 and MMR were fused to the external domain of the CD16 Fcγ receptor and studied in stable L cell transfectants. The two cytosolic domains each mediated rapid uptake of human immunoglobulin (Ig)G followed by recycling of intact CD16 to the cell surface. However, the DEC-205 tail recycled the CD16 through MHC II–positive late endosomal/lysosomal vacuoles and also mediated a 100-fold increase in antigen presentation. The mechanism of late endosomal targeting, which occurred in the absence of human IgG, involved two functional regions: a membrane-proximal region with a coated pit sequence for uptake, and a distal region with an EDE triad for the unusual deeper targeting. Therefore, the DEC-205 cytosolic domain mediates a new pathway of receptor-mediated endocytosis that entails efficient recycling through late endosomes and a greatly enhanced efficiency of antigen presentation to CD4+ T cells.
Do aftershock probabilities decay with time

Upon hearing about the devastating 22 February 2011 M 6.1 Christchurch earthquake, I remembered the nearby 4 September 2010 M 7.0 event and thought, “It’s a bit late for this to be an aftershock,” followed quickly by, “Don’t be stupid.” The first thought was based on the modified-Omori law (Utsu, 1969) in which the rate of aftershocks, exceeding a particular magnitude, decays as n ( t ) = K ( t + c ) p , where n is the number of earthquakes per unit time as a function of time ( t ) and K, c , and p are constants. The second thought was triggered by remembering that while the probability of this event being an aftershock on 22 February 2011 was small, it was necessary to consider the total probability over all days that I would consider “late.” > We should never think, “It’s a bit late for this to be an aftershock.” So, do aftershock probabilities decay with time? Consider a thought experiment in which we are at the time of the mainshock and ask how many aftershocks will occur a day, week, month, year, or even a century from now. First we must decide how large a window to use around each point in time. Let’s assume that, as we go further into the future, we are asking a less precise question. Perhaps a day from now means 1 day ± 10% of a day, a week from now means 1 week ± 10% of a week, and so on. If we ignore c because it is a small fraction of a day (e.g., Reasenberg and Jones, 1989, hereafter RJ89), and set p = 1 because it is usually close to 1 (its value in the original Omori law), then the rate of earthquakes …
Unsedated peroral ultrathin videoendoscopy-assisted delivery of an esophageal manometry catheter.

Unsedated endoscopy with an ultrathin scope has several potential advantages over conventional endoscopy due to avoidance of adverse side effects and morbidity associated with sedation. Less intensive patient monitoring and less expense may be additional benefits.We report the first case of an unsedated peroral ultrathin vidco-endoscopy assisted delivery of an esophageal manometry catheter. Case Report: A 77-year-old male was referred for esophageal manometry by his surgeon prior to revision of a Nissen fundoplication which he had undergone two years previously for a large hiatus hernia and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms.A recent upper gastrointestinal series showed that the large hiatus hernia was still present and questionable upper esophegeal dysmotility was also reported. The patient's complaints of epigastric fullness and inability to take a deep breath were similar to what he had experienced before the fundoplication. The manometry catheter could not be advanced beyond 40 cm from the incisors presumably due to inability to pass through the hiatus hernia. A few days later an unsedated peroral endoscopy using the ultrathin (6 mm in diameter) videoendoscope (Pentax Ultraslim videogastroscope, EG- 1840, Orangeburg, N.Y.) was performed to guide the manometry catheter into the stomach. A pediatric gastroscope snare was passed through the ultrathin scope to hold the tip of the manometry catheter. Then both the ultrathin endoscope with attached manometry catheter were passed under direct vision into the stomach and the catheter was subsequently disengaged by opening the snare. The patient tolerated the procedure well. Conclusion: This is the first report of an sedated peroral ultrathin videoendoscopy-assisted delivery of an esophageal catheter. This case is an example of how unsedated ultrathin video-endoscopy is a potentially useful technique that can assist in the delivery of diagnostic and/or therapeutic devices.
DESIGN OF A MULTI‐CHANNEL ROTARY TRANSFORMER FOR APPLICATION TO DIGITAL MAGNETIC RECORDING

Rotary transformers are important parts of magnetic tape recorders using cylindrical scanners. Typically, heads for recording and playback are mounted on a rotating cylinder which scans the tape at high speed. Writing and reading signals are coupled to the heads through a rotary transformer. This paper describes a design procedure for a multi‐channel, miniaturized transformer for application to high‐density, digital magnetic tape recording. The requirements for the particular example presented were for the transformer to pass six identical recording/playback channels with a minimum insertion loss. The outside diameter of the transformer should be no greater than 16.5mm.
Serotonin, 5HT1 agonists, and migraine: new data, but old questions still not answered.

Purpose of reviewThe serotonergic system has long been linked to migraine but recent studies highlight how much is still unclear about this link. And recent data add to the uncertainty of where/how triptans act and why they are headache specific.Recent findingsMarkers of 5HT levels in the brains of
The extent of biopsy involvement as an independent predictor of extraprostatic extension and surgical margin status in low risk prostate cancer: implications for treatment selection.

Purpose: We identify predictors of extraprostatic extension and positive surgical margins in patients with low risk prostate cancer (prostate specific antigen [PSA] 10 ng./ml. or less, biopsy Gleason score 7 or less and clinical stage T1c-2b).Materials and Methods: From August 1997 to January 1999, 143 previously untreated patients underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. A total of 62 patients were low risk, with PSA 10 ng./ml. or less, biopsy Gleason score 7 or less and clinical stage T1c-2b, and had sextant biopsy with separate pathological evaluation of each sextant cores. PSA, clinical stage, biopsy Gleason score, average percentage of cancer in the entire biopsy specimen, maximum percentage of cancer on the most involved core, number of cores involved and bilaterality were evaluated for association with extraprostatic extension, seminal vesicle involvement and positive surgical margins.Results: Of the 62 patients 13 (21%) had extraprostatic extension, 6 (1...
Relationship of chlorine decay and THMs formation to NOM size

Because of increasing concern about balancing health risks for pathogen control and disinfection by-product (DBP) formation in water supplies, utilities are forced to closely examine and optimize their disinfection practices. A better understanding of the relationship between the molecular weights of the natural organic matter (NOM), chlorine decay kinetics and THMs formation can help the utilities to minimize the DBP concentrations, providing healthier and microbially safer water. The authors present data on chlorine decay kinetics and total trihalomethanes (TTHM) formation kinetics and modeling with different molecular weights NOM fractions of Mississippi River water. TTHM modeling results indicated that the TTHM formation in fractionated NOM was a function of chlorine consumption. TTHM yield coefficients ranged from 31 to 42 microg-TTHM/mg-Cl2. As the molecular weight of the fractions decreased, TTHM yield coefficients increased.
The interactive effects of low self-control and commitment to school on substance abuse among college students

This study examined the combined influence of two predicting factors-low self-control and commitment to schooling-that research has shown have independent effects on substance abuse. In a sample of 598 college students, this study tested the interactive effects of these factors while controlling for other established predictors of binge drinking and drug use. Analysis showed that participants who had both low self-control and low schooling commitment had significantly higher scores on substance abuse than would be expected from the independent influences of the component factors, which suggests that the combined effects of these predictors on substance abuse have a greater influence than their direct influences.
The bitetrahedral molecule C8H6: The shortest possible CC bond distance for a saturated hydrocarbon?

Abstract Bitetrahedral has recently been suggested as a candidate for the molecule incorporating the shortest possible carbon-carbon single bond in a completely saturated hydrocarbon system. This suggestion is pursued using ab initio quantum mechanical methods with basis sets as large as double-zeta plus polarization (DZ+P). The structure of a larger molecule, a coupled bicyclo [1.1.0]butane isomer of C12H14, is also completely optimized and displays a significantly longer central CC distance.
Vestibular dysfunction in schizophrenia and childhood autism

Abstract Clinical and experimental studies of responses to vestibular stimulation in schizophrenia and childhood autism suggest that central vestibular mechanisms play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of these conditions. It is suggested that the vestibular system normally regulates the mutual interaction of sensory input and motor output during both REM sleep and waking. The disturbances of perception and motility which occur in schizophrenic adults and autistic children are attributed to vestibular dysfunction during these states of consciousness. This failure of adequate vestibular modulation of perception and motility appears to be maturationally determined.
Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion, by Lola Williamson, New York University Press: New York, 2010, xii + 261 pp. ISBN 978-0-8147-9449-4, US$75.00 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-8147-9450-0, US$23.00 (paperback)

Transcendent in America: Hindu-Inspired Meditation Movements as New Religion, by Lola Williamson, New York University Press: New York, 2010, xii + 261 pp. ISBN 978-0-8147-9449-4, US$75.00 (cloth); ...
ISOTROPIC-NEMATIC TRANSITION OF SURFACE EMBEDDED POLYMERS AND THE ASSOCIATED TUBULIZATION TRANSITION OF THE EMBEDDING SURFACE

Usually the adsorption of polymers onto surfaces is discussed in terms of more or less diffuse adsorption layers, composed of trains, loops, and dangling ends. There is enough corroborating evidence that in many cases this simplified picture correctly captures the salient features of the polymer adsorption phenomena @1#. However, some recent results on adsorption of highly charged polyelectrolyes onto oppositely charged molecular surfaces give evidence to much stronger bonding of the adsorbing polymer to the surface @2,3#. It seems that the polymer adsorbs flat onto the surface without any observable loops, dangling ends, and even a very restricted number of crossings among the different segments of the chain, as the strong electrostatic attraction can apparently override any entropy driven tendency for less tightly bound configurations. In this respect one can envision the adsorption process more as an embedding of polymer chains into ~or onto! the adsorbing ~supporting! surface. The theoretical significance of this observation would be that an analysis of the adsorption phenomenon could be carried out without taking into consideration the extremely improbable configurations with local desorption of the polymers ~loops and dangling ends!. In a certain sense this simplifies the analysis because the chains can be treated as embedded into the supporting matrix. However, the embedding also signifies that there is a strong coupling between the polymer and the surface configurations and thus the pertaining degrees of freedom cannot be decoupled and treated separately. In this contribution we shall address the interplay of the polymer and surface degrees of freedom in connection with the nematic ordering transition of a polymer chain embedded ~i.e., tightly adsorbed! onto a flexible, fluid surface. It will be established that there can be no effective decoupling of the tight adsorption problem ~embedding! into a separate polymer and surface parts. The influence of the surface degrees of freedom on the polymer ordering transition, as well as of the polymer degrees of freedom on the effective elastic constants of the ‘‘dressed’’ ~meaning surface plus polymer! surface, will be derived and discussed. The renormalized form of the surface elastic constants will be shown to lead to a tubulization transition of the embedding surface.
Multi-Scale Deep Neural Network Microscopic Image Segmentation

With digital technology and fast imaging speed, huge amount of microscopic images are produced in biomedical research every day. A key procedure in processing and analyzing the images involves recognition and segmentation of features, patterns, or regions that are of interest to the researchers. Such work is often manually done by humans, which is very time-consuming and thus impractical when image data are massive. Traditional image segmentation algorithms have difficulty in identifying high-level features (e.g. a particular morphology of a cell type or an organelle). Plus, many microscopic images, especially super-resolution STED images, are highly noisy. The analysis of noisy images poses an even higher challenge to traditional algorithms. Compared with computer algorithms, humans are incredibly good at identifying high-level features. Machine learning, which let computer learn human behaviors, is thus a suitable solution. Deep learning is a set of emerging machine learning methods that is being successfully applied in many applications, such as face recognition and speech recognition. It has also been used to process specific types of microscopic images.We have designed a multi-scale convolution neural network for segmentizing noisy microscopic images. Images at original resolution and down-sampled images at multiple scales are feed to the network for information extraction. The purpose of adopting this multi-scale architecture is to obtain local fine resolution while maintain larger field of views, which gives network low classification error rate while maintain reasonable processing speed. The network has been tested on segmentation of mitochondria labeled with mitotracker. Network separate image pixels into two categories: “background” and “mitochondria”. Training and testing of the network is done with standard back-propagation algorithm, with human labeled segmentation data. Preliminary result shows the trained network well outperformed multiple traditional image segmentation methods.
Latent labor with an unknown uterine scar.

Objective : To determine if avoiding the augmentation of ineffective contractions in women with unknown uterine scars would decrease the risk of cesarean for protraction disorders, compared with awaiting the onset of spontaneous labor. Methods : Term gravidas with one or two unknown uterine scars in early labor were randomized to nonintervention ( N = 101) and intervention ( N = 96) groups. Nonintervention subjects were discharged if cervical change did not occur within 4 hours. Intervention subjects were admitted. Contractions that persisted for 4 hours without cervical change were augmented with oxytocin. Results : Intervention subjects received oxytocin significantly more often (82 versus 55%, P P = .03). There was no difference between the two groups in length of active labor (4.0 versus 4.25 hours) or incidence of cesarean delivery (16 versus 17%). Conclusion : The augmentation of ineffective contractions during latent labor in gravidas with an unknown uterine scar does not increase the rate of cesarean delivery, but it is significantly more likely to result in uterine scar separations.
Note: Sample chamber for in situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy studies of battery materials

In situ x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) provides element-specific characterization of both crystalline and amorphous phases and enables direct correlations between electrochemical performance and structural characteristics of cathode and anode materials. In situ XAS measurements are very demanding to the design of the experimental setup. We have developed a sample chamber that provides electrical connectivity and inert atmosphere for operating electrochemical cells and also accounts for x-ray interactions with the chamber and cell materials. The design of the sample chamber for in situ measurements is presented along with example XAS spectra from anode materials in operating pouch cells at the Zn and Sn K-edges measured in fluorescence and transmission modes, respectively.
A Nonclassical Vibration Absorber for Pendulation Reduction

A passive vibration absorber for reducing the motion of a planar pendulum is developed. The system is excited by the horizontal motion of the support. The design transforms the original one-degree-of- freedom pendulum into a double pendulum by adding a small secondary pendulating sacrificial mass between the main system and the base excitation point and two pretensioned springs that generate negative restoring moments (i.e., of opposite sign to that of the gravity-induced restoring moments). Optimal conditions for enhancing the transfer of energy from the main (lower) to the secondary (upper) pendulum are sought. The damping is assumed to be of a linear viscous-type. Due to the action of the springs, the transfer function between the pendulation angle of the main system and the disturbance, in the undamped linearized case, can be reduced to zero for any excitation frequency This is accomplished by requiring that the two spring stiffnesses satisfy an algebraic tuning relation. Due to the inherent inertial ...
Proton-resistant quantum dots: Stability in gastrointestinal fluids and implications for oral delivery of nanoparticle agents

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have shown great promise as fluorescent probes for molecular, cellular and in vivo imaging. However, the fluorescence of traditional polymer-encapsulated QDs is often quenched by proton-induced etching in acidic environments. This is a major problem for applications of QDs in the gastrointestinal tract because the gastric (stomach) environment is strongly acidic (pH 1–2). Here we report the use of proton-resistant surface coatings to stabilize QD fluorescence under acidic conditions. Using both hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI) and its polyethylene glycol derivative (PEG-grafted PEI), we show that the fluorescence of core shell CdSe /CdS/ ZnS QDs is effectively protected from quenching in simulated gastric fluids. In comparison, amphiphilic lipid or polymer coatings provide no protection under similarly acidic conditions. The proton-resistant QDs are found to cause moderate membrane damage to cultured epithelial cells, but PEGylation (PEG grafting) can be used to reduce cellular toxicity and to improve nanoparticle stability.
ON THE KOSTERLITZ–THOULESS TRANSITION ON COMPACT RIEMANN SURFACES

A Lagrangian for the two-dimensional vortex gas is derived from a general microscopic Lagrangian for 4He atoms on an arbitrary compact Riemann Surface without boundary. In the constant density limit the vortex Hamiltonian obtained from this Lagrangian is found to be the same as the Kosterlitz and Thouless Coulombic interaction Hamiltonian. The partition function for the Kosterlitz–Thouless ensemble on the general compact is formulated and mapped into the sine–Gordon field theory.
Polyamines and platelet aggregation

Abstract High blood concentrations of the naturally occurring polyamines have been reported in leukemia, psoriasis, cystic fibrosis and polycythemia rubra vera. Spermidine and spermine inhibit in vitro plate-let aggregation of platelet rich plasma preparations in which ADP and Ristocetin are the agglutinating agents. The proposal is made that these organic cations may modulate in vivo platelet agglutinability.
Stealth Attack by the Gut Microbiota

Obesity is an increasing problem in the developed world and a leading cause of serious health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. However, the mechanisms by which obesity contributes to these diseases are not fully understood. Now, Yoshimoto and colleagues report that
A Full Snow Season in Yellowstone: A Database of Restored Aqua Band 6

The algorithms for estimating snow extent for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) optimally use the 1.6-μm channel which is unavailable for MODIS on Aqua due to detector damage. As a test bed to demonstrate that Aqua band 6 can be restored, we chose the area surrounding Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. In such rugged and difficult-to-access terrain, satellite images are particularly important for providing an estimation of snow-cover extent. For the full 2010-2011 snow season covering the Yellowstone region, we have used quantitative image restoration to create a database of restored Aqua band 6. The database includes restored radiances, normalized vegetation index, normalized snow index, thermal data, and band-6-based snow-map products. The restored Aqua-band-6 data have also been regridded and combined with Terra data to produce a snow-cover map that utilizes both Terra and Aqua snow maps. Using this database, we show that the restored Aqua-band-6-based snow-cover extent has a comparable performance with respect to ground stations to the one based on Terra. The result of a restored band 6 from Aqua is that we have an additional band-6 image of the Yellowstone region each day. This image can be used to mitigate cloud occlusion, using the same algorithms used for band 6 on Terra. We show an application of this database of restored band-6 images to illustrate the value of creating a cloud gap filling using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's operational cloud masks and data from both Aqua and Terra.
Synergistic increase in chromosomal breakage within the euchromatin induced by an interaction of the benzene metabolites phenol and hydroquinone in mice.

The hematopoietic and carcinogenic effects of benzene may result from an interaction of various benzene metabolites. Following the co-administration of phenol and hydroquinone, a synergistic increase in myelotoxicity and genotoxicity has been observed in the bone marrow of mice. To understand the mechanisms underlying these synergistic genotoxic effects we have studied the origin of micronuclei (MN) formed in bone marrow erythrocytes following the co-administration of these two metabolites. Phenol and hydroquinone were administered to male CD-1 mice by i.p. injection three times at 24 h intervals. The frequency of MN was evaluated in bone marrow cells harvested 24 h following the final dose. A marked increase in MN was observed in mice co-administered phenol and hydroquinone, which was significantly greater than that observed with the individual metabolites. Labeling with the CREST antibody and multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization with the mouse major and minor satellite probes indicated that both chromosomal loss and breakage and occurred. The major increase in MN induced by the phenol and hydroquinone combination originated from breakage in the euchromatic region of the mouse chromosomes. The origin of MN in mice co-administered phenol and hydroquinone differed substantially from that induced by hydroquinone alone, but was almost identical to that seen in MN from benzene-treated mice. These results strongly support the hypothesis that interactive effects among benzene metabolites play an important role in the genotoxic and carcinogenic effects of benzene.
TH-C-218-02: Cranial SRS and SRT on a Siemens Artist Using the Brainlab IPlan Treatment Planning System

Linear accelerator‐based stereotactic radiosurgery(SRS) or radiotherapy (SRT) is a well accepted technique for the treatment of cranial primary and metastatic lesions and acoustic neuromas. The requirements in terms of accuracy and reliability of the linac are more stringent for these modalities than they are for more highly fractionated treatments. However these requirements have been identified and standardized in the TG142 report on external beam quality assurance (QA). It is usually not difficult for a newly purchased modern linac to meet these requirements, giving users a wider variety of choice when considering starting an SRS/SRT program. The compatibility of these linacs with SRS/SRT‐specific equipment and software, such as cones, frames or treatment planning systems, must be established. I will report on the use at our institution of a Siemens Artiste™ linac for cranial SRS/SRT, in conjunction with the Brainlab iPlan® treatment planning system. I will discuss the various combinations of using the Brainlab SRS cones or the Siemens 160‐leaf multileaf collimator (160‐MLC) for beam shaping; the Brainlab frame or frameless system for immobilization; the Brainlab target positioning system or the Siemens MVision™ MV‐CBCT system for localization. I will describe the commissioning steps of the system, including data acquisition for beam modeling in iPlan® and end‐to‐end testing. Various issues that arose throughout the use of this Siemens/Brainlab hybrid system over the last 3 years will be discussed. Learning Objectives: 1. To assess the safety and usefulness of a multivendor solution for cranial SRS/SRT. 2. To understand the commissioning and quality assurance steps of a Siemens Artiste™ / Brainlab iPlan® hybrid system for cranial SRS/SRT 3. To understand the limitations of the hybrid system.
A theoretical explanation for ferroelectric-like properties of amorphous Pb(ZrxTi1−x)O3 and BaTiO3

Abstract A theoretical model deals with a structure of permanent dipoles of `ordered clusters' (ferrons) in the amorphous films. The theoretical calculation is based on our experimental results of thin films of two amorphous materials (barium titanate and lead zirconate titanate). A statistical physics approach in accordance with the above ferron model, as well as a thermodynamic approach have been employed for calculation. The theoretical results agree very well with those from experiments.
Inducing multilingual POS taggers and NP bracketers via robust projection across aligned corpora

This paper investigates the potential for projecting linguistic annotations including part-of-speech tags and base noun phrase bracketings from one language to another via automatically word-aligned parallel corpora. First, experiments assess the accuracy of unmodified direct transfer of tags and brackets from the source language English to the target languages French and Chinese, both for noisy machine-aligned sentences and for clean hand-aligned sentences. Performance is then substantially boosted over both of these baselines by using training techniques optimized for very noisy data, yielding 94-96% core French part-of-speech tag accuracy and 90% French bracketing F-measure for stand-alone monolingual tools trained without the need for any human-annotated data in the given language.
NON-LINEAR STOCHASTIC DYNAMICS OF TENSION LEG PLATFORMS

Abstract In this paper, a set of non-linear equations of motion for a single-tendon tension leg platform are developed. The equations of motion consist of partial differential equations representing the transverse and longitudinal response of the tendon. In addition, a mixed formulation partial differential equation describing the surge response of the hull and tendon, coupled with an ordinary differential equation for the pitch response of the rigid hull is presented. Many of the simplifying assumptions used by prior researchers have been eliminated. The hull is modelled as a hollow rigid cylindrical body, and the tendon as a hollow cylindrical beam pinned at its top to the hull and at its bottom to the template connected to the seafloor. The Extended Hamilton's Principle is applied and the Lagrangian is fully developed. Terms include the kinetic energy, bending and membrane strain energies and the potential energy due to gravity and buoyancy. The normalized equations of motion are also detailed. The full derivation with assumptions are presented. The response, analyzed for stochastic wave and current loading, is presented with a planar motion assumption. The tension leg platform will oscillate about its vertical position due to ocean waves. Current will cause a tension leg platform to oscillate about an offset position rather than its vertical position. This offset in the surge direction has a corresponding setdown, the lowering of the hull in the heave direction, which increases the buoyancy forces. This results in a higher tension in the tendons than if the tendon and hull were in a vertical position. Forces on the tendon have been neglected in much of the literature. The responses presented in this work show that the inclusion of forces on the tendon will result in both a greater amplitude and offset position when compared to studies where these forces are neglected. This offset position, which is the surge displacement from the vertical position, is significant in the operation of a tension leg platform. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed on the drag and inertia coefficients in Morison's equation. A uniform random distribution of coefficients was selected from 0.6 to 2.0 for each coefficient. Twenty computer simulations were implemented for each coefficient. The response showed that the offset position and the amplitude are both dependent on the drag coefficient. The surge of the hull shows a maximum offset approximately three times greater for the coefficient that resulted in the maximum displacement than the minimum. The response did not show a significant dependence on the inertia coefficient, however, this is not necessarily true for unsteady current, large hull and tendon diameters, ocean wave frequencies greater than 1 rad/s and low current velocity.
Evidence of a Gene X Environment Interaction in the Creation of Victimization Results From a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents

A large body of research has revealed that aggressive personality traits and violent criminal behaviors are influenced by genetic factors. Surprisingly, however, no research has been devoted to investigating the potential genetic origins to adolescent victimization. In the current study, the authors address this gap in the literature by using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine whether different variants of the dopamine D2 receptor gene (DRD2) are related to victimization, net of the effects of environmental measures. The results of the multivariate models revealed a significant gene X environment interaction in the creation of victimization for White males. Specifically, DRD2 interacted with delinquent peers to predict victimization. The authors discuss the implications of these findings.