cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Highly parallel multichannel LS algorithms and application to decision-feedback equalizers

The efficient least-squares (LS) design of multichannel causal finite-impulse-response (FIR) filters characterized by a different number of memory elements per input channel is discussed. A highly concurrent transversal algorithm for these filters, suitable for very large scale integration (VLSI) implementation, is derived. This batch algorithm is used in the efficient adaptive computation of the multichannel filter. The batch and adaptive algorithms are applied to LS autoregressive-moving-average identification and to the design of efficient decision-feedback equalizers. Simulation results are included. >
Transcriptional silencing and longevity protein Sir2 is an NAD-dependent histone deacetylase

Yeast Sir2 is a heterochromatin component that silences transcription at silent mating loci, telomeres and the ribosomal DNA, and that also suppresses recombination in the rDNA and extends replicative life span. Mutational studies indicate that lysine 16 in the amino-terminal tail of histone H4 and lysines 9, 14 and 18 in H3 are critically important in silencing, whereas lysines 5, 8 and 12 of H4 have more redundant functions. Lysines 9 and 14 of histone H3 and lysines 5, 8 and 16 of H4 are acetylated in active chromatin and hypoacetylated in silenced chromatin, and overexpression of Sir2 promotes global deacetylation of histones, indicating that Sir2 may be a histone deacetylase. Deacetylation of lysine 16 of H4 is necessary for binding the silencing protein, Sir3. Here we show that yeast and mouse Sir2 proteins are nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent histone deacetylases, which deacetylate lysines 9 and 14 of H3 and specifically lysine 16 of H4. Our analysis of two SIR2 mutations supports the idea that this deacetylase activity accounts for silencing, recombination suppression and extension of life span in vivo. These findings provide a molecular framework of NAD-dependent histone deacetylation that connects metabolism, genomic silencing and ageing in yeast and, perhaps, in higher eukaryotes.
Molecular Biologic Staging of Esophageal Cancer

The molecular biology of esophageal cancer is characterized by a series of genetic mutations that occur throughout the progression from normal squamous epithelium to carcinoma. The most important risk factor for the development of adenocarcinoma, which is increasing in incidence, is the presence of CLE. The pathophysiology of CLE appears to be related to duodenogastroesophageal reflux, also increasing in incidence. The genetic mutations that are responsible for tumorigenesis have been described, although the precise sequence of mutations is variable. Analysis of molecular biologic factors that are important in tumorigenesis may be used in clinical applications: establishing diagnosis, assessing prognosis, and assigning therapy. The development of molecular biologic substaging of patients with CLE may potentially identify patients with elevated malignant potential and expedite therapy. The ability of molecular markers to predict resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy represents an important potential advantage, with two possible applications. Predictable resistance to a particular chemotherapeutic agent would allow the selection of a alternative agent, with a greater potential for efficacy. Furthermore, known mechanisms of resistance, which have been analyzed using molecular markers, may be inhibited or reversed. The molecular biology of esophageal cancer requires further study. The molecular events and factors that are involved may be important in the diagnosis, staging, and treatment of esophageal cancer, in addition to the description of tumorigenesis.
Giyoo Hatano’s Analysis of Psychological Tools

This paper focuses on the relation between two areas of research which owe a great debt to the work of Giyoo Hatano: the ways in which the use of the abacus mediates arithmetic problem solving and the way in which the use of the kanji writing system mediates the interpretation of unfamiliar words. These examples are related to L.S. Vygotsky’s ideas about the ways in which particular kinds of mediational means can serve as psychological tools for accomplishing culturally valued problem solving. They also urge upon us the need to be cautious when we are tempted to order culturally valued mediational means in terms of a unilinear evolutionary sequence.
Structural studies of Rubisco from tobacco.

An electron density map of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase (Rubisco) from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) has been obtained by X-ray crystallography at a nominal resolution of 0.34 nm. Phases were determined by multiple isomorphous replacement with three heavy atom derivatives and then refined by solvent flattening. Rubisco is barrel-shaped, and has (422) symmetry. The fourfold axis runs down an open central channel, concentric with the barrel. The molecule measures 10.5 nm along the fourfold axis, and has a diameter of 13 nm perpendicular to the fourfold axis at the widest point. The diameter of the central channel is 2.8 nm at the centre of the molecule, and 0.6 nm at its narrowest constriction. Portions of the polypeptide backbone of the protomer have been traced and some 127 residues have been assigned to 14 alpha-helices. The amino acid sequences of Rubisco from Rhodospirillum rubrum and from the large subunit of tobacco are sufficiently similar to suggest that the two chains are folded in the same general way.
Ecological effects on metabolic scaling: amphipod responses to fish predators in freshwater springs

Metabolic rate is commonly thought to scale with body mass to the 3/4 power as a result of universal body design constraints. However, recent comparative work has shown that the metabolic-scaling slope may vary significantly among species and higher taxa, apparently in response to different lifestyles and ecological conditions, though the precise mechanisms involved are not well understood. To better understand these underappreciated ecological effects and their causes, it is important to control for extraneous phylogenetic and environmental influences. We demonstrate how this may be done by comparing the ontogenetic scaling of resting metabolic rate among populations of the same species (the amphipod Gammarus minus) in mid-Appalachian freshwater springs with similar, relatively constant environmental conditions, except for the varying presence of the predatory fish Cottus cognatus. We found that populations of G. minus exhibit significantly lower metabolic-scaling slopes (0.54–0.62) in three freshwater s...
Effect of stoichiometry and diffusion on an epoxy/amine reaction mechanism

The bulk phase kinetics of an epoxy (DGEBA) /amine (DDS) thermoset have been studied using DSC, FTIR, and 13C-NMR. In the absence of catalyst, the reaction was found to involve a main exothermic reaction between epoxide and amine hydrogen and a side reaction between tertiary amine formed in the main reaction and epoxide. The main reaction was exothermic while the side reaction had no discernable exotherm. Etherification did not occur to any significant extent. Since only the main reaction is exothermic, DSC was very useful for studying the main reaction kinetics. FTIR was used for determining whether epoxide and amine hydrogen were consumed at different rates as a way of following the side reaction. An IR band previously unused by other investigators was used to monitor the amine hydrogen concentration. NMR confirmed the above mechanism by identifying the formation of a quaternary ammonium ion/alkoxide ion pair as a reaction product of tertiary amine and epoxide. This mechanism has been successfully fit to a rate law valid over the entire extent of reaction. The rate constant for the epoxy/amine addition reaction was found to depend on hydroxide concentration (extent), reaction temperature, and glass transition temperature and included contributions from uncatalyzed and autocatalyzed parts. The side reaction (quaternary ammonium ion formation) formed weak bonds which did not affect the overall system Tg. Both reactions were second order. The rate constants for the main reaction first increase with increasing extent due to autocatalysis by hydroxide before decreasing due to the diffusion limit caused by gelation and vitrification. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Design and performance of a digitally based voltage controller for correcting phase unbalance in induction machines

The case of unbalanced supply presents a uniquely difficult problem in motor applications since its causes are varied. In many situations a static starter utilizing back-to-back thyristors in series with the motor lines is already installed for the purpose of soft starting or for power factor improvement. An attractive low-cost solution for phase unbalance is simply to modify the control strategy of the static starter by adjusting the firing angles of the three thyristors pairs independently. In this manner, the series connected thyristors serve the function of unsymmetrical, variable supply impedances which can be used to balance the voltage across the motor phases. A new digital controller utilizing a static starter for balancing the phase currents of an induction motor operating with unbalanced supply is presented. Experimental results show a marked reduction in the current unbalance from approximately 40% to a few percent and clearly demonstrate the attractiveness of the new phase balancer. >
Influences of Women's Employment on the Gendered Division of Household Labor Over the Life Course: Evidence From a 31-Year Panel Study

Drawing on data from a panel study of White women spanning 31 years, the analyses examine the influence of women's employment on the gendered division of household labor. Multiple dimensions of women's employment are investigated, including accumulated employment histories, current employment status, current employment hours, and relative income. Results from fixed effect and change score models suggest that the husbands of women who accumulate more employment experience over the course of marriage perform a relatively larger amount of routine housework than the husbands of women with shorter employment histories. Women's employment status at a given point in time also increases men's relative participation in routine housework, and the influence of women's employment status operates in part by increasing women's support for egalitarian roles between spouses. Finally, women's hours of employment and relative income are stronger predictors of housework allocation than is their current employment status.
Safety of Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease

Nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used in the management of a variety of conditions, but their prevalence is likely underreported as a result of widespread availability and the perception that nonprescription therapies are unnecessary to report during medication history taking. However, NSAIDs are associated with a number of adverse effects, especially in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients with CVD and comorbidities for which NSAIDs may provide symptomatic relief (e.g., osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis) tend to be older, which places them at greater risk of harm. For these reasons, the use of NSAIDs in patients with CVD is a significant public health concern. An understanding of the risks associated with NSAIDs is critical for clinicians across practice settings. In this review, we detail the safety of NSAIDs in patients with CVD, provide recommendations on their use in specific disease states, and discuss therapeutic alternatives.
$s for Lives: Ethical Considerations in the Use of Cost/Benefit Analysis by For‐Profit Firms

Cost/benefit analysis is often an imprecise tool because of assumptions that must be made about matters that are difficult to quantify. The problems become especially acute when lives or serious bodily injuries are at stake because of the serious nature of that which is being risked. Furthermore, the literature on cost/benefit analysis focuses on public decision-making situations and decisions by individuals. This paper examines the distinctiveness of the use of cost/benefit analysis involving putting dollar values on human life by for-profit firms. The argument developed in the paper is that the lack of participation by the affected party (or government representative) in balancing costs and benefits raises special ethical concerns. A formula that was developed by the Ford Motor Company concerning accidents involving fuel leakage and fire with resultant loss of life and serious burn injuries is used as an example of both the imprecision of the method and the distinctive factors of the decision process that raise special ethical considerations. The paper examines why the for-profit-decision is distinct, what the special ethical considerations are, and concludes with a discussion of several alternative procedures to monitor the use of cost/benefit analysis so that it would be an effective business tool while at the same time the individual is provided maximum protection.
Metabolic and behavioral predictors of weight gain in Hispanic children: the Viva la Familia Study

Background Despite the high prevalence of overweight among Hispanic children in the United States, definitive predictors of weight gain have not been identified in this population. Objective The study objective was to test sociodemographic, metabolic, and behavioral predictors of 1-y weight gains in a large cohort of Hispanic children studied longitudinally. Design Subjects (n = 879) were siblings from 319 Hispanic families enrolled in the Viva la Familia Study. Families were required to have at least one overweight child aged 4-19 y. One-year changes in weight and body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry were measured. Data were from parental interviews, birth certificates, multiple-pass 24-h dietary recalls, 3-d accelerometry, 24-h respiration calorimetry, measurements of eating in the absence of hunger, and measurement of fasting blood biochemistry indexes by radioimmunoassay. Generalized estimating equations and principal component analysis were applied. Results Weight gain increased with age (P = 0.001), peaking at approximately 10 y of age in girls and approximately 11 y of age in boys. Mean (+/-SD) weight gain was significantly higher in overweight (7.5 +/- 3.7 kg/y) than in nonoverweight (4.4 +/- 2.4 kg/y) children and in boys than in girls. When adjusted for age, age squared, sex, and Tanner stage, the final model indicated a child's body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) status, maternal BMI, energy expenditure (total energy expenditure, basal metabolic rate, and sleeping metabolic rate), and fasting blood biochemistry indexes (total triiodothyronine, insulin, leptin, and ghrelin) as independent, positive predictors of weight gain (P = 0.01-0.001). Conclusion Knowledge of the metabolic and behavioral predictors of weight gain in Hispanic children will inform prevention and treatment efforts to address this serious public health problem in the United States.
Sources of Flexibility in Human Cognition: Dual-Task Studies of Space and Language ☆

Under many circumstances, children and adult rats reorient themselves through a process which operates only on information about the shape of the environment (e.g., Cheng, 1986; Hermer & Spelke, 1996). In contrast, human adults relocate themselves more flexibly, by conjoining geometric and nongeometric information to specify their position (Hermer & Spelke, 1994). The present experiments used a dual-task method to investigate the processes that underlie the flexible conjunction of information. In Experiment 1, subjects reoriented themselves flexibly when they performed no secondary task, but they reoriented themselves like children and adult rats when they engaged in verbal shadowing of continuous speech. In Experiment 2, subjects who engaged in nonverbal shadowing of a continuous rhythm reoriented like nonshadowing subjects, suggesting that the interference effect in Experiment 1 did not stem from general limits on working memory or attention but from processes more specific to language. In further experiments, verbally shadowing subjects detected and remembered both nongeometric information (Experiment 3) and geometric information (Experiments 1, 2, and 4), but they failed to conjoin the two types of information to specify the positions of objects (Experiment 4). Together, the experiments suggest that humans' flexible spatial memory depends on the ability to combine diverse information sources rapidly into unitary representations and that this ability, in turn, depends on natural language.
Generalized hyperpigmentation with daunorubicin chemotherapy

Abstract Daunorubicin has been reported to cause hyperpigmentation of sun-exposed skin and/or transverse nail pigmentation (3 cases). We report a case of an African American man who had an atypical pattern of generalized hyperpigmentation develop that involved many sun-protected skin areas 2 weeks after daunorubicin treatment. Histopathology of hyperpigmented skin showed increased melanin granules in all epidermal layers. The mechanisms by which daunorubicin may increase skin pigmentation are discussed. (J Am Acad Dermatol 2002;46:S1-3.)
Mesogenic polymers. III. Thermal properties and synthesis of three homologous series of thermotropic liquid crystalline ``backbone'' polyesters

Details of the thermal behavior, including transition temperatures, transition heats and transition entropies, are reported for three series of nematic liquid-crystalline “backbone” polyesters having the general structure All polysters described above were examined by differential scanning calorimetry and were found to have reproducible thermal behavior once the polymer had been annealed by heating to the isotropic phase and then subsequently cooled. Enantiotropic nematic phases were found for all 30 polysters studied. Many polymers showed multiple endotherms on melting to the nematic phase. Plots of solid–nematic and nematic–isotropic transition temperatures versus number of carbon atoms in the diacid segment (x) for each (y) reveal an even–odd alternation reminiscent of trends in homologous series of small-molecule liquid crystals. Enthalpies for the solid nematic and nematic isotropic transitions do not show such a precise alternation.
Modeling of Abrasive Wear in a Piston Ring and Engine Cylinder Bore System

Engine-related improvements such as more efficient engine components, improved engine oils, and high-performance coating materials, need to be verified in terms of their effects on the tribological performance of the piston ring/cylinder bore system. The main purpose of this research is to develop an abrasive wear model for the piston ring/cylinder bore system during steady-state operation by considering the effects of temperature, load, oil degradation, surface roughness, and material properties. The model can be used either in theoretical modeling or integrated with finite element analysis. Based on a laboratory simulator, a three-body abrasive wear model has been developed to model the wear progression of the piston ring/cylinder bore system during steady state operation. The proposed novel abrasive wear model addresses the effects of temperature, load, oil degradation, surface roughness, and material properties. The feasibility of the proposed model is illustrated by a numerical example.
Assessment of Resistance Risk in Obliquebanded Leafroller (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to the Reduced-Risk Insecticides Chlorantraniliprole and Spinetoram

Obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris) (Lepidoptera: Tortrici- dae), is a major pest of pome fruit in Washington. The use of broad-spectrum insecticides for decades has led to the development of insecticide resistance in C. rosaceana. Recently registered insecticides with novel modes of action, such as chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram, have provided effective C. rosaceana control, but resistance remains a threat. The risk of insecticide resistance development in a pest can be assessed by artiÞcial selection in the laboratory. Subsequently, this information can be valuable in developing strategies to retain susceptibility in the Þeld. A laboratory population of C. rosaceana was selected after repeated exposure to chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram to determine the risk of resistance evolution. After six generations of selection, 6.58- and 3.64-fold increases in LC50 were recorded for chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram, respectively. The realized heritability (h 2 )o f resistance was estimated as 0.17 for chlorantraniliprole and 0.18 for spinetoram by using threshold trait analysis. The rates of resistance development were compared using the response quotient (Q), which was estimated as 0.11 and 0.07 for chlorantraniliprole and spinetoram, respectively. Projected rates of resistance evolution indicated that if h 2 0.2 and 80% of the population was killed at each generation, then a 10-fold increase in LC50 would be expected in less than six generations for chlorantraniliprole and 10 generations for spinetoram. These results indicate that the risk of resistance development in C. rosaceana exists to both of these insecticides but that resistance development in C. rosaceana would be slower against spinetoram than chlorantraniliprole.
Want change? Try honey instead of vinegar.

The use of contingency management (CM) in addiction treatment has shifted away from negative reinforcement approaches (e.g., confrontation, punishment) toward more positive reinforcement approaches (privileges, rewards) to modify the behaviors of substance abusers. CM treatment approaches are based on the well-established behavioral principle that reinforcing a behavior with a tangible reward is likely to increase the frequency of that behavior. Numerous studies in adults abusing substances have consistently shown greater abstinence when CM is added to other psychosocial substance treatment interventions. 1,2 Most of these adult studies have used fairly simple, standardized procedures to reinforce abstinence, in which participants receive a tangible reward (e.g., voucher payment or an opportunity to draw for prizes) for each successive negative urine drug screen collected during treatment. 1,2
Stroke mortality trends an international perspective

This article presents death rates for cerebrovascular disease (stroke) by sex for ages 35 to 74 years in 1990 for 52 countries, and trends in rates from 1950 to 1990 for 30 countries. Rates are high in Asia and eastern Europe. In most industrialized countries, large declines occurred, particularly over the last 2 decades. The United States and Canada have low rates. Portugal, Trinidad, Paraguay, Mauritius, China, Korea, and most eastern European countries have the highest rates. Japan, with very high stroke mortality in the 1950s, experienced the largest absolute and percent decline and now ranks above western Europe and North America but below most other countries. In most industrialized countries, except in eastern Europe, stroke death rates declined more than 50% since 1970, somewhat more in women than in men. There is more uniformity in trends since 1970 than in earlier years. In several countries, either a downward slope accelerated in the 1970s, or a rising trend was reversed.
Age-specific onset of β-amyloid in Beagle brains

Abstract As part of an effort to characterize Alzheimer's disease-like neuropathy in the canine brain we have determined the age of onset of spontaneous β-amyloid deposition in 103 laboratory-raised beagles. Tissue samples for each subject were obtained from hippocampal and cortical regions and examined for the incidence and density of β-amyloid deposition after staining with modified Bielschowsky silver stain and immunohistochemistry. Amyloid deposition was characterized as diffuse plaque or cloud-like formation. The diffuse type of β-amyloid plaque formation predominated in all brain regions examined. A threshold effect of plaque development was observed; no plaques were apparent in dogs before the age of 10 years, while 36% of dogs aged 11.1–12.9, 60% of dogs aged 13.0–15.0, and 73% of dogs aged 15.1–17.8 developed β-amyloid deposits. Additionally, a significant increase in plaque density was observed with increasing age.
Production Protection to Copy(right) Protection: From the 10NES to DVDs

Much of what modern digital rights management (DRM) systems attempt to accomplish was actually forcefully implemented on videogame consoles beginning with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and SEGA Genesis system in the early 1980s. Examining the links between modern DRM mechanisms and these early production and copy protection systems can help contextualize the future of media production and access.
A two-parameter family of pension contribution functions and stochastic optimization☆

Abstract In a previous article the author has suggested a linear function of A(t) (present value of future benefits) and F(t) (fund) as pension contribution function in place of the form given in Trowbridge (1963) which is a one-parameter family of funding methods. Here we provide some theoretical justification for such a method by showing that, in the simplified model of this paper, the optimal solution of a stochastic control problem yields, as contribution function, an affine function of A(t) and F(t).
Generalizations and extensions of the Fokker- Planck-Kolmogorov equations

In this paper, the classical Fokker-Planck-Kolmogorov equations are generalized to hold for conditional probability density functions of arbitrary random processes. Conditions are derived under which the generalized equations are of finite order both for one-dimensional and for vector random processes. An extension of the generalized equations which overcomes degeneracy occurring in the steady-state case is also presented.
Passage and reversal effects on gene expression of bovine meniscal fibrochondrocytes

The knee meniscus contains a mixed population of cells that exhibit fibroblastic as well as chondrocytic characteristics. Tissue engineering studies and future therapies for the meniscus require a large population of cells that are seeded on scaffolds. To achieve this, monolayer expansion is often used as a technique to increase cell number. However, the phenotype of these cells may be significantly different from that of the primary population. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in meniscal fibrochondrocytes at the gene expression level over four passages using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Cells from the inner two-thirds of bovine medial menisci were used. Four extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, commonly found in the meniscus, were investigated, namely collagen I, collagen II, aggrecan and cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP). In addition, primary and passaged meniscus fibrochondrocytes were placed on surfaces coated with collagen I or aggrecan protein to investigate whether any gene expression changes resulting from passage could be reversed. Collagen I expression was found to increase with the number of passages, whereas collagen II and COMP expression decreased. Collagen I and aggrecan surface coatings were shown to downregulate and upregulate collagen I and COMP expression levels, respectively, in passaged cells. However, decreases in collagen II expression could not be reversed by either protein coating. These results indicate that although monolayer expansion results in significant changes in gene expression in meniscal fibrochondrocytes, protein coatings may be used to regain the primary cell expression of several ECM molecules.
Substituent Effects on Dynamics at Conical Intersections: α,β-Enones

Femtosecond time-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy and high-level theoretical calculations were used to study the effects of methyl substitution on the electronic dynamics of the α,β-enones acrolein (2-propenal), crotonaldehyde (2-butenal), methylvinylketone (3-buten-2-one), and methacrolein (2-methyl-2-propenal) following excitation to the S2(ππ*) state at 209 and 200 nm. We determine that following excitation the molecules move rapidly away from the Franck−Condon region, reaching a conical intersection promoting relaxation to the S1(nπ*) state. Once on the S1 surface, the trajectories access another conical intersection, leading them to the ground state. Only small variations between molecules are seen in their S2 decay times. However, the position of methyl group substitution greatly affects the relaxation rate from the S1 surface and the branching ratios to the products. Ab initio calculations used to compare the geometries, energies, and topographies of the S1/S0 conical intersections of the molecu...
Language as a Critical Factor in the Emergence of Human Cognition

Modern human beings are most sharply distinguished from all other organisms alive today by their possession of symbolic reasoning, the cognitive capacity that makes possible the mental construction of alternative versions of the world. Scrutiny of the human fossil and archaeological records reveals that, while brain sizes expanded independently in several hominid lineages over the course of the Pleistocene, this qualitatively distinctive symbolic faculty only emerged in our own. What is more, this acquisition was made remarkably recently: well within the 200,000-year tenure on Earth of our anatomically distinctive species Homo sapiens. The earliest anatomical Homo sapiens appear to have behaved in much the same manner as their non-symbolic contemporaries, although it is highly likely that they had acquired the neural wiring necessary for symbolic thought in the same event of developmental reorganization that gave Homo sapiens its strikingly derived bony morphology. Only subsequent to about 100,000 years ago do archaeological traces suggest that our forebears had actually begun to think symbolically. This implies that the new capacity was released by a purely cultural stimulus (after all, the biology was necessarily already in place). I suggest that cultural trigger involved was the spontaneous invention of language by members of a small population isolate of Homo sapiens in Africa, at some time after about 100,000 years ago. Structured, rule-bound language is intricately intertwined with symbolic thought as we experience it today; and it is possible to conceive at least in principle how each could have fed back into the other to create a new dynamic.
Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück on Random Mutation and Fluctuation Tests.

![Figure][1] Do mutations arise randomly over time? Or are they induced by unfavorable environments? By addressing these crucial evolutionary questions, Salvador Luria and Max Delbruck won a Nobel Prize and helped to start the field of bacterial genetics. In 1943, it had long been known
Sleep Problems in Children with Sickle Cell Disease

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most prevalent hemoglobinopathy in the USA. It has been reported that children with SCD have an increased risk for sleep problems including sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) compared to the general pediatric population. These children are also at an increased risk for adenotonsillar hypertrophy due to secondary hyperplasia of the lymphoid tissues following splenic infarction and extramedullary hematopoiesis. They are, therefore, more likely to develop upper airway obstruction. Both daytime and nocturnal hypoxemias are common in children with SCD; however, the accuracy of pulse oximetry in measuring oxyhemoglobin saturation has been questioned by several investigators. In this chapter, we attempt to review the prevalence of various sleep problems including SDB in children with SCD and discuss the link between SCD and hypoxemia, SDB, vaso-occlusive crises, stroke, and pulmonary hypertension. We review common sleep problems and their clinical presentation in children with SCD and outline their evaluation and treatment strategies.
Major salivary gland dysfunction

Abstract A case of major salivary gland dysfunction is presented. From the history elicited from the patient and from the clinical findings, this case could not be called hereditary ectodermal dysplasia, major salivary gland aplasia, or atresia. Because of the extreme rareness of cases of the latter two entities a review of the literature was very difficult and yielded meager results. Two related articles have been reviewed, one concerning three cases of major salivary gland dysfunction and one concerning a case of congenital imperforate submandibular ducts.
Membrane Remodeling by Surface-Bound Protein Aggregates: Insights from Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Simulation

The mechanism of curvature generation in membranes has been studied for decades due to its important role in many cellular functions. However, it is not clear if, or how, aggregates of lipid-anchored proteins might affect the geometry and elastic property of membranes. As an initial step toward addressing this issue, we performed structural, geometrical, and stress field analyses of coarse-grained molecular dynamics trajectories of a domain-forming bilayer in which an aggregate of lipidated proteins was asymmetrically bound. The results suggest a general mechanism whereby asymmetric incorporation of lipid-modified protein aggregates curve multidomain membranes primarily by expanding the surface area of the monolayer in which the lipid anchor is inserted.
Nitrogen Balance in Experimental Tryptophane Deficiency in Man.

The observations here reported comprise a part of a more comprehensive study undertaken jointly by the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics of the Johns Hopkins University on experimental amino acid deficiencies in man. The purpose of this study was twofold. It was felt desirable to determine human amino acid requirements by direct observations on man, rather than by inferences based on animal experiments, since it is now known that even closely related animal species differ in their amino acid requirements. A second purpose was to discover whether deficiencies of particular amino acids produced characteristic pathological changes which could be recognized by clinical or laboratory technics. It seemed probable that, in certain parts of the world at least, specific amino acid deficiencies might be present, and that a familiarity with the picture, such as could be obtained in an experimental study, would be of aid in recognizing and treating them.The present report deals with the nitrogen balance of 4 nor...
Vagal modulation of heart rate variability during atrial fibrillation in pigs

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac dysrhythmia and is associated with an increased risk for sudden cardiac death. The ventricular rhythm is irregular and displays both non-linear and linear patterns; however, it has not been determined whether vagally derived patterns are manifest within the irregular rhythm. Moreover, indices of increased vagal control are associated with reduced risk of sudden cardiac death. In this study, we sought to determine whether the ventricular rhythm pattern during AF is, in part, modulated by vagal activity. Vagal oscillations were forced at 0.15 Hz by neck suction in 12 pigs with sustained AF with and without glycopyrrolate (0.15 microg/kg, intravenously) vagal blockade. Vagal activity was evaluated using time- and frequency-domain heart rate variability measures. The standard deviation of RR intervals (SDRRI) was significantly increased during vagal activation compared with baseline (P = 0.006). Moreover, SDRRI correlated significantly with spectral power at 0.15 Hz during baseline (r = 0.90, P < .001) and vagal activation (r = 0.86, P < 0.05). Glycopyrrolate blocked the increase in SDRRI (P < 0.001) and blunted spectral power at 0.15 Hz (P < 0.05). These results indicate that: (1) power spectral analysis may be used to assess parasympathetic regulation during AF, and (2) vagal oscillations produce an entrainment of the ventricular rhythm during AF in pigs.
Recent Contributions of Statistics to Research Methodology in Sociology

IF "CONTRIBUTIONS" were taken to mean only those recent developments in statistics which were generally used by sociological research workers whenever they were appropriate for the research problem at hand, this paper would be very short indeed. Therefore, I am interpreting the assigned title of the paper more broadly to include developments in statistics which constitute potential contributions to research methods in sociology, even though they have not been fully exploited by sociologists. Many of the recent and not so recent developments in the theory or practice of statistics are never or only rarely used by persons engaged in sociological research. Several selected fields of statistical methods which hold potentially great contributions for sociological research provide examples of the great lag between potential and actually achieved contributions of statistics to sociology. A brief discussion of these selected fields is followed by an inquiry into possible reasons for the time lag in utilization of statistical developments by sociological research workers.
Spatial Structure Evolution of Urban System in the Loess Plateau Based on Ecological Carrying Capacity——A Case Study in Qingyang City

Qingyang City is located in a hilly-gully region in the central Loess Plateau,it is arid,and the ecological environment is fragile.In this paper,the spatial structure evolution of urban system in the study area was analyzed based on the ecological carrying capacity.The results showed that there was a traffic directivity in the study area during the period of 1985-2010,and the town development was restricted by the limited traffic conditions.Urban distribution was related to the distribution of water resources,and it was different from different counties.Double center pattern was gradually formed under the optimization of urban system.The ecological elastic degree,carrying capacity of resources and load pressure strength were used in the evaluation.The results showed that the ecological elastic degree and carrying capacity of resources in the study area were holistically in an ascendant trend during the period of 1985-2010.Spatial structure of the regional urban system and the ecological carrying capacity interacted,and the relationship between the ecological carrying capacity and the spatial structure of urban system was discussed.Some measures were proposed for optimizing the spatial structure of urban system in the study area based on the ecological carrying capacity in such fragile ecological environment.
The Maven vector-thread architecture

This article consists of a collection of slides from the author's conference presentation on the Maven vector-thread architecture. Maven is more energy efficient than MIMD architectures on regular DLP and on irregular DLP The Maven vector-thread architecture is a promising alternative to traditional vector-SIMD architectures, providing greater efficiency and easier programmability Using real RTL implementations and a standard ASIC toolflow is necessary to compare energy-optimized future architectures.
Reports of Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars: ASIS&T 2008 Annual Meeting

Abstract This installment of “Serials Spoken Here” features reports on the ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science & Technology) 2008 Annual Meeting, the EDUCAUSE 2008 Annual Conference, and the 2008 Charleston Conference.
A Regulated Power Supply for the Filaments of A High Power Gyrotron

As part of the Electron Cyclotron Heating (ECH) Facility upgrade at the DIII–D National Fusion Facility, a regulated AC power supply for the filaments of a 110 GHz Gyrotron was designed, tested and...
Interfaces and Proxies: Placing László Moholy-Nagy’s Prints

Although the making of relief prints hardly seems to fit with Laszlo Moholy-Nagy's reputation as an innovator working with new media and industrialized production, Moholy-Nagy did in fact make a few dozen woodcuts and linocuts in the 1920s. In this article, the author seeks to understand Moholy-Nagy's engagement with these techniques by focusing on the manual prints of the 1924 version of his "Dynamic of the Metropolis," the text of which is devoted to photographic media. Examining the roles of photomechanical and manual prints in avant-garde magazines, the author argues that relief prints played a key role in the circulation of Moholy-Nagy's work and served as a substitute for media that posed difficulties for small-scale production.
Top 10 Research Questions Related to Preventing Sudden Death in Sport and Physical Activity

Participation in organized sport and recreational activities presents an innate risk for serious morbidity and mortality. Although death during sport or physical activity has many causes, advancements in sports medicine and evidence-based standards of care have allowed clinicians to prevent, recognize, and treat potentially fatal injuries more effectively. With the continual progress of research and technology, current standards of care are evolving to enhance patient outcomes. In this article, we provided 10 key questions related to the leading causes and treatment of sudden death in sport and physical activity, where future research will support safer participation for athletes and recreational enthusiasts. The current evidence indicates that most deaths can be avoided when proper strategies are in place to prevent occurrence or provide optimal care.
Genomic Analysis of the DNA Replication Timing Program during Mitotic S Phase in Maize (Zea mays) Root Tips.

All plants and animals must replicate their DNA, using a regulated process to ensure that their genomes are completely and accurately replicated. DNA replication timing programs have been extensively studied in yeast and animal systems, but much less is known about the replication programs of plants. We report a novel adaptation of the "Repli-seq" assay for use in intact root tips of maize (Zea mays) that include several different cell lineages, and present replication profiles from cells in early, mid, and late S phase of the mitotic cell cycle. This represents the first genomic analysis of replication timing in a crop species, and the first in any plant species to characterize replication at the whole-genome level. Maize root tips have a complex replication timing program, including regions of distinct early, mid and late-S replication that each constitute between 20-24% of the genome, as well as other loci corresponding to ~32% of the genome that exhibit replication activity in two different time windows. Analyses of genomic, transcriptional, and chromatin features of the euchromatic portion of the maize genome provide evidence for a gradient of early replicating, open chromatin that transitions gradually to less open and less transcriptionally active chromatin replicating in mid S phase. Our genomic level analysis also demonstrated that the centromere core replicates in mid S, before heavily compacted classical heterochromatin, including pericentromeres and knobs, which replicate during late S phase.
Local study of wind turbines dynamics with pitch activated: Trajectories sensitivity

In this paper, we present a dynamical study for local trajectories of a type-3 doubly fed asynchronous/induction generator (DFAG/DFIG) wind turbines. The study is focused on the wind turbines connected to the grid with the pitch control activated. In this paper, we consider the mathematical model in [1], [2], where stability and sensitivity of eigenvalues and steady states were studied. We will use the results of these studies to study local trajectories' sensitivity to the model's parameters. This should help understanding how local disturbances affect the wind turbine system trajectories, when small changes happen in the parameters, specifically the wind speed. The paper remarks that for similar disturbances, the system stabilizes (settle down to the steady state) in different times based on the instantaneous wind speed. This is due to eigenvalues sensitivity to wind speed. We also extend the study to the grid parameters (R and X). We provide simulations with detailed description and observation of the system response to different wind speeds to support the paper's conclusion.
Quantifying the magnitude and potential influence of missing data in campus sexual assault surveys: A systematic review of surveys, 2010-2016.

Objective: To understand how missing data may influence conclusions drawn from campus sexual assault surveys. Methods: We systematically reviewed 40 surveys from 2010–2016. We constructed a pseudo-...
The level of pharmacological culture among students of the Faculty of Edu-cation

In light of the scientific progress and rapid technological development in the field of health and scientific discoveries and the production of many kinds of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, so there is an urgent need for quality in how to use the medicine and its benefits and effects and how to use so as not to become a dangerous threat to the health of the individual, which negatively affects the progress of the state and its development. All aspects of this study were to identify the level of pharmacological culture among students as well as to detect the significance of cultural differences in the students of the Faculty of Education according to the gender variable (male, female) and also the objectives of detecting the significance of differences of the international culture Faculty of Education according to specialization (scientific, human). In order to achieve the objectives of the research, a tool was developed to measure the level of the drug culture. This study adopted a measurement and after exposure to a group of 100 students for the academic year 2016-2017 from the period 25-5-2016 - 27-5-2016. The results were in favor of scientific specialization. Based on these results, the researchers presented recommendations and recommendations, including the subject of culture And the dissemination of awareness among the students through the establishment of symphonies, workshops and cultural seminars on the importance of medicine and its effects on the human and activating the role of the media as it plays a significant role in the dissemination of pharmaceutical culture between the purchase of the community and the most important proposals is a study On the pharmaceutical culture on the slides and other stages of study.
Chapter 16 The Paradox of Power

Publisher Summary Individuals and organizations – if rational and self-interested – will equalize the marginal returns of two ways of generating income: (1) production and exchange, versus (2) ‘appropriative’ efforts for capturing resources previously controlled by other parties (or to defend against appropriation by others). It might be expected that in appropriative struggles between stronger and weaker contenders, the strong would grow ever stronger and the weak always weaker. The “paradox of power” (POP) is the observation that in actual contests, poorer or smaller combatants often end up improving their position relative to richer opponents. A notable instance is the political struggle over income redistribution. Although citizens in the upper half of the income spectrum surely have more political strength than those in the lower half, modern governments have mainly been attempting to transfer income from the former to the latter group.
13.4 Impacts of Early Agriculture and Deforestation on Geomorphic Systems

This synthesis examines agricultural development and potential geomorphic changes on broad scales of time and space. Anthropogeomorphic change increased with Neolithic agriculture. In Europe, substantial fluvial responses to deforestation began in small catchments during the Bronze and early Iron Ages and spread to larger rivers during the historical period. Pre-Columbian environmental impacts in the New World – dominantly ecological change – have been revised upward, but geomorphic change is not well documented. Rejection of the ‘pristine myth’ conflicts with common assumptions by geomorphologists that New World geomorphic conditions were relatively undisturbed until European contact. Pre-Columbian New World societies had much lower geomorphic potential than European colonists.