cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Temperature dependence of self-induced transparency in ruby

Self induced transparency in ruby attenuator, detailing phase relaxation effects at various temperatures
Magneto-piezospectroscopy of acceptors in tetrahedrally coordinated semiconductors

This paper presents a study of the magnetospectroscopy of acceptors in elemental group-IV semiconductors in the presence of uniaxial stress. We use a formulation of the effect of stress on the transition probabilities for optical absorption which represents a considerable simplification over previous treatments. We give an analysis of both the longitudinal and the transverse magneto-spectroscopy of acceptors in semiconductors having the diamond structure under uniaxial stress. The results are used to determine the values of theg-factors for two levels of Ga acceptors in Ge by comparing the present results with the experimental data.
Decadal changes in seagrass distribution and abundance in Florida Bay

The Florida Bay ecosystem has changed substantially in the past decade, and alterations in the seagrass communities have been particularly conspicuous. In 1987 large areas ofThalassia testudinum (turtlegrass) began dying rapidly in western Florida Bay. Although the rate has slowed considerably, die-off continues in many parts of the bay. Since 1991, seagrasses in Florida Bay have been subjected to decreased light availability due to widespread, persistent microalgal blooms and resuspended sediments. In light of these recent impacts, we determined the current status of Florida Bay seagrass communities. During the summer of 1994, seagrass species composition, shoot density, shoot morphometrics, and standing crop were measured at 107 stations. Seagrasses had been quantified at these same stations 10 yr earlier by Zieman et al. (1989).T. testudinum was the most widespread and abundant seagrass species in Florida Bay in both 1984 and 1994, and turtlegrass distribution changed little over the decade. On a baywide basis,T. testudinum density and biomass declined significantly between surveys; mean short-shoot density ofT. testudinum dropped by 22% and standing crop by 28% over the decade.T. testudinum decline was not homogeneous throughout Florida Bay; largest reductions in shoot density and biomass were located principally in the central and western bay. Percent loss ofT. testudinum standing crop in western Florida Bay in 1994 was considerably greater at the stations with the highest levels of standing crop in 1984 (126–215 g dry wt m−2) than at the stations with lower levels of biomass. While turtlegrass distribution remained consistent over time, both the distribution and abundance of two other seagrasses,Halodule wrightii andSyringodium filiforme, declined substantially between 1984 and 1994. Baywide,H. wrightii shoot density and standing crop declined by 92%, andS. filiforme density and standing crop declined by 93% and 88%, respectively, between surveys. Patterns of seagrass loss in Florida Bay between 1984 and 1994 suggest die-off and chronic light reductions were the most likely causes for decline. If die-off and persistent water-column turbidity continue in Florida Bay, the long-term future of seagrasses in the bay is uncertain.
Regulation of fungal proteolysis on cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase, cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, glycogen synthase and histones.

Limited proteolysis of catalytic and regulatory subunits of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase (A-pk), cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase, glycogen synthase, and histones by fungal protease (type XIX) was analyzed by the digested peptide bands in SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The modulatory effects on proteolysis by nucleotides, polypeptides, and phospholipids may greatly depend on the intrinsic nature of substrates. The proteolysis of the regulatory subunit of A-pk and glycogen synthase was not regulated by nucleotides and nucleic acids. In comparison, phosphatidyl serine, cardiolipin, and pepstatin A stimulated the proteolysis of the catalytic subunit of A-pk. Whereas, λDNA (Hind III digest), t-RNA, GTP, phosphatidyl serine, sphingosine inhibited the proteolysis of cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase. Moreover, MS2 RNA, λDNA, t-RNA, dGTP, Phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl inositol, antipain, and chymostatin exerted inhibitory proteolytic effect on histone VIII-S. Some of these agents also had similar inhibitory effect on other types of histones (types III-S and VII-S). The inhibitory effect of phosphatidyl serine on proteolysis of histone may be due to their interaction which was monitored by the drastic increase of uv absorbance.
Morphological differentiation of the embryonic peripheral neurons in Drosophila

The stereotyped segmental and dorso-ventral organization of the peripheral nervous system (PNS) of Drosophila embryos allows the identification of all the neurons in the body wall. Distinct classes of neurons are distinguishable according to their location, the targets they innervate, the particular shape of their dendrites and their cell size. Those neurons innervating external sensory structures (es) and chordotonal organs (ch) have single dendrites and have been previously described (Ghysen et al. 1986; Dambly-Chaudiere and Ghysen 1986; Campos-Ortega and Hartenstein 1985). We describe here the identity and morphological features of three other classes of neurons in the body segments which have multiple dendrites (md neurons): 1) neurons that give rise to elaborate dendritic arborisations (da neurons); 2) neurons that have bipolar dendrites (bd neurons); 3) neurons that arborize around particular tracheal branches (td neurons). The thoracic hemisegment (T2 and T3) contains 13 da, one bd, one td, 21 es and four ch neurons; the abdominal hemisegment (A1 to A7) contains 14 da, three bd, three td, 15 es and eight ch neurons. The arrangement of the segmented peripheral neurons is highly invariant and provides a favorable assay system for the genetic analysis of neurodevelopment.
Geolocation of frequency-hopping transmitters via satellite

An emitter-location technique which involves spaceborne interception of ground-to-satellite communication links is analyzed. In this scheme a number of interceptor satellites transpond the frequency band of interest to a terrestrial location for processing. The basic technique can be used on a variety of signal types: fixed-frequency, frequency-hopped, and pseudo-noise. The theoretical feasibility of geolocating terminals that are hopping in frequency is emphasized. The technique is applicable at any frequency, but, to simplify the formulation, it is assumed the ground terminals have narrow antenna beamwidths and, therefore, they operate in the higher satellite communication frequency bands. The general formulas for the interception accuracy are summarized and a strawman interceptor system is proposed. Interception regions for prototypical terminals and satellites are calculated, and the results are presented parametrically as a function of uplink signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). >
Selective Vagal Denervation of the Atria Eliminates Heart Rate Variability and Baroreflex Sensitivity While Preserving Ventricular Innervation

Background—The purpose of this study was to test whether radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of 3 epicardial fat pads that resulted in efferent vagal denervation of the atria and sinus and atrioventricular nodes also denervated the ventricles. Methods and Results—Vagal innervation of the ventricles was determined by measuring prolongation of ventricular effective refractory period induced by bilateral vagal stimulation (20 Hz, 10 V, 4 ms). Changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) were also examined. We found that RFCA of the 3 epicardial fat pads vagally denervated the sinus and AV nodes and atria without affecting vagal innervation of the ventricles, indicating that efferent vagal fibers to the ventricles do not travel through the 3 epicardial fat pads. Parameters of time-domain variables decreased significantly; the total-power, high-frequency, and low-frequency components of frequency-domain variables decreased significantly; and the ratio of the low- and high-freque...
Relationship between B7-H4, Regulatory T Cells, and Patient Outcome in Human Ovarian Carcinoma

B7-H4 is a recently identified B7 family member. We previously showed that ovarian tumor and associated macrophages expressed B7-H4; tumor B7-H4 + macrophages and CD4 + CD25 + FOXP3 + regulatory T cells (Treg cells) suppressed tumor-associated antigen–specific T-cell immunity. To determine the pathologic relationship between B7-H4, macrophages, and Treg cells in the tumor environment, in addition to Treg cell numbers, we quantified B7-H4 expression in the tumor and tumor-associated macrophages in 103 patients with ovarian carcinoma. We observed that the intensity of B7-H4 expression in macrophages was significantly correlated with Treg cell numbers in the tumor. Further, both Treg cells and macrophage B7-H4, but not tumor B7-H4, were negatively associated with patient outcome. Tumor Treg cells enabled macrophages to spontaneously produce interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-6. Tumor macrophages stimulated B7-H4 expression in an autocrine manner through IL-10 and IL-6. Our previous work showed that tumor-associated macrophages spontaneously produced chemokine CCL22 to mediate Treg cell trafficking into tumor, and Treg cells induced B7-H4 on antigen-presenting cells (APC) including macrophages. Altogether, our data support the concept that there is a mechanistic interaction between Treg cells and macrophage, and that Treg cells may convey the suppressive activity to APCs through B7-H4 induction in human ovarian cancer. [Cancer Res 2007;67(18):8901–05]
Noninvasive murine glioma detection improved following photobleaching of skin PpIX fluorescence

Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA) is a prodrug which can be administered to cells, animals or patients after which it is transformed via the Heme synthesis pathway into the fluorescent molecule Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX). PpIX has been shown to be useful as both a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy (PDT) and as a fluorescence imaging contrast agent. The ALA-PpIX system not only provides contrast for fluorescence imaging but also gives information about the metabolic activity of the imaged tissue and thus could be useful for monitoring cancer therapy. In the current study skin photobleaching was examined to determine if PpIX fluorescence contrast in malignant brain tumors could be better visualized noninvasively. Red light photobleaching decreased skin PpIX fluorescence and increased the ability to noninvasively quantify PpIX fluorescence in murine gliomas, as in vivo measurements of mean PpIX fluorescence more closely matched ex vivo quantification following skin photobleaching. Three doses of blue light photobleaching (4 J/cm2, 8 J/cm2 and 12 J/cm2) were tested and determined to give similar levels of skin photobleaching as well as a similar window of decreased skin PpIX fluorescence for noninvasive fluorescence imaging following the photobleaching dose administration.
Zoning Aquifers for Tertiary Treatment of Wastewatera

Soils and aquifers can function as effective and economical filter systems for advanced treatment of conventionally treated sewage and other wastewater. The wastewater is applied to the land with low-rate or high-rate infiltration systems. Physical, chemical, and biological processes in the soil improve the quality of the wastewater as it percolates through the vadose zone and into the aquifer to become renovated water. The quality of the renovated water, however, often is not as good as that of the native ground water. To utilize the land for treatment of wastewater, without trading a problem of surface-water pollution for one of ground-water contamination, the spread of renovated water in the aquifer must be restricted. This can be accomplished by locating the system so that the renovated water drains naturally into a stream or other surface water, or by artificially removing renovated water from the aquifer with wells or drains at some distance from the application area. Examples are given of various systems that utilize these principles, and general design criteria are presented. Proper design involves analysis of underground-flow systems for various system geometries. Methods for measuring hydraulic conductivity, particularly in the vadose zone, are briefly reviewed.
Xanthorhodopsin: a bacteriorhodopsin-like proton pump with a carotenoid antenna.

Xanthorhodopsin is a light-driven proton pump like bacteriorhodopsin, but made more effective for collecting light by its second chromophore, salinixanthin, a carotenoid. Action spectra for transport and fluorescence of the retinal upon excitation of the carotenoid indicate that the carotenoid functions as an antenna to the retinal. The calculated center-to-center distance and angle of the transition moments of the two chromophores are 11 A and 56°, respectively. As expected from their proximity, the carotenoid and the retinal closely interact: tight binding of the carotenoid, as indicated by its sharpened vibration bands and intense induced circular dichroism in the visible, is removed by hydrolysis of the retinal Schiff base, and restored upon reconstitution with retinal. This antenna system, simpler than photosynthetic complexes, is well-suited to study features of excited-state energy migration.
Evidence that glucose transport is rate-limiting for in vivo glucose uptake.

To determine whether glucose transport or intracellular glucose metabolism is rate-limiting for in vivo glucose uptake, rates of glucose disposal were measured in a group of normal subjects at varying levels of hyperglycemia designed to attain saturating rates of glucose disposal at low and high physiological insulin concentrations. At insulin levels of approximately 200 pmol/L, glucose disposal rates were 2.9 +/- 0.4, 4.7 +/- 0.5, 6.4 +/- 0.6, and 6.5 +/- 0.8 mg/kg/min at plasma glucose concentrations of 5.55, 11.10, 13.88, and 19.43 mmol/L (or 100, 200, 250, and 350 mg/dL, respectively). At insulin levels of approximately 750 pmol/L, glucose disposal rates were 1.7 to 2.1-fold higher: 6.2 +/- 0.7, 9.2 +/- 1.1, 11.0 +/- 1.1, and 12.3 +/- 1.4 mg/kg/min at glucose levels of 5.55, 11.10, 13.88, and 19.43 mmol/L. Thus, during both the 15- and 40-mU/m2/min insulin infusions, glucose disposal increased in a linear fashion from 5.55 to 13.88 mmol/L (r = .90) and then effectively plateaued at the same plasma glucose level. If the plateau of glucose disposal during the 40-mU/m2/min insulin infusion was due to saturation of the intracellular capacity to metabolize glucose, then when plasma glucose was increased from 13.88 to 19.43 mmol/L at the lower insulin level, the glucose disposal should have continued to increase and not plateau, since the rate of glucose disposal was only approximately 50% of that attained at the higher insulin infusion rate.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
X—A Defence of Categorical Reasons

In this paper I offer two arguments designed to defend the existence of categorical reasons, which I define as those justifying considerations that obtain independently of their relation to an agent's commitments. The first argument is based on certain paradigm cases meant to reveal difficulties for practical instrumentalism—the view, as I define it here, that categorical reasons do not exist, because all reasons must serve the commitments of the agents to whom they apply. The second argument relies on considerations of responsibility and blame to establish the existence of categorical reasons.
The utilization in vivo of deuterio-C14 formate, labeled intramolecularly.

Abstract The utilization of formate labeled in the same molecule i.e., intramolecularly, with deuterium and C 14 was investigated in the rat. The deuterium and the C 14 contents of the urinary formate and of the methyl groups of choline and creatine, derived from formate, demonstrated the absence of the hydrogen isotope effects noted in earlier experiments performed with precursors labeled in separate molecules with the isotopes of carbon and hydrogen.
±-1-(2,5-Dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) and α-methyl-5-HT: 5-HT2 receptor agonistic action on phosphatidylinositol metabolism in the rat fronto-cingulate and entorhinal cortex

Abstract In the present study, the effects of 5-HT and two 5-HT1C/5-HT2 receptor agonists, (±)-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) and α-methyl-serotonin (α-Me-5-HT) on phosphoinositide hydrolysis were compared, to determine whether DOI and α-Me-5-HT were full agonists. Consistent with the results obtained from previous studies, both (±)-DOI and α-Me-5-HT stimulated turnover of phosphoinositide in a concentration-dependent manner. However, the response obtained with these 5-HT1C/5-HT2 receptor agonists was only 30–40% of that of 5-HT. The stimulation of hydrolysis of phosphoinositide, produced by both 5-HT2 receptor agonists, was potently antagonized by ritanserin (a 5-HT1C/5-HT2 receptor antagonist) and α-phenyl-1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperine methanol [(+)-MDL 11,939, a 5-HT2 receptor antagonist] but not by granisetron (BRL a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist), suggesting that the action of DOI and α-Me-5-HT was primarily mediated by 5-HT2 receptors. When the effect of increasing the concentration of 5-HT on turnover of phosphoinositide was measured in the presence of a 1 μM concentration of the 5-HT3 receptor antagonist granisetron, the response obtained was similar to the response produced by the 5-HT2 receptor agonists, DOI and α-Me-5-HT. These results confirm the previous finding that 5-HT stimulates hydrolysis of phosphoinositide by interacting with 5-HT1C/5-HT2 and 5-HT3 receptors. Moreover, they suggest that DOI and α-Me-5-HT are full agonists at the 5-HT2 receptor, coupled to hydrolysis of phosphoinositide in the cortex of the rat.
In situ characterization of vertically oriented carbon nanofibers for three-dimensional nano-electro-mechanical device applications

We have performed mechanical and electrical characterization of individual as-grown, vertically oriented carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using in situ techniques, where such high-aspect-ratio, nanoscale structures are of interest for three-dimensional (3D) electronics, in particular 3D nano-electro-mechanical-systems (NEMS). Nanoindentation and uniaxial compression tests conducted in an in situ nanomechanical instrument, SEMentor, suggest that the CNFs undergo severe bending prior to fracture, which always occurs close to the bottom rather than at the substrate–tube interface, suggesting that the CNFs are well adhered to the substrate. This is also consistent with bending tests on individual tubes which indicated that bending angles as large as ~70° could be accommodated elastically. In situ electrical transport measurements revealed that the CNFs grown on refractory metallic nitride buffer layers were conducting via the sidewalls, whereas those synthesized directly on Si were electrically unsuitable for low-voltage dc NEMS applications. Electrostatic actuation was also demonstrated with a nanoprobe in close proximity to a single CNF and suggests that such structures are attractive for nonvolatile memory applications. Since the magnitude of the actuation voltage is intimately dictated by the physical characteristics of the CNFs, such as diameter and length, we also addressed the ability to tune these parameters, to some extent, by adjusting the plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition growth parameters with this bottom-up synthesis approach.
Laminar and turbulent heat transfer in the pipe entrance region for liquid metals

Abstract Laminar and turbulent heat transfer in the pipe flow for liquid metals are studied. Three flow regions, namely fully developed, developing thermal, and developing thermal and velocity regions, are considered. The modified van Driest and Cebeci mixing length turbulence model is adopted in the analysis. The thermal damping constant is redetermined in the study for the fully-developed region as well as other developing regions. The predicted results are compared with experimental data when available. Correlation for heat transfer calculation is given for boundary conditions of constant heat flux and constant wall temperature. The effect of the variation of physical properties is also studied. Correlation of heat transfer calculation when the property is variable is given in a simple form for liquid sodium and NaK eutectic.
Unintended laparotomy associated with laparoscopic tubal sterilization

Although the complication rate for laparoscopic tubal sterilization is generally low, laparotomy is sometimes necessary to complete the sterilization or manage complications. To better characterize factors that predispose women to unintended laparotomy, we analyzed data from the Collaborative Review of Sterilization. Of the 5027 women undergoing laparoscopic tubal sterilization, 12 had unintended laparotomies to manage complications, whereas 39 women had unintended laparotomies because of technical inability to complete the laparoscopic procedure. Women with prior abdominal or pelvic surgery had an increased risk of unintended laparotomy (relative risk = 10.2, 95% confidence interval = 5.3 to 19.7). Women with a history of intrauterine device use or pelvic inflammatory disease had elevated risks that were not statistically significant (relative risk = 2.2 and 1.5, respectively). Comparative studies of alternative surgical approaches for tubal sterilization are needed to formulate recommendations for women who may be at increased risk of unintended laparotomy associated with the laparoscopic approach.
Big data platforms: What's next?

Three computer scientists from UC Irvine address the question "What's next for big data?" by summarizing the current state of the big data platform space and then describing ASTERIX, their next-generation big data management system.
Heteroresistance to vancomycin and novel point mutations in Tn1546 of Enterococcus faecium ATCC 51559.

Abstract A clinical strain of Enterococcus faecium ATCC 51559 exhibits heteroresistance, i.e. a high level of resistance to vancomycin (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) > 256 μg/mL) by broth dilution but sensitivity to vancomycin by Etest (MIC = 1.8 μg/mL). Three variants of this strain, EF1, EF2 and EF3, exhibit high levels of resistance to vancomycin both by broth dilution and Etest assays. The four strains were used to study heteroresistance by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analysis of a partial region of the van operon. Minor differences between Sal I and Sma I restriction profiles of the variants and the parental strain were observed by PFGE analysis. PCR analysis confirmed the presence of the vancomycin resistance marker vanA (0.73 kb) and a larger than expected amplicon (8.2 kb vs. 6.7 kb) of the van operon in all the strains. The 8.2 kb van operon was cloned for Eco RI RFLP and sequence analysis. All of the clones exhibited distinctly different RFLP profiles when grown in the presence of kanamycin or vancomycin + kanamycin. The presence of these antibiotics during overnight growth of EF1 on plates also resulted in altered Sal I PFGE profiles. Sequence analysis of the van operon clones revealed a 1.5 kb IS 1251 -like insertion element between the vanS and vanH genes in all the strains. Several novel point mutations in the vanR , vanS , vanH , vanA , vanX and vanY genes were also discovered. Some of these mutations were present in the parental strain only and included base substitutions T → C, A → G, T → A and T → C at nucleotide positions 4202, 4597, 4763 and 6207 of Tn 1546 , resulting in amino acid replacements I76 → T and K208 → E of vanR , S19 → T of vanS and L64 → P of vanH genes, respectively. We believe that these are responsible for the observed heteroresistance. The present study clearly shows how independent novel mutations can give rise to polymorphism, heteroresistance and clonal diversity among vancomycin-resistant enterococci strains as a result of continuous exposure to antibiotics.
Linking Environmental Models with Models of Human Judgment: A Symmetrical Decision Aid

Policy formation involves the interaction of two systems, the environmental system and the human cognitive system which attempts to form a judgment about it. At present, the interaction between these two systems is not under rational control. That is, although a) interactive computer models of environmental systems have been constructed and are in increasing use, and b) interactive computer models of human judgment have been constructed and have been found to be of practical use, c) links between the two until recently have not been considered. The specific aim of this article is to describe such a link for the purpose of developing an aid for planners and policy makers.
Application of The els Model: Optimal Tax Rate and Public Good Proportion:

The purpose of this research is to apply an innovative economic model dubbed the els model to a fundamental question in public finance: (1)How much should the government take and (2) of this amount, how much should be devoted to provision of a pure public good (the remainder going to income redistribution)? The els model adds to the traditional two primary factors supplied by the household (labor and saving) a third primary factor: capital management effort. Capital management effort is a very general concept embracing any and all active behavior whose purpose it is to augment the rate of return received on the household's capital assets. An illustrative insight gained from the exercise is that regardless of the nature of capital property income (whether it is a return to saving or a return to capital management effort), a higher level of inequality in capital wealth ownership justifies a higher level of progressivity in the tax system.
A documentary analysis of HIV/AIDS education interventions in Ghana

Objective:While the international donor community has spent millions on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention through educational programmes, the quality of information in educational curricula is rarely analyzed. This study analyzes the content of prevention programmes, focusing on informational accuracy.Design:Curricula for this study were collected using a snowball sampling technique in which we first contacted bi-lateral donors, the country’s national AIDS coordinating agency, and the Ministry of Education to find out which organizations and agencies were actively working in the country and implementing HIV curricular interventions. Our final data set included 24 curricula: seven school-based, 15 adult-based, and two multi-purpose curricula (manuals or modules used in conjunction with other curricula or independently). Using Senderowitz and Kirby’s (2006)1 standards for curricula content as a guide, each curriculum was coded independently by two review...
Pulmonary surfactant protein D: a novel link between innate and adaptive immunity.

dendritic cells (DC) are the sentinels of the immune system, constantly surveying the environment for the presence of foreign invaders ([13][1], [14][2]). In addition, these cells function as a unique link between the innate and adaptive immune system by detecting pathogens and triggering T cell
Inhibition of Alpharetrovirus Replication by a Range of Human APOBEC3 Proteins

The mammalian APOBEC3 family of cytidine deaminases includes members that can act as potent inhibitors of retroviral infectivity and retrotransposon mobility. Here, we have examined whether the alpharetrovirus Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) is susceptible to inhibition by a range of human APOBEC3 proteins. We report that RSV is highly susceptible to inhibition by human APOBEC3G, APOBEC3F, and APOBEC3B and moderately susceptible to inhibition by human APOBEC3C and APOBEC3A. For all five proteins, inhibition of RSV infectivity was associated with selective virion incorporation and with C-to-T editing of the proviral DNA minus strand. In the case of APOBEC3G, editing appeared to be critical for effective inhibition. These data represent the first report of inhibition of retroviral infectivity and induction of proviral DNA editing by human APOBEC3A and reveal that alpharetroviruses, which do not normally encounter APOBEC3 proteins in their avian hosts, are susceptible to inhibition by all human APOBEC3 proteins tested. These data further suggest that the resistance of mammalian retroviruses to inhibition by the APOBEC3 proteins expressed in their normal host species is likely to have evolved subsequent to the appearance of this family of mammalian antiretroviral proteins some 35 million years ago; i.e., the base state of a naive retrovirus is susceptibility to inhibition.
Framework for Economic Analysis of Grain versus Harvested Roughage for Feedlot Cattle

Traditional models for assessing technical and economic efficiency of cattle feeding were found inadequate. An alternative framework is developed for estimating effects of changes in ration nutrient concentration on animal performance under a range of production conditions and types of animals. The framework is incorporated in a dynamic profit function and its use discussed and demonstrated under various optimizing criteria. High energy rations remained economical even at relatively high grain prices. This framework implies sigmoid shaped grain‐roughage isoquants: concave to the origin over the finishing range of grain‐roughage ratios, and convex at lower grain‐roughage ratios.
Beware of overtreating children

Some years ago I witnessed a clinical catastrophe involving a 4-year-old boy. A history of headaches led to skull roentgenograms that disclosed a large pituitary fossa. This triggered a series of clinical decisions that were climaxed by a carotid hemorrhage during transsphenoid biopsy. Autopsy revealed an empty sella and a benign lymphangioma in adjacent bone. The case was a source of fascination and much earnest and perplexed discussion. The consultants had little experience with similar cases and it was not entirely clear who was in charge. The cause of the headaches in this otherwise-normal boy was never known, and the long-range outlook without intervention was strictly speculative. However, it was an avoidable catastrophe and the case sensitized me to the factors that cause overtreatment of children. Four recent journal articles have crystallized some random thoughts about this problem. Stickler 1 discussed two infants who underwent unnecessary surgery that completed a
Creating a topoclimatic daily air temperature dataset for the conterminous United States using homogenized station data and remotely sensed land skin temperature

Gridded topoclimatic datasets are increasingly used to drive many ecological and hydrological models and assess climate change impacts. The use of such datasets is ubiquitous, but their inherent limitations are largely unknown or overlooked particularly in regard to spatial uncertainty and climate trends. To address these limitations, we present a statistical framework for producing a 30-arcsec (∼800-m) resolution gridded dataset of daily minimum and maximum temperature and related uncertainty from 1948 to 2012 for the conterminous United States. Like other datasets, we use weather station data and elevation-based predictors of temperature, but also implement a unique spatio-temporal interpolation that incorporates remotely sensed 1-km land skin temperature. The framework is able to capture several complex topoclimatic variations, including minimum temperature inversions, and represent spatial uncertainty in interpolated normal temperatures. Overall mean absolute errors for annual normal minimum and maximum temperature are 0.78 and 0.56 °C, respectively. Homogenization of input station data also allows interpolated temperature trends to be more consistent with US Historical Climate Network trends compared to those of existing interpolated topoclimatic datasets. The framework and resulting temperature data can be an invaluable tool for spatially explicit ecological and hydrological modelling and for facilitating better end-user understanding and community-driven improvement of these widely used datasets.
Developmental signalling pathways in lung cancer

Abstract: Hedgehog, Notch and Wnt signalling are all essential for axial patterning and progenitor cell fates in signalling pathways conserved from flies to humans. Aberrant activation of these pathways is observed in a wide variety of cancers, suggesting that these embryonic signalling pathways contribute in a fundamental way to the evolution and maintenance of a malignant phenotype. Because all three of these pathways participate in lung development, recent studies have begun to explore the connection between lung development, airway epithelial repair and lung cancer. Development, repair and malignant transformation of the neuroendocrine lineage are all accompanied by aberrant Hedgehog pathway activation, whereas Notch and Wnt signalling may be important in other airway cell types. Small molecule targeting of these pathways may provide therapeutic opportunities in lung cancer. The plant-derived alkaloid cyclopamine is a naturally occurring Hedgehog pathway inhibitor that shows therapeutic promise in small cell lung cancer, a highly aggressive neuroendocrine tumour. A more detailed understanding of how embryonic signalling pathways participate in airway epithelial repair and tumourigenesis may reveal more novel therapeutic vulnerabilities in lung cancer.
A Strategy of Wave Gait for a Walking Machine Traversing a Rough Planar Terrain

The performance of a legged system is closely related to the adopted gait. Among the many available gaits, the wave gait possesses the optimum stability [1–3] and has been applied to walking on perfectly smooth terrain. The follow-the-leader (FTL) gait has the least demands for foothold selection and is the most suitable for walking on rough terrain [14]. In this paper, a strategy of wave gait which enables a hexapod to traverse two-dimensional, rough terrain is developed. This strategy applies a quasi FTL mode in walking and hence it has the advantages of both wave gait (optimum stability) and FTL gait (easy control on rough terrain). During walking, the legs move according to the wave gait and the two forelegs are adjusted to avoid forbidden areas. The maximum foot adjustment is determined by the current foot positions and the foot positions in the following one or two step(s). In order to improve the stability, different methods of foot adjustments and body adjustments are evaluated and integrated into the strategy. Finally, this strategy is verified by using computer graphics simulations.
T cells and monocytes regulate the generation and functional activity of natural killer‐derived lymphokine‐activated killer cells

The lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) phenomenon is generally referred to as nonspecific, i.e., major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-unrestricted cytotoxicity against tumor cells generated by ex vivo culture of human peripheral blood lymphocytes with interleukin 2 (IL-2). In this study, we selectively purified and depleted cell subpopulations such as natural killer (NK) cells, T-lymphocytes and monocytes from fresh human peripheral blood by negative selection. While highly purified NK cells could be induced to acquire potent LAK activity in five-day culture with IL-2, the presence of T-lymphocytes and monocytes in NK cultures was needed in order to induce a significant expansion of cytotoxic effector cells over the culture period. Neither T cells nor monocytes by themselves were able to generate LAK cells in a standard five-day IL-2 culture. However, when added to highly purified NK cells prior to IL-2 incubation, a proportion of CD3+ T-lymphocytes was found to gain LAK-like killing activity. Monocytes, when cultured with IL-2 in the presence of NK cells and T-lymphocytes, did not appear to acquire LAK activity but were able to induce a dramatic increase in cytotoxic lymphocyte recovery after five days with IL-2. In summary, we could demonstrate that peripheral blood T-lymphocytes and monocytes are potent regulators of NK-dependent lymphokine (IL-2)-activated killing.
Identification of Microglial Signal Transduction Pathways Mediating a Neurotoxic Response to Amyloidogenic Fragments of β-Amyloid and Prion Proteins

Microglial interaction with amyloid fibrils in the brains of Alzheimer’s and prion disease patients results in the inflammatory activation of these cells. We observed that primary microglial cultures and the THP-1 monocytic cell line are stimulated by fibrillar β-amyloid and prion peptides to activate identical tyrosine kinase-dependent inflammatory signal transduction cascades. The tyrosine kinases Lyn and Syk are activated by the fibrillar peptides and initiate a signaling cascade resulting in a transient release of intracellular calcium that results in the activation of classical PKC and the recently described calcium-sensitive tyrosine kinase PYK2. Activation of the MAP kinases ERK1 and ERK2 follows as a subsequent downstream signaling event. We demonstrate that PYK2 is positioned downstream of Lyn, Syk, and PKC. PKC is a necessary intermediate required for ERK activation. Importantly, the signaling response elicited by β-amyloid and prion fibrils leads to the production of neurotoxic products. We have demonstrated in a tissue culture model that conditioned media from β-amyloid- and prion-stimulated microglia or from THP-1 monocytes are neurotoxic to mouse cortical neurons. This toxicity can be ameliorated by treating THP-1 cells with specific enzyme inhibitors that target various components of the signal transduction pathway linked to the inflammatory responses.
Merging example plans into generalized plans for non-deterministic environments

We present a new approach for finding generalized contingent plans with loops and branches in situations where there is uncertainty in state properties and object quantities, but lack of probabilistic information about these uncertainties. We use a state abstraction technique from static analysis of programs, which uses 3-valued logic to compactly represent belief states with unbounded numbers of objects. Our approach for finding plans is to incrementally generalize and merge input example plans which can be generated by classical planners. The expressiveness and scope of this approach are demonstrated using experimental results on common benchmark domains.
A Capacity Efficient Local Protection Scheme for Bandwidth Guaranteed Connections

Dynamic provisioning of bandwidth guaranteed connections with protection against single link failures is an important issue in connection-oriented networks. The most capacity efficient protection scheme proposed in literature is end-to-end protection where a backup path is provided between the source node and the destination node of the service path. A drawback of end-to-end protection is slow restoration speed, which can be overcome with local protection where each link on the service path has a backup path originated from the upstream end node of the link. However, the capacity efficiency of local protection is much lower than that of end-to-end protection. In this paper, we present a new algorithm for dynamic routing of bandwidth guaranteed connections using local protection. The key feature of our algorithm is that it provides efficient bandwidth utilization by exploiting bandwidth sharing among service paths and backup paths in addition to exploiting bandwidth sharing among backup paths. Simulation results show that the performance of our algorithm is fairly close to that of the end-to-end protection algorithm in terms of total capacity consumption under incremental traffic and our algorithm outperforms the end-to-end protection algorithm in terms of total earning under dynamic traffic.
Disentangling Majorana fermions from topologically trivial low-energy states in semiconductor Majorana wires

Majorana fermions (MFs) are predicted to occur as zero-energy bound states in semiconductor nanowire-superconductor structures. However, in the presence of disorder or smooth confining potentials, these structures can also host non-topological nearly-zero energy states. Here, we demonstrate that the MFs and the nearly-zero topologically-trivial states have different characteristic signatures in a tunneling conductance measurement, which allows to clearly discriminate between them. We also show that low-energy non-topological states can strongly hybridize with metallic states from the leads, which generates the smooth background that characterizes the soft superconducting gap measured in tunneling experiments and produces an additional decoherence mechanism for the Majorana mode. Our results pave the way for the conclusive identification of MFs in a solid state system and provide directions for minimizing quantum decoherence in Majorana wires.
SLAMBOT: Structural health monitoring robot using lamb waves

We propose the combination of a mobile robot and a computational sensor network approach to perform structural health monitoring of structures. The robot is equipped with piezoelectric sensor actuators capable of sending and receiving ultrasound signals, and explores the surface of a structure to be monitored. A computational model of ultrasound propagation through the material is used to define two structural health monitoring methods: (1) a time reversal damage imaging (TRDI) process, and (2) a damage range sensor (DRS) (i.e., it provides the range to damaged areas in the structure). The damage in the structure is mapped using the DRS approach.
A Microanalytic Approach to Store Location Analysis

Through microanalytic modeling, consumer preferences and shopping patterns can be used to estimate sales for existing or future retail establishments. This article reports on such a study done for ...
Construction Operation Simulation Reflecting Workers’ Muscle Fatigue

Discrete event simulation (DES) is widely regarded as an effective tool for modeling, analyzing and establishing the correct design of construction operations, including the proper quantity and sequencing of resources within the context of a selected field construction method. However, a gap exists in current construction operation studies with respect to human factors, specifically, workers’ physical aspects. Construction workers, one of the most important resources in construction operation, have limited physical capabilities due to fatigue depending on individualand task-related factors. However, less attention to fatigue has been paid in DES studies in construction, despite its significant impacts on construction performance. To understand dynamic impacts of workers’ physical constraints on construction performance, we propose worker-oriented construction operation simulation integrating a fatigue model into discrete event simulation. Specifically, workers’ activities during construction operations are modeled using DES in an elemental task level. Then, physical demands from the operation are estimated through biomechanical analysis on elemental tasks. Fatigue, which refers to diminished physical capabilities under given physical demands, is predicted using a fatigue model, and its impact is subsequently reflected in DES. As a preliminary study, we tested the feasibility of the proposed approach on masonry work by varying crew size. The results indicate that excessive physical demands beyond workers’ capabilities result in productivity losses. Ultimately, the proposed approach has the potential to decide alternatives for construction operation planning to secure high productivity without compromising workers’ health.
Urban Space Cost,Double Technology Spillover and Environment Pollution

This paper incorporates the cost of urban space into the neweconomic geography model. It studies the regional development,industrial agglomeration and diffusion in a continuous space,and regards that technology spillover is reflected not only in the department of creating capital,but also in the industrial enterprise production department. The paper also considers the negative externality of environment pollution,and combines the flowof a single production factor and the flowof a variety production factors into an organic whole,then the general neweconomic geography model is developed and the synthesis of different neweconomic geography models is achieved. From the aspect of theoretical analysis,it not only analyzes the inner mechanism of long-term equilibrium growth,but also discusses the evolution and steady state of economic space and the dynamic change of regional welfare,then holds that the relationship of continuous point and breakthrough point is uncertain. The continuous point can be greater than the breakthrough point and be less than the breakthrough point,they can also be equal. The symmetrical structure,core-periphery structure and general asymmetric structure all could be stable structure. The interregional actual income gap is decided by the interregional gap of capital share to some extent.
A link between structure, diffusion and rotations of hydrogen bonding tracers in ionic liquids

When solutes are small compared to the size of the ions in an ionic liquid, energetic heterogeneities associated with charge enhanced (stiff) and charge depleted (soft) nanoenvironments are sampled. In a recent article [J. C. Araque et al., J. Phys. Chem. B 119(23), 7015-7029 (2015)], we explored large deviations from Stokes-Einstein translational diffusion caused by such a heterogeneity. The current article is set to explore the effect of soft and stiff solvent environments (i.e., structure) on OH-bond rotations in the case of water and small alcohols in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (Im1,2 (+)NTf2 (-)). Is solute rotational dynamics heterogeneous? If so, are solute rotations and translations coupled in the sense that stiff and soft solvent environments hinder or speed up both types of dynamics? For the systems studied here, there appears to be a clear connection between translations, rotations, and stiff/soft solvent environments. We also discuss interesting asymmetries of the correlation between solutes with anions and cations.
The Influence of Risk Aversion on Visual Decision Making

The ability to decide between multiple fixation targets in complex visual environments is essential for our survival. Evolution has refined this process to be both rapid and cheap, allowing us to perform over 100,000 saccades a day. Previous models for visual decision making have focused on maximizing reward magnitude or expected value (EV = probability of reward × magnitude of reward). However, such methods fail to incorporate utility, or happiness derived from reward, optimizing strictly on nominal reward values. We propose an alternative model for visual decision making, maximizing utility as opposed to value under the assumption of a decreasing marginal utility curve. To test our model, we asked 10 UCSD graduate students to participate in an eyetracking experiment where they choose between different fixation targets presented on a brief display. The reward for each target was generated from fixed, predetermined distributions with different variance that was initially unknown to the subjects. The subjects were asked to maximize their reward for each test session within the experiment. Comparing our results with expected value and reward optimizing hedge algorithms, we show that utilitybased models more accurately reflect human behavior in visual decision making tasks.