cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Enhanced Resolution of Experimental ARDS through IL-4-Mediated Lung Macrophage Reprogramming

Despite intense investigation, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains an enormous clinical problem for which no specific therapies currently exist. In this study, we used intratracheal lipopolysaccharide or Pseudomonas bacteria administration to model experimental acute lung injury (ALI) and to further understand mediators of the resolution phase of ARDS. Recent work demonstrates macrophages transition from a predominant proinflammatory M1 phenotype during acute inflammation to an anti-inflammatory M2 phenotype with ALI resolution. We tested the hypothesis that IL-4, a potent inducer of M2-specific protein expression, would accelerate ALI resolution and lung repair through reprogramming of endogenous inflammatory macrophages. In fact, IL-4 treatment was found to offer dramatic benefits following delayed administration to mice subjected to experimental ALI, including increased survival, accelerated resolution of lung injury, and improved lung function. Expression of the M2 proteins Arg1, FIZZ1, and Ym1 was increased in lung tissues following IL-4 treatment, and among macrophages, FIZZ1 was most prominently upregulated in the interstitial subpopulation. A similar trend was observed for the expression of macrophage mannose receptor (MMR) and Dectin-1 on the surface of alveolar macrophages following IL-4 administration. Macrophage depletion or STAT6 deficiency abrogated the therapeutic effect of IL-4. Collectively, these data demonstrate that IL-4-mediated therapeutic macrophage reprogramming can accelerate resolution and lung repair despite delayed use following experimental ALI. IL-4 or other therapies that target late-phase, proresolution pathways may hold promise for the treatment of human ARDS.
NEXRAD Flood Warning System and Floodplain Library for Houston, TX

Early flood warning systems protect both infrastructure and human life by issuing accurate flood warnings to public and private entities, enabling emergency personnel to employ strategic procedures. One such system, the RiceU/TMC Flood Alert System (FAS) has proved effective at predicting flood levels along Brays Bayou for 30 major storm events since 1997, including T.S. Allison in 2001. The current flood alert version, FAS2, couples available radar data (NEXRAD) with real-time hydrologic models to predict peak flood levels with 2 to 3 hours of lead time, and issues warnings via the internet to emergency personnel. The FAS2 is also currently being expanded to other areas of Texas. The future installation of a distributed high-resolution CASA radar-sensing network (NetRAD) in Houston will increase the city's ability to forecast severe events and to direct emergency response at a street scale. Existing hydraulic models developed by the T.S. Allison Recovery Program (TSARP) for Brays, White Oak and Buffalo Bayous that drain downtown Houston and the Texas Medical Center were revised and merged to analyze the coastal storm surge impacts to the inland drainage areas by incorporating hurricane induced storm surge data in Galveston Bay. The combination of storm surge data, accurate and current hydraulic models, and NEXRAD radar within a GIS framework demonstrated severe inundations in non storm surge zones including major evacuation routes from Galveston. The next generation flood warning system should incorporate storm surge information to better predict the impacts of severe storms on inland watersheds. A unique aspect of this flood warning system is that a predictive floodplain library has been developed for the White Oak watershed in Houston; the library analyzes rainfall intensities and patterns to quantify water surface elevations and delineate floodplains under various spatial and temporal conditions. The development of the floodplain map library for Brays Bayou is currently on-going. FAS2 employs an algorithm that allows the library to dynamically link real-time rainfall observations to appropriate floodplain maps that have been pre-delineated using more than 100 combinations of rainfall variations, allowing the emergency personnel to quickly determine likely inundations and begin flood preparations with as much lead time as possible.
How to Communicate with Farmers about Climate Change: Farmers' Perceptions and Adaptations to Increasingly Variable Weather Patterns in Maine (USA)

While dealing with weather variability has always been a source of stress for farmers, a generally warmer, wetter climate with the potential for increasingly intensive precipitation poses a threat to long-term farm viability. Knowing how farmers think about increasingly variable weather patterns (IVWP) is important for educators, agency staff, and others to learn how to work with producers on adaptation strategies to protect natural resources and prevent crop failure. In 2011, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension conducted focus group sessions with farmers from seven different commodity groups, five mixed farmer sessions, and two sessions with consultants, educators, and agency staff who work with growers to learn about grower perceptions of environmental changes, and to learn about changes they may be making to their farming operations to protect their operations from IVWP. Farmers discussed over 40 practices that could be construed as adaptation measures to buffer against IVWP. Fruit (apple and blueberry) growers spent the most time on the subject and expressed the most concern about the effects of IVWP, while dairy and potato growers spent the least. Given the divergence of opinion on the subject of climate change that Maine growers expressed, successful outreach education through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Cooperative Extension should likely emphasize short-term risk management, resilience, and stability of farm operations as opposed to communicating the need to adopt strategies based on climate change.
Vitamin E in Pituitary Gland Function of Fowls

SummaryThe testes of male chickens kept on a diet deficient in vit. E for two months were much reduced in size, and the seminiferous tubules showed considerable degeneration. The combs, likewise, were smaller in the group deprived of vit. E. The assays of pituitary glands revealed that more gonad stimulating substance was produced by those of fowls which had received vit. E in their diet. The pituitary glands from the birds on the E-deficient diet had approximately one-half as many active basophilic cells as those from the birds with the E supplied.
Eight-and-a-half syndrome.

A 62-year-old left-handed man with a history of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus awoke with double vision. On examination, the patient had right eye exotropia with left eye midline at rest and conjugate gaze while focusing on an object. He had conjugate horizontal gaze palsy to the left (figure, A). On right lateral horizontal gaze, the patient had impaired left eye adduction with retained ability to abduct the right eye, which evoked a right lateral nystagmus (figure, B). Convergence with near fixation was spared. Additionally, the patient had impaired left eye closure and ipsilateral flattened nasolabial fold (figure, C) (video at [Neurology.org/cp][1]). [1]: http://Neurology.org/cp
Gromov-Witten Theory of Calabi-Yau 3-folds

We describe some recent progress and open problems in Gromov-Witten theory of Calabi-Yau 3-folds, focusing on the quintic 3-fold and toric Calabi-Yau 3folds.
Performance as Affected by Incentive and Preliminary Warm-Up

Abstract Forty-six male students, ages 18 to 22 years, were given a softball throw for distance without warming up and with a 5-minute related warm-up preceding throwing. The subjects were divided into two groups with the sequence of warm-up and no warm-up alternated on different days in order to reduce the possibility of practice effect, learning, or other unforeseen factors. Three throws for maximum distance were allowed for each testing period. In an attempt to rule out the possible psychological effects of not making a maximum throw without preliminary warm-up, the subject was given a monetary reward for each throw greater than his established average. A significant difference at the 1 percent level of probability was found between trials 1 and 3 when no warm-up preceded throwing. No significant difference was found between trials when throwing was preceded by a warm-up. Despite the significant increase in distance between trials 1 and 3 when no warm-up preceded throwing, subjects threw on the average...
New Film Website Promotion and Box Office Performance

ABSTRACT The use of website promotion for new films is now commonplace. However, there has been no information to date about the degree to which website activity relates to the box office performance of a film. To this end, this paper describes a parsimonious model approach that relates website activity, and other relevant explanatory variables, to a film9s box office a performance. The results suggest that website activity is a significant variable in relation to a film9s box office performance. Thus, the study suggests that the monitoring of website activity may provide a useful measure to evaluate and predict the performance of new films.
Discontinuous Galerkin time-domain solution of the purely hyperbolic maxwell equations

In the numerical solution of Maxwell's equations, we usually consider only Faraday's and Ampere's laws, and assume the two Gauss' laws are satisfied automatically. This will cause a significant numerical error in a self-consistent simulation of a particle-wave interaction. To remove the numerical error that comes from the violation of Gauss' laws, divergence cleaning techniques have been introduced. In this paper, the purely hyperbolic Maxwell (PHM) equations that can eliminate the numerical errors of both Gauss' laws are presented. The discontinuous Galerkin time-domain method is then applied to the numerical solution of the PHM equations, with the intermediate states and the numerical fluxes derived by solving the Riemann problem.
Association between genetic polymorphisms of PHOX2B and susceptibility of Hirschsprung’s disease in Shenzhen region

Objective To explore the relationships of a single nucleotide polymorphism IVS2+100G/A of PHOX2B and susceptibility of Hirschsprung’s disease(HSCR)in Shenzhen region. Methods Genotypes of IVS2+100G/A were determined in 58 patients with HSCR and 150 normal controls by PCR and direct sequencing.The adjusted odds ratios(ORs)and 95%confidence intervals(CIs)were calculated using logistic regression model. Results The genotype frequency distribution of PHOX2B IVS2+100 AA was significantly different(P=0.04).Risk of HSCR associated with homozygous genotypes of the PHOX2B IVS2+100AA was found compared with the PHOX2B IVS2+100GG or GA genotypes(OR=2.06,95%CI 1.00-4.40). Conclusion These findings suggest that PHOX2B polymorphism IVS2+100G/A may be a genetic susceptibility factor for HSCR among Chinese population.
Development of pH regulatory transport in glomerular mesangial cells

Developmental changes in activity or expression of transporters may account for alterations in cell behavior as the nonpolarized cell matures. We sought to ascertain whether there is a maturational change in each of the major acid-base transporters in the developing mesangial cell (MC), the Na/H exchanger, Na-dependent Cl/HCO3 exchanger, and the Cl/HCO3 exchanger. Intracellular pH (pHi) was determined by the use of the fluorescent pH-sensitive dye, 2′,7′-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF). We assessed transporter activity by studying recovery from an acid load (NH4/NH3) in CO2/HCO3. In adult MCs, Na/H exchanger was responsible for 35.2 ± 4.3% of steady-state pHi, whereas the Na-dependent Cl/HCO3 exchanger contributed 58.7 ± 6.1 (n= 14). In term MCs (tMCs), from days 1–3 after birth, the Na/H exchanger contributes 62.9 ± 7.8% (n = 11,P < 0.001 vs. adult), whereas the Na-dependent Cl/HCO3 exchanger contributes 34.0 ± 5.7% (n = 12,P < 0.001 vs. adult), to the rate of recovery from an acid lo...
Supercritical fluids in thermoplastics foaming : Facts or fallacies?

The past two decades have seen extensive interests and efforts for developing processes based on supercritical fluids (SCF). Microcellular foaming is one of these processes that take advantage of the unique properties of supercritical fluids when they are used as physical foaming agents (PFA). In this technology, the emphasis has been mostly focused on inert gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen that both inherently provides very high cell densities and very small cell sizes. Incidentally the benign carbon dioxide is frequently considered as the panacea of PFA, in response notably to the environmental pressures related to the destruction of the ozone layer. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) have also been identified as potential alternative agents for extruded polystyrene foam. Unfortunately, HFCs remain difficult to process at the high concentrations required to yield low-density foams. Surprisingly, the processing difficulties occur when the pressures required for dissolving high HFCs concentrations reach the range located immediately above the critical pressure of the PFA used. PSIHFC systems have been well documented in terms of abnormal behaviors occurring as the foaming agent gets into the supercritical conditions, and similar observations have also been made for other SCF used for thermoplastic foaming. These observations are reported here, and attempts are made to link the supercritical nature of the fluid to the PFA heterogeneities suspected under these conditions.
Cellular Interactions in the Development of the Vertebrate Olfactory System

Developmental biologists agree that cellular or tissue interactions play important roles in development of the organism and its many parts. The first direct proof of this was reviewed by Spemann (1938), when he discussed experiments on the two-cell stage of amphibian embryos. In the normal course of events, the two-celled amphibian embryo develops into a whole tadpole, as each of the cells, in effect, gives rise to half of the tadpole. If the two cells are separated from one another in this early stage of development, each gives rise to a whole tadpole of half-normal size. In other words, separation results in change in the developmental potential of each cell and they behave as if each were a fertilized ovum, whereas if they remain in contact, each contributes to only one half the embryo. This was the first evidence showing the effect of cell-cell interaction on development. At later stages of development, cellular or tissue interactions play a role in organogenesis; e.g., interactions between epithelium and mesenchyme are important in development of teeth, glands, kidney, skin and skin derivatives, etc. (Fleischmajer and Billingham, 1968).
Betrachtungen zur Therapie spinaler Durchblutungsstörungen

Das einzige, aussichtsreiche Behandlungsverfahren bei spinalen Durchblutungsstorungen ist die medikamentose Therapie. Ihr entscheidender Effekt liegt nicht in einer Beseitigung der organisch vascularen Ursachen, sondern in einer Kompensation der Folgeerscheinungen. Das hat einen wesentlichen Vorteil. Wenn die kompensative Wirkung im Vordergrund steht, dann ist es im einzelnen Fall gleichgultig, ob dem vascularen Leiden hauptsachlich organische Gefasveranderungen im Sinne der Arteriosklerose, der Gefasmisbildung, der Entzundung, der Thrombose, der Embolie oder aber funktionelle Gefasstorungen zugrunde liegen. Abgesehen vielleicht von der Entzundung, sind die organischen Gefasveranderungen therapeutisch direkt nicht beeinflusbar, wahrend die funktionellen Storungsmechanismen auf jeden Fall medikamentos miterfast werden. Aus dieser allgemeinen, kompensativen Wirkungsweise erklart sich die breite Indikation des Behandlungsverfahrens.
A Scenario for the Chicxulub Impact and Energies

After describing the ancient Gulf of Mexico impact site and using the evidence uncovered by the explorations discussed in Chap. 2, we construct a scenario of Chicxulub’s fall to Earth and its aftermath—describing the blast that traumatically disrupted the atmosphere, Gulf water, the sea bottom and the crustal rocks. The ejecta that soon returned to Earth formed a scorching heat wave that spread over vast land areas. The totality of the destruction from the impact and its aftermath annihilated 60–80 % of the Earth’s animal and plant life, leaving a permanent footprint in its crust.
New field weakening strategy for AC machine drives for light traction vehicles

This paper presents new control strategy of vector-controlled ac machine traction drives intended for light traction vehicles in the field weakening region. Important contribution of the proposed field weakening method is improved drive immunity against oscillations of the input dc trolley wire filter, because our approach does not use the converter dc-link voltage feedback, as well as possible operation of the traction converter in the overmodulation (close to the six-step mode) with the conventional PWM. Theoretical conclusions and simulation results of both traction drive prototype and laboratory set-up are verified by experiments performed on the designed laboratory prototype of the induction machine trolley-bus drive. The proposed field weakening algorithm is in this paper generalized also for other control strategies - e.g. DTFC with constant switching frequency.
Making MATB-II medical: Pilot testing results to determine a novel lab-based, stress-inducing task:

The purpose of this project was to adapt an existing computer-based task called Multi-Attribute Task Battery (MATB-II), developed by NASA and frequently used to induce acute stress among air craft ...
Investigating the effects of heat activated persulfate on the degradation of furfural, a component of hydraulic fracturing fluid chemical additives

Abstract Improper well casings and produced water handling can lead to hydraulic fracturing fluid migration and groundwater pollution. Interactions among the chemical components can cause compositional changes in hydraulic fracturing fluids. This study focuses on degradation or transformations of 3-furfuraldehyde (or furfural) by activated-persulfate oxidation, two chemicals reported in hydraulic fracturing additives. As hydraulic fracturing conditions may be conducive to persulfate activation, the degradation of furfural was examined using elevated temperatures, varying persulfate dosing and Fe (III) concentration, initial pH, and the presence of other chemical additives (e.g., a gelling agent and an enzyme breaking agent). Experiments showed furfural degradation using activated persulfate followed pseudo-first order kinetics with respect to the furfural concentration. Impacts of pH and ferric sulfate concentrations were investigated at different temperatures and the results were fit to the Arrhenius model to establish the activation energy. Decreasing the pH to 2.54 caused an increase in the furfural removal. The addition of ferric sulfate to solutions with pH 5.4 had no impact on the activation energy of furfural oxidation, which was 107 kJ mol −1 , while decreasing the pH to 2.54 allowed for the activation energy to decrease to 75 kJ mol −1 . Quenching with methanol and tert-butyl alcohol indicated significant hydroxyl radical contributions to furfural degradation compared to sulfate radicals during thermal persulfate activation in the presence of iron and acidic conditions. Furthermore, furfural degradation was monitored in the presence of other hydraulic fracturing chemical additives establishing furfural degradation does not occur as rapidly. However, furfural does still degrade in this matrix and this indicates that persulfate may break down other chemicals in hydraulic fracturing fluids more preferentially than the target gelling agent.
How do you treat epilepsy in pregnancy

Epilepsy affects millions worldwide and women of childbearing age constitute between 25% and 40% of all patients with epilepsy.1,2 Estimates based on the population in the United States in the 1990s approximate that 25,000 children are born to women with epilepsy (WWE) annually.3,4 For WWE who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, providers should consider the potential risks regarding seizure control, obstetric complications, and teratogenicity of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) when counseling patients and determining a treatment plan.5,6 Studying pregnant women poses unique challenges. Randomized control trials are difficult to conduct in this population, and much of the available data is observational by necessity, which precludes many studies from reaching the most rigorous levels of evidence. Several aspects of the care of pregnant WWE are discussed in this commentary, with a special focus on teratogenicity and drug monitoring.
Hot and dense homogeneous nucleonic matter constrained by observations, experiment, and theory

We construct a new class of phenomenological equations of state for homogeneous matter for use in simulations of hot and dense matter in local thermodynamic equilibrium. We construct a functional form which respects experimental, observational, and theoretical constraints on the nature of matter in various density and temperature regimes. Our equation of state (EOS) matches (i) the virial coefficients expected from nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts, (ii) experimental measurements of nuclear masses and charge radii, (iii) observations of neutron star radii, (iv) theory results on the equation of state of neutron matter near the saturation density, and (v) theory results on the evolution of the EOS at finite temperatures near the saturation density. Our analytical model allows one to compute the variation in the thermodynamic quantities based on the uncertainties in the nature of the nucleon-nucleon interaction. Finally, we perform a correction to ensure the equation of state is causal at all densities, temperatures, and electron fractions.
Reservoir Modelling, Structural History and Volumetrics of the Jerboa Area, Eyre Sub-Basin

The Eyre Sub-basin is situated in the Bight Basin in the Southern Margin. It covers an area of approximately 8,000km2. It is one of several half-graben in the Bight Basin that formed during the initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Sediments have accumulated in these depocentres from the Middle Jurassic to present. The initial environments of deposition were a series of fluvial, lacustrine and floodplain sequences before becoming open marine environments in the Cretaceous to Recent. Structural, Property and Reservoir Facies Models were created using the seismic interpretation and well logs from Jerboa-1. The models suggest the sequences on the Jerboa high thicken down-flank away from the well. Source rocks capable of generating hydrocarbons complete with oil stains and oil inclusions were found in the Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous non-marine sequences. There are several potential stacked reservoir sections in the sequences from the Middle Jurassic to the Berriasian. These have high porosities between 14-30% and clean channel sands as indicated on the Jerboa-1 logs. The Valanginian-Barremian shale dominated sequence is mapped as laterally extensive and has the best potential of sealing the underlying reservoirs. Across fault seal assessment indicates the fault throws potentially seal the reservoirs, although fault reactivation in the Late Cretaceous resulted in a collapsed graben complex along the apex of the Jerboa high and is potentially the cause of the hydrocarbons escaping. Sections in the Eyre Sub-basin that have stacked channel reservoirs, source rocks with adequate burial and traps that have not been breached have the potential to hold an accumulation of hydrocarbons. The Eyre Sub-basin is a working petroleum system.
Concurrent Validity and Comparative Responsiveness of PROMIS-SF Versus Legacy Measures in the Cervical and Lumbar Spine Population: Longitudinal Analysis from Baseline to Postsurgery.

Background The aim of our study was to evaluate the change in Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores at baseline, 3 months, and 12 months postprocedure and correlate with legacy measures. Methods We analyzed patients in 3 cohorts: lumbar, cervical, and the pooled cohort from our database, 2014–2017. Outcome variables were PROMIS items of pain interference, emotional distress and physical function, EuroQol 5 dimensions, visual analog scale, Oswestry Disability Index/Neck Disability Index, back, leg/neck and arm pain scales, and Patient Satisfaction Index. Results Patients with lumbar and cervical diseases constituted 55.3% (n = 52) and 44.7% (n = 42) of patients, respectively. There was a significant change in median PROMIS pain interference (65.5 to 57.6), anxiety (56.3 to 48.4), depression (51.2 to 37.1), and physical function (37.2 to 42.6) at baseline and 3 months, respectively. Similarly, change in these scores from baseline to 12 months was significant (n = 48). Compared with change in median Neck Disability Index and Oswestry Disability Index from baseline to 12 months (24.0 to 10.0; P = 0.0004 and 19.0 to 10.0; P Conclusions PROMIS items correlated with legacy measures at baseline and postsurgery. Patients undergoing spine surgery improved in their patient-reported outcomes from baseline to 3 months after surgery and the gain were maintained at 12 months.
Chronic Pain After Inguinal Repair

Chronic postherniorrhaphy inguinal pain (CPIP) has surpassed recurrence as the most common severe long-term complication of inguinal hernia surgery. The etiologies of CPIP are variable and incompletely understood, but evidence is emerging to guide the prevention and management of this debilitating syndrome. Meticulous attention to preoperative risk factors, intraoperative nerve identification, and postoperative analgesic care can help minimize risk for CPIP. If a patient develops signs and symptoms of CPIP, the clinician should apply a stepwise approach to diagnosis of the root cause of pain. Patients should be evaluated and treated by a multidisciplinary team including a pain specialist with pharmacologic, behavioral, and interventional modalities. Not all patients with severe pain following inguinal hernia repair are reasonable candidates for operative intervention. For patients with findings that suggest a lesion that would be amenable to surgical correction, open or laparoscopic triple neurectomy has been shown to be efficacious. Intimate familiarity with groin neuroanatomy is crucial to performing these operations successfully. Proper management of chronic inguinodynia following groin surgery can markedly improve ability to work, opiate dependence, and quality of life for patients who develop this complex and challenging syndrome.
Guanfacine decreases symptoms of cannabis withdrawal in daily cannabis smokers.

The α2a-adrenergic agonist, lofexidine, reduced cannabis withdrawal-related sleep disruption in the laboratory, but side effects (e.g. fatigue, hypotension) limit its utility as a treatment for cannabis use disorder. This study tested the potential efficacy and tolerability of a daily bedtime administration of the FDA-approved α2a-adrenergic agonist, guanfacine, in a human laboratory model of cannabis use disorder. Daily, nontreatment-seeking cannabis smokers (13M, 2F) completed a within-subject study comprising two 9-day inpatient study phases. Each phase tested the effects of daily placebo or immediate-release guanfacine (2 mg) on cannabis intoxication (5.6 percent THC; 2 days), withdrawal (4 days of abstinence) and subsequent 'relapse' (3 days of cannabis self-administration). Ratings of mood, sleep, cardiovascular effects, food intake, psychomotor performance and cannabis self-administration were assessed. An outpatient phase preceded each inpatient phase for medication clearance or dose induction. Under placebo medication conditions, cannabis abstinence produced significant withdrawal, including irritability, sleep disruption and anorexia. Guanfacine reduced ratings of irritability and improved objective measures of sleep during cannabis withdrawal relative to placebo but did not reduce cannabis self-administration. Guanfacine was well tolerated with little evidence of fatigue and only small decreases in blood pressure: no dose was held due to hypotension. Thus, a single daily administration of guanfacine at bedtime improved sleep and mood during cannabis withdrawal relative to placebo. This positive signal supports further studies varying the guanfacine dose, formulation or frequency of administration, or combining it with other medications to increase the likelihood of having an impact on cannabis use.
Deficiency of BrpA in Streptococcus mutans reduces virulence in rat caries model.

Our recent studies have shown that BrpA in Streptococcus mutans plays a critical role in cell envelope biogenesis, stress responses, and biofilm formation. In this study, a 10-species consortium was used to assess how BrpA deficiency influences the establishment, persistence, and competitiveness of S. mutans during growth in a community under conditions typical of the oral cavity. Results showed that, like the wild-type, the brpA mutant was able to colonize and establish on the surfaces tested. Relative to the wild-type, however, the brpA mutant had a reduced ability to persist and grow in the 10-species consortium (P .05). Metagenomic and quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis showed that S. mutans infection caused major alterations in the composition of the rats' plaque microbiota and that significantly less S. mutans was identified in the rats infected with the brpA mutant compared with those infected with the wild-type and the psr mutant. These results further suggest that BrpA plays a critical role in S. mutans pathophysiology and that BrpA has potential as a therapeutic target in the modulation of S. mutans virulence.
Combined Nuclear Transplantation and Isotope Techniques for the Study of Nuclear Activities

Of the abundant techniques available to cell biologists, it is probable that almost all have been employed at one time or another to study some facet of the physiology of the cell nucleus. The rewards for these efforts—as can be seen by the other contributions to this number, as well as the reviews of Brachet (1957), Goldstein (1963), Mirsky and Osawa (1961), and Prescott (1960)—have been considerable. Although it is evident that the usefulness of many of the techniques for studies of nuclear function is far from exhausted, this writer would like to draw some attention to a few valuable techniques that are at hand but appear to be underemployed. These latter techniques are based primarily on nuclear transplantation and isotope methodology—both of which have been extensively used, of course, but not in combination. This combination is very potent in the attack on a variety of problems, yet there are few reports on work in which it has been employed; the few reports will be referred to later.
Conceptualizing and Measuring Accessibility within Physical and Virtual Spaces

The study of accessibility in geography and related disciplines has a distinguished history dating back to Ravenstein’s work over a century ago. In the late 1940s to the 1960s, scholars such as Zipf, Stewart, Warntz, and Wilson theorized about the way individuals and aggregates of individuals respond to the constraints of cost, time, and effort to access work, shopping, recreation, and other spatially distrib­uted opportunities. Since that time accessibility has been closely related to but also distinguished from such key geographic concepts as mobility, nearness, and the friction of distance. The models developed for its study belong for the most part in a large class of constructs known as spatial interaction models because they repre­sent the patterns and intensity of interactions among locations in geographic space. Different forms of spatial interaction models have been successfully used to study accessibility at the aggregate level, while the study of individual movements in space-time has provided insights into the significance of accessibility in people’s daily lives. One of the most robust findings of modern quantitative geography has been that interactions decline sharply with increasing distance, which is another way of saying that there is less and less contact between or among people or places as these become less and less accessible from one another.
Early Explorers of Southern South America from the United States

IN October 1829, Capt. Nathaniel Brown Palmer, who had discovered the mainland of Antarctica nine years earlier, sailed from New York in the brig Annawan and Capt. Benjamin Pendleton sailed from Stongirigton, Connecticut, in the brig Seraph. With them travelled five scientific investigators, Dr. James Eights of Albany, N.Y., Dr. John Frampton Watson of Philadelphia, Pa., Mr. Jerimiah N. Reynolds of Wilmington, Ohio, and two associates whose names are not known. These five were, as it seems, the first persons from the United States of America who carried out scientific investigations and inland explorations on the continent of South America. The captains of the two brigs independently explored the waters, largely uncharted, between South America and Antarctica.
Differential Invariants & Proof Theory

This advanced chapter studies some meta-properties of differential equations proving. It investigates aspects of the proof theory of differential equations, i.e., the theory of proofs about differential equations. While the primary focus in this chapter is on their theoretical significance, it also provides insights into the practical questions of what types of differential invariants to search for under which circumstances. The primary tool is the proof-theoretical device of relative deductive power, i.e., the question of whether all properties provable with technique \(\mathcal{A}\) are also provable with technique \(\mathcal{B}\). These results leverage appropriate insights about properties of real arithmetic and of differential equations.
Molecular Diagnostics in Thyroid Cytology

Molecular testing in thyroid fine-needle aspiration (FNA) specimens is currently aimed at refining cancer risk among nodules with indeterminate cytology. Laboratories have taken different strategies for risk stratification, including analysis of gene expression profiles, microRNA expression patterns, genotyping for driver alterations, and a combination of these approaches. This chapter will review the application of these various approaches to thyroid FNA samples, as exemplified by four commercially available tests: Afirma, RosettaGX Reveal, ThyGenX/ThyraMIR, and ThyroSeq.
A tale of two “halfs”: being black, while being biracial

Using counter-storytelling, this manuscript provides auto-ethnographies from two Black-biracial scholars. The authors’ narratives present an intimate account of how being half - Black is experience...
Between being ‘Irticaci’ and ‘Kafir’: the Kurdish Ulama, Shayhks and Kurdish historiography

AbstractThis article engages with Kurdish ulamas’ and shaykhs’ relatively unknown narratives on manipulative shaykhs as a legitimate part of the story of Kurdish national history. The criticism aga...
D. Armstrong’s Account of Laws: Identity Lost, Regained, and Lost Again

We have seen that Dretske explicitly required that laws related items like F-ness and G-ness, which would normally be understood as a reference to universals. However he also referred to laws as relating physical magnitudes. If all physical magnitudes, including refractive indices in particular, count, according to Dretske, as universals, then it seems to me that universals so understood, are in tremendous abundance, and set no limits for the expressive power of physical theories, beyond those set by the use of ordinary mathematical analysis. We noted in Chap. 4, there isn’t any problem with those universals used by Dretske, if they are physical magnitudes.
Towards Generalized Manipulation Learning Through Grasp Mechanics-Based Features and Self-Supervision

Learning accurate representations of robot models remains a challenging problem, and is typically approached though large, system-specific feature sets. This method inherently introduces practical shortcomings, as interpretability and transferability of the learned model typically decreases as more features are introduced into the learning framework in order to handle increasing task complexity. In this article, we examine the problem of developing transferable learned models for dexterous manipulation that are able to accurately predict the behavior of physically distinct systems without retraining. We introduce the notion of learning from visually-extracted grasp mechanics-based features, which are formulated by combining geometrically-inspired, analytical representations of the gripper into the feature set to more holistically represent the state of varied systems performing manipulation. We characterize the added utility of using such features through simulation and incorporate them into a classifier to predict specific phenomena, or modes of manipulation, that occur during prehensile within-hand movement. Four modes of manipulation—normal (rolling contact), drop, stuck, and sliding—are defined, collected physically, and trained via a self-supervised learning approach. The classifier is first trained on a single sensorless underactuated hand variant for all four modes. We, then, investigate the transferability of the learned classifier on five different planar gripper variants—analyzing applicability of this approach with both online and offline evaluation.
X-ray and electron spectroscopy of (photo)electrocatalysts: Understanding activity through electronic structure and adsorbate coverage

Electronic structure plays a critical role in the kinetics of (photo)electrocatalytic reactions. X-ray and electron spectroscopies provide key determinants—electronic structure, surface adsorbate speciation and coverage quantification, valence state, coordination chemistry, etc.—of catalytic activity and selectivity. Here, we provide an introduction to the fundamental physical concepts, capabilities, and limitations of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and electron energy-loss spectroscopy as well as provide discussions of (photo)electrocatalysis-relevant publications utilizing each of these techniques. Our objective is to provide those new to x-ray and electron spectroscopies with sufficient information to assess which techniques probe desired material parameters, while also providing experts in each of these spectroscopic fields a bridge to view the importance of these spectroscopies to (photo)electrocatalysis research.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Hydrogen in Semiconductors

Publisher Summary The ability of hydrogen (H) to affect dramatically the electronic properties of crystalline semiconductors, such as zinc oxide (ZnO), was recognized and was under systematic study by the early 1950s. Perhaps the earliest work on the behavior of hydrogen in elemental semiconductors is that of the diffusion of hydrogen through the walls of cylinders made of single-crystal silicon (Si) and germanium at high temperatures. In the mid-l970s, H chemisorption on Si surfaces was studied extensively. It was found that H can produce monohydrides and trihydrides on (111) Si surfaces and monohydrides and dihydrides on (100) Si surfaces. Furthermore, it was shown that hydrogenation leads to the reconstruction of surface atoms. In retrospect, it is clear that as the H–Si bond is stronger than the Si–Si bond, the surface dangling bonds can be readily terminated by H; therefore, strained Si–Si bonds can be relaxed by the insertion of H atoms, leading to the reconstruction of the Si surface. Also during the 1970s, research on the role of H in amorphous semiconductors intensified rapidly. The chapter highlights the current era of research on hydrogen in semiconductors.
Chaos, Bifurcations, and Their Control

The sections in this article are 1 Nonlinear Dynamics 2 Chaos 3 Bifurcations 4 Controlling Chaos 5 Controlling Bifurcations 6 Anticontrol of Chaos
Multi-thread code generation for dataflow architectures from non-strict programs

This paper presents a new style of code generation for dataflow architectures, based on a view of such architectures as general multi-threaded von Neumann machines. Whereas the traditional picture of dataflow object code consists of tokens flowing along the arcs of a dataflow graph, the multi-threaded style treats a linear sequence of dataflow instructions as a sequential thread. Within a thread, data is passed by imperatively reading and writing an activation frame associated with a procedure invocation, just as in conventional architectures. Also, advanced dataflow architectures like Monsoon provide specific support for sequential threads, in the form of general registers for operand storage within a thread. Between threads, values are also communicated via the activation frame. The generation and synchronization of tokens, which in traditional dataflow is the primary means of communicating data, is relegated here to a purely control flow role, spawning new threads and gating their initiation, but themselves carrying no data.
Symbolic Intersect Detection: A Method for Improving Spatial Intersect Joins

Due to the increasing popularity of spatial databases, researchers have focused their efforts on improving the query processing performance of the most expensive spatial database operation: the spatial join. While most previous work focused on optimizing the filter step, it has been discovered recently that, for typical GIS data sets, the refinement step of spatial join processing actually requires a longer processing time than the filter step. Furthermore, two-thirds of the time in processing the refinement step is devoted to the computation of polygon intersections. To address this issue, we therefore introduce a novel approach to spatial join optimization that drastically reduces the time of the refinement step. We propose a new approach called Symbolic Intersect Detection (SID) for early detection of true hits. Our SID optimization eliminates most of the expensive polygon intersect computations required by a spatial join by exploiting the symbolic topological relationships between the two candidate polygons and their overlapping minimum bounding rectangle. One important feature of our SID optimization is that it is complementary to the state-of-the-art methods in spatial join processing and therefore can be utilized by these techniques to further optimize their performance. In this paper, we also develop an analytical cost model that characterizes SID’s effectiveness under various conditions. Based on real map data, we furthermore conduct an experimental evaluation comparing the performance of the spatial joins with SID against the state-of-the-art approach. Our experimental results show that SID can effectively identify more than 80% of the true hits with negligible overhead. Consequently, with SID, the time needed for resolving polygon intersect in the refinement step is improved by over 50% over known techniques, as predicted by our analytical model.
A Computational Framework for Integrated Process Design of High Performance Parts

High-performance failure-critical parts such as aeroengine disks are manufactured in a sequence of processing steps such as solidification, deformation, heat treatment and finishing. The fatigue and failure performance of these parts are often governed by the material and processing state. Uncertainties in the material structure, defects and anomalies play a major role in the uncertainties in performance. This paper includes a hybrid computational framework for integrated materials and process design with achieved through model decomposition based on Bayesian probabilistic formulation. Efficacy of this approach is demonstrated by applying it to the selection of forging parameters for maximizing life of titanium disk with hard alpha anomaly.
Sylow Theory for Quasigroups

This paper is intended as a first step toward a general Sylow theory for quasigroups and Latin squares. A subset of a quasigroup lies in a nonoverlapping orbit if its respective translates under the elements of the left multiplication group remain disjoint. In the group case, each nonoverlapping orbit contains a subgroup, and Sylow's Theorem guarantees nonoverlapping orbits on subsets whose order is a prime-power divisor of the group order. For the general quasigroup case, the paper investigates the relationship between non-overlapping orbits and structural properties of a quasigroup. Divisors of the order of a finite quasigroup are classified by the behavior of nonoverlapping orbits. In a dual direction, Sylow properties of a subquasigroup P of a finite left quasigroup Q may be defined directly in terms of the homogeneous space , and also in terms of the behavior of the isomorphism type within the so-called Burnside order, a labeled order structure on the full set of all isomorphism types of irreducible permutation representations.
MPI in 2002: has it been ten years already?

Summary form only given. In April of 1992, a group of parallel computing vendors, computer science researchers, and application scientists met at a one-day workshop and agreed to cooperate on the development of a community standard for the message-passing model of parallel computing. The MPI Forum that eventually emerged from that workshop became a model of how a broad community could work together to improve an important component of the high performance computing environment. The Message Passing Interface (MPI) definition that resulted from this effort has been widely adopted and implemented, and is now virtually synonymous with the message-passing model itself MPI not only standardized existing practice in the service of making applications portable in the rapidly changing world of parallel computing, but also consolidated research advances into novel features that extended existing practice and have proven useful in developing a new generation of applications. This talk will discuss some of the procedures and approaches of the MPI Forum that led to MPI's early adoption, and then describe some of the features that have led to its persistence as a reference model for parallel computing. Although clusters were only just emerging as a significant parallel computing production platform as MPI was being defined, MPI has proven to be a useful way of programming them for high performance, and we will discuss the current situation in MPI implementations for clusters. MPI was deliberately designed to grant considerable flexibility to implementors, and thus provides a useful framework for implementation research. Successful implementation techniques within the MPI standard can be utilized immediately by applications already using MPI, thus providing an unusually fast path front research results to their application. At Argonne National Laboratory we have been developing and distributing MPICH, a portable, high performance implementation of MPI, from the very beginning of the MPI effort. We will describe MPICH-2, a completely new version of MPICH just being released. We will present some of its novel design features that we hope will stimulate both further research and a new generation of complete MPI-2 implementations, along with some early performance results. We will conclude with a speculative look at the future of MPI, including its role in other programming approaches, fault tolerance, and its applicability to advanced architectures.