cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Protein structure determination using a database of interatomic distance probabilities

The accelerated pace of genomic sequencing has increased the demand for structural models of gene products. Improved quantitative methods are needed to study the many systems (e.g., macromolecular assemblies) for which data are scarce. Here, we describe a new molecular dynamics method for protein structure determination and molecular modeling. An energy function, or database potential, is derived from distributions of interatomic distances obtained from a database of known structures. X-ray crystal structures are refined by molecular dynamics with the new energy function replacing the Van der Waals potential. Compared to standard methods, this method improved the atomic positions, interatomic distances, and side-chain dihedral angles of structures randomized to mimic the early stages of refinement. The greatest enhancement in side-chain placement was observed for groups that are characteristically buried. More accurate calculated model phases will follow from improved interatomic distances. Details usually seen only in high-resolution refinements were improved, as is shown by an R-factor analysis. The improvements were greatest when refinements were carried out using X-ray data truncated at 3.5 A. The database potential should therefore be a valuable tool for determining X-ray structures, especially when only low-resolution data are available.
Condensed metallaborane clusters: synthesis and structure of Fe2(CO)6(η5-C5Me5RuCO)(η5-C5Me5Ru)B6H10

Mild pyrolysis of (η5-C5Me5Ru)2B6H12 with Fe2(CO)9 yields the 12 skeletal electron pair (sep) Fe2(CO)6(η5-C5Me5RuCO)(η5-C5Me5Ru)B6H10 cluster; the title compound represents a novel class of hybrid multiple cluster in which a Fe2B2 tetrahedron has been fused to a ruthenaborane substrate.
Prenatal PAH exposure is associated with chromosome-specific aberrations in cord blood.

Chromosomal aberrations are associated with increased cancer risk in adults. Previously, we demonstrated that stable aberrations involving chromosomes 1-6 in cord blood are associated with prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) measured in air and are disproportionate to genomic content. We now examine whether the association with air PAHs is chromosome-specific and extends to smaller chromosomes. Using whole chromosome paints for chromosomes 1-6, 11, 12, 14 and 19, and a 6q sub-telomere specific probe, we scored 48 cord bloods (1500 metaphases per sample) from newborns monitored prenatally for airborne PAH exposure in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health cohort. Frequencies of stable aberrations were calculated as incident aberrations per 100 cell equivalents scored, and examined for association with airborne PAHs. Aberrations in chromosome 6 occurred more frequently than predicted by genomic content (p 0.8). Aberrations in chromosomes 11, 12, 14, 19 and 6 were associated with prenatal exposure to PAHs in air, even at lower levels of PAH in air. The observed chromosome-specific effects of prenatal airborne PAHs raise concern about potential cancer risk.
Phase Relations and Reaction Sintering of Transparent Cubic Aluminum Oxynitride Spinel (ALON)

Abstract : A new isobaric, condensed phase diagram in the region of stability of cubic aluminum oxynitride spinel (ALON) along the pseudobinary Al2O3-AlN composition join is presented, deduced primarily from various analytical measurements and microstructural observations. It is shown that cubic aluminum oxynitride spinel melts incongruently at about 2050 C and is compositionally centered at about 35.7 mole % AlN which is equivalent to the following stoichiometric composition: Al23O27N5 or 5 AlN.9 Al2O3. Single-phase ALON material sintered to nearly full density exhibits transparency in visible light.
Evacuation of patients during a fire at a general hospital

The epidemiology of hospital fires is described briefly, followed by a case report of the evacuation of 150 patients from a general hospital during a fire. A theoretical framework for the analysis and management of such situations is developed and illustrated. The need for flexibility in the development of disaster plans, the need to simplify plans and reduce the number of staff involved, the need to tailor plans to meet the demands of specific situations, and the need for immediate planning to reopen the facility are stressed. The development of "fire-safe" elevators to assist the evacuation of most patients is particularly important to future hospital design.
Large earthquake rupture process variations on the Middle America megathrust

The megathrust fault between the underthrusting Cocos plate and overriding Caribbean plate recently experienced three large ruptures: the August 27, 2012 (M_w 7.3) El Salvador; September 5, 2012 (M_w 7.6) Costa Rica; and November 7, 2012 (M_w 7.4) Guatemala earthquakes. All three events involve shallow-dipping thrust faulting on the plate boundary, but they had variable rupture processes. The El Salvador earthquake ruptured from about 4 to 20 km depth, with a relatively large centroid time of ∼19 s, low seismic moment-scaled energy release, and a depleted teleseismic short-period source spectrum similar to that of the September 2, 1992 (M_w 7.6) Nicaragua tsunami earthquake that ruptured the adjacent shallow portion of the plate boundary. The Costa Rica and Guatemala earthquakes had large slip in the depth range 15 to 30 km, and more typical teleseismic source spectra. Regional seismic recordings have higher short-period energy levels for the Costa Rica event relative to the El Salvador event, consistent with the teleseismic observations. A broadband regional waveform template correlation analysis is applied to categorize the focal mechanisms for larger aftershocks of the three events. Modeling of regional wave spectral ratios for clustered events with similar mechanisms indicates that interplate thrust events have corner frequencies, normalized by a reference model, that increase down-dip from anomalously low values near the Middle America trench. Relatively high corner frequencies are found for thrust events near Costa Rica; thus, variations along strike of the trench may also be important. Geodetic observations indicate trench-parallel motion of a forearc sliver extending from Costa Rica to Guatemala, and low seismic coupling on the megathrust has been inferred from a lack of boundary-perpendicular strain accumulation. The slip distributions and seismic radiation from the large regional thrust events indicate relatively strong seismic coupling near Nicoya, Costa Rica, patchy zones of strong seismic coupling in the shallowest megathrust region along Nicaragua and El Salvador, and small deeper patchy zones of strong seismic coupling near Guatemala, which can be reconciled with the geodetic observations as long as the strong coupling is limited to a small fraction of the megathrust area.
Kinetics of haematopoietic recovery after dose-intensive chemo/radiotherapy in mice: optimized erythroid support with darbepoetin alpha.

Summary. Despite its frequency and impact on clinical outcomes, anaemia in cancer patients remains poorly understood and suboptimally treated. The definition of optimum treatment schedules with erythropoietic agents requires a suitable model of chemotherapy-induced progressive anaemia. This study investigated novel strategies such as once-per-chemotherapy-cycle dosing, synchronization between erythroid supportive care and chemotherapy, and definition of the optimum timing of erythroid support. A murine model of carboplatin chemotherapy/radiotherapy (CRT)-induced anaemia was used, which caused progressive anaemia across multiple cycles. Weekly administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) was effective, but the longer-acting darbepoetin alpha resulted in superior responses. In all animals, anaemia became progressive and more refractory across cycles because of accumulated bone marrow damage. Exploiting a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, which could distinguish between darbepoetin alpha and endogenous erythropoietin, the effect of CRT upon the pharmacokinetics of darbepoetin alpha showed that clearance of darbepoetin alpha, and presumably erythropoietin, was at least partially dependent on a chemotherapy-sensitive pathway. Scheduling data suggested that administration of erythropoietic agents prior to chemotherapy was more effective than administration after chemotherapy. There was no evidence that erythropoietic agents exacerbated anaemia, even when administered immediately prior to CRT in an attempt to ‘prime’ erythroid cells for the effects of CRT.
Detecting time-varying corners*

The algorithms for structure from motion require solution of the correspondence problem. By detecting only time-varying tokens, the problem may be significantly simplified. In this paper, a time-varying corner detector is described which is based on the and operation between the cornerness and the temporal derivative. It is shown that the corner detectors by Zuniga and Haralick (IEEE CVPR Conf. 1983, pp. 30–37) , Kitchen and Rosenfeld (Pattern Recognition Lett. 1, 1982, 95–102) , and Dreschler and Nagel (Proc. IJCAI, 1981, pp. 692–697) are equivalent. In this time-varying corner detector, the Zuniga and Haralick, in loc. cit., corner detector is used for finding the cornerness at a point and the absolute value of difference in intensity at a point is used to approximate the temporal derivative. The results of the time-varying corner detector for the the real scenes and the synthetic images with random background and random object are shown.
The role of potassium in the pathogenesis and treatment of hypertension.

A 38-year-old black male was referred for the evaluation of recentonset hypertension. He had formerly been a professional athlete, who had been normotensive 6 years earlier. Since retiring from athletics, he had gained 60 lbs and had performed little exercise. He had smoked one to one and one-half packs of cigarettes daily for 10 years, and he drank 3 to 5 beers per day. He had a strong family history of cardiovascular disease: his mother died at age 42 of hypertension and a cerebrovascular accident, and his father died at age 55 with hypertension and a myocardial infarction. Physical examination revealed a healthy black male, whose weight was estimated to be 25% above the upper limits of his ideal body weight. The blood pressure was 150—158/98—104 mm Hg in both arms. The pulse rate was 60—66 beats/mm on multiple determinations over one month. Funduscopic examination revealed mild arteriolar narrowing and arteriovenous crossing changes. jugular venous pressure was estimated to be 4—6 cm H20. No carotid bruits were heard. Lung examination was normal. The PMI was normal, as were 51 and S2. An S4 was present. No murmurs, clicks, or rubs were present. Abdominal examination disclosed no visceromegaly, bruits, or masses. Rectal examination was unremarkable. The pulses in the extremities were normal, and there was no pulse lag between the arms and legs. No edema was present. Neurologic examination was normal. Laboratory studies revealed: sodium, 142 mEq/liter; potassium, 3.3
Discovery of the Atomic Oxygen Green Line in the Venus Night Airglow

Green line emission at 557.7 nanometers arising from the O(1S − 1D) transition of atomic oxygen has been observed on the nightside of Venus with HIRES, the echelle spectrograph on the W. M. Keck I 10-meter telescope. We also observe optical emissions of molecular oxygen, consistent with the spectra from the Venera orbiters, but our green line intensity is so high that we cannot explain how it could be inconspicuous in the Venera spectra. An upper limit for the intensity of the O(1D −3P) oxygen red line at 630 nanometers has also been obtained. The large green/red ratio indicates that the source is not associated with the Venus ionosphere. An important conclusion is that observation of the green line in a planetary atmosphere is not an indicator of an atmosphere rich in molecular oxygen.
A nonparametric measure of convergence towards purchasing power parity

It has been claimed that the deviations from purchasing power parity are highly persistent and have quite long half-lives under the assumption of a linear adjustment of real exchange rates. However, inspired by trade cost models, nonlinear adjustment has been widely employed in recent empirical studies. This paper proposes a simple nonparametric procedure for evaluating the speed of adjustment in the presence of nonlinearity, using the largest Lyapunov exponent of the time series. The empirical result suggests that the speed of convergence to a long-run price level is indeed faster than what was found in previous studies with linear restrictions. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A trace-based visual inspection technique to detect errors in simulation models

Generation of traces from a simulation model and their analysis is a powerful and common mean to debug simulation models. In this paper, we define a measure of progress for simulation traces and describe how it can be used to detect certain errors. We devise a visual inspection technique based on that measure and discuss several examples to illustrate how one can distinguish normal behavior from irregular, potentially erroneous behavior documented in a trace of a simulation run. The overall approach is implemented and integrated in Traviando, a trace analyzer for debugging stochastic simulation models.
Instant-messaging Shiva, flying taxis, Bil Klinton and more: Children's narratives from rural India

In this article, story (re)productions by children in rural India are seen as a potential tool for addressing current 'participatory' issues facing development practitioners. A project was implemented to involve children from a rural village in South India in e-literary storybook productions. The intention was to foster online representations of the rural voice through the lens of the child. Drawing on the material of children's stories, multiple subjectivities are revealed that compel us to reconsider relations of the 'rural' with technology and current social contexts. An analysis of these narratives highlights children's appropriation capabilities as they weave the 'urbanness' and 'global' with the 'rural' fabric, moving beyond the traditional discourse of the urban-rural dichotomy. This effort capitalizes on current theorizations of territory as scapes, making the case to harness children's stories to enlighten the adult, well-intentioned development practitioner who seeks genuine understanding of territory and practice. ●
Verifiable secret redistribution for archive systems

We present a new verifiable secret redistribution protocol for threshold sharing schemes that forms a key component of a proposed archival storage system. Our protocol supports redistribution from (m,n) to (m',n') threshold sharing schemes without requiring reconstruction of the original data. The design is motivated by archive systems for which the added security of threshold sharing of data must be accompanied by the flexibility of dynamic shareholder changes. Our protocol enables the dynamic addition or removal of shareholders, and also guards against mobile adversaries. We observe that existing protocols either cannot be extended readily to allow redistribution between different access structures, or have vulnerabilities that allow faulty old shareholders to distribute invalid shares to new shareholders. Our primary contribution is that in our protocol, new shareholders can verify the validity of their shares after redistribution between different access structures.
Forecasting acute hypotensive episodes in intensive care patients based on a peripheral arterial blood pressure waveform

We entered the 10th Annual PhysioNet/Computers in Cardiology Challenge to predict which intensive care patients would experience an acute hypotensive episode (AHE) using physiologic data prior to the occurrence of the AHE. An AHE was defined through mean arterial blood pressure (ABP). We took a pragmatic approach to the Challenge. We explored six basic indices derived from ABP data near the forecast window including mean ABP and diastolic ABP. We evaluated the predictive ability of each index on the provided training dataset and employed basic classification on the testing dataset. All indices performed well on the training dataset and achieved a perfect score for Event 1 of the Challenge and scores from 32/40 to 37/40 for Event 2. However, our best official score was 36/40 for Event 2. These results stress the importance of continuous ABP monitoring in intensive care patients and indicate that sophisticated data analysis was not necessary to win the Challenge.
Non-equilibrium interface kinetics during rapid solidification

During rapid solidification crystals can grow at rates of up to 250 m s−1 and non-equilibrium attachment kinetics of atoms at the solid-liquid interface become readily apparent. Kinetically suppressed impurity partitioning results in super-saturated solid solutions. Interface temperatures are well below their equilibrium values. Equilibrium partition coefficients can be exceeded by factors of 103 and equilibrium solubilities can be exceeded by factors of 105 in this manner. Models for this process are aimed at the attainment of predictive capabilities for solidification processing, and for other growth processes in general. Models that predict the interfacial undercooling and partition coefficient as functions of the interface velocity and the composition of the liquid at the interface are reviewed. High-speed measurements of the temperature and the compositions at the rapidly moving solid-liquid interface during pulsed laser melting have been taken to test these models and the results are presented. The consequences for the cellular, dendritic, or oscillatory break-down of a rapidly moving interface are discussed.
State focus on health care-associated infection prevention in nursing homes.

Background Despite increased focus on health care-associated infections (HAI), between 1.6 and 3.8 million HAI occur annually among the vulnerable population residing in US nursing homes (NH). This study characterized state department of health (DOH) activities and policies intended to improve quality and reduce HAI in NH. Methods We created a 17-item standardized data collection tool informed by 20 state DOH Web sites, reviewed by experts in the field and piloted by 2 independent reviewers (Cohen's κ .45-.73). The tool and corresponding protocol were used to systematically evaluate state DOH Web sites and related links. Results Three categories of data were abstracted: (1) consumer-directed information intended to increase accountability of and competition between NH, including mandatory HAI reporting and NH inspection reports; (2) surveyor training for federally-mandated NH inspections; and (3) guidance for NH providers to prevent HAI and monitor incidence. Only 5 states included HAI reporting in NH with differing HAI types and reporting requirements. Conclusion State DOH information and activities focused on NH quality and reducing HAI were inconsistent. Systematically characterizing state DOH efforts to reduce HAI in NH is important to interpret the effects of these activities.
A random forests approach to prioritize Highway Safety Manual (HSM) variables for data collection

Summary The Highway Safety Manual (HSM) recommends using the empirical Bayes method with locally derived calibration factors to predict an agency's safety performance. The data needs for deriving these local calibration factors are significant, requiring very detailed roadway characteristics information. Many of these data variables are currently unavailable in most of the agencies' databases. Furthermore, it is not economically feasible to collect and maintain all the HSM data variables. This study aims to prioritize the HSM calibration variables based on their impact on crash predictions. Prioritization would help to identify influential variables for which data could be collected and maintained for continued updates, and thereby reduce intensive data collection efforts. Data were first collected for all the HSM variables from over 2400 miles of urban and suburban arterial road networks in Florida. Using 5 years (2008–2012) of crash data, a random forests data mining approach was then applied to measure the importance of each variable in crash frequency predictions for five different urban and suburban arterial facilities including two-lane undivided, three-lane with a two-way left-turn lane, four-lane undivided, four-lane divided, and five-lane with a two-way left-turn lane. Two heuristic approaches were adopted to prioritize the variables: (i) simple ranking based on individual relative influence of variables; and (ii) clustering based on relative influence of variables within a specific range. Traffic volume was found as the most influential variable. Roadside object density, minor commercial driveway density, and minor residential driveway density variables were the other variables with significant influence on crash predictions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Significant of Visual Merchandising as a Weapon of Strategic Marketing: In Sri Lankan Food Retailing

In this information laden consumer world, shoppers are increasingly asking for better and newer products. Most of the times, the consumer is more knowledgeable than the store employees. In this background, a successful retailing business requires that a distinct and consistent image be created in the customer's mind that permeates all product and service offerings. Visual Merchandising (VM, in short) is the answer for raising the bar of what retailers and the store employee should know. It can take the retail experience to a different level. It can help create that positive customer image that leads to successful sales. It not only communicates the store's image, but also reinforces the stores advertising efforts and encourages impulse buying by the customer. It is a major factor often overlooked in the success or failure of a retail store. It is second only to effective customer relations. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore how Visual Merchandising can be strategically used by the retailers as a powerful marketing tool.
The Rise of Technology in Plastic Surgery Education: Is the Textbook Dead on Arrival (DOA)?

Background Over the past decade there has been a dramatic rise in the use of technology. Evaluating our use of technology is crucial to advancing the next generation of plastic surgeons. Objectives The goals of this study were to assess the current use of technology by residents, help Program Directors allocate financial resources, and predict the future of technology and education. Methods A 17-question online survey was emailed to American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery resident/fellow members (n = 447). The survey evaluated current use of technology, preferred use of educational resources, and directions for the future. Ample space was allocated for free response questions. Results The response rate was 40%. The average age of respondents was 32 years old (standard deviation 3.7). The majority (86.5%) of residents own iPhones, and 90% of residents own tablets. There was a heavy daily reliance on smartphone technology. Sixty percent of residents used physical textbooks on a weekly basis. The Plastic Surgery Education Network was used on a weekly basis by 42% of residents. In contrast, 78% of residents were not aware of, or had never used, the readily available digital aesthetic resource (RADAR) Resource iPad application. Conclusions In order to remain at the forefront of education, we as a specialty need to adapt with technology. Program Directors should support integrating technology with electronic access to educational materials. There exists an opportunity in resident education to increase awareness and utilization of the RADAR Resource. The future of plastic surgery education will be reliant on platforms like the iPhone and iPad to conveniently provide large volumes of information with only a finger touch.
Comparative Evaluation of Global Combustion Properties of Alternative Jet Fuels

Global high temperature and low temperature combustion properties of one conventional jet fuel (JP-8) and four alternative jet fuels are examined. The global combustion characteristics of these five fuels were hypothesized a priori based on a set of four property targets used in the formulation of surrogate jet fuels in recent studies by the authors. The high temperature combustion properties were evaluated by measuring two near-limit flame behaviors: the radical index derived from extinction limits of diffusion flames, and the critical flame initiation radius in outwardly propagating premixed flames. Two fundamental flame measurements reveal that Shell SPK exhibits the strongest high temperature reactivity, whereas Sasol IPK exhibits the lowest reactivity among the tested fuels. The relative low to intermediate temperature reactivities of these five jet fuels were compared by performing oxidation reactivity experiments in a high pressure flow reactor. The oxidation reactivity profiles demonstrated that Sasol IPK has no low temperature reactivity. The remaining jet fuels demonstrated extensive reactivity between 500 to 750 K. Of interest, despite sharing similar derived cetane numbers, Shell SPK shows a more pronounced low temperature reactivity compared to HRJ Camelina. Consequently, the results in this study indicate that the proposed four property targets can be used to predict the global combustion properties of petroleum derived jet fuels and perhaps for blends with alternative jet fuels up to 50%, but further refinements appear to be needed to precisely predict the temperature dependencies of global combustion properties of alternative jet fuels containing no aromatics.
Lack of Knowledge about Safety Procedures for Children in Autos

There is cause for concern for the safety of children in automobiles because many have been killed or seriously injured in automobile accidents. Had appropriate safety measures been taken in many of these cases, the injuries might not have occurred or might have been less serious. Presumably most caregivers desire to incorporate good safety procedures in their efforts. Failure to do so may indicate lack of understanding by caregivers. The present studies were designed to examine the extent to which people in general are aware of some of the safety measures to be used with children. Two similar questionnaires were used in examining this awareness. Both studies supported the notion that knowledge about safe location for children in the automobiles and about use of safety devices is limited and could be the cause of many unnecessary injuries to children.
Biodegradable Block Copolymer Micelles with Thiol-Responsive Sheddable Coronas

Novel sheddable micelles having hydrophilic coronas capable of being shed from biodegradable polylactide (PLA) cores by the cleavage of disulfide linkages in response to thiols were prepared by aqueous micellization of PLA-based amphiphilic block copolymers functionalized with disulfides at block junctions. These well-defined copolymers were synthesized by a combination of ring-opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization in the presence of a new disulfide-functionalized double-head initiator having both terminal OH and Br groups. 1H NMR and GPC results indicate that both polymerizations were well-controlled with molecular weight distribution as low as Mw/Mn < 1.2. Aqueous micellization to form core/shell micelles with disulfides at the interface of PLA cores and hydrophilic coronas and their thiol-responsive degradation were investigated. In the presence of water-soluble thiols, disulfide linkages in the micelles were cleaved and hydrophilic coronas were lost, causing PLA cores to prec...
Comparative effects of hydrocortisone and hydrocortisone-coal tar extract creams in cases of atopic dermatitis.

(1957). Comparative Effects of Hydrocortisone and Hydrocortisone-Coal Tar Extract Creams in Cases of Atopic Dermatitis. Postgraduate Medicine: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 309-313.
A Design of Load-box Calibration Device by Maxwell Bridge

In routine testing of load-box,the error often appears instability which related to the principle of detection.At present,the measuring principle of load-box is "Impedance detection" or "Admittance test" which is greatly affected by the quality of power grid(such as upper harmonics,frequency and other factors).As this point,the error of load-box often appears in unstable phenomenon especially in low impedance.Therefore,this paper designs a device to calibration load-box that based on the theory of Maxwell Bridge,and provides a method by detecting the components(such as resistance and inductance) in the load-box which can not only avoid the effect that comes from the grid,but also can offer a basis for developing more accurate device of load-box calibration.Moreover,a comparative experiment has been made between this device and the tradition one,and it proved that the independent component measuring idea has obvious advantages at stability aspect.
Comparison of biological characteristics of Yersinia pestis strains in two rodent plague cases isolated from Shanxi province

Objective To know etiological characteristics of plague in animals of Shanxi province by comparing the biological characteristics of Yersinia pestis strains in two rodent plague cases.Methods To compare and analyze biological characteristics,virulence,virulent factors and plasmids isolated from Yersinia pestis strains from 2000 to 2001 and in 2006.Results All identified strains had the same biological characteristics with fermenting arabinose,decomposing glycerides,not fermenting rhamnose,Maltose and not removing nitrogen.All tested strains had F1and Pst1.Only one strain lost Pgm factor and other eighteen had four virulent factors in the strains isolated from 2000 to 2001,however,five tested strains had lost VW factor and two lost Pgm factor in 2006.The results showed that strains LD50 were 41to180 in 2000 to 2001 and strains LD50 were10 to 1.25 billion in 2006.Plasmids testing were not carried out in 2000 to 2001;three plasmids of 6,45 and 65MD were tested out in 2006.Conclusion All biological characteristics of strains were identified to be in coincidence with Ordos Plateau gerbil jird ecotype.However,the virulence and virulent factors which caused the two plague cases were different.Yersinia pestis strains isolated from 2000 to 2001 were much stronger than that of 2006 and three of five strains tested had high virulence and two had low virulence.
Isolation and characterization of HIV-1 isolates resistant to oxathiin carboxanilide analogues : evaluation of variables in the drug resistance selection process

Virus isolates resistant to a variety of structural analogues of oxathiin carboxanilide (UC84) were selected in cell culture and phenotypically and molecularly characterized in order to evaluate the effects of variables in the resistance selection process. The rate of appearance of the resistant viruses and the net loss of sensitivity of the virus isolates to the selecting compound were not dependent on the selective pressure employed against wild-type virus, but were associated with structural features of the compound. Although each of the compounds rapidly selected for resistant viruses, the isolates obtained varied in their overall level of resistance, in their cross-resistance to other non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTls) and in the amino acid changes present in the reverse transcriptase (RT). The mutation Y181C was most commonly observed, often with a second mutation, such as K101E or V106A. The amino acid change L1001 was also observed upon selection. In order to determine the reproducibility of the in-vitro resistance selection process, 10 isolates resistant to UC84 were independently selected in parallel cultures. Mutations detected in the RT of these isolates were varied but included the commonly reported Y181C and V106A amino acid changes, as well as unique changes K101l, K101N, K103Q, G190A, T1391 and A98S. These results demonstrate that from the heterogeneous wild-type population, antiviral agents, such as the UC compounds, may select a wide variety of virus isolates with resistance-engendering amino acid changes in the RT. In addition, the results also suggest that antiviral agents may select for resistant viruses at different rates and to different extents, offering the possibility that compounds might be identified which do not readily result in high level drug resistance.
Mechanical properties of UO2 thin films under heavy ion irradiation using nanoindentation and finite element modeling

Abstract The mechanical response of UO 2 to irradiation is becoming increasingly important due to the shift to higher burn-up rates in the next generation of nuclear reactors. In the current study, thin films of UO 2 were deposited on YSZ substrates using reactive-gas magnetron sputtering. Nanoindentation was used to measure the mechanical properties of the as-grown and irradiated films. Finite element modeling was used to account for the substrate effect on the measurements. In order to study the effect of displacement cascades accompanying gas bubbles, 5000 A UO 2 films were irradiated with 600 keV Kr + ions at 25 °C and 600 °C. These irradiation conditions were used to confine radiation damage effects and implanted gas within the film. Results showed an increase in the film hardness and yield strength with dose, while elastic modulus initially decreased with irradiation and then kept increasing with dose. The change in hardness and elastic modulus is attributed to the introduction of gas bubbles and displacement cascade damage. Irradiation at 600 °C resulted in a decrease in the hardness and elastic modulus after irradiation using 600 keV Kr + at a dose of 1E14 ions/cm 2 . Both hardness and elastic modulus then increased with irradiation dose. This behavior is attributed to recrystallization during irradiation at 600 °C and the formation of nanocrystallite regions with diameter and density that increase with dose. The calculation of the critical resolved shear stress (CRSS) demonstrated that nanocrystals are the primary cause for film hardening based on the Orowan hardening mechanism.
Dual Topology of the Melanocortin-2 Receptor Accessory Protein Is Stable.

MRAP (melanocortin 2 receptor accessory protein) facilitates trafficking of melanocortin 2 (MC2) receptors and is essential for ACTH binding and signaling. MRAP is a single transmembrane domain protein that forms antiparallel homodimers. These studies ask when MRAP first acquires this dual topology, whether MRAP architecture is static or stable, and whether the accessory protein undergoes rapid turnover. To answer these questions we developed a novel approach that capitalizes on the specificity of bacterial biotin ligase, which adds biotin to lysine in a short acceptor peptide sequence; the distinct mobility of MRAP protomers of opposite orientations based on their N-linked glycosylation; and the ease of identifying biotin-labeled proteins. We inserted biotin ligase acceptor peptides at the N- or C-terminal ends of MRAP and expressed the modified proteins in mammalian cells together with either cytoplasmic or endoplasmic reticulum-targeted biotin ligase. MRAP assumed dual topology early in biosynthesis in both CHO and OS3 adrenal cells. Once established, MRAP orientation was stable. Despite its conformational stability, MRAP displayed a half life of under 2 hr in CHO cells. The amount of MRAP was increased by the proteasome inhibitor MG132 and MRAP underwent ubiquitylation on lysine and other amino acids. Nonetheless, when protein synthesis was blocked with cycloheximide, MRAP was rapidly degraded even when MG132 was included and all lysines were replaced by arginines, implicating non-proteasomal degradation pathways. The results show that although MRAP does not change orientations during trafficking its synthesis and degradation are dynamically regulated.
Training Nonnursing Staff to Assist with Nutritional Care Delivery in Nursing Homes: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Objectives To determine the effect and cost-effectiveness of training nonnursing staff to provide feeding assistance for nutritionally at-risk nursing home (NH) residents. Design Randomized, controlled trial. Setting Five community NHs. Participants Long-stay NH residents with an order for caloric supplementation (N = 122). Intervention Research staff provided an 8-hour training curriculum to nonnursing staff. Trained staff were assigned to between-meal supplement or snack delivery for the intervention group; the control group received usual care. Measurements Research staff used standardized observations and weighed-intake methods to measure frequency of between-meal delivery, staff assistance time, and resident caloric intake. Results Fifty staff (mean 10 per site) completed training. The intervention had a significant effect on between-meal caloric intake (F = 56.29, P < .001), with the intervention group consuming, on average, 163.33 (95% CI = 120.19–206.47) calories per person per day more than the usual care control group. The intervention costs were $1.27 per person per day higher than usual care (P < .001). The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for the intervention was 134 kcal per dollar. The increase in cost was due to the higher frequency and number of snack items given per person per day and the associated staff time to provide assistance. Conclusion It is cost effective to train nonnursing staff to provide caloric supplementation, and this practice has a positive effect on residents’ between-meal intake.
Classical gluon and graviton radiation from the bi-adjoint scalar double copy

The authors construct perturbative solutions in a cubic scalar field theory which can be mapped to classical solutions in gauge theories using the same ``double copy'' correspondence that connects gauge theory amplitudes to gravity amplitudes. This provides the first step (leading order in perturbation theory) for a correspondence between gravity and a scalar field theory with much simpler Feynman rules.
Prescription Opiates and Opioid Abuse: Regulatory Efforts to Limit Diversion From Medical Markets to Black Markets in the United States

The United States is facing its worst drug overdose epidemic in US history, driven by a quadrupling in death rates from medically accessible prescription opioid pain relievers since 1999—not cocaine, heroin, or the other illicit products that have driven these numbers in the past. While the scale of the problem in the United States is substantially larger than that of other countries, it is not alone in its struggle with prescription opioids, as numerous Western countries, including Canada, Australia, Spain, and the United Kingdom, are now showing evidence of a struggle with rising abuse and misuse rates. In this chapter, we discuss how opioids are an atypical addictive good, not because of their pharmacological properties but because of the unique markets in which they can be traded (legally for some, illegally for others). We describe the main theories explaining the explosion in opioid misuse in the United States as well as the primary public and private policies that have been attempted to reduce the supply, demand, and harms associated with these drugs.
7.01 – Volume 7 Overview

Observing the atmosphere from space has so many advantages. Foremost is being able to observe the entire planet from a collection of satellites. Space-based observations have become a prominent way to monitor and keep track of environmental events such as floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, forest fires, and blizzards. Atmospheric sounders provide the most critical data used in the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models of weather agencies across the globe enabling accurate weather forecasts out to seven days. Also important is that space-based observations have helped construct long-term data sets that are valuable for monitoring changes of important geophysical parameters such as temperature, water vapor, clouds, ozone, sea and land surface temperatures, snow and ice.
Online city-scale hyper-local event detection via analysis of social media and human mobility

In this paper, we investigate the problem of detecting real-time city-scale hyper-local events based on the analysis of social media and human mobility. Different from general events reported by news media, hyper-local events refer to both small-scale and large-scale events pertaining to a geographical location. Since small-scale events, e.g, a party in a pub, an exhibition in a local museum, are not often reported through mainstream media platforms, such as newspapers, TV news, web media or government report, it is challenging to obtain the resources related to such kind of events. Besides, those media platforms have a great latency in reporting the news of ongoing events, resulting in that the events we saw might take place a couple of days ago. Though people have tried to find clues of events from real-time social media streams (e.g., Instagram and Twitter), the scarcity of social posts with geo-tagged information leads to a very low quality of localized event detection. In this paper, in addition to the data from social media stream, we apply human mobility data which contain rich spatial-temporal information as another important resource to improve the performance of hyper-local event detection. Specifically, we use taxi data as it is expected that the occurrence of hyper-local events usually leads to the change in the surrounding traffic. As far as our knowledge, this is the first work which combines multiple social media data sources with human mobility information for the task of real-time hyper-local event detection. We propose a two-step framework which is composed of an anomaly filter and an event classifier. Through experiments on New York City data, we show that our proposed system can effectively detect both small-scale and large-scale local events. Furthermore, we verify that applying human mobility data can significantly enhance the performance of event detection and classification.
Cardiac MR in Patients with Implantable Arrhythmia Devices

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an established method of cardiovascular imaging in many clinical situations. In recent years, newer MRI techniques have been developed allowing both morphology assessment and functional evaluation of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) (Knauth Meadows et al., Semin Roentgenol 43:246–258, 2008; Marcotte et al., Congenit Heart Dis 4:216–230, 2009). Furthermore, it has been shown that MRI is superior to echocardiography for certain anatomic regions due to acoustic window limitations, particularly in the pulmonary artery branches and the aortic arch in adult patients. MRI is currently established as the gold standard for measurements of ventricular volumes as well as for blood flow analysis (Koskenvuo et al., Clin Physiol Funct Imaging 27:385–393, 2007; Maceira et al., Eur Heart J 27:2879–2888, 2006; Kilner et al., J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 9:723–728, 2007; Prakash et al., Am J Cardiol 93:657–661, 2004). These advantages coupled with the freedom from ionizing radiation make MRI an attractive noninvasive imaging tool for patients with CHD (Rebergen and de Roos Herz 25:365–383, 2000).
Determining mechanical features of modulated epithelial monolayers using subnuclear particle tracking.

Force generation within cells, mediated by motor proteins along cytoskeletal networks, maintains the function of multicellular structures during homeostasis and when generating collective forces. Here, we describe the use of chromatin dynamics to detect cellular force propagation (a technique termed Sensors from IntraNuclear Kinetics (SINK)) and investigate the force response of cells to disruption of the monolayer and changes in substrate stiffness. We find that chromatin dynamics change in a substrate stiffness dependent manner within epithelial monolayers. We also investigate point defects within monolayers to map the impact on the strain field of a heterogeneous monolayer. We find that cell monolayers behave as a colloidal assembly rather than as a continuum since the data fit an exponential decay; the lateral characteristic length of recovery from the mechanical defect is approximately 50 µm for cells with a 10 µm spacing. At distances greater than this characteristic length, cells behave similarly to those in a fully intact monolayer. This work demonstrates the power of SINK to investigate diseases that result from single cells or heterogeneities in monolayers, including cancer and atherosclerosis.
Induced Systemic Resistance in Plants

Those investigating plant immune systems are faced with a dilemma. Disease resistance/ susceptibility in plants exhibit a high degree of specificity at many levels; however, specific mechanisms for eliciting resistance and specific mechanisms for disease resistance have not been established. Based on the current literature, the presence or absence of genetic information for resistance mechanisms are not determinants of disease resistance in plants. This is true when one considers phytoalexins, hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins, lignin, callose, peroxidases, chitinases, β-1, 3-glucanases, and pathogenesis-related proteins. The mechanisms for resistance also lack specificity in their action against specific pathogens. The chemical agents reported to elicit resistance, whether derived from pathogens or synthetic, are also notable for their lack of specificity. To add to the dilemma, pathogens can often induce systemic resistance against completely unrelated pathogens, e.g., fungi against viruses, viruses against fungi (Dean and Kuc, 1987a; Kuc, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985a–c, 1987a; Kuc and Preisig, 1984; Thzun and Kuc, 1989).
Formulating Problems by Lagrange’s Equations

Lagrange’s equations formulate the general, constrained dynamics problem without the need for fixing the coordinate system at the outset, and in terms of general constraints [provided only that they belong to the broad class of constraints defined in (11.2.14) and (11.2.15)]. This is, undoubtedly, the greatest contribution of Lagrangean mechanics to dynamics. However, an important feature, and one cherished greatly by the practitioner concerned with solving problems, is that Lagrange’s equations provide a very simple, and a nearly foolproof device for the mathematical formulation of a physical problem. This formulation must, of course, precede any attempts at the solution, and it can be difficult.
Implications for Decision Making: Auto Industry Perspectives

The first reaction of the auto industry to the global warming issue is that we wish it would go away. We have enough problems without it, and if you add anything to recession and foreign competition, you will make things much more difficult. But obviously the threat of global warming isn’t going to go away so the second reaction is: is this global climate thing real or imaginary? I must admit that my own personal opinions are much closer to the imaginary side than those of our keynoter, Dr. Oglesby.
Methods of Latex Cleaning

Latexes or polymer colloids are systems comprised of colloidal dispersions of submicron polymer particles in aqueous medium. The latex system usually contains a number of other ingredients, such as electrolytes due to residual initiator and its decomposition products, and buffer which are soluble in the aqueous phase; emulsifier molecules which are soluble in the aqueous phase and adsorbed at the particles surface; oligomers and/or water soluble polymers which are soluble in the aqueous phase and adsorbed at the particles surface; and ionic or nonionic end-groups which are chemically bound to the surface of the particles or buried inside the particles as a result of the initiator fragments and/or functional-containing monomers used in the polymerization process. Some of these ingredients are added in the original polymerization recipe such as initiator and emulsifier molecules; others are generated during the course of the polymerization process such as oligomers, functional-containing water-soluble polymers and surface end-groups on the particles; still others are added as post-polymerization additives such as emulsifiers and/or water-soluble polymers.