cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
COMT Polymorphisms and Anxiety-Related Personality Traits

High neuroticism and low extraversion are characteristic of anxiety-prone individuals. A functional variant in the catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) gene, the Val158Met ('val/met') polymorphism, has been associated in some prior studies with several phenotypes, including neuroticism. We tested the hypothesis that the val158met polymorphism would be associated with both high neuroticism and low extraversion, making it a plausible candidate locus for anxiety susceptibility. To determine whether val158met is responsible for these effects, we also evaluated the association with haplotypes that included two other SNPs within the COMT gene. We collected a sample of 497 undergraduate college students who were phenotyped on a personality inventory (the NEO-Personality Inventory-Raised (NEO-PI-R)). Subjects were genotyped for three COMT polymorphisms: the well-studied nonsynonymous SNP rs4680 that generates a valine-to-methionine substitution (val158met), rs737865 (near exon #1), and rs165599 (also functional, near the 3'-UTR). Together, these three SNPs define a haplotype that is associated with reduced COMT expression in human brain. Logistic regression analyses were used to examine the effects of individual SNPs on extraversion and neuroticism scores. Score tests for association between these traits (quantitatively and dichotomously considered) and haplotypes were also conducted. We evaluated potential for population stratification artifact by genotyping a set of 36 unlinked highly polymorphic markers previously demonstrated to distinguish sufficiently ancestry of major American populations. Two of the SNPs (rs4680 ('val/met') and rs737865) were significantly associated with (low) extraversion and, less consistently, with (high) neuroticism, with effects confined to women. A significant association between COMT haplotype and (low) extraversion and (high) neuroticism was also observed. Formal testing showed that population structure did not explain the findings. These data suggest that involvement of the COMT locus in susceptibility to anxiety-related traits (ie low extraversion and high neuroticism) is unlikely to be wholly accounted for by the well-studied rs4680 ('val/met') polymorphism. Other functional variants may exist that contribute to this relationship. Possible sex-specific effects remain to be further studied and explained.
Quantum-Chemical Calculations of the Charge Distribution in Ionic Surfactants

The charge distribution in common ionic surfactant molecules is estimated using quantum chemical methods. Calculations are compared for four widely accepted semiempirical methods (MINDO/3, AM1, PM3, and MNDO/d). The atomic partial charges are calculated for surfactants with linear alkyl tails and common headgroups, including anionic (sulfate, sulfonate, carboxylate), cationic (trimethylammonium, pyridinium), and amphoteric (betaine, dimethylamine oxide) classes. The headgroup charges are shown to distribute to the rest of the molecule, with significant partial charge on the α-methylene group (3−40%) and a partial charge on the remaining alkyl tail (4−11%). The partial charge distribution influences surfactant self-assembly and physical properties.
Seasonal variation in the terpenes of the foliage of black spruce

Abstract The changes in the relative amounts of the mono- and sesquiterpenes of the volatile oil of the leaves, buds and twigs of black spruce were determined at various intervals throughout the year. Major changes take place in the young leaves just after bud burst until mid-summer. Upon maturing the same quantitative composition as that of the mature leaves is reached. The composition of the latter, as well as that of the twigs, shows only minor changes from bud burst to mid-summer and none during the rest of the year. In contrast, large relative quantitative changes take place in the bud oil throughout the year. The relative changes of santene, tricyclene, camphene, bornyl acetate and limonene in the new growth follow similar curves, but those of α-pinene, β-pinene, myrcene, car-3-ene and the sesquiterpenes differ considerably. The sesquiterpenes, and possibly myrcene, appear to be metabolized at least in part as the young leaves mature.
ADRENAL CORTICAL METABOLISM IN CHRONIC LIVER DISEASE

AN EVALUATION of adrenal cortical function in patients with chronic hepatic disease and fluid retention was conducted in the light of the established role of this gland in salt and water metabolism. In addition, one group of patients with liver disease was studied in special detail because certain clinical features suggested a particular functional derangement of the adrenal gland. Adrenal and adrenocorticotropic1 hormones were administered in the course of the study, although the use of the latter was limited by its toxic effects. The subjects studied were patients at the Hospital of The Rockefeller Institute. All had evidence of moderate or advanced hepatic cirrhosis with or without ascites. They were classified into three groups: 1) so-called Laennec's cirrhosis; 2) biliary cirrhosis of the xanthomatous type; 3) cirrhosis of undetermined etiology confined to young females, described more fully later. Some patients were included from the group reported by Eisenmenger et al. (1) who were on rigid dietary...
The Effects of Sex and Gender on Recruitment

The distinction between sex and gender suggests a need for reexamining research effects of sex-related variables on recruitment. Existing studies were classified according to the type of effect (sex vs. gender), subject population, and recruitment situation Sex seldom had any effects, whereas the effects of gender on recruiters' responses to applicants were inconsistent. Further research is needed to determine the conditions under which different explanations of the effects of gender apply and to examine them in noncampus field settings.
Remote Sensing of Dust Storms Over the Indo-Gangetic Basin

HESHAM EL-ASKARY, RITESH GAUTAM and MENAS KAFATOS Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, School of Computational Sciences George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030-4444, USA Dust storms are naturally occurring events that take place in arid and semi- arid regions of the Earth, temperate, tropical and sub-tropical latitudes characterized by dry soil/sand. Arid regions around the Arabian Sea like Iran, Afghanistan, India and Pakistan usually experience a high frequency of dust storms, approximately 30 events per year. Dust storms are believed to be one of the most serious environmental hazards. In this paper, we show the usefulness of optical remote sensing data for monitoring dust storms. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Multiangle Imaging Spectro Radiometer (MISR) on board Terra/Aqua platforms can be used for the optical sensing of dust storms. The different viewing angles of MISR provide information about dust particles through their discrimination from other suspended particles. In this paper, we examine a dust event over the Indo-Gangetic basin, which occurred on June 9-10, 2003. Occasionally dust storms can travel all the way to Asia with the seasonal summer monsoons. In the summer months, dust storms have a significant impact on the amount of solar radiation reaching the surface, producing a cooling effect that can affect as far away as North America (Liepert, 2002). The Indo-Gangetic basin experiences dust storms that take place during the pre-monsoon period. These dust storms originate in the western side in the pre- monsoon period and act as a major threat to agricultural resources and people living in the Indo- Gangetic basin. Satellite observations of dust storms utilize the behavior of the dust and haze in different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. In the optical part of the spectrum, (e.g. used by NASA Terra/Aqua MODIS), dust particles have a very high albedo and hence appear quite bright (E1-Askary
The Intersection of Religion, Race, Class, and Ethnicity in Community Conflict

This brief essay explores some ways of defining what we need to know — but don't — about conflict within and between communities where there are strong identity differences based on religion, culture, gender, and race. Its particular focus is on the role that religion and religious leaders play in attempting to resolve identity-based conflict.
Environment-assisted quantum state restoration via weak measurements

In this paper, a quantum state restoration scheme is proposed based on the environment-assisted error correction (EAEC) scheme. By introducing a weak measurement reversal (WMR) operation, we will show how to recover an initial state of a quantum open system without invoking random unitary decompositions which are known to be absent in many important physical systems. We illustrate our scheme and compare it with a scheme purely based on the WMR operation in the case of a dissipative channel. In the proposed scheme, the successful probability for recovering an unknown initial state can be significantly improved when the information obtained from an environment measurement is taken into account. Moreover, we show that the applicable range of our proposed scheme is wider than the EAEC scheme. Finally, the optimization of the successful probability for possible Kraus decompositions is discussed.
Competitive interactions for shelter between invasive Pacific red lionfish and native Nassau grouper

The invasive Pacific red lionfish (Pterois volitans) poses a threat to western Atlantic and Caribbean coral reef systems. Lionfish are small-bodied predators that can reduce the abundance and diversity of native fishes via predation. Additionally, native predators or competitors appear to have a negligible effect on similarly sized lionfish. Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) are a regionally endangered, large predator found throughout lionfish’s invasive range. Because lionfish and Nassau grouper occupy similar habitats and use similar resources, there is potential for competition between these two species. Using large, outdoor in-ground tanks, we investigated how lionfish and Nassau grouper affect each other’s behavior by comparing their distance from and use of shelter when in isolation versus when both species were in the presence of each other with limited shelter. We found that Nassau grouper, which displayed a high affinity for shelter in isolation, avoided lionfish in two distinct ways; (1) groupers positioned closer to and used limited shelter more when paired with similarly sized lionfish and (2) grouper moved much further away from shelter when paired with smaller lionfish. We also found that neither large lionfish nor large Nassau grouper preyed upon smaller individuals of the opposite species suggesting that Nassau grouper do not recognize small lionfish as prey. This study highlights how invasive lionfish may affect native Nassau grouper, and suggests that competition for shelter between these two species may be size dependent.
A Zoomable and Adaptable Hidden Fine-Mesh Approach to Solving Advection- Dispersion Equations

Abstract A zoomable and adaptable hidden fine-mesh approach (ZAHFMA), that can be used with either finite element or finite difference methods, is proposed to solve the advection-dispersion equation. The approach is based on automatic adaptation of zooming a hidden fine-mesh in the place where the sharp front locates. Preliminary results indicate that ZAHFMA used with finite element methods can handle the advection-dispersion problems with Peclet number ranging from 0 to ∞.
Bayesian quickest change detection under energy constraints

In the classical version of the Bayesian quickest change detection problem proposed by Shiryaev in the nineteen sixties, there is a sequence of observations whose distribution changes at a random time, and the goal is to minimize the average detection delay, subject to a constraint on the probability of false alarm. We consider this quickest change detection problem with an additional constraint on the average energy consumed in sensing the observations. The optimal algorithm for this problem has a three threshold structure, in contrast to the single threshold Shiryaev test that is optimal for the classical Bayesian quickest change detection problem. We provide an asymptotic analysis of the three threshold policy for the case where the probability of false alarm is small, the average energy consumption is large, and the change event is rare. The analysis yields approximations for the average detection delay, probability of false alarm and average energy consumption, which can be used to optimize the thresholds to achieve desired operating points. The asymptotic analysis also reveals that the three threshold policy can be approximated by a simpler two threshold policy. The advantage of the two threshold policy is that the thresholds can be set directly using constraints on the probability of false alarm and average energy consumption. We provide extensive simulation results that corroborate our analytical findings.
1999 North American Serials Interest Group Conference “Carnegie to Internet 2 Forging The serials Future”

Thursday morning, June 10th, I sat in the Columbus, Ohio, airport wondering about my next four days, which would be spent at the North American Serials Interest Group (NASIG) conference on the camp...
Father Involvement and Student Achievement: Variations Based on Demographic Contexts.

The purpose of this study was to longitudinally examine the relationship between father involvement in school settings and student achievement. The sample, pulled from the first and second waves of the PSID-CDS data set, consisted of 596 families with children aged 5–12 at time 1. Results revealed variations in the relationship between father involvement across time and student achievement based on characteristics of the child and demographic contexts of the families, most notable among these being child ethnicity, child gender, and family income. Findings underscore the need to explore how mesosystem pathways of influence on child development may be context-specific.
On diameters of uniformly rotating stars

In this paper we study the compressible fluid model of uniformly rotating starts. It was proved in [Li] that for a given mass, there exists an equilibrium solution to the problem if the angular velocity is less than a certain constant. On the other hand for large angular velocities there is no equilibrium solution. In this paper we give an a-priori bound on diameters and the number of connected components of white dwarfs.
Low complexity finite memory decision rules

By examining a particular hypothesis testing problem under a finite memory constraint we derive general guidelines for the design of asymptotically optimal, low complexity, finite memory decision rules. By asymptotically optimal we mean that only a fixed number of bits need be added to memory to achieve the optimal error probability. Thus the fraction of bits "lost" by these low complexity rules tends to zero as memory size becomes large. The rules developed are similar to quantized sequential probability ratio tests.
Delayed wasting syndrome and alterations of liver gluconeogenic enzymes in rats exposed to the TCDD congener 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachloroazoxybenzene.

A delayed wasting syndrome similar to that induced by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) was observed in male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachloroazoxybenzene (TCAOB) and 3,3',4,4'-tetrachloroazobenzene (TCAB). After a slow growth period, all treatment animals (25 mg/kg, i.p., 2 doses per week) exhibited a starvation-like syndrome characterized by reduced food intake, dramatic loss of body weight and subsequent death. Although the growth of all major organs in the treatment animals was affected, the thymus appeared severely atrophied. The growth kinetics during the earlier phase were further analyzed using serially-killed rats receiving TCAOB. In addition, TCAOB was found to markedly depress the specific activity (mumol/min/g wet liver) of glucose-6-phosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, and pyruvate kinase in the liver. Significant changes in the levels of cytochrome P-450, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and malic enzyme in the liver were also observed.
Deterrents to Participation in Parenting Education

The purpose of this study was to determine the deterrents to participation by adults in parenting education programs. The objectives were (a) to describe parents with children in selected day care facilities on selected sociodemographic characteristics, (b) to determine factors that deterred those parents from participating in parenting education, and (c) to determine if there was a relationship between selected sociodemographic characteristics and the parents' participation in parenting education programs. A simple random sample of parents was drawn from the accessible population. Factor analysis revealed five factors that deterred this population from participating in parenting education: Lack of Confidence, Lack of Course Relevance, Personal Problems, Situational Barriers, and Time. Correlation coefficients and mean differences revealed a significant relationship between factors and specific sociodemographic variables.
Nature of oxygen activation in glucose oxidase from Aspergillus niger: the importance of electrostatic stabilization in superoxide formation.

Glucose oxidase catalyzes the oxidation of glucose by molecular dioxygen, forming gluconolactone and hydrogen peroxide. A series of probes have been applied to investigate the activation of dioxygen in the oxidative half-reaction, including pH dependence, viscosity effects, 18O isotope effects, and solvent isotope effects on the kinetic parameter Vmax/Km(O2). The pH profile of Vmax/Km(O2) exhibits a pKa of 7.9 ± 0.1, with the protonated enzyme form more reactive by 2 orders of magnitude. The effect of viscosogen on Vmax/Km(O2) reveals the surprising fact that the faster reaction at low pH (1.6 × 106 M-1 s-1) is actually less diffusion-controlled than the slow reaction at high pH (1.4 × 104 M-1 s-1); dioxygen reduction is almost fully diffusion-controlled at pH 9.8, while the extent of diffusion control decreases to 88% at pH 9.0 and 32% at pH 5.0, suggesting a transition of the first irreversible step from dioxygen binding at high pH to a later step at low pH. The puzzle is resolved by 18O isotope effects...
The activity of the pentose phosphate pathway is increased in response to oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease

In order to assess the integrity of antioxidant enzymes in Alzheimer's disease, the activities of glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and two enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphonogluconate dehydrogenase) were determined in three regions of postmortem neocortex of controls and subjects with Alzheimer's disease. The activities of glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase were unaffected in Alzheimer's disease. By contrast, there was a selective increase in the activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphonogluconate dehydrogenase in the inferior temporal cortex of Alzheimer subjects. These changes negatively correlated with the Fe2+/ascorbate-induced lipid peroxidation which (in a previous study of the same subjects) was also found to be selectively elevated in the inferior temporal cortex. Increased activity of the pentose phosphate pathway probably occurs in response to increased prooxidant activity since both glucose-6-phosphate and 6-phosphonogluconate inhibited H2O2-induced lipid peroxidation in a concentration dependant fashion (IC50 = 504 +/- 105 microM and 88 +/- 12 microM, respectively). Together, these data suggest that not only is oxidative stress a feature of Alzheimer's disease, but also that it occurs because of increased prooxidant activity rather than a diminished antioxidant capacity.
Design and demonstration of a miniature catheter for a confocal microendoscope

The fluorescence confocal microendoscope provides high-resolution, in vivo imaging of cellular pathology during optical biopsy. The confocal microendoscope employs a flexible fiber-optic catheter coupled to a custom-built slit-scan confocal microscope. The catheter consists of a fiber-optic imaging bundle linked to a miniature objective and focus assembly. The 3-mm-diameter catheter may be used on its own or routed though the instrument channel of a commercial endoscope, adding microscopic imaging capability to conventional endoscopy. The design and performance of the miniature objective and focus assembly are discussed. Primary applications of the system include diagnosis of disease in the gastrointestinal tract and female reproductive system.
Multiplex Method for Simultaneous Serological Detection of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus and Porcine Circovirus Type 2

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) are major contributors to the porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC). Routine serological diagnosis and surveillance play an important role in the prevention of PRDC, as it is a leading cause of economic losses to the swine industry. We herein describe an advanced microsphere-based immunoassay that permits the simultaneous detection of antibodies to PCV2 and PRRSV, thereby reducing the time and effort involved in testing. Recombinant PRRSV nucleoprotein antigen and the PCV2 capsid antigen were coupled to fluorophore-dyed beads with distinct spectral addresses. Weekly serum samples from 72 pigs that were experimentally exposed to either PCV2, PRRSV, or both PCV2 and PRRSV were used to validate the microbead assay (MBA) in comparison with the "gold standard" enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The kinetics of the PCV2- and PRRSV-specific antibody responses measured by the microbead assay were comparable to those of the standard assays; Spearman's rank correlations were 0.72 (P < 0.001) for PRRSV and 0.80 (P < 0.001) for PCV2. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were determined using field sera whose positive or negative status was determined by the standard tests. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity were both 98% for PCV2 and were 91% and 93%, respectively, for PRRSV (kappa coefficients, 0.85 and 0.67 for PCV2 and PRRSV, respectively). Multiplexing did not interfere with assay performance or diagnostic sensitivity. Therefore, the described study demonstrates proof of concept for the development of more versatile and economical microbead array-based multiplex serological test panels for veterinary use.
Proteomic analysis using an unfinished bacterial genome: The effects of subminimum inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics on Mannheimia haemolytica virulence factor expression

Here we identify, using nonelectrophoretic proteomics, effects of subminimum inhibitory concentrations (subMIC) of two antibiotic preparations, chlortetracycline (CTC), and chlortetracycline-sulfamethazine (CTC + SMZ), on protein expression in the bovine respiratory pathogen Mannheimia haemolytica. The M. haemolytica genome is currently in draft form, and annotation is incomplete. Relying on the principle of gene sequence conservation across species, we used annotated genomes from closely related species to identify, confirm, and functionally annotate 495 M. haemolytica proteins. To conduct quantitative comparative proteomics, we developed a protein quantitation method based on the cross correlation function of the SEQUEST algorithm. When M. haemolytica was cultivated in the presence of 1/4 MIC of CTC and CTC + SMZ, expression of proteins involved in energy production, nucleotide metabolism, translation, and the bacterial stress response (chaperones) were affected. The most notable subMIC effect was a significant decrease in the expression of leukotoxin A, which is an important M. haemolytica virulence factor. Reduction in leukotoxin expression could be one of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the efficacy of these antibiotics against bovine respiratory disease.
Green's function of the cosmological thermalization problem

Energy release in the early Universe leads to spectral disto rtions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) which in the future might allow probing different physical processes in the pre-recombination (z& 10 3 ) epoch. Depending on the energy injection history, the associated distortion partially thermalizes due to the combined actio n of Compton scattering, double Compton scattering and Bremsstrahlung emission, a problem that in general is hard to solve. Various analytic approximations describing the resulting distortion exist, however, for small distortions and fixed background cosmology the Green’s func tion of the problem can be precomputed numerically. Here we show that this approach gives very accurate results for a wide range of thermal histories, allowing fast and quasi-exact c omputation of the spectral distortion given the energy release rate. Our method is thus useful for forecasts of possible constraints on early-universe physics obtained from future measurements of the CMB spectrum.
Politics After Television: The communicating thing and its public

I remember when we first bought a television set in my parents' home in Madras. The year was 1980, about five years after television had come to town. For years we had seen our Marwari neighbor pack his terrace with thirty to fifty people, mostly children paying half a rupee per head, when feature films were shown on weekend nights. We had no entrepreneurial ambitions ourselves, but we were weekly reminded of the draw of the medium by the scene across the road, if by nothing else. There was an air of excitement and adventure about the purchase. We had been trooping to neighbors' homes to watch programs, and there was an unspoken sense that it could not go on, so there was no one arguing against the idea. The amount was not a small one, over 3,000 rupees (then US $375) to buy a nineteen-inch black and white set. A collegemate who had some influence with television dealers told me whom to contact. No discount would be available on the set, the dealer informed us. But we could save money on the accessories we would need – on the blue add-on screen to absorb “glare,” and on the rooftop antenna, to ensure clear reception. (The sign of a good picture was when the eyelashes of the newsreader were visible, according to an ad for Solidaire TV – “that seldom fails.”) As we later learned, neither purchase was necessary.
CD4+ CD25+ T-Cell Production in Healthy Humans and in Patients with Thymic Hypoplasia

Regulatory T cells are found primarily in the CD4+ CD25+ fraction of T cells and play an important role in the prevention of autoimmunity. We examined CD4+ CD25+ T cells in 33 healthy children and adults and compared them to a population with an inherited form of thymic hypoplasia and a predisposition to autoimmune disease. Absolute numbers of CD4+ CD25+ T cells were markedly higher in healthy infants than in infants with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
Insulin Treatment Modulates the Host Immune System To Enhance Pseudomonas aeruginosa Wound Biofilms

ABSTRACT Diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the United States, or 8.3% of the population, and these numbers are even higher in developing countries. Diabetic patients are more susceptible to the development of chronic wounds with debilitating bacterial infections than nondiabetics. Previously, we compared the ability of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa to cause biofilm-associated infections in chronic wounds of diabetic and nondiabetic mice (C. Watters, K. DeLeon, U. Trivedi, J. A. Griswold, M. Lyte, K. J. Hampel, M. J. Wargo, and K. P. Rumbaugh, Med. Microbiol. Immunol. 202:131–141, 2013). Unexpectedly, we observed that insulin-treated diabetic mice had significantly more biofilm in their wounds, which correlated with higher antibiotic tolerance. Here, we investigated whether insulin treatment modulates the diabetic immune system to favor P. aeruginosa biofilm formation. Utilizing a murine chronic wound model, we found that DNA protected P. aeruginosa in the wounds of insulin-treated diabetic mice from antibiotic treatment. We also observed increased numbers of neutrophils, reduced numbers of macrophages, and increased cell death in the wounds of diabetic mice on insulin therapy. Taken together, these data suggest that high levels of lysed neutrophils in the wounds of diabetic mice on insulin, combined with fewer macrophages to remove the cellular debris, contribute to increased DNA levels, which enhance P. aeruginosa biofilms.
Textual resource acquisition and engineering

A key requirement for high-performing question-answering (QA) systems is access to high-quality reference corpora from which answers to questions can be hypothesized and evaluated. However, the topic of source acquisition and engineering has received very little attention so far. This is because most existing systems were developed under organized evaluation efforts that included reference corpora as part of the task specification. The task of answering Jeopardy!™ questions, on the other hand, does not come with such a well-circumscribed set of relevant resources. Therefore, it became part of the IBM Watson™ effort to develop a set of well-defined procedures to acquire high-quality resources that can effectively support a high-performing QA system. To this end, we developed three procedures, i.e., source acquisition, source transformation, and source expansion. Source acquisition is an iterative development process of acquiring new collections to cover salient topics deemed to be gaps in existing resources based on principled error analysis. Source transformation refers to the process in which information is extracted from existing sources, either as a whole or in part, and is represented in a form that the system can most easily use. Finally, source expansion attempts to increase the coverage in the content of each known topic by adding new information as well as lexical and syntactic variations of existing information extracted from external large collections. In this paper, we discuss the methodology that we developed for IBM Watson for performing acquisition, transformation, and expansion of textual resources. We demonstrate the effectiveness of each technique through its impact on candidate recall and on end-to-end QA performance.
Elevated chloroplastic glutathione reductase activities decrease chilling-induced photoinhibition by increasing rates of photochemistry, but not thermal energy dissipation, in transgenic cotton

The effect of the overproduction of glutathione reductase (GR+) in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L. cv. Coker 312) chloroplasts on the response of photosynthetic parameters to chilling in the light was examined. After 180 min at 10°C and 500 µmol photons m -2 s -1 in the chamber of an oxygen electrode, leaf discs of GR+ plants exhibited lower levels of sustained PSII photoinhibition than leaf discs of wild-type plants. No genotypic differences in thermal energy dissipation, leaf pigment composition, or the dynamics of xanthophyll cycle de-epoxidation were observed. The rate of induction and steady-state levels of photochemistry were greater for GR+ in comparison to wild-type plants. Enhanced photochemistry in GR+ plants could not be attributed to higher rates of CO 2 assimilation at 10°C. Although GR overproduction afforded some increased protection against PSI photoinactivation, suggesting improved scavenging of reactive oxygen species, higher PSI activities could not completely explain the greater rates of photochemistry. Pools of glutathione and ascorbate were significantly more reduced in GR+ plants. Increased demand for reducing power to maintain these constituents in the reduced state may contribute to the higher rates of photochemistry observed in GR+ plants.
Mid-septal hypertrophy and apical ballooning; potential mechanism of ventricular tachycardia storm in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Medically refractory ventricular tachycardia (VT) storm can be controlled with radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA), however, it may be difficult to control in some patients with hemodynamic overload. We experienced a patient with intractable VT storm controlled by hemodynamic unloading. The patient had mid-septal hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) back-up. Because of the severe mid-septal hypertrophy, his left ventricle (LV) had an hourglass-like morphology and showed apical ballooning; the focus of VT was at the border of apical ballooning. Although we performed VT ablation because of electrical storm with multiple ICD shocks, VT recurred 1 hour after procedure. As the post-RFCA monomorphic VT was refractory to anti-tachycardia pacing or ICD shock, we reduced the hemodynamic overload of LV with β-blockade, hydration, and sedation. VT spontaneously stopped 1.5 hours later and the patient has remained free of VT for 24 months with β-blockade alone. In patients with VT storm refractory to antiarrhythmic drugs or RFCA, the mechanism of mechano-electrical feedback should be considered and hemodynamic unloading may be an essential component of treatment.
Coded cooperation in wireless communications: space-time transmission and iterative decoding

When mobiles cannot support multiple antennas due to size or other constraints, conventional space-time coding cannot be used to provide uplink transmit diversity. To address this limitation, the concept of cooperation diversity has been introduced, where mobiles achieve uplink transmit diversity by relaying each other's messages. A particularly powerful variation of this principle is coded cooperation. Instead of a simple repetition relay, coded cooperation partitions the codewords of each mobile and transmits portions of each codeword through independent fading channels. This paper presents two extensions to the coded cooperation framework. First, we increase the diversity of coded cooperation in the fast-fading scenario via ideas borrowed from space-time codes. We calculate bounds for the bit- and block-error rates to demonstrate the resulting gains. Second, since cooperative coding contains two code components, it is natural to apply turbo codes to this framework. We investigate the application of turbo codes in coded cooperation and demonstrate the resulting gains via error bounds and simulations.
Compliant quadruped locomotion over rough terrain

Many critical elements for statically stable walking for legged robots have been known for a long time, including stability criteria based on support polygons, good foothold selection, recovery strategies to name a few. All these criteria have to be accounted for in the planning as well as the control phase. Most legged robots usually employ high gain position control, which means that it is crucially important that the planned reference trajectories are a good match for the actual terrain, and that tracking is accurate. Such an approach leads to conservative controllers, i.e. relatively low speed, ground speed matching, etc. Not surprisingly such controllers are not very robust - they are not suited for the real world use outside of the laboratory where the knowledge of the world is limited and error prone. Thus, to achieve robust robotic locomotion in the archetypical domain of legged systems, namely complex rough terrain, where the size of the obstacles are in the order of leg length, additional elements are required. A possible solution to improve the robustness of legged locomotion is to maximize the compliance of the controller. While compliance is trivially achieved by reduced feedback gains, for terrain requiring precise foot placement (e.g. climbing rocks, walking over pegs or cracks) compliance cannot be introduced at the cost of inferior tracking. Thus, model-based control and - in contrast to passive dynamic walkers - active balance control is required. To achieve these objectives, in this paper we add two crucial elements to legged locomotion, i.e., floating-base inverse dynamics control and predictive force control, and we show that these elements increase robustness in face of unknown and unanticipated perturbations (e.g. obstacles). Furthermore, we introduce a novel line-based COG trajectory planner, which yields a simpler algorithm than traditional polygon based methods and creates the appropriate input to our control system.We show results from both simulation and real world of a robotic dog walking over non-perceived obstacles and rocky terrain. The results prove the effectivity of the inverse dynamics/force controller. The presented results show that we have all elements needed for robust all-terrain locomotion, which should also generalize to other legged systems, e.g., humanoid robots.
MAIT Recognition of a Stimulatory Bacterial Antigen Bound to MR1

MR1-restricted mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells represent a subpopulation of αβ T cells with innate-like properties and limited TCR diversity. MAIT cells are of interest because of their reactivity against bacterial and yeast species, suggesting that they play a role in defense against pathogenic microbes. Despite the advances in understanding MAIT cell biology, the molecular and structural basis behind their ability to detect MR1–Ag complexes is unclear. In this study, we present our structural and biochemical characterization of MAIT TCR engagement of MR1 presenting an Escherichia coli –derived stimulatory ligand, rRL-6-CH 2 OH, previously found in Salmonella typhimurium . We show a clear enhancement of MAIT TCR binding to MR1 due to the presentation of this ligand. Our structure of a MAIT TCR/MR1/rRL-6-CH 2 OH complex shows an evolutionarily conserved binding orientation, with a clear role for both the CDR3α and CDR3β loops in recognizing the rRL-6-CH 2 OH stimulatory ligand. We also present two additional xenoreactive MAIT TCR/MR1 complexes that recapitulate the docking orientation documented previously, despite having variation in the CDR2β and CDR3β loop sequences. Our data support a model by which MAIT TCRs engage MR1 in a conserved fashion, with their binding affinities modulated by the nature of the MR1-presented Ag or diversity introduced by alternate Vβ usage or CDR3β sequences.
Momentum transport in a turbulent mixing layer

The turbulent momentum transport phenomena in a two-dimensional mixing layer are investigated numerically by a discrete vortex method. The numerical model and calculations are verified through a comparison with existing numerical simulations and experimental measurements. The main emphasis is placed on the exploration of the detailed time-dependent instantaneous local momentum fluctuations and on the comparison of numerical results with available experimental measurements. The current simulations confirm qualitatively the various trends in the turbulent momentum flux and fluctuating components of the velocity in the mixing layer found with several experimental results. The study shows that similarity exists in turbulent momentum quantities along the axial direction of the mixing layer. The calculations also show a definite correlation between the passage of a large-scale structure and a burst in the turbulent momentum flux. The probability density functions of the fluctuating quantities are shown to be mostly Gaussian-like, with only a few exceptions.
Blood Pressure Management After Central Nervous System Injury

Uncontrolled hypertension is often encountered after brain injury. The mechanisms surrounding this physiopathological response are related to autoregulatory responses aimed at preserving the cerebral blood flow in injured areas. The initial hypertensive response may precipitate further injury. Conversely, aggressive blood pressure reduction may be associated with ischemia. Despite the clear role of blood pressure as a modulator of acute brain injury, there is considerable controversy and a lack of high-quality data regarding the demographics, outcomes, and optimal management of high blood pressure in acute brain-injured patients. Recognition of the autoregulatory abnormalities seen after brain injury and careful control of blood pressure are necessary for the optimal management of these patients.
Offset Printing of Liquid Microstructures for High Resolution Lithography

We have investigated the direct printing of polymer solutions from a chemically patterned stamp onto a hydrophilic target substrate as a new high-throughput alternative to optical lithography. The patterns on the stamp, which are typically in the micron size range, define regions of alternating wettability. They are produced by patterning a hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer previously deposited onto a hydrophilic surface, typically a glass slide or silicon wafer with a natural oxide coating. Polar liquids or aqueous polymeric solutions are then deposited only onto the hydrophilic surface patterns by dip-coating the stamp in a liquid reservoir. The deposited film thickness depends critically on the speed of withdrawal and the feature size and shape. For vertically oriented hydrophilic stripes dipped in a reservoir containing a polar liquid, we have developed a theoretical model whose prediction for the maximum deposited film thickness agrees exceptionally well with experimental measurements. After deposition, the wetted stamp is pressed against a target substrate by means of a motion controlled press. In this way we have so far printed 5µm wide polyethylene oxide lines onto a silicon wafer.
Storage and Retrieval of Images in Hot Atomic Rubidium Vapor

We demonstrate four wave mixing and electromagnetically induced transparency mediated storage of multimode transverse images carried by optical pulses in hot atomic Rubidium vapor and show that the images retrieved are robust to diffusion.
Effects of Cooling Parameters on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Hot Rolled Ti-Microalloyed Low-Carbon Ultra High-Strength Steels

The thermo-mechanical control process( TMCP) was carried out for the high Ti microalloyed lowcarbon steel. The effects of supercooling and the atomic diffusion rate on the evolution of the microstructure and the behavior of the( Ti,Mo) C particles precipitation were studied under different controlled cooling rates and coiling temperatures. The results showed that the comprehensive mechanical properties of the experimental steel were outstanding with the cooling rate of 30 ℃ / s and the coiling temperature of 420 ℃,i. e.,the yield strength of the steel was 690 MPa,the tensile strength was 820 MPa,the elongation-after-fracture was 18%,and the experimental steel possessed excellent lowtemperature impact toughness. The microstructure consisted of polygonal ferrite,acicular ferrite,fine M / A islands and nano-scale( Ti,Mo) C precipitates,and the strength and toughness are well-matched.
Executive functioning and diabetes: The role of anxious arousal and inflammation

Abstract Individuals who perform poorly on measures of the executive function of inhibition have higher anxious arousal in comparison to those with better performance. High anxious arousal is associated with a pro-inflammatory response. Chronically high anxious arousal and inflammation increase one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. We sought to evaluate anxious arousal and inflammation as underlying mechanisms linking inhibition with diabetes incidence. Participants ( N = 835) completed measures of cognitive abilities, a self-report measure of anxious arousal, and donated blood to assess interleukin-6 (IL-6) and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Individuals with low inhibition were more likely to have diabetes than those with high inhibition due to the serial pathway from high anxious arousal to IL-6. Findings remained when entering other indicators of cognitive abilities as covariates, suggesting that inhibition is a unique cognitive ability associated with diabetes incidence. On the basis of our results, we propose several avenues to explore for improved prevention and treatment efforts for type 2 diabetes.
The relationship between third molar agenesis and the morphologic variability of the molar teeth.

Abstract No Abstract Available. The opinions or assertions contained herein are those of the author and are not to be construed as official or reflecting the views of the Department of the Navy, or the Naval Service at large.
Liquid nitrogen historical and current usage of the central helium liquefier at SNS

The main cryogenic system for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) is comprised of a 4-K cold box, a 2-K cold box, six warm compressors, and ancillary support equipment. This system has been cold and operating with little disruption since 2005. Design and operation of liquid nitrogen (LN2) supplied from a single 20,000-gallon supply Dewar will be discussed. LN2 used to precool the 4-K cold box heat exchanger started to increase around 2011. LN2 Consumption during 2012 and 2013 was almost double the nominal usage rate. Studies of this data, plant parameter changes to respond to this information, and current interpretations are detailed in this paper. The usage rate of LN2 returned to normal in late 2013 and remained there until recent additional changes. Future study plans to understand potential causes of this including contamination migration within the 4-K cold box will also be addressed.
Agile multi-modal tracking with dependent measurements

We investigate the target tracking problem of adapting asymmetric multi-modal sensing operation platforms using radio frequency (RF) radar and electro-optical (EO) sensors. Although the multi-modality framework allows for the integration of complementary information, there are many challenges to overcome, including targets with different energy returns, and information loss due to low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) or due to dependent measurements from different sensors that are not appropriately processed. We develop the particle filter (PF) based recursive track before detect (TBD) algorithm for joint RF-EO tracking to avoid loss of information caused by matched filter thresholding at low SNR. A waveform optimization technique is integrated into the PF-TBD to allow for adaptive waveform selection. We also approximate distributions of parameters of dependent RF and EO measurements using the embedded exponential family (EEF) approach to further improve target detection and tracking performance.