cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Ob/Gyn resident self-perceived preparedness for minimally invasive surgery

Very little is known regarding the readiness of senior U.S. Ob/Gyn residents to perform minimally invasive surgery. This study aims to evaluate the self-perceived readiness of senior Ob/Gyn residents to perform complex minimally invasive gynecologic surgery as well as their perceptions of the minimally invasive gynecologic surgery subspecialty. We performed a national survey study of 3rd and 4th year Ob/Gyn residents. A novel 58-item survey was developed and sent to residency program directors and coordinators with the request to forward the survey link along to their senior residents. We received 158 survey responses with 84 (53.2%) responses coming from 4th year residents and 74 (46.8%) responses from 3rd year residents. Residents who train with graduates of a fellowship in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery felt significantly more prepared to perform minimally invasive surgery compared to residents without this exposure in their training. The majority of senior residents (71.5%) feel their residency training adequately prepared them to be a competent minimally invasive gynecologic surgeon. However, only 50% feel prepared to perform a laparoscopic hysterectomy on a uterus greater than 12 weeks size, 29% feel prepared to offer a vaginal hysterectomy on a uterus 12-week size or greater, 17% feel comfortable performing a laparoscopic myomectomy, and 12% feel prepared to offer a laparoscopic hysterectomy for a uterus above the umbilicus. The majority of senior U.S. Ob/Gyn residents feel prepared to provide minimally invasive surgery for complex gynecologic cases. However, surgical confidence in specific procedures decreases when surgical complexity increases.
Numerical Evidence for Many-Body Localization in Two and Three Dimensions.

Disorder and interactions can lead to the breakdown of statistical mechanics in certain quantum systems, a phenomenon known as many-body localization (MBL). Much of the phenomenology of MBL emerges from the existence of $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bits}$, a set of conserved quantities that are quasilocal and binary (i.e., possess only $\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ eigenvalues). While MBL and $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bits}$ are known to exist in one-dimensional systems, their existence in dimensions greater than one is a key open question. To tackle this question, we develop an algorithm that can find approximate binary $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bits}$ in arbitrary dimensions by adaptively generating a basis of operators in which to represent the $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bit}$. We use the algorithm to study four models: the one-, two-, and three-dimensional disordered Heisenberg models and the two-dimensional disordered hard-core Bose-Hubbard model. For all four of the models studied, our algorithm finds high-quality $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bits}$ at large disorder strength and rapid qualitative changes in the distributions of $\ensuremath{\ell}\text{ }\mathrm{bits}$ in particular ranges of disorder strengths, suggesting the existence of MBL transitions. These transitions in the one-dimensional Heisenberg model and two-dimensional Bose-Hubbard model coincide well with past estimates of the critical disorder strengths in these models, which further validates the evidence of MBL phenomenology in the other two- and three-dimensional models we examine. In addition to finding MBL behavior in higher dimensions, our algorithm can be used to probe MBL in various geometries and dimensionality.
Experimental design for CO2 laser cutting of sub-millimeter features in very large-area carbon nanotube sheets

Abstract In this work, laser cutting methodologies have been demonstrated for defining submillimeter features in commercially available carbon nanotube (CNT) sheet materials (24 and 74-µm thick) using a commercial CO2 laser source with a maximum power output of 30 W. Full factorial and central composite designs of experiments were used to investigate the effect of various factors, including the laser power (10–90% of max), speed (10–90% of max), and pulses per inch (100–1000 PPI), on the resulting kerf width and the kerf width variation for 5 mm long single straight-line features. Maximizing the pulses per inch yielded laser cuts with reduced variability, while the power and speed were determined to be the significant factors affecting the kerf width. Fabrication of more complex grid structures, consisting of 100 square openings (0.838 mm wide), revealed that the conditions used for cutting straight lines were insufficient for cutting grids. Thus, for a fixed number of pulses-per-inch, the ratio of the values of power and speed, P/S ratio, was determined to be most significant for affecting the feature quality of these grid structures, as it determines the heat input energy and the delivered energy density. It was determined that, for a fixed PPI of 1000, a percent power value 1.6 × higher than the percent speed value was needed as the input parameter to cut the 24 µm thick CNT sheet, and a percent power value 3.5 × higher than the percent speed value was required to successfully cut the 74 µm thick CNT sheet. Ultimately, refinement in the laser cutting conditions by increasing the energy delivered per pulse and using two passes to account for sheet non-uniformities, enabled patterning of large area (up to 280 mm × 280 mm) CNT sheets with close-packed circles. A structure of this size has over 48,000 openings, and analysis via optical microscopy determined the features have a measured diameter of 0.78 mm ± 0.01 mm, exhibiting reproducibility over the entire CNT sample. Finally, multiple intricate geometries with variable feature spacing were fabricated all on a single CNT sample, demonstrating the utility of laser machining as an alternative technology solution to traditional CNT patterning techniques. These results provide a scalable methodology to determine the laser cutting parameters for use in fabricating very large-area CNT structures with intricate features.
The Pairwise Velocity Distribution Function of Galaxies in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey, Two-Degree Field Survey, and Sloan Digital Sky Survey

A comparison of the galaxy pairwise velocity distribution functions determined from the three largest publicly available galaxy redshift surveys is presented. This is the first direct comparison of this function across these surveys using an identical method. It is found that the two r-band-selected surveys, the Las Campanas Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, are in excellent agreement, with 363 ± 44 and 357 ± 17 km s-1, respectively. The b-band-selected Two-Degree Field survey gives slightly lower results, with 331 ± 19 km s-1. This difference is expected given the sampling biases in the different surveys, although it is not highly significant. These results and analysis of subsets of data indicate that the method is stable to singular features in each survey, such as the prevalence of rich clusters. The technique utilizes a Fourier space deconvolution of the redshift-space distortions in the correlation function in the (rp, π)-basis, which has been previously described. This method returns the entire distribution function rather than just the second moment. In all cases, the distribution function is well characterized by an exponential.
A Student's Guide to the Meanings of

Equity remains a significant part of our legal system, but the different meanings of "equity" often cause confusion. This essay distinguishes three meanings of the term: the distinctive treatment of an exceptional case, a moral reading of the law, and the doctrines and remedies developed in the Court of Chancery. By distinguishing these meanings, carefully and without an excess of technicality, this essay illuminates a difficult but important part of law in the United States.
An Extension of Consumers’ Green Consumption Value to Financial Life: An Abstract

Placing value on green consumption can be viewed as an example of consumers changing things themselves? Has the consumer found a new value? This study seeks to answer this question, as an affirmative answer would make the green consumption value sustainable. Since the Second World War, industrialization in the West has led to economic growth and improvement in consumption levels, resulting in material richness. However, resource depletion has created environmental problems, such as climate change, destruction of the ozone layer and global ecosystems, desertification, acid rain, and marine pollution. As a result, human survival is threatened (Chan 2001). According to the United Nations-sponsored IPCC’s fourth report in 2007, without further reductions in carbon dioxide emissions the temperature of the atmosphere will rise between 1.4 °C and 5.8 °C by the end of the twenty-first century. The report found that the shift in weather patterns as a result of climate change cost $3 billion a year in the 1950s but rose to $40 billion a year in the 1990s.
Metagenome-based comparisons of decay rates and host-specificity of fecal microbial communities for improved microbial source tracking

Fecal material in the environment is a primary source of pathogens that cause waterborne diseases and affect over a billion people worldwide. Microbial source tracking (MST) assays based on single genes (e.g., 16S rRNA) do not always provide the resolution needed to attribute fecal contamination sources. In this work, we used dialysis bag mesocosms simulating a freshwater habitat that were spiked separately with cow, pig, or human feces to monitor the decay of host-specific fecal signals over time with metagenomics, traditional qPCR, and culture-based methods. Sequencing of the host fecal communities used as inocula recovered 79 non-redundant metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) whose abundance patterns showed that the majority of the fecal community signal was not detectable in the mesocosm metagenomes after four days. Several MAGs showed high host specificity, and thus are promising candidates for biomarkers for their respective host type. Traditional qPCR methods varied in their correlation with MAG decay kinetics. Notably, the human-specific Bacteroides assay, HF183/BFDRev, consistently under-estimated fecal pollution due to not being present in all hosts and/or primer mismatches. This work provides new insights on the persistence and decay kinetics of host-specific gut microbes in the environment and identifies several MAGs as putative biomarkers for improved MST. SYNOPSISWe track cow, pig, and human fecal pollution in lake water over time with metagenomics and benchmark these novel protocols against standard culture-based and qPCR tests for water quality monitoring.
Review of Codes and Standards for Energy Storage Systems

This article summarizes key codes and standards (C&S) that apply to grid energy storage systems. The article also gives several examples of industry efforts to update or create new standards to remove gaps in energy storage C&S and to accommodate new and emerging energy storage technologies. While modern battery technologies, including lithium ion (Li-ion), increase the technical and economic viability of grid energy storage, they also present new or unknown risks to managing the safety of energy storage systems (ESS). This article focuses on the particular challenges presented by newer battery technologies. Prior publications about energy storage C&S recognize and address the expanding range of technologies and their unique characteristics. However, there remains significant need and opportunity for researchers to add to the knowledge base that informs the development of technical references and standards, and ultimately, the application of published standards for the effective and safe design and use of modern ESS.
Salmonellosis in Feed Yards

Since the advent of the germ theory in the late 1800's and George Soper's10 discovery of the link the between Mary Mallon's employment history and 7 cases of typhoid fever in early 1907, salmonellosis has presented a diagnostic and clinical challenge to medical practitioners. Salmonellosis is caused by gram-negative, rod-shaped, facultative anaerobic, intracellular bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae, genus Salmonella.12 There are at least 2300 serotypes (serovars) of Salmonella based on their somatic or O antigens (lipopolysaccharides or endotoxins), flagellar or H antigens, and in some cases virulence or Vi antigens. There is debate as to whether these serovars are distinct species or are a subspecies of one species, S. enterica, but most often serovars are considered species. Most of the serovars of Salmonella are potential pathogens, but approximately 15 are commonly identified in diseased animals. Some Salmonellae are host specific, such as S. choleraesuis in swine, S. typhi in people8 and S. abortus-ovis in sheep. In contrast others, such as S. typhimurium, infect cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses, poultry, rodents, people, and occasionally dogs and cats.22 Salmonellosis is a serious zoonotic disease1 (CDC reported 41,901 cases in people in 1997)11 and is estimated to cost $0.6 to 3.5 billion23 in medical expenditures and lost production in the U.S. annually. Consequently, educating clients and their employees about the zoonotic hazards of working with animals during a Salmonella outbreak is as important as treating the animals. Salmonellosis is extremely important to all of the food animal industries because their products are common sources of Salmonella for people.1
The Future of Official Statistics

Official statistics are a pure public good and a key element of our national data infrastructure. They support our well-being by informing a vast set of public and private decisions. Yet, today they stand at a crossroads in the United States. With new technologies, today’s official statistics could be more relevant, interoperable, granular, and timely. Recent experience during the pandemic clarifies the need for improvement. The agencies could tap the new wealth of non-survey data to accomplish these goals without increasing burdens on survey respondents. They could operate more in sync with each other (to facilitate combining and sharing data) and more independently from politics (to reinforce public trust in their integrity). They could be better protected from defunding and requirements to combine operations with non-statistical agencies. These changes are possible, but not without effort by the statistical system’s stakeholders. The agencies cannot do it alone.The alternative, I fear, is a downward spiral in official statistics. Current funding neglect and erosion of independence threaten to reduce public trust and data quality. Less reliable products would then lead to further cuts and lower response rates, and suppress quality further. Hence the spiral.To secure a promising future for official statistics and avoid the death spiral, the statistical system’s stakeholders must actively advocate changes that include data-sharing legislation, flexible and dependable funding, adopting common data schema, and a modernized, more coordinated statistical system. The statistical and data science communities—including you—have an important role to play in choosing the path ahead.
Investigating the potential and mechanism of soil piping causing water-level drops in Mountain Lake, Giles County, Virginia

Abstract Mountain Lake, located in Giles County, southwestern Virginia, is one of only two natural lakes in the state of Virginia. The lake exhibits rare self-draining behavior, with recent episodes in 2008, 2011, and 2012 that drained the lake almost completely and revealed the presence of four sinkhole-like depressions, with piping holes at their bottoms and sides, near the northeastern and northwestern margins of the lake. This phenomenon has raised concern over declining tourism to the Mountain Lake Lodge. The purpose of this study was to investigate the piping potential of lake-bottom sediment and its role in seepage and lake-level fluctuations. Sixteen grab samples of lake-bottom sediment were collected from the vicinity of the depressions. Additionally, five Shelby tube samples were obtained to determine the in-situ density of the sediment. Grain size distribution, Atterberg limits, and compaction-mold permeameter tests were used to evaluate lake sediment's susceptibility to piping. Grain size distribution and Atterberg limits test results reveal that the lake-bottom sediment consists predominantly of fine sand and silt, which are well known for their susceptibility to piping. Results of the compaction-mold permeameter test show that the critical hydraulic gradient (ic), the hydraulic gradient at which the sediment starts to pipe, ranges between 1 and 10, depending on the density, grain size distribution, and plasticity characteristics of the sediment. These results suggest that piping of lake sediment is the primary mechanism responsible for the formation of lake-bed depressions and lake level fluctuations.
The riddle of knowledge forms and the 'paradox' of participation.

Nowadays, the inadequacy of linear and mechanistic thinking (positivism/reductionism) in understanding both the source and the solutions of the many unwanted and undesirable biophysical and sociocultural impacts of modern agriculture, underlying that agriculture in its present (dominantly industrial) form is not sustainable, gives rise to multiple alternative proposals. The need to solve increasingly complex problems with a view to sustainability reinforces various ‘cross-disciplinary' forms of learning and problem solving, ‘integrating' perspectives and insights; cooperation by diverse academic experts and practitioners is called for. The current paper aims at addressing the dynamics of different forms of knowledge in the construction of knowledge, especially for sustainable (rural) development. In particular, the objective is to discuss the tentative contribution of Critical Realism (CR) in the understanding of the interfaces between different forms of knowledge (and their bearers/actors) in both theoretical and practical terms. CR with its realist, differentiated and stratified ontology claims, contra positivism, that science should aim at exploring the mechanisms which contribute to the generation of what is experienced. Therefore, it allows for new insights concerning ‘cross-disciplinary' research and development intervention. Thus, the implications of CR, especially on the problem of ‘transdisciplinarity' as well as on problems pertaining ‘participatory processes', are addressed.
VAS/spl I.bar/UM/TAT4 ASIC readout systems for 3D CdZnTe/HgI/sub 2/ detector arrays

The 4th-generation readout systems based on VAS_UM/TAT4 ASICs for 3-D position sensitive CdZnTe/HgI2 detector arrays have been developed and tested. Each VAS_UM/TAT4 chip is a 129-channel self-triggered monolithic application specific integrated circuitry (ASIC). One 3-D position-sensitive detector module consists of one CdZnTe or HgI2 gamma-ray spectrometer, and one VAS_UM/TAT4 ASIC mounted on a 2.2 times 2.2 cm2 front-end board. Each detector has an array of 11 by 11 pixel anodes fabricated on the anode surface with an area up to 2 by 2 cm2. The detector and the front-end board are connected by three pairs of 42-pin connectors for easy assemble and component replacement. Up to nine detector modules can be plugged in to a single motherboard to form a 3 by 3 detector array. The VAS_UM/TAT4 chip can read out both the amplitude of induced charge on each electrode and the electron drift time needed for reconstructing energy deposition and three-dimensional coordinates of each radiation interaction. Three different sets of VAS_UM/TAT4 chips were fabricated - the first set is for intermediate energy gamma-ray spectroscopy on CdZnTe with a dynamic range up to 1 MeV per channel. The second set is for higher-energy gamma-ray detection in CdZnTe for energy deposition of up to 3 MeV per channel, and the third set is for HgI2 gamma-ray spectrometers (up to 1 MeV per channel). These are the first ASIC readout systems that allow multiple 3-D position sensitive CdZnTe/HgI2 detector modules to be tiled together, to achieve detection volume greater than 50 cm3 on a single detector plane. Multiple planes of detector arrays can be operated together to achieve more than 100 cm3 detection volume and beyond on a single system. In this paper, VAS_UM/TAT4 ASIC systems are described and their test results will be reported
Growth analysis of area, production and productivity of maize in Nagaland.

Maximum decrease in area under maize crop was (−) 16.02% found in the year 1999–2000 and maximum increase in area under maize crop was 30.23% in the year 2000–01, where as maximum increase in production and productivity of maize crop in Nagaland was 103.05% in the year 1988–89 and 101.26% in the 1988–89 respectively Among area, production and productivity of maize the instability was highest for the production. Growth rates were significant at 1% level of significance.
Confronting Morality in Markets

When an organization is pressured to respond to moral expressions in capital, consumer and labor markets, it faces a dilemma of how to respond. Should Shell have given in to Greenpeace in deciding how to dispose of the Brent Spar Oil Rig? Should Cracker Barrel give in to pressures to fire homosexual employees? Firms should consider the nature of the moral expressions pressuring them in deciding how to respond. Moral expressions can be divided into three descriptive categories: Benign, Disputed and Problematic. Each carries different implications for corporate action and in some cases will justify corporate resistance to moral expressions by stakeholders. In order to appropriately respond to moral pressures, firms should first engage in a process of discovery aimed at identifying moral pressures relevant to the firmos missions and objectives and then engage in a process of justification concerning their responses. Such a conclusion is consistent with important trends of contemporary thought in ethics and political philosophy and is strongly supported by Kantian analysis.
Market Power in Laboratory Emission Permit Markets

Many proposals suggesting the use of markets tocontrol pollution assume markets will becompetitive. When markets do not exhibitcompetitive characteristics, however, shouldthey still be expected to result in efficiencyimprovement relative to traditional approaches? This paper employs experimental economicmethods to examine the effect of marketstructure on the use of marketable emissionspermits. Results indicate that in a market withone dominant firm and a number of fringe firms,strategic manipulation occurs repeatedly in thelaboratory as predicted by market power models,undermining the allocative and dynamicefficiency benefits such markets offer. Whenfirms compete in a downstream product marketdominated by the same single firm, marketefficiency can actually be reduced with theimplementation of permit markets. Final marketefficiencies reflect initial endowments and areinfluenced by competitive conditions elsewherein the economy, indicating that policy-makersshould carefully consider whether markets areappropriate in such circumstances.
Wigmore's Chart Method

A generation before Beardsley, legal scholar John Henry Wigmore invented a scheme for representing arguments in a tree diagram, aimed to help advocates analyze the proof of facts at trial. In this essay, I describe Wigmore's "Chart Method" and trace its origin and influence. Wigmore, I argue, contributes to contemporary theory in two ways. His rhetorical approach to diagramming provides a novel perspective on problems about the theory of reasoning, premise adequacy, and dialectical obligations. Further, he advances a novel solution to the problem of assessing argument quality by representing the strength of argument in meeting objections.
Social values and salespeople's effort

Abstract This article considers how one class of individual difference dimensions—social values—has contingent importance in effort, measured as the allocation of time to two selling activities, entrepreneurial and routine selling. Certain valuesof the salesperson, sales manager, and perceived values of the largest volume client influence how much time the salesperson spends on entrepreneurial selling.
Relating divergence in polychaete musculature to different burrowing behaviors: A study using opheliidae (Annelida)

Divergent morphologies among related species are often correlated with distinct behaviors and habitat uses. Considerable morphological and behavioral differences are found between two major clades within the polychaete family Opheliidae. For instance, Thoracophelia mucronata burrows by peristalsis, whereas Armandia brevis exhibits undulatory burrowing. We investigate the anatomical differences that allow for these distinct burrowing behaviors, then interpret these differences in an evolutionary context using broader phylogenetic (DNA-based) and morphological analyses of Opheliidae and taxa, such as Scalibregmatidae and Polygordiidae. Histological three-dimensional-reconstruction of A. brevis reveals bilateral longitudinal muscle bands as the prominent musculature of the body. Circular muscles are absent; instead oblique muscles act with unilateral contraction of longitudinal muscles to bend the body during undulation. The angle of helical fibers in the cuticle is consistent with the fibers supporting turgidity of the body rather than resisting radial expansion from longitudinal muscle contraction. Circular muscles are present in the anterior of T. mucronata, and they branch away from the body wall to form oblique muscles. Helical fibers in the cuticle are more axially oriented than those in undulatory burrowers, facilitating radial expansion during peristalsis. A transition in musculature accompanies the change in external morphology from the thorax to the abdomen, which has oblique muscles similar to A. brevis. Muscles in the muscular septum, which extends posteriorly to form the injector organ, act in synchrony with the body wall musculature during peristalsis: they contract to push fluid anteriorly and expand the head region following a direct peristaltic wave of the body wall muscles. The septum of A. brevis is much thinner and is presumably used for eversion of a nonmuscular pharynx. Mapping of morphological characters onto the molecular-based phylogeny shows close links between musculature and behavior, but less correlation with habitat. J. Morphol. 275:548–571, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TLR9 signaling through NF-κB/RELA and STAT3 promotes tumor-propagating potential of prostate cancer cells

Prostate cancer progression was associated with tumorigenic signaling activated by proinflammatory mediators. However, the etiology of these events remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that triggering of the innate immune receptor, Toll-like Receptor 9 (TLR9), in androgen-independent prostate cancer cells initiates signaling cascade leading to increased tumor growth and progression. Using limited dilution/serial transplantation experiments, we show that TLR9 is essential for prostate cancer cells' potential to propagate and self-renew in vivo. Furthermore, low expression or silencing of TLR9 limits the clonogenic potential and mesenchymal stem cell-like properties of LNCaP- and PC3-derived prostate cancer cell variants. Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of prostate cancer cells isolated from xenotransplanted TLR9-positive and -negative tumors revealed a unique gene expression signature, with prominent upregulation of inflammation- and stem cell-related markers. TLR9 signaling orchestrated expression of critical stem cell-related genes such as NKX3.1, KLF-4, BMI-1 and COL1A1, at both mRNA and protein levels. Our further analysis identified that TLR9-induced NF-κB/RELA and STAT3 transcription factors co-regulated NKX3.1 and KLF4 gene expression by directly binding to both promoters. Finally, we demonstrated the feasibility of using TLR9-targeted siRNA delivery to block RELA- and STAT3-dependent prostate cancer cell self-renewal in vivo. The intratumoral administration of CpG-RELAsiRNA or CpG-STAT3siRNA but not control conjugates inhibited growth of established prostate tumors and reduced clonogenic potential of cancer cells. Overcoming cancer cell self-renewal and tumor-propagating potential by targeted inhibition of TLR9 signaling can provide therapeutic strategy for late-stage prostate cancer patients.
The younger dryas cold spell—a quest for causes

Abstract The deep-sea record shows evidence of abrupt climatic change centered on the last deglaciation (14-8 ka), and resulting in a severe cold spell between 11,000 and 10,000 years ago, known as the Younger Dryas period. The origin of this climate catastrophe is not known. Three types of possible causes must be considered: (1) running the system's positive feedback loop in reverse (albedo, CO2, ocean circulation), (2) disturbance from internal threshold feedback (collapse of ice sheets), and (3) system-external forcing (volcanism, solar output, supernova, cosmic dust). A shutdown of the Nordic heat pump due to excessive meltwater input is one possible cause for the cold spell. This pump is driven by North Atlantic Deep-Water (NADW) production and results in advection of warm water to the Norwegian-Greenland Sea. However, NADW shutdown or slowdown occurred both before and after the Younger Dryas, while warming proceeded rapidly. Consequently, other heat pumping mechanisms may have been more important during deglaciation (e.g., import of warm surface or intermediate waters and export of cold surface water and floating ice). It was the interference with those mechanisms, then, which aided in the Big Freeze. In addition, a short-term reduction in pCO2 during the Younger Dryas appears indicated. The search for a specific cause for the Younger Dryas cold spell may be futile. In a chaotic system near its point of bifurcation, small disturbances can result in large effects, from positive feedback amplification. Every link in the feedback loop is both cause and effect. The possibility of external influence cannot be discounted: there is evidence both for increased volcanic activity and extraterrestrial disturbance at the time.
Characterization of Durham virus, a novel rhabdovirus that encodes both a C and SH protein

The family Rhabdoviridae is a diverse group of non-segmented, negative-sense RNA viruses that are distributed worldwide and infect a wide range of hosts including vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants. Of the 114 currently recognized vertebrate rhabdoviruses, relatively few have been well characterized at both the antigenic and genetic level; hence, the phylogenetic relationships between many of the vertebrate rhabdoviruses remain unknown. The present report describes a novel rhabdovirus isolated from the brain of a moribund American coot (Fulica americana) that exhibited neurological signs when found in Durham County, North Carolina, in 2005. Antigenic characterization of the virus revealed that it was serologically unrelated to 68 other known vertebrate rhabdoviruses. Genomic sequencing of the virus indicated that it shared the highest identity to Tupaia rhabdovirus (TUPV), and as only previously observed in TUPV, the genome encoded a putative C protein in an overlapping open reading frame (ORF) of the phosphoprotein gene and a small hydrophobic (SH) protein located in a novel ORF between the matrix and glycoprotein genes. Phylogenetic analysis of partial amino acid sequences of the nucleoprotein and polymerase protein indicated that, in addition to TUPV, the virus was most closely related to avian and small mammal rhabdoviruses from Africa and North America. In this report, we present the morphological, pathological, antigenic, and genetic characterization of the new virus, tentatively named Durham virus (DURV), and discuss its potential evolutionary relationship to other vertebrate rhabdoviruses.
Data Quality And Processing For Decision Making: Divergence Between Corporate Strategy And Manufacturing Processes

Information technology is driving improvements in manufacturing systems. Results are higher productivity and quality. However, corporate strategy is driven by a number of factors and includes data and pressure from multiple stakeholders, which includes employees, managers, executives, stockholders, boards, suppliers and customers. It is also driven by information about competitors and emerging technology. Much information is based on processing of data and the resulting biases of the processors. Thus, stakeholders can base inputs on faulty perceptions, which are not reality based. Prior to processing, data used may be inaccurate. Sources of data and information may include demographic reports, statistical analyses, intelligence reports (e.g., marketing data), technology and primary data collection. The reliability and validity of data as well as the management of sources and information is critical element to strategy formulation. The paper explores data collection, processing and analyses from secondary and primary sources, information generation and report presentation for strategy formulation and contrast this with data and information utilized to drive internal process such as manufacturing. The hypothesis is that internal process, such as manufacturing, are subordinate to corporate strategies. The impact of possible divergence in quality of decisions at the corporate level on IT driven, quality-manufacturing processes based on measurable outcomes is significant. Recommendations for IT improvements at the corporate strategy level are given.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Estradiol regulates MICA expression in human endometrial cells.

Abstract The human endometrium undergoes cyclical changes regulated by sex hormones. Evidence suggests that sex hormones regulate NK cell recruitment into the uterus in large numbers. NKG2D is an activating receptor expressed on human NK cells, γδ and CD8 T cells. NKG2D ligands are known to be sensors of cellular “stress”. In this study, we investigated whether sex hormones directly regulate expression of NKG2D ligands in the human uterus. Estradiol increased MICA expression on uterine epithelial cells; regulation was estrogen receptor-dependent. Real-time PCR analysis showed that NKG2D ligands MICA and MICB were expressed in the human endometrium. MICA protein was detected primarily on epithelial cells, and greater expression was observed in immunohistochemical analysis of tissues from patients in the secretory phase of the menstrual cycle. Thus, estrogens regulate expression of MICA. These data suggest hormonal regulation of innate immunity and NKG2D-mediated recognition in other tissues and diseases where estrogen may be involved.
The Salt Respiration and Phosphate Contents of Barley Roots.

Phosphorylative coupling reactions are capable of controlling both respiration and fermentation by adjusting amounts of phosphate acceptor and inorganic phosphate (19, 38). Salt-induced respiration which is associated with endergonic salt accumulation (23) may also be controlled by phosphorylative coupling reactions. While respiration generally was increased by DNP 4 which can release respiration from the control of phosphorylation, salt accumulation was decreased or completely abolished (29, 37). A direct or indirect participation of phosphorylative coupling reactions in salt accumulation might be inferred. On the other hand, salt respiration may result from an effect of inorganic ions themselves, i.e., the ionic milieu may influence the rate of respiratory activity. Inorganic anions may have a " coenzyme " effect by balancing a temporary charge difference produced in the separation of electrons from substrates and their subsequent transfer through the cytochrome system (22). It is difficult to formulate a mechanism to explain how ions can facilitate stoichiometric separation of charges unless ion-pair formation occurs. A salt-cytochrome complex may facilitate electron transfers similarly to those complexes proposed for the bridge transfer mechanism of electron transfer in the oxidation-reduction of metallic ions in solution (43). The possible salt influences upon the cytochrome system and the phosphorylative coupling system in the stimulation of respiration are not necessarily mutually exclusive effects. It is now well established that oxidative phosphorylations occur in the cytochrome system (20, 26). It is pertinent that some DNP effects on phosphorylations may be associated with its possible incorporation into the oxidation-reduction complex (6). There is no evidence whether DNP prevents salt accumulation because it prevents net production of energy-rich phosphate bonds or whether it prevents salt accumulation and energy production independently of each other. This investigation was to obtain some evidence about the nature of salt respiration by determining th correlation of respiration of barley roots, treated in various ways, with the root contents of inorganic and organic phosphate. It was hoped to find whether the salt stimulation of oxygen uptake has effects on the phosphate contents similar to those often associated with the DNP stimulation of oxygen uptake.
Arthroscopic strain gauge measurement of the normal anterior cruciate ligament.

Abstract This article describes a new arthroscopic technique to study the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in vivo. A Hall effect strain transducer (HEST) is inserted arthroscopically into the anterior medial band (AMB) of the ACL. The strain is calculated from HEST displacement data. This method determines a reference length of the AMB when it becomes taut and load bearing. Data from HEST implantation in five patients with normal ACLs are reported. The HEST was implanted in the AMB with patients under local anesthesia. Strain was calculated during anterior-posterior shear testing and isometric quadriceps contractions at 30 and 90° of knee flexion. The results demonstrate that this technique is safe and reliable. Lachman testing (anterior shear testing at 30°) caused significantly higher strain in comparison to the drawer tests (anterior shear testing at 90°). A significant increase in strain occurred during isometric quadriceps contraction when the knee was flexed at 30°. No significant change in strain was measured, however, during isometric quadriceps contraction at 90° of flexion. These results confirm previous studies showing that the Lachman test is a more sensitive clinical method for evaluating the AMB. They suggest that isometric quadriceps activity at 90° of knee flexion can be prescribed for rehabilitation without risk of increased strain of the AMB.
Inhomogeneous broadening of PAC spectra with V zz and η joint probability distribution functions

The perturbed angular correlation (PAC) spectrum, G 2(t), is broadened by the presence of randomly distributed defects in crystals due to a distribution of electric field gradients (EFGs) experienced by probe nuclei. Heuristic approaches to fitting spectra that exhibit such inhomogeneous broadening (ihb) consider only the distribution of EFG magnitudes V zz , but the physical effect actually depends on the joint probability distribution function (pdf) of V zz and EFG asymmetry parameter η. The difficulty in determining the joint pdf leads us to more appropriate representations of the EFG coordinates, and to express the joint pdf as the product of two approximately independent pdfs describing each coordinate separately. We have pursued this case in detail using as an initial illustration of the method a simple point defect model with nuclear spin I = 5/2 in several cubic lattices, where G 2(t) is primarily induced by a defect trapped in the first neighbor shell of a probe and broadening is due to defects distributed at random outside the first neighbor shell. Effects such as lattice relaxation are ignored in this simple test of the method. The simplicity of our model is suitable for gaining insight into ihb with more than V zz alone. We simulate ihb in this simple case by averaging the net EFGs of 20,000 random defect arrangements, resulting in a broadened average G 2(t). The 20,000 random cases provide a distribution of EFG components which are first transformed to Czjzek coordinates and then further into the full Czjzek half plane by conformal mapping. The topology of this transformed space yields an approximately separable joint pdf for the EFG components. We then fit the nearly independent pdfs and reconstruct G 2(t) as a function of defect concentration. We report results for distributions of defects on simple cubic, face-centered cubic, and body-centered cubic lattices. The method explored here for analyzing ihb is applicable to more realistic cases.
Creating 'to the contrary' selves for the television audience

L'A. montre comment le contraire peut etre represente a travers le langage, en se basant sur une transcription de l'emission To the contrary, un programme televise entierement feminin proposant des informations et des commentaires politiques et dont le but est de denoncer la conception d'une voix feminine unifiee dans la politique. L'A. tente ainsi de determiner comment ces femmes creent, pour un public, leur personnalite polarisee en fonction des contraintes imposees par le discours politique. Etant donne qu'il ne peut y avoir un contraire que s'il existe quelqu'un dans la position opposee, la polarite je/vous est la condition fondamentale du langage que les femmes exploitent pour creer leur personnalite publique. L'A. illustre son propos en montrant comment le choix du temps, des expressions d'engagement personnel, et des mouvements interactionnels tels que les sujets d'ouverture et de cloture, contribuent a creer l'identite opposee des femmes participant a l'emission
Dental caries among elementary school children in oregon

Summary A study was undertaken to ascertainthe dental status of the elementary school children attending the public and parochial schools of Corvallis, Ore. Altogether, dental examinations were given to 1,534 chiildren between the ages of 5 and 12 years, inclusive. The results of this investigation maybe summarized as follows: The percentage of children with one or more permanent teeth attacked by caries, as well as the DMF rate per child, increased with chronological age. With regard to the primary teeth,the children of this study reached their highest point of caries experience (percentage of children with caries and def rate per child) at the age of 6 years. An analysis of the components of the DMF and def rates revealed a great disparity between the dental needs of the subjects and the dental services received. The caries experience in the permanent teeth of the school children included in this study was found to be higher in comparison with that of subjects of the same age groups examined in Maryland and Minnesota and was more nearly like that of the New Zealand school children. The present findings provide additionalevidence regarding the magnitude of the dental caries problem among the school children residing in this area of the Pacific Northwest.
Effect of seminal plasma dilution or removal on spermatozoal motion characteristics of cooled stallion semen

Abstract Centrifugation of stallion semen to remove seminal plasma was hypothesized to be potentially beneficial in maintaining spermatozoal motility during cooled storage of extended semen. This hypothesis was tested using a series of experiments that evaluated spermatozoal motion characteristics, as determined by computerized semen analysis, of extended, cooled stallion semen. In the first experiment, aliquots of semen were extended to 50 × 10 6 sperm/ml with a nonfat, dried skim milk solids-glucose semen extender and subsequently were cooled slowly to 5°C and stored for 24 hours. Those aliquots utilizing high dilution ratios of extender (>1:2.1, volume of semen: volume of extender) maintained higher spermatozoal motility and mean velocity than aliquots using a lower dilution ratio. In the second experiment, semen was extended to 50 × 10 6 sperm/ml and centrifuged at 500 × g for 18 minutes. The sperm pellet was resuspended without the removal of extended seminal plasma. An immediate and significant (P 6 sperm/ml and centrifuged at 500 × g for 18 minutes, with the subsequent removal of extended seminal plasma and resuspension of the sperm pellet in fresh extender. A significant (P 6 sperm/ml.
Dopamine effects on thermosensitive neurons in hypothalamic tissue slices

To understand the role of hypothalamic dopamine in thermoregulation, single unit activity was recorded in vitro, from constantly perfused tissue slices of rat preoptic area and anterior hypothalamus, PO/AH. The firing rate and thermosensitivity of individual PO/AH neurons were determined before, during and after tissue perfusion with media containing dopamine. Dopamine excited 41% of the warm-sensitive neurons, inhibited 100% of the cold-sensitive neurons, and had no effect on 83% of the temperature-insensitive neurons. In addition, dopamine decreased the local thermosensitivity of most cold-sensitive neurons. There were no major differences between these neuronal types in terms of the time course or latency of dopamine's effect. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that dopamine is involved in hypothalamic synapses controlling thermoregulatory responses which oppose increases in body temperature.
3720 ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK BASED PREDICTION OF OUTCOME OF LOWER GASTROINTESTINAL BLEEDING - A POTENTIAL TOOL FOR TRIAGE.

ANN based predictive models have been found to be useful for predicting outcome of different diseases.We evaluated if ANN can predict clinical outcome in patients with LGB based on information typically available during triage. Methods: Data on all patients admitted for LGB during 1998 were prospectively collected. A multi-layered perceptron neural network was constructed using clinical input variables which were available to the clinician during initial evaluation. The ANN was trained by back propagation using data from patients admitted during first half of 1998 (Group I) and then validated using data from patients admitted during the second half of 1998 (Group II). A stepwise logistic regression model was also constructed using available clinical input variables. Moreover, a previously validated scoring system (BLEED score, Crit Care Med 1997) was used to classify patients into high and low risk groups. Rebleeding, death during the same hospital admission and endoscopic, radiological or surgical intervention for control of hemorrhage were the outcome variables used to compare the different predictive models. Results: 141 patients (Mean age 74.9 years, 47 males) were available for analysis. Demographic and clinical features in Group I (n= 75) and Group II (n = 66) were similar. Diverticular bleeding was the predominant cause of bleeding (88, 62%). 7 (4.9%) patients expired, 26 (18.4%) had rebleeding and 21 (14.9%) needed intervention for control of bleeding. Performance of ANN in predicting the outcome variable were significantly better than the BLEED score (McNemar s test, P
Time-varying heat transfer from slab-on-grade floors with vertical insulation

Abstract The steady-periodic temperature field distribution beneath a vertically insulated slab is derived using the Interzone Temperature Profile Estimation (ITPE) technique. A water table is considered at a finite depth below the soil surface. The temperature variation within the ground is discussed as well as the effect of vertical insulation length and thermal resistance on the total heat losses from the slab-on-grade floor. It is shown that when the depth and/or the R- value of the vertical insulation increases, the annual mean and amplitude of total slab heat loss decreases while the phase lag generally increases following the law of diminishing returns.