cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Baseflow age distributions and depth of active groundwater flow in a snow‐dominated mountain headwater basin

Author(s): Carroll, RWH; Manning, AH; Niswonger, R; Marchetti, D; Williams, KH | Abstract: Deeper flows through bedrock in mountain watersheds could be important, but lack of data to characterize bedrock properties limits understanding. To address data scarcity, we combine a previously published integrated hydrologic model of a snow-dominated, headwater basin of the Colorado River with a new method for dating baseflow age using dissolved gas tracers SF6, CFC-113, N2, and Ar. The original flow model predicts the majority of groundwater flow through shallow alluvium (l8nm) sitting on top of less permeable bedrock. The water moves too quickly and is unable to reproduce observed SF6 concentrations. To match gas data, bedrock permeability is increased to allow a larger fraction of deeper and older groundwater flow (median 112nm). The updated hydrologic model indicates interannual variability in baseflow age (3–12nyears) is controlled by the volume of seasonal interflow and tightly coupled to snow accumulation and monsoon rain. Deeper groundwater flow remains stable (11.7n±n0.7nyears) as a function mean historical recharge to bedrock hydraulic conductivity (R/K). A sensitivity analysis suggests that increasing bedrock K effectively moves this alpine basin away from its original conceptualization of hyperlocalized groundwater flow (high R/K) with groundwater age insensitive to changes in water inputs. Instead, this basin is situated close to the precipitation threshold defining recharge controlled groundwater flow conditions (low R/K) in which groundwater age increases with small reductions in precipitation. Work stresses the need to explore alternative methods characterizing bedrock properties in mountain basins to better quantify deeper groundwater flow and predict their hydrologic response to change.
Building connective democracy : Interdisciplinary solutions to the problem of polarisation

This chapter utilizes connective democracy – a new approach that seeks to reduce divisiveness and promotes constructive discursive spaces – as a lens for understanding the problem, with an orientation towards bridging societal and political divides. Connective democracy is a new way of thinking about the problem of polarisation. Rather than focusing on the nature and consequences of the problem, connective democracy asks scholars to think about solutions that bridge societal and political divides. In the context of affective polarisation, however, the most promising type of intergroup contact may be mediated intergroup contact, which happens when people see sympathetic out-group members on TV or hear positive intergroup interactions on the radio. Priming superordinate identities is promising, but if national identity is primed, it can exacerbate the polarisation of attitudes towards people of other nationalities. A successful in-person intervention building on interpersonal contact theory may work for the 40 people involved, but the extent of polarisation requires more far-reaching ideas.
Breeding for Climate Change Resilience: A Case Study of Loblolly Pine ( Pinus taeda L.) in North America.

Earth’s atmosphere is warming and the effects of climate change are becoming evident. A key observation is that both the average levels and the variability of temperature and precipitation are changing. Information and data from new technologies are developing in parallel to provide multidisciplinary opportunities to address and overcome the consequences of these changes in forest ecosystems. Changes in temperature and water availability impose multidimensional environmental constraints that trigger changes from the molecular to the forest stand level. These can represent a threat for the normal development of the tree from early seedling recruitment to adulthood both through direct mortality, and by increasing susceptibility to pathogens, insect attack, and fire damage. This review summarizes the strengths and shortcomings of previous work in the areas of genetic variation related to cold and drought stress in forest species with particular emphasis on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), the most-planted tree species in North America. We describe and discuss the implementation of management and breeding strategies to increase resilience and adaptation, and discuss how new technologies in the areas of engineering and genomics are shaping the future of phenotype-genotype studies. Lessons learned from the study of species important in intensively-managed forest ecosystems may also prove to be of value in helping less-intensively managed forest ecosystems adapt to climate change, thereby increasing the sustainability and resilience of forestlands for the future.
Political message matching and green behaviors: Strengths and boundary conditions for promoting high-impact behavioral change

Abstract Matching messages to characteristics of individuals is a frequently used technique in persuasion research. However, these interventions rarely target high-impact, difficult sustainability behaviors. In four studies, we present participants with persuasive messages consistent (or inconsistent) with their political beliefs; these messages advocate for a variety of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors (e.g., voting, diet). Generally, we find that messages consistent with an individual's political orientation elicit more pro-environmental attitudes and behavioral intentions, but these matching effects are limited only to the attitudinal and behavioral domains specifically mentioned in the message (i.e. there is no spillover into other attitudinal or behavioral domains). Practical implications and future directions are discussed.
A Floxed exon (Flexon) approach to Cre-mediated conditional gene expression

Conditional gene expression allows for genes to be manipulated and lineages to be marked during development. In the established "lox-stop-lox" approach, Cre-mediated tissue-specific gene expression is achieved by excising the stop cassette, a lox-flanked translational stop that is inserted into the 5' untranslated region of a gene to halt its expression. Although lox-stop-lox has been successfully used in many experimental systems, the design of traditional stop cassettes also has common issues and limitations. Here, we describe the Floxed exon (Flexon), a stop cassette within an artificial exon that can be inserted flexibly into the coding region of any gene to cause premature termination of translation and nonsense-mediated decay of the mRNA. We demonstrate its efficacy in C. elegans by showing that, when promoters that cause weak and/or transient cell-specific expression are used to drive Cre in combination with a gfp(flexon) transgene, strong and sustained expression is obtained in specific lineages. We also describe several potential additional applications for using Flexon for developmental studies, including more precise control of gene expression using intersectional methods, tissue-specific protein degradation or RNAi, and generation of genetic mosaics. The Flexon approach should be feasible in any system where any site-specific recombination-based method may be applied. Summary statementThe Floxed exon (Flexon), a stop cassette that can be inserted flexibly into the coding region of any gene, facilitates Cre-mediated conditional gene expression.
Mapping Neural Circuit Biotypes to Symptoms and Behavioral Dimensions of Depression and Anxiety.

Abstract Background Despite tremendous advances in characterizing human neural circuits that govern emotional and cognitive functions impaired in depression and anxiety, we lack a circuit-based taxonomy for depression and anxiety that captures transdiagnostic heterogeneity and informs clinical decision making. Methods We developed and tested a novel system for quantifying 6 brain circuits reproducibly and at the individual patient level. We implemented standardized circuit definitions relative to a healthy reference sample and algorithms to generate circuit clinical scores for the overall circuit and its constituent regions. Results In new data from primary and generalizability samples of depression and anxiety (N = 250), we demonstrated that overall disconnections within task-free salience and default mode circuits map onto symptoms of anxious avoidance, loss of pleasure, threat dysregulation, and negative emotional biases—core characteristics that transcend diagnoses—and poorer daily function. Regional dysfunctions within task-evoked cognitive control and affective circuits may implicate symptoms of cognitive and valence-congruent emotional functions. Circuit dysfunction scores also distinguished response to antidepressant and behavioral intervention treatments in an independent sample (n = 205). Conclusions Our findings articulate circuit dimensions that relate to transdiagnostic symptoms across mood and anxiety disorders. Our novel system offers a foundation for deploying standardized circuit assessments across research groups, trials, and clinics to advance more precise classifications and treatment targets for psychiatry.
Explainable Unsupervised Machine Learning for Cyber-Physical Systems

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) play a critical role in our modern infrastructure due to their capability to connect computing resources with physical systems. As such, topics such as reliability, performance, and security of CPSs continue to receive increased attention from the research community. CPSs produce massive amounts of data, creating opportunities to use predictive Machine Learning (ML) models for performance monitoring and optimization, preventive maintenance, and threat detection. However, the “black-box” nature of complex ML models is a drawback when used in safety-critical systems such as CPSs. While explainable ML has been an active research area in recent years, much of the work has been focused on supervised learning. As CPSs rapidly produce massive amounts of unlabeled data, relying on supervised learning alone is not sufficient for data-driven decision making in CPSs. Therefore, if we are to maximize the use of ML in CPSs, it is necessary to have explainable unsupervised ML models. In this paper, we outline how unsupervised explainable ML could be used within CPSs. We review the existing work in unsupervised ML, present initial desiderata of explainable unsupervised ML for CPS, and present a Self-Organizing Maps based explainable clustering methodology which generates global and local explanations. We evaluate the fidelity of the generated explanations using feature perturbation techniques. The results show that the proposed method identifies the most important features responsible for the decision-making process of Self-organizing Maps. Further, we demonstrated that explainable Self-Organizing Maps are a strong candidate for explainable unsupervised machine learning by comparing its model capabilities and limitations with current explainable unsupervised methods.
Fixing the Plumbing: Asset Management, Clean Energy Technology, and the Valley of Death

This chapter diagnoses the hurdles faced by companies seeking financing to develop and deploy clean energy technology. We trace the historical development of the specialized strategies and firms that displaced banks as financial intermediaries. We then examine the path of a hypothetical innovative clean technology company moving through the financial lifecycle from venture capital to project finance and growth equity to illustrate the various hurdles. Finally, we review several approaches to financial innovation and public action that may speed the path to greater innovation. We conclude, however, that financial innovation typically follows industrial innovation as financial systems adapt existing tools and methods to new technologies and processes.
In-Vitro Cytotoxicity and Clinical Correlates of MRSA Bacteremia.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. MRSA secretes a number of virulence factors and pore-forming toxins that enable tissue invasion. Prior studies have found associations between decreased toxin production and poor outcomes in invasive MRSA infection, particularly in pneumonia. In this retrospective observational cohort study of MRSA bacteremia in adult patients 2007-2015, we examined whether cytotoxicity was associated with 30-day mortality. Isolates were obtained from 776 patients and screened for cytotoxicity in a human HL-60 cell model, antimicrobial susceptibility and spa type, and clinical data were abstracted from charts. We did not find an association between low cytotoxic activity and 30-day mortality in univariate logistic regression analyses. There was a difference in distribution of the genotypes across cytotoxicity phenotypes, with spa-CC008 accounting for a larger proportion of isolates in the high cytotoxicity group. Isolates with a skin and soft tissue primary infective site had a higher median cytotoxicity. There was no association between cytotoxicity and host factors such as age or comorbidity burden. The isolates in our study came from heterogeneous primary sites of infection and were predominantly from spa-CC002 and spa-CC008 lineages, so it is possible that findings in prior studies reflect a different distribution in genotypes and clinical syndromes. Overall, in this large study of cytotoxicity of MRSA bloodstream isolates, we did not find the low cytotoxicity phenotype to be predictive of poor outcomes in MRSA bacteremia.
Electronic structure of ordered and disordered Cu3Au and Cu3Pd.

In ordered L${1}_{2}$-type ${\mathit{A}}_{3}$B compounds, each A atom is coordinated by 8A+4B atoms, while each B atom is coordinated by 12A atoms. By symmetry, all A-A, A-B, and B-B bond lengths are equal. When this structure disorders to form the substitutionally random ${\mathit{A}}_{0.75}$${\mathit{B}}_{0.25}$ alloy, each atom acquires a distribution of different types of coordination shells. Concomitantly with this reduction in site symmetries, (i) topologically different A atoms (and separately, different B atoms) can have unequal charges, and (ii) the various bonds need not be of equal average lengths 〈R〉 (i.e., 〈${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{A}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{A}}$〉\ensuremath{\ne}〈${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{A}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{B}}$〉\ensuremath{\ne} 〈${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{B}\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}\mathit{B}}$〉). Furthermore, (iii) there can be a distribution of bond-length values around 〈${\mathit{R}}_{\mathit{i}\mathit{j}}$〉 for each of the three chemical bond types. In this work we study the effects of such charge fluctuations (i) and relaxational fluctuations [(ii) and (iii)] on the electronic structure of ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$Au and ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}$Pd. The random alloys are modeled by the special quasirandom structure (SQS), whereby the sites of a periodic supercell are occupied by A and B atoms so that the first few radial correlation functions closely reproduce the average correlation functions in an infinite substitutional random network. Instead of requiring that each atom ``see'' an identical, average medium, as is the case in the homogeneous site-coherent-potential approximation (SCPA), we thus create a distribution of distinct local environments whose average corresponds to the random alloy.Application of a first-principles local-density method (linearized augmented-plane-wave method) to the SQS then provides the energy-minimizing equilibrium relaxations, charge density, density of states, and formation enthalpy. We find that charge and relaxational fluctuations neglected in the SCPA lead to a significant stabilization of the alloy (\ensuremath{\sim}30% lowering in mixing enthalpy) and to substantial (\ensuremath{\sim}1 eV) nonrigid shifts in the electronic energy levels.
Enhancement of Eu2+ Luminescence in BaO-SiO2 Compounds Through Composition Modification

ABSTRACT Phosphors of Eu2+-doped BaO-SiO2 compounds composed of a major BaSiO3 phase and a minor Ba2SiO4 phase were synthesized by a solid-state method at 1200°C under CO atmosphere. An enhancement of the photoluminescence of Eu2+ up to 18 times has been achieved by mixing ZnO into the composition. The composition-optimized phosphor emits bright yellow–green luminescence with excitation between 380 and 420 nm, indicating potential of application in AlGaN-based UV-LEDs. Under the similar synthesis and measurement conditions, the emission band of the optimized phosphor is more intense and has stronger red component than that of Ba2SiO4:Eu2+. Our experimental results suggest that the addition of ZnO may retain and stabilize Eu2+ in BaSiO3 crystalline lattice and thus may enhance the 5d-4f luminescence and eliminate Eu3+ 4f-4f transition.
Warming up storage-level caches with bonfire

Large caches in storage servers have become essential for meeting service levels required by applications. These caches need to be warmed with data often today due to various scenarios including dynamic creation of cache space and server restarts that clear cache contents. When large storage caches are warmed at the rate of application I/O, warmup can take hours or even days, thus affecting both application performance and server load over a long period of time.We have created Bonfire, a mechanism for accelerating cache warmup. Bonfire monitors storage server workloads, logs important warmup data, and efficiently preloads storage-level caches with warmup data. Bonfire is based on our detailed analysis of block-level data-center traces that provides insights into heuristics for warmup as well as the potential for efficient mechanisms. We show through both simulation and trace replay that Bonfire reduces both warmup time and backend server load significantly, compared to a cache that is warmed up on demand.
A necessary and sufficient condition for the testability of hybrid circuits

A unified theory of testing for general systems in a system theoretic setting is presented. It can be applied to digital, analog, and analog/digital hybrid systems. The theory is compared with known results for the classical and nonclassical faults of logic circuits. In the latter case, a maximum length for the test sequences is given for the general case of nonclassical faults. An illustrative example of a nonlinear analog/digital hybrid system is presented. >
The nonclassical diffusion approximation to the nonclassical linear Boltzmann equation

Abstract We show that, by correctly selecting the probability distribution function p ( s ) for a particle’s distance-to-collision, the nonclassical diffusion equation can be represented exactly by the nonclassical linear Boltzmann equation for an infinite homogeneous medium. This choice of p ( s ) preserves the true mean-squared free path of the system, which sheds new light on the results obtained in previous work.
Effects of age on follicular fluid exosomal microRNAs and granulosa cell transforming growth factor-β signalling during follicle development in the mare

Age-related decline in fertility is a consequence of low oocyte number and/or low oocyte competence resulting in pregnancy failure. Transforming growth factor (TGF)-β signalling is a well-studied pathway involved in follicular development and ovulation. Recently, small non-coding RNAs, namely microRNAs (miRNAs), have been demonstrated to regulate several members of this pathway; miRNAs are secreted inside small cell-secreted vesicles called exosomes. The overall goal of the present study was to determine whether altered exosome miRNA content in follicular fluid from old mares is associated with changes in TGF-β signalling in granulosa cells during follicle development. Follicular fluid was collected at deviation (n=6), mid-oestrus (n=6) and preovulation (n=6) for identification of exosomal miRNAs from young (3-12 years) and old (20-26 years) mares. Analysis of selected TGF-β signalling members revealed significantly increased levels of interleukin 6 (IL6) in granulosa cells from mid-oestrus compared with preovulatory follicles, and collagen alpha-2(I) chain (COL1A2) in granulosa cells from deviation compared with preovulatory follicles in young mares. In addition, granulosa cells from old mares had significantly altered levels of DNA-binding protein inhibitor ID-2 (ID2), signal transducer and activator of transcription 1 (STAT1) and cell division cycle 25A (CDC25A). Finally, changes in exosomal miRNA predicted to target selected TGF-β members were identified.
Scheduling Strategies for a Decentralized Object-Oriented CIM Control System

This article presents the results of using an object-oriented design and implementation to create a fully decentralized computer-integrated manufacturing system. The intelligence of the resulting system, called DOOCIMS, is dispersed among a single layer of processing cells, allowing the system a greater ability to adapt to changes in system configuration. A necessary component of the design is a scheduling strategy for the movement of physical and logical objects through the system. Two scheduling strategies are proposed and compared for DOOCIMS. The potential robustness of this type of system stems from the redistribution of coordinating intelligence from a central controller to the mobile objects. Addition or removal of nodes is completely dynamic as all scheduling and negotiations take place only as needed without the services of a central controller. Therefore, no single failure can completely immediately halt such a system except for failures of unique nodes and global network media failures.
Detection of imperfectly synchronized data streams in physical layer network coding

Physical Layer Network Coding (PLNC) allows the exchange of data packets in a two-way relay channel with higher spectral efficiency than traditional network coding (NC). This paper considers the effect that the choice of pulse shape has on the amount of time synchronism needed between the two users in a PLNC system. It is shown that the choice of pulse shape effects both the performance and the complexity of the receiver at the relay node. Furthermore, it is seen that regardless of what pulse shape is used, there must be some level of time synchronization between the two users to avoid substantial performance loss.
Inhibition of polymerization of polyvinyl siloxanes by medicaments used on gingival retraction cords

Inhibition of polymerization of polyvinyl siloxane materials by latex products is well documented. It is thought to be caused by contamination of the chloroplatinic acid catalyst by sulfur compounds. Many medicaments, such as aluminum sulfate and ferric sulfate, used on gingival retraction cords have been accused of causing inhibition of set of polyvinyl siloxane materials. Several of these medicaments were tested with two polyvinyl siloxanes and found not to cause any inhibition of set.
Mutual shading effect on algal distribution: a nonlinear problem

On demontre l'existence d'une solution globale positive unique pour des equations de diffusions non lineaires par des techniques de semigroupes
Shock Fluctuations in the Two-Dimensional Asymmetric Simple Exclusion Process

We study via computer simulations (using various serial and parallel updating techniques) the time evolution of shocks, particularly the shock width a(t), in several versions of the two-dimensional asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP). The basic dynamics of this process consists of particles jumping inde- pendently to empty neighboring lattice sites with rates Pup = Pdown = Pand Pleft < Pright" If the system is initially divided into two regions with densities Pleft < Prigttt, the boundary between the two regions corresponds to a shock front. Macroscopically the shock remains sharp and moves with a constant velocity Vshoek=(Pright--Pleft)( 1 --Pleft--Pright)" We find that microscopic fluctuations cause cr to grow as t ~, fl ~ 1/4. This is consistent with theoretical expectations. We also study the nonequilibrium stationary states of the ASEP on a periodic lattice, where we break translation invariance by reducing the jump rates across the bonds between two neighboring columns of the system by a factor r. We find that for fixed overall density Pavg and reduction factor r sufficiently small (depending on Pavg and the jump rates) the system segregates into two regions with densities p~ and p2= 1-p~, where these densities do not depend on the overall density Pavg" The boundary between the two regions is again macro- scopically sharp. We examine the shock width and the variance in the shock position in the stationary state, paying particular attention to the scaling of these quantities with system size. This scaling behavior shows many of the same features as the time-dependent scaling discussed above, providing an alternate determination of the result fl ,~ 1/4.
Nomegestrol acetate-17b-estradiol for oral contraception

Oral contraceptives remain a popular method of contraception over 50 years after their introduction. While safe and effective for many women, the failure rate of oral contraception is about 8%. Concerns about the risk of venous thromboembolism continue to drive the search for the safest oral contraceptive formulations. The oral contraceptive NOMAC-E2 contains nomegestrol acetate (NOMAC) 2.5 mg + 17b-estradiol (E2) 1.5 mg. The approved dosing regimen is 24 days of active hormone, followed by a 4-day hormone-free interval. NOMAC is a progestin derived from testosterone, which has high bioavailability, rapid absorption, and a long half-life. Estradiol, though it has a lower bioavailability, has been successfully combined with NOMAC in a monophasic oral contraceptive. Two recently published randomized controlled trials demonstrate that NOMAC-E2 is an effective contraceptive, with a Pearl Index less than one pregnancy per 100 woman-years. The bleeding pattern on NOMAC-E2 is characterized by fewer bleeding/spotting days, shorter withdrawal bleeds, and a higher incidence of amenorrhea than the comparator oral contraceptive containing drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. The adverse event profile appears to be acceptable. Few severe adverse events were reported in the randomized controlled trials. The most common adverse events were irregular bleeding, acne, and weight gain. Preliminary studies suggest that NOMAC-E2 does not seem to have negative effects on hemostatic and metabolic parameters. While no one oral contraceptive formulation is likely to be the optimum choice for all women, NOMAC-E2 is a formulation with effectiveness comparable with that of other oral contraceptives, and a reassuring safety profile.
Elastic interaction between adatoms near a distortive phase transition

Abstract The indirect elastic interaction between two adatoms on substrates with a very small shear modulus such as V3Si and Nb3Sn near the transformation temperature TM is calculated. As the temperature decreases towards TM, the shear moduli of these materials go to zero, and the strength of the interaction increases dramatically. The interaction is strongly attractive if the adatoms are aligned along a cube axis and repulsive if they are at 45° to the axis.
The Epidemiology of Status Epilepticus in the United States

Objective To summarize trends in status epilepticus (SE) in the United States by age, race, sex, admission source, disposition, incidence rates, and mortality.
Glycosylation-related genes in NS0 cells are insensitive to moderately elevated ammonium concentrations.

NS0 and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines are used to produce recombinant proteins for human therapeutics; however, ammonium accumulation can negatively impact cell growth, recombinant protein production, and protein glycosylation. To improve product quality and decrease costs, the relationship between ammonium and protein glycosylation needs to be elucidated. While ammonium has been shown to adversely affect glycosylation-related gene expression in CHO cells, NS0 studies have not been performed. Therefore, this study sought to determine if glycosylation in NS0 cells were ammonium-sensitive at the gene expression level. Using a DNA microarray that contained mouse glycosylation-related and housekeeping genes, these genes were analyzed in response to various culture conditions – elevated ammonium, elevated salt, and elevated ammonium with proline. Surprisingly, no significant differences in gene expression levels were observed between the control and these conditions. Further, the elevated ammonium cultures were analyzed using real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) for key glycosylation genes, and the qRT-PCR results corroborated the DNA microarray results, demonstrating that NS0 cells are ammonium-insensitive at the gene expression level. Since NS0 are known to have elevated nucleotide sugar pools under ammonium stress, and none of the genes directly responsible for these metabolic pools were changed, consequently cellular control at the translational or substrate-level must be responsible for the universally observed decreased glycosylation quality under elevated ammonium.
Preshaping photoresist for refractive microlens array fabrication

Refractive microlenses are fabricated by the P2ROM (Preshaped Photoresist Refractive Optics by Melting) process. A polar coordinate HeCd laser beam lithography system (laser writer) is used to directly expose a continuous spheroidal profile into photoresist to fabricate 200 micrometers diameter microlenses with speeds between F/1.5 and F/5. Interferometric surface measurements, used to determine optical quality of the preshaped microlenses, indicate reduced spherical aberration in slow lenses fabricated by this method.
Detection of basal levels and induction of delta opioid receptor mRNA in murine splenocytes

Activation of delta opioid receptors (DOR) modulates calcium mobilization, interleukin-2 production, chemotaxis and proliferation of T-lymphocytes. Recent reports indicate that lymphocytes and mononuclear cells may express mRNA transcripts for DOR. The investigations reported herein show that low levels of DOR were consistently detected by RT-PCR amplification of RNA from freshly obtained Balb/c murine splenocytes, both weanling and adult. Culturing cells without stimulation increased DOR levels and concanavalin A apparently reduced this; DOR was preferentially expressed in a T-cell-enriched fraction. Thus, the expression of DOR mRNA by unactivated splenocytes is modulated by culture and con A in the T-cell fraction.
On the Teichmüller-Wittich-Belinskii Theorem

A survey which highlights this theorem’s impact on value-distribution theory. An application is made to asymptotic values of entire functions, which shows some limitations of the method.
An analysis of the effect of intravitreal blood on visual acuity.

We investigated the effect of diffuse hemorrhage on Snellen visual acuity in a model of vitreous hemorrhage in phakic and aphakic eyes. Two cylindrical test chambers with optical paths of 17 mm and 23 mm were constructed to simulate the effect of vitreous hemorrhage in phakic and aphakic eyes. The visual acuity was measured in two subjects in a double-masked fashion for 17 dilutions of whole blood between 1/100 and 1/12,800. The visual acuity decreased approximately linearly between the 1/800 and 1/4,800 dilutions of blood. The visual acuity was 20/20 in all dilutions of blood higher than 1/4,800. The visual acuity was reduced to hand motions or worse with 12.5 μl of blood in the 5-ml test chamber under all test conditions. The visual acuity was 20/20 in all tests with 1.04 μl of blood in the test chamber. The visual acuity decreased from 20/20 to hand motions with only a twelvefold change in concentration of blood in the test chamber.
Three subunits contribute amino acids to the active site of tetrameric adenylosuccinate lyase: Lys268 and Glu275 are required.

Tetrameric adenylosuccinate lyase (ASL) of Bacillus subtilis catalyzes the cleavage of adenylosuccinate to form AMP and fumarate. We previously reported that two distinct subunits contribute residues to each active site, including the His68 and His89 from one and His141 from a second subunit [Brosius, J. L., and Colman, R. F. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 13336−13343]. Glu275 is 2.8 A from His141 in the ASL crystal structure, and Lys268 is also in the active site region; Glu275 and Lys268 come from a third, distinct subunit. Using site-directed mutagenesis, we have replaced Lys268 by Arg, Gln, Glu, and Ala, with specific activities of the purified mutant enzymes being 0.055, 0.00069, 0.00028, and 0.0, respectively, compared to 1.56 units/mg for wild-type (WT) enzyme. Glu275 was substituted by Gln, Asp, Ala, and Arg; none of these homogeneous mutant enzymes has detectable activity. Circular dichroism and light scattering reveal that neither the secondary structure nor the oligomeric state of the Lys268 mutant en...
Gleason grading after neoadjuvant hormonal therapy retains prognostic value for systemic progression following radical prostatectomy

The Gleason grading system in prostatectomy specimens following receipt of neoadjuvant therapy has been considered inaccurate. However, with continuing expansion of novel therapeutics, it is important to understand whether the Gleason system can be effectively utilized in this setting. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of the Gleason grading system to predict systemic progression among prostatectomy specimens treated with neoadjuvant hormone therapy (NHT). This was a single-institution retrospective analysis from 1987 to 2009 of 13 427 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) without NHT and 1148 patients with NHT. NHT consisted of leuprolide alone (n=415), antiandrogen therapy alone (n=400) and combined treatment (n=333). Kaplan–Meier analysis estimated 15-year systemic progression-free survival among NHT and non-NHT patients. Cox proportional hazard regression models estimated risk of systemic progression following RP according to NHT use and nonuse. Median duration of NHT was 3 months (interquartile range (IQR) 2–4) whereas median follow-up after RP was 8.3 years (IQR 5–10.8). NHT patients were more likely to be D’Amico high risk, have locally advanced pathologic T stage (≥pT3), pathologic Gleason scores (GS) of 8–10 and lymph node involvement (P<0.0001 for all). NHT use was associated with lower rates of positive surgical margins, more downgrading to pT0 and less GS upgrading from biopsy (P≤0.001 for all). GS could not be assigned to only 3% of NHT patients. On multivariate analysis, pathologic GS remained a predictor of systemic progression (SP) following NHT (hazard ratio (HR) 1.6, P=0.005), but the association was less strong compared with non-NHT patients (HR 2.9, P<0.0001). Utilization of the Gleason system appears feasible among hormonally pretreated prostatectomy specimens and shows continued prognostication for systemic progression. Confirmatory investigations are needed before the Gleason system can be reliably applied in the setting of neoadjuvant therapy.
A new achievable rate region for the discrete memoryless multiple-access channel with feedback

A single-letter achievable rate region for the two-user discrete memoryless multiple-access channel is proposed. The rate region includes the Cover-Leung region [1], and it is shown that the inclusion is strict. The proof uses a block-Markov superposition strategy based on the observation that the messages of the two users are correlated given the feedback. The rates of transmission are too high for each encoder to decode the other's message directly using the feedback, so they transmit correlated information in the next block in order to learn the message of one another. They then cooperate in the following block to resolve the residual uncertainty of the decoder. Our scheme may be viewed as a natural generalization of the Cover-Leung scheme with a delay of one extra block and a pair of additional auxiliary random variables. The scheme can also be extended to obtain larger rate-regions with more auxiliary random variables.
6-Hydroxydopamine lesion of ventral pallidum blocks acquisition of place preference conditioning to cocaine.

In parallel with nucleus accumbens (NAS), ventral pallidum (VP) also receives a dopaminergic projection from the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The present study examined the involvement of this mesopallidal dopaminergic system in the action of cocaine. In the first experiment, the effect of cocaine injections on VP dopamine was examined by microdialysis. Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of cocaine 5-20 mg/kg dose-dependently increased the extracellular dopamine level in VP 2.5-4.5-fold. In addition, intra-VP perfusion of 20 microM cocaine induced a 12-fold increase of dopamine locally. The second experiment examined the role of VP dopamine in cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) and locomotor activation. Rats received bilateral intra-VP injections of 3-4 microg 6-OHDA or ascorbic acid vehicle in 0.5 microl volume. Tissue assays indicated that the 6-OHDA-lesioned rats had significantly lowered dopamine concentration in VP, but not in NAS or striatum. As a group, 6-OHDA lesions blocked the development of CPP to 5 mg/kg cocaine but not to 10 mg/kg cocaine. However, rats with more than 60% depletion in VP dopamine did not develop CPP to cocaine at either dose. Preference for the cocaine-paired side correlated significantly with dopamine concentration in VP, but not in NAS or striatum. It was concluded that VP dopamine may play a critical role in the initial rewarding effect of cocaine. 6-OHDA lesions also blocked locomotor activation induced by 5 mg/kg cocaine but had no effect on 10 mg/kg cocaine-induced locomotion. Dopamine concentration in VP did not correlate with the locomotor activation response to cocaine at either dose. These findings further establish the involvement of the mesopallidal dopaminergic system in the action of cocaine.
Regulation of the SM-20 prolyl hydroxylase gene in smooth muscle cells.

Abstract SM-20 encodes an intracellular prolyl hydroxylase that acts on hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α, targeting it for proteasomal degradation. By decreasing HIF-α, SM-20 is thought to modulate the expression of hypoxia-regulated genes. SM-20 expression in the arterial wall is restricted to smooth muscle cells, which play a critical role in atherosclerosis and arterial injury. To further elucidate the regulation of SM-20 in smooth muscle, we cloned and analyzed the rat SM-20 promoter. In transient transfections, the SM-20 promoter displayed ≈6-fold greater activity in smooth muscle cells vs. fibroblasts. Deletion analysis and electrophoretic mobility shift assays demonstrated that SM-20 transcription was regulated by two Sp1/Sp3 sites. A shift in binding to the Sp1/Sp3 sites, a decrease in Sp1 and Sp3 protein levels, and the emergence of a lower molecular weight form of Sp1 were seen in serum-deprived or post-confluent SMC, suggesting that SM-20 is regulated during smooth muscle cell differentiation.
Dynamic load balancing on a network of workstations for solving computational fluid dynamics problems

Abstract Distributed computing on a network of computer workstations is being considered as a practical tool for parallel CFD applications. Presently, workstations are commonly arranged in the dedicated, single-user mode for executing such computations. Since workstations are generally employed in a multi-user environment, running the workstations in the dedicated mode causes scheduling problems for system administrators and inconvenience to other users. A methodology is presented in this paper for dynamic balancing of the computation load on a network of multi-user computers for parallel computing applications. In order to distribute the computation load in a multi-user environment, it becomes necessary to determine the effective speed of a multi-user workstation to a parallel application. In the present approach, it was assumed that (i) multi-user and multi-tasking networked computers may have different computation speeds, (ii) application data can be divided into many small data blocks with possibly different sizes, (iii) a process is assigned to each block, and (iv) the number of computers is much less than the number of processes. The developed dynamic load balancing procedure uses the greedy method for optimizing computation load distribution. Due to dynamic changes of the computer loads in a multi-user and multi-tasking environment, the loads on computers are periodically examined and parallel application processes may be re-distributed to reduce the computation time. The developed method has been tested on two computer clusters and its applicability has been demonstrated for two case studies.
Load Controller for Constant Speed Drive for Parallel Aircraft Electrical Systems

This paper discusses the design of a realload controller for an airborne four generator parallel system. In addition to providing an electric trim for the hydraulic constant speed drive governor, the controller transfer function is shaped to introduce the required compensation for parallel system stability. A lag-lead-lag transient function, having rather large time constants, is generated solely by using the control winding interactions of full wave magnetic amplifiers. This results in improved performance over wider temperature ranges than is practical with designs using resistor-capacitor networks.
Transport of drug particles in micropumps through novel actuation

Micropumps with various types of actuations have been used in lab-on-a-chip devices. In order to control the delivery of drug particles both in space and time and avoid clogging, other types of actuation mechanisms may be needed. In this study, a valveless micropump with novel actuation is proposed to transport particles for biomedical and environmental applications. The transport of drug particles through the designed valveless micropump is carried out through computational fluid dynamics combined with discrete particle transport methods. After convergence studies, the effects of actuation frequency, particle size and the resident times on the particle transport are investigated. Interestingly, both the actuation frequency and particle size have a strong effect in terms of resident times and the spatial distribution of the transported particles through the designed micropump. Based on the results obtained, the relationship between actuation frequency, fluid flow, and particle transport through the designed micropump is presented. The computational analysis presented demonstrates that it is possible to optimize the proposed valveless micropump design for specific delivery of drug particles for separation and sorting applications.
Concanavalin A-induced transformation of mononuclear cells: Influence of plasma from patients receiving anti-inflammatory agents

SummaryThe effects of plasma from patients with spondyloarthropathies on Con A-induced transformation of PBMC from normal individuals were evaluated. Plasma from untreated patients did not produce a significant difference in responsiveness when compared with normal autologous plasma, while plasma from patients treated with phenylbutazone caused a significant decrease in PBMC responsiveness. It is not clear whether this phenomenon is mediated by effects on prostaglandin metabolism or through other mechanisms.The authors wish to thank Dr. Arnold Powell for his advice and Ms. Ann Brandt for her help in the preparation of the manuscript. These studies were supported by the Irma H. Bender Arthritis Research Fund.
Technologies to Detect Concealed Weapons: Fourth Amendment Limits on a New Public Health and Law Enforcement Tool

Firearm violence is a major public health problem in the United States. In 2000, firearms were used in 10,801 homicides – two-thirds of all homicides in the U.S. – and 533,470 non-fatal criminal victimizations including rapes, robberies, and assaults. The social costs of gun violence in the United States are also staggering, and have been estimated to be on the order of $100 billion per year. Illegal gun carrying, usually concealed, in public places is an important risk factor for firearm-related crime. In the 1980s and 1990s, police departments across the country began to develop and implement strategies to address illegal weapons carrying. Often these strategies have involved aggressive efforts to identify and physically search individuals suspected of illegally carrying a firearm.
Assessing the Trends and Challenges of Teaching Marketing Abroad: A Delphi Approach.

The past 20 years have seen a growth in the teaching of marketing in business schools around the world. This article reports the trends and challenges that will face U.S. marketing educators teaching abroad over the next 10 years. Predictions are from a Delphi panel of U.S. marketing educators experienced in teaching marketing abroad to non-U.S. students who are predominately natives of the host country. The Delphi panelists predict that growing global expansion of non-U.S. business schools will limit the opportunities for U.S. marketing educators to teach abroad, as educators at the host schools will teach more of their own native students. In addition, increasingly demanding students who enroll in marketing programs around the world will require U.S. marketing educators to tailor course content to include local marketing practices, accommodate different learning styles, and use teaching methods preferred by native students in delivering their courses.
Wounds of war in the civilian sector: principles of treatment and pitfalls to avoid (Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg (2014) 40:461-468).

I am deeply pleased having read in the EJTES August 2014 issue, L. Riddez’s paper on: Wounds of war in the civilian sector: principles of treatment and pitfalls to avoid (Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg (2014) 40:461–468). In a simple and clear language, the article details and precisely covers every aspect of so-called penetrating war wounds, focusing on what to do and what not to do. Ballistics, low and high energy wounds, triage, prehospital systems and management, hospital initial assessment, wound follow-up, are all analyzed; direct recommendations and pitfall avoidance on sectorial injuries are addressed, with strict adherence to Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) [1] principles.
Mixtures of Cationic Lipid O-Ethylphosphatidylcholine with Membrane Lipids and DNA: Phase Diagrams

Ethylphosphatidylcholines are positively charged membrane lipid derivatives, which effectively transfect DNA into cells and are metabolized by the cells. For this reason, they are promising nonviral transfection agents. With the aim of revealing the kinds of lipid phases that may arise when lipoplexes interact with cellular lipids during DNA transfection, temperature-composition phase diagrams of mixtures of the O-ethyldipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine with representatives of the major lipid classes (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, cholesterol) were constructed. Phase boundaries were determined using differential scanning calorimetry and synchrotron x-ray diffraction. The effects of ionic strength and of DNA presence were examined. A large variety of polymorphic and mesomorphic structures were observed. Surprisingly, marked enhancement of the affinity for nonlamellar phases was observed in mixtures with phosphatidylethanolamine and cholesterol as well as with phosphatidylglycerol (previously reported). Because of the potential relevance to transfection, it is noteworthy that such phases form at close to physiological conditions, and in the presence of DNA. All four mixtures exhibit a tendency to molecular clustering in the gel phase, presumably due to the specific interdigitated molecular arrangement of the O-ethyldipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine gel bilayers. It is evident that a remarkably broad array of lipid phases could arise in transfected cells and that these could have significant effects on transfection efficiency. The data may be particularly useful for selecting possible “helper” lipids in the lipoplex formulations, and in searches for correlations between lipoplex structure and transfection activity.