cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Bradykinin B2 receptors mediate pulmonary sympathetic afferents induced reflexes in rabbits.

Abstract Endogenous bradykinin (BK) is an established mediator of pulmonary inflammation, yet its role in lung disease is unclear. In the rabbit, injecting BK into the lung parenchyma elicits reflex hyperpnea, tachypnea, hypotension, and bradycardia by stimulating pulmonary sympathetic afferents. To further explore bradykinin effects, breathing pattern (phrenic nerve and abdominal muscle activities) and hemodynamics (blood pressure and heart rate) were examined in anesthetized, open-chest, and mechanically ventilated rabbits. Three receptor agonists [bradykinin, selective B1 (des-Arg9-BK), and selective B2 (Tyr8-BK)], as well as three B2 receptor antagonists, B6029 (N α-Adamantaneacetyl)-Bradykinin, B1650 ( d -Arg-[Hyp3, Thi5,8, d -Phe7]-Bradykinin, or Hoe-140 ( d -Arg-[Hyp3, Thi5, d -Tic7, Oic8] bradykinin), were used to identify the responsible receptor subtype. In both intact and vagotomized rabbits, injecting BK or a selective B2 agonist into the lung elicited similar cardiopulmonary responses. These reflex responses were greatly attenuated or blocked by pre-injecting B2 antagonists into the right atrium or into the lung parenchyma. In contrast, the B1 agonist elicited fewer cardiopulmonary effects in intact rabbits and had no effect in vagotomized rabbits. We conclude that BK stimulates pulmonary sympathetic afferents [Soukhova, G., Wang, Y., Ahmed, M., Walker, J., Yu, J., 2003. Bradykinin stimulates respiratory drive by activating pulmonary sympathetic afferents in the rabbit. J. Appl. Physiol. 95, 241–249.; Wang, Y., Soukhova, G., Proctor, M., Walker, J., Yu, J., 2003. Bradykinin causes hypotension by activating pulmonary sympathetic afferents in the rabbit. J. Appl. Physiol. 95, 233–240.], eliciting a characteristic cardiopulmonary reflex via B2 receptors.
Risk of recurrence after treatment of early breast cancer with skin-sparing mastectomy.

Background: Skin-sparing mastectomy, combined with immediate breast reconstruction, has become increasingly popular. However, there are no published long-term data to support its oncologic safety. Our purpose was to evaluate the long-term oncologic risk of skin-sparing mastectomy. Methods: The records of all patients who had undergone treatment of T1 or T2 breast cancer by mastectomy and immediate breast reconstruction, and who were followed for at least 5 years or developed recurrence of disease before that time were reviewed. Local and distant recurrence rates observed in patients treated by skin-sparing mastectomy were compared with those in patients treated by conventional, non-skin-sparing mastectomy. Results: A total of 104 patients were treated with skin-sparing mastectomies. In that group, 6.7% developed local recurrences, 12.5% developed distant metastases, 88.5% remained free of disease, and 7.7% died of their disease. Among the 27 patients who did not have skin-sparing mastectomies, 7.4% had local recurrences, 25.9% had distant metastases, 74.1% remained free of disease, and 18.5% died of disease. These recurrence rates are similar to those reported elsewhere after treatment with conventional mastectomy and without reconstruction. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that skin-sparing mastectomy does not significantly increase the risk of local or systemic disease recurrence in patients with early breast cancer.
The power motive in women―and men

Une reanalyse des donnees sur la question etudie les differences selon le sexe dans l'aspiration au pouvoir (mode d'activation, niveau moyen et relation avec des comportements impulsifs et agressifs)
87 IS THERE AN ANATOMICAL BASIS FOR SOME CASES OF SO CALLED “PERSISTENT FETAL CIRCULATION”?

87 IS THERE AN ANATOMICAL BASIS FOR SOME CASES OF SO CALLED “PERSISTENT FETAL CIRCULATION”?
Doubly Lopsided Mass Matrices from Supersymmetric SU(N) Unification

It is shown that in supersymmetric SU(N) models with N>5 the so-called 'doubly lopsided' mass matrix structure can emerge in a natural way. The nontrivial flavor structure is entirely accounted for by the SU(N) gauge symmetry and supersymmetry, without any 'flavor symmetry'. The hierarchy among the families results directly from a hierarchy of scales in the chain of breaking from SU(N) to the standard model group. A simple SU(7) example is presented.
Findings before diagnoses of asthma among the elderly in a longitudinal study of a general population sample

Forty elderly subjects who denied ever having asthma or emphysema on enrollment in a longitudinal epidemiologic study later reported consulting a doctor for asthma when they were older than 60 years of age. The average age at which the diagnosis was reported was 70.8 years, after a mean follow-up of 8.5 years. Findings on enrollment in the newly diagnosed subjects with asthma are compared with findings in the 1145 subjects who provided follow-up information when they were older than age 60 years but had never developed asthma. At the time of enrollment, most subjects later diagnosed as having asthma already had wheezing symptoms, suggesting at least a mild asthmatic state, and many subjects had impaired ventilatory function, a positive allergy skin test (especially in association with rhinitis), and blood eosinophilia. Thirty-five percent of the subjects recalled "respiratory trouble before age 16" despite denying prior asthma. The likelihood of a new asthma label was very closely related to the age-sex-standardized serum-IgE level before diagnosis. Newly diagnosed subjects with asthma demonstrated much greater rates of decline in FEV1 than control subjects or than subjects who already had known asthma on enrollment. We conclude that (1) symptoms suggesting asthma are usually present for many years before the diagnosis of the disease in elderly subjects, (2) the serum-IgE level is closely related to the likelihood of a subsequent asthma diagnosis, even in this age group, and (3) a rapid fall in lung function often occurs around the time of initial diagnosis.
Preterm birth results in alterations in neural connectivity at age 16 years

Abstract Very low birth weight preterm (PT) children are at high risk for brain injury. Employing diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we tested the hypothesis that PT adolescents would demonstrate microstructural white matter disorganization relative to term controls at 16 years of age. Forty-four PT subjects (600–1250 g birth weight) without neonatal brain injury and 41 term controls were evaluated at age 16 years with DTI, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—III (WISC), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised (PPVT), and the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP). PT subjects scored lower than term subjects on WISC full scale (p = 0.003), verbal (p = 0.043), and performance IQ tests (p = 0.001), as well as CTOPP phonological awareness (p = 0.004), but scored comparably to term subjects on PPVT and CTOPP Rapid Naming tests. PT subjects had lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values in multiple regions including bilateral uncinate fasciculi (left: p = 0.01; right: p = 0.004), bilateral external capsules (left: p These data support for the first time that dual pathways underlying language function are present in PT adolescents. The striking bilateral dorsal correlations for the PT group suggest that prematurely born subjects rely more heavily on the right hemisphere than typically developing adults for performance of phonological language tasks. These findings may represent either a delay in maturation or the engagement of alternative neural pathways for language in the developing PT brain.
A cumulative damage model to predict the fatigue life of composite laminates including the effect of a fibre-matrix interphase

Abstract Recent experimental efforts have established the significance of the fibre-matrix interface /interphase in the long-term behaviour of polymeric composites. Results indicate that small alterations at the interface level could translate into orders-of-magnitude changes in fatigue life. However, there is no model currently available in the literature to predict these changes. In this paper, a micromechanics model that includes the effects of the fibre-matrix interface is used in a simple cumulative damage scheme to predict the tensile fatigue behaviour of composite laminates. A new parameter called the ‘efficiency of the interface’ is used to model the degradation of the in terface under fatigue loading. A rate equation that describes the changes in interfacial efficiency as a function of cycles is estimated using experimentally determined stiffness reduction data. The influence of this interfacial efficiency parameter on the tensile strength of unidirectional laminates is assessed using a micromechanics model. The effect of damage on the stiffness of the laminate is estimated by solving a boundary value problem associated with the particular damage mode (e.g. transverse matrix cracking). The fatigue life of the laminate is estimated by considering changes in stiffness due to creep and damage in the subcritical elements, and changes in strength associated with the critical element (0° ply). The influence of a fibre-matrix interface is included in the model by considering the degradation in the interface (interfacial efficiency) under fatigue loading. Changes in the interface property are used in the micromechanics model to estimate changes in the in-situ tensile strength of the 0° ply. The stress state and the strength of the 0° ply, calculated including the effects of damage, are then used in a maximum strain failure criterion to determine the fatigue life of the laminate. Predictions from this model are compared with experimental data. The predicted fatigue life and failure modes agree very well with the experimental data.
Comparison between experimental and computational methods for the acoustic and thermal characterization of therapeutic ultrasound fields

For high intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) devices, pre-clinical testing can include measurement of power, pressure/intensity and temperature distribution, acoustic and thermal simulations, and assessment of targeting accuracy and treatment monitoring. Relevant International Electrotechnical Commission documents recently have been published. However, technical challenges remain because of the often focused, large amplitude pressure fields encountered. Measurement and modeling issues include using hydrophones and radiation force balances at HITU power levels, validation of simulation models, and tissue-mimicking material (TMM) development for temperature measurements. To better understand these issues, a comparison study was undertaken between simulations and measurements of the HITU acoustic field distribution in water and TMM and temperature rise in TMM. For the specific conditions of this study, the following results were obtained. In water, the simulated values for p+ and p− were 3% lower and 10% higher, respectively, than those measured by hydrophone. In TMM, the simulated values for p+ and p− were 2% and 10% higher than those measured by hydrophone, respectively. The simulated spatial-peak temporal-average intensity values in water and TMM were greater than those obtained by hydrophone by 3%. Simulated and measured end-of-sonication temperatures agreed to within their respective uncertainties (coefficients of variation of approximately 20% and 10%, respectively).
Comparison between established and the Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration staging systems.

Background Controversy exists regarding the optimal staging system for patients with gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma (GEJA). The Worldwide Esophageal Cancer Collaboration (WECC) has organized a multi-institutional database from which a novel esophageal staging system has been organized. We used a single institution experience to validate the hypothesis that the WECC system more accurately predicts survival in GEJA patients than both the American Joint Commission on Cancer 6th edition esophageal and gastric systems. Methods We reviewed 449 GEJA patients (Siewert I–III) treated with neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery or surgery-alone between 1990 and 2007. A blinded statistician performed a head-to-head comparison regarding the ability of each staging system to predict survival. A subgroup analysis of patients who underwent surgery only (n = 176) was also performed. Results All three systems predicted survival of patients with GEJA. However, a Bayesian variable selection model found that the WECC system was better than both American Joint Commission on Cancer esophageal and gastric systems (probability 0.99 and 0.98, respectively). Subset analysis suggested that the WECC staging was also optimum for predicting survival in surgery-alone patients. Conclusions While the esophageal staging system is better at predicting survival than the gastric staging system, the WECC system may be the most favorable single-system predictor of survival for patients with resected GEJA. As suggested by the WECC system, incorporating the number of positive lymph nodes within the staging system may present an advantage in predicting survival.
Moving Toward More Authentic Proof Practices in Geometry

Various stakeholders in mathematics education have called for increasing the role of reasoning and proving in the school mathematics curriculum. There is some evidence that these recommendations have been taken seriously by mathematics educators and textbook developers. However, if we are truly to realize this goal, we must pose problems to students that allow them to play a greater role in proving. We offer nine such problems and discuss how using multiple proof representations moves us toward more authentic proof practices in geometry.
Age and the Satisfactions from Work

This research documents age differences in the relative importance of intrinsic work satisfactions as determinants of the individual's sense of global well-being. Evidence of a decline in the importance of these intrinsic satisfactions for men during the later stages of labor force participation is not an artifact of lower levels of satisfaction. Rather, it appears that toward the end of the period of labor force participation, the satisfactions men derive from work are transferred from the actual experience of work to its consequences. The relevance of the results to early retirement policies is considered. Data used in the analysis come from the 1971 Quality of American Life survey. The national cross-sectional survey allows for comparison of the multivariate structure of life satisfactions among four age groups of labor force participants (i.e., 21-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64).
Role of Caspase 3-Dependent Bcl-2 Cleavage in Potentiation of Apoptosis by Bcl-2

Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that Bcl-2 has a proapoptotic effect on neocarzinostatin (NCS)-treated PC12 pheochromocytoma cells. In the present study, we examine the mechanisms of this effect and demonstrate its relevance for the in vivo situation. Four hours after NCS treatment, a 23-kDa cleavage product of Bcl-2 was detected in whole cell lysates of bcl-2-transfected PC12 cells. In contrast, bcl-2 transfection protected PC12 cells from cisplatin-induced apoptosis, and cisplatin treatment did not result in Bcl-2 cleavage. Similarly, Bcl-2 cleavage did not occur and Bcl-2-mediated protection from, rather than potentiation of apoptosis was observed after NCS treatment of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. The caspase 3-specific inhibitor Ac-DEVD-CHO prevented Bcl-2 cleavage and attenuated NCS-induced apoptosis in bcl-2-transfected PC12 cells, whereas it had no effect on NCS-induced apoptosis in mock-transfected PC12 cells. Furthermore, MCF-7 cells do not express caspase 3, a finding in concert with the lack of Bcl-2 cleavage in this line. In in vivo experiments, xenografts of bcl-2-transfected PC12 cells were more susceptible to NCS toxicity than were xenografts of mock-transfected PC12 cells. Caspase 3-mediated Bcl-2 cleavage therefore plays an important role in the potentiation by Bcl-2 of NCS-induced apoptosis.
Small‐angle x‐ray diffraction studies of plastically deformed polyethylene. II. Influence of draw temperature, draw ratio, annealing temperature, and time

The angular dependence of scattering intensity of drawn polyethylene (PE) was investigated with a small-angle Kratky camera. At constant drawing temperature the intensity drops drastically with increasing draw ratio; however, the position and the half-width of the first maximum remain nearly unchanged. The drop in intensity can be explained only by a reduction of effective electron density difference between amorphous and crystalline components. The latter contains more vacancies, and the former contains more and better packed tie molecules. This increases the average density of the amorphous layer and decreases that of the crystalline component. As the temperature of the drawing increases, the draw ratio attainable at the applied draw rate drops and the intensity of scattering and the long period rapidly increase. In addition, a second-order maximum appears, indicating a better order of lamellar stacking, in good agreement with electron microscopy. The first annealing effect is an extremely rapid increase in scattering intensity and long period. The subsequent increase is rather slow and proportional to the logarithm of annealing time. The long period in such an experiment is independent of the draw ratio; however, the scattering intensity depends on it quite strongly even after prolonged annealing.
Physically Developed and Exploratory Young Infants Contribute to Their Own Long-Term Academic Achievement:

A developmental cascade defines a longitudinal relation in which one psychological characteristic uniquely affects another psychological characteristic later in time, separately from other intrapersonal and extrapersonal factors. Here, we report results of a large-scale (N = 374), normative, prospective, 14-year longitudinal, multivariate, multisource, controlled study of a developmental cascade from infant motor-exploratory competence at 5 months to adolescent academic achievement at 14 years, through conceptually related and age-appropriate measures of psychometric intelligence at 4 and 10 years and academic achievement at 10 years. This developmental cascade applied equally to girls and boys and was independent of children's behavioral adjustment and social competence; mothers' supportive caregiving, verbal intelligence, education, and parenting knowledge; and the material home environment. Infants who were more motorically mature and who explored more actively at 5 months of age achieved higher academic levels as 14-year-olds.
Mechanism of La Crosse virus inhibition by ribavirin.

Abstract The effect of ribavirin on the growth and replication of La Crosse virus was examined. The data suggest that low concentrations of ribavirin have a marked effect on the initial steps of La Crosse virus transcription. The therapeutic potential of ribavirin in the treatment of human California encephalitis serotype infections is discussed in light of these findings.
Challenges in IPF diagnosis, current management and future perspectives: Patient case 2.

Patient presentation and diagnosis The patient is a 73-year-old male retired house painter and ex-smoker who was admitted to the respiratory medicine department of a district hospital in Greece due to the presence of streaks of blood in his sputum. His past medical history included coronary artery disease, arterial hypertension and supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). A high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed which showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes with evidence of fibrosis. [...]
Three load metrics for routing in ad hoc networks

Most existing routing protocols for mobile ad hoc networks are designed to search for the shortest path with minimum hop counts. However, the shortest routes do not always provide the best performance, especially when there are congested nodes along these routes. We investigate a load-aware routing protocol using three load metrics for route selection, which include MAC layer channel contention information, the number of packets in the interface queue, and the traditional hop count. Among these metrics, MAC layer contention information provides an accurate estimation of neighbor node activities, and queue length provides a measure of traffic load at the mobile node itself. Combined with the number of hops, this load-aware routing protocol can effectively balance the traffic and improve throughput within the ad hoc network. The impact of these three load metrics on the routing performance are studied, and simulations are conducted to validate our conclusions.
On Stochastic Analysis Approaches for Comparing Complex Systems

We compare two probabilistic approaches that have been proposed for the study and comparison of data obtained from experiment or simulations of a dynamical systems model. Both the approaches aim to carry out spectral analysis using a time-series data that is generated by a dynamical system. The first approach is based on constructing the so-called harmonic averages from the time-series data [1] and the second is an approach based on construction of a Markov chain from the data [2]. Results of the comparison using time-series data from a combustion model is provided.
The interaction of calmodulin with fluorescent and photoreactive model peptides: evidence for a short interdomain separation

Calmodulin is known to bind target enzymes and basic, amphiphilic peptides in a Ca2+-dependent manner. Recently, we introduced a photoaffinity label, p-benzoylphenylalanine (Bpa), into the sequence of a model, α-helical, calmodulin-binding peptide. When the Bpa residue was introduced at the third position of the peptide, Met-144 on the C-terminal domain of calmodulin was labeled, whereas when the photolabel was placed at the thirteenth position, Met-71 on the N-terminal do main was labeled. Assuming that both peptides bind in similar orientations, these results are not consistent with the crystal structure of calmodulin, in which the domains are held at a significant distance from one another by a long α-helical segment. To test the assumption that both peptides bind in similar orientations, we have synthesized a calmodulin-binding peptide with the photolabel in both the third and the thirteenth positions. Upon photolysis, this peptide forms a cross-link between Met-71 and Met 124 on the N- and C-terminal domains, respectively. Furthermore, a peptide with a Bpa in the thirteenth position and a Trp residue in the third position was also synthsized. After photocross-linking the Bpa redidue of this peptide to Met-71 of calmodulin, it could be shown that the fluorescence properties of the Trp residue were consistent with its side chain being buried in a hydrophobic pocket on the C-terminal domain of calmodulin. These data indicate that, when complexed with basic, amphiphi peptides, calmodulin can adopt a conformation in which its two domains are significantly closer than in the crystal sturcture of the uncommplexed protein.
Results of the 2015 Survey of the American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology.

Rationale and Objectives The American Alliance of Academic Chief Residents in Radiology conducts an annual survey of chief residents in Diagnostic Radiology programs in North America. The survey serves as a resource for observing trends and disseminating ideas among radiology training programs. Materials and Methods An online survey was distributed to chief residents at 181 residency programs, with questions on a broad range of topics including resident benefits, program and call structure, American Board of Radiology Core exam preparation, fellowships, and the job market. Results A total of 193 individual responses were received from 120 programs, for a response rate of 66%. The responses were compared to data from prior years' surveys, principally from 2012 to 2014. Conclusions Programs are shifting resident benefits spending toward Core exam preparation resources and away from lead aprons. In addition, 24-hour attending coverage continues to spread among programs, and the fraction of programs providing face-to-face postcall readouts continues to decline. Finally, although resident perception of the job market is now improving, residents feel that the job market continues to discourage medical students from entering radiology, a fact borne out by the 2015 match results. How the upcoming change to a direct interventional radiology residency will affect medical student interest is as yet uncertain.
Characterization of calcium isotopes in natural and synthetic barite

Abstract The mineral barite (BaSO4) accommodates calcium in its crystal lattice, providing an archive of Ca-isotopes in the highly stable sulfate mineral. Holocene marine (pelagic) barite samples from the major ocean basins are isotopically indistinguishable from each other (δ44/40Ca = −2.01 ± 0.15‰) but are different from hydrothermal and cold seep barite samples (δ44/40Ca = −4.13 to −2.72‰). Laboratory precipitated (synthetic) barite samples are more depleted in the heavy Ca-isotopes than pelagic marine barite and span a range of Ca-isotope compositions, Δ44/40Ca = −3.42 to −2.40‰. Temperature, saturation state, a Ba 2 + / a SO 4 2 - , and aCa2+/aBa2+ each influence the fractionation of Ca-isotopes in synthetic barite; however, the fractionation in marine barite samples is not strongly related to any measured environmental parameter. First-principles lattice dynamical modeling predicts that at equilibrium Ca-substituted barite will have much lower 44Ca/40Ca than calcite, by −9‰ at 0 °C and −8‰ at 25 °C. Based on this model, none of the measured barite samples appear to be in isotopic equilibrium with their parent solutions, although as predicted they do record lower δ44/40Ca values than seawater and calcite. Kinetic fractionation processes therefore most likely control the extent of isotopic fractionation exhibited in barite. Potential fractionation mechanisms include factors influencing Ca2+ substitution for Ba2+ in barite (e.g. ionic strength and trace element concentration of the solution, competing complexation reactions, precipitation or growth rate, temperature, pressure, and saturation state) as well as nucleation and crystal growth rates. These factors should be considered when investigating controls on isotopic fractionation of Ca2+ and other elements in inorganic and biogenic minerals.
Integration of microfluidics with biomedical infrared spectroscopy for analytical and diagnostic metabolic profiling

We describe how infrared spectroscopy of dry films (IRDF) can provide diagnostic information, and how we expect integration with laminar fluid diffusion interface (LFDI) sample pre-processing to generate new analytical and diagnostic tests. LFDI pre-processing provides sample clean-up and analyte separation. The sensitivity of IRDF to certain analytes is enhanced through the depletion of sample constituents that otherwise obscure relevant spectral features, permitting the deposition of films with larger sample volumes and, hence, of greater effective optical pathlength for the targeted analytes. An integrated LFDI-IRDF technology holds promise both as a method for rapid point-of-care quantitative analysis of biological fluids and as the engine of discovery for a wide range of novel diagnostic methods based upon metabolic profiling. In particular, successful integration will provide a versatile and cost effective technology platform that will allow for the accurate quantification of low-concentration analytes that are otherwise inaccessible and will provide the basis for diagnostic and prognostic methods that would otherwise be impossible. The specific question addressed by the proof-of-concept study summarised here is whether the spectra of LFDI processed samples can provide analytical methods that are more accurate than otherwise possible without LFDI pre-processing. The enrichment of serum creatinine is accomplished, with subsequent enhancement of its spectral contribution permitting quantification of this clinically important analyte beyond that achievable with no pre-processing. Finally, to illustrate the potential in diagnostic applications, two recently initiated studies are outlined, one involving chronic kidney disease and the other for chronic and acute coronary artery disease.
The hemolytic activity of Karenia selliformis and two clones of Karenia brevis throughout a growth cycle

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, occur annually along the Gulf coast of Florida. Other species, like Karenia selliformis, are at times found in association. Hemolytic activity, the ability to lyse red blood cells, of two K. brevis clones (SP3 non-toxic (N-tox) and SP3 super toxic (S-tox)) from the Gulf of Mexico and a single clone of K. selliformis from New Zealand was investigated throughout a growth cycle. Activity is reported as effective concentration (EC50) values, the quantitative measure of hemolysis of human erythrocytes expressed as cell numbers. Both cells and media of K. selliformis cultures consistently produced potent levels of hemolysis (maximum EC50 = 4.88 × 103 cells) from inoculation until the population declined 35 days later. For SP3 N-tox and S-tox, no hemolytic activity was detectable until day 26 of sampling. The media of both SP3 N-tox and SP3 S-tox cultures consistently contained non-detectable or low levels of hemolysis compared to K. selliformis. Maximum EC50s for the SP3 clones were 1.80 × 106 and 1.97 × 106 cells, respectively. The experimental EC50 values observed represent ecologically relevant cell densities for K. selliformis, but not for the K. brevis clones. In addition, the hemolytic activity of gymnodimine A and various PbTx derivatives was examined in this study. Our findings indicate that the hemolytic capability of these dinoflagellates, especially K. selliformis, represents an additional component of toxicity aside from their already recognized toxins and that this activity may play a larger role than was previously considered. The purpose of this study was to extend the knowledge of the biology and toxicology of species within the genus Karenia.
When recommenders fail: predicting recommender failure for algorithm selection and combination

Hybrid recommender systems --- systems using multiple algorithms together to improve recommendation quality --- have been well-known for many years and have shown good performance in recent demonstrations such as the NetFlix Prize. Modern hybridization techniques, such as feature-weighted linear stacking, take advantage of the hypothesis that the relative performance of recommenders varies by circumstance and attempt to optimize each item score to maximize the strengths of the component recommenders. Less attention, however, has been paid to understanding what these strengths and failure modes are. Understanding what causes particular recommenders to fail will facilitate better selection of the component recommenders for future hybrid systems and a better understanding of how individual recommender personalities can be harnessed to improve the recommender user experience. We present an analysis of the predictions made by several well-known recommender algorithms on the MovieLens 10M data set, showing that for many cases in which one algorithm fails, there is another that will correctly predict the rating.
Supervision Processes for Students and Staff Who Treat Persons with AIDS

Supervision of students and staff working with persons who have AIDS is a challenging process under constant revision as new public policy and research about AIDS unfolds. A systematic process with a structured schema for supervision is proposed in this article to facilitate the application of well known supervisory processes to an area of treatment which is still developing.
Innovations in educational methodologies for attracting more women into engineering

The underrepresentation of women in engineering is a very serious national problem for the United States. Women constitute approximately 17% of the bachelor graduates in engineering and a disproportionate number of these take jobs after graduating rather than pursuing graduate degrees. The Nation cannot afford the continued loss of talented human resources in engineering if it is to be highly competitive internationally. Integrating academic and experiential learning is deemed to be a viable approach to increasing the number of women graduates. Working women constitute a large pool of candidates and this papers focuses on ways and means for attracting and retaining them for degrees.
Learning a Rare Event Detection Cascade by Direct Feature Selection

Face detection is a canonical example of a rare event detection problem, in which target patterns occur with much lower frequency than non-targets. Out of millions of face-sized windows in an input image, for example, only a few will typically contain a face. Viola and Jones recently proposed a cascade architecture for face detection which successfully addresses the rare event nature of the task. A central part of their method is a feature selection algorithm based on AdaBoost. We present a novel cascade learning algorithm based on forward feature selection which is two orders of magnitude faster than the Viola-Jones approach and yields classifiers of equivalent quality. This faster method could be used for more demanding classification tasks, such as on-line learning.
100G - key technology for next generation transport networks

100G emerges as a key technology for the next generation transport network. We have studied the performance of three different 100G modulation formats: DQPSK, CP-QPSK, and DC-CP-QPSK, in Verizon's fiber networks. The conclusion is the 100G technology is getting mature quickly and its deployment is expected in a few years.
Development of a Finite Element-Based Hall-Thruster Model

This paper aims to characterize the Hall-thrusterplasma dynamics in theframework of multie uid model. Effect of the ionization and the recombination has been included in the present model. Based on the experimental data, a third-order polynomial in electron temperature is used to calculate the ionization rate. The neutral dynamics is included only through the neutral continuity equation in the presence of a uniform neutral e ow. The electrons are modeled as magnetized and hot, whereas ions are assumed unmagnetized and cold. The computed plasma density proe le shows that the location of the density maximum is shifted slightly inward from the channel exit. This suggests that the maximum ionization takes place inside the channel. This is in conformity with the experimental observations. The maximum electron temperature increase takes place just near the exit closer to the inner wall. This is consistent with the electron gyration velocity distribution. The plasma potential is fairly e at in most parts of the channel before falling at the exit. Simulation results areinterpreted in the light of experimental observations and available numerical solutions in the literature.
Ca(++)-activated DNA fragmentation and dimethylnitrosamine-induced hepatic necrosis: effects of Ca(++)-endonuclease and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors in mice.

Several hepatotoxic agents damage Ca++ regulation and produce toxic cell death in a manner consistent with a cause-and-effect relationship; however, vital targets of Ca++ remain unidentified. Recent results show that DNA may be the chief Ca++ target during apoptosis, a form of cell death considered distinct from toxic cell death or necrosis. The present studies explored whether nuclear Ca++ regulation is lost before dimethylnitrosamine-induced necrosis, whether DNA is attacked by Ca(++)-dependent endonucleases and whether inhibitors of Ca(++)-endonuclease activity and the DNA repair enzyme poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase affect necrosis. Adult male ICR mice received 100 mg/kg of dimethylnitrosamine i.p. By 2 to 4 hr, total nuclear Ca++ reached 150 to 180% of control and DNA fragmentation was 140 to 170% of control. Electrophoresis of DNA revealed a sharp decline in genomic DNA with the appearance of DNA fragments in a ladder-like pattern. Ca++ elevation and DNA fragmentation preceded toxic cell death by 4 hr or more and reached peak values at 18 to 24 hr, coincident with maximal alanine aminotransferase leakage. Aurintricarboxylic acid, a Ca(++)-endonuclease inhibitor, reduced toxicity 67%. 3-Aminobenzamide, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and theophylline, inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-mediated DNA repair, potentiated liver damage 2-fold. These results support the hypothesis that DNA fragmentation plays a contributing role in toxic cell death induced by dimethylnitrosamine. Furthermore, the findings suggest that new opportunities may exist to moderate the toxicity of alkylating hepatotoxins by altering DNA regulation.
Fast Tensor Image Morphing for Elastic Registration

We propose a novel algorithm, called Fast Tensor Image Morphing for Elastic Registration or F-TIMER. F-TIMER leverages multiscale tensor regional distributions and local boundaries for hierarchically driving deformable matching of tensor image volumes. Registration is achieved by aligning a set of automatically determined structural landmarks, via solving a soft correspondence problem. Based on the estimated correspondences, thin-plate splines are employed to generate a smooth, topology preserving, and dense transformation, and to avoid arbitrary mapping of non-landmark voxels. To mitigate the problem of local minima, which is common in the estimation of high dimensional transformations, we employ a hierarchical strategy where a small subset of voxels with more distinctive attribute vectors are first deployed as landmarks to estimate a relatively robust low-degrees-of-freedom transformation. As the registration progresses, an increasing number of voxels are permitted to participate in refining the correspondence matching. A scheme as such allows less conservative progression of the correspondence matching towards the optimal solution, and hence results in a faster matching speed. Results indicate that better accuracy can be achieved by F-TIMER, compared with other deformable registration algorithms [1, 2], with significantly reduced computation time cost of 4---14 folds.
A Numerical Study of Two–Dimensional Parallel-Plate Convection

Abstract Convection between horizontal plates maintained at two different temperatures is studied numerically for a Rayleigh number of 6.75×105 and a Prandtl number of 0.71. The two-dimensional and Boussinesq approximations are applied. The computed motion eventually takes the form of large-scale and nearly steady-state vortices which induce plumes of warm (cool) air to impinge strongly upon the cool (warm) plate. When the width is restricted by lateral, insulated walls and is equal to the height, eddies which appear in corners suppress the single large-scale vortex which forms and cause the heat transport to be about 20 per cent smaller than is observed experimentally for a region of width much greater than height. With a width twice the height, a large-scale vortex pair develops. The effect of corner eddies is then diminished, and the heat flux becomes 18 per cent larger than the experimental value. When the lateral walls at this width are replaced by cyclic boundaries, no small-scale eddies appear, and...
Sexuality: ancient China

This entry discusses prominent themes in ancient Chinese sexual life from the Stone Age to imperial times: the problem of an imbalanced sex ratio exacerbated by polygyny among the social elite; a predominant theory of matter, called qi, that would have been incompatible with any notion of a biological basis of sexual orientation; and a sexual discourse unburdened by the Christian concept of sin. Keywords: China; concubinage; injaculation; qi ; sex ratio
Influences of supplemental fat, differing in fatty-acid composition, on performance, plasma fatty-acid content, and reproduction of developing beef heifers

ABSTRACT Angus × Simmental, fall-born heifers (n = 120, yr 1, and n = 160, yr 2) were used to determine the effects of supplemental fat, differing in fatty-acid composition, on performance, plasma fatty-acid content, and reproduction of developing beef heifers. At 7 mo of age, heifers were randomly allotted to 1 of 4 supplements containing whole raw soybeans (SY); corn, soybean meal, and OmegaFlax (FLX); corn, soybean meal, and Energy Booster 100 (EB); or corn– soybean meal (CON). The SY, FLX, and EB supplements (FT) were formulated to have the same level of crude fat. The SY-supplemented heifers gained less (P = 0.04) BW than did FLX-supplemented heifers. The FT-supplemented heifers tended (P = 0.06) to gain more BW than did the heifers fed the CON supplement. The SY-supplemented heifers had greater (P
Beams: Computer Applications

The computer program used throughout this book is the educational version of the powerful structural analysis program SAP2000. In its large version, the program includes static and dynamic analysis of structures (frames, plates, shells etc.) as well as the analysis of structures with non-linear behavior.
Latino Critical Perspective in Social Work

Although a Latino critical perspective (LatCrit) is consistent with social work's professional mission and values, it is largely absent from its literature. With a focus on the Latino population in the United States, LatCrit elucidates an oppressive structure of social inequality and discrimination and promotes systemic change through self-advocacy. Thus, LatCrit supports the call for the revival of mezzo- and macro-level practice in social work. This article discusses the utility of LatCrit for social work practice through a discussion of its origins, main tenets, and primary aims. A critique of the theoretical perspective is also offered; its insights for social work practice, philosophical assumptions, and challenges for use in the field are highlighted. Social workers are offered an analysis of LatCrit enabling them to apply the theoretical perspective discretionarily rather than universally to meet diverse challenges and client needs. Specific ways in which social workers can facilitate the LatCrit praxis are discussed, such as community organizing and grassroots advocacy campaigns.
Democracy: A Never-Ending Quest

Most of my work focused on the functioning and the limits of democracy. I place the evolution of our understanding of this bewildering institution in the context of historical events and consider the challenges posed by its current critics. I also reflect on methods, arguing that game theory is the natural language of the social sciences. These ruminations add up to a research agenda.
Effect of aspirin administration on serum glutamic oxaloacetic and glutamic pyruvic transaminases in children.

SummaryThe effect of aspirin and of sodium salicylate administration on the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity in 14 children and its effect on both the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase and the serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase in an additional 9 children has been studied. Elevations to abnormal levels were observed in more than 50% of the cases. The importance of this finding in relation to the interpretation of the serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase elevations in rheumatic fever is pointed out and some possible underlying reasons for this phenomenon are mentioned.
Abstract LB-13: Early life exposures and breast cancer (BC) risk among African American (AA) and European American (EA) women.

Background. There is evidence to suggest that early life exposures including birthweight, history of having been breastfed during infancy, in utero exposure to maternal smoking, and parental education are associated with BC risk. Potential underlying mechanisms include variability in exposure to maternal endogenous sex and growth hormones. Also, parental socioeconomic status may be a proxy for environmental characteristics that impact biological processes in early life, and ultimately influence BC risk. Research has focused on EA women; relatively little is known about associations between early life exposures and BC risk for AA women. Methods. We conducted a case-control study in AA and EA women aged 22-75 years living in metropolitan New York City and eastern New Jersey (Women9s Circle of Health Study). Breast cancer cases (AA n=827; EA n=772) were diagnosed with primary, incident, histologically confirmed invasive BC or ductal carcinoma in situ . Controls (AA n=905; EA n=715) were frequency matched to cases on age and race. Birthweight, history of having been breastfed during infancy, history of in utero exposure to maternal smoking, and parental education were by self-report using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Results. Birthweight was not significantly associated with BC risk in this study for AA or EA women. Having been breastfed during infancy was associated with significantly increased BC risk for both groups (OR AA =1.60, 95% Cl: 1.27-2.02; OR EA =1.45, 95% Cl: 1.14-1.85). For EA women, but not AA women, reporting in utero exposure to maternal smoking was associated with significantly decreased BC risk (OR=0.61, 95% Cl: 0.45-0.82). Among AA women, those born to mothers with at least a college degree had a significantly lower BC risk compared to AA women born to mothers with a high school or less education (OR=0.67, 95% Cl: 0.49-0.93). Among EA women, we found no association with maternal education. However, EA women born to fathers with at least a college degree had a significantly lower BC risk compared to EA women born to fathers with a high school or less education (OR=0.65, 95% Cl: 0.51-0.84). Conclusions. Our findings support the hypothesis that early life exposures impact adult BC risk. History of having been breastfed during infancy, in utero exposure to maternal smoking, and parental education were all associated with BC risk. While minor differences in risk estimates were found between EA and AA women, associations were similar. Citation Format: Mark L. Glasgow, Jo Freudenheim, Gary Zirpoli, Elisa Bandera, Christine Ambrosone. Early life exposures and breast cancer (BC) risk among African American (AA) and European American (EA) women. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr LB-13. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-LB-13
A New Technics on Gate Valve Shell Machining

The paper puts forward and describes a new machining method to avoid the shortcoming of traditional method of gate valve shell machining and makes a comparison of advantages and disadvantages between the new method and the old one.
Cultural Politics of Translation: East Africa in a Global Context

Introduction. 1. Language, Identity, and Translation in the Swahili Experience: Between the Bible and the Qur'an. 2. Translation and Foreign Relations: Between Tradition and Modernity. 3. Translating Fanon in Socialist Tanzania: Between the Wretched and the Damned. 4. Translation Post-9/11: The US Embassy Project in Kenya. 5. Translating the Law: Reflections of a Linguistic Activist. Conclusion. Appendix.
Synthesizers for SSB

This chapter will deal with frequency synthesizers appropriate for medium and high-performance HF SSB radios. Space limitations preclude a thorough treatise on synthesizer design, many aspects of which are covered in the literature. We will concentrate on tuning speed, phase noise, spurious output signals, and the generation of small frequency steps needed in the HF band. The most important phaselock loop (PLL) configurations will be discussed; newer, all-digital techniques for producing small steps will be introduced, and the methods of combining these with traditional loops will be shown.