cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Tests of time reversal invariance in nuclei

Abstract We review the status of experimental tests of time reversal invariance in nuclear beta decay and summarize progress on methods to measure nuclear electric dipole moments.
A Special Topics Course in Perturbation Methods

A special topics course dealing with perturbation methods in applied mathematics which was recently taught at Stevens Institute of Technology is described. Since the course enrolment was comprised of undergraduate and graduate mathematics students as well as graduate students in engineering, an unusual course philosophy had to be developed and implemented. The approach taken to achieve this in both teaching techniques and selection of subject matter is discussed in detail. Finally, conclusions are drawn from the students’ and the instructor's experiences with the course which hopefully will be of value to those considering offering special topics courses in the future.
A putative role for carbohydrates in sea urchin gastrulation.

Summary Many studies have examined the effects of lectins on embryonic development. Recently, it has been shown that lectins actually enter the blastocoel of sea urchin embryos without microinjection and bind to specific cell types. The present study was performed to examine the effects of lectins on sea urchin gastrulation. Strongylocentrotus purpuratus sea urchin embryos were incubated with several lectins at concentrations from 0.01 밃g/ml to 100 밃g/ml at 15-28 h in the presence or absence of the preferential binding sugars. The most interesting findings were that the mannose specific lectins Lens culinaris agglutinin (Lc H) which binds to secondary mesenchyme cells involved in archenteron anchoring and Pisum sativum (PSA) caused exogastrulation. Wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) which binds to primary mesenchyme cells involved in skeletogenesis caused defective skeletogenesis. Our findings suggest that D-mannose-like residues (Lc H and PSA specific sugar) may function in archenteron development and anchoring, while N-acetyl-D-glucosamine-like groups (WGA specific sugar) may contribute to control of primary mesenchyme positioning and function. Specific carbohydrate-containing receptors may, therefore, be of importance in specific gastrulation events.
Land Tenure and Planned Social Change: A Case from Vicos, Peru

In 1952, Cornell University, in collaboration with the Instituto Indigenista Peruano, sublet, for a period of five years, an hacienda called Vicos, a Quechua-speaking community of about 2,000 inhabitants located in the highlands of northcentral Peru, for the purpose of conducting a research and development program on the modernization process. One of the principal developmental outcomes of this program to date has been a shift in the status of Vicos from a dependent hacienda community, controlled and administered largely from the outside, to an independent indigenous community, controlled and administered largely from within. Necessarily involved in this shift, of course, have been changes in many aspects of culture. But among the most striking of these have been fundamental alterations in the patterns of land tenure and work, some of the effects and implications of which I would like briefly to consider here.
Photorefractive time differentiation of coherent optical images.

Two-beam coupling in photorefractive BaTiO3 is used to perform time differentiation of time-varying coherent phase and amplitude images. Differentiation of one-dimensional signals and two-dimensional images is performed.
MAPLE SYRUP URINE DISEASE METABOLITES STUDIED IN CEREBELLUM CULTURES1

— Myelinating cultures of rat cerebellum were exposed to the branched-chain amino acids and their α-keto derivatives at concentrations found in maple syrup urine disease. Decreased-to-absent and delayed myelination was produced by α-keto-isocaproic acid at physiological levels. Injury to small cells, probably glia, was also noted. The other metabolites failed to produce any visible damage.
Digoxin potentiation of the norepinephrine response in vascular smooth muscle.

Abstract 1. 1. Cardiac glycosides, in concentrations insufficient to produce vasoconstriction alone, are capable of potentiating the vasoconstrictor response in vascular smooth muscle to α-adrenergic stimulation. 2. 2. The data presented here suggest that digoxin potentiates the response to norepinephrine in vascular smooth muscle by a mechanism other than an alteration in cellular membrane potential or a facilitated influx in extracellular calcium ion alone. 3. 3. It is suggested that the mechanism of this response may be related to an augmented release of intracellular calcium stores.
Children with Learning Disabilities and Public Libraries: An E-Survey of Services, Programs, Resources and Training

How well are public libraries serving those children with invisible learning disabilities such as attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD), dyslexia, dysgraphia, and other learning disorders? An electronic survey explores the programming efforts of public librarians in ten regions of Texas. Results demonstrate how public libraries serve the needs of children with learning disabilities through services, programming, materials and resources, and staff training.
Simulations of the trend and annual cycle in stratospheric CO2

Literature data on mid-latitude balloon soundings of CO2 and aircraft sampling in the lower polar stratosphere during the winter are used as a fundamental test of tracer transport in the middle atmospheric version of the GISS GCM (Rind et al., 1990) to predict the propagation into the stratosphere of the annual increase and annual cycle of CO2. The results predict significant propagation of the CO2 annual cycle into the lower stratosphere, an effect which must be accounted for when interpreting observations.
Social physique anxiety in physical education: Social contextual factors and links to motivation and behavior

Abstract Objectives The purposes of this study were to examine the associations of social relationships with teachers and peers (i.e., peer acceptance, presence of a best friend and close friends, teacher support) to SPA in physical education and to test the mediating role of motivation regulations in the relationship between social physique anxiety (SPA; Hart, Leary, & Rejeski, 1989 ) and behavior (i.e., effort, participation avoidance). Design Cross-sectional survey. Method High school physical education students ( N = 146; M age = 15.9 years) completed an online survey in their school’s computer lab assessing study variables. Results Results of a hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that perceived peer acceptance was a negative predictor ( p Conclusions General feelings of acceptance and belonging among one’s peers may help buffer against feelings of SPA in physical education. In addition, SPA demonstrates different relationships with individual motivation regulations and behavior in this setting. However, the lack of support for the mediating roles of individual motivation regulations suggests a more complex relationship among SPA, motivation and behavior and requires further testing.
A Scheme and Variations for Studies of Social Influence in an Experimental Social Psychology Laboratory

This article describes a research paradigm for use in undergraduate laboratory experiments on social influence. The method is adapted from White (1975), who compared the responses of control subjects on a survey question to those of experimental subjects who were first exposed to the contrived responses of others to the same question. I review how students in an undergraduate social psychology laboratory use this method, demonstrate the reliability of the influence effect obtained, and discuss the educational value of this research paradigm.
Rents, party cadres and the proliferation of Special Economic Zones in China

China’s more than ten thousand economic zones, while similar in some respects to those found elsewhere, exhibit various unique features. In most developing economies, zones are the responsibility of the central administration and are designed to promote exports or foreign investment. In contrast, the Chinese zones are built and run by local governments and need not involve foreign investment or exports. We argue that the Chinese zone policy is best understood as part of a drive for economic reform, and that its unique features serve to defuse potential resistance from local cadres, whose interests are not served by reform.
Intestinal intraepithelial and splenic natural killer cell responses to eimerian infections in inbred chickens

Splenic and intestinal natural killer (NK) cell responses were assessed in chickens inoculated with Eimeria parasites. The NK cell activities of both splenic and intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) decreased to a subnormal level during the early phase of eimerian infections but returned to normal or slightly higher than normal levels at about 1 week after the primary inoculation. Lymphocytes obtained from the lamina propria did not show any detectable level of NK cell activity during or following eimerian infections. Significant increases in splenic and intestinal IEL NK cell activities were seen during the early phase of secondary infection. The increase in the IEL NK cell activity that was seen shortly following secondary eimerian infection was accompanied by a substantial increase in the number of IELs expressing the asialo-GM1 antigen. Host strain differences in both splenic and IEL NK cell responses were detected following primary eimerian infections. These results suggest that both splenic and intestinal IEL NK cells may play an important role in the host defense against intestinal protozoan infections.
An integrated micro-optical system for VCSEL-to-fiber active alignment

In this paper, a new micro-optical system for VCSEL-to-fiber active alignment is described. An integrated microsystem platform, which has a thermally-actuated micromirror, a silicon etched v-groove and flip-chip function, is successfully fabricated and actuated for beam adjustment from a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) to a fiber. The micro-optical system has 4.0° maximum beam steering angle with the resolution of 0.08°/mA. With the steering angle reaching 2.5°, the coupling efficiency from the VCSEL to the fiber improves to more than 80% from 9% initial efficiency of 25 μm misaligned fiber position.
Distinct Roles for Nigral GABA and Glutamate Receptors in the Regulation of Dendritic Dopamine Release under Normal Conditions and in Response to Systemic Haloperidol

The regulation of dendritic dopamine release in the substantia nigra (SN) likely involves multiple mechanisms. GABA and glutamate inputs to nigrostriatal dopamine neurons exert powerful influences on dopamine neuron physiology; therefore, it is probable that GABA and glutamate likewise influence dendritic dopamine release, at least under some conditions. The present studies used in vivo microdialysis to determine the potential roles of nigral GABA and glutamate receptors in the regulation of dendritic dopamine release under normal conditions and when dopamine signaling in the basal ganglia is compromised after systemic haloperidol administration. Nigral application of the GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline by reverse dialysis significantly increased spontaneous dopamine efflux in the SN. However, spontaneous dopamine efflux in the SN was not significantly affected by local application of the glutamate receptor antagonists 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione or (+/-)-3-[2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl]-propyl-1-phosphonic acid. Systemic haloperidol administration significantly increased the extracellular dopamine measured in the SN. Blockade of nigral GABA(A) receptors by local bicuculline application did not alter this effect of systemic haloperidol, despite the bicuculline-induced increase in spontaneous dendritic dopamine efflux. In contrast, nigral application of either glutamate receptor antagonist significantly attenuated the increases in dendritic dopamine efflux elicited by systemic haloperidol. These data suggest that under normal conditions, activity of GABA afferents to SN dopamine neurons is an important determinant of the spontaneous level of dendritic dopamine release. Circuit-level changes in the basal ganglia involving an increased glutamatergic drive to the SN appear to underlie the increase in dendritic dopamine release that occurs in response to systemic haloperidol administration.
Subcutaneous panniculitic T-cell lymphoma in a cardiac allograft recipient

Background: Post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder (PTLD) is the third leading cause of death in heart transplant patients beyond the immediate peri-operative period (Ouseph R, Denny DM, Erbeck KM. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1998; 11: 758; Armitage JM, Kormos RL, Stuart RS, et al. J Heart Lung Transplant 1991; 10: 877; Swinnen LJ, Mullen M, Carr TJ, et al. Blood 1995; 86: 3333; Ying AJ, Myerowitz D, Marsh WL. Ann Thorac Surg 1997; 64: 1822). The majority of PTLD cases are of B-cell origin whereas T-cell neoplasms have been reported as rare, aggressive, and late complications of solid-organ transplantation (Fatio R, Sutsch G, Mayer K, et al. Transplant Proc 1998; 30: 1118). Case report: A 50-year-old cardiac allograft heart transplant patient presented with subcutaneous nodules involving his trunk and extremities. Results: Light microscopy revealed features characteristic of subcutaneous panniculitic-like T-cell lymphoma. Immunohistochemical analysis showed expression for CD45RO, TIA-1, and focal CD3 positivity by tumor cells. Flow cytometry performed on a subsequent subcutaneous nodule demonstrated an abnormal T-cell population with expression of CD3, CD8, CD56, and T-cell receptor alpha-beta, and no expression of CD4. T-cell gene rearrangement studies revealed a clonal population of cells with a bi-allelic gene rearrangement. Conclusion: We report a case of an unusual subtype of PTLD in a cardiac allograft recipient.
Vector Quantizes Trained on Small Training Sets

We examine how the performance of a memoryless vector quantizer (VQ) changes as a function of its training set size. By relating the training distortion of such a codebook to its test (true) distortion, we demonstrate that one may obtain "good" codebooks at a fraction of the computational cost by training on a small random subset of the blocks in the target image.
Bug-in-Ear Coaching Impacts on Early Childhood Educators’ Practices and Associations With Toddlers’ Expressive Communication

Many early childhood educators struggle to meet the communication needs of children with delays and disabilities. The purpose of this study was to examine the functional relation between bug-in-ear coaching and the frequency of educators’ correct use of targeted communication strategies, as well as associations with children’s expressive communication. Four multiple-baseline single-case intervention design experiments were completed. Dependent variables were educators’ use of communication strategies and the expressive communication of children with delays or disabilities. Bug-in-ear improved educators’ implementation of at least one communication strategy for each educator. Effect sizes were large for three educators and moderate for one. Each behavior successfully implemented during intervention was maintained at moderate levels or better, while behaviors implemented with greater variability during intervention were not maintained. Associations with children’s expressive communication were questionable/...
On the String Translations Produced by Multi Bottom–Up Tree Transducers

Tree transducers are defined as relations between trees, but in syntax-based machine translation, we are ultimately concerned with the relations between the strings at the yields of the input and output trees. We examine the formal power of Multi Bottom-Up Tree Transducers from this point of view.
High school teacher change, strategies, and actions in a professional development project connecting mathematics, science, and engineering

Project Pathways, an NSF Math Science Partnership professional development project, uses four semester-long courses and professional learning communities (PLCs) with the goal of enhancing teacher knowledge, skills and practice. The unifying concept of function is applied to promote conceptual competence in core content subjects and key problem solving processes. Modules integrating math, science, and engineering are delivered in team-based studio labs complemented by associated PLCs. The research question here is, ldquoWhat is the effect of a function-driven joint high school math/science teacher based professional development project on teacher change, strategies, and actions?rdquo The relevance is that it addresses issues about student math and science achievement and the STEM pipeline. Teacher change was evaluated using qualitative analysis of post-class question responses for five factors: creating a math/science teacher culture of collaboration; deepening content understanding by use of function; integrating math, science and engineering; developing inquiry strategies and materials and; promoting metacognition on student thinking for effective learning. For 27 responses, 24 showed positive change shown by shifts for one or more of five factors. Overall, the project created function-infused courses linked with multifaceted, synergistic PLCs that facilitated teacher change, strategies, and actions for improved practice.
Forecasting Southern California Earthquakes

Since 1978 and 1979, California has had a significantly higher frequency of moderate to large earthquakes than in the preceding 25 years. In the past such periods have also been associated with major destructive earthquakes, of magnitude 7 or greater, and the annual probability of occurrence of such an event is now 13 percent in California. The increase in seismicity is associated with a marked deviation in the pattern of strain accumulation, a correlation that is physically plausible. Although great earthquakes (magnitude greater than 7.5) are too infrequent to have clear associations with any pattern of seismicity that is now observed, the San Andreas fault in southern California has accumulated sufficient potential displacement since the last rupture in 1857 to generate a great earthquake along part or all of its length.
Hyperinsulinemia and stromal luteinization of the ovaries in postmenopausal women with endometrial cancer.

Ovarian secretion of testosterone and androstenedione is increased in postmenopausal women with endometrial cancer, and insulin stimulates ovarian stromal androgen synthesis in vitro. We undertook this study to investigate whether women with endometrial cancer have increased serum immunoreactive insulin levels. Ten postmenopausal women with endometrial carcinoma and 10 postmenopausal women without cancer who matched the cancer patients in age, years since menopause, and percentage of ideal body weight were studied. The women with endometrial cancer had significantly higher fasting serum insulin levels than the normal women [mean, 187 ± 26 (±se) vs. 55 ± 11 pmol/L; P < 0.01]. The cancer patients had significantly higher insulin responses after glucose administration than normal women (sum of 1, 2, and 3 h postglucose values, 5545 ± 1526 vs. 1444 ± 156 pmol/L; P < 0.02), even though their glucose responses were similar. Nests of luteinized cells, which were positive for testosterone by immunoperoxidase stai...
Selection, majorization and replicators

We examine the role of selection in evolution-based approaches using results drawn from majorization theory and replicator models. Analyzing selection in this framework has several advantages: the availability of convergence results from the theory of inhomogeneous doubly stochastic Markov chains, and a generalized fundamental theorem from replicator models. We show that pre-ordering a sequence of vectors by the majorization relation necessarily implies replicator dynamics. We also give sufficient conditions for a converse result. We present arguments for using majorization operators in evolutionary algorithms.
Prevalence of Substance Use and Intimate Partner Violence in a Sample of A/PI MSM:

This study evaluates the prevalence of three forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) (i.e., experience of physical, psychological/symbolic, and sexual battering) among a national sample of Asian/Pacific Islander (A/PI) men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States and identifies their characteristics. The study also reports the differences of substance use behavior between MSM with and without a previous history of IPV. Our sample was recruited through venue-based sampling from seven metropolitan cities as part of the national Men of Asia Testing for HIV (MATH) study. Among 412 MSM, 29.1% experienced IPV perpetrated from a boyfriend or same-gender partner in the past 5 years. Within the previous 5 years, 62.5%, 78.3%, and 40.8% of participants experienced physical, psychological/symbolic, and sexual battering, respectively. Collectively, 35.8% of participants reported that they have experienced at least one type of victimization and 64.2% have experienced multiple victimizations (two or three types of battering victimization). Overall, 21.2% of our sample reported any substance use within the past 12 months. The present findings suggest that individuals with a history of IPV in the past 5 years were more likely to report substance use (33.6%) compared to those without a history of IPV experience (16.1%).
Pattern of ocular dominance columns in human striate cortex in strabismic amblyopia

Previous experiments in animals have shown that early unilateral eyelid suture, a model of amblyopia induced by cataract, causes shrinkage of ocular dominance columns serving the deprived eye in the striate cortex. It is unknown whether the ocular dominance columns are affected in amblyopia produced by strabismus. We examined specimens of striate cortex obtained postmortem from a 79-year-old woman with a history of amblyopia in her left eye (20/800) since age 2 from accommodative esotropia. Four years prior to her death, she suffered an ischemic infarct of the left optic disc. This injury to the left optic disc made it possible to label the ocular dominance columns using cytochrome oxidase histochemistry. The pattern of ocular dominance columns was reconstructed throughout most of the right striate cortex. No shrinkage of columns was found. In the left cortex only half the column mosaic was labelled, because the patient had some residual vision in the temporal retina of her left eye. The columns within the labelled portion of the overall mosaic appeared normal. These findings indicate that shrinkage of ocular dominance columns does not occur in humans with amblyopia caused by accommodative esotropia. The ocular dominance columns are probably no longer susceptible to shrinkage at the age when most children with this condition begin to develop amblyopia.
Sex differences in detecting sexual infidelity: Results of a maximum likelihood method for analyzing the sensitivity of sex differences to underreporting.

Despite the importance of extrapair copulation (EPC) in human evolution, almost nothing is known about the design features of EPC detection mechanisms. We tested for sex differences in EPC inference-making mechanisms in a sample of 203 young couples. Men made more accurate inferences (φmen = 0.66, φwomen = 0.46), and the ratio of positive errors to negative errors was higher for men than for women (1.22 vs. 0.18). Since some may have been reluctant to admit EPC behavior, we modeled how underreporting could have influenced these results. These analyses indicated that it would take highly sex-differentiated levels of underreporting by subjects with trusting partners for there to be no real sex difference. Further analyses indicated that men may be less willing to harbor unresolved suspicions about their partners' EPC behavior, which may explain the sex difference in accuracy. Finally, we estimated that women underreported their own EPC behavior (10%) more than men (0%).
Purification and characterization of NADH oxidase from Serpulina (Treponema) hyodysenteriae.

NADH oxidase (EC 1.6.99.3) was purified from cell lysates of Serpulina (Treponema) hyodysenteriae B204 by differential ultracentrifugation, ammonium sulfate precipitation, and chromatography on anion-exchange, dye-ligand-affinity, and size-exclusion columns. Purified NADH oxidase had a specific activity 119-fold higher than that of cell lysates and migrated as a single band during denaturing gel electrophoresis (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis [SDS-PAGE]). The enzyme was a monomeric protein with an estimated molecular mass of 47 to 48 kDa, as determined by SDS-PAGE and size-exclusion chromatography. Optimum enzyme activity occurred in buffers with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. In the presence of oxygen, beta-NADH but not alpha-NADH, alpha-NADPH, or beta-NADPH was rapidly oxidized by the enzyme (Km = 10 microM beta-NADH; Vmax = 110 mumol beta-NADH min-1 mg of protein-1). Oxygen was the only identified electron acceptor for the enzyme. On isoelectric focusing gels, the enzyme separated into three subforms, with isoelectric pH values of 5.25, 5.35, and 5.45. Purified NADH oxidase had a typical flavoprotein absorption spectrum, with peak absorbances at wavelengths of 274, 376, and 448 nm. Flavin adenine dinucleotide was identified as a cofactor and was noncovalently associated with the enzyme at a molar ratio of 1:1. Assays of the enzyme after various chemical treatments indicated that a flavin cofactor and a sulfhydryl group(s), but not a metal cofactor, were essential for activity. Hydrogen peroxide and superoxide were not yielded in significant amounts by the S. hyodysenteriae NADH oxidase, indirect evidence that the enzyme produces water from reduction of oxygen with NADH. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of the NADH oxidase was determined to be MKVIVIGCHGAGTWAAK. In its biochemical properties, the NADH oxidase of S. hyodysenteriae resembles the NADH oxidase of another intestinal bacterium, Enterococcus faecalis. Images
Poly I:C‐Induced Anti‐Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Activity in Inflammatory Macrophages Is Mediated by Induction of Interferon‐β

We examined the mechanism by which Polyriboinosinic:Polyribocytidylic acid (Poly I:C) augments resistance of thioglycolate-elicited inflammatory macrophages to infection with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). We show that Poly I:C-induced antiviral activity is completely abrogated by antibodies to interferon-beta (IFN-beta) whereas antibodies to other interferons or to other cytokines have no effect. Furthermore, treatment of inflammatory macrophages with exogenous IFN renders them resistant to HSV-1, whereas treatment with other cytokines does not. In addition, we demonstrate that supernatants from macrophages treated with Poly I:C contain IFN-beta but not IFN-alpha. Taken together these data indicate that the antiviral effects of Poly I:C in inflammatory macrophages are mediated solely by IFN-beta, which acts in an autocrine manner to induce resistance to HSV-1.
Architecture for Machine Learning Techniques to Enable Augmented Cognition in the Context of Decision Support Systems

For a wide range of applications, one of the key challenges is to identify an architecture that is suitable for machine learning techniques to enable important augmented cognition capabilities in the context of complex decision support systems. This overview paper presents an architecture framework. The elements of the architecture are described starting with data formatting, a machine learning algorithm taxonomy, components of courses of action, resource management, and finally the role of augmented cognition within the architecture. The paper includes one cyber security example where the architecture framework is employed. The paper concludes with future work in the development of a recommender system.
Rediscovery of Ossaea alloeotricha, an endemic of the high-elevation Massif de la Hotte, Haiti, and its transfer to Miconia (Melastomataceae: Miconieae)

Abstract Rediscovery of Ossaea alloeotricha, an endemic of the high-elevation Massif de la Hotte, Haiti, and its transfer to Miconia (Melastomataceae: Miconieae). Brittonia 56: 159–165. 2004.—Ossaea alloeotricha, described by Urban on the basis of material with very immature flowers, has been re-collected (in flower and fruit) in the cloud forests and moist forests dominated by Pinus occidentalis in the vicinity of Pic le Ciel, 2150 m, on Morne Formon of the Massif de la Hotte (western group), Haiti. The mature flowers of this species have broadly elliptic to suborbicular petals with rounded, asymmetrically notched apices, clearly indicating a placement in Miconia, not Ossaea or Leandra (which have acute to acuminate petals); the species is here transferred to Miconia (sect. Cremanium). Miconia alloeotricha is provided with an expanded description and compared with M. desportesii, M. monciona, M. sphagnicola, and M. tetrandra, the other species of Miconia sect. Cremanium occurring in Hispaniola (Dominican...
GAPDH Binding to TNF-α mRNA Contributes to Posttranscriptional Repression in Monocytes: A Novel Mechanism of Communication between Inflammation and Metabolism

Expression of the inflammatory cytokine TNF is tightly controlled. During endotoxin tolerance, transcription of TNF mRNA is repressed, although not entirely eliminated. Production of TNF cytokine, however, is further controlled by posttranscriptional regulation. In this study, we detail a mechanism of posttranscriptional repression of TNF mRNA by GAPDH binding to the TNF 3' untranslated region. Using RNA immunoprecipitation, we demonstrate that GAPDH-TNF mRNA binding increases when THP-1 monocytes are in a low glycolysis state, and that this binding can be reversed by knocking down GAPDH expression or by increasing glycolysis. We show that reducing glycolysis decreases TNF mRNA association with polysomes. We demonstrate that GAPDH-TNF mRNA binding results in posttranscriptional repression of TNF and that the TNF mRNA 3' untranslated region is sufficient for repression. Finally, after exploring this model in THP-1 cells, we demonstrate this mechanism affects TNF expression in primary human monocytes and macrophages. We conclude that GAPDH-TNF mRNA binding regulates expression of TNF based on cellular metabolic state. We think this mechanism has potentially significant implications for treatment of various immunometabolic conditions, including immune paralysis during septic shock.
Comparative effectiveness of induction chemotherapy for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A population-based analysis

Summary Objectives Despite several randomized trials, the optimal chemotherapy paradigm for locally advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma (OPSCC) is controversial. This population-based analysis assessed the overall survival (OS) benefit of induction chemotherapy (IC) for patients with stage III–IVB OPSCC. Materials and Methods Patients in the National Cancer Database with stage III–IVA-B OPSCC treated with curative-dose radiotherapy and IC or concurrent chemotherapy (CRT) between 2003 and 2011 were eligible. The primary outcome was OS, and secondary endpoints included OS for high-risk (T4 and/or N3 disease) and human papillomavirus (HPV) subsets. Results Of the 14,856 analyzed patients, 78% and 22% received CRT and IC, respectively. With a median follow-up for surviving patients of 44 months, the 5-year OS probability for the entire cohort was 66% (66% CRT vs. 64% IC, p = 0.022). Multivariable survival analysis showed no significant difference between CRT and IC (hazard ratio, HR, 0.95 for IC, p = 0.255), and sensitivity analyses to adjust for immortal time bias brought the HR to 1.0 (p = 0.859). There was also no OS difference for high-risk patients. There was a trend in favor of CRT for HPV-positive OPSCC (HR 1.63 with IC, p = 0.064), with a significant OS benefit for HPV-negative, high-risk OPSCC (HR 0.63, p = 0.048). Conclusion For the vast majority of patients, including HPV-positive individuals, there was no difference in OS with IC, arguing for CRT to remain as the standard therapy. Subset analysis revealed a small cohort of aggressive cancer (T4/N3 HPV-negative) which may benefit from from IC, although selection bias could not be ruled out.
From NDT to prognostics: advanced technologies for improved quality, safety and reliability

Conventional NDT is a mature technology, for which there is a significant instrumentation and services market expected to reach $6.88B by 2020. NDT is seeking to become more quantitative and leverage advances in instrumentation. In addition aspects of the field are undergoing significant transition as new materials and advanced manufacturing are seeing increased usage. The landscape is further changing with moves toward structural health monitoring (SHM) and advanced diagnostics, which are bring SHM and NDE together to give complementary data, as operators are seeking to address requirements for safe life estimation, condition based maintenance (CBM) and prognostics. The limitations and capabilities are discussed including for the implementation of prognostics, together with various technical challenges in moving from NDT to prognostics.
Race, Immigration, and Exogamy among the Native-born: Variation across Communities

Did rising immigration levels change racial and ethnic exogamy patterns for young adults in the United States? Adding local demographics to Qian and Lichter’s national results, the authors examine ...
Woody plant invasion at a semi-arid/arid transition zone: importance of ecosystem type to colonization and patch expansion

Question: How do patterns in colonization and patch expansion of an invasive woody plant (Larrea tridentata, Zygophyllaceae) differ between two grassland ecosystems at a biome transition zone? Location: Semi-arid/arid transition zone in central New Mexico. Methods: Frequency of occurrence, height, and surface area of saplings (n = 134) and patches of adult plants (n = 247) of the invasive shrub, L. tridentata, were measured within a mosaic of ecosystems dominated either by the Chihuahuan Desert species, Bouteloua eriopoda (Poaceae), or the shortgrass steppe species, B. gracilis, located within 1 km of the L. tridentata-dominated ecosystem. Distances between L. tridentata patches and patch area were used to estimate connectivity as a measure of propagule pressure. Sapling age (estimated from height using previously established relationships) and distance to the L. tridentata-dominated ecosystem was used to evaluate patterns in dispersal. Cover by species or functional group inside each L. tridentata patch was compared with surrounding vegetation to estimate changes in species composition with patch expansion. Results: L. tridentata saplings (< 1%) and adult patches (15%) occurred less frequently in B. gracilis-dominated ecosystems than expected based on areal extent of this ecosystem type. Propagule pressure did not differ with distance from the core ecosystem dominated by L. tridentata. Evidence for both local and long-distance dispersal events was found. Similar relationships between number of plants and patch area in both grassland types indicate similar patterns in patch expansion. Cover of perennial forbs was higher and cover of dominant grasses was lower in L. tridentata patches compared with the surrounding vegetation for both ecosystem types. Conclusions: Spatial variation in L. tridentata saplings and patches at this biome transition zone is related to the different susceptibilities to invasion by two grassland ecosystems. The persistence of grasslands at this site despite region-wide expansion by L. tridentata may be related to the spatial distribution of B. gracilis-dominated ecosystems that resist or deter invasion by this woody plant.
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Ordering Patterns for Routine HIV Screening among Resident Physicians at an Urban Medical Center:

Background:We sought to measure resident physician knowledge of HIV epidemiology and screening guidelines, attitudes toward testing, testing practices, and barriers and facilitators to routine test...
Advances in Understanding Population Dynamics of the Douglas-Fir Tussock Moth

Formal studies of the quantitative aspects of tussock moth populations have been underway for about 10 years. Rapid progress has sometimes been limited by a shortage of natural populations large enough to measure and a lack of funds for intensive investigations. Both of these situations have recently changed, however, because of current outbreaks and the newly funded Douglas-fir tussock moth program. The result has been a considerable advance in understanding tussock moth population dynamics. In this paper, I will briefly review methods of population measurement, the general behavior of tussock moth populations, and the probable causes of population change.
Did lungs and the intracardiac shunt evolve to oxygenate the heart in vertebrates

Traditional wisdom of the evolution of lungs in fishes is that lungs arose when gill ventilation was hindered by an aquatic habitat that was low in oxygen. This scenario has been buttressed primarily by a proposed correlation between extant air-breathing fishes and hypoxic habitats, as well as by the fact that early vertebrate fossils were found in sediments believed to indicate a semi-arid environment. There are problems with this scenario, yet it retains a dominant influence on how the evolution of aerial respiration is viewed. This paper presents a new hypothesis for lung evolution that is more consistent with the fossil record and physiology of extant animals than the traditional scenario; I propose that lungs evolved to supply the heart with oxygen. The primitive vertebrate heart was spongy in architecture and devoid of coronary support, obtaining oxygen from luminal blood. By supplying oxygen to this tissue, lungs may have been important in ancient fishes for sustaining activity, regardless of environment. Furthermore, this function for lungs may have influenced cardiovascular adaptations of tetrapods because their divided cardiovascular system isolates the right side of the heart from pulmonary oxygen. I propose that three innovations compensate for this isolation: In extant amphibians oxygen-rich blood from cutaneous and buccal respiration enters the right side of the heart; in chelonians and lepidosaurs the intracardiac shunt washes oxygen-rich blood into the right side of the heart; in mammals, birds, and perhaps in crocodilians, support of the heart by coronary vasculature eliminates this problem.
Study on Parameter Optimization of Electric Pulse Modification of Industrial Pure Zinc

The experimental study of electric pulse modification on industrial pure zinc was carried out with orthogonal design method. The analysis of the cooling curve and solidification structure was used to confirm the influencing degree of those electric pulse treatment factors including treating time,pulse frequency and pulse voltage and arriving at the optimized processing parameter combination. The experimental results showed that the sequence of the influencing degree of those factors was frequency,voltage and processing time. The optimal processing parameter combination was 90 s, 4.5 Hz and 500 V. The isometric grains increased in number, and the size of columnar crystals decreased in solidification structure.
Investigation And Analysis On Getting Sick Building Syndrome Among The Employees In Public Places In Futian District,Shenzhen City

Objective To investigate the status of getting sick building syndrome(SBS) among the employees in public places in Futian district,Shenzhen city,analyze and explore the factors affecting people's health,and provide a scientific evidence for evaluating,improving and protecting the employees' health in public places.Methods A total of 519 employees in public places between 2009 and 2010 were randomly selected and investigated with a questionnaire about the health condition.Meanwhile,50 of them were selected to evaluate the re-tested reliability of the questionnaire.Results The employees in public places had SBS with different degree,and the degree of SBS had a close relationship with the decoration time.Obvious difference in the SBS incidence was found among the employees of different decoration time.Conclusion The health condition of the employees in public places was not optimistic.The SBS-occuring was influenced by kinds of factors,and it was highly associated with the decoration time.
C-reactive protein was a moderate predictor of coronary heart disease.

Source Citation Danesh J, Wheeler JG, Hirschfield GM, et al. C-reactive protein and other circulating markers of inflammation in the prediction of coronary heart disease. N Engl J Med. 2004;350:138...
Immigrant Households as Overseas Subsidiaries

In a study of urban poverty it is essential to examine the situation of the low-income immigrants, an increasingly important facet of city life, and to ask whether the immigrant experience differs from that of the ‘mainstream’ urban poor. Poverty is reproduced by the very conditions of immigration. These are people who left their country with little money in search of a better life, and who must now adapt to the structural constraints of the new milieu. Those who find themselves in a negative migration category, as illegal or undocumented aliens, will be further hindered in their flight from poverty. The immigration status by itself is not the determining factor, however, since some immigrants in the negative group are able to overcome that burden and eventually do well in their newly-adopted country. It becomes an obstacle when other factors are added, such as, for example, the inability to acquire permanent resident status and to find a good job. In our attempt to understand the process by which poverty is reproduced in urban Martinique it is crucial to pay attention to that negative category of immigrants because of their relatively large numbers in the slums and squatter settlements of Fort-de-France.1
Heat transfer correlation for film boiling in vertical upward flow

Abstract There is no heat transfer correlation available in the Inverted Slug Film Boiling (ISFB) regime. In this study, a new correlation for film boiling in a vertical channel is proposed using a semi-empirical model. This correlation is applicable in the Inverted Annular Film Boiling (IAFB) heat transfer regime as well as ISFB heat transfer regime. A semi-empirical model is developed to establish the functional dependence of the Nusselt number on various controlling parameters. Test data obtained from the transient reflood tests carried out in a full length 7 × 7 vertical Rod Bundle Heat Transfer (RBHT) facility are used to develop the correlation. The predicted Nusselt number agrees within 15% with the RBHT data set and other data set available in the literature. This heat transfer correlation is applicable up to a void fraction of 90%, i.e., both in the IAFB and ISFB regimes. The proposed correlation is also applicable to a tube geometry using a modified coefficient in the correlation with an error less than 10%.
Fabrication and Construction Procedures of a Totally Precast Concrete Counterfort Retaining Wall System for Highways

AbstractIn this paper, a totally precast concrete counterfort retaining wall system is proposed for highway and bridge applications. This system provides several advantages over conventional method...
Flagellar Length Control can be Achieved through a Simple Diffusion-Based Mechanism

An important question in cell biology is how cells know how big to make their organelles. The eukaryotic flagellum is an ideal model for studying size control because its linear geometry makes it essentially one-dimensional, greatly simplifying mathematical modeling. The assembly of flagella is regulated by intraflagellar transport (IFT), in which trains of kinesin motors walk to the tip of the flagellum and deposit the cargo necessary for the flagellum to grow. The competing length control factor is a length-independent decay of the flagellum. In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii flagella, this process results in initial rapid growth followed by convergence to a steady-state length. Curiously, the rate at which motors are recruited to begin transport is indirectly proportional to the length, implying some kind of communication between the base and the tip. We propose a model in which motors unbind after cargo delivery and diffuse back to the base, and are reused in IFT. In this model, the diffusion time of the motors serves as a proxy for length measurement. To explore the viability of this diffusion-based length control, we computationally built this model in three different ways. First, we built an agent-based model in which we used object-oriented programming to explicitly model flagella and motors, including time dynamics. Second, we modeled the number density along the flagellum as a vector, and built a stochastic matrix to simulate time dynamics and determine a steady-state. Third, we used differential equations to directly solve for the steady-state length. In all three, we found that the diffusion model can achieve steady-state length and an inverse relationship between length and recruitment rate. This is remarkable because this is perhaps the simplest explanation of length control, giving it credence in light of evolution.
Numerical Investigation of the Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil–Integrated Bridge System under Static Loading

AbstractThis paper presents numerical simulations of the performance of the Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil–Integrated Bridge System (GRS-IBS) under static loading conditions. Simulations were conduct...
Total Least Squares State of Charge Estimation for Lithium-Ion Batteries: An Efficient Moving Horizon Estimation Approach

Abstract This paper proposes a computationally efficient moving horizon approach for total least squares (TLS) battery state of charge (SOC) estimation. Much of the existing SOC estimation literature assumes that uncertainties arise mainly from (i) unmodeled dynamics and (ii) output measurement noise. In contrast, the total least squares (TLS) estimation problem explicitly examines the added noise affecting both output and input measurements. This increases the computational burden associated with TLS estimation by necessitating input trajectory estimation. We address this challenge by exploiting the differential flatness of a temperature-dependent equivalent circuit battery model to improve the computational speed of TLS estimation. Since the model is differentially flat, one can represent its underlying dynamics in terms of the time history of a single flat output. The exploitation of differential flatness improves the computational efficiency of moving horizon estimation (MHE) in two ways: (i) it decreases the number of decision variables significantly and (ii) eliminates battery dynamics-related equality constraints. A simulation study compares the proposed work to a benchmark unscented Kalman filter (UKF), and shows that the proposed flatness-based MHE framework can provide more accurate SOC estimates.