cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Stability Program for Hematopoietic Progenitor Products from Apheresis (HPC-A) at an Academic Institution

We perform stability testing on HPC-A products stored in vapor phase nitrogen from 1 week to 5 years. Stability is defined as CD34 viability of 70% or higher (±40% from baseline), and negative sterility results at 14 days. Potency is defined as 21 days or less to ANC engraftment if infused. We performed a comparison on frozen products from deceased patients or soon to be transplanted products stored for more than 10 years (group 3, n=7) or less than 10 years (group 2, n=10). The objective of our analysis was to establish a method to predict stability and potency, with clinical and economic implications. Thirteen patients were consented on an IRB approved protocol, and request for exemption was presented to the IRB for the remaining. Freshly isolated samples (group 1, n=3) provided control data. The demographic characteristics of the cellular products were matched between groups, except that older samples were volume reduced using the COBE-2991 device, (p=0.007). Samples in group 2 were stored for a median time of 3.6 years (range 0.42, 7.1), and samples in group 3 for 12.31 years (range10.12-14.34), respectively. We observed a post-thaw TNC decrease of 30% in group 2 and 36% in group 3 (p=0.9). CD34 counts decreased by 6.5% in group 2, and 11.37% in group 3 (p=0.7). We observed a 26% reduction of viable CD34 cells in group 2 vs. 34% in group 3 (p=0.1). All but two patients in group 3 received the first transplant, with products stored for a median of 2 days in group 1, 9 days in group two, and 137 days in group 3 (p=0.03). Cellular composition was consistent among products. All products engrafted ANCs within 12 days (p=0.5) and PLT within 17 days (p=0.4). Four patients in group 2 and 1 patient in group 3 received a second transplant. Median storage for group 2 was 3.6 years (0.42-7.09), compared with 12.3 years (10.12-14.34) in group 3 (p=1). All second transplants achieved prompt engraftment of both ANCs and PLT (≤12 d, p=0.2; 0.046, resp.). Regarding the ability of lineage depleted CD34 stem cells to form colonies in vitro, we collected data from 13 independent hematopoietic colony-forming unit assays. A statistically significant reduction in colony formation for both groups 2 and 3 was observed when compared with group 1. Other authors have reported successful engraftment in the absence of colony formation in vitro. Therefore, we decided to perform a functional evaluation of the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzyme activity using a commercially available flow cytometry kit in alternative. As expected, ALDH functionality correlated with CD34 viability (Pearson's coefficient: 0.4). (Figure 1). HPC-A products stored longer than 10 years resulted in efficient engraftment after the infusion of standard doses of viable CD34 cells. Viability assessed with 7-AAD is a simple and essential measure to assess the stability of frozen products, and the ALDH assay is an efficient adjunct to assess the functionality of CD34 stem cells.
Racing with Death: The Not-So-Ordinary Happenings of the 1932 Lake Placid Olympic Bobsled Events

During the practice sessions for the 1932 Olympic bobsled events, Lake Placid’s Mt. Van Hoevenberg slide endured multiple crashes involving over a dozen athletes. An analysis of the slide from inception to construction to competition as well as the resulting management of the accidents produces significant historical insight into the administration of the winter Olympic games. Using David Welky’s paradigm suggesting that the analyses of ordinary Olympic happenings can be used to probe larger issues, this analysis uses the “seemingly mundane” happenings of facility construction and competition to provide historical insight into an attempt to use the Olympics as a promotional springboard to a host city’s future commercial success. As the first sliding facility built in North America dedicated to both an Olympic games and for future commercial programming, this analysis also provides significant historical insight into modern Olympic issues including the fiduciary conundrum of building Olympic facilities with potentially limited post-Olympic commercial possibilities, the sometimes contentious nature of a host city’s environmental stewardship and the final location of those facilities as it pertains to the facilities’ future commercial success, and the nationalistic-laden gamesmanship that often plays out on these facilities during the administration of practice sessions and Olympic competition that can result in decision-making that potentially jeopardizes the safety of the athlete.
Undergraduate learning in the field: Designing experiences, assessing outcomes, and exploring future opportunities

Field learning experiences reach tens of thousands of undergraduate students annually, constituting their importance as components of undergraduate education and potential pathways for STEM educati...
Prediction of resolvent mode shapes in supersonic turbulent boundary layers

Abstract This work applies resolvent analysis to compressible zero-pressure-gradient turbulent boundary layers with freestream Mach numbers between 2 and 4, focusing exclusively on large scale motions in the outer region of the boundary layer. We investigate the effects of Mach number on predicted flow structures, and in particular, look at how such effects may be attributed to changes in mean properties. By leveraging the similarity between the compressible and incompressible resolvent operators, we show that the shape of the streamwise velocity and temperature components of resolvent response modes in the compressible regime can be approximated by applying ideas from wavepacket pseudospectral theory to a simple scalar operator. This gives a means of predicting the shape of resolvent mode components for compressible flows without requiring the singular value decompositions of discretized operators. At a Mach number of 2, we find that accurate results are obtained from this approximation when using the compressible mean velocity profile. At Mach numbers of 3 and 4, the quantitative accuracy of these predictions is improved by also considering a local effective Reynolds number based on the local mean density and viscosity.
Spectrum and completeness of the three-state superintegrable chiral Potts model

We find the rules which count the energy levels of the three-state superintegrable chiral Potts model and demonstrate that these rules are complete. In the massive phase we show that the spectrum can be written in terms of two single-particle levels where one of the levels has the unusual property that it exists only for a limited range of momentum. We also discuss the relation of the counting rules to the S = 1 XXZ spin chain with anisotropy gamma = 3.
Short-term heritable variation overwhelms two hundred generations of mutational variance for metabolic traits in Caenorhabditis elegans

Metabolic disorders commonly have a large heritable component, and have increased markedly over the past few generations. Genome-wide association studies of metabolic traits typically find a substantial unexplained fraction of the total heritability, suggesting an important role for the effects of spontaneous mutation. An alternative explanation, considered less likely, is that epigenetic effects contribute significantly to the heritable variation. Here we report a study designed to quantify the cumulative effects of spontaneous mutation on adenosine metabolism in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, including both the activity and concentration of two metabolic enzymes (ADA and ADK) and the standing pools of their associated metabolites. A previous study with the same set of C. elegans mutation accumulation (MA) lines found a large cumulative effect of mutation on adenosine concentration. The only prior study on the effects of mutation on metabolic enzyme activity, in Drosophila melanogaster, found that total enzyme activity presents a mutational target similar to that of morphological and life-history traits. However, those experiments were not designed to account for short-term heritable effects. We find that the means of some traits (6/17) change significantly over the course of ~250 generations under MA conditions, consistent with previous findings, but that the short-term heritable variance for all but one trait (total soluble protein concentration) is of the same order of magnitude as the mutational variance. This result has important implications for the design and interpretation of MA studies, and suggests that the potential effects of epigenetic variation in human metabolic disease warrant additional scrutiny.
Active Phase – Week 8

Guidelines for implementing the final group and mentoring sessions during the active phase are presented. The primary goal for these sessions is to prepare students for the transition from the current active phase semester to the start of the maintenance phase next semester. The group session begins with a brief review of previously presented ADHD knowledge, followed by a discussion of how this knowledge can be used to improve daily life functioning. The group session also focuses on a review and refinement of newly acquired behavioral strategies, along with suggestions for their continued use in the future. Likewise, there is a review and refinement of acquired adaptive thinking skills and recommendations for their continued use. During the mentoring session there is a review of the information covered in the final group and planning for next steps. This includes a discussion of the option for conducting two additional mentoring sessions during the current active phase. The mentoring session also addresses any additional questions about ADHD. Additional time is spent reviewing and refining the mentee’s implementation of learned behavioral strategies and adaptive thinking skills. A description of how mentoring is conducted during the upcoming maintenance phase is also provided.
Venous ligation versus venous repair: does the procedure impact venous thromboembolism risk?

Background Traumatic lower extremity venous injuries are most commonly managed with either a vein ligation or repair procedure. Venous injuries are associated with an increased risk of developing venous thromboembolisms (VTE), but little is understood with regard to how specific surgical treatments may impact the risk of developing either a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or a pulmonary embolism (PE). In this study of lower extremity venous injuries, we hypothesized that venous ligation would be associated with an increased risk of DVT but a lower risk of PE when compared with venous repair. Methods Patients were identified from the National Trauma Data Bank (2008 to 2014) with at least one iliac, femoral, popliteal, or tibial venous injury and who received either a vein ligation or repair. The patients were then compared based on the type of procedure and the location of the injury to assess the risk of DVT and PE between the groups. Results A total of 1214 patients were identified. There was no difference between patients who received a vein ligation versus a repair with respect to age, injury severity score, or initial systolic blood pressure. There was no difference in the odds of developing either a DVT or PE between patients who were treated with vein ligation versus repair. There was also no difference in VTE rates when stratified by the location of the injury. Conclusions In individuals with lower extremity venous injuries, there is no difference in the rate of DVT or PE complications when comparing venous repair and ligation procedures. The role of anticoagulation remains to be elucidated following operative treatment. Level of evidence Therapeutic/Care Management, Level IV.
Customer Co-Production and Service Innovation Characteristics: A Conceptual Argument

With the servuction system as its overarching framework, this chapter aims to understand how the customer’s perception of service innovation characteristics is influenced by his/her co-production of the service for self (CPS) and the co-production of the service for others (CPO). A set of propositions articulate these relationships: (a) shifts in CPS and CPO are positively related to perceived relative advantage and negatively to perceived risk; (b) upward and downward shifts in CPS and CPO reduce perceived compatibility; and (c) shifts in CPS and CPO are inversely and positively related to perceived complexity, respectively. Since the nature of a service and its managerial consequences are intertwined, our findings in the two spheres of customer co-production (CPS and CPO) have important implications for service researchers and managers with respect to both short- and long-term service operation issues.
Organic chemistry of subvalent transition metal complexes: XI. Oxidative additions of nickel(0) complexes to carbon-carbon bonds in alkynes: Nickelirenes and nickeloles as catalytic carriers in the oligomerization of alkynes

Abstract The formation of 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylnickelole-bis(triphenylphosphine) (IIIa) and 2,3,4,5-tetraphenylnickelole-bis(1,2-diphenylphosphino)ethane (IIIb), either from (E,E)-1,2,3,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadien-1,4-ylidenedilithium (I) and the corresponding nickel(II) chloride-phosphine complexes (II) or from the reduction of η4-tetraphenylcyclobutadienenickel(II) bromide dimer (XII) in the presence of phosphines, proceeds in good yields. Nickelole IIIa displays physical and chemical properties consistent with its structure and is a catalyst for the trimerization of diphenylacetylene. Nickelole IIIb is a highly associated structure but in its chemical response to alkynes, HOAc, O2, Br2, NaAlEt2H2 and heat displays the properties of a nickelole, rather than a cyclobutadienenickel(0) complex. Attempts to generate IIIb photochemically from η4-1,5-cyclooctadiene(η4-tetraphenylcyclopentadienone)nickel and diphos failed, but it was shown that structural types, such as η4-tetraphenyl-cyclopentadienone(diphos)nickel (a model for the structure suggested by Hoberg and Richter for IIIb), are unstable. Oligomerizations of diphenylacetylene by bis(1,5-cyclooctadiene)nickel were retarded by conducting the reaction in THF or in the presence of diphos. This retardation permitted the interception of products (cis-stilbene and (E,E)-1,2,3,4-tetraphenyl-1,3-butadiene) diagnostic for the intermediacy of nickelirenes and nickeloles. Deuterium labeling verified the presence of carbon-nickel bonds. These trapping experiments, together with findings on the thermal behavior of nickeloles, are combined into a comprehensive view of the cyclotrimerization, cyclotetramerization and linear polymerization of alkynes by nickel(0).
Mental health needs and service use in a national sample of adult cancer survivors in the USA: has psychosocial care improved?

Objective This study aims to estimate and test temporal differences in mental health (MH) need and service use among adult cancer survivors nationally before and after important policy recommendations for psychosocial cancer care. Methods Adults (n = 58,585) from the National Health Interview Survey, 2005 and 2010, were categorized as having (1) no chronic disease, (2) chronic disease other than cancer, (3) cancer without other chronic disease, and (4) cancer with other chronic disease. In these groups, we compared psychological distress, MH visits, and unmet need for MH services. Survey-weighted logistic regression was used to model these variables as functions of disease status and sociodemographic covariates and the interactions of disease status and survey year. Results Whereas the proportion of individuals with psychological distress and MH visits was significantly higher in 2010 versus 2005 for the no chronic disease group, the only group with significantly lower unmet need in 2010 versus 2005 was the cancer with other chronic disease group (5.3% vs. 3.0%, p < 0.05). In adjusted models, cancer survivors with other chronic disease had significantly lower odds of unmet need in 2010 (odds ratio 1.38; 95% confidence interval 0.85, 2.25) than in 2005 (odds ratio 3.32; 95% confidence interval 2.28, 4.83). Conclusions We find evidence of MH care quality improvement among cancer survivors between 2005 and 2010, a period that coincides with policy and clinical attention to psychosocial cancer care. These efforts may have reduced, but not eliminated, unmet need for MH services among cancer survivors. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Astroglial Reactions to Ionizing Radiation: with Emphasis on Glycogen Accumulation

Alpha particle and X-radiation ionizing effects on cerebral astroglial cells and blood vessels of young rats
Combining Constraint Solving and Symbolic Model Checking for a Class of a Systems with Non-linear Constraints

We extend the conventional BDD-based model checking algorithms to verify systems with non-linear arithmetic constraints. We represent each constraint as a BDD variable, using the information from a constraint solver to prune the BDDs by removing paths that correspond to infeasible constraints. We illustrate our technique with a simple example, which has been analyzed with our prototype implementation.
Resonance raman spectrum of azulene

Abstract Excitation profiles have been measured for three Raman lines (825 cm−1, 900 cm−1 and 1400 cm−1) of azulene in CS2 solution in the spectral range of the visible absorption system, viz 665–570 nm. The results are unexpected in that the excitation profiles do not exhibit maxirna at or near the corresponding absorption peaks. The results are interpreted on the basis of contributions by other vibrational modes with large Franck—Condon factor relative to the origin in the electronic transition. These Franck—Condon factors were varied to fit the Raman data as well as the absorption spectra. The best fit Franck—Condon factors agree well with those reported for mixed crystal absorption.
Right-Wing Organizers Do This Too: The Case of the Christian Coalition

This article documents and evaluates the organizing strategies of the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. Unlike most other Christian Right efforts, the Christian Coalition strongly emphasized a grassroots component in a social movement strategy that combined local efforts with a national organization. This study informs three debates in the field of community organizing: whether anything of value can be learned from right-wing organizing; whether contemporary organizing should remain focused on the local community or build power at the national level as well; and whether there is a place for mobilizing strategies in progressive community organizing.
The Mating Flight and the Vestigial Structures of the Stump-Legged Mayfly Campsurus Segnis Needham

At Kartabo the waters of the Cayuni meet those of the Mazaruni and soon join the great lake-like Essequibo flowing north through the low lying country of British Guiana until it runs into the sea at Georgetown. These rivers are hedged in by the jungle whose undergrowth has invaded the border waters in a persistent attempt to gain more territory. Mangrove roots swing so far out from the banks that fish swim in and out among them. Moccamoccas, the giant arums, have grown out still further. Their clublike stems standing in close rank provide on gigantic scale the kind of animal shelter furnished in more modest form by our own arrow head and pickerel weeds. Many slow flowing creeks feed into these larger streams but their mouths are hidden by creepers, tangles of mangrove, and prickly shrubs, and if the currents are gentle enough they are choked by lush growths of Cabomba.
Improving record linkage performance in the presence of missing linkage data

Display Omitted Three novel methods were validated to solve missing data problem in record linkage.Two variants of the Linkage Extension method were implemented.All three new methods produce better results than existing methods.Weight Distribution and Distance Imputation produce no false positive cases.Full Linkage Extension detected more match pairs than Compact Linkage Extension. IntroductionExisting record linkage methods do not handle missing linking field values in an efficient and effective manner. The objective of this study is to investigate three novel methods for improving the accuracy and efficiency of record linkage when record linkage fields have missing values. MethodsBy extending the Fellegi-Sunter scoring implementations available in the open-source Fine-grained Record Linkage (FRIL) software system we developed three novel methods to solve the missing data problem in record linkage, which we refer to as: Weight Redistribution, Distance Imputation, and Linkage Expansion. Weight Redistribution removes fields with missing data from the set of quasi-identifiers and redistributes the weight from the missing attribute based on relative proportions across the remaining available linkage fields. Distance Imputation imputes the distance between the missing data fields rather than imputing the missing data value. Linkage Expansion adds previously considered non-linkage fields to the linkage field set to compensate for the missing information in a linkage field. We tested the linkage methods using simulated data sets with varying field value corruption rates. ResultsThe methods developed had sensitivity ranging from .895 to .992 and positive predictive values (PPV) ranging from .865 to 1 in data sets with low corruption rates. Increased corruption rates lead to decreased sensitivity for all methods. ConclusionsThese new record linkage algorithms show promise in terms of accuracy and efficiency and may be valuable for combining large data sets at the patient level to support biomedical and clinical research.
Kinetics of stop codon recognition by release factor 1.

Recognition of stop codons by class I release factors is a fundamental step in the termination phase of protein synthesis. Since premature termination is costly to the cell, release factors have to efficiently discriminate between stop and sense codons. In order to understand the mechanism of discrimination between stop and sense codons, we developed a new, pre-steady state kinetic assay to monitor the interaction of RF1 with the ribosome. Our results show that RF1 associates with similar association rate constants to ribosomes programmed with a stop or sense codons. However, dissociation of RF1 from sense codons is as much as three orders of magnitude faster than from stop codons. Interestingly, the affinity of RF1 for ribosomes programmed with different sense codons does not correlate with the defects in peptide release. Thus, discrimination against sense codons is achieved, both, by increasing the dissociation rates and by decreasing the rate of peptide release. These results suggest that sense codons inhibit conformational changes necessary for RF1 to stably bind to the ribosome and catalyze peptide release.
Prolactin and Transforming Growth Factor-β Signaling Exert Opposing Effects on Mammary Gland Morphogenesis, Involution, and the Akt-Forkhead Pathway

Both prolactin (PRL) and TGF-β regulate cell survival in mammary epithelial cells, but their mechanisms of interactions are not known. In primary mammary epithelial cells and the HC11 mouse mammary epithelial cell line, PRL prevented TGF-β-induced apoptosis, as measured by terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase dUTP nick-end labeling staining and caspase-3 activation. This effect depended on phosphatidyl inositol triphosphate kinase (PI3K). PI3K activates a downstream serine/threonine kinase, Akt; therefore, we investigated the role of Akt in the interaction between PRL and TGF-β signaling. Akt activity was inhibited by TGF-β over a 20- to 60-min time course. In TGF-β-treated cells, PRL disinhibited Akt in a PI3K-dependent manner. Expression of dominant negative Akt blocked the protective effect of PRL in TGF-β-induced apoptosis. Transgenic mice overexpressing a dominant-negative TGF-β type II receptor (DNIIR) in the mammary epithelium undergo hyperplastic alveolar development, and this effect was PRL depen...
Observations on the short‐term 'natural history' of probable Alzheimer's disease in a controlled clinical trial

We examined the performance of patients with probable Alzheimer9s disease (AD) who participated in the placebo arm of a 12-week clinical trial. Assessments occurred at baseline and at 4, 6, 10, and 12 weeks after starting study medication. Patients received the Alzheimer9s Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive on all five occasions and the Mini-Mental State Examination on three occasions (baseline, week 6, and week 12). Their primary caregivers completed the Progressive Deterioration Scale on all five visits. This self-administered questionnaire consists of 29 items regarding the patient9s behavioral and functional status. The extrapolated yearly rate of change of the mental status examinations was considerably smaller than expected compared with uncontrolled natural history studies. In addition, there was a large within-subject variability on all three measures. Scores from the baseline assessments contributed more to the variability than did the later assessments. The small magnitude of change, as well as the large between-subjects and within-subject variability, points out the methodologic drawbacks of short-duration therapeutic trials in patients with AD and the challenges in demonstrating reliable treatment effects for potential therapeutic agents.
Observations of the Distribution of Ice in Hurricanes

Abstract Observations of the type and distribution 0°C isotherm in three Atlantic hurricanes are presented. Supercooled drops, graupel, columns and aggregated snowflakes were observed. The supercooled drops were found only in convective updrafts stronger than 5 m s−1, but not all updrafts > 5 m s−1 contained appreciable liquid. Graupel was found in all updrafts at temperatures < −2°C, and small columns were sometimes found in downdrafts. Nonconvective rainbands contained 15–30 L−1 of snow composed of columns and what appeared to be large aggregates. Other stratiform regions contained 1–15 L−1 of medium and large aggregates; columns were occasionally found there also but only within about 15 km of convection. Hurricane convection is almost completely glaciated at the −5°C level. It is suggested that the ice particles observed at 6.0 km inside the convection result primarily from downward mixing on both sides of the eyewall updraft of ice formed in the convective areas at higher, colder levels. The ice in t...
Detecting informed trading prior to hospitality acquisitions.

Abstract Hospitality acquisition payment announcements provide a particularly interesting opportunity for exploring the effects of information asymmetry on informed trading activities in hospitality firms. The empirical results in this paper, derived from a market microstructure approach, support the presence of informed trading in the short term prior to a hospitality acquisition. For cash- or stock-financed acquisitions, while we detect no change in the bid–ask spread of acquiring firms prior to an acquisition announcement, the ask or bid depths narrow prior to an acquisition payment announcement. For mixed-financed acquisitions, the bid–ask spread for acquiring firms widens and the ask depth narrows prior to the acquisition payment announcement.
Renal and testicular damage following dermal application of the flame retardant tris(2,3‐dibromopropyl) phosphate

Tris(2,3‐dibromopropyl) phosphate (TRIS) was the most popular flame retardant chemical used in children's sleepwear. Acute toxicological data indicated that TRIS was low in toxicity. Since human exposure to TRIS‐treated fabrics could occur for long periods of time, a subchronic study was undertaken to obtain additional information. The dermal application of TRIS (neat) at a dose of 1 ml/kg (2.27 g/kg) to the clipped backs of albino rabbits, once each week for 3 months, resulted in testicular atrophy and chronic interstitial nephritis in males. Females did not show any adverse effects.
Application of the simultaneous least squares-probit Nelson–Olson covariance estimator for stratified surveys

Abstract The Nelson–Olsen covariance estimator of the simultaneous least squares-probit model is adjusted to accommodate probability based stratified surveys. A simultaneous model of body mass and the propensity to exercise provides an empirical example using stratified survey data.
Tracking Collaboration: Forest Planning and Local Participation on the San Juan National Forest, Colorado

The proliferation of community-based collaborative approaches to public land management and planning has spawned many questions regarding issues of community representation and the effects of participation for local residents. This paper presents a longitudinal assessment of local resident participation in collaborative forest planning on local community–forest relations in southwestern Colorado. Using survey data of participants involved in the San Juan National Forest's forest plan revision community study groups from 1998 to 2003, we assess participation in terms of community representation and the effects of community-based collaboration upon individuals' forest uses, forest values, and the level and form of involvement in forest management and planning activities. Results show that community representation remains slanted towards existing active stakeholders, and that while forest values, uses, and frequencies of involvement change little, participants cite positive effects in terms of the developmen...
QoS policies and architecture for cache/memory in CMP platforms

As we enter the era of CMP platforms with multiple threads/cores on the die, the diversity of the simultaneous workloads running on them is expected to increase. The rapid deployment of virtualization as a means to consolidate workloads on to a single platform is a prime example of this trend. In such scenarios, the quality of service (QoS) that each individual workload gets from the platform can widely vary depending on the behavior of the simultaneously running workloads. While the number of cores assigned to each workload can be controlled, there is no hardware or software support in today's platforms to control allocation of platform resources such as cache space and memory bandwidth to individual workloads. In this paper, we propose a QoS-enabled memory architecture for CMP platforms that addresses this problem. The QoS-enabled memory architecture enables more cache resources (i.e. space) and memory resources (i.e. bandwidth) for high priority applications based on guidance from the operating environment. The architecture also allows dynamic resource reassignment during run-time to further optimize the performance of the high priority application with minimal degradation to low priority. To achieve these goals, we will describe the hardware/software support required in the platform as well as the operating environment (O/S and virtual machine monitor). Our evaluation framework consists of detailed platform simulation models and a QoS-enabled version of Linux. Based on evaluation experiments, we show the effectiveness of a QoS-enabled architecture and summarize key findings/trade-offs.
LOX-1 and mitochondria: an inflammatory relationship

This editorial refers to ‘LOX-1, mtDNA damage, and NLRP3 inflammasome activation in macrophages: implications in atherogenesis’ by Z. Ding et al. , pp. 619–628, this issue. LOX-1 has been described as the responsible receptor for oxidized lipoprotein (oxLDL) binding and internalization, thereby inducing an intracellular oxidative stress response associated with an inflammatory processes occurring in cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis. In the current edition of Cardiovascular Research , Ding et al. 1 report that LOX-1-mediated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage that escapes autophagy triggers the Nlrp3 inflammasome expression in inflammatory disease states. Oxidative stress occurs during atherogenesis and plays an important role in disease progression by promoting lipid oxidation and the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the vessel wall. Risk factors, such as hypertension, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus, and smoking, are associated with enhanced oxidative stress.2,3 Accumulation of oxLDLs under the endothelium at atherosclerosis-prone sites is considered as the initial step in atherogenesis.3 Sensing of (oxidized) lipoproteins by endogenous scavenger receptors ( Figure 1 ) has been shown to trigger inflammatory processes, which crucially contributes to atherosclerotic plaque formation.3 The lectin-like oxLDL receptor-1 (LOX-1) is a key scavenger receptor responsible for oxLDL uptake and adjacent foam cell formation. OxLDL itself, as well as other triggers such as ROS, angiotensin II, endothelin, inflammatory cytokines, and shear stress, induces LOX-1 upregulation on vascular cells (endothelial cells, monocytes/macrophages, and vascular smooth …
An ultrastructural analysis of mitosis and cytokinesis in the zygote of the sea urchin, Arbacia punctulata

Post-fertilization events leading to the cleavage of the zygote of the sea-urchin, Arbacia punctulata were examined with the light and electron microscopes. Prior to prophase of the first cleavage division, endoplasmic reticulum and annulate lamellae become organized around the zygotic nucleus to produce a crescent-shaped structure which is defined as the streak (Harvey, '56). With the advent of prophase the streak undergoes morphogenic events which lead to the formation of the mitotic asters. During this transition there is a loss of annulate lamellae and a concomitant increase in endoplasmic reticulum. Annulate lamellae are not found as a part of the mitotic apparatus and are not again observed within the embryo until the two cell stage. During telophase, karyomeres are formed which consist of chromosomes delimited by a porous bilaminar envelope. Blastomere nuclei are produced following the fusion of the outer laminae, and subsequently by the fusion of the inner laminae of the envelopes encompassing the karyomeres.
Comparison of the texture evolution in cold rolled DC and SC AA 5182 aluminum alloys

Abstract The hot bands of direct chill cast (DC) and strip cast (SC) AA 5182 aluminum alloys were annealed at 454 °C for 3 h, and then cold rolled to different reductions. The ODFs of the cold rolled samples were determined by X-ray diffraction in order to compare the texture evolution of DC and SC AA 5182 aluminum alloys during rolling. The texture volume fractions were computed by a new method, in which the Euler space representing all possible crystallographic orientations in rolling was subdivided into the cube, r-cube, Goss, r-Goss, β fiber, and random orientation regions based on the slip pattern combined with the characteristics of microstructure and texture. Empirical formulae of the texture volume fractions and true strain were constructed to predict the texture of cold rolled DC and SC AA 5182 aluminum alloys. The results show that the processing method (DC vs. SC) strongly affects the texture after annealing at 454 °C and the texture evolution during the subsequent rolling.
The max-cut problem and quadratic 0-1 optimization; polyhedral aspects, relaxations and bounds

Given a graphG, themaximum cut problem consists of finding the subsetS of vertices such that the number of edges having exactly one endpoint inS is as large as possible. In the weighted version of this problem there are given real weights on the edges ofG, and the objective is to maximize the sum of the weights of the edges having exactly one endpoint in the subsetS. In this paper, we consider the maximum cut problem and some related problems, likemaximum-2-satisfiability, weighted signed graph balancing. We describe the relation of these problems to the unconstrained quadratic 0–1 programming problem, and we survey the known methods for lower and upper bounds to this optimization problem. We also give the relation between the related polyhedra, and we describe some of the known and some new classes of facets for them.
Magnetization and spin excitations of non-Abelian quantum Hall states.

Significant insights into non-Abelian quantum Hall states are obtained from studying special multiparticle interaction Hamiltonians, whose unique ground states are the Moore-Read and Read-Rezayi states for the case of spinless electrons. We generalize this approach to include the electronic spin-$1/2$ degree of freedom. We demonstrate that in the absence of Zeeman splitting, the ground states of such Hamiltonians have large degeneracies and very rich spin structures. The spin structure of the ground states and low-energy excitations can be understood based on an emergent SU(3) symmetry for the case corresponding to the Moore-Read state. These states with different spin quantum numbers represent non-Abelian quantum Hall states with different magnetizations, whose quasihole properties are likely to be similar to those of their spin-polarized counterparts.
Fatal long-term sequela following radiation cure for ependymoma

There are no previous reports of glioblastoma occurring following central nervous system irradiation. This report describes a young girl with an ependymoma at age 13 months who was treated by radiotherapy following surgical removal. At age 6 years she presented with a new lesion in the same location. Histologically there was no evidence of recurrent ependymoma. Instead, the pathological picture suggested glioblastoma or a severe radiation-induced encephalopathy. In either case, it seems likely that the changes were radiation induced.
Predictors of left atrial thrombus in mitral valve disease.

Objective:To determine the risk factors for left atrial thrombus (LAT) and the prevalence of thrombi in cases of mitral valve disease whose severity was fudged to necessitate surgical intervention.
Androgen regulation of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II in the rat ventral prostate.

Abstract One of the dramatic changes in the prostate during androgen manipulation is the alteration in cellular content of total RNA — the amount of total RNA in each cell. The abundance of cellular total RNA correlates with the RNA polymerase (RNAP) activity in the prostate. One possible mechanism of androgen regulation of RNAP activity involves the regulation of RNAP expression. Western blot analysis showed that the largest subunit of the RNAP II, an essential component of the transcriptional machinery for mRNA, is indeed regulated by androgens. Castration down-regulates the protein level of RNAP II, whereas androgen replacement up-regulates the protein. However, androgen manipulation does not have consistent effects on the phosphorylation of the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the RNAP II. Androgen regulation of the RNAP II protein expression was also observed in the seminal vesicles but not in the thymus and liver, indicating that androgen regulation of RNAP II protein expression appears to be limited to the male sex accessory organs. These observations suggest that RNAP II plays an essential role in androgen action in male sex accessory organs.
Structure, agency and environment: Toward an integrated perspective on vulnerability

Abstract We review five perspectives on human vulnerability to environmental change—biophysical, human ecological, political economy, constructivist and political ecology—and assess their respective strengths and weaknesses. While each of these perspectives offers important insights, and some theoretical convergence is evident, the field remains divided along a number theoretical fracture lines. Two deeply rooted metatheoretical assumptions—essentialism and nominalism—are hindering the construction of a more integrated perspective on vulnerability, one capable of addressing the interrelated dynamics of social structure, human agency and the environment. We conclude by suggesting that an evolutionary perspective on social change, grounded in a critical realist epistemology, provides the best prospect for avoiding the above pitfalls and advancing our understanding of vulnerability.
Long-range asymptotics of a step signal propagating in a hereditary viscoelastic medium

The shape of the asymptotic long-range solution of the scalar linear viscoelastic signaling problem is found for a large class of creep compliances. If the asymptotic growth of the creep compliance at large times is given by a power law then the long-range asymptotic shape of an initial step pulse is given by a function depending exclusively on the value of the exponent in the power law. Two different cases arise corresponding to unbounded and bounded creep compliances. In the first case the asymptotic solution is the solution of a fractional wave equation with a scale factor. In the second case a different universal signal shape function is obtained.
On the prediction theory of two-parameter stationary random fields

Abstract The paper develops the spectral theory corresponding to the various time domain Wold decompositions of a discrete two-parameter stationary second-order random field (ssorf). Appropriate Szego-type error formulas are established. Minimality and interpolability are defined for ssorf's and sufficient spectral criteria for these are derived. Partial results are also obtained which help to determine, via spectral methods, some of the multiplicities introduced by Kallianpur and Mandrekar in their time domain analysis of ssorf's.
Statistical analysis of fiber bundles using multi-tensor tractography: application to first-episode schizophrenia

Abstract This work proposes a new method to detect abnormalities in fiber bundles of first-episode (FE) schizophrenia patients. Existing methods have either examined a particular region of interest or used voxel-based morphometry or used tracts generated using the single tensor model for locating statistically different fiber bundles. Further, a two-sample t test, which assumes a Gaussian distribution for each population, is the most widely used statistical hypothesis testing algorithm. In this study, we use the unscented Kalman filter based two-tensor tractography algorithm for tracing neural fiber bundles of the brain that connect 105 different cortical and subcortical regions. Next, fiber bundles with significant connectivity across the entire population were determined. Several diffusion measures derived from the two-tensor model were computed and used as features in the subsequent analysis. For each fiber bundle, an affine-invariant descriptor was computed, thus obviating the need for precise registration of patients to an atlas. A kernel-based statistical hypothesis testing algorithm, which makes no assumption regarding the distribution of the underlying population, was then used to determine the abnormal diffusion properties of all fiber bundles for 20 FE patients and 20 age-matched healthy controls. Of the 1254 fiber bundles with significant connectivity, 740 fiber bundles were found to be significantly different in at least one diffusion measure after correcting for multiple comparisons. Thus, the changes affecting first-episode patients seem to be global in nature (spread throughout the brain).
Dream recall and content following various durations of sleep

An exploratory study was conducted to investigate the influence of various durations of sleep on dream recall and content. Ten Ss reported dreams on 5 mornings, separated by 5-day intervals, following 5, 61/2, 8, 91/2, and 11 h of nocturnal sleep. The total number of dreams reported subsequent to extended sleep (91/2 and 11 h) was significantly higher than the number reported after sleep deprivation (5 and 61/2 h) and 8 h of sleep (p<.01). Recall did not vary significantly between the 8-h condition and both conditions of sleep deprivation. There were no significant differences in dream content following the various durations of sleep. The results indicate that extended sleep is more favorable for dream recall than are shorter sleep periods.
Effects of end-point temperature and fat level on the residual cholesterol in ground beef patties

Patties of lean ground beef with 2% fat (L2PF) and 6% fat (L6PF) were used to study the fat and cholesterol composition of raw and cooked ground beef and to determine how the end-point cooking temperature affects the amount of fat and cholesterol in a lean ground beef patty as it would be eaten by the consumer. The two patty types were obtained from the longissimus muscle of steers with marbling scores associated with “Standard” to “Select” and “Select” to “Choice” U.S. carcass grades of beef, respectively. All steers were fed a diet of roughage and concentrates to ensure fat deposition over the 12th and 13th ribs; longissimus muscles between the 7th and 10th ribs were removed, trimmed of all external fat, ground and formed into three 130-g patties. One patty was fried to an internal temperature of 60C, another to 71C and the third was uncooked. After frying, the patties were measured for drip loss, moisture and total fat. The fat extract was used for cholesterol analysis. The cooked L2PF sample had significantly less fat than the cooked L6PF samples, but there was no difference between the L2PF and L6PF in cholesterol. End-point temperature had no effect on the fat and cholesterol contents for either L2PF or L6PF samples, but the higher end-point temperature resulted in a significant loss of moisture.
Learning from the spinal cord

The graceful control of multiarticulated limbs equipped with slow, non-linear actuators (muscles) is a difficult problem for which robotic engineering affords no general solution. The vertebrate spinal cord provides an existence proof that such control is, indeed, possible. The biological solution is complex and incompletely known, despite a century of meticulous neurophysiological research, celebrated in part by this symposium. This is frustrating for those who would reanimate paralysed limbs either through promoting regeneration of the injured spinal cord or by functional electrical stimulation. The importance of and general role played by the spinal cord might be more easily recognized by analogy to marionette puppets, another system in which a brain (the puppeteer's) must cope with a large number of partially redundant actuators (strings) moving a mechanical linkage with complex intrinsic properties.
Bayesian Detection of Changes of a Poisson Process Monitored at Discrete Time Points Where the Arrival Rates are Unknown

Abstract We look at a Poisson process where the arrival rate changes at some unknown integer. At each integer, we count the number of arrivals that happened in that time interval. We assume that the arrival rates before and after the change are unknown. For a loss function consisting of the cost of late detection and a penalty for early stopping, we develop, using dynamic programming, the one- and two-step look-ahead Bayesian stopping rules. We provide some numerical results to illustrate the effectiveness of the detection procedures.