cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Continued vision loss from progressive expansion of inactive chorioretinal scars in a myopic patient with well-controlled sympathetic ophthalmia.

Purpose: To describe significant vision loss caused by enlargement of chorioretinal scars related to sympathetic ophthalmia despite adequate control of intraocular inflammation. Methods: A case report of a 62-year-old man who developed sympathetic ophthalmia after a vitrectomy, which was successful in repairing a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Results: Progressive expansion of chorioretinal scars occurred despite successful control of intraocular inflammation related to sympathetic ophthalmia. The visual acuity declined from 20/20 to no light perception in the right eye and from 20/400 to light perception in the left eye over 11 years of follow-up. Conclusion: Progressive enlargement of chorioretinal scars and visual loss may occur despite adequate control of intraocular inflammation in patients with sympathetic ophthalmia. Similar patterns of scar expansion have been reported in eyes after laser photocoagulation, but we believe this is the first report of scar enlargement in the setting of well-controlled sympathetic ophthalmia.
On cardinal utility

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a cardinal utility function on a set X are presented.
Risk Grouping Versus Risk Continuum in Patients With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer: A Taxometric Test

Purpose: Two commonly used risk estimation approaches for clinically localized prostate cancer are nomograms and risk grouping. The basic distinction between these 2 approaches is that risk grouping assigns patients to distinct categories while nomograms align patients along a continuum or dimension. We used the taxometric methods developed by Meehl to compare the competing models of risk grouping vs risk continuum in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: The study sample consisted of 80,304 patients from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database from 2004 to 2006. The 3 clinical variables analyzed were serum prostate specific antigen, Gleason score and American Joint Committee on Cancer T stage. Three taxometric procedures were used in analysis, including maximum covariance, mean above minus mean below a cut and latent mode. The comparison curve fit index was calculated for each procedure and the 3 results were averaged. A priori thresholds for the mean comparison curve fit index were that values greater than 0.55 were considered evidence of categorical structure and values less than 0.45 were considered evidence of dimensional structure. Values between 0.45 and 0.55 were deemed ambiguous. Results: Maximum covariance, mean above minus mean below a cut and latent mode analyses yielded a comparison curve fit index of 0.168, 0.401 and 0.465, respectively (mean 0.345). Conclusions: Results favor a dimensional rather than a categorical model of risk estimation and provide further support for using nomograms over risk grouping in patients with clinically localized prostate cancer.
Using intelligent e services to empower users and decrease first-level support issues

This paper presents a possible solution framework for offering advanced self-help and service to the more proficient part of the academic IT user base. This can relieve the helpdesk staff of some work load and better satisfy the more demanding and experienced user base by allowing them to find solutions on their own.
The plasma membrane as a barrier to herbicide penetration and site for adjuvant action

Adjuvants are traditionally thought to exert their main effect on the cuticle or spray droplet to enhance foliar-applied herbicide penetration. However, considerable evidence exists indicating that the plasma membrane is a barrier to intracellular penetration of herbicides and a site of action for adjuvants. Surfactants may penetrate through the cuticle and into the region of the plasma membrane. Insertion into the membrane causes a general «loosening» to provide greater penetration by highly polar herbicides such as glyphosate. Weak acid herbicides typically have a lipophilic moiety and, therefore, can move more easily through the membrane but the rate and accumulation is dependent on pH conditions across the membrane (.)
A note on theE-optimality of block designs

In this paper we consider the problem of determiningE-optimal block designs for experimental situations in whichv treatments are to be tested onn experimental units arranged inb blocks and where the block sizes and number of replications assigned to the treatments are allowed to vary. Some sufficient conditions are obtained for designs to beE-optimal in these situations and methods for constructing designs which satisfy the sufficient conditions given are also derived.
BINDING OF THYROXINE AND TRIIODOTHYRONINE BY HEART AND PITUITARY PROTEINS.

THE presence of thyroxine-binding activity in extracts of muscle tissues1 and in extracts of mouse thyrotropic and mammotrophic pituitary tumours2 has been demonstrated by observing the migration of radioactive thyroxine with the proteins in question during electrophoresis on paper at pH 8.6. The work recorded here on the relative affinity of water-soluble human heart and pituitary proteins for thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) made use of an independent binding assay.
Capacitor-less photovoltaic (PV) cell-level power balancing using diffusion charge redistribution

This paper presents a new strategy, diffusion charge redistribution (DCR), for balancing power among photovoltaic cells to increase energy extraction and to improve maximum power point tracking (MPPT) efficiency under partial shading conditions. With DCR, testing and binning during cell manufacturing can be eliminated, and significant cost savings can be achieved during production. The proposed technique performs power balancing by taking advantage the intrinsic diffusion capacitance of the solar cells and requires no external passive components for energy storage, thereby minimizing power electronics cost and complexity. Strings balanced by this technique exhibit power versus current curves that are convex, which also greatly reduces the cost and complexity of the required MPPT algorithm.
Distinct and Common Pathways in the Regulation of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 Receptor Gene Expression by Angiotensin II and Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor

Abstract Angiotensin II (Ang II) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are important modulators of cell growth under physiological and pathophysiological conditions. We and others have previously shown that these growth factors increase insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) number and mRNA in vascular smooth muscle cells and that this effect is transcriptionally regulated. To study the mechanisms and the signaling pathways involved, IGF-1R promoter reporter constructs were transiently transfected in CHO-AT1 cells that overexpress angiotensin AT1 receptors. Our findings indicate that Ang II and bFGF significantly increased IGF-1R promoter activity up to 7- and 3-fold, respectively. The effect induced by Ang II was mediated via a tyrosine kinase-dependent mechanism, since tyrphostin A25 largely inhibited the Ang II-induced increase in promoter activity. In addition, co-transfection of dominant negative Ras, Raf, and MEK1 or pretreatment with the MEK inhibitor PD 98059 dose-dependently decreased both the Ang II- and bFGF-induced increase in IGF-1R transcription and protein expression, suggesting that the Ras-Raf-mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase pathway is required for both growth factors. Reactive oxygen species have been shown to act as second messengers in Ang II-induced signaling, and activation of the transcription factor NF-κB is redox-sensitive. While co-transfection of dominant negative IκBα mutant completely inhibited the Ang II-induced increase in transcription, it had no effect on the bFGF signaling. In contrast, co-transfection studies indicated that the transcription factors STAT1, STAT3, and c-Jun and the Janus kinase 2 kinase are required in the signaling pathway of bFGF, whereas only dominant c-Jun inhibited the Ang II-induced effect. In summary, these data demonstrate that Ang II and bFGF increase IGF-1R gene transcription via distinct as well as shared pathways and have important implications for understanding growth-stimulatory effects of these growth factors on vascular cells.
Functional Coexpression of HSV-1 Thymidine Kinase and Green Fluorescent Protein: Implications for Noninvasive Imaging of Transgene Expression

Abstract Current gene therapy technology is limited by the paucity of methodology for determining the location and magnitude of therapeutic transgene expression in vivo . We describe and validate a paradigm for monitoring therapeutic transgene expression by noninvasive imaging of the herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase (HSV-1- tk ) marker gene expression. To test proportional coexpression of therapeutic and marker genes, a model fusion gene comprising green fluorescent protein (gfp) and HSV-1- tk genes was generated ( tkgfp gene) and assessed for the functional coexpression of the gene product, TKGFP fusion protein, in rat 9L gliosarcoma, RG2 glioma, and W256 carcinoma cells. Analysis of the TKGFP protein demonstrated that it can serve as a therapeutic gene by rendering tkgfp transduced cells sensitive to ganciclovir or as a screening marker useful for identifying transduced cells by fluorescence microscopy or fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). TK and GFP activities in the TKGFP fusion protein were similar to corresponding wild-type proteins and accumulation of the HSV-1- tk -specific radiolabeled substrate, 2′-fluoro-2′-deoxy-1β-D-arabino-furanosyl-5-iodo-uracil (FIAU), in stability transduced clones correlated with gfp-fluorescence intensity over a wide range of expression levels. The tkgfp fusion gene itself may be useful in developing novel cancer gene therapy approaches. Valuable information about the efficiency of gene transfer and expression could be obtained by non-invasive imaging of tkgfp expression with FIAU and clinical imaging devices (gamma camera, positron-emission tomography [PET], single photon emission computed tomography [SPECT]), and/or direct visualization of gfp expression in situ by fluorescence microscopy or endoscopy.
Spatial Distribution of Historical Wetland Classes on the Des Moines Lobe, Iowa

We estimated the pre-settlement density and area of different classes of palustrine wetlands on the Des Moines Lobe based on soil characteristics. Six wetland classes, ranging from temporarily flooded to permanently flooded, were identified based on soil properties that persisted after artificial drainage. Prior to drainage, wetlands covered nearly half of the Des Moines Lobe and there were differences in both the types and relative abundance of wetlands among the four geologic subdivisions of the Lobe (Bemis, Altamont, and Algona till plains and Altamont Lake). In the flat Altamont Lake zone, the most common wetlands were equally split between temporarily flooded and saturated water regimes. Among the three till plain zones, saturated wetlands were the dominant wetland type. Differences in wetland distributions among the zones probably derive from differences in initial topography and post-glacial processes such as erosion-deposition processes and stream-network formation.
Combined channel-modified adaptive array MMSE canceller and Viterbi equalizer for interferers with delay spread

We build on our previously reported concepts (see Friedman and Bar-Ness, Proc. Vehicular Technology Conf. (VTC), p.209-13, 2001) by investigating the performance of the canceller/MLSE when both desired and interfering signals are subject to multipath. In the earlier paper, it was shown that this very simple scheme, which couples a maximum-likelihood sequence estimator with an N-element canceller, is a receiver structure capable of canceling N-1 non-dispersive in-band interferers without compromising temporal equalization. The method makes use of the MLSE's channel estimator to modify the locally generated training sequence used to obtain the antenna array weights. This increases the array's degree of freedom for interference cancellation by allowing the dispersive-desired signal to pass through the array undisturbed. Temporal equalization of the desired signal is then accomplished using maximum-likelihood sequence estimation. The T-spaced channel estimator coefficients and the array weights are obtained simultaneously using minimum mean square error criteria.
A power controlled multiple access protocol for wireless packet networks

Multiple access-based collision avoidance MAC protocols have typically used fixed transmission power, and have not considered power control mechanisms based on the distance of the transmitter and receiver in order to improve spatial channel reuse. This work proposes PCMA, a power controlled multiple access wireless MAC protocol within the collision avoidance framework. PCMA generalizes the transmit-or-defer "on/off" collision avoidance model of current protocols to a more flexible "variable bounded power" collision suppression model. The algorithm is provisioned for ad hoc networks and does not require the presence of base stations to manage transmission power (i.e. it is decentralized). The advantage of implementing a power controlled protocol in an ad-hoc network is that source-destination pairs can be more tightly packed into the network allowing a greater number of simultaneous transmissions (spectral reuse). Our initial simulation results show that the PCMA can improve the throughput performance of the non-power controlled IEEE 802.11 by a factor of 2 with potential for additional scalability as source-destination pairs become more localized, thus providing a compelling reason for migrating to a new power controlled multiple access wireless MAC protocol standard.
The taste of polycose in hamsters.

Hamsters show a preference for Polycose, a mixture of starch-derived glucose polymers, that is as strong as their preference for sucrose. However, in the hamster, taste aversions to Polycose may be less easily acquired than taste aversions to sucrose and the qualitative aspects of Polycose are unknown in this species. In order to examine the taste of Polycose in the hamster, we utilized a taste-aversion protocol with two conditioning trials. Animals were trained to avoid one of three different conditioning stimuli: 50 mM sucrose, 100 mM Polycose and a mixture of 50 mM sucrose with 100 mM Polycose. Control animals were conditioned with deionized water. After the second conditioning trial, generalization testing began for the three conditioning stimuli plus 3 mM citric acid, 300 mM KCI and 30 mM NaCI. The results showed that aversions to Polycose, sucrose or the Polycose/sucrose mixture cross-generalized, demonstrating that Polycose and sucrose share a common taste percept in the hamster. None of the aversions generalized to NaCI, citric acid or KCI. In addition, comparisons among the patterns of taste generalizations indicated that the tastes of Polycose and sucrose also had distinct qualitative components. Finally, although the taste of 100 mM Polycose was more salient than the taste of 50 mM sucrose, the taste of sucrose could still be detected in a mixture with Polycose.
Civic Education and the New American Patriotism Post-9/11

This study analyzes the theoretical and practical political frameworks behind the two main approaches to civic education in America, 'civics' and 'service'. The first focuses on educating students about the formal political process. It is associated with liberal political theory and also with a justice-oriented, distributive politics that in practice has increasingly become consumer-oriented--fights over 'who gets what'. The second, 'service' (or community service or service learning) is associated with communitarian political theory and also with politics known internationally as neo-liberalism or the 'Third Way'. Neither liberalism nor communitarianism has been able to mount a significant alternative to what editors of a recent CJE issue call 'educational Darwinism' in education, in which less powerful groups are losers; to the spread generally of marketplace ways of thinking in every arena of society; or to the increasingly militarist and unilateralist foreign policy of the United States and the UK. On...
N =2 CONFORMAL SUPERGRAVITY IN N =1 SUPERSPACE

We apply the method of projecting extended supersymmetric theories into N = 1 superspace to the case of N = 2 conformal supergravity. We solve the constraints in terms of unconstrained matter prepotentials and N = 1 conformal supergravity.
Determining land surface fractional cover from NDVI and rainfall time series for a savanna ecosystem

Savanna ecosystems are water limited and responsive to rainfall on short time scales, characteristics that can be exploited to estimate fractional cover of trees, grass, and bare soil over large-scale areas from synthesis of remote sensing and rainfall measurements. A method is presented to estimate fractional cover based upon the differing ways in which grasses and trees respond to rainfall, and implementation of this method is demonstrated along the Kalahari Transect (KT), an aridity gradient in southern Africa. Seasonally averaged normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the sensitivity of the NDVI to interannual variations in wet season rainfall are used as state-space variables in a linear unmixing model. End members for this analysis were determined on the basis of best fit to the observed data. The realized end members were consistent with the qualitative characteristics of trees (high NDVI, low sensitivity of NDVI to interannual variations in rainfall), bare soil (low NDVI, low sensitivity), and the transient grass/ bare soil area (moderate NDVI, high sensitivity). Observed sensitivity of NDVI to rainfall was measured as the relationship between wet season NDVI and normalized rainfall over a 16-year period (1983–1998). The unmixing model yields a north-to-south decrease in tree fractional cover that corresponds to the decrease in mean wet season precipitation from 1600 to 300 mm along the KT (R 2 =.87). The fractional tree cover results compare favorably with available ground-based observations. The potential extent of grass cover is limited by the dominance of trees on the northern end of the transect, peaks at the location with approximately 450 mm of mean wet season rainfall, and is limited by rainfall in the arid southern portion of the transect. With mean NDVI for grass inferred from the data, yearly estimates of tree, grass, and bare soil fractional cover can be derived. These annual estimates, which are difficult to obtain from traditional unmixing procedures, are important parameters in fuel load and land–atmosphere exchange models. No calibration or training sets were required for this analysis, and this method has the additional capability to predict fractional-cover components for future rainfall scenarios. D 2002 Published by Elsevier Science Inc.
Nano-regime Length Scales Extracted from the First Sharp Diffraction Peak in Non-crystalline SiO2 and Related Materials: Device Applications

This paper distinguishes between two different scales of medium range order, MRO, in non-crystalline SiO2: (1) the first is ~0.4 to 0.5 nm and is obtained from the position of the first sharp diffraction peak, FSDP, in the X-ray diffraction structure factor, S(Q), and (2) the second is ~1 nm and is calculated from the FSDP full-width-at-half-maximum FWHM. Many-electron calculations yield Si–O third- and O–O fourth-nearest-neighbor bonding distances in the same 0.4–0.5 nm MRO regime. These derive from the availability of empty Si dπ orbitals for back-donation from occupied O pπ orbitals yielding narrow symmetry determined distributions of third neighbor Si–O, and fourth neighbor O–O distances. These are segments of six member rings contributing to connected six-member rings with ~1 nm length scale within the MRO regime. The unique properties of non-crystalline SiO2 are explained by the encapsulation of six-member ring clusters by five- and seven-member rings on average in a compliant hard-soft nano-scaled inhomogeneous network. This network structure minimizes macroscopic strain, reducing intrinsic bonding defects as well as defect precursors. This inhomogeneous CRN is enabling for applications including thermally grown ~1.5 nm SiO2 layers for Si field effect transistor devices to optical components with centimeter dimensions. There are qualitatively similar length scales in nano-crystalline HfO2 and phase separated Hf silicates based on the primitive unit cell, rather than a ring structure. Hf oxide dielectrics have recently been used as replacement dielectrics for a new generation of Si and Si/Ge devices heralding a transition into nano-scale circuits and systems on a Si chip.
High-frequency acoustic modeling

High-frequency environmental acoustic models in general use today are reviewed in context with environmental complexity in shallow water such that all aspects of the environment (surface, volume, bottom, subbottom) come into play. >
High performance low and high q discharges in DIII-D

The High performance H-mode regime on DIII-D has been extended to both low q and high q (high {Beta}p) and low q operation. In high current operation, VH-mode discharges were obtained for the first time with I{sub P}(MA)/B{sub T} (T) > 1. These discharges had q{sub 95}= 3.4, H = 2.9, {Beta}{sub N}= 3, and {Beta}{sub T}{Tau}{sub E}=3%-sec. {Beta}{sub T}{Tau}{sub E} was improved by approximately 50% over previous results. These discharges were obtained with neutral beam injection during the plasma current ramp up which maintained the axial q above 1. In low current operation, neutral beam heated discharges with 100% of the plasma current from non-inductive sources were obtained at high q, q{sub 95}=15, with {Beta}{sub N}=3.9, H=3.1, and {Beta}{sub p}=4.9. These discharges represent an extension of the high performance regime to q{sub 95} > 7.2, which was made possible by reduction in the locked mode low density limit, as the result of improvements in the magnetic field error correcting coils. These low current discharges do not exhibit some of the standard signatures of VH-mode, but appear to represent a new regime of improved H-mode confinement. Similar, non-VH-mode, high energy confinement discharges were obtained at low density and moderate q.
The Fiberoptle Guided Missile (FOG-M)

The Fiberoptic Guided Missile (FOG-M) was developed in the U.S. Army's Research, Development, and Engineering Center (RDEC) as a demonstration system for killing armor in an infantry application. The RDEC design uses a television sensor in the nose of the missile for in-flight target acquisition, bringing the video signal down a fiberoptic link that pays out behind the missile as it flies, to a gunner securely hidden in a defiladed launch vehicle. The gunner is able to select the target on a video screen and lock on an autotracker or alternately manually track the target to impact. The system design would use a common warhead for either armor or helicopter targets. The system is currently mounted on the High Mobility, Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV), containing the gunner's station, launcher, and flight missiles. The gunner's station includes the capability for detailed mission planning, digital map display based on the Defense Mapping Agency's digital map databases, and display of the air battle situation for the gunner. Automatic targeting, control of multiple missiles in the air simultaneously, navigation using a digital correlator, and autotracking of moving targets in cluttered backgrounds with gunner selectable offset tracking capability are also available. The system has a capability to train the gunner using a perspective view scene generator that mimics the video scene he would be presented during missile flight. The scene generator uses the same hardware that displays the digital map, while a simulation of the missile runs in one of the system's computer processors to accurately move the seeker presentation around the scene. All of the other hardware used in embedded training is the same as the actual firing hardware. The system concept has been chosen by the Army as the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) component of the Forward Area Air Defense System (FAADS). The initial design is being upgraded for the MIL SPEC environment to allow early operational evaluation by the user. The lessons learned by these tests will be used to aid the full scale development program beginning in FY88. This paper describes aspects of the system designed by the Army's RDEC, with special emphasis on the mechanics of fiberoptic datalink winding and payout concerns.
A highly reliable low temperature Al-Cu line/via metallization for sub-half micrometer CMOS

In this paper we present significant advances over the current art in terms of enhanced electromigration lifetime, low temperature deposition, and improved damascene capability of Al-Cu via/line structure. The electromigration data shows that Al-Cu via/interconnect structure deposited by a new low pressure sputtering process (LPS) results in at least "9/spl times/" better electromigration lifetime (t/sub 50/) to that of conventionally used CVD W stud/Al-Cu interconnect structure. This significant improvement in the reliability may be attributed to the "breakthrough" in void-free filling of high aspect ratio (3 to 4) sub-half micrometer vias with low resistivity metal such as Al-Cu at as low temperature as room temperature. The LPS process eliminates the need of a collimator normally used to fill or coat the vias and improves throughput by a factor of 5/spl times/ at least compared to collimation. The extendibility of this technique beyond 0.25 /spl mu/m contact geometries is demonstrated. The integration of the LPS process, Al-Cu via/interconnects using damascene process demonstrates a working 512 K SRAM chip with 0.5 /spl mu/m minimum groundrules.
Realineamiento paradigmático en las estructuras reiterativas con sustantivos de cualidad y estado: cobrar, recobrar y recuperar en diacronía

Este estudio de corpus analiza el uso de recobrar, recuperar y cobrar (en su sentido original de ´recobrar´) con sustantivos de cualidad y estado (e.g. fuerza, importancia) desde el siglo XIII al espanol moderno. Los resultados muestran que cobrar, que predominaba en el espanol medieval, fue sustituido por recobrar en el XVIII, pero recuperar se convirtio en el verbo mas frecuente a partir del XX. Al parecer, estos cambios se generalizaron por difusion lexica y culminaron un proceso de realineamiento lexico y paradigmatico que afecto tanto a nuestras estructuras como a otros usos de cobrar, recobrar y recuperar.
A persistent object infrastructure for heterogeneous distributed systems

A persistent object infrastructure enables applications to uniformly invoke operations on active (in-memory) and passive (stored) objects, i.e. it provides a single level object store. Objects are automatically moved between secondary storage and main memory by the infrastructure, so the impedance mismatch between the type systems of applications and the type systems of secondary storage abstractions like databases and file systems is eliminated from application programs. The paper describes a prototype of a persistent object system which has been designed for ANSA, an architecture for building heterogeneous object-based distributed systems. The prototype has been developed in ANSAware which is an example implementation of ANSA. >
Vitamin E and Disease Risk: Research Focus Turns on Genetic Polymorphisms and Molecular Mechanisms

Copyright: © 2012 Zingg JM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. A possible preventive effect of supplementation with vitamin E (α-tocopherol) against atherosclerosis and other diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration has been addressed in many studies (reviewed in [1-3]). Whereas in most animal studies vitamin E supplementation reduces cardiovascular disease (CVD), human randomized clinical trials and epidemiologic studies have reported both positive and negative outcomes (reviewed in [2]). Meta-analyses of the clinical studies even suggested an increased all-cause mortality with high doses of vitamin E supplementation [4,5], although other more recent studies did not confirm this [6,7]. Similar to that, a significant increase in prostate cancer risk was observed in the recent follow-up study of the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT) [8], whereas a preventive effect of vitamin E was observed in a study on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in adults without diabetes [9]. Intriguingly, based on the molecular properties of vitamin E as free radical scavenger, some of these results were not expected, suggesting that the current molecular models of vitamin E action may need to be revised.
Clarifying the cardiac proteasome paradox: protein quality control.

Correct folding of proteins is crucial for proper protein, cell, and organ function.1 Mutations and cellular stresses, some of which occur during pathology, can lead to incorrect folding and subsequent loss of protein function. If it goes uncorrected, then this loss of protein function, along with the toxicity associated with the accumulation of misfolded proteins in cells, results in eventual organ failure.2 Many diseases, including neurodegenerative, hepatic, endocrine, and cardiovascular disorders, are thought to be associated with, if not caused by, the organ failure resulting from the accumulation of misfolded proteins.3 For example, in the heart, accumulation of misfolded proteins has been associated with hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies as well as ischemic heart disease.4 Article, see p 532 Cells have evolved an elaborate protein quality control system, part of which involves organelle-initiated unfolded protein responses.5–7 The unfolded protein responses that are activated on accumulation of misfolded proteins are designed to adjust the relevant cellular machinery to enhance protein folding capacity and/or to degrade terminally misfolded, potentially proteotoxic proteins via the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS). If the UPS is sufficient to remove terminally misfolded proteins, then proteotoxicity can be averted; however, if the UPS is insufficient, then the resulting proteotoxicity can contribute to organ dysfunction. Accordingly, the UPS aspect of protein quality control is essential for normal cell and organ function.8 Most intracellular protein degradation via the UPS is an ATP-dependent process that involves E1, E2, and E3 ubiquitin ligases, which function in concert with chaperones to identify and ubiquitinate appropriate target proteins9 (Figure, A). The resulting polyubiquitinated proteins are then transferred to the 26S proteasome, where they are degraded (Figure, B). The 26S proteasome, composed of as many as 34 polypeptides in the heart,10,11 is located …
Abdominal acoustic radiation force impulse imaging

The ability of acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging to interrogate deep-lying abdominal tissues was investigated. Challenges involved in using ARFI imaging at depth include generating sufficient radiation force to measurably displace deep-lying tissues and tracking these small (0 - 3 /spl mu/m) tissue displacements with low PRF tracking pulses. Beam sequences were modified and optimized to meet these challenges, and viable in vivo human abdominal ARFI images were acquired at depths reaching 10 cm. Safety concerns due to induced tissue heating are also addressed through the use of finite element method models.
Applications of Motorola microcontrollers in the design of general purpose frequency synthesizers

The design of a general-purpose frequency synthesizer that synthesizes frequencies in the band of 100 Hz to 150 kHz, is accomplished using fractional phase-locked loop techniques. The method utilizes a 68HC11 microprocessor to generate very stable reference frequencies. A software program has been written to vary the reference frequency over the desired operating range. Operations at higher frequencies provided better phase noise performance due to the design constraints of the low pass filter. At 150-kHz carrier, a sideband response up to 50 dB attenuation was measured. The frequency synthesizer has been simulated using the TUTSIM software program. A settling time of as low as 50 ms for the loop lockup was observed. >
A fast hill-climbing approach without an energy function for probabilistic reasoning

Integer linear programming (ILP) has long been an important tool for operations research akin to the AI search heuristics for NP-hard problems. However, there has been relatively little incentive to use it in AI, even though it also deals with optimization. The problem stems from the misperception that because the general ILP problem is difficult to solve, then it will be difficult for all cases. It is known that AI search at first glance also seems this way until one begins to apply it to a specific domain. Clearly, there are many gains to be had from studying the problem with a different perspective like ILP. The authors look at probabilistic reasoning with Bayesian networks. For some time now, they have been stalled by its computational complexities. Algorithms have been designed for small classes of networks, but have been mainly inextensible to the general case. In particular, the authors consider belief revision in Bayesian networks which is the search for the most probable explanation for some given evidence. They present a new approach for computing belief revision from the ILP point of view. By observing various properties inherent in Bayesian networks, one can successfully develop a hill-climbing strategy which does not require an energy function. This approach can handle the entire class of Bayesian networks. Furthermore, experimental results indicate that finding the most probable explanation can be accomplished fairly easily.
La violencia como eje central en dos cuentos de Óscar Collazos

La narrativa de Oscar Collazos proviene de sus mas profundos deseos. En su ensayo "Escribir libros que no son como la vida" (2004), el mismo explica que sus textos son resultado de una serie de obsesiones que con el paso del tiempo han tomado el lugar de las historias. El presente trabajo pretende generar un analisis en torno a las caracteristicas formales de dos cuentos de Collazos, como el titulo lo indica, el eje central sera la violencia: ?como reside esta en el texto como tema de la literatura regional y como 'obsesion' de Oscar Collazos?
The energetics of the primary proton transfer in bacteriorhodopsin revisited: It is a sequential light-induced charge separation after all

Abstract The light-induced proton transport in bacteriorhodopsin has been considered as a model for other light-induced proton pumps. However, the exact nature of this process is still unclear. For example, it is not entirely clear what the driving force of the initial proton transfer is and, in particular, whether it reflects electrostatic forces or other effects. The present work simulates the primary proton transfer (PT) by a specialized combination of the EVB and the QCFF/PI methods. This combination allows us to obtain sufficient sampling and a quantitative free energy profile for the PT at different protein configurations. The calculated profiles provide new insight about energetics of the primary PT and its coupling to the protein conformational changes. Our finding confirms the tentative analysis of an earlier work (A. Warshel, Conversion of light energy to electrostatic energy in the proton pump of Halobacterium halobium , Photochem. Photobiol. 30 (1979) 285–290) and determines that the overall PT process is driven by the energetics of the charge separation between the Schiff base and its counterion Asp85. Apparently, the light-induced relaxation of the steric energy of the chromophore leads to an increase in the ion-pair distance, and this drives the PT process. Our use of the linear response approximation allows us to estimate the change in the protein conformational energy and provides the first computational description of the coupling between the protein structural changes and the PT process. It is also found that the PT is not driven by twist-modulated changes of the Schiff base's p K a , changes in the hydrogen bond directionality, or other non-electrostatic effects. Overall, based on a consistent use of structural information as the starting point for converging free energy calculations, we conclude that the primary event should be described as a light-induced formation of an unstable ground state, whose relaxation leads to charge separation and to the destabilization of the ion-pair state. This provides the driving force for the subsequent PT steps.
Urinary angiotensinogen predicts adverse outcomes among acute kidney injury patients in the intensive care unit

Introduction: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is commonly observed in the intensive care unit (ICU), where it can be caused by a variety of factors. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of urinary angiotensinogen, a candidate prognostic AKI biomarker identified in post-cardiac surgery patients, in this heterogeneous population. Methods: Urinary angiotensinogen was measured by ELISA and corrected for urine creatinine in 45 patients who developed AKI in the ICU. Patients were grouped by AKI etiology, and the angiotensinogen-to-creatinine ratio (uAnCR) was compared among the groups using the Kruskal-Wallis test. The ability of uAnCR to predict the following endpoints was tested using the area under the ROC curve (AUC): the need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) or death, increased length of stay (defined as hospital discharge > 7 days or death ≤ 7 days from sample collection), and worsening AKI (defined as an increase in serum creatinine > 0.3 mg/dL after sample collection or RRT). Results: uAnCR was significantly elevated in patients who met the composite outcome RRT or death (89.4 vs 25.4 ng/mg; P = 0.01), and it was a strong predictor of this outcome (AUC = 0.73). Patients with uAnCR values above the median for the cohort (55.21 ng/mg) had increased length of stay compared to patients with uAnCR ≤ 55.21 ng/mg (22 days vs 7 days after sample collection; P = 0.01). uAnCR was predictive of the outcome increased length of stay (AUC = 0.77). uAnCR was also a strong predictor of worsening of AKI (AUC = 0.77). The uAnCR of patients with pre-renal AKI was lower compared to patients with AKI of other causes (median uAnCR 11.3 vs 80.2 ng/mg; P = 0.02). Conclusions: Elevated urinary angiotensinogen is associated with adverse events in AKI patients in the ICU. It could be used to identify high risk patients who would benefit from timely intervention that could improve their outcomes.
Frequency response based feedforward control design with uncertainty considerations

System frequency response data is used to obtain a time domain impulse response model in contrast to the conventional way of deriving transfer function by curve fitting of frequency response or time domain system identification methods. This method is first applied to time response prediction and is shown to reduce prediction errors at frequencies where the model is in error. A feedforward controller is then designed by defining the desired controller behavior in the frequency domain. A design methodology for minimizing feedforward control tracking errors due to model uncertainty is developed and applied in conjunction with frequency response based feedforward controller design. Experimental results are shown for applying these approaches to an electrohydraulic system.
Hyperbaric oxygen treatment decreases pain in two nerve injury models

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) treatment has been used clinically to treat a variety of ailments, including severe burns and carbon monoxide poisoning, and in research settings has produced promising results when used to treat animal models of inflammatory pain. However, studies examining neuropathic pain or nerve injury models have been limited to physiological assessments and not whether the pain condition improves. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of HBO on two common models of neuropathic pain, L5 ligation and chronic constriction injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve. Following surgical manipulations, animals demonstrating mechanical hyperalgesia were randomly assigned to either HBO treatment or control for 90 min treatment sessions, after which mechanical sensitivity was assessed at 15 min and 6 h post. Daily HBO sessions, with assessments 15 min post-treatment, continued for two weeks, followed by 5 days of assessment only. The results indicated that both models demonstrated significant improvement in response to treatment over the course of the two-week period, with CCI animals recovering more quickly and maintaining this recovery throughout the post-treatment period. Hyperbaric oxygen treatment appears to be successful in relieving neuropathic pain for an extended period of time, and future research should be aimed at investigating the precise mechanisms underlying this positive effect.
High voltage, high current, high di/dt solid state switch

Summary form only given. A high voltage, high dI/dt, modular solid state switch intended to replace thyratrons in high power modular applications is under development. This paper describes the results of testing a switch module with a 10 kV, 6 kA, 30 kA/microsecond, 3 /spl mu/s PFN, under normal and load fault conditions. Included are data on switching losses and thermal performance during repetition rate operation. Experiments using alternate PFN's to obtain higher dI/dt operation are discussed. Initial results of multiple module tests with a 50 kV PFN are presented. The switch module uses three 5 kV, 15 mm diameter, thyristors connected in series. These thyristors were developed specifically for pulsed power applications, and have an interdigitated gate/cathode geometry to minimize turn-on losses and maximize dI/dt. The module's trigger circuit uses the switched energy to drive the thyristor gates, eliminating the need for an external gate drive power supply. A 35 V, 1 A, 50 ns risetime pulse triggers the module. The total switch inductance is 60 kV.
Effect of Tocolytics on Surfactant Secretion When Administered with Betamethasone: An in Vitro Study.

Objective To analyze the amount of surfactant protein (SP)-B and lecithin/sphingomyelin (L/S) ratio in response to betamethasone (BMS) alone as compared with magnesium sulfate (Mg 2+ ), indomethacin (Indo), and nifedipine (Nif) with or without BMS. Study design NCI-H441 human lung cells were grown and distributed into eight plates. BMS and tocolytics were added and the final plates were: control, BMS only, and each tocolytic ± BMS. Cells were stained with SP-B antibodies and relative fluorescence was measured. Lipids were also extracted, identified, and examined for relative densities. The L/S ratio was calculated. Results Nine independent measurements were obtained for each plate. The protein analysis revealed that among all eight plates, SP-B levels were highest among BMS only. There was a nonsignificant decrease in SP-B in each of the combinations of tocolytics + BMS as compared with BMS only. Compared with BMS only, L/S ratio was decreased in Mg 2+ + BMS ( p = 0.041), Indo + BMS ( p = 0.042), and Nif + BMS ( p = 0.025). Conclusion In our in vitro human lung cell model, SP-B and L/S ratio increased in response to BMS administration alone. The addition of tocolytics to BMS resulted in no increase in L/S ratio and no changes seen in SP-B production compared with BMS alone.
Adding sweet sorghum juice into current dry-grind ethanol process for improving ethanol yields and water efficiency.

Sweet sorghum is a promising energy crop due to its low fertilizer and water requirements, short growth period, and high biomass yield. However, the challenge for sweet sorghum as a feedstock for ethanol production is its short harvest period and the extreme instability of its juice, both of which make achieving a year-round production process difficult. One way to solve this challenge and to meet the growing demand of bio-renewable ethanol is to incorporate sweet sorghum juice into the current dry-grind ethanol process. In the dry-grind process, the whole grain kernel is milled and fermented to produce ethanol. In this study, sweet sorghum juice with varying grain sorghum flour contents was liquefied, saccharified, fermented, and distilled to produce ethanol. Ethanol yield from sweet sorghum juice with the optimum grain sorghum flour loading was about 28% higher than that from the conventional ethanol process. Enzymatic hydrolysis with this process could be reduced by 30 min. The fermentation performance of sweet sorghum juice with grain flour using a raw starch hydrolyzing enzyme was also investigated, and ethanol yield was about 21% higher than that from the conventional process. This innovative technology enabling ethanol production from sweet sorghum juice could improve ethanol yield, save energy, and significantly decrease water use in the current dry-grind ethanol process. Keywords: sweet sorghum, biomass, ethanol yield, hydrolyzing time, conversion efficiency DOI: 10.3965/j.ijabe.20150802.1513
Real-time software module design framework for building self-adaptive robotic systems

We proposed ReFrESH in our previous publication. It is a self-adaptive infrastructure aimed at managing the performance of multi-robot systems through dynamically diagnosing and maintaining unexpected issues of modules. To integrate ReFrESH and robotic application-level software more conveniently, it is necessary to develop a module design framework to support implementation of self-adaptive real-time software. To this end, based on the port-based object abstraction and port-automation theory, we propose the Extended Port-Based Object (E-PBO). E-PBO has two main advantages: (1) it builds the basis of a programming model to provide specific, yet flexible, guidelines to robotics application engineers for creating and integrating software modules; (2) it forms the basis of a self-adaption model to provide specific methods for evaluating the running task configuration and estimating the new but non-running task configuration (if required) without interfering with the running configuration. E-PBO has been incorporated into the Port-Based Object Real-Time Operating System (PBO/RT) and applied to a visual servoing robotic application, which is demonstrated here.
A Visual Warning System for the Identification of Proximity Detection Events around a Continuous Mining Machine

Underground mobile mining machines pose a difficult safety challenge since their operators generally work in close proximity to these machines in very restricted spaces. Intelligent software for use with electromagnetic proximity detection systems has been developed that can accurately locate workers around mining machinery in real time. If a worker is located too close to the machine, the machine’s operation can be partially or completely disabled to protect the workers from striking, pinning, and entanglement hazards. Researchers have developed a visual method of relaying to the operators the interdiction of their machine operations by this intelligent proximity detection system. Several lighting sequence scenarios were human subject tested for effectiveness using a computer-based multimedia platform. Analysis of the test results indicates that a “fast flash” lighting arrangement is the most effective scenario based upon subject preference, rating, and accuracy of proximity intrusion location identifica...
On the validity of useless tests

A misconception exists that validity may refer only to the interpretation of test scores and not to the uses of those scores. The development and evolution of validity theory illustrate test score ...