cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Phase 1 trial of autologous monocytes stimulated ex vivo with Sylatron® (Peginterferon alfa-2b) and Actimmune® (Interferon gamma-1b) for intra-peritoneal administration in recurrent ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer has no definitive second line therapeutic options, and largely recurs in the peritoneal cavity. Locoregional immune therapy using both interferons and monocytes can be used as a novel approach. Interferons have both cytostatic and cytotoxic properties, while monocytes stimulated with interferons have potent cytotoxic properties. Due to the highly immune suppressive properties of ovarian cancer, ex vivo stimulation of autologous patient monocytes with interferons and infusion of all three agents intraperitoneally (IP) can provide a strong pro-inflammatory environment at the site of disease to kill malignant cells. Patient monocytes are isolated through counterflow elutriation and stimulated ex vivo with interferons and infused IP through a semi-permanent catheter. We have designed a standard 3 + 3 dose escalation study to explore the highest tolerated dose of interferons and monocytes infused IP in patients with chemotherapy resistant ovarian cancer. Secondary outcome measurements of changes in the peripheral blood immune compartment and plasma cytokines will be studied for correlations of response. We have developed a novel immunotherapy focused on the innate immune system for the treatment of ovarian cancer. We have combined the use of autologous monocytes and interferons alpha and gamma for local–regional administration directly into the peritoneal cavity. This therapy is highly unique in that it is the first study of its type using only components of the innate immune system for the locoregional delivery consisting of autologous monocytes and dual interferons alpha and gamma. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02948426, registered on October 28, 2016. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02948426
The reliability of end of day and ecological momentary assessments of pain and pain interference in individuals with spinal cord injury

This study investigated the most efficient means of measuring pain intensity and pain interference comparing ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to end of day (EOD) data, with the highest level of measurement reliability as examined in individuals with spinal cord injury. EMA (five times throughout the day) and EOD ratings of pain and pain interference were collected over a 7-day period. Multilevel models were used to examine the reliability for both EOD and EMA assessments in order to determine the amount of variability in these assessments over the course of a week or the day, and a multilevel version of the Spearman–Brown Prophecy formula was used to estimate values for reliability. Findings indicate the minimum of number of EOD and EMA assessments needed to achieve different levels of reliability (“adequate” > 0.70, “good” > 0.80 and excellent > 0.90). In addition, the time of day (either morning, midday or evening) did not impact the estimated reliability for the EMA assessments. These findings can help researchers and clinician balance the cost/benefit tradeoffs of these different types of assessments by providing specific cutoffs for the numbers of each type of assessment that are needed to achieve excellent reliability.
Physical Activity, Chronic Conditions, and Disabilities Across the US Population: Comprehensive Assessment of Current Patterns and Two-Decade Time Trends

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of physical activity levels, prevalence of chronic conditions, and disabilities in the United States. First, employing the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data set, the paper identifies current patterns and two-decade time trends related to chronic conditions, self-perception of health status, healthcare coverage, disabilities, and a variety of socioeconomic characteristics of respondents who have participated in exercises during the past month. There is 5% increase in physical activity rates among US population from 1996 to 2006 followed by stable rates around 76% over the past decade. Rates of physically active population with some forms of disabilities are subject to little variations, while chronic conditions exhibit a steady growth over observed years. Considerably higher numbers of physically active respondents have health coverage in 2016 compared to 1996. Second, applying the multinomial logistic regression assessment, I test empirically the impact of physical activities on coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes for population who are limited or disabled because of the physical and/or mental and/or emotional problems. Overall, more frequent exercise activities are associated with decline in the prevalence of coronary heart disease and diabetes for people with disabilities. As baby boomers become eligible for Medicare, providing care for people with chronic conditions and disabilities becomes one of the dominant questions for regulators, academic research, and surrounding public dialogue.
Controlling Large, Graph-based MDPs with Global Control Capacity Constraints: An Approximate LP Solution

We consider controlling graph-based MDPs (GMDPs) with two special properties: (i) Anonymous Influence and (ii) Symmetry. Large-scale spatial processes such as wildfires, disease epidemics, opinion dynamics, and robot swarms are well modeled by GMDPs with these properties. We derive two efficient and scalable algorithms for computing approximately optimal control policies for large GMDPs with Anonymous Influence and Symmetry and derive sub-optimality bounds for these policies. Unlike prior work, our algorithms explicitly enforce a global control capacity constraint. Our methods scale linearly in the number of equivalence classes in the GMDP rather than the total number of MDPs in the graph. We demonstrate our methods in simulations of controlling a wildfire with a global fire retardant constraint and controlling an Ebola outbreak with a global medicine constraint. Our Ebola model is derived from data from the 2014 West Africa outbreak.
Soft electronics for soft robotics

As advanced as modern machines are, the building blocks have changed little since the industrial revolution, leading to rigid, bulky, and complex devices. Future machines will include electromechanical systems that are soft and elastically deformable, lending them to applications such as soft robotics, wearable/implantable devices, sensory skins, and energy storage and transport systems. One key step toward the realization of soft systems is the development of stretchable electronics that remain functional even when subject to high strains. Liquid-metal traces embedded in elastic polymers present a unique opportunity to retain the function of rigid metal conductors while leveraging the deformable properties of liquid-elastomer composites. However, in order to achieve the potential benefits of liquid-metal, scalable processing and manufacturing methods must be identified.
Non-parametric Error Modeling for Ultra-wideband Localization Networks

We propose an ultra-wideband-based (UWB) localization system that achieves high accuracy through nonparametric estimation of measurement probability densities and explicit modeling of antenna delays. This problem is difficult because non-line-of-sight conditions give rise to multimodal errors, which make linear estimation methods ineffective. The primary contribution in this paper is an approach for both characterizing these errors in situ and an optimization framework that recovers both positions and antenna delays. We evaluate our system with a network of 8 nodes based on the DecaWave DWM1000 and achieve accuracies from 3 cm RMSE in line-of-sight conditions to 30 cm RMSE in non-line-of-sight conditions. Collecting measurements and localizing the network in this manner requires less than a minute, after which the realized network may be used for dynamic real-time tracking.
DeRidder, J. L. (2018). Digital curation fundamentals.

There is a tremendous amount of information available to consult for digital curation guidance and tools. The extensive appendix of resources and the bibliography (not to mention the 23 pages of no...
Revisiting Effective Communication Between Patients and Physicians: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study Comparing Text-Based Electronic Versus Face-to-Face Communication

Background: Research has shown that text-based communication via telemedicine will continue to be a mode of communication that patients and physicians use in the future. However, very few studies have examined patients’ perspectives regarding the increased use of text-based communication versus face-to-face (FtF) communication. Objective: This study aimed to understand and compare the potential differences in patients’ perceptions of communication effectiveness with their physicians through different modes of communication. Methods: We conducted a web-based survey of 345 patients to explore the impact of different channels on effective communication and perceived health behavior and outcomes. We tested the impact of patients’ perceived communication and media effectiveness on their self-efficacy, communication satisfaction, and perceived health outcomes, separately for text-based information technology (IT)–mediated communication and FtF communication. Furthermore, we conducted a group comparison to identify significant differences across these 2 groups. Results: We found no significant differences between patients’ perceptions of effective communication using either IT-mediated communication or FtF communication with their physicians. However, we found significant differences in patients’ perception of media effectiveness: patients perceived FtF communication to be a more favorable medium (P=.02). Interestingly, we found no significant difference in terms of benefits (P=.09) and success (P=.08) of IT-mediated communication versus FtF communication. Conclusions: The results of this study imply that patients can achieve the same level of communication effectiveness with their physicians using IT-mediated communication as they would in comparable FtF interactions, but patients view FtF communication to be a more favorable medium than IT-mediated communication.
The Ground Effect in Anguilliform Swimming

Some anguilliform swimmers such as eels and lampreys swim near the ground, which has been hypothesized to have hydrodynamic benefits. To investigate whether swimming near ground has hydrodynamics benefits, two large-eddy simulations of a self-propelled anguilliform swimmer are carried out-one swimming far away from the ground (free swimming) and the other near the ground, that is, midline at 0 . 07 of fish length (L) from the ground creating a gap of 0 . 04 L . Simulations are carried out under similar conditions with both fish starting from rest in a quiescent flow and reaching steady swimming (constant average speed). The numerical results show that both swimmers have similar speed, power consumption, efficiency, and wake structure during steady swimming. This indicates that swimming near the ground with a gap larger than 0 . 04 L does not improve the swimming performance of anguilliform swimmers when there is no incoming flow, that is, the interaction of the wake with the ground does not improve swimming performance. When there is incoming flow, however, swimming near the ground may help because the flow has lower velocities near the ground.
Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in short and long-term mental health syndromes that can affect patients for years after injury. The mental health disorders associated with moderate to severe brain trauma have been well established, but emerging evidence clearly suggests that even mild injuries can lead to transient and/or permanent disabilities in neuropsychological or psychiatric domains. TBI patients often will exhibit a range of symptoms including, headaches, fatigue, depression, anxious behaviors, and memory impairments and in some cases TBI leads to suicide or increased suicidal ideation. It is important to recognize and treat these mental health issues in TBI patients.
The wasting-associated metabolite succinate disrupts myogenesis and impairs skeletal muscle regeneration.

Background Muscle wasting is a debilitating co-morbidity affecting most advanced cancer patients. Alongside enhanced muscle catabolism, defects in muscle repair/regeneration contribute to cancer-associated wasting. Among the factors implicated in suppression of muscle regeneration are cytokines that interfere with myogenic signal transduction pathways. Less understood is how other cancer/wasting-associated cues, such as metabolites, contribute to muscle dysfunction. This study investigates how the metabolite succinate affects myogenesis and muscle regeneration. Methods We leveraged an established ectopic metabolite treatment (cell permeable dimethyl-succinate) strategy to evaluate the ability of intracellular succinate elevation to 1) affect myoblast homeostasis (proliferation, apoptosis), 2) disrupt protein dynamics and induce wasting-associated atrophy, and 3) modulate in vitro myogenesis. In vivo succinate supplementation experiments (2% succinate, 1% sucrose vehicle) were used to corroborate and extend in vitro observations. Metabolic profiling and functional metabolic studies were then performed to investigate the impact of succinate elevation on mitochondria function. Results We found that in vitro succinate supplementation elevated intracellular succinate about 2-fold, and did not have an impact on proliferation or apoptosis of C2C12 myoblasts. Elevated succinate had minor effects on protein homeostasis (~25% decrease in protein synthesis assessed by OPP staining), and no significant effect on myotube atrophy. Succinate elevation interfered with in vitro myoblast differentiation, characterized by significant decreases in late markers of myogenesis and fewer nuclei per myosin heavy chain positive structure (assessed by immunofluorescence staining). While mice orally administered succinate did not exhibit changes in overall body composition or whole muscle weights, these mice displayed smaller muscle myofiber diameters (~6% decrease in the mean of non-linear regression curves fit to the histograms of minimum feret diameter distribution), which was exacerbated when muscle regeneration was induced with barium chloride injury. Significant decreases in the mean of non-linear regression curves fit to the histograms of minimum feret diameter distributions were observed 7 days and 28 days post injury. Elevated numbers of myogenin positive cells (3-fold increase) supportive of the differentiation defects observed in vitro were observed 28 days post injury. Metabolic profiling and functional metabolic assessment of myoblasts revealed that succinate elevation caused both widespread metabolic changes and significantly lowered maximal cellular respiration (~35% decrease). Conclusions This study broadens the repertoire of wasting-associated factors that can directly modulate muscle progenitor cell function and strengthens the hypothesis that metabolic derangements are significant contributors to impaired muscle regeneration, an important aspect of cancer-associated muscle wasting.
Synthesis of 5‐Cyanomethyluridine (cnm 5 U) and 5‐Cyanouridine (cn 5 U) Phosphoramidites and Their Incorporation into RNA Oligonucleotides

This article contains detailed synthetic protocols for preparation of 5-cyanomethyluridine (cnm5 U) and 5-cyanouridine (cn5 U) phosphoramidites. The synthesis of the cnm5 U phosphoramidite building block starts with commercially available 5-methyluridine (m5 C), followed by bromination of the 5-methyl group to install the cyano moiety using TMSCN/TBAF. The cn5 U phosphoramidite is obtained by regular Vorbruggen glycosylation of the protected ribofuranose with silylated 5-cyanouracil. These two modified phosphoramidites are suitable for synthesis of RNA oligonucleotides on solid phase using conventional amidite chemistry. Our protocol provides access to two novel building blocks for constructing RNA-based therapeutics. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC. Basic Protocol 1: Preparation of cnm5 U and cn5 U phosphoramidites Basic Protocol 2: Synthesis, purification, and characterization of cnm5 U- and cn5 U-modified RNA oligonucleotides.
Can the digestibility of corn distillers dried grains with solubles fed to pigs at two stages of growth be enhanced through management of particle size using a hammermill or a roller mill

The objective of this study was to determine the impact of reducing the mean particle size (PS) of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) with a hammermill (HM) or with a roller mill (RM) on the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter (DM), gross energy (GE), N, acid hydrolyzed ether extract (AEE), and fiber components in growing and finishing pigs. Twenty-four growing barrows were housed in individual pens and were randomly assigned to a 3 × 2 factorial design (n = 8): three grinding methods [either corn DDGS ground with an HM to a PS of 450 μm; corn DDGS ground with an RM to a PS of 450 μm; and corn DDGS with a PS of 670 μm (not further ground)] and two body weight (BW) periods (growing pigs with an average initial BW of 54.7 ± 0.9 kg, and finishing pigs with an average initial BW of 107.8 ± 1.5 kg BW). Fecal samples were collected for each BW period in the last 3 d of an 11-d feeding period. Titanium dioxide was used as an indigestible marker. Digestibility data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS. Results showed that finishing pigs tended to have better ATTD of DM than growing pigs (P = 0.09) and had increased ATTD of GE and N than growing pigs (P = 0.03 and P < 0.01, respectively). On the other hand, growing pigs had better ATTD of AEE than finishing pigs (P = 0.01). Pig BW period did not affect the ATTD of neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF), and hemicellulose. Reducing the mean PS of corn DDGS with either HM or RM (from 670 to 450 µm) improved the ATTD of DM and GE (P < 0.01 and P < 0.01), tended to improve the ATTD of N (P = 0.08), and improved the ATTD of AEE (P < 0.01). No effect of reducing PS was observed for the ATTD of NDF, ADF, or hemicellulose. There were no differences between HM and RM in any of the ATTD variables tested. In conclusion, reducing PS of corn DDGS from 670 to 450 μm either with an HM or with an RM improved the digestibility of DM, GE, and AEE and modestly improved the digestibility of N in growing and finishing pigs. However, reducing the PS of corn DDGS did not affect the digestibility of fiber components.
Controller Area Network Security Requirements

Controller Area Network (CAN) is the dominant communication standard for intra-vehicle communications in automobiles. The CAN protocol is designed to be light-weight in order to increase speed and efficiency. However, this severely limits the protocol’s ability to support any kind of security countermeasures. Some of the devices that utilize CAN lack the resources to perform the required cryptographic computations. The rapid increase in automobile communications has exacerbated the need for efficient security solutions. This paper addresses requirements for such CAN security solutions.
Robust Electrostatic Inchworm Motors for Macroscopic Manipulation and Movement

We report robust microfabricated MEMS electrostatic inchworm motors moving macroscopic objects: a motor in a $14.5\times 9.5\times 1.2\text{mm}$ gripper with 3mm displacement and 15mN force lifting a 1g weight, and an identical motor moving a 100mm long 230mg shuttle an 80mm distance horizontally at up to 5mm/s. This is an order of magnitude larger than previous electrostatic inchworm motors and demonstrates competitiveness with piezoelectric motors for millimeter-scale actuation for microrobotics.
Performance and Interpretation of Office Spirometry

Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is an important component of the evaluation, monitoring, and management of patients with suspected or established lung disease. Spirometry is easily accomplished in the primary care office setting; determination of lung volumes and diffusion capacity is performed in a pulmonary laboratory. Spirometry evaluates vital capacity of the lungs and expiratory flow rates and provides both numeric data and a graphic depiction of respiratory air flow. Characteristic patterns in spirometry-derived data allow the clinician to identify potential lung disease, as well as establish relative reversibility of airflow abnormalities.
On the Child's Need to Be One's Self

Alongside the child’s need “to become,” to develop and change, to fulfill dreams and plans, there is another need. This is the child’s need to be his authentic self and to be recognized as “somebody” when simply being that self. A children’s rights regime should ideally be responsive to the complementary needs “to be” and the need “to become” within the right to identity. Granting the right to autonomy, responding to the child’s need “to become,” and overcoming adult paternalism is often perceived as the most advanced and most problematic stage in the evolution of child law. This perception is misleading. The need to be one’s self is sometimes neglected by advocates of children’s rights, though it is well embedded in social science literature. It is suggested that this is because of Western culture’s preoccupation with material progress. In order for the child to fulfill his unique human potential, to arise to a supra animal motivation when exercising his rights, we must offer the child conditions for spiritual survival and for spiritual freedom which include a tie to his heritage. In order for the family to protect the child’s need to be himself, it has to also reflect a deep connection between family members that is often lacking. Through renouncing their own freedom and accepting responsibility for a future they may not live to see, parents, standing counter to prevalent cultural trends, grant their children the freedom to create their own futures. Furthermore, in order to prevent the ethical and intellectual numbing of their children, parents have to overcome the prevalent fear of “great truths” and offer their children the faith that there are truths to be discovered. 234 BYU JOURNAL OF PUBLIC LAW [Volume 25
Examples of Current and Future Uses of Neural-Net Image Processing for Aerospace Applications

Feed forward artificial neural networks are very convenient for performing correlated interpolation of pairs of complex noisy data sets as well as detecting small changes in image data. Image-to-image, image-to-variable and image-to-index applications have been tested at Glenn. Early demonstration applications are summarized including image-directed alignment of optics, tomography, flow-visualization control of wind-tunnel operations and structural-model-trained neural networks. A practical application is reviewed that employs neural-net detection of structural damage from interference fringe patterns. Both sensor-based and optics-only calibration procedures are available for this technique. These accomplishments have generated the knowledge necessary to suggest some other applications for NASA and Government programs. A tomography application is discussed to support Glenn's Icing Research tomography effort. The self-regularizing capability of a neural net is shown to predict the expected performance of the tomography geometry and to augment fast data processing. Other potential applications involve the quantum technologies. It may be possible to use a neural net as an image-to-image controller of an optical tweezers being used for diagnostics of isolated nano structures. The image-to-image transformation properties also offer the potential for simulating quantum computing. Computer resources are detailed for implementing the black box calibration features of the neural nets.
Brake power maxima of engines with limited heat transfer

This paper models the complete conversion of thermal energy into useful mechanical energy by reciprocating engines in a general setting. The paper joins the limited heat transfer model of finite-time thermodynamics with a general theory of mechanical efficiency. The analysis accounts for the thermal losses associated with heat transfer across differences in temperature and the friction losses inherent in mechanizing a heat engine cycle. The ideal Stirling cycle is used as the basis of the model because previous work shows that this will yield a best case analysis. Conditions under which an engine will produce its maximum brake or shaft power are analyzed and efficiency curves are presented with comparisons to other well-known efficiencies. The paper concludes with a new addition to the model which allows the determination of the effects of internal thermal losses on overall engine performance.
A Diversity Index for Model Space Selection in the Estimation of Benchmark and Infectious Doses via Model Averaging

In chemical and microbial risk assessments, risk assessors fit dose-response models to high-dose data and extrapolate downward to risk levels in the range of 1-10%. Although multiple dose-response models may be able to fit the data adequately in the experimental range, the estimated effective dose (ED) corresponding to an extremely small risk can be substantially different from model to model. In this respect, model averaging (MA) provides more robustness than a single dose-response model in the point and interval estimation of an ED. In MA, accounting for both data uncertainty and model uncertainty is crucial, but addressing model uncertainty is not achieved simply by increasing the number of models in a model space. A plausible set of models for MA can be characterized by goodness of fit and diversity surrounding the truth. We propose a diversity index (DI) to balance between these two characteristics in model space selection. It addresses a collective property of a model space rather than individual performance of each model. Tuning parameters in the DI control the size of the model space for MA.
The Philippines: Shadow WTO Agricultural Domestic Support Notifications

"The objective of this paper is to review the agricultural trade and domestic policies of the Philippines and to provide an assessment of the types and levels of domestic support relative to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Changes in trade protection and support in the Philippines, including tariff structure, quantitative restrictions, and domestic support, are discussed and analyzed. The paper also discusses the pattern of public expenditure on agriculture in the Philippines, including major agricultural productivity-enhancing programs. The present structure of protection and support favors the agricultural sector. Trade protection is higher in agriculture relative to manufacturing. There is a quantitative restriction on rice imports and a tariff rate quota in several agricultural commodities. The green box payments and the special and differential treatment constitute the major domestic support for agriculture. These support payments are relatively substantial and will continue to be sizable in the future to support the government's food sufficiency policy. However, the trade-distorting market price support for rice and corn is significantly below the de minimis limit that applies to the Philippines under the WTO Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture." from author's abstract
Bayesian Vision for Shape Recovery

We present a new Bayesian vision technique that aims at recovering a shape from two or more noisy observations taken under similar lighting conditions. The shape is parametrized by a piecewise linear height field, textured by a piecewise linear irradiance field, and we assume Gaussian Markovian priors for both shape vertices and irradiance variables. The observation process. also known as rendering, is modeled by a non-affine projection (e.g. perspective projection) followed by a convolution with a piecewise linear point spread function. and contamination by additive Gaussian noise. We assume that the observation parameters are calibrated beforehand. The major novelty of the proposed method consists of marginalizing out the irradiances considered as nuisance parameters, which is achieved by Laplace approximations. This reduces the inference to minimizing an energy that only depends on the shape vertices, and therefore allows an efficient Iterated Conditional Mode (ICM) optimization scheme to be implemented. A Gaussian approximation of the posterior shape density is computed, thus providing estimates both the geometry and its uncertainty. We illustrate the effectiveness of the new method by shape reconstruction results in a 2D case. A 3D version is currently under development and aims at recovering a surface from multiple images, reconstructing the topography by marginalizing out both albedo and shading.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus G Protein and G Protein CX3C Motif Adversely Affect CX3CR1+ T Cell Responses

Interactions between fractalkine (CX3CL1) and its receptor, CX3CR1, mediate leukocyte adhesion, activation, and trafficking. The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) G protein has a CX3C chemokine motif that can bind CX3CR1 and modify CXCL1-mediated responses. In this study, we show that expression of the RSV G protein or the G protein CX3C motif during infection is associated with reduced CX3CR1 + T cell trafficking to the lung, reduced frequencies of RSV-specific, MHC class I-restricted IFN-γ-expressing cells, and lower numbers of IL-4- and CX3CL1-expressing cells. In addition, we show that CX3CR1 + cells constitute a major component of the cytotoxic response to RSV infection. These results suggest that G protein and the G protein CX3C motif reduce the antiviral T cell response to RSV infection.
Learning the parameters for a gradient-based approach to image segmentation using cultural algorithms

There are two basic approaches to image segmentation, region-based and neighborhood-based. Region-based approaches require less a priori knowledge about the scene than neighborhood-based approaches but are computationally more expensive. In cases where there is little prior knowledge about properties of the image, one is often forced to use region growing approaches. In this paper the authors use cultural algorithms, a form of evolutionary computation based upon principles of cultural evolution, as the basis for learning the parameters for a neighborhood-based approach to image segmentation from the results of a region-growing approach. Specifically, parameters for a differential gradient method utilizing the Sobel operator are learned from the results of a region growing approach. The prototype is applied to a sequence of real world images, taken from archaeological excavations of a prehistoric site in order to extract spatial activity areas in the site. A region-growing approach is applied first to the images, and then a cultural algorithm is used to extract the parameters for use by a gradient method for those images. The resulting performance of the gradient method produced a correspondence of over 95% with that of the original. >
Heterozygosity and instability of amplified chromosomal insertions in the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.

Natural transformation, duplication insertion, and plasmid transformation in Deinococcus radiodurans, a bacterium that contains 4 to 10 chromosomes per cell, were studied. Duplication insertions were often heterozygous, with some chromosomes containing highly amplified insertions and others containing no insertions. Large amplified regions were apparently deleted by intrachromosomal recombination, generating as by-products extrachromosomal circles consisting of multiple tandem repeats of the amplified sequence. The circles were of heterogenous integer sizes, containing as many as 10 or more amplification units. Two strains that are defective in natural transformation and sensitive to DNA-damaging agents were further characterized. Both strains were defective in duplication insertion. While on strain was normal for plasmid transformation, the other was totally defective in this regard, suggesting that plasmid transfer in D. radiodurans may require recombinational functions. Images
A Min-Max theorem about the Road Coloring Conjecture

The Road Coloring Conjecture is an old and classical conjecture e posed in Adler and Weiss (1970); Adler et al. (1977). Let $G$ be a strongly connected digraph with uniform out-degree $2$. The Road Coloring Conjecture states that, under a natural (necessary) condition that $G$ is "aperiodic'', the edges of $G$ can be colored red and blue such that "universal driving directions'' can be given for each vertex. More precisely, each vertex has one red and one blue edge leaving it, and for any vertex $v$ there exists a sequence $s_v$ of reds and blues such that following the sequence from $\textit{any}$ starting vertex in $G$ ends precisely at the vertex $v$. We first generalize the conjecture to a min-max conjecture for all strongly connected digraphs. We then generalize the notion of coloring itself. Instead of assigning exactly one color to each edge we allow multiple colors to each edge. Under this relaxed notion of coloring we prove our generalized Min-Max theorem. Using the Prime Number Theorem (PNT) we further show that the number of colors needed for each edge is bounded above by $O(\log n / \log \log n)$, where $n$ is the number of vertices in the digraph.
Low-power, parallel photonic interconnections for multi-chip module applications

New applications of photonic interconnects will involve the insertion of parallel-channel links into Multi-Chip Modules (MCMs). Such applications will drive photonic link components into more compact forms that consume far less power than traditional telecommunication data links. MCM-based applications will also require simplified drive circuitry, lower cost, and higher reliability than has been demonstrated currently in photonic and optoelectronic technologies. The work described is a parallel link array, designed for vertical (Z-Axis) interconnection of the layers in a MCM-based signal processor stack, operating at a data rate of 100 Mb/s. This interconnect is based upon high-efficiency VCSELs, HBT photoreceivers, integrated micro-optics, and MCM-compatible packaging techniques.
Coke Blending and Fines Circuit Targeting at the Alcoa Deschambault Smelter

The continued increase of the demand for Aluminium metal combined with the fluctuations in the quality of aluminium grade coke makes it more challenging for the anode manufacturing plants to deliver steady quality anodes. The low sulfur coke material is becoming less available on the market and the price is steadily increasing. Environment regulations are aiming at reducing sulfur emissions, while the coke suppliers are offering higher sulfur material. The use of low sulfur material as feed stock increases anode CO2 reactivity and therefore making the product less attractive for the downstream process. An attempt was made to use only the high sulfur material in the fines fraction, in order to optimize CO2 reactivity while respecting sulfur emissions limit and coke supplier agreements. This paper presents the detailed results of this test, which later became a process flowsheet modification.
Patterns and stability of cardiovascular responses to variations of the cold pressor test

Test-retest reliabilities and patterns of heart rate and blood pressure responses were examined using variations in the cold pressor test in 113 normotensive white college men. Comparisons were made of stimulus site (forehead vs. foot) and bodily posture (seated vs. supine) across four separate groups of men. The stability of cardiovascular responses was examined over a 2-week test-retest interval. Different cardiovascular response patterns emerged as a function of stimulation site and posture. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure increases were accompanied by bradycardia in the forehead cold pressor task but by tachycardia in the foot cold pressor task. Systolic blood pressure increases were larger for foot than for forehead stimulation. Heart rate increases were larger for supine than for seated men. Effects on response were independent of postural differences at baseline, and there were no stimulation site by posture interactions. The cardiovascular responses to stimulation did not attenuate across sessions in any experimental condition but were more reliable for foot than for forehead stimulation and for supine than for seated posture. Short-term stability for changes to the task approached that for baseline and task and was higher than has been reported elsewhere.
‘The Most Beautiful Jewesses in the Land’: Imperial Travel in the Early Christian Holy Land

This essay examines the ways in which Jews were encoded into the holy land travel literature of the Christian Roman Empire (fourth through sixth centuries) as a means of naturalising and authenticating new modes of Christian, imperial power. Postcolonial criticism is used to analyse pilgrimage texts of the holy land (the Bordeaux pilgrim, Egeria, the Piacenza pilgrim) in order to explore various modes of constructing imperial Christian identity through use of the ‘figural Jew’ of ancient Palestine.
Empowering youth for tobacco control.

Abstract Purpose. To investigate common youth group activities and how they relate to young people's attitudes of empowerment around tobacco control. Design. A mailed survey was administered to 940 Minnesota youth involved in locally organized tobacco prevention groups. By multivariate linear regression, participation in eight tobacco-related activities and selected personal characteristics were examined in relation to youths' perceived influence on youth smoking. Results. Two activities—developing materials with antismoking messages and taking action to change school smoking policies—were associated with significantly higher perceived influence scores for the youth involved (p < .05). Youth in groups who had worked to raise awareness of how the tobacco industry targets teens also had significantly higher influence scores (p <.001). Associated personal factors included high involvement in extracurricular activities (p <.001), having never experimented with smoking (p <.01), leadership experience (p <.001)...
INVESTIGATING THE VALIDITY OF TOEFL: A FEASIBILITY STUDY USING CONTENT AND CRITERION-RELATED STRATEGIES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of two complementary approaches to assessing the validity of the TOEFL examination. One approach used evidence based on test content. In the context described in this report, evidence based on test content refers to the degree to which the items on the TOEFL examination are representative of the knowledge and skills required to demonstrate English proficiency in undergraduate and graduate programs throughout the United States and Canada. The content-oriented approach used in this pilot study involved item rating procedures that were designed to evaluate and document the relationship between the language tasks or behaviors previously identified as important for academic success and the test items used to measure them. The second approach used a criterion-related validation strategy. In this aspect of the study, experimental rating scales were developed for use by faculty to evaluate students' current levels of English language proficiency. These scales were designed to sample the domain of behaviors previously identified as important.
Survey Of Cineradiographic Techniques Applied To Nuclear Reactor Safety Experiments

After reviewing the role of in-pile and out-of-pile experiments in the United States fast-reactor safety testing program, the history of fuel-motion measurements is sketched. The fast neutron hodoscope is described, with particular emphasis on capabilities and principles of operation. Alternative devices for fuel-motion measurement are examined with a discussion of future improvements in material-motion diagnostics. Relationships of fuel-motion diagnostic techniques to other types of cineradiography are also covered.*© (1983) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
A virion-specific inhibitory molecule with therapeutic potential for human immunodeficiency virus type 1

Abstract A potential new approach for gene therapy against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection is the design of a nonstructural gene-based virion-specific inhibitory molecule that is packaged with virus to destroy its infectivity. We tested this approach for HIV-1 by using Vpx, a virion-associated protein of HIV-2 and simian immunodeficiency virus. Vpx was incorporated into HIV-1 virions and the resulting cell-free virus lost infectivity in CD4+ human T cells. This demonstrates the therapeutic potential of an accessory gene-based virion-specific inhibitory molecule. Vpx and its derivatives can be regarded as a new class of anti-HIV-1 molecule.
Weak crossover and move α in Japanese

We have argued that if we adopt an account of weak crossover that utilizes the notion antecedent-of, the weak crossover facts in Japanese can be accounted for under some independently motivated assumptions. In particular, under this approach, the absence of the weak crossover effect in (8b) ceases to be a problem for the hypothesis that scrambling is an instance of Move α. Since there are some phenomena that independently indicate that scrambling is to be analyzed in terms of Move α, the scrambling facts discussed in this short paper constitute evidence for the necessity of the notion antecedent-of.
Automatically generating consistent schedules for multimedia documents

A schedule for a multimedia document indicates when document events should occur. We describe a two-phase algorithm that automatically produces schedules for interactive multimedia documents, which can contain both predictable behavior (such as audio and video) and unpredictable behavior (such as user interaction and programs with unpredictable execution times). The first phase of the algorithm, called the compiletime scheduler, preprocesses high-level temporal specifications before the document is presented and creates as much of the schedule as possible. Our compiletime scheduler is conceptually similar to TEX's spatial layout algorithm in that it permits time to be stretched or shrunk between events inside media segments to arrive at an "optimal" presentation for a document. The second phase of the algorithm, called the runtime scheduler, resolves the presentation of media segments that depend upon unpredictable behavior.
Polyelectrolyte-mediated protein adsorption: fluorescent protein binding to individual polyelectrolyte nanospheres.

We have used confocal fluorescence microscopy with single molecule sensitivity to characterize uptake and release of fluorescent protein (mEosFP) molecules by individual spherical polyelectrolyte brush (SPB) nanoparticles that were immobilized on a glass surface. The SPB particles consisted of a solid core particle of 100 nm diameter onto which long polyelectrolyte chains were affixed. They could be loaded with up to 30 000 mEosFP molecules in a solvent of low ionic strength. The concentration dependence of protein loading can be described with a simple bimolecular binding model, characterized by an equilibrium dissociation coefficient of 0.5 μM. Essentially complete release of the bound proteins was observed after increasing the ionic strength by adding 250 mM NaCl to the solvent. Fluorescence emission spectra and time-resolved fluorescence intensity decays were measured on individual, mEosFP-loaded SPB nanoparticles, and also on the dissolved mEosFP before and after adsorption. These results indicate th...
Graph-based learning for phonetic classification

We introduce graph-based learning for acoustic-phonetic classification. In graph-based learning, training and test data points are jointly represented in a weighted undirected graph characterized by a weight matrix indicating similarities between different samples. Classification of test samples is achieved by label propagation over the entire graph. Although this learning technique is commonly applied in semi-supervised settings, we show how it can also be used as a postprocessing step to a supervised classifier by imposing additional regularization constraints based on the underlying data manifold. We also present a technique to adapt graph-based learning to large datasets and evaluate our system on a vowel classification task. Our results show that graph-based learning improves significantly over state-of-the art baselines.
Reframing the Domestic Angel: Real Simple Magazine's Repackaging of the Victorian-Era “Angel in the House” Narrative

In this essay, I argue that a contemporized version of the “Angel in the House” narrative is present in Real Simple magazine. I demonstrate that nineteenth-century domestic themes have been reframed in Real Simple so that the home is no longer identified as a site intended for the pleasure of men; instead, it is identified as a personal sanctuary for the contemporary woman's respite and pleasure. I contend that while this revamped notion of the domestic angel may provide the reader with agency to privilege her own needs and desires, the modified narrative nevertheless reinforces the ideological notion of separate spheres—that the home is a woman's domain.
Aortopulmonary Index as a Novel Morphologic Correlate of Early Recurrence of Coarctation of Aorta after Surgical Repair in Infancy

Background The aim of this study was to determine morphologic correlates of early reintervention for recurrent coarctation in infants undergoing surgical repair in the current era. Methods Medical records of infants who underwent repair of coarctation were retrospectively reviewed. Z scores for aortic segments, relative aortic arch segmental dimensions (indexed to ascending or descending aortic dimension), and aortopulmonary index (the ratio of aortic to pulmonary annular diameter) were derived from preoperative echocardiograms. Results Eighty-seven patients underwent repair (median age, 13 days). Early arch reintervention ( Z scores of the aortic annulus and sinotubular junction were associated with early reintervention. Aortopulmonary index Conclusion In the current era, aortopulmonary index rather than aortic arch hypoplasia is correlated with the need for reintervention for recurrent coarctation within 1 year of surgery.
A Family History Study of Twenty Probands with Childhood Manic-Depressive Illness

Abstract A family history study was conducted on first and second degree relatives of 20 probands diagnosed with childhood manic depression. Overall rates of unipolar and bipolar illness were 27 and 14%, respectively. Of probands' parents, 62.5% were positive for major affective disorder. No significant differences were found between male and female relatives for major affective disorders. The mean age of onset for major depression and manic depression among family members was 23.5 and 19.5, respectively. High rates of observed psychopathology and the early age of onset among family members strengthen the concept that manic depression in childhood represents the same biological entity recognized in adulthood and that early onset, as seen in our probands, may suggest a more severe form of the disorder.
The Revitalization of Community Practice: Characteristics, Competencies, and Curricula for Community-Based Services

Abstract A recent move toward community-based services on the part of direct service agencies presents a major opportunity for the revitalization of community practice. Driven by funding from major philanthropic foundations and also by recent changes in federal entitlement legislation, these efforts at system reform are designed to make services for vulnerable populations more effective, accessible, integrated, and comprehensive in the context of the local community. Although this service reorganization requires the type of methods typically found in community practice, direct service workers employed in these agencies usually have not been trained in community work. To begin to address this concern, this article uses a computerized word search to review the community practice and community organization literature. A working definition of “community-based” practice is developed. The extensive literature review yields six characteristics of community-based service delivery: (1) neighborhood-based and famil...