cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The projection of optic nerve fibers in the frog Rana catesbeiana as studied by radioautography.

Tritiated leucine was unilaterally introduced into the vitreous chambers of metamorphosing bullfrog tadpoles in an attempt to determine whether the optic fibers may be traced by radioautography. After injection, the animals were sacrificed at varying time intervals from 4½ minutes to 32 days. Serial sections of the brain were subjected to radioautography. The optic fibers were thereby traced to their known terminations and to a small thalamic cell cluster to which we found no reference in the literature. Significant differential radioactivity was detectable in the contralateral optic lobe as early as six hours postinjection, suggesting a flow, whether intra- or extraaxonal, of at least 10–22 mm/day. A single postmetamorphic frog underwent excision of the optic chiasm with positioning of the stumps of the optic nerves against the lateral wall of the thalamus. Fifteen weeks were allowed for regeneration. When the same histologic and radioautographic technique as above was used (sacrificing at eight days postinjection), a grain path was found to extend from the optic nerve into the brain. This path divided into two distinct branches, one branch crossing over and one remaining on the same side. These results indicate the practicality of tracing nerve distribution within the CNS by radioautography.
GTP gamma S stimulation of endosome fusion suggests a role for a GTP-binding protein in the priming of vesicles before fusion.

Guanosine 5'-(3-O-thio)triphosphate (GTP gamma S), a non-hydrolyzable analogue of GTP, inhibits in vitro fusion among early endocytic vesicles in the presence of high concentrations of cytosol. In ...
Fourier space design of high-Q cavities in standard and compressed hexagonal lattice photonic crystals.

Building upon the results of recent work [1], we use momentum space design rules to investigate high quality factor (Q) optical cavities in standard and compressed hexagonal lattice photonic crystal (PC) slab waveguides. Beginning with the standard hexagonal lattice, the results of a symmetry analysis are used to determine a cavity geometry that produces a mode whose symmetry immediately leads to a reduction in vertical radiation loss from the PC slab. The Q is improved further by a tailoring of the defect geometry in Fourier space so as to limit coupling between the dominant Fourier components of the defect mode and those momentum components that radiate. Numerical investigations using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method show significant improvement using these methods, with total Q values exceeding 10^5. We also consider defect cavities in a compressed hexagonal lattice, where the lattice compression is used to modify the in-plane bandstructure of the PC lattice, creating new (frequency) degeneracies and modifying the dominant Fourier components found in the defect modes. High Q cavities in this new lattice geometry are designed using the momentum space design techniques outlined above. FDTD simulations of these structures yield Q values in excess of 10^5 with mode volumes of approximately 0.35 cubic half-wavelengths in vacuum.
Image free-viewing as intrinsically-motivated exploration: estimating the learnability of center-of-gaze image samples in infants and adults.

We propose that free viewing of natural images in human infants can be understood and analyzed as the product of intrinsically-motivated visual exploration. We examined this idea by first generating five sets of center-of-gaze (COG) image samples, which were derived by presenting a series of natural images to groups of both real observers (i.e., 9-month-olds and adults) and artificial observers (i.e., an image-saliency model, an image-entropy model, and a random-gaze model). In order to assess the sequential learnability of the COG samples, we paired each group of samples with a simple recurrent network, which was trained to reproduce the corresponding sequence of COG samples. We then asked whether an intrinsically-motivated artificial agent would learn to identify the most successful network. In Simulation 1, the agent was rewarded for selecting the observer group and network with the lowest prediction errors, while in Simulation 2 the agent was rewarded for selecting the observer group and network with the largest rate of improvement. Our prediction was that if visual exploration in infants is intrinsically-motivated – and more specifically, the goal of exploration is to learn to produce sequentially-predictable gaze patterns – then the agent would show a preference for the COG samples produced by the infants over the other four observer groups. The results from both simulations supported our prediction. We conclude by highlighting the implications of our approach for understanding visual development in infants, and discussing how the model can be elaborated and improved.
Combustion Performance of Liquid Bio-Fuels in a Swirl-Stabilized Burner

Fuels produced from renewable sources offer an economically viable pathway to curtail emissions of greenhouse gases. Two such liquid fuels in common usage are biodiesel and ethanol derived from soybean, corn or other food crops. In recent years, significant effort has been devoted to identify alternate feedstock sources and conversion techniques to diversify the biofuels portfolio. In this study, we have measured emissions from flames of diesel, biodiesel, emulsified biooil, and diesel-biodiesel blends. Experiments are conducted in an atmospheric pressure burner with an air-atomized injector and swirling primary air around it to replicate typical features of a gas turbine combustor. Experiments were conducted for fixed air and fuel flow rates, while the airflow split between the injector and the co-flow swirler was varied. Results show a significant reduction in emissions as the fraction of total air fed into the atomizer is increased. Blue flames, reminiscent of premixed combustion and low emissions of nitric oxides and carbon monoxide were observed for all fuel blends. In general, the emissions from bio-fuel flames were comparable or lower than those from diesel flames.
Cascading Impact of Lag on User Experience in Multiplayer Games

Playing cooperative multiplayer games should be fun for everyone involved and part of having fun in games is being able to perform well, be immersed, and stay engaged [13, 17]. These indicators of enjoyment are part of a user’s Quality of Experience (QoE), a measure which further includes additional metrics such as attention levels and ability to succeed. Players stop playing the game when it ceases to provide a high enough QoE, especially in cooperative and social games. [8, 18, 19]. Industry application development and current research both operate with the assumption that for any given individual in a group, that individual’s QoE is affected only by their own network condition and not the network conditions of the other group members [4, 7, 8]. We show that this assumption is incorrect. Our research shows that the QoE of all group members is negatively affected by a single member’s lag (communication delay, or loss caused by poor network conditions). Understanding a user’s QoE as a function that includes other users’ network conditions has the potential to improve lag mitigation strategies for multiplayer games and other group applications.
Power allocation for three-phase two-way relay networks with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer

This paper considers a three-phase two-way relay system in which two single-antenna transceivers exchange data with the help of a multi-antenna energy harvesting relay. An SNR maximization problem is formulated under fixed total power and fairness constraints. Given the fraction of energy harvested by the relay in the first two phases, a closed-form expression for the optimal power allocation between the transceivers is derived. Simulation results show that three-phase two-way relaying can have better performance than conventional two-phase two-way relaying, especially if the number of antennas at the relay is large.
Solutions of General Pentagonal Equation Under Certain Conditions

It was proved by Galois that there are no formulas that can be used to solve “by radicals” general equations of degree 5 or larger. In this paper we solved the general pentagonal equation under certain conditions. We used the “Quartic Formula” and unipodal numbers respectively for condition 1 and conditions 2 to solve the general pentagonal equation. The unipodal case was elaborated with a detailed example.
Phospholipid Analysis of Cellular Fractions of the Liver Following Administration of Single Dose of Choline.

Summary1. The effect of a single dose of choline on total lipid phosphorus, lecithin P, and cephalin P of mitochondria, nuclei and homogenates of the liver was studied in choline deficient rats. 2. Administration of single dose of choline 40, 75 and 150 mg significantly increased in 6 hours the total lipid P. and lecithin P concentration of liver mitochondira. 3. A statistically significant increase in total lipid P and lecithin P of liver mitochondria and homogenates occurred in 3, 6, 10 and 18 hours following administration of a single dose of choline. 4. Diets low in protein reduce the level of total lipid P, lecithin P and cephalin P in liver mitochondria.
Two-step consolidation for large soot preforms

In so-called soot processes such as VAD, consolidation of porous soot preforms has been carried out in a high-temperature furnace. The soot preforms are heated continuously at a temperature high enough to fuse the glass particles until the preform becomes a pore-free transparent glass body.
Pediatric air-gap chest digital imaging : an experimental study

Geometrically magnified computed radiography (CR) chest radiographs can be obtained in children using the same techniques as for non-grid, non-magnified CR radiographs. The resulting magnification images have less scatter than grid images and better line pair resolution.
Knowledge of how to combine: Organising, renewal and the Labour party

Kathryn Perera argues for placing organising – knowing ‘how to combine’ – at the heart of Labour party renewal. While recent efforts have petered out or drifted away from core electioneering, she outlines the organising mindset that has the potential to provide the ‘means to channel expressive demand into political action’.
Rising plant-mediated methane emissions from arctic wetlands.

Plant-mediated CH4 flux is an important pathway for land-atmosphere CH4 emissions but the magnitude, timing, and environmental controls, spanning scales of space and time, remain poorly understood in arctic tundra wetlands, particularly under the long term effects of climate change. CH4 fluxes were measured in situ during peak growing season for the dominant aquatic emergent plants in the Alaskan arctic coastal plain, Carex aquatilis and Arctophila fulva, to assess the magnitude and species-specific controls on CH4 flux. Plant biomass was a strong predictor of A. fulva CH4 flux while water depth and thaw depth were co-predictors for C. aquatilis CH4 flux. We used plant and environmental data from 1971-72 from the historic International Biological Program (IBP) research site near Barrow, Alaska, which we resampled in 2010-13, to quantify changes in plant biomass and thaw depth, and used these to estimate species-specific decadal-scale changes in CH4 fluxes. A ~60% increase in CH4 flux was estimated from the observed plant biomass and thaw depth increases in tundra ponds over the past 40 years. Despite covering only ~5% of the landscape, we estimate that aquatic C. aquatilis and A. fulva account for two-thirds of the total regional CH4 flux of the Barrow Peninsula. The regionally observed increases in plant biomass and active layer thickening over the past 40 years not only have major implications for energy and water balance, but have significantly altered land-atmosphere CH4 emissions for this region, potentially acting as a positive feedback to climate warming. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Headache, GI symptoms and Intestinal Permeability in Obese Adults

Limited evidence exists concerning the role of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and intestinal barrier function as contributors to headache occurrence. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the relationships between headaches, GI symptoms, and gut barrier function in a largely female sample (n=69) of obese (BMI, 37.6 ± 6.3 kg/m2, mean ± SD) adults, aged 45 ± 11 years. In this cross-sectional study, 24-hr urine collected after a sugar challenge was analyzed for sucralose and lactulose concentrations using gas chromatography. 24-hr sucralose (% oral dose) and the ratio of 24-hr sucralose/lactulose (24-hr S/L) were used as markers of intestinal permeability (IP) (median IQR; 24-hr sucralose, 0.23 [0.32, 1.2] and 24-hr S/L, 0.23 [0.12, 0.39]). Participants completed a 15-item headache symptom questionnaire and a clinical GI symptom questionnaire in which each symptom was rated on a 10-point scale. Thirty-nine percent of participants reported trouble with headaches (89% were women). Mann Whitney...
The Dangerous Policy of Weakening Security to Facilitate Surveillance

Some nations may consider policies that are intended to facilitate legal surveillance for law enforcement or intelligence purposes by weakening the cybersecurity of commercially available products and services. This includes policies that make technical standards more vulnerable, or that motivate companies to build back doors into their commercial products and services. Such policies have the unintended side effect of making all users of the technology, including those that are not targets of legal surveillance, more vulnerable to attack from criminals, terrorists, and foreign powers. Before adopting such a policy, government agencies should do a complete risk assessment that considers not just the impact of the policy on their ability to conduct surveillance, but also these unintended side effects. Otherwise, well-intentioned policies designed to protect citizens from external threats may actually make citizens more vulnerable to external threats.
Boundary integral formulation for flows containing an interface between two porous media

A system of boundary integral equations is derived for flows in domains composed of a porous medium of permeability , surrounded by another porous medium of different permeability, . The incompressible Brinkman equation is used to describe the flow in the porous media. We first apply a boundary integral representation of the Brinkman flow on each side of the dividing interface, and impose continuity of the velocity at the interface to derive the final formulation in terms of the interfacial velocity and surface forces. We discuss relations between the surface stresses based on the additional conditions imposed at the interface that depend on the porosity and permeability of the media and the structural composition of the interface. We present simulated results for test problems and different interface stress conditions. The results show significant sensitivity to the choice of the interface conditions, especially when the permeability is large. Since the Brinkman equation approaches the Stokes equation when the permeability approaches infinity, our boundary integral formulation can also be used to model the flow in sub-categories of Stokes–Stokes and Stokes–Brinkman configurations by considering infinite permeability in the Stokes fluid domain.
Thrombotic and Thromboembolic Complications in Patients with Adult Congenital Heart Disease

Improved medical and surgical interventions have increased the longevity of patients with congenital heart defects and most such patients live into adulthood. Thrombotic and thromboembolic complications constitute a major cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD). Such events include acute coronary syndromes, ischemic stroke (cardioembolic due to thrombus formation in the systemic ventricle, secondary to atrial arrhythmias, or due to paradoxical embolism), and venous thromboembolism. Some thrombotic phenomena are also specific to patients with ACHD, such as those related to Fontan circulation. We provide a succinct overview of thrombotic and thromboembolic complications in patients with ACHD, focusing on stroke and venous thromboembolic events.
Natural history of multiple myeloma (MM) relapsing after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT)

e19513 Background: The outcome of patients with MM relapsing after ASCT used early in the disease course or after failure of initial therapy, is not well defined. We undertook this study to underst...
Intracranial Stereotactic Radiosurgery in High Risk Patients with Metastases from Radioresistant Primary Tumors

Traditionally radioresistant brain metastases including melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, and sarcoma have poor outcomes with supportive care and whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) alone. Although recent advances in biologic and targeted agents have improved systemic disease control in some patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma, such agents have poor penetration and are relatively ineffective in controlling brain metastases. Nevertheless, the ability to provide biologically ablative doses of radiotherapy by radiosurgery still can yield excellent local control similar that found in classically non-radioresistant brain tumors. Although conventional radiobiological models suggest that these patients will not respond to conventionally fractionated radiation therapy treatment, stereotactic radiosurgery allows high doses of radiation to be delivered to the target, while minimizing dose to normal tissue. Here we present treatment strategies and clinical outcome data in the management of such patients. Given the excellent local control following radiosurgery in this group of patients we propose that radiosurgery provides a clinical benefit to this group of patients. The use of whole brain radiation therapy should be considered to improve local control, although can be omitted in selected groups of patients.
Design, Development, and Characterization of BreathForce: A Respiratory Training System for Patients with Spinal Cord Injuries

In this effort, we report the development of a portable inspiratory-expiratory training device for use in rehabilitation of participants with cardiovascular and respiratory motor deficits. The device uses existing airway restriction components to establish a manually adjustable respiratory training apparatus and includes an integrated pressure sensor with custom software to direct and track therapy sessions. The battery-powered system promotes proven rehabilitation methodologies performed at the clinic in a platform to be translated to the home for participants with spinal cord injuries.
xAtlas: Scalable small variant calling across heterogeneous next-generation sequencing experiments

The rapid development of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies has lowered the barriers to genomic data generation, resulting in millions of samples sequenced across diverse experimental designs. The growing volume and heterogeneity of these sequencing data complicate the further optimization of methods for identifying DNA variation, especially considering that curated high-confidence variant call sets commonly used to evaluate these methods are generally developed by reference to results from the analysis of comparatively small and homogeneous sample sets. We have developed xAtlas, an application for the identification of single nucleotide variants (SNV) and small insertions and deletions (indels) in NGS data. xAtlas is easily scalable and enables execution and retraining with rapid development cycles. Generation of variant calls in VCF or gVCF format from BAM or CRAM alignments is accomplished in less than one CPU-hour per 30× short-read human whole-genome. The retraining capabilities of xAtlas allow its core variant evaluation models to be optimized on new sample data and user-defined truth sets. Obtaining SNV and indels calls from xAtlas can be achieved more than 40 times faster than established methods while retaining the same accuracy.
Circadian variations of gastrointestinal peptides and cell proliferation in rats: effects of adrenalectomy.

Publisher Summary This chapter examines the effect of bilateral adrenalectomy and dexamethasone replacement on the circadian rhythms of gastrointestinal regulatory peptides in plasma and tissue and on the esophageal cell cycle kinetics. Circadian variation of corticosteroids and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is an important feature of the pituitary–adrenal system in many species, including humans and rats. Adrenocortical hormones are believed to play a major role in neonatal intestinal cell proliferation through the initiation of intestinal cell redifferentiation. One hundred eighty male Sprague-Dawley rats were housed three per cage in sound-attenuated chronobiological chambers maintained at 24±1°C with lights on daily from 0600 to 1800 hours (CST). Food and water were continuously available. After 2 weeks' acclimation under these conditions, the rats were divided into three equally sized (n = 60) groups. In adren-x animals, plasma gastrin did not exhibit a circadian rhythm (P
Dissolving into Visibility: Early American Natural History and the Corporeality of Interspecies Encounters

This chapter analyzes three early American writers’ engagement with natural history discourse and portrayal of interspecies encounters in which shifting animal materiality and the permeability of human and nonhuman bodies heightens the visibility of bodies and raises questions about definitions of agency, personhood, and creaturehood. J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, Leonora Sansay, and John James Audubon reveal moments in which the natural world and the plantation system overlap and converge, where animal materiality shifts, making visible the systems and the effects they have on non-white and nonhuman bodies. These moments, informed by natural history discourse, feature careful, attentive observations of bodies and the natural world.
Abstract 495: Leptin facilitates ovarian cancer metastasis through miR-28-3p and matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the omental tumor microenvironment

Advanced stage serous ovarian cancers spread beyond the pelvis and preferentially metastasize to the omentum, which is mainly composed of adipose tissue, suggesting that the omental microenvironment is a favorable niche for ovarian cancer cells. By comparing the transcriptome profiles of microdissected ovarian cancer tissues from the primary ovarian site and from the omental site, we identified matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) as one of the most significant genes that was up-regulated in the omental site compared with that in the primary site. To identify mediators secreted by the omental microenvironment that up-regulated MMP-1 in the omental site tumors, transcriptome profiling was performed on microdissected ovarian tumor associated adipose tissue in the omental site and the ovarian stromal tissue in the primary ovarian tumor site. We identified leptin as one of the top differentially expressed genes in ovarian tumor associated adipose tissue in the omental site, suggesting that it might up-regulate MMP-1 in the omental ovarian cancer. To further delineate the role of MMP-1 in mediating the effect of leptin on ovarian cancer cell metastasis, ovarian cancer SKOV3 and OVCA433 cells were treated with leptin. The results showed that leptin increased MMP-1 mRNA and protein expression as assessed by quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot analyses, respectively. Furthermore, we demonstrated that leptin induced both the cell migration and invasion potential of SKOV3 and OVCA433 cells, and the effects were abrogated by transfecting cells with MMP-1 siRNAs. In addition, using Ion Torrent next generation sequencing, we found that miR-28-3p is down-regulated in leptin-treated SKOV3 and OVCA433 cells compared to the untreated cells, suggesting that it may play a role in mediating the effect of leptin on MMP-1 expression and the subsequent ovarian cancer cell motility and invasion potential. In conclusion, leptin secreted by the adipocytes in ovarian cancer associated omental microenvironment may be important in facilitating the ovarian cancer cell metastasis through the miR-28-3p/MMP-1 pathway. Citation Format: Chi Lam Au Yeung, Ngai Na Co, Tsz-Lun Yeung, Samuel C. Mok. Leptin facilitates ovarian cancer metastasis through miR-28-3p and matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the omental tumor microenvironment [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 495.
Evaluation, Refurbishment, and Characterization of Fast Neutron Scintillators for the TREAT Fuel Motion Monitoring System

This paper details with work being performed to evaluate, refurbish, and characterize proton-recoil scintillator (PRS) assemblies being used in a 360-channel detector array for the measurement of fast neutrons in the Fuel Motion Monitoring System (FMMS) at the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT). The TREAT FMMS measures the real-time movement and displacement of experimental fuel during transient experiments, correlating fast-neutron signals to the mass of fuel in each of 360 pixels at the center of the reactor’s core. The detectors in the FMMS have stood dormant for over 20 years and significant degradation must be addressed before the system can be brought back to operational status. The PRS refurbishment process began by decoupling the scintillators from their matched photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) and treating the PRSs with ethanol. This process cleans the surfaces, removing paint and legacy labels/markings. During this procedure many physical variations were observed. After cleaning, the PRSs were measured using a digital caliper and the dimensions documented. Following this, a well-controlled fiber-coupled 280-nm light-emitting diode light source was used to stimulate the PRSs to produce an emission spectrum inside a light integration sphere. This emission spectrum was measured using an ultra-violet light enhanced optical spectrometer. Spectral measurements were recorded from 185-nm to 580-nm in 0.4-nm steps. The PRSs were then lightly sanded on the nonPMT mating surfaces and painted with commercially available reflective paint. A final emission spectrum was recorded for each PRS after painting.
Rationale and design of a single-blind, randomised controlled trial of exercise training for managing learning and memory impairment in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Introduction This randomised controlled trial (RCT) examines treadmill walking exercise training effects on learning and memory performance, hippocampal volume, and hippocampal resting-state functional connectivity in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have objective impairments in learning new information. Methods and analysis Forty fully ambulatory persons with MS who demonstrate objective learning and memory impairments will be randomly assigned into either the intervention or active control study conditions. The intervention condition involves supervised, progressive treadmill walking exercise training three times per week for a 3-month period. The active control condition involves supervised, progressive low-intensity resistive exercise that will be delivered at the same frequency as the intervention condition. The primary outcome will involve composite performance on neuropsychological learning and memory tests, and the secondary outcomes involve MRI measures of hippocampal volume and resting-state functional connectivity administered before and after the 3-month study period. Outcomes will be administered by treatment-blinded assessors using alternate test forms to minimise practice effects, and MRI data processing will be performed by blinded data analysts. Ethics and dissemination This study has been approved by a university institutional review board. The primary results will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and the final data will be made available to third parties in applicable data repositories. If successful, the results from this study will eventually inform subsequent RCTs for developing physical rehabilitation interventions (ie, treadmill walking exercise training) for improving learning and memory and its relationship with hippocampal outcomes in larger samples of cognitively impaired persons with MS. The results from this early-phase RCT will further lay preliminary groundwork for ultimately providing clinicians and patients with guidelines for better using chronic treadmill walking exercise for improving cognition and brain health. This approach is paramount as learning and memory impairment is common, burdensome and poorly managed in MS. Trial registration number NCT03319771; Pre-results.
Language and Liberty in Ghanaian Political Communication: A Critical Discourse Perspective

The object of this study was to illustrate the entwining between language and liberty in Ghanaian political discourse. Using three letters written by Dr. J. B. Danquah (two addressed to President Nkrumah and one to the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament) and working within the framework of language and liberty (Obeng, in press), I demonstrate that even though by being candid, Ghanaian political actors in opposition risked personal danger, such actors had communicative ways for pursuing and defending their negative liberty and positive liberty and for challenging powerful political actors’ oppressive and illegitimate actions. The discursive features employed to pursue liberty include: deferential mode of address, candour, inferencing, glittering generalities, emotional valence, politeness and intertextuality. The syntactic features used included conditional sentences, pronouns, physical verbs, lexical collocation and uppercase letters. The study concludes by submitting that liberty relies on language to become actuality and that political actors’ views on liberty and the historical, legal, political and cultural contexts of the discourse ecology in which they operate all impact their discourse performance in their fight for liberty.
Consumer evaluations of CSR authenticity: Development and validation of a multidimensional CSR authenticity scale

Abstract Authenticity is a critical concept affecting consumers' judgments of brands, as well as CSR programs. However, while much research has examined the impact of authenticity, there is less understanding regarding the dimensions that influence consumers' perceptions of authenticity, especially within the CSR domain. Thus, the purpose of this research is (1) to identify the dimensions of CSR authenticity and (2) to develop and validate a multi-dimensional scale to assess it. Our findings support a seven-dimensional scale with the following dimensions: community link, reliability, commitment, congruence, benevolence, transparency, and broad impact. In addition, our findings support the efficacy of CSR authenticity for predicting positive consumer attitudes and intentions toward the firm. Marketing implications are discussed.
Because I want to share, not because I should : Prosocial implications of gratitude expression in repeated zero-sum resource allocation exchanges

The current research examines how gratitude (vs. neutral) expression indirectly reinforces prosocial resource-allocation decisions in repeated zero-sum social exchanges. Drawing upon the emotion as social information (EASI) model, we found in four experiments that counterpart (recipient) gratitude (vs. neutral) expression regarding participants’ (allocators’) resource-allocation proposal in Exchange 1 evoked participants’ perception of their counterpart’s benevolence (when the proposal was accepted). Consistent with self-determination theory, participants’ perception of their counterpart’s benevolence led to their prosocial resource-allocation decision toward their counterpart in Exchange 2 due to their prosocial motivation, independently from and jointly with their obligatory motivation. Notably, in three experiments (“Study 1b”–“Study 3” sections), participants’ obligatory motivation attenuated the positive link between their prosocial motivation and prosocial resource-allocation decision in Exchange 2. Taken together, our findings highlight that expressing gratitude in repeated zero-sum social exchanges is a desirable strategy for shaping a counterpart’s benevolence perception and motivating the counterpart to make a prosocial resource-allocation decision.
Kenneth Burke at the MoMA: A viewer’s theory*

ABSTRACTWhen Kenneth Burke visited the Museum of Modern Art exhibition “Road to Victory: A Procession of Photographs of the Nation at War” in the summer of 1942, he most likely did not expect to le...
Individuals with stroke improve anticipatory postural adjustments after a single session of targeted exercises.

Abstract Impairment of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) is an important source of postural instability in older adults and individuals with neurological disorders. The aim of the study was to investigate whether APAs could be improved in people with stroke as a result of targeted exercise involving their unaffected upper extremity. Nine individuals with stroke and five healthy control individuals participated in the laboratory tests before and after a single session of practice consisting of pushing a medicine ball attached to the ceiling and stopping the ball with their palm when it returns. The tests included self-initiated perturbations induced by fast, discrete shoulder flexion movements and external perturbations induced by a pendulum impact. Bilateral EMG activity of eight trunk and leg muscles was recorded and analyzed during the anticipatory phase of postural control. Significantly early APAs onsets (p
Perceptual quantization matrices for high dynamic range H.265/MPEG-HEVC video coding

In this work, perceptual quantization matrices for high-resolution High Dynamic Range (HDR) video coding have been developed for optimizing perceived visual quality and for reducing video transmission bit-rate, further making a special emphasis on the Ultra High Definition (UltraHD) resolution and H.265/MPEG-HEVC video coding standard. According to the proposed coding scheme, perceptual quantization matrices are first calculated according to Human Visual System (HVS) characteristics and based on predefined viewing conditions, and then utilized during the encoding loop for removing non-perceptible visual information. The above-mentioned predefined conditions include, for example, a target HDR display resolution and a variety of display characteristics, such as a distance between a user and display, luminance levels, and many others. According to the detailed experimental results presented in this work, visual quality of the UltraHD HDR video sequences is significantly improved, for substantially the same bit-rate, in terms of both SSIMPlus and PSNR objective quality metrics. On the other hand, the video transmission bit-rate is reduced by up 11.3% and 2.4%, respectively, while keeping the visual quality at substantially the same level.
Improved reswelling behaviors and thermal stability of polyvinyl alcohol composite gels assisted by salt

Abstract Deswelling and reswelling behaviors of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) gel systems were studied in which natural polymers promoted reswelling capacity of PVOH gels, while salt (NaCl) solutions de-swelled the hydrogels but improved the reswelling performance. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) results indicated that the salt treatment considerably improved the thermal stability. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results indicated that the salt treatment hindered crystallization of all the systems except the urea system. The improved reswelling capacity might be attributed to changes in the crystalline region caused by the salt.
Comparative patient-centered outcomes (health state and adverse sexual symptoms) between adjuvant brachytherapy versus no adjuvant brachytherapy in early-stage endometrial cancer.

Purpose To determine a relationship between sexual functioning and health state among survivors of stage I endometrial cancer, and to examine whether adjuvant intravaginal radiotherapy (IVRT) affects these measures compared to hysterectomy alone.
350 Micron Observations of Local Luminous Infrared Galaxies and the Temperature Dependence of the Emissivity Index

We report 350micron observations of 18 nearby luminous infrared galaxies (LIRGs), using the Submillimeter High Angular Resolution Camera II (SHARC-II) mounted on the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO) 10.4m telescope. Combining our 350micron flux measurements with the existing far-infrared (far-IR) and submillimeter (submm) data, we fit a single-temperature model to the spectral energy distributions (SEDs), and find the dust temperatures, emissivity indices and far-IR luminosities having sample medians of Td = 39.4+-7.9K, beta = 1.6+-0.3 and log(Lfir/Lsolar) = 11.2+-0.6. An empirical inverse Td-beta correlation, best described by Td = 9.86E9^(1/(4.63 + beta)), is established for the local LIRG sample, which we argue can be explained by the intrinsic interdependence between the dust temperature and grain emissivity index as physical parameters, as well as variations in grain properties in the the interstellar medium (ISM).
Knowledge structure in product- and brand origin–related research

Scholarly research regarding origins of products and brands is deep-rooted within international marketing, with an extraordinary following as evidenced by the large body of literature that is continuing to evolve. Our goal in this research is to examine this domain, generically referred to as the country-of-origin (CO) literature, and identify the most influential contributions and their corresponding topics that form the intellectual foundations of this knowledge domain. Using citation and co-citation analyses, we develop a spatial representation of the CO literature via multidimensional scaling with two concurrent goals of unfolding the literature’s knowledge structure as the basis for proposing a conceptual framework and identifying new research directions in the field. Our database consists of 482 articles, extracted from the Web of Science, that contain 33,194 citations through 2019. We develop a managerially relevant conceptual approach based on the results of our co-citations–based CO knowledge structure to unfold new research directions and expand the boundaries of the CO literature in fruitful directions.
Hsf1 promotes hematopoietic stem cell fitness and proteostasis in response to ex vivo culture stress and aging

Summary Maintaining proteostasis is key to resisting stress and promoting healthy aging. Proteostasis is necessary to preserve stem cell function, but little is known about the mechanisms that regulate proteostasis during stress in stem cells, and whether disruptions of proteostasis contribute to stem cell aging is largely unexplored. We determined that ex-vivo-cultured mouse and human hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) rapidly increase protein synthesis. This challenge to HSC proteostasis was associated with nuclear accumulation of Hsf1, and deletion of Hsf1 impaired HSC maintenance ex vivo. Strikingly, supplementing cultures with small molecules that enhance Hsf1 activation partially suppressed protein synthesis, rebalanced proteostasis, and supported retention of HSC serial reconstituting activity. Although Hsf1 was dispensable for young adult HSCs in vivo, Hsf1 deficiency increased protein synthesis and impaired the reconstituting activity of middle-aged HSCs. Hsf1 thus promotes proteostasis and the regenerative activity of HSCs in response to culture stress and aging.
Generation of Lys-gamma 3-melanotropin from pro-opiomelanocortin 1-77 by a bovine intermediate lobe secretory vesicle membrane-associated aspartic protease and purified pro-opiomelanocortin converting enzyme.

Abstract The ability of bovine intermediate lobe secretory vesicle membrane-associated enzyme(s) and purified, soluble paired basic residue-specific, pro-opiomelanocortin converting enzyme (Loh, Y.P., Parish, D. C., and Tuteja, R. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 7194-7205) to cleave bovine NH2-terminal pro-opiomelanocortin1-77 (N-POMC 1-77) was investigated. Purified pro-opiomelanocortin converting enzyme and an enzyme activity associated with the secretory vesicle membrane were shown to cleave bovine N-POMC1-77 to two major products: N-POMC1-49 and Lys-gamma 3-melanotropin (MSH), and one minor product, gamma 3-MSH. These products were identified by their retention times on high performance liquid chromatography, immunological characteristics, and for Lys-gamma 3-MSH, amino acid composition. The products generated indicate cleavage preferentially between Arg 49-Lys 50 of bN-POMC1-77 (where b indicates bovine), which is identical to the processing pattern found in the bovine intermediate lobe in situ. The membrane converting activity was shown to be stimulated by 5 mM Ca2+ and has a pH optimum of 4-5 and an inhibitor profile characteristic of an aspartic protease. This suggests that the membrane-associated enzyme involved is very similar or identical to the purified, soluble pro-opiomelanocortin converting enzyme, which has previously been reported to be an acidic, aspartic protease responsible for the initial steps of POMC processing. The results of this study lead to the proposal that the lack of processing of the Arg49-Lys50 site in POMC in the anterior lobe versus the intermediate lobe of the pituitary in vivo may be due to other regulatory mechanisms rather than invoking the existence in the intermediate lobe of another enzyme specific for this site, different from pro-opiomelanocortin converting enzyme.
Kinetic characterization of tissue-specific isozymes of octopine dehydrogenase from mantle muscle and brain of Sepia officinalis. Functional similarities to the M4 and H4 isozymes of lactate dehydrogenase.

Octopine dehydrogenase, the terminal enzyme of anaerobic glycolysis in the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, displays kinetically distinct tissue-specific isozymic forms. An initial survey of octopine dehydrogenase from eleven tissues of Sepia revealed that only brain octopine dehydrogenase showed significant substrate inhibition by pyruvate. This property, which is characteristic of H-type lactate dehydrogenase, was used as the basis for a study comparing and contrasting the kinetic properties of the mantle muscle and brain isozymes of octopine dehydrogenase. Compared to the mantle muscle enzyme, brain octopine dehydrogenase displayed: (a) a higher apparent affinity for the reactants of the reverse reaction (Km for octopine was 10-fold lower than that of the muscle enzyme), (b) stronger substrate inhibition by both pyruvate and octopine, (c) greater inhibition by the product of the forward reaction, octopine, (d) an increased activity with the hypoxanthine derivative of NADH, and (e) an inhibition of enzyme activity in an incubate containing NAD+, pyruvate, and arginine (indicative of the formation of an inhibitory complex, enzyme-pyruvate-arginine-NAD+). The kinetic properties of the mantle muscle and brain isozymes of octopine dehydrogenase and the differences between these two forms appear analogous to the well-known properties of the M4 versus H4 isozymes of lactate dehydrogenase. Mantle muscle octopine dehydrogenase, with kinetic properties resembling the M form of lactate dehydrogenase, appears geared for the rapid synthesis of octopine under conditions of muscular work. Brain octopine dehydrogenase, like H-type lactate dehydrogenase, displays properties which may poise the enzyme for a major role in the oxidation of octopine in vivo.
Pyogenic liver abscess probably secondary to sigmoid diverticulitis: report of two cases.

Summary Two cases of pyogenic abscess formation in the right lobe of the liver secondary to sigmoid diverticulitis are presented and discussed. The rarity of such a combination is pointed out.
State-dependent input delay-compensated Bang-Bang control: Application to 3D printing based on screw-extruder

In this paper a delay-compensated Bang-Bang control law for the stabilization of the nozzle output flow rate of an isothermal screw-extruder-based 3D printing process is designed. The presented application has a great potential to move beyond the common 3D printing processes such as Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and Syringe Based Extrusion (SBE), improving the build speed and the print precision. A geometrical decomposition of the screw extruder in a partially and a fully filled regions (PFZ and FFZ) allows to describe the material convection in the extruder chamber by a 1D hyperbolic Partial Differential Equation (PDE) coupled with an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE). After solving the hypercolic PDE by the Method of Characteristics (MC), the coupled PDE-ODE system is transformed into a nonlinear state-dependent input delay system. The Global Exponential Stability (GES) of the nonlinear free-delay plant is established with a piecewise exponential feedback control law. Combining the “Bang-Bang”-like controller with a nonlinear predictor feedback control law, the Global Asymptotic Stability (GAS) of the plant with respect to any setpoint in the physical domain is ensured.
Anti-tumor activity of the HSP90 inhibitor SNX-2112 in pediatric cancer cell lines.

Background HSP90 plays a central role in stabilizing client proteins involved in malignant processes. SNX-2112 is an orally administered potent HSP90 inhibitor that has demonstrated pre-clinical anti-tumor activity in adult malignancies. As many childhood tumors depend upon HSP90 client proteins, we sought to test the pre-clinical efficacy of SNX-2112 in a panel of pediatric cancer cell lines both as a single-agent and in combination with cisplatin (CP). Procedure Eight cell lines (from osteosarcoma, neuroblastoma, hepatoblastoma, and lymphoma) were studied. Short- and long-term effects of SNX-2112 were assessed by MTT and clonogenic assays. Cell cycling was measured using flow cytometry. Status of HSC70, HSP72, AKT1, C-Raf, and PARP was assessed by immunoblotting. Efficacy of SNX-2112 in combination with CP was assessed using median-effect analysis. Results Cell lines studied demonstrated sensitivity to SNX-2112 with IC50 values ranging from 10–100 nM. Low dose treatments (12 nM) resulted in a cytostatic response with a minimal increase in sub-G1 content. A higher dose (70 nM) exhibited a more prolonged inhibition and larger sub-G1 accumulation. Observed levels of AKT1 and C-Raf were markedly reduced over time along with an increase in PARP cleavage. In concurrently administered combination treatments, SNX-2112 and CP synergistically inhibited cell growth. Conclusions SNX-2112 showed marked single-agent activity in pediatric cancer cell lines with downstream effects on HSP90 client proteins. The combination of SNX-2112 and CP showed synergistic activity in two cell lines tested. Further studies of HSP90 inhibitors such as SNX-2112 as a single agent or in combination with chemotherapy are warranted in pediatric cancer. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2012; 58: 885–890. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.