cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Large field-of-view incoherent volumetric imaging in living human retina by confocal oblique scanning laser ophthalmoscopy

Three-dimensional (3D) volumetric imaging of the human retina is instrumental to monitor and diagnose blinding conditions. Although coherent retinal imaging is well established by optical coherence tomography, it is still a large void for incoherent volumetric imaging in the human retina. Here, we report confocal oblique scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (CoSLO), to fill that void and harness incoherent optical contrast in 3D. CoSLO uses oblique scanning laser and remote focusing to acquire depth signal in parallel, avoid the lengthy z-stacking, and image a large field of view (FOV). In addition, confocal gating is introduced by a linear sensor array to improve the contrast and resolution. For the first time, we achieved incoherent 3D human retinal imaging with >20{degrees} viewing angle within only 5 seconds. The depth resolution is [~]45 microns in vivo. We demonstrated label-free incoherent contrast by CoSLO, revealing unique features in the retina. CoSLO will be an important technique for clinical care of retinal conditions and fundamental vision science, by offering unique volumetric incoherent contrasts.
Honey bee foraged pollen reveals temporal changes in pollen protein content and changes in forager choice for abundant versus high protein flowers

Abstract Protein derived from pollen is an essential component of healthy bee diets. Protein content in honey bee foraged-pollen varies temporally and spatially, but the drivers underlying this variation remain poorly characterized. We assessed the temporal and spatial variation in honey bee collected pollen in 12 Michigan apiaries over 3 summers (2015–2017). We simultaneously monitored forage in flowering habitats (uncultivated floristically-rich areas and conservation program land) near these apiaries throughout the growing season. We used these data, along with data from the literature on plant pollen protein content, to determine if honey bees collected a greater proportion of pollen from plant species growing in higher abundance or from plant species that have higher protein content. Protein content in honey bee collected pollen decreased from July to September every year, and there were among-year differences in pollen protein, highlighting the temporal variation in protein collected by these insects. Pollen protein was spatially consistent and broad-scale land use categories were not correlated with pollen protein content. Rather, our findings suggest flowering habitats found across land use categories can support honey bee foraging, which may confound broader land use effects. In early July and in early September, colonies collected a greater proportion of pollen from plants that grew in greater abundance in flowering habitats, but from late July through August, a greater proportion of pollen was collected from high-protein taxa, regardless of abundance. This suggests different factors may influence pollen forager decision-making throughout the season as colony needs and/or available forage communities change. Insights into the role of plant abundance and protein content on foraging could deepen our understanding of honey bee foraging behavior and help to inform habitat restoration programs for improved honey bee nutrition outcomes.
Novel Markov Chain Based URLLC Link Adaptation Method for 5G Vehicular Networking

Advanced driver-assistance system features in current vehicles (as precursor to fully autonomous, connected vehicular systems) will rely on 5G network links. Specifically, enabling various real-time operational aspects (e.g. emergency messaging), performance of ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) specified by 3GPP Release 16 is of direct relevance. A key challenge in achieving URLLC goals is the natural tension between simultaneously achieving high reliability (low block error rate or BLER) and low latency. When operating in a dynamic (i.e. significant time-varying channels due to vehicular mobility) environment, link adaptation is fundamental to URLLC implementation. In this paper, we introduce a new Markov chain model for link adaptation that predicts the three key performance indicators (KPIs): end-to-end link latency, throughput and BLER as a function of the modulation and coding scheme used. The predictions from the Markov chain model is supported by Monte Carlo simulations for various mobility scenarios, to explore how 5G network parameters may be adapted to achieve desired benchmarks, e.g. maximizing link throughput while providing strict latency and BLER bounds.
Ocular palatal tremor plus dystonia - new syndromic association.

Objective Ocular palatal tremor typically develops after a breach in the Guillian-Mollaret triangle. We herein describe a variant of this syndrome in which dystonia is also present, hence called, here, ocular palatal tremor plus dystonia. Methods We assessed eye-head movements and dystonia in six patients with ocular palatal plus dystonia. Results Among six patients with ocular palatal tremor two had focal dystonia, three had multifocal dystonia, and one had generalized dystonia. The dystonia affected the upper extremities and neck in four patients, the lower extremities in three and the face in two. Three out of four cervical dystonia patients had head tremor. Two patients also had speech involvement. Lack of correlation between eye and head oscillations suggested that head oscillations were not compensatory or secondary to the eye oscillations and vice versa. Conclusions We describe a novel variant of ocular palatal tremor with dystonia. We speculate that in such variant the dystonia is possibly could be a result of abnormal cerebellar outflow in patients with a breach in Guillain-Mollaret triangle.
Raman spectra and normal coordinate analyses of low-frequency vibrations of oxo-bridged manganese complexes.

The active sites of certain metalloenzymes involved in oxygen metabolism, such as manganese catalase and the oxygen-evolving complex of photosystem II, contain µ-oxo-bridged Mn clusters with ligands that include H2O and µ1,3-carboxylato bridges provided by protein side chains. In order to understand better the vibrational spectra of such clusters, the low-frequency resonance Raman spectra of a series of structurally characterized Mn-oxo model complexes were examined. The series includes complexes of the type [Mn2(O)(OAc)2(bpy)2(L)2] and [Mn2(O)2(OAc)(bpy)2(L)2], where bpy=2,2'-bipyridine, OAc=acetate and L=H2O or Cl−. Complexes containing the isotopomers OAc-d3 and D2O, as well as those containing both isotopomers, were also examined. Normal coordinate analyses (NCA) were performed on the various complexes using the GF matrix method. Selected vibrational modes in the 200–600 cm−1 region were assigned based on the spectra and NCA, which identify vibrational modes arising from the metal-ligand bonds. These results will be useful in interpreting the vibrational spectra obtained from metalloproteins containing Mn-oxo complexes in their active sites.
Pediatric Incidental Brain Tumors: a Growing Treatment Dilemma

Object Rising numbers of MRI studies performed during evaluations for pediatric disorders have contributed to a significant increase in the number of incidentally found brain tumors. Currently, there is very little literature on the nature of and the preferred treatment for these incidental brain tumors. In this paper the authors review their experience diagnosing and treating these lesions in children as well as the current literature on this topic. Methods Records from 2 centers were reviewed for incidentally found brain tumors, treatment approaches, and outcomes for both surgical and nonsurgical cohorts. Results Forty-seven children (30 males and 17 females) with a mean age of 8.6 years were found to have incidental brain lesions suspected to be neoplasms. Twenty-five underwent surgery and 22 were observed. Two children in the observation group required surgery at a later stage. Tumor pathology in 24 patients was benign. Only 3 patients had high-grade tumors. All nonsurgically treated lesions were pres...
Anion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography of glutathione S-transferases. Separation of the minor isoenzymes of human erythrocyte, heart and lung.

Apparently homogenous preparations of the acidic glutahione S-transferases were subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography over a SynChropak AX-300 anion-exchange column. Results of high-performance liquid chromatography analysis indicated that in each of these tissues the acidic glutathione S-transferases have one major and two minor isoenzymes. All the isoenzymes obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography are dimers of subunits of molecular weight (Mr) 22 500. The major isoenzymes of all the tissues, representing more than 80% of total glutathione S-transferase activity, have similar retention times and comparable kinetic properties. High-performance liquid chromatography profiles of the lung and heart isoenzymes are similar to each other but are significantly different from that of the erythrocytes. These studies provide evidence of microheterogeneity in the acidic isoenzymes of heart, lung and erythrocyte glutathione S-transferasea and provide a rapid and efficient method for separation of minor isoenzymes in more than 95% yield.
Supporting wilderness search and rescue using a camera-equipped mini UAV: Research Articles

Wilderness Search and Rescue (WiSAR) entails searching over large regions in often rugged remote areas. Because of the large regions and potentially limited mobility of ground searchers, WiSAR is an ideal application for using small (human-packable) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to provide aerial imagery of the search region. This paper presents a brief analysis of the WiSAR problem with emphasis on practical aspects of visual-based aerial search. As part of this analysis, we present and analyze a generalized contour search algorithm, and relate this search to existing coverage searches. Extending beyond laboratory analysis, lessons from field trials with search and rescue personnel indicated the immediate need to improve two aspects of UAV-enabled search: How video information is presented to searchers and how UAV technology is integrated into existing WiSAR teams. In response to the first need, three computer vision algorithms for improving video display presentation are compared; results indicate that constructing temporally localized image mosaics is more useful than stabilizing video imagery. In response to the second need, a goal-directed task analysis of the WiSAR domain was conducted and combined with field observations to identify operational paradigms and field tactics for coordinating the UAV operator, the payload operator, the mission manager, and ground searchers. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Determining an Out-of-Core FFT Decomposition Strategy for Parallel Disks by Dynamic Programming

We present an out-of-core FFT algorithm based on the in-core FFT method developed by Swarztrauber. Our algorithm uses a recursive divide-and-conquer strategy, and each stage in the recursion presents several possibilities for how to split the problem into subproblems. We give a recurrence for the algorithm’s I/O complexity on the Parallel Disk Model and show how to use dynamic programming to determine optimal splits at each recursive stage. The algorithm to determine the optimal splits takes only Θ(lg2 N) time for an N-point FFT, and it is practical. The out-of-core FFT algorithm itself takes considerably longer.
Recombinant transfer in the basic genome of Escherichia coli

An approximation to the ∼4-Mbp basic genome shared by 32 strains of Escherichia coli representing six evolutionary groups has been derived and analyzed computationally. A multiple alignment of the 32 complete genome sequences was filtered to remove mobile elements and identify the most reliable ∼90% of the aligned length of each of the resulting 496 basic-genome pairs. Patterns of single base-pair mutations (SNPs) in aligned pairs distinguish clonally inherited regions from regions where either genome has acquired DNA fragments from diverged genomes by homologous recombination since their last common ancestor. Such recombinant transfer is pervasive across the basic genome, mostly between genomes in the same evolutionary group, and generates many unique mosaic patterns. The six least-diverged genome pairs have one or two recombinant transfers of length ∼40–115 kbp (and few if any other transfers), each containing one or more gene clusters known to confer strong selective advantage in some environments. Moderately diverged genome pairs (0.4–1% SNPs) show mosaic patterns of interspersed clonal and recombinant regions of varying lengths throughout the basic genome, whereas more highly diverged pairs within an evolutionary group or pairs between evolutionary groups having >1.3% SNPs have few clonal matches longer than a few kilobase pairs. Many recombinant transfers appear to incorporate fragments of the entering DNA produced by restriction systems of the recipient cell. A simple computational model can closely fit the data. Most recombinant transfers seem likely to be due to generalized transduction by coevolving populations of phages, which could efficiently distribute variability throughout bacterial genomes.
Digital Fitness: Four Principles for Successful Development of Digital Initiatives

Digital initiatives such as big data analytics at Progressive Insurance can drive competitive advantage. However, digital initiatives often fail to meet their objectives in terms of budget, time, or performance. Why is this the case and what can be done about it? Complementing existing studies of software development methodologies, project management techniques, and the role of the CIO, we focus on the role of the non-CIO organizational leader in successful development of digital initiatives. Synthesizing our own original research with existing scholarship, we introduce four principles for successful development of digital initiatives: generate business value, maintain strategic alignment with organizational and business strategies, leverage technology trajectories, and apply digital economics. Understanding the four principles raises the digital fitness of organizational leaders, thereby reducing risk and raising the chances of success in digital initiatives.
Interactive Computer Graphics: A Top-Down Approach Using OpenGL

Interactive Computer Graphicsis the only introduction to computer graphics text for undergraduates that fully integrates OpenGL and emphasizes application-based programming. Graphics Systems and Models; Graphics Programming; Input and Interaction; Geometric Objects and Transformations; Viewing; Shading; From Vertices to Fragments; Discrete Techniques; Programmable Shaders; Modeling; Curves and Surfaces; Advanced Rendering; Sample Programs; Spaces; Matrices; Synopsis of OpenGL Functions. MARKET: For all readers interested in computer animation and graphics using OpenGL.
Immunotherapy of Cancer

Immunotherapy is a central component of many cancer treatment regimens (Table 22.1) (Dougan and Dranoff 2009). Tumors can express microbial proteins, mutated proteins, and fusion proteins, as well as aberrantly expressed self proteins, all of which can be recognized by the immune system. Established therapies use a range of manipulations to activate antitumor immunity, including passive immunization with monoclonal antibodies, the introduction of adjuvants into the tumor microenvironment, and the systemic delivery of cytokines. Vaccination against and treatment for oncogenic microbial infections can act as tumor prophylaxis. Immune therapy is also an important component of bone marrow transplantations that are used to treat hematologic malignancies. Investigational immune therapies seek to build upon established treatments to generate more efficacious and less toxic cancer therapy. These novel strategies attempt to augment protective antitumor immunity and to disrupt the immune regulatory circuits critical for maintaining tumor tolerance (Dougan and Dranoff 2009).
Sudoscan as a Diagnostic Tool for Diabetic and Idiopathic Peripheral Neuropathy (P7.003)

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the diagnostic utility of Sudoscan for idiopathic and diabetic distal symmetric polyneuropathy (DSP). BACKGROUND: DSP diagnosis is challenging because nerve conduction studies (NCS) are often normal. Skin biopsy with measurement of intraepidermal nerve fiber density (IENFD) is the most commonly employed tool in this setting. However, skin biopsy is invasive, and requires a central laboratory exercising rigorous and routine quality control. Sudomotor axons degenerate early in DSP. Measures of sudomotor function such as quantitative sudomotor axon reflex testing (QSART) may have diagnostic utility. Sudoscan is an alternative means of evaluating sudomotor function. A low voltage potential of varying current is applied to electrodes on which the hands and feet are placed. Chloride from sweat glands is extracted producing a current (electrochemical skin conductance - ESC). ESC is proportional to the number of functioning sweat glands. DESIGN/METHODS: Sudoscan was performed on 47 patients with suspected DSP (18 with diabetes) and 37 age similar control participants. Each control underwent the Utah Early Neuropathy Scale (UENS) to exclude neuropathy, and was offered a skin biopsy for IENFD. DSP participants underwent UENS, the Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) and Scale (MDNS), VAS for pain, IENFD, QSART and NCS. RESULTS: Mean age was 59 for DSP and 55 for controls. Foot and hand ESC were each significantly reduced among DSP participants (66 +/- 19 vs. 77 +/- 13 uS p<0.005, and 59 +/- 19 vs. 67 +/- 17 uS p<0.04). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed Feet ESC and IENFD had similar diagnostic performance with areas under the curve of 0.761 and 0.752 respectively. Feet ESC correlated significantly with Sural amplitude (0.314, p<0.04), MDNS (-0.347, p<0.02), and MNSI (-0.332, p<0.034). QSART did not correlate with symptom or examination scales. Sudoscan and IENFD were similar between idiopathic and diabetic neuropathy groups. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest Sudoscan is a promising diagnostic test for diabetic and idiopathic DSP, with diagnostic performance similar to IENFD. Disclosure: Dr. Smith has received personal compensation for activities with Pfizer Inc. Dr. Smith has received research support from NIH, the ADA, Viromed, and Impeto. Dr. Lessard has nothing to disclose. Dr. Singleton has received personal compensation for activities with Medical Review Institute.
The National Space Science Data Center /NSSDC/ and the World Data Center A for Rockets and Satellites /WDC-A-R&S/ - Their role in X-ray astronomy data

The combined role of NSSDC and WDC-A-R&S in collecting, preserving and disseminating data from 10 years of X-ray observations is presented along with a brief history of the organizations.
Oxygenated Phosphine Fumigation for Control of Light Brown Apple Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) Eggs on Cut-Flowers

Light brown apple moth, Epiphyas postvittana (Walker), eggs were subjected to oxygenated phosphine fumigation treatments under 70% oxygen on cut flowers to determine efficacy and safety. Five cut flower species: roses, lilies, tulips, gerbera daisy, and pompon chrysanthemums, were fumigated in separate groups with 2,500 ppm phosphine for 72 h at 5°C. Egg mortality and postharvest quality of cut flowers were determined after fumigation. Egg mortalities of 99.7-100% were achieved among the cut flower species. The treatment was safe to all cut flowers except gerbera daisy. A 96-h fumigation treatment with 2,200 ppm phosphine of eggs on chrysanthemums cut flowers also did not achieve complete control of light brown apple moth eggs. A simulation of fumigation in hermetically sealed fumigation chambers with gerbera daisy showed significant accumulations of carbon dioxide and ethylene by the end of 72-h sealing. However, oxygenated phosphine fumigations with carbon dioxide and ethylene absorbents did not reduce the injury to gerbera daisy, indicating that it is likely that phosphine may directly cause the injury to gerbera daisy cut flowers. The study demonstrated that oxygenated phosphine fumigation is effective against light brown apple moth eggs. However, it may not be able to achieve the probit9 quarantine level of control and the treatment was safe to most of the cut flower species.
A realtime observatory for laboratory simulation of planetary flows

Motivated by the mid-latitude atmospheric circulation, we develop a system that uses observations from a differentially heated rotating annulus experiment to constrain a numerical simulation in real-time. The coupled physical-numerical system provides a tool to rapidly prototype new methods for state and parameter estimation, and facilitates the study of prediction, predictability, and transport of geophysical fluids where observations or numerical simulations would not independently suffice. A computer vision system is used to extract measurements from the physical simulation, which constrain the model-state of the MIT general circulation model in a hybrid data assimilation approach. Using a combination of parallelism, domain decomposition and an efficient scheme to select ensembles of model-states, we show that estimates that effectively track the fluid-state can be produced. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first realtime coupled system for this laboratory analog of planetary circulation.
Development of an in situ neutron-scattering facility for research and education in the mechanical behavior of materials

The present work is to establish a suite of instruments for studying the mechanical behavior of advanced materials using in situ neutron-scattering at the impending Spallation Neutron Source (SNS, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory), which will provide the most intense pulsed-neutron source in the world. The state-of-the-art in situ and real-time characterization instrumentation will be developed for VULCAN at SNS. The VULCAN diffractometer is designed to conduct fundamental studies in materials science and engineering with a focus on the mechanical behavior. The instrumentation described here will enable VULCAN to fulfill its full potential. The characterization capabilities to be developed will far surpass anything else available in the world. The simultaneous neutron diffraction and small-angle neutron-scattering (SANS) during mechanical testing will have a tremendous impact on the fundamental understanding of the mechanical behavior of materials. The successful development of the present instrumentation will give materials scientists many new and valuable capabilities for the fundamental study of advanced materials with complex multi-phase/-scale microstructures and various sizes/types (1) under large static/dynamic mechanical loads (including tension, compression, and torsion, i.e., real-world conditions), (2) at high temperatures, and/or (3) under chemical environments. Moreover, such capabilities will allow engineers to probe the behavior of materials and components under realistic operating and processing conditions.
Abnormality in the fissioning control of a strain of asexual Dugesia dorotocephala found near Fort Collins, Colorado

Asexual Dugesia dorotocephala, collected from a new site several miles northwest of Fort Collins, Colorado, appeared similar, at the time of collection, to ones collected from other sites in the same general locale. However, these exhibited marked differences in the more crowded conditions of laboratory culture: abnormally long, 30–50 mm specimens, seemingly unable to fission, developed. Since previous studies of asexual D. dorotocephala had revealed an inhibitory effect of cohorts on fissioning (Best et al.,1969, 1974, 1975; Pigon et al., 1974), experiments were conducted with this new strain to ascertain the effect of population density (group size) on fissioning incidence. Results are described which show that this inhibitory effect of cohorts on fissioning is exaggerated in this new strain.
NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES IN RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER FOR GENERAL, SCATTERING, PLANE-PARALLEL MEDIA

The study of radiative heat transfer with scattering usually leads to the solution of singular Fredholm integral equations. The present paper presents an accurate and efficient numerical method to solve certain integral equations that govern radiative equilibrium problems in plane-parallel geometry for both grey and nongrey, anisotropically scattering media. In particular, the nongrey problem is represented by a spectral integral of a system of nonlinear integral equations in space, which has not been solved previously. The numerical technique is constructed to handle this unique nongrey governing equation as well as the difficulties caused by singular kernels. Example problems are solved and the method's accuracy and computational speed are analyzed.
Plasma concentrations of corticosterone relative to photoperiod, oviposition, and ovulation in the domestic hen

Abstract Blood samples were drawn from laying hens via a brachial vein cannula at 2-hr intervals for 34 to 72 hr, and plasma was assayed for corticosterone (B). Concentrations of B, relative to photoperiod and irrespective of the time during the laying sequence, were highest 4 hr after the onset of the photoperiod, and had decreased to lowest values 4 hr before the onset of darkness (photoperiod 14L:10D). There was a surge of B coincident with the time of oviposition. The elimination of the oviposition-related peak of B (by examining concentrations during the morning of the first ovulation in the sequence) shows that the diurnal peak of B actually occurs approximately 2 hr after the onset of light, and that there is no surge of B 4 to 8 hr preceding ovulation as occurs for progesterone, the estrogens, and testosterone.
Links between Progressive HIV-1 Infection of Humanized Mice and Viral Neuropathogenesis

Few rodent models of human immunodeficiency virus type one (HIV-1) infection can reflect the course of viral infection in humans. To this end, we investigated the relationships between progressive HIV-1 infection, immune compromise, and neuroinflammatory responses in NOD/scid-IL-2Rγcnull mice reconstituted with human hematopoietic CD34+ stem cells. Human blood-borne macrophages repopulated the meninges and perivascular spaces of chimeric animals. Viral infection in lymphoid tissue led to the accelerated entry of human cells into the brain, marked neuroinflammation, and HIV-1 replication in human mononuclear phagocytes. A meningitis and less commonly an encephalitis followed cM-T807 antibody-mediated CD8+ cell depletion. We conclude that HIV-1–infected NOD/scid-IL-2Rγcnull humanized mice can, at least in part, recapitulate lentiviral neuropathobiology. This model of neuroAIDS reflects the virological, immunological, and early disease-associated neuropathological components of human disease.
Weed control in glyphosate‐tolerant maize in Europe

Maize growing in the EU27 increased to over 13 million ha in 2007, most of which (>80%) was grown in just eight countries (France, Romania, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain and Bulgaria). The number of herbicides used to control the wide spectrum of weeds occurring in all these countries is likely to decline in the future as each current active ingredient is reassessed for toxicological and environmental safety under Directive 91/414/EEC. Glyphosate has already been approved under this directive. Glyphosate, applied alone or in combination with currently available residual herbicides to genetically modified varieties tolerant to glyphosate, can provide a viable, flexible and profitable alternative to conventional weed control programmes. Glyphosate usage with glyphosate-tolerant varieties also provides an environmentally sustainable weed control option as long as sufficient diversity of weed management options (crop rotation, chemical diversity, multiple cultural and mechanical practices, buffer strips) is maintained within the farm management system. Appropriate product stewardship measures will be required to maximise the long-term overall benefits of the glyphosate-based system. Specifically, care will need to be taken to manage potential weed shifts to more difficult-to-control species and to reduce the risk of selection for glyphosate-resistant weeds.
Long-Term Effects of Handheld Cell Phone Laws on Driver Handheld Cell Phone Use

Objectives: As of October 2009, seven U.S. states and the District of Columbia (D.C.) ban driving while talking on a handheld cell phone. Long-term effects on driver handheld phone use in D.C., New York State, and Connecticut were examined. Methods: The percentage of drivers talking on handheld cell phones was measured over time with daytime observation surveys in the jurisdictions with bans and comparison jurisdictions without bans. Trends were modeled using Poisson regression to estimate differences between actual rates and rates that would have been expected without a ban. Results: The D.C. ban immediately lowered the percentage of drivers talking on handheld cell phones by 41 percent. Nearly 5 years later, the rate was 43 percent lower than would have been expected without the ban. Use in Connecticut declined 76 percent immediately after the ban; 3.5ex ½ years later, use was 65 percent lower than would have been expected without the ban. In New York, use declined 47 percent immediately after the ban; ...
A review of the FCC and AT&T positions

Abstract The author assesses the conflicting arguments put forward in the preceding ‘position’ articles by Wiley and deButts. He focuses on those points which he feels are unjustified or receive inadequate attention. These include the issues of subsidisation, possible market expansion, service substitution, the ‘threat’ to universal service, and possible ‘second-round’ effects. In summary, he considers possible aspects of the development of competition.
Assessing trade-offs among multiple objectives for humanitarian aid delivery using expert preferences.

Humanitarian aid agencies deliver emergency supplies and services to people affected by disasters. Scholars and practitioners have developed modeling approaches to support aid delivery planning, but they have used objective functions with little validation as to the trade-offs among the multiple goals of aid delivery. We develop a method to value the performance of aid delivery plans based on expert preferences over five key attributes: the amount of cargo delivered, the prioritization of aid by commodity type, the prioritization of aid by delivery location, the speed of delivery, and the operational cost. Through a conjoint analysis survey, we measure the preferences of 18 experienced humanitarian logisticians. The survey results quantify the importance of each attribute and enable the development of a piecewise linear utility function that can be used as an objective function in optimization models. The results show that the amount of cargo delivered is the most valued objective and cost the least important. In addition, experts prioritize more vulnerable communities and more critical commodities, but not to the exclusion of others. With these insights and the experts' utility functions, better humanitarian objective functions can be developed to enable better aid delivery in emergency response.
An integrated approach for controlling and optimizing the operation of a power distribution system

Electric distribution grid is operated under a number of constraints in order to deliver power at a certain quality and reliability level. Electrical devices, such as capacitor banks, voltage regulators, and load tap changers are employed by the utilities to facilitate and support the operation of the distribution grid, while respecting many constraints, such as maintaining an acceptable band of voltage magnitude and a certain level of power factor. Traditionally, these devices are operated under fixed schedules, based on time of day or some other local parameters, and their operations are disjointed from one another, resulting in a decreased overall effectiveness of operation. This paper presents an approach to realize an integrated control and operation of these devices that will enable a more optimal operation of the grid. Simulation studies are performed on the IEEE test feeder network and the results highlight increased efficiency of grid operation in terms of decreased line losses, increased power factor, and improved voltage profile.
Tenderization of spent fowl drumsticks by marination in weak organic solutions

Summary Drumsticks from spent layer hens marinated in 2% NaCl brine for 72 h to improve ‘tenderness’ as measured by shear-force, showed reduction of 40% of shear force of the meat. Marinating in 1.5% lactic or acetic acid for 72h reduced shear-force of the M. gastrocnemius by 21.7-fold and 8.1-fold, respectively to values comparable to those observed for broiler chicken drumstick meat. the presence of NaCl in lactic or acetic acid marinating solutions reduced the effect. Lower acid concentration (0.5%) in brine and the shorter time of marination (36 h) produced less change. Vacuum tumbling of drumsticks in lactic or acetic acid with 2% NaCl for 2 h reduced the shear values of drumstick M. gastrocnemius by ∼50%, but longer periods had no further effect. Neutralization of the acidic taste of marinated drumstick meat with corresponding salts of the acids (1.5% sodium lactate or sodium acetate or sodium bicarbonate) reversed the change to an extent dependent on the type of salt used and change in pH level.
Securing context-aware applications using environment roles

In the future, a largely invisible and ubiquitous computing infrastructure will assist people with a variety of activities in the home and at work. The applications that will be deployed in such systems will create and manipulate private information and will provide access to a variety of other resources. Securing such applications is challenging for a number of reasons. Unlike traditional systems where access control has been explored, access decisions may depend on the context in which requests are made. We show how the well-developed notion of roles can be used to capture security-relevant context of the environment in which access requests are made. By introducing environment roles, we create a uniform access control framework that can be used to secure context-aware applications. We also present a security architecture that supports security policies that make use of environment roles to control access to resources.
Real-time updatable optical wavelet processor

An all-optical wavelet processor for target detection has been developed and demonstrated at JPL. An innovative 2D Shape-discriminant wavelet filter, encoded with a ternary-valued scheme, was developed and implemented in a Liquid Crystal Television Spatial Light Modulator (LCTV SLM) to enable real-time updatable processing. Applications ranging from flight object discrimination, mine detection, and cancer cell detection have been demonstrated.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
An inheritance model for supporting flexible displays of data structure

We have designed an inheritance model that reduces the effort required to define presentations of data structures of programs written in conventional languages. It assumes that the presentation of a data structure is determined by one or more attributes of the data structure; classifies data structures into several groups based on their types, contexts, siblings, ancestors and other properties; and allows an attribute to be defined once for all members of a group. These groups are arranged in multiple intersecting hierarchies, and a subgroup is allowed to inherit attributes from its supergroups(s). This paper motivates, describes, and illustrates our method of grouping values and arranging the value groups in inheritance hierarchies.
Specific activation of mTORC1 by RHEB G-protein in vitro involves enhanced recruitment of its substrate protein

Rheb G-protein plays critical roles in the TSC/Rheb/mTOR signaling pathway by activating mTORC1. The activation of mTORC1 by Rheb can be faithfully reproduced in vitro by using mTORC1 immunoprecipitated by the use of anti-raptor antibody from mammalian cells starved for nutrients. The low in vitro kinase activity against 4E-BP1 of this mTORC1 preparation is dramatically increased by the addition of recombinant Rheb. On the other hand, the addition of Rheb does not activate mTORC2 immunoprecipitated from mammalian cells by the use of anti-rictor antibody. The activation of mTORC1 is specific to Rheb, because other G-proteins such as KRas, RalA/B, and Cdc42 did not activate mTORC1. Both Rheb1 and Rheb2 activate mTORC1. In addition, the activation is dependent on the presence of bound GTP. We also find that the effector domain of Rheb is required for the mTORC1 activation. FKBP38, a recently proposed mediator of Rheb action, appears not to be involved in the Rheb-dependent activation of mTORC1 in vitro, because the preparation of mTORC1 that is devoid of FKBP38 is still activated by Rheb. The addition of Rheb results in a significant increase of binding of the substrate protein 4E-BP1 to mTORC1. PRAS40, a TOR signaling (TOS) motif-containing protein that competes with the binding of 4EBP1 to mTORC1, inhibits Rheb-induced activation of mTORC1. A preparation of mTORC1 that is devoid of raptor is not activated by Rheb. Rheb does not induce autophosphorylation of mTOR. These results suggest that Rheb induces alteration in the binding of 4E-BP1 with mTORC1 to regulate mTORC1 activation.
Participation in Cardiac Rehabilitation and Survival After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery A Community-Based Study

Background—Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is recommended for all patients after coronary artery bypass surgery, yet little is known about the long-term mortality effects of CR in this population. Methods and Results—We performed a community-based analysis on residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, who underwent coronary artery bypass surgery between 1996 and 2007. We assessed the association between subsequent outpatient CR attendance and long-term survival. Propensity analysis was performed. Cox proportional hazards regression was then used to assess the association between CR attendance and all-cause mortality adjusted for the propensity to attend CR. We identified 846 eligible patients (age 66±11 years, 76% men, and 96% non-Hispanic whites) who survived at least 6 months after surgery, of whom 582 (69%) attended CR. During a mean (±SD) follow-up of 9.0±3.7 years, the 10-year all-cause Kaplan-Meier mortality rate was 28% (193 deaths). Adjusted for the propensity to attend CR, participation in CR was associ...
Structural Characterization of Formaldehyde-Induced Cross-Links Between Amino Acids and Deoxynucleosides and Their Oligomers

Exposure to formaldehyde results in the formation of DNA−protein cross-links (DPCs) as a primary genotoxic effect. Although DPCs are biologically important and eight amino acids have been reported to form stable adducts with formaldehyde, the structures of these cross-links have not yet been elucidated. We have characterized formaldehyde-induced cross-links of Lys, Cys, His, and Trp with dG, dA, and dC. dT formed no cross-links, nor did Arg, Gln, Tyr, or Asn. Reaction of formaldehyde with Lys and dG gave the highest yield of cross-linked products, followed by reaction with Cys and dG. Yields from the other coupling reactions were lower by a factor of 10 or more. Detailed structural examination by NMR and mass spectrometry established that the cross-links between amino acids and single nucleosides involve a formaldehyde-derived methylene bridge. Lys yielded two additional products with dG in which the linking structure is a 1,N2-fused triazino ring. The Lys cross-linked products were unstable at ambient te...
Unsteady coupled high flux-mass and momentum transfer with a moving boundary

Abstract The simultaneous transient developing mass and momentum boundary layers in a moving-wall (Stefan) problem resulting from the flow of a fluid through a channel with dissolving walls is determined. Two effects which influence the course of the problem are considered: a flux induced velocity, referred to as the Stefan-Nusselt effect, characterized by a parameter called the potential ratio and a velocity due to the density difference between the phases, superimposed on the Stefan-Nusselt velocity, and characterized by a parameter called the density ratio. The changing geometric confines of the problem requires the introduction of a mobile coordinate system in lieu of the conventional Eulerian coordinate system. No known solution by previous authors have considered both these effects in a mobile coordinate system. The boundary equations, considering these effects, are developed in vector form for a wall which is skewed to the coordinates of a conventional x, y coordinate system. The general diffusion equation in terms of moving coordinates is derived from basic principles and shown to contain additional terms which are not obtainable by a chain-rule conversion. The additional terms cancel out in differential form but must be included in finite difference form to ensure conservation. The problem is then solved by finite differences using the vorticity-stream function method. A non-dimensional flux is defined and plots showing the variation of the non-dimensional flux, mass concentration, vorticity and velocity as well as the shape of the channel wall with the governing parameters— Re , Sc , the potential ratio, and the ratio of solid to fluid density are shown as a function of time and distance. The influence of the parameters are discussed. A wave-wall effect, which occurred in some of the problems, is described. The mathematical techniques developed are applicable to solving a class of problems which have heretofore received scanty attention, namely problems in which the important consideration is the shape of the domain for the desired or optimum potential distribution. Moving-wall, separation flow, explosion propagation and free surface problems are in this class.
FK506 and rapamycin neuroprotect erection and involve different immunophilins in a rat model of cavernous nerve injury.

ABSTRACT Introduction Immunophilin ligands function by binding to receptor proteins such as FK506 binding proteins (FKBPs). FKBPs are studied for their roles in neuroprotection. Aim Compare the effect of FK506 (FK) and rapamycin (RAP) on erectile function (EF) recovery and FKBP expressions in penis and major pelvic ganglion (MPG) after cavernous nerve (CN) injury. Methods Adult male rats were divided into four groups: sham surgery (CN exposure only) + vehicle; bilateral CN injury (BCNI; bilateral crush, 3 minutes with hemostat clamp) + vehicle; BCNI + FK (5 mg/kg/day, 5 days, sc); and BCNI + RAP (2 mg/kg/day, 5 days, sc). At both 24 hours (Day 1) or 1 week (Day 7) after BCNI, EF was assessed by intracavernosal pressure measurement and FKBPs 12, 38, 52, and 65 expressions were evaluated by Western blot analysis in collected penises and MPGs. Main Outcome Measures EF and change in protein expressions of FKBPs in the rat penis and MPG after BCNI with and without immunophilin ligand treatment. Results Both FK- and RAP-treated rats had preserved EF compared with vehicle-treated rats after BCNI. FKBPs changed variably following injury and treatment. In particular, in the penis at Day 1, FKBP 38 expression was decreased after BCNI and both FK and RAP attenuated this decrease. In MPG at Day 1, FKBP 38 expression was also decreased after BCNI and FK attenuated the decrease, while at Day 7, FKBP 38 expression was still decreased and RAP attenuated the decrease. Also, in the penis at Day 1, FKBP 65 expression decreased after BCNI and FK attenuated the decrease. In the MPG, FKBP 65 expression increased at both Days 1 and 7 with FK treatment. Conclusions Improved EF after BCNI, as shown with RAP, further suggests a role of immunophilin ligands as a protective therapy of CN injury associated erectile dysfunction. Our findings also suggest that select FKBPs, such as FKBP 38 and FKBP 65, may mediate these effects. Lagoda G, Sezen SF, and Burnett AL. FK506 and rapamycin neuroprotect erection and involve different immunophilins in a rat model of cavernous nerve injury. J Sex Med 2009;6:1914–1923.
ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION SIGNALS OF MYSTICETE WHALES

ABSTRACT Mysticete (baleen) whales produce a variety of vocalizations and sounds, but relatively few of these have been well described with accompanying behavior. This review concentrates on the vocalizations consistently associated with behavioral interactions or acoustic exchanges between or among conspecifics. These communication “signals” have been categorized for this review as contact calls of single animals outside of the breeding season (including cow-calf pairs), vocalizations reported during the breeding season (often designated as “songs”), and calls produced by active groups of whales that may or may not have a reproductive function. While much remains unknown, the data obtained thus far indicate that the social vocalizations of baleen whales have structural/functional similarities with those of other mammals and birds.
Response to Letter by Prakash

Response: In his/her letter regarding our article in Stroke ,1 Dr Prakash suggests that our report of impaired cerebral autoregulation (CA) during hypotension was a result of the perfusion pressure falling below the lower limits of CA, rather than our experimental strategy of using an α-adrenergic blockade of cerebral vessels with Prazosin. However, based on previous literature, the idea of a perfusion pressure–related impairment of CA is untenable for the following reasons:
An acrylamide gel soluble in scintillation fluid: Its application to electrophoresis at neutral and low pH

Abstract Two additions to diacrylamide gel techniques are presented. First the gel structure can be modified by substituting diester cross links for the diacrylamide cross links. This modified gel is soluble in dioxane scintillation fluid after digestion in 1 M piperidine at room temperature. Reasonably efficient and accurate tritium counting can be done on column slices subjected to the procedure described. The second modification is the development of a catalyst system suitable for making pH 2.5 gels containing 1 M propionic acid as the electrolyte. The low pH gels are of value in obtaining good separation of proteins and peptides which associate at higher pH values or are stable only at low pH. Densitometric and counting data are cited to illustrate the value of combining these techniques.
The status of the clinicopathologic conference in academic medical centers.

To determine the current level of use, characteristics, and perceived value of the clinicopathologic conference (CPC), we sent a 22-item survey questionnaire to the program directors of internal medicine residency training programs. Of the 278 residency training programs that returned questionnaires, 221 (80%) indicated that they held CPCs regularly. The conference received a mean rating (Likert scale 1=best to 5=worst) of 2.2 (95% confidence interval 2.2, 2.3) for both its perceived educational value and its popularity. The CPC remains widely used in internal medicine training programs. Although relatively few programs have rigorous guidelines for preparation and evaluation of their presentations, the CPC is generally viewed as being popular and having sound educational value.