cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Reduce complexity hardware implementation of discrete wavelet transform for JPEG 2000 standard

This paper presents an efficient method to reduce the implementation complexity of discrete wavelet transform (DWT) for JPEG 2000 standard. The proposed method is based on the design and the implementation of integer wavelets. Instead of using the lifting scheme or sacrificing vanishing moment to obtain integer coefficients, the proposed method derives integer coefficients directly from roots of the half band filter. Based on the integer filter coefficients, we propose an efficient VLSI algorithm, which uses only 17 integer adders and 15 shifters to construct a two-channel filter bank system. The complexity of the proposed method is significantly lower than that found in the convolution and lifting approaches. The convolution approach requires 9 floating-point multiplications and 14 floating-point additions. Likewise, the lifting scheme needs 6 floating-point multiplications and 12 floating-point additions. Besides the mathematical derivation, this paper presents simulation results, which compare the frequency responses and coding efficiency between the floating-point and the integer approaches. In addition, a VHDL implementation result is presented.
Influence strategies for systems of systems

Distributed decision making has been identified as a source of managerial complexity for the SoS engineer. A new framework, AIR (Anticipation-Influence-Reaction), is proposed to capture the feedback relationship between the decisions made by constituents and those made by the managers of the SoS. AIR is then used to develop a five-member set of basic influences that can bring about changes in constituent behavior thus modifying the SoS. These influences, the 5 I's, are Incentives, Information, Infrastructure, Integration, and Institutions. AIR and the influences are demonstrated through qualitative application to real-world SoS and quantitatively through a simulation of an inter-modal transport network. It is found that cooperation between competing constituents can be quite fragile and sensitive to the SoS context. Careful, dynamic planning of influence strategies is needed to maintain SoS behavior in the face of constituents who are driven by self-interest and a limited, local perspective of the SoS.
APSA 2011 Africa Workshop: “Representation Reconsidered”

The American Political Science Association's 2011 Africa Workshop will be led by Todd Eisenstadt and Carl LeVan, both of American University in Washington, DC, along with Josephine Ahikire from Makerere University in Uganda and Karuti Kanyinga from the University of Nairobi. The Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi will be hosting the workshop in July. The workshop will be the fourth in a multi-year effort supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to encourage collaboration between political scientists in United States and Africa.
Editorial: My Personal Benefits from Doing Good While Doing OR

I’m glad to see that Interfaces is doing a special issue on doing good while doing operations research (OR). I’ve spent many rewarding years involved in policy analysis and forecasting related to energy markets, working in or for the US government. During those years, I’ve honed policy-analysis skills that transfer to areas other than energy. These skills have been useful in both my professional life and in my life as a citizen working on issues that affect Philadelphia, the city in which I live. Engaging in policy and program analysis on local issues is a high-value activity that can be both very rewarding and deeply frustrating. State and local governments do not have the depth and breadth of analysis skills that one finds in Washington, DC. Legislative decisions seem to be made mostly based on cost-benefit studies performed for organizations that profit from the legislation fund; these organizations have an obvious interest in overstating the benefits and underestimating the costs to the city and its residents. Consequently, the need for someone who can clarify the effects of policy choices is far greater than at the national level. At the local level, decisions relating to economic development and taxes are frequently made without a clear understanding of their consequences. Economic impact statements funded by interested parties are a ritualized cover enabling special interests to justify the benefits they are receiving at citizen expense. Consider sports stadiums. Whenever a team owner wants large subsidies for a new stadium, an economic impact statement is produced that counts the jobs constructing the new stadium will add. However, constructing stadiums has been shown to have no economic benefits (Baade and Sanderson 1997). Even so, politicians are susceptible to the argument that jobs are created because they can count the jobs in the new facility; however, the associated job losses elsewhere in the regional economy are statistical estimates—they do not have faces enumerating the people that the typical politician must see to believe the losses. In this commentary, I describe two economic impact statements that I have had the pleasure of attacking.
An RFID-Enabled Road Pricing System for Transportation

Fuel efficiency of Oregon's automobile fleet has eroded fuel tax revenues over the past 30 years. Further improvement of automobile fuel efficiency, particularly with the adoption of the hybrid electric vehicle engine, will have an even more dramatic effect on fuel tax revenues in the near future. In 2003, Oregon State University in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Road User Fee Task Force began investigating a vehicle miles traveled-based alternative to the fuel tax. The culminating phase of this four year effort was the execution of a pilot test involving approximately 250 volunteer drivers. The objective of this paper is to discuss the lessons learned in the design, development, and testing of the vehicle miles traveled-based technology configuration used to support Oregon's pilot test, especially the challenges faced with the use of radio frequency identification technology to identify and collect vehicle miles traveled data from equipped vehicles.
Ontologies and text retrieval

Analogues to much of today's work in ontologies have existed for centuries in text retrieval. The use of controlled vocabularies, or thesauri, has been fundamental to document indexing in library science. Thesauri serve several purposes, including:• Knowledge organisation A thesaurus provides a hierarchy of concepts that organises domain-specific knowledge.• Terminology normalisation By selecting a unique word or phrase to represent each domain concept, then linking synonymous terms to it, a thesaurus enforces terminological consistency.• Query expansion A thesaurus facilitates the addition of terms to a query by providing explicit hierarchical and lateral relationships among terms.These properties serve to mediate the information flow from indexer to user. Thesauri thus serve many of the same functions for people that ontologies are designed to serve for software agents. As automated retrieval has developed over the decades since the inception of computer processing of text, many techniques have been introduced to apply this typically manual work to the automated arena (see Soergel (1985) for an introduction to library information systems, also Anderson and Pelrez-Carballo (2001a, 2001b) for a summary of the intersection of human and machine indexing).
Quantitative assessment of the vascularity of the proximal part of the humerus

Background: The current consensus in the literature is that the anterolateral branch of the anterior humeral circumflex artery provides the main blood supply to the humeral head. While the artery is disrupted in association with 80% of proximal humeral fractures, resultant osteonecrosis is infrequent. This inconsistency suggests a greater role for the posterior humeral circumflex artery than has been previously described. We hypothesized that the posterior humeral circumflex artery provides a greater percentage of perfusion to the humeral head than the anterior humeral circumflex artery does. Methods: In twenty-four fresh-frozen cadaver shoulders (twelve matched pairs), we cannulated the axillary artery proximal to the thoracoacromial branch and ligated the brachial artery in the forearm. In each pair, one shoulder served as a control with intact vasculature and, in the contralateral shoulder, either the anterior humeral circumflex artery or the posterior humeral circumflex artery was ligated. Gadolinium was injected through the cannulated axillary arteries, and magnetic resonance imaging was performed. After imaging, a urethane polymer was injected, and specimens were dissected. For volumetric analysis, the gadolinium uptake on the magnetic resonance imaging was quantified in each quadrant of the humeral head with use of a custom automated program. The gadolinium uptake was compared between the control and ligated sides and between the ligated anterior humeral circumflex artery and ligated posterior humeral circumflex artery groups. Results: The posterior humeral circumflex artery provided 64% of the blood supply to the humeral head overall, whereas the anterior humeral circumflex artery supplied 36%. The posterior humeral circumflex artery also provided significantly more of the blood supply in three of the four quadrants of the humeral head. Conclusions: The finding that the posterior humeral circumflex artery provides 64% of the blood supply to the humeral head provides a possible explanation for the relatively low rates of osteonecrosis seen in association with displaced fractures of the proximal part of the humerus. In addition, protecting the posterior humeral circumflex artery during the surgical approach and fracture fixation may minimize loss of the blood supply to the humeral head. Clinical Relevance: Understanding the contributions to the blood flow to the humeral head can better aid in surgical planning and fracture fixation.
A fratricidal mechanism is responsible for eDNA release and contributes to biofilm development of Enterococcus faecalis

Extracellular DNA (eDNA), a by-product of cell lysis, was recently established as a critical structural component of the Enterococcus faecalis biofilm matrix. Here, we describe fratricide as the governing principle behind gelatinase (GelE)-mediated cell death and eDNA release. GFP reporter assays confirmed that GBAP (gelatinase biosynthesis-activating pheromone) quorum non-responders (GelE-SprE-) were a minority subpopulation of prey cells susceptible to the targeted fratricidal action of the quorum responsive predatorial majority (GelE+SprE+). The killing action is dependent on GelE, and the GelE producer population is protected from self-destruction by the co-production of SprE as an immunity protein. Targeted gene inactivation and protein interaction studies demonstrate that extracellular proteases execute their characteristic effects following downstream interactions with the primary autolysin, AtlA. Finally, we address a mechanism by which GelE and SprE may modify the cell wall affinity of proteolytically processed AtlA resulting in either a pro- or anti-lytic outcome.
Abrogation of genetically controlled resistance of mice to Treponema pallidum by irradiation

Infection with Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of human syphilis, gives rise to a complex immune response involving both humoral and cellular components. The exact nature of this response and how it relates to the disease process is a matter of considerable speculation1,2. In recent years, studies have been directed towards defining the role of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) in syphilis2. These have been conducted mainly in vitro because the general unavailability of inbred rabbits, the principal animals for experimental syphilis research, has limited the application of in vivo procedures. A prime deterrent to using mice for the study of syphilis has been their failure to exhibit pathology, even in the face of a persistent infection3,4. We report here that on intradermal (i.d.) infection, transient primary lesions, characteristic of those seen in naturally acquired human syphilis, can be produced regularly in some strains of mice but not others, indicating a genetic basis for host susceptibility. Strains of mice which normally fail to develop lesions, do so after exposure to ionising radiation. Evidence is presented for a multiple role of the immune response during local infection.
Teaching ethics and computer forensics: the Markkula center for applied ethics approach

I claim that we teach Ethics in Information Assurance courses because we want to install the importance of ethical behavior right at the beginning of our students' professional career and because we need to give them tools to deal with newly arising situations, for example those that are not dealt with in codes of conduct or that straddle the lines. Since fact finding and evaluation of facts are important aspects of ethical decision making, part of ethics education needs to be done within technical courses with the goal of complementing the philosophical foundations or generic applied ethics discussions left best to the general education curriculum. Teaching ethics well is hard. A basic problem -- an instance of living in a post-modern world -- is the lack of a common foundation to make ethical judgments. In addition, gaining and maintaining technical expertise is a full-time job that an instructor might not want to supplement by gaining expertise in the challenging fields of business or applied ethics; thus, any method for teaching ethics needs to be simple.A group of philosophers at the Markkula Center for Ethics at Santa Clara University developed a simple framework for business ethics that distills various philosophical approaches towards Ethics in simple questions. The resulting procedure consists in "simply" answering these questions and thereby approaching a difficult situation from various perspectives. While the framework cannot solve certain thorny issues, it is quite successful at elucidating ethical problems and -- possibly more importantly -- it gives those exposed to it a common language. In my opinion, this framework allows us to teach ethics in Information Assurance classes in a manner that (1) is not biased by the personal views of the instructor, that (2) does not involve a large sacrifice of class room time, that is (3) reasonably culturally and gender neutral, that (4) is quite successful helping elucidating new ethical issues and (5) that allows someone with a technical background but no or limited philosophical background to successfully teach ethics.
Ponding Analysis with Green-and-Ampt Infiltration

The ponding of water over level terrain caused by storms of arbitrary temporal intensity is quantified by solving water-balance differential equations involving cumulative rainfall, infiltration, the depth of ponded water, and evaporation of ponded water. Infiltration is quantified using an extended Green-and-Ampt formulation in which the depth of ponded water influences the infiltration rate. A numerical algorithm for calculating the infiltration and ponding hydrographs is developed and applied in this work. The maximum depth of ponded water and the duration of ponding are among the variables that can be calculated with the method presented in this paper. These variables are useful in basin irrigation and in wetland wetting and restoration.
Dynamic characterization of layered and graded structures under impulsive loading

Abstract Relatively thick graded and layered structures have significant potential armor applications, and have recently been manufactured with some degree of consistency. The mechanical behaviors of the individual layers within such a structure play an important role in determining the structure’s resistance to impact. This work examines layered and graded plates made of metal–ceramic composites with the volume fraction of ceramic reinforcement varying through the thickness. In a previous work (Acta Mater 46 (1998) 5633), the results of high-strain-rate experiments have been used to develop a model for the viscoplastic response of metal–matrix composites of varying volume fraction. Using this model, numerical results are presented on the propagation of large amplitude stress waves through layered and graded structures. The results show that the wave propagation within layered and graded structures involves a complex coupling of elastic and viscoplastic response. It is demonstrated that the choice of gradation has great significance for impact applications.
Disposable microfluidic substrates: Transitioning from the research laboratory into the clinic

As more microfluidic applications emerge for clinical diagnostics, the choice of substrate and production method must be considered for eventual regulatory approval. In this review, we survey recent developments in disposable microfluidic substrates and their fabrication methods. We note regulatory approval for disposable microfluidic substrates will be more forthcoming if the substrates are developed with the United States Pharmacopeia's biocompatibility compliance guidelines in mind. We also review the recent trend in microfluidic devices constructed from a hybrid of substrates that takes advantage of each material's attributes.
Ternary Phase Diagram of Dipalmitoyl-PC/Dilauroyl-PC/Cholesterol: Nanoscopic Domain Formation Driven by Cholesterol

A ternary phase diagram is proposed for the hydrated lamellar lipid mixture dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine/dilauroylphosphatidylcholine/cholesterol (DPPC/DLPC/cholesterol) at room temperature. The entire composition space has been thoroughly mapped by complementary experimental techniques, revealing interesting phase behavior that has not been previously described. Confocal fluorescence microscopy shows a regime of coexisting DPPC-rich ordered and DLPC-rich fluid lamellar phases, having an upper boundary at apparently constant cholesterol mole fraction chi(chol) approximately 0.16. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments confirm the identification and extent of this two-phase regime and, furthermore, reveal a 1-phase regime between chi(chol) approximately 0.16 and 0.25, consisting of ordered and fluid nanoscopic domains. Dipyrene-PC excimer/monomer measurements confirm the new regime between chi(chol) approximately 0.16 and 0.25 and also show that rigidly ordered phases seem to disappear around chi(chol) approximately 0.25. This study should be considered as a step toward a more complete understanding of lateral heterogeneity within biomembranes. Cholesterol may play a role in domain separation on the nanometer scale.
Delayed school start times and adolescent sleep: A systematic review of the experimental evidence.

Many schools have instituted later morning start times to improve sleep, academic, and other outcomes in response to the mismatch between youth circadian rhythms and early morning start times. However, there has been no systematic synthesis of the evidence on the effects of this practice. To examine the impact of delayed school start time on students' sleep, health, and academic outcomes, electronic databases were systematically searched and data were extracted using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Six studies satisfied selection criteria and used pre-post, no control (n = 3), randomized controlled trial (n = 2), and quasi-experimental (n = 1) designs. School start times were delayed 25-60 min, and correspondingly, total sleep time increased from 25 to 77 min per weeknight. Some studies revealed reduced daytime sleepiness, depression, caffeine use, tardiness to class, and trouble staying awake. Overall, the evidence supports recent non-experimental study findings and calls for policy that advocates for delayed school start time to improve sleep. This presents a potential long-term solution to chronic sleep restriction during adolescence. However, there is a need for rigorous randomized study designs and reporting of consistent outcomes, including objective sleep measures and consistent measures of health and academic performance.
Biomedical Applications of a Commercial Capacitance Transducer

A capacitance displacement transducer with a linear response and constant sensitivity for a frequency range of 0-1000 Hz is described. Its application to measurement of chest wall motions was verified using static displacements from flat and curved surfaces and both human tissue and metal. The transducer has been used to obtain recordings of apex motion, heard sounds, and brachial and radial pulses. Its advantages are that it is noncontacting and linear, and that it has a wide frequency response and can easily be calibrated to obtain quantitative data of actual motion. Problems encountered in use were the mechanical positioning of the probe including respiratory motions in the measurement and the need to insulate the probe with a film of thin plastic to insure against an electrical hazard to the subject.
Further progress in robot juggling: solvable mirror laws

In previous papers we have reported successful laboratory implementations of a family of juggling algorithms. In all but the one degree of freedom case, these empirically successful algorithms have so far resisted our analytical efforts to explain why they work. This is in large measure a consequence of our inability to write down using elementary functions an expression for the closed loop dynamics they induce. We discuss in this paper a modified juggling algorithm whose resulting closed loop dynamics can be written down directly. We offer data establishing the empirical success of the new algorithm. Theoretical analysis of the closed loop dynamics is presently in progress. >
Interaction of fatty acid genotype and diet on changes in colonic fatty acids in a Mediterranean diet intervention study.

A Mediterranean diet increases intakes of n-3 and n-9 fatty acids and lowers intake of n-6 fatty acids. This can impact colon cancer risk as n-6 fatty acids are metabolized to proinflammatory eicosanoids. The purpose of this study was to evaluate interactions of polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) genes, FADS1 and FADS2, and changes in diet on fatty acid concentrations in serum and colon. A total of 108 individuals at increased risk of colon cancer were randomized to either a Mediterranean or a Healthy Eating diet. Fatty acids were measured in both serum and colonic mucosa at baseline and after six months. Each individual was genotyped for four single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the FADS gene cluster. Linear regression was used to evaluate the effects of diet, genotype, and the diet by genotype interaction on fatty acid concentrations in serum and colon. Genetic variation in the FADS genes was strongly associated with baseline serum arachidonic acid (n-6) but serum eicosapentaenoic acid (n-3) and colonic fatty acid concentrations were not significantly associated with genotype. After intervention, there was a significant diet by genotype interaction for arachidonic acid concentrations in colon. Subjects who had all major alleles for FADS1/2 and were following a Mediterranean diet had 16% lower arachidonic acid concentrations in the colon after six months of intervention than subjects following the Healthy Eating diet. These results indicate that FADS genotype could modify the effects of changes in dietary fat intakes on arachidonic acid concentrations in the colon. Cancer Prev Res; 6(11); 1212–21. ©2013 AACR.
Recall and bias of retrieving gene expression microarray datasets through PubMed identifiers.

Background: The ability to locate publicly available gene expression microarray datasets effectively and efficiently facilitates the reuse of these potentially valuable resources. Centralized biomedical databases allow users to query dataset metadata descriptions, but these annotations are often too sparse and diverse to allow complex and accurate queries. In this study we examined the ability of PubMed article identifiers to locate publicly available gene expression microarray datasets, and investigated whether the retrieved datasets were representative of publicly available datasets found through statements of data sharing in the associated research articles. Results: In a recent article, Ochsner and colleagues identified 397 studies that had generated gene expression microarray data. Their search of the full text of each publication for statements of data sharing revealed 203 publicly available datasets, including 179 in the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) or ArrayExpress databases. Our scripted search of GEO and ArrayExpress for PubMed identifiers of the same 397 studies returned 160 datasets, including six not found by the original search for data sharing statements. As a proportion of datasets found by either method, the search for data sharing statements identified 91.4% of the 209 publicly available datasets, compared to only 76.6% found by our search carried out using PubMed identifiers. Searching GEO or ArrayExpress alone retrieved 63.2% and 46.9% of all available datasets, respectively. There was no difference in the type of datasets found by PubMed identifier searches in terms of research theme or the technology used. However, the studies identified were more likely to have larger sample sizes, were more frequently cited, and published in higher impact journals. Conclusions: Searching database entries using PubMed identifiers can identify the majority of publicly available datasets, but caution is required when this method is used to collect data for policy evaluation since studies in low impact journals are disproportionately excluded. We urge authors of all datasets to complete the citation fields for their dataset submissions once publication details are known, thereby ensuring their work has maximum visibility and can contribute to subsequent studies.
Voyage de noces d'une royaliste à travers l'Allemagne et l'Italie (1845)

Published accounts of travel abroad written by young French women from the first half of the nineteenth century are of relative rarity, and an amply annotated one much more so. The main text of Voy...
Suicidality in Very Young Children.

uring the past several decades, the scientific conversation about early childhood psychopathology D has shifted from questions about whether it exists to understanding how it manifests. There is increasing recognition that deviant developmental trajectories can be identified in the earliest years of life, and research is rapidly expanding our understanding of biological correlates and clinical presentations. A central issue in the study of early childhood psychopathology has been the degree to which it resembles or diverges from psychopathology in later childhood and adolescence. Two lines of research have suggested similarities. First, studies of preschool children have found broad similarities between disorders presenting in children 2 to 5 years of age and disorders presenting in older children and adolescents. Second, the stability of psychopathology from preschool years to middle childhood seems roughly equivalent to the stability of disorders from middle childhood to adolescence. These data suggest continuities between psychopathology in early childhood and later developmental epochs. Conversely, the enormous changes in brain and behavioral development occurring in the first few years of life suggest that differences in psychopathology and how it presents ought to be apparent. For example, apart from sleep disorders, feeding disorders, and excessive crying or colic, few psychiatric disorders have been defined in the first year of life, although it is clear that infants can experience a range of emotional reactions in response to various stressors. Even in preschool-age children, diagnostic criteria of some disorders have been modified to accommodate the clinical signs and symptoms in young children. Further, in following symptoms and disorders from early to middle childhood, heterotypic continuity seems to be involved in at least 2 ways. First, disorders at one age might lawfully relate to disorders at a subsequent age, such as anxiety disorders in early childhood predicting anxiety and oppositional defiant disorder in middle childhood. Second, symptoms, such as aggression, might be present in many different disorders and mean different things in children of different ages. Against this backdrop, Whalen et al. present data from the Preschool Depression Study about suicidal cognitions and behaviors in young children whose average age was 5 years at the initial assessment. Even with the broad definition of suicidal cognitions and behaviors used in this study, many readers will be surprised to learn that 11% of the children at baseline expressed suicidal cognitions or engaged in suggestive behaviors, and nearly 3 of 4 of these same children endorsed suicidality in middle childhood. Whalen et al. were specifically interested in exploring developmental continuity, for which their large sample and
Wiener on Global Policy and Military Science; von Neumann’s Position; Science and Human Welfare

The calamity of Hiroshima pulled Wiener and von Neumann in the same general direction: both became public figures who endeavored to influence the course of events. But the paths they followed were guided by differing conceptions of what constituted good governmental policy.
A Newly Recommended Fumigant, Ethyl Acetate in Combination with Carbon Tetrachloride

A fumigant made by mixing 40 parts of ethyl acetate and 60 parts of carbon tetrachloride has been recommended for the fumigation of grain in grain cars when used at the rate of 40 to 50 pounds per thousand cubic feet of space (U. S. Department of Agriculture Bul1etin 1313). Experiments reported upon here with indicate that good results may fol1ow its use in very tight containers in household fumigation and in wel1 constructed covered grain bins on the farm. Fumigation of slip shuck corn during October in South Georgia proved a failure when conducted in well constructed wooden cribs in which carbon disulphid has been used succcssful1y. It would seem that the ethyl acetate-carbon tetrachloride mixture requires a tighter container than carbon disulphid and possibly a higher minimum temperature. The new mixture must be made of pure or very nearly pure chemicals since the odoriferous constituents will taint grain and flour. The new fumigant is more expensive than carbon disulphid (costing f. o. b. Baltimore, from 12 to 15 cents per pound) has not injured the viability of seeds tested and produces a gas that is non-explosive and non-inflammable at ordinary temperatures.
Use of a Commercial Color Sorter to Separate Sexes of Stable Fly (Diptera: Muscidae) Pupae from a Genetic Sexing Strain

A genetic sexing strain of stable flies, Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), with females having black pupal color and males having brown pupal color was selected in a color sorter with ca. 99% accuracy. A single-channel machine could sort 1. 7 million pupae in 24 h. Use of this color sorter and this genetic sexing strain show promise for use in integrated control programs using sterile male releases.
BETA BLOCKER THERAPY IS SAFE AND ASSOCIATED WITH LOW MORTALITY IN PATIENTS WITH HIGH GRADE ATRIOVENTRICULAR BLOCK DURING ST SEGMENT ELEVATION MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION

High-grade atrioventricular block (HAVB) in the setting of ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has been historically associated with high mortality during the thrombolytic era. The incidence and prognostic significance of HAVB in the primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) era has
Pathology, immunohistochemistry, and ultrastructural findings associated with neurological sarcocystosis in cattle

Paraffin-embedded blocks of brain of a nine months old bull calf that died of neurological signs in 1982 in Germany were restudied. Numerous schizonts and merozoites were found associated with extensive but focal necrosis and severe meningoencephalitis. Developing stages of schizonts as well as free merozoites were identified. The schizonts were primarily in perivascular areas. Ultrastructurally, schizonts were seen both in capillaries and in extravascular space. Merozoites were often concentrated in adventitial layers of capillaries. Schizonts divided by endopolygeny, the nucleus became multi-lobed, and at the terminal stage nuclear lobes were incorporated into budding merozoites. Individual merozoites were seen in neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, leukocytes, and vascular endothelial cells. Occasionally merozoites were present in the nucleus of mononuclear cells. Individual merozoites were ovoid, 3-5×2-3μm in size, and contained a prominent nucleus, numerous micronemes, a conoid, but no rhoptries. Schizonts and merozoites did not react to polyclonal rabbit Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii, and Sarcocystis neurona antibodies but did react to Sarcocystis cruzi antibodies. Because of morphological characteristics and the type of lesions, the parasite was likely due to an unidentified Sarcocystis species, different from S. cruzi.
254 THE EFFECT OF CUE-BASED ORAL FEEDING GUIDELINES ON AGE AT FULL ORAL FEEDING IN PREMATURE INFANTS WITH AN OXYGEN NEED.

Previous studies have shown that advancing oral feedings using infant behavioral readiness signs and feeding cues can lead to earlier achievement of full oral feeding in select populations of healthy preterm infants. We subsequently used these principles to design a guideline to facilitate oral feeding advancement in a broader population of nonsurgical premature infants. In a pilot study, we found that full oral feeding could be achieved at an earlier postmenstrual age (PMA) by using this guideline without compromising weight gain. We know that infants with chronic lung disease (CLD) are at a higher risk of oral feeding problems. Although infants with CLD were included in our pilot study, the study was not designed to analyze feeding progression in this specific population. We hypothesized that our oral feeding guideline, which bases advancement on infant behavioral readiness signs and feeding cues, would facilitate achievement of full oral feeding at an earlier PMA in premature infants with an oxygen need compared with historical controls. A prospective cohort of premature infants whose oral feedings were advanced by the guidelines beginning July 1, 2004, was compared with historical controls randomly selected from infants discharged between July 1, 2002, and June 30, 2003. We initially screened 222 infants (111 in each group). Infants with a syndrome, grade 3 or 4 intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, or necrotizing enterocolitis or who had not completed their oral feeding advancement at our institution were excluded. A total of 182 infants were analyzed (n = 88 control, n = 94 study). The infants were grouped according to oxygen need at the start of oral feeding and further stratified by prior ventilator days (≤ 7 days or > 7 days). General linear modeling was used to perform analysis of covariance, adjusting for gestational age and gender. Achievement of full oral feedings was significantly earlier in study infants that began oral feeding with an oxygen need and had > 7 days of prior ventilator support versus controls (p = .001; see Table). These results suggest that a cue-based guideline can facilitate earlier achievement of full oral feeding for infants with an oxygen need at the start of oral feeding and a history of ventilator support for more than 7 days.
Research on ESS Capacity Optimization Configuration of Regional Grids

Through studies on the static voltage stability of the regional network and the quality of voltage,this paper puts forwards a quantitative formula for calculating the acceptance capacity of wind power for the power grid. On this basis,the control objective of the output of the energy storage system is determined with through least-squared fitting of the correlation curves between the abandoned wind capacity and the wind power consumptive capacity. Based on sensitivity index,the paper analyzes and calculates the network loss-active variable correlation curves for each access point to be connected for the example and obtains the second-order index through finite differential, which matches linearity well. Furthermore, the optimized access bus of the energy storage system is also determined with sensitive index sequencing.
La distancia entre la ciudadanía y las élites. Una mirada desde el informe "Desarrollo humano en Chile"

espanolEste ensayo postula que entre los ciudadanos chilenos y las elites se ha establecido una desconexion profunda, en la que la incapacidad de las elites para comprender a las personas representa un obstaculo para pensar y actuar en sintonia con sus percepciones y demandas. A lo largo del trabajo se muestran algunas de las principales contradicciones existentes entre la forma que adopta el debate publico, propio de las elites, y las logicas que ocupan los ciudadanos para pensar y actuar en la sociedad. Para ello se revisa evidencia empirica, tanto cuantitativa como cualitativa, levantada por los diversos informes Desarrollo humano en Chile, publicados por el Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). EnglishThis paper argues that Chilean citizens and the elite are profoundly disconnected. The inability of the elite to understand people represents an obstacle to thinking and acting in tune with their perceptions and demands. Some of the main contradictions between the way public debate proceeds, natural to the elite, are shown as well as the logic that citizens use to think and act in society. Empirical evidence is reviewed, both quantitative and qualitative, taken from several Human Development reports published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
What happened to the HIV epidemic among non-injecting drug users in New York City?

Background and aims HIV has reached high prevalence in many non-injecting drug user (NIDU) populations. The aims of this study were to (1) examine the trend in HIV prevalence among non-injecting cocaine and heroin NIDUs in New York City, (2) identify factors potentially associated with the trend and (3) estimate HIV incidence among NIDUs. Design Serial-cross sectional surveys of people entering drug treatment programs. People were permitted to participate only once per year, but could participate in multiple years. Setting Mount Sinai Beth Israel drug treatment programs in New York City, USA. Participants We recruited 3298 non-injecting cocaine and heroin users from 2005 to 2014. Participants were 78.7% male, 6.1% white, 25.7% Hispanic and 65.8% African American. Smoking crack cocaine was the most common non-injecting drug practice. Measures Trend tests were used to examine HIV prevalence, demographics, drug use, sexual behavior and use of antiretroviral treatment (ART) by calendar year; χ2 and multivariable logistic regression were used to compare 2005–10 versus 2011–14. Findings HIV prevalence declined approximately 1% per year (P < 0.001), with a decline from 16% in 2005–10 to 8% in 2011–14 (P < 0.001). The percentages of participants smoking crack and having multiple sexual partners declined and the percentage of HIV-positive people on ART increased. HIV incidence among repeat participants was 1.2 per 1000 person-years (95% confidence interval = 0.03/1000–7/1000). Conclusions HIV prevalence has declined and a high percentage of HIV-positive non-injecting drug users (NIDUs) are receiving antiretroviral treatment, suggesting an end to the HIV epidemic among NIDUs in New York City. These results can be considered a proof of concept that it is possible to control non-injecting drug use related sexual transmission HIV epidemics.
STAT3 Is Differentially Activated Downstream of the Erythropoietin Receptor in Primitive Compared to Definitive Erythroblasts

Abstract 2383 Erythropoietin (EPO) acting through its receptor (EPOR), is a critical regulator of definitive erythropoiesis. The EPOR signaling network has been extensively studied in cell lines overexpressing various forms of EPOR. Together with genetic models, these studies have defined an EPOR-JAK2-STAT5 pathway that is critical for the formation of red blood cells. However, the hematopoietic phenotype of mice with a truncated EPOR incapable of activating STAT5 (EPOR-HM) suggests that STAT5 activation is not the only pathway mediating the erythropoietic effects of EPO-EPOR signaling. Our recent studies indicate that EPO-EPOR signaling also regulates primitive erythroblast maturation in the mammalian embryo. To better understand EPOR signaling in the context of primary erythroid cells, we utilized primitive erythroblasts from wild-type and EPOR-HM murine embryos. Robust phosphorylation of STAT5 was detected by western blot in freshly isolated primitive erythroblasts from wild-type embryos. As expected, there is no STAT5 phosphorylation evident in primitive erythroblasts from EPOR-HM embryos. Surprisingly, EPOR-HM embryos produce nearly normal numbers of primitive erythroblasts and we detected equivalent induction of STAT target genes following EPO stimulation in wild-type and EPOR-HM primitive erythroblasts. To address the discrepancy between these data and the accepted model of EPOR-STAT5 signaling, we searched for compensatory signaling via other STAT family members. We found that STAT3, but not STAT1, was phosphorylated in primitive erythroblasts from EPOR-HM embryos, suggesting that phospho-STAT3 compensates for the loss of phospho-STAT5 in the EPOR-HM mice. We also detected a lower level of STAT3 phosphorylation in wild-type primitive erythroblasts that was increased upon in vitro EPO stimulation. These results indicate that EPOR-STAT3 signaling normally occurs in primitive erythroblasts. Furthermore, our preliminary data show that STAT3 transcript levels are higher in primitive erythroblasts compared to definitive erythroblasts from the fetal liver or bone marrow, suggesting that STAT3 activation during erythropoiesis may be lineage-dependent. To test this hypothesis, we utilized a small molecule inhibitor of STAT3 to examine the function of STAT3 signaling both in primitive and in definitive erythroblasts during in vitro maturation. The terminal maturation of definitive erythroblasts is unaffected by STAT3 inhibition. However, inhibition of STAT3 causes a 40% reduction in primitive erythroblast proliferation in a novel 2-step ex vivo culture system. We conclude that, in contrast to definitive erythroblasts, STAT3 is activated downstream of EPOR in primitive erythroid cells. EPOR-STAT3 signaling has been reported in non-erythroid cells as well as in several cancer cell types. Therefore the study of EPOR signaling in primary embryonic erythroblasts may provide novel insights regarding the function of EPO in these cells. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Alzheimer’s medicine: β-Amyloid takes a siP

The interaction of soluble β-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers, also known as Aβ-derived diffusible ligands (ADDLs), with EphB2 receptors is thought to promote depletion of EphB2 receptors from the neuronal cell membrane. Since these receptors are important in maintaining integrity of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor—itself important in synaptic plasticity—loss of EphB2 may be a mediator of Aβ-induced neuronal dysfunction. To combat this loss, Shi and colleagues used small interfering peptides (siPs) to block ADDL-EphB2 interactions, rescuing NMDA receptor integrity and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In cultured rat hippocampal neurons, treatment with ADDLs led to an acute reduction in EphB2 expression and surface localization of the NMDA receptor subunit GluN2B, whereas total GluN2B expression was unaltered. ADDLs interacted with EphB2 through its fibronectin type 3 repeat domain, and two siPs synthesized from the sequence of this domain bound to ADDLs in vitro to competitively inhibit EphB2 binding. One of these siPs, Pep63, prevented the loss of EphB2 and surface expression of GluN2B in hippocampal cultures. The effects of Pep63 were pursued further in vivo via bilateral injection for 5 days into the hippocampus of mice expressing both chimeric mouse/human mutated amyloid precursor protein and mutated human presenilin-1. These mice exhibit age-associated deficits in context- and tone-dependent fear memory along with behavioral impairment in spatial learning and memory that were all rescued by Pep63 treatment. Reductions in EphB2 and active GluN2B protein expression were rescued by Pep63, suggesting that functional NMDA receptors may be preserved in these mice. Progress has been made in developing AD treatments to prevent Aβ neurotoxicity, such as β- or γ-secretase inhibitors and immunotherapy with antibodies that prevent Aβ aggregation. Blocking neurotoxic cascades initiated by Aβ, achieved through the use of siPs in this study, may offer an alternative or complementary approach that renders harmless any toxic oligomers present without depending on altering the levels of ADDLs. The efficacy of long-term treatment with peptide drugs on AD pathology and progression will be an important area of future study. X.-D. Shi et al. , locking the interaction between EphB2 and ADDLs by a small peptide rescues impaired synaptic plasticity and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. J. Neurosci. 36 11959–11973 (2016). [[Abstract]][1] [1]: http://www.jneurosci.org/content/36/47/11959.long
Microsomal Metabolism of Prochiral Polychlorinated Biphenyls Results in the Enantioselective Formation of Chiral Metabolites

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners with multiple ortho chlorine substituents and their metabolites exist as stable rotational isomers, or atropisomers, that are nonsuperimposable mirror images of each other. Additionally, the oxidation of certain axially prochiral PCBs, such as 2,2′,4,6′-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 51) and 2,2′,4,5,6′-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB 102), in the meta position of the symmetrically substituted phenyl ring is expected to form axially chiral hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs); however, the formation of chiral OH-PCBs from prochiral PCBs has not been demonstrated experimentally. Here, we investigate if the oxidation of PCB 51 and PCB 102 by different microsomal preparations results in the formation of chiral OH-PCBs. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed that PCB 51 and PCB 102 were metabolized to 2,2′,4,6′-tetrachlorobiphenyl-3′-ol (OH-PCB 51) and 2,2′,4,5,6′-pentachlorobiphenyl-3′-ol (OH-PCB 102), respectively, by liver microsomes from male rats pretreated with different inducer...
Predictors of vitamin D deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease and health: A Mississippi perspective.

Predictors of vitamin D deficiency in inflammatory bowel disease and health: A Mississippi perspective
Tumor infiltrating and peritumoral T cells and expression of PD-L1 in BRCA1/2-mutated high grade serous ovarian cancers.

5512 Background: Previous studies have shown that the presence of CD3+ and CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and a high CD8+/CD4+ ratio are associated with favorable overall survival in ov...
Exploring Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) Habitat Collection via Oxygen Isotope Geochemistry and its Implications for Ritual and Mound Construction at Crystal River and Roberts Island, Florida

ABSTRACTResearch at Crystal River and Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex, on the western coast of Florida, USA, offers a quantitative assessment of the temporality of shell deposit construction, Native subsistence practices, and mobility patterns through stable oxygen isotope data from eastern oyster (C. virginica). The δ18Owater values of oysters vary synchronously with salinity, assuming relatively constant δ18Owater/salinity gradients since the time of occupation, allowing for an examination of shifts in oyster habitat exploitation over time. Our previous (Thompson et al. 2015) study indicated that midden accumulation occurred throughout the year, while oysters from mound deposits were collected in colder months. New data indicate that in addition to differential season of collection, habitat exploitation also varied. During early occupation at the site, oysters were collected primarily from lower saline habitats, while in later phases oysters were obtained from higher salinity waters; we relate this t...