cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Conformation-based assay of tau protein aggregation.

Abstract Amyloid fiber-forming proteins are predominantly intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). The protein tau, present mostly in neurons, is no exception. There is a significant interest in the study of tau protein aggregation mechanisms, given the direct correlation between the deposit of β-sheet structured neurofibrillary tangles made of tau and pathology in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Among the core unresolved questions is the nature of the initial step triggering aggregation, with increasing attention placed on the question whether a conformational change of the IDPs plays a key role in the early stages of aggregation. Specifically, there is growing evidence that a shift in the conformation ensemble of tau is involved in its aggregation pathway, and might even dictate structural and pathological properties of mature fibers. Yet, because IDPs lack a well-defined 3D structure and continuously exchange between different conformers, it has been technically challenging to characterize their structural changes on-pathway to aggregation. Here, we make a case that double spin labeling of the β-sheet stacking region of tau combined with pulsed double electron–electron resonance spectroscopy is a powerful method to assay conformational changes occurring during the course of tau aggregation, by probing intramolecular distances around aggregation-prone domains. We specifically demonstrate the potential of this approach by presenting recent results on conformation rearrangement of the β-sheet stacking segment VQIINK (known as PHF6*) of tau. We highlight a canonical shift of the conformation ensemble, on-pathway and occurring at the earliest stage of aggregation, toward an opening of PHF6*. We expect this method to be applicable to other critical segments of tau and other IDPs.
FDA to Minimize Abuse Potential of OTC Antidiarrheal.

The Food and Drug Administration remains concerned about potential abuse of the over-the-counter antidiarrheal loperamide. The agency is working with manufacturers to create packaging that more clearly shows the dose for consumers and to limit the number of doses in one package.Intentional abuse or
Correction for non-uniform phosphate labeling of E. coli and phage RNAs synthesized in vivo.

Abstract E. coli cells grown to phosphate starvation incorporate 32PO4 unequally into the α position of the four ribonucleotide triphosphates during a short period of labeling. A method for determining the relative specific activities of nucleotides in RNA molecules synthesized under these conditions and correcting sequence data is described.
Information Asymmetries in Consumer Credit Markets: Evidence from Two Payday Lending Firms

This paper tests for incentive and selection effects in a subprime consumer credit market. We estimate the incentive effect of loan size on default using sharp discontinuities in loan eligibility rules. This allows us to estimate the magnitude of selection from the cross-sectional correlation between loan size and default. We find evidence of advantageous incentives and adverse selection. For a given borrower, we estimate that a $100 increase in loan size decreases the probability of default by 3.7 to 4.2 percentage points, a 20 to 23 percent decrease from the mean default rate. The incentive effect is more than o ffset by adverse selection into larger loans. Borrowers who choose $100 larger loans are 6.9 to 8.0 percentage points more likely to default than borrowers who choose smaller loans. Taken together, our results are consistent with the idea that information frictions lead to credit constraints in equilibrium.
Proteolytic Processing of β-Protein Precursor-Related Synthetic Peptides

In Alzheimer’s disease, Down’s syndrome and to a lesser extent in normal aging, abnormal proteinaceous deposits precipitate in the brain. The extracellular deposits, termed amyloid, are found in the center of senile plaques and in the blood vessel walls of the leptomeninges and the brain. In 1984, Glenner and Wong purified the amyloid fibrils from the meninges of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Down’s syndrome (DS) and sequenced the first 28 amino acids of the 4Kd peptide they named the β-protein (Glenner and Wong, 1984). A similar, but not identical, peptide was also purified from the amyloid cores of senile plaques (Masters et al., 1985; Selkoe et al., 1986). The β-protein is a 39–42 amino acid fragment derived from a larger, 110–135 Kd precursor protein (β-PP) whose gene has been cloned and sequenced (Goldgaber et al., 1987; Kang et al., 1987; Robakis et al., 1987; Tanzi et al., 1987a). The finding of multiple transcripts indicates alternative splicing. In addition to the β-protein, the brain amyloid contains a tightly associated serine protease inhibitor, α1-antichymotrypsin (ACT) (Abraham et al., 1988).
Green, Innovative, and Profitable: A Case Study of Managerial Capabilities at Interface Inc.

This article describes the pioneering green-innovation management practices of a resource-intensive corporation, Interface Inc., which is a globally operating carpet manufacturer. Even during the current economic downturn, many companies remain committed to advancing their green business agendas. However, recent research suggests that most of these companies are far from reaching substantial competitive advantage from this commitment because they lack the connection between their green agendas and core innovation-management activities. This study illustrates how Interface succeeded with radical green innovations by investing in managerial capabilities that allowed it to conduct research, recognize opportunities, and revolutionize the carpeting industry. These capabilities enabled Interface to continuously challenge and disrupt well-established management recipes, existing knowledge, and proven industrial practices, and they enabled it to create a sustainable competitive advantage through a winning portfolio of radical green innovations. Since 2003, we’ve sold over 83 million square yards of carpet with no net global warming effect. These climateneutral carpets, Cool Carpets, have been runaway bestsellers. That’s competitive advantage at its best – doing well by doing good.
Mutual-aid groups: an underutilized resource among the elderly.

Despite the fifty-year tradition of self-help or mutual-aid groups, their recognition by professionals has been slow in developing. Self-help services today involve an estimated 12 to 14 million adults in the United States (Lieberman, 1986). They address nearly every known disease and problem, and include many areas that deal with issues common among the elderly: chronic illness, life crises associated with aging as well as transition events, and social dilemmas that increase with chronological age.
A Modern Approach to Nonrenormalizable Models

In the preceding chapter we discussed a sequence of quartic self-interacting relativistic scalar fields that range from super renormalizable models (for spacetime dimension n = 2, 3), to strictly renormalizable models (n = 4), and finally to nonrenormalizable models (n ≥ 5). In the super renormalizable cases, the perturbative solutions we outlined agree completely with the rigorous results obtained by more sophisticated, nonperturbative techniques. Thus these cases are unambiguous and are considered solved (from an existence point of view, at least). The strictly renormalizable case exhibits all the expected features of an acceptable perturbation analysis, but there is good reason to believe that it does not agree with the nonperturbative solution. That is, the nonperturbative solution is not equal to the one derived by a perturbation theory, and as renormalization group and Monte Carlo studies have indicated, the nonperturbative strictly renormalizable model leads to a free theory in the continuum limit. By summing a suitable set of infinitely many perturbation terms, even the perturbation theory can be made to suggest that the continuum limit is also a free theory. Moreover, when we examine the nonrenormalizable cases from a nonperturbative viewpoint and limit the set of counterterms to include only mass and coupling constant modifications, they too can be rigorously shown to approach free theories in the continuum limit.
Realizing private and practical pharmacological collaboration

Although combining data from multiple entities could power life-saving breakthroughs, open sharing of pharmacological data is generally not viable because of data privacy and intellectual property concerns. To this end, we leverage modern cryptographic tools to introduce a computational protocol for securely training a predictive model of drug-target interactions (DTIs) on a pooled dataset that overcomes barriers to data sharing by provably ensuring the confidentiality of all underlying drugs, targets, and observed interactions. Our protocol runs within days on a real dataset of more than 1 million interactions and is more accurate than state-of-the-art DTI prediction methods. Using our protocol, we discover previously unidentified DTIs that we experimentally validated via targeted assays. Our work lays a foundation for more effective and cooperative biomedical research.
Lysosome: The metabolic signaling hub.

For the past five decades, the lysosome has been characterized as an unglamorous cellular recycling center. This notion has undergone a radical shift in the last 10 years, with new research revealing that this organelle serves as a major hub for metabolic signaling pathways. The discovery that master growth regulators, including the protein kinase mTOR (mechanistic target of rapamycin), make their home at the lysosomal surface has generated intense interest in the lysosome's key role in nutrient sensing and cellular homeostasis. The transcriptional networks required for lysosomal maintenance and function are just being unraveled and their connection to lysosome-based signaling pathways revealed. The catabolic and anabolic pathways that converge on the lysosome connect this organelle with multiple facets of cellular function; when these pathways are deregulated they underlie multiple human diseases, and promote cellular and organismal aging. Thus, understanding how lysosome-based signaling pathways function will not only illuminate the fascinating biology of this organelle but will also be critical in unlocking its therapeutic potentials.
A New Method for Direct Determination of Char Yield during Solid Fuel Pyrolysis in Drop-Tube Furnace at High Temperature and Its Comparison with Ash Tracer Method

A drop-tube furnace with a novel double-tube configuration was successfully developed to directly determine char yields during the pyrolysis of a wide range of solid fuels (mallee wood; mallee leaf; rice husk; biosolid; and subbituminous, bituminous, and anthracite coal) at a gas temperature of 1573 K. The char yield from pyrolysis of mallee wood and mallee leaf is 85%. This study shows using total ash as ash tracer results in 45–220% overestimation of char yields for biomass fuels and 13–27% for coals due to partial evaporation of ash. Similarly, selecting Na and K results in overestimation of biomass char yields by at least 2.5 times and selecting P leads...
The Alveolar Bone and Its Limits

The alveolar bone has always been a factor in the decision-making process of the orthodontists, and there has recently been an increasing interest in the dental profession for evaluating the effects of orthodontic treatment on the alveolar bone. Both medical computed tomography (CT) and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) have made such evaluations possible under circumstances where direct observation was not practical or feasible.
Investigation of the physiological differences in the immersive virtual reality environment and real indoor environment: Focused on skin temperature and thermal sensation

Abstract The goal of this research is to investigate and determine whether the effect of an IVE condition on an occupant's environmental sensations and physiological responses is different from the effect of a real environmental condition in the indoor environment. The research included a series of human subject experiments, with 16 participants in an environmental chamber. A thermal quality condition was selected as a primary environmental parameter, based on current IEQ-relevant studies. While the ambient thermal condition was gradually changed from 20 °C to 30 °C, the participants were asked to report their overall thermal sensations. Their skin temperatures were also continuously measured to collect physiological signal information in real time. The results of this experimental study revealed that the participants mostly generated higher skin temperature at the selected seven skin areas. Their reported thermal sensations were significantly higher in the IVE condition, than in the real environment, showing a difference of 12%.
One-Pot Synthesis of N-Imidoylbenzotriazoles via Benzotriazole-Mediated Beckmann Rearrangement of Oximes

N-Imidoylbenzotriazoles 5a−l are obtained under mild conditions in variable yields (20−87%) by reactions of oximes 2a−l with BtTs 1 via a Beckmann rearrangement.
A Data-Driven Predictive Model of Individual-Specific Effects of FES on Human Gait Dynamics

Modeling individual-specific gait dynamics based on kinematic data could aid development of gait rehabilitation robotics by enabling robots to predict the user’s gait kinematics with and without external inputs, such as mechanical or electrical perturbations. Here we address a current limitation of data-driven gait models, which do not yet predict human gait dynamics nor responses to perturbations. We used Switched Linear Dynamical Systems (SLDS) to model joint angle kinematic data from healthy individuals walking on a treadmill during normal gait and during gait perturbed by functional electrical stimulation (FES) to the ankle muscles. Our SLDS models were able to generate joint angle trajectories in each of four gait phases, as well as across an entire gait cycle, given initial conditions and gait phase information. Because the SLDS dynamics matrices encoded significant coupling across joints that differed across indivdiuals, we compared the SLDS predictions to that of a kinematic model, where the joint angles were independent. Joint angle trajectories generated by SLDS and kinematic models were similar over time horizons of a few milliseconds, but SLDS models provided better predictions of gait kinematics over time horizons of up to a second. We also demonstrated that SLDS models can infer and predict individual-specific responses to FES during swing phase. As such, SLDS models may be a promising approach for online estimation and control of and human gait dynamics, allowing robotic control strategies to be tailored to an individual’s specific gait coordination patterns.
Clinicopathologic findings in gynecologic proliferations of the appendix.

Summary Appendiceal endometriosis, endosalpingiosis, and decidual lesions have received little attention in the pathology literature, meaning their clinicopathologic features remain unclear. We identified 72 cases of appendiceal gynecologic proliferations with available slides. Clinical presentation was recorded when available, and histologic findings were correlated with clinical data. Cases included conventional endometriosis (51), endosalpingiosis (14), and decidual lesions (7). The patients with endosalpingiosis were significantly older (median 45 years) than those with endometriosis (median 34 years, P = .0085) or decidual lesions (median 31 years, P = .0088). Most endometriosis patients presented with known/suspected endometriosis (20/51, 39%), while acute appendicitis was the most common presentation for patients with endosalpingiosis (5/14, 36%) or a decidual lesion (5/7, 71%). Few patients presenting with appendicitis were ever diagnosed with extra-appendiceal disease. All 51 endometriosis cases showed both glands and stroma, and 18 (35%) had hemosiderin. One case progressed to endometrioid adenocarcinoma. Endosalpingiosis was an incidental finding in all cases, confined to the serosa in 4 and extending intramurally in 10. Four of the 7 patients with a decidual lesion were pregnant, and 2 others were taking oral contraceptives. The cases included florid decidualized endometriosis (5) and deciduosis (2). Two cases spread transmurally and effectively obliterated the appendix. Conventional appendiceal endometriosis can have several clinical presentations. Patients with it who present with acute appendicitis rarely develop it elsewhere. Appendiceal endosalpingiosis is rare and effectively incidental. Decidualized endometriosis may overtake the entire appendix.
Single-Agent Ibrutinib in Recurrent/Refractory Central Nervous System Lymphoma

BACKGROUND: Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma (PCNSL) is an aggressive primary brain tumor with median progression free survival (PFS) after upfront methotrexate-based chemotherapy of 2-3 years. Outcome and treatment options are poor for recurrent/refractory (r/r) disease. Response rates (ORR) range between 30-60% with a PFS of 2-5 months. Ibrutinib has shown promising clinical response in Mantel cell lymphoma, CLL, and Waldenstrom. This trial investigates Ibrutinib in patients with r/r PCNSL and SCNSL. METHODS: Eligible patients had r/r PCNSL or Secondary CNS Lymphoma (SCNSL), age≥18, ECOG≤2, normal end-organ function, and unrestricted number of CNS directed prior therapies. In patients with SCNSL disease, systemic disease needed to be absent. RESULTS: Twenty patients were enrolled (3 at 560 mg; 17 at 840 mg). Median age was 69 (range 21-85); 12 were women. Median ECOG was 1 (0: 2, 1: 12, 2: 6). 65% had PCNSL and 35% SCNSL; 70% had recurrent disease. Eleven had parenchymal disease, 3 isolated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) involvement and 6 both. Five grade 4 adverse events were observed in 4 patients (lymphopenia (2), sepsis (1), neutropenia (2)). Ten patients developed grade 3 toxicities, including lymphopenia in 3 patients, thrombocytopenia in 2, hyperglycemia in 2, lung infection in 2, neutropenia in 1, urinary tract infection in 1, colitis in 1, and fungal encephalitis in 1. The most common toxicities were hyperglycemia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia. After a median follow-up of 193 days, 19/20 patients were evaluated for response: 8 CR, 7 PR, 1 SD and 3 PD; 75% (15/20) ORR. The median PFS is 7.29 months (95% CI: 3.80-15.43 months (longest: 15.3 months)). The mean Ibrutinib concentration in the CSF 2h post administration at day 1 and 29 is 1.75 ng/mL (3.97 nM) and 2.51 ng/mL (5.6 nM) which is above the IC50 (1nM) required in vitro to reduce growth of lymphoma cells . An additional treatment arm has been added to the trial which will evaluate adverse events of the combination of ibrutinib and high-dose methotrexate chemotherapy. Enrollment into the combination arm is ongoing and updates will be presented at the meeting. CONCLUSION: Patients with CNS lymphoma tolerate Ibrutinib with manageable adverse events. Drug concentrations in CSF are higher at steady state (day 29) and meaningful CSF concentrations are reached. Clinical response was seen in 75% of CNS lymphoma patients. A combination arm will assess the adverse events of ibrutinib in combination with high-dose methotrexate chemotherapy. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Analysis of Cytoplasmic and Membrane Molecular Crowding in Genetically Programmed Synthetic Cells

Building genetically programmed synthetic cell systems by molecular integration is a powerful and effective approach to capture the synergies between biomolecules when they are put together. In thi...
Wrist Fractures in Skiers and Snowboarders: Incidence, Severity, and Risk Factors Over 40 Seasons.

Purpose To determine and compare the incidence and severity of wrist fractures in skiers and snowboarders. Methods A university-run orthopedic clinic at the base of a major ski resort has maintained an injury database spanning the years 1972 to 2012. Demographic information, equipment type, ability level, trail type and conditions, number of falls, circumstances surrounding the injury, and radiographs were collected on participants sustaining wrist fractures and compared with uninjured control participants asked the same questions, but in reference to their last fall where no injury resulted. A risk factor model for wrist fracture and severity in alpine sports was developed. Results During the 40-year period, 679 wrist fractures were identified. The incidence of wrist fracture per 1,000 days was 0.447 in snowboarders and 0.024 in skiers. In comparison with a representative sample of uninjured skiers, bivariate analyses revealed that skiers who experienced fractures were less experienced, had a greater number of falls, were on green or double black trails, and were injured owing to jumping or other reason related to technique. A higher risk for fracture was found for beginners, males younger than age 16, women older than age 50, and 4 or fewer days skiing that season. Bivariate analyses found that injured snowboarders were more likely to be female, younger, less experienced and had received less instruction than uninjured snowboarders. Higher risk for wrist fracture among snowboarders was found to be associated with age younger than 18 and less experience. Conclusions Wrist fractures occur at an 18 times greater incidence in snowboarders than in skiers. Skiers with wrist fractures were beginners, males younger than 16, women older than 50, or those who had less participation. Snowboarders sustaining wrist fractures were younger than 18 or had less experience. Type of study/level of evidence Prognostic III.
Innovations in Congenital Interventional Cardiology

This article aims to summarize some of the key advances in congenital interventional cardiology over the past few years, from novel imaging technologies, such as virtual reality, fusion imaging, and 3-dimensional printed models, to newly available devices and techniques to facilitate complex procedures including percutaneous pulmonary valve replacement and hybrid procedures. It is an exciting time for the field, with rapid development of techniques, devices, and imaging tools that allow a minimally invasive approach for many congenital cardiac defects with progressively less radiation and contrast doses.
Cognitive Multi-User Multi-Relay Network: A Decentralized Scheduling Technique

To achieve a trade-off between the implementation complexity and reliability, in this work we develop a novel decentralized scheduling technique for the cognitive multi-user multi-relay network which operates on an incremental relaying mechanism. Considering asymmetric fading channels, the outage probability of the secondary network is derived under the proposed technique for both of the decode-and-forward (DF) and amplify-and-forward (AF) strategies. Monte-Carlo simulation comparisons between the proposed technique and benchmark schemes namely, two-stage with partial relay selection (TSWPRS) and two-stage with opportunistic relay selection (TSWORS) techniques, reveal that the geographical configuration of the network primarily defines the outage behavior of different scheduling techniques. In this regard, the proposed decentralized technique provides an acceptable outage performance for the realistic configurations, i.e., the relay links being stronger than the direct links. Findings demonstrate that the proposed technique under DF relaying strategy markedly outperforms the AF counterpart and therefore it is the preferable choice. Interestingly, the proposed technique under the DF strategy would outperform the TSWORS techniques if there are more users than relays which is impressive due to its lower complexity and relay activation rate. Moreover, the theoretical and Monte-Carlo results coincide in the provided examples which corroborates correctness of the theoretical analysis.
Intellectual Property Rights, Holdup, and the Incentives for Innovation Disclosure

We study how the assignment of property rights between employees and their employers influences disclosures that reveal the productivity and ability of individual employees. To do so, we examine the effect of a court ruling that significantly shifted the assignment of intellectual property rights from inventors to their employers, but that was otherwise likely exogenous with respect to disclosure. Using a within-firm-year difference-in-differences design estimated across a sample of multiple firms, we find that firms accelerate their patent disclosures for innovations created by their inventors affected by the ruling, relative to their patent disclosures for innovations created by their unaffected inventors. Our results suggest that the assignment of intellectual property rights and the potential for hold up problems between employees and their employers can affect disclosure decisions.
An integral formula for Schatten norm on the Hardy space: The only high-dimensional case

Abstract In [8] , an exact integral formula was proved for the Schatten p-norm of Hankel operators on the one-variable Hardy space for p = 2 , 4, and 6. Moreover, it was shown that these are the only values of p for which such a formula is possible. It was further pointed out in [8] that the only possibility for a meaningful multi-variable analogue of this formula is the case where n = 2 and p = 6 . We show that the conjectured integral formula indeed holds in this one possible multi-variable case.
Processing of the Mandarin polarity item renhe ‘any’

Abstract The Mandarin renhe is similar to the English any in terms of polarity sensitivity (Wang 1993; Wang & Hsieh 1996; Kuo 2003; Cheng & Giannakidou 2013; Shyu 2016). However, the following phenomena regarding any in relative clause environments have not been surveyed with respect to renhe: (a) the NPI illusion effect reported in studies like Parker & Phillips (2011; 2016); (b) the subtrigging effect discussed in LeGrand (1975) and Dayal (1998; 2004). We conducted two untimed, offline acceptability judgment experiments and the results suggest that: (i) NPI illusion does not appear in Mandarin in untimed offline processing, (ii) the subtrigging effect of renhe holds, and (iii) renhe can be licensed by certain types of declarative verbs like tongyi ‘agree’ and zancheng ‘approve’. The results confirm the strict structural requirement of the c-commanding relation between a negation licensor and renhe (Wang 1993) and the licensing of renhe in non-veridical contexts (Cheng & Giannakidou 2013), and further suggest additional licensing environments for renhe: relative clauses and declarative verbs. This requires reconsideration of positing non-veridicality as a necessary licensing condition for renhe and calls for future research on how renhe is licensed under these two licensing environments.
Parental care in Tundra Swans during the pre-fledgling period

--Among studies that have quantified the care of precocial young, few have investigated forms of parental care other than vigilance. During the pre-fledging period, Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus columbianus) parents provided simultaneous biparental care by foraging near each other and their cygnets, and cygnets spent more time foraging during bouts in which both parents were foraging nearby than when only one parent was foraging nearby. Parents spent nearly twice as much foraging time on land than did non-parents, a habitat in which cygnets foraged more intensely than parents (i.e., spent more time foraging during foraging bouts) and could graze on protein-rich sedges rather than use more difficult below-water foraging methods. Parents also spent more than twice as much time being vigilant and more than three times as much time defending their territory than non-parents, behaviors that presumably benefited cygnets by decreasing predation risk and indirect foraging competition, respectively. Parents therefore incurred the costs of foraging less intensely during foraging bouts, spending more time interacting, more time in vigilance, and less time sleeping/preening than non-parents.
The effects of awareness training on tics in a young boy with Tourette syndrome, Asperger syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Previous research has shown habit reversal training (HRT) to be effective in reducing tics. In some studies, tics have been reduced by implementing only a few components of HRT. The current study investigated the first step, awareness training, for treating tics in a young boy with Asperger syndrome, Tourette syndrome, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The results showed a reduction in all tics.
Endoscopic anatomy of the cervical vertebral canal in the horse: a cadaver study.

Summary Reason for performing study: Localisation of spinal cord compression in horses with cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy is inexact. Vertebral canal endoscopy has been used in man to localise spinal cord lesions and has the potential to become a useful diagnostic technique in horses. Objective: To establish a surgical approach via the atlanto-occipital space to the cervical vertebral canal in equine cadavers and describe the endoscopic anatomy of the cervical epidural and subarachnoid spaces. Methods: The cadavers of 25 mature horses were used to assess 3 surgical methods to approach the cervical vertebral canal, including 2 minimally invasive and one open technique. Once the approach had been made, a flexible videoendoscope was inserted into the epidural space (epiduroscopy) or the subarachnoid space (myeloscopy) and advanced caudally until the intervertebral space between C7 and T1 was reached. Results: The epidural and subarachnoid spaces could not be accessed reliably using the minimally invasive techniques. Furthermore, damage to the nervous tissues was a frequent complication with these procedures. The open approach allowed successful insertion of the videoendoscope into the epidural and subarachnoid spaces in all horses and no inadvertent damage was observed. Anatomical structures that could be seen in the epidural space included the dura mater, nerve roots, fat and the ventral internal vertebral venous plexus. In the subarachnoid space, the spinal cord, nerve roots, blood vessels, denticulate ligaments and external branch of the accessory nerve were seen. Conclusions: Using the open approach, epiduroscopy and myeloscopy over the entire length of the cervical vertebral canal are possible in the mature horse. Potential relevance: Cervical vertebral canal endoscopy may become a valuable tool to localise the site of spinal cord injury in horses with cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy and could aid in the diagnosis of other diseases of the cervical spinal cord.
prevention of Acetaminophen and Cocaine Hepatotoxicity in Mice by Cimetidine Treatment

Hepatotoxicity occurs in animals after administration of large doses of acetaminophen and cocaine and is thought to result from production of reactive metabolites of these parent drugs by cytochrome P450. Because cimetidine binds to cytochrome P450 and inhibits hepatic drug metabolism in both humans and animals, we determined the effects of cimetidine coadministration on acetaminophen and cocaine hepatotoxicity in mice. Marked elevations of serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase and severe pericentral hepatocellular necrosis occurred in animals receiving intraperitoneal doses of 350 mg/kg acetaminophen or 35 mg/kg cocaine, while minimal serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase elevations and liver necrosis were seen in animals who also received 100 mg/kg cimetidine 1 h before and 1 h after administration of either acetaminophen or cocaine. Consistent with the hypothesis that these in vivo protective effects resulted from interaction with cytochrome P450, cimetidine inhibited in vitro hepatic microsomal metabolism of cocaine. However, despite its protective effect against acetaminophen-induced hepatic injury, concomitant administration of cimetidine did not significantly affect plasma pharmacokinetics of acetaminophen, prevent depletion of hepatic glutathione after acetaminophen administration, or alter in vivo covalent binding of [3H]acetaminophen to hepatic proteins. These studies suggest that current theories regarding production of acetaminophen-induced liver damage require reexamination. The possibility that cimetidine treatment might be useful in preventing hepatic damage due to acetaminophen and other hepatotoxins in humans is intriguing and also warrants consideration.
Quantitative Radioscopic Profile Analysis via Neural Networks

Artificial neural networks have been studied over a 30 year period and are a well developed computational technology applicable to a variety of difficult problems [1]. All neural networks are simulations of neurons and synapses based upon a primitive understanding of these biological structures. The distinctive feature of these networks is that they are trainable. By various iterative schemes, a set of well characterized data can be used to create a network which will produce a correct output function of an input vector. The learning is generalized, resulting in the ability to provide correct results for input vectors not contained in the training data. The term neural network has become nearly synonymous with a particular type: the feed-forward backpropagation neural network. We will use the term network in that sense here.
Seeing the Expected, the Desired, and the Feared: Influences on Perceptual Interpretation and Directed Attention

Though people often believe their visual experiences reflect the objective state of the surrounding world, a wealth of recent evidence suggests that perceptions are systematically biased. We draw from contemporary research and supplement with real world anecdotes to suggest that two aspects of perception are subject to influence by states internal to perceivers themselves. We focus on the biases that arise from two difficult tasks faced by the visual system. First, visual information is often unclear and ambiguous; yet visual input must be categorized quickly and efficiently. Second, people can focus on only a subset of perceptual information at once, and as a result visual attention is necessarily directed at a subset of the surrounding world. We document ways in which expectations, desires, and fears help to resolve perceptual ambiguity and direct attention. Finally, we discuss the functional nature of visual biases and note potential consequences in important domains.
Millimeter wave power performance of InAlAs/InGaAs/InP HEMTs

The DC and microwave power performance of both lattice-matched and pseudomorphic InAlAs/InGaAs/InP high electron mobility transistors HEMT lattice-matched to an InP substrate yielded peak power-added efficiency of 52% with power gain of 10.5 db and power density of 0.41 W/mm. When the HEMT was biased and tuned for maximum output power, a power density of 0.78 W/mm and power-added efficiency of 44% with 10.2 dB power gain were measured. At 60 GHz, a 0.15- mu m-gate-length and 50- mu m-gate-width InP-based HEMT with a pseudomorphic channel demonstrated 41% peak power-added efficiency with 7.2 dB power gain and 0.35 W/mm power density. A similar device also exhibited peak power-added efficiency of 26% with power gain of 4.9 dB and output power density of 0.2 W/mm at 94 GHz. >
DENSITY MATRIX FORMULATION OF COMPLEX GEOMETRIC QUANTUM PHASES IN DISSIPATIVE SYSTEMS

Abstract We present a generalized version of the Feynman-Vernon-Hellwarth geometric representation and a biorthogonal density matrix formalism for the description of the non-Hermitian Schrodinger equation. The theory is applied to the study of complex geometric quantum phases in dissipative systems. It is shown that the complex Aharonov-Anandan (AA) geometric phase is related to the complex solid angle enclosed by a complex Bloch vector trajectory S(t) . General analytic formulas are presented for the complex AA phase for a driven dissipative two-level system undergoing multiphoton Rabi floppings.
Effect of full-fat or defatted rice bran on serum cholesterol.

Rice bran has been shown to lower serum cholesterol in hamsters. Leghorn cockerel chicks were fed 60% full-fat rice bran (FFRB) and corn/soy (CS) diets with 0.5% added cholesterol. Both diets contained 19% protein. All reported parameters are on blood serum. Significant differences (p<0.05) were found in total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL and LDL). In a second study, chicks were fed FFRB, defatted rice bran (DFRB), and CS diets balanced for 18% protein, 14.47% total dietary fiber and 10.78% lipid with 0.5% added cholesterol. Both TC and TG were significantly lower (p<0.05) in chicks fed FFRB and CS diets. Significant differences were found in HDL values for all diets with FFRB exhibiting the highest mean value (155 mg/dl) and CS exhibiting the lowest mean value (114 mg/dl). All diets were significantly different (p<0.05) in LDL, with mean values of 249, 318 and 275 mg/dl for FFRB, DFRB and CS, respectively. FFRB appears to increase HDL and to lower LDL in chicks, but does not always affect TC, whereas DFRB may increase all three serum lipid components.
Histology and chemical composition of the small bowel of hypophysectomized rats

The small bowel of hypophysectomized rats was examined histologically and chemically. The following conclusions were made: 1. The diameter of the small bowel of hypophysectomized rats was smaller than that in normal controls. The villi were shorter, often broader and more blunt. Increased lymphocytic infiltration was noted in the jejunum, ileum, and colon. 2. The percent of weight of the entire small bowel in terms of total body weight was smaller in hypophysectomized rats. Both the dry and wet weights of the small bowel were significantly decreased in hypophysectomized rats. 3. No significant differences were found between the content of control and hypophysectomized animals with regard to protein, total nitrogen, phosphorus, P-RNA, and P-DNA of the small bowel, if the concentrations are expressed per gram of dry tissue. 4. Uronic acid and sialic acid were present in lesser amounts per gram of dry tissue as well as in the entire small bowel of hypophysectomized rats. By contrast, lipids were present in increased amounts. 5. All chemical components tested, except lipids, were present in lesser amounts in the entire small bowel of hypophysectomized rats.
Cooled photoconductive infrared detectors

Lead-telluride as well as two types of gold-germanium infrared detectors have been constructed and their characteristics analyzed. Parameters which distinguish one detector from another are spectral response, time constant, noise, and signal for a given incident power. All three materials must be cooled to about 90°K before they become useful. One type of gold-germanium detector has a long wavelength threshold at 9.5 μ, the other type and the lead telluride detector have a response extending to 6 μ. The germanium detectors owe their long wavelength response to excitation of carriers from the gold impurity states. In lead telluride, intrinsic excitation of carriers from valence to conduction band is responsible for the 6-μ threshold.Time constants of the 9.5-μ detector beyond 1.5 μ are less than 1 µsec. Time constants of the 6-μ germanium detector vary between 10 µsec and 1 msec; in lead telluride they are of the order of 15 µsec. Noise equivalent power of all three detectors is of the order of 10−10 w, referred to a 500°K blackbody.
Clash of the Titans: tools and techniques for hunting bugs in concurrent programs

In this work we focus on creating a benchmark suite of concurrent programs for various programming languages to evaluate the bug detection capabilities of various tools and techniques. We have compiled a set of Java benchmarks from various sources and our own efforts. For many of the Java examples we have created equivalent C# programs. All the benchmarks are available for download. In our multi-language benchmark suite we compare results from various tools: CalFuzzer, ConTest, CHESS, and Java Pathfinder. In Java Pathfinder we provide extensive results for state-less random walk, randomized depth-first search, and guided search using abstraction refinement. Using data from our study we argue that iterative context-bounding and dynamic partial order reduction are not sufficient to render model checking for testing concurrent programs tractable and secondary techniques such as guidance strategies are required. As part of this work, we have also created a wiki to publish benchmark details and data from various tools on those benchmarks to a broader research community.
Selector genes and the Cambrian radiation of Bilateria.

Abstract There is a significantly greater post-Cambrian decline in frequency of ordinal origination among serially constructed Bilateria, such as arthropods, than in nonserially constructed Bilateria. Greater decline in arthropod ordinal origination is not predicted by ecologic, diversity-dependent models of decline in the production of higher taxa. Reduction in ordinal origination indicates increased constraint on arthropod body-plan evolution. The dispersal of selector genes in the genomes of arthropods in conjunction with the retention of a simple regulatory hierarchy in development may have caused the increased constraint seen. Increased constraint would not be expected in those organisms that are not serially constructed and presumably have not retained the simple ancestral regulatory hierarchy in development of selector gene differentiation of serial elements. The hypothesis of differential constraint tested against the fossil record in this paper can be further tested by examination of the distribution of selector genes in the genomes of arthropods.
A Social Justice Model for Clinical Social Work Practice

Feminists have long challenged social workers to address issues of equity and justice in clinical practice. This article presents a case study of a family services program, the Institute for Family...
Acetaminophen and its toxicity

Acetaminophen (APAP) is considered one of the safest of all minor analgesics, but when taken in large doses (greater than 10 g) toxicity occurs. Severely poisoned patients experience hepatic and/or renal failure. The major metabolic pathway of APAP is formation of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. A minor pathway is formation of a reactive metabolite that conjugates with glutathione (GSH). When GSH is depleted, the reactive metabolite causes necrosis of hepatic and other tissues. Treatment of APAP toxicity involves supplying alternate sulfhydryl donors or inhibiting oxidative formation of the reactive metabolite. Estimation of plasma APAP levels is necessary for effective treatment.
Borane cluster photochemistry 2. Photochemical alcoholysis of the octahydrotriborate(1−) anion

Abstract The rapid photoinduced alcoholysis of the octahydrotriborate(1−) anion was observed from the UV irradiation of solutions of (Bu4N)B3H8 and either ethanol or methanol in THF or chloroform. The octahydrotriborate(1−) anion, which is stable to alcoholysis in the ground state, reacts cleanly and rapidly with the alcohols to give HB(OC2H5)2 and B(OC2H5)3 products. Photolysis of (Bu4N)B3H8 and C2H5OD gave both DB(OC2H5)2 and HB(OC2H5)2, as well as B(OC2H5)3. A mechanism is proposed to accommodate these observations.
Leveraging frame semantics and distributional semantics for unsupervised semantic slot induction in spoken dialogue systems

Distributional semantics and frame semantics are two representative views on language understanding in the statistical world and the linguistic world, respectively. In this paper, we combine the best of two worlds to automatically induce the semantic slots for spoken dialogue systems. Given a collection of unlabeled audio files, we exploit continuous-valued word embeddings to augment a probabilistic frame-semantic parser that identifies key semantic slots in an unsupervised fashion. In experiments, our results on a real-world spoken dialogue dataset show that the distributional word representations significantly improve the adaptation of FrameNet-style parses of ASR decodings to the target semantic space; that comparing to a state-of-the-art baseline, a 13% relative average precision improvement is achieved by leveraging word vectors trained on two 100-billion words datasets; and that the proposed technology can be used to reduce the costs for designing task-oriented spoken dialogue systems.
Biologically Inspired Computing

Evolutionary algorithms and robotics hold great promise as integrated design and modeling tools.
Selected Proteinase Inhibitor Effects on Alfalfa Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Growth and Development

Proteinase inhibitors, which can inhibit digestive enzymes of specific insects, are a potential alternate control mechanism against herbivorous insects. An in vivo laboratory bioassay was developed to screen proteinase inhibitors for their ability to inhibit growth and development of the alfalfa weevil, Hypera postica (Gyllenhal). Larval foliar feeding, pupation, and adult emergence were significantly decreased by E-64, pHMB, and leupeptin, inhibitors of cysteine proteinases, at a concentration of 0.1%. Aspartic proteinase inhibitors (antipain and pepstatin) demonstrated mixed results at 0.1 and 0.5% concentrations. Serine proteinase (trypsin) inhibitors had no effect on any of the variables measured at 0.5%. These observations suggest that alfalfa weevil larvae use cysteine proteinases as major digestive enzymes and that other proteinases may be present as well. In vivo studies on the effects of proteinase inhibitors on herbivorous insects, in most cases, have been determined by measuring larval development (weight) and mortality. This study reports on the negative effects of specific proteinase inhibitors on insect larval foliar feeding, pupation, and adult emergence when ingested with an insect℉s preferred host.
Fatty acid and proximate composition of raw and cooked retail cuts of beef trimmed to different external fat levels

Beef steaks and roasts from US Choice, US Select and US Standard quality grades were used to determine the effect of 0·64 cm external fat trim and zero (no external fat) trim on the proximate and fatty acid composition of cooked cuts of beef. Total fat percentage of the cooked lean was affected by external fat trim, quality grade, cooking and degree of doneness. Fat retention percentages were higher in tenderloin and clod samples when cooked with external fat attached than when cooked with no external fat. No consistent effect of fat trim level or degree of doneness on the percentage of specific fatty acids was observed.
CFD Computations Using Preconditioned Krylov Solver on GPUs

GPU computation in recent years has seen extensive growth due to advancement in both hardware and software stack. This has led to increase in the use of GPUs as accelerators across a broad spectrum of applications. This work deals with the use of general purpose GPUs for performing CFD computations.The paper discusses strategies and findings on porting a large multi-functional CFD code to the GPU architecture. Within this framework, the most compute intensive segment of the software, the BiCGSTAB linear solver using additive Schwarz block pre-conditioners with point Jacobi iterative smoothing is optimized for the GPU platform using various techniques in CUDA Fortran. Representative turbulent channel and pipe flow are investigated for validation and benchmarking purposes. Both single and double precision calculations are highlighted.It is found that the precision has a negligible effect on the accuracy of predicted turbulent statistics. However, it was found that single precision calculations led to instabilities in the initial convergence of the pressure equation if the convergence criterion was set at too low a value. This was remedied by limiting the number of iterations during the initial stages of the calculation. For a modest single block grid of 64×64×64, the turbulent channel flow computations showed a speedup of about 8 fold in double precision whereas it was more than 13 fold for single precision on the NVIDIA Tesla GPU. For the pipe flow consisting of 1.78 million grid cells distributed over 36 blocks, the gains were more modest at 4.5 and 6.5 for double and single precision respectively.Copyright © 2014 by ASME