cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sterol Oxidation Products in French Fries and in Stored Potato Chips

Potato chips and french fries were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and thin layer chromatography for cholesterol and (β-sitosterol oxidation products. Chips stored for 150 d at 23°C in unopened foil bags contained no detectable sitosterol oxidation products, but those held at 40°C contained 7α-hydroxysitosterol, 7β-hydroxysitosterol, and sitosterol (β-epoxide only after an extended storage of 95 d. French fries as purchased contained sterol α- and β-epoxides, and 7α- and 7β-hydroxysterols. These sterol oxidation products were present in repeat samples from five different fast food restaurants. Ingestion of sterol oxides from potato chips is unlikely, whereas ingestion of sterol oxides from french fries is possible.
Carotid body chemoreceptor activity in mice deficient in selected subunits of NADPH oxidase.

Exposure of the carotid body to hypoxia elicits increased neural activity in the carotid sinus nerve (CSN), and reflex cardio-pulmonary adjustments which mitigate the adverse effects of hypoxemia. Increased carotid body activity occurs at relatively moderate arterial P02, in contrast to the severe hypoxia required to elicit metabolic and functional adjustments in non-02 sensing tissues (S.J.Fidone et al. 1997). Chemosensory type I cells derived from neuroectoderm are responsible for this exquisite sensitivity, and numerous laboratories have reported that low P02 inhibits the conductance of a variety of voltage sensitive and voltage-insensitive K+-channels in these cells. Yet the molecular mechanism underlying the P02 modulation of cell currents remains uncertain and controversial (H.Acker et al 1994, A.M.Riesco-Fagundo et al2001). Various heme proteins have been proposed as primary O2 sensors, and one set of data in particular suggests the involvement of a multi-component cytochrome b-containing NADPH oxidase which may be similar if not identical to the superoxide generating enzyme commonly found in phagocytic cells (H.Acker et al. 1994) (H.Acker et al. 1994), but the relationship between PO2 and ROS levels in type I cells has not been firmly established. In other cells and tissues hypoxia can increase or decrease ROS production in either mitochondria or via NADPH oxidase (I.O’Kelly et al. 2000, G.B Waypa et al. 2001). In addition, the target of ROS in type I cells is an unknown and critical factor in determining the effect of NADPH oxidase on cell activity. Recent studies have indicated that voltage-sensitive K+-channels in type I cells are modulated by hypoxia via a mechanism independent of soluble factors such as ROS (A.M. Riesco-Fagundo et al. 2001). Thus ROS do not appear to be necessary for cell activation. On the other hand, if hypoxia enhances NADPH oxidase activity, elevated ROS levels may increase the open probability of K+-channels thus facilitating cell repolarization. Such a scheme is consistent with elevated CSN activity in p47phox-gene deleted animals. Clarification of these issues must await future measurements of the effect of hypoxia on NADPH oxidase activity, and evaluation of the interaction of ROS with the chemotransduction machinery in type I cells.
Restricting Back Pain and Subsequent Disability in Activities of Daily Living Among Community-Living Older Adults:

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between back pain severe enough to restrict activity (restricting back pain) and subsequent disability in essential (e) and instrumental (i) activities of da...
Deep assessment of wind speed distribution models: A case study of four sites in Algeria

Abstract The aim of this study is to assess the accuracy of different probability functions for modeling wind speed distribution at four locations, distributed over Algeria, to minimize the uncertainty in wind resource estimates. Despite mixture models perform better results, their complexity induced us to use in this work eight distributions with a maximum of three parameters, namely Weibull, Gamma, Inverse Gaussian, Log Normal, Gumbel, GEV, Nakagami and Generalized Logistic distribution to model the wind speed, fitted with four parameter estimation methods. In addition to the methods of moments and the maximum likelihood which are commonly used, the power density method and the L-moments method are developed and utilized for the first time in wind resource assessment field, to estimate the parameters of most distributions used in this work. Moreover, two goodness-of-fit tests based on the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error, are conducted in order to select good fitting probability distribution functions. According to the coefficient of determination and the root mean square error, the GEV and Gamma are the most appropriate, compared to the others used distributions. Furthermore, the L-moments method is the most effective one, among the used parameter estimators, followed by the maximum likelihood method. On the other hand, in term of power density error, different results were found, where the Power Density Method gave the best results with the Gamma, Inverse Gaussian and Log Normal distributions. Otherwise, owing to the difference in the wind characteristics for each studied site, it can be stated that to minimize the uncertainty in wind resource estimates, it is important to determine the method that gives the best parameters for each distribution.
Accumulation of carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) in human cortical bone

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are a category of post translational modification associated with the degradation of the structural properties of multiple different types of tissues. Typically, AGEs are the result of a series of post-translational modification reactions between sugars and proteins through a process known as non-enzymatic glycation (NEG). Increases in the rate of NEG of bone tissue are associated with type 2 diabetes and skeletal fragility. Current methods of assessing NEG and its impact on bone fracture risk involve measurement of pentosidine or total fluorescent AGEs (fAGEs). However, pentosidine represents only a small fraction of possible fAGEs present in bone, and neither pentosidine nor total fAGE measurement accounts for non-fluorescent AGEs, which are known to form in significant amounts in skin and other collagenous tissues. Carboxymethyl-lysine (CML) is a non-fluorescent AGE that is often measured and has been shown to accumulate in tissues such as skin, heart, arteries, and intervertebral disks, but is currently not assessed in bone. Here we show the localization of CML to collagen I using mass spectrometry for the first time in human bone. We then present a new method using demineralization followed by heating and trypsin digestion to measure CML content in human bone and demonstrate that CML in bone is 40-100 times greater than pentosidine (the current most commonly used marker of AGEs in bone). We then establish the viability of CML as a measurable AGE in bone by showing that levels of CML, obtained from bone using this technique, increase with age (p<0.05) and are correlated with previously reported measures of bone toughness. Thus, CML is a viable non-fluorescent AGE target to assess AGE accumulation and fragility in bone. The method developed here to extract and measure CML from human bone could facilitate the development of a new diagnostic assay to evaluate fracture risk and potentially lead to new therapeutic approaches to address bone fragility.
The Hume-Edwards Principle and the Cosmological Argument

The Cosmological Argument for the existence of God claims that the universe is as a whole contingent and the only possible explanation for its existence is that it has been created by a necessary entity or entities, where a necessary being (or, alternatively, a self-explainer) would be one for which a sound ontological argument holds, even though finite humans might not be smart enough to find this ontological argument or to verify its premises. This paper will follow the tradition of Samuel Clarke's version of the Cosmological Argument.1 One famous attack against the Cosmological Argument has been to the effect that an infinite chain of contingent causes could also provide a sufficient explanation for the existence of the universe even if the chain had no first element. Were the universe such a chain, then every entity would be explained through the causal efficacy of some entity further down in the chain, and Hume has argued that this would provide a sufficient explanation of the universe as a whole (or of the universe considered as an individual). Hume's argument is based on the principle that if each element of a collection is given a causal explanation, then the aggregate of all the elements has likewise been explained. Reacting doubtless to Clarke's argument, Hume wrote: Did I show you the particular causes of each individual in a collection of twenty particles of matter, I should think it very unreasonable, should
Transplantation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium for the Treatment of Macular Degeneration

Advanced macular degeneration is a major cause of visual impairment in the United States with over one million people affected by the disease. Although treatments exist for the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the severe vision loss accompanying geographic atrophy in dry AMD or Stargardt’s macular dystrophy remains untreatable. In both diseases, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) becomes compromised and eventually dies with subsequent loss of the photoreceptors. We set out to replace this diseased RPE with healthy human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE) in order to rescue photoreceptors and visual function. In preclinical work using mice with retinal dystrophies, hESC-RPE cells injected into the subretinal space engrafted successfully and improved visual function. In the first ever clinical trial of subretinal hESC-RPE transplantation in humans, we reported on the first two patients, one with dry AMD and one with Stargardt’s. Functional improvements were observed, but our conclusions were limited by the short follow-up time, lack of control group, and poor initial visual acuity. Importantly, no adverse events related to the treatment, such as hyperproliferation, tumorigenicity, inflammation, infection, or rejection, were noted in either patient. This first-in-human safety study has opened the door to future studies looking at patients with less advanced disease, utilizing a weaker immunosuppressive regimen, and including patients with other diseases that result in RPE loss. The ultimate goal is the reduction of human suffering by meeting an otherwise unmet medical need.
Information system architectures for syndromic surveillance.

Introduction: Public health agencies are developing the capacity to automatically acquire, integrate, and analyze clinical information for disease surveillance. The design of such surveillance systems might benefit from the incorporation of advanced architectures developed for biomedical data integration. Data integration is not unique to public health, and both informa tion technology and academic research should influence development of these systems. Objectives: The goal of this paper is to describe the essential architectural components of a syndromic surveillance informa tion system and discuss existing and potential architectural approaches to data integration. Methods: This paper examines the role of data elements, vocabulary standards, data extraction, transport and security, transformation and normalization, and analysis data sets in developing disease-surveillance systems. It then discusses auto mated surveillance systems in the context of biomedical and computer science research in data integration, both to characterize existing systems and to indicate potential avenues of investigation to build systems that support public health practice. Results: The Public Health Information Network (PHIN) identifies best practices for essential architectural components ofa syndromic surveillance system. A schema for classifying biomedical data-integration software is useful for classifying present approaches to syndromic surveillance and for describing architectural variation.
Dynamic modulus and phase angle prediction of laboratory aged asphalt mixtures

Abstract Performance of asphalt mixture is highly influenced by oxidative aging. A considerable amount of research has been dedicated to study the aging process of asphalt binder, while the effect of other contents of the mixture on aging characteristic, such as aggregates and additives, has been overlooked. This work investigates the effect of aging on dynamic modulus and phase angle by conducting dynamic modules test on asphalt mixtures aged at nine different levels in laboratory. Test results are used to determine the parameters of a kinetic-based aging model. The model is then incorporated into a set of regression models to predict dynamic modulus and phase angle master curve of the aged mixtures. The regression models are constructed based on the relation of sigmoidal coefficients of the master curves and shift-factor parameters with a normalized kinetic-based aging function. The proposed model is validated for a mixture aged at a predefined condition by comparing the predicted phase angle and dynamic modulus with lab measurements.
Solving a nomenclatural conundrum: Cernosvitovia crainensis (Mršić, 1989) and Aporrectodea macvensis Šapkarev in Mršić, 1991 (Lumbricidae).

This contribution deals with the names and authorship of two lumbricid taxa endemic to the Balkans (see Stojanovic et al., this volume). Although their validity has never been questioned, it has been unclear up to now which publication has made these two species-group names available according to the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Articles in "the Code," ICZN 1999). In the following, we review the somewhat intricate history of these names and explain why the correct citation and spelling of these names are "Cernosvitovia crainensis (Mrsic, 1989)" and "Aporrectodea macvensis Sapkarev in Mrsic, 1991," respectively.
Formulation of Rectifier Numerical Average-Value Model for Direct Interface With Inductive Circuitry

The computational cost for the simulation of detailed models of machine-rectifier systems is expensive because of repetitive diodes switching. Average-value models (AVMs) of machine-rectifier systems have been developed that can alleviate the computational burden by neglecting the details of the switching of each individual diode while retaining the average characteristics. This paper proposes an alternative formulation of numerical AVMs of machine-rectifier systems, which makes direct use of the natural dynamic impedance of the rectifier without introducing low-frequency approximations or algebraic loops. By using this formulation, direct interface of the AVM is achieved with inductive circuitry on both the ac and dc sides allowing traditional voltage-in, current-out formulations of the circuitry on these sides to be used with the proposed formulation directly. This numerical AVM formulation is validated against an experimentally validated detailed model and compared with previous AVM formulations. It is demonstrated that the proposed AVM formulation accurately predicts the system's low-frequency behavior during both steady and transient states, including the cases where previous AVM formulations cannot predict accurate results. Both run times and numbers of time steps needed by the proposed AVM formulation are comparable to those of existing AVM formulations and significantly decreased compared with the detailed model.
Healing Symbols in Psychotherapy: A Ritual Approach

Ritual scholars note that rituals have powerful psychological, social and even biological effects, but these findings have not yet been integrated into the practice of psychotherapy and psychiatry. In Healing Symbols in Psychotherapy Erik D. Goodwyn attempts to rectify this by reviewing the most pertinent work done in the area of ritual study and applying it to the practice of psychotherapy and psychiatry, providing a new framework with which to approach therapy. The book combines ritual study with depth psychology, placebo study, biogenetic structuralism and cognitive anthropology to create a model of interdisciplinary psychology. Goodwyn uses examples of rituals from history, folklore and cross-cultural study and uncovers the universal themes embedded within them as well as their psychological functions. As ritual scholars show time and again how Western culture and medicine is ‘ritually impoverished’ the application of ritual themes to therapy yields many new avenues for healing. The interdisciplinary model used here suggests new ways to approach problems with basic identity, complicated grief, anxiety, depression meaninglessness and a host of other problems encountered in clinical work. The interdisciplinary approach of this accessibly-written book will appeal to psychotherapists, psychiatrists and Jungian analysts as well as those in training and readers with an interest in the science behind ritual.
Deep Learning Based Image Classification for Remote Medical Diagnosis

In this paper, we describe research on Convolutional Neural Networks to advance access to medical diagnosis. Our research focuses on classifying skin cancer images as Benign or Malignant as a starting base to build on to develop an app that allows easily-accessible medical diagnosis in underdeveloped countries. The methodology of our research is based on Convolutional Neural Networks: AlexNet [3] and GoogleNet [4]. We hope to expand our work to be able to classify additional physically visible diseases in addition to Skin Cancer, since a camera only captures exterior physically visible diseases [5]. All our training and testing presented in this paper has been run on the NVIDIA Jetson TX2 GPU. Results are promising, showing accuracy rates up to 74 percent depending on how neural network parameters are changed. Down the road, we intend to incorporate this technology with a previously developed Vital Signs Multi-sensor kit [1]. The kit will be a compact and affordable device equipped with sensors that can be used to take a patients vital signs, such as blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose concentration, and blood oxygen saturation. Combined, the tools will provide a complete system for remote medical diagnosis,
The Role of Axillary Node Dissection in the Post Z0011 Era

Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), once considered standard of care for all patients with invasive breast cancer, is now obsolete in patients with histologically negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). Alternatives to ALND in patients with histologically positive SLNs are available after the ACOSOG Z0011 and AMAROS trials demonstrated no difference in locoregional recurrence, disease-free survival, or overall survival between SLN biopsy alone (ACOSOG Z0011) or with axillary radiotherapy (AMAROS) and ALND in women with clinical T1-2 invasive breast cancer and 1–2 positive SLNs treated with multimodality therapy, offering the opportunity to reduce the morbidity of treatment. In contrast, the MA.20 and EORTC 22922-10925 studies suggest that similar patient populations benefit from ALND and comprehensive nodal irradiation. Here, we will discuss the contemporary surgical management of clinically node-negative breast cancer patients with metastases in the SLNs.
Head Movement, Suspended Affixation, and the Turkish Clausal Spine

Previous work has shown that Turkish has two structurally different ways of forming predicates with a range of effects for phonological stress, the selection of verbal suffixes, and particle placement (Hankamer 2008; Kelepir 2001; Kornfilt 1996; Zanon 2014). I present evidence drawn from a pilot study of a previously unnoticed difference between these predicate types: In vP-sized or larger coordinated phrases which realize a single sentencefinal predicate, verbal predicates are highly degraded when the person features on the conjuncts’ subjects mismatch, while participial predicates are relatively acceptable under the same conditions. Building on Kelepir (2001) & Zanon (2014)’s work on head-movement in Turkish predicates, I argue that gapping generates these strings from different sized coordinations, and explains the grammatical degradation split observed in the pilot study if we assume a more stringent identity requirement in Turkish gapping than we do for English.
Alkylthioglycerol Prodrugs of Foscarnet: Synthesis, Oral Bioavailability and Structure–Activity Studies in Human Cytomegalovirus-, Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1- and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Infected Cells:

In a previous study, we reported that 1-O-octadecyl-sn-glycero-3-foscarnet (ODG-PFA) was 40 to 93 times more potent than free foscarnet (PFA) in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV)-, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1)- and human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected cells. To evaluate the effect of substituting a 1-S-alkyl thioether for a 1-O-alkyl ether, we synthesized a series of PFA conjugates of 1-S-alkyl-sn-thioglycerols with varied 1-S-alkyl chain lengths. To establish structure-activity relationships we measured the in vitro antiviral activity of liposomal formulations of the drugs in cells infected with HCMV, HSV-1 or HIV-1. The optimum 1-S-alkyl chain length in the series was 16 to 18 carbon atoms. We compared the antiviral activity of 16- and 18-carbon alkyl thioglycerol versus alkylglycerol prodrugs and did not observe any significant differences in their antiviral activities. The series' most active member, 1-S-octadecyl-sn-glycero-3-foscarnet (ODSG-PFA) was 56-, eight- and 45-fold more active than PFA in HCMV-, HSV-1- and HIV-1-infected cells in vitro. The oral absorption of PFA and 1-S-octadecyl-sn-thioglycero-3-PFA was compared in mice by measuring plasma levels of 14C after oral administration of radiolabelled compounds. The peak plasma level of 14C was sevenfold higher following administration of [14C]ODSG-PFA than following an equimolar dose of [14C]PFA. Area-under-the-curve was 23-fold greater for ODSG-PFA than for PFA. Like previously reported alkyloxyether-lipid PFA conjugates, alkylthioether conjugates provided enhanced antiviral activity and oral bioavailability. However, S-ether conjugates may be metabolized differently than O-ether conjugates. More detailed in vivo pharmacokinetic evaluation of the alkyl-thioether-PFA conjugates is required.
Evaluation of Medication Administration Timing-Are We Meeting Our Goals?

Background:Per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 482.23(c) regarding medication administration, hospital policies and procedures must identify t...
The State of Cannabis Research Legislation in 2020

The State of Cannabis Research Legislation in 2020 U.S. researchers lack appropriate access to commercially available cannabis products for clinical trials. Meanwhile, patients continue to use stat...
Consequences for Straight Thinking in Nursing Ethics

The concepts of nursing ethics continue to be seen through the lens of medical science and the systematic study of bioethics. The discipline of nursing has chosen through its philosophical educational systems to focus on the systematic study of bioethics as foundational to doctoral, graduate, and advanced practice nursing programs. In choosing to focus outside of the discipline for this straight thinking inquiry, what are the consequences for the discipline as well as to humankind for the lack of discipline-specific inquiry and practice as articulated by the discipline of nursing? This article begins a conversation for the straight thinking priorities that should be considered by the discipline of nursing for the study of nursing ethics.
Light Yield of Perovskite Nanocrystal-Doped Liquid Scintillator

Future generations of liquid scintillator neutrino experiments will require stably loading tons of candidate isotopes into kiloton-scale detectors while controlling the scintillator's optical properties. Nanoparticles' unique structural properties allow them to be used as highly-tunable wavelength shifters, which can be used to enhance double beta decay detection and background discrimination. Additionally, these nanoparticles can be made with double beta decay isotopes, which offers a promising method for isotope loading. Perovskite nanocrystals are particularly attractive due to the reliability of their crystal structure and their easily-scalable synthesis. We present here the first study of lead-based perovskite nanocrystals in a liquid scintillator experiment, demonstrating their properties as wavelength shifters and the scintillator cocktail's behavior under increasing nanocrystal mass-loading.
Capture All the URLS: First Steps in Web Archiving

As higher education embraces new technologies, university activities—including teaching, learning, and research—increasingly take place on university websites, on university-related social media pages, and elsewhere on the open Web. Despite perceptions that “once it’s on the Web, it’s there forever,” this dynamic digital content is highly vulnerable to degradation and loss. In order to preserve and provide enduring access to this complex body of university records, archivists and librarians must rise to the challenge of Web archiving. As digital archivists at our respective institutions, the authors introduce the concept of Web archiving and articulate its importance in higher education. We provide our institutions’ rationale for selecting subscription service Archive-It as a preservation tool, outline the progress of our institutional Web archiving initiatives, and share lessons learned, from unexpected stumbling blocks to strategies for raising funds and support from campus stakeholders.
Special Issue: Demographic and Mental Health Assessments in the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study: Updates and Longitudinal Trajectories

Abstract The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study of 11,880 youth incorporates a comprehensive range of measures assessing predictors and outcomes related to mental health across childhood and adolescence in participating youth, as well as information about family mental health history. We have previously described the logic and content of the mental health assessment battery at Baseline and Year 1. Here, we describe changes to that battery and issues and clarifications that have emerged, as well as additions to the mental health battery at the 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year follow-ups. We capitalize on the recent release of longitudinal data for caregiver and youth report of mental health data to evaluate trajectories of dimensions of psychopathology as a function of demographic factors. For both caregiver and self-reported mental health symptoms, males showed age-related decreases in internalizing and externalizing symptoms, while females showed an increase in internalizing symptoms with age. Multiple indicators of socioeconomic status (caregiver education, family income, financial adversity, neighborhood poverty) accounted for unique variance in both caregiver and youth-reported externalizing and internalizing symptoms. These data highlight the importance of examining developmental trajectories of mental health as a function of key factors such as sex and socioeconomic environment.
David Oliver: Dismissing unwell people to argue for pandemic freedoms is abhorrent and unrealistic.

On 12 November the Daily Telegraph headlined with “Six healthy children died of covid in a year, but lockdowns fuel youth health time bomb.” It explained that, of 3100 child deaths in the 12 months since March 2020, only 61 were “with covid,” 24 were “from covid,” and six were in children with no underlying health conditions.1 The Daily Mail ran a similar piece, emphasising that mortality from covid in children had been around one in 500 000.2 Although the stories centred on the serious issue of worsening access to care and worse outcomes in children with serious conditions other than covid, the headlines and graphics were clearly designed to push a message that our focus on covid protection measures had been …
Review of: Causes of Death Atlas Series: Time of Death, Decomposition, and Identification, an Atlas; Asphyxia and Drowning, an Atlas; and Investigation of Road Traffic Fatalities, an Atlas

Each of these concise volumes is part of a Causes of Death Atlas series. Each deals with the title subject by narrative discussion followed by numerous black and white captioned photographs. (Some of these photographs are found, as color reproductions, in Color Atlas of Forensic Pathology, Dix J. CRP Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2000. A number of the photographs have been recaptioned.)
Empirical mode decomposition to approach the problem of detecting sources from a reduced number of mixtures

The paper presents a new approach of Blind Source Separation based on the combined use of Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) and Factor Analysis (FA) for the case of more sources than observable signals, the so called overcomplete problem. The EMD-FA performance is tested both over artificial data and real EEG signals and compared with that of the more traditional Independent Component Analysis (ICA). The EMD-FA approach exhibited a neatly superior performance in the overcomplete problem with respect to traditional ICA. Furthermore this approach can be adopted even for nonlinear and nonstationary signals, which makes it very attractive for biomedical signal processing.
Powdery mildew infection alters fructose-2,6-bisphosphate content and sucrose to starch ratio in leaves of wheat plants actively forming grain*

Fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, a cytosolic metabolite functional in the regulation of carbon allocation in leaves, showed initial fluctuation and then a marked increase in leaves of mature wheat ( Triticum aestivum L. var Yecora Rojo) following infection with powdery mildew ( Erysiphe graminis DC.). Changes in fructose-2,6-bisphosphate were paralleled by alterations in the sucrose to starch ratio, in agreement with the known role of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate in inhibition of sucrose synthesis and in direct enhancement of starch synthesis. The increased fructose-2,6-bisphosphate levels in diseased leaves were correlated with a dampening of the large fluctuation in the sucrose to starch ratio observed in healthy controls. Unlike the effects obtained previously with seedlings, the powdery mildew effected increase in fructose-2,6-bisphosphate was pronounced in the dark in leaves of plants actively forming grain. When considered with other findings, the present results emphasize the general role that fructose-2,6-bisphosphate plays in carbon-partitioning and in enabling plants to sense and adapt to different types of stress.
Contribution of changes in atmospheric circulation patterns to extreme temperature trends

This study identifies statistically significant trends in mid-atmospheric circulation patterns that partially explain observed changes in extreme temperature occurrence over Eurasia and North America; although the underlying cause of circulation pattern trends remains uncertain, most extreme temperature trends are shown to be consistent with thermodynamic warming. Changes in atmospheric circulation — the position of the jet stream or intertropical convergence zone for example — may be linked to changes in the occurrence of temperature extremes, but quantitative evidence is scarce. Daniel Horton and colleagues identify statistically significant trends in mid-atmospheric circulation patterns over Eurasia and North America, with the trends partially explaining observed changes in extreme temperature. At present, it is unclear whether these trends are related to greenhouse gas emissions or natural variability, and better-understood thermodynamic changes control more of the overall trends in extremes. But in some regions and for some types of extreme temperature events, shifts in atmospheric circulation are an important actor. Surface weather conditions are closely governed by the large-scale circulation of the Earth’s atmosphere. Recent increases in the occurrence of some extreme weather phenomena1,2 have led to multiple mechanistic hypotheses linking changes in atmospheric circulation to increasing probability of extreme events3,4,5. However, observed evidence of long-term change in atmospheric circulation remains inconclusive6,7,8. Here we identify statistically significant trends in the occurrence of atmospheric circulation patterns, which partially explain observed trends in surface temperature extremes over seven mid-latitude regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Using self-organizing map cluster analysis9,10,11,12, we detect robust circulation pattern trends in a subset of these regions during both the satellite observation era (1979–2013) and the recent period of rapid Arctic sea-ice decline (1990–2013). Particularly substantial influences include the contribution of increasing trends in anticyclonic circulations to summer and autumn hot extremes over portions of Eurasia and North America, and the contribution of increasing trends in northerly flow to winter cold extremes over central Asia. Our results indicate that although a substantial portion of the observed change in extreme temperature occurrence has resulted from regional- and global-scale thermodynamic changes, the risk of extreme temperatures over some regions has also been altered by recent changes in the frequency, persistence and maximum duration of regional circulation patterns.
Characterization and Preparation of Anti‐Reflection Coatings in the RANGE of 3‐5 μm for Si Optical Window

Thin film multilayer anti-reflection coatings (SIO2/SI/S1O2) having thicknesses 286/571/143nm were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering deposition technique on 0.5mm thick Si(100)-substrates. Post-deposition annealing is also carried out in the temperature range 150-650°C for 4hr at the rate of 10°C /min. Si Optical window was designed at 4.2μπι wavelengths and correlated with modeling software. The films are transparent in the 3-5um band of the electromagnetic spectrum, firmly adhered to the substrate. The prepared multilayer thin films are characterized optically and structurally using a spectrophotometer, an atomic force microscope, x-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope. Optical and structural characterizations show that the %transmittance is between 60% and 75%, no appreciable change in crystal structure and roughness of coatings vary between 9 and 25 nm when annealed in the temperature range of 150-650°C. Local elemental characterization on the surface of the thin film was carried out using energy dispersive spectroscopy. The quantitative result of energy dispersive spectroscopy has also shown that the ratio of Si to O on the film is 0.67:1.
The Weather on Titan

When the Voyager 1 spacecraft returned images in 1980, the dense atmosphere of Saturn9s moon Titan was assumed to be bland and featureless. As Lorenz discusses in his Perspective, recent ground-based spectroscopy, and images from the Hubble Space Telescope, are changing this perception. Observations such as the short-lived clouds in Titan9s atmosphere reported by Griffith et al . suggest that although average precipitation is likely to be low, individual precipitation events may be heavy enough to cause deep valleys on Titan9s surface.
The Possibility of Laser Pumping via Energy Transfer from or Reactive Collisions with I(2P

Collisions of electronically excited iodine atoms I* (*=2P½) can result in efficient energy transfer to vibrational modes of the collision partner (E-V transfer) or in reactions which produce electronically and/-or vibrationally excited products. Either of these processes might form the pumping scheme for a new laser system. This paper will outline our recent progress in understanding these effects.
An Experimental Analysis of Rent Seeking Under Varying Competitive Conditions

We test several predictions of Gradstein's(1995) rent seeking model using anexperimental design that includes avariable number of participants, costheterogeneity, and an entry fee. Consistentwith theoretical predictions, costheterogeneity and the entry fee decreasethe number of participants. Overall,participation is much lower than predicted. Also consistent with Gradstein's model, wefind that rent seeking expendituresincrease with the number of competitors anddecrease with the addition of an entry fee. Experimental results do not support theprediction that cost heterogeneitygenerally decreases expenditures in rentseeking contests.
Demographic and Historical Findings, Including Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke, in Dogs with Chronic Cough

Background: Controlled studies investigating risk factors for the common presenting problem of chronic cough in dogs are lacking. Hypothesis/Objectives: To identify demographic and historical factors associated with chronic cough in dogs, and associations between the characteristics of cough and diagnosis. Animals: Dogs were patients of an academic internal medicine referral service. Coughing dogs had a duration of cough ≥2 months (n = 115). Control dogs had presenting problems other than cough (n = 104). Methods: Owners completed written questionnaires. Demographic information and diagnoses were obtained from medical records. Demographic and historical data were compared between coughing and control dogs. Demographic data and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) also were compared with hospital accessions and adult smoking rates, respectively. Characteristics of cough were compared among diagnoses. Results: Most coughing dogs had a diagnosis of large airway disease (n = 88; 77%). Tracheobronchomalacia (TBM) was diagnosed in 59 dogs (51%), including 79% of toy breed dogs. Demographic risk factors included older age, smaller body weight, and being toy breed (P < .001). No association was found between coughing and month (P= .239) or season (P= .414) of presentation. Exposure to ETS was not confirmed to be a risk factor (P= .243). No historical description of cough was unique to a particular diagnosis. Conclusions and Clinical Importance: Associations with age, size, and toy breeds were strong. TBM is frequent in dogs with chronic cough, but descriptions of cough should be used cautiously in prioritizing differential diagnoses. The association between exposure to ETS and chronic cough deserves additional study.
Wireless communications devices and technology: future directions

The wireless communication marketplace has enjoyed enormous growth over the last decade. This paper takes a look at what new applications, services, and technology will be required to continue this growth into the future.
A new class of high-power-density universal power converters

In this paper a new class of universal power converters that offers significantly higher reliability and power density will be introduced. Universal power converters are single-stage power converters that are capable of interfacing any types of electrical loads and any types of electrical sources regardless of their form, number of phases or frequency. They are also capable of simultaneously interfacing several sources and loads. Therefore, they can be configured as dc-dc, dc-ac, ac-dc, ac-ac, or hybrid power converters. The proposed universal power converter is inspired by galvanically isolated Cuk converter; however, it is controlled and designed such that even for a high power system only a small film capacitor is used for transferring the power from input towards the output. Therefore, no electrolytic capacitors will be needed, and the lifetime of the converter will be longer. Regardless of the number of input or output phases or their forms (dc or ac) a single-phase high frequency transformer can be used for providing galvanic isolation. Given that three-phase low frequency transformers can account for more than 50% of the weight in numerous applications, such as wind power system, this feature of the proposed converter substantially increases the power density. Unlike other types of universal power converters, the proposed universal power converter requires small number of switches. In case of a three-phase ac-ac configuration only 12 switches with anti-parallel diodes are need. This new converter can be either hard-switching or softswitching. In the soft-switching configuration a small inductor is placed in series with the capacitor. In this case, all the switches can benefit from the zero current turn-off and soft turn-on. Thus, naturally commutated switches, such as fast thyristors can also be used. In this paper, the principles of the operation of this converter will be presented and its performance will be evaluated.
A cascaded method to detect aircraft in video imagery

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have played vital roles recently in both military and non-military applications. Oneof the reasons UAVs today are unable to routinely fly in US National Airspace (NAS) is because they lack the senseand ability to avoid other aircraft. Although certificates of authorization can be obtained for short-term use, it entailssignificant delays and bureaucratic hurdles. Therefore, there is a great need to develop a sensing system that is equivalent to or has greater performance than a human pilot operating under Visual Flight Rules (VFR). This is challengingbecause of the need to detect aircraft out to at least 3 statute miles, while doing so on field-of-regard as large as30Â°( vertical) A 220Â°( horizontal) and within the payload constraints of a medium-sized UAV. In this paper we report on recent progress towards the development of a field deployable sense-and-avoid system and concentrate on the detectionand tracking aspect of the system. We tested a number of approaches and chose a cascaded approach that resulted in100% detection rate (over about 40 approaches) and 98% tracking rate out to 5 statute miles and a false positive rate of 1every 50 frames. Within a range of 3.75 miles we can achieve nearly 100% tracking rate.
Mitral regurgitation and intramyocardial injection resulting from left heart catheterization

Abstract The incidence of mitral regurgitation and intramyocardial injection of contrast material during left heart catheterization in normal dogs has been investigated, comparing the transseptal with the retrograde aortic approach. A transseptal catheter passed through the mitral valve into the left ventricle almost always caused some regurgitation during injection of contrast material, even in the absence of premature ventricular contractions. There was a 33 per cent incidence of intramyocardial injection when the transseptal catheter was employed. Retrograde aortic catheterization was associated at times with minimal mitral regurgitation when premature ventricular contractions occurred during injection, but significant mitral regurgitation was never produced. In the absence of premature contractions, regurgitation did not occur. Intramyocardial injection of contrast material was not observed in this series when the retrograde aortic catheter was employed.
An analysis of drug-related admissions on an adolescent service

Adolescents who are hospitalized because of drug ingestion are often grouped into one diagnostic category. This global classification fails to consider several motivation differences that contribute to important distinctions among "drug ingesters." A system of diagnostic categorization is presented that offers a conceptual framework for more effective therapeutic intervention.
Combination Therapy of Ionizing Radiation with AEE788, a Dual Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor (VEGFR) Leads to Improved Tumor Control

Materials/Methods: An LN229 glioma cell line overexpressing EGFR (LN/EGFR) was used. Cells were treated with the quinazoline-based EGFR inhibitors PD153035 and ZD1839 (Iressa). Proliferation was measured by staining with crystal violet. Cell cycle distribution was determined by quantitatively staining for DNA with propidium iodide. Western blotting was performed by standard techniques with antibodies from various sources. STAT1/3 electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) was performed by standard techniques. Suppression of STAT1 expression was accomplished with siRNA (Dharmacon) used according to the manufacturer’s instruction.
Homogeneously distributed sequences and Poincaré sequences of integers of sublacunary growth

The sequence of integersn1<n2<n3<... is said to be homogeneously distributed if\(\mathop {\lim }\limits_{m \to + \infty } (1/m)\sum\limits_{k = 1}^m {\exp (2\pi in_k \alpha )} = 0\) for all non-integral real α. The existence of such sequences with a prescribed subexponential growth is shown, the recurrent properties of these sequences are discussed.
Lattice Dynamical Studies Using Absolute Measurements of the Lamb-Mössbauer Recoil-Free Fraction

Absolute values of the recoil-free fraction $f$ of the 14.4-keV $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{57}$ are reported at temperatures from 4 to 1050\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. ${\mathrm{Co}}^{57}$, the parent of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{57}$, is a dilute impurity in Au, Cu, Ir, Pd, Pt, Rh, and Ti. For intermediate temperatures the measured $f$ is consistent with the calculations of Visscher, and Maradudin and Flinn when the impurity-host coupling constant is taken to be about the same as the host-host coupling constant. At the highest temperatures, the $f'\mathrm{s}$ of Au, Cu, and Pd fall off faster than simple theory would predict due to diffusion and anharmonicities. The results are compared with the anharmonic lattice theory of Maradudin and Flinn. Chemical and temperature-shift data are also reported.
Spontaneous order and positive legislation: Ruminating on Daniel Shapiro’s justification of the welfare state

Daniel Shapiro’s Is the Welfare State Justified? uses arguments and findings from social science to rebut various claims advanced by political philosophers in support of the welfare state. Shapiro considers four philosophical orientations that have been employed in support of the welfare state, after which he argues that the normative concerns articulated within those orientations would be better addressed through market-based arrangements. It should be noted, however, that Shapiro does not really reject the welfare state, for he accepts its teleological framework. Indeed, the main limitation of this thoughtful book resides in its failure to explore some of the relationships between teleological action and spontaneous ordering.
Relation of Praxeology to Engineering

A continuing project, titled “Praxeology and Engineering Problems,” has involved an investigation of subjects of concern for civil engineering education and practice. This paper provides a summary of suggestions derived from attendant case studies. An introduction to the life and work of Ludwig von Mises, the main originator of praxeological methodology, provides context and central organization for the studies reported. An appreciation on the part of civil engineers of the significance of Mises' extensive analysis of economic action will benefit the public served by the engineering profession.