cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic value of spirometry vs impulse oscillometry: A comparative study in children with sickle cell disease

Background Spirometry is conventionally used to diagnose airway diseases in children with sickle cell disease (C-SCD). However, spirometry is difficult for younger children to perform, is effort dependent, and it provides limited information on respiratory mechanics. Impulse oscillometry (IOS) is an effort-independent pulmonary function test (PFT), which measures total airway resistance (R5Hz) and reactance (AX). IOS could be advantageous without certain limitations of spirometry. Aim To compare the accuracy of IOS vs spirometry in making the diagnosis of asthma and assessing age-related pulmonary changes in C-SCD. Study design Retrospective chart review. Subject selection Fifty-six C-SCD and thirty-six controls (asthmatics without SCD) followed at Penn State with PFTs obtained during the initial pulmonary evaluation. Methodology We grouped C-SCD into asthmatics and non-asthmatics based on pre-referral diagnosis and compared PFTs between two groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses and machine learning tools (XGBoost and artificial neural network) were used to rank the spirometry and IOS measures based on their ability to predict a diagnosis of asthma. Robust linear regression was used to analyze association among height/age with various PFT measures. Results Both ROC and XGBoost indicated that FEF25-75 %, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)/forced vital capacity, and R5Hz(%) were the top three predictors for asthma diagnosis. R5Hz(%) and AX had superior bronchodilator response (BDR) than FEV1. IOS parameters had significant association with height/age in C-SCD (possibly due to the stiff lungs) but not in controls. Conclusion IOS had advantages over spirometry in C-SCD because it is feasible in early childhood, provides insights into the pulmonary mechanics, and is more sensitive to detect BDR.
Target Analysis: How to Properly Strike a Deployed Servicemember's Right to Civilian Defense Counsel

This paper analyzes a servicemember's right to civilian defense counsel, and sets forth a proposal for a statutory change to abrogate that right in limited deployment-related situations.
Temporal variations in bacterial community diversity and composition throughout intensive care unit renovations.

Inanimate surfaces within a hospital serve as a reservoir of microbial life that may colonize patients and ultimately result in healthcare associated infections (HAIs). Critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are particularly vulnerable to HAIs. Little is known about how the microbiome of the ICU is established or what factors influence its evolution over time. A unique opportunity to bridge the knowledge gap into how the ICU microbiome evolves emerged in our health system, where we were able to characterize microbial communities in an established hospital ICU prior to closing for renovations, during renovations, and then after re-opening. We collected swab specimens from ICU bedrails, computer keyboards, and sinks longitudinally at each renovation stage, and analyzed the bacterial compositions on these surfaces by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Specimens collected before ICU closure had the greatest alpha diversity, while specimens collected after the ICU had been closed for over 300 days had the least. We sampled the ICU during the 45 days after re-opening; however, within that time frame, the alpha diversity never reached pre-closure levels. There were clear and significant differences in microbiota compositions at each renovation stage, which was driven by environmental bacteria after closure and human-associated bacteria after re-opening and before closure. Overall, we identified significant differences in microbiota diversity and community composition at each renovation stage. These data help to decipher the evolution of the microbiome in the most critical part of the hospital and demonstrate the significant impacts that microbiota from patients and staff have on the evolution of ICU surfaces.
Optimization Design of Distribution Transformers Maintenance Strategy Based on Markov Process

State maintenance of electrical equipment is an important means to improve the reliability and economy of power grid operation. In this paper, the Markov model for estimating the remaining life of distribution transformers is proposed by analyzing the aging process and applying the Markov process theory. The influences of different aging stages and maintenance measures has also been considered in the Markov model. By detecting key characteristic parameters, the aging state of distribution transformers can be determined, and the remaining life of the distribution transformers can be also calculated by using the Markov model before the aging fault. Moreover, the revenue function of distribution transformers operation is constructed to optimize the maintenance strategy under different operation conditions. Therefore, a useful tool is presented for the optimization design of distribution transformers maintenance strategies.
Implementing virtual experiences and remote assessments during the COVID-19 pandemic: A college experience: Innovation in experiential learning or assessment

With nine weeks remaining in the term, COVID-19 necessitated emergency remote learning and remote online exams. This required a series of software trainings for administrators, faculty and students at Howard University College of Pharmacy, USA. The experiential department also had to look beyond normal clerkship placements. The described telemedicine and virtual experiences were used to supplement face-to-face experiences. Assessments for both learning innovations were successful, based on faculty and student feedback. Student reflections describe how COVID-19 helped advance the use of telehealth and indicate their learning of clinical decision-making skills, effective communication, and the digital health industry. A formal evaluation of outcomes from the implemented pandemic innovations is being planned. The use of online proctoring with artificial intelligence during the emergency remote learning was successful. With software training, this type of service can be adopted to ensure the integrity of assessments. The cost of the service and the reporting time should be considered in academic planning.
Heralded Noiseless Attenuation for Quantum Optical Communication

Motivated by potential applications in quantum communications, we review the process of noiseless attenuation, theoretically achievable with linear optics and post-selection, and describe experimental progress toward demonstrating this phenomenon in two physical systems.
Noise-tolerant and context-aware structural vibration based activity monitoring: PhD forum abstract

Automated monitoring of humans and animals can facilitate better health and productivity. Prior monitoring approaches use video, which requires line-of-sight and high processing power, or motion detection, which has difficulty separating subtle activities. Wearable sensors can address these issues but are vulnerable to animal destructiveness and human forgetfulness. We present a system that uses structural vibration to monitor animal or human behavior. We use domain knowledge to adapt this system to different environments, and evaluate it on humans in a home office environment and on pigs at an operational pig farm.
Incorporating Electro-Epoxidation into Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for Simultaneous Analysis of Negatively and Positively Charged Unsaturated Glycerophospholipids

In this study, we develop an alternating current (AC)-induced electro-epoxidation reaction and incorporate it into nanoelectrospray ionization for locating carbon-carbon double-bonds in positively and negatively charged forms of lipids simultaneously. An AC voltage plays multiple roles in this method, including initiation of the electro-epoxidation of carbon-carbon double-bonds in both charged states of lipids and protonation/deprotonation of lipids for detection in both ion modes. Moreover, the rapid switch between native lipids and their electro-epoxidation products can be achieved at different AC voltages. The efficacy of the present method was demonstrated in mixtures of lipid standards and in a biological polar lipid extract. The advantages of simultaneous detection of negatively and positively charged unsaturated lipids, the low sample consumption, and on-demand electro-epoxidation should allow its wide applications in lipid-related research.
Segregated Spaces and Separated Races: The Relationship Between State-Sanctioned Violence, Place, and Black Identity

This article explores segregation and the social status of black people, focusing in particular on the ripple effects of Plessy v. Ferguson on policing in the United States. Specifically, we ask how the legacy of Plessy v. Ferguson has helped maintain state-sanctioned racially based violence. We draw from Mapping Police Violence, which compiles data on the number of police-involved homicides in large police departments in the United States from 2013 to 2017. Using these data, we analyze the relationship between space and the number of deaths of black people caused by police. The findings reveal a positive association between segregated communities, the percentage of black people in a population, and the number of police killings of black people. This study provides a unique opportunity to examine the impact that segregation and place have on state-sanctioned violence, particularly for those who identify or are identified as black.
Low noise Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 avalanche photodiodes on InP substrates

We report on the demonstration of Al0.85Ga0.15As0.56Sb0.44 (hereafter, AlGaAsSb) avalanche photodiodes (APDs) with a 1000 nm-thick multiplication layer. Such a thick AlGaAsSb device was grown by a digital alloy technique to avoid phase separation. The current-voltage measurements under dark and illumination conditions were performed to determine gain for the AlGaAsSb APDs. The highest gain was ∼ 42, and the avalanche initiation occurred at 21.6 V. The breakdown voltage was found to be around −53 V. The measured dark current densities of bulk and surface components were 6.0 μA/cm2 and 0.23 μA/cm, respectively. These values are about two orders of magnitude lower than those for previously reported 1550 nm-thick AlAs0.56Sb0.44 APDs [Yi et al., Nat. Photonics 13, 683 (2019)]. Excess noise measurements showed that the AlGaAsSb APD has a low k of 0.01 (the ratio of electron and hole impact ionization coefficients) compared to Si APDs. The k of the 1000-nm AlGaAsSb APD is similar to that of the thick AlAsSb APDs (k ∼ 0.005) and 5–8 times lower than that of 170 nm-thick AlGaAsSb APDs (k ∼ 0.5–0.8). Increasing the thickness of the multiplication layer over 1000 nm can also reduce k further since the difference between electron and hole impact ionization coefficients becomes significant in this material system as the thickness of the multiplication layer increases. Therefore, this thick AlGaAsSb-based APD on an InP substrate shows the potential to be a high-performance multiplier that can be used with available short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) absorption layers for a SWIR APD.
U-Net for Satellite Image Segmentation: Improving the Weather Forecasting

The clouds organization plays a huge role in forecasting the weather and Earth’s future climate; therefore developing a better intelligent model is a way to accurately predict weather and predict weather and meteorological disasters, such as hurricane and tornado. In this paper, we classified the patterns of clouds into four types (sugar, flower, fish, and gravel) proposed by Rasp et al. and performed image segmentation. All the datasets were adopted from the Kaggle Competition. U-net was used as the basic structure and ResNet was applied to the original U-net structure after the data analysis. In addition, three different loss functions were used for training, the Test-time Augmentation was performed before feeding the test data to the model and the Amendment method was used to modify the results. The final dice coefficient reaches up to 0.665, which is an outstanding outcome that reflects the robustness of our method and training.
Current Advancements in Animal Models of Postsurgical Lymphedema: A Systematic Review

Significance: Secondary lymphedema is a debilitating disease caused by lymphatic dysfunction characterized by chronic swelling, dysregulated inflammation, disfigurement, and compromised wound heali...
Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Immunotherapy in Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Surgery or concurrent chemoradiation are standard of care treatments for patients with localized and locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While resection and chemoradiation are potentially curative therapies for early-stage disease, relapse rates remain high. Adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves cure rates 5-15% compared with surgery alone for patients with resectable disease. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have heralded a new era for the treatment of advanced NSCLC with one-third of patients experiencing long-term survival. There is increasing interest in examining the role of ICI therapy in patients with early-stage NSCLC. Consolidation durvalumab after chemoradiation has become a part of standard of care for patients with inoperable, locally advanced disease. More recently, there is emerging evidence that neoadjuvant treatment with ICIs results in substantial rates of major pathologic response and pathologic complete response, and high rates of R0 resection with no significant delay in time to surgery. Furthermore, preliminary data show that adjuvant treatment with ICIs after adjuvant chemotherapy improves disease-free survival and may play a critical role in reducing disease recurrence in patients with resectable disease. In this review, we discuss recently reported and ongoing studies that are designed to define the role of immunotherapy in patients with non-metastatic NSCLC.
Novel IR/EM-Aware Power Grid Design and Analysis Methodologies for Optimal PPA at Sub-10nm Technology Nodes

In this paper, we introduce novel, holistic, electromigration-(EM) and dynamic voltage drop-aware power grid (PG) design and analysis methods that can help resolve the critical limitations that guard-band-driven approaches of today’s modern design closure flows enforce upon physical designers in their quest to achieve the best possible power/performance/area (PPA). These methods can easily be integrated into any existing design flow. The proposed structured strategies to co-optimize inherent trade-offs in PG reliability and PPA improvement can help enable higher transistor density and accurately quantify the impact of IR drop for block-level timing within conventional automatic place-and-route (PnR) flows through the use of an exhaustive, but low-cost in-house solution. We demonstrate up to 9% area savings and up to 5% power reduction while maintaining achievable frequency. The proposed flow updates pave the path for future work to apply our machine-learning-enhanced design space exploration approaches to better control trade-offs between PG reliability and PPA improvement.
Genomic diversity of SARS-CoV-2 in Pakistan during fourth wave of pandemic

The emergence of different variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in upsurges of COVID positive cases around the globe. Pakistan is also experiencing fourth wave of COVID-19 with increasing number of positive cases. In order to understand the genomic diversity of circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains during fourth wave of pandemic in Pakistan, the current study was designed. The samples from 89 COVID-19 positive patients were subjected to whole genome sequencing using GeneStudio S5. The results showed that 99% (n=88) of isolates belonged to delta variant and only one isolate belonged to alpha variant. Among delta variant cases 26.1% (n=23) isolates were showing B.1.617.2 while 74% of isolates showing AY.4 lineage. Islamabad was found to be the most affected city with 54% (n=48) of cases, followed by Karachi (28%, n=25), and Rawalpindi (10%, n=9). AY.4 has slight difference in mutation profile compared to B.1.617.2. E156del, G142D and V26I mutations in spike and T181I in NSP6 were present in B.1.617.2 but not in AY.4. Interestingly, A446V mutation in NSP4 has been only observed in AY.4. The current study highlights the circulation of primarily delta variant (B.1.617.2 and AY.4) during fourth wave of pandemic in Pakistan.
Ensembling of Distilled Models from Multi-task Teachers for Constrained Resource Language Pairs.

This paper describes our submission to the constrained track of WMT21 shared news translation task. We focus on the three relatively low resource language pairs Bengali to and from Hindi, English to and from Hausa, and Xhosa to and from Zulu. To overcome the limitation of relatively low parallel data we train a multilingual model using a multitask objective employing both parallel and monolingual data. In addition, we augment the data using back translation. We also train a bilingual model incorporating back translation and knowledge distillation then combine the two models using sequence-to-sequence mapping. We see around 70% relative gain in BLEU point for English to and from Hausa, and around 25% relative improvements for both Bengali to and from Hindi, and Xhosa to and from Zulu compared to bilingual baselines.
Effect of Phosphate on the Corrosion of Carbon Steel and on the Composition of Corrosion Products in Two-Stage Continuous Cultures of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans.

Abstract A field isolate of Desulfovibrio desulfuricans was grown in defined medium in a two-stage continuous culture apparatus with different concentrations of phosphate in the feed medium. The first state (V1) was operated as a conventional chemostat (D = 0.045 h−1) that was limited in energy source (lactate) or phosphate. The second stage (V2) received effluent from V1 but no additional nutrients, and contained a healthy population of transiently starved or resting cells. An increase in the concentration of phosphate in the medium fed to V1 resulted in increased corrosion rates of carbon steel in both V1 and V2. Despite the more rapid corrosion observed in growing cultures relative to that in resting cultures, corrosion products that were isolated under strictly anaerobic conditions from the two culture modes had similar bulk compositions which varied with the phosphate content of the medium. Crystalline mackinawite (Fe9S8), vivianite [Fe3(PO4)2 · 8H2O], and goethite [FeO(OH)] were detected in amounts which varied with the culture conditions. Chemical analyses indicated that the S in the corrosion product was almost exclusively in the form of sulfides, while the P was present both as phosphate and as unidentified components, possibly reduced P species. Some differential localization of S and P was observed in intact corrosion products. Cells from lactate-limited, but not from phosphate-limited, cultures contained intracellular granules that were enriched in P and Fe. The results are discussed in terms of several proposed mechanisms of microbiologically influenced corrosion.
Diagnosis and Treatment of Community-Acquired and Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia

The older drugs used to treat pneumonia may still be useful in self-limiting infections. Newer antibiotics--augmented penicillins, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, third-generation cephalosporins, and others--are quite effective, but resistance can be a problem, and some patients cannot tolerate the adverse events associated with these agents. The fluoroquinolones are effective in treating pneumonia because of their broad spectra of activity against gram-negative and gram-positive organisms, including Streptococcus pneumoniae and Haemophilus influenzae. They are rapidly and nearly completely absorbed after oral administration; bioavailability ranges up to 100% for ofloxacin and lomefloxacin. Concentrations attained in lung tissues and sputum generally exceed the minimum inhibitory concentrations for the most common respiratory tract pathogens. The quinolones are also well tolerated; most adverse events are mild and do not lead to discontinuation of therapy. Ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin are available in parenteral as well as oral formulations. The high bioavailability of oral ofloxacin (> 95%) allows a patient to be started on the parenteral form in the hospital and continued taking the oral form at home with no loss of efficacy, but with reduced costs and improved quality of life.
Frequency-space decomposition and acquisition of light transport under spatially varying illumination

We show that, under spatially varying illumination, the light transport of diffuse scenes can be decomposed into direct, near-range (subsurface scattering and local inter-reflections) and far-range transports (diffuse inter-reflections). We show that these three component transports are redundant either in the spatial or the frequency domain and can be separated using appropriate illumination patterns. We propose a novel, efficient method to sequentially separate and acquire the component transports. First, we acquire the direct transport by extending the direct-global separation technique from floodlit images to full transport matrices. Next, we separate and acquire the near-range transport by illuminating patterns sampled uniformly in the frequency domain. Finally, we acquire the far-range transport by illuminating low-frequency patterns. We show that theoretically, our acquisition method achieves the lower bound our model places on the required number of patterns. We quantify the savings in number of patterns over the brute force approach. We validate our observations and acquisition method with rendered and real examples throughout.
Welcome to the Resident/Student/Fellow Section of WestJEM!

R esident S ection Welcome to the Resident/Student/Fellow Section of WestJEM! Laleh Gharahbaghian, MD Section Editor Resident/Student /Fellow Section Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University Medical Center Submission history: Submitted August 28, 2007; Accepted September 24, 2007. Reprints available through open access at www.westjem.org [WestJEM.2008;9:46] It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to welcome you to the Resident/Student/Fellow Section of WestJEM! Our mission is to support, publicize, and highlight the academic work done by residents and medical students in the western states of the country in the areas of emergency medicine research and education with the ultimate goal of enhancing emergency care. The Resident Section will emphasize high quality work and accept a variety of different types of submissions including original research, evidence-based educational models, case reports, case series, and evidence-based reviews. You are invited to submit educational algorithms created by you or your institution, in which you attach an evidence-based approach to learning a certain topic. (See “Clinical Emergency Medicine Algorithms: Vaginal Bleeding Less Than 20 Weeks” in this issue.) Submission of your institution’s resident research projects in abstract or paper form would also be appropriate for this section. I encourage all of you to submit to the Resident/Student/ Fellow Section of WestJEM, allowing us to be your venue to highlight your excellent work in academia, with the common goal of providing optimal care of emergency patients through an evidence-based clinical practice. As all of our published articles are available worldwide via the internet, WestJEM is the premier open-access, peer-reviewed emergency medicine journal for the western states. Address any questions, concerns, or suggestions regarding this section to lalehmd@gmail.com. Address for Correspondence: Laleh Gharahbaghian, MD Division of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University,701 Welch Rd. Suite C, Palo Alto, California 94304. Email: Lalehmd@gmail.com Western Journal of Emergency Medicine Volume IX, no . 1 : January 2008
High temperature steam gasification of woody biomass – A combined experimental and mathematical modeling approach

Abstract The main objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of woody biomass conversion to syngas using a steam allothermal gasification process. The entering steam maintained at 877 °C and 1000 °C, respectively was used as the gasifying agent. A lab scale apparatus was built to perform the gasification experiment and the produced syngas was accurately analyzed using gas chromatography. The results clearly indicate that the syngas from steam gasification contains relatively higher H2 concentrations, and the heating values of the syngas reach 9–10 MJ/m3. A thermodynamic equilibrium thermochemical model that accounts for the deposition of solid carbon as a function of the entering steam temperature and the steam to biomass molar ratio was developed. The model was successfully verified by experimental results. Based on the results of model, an optimal range of the steam to biomass molar ratio is recommended.
Cutting Edge: Bortezomib-Treated Tumors Sensitized to NK Cell Apoptosis Paradoxically Acquire Resistance to Antigen-Specific T Cells

Bortezomib augments caspase-8 activity, rendering tumors susceptible to NK cell lysis. We hypothesized this effect would likewise sensitize tumors to Ag-specific CTLs. Instead, bortezomib-treated tumors that acquired sensitivity to NK cells simultaneously became resistant to killing by Ag-specific CTLs. Reduction in CTL killing persisted for days, was not due to changes in tumor expression of MHC class I, and was overcome by pulsing tumors with peptides recognized by tumor-reactive CTLs. Tumor-outgrowth experiments showed tumors grew faster in SCID mice when cocultures of tumor-reactive CTLs and bortezomib-treated tumors were injected compared with untreated tumors (tumor doubling time 3.1 and 10.6 d, respectively; p < 0.01), whereas tumors grew slower in mice receiving cocultures of NK cells and bortezomib-treated tumors compared with untreated tumors (11.8 d and 5.0 d, respectively; p < 0.01). These findings demonstrate bortezomib-treated tumors sensitized to NK cell apoptosis paradoxically acquire resistance to CTLs as a consequence of bortezomib altering proteasomal processing and presentation of tumor Ags.
Transfusion Medicine's Role in Hospital Performance Improvement: An Administrator's View

Abstract Historically, hospital administrators have viewed all laboratory sections as cost centers. The major expenses in the transfusion service are those associated with labor and blood products. However, few administrators take the time to look past this cost to see the impact of an active transfusion medicine section in other areas of the hospital. This article examines the impact of inventory management, blood component utilization and waste, group purchasing, and new program implementation on transfusion service expense and revenue.
Expression of the repeat genome and aberrant epigenetic factors in cancer

Nearly half of the human genome consists of noncoding repetitive DNA elements, including tandem satellite repeats in large blocks at the pericentric regions of chromosomes and intergenic repetitive elements. While both repeat types were long thought to remain mostly silent, recent evidence indicates that repeats can be expressed, but the extent and regulation of their expression or their potential function(s) remain to be elucidated. Due to their critical location within regions vital for cell division, it is expected that tight regulation of pericentric satellite sequences is essential for both epigenetic and genetic stability. Our data suggests aberrant expression of pericentric satellite RNA is tightly linked to epigenetic misregulation in cancer. It is well known that epigenetic changes can be important in cancer initiation and progression, but studies have focused primarily on the inappropriate silencing and methylation of tumor suppressor genes. While pathologists have long noted the loss of heterochromatic organization in cancer nuclei, and hypomethylation of satellite DNA has been observed, the misregulation of repeat RNAs has only recently been described. Our results provide a link between overexpression of repeat RNAs and aberrant distribution of epigenetic factors in cancer. Our data suggests regulation of the repeat genome has potentially important roles in both normal and neoplastic cells in their ability to affect distribution and recruitment of epigenetic factors.
Diltiazem: Ten Years of Clinical Experience in the Treatment of Hypertension

Diltiazem hydrochloride is a benzothiazepine derivative calcium-channel blocker with proven antianginal and antihypertensive capabilities. Its primary mechanism of action is vasodilatation, which results in diminished vascular resistance and improved perfusion to various vascular beds and target organs. The antihypertensive efficacy of diltiazem in various demographic groups has been studied and compared with diuretics, beta-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and other calcium-channel blockers. These studies have shown that the antihypertensive effect of diltiazem is similar to that of the other therapies. Diltiazem does not adversely affect electrolytes or carbohydrate or lipid metabolism, and it may have beneficial effects on the heart and kidneys. Diltiazem reduces myocardial hypertrophy and exerts antianginal effects on the heart through coronary vasodilation and reduction in the blood pressure double product. Diltiazem improves renal perfusion and attenuates proteinuria. These effects may be helpful in limiting the progression of renal injury. Overall, the efficacy and tolerability of diltiazem, as well as its salutary effects on the heart and kidneys, make it an important therapeutic consideration for patients with hypertensive disease.
Nutrient Uptake by Ryegrass Cultivars and Crabgrass from a Highly Phosphorus‐Enriched Soil

Abstract Long‐term poultry litter application to crop and pasture lands may result in the buildup of nutrients, particularly phosphorus (P) in the soil. Poultry producers use poultry litter in place of chemical fertilizers to grow crops or forages for grazing and hay production. Cool‐season annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) and warm‐season crabgrass (Digitaria ciliaris) are annual forages commonly grown in the southeastern region of USA. The combination of two forages gives year‐round pasture for a forage‐livestock system. A study was initiated to evaluate the P uptake efficiency of five ryegrass cultivars (Marshall, Rio, Jackson, TAM 90, and Gulf) grown during the winter and spring followed by the annual crabgrass variety Red River during summer. The experiment was conducted during the 2000 and 2001 growing seasons in Mize Mississippi on a highly P enriched Ruston silt loam soil. The ryegrass was grazed during winter then harvested once in early June. Cultivar Rio produced the greatest dry matter (DM)...
Multidimensional Stimulated Resonant Raman X-ray Spectroscopy of Molecules

Valence excitations are studied by watching wavepackets launched by sequences of attosecond xray pulses. This demonstrated simulations for NMA at the oxygen and nitrogen K-edges. SMA combination of 2 measurements with specific pulse polarization configurations simplify interpretation of the signals.
Television viewing and long-term weight maintenance: results from the National Weight Control Registry.

Objective: To examine the role of television (TV) viewing in long-term maintenance of weight loss. Research Methods and Procedures: All subjects (N = 1422) were enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), a national sample of adults who have maintained a minimum weight loss of 13.6 kg for at least 1 year. Participants self-reported the average number of hours of weekly TV viewing at entry into the NWCR and at a 1-year follow-up. Cross-sectional and prospective analyses were performed to determine the frequency of TV viewing and the extent to which TV viewing was independently associated with weight regain over the 1-year of follow-up. Results: A relatively high proportion (62.3%) of participants reported watching 10 or fewer hours of TV per week on entry in the NWCR. More than one third of the sample (36.1%) reported watching <5 h/wk, whereas only 12.4% watched ≥21 h/wk, which contrasts markedly from the national average of 28 hours of TV viewing per week reported by American adults. Both baseline TV viewing (p ≤ 0.02) and increases in TV viewing (p ≤ 0.001) over the follow-up were significant predictors of 1-year weight regain, independent of physical activity and dietary behaviors. Discussion: Individuals who are successful at maintaining weight loss over the long term are likely to spend a relatively minimal amount of time watching TV.
Whole-mount in situ hybridization to mouse embryos.

The mouse is well-established as the major animal model for the study of mammalian development. Rapid progress in large-scale cDNA and also genomic sequencing projects is identifying new mouse genes at an unprecedented rate. As a first step toward understanding the function of these novel genes, it is important to determine their developmental expression pattern. Here we provide a reliable, sensitive method for whole-mount in situ hybridization using the mouse embryo.
S-nitrosylation of TRIM72 mends the broken heart: A molecular modifier-mediated cardioprotection

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a leading cause of death globally, casting substantial economic and societal burdens. This devastating situation imposes a pressing need to identify novel cardioprotective mechanisms that will reinforce and innovate the current medical interventions for CVDs [1–3]. Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart attack are major causes of ischemic cardiomyopathy. In many cases, ischemic infarction occurs, triggering a series of catastrophic structural changes in the ventricles, resulting in ventricular remodeling. As a consequence, the contractibility or pumping capacity of the heart will decline progressively, leading to heart failure [4]. An intuitive tactic to resuscitate ischemic heart from hypoxia is reoxygenation or reperfusion. However, this approach exacerbates cardiac injury by elevating ROS production, which elicits multiple destructive impacts on mitochondria. As a result, pro-apoptotic proteins are released, provoking irreversible cell death and ultimately myocardial infarction [5,6]. Accordingly, investigative efforts addressing approaches to repair and restore injured myocardial function are of great clinical significance. In this regard, the study by Kohr et al. in this issue of JMCC, sheds new light on cellular mechanism promoting cardioprotection and minimizing cardiac injury. Over the years, mounting efforts have been invested to curtail ischemic reperfusion injury. In 1986, Murry et al. have first reported the beneficial effects of ischemic preconditioning (IPC), in which IPC-treated canine heart demonstrated a prominent attenuation of infarction during hypoxia [7]. However, IPC is administered prior to the onset of ischemic events. Accordingly, Vinten-Johansen et al. introduced the concept of postconditioning (PostC), which is applied at the onset of reperfusion [8]. Enthrallingly, the cardioprotective effects of PostC were comparable with those of IPC, in terms of attenuation of ROS-mediated apoptosis, reduction of infarct size/microvascular injury, as well as improvement of blood endothelial function and hemodynamics [8,9]. However, both IPC and PostC are surgically invasive, involving repetitive balloon inflation and deflation, which can damage the endothelial lining and trigger atherosclerotic lesion, thereby predispose patients with embolism risk [10–12]. To circumvent these shortfalls, adjunctive pharmacological agents (e.g., cyclosporine, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors) have been developed and demonstrated a remarkable potency to confine the ischemic risk zone and thereby protect the heart from chronically adverse left ventricular remodeling [13–16].
Waiting for the wolf to bite: Civil society's view of the new World Bank presidency

(2005). Waiting for the wolf to bite: Civil society's view of the new World Bank presidency. The International Spectator: Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 97-104.
Self‐Directing Religious Coping: A Deistic God, Abandoning God, or No God at All?

Self-directing religious coping has been correlated with both positive and negative outcome variables in previous research. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential meaning behind these mixed findings by clarifying the nature of the self-directing religious coping construct. A new set of subscales was constructed that operationalized different aspects of the construct. This scale, the original Religious Problem Solving Scale, and mental-health measures were given to 262 undergraduate students at a moderate-sized midwestern university. Two factors were identified with the revised self-directing measure: a deistic and supportive but nonintervening God factor and an abandoning God factor. The Abandoning God Subscale was more highly correlated with the original Self-Directing Scale than was the deistic God measure. The Deistic and Supportive God Subscale was correlated with both positive and negative mental-health outcomes, whereas the abandoning God measure consistently related to poorer outcomes.
Biochemical basis for the interactions of type I and type II topoisomerases with DNA.

DNA topoisomerases are complex and unique enzymes which alter the topological state of DNA without changing its chemical structure. Between the type I and II enzymes, topoisomerases carry out a multitude of reactions, including DNA binding, site specific DNA cleavage/religation, relaxation, catenation/decatenation, and knotting/unknotting of nucleic acid substrates, DNA strand transfer, and ATP hydrolysis. In vivo, topoisomerases are involved in many aspects of nucleic acid metabolism and play critical roles in maintaining chromosome and nuclear structure. Finally, these enzymes are of clinical relevance, as they appear to be the primary cellular targets for many varied classes of antineoplastic agents. Considering the importance of the topoisomerases, it is distressing that we know so little about their enzymatic mechanisms. Many major questions remain. Just a few include, "How do topoisomerases recognize their nucleic acid interaction sites?"; "What amino acid residues comprise the enzymes' active sites?"; "What are the conformational changes that accompany DNA strand passage?"; "How does phosphorylation stimulate enzyme activity?"; "How does topoisomerase function when it is part of an immobilized structure such as the nuclear matrix or the mitotic chromosome scaffold?"; and "How do antineoplastic agents interact with their topoisomerase targets and stabilize covalent enzyme.DNA cleavage products?" Clearly, before the physiological functions of the topoisomerases can be fully described, these and similar issues will have to be addressed. Hopefully, the next several years will produce answers for at least some of these important questions.
Mechanical behavior of vascular smooth muscle in cylindrical segments of arteries in vitro

Vascular smooth muscle mechanics have been studied in vitro in cylindrical segments of dog carotid artery, human internal mammary artery, and human saphenous vein. Such cylindrical preparations maintain normal vessel geometry and also permit correlation of mechanical phenomena with transmural pressure. These studies show that the vascular muscle in cylindrical arteries develops a maximum active stress of 1.1×105 N/m2 for the whole wall, or 2.2–3.7×105 N/m2 for the volume of the wall occupied by vascular muscle. These values are similar to those reported for strip studies of vascular muscle and various preparations of skeletal muscle, but are two to five times that reported for cardiac papillary muscle preparations. In cylindrical preparations of arteries, maximum isometric active stress occurs at 150 mm Hg, whereas that in veins occurs at less than 15 mm Hg. Quick release experiments of cylindrical segments of vessels avoid the compliance of inactive tissue trapped beneath ligatures in strip studies. Quick release experiments in cylindrical segments of dog carotid artery reveal that at maximum isometric stress, the series elastic component (SEC) is extended 8–11%. Experiments employing temperature variations and degradative enzymes show that the SEC is located largely in elastin, with a lesser portion located in the contractile apparatus. At short-and long-muscle lengths, the active muscle develops decreased active stress and that developed at long lengths persists at all muscle lengths, even after shortening. This has been termed “attenuation” and appears to contribute to the static length-stress and pressure-diameter hysteresis exhibited by vessels. Excitation of vascular muscle in vessel segments held at constant pressure discloses that isobaric contraction decreases artery diameter a maximum of approximately 25%. This occurs at a dimension corresponding to approximately 100 mm Hg in the relaxed vessel. Isometrically and isobarically contracted vessels tend to fall along the same pressure-diameter coordinates, indicating equivalence of both modes of contraction. Distention of contracted vessels indicates that active vascular muscle markedly resists distention up to 150–250 mm Hg; at higher pressures the contracted vessel exhibits decreased stiffness as the contracted muscle yields. The vascular muscle, therefore, has a biphasic effect on circumferential elastic modulus relative to that of the relaxed vessel. Although controversial, evaluation of the effects of the active muscle on wall elastic modulus probably is most meaningful when the modulus is examined as a function of stress, or as a function of strain, where strain is computed with respect to a single initial dimension for both the relaxed and contracted vessel.
Deep Reactive Ion Etching based silicon micromachined components at terahertz frequencies for space applications

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is using deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) based silicon micromachining capabilities to develop the critical waveguide components at submillimeter wavelengths that will lead to highly integrated multi-pixel spectrometers, imagers, and radars. In this paper we describe the design and fabrication of silicon micromachined critical waveguide components operating in the 325-500 GHz frequency band for space applications. We also address the challenges of testing these devices when interfaced with metal waveguide test fixtures.
Blending Rhetorical and Social Science Orientations

From its first edition, An Introduction to Rhetorical Communication: A Western Rhetorical Perspective, according to its author, James C. McCroskey, has sought to “draw on both classical Western rhetorical theory and contemporary social science research to provide a coherent introduction to the study of rhetorical communication” (pp. xv–xvi). In short, this book aims to synthesize historical and contemporary communication perspectives in order to assist readers in understanding and applying research insights to the practice of rhetorical communication or what is often typically termed the public speaking context. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1, which consists of the first three chapters, provides a historical and theoretical frame for the text. Chapter 1 reviews the classical historical tradition beginning with antiquity and moving subsequently through important eras to the present. In Chapter 2 the author details contemporary explications and models of human communication with a focus on the nature, goals, and characteristics of the rhetorical communication process. Specifically, McCroskey discusses the differences among the Shannon-Weaver, Rhetorical, and Interpersonal models of communication in order to address ultimately the uniqueness of the rhetorical communication context, as well as common misunderstandings about the process of human communication. Drawing on his considerable prior work in communication apprehension (CA), McCroskey dedicates Chapter 3 to a discussion of stage fright, the perennial problem facing rhetorical communicators, and provides the latest thinking regarding this common phenomenon by integrating insights from a “communibiological approach” (xvi). The author treats the problem of CA as “normal” (p. 39) in order to emphasize its frequency among many people, while at the same time encouraging the reader to recognize that CA is a problem that can be
A computational model of the response of honey bee antennal lobe circuitry to odor mixtures: overshadowing, blocking and unblocking can arise from lateral inhibition.

Recent studies of learning about elements of odorant mixtures in honey bees have identified several types of interactions between mixture components, such as overshadowing and blocking. The latter phenomenon in particular indicates at least a limited ability of subjects to identify the most salient element of a binary mixture. Here we show that the circuitry in the antennal lobes, the first neuropil in which synaptic interaction affects sensory processing, could give rise to both effects given the incorporation of modifiable synapses onto inhibitory circuitry. The neural model of the antennal lobe that we present incorporates identified cell types and includes a biologically realistic modulatory neuron with which modifiable Hebb-like synaptic interactions take place. A learning rule that incorporates modifiable connections from output (projection) neurons onto the modulatory neuron is sufficient to account for behavioral results on generalization and overshadowing. A second type of excitatory connection from the modulatory neuron onto local inhibitory interneurons is necessary to reproduce behavioral results from blocking and unblocking. We suggest that the neural representations of odor mixtures in the antennal lobe can be modified by previous exposure to one of the mixture components. These results provide testable hypotheses that will guide future behavioral and physiological analyses.
Early Port-Related Structure Studies

This paper examines three of Australia’s earliest port-related structure studies. Excavations conducted in 1984 and 1994 in vastly different circumstances, with markedly different oceanographic conditions, progressing through quite different substrates, were joined with 1993–1994 overview of all the port structures along the coast of Western Australia. Providing a better appreciation of submerged port-related structure studies as a bona fide part of maritime archaeology, these three studies and have ramifications for future work both in Australia and overseas.
Neurotoxins in a Vetch Food: Stability to Cooking and Removal of γ-Glutamyl-β-cyanoalanine and β-Cyanoalanine and Acute Toxicity from Common Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) Legumes

Because the neurotoxic common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) legume seems to have come into some use in man's diet, we have investigated, using Pico-Tag analysis, the stability of the vetch neurotoxins to cooking. When heated in water at 100 °C for 3 h, γ-glutamyl-β-cyanoalanine (γ-gluBCA) cyclized extensively to form pyroglutamic acid and β-cyanoalanine (BCA). By contrast three specimens of common vetch seeds containing 0.42−0.74% γ-gluBCA and 0.01−0.03% BCA retained these principles without loss. A modified cooking procedure replacing the broth during cooking with fresh water and washing the seeds well yielded cooked seeds without detectable neurotoxins. A nutritional study confirmed that the toxins responsible for causing weight loss and mortality in chicks were removed. Lengthy steeping in water at room temperature also effectively removed the neurotoxins from dehulled split seeds but incompletely from intact seeds. These procedures improve the quality of common vetch seed as a source of protein for man. Key...