cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Is 3D MPRAGE better than the combination DIR/PSIR for cortical lesion detection at 3 T MRI?

Abstract Background and objectives Based on the application of newer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition sequences, the detection of cortical lesions (CL) in multiple sclerosis (MS) has significantly improved. Double inversion recovery (DIR) at 3 T has increased the detection sensitivity and classification specificity when combined with phase sensitive inversion recovery (PSIR). Previous findings with 3D magnetization prepared rapid acquisition with gradient echo (MPRAGE) sequences, showed improved classification specificity of purely intracortical (IC) and mixed (MX) lesions, compared to the classification based on DIR/PSIR. Direct comparison between the detection of CL by 3D MPRAGE and by DIR/PSIR at 3 T has not been evaluated. Methods Eleven subjects were imaged on a 3 T magnet. DIR/PSIR and 3D MPRAGE images were reviewed independently. Each image set was reviewed twice; only lesions detected on both sessions were scored. Review time per scan was ~5 min for DIR/PSIR and ~15 min for 3D MPRAGE. Results We identified 141 CL (62 IC+79 MX) based on DIR/PSIR images vs. 93 (38 IC+55 MX) based on MPRAGE from all eleven patients. MPRAGE under-detected the number of CL in seven cases and over-detected the number of CL in three, only one case had the same number of CL on both sets of images. Conclusions Combination DIR/PSIR at 3 T is superior to 3D MPRAGE for detection of cortical gray matter lesions in MS. The contrast-to-noise ratio of CL appears to be inferior on the MPRAGE images relative to DIR/PSIR
Liability issues in the treatment of patients with rheumatic diseases

In clinical practice, risk management focuses primarily on concerns regarding adverse occurrences and the possibility of resulting civil litigation. Tort law, one of the major branches of civil law, is most relevant to clinical risk management. Duty, breach, causation, and damages are the four elements of the tort of professional liability, i.e., medical malpractice. Liability concerns in clinical practice commonly involve adverse drug reactions. Other potential liability concerns include informed consent, adverse outcomes, and economic considerations.
TIME CONSTANT FOR PHONON INDUCED DESORPTION OF HELIUM

We have made direct measurements of the time constant for thermal desorption of thin helium films as a function of substrate temperature and film binding energy. We find that the attempt frequency for desorption τ0^(-1) is several orders of magnitude larger than previously reported values.
Decoupled Task- and Null-Space Dynamic Control of a Redundant Nonholonomic Mobile Manipulator

Our overall goal is to develop semi-autonomous and decentralized task performance capabilities during cooperative payload transport by a fleet of wheeled mobile manipulators (WMM). Each nonholonomic WMM consists of a planar two-link manipulator mounted on top of a differentially-driven wheeled mobile base. The nonholonomic base and the significant inherent redundancy create challenges for control of end-effector motion/force outputs. Nevertheless, realizing this capability is a critical precursor to decentralized payload manipulation operations. To this end, a dynamic redundancy resolution strategy is critical in order to control the dynamic interactions. The system dynamics are decomposed into a task space component (consisting of end-effector motions/forces) and a decoupled dynamically-consistent null-space part (of internal-motions/forces). A task-space controller is developed that allows each WMM module to be able to control its end-effector (motions/forces) interactions with respect to the payload. The surplus of actuation is then used to independently control internal-motions (of the mobile base) as long as they do not conflict with the primary goal. A variety of numerical simulations are then performed to test this capability of the end-effector and mobile base to independently track complex motion/force trajectories.Copyright © 2006 by ASME
(+)-3-PPP antagonizes the discriminative stimulus effects of (+)-N-allylnormetazocine.

Abstract The functional significance of the reported affinity of (+)-3-PPP and (+)-N-allylnormetazocine (NANM) for the same binding site in rat brain membranes was assessed by studying (+)-3-PPP as an agonist and antagonist of (+)-NANM in rats trained to discriminate 5.0 mg/kg (+)-NANM from saline. Over a wide dose range, (+)-3-PPP was able to block the discriminative stimulus effects of (+)-NANM, with complete antagonism at 1.0 mg/kg i.p. Since (+)-NANM is a prototype σ-opioid agonist, (+)-3-PPP is a good candidate for being a competitive σ antagonist.
Timing of endoreduplication induced by colcemid or radiation in BUdR-labeled human lymphocytes.

Abstract Endoreduplications were induced in cultured human lymphocytes by colcemid and by radiation. The timing of cell phases during endoreduplication was investigated with 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) labeling, with particular attention to the cell phase at the time of inductive treatment. Lymphocytes which are in any stage of interphase, at the time when continuous treatment by colcemid begins, may go on to endoreduplicate. A single dose of radiation acts in the same way, causing the eventual endoreduplication of many lymphocytes from every stage of interphase. These findings are different from the phase-specific responses reported for both these agents with other cell types.
Vortex Dynamics of a Twice-accelerated Interface in an Incompressible Ideal Fluid

We report on a direct numerical simulation (DNS) of the evolution of a two-dimensional sinusoidal density-stratified interface subjected to two sequential impulsive accelerations. The concepts and phenomena are immediately applicable to the "reshock" problem of the Richtmyer-Meshkov (RM) environment. The computational parameters and geometry are chosen such as to model the experimental results of the incompressible RM instability of Jacobs and Niederhaus performed with an impulsively reaccelerated free-falling tank. Our DNS results are in very good agreement with the experiment after the first impulse and in qualitative agreement with the short time evolution after the second impulse. We explain the phenomena, including the rate of growth of the interface, in terms of the evolving vortex layers and projected rate-of-strain tensor onto the interfacial vortex layer. In particular, the presence of nearby oppositely signed layers of vorticity after the second impulse contributes to the rapid turbulization of the region. The numerical method applied is based on the Contour Advection Semi-Lagrangian algorithm modified with the vortex-in-cell method for density interfaces in incompressible ideal fluids.
Prophage deletion mapping of bacteriophage Mu-1.

Abstract Bacteriophage Mu integrates at a very large number of sites which appear to be randomly distributed over the whole Escherichia coli chromosome ( Taylor, 1963 ) and even within a single gene, lacZ ( Bukhari and Zipser, 1972 ; Daniell et al., 1972 ). In order to determine whether integration also occurs at many sites on the Mu chromosome, deletion mapping of the Mu prophage was done in seven independently isolated lysogens in which the Mu prophages were located in leu, trp, or lys. The deletion strains were isolated as strains which had simultaneously become defective for phage production and for the function of a gene close to the prophage. Mapping of the prophage in these deletion strains was done by marker rescue using Mu amber mutants from eighteen complementation groups. Since the prophage map obtained is the same in all seven lysogens, it is clear that the integration of Mu does not occur randomly over the Mu chromosome. For the three prophages in leu the deletions entering the prophage from the arabinose operon remove different ends of the prophage in the different lysogens. This indicates that the prophage may be oriented in either direction in a given operon.
Congressional Roll Call Voting on China Trade Policy

This article analyzes roll call voting on China’s most favored nation (MFN) and permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status to ascertain interchamber difference and party polarization in China trade policy. In the House, party has the largest impact, with Republicans much more supportive of MFN than Democrats. Ideology has the second largest impact, with conservatives and liberals voting against moderates. In the Senate, party is the sole significant determinant of MFN voting. In House voting on PNTR, ideology has the biggest and party the second biggest impact. The lopsided nature of the Senate PNTR vote indicates that ideology, party, and constituency interests had little or no impact. In both MFN and PNTR voting in the House, constituency economic interests have only marginal effects, and only constituency interests adversely affected by trade with China have significant impact on the PNTR vote. The author concludes by situating the findings in the broad debate about interchamber difference and incr...
DIFFERENCES IN FITNESS BETWEEN SEEDLINGS DERIVED FROM CLEISTOGAMOUS AND CHASMOGAMOUS FLOWERS IN IMPATIENS CAPENSIS.

It often occurred to me that it would be advisable to try whether seedlings from cross-fertilized flowers were in any way superior to those from selffertilized flowers. . .. I ought to have reflected that such elaborate provisions favouring cross-fertilization, as we see in innumerable plants, would not have been acquired for the sake of gaining a distant and slight advantage, or of avoiding a distant and slight evil.
Superfluidity in He 3 : Inhibition by Polarization

We summarize the previous treatments of the question of superfluidity in ${\mathrm{He}}^{3}$, which have not shown conclusively whether this phase should or should not occur. The most promising calculation was by Pitaevskii, whose determination of the screened quasiparticle transition amplitude ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\mathcal{T}}}_{j}$ was carried out in the limiting case of large angular momentum $j$. In estimating ${T}_{c}$ this was extrapolated to $j=2$ by Gor'kov and Pitaevskii (GP). The work of GP was found to contain an inadequate approximation (the $D$-wave Born approximation) plus also an algebraic error. When these corrections are made, their formula for ${T}_{c}$ then yields the unattainably low value ${T}_{c}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}100}$ deg. We have projected precisely ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\mathcal{T}}}_{j}(0\ensuremath{\le}j\ensuremath{\le}10)$ in second-order perturbation theory. We used as the bare vertex function the off-energy-shell $\mathcal{K}$ matrix, the particular form of which was chosen so that $\mathcal{K}$ would satisfy two exact identities (Ward identities). It was found that GP's extrapolation underestimates the effective $D$-wave interaction. In fact, the polarization (particle-hole) diagram is an attractive correction to ${\mathcal{K}}_{j}$, for $j=2$ and $j\ensuremath{\ge}6$, in contrast to Pitaevskii's result that the second-order diagram for ${\stackrel{\ifmmode \tilde{}\else \~{}\fi{}}{\mathcal{T}}}_{j}$ is repulsive. We study carefully the three approximations involved in Pitaevskii's large-$j$ calculation. Theoretical arguments are given, and numerical evidence is furnished, which indicate that as $j$ increases, Pitaevskii's limit is being approached asymptotically, but so slowly that his analytical result does not hold for angular momenta of interest (i.e., for $jl20$). The possibility of $D$-state superfluidity is discussed. The transition temperature is such a sensitive function of the calculated theoretical parameters that it is difficult to furnish a precise estimate for ${T}_{c}$.
Strong shock waves propagating through a bubbly mixture

Relatively strong shock waves propagating through a mixture of an aqueous glycerol solution and small helium or argon bubbles are investigated experimentally. Shock strength and void fraction are varied in the experiments. Results regarding shock speed and other aspects are presented and discussed in connection with previous studies. Good agreement with isothermal theory is found.
Binding and the Structure of NP in Serbo-Croatian

On the basis of binding facts, I argue that Serbo-Croatian (SC) does not project DP and that DP is not a universal property of language. I show that a number of binding contrasts between English and SC follow straightforwardly from independently motivated differences in their nominal structure, most notably from the assumption that DP is present only in English. I also discuss in detail the potential significance of this puzzling set of facts for the binding theory in general. Specifically, I propose that SC employs Condition C as defined in Lasnik 1989 and, in addition to the core binding conditions, a competitive mechanism adopted from Safir 2004, which regulates the distribution of reflexives, pronouns, and R-expressions. I also argue that the binding domains for pronouns and reflexives in SC need to be formulated differently.
Opalescent appearance of an IgG1 antibody at high concentrations and its relationship to noncovalent association.

Purpose. Therapeutic antibodies are often formulated at a high concentration where they may have an opalescent appearance. The aim of this study is to understand the origin of this opalescence, especially its relationship to noncovalent association and physical stability. Methods. The turbidity and the association state of an IgG1 antibody were investigated as a function of concentration and temperature using static and dynamic light scattering, nephelometric turbidity, and analytical ultracentrifugation. Results. The antibody had increasingly opalescent appearance in the concentration range 5-50 mg/ml. The opalescence was greater at refrigerated temperature but was readily reversible upon warming to room temperature. Turbidity measured at 25°C was linear with concentration, as expected for Rayleigh scatter in the absence of association. In the concentration range 1-50 mg/ml, the weight average molecular weights were close to that expected for a monomer. Zimm plot analysis of the data yielded a negative second virial coefficient, indicative of attractive solute-solute interactions. The hydrodynamic diameter was independent of concentration and remained unchanged as a function of aging at room temperature. Conclusions. The results indicate that opalescent appearance is not due to self-association but is a simple consequence of Rayleigh scatter. Opalescent appearance did not result in physical instability.
Mast cell activation syndrome: A newly recognized disorder with systemic clinical manifestations

Background Diagnostic criteria for mast cell (MC) activation syndrome have been recently proposed, but clinical studies to validate these criteria are lacking. Objective We sought to determine the clinical manifestations of this newly recognized syndrome in a cohort of patients. Methods We prospectively evaluated 18 patients seen at our institution with MC activation syndrome from 2006 to 2009. Patients enrolled had at least 4 of the signs and symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, flushing, dermatographism, memory and concentration difficulties, or headache. Response to treatment with anti-MC mediator medications was assessed based on established criteria. Laboratory tests indicating MC mediator release and histopathology and immunohistochemical studies on gastrointestinal biopsy samples were performed. Results Ninety-four percent of the patients had abdominal pain, 89% had dermatographism, 89% had flushing, and 72% had the constellation of all 3 symptoms. Patients additionally had headache, diarrhea, and memory and concentration difficulties. All patients had at least 1 positive laboratory test result for an increased MC mediator level. On the basis of the response to treatment criteria, 67% of the patients in the cohort had either a complete or major regression in symptoms while taking medications targeting MC mediators. There was no significant difference in the numbers of intestinal mucosal MCs between our patients and healthy control subjects. Conclusion MC activation syndrome might be the underlying cause of unexplained symptoms when several organ systems are involved, such as the gastrointestinal tract and the skin. It is especially important to be able to recognize the constellation of clinical features because response to anti-MC mediator medications is often excellent.
Laboratory Characterization of Reinforced Crushed Limestone under Monotonic and Cyclic Loading

A series of triaxial compression tests and cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on unreinforced and geogrid reinforced crushed limestone samples to investigate the effects of the geogrid type, location, and number of layers on the strength, stiffness, and cyclic deformability of these samples. Five different types of geogrids were used. For each geogrid type, four different reinforcement arrangements were investigated. Comprehensive statistical analyses were conducted on the collected triaxial test data. The results of these analyses indicated that the geogrid inclusion within crushed limestone samples increased significantly their elastic modulus and ultimate shear strength, while it reduced their permanent deformation; thus, the geogrid is expected to enhance the performance of base course material in the field and reduce its deformation. The results also showed that stiffer geogrids exhibited greater improvement. Moreover, samples reinforced with two geogrid layers placed at the upper and lower third of the sample height always had the highest improvement, while the lowest improvement was observed for samples with a single geogrid layer placed at the sample's midheight. Finally, the results demonstrated that the geogrid did not have a significant effect on the resilient behavior of the crushed limestone samples.
Characteristics of Exposure Sessions as Predictors of Treatment Response in Anxious Youth

Guidelines for conducting effective exposure treatment with anxious youth emphasize preparation for and processing of the exposure task as important elements, but limited research has examined these guidelines. Using multiple regression, this study evaluated the extent to which independent observers’ ratings of preparation and processing of in-session exposure tasks were associated with treatment outcome in a sample of 61 anxiety-disordered youth. Results indicated that preparation for exposure was not related to outcome, but postevent processing of the exposure task was significantly associated with clinician-rated diagnostic improvements. Exploratory analyses suggest that treatment responders were more likely to be assigned between-session exposure tasks as “homework” and were more likely to be rewarded for their efforts in session. Although time is spent preparing youth for exposure tasks, the activities that occur after the task is conducted are influential in reducing youth anxiety over the course of...
Structural and mutational analysis of the xeroderma pigmentosum group D (XPD) gene

Individuals affected by the autosomal recessive disease xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) are acutely sensitive to sunlight and predisposed to skin cancer on exposed areas. Cells cultured from XP patients are both UV sensitive and defective in the nucleotide excision repair of damaged DNA. These cellular phenotypes are amenable to experimental strategies employing complementation, an approach previously used to demonstrate the correction of XP-D phenotypes following the introduction of the XPD (ERCC2) gene. In the present study, we have characterized the genomic organization of the XPD (ERCC2) gene and found it to be comprised of 23 exons. These data were helpful in evaluating the functional integrity of alleles in two XP-D cell lines. In cell line GM436 a C-->G transversion was found at nucleotide position 1411 in the XPD (ERCC2) cDNA, a change expected to result in a Leu461Val substitution. Cell line XP67MA carries a C-->T transition in genomic DNA at nucleotide position 2176 in exon 22, introducing the termination codon TAG at amino acid 726. The latter would be expected to produce a protein truncated by 34 amino acids. Although expression of the normal XPD cDNA could be shown to correct the UV sensitivity phenotype in XP-D cells, cDNA constructs bearing either of the two mutations failed to yield complementation. These results confirm the role of ERCC2 in XP-D and illustrate the power of utilizing cellular phenotypes to evaluate the significance of single nucleotide substitutions.
Clinical Efficacy of OM-85 BV in COPD and Chronic Bronchitis: A Systematic Review

OM-85 BV is an immunomodulatory agent used for prevention of exacerbations in persons with chronic lung disease. We conducted a systematic review of OM-85 BV to evaluate its efficacy and safety. A systematic search for relevant articles was performed. Studies were included if they involved persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or chronic bronchitis and were randomized to OM-85 BV or placebo. Investigators extracted data on study design, participant characteristics, and clinical outcomes. Thirteen trials involving 2066 individuals met inclusion criteria. Three trials enrolled an older, more homogenous population with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Utilizing quantitative pooled analysis in these studies, with one or more acute exacerbations as the endpoint, we found a non-statistically significant trend in favor of OM-85 BV [relative risk 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.65-1.05]. Ten trials enrolled a heterogeneous population with chronic bronchitis. In these trials, exacerbation rates were less with OM-85 BV in 4 of 9 trials reporting this outcome. Varied results in the outcomes of hospitalization, symptom scores, and antibiotic or steroid use were found across studies. Withdrawals and adverse events were similar between OM-85 BV and placebo. While OM-85 BV is used to prevent exacerbations in persons with chronic lung disease, consistent evidence across multiple important outcomes does not exist to clearly demonstrate clinical benefit. Further randomized controlled trials enrolling large numbers of persons with well-defined COPD are necessary to confirm the effectiveness of this agent.
Dual-fed circular sector antenna system for a rectenna and a RF receiver

A dual-fed circular sector antenna system is developed for a two-way receiving system. A dual-fed circular sector antenna consists of a microstrip circular sector, a microstrip feeder, and a coaxial feeder. One feeder is used for a rectenna, while the other is utilized for a RF receiver. Moreover, thanks to harmonic-rejection characteristics of the antenna, the compact system can be implemented without bandpass filters at each rectenna and RF receiver. The proposed system is evaluated by the demodulation of the 1-MHz data in the ASK format for the RF receiver as well as a total conversion efficiency measurement of up to 80 %for the rectenna.
Evaluation of Different Control Methods for the Thermal Stability of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

This paper reports on a zero-dimensional, time-dependent, particle and power balance code developed and used to evaluate the effectiveness of different burn control methods for the stabilization of unstable ignited and subignited operating points of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) physics phase machine. Based on the results of our calculations, we conclude that the operation of ITER at thermally unstable operating points is physically and technologically feasible. Control with auxiliary power modulation seems to be the method of choice for the control of subignited unstable points, while other methods such as modulation of the fueling rate and high-Z impurity injection can also be used, especially for the control of unstable ignited points where auxiliary power modulation cannot be used.
Analysis of ammonia loss mechanisms in microbial fuel cells treating animal wastewater

Ammonia losses during swine wastewater treatment were examined using single- and two-chambered microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Ammonia removal was 60% over 5 days for a single-chamber MFC with the cathode exposed to air (air-cathode), versus 69% over 13 days from the anode chamber in a two-chamber MFC with a ferricyanide catholyte. In both types of systems, ammonia losses were accelerated with electricity generation. For the air-cathode system, our results suggest that nitrogen losses during electricity generation were increased due to ammonia volatilization with conversion of ammonium ion to the more volatile ammonia species as a result of an elevated pH near the cathode (where protons are consumed). This loss mechanism was supported by abiotic tests (applied voltage of 1.1 V). In a two-chamber MFC, nitrogen losses were primarily due to ammonium ion diffusion through the membrane connecting the anode and cathode chambers. This loss was higher with electricity generation as the rate of ammonium transport was increased by charge transfer across the membrane. Ammonia was not found to be used as a substrate for electricity generation, as intermittent ammonia injections did not produce power. The ammonia-oxidizing bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea was found on the cathode electrode of the single-chamber system, supporting evidence of biological nitrification, but anaerobic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria were not detected by molecular analyses. It is concluded that ammonia losses from the anode chamber were driven primarily by physical-chemical factors that are increased with electricity generation, although some losses may occur through biological nitrification and denitrification.
Non-linear partial differential equations in conformal geometry

In the study of conformal geometry, the method of elliptic partial differential equations is playing an increasingly significant role. Since the solution of the Yamabe problem, a family of conformally covariant operators (for definition, see section 2) generalizing the conformal Laplacian, and their associated conformal invariants have been introduced. The conformally covariant powers of the Laplacian form a family P2k with k ∈ N and k ≤ n if the dimension n is even. Each P2k has leading order term (−�) k and is equal to (−�) k if the metric is flat. The curvature equations associated with these P2k operators are of interest in themselves since they exhibit a large group of symmetries. The analysis of these equations is of necessity more complicated, it typically requires the derivation of an optimal Sobolev or Moser-Trudinger inequality that always occur at a critical exponent. A common feature is the presence of blowup or bubbling associated to the noncompactness of the conformal group. A number of techniques have been introduced to study the nature of blowup, resulting in a well developed technique to count the topological degree of such equations. The curvature invariants (called the Q-curvature) associated to such operators are also of higher order. However, some of the invariants are closely related with the Gauss-Bonnet-Chern integrand in even dimensions, hence of intrinsic interest to geometry. For example, in dimension four, the finiteness of the Q-curvature integral can be used to conclude finiteness of topology. In addition, the symmetric functions of the Ricci tensor appear in natural fashion as the lowest order terms of these curvature invariants, these equations offer the possibility to analyze the Ricci tensor itself. In particular, in dimension four the sign of the Q-curvature integral can be used to conclude the sign of the Ricci tensor. Therefore there is ample motivation for the study of such equations.
The AIDS Drug Assistance Programs and Coverage of HIV-Related Medications

BACKGROUND:AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAPs) have been implemented in each state to facilitate access to medications for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people with HIV disease. Policies for each ADAP differ, and these differences influence the access people with HIV have to medications.OBJECTIVE:To compare the coverage of medications and sources of program funding for the state ADAPs.DESIGN:A self-administered mailed survey, sent to administrators of the 50 state ADAPs and the District of Columbia ADAP in December 1998.RESULTS:Forty-nine of the 51 ADAPs (96%) responded to the survey. Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act provided a large majority of the funding for the ADAPs, with a number of states also using state funds and/or Title I funds for their programs. The formularies of all ADAPs were nearly identical with respect to coverage of antiretrovirals, but differed in the number and types of other medications included. Some states limited access to medicati...
High‐performance GaN/InGaN heterojunction bipolar transistors using a direct‐growth approach

We report high performance npn GaN/InGaN double heterojunction bipolar transistors (DHBTs) that was directly grown on sapphire substrates with high common-emitter current gain (>40) at collector current density (JC) > 5 kA/cm2. A study on the emitter sizing effect shows that the perimeter-dependent recombination current density changes from 1.5×10-6 to 6.1×10-4 A/cm as JC increases from 5 A/cm2 to 100 A/cm2. The fabricated multi-fingered DHBTs show similar surface recombination current density and a current gain of > 23 at JC > 100 A/cm2 is also achieved (© 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
The New Public Sphere: Global Civil Society, Communication Networks, and Global Governance

The public sphere is the space of communication of ideas and projects that emerge from society and are addressed to the decision makers in the institutions of society. The global civil society is the organized expression of the values and interests of society. The relationships between government and civil society and their interaction via the public sphere define the polity of society. The process of globalization has shifted the debate from the national domain to the global debate, prompting the emergence of a global civil society and of ad hoc forms of global governance. Accordingly, the public sphere as the space of debate on public affairs has also shifted from the national to the global and is increasingly constructed around global communication networks. Public diplomacy, as the diplomacy of the public, not of the government, intervenes in this global public sphere, laying the ground for traditional forms of diplomacy to act beyond the strict negotiation of power relationships by building on shared...
The inability of emergency physicians to adequately clinically estimate the underlying hemodynamic profiles of acutely ill patients

Abstract Objective Emergency physicians (EPs) estimate the underlying hemodynamics of acutely ill patients and use them to help both diagnose and formulate a treatment plan. This trial compared the EP clinically derived estimates of cardiac output (CO) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) to those measured noninvasively. Methods Forty acutely ill emergency department patients with a broad range of diagnosis and blood pressure (BP) and pulse were monitored for 2 hours using novel noninvasive finger cuff technology (Nexfin; BMEYE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The Nexfin device provides continuous BP monitoring and, from the resulting pulse pressure waveform, calculates beat-to-beat CO and SVR. At baseline assessment and after 2 hours of testing and therapy, treating EPs were asked to estimate the CO and SVR (low, normal, or high), and these were compared with Nexfin measurements. Results Twenty-five men and 15 women were enrolled with a mean age of 62.2 years (SD, 12.6 years). Eighteen had acute shortness of breath; 11, with probable stroke syndrome; 3, with suspected sepsis; and 8, with a systolic BP greater than 180 or less than 100 mm Hg. Concordance tables showed that there was very little agreement ( κ values) between either the compared initial CO (−0.0873) and SVR (−0.0645) or the 2-hour values (−0.0645 and −0.1949, respectively). Conclusions Emergency physicians cannot accurately estimate the underlying hemodynamic profiles of acutely ill patients when compared with more objective measurements. This inaccuracy may have important clinical ramifications. Further study is needed to determine how to use these measured continuous CO and SVR monitoring values.
Plunder or Excavation? Observations and Suggestions on the Regulation of Ownership and Trade in the Evidence of Cultural Patrimony

A vigorous debate is presently being conducted between scholars and importers of antiquities about the effect that legal regulation will have on the looting of archaeological sites. Archaeologists argue that the demand for antiquities in wealthy nations has led to so much looting that soon there will be hardly an unguarded site worth excavating. Most scholars agree that lucrative black markets in the United States, France, West Germany, Switzerland and Japan are incentives to looting which damage the evidentiary value of objects and of entire sites. Whatever evidentiary value remains in items after their illegal excavation is further lost to the academic community because those items are then hidden and scattered in the extensive underground collections of investors. Using the same market-force assumption, governments of Third World "art-rich" nations complain that the flourishing antiquities trade in wealthy nations is stripping them of the birthright of their cultural heritage. As part of the North-South confrontation, emotions in this area of the debate have run high and the motives for regulation and reparation have been questioned the most. Dealers and collectors of antiquities, although opposed to unscholarly excavation, have opposed regulation on the premise that it will only deepen the black market and lead to a greater destruction or disintegration of antiquities. They disagree that market forces are at fault, and argue that the debate should focus on other reasons why archaeological sites are improperly excavated. These other reasons, such as accident and ignorance, do play a role. Most experts agree, however, that the role of these other factors is minor and beyond regulation. Rather, archaeologists and national governments have blamed the destruction of cultural heritage on that excavation which is organized and is based upon a combination of local poverty and high profits.Despite the international character of this market problem, the earliest attempts at regulation were both national and nationalistic. As emerging nationalism and self-determination required roots upon which to flourish, most "art-rich" nations passed legislation which strictly regulated the excavation and recovery of artifacts, and prohibited the exportation of cultural treasures. The fact that nationalism, rather than scholarly interest, was the prime motive for such legislation is evidenced by the fact that few nations imposed restrictions on items whose import might cause improper excavation in, or loss of the cultural heritage of other countries.
GTLAB: Grid Tag Libraries Supporting Workflows within Science Gateways

Portlet-based grid portals have become a crucial part of the cyberinfrastructure by providing component-based problem solving environments for scientists. Although portals aim to provide user-friendly environments with easy-to-use interfaces, the development of portals and their portlet components is time consuming. We aim to provide reusable components for rapid portlet development. Our approach grid tag libraries and beans (GTLAB), encapsulates common grid operations with reusable XML tags. GTLAB also provides a way for creating composite tasks that models the requirements of computational science portals. In previous work, we have introduced grid tags libraries for the Globus toolkit. In this study, we extend GTLAB to support widely used Condor DAGMan and Taverna workflows for the grid community. These extended tags demonstrate that large workflows can be integrated within grid portlets without burdening of developers.
Bounded-input-bounded-output properties of nonlinear discrete difference equations-applications to fixed-point digital filters

Input-output properties of discrete difference equations with sector-type nonlinearities are derived. The results are applied to direct form digital filters with combinations of quantization and overflow nonlinearities. Using these properties, the regions of global asymptotic stability of digital filters with two's complement quantization and overflow are provided. Previous stability results for combinations of roundoff quantization and any type of overflow are also improved upon. >
A Priority-Based 6T/8T Hybrid SRAM Architecture for Aggressive Voltage Scaling in Video Applications

We present a voltage-scalable and process-variation resilient, hybrid memory architecture, suitable for use in MPEG-4 video processors such that power dissipation can be traded for graceful degradation in “quality.” The key innovation in our proposed work is a hybrid memory array, which is a mixture of conventional 6T and 8T SRAM bit-cells. The fundamental premise of our approach lies in the fact that the human visual system is mostly sensitive to higher order bits of luminance pixels in video data. We implemented a preferential storage policy in which the higher order luma bits are stored in robust 8T bit-cells while the lower order bits are stored in conventional 6T bit-cells. This facilitates aggressive scaling of supply voltage in memory as the important luma bits, stored in 8T bit-cells, remain relatively unaffected by voltage scaling. The not-so-important lower order luma bits, stored in 6T bit-cells, if affected, contribute insignificantly to the overall degradation in output video quality. Simulation results show that under iso-area condition, we can obtain at least 32% power savings in the hybrid memory array compared to the conventional 6T SRAM array.
Risk factors: HDL-cholesterol levels and mortality in patients with ESRD

In the general population, risk of cardiovascular disease is inversely associated with HDL-cholesterol levels. However, a new post hoc analysis of data from the German Diabetes Dialysis study reports no correlation between HDL cholesterol and mortality among patients on dialysis—a phenomenon that the authors attribute to HDL dysfunction.
A Simple Test of Class-Level Genetic Association Can Reveal Novel Cardiometabolic Trait Loci

Background Characterizing the genetic determinants of complex diseases can be further augmented by incorporating knowledge of underlying structure or classifications of the genome, such as newly developed mappings of protein-coding genes, epigenetic marks, enhancer elements and non-coding RNAs. Methods We apply a simple class-level testing framework, termed Genetic Class Association Testing (GenCAT), to identify protein-coding gene association with 14 cardiometabolic (CMD) related traits across 6 publicly available genome wide association (GWA) meta-analysis data resources. GenCAT uses SNP-level meta-analysis test statistics across all SNPs within a class of elements, as well as the size of the class and its unique correlation structure, to determine if the class is statistically meaningful. The novelty of findings is evaluated through investigation of regional signals. A subset of findings are validated using recently updated, larger meta-analysis resources. A simulation study is presented to characterize overall performance with respect to power, control of family-wise error and computational efficiency. All analysis is performed using the GenCAT package, R version 3.2.1. Results We demonstrate that class-level testing complements the common first stage minP approach that involves individual SNP-level testing followed by post-hoc ascribing of statistically significant SNPs to genes and loci. GenCAT suggests 54 protein-coding genes at 41 distinct loci for the 13 CMD traits investigated in the discovery analysis, that are beyond the discoveries of minP alone. An additional application to biological pathways demonstrates flexibility in defining genetic classes. Conclusions We conclude that it would be prudent to include class-level testing as standard practice in GWA analysis. GenCAT, for example, can be used as a simple, complementary and efficient strategy for class-level testing that leverages existing data resources, requires only summary level data in the form of test statistics, and adds significant value with respect to its potential for identifying multiple novel and clinically relevant trait associations.
Inhibition of melanocortin 1 receptor slows melanoma growth, reduces tumor heterogeneity and increases survival.

// Rita G. Kansal 1 , Matthew S. McCravy 1 , Jacob H. Basham 1 , Joshua A. Earl 1 , Stacy L. McMurray 1 , Chelsey J. Starner 1 , Michael A. Whitt 1, * , Lorraine M. Albritton 1, * 1 Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN 38163, USA * These authors have contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Lorraine M. Albritton, e-mail: lalbritt@uthsc.edu Michael A. Whitt, e-mail: mwhitt@uthsc.edu Keywords: melanoma, MC1R, agouti, B16-F10, GFP Received: January 04, 2016 Accepted: March 14, 2016 Published: March 25, 2016 ABSTRACT Melanoma risk is increased in patients with mutations of melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) yet the basis for the increased risk remains unknown. Here we report in vivo evidence supporting a critical role for MC1R in regulating melanoma tumor growth and determining overall survival time. Inhibition of MC1R by its physiologically relevant competitive inhibitor, agouti signaling protein (ASIP), reduced melanin synthesis and morphological heterogeneity in murine B16-F10 melanoma cells. In the lungs of syngeneic C57BL/6 mice, mCherry-marked, ASIP-secreting lung tumors inhibited MC1R on neighboring tumors lacking ASIP in a dose dependent manner as evidenced by a proportional loss of pigment in tumors from mice injected with 1:1, 3:1 and 4:1 mixtures of parental B16-F10 to ASIP-expressing tumor cells. ASIP-expressing B16-F10 cells formed poorly pigmented tumors in vivo that correlated with a 20% longer median survival than those bearing parental B16-F10 tumors (p=0.0005). Mice injected with 1:1 mixtures also showed survival benefit (p=0.0054), whereas injection of a 4:1 mixture showed no significant difference in survival. The longer survival time of mice bearing ASIP-expressing tumors correlated with a significantly slower growth rate than parental B16-F10 tumors as judged by quantification of numbers of tumors and total tumor load (p=0.0325), as well as a more homogeneous size and morphology of ASIP-expressing lung tumors. We conclude that MC1R plays an important role in regulating melanoma growth and morphology. Persistent inhibition of MC1R provided a significant survival advantage resulting in part from slower tumor growth, establishing MC1R as a compelling new molecular target for metastatic melanoma.
Familial spongy degeneration of the central nervous system (Van Bogaert-Bertrand disease). An ultrastructural study.

Light and electron microscopy study of skeletal muscle and cerebral biopsies from a case of spongy degeneration of central nervous system is reported. The multiple vacuoles present in cerebral gray and white matter correspond to (a) clefts within myelin sheaths resulting from splitting at the intraperiod line and (b) swollen astrocytic perikarya and processes. Unusual mitochondria containing crystalline-like material were observed only in astrocytes. The ultrastructural findings are consistent with cerebral edema. It is suggested that the astrocytes play a primary role in the fluid accumulation while the myelin swelling is a secondary lesion. The possible role of the abnormal astrocytic mitochondria is discussed.
Leukemia. VI. Effect of amicetin on transplanted mouse leukemia.

SummaryA new antibiotic, amicetim isolated from Streptomyces vinaceusdrappus and known to contain a cytosine-paramino-benzoic acid and alpha-methyl-serine moiety has been shown to prolong survival time of mice with Line 82 leukemia. It has been without significant effect in two other strains of leukemia similarly studied.
Emotion and Communication in Organizations

Emotional communication is central to many jobs ( → Emotion). Stockbrokers express aggression, nurses communicate care, and emotions such as shame, pride, and fear are central in organizational evaluation. Nonetheless, organization studies have traditionally written out emotion, treating it as a private issue, a barrier to effectiveness, or something that should be controlled ( → Organizational Communication). Early research suggested that organizations were and should be rational, scientific entities ( → Bureaucracy and Communication). In this paradigm, if emotions were examined, they were measured as variables of job satisfaction, morale, or commitment. Furthermore, emotions have traditionally been subjugated to the private, personal, feminine sphere ( → Feminist and Gender Studies). Despite this early resistance, in the past 15 years, increasing numbers of scholars from communication, management, sociology, and psychology have examined emotion formation, expression, and control in the workplace. Researchers have explored how emergent work feelings are an integral part of organizational life (Mumby & Putnam 1992) and how emotional display and “emotional intelligence” (Goleman 1995) are co-opted by organizations to achieve an economic mission. As such, researchers have recognized that emotions are a core part of organizing and that emotionality is not the opposite of rationality or cognition (Planalp 1999), but, rather, is part of organizational processes.
Recent Results of Target Single-Spin Asymmetry Experiments at Jefferson Lab

We report recent results from Jefferson Lab Hall A “Neutron Transversity” experiment (E06-010). Transversely polarized target single-spin asymmetry AUT and beam-target double-spin asymmetry A{sub LT} have been measured in semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering (SIDIS) reactions on a polarized neutron ({sup 3}He) target. Collins-type and Sivers-type asymmetries have been extracted from A{sub UT} for charged pion SIDIS productions, which are sensitive to quark transversity and Sivers distributions, correspondingly. Double spin asymmetry A{sub LT} is sensitive to a specific quark transverse momentum dependent parton distribution (TMD), the so-called “ transverse helicity” (g{sub 1T} ) distributions. In addition, target single-spin asymmetries A{sub y} in inclusive electron scattering on a transversely polarized {sup 3}He target in quasi-elastic and deep inelastic kinematics were also measured in Hall A.