cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Theoretical investigation of lone pair inversions, ring openings, and hydride shifts in O-methylated epoxides.

Mechanisms associated with the isomerization of the O-methylethylene oxonium ion and its tetramethyl-substituted analogue have been explored using correlated electronic structure calculations. The minima and transition states associated with inversion at the oxygen atom, as well as those associated with opening of the epoxide ring, have been characterized. The calculated barrier to inversion at the oxygen atom for the O-methylethylene oxonium ion, 15.7 kcal/mol, agrees well with the experimentally determined value, 10 ± 2 kcal/mol. Our calculations indicate that a significantly higher barrier exists for the ring-opening mechanism that leads to more thermodynamically stable structures. This work includes the first known calculations on the O-methyl-2,3-dimethyl-2-butene oxonium ion along with transition states and intermediates associated with ring opening and inversion at the oxygen atom. Results show that there is a significantly lower barrier to ring opening as compared to the O-methylethylene oxonium ion species, leading to a lower probability of isolating this species. The effects of basis sets and correlation techniques on these ions were also analyzed in this work. Our results indicate that the B3LYP/6-31G* level is reliable for obtaining molecular geometries for both minima and transition states on the C 3 H 7 O + and C 7 H 15 O + potential energy surfaces.
Clearance Effects on Corresponding Annular and Labyrinth Seal Flow Leakage Characteristics

A previous Navier-Stokes finite difference computer code is extended in order to compute seal leakage directly from given upstream and downstream reservoir pressures. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with previous measurements, the discrepancy being less than eight percent. Annular seals are found to leak approximately twenty percent more than corresponding labyrinths over the entire range of realistic clearance. A rather unexpected finding is that a dramatic increase of swirl velocity occurs near the discharge of small-clearance annular seals, which does not arise in corresponding labyrinth seals. The results, which are used to explain this finding, show that a large density drop occurs near the small-clearance annular seal exit, which provides the swirl velocity increase in accordance with angular momentum conservation.
Calculation of rates of radiationless transitions in matrix-isolated CN

Abstract We report the numerical calculation of the nonradiative (NR) rates for A 2 Π ⇌ X 2 Σ + of CN in Ne matrix. For the evaluation of the electronic matrix element, the molecular orbitals obtained by the Huo and Cade have been used. It is found that the molecular rotation plays the major role in accepting the excitation energy and that the lattice modes mainly help maintain the energy conservation. Three models for the frequency distribution of lattice modes have been employed, but the numerical results are quite independent of the model used. The calculated NR rates are in the order-of-magnitude agreement with the experimental results in most cases.
Treatment of Chylothorax by Robotic Thoracic Duct Ligation

This is the first report describing the use of robotic technology for the treatment of chylothorax. We present a 22-year-old with mixed embryonal cell and seminoma germ cell cancer refractory to medical and surgical treatment. The patient had rising markers and a growing left lower lung lobe metastasis. After left lower lobectomy, left-sided chylothorax developed. Conservative management failed, and a robotic right-sided thoracic duct ligation was performed. Other treatment options are reviewed.
Accuracy assessment and correction of a LIDAR-derived salt marsh digital elevation model

Abstract Accurate habitat mapping in salt marshes is critical for both management and conservation goals. Information on marsh elevation is important to coastal managers, particularly for flood inundation mapping, coastal hazard assessments and modeling sea level rise. Elevation is also an important determinant of the frequency and duration of tidal flooding, which in turn affects species patterns in marshes: elevation differences of less than 10 cm can affect plant distributions and productivity. Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) can provide synoptic elevation information in many environments, but its accuracy in salt marshes is limited by a combination of sensor resolution (scan angle and frequency, pulse width, footprint size), instrument errors (GPS and inertial measurement unit errors), and poor laser penetration in dense vegetation. This means that uncorrected digital elevation models (DEM) are generally not accurate enough to distinguish elevation changes in salt marsh environments at the resolution that is used to determine tidal flooding or vegetation patterns. In this study, we used a LIDAR-derived DEM for the salt marshes surrounding Sapelo Island, GA obtained with a state-of-the-art Optech Gemini ALTM LIDAR system with a high laser pulse rate frequency of 125 kHz and advanced IMU/GPS technology, and evaluated its accuracy with elevations collected using real time kinematic (RTK) GPS. We found that DEM mean vertical errors for different cover classes ranged from 0.03 to 0.25 m in comparison to the RTK ground truth data, with the larger offsets for taller vegetation. We developed species-specific correction factors for ten cover classes and used these correction factors to modify the LIDAR-derived DEM in four areas of the study domain where vegetation boundaries were mapped directly in the field. Application of the derived correction factors greatly improved the accuracy of the LIDAR-derived DEM within these areas, reducing the overall mean DEM error from 0.10 ± 0.12 (SD) to − 0.01 ± 0.09 m (SD), and the Root Mean Square Error from 0.16 m to 0.10 m. In the corrected DEM, the ground elevations of all vegetation classes were no longer significantly different than the true RTK ground elevations. Our results suggest that these types of corrections can greatly improve the accuracy of LIDAR-derived DEMs in salt marshes and further emphasize the importance of accuracy assessments before DEM data are used, especially in environments such as salt marshes where small differences in elevation can have significant effects on inundation patterns and plant distributions.
Shadow and feature recognition aids for rapid image geo-registration in UAV vision system architectures

The problem of real-time image geo-referencing is encountered in all vision based cognitive systems. In this paper we present a model-image feedback approach to this problem and show how it can be applied to image exploitation from Unmanned Arial Vehicle (UAV) vision systems. By calculating reference images from a known terrain database, using a novel ray trace algorithm, we are able to eliminate foreshortening, elevation, and lighting distortions, introduce registration aids and reduce the geo-referencing problem to a linear transformation search over the two dimensional image space. A method for shadow calculation that maintains real-time performance is also presented. The paper then discusses the implementation of our model-image feedback approach in the Perspective View Nascent Technology (PVNT) software package and provides sample results from UAV mission control and target mensuration experiments conducted at China Lake and Camp Roberts, California.
A Global Perspective of the Variables Associated with Acceptance of Evolution

The controversy of biological evolution due to conflicts with personal beliefs and worldviews is a phenomenon that spans many cultures. Acceptance of evolution is essential for global advancement in science, technology, and agriculture. Previous research has tended to focus on the factors that can influence acceptance of evolution by culture or country. Our research explored the relationship on an international scale using secondary data analysis to research evolution acceptance for 35 countries. Our results indicate significant relationships between public acceptance of evolution and religiosity, school-life expectancy, science literacy, and gross domestic product per capita. Implications and future directions for research are addressed.
Cardiac Fibroblast-Formed Anisotropic Decellularized Engineered Cardiac Tissues

Although structural anisotropy is important for proper function of normal myocardium, it has been a challenge to mimic structural architecture of native tissue in vitro. Previous studies have focused on using two-dimensional cultures utilizing micropatterning of substrates. Here, we present three-dimensional (3D) decellularized engineered tissues with a controlled varying degree of extracellular matrix alignment. Engineered tissues were initially created by embedding cardiac fibroblasts in 3D collagen tissues (rat tail type I collagen, BD sciences) and cultured either under biaxial or uniaxial constraints. Biaxially constrained tissues yielded a random orientation of both cell and collagen fibers, while uniaxially constrained tissues showed that the cell and collagen fibers aligned parallel to the constrained direction. To facilitate cardiac fibroblast deposition of extracellular matrix, culture medium was supplemented with 5 ng/ml ascorbic acid every 3 days. Once desired structural alignment was obtained, cells were removed by decellurization treatment using CHAPS buffer followed by SDS buffer for 1 hr at 37°C with gentle agitation. Removal of cells was confirmed by DNA quantification and intact collagen fiber orientation was confirmed by confocal reflected light microscopy. This study demonstrates the feasibility of creating cell-formed structural alignment combined with decellularization technique to establish decellularized anisotropic engineered tissue, which can be used to evaluate the effects of biophysical cues on stem cell or stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte differentiation and function in vitro.
FINITE SUBGROUPS OF HYPERBOLIC GROUPS

We prove that every finite subgroup of a hyperbolic group G can be conjugated to a 2δ+1 neighborhood of the identity element, where δ is the hyperbolicity constant for G with respect to a given generating set. This gives an upper bound for the size of such finite subgroups in terms of δ and the number of generators for G.
Mechanisms of the Immunosuppressive and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Glucorcorticosteroids

Corticosteroids have multifaceted effects on various phases of inflammatory and immunological activity. These include effects on vascular and tissue responses, effects on the movement or traffic of inflammatory or immunologically reactive cells, direct effects on functional capabilities of cells, and direct or indirect effects on various soluble factors mediating inflammation or immunologic activity. It is clear that there is a differential sensitivity of various populations and subpopulations of cells to the corticosteriod modulation of cellular kinetic patterns, cellular interactions, and functional capabilities. In general, corticosteroids have a much greater and more obvious effect on the traffic and kinetics than on the functional properties of cells involved in inflammation and immunologic activity. Hypotheses concerning the precise mechanisms of many of these effects have been proposed, but still await verification and possibly amplification.
Optimal bandwidth assignment for distributed sequential detection

In this paper, distributed sequential detection problems with quantized observations are investigated. The observations available at each sensor are first compressed to multi-bit sensor decisions (soft decisions) and sent to the fusion center. At the fusion center, a sequential data fusion scheme is implemented in order to reach a global decision. Optimal bandwidth distribution among sensors is considered under communication constraints as well as under a generalized cost formulation. A system optimization algorithm is developed, including optimal fusion center design and optimal local quantizer design, for the minimization of the average sample number, given prespecified values of the probabilities of false alarm and miss. Simulations of the algorithm show that this approach succeeds in effective optimal bandwidth assignment.
Differencing schemes for detached interfaces in a regular FDTD grid

The FDTA algorithm models EM fields in continuous media. The Taylor series method of analyzing the accuracy of a scheme is adapted for use across material interfaces. Conventional differencing across the interface was found to be first-order accurate, and a method was developed which retained second-order accuracy across the interface. Results showed that the first-order differencing was the limiting factor in a standard FDTD (finite-difference-time-domain) analysis with a coarse grid, while the second-order method was not. The minimal computational overhead of the boundary-difference methods compared to the cost of refining the mesh justifies implementation. >
Can Interviewer Behaviors During ACASI Affect Data Quality

Many important national surveys use audio computer-assisted survey interviewing (ACASI) to collect sensitive information from survey respondents in face-to-face interviews. ACASI is used to mitigate concerns about education and literacy, and ensure privacy when respondents are providing answers to sensitive questions. However, human interviewers are still required to introduce the ACASI portions of interviews, describe how to use the technology, and potentially assist respondents when questions arise. In addition, interviewers may behave in different ways while the respondent is answering ACASI questions, and could vary in their ability to establish a private environment. This study examines the effects of selected interviewer behaviors during ACASI, ascertained from post-survey interviewer observations, on the response distributions for selected sensitive survey items in the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). This study also considers the amount of variability among NSFG interviewers in the frequency of these behaviors, finding it to be substantial. The results of the study show that these behaviors may introduce interviewer effects on sensitive survey responses. The findings presented here motivate future randomized experiments that could explore the effects of these interviewer behaviors further and inform interviewer training with respect to behaviors that should be avoided during ACASI data collection.
Mechanical Property Measurement of Interconnect Materials by Magnetostrictive Sensors

This paper reports on the measurement of elastic modulus for some electronic thin film materials used in electronic interconnects by a magnetostrictive sensor. Thin film materials of Au, Sn, In and Au-rich lead free solder (AuSn) were sputter deposited onto well defined strips of Metglas™. This material possesses magnetostrictive properties whereby it deforms when subjected by a magnetic field and generates a magnetic field when deformed. The MetglasTM strip is driven to resonance via a modulated magnetic field generated by a coil. The elastic modulus of the above materials was determined by measuring the resonant frequency of the sensors before and after film deposition and using the frequency shift, two analytical approaches were employed to extract values. The as sputtered films were examined by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Scanning Election Microscope (SEM) to characterize their microstructures. The elastic modulus of Au films was determined by employing two mathematical methodologies that resulted in values of 71.2GPa and 75.9GPa, which exhibit less than 5% divergence. Errors in the different measuring methodologies are discussed. Moreover, elastic modulus values of solder materials of AuSn (80/20 wt%), tin and indium films, which were also measured in their as deposited forms, will be discussed. This method represents a potentially new, non-destructive method to determine critical material properties of as deposited materials.
Nanomanufacturing of carbon nanotubes on titanium nitride

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), in particular the vertically-aligned variety grown through a PECVD-based process, are highly versatile nanostructures that can be used in a variety of nanomanufacturing applications. However, process and material compatibility issues have prevented the nanotubes from becoming more fully integrated into various micro- and nanomanufacturing applications. In this paper, we discuss the use of a folding titanium nitride membrane layer to more easily combine the nanotube growth process with other nanomanufacturing schemes, such as Nanostructured OrigamiTM (In et al., 2006).
Introns and higher-order structure in the evolution of serpins

The serpins are a large family of eukaryotic proteins, many but not all of whose members are proteinase inhibitors. Most members of this family show relatively low sequence identity, but crystal structures determined for 6 different serpins are closely similar. The intron positions of 11 serpins, and the intron sizes in 9 of these 11, have been determined. There is considerable diversity in number, position, and size of introns among these serpins, though subsets show clear similarity or identity. Dendrograms derived from comparisons of DNA and amino acid sequences and of intron positions for the 11 serpins differ from each other and from dendrograms previously derived from protein sequences. These dendrograms are difficult to reconcile exclusively with a loss of introns from a large primordial set during the evolution of the serpin family. The tertiary structure of the serpins does support the idea that this protein family arose from an early recombination event which fused the amino and carboxyl domains. The structure of the carboxyl domain also suggests that an insertion subsequent to the fusion event contributed two strands of β-sheet, which complemented three β-sheet strands of the amino domain, to complete β-sheet A, which is the central secondary structure feature of the serpins. Few of the introns lie between regions of secondary or tertiary structure, and it seems more likely that many were acquired subsequent to the early events of serpin evolution and have undergone multiple insertions, deletions, and migrations since, subject to the constraint of the serpin structure.
A Language Modeling Text Mining Approach to the Annotation of Protein Community

This paper discusses an ontology based language modeling text mining approach to the annotation of protein community. Communities appear to play an important role in the functional properties of complex networks. Being able to annotate the identified the community structure in a biological network can help us to understand better the structure and dynamics of biological systems. Traditional method such as Gene Ontology (GO) provides information about the functionality of gene products, but they are not enough to annotate community as for only limited number of proteins in the database, limited protein properties available for annotation and the inability to annotate a group of gene products as a whole. Thus, we present an ontology based mixture language model approach to annotate protein community. Compared to traditional method, we have the following three advantages. First, biomedical literature mining brings much richer information than existed gene databases. Second, the mixture language model can help "purify" the document by eliminating some background noise. Third, using domain ontology, we extract biological concept and concept pairs from abstracts. Biological concept is more meaningful than word or multi-word phrases. Moreover, using concept pairs can deliver much more information and serve as evidence of annotation results. We test our approach on four communities SAGA-SRB, CCR-NOT, RFC and ARP2/3, detected from dataset of interactions for Saccharomyces cerevisae from the General Repository for Interaction Datasets (GRID). Annotation results provide a very coherent indication of functionality of each community.
Assessing habitat quality for a migratory songbird wintering in natural and agricultural habitats

As tropical forests are cleared, a greater proportion of migratory songbirds are forced to winter in agricultural and disturbed habitats, which, if poorer in quality than natural forests, could contribute to population declines. We compared demographic indicators of habitat quality for a focal species, the American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), wintering in Jamaican citrus orchards and shade coffee plantations with those in four natural habitats: mangrove, coastal scrub, coastal palm, and dry limestone forests. Demographic measures of habitat quality included density, age and sex ratio, apparent survival, and changes in body mass. Measures of habitat quality for redstarts in citrus and coffee habitats were generally intermediate between the highest (mangrove) and lowest (dry limestone) measurements from natural habitats. The decline in mean body mass over the winter period was a strong predictor of annual survival rate among habitats, and we suggest that measures of body condition coupled with survival data provide the best measures of habitat quality for nonbreeding songbirds. Density, which is far easier to estimate, was correlated with these more labor-intensive measures, particularly in the late winter when food is likely most limiting. Thus, local density may be useful as an approximation of habitat quality for wintering migrant warblers. Our findings bolster those of previous studies based on bird abundance that suggest arboreal agricultural habitats in the tropics can be useful for the conservation of generalist, insectivorous birds, including many migratory passerines such as redstarts.
Regulation of the Antimicrobial Response by NLR Proteins

Nucleotide-binding, oligomerization domain (NOD)-like receptor (NLR) proteins are a family of innate immune receptors that play a pivotal role in microbial sensing, leading to the initiation of antimicrobial immune responses. Dysregulation of the function of multiple NLR family members has been linked, both in mice and humans, to a propensity for infection and autoinflammatory disease. Despite our increased understanding of NLR function and interactions, many aspects related to mechanisms of sensing, downstream signaling, and in vivo functions remain elusive. In this review, we focus on key members of the NLR family, describing their activation by diverse microbes, downstream effector functions, and interactions with each other and with other innate sensor protein families. Also discussed is the role of microbial sensing by NLR receptors leading to activation of the adaptive immune arm that collaborates in the antimicrobial defense.
Photothermal methods for the measurement of thermal properties of thin polymer films

The absorption of radiation in a sample gives rise to local heating. With a suitable modulated or pulsed source of radiation, a spatially well defined instantaneous heat source can be readily implemented. Radiation induced thermal transients are, therefore, the ideal heat sources for studies of thermal processes in thin films. Application of this method for measurements of thermal diffusivity and temperature dependent properties of thin polymer films are discussed. Imaging of inhomogeneities and depth profiling are another important area of application for these techniques. A number of applications emphasizing the various photoacoustic and photothermal techniques, their advantages and drawbacks are covered in detail.
Design and simulation of a terahertz negative permeability metamaterial with connected metallic discs

A negative permeability metamaterial is designed with 2 connected metallic discs inside a unit cell. It can be fabricated through thin-film processes. A negative permeability at ~1 THz is shown in the simulation result.
Insurgency and the Opening of Peace Processes

One of the most striking features of insurgency is how infrequently the two sides attempt peaceful negotiation. Very often, the government refuses to grant the insurgents legitimacy as a bargaining partner. Yet, some conflicts do reach a point at which the two sides open negotiation. This article seeks to develop an explanation of the timing of negotiation during insurgency. Using a game theoretic model, this article concludes that for negotiation to take place, the insurgents must be able to survive their initial vulnerability. In the early stages of the insurgency, the government is likely to use all of its resources to repress the group. In most cases, such efforts will be successful. However, if the insurgency persists, the insurgents' capability will grow with time. By continuing to fight the government, the insurgents will begin adapting to government tactics. If the insurgents survive a certain period of fighting, a window for negotiation is likely to emerge. If the government fails to repress the ...
Functional Morphology: ‘Point and Shoot’ Prey Capture in Fishes

The ability to protrude the jaws and capture elusive prey is a hallmark of fish evolution. New analyses provide insight into how jaw protrusion changed predator-prey relationships and fueled species diversification in ancient seas.
Localized electrical current propagation in anisotropically perturbed atmospheres

The trajectory of free atmospheric electrical currents, such as lightning and sparks, is strongly influenced by microscale events that occur at the current front. In particular, highly conductive pathways can occur at the free surface front due to dielectric breakdown. The specific directions of the local pathways are minutely perturbed, due to the gaseous, disordered, nature of the media at the small scale. This results in highly conductive, anisotropically perturbed, continuum-level properties at the electrical current front. In this work, a model is developed to investigate the role of the resulting anisotropically perturbed conductivity at the propagation front on the overall trajectory of free atmospheric electrical currents. The approach is to relate the electrical current velocity to the local anisotropic conductivity at the propagation front and the surrounding electric field. The conductive anisotropy is decomposed into an isotropic 'base state' and an anisotropic perturbation. The current trajectory is shown to be governed by a set of non-linear differential equations, for which a numerical solution scheme is developed. The difference between paths taken through anisotropically perturbed and isotropic media is analytically bounded and quantified numerically as a function of the magnitude of the anisotropic perturbation. The analysis and numerical experiments indicate that, in a statistical sense, the difference in the paths taken in anisotropically perturbed and isotropic media depends quasilinearly on the perturbation magnitude.
The Effect of Stilbestrol and Anterior Pituitary Extract upon Lactation in Goats

Summary Administration of diethylstilbestrol by subcutaneous injection, orally, by inunction or diethylstilbestrol dipropionate by implantation of pellets caused copious and prolonged lactation in virgin and dry goats. This is significant because of the ability of estrogens to increase the anterior pituitary lactogenic output. One-quarter milligram per day was sufficient by injection. Oral administration appeared to be least effective up to 5 mg. per day or 20 times the subcutaneous dose. Inunction of the udder required 4 mg. daily or 16 times the subcutaneous dose. Anterior pituitary extract was effective in augmenting the production caused by diethylstilbestrol by supplementing the increased lactogen output with other anterior pituitary factors or in initiating lactation in diethylstilbestrol-treated goats. Stopping daily treatment was sometimes effective in improving production for a time but restarting treatment had little effect. Hormone treatment of normal parturient goats was not beneficial on volume of production. Treatment during the last half of pregnancy had no deleterious effect in two cases. Ovaries were essentially normal after long periods of treatment with one exception. Two goats were bred out of season after termination of diethylstilbestrol injections. One conceived and bore a kid. No adverse effect on growth or health of the goats from diethylstilbestrol treatment was observed.
Automation Of Left Ventricular Contour Detection

An approach to automate the contour detection of left ventricular images is described. The method is based upon the expectation window principle and was implemented for ventriculograms taken with cineangiography. The results obtained show that the technique can provide high quality contours with only moderate operator interaction.© (1984) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
THERMODYNAMIC THEORY AND EXPERIMENTAL TECHNIQUES FOR POLYMER BLENDS.

The phase behavior of polymer blends has become a topic of major scientific investigation during the past decade because of fresh insights into the issues involved and because of intensified technological interest in multicomponent polymer systems. The purpose here is to review the basic thermodynamic principles involved in polymer-polymer miscibility and to introduce some of the simpler methods for quantifying the interaction between the components which is a major factor. This will form a framework for developing relationships between blend phase behavior and the molecular structure of the component polymers. The approach will be restricted to classical theories of the Flory-Huggins type and to simple physical techniques which are generally available in most research laboratories. Subsequent chapters will deal with the newer and more advanced theories as well as sophisticated experimental techniques like neutron scattering. The utility and limitations of the solubility parameter as a means predicting phase behavior will be outlined briefly.
Those Guiding Principles You Should Not Forget

Throughout the text, I have presented and discussed a number of fundamental rules that, if followed, will result in credible and communicative outcome-based evaluations that will be acted on. In this short chapter, I list them for you so that you will have easy access to those points about outcome-based evaluation that you should not forget. Each is listed along with a page reference, should you need to go back and refresh your memory about its importance and use.
Microfluidics Section: Design and Fabrication of Integrated Passive Valves and Pumps for Flexible Polymer 3-Dimensional Microfluidic Systems

This paper describes the fabrication of flexible, polymeric 3-dimensional microfluidic systems with integrated check valves (flap and diaphragm valves) and a pump by stacking patterned poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layers containing microchannels and vias. We describe this procedure for fabricating, manipulating, and bonding of PDMS membranes and bas-relief plates into multilayer microfluidic devices. The fabrication and demonstration of integrated check valves and a pump in a prototype polymer 3-dimensional microfluidic system is a step toward practical realization of all-polymer, flexible, low-cost, disposable microfluidic devices for biochemical applications.
Clog Pageant for High School Girls

(1925). Clog Pageant for High School Girls. American Physical Education Review: Vol. 30, No. 9, pp. 510-512.
Greg Weiner American Burke: The Uncommon Liberalism of Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 208 pp., $27.95, ISBN: 978-0-7006-2096-8, Publication Date: 2015

This insightful and elegantly written book examines the political thought of an American original—Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a senator who studied, reflected on, and wrote about the proper role of go...
USE OF EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICATIONS FOR CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE AND DIABETES IN WOMEN AND MEN WITH OUT OF HOSPITAL SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATH IN THE SUDDEN UNEXPECTED DEATH IN NORTH CAROLINA (SUDDEN) STUDY

The SUDDEN study aims to clarify risk factors for out-of-hospital sudden unexpected death (OHSUD) in a diverse population of men and women. Studies have shown that women are prescribed and report use of more medications than men but are less likely to receive guideline-directed medications for
Discovery of aminobenzyloxyarylamides as κ opioid receptor selective antagonists: application to preclinical development of a κ opioid receptor antagonist receptor occupancy tracer.

Arylphenylpyrrolidinylmethylphenoxybenzamides were found to have high affinity and selectivity for κ opioid receptors. On the basis of receptor binding assays in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing cloned human opioid receptors, (S)-3-fluoro-4-(4-((2-(3-fluorophenyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)methyl)phenoxy)benzamide (25) had a Ki = 0.565 nM for κ opioid receptor binding while having a Ki = 35.8 nM for μ opioid receptors and a Ki = 211 nM for δ opioid receptor binding. Compound 25 was also a potent antagonist of κ opioid receptors when tested in vitro using a [35S]-guanosine 5′O-[3-thiotriphosphate] ([35S]GTP-γ-S) functional assay in CHO cells expressing cloned human opioid receptors. Compounds were also evaluated for potential use as receptor occupancy tracers. Tracer evaluation was done in vivo, using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) methods, precluding the need for radiolabeling. (S)-3-Chloro-4-(4-((2-(pyridine-3-yl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)methyl)phenoxy)benzamide (18) was found to have ...
Simultaneous Measurement of Polymerization Stress Evolution, Conversion Kinetics, and Exotherm in Real-Time

Photopolymerized composites are used in a broad range of applications with their performance largely directed by reaction kinetics and contraction accompanying polymerization. Herein, we demonstrate an instrument capable of simultaneously collecting multiple kinetics parameters for a wide range of photopolymerizable systems: degree of conversion (DC), reaction exotherm, and polymerization stress (PS). Our system consists of a cantilever beam-based instrument (tensometer) that has been optimized to capture a large range of stresses. The sample configuration allows the tensometer being coupled to a fast near infrared (NIR) spectrometer collecting spectra in transmission. Using our instrument design, simultaneous measurements of PS, DC, and exotherm are performed, for the first time, on a commercial composite with ~80 % (by mass) silica particle fillers. This new system is expected to provide new insights into kinetics and property relationships for photopolymerized composites.
Developmental mechanisms underlying pathology of arteries

This review tries to provide a general, and very speculative, view of growth control mechanisms that may be common to the development of blood vessels and to pathological processes including cell proliferation. From a developmental point of view, vascular growth is most likely to include local autocrine or paracrine mechanisms that permit the two cells of the vessel wall to grow, organize into the characteristic tubular and layered structures of the vessel wall, and eventually achieve a return to quiescence. The "real" mechanisms controlling growth in vivo are difficult to ascertain from studies in culture. For example, a large list of angiogenesis molecules must be able to generate endothelial replication, but in culture many of these molecules are inhibitory for each endothelial replication. Similarly, in culture, we have a long list of smooth muscle mitogens, but none of these have as of yet been proven to control smooth muscle growth in vivo. Endothelial growth control has been attributed to the presence of membrane molecules able to inhibit endothelial replication and to the actions of soluble growth factors and their receptors. Unfortunately for the former hypothesis we still lack specific molecules with the properties of contact inhibition of replication. The data discussed here, however, suggest that modulation of expression or function of cell-cell adhesive molecules could be critical both to morphogenic changes and to mitogenesis by release of cells from cell-cell contact. Moreover, our data and data from other laboratories suggest that angiogenic factors, including the HBGFs and TGF-beta, may function in angiogenesis by altering cell-cell and cell-cell substrate interactions rather than via a primary effect on cell replication. This view of angiogenesis is consistent with the absence of a mitogenic effect of some angiogenic factors. Although endothelial cell replication is obviously necessary to angiogenesis, the lack of mitogenic effect of some factors suggests a need for a more general explanation of the actions of angiogenic factors. Endothelial injury may be interrelated with smooth muscle growth. The simplest possibility is that a failure of the endothelial cell barrier function, due either to denudation or an increase in adhesivity for leukocytes, would permit access of platelets or leukocytes to the vessel wall. These extrinsic cells, in turn, would stimulate smooth muscle cell replication by release of growth factors. The second possibility is that the endothelial cell may itself release growth factors into the vessel wall.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Search from Personal to Social Context: Progress and Challenges.

User and behavioral modeling plays a critical role in a variety of online services such as web search, advertising, ecommerce, and news recommendation. For example, our ability to accurately interpret the intent of a web search can be informed by knowledge of the web pages a searcher was viewing when initiating the search or recent actions of the searcher such as queries issued, results clicked, and pages viewed. In this talk, I will describe a recent framework for personalized search which improves the quality of search results by enabling a representation of a broad variety of context including the searcher’s long-term interests, recent activity, current focus, and other user characteristics. Then, I will review a variety of related work that extends these approaches from signals focused on the individual to social signals such as likes, cohorts, and affiliation networks. Finally, I’ll speculate on how social signals and networks can provide directions for relatively unexplored directions in social personalized retrieval.
The Entity-Relationship Model (Reprinted Historic Data)

A data model, called the entity-relationship model, is proposed. This model incorporates some of the important semantic information about the real world. A special diagrammatic technique is introduced as a tool for database design. An example of database design and description using the model and the diagrammatic technique is given. Some implications for data integrity, information retrieval, and data manipulation are discussed.
Optical radiocarbon detection ( 14 C) using a quantum cascade laser

We describe a cavity ring-down spectrometer which uses a quantum cascade laser for optical detection of radiocarbon in the mid-infrared spectral region. A description of the instrument, key components, and future improvements will be discussed.
Occipital Nerve Neuralgia

There is a question as to whether or not occipital neuralgia should be included in the entrapment syndromes. Involvement of the nerve is a common cause of severe headache. Cox has divided occipital nerve pain into two categories, those having a relationship to the thoracic outlet syndrome, and symptoms arising from direct involvement of the nerve.
Integrated Interdisciplinary Science of the Critical Zone as a Foundational Curriculum for Addressing Issues of Environmental Sustainability.

ABSTRACT Earth's critical zone (CZ) is the uppermost layer of Earth's continents, which supports ecosystems and humans alike. CZ science aims to understand how interactions among rock, soil, water, air, and terrestrial organisms influence Earth as a habitable system. Thus, CZ science provides the framework for a holistic-systems approach to teaching Earth surface and environmental science, especially related to environmental sustainability. Here, we describe efforts by an interdisciplinary team to create a full-semester, university curriculum that introduces upper-division students to CZ science. Course topics include a background in CZ science, key concepts and methods of CZ science, and units on land–atmosphere interactions, water budgets, landscape evolution, and biogeochemistry. The course culminates with a unit on human interactions within the CZ. Through interactive activities that use data sets from U.S. CZ observatories, the course emphasizes how a CZ framework is appropriate for teaching concepts...
A time series of annual land use and land cover maps of China from 1982 to 2013 generated using AVHRR GIMMS NDVI3g data

Abstract A time series of annual land use and land cover (LULC) maps that cover an extended period of time is a key dataset for climatological studies investigating land-atmosphere interaction. Change in LULC can influence regional climate by altering the surface roughness, soil moisture, heat flux partition, and terrestrial carbon storage. Although annual global LULC maps are generated from Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, the earliest MODIS LULC map is for 2001, which limits the potential time period for climatological analyses. This study produced a continuous series of annual LULC maps of China from 1982 to 2013 using random forest classification of 19 phenological metrics derived from Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS) third generation NDVI (NDVI3g) data. The classifier was trained using reference data derived from the MODIS land cover type product (MCD12Q1). Based on a comparison with Google Earth images, the overall accuracy of a simplified eight-class version of our 2012 LULC map is 73.8%, which is not significantly different from the accuracy of the MODIS map of the same year. Our maps indicate that for the three decades studied, the area of croplands and forests in China increased, and the area of grasslands decreased. These annual maps of land cover will be an important dataset for future climate studies, and the methodologies used in this study can be applied to other geographical regions where availability of continuous time series of LULC maps is limited.
Descriptions of Four New Species of Struthoscelis Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae: Oecophorinae), One from Area De Conservación Guanacaste, Northwestern Costa Rica, Providing the First Known Biology for the Genus, and Discovery of a Novel Wing Morphology in Males

We describe and illustrate four new species of Struthoscelis: S. christianafigueresae new species, from Costa Rica; S. davisorum new species, from Costa Rica; S. konia new species, from Peru; and S. solamarita new species, from Venezuela. We report the first known biology for a species of Struthoscelis and revisit the generic diagnosis based on newly discovered morphology including a novel structure in the male forewing. We provide comparative illustrations of all new species and of the male genitalia of S. semiotarsa Meyrick, 1916.
Ocular, Auricular, and Oral Manifestations of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is primarily a disease of the gastrointestinal tract, though it can often affect other organ systems. These extraintestinal manifestations occur in a quarter to one-third of patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. While musculoskeletal and dermatologic manifestations are the most common, it is also important to be cognizant of head, eye, ear, nose, and throat (HEENT) manifestations and educate IBD patients about them. Here we review the ocular manifestations in conjunction with the lesser-known but increasingly recognized ENT manifestations. Considering the lack of randomized controlled trials in treating HEENT manifestations of IBD, this review is primarily based on case reports, case series, and expert opinion with a particular focus on the newer literature supporting use of anti-TNF agents.
Natural Deduction for Diagonal Operators

We present a sound and complete Fitch-style natural deduction system for an S5 modal logic containing an actuality operator, a diagonal necessity operator, and a diagonal possibility operator. The logic is two-dimensional, where we evaluate sentences with respect to both an actual world (first dimension) and a world of evaluation (second dimension). The diagonal necessity operator behaves as a quantifier over every point on the diagonal between actual worlds and worlds of evaluation, while the diagonal possibility quantifies over some point on the diagonal. Thus, they are just like the epistemic operators for apriority and its dual. We take this extension of Fitch’s familiar derivation system to be a very natural one, since the new rules and labeled lines hereby introduced preserve the structure of Fitch’s own rules for the modal case.
Towards Personalized Learning in Mobile Sensing Systems

Nowadays, mobile devices have become an important part of our daily life. Numerous mobile sensing applications are enabled by various mobile platforms, which leverage machine learning techniques to detect or classify the events of interest such as human activities and health conditions. To achieve this, each user is required to provide a considerable amount of training samples. However, in practice, a large portion of the users may provide only a few or even zero labels, due to various reasons such as privacy concern or simply laziness. A straightforward solution to this problem is to gather the data of all the users in a central database, and train a global classifier from the combined data. Such global classifier, however, may not work well since it ignores the variety in different users' data. To address this challenge, we propose PLOS, a Personalized Learning framework for mObile Sensing applications. PLOS can jointly model the commonness shared among the users as well as the differences between them, which are inferred from both the label information and the underlying structures of individual data. We further develop the distributed PLOS where the raw data of the users are locally processed so that the users only need to send model parameters to the server. Through extensive experiments on both synthetic data and real mobile sensing systems, we show that the proposed PLOS framework is scalable and efficient in energy, computation, and communication costs, and can achieve more accurate classification results compared with the baseline methods.
Computational Evaluation of B-Cell Clone Sizes in Bulk Populations

B cell clones expand and contract during adaptive immune responses and can persist or grow uncontrollably in lymphoproliferative disorders. One way to monitor and track B cell clones is to perform large-scale sampling of bulk cell populations, amplifying, and sequencing antibody gene rearrangements by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Here, we describe a series of computational approaches for estimating B cell clone size in NGS immune repertoire profiling data of antibody heavy chain gene rearrangements. We define three different measures of B cell clone size-copy numbers, instances, and unique sequences-and show how these measures can be used to rank clones, analyze their diversity, and study their distribution within and between individuals. We provide a detailed, step-by-step procedure for performing these analyses using two different data sets of spleen samples from human organ donors. In the first data set, 19 independently generated biological replicates from a single individual are analyzed for B cell clone size, diversity and sampling sufficiency for clonal overlap analysis. In the second data set, B cell clones are compared in eight different organ donors. We comment upon frequently encountered pitfalls and offer practical advice with alternative approaches. Overall, we provide a series of pragmatic analytical approaches and show how different clone size measures can be used to study the clonal landscape in bulk B cell immune repertoire profiling data.