cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A study of craniofacial growth in infant heart transplant recipients receiving cyclosporine

Abstract Background: Cyclosporine is an effective immunosuppressive drug that has found widespread application in organ transplantation. However, a few studies have implicated cyclosporine as adversely affecting craniofacial growth in the pediatric population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible untoward effects of cyclosporine long-term on craniofacial growth in a group of infant heart transplantation recipients. Methods A prospective group ( n = 28) of 18 Caucasian (white) children (9 female and 9 male, ages 4–10 years) and 10 Hispanic children (3 female and 7 male, ages 4–10 years) were evaluated. No attempt was made for either study group to delineate on individuals specific country of origin. None of the subjects had undergone orthodontic therapy. All subjects had heart transplantations before 6 months of age and followed the Loma Linda University International Pediatric Heart Transplantation Immunosuppression protocol. The primary immunosuppression agent was cyclosporine with azathioprine or methotrexate. Rescue therapy for graft rejection consisted of glucocorticoid and/or polyclonal antibody therapy. None of the subjects received the immunosuppressant tacrolimus (FK506). Using lateral cephalometric radiography, seven skeletal angular measurements (SNA, SNB, ANB, GoGn-SN, NA-Pog, ArGoMe, NPog-AB) were examined and compared to contemporary growth standards. Hand/wrist radiographs were evaluated for bone age. Also, longitudinal height, weight, and head circumference data was obtained and compared to standardized growth and development curves. Results Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data. Cephalometrically, 86% ( N = 24), showed minor deviation from mean normative values. Four of the subjects (14%) exhibited cephalometric measures indicative of individuals with a vertical growth pattern. Analysis of the hand/wrist radiographs showed all but one subject to have normal bone age. Height, weight, and head circumference data revealed a wide range of growth percentiles for the entire group with mean percentiles in the range of 25% to 50%. Conclusions The findings of this pilot study indicated that, in general, skeletal growth of the craniofacial complex as well as axial skeletal growth was not statistically significantly altered by the immunosuppressive regimen of cyclosporine over the time period evaluated. Further longitudinal data of this study's subjects may shed more light on the possible adverse effects of cyclosporine on craniofacial growth and development in spite of the fact that no untoward correlation was found over the time period studied.
Differential Modulation of Thresholds for Intracranial Self-Stimulation by mGlu5 Positive and Negative Allosteric Modulators: Implications for Effects on Drug Self-Administration.

Pharmacological manipulation of the type 5 metabotropic glutamate (mGlu5) receptor alters various addiction related behaviors such as drug self-administration and the extinction and reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior. However, the effects of pharmacological modulation of mGlu5 receptors on brain reward function have not been widely investigated. We examined the effects of acute administration of positive and negative allosteric modulators (PAMs and NAMs, respectively) on brain reward function by assessing thresholds for intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS). In addition, when acute effects were observed, we examined potential changes in altered ICSS thresholds following repeated administration. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with bipolar electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle and trained to respond for ICSS, followed by assessment of effects of mGlu5 ligands on ICSS thresholds using a discrete trials current intensity threshold determination procedure. Acute administration of the selective mGlu5 NAMs MTEP (0, 0.3, 1 or 3 mg/kg) and fenobam (0, 3, 10, or 30 mg/kg) dose-dependently increased ICSS thresholds (~70% at the highest dose tested), suggesting a deficit in brain reward function. Acute administration of the mGlu5 PAMs CDPPB (0, 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg) or ADX47273 (0, 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg) was without effect at any dose tested. When administered once daily for 5 consecutive days, the development of tolerance to the ability of threshold-elevating doses of MTEP and fenobam to increase ICSS thresholds was observed. We conclude that mGlu5 PAMs and NAMs differentially affect brain reward function, and that tolerance to the ability of mGlu5 NAMs to reduce brain reward function develops with repeated administration. These brain reward deficits should be taken into consideration when interpreting acute effects of mGlu5 NAMs on drug self-administration, and repeated administration may be an effective method to reduce these deficits.
Predicted and Measured Modal Sound Power Levels for a Fan Ingesting Distorted Inflow

Refinements have been made to a method for estimating the modal sound power levels of a ducted fan ingesting distorted inflow. By assuming that each propagating circumferential mode consists only of a single radial mode (the one with the highest cut-off ratio), circumferential mode sound power levels can be computed for a variety of inflow distortion patterns and operating speeds. Predictions from the refined theory have been compared to data from an experiment conducted in the Advanced Noise Control Fan at NASA Glenn Research Center. The inflow to the fan was distorted by inserting cylindrical rods radially into the inlet duct. The rods were placed at an axial location one rotor chord length upstream of the fan and arranged in both regular and irregular circumferential patterns. The fan was operated at 2000, 1800, and 1400 rpm. Acoustic pressure levels were measured in the fan inlet and exhaust ducts using the Rotating Rake fan mode measurement system. Far field sound pressure levels were also measured. It is shown that predicted trends in circumferential mode sound power levels closely match the experimental data for all operating speeds and distortion configurations tested. Insight gained through this work is being used to develop more advanced tools for predicting fan inflow distortion tone noise levels.
Computable Markov‐perfect industry dynamics

We provide a general model of dynamic competition in an oligopolistic industry with investment, entry,andexit.ToensurethatthereexistsacomputationallytractableMarkov-perfectequilibrium, we introduce firm heterogeneity in the form of randomly drawn, privately known scrap values and setup costs into the model. Our game of incomplete information always has an equilibrium in cutoff entry/exit strategies. In contrast, the existence of an equilibrium in the Ericson and Pakes’ model of industry dynamics requires admissibility of mixed entry/exit strategies, contrary to the assertion in their article, that existing algorithms cannot cope with. In addition, we provide a condition on the model’s primitives that ensures that the equilibrium is in pure investment strategies. Building on this basic existence result, we first show that a symmetric equilibrium exists under appropriate assumptions on the model’s primitives. Second, we show that, as the distribution of the random scrap values/setup costs becomes degenerate, equilibria in cutoff entry/exit strategies converge to equilibria in mixed entry/exit strategies of the game of complete information.
2D IR photon echo of azido-probes for biomolecular dynamics

The vibrations in the azido-, N3, asymmetric stretching region of 2′-azido-2′-deoxyuridine (N3dU) are examined by two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy. In water and tetrahydrofuran (THF), the spectra display a single sharp diagonal peak that shows solvent sensitivity. The frequency–frequency correlation time in water is 1.5 ps, consistent with H-bond making and breaking dynamics. The 2D IR spectrum is reproduced for N3dU in water based on a model correlation function and known linear response functions. Its large extinction coefficient, vibrational frequency outside the protein and nucleic acid IR absorption, and sensitivity to water dynamics render –N3 a very useful probe for 2D IR and other nonlinear IR studies: its signal is ca. 100 times that of nitriles.
Petroleum-degrading microbial numbers in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere crude oil-contaminated soil.

Phytoremediation can be a cost-effective and environmentally acceptable method to clean up crude oil-contaminated soils in situ. Our research objective was to determine the effects of nitrogen (N) additions and plant growth on the number of total hydrocarbon (TH)-, alkane-, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-degrading microorganisms in weathered crude oil-contaminated soil. A warm-season grass, sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf), was grown for 7 wk in soil with a total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) level of 16.6 g TPH/kg soil. Nitrogen was added based upon TPH-C:added total N (TPH-C:TN) ratios ranging from 44:1 to 11:1. Unvegetated and unamended controls were also evaluated. The TH-, alkane-, and PAH-degrading microbial numbers per gram of dry soil were enumerated from rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil for vegetated pots and non-rhizosphere soil populations were enumerated from non-vegetated pots. Total petroleum-degrading microbial numbers were also calculated for each pot. The TH-, alk...
Light Trapping in Thin-Film Cu(InGa)Se $_{2}$ Solar Cells

A fundamental optical analysis of thin-film Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cell structures is presented, wherein spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements were performed to acquire material optical constants, which were then used as input parameters to perform electromagnetic simulations. The accuracy of the electromagnetic simulation tools, and thus, the validity of the material optical constants, were verified by comparing the values determined from the simulations with experimental measurements obtained using a spectrophotometer. The verified optical modeling tools were then used to analyze thin, <;0.7-μm Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cell structures, which do not absorb all incident light within a single optical path length, and hence, the need to incorporate light trapping. To this end, a superstrate device configuration was employed in which the metallic back contact is deposited last, giving rise to an opportunity to incorporate photonic engineering device concepts to the back surface layer of the solar cell. Simulations of superstrate Cu(InGa)Se2 solar cell designs, complete with light trapping structures were then performed and analyzed.
Configuring a trusted system using the TNI

The authors summarize a study performed to identify and evaluate alternatives for achieving an acceptable level of risk in a distributed system by utilizing computer components with the lowest TCSEC (trusted computer system evaluation criteria) ratings acceptable under DoD guidelines. The security implications of connecting equipments that handle differing sensitivity levels of data are examined together with the consequences of using equipments using trusted system technology, utilizing personnel with higher clearances, and separating data by sensitivity level as ways of achieving a desired level of trust in a multilevel system. The rationale for choosing this system is that it is large enough to demonstrate the implications of the guidelines given in the trusted network interpretation (TNI), yet small enough to easily verify the validity of the results. >
Nonparametric Estimation of Crop Insurance Rates Revisited

With the crop insurance program becoming the cornerstone of U.S. agricultural policy, recovering accurate rates is of paramount interest. Lack of yield data presents, by far, the most fundamental obstacle to recovery of accurate rates . Thisarticle employsnew methodology to estimate conditional yield densities and derive the insurance rates. In our application, we find the nonparametric kernel density estimator requires an additional twenty-six years of yield data to estimate the shape of the conditional yield dens itiesasaccurately asthe recently developed empirical Bayesnonparametric kernel density estimator. Such methodological improvements can significantly aid in ameliorating the data problem. Recovering accurate premium ratesis paramount to the actuarial soundness of the crop insurance program, a program which hasgained prominence in the overall U.S. agricultural policy agenda. The 1996 Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act signaled a new policy environment under which farmerswould be s to market forces. Under this policy regime, crop insurance remains, in some respects, one of the only government-subsidized, income stabilizing mechanisms available to agricultural producers. In addition, it appears that current political forcesare in the proces sof fashioning crop insurance as the cornerstone of U.S. agricultural policy. Consider the 1999 State of the Union Address in which the President stated:
The Aurora kinase Ipl1 maintains the centromeric localization of PP2A to protect cohesin during meiosis

Homologue segregation during the first meiotic division requires the proper spatial regulation of sister chromatid cohesion and its dissolution along chromosome arms, but its protection at centromeric regions. This protection requires the conserved MEI-S332/Sgo1 proteins that localize to centromeric regions and also recruit the PP2A phosphatase by binding its regulatory subunit, Rts1. Centromeric Rts1/PP2A then locally prevents cohesion dissolution possibly by dephosphorylating the protein complex cohesin. We show that Aurora B kinase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Ipl1) is also essential for the protection of meiotic centromeric cohesion. Coupled with a previous study in Drosophila melanogaster, this meiotic function of Aurora B kinase appears to be conserved among eukaryotes. Furthermore, we show that Sgo1 recruits Ipl1 to centromeric regions. In the absence of Ipl1, Rts1 can initially bind to centromeric regions but disappears from these regions after anaphase I onset. We suggest that centromeric Ipl1 ensures the continued centromeric presence of active Rts1/PP2A, which in turn locally protects cohesin and cohesion.
The intubating laryngeal mask airway: rocuronium improves endotracheal intubating conditions and success rate.

Abstract Study objective To assess intubating conditions without neuromuscular blocking drugs, to determine the relation between the dose of rocuronium and the probability of achieving excellent or at least good (good or excellent) intubating conditions with the intubating laryngeal mask airway (ILMA), and finally, to determine the relationship between rocuronium use and the success rate of endotracheal intubation. Design Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. Setting University-affiliated medical center. Patients Sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I and II patients undergoing elective surgery. Interventions Anesthesia was induced with propofol 2.5 mg/kg and fentanyl 1 μ g/kg. One minute after loss of consciousness, patients received rocuronium 0.2 mg/kg or saline. In the rocuronium group, if intubating conditions were scored as poor, rocuronium dose in the next patient was increased by 0.05 mg/kg. If intubating conditions were scored as good, no change was made, but if conditions were scored as excellent, the dose was decreased by 0.05 mg/kg. One minute after rocuronium or saline administration, an ILMA was used to intubate the trachea. If intubation was unsuccessful, a second attempt was made using the ILMA. Measurements We recorded intubating conditions and the success rate of tracheal intubation. Main results Without rocuronium, the probability of achieving at least good intubating conditions with the ILMA was 30%. A rocuronium dose of 0.2 mg/kg resulted in a probability of 80% to achieve at least good intubating conditions. Rocuronium significantly increased the success rate of the second intubation attempt. Conclusion To achieve good or excellent intubating conditions with the ILMA, a rocuronium dose lower than the standard intubating dose of 0.6 mg/kg can be used. Neuromuscular blockade increases the success rate of intubation if a second attempt is necessary.
Health-Care Payment Systems: Cost and Quality Incentives—Reply

This paper compares the cost and quality incentive effects of cost reimbursement and prospective payment systems in the health industry. When a provider cannot refuse patients who require high treatment costs or discriminate patients by qualities, optimally designed prospective payments can implement the efficient quality and cost reduction efforts, but cost reimbursement cannot induce any cost incentive. When the provider can refuse expensive patients, implementation of the first best requires a piecewise linear reimbursement rule that can be interpreted as a mixture of pure prospective payment and pure cost reimbursement, Under appropriate conditions, prospective payment can implement the first best even when the provider can use qualities to discriminate patients.
Prevalence of undiagnosed congenital cardiac defects in older children.

BackgroundCertain congenital cardiac defects may go undetected for several years due to lack of symptoms and signs. Our purpose was to determine the prevalence of such defects among children greater than one year of age.MethodsThe study was performed on subjects diagnosed with systemic hypertension, aged from 1 to 19 years, with a mean of 12.4 years, in whom we performed echocardiography, using a standard protocol, to establish any end-organ damage or to reveal any congenital cardiac defects.ResultsWe found a congenital cardiac defect in 5 (3.5%) of the 143 children evaluated. Of these, 4 had not previously been detected, specifically Ebsteins malformation of the tricuspid valve, with moderate regurgitation, a coronary arterial anomaly, a bicuspid aortic valve, and prolapse of the mitral valve permitting regurgitation. In the other patient, we found a non-significant tiny muscular ventricular septal defect.ConclusionsOur transthoracic echocardiographic investigation revealed previously unsuspected congenital cardiac defects in 4 of 143 older children, with 3 of these requiring further management by a paediatric cardiologist. A similar prevalence has also been reported in older children evaluated echocardiographically for other diseases such as insulin-resistance and leukemia. Hence, it is possible that the prevalence of congenitally malformed hearts is higher than previously reported. When clinically indicated, clinicians should more readily consider obtaining an echocardiogram to help in the identification of such malformations.
Responses of Metabolites in Soybean Shoot Apices to Changing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentrations

Soybean seedlings were grown in controlled environment chambers with CO2 partial pressures of 38 (ambient) and 72 (elevated) Pa. Five or six shoot apices were harvested from individual 21- to 24-day-old plants. Metabolites were analyzed by gas chromatography and, out of 21 compounds, only sucrose and fructose increased in response to CO2 enrichment. One unidentified metabolite, Unk-21.03 decreased up to 80% in soybean apices in response to elevated CO2. Levels of Unk-21.03 decreased progressively when atmospheric CO2 partial pressures were increased from 26 to 100 Pa. Reciprocal transfer experiments showed that Unk-21.03, and sucrose in soybean apices were altered slowly over several days to changes in atmospheric CO2 partial pressures. The mass spectrum of Unk-21.03 indicated that this compound likely contained both an amino and carboxyl group and was structurally related to serine and aspartate. Our findings suggested that CO2 enrichment altered a small number of specific metabolites in soybean apices. This could be an important step in understanding how plant growth and development are affected by carbon dioxide enrichment.
Variations in tree cover in North America since the last glacial maximum

Accurate reconstructions of late-Quaternary land-cover change are needed to better understand past interactions of the terrestrial biosphere with other components of the earth system. This paper presents a sequence of reconstructed needleleaved and broadleaved tree-cover densities for North America since the last glacial maximum, generated from fossil-pollen data and present-day tree-cover estimates derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). For this study, a refined form of the modern analog technique was developed, called the hierarchical analog technique, which can constrain paleoenvironmental properties even for fossil-pollen assemblages without close analogs in the modern-pollen record. Pollen taxa from samples that are compositionally unlike any modern-pollen samples are regrouped into plant functional categories based upon phenology, life form, leaf shape, and climatic tolerances, and the analog analysis rerun. Reclassifying individual pollen taxa into broader functional categories enables analogs to be found when no compositional analogs exist, but at a cost of increased uncertainties in the analog estimates. Tests of the hierarchical analog technique shows that it accurately reconstructs present-day tree-cover densities. The median standard deviation for each individual estimate is <10%. Tree-cover densities during the last glacial maximum were low relative to present, and have increased since. Lower-than-present tree-cover densities at the last glacial maximum were likely due to a combination of low temperatures, low precipitation, and low atmospheric CO2 concentrations. By 14 ka, broadleaved tree-cover densities had begun to rise in the southeastern US and needleleaved forests grew in the western US, southeastern US, and as a belt along the southern margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. By the midHolocene, the northern and western needleleaved forests had joined. Needleleaved and broadleaved tree densities continued to increase until European settlement. Mapping percent tree-cover represents a useful alternative to biome-based classification schemes, enabling a fuller representation of vegetational gradients in space and time, and can be directly compared to the tree distributions simulated by dynamic global vegetation models. In effect, by calibrating the modern-pollen data against the AVHRR-derived estimates of tree-cover, the fossil-pollen data are applied to extrapolate satellite-based observations into the Quaternary, enabling study of vegetation dynamics and land-cover change at timescales beyond the period of direct observation by engineered remote sensors. Analog-based approaches, however, require extensive networks of surface and fossil-pollen samples, making further data collection a priority in sparsely sampled regions of the world. D 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Bronchoscopy, Imaging, and Concurrent Diseases in Dogs with Bronchiectasis: (2003–2014)

Background Bronchiectasis is a permanent and debilitating sequel to chronic or severe airway injury, however, diseases associated with this condition are poorly defined. Objective To evaluate results of diagnostic tests used to document bronchiectasis and to characterize underlying or concurrent disease processes. Animals Eighty-six dogs that had bronchoscopy performed and a diagnosis of bronchiectasis. Methods Retrospective case series. Radiographs, computed tomography, and bronchoscopic findings were evaluated for features of bronchiectasis. Clinical diagnoses of pneumonia (aspiration, interstitial, foreign body, other), eosinophilic bronchopneumopathy (EBP), and inflammatory airway disease (IAD) were made based on results of history, physical examination, and diagnostic testing, including bronchoalveolar lavage fluid analysis and microbiology. Results Bronchiectasis was diagnosed in 14% of dogs (86/621) that had bronchoscopy performed. Dogs ranged in age from 0.5 to 14 years with duration of signs from 3 days to 10 years. Bronchiectasis was documented during bronchoscopy in 79/86 dogs (92%), thoracic radiology in 50/83 dogs (60%), and CT in 34/34 dogs (100%). Concurrent airway collapse was detected during bronchoscopy in 50/86 dogs (58%), and focal or multifocal mucus plugging of segmental or subsegmental bronchi was found in 41/86 dogs (48%). Final diagnoses included pneumonia (45/86 dogs, 52%), EBP (10/86 dogs, 12%) and IAD (31/86 dogs, 36%). Bacteria were isolated in 24/86 cases (28%), with Streptococcus spp, Pasteurella spp, enteric organisms, and Stenotrophomonas isolated most frequently. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Bronchiectasis can be anticipated in dogs with infectious or inflammatory respiratory disease. Advanced imaging and bronchoscopy are useful in making the diagnosis and identifying concurrent respiratory disease.
Resource Constraint Mobile Agent Framework For Ambient Intelligence

In this paper, we introduce an mobile agent framework with proactive load balancing for ambient intelligence (AmI) envi- ronments. One of the main obstacles of AmI is the scalability in which the openness of AmI environment introduces dynamic resource requirements on agencies. To mediate this scalability problem, our framework proposes a load balancing module to proactively analyze the resource consumption of network bandwidth and preferred agen- cies to suggest the optimal communication method to its user. The framework generally formulates an AmI environment that consists of three main components: (1) mobile devices, (2) hosts or agencies, and (3) directory service center (DSC). A preliminary implementation was conducted with NetLogo and the experimental results show that the proposed approach provides enhanced system performance by minimizing the network utilization to provide users with responsive services.
State Dynamics of the Epileptic Brain

Communication between specialized regions of the brain is a dynamic process allowing for different connections to accomplish different tasks. While the content of interregional communication is complex, the pattern of connectivity (i.e., which regions communicate) may lie in a lower dimensional state-space. In epilepsy, seizures elicit changes in connectivity, whose patterns shed insight into the nature of seizures and the seizure focus. We investigated connectivity in 3 patients by applying network-based analysis on multi-day subdural electrocorticographic recordings (ECoG). We found that (i) the network connectivity defines a finite set of brain states, (ii) seizures are characterized by a consistent progression of states, and (iii) the focus is isolated from surrounding regions at the seizure onset and becomes most connected in the network towards seizure termination. Our results suggest that a finite-dimensional state-space model may characterize the dynamics of the epileptic brain, and may ultimately be used to localize seizure foci.© 2013 ASME
Fluctuation Model for Structural Relaxation and the Glass Transition

The fluctuation or independently relaxing nanoregion model attributes the distribution of structural relaxation times in a glassforming melt to a physical distribution of nanoregions which vary in their properties. A quantitative test of this model is described, in which parameters derived from relaxational data on B{sub 2}O{sub 3} glass are shown to be capable of predicting the anomalous light scattering in the glass transition region. It is also shown that the local inhomogeneities which lead to the distribution of structural relaxation times make only a very minor contribution to the distribution of electrical relaxation times in ionically conducting glasses and melts.
Reverse Time Migration Based on Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Forward Modeling

Wave equation migration methods provide accurate and detailed subsurface images by incorporating the influence of complex wave arrivals and features that are not included in solutions based on ray theory. However, the computational cost of these methods is significant. Recent research has led to the development of the Generalized Multiscale Finite Element Method for solving the acoustic wave equation. This is a local model reduction approach that applies a set of basis functions computed by solving relevant spectral problems on a fine mesh to simulate propagation on a coarse mesh. The basis functions are computed only once for an earth model and are used for all source positions. Here we apply the multiscale method to reverse time migration (RTM) for the first time. Applications to a test model show that the multiscale RTM produces accurate images with a significant reduction in computation time. Using fewer basis functions provides faster results, though additional numerical artifacts may result. However, the results still capture the spatial structure in images, so this is useful when testing various velocity models because many trial velocities can be tested in much less computational time.
Safety, Utilization, and Cost of Image-Guided Percutaneous Liver Biopsy Among Cancer Patients.

Image-guided percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) is a diagnostic tool for lesions in the liver. Hemorrhage is the most common complication. We selected patients with a diagnostic claim for cancer who had undergone PLB. There were a total of 26,941 patients who underwent PLB. Hemorrhage risk was 1.43% among patients undergoing PLB. When stratified by setting, odds of hemorrhage were 4.5 times higher when biopsy was performed in an inpatient setting (p < .001). Risk factors associated with hemorrhage included marital status, liver cancer and comorbidity score. The use of PLB has increased over time. Reassuringly, the hemorrhage risk associated with PLB is low.
Optimum Backwashing of Filters with Air Scour: A Review

The problems occurring in the filtration facilities of water treatment plants, such as mudballs and poor initial filtrate quality are associated with the effectiveness of backwashing. Backwashing with water alone to fluidize the media is an inherently weak cleaning process. The effectiveness of backwashing is significantly improved by the use of air scour simultaneously with subfluidization water wash. When air and subfluidization water flowed concurrently through porous media, a condition termed “collapse- pulsing” occurred in which air pockets formed and collapsed within the bed. A theory has been developed that predicted the combinations of air and water flows that caused collapse-pulsing to occur. Model filter systems have shown that the fluid mechanical condition termed “collapse-pulsing” is also the condition of optimum removal of particles from the media grains during backwashing. The theoretical aspects of collapse-pulsing have been confirmed with an experimental filter system having an endoscope, high speed video system with freeze frame capability for visual observations and an XY Coordinator with computer hardware and software which enabled the determination of velocities of filter grains during air scour. Additional studies on optimum removal of particles from media during air scour have also demonstrated that the results may be extended to dual media filters and are valid at the plant scale too.
Research on inspection of rice chalkiness based on computer vision

To solve the rice chalkiness inspection problem effectively,an automatic inspection method based on computer vision is pro-posed.Firstly,the hardware structure is constructed.Then,a separation algorithm based on concave point is used to separate overlapping rice,a improved multi-threshold algorithm is proposed based on the maximum entropy to automatically decide the background,chalkiness and no-chalkiness of rice,the noise of the pseudo chalkiness is eliminated to improve the inspection accuracy.Finally,the experimental results indicated that the proposed method has the advantages of high-speed,accuracy and stability.
Natural Language Discourse

A natural language is a language spoken and understood by all normal adult members of a speech community. It stands in contrast to specialized languages, both spoken and written, used within sub-groups of this community to perform specialized tasks, though shared in varying degrees with members outside these sub-groups. Both natural and specialized languages have lexical items whose meaning is specified within the semantic fields just discussed. In addition, they have the resources for combining sentences into blocks of discourse as sequences of sentences about some common topic or related topics. A discourse block can vary in length from a short conversational exchange or haiku poem to a novel or many-volume history of a nation. For discourse formation we resort to the use of linking words to form from sentences a variety of types of combinations.
‘Flesh of their flesh, bone of their bone’: James Baldwin’s racial politics of boundness

This article identifies a concept I call ‘boundness’ in James Baldwin’s work and asks how it offers an alternative and embodied way to theorize racial identity, racialized violence and interracial solidarity. In the 1960s, in contrast to black nationalist and integrationist responses to racial domination, Baldwin repeatedly asserts that white and black people are literally bound (by blood) and therefore morally bound together. He posits a kinship narrative that foregrounds racialized/sexual violence, addressing the histories of Southern plantations and Jim Crow communities where lines of racial difference were drawn between siblings or between an enslaved child and his/her biological father. With particular attention to Baldwin’s rhetorical techniques (use of racial signifiers, pronouns, familial language), this article examines boundness in four main texts – White Man’s Guilt, The Fire Next Time, a 1963 Public Broadcasting Service interview and a 1968 speech in London – and demonstrates how the concept functions as a political strategy to provoke shifts in identification.
Shape complexity of space used by American black bears influenced by sex and intensity of use

Abstract Disentangling the complexities that influence animal space use poses substantial challenges based on decision trade-offs and constraints imposed on animals. Optimal decisions suggest that the spatial complexity of home-range shapes should be inversely related to energy conservation and fitness. Hence, the most beneficial shape should be the circle. We evaluated whether shape complexity (i.e., an index of circularity) of home ranges was influenced by two extrinsic (spatial heterogeneity, preferred habitat [i.e., deciduous forest]), and three intrinsic (sex, season [breeding, non-breeding], intensity of use) factors, with intensity of use indexed as contours containing core and peripheral areas. We estimated utilization distributions of 39 radiomarked adult American black bears ( Ursus americanus ), a habitat generalist, using fixed-kernel techniques and estimated 50% (core area) and 95% (peripheral area) contours. We fit a set of 47 models using linear modeling and ranked models using small-sample Akaike Information Criterion. Coefficients for the best model were the intrinsic factors intensity of use (reference category = core; 0.118; 95% CL = 0.064–0.173), sex (reference = female; 0.105; 95% CL = 0.043–0.167), and intercept (0.229; 95% CL = 0.186–0.272). Shape complexity was less for core areas than peripheral areas and less for females than males. Considering complex resource selection patterns within a fragmented landscape, both sexes appeared to use energy-maximizing strategies, although the increase in shape complexity for males may be an allometric relationship based on size dimorphism. Our approach supported the phenomenon of optimality as manifested through home-range shape complexity, but we suggest that assessment of this phenomenon for habitat specialists may yield different results, including the potential importance of intrinsic factors based on more restrictive limiting factors.
Membrane Binding of the Rous Sarcoma Virus Gag Protein Is Cooperative and Dependent on the Spacer Peptide Assembly Domain.

UNLABELLED The principles underlying membrane binding and assembly of retroviral Gag proteins into a lattice are understood. However, little is known about how these processes are related. Using purified Rous sarcoma virus Gag and Gag truncations, we studied the interrelation of Gag-Gag interaction and Gag-membrane interaction. Both by liposome binding and by surface plasmon resonance on a supported bilayer, Gag bound to membranes much more tightly than did matrix (MA), the isolated membrane binding domain. In principle, this difference could be explained either by protein-protein interactions leading to cooperativity in membrane binding or by the simultaneous interaction of the N-terminal MA and the C-terminal nucleocapsid (NC) of Gag with the bilayer, since both are highly basic. However, we found that NC was not required for strong membrane binding. Instead, the spacer peptide assembly domain (SPA), a putative 24-residue helical sequence comprising the 12-residue SP segment of Gag and overlapping the capsid (CA) C terminus and the NC N terminus, was required. SPA is known to be critical for proper assembly of the immature Gag lattice. A single amino acid mutation in SPA that abrogates assembly in vitro dramatically reduced binding of Gag to liposomes. In vivo, plasma membrane localization was dependent on SPA. Disulfide cross-linking based on ectopic Cys residues showed that the contacts between Gag proteins on the membrane are similar to the known contacts in virus-like particles. Taken together, we interpret these results to mean that Gag membrane interaction is cooperative in that it depends on the ability of Gag to multimerize. IMPORTANCE The retroviral structural protein Gag has three major domains. The N-terminal MA domain interacts directly with the plasma membrane (PM) of cells. The central CA domain, together with immediately adjoining sequences, facilitates the assembly of thousands of Gag molecules into a lattice. The C-terminal NC domain interacts with the genome, resulting in packaging of viral RNA. For assembly in vitro with purified Gag, in the absence of membranes, binding of NC to nucleic acid somehow facilitates further Gag-Gag interactions that lead to formation of the Gag lattice. The contributions of MA-mediated membrane binding to virus particle assembly are not well understood. Here, we report that in the absence of nucleic acid, membranes provide a platform that facilitates Gag-Gag interactions. This study demonstrates that the binding of Gag, but not of MA, to membranes is cooperative and identifies SPA as a major factor that controls this cooperativity.
Qualitative analysis for social scientists: Research consultations and teaching: guidelines, strategies, and style

It would be less than honest if we did not signal to our readers some of the guidelines, strategies, and general style that lie behind both our teaching of grounded theory methods to students and our consultations with research associates, colleagues, and others who seek advice on the conduct of their own research. Not everyone who is committed to this particular analytic approach would necessarily concur with what will be written below – for strategies and styles are linked with individual temperaments, personal predilections, and teaching/consulting contingencies. But readers will understand much better the contents of this book if they keep in mind that the teaching and consulting portrayed in it are informed by the points covered in this chapter. Again, these are presented in the spirit of their being used as guidelines rather than rules. Please do not regard them as dogmatically held prescriptions for teaching and learning. We use these guidelines also in working with research partners and teammates. Presumably they could also help lone researchers working with – and teaching – themselves. These are guidelines for teaching and consulting, where the aim is not merely to instruct in techniques (though that, too) or to solve technical problems. The aim is to help in enhancing and sometimes in unlocking the creativity of students and consultees. While research has, of course, its routines and its routine stretches of activity nevertheless, the best research – Can anyone seriously doubt it? – involves a creative process by creative minds. The issue here, then, is how to further it and them.
Jane Austen and Pride

As is evident from the book’s title, pride is a central concern in Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, though it does have a place in her other novels as well. For example, in Emma Mr. Elton is described...
Anti-infective Therapy for Ocular Infection

Ocular infections must be treated with an appropriate antibiotic in a timely manner. Antibiotics can be administered via different modes of application: topical, intravitreal, subconjunctival, and systemic. Topical agents can be used to treat superficial infections such as conjunctivitis, keratitis, or blepharitis. Intravitreal, subconjunctival, and systemic injections are used for intraocular infections to achieve high concentration at the site. Ocular penetration can be impacted by charge of the drug, corneal epithelium status, drug formulation, drug concentration, and dosage regimen. Tissue toxicity can occur due to antibiotics, preservatives, and modes of administration. Intravitreal, subconjunctival, and intracameral antibiotic injections can cause retinal toxicity, whereas certain systemic antibiotics have been reported with ocular toxicity (oral fluoroquinolones with retinal detachment and linezolid with optic neuropathy). Reaching a balance between therapeutic antibiotic concentrations at the site of infection and avoiding undesired toxicity is the optimal treatment goal when treating ocular infections.
How Implementation Science Improves Access to Care (P1.284)

OBJECTIVE: Implementation science aims at bringing new or unavailable methods of treatment or prevention to patients. This paper introduces neurologists to implementation science, provides some examples, and discusses support for future projects. BACKGROUND: The epilepsy treatment gap is describes the failure of new or appropriate therapies to reach patients, particularly in countries with limited resources or in rural areas. Obstacles may include lack of knowledge by physicians, inadequate access to medical care, cost, or social stigma. Implementation science produces generalizable data about such obstacles, and methods to reduce or remove them. DESIGN/METHODS: The Fogarty International Center, with the National Institutes of Health and others, have assembled a Working Group to engage neurologists in learning more about implementation science, identifying appropriate targets for research, and extending the reach of effective interventions for epilepsy and other neurological disorders. The Working Group is launching the Learning Collaborative for Implementation Science in Global Brain Disorders, to raise awareness of implementation science strategies, promote research priorities such as reducing the epilepsy treatment gap, and support investigators engaged in this type of research. Some projects arising from the program, The Global Burden of Epilepsy: Out of the Shadows, used implementation science to demonstrate how the treatment gap can be narrowed in certain regions. RESULTS: The Working Group is currently executing a needs assessment and developing a work plan for collaborative learning and improved capacity in implementation science in neurology. CONCLUSIONS: Using the methods of implementation science often involves improving connections between clinical research results, medical practice, and health care policy. The neuroscience community can demonstrate how care for neurological disorders can be improved by engaging diverse stakeholders in implementation science projects. Support for such research may become available through the Fogarty Center and its partner institutes within the National Institutes of Health. Disclosure: Dr. Bergen has nothing to disclose.
Racial differences in quality of life following prostate cancer diagnosis.

CS19-03 Each year thousands of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Although a substantial number of studies have shown that African American men experience excess rates of morbidity and mortality from prostate cancer compared to men from other ethnic and racial groups, much less is known about racial differences in quality of life (QOL) among men affected with disease. QOL is a multi-dimensional construct that includes an individual9s perceptions of their psychological well-being and physical impairment. The purpose of this study was to examine racial differences in emotional and physical QOL among African American and Caucasian men who were newly diagnosed with prostate cancer. Participants were 129 African American (n=47) and Caucasian (n=82) men who were enrolled in a prospective longitudinal study of QOL within two to three months following their prostate cancer diagnosis. Men completed the emotional (EWB) and physical (PWB) well-being subscales of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) during a structured telephone interview. African American men reported significantly greater levels of EWB (Mean=21.2) compared to Caucasian (Mean=19.9) (Kruskal-Wallis Chi Square=6.89, p
Initial Electric Field Changes of Lightning Flashes in Two Thunderstorms

The beginning of all 75 lightning flashes in two small thunderstorms was investigated using an array of electric field change (E-change) meters and an array of VHF sensors with the goal of determining if an initial E-change (IEC) preceded the initial breakdown (IB) pulses in each flash. IECs were found at the beginning of all 62 flashes in Storm 1 and all 13 flashes in Storm 2. Hence, it is concluded that an IEC is a fundamental part of most or all lightning initiations and that an IEC is needed prior to the first IB pulse in a flash. IEC durations averaged 0.23 ms for cloud-to-ground (CG) flashes (range 0.08–0.54 ms) and averaged 2.7 ms for normal intracloud (IC) flashes (range 0.04–9.8 ms). IEC point dipole moments averaged 26 C m for CG flashes (range 4–86 C m) and averaged −140 C m for normal IC flashes (range −8 to −650 C m). IEC current moments averaged 120 kA m for CG flashes (range 41–410 kA m) and averaged −91 kA m for normal IC flashes (range −2 to −630 kA m). E-change data support the suggestion that weak narrow bipolar event type events initiate some lightning flashes, but 41 of the 75 flashes had no detectable initiating pulse > 0.04 V m−1 range normalized to 100 km. Two flashes had two IECs; the second IEC of each flash initiated a new lightning channel that propagated in a new direction and at a higher altitude than the original development after the first IEC.
Towards Crowd-Scale Deliberation

This paper describes the need for more effective crowd-scale deliberation, presents the social computing technologies our international team has been developing to achieve this, and outlines some promising directions for future work.
High performance binder-free SiOx/C composite LIB electrode made of SiOx and lignin

Abstract A high performance binder-free SiO x /C composite electrode was synthesized by mixing SiO x particles and Kraft lignin in a cryo-mill followed by heat treatment at 600 °C. After the heat treatment, lignin formed a conductive matrix hosting SiO x particles, ensuring electronic conductivity, connectivity, and accommodation of volume changes during lithiation/delithiation. As the result, no conventional binder or conductive agent was necessary. When electrochemically cycled, the composite electrode delivered excellent performance, maintaining ∼900 mAh g −1 after 250 cycles at a rate of 200 mA g −1 , and good rate capability. The robustness of the electrode was also examined by post-cycling SEM images, where few cracks were observed. The excellent electrochemical performance can be attributed to the comparatively small volume change of SiO x -based electrodes (160%) and the flexibility of the lignin derived carbon matrix to accommodate the volume change. This work should stimulate further interests in using bio-renewable resources in making advanced electrochemical energy storage systems.