cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Surgical pitfalls of excising an intramyocardial lipoma.

References 1. Bouzas B, Kilner PJ, Gatzoulis MA. Pulmonary regurgitation: not a benign lesion. Eur Heart J. 2005;26:433-9. 2. Abd El Rahman MY, Abdul-Khaliq H, Vogel M, Alexi-Meskishvili V, Gutberlet M, Lange PE. Relation between right ventricular enlargement, QRS duration, and right ventricular function in patients with tetralogy of Fallot and pulmonary regurgitation after surgical repair. Heart. 2000;84: 416-20.
Cellular Zinc and Redox States Converge in the Metallothionein/Thionein Pair

The paramount importance of zinc for a wide range of biological functions is based on its occurrence in thousands of known zinc proteins. To regulate the availability of zinc dynamically, eukaryotes have compartmentalized zinc and the metallothionein/thionein pair, which controls the pico- to nanomolar concentrations of metabolically active cellular zinc. Interactions of zinc with sulfur ligands of cysteines turn out to be critical both for tight binding and creation of a redox-active coordination environment from which the redox-inert zinc can be distributed. Biological oxidants such as disulfides and S-nitrosothiols oxidize the zinc/thiolate clusters in metallothionein with concomitant zinc release. In addition, selenium compounds that have the capacity to form selenol(ate)s catalytically couple with the glutathione/glutathione disulfide and metallothionein/thionein redox pairs to either release or bind zinc. In this pathway, selenium expresses its antioxidant effects through redox catalysis in zinc metabolism. Selenium affects the redox state of thionein, an endogenous chelating agent. With its 20 cysteines, thionein contributes significantly to the zinc- and thiol-redox-buffering capacity of the cell. Thus, hitherto unknown interactions between the essential micronutrients zinc and selenium on the one hand and zinc and redox metabolism on the other are key features of the cellular homeostatic zinc system. J. Nutr. 133: 1460S-1462S, 2003.
Does electroconvulsive therapy cause brain damage

Although the use of ECT has declined dramatically from its inception, this decrease has recently shown signs of leveling out because of ECT's powerful therapeutic effect in severely ill depressed individuals who either do not respond to pharmacologic alternatives or are too ill to tolerate a relatively lengthy drug trial. Notwithstanding its therapeutic benefits, ECT has also remained a controversial treatment modality, particularly in the eye of the public. Given the unsavory qualities associated with the word “electroconvulsive,” claims of possible, probable, or even certain brain damage with ECT have easily found listeners. A careful, nonselective assessment of data covering the areas of pathology, radiology, electrophysiology, biochemistry, and neuropsychology leads both to certain conclusions and to certain unanswered questions. ECT is not the devastating purveyor of wholesale brain damage that some of its detractors claim. For the typical individual receiving ECT, no detectable correlates of irreversible brain damage appear to occur. Still, there remains the possibility that either subtle, objectively undetectable persistent deficits, particularly in the area of autobiographic memory function, occur, or that a rarely occurring syndrome of more pervasive persistent deficits related to ECT use may be present. Clearly, more research directed toward answering these questions needs to be carried out so that the role of ECT can be more rigorously defined. While such research is pending, however, we cannot expect that the conditions that predispose to clinical referrals for ECT will disappear. Given the misery, anguish, and risk of death by suicide, starvation, or debilitation associated with severe depressive illness, for example, it still appears that ECT, at least for the present, must continue to be available.
Memory Influences on Hippocampal and Striatal Neural Codes: Effects of a Shift Between Task Rules

Interactions with neocortical memory systems may facilitate flexible information processing by hippocampus. We sought direct evidence for such memory influences by recording hippocampal neural responses to a change in cognitive strategy. Well-trained rats switched (within a single recording session) between the use of place and response strategies to solve a plus maze task. Maze and extramaze environments were constant throughout testing. Place fields demonstrated (in-field) firing rate and location-based reorganization [Leutgeb, S., Leutgeb, J. K., Barnes, C. A., Moser, E. I., McNaughton, B. L., & Moser, M. B. (2005). Independent codes for spatial and episodic memory in hippocampal neuronal ensembles. Science, 309, 619–623] after a task switch, suggesting that hippocampus encoded each phase of testing as a different context, or episode. The task switch also resulted in qualitative and quantitative changes to discharge that were correlated with an animal’s velocity or acceleration of movement. Thus, the effects of a strategy switch extended beyond the spatial domain, and the movement correlates were not passive reflections of the current behavioral state. To determine whether hippocampal neural responses were unique, striatal place and movement-correlated neurons were simultaneously recorded with hippocampal neurons. Striatal place and movement cells exhibited a response profile that was similar, but not identical, to that observed for hippocampus after a strategy switch. Thus, retrieval of a different memory led both neural systems to represent a different context. However, hippocampus may play a special (though not exclusive) role in flexible spatial processing since correlated firing amongst cell pairs was highest when rats successfully switched between two spatial tasks. Correlated firing by striatal cell pairs increased following any strategy switch, supporting the view that striatum codes change in reinforcement contingencies.
Analysis of GD2/GM2 synthase mRNA as a biomarker for small cell lung cancer.

Abstract Background GD2/GM2 synthase is a key enzyme in the synthesis of GD2 and GM2 gangliosides found on the surface of neuroblastoma and small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) cells. In neuroblastoma, persistent levels of GD2/GM2 synthase RNA in bone marrow (BM) following therapy portend poorer progression-free and overall survival. We conducted this study to determine if GD2/GM2 synthase RNA could be detected in SCLC cell lines and human tissues, and whether mRNA transcript levels corresponded with disease status. Experimental design Initially, a pilot study enrolled patients with SCLC to determine the rate of GD2 expression at various points in the patients’ disease course. Peripheral blood (PB), bone marrow and tumor tissues were used to measure GD2/GM2 synthase levels. In addition, SCLC cell lines were analyzed for GD2/GM2 synthase expression. Based on data from that initial analysis, a prospective trial was developed enrolling patients with newly diagnosed SCLC and following them serially. GD2/GM2 synthase transcript was determined by a sensitive quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) assay and normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Results Six SCLC cell lines were assayed for expression of GD2/GM2 synthase, and high expression was detected in all. GD2/GM2 synthase transcript levels were obtained from tumor tissue, BM, or PB of 29 patients in the pilot study. 6/10 (60%) tumor tissues or BM samples were positive (median 332.7 units; range 13–2323 units); 8/19 (42%) untreated patients were GD2/GM2 synthase positive in their PB prior to beginning therapy (median 10.2; range 5.1–32.2); 3/4 (75%) patients who were first tested when they developed recurrent disease were positive in their PB (median 16.1; range 8.5–19.9). The fourth patient had an initial value of 2.0 (negative), which increased to 8.4 (positive) within 1 month without treatment. Seven of 12 patients with baseline positive GD2/GM2 synthase values had post-treatment levels measured, all of which were ≤5 or showed a >50% decrease following successful treatment. Patients in the prospective trial demonstrated lower rates of positivity, with only 3/26 (12%) patients exhibiting detectable transcript levels in the peripheral blood prior to treatment. All 3 of these patients had their transcript levels fall below 5 after treatment. 11/26 patients had baseline levels of zero. Bone marrow was drawn at baseline on 7 patients in the prospective trial and 3 (43%) had transcript levels above 5 (range 0.65–27.43 units). There was no correlation between elevated levels in the BM and elevated levels in the PB. Conclusions Although initial studies demonstrated that GD2/GM2 synthase transcripts were measurable in the peripheral blood of SCLC patients at diagnosis and declined with successful treatment, in a separate prospective study, these results could not be confirmed. Thus, GD2/GM2 is not a reliable biomarker in SCLC.
Three-layer optimizations for fast GMM computations on GPU-like parallel processors

In this paper we focus on optimizing compute and memory-bandwidth-intensive GMM computations for low-end, small-form-factor devices running on GPU-like parallel processors. With special emphasis on tackling the memory bandwidth issue that is exacerbated by a lack of CPU-like caches providing temporal locality on GPU-like parallel processors, we propose modifications to three well-known GMM computation reduction techniques. We find considerable locality at the frame, CI-GMM, and mixture layers of GMM compute, and show how it can be extracted by following a chunk-based technique of processing multiple frames for every load of a GMM. On a 1,000- word, command-and-control, continuous-speech task, we are able to achieve compute and memory bandwidth savings of over 60% and 90% respectively, with some degradation in accuracy, when compared to existing GPU-based fast GMM computation techniques.
Ultra small-mass AMS 14C sample preparation and analyses at KCCAMS/UCI Facility

We have developed techniques for accurately and precisely measuring samples containing less than a few hundred micrograms of carbon, using a compact AMS system (NEC 0.5 MV 1.5SDH-1). Detailed discussions of the sample preparation, measurement setup, data analysis and background corrections for a variety of standard samples ranging from 0.002 to 1 mgC are reported. Multiple aliquots of small amounts of CO2 were reduced to graphite with H2 over pre-baked iron powder catalyst. A reduction reaction temperature of 450 � C was adopted for graphite samples below 0.05 mgC, rather than the usual 550 � C used on samples of 0.1–1 mgC. In our regular reactors (� 3.1 cm 3 ), this reduction in temperature improved the graphite yield from � 60 to 90–100% for samples ranging from 0.006– 0.02 mgC. The combination of lower reaction temperature with a reduced reactor volume (� 1.6 cm 3 ) gave yields as high as 100% on graphite samples <0.006 mgC. High performance measurements on ultra-small samples are possible also due to a modified NEC
SRmapper: a fast and sensitive genome-hashing alignment tool

Summary: Modern sequencing instruments have the capability to produce millions of short reads every day. The large number of reads produced in conjunction with variations between reads and reference genomic sequences caused both by legitimate differences, such as single-nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions (indels), and by sequencer errors make alignment a difficult and computationally expensive task, and many reads cannot be aligned. Here, we introduce a new alignment tool, SRmapper, which in tests using real data can align 10s of billions of base pairs from short reads to the human genome per computer processor day. SRmapper tolerates a higher number of mismatches than current programs based on Burrows– Wheeler transform and finds about the same number of alignments in 2–8� less time depending on read length (with higher performance gain for longer read length). The current version of SRmapper aligns both single and pair-end reads in base space fastq format and outputs alignments in Sequence Alignment/Map format. SRmapper uses a probabilistic approach to set a default number of mismatches allowed and determines alignment quality. SRmapper’s memory footprint (� 2.5 GB) is small enough that it can be run on a computer with 4 GB of random access memory for a genome the size of a human. Finally, SRmapper is designed so that its function can be extended to finding small indels as well as long deletions and chromosomal translocations in future versions. Availability: http://www.umsl.edu/� wongch/software.html. Contact: wongch@umsl.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
The role of diphenyl iodonium salt (DPI) in three-component photoinitiator systems containing methylene blue (MB) and an electron donor

Three-component initiators generally include a light-absorbing photosensitizer, an electron donor that is often an amine, and the third component, which is usually an iodonium salt. To characterize the role of diphenyl iodonium chloride (DPI) in three-component photoinitiator systems containing methylene blue (MB) as the photosensitizer, a systematic series of electron donors was used. The Rhem–Weller equation was used to verify the thermodynamic feasibility for photo-induced electron transfer from the electron donors to the MB. Comparison of the photopolymerization rates of each two-component initiator system (containing the photosensitizer and amine) to those of the corresponding three-component system (with the addition of (DPI) allowed fundamental information regarding the role of the DPI to be obtained. It was concluded that the DPI enhances the photopolymerization kinetics in two ways: (1) it consumes an inactive MB neutral radical and produces an active phenyl radical, thereby regenerating the original methylene blue, and (2) it reduces the recombination reaction of the MB neutral radical and amine radical/cation. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5863–5871, 2004
Image classification: Classifying distributions of visual features

We classify an image by generating a list of salient visual features present in the luminance channel, and matching the resulting variable-length feature list to category-specific generative models for such features. To facilitate quick computation, we use thresholded Viola-Jones rectangular features, each represented by a five-dimensional descriptor For each image category, a probability distribution for feature-lists is given by a latent conditional independence (LCI) model and classification is maximum likelihood. On the NIST tax forms database (Dimmick et al., 1991), where intra-category variations include variable scan-lightness, skew, noise, and machine-printed form-filling, our method improves performance over published results, while requiring very little training data, and without relying on an extensive set of handcrafted features
Friendships of Children and Adolescents With Spina Bifida: Social Adjustment, Social Performance, and Social Skills

OBJECTIVE To characterize dyadic and general friendships of youth with spina bifida (SB). METHODS Families of youth with SB recruited a peer to participate; 106 dyads participated. Youth with SB and peers completed questionnaires and interviews regarding characteristics of the dyadic friendship and each individual's general friendships. RESULTS Youth with SB and their peers were similar in many ways. However, youth with SB rated the friendship as closer and were more likely to see peers as best friends rather than the reverse. Regarding general friendships, youth with SB spent fewer days with friends, reported lower levels of companionship, security, and closeness in their friendships, and reported lower levels of emotional support from peers and family. CONCLUSIONS Youth with SB experience significant differences in the quality and reciprocation of friendships. Targeted interventions may assist youth in developing high quality friendships.
Isolation and characterization of fifteen ecdysone-inducible Drosophila genes reveal unexpected complexities in ecdysone regulation.

Abstract Our insights into the regulatory mechanisms by which the steroid hormone ecdysone triggers Drosophila melanogaster metamorphosis have largely depended on puffs in the larval salivary gland polytene chromosomes as a means of identifying genes of interest. Here, we describe an approach that provides access to ecdysone-inducible genes that are expressed in most larval and imaginal tissues, regardless of their ability to form puffs in the polytene chromosomes. Several hundred cDNAs were picked at random from subtracted cDNA libraries and subjected to a rapid and sensitive screen for their ability to detect mRNAs induced by ecdysone in the presence of cycloheximide. Of the 15 genes identified in this manner, 2 correspond to early puffs in the salivary gland polytene chromosomes, at 63F and 75B, confirming that this screen functions at the desired level of sensitivity and is capable of identifying novel primary-response genes. Three of the genes, Eig45-1, Eig58, and Eig87, are expressed coordinately with the salivary gland early genes; one of them, Eig58, maps to the 58BC puff that is active when the 74EF and 75B early puffs are at their maximal size. Another gene identified in this screen, Eig17-1, encodes a novel cytochrome P-450. On the basis of its sequence identity and temporal profile of expression, this gene may play a role in steroid hormone metabolism and thus could provide a mechanism for feedback regulation of ecdysone production. Although all 15 genes have patterns of transcription that are consistent with ecdysone regulation in vivo, 5 genes do not appear to be induced by the late larval ecdysone pulse. This indicates that ecdysone induction in larval organs cultured with cycloheximide is not always indicative of a primary response to the hormone.
The Opossum genome reveals further evidence for regulatory evolution in mammalian diversification

The sequencing of the euchromatic genome of a marsupial, the opossum Monodelphis domestica, identifies shared and unique features of marsupial and placental genomes and reveals a prominent role for the evolution of non-protein-coding elements.
The Hawaiian amphibious caterpillar guild: new species of Hyposmocoma (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae) confirm distinct aquatic invasions and complex speciation patterns

Although aquatic caterpillars are a globally rare lifestyle, we have found them in multiple, independent lineages of the endemic moth genus Hyposmocoma across all of the Hawaiian Islands with flowing water. We formally describe 11 new species of Hyposmocoma that belong to four different larval case types: cone, bugle, medium burrito, and large burrito: Hyposmocoma kahamanoasp. nov. from Oahu Island, Hyposmocoma kamakou sp. nov. from Molokai Island, Hyposmocoma kahaiaosp. nov., Hyposmocoma waihohonusp. nov., and Hyposmocoma moopalikeasp. nov. from Maui Island, andHyposmocoma aumakuawaisp. nov.,Hyposmocoma eepawaisp. nov., Hyposmocoma ipowainuisp. nov., Hyposmocoma kawaikoisp. nov., Hyposmocoma uhauiolesp. nov., and Hyposmocoma wailuasp. nov. from Kauai Island. We also illustrate and describe in detail the aquatic case-bearing larva of Hyposmocoma kahamanoa. Despite having similar ecologies as algae and lichen grazers at and below the water line of streams, prior research indicates that species with each case type constitute an independent lineage, with terrestrial sister taxa, and therefore the different groups of species bearing unique case types each represent an independent aquatic invasion. The case-bearing larvae often occur sympatrically, and on Kauai even species with similar case-types occur together, suggesting complex patterns of speciation and either past periods of isolation or sympatric speciation. Phylogenetic analysis of 2243 base pairs from two nuclear and one mitochondrial gene for 18 species confirm that each species is endemic to a single volcano, and that morphological divergence within case-types has not been dramatic. Diversification has been complex, and superficially similar case type lineages are not all monophyletic. Kauai, the oldest but smallest of the major high islands, supports more species in the aquatic guild than any other island, thus island age, rather than size, may be important in generating diversity in this group. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 162, 15–42.
The speed of evolution and maintenance of variation in asexual populations.

Summary Background The rate at which beneficial mutations accumulate determines how fast asexual populations evolve, but this is only partially understood. Some recent clonal-interference models suggest that evolution in large asexual populations is limited because smaller beneficial mutations are outcompeted by larger beneficial mutations that occur in different lineages within the same population. This analysis assumes that the important mutations fix one at a time; it ignores multiple beneficial mutations that occur in the lineage of an earlier beneficial mutation, before the first mutation in the series can fix. We focus on the effects of such multiple mutations. Results Our analysis predicts that the variation in fitness maintained by a continuously evolving population increases as the logarithm of the population size and logarithm of the mutation rate and thus yields a similar logarithmic increase in the speed of evolution. To test these predictions, we evolved asexual budding yeast in glucose-limited media at a range of population sizes and mutation rates. Conclusions We find that their evolution is dominated by the accumulation of multiple mutations of moderate effect. Our results agree with our theoretical predictions and are inconsistent with the one-by-one fixation of mutants assumed by recent clonal-interference analysis.
Spatial Congruence for Ambients Is Decidable

The ambient calculus of Cardelli and Gordon is a process calculus for describing mobile computation where processes may reside within a hierarchy of locations, called ambients. The dynamic semantics of this calculus is presented in a chemical style that allows for a compact and simple formulation. In this semantics, an equivalence relation, called spatial congruence, is defined on the top of an unlabelled transition system. We show that it is decidable to check whether two ambient calculus processes are spatially congruent or not. This result is based on a natural and intuitive interpretation of ambient processes as edge-labelled unordered trees, which allows us to concentrate on the subtle interaction between two key operators of the ambient calculus, namely restriction, that accounts for the dynamic generation of new location names, and replication, used to encode recursion. The result of our study is the definition of an algorithm to decide spatial congruence and a definition of a normal form for processes that is useful in the proof of important equivalence laws.
Lords of the Dance: Professionals as Institutional Agents

More so than other types of social actors, the professions in modern society have assumed leading roles in the creation and tending of institutions. They are the preeminent institutional agents of our time. Different professions work in various ways: some attempt to create general cultural-cognitive frameworks; others to devise normative prescriptions to guide behavior; and still others to exercise coercive authority. Also, individual professionals assume varying roles within their professional community: some concentrate on devising and testing general principles, others transport these ideas to varying communities; and still others work to apply the principles to individual cases. Professions themselves adhere to an institutional model, but this model has undergone important changes over time.
Item Order Affects Performance on Multiple-Choice Exams

A total of 404 General Psychology students were assigned to one of three different item orders (sequential, chapter contiguity, and random) of the same final exam consisting of 75 multiple-choice questions. In the sequential (S) order exam, items appeared in the same sequence in which their supporting material was presented in the textbook and lectures. For the chapter contiguity (CC) order exam, items based on the same chapter appeared together, but were not sequentially arranged within or between chapters. The order of the third exam was random (R). Scores for the sequential order exam were higher than for the other two. There were no significant differences in the completion times for any of the exams.
Organic PM2.5: Fractionation by Polarity, FTIR Spectroscopy, and OM/OC Ratio for the Pittsburgh Aerosol

A polarity-based extraction/fractionation method validated with standard compounds was used to characterize organic aerosol samples collected during the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study (PAQS). Organic extracts were separated into 5 polarity classes by sequential elution with hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, acetone, and methanol. Organic mass (OM) and carbon mass (OC) were measured in samples, their extracts, and their corresponding fractions yielding OM/OC ratios and the contribution of each polarity fraction to total OM. The study average OM/OC ratio for each fraction [(OM/OC)fraction] varied from 1.37 for the hexane fraction to 2.25 for the methanol fraction. OM/OC ratios for “non-extractable” organics ((OM/OC)N-E) were also predicted; the study average (OM/OC)N - E was 2.54, consistent with ratios of 2.1–3.2 for water-soluble organic aerosol species. Annual average ratios with and without the contributions of the “non-extractable” material [(OM/OC)total and (OM/OC)extract, respectively] were 2.05 ...
Expression of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Gag Modulates Ligand-Induced Downregulation of EGF Receptor

Many enveloped viruses use the ESCRT proteins of the cellular vacuolar protein sorting pathway for efficient egress from the cell. Recruitment of the ESCRT proteins by human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) Gag is required for HIV-1 particle budding and egress. ESCRT proteins normally function at endosomal membranes, where they facilitate the downregulation of mitogen-activated receptors such as EGF receptor (EGFR) through multivesicular body biogenesis. It is not known whether the Gag-mediated recruitment of ESCRT proteins functionally depletes the pool of these molecules that is available for the downregulation of EGFR. Here we show that the expression of HIV-1 Gag decreases the rate of EGFR downregulation, as assessed by decreases in the rates of 125I-EGF and EGFR degradation. The effect of Gag was dependent on the presence of the TSG101 binding motif (PTAP) within the Gag C-terminal p6 domain. Cells expressing HIV-1 Gag retained more EGFR in late endosomes. This effect occurred when Gag was expressed alone from a heterologous promoter and when Gag expression was driven by the HIV-1 long terminal repeat within pHXB2ΔBalD25S, a noninfectious lentiviral vector. Gag-expressing cells exhibited higher levels of activated mitogen-activated protein kinase for longer times after EGF addition than did cells that did not express HIV-1 Gag. These results indicate that HIV-1 Gag can impinge upon the functioning of the cellular vacuolar protein sorting pathway and reveal yet another facet of the intricate effects of HIV-1 infection on host cell physiology.
Novel Fibers for Telecom

This paper reports recent advances and perspectives of novel fibers for telecom, including low-loss and low-nonlinear fibers, multi-core fibers, and few mode fibers for telecom to cope with the increase of data traffic. Article not available.
OTC Derivatives Market: The Role of Demand Heterogeneity and Economic Welfare

Subsequent to the financial crisis of 2007-2009, regulatory changes here and abroad have come about that are reshaping the OTC derivatives market. This paper offers an analytical framework to review the literature on the role of derivatives and their contribution to economic welfare.
Immunologic function of antigen-induced peripheral blood lymphoblastoid cells.

SummaryCultures of peripheral blood lymphocytes from rabbits hyperimmunized with chicken erythrocytes to favor either antibody formation without delayed hypersensitivity, or the latter immune response without significant antibody formation were examined for activated cells producing antibody. A micromodification of the hemolytic plaque technique was coupled with autoradiographic observations to detect significant numbers of IgG antibody-forming cells in the cultures from antibody-forming animals. These cells were observed in cultures maintained for 4 days either in the presence or absence of the antigen. A similar response could not be detected in cultures from normal rabbits or rabbits showing delayed hypersensitivity but no antibody response to the antigen. It was possible, however, to demonstrate lymphotoxin, skin sensitizing factor, and migration inhibitory factor in culture supernatants from delayed hypersensitive animals. A direct link between a small subpopulation of blast transformed peripheral ly...
Ecological Observations on Culex Tarsalis Coquillett and Other Mosquitoes in the Delta Region of the Central Valley of California, 1953–1956 (Diptera: Culicidae)

Evidence of blood meals and ovarian development in female C. tarsalis is more apparent in this area during February and March than during the normal season of lessened activity (overwintering) from November to January. Males ordinarily are first found in early April, following the appearance of larvae during March in rain and irrigation water. As compared with other Culex species, C. tarsalis is found in larger proportion in natural (animal burrow and tree-type) habitats than in artificial ones (chicken houses, cellars, and bridges) Major population peaks of adult C. tarsalis were in June, July, or August in artificial resting places, in August or September in natural ones, and in July or August in light-trap collections. For measuring mosquito populations in artificial resting places, the use of 1-cubic-foot cardboard boxes proved as reliable as 10-minute collections and 5-minute estimates. Data are also presented on occurrence of blood-fed and gravid individuals and seasonal abundance of C. pipiens, C. stigmatosoma, and Anopheles freeborni, as they were observed during this 3-year study.
Power transmission at microwave frequencies

Over the past 40 or more years, the electric utility industry has met and solved a variety of problems and challenges. Let me pose some possible future problems, mainly to try to explain to the skeptical why a utility man might be interested in microwave power transmission. Admittedly, the probability that these particular problems will actually arise is not very great, but that is beside the point; other actual or more likely problems lead to the same considerations (but not as naturally or dramatically).
The dog aging project: translational geroscience in companion animals

Studies of the basic biology of aging have identified several genetic and pharmacological interventions that appear to modulate the rate of aging in laboratory model organisms, but a barrier to further progress has been the challenge of moving beyond these laboratory discoveries to impact health and quality of life for people. The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, offers a unique opportunity for surmounting this barrier in the near future. In particular, companion dogs share our environment and play an important role in improving the quality of life for millions of people. Here, we present a rationale for increasing the role of companion dogs as an animal model for both basic and clinical geroscience and describe complementary approaches and ongoing projects aimed at achieving this goal.
Capillary Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Intact Monolayer-Protected Gold Clusters in Complex Mixtures.

In some respects, large noble-metal clusters protected by thiolate ligands behave as giant molecules of definite composition and structure; however, their rigorous analysis continues to be quite challenging. Analysis of complex mixtures of intact monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs) by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) could provide quantitative identification of the various components present. This advance is critical for biomedical and toxicological research, as well as in fundamental studies that rely on the identification of selected compositions. This work expands upon the separate LC and MS results previously achieved, by interfacing the capillary liquid chromatograph directly to the electrospray source of the mass spectrometer, in order to provide an extremely sensitive, quantitative, and rapid means to characterize MPCs and their derivatives far beyond that of earlier reports. Here, we show that nonaqueous reversed-phase chromatography can be coupled to mass-spectrometry detection to ...
The Casey Martin Dispute: Conflicting Views of the Amicus Curiae Briefs

The PGA Tour, Inc. generally requires its professional golfers to walk the course during competition. Casey Martin has a rare disability, Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome, which severely limits his ability to walk long distances. However, he is an excellent golfer. Because the PGA barred him from using a golf cart during competition, he brought a discrimination suit against the PGA under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He prevailed in the district court. See 984 F.Supp. 1320 (D. Or. 1998); 994 F.Supp. 1242 (D. Or. 1998). And an appeal by the PGA is pending before the Ninth Circuit. "The Casey Martin Dispute: Conflicting Views of the Amicus Curiae Briefs" is a published version of amicus curiae briefs that were filed in the 9th Circuit. Thus, the "article" includes (1) the Brief of the Klippel-Trenaunay Syndrome Support Group, as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellee Casey Martin, prepared by Professor Brian Shannon, Texas Tech University School of Law, and (2) the Brief of the United States Golf Association as Amicus Curiae in Support of Appellant PGA Tour, Inc., by Barry A. White, et al., of Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago.
A second species, and first Central American record, of the phorid fly genus Lenkoa Borgmeier (Diptera: Phoridae).

A second species, and first Central American record, of the phorid fly genus Lenkoa Borgmeier (Diptera: Phoridae). Many species of phorid flies have wingless or brachypterous females. Mostly, they belong to a group classified within the subfamily Metopininae corresponding to the Metopina group of genera of Brown (1992a) or the tribe Metopinini of Disney (2003, not 1987). The males of this group are much more typical in appearance, with well-developed wings, larger eyes, and fully developed abdominal tergites. These males carry females during a mating flight, often dispersing them to new breeding sites (Miller 1984). Generally, the sexual dimorphism is so great that the sexes cannot be confidently associated unless they are collected in copula . This has led to a profusion of species being described as males and females in separate genera. Some of these brachypterous females, both within the Metopinini and elsewhere in other Phoridae, have been correctly associated with their males when they are found together (e.g., Brown 1986, 1992b, 1994), but many remain unassociated.
Distributed reasoning for diagnosing cascading outages in cyber physical energy systems: poster abstract

The power grid incorporates a number of protection elements such as distance relays that detect faults and prevent the propagation of failure effects from influencing the rest of system. However, the decision of these protection elements is only influenced by local information in the form of bus voltage/current (V-I) samples. Due to lack of system wide perspective, erroneous settings, and latent failure modes, protection devices often mis-operate and cause cascading effects that ultimately lead to blackouts. Blackouts around the world have been triggered or worsened by circuit breakers tripping, including the blackout of 2003 in North America, where the secondary/ remote protection relays incorrectly opened the breaker. Tools that aid the operators in finding the root cause of the problem online are required. However, high system complexity and the interdependencies between the cyber and physical elements of the system and the mis-operation of protection devices make the failure diagnosis a challenging problem.
Planning the American Indian Reservation: From Theory to Empowerment

Planning The American Indian Reservation: From Theory to Empowerment. By Nicholas Christos zaferatos. xxiv and 345 pp.; maps, diagrs., ills., bibliog., index. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Pr...
A High Resolution Whole Brain Imaging Using Oblique Light Sheet Tomography

We have developed a oblique version of the light sheet microscope to do volumetric imaging of the whole brains at high spatial resolution. Tissue clearing using aqueous techniques reduces the structural rigidity of the brain. We developed a gelatin based re-embedding procedure that makes the brain rigid enough to be sectioned. A few examples of whole brain volumetric images are shown using the oblique light sheet tomography.
An animal model of deep brain stimulation for treating tinnitus: A proof of concept study.

Objective This proof-of-concept study aimed to demonstrate therapeutic effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on noise-induced tinnitus. Study Design Experimental animal study. Methods After Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval, nine adult rats were implanted in the caudate nucleus with custom-made electrode array. The rats were exposed to noise to induce tinnitus. Auditory brainstem response was performed to evaluate hearing threshold changes. Noise-induced tinnitus and its suppression by DBS were evaluated using the gap-detection acoustic startle reflex behavioral paradigm and electrophysiological evaluation of modulatory effects on neural correlates of tinnitus. Various stimulation parameters were used to determine the most effective ones in affecting behavioral changes, along with corresponding neural activity in the caudate nucleus. The correlation between the caudate nucleus and auditory cortex also was determined. Analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction was performed to examine DBS-induced effects on behavioral evidence of tinnitus. Results Bursting activity, a neural marker of tinnitus, was noted to decrease compared to baseline in tinnitus (+) animals. After stimulation, spontaneous and bursting activity increased in the tinnitus (+) animals but decreased in the tinnitus (−) animals. Behavioral data suggested suppression of tinnitus after DBS. These effects lasted up to 5 days. To our knowledge, this is the first development of an animal model to test deep brain stimulation of the caudate region for the treatment of tinnitus. Conclusions Deep brain stimulation of the caudate nucleus can modulate tinnitus in a rat model of tinnitus. Level of Evidence NA. Laryngoscope, 2017
Nicotine-Use/Smoking Is Associated with the Efficacy of Naltrexone in the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence

BACKGROUND The opioid antagonist naltrexone is not efficacious for every alcohol treatment seeker. However, various individual factors, such as genetic differences and nicotine-use/smoking status, have been suggested as predictors of naltrexone response. In a randomized clinical trial, we previously reported that nicotine-use/smoking status might be a stronger predictor of naltrexone efficacy than OPRM1 A118G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype. In this report, we further characterize the nicotine-users in that trial, examine other drinking outcomes, examine the influence of smoking change on naltrexone effects on drinking, and validate the result in smokers with disialo carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (%dCDT) change as an independent biomarker of response. METHODS Individuals (n = 146) meeting DSM-IV criteria for alcohol dependence who were genotyped for the OPRM1 A118G SNP and who did, or did not, use nicotine/cigarettes were randomized, in a balanced fashion, to naltrexone (50 mg/d) or placebo and provided medical management (MM) over a 16-week clinical trial. Alcohol use and smoking during the trial were assessed and analyzed. RESULTS Nicotine-use/smoking status significantly interacted with medication in reducing percent heavy drinking days (PHDD) during the trial (p = 0.003), such that nicotine-users/smokers showed significantly lower PHDD on naltrexone versus placebo (p = 0.0001, Cohen's d = 0.89), while nonusers showed no significant difference between naltrexone and placebo (p = 0.95, Cohen's d = 0.02). Similar effects were shown for drinks per day and percent days drinking. The superiority of naltrexone over placebo on PHDD reduction in nicotine-users/smokers was confirmed with %dCDT (Cohen's d range 0.3 to 0.9 over the study). Naltrexone did not significantly change cigarette use in smokers, and change in use did not influence naltrexone's effect on PHDD. CONCLUSIONS These data confirm past findings that naltrexone is more efficacious in those who use nicotine/cigarettes. Compared to previous work on the OPRM1 A118G SNP, it appears that nicotine-use might be a more salient predictor of naltrexone treatment response. While naltrexone did not change cigarette use during the study, and smoking change was not related to alcohol reduction, it should be noted that participants were not seeking smoking cessation and MM did not address this issue.
Toward Engineering the Metabolic Pathways of Cancer-Preventing Lignans in Cereal Grains and Other Crops

Lignans, ubiquitous constituents of vascular plants, have a number of properties that are of use to humans: some can protect against the onset of various cancers,1 whereas others have antimitotic, antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal properties.2 Certain lignans can also function, for example, as antioxidants, platelet activating factor receptor antagonists, and anti-tubercular agents, and others are disinfectants, moth repellants, and insecticides.3–5 Because of their important applications from a health and economic perspective, intensified efforts are being expended to both understand and manipulate their biosynthetic pathways. Accordingly, this chapter highlights progress being made towards deciphering the 8–8’ linked lignan metabolic pathway and its utility to the bioengineering of human foodstuffs.
Cardiogenic Shock: A Rare Complication of Influenza

We have presented a case of 41-year-old male who presented to the hospital with worsening shortness of breath, fatigue and flu-like symptoms. On admission to hospital, the patient was in severe cardiogenic shock secondary to acute perimyocarditis. He was admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit for close monitoring and aggressive hemodynamic support. Influenza B antigen was detected in nasopharyngeal aspirate and the patient was started on oseltamivir. The patient's cardiac function improved significantly in few days and he was discharged home in stable condition with normal ejection fraction.
RISK MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF COLLEGIATE ATHLETIC TRAINERS: AN EXAMINATION OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Risk Management Practices of Collegiate Athletic Trainers: An Examination of Policies and Procedures The purpose of this study was to identify and describe (a) risk management practices of collegiate athletic trainers, (b) perceived risk management practices important to the collegiate athletic trainer, (c) risk management responsibilities of the head athletic trainer, and (d) resources utilized by collegiate athletic trainers in the development of a risk management plan. Risk management practices were divided into 13 categories: (a) periodic review, (b) consultation, (c) periodic in-services of policies, (d) periodic inservices for personnel, (e) methods for insuring against loss, (f) participation and consent of athletes, (g) emergencies, (h) care and treatment of injuries and conditions, (i) safety inspection and investigation, (j) supervision, (k) elimination of potential risk, (l) goals and objectives, and (m) administrative responsibilities. Participants were asked to identify the extent to which risk management practices were in writing and operation. Potential resources were separated into six categories: professional position statements, standards of practice, federal regulations, case law, state licensure, and athletic organization medical handbooks. A random sample of 444 (n=444) college athletic trainers was obtained from a population of 5,157 certified members of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association who identified an employment setting of university and college. 229 surveys were returned for s response rate of 51%. The study utilized descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviation) and Spearman Rho correlation. Findings suggest collegiate athletic trainers perceive all 13 categories to be important or very important risk management practices for inclusion in a policy and procedure manual. The extent to which athletic trainers engage in risk management practices in written and operation use is inconsistent. Head athletic trainers typically serve as the risk manager and are responsible for creating and implementing the policies and procedures. Utilization of professional position statements occurs more frequently than other available resources, including federal laws and professional standards of practice. College athletic trainers indicate a desire for national standards on policy and procedure development but are not as inclined to have an external accrediting organization regulate the operation of the athletic training facility.
Transitional gains and rent extraction

Tullock (Bell J Econ 6:671–678, 1975) described a transitional gains trap in which the present value of rents is capitalized in the value of an asset required to get the rents. Owners of the assets just earn a normal rate of return on their assets, despite the inefficient policies that produced the rents. The trap was that undoing the inefficient policy would impose a transitional loss on the owners of those assets. Tullock characterized the creation of transitional gains as a mistake, but combined with McChesney’s (J Leg Stud 16(1):101–118, 1987) rent extraction framework, the creation of transitional gains can be seen as a mechanism for rent extraction, not a mistake. Tullock (Bell J Econ 6:671–678, 1975) focuses on the value of assets required to obtain rents. Sometimes investment in those assets imposes a welfare loss on the economy, but the rent-seeking literature does not acknowledge that at other times it does not. Rent-seeking is typically not as economically costly as it appears to be in much of the rent-seeking literature.
The Cold War: Mapping the Undercurrents

The Cold War was basically a period a neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism pursued on the pretext of threat perception by both the superpowers. The function of the Third World is to provide services for the rich, offering cheap labour, resources, markets, opportunities for investment, as Noam Chomsky said. Whenever a developing or an underdeveloped country of Asia, Africa or Latin America denies it to the West, conflict ensues. The Cold War epoch and the present global scenario only endorse this view.
The Upper Paleolithic of the Americas

Substantial archaeological and genetic data suggest that the initial occupation of the Americas is more complex and diverse than previously thought. As evidence for multiple patterns and/or adaptiv...