cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Resection of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients without cirrhosis.

Background: Outcomes for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) without cirrhosis and factors associated with disease progression remain unclear. The goals of this single-institution study were to define the outcomes for such patients, and to determine factors associated with survival and disease progression. Methods: This was a retrospective review of consecutive patients with HCC without cirrhosis who underwent hepatic resection between 1985 and 2003. Survival was estimated by the Kaplan–Meier method and risk factors were identified by Cox proportional hazards models. Results: A total of 143 patients were enrolled, of whom 29·4 per cent had identifiable risk factors for chronic liver disease. Major resection (at least three segments) was undertaken in 63·6 per cent of patients. The operative mortality rate was 3·5 per cent. Median disease-free survival was 2·4 years. Multivariable analysis revealed presence of multiple tumours as the only independent predictor of tumour recurrence. Median overall survival was 3·3 years. Factors independently associated with decreased overall survival were multiple tumours, high histological grade, perioperative transfusion, male sex and age at least 66 years. Conclusion: Patients with HCC but without cirrhosis have acceptable outcomes after resection. Specific risk factors for the development of HCC in these patients have yet to be defined. Copyright © 2011 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Acid etching patterns in naturally-fractured formations

When a naturally fractured carbonate formation is treated with acid at pressures below the fracturing pressure, the acidizing process will likely be different from either a true matrix treatment or an acid fracturing treatment. In a matrix treatment of a relatively homogeneous, un-fractured carbonate, the acid initially penetrates into the pore structure and usually creates wormholes. In an acid fracturing treatment, the acid flows through the relatively wide fracture, resulting in more uniform etching of the fracture walls. In naturally fractured formations, acid could either mainly generate wormholes, as in matrix acidizing of carbonates without natural fractures, or etch the fracture surfaces, as in acid fracturing. Determining the etching pattern is essential for modeling acidizing in carbonates with natural fractures. We studied the influence of natural fractures on the acid etching pattern. We used two closely contacted rock samples to simulate natural fractures. The gap between the samples was in the range of average natural fracture widths indicated in the literature. The samples were then acidized with 13.5% HCl. Numerous experiments were conducted to determine the acid etching pattern. Our experimental results show that the acid etching pattern of naturally fractured formations depends strongly on the width of the natural fracture. For typical natural fracture widths, the pattern tends to be wormholing, rather than etching of the fracture surfaces. In most experiments, one broad channel was created at the area near the inlet of the samples, and as acid flows down the fracture, the channel narrows quickly and finally becomes a deep narrow wormhole. The effect of natural fractures on acid etching pattem vanishes as acid moves away from the inlet. As the width of the natural fracture increases, the channel created near the inlet becomes broader and longer, and as the width of natural fracture decreases, the channel becomes narrower and shorter.
Beyond the Uniqueness Assumption

Perceptual organization provides an intermediate representation of data by means of object- and goal-independent information. The lack of complete information makes perceptual organization an intrinsically ambiguous process which invalidates the uniqueness assumption and requires instead the generation of multiple solutions. This raises the issue of eliminating redundancies which, in a recursive algorithm, might otherwise cause combinatorial explosion of the search space. These aspects of perceptual organization are illustrated in the context of cycle detection in a contour graph. A provably correct algorithm for this problem is proposed.
Effects of aerobic exercise on lipids and lipoproteins in adults with type 2 diabetes: a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials

Summary Objective To conduct a meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials in order to examine the effects of 8 weeks or more of aerobic exercise on lipids and lipoproteins in adults with Type 2 diabetes. Methods Studies were included if total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), ratio of TC to HDL-C (TC/HDL-C), triglycerides (TG), or all of the above, were assessed. A secondary outcome was glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA 1 ). Results Seven studies representing 220 men and women (112 exercise, 108 control) were available for pooling. Using a random-effects model, a statistically significant reduction of about 5% was found for LDL-C, whereas no statistically significant improvements were found for TC, HDL-C, TC/HDL-C or TG. A trend for a statistically significant reduction in HbA 1 was also found. Conclusions Although our overall results suggest that aerobic exercise lowers LDL-C in adults with Type 2 diabetes, additional randomized-controlled trials are needed on this topic.
Neurocognitive correlates of the effects of yoga meditation practice on emotion and cognition: a pilot study

Mindfulness meditation involves attending to emotions without cognitive fixation of emotional experience. Over time, this practice is held to promote alterations in trait affectivity and attentional control with resultant effects on well-being and cognition. However, relatively little is known regarding the neural substrates of meditation effects on emotion and cognition. The present study investigated the neurocognitive correlates of emotion interference on cognition in Yoga practitioners and a matched control group underwent fMRI while performing an event-related affective Stroop task. The task includes image viewing trials and Stroop trials bracketed by neutral or negative emotional distractors. During image viewing trials, Yoga practitioners exhibited less reactivity in right dlPFC to negative as compared to neutral images; whereas the control group had the opposite pattern. A main effect of valence (negative > neutral) was observed in limbic regions (e.g. amygdala), of which the magnitude was inversely related to dlPFC activation. Exploratory analyses revealed that the magnitude of amygdala activation predicted decreased self-reported positive affect in the Control group, but not among Yoga practitioners. During Stroop trials, Yoga practitioners had greater activation in vlPFC during Stroop trials when negative, compared to neutral, emotional distractor were presented; the control group exhibited the opposite pattern. Taken together, these data suggest that though Yoga practitioners exhibit limbic reactivity to negative emotional stimuli, such reactivity does not have downstream effects on later mood state. This uncoupling of viewing negative emotional images and affect among Yoga practitioners may be occasioned by their selective implementation of frontal executive-dependent strategies to reduce emotional interference during competing cognitive demands and not during emotional processing per se.
Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy and Life-Course-Persistent Offending

Evidence exists documenting the relationship between maternal cigarette smoking and offspring criminal behavior. Although efforts to understand this relationship in a theoretical framework have only recently emerged, attempts made have been grounded in Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy of antisocial behavior. Specifically, maternal cigarette smoking is generally viewed as a potential disruption in the offspring’s neuropsychological development, which is subsequently associated with life-course-persistent offending. Using a birth cohort of 987 African Americans, the authors extend previous research by empirically assessing, prospectively, the link between maternal cigarette smoking and life-course-persistent offending while using different operationalizations of Moffitt’s offending categorization. The authors’ findings offer some support for the relationship between maternal cigarette smoking and life-course-persistentoffending, which is dependenton how this conceptis operationalized.
“Healthy People 2010”: national health objectives for the United States

Establishing health objectives for a population is an important component of programmes aimed at improving and protecting public health. At whatever level it is used—community, state, country, or continent—a system to develop and attain health objectives serves several useful purposes (see box below). Adoption of health objectives at the national (or international) level can encourage the adoption of health objectives in smaller jurisdictions, tailored to local needs and circumstances. #### Summary points Despite the clear benefits of establishing health objectives for populations, their use is still not universal. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, for example, have promulgated broad national health objectives, but Canada has not. Europe has distinguished itself among continents by establishing regional health objectives. #### Purposes of establishing health objectives
CRT-13 Long-term Safety And Efficacy Of Drug-eluting Stents (DES) Versus Bare Metal Stents (BMS) in Public Health System Patients Stratified By Presentation Acuity At The Time Of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)

The main benefit of DES vs. BMS in PCI is reduced revascularization. Recent data also suggest reduced major adverse cardiac events (MACE) with DES used in the context of MI yet many patients (pts), especially the uninsured do not receive DES. We evaluated BMS vs. DES in a public health system (PHS)
Electronic properties of conjugated polymers in solution: Persistence lengths and photoinduced absorption

Abstract We examine the electronic characteristics of a π-conjugated polymer in solution. First, a simple perturbative model is used to estimate the persistence length of a solvated conjugated polymer. For any reasonable parameters, we find that the chains have an overwhelming tendency towards relatively long persistence lengths, on the order of 100 monomer units. This result implies that the rigid sections on a solvated chain are long enough to support the quasi-one dimensional excitations (polarons, bipolarons) that have often been observed in the solid state. We then present results of photoinduced absorption measurements on poly(3-hexylthiophene) dissolved in solution. Indeed, the data display the spectral features characteristic of photoinduced bipolarons. By performing the experiment at different concentrations, we are able to analyze the kinetics of the photoexcitations.
New lightning theory strikes

The mapped patterns o f lightning appear to reveal bipolar structures 100 km or more long, many times larger than individual storms, three atmospheric scientists report in a new study. A fuller understanding of the structures could lead to improved forecasting of dangerous electrical storms. The paper, by Richard Orville, Ronald Henderson, and Lance Bosart of the State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA), will be published in the February issue of Geophysical Research Letters. The scientists based their conclusions on records from networks of magnetic lightning detectors that together cover nearly 75% of the United States. The ability to look at lightning on a regional scale by combining observations from local networks made the wide-ranging study possible.
crop and range alert system in the U.S. northern Great Plains

The Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium has developed a crop and range alert system to provide farmers, ranchers, land managers from the Native American Community, government agencies and non-governmental organizations with frequent and near real time remote sensing data to enable decisions that both maximize the producer's income and protect the environment. The project, started in 1999, includes the establishment of a learning community network of end users, fast delivery of data to remote locations, applications development and training. More than a hundred and fifty end users and research scientists participated in this learning group in which information is shared in all directions. Over fifty end users were connected via high-bandwidth satellite link to a central distribution system at the University of North Dakota. They received and shared products derived from AVHRR, MODIS, Landsat, IKONOS and aerial platforms. A number of practical applications were developed for precision farming, such as zone-based nitrogen management, stress detection, spray drift detection, and for rangeland management, such as weed detection, livestock carrying capacity, and livestock field rotations. Several instances of cost savings and higher earnings occurred. More importantly, the imagery use resulted in lesser use of chemicals in farming and ranching, leading to environmental benefits.
A dynamically reconfigurable computing model for video processing applications

We introduce an idealized dynamically reconfigurable computing model that is suitable for applications in video processing applications. Dynamically reconfigurable computing is characterized by a dynamic data path which has been made possible with the partial reconfiguration feature available in modern FPGA devices. Dynamically reconfigurable computing design leads to a multi-objective optimization model with constraints on power, performance and resources. We provide a review of recent reconfigurable computing applications reported by different groups and propose a new model for dynamically reconfigurable video processing applications. We provide model measurements for reconfiguration time overhead, static and reconfiguration power consumption.
Comment on "Magnetic dipole field generated by a spherical current-distribution"

An argument is given to show that the wound wire sphere is a practical way to realize the magnetic dipole moment.
Ideals associated to deformations of singular plane curves

We consider in this paper the geometry of certain loci in deformation spaces of plane curve singularities. These loci are the equisingular locus ES which parametrizes equisingular or topologically trivial deformations, the equigeneric locus EG which parametrizes deformations of constant geometric genus, and the equiclassical locus EC which parametrizes deformations of constant geometric genus and class. (The class of a reduced plane curve is the degree of its dual.) It was previously known that the tangent space to ES corresponds to an ideal called the equisingular ideal and that the support of the tangent cone to EG corresponds to the conductor ideal. We show that the support of the tangent cone to EC corresponds to an ideal which we call the equiclassical ideal. By studying these ideals we are able to obtain information about the geometry and dimensions of ES, EC, and EG. This allows us to prove some theorems about the dimensions of families of plane curves with certain specified singularities.
Attenuation of nonsense-mediated mRNA decay facilitates the response to chemotherapeutics

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) limits the production of aberrant mRNAs containing a premature termination codon and also controls the levels of endogenous transcripts. Here we show that when human cells are treated with clinically used chemotherapeutic compounds, NMD activity declines partly as a result of the proteolytic production of a dominant-interfering form of the key NMD factor UPF1. Production of cleaved UPF1 functions to upregulate genes involved in the response to apoptotic stresses. The biological consequence is the promotion of cell death. Combined exposure of cells to a small-molecule inhibitor of NMD, NMDI-1, and the chemotherapeutic doxorubicin leads to enhanced cell death, while inhibiting UPF1 cleavage protects cells from doxorubicin challenge. We propose a model to explain why the expression levels of genes producing mRNAs of diverse structure that encode proteins of diverse function are under the purview of NMD.
Eosinophilic bronchitis-like lesion as the cause of death in a Macaca mulatta: a first case report.

Background Eosinophilic bronchitis is a recently described, relatively benign condition in humans that is characterized by a corticosteroid-responsive chronic cough and sputum eosinophilia without the abnormalities of airway function seen in asthma. The exact cause of this condition is currently unknown, however has been associated with various occupational exposures in humans. It has also been reported to progress to irreversible airway obstruction. This disease has been reported in dogs and horses, but not in non-human primates. Methods Gross examination of an otherwise healthy 13-year-old, colony-born Macaca mulatta, which died of severe non-responsive respiratory distress revealed that the lungs were markedly inflated and moist. Results Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections from the lungs contained widespread accumulation of eosinophils, sloughed epithelial cells, and mucus centered around bronchioles and adjacent airways. There was no evidence of mast cell infiltration of peribronchiolar smooth muscle, goblet cell hyperplasia, or basement membrane thickening. Conclusions This ruled out recurrent episodes as would be expected in asthma, favoring the diagnosis of an eosinophilic bronchitis-like lesion. We report a first case of eosinophilic bronchitis-like features in a M. mulatta.
Re-specification of Affine Term Structure Models: The Linkage to Empirical Investigations

AbstractThis paper specifies the dynamic and cross-sectional behaviour of bonds in the framework of the general affine term structure model (ATSM) of Duffie and Kan (1996, A yield-factor model of interest rate. Mathematical Finance, 6, 379–406). We present the calibrations of ATSM, with the numerics fitting in with the actual data under the physical probability measure. Without assumptions and restrictions on any specific physical process of the factors, we find theoretical loads by solving Riccati equations with parameters chosen for the solution to match those from the principal component models. The general condition on the boundary is satisfied; so, the Black-Scholes equation admits a unique solution, which supports the Condition of Duffie and Kan.
Relationship Between Atrial Fibrillation and Typical Atrial Flutter in Humans Activation Sequence Changes During Spontaneous Conversion

Background A transitional rhythm precedes the spontaneous onset of atrial flutter in an animal model, but few data are available in man. Methods and Results In 10 patients, 16 episodes of atrial fibrillation (166±236 seconds) converting into atrial flutter during electrophysiological evaluation were analyzed. A 20-pole catheter was used for mapping the right atrial free wall. Preceding the conversion was a characteristic sequence of events: (1) a gradual increase in atrial fibrillation cycle length (150±25 ms after onset, 166±28 ms before conversion, P<.01); (2) an electrically silent period (267±45 ms); (3) “organized atrial fibrillation” (cycle length, 184±24 ms) with the same right atrial free wall activation direction as during atrial flutter; (4) another delay on the lateral right atrium (283±52 ms); and (5) typical atrial flutter (cycle length, 245±38 ms). The coronary sinus generally had a different rate than the right atrial free wall until the beat that initiated flutter, when right atrium and co...
An improved method for the identification of patients and carriers of Krabbe's disease

Abstract The activity of galactosyl ceramide and lactosyl ceramide β-galactosidase was measured in leukocyte and fibroblast homogenates. New incubation conditions for this assay provide a significantly more sensitive method than reported previously. Both reactions were stimulated by optimal concentrations of sodium taurocholate and oleic acid. Citrate-phosphate buffer, pH 4.2, was found to give maximum reaction. Galactosyi ceramide and lactosyl ceramide β-galactosidase activities in leukocytes, cultured skin fibroblasts and cultured amniotic cells from controls and patients with lysosomal disease were compared to carriers and patients with Krabbe's disease. Activity for lactosyl ceramide β-galactosidase was much greater than galactosyl ceramide β-galactosidase activity and may provide a new, more sensitive method for the diagnosis of Krabbe's disease as well as for the identification of suspected carriers. A prenatal diagnosis has been done using this new method.
Development of sensory innervation in dentin

We have labeled dental nerves of 3-week- to 1-year-old rats by axonal transport of radioactive protein in order to detect nerves in developing dentin by autoradiography. We found that, in addition to nerve growth, two processes determine adult dentinal nerve location: (1) enclosure of nerves within circumpulpal dentinal tubules during the last few weeks of dentinogenesis, beginning at the tip of the pulp horn and spreading to include most coronal dentin; and (2) gradual loss of the nerves near the tip of the cusp because of dentinal attrition and replacement by noninnervated, reparative dentin. Several days before a molar erupts, nerves at the tip of the cusp have already begun to be enclosed by dentin; 2-3 weeks later, when dentinogenesis at the cusp tip slows down, most of the innervation for that region has been established, nerves extend up to 160 micron into dentin, and the molar has reached the stage of functional occlusion. Soon after initial occlusion, the process of dentinal attrition and replacement by noninnervated reparative dentin begins; however, simultaneous dentinogenesis in more apical regions produces new innervated dentin. We studied nerve position in relation to dentin growth lines and found that there is a long-term association of nerve endings with specific sites in the dentinal tubules. The similarities between the development of dentinal innervation in rat molars and in human permanent teeth are discussed; it is found that as teeth mature and become more sensitive to painful stimuli, the density of dentinal nerves increases.
Spatial memory and radial arm maze performance of rats

Abstract Rats were tested on an elevated radial maze for their ability to choose each of 17 different arms once without repeating any choices. The first experiment indicated that the animals performed well, choosing an average of more than 14 different arms in the first 17 choices. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that: (a) response patterns, general algorithms, or intramaze markings were not necessary for correct choices: (b) there was interference among choices within a test so that the probability of a correct response decreased as the number of choices increased; (c) there was no serial-order effect (primacy or recency); (d) animals tested in a procedure which did not require prior shaping showed no evidence of a general predisposition not to repeat choices. The results are discussed in terms of capacity, accuracy, and other characteristics of working spatial memory.
Questions of Fact in the Practice of Law: A Response to Allen and Pardo's ‘Facts in Law and Facts of Law’:

In an article in this journal, Professor Ronald Allen and Michael Pardo critiqued efforts to explain the fact–law distinction on ontological, epistemological or analytical grounds. Finding those ef...
InAs Island Quantum Box Formation and Vertical Self-Organization on GaAs (100) Via Molecular Beam Epitaxy

In-situ, ultra high vacuum combined scanning tunneling microscope/atomic force microscope (STM/AFM) studies were undertaken to examine the initiation of 3D InAs islands on GaAs (100) and their density and size distribution as a function of growth conditions. A decreasing island density with increasing As4 pressure is observed and points to the significance of strain in affecting In migration and As4 incorporation. A stack of InAs islands separated by GaAs spacer layers exhibit a vertically self-organized growth. Through analysis of a phenomenological model, this is shown to be a consequence of a directional In adatom migration caused by the islandinduced nonuniform strain fields.
Pectoralis Minor Tenotomy and Anterior Scalenotomy with Special Reference to the Hyperabduction Syndrome and "Effort Thrombosis" of the Subclavian Vein

Symptoms referable to the subclavian vessels or lowermost cord of the brachial plexus are frequently seen following repeated or prolonged hyperabduction of the arms. The sites of compression are thought to be the point at which these neurovascular structures emerge from beneath the pectoralis minor tendon and the interval between the clavicle and the first rib. Five patients presenting the hyperabduction syndrome have been subjected to pectoralis minor tenotomy and anterior scalenotomy with a good result in four cases, indicating the potential value of the procedure in this particular shoulder girdle syndrome.
Nonuser Resource Values

vidual values. We desire to acknowledge both the value accruing to users and the value accruing to nonusers. Although the individual values of nonusers may be small, there are potentially very large populations of nonusers for some resources. For policy or for litigation, whether or not you choose to recognize the aggregate "value" accruing to nonusers of a resource can make all the difference in the world.
Buckle propagation in confined steel tubes

Abstract It is well known that tubular liners of stiff cavities such as grouted oil-well casing can be collapsed by external pressure. Collapse is initially local but can propagate at a relatively low pressure with catastrophic results. The paper presents a quantitative study of the lowest pressure at which confined collapse can propagate known as confined propagation pressure . Experiments and analysis are used to develop an improved expression relating this critical pressure to the material and geometric parameters of the liner tube. It is shown that these include the yield stress and post-yield characteristics of the material, and the tube D / t . The new empirical relationship developed can provide engineering type estimates of the confined propagation pressure. The quasi-static initiation and propagation of confined collapse was also modeled using three-dimentional finite elements. The model accounts for the finite deformations and addresses the contact nonlinearities which govern the phenomenon. The material is modeled as a finitely deforming elastic–plastic solid. It is demonstrated that the model can predict the confined propagation pressure to a very significant degree of accuracy. It is thus a viable tool for obtaining accurate predictions of this critical pressure.
Structural Elucidation by Fast Atom Bombardment Mass Spectrometry of Multisulfated Oligosaccharides Isolated from Human Respiratory Mucous Glycoproteins

Abstract Underivatized mono- and multisulfated oligosaccharides obtained by the alkalineborohydride treatment of human respiratory mucous glycoproteins were analyzed by positive ion fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB MS). Employing three unique and structurally homologous groups, the FAB mass spectra of a mono- and a disulfated tri- and tetrasaccharide and a mono-, di- and trisulfated branched hexasaccharide were compared. Each produced mass spectra displaying molecular weight-related and structurally significant fragment ions including fragments differing in mass by multiples of 102 amu reflecting the loss of one or more sulfate esters. From these data, combined with monosaccharide composition, the carbohydrate sequence and number and location of sulfate esters can readily be determined. These findings, with other chemical and enzymatic analyses, make FAB MS a valuable tool applicable to the unambiguous structural elucidation of underivatized reduced, linear and branched, mucous glycoprotein ol...
Children's understanding of false beliefs in different domains: Affective vs. physical

This study compared the development of other false belief and representational change knowledge in the affective and physical domains. Pre-school children (ages 3–4 years) participated in unexpected contents types of physical tasks and similar affective tasks. There were no domain differences in the children's performance; however, a marginal interaction with age was noted with older children performing better on the physical tasks than younger ones, but no age difference was found for the affective tasks. Children's knowledge of other false belief and representational change was also similar. Controlling for age, partial correlations between the representational change and other false belief questions were significant in the affective and physical domains. Partial correlations investigating the relationships across domains indicated a significant relationship for representational change, but not for other false belief. These results suggest that other false belief knowledge and representational change knowledge develop concurrently in the affective and physical domains.
Prospect parks: walking the Promenade Planteé and the High Line

When it comes to disused elevated rail lines radically remade into elevated urban garden paths, Paris and New York lead the way. Today, the Manhattan exemplar, the High Line, is the more visited, c...
Explaining cache SER anomaly using DUE AVF measurement

We have discovered that processors can experience a super-linear increase in detected unrecoverable errors (DUE) when the write-back L2 cache is doubled in size. This paper explains how an increase in the cache tag's Architectural Vulnerability Factor or AVF caused such a super-linear increase in the DUE rate. AVF expresses the fraction of faults that become user-visible errors. Our hypothesis is that this increase in AVF is caused by a super-linear increase in “dirty” data residence times in the L2 cache. Using proton beam irradiation, we measured the DUE rates from the write-back cache tags and analyzed the data to show that our hypothesis holds. We utilized a combination of simulation and measurements to help develop and prove this hypothesis. Our investigation reveals two methods by which dirty line residency causes super-linear increases in the L2 cache tag's AVF. One is a reduction in the miss rates as we move to the larger cache part, resulting in fewer evictions of data required for architecturally correct execution. The second is the occurrence of strided cache access patterns, which cause a significant increase in the “dirty” residency times of cache lines without increasing the cache miss rate.
Turnover Among Nursing Home Staff: A Review

Turnover is especially critical in nursing homes: continuity of care and personal relationships between care-givers and residents are important determinants of quality of care. Additionally, for the cognitively impaired nursing home resident, constant change of staff is bound to aggravate disorientation. Research demonstrates links between turnover and employment/employee characteristics and employment availability.
An infrastructure approach to context-aware computing

The Context Toolkit (Dey, Abowd, and Salber, 2001 [this special issue]) is only one of many possible architectures for supporting context-aware applications. In this essay, we look at the tradeoffs involved with a service infrastructure approach to context-aware computing. We describe the advantages that a service infrastructure for context awareness has over other approaches, outline some of the core technical challenges that must be addressed before such an infrastructure can be built, and point out promising research directions for overcoming these challenges.
Continuous probability distribution (CUPID) analysis of potentials for internal rotations.

Abstract The c ontin u ous p robab i lity d istribution (CUPID) approach for analyzing the rotamer populations from NMR spin–spin couplings and nuclear Overhauser enhancements [Ž. Džakula, W. M. Westler, A. S. Edison, and J. L. Markley, J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 114, 6195 (1992)] can be expanded to allow computation of the rotational potential from the Fourier coefficients of the angular probability distribution. This approach provides a general solution to the nonnegativity problem, which appears when lack of data causes a serious truncation in the Fourier series that defines the probability distribution. In favorable cases, this approach also allows thermodynamic characterization of internal rotation. Use of this extension of the CUPID method is illustrated by the analysis of internal rotations in an amino acid, two peptides, and an oligosaccharide from published experimental data. Three strategies have been devised for dealing with cases where the experimental input data do not provide enough information for complete reconstruction of the potential: (1) two-dimensional grid search for the undetermined third-order Fourier coefficients of the potential, (2) transfer of these coefficients from related model compounds, and (3) restriction of the magnitudes of the Fourier coefficients as required by the assumption of fast-exchange averaging of the input parameters. In addition, equations for translating uncertainties in experimental NMR input data into errors in calculated continuous probability distributions of rotamers are presented. The dependence of errors on various features of the distributions has been studied systematically from simulations. The results show that, typically, the confidence intervals are ±30–40° for dihedral angles and ±0.2 for rotamer populations. For χ 1 rotamers of amino acids, the analysis is most sensitive to the uncertainties in C′–H β couplings. A critical reexamination of the use of Gaussian functions to reconstruct a probability distribution is presented. In particular, the simplifying assumption of identical widths for all Gaussian probability peaks has been justified by showing that it does not lead to large errors in other CUPID parameters. Finally, the angular dependences of cross-relaxation rates, their uncertainties, and the potential for their use in studying χ 1 internal rotations in amino acids are discussed.
An Asymmetric Shapley–Shubik Power Index

This paper extends the traditional “pivoting” and “swing” schemes in the Shapley–Shubik (S-S) power index and the Banzhaf index to the case of “blocking”. Voters are divided into two groups: those who vote for the bill and those against the bill. The uncertainty of the division is described by a probability distribution. We derive the S-S power index, based on a priori ignorance about the random bipartition.
Specific and non-specific interactions of integration host factor with DNA: thermodynamic evidence for disruption of multiple IHF surface salt-bridges coupled to DNA binding.

Site-specific DNA binding of architectural protein integration host factor (IHF) is involved in formation of functional multiprotein-DNA assemblies in Escherichia coli, while non-specific binding of IHF and other histone-like proteins serves to structure the nucleoid. Here, we report an isothermal titration calorimetry study of the thermodynamics of binding IHF to a 34 bp fragment composed entirely of the specific H′ site from λ-phage DNA. At low to moderate [K+] (60–100 mM), strong competition is observed between specific and non-specific binding as a result of a low specificity ratio (∼102) and a very small non-specific site size. In this [K+] range, both specific and non-specific binding are enthalpy-driven, with large negative enthalpy, entropy and heat capacity changes and binding constants that are insensitive to [K+]. Above 100 mM K+, only specific binding is observed, and both the binding constant and the magnitudes of enthalpy, entropy and heat capacity changes all decrease strongly with increasing [K+]. When interpreted in the context of the structure of the specific complex, the thermodynamics provide compelling evidence for a previously unrecognized design principle by which proteins that form extensive binding interfaces with nucleic acids control binding constants, binding site sizes and effects of temperature and ion concentrations on stability and specificity. We propose that up to 22 of the 23 IHF cationic side-chains that are located within 6 A of DNA phosphate oxygen atoms in the complex, are masked in the absence of DNA by pairing with anionic carboxylate groups in intramolecular salt-bridges (dehydrated ion-pairs). These salt-bridges increase in stability with increasing temperature and decreasing [K+]. To explain the unusual thermodynamics of IHF-DNA interactions, we propose that both specific and non-specific binding at low [K+] require disruption of salt-bridges (as many as 18 for specific binding) whereupon many of the unmasked charged groups hydrate and the cationic groups interact with DNA. From structural or thermodynamic parallels with IHF, we propose that large-scale coupling of disruption of protein salt-bridges to DNA binding is significant for other large-interface DNA wrapping proteins including the nucleosome, lac repressor core tetramer, RNA polymerase core protein, HU and SSB.
Mitochondrial dependence of nerve growth factor-induced mechanical hyperalgesia

Abstract Mitochondria are present at high concentration at the site of sensory transduction in the peripheral terminals of nociceptors. Because nerve growth factor (NGF), which induces nociceptor sensitization by acting on the high-affinity tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) receptor, also produces local recruitment of mitochondria in DRG neurons, we evaluated the role of mitochondria in NGF-induced mechanical hyperalgesia. Inhibition of 3 major mitochondrial functions—oxidation of nutrients, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, and generation of reactive oxygen species—markedly attenuated NGF-induced mechanical hyperalgesia in the rat. Disruption of microtubules, which are required for the trafficking and subcellular localization of mitochondria, also attenuated NGF-induced hyperalgesia. Our results suggest a contribution of mitochondrial localization and function to NGF-dependent pain syndromes.
Brief paper: Stability of sampled-data piecewise-affine systems under state feedback

This paper addresses stability of sampled-data piecewise-affine (PWA) systems consisting of a continuous-time plant and a discrete-time emulation of a continuous-time state feedback controller. The paper presents conditions under which the trajectories of the sampled-data closed-loop system will exponentially converge to a neighborhood of the origin. Moreover, the size of this neighborhood will be related to bounds on perturbation parameters related to the sampling procedure, in particular, related to the sampling period. Finally, it will be shown that when the sampling period converges to zero the performance of the stabilizing continuous-time PWA state feedback controller can be recovered by the emulated controller.
Coupled Growth and Division of Model Protocell Membranes

The generation of synthetic forms of cellular life requires solutions to the problem of how biological processes such as cyclic growth and division could emerge from purely physical and chemical systems. Small unilamellar fatty acid vesicles grow when fed with fatty acid micelles and can be forced to divide by extrusion, but this artificial division process results in significant loss of protocell contents during each division cycle. Here we describe a simple and efficient pathway for model protocell membrane growth and division. The growth of large multilamellar fatty acid vesicles fed with fatty acid micelles, in a solution where solute permeation across the membranes is slow, results in the transformation of initially spherical vesicles into long thread-like vesicles, a process driven by the transient imbalance between surface area and volume growth. Modest shear forces are then sufficient to cause the thread-like vesicles to divide into multiple daughter vesicles without loss of internal contents. In an environment of gentle shear, protocell growth and division are thus coupled processes. We show that model protocells can proceed through multiple cycles of reproduction. Encapsulated RNA molecules, representing a primitive genome, are distributed to the daughter vesicles. Our observations bring us closer to the laboratory synthesis of a complete protocell consisting of a self-replicating genome and a self-replicating membrane compartment. In addition, the robustness and simplicity of this pathway suggests that similar processes might have occurred under the prebiotic conditions of the early Earth.
Trellis-Based QC-LDPC Convolutional Codes Enabling Low Power Decoders

In this paper, we propose a new type of code called Trellis-based Quasi-Cyclic (TQC)-LDPC convolutional code, which is a special case of protograph-based LDPC convolutional codes. The proposed TQC-LDPC convolutional code can be derived from any QC-LDPC block code by introducing trellis-based convolutional dependency to the code. The main advantage of the proposed TQC-LDPC convolutional code is that it allows reduced decoder complexity and input granularity (which is defined as the minimum number of input information bits the code requires to generate a codeword) while maintaining the same bit error-rate as the underlying QC-LDPC block code ensemble. We also propose two related power-efficient encoding methods to increase the code rate of the derived TQC-LDPC convolutional code. The newly derived short constraint length TQC-LDPC convolutional codes enable low complexity trellis-based decoders and one such decoder is proposed and described in this paper (namely, QC-Viterbi). The TQC-LDPC convolutional codes and the QC-Viterbi decoder are compared to conventional LDPC codes and Belief Propagation (BP) iterative decoders with respect to bit-error-rate (BER), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and decoder complexity. We show both numerically and through hardware implementation results that the proposed QC-Viterbi decoder outperforms the BP iterative decoders by at least 1 dB for same complexity and BER. Alternatively, the proposed QC-Viterbi decoder has 3 times lower complexity than the BP iterative decoder for the same SNR and BER. This low decoding complexity, low BER, and fine granularity makes it feasible for the proposed TQC-LDPC convolutional codes and associated trellis-based decoders to be efficiently implemented in high data rate, next generation mobile systems.
A Model System for Activation-Induced Alternative Splicing of CD45 Pre-mRNA in T Cells Implicates Protein Kinase C and Ras

Multiple isoforms of the protein tyrosine phosphatase CD45 are expressed on the surface of human T cells. Interestingly, the expression of these isoforms has been shown to vary significantly upon T-cell activation. In this report, we describe a novel cell line-based model system in which we can mimic the activation-induced alternative splicing of CD45 observed in primary T cells. Of the many proximal signaling events induced by T-cell stimulation, we show that activation of protein kinase C and activation of Ras are important for the switch toward the exclusion of CD45 variable exons, whereas events related to Ca(2+) flux are not. In addition, the ability of cycloheximide to block the activation-induced alternative splicing of CD45 suggests a requirement for de novo protein synthesis. We further demonstrate that sequences which have previously been implicated in the tissue-specific regulation of CD45 variable exons are likewise necessary and sufficient for activation-induced splicing. These results provide an initial understanding of the requirements for CD45 alternative splicing upon T-cell activation, and they confirm the importance of this novel cell line in facilitating a more detailed analysis of the activation-induced regulation of CD45 than has been previously possible.
Personal Control and Crowding Stress A Test of Similarity in Two Cultures

Current theoretical explanations of crowding stress have suggested that peronal control may be an important psychological determinant of reactions to the physical environment. Two field surveys were conducted to test the relationship of environment stress and crowding annoyance with personal control and to examine whether this conception of crowding may have cross-cultural generality. In the first study, 282 patrons in a bookstore varying between low and high density were surveyed in regard to perceived control, self-reported stress, and crowding annoyance. Simple correlations and multiple regressions analysis supported the hypothesized relationship for most elements of personal control. In a second study, 185 Singaporean high school students were surveyed relative to residential crowding as a cross-cultural extension. Support was found for the hypothesized relationship between personal control with crowding annoyance and stress. The implications of these results for drawing cross-cultural similarities ar...
Raised cosine interpolation for empirical mode decomposition

A raised cosine filter based interpolation for the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) technique is presented in this paper as an alternative to the cubic spline interpolation used in the original implementation. By adjusting a parameter in the proposed technique one can control the quality of decomposition of the algorithm. This results in superior performance compared to the original approach which could either mean faster convergence or lower final error under different conditions. An efficient fast Fourier transform (FFT) based implementation of the proposed technique is presented. Further, an adaptive version of this algorithm is introduced that blindly adjusts the parameter value to ensure efficient signal decomposition for any combination of component frequencies of a two-tone signal.
The ependymal surface of the lateral ventricle of the dog as revealed by scanning electron microscopy.

Young dogs were perfused with buffered aldehydes at fluid pressures approaching normal physiological values. Surface tissue from the temporal horns of the lateral ventricles were prepared for scanning electron microscopy, using postosmication, critical point drying and gold-palladium coating. The ependymal surfaces are mostly ciliated but nonciliated areas occur along the medial walls. The latter areas are characterized by depressions, pores, fenestrations and a unique population of supraependymal cells. These polymorphic cells probably represent both conductive (neuronal) and supportive (neuroglial) elements. Adjacent to cilia-free areas, transitional zones are observed. Here, a net-like surface pattern consisting of smooth hexagonal cells is outlined by microvilli of varying lengths and isolated tufts of cilia are present.
Beyond just sea-level rise: considering macroclimatic drivers within coastal wetland vulnerability assessments to climate change

Due to their position at the land-sea interface, coastal wetlands are vulnerable to many aspects of climate change. However, climate change vulnerability assessments for coastal wetlands generally focus solely on sea-level rise without considering the effects of other facets of climate change. Across the globe and in all ecosystems, macroclimatic drivers (e.g., temperature and rainfall regimes) greatly influence ecosystem structure and function. Macroclimatic drivers have been the focus of climate change-related threat evaluations for terrestrial ecosystems, but largely ignored for coastal wetlands. In some coastal wetlands, changing macroclimatic conditions are expected to result in foundation plant species replacement, which would affect the supply of certain ecosystem goods and services and could affect ecosystem resilience. As examples, we highlight several ecological transition zones where small changes in macroclimatic conditions would result in comparatively large changes in coastal wetland ecosystem structure and function. Our intent in this communication is not to minimize the importance of sea-level rise. Rather, our overarching aim is to illustrate the need to also consider macroclimatic drivers within vulnerability assessments for coastal wetlands.