cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The 15 N-terminal amino acids of hexokinase II are not required for in vivo function: analysis of a truncated form of hexokinase II in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The function of the N-termi- nal amino acids of Saccharomyces cerevisiae hexokinase I1 was studied in vivo using strains producing a form of hexokinase I1 lacking its first 15 amino acids (short form). This short form of hexokinase I1 was produced from a fu- sion between the promoter region of the PGKl gene and the HxIL2 coding sequence except the first 15 codons. As expected, the in vitro analy- sis of the short form protein by gel filtration chromatography indicates that the short pro- tein does not form dimers under conditions where the wild-type protein dimerizes. Kinetic studies show that the enzymatic activities are very similar to wild-type behavior. The physio- logical experiments performed on the strains containing the fusion allele demonstrate that the short form of the enzyme is similar to the wild-type both in terms of phosphorylation of hexoses and glucose repression. We conclude that the N-terminal amino acids of hexokinase I1 are not required in vivo either for phosphor- ylation of hexoses or for glucose repression.
Numerical analysis of radio-frequency single-electron transistor operation

We have analyzed numerically the response and noise-limited charge sensitivity of a radio-frequency single-electron transistor (RF-SET) in a nonsuperconducting state using the orthodox theory. In particular, we have studied the performance dependence on the quality factor Q of the tank circuit for Q both below and above the value corresponding to the impedance matching between the coaxial cable and SET.
Depolarization Redistributes Synaptic Membrane and Creates a Gradient of Vesicles on the Synaptic Body at a Ribbon Synapse

We used electron tomography of frog saccular hair cells to reconstruct presynaptic ultrastructure at synapses specialized for sustained transmitter release. Synaptic vesicles at inhibited synapses were abundant in the cytoplasm and covered the synaptic body at high density. Continuous maximal stimulation depleted 73% of the vesicles within 800 nm of the synapse, with a concomitant increase in surface area of intracellular cisterns and plasmalemmal infoldings. Docked vesicles were depleted 60%-80% regardless of their distance from the active zone. Vesicles on the synaptic body were depleted primarily in the hemisphere facing the plasmalemma, creating a gradient of vesicles on its surface. We conclude that formation of new synaptic vesicles from cisterns is rate limiting in the vesicle cycle.
Cloning and characterization of the segment polarity gene cubitus interruptus dominant of drosophila

The segment polarity mutation, cubitus interruptus Dominant (ciD), of Drosophila melanogaster causes defects in the posterior half of every embryonic segment. We cloned sequences from the ciD region on the proximal fourth chromosome by "tagging" the gene with the transposable element P. Genetic and molecular evidence indicates that the P-element insertions, which all occurred within the same restriction fragment, are in 5'-regulatory regions of the ciD gene within 3 kb of the first exon of its transcript. The putative ciD transcript was identified on the basis of its absence in homozygous ciD embryos. Its spatial pattern of expression during development is unusual in that, unlike most other segmentation genes, it exhibits uniform expression throughout cellular blastoderm and gastrulation and does not resolve into a periodic pattern until the end of the fast phase of germ-band elongation when it is present in 15 broad segmentally repeating stripes along the anterior-posterior axis of the embryo. Registration of the ciD stripes of expression relative to the stripes of other segment polarity genes shows that ciD is expressed in the anterior three-quarters of every segment. This registration does not correlate with the pattern defects observed in ciD mutants. Sequence analysis indicates that the protein encoded by the ciD transcript contains a domain of five tandem amino acid repeats that have sequence similarity to the zinc-finger repeats of the Xenopus transcription factor TFIIIA and that share the highest degree of identity with the human zinc-finger protein GLI, which has been found to be amplified in several human glioblastomas.
Place Matters: Community Level Effects of Women’s Autonomy on Ethiopian Children’s Immunization Status

Over 75% of Ethiopian children are not fully immunized against infectious diseases and illnesses. Studies have shown that women’s autonomy, or decision-making abilities, is related to improvements in children’s health. Yet the extent to which community-context measures of women’s autonomy affect children’s health has yet to receive adequate attention. This study uses data from the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey to investigate the relationship between individual- and community-levels of women’s autonomy and children’s -- aged 12-30 months -- immunization status. The results of multilevel Poisson regression analysis show that community-level women’s autonomy is associated with an increased number of children’s immunizations above and beyond that of individual-level women’s autonomy. Overall, these results indicate that empowering women within households is not only an important mechanism through which improvements in children’s health can be made, but also serves as a way to improve the lives of other children within the community.
Cost-Effectiveness of Pertuzumab in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer

PurposeThe Clinical Evaluation of Pertuzumab and Trastuzumab (CLEOPATRA) study showed a 15.7-month survival benefit with the addition of pertuzumab to docetaxel and trastuzumab (THP) as first-line treatment for patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) –overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. We performed a cost-effectiveness analysis to assess the value of adding pertuzumab.Patient and MethodsWe developed a decision-analytic Markov model to evaluate the cost effectiveness of docetaxel plus trastuzumab (TH) with or without pertuzumab in US patients with metastatic breast cancer. The model followed patients weekly over their remaining lifetimes. Health states included stable disease, progressing disease, hospice, and death. Transition probabilities were based on the CLEOPATRA study. Costs reflected the 2014 Medicare rates. Health state utilities were the same as those used in other recent cost-effectiveness studies of trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Outcomes included health benefits expres...
Sustainable Practices Within a School-Based Intervention: A Report from Project Healthy Schools

Over the past three decades the proportion of students classified as overweight has almost tripled. This trend in childhood obesity is a cause for concern. Stakeholders have come together to stem growth and implement healthy habits in childhood to not only prevent obesity, but also future cardiovascular risk. School-based health interventions have proven to be an effective medium to reach youth. Sustainable practices remain the largest determinant of long-term success of these programs. Project Healthy Schools, a community‐university collaborative school-based health intervention program, sustainable practices have led to positive changes in participating middle schools. This collaborative has provided important insight on key factors needed for long-term sustainability for a school-based wellness program. These key factors are described under leadership, policy, finances, and reproducibility. Future school-based programs may plan for success with sustainability while drawing from our experience.
Photoperiodic Regulation of the Testes of Adult White-footed Mice (Peromyscus leucopus)

Exposure to short daylengths (10 h of light per day) for 12 weeks caused the gonads to regress and inhibited spermatogesis in most P. leucopus; however, in approximately 30% of mice the testes did not regress, and spermatogenesis was maintained despite 20 weeks exposure to short photoperiods. The pattern of entrainment of circadian rhythms to the short-day photoperiod did not correlate with the degree of gonadal regression. Mice whose gonads regressed after 12 weeks manifested testicular recrudescence and resumption of spermatogenesis after 30 weeks of short-day treatment. Spontaneous recrudescence, a feature common to a number of photoperiodic rodents, ensures viability of the reproductive system in the early spring in advance of the advent of long days. It is proposed that recrudescence reflects development of refractoriness of the neuroendocrine axis to pineal antigonadal factors and that individuals whose gonads do not regress in short days are permanently refractory to pineal antigonadal products. Other interpretations also are considered.
The Dependence of ITCZ Structure on Model Resolution and Dynamical Core in Aquaplanet Simulations

AbstractAquaplanet simulations using the Community Atmosphere Model, version 4 (CAM4), with the Model for Prediction Across Scales–Atmosphere (MPAS-A) and High-Order Method Modeling Environment (HOMME) dynamical cores and using zonally symmetric sea surface temperature (SST) structure are studied to understand the dependence of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) structure on resolution and dynamical core. While all resolutions in HOMME and the low-resolution MPAS-A simulations give a single equatorial peak in zonal mean precipitation, the high-resolution MPAS-A simulations give a double ITCZ with precipitation peaking around 2°–3° on either side of the equator. This study reveals that the structure of ITCZ is dependent on the feedbacks between convection and large-scale circulation. It is shown that the difference in specific humidity between HOMME and MPAS-A can lead to different latitudinal distributions of the convective available potential energy (CAPE) by influencing latent heat release by clo...
An Adaptive Framework for Large-Scale State Space Search

State space search problems abound in the artificial intelligence, planning and optimization literature. Solving such problems is generally NP-hard. Therefore, a brute-force approach to state space search must be employed. It is instructive to solve them on large parallel machines with significant computational power. However, writing efficient and scalable parallel programs has traditionally been a challenging undertaking. In this paper, we analyze several performance characteristics common to all parallel state space search applications. In particular, we focus on the issues of grain size, the prioritized execution of tasks and the balancing of load among processors in the system. We demonstrate the techniques that are used to scale such applications to large scale. We have incorporated these techniques into a general search engine framework that is designed to solve a broad class of state space search problems. We demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of our design using three example applications, and present scaling results up to 16,384 processors.
The renal sodium-phosphate transporter and X-linked hypophosphatemic vitamin D-resistant rickets

Abstract The sodium-phosphate (Na+Pi) transporter is a brush-border membrane specific protein located in the epithelia of the kidney and intestine of mammals. This transporter is involved in the pathogenesis of X-linked hypophosphatemic rickets. X-linked hypophosphatemic vitamin D-resistant rickets is the most common form of rickets in man, and is characterized by low serum phosphate levels. The ( Hyp ) mouse is thought to be an animal homologue of this disease in humans. Decreased renal proximal tubular reabsorption of phosphate has been observed in the ( Hyp ) mouse, resulting in hyperphosphaturia. The Na+Pi) transporter was cloned from the mouse, and cRNA generated from this cDNA showed increased sodium-dependent phosphate uptake in Xenopus oocytes. Northern blot analysis showed recognition of three transcripts in normal and ( Hyp ) mice at 2.6, 4.6, and 10 kilobases, with all three bands being decreased in the ( Hyp ) mouse. In-situ hybridization localized the message to the renal proximal tubules in both mice. Polyclonal antiserum, raised against a C-terminal synthetic peptide specific for this transporter, recognized several bands at 152, 87, 82, 77, and 37 kDa on Western blots of renal brush-border membrane proteins from both mice. The intensity of all bands was decreased in the ( Hyp ) mouse samples by 5–10 fold. Immunohistochemistry localized the immunoreactive protein to the apical membrane of the proximal tubules in both mice. The transcription rate of this gene was decreased by 2-fold in the ( Hyp ) mouse. Dietary phosphate deprivation resulted in increased transporter activity, message levels, and immunoreactive protein levels in both ( Hyp ) and control mice. Cloning of the PEX gene (from the Hyp ) locus on chromosome X of patients with hypophosphatemic rickets would suggest that a product of the PEX gene alters the function of the Na+Pi) transporter.
Political Cohesion in Churches

The political cohesiveness of religious groups varies widely. Some churches develop an almost complete identity with a political party or tendency while others exhibit a high degree of political pluralism. This paper explores some of the mechanisms that might account for the variability in political solidarity from one church to the next. On the basis of data from a survey of Protestant congregations, we find that cohesiveness around the norm of moral conservatism is associated with the same distinctive syndrome of traits that Dean Kelley has linked to church growth and vitality. "Strong" churches, defined by a combination of theology, social practices, and demographic characteristics, apparently possess the necessary resources to promote attitudinal conformity on some political issues.
Growth of large-grain R-Mg-Zn quasicrystals from the ternary melt (R = Y, Er, Ho, Dy and Tb)

Abstract The growth of large (up to 0.5 cm3). single-grain R-Mg-Zn quasicrystals (R = Y, Er, Ho, Dy and Tb) from a ternary melt is described in detail. The quasicrystals grown by this technique have a composition R8.7Mg34.6Zn56.8, are thermodynamically stable and have a dodecahedral morphology with clearly visible pentagonal facets. The quasicrystalline phase has been examined by X-ray diffaction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, elemental analysis and transport measurements. In addition, results are presented for a closely related ternary crystalline phase.
Prevention of chemotherapeutic effects of 4-amino-N10-methyl-pteroylglutamic acid on mouse leukemia by pteroylglutamic acid.

SummaryThe effect of 4-amino-N10-methyl-pteroylglutamic acid in prolonging the survival time of mice with transplanted leukemia Ak 4 can be blocked almost completely by prior administration of 10 to 20 times as much pteroylglutamic acid and, to a lesser degree, by 17 to 125 times as much pteroyltri-glutamic acid.
Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2)-infection and re-inoculation with homologous or heterologous strains: virological, serological, pathological and clinical effects in growing pigs

Long-term PCV2 infection and/or concurrent infection with genotypes PCV2a and PCV2b may play a role in the development of clinical porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD). To evaluate this premise, 24 11-week-old specific pathogen-free (SPF) pigs were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments: negative controls, a single inoculation with PCV2a, single inoculation followed by re-inoculation with a homologous PCV2a strain, or repeated inoculations with heterologous strains (PCV2a, PCV2b). Pigs were evaluated for clinical signs daily through 140 days post inoculation (dpi). Serum samples were collected every other day from dpi 0 through 14 and weekly thereafter. PCV2-inoculated pigs were viremic by dpi 2 and 13 of 18 pigs remained viremic at 140 dpi. No statistical differences in the onset, level, or duration of PCV2 viremia were detected among treatment groups. Anti-PCV2 antibodies were detected between 14 and 28 dpi and were present through 140 dpi without statistical differences in antibody response among treatment groups. In the current study, pigs had extended viremia combined with detectable tissue PCV2 antigen levels despite the presence of high levels of anti-PCV2 antibody; however, no clinical disease was observed.
Cardiovascular and Systemic Effects of Gastric Dilatation and Volvulus in Dogs

Gastric dilatation and volvulus (GDV) is a common emergency condition in large and giant breed dogs that is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Dogs with GDV classically fulfill the criteria for the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and can go on to develop multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS). Previously reported organ dysfunctions in dogs with GDV include cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, coagulation and renal dysfunction. Cardiovascular manifestations of GDV include shock, cardiac arrhythmias and myocardial dysfunction. Respiratory dysfunction is also multifactorial, with contributory factors including decreased respiratory excursion due to gastric dilatation, decreased pulmonary perfusion and aspiration pneumonia. Gastrointestinal dysfunction includes gastric necrosis and post-operative gastrointestinal upset such as regurgitation, vomiting, and ileus. Coagulation dysfunction is another common feature of MODS in dogs with GDV. Disseminated intravascular coagulation can occur, putting them at risk of complications associated with thrombosis in the early hypercoagulable state and hemorrhage in the subsequent hypocoagulable state. Acute kidney injury, acid-base and electrolyte disturbances are also reported in dogs with GDV. Understanding the potential for systemic effects of GDV allows the clinician to monitor patients astutely and detect such complications early, facilitating early intervention to maximize the chance of successful management.
Is megalencephaly specific to autism

Several recent reports have described the presence of increased head circumference (megalencephaly) in patients with autism. Although some studies have described reports of megalencephaly in other disorders such as schizophrenia in adults, few such studies have been performed in children and adolescents. In the present study, the authors compared 20 subjects with autism/ pervasive developmental disorder (DSM-IV; all males; mean age = 10.9 years) with 20 controls with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (DSM-IV; all males; mean age = 11.1 years). Four subjects and five controls had evidence of megalencephaly. In addition to their core symptoms, the autistic subjects with megalencephaly were hyperactive and impulsive. These findings suggest that megalencephaly may not be specific to autism, and when present, it may index the presence of additional symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsivity.
The 2011 Leona Tyler Award Address The Relationship—and Its Relationship to the Common and Specific Factors of Psychotherapy

A debate exists about whether the common factors or specific ingredients are critical to producing the benefits of psychotherapy. A model of the relationship, based on evolved human characteristics related to healing, is presented that integrates common factors and specific ingredients. After the initial bond is formed, the relationship involves three healing aspects: the real relationship, the creation of expectations, and participation in healthy actions.
Space Interferometry Mission: a systems perspective

In 2006, NASA's Origins Program will launch the Space Interferometry Mission (SIM), a 10 meter baseline optical interferometry instrument, into an earth trailing orbit. This instrument will be comprised of three collinear optical interferometers whose prime mission objective is to perform astrometric measurements of unparalleled accuracy. NASA has assembled an integrated Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/Industry team to formulate a reference design to meet the SIM Science objectives. Unique technical challenges have proved to be a formidable task in numerous aspects of the system definition, from component development to system-level integration and test. Parallel activities to develop and test the necessary enabling technologies for SIM are coupled with the ongoing Flight design. The SIM Project has taken a multi faceted approach to dealing with its numerous technical challenges. Key working groups are addressing specific, integrated areas such as thermal design, dynamics and control, and operations. In addition, detailed integrated models of optical systems, structural dynamics and thermal control systems are being implemented in a large integrated modeling effort in order to validate the system level performance requirements. The implementation of enabling technologies from picometer and nanometer technology testbed programs are crucial to developing a detailed design and mitigating or retiring risk early in the Project development cycle. This paper describes the current SIM Reference System Design, the key required technologies, the requirements development process and the approach to an integrated systems development.
Transient spleen enlargement in peripheral blood progenitor cell donors given G-CSF.

The administration of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to peripheral blood progenitor cell (PBPC) donors causes spleen length to increase, but the duration of enlargement is not known. Eighteen healthy subjects were given 10 μg/kg of G-CSF for 5 days and a PBSC concentrate was collected by apheresis. Ultrasound scans were used to assess craniocaudal spleen length before and after G-CSF administration. Mean spleen length increased from a baseline length of 10.7 ± 1.3 cm to 12.1 ± 1.2 cm on the apheresis day (p < 0.001). Ten days after apheresis, spleen length fell to 10.5 ± 1.2 cm and did not differ from baseline levels (p = 0.57), but in 3 subjects remained 0.5 cm greater than baseline length. Increases in spleen length in PBPC donors are transient and reversible.
Hepatocyte growth factor is an invasion/migration factor of rat urothelial carcinoma cells in vitro

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) plays an important role in the growth, progression and angiogenesis of various tumors. It is reported that patients with urinary bladder cancer have elevated levels of HGF in urine and that bladder cancer tissue contains an increased amount of HGF. Thus, the data suggest a functional role of HGF in urinary bladder cancer. We evaluated the mechanistic role of HGF in urinary bladder carcinoma in vitro using the rat urothelial cell lines MYP3 (anchorage-dependent and non-tumorigenic in athymic nude mice), LMC19, MYU3L, T6 and AS-HTB1 (anchorage-independent and tumorigenic). The HGF receptor c-met was expressed by all of the cell lines, as determined by northern blot. In MYP3 cells, HGF strongly stimulated anchorage-dependent growth, but not migration, invasion or secretion of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). In LMC19, T6 and AS-HTB1 cells, HGF stimulated migration, invasion and secretion of MMPs. Anchorage-dependent growth stimulation was limited to AS-HTB1 cells. MYU3L cells were refractory to HGF in both growth and invasion assays. However, a neutralizing antibody and an anti-sense oligonucleotide to HGF partially inhibited the growth only of MYU3L cells, the finding being indicative of an autocrine stimulatory mechanism. HGF mRNA expression and protein synthesis were induced in bladder stromal cells by the conditioned medium of carcinoma cell lines, and IL-1beta and basic fibroblast growth factor were identified as cancer cell-derived HGF-releasing factors. These results suggest that HGF acts as a mitogen in a non-tumorigenic cell line, whereas in tumorigenic cell lines it acts as an invasion and migration factor by either a paracrine or an autocrine mechanism.
Phantom: a serializing compiler for multitasking embedded software

In an era of powerful general-purpose embedded compute platforms, the migration of system functionality from application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to software has become a promising trend toward addressing the system complexity and shrinking time-to-market window challenges. Hence, in modern embedded systems, software development plays an increasingly vital role. On the other hand, the real-time concurrent programming model provides the high level abstractions necessary to effectively design complex software. Support for real-time concurrent programming is typically provided by a realtime operating system. We propose an alternate solution, the Phantom serializing compiler, to support the real-time concurrent programming model. The Phantom serializing compiler generates a single-threaded monolithic executable, from the multi-threaded application software, capable of directly executing on the underlying embedded compute platform. Further, the generated executable is tuned for maximum performance and efficiency, yielding an application-specific solution. In this paper, we give an overview of the Phantom serializing compiler and demonstrate its feasibility with some experimental results.
How Institutional and Organizational Characteristics Explain the Growth of Contingent Work in China

China’s traditional model of long-term employment has been undermined by an increased reliance on nonrenewable fixed-term and temporary agency employment contracts. In this study, the author draws ...
Polarity Consistency Checking for Sentiment Dictionaries

Polarity classification of words is important for applications such as Opinion Mining and Sentiment Analysis. A number of sentiment word/sense dictionaries have been manually or (semi)automatically constructed. The dictionaries have substantial inaccuracies. Besides obvious instances, where the same word appears with different polarities in different dictionaries, the dictionaries exhibit complex cases, which cannot be detected by mere manual inspection. We introduce the concept of polarity consistency of words/senses in sentiment dictionaries in this paper. We show that the consistency problem is NP-complete. We reduce the polarity consistency problem to the satisfiability problem and utilize a fast SAT solver to detect inconsistencies in a sentiment dictionary. We perform experiments on four sentiment dictionaries and WordNet.
Reducing background noise in near-infrared medical imaging: Routes to activated fluorescing

Activated fluorescence was achieved for nanoparticle based systems. One particulate system consisting of a poly(propargyl acrylate) (PA) core with covalently attached derivatized fluorescein and modified bovine serum albumin covalently conjugated to a cyanine 3 derivative was initially nonfluorescent. Upon trypsin addition and subsequent proteolytic digestion, Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) was induced. The other particulate system consisted of a PA core with covalently attached azide modified BSA, which was covalently attached to a silicon phthalocyanine derivative (PA/BSA/akSiPc600). Both systems were biocompatible. To investigate activated fluorescence with the PA/BSA/akSiPc600 system in cancer cells, human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549 cell line) were used as a model system. The PA/BSA/akSiPc600 system was incubated with the cells at varying time points in an effort to see a fluorescence increase over time as the cells uptake the particles and as they digest the BSA, most probably, via endocytosis. It was seen, through live cell scanning confocal microscopy, that the fluorescence was activated in the cell.
The early postnatal development of the brain of the opossum, Didelphis virginiana.

As shown in a previous paper (Riese, 1945), after a gestation period of twelve and three-fourths days, the opossum is born without any cortical structure. Immediately after birth, it reaches by its own efforts the pouch of its mother where it remains for some fifty days (McCrady 1938). The following observations on the early post-natal development of the brain of the opossum were made on five pouch-young animals, 16, 16 to 20, 22, 35, and 53 days old. With the exception of the second specimen, the material was given by Dr. Carl R. Moore (Department of Zoology, University of Chicago) to whom I wish to express my gratitude. The so-called cortical layer (His) or lamina granularis primaria (M. Rose), primordium of the mammalian cerebral cortex, was found in the sixteen day pouch-young opossum. In the human, this layer is not detectable before the third month of intra-uterine life, but it is still present in the bear (Ursu's arctos L.) at the time of birth, after a gestation period of 208 days (Riese, 1942). In comparing the external features, behavior, and brain of a pouch-young opossum having an estimated age of sixteen to twenty days (body length, 30 mm.; head length, 15 mm.; and fresh weight, 2 grams) with the new-born opossum (stage 35 of McCrady, 1938, fig. 55), the neck has become much smaller, the upper extremities less prominent, and the hind limbs more differentiated. The entire body appears to be a much more articulated whole than at the time of birth and the anlagen of eyes and ears are conspicuous (P1. I, Lower). In view of the brief interval between birth and this stage, the progress made in the differentiation of the external features must be considered as considerable. After removal from the nipple of its mother, the animal was very active. No definite righting reflex was present. The animal succeeded only occasionally, and only for a very short time, in righting itself or rather in turning over from its usual position of lying on one side. According to O. R. Langworthy (1928), the righting reflex appears in a fifty-four day old opossum. There were constant and alternate movements of the extended fore limbs; the toes were also in extension. The hind part of the trunk was flexed, adducted towards the upper trunk, and sometimes rotated (obviously in a vain effort to produce righting). There were also movements of the hind limbs, rarely alternate, but mostly synchronic in rhythm. The hind limbs were extended and abducted. There were extensive movements of the head which was elevated, but the side to side movements so characteristic of the newborn could not be seen. There was no detectable reaction to pin prick applied to various parts of the body. In some respects, the behavior of this specimen was similar to that of 27 mm. pouch-young opossums observed by O. R. Langworthy (1928), in others not, but the estimated age of Langworthy's animals remained doubtful.
A Case of Failure of Retrograde Intramedullary Nail (Titanium Alloy)

A case of the failure of the ACE Retrograde Trauma (ART) Femoral Nail System (9mm, Titanium alloy) is presented. A 55-year-old female was injured in a traffic accident, and X-ray films showed right femoral supracondylar and shaft fracture. She was treated using an ACE Retrograde Trauma (ART) Femoral Nail System (9mm, Titanium alloy) at our hospital. Partial weight-bearing gait was started 4 weeks after operation, and full weight-bearing 6 weeks. The patient complained of right femoral pain 11 weeks after operation. The nail was broken at the proximal screw hole and femoral shaft fracture was displaced again. The patient was reoperated on using the Osteo IC-Nail System (11mm). The surface of the broken nail was analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). It was shown that the cause of nail breakage was fatigue destruction. In conclusion, we should use larger nails in this case.
Effect of Soft Kernel Texture on the Milling Properties of Soft Durum Wheat

Worldwide, nearly 20 times more common wheat (Triticum aestivum) is produced than durum wheat (T. turgidum subsp. durum). Durum wheat is predominately milled into coarse semolina owing to the extreme hardness of the kernels. Semolina, lacking the versatility of traditional flour, is used primarily in the production of pasta. The puroindoline genes, responsible for kernel softness in wheat, have been introduced into durum via homoeologous recombination. The objective of this study was to determine what impact the introgression of the puroindoline genes, and subsequent expression of the soft kernel phenotype, had on the milling properties and flour characteristics of durum wheat. Three grain lots of Soft Svevo and one of Soft Alzada, two soft-kernel back-cross derived durum varieties, were milled into flour on the modified Quadrumat Senior laboratory mill at 13, 14, and 16% temper levels. Samples of Svevo (a durum wheat and recurrent parent of Soft Svevo), Xerpha (a soft white winter wheat), and Expresso (a...
Charging system using solar panels and a highly resonant wireless power transfer model for small UAS applications

The use of a wireless charging system for small, unmanned aircraft system applications is useful for both military and commercial consumers. An efficient way to keep the aircraft’s batteries charged without interrupting flight would be highly marketable. While the general concepts behind highly resonant wireless power transfer are discussed in a few publications, the details behind the system designs are not available even in academic journals, especially in relation to avionics. Combining a highly resonant charging system with a solar panel charging system can produce enough power to extend the flight time of a small, unmanned aircraft system without interruption. This paper provides an overview of a few of the wireless-charging technologies currently available and outlines a preliminary design for an aircraft-mounted battery charging system.
Trade Costs and Home Bias

Standard theory would predict that investors hold a well diversified portfolio of equities across the world but despite the process of `financial globalization,' investors still hold a disproportionate share of local equities in their portfolio: the `equity home bias.’ Their consumption basket is also tilted toward domestic goods: the `consumption home bias.’ In the data, these two biases are positively correlated across countries. We review the different theories that can explain this pattern of the data: hedging motives in portfolio decisions and frictions in international financial markets.
Assume-guarantee contracts and controller synthesis for vehicular traffic networks

We tackle the issue of scalability when synthesizing controllers for signalized vehicular traffic networks with linear temporal logic specifications. Vehicular traffic networks are natural candidates for a compositional synthesis approach because they are naturally decomposed into sub-networks. However, naively synthesizing controllers for individual sub-networks and interconnecting them can violate the specifications on the monolithic network. Through notions of supply and demand in our system dynamics, we construct contracts between sub-networks that guarantee the soundness of the overall synthesized controller. Furthermore when the network exhibits monotone dynamics and has a directed temporal logic objective, we show how to efficiently search over the contract space and reduce the complexity of the original synthesis procedure.
THE PILEATED WOODPECKER IN FORESTS OF THE NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAINS

A study of nesting habitat of the Pileated Woodpecker ( Dryocopus pileatus ) was conducted in northwestern Montana during 1974 through 1978. Fifty-four trees with active Pileated Woodpecker nests were located. Most nest cavities were in large western larch ( Larix occidentalis ) snags with broken tops. Mean measurements at nest trees were: dbh = 75 cm (29.5 in), tree height = 28 m (92 ft), nest hole height = 15.2 m (50 ft), and basal area of surrounding forest = 25 m 2 /ha (109 ft 2 /acre). In the northern Rocky Mountains, forests with an old-growth component of western larch, ponderosa pine ( Pinus ponderosa ), or black cottonwood ( Populus trichocarpa ) seem to be essential for long-term support of Pileated Woodpeckers. The roles of the Pileated Woodpecker include: a) pathfinder for non-excavating hole nesters, b) predator on insects, c) and key species in forest management plans.
Late-Quaternary vegetation history of the eastern United States

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the late Quaternary vegetational and climatic history of eastern North America and focuses on a number of outstanding issues and problems. Vegetation is an opportunistic assemblage of species with similar tolerances and adaptations to climatic and other environmental variables. Because every species has a different range of tolerance, assemblages of species change as climate changes. Climate reconstructions based on modern pollen distributions are limited to some extent by the tremendous human influence on modern vegetation. Because of modern human influence, some dominant native types diagnostic of certain biomes, for example, Ambrosia, are left out of the analyses. The application of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to fossils offers an exciting possibility for understanding the genetic shifts associated with climatic change and migration, and these studies are in their infancy. Even without anthropogenic forcing, climate will change in the future and that greenhouse gases trap heat is indisputable. Paleoecological and paleoclimatic insights may help clarify the future.
A Critical Review of the Use of Wenger's Community of Practice (CoP) Theoretical Framework in Online and Blended Learning Research, 2000-2014.

After presenting a brief overview of the key elements that underpin Etienne Wenger’s communities of practice (CoP) theoretical framework, one of the most widely cited and influential conceptions of social learning, this paper reviews extant empirical work grounded in this framework to investigate online/blended learning in higher education and in professional development. The review is based on integrative research approaches, using quantitative and qualitative analysis, and includes CoP oriented research articles published between 2000 and 2014. Findings are presented under three questions: Which research studies within the online/blended learning literature made central use of the CoP framework? Among those studies identified, which ones established strong linkages between the CoP framework and their findings? Within this last group of identified studies, what do the patterns in their use of the CoP framework suggest as opportunities for future research in online teaching and learning?
Reduced nicotine content cigarettes in smokers of low socioeconomic status: study protocol for a randomized control trial.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction over the regulation of all tobacco products, including their nicotine content. Under this act, a major strategy to reduce harm from cigarette tobacco is lowering the nicotine content without causing unintended adverse consequences. Initial research on reduced nicotine content (RNC) cigarettes has shown that smokers of these cigarettes gradually decrease their smoking frequency and biomarkers of exposure. The effectiveness of this strategy needs to be demonstrated in different populations whose response to RNC cigarettes might be substantially mediated by personal or environmental factors, such as low socioeconomic status (SES) populations. This study aims to evaluate the response to a reduced nicotine intervention in low SES smokers, as defined here as those with less than 16 years of education, by switching smokers from high nicotine commercial cigarettes to RNC cigarettes. Adults (N = 280) who have smoked five cigarettes or more per day for the past year, have not made a quit attempt in the prior month, are not planning to quit, and have less than 16 years of education are recruited into a two-arm, double-blinded randomized controlled trial. First, participants smoke their usual brand of cigarettes for 1 week and SPECTRUM research cigarettes containing a usual amount of nicotine for 2 weeks. During the experimental phase, participants are randomized to continue smoking SPECTRUM research cigarettes that contain either (1) usual nicotine content (UNC) (11.6 mg/cigarette) or (2) RNC (11.6 to 0.2 mg/cigarette) over 18 weeks. During the final phase of the study, all participants are offered the choice to quit smoking with nicotine replacement therapy, continue smoking the research cigarettes, or return to their usual brand of cigarettes. The primary outcomes of the study include retention rates and compliance with using only research cigarettes and no use of other nicotine-containing products. Secondary outcomes are tobacco smoke biomarkers, nicotine dependence measures, smoking topography, stress levels, and adverse health consequences. Results from this study will provide information on whether low SES smokers can maintain a course of progressive nicotine reduction without increases in incidence of adverse effects. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01928719 . Registered on 21 August 2013.
Tissue classification in a canine model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy using quantitative MRI parameters

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder caused by dystrophin protein deficiency. Muscle biopsy is the gold standard to determine the disease severity and progression. MRI has shown potential for monitoring disease progression or assessing the treatment effectiveness. In this study, multiple quantitative MRI parameters were used to classify the tissue components in a canine model of DMD disease using histoimmunochemistry analysis as a &#x201C;ground truth&#x201D;. Results show that multiple MRI parameters may be used to reliably classify the muscular tissue and generate a high-resolution tissue type maps, which can be used as potential non-invasive imaging biomarkers for the DMD.
Cancer vaccine strategies: translation from mice to human clinical trials

We translated two cancer vaccine strategies from mice into human clinical trials. (1) In preclinical studies on TARP, an antigen expressed in most prostate cancers, we mapped epitopes presented by HLA-A*0201, modified them to increase affinity and immunogenicity in HLA transgenic mice, and induced human T cells that killed human cancer cells (“epitope enhancement”). In a clinical trial, HLA-A2+ prostate cancer patients with PSA biochemical recurrence (Stage D0) were vaccinated with two peptides either in Montanide-ISA51 or on autologous dendritic cells (DCs). In stage D0, the Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) slope is prognostic of time to radiographic evidence of metastases and death. With no difference between arms, 74% of combined subjects had a decreased PSA slope at 1 year compared to their own baseline slopes (p = 0.0004). For patients vaccinated with DCs, response inversely correlated with a tolerogenic DC signature. A randomized placebo-controlled phase II trial is underway. (2) HER2 is a driver surface oncogene product expressed in multiple tumors. We made an adenoviral vector vaccine expressing the extracellular and transmembrane domains of HER2 and cured mice with large established HER2+ tumors, dependent on antibodies to HER2, not T cells. The mechanism differed from that of trastuzumab. We tested a human version in advanced metastatic cancer patients naive to HER2-directed therapies. At the second and third dose levels, 45% of evaluable patients showed clinical benefit. Circulating tumor cells also declined in some vaccinated patients. Thus, cancer vaccines developed in mice were successfully translated to humans with promising early results.
Mathematical modelling of active safety system functions as tools for development of driverless vehicles

This paper is dedicated to a solution of the issue of synthesis of the vehicle longitudinal dynamics control functions (acceleration and deceleration control) based on the element base of the vehicle active safety system (ESP) – driverless vehicle development tool. This strategy helps to reduce time and complexity of integration of autonomous motion control systems (AMCS) into the vehicle architecture and allows direct control of actuators ensuring the longitudinal dynamics control, as well as reduction of time for calibration works. The "vehicle+wheel+road" longitudinal dynamics control is complicated due to the absence of the required prior information about the control object. Therefore, the control loop becomes an adaptive system, i.e. a self-adjusting monitoring system. Another difficulty is the driver's perception of the longitudinal dynamics control process in terms of comfort. Traditionally, one doesn't pay a lot of attention to this issue within active safety systems, and retention of vehicle steerability, controllability and stability in emergency situations are considered to be the quality criteria. This is mainly connected to its operational limits, since it is activated only in critical situations. However, implementation of the longitudinal dynamics control in the AMCS poses another challenge for the developers – providing the driver with comfortable vehicle movement during acceleration and deceleration – while the possible highest safety level in terms of the road grip is provided by the active safety system (ESP). The results of this research are: universal active safety system – AMCS interaction interface; block diagram for the vehicle longitudinal acceleration and deceleration control as one of the active safety system's integrated functions; ideology of adaptive longitudinal dynamics control, which enables to realize the deceleration and acceleration requested by the AMCS; algorithms synthesised; analytical experiments proving the efficiency and practicability of the chosen concept.
Effect of microemulsion on foam stability

Microemulsion–foam interactions are significant in the low tension gas process, an emerging enhanced oil recovery method. As oil–water–surfactant systems are subjected to various salinity environments and microemulsion phase behavior varies, foam strength has also been observed to vary. This may be due to the action of oil-swollen micelles within liquid lamellae. Winsor Type I microemulsions were characterized according to surface tension, oil content, oil-swollen micelle size, and viscosity. Their impact on foam stability was quantified via dynamic Bikerman-style glass column tests and static decay tests in a physical rock network microfluidic chip to observe behavior and trends across scales. Foam stability tests demonstrated up to 90% decrease in stability with similar trends at both scales as oil-swollen micelle diameter increased from 9.30 to 27.08 nm and concentration decreased over 80%. Decrease in micelle availability and micellar structuring effectiveness, with interaction effects, explains the impact of microemulsion on foam stability.
Just Do It: Deniability and Renegades

When a "corporation" engages in unethical activity it is frequently difficult to determine whether the responsibility for such an action properly lies with management or should rather be ascribed to the employee engaged in the activity. In this paper I argue that managers ought to be held responsible for the moral environment in which employees work and that this be achieved through the implementation of a morals audit which focuses on the process of achieving objectives rather than on results.
WEScover: whole exome sequencing vs. gene panel testing

Abstract Motivation Whole exome sequencing (WES) is widely adopted in clinical and research settings; however, the potential for false negatives due to incomplete breadth and depth of coverage for some exons has been reported. In some cases, targeted gene panel testing could be a reliable option to ascertain true negatives for phenotype-associated genomic variants. We developed a tool for quickly gauging whether all genes of interest are comprehensively covered by WES or whether targeted gene panel testing should instead be considered to minimize false negatives in candidate genes. Results WEScover is a novel web application providing an interface for discovering breadth and depth of coverage across population scale WES datasets, searching either by phenotype, by targeted gene panels and by genes. Moreover, the application shows metrics from the Genome Aggregation Database to provide gene-centric view on breadth of coverage. Availability WEScover is available at http://gNOME.tchlab.org/WEScover/. The source code is available at https://github.com/bch-gnome/WEScover. Contact sekwon.kong@childrens.harvard.edu