cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A Fuzzy Behaviorist Approach to Sensor-Based Reasoning and Robot Navigation

Sensor-based operation of autonomous robots in unstructured and outdoor environments is an extremely challenging problem because of the many uncertainties that are present in the real world. In robot control, these uncertainties are primarily due to sensor imprecision and unpredictability of the environment, that is, lack of full knowledge of the environment characteristics and dynamics. This chapter presents an approach that attempts to remedy some of these difficulties and derives from two basic principles or philosophies. The first principle is based on the concept of minimal models for accomplishing given tasks and proposes to utilize only the minimum level of information and precision necessary to accomplish elemental functions of complex tasks. This approach diverges completely from the direction taken by most artificial perception studies, which conventionally call for crisp and detailed analysis of every available component in the perception data. The second principle that is proposed is based on the representation of the system's uncertainties using Fuzzy Set Theory-based approximations and on the representation of reasoning and control schemes as sets of elemental behaviors. A discussion of these principles and some motivating examples for introducing them into a generic approach for sensor-based robot reasoning and control is provided. The context of mobile robot navigation has been chosen to help in providing specific application examples of the developments. Extensions of the developments in other application domains of robotics are also feasible.
The Development Paradigm of the World Bank

Chapter 7 spelled out the Earthist paradigm in contrast to the economistic one and stated that the Bank’s paradigm is somewhere between the two. It argued, however, that it is closer to the economistic one despite its concern for the Earth including the people who dwell in it, especially the poor. It stated that from the Earthist point of view, it can be seen as the economistic paradigm with Earthist epicycles.
Novel Tissue-Engineered Heart Valve

Tissue-engineered heart valves (TEHV) have the potential to revolutionize valve replacements therapies, especially for pediatric patients. While much progress has been made toward implanting a TEHV, a major limitation to date has been in vivo leaflet retraction due to the contractile nature of the cells transplanted within the TEHV. This phenomenon has been problematic in numerous studies, particularly for approaches employing the use of a fibrin scaffold (Syedain et al. 2011, Flanagan et al. 2009). Additional challenges in the development of a TEHV include designing a 3D mold that allows for proper coaptation and functionality of engineered leaflets. Herein, we present a novel approach for developing a TEHV from a decellularized engineered tube fabricated from fibrin that is remodeled by entrapped dermal fibroblasts, and matured using a custom pulse flow-stretch bioreactor. This approach has the potential to deliver an off-the-shelf engineered heart valve that exhibits the ability to be readily recellularized in contrast to current clinically employed tissue-based valve replacements.© 2013 ASME
High performance flexible phototransistors based on transferrable silicon nanomembranes

MOSFET type photodetectors, also known as phototransistors, have the advantages of not only high photo sensitivity and responsivity, but also integrability into conventional CMOS chips. In this work, flexible phototransistors with a back gate configuration based on transferrable single crystalline Si nanomembrane (Si NM) have been demonstrated [1–3]. The schematic illustration of the device fabrication process flow is shown in Figs. 1(a)-(e). Having the Si NM as the top layer enables full exposure of the active region (Fig. 1(f)) to an incident light and thus allows for effective light sensing. As shown in Fig. 1(g), flexible phototransistors are performed in two operation modes: (1) the high light detection mode which exhibits a photo-to-dark current ratio of 105 at voltage bias of V GS DS = 50mV and (2) the high responsivity mode which shows a maximum responsivity of 52A/W under blue illumination at voltage bias of V GS = 1 V, and V DS = 3 V. Due to the good mechanical flexibility of Si NMs with the assistance of a polymer layer to enhance light absorption [3], the device exhibited stable responsivity with less than 5% of variation under bending at small radii of curvatures (up to 15mm) as shown in Fig. 1(h). Overall, such flexible phototransistors with the capabilities of high sensitivity light detection and stable performance under the bending conditions offer great promises for high performance flexible optical sensor applications, with easy integration for multi-functional applications.
Riparian vegetation of ephemeral streams

Abstract Ephemeral streams are abundant in drylands, yet we know little about how their vegetation differs from surrounding terrestrial zones and about their projected response to regional warming and drying. We assessed plant communities at seven ephemeral streams (and terrestrial zones) distributed among three climatic settings in Arizona. Compared to terrestrial zones, riparian zones had similar herbaceous cover but greater woody vegetation volume. They supported more plant species, with several woody taxa restricted to the ephemeral zone (consistent with the idea that herbaceous plants are rain-dependent while riparian trees rely on runoff stored in stream sediments). Their herbaceous communities had high compositional overlap with terrestrial zones and may sustain regional diversity as droughts intensify. Presumably owing to periodic flood disturbance, riparian plant communities had greater evenness than terrestrial zones, many of which were dominated by Eragrostis lehmanniana . Patterns along the climatic gradient suggest that increasing aridity will reduce the number of herbaceous (and total) plant species within riparian zones (110 species per stream in semihumid settings, 88 in semiarid, 48 in arid) and drive compositional shifts from perennials grasses and forbs to annuals. Hotter and drier conditions will drive sharp declines in herbaceous cover, converting riparian savanna to xeroriparian scrubland.
Utilization of Body Contouring Procedures Following Weight Loss Surgery: A Study of 37,806 Patients.

Bariatric surgery has substantial health benefits; however, some patients desire body contouring (BC) procedures following rapid weight loss. There is a paucity of data regarding the true rate of BC following bariatric procedures. The purpose of our study is to examine the utilization of two common procedures, abdominoplasty, and panniculectomy, following bariatric surgery in New York State. The SPARCS longitudinal administrative database was used to identify bariatric procedures by using ICD-9 and CPT codes between 2004 and 2010. Procedures included sleeve gastrectomy, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, and laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding. Using a unique patient identifier, we tracked those patients who subsequently underwent either abdominoplasty or panniculectomy with at least a 4-year follow-up (until 2014). Multivariable Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate predictors of follow-up BC surgery. 37,806 patients underwent bariatric surgery between 2004 and 2010. Only 5.58% (n = 2112) of these patients subsequently had a BC procedure, with 143 of them (6.8%) having ≥1 plastic surgery. The average time to plastic surgery after band, bypass, or sleeve was 1134.83 ± 671.09, 984.70 ± 570.53, and 903.02 ± 497.31 days, respectively (P 80%ile in yearly income were more likely to have plastic surgery after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, comorbidities and complications (P values < 0.0001). This study shows that plastic surgery is completed by only 6% of patients following bariatric procedures. As insurance and income are associated with pursuing surgery, improved access may increase the number of patients who are able to undergo these reconstructive procedures.
Teaching design & analysis of multi-core parallel algorithms using CUDA

One of the dominant trends in microprocessor architecture in recent years is continually increasing chip-level parallelism. However, many undergraduate curriculums, especially at small schools, do not offer courses that focus on the design and analysis of multi-threaded algorithms for multi-core processors. The courses that are offered address the theoretical aspects of parallel system design, but often fail to provide students with the opportunity to develop and evaluate distributed applications in real-world environments. As a result, undergraduate students are not as prepared as they should be for graduate study or careers in industry. We fill these gaps by creating multi-threaded programming (MTP) materials which target multi-core processors for the junior-level in computer science. The MTP materials are used in the second half of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms course replacing the theoretical aspects of parallel system design using the PRAM model. In order to overcome the difficulty of teaching and learning multi-core programming, problem-based learning (PBL) is used to ease students' transition from the single-threaded programming model to MTP. The course is well-suited for both large and small schools, and will greatly contribute to CS education and preparation of CS students for graduate study or careers in industry.
CHILD WELFARE WORKERS: AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH FOR INTERACTING WITH SECONDARY TRAUMA

Although child welfare workers (CWW) are assigned a critical role to protect children, little focus has been placed on helping them cope with stress and secondary trauma that can occur when they observe and hear the affect-laden experiences described by clients. This article summarizes two focus groups which provided data to develop a two day training module for CWW to gain knowledge and skills through didactic and experiential learning. The model offers coping strategies to respond to job stress and vicarious traumatization. Benefits and implications for agency and school collaboration are discussed.
Everything Into One Place: Beginning Teachers and the K-12 Art Room Taskscape

Art rooms are dynamic and multifaceted, determined by our everyday engagement with them. K-12 art rooms are also an underemphasized element in beginning art teacher pedagogy. Drawing on qualitative research using ethnographic maps of place as an elicitation tool during interviews, I discuss the importance of understanding the art room as a taskscape, a place of pedagogy. I present the experiences of four beginning K-12 art teachers in the United States as they detect and make sense of this taskscape. I argue that beginning art teachers approach the art room as a dynamic taskscape, one in which they attempt to layer various studio engagements into one place. I discuss possibilities for support of learning and engagement with the taskscape; I advocate for support of beginning art teachers in their efforts to think actively about art rooms as a place of pedagogy; and I consider next steps in research.
Integration of ESG Metrics into a Student-Managed Fund: Creating Sustainable Student-Managed Funds

In this article, the authors evaluate a student-managed fund, Bryant University’s Archway Investment Fund (AIF), from an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) perspective and develop a framework for integration of ESG metrics for the fund. The authors explain why ESG issues are especially relevant to a student-managed fund and describe efforts to move the AIF toward becoming ESG conscious. ESG integration begins with the ESG assessment of the fund holdings followed by an analysis of each sector of the fund. They then offer several ways to improve the ESG standing of each sector compared with various benchmarks.
Cell-Wall Recycling of the Gram-Negative Bacteria and the Nexus to Antibiotic Resistance.

The importance of the cell wall to the viability of the bacterium is underscored by the breadth of antibiotic structures that act by blocking key enzymes that are tasked with cell-wall creation, preservation, and regulation. The interplay between cell-wall integrity, and the summoning forth of resistance mechanisms to deactivate cell-wall-targeting antibiotics, involves exquisite orchestration among cell-wall synthesis and remodeling and the detection of and response to the antibiotics through modulation of gene regulation by specific effectors. Given the profound importance of antibiotics to the practice of medicine, the assertion that understanding this interplay is among the most fundamentally important questions in bacterial physiology is credible. The enigmatic regulation of the expression of the AmpC β-lactamase, a clinically significant and highly regulated resistance response of certain Gram-negative bacteria to the β-lactam antibiotics, is the exemplar of this challenge. This review gives a curre...
Psychometric validation of the Expectations About Rehabilitation Counseling scale: A preliminary study

Identification and reconciliation of counselor expectations between consumer and counselor is believed to increase the counselor-consumer working alliance, which by extension will improve rehabilitation counseling outcomes. The purpose of this article is to describe the development of the Expectations About Rehabilitation Counseling (EARC) scale, one of the component measures used within the working alliance framework for enhancing counselor-consumer working relationship in rehabilitation. Principal components analysis results indicate a four-component solution (expectations about counselor behavior, expectations about consumer behavior, expectations about vocational services, and expectations about clinical and support services) to be optimal both in terms of parsimony and interpretability. This article provides empirical evidence for the factorial structure of the EARC scale. Consumers and counselors were found to differ significantly on two counseling expectancy factors: consumer behavior and clinical/support services. Discrepancies in counseling expectancies between counselors and consumers are inversely related to working alliance. Clinical applications of the EARC scale are discussed.
Welfare caseworkers' perceived responsibility for the behavioral needs of children: A national profile

Abstract Objectives Describe to what extent case workers identify their professional role as behavioral health care managers, and variation based on individual characteristics. Method We used data from the 2008–2011 National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II to describe child welfare case workers' perceived responsibility for the care management of children on their caseloads who were prescribed medications for behavioral health needs. Results Most caseworkers (80%) felt very responsible for the behavioral health management of children. There was variation across five management activities: most reported feeling very responsible for documenting medication use in child welfare records (66%), and over a third (34%) for arranging evaluation or treatment visits for the child (34%). Perceived responsibility varied by age, experience and education. Conclusions Caseworkers increasingly serve as behavioral health care managers, and brokers to other systems such as courts. Ongoing training is needed to support their ability to meet these demands.
Demo: A Spatial Audio System for the Internet-of-Things

Current speakers on IoT hubs are limited, as they do not provide spatial audio experiences. Current spatial audio techniques do not scale to IoT needs, due to high cost, maintenance, and latency. To provide spatial audio for existing IoT environments, we propose and demonstrate a distributed spatial audio system that uses time-domain crosstalk cancellation among a multi-speaker IoT system to position virtual audio throughout a room.
Preparation, Characterization, and In vitro Evaluation of Curcumin- and Resveratrol-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles.

Curcumin and resveratrol are natural compounds with significant anticancer activity; however, their bioavailability is limited due to poor solubility. This study aimed to overcome the solubility problem by means of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN). 2-Hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) was selected from a range of polymers based on miscibility and molecular interactions. SLNs were obtained by probe sonication and freeze-drying curcumin-resveratrol with/without HPβCD incorporated in gelucire 50/13. SLNs were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), zeta potential, powder X-ray diffractometry (PXRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and physical stability. The in vitro release of drugs from the SLNs was performed by the direct dispersion method and analyzed using a validated UV-visible method. In vitro efficacy was tested using a colorectal cancer cell line. Curcumin-resveratrol-gelucire 50/13-HPβCD (CRG-CD) and curcumin-resveratrol-gelucire 50/13(CRG) SLNs showed a particle size from 100 to 150 nm and were not in the crystalline state per PXRD results. MDSC results complimented PXRD results by the absence of melting endotherm of curcumin; TGA showed no weight loss, confirming the absence of organic solvent residual, and the shape of the SLNs was confirmed as spherical by SEM. CRG SLNs were stable for 21 days with respect to particle size and zeta potential. MTT assay indicated better IC50 value for CRG as compared to CRG-CD. Hence, novel SLNs of curcumin and resveratrol incorporated in gelucire 50/13 and HPβCD were prepared and characterized to improve their bioavailability and anticancer activity.
Kept in the dark: Scotland rejects "sunshine" legislation.

A lost opportunity to have transparent information on improper financial relationships between industry and healthcare professionals
HetEnc: A Deep Learning Predictive Model for Multi-type Biological Dataset

Researchers today are generating unprecedented amounts of biological data. One trend in current biological research is integrated analysis with multi-platform data. Effective integration of multi-platform data into the solution of a single or multi-task classification problem; however, is critical and challenging. In this study, we proposed HetEnc, a novel deep learning-based approach, for information domain separation. HetEnc includes both an unsupervised feature representation module and a supervised neural network module to handle multi-platform gene expression datasets. It first constructs three different encoding networks to represent the original gene expression data using high-level abstracted features. A six-layer fully-connected feed-forward neural network is then trained using these abstracted features for each targeted endpoint. We applied HetEnc to the SEQC neuroblastoma dataset to demonstrate that it outperforms other machine learning approaches. Although we used multi-platform data in feature abstraction and model training, HetEnc does not need multi-platform data for prediction, enabling a broader application of the trained model by reducing the cost of gene expression profiling for new samples to a single platform. Thus, HetEnc provides a new solution to integrated gene expression analysis, accelerating modern biological research.
Copper(I) Complex Mediated Nitric Oxide Reductive Coupling: Ligand Hydrogen Bonding Derived Proton Transfer Promotes N2O(g) Release

A cuprous chelate bearing a secondary sphere hydrogen bonding functionality, [(PV-tmpa)CuI]+, transforms •NO(g) to N2O(g) in high-yields in methanol. Ligand derived proton transfer facilitates N–O bond cleavage of a putative hyponitrite intermediate releasing N2O(g), underscoring the crucial balance between H-bonding capabilities and acidities in (bio)chemical •NO(g) coupling systems.
Barriers to and Facilitators of Iron Therapy in Children with Iron Deficiency Anemia

Objective To characterize barriers to and facilitators of successful iron therapy in young children with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) from an in-depth parental perspective. Study design Prospective, mixed methods study of children age 9 months to 4 years with a diagnosis of nutritional IDA by clinical history and laboratory criteria and their parents. Clinical data were obtained from the electronic health record. Semistructured interviews focused on knowledge of IDA, clinical effects, experience with iron therapies, and motivation were conducted with the parent who identified as the child's primary caregiver. Results Twenty patient–parent dyads completed the study; 80% (n = 16) identified as Hispanic/Latino (white). Patients' median age was 23 months (50% male); median initial hemoglobin concentration was 8.2 g/dL and duration of oral iron therapy was 3 months. Parents' median age was 29 years (85% female); 8 interviews (40%) were conducted in Spanish. Barriers included difficulty in administering oral iron owing to side effects and poor taste. Facilitators included provision of specific instructions; support from healthcare providers and additional caregivers at home; motivation to benefit child's health, which was strengthened by strong emotional reactions (ie, stress, anxiety) to therapy and follow-up; and an appreciation of child's improvement with successful completion of therapy. Conclusions Our findings support the need for interventions designed to promote oral iron adherence in children with IDA. Rather than focusing on knowledge content related to IDA, interventions should aim to increase parental motivation by emphasizing the health benefits of adhering to iron therapy and avoiding more invasive interventions.
Disparities in Meeting USPSTF Breast, Cervical, and Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines Among Women in the United States.

Introduction Many sociodemographic factors affect women's ability to meet cancer screening guidelines. Our objective was to examine which sociodemographic characteristics were associated with women meeting US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) guidelines for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening. Methods We used 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to examine the association between sociodemographic variables, such as race/ethnicity, rurality, education, and insurance status, and self-reported cancer screening for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer. We used multivariable log-binomial regression models to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios and 95% CIs. Results Overall, the proportion of women meeting USPSTF guidelines for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening was more than 70%. The prevalence of meeting screening guidelines was 6% to 10% greater among non-Hispanic Black women than among non-Hispanic White women across all 3 types of cancer screening. Women who lacked health insurance had a 26% to 39% lower screening prevalence across screening types than women with health insurance. Compared with women with $50,000 or more in annual household income, women with less than $50,000 in annual household income had a 3% to 8% lower screening prevalence across all 3 screening types. For colorectal cancer, the prevalence of screening was 7% less among women who lived in rural counties than among women in metropolitan counties. Conclusion Many women still do not meet current USPSTF guidelines for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening. Screening disparities are persistent among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, especially women with low incomes and without health insurance. To increase the prevalence of cancer screening and reduce disparities, interventions must focus on reducing economic barriers and improving access to care.
Assays for Activities of Nematocyst Venoms and Their Components

A number of bioassays and biochemical tests for components of the nematocyst venom of the sea anemone Aiptasia pallida are described here in the anticipation that some or all may apply to components of the venom of the penetrant nematocysts (i.e., stenoteles) of hydra. They include assays for toxicity in representative vertebrates (mice) and crustaceans (fiddler crabs), hemolysis of red blood cells, phospholipase activity, and neurotoxicity on crayfish nerve.
An Exploratory Empirical Inquiry into Consumer Logistics

The study of consumer logistics (CL), which sheds new light on buyer behavior, is focused on household participation in the acquisition of services and in the movement and handling of goods from the point of acquisition to the point of consumption or final disposal. This research advances the study of CL by empirically testing some relationships implied in previous conceptual work. Results indicate participation in CL activities varies among individuals, and the roles household members assume in performing CL tasks are linked to demographic and lifestyle factors. Consumer logistics, as a field of inquiry, affords a new and potentially profitable way of examining consumer behavior at the household level (Granzin 1984). The study of consumer logistics (hereafter, CL ) is focused on consumer participation in the movement and handling of goods from the point of acquisition to the point of consumption or final disposal, as well as consumer participation 1n the acquisition of services.
Chemoreception and Tonic Drive in the Retrotrapezoid Nucleus (RTN) Region of the Awake Rat

In anesthetized animals, focal acidification of a portion of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN), increases respiratory output3, 6. We define the RTN region to include the RTN proper, described by retrograde tracing experiments as lying ventral to the facial nucleus19and adjacent neurons of the parapyramidal region and the juxta-facial portion of the nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis. Focal disruption of the RTN region by cooling2 or by neurotoxin injection10,12,13 substantially reduces baseline respiratory output and the response to systemic hypercapnia. The RTN region can provide a tonic drive to breathe and is a site of central chemoreception.
The European Commission and the Integration of Europe: Images of Governance

What kind of European Union do top Commission officials want? Should the European Union be supranational or intergovernmental? Should it promote market-liberalism or regulated capitalism? Should the Commission be Europe's government or its civil service? This 2002 book examines top officials' preferences on these questions through analysis of unique data from 137 interviews. Understanding the forces that shape human preferences is the subject of intense debate. Hooghe demonstrates that the Commission has difficulty shaping its employees' preferences in the fluid multi-institutional context of the European Union. Top officials' preferences are better explained by experiences outside rather than inside the Commission: political party, country, and prior work leave deeper imprints than directorate-general or cabinet. Preferences are also influenced more by internalized values than by self-interested career calculation. Hooghe's findings are surprising, and will challenge a number of common assumptions about the workings and motives of the European Commission.
Cryptococcosis and pregnancy

Abstract A 28-year-old Caucasian woman developed overt symptoms of cryptococcal meningitis the day following delivery of a normal term child. The diagnosis of cryptococcal meningitis was substantiated by culture of Cryptococcus neoformans from spinal fluid. The patient was treated with amphotericin for 3 months (total dose 1,960 mg. intravenously and 9.5 mg. intrathecally) with complete recovery. Nine definitely proved cases of CNS cryptococcosis during or immediately following pregnancy have been reported. A review of these cases suggests that if the woman lives to term delivery neither the cryptococcal infection itself nor treatment of the pregnant mother with amphotericin has a serious deleterious effect on the infant. However, in no case was amphotericin given during the first trimester of pregnancy. It is suggested that the high glucocorticoid levels during pregnancy serve the dual role of increasing susceptibility and possibly even dissemination of cryptococcosis while masking its signs and symptoms.
HyVM - hybrid virtual machines - efficient use of future heterogeneous chip multiprocessors

The HyVM project is developing system support for future heterogeneous chip multiprocessors. Such hybrid hardware platforms offer opportunities in terms of improved power/performance properties, but pose challenges to systems technologies due to heterogeneous processing cores, non-uniform memory access, and complex software stacks. The HyVM project is creating new hypervisor- and system-level abstractions in support of providing a uniform program execution model for future hybrid computing platforms. Rather than treating accelerators as external devices, the model anticipates future integrated systems by providing sets of virtual processing units for use by both accelerator and commodity programs, offering the resource management support needed to efficiently execute such parallel multi-core applications, and supplying the tool chains needed, at hypervisor level, to permit applications to freely use arbitrary combinations of accelerator and commodity cores. The talk will overview the HyVM project, review results that range from efficient methods for virtualizing accelerators, to online techniques for managing heterogenous system resources, to JIT binary translation for dealing with diverse accelerator targets. The effort is driven by both commercial and high performance applications targeting future hybrid machines.
Congenital Ulnar Drift in a Surgeon

Windblown hand is a term used in many instances to describe ulnar deviations of the fingers with or without other malformations. In 1994 Wood reviewed all of the descriptions of cases of windblown hand and pointed out how many variants of congenital ulnar drift there are, suggesting that the many variations seen may all belong to a larger type of arthrogryposis. While the most common cause of ulnar deviation of the fingers is rheumatoid arthritis, it can also be caused by other conditions such as windblown hand or Jaccoud's arthropathy. While most hand surgeons are familiar with presentations of congenital ulnar drift, few of them are knowledgeable about Jaccoud's arthropathy as this is usually discussed within medical communities such as Rheumatology. We present a case of a surgeon who has had noticeable ulnar deviation of the digits at the level of the metacarpophalangeal joint since his early 20s. We propose that the current case is a demonstration of a type of windblown hand that has some hereditary component but is not immediately obvious at birth and presents physically more like Jaccoud's arthropathy than traditional windblown hand.
Testing the dark energy consistency with geometry and growth

We perform parametric tests of the consistency of the standard $w\mathrm{CDM}$ model in the framework of general relativity by carefully separating information between the geometry and growth of structure. We replace each late-Universe parameter that describes the behavior of dark energy with two parameters: one describing geometrical information in cosmological probes, and the other controlling the growth of structure. We use data from all principal cosmological probes; of these, Type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, and the peak locations in the cosmic microwave background angular power spectrum constrain the geometry, while the redshift space distortions, weak gravitational lensing, and abundance of galaxy clusters constrain both geometry and growth. Both geometry and growth separately favor the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ cosmology with the matter density relative to critical ${\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{M}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.3$. When the equation of state is allowed to vary separately for probes of growth and geometry, we find again a good agreement with the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ value ($w\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}1$), with the major exception of redshift-space distortions which favor less growth than in $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}\mathrm{CDM}$ at $3\text{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\sigma}$ confidence, favoring the equation of state ${w}^{\text{grow}}\ensuremath{\simeq}\ensuremath{-}0.8$. The anomalous growth favored by redshift space distortions has been noted earlier, and is common to all Redshift space distortions data sets, but may well be caused by systematics, or be explained by the sum of the neutrino masses higher than that expected from the simplest mass hierarchies, ${m}_{\ensuremath{\nu}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.45\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{eV}$. On the whole, the constraints are tight even in the new, larger parameter space due to impressive complementarity of different cosmological probes.
Ca2+ imaging of activity in ICC-MY during local mucosal reflexes and the colonic migrating motor complex in the murine large intestine

Colonic migrating motor complexes (CMMCs) are neurally mediated, cyclical contractile and electrical events, which typically propagate along the colon every 2–3 min in the mouse. We examined the interactions between myenteric neurons, interstitial cells of Cajal in the myenteric region (ICC-MY) and smooth muscle cells during CMMCs using Ca2+ imaging. CMMCs occurred spontaneously or were evoked by stimulating the mucosa locally, or by brushing it at either end of the colon. Between CMMCs, most ICC-MY were often quiescent; their lack of activity was correlated with ongoing Ca2+ transients in varicosities on the axons of presumably inhibitory motor neurons that were on or surrounded ICC-MY. Ca2+ transients in other varicosities initiated intracellular Ca2+ waves in adjacent ICC-MY, which were blocked by atropine, suggesting they were on the axons of excitatory motor neurons. Following TTX (1 μm), or blockade of inhibitory neurotransmission with Nω-nitro-l-arginine (l-NA, a NO synthesis inhibitor, 10 μm) and MRS 2500 (a P2Y1 antagonist, 1 μm), ongoing spark/puff like activity and rhythmic intracellular Ca2+ waves (38.1 ± 2.9 cycles min−1) were observed, yet this activity was uncoupled, even between ICC-MY in close apposition. During spontaneous or evoked CMMCs there was an increase in the frequency (62.9 ± 1.4 cycles min−1) and amplitude of Ca2+ transients in ICC-MY and muscle, which often had synchronized activity. At the same time, activity in varicosites along excitatory and inhibitory motor nerve fibres increased and decreased respectively, leading to an overall excitation of ICC-MY. Atropine (1 μm) reduced the evoked responses in ICC-MY, and subsequent addition of an NK1 antagonist (RP 67580, 500 nm) completely blocked the responses to stimulation, as did applying these drugs in reverse order. An NKII antagonist (MEN 10,376, 500 nm) had no effect on the evoked responses in ICC-MY. Following TTX application, carbachol (1 μm), substance P (1 μm) and an NKI agonist (GR73632, 100 nm) produced the fast oscillations superimposed on a slow increase in Ca2+ in ICC-MY, whereas SNP (an NO donor, 10 μm) abolished all activity in ICC-MY. In conclusion, ICC-MY, which are under tonic inhibition, are pacemakers whose activity can be synchronized by excitatory nerves to couple the longitudinal and circular muscles during the CMMC. ICC-MY receive excitatory input from motor neurons that release acetylcholine and tachykinins acting on muscarinic and NK1 receptors, respectively.
Simultaneous heat and mass transfer in the compressible laminar boundary layer of a dissociating gas

Abstract The velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles, the recovery factor, and the heattransfer coefficient were calculated for the case of the supersonic flow of a dissociating diatomic gas (iodine vapor) over a flat plate without a pressure gradient. Results were obtained for various mass-transfer rates. Exact values of the thermodynamic and transport properties were used in order to compare the results with estimates based on constant property solutions where the reference enthalpy method is used to calculate the state at which the properties were evaluated.
Transcriptome adaptation of group B Streptococcus to growth in human amniotic fluid.

Background: Streptococcus agalactiae (group B Streptococcus) is a bacterial pathogen that causes severe intrauterine infections leading to fetal morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of GBS infection in this environment is poorly understood, in part because we lack a detailed understanding of the adaptation of this pathogen to growth in amniotic fluid. To address this knowledge deficit, we characterized the transcriptome of GBS grown in human amniotic fluid (AF) and compared it with the transcriptome in rich laboratory medium. Methods: GBS was grown in Todd Hewitt-yeast extract medium and human AF. Bacteria were collected at mid-logarithmic, late-logarithmic and stationary growth phase. We performed global expression microarray analysis using a custom-made Affymetrix GeneChip. The normalized hybridization values derived from three biological replicates at each growth point were obtained. AF/THY transcript ratios representing greater than a 2-fold change and P-value exceeding 0.05 were considered to be statistically significant. Principal Findings: We have discovered that GBS significantly remodels its transcriptome in response to exposure to human amniotic fluid. GBS grew rapidly in human AF and did not exhibit a global stress response. The majority of changes in GBS transcripts in AF compared to THY medium were related to genes mediating metabolism of amino acids, carbohydrates, and nucleotides. The majority of the observed changes in transcripts affects genes involved in basic bacterial metabolism and is connected to AF composition and nutritional requirements of the bacterium. Importantly, the response to growth in human AF included significant changes in transcripts of multiple virulence genes such as adhesins, capsule, and hemolysin and IL-8 proteinase what might have consequences for the outcome of host-pathogen interactions. Conclusions/Significance: Our work provides extensive new information about how the transcriptome of GBS responds to growth in AF, and thus new leads for pathogenesis research.
Equine endometrial fibrosis correlates with 11β-HSD2, TGF-β1 and ACE activities

Endometrial periglandular fibrosis (EPF) contributes to embryonic and fetal loss in mares. Equine EPF correlates inversely with conception and successful gestation. In the modified Kenney endometrial biopsy classification system, EPF categories I, IIA, IIB, and III correspond to minimal, mild, moderate, and severe fibrosis (+/-inflammation), respectively. Paraffin sections of biopsy specimens were stained with HE however, endometrial TGF-beta1 and 11beta-HSD2 activities were significantly correlated to the severity of EPF (P<0.05). We conclude that, locally generated angiotensin II initiates the expression of TGF-beta1 resulting in myofibroblastic transformation. 11Beta-HSD2 in concert appears to modulate the severity of endometrial fibrosis.
Mechanochemically triggered bond formation in solid-state polymers

Polybutadiene was functionalized with dibromo-, dichloro-, and bromochloro-carbene to give gem-dihalocyclopropanated (gDHC) polymers, in which the gDHCs act as mechanically activated functional groups or mechanophores. The polymers were extruded to determine the mechanophore activity in the solid state. The extent of gDHC ring opening depends on both the polymer composition and the macroscopic shear stress, ranging from 6.0% to over 30% after an hour of extrusion. In addition, the 2,3-dibromoalkene formed from mechanical activation of the gem-dibromocyclopropane was found to undergo subsequent nucleophilic substitution by chloride in the solid state. The number of solid-state substitution reactions far exceeds the number of main-chain bonds broken, a finding with implications for the future use of mechanophores in self-strengthening or self-healing polymers.
Sexual behavior and vaginal colonization by group B streptococcus among minority women

Objective: To test the hypothesis that sexual behaviors predict colonization of the vagina by group B streptococcus among minority women. Methods: We conducted a prospective, descriptive study of 192 consecutive African-American (37%) and Hispanic women (63%). Each woman underwent a detailed interview concerning sexual behavior. Separate specimens were taken from the endocervix, upper vagina, lower vagina, and anorectum and placed in selective broth media for isolation of group B streptococcus. Significant behavioral predictors of vaginal group B streptococcus colonization and heavy (3− 4+) colonization were identified using stepwise logistic regression. Results: The incidence of vaginal colonization was 39% and heavy colonization was 35%. Nineteen percent reported anal intercourse, 46% reported sex at least two times per week, and 21% reported more than one partner in the previous 30 days. The significant predictors of vaginal group B streptococcal infection were: African-American ethnicity, adjusted odds ratio (OR) 6.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 2.5–15.1); presence of rectal group B streptococcus, adjusted OR 100.6 (95% CI 26.7–379.3); nulliparous, adjusted OR 3.6 (95% CI 1.4–9.5); and nonpregnant status, adjusted OR 3.9 (95% CI 1.3–12.2). The significant predictors of heavy colonization were: more than one partner in the last 30 days, adjusted OR 2.6 (95% CI 1.2–5.6); and African-American ethnicity, adjusted OR 2.3 (95% CI 1.2–4.5). Anal intercourse was associated with a reduced likelihood of vaginal group B streptococcal infection, adjusted OR 0.34 (95% CI 0.12–0.91). Conclusion: Sexual behavior, especially anal intercourse, does not predict vaginal colonization by group B streptococcus. African-American women are more likely to have vaginal and heavy group B streptococcus colonization. Heavy vaginal colonization is associated with multiple partners in African-American women.
Quantitative extraction of hamster liver lipid and cholesterol with supercritical carbon dioxide

A quantitative method for liver lipid and cholesterol extraction with supercritical CO2 and ethanol entrainer (SCE) is reported and compared with the Folch (chloroform/methanol) procedure. Mean values for lipid and cholesterol in hamster livers (n=48) were similar between the SCE and Folch methods. Correlation coefficients between the two methods were 0.9866 for total lipid and 0.9546 for cholesterol. Similar mean values and high correlations between the two methods validate the SCE procedure as a precise alternative method for quantitative liver lipid extractions. The SCE method also reduces the use of hazardous solvents.
Predicting contraction scour with a two-dimensional depth-averaged model

Contraction scour is often encountered in natural rivers due to natural geological controls, bridges, or river restoration structures. Such scour may be better predicted with multi-dimensional than one-dimensional models. The aim of this study is to investigate whether a two-dimensional depth-averaged model is adequate for modelling contraction scour. This study shows that improved predictions are obtained with the present model relative to previous model investigations. The study also shows that the current model is adequate for predicting contraction scour and model results are comparable with those of three-dimensional modelling except for the prediction of aggradation downstream of the contracted channel section.
Alterations in hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activity and in levels of proopiomelanocortin and corticotropin-releasing hormone-receptor 1 mRNAs in the pituitary and hypothalamus of the rat during chronic ‘binge’ cocaine and withdrawal

Abstract Tolerance to the stimulatory effects of cocaine on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis develops after chronic ‘binge’ cocaine exposure in the rat. This blunting of HPA axis activity in response to cocaine is associated with a cocaine-induced reduction of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA level in the hypothalamus. There is limited information about the effects of withdrawal from chronic cocaine on HPA activity. The present studies were undertaken to determine levels of the HPA hormones adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone across 10 days of withdrawal following chronic ‘binge’ pattern cocaine administration (3×15 mg/kg/day at hourly intervals) for 14 days. Male Fischer rats showed a significantly attenuated HPA axis response to chronic ‘binge’ pattern cocaine administration 30 min after the last injection on the 14th day, as measured by both plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels at the nadir time point. Twenty-four hours following the final administration of ‘binge’ cocaine (the 1st day of withdrawal), a significant elevation of plasma ACTH levels and a modest, but significant, elevation of plasma corticosterone levels were found at the nadir time point. This acute withdrawal-related activation of the hormones of the HPA axis was no longer found on the 10th day of withdrawal. In the anterior pituitary, levels of both proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and CRH-receptor 1 (R1) mRNAs were significantly higher than saline controls on the 14th day of chronic ‘binge’ cocaine and were at control levels on the 4th day of withdrawal. In the neurointermediate lobe of the pituitary, a sustained reduction in POMC mRNA levels was observed on the 3rd, 7th and 14th day of chronic ‘binge’ cocaine, but POMC mRNA was at control levels by the 4th day of withdrawal. In the hypothalamus, POMC mRNA levels showed a transient decrease on the 1st day of ‘binge’ cocaine with no change during chronic ‘binge’ cocaine or its withdrawal. CRH mRNA levels in the hypothalamus were not different from saline controls on the 1st and 4th days of withdrawal. Taken together, the present results show that after development of adaptation or tolerance to chronic ‘binge’ cocaine there is an increase in HPA activity during acute cocaine withdrawal. In addition to being associated with CRH input from the hypothalamus, the activation of the HPA axis by cocaine withdrawal may be, at least in part, due to the increased POMC and/or CRH-R1 gene expression observed in the anterior pituitary after chronic ‘binge’ cocaine.
Clustering with two-word stimuli each composed of a categorized and a noncategorized word

For a free-recall task, words of high conceptual similarity (H) were each paired with a word of low conceptual similarity (L). These word pairs were written either side by side as two-word stimuli, or consecutively one below the other as one-word stimuli. All responses were written as a list of single words, recalled in any order. More H words were recalled than L words. H words clustered by category. Also, LH pairs of words presented side by side clustered increasingly over three trials; whereas, the same words presented consecutively did not.
Construction Methods on Mechanical and Material's Deformation Control during Assembling and Erecting Cup Type Transmission Tower

Take a 1000kV Cup-Type tubular steel test tower as research object, and it is the first one of this type used in heavy ice area. Research on the assembly load’s affect to tower structure was made. The process of assembling tower using suspend guyed pole was analyzed with Finite Element Method. Structures overhanging the tower body, such as cross arms and bracket of earth wire, could be assembled in different ways. The different affect to the built structure corresponding to different assembly method was researched. The objective is to make the deformation of the structure minimum. It was indicated that, reinforce the K-joint by cable and the deformation of structure reduced obviously. The reinforce method is simple and efficient, and ensure the cross arm assembling smoothly. It is avail to improve the assemble quality of the whole structure.