cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Charged Ultrafiltration Membranes Increase the Selectivity of Whey Protein Separations

Ultrafiltration is widely used to concentrate proteins, but fractionation of one protein from another is much less common. This study examined the use of positively charged membranes to increase the selectivity of ultrafiltration and allow the fractionation of proteins from cheese whey. By adding a positive charge to ultrafiltration membranes, and adjusting the solution pH, it was possible to permeate proteins having little or no charge, such as glycomacropeptide, and retain proteins having a positive charge. Placing a charge on the membrane increased the selectivity by over 600% compared to using an uncharged membrane. The data were fit using the stagnant film model that relates the observed sieving coefficient to membrane parameters such as the flux, mass transfer coefficient, and membrane Peclet number. The model was a useful tool for data analysis and for the scale up of membrane separations for whey protein fractionation.
Nonlinear finite element simulation of thermoviscoplastic deformation of C4 solder joints in high density packaging under thermal cycling

A nonlinear finite element model has been used to simulate the thermally induced viscoplastic deformation of the controlled collapse chip connection (C4) solder joints in a high density single chip module (SCM). The dependence of solder joint deformation on the tin content was demonstrated for various lead-rich Pb-Sn alloys with the tin content varying from 2 wt% to 10 wt%. A thermoviscoplasticity theory was introduced for modeling inelastic stress-strain response of the Pb-Sn alloys. In the theory, the creep and plasticity were separately considered and formulated. The Garafalo hyperbolic sine law was used to model the creep behavior, while the Prandtl-Reuss equation was used for the rate independent plastic deformation. The modeled SCM consists of a 5 mm silicon chip attached to 50 mm alumina substrate by an array of C4 with diameter of O.1 mm on a 0.2 mm I/O pitch. A cyclic temperature load of 0 to 100/spl deg/C at frequency of 3 cycles per hour was applied to the SCM, and a nonlinear finite element program ABAQUS was used to numerically study the effect of the tin content on the stress-strain response of the C4. It is concluded that the decrease of the tin content induces a decrease of the equivalent creep strain and Mises stress, but an increase of the equivalent plastic strain for the edge C4 in the SCM. >
Validation of Surface Chemistry Models Using Low Pressure Stagnation-Point Flames: Measurements of OH Above Platinum Surfaces

Abstract Near-surface laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of OH axe performed in the post-flame region of low pressure hydrogen/oxygen flames in stagnation flows above catalytic and non-catalytic surfaces. Measurements of the normalized gradient of the OH number density near the surface are shown to be sensitive to changes in surface reaction rates, and thus can be used as a test of surface chemical mechanisms. In addition, such measurements do not require an absolute calibration, which increases the accuracy of the comparison. A comparison of the observed results for varying substrate temperature, system pressure, and flame equivalence ratio suggests that the recombination probability of OH on platinum is overpredicted in general by current surface models, and that the dependence of recombination on pressure is stronger than predicted. The qualitative trends for OH recombination with temperature and equivalence ratio are similar to predicted trends.
S-code: new distance-3 MDS array codes

In this paper, we present a new description of the X-code, a class of MDS array code, using skews, named S-code. The X-codes result in codewords that are arrays of size n /spl times/ n, where n is prime. Our new description does not require n to be prime but requires n to be an odd number with smallest prime factor greater than 3. We prove that the S-codes result in a distance-3 MDS code and give a description of which slopes other than 1 and -1 can be used to construct S-codes. Encoding and decoding procedures of the S-code are also introduced.
New evidence for high discharge to the Chukchi shelf since the Last Glacial Maximum

Using CHIRP subbottom profiling across the Chukchi shelf, offshore NW Alaska, we observed a large incised valley that measures tens of kilometers in width. The valley appears to have been repeatedly excavated during sea level lowering; however, the two most recent incisions appear to have been downcut during the last sea level rise, suggesting an increase in the volume of discharge. Modern drainage from the northwestern Alaskan margin is dominated by small, low-discharge rivers that do not appear to be large enough to have carved the offshore drainage. The renewed downcutting and incision during the deglaciation and consequent base level rise implies there must have been an additional source of discharge. Paleoprecipitation during deglaciation is predicted to be at least 10% less than modern precipitation and thus cannot account for the higher discharge to the shelf. Glacial meltwater is the most likely source for the increased discharge.
A numerical model for gas-particle flow through an orifice

Abstract The two-dimensional steady flow of a gas-particle mixture through an orifice is numerically modeled using the particle-source-in-cell approach. The results show the extent of the recirculation zone behind the orifice and the effect of particles on the gas velocity and pressure distributions. The predicted pressure drop across the orifice agrees favorably with experimental results.
Motivational Components of Client Reactance

In this study the authors attempted to determine the motivational personality characteristics associated with psychological reactance. A total of 251 undergraduate psychology students took the Therapeutic Reactance Scale (TRS), the Questionnaire for Measuring Psychological Reactance (QMPR), and the Personality Research Form (PRF). Results show a personality pattern of the psychologically reactant person as defensive, aggressive, dominant, autonomous, and nonaffiliative. Implications of this pattern for resistance in counseling are discussed.
Blind timing acquisition for ultra-wideband multi-user ad hoc access

Synchronization is a factor critically affecting performance of ultra-wideband (UWB) communication systems. We develop a blind synchronization and demodulation scheme which relies on intermittent transmission of nonzero mean symbols. These enable multi-user interference (MUI)- and inter-symbol interference (ISI)-resilient timing acquisition via energy detection and low-complexity demodulation by matching to a synchronized aggregate template (SAT). It turns out that the resultant SAT receiver offers distinct advantages over the widely-deployed RAKE receiver. Its blind operation nicely fits the requirements of multi-user ad hoc access and its ability to handle ISI and MUI is attractive for UWB communications. Analytical performance evaluation and simulations testing our novel scheme confirm its high potential for deployment.
Oxidative Alteration of Ce-rich Pyrochlore: HRTEM/EELS Investigation

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and associated electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) study show intergrowth of Ce4+-rich pyrochlore (metamict) and Ce3+-rich pyrochlore (partially metamict) in a Ce-rich pyrochlore from a rare earth element (REE) ore deposit of Inner Mongolia, Northern China. The partially metamict material is Ba-free and dominated by Ce3+. However, the metamict material is Ba-bearing and dominated by Ce3+,. The Ce4+-rich pyrochlore may result from radiation damage by alpha decay that also causes oxidation of Fe 2+ in titanite, and the interaction with a Ba-bearing oxidizing fluid. The oxidation of Ce3+ in the primary pyrochlore is accompanied by in the loss of REE, Ca, and Pb, a daughter product of U via alpha decay, during the alteration. However, most REE were incorporated in the alteration product, the Ce4+-rich pyrochlore. Based on EDS and EELS analyses, the chemical formulae of the partially metamict Ce3+-rich pyrochlore and metamict Ce4+-rich pyroeblore can be written as: (Ca, Ce3+, U, Pb) 2(Ti, Nb)2O7−x(OH)x, and (Ba, Ca, Ce4+, U)2 (Ti, Nb)2O7−y(OH)y, respectively. Ce is the most abundant element among all REE. It is proposed that the alteration takes place in solid-state with oxidizing fluid as a catalyst. The alteration kinetics is controlled by diffusion processes of aqueous species in metamict pyrochlore.
Imbibition of hydraulic fracturing fluids into partially saturated shale

Recent studies suggest that imbibition of hydraulic fracturing fluids into partially saturated shale is an important mechanism that restricts their migration, thus reducing the risk of groundwater contamination. We present computations of imbibition based on an exact semianalytical solution for spontaneous imbibition. These computations lead to quantitative estimates of an imbibition rate parameter (A) with units of LT−1/2 for shale, which is related to porous medium and fluid properties, and the initial water saturation. Our calculations suggest that significant fractions of injected fluid volumes (15–95%) can be imbibed in shale gas systems, whereas imbibition volumes in shale oil systems is much lower (3–27%). We present a nondimensionalization of A, which provides insights into the critical factors controlling imbibition, and facilitates the estimation of A based on readily measured porous medium and fluid properties. For a given set of medium and fluid properties, A varies by less than factors of ∼1.8 (gas nonwetting phase) and ∼3.4 (oil nonwetting phase) over the range of initial water saturations reported for the Marcellus shale (0.05–0.6). However, for higher initial water saturations, A decreases significantly. The intrinsic permeability of the shale and the viscosity of the fluids are the most important properties controlling the imbibition rate.
Factors influencing egg shell quality--a review.

(1965). Factors Influencing Egg Shell Quality—A Review. World's Poultry Science Journal: Vol. 21, No. 2, pp. 110-138.
A flexible and distributed architecture for adaptive end-to-end QoS provisioning in next-generation networks

A novel distributed end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) provisioning architecture based on the concept of decoupling the end-to-end QoS provisioning from the service provisioning at routers in the differentiated service (DiffServ) network is proposed. The main objective of this architecture is to enhance the QoS granularity and flexibility offered in the DiffServ network model and improve both the network resource utilization and user benefits. The proposed architecture consists of a new endpoint admission control referred to as explicit endpoint admission control at the user side, the service vector which allows a data flow to choose different services at different routers along its data path, and a packet marking architecture and algorithm at the router side. The achievable performance of the proposed approach is studied, and the corresponding results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism can have better service differentiation capability and lower request dropping probability than the integrated service over DiffServ schemes. Furthermore, it is shown that it preserves a friendly networking environment for conventional transmission control protocol flows and maintains the simplicity feature of the DiffServ network model.
Magnetostriction of an electron-hole drop in Ge

By infrared imaging the shape of a strain-confined electron-hole drop in germanium is measured in an applied magnetic field, H ≦ 22 kOe. A considerable distortion from sphericity is observed for all field orientations and stress geometries studied. It is found that in most cases the drop flattens along the field direction. For II ‖〈111〉‖ (applied stress) the drop shape depends markedly on the position of the light excitation spot on the crystal. The dimension parallel to the field decays more rapidly than the perpendicular dimension. The data strongly support a dynamic interpretation in which the recombination currents of electrons and holes give rise to the field-induced distortion. Die Form eines dureh mechanische Spannung lokalisierten Elektron–Loch-Tropfens in Germanium wird mit Hilfe von Ultrarot-Abbildung bei Magnetfeldern, H ≦ 22 kOe, bestimmt. Erhebliche Abweichungen von der Kugelform werden fur alle untersuchten Magnetfeldorientierungen und Spannungsgeometrien beobachtet. In den meisten Fallen flacht sich der Tropfen in Magnetfeld-richtung ab. Fur H ‖〈111〉‖ Spannung hangt die Tropfenforra stark vom Ort des Einfalls des An-regungslichtes ab. Die Tropfengrose parallel zum Feld nimmt schneller ab als die senkrecht zum Feld. Die Mesdaten konnen am besten mit einem dynamischen Modell. indem die Rekombinationsflusse der Elektronen und Locher Anlas zu magnetfeldinduzierter Verformung geben, erklart werden.
Tight junctions are membrane microdomains

Tight junctions (TJ) of polarized epithelial cells regulate barrier function at mucosal surfaces. Structural proteins of TJs include hyperphosphorylated occludin (HO) and the peripheral membrane protein, ZO-1. Since TJs are dynamically regulated, and lipid-modified signal transduction proteins localize to TJs, we considered the possibility that the TJ itself is composed of microdomains with unique structure. Differential detergent extraction and isopycnic sucrose density gradients were utilized to isolate TJ-enriched membranes from a polarized intestinal epithelial cell line, T84. Here we report that major pools of hyperphosphorylated occludin (HO) and ZO-1 are found in raft-like membrane microdomains with characteristics of the previously described detergent-insoluble glycolipid rafts (DIGs). Properties of such gradient fractions included Triton X-100 (TX-100) insolubility, light scattering at 600 nm, buoyant density of approximately 1.08 g/cm(3) and increased cholesterol content compared to high density fractions. Similar results were obtained using natural epithelium. Unlike the TJ proteins HO and ZO-1, other basolateral transmembrane proteins including E-cadherin, c-met and b 1 integrin were not increased in DIG-like fractions. Immunoprecipitation studies revealed coprecipitation of a pool of occludin with caveolin-1, a scaffolding protein abundant in DIGs. Coprecipitation results were supported by immunofluorescence and immunogold labeling studies demonstrating caveolin-1 localization in the apical membrane and focal colocalization with occludin in TJs. TJ disassembly by calcium chelation resulted in displacement of TJ proteins from the 'raft-like' compartment. Our findings suggest that raft-like compartments play an important role in the spatial organization of TJs and probably in regulation of paracellular permeability in epithelial cells.
Before the Pomp and Circumstance: Seniors Reflect on Graduating from High School

This article reports on a. study conducted at a large, comprehensive high school in New England. The study focused on identifying seniors' concerns and sources of excitement as they anticipated their transition from high school. Results indicate that the seniors worried about money, being successful, and leaving friends and family. In contrast, the seniors expressed excitement about having more freedom and fewer rules. In addition to suggesting intervention strategies for school counselors, this article gives school counselors a model for using qualitative research practices in their work.
Thinning method and intensity influence long-term mortality trends in a red pine forest

Tree mortality shapes forest development, but rising mortality can represent lost production or an adverse response to changing environmental conditions. Thinning represents a strategy for reducing mortality rates, but different thinning techniques and intensities could have varying impacts depending on how they alter stand structure. We analyzed trends in stand structure, relative density, stand-scale mortality, climate, and correlations between mortality and climate over 46 years of thinning treatments in a red pine forest in Northern Minnesota, USA to examine how thinning techniques that remove trees of different crown classes interact with growing stock manipulation to impact patterns of tree mortality. Relative density in unharvested plots increased during the first 25 years of the study to around 80%, then began to plateau, but was lower (12-62%) in thinned stands. Mortality in unharvested plots claimed 2.5 times more stems yr−1 and 8.6 times as large a proportion of annual biomass increment during the last 21 years of the study compared to the first 25 years, but showed few temporal trends in thinned stands. Mortality in thinning treatments was generally lower than in controls, particularly during the last 21 years of the study when mortality averaged about 0.1% of stems yr −1 and 4% of biomass increment across thinning treatments, but 0.8% of stems yr −1 and 49% of biomass increment in unharvested plots. Treatments that combined thinning from above with low growing stock levels represented an exception, where mortality exceeded biomass production after initial thinning. Mortality averaged less than 0.1% of stems yr−1 and less than 1% of annual biomass production in stands thinned from below. These trends suggest thinning from below minimizes mortality across a wide range of growing stock levels while thinning from above to low growing stock levels can result in dramatic short-term increases in mortality. Moderate to high growing stock levels (21-34 m 2 ha −1 ) may offer greater flexibility for limiting mortality across a range of thinning methods. Mean and maximum annual and growing season temperatures rose by 0.6-1.8 ◦C during the study, and temperature variables were positively correlated with mortality in unharvested plots. Mortality increases in unharvested plots, however, were consistent with self-thinning principles and probably not driven by rising temperatures. These results suggest interactions between thinning method and intensity influence mortality reductions associated with thinning, and demonstrate the need for broader consideration of developmental processes as potential explanations for increased
QM/MM Study of the NMR Spectroscopy of the Retinyl Chromophore in Visual Rhodopsin

The (1)H and (13)C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of the retinyl chromophore in rhodopsin are investigated by using quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) hybrid methods at the density functional theory (DFT) B3LYP/6-31G*:Amber level of theory, in conjunction with the gauge independent atomic orbital (GIAO) method for the ab initio self-consistent-field (SCF) calculation of NMR chemical shifts. The study provides a first-principle interpretation of solid-state NMR experiments based on recently developed QM/MM computational models of rhodopsin and bathorhodopsin [Gascon, J. A.; Batista, V. S. Biophys. J. 2004, 87, 2931-2941]. The reported results are particularly relevant to the development and validation of atomistic models of prototypical G-protein-coupled receptors which regulate signal transduction across plasma membranes.
Cyclic changes of cervical mucus in normal and progestin-treated women.

Samples of cervical mucus were obtained from 4 women for tests to determine specific cyclic changes. The tests performed determined the quantity viscosity acidity crystallization (fern test) length of the mucus thread (Spinnbarkeit) cellularity sperm penetration and protein electrophoresis of the cervical mucus. Samples were obtained and tested on the average of every 2 days during untreated normal cycles and during cycles of Norlestrin (2.5 mg norethindrone acetate and .05 mg ethinyl estradiol) administration. The results are graphed and discussed. General findings on Norlestrin-induced changes showed pronounced inhibition of sperm transmission through the cervical mucus absence of crystallization lowered Spinnbarkeit and a modified normal protein pattern.
Rehabilitation Consideration in Pediatric Cancer Survivors

Although the need for rehabilitation services for cancer patients has been known for decades, many individuals with cancer still do not receive appropriate rehabilitation therapies during the course of their care. This has become particularly important for survivors of childhood cancer. As improvements have been made in treatment and mortality rates are decreasing, there are more survivors living with the long term or “late effects” of the cancer and its treatments. Late effects often impact the central nervous system and can impact skills such as mobility, activities of daily living, general physical activity, swallowing, speech production, and cognitive functioning. The focus of this chapter will be on introducing the need for rehabilitation services in this population, a review of some of the common issues that impact physical and speech-language functioning, and tips for when professionals may consider a referral for physical, occupational, or speech-language therapies.
Temperature-Dependent Fecundity, Longevity, and Host-Killing Activity of Diglyphus intermedius (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) on Third Instars of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) (Diptera: Agromyzidae)

The longevity and fecundity of the parasitoid Diglyphus intermedius (Girault) and the host mortality induced by the parasitoid were studied at five constant temperatures from 15.6 to 31.1°C. Third instars of Liriomyza trifolii (Burgess) were provided as hosts. The median longevity ( L 50) of the adult female at temperature T (°C) is described by the equation 1/ L 50 = e 0.088( T −47.98)−1. The predicted lifelong total number of eggs ( F ) per female is given by the equation F = −196.11 + 42.65 T − 1.1 T 2, and the lifelong total number of hosts killed ( Hm ) is given by the equation Hm = 721.97 – 19.1 T . The cumulative distributions of adult longevity, host mortality, and fecundity in relation to physiological age are described.
Open Source Software Peer-to-Peer Forums and Culture: A Preliminary Investigation of Global Participation in User Assistance

This article initiates a discussion about the global impact of peer-to-peer (P2P) user-assistance strategies and mechanisms and looks specifically at the forums for open source software (OSS) systems. Through a brief study of the interactions among international users of the forum, this article presents ideas on how commercial organizations and technical communicators can become valuable members of these new communities that are gaining prominence in global use.
Attitudinal gaps: How experts and lay audiences form policy attitudes toward controversial science

Input from scientific experts and lay audiences plays an important role in the realization of scientific advances and scientific policymaking. This study examines factors influencing expert and public attitudes toward the regulation of academic and commercial nanotechnology. Compared to scientific experts, lay publics are more likely to support the regulation of academic nanotechnology, with value predispositions playing a critical role in impacting such opinions. Among lay audiences, liberals and respondents reporting higher levels of religiosity were more likely to support regulation of both academic and commercial nanotechnology research, while those who paid greater attention to the media were more supportive of regulations for commercial research. Across the two groups, perceptions of risks relative to benefits consistently predicted attitudes toward regulation. Importantly, scientists rely less upon their value predispositions when forming regulatory attitudes, instead basing such attitudes on perceptions of regulatory impacts on scientific progress. The regulatory implications of these findings are discussed.
Physiological responses of an insect-resistant soybean line to light and nutrient stress

Optimum or higher levels of soil potassium have been implicated with a decline in the incidence of disease and insect pests in several plant species. Light intensity is recognized as an important environmental factor that influences plant morphological and physiological processes. The objectives of this field-cage study were to determine the effects of soil potassium levels and reduced light intensities on the insect resistance and growth characteristics of a Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant, resistant soybean, Glycine max (L.) Merr., line and to evaluate foliar concentrations of 12 nutrients in plants growth under the imposed physiological stresses. The soybean line MBB 85-116 was grown on a Matapeake silt loam soil during 1989, 1990, and 1991. Variables were three rates of soil K and three levels of light, obtained through the use of field cages (3.66 m2) and shade cloth. Field cages were infested with Mexican bean beetle adults at a rate of 5-8 beetles per 0.3 m of row. Soil K, Mg, Ca, and pH were significantly higher at the high K rate. Potassium was the only measured foliar nutrient significantly greater at the high K rate. Elevated levels of soil potassium had no effect on Mexican bean beetle feeding damage and little effect on seed yield. Reduced light and increased Mexican bean beetle feeding damage resulted in significant changes in concentrations of 10 foliar nutrients. However, none of the foliar nutrients was directly associated with Mexican bean beetle resistance. A 58% reduction in light resulted in a 6.3% increase in Mexican bean beetle feeding damage. These results indicated that the factors responsible for insect resistance in MBB 85-116 are altered by light intensity.
A clinical comparative study on paliperidone ER in treating acute phase schizophrenia patients

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of paliperidone extended-release(ER) in the treatment of schizophrenia patients in the acute phase.Methods: Totally 76 schizophrenia patients in the acute phase were randomly divided into 2 groups(n=38 in each group),and treated with paliperidone ER tablets or domestic olanzapine(control).The efficacy,untoward effects,and the personal and social functions were evaluated before treatment and 0,4,7,14,21,28 and 42 days after treatment.Results: At 7~14 days after treatment,the effective rates were 89.47% and 60.52%(P0.05) in paliperidone ER and control groups.At 14~21 days after treatment,the effective rates were 97.37% and 78.95% in paliperidone ER and control groups.Conclusion: Paliperidone ER has the efficacy and safety superior to olanzapine in treating schizophrenia patients in the acute phase.
The Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief: Assessing Spiritual Crisis Following Loss

Following the death of a loved one, many grievers endorse spirituality as a source of both solace and strain. Studies show that some grievers struggle significantly with both their relationship with God and their faith community, a condition known as complicated spiritual grief (CSG). However, researchers have lacked a simple, multidimensional, well-validated, grief-specific measure of CSG. In this brief report, we reviewed the psychometric validation process and clinical utility of a measure called the Inventory of Complicated Spiritual Grief (ICSG), which was tested with 304 Christian grievers. The 18-item ICSG was shown to have strong internal consistency, high test–retest reliability, and convergent and incremental validity and supported a two-factor model, measuring one’s insecurity with God and the disruption in one’s religious practice.
cis-Dichlorodiammineplatinum nephrotoxicity in rats of different ages.

In 5-, 15-, 30-, and 60-day-old rats there was a distinct decrease of body weight 24 hours after a single i.p. injection of cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum (CDDP) over a dose range from 0.25 to 2.0 mg/100 g b.w.t. Compared with a control group the kidney weights appeared nearly unchanged. The increase of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentrations following CDDP treatment was dose dependent and more profound in 5- and 15-day-old rats than in older animals. In higher doses, CDDP impaired the renal concentrating ability in rats of all age groups as reflected in a significant increase in urine volume with only a slightly increased renal sodium excretion. Following CDDP treatment there was a moderate proteinuria. In 30- and 60-day-old rats the renal excretion of p-aminohippurate (PAH) was more reduced by CDDP compared to younger rats.
The value of FDG-PET in the staging of gastric adenocarcinoma: A single institution retrospective review.

Background The value of FDG-PET in the staging of gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) has been subject to debate. Methods We performed a retrospective review of GA patients between 2006 and 2014 and identified those who had a CT and FDG-PET before initiating treatment. CT and FDG-PET images were analyzed by a blinded body radiologist and nuclear physician, respectively. Disease stage was assessed, looking at primary tumor (PT), locoregional (LLN) and distant lymph node disease (DLN), and metastasis (M). Results We identified 608 patients who had biopsy-proven GA and 207 (34.0%) had a CT and FDG-PET as part of their staging work-up. Of these, imaging from 166 (27.3%) patients was available for review. CT identified PT, LLN, DLN, and M in 120 (72.3%), 84 (50.6%), 25 (15.1%), and 32 (19.3%) patients, respectively; while FDG-PET identified PT, LLN, DLN, and M in 125 (75.3%), 78 (47.0%), 41 (24.7%), and 27 (16.3%) of patients, respectively. FDG-PET up-staged 31 (18.7%) patients while it down-staged 17 (10.2%) patients. Of patients who were up-staged, 20 (64.5%) developed progressive disease. Conclusions Our findings support the use of FDG-PET as a valuable adjunct to CT in the staging of GA, as it changed the stage in 48 (28.9%) patients. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;113:640–646. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
From Protein Sequence to Protein Function via Multi-Label Linear Discriminant Analysis

Sequence describes the primary structure of a protein, which contains important structural, characteristic, and genetic information and thereby motivates many sequence-based computational approaches to infer protein function. Among them, feature-base approaches attract increased attention because they make prediction from a set of transformed and more biologically meaningful sequence features. However, original features extracted from sequence are usually of high dimensionality and often compromised by irrelevant patterns, therefore dimension reduction is necessary prior to classification for efficient and effective protein function prediction. A protein usually performs several different functions within an organism, which makes protein function prediction a multi-label classification problem. In machine learning, multi-label classification deals with problems where each object may belong to more than one class. As a well-known feature reduction method, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) has been successfully applied in many practical applications. It, however, by nature is designed for single-label classification , in which each object can belong to exactly one class. Because directly applying LDA in multi-label classification causes ambiguity when computing scatters matrices, we apply a new Multi-label Linear Discriminant Analysis (MLDA) approach to address this problem and meanwhile preserve powerful classification capability inherited from classical LDA. We further extend MLDA by $\ell _1$ -normalization to overcome the problem of over-counting data points with multiple labels. In addition, we incorporate biological network data using Laplacian embedding into our method, and assess the reliability of predicted putative functions. Extensive empirical evaluations demonstrate promising results of our methods.
Social capital and social learning after Hurricane Sandy

The post-disaster context is one characterized by profound uncertainty. Those affected by the storm, or earthquake, or flood, must determine what strategies to pursue in response to the disaster and must find ways to coordinate their recovery efforts with others in their community. Ex ante it is not clear what strategies will be most effective. If communities are to recover after a disaster, community members must engender and engage in a process of social learning involving experimentation, communication, and imitation. This paper explores the post-disaster social learning process. Specifically, we focus on the importance of social capital in facilitating social learning after a disaster, including facilitating community members’ ability to communicate their desire to return, to assess damage, to overcome barriers to rebuilding through collective yet voluntary action, and to learn from and imitate others’ successes. Focusing on how this process took place after Hurricane Sandy in Rockaway, New York, especially within the Orthodox Jewish community, we examine how community groups (a) adapted existing organization structures and (b) created new procedures and imitated the successful actions of others in order to spur recovery.
Are wolves just wasps with teeth? What invertebrates can teach us about mammal top predators

Abstract Manipulative experiments are rarely possible with large predatory mammals. However, field manipulations of predatory arthropods are common and could provide general insights into top-predator impacts. For example, observational studies suggest that conserving dingoes might indirectly benefit Australian small mammal populations. This is consistent with the effects of praying mantids in eastern U.S. meadows, where mantids indirectly benefit smaller herbivores by eating herbivorous competitors and dangerous mesopredators. However, in other cases predatory arthropods yield only occasional or context-dependent benefits to smaller prey, or even harm them; this suggests caution in assuming universal benefits of dingo conservation. Likewise, some experimental manipulations of predatory arthropods suggest that increasing plant diversity could protect African wild dogs from larger predatory mammals that steal their prey. However, other studies suggest that mesopredators may actually be harmed when the foraging environment becomes more complex. Finally, work with predatory spiders supports the idea that wolves, newly restored to the western U.S., might indirectly benefit some native plants by altering herbivore foraging patterns. However, other work suggests indirect, behaviorally-mediated effects on prey and plants that fall well outside of this type of simple, linear predator-herbivore-plant interaction chain. In summary, top predators that differ in size by orders of magnitude might impact their communities in broadly similar ways. At the same time, work with predatory arthropods indicates that subtle differences in ecological context can yield broadly different outcomes that also must be considered during top-predator conservation.
Low-Dose Clonazepam Effect on Epileptiform Activity

The effect of low-dose clonazepam (CZP) on 24-hour long-term EEG recordings in 15 children with epilepsy was evaluated at the Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
L. G. Searle, Landscapes of Accumulation: Real Estate and the Neoliberal Imagination in Contemporary India

L. G. Searle, Landscapes of Accumulation: Real Estate and the Neoliberal Imagination in Contemporary India. University of Chicago Press, 2016, 313 pages, $27.50, ISBN 978-0-226-38506-8
Fisk on Capacities and Natures

Fisk begins his discussion by asserting, that the FS model attempts to complete the SR model by accounting for the necessity with which, according to the SR model, a capacity will be exercised when certain operations are performed. He argues that the FS model ultimately fails in this task, and he seeks to improve upon the FS approach by grounding the relevant necessity in an entity’s nature — a component that defenders of the FS model ignore or misinterpret. For the most part my comments will concern the general strategy of his paper rather than details of the arguments he offers.
Military Sexual Trauma in Female Veterans is Associated With Chronic Pain Conditions

ABSTRACT Introduction: Little is known about the impact of MST on chronic pain conditions among female Veterans. The primary objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of chronic pain conditions among U.S. female veterans with a history of military sexual trauma (MST) to those without a history of MST. We anticipated that female Veterans with a history of MST would have higher associations with chronic pain conditions than the female Veterans without a history of MST. Materials and Methods: This was a large-scale, retrospective study using the Veterans' Health Administration Corporate Data Warehouse with institutional approval (15-H175). International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision codes from the outpatient visits, outpatient problem lists, and inpatient discharge diagnoses were used to identify chronic pain diagnoses. Baseline demographic data including date of birth, self-identified race/ethnicity, and body mass index were obtained. Significant findings in the univariate analysis we...
Writing a Sacred Self: Kathy Acker and Wonder

Juxtaposing readings of Kathy Acker’s novels and nonfiction against raw personal narrative, Amy Nolan confronts the critical questions of how and why analytical, head-based thinking so thoroughly depends on the repression of the body, which continues to be relegated to a still-broadly defined “feminine” space. Nolan’s essay enacts the ways Acker’s narratives ask readers to consider what new ways of writing and being are possible in the world of graphic textuality. The traditional abstract included here is merely a content teaser and, we hope, reads ironically against the innovative critical work that follows. If you wish to read more about the process by which this author undertook writing this essay, as well as the critical stakes of its production, please see the introduction to the volume as well as the accompanying anti-abstract at the close of the chapter.
The Systematic Import of Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Literature

ABSTRACTScholarly discussions of Merleau-Ponty’s aesthetics tend to focus on his philosophy of painting. By contrast, comparatively little attention has been paid to his philosophy of literature. However, he also draws significant conclusions from his work on literary expression. As I will argue, these reflections inform at least two important positions of his later thought. First, Merleau-Ponty’s account of “indirect” literary language led him to develop a hybrid view of phenomenological expression, on which expression is both creative and descriptive. Second, a study of literature furnished him with the resources to develop a novel account of phenomenological “essences”, which holds that essences are revisable explanations of first-order experience. Both results have been overlooked by commentators. They demonstrate the systematic import of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy of literature and language, and amount to a qualified extension of a basic Husserlian position.
Immunobiology of Transplants: Specific and Nonspecific Mechanisms Involved in Allograft Rejection

Allograft transplantation plays a critical role in the treatment of patients with end-stage renal, cardiac, hepatic, and pulmonary diseases. Although systemic administration of immunosuppressive agents inhibits allograft rejection, both alloantigen-specific and nonspecific processes continuously damage graft tissues, eventually leading to graft destruction. Damage to graft tissues begins during graft procurement, when cold and warm ischemia followed by reperfusion with recipient blood causes an accumulation of granulocytes on the wails of blood vessels. The processes of ischemia and reperfusion also lead to an increase the production of nitric oxide (NO) and other free radicals that damage blood vessels. Following the transplant operation, organ allografts are infiltrated with leukocytes, including T cells, which recognize alloantigens expressed on the graft.
Prostaglandin E2 and IL-23 interconnects STAT3 and RoRγ pathways to initiate Th17 CD4+ T-cell development during rheumatoid arthritis

The chronic inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) leads to focal and systemic bone erosion of the joints resulting in a crippling disability. Recent reports indicate an increase in the incidence of RA in the coming years, placing a significant burden on healthcare resources. The incidence of RA is observed to be increasing with age and a significant proportion of those new cases will be aggressively erosive. The altered physiology, due to immune disturbances, contributes towards RA pathogenesis. The imbalance of inflammatory cytokines and non-cytokine immune modulators such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and IL-23-induced pathogenic IL-17, plays a crucial role in persistent inflammation and bone degradation during RA. However, the molecular mechanism of IL-23, a key cytokine, and PGE2 in the development and perpetuation of IL-17 producing effector Th17 cells is poorly understood. This review focuses on research findings that provide insight into the contribution of PGE2 and IL-23 during the development of pathogenic Th17 cells. We also highlight the key transcriptional factors required for Th17 development and therapeutic strategies to disrupt the interaction between IL-23 and IL-17 to prevent the end-organ damage in RA.
Macho: programming with man pages

Despite years of work on programming languages, programming is still slow and error-prone. In this paper we describe Macho, a system which combines a natural language parser, a database of code, and an automated debugger to write simple programs from natural language and examples of their correct execution. Adding examples to natural language makes it easier for Macho to actually generate a correct program, because it can test its candidate solutions and fix simple errors. Macho is able to synthesize basic versions of six out of nine small coreutils from short natural language descriptions based on their man pages and sample runs.
Perspectives on Caregiving Across the Life Span: Current Status and Future Directions

Although the division of this book into two parts is consistent with a general perception that caring for children is a process distinct from that of caring for adults, the common elements of the caregiving experience become clear when we pay attention to the themes that emerge from all of the chapters. The unique experiences and challenges of caregiving that parents and other caregivers encounter as children develop and mature from infancy through late childhood were described in Part I. These chapters also identify several aspects of the caregiving experience that are shared by caregivers who attend to the needs of children across the spectrum of developmental stages. Similarly, the chapters in Part II of the book focused on the unique and common experiences of caregivers who attend to the needs of adults in early, middle, and old age, including those who are at the end of life. The insights about the unique challenges associated with each stage of life highlight the ubiquitous change that characterizes the caregiving experience while the elements of caregiving identified as common to all groups provide a foundation for understanding caregiving as normative familial role that prevails across the life span. Here we summarize six themes that highlight the extent to which the role of caregiver is assumed and experienced in a similar manner regardless of the characteristics of the care recipient.
Landscape: Ecology and Semiosis

A principal purpose of this collection of essays is to bring together two approaches to landscape whose divergence has in some ways been exaggerated by trends within recent scholarship. For the sake of simplicity we might call one of these ecological, the other semiotic. I am conscious that my use here of these highly technical terms is loose, but I employ them to signify discourses rather than scientific and technical concepts and methods. An ecological landscape discourse focuses on the complex interactions of natural processes (geomorphological, climatic, biological, vegetational, etc.) shaping characteristic land areas, and extending its concerns to the ways that human activities interact with these natural processes. Frequently, but not invariably, there is an implicit (sometimes explicit) declensionist tone to ecological landscape study: human interactions — at least in the modern world — are seen as detrimental to balanced or stable systems and the landscapes that emerge from these. A semiotic approach to landscape is skeptical of scientific claims to represent mimetically real processes shaping the world around us. It lays scholarly emphasis more on the context and processes through which cultural meanings are invested into and shape a world whose ‘nature’ is known only through human cognition and representation, and is thus always symbolically mediated.
Gender, Madness, and the Legacies of the Prisons Information Group (GIP)

In the early 1970s, following the incarceration of a number of political prisoners, French philosopher Michel Foucault and others formed the Groupe d’Information sur les Prisons (GIP) to investigate and make known the intolerable French prison system. For all of their statements about giving prisoners the floor, Foucault and his associates – who were part of a broader social and cultural shift in the late 1960s and early 1970s – enacted and perpetuated masculinist and ableist ideas about protest and who constituted the “agentic thinking” (Grech, Disability and Poverty in the Global South: Renegotiating Development in Guatemala. Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, 2015) subject. Available evidence indicates that the GIP was primarily concerned with organizing the most able, most politicized actors, despite their repeated nods toward a more inclusive protest. As Perry Zurn has argued, one of the “failures” of the GIP was the replication of its “academic whiteness and maleness within nonacademic, nonwhite, and nonmale elements of [its] legacy” (Zurn, Carceral Notebooks 12: 37–46, 2016). Though radical in many ways, the limitations apparent in the work of the GIP can still be seen in organizing and scholarship in the twenty first century.
The results of this systematic review on AAC with adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder has promising implications, despite there being a limited number of studies1

Q Does evidence support the use of AAC intervention with adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder?Design: Systematic review and meta-analysisData sources: The authors searched four elec...
Alterations in Sod2-Induced Oxidative Stress Affect Endocrine Cancer Progression.

Context Although important advances have been made in understanding the genetics of endocrine tumors, cellular physiology is relatively understudied as a determinant of tumor behavior. Oxidative stress and reactive oxygen species are metabolic factors that may affect tumor behavior, and these are, in part, controlled by manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase (MnSod), the mitochondrial superoxide dismutase (encoded by SOD2). Objective We sought to understand the role of MnSod in the prognosis of aggressive human endocrine cancers and directly assessed the effect of MnSod under- or overexpression on tumor behavior, using established mouse thyroid cancer models. Methods We performed transcriptome analysis of human and mouse models of endocrine cancer. To address the role of Sod2 in endocrine tumors, we introduced a Sod2 null allele or a transgenic Sod2 overexpression allele into mouse models of benign thyroid follicular neoplasia or aggressive, metastatic follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) and monitored phenotypic changes in tumor initiation and progression. Results In the thyroid, SOD2/Sod2 was downregulated in FTC but not papillary thyroid cancer. Reduced expression of SOD2 was correlated with poorer survival of patients with aggressive thyroid or adrenal cancers. In mice with benign thyroid tumors, Sod2 overexpression increased tumor burden. In contrast, in mice with aggressive FTC, overexpression of Sod2 reduced tumor proliferation and improved mortality rates, whereas its deficiency enhanced tumor growth. Conclusion Overall, our results indicate that SOD2 has dichotomous roles in cancer progression and acts in a context-specific manner.