cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Effervescent redispersion of lyophilized polymeric nanoparticles.

Background: Freeze-drying is an attractive method for converting nanoparticulate pharmaceutical dispersions into a stable form with a long shelf life. However, practical challenges in translating laboratory practice to the clinic, such as high protectant osmolarity and infeasible reconstitution methods, currently limit lyophilized formulation development of nanoparticle therapeutics. Results: We demonstrate the use of effervescent redispersion for the reconstitution of lyophilized polymeric nanoparticles and we show that a 3:1 mass ratio of effervescent salt produced the optimum redispersibility. With only low-energy hand agitation, reconstitution to sizes less than 600 nm was achieved. Second, the effect of nanoparticle formulation parameters (dispersion concentration, molecular weight of the stabilizing polymer, and physical state of the nanoparticle core) on particle redispersibility were examined. Conclusion: This novel freeze-drying and reconstitution method offers a route to producing redispersible ...
Disulfide bond structure and accessibility of cysteines in the ectodomain of the cholecystokinin receptor: specific mono-reactive receptor constructs examine charge-sensitivity of loop regions.

Cysteine residues play a unique role in structural analysis. We examined endogenous cysteine residues in the cholecystokinin receptor to determine participation in disulfide bonds and accessibility to methanethiosulfonate (MTS) reagents. Bonds linking Cys 114 to Cys 196 and Cys 18 to Cys 29 were demonstrated, with the first functionally important and the amino-terminal bond having no apparent function. Cys 94 , in the second transmembrane segment, was also accessible. Mutation of this residue to serine (C94S) was key for establishing a null cysteine-reactive pseudo-wild type receptor that could act as a template for insertion of a reactive cysteine (N102C, A204C, and T341C). Modification of T341C with a negatively charged MTS reagent reduced CCK agonist binding, while this binding was enhanced by a positively charged MTS reagent. This pattern was repeated in mutants having the same residue directly replaced with a charged residue.
Combinatorial screening for methanol oxidation catalysts in alloys of Pt, Cr, Co and V

Abstract Thin film combinatorial sputter-deposited ternary Pt–Cr–V, Pt–Co–Cr, and quaternary Pt–Co–Cr–V catalysts for methanol electro-oxidation in direct methanol fuel cell were studied. Several compositions exhibited better MOR activities than pure Pt based on the peak current density and onset potential of the methanol oxidation reaction measured by voltammetry. Alloying 43% vanadium with pure platinum gave higher electrocatalytic activity evidenced by 5.9 times greater peak current density. Pt 30 Co 40 Cr 30 outperformed pure Pt by 12× in a ternary Pt–Co–Cr library. Alloying of vanadium into optimum PtCoCr compositions further improved methanoloxidation kinetics. Pt 25 Co 25 Cr 25 V 25 showed the highest catalytic activity with a peak methanol oxidation current density that was 17× higher than pure Pt and 1.5× higher than Pt 33 Co 33 Cr 33 . Atomic absorption studies of dissolved species in the electrolyte showed Co and Cr dissolution at higher rates than V, showing that the chemical ratio of Cr:Co:V in Pt 25 Co 25 Cr 25 V 25 changed to 0.738:0.862:1.000 after voltammetry. XPS analysis of Pt 25 Co 25 Cr 25 V 25 revealed a Pt-rich PtV binary compositional surface (Pt:V = 89.04%:10.96%) formed after electrochemical testing. The active catalytic performance and good stabilities of catalysts in the PtCoCrV system suggest them as promising alternatives to Pt–Ru for methanol oxidation.
Complex reflection coefficients for the parallel and perpendicular polarizations of a film–substrate system

The complex reflection coefficients Rν(ϕ,ζ) of a film–substrate system for the parallel (ν = p) and perpendicular (ν = s) polarizations are examined in detail as functions of the angle of incidence ϕ(0 ≤ ϕ ≤ 90°) and the reduced normalized film thickness ζ(0 ≤ ζ < 1). For definiteness, the reflection of light of wavelength λ = 0.6328 μm by the air–SiO2–Si system is assumed. Families of circles that represent the constant-angle-of-incidence contours, their envelopes, and the associated constant-thickness contours of Rp and Rs are all presented in the complex plane. Furthermore, the amplitude-reflectance and phase-shift functions, |Rν|(ϕ,ζ) and argRν(ϕ,ζ), are plotted vs ζ with ϕ constant and vs ϕ with ζ constant. It is shown that Rp or Rs can assume the same complex value at two different angles of incidence (i.e., the film–substrate system can have identical reflection characteristics for a given polarization at two angles) for certain ranges of film thickness. The distinct case of internal reflection is represented by a separate example.
Protein conformational flexibility prediction using machine learning

Using a data set of 16 proteins, a neural network has been trained to predict backbone 15N generalized order parameters from the three-dimensional structures of proteins. The final network parameterization contains six input features. The average prediction accuracy, as measured by the Pearson's correlation coefficient between experimental and predicted values of the square of the generalized order parameter is >0.70. Predicted order parameters for non-terminal amino acid residues depends most strongly on the local packing density and the probability that the residue is located in regular secondary structure.
Glucose significantly enhances enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli adherence to intestinal epithelial cells through its effects on heat-labile enterotoxin production.

The present study tested whether exposure of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) to glucose at different concentrations in the media results in increased bacterial adherence to host cells through increased heat-labile enterotoxin (LT) production, thereby suggesting the effects are physiological. Porcine-origin ETEC strains grown in Casamino acid yeast extract medium containing different concentrations of glucose were washed and inoculated onto IPEC-J2 porcine intestinal epithelial cells to test for effects on adherence and host cell cAMP concentrations. Consistent with previous studies, all LT+ strains had higher ETEC adherence to IPEC-J2 cells than did LT− strains. Adherence of the LT− but not the LT+ strains was increased by pre-incubating the IPEC-J2 cells with LT and decreased by co-incubation with GM1 ganglioside in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.05). To determine whether the glucose concentration of the cell culture media has an effect on adherence, IPEC-J2 cells were inoculated with LT+ or LT− strains in cell culture media containing a final glucose concentration of 0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0%, and incubated for 4 h. Only media containing 0.25% glucose resulted in increased adherence and cAMP levels, and this was limited to IPEC-J2 cells inoculated with LT+ strains. This study supports the hypothesis that glucose, at a concentration optimal for LT expression, enhances bacterial adherence through the promotion of LT production. Hence, these results establish the physiological relevance of the effects of glucose on LT production and provide a basis for how glucose intake may influence the severity of ETEC infection.
Relation of X-ray-induced Thymidine Uptake to Chromosome Reversion at Prophase in Grasshopper Neuroblasts

SummaryUnscheduled DNA synthesis (thymidine uptake) induced by 32 R of x-rays was followed autoradiographically in individual grasshopper neuroblasts. It occurs in those prophase cells that undergo chromosome reversion (chromosomes ‘decondense’, appearing to move backward in the cell-cycle), but not in those that are delayed in the cycle without chromosome reversion or that progress with no delay. The latest point in prophase at which unscheduled DNA synthesis is observed is the initial part of late prophase. Hypotonic culture medium, which by itself causes decondensation of prophase chromosomes but not unscheduled DNA synthesis, enhances both chromosome reversion and unscheduled DNA synthesis when these are induced by radiation.
Cost analysis of mobility entities of hierarchical mobile IPv6

IETF proposed Hierarchical Mobile IPv6 (HMIPv6) to support host mobility and mobility management involves signaling costs at various mobility entities of the network. Widespread use of IP-enabled mobile devices have resulted in increase in number of mobile users and the signaling cost on underlying mobility entities have increased significantly, which will result in their performance degradation. However, there has been no comprehensive cost analysis of mobility protocol entities that considers all possible costs. In this paper, we have developed analytical models to estimate total costs of key mobility management entities of HMIPv6. We have presented numerical results to demonstrate the impact of network size, mobility rate, traffic rate and data volume on these costs and the percentage overhead on the mobility entities. Our results show that a significant amount of resources are required by the mobility entities for transmission, processing of various signaling messages, as well as searching location database. Our cost analysis will thus be helpful for military applications in estimating actual resource requirements for on-board IP-enabled devices in military vans, tanks, helicopters that require mobility management especially while in operation.
A 48-core IA-32 processor with on-die message-passing and DVFS in 45nm CMOS

This paper describes a microprocessor that integrates 48 IA-32 cores, 4 DDR3 memory channels, and a voltage regulator controller in a 6×4 2D-mesh network-on-chip topology. Located at each mesh node is a five-port packet-switched router shared between two cores. Core-to-core communication uses message passing while exploiting 384KB of on-die shared memory. Power management takes advantage of 8 voltage and 28 frequency islands to allow independent DVFS of cores and mesh. At the nominal 1.1V supply, cores operate at 1GHz and the 2D-mesh operates at 2GHz. As performance and voltage scales, the processor dissipates between 25W and 125W. The 567mm2 processor is implemented in 45nm Hi-K CMOS and has 1.3 billion transistors.
Observing the Biofilm Matrix of Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984 Grown Using the CDC Biofilm Reactor

Bacteria flourish in nearly every environment on earth. Contributing to their ability to grow in many esoteric locations is their development into a biofilm structure. In an effort to more accurately model the growth environment of biofilms in nature, a Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) biofilm reactor has been developed that mimics nature-like shear forces and renewable nutrient sources. To date, there has been no confirmation by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) that mature biofilms develop on a surface when grown using the CDC biofilm reactor. Three different SEM methods were used to collect images of Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984 that was to be grown using the CDC biofilm reactor. In addition, two different fixative techniques were used in each of the imaging methods. Results indicated that after 48 hours of growth in the reactor, S. epidermidis ATCC 35984 does produce a significant network of matrix components and 3D mushroom- or pillar-like structures with signs of water channel development. In conclusion, S. epidermidis ATCC 35984 grown using the CDC biofilm reactor does appear to display signs of mature biofilm development. These results could be important for studies wherein mature biofilms are needed for in vitro and/or in vivo applications.
Dendritic Chelating Agents. 1. Cu(II) Binding to Ethylene Diamine Core Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimers in Aqueous Solutions

This paper describes an investigation of the uptake of Cu(II) by poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers with an ethylenediamine (EDA) core in aqueous solutions. We use bench scale measurements of proton and metal ion binding to assess the effects of (i) metal ion−dendrimer loading, (ii) dendrimer generation/terminal group chemistry, and (iii) solution pH on the extent of binding of Cu(II) in aqueous solutions of EDA core PAMAM dendrimers with primary amine, succinamic acid, glycidol, and acetamide terminal groups. We employ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy to probe the structures of Cu(II) complexes with Gx-NH_2 EDA core PAMAM dendrimers in aqueous solutions at pH 7.0. The overall results of the proton and metal ion binding measurements suggest that the uptake of Cu(II) by EDA core PAMAM dendrimers involves both the dendrimer tertiary amine and terminal groups. However, the extents of protonation of these groups control the ability of the dendrimers to bind Cu(II). Analysis of the EXAFS spectra suggests that Cu(II) forms octahedral complexes involving the tertiary amine groups of Gx-NH_2 EDA core PAMAM dendrimers at pH 7.0. The central Cu(II) metal ion of each of these complexes appears to be coordinated to 2−4 dendrimer tertiary amine groups located in the equatorial plane and 2 axial water molecules. Finally, we combine the results of our experiments with literature data to formulate and evaluate a phenomenological model of Cu(II) uptake by Gx-NH_2 PAMAM dendrimers in aqueous solutions. At low metal ion−dendrimer loadings, the model provides a good fit of the measured extent of binding of Cu(II) in aqueous solutions of G4-NH_2 and G5-NH_2 PAMAM dendrimers at pH 7.0.
Activation Time Determination by High‐Resolution Unipolar and Bipolar Extracellular Electrograms in the Canine Heart

Activation Time Determination by High-Resolution Electrograms. Introduction: To identify the optimal criteria for activation time (AT) determination of bipolar electrograms from normal hearts, a high-resolution cross electrode array comprising 128 unipolar electrodes of 500-μm spacing was used to record extracellular potentials from the left ventricular epicardium of 12 dog hearts. Methods and Results: Recordings were made during broad wavefront propagation (B wave) local elliptical wavefront propagation (E wave). Characteristics of 863 bipolar electrograms (1-mm spacing) were constructed from unipolar data standardized for differences in polarity, then classified morphologically. Features for bipolar AT determination were compared to the time of the negative peak of the firrst temporal derivative of a unipolar electrogram situated mid-way between the bipoles. During B wave, three distinct morphologies were observed: unipbasic (61%), biphasic (23%), and triphasic (16%). Peak voltage of uniphasic and triphasic signals was the best predictor of AT (error: 0.6 ± 0.6 msec and 0.6 ± 0.8 msec, respectively). During E wave, parallel orientation of the bipoles with respect to the direction of impulse propagation wavefront resulted in uniphasic signals (> 99%), while for perpendicular orientation of the bipoles, electrogram morphology was variable. For parallel orientation of the bipoles, peak negative voltage was the best predictor of AT for both longitudinal and transverse propagation, while for perpendicular bipole orientation, peak negative voltage was a less reliable predictor for propagation along both fiber axes. Increasing interpolar distance resulted in a degradation in AT accuracy for B wave (from 0.6 ± 0.6 msec at 1 mm to 1.1 ± 1.2 msec at 7 mm) and for E wave (from 0.4 ± 0.3 msec at 1 mm to 3.1 ± 2.9 msec at 7 mm). Conclusions: (1) The accuracy of bipolar electrograms is sensitive to wavefront direction, bipole orientation, and interpolar distance; (2) peak negative voltage of uniphasic and triphasic signals is a reliable predictor of AT, but only for B wave; (3) a maximum interpolar distance of 2 mm and bipole orientation parallel to the direction of the impulse wavefront are minimally required for accurate determination of AT during impulse propagation initiated near the recording electrodes; and (4) for impulses initiated near the recording site in normal tissue, a bipbasic or triphasic morphology almost certainly indicates that the bipolar electrode is oriented perpendicular to the wavefront direction, irrespective of fiber orientation.
N-Ethoxycarbonyl-2-Ethoxy-1, 2-Dihydroquinoline (EEDQ): A New Tool to Probe CNS Receptor Function

In 1968 Belleau and associates (Belleau et al., 1968) reported that the peptide coupling agent N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ) was a potent and irreversible α-adrenergic receptor antagonist. Subsequent in vitro studies in peripheral tissues by Chang et al. (1970) and Kalsner (1973) revealed that it could also irreversibly inactivate muscarinic cholinergic and serotonergic receptors, respectively. There was relatively little interest in this agent, however, until Hamblin and Creese (1983) demonstrated its ability to irreversibly block central dopamine (DA) receptors as well. In this article we will review the growing number of studies which have successfully utilized this agent to generate important new insights into the function of several CNS receptors, with special emphasis on dopamine (DA) receptors. Pertinent examples from our own studies on DA receptors will be presented, and its application to the determination of the relationship between receptor occupancy and response for agonists at CNS receptors mediating various functional effects will be highlighted.
Constraint refinement for online verifiable cross-layer system adaptation

Adaptive resource management is critical to ensuring the quality of real-time distributed applications, particularly for energy-constrained mobile handheld devices. In this context, an optimization that simultaneously considers multiple layers (e.g., application, middleware, operating system) needs to be developed for continuous adaptation of system parameters. The tuning of system parameters greatly affects the system's ability to meet QoS requirements, and also directly affects the energy consumption and system robustness. We present a novel approach to developing cross-layer optimization for resource limited real-time distributed systems, based on a constraint refinement technique combined with formal specification and feedback from system implementation. Our approach tunes the parameters in a compositional manner allowing coordinated interaction among sub-layer optimizers that enables holistic cross-layer optimization. We present experiments on a realistic multimedia application which demonstrate that constraint refinement enables us to generate robust and near optimal parameter settings. The constraint language can be used as an interface for composition by encapsulating the details of local optimization algorithms.
Working Out the Contradictions: Feminism and Aerobics

Although feminist researchers have critiqued aerobics as an activity that maintains ideologies of female inferiority, many women, including feminists, attend, participate in, and enjoy aerobics cla...
Hrp-controlled interkingdom protein transport: Learning from flagellar assembly?

Plant pathogenic bacteria appear to deliver avirulence and virulence proteins through the cell wall and into the host cells via an Hrp (hypersensitive reaction and pathogenicity)-encoded type III secretion system. Recent results suggest that there is a similarity between this secretion system and the flagellum assembly apparatus.
Iatrogenic pleuropulmonary charcoal instillation in a teenager.

Activated charcoal given through a nasogastric tube is a standard intervention for many types of toxic ingestions in the emergency department. This case study describes a teenage girl whose multidrug overdose was complicated by accidental charcoal instillation into her left lung and pleural space through a misplaced nasogastric tube. The ensuing empyema did not respond to antibiotic therapy alone, probably due to the inherent properties of charcoal, and required a chest tube placement with continuous irrigation. Unlike previously reported cases, this patient did well clinically, without long-term morbidity.
Screening for Breast and Prostate Cancers: Moving Toward Transparency

Despite mortality reductions found in early trials, recent population-based data suggest that breast and prostate cancer screening have not yielded expected benefits. Whereas evidence-based appraisals generally mistrust disease-specific mortality as a primary outcome measure, cancer screening trials have consistently used this endpoint, largely because of the impracticality of studies with enough statistical power to detect all-cause mortality reductions, which would require millions of subjects. The acceptance of disease-specific mortality as a practical surrogate for all-cause mortality may explain the discrepancy between expected and actual impact. Screening may reduce deaths from the target cancer but may increase deaths from other causes, most likely because of overdiagnosis, an increasingly recognized risk of cancer screening. Recognition of the discrepancy between the expected and the actual impact of screening and recognition of overdiagnosis as a source of harm may be critical for understanding and projecting the potential impact of cancer screening programs.
Thrombospondins and Novel TSR-containing Proteins, R-spondins, Regulate Bone Formation and Remodeling

Thrombospondins (TSPs) are a family of five secreted multimeric matricellular proteins that share homology in the type II and III repeats and carboxy-terminal region. Type I repeats, also known as properdin or thrombospondin repeats (TSRs), are found in TSP1/2, but not TSP3-5. A variety of other secreted proteins contain TSRs, including the novel extracellular molecules, R-spondins. TSP family and many TSR-containing proteins, including R-spondins, are highly expressed in skeletal tissues during development and postnatal. TSP2 regulates the osteoblast lineage, influencing bone mass and geometry, as well as response to fracture healing, ovariectomy, and mechanical loading. Compound knockout mice of TSPs have revealed important mechanistic insights. TSP1/2 knockout mice have craniofacial dysmorphism, and TSP1/3/5 compound knockout mice display growth plate abnormalities. R-spondins promote osteoblast differentiation and R-spondin-2 deficiency results in skeletal developmental defects. Overall, TSP and other TSR molecules influence multiple aspects of bone development and remodeling.
Micro Foundations of Religion: A Revised Theory*:

In a major revision of my earlier theoretical work on religion, I attempt to identify and connect the basic micro elements and processes underlying religious expression. I show that all primary aspects of religion—belief, emotion, ritual, prayer, sacrifice, mysticism, and miracle—can be understood on the basis of exchange relations between humans and supernatural beings. Although I utilize a cognitive definition of religion, this new version of the theory is especially concerned with the emotional and expressive aspects of religion. Along the way I also clarify the difference between religion and magic and this sets the stage for explaining the conditions under which religion (but not magic) can require extended and exclusive exchange relations between humans and the gods, thus enabling some religions to sustain stable organizations based on a lay membership.
FtsEX is required for CwlO peptidoglycan hydrolase activity during cell wall elongation in Bacillus subtilis.

Summary The peptidoglycan (PG) sacculus, a meshwork of polysaccharide strands cross-linked by short peptides, protects bacterial cells against osmotic lysis. To enlarge this covalently closed macromolecule, PG hydrolases must break peptide cross-links in the meshwork to allow insertion of new glycan strands between the existing ones. In the rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus subtilis, cell wall elongation requires two redundant endopeptidases, CwlO and LytE. However, it is not known how these potentially autolytic enzymes are regulated to prevent lethal breaches in the cell wall. Here, we show that the ATP-binding cassette transporter-like FtsEX complex is required for CwlO activity. In Escherichia coli, FtsEX is thought to harness ATP hydrolysis to activate unrelated PG hydrolases during cell division. Consistent with this regulatory scheme, B. subtilis FtsE mutants that are unable to bind or hydrolyse ATP cannot activate CwlO. Finally, we show that in cells depleted of both CwlO and LytE, the PG synthetic machinery continues moving circumferentially until cell lysis, suggesting that cross-link cleavage is not required for glycan strand polymerization. Overall, our data support a model in which the FtsEX complex is a remarkably flexible regulatory module capable of controlling a diverse set of PG hydrolases during growth and division in different organisms.
Design and analysis of immune-evading enzymes for ADEPT therapy

The unparalleled specificity and activity of therapeutic proteins has reshaped many aspects of modern clinical practice, and aggressive development of new protein drugs promises a continued revolution in disease therapy. As a result of their biological origins, however, therapeutic proteins present unique design challenges for the biomolecular engineer. For example, protein drugs are subject to immune surveillance within the patient's body; this anti-drug immune response can compromise therapeutic efficacy and even threaten patient safety. Thus, there is a growing demand for broadly applicable protein deimmunization strategies. We have recently developed optimization algorithms that integrate computational prediction of T-cell epitopes and bioinformatics-based assessment of the structural and functional consequences of epitope-deleting mutations. Here, we describe the first experimental validation of our deimmunization algorithms using Enterobacter cloacae P99 β-lactamase, a component of antibody-directed enzyme prodrug cancer therapies. Compared with wild-type or a previously deimmunized variant, our computationally optimized sequences exhibited significantly less in vitro binding to human type II major histocompatibility complex immune molecules. At the same time, our globally optimal design exhibited wild-type catalytic proficiency. We conclude that our deimmunization algorithms guide the protein engineer towards promising immunoevasive candidates and thereby have the potential to streamline biotherapeutic development.
An assessment of human cardiac transplantation

0 n August 24, 1972, Louis B. Russel, Jr., an Indianapolis school teacher, celebrated the fourth anniversary of his heart transplant. No one else has lived so long after heart transplantation.’ His fouryear-old heart used to belong to a seventeen-year-old boy from Providence Forge, Virginia, who was killed while stepping out of a restaurant during a ghetto fight.* Lower and his team performed the operation at the nIedica1 College of Virginia. This outstanding achievement and the recent reports from Shumway’s group*5s34,54 at Stanford University make it important for those of us not actively participating in cardiac transplantation to take stock of what has been accomplished by and what has been !earned from this operation. This knowledge is important to assess the place of cardiac transplantation in the over-all management of the grossly disabled cardiac patient. Transplantation of organs and tissues intrigued the imagination of mankind since antiquity. The Iliad3 thus described a “chimera” : “A mingled monster of no mortal kind: Behind, a dragon’s fiery tail was spread, A goat’s rough body bore a lion’s head, Her pit&y nostrils flaky flames expire, Her gaping throat emits infernal fire.” This mythical monster, after devastating Caria and Lycia, was killed by Bellerophon mounted on his winged steed Pegasus. The word “chimera” has recently been introduced into medicine to describe an animal which possesses for a long time viable cells from another animal. The chimera was for centuries a figment of the imagination and the adjective “chimerical” became synonomous Lvith imaginary. Nonetheless, the universal significance of this concept is attested by its persistent influence on the arts of many civilizations from antiquity to the present day. Except for minor procedures on the face, nose, and penis the ancients had to be satisfied with prostheses. The Talmud4 records the use of crutches, artificial limbs, and teeth, procedures that were practiced by other civilizations before and at that time. The increased need for prosthesis during the two world wars cotnbined with the constantly developing industrial revolution led to the introduction of many sophisticated and electrically controlled prostheses which could simulate the movements of almost all voluntary and many involuntary groups of muscles including the fine movements of the thumb and fingers. All of these prostheses were applied to the
IBM Industry Practice: Challenges in Offshore Software Development from a Global Delivery Center

Offshore software development has greatly influenced competitiveness among IT companies in the last decade. Despite the fact that there are matured and developed offshoring methodologies, there is an ongoing tendency to look for new ways of improving them. Major IT corporations successfully rely on their offshore delivery centers for bridging the gap between communication and infrastructure boundaries. However, projects tend to fail, so problems have to be considered that arise between on- and offshore parts within the same corporation. Based on seven case studies from the industry, this paper describes experiences and challenges faced during the execution of offshore application development between IBM Switzerland and IBM India. Additionally, approaches on how they can be solved are proposed.
Wireless NUM: Rate and Reliability Tradeoffs in Random Environment

We describe Wireless Network Utility Maximization, WNUM, and compare its performance to NUM for wireless networks of interfering links under random time varying channel conditions. WNUM is shown to simultaneously offer greater rate and reliability performance in simulations operating under Rayleigh fading. A general method for finding adaptive network control policies is presented that is samplebased and converges to the optimal control policies for the network.
Data Analysis in Craniofacial Biology with Special Emphasis on Longitudinal Studies

Recommendations are made for strengthening data description and analysis in craniofacial biology. Special emphasis is placed on longitudinal data, and PC programs for accomplishing appropriate analyses in this context are described and made available to interested readers. Some more general recommendations are treated in less detail. These include the effective description of data using stem-and-leaf displays and/or boxplots, the use of decision-analytic methods in the management of patients with dentofacial deformities, and the valid application of certain statistical methods in single-subject studies. Finally, it is conjectured that computer-intensive methods such as randomization tests and jackknifing will play an increasingly prominent role in craniofacial research.
On a problem of Kuiper

We construct explicit Morse functions on Grassmannian manifolds, and use them to find explicit taut embeddings of the quadratic hypersurfaces in complex projective spaces into Euclidean spaces.
Information science: A function is a mapping-plus a class of algorithms

One of the fundamental concepts of mathematics is that of function. The standard definition involves the notion of mapping, or correspondence. Given two sets S"1 and S"2, a correspondence which associates each element of S"1 with a subset of elements of S"2 defines a function whose domain is S"1. The purpose of this note is to point out that important as this definition is, it is incomplete. In order to make it complete, we must add, or adjoin, all possible algorithms for the realization of the mapping. Function, like number, is a class concept. This question of realizability is, of course, a classical one, first emphasized by Kronecker and discussed extensively at the turn of the century. At that time, however, the emphasis was on the conceptual and philosophical aspects. With the development of the digital computer, realizability translates into algorithmic feasibility. As soon as we accept the fact that any mapping can be realized in a number of different ways, we automatically create a number of novel, interesting, and significant mathematical problems. Basically, the question is that of devising particular algorithms for particular purposes.
The Flat Tax and Policy Diffusion in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

What can explain the adoption of flat tax policies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic? This question is important insofar as it looks at the rise of "policy diffusion" in the former country of Czechoslovakia. In 2004, Slovakia - following the course taken by the Baltic states and Russia - approved a flat 19% rate on incomes. However, its neighbor the Czech Republic maintained progressive taxation until 2008, when they also joined the flat tax club. This paper analyzes the extent to which Slovakia was influenced by prior flat tax adopters, and then turns attention to the Czech Republic's decision to join the flat tax club after years of resistance. I argue that the timing influences the process by which policies change. The longer a policy is known to the public the greater the challenge of adopting it. Moreover, right-wing politicians in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic become prominent carriers of the flat tax idea, even in the face of mounting criticism.
Patriarchal Poetry and Women Readers: Reflections on Milton's Bogey

Because the myth of origins that Milton articulates in Paradise Lost summarizes a long misogynistic tradition, literary women from Mary Wollstonecraft to Virginia Woolf have recorded anxieties about his paradigmatic patriarchal poetry. To these readers, the principal story that Milton seems to tell is the story of woman's secondness, her otherness, and how that otherness leads to her demonic anger, her sin, her fall, and her exclusion from that garden of the gods which is also the garden of poetry. Parallels and doublings implicit in this story, moreover, link Eve, the archetypal woman, with the unholy trinity of Satan, Sin, and Death. For female readers sensitive to such implications, Milton may be what Harold Bloom defines as a “great Inhibitor.” From Wollstonecraft to Woolf, however, women writers have allayed anxieties aroused by this poet, whom Woolf called “the first of the masculinists,” by rereading, misreading, and reinterpreting Paradise Lost.
Improved Assays for a Variety of Interferons

SummaryImproved assays for a variety of interferons, based on the inhibition of yield of viral hemagglutinin, have been developed. These assays are advantageous because they combine the characteristics of rapidity, simplicity, reliability, sensitivity and inhibition of viral multiplication during a single cycle of growth. Since Sindbis virus produces hemagglutinin in a wide variety of animal cells, it is applicable for comparative interferon studies.
Changing Course: When Governments Choose to Redirect Foreign Policy

We are in a period of profound change in international relations and foreign policy. These developments call attention to the state of our knowledge about change processes in governmental decisionmaking. This essay reviews the contributions of several areas of conceptual literature and proposes a scheme for interpreting decisions in which a government decides to change policy direction. Foreign policy changes can be placed on a continuum indicating the magnitude of the shift from minor adjustment changes, through both program and goal changes, to fundamental changes in a country's international orientation. These degrees of change are examined with respect to four change agents: (1) leader driven; (2) bureaucratic advocacy; (3) domestic restructuring; and (4) external shock. The phases of decisionmaking mediate between sources of change and the magnitude of change in policy. The essay concludes with an examination of propositions that suggest conditions under which the phases of decisionmaking can increase the likelihood of major change.
Concussive Brain Injury Produces a State of Vulnerability for Intracranial Pressure Perturbation in the Absence of Morphological Damage

Following a fluid percussion (F-P) brain injury the cells in the brain go into a state of vulnerability during which, if they sustain a second, typically nonlethal insult, they die. This has been previously described in the rat [3] where a F-P injury was followed in 1 hour by a 6 min forebrain ischemic insult. Cells within the CAl region of the hippocampus that normally survive both insults independently, now die when the insults are administered in close temporal proximity.
Adjunctive acupuncture for pain and symptom management in the inpatient setting： protocol for a pilot hybrid effectiveness-implementation study

Background Effective pain management among hospitalized patients is an important aspect of providing quality care and achieving optimal clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Common pharmacologic approaches for pain, though effective, have serious side effects and are not appropriate for all inpatients. Findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) support the efficacy of acupuncture for many symptoms relevant to inpatients including postoperative pain, cancer-related pain, nausea and vomiting, and withdrawal from narcotic use. However, the extent to which findings from RCTs translate to real-world implementation of acupuncture in typical hospital settings is unknown.
Activated Ion Electron Transfer Dissociation for Improved Fragmentation of Intact Proteins

Here we report the first implementation of activated ion electron transfer dissociation (AI-ETD) for top down protein characterization, showing that AI-ETD definitively extends the m/z range over which ETD can be effective for fragmentation of intact proteins. AI-ETD, which leverages infrared photon bombardment concurrent to the ETD reaction to mitigate nondissociative electron transfer, was performed using a novel multipurpose dissociation cell that can perform both beam-type collisional dissociation and ion–ion reactions on an ion trap–Orbitrap hybrid mass spectrometer. AI-ETD increased the number of c- and z-type product ions for all charge states over ETD alone, boosting product ion yield by nearly 4-fold for low charge density precursors. AI-ETD also outperformed HCD, generating more matching fragments for all proteins at all charge states investigated. In addition to generating more unique fragment ions, AI-ETD provided greater protein sequence coverage compared to both HCD and ETD. In all, the effe...
An Interior Point Cutting Plane Algorithm for Ising Spin Glass Problems

This paper describes an approach to a problem in glassy dynamics in statistical physics. An Ising spin glass is a model of a magnetic material, and it consists of a grid of magnetic spins. Each spin S i is in one of two states, which we call “up” and “down”; we assign S i the value +1 if the spin is up and -1 if the spin is down. In this paper, we assume the grid is an L × L square grid embedded on a torus. Further, we assume that the interactions between spins are restricted to neighbours, that is, we consider the short range model with Ising spins S i . At very low temperatures, the spin glass will be in its ground state, or state of lowest energy; it is this state that we wish to determine. Thus, given the interactions J ij between neighbouring spins, the objective is to determine the directions of the spins that minimizes the total energy E. This can be calculated by minimizing the Hamiltonian H of the energy: $$ H = - \mathop \Sigma \limits_{{\text{neighbours }}i,j} J_{ij} S_i S_j $$ (1) .
Compost and Rubber Tire Chips as Peat Substitutes in Nursery Container Media: Growth Effects

Abstract This research investigated the feasibility of using composted yard wastes, composted municipal solid waste and shredded rubber tire chips in nursery container media. Containerized Physocarpus opulifolius ‘Dart's Gold’, Forsythia × ‘Meadowlark’, Spiraea × billiardii, Juniperus chinensis ‘Seagreen’, J. sabina ‘Mini Arcade’, J. horizontalis ‘Hughes’, and Lamiastrum galeobdolon were grown in media amended with five recycled waste materials used as peat substitutes in a standard container medium of composted woodchips, peat, and sand (3:2:1 by vol). Waste materials used included three yard waste composts, one municipal solid waste compost and shredded rubber tire chips. Fifty or 100% of the peat in the standard growing medium was replaced with each amendment. Ten treatments (five amendments, each at 50% and 100% peat replacement) and a control (standard medium) were used for all seven plant species. Visual ratings, height and width measurements (crown volume), number of growing points and plant dry we...
Type and Quantity of Pharmacologic Therapy for Crohn's Disease before Eventual Surgical Treatment.

Abstract Treatment of Crohn's disease (CD) relies on medical therapy with surgery reserved for medically refractory cases. This study measured pharmaceutical therapies that CD patients receive before surgery. Prospective data were collected on 558 patients undergoing surgery for medically refractory CD from November 1999 through June 2014. Patient demographics and preoperative medical therapies were tabulated, including types and number of doses of aminosalicylic acid, corticosteroids, immunomodulators, and biologic therapies. Most patients had been treated with preoperative aminosalicylic acid (72%), steroids (77%), or immunomodulators (69%). Forty-two per cent of patients were treated with a biologic before surgery with a mean number of 20 doses (range, 1-130). In 29 per cent of patients, all therapeutic modalities were used before surgery. Biologic therapy was more common in the last seven years of the study compared with the first eight years (64% vs 35%; P < 0.01). More patients had been treated with all therapeutic modalities before surgery in the second half of the study period (37% vs 19%; P < 0.01). CD patients undergoing surgery have had extensive pharmaceutical treatment. In the current era, more patients have been placed on biologic therapies and more than one third of them failed all available classes of medications before surgical intervention.
Spacecraft-Charging Characteristics Induced by the Operation of Electrospray Thrusters

Theoretical and experimental methods were developed to investigate the charging characteristics anticipated to be observed on spacecraft during the operation of electrospray thrusters. These devices produce positively and negatively charged particles of similar mass and velocities. An electrical model of this configuration was created to predict the charging properties of electrically isolated systems. This model simulates a bipolar electrospray-thruster system. Experiments were conducted on a test bed, in which a mock-up satellite is magnetically levitated inside a vacuum chamber. The mock-up is equipped with batteries, power conditioning, radio transmitter, and electrospray thrusters. The results from the experimental tests demonstrate that neutralization with heavy ionic species is indeed possible. The thrusters are able to fire in a bipolar configuration for long periods of time inducing bounded spacecraft charging in the range from −400 to +600 V when emitting currents of about 20 μA. It was found ...
Transcriptome analyses identify key cellular factors associated with HIV-1-associated neuropathogenesis in infected men.

OBJECTIVE HIV-1 viral proteins and host inflammatory factors have a direct role in neuronal toxicity in vitro; however, the contribution of these factors in vivo in HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) is not fully understood. We applied novel Systems Biology approaches to identify specific cellular and viral factors and their related pathways that are associated with different stages of HAND. DESIGN A cross-sectional study of individuals enrolled in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study including HIV-1-seronegative (N = 36) and HIV-1-seropositive individuals without neurocognitive symptoms (N = 16) or with mild neurocognitive disorder (MND) (N = 8) or HIV-associated dementia (HAD) (N = 16). METHODS A systematic evaluation of global transcriptome of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) obtained from HIV-1-seronegative individuals and from HIV-1-positive men without neurocognitive symptoms, or MND or HAD was performed. RESULTS MND and HAD were associated with specific changes in mRNA transcripts and microRNAs in PBMCs. Comparison of upstream regulators and TimePath analyses identified specific cellular factors associated with MND and HAD, whereas HIV-1 viral proteins played a greater role in HAD. In addition, expression of specific microRNAs - miR-let-7a, miR-124, miR-15a and others - were found to correlate with mRNA gene expression and may have a potential protective role in asymptomatic HIV-1-seropositive individuals by regulating cellular signal transduction pathways downstream of chemokines and cytokines. CONCLUSION These results identify signature transcriptome changes in PBMCs associated with stages of HAND and shed light on the potential contribution of host cellular factors and viral proteins in HAND development.
Sample Size Precision Function

The paper develops the concept of precision function for a given sample size when testing a simple hypothesis against a simple alternative hypothesis. The construction of sample size precision functions is discussed with reference to the location and sc..
Position statements from panelists: Big data in IoT — Academic hype or industrial reality?

This document contains position statements from the panel chair and the different panelists on the panel “Big data in IoT — Academic hype or industrial reality?” held on January 05, 2017 during the 9th International Conference on Communication Systems and Networks (COMSNETS), held in Bangalore, India.
The Relationship between Achievement Motivation and Ethnicity in Anglo-American and Mexican-American Junior High School Students

In an effort to determine the relationship between achievement motivation and ethnic group membership in junior high school students, two groups, 69 each, were matched for intelligence. One group was composed of Mexican-Americans, and the other of Anglo-Americans. After giving both groups need achievement tests, it was found that, with these samples matched for intelligence, there was no statistically significant difference between the mean need to achieve of Anglo-American and Mexican-American eighth-grade students.
Generating a nonperturbative mass gap using Feynman diagrams in an asymptotically free theory

Using the example of a two-dimensional four-fermion lattice field theory we demonstrate that Feynman diagrams can generate a mass gap when massless fermions interact via a marginally relevant coupling. We introduce an infrared cutoff through the finite system size so that the perturbation series for the partition function and observables become convergent. We then use the Monte Carlo approach to sample sufficiently high orders of diagrams to expose the presence of a mass gap in the lattice model.
A Computationally Efficient Visual Saliency Algorithm Suitable for an Analog CMOS Implementation.

Computer vision algorithms are often limited in their application by the large amount of data that must be processed. Mammalian vision systems mitigate this high bandwidth requirement by prioritizi...