cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Contest experience does not increase survivorship in honey bee queen duels

Animals engage in intraspecific conflict to increase their access to resources as well as improve their rank within the group. Prior experience can contribute to the outcome of conspecific contests and agonistic interactions. Winning a previous encounter can raise an individual’s probability of winning future contests, a phenomenon known as the winner effect. Likewise, a prior loss can reduce the probability of future wins, known as the loser effect. Theoretical and empirical research suggests that a winner effect can only exist in the presence of a loser effect. However, recent evidence suggests that this is not always the case. This finding prompted the present study, which explores whether there is a winner effect in virgin honey bee queens (Apis mellifera).Virgin queens compete with each other in fatal contests; losers do not survive, so there is no possibility of a loser effect, but sometimes virgin queens compete with more than one rival, so a winner effect is a possibility. To test for winner effects, we staged duels between pairs of age-matched virgin queens in the laboratory. The winner of each contest was then paired with another age-matched queen with no prior dueling experience. Winning a duel had a significant impact on the outcome of the second duel, but it reduced, rather than increased the probability of winning the second duel.
Revitalizing Student Worker Training: Using Office 365 to Train and Manage Your Student Workforce

Southeast Missouri State University's Information Technology department employs 60 student workers in the open computer labs and help desk. A one-day training for new hires and all student workers is held at the beginning of each semester. This day consists of disseminating critical information to student workers, so they can fulfill their duties effectively. During previous trainings, hard copies of materials were provided to them. However, they would often fail to remember the necessary details. For the Spring 2017 semester, Southeast migrated to using Office 365 across campus. After its implementation, it was believed the applications included in the Office365 suite would provide an alternative delivery method to the student workers, and allow for easier access to their training materials. After uploading content to the group site, we found that publication costs decreased, time spent on trainings was shorter, updating materials became easier, and students were able to complete their tasks more efficiently. This change has resulted in improved customer service and fewer support calls to their supervisor. This year, we began using the Microsoft Teams application. This allows us to build onto our existing group site and take advantage of the built-in applications to create a knowledge base, link to work-related websites, and to offer an area for our students to collaborate. We have found that by using the tools offered in Office 365, our student workers are more productive and informed, and their lives have been made easier by having the tools they need in one convenient area.
A METHOD FOR EVALUATING THE DESTRUCTION OF AIR-BORNE BACTERIOPHAGES1,2

Summary A method was developed for testing the effectiveness of germicidal aerosols against air-borne bacteriophages by incorporating the use of an Andersen air sampler containing gelatin plates co...
Custom Pyrolytic Graphite–Steel Thermocouple for High-Temperature Measurements

Recent developments regarding the thermoelectric properties of pyrolytic graphite (PG) and common metals have led to the measurement of the Seebeck coefficient between PG and several metals. In this present work, a new thermocouple is developed for use under high-temperature conditions such as metal casting. The excellent thermoelectric properties of PG and the high melting point of steel are exploited for use as our thermoelements. The research effort was concentrated on determining the Seebeck coefficient/thermopower of the designed thermocouple through measuring its thermoelectric response to temperature changes as indicated by the Seebeck effect. The heating experiment was done to a temperature of 500 °C and a near-linear response was obtained for the plot of the thermocouple output voltages against the temperature changes.
Outcome of combined cryo- and radiofrequency-catheter ablation in patients with supraventricular tachycardias.

Background There are few data regarding the outcome of a combined cryo- and radiofrequency (RF)-catheter ablation of various types of supraventricular tachycardias (SVTs) originating from near the normal conduction system. Methods We analyzed all patients undergoing combined cryo- and RF- catheter ablation at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN as part of the ablation of SVTs with potential risks of injury to the normal conduction system. This study aimed to assess the outcome of a combined cryo- and RF-catheter ablation of various types of SVTs. Results The study population consisted of 54 patients (38 ± 17 years, 32 men). A combined cryo- and RF-catheter ablation was attempted for septal accessary pathways (APs) in 26, atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT) in 14, atrial tachycardia (AT) in 7, and junctional ectopic tachycardia in 7 patients. Forty-one patients (76%) were successfully ablated with cryoablation, and RF ablation after an unsuccessful cryoablation ablated the SVTs successfully at the same location in 6 patients (11%). Complication occurred in 1 patient (deep vein thrombosis). The cumulative freedom from SVT rate at 30 days after the procedure was 78% and there was no significant difference in the recurrence rate among the SVTs. Conclusion A combined cryo- and RF-catheter ablation is clinically effective in patients undergoing SVT ablation with the potential risk of injury to the normal conduction system.
What’s Next in Apple Inc. v. Pepper? The Indirect Purchaser Rule and the Economics of Pass-Through

In Apple v. Pepper, the Supreme Court issued a narrow 5-4 decision holding that iPhone users who purchased apps from the Apple App Store were direct purchasers. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, held that the iPhone users had standing under Illinois Brick to sue Apple for alleged monopolization under Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The dissent, written by Justice Gorsuch, concluded that the iPhone users were direct purchasers of distribution services provided by Apple, and thus relied on a "pass-on" theory to recover damages from Apple. On remand, the plaintiffs will have to show that they were harmed by Apple's ad valorem royalty rate. Our analysis demonstrates that the plaintiffs are unlikely to prevail because they have not been harmed by Apple's ad valorem rate. We also explain that the Supreme Court correctly accepted the plaintiff's alleged market definition at the motion to dismiss stage, and therefore did not abandon its ruling in American Express.
Intelligent Reservoir Generation for Liquid State Machines using Evolutionary Optimization

Neuromorphic Computing is a burgeoning field of research. Many groups are exploring hardware architectures and theoretical ideas about spiking recurrent neural networks. The overarching goal is to exploit the low power promise of these neuromorphic systems. However, it is difficult to train spiking recurrent neural networks (SRNNs) to perform tasks and make efficient use of neuromorphic hardware. Reservoir Computing is an attractive methodology because it requires no tuning of weights for the reservoir itself. Yet, to find optimal reservoirs, manual tuning of hyperparameters such as hidden neurons, synaptic density, and natural structure is still required. Because of this, researchers often have to generate and evaluate many networks, which can result in non-trivial amounts of computation. This paper employs the reservoir computing technique (specifically liquid state machines) and genetic algorithms in order to develop useful networks that can be deployed on neuromorphic hardware. We build on past work in reservoir computing and genetic algorithms to demonstrate the power of combining these two techniques and the advantage it can provide over manually tuning reservoirs for use on classification tasks. We discuss the complexities of determining whether or not to use the genetic algorithms approach for liquid state machine generation.
Classroom Evaluation of a Scaffolding Intervention for Improving Peer Review Localization

A peer review system that automatically evaluates student feedback comments was deployed in a university research methods course. The course required students to create an argument diagram to justify a hypothesis, then use this diagram to write a paper introduction. Diagram and paper first drafts were both reviewed by peers. During peer review, the system automatically analyzed the quality of student comments with respect to localization (i.e. pinpointing the source of the comment in the diagram or paper). Two localization models (one for diagram and one for paper reviews) triggered a system scaffolding intervention to improve review quality whenever the review was predicted to have a ratio of localized comments less than a threshold. Reviewers could then choose to revise their comments or ignore the scaffolding. Our analysis of data from system logs demonstrates that diagram and paper localization models have high prediction accuracy, and that a larger portion of student feedback comments are successfully localized after scaffolded revision.
Investigation of the possibility of L-band SRF cavities for medium-beta heavy ion multi-charge-state beams

Abstract The possibility of 1288 MHz (L-band) SRF elliptical cavity to accelerate heavy ion multi-charge-state (up to 5 charge states) beams is being investigated for accelerating energy higher than 200 MeV/u. This cavity is a potential energy upgrade for heavy ions linac accelerators such as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) in the United States of America and Rare Isotope Science Project (RISP) in Korea. One of possible disadvantages of the L-band frequency structure is its small longitudinal acceptance. It should be sufficiently large for transporting the ions with the limited beam loss ensuring accelerator hands-on maintenance. The analytic study was performed and it showed a promising result using 1288 MHz cavities. In addition, from beam loss point of view, the study deduced that 1288 MHz linac frequency could be the limit for medium-beta heavy ion up to 5 charge states beam accelerators. This paper is the result of the detailed beam dynamics simulation for the linac performance using TRACK code to confirm the analytic result. The result shows that the longitudinal acceptance is large enough for medium-beta heavy ion with 5 charge state beams.
Efficacy of biologics in atopic dermatitis.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a heterogeneous disease. Recent advancements in understanding AD pathogenesis resulted in the exponential expansion of its therapeutic pipeline, particularly...
Genome-Wide Association of Kidney Traits in Hispanics/Latinos Using Dense Imputed Whole-Genome Sequencing Data: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos.

BACKGROUND Genetic factors that influence kidney traits have been understudied for low-frequency and ancestry-specific variants. METHODS This study used imputed whole-genome sequencing from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine project to identify novel loci for estimated glomerular filtration rate and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio in up to 12 207 Hispanics/Latinos. Replication was performed in the Women's Health Initiative and the UK Biobank when variants were available. RESULTS Two low-frequency intronic variants were associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (rs58720902 at AQR, minor allele frequency=0.01, P=1.6×10-8) or urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (rs527493184 at ZBTB16, minor allele frequency=0.002, P=1.1×10-8). An additional variant at PRNT (rs2422935, minor allele frequency=0.54, P=2.89×10-8) was significantly associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate in meta-analysis with replication samples. We also identified 2 known loci for urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (BCL2L11 rs116907128, P=5.6×10-8 and HBB rs344, P=9.3×10-11) and validated 8 loci for urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio previously identified in the UK Biobank. CONCLUSIONS Our study shows gains in gene discovery when using dense imputation from multi-ethnic whole-genome sequencing data in admixed Hispanics/Latinos. It also highlights limitations in genetic research of kidney traits, including the lack of suitable replication samples for variants that are more common in non-European ancestry and those at low frequency in populations.
Abstract IA14: Integrated molecular characterization of the genome, transcriptome, and immune microenvironment in oviductal high-grade serous carcinomas arising in genetically engineered mice

Robust preclinical models of ovarian high-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) are needed to advance our understanding of HGSC pathogenesis and to test novel strategies aimed at improving clinical outcomes for women with the disease. Genetically engineered mouse models of HGSC have been developed that recapitulate the likely cell of origin (fallopian tube epithelium), underlying genetic defects, histology, and biologic behavior of human HGSCs, but the degree to which the mouse tumors acquire the somatic genomic changes, gene expression profiles, and immune microenvironment that characterize human HGSCs remains unclear. We used integrative molecular characterization of oviductal HGSCs arising in the context of Brca1, Trp53, Rb1, and Nf1 (BPRN) inactivation to determine whether the mouse tumors recapitulate human HGSCs across multiple domains of molecular features. Targeted DNA sequencing showed that the mouse BPRN tumors, but not endometrioid carcinoma-like tumors based on different genetic defects (e.g., Apc, Pten, Arid1a), acquire somatic mutations and widespread copy number alterations similar to those observed in human HGSCs. RNA sequencing showed that the mouse HGSCs most closely model the immunoreactive and mesenchymal subsets of human HGSCs. A combined immunogenomic analysis showed that the immune microenvironment of BPRN tumors models key aspects of tumor-immune dynamics in human HGSC, with enrichment of immunosuppressive cell subsets (myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T cells) as observed in the immunoreactive and mesenchymal subsets of human tumors. These findings, as well as early proof-of-principle studies, support the BPRN model as a robust preclinical experimental platform to help overcome barriers to clinical success in preventing, diagnosing, and treating this lethal cancer. Citation Format: Kathleen R. Cho. Integrated molecular characterization of the genome, transcriptome, and immune microenvironment in oviductal high-grade serous carcinomas arising in genetically engineered mice [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research; 2019 Sep 13-16, 2019; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2020;26(13_Suppl):Abstract nr IA14.
Micronutrient Levels in Patients With ADHD (P3.315)

Objective: To study the levels of the micronutrients zinc, vitamin B12, folate, magnesium, and vitamin D 25-OH in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Background: ADHD is a complex neurologic disorder with genetic and environmental factors contributing to its etiology and expression. Abnormal micronutrient levels, due to decreased intake or inborn metabolic dysfunction, have been suggested to play a role in the pathogenesis of ADHD. Design/Methods: Micronutrient data were collected from 71 individuals representing hyperactive (N = 12), inattentive (N = 17), and combined (N = 42) forms of ADHD. Control data were in the form of clinical reference values (mean and standard deviation) from the laboratory. Due to lack of sample sizes for the control data, one-way ANOVA for each nutrient that included the control group and the three ADHD groups could not be performed. Instead, data were first contrasted among ADHD types for each nutrient using one-way ANOVA. There were no differences for any variable, so the data were pooled among ADHD types and tested for deviation from the reference mean for each variable using one-sample t-tests. Results: Mean age (range) of the sample was 9.4 (4–19) years. Mean values for the micronutrients in children with ADHD (versus controls values) were as follows: magnesium 2.11 (2.05) mg/dL, vitamin D 25-OH 28.8 (63) ng/mL, vitamin B12 927.85 (578) pg/ml, folate 15.9 (13.6) ng/mL, zinc 77.8 (95) μg/dL. In children with ADHD, the levels of magnesium (p=0.001), folate (p Conclusions: Levels of a number of micronutrients (magnesium, folate, vitamin B12, zinc, and vitamin D 25-OH) were significantly altered in children with ADHD. The ADHD subtype did not significantly influence these abnormalities. Disclosure: Dr. Gupta has nothing to disclose. Dr. Pecor has nothing to disclose. Dr. Agarwal has nothing to disclose. Dr. Oh has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kornitzer has nothing to disclose.
Between Elitism and Populism: A Case for Pluralism in Schooling and Homeschooling

Inherently, populism questions elite values and expertise; thus, populists oppose and usually are opposed by elites. Here, I discuss how American Political Science treats elitism, pluralism, and po...
Top Tens in 2015: Patent, Trademark, Copyright and Trade Secret Cases

The Supreme Court significantly affected the dynamics of patent litigation, holding that patent claim interpretation was not always reviewed de novo and that good faith belief that a patent was invalid was not a defense to infringement. The Federal Circuit potentially changed the approach to patent claim interpretatation, holding that claims could be interpreted in light of the written description of the invention, even where the claim was not ambiguous. The Federal Circuit also addressed inducement of patent infringement, holding that it was not inducement to suggest consulting a physician who would likely prescribe an infringing treatment. The Federal Circuit also held that two parties acting in concert could infringe a patent, replacing its rejected doctrine of divided infringement. Trademark saw rejection of trade dress protection for cell phone design and conflicting opinions on whether disparaging trademarks are registrable. Copyright cases show that fair use authorized the Google Book project and also protected against attempts to use copyright to censor critics. Courts addressed some classics of copyright courses, including the copyrightability of maps, recipes, and “Happy Birthday to You.” Trade secret cases emphasized the fundamental requirements, rejecting attempts to give trade secret protection where parties had failed to take the necessary reasonable security measures.
Establishing a Cold Spray Particle Deposition Window on Polymer Substrate

A set of processing conditions for cold spray deposition of an embedded particle layer on a polymer substrate has been established using a dynamic impact model and verified experimentally. This research utilizes a three-network polymer model based on high strain-rate impact tests to capture the nonlinear and time-dependent response of polymer deformation during the cold spray impact with both rigid and deformable particles. The particle's material properties, particle velocity, and particle size were systematically studied to obtain the polymer deformation's various responses from finite element analysis. Particle impact velocity was experimentally measured with a double disk rotary system. The numerical results were mapped into diagrams and validated with the experimental results of cold spraying Cu and Al2O3 powders. This research contributes to quantifying the deposition window, which embeds but still exposes metallic/ceramic powders on a polymer substrate.
Psychological Connection to the Gay Community and Negative Self-Appraisals in Middle-Aged and Older Men Who Have Sex with Men: The Mediating Effects of Fitness Engagement.

Objectives Connections to the gay community may elicit negative self-appraisals among men who have sex with men (MSM), which may be exacerbated for people with HIV (PWH). Fitness engagement may mediate self-appraisals by maintaining or improving appearance and health. We hypothesized that gay community connections would be positively related to negative self-appraisal and explored whether this association would be mediated by fitness engagement and moderated by HIV status. Methods Data were obtained from the Multicenter AIDS Cohort (MACS) Healthy Aging study (N=1,026; PWH n=525; people without HIV (PWOH) n=501). Structural equation modeling (SEM) examined associations between gay community connections, negative self-appraisal (body image dissatisfaction, self-perception of aging), and fitness engagement (physical activity, motivation to be fit). Multiple-group SEM tested the moderating effects of HIV serostatus. Results The SEM fit the data well (RMSEA= 0.056; 90% CI 0.046, 0.066). Connection to the gay community was inversely related to negative self-appraisals and positively related to fitness engagement. Fitness engagement mediated the association between community connections and negative self-appraisal and was inversely related to negative self-appraisals. Among PWH, the association between community connections and self-appraisal was weaker and the effect of fitness engagement on negative self-appraisal was stronger compared to PWOH. Discussion Connection to the gay community may be a source of resilience for aging MSM by lessening negative self-appraisals and promoting strategies that address body image dissatisfaction and self-perceptions of aging. Interventions facilitating connections to the gay community may support healthy aging in this population.
Corona's Bio-Economic Crisis and the Post-Corona World

While pandemics are pervasive, this is for the first time that the capitalist mode of production reached the outer limits of biology, biosphere, ecology, economy, geography, and international relat...
Neurogenic Atrophy-Induced Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor ε to γ Subunit Switching is Impaired in Muscle RING Finger 1 (MuRF1) Null Mice

Skeletal muscle atrophy is caused by a multitude of conditions, including denervation, corticosteroids, immobilization and aging. The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors cluster at the neuromuscular ...
The use of Microbial Assay Systems in the Detection of Environmental Mutagens in Complex Mixtures

Microbial mutagenicity procedures are widely used as prescreens for the detection of environmental agents (10,11) endowed with genetic activity. Because of the remarkably good correlation between mutagenicity in bacteria and the potential for causing cancer in animals (13, 29, 30, 58, 59, 63, 76, 78, 91), these short-term assay procedures are also being used to identify potential environmental carcinogens. Our laboratory has participated in several studies dealing with the development, validation, and evaluation of a number of these short-term assay procedures which have included the following: the Salmonella (7), E. coli WP2 uvrA (17,42) and the multipurpose E. coli (66) mutagenicity assays, the host-mediated assay using Salmonella (51) the DNA repair-deficient E. coli (pol A+/pol A1 ‒) system (83,87), the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitotic recombination assay (104), and the prophage λ inductest (67).
A comparison of the sedimentation and ruge virulence tests in 150 gynecologic cases

Abstract The standard method of determining the indications and conditions for operation in pelvic inflammatory disease is an history of continued invalidism; a normal leucocyte count and a normal temperature. If an exacerbation of the infection has occurred then a period of at least ten days of normal temperature has to be observed before the chronic inflammatory pelvic lesions are to be attacked surgically. In late years two laboratory tests have been advocated; namely, the erythrocyte sedimentation test and the virulence test of the cervical secretion. A sedimentation time of less than sixty minutes signifies that the patient cannot be safely subjected to a gynecologic pelvic operation as it indicates the presence of an actively acute infection somewhere in the body. A positive virulence test on the other hand means the existence of pathogenic bacteria of some kind in the genital tract contraindicating operations on the pelvic organs due to the danger of postoperative infections and sepsis. The purpose of these investigations is to record our observations made in 150 patients of which 132 were subjected to gynecologic operations and in which the safe time of operation was determined by the standard method of the leucocyte count, temperature, history and physical examination. In all these patients the erythrocyte sedimentation time and the virulence tests were done. Thus a comparison could be made between the prognostic efficacy of the older method and the erythrocyte sedimentation time and the cervical virulence test.
Burden of Gastrointestinal, Liver, and Pancreatic Diseases in the United States

Background & Aims Gastrointestinal (GI), liver, and pancreatic diseases are a source of substantial morbidity, mortality, and cost in the United States. Quantification and statistical analyses of the burden of these diseases are important for researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and public health professionals. We gathered data from national databases to estimate the burden and cost of GI and liver disease in the United States. Methods We collected statistics on health care utilization in the ambulatory and inpatient setting along with data on cancers and mortality from 2007 through 2012. We included trends in utilization and charges. The most recent data were obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the National Cancer Institute. Results There were 7 million diagnoses of gastroesophageal reflux and almost 4 million diagnoses of hemorrhoids in the ambulatory setting in a year. Functional and motility disorders resulted in nearly 1 million emergency department visits in 2012; most of these visits were for constipation. GI hemorrhage was the most common diagnosis leading to hospitalization, with >500,000 discharges in 2012, at a cost of nearly $5 billion dollars. Hospitalizations and associated charges for inflammatory bowel disease, Clostridium difficile infection, and chronic liver disease have increased during the last 20 years. In 2011, there were >1 million people in the United States living with colorectal cancer. The leading GI cause of death was colorectal cancer, followed by pancreatic and hepatobiliary neoplasms. Conclusions GI, liver and pancreatic diseases are a source of substantial burden and cost in the United States.
Capturing the Essence of Scientific Knowledge: A Framework for Representing and Analyzing Theories

In past years advances in electronic document management have dramatically increased the availability and accessibility of scientific knowledge. Researchers are benefiting from faster access and a broader range of materials directly available to them. Despite these advances, however, there are still obstacles that researchers face when gathering and analyzing information from research articles and other relevant sources. Currently theoretical elements are usually embedded in research documents. This makes it difficult to search for specific theoretical elements or relationships across a larger set of sources. Since theories capture the essence of scientific knowledge a more effective representation of theories and its elements has the potential to improve the research process. This paper presents a framework based on the Theory Markup Language (TheoryML) with a goal to address this issue and describes the development of a prototype implementation of a repository for theories.
A novel function of RGS10 in effector T lymphocytes to augment mouse EAE (BA8P.126)

A broad range of immune-based therapeutic drugs have been available for treatment of various autoimmune diseases but many have had limited success. Therefore, it is critical to identify additional cellular targets that can regulate the pathogenic response of immune cells. We hypothesize that GPCR modulator RGS proteins are important modulators of the immune responses involved in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS). Our hypothesis is based on reports that various SNPs in RGS proteins is highly correlated with the diagnosis of MS. Especially, an in-depth search of the GEO profiles database also revealed higher levels of RGS10 transcripts in MS patients’ PBMCs. Here, we showed RGS10-null mice displayed significantly milder clinical symptoms of EAE with reduced incidence and delayed disease onset. We observed that there were less numbers of CD45+ cells and CD4+ T cells in MOG35-55-immunized RGS10-null mice in the CNS. RGS10-null LN T cells were less proliferatative and produce less IFN-γ and IL-17 cytokines in response to MOG. Our data suggest a critical role for RGS10 in modulating disease by attenuating lymphocyte infiltration and/or peripheral immune responses during EAE. This is the first study ever conducted to elucidate the function of RGS10 in effector lymphocytes in the context of EAE. The identification of RGS10 as a central regulator of the inflammatory processes will open a possibility for developing more specific targeted therapy for the treatment of MS.
Asynchronous control circuits

Asynchronous, or clockless, design is receiving renewed attention, due to its potential benefits of modularity, low power, low electromagnetic interference and average-case performance. This chapter focuses on two styles for asynchronous controller synthesis: speed-independent and burst-mode. Basic synthesis and optimization methods are presented, as well as an introduction to timing-based optimization.
Long‐range correlations in motor unit discharge times at low forces are modulated by visual gain and age

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the association between visual information and the size and temporal structure of the variability in index finger force and motor unit discharge times when young and old adults performed isometric contractions with a hand muscle. Single motor units (n = 32) in the first dorsal interosseus muscle were recorded as subjects [16 young (18-35 years old) and 16 old (≥ 70 years old)] exerted a constant abduction force with the index finger during 60 s isometric contractions. The target force was displayed on a monitor in front of the subjects, and they were asked to match the index finger force to a target force. The amount of visual feedback, or gain of the signal, was varied between 24 (low gain) and 1175 pixels N(-1) (high gain). In addition, some trials were performed in the absence of visual feedback. The dependent variables were the variability (standard deviation and coefficient of variation) and the regularity (detrended fluctuation analysis self-similarity parameter, α) of motor unit discharge times and the abduction force. Motor unit discharge times became less regular with an increase in visual feedback gain for both young and old adults, whereas motor unit discharge variability was not influenced by changes in visual gain. The regularity of motor unit discharge times was less for old adults than for young adults, but the variability was greater for old adults. However, there was a significant association between the regularity of motor unit discharge times and the regularity of force for the old adults, but not the young adults. These observations suggest that adjustments in the synaptic inputs delivered to motor neurons with changes in the visual gain differed for young and old adults.
Custom total shoulder arthroplasty in inflammatory arthritis

Abstract Twenty-three patients with inflammatory arthritis and rotator cuff deficiency have undergone 27 custom-fit total shoulder arthroplasties. The design used included a short-stem humeral component and a metal-backed glenoid component with an offset keel. The glenoid component was custom-fit to provide maximum coverage of the glenoid surface. The average age of the patients at the time of surgery was 55 years (range, 20–75 years). All patients had inflammatory arthritis, 16 were on steroids, and all had some degree of rotator cuff involvement ranging from small to complete tears. The average length of follow-up study was 5 years (range, 3–7 years). The average preoperative shoulder score was 36 points (range, 15–50 points) with an average pain score of 7 (of 30) points. Postoperatively, the shoulder score improved to 85 points with a pain score of 28 points. Twenty-one shoulders scored a good to excellent result. Two patients required reoperation, both for recurrent rotator cuff tears, one of which occurred after a fall. Radiographic analysis revealed no incidence of humeral radiolucency and six cases of glenoid radiolucency. Only two of these were progressive and both were associated with irreparable rotator cuff tears. Thus, in the early follow-up, this design of glenoid has decreased the incidence of glenoid radiolucency in this difficult patient population.
The NRC Report and Its Implications For Criminal Litigation

The National Research Council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, issued a landmark report on forensic science in February 2009. In the long run, the report’s recommendations, if adopted, would benefit law enforcement and prosecutors. The recommendations would allow forensic science to develop a strong scientific basis and limit evidentiary challenges regarding the reliability of forensic evidence. In keeping with its congressional charge, however, the NRC Committee did not directly address admissibility issues. Nevertheless, given its content, the report will inevitably be cited in criminal cases. Indeed, within months, the United States Supreme Court cited the report, noting that “[s]erious deficiencies have been found in the forensic evidence used in criminal trials.” Defense attorneys would be derelict if they did not use it, and prosecutors will have no choice but to respond to defense arguments. This essay examines how courts may respond to the NRC Report in the near future.
Structure-Property Relationships for β- and κ-Phase BEDT-TTF Salts and their use in the Synthesis of κ-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)2]Br: A Salt Having the Highest-TC (Inductive Onset = 11.6 K, Resistive Onset = 12.5 K) Yet Observed in an Organic Superconductor

The electron-donor molecule BEDT-TTF (or ET, 1) and its salts have yielded the highest number of ambient pressure organic superconductors and also the highest 7 c ’s reported to date compared to any other electron-donor molecule.
Illumination tolerant face recognition using phase-only support vector machines in the frequency domain

This paper presents a robust method for recognizing human faces under varying illuminations. Unlike conventional approaches for recognizing faces in the spatial domain, we model the phase information of face images in the frequency domain and use them as features to represent faces. Then, Support Vector Machines (SVM) are applied to claim an identity using different kernel methods. Due to large variations of the face images, algorithms which perform in the space domain need more training images to achieve reasonable performance. On the other hand, the SVM combined with the phase-only representation of faces performs well even with small number of training images. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), and 3D Linear Subspace (3DLS) are included in the experiment changing the size of images and the number of training images in order to find the best parameters associated with each method. The illumination subset of the CMU-PIE database is used for the performance evaluation.
After The Cruzan Case: The Primary Care Physician And The Use Of Advance Directives

In the case of Nancy Cruzan, involving an incompetent patient’s right to have artificial feeding withdrawn, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the State of Missouri’s right to set evidenciary standards prior to the discontinuation of care. The “clear and convincing” standard of the Cruzan ruling highlights the primary care physician’s importance in proactively addressing advance directives with patients in the outpatient setting. Primary care physicians need to familiarize themselves with and discuss with patients such advance directives as the living will and the durable power of attorney. Physicians also need to understand the legal requirements of advance directives, as well as the implications of the clear and convincing standard in their own state.
Interactions between Gut Microbiota, Host Genetics and Diet Modulate the Predisposition to Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome result from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors, including the gut microbiota. To dissect these interactions, we utilized three commonly used inbred strains of mice-obesity/diabetes-prone C57Bl/6J mice, obesity/diabetes-resistant 129S1/SvImJ from Jackson Laboratory, and obesity-prone but diabetes-resistant 129S6/SvEvTac from Taconic-plus three derivative lines generated by breeding these strains in a new, common environment. Analysis of metabolic parameters and gut microbiota in all strains and their environmentally normalized derivatives revealed strong interactions between microbiota, diet, breeding site, and metabolic phenotype. Strain-dependent and strain-independent correlations were found between specific microbiota and phenotypes, some of which could be transferred to germ-free recipient animals by fecal transplantation. Environmental reprogramming of microbiota resulted in 129S6/SvEvTac becoming obesity resistant. Thus, development of obesity/metabolic syndrome is the result of interactions between gut microbiota, host genetics, and diet. In permissive genetic backgrounds, environmental reprograming of microbiota can ameliorate development of metabolic syndrome.
African-Americans' perceptions of health care provider cultural competence that promote HIV medical self-care and antiretroviral medication adherence

Most studies of cultural competence in healthcare examine healthcare providers' definitions of cultural competence practices. This study is unique in that it examines the relationship between African-American patients' perceptions of the cultural competence of their HIV healthcare providers and the adherence of these patients to medical self-care and antiretroviral therapy (ART). This cross-sectional, exploratory, descriptive study was conducted at the Ruth Rothstein CORE Center in Chicago, Illinois. The sample consisted of 202 HIV-positive African-Americans who completed surveys during clinic visits. Multiple measures were used, including the Patient Assessments of Cultural Competency survey instrument developed by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Medical self-care was measured using the advice and instructions scale and the self-care symptom management for people living with HIV/AIDS categorical scale. ART adherence was measured using the Adherence Behaviors Self-Report and Adherence Self-Report scales. The data revealed many significant correlations between variables. The more patients believed that providers should integrate culture in HIV treatment; the better their reported health (F1,138=0.151, P=0.05) and the more they followed their provider's advice and instructions (medical self-care; F1,138=0.029, P=0.05). Participants who trusted their providers engaged in more medical self-care (F1,138=0.280, P=0.01). More shared treatment decisions were reported among participants who had higher levels of education (F1,127=0.337, P=0.05). Findings of this study indicate the need for increased attention to the role of cultural competence in HIV/AIDS care. Understanding patient perceptions of provider cultural competence has the potential to improve HIV treatment adherence and health outcomes.
Simultaneous recording of dorsal raphe unit activity and serotonin release in the striatum using voltammetry in awake, behaving cats.

Abstract Simultaneous recordings of unit activity in the dorsal raphe nucleus (RD) and serotonin (5HT) release in the striatum were made in the cat. Unit recordings were made using Formvar-coated 32 micron diameter nichrome wires. 5HT release was measured using linear sweep voltammetry with semi-differentiation using electrodes prepared from Teflon-coated 32-gauge stainless steel wire filled with carbon paste and Ag/AgCl electrodes and 27-gauge stainless steel needles as reference and auxiliary electrodes, respectively. The working electrodes were scanned at a rate of 10 mV/s over the range of −0.1 to +0.5 V every 5 minutes using a BAS CV37 voltammograph. During REM sleep RD unit activity was decreased 94% from quiet waking (QW) baseline, while the voltammetric response was decreased by only 57%. Chloral hydrate anesthesia decreased RD unit activity by 18% from QW while the voltammetric response was decreased by 39%. LSD decreased RD unit activity by 50% from QW, but the voltammetric response was decreased by 88%. P-chlorophenylalanine produced no significant change in RD unit activity but decreased the voltammetric response by 82%. These data suggest that RD unit activity and 5HT release often differed dramatically.
META. 2. A Dictionary Model of Mammalian Xenobiotic Metabolism

META is a new knowledge-based expert system that provides computer simulation of the biotransformation of chemicals. The program is based on the recognition of key functional groups within the complete chemical structure and therefore can predict the metabolites of new xenobiotics. Here, we describe a comprehensive knowledge base built for the purposes of modeling mammalian metabolism with META methodology.
Thermostabile Polymere. I. Spiro‐Polycyclotriphosphazenamide (Polykondensate aus 2,2‐Diphenyl‐4,4,6,6,‐tetraimidazolidocyclotriphosphazen und Diaminobenzidin)

Zur Herstellung eines hochwarmebestandigen Kunststoffs aus anorganischen und organischen Bausteinen wurde 2,2-Diphenyl-4,4,6,6-tetraimidazolidocyclotriphosphazen mit Diaminobenzidin polykondensiert. Das Kondensat ist in organischen Losungsmitteln unloslich, es hydrolysiert jedoch relativ leicht. Das Produkt last sich unter Druck bei ca. 300°C zu hart-sproden Normstabchen mit einer MARTENszahl von 230°C verpressen. Ab 300°C erfolgt eine Abspaltung von Benzol. For the development of a thermostable plastic from inorganic and organic units 2,2-diphenyl-4,4,6,6-tetraimidazolidocyclo-triphosphazene was condensed with diaminobenzidine. The product obtained is insoluble in organic solvents, it is readily hydrolysed. It is possible to make hard-brittle testspecimens with a MARTENS temperature of 230°C by hot pressing at 300°C. At temperatures above 300°C benzene is split off.
Direct-to-indirect band gap conversion by application of electric field in the GaSbAlSb quantum well system

Abstract We propose the possibility of direct-to-indirect band-gap conversion in the GaSb/AlSb quantum well (QW) system by application of an electric field. This effect arises because the Г- and L bands are closely-spaced in energy in GaSb. As the electric field increases, the L-level in the proposed quantum well moves lower in energy than the Г-level. We have carried out theoretical calculations in the GaSb/AlSb system that show that such an effect is feasible at moderate electric fields, such as can be obtained by reverse biasing a p-i-n diode, provided that the wells comprise (Al,Ga)SB with about 10% Al, with a thickness of 100 A. The effects of this band-gap crossover should show up in the intensity and lifetime properties of the luminescence of these quantum-well structures as a function of applied bias.
A solid-phase extraction/high-performance liquid chromatography-based 32P-postlabeling method for detection of cyclic 1,N2-propanodeoxyguanosine adducts derived from enals

Abstract The cyclic 1,N2-propanodeoxyguanosine (PdG) adducts are Michael addition products from reactions of deoxyguanosine (dG) with enals, including acrolein (Acr), crotonaldehyde (Cro), pentenal (Pen), heptenal (Hep), and 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (HNE). Although this is a general reaction, only the PdG adducts derived from Acr, Cro, and HNE have been detected in vivo as endogenous DNA lesions. Our previous in vitro study demonstrated that PdG adducts of Acr, Cro, and Pen are predominantly derived from oxidation of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), whereas the long-chain Hep and HNE adducts are from ω-6 PUFAs. PdG adducts are important because they represent a new class of endogenous promutagenic DNA lesions with potential roles in carcinogenesis. Earlier, we developed a 32P-postlabeling method for detecting PdG adducts from Acr and Cro and a modified method for the long-chain HNE adducts. Both methods require multiple high-performance liquid chromatography steps and, in some cases, time-consuming thin-layer chromatography for purification. There is a lack of a single, versatile, and efficient method for simultaneous detection of all five enal-derived PdG adducts. In this paper, we report an improved 32P-postlabeling method which permits detection of Acr, Cro, Pen, Hep, and HNE adducts in a single DNA sample. This method relies on solid-phase extraction for adduct enrichment before and after 32P-labeling; all five PdG adducts were converted to the ring-opened derivatives for confirmation of identities and quantification. The method was validated using the synthetic adducts and enal-modified DNA and was finally applied to rat liver DNA and rat liver DNA samples spiked with different amount of standards. The detection limit was determined to be as low as 0.5 fmol in 80 μg DNA, corresponding to 9 adducts/109 dG.
Nitrogen sparing induced early in starvation by infusion of branched-chain ketoacids.

Abstract The α-ketoanalogues of the branched-chain amino acids were administered to fasting subjects to determine whether or not they promoted nitrogen sparing. Two fasting studies were carried out in each subject. During the first week of one of the two fasts 4.7 g of a mixture of the α-ketoanalogues of valine, leucine, and isoleucine were infused daily. No infusions were administered during the other fast, which served as a control. Urinary urea and calculated total urinary nitrogen were significantly lower during both the week of infusions and the ensuing week of fasting after the infusions were discontinued. Immediately after ketoacid infusions, plasma branched-chain amino acids, including alloisoleucine, rose, while alanine and several other amino acids (but not glutamine) fell. There were no differences between the two fasts with respect to ketone bodies, free fatty acids, glucose, insulin, or glucagon concentrations. We conclude that branched-chain ketoacids spare nitrogen early in fasting and that this effect persists after they are metabolized.
Synchronization of Two Chaotic Systems Using Nonlinear Recursive Controller

AbstractChaos and bifurcation control is achieved by nonlinear controller that is able to mitigate the characteristics of a class of nonlinear systems that are experiencing such phenomenon. In this paper, a backstepping nonlinear recursive controller is used and presented to control the chaos. The study shows the effectiveness of the control under various operating conditions. In addition to that , we design appropriate signals that synchronize two chaotic nonlinear dynamical systems. The synchronization exhibits chaos which is numerically demonstrated using the above technique. The results show effectiveness in synchronization and application to communication systems.