cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Drop in Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate at 1 Year After Heart Transplantation - Concern for Poor Outcome

Modified BMI Does Not Predict Adverse Outcomes in Patients With Cardiac Amyloid Undergoing Heart Transplantation: A Report From iCCAT (International Consortium for Cardiac Amyloid Transplantation) M. Vaduganathan ,1 S. Tabtabai,1 J.K. Steiner,1 J.R. Stone,1 J.D. Estep,2 R.M. Witteles,3 G. Feltrin,4 M.J. Zucker,5 D.A. Baran,5 D.C. Seldin,6 J. Patel,7 M. Hanna,8 A. Cordero-Reyes,2 V. Selby,9 M.J. Semigran,1 M.S. Maurer.10 1Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA; 2The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX; 3Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA; 4University of Padua, Padua, Italy; 5Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Newark, NJ; 6Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA; 7Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, Los Angeles, CA; 8Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH; 9University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; 10New York-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY.
Urinary Excretion of Adrenaline and Noradrenaline in Cattle During Heat and Cold Exposure

Abstract The effects of cold and heat exposure upon the urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline were studied in the climatic laboratory on nonlactating cattle. The experimental animals were kept in a climatic chamber at 18 C for 3 weeks, then exposed for 48 hours to 18, 2, 18, 37, and 18 C. When the cows were exposed to 37 C, urinary excretion of noradrenaline increased significantly from 59 μg/24 hours at 18 C to 71.6 μg/24 hours at 37 C. The mean adrenaline excretion was not affected. During exposure at 2 C, excretion of noradrenaline was significantly increased. At 18 C, urinary excretion was 58.8 μg/24 hours as compared with 71.3 at 2 C. Excretion of adrenaline was not significantly affected. Heat and cold exposures increased the release of noradrenaline by the sympathetic nerve endings without activation of the adrenal medulla.
Effect of reversible inactivation of macaque lateral intraparietal area on visual and memory saccades.

Effect of reversible inactivation of macaque lateral intraparietal area on visual and memory saccades. Previous studies from our laboratory identified a parietal eye field in the primate lateral intraparietal sulcus, the lateral intraparietal area (area LIP). Here we further explore the role of area LIP in processing saccadic eye movements by observing the effects of reversible inactivation of this area. One to 2 μl of muscimol (8 mg/ml) were injected at locations where saccade-related activities were recorded for each lesion experiment. After the muscimol injection we observed in two macaque monkeys consistent effects on both the metrics and dynamics of saccadic eye movements at many injection sites. These effects usually took place within 10–30 min and disappeared after 5–6 h in most cases and certainly when tested the next day. After muscimol injection memory saccades directed toward the contralesional and upper space became hypometric, and in one monkey those to the ipsilesional space were slightly but significantly hypermetric. In some cases, the scatter of the end points of memory saccades was also increased. On the other hand, the metrics of visual saccades remained relatively intact. Latency for both visual and memory saccades toward the contralesional space was increased and in many cases displayed a higher variance after muscimol lesion. At many injection sites we also observed an increase of latency for visual and memory saccades toward the upper space. The peak velocities for memory saccades toward the contralesional space were decreased after muscimol injection. The peak velocities of visual saccades were not significantly different from those of the controls. The duration of saccadic eye movements either to the ipsilesional or contralesional space remained relatively the same for both visual and memory saccades. Overall these results demonstrated that we were able to selectively inactivate area LIP and observe effects on saccadic eye movements. Together with our previous recording studies these results futher support the view that area LIP plays a direct role in processing incoming sensory information to program saccadic eye movements. The results are consistent with our unit recording data and microstimulation studies, which suggest that area LIP represents contralateral space and also has a bias for the upper visual field.
Corporate Social Responsibility and Horizontal Differentiation in Imperfect Competitive Markets with Global Warming Effects

Abstract: This study develops a model of corporate social responsibility (CSR) behavior that is compatible with both the mutual goals of profit maximization and the reduction of global warming effects. The theory developed in this paper indicates that, under perfect competitive and unregulated markets, firms must take an innovative entrepreneurship approach to reduce global warming externalities, and, consequently, respond to the demands of stakeholders to behave in a CSR fashion. In this setting, managers and firms find incentives to pursue strategies leading to horizontal differentiation when a segment of the market has strong revealed consumption preferences for environmentally friendly products, and when consumers derive a consumption disutility from products creating global warming effects. To achieve these goals, firms using a safe technology also incur certification/labeling costs in order to gain market power. That is, this study demonstrates that, in unregulated competitive markets, efforts to clearly identify sources of global warming effects require innovative entrepreneurship thinking above and beyond government regulatory efforts. Thus, firms behaving in a CSR fashion may achieve monopolistic power, and therefore positive profits. In sum, our model demonstrates that CSR is compatible with the triple bottom line of economic, social and environmental performance.
A comparison of times series approaches for dendroecological reconstructions of past canopy disturbance events

Abstract Time series analysis can identify outliers in tree-ring widths that may not only indicate past disturbances, but may also estimate the subsequent effects of these disturbances on tree growth. Finding a way to isolate these disturbance signals from tree-ring time series could have broad applications in forest ecology and management. Time series outliers may be expressed as pulse, step, or trend interventions, but few dendroecological studies have explored how well these different types of interventions express the response of tree-ring widths to a canopy disturbance resulting in a release event. This study addresses that question by comparing two different time series approaches for detecting release events: a pulse intervention approach and a new combined step and trend (CST) intervention approach. These methods are tested against tree-ring collections with known historical canopy disturbance events: northern red oaks ( Quercus rubra ) in New York released by the chestnut blight during the early 1920s, eastern hemlocks ( Tsuga canadensis ) in Pennsylvania released by adjacent selective logging in 1910, and northern red oaks and chestnut oaks ( Quercus montana ) in West Virginia released through an experimental thinning in 1982. Clusters of CST interventions, but not pulse interventions, were detected for all three collections during and immediately after the known disturbance events, showing that a CST intervention approach consistently reconstructs these release events. In addition, a CST intervention approach isolated canopy disturbance signals from tree-ring widths as disturbance-growth indices. Detrending disturbances from tree-ring widths provides an alternative approach to reconstruct climate in closed-canopy forests; however, just as importantly, disturbance-growth indices created through this method can also reconstruct changes in tree growth rates, biomass, or carbon resulting from a past disturbance event or forest thinning.
Efficient Forney functions for decoding AG codes

Using a Forney formula to solve for the error magnitudes in decoding algebraic-geometric (AG) codes requires producing functions /spl sigma//sub P/, which are 0 at all but one point P of the variety of the error-locator ideal. The best such function is produced here in a reasonably efficient way from a lex Grobner basis. This lex basis is, in turn, produced efficiently from a weighted grevlex basis by using the FGLM algorithm. These two steps essentially complete the efficient decoding scheme based on a Forney formula started in the author's previous work (see ibid., vol.42, p.1263-8, 1996).
Modeling Mamala Bay Outfall Plumes. II: Far Field

The far-field behavior and water quality impacts of the Sand Island, Hawaii, ocean outfall plume were predicted using two models, a statistical short-term model and a long-term model. The short-term model is coupled to a near-field model and uses measurements obtained from Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers. It predicted that the variable currents would cause the visitation frequency of the plume to decrease rapidly with distance. The long-term model predicted that flushing, horizontal diffusion, and decay would result in high dilutions with no significant buildup of contaminants. The frequencies of exceedence of various coliform densities were predicted to decrease rapidly with distance so that bacterial water quality standards should be satisfied very close to the diffuser. Any outfall impacts on the beaches should be very small, and other nonsewage sources are likely to contribute higher levels of bacteria. The effects of treatment upgrades on shoreline water quality will therefore probably be negligible. The results indicate that worst-case conditions are extremely improbable, and their use could lead to overly conservative outfall designs and treatment levels.
Utilizing MATLAB in undergraduate electric circuits courses

The use of MATLAB and its companion toolboxes in teaching graduate and undergraduate control systems and signal analysis courses have been long realized and reported by many educators. More recently, some have started using this package in undergraduate electrical engineering circuits courses. These works concentrate on the numerical capabilities of MATLAB for solving linear equations and its plotting capabilities. This paper describes the use of MATLAB in an undergraduate circuits analysis course focusing on those features of MATLAB that have not been adapted by other educators before. We will present the following topics: (i) generating analytical solutions with the Symbolic Math toolbox, (ii) creating interactive simulations with user interface control, and (iii) the use of MATLAB Compiler and MATLAB C Library to produce stand-alone applications. These topics should also be of interest to those who are developing interactive multimedia courseware products. Examples illustrating these features are included and the codes will be also posted at "http://www.engr.de.psu.edu" site on the World Wide Web. A discussion of how MATLAB helps in reducing the amount of time spent performing computational homework assignments will follow. Finally, the general student reaction to incorporating this software package into circuits analysis course will be reported.
Divergent Targets of Candida albicans Biofilm Regulator Bcr1 In Vitro and In Vivo

Candida albicans is a causative agent of oropharyngeal candidiasis (OPC), a biofilm-like infection of the oral mucosa. Biofilm formation depends upon the C. albicans transcription factor Bcr1, and previous studies indicate that Bcr1 is required for OPC in a mouse model of infection. Here we have used a nanoString gene expression measurement platform to elucidate the role of Bcr1 in OPC-related gene expression. We chose for assays a panel of 134 genes that represent a range of morphogenetic and cell cycle functions as well as environmental and stress response pathways. We assayed gene expression in whole infected tongue samples. The results sketch a portrait of C. albicans gene expression in which numerous stress response pathways are activated during OPC. This one set of experiments identifies 64 new genes with significantly altered RNA levels during OPC, thus increasing substantially the number of known genes in this expression class. The bcr1Δ/Δ mutant had a much more limited gene expression defect during OPC infection than previously reported for in vitro growth conditions. Among major functional Bcr1 targets, we observed that ALS3 was Bcr1 dependent in vivo while HWP1 was not. We used null mutants and complemented strains to verify that Bcr1 and Hwp1 are required for OPC infection in this model. The role of Als3 is transient and mild, though significant. Our findings suggest that the versatility of C. albicans as a pathogen may reflect its ability to persist in the face of multiple stresses and underscore that transcriptional circuitry during infection may be distinct from that detailed during in vitro growth.
Managing technology projects: a contingent exploratory approach

Based on an exploratory, on-going field study we suggest in this paper a conceptual, two dimensional framework for the classification of projects and systems, and show how this framework can be used to distinguish among management styles and practices for various types of engineering projects. The paper provides empirical evidence of the differences found among various kinds of projects and suggests a contingent systems approach to project management. According to this approach, in order to improve their probability of success, projects must be classified before initiation and properly adapt their management style and managerial tools. >
Un nouveau regard sur la chute du ne en français parlé tourangeau: s'agit-il d'un changement en cours?

Quoique la norme du francais standard prescrive le double marquage de la negation dans le syntagme verbal (ne . . . pas), l'usage contemporain veut que le francais parle laisse tomber la premiere marque (ne). Dans un article de 1981 qui s'appuyait sur un corpus de francais oral enregistre a Tours en 1976, Ashby avait mis en lumiere une forte co-variation entre la chute du ne et l'âge du locuteur, les jeunes omettant beaucoup plus souvent le ne que les personnes plus âgees. Cette distribution semble relever d'un changement en temps apparent. Pourtant, comme le signale Labov (1994), un trait linguistique plus frequent chez les jeunes ne represente pas necessairement un changement en cours. On peut supposer qu'il s'agit d'un phenomene lie a l'effet de generation (age grading), phenomene dans lequel les locuteurs alterent leur comportement linguistique au cours de leur vie tandis que la grammaire de la communaute ne change pas. De maniere a trancher entre les deux hypotheses (d'un cote, changement en cours; de l'autre, effet de generation), cette etude etablit une comparaison des distributions de la variable (ne) a deux epoques differentes: le corpus tourangeau de 1976 est double d'un nouveau corpus enregistre en 1995 au meme endroit. Cette comparaison demontre que, sur le plan du temps reel, la chute du ne s'est acceleree, ce qui sous-tend donc l'hypothese du changement en cours.
Comparison of differential pavlovian conditioning in whole animals and physiological preparations of Pleurobranchaea: Implications of motor pattern variability

The present study compares differential Pavlovian conditioning in whole animals with the behavior of the same animals during electrophysiological recording. Untrained specimens of the sea slug Pleurobranchaea did not discriminate between two appetitive stimuli, one derived from an extract of beer (Sbr) and the other from a homogenate of squid muscle (Ssq). When animals received Sbr as the CS+ and Ssq as the CS- in a single day of five-trial, differential Pavlovian conditioning they learned to avoid selectively the Sbr but continued to exhibit appetitive responses to Ssq. Quantitative measures show that there was over a 1000-fold increase in the thresholds of the proboscis extension and bite-strike responses, many animals ceased all feeding behavior, and exhibited withdrawal responses to Sbr. We examined the behavior of the same trained animals immediately before preparing them for physiological recording and during the recording session. There was a close one-to-one relationship between these behavioral observations, showing that the qualitative and quantitative features of whole-animal Pavlovian conditioning persist into the physiological preparations. Unexpectedly, motor patterns from untrained preparations showed considerable variability both within the same preparation at different times and between preparations; conditioning appeared to increase such variability. Thus, it was not possible to state unequivocally the behavior of the animal by examining the electromyogram recording alone. Many of the trained preparations not only exhibited suppressed feeding behavior and withdrawal responses to Sbr, but, as a consequence of the multifunctional nature of the Pleurobranchaea buccal-oral system, also regurgitated previously ingested Ssq or squid meat when they were stimulated with Sbr. We discuss the findings with respect to self-organizing mechanisms that may establish motor patterns in multifunctional systems, and suggest that such mechanisms may lead to the generation of behaviors that are not specifically encoded by the conditioned cellular changes.
Cultivating Our Roots and Extending Our Branches Appreciating and Marketing Rehabilitation Theory and Research

As a behavioral science and helping profession, rehabilitation must promote theory building and knowledge utilization through comprehensive and conscientious approaches. This article addresses notable failures to incorporate earlier and significant conceptual developments from rehabilitation into contemporary research. The identified gaps in scholarship acknowledgment concerned omissions of the groundbreaking work of several scholars who were shaped by Kurt Lewin’s mentorship and field theory. These authors advanced two fundamental principles: (a) the ecological perspective that behavior (including that associated with disability) can only be understood as the interaction of the person within an environmental context and (b) a strengths-based approach that rehabilitation assessments and interventions must tap into the assets of the person and the resources in the environment. The nexus and usefulness of these authors’ contributions have gone unrecognized in explanations of two relevant and popular psychos...
Effects of hydrocarbon generation, basal heat flow and sediment compaction on overpressure development: a numerical study

This study outlines numerical experiments to investigate the effects of hydrocarbon generation, basal heat flow and sediment compaction on overpressure development in evolving sedimentary basins. The model integrates predicted groundwater flow and temperature and pressure distribution with thermal maturation simulations. The programme uses the Arrhenius kinetic model to simulate the kerogen–oil or oil–gas conversion processes. Such conversion processes result in an increase in fluid volume and overpressure development since oil and gas generated are less dense than their precursors. The model integrates an equation of state to calculate gas densities for the CH 4 –CO 2 –H 2 O system over a wide temperature–pressure (T–P) range expected in sedimentary basins; this approach allows for prediction of the rate of pore volume increases and fluid pressure changes due to gas generation. Sample calculations of compaction of kerogen-rich shales in the Delaware Basin shed light on the magnitudes of overpressures created by hydrocarbon generation from the Late Pennsylvanian to Middle Permian. Oil generation can cause excess pore pressure ( c . 425 atm) up to c . 40% of that generated by compaction only ( c . 300 atm). Oil and CH 4 gas generation together yield the maximum excess pressure ( c . 750 atm) up to about 150% of that generated by compaction only. There is much greater pore pressure build-up from oil to CH 4 conversion ( c . 325 atm) than oil to CO 2 conversion ( c . 75 atm) because density of CH 4 gas is less than that of CO 2 under the same P and T conditions. Sensitivity analyses also show that lower activation energy and higher pre-exponential factor lead to faster thermal cracking that allows oil or gas to reach peak generation earlier. Moreover, a basin experiencing a high heat flow throughout the burial history reaches hydrocarbon generation and overpressure development earlier. Calculation results also show that the oil and gas windows become deeper as the sedimentation rate increases. Thus, a basin experiencing high sedimentation rates would exhibit higher levels of thermal maturity and excess pore pressure over the deeper section. This also implies that greater overpressure may be expected at shallower depths in a basin with relatively low sedimentation rates. The modelling results demonstrate that kinetic parameters, basal heat flow and sedimentation rates all influence the timing, duration and depth of oil and gas generation, which in turn, profoundly affects the spatial and temporal distribution of overpressure.
Preliminary Results of a Scalability Study on the ARL MSRC's Large-Scale Clusters

Within the past few months a 2048 processor Linux Networx (LNXI) Xeon Linux cluster and a 2304 processor IBM Opteron cluster were installed at the Army Research Laboratory Major Shared Resource Center (ARL MSRC) to augment the centers current unclassified and classified scientific application processing capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the scalablity performance of these systems on a suite of vendor applications currently receiving significant utilization on the ARL MSRC platforms. The following application codes were used: GAMESS, COBALT, OVERFLOW2, ALE3D, and GASP. Each code was benchmarked using 256, 512, 768 processors, etc. until it no longer scaled.
Daddy Issues: Paternal Effects on Phenotype

The once popular and then heretical idea that ancestral environment can affect the phenotype of future generations is coming back into vogue due to advances in the field of epigenetic inheritance. How paternal environmental conditions influence the phenotype of progeny is now a tractable question, and researchers are exploring potential mechanisms underlying such effects.
Traction and wear of an elastomer in combined rolling and sliding

Under combined rolling and sliding materials can experience millions of cycles as well as complex loading and slip conditions, which can dramatically affect their friction and wear behaviour. It was shown that for a carbon black-filled natural rubber compound in combined rolling and sliding contact with a smooth alumina coated disk, the traction coefficient, as a function of slip percent, was dependent upon the normal load and independent of rolling velocity. The wear rate of this material pair was found to be independent of slip percentage as well as rolling velocity but dependent upon sliding distance. The wear rate was found to be approximately the same for all tested cases (K ~ 1 × 10−4 mm3·Nm−1). The worn profiles of the ball specimens showed that this wear occurred preferentially on the left side (inner radius) of the contacting area. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Delay and area optimization in standard-cell design

A heuristic approach to the optimal selection of standard cells in VLSI circuit design is presented. A cell library is composed of several templates (3-5) for each type of cell. These templates differ in area, driving capabilities, intrinsic delay, and capacitive loading. When realizing a logically synthesized circuit, one selects the best templates from the cell library to minimize the total area of the cells under delay constraints. The algorithm is capable of handling efficiently relatively large designs taking into account the entire circuit, not iterating on a path basis. Carefully chosen weights reflect the significance of particular cells in the circuit and guide the template selection process. Because the algorithm is capable of increasing and decreasing the templates, very good experimental results are achieved. >
Spending, school structure, and public education quality. Evidence from California

Abstract This paper examines school structure, spending, and performance relationships in California and finds considerable support for the public exchange model that predicts that greater competition improves student performance. The evidence indicates that, despite claims to the contrary by many advocates of public education, higher education spending does not raise student achievement. Education spending is also shown to be highest in those counties exhibiting highest monopoly power as measured by the Herfindahl index. Strong support is also shown for the public exchange view that higher market power leads to lower student achievement in the fourth and eighth grades, but little support is shown for the tenth grade.
Pediatric Palliative Care: A Five-Year Retrospective Chart Review Study

Abstract Background: More children are living with serious illness. However, survival and complexity of illnesses have not been described. Objective: To describe types of illnesses, timing of referral, and time to death following referral to palliative care; to examine the associations between demographics and clinical characteristics and patient survival; and to examine whether average daily pain decreases after referral. Design: Retrospective chart review of all children ages 2–16 years referred to palliative care at one large children's hospital during the five-year study period from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2013. Measurements: The primary outcome was patient survival and the main independent predictor was type of illness. Kaplan–Meier estimation was used to estimate patient survival time following referral, Cox proportional hazards regression was used to build predictive models based on gender, age, race, religion, and types of illnesses, and paired t-test compared the assessment of pain ...
A North American Hourly Assimilation and Model Forecast Cycle: The Rapid Refresh

AbstractThe Rapid Refresh (RAP), an hourly updated assimilation and model forecast system, replaced the Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) as an operational regional analysis and forecast system among the suite of models at the NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) in 2012. The need for an effective hourly updated assimilation and modeling system for the United States for situational awareness and related decision-making has continued to increase for various applications including aviation (and transportation in general), severe weather, and energy. The RAP is distinct from the previous RUC in three primary aspects: a larger geographical domain (covering North America), use of the community-based Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model (ARW) replacing the RUC forecast model, and use of the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation analysis system (GSI) instead of the RUC three-dimensional variational data assimilation (3DVar). As part of the RAP development, modif...
Abstract 175: Activation of Nrf2 by Exercise Training and Curcumin Contributes to Sympatho-Inhibition in Heart Failure

Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) is a disease characterized by increased Angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) signaling, sympathetic outflow, and oxidative stress. In conditions of high oxidant stress, Nuclear factor erythroid 2 related factor 2 (Nrf2) is dissociated from Kelch-like ECH associated protein 1 (Keap1) to activate antioxidant response element (ARE)genes. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) is a transcription factor downstream of AT1R that inhibits ARE transcription . Exercise training (ExT) decreases sympathetic outflow and oxidative stress, but the mechanism(s) by which ExT is protective remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate if ExT indirectly activates Nrf2 and if direct Nrf2 activation by curcumin (Cur) in rats with CHF would decrease sympatho-excitation and normalize AT1R pathway overactivation. Rats were ExT for 4 weeks post-surgery on a treadmill at a final speed of 25 m/min for 60 minutes, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Western blot analyses of RVLM micropunches are summarized in the Table. Briefly, in CHF, there was a significant upregulation in NF-kB and Keap1 and a decrease in Nrf2 protein compared to sham. ExT significantly increased Nrf2 expression compared to both sham and CHF groups but normalized NF-kB and AT1R expression in CHF animals. Oral Cur (200mg/kg/day) decreased resting HR, urinary norepinephrine excretion, and renal sympathetic nerve activity in CHF animals. Western blot analyses indicated that Cur increased Nrf2, decreased NF-kB and normalized AT1R expression in the RVLM (Table). Taken together, Nrf2 activation may be protective in normalizing AT1R expression in CHF and one of the mechanisms by which ExT exerts its beneficial effects.
Felix Hoppe-Seyler Lecture 1996. Mechanisms of Intracellular Protein Transport

Discovery of the protein machinery of vesicle transport has followed the reconstitution of transport in a cell-free system, and established general mechanisms that underlie a broad variety of physiological processes, including cell surface growth, the biogenesis of distinct intracellular organelles, endocytosis, and the controlled release of hormones and neurotransmitters. Transport vesicles are formed as coat proteins assemble on membranes, are targetted by SNARE proteins, and fuse using a general mechanism involving SNAP proteins and the ATPase NSF.
DEM production for Dome-A combining GPS and GLAS data

A method is presented for combining GPS and GLAS data to produce a high-quality DEM. First, the GLAS data was transformed so that it could be combined with GPS data to produce a DEM. An algorithm was selected to locate GLAS points and the GPS points covered by GLAS footprints were highlighted. Comparison of the two types of data indicates that the maximum and minimum mean height differences are 1.118 m and 0.997 m, respectively, with a stable standard of about 5—6 cm. The maximum and minimum values became 0.405 m and 0.284 m after rectification by ellipsoid transformation. Detailed components of the error are also discussed. Next, sparse GPS data were extracted as feature points along the GPS measurement profile using a revised angle limitation method. Finally, a DEM was produced for the Dome-A using processed GPS data and transformed GLAS data. 1199 of the GPS points and 53 of the GLAS footprints were used to validate the DEM, with 5 cm and 12 cm as the mean and absolute maximum, respectively, of residuals. Additionally, three other DEMs were produced using original GPS data, original GPS data and GLAS data, and processed GPS data. The DEM produced with processed GPS data exhibited better accuracy than that produced from original GPS data according to comparison of contours and residuals of check points, confirming the importance of the GPS process.
Conversion of Carbon Dioxide to Carbonate Using a Rhodium μ‐Hydroxy Species.

Exposure of (COD)2Rh2(OH)2 (COD: 1,5-cyclooctadiene) to CO2 in THF yields the complex (I) with 52% yield.
Conceptual and design features of a practical, clinically effective intravenous mechanical blood oxygen/carbon dioxide exchange device (IVOX).

Conceptual and design features of a new intravascular blood gas exchange device include: placing multiple, thin-walled microporous hollow fibers in an elongated arrangement with a small overall out...
The Role of the Cell Background in Biased Signaling

Cellular signaling events are initiated by the interaction of agonists with specific cellular receptors. However, agonists do not uniformly activate all cellular signaling events in all cellular systems. This phenomenon has been termed ligand or agonist bias. Classical models to explain and measure ligand bias in cell surface receptors assume this phenomenon is the consequence of agonist-selective stabilization of specific conformational states of the receptor. However, signaling phenomena are critically influenced by the intracellular context and the tissue microenvironment. Cell surface receptors are often associated with other receptors and multiple regulatory proteins, which leads to crosstalk between different pathways and signaling switches from one signaling pathway to another. Furthermore, cells exist in close proximity to other cells, and the crosstalk between different cell types critically influences the outcome of specific signaling processes. This chapter presents an overview of the mechanisms by which the intra- and extra-cellular environments modulate responses to selected stimuli. The review focuses on two receptor superfamilies: the G protein coupled receptors and the receptor tyrosine kinases.
Demyelination and Demyelinating Antibodies

Demyelinating antibodies are generally defined by their destructive effects on myelin in vitro. Such antibodies are of interest because of a possible role in demyelinating diseases in vivo, including multiple sclerosis, and because of their potential use as probes for the study of myelination.
Crossing the Utopian/Apocalyptic Border: The Anxiety of Forgetting in Paul Auster’s In the Country of Last Things

Winchock utilizes Paul Ricoeur’s philosophy of memory and narrative to study the human need to locate identity at the intersection of spatio-temporal narratives. Winchock argues that the highly policed border between apocalypse and Utopia is a fantasy, where Borderland testimonies ‘rooted’ in fragmentation and mobility become tactics of political resistance against disappearance and amnesia. Winchock argues that Paul Auster’s post-apocalyptic novel reveals the importance of testifying to the ‘last things’ cleared away by apocalypse as though it were ‘the first time,’ thus allowing oneself to see the familiar from new and shifting perspectives. It is through these tactical testimonies that the forgotten, erased, and silenced can be recalled and reconfigured in order to produce an ephemeral sense of wholeness.
DNA nanostructures: Through, rather than across

Dye molecules are shown to assemble into J-aggregate arrays by sequence-specific organization in the minor groove of DNA duplex sequences. Energy transfer through these structures displays the hallmarks of coherent coupling over distances that exceed those of conventional dipole-coupling processes.
Biochemical Pathophysiology of Migraine

The author discusses the roles of vasoactive substances in migraine, giving pharmacologic correlations when tested by antagonists, blockers, or agonists.
Establishing a framework for disaster management system-of-systems

The objective of this paper is to propose a System-of-Systems (SoS) framework for disaster management systems and processes to better analyze, design and operate the heterogeneous, interconnected, and distributed systems involved in disasters. With increasing frequency and severity of disasters, improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of disaster management systems and processes is critical. However, the current approaches for conceptualization and analysis of disaster management processes do not provide a holistic perspective for analysis of multiple heterogeneous systems and processes that are interconnected and embedded in networks across various spatial and temporal scales. In this paper, a disaster management system-of-systems (DM-SoS) framework was proposed to identify the dimensions of analysis and characteristics towards a more integrative approach to disaster management. Three dimensions of analysis (definition, abstraction, and implementation) and their corresponding components for examining disaster management SoS are explored. The DM-SoS framework would enable specification and characterization of system attributes and interdependencies, as well as capturing emergent properties and cross-scale interactions.
Morphine, Th1/Th2 Differentiation, and Susceptibility to Infection

Chronic morphine treatment has been shown to alter a number of immune parameters including suppression of cellular immunity. We speculate that differentiation of T helper to Th2 effector cells may be a major contributing factor to impaired cellular immunity following chronic morphine treatment. Our results show that chronic morphine treatment in vitro directs T-helper cells toward Th2 differentiation. We also show that chronic morphine treatment differentially modulates the transcriptional “switches” GATA3 and T-bet, thus providing a molecular mechanism by which morphine directs CD4+ differentiation. These studies suggest that therapies that prevent Th2 differentiation and promote Th1 cytokine synthesis may therefore prove beneficial in the immuno-suppressed drug abuse population.
A Mathematical Model of Corrosion Product Transport in the Boiling Water Reactor Primary System

A mathematical model of corrosion product transport in the boiling water reactor (BWR) primary system has been developed. The model, which can be characterized as a semi-empirical phenomenological model, is capable of reproducing the observed data obtained in many BWRs with a variety of operational histories and a wide range of radiation levels. 20 refs.
Equidad en la atención médica del adulto mayor en Chile: papel de la previsión

Los gobiernos cumplen una labor fundamental en la organizacion y financiamiento de los servicios de salud,y sus intervenciones para promover la equidad en la atencion sanitaria contribuyen a su legitimidad.El sistema de seguro de salud y de prestaciones de salud que se aplica en Chile ha originado reservas en lo que concierne a la equidad del financiamiento de los servicios. Aqui se amplia el analisis para examinar la equidad en el acceso a estos servicios,haciendo hincapie en sus principales usuarios,esto es,las personas de 65 anos o mas. En Chile,la encuesta CASEN de 1998 mostro serias desigualdades tanto entre el sistema publico y el privado de salud como dentro de uno y otro.La persistencia de desigualdades en el sistema publico de salud indica que, aunque mejoren la equidad y eficiencia financieras,para reducir la inequidad en el acceso a los servicios sera preciso prestar mayor atencion a los obstaculos que dificultan la obtencion de cuidado medico.
Interstate Electric Transmission Lines and States’ Rights in the Mid-Atlantic Region

Under their traditional jurisdiction over land use, the states permit and site interstate electric power facilities that traverse their boundaries. This jurisdiction may pose an obstacle to the development of new interstate transmission facilities. For that reason, Congress enacted section 216 of the Federal Power Act, which, in limited circumstances, will preempt state law and authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to permit interstate transmission lines. The implementation of section 216, however, has been frustrated by judicial challenges in federal courts. Seven years after the enactment of section 216, FERC has yet to exercise jurisdiction over the construction of an interstate transmission line. Under little threat of federal preemption, state jurisdiction over transmission facilities could pose an obstacle to the development in the Mid-Atlantic region of “backbone” transmission lines needed to provide electric power to the Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia area. Thus far, however, state proceedings to permit and site one such line rebut the notion that state jurisdiction will stymie the development of interstate transmission facilities. The states have traditionally assumed all jurisdiction to approve or deny permits for the siting and construction of electric transmission facilities. As a result, the nation’s transmission grid is an interconnected patchwork of stateauthorized facilities. —Piedmont Environmental Council v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission1
Of suspicious minds: Race, scandal, and the DC mayoralty

Local government in America has had a long and storied tradition of corruption, and Black mayors have often been prosecutorial targets in the federal dragnets. Yet, the scholarly attention to publi...
Vitamin D Levels and Clinical and OCT measures in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (P2.352)

Objective: To examine the association between vitamin D levels and clinical/optical coherence tomography (OCT) features in progressive multiple sclerosis subjects (primary progressive [PPMS] and secondary progressive [SPMS]) from the ibudilast phase II clinical trial (NN201/SPRINT-MS). Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for multiple sclerosis (MS). Low vitamin D levels are associated with increased risk of brain lesions, relapses and early progression of disability in relapsing forms of MS. Design/Methods: 25 OH vitamin D levels (D3 and total D) were conducted on baseline serum samples from the subjects enrolled into the NN102/SPRINT-MS trial along with clinical and disease data. The validated clinical measures included the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), 25-foot timed walk (T25FW), 9-hole peg test (9HPT), Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) and the 2.5% low contrast visual acuity test (LCVA). OCT measurements included retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) and ganglion cell layer thickness (GCL). Results: The sample included 267 patients (Age 55.6±7.4, 47.2% male, and 51.3% PPMS) who had both baseline clinical/OCT data along with vitamin D levels. No difference was found between PPMS and SPMS for mean D3 (40.7 vs. 39.9 ng/ml) and total D (43.8 vs. 42.9 ng/ml). There was no significant association between D3 or total D and the clinical/OCT measures. Compared to PPMS, SPMS had worse/lower 2.5% LCVA (19.3 vs 22.9, p=0.01) and OCT measures including RNFL (79.5 vs 85.7, p= Conclusions: Vitamin D levels were not significantly correlated with clinical/OCT measures. The OCT changes seen between PPMS and SPMS may support the chronic nature of SPMS and do not appear to be mediated by vitamin D. Study Supported by: Supported by NINDS (U01NS082329; U01NS077179, U01NS077352) and NMSS (RG 4778-A-6 and PP-1603-08307) Disclosure: Dr. Abbatemarco has nothing to disclose. Dr. Bermel has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Biogen, Genzyme, Genentech, Novartis. Dr. Li has nothing to disclose. Dr. Fox has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Received compensation for serving as consultant or speaker from Allozyne, Avanir, Biogen Idec, Novartis, Questcor, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries. Dr. Fox has received research support from Biogen (clinical trial contracts) and Novartis (research study support). Dr. Ontaneda has received personal compensation for consulting, serving on a scientific advisory board, speaking, or other activities with Merck, Biogen Idec, Genzyme. Research support from Novartis, Genentech and Genzyme.
“But he’s my brother”: The impact of family obligation on moral judgments and decisions

We created practical moral dilemmas for which participants imagined witnessing a transgression by a target person. The identity of the transgressor was manipulated to be either a stranger or the participant's brother. In Experiment 1, whether the target person committed a violation was left ambiguous. Participants made factual (how strongly they believe the target person actually committed a transgression) and unethicality judgments regarding the incident, and rated their willingness to report the transgressor to the police. Given ambiguity (Experiment 1), participants interpreted the facts in favor of their brother, but not in favor of a stranger. This interpretation led to moral judgments and willingness to report that favored family over strangers, while creating overall coherence in reasoning. In Experiment 2, we eliminated the ambiguity of the factual situation so that the possibility of achieving coherence between unethicality of an act and leniency toward a family member was blocked. Nonetheless, participants were less willing to report their brother to the police. Experiment 3 replicated the findings of the first two experiments within an integrated study design. Results from path analyses indicated that the factual judgment depended on factual understanding of an event, but willingness to report depended on identity of the target (i.e., brother vs. stranger), even at the cost of reduced coherence in reasoning. Moral decisions are thus strongly influenced by agent-relative obligations, such as duty to protect a family member.
Finite Dimensional Algebras Over Discrete Fields

The Wedderburn structure theorem for finite dimensional algebras over fields is examined from the constructive viewpoint of Errett Bishop. A constructive version of the density theorem is proved and various decision problems about algebras are related to problems about factoring polynomials.
Civic Competence as a Target Component of Education Content

Nowadays it is a necessity to include the competence to the target component of education content.An individual and socially significant activity of real-world objects should be interconnected with the other target components of content and based on experience as a social requirement/Khutorskoy A.V, 2013. Civic competence is represented as: the unity of civil competence of the subject (Zimnyaya I.A.,2006), the unity of readiness and abilities, which allows the active, effective and responsible control of the rights and duties of a member of a democratic society, applying the knowledge and skills and civic qualities.The issue of development of civil competence was always faced teachers almost in all countries and was considered only as a pedagogical activity, and not as the educational problem.For the formation of civic competence, it is necessary first of all to form the abilities of both students and teachers who can make decisions in different living conditions - in different training situations (self-education) they can make decisions, identify problems and give solutions, as well as purposeful and responsible actions, at the same time developing creative and critical thinking.
Multimorbidity, cancer, and symptoms: Using electronic health record data to cluster patients in multimorbidity phenotypes.

130Background: Cancer-related symptoms are associated with decreased quality of life, increased health care utilization, and shorter life expectancy. There is limited understanding of how multiple ...
Enacting Logics in Practice: A Critical Realist Perspective

Drawing from critical realism, institutional logics, and sensemaking, we examine how changing field level logics are encoded and enacted in organizational practice. In this paper, we make evident t...
On Teaching Counseling: Getting Beyond Informational Counseling

Purpose The purpose of this article was to examine the current state of counseling education and to present examples of strategies for teaching counseling based on the author's 40 years of universi...
Principles or Rules

At the 25th Anniversary of the Hastings Center, Dan Clouser and I traversed Manhattan Island together in a seat on a fume-filled bus. We had been in attendance at perhaps the most splendid retirement we will ever see in bioethics, that of Willard Gaylin. Half of Manhattan was in attendance at the biggest hall of the United Nations, where Dan Clouser was himself honored as master of ceremonies for the event. As we crept across Manhattan in the bus, Clouser and I discussed the then-recent turn to methodological questions in bioethics. Why, he wondered out loud, had it taken bioethics so long to move beyond the staple normative questions of bioethics and ask the underlying methodological and more theoretical questions that are almost second nature to a philosopher?