cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Comparisons of the phosphogluconate oxidative pathway in normal and respiration-deficient mutant yeast☆

Abstract The presence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase was demonstrated in cell-free extracts of an acriflavin-induced mutant fermenting baker's yeast obtained from B. Ephrussi, and these activities were compared with a normal respiring baker's yeast. The participation of the phosphogluconate oxidative pathway in the catabolism of glucose in resting cell suspensions of both of these yeasts was determined with the aid of C 14 -labeled glucose. The results showed that the phosphogluconate oxidative pathway accounts for less than 4% of total glucose catabolism in either yeast and that this pathway is insensitive to oxygen tension and thus is not subject to a Pasteur effect. The results also indicated the absence of a pentose phosphate cycle and demonstrated that the glycolytic-citric acid cycle pathway is the main pathway for glucose catabolism in respiring baker's yeast under aerobic conditions.
Hypoxia stimulates p16 expression and association with cdk4

Exposure of CV-1P cells to hypoxic conditions causes cell proliferation inhibition concomitant with the accumulation of pRb in the hypophosphorylated, growth suppressive form. This is in part due to inhibition of pRb-directed cdk4 and cdk2 activity. In this study we attempted to elucidate the mechanism by which cdk4 is inactivated under hypoxic conditions. After 18 h of hypoxia, CV-1P cells are inhibited from progressing from G(1) phase into the S phase of the cell cycle. This occurs in conjunction with dephosphorylation of serine-795, which is a putative substrate of cdk4. The amounts of cdk4, cdk6, and the D type cyclins are not affected by 18 h of hypoxia. The levels of cdki p16, p18, p19, and p57 under aerobic or hypoxic conditions were analyzed and although the levels of most cdki are unaffected by hypoxic conditions, the level of p16 increases significantly by 18 h of hypoxia. The mechanism by which cdk4 activity is inhibited under hypoxic conditions may be mediated through p16 association with cdk4. Immunoprecipitation analysis shows that p16 binds to cdk4 under hypoxic conditions but does not in cells maintained under aerobic conditions. Thus p16 may be involved in hypoxia-induced growth inhibition.
Variable speed limit control for severe non-recurrent freeway bottlenecks

Variable speed limit (VSL) schemes are developed based on the Kinematic Wave theory to increase discharge rates at severe freeway bottlenecks induced by non-recurrent road events such as incidents or work zones while smoothing speed transition. The main control principle is to restrict upstream demand (in free-flow) progressively to achieve three important objectives: (i) to provide gradual speed transition at the tail of an event-induced queue, (ii) to clear the queue around the bottleneck, and (iii) to discharge traffic at the stable maximum flow that can be sustained at the bottleneck without breakdown. These control objectives are accomplished without imposing overly restrictive speed limits. We further provide remedies for (a) underutilized bottleneck capacity due to underestimated stable maximum flow and (b) a re-emergent queue at the bottleneck due to an overestimated stable maximum flow. We analytically formulate the reductions in total delay in terms of control parameters to provide an insight into the system performance and sensitivity. The results from the parameter analysis suggest that significant delay savings can be realized with the proposed VSL control strategies.
Dopamine receptor blockade increases dopamine D2 receptor and glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNAs in mouse substantia nigra

Abstract To study the influence of dopaminergic activity on the expression of dopamine D2 receptors and glutamic acid decarboxylase in substantia nigra, mice were treated daily for several days with an irreversibly acting dopamine D1 and dopamine D2 receptor antagonist N-ethoxycarbonyl-2-ethoxy-1,2-dihydroquinoline (EEDQ) or with a selective irreversible D2 dopamine receptor antagonist fluphenazine-N-mustard. Mice were killed 24 h after the last injection. Dopamine D1 and dopamine D2 receptors were determined by receptor autoradiography, and dopamine D1 and dopamine D2 receptor mRNA and glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA were determined by in situ hybridization histochemistry. The results showed that treatment with EEDQ, which blocked 80% to 85% of the dopamine D2 and dopamine D1 receptors in substantia nigra, increased the levels of dopamine D2 receptor mRNA in substantia nigra by about 27%. Treatment with fluphenazine-N-mustard, which blocked about 85% of the dopamine D2 receptors in substantia nigra but had no significant effect on dopamine D1 receptor, increased the levels of dopamine D2 receptor mRNA by about 34%. There were no detectable levels of dopamine D1 receptor mRNA in substantia nigra either in control animals or in animals treated with the dopamine receptor antagonists. Glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA was expressed in several regions of the mid-brain but only that expressed in substantia nigra was altered by treatment with dopamine receptor antagonists. The levels of glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA in substantia nigra increased by 83% following EEDQ treatment, and by 50% following treatment with fluphenazine-N-mustard. These results suggested that dopamine receptors, particularly dopamine D2 receptors, play an important role in regulating the expression of both dopamine D2 receptor mRNA and glutamic acid decarboxylase mRNA in substantia nigra.
General Equation Set Solver for Compressible and Incompressible Turbomachinery Flows

Turbomachines for propulsion applications operate with many different working fluids and flow conditions. The flow may be incompressible, such as in the liquid hydrogen pump in a rocket engine, or supersonic, such as in the turbine which may drive the hydrogen pump. Separate codes have traditionally been used for incompressible and compressible flow solvers. The General Equation Set (GES) method can be used to solve both incompressible and compressible flows, and it is not restricted to perfect gases, as are many compressible-flow turbomachinery solvers. An unsteady GES turbomachinery flow solver has been developed and applied to both air and water flows through turbines. It has been shown to be an excellent alternative to maintaining two separate codes.
Neurocognitive effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in adolescents with major depressive disorder.

Objectives: It is estimated that 30% to 40% of adolescents with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not receive full benefit from current antidepressant therapies. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a novel therapy approved by the US FDA to treat adults with MDD. Research suggests rTMS is not associated with adverse neurocognitive effects in adult populations; however, there is no documentation of its neurocognitive effects in adolescents. This is a secondary post hoc analysis of neurocognitive outcome in adolescents who were treated with open label rTMS in two separate studies. Methods: Eighteen patients (mean age, 16.2 ± 1.1 years; 11 females, 7 males) with MDD who failed to adequately respond to at least 1 antidepressant agent were enrolled in the studies. Fourteen patients completed all 30 rTMS treatments (5 days/week, 120% of motor threshold, 10 Hz, 3,000 stimulations per session) applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (L-DLPFC). Depression was rated using the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised (CDRS-R). Neurocognitive evaluation was performed at baseline and after completion of 30 rTMS treatments with the Children’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test (CAVLT) and Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (DKEFS) Trail Making Test. Results: Over the course of 30 rTMS treatments, adolescents showed a substantial decrease in depression severity and a statistically significant improvement in memory and delayed verbal recall. Other learning and memory indices and executive function remained intact. Neither participants nor their family members reported clinically meaningful changes in neurocognitive function. Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest rTMS does not adversely impact neurocognitive functioning in adolescents and may provide subtle enhancement of verbal memory as measured by the CAVLT. Further controlled investigations are warranted to confirm and extend these findings.
Considering Cardinality in a Medical Device PnP System

In designing systems of hardware and software, we get more leverage from decisions about cardinality than almost any other choices. When we study an existing system, the fundamental insight we gain is an understanding of the cardinalities of the system. From the cardinalities we can choose (or infer) the basic operation and prioritization of the system, without being distracted by details. This paper will briefly explore some of the cardinality-sensitive attributes of medical device plug and play systems.
Dispersal of the vitelline membrane of the eggs of Spisula solidissima by alkaline, isotonic NaCl.

A variety of reagents was used in efforts to remove the vitelline membrane of the eggs of Spisula solidissima. Alkaline, isotonic NaCl was found to remove the membrane, but only after germinal vesicle breakdown subsequent to fertilization (except on long-term treatment). The process of membrane dispersal involves enlargement of the perivitelline space, probably by expansion in the area of the vitelline membrane relative to the egg proper, shearing off and breakdown of microvilli, and dissolution of the fibrillar layers.
Multi-scale simulations of the effects of irradiation-induced voids and helium bubbles on the mechanical properties of aluminium

As a result of irradiation, pressurized helium bubbles are observed in large number densities in some metals, which produce mechanical property changes. This paper presents the results of a computational multi-scale study (dislocation dynamics, DD, and molecular dynamics simulations, MD) to quantify the effect of He bubbles on material hardening from the impediment to dislocation motion. The effects of voids were studied using MD, and the effects of He bubbles, with a mean size of 2.5 nm and number densities from 3 × 1022 m−3 to 6 × 1022 m−3, were investigated using DD over a range of internal He pressures ranging from 125 to 750 MPa. The MD simulations elucidated the dislocation pinning action of voids and bubbles. Also, within the range of parameters studied, the DD simulations showed a clear, but weak correlation between the number density of He bubbles, and the internal He pressure, on the flow stress of the metal.
Comparison of free-response and ROC analyses in modality comparison studies involving lesion localization

It is possible that neglect of location information in lesion detection studies analyzed by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) method can compromise power. The Alternative Free-response ROC (AFROC) analysis considers the location information but its usage has been discouraged, since it neglects intra-image correlations. This study compared the statistical power of ROC and AFROC methodologies using simulations. A model including intra-image correlations was developed to describe the decision variable sampling and was used to simulate data for ROC and AFROC analysis. Five readers and 200 cases, half of which contained one signal, were simulated for each trial. Two hundred trials were run, equally split between the Null Hypothesis (NH) and the Alternative Hypothesis (AH). The ratings were analyzed by the Dorfman-Berbaum-Metz (DBM) method and the separation of the NH/AH distributions was calculated. It was found that the AFROC method yielded higher power than ROC. The separation of the NH and AH distributions were larger by a factor of 1.6, irrespective of the presence or absence of intra-image correlations. The effect of the incorrect localizations occurring in ROC analysis of localization data is believed to be the major reason for the enhanced power of the AFROC method, and greater use of AFROC methodology is warranted.
Natural Products As Sources for New Pesticides

Natural products as pesticides have been reviewed from several perspectives in the past, but no prior treatment has examined the impact of natural product and natural product-based pesticides on the U.S. market, as a function of new active ingredient registrations with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Thus, EPA registration details of new active ingredients for all conventional pesticide registrations and biopesticide registrations were compiled from the years 1997–2010. Conventional pesticide registrations and biopesticide registrations were examined both collectively and independently for all 277 new active ingredients (NAI) and subsequently categorized and sorted into four types: biological (B), natural product (NP), synthetic (S), and synthetic natural derived (SND). When examining conventional pesticides alone, the S category accounted for the majority of NAI registrations, with 78.0%, followed by SND with 14.7%, NP with 6.4%, and B with 0.9%. Biopesticides alone were dominated by NPs with ...
Provocative Tests of Parathyroid and C Cell Function in Adrenalectomized and Chemically Sympathectomized Rats

Recent in vitro and in vivo evidence shows that secretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and calcitonin (CT) is stimulated by β-adrenergic agonists and inhibited by β-adrenergic antagonists. To assess the possible roles of adrenal medullary or adrenergic nerve terminal catecholamines in calcium homeostasis, we have examined serum calcium (Ca), immunoreactive PTH (iPTH), and immunoreactive CT (iCT) in control, adrenalectomized (ADRX), and chemically sympathectomized [6- hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)] rats. Animals were studied in the fed and fasted states, after ip injection of Ca and after ip injection of EDTA. In comparison with fasted rats, fed control rats tended to have increased serum Ca and iCT, but decreased or unchanged iPTH. Neither adrenalectomy nor 6-OHDA treatment notably altered this pattern. Serum iCT concentrations rose markedly after ip Ca, and peak iCT responses remained normal in ADRX and 6-OHDA-treated rats. Similarly, rises of iPTH levels after EDTA-induced hypocalcemia were normal in ADRX an...
CT appearance of giant renal angiomyolipoma

Renal angiomyolipomas are rare benign tumors readily identified by computed tomography due to their high fat content. When they attain giant proportions other fatty neoplasms, specifically liposarcomas, cannot be excluded based on the radiographic findings. A case in which a notch defect in the lateral border of the kidney was the single most important clue as to the intrarenal origin of the mass and led to the correct pre-operative diagnosis is presented.
Pancreatitis associated with valproic acid therapy for epilepsy.

Valproic acid is useful for absence, myoclonic, and grand ma1 seizures and adjunctively for mixed seizures [31. The drug has been well tolerated in most patients, but vomiting, rashes, hair loss, leukopenia, and thrombocytopenia have been observed. Seven patients have developed hepatitis, which was fatal in 6 151. We recently treated a child who developed pancreatitis in direct association with valproic acid therapy.
Editorial Commentary: Environmental Risk Factors for Pneumocystis Pneumonia Hospitalization in HIV/AIDS Patients

Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) is unique among infections of humans and lower mammals in that the organism and the disease it causes remain localized to the lungs, even in the most severely immunocompromised and fatal cases, with rare exception. Both cyst and trophozoite forms reside in the alveolar spaces with or without attachment to alveolar lining cells and with limited interstitial invasion. Generally, the severity of the disease is related to the number of organisms filling the alveolar spaces and activity of alveolar macrophages. Thus, at the distal end of the airway, inspired environmental air comes directly in contact with the organism and disease process. Once PCP becomes discernible by chest radiograph, the outcome is universally fatal if untreated. These features provide an opportunity to study the role of environmental air pollution on a lower respiratory tract disease. Djawe and colleagues cleverly took advantage of the prototype and used a case-crossover study to determine the role of air pollution and climate on the
Implications of wealth heterogeneity for macroeconomics

Today’s dominant strain of macroeconomic models supposes that aggregate consumption can be understood by assuming the existence of a ‘representative agent’ whose behavior rationalizes observed outcomes. But representative agent models yield embarrassingly implausible (and empirically inaccurate) descriptions of consumption behavior. When push comes to shove, real-world forecasters (including those at the Fed) properly disregard these implications. As a result, consumption forecasting remains very much a seat-of-the-pants enterprise. I will argue that if the representative agent assumption is replaced with a model that generates wealth heterogeneity that matches the empirical data, the improved model can provide a sensible analysis of economic questions like "What might the consumption response be to economic stimulus payments?"
Factors Affecting Collagen Solubility in Bovine Muscles

SUMMARY— Solubility of intramuscular collagen was studied as affected by chronological maturity in 15 bovine longissimus dorsi and 15 semimembranosus muscles and as affected by post-mortem contraction state in the semitendinosus of 7 animals. Collagen solubility decreased significantly with each advancing maturity group in both longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus muscles. Collagen solubility was also higher (P < 0.05) in the longissimus dorsi than in the semimembranosus, except in the E maturity group. It was also related to panel tenderness in both muscles (r = 0.77 and 0.81 (P < 0.01) for longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus muscles, respectively. However, within-maturity group correlations of solubility of collagen and tenderness were low and nonsignificent. Collagen content did not differ significantly in longissimus dorsi muscles of animals of A, B, and E maturity groups; however, the semimembranosus had more collagen (P 0.05) to panel tenderness in either muscle (r =−0.42 and −0.48 for longissimus dorsi and semimembranosus, respectively). Neither collagen solubility nor collagen content was significantly affected by post-mortem contraction state. Furthermore, collagen solubility did not increase significantly with post-mortem aging up to ten days.
Guest Editor's Note for the Special Issue on Assessing Agreement

Reliable and accurate measurements serve as the basis for evaluation in many scientific disciplines. Issues related to reliable and accurate measurement have evolved over many decades dating back t...
Mine field detection and identification using terahertz spectroscopic imaging

The spatial, temporal, and spectroscopic characteristics associated with pulsed THz (100 GHz - 70 THz) radiation provide this emerging technology with the potential for reliable identification of buried objects such as non-metallic landmines. With a suitable integration of these attributes, one can envision a THz detection platform that provides: (1) accurate identification of buried objects, and (2) a source-to-sample working distance that is sufficient for remote sensing applications. In our preliminary laboratory studies, we have demonstrated the detection capabilities of THz radiation by imaging a small rubber object embedded in a moist, sand-like soil. Despite the significant attenuation of the THz radiation via water absorption and particle scattering, the initial transmission results showed that pulsed THz imaging could identify the non-metallic object when buried in a few inches of soil. The sub-millimeter resolution observed in our THz images illustrates the potential to discriminate landmines from other buried objects. Finally, THz calculations and measurements determined that our current THz source and detector has sufficient SNR to detect a buried object to a depth of 6 inches in moist sand.
Aortic regurgitation during systolic-phase accompanied by mitral regurgitation in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist device

A 78-year-old male underwent continuous flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation due to ischaemic cardiomyopathy as a destination therapy. Routine echocardiogram performed 6 days after the surgery showed ‘systolic-phase’ aortic regurgitation (AR); the timing of regurgitation jet starting at the mid-systolic phase and ending at the early diastolic phase [ Panel A , the colour …
Fewer Dollars, More Sense

gliomas. 3 Notably, those patients with an early-onset and sustained elevation of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)— defined as occurring within 3 months of entering the study— had a 6-month progression-free survival of 58% as compared with 0% of those who did not (P .002). In addition, the median survival for the former was 9.7 months as compared with 2.2 months for the latter (P .01). There were six magnetic resonance imaging responses in hypothyroid patients as compared with zero in the euthyroid individuals (P .02). The nadir of the free thyroxine decline also correlated positively with survival (P .003). Interestingly, only one patient developed symptomatic hypothyroidism. It has been demonstrated that the notoriously vascular GBM overexpresses—among a number of factors—vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is produced by tumor and stromal cells, including inflammatory cells. 2 VEGF then acts by paracrine mechanisms on local endothelial cells, resulting in their proliferation, survival, and migration. 4 In addition, the insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGF-1R) pathway is highly overexpressed in GBM. 5 The IGF-1R pathway can, in turn, induce VEGF mRNA expression via the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. 6 Relative to this, a GBM cell line has been shown to activate phosphophoinositol-3 kinase through IGF-1R, thereby bypassing the effects of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibition on phosphophoinositol-3 kinase. 7 The astrocyte (cell of origin of GBM) has been shown to be a focus of thyroid hormone (TH) action. 8 In that regard, TH has been shown to modulate expression of IGF-1R. Phosphorylation of IGF-1R by TH in 293T cell lines has been observed, whereas TH deprivation reduced proliferation in glioma cell lines. 8
Studies on Incubator Hygiene II. Germicidal Effect of Formaldehyde, Released by Potassium Permanganate and Cheesecloth

Abstract ON MANY Illinois farms, progress in the prevention of pullorum disease in newly hatched chicks has been made by the application of sanitary measures in flock management. The essentials of hygiene, though of proven value in the control of pullorum disease, have not, however, been widely applied to farm flocks which furnish eggs to commercial hatcheries in Illinois. S. Pullorum infection in eggs † and the centralization of the hatching industry in recent years have facilitated the spread of the disease in incubators. Chicks hatched from eggs from pullorum tested flocks as well as from untested flocks have been found by the Illinois Experiment Station to be infected with pullorum disease. The assumption follows that the chicks from healthy flocks contracted the disease in the incubator. To assist the hatcheryman in pullorum disease prevention the value of sanitation and testing ‡ has been repeatedly emphasized. Recently attention has been given to pullorum . . .
A theory of design reliability using probability and fuzzy sets

All process designs are subject to uncertainties which make it impossible to state with complete certainty that a design will work. This study presents a measure of design confidence which considers the nature of the uncertainty and the operability of the process as a whole. This measure, called design reliability, quantifies the likelihood that a design will work. Detailed analyses are presented for three special cases: designs subject to random uncertainties, designs subject to fuzzy uncertainties, and designs subject to both random and fuzzy uncertainties. Practical procedures for estimating design reliability in these special cases are also presented.
A novel 4-18 GHz monolithic matrix distributed amplifier

The authors describe the design, fabrication, and performance of a 4-18 GHz matrix distributed amplifier which incorporates a novel biasing scheme enabling the amplifier to run at higher voltages while drawing only half of the current of conventional multistage amplifiers having comparable gain levels. A voltage divider is used at the input of the FET pair to derive the gate bias, ensuring that both FETs are biased at the same point. This scheme enables the stages to be connected in cascade at RF frequencies and in cascode for DC biasing, thus conserving current. The amplifier shows >13 dB gain across the frequency band using a chip area of only 1.9 mm*2.1 mm. >
Racial and age disparities persist in immediate breast reconstruction: an updated analysis of 48,564 patients from the 2005 to 2011 American College of Surgeons National Surgery Quality Improvement Program data sets

Abstract Background Immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) rates continue to rise, yet recent patterns based on race, age, and patient comorbidities have not been adequately assessed. Methods Women undergoing mastectomy only or mastectomy with IBR from 2005 to 2011 were identified in the American College of Surgeons–National Surgical Quality Improvement (NSQIP) data sets. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine factors independently associated with receipt of IBR. Thirty-day surgical complication rates after IBR were also assessed. Results Rates of IBR increased significantly over the study period from 26% of patients in 2005 to 40% in 2011. Non-Caucasian race, older age (≥45 years), obesity, and presence of comorbid conditions including diabetes mellitus, current smoking, and cardiovascular disease were all negatively associated with receipt of IBR. Surgical complication rates after IBR were not predicted by non-Caucasian race, older age, or presence of diabetes mellitus. Conclusions This current assessment of IBR using the American College of Surgeons–National Surgical Quality Improvement data sets demonstrates that non-Caucasian and older women (≥45 years) continue to receive IBR at lower rates despite the lack of association of added risk of surgical morbidity.
Asymmetric surface textures decrease friction with Newtonian fluids in full film lubricated sliding contact

Abstract Surface texturing can decrease friction in lubricated sliding contact. The majority of existing experimental work has focused on symmetric-depth-profile surface textures. This experimental work examines asymmetric-depth-profile surface textures using gap-controlled experiments with Newtonian fluids on a custom tribo-rheometer setup. Measurements of normal force and shear load are reported as a function of texture geometry, gap height, and bi-directional sliding velocity. This work shows that, in the absence of cavitation, surface texture depth symmetry must be broken to produce normal forces (through viscous effects) for gap-based Reynolds Number up to Re h = ρ V h η = 1.21 . Asymmetric surface textures reduce shear stress and generate normal load, and therefore decrease the effective friction coefficient, which we observe to be smallest for the shallowest texture angle tested, β=5.3°.
Neurosarcoidosis of Spinal Cord – Clinico-Radiologic Correlation of 26 Cases (P02.148)

Objective: To describe the clinical and radiologic manifestations of spinal cord NS. Background Neurological involvement precedes the diagnosis of sarcoidosis in up to 74% and it is the only manifestation in up to 17% of patients. A definitive diagnosis requires histologic confirmation, which rarely is obtained. Our current knowledge for diagnosis and treatment relies on case reports. In our previous study of 71 cases with neurosarcoidosis (NS), transverse myelitis was the most common initial presentation (28%). Design/Methods: From the institutional approved NS database, 26 patients of spinal cord NS seen between 1995-2011 were selected. All patients met criteria for possible, probable or definitive NS (Zajicek et al., 1999). Neurological symptoms, socio-demographic, laboratory, radiographic and treatment data were collected. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the NS cases. Results: Of the 26 patients, 14 (56%) had extensive intramedullary lesion, 3 (12%) had patchy intramedullary lesion(s) and 11 (44%) had leptomeningeal involvement. Patients with patchy lesion and/or leptomeningeal involvement were more likely to have elevated IgG and protein level in CSF (p=0.048; p=0.013, chi-square test). Multi-organ involvement was seen at a higher rate with leptomeningeal involvement than extensive lesions (88% vs 65%). 77% of patients had associated degenerative disease of spine, which did not appear to be associated with age. 19/26 had Gad-enhancing lesion at presentation and majority 18/21 continued to have abnormal MRI with 13/19 having enhancing lesion despite immunosuppressant treatment. 10 (40%) had a monophasic disease, 8 (32%) had relapses and 7 (28%) had a progressive disease. Conclusions: Three types of radiological presentation were seen in spinal cord NS and those are frequently associated with degenerative disease. Extensive intramedullary lesion is the most common presentation and is less likely associated with abnormal findings in CSF. Despite treatment with immunosuppression radiologic resolution is not common. Disclosure: Dr. Rai has nothing to disclose. Dr. Cerghet has nothing to disclose. Dr. Grover has nothing to disclose. Dr. Shultz has nothing to disclose. Dr. Elias has nothing to disclose.
Compact representations of all members of an independence system

It is well known that (reduced, ordered) binary decision diagrams (BDDs) can sometimes be compact representations of the full solution set of Boolean optimization problems. Recently they have been suggested to be useful as discrete relaxations in integer and constraint programming (Hoda et al. 2010). We show that for every independence system there exists a top-down (i.e., single-pass) construction rule for the BDD. Furthermore, for packing and covering problems on n variables whose bandwidth is bounded by O(logn)$\mathcal {O}(\log n)$ the maximum width of the BDD is bounded by O(n)$\mathcal {O}(n)$. We also characterize minimal widths of BDDs representing the set of all solutions to a stable set problem for various basic classes of graphs. Besides implicitly enumerating or counting all solutions and optimizing a class of nonlinear objective functions that includes separable functions, the results can be applied for effective evaluation of generating functions.
Investigating the Phenomenon about Independence and Gregariousness with the View of Individual and Group

There are so much relationship between the individual and group,nobody can live without the group.Independence or gregariousness,everybody must face it.Many people are in hot water when making a choice.This text try to investigate the reason with the view of individual and group,so as to seek the thoery explanation and the reality countermeasure,for construching the freedom personality,independent spiritual,and the optimum relationship between the individual and group.
Labor Injury Identification and Laborer's Rights

The Decision of the Revision of Labor Inury Insurance Regulation by the State Council(Advice Seeking Version) deleted the item that motor vehicle injuries are ascertained to be labor injuries on the way to and off work.At the same time,its explanations cannot constitute to be the essential reasons for such deletion.In fact,labor injury identification shall take laborer's rights as the priority; accidental injuries on the way to and off work should be taken as labor injuries.Also,specific items must be formulated between the employer and the employee in the contract concerning the route to and off work and the time taken to and off work;relevant relations must also be carefully dealt with between body injury compensation and labor injury insurance compensation by means of legalization.
SYMMETRY OF CRYSTAL LATTICES

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Impact of Body Mass Index on Clinical Axillary Nodal Assessment in Breast Cancer Patients.

More than one-third of American adults are obese, and an elevated body mass index (BMI) is postulated to reduce the sensitivity of the clinical evaluation of the axilla. Clinical nodal examination is important in allocating breast cancer patients to appropriate axillary management. This study sought to determine whether BMI influences the rate of nodal positivity in women designated clinically as node-negative (cN0) by physical examination. Breast cancer patients deemed cN0 who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) from February 2006 to December 2011 were identified from a prospectively maintained database. Clinicopathologic features including BMI and axillary surgery results were recorded and compared among pathologically node-negative and node-positive patients. Overall, 5142 cN0 patients underwent 5262 SLNB procedures during the study period. Nearly one-third of the patients (28 %) were obese (BMI, >30 kg/m2). A positive SLN was identified in 25 % of the patients, and 84 % proceeded to axillary lymph node dissection. Predictors of SLN positivity included younger age, larger tumor size, high nuclear grade, multifocality, and lymphovascular invasion. An increased BMI did not correlate with a higher likelihood of SLN positivity (p = 0.6). The likelihood of cN0 patients having a high burden of axillary metastases (>3 positive nodes) was 4 % overall and, similarly, did not differ according to BMI (p = 0.4). Elevated BMI was not associated with a higher likelihood of SLN positivity or heavy nodal disease burden among women staged as cN0 by physical exam. These findings indicate that physical examination is appropriate and sufficient for preoperative axillary evaluation of women undergoing initial surgery regardless of patient BMI.
Gaining and Losing Voice: A Longitudinal Study of Students' Continuing Impulse to Learn Across Elementary and Middle Level Contexts

AbstractThis research traces students' perceptions of their experiences as they moved from a whole language elementary classroom, in which they actively participated as knowers, into subsequent experiences in a departmentalized junior high school. The study was framed by a constructivist definition of intrinsic motivation: the continuing impulse to learn. Students' motivation to learn in their elementary classroom was connected to their own empowerment through three interactive elements: (a) a condition of honored voice; (b) the collaborative construction of meaning; (c) shared ownership of knowing (epistemological empowerment). In junior high school, students found that those motivating qualities were less often part of classroom life. It appears, from our study and others', that students' continuing impulse to learn in middle grades is affected by a dilution of relationships—with the teacher, with other students, and with the curriculum. We describe how these relationships changed for the students in ou...
Multicarrier modulation via finite-field transforms

Multicarrier modulation has rapidly become common in both wireline and wireless high speed digital communications applications. However, the large dynamic range of a multicarrier signal causes problems at both the transmitter and the receiver. Here, finite-field mathematics are examined as a means of controlling the signal's dynamic range. A framework for multicarrier modulation with finite-field transforms is constructed, and equivalence to certain maximum distance separable error-correcting codes is demonstrated. Implications on the assumed digital channel model caused by using finite-field mathematics in the transmitter and receiver are also discussed.
GC-TOF based metabolic profiling of human colon carcinoma

2240 Metabolites are the end products of cellular regulatory processes, and their levels can be regarded as the ultimate response of biological systems to genetic or environmental changes. We have used a metabolite profiling approach to test the hypothesis that quantitative signatures of primary metabolites can be used to characterize molecular changes in human colon cancer in comparison with normal colon mucosa. 27 colon carcinomas and 18 samples from normal colon mucosa were analyzed by gas chromatography-time of flight mass spectrometry with automated mass spectral deconvolution. A total of 206 metabolites were detected. Carcinoma samples were compared to normal tissue samples using Welch’s t-test to assess the deregulation of each measured metabolite. At Bonferroni threshold (p Predictive models (NMC, LDA, SVM) were fitted by a combination of feature selection and machine learning. Full Leave-one-out cross-validation gave 0-3 misclassifications out of 45 samples, e.g. prediction accuracies between 93% and 100%. Our study shows that large scale metabolic profiling using GC-TOF mass spectrometry is suitable for analysis of human tumor tissue and that there is a consistent and significant change in primary metabolism of malignant colorectal tumors compared to normal tissue which can be detected using multivariate statistical approaches. Therefore metabolomics is a promising high-throughput, automated approach in addition to functional genomics and proteomics for analyses of molecular changes in malignant tumors.
Age before duty: the effect of storage duration on mortality after red blood cell transfusion.

The transfusion of blood products is one of the most commonly implemented therapies in modern medicine. Over 20 million blood components are transfused each year in the United States alone, of which approximately 13 million are packed red blood cell (pRBC) units (1).
On accelerating ultra-large-scale mining

Ultra-large-scale mining has been shown to be useful for a number of software engineering tasks e.g. mining specifications, defect prediction. We propose a new research direction for accelerating ultra-large-scale mining that goes beyond parallelization. Our key idea is to analyze the interaction pattern between the mining task and the artifact to cluster artifacts such that running the mining task on one candidate artifact from each cluster is sufficient to produce results for other artifacts in the same cluster. Our artifact clustering criteria go beyond syntactic, semantic, and functional similarities to mining-task-specific similarity, where the interaction pattern between the mining task and the artifact is used for clustering. Our preliminary evaluation demonstrates that our technique significantly reduces the overall mining time.
Exogenous hedgehog antagonist delays but does not prevent fracture healing in young mice.

Abstract Fracture healing recapitulates many aspects of developmental osteogenesis. The hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway, essential to skeletal development, is upregulated during fracture healing, although its importance is unclear. Our goal was to assess the functional importance of Hh signaling in endochondral fracture healing. We created closed, transverse diaphyseal femur fractures in mice, stabilized with an intramedullary pin, and administered a systemic Hh inhibitor or vehicle. Because Hh pathway activation is mediated by the receptor Smoothened (Smo), we used the Smo antagonist GDC-0449 (GDC, 50 mg/kg, twice daily) to target the pathway. First, in vehicle-treated 10-wk. female C57BL/6 mice we confirmed that Hh signaling was increased in fracture callus compared to intact bone, with > 5-fold upregulation of target genes Ptch1 and Gli1 . Additionally, using 10-wk. male and female Gli1 reporter mice, we saw a strong activation of the reporter in the osseous regions of the fracture callus 7–10 days after fracture. GDC treatment significantly blunted these responses, indicating effective inhibition of fracture-induced Hh signaling in bone. Moreover, microCT analysis revealed that GDC treatment significantly reduced cancellous and cortical bone volume at non-fracture sites (tibial metaphysis and diaphysis), suggesting that the drug inhibited normal bone formation. GDC treatment had a modest effect on fracture healing, with evidence of delayed callus mineralization radiographically (significantly lower Goldberg score at day 14) and by microCT (reduced callus vBMD at 14 days), and a delay in the recovery of torsional rotation to normal (elevated rotation-at-peak torque at 21 days). On the other hand, GDC treatment did not inhibit qPCR or morphological measures of chondrogenesis or angiogenesis, and did not impair the recovery of failure torque (at day 14 or 21), a measure of biomechanical competence. In summary, GDC treatment inhibited Hh signaling, which delayed but did not prevent fracture healing in young mice. We conclude that Hh signaling is strongly induced after fracture and may play a role in early callus mineralization, although it does not appear to be required for eventual healing.
Characterization of the Mechanical Properties of Surface Nanocrystallized Materials

Recrystallization of the grain structure of metals into nano-sized grains by using mechanical means, has received wide attention in the last two decades. It is well known that materials with a fine-grain crystal structure have favorable properties compared to the same materials with course-grained crystal structure. Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment (SMAT), a technique developed in the early part of this decade, has been successfully used to recrystallize the surface grains of metals into nanocrystals of the order of 10 to 100 nanometers from their original grain sizes on the order of 10 to 30 microns. Resulting enhancement in surface properties has quite interesting applications, varying from materials with improved fatigue resistance to medical devices. In this study, our focus is on experimental characterization of the enhancement in mechanical properties of surface nanocrystallized metals. Copper, Aluminum and Titanium samples are subjected to SMAT under different conditions followed by appropriate heat treatment. Microindentation and nanoindentation techniques are conducted to characterize various mechanical properties. Microindentation test shows significant improvement in surface hardness due to SMAT process on these samples. Our initial results from nanoindentation also show significant enhancement in materials surface properties. However, several other interesting characteristics obtained in the nanoindentation tests require further studies for verification.
Fish invasion alters ecosystem function in a small heterotrophic stream

The strength of trophic cascade effects in aquatic ecosystems depend, in part, on the identity of the top predator involved. We examined whether an invasive benthic fish (round goby, Neogobius melanostomus) altered the strength of cascade effects in a heterotrophic stream and in a controlled mesocosm experiment relative to the effects of a functionally similar, native fish. In the stream, the introduced fish had a direct effect on grazer and shredder abundance which led to a significant increase in periphyton chlorophyll a, a significant reduction in leaf breakdown rate, an increase in leaf biomass remaining, but no change in periphyton ash-free dry mass. In mesocosms, native and introduced fish similarly reduced shredder abundance, but this did not lead to an indirect effect on leaf breakdown rates or biomass remaining at the end of the experiment. Indirect effects of introduced fish on periphyton biomass and chlorophyll a in mesocosms were both significant and were stronger than in the field, but were the result of grazer behavioral modification and not reduced grazer abundance. Collectively, these results suggest non-native fish have the ability to initiate trophic cascades in heterotrophic streams, and that both fish identity and environmental context are important in determining the strength of cascades.
Cost-effectiveness of CI in developing countries.

Purpose of review Cost-effectiveness of cochlear implants is a major concern for expanding these services to low-income and middle-income developing countries. Recent findings Recent studies have applied appropriate methodology to make determination of cost-effectiveness for cochlear implants in developing countries. In addition, important parameters that effect cost-effectiveness have been reviewed in a systematic way. The combination of these new studies along with existing reports of cochlear implant programmes in developing countries allows for a discussion of cost and outcomes determinants that drive cost-effectiveness in these environments. Summary Cochlear implants are a very cost-effective treatment for profound hearing loss in all high-resource countries and in many low-income and middle-income developing countries. A number of cost considerations affect cost-effectiveness of cochlear implants in developing countries including device cost and device-related expenses such as power consumption and reliability, but also including rehabilitation and access-related expenses. Large-scale programmes confer an advantage for cost-effectiveness, primarily through device-related savings.
The difficulty in interpreting gene expression profiling in BAP‐negative melanocytic tumors

Background BAP-negative melanocytic tumors were unrecognized in the medical literature until 2011. While the clinical significance of these tumors is poorly understood, there is concern such lesions represent processes in transition, and malignant degeneration is a concern. We investigated use of a 23-gene expression profiling (23-GEP) test for distinction from melanoma with the aim of better characterizing the biologic potential of such tumors. Methods Twenty BAP-negative melanocytic tumors, subjected to 23-GEP (Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. [Salt Lake City, Utah]) testing, were retrospectively analyzed. Results Tumors exhibited varying degrees of atypia and aberrant immunohistochemical profiles. 23-GEP testing revealed a "malignant" genetic signature in four cases, a "benign" signature in 15 cases, and an "indeterminate" signature in one case. Array-based comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) testing was performed for two cases with a "malignant" 23-GEP signature, but the aCGH result conflicted with 23-GEP, and supported benignity. Conversely, in one case with a "benign" 23-GEP result, aCGH testing supported assessment as melanoma. Moreover, evolving melanoma could not be wholly excluded by histopathological analysis in 2 "benign" cases. Conclusions BAP-negative melanocytic tumors remain a diagnostic dilemma for dermatopathologists. A widely marketed 23-GEP test may not be useful in distinguishing these tumors from spitzoid melanoma, at least in comparison to aCGH technology.
The Loneliness of Learning to Labor

This paper presents a case for reading sport films like The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1961) within an intertextual framework. To that end, Tony Richardson’s classic film is read alongside Paul Willis’ equally classic cultural studies text Learning to Labor (1977). Both reflect critical responses to a particular historical and cultural moment in post-World War II Great Britain. For deeper insight into the character of Colin Smith, these texts are also read next to the Alan Sillitoe (1959) novella on which the film is based. The compelling focus of each is on acts of resistance, yet in the end, each recounts an ironic tale of the reproductive power of rebellion. Taken together they explore in different ways the troubling suggestion that, satisfying as these acts might be, they can operate as a form of entrapment.