cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Selectivity of insecticides to Encarsia pergandiella (Hymenoptera: Aphelinidae), an endoparasitoid of Bemisia argentifolii (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae)

Encarsia pergandiella Howard is the most abundant parasitoid of silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows & Perring, in south Florida vegetable fields and can contribute significantly to natural biological control of this and other whitefly species. However, quality standards, costs, and risks in commercial tomato production are high, resulting in frequent recourse to chemical control. Therefore, successful utilization of biological control could depend on compatibility of the parasitoid with selective insecticides. We tested a wide range of potentially selective insecticides, represented by a mineral oil, an insecticidal soap, a neem seed extract and synthetic and natural sugar esters, against eggs, first and third instar larvae, pupae and adults, using a pyrethroid, Capture" (20 g bifenthrin/1 EC), for comparison. Capture" residues on nymphs exposed to adult parasitoids reduced parasitization more than other materials tested, and were most toxic to all parasitoid stages. Mineral oil caused high mortality to immature parasitoids, and residues reduced parasitization of £. pergandiella. However, oil residues were much less toxic to adults if applied as a spray to leaf surfaces than as a dip to a leaf and especially glass surfaces. In contrast, the toxicity of Capture" was high regardless of bioassay method. Neem extract, insecticidal soap and both sugar esters tested had little or no effect on E. pergandiella. These latter materials could be considered selective in respect to E. pergandiella and might be used to suppress B. argentifolii without decimating parasitoid populations.
Pneumocystis cell wall β-glucan stimulates calcium-dependent signaling of IL-8 secretion by human airway epithelial cells

Background Respiratory failure secondary to alveolar inflammation during Pneumocystis pneumonia is a major cause of death in immunocompromised patients. Neutrophil infiltration in the lung of patients with Pneumocystis infection predicts severity of the infection and death. Several previous studies indicate that airway epithelial cells release the neutrophil chemoattractant proteins, MIP-2 (rodents) and IL-8 (humans), in response to Pneumocystis and purified Pneumocystis cell wall β-glucans (PCBG) through the NF-κB-dependent pathway. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that are involved in the activation of airway epithelium cells by PCBG resulting in the secretion of IL-8.
Syncope Associated with Concurrent Amitriptyline and Fluconazole Therapy

OBJECTIVE:To report on a 12-year-old white male with prostatic rhabdomyosarcoma who experienced episodes of syncope attributed to concurrent amitriptyline and fluconazole therapy, confirmed by readministration.CASE REPORT:The patient began experiencing syncopal episodes periodically over a seven-month period. These repeated episodes occurred when fluconazole was administered for periodic mucositis secondary to chemotherapy. The patient had received fluconazole in the past with no difficulty and had been receiving a stable dose of amitriptyline for neuropathic pain. On discontinuation of amitriptyline, no further episodes were noted.DISCUSSION:Concurrent administration of fluconazole with amitriptyline likely resulted in the decreased metabolism of amitriptyline. Three case reports presented in the literature of adults receiving concurrent amitriptyline and fluconazole have shown an increase in serum amitriptyline concentrations with concurrent administration of fluconazole; however, none of these patients...
The cost-minimizing inverse classification problem: a genetic algorithm approach

Abstract We consider the inverse problem in classification systems described as follows. Given a set of prototype cases representing a set of categories, a similarity function, and a new case classified in some category, we find the cost-minimizing changes to the attribute values such that the case is reclassified as a member of a (different) preferred category. The problem is “inverse” because the usual mapping is from a case to its unknown category. The increased application of classification systems in business suggests that this inverse problem can be of significant benefit to decision makers as a form of sensitivity analysis. Analytic approaches to this inverse problem are difficult to formulate as the constraints are either not available or difficult to determine. To investigate this inverse problem, we develop several genetic algorithms and study their performance as problem difficulty increases. We develop a real genetic algorithm with feasibility control, a traditional binary genetic algorithm, and a steepest ascent hill climbing algorithm. In a series of simulation experiments, we compare the performance of these algorithms to the optimal solution as the problem difficulty increases (more attributes and classes). In addition, we analyze certain algorithm effects (level of feasibility control, operator design, and fitness function) to determine the best approach. Our results indicate the viability of the real genetic algorithm and the importance of feasibility control as the problem difficulty increases.
DSP controller based signal processing of physiological hand tremor

This paper presents our research in real-time adaptive signal processing of physiological hand tremor with a DSP controller. A DSP controller can be applied in this application because of its high-performance in the signal processing and its capability in the realization of a single-chip embedded system for both real-time signal processing and control applications. The potential applications of the system include the long-term on-site monitoring of physiological tremor and the suppression of physiological tremor in a hand-held tool. Because of the limited memory and the operation speed provided by a DSP controller, recursive least-squares (RLS) adaptive algorithm is investigated in the modeling and on-line prediction of physiological hand tremor. The effectiveness of the algorithm is illustrated with the simulation and experimental results.
Water Transport Visualization and Two-Phase Pressure Drop Measurements in a Simulated PEMFC Cathode Minichannel

Two-phase flow and water transport in a 1.08 mm hydraulic diameter by 25-cm long gas-transport minichannel are investigated. High-speed side-view images are obtained of water droplets moving through gas diffusion media (GDM) and into a gas channel. This system simulates water transport and the flow of air and water in a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathode gas channel. Advancing and receding contact angles and departure droplet diameters are measured with respect to superficial gas velocity for two GDM samples. Pressure drop is measured and compared to two-phase pressure drop correlations for three different water flow and five different airflow rates, and channel-water and GDM-water interactions are described.
Perfect Strong Scaling Using No Additional Energy

Energy efficiency of computing devices has become a dominant area of research interest in recent years. Most previous work has focused on architectural techniques to improve power and energy efficiency; only a few consider saving energy at the algorithmic level. We prove that a region of perfect strong scaling in energy exists for matrix multiplication (classical and Strassen) and the direct n-body problem via the use of algorithms that use all available memory to replicate data. This means that we can increase the number of processors by some factor and decrease the runtime (both computation and communication) by the same factor, without changing the total energy use.
Effect of aerobic and anaerobic environments on antistaphylococcal activities of five fluoroquinolones.

A previously established in vitro pharmacodynamic system was used to evaluate the antistaphylococcal activities of five fluoroquinolones under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213 was exposed to a 5-mg/ml concentration of each of the following fluoroquinolones: ciprofloxacin, ofloxacin, temafloxacin, sparfloxacin, and clinafloxacin. Terminal elimination half-lives of 4, 6, 8, 8, and 13 h were simulated for the respective drugs. Each fluoroquinolone was bactericidal under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. However, the bactericidal activity of eachfluoroquinolone was delayed by anaerobiosis. This difference influoroquinolone activity under aerobic and anaerobic conditions could not be attributed to any particular parameter or physiochemical property but was most likely caused by a combination of factors (e.g., variations in hydrophobicity, intracellular pH, antibiotic concentration, and structure-activity relationships). Fluoroquinolone uptake studies were also performed to investigate the possibility of active, energydependent transport mechanisms in S. aureus ATCC 29213. Uptake studies indicated that active efflux does occur inS. aureusATCC 29213.
An Approximate Dynamic Programming Approach to Benchmark Practice-Based Heuristics for Natural Gas Storage Valuation

The valuation of the real option to store natural gas is a practically important problem that entails dynamic optimization of inventory trading decisions with capacity constraints in the face of uncertain natural gas price dynamics. Stochastic dynamic programming is a natural approach to this valuation problem, but it does not seem to be widely used in practice because it is at odds with the high-dimensional natural gas price evolution models that are widespread among traders. According to the practice-based literature, practitioners typically value natural gas storage heuristically. The effectiveness of the heuristics discussed in this literature is currently unknown because good upper bounds on the value of storage are not available. We develop a novel and tractable approximate dynamic programming method that, coupled with Monte Carlo simulation, computes lower and upper bounds on the value of storage, which we use to benchmark these heuristics on a set of realistic instances. We find that these heuristics are extremely fast to execute but significantly suboptimal compared to our upper bound, which appears to be fairly tight and much tighter than a simpler perfect information upper bound; computing our lower bound takes more time than using these heuristics, but our lower bound substantially outperforms them in terms of valuation. Moreover, with periodic reoptimizations embedded in Monte Carlo simulation, the practice-based heuristics become nearly optimal, with one exception, at the expense of higher computational effort. Our lower bound with reoptimization is also nearly optimal, but exhibits a higher computational requirement than these heuristics. Besides natural gas storage, our results are potentially relevant for the valuation of the real option to store other commodities, such as metals, oil, and petroleum products.
Convergence of Calcium Signaling Pathways of Pathogenic Elicitors and Abscisic Acid in Arabidopsis Guard Cells

A variety of stimuli, such as abscisic acid (ABA), reactive oxygen species (ROS), and elicitors of plant defense reactions, have been shown to induce stomatal closure. Our study addresses commonalities in the signaling pathways that these stimuli trigger. A recent report showed that both ABA and ROS stimulate an NADPH-dependent, hyperpolarization-activated Ca(2+) influx current in Arabidopsis guard cells termed "I(Ca)" (Z.M. Pei, Y. Murata, G. Benning, S. Thomine, B. Klusener, G.J. Allen, E. Grill, J.I. Schroeder, Nature [2002] 406: 731-734). We found that yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) elicitor and chitosan, both elicitors of plant defense responses, also activate this current and activation requires cytosolic NAD(P)H. These elicitors also induced elevations in the concentration of free cytosolic calcium ([Ca(2+)](cyt)) and stomatal closure in guard cells. ABA and ROS elicited [Ca(2+)](cyt) oscillations in guard cells only when extracellular Ca(2+) was present. In a 5 mM KCl extracellular buffer, 45% of guard cells exhibited spontaneous [Ca(2+)](cyt) oscillations that differed in their kinetic properties from ABA-induced Ca(2+) increases. These spontaneous [Ca(2+)](cyt) oscillations also required the availability of extracellular Ca(2+) and depended on the extracellular potassium concentration. Interestingly, when ABA was applied to spontaneously oscillating cells, ABA caused cessation of [Ca(2+)](cyt) elevations in 62 of 101 cells, revealing a new mode of ABA signaling. These data show that fungal elicitors activate a shared branch with ABA in the stress signal transduction pathway in guard cells that activates plasma membrane I(Ca) channels and support a requirement for extracellular Ca(2+) for elicitor and ABA signaling, as well as for cellular [Ca(2+)](cyt) oscillation maintenance.
Bounding the Case Within Its Context: A Constructivist Approach to Studying Detracking Reform

This article presents the story of our research team's efforts to conduct a multisite case study of 10 racially mixed schools engaged in effort to reduce ability grouping or tracking. Although the politics of education research and our own theoretical frame work told us that detracking reform is strongly influenced by the politics and norms in the local school community, we were not sure how to study a school-level change while examining the broader context of that change. We learned over the course of our study to build outward from the school site into the local community, and co-construct the boundaries of our cases with the help of our respondents. As a result, we discovered that the boundaries of each case and the differences in the shape and size of each case are as much a finding as they are a methodological consideration.
Functional analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi uvrA in DNA damage protection

Bacterial pathogens face constant challenges from DNA-damaging agents generated by host phagocytes. Although Borrelia burgdorferi appears to have much fewer DNA repair enzymes than pathogens with larger genomes, it does contain homologues of uvrA and uvrB (subunits A and B of excinuclease ABC). As a first step to exploring the physiologic function of uvrA(Bbu) and its possible role in survival in the host in the face of DNA-damaging agents, a partially deleted uvrA mutant was isolated by targeted inactivation. While growth of this mutant was markedly inhibited by UV irradiation, mitomycin C (MMC) and hydrogen peroxide at doses that lacked effect on wild-type B. burgdorferi, its response to pH 6.0-6.8 and reactive nitrogen intermediates was similar to that of the wild-type parental strain. The sensitivity of the inactivation mutant to UV irradiation, MMC and peroxide was complemented by an extrachromosomal copy of uvrA(Bbu). We conclude that uvrA(Bbu) is functional in B. burgdorferi.
Toward meta research on technology transfer

Technology transfer (TT) literature has grown exponentially during the 25 years up to 1990. As in most emerging fields the literature is quite disjointed. It is especially so in TT because of the cross-disciplinary nature of the field. Although a number of taxonomies have been proposed most are by and for a specific discipline, e.g., economics or sociology. The authors provide a synthesis, an integrative review, of the various taxonomic efforts while taking into account each of the streams of TT knowledge. >
An Easily Implemented Method to Improve Detection of Ultrasound Contrast in Body Tissues: Frame-one Imaging

The recent commercial availability of ultrasound contrast agents poses new challenges to ultrasound lprofessionals. There is a need to identify the most:relevant clinical applications for which the agents are indicated, as well as ways jin which to use existing ultrasound technology with contrast. Herein is described la new imaging tehnique frame-one maging that: imp rovsthe detection of contrast in bo0d:tissues. Frame-one imaging was attempted in six examin attons of suspected renal abnormalities performed as part of the FDA Phase IcliIcIal trials of the contrast agent Definity® (DuPont Pharmaceuticals, N. Billerica,: M, A). Conventional and harmonic gray-scale imaging was perfrmed at baseline and postcntrat addm inistration. US imaging results were compared to surgical findings. U1, sing gray-scalle harm: o:nicimagg, improved depiction: of:contrast enhancement was achieved in all:cases where FOI was employed. Contrast enhancement was better demonstrated using the FOI tchnique than with continuous real-t...
Balanced allocation of compute time in hardware-accelerated systems

Most modern multitasking operating systems assume that, in order to be fair, CPU time should be allocated equally to processes of the same priority. However, this assumption is no longer valid in a system with acceleration hardware, such as reconfigurable hardware (RH), if the goal is equal computation ability for the processes. A process that uses acceleration hardware such as RH can accomplish far more work in a set span of time than a process that only executes on the CPU for that same time. When both accelerated and non-accelerated processes run concurrently, an equal time-slice allocation of CPU resources will not result in equal amounts of work performed. In this paper we present a new allocation technique that distributes computation ability, either equally or with parameterized bias. This technique allows all processes to benefit from RH acceleration-even those that are not specifically designed for it. We demonstrate different possible balancing methods using a custom built Linux kernel with this new scheduler, running on a full-system cycle-accurate simulation platform.
Bronchomotor vagal preganglionic cell bodies in the dog: an anatomic and functional study.

A previous study in our laboratory demonstrated that the stimulation with microinjection of DL-homocysteic acid of cell bodies in the rostral portion of the external formation of the nucleus ambigu...
Perinatal asphyxia syndrome

Summary Hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) has been described in foals for over 80 years. This condition has a diversity of names including ‘dummy foals', ‘wanderers', ‘barkers', neonatal encephalopathy, neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS) and perinatal asphyxia syndrome (PAS). The latter descriptive terms are all encompassing for a syndrome that has varying degrees of multi-systemic effects rather than just neurological disease. While foals with PAS are commonly reported in the literature, the aetiology and underlying pathophysiology are still very poorly understood, with a majority of the information extrapolated from human and animal models. Currently, no antemortem test exists and diagnosis is made based on the history of the mare and foal as well as reliance on clinical signs. Recent studies have shown that neuroactive pregnanes may play a key role in the syndrome; however, further research is needed to clarify these findings. Another investigation compared neurobiomarkers for brain injury in both sick and normal neonatal foals. The mainstay of therapy for PAS is supportive treatment. Specific therapies such as antioxidants and neuroprotectants are used by some clinicians but little scientific evidence exists that proves the therapeutic protocols implemented improve overall outcome. Prevention of PAS in foals revolves around the health of the mare including, but not limited to, the prevention of placentitis or other illnesses and observation and/or intervention during parturition when necessary. More research is necessary to fully comprehend this syndrome, its diagnosis and treatment options.
Complement Activation by Giardia duodenalis Parasites through the Lectin Pathway Contributes to Mast Cell Responses and Parasite Control

Infection with Giardia duodenalis is one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease in the world. While numerous studies have identified important contributions of adaptive immune responses to parasite control, much less work has examined innate immunity and its connections to the adaptive response during this infection. We explored the role of complement in immunity to Giardia using mice deficient in mannose-binding lectin (Mbl2) or complement factor 3a receptor (C3aR). Both strains exhibited delayed clearance of parasites and a reduced ability to recruit mast cells in the intestinal submucosa. C3aR-deficient mice had normal production of antiparasite IgA, butex vivo T cell recall responses were impaired. These data suggest that complement is a key factor in the innate recognition of Giardia and that recruitment of mast cells and activation of T cell immunity through C3a are important for parasite control.
Abstract B64: Zinc supplementation has antitumor effects in 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide-induced rat oral carcinogenesis

Zinc (Zn)-deficiency promotes esophageal/tongue tumorigenesis in rats by causing cell proliferation and changes in gene expression and Zn-replenishment inhibits tumorigenesis by attenuating cell proliferation and abnormal gene expression. Whether Zn has antitumor activities in a Zn-sufficient animal, however, is unknown. Here we examined the effects of Zn supplementation on tongue carcinogenesis in Zn-sufficient male Sprague-Dawley rats formerly exposed for 8 weeks to the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (NQO) at 10 and 20-30 ppm dose levels. Immediately after the cessation of NQO exposure, Zn gluconate (0, 20 ppm) was administered in the drinking water and continued for 10-13 weeks. At both NQO levels, Zn-supplemented rats had fewer tongue lesions than respective controls (10 ppm NQO: 5.2 ± 0.4 vs 8.6 ± 0.7, P Citation Information: Cancer Prev Res 2010;3(12 Suppl):B64.
Histological Variation in the Proximal Colon of Heteromyid and Cricetid Rodents

Department of Biology, Bockford College, Rockford, IL 61108 Department of Biology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11550
STUDY ON 100-MM-DIAMETER SHPB TECHNIQUES OF DYNAMIC STRESS EQUILIBRIUM AND NEARLY CONSTANT STRAIN RATE LOADING

A large-diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar(SHPB) apparatus is widely used to investigate dynamic mechanical properties of brittle materials subjected to high strain rate loading.It is vital to obtain dynamic stress equilibrium and a nearly constant strain rate over most of the test duration.To ensure the reliability of SHPB tests,H62 brass pulse shapers with different geometries are designed to improve incident waveforms.C50 plain concrete specimens are tested using a 100-mm-diameter SHPB apparatus.An improved method for obtaining dynamic stress equilibrium and nearly constant strain rate loading is proposed,including designing pulse shapers,estimating nearly constant strain rate,determining the optimal average strain rate and verifying dynamic stress equilibrium.Experimental results obtained from pulse shaped SHPB tests with concrete specimens show that H62 brass pulse shapers of Φ20mm×1mm,Φ25mm×1mm,Φ30mm×1mm and Φ35mm×1mm increase the rising time of incident pulse up to 100%~200%,which becomes a half-sine wave.Besides,one pulse shaper of a certain diameter can only offer an optimal nearly constant strain rate,and the relationship between the strain rate and the diameter is approximately linear.
In vitro promoter recognition by the catalytic subunit of plant phage-type RNA polymerases

We identified sequence motifs, which enhance or reduce the ability of the Arabidopsis phage-type RNA polymerases RPOTm (mitochondrial RNAP), RPOTp (plastidial RNAP), and RPOTmp (active in both organelles) to recognize their promoters in vitro with help of a ‘specificity loop’. The importance of this data for the evolution and function of the organellar RNA polymerases is discussed. The single-subunit RNA polymerase (RNAP) of bacteriophage T7 is able to perform all steps of transcription without additional transcription factors. Dicotyledonous plants possess three phage-type RNAPs, RPOTm—the mitochondrial RNAP, RPOTp—the plastidial RNAP, and RPOTmp—an RNAP active in both organelles. RPOTm and RPOTp, like the T7 polymerase, are able to recognize promoters, while RPOTmp displays no significant promoter specificity in vitro. To find out which promoter motifs are crucial for recognition by the polymerases we performed in vitro transcription assays with recombinant Arabidopsis RPOTm and RPOTp enzymes. By comparing different truncated and mutagenized promoter constructs, we observed the same minimal promoter sequence supposed to be needed in vivo for transcription initiation. Moreover, we identified elements of core and flanking sequences, which are of critical importance for promoter recognition and activity in vitro. We further intended to reveal why RPOTmp does not efficiently recognize promoters in vitro and if promoter recognition is based on a structurally defined specificity loop of the plant enzymes as described for the yeast and T7 RNAPs. Interestingly, the exchange of only three amino acids within the putative specificity loop of RPOTmp enabled the enzyme for specific promoter transcription in vitro. Thus, also in plant phage-type RNAPs the specificity loop is engaged in promoter recognition. The results are discussed with respect to their relevance for transcription in organello and to the evolution of RPOT enzymes including the divergence of their functions.
WeChat: social and political development of China’s dominant messaging app

This article traces the development of the Chinese social media app WeChat from its origins to its current role as a leading communications tool for some 600 million Chinese citizens. It analyzes the ways the small-group oriented app is changing China’s social connections, as it enhances trusted, personal contacts while transforming opportunities for larger online group formation. The article assesses methods the Chinese Government employs to monitor and control WeChat communication, and provides a case-focus study. It also considers the apolitical features, in particular, those related to entertainment and personal social relations, which have made important contributions to WeChat’s great popularity.
Triggerable RNA nanodevices.

The targeted and conditional activation of pharmaceuticals is an increasingly important feature in modern personalized medicine. Nucleic acid nanoparticles show tremendous potential in this exploit due to their programmability and biocompatibility. Among the most powerful nucleic acid specific treatments is RNA interference-based therapeutics. RNA interference is a naturally occurring phenomenon in which specific genes are effectively silenced. Recently we have developed two different strategies based on customized multivalent nucleic acid nanoparticles with the ability to conditionally activate RNA interference in diseased cells as well as elicit detectable fluorescent responses 1, 2 . These novel technologies can be further utilized for the simultaneous delivery and conditional intracellular activation of multiple therapeutic and biosensing functions to combat various diseases.
The Chemical Basis for Nestmate Recognition and Mate Discrimination in Social Insects

In this chapter we discuss the chemical basis for nestmate recognition in social insects. Animals that live in family groups are often able to discriminate family members from non-family members. For example, humans and other mammals can use a variety of cues—visual, auditory, and perhaps olfactory—to learn the identities of family members. Birds, on the other hand, rely primarily on auditory cues (Beecher, 1988). While any phenotypic trait that is associated with group membership could be utilized in nestmate recognition, studies of social insects have shown that they depend solely on olfactory cues to discriminate family members from other conspecifics.
Household chaos and sleep-disturbing behavior of family members: results of a pilot study of African American early adolescents.

Background Although disorganized, chaotic households have been linked to poorer sleep outcomes, how household chaos actually manifests itself in the behaviors of others around the bedtime of a child or adolescent is not well understood.
In Utero Stem Cell Transplantation: Potential Therapeutic Application for Muscle Diseases

Muscular dystrophies, myopathies, and traumatic muscle injury and loss encompass a large group of conditions that currently have no cure. Myoblast transplantations have been investigated as potential cures for these conditions for decades. However, current techniques lack the ability to generate cell numbers required to produce any therapeutic benefit. In utero stem cell transplantation into embryos has been studied for many years mainly in the context of hematopoietic cells and has shown to have experimental advantages and therapeutic applications. Moreover, patient-derived cells can be used for experimental transplantation into nonhuman animal embryos via in utero injection as the immune response is absent at such early stages of development. We therefore propose in utero transplantation as a potential method to generate patient-derived humanized skeletal muscle as well as muscle stem cells in animals for therapeutic purposes as well as patient-specific drug screening.
Censorship of Online Newspaper in Vietnam Mapping the Battle Front

The cutting-edge literature on censorship in authoritarian regime (e.g. King, Pan and Roberts 2013, 2014) is not invulnerable to shortcomings: • It assumes censorship to be an unidimensional struggle between a monolithic state and a public consisting of scattered individuals • It regards content generators as semi-passive • It draws mostly from social media • It focuses on China, an unrepresentative case This paper seeks to remedy these shortcomings by: • Uncovering divisions within the state and unisons within online media content generators in regard to content generation and censorship • Studying online newspapers, an area of organized content generators • Looking at Vietnam: similar to, but less technologically advanced than China in terms of censorship general approach: compare distributions of content and patterns of censorship across different content generators, test whether traditional “government vs. the public” division really holds.
Bioremediation in Fractured Rock: 2. Mobilization of Chloroethene Compounds from the Rock Matrix

A mass balance is formulated to evaluate the mobilization of chlorinated ethene compounds (CE) from the rock matrix of a fractured mudstone aquifer under pre- and postbioremediation conditions. The analysis relies on a sparse number of monitoring locations and is constrained by a detailed description of the groundwater flow regime. Groundwater flow modeling developed under the site characterization identified groundwater fluxes to formulate the CE mass balance in the rock volume exposed to the injected remediation amendments. Differences in the CE fluxes into and out of the rock volume identify the total CE mobilized from diffusion, desorption, and nonaqueous phase liquid dissolution under pre- and postinjection conditions. The initial CE mass in the rock matrix prior to remediation is estimated using analyses of CE in rock core. The CE mass mobilized per year under preinjection conditions is small relative to the total CE mass in the rock, indicating that current pump-and-treat and natural attenuation conditions are likely to require hundreds of years to achieve groundwater concentrations that meet regulatory guidelines. The postinjection CE mobilization rate increased by approximately an order of magnitude over the 5 years of monitoring after the amendment injection. This rate is likely to decrease and additional remediation applications over several decades would still be needed to reduce CE mass in the rock matrix to levels where groundwater concentrations in fractures achieve regulatory standards.
Nanostructured Coatings for Improved Charge Delivery to Neurons

This chapter explores the variability and limitations of traditional stimulation electrodes by first appreciating how electrical potential differences lead to efficacious activation of nearby neurons and examining the basic electrochemical mechanisms of charge transfer at an electrode/electrolyte interface. It then covers the advantages and current challenges of emerging micro-/nanostructured electrode materials for next-generation neural stimulation microelectrodes.
Modifiable risk factors to reduce renal cell carcinoma incidence: Insight from the PLCO trial.

Abstract Introduction Identify modifiable factors contributing to renal cell carcinoma in the PCLO to target disease prevention and reduce health care costs. Methods The prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian database were queried for the primary outcome of kidney cancer. Demographics were investigated, specifically focusing on modifiable risk factors. Statistical analysis includes the Student t-test for continuous variables, chi-squared or Fisher’s exact tests for dichotomous and categorical variables for bivariate analysis. The Cox proportional hazards model was used in a multivariate time-to-event analysis. Results We investigate existing data relating specifically to renal cancer. After missing data were excluded, we analyzed 149,683 subjects enrolled in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian trial and noted 0.5% (n = 748) subjects developed renal cancer. Age, male gender, body mass index, diabetes, and hypertension were all significant associated with renal cancer in bivariate analysis (P Conclusions Obesity, hypertension, and smoking are the 3 modifiable risk factors that could aggressively be targeted to reduce renal cell carcinoma.
Osmotic stress drastically inhibits active transport of carbohydrates by Escherichiacoli

In intact Escherichia coli cells, severe osmotic stress almost totally inhibited active transport of carbohydrate by all of the systems known to transport carbohydrates in E. coli: group translocation (glucose), binding-protein mediated transport (maltose), proton symport (lactose), and sodium cotransport (melibiose). Detailed study of glucose transport showed that this inhibition of transport was not secondary to the inhibition of growth by osmotic stress, but rather that the inhibition of transport of a source of carbon and energy was sufficient to cause the complete inhibition of growth observed during severe osmotic upshock. Transport and growth inhibition did not result from cell death; upshocked cells were viable and metabolically active.
The Growth of Children in Institutions

Untold millions of children throughout the world reside in institutional care. Growth delays are common in these children for many reasons, including lack of sufficient types and amounts of food, illnesses, inadequate emotional support, and depression. Height delays are most clearly linked to duration of institutionalization. Other factors, including age, growth status at entry, timing of institutionalization, and specific environmental features (as yet undefined), contribute to delays in weight and head circumference. For some children, especially those who are very malnourished at entry, orphanage residence may allow better growth than other settings, e.g., more neglectful institutions, or severely dysfunctional or extremely impoverished families. Medical and behavioral problems in the orphanage setting may exacerbate growth delays. Studies of this group of children can help define the resilience of growth in young children, the existence of critical periods, and the links between early growth delays and long-term growth and developmental outcomes.
Genetic Studies on Vibrio Fluvialis and its Enterotoxins

Vibrio fluvialis, an estuarine-based halophilic vibrio, causes opportunistic infections in humans resulting in bloody diarrhea. The organism produces an enterotoxin (ET), a cytotoxin (CT), and a cytolysin (CL). We created isogenic non-toxigenic mutants to assess the relative contribution of each toxin to virulence. High level streptomycin (Sm) resistant mutants of the prototype toxigenic strain 807-77 were used as conjugal recipients for TnphoA, which creates gene fusions between target genes and phoA, which encodes the alkaline phosphatase of Escherichia coli. Transposon insertions into genes for secreted or periplasmic proteins were selected on indicator plates. Putative CL- transconjugates (which appear as dark blue colonies) were recovered at a rate of ca. 10-6/recipient cell. Presumptive CL- mutants were screened on blood agar, egg yolk agar, and with a sensitive tube hemolysin assay. Twenty-two CL- mutants were tested vs. red cells from two different species. CL- production was attenuated in 17 and negative in 5 of the mutants. The verified CL- mutants were tested for pathogenicity in infant mice. The CL- mutants were unaltered in their ability to cause fluid accumulation in this model. Various CL- mutants responded differently to increased osmolarity in their growth media as measured by alkaline phosphatase activity of permeabilized cells.
Conflicts of interest and industry professional relationships in psychiatric neurosurgery: A comparative literature review

OBJECTIVE The research required to establish that psychiatric treatments are effective often depends on collaboration between academic clinical researchers and industry. Some of the goals of clinical practice and those of commercial developers of psychiatric therapies overlap, such as developing safe and effective treatments. However, there might also be incompatible goals; physicians aim to provide the best care they can to their patients, whereas the medical industry ultimately aims to develop therapies that are commercially successful. In some cases, however, clinical research may be aiming both at improved patient care and commercial success. It is in these cases that a conflict of interest (COI) arises. The goal of this study was to identify differences and commonalities regarding COIs between 2 kinds of somatic psychiatric interventions: pharmacological and neurosurgical. METHODS The authors conducted a study focused on professional concerns regarding pharmacological and neurosurgical psychiatric interventions. They used medical and bioethics journal articles as an indicator of professionals' concerns and carried out a thematic content analysis of peer-reviewed articles published between 1960 and 2015, using PubMed and Google Scholar. RESULTS One hundred thirty-seven relevant articles were identified, of which 86 papers focused primarily on psychopharmacology and 51 on neurosurgery. The intervention most discussed in the psychiatric neurosurgery data set was deep brain stimulation (n = 42). While there were no significant differences at the level of categories, pharmacological and neurosurgical interventions differ in the underlying themes discussed. Two issues widely discussed in the articles on pharmaceutical interventions, but largely neglected in the neurosurgery articles, were medical professional issues and industry involvement. CONCLUSIONS COIs are a neglected issue in the discussion of ethics concerns regarding medical devices in psychiatry. Yet as these interventions become more common, it is important to address them in part through learning from the discussion regarding COIs in the pharmaceutical industry and by developing approaches to address those aspects of COIs that are unique to the medical device industry.
A Model-Driven Framework for Automated Generation and Verification of Cloud Solutions from Requirements

Cloud computing projects require the design of a so-called Cloud Solution, which is an architectural blueprint for a particular cloud environment. A cloud solution defines the hosting infrastructure (servers, VMs, etc.), software stack, and services such as network, backup, disaster recovery, management, etc. The design of a cloud solution needs to consider existing client environments and future environment’s requirements, and at the same time comply with the cloud provider’s portfolio and limitations. As such, the design of enterprise cloud solutions is a very complex and challenging problem. In this paper, we present a novel framework for provider-side cloud solution design based on model-driven and formal methods that facilitates the job of automated solution generation, starting from client requirements and resulting in a complete and correct cloud solution. We present a set of novel methods and a tool, called COOL, which implements the method and is used in production in a large Cloud service provider.
Transitions in the Perpetual Beta of the NGSS: One Science Teacher's Beliefs and Attempts for Instructional Change.

The current study, a uniquely challenging failed partnership, describes via an exploratory case study design the endeavors of a single middle school science teacher as he translated the reform mess...
Improving EDS Performance with Digital Pulse Processing

Direct digitization of the preamplifier output of a Si(Li) detector, with all subsequent pulse processing performed digitally, enhances throughput versus resolution performance Sensitivity, resolution, and especially pileup rejection for photons below 1 keV are also improved. Adaptive pulse shaping allows both low dead time operation with minimal loss of resolution and automatic adjustment to a wide range of beam current without requiring manual selection of processing time.
A Robust Traffic Control Model Considering Uncertainties in Turning Ratios

The effects of model parameter uncertainty on traffic flow control problems have recently drawn research attention. While the uncertainty in fundamental diagram related parameters has been investigated in the past, few articles have focused on network parameters uncertainty, including turning ratio uncertainty. To fill this gap, this article proposes a robust control model to deal with the uncertainties in the turning ratio by using distributionally robust chance constraints. The model allows one to compute the optimal control action that maximizes some objective, under all possible distributions of network parameters. We then apply this robust control framework to both a freeway network and an urban network, and evaluate the impact of uncertainty on optimal control inputs, over the test networks. The case studies show that compared to non-robust control, the proposed robust model can reduce congestion brought by the uncertainties and improve the overall throughput.
Capillary Malformations and Associated Syndromes

Capillary malformations (CM) are the most common vascular malformation to involve the skin and sometimes the mucous membranes. They are slow-flow and usually isolated but may herald a syndrome or be associated with extracutaneous disease. In this chapter CMs and associated syndromes will be discussed.
Static Analysis Framework Based on Multi - Agent System

The progress of the methodology of static analysis has recently been rapidly consistent. Advancement is gradually attracting debugging and detailed programs by applying the intelligent approach to static analytical techniques. This paper introduces a novel framework for static analysis techniques based on a multi-agent system. The work investigates an innovative approach for multiple static analysis methods in an intelligent way under a distributed environment. To verify the proposed framework, we implement the traditional method of static analysis based on multi-agent services and determines a head track for autonomous and efficient static analysis techniques. Our approach has used agent characteristics in a multi-agent context. All agent services communicate with one another, adjustments were made to the environment of the agent, various restrictions were applied, and the systems’ effects were calculated. In order to demonstrate the respective method’s strengths and weaknesses, each system has been analyzed using several performance metrics. This paper develops multiple static analysis is applied to enhanced system reliability and scalability. Theses provide server-side static analyzes. Our solution shows high performance within a reasonable time duration.
Perinatal characteristics and delivery room management of infants born through MSAF

Abstract The immediate delivery room (DR) management of non-vigorous (NV) infants with meconium stained amniotic fluid (MSAF) is controversial. A recent ILCOR suggestion is not to perform routine direct laryngoscopy (DL) with or without tracheal suctioning in NV infants. Our practice is to perform DL and endotracheal (ET) suctioning in targeted NV infants. The study objective was to describe the perinatal characteristics and DR Management of infants born through MSAF and admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Methods Retrospective study evaluating the DR management of infants >35 weeks delivered through MSAF. Data retrieved included fetal heart rate abnormalities (FTHR), presence of thick/thin MSAF, DR management and postnatal course. Results 118 infants were resuscitated and directly admitted to the NICU, including 58 intubated for meconium, 29 receiving immediate PPV (n = 25) or CPAP (n = 4) and 31 (17%) initially stable developed delayed respiratory symptoms and administered CPAP. Sixty-four (35.2%) infants initially stable in the DR were subsequently admitted to NICU. ET suctioning was performed in 58/182 infants with meconium obtained in 41/58; meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) was diagnosed in 21 infants. ET suctioning was positive in 10/21 cases. FHRT abnormalities (n = 50) were noted with thick meconium and associated with a 2.8-fold increased risk for meconium below the cords, and 3.1-fold increased risk of MAS. Conclusion NV infants delivered through thick versus thin meconium were more likely to be intubated with a high yield of recovery. Serious pulmonary morbidity was uncommon. Most respiratory symptomatology were not related to MAS.
Characterization of the effectiveness of a hydrocarbon liquid solidifier.

Abstract Solidifiers are dry, granular hydrophobic polymers that form physical bonds with hydrocarbons by molecular interactions (hydrogen bonding, London forces), and are used to immobilize hydrocarbon spill propagation and dispersion. CIAgent© is a non-toxic, proprietary polymer blend listed as an “Oil Solidifier” on the EPA's National Contingency Plan Product Schedule for use on hydrocarbon spills in the navigable waterways of United States. CIAgent solidifies the liquid hydrocarbons through a rapid transformation into a cohesive rubber-like inert mass upon contact and retains the liquid for easier removal and disposal. The objective of this paper is to determine the effectiveness of the solidifier with a variety of hydrocarbon liquids that could be encountered in an oil spill scenario. The effectiveness of the solidifier was characterized in terms of the application rate, temperature change, solubility parameters and solidification time for a variety of hydrocarbon liquids (e. g., gasoline, diesel fuel, crude oil) that could be encountered by measuring the heat of solidification using a solution calorimeter. A thermogram was obtained and the heat of solidification was calculated using the temperature difference upon solidification. The temperature change and the degree of swelling in the solidifier were used to determine the solubility parameter of the solidifier (6.77 Hildebrands). The heat of solidification value was used to determine the ease and speed of the solidification of the hydrocarbon liquids. Solidification times ranged from 40 to 120 s for the liquids tested. The average application ratio in weight of solidifier to weight of hydrocarbon ranged was 3.35.