cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Sleep in Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular hemodynamic undergo 24 h changes such that normally both systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate decrease during nonrapid eye movement sleep. The changes in blood pressure is specifically related to sleep and the concomitant reduction in sympathetic activity, although supine position and inactivity are contributory factors. The blood pressure is lowest in N3, when sympathetic activity is at its nadir, and human data show that N3 deprivation decreases this dipping. The REM sleep dominates the second half of the total sleep time in the early morning hours. During phasic REM, blood pressure and heart rate rises. On the basis of these hemodynamic changes, NREM sleep is considerd peaceful for CV system, whereas phasic REM is associated with adverse cardiovascular events such as angina. However, the so-called nondemand cardiac ischemia and myocardial infarction may occur in NREM sleep if diastolic blood pressure, a major determinant of coronary blood flow, falls excessively. Overall, however, the dipping appears to be protective, as nondipping during sleep is associated with incident cardiovascular disease. In this article, the pattern of sleep in selective cadiovascular disorders and how one may affect the other are reviewed. Improving sleep quantity and infrastucture could have therapeutic implications on comorbid cardiovascular conditions.
12-P: HLA ANTIBODY: WHAT IS UNACCEPTABLE?

Aim HLA laboratories are required to perform antibody analysis using a solid phase assay, and to report unacceptable antigens to UNOS in order for recipients to receive the point credit on the waitlist. Commonly a threshold is established above which an antigen is to be avoided. Yet the clinical relevance of even some highly reactive antibodies is doubtful. We report here a case of a 28yo cardiac transplant candidate with no history of HLA immunizing event whose Class II cPRA is 47% rendering him essentially untransplantable. Methods HLA antibodies testing is by Luminex single antigen (SAB) and ID beads using reagents from both GenProbe (GP) and One Lambda (OLI). Crossmatching was performed by 3-color flow cytometry (FCXM). Results Patient presented for evaluation with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in 2010. He had never received blood products. Initial HLA Ab screening by GP ID demonstrated DR1 9 and DR51 (single epitope 189R) confirmed by GP SAB with MFI 5-8000. An assist device (VAD) was placed 8/2011 and Ab testing performed 11/2011 yielded same specificities and increase in MFI to >13000. B cell FCXM with 14 random donors was performed. Eleven BFCXM were negative (including 3 DR1+ and 2 DR51+). Three BFCXM were weak positive with no HLA specific antigen. Testing using OLI SAB confirmed the specificities, but all were negative for Class II C1q. The antibody continues to be detected even under DTT or heat treatment. Conclusions It is crucial that HLA specificities be verified using patient history and appropriate testing before being considered unacceptable to ensure opportunity for a life saving organ. In this case, with no correlative history, negative flow crossmatching and negative C1q, there is no evidence that the relatively strong specificities observed using 2 different vendor kits are detrimental to transplant. This patient is currently waiting for a heart transplant with no UA listed.
Social manipulation, turn-taking and cooperation in apes Implications for the evolution of language-based interaction in humans

Author(s): Rossano, F | Abstract: This paper outlines how the focus on how communicative signals might emerge and how the capacity to interpret them might develop, does not yet explain what type of motivation is required to actually deal with those signals. Without the consistent production of appropriate responses to the production of communicative signals, there would be no point in producing any signal. If language is a tool to accomplish things with others, we need to understand what would lead to cooperation. The first step consists in avoiding the blind belief that all cooperation requires some prosocial attitude. A great deal of cooperation can occur while each participant in the interaction is selfishly attempting to maximize their own benefits or minimizing damaging consequences. I describe how different types of turn-taking can be achieved via different levels of cognitive complexity and how interpretive turn-taking requires a great deal of cognitive abilities that great apes possess. Finally, I provide empirical evidence of social manipulation in non-human primates. Given our awareness of the occurrence of social manipulation during cooperation among human adults, it seems necessary to reconsider to what degree human communication and language evolution require unique prosocial motivations.
A late Miocene (Hemphillian) freshwater fish (Osteichthyes) fauna from Mobile County, Alabama, USA

Systematic descriptions of North American Miocene freshwater fishes are extremely uncommon, with those from the Gulf Coastal Plain region being completely absent. In this study we examined 324 hist...
Effect of local instability on capacity of steel beams exposed to fire

Abstract This paper presents results from numerical studies on the behavior of fire exposed steel beams by taking into consideration temperature-induced sectional instabilities. A three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model is developed to evaluate the response of fire exposed steel beams under both flexural and shear effects. This model is applied to investigate the effect of sectional slenderness on the onset of local instability and capacity degradation in steel beams exposed to fire. Results from finite element analyses are utilized to evaluate failure of beams under different limit states including flexure, shear, sectional instability and deflection criteria. These results show that under certain loading scenarios and sectional configurations, shear capacity in steel beams can degrade at a higher pace than that of moment capacity. In addition, results from numerical studies infer that room temperature classification of steel beams based on local stability, can change with fire exposure time; a compact section at ambient conditions can transform to a non-compact/slender section under high temperature effects. This can induce temperature-induced local buckling in steel sections and lead to failure prior to attainment of failure under flexural yield and/or shear limit state.
Ebony and ivory: The interracial gay male couple

This paper investigates the black/white gay male couple to discern if the partners are happy, economically compatible, and well adjusted to each other. A survey was conducted of 27 participants in black/white male couples. Some of the respondents were recruited from the 22 chapters of BWMT (Black and White Men Together), which has approximately 1,400 members.
Doing Recent History: On Privacy, Copyright, Video Games, Institutional Review Boards, Activist Scholarship, and History That Talks Back

As the lengthy subtitle of Claire Bond Potter and Renee C. Romano’s new book, Doing Recent History, suggests, any historian who reads this collection of essays stands to gain something. “Recent” is...
Exploring the impact of game framing and task framing on user participation in citizen science projects

The purpose of this paper is to examine how game framing and task framing influence experienced meaningfulness (eudaimonia) and perceived enjoyment (hedonia), which, in turn, can account for user participation behavior in citizen science projects.,The authors designed and implemented a citizen science system, Citizen Sort, and used a survey method to investigate to what extent game framing and task framing influence participation behavior. PLS–SEM was used to test research hypotheses with 76 Citizen Sort participants.,Analysis confirmed that game framing and task framing have a significant impact on perceived enjoyment, but showed that only task framing has a direct effect on experienced meaningfulness. The effects of experienced meaningfulness on participation were fully mediated by perceived enjoyment. Content analysis of qualitative data revealed additional insights.,This research is limited due to its sample size and considered as an exploratory study, in which PLS–SEM was used to identify the impact of game framing and task framing as well as support the theory development regarding the dual nature of citizen science games.,This research provided suggestions for scientists, designers and project initiators that game framing and task framing should be effectively integrated to provide enjoyable and meaningful experiences so as to promote user contribution.,This research is one of initial studies which explored the impact of dual nature of citizen science games. The findings of this study provide the groundwork for guidelines and strategies to facilitate user contribution in citizen science projects.
Substance misusing parents and their children: an interview with Christine Fewell, Ph.D., LCSW, CASAC and Joan Blakey, Ph.D., MSW

Parental substance misuse is correlated with child maltreatment and negative outcomes. Researchers have found that parents who misuse drugs and/or alcohol are more likely to abuse and/or neglect th...
Gene Expression Profile Scores by Allomap® are Higher in Heart Transplant Patients with Non-Skin Cancer Malignancy

Purpose Gene expression profile (GEP) monitoring by AlloMap® is ISHLT-guideline recommended for graft surveillance after heart transplant (HT). The Outcomes in AlloMap Registry (OAR) is an observational, prospective study of HT patients monitored by AlloMap. The effect of malignancy on AlloMap scores is not well characterized. The large cohort of OAR patients with clinical data associated with AlloMap scores permits this characterization. Methods Patients enrolled in the OAR study and >6 months post-HT were assessed for malignancy status and stratified by HT recipients with malignancy and those without. The malignancy groups were further stratified by non-skin cancers and skin cancers, where mean AlloMap scores were compared between groups. Results 135 patients in the OAR registry (1.4%) with de-novo malignancy (including skin cancer) and 9395 patients with no de-novo malignancy >6 months post-HT and associated AlloMap scores were identified. Mean AlloMap score in patients with malignancy was significantly higher than in patients without malignancy (30.9 vs 30.1; p=0.0354) (Table 1). For HT patients with skin cancer vs no malignancy, there was not a statistically significant difference between GEP scores (30.7 vs 30.1; p=0.1390). Conclusion AlloMap scores were higher in HT recipients with any malignancy compared to HT patients without malignancy; however, scores were not statistically significant when looking only at skin-cancer versus no malignancy. Although statistically significant, the absolute difference was only small and therefore unlikely to have clinical impact. The GEP score comprises changes in gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). Recently, malignancy has been shown to cause changes in gene expression in PBMCs, which may explain this observed difference. Further studies are warranted to replicate these findings and to determine whether cancer development causes an elevated AlloMap score.
Token-wise sentiment decomposition for ConvNet: Visualizing a sentiment classifier

Abstract Convolutional neural networks are one of the most important and widely used constructs in natural language processing and AI in general. In many applications, they have achieved state-of-the-art performance, with training time faster than the other alternatives. However, due to their limited interpretability, they are less favored by practitioners over attention-based models, like RNNs and self-attention (Transformers), which can be visualized and interpreted more intuitively by analyzing the attention-weight heat-maps. In this work, we present a visualization technique that can be used to understand the inner workings of text-based CNN models. We also show how this method can be used to generate adversarial examples and learn the shortcomings of the training data.
Trends in Older Adultsʼ Knowledge of Medicare Advantage Benefits, 2010 to 2016

Background/objectives The Medicare Advantage (MA) program insures a rapidly growing proportion of older adults, and may be more appealing due to lower cost sharing. However, the extent to which older adults are informed of their plan benefits and how plan knowledge has changed over time is unclear. We evaluated temporal trends and characteristics associated with not knowing MA coverage for dental, vision, and nursing home (NH) services. Design Longitudinal cohort study. Setting Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), 2010 to 2016. Participants Adults aged 65 years or older enrolled in MA plans and not in Medicaid. Measurements Insurance knowledge was determined from separate items asking if individuals had coverage through their MA plan for dental, vision, and NH care. Responses were dichotomized between responding yes/no and not knowing. Demographic, clinical, and functional characteristics were assessed from the MCBS. Results The proportion of older adults in MA who did not know if their plan covered NH care increased from 38.0% in 2010 to 45.5% in 2016. However, proportions of not knowing dental benefits decreased from 6.4% in 2010 to 3.4% in 2016 and not knowing vision benefits decreased from 8.2% in 2010 to 5.9% in 2016. We found significant associations of race, education, income, region, and disability with knowledge of MA benefits. Conclusions As enrollment in MA plans has grown, older adults in MA plans increasingly report that they know their plan's vision and dental benefits, although they decreasingly know about NH care. Older adults from racial and ethnic minority groups, with lower levels of education and income and who reside in certain regions or have functional disability, are less likely to know their plan benefits. This may imply decreasing preparedness for future long-term care needs. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:2343-2347, 2020.
Pneumatosis Cystoides Intestinalis Identified on Screening Colonoscopy With Associated Pneumoperitoneum.

Pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis (PCI) is defined by the presence of gas within the bowel wall. It is often asymptomatic and usually benign but may be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. In this patient, PCI was found incidentally on screening colonoscopy, and biopsy of the affected mucosa resulted in deflation of a cyst. Pneumoperitoneum was then identified on subsequent CT. Because pneumoperitoneum is associated with bowel perforation in most cases, it is often treated as an indication for operation. This case of benign and asymptomatic pneumoperitoneum was managed conservatively without complications. Clinicians should be able to identify PCI as a potentially benign finding on colonoscopy as well as a potentially benign cause of pneumoperitoneum. This understanding presents an opportunity to avoid the unnecessary morbidity and costs associated with surgical exploration or additional endoscopic procedures.
The future of personalized brain stimulation

New personalized brain-stimulation methods for the treatment of depression and obsessive–compulsive symptoms provide hope for future treatment applications.
Handbook of human geography, by Tim Schwanen and Ronald van Kempen: Cheltenham, UK and Northhampton, MA, Elgar Publishing, 2019

Handbooks provide a valuable reference to the contemporary state of thought for a field, and the Handbook of Urban Geography is no exception. Editors Tim Schwanen and the late Ronald van Kempen hav...
The functional burden of diabetic retinopathy in the United States.

To study the association between diabetic retinopathy (DR) and physical functional difficulty using contemporary psychometric validation techniques, and to explore the predictors of physical difficulty among those with diabetes, non-proliferative DR (NPDR), or proliferative DR (PDR). Cross-sectional study using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 2005–2008. Participants were classified as either (i) no diabetes no DR, (ii) diabetes without DR, (iii) mild/moderate NPDR, or (iv) severe NPDR/PDR. The presence of DR was detected by retinal imaging and severity was graded using the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study Protocol. The physical difficulty was assessed using a 13-question self-reported questionnaire, validated using factor analysis and item response theory (graded response model) psychometric techniques. Secondary analyses of diabetes and DR populations most at risk of reporting greater physical functional difficulty were undertaken. A total of 5321 participants over the age of 40 were included in our study. Of the 13 original physical difficulty questions, one latent trait was identified and 9 questions demonstrated good discrimination and were subsequently retained. In univariable analyses, participants with diabetes and any form of DR all reported significantly higher physical functional difficulty vs those with neither diabetes nor DR (p < 0.01 for all). In multivariable analyses, while those with diabetes or any form of DR remained more likely to report higher physical difficulty vs those with neither diabetes nor DR, only those with severe NPDR/PDR reported substantially higher scores (2.1 sum points higher, p = 0.002). Among participants with diabetes or any form of DR, those with 3 or more medical comorbidities and those with depression reported substantially higher sum physical difficulty scores (p < 0.05 for all). Those with diabetes or DR experience greater functional physical difficulty than those without, particularly profound among those with severe forms of DR. For those with DR, the presence of concurrent depression or medical comorbidities conferred a significantly higher risk of physical difficulty. Providers and healthcare systems should be aware of particularly vulnerable DR populations at increased risk of experiencing daily functioning deficits.
Immune cell residency in the nasal mucosa may partially explain respiratory disease severity across the age range.

Previous studies focusing on the age disparity in COVID-19 severity have suggested that younger individuals mount a more robust innate immune response in the nasal mucosa after infection with SARS-CoV-2. However, it is unclear if this reflects increased immune activation or increased immune residence in the nasal mucosa. We hypothesized that immune residency in the nasal mucosa of healthy individuals may differ across the age range. We applied single-cell RNA-sequencing and measured the cellular composition and transcriptional profile of the nasal mucosa in 35 SARS-CoV-2 negative children and adults, ranging in age from 4 months to 65 years. We analyzed in total of ~ 30,000 immune and epithelial cells and found that age and immune cell proportion in the nasal mucosa are inversely correlated, with little evidence for structural changes in the transcriptional state of a given cell type across the age range. Orthogonal validation by epigenome sequencing indicate that it is especially cells of the innate immune system that underlie the age-association. Additionally, we characterize the predominate immune cell type in the nasal mucosa: a resident T cell like population with potent antiviral properties. These results demonstrate fundamental changes in the immune cell makeup of the uninfected nasal mucosa over the lifespan. The resource we generate here is an asset for future studies focusing on respiratory infection and immunization strategies.
Molecular Morphogenesis and Genetic Mechanisms of Spinal Chordoma

Chordoma is a rare malignant primary tumor of the axial skeleton. In recent years, advances in understanding the genetic and molecular events underpinning chordoma tumorigenesis have provided insight into avenues for more effective targeted therapies. We highlight current concepts in the molecular morphogenesis and genetic landscape of spinal chordomas.
Interleukin-15 in Outcomes of Pregnancy.

Interleukin-15 (IL-15) is a pleiotropic cytokine that classically acts to support the development, maintenance, and function of killer lymphocytes. IL-15 is abundant in the uterus prior to and during pregnancy, but it is subject to tight spatial and temporal regulation. Both mouse models and human studies suggest that homeostasis of IL-15 is essential for healthy pregnancy. Dysregulation of IL-15 is associated with adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Herein, we review producers of IL-15 and responders to IL-15, including non-traditional responders in the maternal uterus and fetal placenta. We also review regulation of IL-15 at the maternal–fetal interface and propose mechanisms of action of IL-15 to facilitate additional study of this critical cytokine in the context of pregnancy.
The Frontier War for American Independence

The frontier war for American Independence, at once genocidal and decisive, is obscured within the American Revolution's broader history and even more powerfully vivid and enduring myths. But the largely conventional war along the eastern seaboard was paralleled and at times intersected by a war without mercy along the frontier. Battles won or lost there could and did decide the revolution's fate. Indeed, the most critical campaign of not juуst the frontier but the entire war took place in 1777, when the Americans captured an entire British army at Saratoga. That encouraged France to ally with the United States in 1778 and made possible Washington’s capture of another British army at Yorktown in 1781. This article explores the strategies, tactics, diplomacy, logistics, participants, cultures, and psychologies of America’s frontier war for independence.
Impacts of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and avian influenza on U.S. meat demand

Abstract This paper examines the U.S. meat demand impacts of the announced outbreaks of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and avian influenza (AI). Findings indicate that beef and chicken demand was negatively affected by BSE and AI disease outbreaks. Specifically, in the short run, U.S. consumers shift demand due to both outbreaks but more so due to domestic disease outbreaks than for outbreaks occurring overseas—the impact of U.S. AI outbreaks is about 0.5% for beef and the impact of U.S. BSE cases is around −0.42% for beef and 0.4% for pork, respectively. Regarding the BSE shock on meat demand, there is a high rate of beef demand adjusted from disturbance to the long-run equilibrium and a lower adjustment rate for chicken demand because of the repeated outbreaks of AI worldwide. In the long run, information related to severe, persistently recurring overseas animal disease outbreaks changes U.S. consumers' meat consumption patterns. Although effects of animal diseases on U.S. meat demand were statistically significant, the magnitudes were small—the impact of WHO reported human death numbers for AI is 0.005% for beef, −0.002% for pork, and −0.006% for chicken and the impact of U.S. BSE cases is 1.1% for pork and −0.7% for chicken.
High latitude, outer zone boundary observations of electrons and protons

Abstract The diurnal variation of the high latitude outer zone boundary at 1400km has been determined for electrons ≳140keV electrons, and for protons in two energy intervals: 0.56⩽E⩽1.1 MeV, 1.1⩽E⩽3.2 MeV, from detectors aboard the NOAA-2 satellite. The dependence of the 140 keV electron boundary on Dst has been examined as well. A well defined correlation of boundary position with Dst is found to exist during the main phase of disturbances, together with an evident local time dependence. All the boundaries are found to be consistent witn the supposition of adiabatic drift and demonstrate the stability of the boundary position over approximately ten years of comparable observation. No statistically significant hemispheric differences in boundary location were observed to occur.
Selective Staining of Human Dermal Collagen: I. An Analysis of Standard Methods *

Countless modifications of the standard methods for the staining of collagen have been published and these utilize a great number of different dyes (1). Relatively few procedures have won any degree of general acceptance. The standard techniques that stain collagen (2—6) fall into one of three groups: those using picrie acid, those using phosphotungstic acid (PTA) and/or phosphomolyb die acid (PMA), and Lillie's hydrochloric acid (HC1) methods (4). An exception not used widely is the use of Luxol fast blue dyes, proposed by Hale et al. (7) and by Salthouse (8). According to Lillie, the first selective collagen stain was reported in 1872 and consisted of indigo-carmine in a saturated solution of picrie acid (1). This led to Van Gieson's pierofuehsin (9), which was introduced originally for staining fibers in neural tissues but it became popular as a general stain for collagen. The use of PTA and/or PMA in a procedure that stained collagen originated with Mallory (10) who first used PMA but later preferred PTA (11). This was the forerunner of the so-called "triebromes". Masson in 1929 described a modification of the PMA-aniline blue collagen staining technique in which separate nuclear and eytoplasmic stains were used (12). He described this as "triebrome" (three colors) and this term has since been used for numerous collagen staining procedures that utilize the PMA/PTA technique with differing nuclear and eytoplasmie stains. Finally, Lillie in studying collagen staining concluded that pierie acid, PMA and PTA were dispensable. He used HC1 instead and described good results (1,4). We have assessed the relative good and bad points of each family of methods when used to detect collagen in dermis of human skin. As
Two-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopy on biopsy and in vivo

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) allows those resonances that are composite in a one-dimensional spectrum, to be examined usually as individual components, in a second frequency. The 2D method has allowed the assignment of molecules that are both diagnostic and prognostic, in the spectra from human cells, biopsies and stool. The acquisition and post-processing parameters required attention due to the very wide range of relaxation and J-coupling values present in these specimens. 2D MRS data can also be collected in vivo. Again the acquisition sequences needed to be developed, to facilitate the localization at the lower field strengths available, for in vivo studies for brain, breast, prostate, muscle and bone marrow. In vivo 2D MRS is in its infancy but promises to be a valuable tool in the future for monitoring disease and response to therapy, particularly using the higher field strength clinical magnets now available.
A New Accumulator-Based Approach to Shape Recognition

An algorithm is presented which uses evidence accumulation to perform shape recognition. Because it uses accumulators, noise and isotropic measurement errors tend to average out. Furthermore, such methods are intrinsically parallel. It is demonstrated to perform better than any competing technique, and is particularly robust under partial occlusion. Its performance is demonstrated in applications of silhouette and face recognition using only edges and in solving the correspondence problem for image registration. The method uses only biologically-reasonable computations.
Fast Anti-Random (FAR) Test Generation to Improve the Quality of Behavioral Model Verification

Anti-random testing has proved useful in a series of empirical evaluations. The basic premise of anti-random testing is to chose new test vectors that are as far away from existing test inputs as possible. The distance measure is either Hamming distance or Cartesian distance. Unfortunately, this method essentially requires enumeration of the input space and computation of each input vector when used on an arbitrary set of existing test data. This prevents scale-up to large test sets and/or long input vectors. We present and empirically evaluate a technique to generate anti-random vectors that is computationally feasible for large input vectors and long sequences of tests. We also show how this fast anti-random test generation (FAR) can consider retained state (i.e. effects of subsequent inputs on each other). We evaluate effectiveness of applying anti-random vectors for behavioral model verification using branch coverage as the testing criterion.
A low phase error X-band eight-channel SiGe PIN diode phased array receiver

A low phase error X-band eight-channel SiGe PIN diode phased array receiver for 9.5-11.5 GHz application has been proposed and fabricated in a commercial 0.18-μm SiGe BiCMOS process. High performance PIN diode switches used in phase shifters ensure low phase error for all phase states. The 9.5-11.5 GHz receiver, which consists of LNAs, VGAs, PIN diode passive phase shifters and active combiners, achieves over 10 dB measured average gain, less than 5 dB NF (at max. gain and ref. phase state) per channel. The RMS gain error is less than 1 dB and the RMS phase error is less than 4.8° at 9.5-11.5 GHz for all phase states. To the authors' best knowledge, this receiver achieves the lowest RMS phase error in multi-channel X-band phased array receivers using passive phase shifting method.
Genetic control of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in mice. II. Lymphocyte proliferative response to acetylcholine receptor is dependent on Lyt-1+ 23- cells

The proliferative response of regional lymph node lymphocytes to Torpedo acetylcholine receptor (TAR) is under H-2 linked Ir gene control. In high responder B6 (H-2b) congenic mice, lymphocytes that proliferate in vitro in response to TAR are dependent on T cells of a subpopulation expressing the phenotype associated with helper functions, Lyt-1+23-.
Spherical stellarator approach

Summary form only given. In this report, we present the results on the novel ultra low aspect ratio stellarator system with A=1.05-2, that can be called a spherical stellarator (SS) in analogy with the spherical tokamak (ST) concept. Coil configuration of SS features the central stack and differs from that of ST by inclination of external parts of the toroidal field coils. A few potential advantages of the SS configuration, over other approaches in magnetic confinement fusion, can be summarized as follows: (a) very compact design offering the low cost approach, (b) closed vacuum flux surfaces and no need, in principle, in the ohmic current transformer, (c) simple modular coil system, (d) easy access to the plasma, (e) more area for heat removal and the tritium breeding blanket in a reactor, (f) simple toroidally symmetric divertor, (g) enough space between the central stack and the plasma surface to put the blanket and protect the stack from intense fluxes of particles, heat and neutrons.
Ex vivo equine medial tibial plateau contact pressure with an intact medial femoral condyle, with a medial femoral condylar defect, and after placement of a transcondylar screw through the condylar defect.

Objective To determine ex vivo contact data on the equine medial tibial plateau loaded by an intact medial femoral condyle (MFC), by an MFC with an osteochondral defect, and with a screw inserted in lag fashion through the MFC defect. Study Design Ex vivo experiment. Animals Stifles (n = 6). Horses (n = 4). Methods Stifle joints were axially loaded to 1800 N at 155°, 145°, and 130°, under 3 conditions: Intact, MFC with a 15 mm circular osteochondral defect, and with a transcondylar screw inserted in lag fashion through the defect. An electronic pressure sensor (Tekscan®) on the medial tibial plateau recorded contact area, force, peak pressure, and contact maps. Stress load (N/cm2) was calculated for the entire medial plateau and in 3 sub-regions; cranial, caudal, and central. Significance was set at P ≤ .05. Results Flexion increased force, contact area, and stress load for all conditions. An MFC defect significantly reduced force at both flexion angles and contact area at 145°. The transcondylar screw returned force to intact values at 130° and reduced contact area in extension. Intact MFC contact maps revealed pressure peaks on the central cartilage at all angles and contact pressure and area expansion and caudal movement with flexion. Contact maps with an MFC defect amplified the caudal and abaxial pressure movement during flexion, and the screw did not further change them. Conclusions Stifle flexion increases force, contact area, and stress load on the medial tibial plateau and is most pronounced caudally. An MFC defect alters load on the medial tibial plateau, and a transcondylar screw may reverse some of those changes.
FINANCING NETWORK ORGANIZATIONS

Most large firms are not large, single station facilities… Large size is the result of joining a series of stations within a single administrative entity…The interfaces between stations could instead be mediated by market exchanges. —Oliver Williamson1—
The mechanics of self-similar crack growth in an elastic power-law creeping material

The mechanics of a plane strain Mode I growing crack under transient conditions is investigated using self-similar solutions. For small crack extensions, the evolution of the near tip stress field of Hui and Riedel (HR) is posed as a singular perturbation problem. For small crack extensions, the HR field, the HRR field and the elastic Kl field coexist near the crack tip, one inside the other. The regions of dominance of these fields are estimated. An approximate solution is provided for the singular perturbation problem. The transition time of Riedel and Rice, which is strictly accurate for stationary cracks, remains accurate for growing cracks provided that crack extension is small. The effect of crack growth rate on the small scale yielding assumption is also studied. For fast crack growth, it is shown that creep relaxation can be neglected and results of steady-state analysis can be modified to describe the near tip stress fields. Application of the results to non-self-similar crack growth is also discussed.
Iapp Preamyloid Oligomers Accumulate in the Heart and Contribute to Cardiac Dysfunction in Type-2 Diabetes

Islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP), a hormone co-secreted with insulin by pancreatic β-cells, forms amyloids when overexpressed. IAPP amyloids accumulate in pancreatic islets and are a hallmark of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Recently, IAPP amyloids were found in kidneys of T2DM patients, suggesting that IAPP can deposit in organs other than pancreas. Apparently, the toxic effects to cells are mediated by the preamyloid oligomers. Here, we investigated whether IAPP preamyloid oligomers are present in the heart in T2DM. Using immunochemistry, we found significantly increased levels of IAPP oligomers (by 18±3%) in failing hearts from T2DM humans vs. non-diabetics and in hearts from T2DM rats transgenic for human IAPP (by 88±15%) vs. T2DM rats expressing only rat non-amyloidogenic IAPP. Most likely, IAPP accumulation in the heart occurs in the pre-diabetic state, when IAPP is oversecreted in the blood. To investigate the acute effect of IAPP oligomers on cardiac function, we incubated isolated rat cardiac myocytes with exogenous IAPP (5 and 50 μM) for 1-2 h. 50 μM IAPP significantly increased Ca transient amplitude (by 73±19%) in myocytes contracting at 2 Hz. For rapid screening and analysis of sites susceptible for IAPP accumulation we designed a noninvasive water proton NMR protocol. We deciphered the magnetic signal of water surrounding preamyloid oligomers. The variation of this signal was correlated with population distributions of oligomers and fibrils by using immunochemistry and electron microscopy. We found that embryonic amyloids generate hyper-intense magnetic signals, which are distinct from hypo-intense magnetic signals induced by amyloid plaques. These results suggest that IAPP preamyloid oligomers contribute to cardiac dysfunction in T2DM. Water proton NMR may prove a useful non-invasive method for detecting these molecular entities in the heart.
Responsibility to Protect: Syria The Law, Politics, and Future of Humanitarian Intervention Post-Libya

Based on the Security Council’s disparate responses to relatively similar acts of regime violence in Syria and Libya, it seems that the Responsibility to Protect doctrine is heavily influenced by factors other than the substantive act of violence. Accordingly, this paper discusses the legal, but also the strategic and pragmatic factors influencing the use, or abstention from the use, of armed humanitarian intervention. While some critics decry the influence of factors that are seemingly exogenous to Responsibility to Protect, this paper argues that the interplay of law and various matters of strategic concern such as politics, economics, and pragmatics is an unavoidable reality in a world where political actors (the states on the Security Council) decide the legitimacy of interventions. Therefore, this paper contends that the strategic and pragmatic concerns that prevent the use of force in Syria do not make the doctrine ipso facto illegitimate.
Axial and sagittal knee geometry as a risk factor for noncontact anterior cruciate ligament tear: a case-control study.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to compare the axial and sagittal geometry of the distal femur and proximal tibia in men and women with and without noncontact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears to determine whether a difference existed in these groups. Methods Twenty men and 20 women with noncontact ACL tears and preoperative magnetic resonance imaging scans of their knees were compared with 20 men and 20 women who had magnetic resonance imaging for meniscal pathology. Patients were not matched for age, weight, or height. We measured the anteroposterior dimensions of the femoral condyles, the medial-lateral width of the femur, and the angle of intersection between the transepicondylar axis and the long axis of the femoral condyles. We also measured the anteroposterior dimension of the tibial plateaus, as well as the width of the proximal tibia. Finally, the posterior tibial slope was measured for the medial and lateral tibial plateaus. All dimensional measurements were standardized and compared statistically. Results When compared with normal men, normal women had proportionally deeper medial (3%, P = .049) and lateral (7%, P P = .025). There were no differences between normal women and women with ACL tears ( P = .09 to .83). Men with ACL tears had deeper medial (5%, P = .04) and lateral (10%, P = .01) tibial plateaus, as well as an increased posterior slope of the lateral tibial plateau (12° vs 8°, P = .006), when compared with normal men. Conclusions We compared normal men and women with those with noncontact ACL tears and found that women's knees were characterized by proportionally deeper medial and lateral femoral condyles, as well as deeper medial tibial plateaus. When compared with normal men, men with ACL tears had deeper medial and lateral tibial plateaus, as well as an increased posterior slope of the lateral tibial plateau. Level of Evidence Level III, case-control study.
Thermal theory approximation to a low-pressure CS2/O2 flame

A one-dimensional thermal theory is applied to a low-pressure, laminar, premixed, CS_2/O_2 flame. The spatial distribution of the species concentrations and rate of production of carbon monoxide are calculated. The flame speed is calculated as a function of the initial O_2/CS_2 ratio at a pressure of 1 kPa.
Sequences of Betti Numbers

Given a finitely generated module M over a commutative noetherian local ring, what is the behavior of the sequence of Betti numbers {/3#4))? We shall show that for certain rings either limifii(M) = 00 or else, after a certain point, the sequence becomes constant. In an earlier paper [7] the author defined and investigated BNSI rings. These are commutative noetherian local rings (R, VI) such that for every finitely generated non-free R-module M, the sequence {pi(M)Ji.+, is strictly increasing. P,(M) is the dimension of the R/VI-vector space Torf(M,R/%II), or equivalently, it is the rank of the free module Fi in a minimal R-free resolution of M
Hegemony and Cultural Politics: The Praxis of Gramsci's Prison Notebooks

(1987). Hegemony and Cultural Politics: The Praxis of Gramsci's Prison Notebooks. Socialism and Democracy: Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 35-53.
Colony composition, protozoan transfer and some life history characteristics of the woodroach Cryptocercus punctulatus Scudder (Dictyoptera: Cryptocercidae)

Adult pairs of the woodroach Cryptocercus punctulatus were reported to be incapable of founding colonies independently because the presence of a recently molted juvenile was required to transfer encysted symbiotic gut protozoa to newly hatched roaches. Field and laboratory evidence presented here shows that adult pairs of C. punctulatus do found colonies and that juveniles are generally not present to provide neonates with protozoan cysts. Newly hatched nymphs acquire their intestinal symbionts by feeding on the anal fluids of the adult roaches, i.e., by proctodeal trophallaxis. Conditions other than a symbiotic association with protozoans may have contributed to the evolution of eusociality in termites (Isoptera).
Modulated differential scanning calorimetry study of blends of poly(butylene terephthalate) with polycarbonate

Abstract Modulated differential scanning calorimetry (MDSC) was used to study the glass-transition relaxation behavior in blends of poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT), a semicrystalline polymer, with polycarbonate (PC), an amorphous polymer. Using a temperature-modulated differential scanning calorimeter (TM-DSC), a sinusoidal temperature oscillation was superimposed upon the underlying linear temperature ramp. The reversing, total, and non-reversing heat flow curves were then analyzed. We examined the efficacy of modulated differential scanning calorimeter (MDSC) to extract glass transitions (Tg) when these were covered over by rapid cold crystallization occurring in the same temperature range. Blends were available in PBT/PC compositions of 80 20 and 40 60 , and with high and low molecular weight, Mw, designated ‘H’ or ‘L’, respectively. Samples of very low initial crystallinity were prepared by rapid quenching from the melt. These samples crystallized immediately during the MDSC scan producing complex exothermic peaks when the scanning temperature increased over Tg. All blends exhibited a lower glass transition assigned to the PBT-rich phase. The upper glass transition, assigned to the PC-rich phase, was never observed in 80 H 20 L , 80 L 20 L , or 40 L 60 L . This suggests that PC-L has better miscibility with amorphous PBT, while producing a very broad, indistinct glass transition in the PC-rich phase. The Fox equation was used to determine the mass fraction composition of the two phases, and confirms that better miscibility is achieved when low molecular weight components are blended. Higher crystalline blends were prepared by melt crystallization. The size of the glass-transition step was greatly reduced in the melt crystallized blends compared to the quenched blends. Nonetheless, MDSC was used successfully to observe dual glass transitions at intermediate temperatures between the Tgs of the homopolymers for all melt crystallized blends, except 80 L 20 L . Analysis of the lower Tg indicates better amorphous phase miscibility in blends with PBT-L and PC-L; analysis of the upper Tg indicates better amorphous phase miscibility in blends with PBT-L.
Pure Alpha-Secreting Pituitary Adenomas

Abstract Isolated hypersecretion of the alpha subunit of the glycoprotein hormones occurred in two men with previously diagnosed "nonfunctioning chromophobe adenomas." The alpha hypersecretion was unresponsive to hypothalamic releasing hormone, thyroid hormone, and sex-steroid hormones. After trans-sphenoidal surgery and conventional pituitary irradiation, alpha secretion was decreased. Increased quantities of immunologically active and biologically inactive luteinizing hormone (LH) material were detected in serum and in tumor homogenate. Immunologic and gel-chromatographic studies determined that only the alpha subunit was present and that it was cross-reacting in the LH immunoassay. These studies suggest that the alpha subunit may be a useful marker of pituitary tumors, particularly in patients without clinical evidence of hormonal hypersecretion. (N Engl J Med. 1981; 304:1254–9.)
Galectin 3 complements BNP in risk stratification in acute heart failure.

Background: Galectin 3 (G3) is a mediator of fibrosis and remodeling in heart failure.Methods: Patients diagnosed with and treated for Acute Heart Failure Syndromes were prospectively enrolled in the Decision Making in Acute Decompensated Heart Failure multicenter trial.Results: Patients with a higher G3 had a history of renal disease, a lower heart rate and acute kidney injury. They also tended to have a history of HF and 30-day adverse events compared with B-type natriuretic peptide.Conclusion: In Acute Heart Failure Syndromes, G3 levels do not provide prognostic value, but when used complementary to B-type natriuretic peptide, G3 is associated with renal dysfunction and may predict 30-day events.
Almorexant promotes sleep and exacerbates cataplexy in a murine model of narcolepsy

Study objectives Humans with narcolepsy and orexin/ataxin-3 transgenic (TG) mice exhibit extensive, but incomplete, degeneration of hypo-cretin (Hcrt) neurons. Partial Hcrt cell loss also occurs in Parkinson disease and other neurologic conditions. Whether Hcrt antagonists such as almorexant (ALM) can exert an effect on the Hcrt that remains after Hcrt neurodegeneration has not yet been determined. The current study was designed to evaluate the hypnotic and cataplexy-inducing efficacy of a Hcrt antagonist in an animal model with low Hcrt tone and compare the ALM efficacy profile in the disease model to that produced in wild-type (WT) control animals. Design Counterbalanced crossover study. Setting Home cage. Patients or participants Nine TG mice and 10 WT mice. Interventions ALM (30, 100, 300 mg/kg), vehicle and positive control injections, dark/active phase onset. Measurements and results During the 12-h dark period after dosing, ALM exacerbated cataplexy in TG mice and increased nonrapid eye movement sleep with heightened sleep/wake fragmentation in both genotypes. ALM showed greater hypnotic potency in WT mice than in TG mice. The 100 mg/kg dose conferred maximal promotion of cataplexy in TG mice and maximal promotion of REM sleep in WT mice. In TG mice, ALM (30 mg/ kg) paradoxically induced a transient increase in active wakefulness. Core body temperature (Tb) decreased after acute Hcrt receptor blockade, but the reduction in Tb that normally accompanies the wake-to-sleep transition was blunted in TG mice. Conclusions These complex dose- and genotype-dependent interactions underscore the importance of effector mechanisms downstream from Hcrt receptors that regulate arousal state. Cataplexy promotion by ALM warrants cautious use of Hcrt antagonists in patient populations with Hcrt neurodegeneration, but may also facilitate the discovery of anticataplectic medications. Citation Black SW; Morairty SR; Fisher SP; Chen TM; Warrier DR; Kilduff TS. Almorexant promotes sleep and exacerbates cataplexy in a murine model of narcolepsy. SLEEP 2013;36(3):325-336.