cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Fitness habits and barriers to exercise during residency training

While physicians advise patients on healthy lifestyle habits, physicians may struggle to abide by their own recommendations. We sought to characterize resident physician participation in exercise, their barriers to exercise, and the effect of exercise on their overall wellness. We hypothesized that residents who exercised would have less depression and greater wellbeing. Trainees at a university-based institution were surveyed. Data regarding exercise habits, hours worked, barriers to exercise, and mental health were acquired. Mental health was assessed via the Patient Health Questionnaire-2. Inter-group differences were analyzed using chi-squared testing; statistical significance was set at PA0.05. 129 trainees responded to the survey. 84 trainees reported exercising while 45 denied. 63 exercisers reported "living a healthy lifestyle" compared to 18 nonexercisers (PA0.001). Exercisers were more likely to report "Time" as their greatest barrier to exercise (PA0.001). Fifty-five exercisers answered "Not at all" when asked about how often they experience anhedonia compared to 23 non-exercisers. Trainees who exercise are more likely to report living a healthy lifestyle and less likely to experience anhedonia than non-exercisers, demonstrating the importance of exercise during residency.
Temporal Trends of Revision Etiologies in Total Knee Arthroplasty at a Single High-Volume Institution: An Epidemiological Analysis

Abstract Background Temporal changes in revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) may have implications in determining the etiology for implant failure. The purpose of this study was to 1) perform an epidemiologic analysis of etiologies that required rTKA and 2) determine whether temporal changes existed for revision over the study period. Methods All rTKA procedures performed at a single institution from 2009 to 2019 were analyzed. Revision procedures were stratified into 2 time periods, 2009-2013 and 2014-2019, to assess for changes over time. Patients’ electronic medical record, operative report, and radiographs were reviewed to ensure diagnosis information was accurately documented in relation to the predominate etiology necessitating the revision procedure. Results Three thousand and nine patients undergoing rTKA between 2009 and 2019 were identified with a mean age of 64.6 years. A total of 1,666 (55.4%) patients were female, and the majority of patients were Caucasian (2,306, 76.6%). The 3 most frequent rTKA etiologies were aseptic loosening (35.1%), periprosthetic infection (33.2%), and instability (16.0%). A higher proportion of patients underwent rTKA for arthrofibrosis (5.1% vs 3.4%, P = .023) and periprosthetic joint infection (38.9% vs 28.6%, P Conclusion Aseptic loosening was the most common cause for rTKA over the last decade. rTKA for arthrofibrosis and periprosthetic joint infection was more frequent between 2009 and 2013, while a significantly higher proportion of patients underwent rTKA for instability in 2014-2019. Future studies will need to focus on identifying and reducing risk factors for the trending causes of rTKA.
Optimal Compression of Locally Differentially Private Mechanisms.

Compressing the output of \epsilon-locally differentially private (LDP) randomizers naively leads to suboptimal utility. In this work, we demonstrate the benefits of using schemes that jointly compress and privatize the data using shared randomness. In particular, we investigate a family of schemes based on Minimal Random Coding (Havasi et al., 2019) and prove that they offer optimal privacy-accuracy-communication tradeoffs. Our theoretical and empirical findings show that our approach can compress PrivUnit (Bhowmick et al., 2018) and Subset Selection (Ye et al., 2018), the best known LDP algorithms for mean and frequency estimation, to to the order of \epsilon-bits of communication while preserving their privacy and accuracy guarantees.
Pollinator-mediated reproductive consequences of altered co-flowering under climate change conditions depend on abiotic context

Abstract Climate change is altering patterns of temporal co-occurrence among species, such as the degree of co-flowering among plant species. Although much is known about how co-flowering affects pollination and plant reproduction, how these interactions are mediated by changes in abiotic conditions is unclear. Using a short-term field experiment based on a long-term flowering phenology dataset, we examine how changes in co-flowering between Linum lewisii and Potentilla pulcherrima affect the pollination and reproductive success of Linum in control and water addition scenarios. Linum is co-flowering less than it used to with Potentilla as the climate changes. We therefore removed Potentilla flowers to alter the degree of co-flowering from 0–100%; half of these plots received additional water to relieve drought stress. Linum plants experiencing less overlap with Potentilla had a higher proportion of conspecific pollen on their stigmas in both watered and unwatered plots. Plants experiencing less overlap also produced more seeds per plant, but only in the watering treatment. There was no evidence of pollen limitation of reproduction, but watered plants produced more seeds. These results show that plants that co-flowered to a lesser extent with Potentilla had enhanced reproductive output, probably because they received a higher proportion of Linum pollen, but these biotic effects were only detectable when the plants were less water-limited. This study provides empirical evidence that climate-driven changes in co-flowering can alter reproduction via competition for pollination, and that these biotic effects can be mediated by abiotic conditions.
Enzymes and their Applications

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses enzymes and their applications in detail. The recent growth in the industrial and medical applications of enzymes has resulted from greatly improved methods for their production, especially from plant and microbial sources. It has also evolved as a result of the deeper understanding of the chemical and physical properties of enzymes and of the kinetics of the total enzyme-substrate system, with special reference to the role of activators and inhibitors. This fundamental knowledge of enzyme systems will inevitably lead to major growth in the industrial and medical applications of enzymes in the near future. The chapter briefly discusses the molecular structure of enzymes, its applications in the industry and its medical applications, and lastly, microbial enzymes.
The Impact of Virtually Crowdsourced Social Support on Individual Health: Analyzing Big Datasets for Underlying Causalities

With the rise of online health communities, patients or consumers are using these communities to exchange support through enhanced social relations and interpersonal transactions. An emerging and interesting area of research is to comprehensively understand the interaction dynamics within online health communities. The current study examined the impact of virtually crowdsourced social support on individual health via analyses of big health data. Based on previous research, we propose a conceptual framework of social relations in the context of online health communities and test it through a quantitative field study. Specifically, text mining techniques are utilized to automate the content analysis of big health data. Contributions of this research will not only extend current understanding of social influence in online health communities, but also shed light on the general approach of coping with big datasets in research as well as the design and management of online health communities.
Irenaeus on Natural Knowledge

Over a century of research has produced little agreement on the question of whether Irenaeus of Lyons recognized a natural knowledge of God. This article raises the question anew by considering the interpretive issues surrounding the passage at the center of the debate, Against Heresies 2.6.1. It challenges past readings and offers one of its own. I contend that an affirmation of natural knowledge plays the leading role in the argument of AH 2.6.1. This being the case, this text does not undermine references to natural knowledge that appear elsewhere in Irenaeus’s corpus, as Th.-Andre Audet would have us believe, but supports them. Irenaeus, then, does indeed recognize a natural knowledge of God, the product of discursive reasoning about the creation and providence of God.
Acetylation of HDAC1 and degradation of SIRT1 form a positive feedback loop to regulate p53 acetylation during heat-shock stress

The tumor suppressor p53 is an essential transcription factor that sensitively regulates cellular responses to various stresses. Acetylation, a critically important posttranslational modification of p53, is induced in response to cellular stresses. P53 acetylation level strongly correlates with protein stability and activity. The steady-state level of p53 acetylation is balanced by dynamic acetylation and deacetylation. Despite the function of p53 acetylation being well studied, how the steady state of p53 acetylation level is regulated in response to cellular stresses remains unclear. In particular, the dynamic regulation of the deacetylase activities responsible for p53 deacetylation during cellular stress is unknown. In the current study, we investigated the dynamic regulation of HDAC1 (histone deacetylase 1) and SIRT1 (sirtuin 1), two major enzymes for p53 deacetylation, during cell stress. We found that various cell stress events induce HDAC1 acetylation. The increased level of HDAC1 acetylation correlates with the level of p53 acetylation. Acetylated HDAC1 loses the ability to deacetylate p53. Cellular stresses also promote the decline of the SIRT1 protein in a proteasome-dependent pathway, which also results in the increase of p53 acetylation. Importantly, the decreased level of SIRT1 also contributes to the accumulation of HDAC1 acetylation as SIRT1 deacetylates HDAC1. Therefore, the increase of HDAC1 acetylation and reduced level of SIRT1 protein during cellular stress directly link to the induction of p53 acetylation. These results unveil the mechanism underlying the dynamic regulation of p53 acetylation during cell stress.
Characterization of a congenitally LPS-resistant, athymic mouse strain.

C57BL/10ScN (nu/nu) mice have B cells and macrophages unresponsive to a phenol-water extracted preparation of Escherichia coli K235 LPS. This unresponsiveness was demonstrated in vitro by the inability of spleen cells to incorporate 3 H-thymidine after a 48 hr incubation with LPS (Ph) and by the inability of LPS (Ph) to inhibit macrophage phagocytosis of 51 Cr-labeled, opsonized sheep erythrocytes. Furthermore, macrophage cultures stimulated with LPS (Ph) produced low levels of LAF and PGE 2 when compared with macrophages from the LPS-sensitive C3H/HeN and C3H/HeN (nu/nu) strains. Therefore, the C57BL/10ScN (nu/nu) strain is similar in its LPS unresponsiveness to the well-characterized C3H/HeJ and C57BL/10ScCR strains. The combination of endotoxin unresponsiveness and the athymic nature of this mouse strain may provide a powerful new tool for studying the cellular events mediating endotoxicity.
Bioconversion of 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene to a novel metabolite under anoxic and aerobic conditions

Under nitrate-reducing, nongrowth conditions, a Pseudomonas fluorescens species reduced 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene to aminodinitrotoluenes, which were then further reduced to diaminonitrotoluenes. 2,4-Diamino-6-nitrotoluene (2,4-DANT) was further transformed to a novel metabolite, 4-N-acetylamino-2-amino-6-nitrotoluene (4-N-AcANT), while 2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene (2,6-DANT) was persistent. Efforts to further degrade 2,4-DANT and 2,6-DANT under aerobic, nitrogen-limited conditions were unsuccessful; 2,6-DANT remained persistent, and 2,4-DANT was again transformed to the 4-N-AcANT compound.
Merging and comparing ontologies

The use of formal systems to define biomedical concepts and to represent and store biomedical knowledge has never been more important to the informatics community. In the past few years, ontologies have become the cornerstone of the information-systems research. With the wider use of ontologies, the problem of ontology management began to arise: ontology developers and users must be able to find and compare existing ontologies or their parts, merge and align ontologies, compare different versions, and translate ontologies from one formalism to another. We describe various approaches to the ontology-management tasks and the recent developments in defining a general ontology-management framework. Keywords: ontology; ontology integration; ontology versioning
Adaptive power management in software radios using resolution adaptive analog to digital converters

The popularity of software radios is increasing, as they have become one of the important emerging technologies in mobile communications. One of the major challenges during development of mobile communications hardware is the inevitable low power requirement. In this paper, we investigate power management for software radios. The use of resolution adaptive analog to digital converters as well as the flexibility of the modulation schemes that a re-configurable radio provides is investigated. The concept of a resolution adaptive analog to digital converter is to trade performance for energy efficiency. The energy delay product is used to evaluate the performance versus energy tradeoffs and an adaptive power management method is proposed.
Quantifying the Sources of Intermodel Spread in Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity

AbstractThis study clarifies the causes of intermodel differences in the global-average temperature response to doubled CO2, commonly known as equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS). The authors begin by noting several issues with the standard approach for decomposing ECS into a sum of forcing and feedback terms. This leads to a derivation of an alternative method based on linearizing the effect of the net feedback. Consistent with previous studies, the new method identifies shortwave cloud feedback as the dominant source of intermodel spread in ECS. This new approach also reveals that covariances between cloud feedback and forcing, between lapse rate and longwave cloud feedbacks, and between albedo and shortwave cloud feedbacks play an important and previously underappreciated role in determining model differences in ECS. Defining feedbacks based on fixed relative rather than specific humidity (as suggested by Held and Shell) reduces the covariances between processes and leads to more straightforward inte...
Selenomethionine prevents degeneration induced by overexpression of wild-type human alpha-synuclein during differentiation of neuroblastoma cells.

Objective: High levels of wild-type α-synuclein are found in autopsied brain samples of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (PD), some familial PD, some Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Down’s syndrome with dementia. Therefore, we have investigated whether overexpression of wild-type α-synuclein causes degeneration during adenosine, 3′,5′-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP)-induced differentiation of murine neuroblastoma (NB) cells in culture. We have also studied whether selenomethionine can modify the effect of overexpression of α-synuclein during differentiation of NB cells.Methods: To study these issues, we established a murine neuroblastoma (NB) clone (NBP2-PN54-C20) that expressed high levels of wild-type human α-synuclein as determined by real time PCR and Western blot. We have utilized RO20-1724, an inhibitor of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase, and prostaglandin A1 (PGA1), a stimulator of adenylate cyclase, or RO20-1724 and dibutyryl cAMP to induce terminal differentiation in over 95% of the cell population by...
A dynamic approach to efficiently clustering and predicting groups for moving targets

Effective and efficient approaches to monitor and manage maneuvering objects are of great importance in various applications, such as wide battlefields, traffics, and wireless communications. Modern airborne radar sensors can provide wide-area surveillance coverage of ground activities. The huge volume of radar data renders it impractical and inefficient to examine all the activities of individual moving object. Clustering moving objects and predicting motion tendencies of large groups are becoming a crucial issue for optimizing resource distribution and formulating sound decisions. However, most traditional clustering techniques are static-object-oriented and not effective at clustering maneuvering objects. In addition, the radar data intermittence and noise data, which are caused by extraneous objects and stationary clutter background, are major difficulties in clustering and predicting groups. In this paper, we present a dynamic-object-oriented clustering approach to detecting and predicting large group activities over time. We propose a "core member" concept to support dynamic-object-oriented clustering and to mitigate the effects of data intermittence and noise data. In general, some special targets always tend to remain in a constant group and stay near the center of that group. To a large extent, the movement of these targets represents the activity of the entire group. To exploit this characteristic, we consider these special targets to be core members of their own cluster. The movements of the core members can help us detect clusters and predict their future movements. The performance and results of the application of our approach to CASTFOREM data sets are also presented.© (2004) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Alfalfa response to lime, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and molybdenum on acid ultisols

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a high protein forage, cultivated widely in young, fertile soils. There is considerable potential for alfalfa production in areas with acidic, highly weathered soils, but few field studies on fertility requirements under these conditions have been published. Two field trials were conducted on ultisols to study the effects of lime, P, K, Mg and Mo on alfalfa growth and tissue composition. A trial with three rates of calcitic lime (0, 2400, and 3800 kg ha−1) and P (0, 25, and 50 kg ha−1) and two rates each of K (20 and 200 kg ha−1 the first year, 250 and 500 kg ha−1 in subsequent years), Mg (36 and 106 kg ha−1) and Mo (0 and 0.25 kg ha−1) was conducted on an Appling coarse sandy loam (Typic Hapludult). Another factorial experiment with three levels each of lime (0, 2000, and 4,000 kg ha−1), P (0, 100, and 200 kg ha−1), and K (0, 150, 300 kg ha−1) was conducted on a Davidson sandy clay loam (Rhodic Paleudult). Application of lime or P resulted in increased dry matter (DM) production at both locations. Liming also raised plant tissue N concentration. Addition of Mo had no effect on DM production or on foliar composition. Addition of K depressed soil Mg, plant tissue Mg, and plant Mg uptake at both locations. On the Davidson soil DM increased when K was applied, but on the Appling soil K increased DM production only where Mg was also added. Addition of Mg decreased K uptake and depressed DM production unless K was also added. The observed antagonism between K and Mg is of importance for alfalfa production in highly weathered soils. Successful alfalfa production in these soils is unlikely unless attention is paid to the balance between these two nutrients. Raising soil pH increased foliar N concentration affecting forage quality as well as DM production.
The Antioxidant and Antiatherogenic Effects of MAK-4 In WHHL Rabbits

Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) plays an important role in atherogenesis. Atheroma formation is reduced significantly in Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits by antioxidants such as probucol and vitamin E. The herbal mixture Maharishi Amrit Kalash-4 (MAK-4) inhibits Cu+2-induced LDL oxidation, and enzymatic- and nonenzymatic-induced microsomal lipid peroxidation. We tested the effect of MAK-4 on the development of atheroma in WHHL rabbits. Eleven rabbits were divided into two groups: controls (n = 5) and a group fed 6% (w/w) MAK-4 (n = 6). Blood was drawn for biochemical analysis every two months and at necropsy, six months after the special diet was started. The aortas were preserved in formalin. The percentage area of aortic arch covered with visible plaque in the MAK-4 group (22.5 ± 4.2%, mean ± SE) was significantly reduced (p < 0.01) compared to the control group (47.6 ± 6.8%, mean ± SE). The MAK-4 group showed a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in lipid peroxide, and a significa...
Compensation for coarticulation: Disentangling auditory and gestural theories of perception of coarticulatory effects in speech

According to one approach to speech perception, listeners perceive speech by applying general pattern matching mechanisms to the acoustic signal (e.g., Diehl, Lotto, & Holt, 2004). An alternative is that listeners perceive the phonetic gestures that structured the acoustic signal (e.g., Fowler, 1986). The two accounts have offered different explanations for the phenomenon of compensation for coarticulation (CfC). An example of CfC is that if a speaker produces a gesture with a front place of articulation, it may be pulled slightly backwards if it follows a back place of articulation, and listeners' category boundaries shift (compensate) accordingly. The gestural account appeals to direct attunement to coarticulation to explain CfC, whereas the auditory account explains it by spectral contrast. In previous studies, spectral contrast and gestural consequences of coarticulation have been correlated, such that both accounts made identical predictions. We identify a liquid context in Tamil that disentangles contrast and coarticulation, such that the two accounts make different predictions. In a standard CfC task in Experiment 1, gestural coarticulation rather than spectral contrast determined the direction of CfC. Experiments 2, 3, and 4 demonstrated that tone analogues of the speech precursors failed to produce the same effects observed in Experiment 1, suggesting that simple spectral contrast cannot account for the findings of Experiment 1.
Identification of a GM1-Binding Protein on the Surface of Murine Neuroblastoma Cells

S20Y murine neuroblastoma cells appear to express a protein component(s) able to adhere specifically to the oligosaccharide portion of GM1 (oligo-GM1). To identify proteins with which the oligo-GM1 becomes closely associated, a radiolabeled (125I), photoactivatable derivative of oligo-GM1 was prepared. This was accomplished by reductive amination of the glucosyl moiety of oligo-GM1 to 1-deoxy-1-aminoglucitol, followed by reaction of the amine with sulfosuccinimidyl 2-(p-azidosalicylamido)ethyl-1,3'-dithiopropionate (SASD). Crosslinking studies using the photoactivatable probe indicated that it came in close proximity to a protein with an apparent molecular mass of approximately 71 kDa. In competition experiments, as little as a 10-fold molar excess of oligo-GM1 resulted in a selective reduction in labeling of this protein; preincubation with a 200-fold molar excess of siayllactose was necessary to observe the same change in the labeling pattern, lending additional support to the hypothesis that the approximately 71-kDa protein specifically associates with oligo-GM1. Cell surface location of the oligo-GM1 binding protein was confirmed using subcellular fractionation and morphological analyses.
Universal Classes of Simple Relation Algebras

Tarski [19] proved the important theorem that the class of representable relation algebras is equationally axiomatizable. One of the key steps in his proof is showing that the class of (isomorphs of) simple set relation algebras-that is, algebras of binary relations with a unit of the form U x U for some non-empty set U-is universal, i.e., is axiomatizable by a set of universal sentences. In the same paper Tarski observed that the class of (isomorphs of) relation algebras constructed from groups (so-called group relation algebras) is also universal. We shall abstract the essential ingredients of Tarski's method (in Corollary 2.4), and then combine them with some observations about atom structures, to establish (in Theorem 2.6) a rather general method for showing that certain classes of simple relation algebras-and, more generally, certain classes of simple algebras in a discriminator variety V-are universal, and consequently that the collections of (isomorphs of) subdirect products of algebras in such classes form subvarieties of V. As applications of the method we show that two well-known classes of simple relation algebras, those constructed from projective geometries (sometimes called Lyndon algebras) and those constructed from modular lattices with a zero (sometimes called Maddux algebras), are universal. In the process we prove that these two classes consist precisely of all (isomorphs of) complex algebras over the respective geometries and modular lattices, provided that we choose the primitive notions of the latter structures in an appropriate fashion. We also derive Tarski's theorems and a related theorem of the author as easy corollaries of Theorem 2.6. Applications of the method to other domains of algebraic logic, such as cylindric and polyadic algebras, are similar in character.
Prey Selection of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus Fuscus) during an Emergence of 17-Year Cicadas (Magicicada Spp.)

ABSTRACT We examined the diet of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) during an emergence of 17-y cicadas (Magicicada spp.) in May and Jun. of 2004 in Indiana. We collected guano from a maternity colony of big brown bats and compared the diet during the cicada emergence to the diet during the same period of a non-cicada year. In contrast to previous studies, homopterans (predominantly 17-y cicadas) were a common food item (22.9–23.6% volume) during the peak of cicada abundance. Scarabaeidae (13.8–48.5%), Carabidae (7.3–36.9%) and hemipterans (19.4–29.3%) were also common prey items during the cicada emergence. Although periodical cicadas constituted a fair amount of the diet during the emergence, the dietary diversity of big brown bats during the emergence was similar to that of non-cicada years. Our results demonstrate that big brown bats forage on 17-y cicadas during a cicada emergence. However, despite the superabundance of cicadas, big brown bats do not specialize on cicadas to the relative exclusion of ...
Foxo proteins cooperatively control the differentiation of Foxp3 + regulatory T cells

CD4(+) regulatory T cells (T(reg) cells) characterized by expression of the transcription factor Foxp3 have a pivotal role in maintaining immunological tolerance. Here we show that mice with T cell-specific deletion of both the Foxo1 and Foxo3 transcription factors (collectively called 'Foxo proteins' here) developed a fatal multifocal inflammatory disorder due in part to T(reg) cell defects. Foxo proteins functioned in a T(reg) cell-intrinsic manner to regulate thymic and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta)-induced Foxp3 expression, in line with the ability of Foxo proteins to bind to Foxp3 locus and control Foxp3 promoter activity. Transcriptome analyses showed that Foxo proteins regulated the expression of additional T(reg) cell-associated genes and were essential for inhibiting the acquisition of effector T cell characteristics by T(reg) cells. Thus, Foxo proteins have crucial roles in specifying the T(reg) cell lineage.
PCBs fires: Correlation of chlorobenzene isomer and PCB homolog contents of PCB fluids with PCDD and PCDF contents of soot

Abstract PCBs, PCDDs, and PCDFs are subject to new regulations promulgated under the Toxic Substances Control Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The finding of PCDDs and PCDFs in PCBs could restrict disposal options for PCBs. A review of major fire incidents in the U.S., indicates that PCDDs have been found only in the Binghamton, N.Y., transformer fire incident. Laboratory combustion studies further support PCDFs formation from PCBs and PCDDs from chlorobenzenes. No PCDDs were found in analyses of fluids from transformers involved in transformer fire incidents. PCDFs do not appear to increase in PCBs askarel fluids from normal usage in electrical equipment.
Fiscal policy as a forecasting factor in presidential elections

This research note presents a model in which fiscal policy, measured by changes in the ratio of federal outlays to gross national product between election years, is a factor in explaining and forecasting the outcome of the past 30 presidential elections. Compared with six forecasting models assembled in a special issue of this journal in the fall of 1996, the model performs satisfactorily. The model implies that to win reelection or extend his party's tenure in the White House, a president should reject a policy of fiscal expansion. It is hoped that this article will stimulate students of presidential elections to add policy variables to their forecasting models.
Restoration of an incompletely erupted cuspid with a combination of composite materials: report of case

A technique for treatment of an impacted maxillary left cuspid is given. An impacted maxillary left cuspid was treated using orthodontic bands, intermaxillary elastics, and a composite prepared by the acid-etch technique. Liquid Adaptic bonding material was applied to the tooth, and a celluloid crown form was filled with Restodent composite. The crown form was split with a scalpel blade, and the composite was washed, etched, and Adaptic glaze was applied and allowed to dry.
Resource management aspects for sensor network software

The software that runs on a typical wireless sensor network node must address a variety of constraints that are imposed by its purpose and implementation platform. Examples of such constraints include real-time behavior, highly limited RAM and ROM, and other scarce resources. These constraints lead to crosscutting concerns for the implementations of sensor network software: that is, all parts of the software must be carefully written to respect its resource constraints. Neither traditional languages (such as C) nor component-based languages (such as nesC) for implementing sensor network software allow programmers to deal with crosscutting resource constraints in a modular fashion.In this paper we describe Aspect nesC (ANesC), a language we are now implementing to help programmers modularize the implementations of crosscutting concerns within sensor network software. Aspect nesC extends nesC, a component-based dialect of C, with constructs for aspect-oriented programming. In addition to combining the ideas of components and aspects in a single language, ANesC will provide specific and novel constructs for resource-management concerns. For instance, pointcuts can identify program points at which the run-time stack is about to be exhausted or a real-time deadline has been missed. Corrective actions can be associated with these points via "advice." A primary task of the Aspect nesC compiler is to implement such resource-focused aspects in an efficient manner.
Proposed Modifications to the Conceptual Model of Coaching Efficacy and Additional Validity Evidence for the Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams

The purpose of this study was to determine whether theoretically relevant sources of coaching efficacy could predict the measures derived from the Coaching Efficacy Scale II-High School Teams (CES II-HST). Data were collected from head coaches of high school teams in the United States (N = 799). The analytic framework was a multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis with ordered-categorical indicators and observed covariates. Applying this framework to the conceptual model of coaching efficacy (CMCE) resulted in a statistical model equivalent to a multiple-group multivariate regression with latent outcomes. Results provided evidence for the ability of measures derived from the CES II-HST to be predicted by theoretically relevant sources of coaching efficacy and suggested modifications to the CMCE.
Matrikine and matricellular regulators of EGF Receptor signaling on cancer cell migration and invasion

Cancer invasion is a complex process requiring, among other events, extensive remodeling of the extracellular matrix including deposition of pro-migratory and pro-proliferative moieties. In recent years, it has been described that while invading through matrices cancer cells can change shape and adapt their migration strategies depending on the microenvironmental context. Although intracellular signaling pathways governing the mesenchymal to amoeboid migration shift and vice versa have been mostly elucidated, the extracellular signals promoting these shifts are largely unknown. In this review, we summarize findings that point to matrikines that bind specifically to the EGF receptor as matricellular molecules that enable cancer cell migrational plasticity and promote invasion.
MicroRNA-24 regulates the processing of latent TGFβ1 during cyclic mechanical stress in human trabecular meshwork cells through direct targeting of FURIN

Cyclic mechanical stress (CMS) leads to alterations of cellular functions in the trabecular meshwork (TM), including the up-regulation of transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), that can potentially contribute to the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Although microRNAs (miRNAs) are known to play important roles in many biological functions, little is known about their potential involvement in the cellular responses elicited by mechanical stress. Here we analyzed changes in miRNA expression induced by CMS, and examined the possible role of miR-24 in the response of human TM cells to CMS. CMS induced the expression of miR-24 that led to the down regulation of the subtilisin-like proprotein convertase FURIN, which is known to play a major role in the processing of TGFβ1. FURIN was confirmed as a novel target of miR-24 by 3' UTR luciferase assay and western blot. Overexpression of miR-24 resulted in a significant decrease in activated TGFβ1. This effect was mimicked by down regulation of FURIN by siRNA. Conversely, inhibition of miR-24 expression with a specific antagomir led to a small but significant increase in TGFβ1. Furthermore, the increase in active TGFβ1 induced by CMS in HTM cells was prevented by miR-24. Altogether, our results suggest that miRNAs might contribute to the regulation of responses to CMS in TM cells. Specifically, miR-24 might play an important role in modulating the induction of TGFβ1 mediated by CMS through direct targeting of FURIN.
Heat flux dispersion in natural convection in porous media

Abstract Analytical solutions derived in this paper confirm the experimental and numerical results revealing a widespread dispersion of heat flux data in natural convection in porous media. The weak non-linear method of solution is used to evaluate the heat flux in a porous layer heated from below and subject to weak boundary and domain imperfections. Little attention has been paid so far to the effect that the lower branch of the imperfect bifurcation has on the average heat flux. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the latter effect and explain the reason behind the dispersion of data. The comparison of the results with existing experimental and numerical data confirms the findings. In addition the latter effect is shown to be essential in ones ability to control heat transfer enhancement via natural convection in porous metal foams, for example.
Thermodynamics of Silica Nanoparticle Self-Assembly in Basic Solutions of Monovalent Cations

Silica nanoparticle formation is studied using microcalorimetry to measure the heats of reaction evolved from the addition of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) to basic aqueous solutions of monovalent cations. This approach tracks a series of reactions, beginning with the formation of soluble species (i.e., monomers/oligomers), followed by the self-assembly of nanoparticles at a critical silica concentration (CAC). Contributions to the net enthalpy arise from three primary reactions: TEOS hydrolysis, silanol dissociation, and silica condensation. Analyses are performed in the presence of tetrapropylammonium (TPA) ion, which serves as a structure-directing agent (SDA) in hydrothermal syntheses of the all-silica zeolite, silicalite-1. Plots of enthalpy versus TEOS concentration exhibit sigmoidal behavior with a 18 ± 3 kJ/mol reduction in the magnitude of enthalpy, which is related to the CAC and is independent of solution alkalinity, but dependent on the identity of the cation. Solutions of Na+ and various tet...
The diagnostic puzzle and management challenge of Raynaud's syndrome.

Raynaud's syndrome manifests as a progressive color change of the fingers in response to cold, vibration or stress; the digits first turn white, then blue and finally red. The condition is called Raynaud's disease when it is a benign, primary condition. When it is secondary to another disease, such as lupus, scleroderma or atherosclerosis, it is termed Raynaud's phenomenon. Laboratory tests, i.e., complete blood count, chemistry screen, antinuclear antibody, lupus erythematous test and rheumatoid factor, should be used to seek underlying diseases before the symptoms are manifest. Other tests should be selected as indicated by the history and physical. There are many adjustments in lifestyle and working conditions that the patient can use to minimize the symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome. The primary care provider has an important role in teaching patients to protect their hands from the effects of cold, stress, nicotine and vibration. Adaptive devices and protective clothing minimize the symptoms of Raynaud's syndrome.
Matched filter concept and maximum gust loads

In the course of NASA evaluations of the statistical discrete gust method for determining worstcase gust loads on aircraft, it was found that the concept of the matched  lter from signal processing theory could be applied to the analysis of time-correlated, worst-case gust loads for mathematically linear aircraft models. Much of the work on the matched  lter approach to gust loads analysis that followed had been geared toward a fundamental understanding of the implications of the matched  lter theory interpretation of the gust loads analysis problem, as well as various attempts at extending the techniques to nonlinear aircraft models. A rigorous development of the matched  lter interpretation of gust loads within the context of the theory of random processes is presented and includes discussion of its relationship to existing statistically based methods for the calculation of design gust loads for linear aircraft. It is shown, using the matched  lter theory formalism, that the load peak-to-rms ratio can be related to the energy of the matched excitation waveform. Also, it is shown that a candidate design value of the peak-to-rms ratio that has been reported in the literature to be around 3 may have its basis in the discretization process that accompanies both data reduction and stochastic simulation on digital computers.
Semiparametric Estimation of a Change-point for Recurrent Events Data

One particular recurrent events data scenario involves patients experiencing events according to a common intensity rate, and then a treatment may be applied. The treatment might be effective for a limited amount of time, so that the intensity rate would be expected to change abruptly when the effect of the treatment wears out. In particular, we allow models for the intensity rate, post-treatment, to be at first decreasing and then change to increasing (and vice versa). Two estimators of the location of this change are proposed.
Review of the Chandra X-ray observatory mission

The Chandra X-ray Observatory launched on 23 July 1999, continues to return astrophysical data of the highest quality after over 4 years of continuous operation. The observatory consists of a High Resolution Mirror Assembly (HRMA) employing four nested Wolter Type I X-ray focusing mirror pairs, two objective grating assemblies that can be inserted behind the HRMA by ground command to achieve wavelength resolution of up to 1200=lambda/delta lambda, and two focal plane imaging detectors; one employing CCD's and the other utilizing channel plate multipliers to form an imaging array and a separate spectroscopy array. The scientific return from the Observatory has been enormous, much too great to adequately cover in a short review. Some of the important discoveries include: The detection of the flaring, massive black hole at the Center of the Galaxy; The resolution of the X-ray background into over 500 X-ray sources per square degree, mostly massive black holes in galaxies at high redshift; a class of ultra-luminous X-ray sources in external galaxies; the expanding and brightening shell of the supernova SN1987; the complex pattern of relativistic particles emanating from the pulsars in the Crab and the Vela supernova remnants; thousands of premain sequence stars; and high resolution spectra of the accretion disks around black holes and neutron stars as well as the corona of many stars.
A thermal diffusion model of photothermal spectroscopy

Abstract A phenomenological theory of photothermal spectroscopy (PTS) is developed in which the temporal behavior of the PTS signal can be described and the relationship between the ordinary absorption spectra and PTS spectra is determined.
Thermal effects in oxide Tf T s

Oxide semiconductor electronics may enable new applications including large-area, flexible, integrated systems. ZnO thin film transistors have been reported with field-effect mobility > 100 cm2/V·s, on-current density > 700 mA/mm, and microwave operation (f T > 2 GHz, f max > 7 GHz) for ZnO deposited by pulsed laser deposition at 400°C.[1] Other oxide semiconductors, including amorphous and crystalline mixtures of I 2 O 3 , Ga 2 O 3 , ZnO, have also been widely studied, and high mobility (> 30 cm2/V·s) thin film transistors and circuits with propagation delays d = dI DS /dV DS ) observed in a range of oxide thin film transistors. In particular we find that self-heating is a significant limiting factor for the performance of oxide devices and circuits on low-cost, low-thermal conductivity substrates such as glass and plastic.
Overcompensation of food intake following brief periods of food restriction.

Abstract Four adult female Sprague-Dawley rats, maintained on an ad lib feeding schedule were deprived for either 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, or 8 hours during the dark phase of the day-night cycle. It was found that the latency to initiate the first meal following the deprivation was independent of the previous deprivation interval. The animals were found to overcompensate for the periods without food by eating a large initial meal that increased proportionately in size with the duration of food restriction. Furthermore, the animals continued to overeat throughout the day. This deprivation-induced overeating by the animals resulted in an overcompensation in total food consumption that was 21–56% greater than on control days. The role of food intake as a regulator of body weight is discussed.
StepStream: a school-based pervasive social fitness system for everyday adolescent health

Computer-supported fitness interventions for adolescents have the potential to improve adolescents' attitudes and perceptions about physical activity through peer influence and interpersonal accountability. Past research has explored the potential of interventions based on competition and social-comparison mechanisms. We present a new approach: school-based, pervasive social fitness systems. We describe one such system: StepStream, a pedometer-based microblog we designed and deployed for four weeks with 42 US middle school students. StepStream users improved their attitudes about fitness and increased their sense of social support for fitness. The least-active students also increased their daily activity. We show that our school-based social fitness approach performed comparably in attitude and behavior change to more competitive or direct-comparison systems. These results expand the strategies available computer-supported fitness interventions. Our school-based social fitness approach to everyday adolescent health shows the potential for social computing systems to positively influence offline health behaviors in real-world settings.
Total Vapor Pressure Measurements for 2-Ethoxyethanol with Methyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Propyl Acetate, and Ethyl Propionate at 313.15 K and for 2-Ethoxyethanol with Methyl Formate at 308.15 K

Total pressure measurements are reported for the binary mixtures of 2-ethoxyethanol with methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, and ethyl propionate at 313.15 K and for 2-ethoxyethanol with methyl formate at 308.15 K. The data were obtained using a Van Ness type apparatus and were fitted to the modified Margules equation (or one of its simplified cases) using Barker's method. All mixtures show positive deviations from ideality and are represented by the model to within an average absolute deviation of approximately 0.06 kPa.
Between-group contest competition among tufted capuchin monkeys, Sapajus nigritus, and the role of male resource defence

Between-group contest competition and the relative importance of male resource defence have recently been suggested to have been previously underestimated. When males contribute to the defence of group-controlled resources, the quality of the home range may depend on the resource-holding potential of resident males. Among Argentine tufted capuchin monkeys, resident males defend access to high-quality food resources. Here I investigate consequences of this male–male cooperation for intergroup dominance relationships and home range quality. I recorded ranging behaviour for four habituated groups in Iguazu National Park to identify home ranges and core areas, and measured the availability of food species within botanical plots placed in these areas. I recorded the location and outcome of intergroup encounters and fitted predictive models using generalized estimating equations to assess the relative importance of male group size and location on the outcome, before performing linear mixed-effects modelling to identify long-term benefits of winning encounters. Relative male group size was the most important factor in determining the winner of encounters, outweighing the competitive advantage of ownership. The density of food species within the core area was not affected by the group's competitive ability, but core area size increased with male group size. Moreover, dominant groups were better able to defend their core area, and adjusting for the degree of home range overlap revealed that dominant groups may have higher per capita access to food. These results suggest that male–male cooperation in defence of food resources could ultimately increase female reproductive success.
Interleukin-18 induces human cardiac endothelial cell death via a novel signaling pathway involving NF-κB-dependent PTEN activation ☆

The tumor suppressor gene PTEN (phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10) antagonizes the pro-survival signaling of Akt and promotes cell death. Previously, we demonstrated that IL-18 induced apoptosis in human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells (HCMEC). Here we have investigated the role of PTEN in this response. Our results demonstrate that IL-18 reduced phospho-Akt and bcl-2 levels, stimulated NF-kappaB activation, and induced PTEN-promoter-reporter activity, mRNA expression, and protein levels in HCMEC. IL-18-mediated PTEN transcription was enhanced by ectopic expression of wild type p65, but inhibited by dominant negative (dn) IkappaB-alpha, dnp65, and dnIKKbeta. Furthermore, overexpression of constitutively active Akt and wild type bcl-2 blocked IL-18-mediated cell death. While forced expression of PTEN potentiated, expression of catalytically inactive PTEN attenuated IL-18-mediated cell death. IL-18-induced activation of NF-kappaB and PTEN upregulation were mediated by p38MAPK. Together, these studies demonstrate a novel signal transduction pathway involving p38MAPK-NF-kappaB-PTEN in IL-18-mediated HCMEC death, and identify IL-18 as potential therapeutic target to inhibit or reduce myocardial inflammation and injury.