cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Investigation of intergenic regions of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and development of statistical methods for analyzing small-scale RT-qPCR assays

viii CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Introduction 1 Dissertation Organization 1 Summary with Goals and Hypothesis 2 References 2 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Mycoplasmas 3 Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae 4 Promoter Structure in Bacteria 5 Transcriptional Control in Mycoplasmas 12 Quantitative Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR 21 Microarray 33 Top-Down and Bottom-Up Methods of Analysis 47 Delta Method 49 References 52 CHAPTER 3. DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION OF INTERGENIC TRANSCRIPTION IN MYCOPLASMA HYOPNEUMONIAE Summary 66 Introduction 66 Methods 69 Results 75 Discussion 81 Acknowledgements 84 References 85 Supplemental Data 89 Supplemental File: Example Calculation of a Relative Quantity Index b/m 94 CHAPTER 4. STATISTICAL METHODS TO ANALYZE SMALL-SCALE RTqPCR EXPERIMENTS AND TO COMPARE RELATIVE QUANTITIES ACROSS MULTIPLE TARGET SEQUENCES Abstract 99 Background 100
Towards simulation-based business process management

Simulation and optimization of business processes can provide a basis for business process management. The paper explores how work flow performance can be improved through an approach that aligns the network architecture with an organization's business processes. Simulation is examined as a way to optimize this alignment. We consider that there are three layers to this issue: business processes, network architecture, and the work flow application. Each layer will be considered, followed by a look at the central alignment problem.
Visual Alterity Abroad: Hegel through Birgit Hein's Baby I will Make You Sweat and La Moderna Poesia

Foucault's discussion of the panopticon is the best-known engagement with visual epistemology, the relationship of sight and knowledge. Yet the panopticon is only one form of visual epistemology and all technologies of perspective position and situate their subjects. As a colloquial statement of visual epistemology we might say: you are how you see. This essay focuses on the cinematic episteme or how the technology of cinema configures a way of seeing and way of knowing. Specifically this essay takes up a narrower question of visual alterity. Beginning from Hegel's discussion of consciousness, it asks how within and through film we recognise our self and how can we see the other? To carry out the analysis, the essay attends in particular to two films Baby I will Make You Sweat (1994) and La Moderna Poesia (2000) by experimental and underground artist Birgit Hein. These films combine incongruous and even conflicting representational strategies that particularly enable an exploration of visual alterity. Both films on the one hand narrate a highly subjective experience of self/other relations within the context of a travel narrative: a woman seeking to recapture some sense of life, travels to an unfamiliar destination, enters into new environments and takes up relationships, sometimes intimate, with strangers. On the other hand they both rely on a form of aesthetic abstraction that leaves the film without renaissance perspective, panoptic organizing, shot-reverse shot, continuity editing, i.e. an of the typical representational strategies of alterity found in narrative films.
Vibrational spectrum and structure of metal cyanide complexes in the solid state—V: K2Zn(CN)4, K2Cd(CN)4 and K2Hg(CN)4

Abstract The infrared spectra of single crystals of K2Zn(CN)4, K2Cd(CN)4 and K2Hg(CN)4 have been observed. Using Raman data of other authors along with this infrared data we have assigned all fundamental frequencies, except those of E-symmetry, for the isolated ions. Force constants were calculated using a diagonal symmetry valence force field. It is shown that in this case it is a reasonable approximation to neglect the off-diagonal symmetry valence force constants. Some details of the bonding in these complexes, as implied by the force constants, are discussed.
Mary and Max [Motion Picture], Produced by Melanie Coombs, Directed by Adam Elliot

Mary and Max is the story of a young girl who lives in Australia and a man in his forties who lives alone in an apartment in New York City. They write letters to each other until Mary is about 25 y...
Contributions of pulmonary perfusion and ventilation to heterogeneity in V˙a/Q˙measured by PET

Treppo, Steven, Srboljub M. Mijailovich, and Jose G. Venegas. Contributions of pulmonary perfusion and ventilation to heterogeneity in V˙a/Q˙measured by PET. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(4): 1163–1176, 199...
Bird Conservation Status and Meaningful Socioeconomic Correlates in Central America: Results from an Open Access Data-Mining Approach for Parrots Using Machine Learning Indicate Serious Economic Problems

It is well known and documented that human impacts of economic growth in combination with social factors are threatening many of the current critically threatened bird species, such as parrots. This chapter focuses on the contribution of global economic growth to Central American bird species extinction, using categories established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Recent measurements of Quarkonia and Drell-Yan production in proton — Nucleus collisions

Abstract Recent data and theory for the production of Drell-Yan, heavy quarks and Quarkonia are reviewed. QCD theory is shown to do an excellent job of treating Drell-Yan and heavy quark production, but conventional models for quarkonia fail dramatically. The new Color Octet Model may provide the solution. If correct, the model predicts that strong nuclear effects will be observed in J ψ production, in agreement with the data.
Fracture Behavior of Cyclically Loaded PZT

The fracture behavior of PZT specimens driven at their resonant frequency by the application of an ac voltage was investigated and compared with fracture behavior of monotonically loaded PZT. Microcracking was observed in the cyclically loaded specimens; above 150°C, the micro-cracks were dispersed in small clusters, while at T≤ 86°C, microcracks were generated in a densely populated region near the failure site (indentation). Macrocrack growth also demonstrated a temperature dependence, with crack growth occurring at T > 150°C but not at T≤ 86°C.
Laparoscopic urology: Past, present, and future

Laparoscopy has begun to have a significant impact on the management of urologic problems. Although initially limited to diagnostic pediatric problems, it has more recently been used to resolve myriad adult urologic conditions. Indeed, during the past year laparoscopic urology has moved well beyond the diagnosis of the undescended testicle and has been successfully used for pelvic lymphadenectomy, varicocelectomy, ureterolysis, drainage of a pelvic lymphocele, bladder suspension, and nephrectomy. Future applications of laparoscopy in urology may well include nephroureterectomy, cystectomy, and creation of an ileal conduit.
High‐temperature rate constants for H/D + C2H6 and C3H8

The reactions of H/D with C2H6 and C3H8 have been studied with both shock-tube experiments and ab initio transition-state theory calculations. Rate constants for the reactions of D with C2H6 and C3H8 have been measured in reflected shock wave experiments over the temperature range, 1128–1299 K, at pressures 0.3–1 atm. D atoms are detected using atomic resonance absorption spectrometry. The measured D-atom profiles are sensitive to only the thermal dissociation of the D-atom source molecule, C2D5I, and to the title reactions. Since the dissociation has been previously studied in this laboratory, modeling the temporal evolution of the D-atom profiles allows determinations of the rate constants for the title reactions. Over the T range, 1128–1228 K, rate constants from the present experiments for D + C2H6 can be represented by the Arrhenius expression The experimental total rate constants for D + C3H8 over the T range, 1128–1299 K, can be represented by the Arrhenius expression The title reactions have been studied at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pv∞z level of theory using saddle point geometries at B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p) and MP2/6-311++G(d,p) levels of theory. The reaction endothermicities are in good agreement with current Active Thermochemical Tables values. Theoretical rate constants were estimated using transition state theory. The theoretical rate constants are in good agreement with the present experiments and lower temperature literature data. Over the T range of the present experiments, the theoretically predicted isotope effects are close to unity. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 44: 194–205, 2012
Selective screening for amino acid disorders

The analysis of amino acids is the most frequently applied technique in the selective screening of inborn errors of metabolism. When urine is used as a starting material, simple techniques such as thin-layer chromatography or highvoltage electrophoresis is preferred as a first approach. The quantitative analysis requires instrumentation, usually an amino acid analyser. Both plasma and urine are needed for establishing renal transport defects. Apart from the accumulation of the ‘usual’ amino acids, the presence of unusual amino acids may be of diagnostic significance. Furthermore the finding of decreased plasma concentrations of specific amino acids may pinpoint several inherited defects. No amino acid screening procedure is complete without the availability of an organic acid and a purine/ pyrimidine analytical system, both yielding important additional diagnostic information. Considerable clinical problems may occur in subjects with a decreased tolerance to protein amino acids without being homozygous for any inherited defect. Examples of these disorders that need further studies are homocysteinaemia associated with vascular disease and carriers of ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency.
The critical inclination in artificial satellite theory

Certain it is that the critical inclination in the main problem of artificial satellite theory is an intrinsic singularity. Its significance stems from two geometric events in the reduced phase space on the manifolds of constant polar angular momentum and constant Delaunay action. In the neighborhood of the critical inclination, along the family of circular orbits, there appear two Hopf bifurcations, to each of which there converge two families of orbits with stationary perigees. On the stretch between the bifurcations, the circular orbits in the planes at critical inclinmation are unstable. A global analysis of the double forking is made possible by the realization that the reduced phase space consists of bundles of two-dimensional spheres. Extensive numerical integrations illustrate the transitions in the phase flow on the spheres as the system passes through the bifurcations.
Distributed dynamic channel access scheduling for ad hoc networks

Three types of collision-free channel access protocols for ad hoc networks are presented. These protocols are derived from a novel approach to contention resolution that allows contending entities to elect one or multiple winners for channel access in any given contention context (e.g., a time slot) in a distributed fashion. The only required information for each entity is the identifiers of its neighbors one and two hops away in the wireless network. The new protocols are shown to be fair and capable of achieving maximal utilization of the channel bandwidth. The delay and throughput characteristics of the contention resolution algorithms are analyzed, and the performance of the three types of channel access protocols is studied by simulations and compared with that of optimal static scheduling algorithms.
Managed Mental Health Care: Intentional Misdiagnosis of Mental Disorders.

Managed health care regulations affect the manner in which counselors provide and deliver services. Counselors are challenged by ethical and legal dilemmas when diagnostic codes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) are not honored for insurance reimbursement. In this article, the authors examine violations of codes of ethics and legal statutes and the consequences related to intentional misdiagnosis of mental disorders for reimbursement. They explore implications for counselors and offer suggestions for professional conduct.
A novel spatiotemporal muscle activity imaging approach based on the Extended Kalman Filter

A novel spatiotemporal muscle activity imaging (sMAI) approach has been developed using the Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to reconstruct internal muscle activities from non-invasive multi-channel surface electromyogram (sEMG) recordings. A distributed bioelectric dipole source model is employed to describe the internal muscle activity space, and a linear relationship between the muscle activity space and the sEMG measurement space is then established. The EKF is employed to recursively solve the ill-posed inverse problem in the sMAI approach, in which the weighted minimum norm (WMN) method is utilized to calculate the initial state and a new nonlinear method is developed based on the propagating features of muscle activities to predict the recursive state. A series of computer simulations was conducted to test the performance of the proposed sMAI approach. Results show that the localization error rapidly decreases over 35% and the overlap ratio rapidly increases over 45% compared to the results achieved using the WMN method only. The present promising results demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing the proposed EKF-based sMAI approach to accurately reconstruct internal muscle activities from non-invasive sEMG recordings.
Temperature-Sensitive Mutations in the Protein Kinase-1 (pk-1) Gene of theAutographa californicaNuclear Polyhedrosis Virus That Block Very Late Gene Expression

Abstract We have developed a genetic screen for temperature-sensitive mutations in the very late transcription apparatus of the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus. This method starts with the BacPAK6 virus, which has the Escherichia coli lacZ gene under the control of the very late polyhedrin promoter. The desired mutants are temperature-sensitive for β-galactosidase production and can be complemented by wild-type virus, which lacks the lacZ gene. Two mutants created by nitrosoguanidine mutagenesis and identified by this screen, and one mutant identified by another screen, have been mapped by marker rescue to the viral protein kinase 1 gene ( pk-1 ). The protein kinase genes of these three mutant viruses have been sequenced, revealing the same point mutation in two of them and a different point mutation in the other. In each case, a single amino acid is changed: In two mutants, XF4 and XF5, Asp 92 is changed to Asn; in the other mutant, KT800, Thr 204 is changed to Ile. Northern blotting of RNA made in cells infected by these three mutant viruses has shown that the accumulation of very late transcripts ( lacZ and p10 ) is temperature-sensitive, but that accumulation of at least one late transcript ( vp39 ) is not temperature-sensitive. Nuclear run-on transcription assays with two of the mutants indicate that very late transcription is somewhat temperature-sensitive, although this defect is not as pronounced as the temperature-sensitivity detected by Northern blotting. Transcription of at least one late gene ( vp39 ) is not temperature-sensitive in cells infected by these two mutants. Thus, it appears that the viral protein kinase-1 is involved in very late gene expression. Some of this effect is at the transcription level, but some may also be exerted at the posttranscription level.
Digital magnetooptic disk drive

A magnetooptical disk drive employing some useful techniques for high performance has been developed for digital file use. A quadrilayer structure with AlN films promises high reliability of the medium as well as enhancement of Kerr rotation. The azimuth of the polarization plane is also increased by the beam splitter, of which Rs (reflectivity of S wave) is larger than Rp (reflectivity of P wave). Parallel control of both actuator and linear motor is used for high tracking accuracy. 4/5 MNRZI modulation is found to be a useful modulation method for the magnetooptical memory system.
Ethical Frameworks of "Tomorrow's Business Leaders"

This research explores the influence of five ethical frameworks on business students’ decision regarding the resolution of an ethical dilemma in a simulation. The frameworks of ethical tests are: Utilitarianism (the greatest good for the greatest number); Self-interest (maximizing the benefits to the individual); Categorical Imperative (universal principles of morality); Legality (rules, laws, etc.); and Light of Day (possibility of one’s actions being discovered). Results showed that the strongest influences were the Categorical Imperative, Self-Interest, and Legality. Among demographic variables, only age was related to the students’ decision or the ethical tests.
Velocity and thermal structure, and strain-induced extinction of 14 to 100% hydrogen-air counterflow diffusion flames

Extensive results from axisymmetric convergent-nozzle and straight-tube opposed jet burners (OJBs) characterized strain-induced extinction of unanchored (free-floating), laminar H 2 /N 2 -air flames. Parameters included (a) plug-flow and parabolic input velocity profiles, (b) jet exit diameters ranging 2.7 to 7.2 mm for nozzles and 1.8 to 10 mm for tubes, (c) various relative jet gaps, and (d) 14 to 100% H 2 in the fuel jet. Extinction, a sudden rupture (blowoff) of the mostly-airside disk flame, occurred as fuel and air flows were slowly increased and a critical radial strain rate was exceeded. The disk flame was restored at much lower flows, unique to H 2 systems. Focusing schlieren, thermocouple, and airside LDV (and PIV) data confirmed the one-dimensional (I-D) character of nozzle-OJB flow fields; axial widths of velocity- and thermal-layers varied as (input strain rate) −1/2 for both nozzles and tubes. The global approximation of a I-D applied stress rate (ASR), using average air jet velocity divided by exit diameter, enabled high quality correlations of extinction data with varied H 2 concentrations, for both nozzles and tubes. Pre-extinction ASRs for nozzles agreed closely with LDV-measured centerline input strain rates; for tubes, however, an empirical factor of 3 produced close agreement. For methane-air extinction, nozzle-OJB ASRs agreed within 4% of independent nozzle and Tsuji burner results. For extinction of 100% H 2 -air, an ASR of 5670 1/s compared with 7350, 8140, and 8060 from independent 1-D numerical evaluations using potential-flow inputs; for 50 to 14% H 2 inputs, agreement was much closer. The nozzle-ASR/tube-ASR ratio for extinction was ≥3 for 2 inputs, 2.74 ± 0.03 for 50 to 100% H 2 inputs, and 2.83 for methane-air. Because these ratios exceeded 2.0, which “accounted” for centerline velocity inputs from parabolic profiles, an additional 3/2 radial strain component was apparent and was supported by the axial velocity gradient measurements.
The Things We Carry

This article takes as its starting point Tim O'Brien's famous essay, “The Things They Carried,” a fictional evocation of tangible and intangible items that Vietnam War soldiers hauled around with them in the field. “The Things We Carry,” by contrast, analyzes the theoretical ideas and various components of social identity that anthropologists bring with them to the communities in which they carry out research. This article focuses especially on the author's status as a young married male conducting fieldwork in the part of southern Spain known as Andalusia. Access to field data did not depend in this case solely on the social structure and prevalent ideology of the community itself. Rather, the social and intellectual attributes of the author—that which he carried with him—proved crucial in guiding the research outcome.
Potential coatings for Li/V system: Nuclear performance and design issues

Abstract Many oxide and nitride coatings are under consideration worldwide for vanadium (V) structure to mitigate the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) pumping power losses for the self-cooled lithium (Li) blanket system. To date, researchers have focused on the MHD resistance, compatibility, adherence, thermodynamic, and interface issues, paying little attention to the nuclear concerns. This assessment examines the nuclear-related issues for the leading coatings proposed for the self-healing approach in particular. Specifically, we assessed the impact of the coating additives to Li on the breeding potential of a typical Li/V system. An important outcome of this study has been to identify the coatings that compromise the breeding and rank the remaining candidates based on their nuclear behavior using the ARIES-RS operating conditions. It appears likely that the nuclear requirements will have an important impact on the choice of the coating material and on the maximum coating concentration in Li. Potential solutions that mitigate the effect of coatings and compensate for the breeding losses are discussed in the paper. However, these solutions introduce additional requirements and concerns that must be considered in future studies.
Ramos‐Arroyo syndrome: Long‐term follow‐up of previously reported family

Here we report on a family with corneal anesthesia, absence of the peripapillary choriocapillaris and retinal pigment epithelium, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, unusual facial appearance, persistent ductus arteriosus, Hirschsprung disease, and moderate mental retardation. The first two generations of this family were reported previously by Ramos-Arroyo et al. [Ramos-Arroyo et al., 1987]. Two further affected individuals have been born into this family and we have observed additional manifestations not previously reported that appear to be part of this syndrome. The differential diagnosis of the condition is also discussed. We think this is a distinct autosomal dominant syndrome with variable expressivity, and have named the disorder the Ramos-Arroyo syndrome.
Acute promyelocytic leukaemia and acquired α‐2‐plasmin inhibitor deficiency: a retrospective look at the use of epsilon‐aminocaproic acid (Amicar) in 30 patients

Bleeding diathesis and a hyper-fibrinolytic state often accompany a diagnosis of Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia (APML). This complication can have grave effects if not successfully treated, with a 10–20% incidence of haemorrhagic death. We hypothesized that α-2-antiplasmin levels would correlate with the risk for bleeding, and that administration of epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) would attenuate that risk. To assess this, we conducted a retrospective chart review analyzing 30 APML patients, 17 of whom were treated with EACA. Thirty patients were treated, 21 with primary induction therapy. Patients with low α-2-antiplasmin levels were treated with a coagulopathy protocol consisting of low-dose heparin, EACA and blood product support. Seventeen patients (57%) developed haemorrhagic complications during their treatment. The presence and grade of haemorrhage appeared to be associated with the α-2-antiplasmin level. There were no grade IV haemorrhages or episodes of haemorrhagic death. One episode of central venous catheter associated thromboembolism and three deaths from infection during chemotherapy were observed. α-2-Antiplasmin levels are a reliable surrogate for fibrinolysis and haemorrhagic risk in patients with APML. Treatment with EACA is a rational way to pharmacologically inhibit fibrinolysis, is associated with a low incidence of severe haemorrhagic events, and appears to be safe with a low risk of thrombosis. Randomized clinical trials further assessing the efficacy and potential toxicity of EACA in inhibiting fibrinolysis in patients with APML are needed.
Finding scientific topics

A first step in identifying the content of a document is determining which topics that document addresses. We describe a generative model for documents, introduced by Blei, Ng, and Jordan [Blei, D. M., Ng, A. Y. & Jordan, M. I. (2003) J. Machine Learn. Res. 3, 993-1022], in which each document is generated by choosing a distribution over topics and then choosing each word in the document from a topic selected according to this distribution. We then present a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for inference in this model. We use this algorithm to analyze abstracts from PNAS by using Bayesian model selection to establish the number of topics. We show that the extracted topics capture meaningful structure in the data, consistent with the class designations provided by the authors of the articles, and outline further applications of this analysis, including identifying “hot topics” by examining temporal dynamics and tagging abstracts to illustrate semantic content.
Lipemia retinalis: Reports of three cases

Abstract These cases occurring in the Mayo Clinic and reported by a Fellow in Ophthalmology of the Mayo Foundation, confirm the view that ophthalmoscopic changes arise when the fat in the blood exceeds four per cent, and quickly disappear when it falls below that proportion. In one of the cases the increase of fat in the blood attended a lymphatic leukemia, and the appearance of the fundus was modified by that disease.
Do adolescent ecstasy users have different attitudes towards drugs when compared to marijuana users

Abstract Background Perceived risk and attitudes about the consequences of drug use, perceptions of others expectations and self-efficacy influence the intent to try drugs and continue drug use once use has started. We examine associations between adolescents’ attitudes and beliefs towards ecstasy use; because most ecstasy users have a history of marijuana use, we estimate the association for three groups of adolescents: non-marijuana/ecstasy users, marijuana users (used marijuana at least once but never used ecstasy) and ecstasy users (used ecstasy at least once). Methods Data from 5049 adolescents aged 12–18 years old who had complete weighted data information in Round 2 of the Restricted Use Files (RUF) of the National Survey of Parents and Youth (NSPY). Data were analyzed using jackknife weighted multinomial logistic regression models. Results Adolescent marijuana and ecstasy users were more likely to approve of marijuana and ecstasy use as compared to non-drug using youth. Adolescent marijuana and ecstasy users were more likely to have close friends who approved of ecstasy as compared to non-drug using youth. The magnitudes of these two associations were stronger for ecstasy use than for marijuana use in the final adjusted model. Our final adjusted model shows that approval of marijuana and ecstasy use was more strongly associated with marijuana and ecstasy use in adolescence than perceived risk in using both drugs. Conclusion Information about the risks and consequences of ecstasy use need to be presented to adolescents in order to attempt to reduce adolescents’ approval of ecstasy use as well as ecstasy experimentation.
Assessing certainty of activation or inactivation in test–retest fMRI studies

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is widely used to study activation in the human brain. In most cases, data are commonly used to construct activation maps corresponding to a given paradigm. Results can be very variable, hence quantifying certainty of identified activation and inactivation over studies is important. This paper provides a model-based approach to certainty estimation from data acquired over several replicates of the same experimental paradigm. Specifically, the p-values derived from the statistical analysis of the data are explicitly modeled as a mixture of their underlying distributions; thus, unlike the methodology currently in use, there is no subjective thresholding required in the estimation process. The parameters governing the mixture model are easily obtained by the principle of maximum likelihood. Further, the estimates can also be used to optimally identify voxel-specific activation regions along with their corresponding certainty measures. The methodology is applied to a study involving a motor paradigm performed on a single subject several times over a period of two months. Simulation experiments used to calibrate performance of the method are promising. The methodology is also seen to be robust in determining areas of activation and their corresponding certainties.
Obese patients benefit from minimally invasive colorectal cancer surgery.

Background. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for colorectal cancer offers improved short-term outcomes compared with open surgery. However, there is concern that MIS is more difficult in obese patients and may be associated with worse oncologic outcomes while failing to preserve short-term benefits. We hypothesized that obese patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) would benefit from MIS. Methods. Retrospective database review. Results. Database review identified 155 obese patients undergoing resections for CRC from 2002-2009. Open cases accounted for 73% (N = 113) and MIS for 27% (N = 42). Conversion from MIS to open surgery occurred in 26% of cases. Obese patients had a non-significantly decreased rate of wound infection after MIS (21%) versus open surgery (28%, P < 0.645), while the incidence of other complications did not differ by surgical approach. The MIS cohort demonstrated faster return of bowel function and returned home a median of 2 days faster group than in the open surgery group (P < 0.003). From an oncologic standpoint, MIS was at least equivalent to open surgery as median number of lymph nodes extracted (20 versus 15, P < 0.073) and proportion of margin negative resections (97% versus 98%, P < 0.654) did not significantly differ between the two groups. Conclusions. Minimally invasive surgery for CRC is safe and effective in obese patients since bowel function recovers rapidly, and hospital stay is significantly reduced while the quality of oncologic care is maintained.
Exposure of human ovarian carcinoma to cisplatin transiently sensitizes the tumor cells for liposome-mediated gene transfer.

Abstract Human ovarian carcinoma cells (line 2008) grown as subcutaneous solid tumor in the severe combined immunodeficient mouse can be transfected by directly injecting a plasmid DNA-liposome complex into the tumor (in situ lipofection). The level of reporter gene expression in the tumor cells was significantly elevated if the animal received a single i.p. injection of cisplatin 1 week before the lipofection. Sensitization of the tumor for lipofection peaked 1 week after cisplatin injection and declined thereafter. Cells exposed to low concentration of cisplatin in vitro for four to five doubling times also showed elevated sensitivity for lipofection in vitro. Cisplatin was the only anticancer drug tested that exhibited this activity. These results suggest a sequential combinational gene therapy protocol with cisplatin for the ovarian carcinoma.
Behavior-associated changes in blood pressure during heroin self-administration

Changes in arterial blood pressure (ABP) were studied in freely moving rats during the development and performance of operant IV heroin self-administration (SA) behavior (100 micrograms/kg/injection). Heroin SA was accompanied by bidirectional, phasic ABP fluctuations in the absence of significant alterations in long-term, basal ABP levels. In trained rats, ABP gradually increased starting 5 min before each lever-press for the drug, reached a peak at the moment of lever-press and abruptly decreased after heroin infusion. This biphasic pattern corresponded to a preresponding behavioral activation followed by a postheroin sedation. These ABP fluctuations were absent during the initial heroin self-injections in drug-naive rats and during the first self-injections of a session in trained rats. A slight hypo- and hypertension were seen in these cases, respectively. The postdrug ABP decrease became more pronounced after rats received a double dose of heroin. With training, nonreinforced lever-presses and sound stimulation previously associated with heroin self-injections also significantly decreased ABP. Thus, a gradual ABP increase appears to be an essential correlate of drug-seeking and -taking behavior, while a subsequent ABP decrease may be related to the alleviation of these behaviors by heroin and possibly correlate to its rewarding (euphorigenic) action.
German Literature and Culture under Revue: Learner Autonomy and Creativity through the Theme‐Based Theater Practicum

This article proposes a theatrically oriented, thematically structured course model for the upper level undergraduate German curriculum. The traditional focus on staging a single play in the German foreign language theater practicum neglects theater's potential to explore other literary genres and cultural texts and runs the danger of becoming an overly teacher-centered endeavor. But a thematically organized theater practicum supplants the dramatic text as the sole unifying element and creates more space for students to determine the shape and content of the final performance. Based on experience with teaching three iterations of such a course, I introduce strategies from drama pedagogy and creative writing that can be used to explore literary and cultural texts and simultaneously generate material for a final, cabaret-style production. Via specific examples, I consider how theater strategies can provide an engaging yet critical pathway into second-language literature and culture and make a case for further experimentation with theater as both a medium and a method in German literature and culture courses.
Calorimetry At 10.6 /μm Using Organic Volume Absorbers

Copper-Kapton laminate foils will be utilized as isoperibol calorimeters for pulsed energy measurements at Antares with apertures up to 1.5 m. These are volume absorbing calorimeters in which the radiation is absorbed in a layer tens of wavelengths thick, thereby reducing surface temperature and increasing damage threshold as compared to surface absorbing calorimeters. Kapton was chosen for its high absorption coefficient, 330 cm-1 at P(20) in the 10 pm band of CO2, and its useful short pulse damage threshold, 2.8 J/cm2. The copper backing integrates the absorbed heat pulse. The resultant temperature pulse is sensed by Type E thermocouples (chrome-constantan) soldered to the copper. Time vs voltage traces of the thermocouples can then be analyzed to obtain the energy absorbed. Calorimeters can be fabricated to virtually any size or shape, using photo-lithographic techniques. Utilizing single elements or several in a thermopile further expands the versatility of this technique.© (1981) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Special considerations for the HIV-infected patient with preterm labor.

It is essential that women admitted for PTL have a confidential review of maternal history and prenatal record for HIV serostatus. Combination ARV therapy should be continued during tocolysis of PTL and, if tocolysis fails, through delivery. Counseling and rapid HIV testing should be performed in the intrapartum or postnatal periods if the woman's serostatus has not been determined. Women identified as being HIV infected who are in labor should be treated with (1) ZDV in labor and for 6 weeks to the neonate, (2) NVP single dose to the mother in labor and single dose to the neonate, (3) ZDV-3TC in labor and to the neonate for 1 week, or (4) NVP (as above) and the ZDV regimen (as above). Cesarean delivery should be recommended to all women when the most recent viral load is greater than or equal to 1000 copies/mL or is unknown. Those charged with the care of HIV-infected pregnant women should make frequent use of the Public Health Service Website (http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov), which provides a regularly updated, practical, and thorough guide to management of patients who have HIV.
A non-toxic lectin for antigen delivery of plant-based mucosal vaccines

Abstract RicinB, the non-toxic galactose/ N -acetylgalactosamine-binding subunit of ricin, was fused to a model antigen, green fluorescent protein (GFP), and expressed in tobacco plants and hairy root cultures to test for utility in mucosal vaccine delivery/adjuvancy. The fusion protein retained both GFP fluorescence and galactose/galactosamine-binding activity. Intranasal immunization of mice with galactosamine-affinity purified ricinB:GFP recovered from tobacco root cultures triggered significant increases in GFP-specific serum IgGs. This strong humoral response was comparable to that observed following GFP immunization with cholera toxin adjuvant. GFP at the same concentrations but without an adjuvant was non-immunogenic. Induction of higher levels of IgG 1 than IgG 2a following ricinB:GFP immunization suggested the presence of a Th2 response. Serum and fecal anti-GFP IgA were also induced by immunization with ricinB:GFP. Our data suggest that ricinB can be used as an adjuvant and antigen carrier to the mucosa and is efficient in eliciting systemic and mucosal immune responses.
Big Data Text Summarization for Events: A Problem Based Learning Course

Problem/project Based Learning (PBL) is a highly effective student-centered teaching method, where student teams learn by solving problems. This paper describes an instance of PBL applied to digital library education. We show the design, implementation, results, and partial evaluation of a Computational Linguistics course that provides students an opportunity to engage in active learning about adding value to digital libraries with large collections of text, i.e., one aspect of "big data." Students are engaging in PBL with the semester long challenge of generating good English summaries of an event, given a large collection from our webpage archives. Six teams, each working with a different type of event, and applying three different summarization methods, learned how to generate good summaries; these have fair precision relative to the Wikipedia page that describes their event.
An Extensible Framework for Improving a Distributed Software System's Deployment Architecture

A distributed system's allocation of software components to hardware nodes (i.e., deployment architecture) can have a significant impact on its quality of service (QoS). For a given system, there may be many deployment architectures that provide the same functionality, but with different levels of QoS. The parameters that influence the quality of a system's deployment architecture are often not known before the system's initial deployment and may change at runtime. This means that redeployment of the software system may be necessary to improve the system's QoS properties. This paper presents and evaluates a framework aimed at finding the most appropriate deployment architecture for a distributed software system with respect to multiple, possibly conflicting QoS dimensions. The framework supports formal modeling of the problem and provides a set of tailorable algorithms for improving a system's deployment. We have realized the framework on top of a visual deployment architecture modeling and analysis environment. The framework has been evaluated for precision and execution-time complexity on a large number of simulated distributed system scenarios, as well as in the context of two third-party families of distributed applications.
Alert generation and cockpit presentation for an integrated microburst alerting system

Alert generation and cockpit presentation issues for low level wind shear (microburst) alerts are investigated. Alert generation issues center on the development of a hazard criterion which allows integration of both ground based and airborne wind shear detection systems to form an accurate picture of the aviation hazard posed by a particular wind shear situation. A methodology for the testing of a hazard criteria through flight simulation has been developed, and has been used to examine the effectiveness and feasibility of several possible criteria. Also, an experiment to evaluate candidate graphical cockpit displays for microburst alerts using a piloted simulator has been designed.
Studies on Asphaltenes through Analysis of Polar Fractions

Asphaltenes from Mobil crude oil were characterized by fractionation into components of different polarities. The fractions, varying from dense, shiny black particles that displayed a relative amount of order and crystallinity in their structure (the most polar fraction) to light, dull brown powder of a completely amorphous nature (the least polar fraction), revealed no significant differences in structure or content when analyzed by gel permeation chromatography and FTIR spectroscopy, yet displayed significantly different rates of dissolution in a differential reactor using an amphiphile/alkane solution of 10 wt % dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid in heptane. Further analysis suggested that the metal element content, especially iron, nickel, and vanadium, differentiates the most polar and the least polar fractions from each other. The effect of the presence of ferric (Fe3+) iron in an acidic medium during asphaltene precipitation from another crude oil (Chaguaramal) was then systematically studied. The results...
A morpholino phenocopy of the cyclops mutation.

Mutations of the cyclops locus produce a characteristic pattern of abnormalities, including prechordal plate and notochord defects, loss of ventral forebrain tissue with cyclopia, deletion of the medial floor plate cells of the spinal cord, and malformation of the tail (“curly tail down morphology”) (Hatta et al., 1991; Thisse et al., 1994; Yan et al., 1995; Odenthal et al., 2000). The various cyclops alleles can be classified according to the severity of the central nervous system (CNS) and eye defects (Brand et al., 1996). However, cyclops mutations have little or no effect on cardiac left–right asymmetry, which stands in sharp contrast to the strong laterality phenotype of many other midline or curly tail down mutations (Chen et al., 1997; Bisgrove et al., 2000; Chin et al., 2000). The cyclops locus itself encodes a member of the nodal-related subclass of the TGF-b superfamily (Rebagliati et al., 1998; Sampath et al., 1998). Molecular and/or genetic data suggest that the weak and strong cyclops mutations are hypomorphic or null alleles, respectively (Hatta et al., 1991; Halpern et al., 1997; Rebagliati et al., 1998; Sampath et al., 1998; Talbot et al., 1998; Gritsman et al., 1999; Miller and Rebagliati, unpublished data). Consistent with this, we report here that injection of an inhibitory cyclops morpholino (CycMO: 59-GCGACTCCGAGCGTGTGCATGATG-39) reproduces the range of phenotypes seen in existing weak and strong cyclops alleles in a dose-dependent fashion (Table 1). Cyc-MO-injected embryos could be placed into two phenotypic categories: a weak class [cyclopia and loss of ventral forebrain similar to that caused by the weak cylops allele, cyc (Brand et al., 1996); Fig. 1B] and a strong class [more severe cyclopia and more extensive ventral forebrain loss, resembling that of the strong cyclops alleles, cyc (Hatta et al., 1991), cyc (Brand et al., 1996) and cyc (Schier et al., 1996), Fig. 1C–E]. These classes correlated well with the dose of injected morpholino (Table 1). A high dose (8 ng) of a negative control morpholino (GeneTool negative control MO: 59-CCTCTTACCTCAGTTACAATTTATA-39) had no effect (n 5 69, data not shown). Variable CNS necrosis was seen, and was most frequent at the two highest Cyc-MO doses (4 and 8 ng). All cyclopic embryos from the weak and strong classes also showed the curly tail down morphology (Fig. 1G). To determine the occurrence of floor plate defects, Cyc-MO-injected embryos were analyzed by in situ hybridization for netrin expression, which marks the medial floor plate and parts of the brain (Strahle et al., 1997). The cyclops morpholino produced the expected floor plate deficit, as evidenced by the partial or complete loss of netrin staining within the embryonic spinal cord [compare Fig. 1H (uninjected) versus Fig. 1I (Cyc-MO-injected)]. Mutations in squint, another zebrafish nodal-related gene, also cause cyclopia and midline defects. This raises the question as to whether the Cyc-MO could also be
Customer service for hospitality and tourism

In Customer Service for Hospitality and Tourism, the authors, Simon Hudson and Louise Hudson, aim to provide a comprehensive view of customer service by covering both the theory behind the importan...
Mapping the Critical Links between Supply Chain Evaluation System and Supply Chain Integration Sustainability: An Empirical Study

Supply Chain Integration is widely advocated as an important factor to attain superior supply chain performance. While firms are able to achieve integration, they find it hard to sustain integration. In this paper, the authors argue that to sustain integration partner firms must establish a formal system to evaluate supply chain-wide performance. The authors draw on theories from a number of management disciplines to map the critical links between supply chain evaluation capability and supply chain integration sustainability. The authors develop and test the research model by conducting an empirical study involving 102 firms. The results of the study show that supply chains can sustain integration by establishing a supply chain wide evaluation system.
H-bond acidity of solvents: II. Transformation of the Snyder chi proton donor scale to the Taft-Kamlet alpha scale

By including a solvent cohesion term it was possible to transform Snyder's χd scale into the Taft-Kamlet α scale for aliphatic H-bonding solvents. The transforming equation was: $$\alpha = 2.386_{\chi d} + 1.27\alpha \beta - 0.482$$ where αβ is the product of solvent acidity and basicity. Alpha is estimated for several solvents previously not thought to posses H-donor ability. These are dimethyl sulfoxide, nitroethane, dimethylformamide, dioxane, dimethylacetamide, propylene carbonate, ethyl acetate, butyrolactone, N-methylpyrrolidinone, and cyclohexanone.
Study on operation characteristics and stability evaluation method at sending-end of DC transmission system

For the situation that many Ultra-HVDC projects can not reach the maximum transmission capacity in the beginning of operation. Considering more Ultra-HVDC projects put into operation recently, this paper analyzed key facts limiting transmission capability at the sending-end of Ultra-HVDC from static stability, voltage fluctuation and AC-DC coupling characteristics. Furthermore, based on short-circuit ratio which is usually in receiving-end of DC, analyzes the relationship between short-circuit ratio of sending-end of DC and maximum transmission capability, and the critical short-circuit ratio maintaining stable operation of system at sending-end of DC transmission is given. Considering these HVDC projects that have been put into operation recently and based on various operation modes in AC&DC system, this paper firstly studied on the mutual influence between AC systems and DC systems, and finally provides comprehensive analysis on the power angel, voltage and frequency problems that may threaten the operation of the power grid at DC sending-end and proposes not only the key factors affecting the stability of the power system at DC sending-end and transmission capability of the DC system but also the corresponding solutions. Meanwhile, based on the short circuit ratio that is often used to evaluate the stability of the power system at DC receiving-end, we also investigate the relationship between the short circuit ratio of the DC sending-end system and the maximum transmission capability of DC system and give the critical short circuit ratio of the stable operation of the DC sending-end power system. Finally, according to the above research, we propose the comprehensive indexes for evaluating the stability of the DC sending-end power system. Our research, considering both the theory and the reality, has great value on guarantying the stability of the DC sending-end power system.