cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Qβ replicase: Mapping the functional domains of an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase

Abstract We have localized a functional region of the RNA bacteriophage Qβ replicase following an extensive mutational analysis. Using the method of oligonucleotide linker-insertion mutagenesis, we specifically introduced mutations into a cloned DNA copy of the Qβ replicase gene so that the resulting replicase products would putatively contain small amino acid insertions. In a selective phenotypic assay, we screened mutant replicases for RNA-directed replication activity in vivo. Analysis of 37 different mutant clones indicated that Qβ replicase can accept amino acid substitutions and insertions at several sites at the amino and carboxy termini without abolishing functional activity in vivo or in vitro. However, disruption within the internal amino acid sequence resulted almost exclusively in nonfunctional enzyme. The results suggest that the central region of the replicase protein contains a rigid amino acid composition that is required for replicase function, whereas the amino and carboxy termini are much more receptive to small amino acid insertions and substitutions. These experiments should further enable us to analyze the coding function of the Qβ replicase gene independently of other phage RNA functions contained within this nucleotide region.
Semiautomatic segmentation of atherosclerotic carotid artery wall volume using 3D ultrasound imaging.

This thesis has been embargoed for 6 months and will not be available until November 2, 2014.
Measuring and modelling changes in strategy: Theoretical foundations and empirical directions

Confronted by increasingly turbulent and complex environments, general managers have become more interested in understanding the conditions and forces that enable or disable successful changes in organizational strategies. Yet, largely because of their tendency to use fuzzy definitions and inadequate methodologies, empirical studies of changes in strategy have not provided practitioners with a set of well-tested theories. To provide a basis for circumscribing, evaluating, and directing future research, this paper begins by developing a framework for assessing and modelling changes in strategy. After discussing the forces that influence their occurrence and performance outcomes, the paper reviews a representative sample of empirical studies in terms of two major questions: (1) how are changes in strategy conceptualized and modelled? and (2) what methods of observation and analysis are employed? This review concludes with a report of important patterns and concerns followed by suggestions for future research.
The Politics of the Child's Right to Identity in a Disability-Free Society

The essay examines the legal and moral implications of pre-natal genetic selection of disability in the context of children. I build on scholarly literature on the politics of identity and of culture to explore whether scientific developments prompt a child's "right to a sound mind and body." I consider this question in light of international human rights standards, including the recent European Conventions on Human Rights and Biomedicine, and particularly, the child's right to identity. I propose a new dual model to evaluate such biomedical decisions from a child-centred approach. What is the interplay between the parental right to reproductive freedom and the rights of the child? Where are the children themselves configured in these developments? How can such biomedical decisions be translated into the child's voice? And to what extent do such scientific techniques correspond to the recognition of children under the International Convention on the Rights of the Child as social agents in their own right?
A theory of antibody induction: Conceptual model system and analog computer analysis

Abstract A theory is presented for the induction of antibody synthesis and a functional role for antigenic determinant in this process is proposed. Basic structural and bond requirements are outlined for the antigenic determinant. A conceptual model system is developed and formulated mathematically. A set of differential equations are programmed for an analog computer, and kinetic characteristics of the system are studied. The relation between antigen concentration and antibody synthesis is determined in various experimental conditions.
Two high schools and the road to full inclusion: A comparison study

This article documents a roadmap for developing fully inclusive school sites at the secondary level. Full inclusion is defined as placement in the general education classroom for all students with ...
A 15-Year Follow-Up of a Boy With Pyridoxine (Vitamin B6)-Dependent Seizures With Autism, Breath Holding, and Severe Mental Retardation:

Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) (2q31) dependency is a rare autosomal-recessive disorder that causes a severe seizure disorder of prenatal or neonatal onset. The abnormality appears to inhibit the binding of vitamin B6 to the enzyme glutamic acid decarboxylase-1, which is needed for the biosynthesis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Most patients with pyridoxine-dependent seizures require lifelong treatment with pyridoxine. The full range of associated symptomatology is unknown since fewer than 100 cases have been reported. A majority of cases are mentally retarded. We report a 15-year-old boy with pyridoxine-dependent seizures, nonpyridoxine-dependent seizures, severe mental retardation, autistic disorder, aerophagia, breath holding, and self-injury. This complex outcome should alert clinicians to the wide range of neuropsychiatric outcomes associated with this disorder.
Attenuation of Babesia bovis by in vitro cultivation.

Abstract A virulent strain of Babesia bovis was adapted to grow in erythrocyte culture in the presence of equine serum and in lieu of bovine serum. Four splenectomized calves inoculated with the adapted strain, 429, developed hematologic signs of infection and a low grade fever, but remained free of central nervous system (CNS) signs and recovered. All of six control animals inoculted with a virulent strain reacted severely and five showed CNS signs and died. The calves injected with the attenuated strain were solidly immune when challenged with the virulent strain at 44 or 78 days after vaccination.
The effect of general knowledge on source memory and decision processes

Abstract Two experiments explored how semantic information affects episodic source decisions. Fictitious sources presented statements consistent with their respective professions, consistent with the other source’s profession, and neutral with respect to either profession. Knowledge of the professions was manipulated as being available during encoding and retrieval, during retrieval only, or not at all. Source decisions for profession-related statements were biased by knowledge of the sources’ professions only in the retrieval schema condition. Knowledge of the sources’ professions at encoding actually prevented reliance on profession schemas, resulting in no bias at test. Experiment 2 demonstrated further that the response bias was not due simply to subjective guessing, but was in fact more prominent in higher levels of confidence associated with source decisions. We discuss the implications of these results for the manner in which general semantic knowledge affects source memory and decision processes.
Long-term effects of lithium carbonate on serum protein bound iodine in affective disorders

Abstract 1. 1. Seventy five manic depressive patients were placed on lithium carbonate 300 mg t.i.d. Excluded from the study were patients on hormone therapy or with known renal, cardiovascular, thyroid or other endocrine disorders, and females who were or might become pregnant. 2. 2. Pretreatment protein bound iodine (PBI) were available on 56 patients and all patients returned for PBI every three months. The mean PBI of 56 patients dropped from 6.3 ± 0.3 μg% at pretreatment to 5.7 ± 0.3 μg% (p 3. 3. Analysis of the mean change in PBI from pretreatment to the average of all values for each patient during each succeeding year showed a downward trend. The four patients who continued into the fourth year showed mean drop of 2.2 ± 0.6 μg% (p
Genetic predisposition directs breast cancer phenotype by dictating progenitor cell fate

Women with inherited mutations in the BRCA1 gene have increased risk of developing breast cancer but also exhibit a predisposition for the development of aggressive basal-like breast tumors. We report here that breast epithelial cells derived from patients harboring deleterious mutations in BRCA1 (BRCA1(mut /+) give rise to tumors with increased basal differentiation relative to cells from BRCA1+/+ patients. Molecular analysis of disease-free breast tissues from BRCA1(mut /+) patients revealed defects in progenitor cell lineage commitment even before cancer incidence. Moreover, we discovered that the transcriptional repressor Slug is an important functional suppressor of human breast progenitor cell lineage commitment and differentiation and that it is aberrantly expressed in BRCA1(mut /+) tissues. Slug expression is necessary for increased basal-like phenotypes prior to and after neoplastic transformation. These findings demonstrate that the genetic background of patient populations, in addition to affecting incidence rates, significantly impacts progenitor cell fate commitment and, therefore, tumor phenotype.
Global Surface Remeshing Using Symmetric Delaunay Triangulation in Uniformization Spaces

Surface remeshing plays a fundamental role in digital geometry processing. In this paper, we present a novel framework for global surface remeshing based on symmetric Delaunay triangulations on the uniformization spaces. Surfaces with arbitrary topologies can be uniformized to one of three canonical uniformization spaces: the sphere, the Euclidean plane and the hyperbolic plane. The uniformization process induces a symmetry group. A triangulation on the original surface is converted to a triangulation on the uniformization space, which is invariant under the symmetry group, and vice versa. Furthermore, the uniformization process preserves angles, so a symmetric dense Delaunay triangulation on the uniformization space induces a good triangulation on the original surface. We construct the uniformization of surfaces with arbitrary topologies using Ricci flow, and apply orbit insertion technique to the Delaunay refinement algorithm which ensures the symmetry. Experimental results demonstrates that our method is global, intrinsic, general and efficient.
Robust cell migration and neuronal growth on pristine carbon nanotube sheets and yarns.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have unique chemical and physical properties anticipated to enable broad novel biomedical applications. Yet the question concerning their biocompatibility remains controversial. We recently reported a method for rapidly preparing strong, highly electrically conducting sheets and yarns from multi-walled CNTs. The present studies demonstrate that highly oriented 50-nm-thick semi-transparent CNT sheets and yarns, produced with a minimal residual content of catalytic transition materials, support the long-term growth of a variety of cell types ranging from skin fibroblasts and Schwann cells, to postnatal cortical and cerebellar neurons. We show that CNT sheets stimulate fibroblast cell migration compared to plastic and glass culture substrates; entice neuronal growth to the level of those achieved on polyornithine-coated glass and can be used for directed cellular growth. These findings have positive implications for the use of CNTs in applications such as tissue engineering, wound hea...
Selective attention to color and location: An analysis with event-related brain potentials

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from subjects as they attended to colored bars that were flashed in random order to the left or right of fixation. The task was to detect slightly smaller target bars having a specified color (red or blue) and location (left or right). The ERP elicited by stimuli at an attended location contained a sequence of phasic components (P122/N168/N264) that was highly distinct from the sequence associated with selection on the basis of color (N150-350/P199/P400-500). These findings suggested that spatially focused attention involves a gating or modulation of evoked neural activity in the visual pathways, whereas color selection is manifested by an endogenous ERP complex. When the stimulus locations were widely separated, the ERP signs of color selection were hierarchically dependent upon the prior selection for spatial location. In contrast, when the stimulus locations were adjacent to one another, the ERP signs of color selection predominated over those of location selection. These results are viewed as supporting “early selection” theories of attention that specify the rejection of irrelevant inputs prior to the completion of perceptual processing. The implications of ERP data for theories of multidimensional stimulus processing are considered.
Spatially indirect emission in a luminescent nanocrystal molecule.

Recent advances in the synthesis of multicomponent nanocrystals have enabled the design of nanocrystal molecules with unique photophysical behavior and functionality. Here we demonstrate a highly luminescent nanocrystal molecule, the CdSe/CdS core/shell tetrapod, which is designed to have weak vibronic coupling between excited states and thereby violates Kasha’s rule via emission from multiple excited levels. Using single particle photoluminescence spectroscopy, we show that in addition to the expected LUMO to HOMO radiative transition, a higher energy transition is allowed via spatially indirect recombination. The oscillator strength of this transition can be experimentally controlled, enabling control over carrier behavior and localization at the nanoscale.
Human services and the prisoner reentry industry

What is really going on today when men and women coming out of prison go to work in human services—the positive, the negative, and the not easily categorized? This commentary draws critical connections between reentry industrial complex, human services workforce development, and race. Preliminary findings are offered from a pilot study that elicited perspective from human services professionals who have been formerly incarcerated. Directions for further exploration of this phenomenon are proposed.
A structural vignette common to voltage sensors and conduction pores: canaliculi.

I am grateful to Chris Miller and Fred Sigworth for reviewing this manuscript and to Amir Naini for thoughtful discussion and the image of CTX in Figure 1Figure 1. S.A.N.G. is supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Donaghue Foundation, and a grant from American Home Products (Wyeth–Ayerst) to the Yale University Program in Molecular Cardiobiology.
Life-cycle cost–benefit analysis of extensive vegetated roof systems

Abstract The built environment has been a significant cause of environmental degradation in the previously undeveloped landscape. As public and private interest in restoring the environmental integrity of urban areas continues to increase, new construction practices are being developed that explicitly value beneficial environmental characteristics. The use of vegetation on a rooftop—commonly called a green roof—as an alternative to traditional roofing materials is an increasingly utilized example of such practices. The vegetation and growing media perform a number of functions that improve environmental performance, including: absorption of rainfall, reduction of roof temperatures, improvement in ambient air quality, and provision of urban habitat. A better accounting of the green roof's total costs and benefits to society and to the private sector will aid in the design of policy instruments and educational materials that affect individual decisions about green roof construction. This study uses data collected from an experimental green roof plot to develop a benefit cost analysis (BCA) for the life cycle of extensive (thin layer) green roof systems in an urban watershed. The results from this analysis are compared with a traditional roofing scenario. The net present value (NPV) of this type of green roof currently ranges from 10% to 14% more expensive than its conventional counterpart. A reduction of 20% in green roof construction cost would make the social NPV of the practice less than traditional roof NPV. Considering the positive social benefits and relatively novel nature of the practice, incentives encouraging the use of this practice in highly urbanized watersheds are strongly recommended.
TAR processing for CD control in I-line and 248-nm lithography

The combination of dyed photoresist and top antireflection (TAR) coatings was applied to I- line and deep-UV lithography on polysilicon. Optimization of the resist layer's absorption and application of the TAR process significantly improves CD control of submicron gate level lithography.
A focus account of moved wh-phrases at s-structure in Chinese

Abstract Chinese is presumed to lack wh-movement at S-structure (Huang(1982, 1984a)), yet wh-phrases do appear in preclausal position in natural discourse. To deal with this phenomenon, Xu and Langendoen (1985) regard such wh-phrases as base-generated topics. But we will provide evidence showing that these wh-items are indeed moved categories. We assume S-structure move-wh in Chinese to be motivated by an abstract syntactic feature, FOCUS, which interacts with semantic focus in interesting ways. More importantly, we will argue that our move-wh hypothesis allows a unified treatment of wh- and contrastive focused structures in Chinese. In arguing for FOCUSed movement of wh- phrases in Chinese, we propose the dispensation with certain stipulations in Chomsky (1986). That is, in the present analysis, we suggest that (i) IP has the same status as any X max category in terms of barrierhood; and (ii) wh-operators, like other quantifiers, can adloin to IP. We will evaluate the effects of (i) and (ii) on Subjacency and the ECP to illustrate the legitimacy of the postulated mechanisms of FOCUSed movement.
The black dot sign and North American cutaneous blastomycosis.

On Oct. 31, 1969, a 45-year-old black man came to the University of Kentucky Eye Clinic com­ plaining of a skin problem and decreased vision. Seven months previously he had developed a small pustule on the left side of his neck that, over the next several months, extended over the entire an­ terior surface of his neck, face, eyelids, and fore­ head. Five months after the onset, the visual acuity of the left eye decreased. He was seen by an oph­ thalmologist and treated with drops but without benefit. He gave no history of pneumonia or severe cough, but he had been "kicked by a mule" in the right eye at the age of 15 years, and since then had poor vision in the right eye. On examination the visual acuity was 20/200 in the right eye and light perception in the left eye. External examination (Fig. 1) revealed a normal anterior segment on the right, but there was a dense vascularized leukoma on the left. All four eyelids had cicatricial ectropion so severe that the lashes of the upper eyelid mar­ gins were closely approximated to the lower margins of the eyebrows, and the patient was unable to close his eyelids. The tarsal plates were intact. The margins of the eyelid lesions showed no hemor-
Outside Boards and Family Businesses: Another Look:

The debate over the usefulness of outside board members in family businesses goes on. Two of the three empirical studies on this issue tend to disagree on their value. Using a sample of 262 family business firms, drawn from the Business Week Newsletter for Family-Owned Businesses, this study surveyed CEOs to learn of their attitudes toward inside and outside board members. The findings strongly support the inclusion of outsiders and suggest that the more outside board members the better and the more inside family members the worse, but only where CEO desire, careful selection, and shared expectations are part of that outsider membership.
Educational Administration: Theoretical Perspectives on Practice and Research

The article presents a review of the book “Educational Administration: Theoretical Perspectives on Practice and Research,” by Paula Silver.
On the Influence of the Norwegian-Greenland and Weddell Seas Upon the Bottom Waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans

Abstract The bottom waters of the North Pacific and North Indian oceans have temperature and salinity distributions that suggest origins from the extreme waters of the Norwegian-Greenland and Weddell seas. We attempt to trace these waters from their sources to the abyssal Pacific and Indian oceans by examining distributions of temperature and salinity along a stratum defined by density parameters. We assume that the major flow and mixing will take place along such surfaces, though the results make plain that vertical mixing is also important. The density stratum we have chosen to examine extends from the sea surface in the Norwegian-Greenland Sea and from near the surface in the Weddell Sea to depth of about 3500 m in the central oceans and below 4000 m in the North Pacific. The cold and saline water of the Norwegian-Greenland Sea is traced along the density stratum through the Denmark Strait, where vertical mixing raises both temperature and salinity to their maximum values in the central North Atlantic. From there the temperature and salinity decrease monotonically southward toward the Weddell Sea, partly by lateral mixing with the cold, low-salinity waters on this stratum where it lies near the sea surface in the Weddell Sea, and partly by vertical mixing with the underlying Antarctic Bottom Water. From the southern South Atlantic the high values of temperature and salinity (the stratum now lies close to the vertical maximum in salinity) extend eastward with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current into the Indian and Pacific oceans, with monotonically decreasing temperature and salinity as further vertical mixing erodes the maximum in salinity, until the salinity maximum is found at the bottom in the North Pacific Ocean. The stratum we have defined terminates at abyssal depths in the northern Indian and Pacific oceans; since water must rise somewhere to balance the sinking in regions of bottom-water formation, there must be upward flow across the stratum elsewhere. The tremendous areal extent of the salinity maximum, however, suggests that the upward flow through the stratum must be minimal except in the North Indian and North Pacific oceans, where stability is shown to be very low at the depth of the stratum.
Supported Treadmill Training for Gait and Balance in a Patient With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Background and Purpose. Impaired balance, gait disturbances, and frequent falls are common problems in people with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). This case report describes the use of a modified body weight support treadmill training program to reduce falls and improve the balance and gait of a patient with PSP. Case Description. The patient was a 62-year-old man diagnosed with PSP. His major problems were impaired balance and frequent, abrupt falls. Methods. Physical therapy included walk training, balance perturbation, and step training using body weight support with a treadmill. Training sessions lasted 11/2 hours and occurred 3 days a week for 8 weeks. Fall incidence, balance, and gait were assessed before, during, and after the program. Outcomes. The patient reported fewer falls during and after training. Balance and gait improved after training. Discussion. This case report is the first to report fall reduction, improved gait, and improved balance following physical therapy for a person with PSP.
Fractal analysis for classification of breast carcinoma in optical coherence tomography.

The accurate and rapid assessment of tumor margins during breast cancer resection using optical coherence tomography (OCT) has the potential to reduce patient risk. However, it is difficult to subjectively distinguish cancer from normal fibroglandular stromal tissues in OCT images, and an objective measure is needed. In this initial study, we investigate the potential of a one-dimensional fractal box-counting method for cancer classification in OCT. We computed the fractal dimension, a measure of the self-similarity of an object, along the depth axis of 44 ultrahigh-resolution OCT images of human breast tissues obtained from 4 cancer patients. Correlative histology was employed to identify distinct regions of adipose, stroma, and cancer in the OCT images. We report that the fractal dimension of stroma is significantly higher than that of cancer (P < 10−5, t-test). Furthermore, by adjusting the cutoff values of fractal dimension between cancer, stroma, and adipose tissues, sensitivities and specificities of either 82.4% and 88.9%, or 88.2% and 81.5%, are obtained, respectively, for cancer classification. The use of fractal analysis with OCT could potentially provide automated identification of tumor margins during breast-sparing surgery.
The Number of Mutations Selected During Adaptation in a Laboratory Population of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

There is currently limited empirical and theoretical support for the prevailing view that adaptation typically results from the fixation of many mutations, each with small phenotypic effects. Recent theoretical work suggests that, on the contrary, most of the phenotypic change during an episode of adaptation can result from the selection of a few mutations with relatively large effects. I studied the genetics of adaptation by populations of budding yeast to a culture regime of daily hundredfold dilution and transfer in a glucose-limited minimal liquid medium. A single haploid genotype isolated after 2000 generations showed a 76% fitness increase over its ancestor. This evolved haploid was crossed with its ancestor, and tetrad dissections were used to isolate a complete series of six meiotic tetrads. The Castle-Wright estimator of the number of loci at which adaptive mutations had been selected, modified to account for linkage and variation among mutations in the size of their effect, is 4.4. The estimate for a second haploid genotype, isolated from a separate population and with a fitness gain of 60%, was 2.7 loci. Backcrosses to the ancestor with the first evolved genotype support the inference that adaptation resulted primarily from two to five mutations. These backcrosses also indicated that deleterious mutations had hitchhiked with adaptive mutations in this evolved genotype.
The Effect of Debonding Angle on the Reduction of Effective Moduli of Particle and Fiber-Reinforced Composites

In an effort to uncover the effect of interfacial partial debonding on the reduction of composite stiffness, a reduced moduli approach is proposed for the fictitious inclusions which are used to replace the original partially debonded inclusions. The fictitious inclusions are now perfectly bonded to the matrix and any micromechanical theory can be called upon to estimate the moduli of the composite. Using the volume of the inclusion directly beneath the interfacial cracks under the considered loading mode as a measure of damage, a set of anisotropic damage parameters is established in terms of the debonding angle, providing the reduced moduli for the fictitious inclusions. Specific considerations include debonding on the top and bottom of spheres and prolate inclusions, debonding on the lateral surface of spheres and oblate inclusions, and debonding on the top and bottom of circular fibers and elliptic cylinders. The reductions of the five transversely isotropic moduli for the partially debonded particle composites and the nine orthotropic moduli for the partially debonded fiber composites are examined as the debonding angle increases. The theory is also compared with some finite element results, and it suggests that the concept proposed to estimate the reduced moduli of the fictitious inclusions is a viable one. ©2002 ASME
Friction estimation on highway vehicles using longitudinal measurements

This paper develops a real-time tire-road friction coefficient measurement system that can reliably distinguish between different road surface friction levels and quickly detect abrupt changes in friction coefficient. The measurement system relies on the use of differential GPS and utilizes a nonlinear longitudinal tire force model. Compared to previously published results in literature, the advantage of the system developed in this paper is that it is applicable during both vehicle acceleration and braking and works reliably for a wide range of slip ratios, including high slip conditions. The system can be utilized on front/rear-wheel drive as well as all-wheel drive vehicles. Extensive results are presented from experimental results conducted on various surfaces with a winter maintenance vehicle called the SAFEPLOW. The experimental results show that the system performs reliably and quickly in estimating friction coefficient on different road surfaces during various vehicle maneuvers. The developed friction measurement system has many applications in vehicle safety systems such as ABS, skid control and collision avoidance systems and is also useful for winter maintenance vehicles in which knowledge of the friction coefficient can be used to determine the amount and type of deicing chemicals to be applied to a winter roadway.
Monitoring jitter and packet loss in VoIP networks using speech quality features

In VoIP services over heterogeneous networks the values of network parameters, such as packet loss rate, delay and delay jitter are generally unavailable. As a result, ensuring QoS by means of reliable call routing is impaired. In this paper we report on the development of a network conditions estimator, based on the analysis and classification of the received speech signal. The developed system was tested in a variety of network and traffic conditions. It correctly detects network conditions at an average rate of 68%.
Thermal inactivation of lipoxygenase and hydroperoxytrienoic acid lyase in tomatoes

Abstract Lipoxygenase (LOX) and hydroperoxytrienoic acid lyase (HPL) activities were determined in tomato juice from four cultivars of processing tomatoes. Large differences in total activity levels were found between different cultivars. Thermal inactivation kinetics of these two enzymes were determined for two cultivars used in cold break processing. LOX inactivation did not follow simple first order kinetics. The data could be fitted by assuming that three isoforms of LOX are present. HPL inactivation also indicated the presence of labile and resistant forms with the resistant form showing simple first order inactivation kinetics. The inactivation kinetics for both enzymes indicate that they would be rapidly inactivated at the cold break target temperature of 60 °C. It is questionable whether the activity of these two enzymes contributes to the superior flavour associated with products produced by the cold break process.
Perioperative management for patients with complex regional pain syndrome

SUMMARY Our knowledge of complex regional pain syndrome extends from the time of the American Civil War until today. Traumatic or surgical insults can be the precipitating factors in normal patients and can therefore be significant in the exacerbation of the condition. Complex regional pain syndrome patients complain of continuing pain that is disproportionate in severity to the inciting event. The pain is usually accompanied by sensory symptoms, such as allodynia or hyperalgesia, and vasomotor changes, such as changes in color or temperature. There has been increasing research on predicting the development of postoperative complex regional pain syndrome and its prevention. Management includes sympathetic blockades, spinal cord stimulation and medications (such as anticonvulsants, antidepressants, local anesthetics, NMDA antagonists and α-2-adrenergic agonists). In the last few years, several newer medications and supplements to prevent and treat the condition have been studied.
Chaotic Routing: A Set-based Broadcasting Routing Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks

Data communication in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) exhibits distinctive characteristics. Routing in WSNs still relies on simple variations of traditional distance vector or link state based protocols, thus suffering low throughput and less robustness. Drawing intuitions from the Brownian motions where localized momentum exchanges enable global energy diffusion, we propose an innovative routing protocol, chaotic routing (CR), which achieves efficient information diffusion with seemingly chaotic local information exchanges. Leveraging emerging networking concepts such as potential based routing, opportunistic routing and network coding, CR improves throughput via accurate routing cost estimation, opportunistic data forwarding and localized node scheduling optimizing information propagation in mesh structures. Through extensive simulations, we prove that CR outperforms, in terms of throughput, best deterministic routing scheme (i.e. best path routing) by a factor of around 300% and beats the best opportunistic routing scheme (i.e. MORE) by a factor of around 200%. CR shows stable performance over wide range of network densities, link qualities and batch sizes.
Bimechanistic phase transfer catalyzed polythioetherification

Relative concentrations of catalysts, sulfide catalyst structure, and organic phase monomer concentration were studied for the bimechanistic phase transfer catalyzed (BPTC) polymerization of aqueous sodium sulfide with 1,8-dibromooctane (DBO). BPTC is a new phase transfer mechanism which combines the effects of normal phase transfer with “inverse” phase transfer catalyzed reactions. Two catalysts are used: an ammonium salt and a cyclic or acyclic sulfide. With hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTMAC) and tetrahydrothiophene (THT), the optimum catalyst concentrations were found to be 10 mol-% and 5 mol-%, respectively, per DBO, but each was independent of the other. Diluting the monomer with o-dichlorobenzene did not significantly alter the mechanism's profile, but expectedly lowered obtainable molecular weight. Of five sulfide catalysts examined, pentamethylene sulfide and dimethyl sulfide were the best, producing the highest molecular weight polyaliphatic sulfides with polydispersities Mw/Mn of ca. 1,3.
Field Attraction of Codling Moths (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) to Apple and Pear Fruit, and Quantitation of Kairomones from Attractive Fruit

Abstract Male and female codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) responded to fruit-baited traps in orchards. Numbers of codling moths trapped with immature uninfested apples (Malus spp.), immature apples infested with larval codling moth, fresh ripe apples, stored ripe apples, or fresh ripe pears (Pyrus spp.) were significantly greater than in unbaited traps. Greatest numbers of codling moths were captured in traps baited with ripe ‘Bartlett’ pears, but direct comparisons of these fruit types were not made. Females captured in traps baited with ripe apples or pears were primarily mated and had developing or mature eggs, and smaller numbers of females trapped were unmated without eggs or were postreproductive. Volatile compounds sampled from infested immature ‘Red Delicious’ apples that were attractive in traps showed emission of two known codling moth host kairomones: (E,E)-α-farnesene as well as small amounts of β-caryophyllene. Collections of volatile chemicals from ripe ‘Braebur...
Lower level duality and the global solution of generalized semi-infinite programs

The reformulation of generalized semi-infinite programs (GSIP) to simpler problems is considered. These reformulations are achieved under the assumption that a duality property holds for the lower level program (LLP). Lagrangian duality is used in the general case to establish the relationship between the GSIP and a related semi-infinite program (SIP). Practical aspects of this reformulation, including how to bound the duality multipliers, are also considered. This SIP reformulation result is then combined with recent advances for the global, feasible solution of SIP to develop a global, feasible point method for the solution of GSIP. Reformulations to finite nonlinear programs, and the practical aspects of solving these reformulations globally, are also discussed. When the LLP is a linear program or second-order cone program, specific duality results can be used that lead to stronger results. Numerical examples demonstrate that the global solution of GSIP is computationally practical via the solution of ...
Real-Time Prognostics of a Rotary Valve Actuator

Valves are used in many domains and often have system-critical functions. As such, it is important to monitor the health of valves and their actuators and predict remaining useful life. In this work, we develop a model-based prognostics approach for a rotary valve actuator. Due to limited observability of the component with multiple failure modes, a lumped damage approach is proposed for estimation and prediction of damage progression. In order to support the goal of real-time prognostics, an approach to prediction is developed that does not require online simulation to compute remaining life, rather, a function mapping the damage state to remaining useful life is found offline so that predictions can be made quickly online with a single function evaluation. Simulation results demonstrate the overall methodology, validating the lumped damage approach and demonstrating real-time prognostics.
Organizational Commitment and Marketing

The concept of commitment as a dimension of marketers' job performance has received little attention in the marketing literature. This article develops a commitment model, conducts a partial test o...
Phase I dose escalation trial of sorafenib as a single agent for adults with relapsed and refractory acute leukemias

7065 Background: Sorafenib is a multikinase inhibitor with activity against B-raf, VEGF, and FLT3. Based on preclinical activity in FLT3 mutant AML, sorafenib was studied in refractory acute leukem...
Meaning Made, Distress, and Growth: An Examination of the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale

A number of measures aim to assess aspects of the postevent meaning process. The relevant constructs are conceptualized differently, but few studies have examined the convergent and incremental validity of these various measures. Holland et al. (2010) developed the Integration of Stressful Life Experiences Scale (ISLES) as a measure of meaning made (i.e., the extent to which the appraised meaning of a stressful event has been integrated with 1’s global meaning). To test the validity of the ISLES we examined the ISLES’ relationship with the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ) and the PostTraumatic Growth Inventory as well as these measures’ relationship with psychological adjustment. A hierarchical regression revealed that the ISLES possessed predictive ability after accounting for the MLQ. The relationship between the ISLES and other measures of meaning was partially moderated by sex. Overall, the ISLES demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond other assessments of meaning.
Counterimmunoelectrophoresis for rapid identification of blood-culture isolates.

A total of 303 blood cultures that were positive by examination of Gram-stained smears were tested immediately by counterimmunoelectrophoresis for detection of bacterial antigens. Antigen was detected in all 82 blood cultures containing Streptococcus pneumoniae and 11 of 22 with Klebsiella pneumoniae , two of two with Haemophilus influenzae , and one of one with Neisseria meningiditis . False-positive cross-reactions in 265 tests occurred only with pneumococcal Omniserum in two cases of nongroupable streptococcal bacteremia and with Klebsiella antiserum in one case of Escherichia coli bacteremia (1.1%). A specific identification of the microorganisms at least 24 hours earlier than by subculture technics was accomplished in 91% of the cultures containing the aforementioned bacteria. The procedure was not useful for detecting antigen in blood cultures containing Staphylococcus aureus .
Survey of health-related knowledge and behavior of patients with hypertension in rural area of Yucheng District in Yunfu City

Objective To understand the health knowledge level and relevant risk behaviors of hypertensive patients in rural areas and provide reference for implementing specific health education work.Methods The hypertension related knowledge and behaviors of 600 hypertensive patients in rural areas of Yuncheng District in Yunfu City were investigated using the field measurement of blood pressure and the questionnaire.The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the blood pressure level: patients of grade 1 hypertension group(n = 252) had 140-159 mm Hg(1 mm Hg= 0.133 kPa) of SBP and 90-99 mm Hg of DBP,patients of grade 2 hypertension group(n = 197) had 160-179 mm Hg of SBP and 100-109 mm Hg of DBP,patients of grade 3 hypertension group(n = 151) had ?Y180 mm Hg of SBP and ?Y110 mm Hg of DBP.The hypertension knowledge awareness rate,relevant risk behaviors and medication behaviors were observed.Results The grade 1 hypertension group was significantly higher than the other two groups in the hypertension knowledge awareness rate and the medication behaviors(P 0.05),and significantly lower in the medication behaviors(P 0.05).The grade 2 hypertension group was significantly higher than the grade 3 hypertension group in the hypertension knowledge awareness rate and the medication behaviors(P 0.05),and significantly lower in the medication behaviors(P 0.05).Conclusion Hypertension-related knowledge and behaviors are quite necessary for the control of hypertension,and the prevention and education of hypertension should be strengthened in the grassroots level.
299 VASCULAR CONSEQUENCES OF CHRONIC INTERMITTENT HYPOXEMIA IN MICE.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor for the development of vascular disease. OSA is characterized by upper airway collapse during sleep resulting in intermittent periods of hypoxemia and sleep disruption. We hypothesized that OSA-associated chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) increases vascular reactive oxygen species production and thereby reduces nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. We tested this hypothesis by developing a mouse model of CIH that mimics a frequency of oxyhemoglobin desaturations common in severe OSA. Male wild-type C57Bl/6 mice, aged 8-10 weeks, were exposed to an 8-hour protocol of CIH 5 days per week for 8 weeks. Mice were exposed to hypoxia every 40-45 seconds generating a 30-second nadir of 10% O2 mimicking a respiratory disturbance index of 48. Male Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to this CIH protocol demonstrated an average oxyhemoglobin nadir of 80 6 5% as measured with tail pulse oximetry. After 8 weeks mice were sacrificed. Compared to controls (C), CIH mice demonstrated reduced nitrosyl-hemoglobin values, an index of bioavailable NO detected with electron spin resonance spectroscopy (CIH = 855 6 23 vs C = 723 6 45 AU, p = .048). Although there was no difference in body weight between (C) and CIH mice, heart weight was higher in CIH mice compared to (C) mice (CIH = 154 6 6 mg vs C = 125 6 4 mg, p = .004). CIH mice demonstrated evidence of pulmonary hypertension (RV systolic pressure; CIH = 32.4 6 1.3 vs C = 25.7 6 1.6 mm Hg, p = .002) and right ventricular enlargement (RV weight; CIH = 27.7 6 2.6 vs C = 20.4 6 1.0 mg, p = .018). These preliminary findings of pulmonary hypertension and right ventricular hypertrophy validate a new pattern of CIH simulating severe OSA typically seen in sleep apnea patients. This model will be useful for examining the molecular pathogenesis of OSA-associated vascular disease.
Chloroplast Membrane Remodeling during Freezing Stress Is Accompanied by Cytoplasmic Acidification Activating SENSITIVE TO FREEZING2

Low temperature is a seasonal abiotic stress that restricts native plant ranges and crop distributions. Two types of low-temperature stress can be distinguished: chilling and freezing. Much work has been done on the mechanisms by which chilling is sensed, but relatively little is known about how plants sense freezing. Recently, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) SENSITIVE TO FREEZING2 (SFR2) was identified as a protein that responds in a nontranscriptional manner to freezing. Here, we investigate the cellular conditions that allow SFR2 activation. Using a combination of isolated organelle, whole-tissue, and whole-plant assays, we provide evidence that SFR2 is activated by changes in cytosolic pH and Mg2+. Manipulation of pH and Mg2+ in cold-acclimated plants is shown to cause changes similar to those of freezing. We conclude that pH and Mg2+ are perceived as intracellular cues as part of the sensing mechanism for freezing conditions. This evidence provides a specific molecular mechanism to combat freezing.
Treatment of produced water from an oilfield and selected coal mines in the Illinois Basin

Abstract If large-scale CO2 sequestration operations are implemented in oilfields or coal mines, large volumes of water (i.e., produced water) could potentially be generated that would need to be properly managed. In this work, produced water samples with total dissolved solids (TDS) values of 18,000–102,000 mg/L (ppm) were collected from an oilfield, a coal-bed methane field, and a coal mine in the Illinois Basin of the United States and were treated by selected conventional pretreatment processes followed by a reverse osmosis desalination process. Pretreatment processes included coagulation by lime, ferric chloride, or aluminum sulfate; filtration by sand, walnut shells, anthracite coal, or microfiltration; and adsorption by organoclay, activated carbon, or ion-exchange resins. Selected pretreatment processes were sufficient for removing most of the contaminants, but the high sodium background of the high-TDS produced water (102,000 ppm) limited the effectiveness of the ion-exchange pretreatment in removing scale-forming species. Reverse osmosis was a practical process for desalination of pretreated produced water samples tested (by reducing the TDS more than 96%) except for the high-TDS produced water. Reported bench-scale produced water treatment data might be beneficial for the design and operation of pilot-scale plants for treating produced waters with similar properties.
EMI modeling of buck converter using a generalized terminal model

A generalized terminal model was proposed earlier for predicting electromagnetic interference (EMI) at the input of a boost converter. The results of conducted emissions (CE) were found to match well with the measurements up to 100 MHz. The work presented here extends this technique to model a buck converter. The buck converter presents more difficulties in extraction of a linear model due to significant switched-impedance behavior at its input. Hence, a buck converter was chosen to confirm the versatility of the proposed generalized terminal modeling technique. Measured and predicted results of CE matched well within about 6 dB at most frequencies up to 100 MHz. Guidelines are proposed to achieve optimum accuracy when using this approach for modeling buck converters. Finally, causes of inaccuracies in EMI modeling with the measurement based series-and-shunt impedance insertion method are demonstrated.