cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The Supreme Court's Fiduciary Duty to Forgo Gifts

In this chapter of a forthcoming volume of essays on Fiduciary Government, Professor Kim calls for fiduciary limits on Supreme Court Justices’ acceptance of high value gifts. She cites an example in 2001 in which Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly accepted a bust of Abraham Lincoln, cast in 1914 by the neo-classical sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman and valued at $15,000, as a gift from the conservative think tank and frequent filer of amicus briefs, the American Enterprise Institute. Practices like this, Kim maintains, are troubling. They raise questions about judicial integrity and impartiality, and they undermine the high levels of trust that citizens necessarily place in the Supreme Court. Professor Kim reviews the complex patchwork of civil and criminal statutes and regulations that could potentially apply to the receipt of gifts by Justices. She concludes that these laws leave loopholes through which high value gifts – even from litigants who will appear or regularly appear before the court – may be permitted and remain undisclosed. Kim also considers whether the Justices should be regarded as fiduciaries. In her affirmative answer, Kim argues that the purpose of fiduciary law is to protect and promote socially valuable relationships characterized by high levels of trust. Professor Kim concludes that a fiduciary duty to forgo gifts should be imposed on the Justices. She notes that the overriding concern to ensure the trustworthiness of fiduciaries usually entails rules requiring them to refrain from using their entrusted positions for self-regarding gain. A rule against accepting gifts is consistent with this standard of trustworthiness. Indeed, Kim argues that the extraordinary power vested in the Supreme Court and concomitant greater vulnerability of citizens raises the stakes for the trustworthiness of Supreme Court Justices. Having shown that there ought to be a fiduciary duty to forgo gifts, Kim concludes by explaining how the duty should be defined and implemented.
Complications of Elbow Arthroscopy in a Community Based Practice.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to report the complications of elbow arthroscopy in a large community practice with multiple surgeons and to analyze potential risk factors for these complications. Methods Patient demographic information, surgical variables, surgeon variables, and complications were retrospectively reviewed for all elbow arthroscopies performed within the health network from 2006 to 2014. Inclusion criteria included patients of any age undergoing a primary and revision elbow arthroscopy, which may have been performed in conjunction with other procedures. Exclusion criteria included incorrectly coded procedures where arthroscopy was not performed and no postoperative follow-up. Statistical calculations were performed using a binary logistic regression analysis to fit a logistic regression model. Results 560 consecutive elbow arthroscopies in 528 patients performed between 2006 and 2014, by 42 surgeons at 14 facilities, were reviewed. 113 procedures were performed in pediatric patients under the age of 18. The average age was 38.6 years (range: 5-88). There were 444 males. The average length of follow-up was 375.8 days (2 to 2,739 days). Overall, heterotopic ossification occurred in 14 of 560 cases (2.5%) (all males), and 20 of 560 (3.5%) cases developed transient nerve palsies (8 ulnar, 8 radial, 1 median, 3 medial antebrachial cutaneous). There were 3 (0.5%) deep and 11 (2%) superficial infections. There were no vascular injuries, compartment syndrome, deep vein thrombosis, or pulmonary embolism. Elevated blood sugar was a significantly higher risk for infection (odds ratio [OR] 4.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.337 to 12.645; P = .0136). Previous elbow surgery (OR 3.57, 95% CI 1.440 to 8.938; P = .006) and female sex (OR 4.05; 95% CI 1.642 to 9.970; P = .002) had a significantly higher risk for nerve injury. Relative to pediatric patients, there were higher odds in adults for nerve injury, infection, and heterotopic ossification, but none reached significance. Conclusions Elbow arthroscopy is a safe procedure with low complication rates. Diabetes is a risk factor for infection. Prior surgery and female sex are risk factors for nerve injury. Level of Evidence Case series, level 4
Erratum for Leus et al., "Substrate Specificities and Efflux Efficiencies of RND Efflux Pumps of Acinetobacter baumannii".

Volume 200, no. 13, e00049-18, 2018, [https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00049-18][1]. Page 7, Table 2, lines 4–2 from bottom, AbΔ3 columns: For CF, “0.01” and “0.01” should read “8–16” and “Not determined,” respectively; for TRI, “0.78–1.56” and “0.78” should read “0.01”
Positive Psychiatry and successful aging in people with schizophrenia

Abstract Psychiatry has traditionally been considered the treatment of pre-existing mental illness, but literature on the concept of positive psychiatry incorporates strength-based positive psychosocial characteristics (PPCs), with the goal of improving wellness and quality of life, in addition to ameliorating distress, in people with psychopathology. The current chapter provides an overview of positive psychiatry and its relationship to successful aging using schizophrenia as a model disorder. First, we present the historical antecedents of positive psychiatry, as well as common assessment methods used to capture PPCs such as self-report inventories and qualitative interviews. Next, we review recent studies of PPCs such as wisdom, happiness, resilience, positive self-appraisal, subjective recovery, and religiosity and spirituality. We also discuss cognition and biomarkers of successful aging, including reviews of allostatic load, inflammation and immune function, and genetics and epigenetics. Finally, we present clinical implications of positive psychiatry and we conclude with limitations and future directions for the field.
[CHALLENGES IN LEARNING AND ASSESSING ANESTHESIA COGNITIVE AND NON-TECHNICAL SKILLS OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS AND RESIDENTS IN ANESTHESIA].

INTRODUCTION There are major challenges in teaching and assessing skills expected from practicing anesthesiologists and residents in anesthesia training programs. It is important to measure two separate aspects of skilled performance in managing crises: implementing appropriate technical actions (technical performance), manifesting appropriate crisis solving, and management of anesthesia non-technical behaviors. Anesthesia nontechnical skills (ANTS) can be divided into two subgroups: (1) cognitive or mental skills (decision-making, planning, strategy, risk assessment, situation awareness); and (2) social or interpersonal affective skills (teamwork, communication, leadership). Competency assessment of nontechnical (i.e. cognitive and affective) and technical (i.e. psychomotor) skills, is extremely hard to accomplish using only traditional examinations. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has instituted an initiative that requires training programs to assess each resident's competence in several domains of medical practice. The ACGME toolbox for evaluation lists simulation training as the most effective evaluation strategy for medical procedures. Simulation scripts or scenarios can and should be aimed to evaluate and assess the technical and non-technical capabilities of residents in anesthesia. Lapsed or deficient non-technical (cognitive) skills, can easily lead to cognitive errors in anesthesia. Understanding and correcting cognitive errors cannot be overemphasized. Cognitive errors are thought-process errors which lead to incorrect diagnoses and/or treatments. To achieve error-free levels, learning objectives and curriculum/teaching should be adjusted to address the deficiencies identified in these learning skills. To reach this aim, educational training in cognitive errors, meta-cognition, and de-biasing strategies is needed. However, there are still many questions regarding which errors are most important to address and which "adjustment" learning strategies are the most appropriate and effective in anesthesiology. Sharing scenarios can provide an objective comparative view of trainees in different residencies, and the potential for universal applicability of such scenarios, and learning from the mistakes detected. Communication and collaboration among centers involved in simulation programs (including sharing of validated scenarios) is important to the future of this technology and approach. In summary, cognitive and non-cognitive simulation-based skills assessment that included the so-called ANTS can help to identify areas of strength and weakness that can be used to guide the residency curriculum, especially regarding deficiencies in tasks requiring higher order processing. Any such deficiencies need to be addressed in any training program.
Are the Transition Economies Still in Transition

Thirty years ago, most observers thought that the transition from a planned to a market economy would be a long process. Instead, the changes occurred very quickly, and the transition countries do not look all that different than many emerging market economies. In the first part of the chapter we discuss whether transition was truly special. In the second part, we look at the characteristics of the transition economies. Our data shows that they have similar economic structures and share many similar economic and political problems as other countries at similar income levels. We found only one area where transition stands out as different. The financial sectors of the transition economies are smaller and less well functioning than those in other countries.
Insights into a data driven optimal control for energy efficient manipulation

To enable underwater manipulators with long-lasting autonomy, designing an energy efficient controller is of utmost importance. In this regard, an optimal control technique is a suitable approach as the cost function allows optimization for different metrics, such as energy consumption, minimum velocity changes, or zero position errors. However, the need for an accurate model makes optimal control strategies less enticing for underwater systems where models are difficult to obtain due to unknown dynamics. A solution for this limitation is the usage of data driven techniques for model prediction, as they solely rely on the observed behaviour of the system for generating dynamic models. In this paper, we study the capabilities of a data driven model predictive controller for energy-efficient underwater manipulation tasks. A data driven model of the underwater manipulator based on a neural network is integrated into the formulation of a well known Model Predictive Control (MPC). The proposed architecture is implemented on a four Degrees-of-Freedom (DOF) underwater manipulator in a simulated environment and the results are presented in comparison with a classical MPC controller, showcasing the benefits of the proposed data driven strategy.
Development of a point-of-care mortality risk score for hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Rationale: While several COVID-19-specific mortality risk scores exist, they lack the ease of use given their dependence on online calculators and algorithms. Objectives: The objectives of this study were (1) to design, validate, and calibrate a simple, easy-to-use mortality risk score in a hospitalized COVID-19 population. Methods: Multi-hospital health system in New York City. Patients (n=4840) with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV2 infection who were admitted between March 1 and April 28, 2020. Gray's K-sample test for the cumulative incidence of a competing risk was used to assess and rank 48 different variables' associations with mortality. Candidate variables were added to the composite score using DeLong's test to evaluate their effect on predictive performance (AUC) of in-hospital mortality. Final AUCs for the new score, SOFA, qSOFA, and CURB-65 were assessed on an independent test set. Results: Of 48 variables investigated, 36 (75%) displayed significant (p<0.05 by Gray's test) associations with mortality. The variables selected for the final score were (1) oxygen support level, (2) troponin, (3) blood urea nitrogen, (4) lymphocyte percentage, (5) Glasgow Coma Score, and (6) age. The new score, COBALT, outperforms SOFA, qSOFA, and CURB-65 at predicting mortality in this COVID-19 population: AUCs for initial, maximum, and mean COBALT scores were 0.81, 0.91, and 0.92, compared to 0.77, 0.87, and 0.87 for SOFA. Conclusions: The COBALT score provides a point-of-care tool to estimate mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with superior performance to SOFA and other scores currently in widespread use.
Exploring Help Seeking Patterns for Emerging Adult Victims Using the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey.

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental period and a particularly important one for studying responses to interpersonal victimization as they can shape future coping patterns. This study foc...
Marijuana use among US adults with cancer: Findings from the 2018-2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

12088Background: Cancer survivors experiencing adverse effects from their cancer and treatment report decreased symptom burden with marijuana use. An increasing number of U.S. states have legalized...
Paired Tumor-Normal Sequencing Provides Insights into TP53-Related Cancer Spectrum in Li-Fraumeni Patients.

BACKGROUND Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) genetic testing is performed using blood specimens from patients selected based on phenotype-dependent guidelines. This approach is problematic for understanding LFS clinical spectrum, because patients with non-classical presentations are missed, clonal hematopoiesis (CH)-related somatic blood mutations cannot be distinguished from germline variants, and unrelated tumors cannot be differentiated from those driven by germline TP53 defects. METHODS To provide insights into LFS-related cancer spectrum, we analyzed paired tumor-blood DNA sequencing results in 17,922 cancer patients, and distinguished CH-related, mosaic, and germline TP53 variants. Loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) and TP53 mutational status were assessed in tumors, followed by immunohistochemistry for p53 expression on a subset to identify those lacking biallelic TP53 inactivation. RESULTS Pathogenic/likely pathogenic TP53 variants were identified in 50 patients, 12 (24.0%) of which were CH-related and four (8.0%) were mosaic. Twelve (35.3%) of 34 patients with germline TP53 variants did not meet LFS testing criteria. LOH of germline TP53 variant was observed in 96.0% (95% CI = 79.7-99.9%) of core LFS-spectrum type tumors versus 45.5% (95% CI = 16.8-76.6%) of other tumors, and 91.3% (95% CI = 72.0-98.9%) of tumors from patients who met LFS testing criteria versus 61.5% (95% CI = 31.6-86.1%) of tumors from patients who did not. Tumors retaining wild-type TP53 allele exhibited wild-type p53 expression. CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that some TP53 variants identified in blood-only sequencing are not germline and a substantial proportion of LFS patients are missed by current testing guidelines. Additionally, a subset of tumors from LFS patients do not have biallelic TP53 inactivation and may represent cancers unrelated to their germline TP53 defect.
Development of the "laminated waveguide"

A new waveguide structure for millimeter wave has been developed. It is a dielectric waveguide, with conductor walls consisting of two lined via-holes, herein referred to as the "laminated waveguide." Applications for the laminated waveguide include antenna feed lines.
NAFTA and the Politics of Labor Transnationalism

1. Introduction: NAFTA and labor transnationalism Part I. The Emergence of Transnationalism: 2. Labor nationalism: diplomacy and distance among unions prior to NAFTA 3. NAFTA as catalyst: constituting transnational actors and interests 4. Constituting transnational labor rights 5. Seizing the opportunity NAFTA provided Part II. Variations in Transnationalism: 6. Missing the opportunity NAFTA provided 7. Explaining variation in the emergence of labor transnationalism Part III. Conclusions: 8. Global governance and labor transnationalism.
Ergodic Theorems for Homogeneous Random Measures

In this chapter G is a σ-compact locally compact topological group; e is the identity of G; B is the σ-algebra of Borel sets in G and μ l and μ r are fixed left and right Haar measures on G, respectively; λ is a relatively invariant Borel measure on G and Δλ(·) is its modular function; K is the field of all bounded sets in B; K e := {A : e ∈ A ∈ K, μ l (A) > >0} (it is a direction with the following “downwards” order: A l < A 2 if A l ⊃ A 2); M is the set of all Borel measures on G; X = G/K is a left homogeneous space; μ is an invariant measure on X; (⋀, F, P) is a probability space;ℝ+=ℝ+∪{+∞}; and ℝ=ℝ{-∞}∪{+∞}.
Chapter 7 Stoichiometric Defects in InP

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a discussion on stoichiometric defects in indium phosphide (InP). Stoichiometric defects can be studied in a variety of ways and can affect a host of material properties. The chapter provides a comprehensive review of the study in this area from 1979 to 1989. It provides an overview of the theory of stoichiometric defects. Theoretical approaches and results for InP defects are described in the chapter. Experiments that reveal the atomic structure of simple defects, such as magnetic resonance and positron annihilation, are reviewed in the chapter. Material aspects that have a strong interplay with stoichiometric defects are summarized in the chapter followed by a conclusion. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and related experiments have one major advantage and one major disadvantage in the study of defects in InP. The advantage derives from the fact that a perfect InP crystal has no unpaired electron spins, and thus exhibits no EPR. The technique is responsive only to defects, in particular, in a paramagnetic charge state.
In vivo studies of intestinal carnitine absorption in rats

Abstract We have studied small intestinal absorption of carnitine in vivo using a combination of segmental perfusion techniques and bolus intraluminal injection. We found evidence of a partially saturable absorption process (with K m values of 1035 and 1267 μM for jejunum and ileum calculated for the saturable component) that appeared to be separate from the imino acid transport system. Absorption was characterized by slow mucosal uptake, prolonged mucosal retention, and a very slow mucosal exit process with blood levels of [ 3 H]carnitine still rising 8 h after intraluminal administration. We have also demonstrated the presence of carnitine acetyltransferase in intestinal mucosa and have shown that the intestine forms significant amounts of acetylcarnitine from exogenous carnitine.
Panel on remote software maintenance and repair of space vehicles.

This panel will discuss the unique challenges and problems of maintaining remote software systems, such as those involved in unmanned planetary missions, satellites, and the Space Shuttle. Little or no software maintenance can be performed on unmanned systems on the ground by humans. Therefore, these systems must have the ability to detect faults and failures automatically and to engage in self-repair with little or no intervention from ground controllers. In the case of planetary missions, the problem is acute due to the great distance separating the vehicle from earth, resulting in signal transmission times so long that a fault in the vehicle could cause the mission to fail, if maintenance depended on human intervention. In addition, planetary probes and satellites must stay operational for years, thus increasing the need for selffailure detection and repair.
Cabinet Volatility Under Dictatorship and Democratic Transition

How does volatility under dictatorship affect the likelihood of democratization? Most scholarship focuses on differences in levels of key factors hypothesized to impact the likelihood of transition. This study, by contrast, investigates how volatility in elite welfare affects transition. That a dictator must rely upon a support coalition composed of select elites to retain office suggests that volatility in elite power and status is an important determinant of their decision to support the regime or push for transition. This paper focuses on one particularly important elite coalition under autocracy, a dictator's cabinet. Using a global sample of autocratic regimes from 1950-2006, I find that cabinet volatility is positively associated with democratization. This finding holds across several different measures of cabinet volatility and instrumental variables estimation. The paper therefore provides an agent-based mechanism linking autocratic volatility to one prominent way autocracies fail and democracies are instituted.
Data-driven MCMC for learning and inference in switching linear dynamic systems

©2005. American Association for Artificial Intelligence. The original publication is available at: www.aaai.org
Meniscus Tissue Engineering Using a Novel Combination of Electrospun Scaffolds and Human Meniscus Cells Embedded within an Extracellular Matrix Hydrogel

Meniscus injury and degeneration have been linked to the development of secondary osteoarthritis (OA). Therapies that successfully repair or replace the meniscus are, therefore, likely to prevent or delay OA progression. We investigated the novel approach of building layers of aligned polylactic acid (PLA) electrospun (ES) scaffolds with human meniscus cells embedded in extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel to lead to formation of neotissues that resemble meniscus-like tissue. PLA ES scaffolds with randomly oriented or aligned fibers were seeded with human meniscus cells derived from vascular or avascular regions. Cell viability, cell morphology, and gene expression profiles were monitored via confocal microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. Seeded scaffolds were used to produce multilayered constructs and were examined via histology and immunohistochemistry. Morphology and mechanical properties of PLA scaffolds (with and without cells) were influenced by fiber direction of the scaffolds. Both PLA scaffolds supported meniscus tissue formation with increased COL1A1, SOX9, and COMP, yet no difference in gene expression was found between random and aligned PLA scaffolds. Overall, ES materials, which possess mechanical strength of meniscus and can support neotissue formation, show potential for use in cell-based meniscus regeneration strategies.
The modification by acridine analogs of the survival of ultraviolet irradiated Escherichia coli B.

Summary A comparison was made of the effects of mutagenic and non-mutagenic acridines on the survival of E. coli B following UV irradiation. Organisms were plated after various levels of UV exposure on both minimal and Brain Heart Infusion (Difco) agar either with no added drug or with-10 −6 M 9-aminoacridinium chloride, acridine orange, or 10-methylacridine hydrochloride. The non-mutagenic acridine (10-methylacridinium chloride) caused no modification of UV survival. The most potent mutagen, 9-aminoacridine hydrochloride was a strong inhibitor; while acridine orange, which is less mutagenic was less effective in decreasing post-irradiation survival. Thus, with these 3 acridine analogs, mutagenic effects could be correlated with the ability to inhibit post UV survival.
Written Language Is as Natural as Spoken language: A Biolinguistic Perspective

A commonly held belief is that language is an aspect of the biological system since the capacity to acquire language is innate and evolved along Darwinian lines. Written language, on the other hand, is thought to be an artifact and a surrogate of speech; it is, therefore, neither natural nor biological. This disparaging view of written language, even though propounded by some renowned linguists and biologists, has not gained universal acceptance. Dissenters such as linguists from the Prague circle who claim that written language is an independent system that deserves a status equivalent to that of spoken language have developed their argument along linguistic parameters. The present article also endeavors to show that written language is as natural as spoken language but does so from a biolinguistic perspective. Biolinguistics defines language as a product of biological adaptation in the Darwinian sense (Givon, 2002) and considers language to be innate and species specific (Jenkins, 2000). The present art...
The microflotation of silica

Abstract The microflotation of colloidal silica was studied as a function of pH in the presence of Al(NO 3 ) 3 or Al 2 (SO 4 ) 3 using lauric acid in ethanol as the collector/frother system. The floatability of silica was compared with its mobility and stability in the same electrolyte environment. Efficient removal occurs only when aluminum hydroxide precipitates and interacts with colloidal silica to produce unstable systems. Under these conditions, separation was possible regardless of the sign of the charge on the aggregates. This work gives additional evidence that microflotation can be used as a nonselective separation method capable of efficiently removing colloidal particles of varying chemical and physical properties.
The uptake ofΔ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in choroid plexus and brain cortexin vitro andin vivo

Summary [3H]Δ9Tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC) was actively transported by the choroid plexus and cerebral cortical slices of the rabbit when incubated as a BSA-microsuspension in artificial rabbit CSF. The transport system forΔ9-THC in choroid plexus had aVmax of 174 nmoles/mg tissue/h, approximately 9-fold greater than that observed for cortical slices.In vivo experiments demonstrated a preferential distribution of Δ9-THC in choroid plexus at 1 h after intravenous injection. These results indicate thatΔ9-THC is actively accumulated by choroidal epithelium and may also be transported across the epithelial stroma into the capillary circulation. This suggests that the choroid plexus participates in the regulation ofΔ9-THC concentration in CSF and indirectly in brain by means of the ‘sink’ function of the CSF.
Influence of extracellular matrix overlay on phenobarbital-mediated induction of CYP2B1, 2B2, and 3A1 genes in primary adult rat hepatocyte culture

Abstract To obtain efficient induction by phenobarbital (PB) of cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes in primary hepatocyte culture, previous studies have demonstrated the importance of culturing hepatocytes on a substratum derived from extracellular matrix (ECM or Matrigel), or in highly enriched medium formulations such as Chee′s. In the present study, we have reexamined a variety of hepatocyte culture conditions and their relative abilities in preserving the PB-induction response within the CYP2B and 3A gene subfamilies. A modified culture system was developed that combines a highly effective medium formulation in conjunction with dilute concentrations of a Matrigel overlay. Specifically, hepatocytes were attached to a Collagen I substratum and overlaid with either daily (50 μg/ml medium) or single (233 μg/ml) additions of Matrigel. The PB-induction response obtained in vitro closely resembled that occurring in vivo . Induction in culture by 1 mM PB of CYP2B1, 2B2, and 3A1 mRNA levels was highly dependent on a variety of factors, including medium formulation and 0.1 μM dexamethasone addition. The response to dexamethasone addition on this gene battery varied in a medium-specific manner. Cells maintained a higher level of PB-induction response when maintained in Williams′ E medium than with Chee′s, Waymouth′s, or Ultraculture media. The kinetics of PB induction also were more rapid in cells cultured in Williams′ E medium. PB exposures in Chee′s medium resulted in elevation of two CYP2B-immunoreactive proteins as detected by Western blot analysis, together with increased rates of O-dealkylation of benzyloxy- and pentoxyresorufin. However, Chee′s formulation produced an abnormal PB-induced expression of CYP1A1, as determined by mRNA analysis, high rates of O-dealkylation of 7-ethoxyresorufin, and inhibition of enzymatic activity by 1 μM α-naphthoflavone. This paradoxical expression of CYP1A1 was not observed in PB-treated cultures grown in Williams′ E medium. Thus, these studies demonstrated that the use of a physiologically balanced medium, i.e., Williams′ E formulation, together with an overlay of ECM, preserves PB-induction responsiveness closely resembling that observed in vivo , and should better facilitate mechanistic investigations into the molecular nature of PB induction.
Geometric accuracy of three-dimensional molecular overlays.

This study examines the dependence of molecular alignment accuracy on a variety of factors including the choice of molecular template, alignment method, conformational flexibility, and type of protein target. We used eight test systems for which X-ray data on 145 ligand−protein complexes were available. The use of X-ray structures allowed an unambiguous assignment of bioactive overlays for each compound set. The alignment accuracy depended on multiple factors and ranged from 6% for flexible overlays to 73% for X-ray rigid overlays, when the conformation of the template ligand came from X-ray structures. The dependence of the overlay accuracy on the choice of templates and molecules to be aligned was found to be the most significant factor in six and seven of the eight ligand−protein complex data sets, respectively. While finding little preference for the overlay method, we observed that the introduction of molecule flexibility resulted in a decrease of overlay accuracy in 50% of the cases. We derived rule...
Comparison of restoration algorithms on high altitude infrared images

ABSTRACTImage restoration techniques, iterative and non-iterative, are applied to high-speed infrared images from a ground based telescope of objects at altitudes to reduce the degradation of the images caused by atmospheric turbulence, vibration, and systematic aberrations. Comparisons are made among the following:the Wiener Filter, the Richardson-Lucy method, the CLEAN algorithm, and the Maximum Entropy method. The Wiener and Richardson-Lucy Filters are found to have the best overall performance and flexibility when the PSF is known. The Wiener Filter consistently provides the shortest restoration time for each set of testimages. A good estimate ofthe PSF, obtained using Tatians's method, is used as an input parameter for eachofthe restoration algorithms.1. INTRODUCTIONLong-range images of missiles tested at several military bases, including White Sands Missile Range(WSMR), are often recorded using ground based systems, such as the Apache Point 3.5 meter telescope andthe Sea Lite Beam Director. Some of the WSMR images are obtained at high frame rates using an infraredfocal plane array. At high frame rates, the distortion due to atmospheric turbulence is greatly reduced, andthe image degradation is primarily due to the optics and detector ofthe imaging system, which is modeled bythe system point spread fimction (PSF)' or the modulation transfer fimction (MTF). Since the degradation is
Effects of the facial interface on inhalation and deposition of micrometer particles in calm air in a child airway model

AbstractContext: How the facial interface affects particle inhalability and depositions within the airway is not well understood. Previous studies of inhalation dosimetry are limited to either inhalability or deposition, rather than the two studied in a systematic way.Objective: To systematically evaluate the effects of the facial interface on aerosol inhalability, nasal deposition and thoracic dose in a 5-year-old child airway model using a coupled imaging-computational fluid dynamics approach.Methods: A face–nose–throat model was developed from magnetic resonance imaging scans of a 5-year-old boy. Respiration airflows and particle transport were simulated with the low Reynolds number k-ω turbulence model and the Lagrangian tracking approach. Particles ranging from 1 to 70 µm were considered in a calm air.Results: Retaining the facial interface in the computational model induced substantial variations in flow dynamics, aerosol inhalability and thoracic doses. The nasal and thoracic deposition fractions w...
Effects of Grasping Force Magnitude on the Coordination of Digit Forces in Multi-finger Prehension

The study addresses three main questions: (1) Does the magnitude of the grasping force affect the pre- hension synergies, i.e., conjoint changes of finger forces and moments? (2) Do individual finger forces scale with the total grasping forces ('scale-invariance hypothesis')? (3) How specification of the grasping force magnitude affects the inverse optimization of digit forces. Subjects (n = 7) grasped with minimal force an instrumented han- dle and maintained it at rest in the air. Then, the subjects doubled the initial grasping force. The forces and moments exerted by individual digits were recorded with six-com- ponent sensors. External torques that the subjects should resist (9 in total) varied among the trials from 0 to 0.46 Nm both in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. After the force doubling, the moments of the normal forces (M n ) increased in the pronation effort tasks (PR-tasks) and decreased in the supination effort tasks (SU-tasks). The changes in the moments of the tangential forces (M t ) were opposite to the M n changes; the moments increased in the SU-tasks and decreased in the PR-tasks. The opposite effects of force doubling on the M t s in the SU-tasks and PR-tasks were a consequence of the unidirectional changes of the thumb tangential forces: in all the tasks the contri- bution of the thumb tangential force to the total tangential force increased after the grasping force doubling (and the total contribution of the four fingers decreased). The decrease of the virtual finger (VF) tangential force was mainly due to the decrease of the index finger force (VF is an imagined finger that exerts the same force and moment as all the fingers together). In the non-zero torque tasks the individual finger forces did not scale proportionally with the grasping force, the sharing percentage of the individual finger forces in the VF normal force changed with the grasping force increase. The root mean square differences between the actual finger sharing percentages in the VF force and the sharing percentages predicted from optimi- zation procedures in which different cost functions were used were in all cases smaller after the doubling than before the doubling. Hence the answers to the three ques- tions formulated above are: (1) the alteration of the grasping force magnitude induces complex coordinated changes of all digit forces and moments; (2) the scale invariance hypothesis is confirmed only for the zero-torque tasks and rejected for the non-zero tasks, and (3) the specification of the grasping force magnitude at the level of twice the initial grasping force—which essentially restricts the control task to the object tilt prevention—improves the accuracy of the employed optimization procedures.
Histone Modification Patterns and Their Responses to Environment

Histone modifications play important roles in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression. Recent genome-wide profiling of histone modifications with deep sequencing-based methods provides novel insights of crosstalk between histone modifications, leading to recent proposals of histone “language” or “web” as an alternative of “code” to appreciate combinatorial modification patterns. Environmental factor–altered histone modifications now may be addressed dynamically and systematically with the recognition and use of these interesting combinatorial patterns.
Does adding multi-scale climatic variability improve our capacity to explain niche transferability in invasive species?

Our understanding of how species will respond to global change is still limited. Reasons hindering our ability to forecast species range shifts and expansions are the mismatch between realized climate niches in species’ native and invasive ranges, and the lack of available climatic datasets offering multiple scales of climatic variability (e.g., monthly and inter-annual climatic variability). Here we present a multi-taxon analysis of invasive species niche transferability that considers multi-scale climatic variability using ten noxious terrestrial invasive species. We compare native versus invasive ranges in geographic space as estimated using the species distribution modeling (SDM) algorithm Maxent, and the comparative index Hellinger's I with three possible climatic layer configurations representing natural climatic variability: (1) inter-annual, (2) monthly and (3) a combination of inter-annual and monthly climatic variability. We assess model performance using the area under the receiver characteristic curve (AUC). Results show that combined scales of climatic variability improved performance of the models for 60% of the species in the native range and 70% of the species in the invaded range. Contrasting native and invaded range SDM performance showed that the same climate layer configuration produced the best models only in 70% of the species. For 90% of the species the most similar niches were obtained based on monthly climatic variability. The divergence in our findings between higher performing SDMs and the most transferable SDMs, suggest some species range limits might be constrained by one scale of climatic variability in the native range and a different one in the invaded range. Where sufficient occurrence data in the invaded range is available, the inclusion of an additional scale of climatic variability can enhance ecological understanding of the invasion events. However, when invaded range occurrence data is not available, the most conservative approach would use only monthly climatic variability. If these finding are extrapolated to niche transferability in time, we suggest that historical collection records should be analyzed to understand species’ response to multiple scales of climate variability in the past, thereby informing the selection of appropriate scales of climate variability in the future.
RETHINKING RACE HISTORY: THE ROLE OF THE ALBINO IN THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT LIFE SCIENCES

The scholarly quest to recover the construction of racial difference in the Enlightenment-era life sciences generally overlooks a singular fact: the vast majority of eighteenth-century thinkers who were engaged in theorizing the human were often far more preoccupied with preserving a belief in an essential human sameness than they were in creating categories of essential difference. This article charts the problem of a potential human sameness as it related to questions of category, biological processes, and the human and non-human through an examination of a neglected and key construct in the eighteenth-century life sciences, the albino. The albino was absorbed into a scientific narrative in 1744 when Maupertuis used the concept to put forward a theory of shared origins or monogenesis. Positing that the negre blanc-quite literally a "white Negro"—was a racial throwback, a reversion to a primitive whiteness, Maupertuis inspired a new generation of thinkers, most notably the great French naturalist Buffon, to assert categorically that blacks had degenerated from a prototype white variety. The significance of the concept negre blanc, which has not been studied sufficiently, cannot be overestimated. In addition to the fact that the new role of the negre blanc clearly said as much about whiteness as it did about blackness, the albino generated a new diagnostic chronology of the human species.
Selective extraction of polyunsaturated triacylglycerols using a novel ionic liquid precursor immobilized on a mesoporous complexing adsorbent.

Mesoporous silica (SBA-15) synthesized by using Pluronic123 as the structure-directing template was functionalized by imidazolium-based ionic liquid precursors. Silver salts were then immobilized onto the supported ionic liquids using the incipient wetness impregnation technique. The separation of unsaturated species was achieved through the reversible and specific interaction between silver ions and carbon–carbon double bonds. This adsorbent was examined for the selective separation of polyunsaturated triacylglycerols (PUTAG) using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with Evaporative Light Scattering Detection (ELSD) as the quantification methodology. AgBF4/SBA15·HPSiOEtIM·PF6 showed an adsorption capacity for linolenin of about 217 mg adsorbed/gram of sorbent. This adsorbent had good selectivity and a high capacity for the most highly unsaturated triacylglycerol when applied to a mixture of triacylglycerols with varying degrees of unsaturation. Consequently, a stepwise methodology was also developed to increase the recovery of the adsorbed components. This adsorbent retained its selectivity and capacity when recycled up to five times. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2009
Vaginocervical cytology in victims of sexual assault.

To investigate the role of vaginocervical smears in alleged victims of rape, we reviewed the findings in 4,220 consecutive rape victims between the years 1982 and 1989. These rape victims showed a slight increase in cellular abnormalities (1.18% vs. .93%) when compared to a group of 17,187 routine smears from an indigent population in 1989. While the differences in the spectrum of cellular abnormalities were not statistically significant, the increase in abnormal smears is remarkable because of the younger age distribution and lower risk factors for cervical cancer in this group of rape victims (41% of the victims were never seen at our institution before their evaluation for alleged rape and were most probably of higher socioeconomic status and at lower risk for cervical cancer than the indigent population served at our hospital). This finding may reflect the low incidence of vaginocervical cytology screening among the general population of which rape victims are a random sample. Fifty-seven percent of the rape victims with cellular abnormalities who were also regular patients at our hospital returned for follow-up by appropriate repeat smears or biopsies. This was lower than the 95% general follow-up rate of vaginocervical smear abnormalities among the rest of the population screened at our hospital. We detected spermatozoa in 56% of the smears from victims who were examined within three days of the alleged sexual assault. Cytology adds to the criminal investigation of rape cases as we detected spermatozoa in four of 16 semen-negative cases from a random sample of 53 cases evaluated by the state crime lab.
Oxidative Stress-Related Transcription Factors in the Regulation of Secondary Metabolism

There is extensive and unequivocal evidence that secondary metabolism in filamentous fungi and plants is associated with oxidative stress. In support of this idea, transcription factors related to oxidative stress response in yeast, plants, and fungi have been shown to participate in controlling secondary metabolism. Aflatoxin biosynthesis, one model of secondary metabolism, has been demonstrated to be triggered and intensified by reactive oxygen species buildup. An oxidative stress-related bZIP transcription factor AtfB is a key player in coordinate expression of antioxidant genes and genes involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis. Recent findings from our laboratory provide strong support for a regulatory network comprised of at least four transcription factors that bind in a highly coordinated and timely manner to promoters of the target genes and regulate their expression. In this review, we will focus on transcription factors involved in co-regulation of aflatoxin biosynthesis with oxidative stress response in aspergilli, and we will discuss the relationship of known oxidative stress-associated transcription factors and secondary metabolism in other organisms. We will also talk about transcription factors that are involved in oxidative stress response, but have not yet been demonstrated to be affiliated with secondary metabolism. The data support the notion that secondary metabolism provides a secondary line of defense in cellular response to oxidative stress.
Prostaglandin E augments the effect of chemotherapy on B-16 melanoma in vivo

Abstract The effectiveness of six chemotherapeutic agents (adriamycin, dopamine, 5-FU, nitrogen mustard, thioTEPA, and vincristine) on B-16 melanoma growth in vivo was compared with the effects of 16,16-dimethyl-PGE 2 -methyl ester, a long-acting synthetic analog of PGE 2 (di-M-PGE 2 ) and of chemotherapy plus di-M-PGE 2 . Although all the drugs were effective in slowing growth (adriamycin, dopamine, and 5-FU) or decreasing tumor size from baseline values (nitrogen mustard, thioTEPA, and vincristine), the addition of di-M-PGE 2 augmented the growth inhibitory effects of each. Changes in tumor diameters were associated with similar changes in tumor cell numbers. In addition, the combinations of di-M-PGE 2 plus nitrogen mustard and vincristine decreased the plating efficiency in a clonogenic assay to a greater extent than did either di-M-PGE 2 or the cytotoxic drugs alone. Finally, this augmentation was not associated with systemic toxicity or changes in leukocyte count.
An injury risk curve for the hip for use in frontal impact crash testing.

To facilitate the assessment of hip injury risk in frontal motor-vehicle crashes, an injury risk curve that relates peak force transmitted to the hip to the probability of hip fracture was developed by using survival analysis to fit a lognormal distribution to a recently published dataset of hip fracture forces. This distribution was parameterized to account for the effect of subject stature, which was the only subject characteristic found to significantly affect hip fracture force (X(2)(1)=6.03, p=0.014). The distribution was further parameterized to account for the effects of hip flexion and abduction from a standard driving posture on hip fracture force using relationships between mean hip fracture force and hip flexion/abduction reported in the literature. The resulting parametric distribution was used to define relationships between force applied to the hip and the risk of hip fracture for the statures associated with the small female, midsize male, and large male crash-test dummies, thus allowing these dummies to assess hip fracture/dislocation risk in frontal crashes, provided that such dummies are sufficiently biofidelic. For the midsize male crash test dummy, a 50% risk of hip fracture was associated with a force of 6.00kN. For the small female and large male dummies, a 50% risk of hip fracture was associated with forces of 4.46 and 6.73kN, respectively. Language: en