cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
"Otro" liberalismo. Individualismo y colectivismo en la obra de John Stuart Mill

The article argues that, contrary to what contemporary neoliberalism holds true, the individual and the collective are not the extremes of an antithesis that requires us to choose one or the other. It examines the political debate of the second half of the Victorian Era regarding the pertinence and limits of State intervention. On the basis of the work of a thinker whose position on negative freedom will mark the history of positive liberalism and collectivism, the article concludes that the ideology inherited and continued by the tradition of European political liberalism is not neoliberalism , but rather, socialism.
Characterisation of two desiccation-stress related cDNAs TrDr1 and TrDr2 in the resurrection moss Tortula ruralis

Two EST-derived cDNAs TrDr1 and TrDr2 from Tortula ruralis were identified with significant similarity to psbI encoding the PSII 10 kDa protein and the desiccation stress-related cDNA pcC3-06, respectively. RNA blot hybridisation using both total and polysomal RNA fractions was used to analyse TrDr1 and TrDr2 mRNA abundance in response to a desiccation/rehydration cycle. TrDr1 and TrDr2 steady-state transcript levels increased in response to desiccation and preferentially accumulated within the polysomal mRNA fraction. The data suggest that TrDR1 and TrDR2 play a role in vegetative desiccation- tolerance.
Use of Tubular Retractor for Resection of Deep-Seated Cerebral Tumors and Colloid Cysts: Single Surgeon Experience and Review of the Literature

Introduction Brain retraction is often required to develop a surgical corridor during the resection of deep-seated intracranial lesions. Traditional blade retractors distribute pressure asymmetrically and may case local tissue damage. Tubular retractors minimize this pitfall by distributing pressure evenly, which has been shown to translate to significant safety and efficacy data. Further qualified reports regarding the use of tubular retractors are of interest. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 1 surgeon's experience with 20 cases of minimally invasive resection with the ViewSite Brain Access System (n = 7) and BrainPath (n = 13) systems. In addition, a comprehensive review of all published cases of tubular retractor systems used for resection of subcortical neoplastic, cystic, infectious, vascular, and hemorrhagic lesions was conducted. Results Of the 20 cases analyzed, gross total resection was achieved in 18, with an associated 10% immediate postoperative complication rate and 5% long-term complication rate. A comprehensive review of the literature showed 30 articles describing 536 cases of resection of deep neoplastic or colloid cysts with an overall complication rate of 9.1%. Conclusions Tubular retractor systems have a favorable safety profile and are an important tool in the armamentarium of a neurosurgeon for the resection of deep intracranial lesions.
"Move into another world of happy": insights for designing affect-based physical activity interventions

Physical activity yields affective benefits like mood improvement and a sense of accomplishment or a general sense of feeling good. However, existing interventions to promote physical activity typically do not make tracking or visualization of affective benefits a prominent part of the interface. We conducted a survey asking people about physical activity episodes that made them feel good and the impact of those episodes on their exercise intentions. We found that the affective benefits of exercise motivated respondents to become more active. In this paper, we report on the affective benefits that resulted from exercise, what users perceived as causing those affective benefits, and what impact feeling good from being active had on their intentions for future exercise. We discuss the implications of our findings for the design of interventions that use affective benefits to promote physical activity.
Developing Habits of Moral Reflection: Dewey, Moral Inquiry, and Practical Ethics

It is a matter of some irony that John Dewey’s pragmatist ethics remains relatively unexplored as a resource for ethics instructors, particularly those who teach practical ethics. The irony lies in the fact that Dewey’s ideas on the nature of moral inquiry are especially commensurate with the aims and methodology of practical ethics education. Two elements of Dewey’s moral philosophy are of particular relevance in this connection: the notion of moral inquiry as problem solving, and the role of imaginative deliberation in moral inquiry. This chapter explores the influence of Dewey’s moral philosophy on contemporary approaches to practical ethics by showing how it is implicit in moral decision-making models and accounts of the moral imagination. I further show how for Dewey, the latter is a central feature of moral inquiry, both as it bears on developing skill in addressing morally problematic situations, as well as its indirect influence on moral self-cultivation. I end by suggesting that instructors would be serving students well by approaching the teaching of practical ethics through a Deweyan lens and employing pedagogical strategies emphasizing ethics as moral inquiry.
Modulation of nucleoside [correction of nucleotide] triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase-1)cd39 in xenograft rejection

There is increasing evidence showing that extracellular nucleotides may be important mediators of vascular inflammation. Nucleotide triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1 (NTPDase-1, identical to CD39), the major vascular endothelial ectonucleotidase, is responsible for the hydrolysis of both extracellular ATP and ADP in the blood plasma to AMP. Studies were therefore conducted to evaluate the role of vascular NTPDase-1/cd39 in modulating platelet activation and vascular injury in cardiac xenografts. Cardiac xenografts from both wild-type and cd39 knockout mice (C57BL/6 × 129 Svj) were transplanted into Lewis rats. Alterations in cd39 mRNA transcripts and NTPDase activity expression were evaluated in wild-type grafts in untreated rats and then following complement depletion and immunosuppression. Rejection responses were studied with both mutant and wild-type grafts in the following models: presensitization with or without complement depletion, complement depletion alone, and with chronic immunosuppression to induce long-term graft survival. NTPDase biochemical activity in wild-type xenografts rapidly decreased after transplantation but soon rebounded with graft survival. Elevated levels of cd39 mRNA with associated increases in NTPDase activity were observed in all long-term surviving wild-type grafts. Hyperacute xenograft rejection times were comparable in wild-type and mutant grafts but cd39-deficient grafts were subject to more rapid rejection and exhibited pronounced vascular injury in complement-depleted, presensitized rats. The cd39-deficient grafts in immunosuppressed recipients were subject to increased intravascular platelet sequestration and fibrin deposition; this resulted in focal myocardial infarction in long-term surviving mutant xenografts. Augmentation of NTPDase-1 activity may be an important adaptive response for graft survival. Our results suggest that NTPDase-1/cd39 influences pathways of vascular injury in cardiac xenografts.
Correlation Coefficient Estimate for Fuzzy Data

Correlation coefficient reflects the co-varying relationship between random variables and has become an important measurement in many applications. However conventional methods assume the data set as crisp value which isn’t proper under some situations. In this paper, fuzzy set theory is introduced to deal with observations in fuzzy environment; also we proposed a method to calculate correlation coefficient of fuzzy data. Then some data sets are tested to check the validity of the proposed algorithm Realization of this method can help decision-maker have a better knowledge of the data characteristics and therefore very useful in many data mining applications.
Physical Inactivity is a Risk Factor for Lower Extremity Arterial Disease and Coronary Heart Disease

Coronary arterial disease, carotid artery disease, and Lower Extremity Arterial Disease (LEAD) have many causes. Risk factors associated with these disease entities, which can be modified are: cigaret smoking, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, various dislipidemias, i.e., hypertriglyceridemia in particular for LEAD, high low-density lipopro-tein (LDL) cholesterol particularly for coronary artery disease, high lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, obesity, homocysteinemia, elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), and physical inactivity (1, 2, 3). Significant progress has been made to lower the trend for cigaret smoking in the United States and other industrialized countries through educational programs for the public, reviews by the press, legislative action at all three levels of government (local, state, and federal), as well as landmark decisions by the judiciary. The pioneering work of the American Heart Association in initiating smoking cessation programs was closely followed by the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, the World Health Organization (4), and more recently by the European Union.
Decay phi-->K0K-bar 0 gamma and its possible effects on future kaon factories.

The branching ratio of {phi}{r arrow}{ital K}{sup 0}{bar K}{sup 0}{gamma} is calculated to be 10{sup {minus}5}--10{sup {minus}6}. Because of the soft photon involved, this decay could be an important background in future {ital K}{sup 0}{bar K}{sup 0} factories.
Rapid hospital discharge following laparoscopy for ectopic pregnancy. A promise unfulfilled

This study was done to determine whether laparoscopy for ectopic pregnancy in the United States is associated with rapid postoperative discharge, defined as 2 days or less, and to estimate how often ambulatory treatment of ectopic pregnancy occurs without subsequent hospital admission. We used the National Hospital Discharge Survey to estimate the frequency of ectopic pregnancy admissions, operations, and length of hospital stays in 1990. We used the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to estimate the number, type, and disposition of office visits for ectopic pregnancy in 1990. According to National Hospital Discharge Survey data, tubal pregnancy led to an estimated 57,000 hospital admissions in 1990. Most (70%) of the 26,000 patients treated with laparoscopy were in the hospital 3 days or more, and most (73%) underwent salpingectomy. The number of ambulatory visits for ectopic pregnancy was too low to estimate reliably according to the standards of the National Center for Health Statistics. We found that laparoscopy was used frequently for the treatment of ectopic pregnancy but was not associated with rapid postoperative discharge. Further research is needed to determine whether these findings persist and whether reimbursement incentives, patient preference, or problems with the diffusion of technology are responsible.
Patient reported outcomes in evaluation of chemotherapy toxicity in women with gynecologic malignancies: A pilot study.

Abstract Objective Patient reported outcomes (PRO) relating to treatment toxicities have been demonstrated to reliably evaluate adverse events in clinical trials. We assessed the user satisfaction of implementing a focused PRO questionnaire for patients with gynecologic cancers undergoing chemotherapy. Methods Patients with gynecologic cancers undergoing chemotherapy were prospectively identified after IRB approval from April 2017 to August 2017. We administered a 24-symptom questionnaire, adapted from the validated PRO version of the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Event, to enrolled participants at the beginning of two outpatient visits. Patient and provider satisfaction with use of PRO was assessed afterwards. Descriptive statistics were performed. Results A total of 44 patients were enrolled. Patients were racially diverse: 52% Caucasian, 18% African-American, 9% Asian, and 20% other; 27% were of Hispanic origin. The majority of patients had ovarian cancer (54%), followed by uterine (29%) and cervical cancer (15%). Ninety-five percent of patient and 97% of provider satisfaction survey responses indicated the PRO questionnaire addressed important symptoms. Nearly all patient and provider responses indicated the PRO questionnaire was easy to use. Sixty-nine percent of patient and 97% of provider responses indicated the questionnaire positively impacted clinical care; 85% of patients wished to use a similar questionnaire throughout treatment. Conclusions We have shown that incorporating a focused patient-reported symptom questionnaire into routine outpatient care of gynecological oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy was met with a high degree of patient and provider satisfaction regarding questionnaire content, feasibility, and perception of care improvement.
NNest: Early-Stage Design Space Exploration Tool for Neural Network Inference Accelerators

Deep neural network (DNN) has achieved spectacular success in recent years. In response to DNN's enormous computation demand and memory footprint, numerous inference accelerators have been proposed. However, the diverse nature of DNNs, both at the algorithm level and the parallelization level, makes it hard to arrive at an "one-size-fits-all" hardware design. In this paper, we develop NNest, an early-stage design space exploration tool that can speedily and accurately estimate the area/performance/energy of DNN inference accelerators based on high-level network topology and architecture traits, without the need for low-level RTL codes. Equipped with a generalized spatial architecture framework, NNest is able to perform fast high-dimensional design space exploration across a wide spectrum of architectural/micro-architectural parameters. Our proposed novel date movement strategies and multi-layer fitting schemes allow NNest to more effectively exploit parallelism inherent in DNN. Results generated by NNest demonstrate: 1) previously-undiscovered accelerator design points that can outperform state-of-the-art implementation by 39.3% in energy efficiency; 2) Pareto frontier curves that comprehensively and quantitatively reveal the multi-objective tradeoffs in custom DNN accelerators; 3) holistic design exploration of different level of quantization techniques including recently-proposed binary neural network (BNN).
COPD Pathogenesis: Finding the Common in the Complex

Developing an effective treatment for COPD, and especially pulmonary emphysema, will require an understanding of how fundamental changes at the molecular level affect the macroscopic structure of the lung. Currently, there is no accepted model that encompasses the biochemical and mechanical processes responsible for pulmonary airspace enlargement. We propose that pulmonary emphysematous changes may be more accurately described as an emergent phenomenon, involving alterations at the molecular level that eventually reach a critical structural threshold where uneven mechanical forces produce alveolar wall rupture, accompanied by advanced clinical signs of COPD. The coupling of emergent morphologic changes with biomarkers to detect the process, and counteract it therapeutically, represents a practical approach to the disease.
EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF SLEEP COMPLAINTS IN THE OLDER ADULT: Session 205

Abstract As the world's population ages, it is imperative that clinicians be familiar with sleep disorders that are common in older adults. Insomnia affects 25-45% of adults over the age of 64. Sleep apnea affects 24-42% of older adults and periodic limb movement disorder affects 45% of older adults. Appreciating sleep disturbances in the geriatric patient is an important part of a thorough and thoughtful geriatric psychiatry evaluation. The differential diagnosis of insomnia and sleep apnea includes restless legs syndrome, periodic limb movement disorder, REM behavior disorder, and circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Identifying and treating sleep disturbances in late life is important in alleviating the burden of disease on the patient, minimizing caregiver burnout, and reducing the rate of institutionalization.
Racial Disparities with Esophageal Cancer Mortality at a High-Volume University Affiliated Center: An All ACCESS Invitation.

Abstract Background Esophageal cancer (EC) has a dismal prognosis with 5-year survival Methods We performed a single-center retrospective review of all patients diagnosed with EC between January 2010 through December 2016 with follow-up through October 2017. We compared the difference among categorical variables and mortality using Fisher's exact test. Odds ratios (OR) and hazard regression (HR) were constructed to analyze treatment options by race. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to plot OM curves by race. We also used a logistic regression analysis to construct a predictive model for mortality based on histology and race. Results We identified 77 patients (62% male) diagnosed with EC. There was no difference in treatments offered based on race. After adjusting for age, histology and stage, we found mortality was significantly higher in blacks when compared to whites (HR 14.07, 95% CI [2.33–129.70] p Conclusions We found race to be an independent risk factor for OM in EC patients. This likely reflects differences in healthcare utilization or access, as evidenced by higher prevalence of Stage IV EC in black patients. Continued investigation is needed to address this disparity locally and nationally.
Analysis of a thermal generator’s participation in the Western Energy Imbalance Market and the resulting effects on overall performance and emissions

Abstract The inception of the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) in November of 2014 has had significant impacts on participating balancing authorities (BAs) and individual generators. The EIM serves to balance available energy across a large geographical footprint. Since the market’s creation, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) has reported that many benefits have been realized by participating BAs, including savings of $502 million and the avoided curtailment of an estimated 734,000 MWh of energy produced by variable renewable energy (VRE). Balancing energy across a larger geographic footprint, in conjunction with other factors (e.g., fluctuating fuel prices, new environmental policies), has also resulted in significant changes in the operation of some thermal generating stations which have traditionally operated as baseload units. The effects of these new operating practices on baseload units have not been characterized. This study analyzes the detailed operational history of a single coal-fired thermal generating station experiencing a large degree of load flexing located within the footprint of the EIM. A dataset comprised of hourly operational data from two and one-half years before and after beginning market participation was analyzed. Changes in operating practices, unit performance, and emission rates from this unit between the two periods were identified from this analysis. It was observed that the operational range of the unit has expanded by 65% and the unit has experienced ramping situations approximately 4.6 times more often since entering the EIM. Continual load changes have contributed to 18 times more turbine cycles, the impact of which on unit health and longevity cannot be fully characterized. The unit has demonstrated a strong adaptive ability in altering operational practices to meet the needs of the new market. Primarily due to lower average load operation, overall efficiency has decreased by 2.7%.
Design and mechanistic understanding of graphene oxide reinforced zein nanocomposites with improved mechanical, barrier and thermal properties

Graphene oxide (GO)-based zein nanocomposite films with superior mechanical, barrier and thermal properties were fabricated by incorporating GO nanoparticles into corn protein zein (Z), through the solvent casting process. The study offers a mechanistic understanding of the effect of graphene oxide nanofiller on the physicochemical properties of zein. TEM of the zein–graphene oxide (Z–GO) nanocomposites showed uniform dispersion of GO sheets up to 1%GO loading. Mechanisms for Z–GO nanocomposite formation through covalent and noncovalent bonding are developed based on FTIR, FT-Raman and DSC results. At only 3% loading, the Young’s modulus of a nanocomposite film increased by 300% and tensile strength increased by 80%. The increases in mechanical property improvements are accompanied by surface roughness increases as indicated by AFM studies. Even though GO is hydrophilic, the Z–GO nanocomposite films showed hydrophobic tendencies. The amount and degree of exfoliation of GO as well as the relative orientation of GO nanoparticles within the zein film all play an important role in the physical property changes of the film. The films became less permeable with increasing amounts of GO addition, as shown by water vapor permeability tests. GO increased thermal stability as shown by TGA.
Small soil C cycle responses to three years of cover crops in maize cropping systems

Abstract Cover crops are touted for their ability to improve many ecosystem functions in annual cropping systems. In addition to water and nutrient retention, cover crops may influence C cycling by increasing total C inputs to the agroecosystem, stimulating microbial populations, altering main crop residue decomposition rate, or changing litter chemistry over time. We assessed whether annual (rye) or perennial (bluegrass) cover crops in maize cropping systems influenced maize residue decomposition (litterbags) or microbial communities (shotgun metagenomics) in soil and litter, and whether these cover crops had an effect on microbially active pools of C: particulate organic matter (POM) C and N, or potentially mineralizable C (PMC) after three years of cover crops. Neither cover crop affected litterbag decay rates or microbial composition relative to no cover crop controls. However, both cover crop types increased PMC indicating that microbially-available C was boosted by cover crops. Total POM and POM-N were higher with bluegrass cover crops. These modest effects of cover crops on dynamic soil C pools suggest the generally positive long-term effects of cover crops on soil protection and nutrient retention are related to incremental shifts in quantity, timing and quality of C inputs.
Dravet syndrome and parkinsonism: A case report investigating the dopaminergic system

Dravet syndrome is a severe, childhood-onset epileptic encephalopathy characterized by febrile seizures progressing to pharmacoresistant epilepsy. Many cases are linked to a heterozygous loss-of-function mutation in the SCN1A gene, which codes for an alpha subunit of the voltage-gated sodium channel.1 Life expectancy is dramatically shortened, with status epilepticus and sudden unexplained death in epilepsy the most frequent causes of death.2 Consequently, studies describing the natural history of Dravet syndrome into adulthood are rare. Additional neurologic symptoms have been recognized as these patients age, including ataxia, gait impairment, anterocollis, and parkinsonism, the last of which may be levodopa-responsive.3,4 It remains unclear, however, what underlies the dopaminergic pathway dysfunction in individuals with Dravet syndrome.
pyLLE: a Fast and User Friendly Software Package for Microcomb Simulations

We present pyLLE, a freely accessible Lugiato-Lefever equation solver programmed in Python and Julia and optimized for the simulation of microresonator frequency combs. Examples illustrating its operation and performance are presented.
Digital History Reflection: Graffiti of the Egyptian Revolution in Cairo

This digital history reflection is based on Nala Chehade’s “Graffiti of the Egyptian Revolution in Cairo,” which won the Virginia Tech Department of History’s 2018 Undergraduate Digital History prize. Nala’s project is an interactive map which shows readers images of graffiti made during the 2011 revolution in Cairo, accompanied by a description and analysis of the image. Nala’s work on this topic began with an undergraduate research paper that won the Virginia Tech Department of History’s Best Paper Prize in 2017 and appeared in volume seven of the Review. In this reflection Nala talks about her decision to turn this research into a digital history project and the advantages and challenges of this process. You can interact with her project at the following link: https://prezi.com/view/XC0C9pbNRO0ytDi1vVea/.
TEN – TOPICS IN ANALYTIC GEOMETRY

Publisher Summary There exist three special cases of the second degree equation Ax2 + Bxy + Cy2 + Dx + Ey + F = 0.: the ellipse, the parabola, and the hyperbola. Each of these three curves plus the circle, which is a special kind of ellipse, can be obtained as the intersection of a plane with a right circular cone. That is why these curves are called conic sections. This chapter discusses these curves. The graph of most second degree equations is a circle, an ellipse, a parabola, or a hyperbola. The exceptional cases, called degenerate conic sections, consist of equations of which graphs are straight lines, single points, or empty. An ellipse is the set of points (x, y) such that the sum of the distances from (x, y) to two given points is fixed. Each of the two points is called a focus of the ellipse. The chapter presents the calculation of the equation of an ellipse with examples. A parabola is the set of points (x, y) equidistant from a fixed point and a fixed line that does not contain the fixed point. The fixed point is called the focus and the fixed line is called the directrix. The chapter discusses how to calculate the equation of a parabola with examples. A hyperbola is a set of points (x, y) with the property that the positive difference between the distances from (x, y) and each of two given (distinct) points is fixed. Each of the two given points is called a focus of the hyperbola. The chapter presents how to calculate the equation of a hyperbola with examples. The curves have had their axes parallel to the two coordinate axes. To obtain curves like an ellipse, a parabola, and a hyperbola, it is only necessary to rotate the coordinate axes through an appropriate angle.
Enhanced protein degradation by intracellular delivery of pre-fused PROTACs using lipid-like nanoparticles.

Abstract Proteolysis-targeting chimaera (PROTAC) technology is an emerging approach for achieving targeted degradation of a protein of interest (POI) intracellularly. However, the cell permeability of PROTACs is limited by their high molecular weight and total polar surface area. Moreover, the activation of the proteasome-mediated degradation by PROTAC requires the formation of a ternary (three-component) complex, composed of the PROTAC, the POIs, and E3-ligases related proteins (E3Ps). Simplifying the three-component system to two-component system could theoretically increase the efficiency of the formation of ternary complex and enhance the protein degradation efficiency. Herein, we demonstrate that pre-fusion of PROTACs with E3Ps (called “pre-fused PROTACs”) before administration could transform the original PROTAC system to two-component system. After delivery by lipid nanoparticles, the degradation of POI by pre-fused PROTACs was dramatically increased and accelerated compared with standard PROTACs. Moreover, we demonstrated that this approach could be generalized to another hydrophobic tag (HyT) degrader by demonstrating the improved targeted protein degradation after pre-fusion the HyT degrader with heat shock protein 70 (HSP70).
Primary Cardiac Sarcoma Involving the Mitral Valve, an Insidious Form of Heart Failure.

Primary cardiac tumors are extremely rare, with the incidence ranging between 0.001% and 0.03%, of which 25% are malignant.1 Sarcomas are the most common malignant primary cardiac tumor, accounting for 10%-20% of all primary cardiac tumors.1 Presentation is often late, and disease burden is often high. Symptoms tend to relate to the structures involved. Multimodality cardiac imaging is integral in reaching a diagnosis in terms of both tissue characterization and guiding transcatheter biopsy. Cardiac sarcomas progress rapidly, and median survival is approximately 6-12 months.
Machine learning for rediscovering revolutionary ideas of the past

The explosion of online knowledge has made knowledge, paradoxically, difficult to find. A web or journal search might retrieve thousands of articles, ranked in a manner that is biased by, for examp...
Social movements and human rights language in abortion debates

This study empirically examines the ways in which anti- and pro-abortion rights actors utilize human rights frames with varying success in getting them repeated by the news media in the different l...
The Impact of Trade on Wages: What If Countries Are Not Small?

This paper explores the eect of trade on the relative wage of less-skilled labor through its eect on world prices which are typically exogenously given under the small open economy assumption. Using the 1995 international input-output data for APEC member countries, we numerically simulate a general equilibrium model to study the eects of abolishing existing taris under the assumption that each member country is large enough to aect the prices of goods and services produced in the region. We …nd that the responsiveness of prices plays an important role in easing a possible adverse eect of trade on relative wages.
AMD-Like Substrate Causes Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in iPSC-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells Wild Type but Not C3-Knockout

The Bruch’s membrane (BrM) is a five-layered extracellular matrix (ECM) that supports the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Normal age-related changes in the BrM may lead to RPE cell damage and ultimately to the onset and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which is the most common cause of visual loss among the elderly. A role for the complement system in AMD pathology has been established, but the disease mechanisms are poorly understood, which hampers the design of efficient therapies to treat millions of patients. In an effort to identify the mechanisms that lead from normal aging to pathology, we have developed a cell-based model using complement deficient human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived RPE cells cultured on an AMD-like ECM that mimics BrM. The data present evidence that changes in the ECM result in loss of differentiation and promote epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) of healthy RPE cells. This pathological process is mediated by complement activation and involves the formation of a randomly oriented collagen meshwork that drives the dedifferentiation of the RPE monolayer. Genetic ablation of complement component 3 has a protective effect against EMT but does not prevent the abnormal deposition of collagens. These findings offer new insights into the sequence of events that initiate AMD and may guide the design of efficient therapies to treat this disease with unmet medical needs.
E-cigarette Aerosol Mixtures Inhibit Biomaterial-Induced Osseointegrative Cell Phenotypes.

Abstract Objectives Smoking is a known contributor to the failure of dental implants. Despite a decline in cigarette use, the popularity of e-cigarettes has exploded. However, little is known about how e-cigarettes affect the biologic response to implants. This study examines the effect of e-cigarette aerosol mixtures (ecig-AM) on macrophage activation and osteoblastogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in response to titanium (Ti) implant surfaces. Methods Ecig-AMs were prepared by bubbling aerosol through PBS. Human-derived MSCs or murine-derived macrophages were plated on smooth, rough-hydrophobic, or rough-hydrophilic Ti surfaces in media supplemented with ecig-AM. In macrophages, expression of inflammatory markers was measured by qPCR and macrophage immunophenotype characterized by flow cytometry after 24 h of exposure. In MSCs, expression of osteogenic markers and inflammatory cytokines was measured by qPCR and ELISA, while alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) was determined by colorimetric assay. Results Ecig-AM polarized primary macrophages into a pro-inflammatory state with higher effect on ecig-AM with flavorants and nicotine. Metabolic activity of MSCs decreased in a concentration dependent fashion and was stronger in ecig-AM containing nicotine. MSCs reduced expression of osteogenic markers in response to ecig-AM, but increased RANKL secretion, particularly at the highest ecig-AM concentrations. The effect of ecig-AM exposure was lessened when macrophages or MSCs were cultured on rough-hydrophilic substrates. Significance Ecig-AM activated macrophages into a pro-inflammatory phenotype and impaired MSC-to-osteoblast differentiation in response to Ti implant surfaces. These effects were potentiated by flavorants and nicotine, suggesting that e-cigarette use may compromise the osseointegration of dental implants.
Crystallization Behavior and Quality of Frozen Meat

Preservation of meat through freezing entails the use of low temperatures to extend a product’s shelf-life, mainly by reducing the rate of microbial spoilage and deterioration reactions. Characteristics of meat that are important to be preserve include tenderness, water holding capacity, color, and flavor. In general, freezing improves meat tenderness, but negatively impacts other quality attributes. The extent to which these attributes are affected depends on the ice crystalline size and distribution, which itself is governed by freezing rate and storage temperature and duration. Although novel technology has made it possible to mitigate the negative effects of freezing, the complex nature of muscle tissue makes it difficult to accurately and consistently predict outcome of meat quality following freezing. This review provides an overview of the current understanding of energy and heat transfer during freezing and its effect on meat quality. Furthermore, the review provides an overview of the current novel technologies utilized to improve the freezing process.
Long-Term Outcome of IPAA in Patients Presenting with Fulminant Ulcerative Colitis: A Matched Cohort Study

Background Studies reveal that ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA) has long-term success. These reports, however, use well-selected cohorts and exclude patients presenting with fulminant colitis (FC). Herein, we aimed to characterize long-term functional outcomes in patients with fulminant ulcerative colitis (UC) undergoing IPAA.
Spatially resolved equalization and forward error correction for multimode fiber links

Multimode fiber links suffer from intermodal dispersion, which, at high data rates, produces intersymbol interference in the received optical signal. Without signal processing or equalization, this limits the achievable data rates. We consider the combination of a spatially resolved equalizer (SRE) (in the optical domain) and forward error correction (FEC) to increase the achievable data rates and reliability on these links. Our performance results obtained with actual measured impulse responses show that SRE and FEC on a multimode fiber link enable a significant increase (about 2.5 times) in data rate and/or a reduction in bit error rate (BER) at relatively low cost. Furthermore, we show that improvements in data rate and reliability are generally not possible using FEC alone, making the SRE/FEC combination a cost-effective, attractive approach.
Miniature Contactless Piezoelectric Wind Turbine

This study presents the development of a miniature wind turbine that can be used for powering wireless sensors deployed at remote locations. The wind turbine utilizes piezoelectric transducers in order to reduce the start-up speed. Six piezoelectric bimorphs with magnetic tip mass were actuated through attractive and repulsive force between permanent magnets. The design and characterization of the prototype is discussed along with a Finite Element Model (FEM) of the piezoelectric elements. The wind turbine was 23 cm high and 16.5 cm wide. It was able to achieve low cut-in speeds of 1m/s providing power outputs ranging between 0.5 mW and 3 mW for wind speeds in the range of 1 m/s to 4 m/s.
A 200-MHz continuous-time CMOS delta-sigma modulator featuring nonlinear feedback control

We present the design and the experimental verification of a stabilized 200 MHz single-bit fifth-order continuous-time delta-sigma modulator. The integrated circuit is developed in a 0.35 /spl mu/m triple-metal double-poly CMOS process and includes both modulator and nonlinear feedback controller operating from a 3.0 V supply. Our controller architecture, valid for loop filters of any finite order, guarantees stability under mild conditions and is based on advanced switching concepts derived from variable-structure theory. Theoretical, simulation and experimental results are provided.
Assessment and management of connective tissue disease-associated interstitial lung disease.

The intersection of the connective tissue diseases (CTD) and the interstitial lung diseases (ILD) is complex. Although often considered as a single entity, “CTD-ILD” actually reflects a heterogeneous spectrum of diverse CTDs and a variety of patterns of interstitial pneumonia. The evaluation of patients with CTD that develop ILD, or the assessment for underlying CTD in those presenting with presumed “idiopathic” ILD can be challenging and these evaluations can be optimized by effective multidisciplinary collaboration. When a diagnosis of CTD-ILD is confirmed, careful and thorough assessments to determine extra- versus intra-thoracic disease activity, and degrees of impairment are needed. Pharmacologic intervention with immunosuppression is the mainstay of therapy for all forms of CTD-ILD, but should be reserved only for those that demonstrate clinically significant and/or progressive disease. The management of CTD-ILD is not yet evidence based and there is a desperate need for controlled trials across the spectrum of CTD-ILD. Non-pharmacologic management strategies and addressing comorbidities or aggravating factors should be part of a comprehensive treatment plan for individuals with CTD-ILD.
Evaluating Binomial Character Sums Modulo Powers of Two

We show that for any mod 2 m characters, 1; 2; the complete exponential sum, ∑ 2 m x=1 1(x) 2(Ax k + B) has a simple explicit evaluation.
Integrative Frontiers in Environmental Policy Theory and Research

Environmental policy research continues to advance toward a more Kuhnian “normal” science where theory and empirical tools are brought to bear on real-world policy systems to better understand social processes and determine the context in which policies work best. Traditional environmental policy tools now involve more flexible market-based instruments, voluntary agreements, and information provision tools like ecolabels and sustainability indicators. Policy process theories continue to be refined through hypothesis testing and are evolving into more integrative and multidisciplinary frameworks. Interdisciplinary methods are also being employed to better measure and analyze environmental outcomes, which has always been a major challenge in environmental policy research. These research tools are being explored in emerging policy approaches like collaborative partnerships and with novel environmental issues like climate change adaptation, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and nanotechnology.
The Expositor, the Censor, and the Common Law

A central tenet of modern Legal Positivism is the claim that "the existence of the law is one thing, its merit or demerit another."1 I shall call this "the Positivist dictum." Jeremy Bentham, the first and perhaps the greatest of the English Positivists, announced this doctrine in his early Fragment on Government, when he distinguished the "Expositor" of the law who "explains what the law /s" and "shows what the Legislator and Judge have done" from the "Censor" who instructs us in "what the law ought to be."2 According to Professor Hart,
Postweaning development of diabetes in ob ob mice

Abstract In association with moderate diabetes, fully mature obese mice ( C57BL 6J ob ob ) display several disturbances of metabolism, behavior, and growth. As yet, no precise developmental relationships have been established between the major abnormalities of these mice, although obesity, hypometabolism, and reduced activity have been reported as early as 7 days of age and appear to precede the development of diabetes. In the present studies, examination of glucose regulation revealed that preweanling obese mice, which are already characterized by many metabolic and growth deficits, had significantly lower fasting glucose levels when compared with lean controls, and displayed subnormal glycemia in response to glucose or control stimulation. In contrast, 28-day-old mutant mice had mildly elevated fasting glucose levels and maintained severe hyperglycemia after either glucose or distilled water administration. In response to exogenous insulin (1 U/kg), obese mice at each age displayed significant reductions of serum glucose, but appeared to be mildly insulin-insensitive when their glucose responses were compared with those of lean mice. The present results suggest that several factors are likely to be responsible for the rapid postweaning development of diabetes in ob ob mice, including insulin resistance, dietary changes, and, possibly, an increased capacity for diabetogenic hormone production; however, the appearance of diabetes substantially later than several other metabolic disturbances indicates that abnormal glycoregulation is a relatively indirect consequence of the ob ob mutation.
Anti‐Cancer Drugs Reactivate Tumor Suppressor miR‐375 Expression in Tongue Cancer Cells

Head and neck cancer is one of the deadliest malignant diseases and chemotherapy is a common treatment option. Despite the development of chemotherapies for several decades, how these drugs affect the dynamics of gene regulation is still largely unknown. In our previous study, miR-375 was shown to be underexpressed in oral cancers and thus unable to serve as a tumor suppressor microRNA to regulate certain putative oncogenes. In this study, we found that common anti-cancer drugs reactivated miR-375 in tongue cancer cells. Incubation of tongue cancer cells CAL 27 and SCC-25 in medium containing doxorubicin, 5-fluorouracil, trichostatin A, or etoposide significantly increased the expression of miR-375 and its primary transcript pri-miR-375. The dose- and time-dependent effects of doxorubicin in CAL 27 were demonstrated by miR-375 increases in response to the drug. Significant suppression of pri-miR-375 expression was observed in human tongue cancer specimens and this decrease was more prominent in advanced stage tumors. Bioinformatics from four publicly available mRNA microarray data sets suggested that these candidate miR-375 targets are mainly involved in cancer biology, indicating that these targets are likely to be suppressed via miR-375 due to the treatment with these drugs. Together, our data suggest that the four anti-cancer drugs examined in this study induce the expression of tumor suppressor miR-375 in tongue cancer. J. Cell. Biochem. 116: 836–843, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Redistribution Without Egalitarianism

I will, in this paper, set out the philosophical foundations and the basic structure of a new theory of justice. I will argue that both these foundations and the theory which is based upon them are intuitively attractive and theoretically sound. Finally, I will argue that both are supported by the fact that they lead to attractive implications such as the following:(1) One can justify at least some governmental redistributive programs which presuppose that those receiving the wealth have a right to it, without being committed to any form of egalitarianism.(2) The justification for these redistributive programs respects property entitlements; it argues, in effect, that property entitlements and rights to some redistribution of wealth presuppose each other, rather than being in conflict with each other.(3) The amount of redistribution to which each indigent person is entitled is directly proportional to the wealth of the society in question (the wealthier the society, the greater the entitlement) and inversely proportional to the number of indigents in the society in question (the more indigents, the less to which each is entitled).There are at this stage in the history of Western thought few entirely new ideas in philosophy. Too much has been written about the important issues to allow for entirely new approaches. My theory is no exception to these generalizations, for it draws upon the tradition of John Locke, of the agrarian reforms such as Paine, Spence, and Ogilvie, and of libertarian writers such as Robert Nozick. Nevertheless, I will argue, the resulting theory is a significant advance over the ideas of these earlier writers.
An object-oriented architecture for knowledge-based production scheduling systems

This paper describes an object-oriented architecture to support decision making in production scheduling environments. An object-oriented world view is used to integrate concepts from discrete event simulation, conventional scheduling logic and artificial intelligence to produce capacity-feasible schedules. The architecture was implemented as a collection of loosely coupled reusable software objects by extending the functionality of software objects from BLOCS/M (Berkeley Library of Objects for Control and Simulation of Manufacturing). Our experience with an industrial prototype is presented.
Growth of Lactobacillus plantarum in Cucumber Extract Containing Various Chloride Salts

Systems similar to the environment of pure-culture inoculation and the natural process of cucumber fermentation were used to study the capabilities of some salt substitutes including potassium chloride, calcium chloride, and magnesium chloride to provide a selective environment for the growth of Lactobacillus plantarum, a desirable species in cucumber fermentation. The salt that gave the highest percentage of Lactobacillus in the total microbial population was considered to provide the most selective environment for the desirable organisms in cucumber fermentation. Salts that provided the most selective environment were NaCl and KCl in the filtered, raw cucumber extract and KCl in the heated and filtered extract. Calcium chloride was more selective than MgCl2 in either medium.
A combinatorial approach toward electrochemical analysis

Abstract An electrolyte-probe screening method was proposed for combinatorial electrochemical analysis, which is not only suitable for half-cell but also for full-cell electrochemical research. The accuracy of this method was examined by investigating the electrochemical oxidation of methanol in an electrode array for various methanol ∣ air cells. Reproducible voltage–current curves were obtained for various parallel experiments in the same electrode array. The effects of catalyst loading and methanol concentration on the discharge performance for the methanol ∣ air cells were observed by fast screening the anode electrodes in the array containing different catalyst loadings and various methanol concentrations, respectively.
Decreased survival of rainbow trout exposed to no. 2 fuel oil caused by sublethal preexposure

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were exposed for 21 d to sublethal levels of No. 2 fuel oil (2FO). The four exposure concentrations ranged from 12 to 100 mg/L 2FO dispersed in water and resulted in 0 to 12% mortality. Following this exposure period (preexposure) the ability of preexposed trout to survive exposure to acutely lethal levels of 2FO was observed. Preexposure to either 50 or 100 mg/L 2FO consistently resulted in decreased survival and a lower LC50 for a given observation period. Unfortunately, because the LC50 determinations were not obtained independently, they could not be used to test statistically the effects of preexposure on survival. Therefore, two proportional hazard modeling techniques were applied to the data to test for effects due to preexposure. Both modeling techniques indicated that preexposure results in decreased survival of rainbow trout exposed to acutely toxic levels of 2FO. Thus, in contrast to preexposure to metals, which results in acclimation, preexposure to 2FO results in decreased survival.