cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Procrastination and the Shifting Political Media Environment: An Experimental Study of Media Choice Affecting a Democratic Outcome

The shifting media environment is expected to have a variety of effects on political knowledge and behavior. An experimental study was conducted to assess the influence of media environment on news consumption, perceptions of media experience quality, and success on a political outcome. In addition, procrastination is introduced as a potentially important individual-difference variable with assessments offered for both its main effects and its ability to moderate the influence of media environment. Media environment complexity predicted lower news use and higher success on our political outcome. Procrastination's effect was on media experience perceptions and a media environment-by-procrastination interaction on this portion of the hypothesized model. These outcomes then went on to predict success on a task analogous to democratic participation.
The drug‐crime nexus among adolescents and their peers

The purpose of this paper is to determine the nature of the drug‐crime relationship by exploring the influence of friend behaviors on both adolescent delinquent and substance using behavior. The sample consists of 1381 adolescents evenly divided by gender into three age groups (12, 15 and 18 years old). In general, there is an increase in intensity of substance use from the youngest to the oldest age level with male and female levels being similar within each age group. There are both age and gender differences when examining delinquent behavior. There is a relationship between adolescent drug use and crime (especially among males), however this relationship is relatively modest. In addition, while friends’ behavior is a very strong predictor of the same type of behavior in subjects, there are no strong crossover relationships. Thus, the hypothesis that both types of behavior are part of a specific deviant peer subculture is not confirmed.
Sequential Methods to Detect Material Losses

The materials-loss problem is examined under the assumption that one wishes to minimize the maximum expected amount of material diverted. A solution is obtained in the case of constant diversion under a simple sequential probability ratio test (SPRT). Extensions to the cases of correlated errors, random diversion schemes, and the Page and Shirayev-Roberts tests are examined. A thought-provoking application to the regulation of strategic special nuclear materials is given.
Processing as a Source of Accessibility Effects on Variation

A variety of factors are known to influence relativizer likelihood (see, inter alia Biber et al. 1999; Fox and Thompson in review; Tagliamonte, Smith, and Lawrence 2005; Temperley 2003; Tottie 1995). We present new evidence that the conceptual accessibility (Bock and Warren 1985:50) of an NSRC’s subject affects relativizer likelihood: The more accessible the referent of a NSRC’s subject is in working memory, the less likely the NSRC is to have a relativizer. We link this finding to research on the production and comprehension of relative clauses, and so integrate the observed accessibility effect into a uniform processing account of relativizer variation (Race and MacDonald 2003; Jaeger and Wasow 2005). In Section 1, we show that relativizer omission is sensitive to the derived accessibility (Prat-Sala and Branigan 2000) of the NSRC’s subject – that is, the subject referent's salience/givenness in discourse. In Section 2, we outline a processing-based account of the observed effects. In Section 3, we show that relativizer variation is also affected by the inherent accessibility of the NSRC’s subject, specifically number and referentiality. Section 4 concludes with the consequences for future research and a brief summary of the observed effects.
Northern Islands, Human Error, and Environmental Degradation

While we worry today about the environmental crises resulting from industrialization and the use of fossil fuels, in the preindustrial past, humans did not always live in harmony with their environments, and have caused destruction of the resources upon which they depended, to their own detriment. A case of such a process is documented for the North Atlantic offshore islands of the eighth through eleventh centuries ad by McGovern, Bigelow, Amorosi, and Russell. In this instance of medieval colonization by Scandinavian settlers, mixed farming was brought into an environment rich in forests and natural pastures. The settlers, however, overstocked domestic animals, depleted stands of trees, and caused soil erosion with their farming practices. This environmental degradation, the authors suggest, may have played an important role in changing social relationships and in the economic decline of these colonies.
The boundary structure of the sumset in Z2

Let A be a finite subset of Z 2. Let h be a positive integer. Let hA be a sumset defined by $$ \left\{ {h_1 a_1 + \cdot \cdot \cdot + h_k a_k |a_i \in A,\sum\limits_{i = 1}^k {h_i = h^{} } } \right\} $$ where k = |A|. It is found that the distribution of the elements of hA in the boundary region of the convex hull of hA exhibited a repeating pattern. In other words, if each side of the boundary region of the convex hull of hA is partitioned into h cells, for h sufficiently large, there exists a constant C and there exist a consecutive h − C congruent parallelograms such that the elements of hA in each parallelogram can be translated by a constant vector to obtain elements of hA in the next parallelogram. By counting the number of parallelograms and the cardinality of hA in each parallelogram, it can be found that the cardinality of hA in the boundary region is a linear function of h.
Ethics Consultation in Rehabilitation Counseling: A Content Analysis of CRCC Advisory Opinions, 1996–2013

The present study was designed to provide information about the content of the advisory opinions provided by the Ethics Committee of the Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification. Specifically, a content analysis was performed on all of the advisory opinions rendered between March 1996 and November 2013. NVivo10 was utilized to systematically inspect the content of the opinions and describe emerging patterns. Results from the study revealed that most of the advisory opinions addressed ethical standards related to the counseling relationship, confidentiality, resolving ethical issues, and professional responsibility. Implications for future education outreach initiatives and research directions are discussed.
Candidate Strategies and Electoral Competition in the Russian Federation: ELECTIONS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEMOCRATIC CAPACITY

Elections and representation are two different institutions. Yury Sharandin, chair of the Constitutional Legislation Committee of the Federation Council In describing the third wave of democratic transitions, Samuel Huntington (1991) wrote that the introduction of elections signals the death of authoritarian systems. Subsequent developments have demonstrated that the relationship between elections and regime change is much more complicated. Yes, the critical event in the consolidation period is the introduction of competitive elections. However, electoral competition does not always mark the death of an authoritarian regime. Rather, it signals the beginning of building a new regime while grappling with the vestiges of the old, a process that can end in a range of outcomes from stable, responsive, and accountable democracy to authoritarian revival. This book explores the role that electoral competition plays in the evolution of transitional regimes. Its premise is that understanding how individual politicians respond to incentives in the newly established electoral arena helps to explain the success or failure of democratic consolidation. While the empirical focus of this book is largely on the Russian Federation, the theoretic framework illuminates the broader implications of electoral politics in new democracies. As Russia emerged from its democratization period and undertook competitive elections in 1993, optimism about the country's chances of achieving democratic goals was boundless. Analysts declared that the Communist Party – and by implication the authoritarian regime – was over. Elections, they argued, had supplanted both the party and authoritarian rule, and would serve as the basis for a stable democracy.
Pair fireball precursors of neutron star mergers

If at least one neutron star (NS) is magnetized in a binary NS merger, then the orbital motion of the conducting companion during the final inspiral induce s a strong voltage and current along the magnetic field lines connecting the NSs. If a modest fractionη of the extracted electromagnetic power extracted accelerates relativisti c particles, the resulting gamma-ray emission a compact volume will result in the formation of an electron-positron pair fireball. Applying a steady-state pair wind model, we quantify the detectability of the precursor fireball with gamma-ray satellites. Forη∼ 1 the gamma-ray detection horizon of Dmax≈ 10(Bd/10 14 G) 3/4 is much closer than the Advanced LIGO/Virgo horizon of 200 Mpc, unless the NS surface magnetic field strength is very large, Bd ∼ 10 15 G. Given the quasi-isotropic nature of the emission, mergers with weaker NS fields could contribu te a nearby population of short gamma-ray bursts. Power not dissipated close to the binary is carried to infinity along the open field lines by a large scale Poynting flux. Reconnection withi n this outflow, well outside of the pair photosphere, provides a potential site for non-the rmal emission, such as a coherent millisecond radio burst.
Secondary trauma among community corrections staff: An exploratory study

ABSTRACTThis article explores the demographic factors, background characteristics, and workplace perceptions that predict secondary trauma among probation/parole and residential officers. Our results indicate that probation/parole officers were more likely to report secondary trauma than residential officers. Additionally, we found that officers who reported better health, better job training, and fewer contact hours with offenders were also less likely to report secondary trauma. These results fill a much-needed gap in the literature, as well as provide information that may be utilized by the department of corrections to minimize symptoms of secondary trauma among community corrections staff.
Fast formation cycling for lithium ion batteries

Abstract The formation process for lithium ion batteries typically takes several days or more, and it is necessary for providing a stable solid electrolyte interphase on the anode (at low potentials vs. Li/Li+) for preventing irreversible consumption of electrolyte and lithium ions. An analogous layer known as the cathode electrolyte interphase layer forms at the cathode at high potentials vs. Li/Li+. However, several days, or even up to a week, of these processes result in either lower LIB production rates or a prohibitively large size of charging-discharging equipment and space (i.e. excessive capital cost). In this study, a fast and effective electrolyte interphase formation protocol is proposed and compared with an Oak Ridge National Laboratory baseline protocol. Graphite, NMC 532, and 1.2 M LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate: diethyl carbonate were used as anodes, cathodes, and electrolytes, respectively. Results from electrochemical impedance spectroscopy show the new protocol reduced surface film (electrolyte interphase) resistances, and 1300 aging cycles show an improvement in capacity retention.
Gender Stereotypes and the Coordination of Mnemonic Work within Heterosexual Couples: Romantic Partners Manage their Daily To-Dos

Couples appear to help each other remember outstanding tasks (“to-dos”) by issuing reminders. We examine if women and men differ in the frequency with which they offer this form of mnemonic assistance. Five studies measure how heterosexual couples coordinate mnemonic work in romantic relationships. The first two studies demonstrate that men are assumed to do less of this form of mnemonic work (Study 1) and experience less societal pressure to do so than women do (Study 2). The next three studies suggest that men tend to do less of this mnemonic work than women do and that, when men do mnemonically help their partners, the help tends to involve errands for which they are stakeholders. This notion was evidenced in the greater accessibility of examples of women’s reminding acts than men’s reminding acts for both partners (Study 3) and in the less helpful reminders that men provided, compared to those women provided, as rated by both partners (Study 4a) and independent coders (Study 4b). These results converge on the possibility that men, relative to women, are less inclined to be concerned with keeping track of their partners” outstanding needs, perhaps because doing so is a behavior that is less strongly prescribed for men than for women. Implications for helping behavior and the possible consequences associated with performing disproportionate mnemonic work in relationships are discussed.
MnTE-2-PyP and NOX4 Deletion Protects Radiation Induced Damage in Mouse Primary Prostate Fibroblasts by Inhibiting TGFβ1 Signaling Pathway

Patients with prostate cancer, receiving ionizing radiation, frequently suffer from radiation induce damage in normal tissues adjacent to the tumor. These irradiated normal cells lead to tissue fibrosis and senescence which ultimately leads to post-irradiation related chronic complexities like damage in prostate tissue, urinary urgency and frequency, erectile dysfunction, urethral stricture, and incontinence etc. Radiation-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) was reported as the most potent causative factor for radiation damage to normal tissue. MnTE-2-PyP, a ROS scavenger, can protect the normal cell by radiation-induced damage whereas it can inhibit the growth of the cancer cell after irradiation, which is necessary for any radio protector. However, the mechanism by which MnTE-2-PyP protects from radiation-induced fibrosis is unclear. Our current study reveals the underlined molecular mechanism of radiation protection by MnTE-2-PyP in normal mouse prostate fibroblast cells. To investigate the role of MnTE-2-PyP in normal tissue protection after irradiation, primary prostate fibroblasts from C57BL/6 mice were cultured in presence or absence of MnTE-2-PyP and exposed to 2 Gy of X- rays. Results of this study indicate that, MnTE-2-PyP can protect primary prostate fibroblasts from irradiation mediated activation as measured by contraction of collagen disc and radiation-induced senescence as detected by β-galactosidase staining. We observed that MnTE-2-PyP inhibits TGFβ mediated fibroblast activation pathway by reducing the expression of the TGF beta receptor II, which in turn reduces the activation and/or expression of SMAD2, SMAD3 and SMAD4. As a result, SMAD2/3 mediated transcription of pro-fibrotic markers is reduced by MnTE-2-PyP. Due to the inhibition of the TGFβ pathway, fibroblasts treated with MnTE-2-PyP can resist radiation induced activation and senescence of the prostate fibroblast. NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4) produces ROS and its expression is upregulated after irradiation. As was observed with MnTE-2-PyP treatment, NOX4 -/- fibroblasts were protected from radiation-induced fibroblast activation and senescence. However, NOX4 -/- fibroblasts had reduced levels of active TGF-β1, which resulted in decreased TGF-β signaling. Therefore, our data suggests that, reduction of ROS levels by MnTE-2-PyP or reducing NOX4 activity significantly protects normal prostate tissues from radiation induced tissue damage, but work on different components of the TGF-β signaling pathway. This study proposes a crucial insight for molecular mechanism executed by MnTE-2-PyP during its action as a radio protector. Understanding how this molecule works as a radio protector will lead to better and controlled mode of treatment during post irradiation complexities in prostate cancer patients.
The clinical significance of fever in acute leukemia.

1. The total course of acute leukemia in 55 patients managed in one clinic disclosed 149 febrile episodes. 2. Fever occurred virtually only when the leukemia was in relapse. 3. Infection was the cause of fever in 102 of the 149 episodes of fever. 4. With survival after the onset of symptoms of acute leukemia beyond the mean duration of life characteristic of that kind of acute leukemia, infection appeared to be more often the cause of fever than when survival was less than the mean for that kind of leukemia. 5. Fever due to infection could not be reliably differentiated from fever not due to infection by either the height or character of the fever curve, or by counting the absolute number of mature polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the blood. 6. Infection causing febrile episodes was most successfully detected by means of history, physical examination, chest roentgenogram, blood culture and other cultures as indicated by the preceding maneuvers. 7. Consideration of the fever of acute leukemia from the point of view of present day studies of the pathogenesis of fever did not clearly implicate known mechanisms of pyrogenesis. 8. The interplay of state of leukemia, nature of infecting microorganism and anti-infectious and antileukemic therapies is related to outcome in febrile episodes due to infections. The management of febrile episodes is discussed. 9. Increased survival time in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia has not been accompanied by increased morbidity.
Membrane Distillation in Desalination and Water Treatment

Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven separation process. There are four types of MD: direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD), vacuum membrane distillation (VMD), air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) and sweep gas membrane distillation (SGMD). MD process has a number of potential advantages, namely, low operating temperature and hydraulic pressure, very high rejection of nonvolatile solutes, smaller footprint and potentially high water vapor flux for example in DCMD compared to conventional thermal distillation processes. For such reasons, MD has been considered as an emerging new technology in desalination and wastewater treatment. This chapter addresses a variety of applications of MD employing primarily the techniques of DCMD, VMD, and AGMD. State-of-the-art research results in different areas such as, desalination of seawater and brackish water, produced water treatment from oil exploration and coal seam gas production, high temperature DCMD, water treatment in bioreactors and oily wastewaters, treatment of processing streams from dairy, food, beverage industries and animal husbandry, concentration of acids, membrane distillation in biorefineries, mineral recovery and radioactive water treatment, are briefly presented and discussed in this chapter.
Process planning for laser wire-feed metal additive manufacturing system

Laser wire-feed metal additive manufacturing (LWMAM) is a promising additive manufacturing technology that is well suited to build from various materials near net shape mid- to large-size complex components with a high deposition rate and high material usage. It could find applications in diverse industrial sectors such as aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, and rapid tooling. To further gain the acceptance of this technology, the development of process planning software is identified as one of the main challenges. LWMAM has several specific features that complicate the process planning compared to other similar additive manufacturing processes. LWMAM is still in its infancy. In this study, key features involved in the LWMAM process were first identified by building a prismatic block. The corresponding strategies were proposed and tested. Then, a MATLAB-based process planning software was developed that consisted of modules for volume slicing, contour filling, track trimming/elongating, stair-step effect compensation, and post-processing. Free-form contours and a propeller were successfully built by using the developed software. The as-built shapes were measured and compared to the CAD models.
Hypofibrinogenemia Is Associated With Poor Outcome and Secondary Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis/Macrophage Activation Syndrome in Pediatric Severe Sepsis.

Objectives:Some children with sepsis exhibit a sustained hyperinflammatory response that can trigger secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis/macrophage activation syndrome. Although hypofibrinogenemia is a shared feature of sepsis and hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, there are no data about
Variations in Velopharyngeal Structure in Adults With Repaired Cleft Palate.

Objective:The purpose of this study was to examine differences in velopharyngeal structures between adults with repaired cleft palate and normal resonance and adults without cleft palate.Design:Thi...
Importance of a diphosphorylated intermediate for RppH-dependent RNA degradation

Deprotection of the 5′ end appears to be a universal mechanism for triggering the degradation of mRNA in bacteria and eukaryotes. In Escherichia coli, for example, converting the 5′ triphosphate of...
Second dissociation constant of two substituted aminomethanesulfonic acids in water from 5 to 55°C

The equilibrium constants for the dissociation steps of (4-morpholineethanesulfonic acid) (MES) and (2-{[tris(hydroxymethyl)methyl]-1-ethanesulfonic acid (TES) have been determined at 12 and 7 different temperatures, respectively, from 5 to 55°C. The emf measurements were carried out by using a cell without liquid junction of the type: Pt; H2 (g, 1 atm) | buffer(m1), Na salt of buffer(m2), NaCl(m3) | AgCl, Ag. The pK 2 values of MES and TES at 25°C are 6.269 and 7.550. The thermodynamic quantities for the dissociation process have been calculated. These zwitterionic compounds are useful for pH control as standard buffers in the physiological region of pH 5.50 to 6.50 for MES, 6.5 to 7.5 for TES, respectively. Reliable measurements of the pH at isotonic saline solution (I = 0.16m) such as blood and plasma are important for clinical diagnosis.
Medical Management of the Alcoholic Patient

With the advent of the multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of chronic alcoholism, a broad spectrum of professional and paraprofessional personnel have become involved in the treatment process. Among the categories involved are physicians (psychiatrists, internists, and family physicians), nurses, clinical psychologists, counseling psychologists, social workers, vocational counselors, educational counselors, recreational therapists, ex-alcoholic counselors, and doubtless many others. With the exception of the physicians, the role of each discipline is fairly well defined. On the other hand, the specific role of the physician in the treatment of alcoholics remains more ambiguous. This ambiguity stems from a variety of sources.
Virtually Unconscionable: How the Video Game Industry is Slowly Stripping Away Your Rights through Licensing Agreements

Massively Multiplayer Online Games ("MMOGs") are a unique genre of video game in that they tend to emphasize social interaction at least as much as pure achievement. Several academic papers have been devoted entirely to the social interactions of gamers within MMOGs; due to this unique modus operandi, MMOG players may enjoy arguments against the enforceability of license agreements beyond those traditionally available to players of other video game genres. This Comment explores unconscionability and public policy arguments against the enforcement of many terms of these End User License and Terms of Use Agreements common to most MMOGs.
Virtual global communication

As process technologies continue to improve, the number of transistors a designer can put on a chip is growing tremendously. Many techniques have been proposed by architects to use this extra space. However, many of the approaches make heavily-loaded broadcasts and long-distance wires a necessity. With the continued march into deep sub-micron (DSM) technologies, the challenge to architects is to design systems that operate efficiently in a world where global communication is expensive, due to both slower circuits and higher power consumption. In response to this challenge, many architecture researchers have abandoned traditional architectures in an attempt to create new design paradigms from scratch that are based on only local communication. While these ideas have the possibility of avoiding communication complexity almost completely, they come at the momentous cost of redesigning every aspect of the computer, from chip units to compiler. The goal of this work is to find and evaluate complexity-effective alternatives to global communication mechanisms in current-generation processors. Secondly, it is my goal to design these alternatives in such a way that they do not radically change the basic architecture of the machine. I call this design goal Virtual Global Communication. In this dissertation, I examine several different specific communication bottlenecks. I then present possible solutions to reduce their communication complexity, remove them from critical timing paths, and reduce power consumption. I first explore the design space of dynamic instruction scheduling logic. I present a tag elimination mechanism and the Cyclone scheduler as methods for reducing and removing complex broadcast signals, respectively. Tag elimination is shown to reduce broadcast loading by up to 75%, while Cyclone is shown to provide competitive performance with a very fast broadcast-free circuit on a small chip footprint. I also study the complexity of some high-complexity global control signals. Micro rollback and counterflow flush techniques are presented to provide mechanisms for allowing global signals to be pipelined effectively. Counterflow flush is shown to be a low-overhead method of performing flushes using only local or constrained signals. Finally, I show that micro rollback is a viable architectural method to allow stall signals to be pipelined, with only a 2–3% power and area overhead.
Modeling Alzheimer's disease in progeria mice. An age-related concept.

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is expected to dramatically increase in older people worldwide. Efforts to find disease-modifying treatments have been largely unsuccessful because of the focus on disease-specific pathogenesis, and lack of animal models to study AD in the context of aging and age-related co-morbidities. The geroscience approach to studying AD would suggest that modulation of aging per se would be a useful strategy, but a mammalian model system that combines both aging and AD is not available. One approach to study old age and AD is to utilize murine models of progeroid syndrome, which can provide a number of advantages not only for basic aging biology but also for preclinical drug testing. A progeria background, such as the Ercc1 mutant mouse (Ercc1-/Δ ), provides an aging component not seen in current murine models of AD that lack age-related co-morbidities typical of AD patients. Ercc1-/Δ mice experience the same types of stochastic endogenous DNA damage as WT mice, but accumulate lesions faster due to impaired DNA repair, which accelerates the normal aging process by 6-fold. These mice do not show frank AD pathology but represent a predisposed or hypersensitive environment for AD pathology, where pathogenic elements of AD can be introduced, either by crossing with well-established AD transgenic mouse lines, or transcranial stereotaxic delivery directly into the brain. Since Ercc1-/Δ mice age five to six times faster than WT mice, very rapid characterization and testing of therapeutic interventions is possible. Studies are urgently needed to capitalize on the highly informative potential of this novel AD mouse model.
Novel Technique for Improved Texture and Information Content of Fused Medical Images

Medical image fusion is important in biomedical applications for non-invasive diagnosis. Multimodal image fusion reduces defects associated with images created from single modalities, which often result in less informative and therefore less useful images. Fused images created from two or more images exhibit increased accuracy of the information content and better visual properties. However, existing fusion methods have not properly addressed some of the poor visual properties and insufficient accuracy of the fused images. A novel method for improving the visual properties and information content of the fused image is described in this paper. The proposed algorithm combines Gabor filtering, maximum pixel selection and Pulse-Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) implementation aimed at creating an improved fused image. In order to quantify this improvement, two fused images are generated and evaluated under standard performance criteria, and then compared with results from existing image fusion methods.
The photochemical reactivity of bis(tert-butylcyclopentadienyl)molybdenum dihydride: synthesis and structure of dinuclear trans-[(CpBut)Mo(μ-σ,η 5-C5H3But)H]2

Photolysis of (CpBut)2MoH2 in benzene yields the molybdenocene derivative trans-[(CpBut)Mo(μ-σ ,η5-C5H3But)H]2. An X-ray diffraction study demonstrate that the molybdenum centers of trans-[(CpBut)Mo(μ-σ ,η 5-C5H3But)H]2 are bridged by two σ ,η 5-C5H3But ligands, each one of which coordinates in a σ-manner to one molybdenum center and an η 5-manner to the other, thereby resulting in a centrosymmetric dimer with a structural type that is different from that of [CpMo(μ-σ ,η 5-C5H4)]2 which possesses a Mo–Mo bond.
A Personalized Self-image: Gender and Branding Practices Among Journalists:

As the field of journalism becomes increasingly unrecognizable, the messages that identify the journalist, their work, and their affiliations are of increasing importance. This study envisions jour...
Genetic access to functionally distinct ganglion cell types in the Somatostatin-IRES-Cre mouse retina

Abstract Retinal ganglion cells (GCs) are a functionally diverse neuron population that encodes and transmits distinct representations of the visual image on the retina to target nuclei in the brain. Independent studies of visually-evoked responses, cell morphology, and gene expression each suggest that GCs in mouse may comprise as many as forty distinct cell types. To date, only a subset of these types have been characterized in detail, and for most genetic access is still lacking. Thus, the majority of identified GC types remains inaccessible for targeted electrophysiology and functional imaging, precluding efficient studies of their response properties, and the cell-intrinsic mechanisms and presynaptic circuits that generate these properties. Here we show that an existing mouse line that is commonly used for studies of cortical inhibitory circuits – Somatostatin-IRES-Cre (Sst-Cre), consistently labels an understudied subset of four GC types with distinct visual responses. We characterized these types both anatomically and functionally using Cre-dependent reporter mouse lines and confocal fluorescence imaging, calcium imaging, and whole-cell electrophysiology. We show that one of the labeled GC types is suppressed by luminance contrast, while another matches a recently described orientation-selective GC type. Our results give new information about these two identified GC types, and establish the utility of the Sst-Cre transgenic mouse line for studies of recently identified GC circuits in the mouse retina.
Selection of HIV-1 for Resistance to Fourth Generation Protease Inhibitors Reveals Two Independent Pathways to High-Level Resistance

Well-designed viral protease inhibitors (PIs) potently inhibit replication as well as create a high genetic barrier for resistance. Through in vivo selective pressure, we have generated high-level resistance against ten HIV-1 PIs and their precursor, the FDA-approved drug darunavir (DRV), achieving 1,000-fold resistance over the starting EC50. The accumulation of mutations revealed two pathways to high-level resistance, resulting in protease variants with up to 14 mutations in and outside of the active site. The two pathways demonstrate the interplay between drug resistance and viral fitness. Replicate selections showed that one inhibitor could select for resistance through either pathway, although subtle changes in chemical structure of the inhibitors led to preferential use of one pathway over the other. Viral variants from the two pathways showed differential selection of compensatory mutations in Gag cleavage sites. These results reveal the high-level of selective pressure that is attainable with these fourth-generation protease inhibitors, and the interplay between selection of mutations to confer resistance while maintaining viral fitness.
CRT-100.47 Elevated LVEDP in STEMI Presentation Does Not Guide Use of Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support Systems

Presence of cardiogenic shock at time of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) presentation carries a 40-50% mortality. Elevated left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) > 18-22 mmHg at presentation is predictive of higher mortality. The role of temporary mechanical circulatory support (
The centre nervous system damage caused by enterovirus 71

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is one of the most important causes of hand-foot-mouth disease and herpangina. EV71, due to its neurotropic nature, can also cause severe complications of the central nervous system than other types of enterovirus. EV71 infection also causes devastating syndromes such as acute pulmonary edema, pulmonary hemorrhage and cardiopulmonary failure. In this review, clinical manifestations and the pathogenesis of central nervous system dysfunction after EV71 infection were described. Key words: Enterovirus 71; Hand-foot-and-mouth disease; Central nervous system; Pulmonary edema
Why MSMEs are failing: Evidence from the real world

This article discusses the experience of this researcher in attempting to educate the founders of micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the hope of assisting them with the survival...
Spectrum Shaping For Multiple Link Discovery in 6G THz Systems.

This paper presents a novel antenna configuration to measure directions of multiple signal sources at the receiver in a THz mobile network via a single channel measurement. Directional communication is an intrinsic attribute of THz wireless networks and the knowledge of direction should be harvested continuously to maintain link quality. Direction discovery can potentially impose an immense burden on the network that limits its communication capacity exceedingly. To utterly mitigate direction discovery overhead, we propose a novel technique called spectrum shaping capable of measuring direction, power, and relative distance of propagation paths via a single measurement. We demonstrate that the proposed technique is also able to measure the transmitter antenna orientation. We evaluate the performance of the proposed design in several scenarios and show that the introduced technique performs similar to a large array of antennas while attaining a much simpler hardware architecture. Results show that the spectrum shaping with only two antennas placed 0.5 mm, 5 mm, and 1 cm apart performs direction of arrival estimation similar to a much more complex uniform linear array equipped with 7, 60, and 120 antennas, respectively.
Trace Metals in Health and Disease

Trace elements often have a bimodal or even a trimodal effect. Severe deficiency of certain trace metals can result in death or severe crippling of an animal or in birth defects of the newborn. The next level of intake is the nutritional level where chronic deficiency over a lifetime may cause major diseases such as cancer and heart disease. The next level of intake is the toxic level which may result in severe crippling or death of the animal. The primary area of concern in this chapter will be the nutritional intake level and the deficiency level and their relationship to animal or human disease. The trace elements described in this chapter are: chromium; cobalt; copper; fluorine; iodine; iron; manganese; molybdenum; nickel; silicon; selenium; tin; vanadium; and zinc.
Restricted Bayes Estimates for Binomial Parameters

Let θ = (θ1,...,θk) be the parameters for k independent binomial random variables. We wish to estimate θ under the restriction θ ∊ R where R is a k-dimensional subset of the full parameter space {θ; 0 ≤ θi ≤ 1, i = 1,...,k}. Bayes estimators (means of posteriors) are developed for θ which correspond to prior distributions that assign probability one to the set R. Since the support of the resulting posterior is R, the posterior mean will be in R if R is a convex set. A bioassay example is given where the parameters are assumed to be increasing, or increasing and S-shaped.
Decoherence in Resonantly Driven Bistable Systems

We study dissipative tunneling in a double well potential that is driven close to a resonance between the lowest tunnel doublet and a singlet. While the coherent dynamics can be described well within a three-level approximation, dissipative transitions to levels outside the singlet and the doublet may play a crucial role. Moreover, such transitions can enhance the entropy production significantly.
The combined actins of NK and T lymphocytes are necessary to reject a transplantable mesenchymal tumor through mechanisms partly dependent on KG2D

Proc Amer Assoc Cancer Res, Volume 47, 2006 620 Better understanding of the mechanisms that mediate spontaneous immune rejections of mouse tumors ought to be important in the quest for improvements in immunotherapy of cancer. A set of intraperitoneal tumors of mesenchymal origin that had been chemically induced in ubiquitously expressing EGFP transgenic mice provided a model in which both T and NK cells were absolutely required for tumor rejection. Tumor cells were green fluorescent and readily grafted in RAG1-/- immunodeficient mice, while they were majoritarily rejected in syngeneic C57BL/6 and EGFP-transgenic mice. Tumor cell clones with the highest EGFP expression tended to be rejected in immunocompetent mice, but a direct involvement of EGFP as the antigen recognized for the immune rejections was ruled out. Rejections were absolutely dependent on NK cells as well as on CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. The effects of IFN-γ were required only at the malignant cell level. The progressing variants of the tumor in syngeneic mice were rejected in (C57BL/6 x BALB/c) CB6F1 mice in a NK dependent fashion, indicating that semiallogeneic NK cells were superior at the rejection of these tumors. NK recognition of tumor cells was at least in part mediated by the NKG2D activating receptor, but blocking its function in vivo only partially interfered with the rejection in syngeneic mice, indicating the in vivo activity of additional NK receptors. Rejection needs a concerted set of activities that are mediated by NK and T cells, that on the NK part include early destruction of tumor cells, and provision of cell debris for T-cell crosspriming by DC, as well as production of proinflammatory cytokines. NK cells were also readily detected in the tumor-rejecting leukocyte infiltrates.
Fyn kinase regulates the association between amyloid precursor protein and Dab1 by promoting their localization to detergent‐resistant membranes

The adaptor protein Dab1 interacts with amyloid precursor protein (APP) and decreases its pathological processing, an effect mediated by Fyn tyrosine kinase. Fyn is highly enriched in lipid rafts, a major site of pathological APP processing. To investigate the role of Fyn in the localization and phosphorylation of APP and Dab1 in lipid rafts, we isolated detergent-resistant membrane (DRM) fractions from wild-type and Fyn knock-out mice. In wild-type mice, all of the Fyn kinase, 17% of total APP, and 33% of total Dab1 were found in DRMs. Nearly all of the tyrosine phosphorylated forms of APP and Dab1 were in DRMs. APP and Dab1 co-precipitated both in and out of DRM fractions, indicating an association that is independent of subcellular localization. Fyn knock-out mice had decreased APP, Dab1, and tyrosine-phosphorylated Dab1 in DRMs but increased co-immunoprecipitation of DRM APP and Dab1. Expression of phosphorylation deficient APP or Dab1 constructs revealed that phosphorylation of APP increases, while phosphorylation of Dab1 decreases, the interaction between APP and Dab1. Consistent with these observations, Reelin treatment led to increased Dab1 phosphorylation and decreased association between APP and Dab1. Reelin also caused increased localization of APP and Dab1 to DRMs, an effect that was not seen in Fyn knock-out neurons. These findings suggest that Reelin treatment promotes the localization of APP and Dab1 to DRMs, and affects their phosphorylation by Fyn, thus regulating their interaction.
Spinal Cord Injury

Spinal cord injury is a high-cost, low-incidence neurological disability. This condition has a significant impact on the individual, the family, health care service delivery systems, and society in general. Medical advancements have improved the likelihood of survival following spinal cord injury, and estimated life spans for persons with this condition now approach life expectancies of other people. Unfortunately, the costs associated with ongoing care and assistance escalate as financial support for these services decline. In this chapter, we review the major aspects of spinal cord injury and current information about the condition and its concomitants. We will then provide a model of adjustment and present evidence concerning the major components of the model. We consider the alternative views of adjustment, assistance and service delivery espoused by health care programs, professionals, and by consumers and their families. We conclude with an overview of intervention strategies and issues in health and public policy that affect persons with SCI. Keywords: disability; rehabilitation; secondary complications; spinal cord injury
Modeling of postseismic relaxation following the great 1857 earthquake, southern California

Abstract Repeated first-order triangulation measurements made from 15 monuments in central and southern California are used to explore the structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath southern California, as well as to estimate the distribution of slip during the great 1857 earthquake. The monuments are divided into two subnetworks, with repeated observations covering the respective time intervals from 1884 to 1923 and from 1898 to 1923. The angle changes occurring within these times are modeled as a sum of two contributions: postseismic displacements following the 1857 earthquake and plate tectonic loading. The postseismic displacements have been calculated using a elastic / viscoelastic coupling model that, for any fault geometry, yields the exact displacements on a spherically stratified Earth. The southern California crust and upper mantle are modeled as an upper elastic plate underlain by a viscoelastic asthenosphere. For several different combinations of structural parameters, inversions are performed for the slip distribution of the 1857 earthquake. In general, the best fits to the data are achieved with a triangular slip distribution, an elastic plate thickness of 16 km, a crustal thickness of 16 to 33 km, and a mantle viscosity of 0.4 to 0.8 · 10 19 Pa-s. Although these inversions identify the best rheological models, they lead to observed residuals that are inconsistent with a normally distributed data set. A preferred model of slip is constructed that accounts for the budget of total slip during the earthquake cycle and satisfies a normally distributed data set. The preferred slip distribution is similar in shape to the mapped surface slip distribution, but is greater in amplitude by a factor of 1.5 to 2. In addition, the San Jacinto fault, which has no known surface slip associated with the 1857 earthquake, is inferred to have accommodated 1 to 3 m of slip during the 1857 earthquake and appears to be the favored site for tectonic strain accumulation since 1857. Inferred fault slip exceeding known surface slip implies either unrecognized secondary faulting or a slip deficit at the surface relative to the slip at depth.
Overview of Finite Element Method

The basic idea of the finite element method in finding an approximate solution of any complex real-life engineering problem by replacing it by a simpler one is presented. The possibility of improving the accuracy of the approximate solution by using more computational effort is also indicated through a simple example. The historical background and the broad applicability of the method to solve a wide variety of problems from different areas of engineering are shown using simple applications from several areas. The wide range of areas to which the method is applicable is indicated through a representative list of real-life engineering problems solved in the literature in a variety of areas. The general description of the finite element method is presented in the form of a six-step procedure and the solution procedure is demonstrated using simple examples from different areas such as stress analysis, heat transfer, fluid flow in pipes, and bending of beams. The material is presented such that the reader can get an overall picture of the finite element method; anyone with no time to read the complete book can understand the basic methodology just by reading this chapter.
Cell-Mediated Immunity in Interstitial Nephritis II. T Lymphocyte Effector Mechanisms in Nephritic Guinea Pigs: Analysis of the Renotropic Migration and Cytotoxic Response

The present studies investigate the effector role of lymphocytes in guinea pigs with an interstitial nephritis. Several observations were made relative to a number of functions expressed by these cells. The results of adoptive cell migration studies suggest that a subpopulation of T cells in nephritic animals traffic renotropically to either normal or damaged kidneys on transfer. Similar lymphocytes were also tested in vitro for direct effector function by utilizing target kidney cell monolayers in a cell-mediated cytotoxicity assay. The kinetics of the observed cytotoxic response were studied over the life span of nephritic animals. Optimal target-cell lysis occurred 12 to 17 days after sensitization, simultaneous with the onset of active histopathologic changes. The cytotoxicity was stoichiometrically titratable and relatively specific for fetal kidney tissue. In addition, cells from the spleen or lymph nodes of diseased animals effectively suppressed this cytotoxic response. These findings demonstrate that a diverse population of T lymphocytes are both capable of damaging the renal interstitium as well as modulating effector-cell functions on a regional basis with the immune system.
Safety verification of an aircraft landing protocol: a refinement approach

In this paper, we propose a new approach for formal verification of hybrid systems. To do so, we present a new refinement proof technique, a weak refinement using step invariants. As a case study of the approach, we conduct formal verification of the safety properties of NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) landing protocol. A new model is presented using the timed I/O automata (TIOA) framework [1], and key safety properties are verified. Using the new refinement technique presented in the paper, we first carry over the safety verification results from the previous discrete model studied in [2] to the new model. We also present properties specific to the new model, such as lower bounds on the spacing of aircraft in specific areas of the airspace.