cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Thermochemoradiotherapy Improves Oxygenation in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to evaluate toxicity, response, and changes in oxygenation (pO 2 ) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) treated with concurrent taxol, hyperthermia (HT), and radiation therapy (RT) followed by mastectomy. Experimental Design: Eighteen patients with LABC were enrolled from October 1995 through February 1999. Treatment consisted of taxol (175 mg/m 2 ) given every 3 weeks for three cycles. Radiation therapy included the breast and regional nodes with a dose of 50 Gy, followed by a boost to 60–65 Gy for those not undergoing surgery. Mastectomy was performed for patients deemed resectable after this neoadjuvant program. HT was administered twice per week. Oxygenation was measured before the first HT treatment and 24 h after the first HT treatment. Results: Fifteen of 18 patients responded, 6 with a clinical complete response, 9 with a partial clinical response, and 3 nonresponders. Thirteen underwent mastectomy with 3 pathological complete responses. Tumor hypoxia was present in 8 of 13 patients (pO 2 = 4.7 ± 1.2 mmHg). Five patients had well-oxygenated tumors (pO 2 = 27.6 ± 7.8 mmHg). Patients with well-oxygenated tumors before treatment as well as those with significant reoxygenation had a favorable clinical response. Tumor reoxygenation appeared to be temperature dependent and associated with the lower thermal doses. Conclusions: This novel therapeutic program resulted in a high response rate in patients with LABC. Hyperthermia may offer a strategy for improving tumor reoxygenation with consequent treatment response. However, the effect of hyperthermia on tumor reoxygenation appears to depend on thermal dose and requires additional investigation.
Synthesis of Highly Ordered Hydrothermally Stable Mesoporous Niobia Catalysts by Atomic Layer Deposition

A new class of mesoporous niobia catalysts has been synthesized by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of niobia within the pores of a mesoporous silica (SBA-15). Mesoporous materials after ALD cycles of niobia maintained the structural organization of SBA-15. Increasing loadings of niobia cause a decrease in the surface area, pore volume, and pore diameter due to the conformal coating of niobia within the pores. Materials containing 10, 19, and 30 cycles show remarkable hydrothermal stability, with minimal change in porosity and structural properties upon treatment in liquid water at 473 K. The mesoporous niobia material produced by 19 cycles has been studied as an acid catalyst for the gas-phase dehydration of 2-propanol, and for the dehydration of 2-butanol in both the gas and liquid phases, showing catalytic activity superior to commercial niobia (HY-340) per mass of material. Furthermore, deposition of Pd nanoparticles on this material consisting of SBA-15 coated with 19 cycles of niobia leads to a bifunct...
Emerging Condition Monitoring Technologies for Railway Track Components and Special Trackwork

North American Railroads and the United States Department of Transportation (US DOT) Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) require periodic inspection of railway infrastructure to ensure the safety of railway operation. Tracks that are subjected to heavy haul or high-speed traffic necessitate frequent inspection and more stringent maintenance requirements, but present railroads with less time to accomplish it. The international railroad community has undertaken significant research to develop innovative applications for advanced technologies with the objective of improving the process of visual track inspection. Some of these technologies are currently in use or under development for a variety of railroad inspection tasks, both wayside and mobile. This paper presents an overview of different systems for condition monitoring applications for inspection of railway components. These technologies, in conjunction with defect analysis and comparison with historical data, will enhance the ability for longer-term predictive assessment of the health of the track system and its components, more informed and proactive maintenance strategies, and improved understanding of track structure degradation and failure modes.
Granular Neural Networks with Decision Fusion

A granular neural network is designed to deal with granular data fusion and granular knowledge discovery. From a data granulation point of view, the granular neural network can process granular data in a database. From a knowledge discovery point of view, the granular neural network is able to learn internal granular relations between inputs and outputs, and predict new relations. From a decision fusion point of view, the granular neural network is capable of merge multiple granular decisions to generate a robust decision. In general, the granular neural network is a systematical network with relevant intelligent components dealing with data granules, knowledge granules and decision granules.
Case report 800

In summary, intramuscular myxoma associated with fibrous dysplasia of bone represents a benign disorder of uncertain etiology. Magnetic resonance imaging has proved to be a useful diagnostic tool in the evaluation of this benign disorder. In addition, MR is a valuable aid in the preoperative planning process.
What an image depicts depends on what an image means.

Abstract Previous research has shown that subjects visually imaging the classical ambiguous figures have great difficulty in reconstruing these images. To explain this finding, we propose that subjects' construal of their image strongly influences what is depicted in the image, leading to the inclusion of some aspects of an imaged figure and the exclusion of others. Thus, images of (supposedly) ambiguous figures may literally omit information necessary for the reconstrual. To test this claim, we asked subjects to form an image of the duck/rabbit figure, and then to compare their image to drawings that departed slightly from the original figure. We hypothesized that subjects would have a clear image of the side of the figure they understood as the “face” (the left side if the image is understood as a duck, the right side for the rabbit). Conversely, subjects would have only a vague image of the “back” of the head. Consequently, in comparing their image to test stimuli, subjects should be able to detect variations in the contour of the “face,” but not in the contour of the “back” of the animal's head. These predictions were confirmed, strongly suggesting that the construal of an image does dictate what is depicted within the image.
The depressed patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The case of a 65-year-old woman with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is presented to demonstrate the nature of depression in this disease entity. The patient responded to the therapeutic environment on a psychiatric ward that was comforting to patients with chronic medical illnesses. The use of brief psychotherapy and psychopharmacology in patients with emphysema is also reviewed.
Seasonal variation of auroral electron precipitation

[1] Global observations of nitric oxide obtained from the Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) have been used to determine the density of nitric oxide in the lower thermosphere. A thermospheric model which takes into account all of the photochemical processes that produce and destroy nitric oxide has been used to deduce the flux of precipitating auroral electrons that produce nitric oxide. The results of this analysis allow us to infer the daily variability of precipitating electron energy deposition. The most important result of this paper is that there is a clear-cut minimum in the electron flux at the time of the summer solstice in both hemispheres. This seasonal dependence of precipitating auroral electrons supports the idea that auroral arcs are suppressed in the solar-illuminated hemisphere due to high ionospheric conductivity. The strength of the seasonal variations suggests that the bulk of the energy deposition may be due to discrete auroral events.
Attitudes toward Recovery Homes and Residents: Does Proximity Make a Difference?.

The present study investigated the attitudes of neighborhood residents toward a particular type of substance abuse recovery home (i.e., Oxford House). Individuals who lived next to these recovery homes versus those who lived a block away were assessed regarding their attitudes toward substance abuse recovery homes and individuals in recovery. The vast majority of those living next to a self-run recovery home knew of the existence of these recovery homes, whereas most residents living a block away did not know of their existence. Findings suggest that well managed and well functioning substance abuse recovery homes, such as Oxford Houses, elicit constructive and positive attitudes toward individuals in recovery and recovery homes. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Distribution and Recovery Of Vegetational Assemblages In Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada

Abstract Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nye Co., Nevada, is a small oasis in the northern Mojave Desert. Changes in use of land through irrigated agriculture and associated pumping of groundwater, as well as mining peat moss, altered the environment prior to its designation as a refuge in 1984. We evaluated relationships between land use, land cover, and groundwater in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge from 1948 to 2004. Recovery of land cover was documented following cessation of agricultural activities and pumping of groundwater. Land-use activities from 1948 to 1980 reduced land cover by 1,141 ha, while later changes in land-use activities allowed recovery of 935 ha of land cover. Limited change in groundwater might have aided in recovery of land cover, although no relationship was established between depth-to-groundwater and land cover.
Progesterone Decreases Levels of the Adhesion Protein E-Cadherin and Promotes Invasiveness of Steroid Receptor Positive Breast Cancers

Progestins are reported to increase the risk of invasive breast cancers in postmenopausal women receiving hormone therapy with estrogen plus progestin. We report here that estrogen and progesterone receptor positive (ER+PR+) rat mammary tumors arising in the presence of estrogen and progesterone exhibit increased invasiveness and decreased expression of E-cadherin protein compared with tumors growing in the presence of estrogen alone. A similar decrease of E-cadherin expression was observed in human ER+PR+ invasive ductal carcinoma compared with ductal carcinoma in situ. In agreement with findings in the rat, estrogen plus progestin R5020 treatment decreased E-cadherin expression in vitro in T47D human breast cancer cells. Decrease of E-cadherin protein was mediated by progesterone receptor B (PRB) and dependent on the activation of the Wnt pathway. These results suggest that progesterone signaling via PRB contributes to tumor invasiveness and can provide an important therapeutic target for treatment of invasive ER+PR+ breast cancers.
Fast 3D shape screening of large chemical databases through alignment-recycling

Large chemical databases require fast, efficient, and simple ways of looking for similar structures. Although such tasks are now fairly well resolved for graph-based similarity queries, they remain an issue for 3D approaches, particularly for those based on 3D shape overlays. Inspired by a recent technique developed to compare molecular shapes, we designed a hybrid methodology, alignment-recycling, that enables efficient retrieval and alignment of structures with similar 3D shapes. Using a dataset of more than one million PubChem compounds of limited size (< 28 heavy atoms) and flexibility (< 6 rotatable bonds), we obtained a set of a few thousand diverse structures covering entirely the 3D shape space of the conformers of the dataset. Transformation matrices gathered from the overlays between these diverse structures and the 3D conformer dataset allowed us to drastically (100-fold) reduce the CPU time required for shape overlay. The alignment-recycling heuristic produces results consistent with de novo alignment calculation, with better than 80% hit list overlap on average. Overlay-based 3D methods are computationally demanding when searching large databases. Alignment-recycling reduces the CPU time to perform shape similarity searches by breaking the alignment problem into three steps: selection of diverse shapes to describe the database shape-space; overlay of the database conformers to the diverse shapes; and non-optimized overlay of query and database conformers using common reference shapes. The precomputation, required by the first two steps, is a significant cost of the method; however, once performed, querying is two orders of magnitude faster. Extensions and variations of this methodology, for example, to handle more flexible and larger small-molecules are discussed.
Taking Stock of Progress with Travel Cost Recreation Demand Methods: Theory and Implementation

This article summarizes the conceptual development and empirical implementation of the travel cost recreation demand model by (1) describing its theoretical underpinnings, (2) outlining how theory must be adapted for the needs imposed by available data, (3) explaining issues to be considered in the future. Applications of the travel cost model have evolved from studies conducted at an aggregate level with origin zone data to an almost exclusive focus on micro data concentrating on individuals' recreational choices. These applications have broad implications. They are among the most detailed and extensive illustrations of models for corner solution and discrete choice problems in microeconomics. Equally important, they explore the theoretical and practical implications of the household production framework. Finally, they also provide examples of how a commodity's quality can be considered as an argument in describing individuals' consumption choices.
Die-Hard and Fair-Weather Fans: Effects of Identification on BIRGing and CORFing Tendencies:

Previous research has demonstrated that people are capable of strategic self-presentation; they decrease the distance between themselves and successful groups with which they have only the most tri...
School discipline, buy-in and belief

It is generally acknowledged that school discipline is failing. Through a comparison of two very different disciplinary situations, I inquire into possible causes of failure and conditions of success. The argument is made that if discipline is to succeed, students must believe in and identify with the goals it is designed to support. Questions are raised as to just how embracing (pervasive throughout school life), lofty (transcending the classroom), and moralized (emphasizing social over personal) such goals should be. Without specifying the ideal scope and content of an educational mission, I conclude that a moral component is both practical and proper; for it responds to a child's aspirations, builds self-esteem, and provides the social ‘glue’ that binds members of a society.
Approximate logic circuits for low overhead, non-intrusive concurrent error detection

This paper describes a scalable, technology-independent algorithm for the synthesis of approximate logic circuits. A low overhead, non-intrusive solution for concurrent error detection (CED) based on such circuits is described in this paper. CED based on approximate logic circuits does not impose any performance penalty on the original design. The proposed synthesis algorithm for approximate logic circuits scales with circuit size, and provides fine-grained trade-offs between area-power overhead and CED coverage.
Pseudoscalar mesodynamics in 4-epsilon dimensions

The pseudoscalar Yukawa interaction $\ensuremath{-}i{g}_{0}\overline{\ensuremath{\psi}}{\ensuremath{\gamma}}_{5}\ensuremath{\psi}\ensuremath{\varphi}$ is studied in $4\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\epsilon}$ dimensions. Following Wilson's prescription for coupling-constant renormalization we find a nontrivial infrared-stable fixed point for the Callan-Symanzik $\ensuremath{\beta}$ function, and the theory is scale-invariant with anomalous dimensions at short distances. The anomalous dimensions of the tensor operators that govern the Callan-Gross and Cornwall-Norton sum rules for the deep-inelastic structure functions are calculated to first order in $\ensuremath{\epsilon}$. The deviation from their canonical value is considerable, consistent with Nachtmann's recent reassessment of experimental data.
Comment: Bayesian Ideas Reemerged in the 1950s

Gelman and Robert (2013) in their fascinating article looked backward with modern eyes to a brief passage in William Feller's classic book on probability (Feller 1950) and used it as a launching pa...
Straw Production and Grain Yield Relationships in Winter Wheat

use of traditional intensive tillage practices during fallow (Papendick, 1998). During most years, use of summer Winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) ‐fallow is the predominant fallow allows growers to sow winter wheat into adequate cropping system in low-precipitation regions (,250 mm annually) of the inland Pacific Northwest (PNW) in the USA. Wind erosion is a carryover soil water for seed germination during midrecurrent problem during and after fallow periods when inadequate to-late August. Sowing must sometimes be delayed due crop residue amounts are retained on the soil surface. Management to insufficient seed‐zone soil water (Schillinger et al., options that optimize both grain yield and straw production are 1998), or the need to control winter annual grass weeds needed. A 3-yr field study was conducted to determine sowing rate (Ogg, 1993). Early stand establishment is an important and sowing date effects on straw and grain yield, and grain yield factor for increasing grain yield, and it is strongly influcomponents of winter wheat cultivars with semidwarf, standard height, enced by seed‐zone water content and depth of soil or tall growth habit. Four winter wheat cultivars were evaluated at covering the seed (Lindstrom et al., 1976). Because of three sowing rates (65, 130, and 195 seeds m2 2 ) and three sowing frequent dry seed‐zone conditions and the need for dates in August, September, and October. A split plot design was seedlings to emerge from deep sowing depths, tall and
Fish Analgesia: Pain, Stress, Fear Aversion, or Nociception?

The increasing use of fish resources and a greater understanding of aquatic animal medicine demands providing evidence-based veterinary care for these animals. Because fish are aquatic as well as being pokilothermic, there are several unique anatomic and physiologic considerations that must be understood when working with these animals. Veterinarians need to adapt methodologies for examining, performing diagnostics, and treating fish patients to decrease stress, decrease fear, and avoid and/or decrease nociception. This article briefly defines stress, reviews and compares fish neuroanatomic pathways associated with nociception, discusses behavioral observations, summarizes current use of analgesics for fish patients, and concludes with the ongoing controversy regarding pain on this topic.
Group Therapy in the Rehabilitation of the Severe Chronic Asthmatic Child

At Blythedale Children's Hospital, a residential treatment center for chronic discases, we have utilized group therapy in the rehabilitation of the severe asthmatic child. Group therapy as one of the vehicles for management and treatment of asthma has proven valuable in the understanding and in the muhidisciplinary approach to this chronic illness. The physician's role is one of coordinating the multi-disciplinary approach. Besides the general medical management, he needs to utilize all the modalities available for these children. The severely chronic asthmatics have a long road ahead of them in learning about, adapting to, and accepting their coniplex illness. Usually they arc completely dependent individuals in terms of the physical management of their illness and their emotional dependence at home. They have to learn to cope with asthma at every level-medical, social, and psychological. The pat'ients must learn to become increasingly independent and t.o gain control of their asthma in terms of completely managing themselves. A transference of total dependence from the family and medical personnel to themselvcs is necessary. They must develop and achieve confidence in themselves and obtain t,hat sense of control which will make them independent. In the course of this emancipation, they must learn to use and understand their medications. Complete knowledge of drugs, their actions, their side-effects, thcir doFages, and their indications, are all part of the education of the asthmatic. The patients should be oriented so that they become more self-reliant. This can be done by repeated review and discussion of the therapies and the medications. Also, patients need to develop a sensitivity t.0 all problems of asthma. Free and frequent discussions on a one-to-one basis are necessary. The physician must be completely aware of assuming and fulfilling this role. Triggering factors should be discussed and understood. Good orient,ation and proper medical guidance improve the patients' ability to make those judgments which will hclp control wheezing. As stated above, the goal in the education of our asthmatic children is to provide thein with a maximal feeling of control over their own care and a greater sense of independence in terms of handling their physical crises. By providing our asthmatic patients with a better understanding of their illness, both in t'erms of potential asthmatic triggering factors as m7ell as self-administered symptom-relieving medication, we attempt to minimize their anxiety, their utt'er sense of helplessness, and their sense of complete dependence on others.
Two Men in a Cockpit: Casualty Likelihood if One Pilot Becomes Incapacitated

DOI: 10.2514/1.C031263 A double-exponential probability distribution function of the extreme-value-distribution type is introduced to quantify the likelihood of a human’s failure to perform his/her duties when operating a vehicle: an aircraft, a spacecraft, a boat, a helicopter, a car, etc. As a possible illustration of the general concept, a situation is considered when two pilots operate an aircraft in an ordinary (normal, routine) fashion that abruptly changes to an extraordinary(offnormal,hazardous)oneifoneofthepilotsbecomesincapacitatedforonereasonoranother.Sucha mishap is referred to as an accident. Because of the accident, the other pilot, the pilot in charge, might have to cope with a higher mental workload. A fatal casualty will occur if both pilots become unable to perform their duties. Althoughthiscircumstancewilleventuallymanifestitselfonlyduringlanding,inordertoassesstheprobabilityofthe potential casualty, an en route situation (i.e., a situation that precedes descending and landing) is nonetheless considered. This probability depends on the capability of the pilot in charge to successfully cope with the increased mental workload. We determine the probability of a casualty as a function of the actual mental-workload level and the level of the human-capacity factor. The total flight time and the time after the accident are treated in the analysis as nonrandom parameters. The suggested mental-workload/human-capacity-factor model and its generalizations, after appropriate sensitivity analyses are carried out, can be helpful when developing guidelines for personnel training, when choosing the appropriate flight simulation conditions, and/or when there is a need to decide if the existing level of automation and the navigation instrumentation and equipment are adequate to cope with extraordinary (offnormal) situations. If not, additional and/or more advanced instrumentation and equipment should be considered, developed, and installed. Plenty of additional risk analyses and human-psychology-related effort will be needed, of course, to make the guidelines based on the suggested probabilistic risk-management extreme-value-distribution model practical.
Shock tube study of 1,3,5‐triazine dissociation and relaxation and relaxation of pyrazine

The three-body dissociation of 1,3,5-triazine (s-triazine, s-C3H3N3 3HCN) has been observed in incident shock waves with the laser-schlieren technique. The experiments use 5% triazine/Kr and cover 1630–2350 K for 100–600 Torr. These experiments show dissociation rates with strong falloff and a slight but fully expected pressure dependence. The dissociation is without secondary reaction save for a possible, but rather unlikely, contribution from the isomerization HCN HNC. Electronic structure calculations of the transition-state properties (G3B3, HL1, Eo = 84.6 kcal/mol) are used to construct a Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus (RRKM) model whose fit to the rate measurements suggests a 〈ΔE〉down of 1200 cm−1. However, a seemingly better fit is achieved using the barrier of 81 kcal/mol proposed by Dyakov et al. (J. Phys. Chem. A 2007, 111, 9591–9599). With this barrier k∞ (s−1) = 5.3 × 1016 exp(−86.6(kcal/mol)/RT), and the fit now accepts the more routine 〈ΔE〉down = 126(T/298)0.9. It seems the dissociation most likely occurs by a direct, one-step, “triple” dissociation to 3HCN, although the present experiments cannot rule out a multistep process. Vibrational relaxation of the triazine was also examined in 5% and 20% mixtures with Kr over 770–1500 K for pressures between 6 and 14 Torr. Relaxation is very fast, with a slight inverse temperature dependence, Pτ rising from 100 to 200 ns-atm over the full temperature range. Integrated gradients are in good accord with calculated total changes in density, indicating a single exponential relaxation. A separate investigation of relaxation in the related molecule pyrazine (500–1300 K, in 1% and 5% in Kr, between 13 and 66 Torr) is included. Again relaxation is rapid, but here the temperature dependence seems more normal, the relaxation times decreasing slightly with temperature. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 211–220, 2010
Dose Response of Milk Fat to Intravenous Administration of the trans-10, cis-12 Isomer of Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Intravenous infusion of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) was evaluated as a simpler method than abomasal infusion and the feeding of calcium salts to examine milk fat depression. The objectives were to determine the dose-dependent response of milk fat and plasma metabolites to intravenous administration of the trans-10, cis-12 isomer of CLA, an isomer identified to possess an inhibitory effect on milk fat synthesis. Four multiparous Holstein cows averaging 123 +/- 30 d in milk were randomly assigned to treatments in a 4 x 4 Latin square design. Catheters were inserted into the jugular vein for infusions and blood sampling. Treatments consisted of intravenous infusions of 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/d CLA (> 95% trans-10, cis-12 CLA). Infusates contained 72 g/d of a parenteral solution, saline, and CLA to 90 ml. Periods were of 5 d duration with a 7 d wash out. Milk was sampled at each milking and analyzed for fat, protein, and fatty acids. Blood samples were obtained on the last day of each period. Dry matter intake (22.4 +/- 2.4 kg/d), milk yield (28.5 +/- 3.3 kg/d), and protein percent (3.26 +/- 0.08%) of cows were not affected by treatment. However, milk fat percentage was reduced linearly with increasing doses of CLA. Milk fat percentage was 4.17, 3.53, 3.29, and 2.92% on d 5 for treatments 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/d CLA, respectively. Concentrations (4.2 mg/g of fat) of cis-9, trans-11 CLA in milk fat were not affected by treatment. However, an increase in the trans-10, cis-12 CLA content of milk fat was observed. Milk fat contained 0.00, 0.02, 0.06, and 0.10 mg of trans-10, cis-12 CLA per g of fat (SEM = 0.065) for treatments 0, 2, 4, and 6 g/d CLA, respectively. Plasma NEFA concentration increased linearly with the dose of the trans-10, cis-12 CLA. Intravenous infusion of the trans-10, cis-12 isomer of CLA depressed milk fat in a linear manner over the range of infusion studied and, therefore, is an alternative to abomasal infusion.
Decreased CD8 Cell-Mediated Viral Suppression and Other Immunologic Characteristics of Women Who Transmit Human Immunodeficiency Virus to Their Infants

CD8 T cell function, lymphocyte surface phenotype, serum markers of immunologic activation, and viral burden were assessed in 75 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected pregnant women, including 9 who transmitted infection to their infants. Serial studies during and after pregnancy showed no significant differences in levels of cell-surface or serum activation molecules in transmitting compared to nontransmitting mothers, with the exception of a postpartum increase in tumor necrosis factor alpha in transmitting women. The transmitting women had a median plasma viral load of 65,516 RNA copies/mL at delivery versus 5139 in nontransmitting women. During the third trimester, the CD8 cells of 81% of the nontransmitting and 44% of the transmitting mothers suppressed HIV production in vitro by >50%. Women with <50% suppression had a 3.4 times greater risk of transmitting HIV to their infants. CD8 suppression and viral load were interrelated, but when either CD4 percent or AZT use was controlled for, suppression was still significant.
Modeling and analysis of regular symmetrically structured power/ground distribution networks

In this paper we propose a novel and efficient methodology for modeling and analysis of regular symmetrically-structured power/ground distribution networks. The modeling of inductive effects is simplified by a folding technique which exploits the symmetry in the power/ground distribution. Furthermore, employment of susceptance (inverse of inductance) models enables further simplification of the analysis, and is also shown to preserve the symmetric positive definiteness of the circuit equations. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach can provide up to 8/spl times/ memory savings and up to 10/spl times/ speedup over the already efficient simulation based on the original sparse susceptance matrix without loss of accuracy. Importantly, this work demonstrates that by employing limited regularity, one can create excellent power/ground distribution designs that are dramatically simpler to analyze, and therefore amenable to more powerful global design optimization.
A coding theory approach to error control in redundant residue number systems. I. Theory and single error correction

A coding theory approach to error control in redundant residue number systems (RRNSs) is presented. The concepts of Hamming weight, minimum distance, weight distribution, and error detection and correction capabilities in redundant residue number systems are introduced. The necessary and sufficient conditions for the desired error control capability are derived from the minimum distance point of view. Closed-form expressions are derived for approximate weight distributions. Computationally efficient procedures are described for correcting single errors. A coding theory framework is developed for redundant residue number systems, and an efficient numerical procedure is derived for a single error correction. >
Adsorption on Mesoporous Metal–Organic Frameworks in Solution: Aromatic and Heterocyclic Compounds

Adsorption and desorption play major roles in separations, purification of water, waste streams, liquid fuels, catalysis, biomedicine and chromatography. Mesoporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with pore sizes 2-50 nm are particularly suitable for adsorption of organic compounds in solution. Tens of thousands of aromatic and heterocyclic compounds are major components of liquid fuels, feedstock for industrial synthesis, solvents, dyestuffs, agricultural chemicals, medicinal drugs, food additives, and so forth. This Review provides a systematization and analysis of studies on adsorption/desorption on mesoporous MOFs in solution and their underlying chemical mechanisms. The (in)stability of mesoporous MOFs in water is critically discussed. Adsorption capacity and selectivity are covered for organic dyes, medicinal drugs, major components of liquid fuels, and miscellaneous industrial chemicals. Ionic interactions, Bronsted acid-base interactions, hydrogen bonding, coordination bonding, π-π interactions, and non-specific interactions are covered amongst adsorption mechanisms. The effects of post-synthetic modifications of mesoporous MOFs on their stability, adsorption capacity, selectivity, and mechanisms of adsorption and desorption are analyzed. To encourage research in this quickly growing field, we identify "niches" for which no application-oriented and/or mechanistic studies were reported. Perspectives and limitations of a wide use of mesoporous MOFs as industrial sorbents are discussed.
The dual functions of the extreme N-terminus of TDP-43 in regulating its biological activity and inclusion formation

TAR DNA-binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is the principal component of ubiquitinated inclusions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and the most common pathological subtype of frontotemporal dementia—frontotemporal lobar degeneration with TDP-43-positive inclusions (FTLD-TDP). To date, the C-terminus of TDP-43, which is aggregation-prone and contains almost all ALS-associated mutations, has garnered much attention while the functions of the N-terminus of TDP-43 remain largely unknown. To bridge this gap in our knowledge, we utilized novel cell culture and computer-assisted models to evaluate which region(s) of TDP-43 regulate its folding, self-interaction, biological activity and aggregation. We determined that the extreme N-terminus of TDP-43, specifically the first 10 residues, regulates folding of TDP-43 monomers necessary for proper homodimerization and TDP-43-regulated splicing. Despite such beneficial functions, we discovered an interesting dichotomy: full-length TDP-43 aggregation, which is believed to be a pathogenic process, also requires the extreme N-terminus of TDP-43. As such, we provide new insight into the structural basis for TDP-43 function and aggregation, and we suggest that stabilization of TDP-43 homodimers, the physiologically active form of TDP-43, may be a promising therapeutic strategy for ALS and FTLD-TDP.
Fuzzy Ants and Clustering

A swarm-intelligence-inspired approach to clustering data is described. The algorithm consists of two stages. In the first stage of the algorithm, ants move the cluster centers in feature space. The cluster centers found by the ants are evaluated using a reformulated fuzzy C-means (FCM) criterion. In the second stage, the best cluster centers found are used as the initial cluster centers for the FCM algorithm. Results on 18 data sets show that the partitions found using the ant initialization are better optimized than those obtained from random initializations. The use of a reformulated fuzzy partition validity metric as the optimization criterion is shown to enable determination of the number of cluster centers in the data for several data sets. Hard C-means (HCM) was also used after reformulation, and the partitions obtained from the ant-based algorithm were better optimized than those from randomly initialized HCM.
Conformational Ensemble of the Poliovirus 3CD Precursor Observed by MD Simulations and Confirmed by SAXS: A Strategy to Expand the Viral Proteome?

The genomes of RNA viruses are relatively small. To overcome the small-size limitation, RNA viruses assign distinct functions to the processed viral proteins and their precursors. This is exemplified by poliovirus 3CD protein. 3C protein is a protease and RNA-binding protein. 3D protein is an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp). 3CD exhibits unique protease and RNA-binding activities relative to 3C and is devoid of RdRp activity. The origin of these differences is unclear, since crystal structure of 3CD revealed “beads-on-a-string” structure with no significant structural differences compared to the fully processed proteins. We performed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on 3CD to investigate its conformational dynamics. A compact conformation of 3CD was observed that was substantially different from that shown crystallographically. This new conformation explained the unique properties of 3CD relative to the individual proteins. Interestingly, simulations of mutant 3CD showed altered interface. Additionally, accelerated MD simulations uncovered a conformational ensemble of 3CD. When we elucidated the 3CD conformations in solution using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments a range of conformations from extended to compact was revealed, validating the MD simulations. The existence of conformational ensemble of 3CD could be viewed as a way to expand the poliovirus proteome, an observation that may extend to other viruses.
Single-Period Stochastic Inventory Planning with Demand Selection

This chapter deals with a generalization of the single-period newsvendor problem. We consider a setting in which a decision maker at a single stocking point must determine the stock level for a single product under uncertain demand. In addition to determining the item’s stock level, the decision maker must select a subset from a set of individual demands, each of which is uncertain and follows a particular probability distribution. Assuming normally distributed and independent demand streams results in a class of problems that are strikingly similar to the problems considered in the previous chapter, although the underlying model assumptions are quite different.
Latent class analysis of current e-cigarette and other substance use in high school students

Abstract Objective There is limited research on adolescents’ use of e-cigarettes and other substances. Materials and methods 2241 Connecticut high school students completed anonymous, cross-sectional surveys assessing e-cigarette and other substance use. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to: (1) classify students based on their past-month use of e-cigarettes, cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, hookah, blunts, marijuana, and alcohol, and (2) determine if age, sex, or race predicted class membership. Results Past-month e-cigarette use was 11.6%, and use rates for the remaining substances ranged from 2.8% (smokeless tobacco) to 20.7% (alcohol). The optimal latent class solution comprised four classes: (1) primarily abstainers (81.6%; abstainers), (2) primarily e-cigarette and alcohol users (4.6%; E-cigarette–Alcohol), (3) primarily marijuana and alcohol users (6.9%; Marijuana–Alcohol), and (4) primarily users of all products (6.9%; All Products). Compared to abstainers, (1) all substance-using classes comprised older students, (2) the All Products and E-cigarette–Alcohol classes were more likely to comprise males and less likely to comprise Blacks, and (3) the Marijuana–Alcohol class was more likely to comprise Blacks and Latinos. Relative to the All Products and E-cigarette–Alcohol classes, the Marijuana–Alcohol class was more likely to comprise females, Blacks, and Latinos. Conclusions LCA identified four substance use classes, two of which included elevated e-cigarette use. Class membership differed by age, sex, and race. Additional research should evaluate characteristics that may explain the different product use profiles identified in the current study including cultural differences, peer group norms, and differing perceptions of the harmfulness of each substance.
Infiltration of Nicotiana benthamiana Protocol for Transient Expression via Agrobacterium

[Abstract] Transient expression in tobacco plant (Nicotiana benthamiana) is used to determine the subcellular location of a protein of interest when tagged with a reporter such as green fluorescent protein (GFP), or to mass produce proteins without making transgenic plants. The root tumor bacteria, Agrobacteria, are used to introduce the target gene expression cassette into benthamiana mesophyll cells.
Territory Establishment in Red-Winged Blackbirds: Importance of Aggressive Behavior and Experience

In this paper I assess the importance of aggression in acquisition of initial breeding territory by male Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). The ability to acquire territory is expected to depend upon that portion of male quality determined primarily by intrasexual selection. Darwin (1859, 1871) formulated the theory of sexual selection to account for certain apparent exceptions to his concept of natural selection, but evolutionary biologists now realize that sexual selection is a special case of individual selection relating to the evolutionary implications of competitive mating. Most zoologists agree with Darwin that sexual selection has two phases: intrasexual, usually in the form of competition between males; and intersexual or epigamic, usually in the form of female choice of a mate (Selander 1972, Emlen 1973, Brown 1975, Wilson 1975, but see also Mayr 1972). In practice it is difficult to separate the effects of non-sexual and sexual selection
Simulation-based optimization of in–stream structures design: bendway weirs

Bendway weirs are one of the most practical in–stream rock structures utilized to protect the outer bend of meandering streams and rivers from erosion. We present development of a simulation-based paradigm for effective design of bendway weir structures to enhance meandering stream bank stability and control lateral migration. To do so, we employ the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory Virtual StreamLab (VSL3D) code to elucidate the flow and sediment transport phenomena induced by interaction of flow, mobile bed, and in–stream structures in large rivers under prototype conditions. We carried out numerous numerical experiments to systematically simulate various arrangements of bendway weir in two river test-beds and gaining insights into the physical mechanisms via which such bendway weirs modify turbulent flow, sediment transport and scour processes. The so-gained physical insights are then taken into account to develop a set of practical physics-based design criteria for optimal placement of bendway weirs in large rivers.
Drug Stability: Principles and Practices

Abstract This book is a comprehensive thesis on drug stability. All areas of stability (including chemical, physical, and regulatory) have been extensively discussed and illustrated with copious examples. The book is well written and the chapters flow nicely together. Chapter 1 provides an historical background and presents clear definitions of the terminology that is used today. In many books the introductory or overview chapter is oftentimes overlooked by readers. For the subject of drug stability, however, where a plethora of terminology is used, this overview chapter is a significant contribution. The terms that are used in latter parts of the book are clearly delineated for the reader, and confusion is avoided.
ON THE BLOCH CONSTANT FOR MULTIPLY CONNECTED REGIONS

Let D be a bounded multiply connected region in z-plane.The curvatureof Bergman metric of this region takes the minimum value τ_α at z=α.Let w=f(z)be an analytic function in D with(?),which mapsD onto D_f in w-plane.The object of the present note is to prove that D_f must contain a circlewith radius(?)where T_b is the value of the Bergman metric T of theregion D at z=b.Further,if the function f(z)is simple in D,then D_f mustcontain a circle with radius(?)
African American Religious Community's Involvement with HIV/AIDS Education

This project assessed the involvement of the African American religious community in African American HIV/AIDS prevention. Participants of the study were 9 African American church ministers or pastors and 8 churchgoers. They participated in a 30 minute interview to answer questions regarding their churches' involvement in HIV/AIDS education. As a result, we found that the community's involvement in HIV/AIDS education is limited to abstinence preaching. We also found that stigma related to the disease is one of the obstacles that prevent the church to diversify HIV/AIDS educational programs. The disease is stigmatized because it involves sex, homosexuality and drug use. Contrary to previous authors who have written that condom is a taboo subject in the church community we found that church members can openly discuss condom only for the use by married couples. We hope that future planning and implementation of public health programs in the African American religious community consider these findings.
Lithium movements in resting and chemotactic factor-activated human neutrophils

The ability of the chemotactic factor-activated Na+-H+ exchange system of human neutrophils to bind and transport other cations of the alkali metal series was investigated. After exposure of cells to the tripeptide N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), the influx of Li+ was measured by flame photometry and correlated with changes in intracellular pH (pHi) derived from the equilibrium distribution of 5,5-dimethyloxazolidine-2,4-dione. In Na+-depleted cells, Li+ (Km approximately equal to 14 mM) could substitute effectively for Na+ (Km approximately equal to 23 mM) at the external translocation site of the carrier, though the maximal transport rate for Li+ (approximately 8 meq.l-1.min-1) was roughly half that for Na+ (approximately 15 meq.l-1.min-1). On the other hand, the carrier lacked appreciable affinity for K+, Rb+, and Cs+. The influx of Li+ from the external solution was accompanied by an equivalent counterefflux of H+ from the internal milieu. The H+ efflux thus induced led to an intracellular alkalinization of approximately 0.7 units, the pHi rising from approximately 7.20 to approximately 7.90. The influx of Li+, as well as the increase in pHi in 140 mM Li+ medium, was competitively inhibited by amiloride (Ki approximately equal to 9 microM). Extracellular H+ also behaved as a competitive inhibitor of Li+ with a Ki of approximately 30 nM (pK'a approximately 7.50). These studies indicate that the FMLP-activated alkali metal cation-H+ exchange mechanism of neutrophils shares a number of features in common with those of Na+-H+ exchangers in a variety of different cells.
Towards a Model of an Ecology of the Brain

This chapter is an attempt to provide a model of brain ecology which is both historical and conceptual: historical in the sense that studies of ecology and environmental influences on brain seem to occur in an evolutionary fashion; conceptual in that this evolution readily lends itself to understanding within a theoretical model of environment-brain interaction. It is based on a stimulus-response model in which the stimulus represents the environment and the response represents the effects on the brain. These effects are considered to be mediated by a variety of psychological, physiological, and chemical mechanisms, and in turn to exert a reciprocal influence on the environment (Fig. 1). As we will see in Chapter 9, a two way causality model such as this is actually overly simplistic, but is useful here in providing a framework within which to organize our discussion.