cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Heparan sulfate/heparin glycosaminoglycan binding alters inhibitory profile and enhances anticoagulant function of conserved Amblyomma americanum tick saliva serpin 19

Abstract Some serine protease inhibitor (serpin) regulators of essential life pathways bind glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) to enhance inhibitory functions and achieve physiologically relevant rates. This study demonstrates that highly conserved Amblyomma americanum tick saliva serpin 19 (AAS19), a broad-spectrum inhibitor of hemostasis and inflammation system proteases and anticoagulant, can bind heparan sulfate/heparin (HS)GAGs and that this interaction alters its function. Substrate hydrolysis and unpaired t -test analyses revealed that HSGAG binding caused rAAS19 inhibitory activity to: (i) significantly increase against blood clotting factors (f) IIa (thrombin) and fIXa, (ii) significantly reduce against fXa and fXIIa and (iii) moderate to no effect against trypsin, kallikrein, papain, and plasmin. Stoichiometry of inhibition (SI) analyses show that HSGAG binding improved the rAAS19 inhibitory efficiency against thrombin 2.7–4.3 fold as revealed by SI change from 13.19 in absence of HSGAGs to 4.83–3.04 in their presence. Our data show that HSGAG binding dramatically enhanced rAAS19 anticoagulant function. In the recalcification time assay, rAAS19 pre-incubated with HSGAGs prior to the assay, delayed plasma clotting by an additional 176–457 s above HSGAGs or rAAS19 alone. Our data suggest that formation of the HSGAGs and rAAS19 complex is important for the observed enhanced anticoagulant effect. Delay of plasma clotting was higher when HSGAGs and rAAS19 were co-incubated to allow complex formation prior to blood clotting assay as opposed to no co-incubation. We have discussed our finding with reference to tick feeding physiology and utility of the rAAS19 in blood clotting disorder therapy.
Annual EFA Meetings Conference Announcement and Call for Papers

Announcement and Call for Papers for the annual EFA meetings, to be held on August 20-23, 2003 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Putting sustainability theory into roadway design practice: Implementation of LCA and LCCA analysis for pavement type selection in real world decision making

Abstract Assessment of life cycle costs and environmental impacts of pavements has become an essential component of roadway design and asset management. The existing literature reveals that the economic and environmental sustainability of pavements depend on specific project characteristics. Hence, recent studies have called for real world case studies of pavement construction projects to better understand how the life cycle costs and environmental impacts of pavements vary based on different project characteristics. To this end, present study conducted comprehensive LCA and LCCA analyses to investigate the sustainability of different pavement alternatives for the SR 836-Southwest Extension Project in Miami, Florida. The study considered the agency costs and impacts as well as various use phase impacts and costs including those connected with pavement vehicle interaction and work zone traffic delays. In addition, the uncertainty related to the costs and impacts of construction and maintenance activities was assessed. The results indicated that at 90% confidence interval the flexible pavement design has lower cost and environmental impacts in the construction phase. However, when all phases are taken into consideration, the rigid pavement alternatives have lower environmental impacts and costs. The analysis also examined the sensitivity of the results to different parameters such as the discount rate and future traffic growth rate. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicated that the flexible pavement design has lower agency costs compared to rigid pavements at discount rates less than 4%. For discount rate values greater than 4.5%, the rigid pavement leads to lower life cycle costs.
PhD Forum Abstract: Separating Heartbeats from Multiple People on One Bed Using Geophones

Sensing bed vibrations caused by heartbeats has shown great potentials in detecting and monitoring a person's heartbeats during sleep, without requiring special mattress or sheets, or assuming certain sleeping position/posture. Earlier work has studied how to use this method to detect heartbeats when a single subject is on the bed, and in this study, we aim to separate the heartbeats when multiple subjects share the same bed and the vibration signals are mixed together. Our heartbeat separation algorithm is based upon signal unmixing via time-frequency masking, which was originally designed to extract individual voices from two audio mixtures. Though these two problems have similarity, separating heartbeat signals is much harder and poses new challenges, mainly because heartbeat signals have a much smaller frequency range than audio signals, fluctuate considerably from beat to beat, and propagate through a mattress that has much more complex propagation properties than the air. In this study, we address these challenges by carefully designing the signal processing algorithms, especially in phase correction, filtering, window size choice, etc. Through detailed experimentation, we show that our technique can accurately separate two heartbeats (the most common case) using two vibration sensors (geophones in our case) -- with an average estimation error below 2 beats per minute.
The role of arts in raising ethical awareness and knowledge of the European refugee crisis among social work students. An example from the classroom

AbstractThis paper presents and discusses an arts-based project, carried out by the first-year students in the classroom, at the Department of Social Work, in Athens, Greece. The project was designed for raising ethical awareness and knowledge of the 2015 Europe’s refugee crisis among social work students. The purpose of this project was three-fold: (1) to help students to better understand the refugee crisis as an emerging problem in Europe and in the rest of the world; (2) to help students raise their ethical awareness about the plight of refugees and to learn how to avoid discrimination and racism; and (3) to improve students’ abilities to work effectively with refugee populations. The project used art-based activities (drawing, writing, photos, etc.) as a powerful pedagogical tool for teaching students and supporting their learning in the classroom. As the literature has shown, the use of arts in social work education helps student to learn through an artistic and creative way and provides a secure ba...
RF-Input Load Modulated Balanced Amplifier With Octave Bandwidth

This paper presents an octave-bandwidth load modulated balanced amplifier (LMBA) that operates directly on a single modulated RF input. The architecture is based on the recently proposed LMBA technique, in which a control signal applied at the output isolation port of a balanced amplifier is used to modulate the apparent load impedance of the two devices comprising the balanced amplifier. In our approach, the injected control signal is used both as an active match and to dynamically load modulate the main devices to provide efficiency enhancement at back-off, thus extending the dynamic range compared to the original LMBA formulation. In this paper, we introduce a phase-compensation technique through which the active matching and load modulation tracks the frequency-dependent optimal loading trajectory of a packaged device. The result is a load-modulation power amplifier architecture able to perform an active, modulated match over an octave bandwidth. The technique is demonstrated over 1.8–3.8 GHz using packaged devices and an off-the-shelf hybrid coupler. The proof-of-concept octave RF-input LMBA has a peak CW output power of 44 dBm, with power added efficiency (PAE) over the 1.8–3.8 GHz operating frequency range of 37%–59% at peak power and 29%–45% at 6-dB output backoff. The RF-input nature of this architecture enables straightforward measurement with modulated signals; a W-CDMA signal at 3.8 GHz with 9-dB (measured) peak to average power ratio is demonstrated with adjacent channel leakage ratio of −30 dBc and average PAE of 18% for a 31-dBm average output power (2-dB backoff).
Virtual machine placement in cloudlet mesh with network topology reconfigurability

The integration of cloudlet and wireless mesh networks gives rise to the idea of "cloudlet mesh", which offers services to the Internet of Things (IoT) applications at the edge of the network. With virtualized servers in each cloudlet, users issue networked virtual machines (VMs) to run their applications, and the cloudlet mesh broker or orchestrator decides the resource allocation. This process is known as the VM placement. With the network topology reconfigurability provided by the software defined networking (SDN) technologies, new opportunities arise to optimize the VM placement problem. In this paper, we address some of these opportunities. Firstly, we study the VM placement in the homogeneous case, where each cloudlet in the cloudlet mesh has the same number of VM slots and the same maximum bandwidth capacity. An optimal algorithm is proposed to maximize the number of accepted VMs into the homogeneous cloudlet mesh. Next, we focus on the VM placement in the heterogeneous case, where each cloudlet has different numbers of VM slots and different maximum bandwidth capacities. Another optimal algorithm is proposed to maximize the number of accepted VMs into the heterogeneous cloudlet mesh. The evaluation results validate the efficiency of our algorithms.
Real-Time Stochastic Language Generation for Dialogue Systems

This paper describes Acorn, a sentence planner and surface realizer for dialogue systems. Improvements to previous stochastic word-forest based approaches are described, countering recent criticism of this class of algorithms for their slow speed. An evaluation of the approach with semantic input shows runtimes of a fraction of a second and presents results that suggest it is also portable across domains.
Back Cover: Protein secondary structure analysis of dried blood serum using infrared spectroscopy to identify markers for colitis screening (J. Biophotonics 3/2018)

Protein secondary structural alteration in the serum sample as induced by colitis has been demonstrated via the spectral fitting. Using DSS mouse models of acute colitis and IL10-/- for chronic colitis, a significant difference in the integral ratio of Gaussian energy bands representing α-helix and β-pleated sheet structures were obtained.Further details can be found in the article by Jitto Titus et al. (e201700057).
Quantifying the security effectiveness of network diversity: poster

We propose a systematic, fine-grained metric framework that quantifies the security effectiveness of network diversity in computer networks.
Cavitation Enhancement Increases the Efficiency and Consistency of Chromatin Fragmentation from Fixed Cells for Downstream Quantitative Applications.

One of the most sensitive, time-consuming, and variable steps of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is chromatin sonication. Traditionally, this process can take hours to properly sonicate enough chromatin for multiple ChIP assays. Further, the length of sheared DNA is often inconsistent. In order to faithfully measure chemical and structural changes at the chromatin level, sonication needs to be reliable. Thus, chromatin fragmentation by sonication represents a significant bottleneck to downstream quantitative analysis. To improve the consistency and efficiency of chromatin sonication, we developed and tested a cavitation enhancing reagent based on sonically active nanodroplets. Here, we show that nanodroplets increase sonication efficiency by 16-fold and provide more consistent levels of chromatin fragmentation. Using the previously characterized chromatin in vivo assay (CiA) platform, we generated two distinct chromatin states in order to test nanodroplet-assisted sonication sensitivity in measuring ...
Redefining Perineural Invasion: Integration of Biology With Clinical Outcome.

A diagnosis of perineural invasion (PNI), defined as cancer within or surrounding at least 33% of the nerve, leads to selection of aggressive treatment in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Recent mechanistic studies show that cancer and nerves interact prior to physical contact. The purpose of this study was to explore cancer-nerve interactions relative to clinical outcome. Biopsy specimens from 71 patients with oral cavity SCC were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical (IHC; cytokeratin, S100, GAP43, Tuj1) stains. Using current criteria, PNI detection was increased with IHC. Overall survival (OS) tended to be poor for patients with PNI (P = .098). OS was significantly lower for patients with minimum tumor-nerve distance smaller than 5 μm (P = .011). The estimated relative death rate decreased as the nerve-tumor distance increased; there was a gradual drop off in death rate from distance equal to zero that stabilized around 500 μm. In PNI-negative patients, nerve diameter was significantly related to OS (HR 2.88, 95%CI[1.11,7.49]). Among PNI-negative nerves, larger nerve-tumor distance and smaller nerve diameter were significantly related to better OS, even when adjusting for T-stage and age (HR 0.82, 95% CI[0.72,0.92]; HR 1.27, 95% CI[1.00,1.62], respectively). GAP43, a marker for neuronal outgrowth, stained less than Tuj1 in nerves at greater distances from tumor (OR 0.76, 95% CI[0.73,0.79]); more GAP43 staining was associated with PNI. Findings from a small group of patients suggest that nerve parameters other than presence of PNI can influence outcome and that current criteria of PNI need to be re-evaluated to integrate recent biological discoveries.
Medical Applications of Drones for Disaster Relief: A Review of the Literature.

Introduction Rapid progress has been made with unmanned aerial systems (UAS), which are now used in a wide variety of different fields, including media, agriculture, wildlife, and infrastructure. However, the application of UAS for medical purposes, and in particular disaster relief efforts, has been slower to develop. This paper will review and present pertinent studies in the literature. Methodology Studies related to drones and medical applications for disaster relief were identified as part of a larger search regarding the civilian application of drones. A search for civilian drone applications was performed in the EBSCO (Elton B. Stephens Company) database. Non-civilian applications as well as redundant sources were excluded. Results The search identified 711 sources pertaining to civilian drone applications. Of these, 117 involved drone applications in disaster relief, and 28 articles specifically addressed medical uses. Conclusion Drones can be useful during immediate and non-immediate medical disaster relief efforts. They can provide an instant telecommunications infrastructure, assist in telemedicine-enabled clinical services, perform equipment/drug/patient delivery, enhance search and rescue efforts, assess damage and map disaster zones. Rapid processing of permission for emergency operations, promotion of industry expansion, public awareness, and public participation must be emphasized for these to become routine applications. There is a major concern about the organizational umbrella that would promote this initiative. Creation of an organization such as a Drone Civil Air Patrol Wing (DCAPW) could improve our ability to provide post-disaster healthcare delivery services.
Vibrational Optical Activity

While the measurements of optical activity in electronic transitions are widely known and routine, similar measurements pertaining to vibrational transitions became feasible only recently. The vibrational optical activity (VOA) measurements can now be carried out with greater confidence owing to the rapid developments in both instrumentation and theory. The emergence of VOA, as a combination of two widely practiced branches of science namely vibrational spectroscopy and optical activity, offered new pathways for understanding the molecular stereochemistry. Despite its very weak nature, VOA is believed to surpass the conventional electronic optical activity (EOA) in both informational content and complexity. This is because in EOA studies one has to depend upon a limited number of accessible electronic transitions, whereas in VOA studies all 3N-6 vibrational transitions, where N is the number of atoms, of a chiral molecule are available for probing the molecular structure. This increased number of transitions also increases the complexity in interpreting the VOA spectra, but one hopes to find selectivity in structural determination. Since different vibrations encompass different portions of a molecule, the three dimensional view at a particular portion of the molecule may be derived from the VOA associated with the vibrations encompassing that portion. In this way one can hope to selectively determine the stereochemistry and assemble this information for determining the three dimensional structure of the entire molecule.
Hematopoietic-cell transplantation for lymphoma in the era of genetically engineered cellular therapy: it's not quite time to scrap the old vehicle for the new car.

Purpose of reviewSecond-line platinum-based salvage chemotherapy followed by high-dose chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic-cell transplantation (AHCT) has remained the standard of care (SOC) for relapsed and primary refractory (r/r) diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) for greater than 2 deca
Till Death Do Us Part: Intersecting Health and Spousal Dementia Caregiving on Caregiver Mortality:

Objective:We consider whether it is the healthiest dementia caregivers who experience a mortality benefit and whether a protective association is consistent for leading causes of mortality.Method:U...
Long-Term Outcomes of Left Main Coronary Artery Disease Treated With Drug-Eluting Stents vs Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review.

Abstract Background Currently, DES is a reasonable treatment option for LMCA disease but CABG continues to be first-line treatment. Multiple randomized clinical trials (RCTs) have compared outcomes between these two treatment modalities. Recently, these trials published their long-term results with conflicting findings. Methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs that compared DES vs CABG in patients with LMCA disease. We only included trials with follow up duration of at least 5 years. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes included risk of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and repeat revascularization. Results We included a total of 4 RCTs. The median-weighted follow up period was 6.5 years. There was no significant difference between DES and CABG in all-cause mortality (Risk ratio (RR) 1.10; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.92 to 1.31; p = 0.28), risk of cardiac death (RR of 1.08, 95% CI 0.84 to 1.38; p = 0.56), total MI (RR of 1.22, 95% CI 0.96 to 1.56; p = 0.11), and stroke (RR of 0.85, 95% CI 0.46 to 1.57; p = 0.60). The risk of repeat revascularization (RR of 1.75, 95% CI 1.50 to 2.03; p Conclusions DES has similar long-term outcomes compared to CABG in terms of all-cause mortality, cardiac death, total MI and stroke; but was associated with a higher risk of repeat revascularization, and non-periprocedural MI.
Macroprudential policies from a microprudential angle: A note

Abstract The standard macroprudential models focus on externalities and treat all prudential instruments as alternative, but equivalent, forms of Pigouvian taxes. This paper explicitly models individual banks’ risk choices and shows that different prudential instruments affect banks’ risk-taking incentives differently. Thus, conflicts may arise between the micro- and macroprudential stance.
Constructing America’s “New Blacks:” Post 9/11 Social Policies and their Impacts on and Implications for the Lived Experiences of Muslims, Arabs and “Others”

Problem Statement: Blacks in North America have been oppressed, discriminated against and marginalized for over fourhundred years. While there have been social polices enacted by various world governments in attempts to stem the tide of theoppression of Blacks and other minorities, these forms of oppressions continue, are practiced and reproduced by individualsand systems in the United States and across the world, albeit insidiously. Approach:The oppression of Blacks is not the issuehere, for that remains in suspended animation, with the discovery and construction, since the unfortunate September 11, 2001events of America’s“New Blacks” represented by Muslims, Arabs, Asians and “Others.”Results:Using interlocking oppressionsand empowerment theories embodied by Critical Race Theory, the study explores post 9/11 social policies and their unsavoryimpacts on the lived experiences of Muslims, Arabs and “Others.”Conclusion:It also attempts a reconnaissance of prosocialresistance skills and strategies to deal with the upsurge and continued profiling, singling-out and marginalization of thispopulation by polices that having primarily been designed to protect America and Americans from further acts of terror, amplify,reproduce and sustain the emasculation of minority populations in and outside of the United States.
A PERFECT Biomarker-focused Study of Neoadjuvant IO for Esophagogastric Cancer

To evaluate feasibility and efficacy, checkpoint inhibitor atezolizumab was added to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy prior to surgery for esophagogastric adenocarcinoma. The approach was deemed feasible, and while it did not demonstrate better clinical outcome to propensity-matched patients, biomarker investigation demonstrated that high inflammation in the sample at baseline predicted therapeutic benefit. See related article by van den Ende et al., p. 3351
Building effective networks for the transition from the military to the civilian workforce: Who, what, when, and how

Servicemembers leaving the military and entering the civilian workforce are often encouraged to network to identify and obtain civilian employment. However, there are few resources that offer insig...
Enantioselective conversion of linoleate hydroperoxide to an α, β-epoxy alcohol by niobium ethoxide

Niobium (V) ethoxide [Nb(OC2H5)5] catalyzed the rearrangement of methyl 13(S)-hydroperoxy-9(Z),11(E)-octadecadienoate (Me-HPODE) to epoxy hydroxy isomers. At low temperature (5°C) in aprotic solvent, Me-HPODE was converted to the diastereomeric α, β-epoxy alcohols, methyl 11(R,S),12(R,S)-epoxy-13(S)-hydroxy-9(Z)octadecenoate. These products are referred to as oxylipids and structurally resemble those obtained from the vanadium- and epoxygenase-catalyzed rearrangement of Me-HPODE but are distinct from products obtained from ferrous iron-, hematin-, and hemoglobin-catalyzed rearrangements. Because the product of the niobium-catalyzed rearrangement of Me-HPODE was predominantly the erythro diastereomer, the rearrangement is distinguished from that produced by a titanium catalyst, in which the threo diastereomer [methyl 11(R), 12(R)-epoxy-13(S)-hydroxy-9(Z)-octadecenoate] predominates, and from that produced by a vanadium catalyst, in which both diastereomers are produced in equal proportion. The synthesis of alcohol epoxide by Nb(OC2H5)5 was inhibited by traces of water, but inclusion of molecular sieves in the reaction medium did not improve yield, as the alcohol epoxide rearranged to ketonic materials.
The Use of Changes in X-Ray Diffraction Line Broadening to Study Recovery Kinetics in Pure Cobalt

X-ray diffraction line profile techniques have become sufficiently refined to give a detailed description of cold-worked structures. Local strain, small particle size, and stacking faults cause a broadening of the diffraction lines. Some profiles are broadened by all three, while others are influenced only by local strain and small particle size. These techniques were used to investigate recovery phenomena in samples of hexagonal cobalt.
Chapter 6 – Depression

Publisher Summary This chapter reveals that depression in children and adolescents has often been overlooked or minimized as normal mood swings that accompany developmental changes. In fact, until the past few decades, the spectrum of depressive disorders was not considered applicable to the pediatric population. Depression in children is no longer being dismissed, and researchers and clinicians now recognize it as a substantial problem affecting peer relationships, home life, academics, and physical well-being. Recognizing depression in children is complicated by several factors. Self-reports usually are not obtainable with infants and toddlers. Since most young children are not able to adequately verbalize what they are feeling, clinicians and researchers must rely on information gathered from parents, teachers, and other significant adults in the child's life. Although teenagers are usually able to express their feelings, they may resist doing so and view depression as a sign of weakness. In addition, depressive symptoms may be masked by co-occurring conditions.
International inequalities in human development and real income

Abstract Two well-recommended measures are used to compute intercountry inequalities in real GDP per capita (RY) and the index of human development (HDI). Despite very high positive correlation between RY and HDI, the inequality measures reveal dramatically different pictures.
How sales manager experience and historical data trends affect decision making

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine how trends in historical data influence two types of predictive judgments: territory selection and salesperson hiring. Sales managers are confronted frequently with decisions that explicitly or implicitly involve forecasting with limited information. In doing so, they conceptualize how the magnitude of these trend effects may be affected by the experience managers have in making these types of judgments. Study 1 provides evidence of a curvilinear relationship between experience and reliance on the trend data whereby the sales territory selections of novice sales managers exhibited greater susceptibility to informational trends than did the evaluations of naive and expert decision-makers. A benchmark analysis in Study 2 further revealed that the salesperson selections made by novice and expert sales managers were equally biased, albeit in opposite directions, with novices overweighting and experts underweighting historical performance trends. Implications o...
A Comparison of Observed and Model Energy Balance for an Extratropical Cyclone System

Eddy kinetic energy budgets are presented for both moist and dry 48 h forecasts and corresponding observations of a developing winter extratropical cyclone. A diagnosis of observational data energetics is presented and compared with model results for an intense, occluding winter cyclone associated with a strong, well-developed jet stream. The nature of the eddy kinetic energy sources and sinks associated with the strong baroclinic development occurring in this cyclonic system is examined, and the extent to which to observed energy sources and sinks are present in the numerical predictions is addressed. The possibility of explaining differences between the observed and predicted cyclone systems by analyzing these kinetic energy properties is considered.
Female consumers׳ intention to be involved in fair-trade product consumption in the U.S.: The role of previous experience, product features, and perceived benefits

Abstract Fair-trade practices include paying fair wages, supporting participatory workplaces and environmentally sustainable production, and developing long-term and supportive buyer-producer relationships (Kunz, G. I. and Garner, M. B. (2011), Going Global (2nd ed.), New York, NY: Fairchild Books). Fair-trade is both a political movement organized around the theme of trade justice, and the practice of particular types of trading and production relationships (Mare, A. L. (2008), The impact of fair-trade on social and economic development: a review of the literature, Geography Compass, 2, (6), 1922–1942). The aim of this study was to examine female consumers׳ previous experience, product features and perceived benefits of fair-trade product consumption. Specifically, the study examined how previous experience or lack of experience in fair-trade product consumption influences female consumers׳ purchase decisions by considering the impact of product features and perceived benefits. Results indicated that consumers who did not have fair-trade products experience made their purchase decision based on traditional product features (i.e., style and new trends). On the other hand, consumers who had experience with fair-trade products more consider ethical responsibility (i.e., perceived consumer effectiveness) in fair-trade shopping. Implications and limitations were discussed.
Human orbital fibroblasts in culture express ganglioside profiles distinct from those in dermal fibroblasts.

Orbital fibroblasts appear phenotypically distinct from those derived from dermis and other extraorbital anatomical sites. In this study, we examined the profile of gangliosides expressed by orbital and dermal fibroblasts. Gangliosides have a wide range of functions including modulation of transmembrane signal transduction. The aim of this study was to examine the hypothesis that a differential expression of gangliosides by orbital and nonorbital fibroblasts could constitute an important determinant of the immunological properties peculiar to the orbit. Moreover, these differences could provide a molecular basis for the site-specific involvement of the orbit in Graves' ophthalmopathy. Total lipids were extracted from confluent cultures of six different orbital and six dermal fibroblast strains, and purified gangliosides were subjected to two-dimensional thin layer chromatographic analysis. Orbital and dermal fibroblasts contained qualitatively similar ganglioside contents, with two major peaks, one migrat...
A rapid acquisition method for Impulse Ultra-Wideband signals

A rapid timing acquisition method for Impulse Ultra-Wideband (IUWB) signals is presented. This method reaches the performance of parallel search techniques with much lower hardware complexity. It removes the assumption that the channel delay is a multiple of the chip interval and can reach a search resolution that is a fraction of the chip interval in a short time. Simulation results prove that this method works well in channels with both small and large number of multipaths and is robust again noise.
Evaluation of fourteen trophic state indices for phytoplankton of Indiana lakes and reservoirs

Abstract Fourteen phytoplankton trophic state indices were compared using principal components analysis of forty-two samples from Indiana lakes and reservoirs. Diversity indices were not useful for trophic classification because they were not monotonically related to degree of eutrophication and require more data for their calculation than other indices. In our study, Nygaard's indices were often undefined, and therefore unusable, because the denominator was zero. Palmer's genus index was more sensitive to differences among samples than Palmer's species index. Of the indices we examined, two were relatively useful—Palmer's genus index, which reflects the abundance of eutrophic indicator genera, and the concentration of the most abundant taxon, which is sensitive to bloom samples.
Evaluation of DNA pooling for the estimation of microsatellite allele frequencies: a case study using striped bass (Morone saxatilis).

Using striped bass (Morone saxatilis) and six multiplexed microsatellite markers, we evaluated procedures for estimating allele frequencies by pooling DNA from multiple individuals, a method suggested as cost-effective relative to individual genotyping. Using moment-based estimators, we estimated allele frequencies in experimental DNA pools and found that the three primary laboratory steps, DNA quantitation and pooling, PCR amplification, and electrophoresis, accounted for 23, 48, and 29%, respectively, of the technical variance of estimates in pools containing DNA from 2–24 individuals. Exact allele-frequency estimates could be made for pools of sizes 2–8, depending on the locus, by using an integer-valued estimator. Larger pools of size 12 and 24 tended to yield biased estimates; however, replicates of these estimates detected allele frequency differences among pools with different allelic compositions. We also derive an unbiased estimator of Hardy–Weinberg disequilibrium coefficients that uses multiple DNA pools and analyze the cost-efficiency of DNA pooling. DNA pooling yields the most potential cost savings when a large number of loci are employed using a large number of individuals, a situation becoming increasingly common as microsatellite loci are developed in increasing numbers of taxa.
Increased Cathodic Kinetics on Platinum in IT-SOFCs by Inserting Highly Ionic-Conducting Nanocrystalline Materials

One of the crucial factors for improving intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) performance relies on the reduction in the activation loss originating from limited electrode reaction kinetics. We investigated the properties and functions of the nanocrystalline interlayer via quantum simulation and electrochemical impedance analyses. Electrode impedances were found to decrease several folds as a result of introducing a nanocrystalline interlayer and this positive impact was the most significant when the interlayer was a highly ionic-conducting nanocrystalline material. Both exchange current density and maximum power density were highest in the ultrathin SOFCs (fabricated with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) compatible technologies) consisting of a 50 nm thick nano-gadolinia doped ceria (GDC) interlayer. Oxygen vacancy formation energies both at the surface and in the bulk of pure zirconia, ceria, yttria-stabilized zirconia, and GDC were computed from density functional theory, which provided insight on surface oxygen vacancy densities.
A sensitive time‐resolved radiation pyrometer for shock‐temperature measurements above 1500 K

An optical system has been developed which can determine time-resolved temperatures in shocked materials by measuring the spectral radiance of light emitted from shocked solid samples in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range (0.5–1.0 µm). It can measure temperatures as low as 1500 K and has been successfully used to observe shock-induced chemical reactions in powder samples. The high sensitivity of this radiation pyrometer can be attributed to the large angular aperture (0.06 sr), the large bandwidth per channel (up to 0.1 µm), the large photodiode detection areas (1.0 cm^2), and the small number of calibrated channels (4) among which light is divided. Improved calibration techniques, as well as the layout of the instrument, eliminate certain sources of error encountered in previous shock-temperature experiments. Errors in the measured spectral radiance were reduced by: (1) recalibration before every experiment to account for changes in optical components; (2) direct calibration of voltage recorded at each digitizer to prevent transfer error by an intermediate step; (3) use of a spectral irradiance calibration lamp to exclude errors due to spatial inhomogeneities associated with spectral radiance sources; and (4) obtaining a large spatial average of light at each wavelength from the same portion of the sample to eliminate errors from possible inhomogeneities in the sample. The magnitude each of these errors could previously contribute was 1%–2% of the total signal. Absolute temperature uncertainties, determined from the standard deviation of the measured spectral radiances from the least-squares-fit values, are typically about 5%. Emissivities are poorly constrained by spectral radiance data because of a weak functional dependence, and uncertainties can easily exceed 50% for temperatures of around 2000 K.
Resistance Training Reduces Disability in Prostate Cancer Survivors on Androgen Deprivation Therapy: Evidence From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives To investigate whether functionally based resistance exercise could improve strength, physical function, and disability among prostate cancer survivors (PCS) on androgen deprivation therapy (ADT); and to explore potential mediators of changes in outcomes from exercise.
An investigation of the relations among probability estimates

Abstract Subjects inferred the conjunctive probability of events A and B (PAB) and the disjunctive probability of these events (PA∪B) either from information bearing upon the likelihood of A alone and the likelihood of B alone (PA and PB) or from information about the likelihood of A and the likelihood of B given A ( P B A ). While informational variables had interactive effects upon PAB, data were most consistent with the hypothesis that inferences were a subjective compromise between the product of the two manipulated probabilities and the average of these probabilities. Estimates of PA∪B were accurately predicted from the quantity PA + PB − PAB only when A and B were independent; however, fine grained analyses showed that informational manipulations of PA and PB did not interact in a manner implied by this equation. In a third experiment, P B A was inferred from information about the likelihood of B (PB), the likelihood of A given B ( P A B ), and the likelihood of A given not-B ( P A B′ ). These informational variables had additive but not interactive effects upon inferences, contrary to implications of Bayes' theorem. Considered as a whole, results placed considerable limitations upon the generality of the hypothesis that relations among probability estimates are similar to the relations among objective probabilities.
Accurate orbital amplitudes at nuclei frog gaussian basis sets

Abstract A simple extrapolation procedure combining wavefunctions obtained from gaussian basis sets with exact solutions of the nuclear cusp equations is proposed for computing orbital amplitudes at nuclei. Comparison with exact results for atoms and diatomic molecules indicates that the procedure is capable of giving Hartree—Fock amplitudes with errors of at most 10 −2 for the low amplitude outer orbitals and errors of less than 10 −3 for the important inner orbitals. The resulting errors in the total densities are around 10 −2 . These accuracies are comparable with those obtained with energy-optimized Slater basis sets.
The TonB3 System in the Human Pathogen Vibrio vulnificus Is under the Control of the Global Regulators Lrp and Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein

ABSTRACT TonB systems transduce the proton motive force of the cytoplasmic membrane to energize substrate transport through a specific TonB-dependent transporter across the outer membrane. Vibrio vulnificus, an opportunistic marine pathogen that can cause a fatal septicemic disease in humans and eels, possesses three TonB systems. While the TonB1 and TonB2 systems are iron regulated, the TonB3 system is induced when the bacterium grows in human serum. In this work we have determined the essential roles of the leucine-responsive protein (Lrp) and cyclic AMP (cAMP) receptor protein (CRP) in the transcriptional activation of this system. Whereas Lrp shows at least four very distinctive DNA binding regions spread out from position −59 to −509, cAMP-CRP binds exclusively in a region centered at position −122.5 from the start point of the transcription. Our results suggest that both proteins bind simultaneously to the region closer to the RNA polymerase binding site. Importantly, we report that the TonB3 system is induced not only by serum but also during growth in minimal medium with glycerol as the sole carbon source and low concentrations of Casamino Acids. In addition to catabolite repression by glucose, l-leucine acts by inhibiting the binding of Lrp to the promoter region, hence preventing transcription of the TonB3 operon. Thus, this TonB system is under the direct control of two global regulators that can integrate different environmental signals (i.e., glucose starvation and the transition between “feast” and “famine”). These results shed light on new mechanisms of regulation for a TonB system that could be widespread in other organisms.
Cholesteryl ester transfer protein inhibition and the treatment of metabolic syndrome

Physical inactivity and obesity have brought metabolic syndrome to prominence as a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Characterized by a constellation of lipid and other abnormalities, the condition requires better tolerated, more powerful drug therapies than those currently available. In this regard, a new class of agents, inhibitors of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, is making its way through clinical trials. Early results demonstrate a synergy combined with existing statin therapy as well as an unprecedented ability to raise plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein.
Polymers with quinoxaline units. III. Polymers with quinoxaline and thiazine recurring units

Six ladder or partly ladder polymers have been prepared by the condensation reactions of combinations of two diaminodithiophenols, 4,6-diamino-1,3-dithiophenol and 3,3′-dimercaptobenzidine, with three tetrachloroquinoxaline derivatives, 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro-1,4,6,9-tetraazaanthracene, 2,2′,3,3′-tetrachloro-6,6′-bisquinoxaline, and 2,2′,3,3′-tetrachloro-6,6′-diquinoxalyl ether, with the use of dimethylacetamide, hexamethylphos phoramide, and polyphosphoric acid as reaction media. The polymers thus obtained are highly colored, powedery materials which are slightly soluble in methanesulfonic acid and concentrated sulfuric acid. These polymers (ηinh > 1) show good thermal stability.
What is this thing called pain

To paraphrase Cole Porter's famous 1926 song, "What is this thing called pain? This funny thing called pain, just who can solve its mystery?" Pain, like love, is all consuming: when you have it, not much else matters, and there is nothing you can do about it. Unlike love, however, we are actually beginning to tease apart the mystery of pain. The substantial progress made over the last decade in revealing the genes, molecules, cells, and circuits that determine the sensation of pain offers new opportunities to manage it, as revealed in this Review series by some of the foremost experts in the field.
Ocular paintball injuries.

Paintball sport-related ocular injuries represent an increasing problem as the popularity of the sport increases and the number of participants grows. Although eye protective devices designed specifically for paintball sports are extremely effective in preventing such injuries, the failure to properly wear these devices has resulted in an alarming number of severe ocular injuries. Recent trends have indicated that an increasing percentage of paintball sport-related ocular injuries have occurred in unsupervised, noncommercial settings (i.e., backyard games) where the use of eye protective devices is not required. Paintball industry standards for eye protection have recently been developed and should be implemented for all participants.
The effect of cluster thickness on the adsorption of CH4 on Pdn

Abstract Adsorptions of methane on Pdn clusters were studied using PW91 functional with a plane wave basis set to understand the role of Pdn clusters in detecting trace amounts of CH4 in air and the observations made in the temperature-programmed desorption experiment on the CH4 physisorption on Pd clusters supported by Al2O3. Fifteen Pdn clusters consisting of up to 13 atoms were chosen to form various CH4 · · · Pdn adducts. Dispersion correction to the adsorption energy was also calculated. Our results show that the interaction between CH4 and Pdn cluster depends strongly on the adsorption site and CH4 orientation. The most preferred adsorption occurs (1) along the C∞ axis of the linear Pdn clusters, (2) perpendicular to the main Cn axis of the planar Pdn clusters, and (3) at the atop site of the three-dimensional Pdn clusters. All four coordination modes of σ−bonds, η1, η2–C,H, η2–H,H, and η3, are found in these adducts. Additionally, the η3–C,H,H, η3-Pd,Pd,Pd, and η1-Pd,Pd modes are identified. The η1 σ−bond is found to be dominant in the CH4 · · · Pdn adducts with Pdn clusters larger than trimer. Our results show that the CH4 does not adsorb on top of the monolayer Pd clusters. Furthermore, the adsorption strength is more dependent on the thickness of the Pd clusters than the cluster size.
Saturation editing of genomic regions by multiplex homology-directed repair

Saturation mutagenesis--coupled to an appropriate biological assay--represents a fundamental means of achieving a high-resolution understanding of regulatory and protein-coding nucleic acid sequences of interest. However, mutagenized sequences introduced in trans on episomes or via random or "safe-harbour" integration fail to capture the native context of the endogenous chromosomal locus. This shortcoming markedly limits the interpretability of the resulting measurements of mutational impact. Here, we couple CRISPR/Cas9 RNA-guided cleavage with multiplex homology-directed repair using a complex library of donor templates to demonstrate saturation editing of genomic regions. In exon 18 of BRCA1, we replace a six-base-pair (bp) genomic region with all possible hexamers, or the full exon with all possible single nucleotide variants (SNVs), and measure strong effects on transcript abundance attributable to nonsense-mediated decay and exonic splicing elements. We similarly perform saturation genome editing of a well-conserved coding region of an essential gene, DBR1, and measure relative effects on growth that correlate with functional impact. Measurement of the functional consequences of large numbers of mutations with saturation genome editing will potentially facilitate high-resolution functional dissection of both cis-regulatory elements and trans-acting factors, as well as the interpretation of variants of uncertain significance observed in clinical sequencing.
Worldwide Mission Planning Tool for Tactical Laser Systems

The directed energy modeling and simulation community can make important direct contributions to the joint warfighting community by providing the capability to estimate expected performance of high energy laser systems on a worldwide basis over both land and ocean regions accounting for variability in system performance arising from spatial, spectral and temporal variations in operating conditions. Key recently introduced features of theAir Force Institute of Technology Center for Directed Energy’s high energy laser end-toend operational simulation parametric one-on-one engagement level model allow it to meet modeling and simulation needs and function as a near term mission planning tool. These features include the capability to derive vertical profiles of atmospheric effects based probabilisticclimatology,historicalweatherreanalysisgrids,orreal-timeforecastmodelsavailable on-line. Each atmospheric gas or particulate is evaluated based on its wavelength-dependent forward and off-axis scattering characteristics and absorption effects on electromagnetic energy delivered at any wavelength from 0.4 μm to 8.6m. High energy laser end-to-end operational simulation can produce profiles, including correlated optical turbulence profiles in percentile format, from probabilistic climatology for over 400 land sites worldwide for all times of day and for a 1 ◦ × 1 ◦ grid over all ocean locations. In addition, probability of cloud free line of sight for hundreds of land sites worldwide is available in the model. Target surface orientation is defined in three-dimensional space, supporting accurate assessment of the effectiveness of a particular engagement geometry. Effects of thin layers of fog, several types of rain and several types of water droplet and ice clouds can also be considered. In the current study, performance predictions at several wavelengths for a number of geographically diverse land and sea locations are made using numerical weather reanalysis data and are compared with results derived from probabilistic climatology. Use of web-based