cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Cutibacterium acnes is Isolated from Air Swabs: Time to Doubt the Value of Traditional Cultures in Shoulder Surgery?

Background: Given high rates of positive Cutibacterium acnes (C. acnes) cultures in cases of both primary and revisionshoulder surgery, the ramifications of positive C. acnes cultures remain uncertain. Next generation sequencing (NGS)is a molecular tool that sequences the whole bacterial genome and is capable of identifying pathogens and the relativepercent abundance in which they appear within a sample. The purpose of this study was to report the false positiveculture rate in negative control specimens and to determine whether NGS has potential value in reducing the rate offalse positive results.Methods: Between April 2017 and May 2017 swabs were taken during primary shoulder arthroplasty. After surgicaltime out, using sterile gloves, a sterile swab was opened and exposed to the air for 5 seconds, returned to its contained,and sealed. One swab was sent to our institution’s microbiology laboratory for aerobic and anaerobic culture and heldfor 13 days. The other sample was sent for NGS (MicroGen Dx, Lubbock, TX), where samples were amplified forpyrosequencing using a forward and reverse fusion primer and matched against a DNA library for species identification.Results: For 40 consecutive cases, swabs were sent for culture and NGS. C. acnes was identified by culture in 6/40(15%) swabs and coagulase negative staphylococcus (CNS) was identified in 3/40 (7.5%). Both cases with positiveNGS sequencing reported polymicrobial results with one sample (2.5%), including a relative abundance of 3% C.acnes. At 90 days after surgery, there were no cases of clinical infection in any of the 40 cases.Conclusion: We demonstrate that the two most commonly cultured organisms (C. acnes and CNS) during revisionshoulder arthroplasty are also the two most commonly cultured organisms from negative control specimens.Contamination can come from air in the operating room or laboratory contamination.Level of evidence: III
Recommending Tasks to Newcomers in OSS Projects: How Do Mentors Handle It?

Software developers who want to start contributing to an Open Source Software (OSS) project often struggle to find appropriate first tasks. The voluntary, self-organizing distribution of decentralized labor and the distinct nature of some OSS projects intensifies this challenge. Mentors, who work closely with newcomers, develop strategies to recommend tasks. However, to date neither the challenges mentors face in recommending tasks nor their strategies have been formally documented or studied. In this paper, we interviewed mentors of well-established OSS projects (n=10) and qualitatively analyzed their answers to identify both challenges and strategies related to recommending tasks for newcomers. Then, we employed a survey (n=30) to map the strategies to challenges and collect additional strategies. Our study identified 7 challenges and 13 strategies related to task recommendation. Strategies such as "tagging the issues based on difficulty," "adding documentation," "assigning a small task first and then challenge the newcomers with bigger tasks," and "dividing tasks into smaller pieces" were frequently mentioned as ways to overcome multiple challenges. Our results provide insights for mentors about the strategies OSS communities can use to guide their mentors and for tool builders who design automated support for task assignment.
A Study on Sensor Fusion for Fault Tolerant Brake-by-Wire Driver Input Design with Dissimilar Sensors

Recently the automotive industry has witnessed a significant interest in brake-by-wire applications for purposes of brake systems [1][2], hybrid powertrain [3], etc. To ensure acceptable dependability of brake-by-wire, redundancy of components such as sensors, actuators, ECUs and communication bus should be implemented. Algorithms for managing redundant components are critical to the proper function of such systems. This paper focuses on the sensor fusion aspects of dissimilar sensors to achieve fault tolerance. Measurement conversion accuracy issues for dissimilar sensors, such as the driver input unit’s physical characteristics, are discussed. Over 200 pedal actuation samples have been collected to examine several redundancy management algorithms in a drive input device under conditions of sensor and mechanical faults.
The Molecular Logic Organizing the Functional Compartmentalization of Reciprocal Synapses

SUMMARY Reciprocal synapses are formed by neighboring dendritic processes that create the smallest possible neural circuit. Reciprocal synapses are widespread in brain and essential for information processing, but constitute a conceptual conundrum: How are adjacent pre- and post-synaptic specializations maintained as separate functional units? Here, we reveal an organizational principle for reciprocal synapses, using dendrodendritic synapses between mitral and granule cells in the mouse olfactory bulb as a paradigm. We show that mitral cells secrete cerebellin-1 to block the cis-interaction of mitral cell neurexins with neuroligins, thereby enabling their separate trans-interactions. Ablating either cerebellin-1 or neuroligins in mitral cells severely impaired granule cell→mitral cell synapses, as did overexpression of postsynaptic neurexins that form cis-complexes with neuroligins, but not of mutant neurexins unable to bind to neuroligins. Our data uncover a cis/trans-protein interaction network as a general design principle that organizes reciprocal dendro-dendritic synapses by compartmentalizing neurexin-based trans-synaptic protein complexes.
Model agnostic generation of counterfactual explanations for molecules

An outstanding challenge in deep learning is its lack of interpretability. The inability of both designers and users of neural networks to explain why a prediction is made is a major drawback. This not only dissuades chemists from using deep learning predictions, but also has led to neural networks learning spurious correlations that are difficult to notice. Counterfactuals are a category of prediction explanations that provide a rationale behind the prediction value. Counterfactuals have satisfying properties like being in the same space as the features and require no deep learning expertise to understand. Counterfactuals are generated via optimization, which makes them complex to use when the features are chemical structures. Here we present an algorithm built on the "Superfast Traversal, Optimization, Novelty, Exploration and Discovery" method (Nigam et. al, 2021) that is efficient and model-agnostic for generating counterfactuals. We show this method is applicable in random forest models, sequence models, and graph neural networks in both classification and regression. Our method requires no additional training, data, or model gradients.
An ensemble forecasting model for predicting contribution of food donors based on supply behavior

Food banks are nonprofit hunger relief organizations that collect donations from donors and distribute food to local agencies that serve people in need. Donors consist of local supermarkets, manufacturers, and community organizations. The frequency, quantity, and type of food donated by each donor can vary each month. In this research, we propose a technique to identify the supply behavior of donors and cluster them based on these attributes. We then develop a predictive ensemble model to forecast the contribution of different donor clusters. Our study shows the necessary behavioral attributes to classify donors and the best way to cluster donor data to improve the prediction model.
VI. Genealogical List of The Daughters of Atlas

This dissertation is the result of extensive research into Greek mythological genealogy. Overall, it endeavors to demonstrate that in spite of the attention lavished on Greek mythology and the problem of myth as a historical source, there is an approach to this body of evidence based strictly on genealogical patterning that has not been adequately investigated to date. The genealogical approach gives chronological precedence to patterns first manifest in the Homeric poems, which by comparison with later mythic material delineate the outline of a genealogical template that initially emerged in Aiolic East Greece. This stands to reason on a number of counts, prominently, for example, because it explains the importance of Troy as the appointed target of a legendary Greek conquest in the east (Troy was located in Aiolic East Greek territory), and also because East Greek Asia Minor was the first point of contact between Dark Age Greek culture and Near Eastern metropoleis that deployed genealogy as a structural medium in the canonization of cultural pre-history. Inasmuch as the later Greek mythic corpus readily divides into clusters of stories associated with major mainland Greek city-states, I determined in view of the Homeric evidence, that these state genealogies in general relied on the use of recurrent manipulative techniques designed to supplant the early Aiolic structure, while at the same time retaining the most famous legends amidst a largely restructured genealogical framework. Tracing these patterns further, it turned out to be possible to distinguish and correlate post-Homeric genealogical emendations with political developments on the Greek mainland, where unified opposition to a legendary framework conceived and promoted initially in East Greece led to tangible ideological changes, detectable since they altered but did not destroy all vestiges of the inherited tradition. This hypothesis demands quite detailed exposition because it cannot comfortably coexist with the leading approach to Greek mythogenesis. According to that view, separate regional mythic cycles were rather awkwardly fused together before the emergence of pan-Hellenic self-consciousness in the early Archaic Period. Still, the opposite view, this thesis argues, in which a meaningful whole was incrementally split up into an assortment of disjointed parts is the simpler, more logical explanation for the development of Greek mythic tradition, and is, moreover, capable of comprehending random segments of Greek mythological testimony. What follows, therefore, is a blow-by-blow account of the most pivotal evidence to this effect on the mythical and the historical side, reinforced in conclusion with a case study of a single major genealogical line that was largely preserved in its original form, as verified by its coverage in the Homeric poems and in surviving texts by seven later Greek authors: Bakchylides, Pindar Herodotos, Diodoros, Strabo, Apollodoros, and Pausanias.
Unemployment, Bankruptcies, and Deaths From Multiple Causes in the COVID-19 Recession Compared With the 2000‒2018 Great Recession Impact.

Objectives. To determine whether unemployment and bankruptcy rates are related to increased excess deaths during the COVID-19 recession and to examine whether the current recession-based mortality ...
Modernizing Customary International Law: The Challenge of Human Rights

Those who work to incorporate human rights into the international legal arena face a compelling but difficult mission. The mission is compelling because the cause of human rights often involves individuals or groups facing death, torture or oppression. The mission is also difficult because the human rights cause generally supports individuals standing in opposition to their governments, whereas international law has traditionally focused on the rights of those same nations in relation to each other, to the almost total exclusion of "domestic or internal matters." To understand one way in which the human rights regime fits within this traditional body of international law, the tensions between these two sometimes contradictory foci need to be explored, and the international law governing refugees offers one example of how these tensions operate.
Online Higher-Order Error Correction of Nonlinear Diffusion Generalized Perturbation Theory Using Neural Networks

An online scheme has been developed for the reduction of errors associated with a second order generalized perturbation theory (GPT) approximation of the neutron diffusion fundamental-mode eigenvalue (1/keff.). The primary application of this work is nuclear fuel loading optimization, where the noted calculation estimates the eigenvalue response as a function of fuel material perturbations (i.e., fuel assembly shuffles) relative to a reference (unperturbed) core loading pattern. The implementation of GPT for approximating keff can reduce the computational time requirements by a factor of 10 or greater, however, the nature of GPT is such that the errors in the second order approximation grow as the perturbations get larger. Therefore, the main emphasis of this study is to achieve improved approximations of the End-of-cycle (EOC) keff with minimal increase in the computational time. Specifically, this study shows that an online neural network-based scheme can be applied to reduce the average errors while still maintaining a computational edge over direct eigenvalue calculations.
Fiber composite structural durability and damage tolerance - Simplified predictive methods

Simplified predictive methods and models (theory) to evaluate fiber/polymer-matrix composite material for determining structural durability and damage tolerance are presented and described. This theory includes equations for (1) fatigue and fracture of composites without and with defects, (2) impact resistance and residual strength after impact, (3) thermal fatigue, and (4) combined stress fatigue. Several examples are included to illustrate applications of the theory and to identify significant parameters and sensitivities. Comparisons with limited experimental data are made.
GUIDING THE VOTE: THE DAILY OKLAHOMAN AND VOTING ON MORAL ISSUES

This note replicates and combines two threads of research to better understand the influence of the Daily Oklahoman on voting outcomes of state questions involving moral issues. Multiple regression models are developed with the vote on four ballot proposals as the dependent variable, with the county-level circulation rate of the Daily Oklahoman, religious affiliation, socioeconomic status, and 2002 county vote for Governor Henry as independent variables. The analysis reveals that the Daily Oklahoman circulation rate was marginally related to the voting outcomes on the state questions, while several of the other independent variables showed stronger relationships.
Nataniel, NAFTA, and public health at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Advocating overall improvements in health for individuals and communities is a daunting but important task for nurses in particular, and for health care professionals in general. This is particularly true when focusing on the population along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, a unique region in which distinct cultures, economies, and political systems meet. The purpose of this paper is to confront the assumption that trade and economic expansion automatically translate into improved public health, and to explore policy implications of the public health situation at the border. It uses a meta-narrative, an overarching story that draws on and illustrates collective stories from 300 participants in a study of mental health disparities, to argue for a more nuanced and complex understanding of health among the largely Hispanic population in this region.
A comparative study of the effects of gamma radiation on organized and disorganized growth of tobacco

Abstract A comparative study of the effects of gamma radiation was carried out on young seedlings of tobacco in culture and callus tissue of tobacco grown in suspension culture. A striking difference in radiosensitivity was observed between the two types of growth, viz. organized vs. disorganized growth. Low doses of 650 and 1300 R produced certain initial morphological effects on seedlings like stunting leaf growth and injuring certain cells of the apical meristem; but as the seedlings were allowed to grow for 80 days in culture, these early morphological effects disappeared and a stimulation in growth of seedlings was evident at these low doses. A dose of 5200 R stopped completely the growth of the apical meristem. In comparison, at low doses up to 1300 R, callus growth was slightly reduced and only doses around 10,400 R produced any adverse decrease in growth of callus tissue, with some callus tissues surviving even after a dose of 20,800 R. This difference in radiosensitivity between the meristem of normal seedlings and the callus tissue can be interpreted to be analogous to a “closed system” vs. an “open system”; i.e. the apical meristem representing a “closed system” where the small number of meristematic cells present at the apex are all diploid (with no endopolyploidy occurring) and under the influence of the organizational environment of the intact plant. On the other hand, callus tissue will represent an “open system” where the disorganized proliferating cells are friable, noncoherent and free from each other with a large number of cells in various levels of ploidy. The results are discussed in the light of these observations.
Content Analyses of the Beliefs of Academic Procrastinators

Although relevant nomothetically-based personality literature has made great advances in recent years correlating traits to measures of procrastination, little is known about the specific irrational beliefs of procrastinators, especially when they are actively avoiding tasks or situations. Based on theories from Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), it was hypothesized that compared to non-procrastinators, college student academic procrastinators would show greater self depreciation, greater other depreciation, greater life condition depreciation, and a lower frustration tolerance. Academic procrastination was operationally defined by quartile distributions on two self- report measures and three classroom-based assignments. Procrastinators and non-procrastinating students were given instructions to write approximately 500 words about their thoughts and feelings while they were in the process of actively putting off a specific, real event. While actually procrastinating, students logged on to a web site and made text entries describing what was going through their minds. Data were analyzed with the Psychiatric Content and Diagnosis Program Version 3 (PCAD 3; Gottschalk and Bechtel in Psychiatric content and diagnosis: the PCAD 3. GB Software, Brighton, MI, 2007). Procrastinators and non-procrastinators differed on relevant PCAD scales, supporting the hypotheses derived from REBT theory. Treatment implications and directions for future research are discussed.
Intracellular topography of rhodopsin bleaching

In a vertebrate eye, the photoreceptor cells are aligned so that most of the light passes through them lengthwise. At the light-transducing outer segment region of the photoreceptor, photons are absorbed in a time-varying, spatially dependent fashion. Because the transduction event is spatially localized around the site of photon absorption, the spatiotemporal patterns of light absorption in outer segments are an important receiver input characteristic. This aspect of receptor biophysics has now been measured; the results were consistent with a theoretical model proposed for bleaching of a pigment in an unstirred layer.
Inclusive reactions of pions on nuclei

A systematic set of measurements of pion and proton yields from pion reactions on nuclei 4≤A≤180 has been performed for incident pions in the Δ(3,3) energy region. Detailed energy spectra for protons at many angles were obtained along with inclusive pion yields. The implications of general features of these data for the pion absorption and scattering processes are discussed.
Continuous venovenous hemofiltration

Continuous venovenous hemofiltration (CVVH) is a technique characterized by a venovenous circuit and a pump to perfuse the hemofilter. CVVH is suited to individualization of ultrafiltration and solute clearance in patients with acute renal failure and volume overload, specifically when there is impaired cardiovascular function or where arterial access is problematic. Examples, indications and relative advantages of this and other dialytic modalities are discussed.
Selective Removal of Silicon-Germanium: Chemical and Reactive Ion Etching

The use of both chemical and reactive ion etching for the selective removal of SixGe1-x alloys with respect to both silicon and silicon dioxide has been investigated. We have found that a solution of NH4OH:H2O2:H2O is effective in selectively etching the SixGe1-x films with respect to both of these materials. The chemical composition of the substrate surface after removal of insitu doped SixGe1-x films was evaluated using EDS and SIMS. Diffusion from insitu doped Si0.7Ge0.3, followed by selective removal, was used to demonstrate self-aligned npn dopant profiles with narrow base widths. Reactive ion etching of SixGe1-x alloys was investigated using SF6, CF4, and Cl2 based chemistries. Pressure, power, and gas flow ratios were optimized to provide the least isotropic etch possible for SixGe1-x films containing approximately 40% Ge. Selectivity and degree of anisotropic etching were determined as a function of Ge content for samples with 0% to 100% Ge. Samples were analyzed using SEM and ellipsometry. Highest selectivities were achieved using SF6 and O2.
Determination of the strange form factors of the nucleon from vp, vp, and parity-violating ep elastic scattering

A new method of obtaining the strange form factors of the nucleon is presented, in which forward-angle parity-violating e-->p elastic scattering data are combined with nup and nu;p elastic scattering data to extract all three strange form factors: electric, magnetic, and axial (G(s)(E), G(s)(M), and G(s)(A)). In this Letter, nup and nu;p data from the Brookhaven E734 experiment are combined with the Jefferson Laboratory HAPPEX e-->p data to obtain two distinct solutions for the strange form factors at Q(2)=0.5 GeV2. More generally, combining the neutrino elastic scattering data from E734 with the existing and upcoming e-->p data will yield the strange form factors of the nucleon for Q2 of 0.45-1.05 GeV2. Measurement of G(s)(A) is crucial to the determination of the strange quark contribution to the nucleon spin Deltas.
Time varying nonlinear Policy Gradients

We derive Policy Gradients(PGs) with time varying parameterizations for nonlinear diffusion processes affine in noise. The resulting policies have the form of reward weighted gradient. The analysis is in continuous time and includes the case of linear and nonlinear parameterizations. Examples on stochastic control problems for diffusions processes are provided.
Expression of the αv integrin adhesion molecule during development of preimplantation human embryos

Abstract Objective: To investigate the expression of αv integrin in developing human embryos. Design: Observational study. Setting: University medical center. Patient(s): Women undergoing IVF cycles. Intervention(s): Immunofluorescent monoclonal antibodies against αv integrin were used to stain human preimplantation embryos. Main Outcome Measure(s): Immunofluorescence microscopy and computerized image analysis were used to evaluate both qualitative and quantitative expression of integrins in human embryos. Result(s): The αv integrin subunit was found to be expressed in human embryos throughout their development (from two-cell stage up to blastocyst). The expression of αv integrin subunit gradually increased throughout embryo development as measured quantitatively by image analysis. Conclusion(s): The expression of αv integrin subunit throughout the development of preimplantation human embryos reinforces the concept of a role for integrins in the process of implantation.
Use of Electrogram Characteristics During Sinus Rhythm to Delineate the Endocardial Scar in a Porcine Model of Healed Myocardial Infarction

Introduction: Substrate-based catheter ablation of postmyocardial infarction (post-MI) ventricular tachycardia necessitates electroanatomic definition of the scarred endocardium. We sought to determine whether electrogram criteria during sinus rhythm could identify the location and extent of the myocardial scar by electroanatomic mapping. Methods and Results: A porcine model of healed MI was generated by injecting agarose microspheres into the mid left anterior descending coronary artery. At least 4 weeks post-MI, the animals(n = 24)underwent detailed left ventricular endocardial electroanatomic mapping using a 4-mm-tip catheter (BioSense-Webster, Inc.). Based upon mapping data in normal animals, infarcted tissue was defined as bipolar electrogram amplitude <1.5 mV and electrogram duration ≥50 msec. Radiofrequency ablation lesions (2–10 per animal) were placed to tag the endocardial borders of the electroanatomic mapping-defined scar. The area of the scar defined by abnormal voltage amplitude was25.9 ± 15.4 cm2(range 6.9–60.5). This area correlated well with that defined as scar by the electrogram duration criteria(26.4 ± 16 cm2). Of those points remote from the infarct with falsely low voltage amplitude resulting from presumed poor catheter-tissue contact, 94% were correctly identified as normal when using the electrogram duration criteria. Late potentials were observed predominantly along the borders of the infarcted myocardium. The radiofrequency lesions placed to tag the scar borders were located along the scar periphery during gross pathologic examination. Conclusion: During normal sinus rhythm, both bipolar electrogram voltage amplitude and electrogram duration criteria are able to help differentiate normal from scarred myocardial tissue. Using these criteria, a detailed reconstruction of the endocardial scar can be rendered by electroanatomic mapping of the heart.(J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, Vol. 14, pp. 524-529, May 2003)
Michael Ruse's Design for Living

The eminent historian and philosopher of biology, Michael Ruse, has written several books that explore the relationship of evolutionary theory to its larger scientific and cultural setting. Among the questions he has investigated are: Is evolution progressive? What is its epistemological status? Most recently, in Darwin and Design: Does Evolution have a Purpose?, Ruse has provided a history of the concept of teleology in biological thinking, especially in evolutionary theorizing. In his book, he moves quickly from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and such British thinkers as Paley and Whewell. His main focus, though, is on Darwin's theory and its subsequent fate. Ruse rests his history on some shaky historical and philo- sophic assumptions, particularly the unexamined notion that evolutionary theory is an abstract entity that is unproblematically realized in different historical periods. He also assumes that Darwin conceived nature as if it were a Manchester spinning loom - a clanking, dispassionate machine. A more subtle analysis, which Ruse eschews, might discover that Darwin's concep- tion of nature owed a strong debt to German Romanticism and that he contrived to infuse nature with moral and aesthetic values, not to suck them from nature. Ruse proves he is a thinker to contend with, and this essay is quite contentious.
Prevalence and significance of ST-segment alternans during coronary angioplasty

Abstract Electrical alternans is a phenomenon of alternating electrocardiographic morphology on an every-other-beat basis. ST-segment alternans is often seen in the animal laboratory with subtotal or transient coronary artery occlusion. 1 In humans it has been observed in a variety of settings, such as Prinzmetal's angina and once during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). 2 Although clinically rarely observed, ST-segment alternans has been correlated with subsequent malignant arrhythmias and may be an important marker of electrically unstable myocardium. 3 This study was performed to determine whether PTCA-induced transmural ischemia could reproducibly induce ST-segment alternans and serve as a model for this syndrome.
Excess-electron and excess-hole states of charged alkali halide clusters

Abstract Charged alkali halide clusters from a He-cooled laser vaporization source have been used to investigate two distinct cluster states corresponding to the excess-electron and excess-hole states of the crystal. The production method is UV-laser vaporization of an alkali metal rod into a halogen-containing He flow stream, resulting in variable cluster composition and cooling sufficient to stabilize weakly bound forms. Detection of charged clusters is accomplished without subsequent ionization by pulsed-field time-of-flight mass spectrometry of the skimmed cluster beam. Three types of positively charged sodium fluoride cluster are observed, each corresponding to a distinct physical situation: NanF+n-1 (purely ionic form), Nann+1F+n-1 (excess-electron form), and NanF+n (excess-hole form). The purely ionic clusters exhibit an abundance pattern similar to that observed in sputtering and fragmentation experiments and are explained by the stability of completed cubic microlattice structures. The excess-electron clusters, in contrast, exhibit very strong abundance maxima at n = 13 and 22, corresponding to the all-odd series (2n + 1 = jxkxl;j,k,l odd). Their high relative stability is explained by the ease of Na(0) loss except when the excess electron localizes in a lattice site to complete a cuboid structure. These may correspond to the internal F-center state predicted earlier. A localized electron model incorporating structural simulation results as account for the observed pattern. The excess-hole clusters, which had been proposed as intermediates in the ionization-induced fragmentation of neutral AHCs, exhibit a smaller variation in stability, indicating that the hole might not be well localized.
Modeling of tensile strength on moist granular earth material at low water content

While most research has mainly focused on the volume change, flow, and shear strength of unsaturated earth materials, investigations of tensile strength of unsaturated earth materials especially granular materials have not received much attention except for cemented and clayey materials. Thus, direct tension experiments were carried out to quantify the actual magnitude of tensile strength induced by water in moist granular soil at especially low water contents (w<4%). The magnitudes of the measured tensile strength are significantly different from zero. A simple experimental tensile strength model is proposed. Practicing engineers can use this model for approximate estimation of the tensile strength of unsaturated granular soils without experiments and for precise design or analysis of most engineered facilities relying on the unsaturated granular soils in the vadose zone. The experimental data are also compared with a theoretical model developed for monosized spheres at low water contents, and its application for a real granular earth material having a variety of particles is discussed. The nonlinear behavior of the tensile strength for moist granular soil is appropriately simulated with a model.
Isospora as an Extraintestinal Parasite of Passerine Birds1

Toxoplasma-like avian parasites inhabiting mononuclear phagocytes have been called Haemogregarina, Toxoplasma. avian Toxoplasma, Atoxoplasma, and Lankesterella by various authors. My attempts to transmit the parasites by bloodsucking mites or by transfer of blood and tissues of infected sparrows and canaries were unsuccessful. However, it was noted that the infection was exacerbated under conditions that favored transmission of coccidiosis: crowding and lack of cleanliness. Oral inoculation of sporulated oocysts of Isospora resulted in death from overwhelming macrophage infection with Toxoplasma-like organisms. Experiments using sparrows and canaries showed that the Isospora species involved was not cross infectious. Further investigations using canaries demonstrated that after oral oocyst inoculation, infection of macrophages spread from the submucosa of the duodenum to the liver. spleen, and lungs. After several generations in the internal organs, asexual multiplication, occured in the intestinal epithelium of the small intestinc. Fecal oocysts first appeared at the end of 9–10 days. Oocysts continued to be passed in the feces for months after infection. This chronicity may be explained by the relatively long life of the macrophages that serve as host cells for the asexual stages as compared to the intestinal epithelium which is the cell type parasitized by conventional coccidia.
52 Beta‐dimethylsulfoniopropionate (Dmsp) as a grazing deterrent in coastal phytoplankton communities

While not much is known about the role of chemical defenses in marine planktonic systems, it has been hypothesized that beta-dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) may act as a signal for the presence of potentially harmful algal cells. Previous laboratory experiments indicate that DMSP can inhibit feeding in some species of protists, but it is unknown whether this holds true when DMSP is present in coastal communities. Using laboratory and field experiments, the role of dissolved DMSP as a chemical defense in ambient seawater was examined. DMSP (twenty micromolar) added to both laboratory cultures and natural planktonic communities led to a decrease in protist feeding rates; in natural communities, feeding on phytoplankton greater than twenty microns in size was affected more strongly than feeding on smaller cells.
Structural basis for viral late-domain binding to Alix

The modular protein Alix is a central node in endosomal-lysosomal trafficking and the budding of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. The Gag p6 protein of HIV-1 contains a LYPxnLxxL motif that is required for Alix-mediated budding and binds a region of Alix spanning residues 360–702. The structure of this fragment of Alix has the shape of the letter 'V' and is termed the V domain. The V domain has a topologically complex arrangement of 11 α-helices, with connecting loops that cross three times between the two arms of the V. The conserved residue Phe676 is at the center of a large hydrophobic pocket and is crucial for binding to a peptide model of HIV-1 p6. Overexpression of the V domain inhibits HIV-1 release from cells. This inhibition of release is reversed by mutations that block binding of the Alix V domain to p6.
Fuchsian differential equations for characters on the torus: A classification

Abstract Fuchsian Differential Equations for characters of Rational Conformal Field Theories on the torus are classified by invoking the solution of the Riemann-Hilbert problem and modular geometry. As a first application, all Rational Conformal Field Theories with two characters are classified.
Photonuclear-based, nuclear material detection system for cargo containers☆

Abstract The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing electron accelerator-based, photonuclear inspection technologies for over a decade. A current need, having important national implications, has been with the detection of smuggled nuclear material within air- and, especially, sea-cargo transportation containers. This paper describes the latest pulsed, photonuclear inspection system for nuclear material detection and identification in cargo configurations, the numerical responses of 5 kg of a nuclear material placed within selected cargo configurations, and the technology’s potential role in addressing future inspection needs.
Virtual Batching: Request Batching for Server Energy Conservation in Virtualized Data Centers

Many power management strategies have been proposed for enterprise servers based on dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS), but those solutions cannot further reduce the energy consumption of a server when the server processor is already at the lowest DVFS level and the server utilization is still low (e.g., 10 percent or lower). To achieve improved energy efficiency, request batching can be conducted to group received requests into batches and put the processor into sleep between the batches. However, it is challenging to perform request batching on a virtualized server because different virtual machines on the same server may have different workload intensities. Hence, putting the shared processor into sleep may severely impact the application performance of all the virtual machines. This paper proposes Virtual Batching, a novel request batching solution for virtualized servers with primarily light workloads. Our solution dynamically allocates CPU resources such that all the virtual machines can have approximately the same performance level relative to their allowed peak values. Based on this uniform level, Virtual Batching determines the time length for periodically batching incoming requests and putting the processor into sleep. When the workload intensity changes from light to moderate, request batching is automatically switched to DVFS to increase processor frequency for performance guarantees. Virtual Batching is also extended to integrate with server consolidation for maximized energy conservation with performance guarantees for virtualized data centers. Empirical results based on a hardware testbed and real trace files show that Virtual Batching can achieve the desired performance with more energy conservation than several well-designed baselines, e.g., 63 percent more, on average, than a solution based on DVFS only.
Kolmogorov–Zurbenko filters

We reviewed the properties of the Kolmogorov–Zurbenko (KZ) filter and its extensions with applications in high resolution signal and image processing. The KZ filter is defined as an iteration of a moving average (MA) filter. The impulse response function of the KZ filter is a convolution of the rectangular window being used in a MA filter. Zero derivatives at the edges of the impulse response function make it a sharply declining function, providing high frequency resolution. The KZ Fourier transform (KZFT) is derived from the KZ filter by applying it to Fourier transform. Extensions of the KZ filter and the KZFT are demonstrated with examples. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Annual and Interannual Variations in Outgoing Longwave Radiation over the Tropics

Abstract Four years of satellite observations of the outgoing longwave radiation have been used to study the distribution of cloudiness and rainfall over the tropics. Annual and interannual variations are described, partially with the help of an eigenvector analysis. Interannual variations in the outgoing longwave radiation are particularly interesting since they tend to follow the Southern Oscillation. Consequently, it can be used to monitor changes in the large-scale circulation over the tropics.
Comparison of technetium 99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile and thallium 201 for evaluation of coronary artery disease by planar and tomographic methods

To compare stress/rest technetium 99m methoxy isobutyl isonitrile (Tc-MIBI) with stress redistribution thallium 201(T1-201) myocardial perfusion imaging, 36 patients were studied by single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) and planar methods. For SPECT, overall sensitivities for identification of patients with coronary artery disease were 93% (1415) by Tc-MIBI and 80% (1215) by Tl-201 (p = NS). For planar methods, overall sensitivities were 73% (1115) by both Tl-201 and Tc-MIBI. Overall specificity was 75% (34 patients with normal coronary arteries) for both tracers with SPECT and Tc-MIBI by planar imaging and was 50% for planar TI-201 (p = NS). The normalcy rates for overall identification of coronary artery disease were determined in 17 patients with a low likelihood of disease. For SPECT, normalcy rates were 100% by Tc-MIBI and 77% by Tl-201 (p = NS). For planar, they were 94% by Tc-MIBI and 88% by Tl-201 (p = NS). Vessel sensitivities in the 35 stenosed coronary arteries (≥50% stenosis) for SPECT were 87% by Tc-MIBI and 77% by Tl-201 (p = NS). For planar, the vessel sensitivities were 60% by Tc-MIBI and 54% by Tl-201 (p = NS). For both tracers, the SPECT vessel sensitivities were significantly higher (p < 0.005) than planar vessel sensitivities. The vessel specificities in 22 coronary vessels with <50% stenosis were 86% by SPECT Tc-MIBI and Tl-201, 80% by planar Tc-MIBI and 73% by planar Tl-201 (p = NS, SPECT vs planar, Tc-MIBI vs Tl-201). Regarding myocardial segmental agreement, for the presence of stress defects the agreement was 91% for the 720 SPECT segments and 95% for the 540 planar segments. For severity of stress defects based on semiquantitative visual scoring, the exact agreement was 87% for SPECT and 80% for planar. For the pattern of reversibility in myocardial segments with stress defects, the agreement was 97% for SPECT and 91% for planar. This study demonstrated that Tc-MIBI and Tl-201 correlate well on both planar and SPECT images with respect to the identification of patients with coronary artery disease, identification of disease in individual coronary arteries, the presence and severity of perfusion defects, and the assessment of defect reversibility. Futhermore, SPECT Tc-MIBI was shown to be superior to planar Tc-MIBI for the identification of individual diseased vessels.
Nonlinear vibrations of thin arbitrarily laminated composite plates subjected to harmonic excitations using DKT elements

A finite element formulation is presented for determining the large-amplitude free and steady-state forced vibration response of arbitrarily laminated anisotropic composite thin plates using the Discrete Kirchhoff Theory (DKT) triangular elements. The nonlinear stiffness and harmonic force matrices of an arbitrarily laminated composite triangular plate element are developed for nonlinear free and forced vibration analyses. The linearized updated-mode method with nonlinear time function approximation is employed for the solution of the system nonlinear eigenvalue equations. The amplitude-frequency relations for convergence with gridwork refinement, triangular plates, different boundary conditions, lamination angles, number of plies, and uniform versus concentrated loads are presented.
The Sambo Mentality and the Stockholm Syndrome Revisited Another Dimension to an Examination of the Plight of the African-American

The literature and discussions on the plight of African-Americans continue to escalate, and, interestingly, most of the activities center on economic and political concerns, with very little focus on the psychological underpinnings or the sui generis of such a state of affairs. According to McGee (1973), the psychological dimensions are pivotal in understanding the present conditions of AfricanAmericans given that
A crime reports analysis system to identify related crimes

The popularity of online and anonymous options to report crimes, such as tips websites and text messaging, has led to an increasing amount of textual information available to law enforcement personnel. However, locating, filtering, extracting, and combining information to solve crimes is a time-consuming task. In response, we are developing entity and document similarity algorithms to automatically identify overlapping and complementary information. These are essential components for systems that combine and contrast crime information. The entity similarity algorithm integrates a domain-specific hierarchical lexicon with Jaccard coefficients. The document similarity algorithm combines the entity similarity scores using a Dice coefficient. We describe the evaluation of both components. To evaluate the entity similarity algorithm, we compared the new algorithm and four generic algorithms with a gold standard. The strongest correlation with the gold standard, r = 0.710, was found with our entity similarity algorithm. To evaluate the document similarity algorithm, we first developed a test bed containing witness reports for 17 crimes shown in video clips. We evaluated five versions of the algorithm that differ in how much importance is assigned to different entity types. Cosine similarity is then used as a baseline comparison to evaluate the performance of the document similarity algorithms for accuracy in recognizing reports describing the same crime and distinguishing them from reports on different crimes. The best version achieved 92% accuracy. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Polyribosomes associated with the Golgi apparatus

Polyribosomes appear to be associated with the forming faces of plant dictyosomes, though it is difficult to demonstrate conclusively because of the lack of positional markers. InEuglena gracilis, a much clearer positional relationship between dictyosomes and ribosomes is visible. Here polyribosomes are aligned in a space delimited on one side by endoplasmic reticulum and on the other side by a dictyosome cisterna. The associated cisterna of endoplasmic reticulum is always rough-surfaced and spaced a uniform distance from the immature face of the dictyosome. The Golgi apparatus-associated ribosomes may synthesize some of the proteins specific to the Golgi apparatus.
Specific heat of a normal Fermi liquid. II. Microscopic approach

We consider the thermodynamic properties of a normal Fermi liquid, starting from the expression for the thermodynamic potential in terms of the fully renormalized single-particle propagator. It is shown that the entropy may be expressed as the dynamical quasiparticle contribution, given by the usual quasiparticle result for the entropy evaluated using as quasiparticle energies the poles of the single-particle propagator, plus a correction term. The correction term is shown to come from terms in perturbation theory which have at least two vanishing energy denominators. Using a reduced-graph technique similar to that used for analyzing analytic properties of Feynman amplitudes in field theory we investigate in detail the terms which have two vanishing energy denominators. The results are then applied to calculate the contribution from long-wavelength fluctuations to the ${T}^{3}$ $\mathrm{ln}T$ term in the specific heat of a normal Fermi liquid; agreement is obtained with earlier calculations based on Landau Fermi-liquid theory. The differences between various definitions of the quasiparticle energy, and the effect of quasiparticle lifetimes on thermodynamic properties are also considered.
Strain Background Alters Mammary Gland Lesion Phenotype in Transforming Growth Factor-α Transgenic Mice

Whey acidic protein (WAP)-transforming growth factor (TGF)-α transgenic mice acquire both cancerous and noncancerous mammary lesions. For this study, we evaluated the effect of mouse strain background on the incidence, latency, and histotype of two noncancerous lesions, hyperplastic alveolar nodules (analogous to typical hyperplasias in women), and macrocysts. These lesions display characteristics of fibrocystic changes observed in breasts of women, and in both mice and humans are associated with an uncertain risk of progression to neoplasia. Virgin transgenic mice of the (C57BL/6J;SJL)F2 background developed very few hyperplastic alveolar nodules and no macrocysts. In contrast, when the WAP-TGF-α transgene was carried on the FVB/N strain, congenic virgin transgenic mice acquired both lesion types with ∼100% penetrance. In the (FVB;C57BL/6J)F1 background, hyperplastic alveolar nodule incidence was reduced to approximately the nontransgenic mouse level, and macrocyst latency was increased dramatically. Crossing into C57BL/6 resulted in elimination of the macrocyst phenotype. Finally, FVB strain transgenic mammary epithelium transplanted into nontransgenic recipients of the FVB/N or (FVB;C57BL/6J)F1 backgrounds displayed macrocyst latency characteristic of the recipient, and not donor, mouse strain. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis demonstrated that, despite the difference in macrocyst incidence between (FVB;C57BL/6J)F1 and C57BL/6 virgin transgenic mice (81% versus 0%), the level of TGF-α expression was not different. FVB strain transgenic mice expressed only twofold more TGF-α than the other backgrounds. These findings indicate that C57BL/6J modifier alleles inhibit mammary lesion incidence and macrocyst latency in a semidominant manner, and that suppression of lesion development can involve host factors that are independent of mammary epithelial genotype.