cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
SU-E-T-333: Validation of Align RT System for Breast Radiation Therapy with Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) Technique

Purpose: To characterize performance and accuracy of 3‐camera Align RT system (London, UK) in application to DIBH technique. Methods: Align RT system consisting of 3 cameras was installed in a linac room and used for the current study. Ten breast cancer patients were enrolled in an IRB‐approved prospective protocol to evaluate the accuracy of Align RT for determining the position of the patient with respect to the treatment isocenter. 3D shifts as detected by Align RT were recorded weekly, on the same day conventional port films were also obtained. Shifts based on port films were compared with those determined by Align RT. The accuracy of Align RT system was determined for different regions of interest (ROI), including the entire chest surface, the ipsilateral breast and the sternum. Results: 25 separate recordings were available for analysis. For the first 3 patients, Align RT images were not always available due to failure of synchronization of images from multiple cameras; this was corrected by a subsequent software upgrade. The average (SD) differences in shifts from Align RT and port‐films were 1.5mm (4mm), 2mm (5mm) and 0.1mm (3mm) in lateral, longitudinal and vertical directions, with maximum deviations of 10, 12 and 6 mm respectively. There was no dependence of the accuracy of vertical shift definition on ROI. Conclusions: Despite initial difficulty with calibration, Align RT proved accurate and reproducible. When compared with conventional port‐films, Align RT was accurate within standard deviation of 3mm in the vertical plane, which may be the most relevant direction for DIBH. These results are independent of ROI. This accuracy, combined with the ease of use and lack of radiation exposure, makes Align RT a promising tool for DIBH.
Preparation and dynamics of vibrational hot spots in polyatomics via raman scttering

Abstract We exploit a recent time dependent formulation of resonance Raman scattering to examine vibrational hot spot production in molecules which have dissociative excited states. The excited-state dynamics are described by a Raman wavefunction which is used to obtain the resonance Raman (RR) spectrum. The RR spectrum will contain the spectral signature of the subsequent dynamics and decay of the hot spot initial condition.
Structural templates and transformations: the Themis structural computing environment

The field of structural computing is working to produce techniques and tools to ease the task of developing application infrastructure. This paper describes the Themis structural computing environment. Themis provides developers with a generic structure server and two key extension mechanisms that enable the rapid creation of tools for a variety of application domains. The two novel extension mechanisms enable support for structure templates and automated structure transformation. Each of these mechanisms is described in detail along with the interfaces and capabilities of the generic structure server. We evaluate the utility of Themis in supporting the migration of the InfiniTe information integration environment from an XML-based repository to the Themis structure server. The use of Themis has led to a significant reduction in the number of lines of code required to produce the InfiniTe prototype. In addition, the higher level of abstraction provided by Themis has led to code that is easier to understand and maintain than the XML-based code it replaces. The paper concludes with a discussion of how structural computing tools can impact and influence software engineering and software engineering research.
The CAN microcluster: Parallel processing over the controller area network

Most electrical engineering and computer science undergraduate programs include at least one course on microcontrollers and assembly language programming. Some departments offer legacy courses in C programming, but few include C programming from an embedded systems perspective, where it is still regularly used. Distributed computing and parallel processing are subjects generally reserved for graduate programs or specialized degrees. And although it is common to provide undergraduate courses on computer networks, the typical curriculum focuses on TCP/IP and Ethernet LANs, rarely venturing into the lesser known but commonly used networks such as the controller area network. By developing a computer cluster using simple microcontroller cards which communicate over a CAN, students are exposed to the intricacies of network communication, basic parallel and distributed processing concepts, and real-time embedded systems development. This paper presents the design of a
Radical prostatectomy in a community practice.

Purpose: We report the experience of a community based urologist with anatomical retropubic radical prostatectomy. We compared outcome data with that reported experience at several well-known academic institutions.Materials and Methods: Between May 1986 and December 2000, 382 consecutive patients underwent anatomical radical retropubic prostatectomy performed by a single community based urologist. Charts were reviewed to determine the positive margin rate, urinary continence, potency, hospitalization and the prostate specific antigen (PSA) recurrence rate.Results: The positive margin rate was 9% overall but in the last 5 years it was 7% compared with 7% to 40% in previous studies at academic institutions. The urinary continence rate was 90% overall and 93% in the last 5 years when excluding men older than 70 years old, compared with 85% to 94% in the academic urological literature. The potency rate after the bilateral nerve sparing technique was 79% compared with 54% to 86% in academic series. Average hos...
Ant colony optimization for the K-means algorithm in image segmentation

In this paper the ant colony optimization (ACO) is used in the K-means algorithm for improving the image segmentation. The learning mechanism of this algorithm is formulated by using the ACO meta-heuristic. As the pheromone dominates the exploration of ants for problem solutions, preliminary experiments on pheromone's update are reported. Two methods for defining and updating pheromone values are proposed and tested: one with the spatial coordinate distances and the other without using such a distance. The ACO improves the K-means algorithm by making it less dependent on the initial parameters.
Enhanced consumption of an aversively conditioned taste following the presentation of a “medicine” taste

Rats given presentations of a citric acid solution while recovering from LiCl-induced illness (i.e., a "medicine effect" treatment) subsequently drank more of an aversively conditioned NaCl solution at test, when the NaCl presentation was immediately preceded by citric acid. That is, citric acid passed a summation test of conditioned inhibition. Such an effect was not observed in a group given explicitly unpaired presentations of LiCl and citric acid. It is proposed that enhanced consumption of an aversive taste due to the previous presentation of a "medicine" taste can provide an animal model of human maladaptive behavior in regards to food consumption.
Optimal matrix algorithms on homogeneous hypercubes

This paper describes a set of concurrent algorithms for matrix algebra, based on a library of collective communication routines for the hypercube. We show how a systematic application of scattering reduces load imbalance. A number of examples are considered (Gaussian elimination, Gauss-Jordan matrix inversion, the power method for eigenvectors, and tridiagonalisation by Householder's method), and the concurrent efficiencies are discussed.
Posttraumatic stress disorder and other psychopathology in substance abusing patients.

Studies demonstrating greater problem severity in substance abuse patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) versus those without have rarely considered other co-occurring psychiatric disorders. This study of 466 male veterans recently admitted to outpatient substance abuse treatment attempts to identify problems associated with PTSD versus those associated with other nonsubstance use Axis I disorders. Problem severity, particularly psychiatric, was examined across four groups of patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). Those with: 1. SUDs only (SU-Only); 2. PTSD, but no other Axis I disorders (SU+PTSD); 3. PTSD and other Axis I disorders (SU+PTSD+Axis I); and 4. no PTSD, but other Axis I disorders (SU+Other-Axis I). Results suggested a hierarchy of psychiatric, and to a lesser extent, other life problem severities associated with these diagnostic groupings. The most severe group was SU+PTSD+Axis I, followed in decreasing severity by the SU+Other-Axis I, SU+PTSD, and SU-Only groups. Additional analyses comparing the SU+PTSD+Axis I patients with a subgroup of Axis I patients with more than one Axis I disorder (SU+Multiple-Axis I) revealed few group differences except for more lifetime suicide attempts and psychiatric hospitalizations in the SU+PTSD+Axis I group. The findings suggest that it is not PTSD per se, but the frequent co-occurrence of PTSD and other psychopathology that largely accounts for previously reported greater problem severity of SUD patients with PTSD.
Thermal Elastohydrodynamic Lubrication of Rolling/Sliding Contacts

A complete numerical solution of thermal compressible elastohydrodynamic lubrication of rolling/sliding contacts has been obtained. The Newton-Raphson technique is used to solve the simultaneous system of Reynolds and elasticity equations. The control volume finite element modeling was employed to solve the energy equation and its boundary conditions. The effects of various loads, speeds, and slip conditions on the lubricant temperature, film thickness, and friction force have been investigated. The results indicate that the temperature effects are significant and cannot be neglected.
Structural phase transition and ferromagnetism in monodisperse 3 nm FePt particles

Department of Physics, The University of Texas at Arlington. Center for Materials Research and Analysis, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nebraska. Ames Laboratory and Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Iowa State University
Revenue maximization with implementation variations of unconstraining methods in a semi-restricted fare environment

In this article, we use the sophisticated PODS simulator to examine the revenue impact of two implementation variations (‘all closed’ versus ‘zeroes only’; ‘multiple estimates’ versus ‘single estimate’) on three different methods of unconstraining – Expectation Maximization (EM), Projection Detruncation and Booking Curve. Owing to the competitive nature of PODS (two airlines competing head-to-head for customers) and its allowance for customer choice, we are able to assess all the implications of both implementation variations in combination with these unconstraining methods, including the impact of spill, upgrades and recapture. We find that for the first implementation, the optimization engine that is currently being used dictates quite different revenue results when changing implementation techniques. In one case (under leg optimization), we should switch away from the ‘zeroes only’ approach and in the other case (under DAVN optimization), we should not. For the second implementation, we find that generally it is safer to use ‘multiple estimates’. There is one exception – for EM unconstraining when both carriers are using leg optimization, it is best to switch to ‘single estimate’. When using realistic booking data from major global airlines to calibrate the PODS D6 network, we show that upgrading the unconstraining process with these implementation techniques can lead to revenue gains of 0.3–1 per cent.
Development and regulation of monoclonal antibody products: Challenges and opportunities

An increasing number of monoclonal antibodies for cancer diagnosis and treatment are in clinical use and in the development pipeline, with more expected as new molecular targets are identified. As with all drugs, product quality, an appropriate pre-clinical pharmacology-toxicology testing program, and well-designed clinical trials are essential for a successful drug development program. However, protein products such as monoclonal antibodies present unique regulatory concerns. The derivation from biological sources as well as the constantly evolving technologies utilized to develop these products demands continuous appraisal of safety concerns, even while the accumulated experience with these protein products has facilitated their safety evaluations. Because of the complex nature of these products and their inherent heterogeneity, a mechanistic understanding of the mode of action along with careful attention to product design and manufacture are critical to assuring a safe, effective and consistent product. Protein products may be highly species specific, thus pharmacologically relevant animal models are an important component in accurately assessing pre-clinical safety and establishing initial dosing. Furthermore, the immunogenicity of protein products can impact its safety profile, dose exposure, and efficacy. Mechanistic insight should form the basis of biological assays used for monitoring efficacy, safety, lot-to-lot consistency and manufacturing changes. The inherent uniqueness of each product necessitates a flexible case-by-case approach for biologics review that is based on a strong scientific understanding of relative risks. This review will provide an overview of approaches used in the development of antibody-based cancer therapeutics and the scientific basis of regulatory reviews.
Genomic organization and regulation of the LeIMP-1 and LeIMP-2 genes encoding myo-inositol monophosphatase in tomato.

Abstract Myo-inositol (inositol) monophosphatase (IMP), an enzyme which catalyzes the synthesis of free inositol from various inositol monophosphates, is encoded by a small multigene family in many organisms. The tomato IMP gene family encodes three IMP isoforms with identical in vitro biochemical properties. To determine the role of each tomato LeIMP gene in plant growth, we isolated the genomic DNA copies of the LeIMP-1 and LeIMP-2 genes. The LeIMP-1 gene spans approximately 5.8 kb and consists of 12 exons, whereas the LeIMP-2 gene consists of an uninterrupted, single open reading frame (ORF). We have previously shown that steady-state levels of LeIMP-2 mRNA were very low in comparison to LeIMP-1 and LeIMP-3 mRNA levels. To determine whether LeIMP-2 gene expression was spatially restricted to a discreet domain within the plant we constructed transgenic plants containing an LeIMP-2 promoter::uidA gene fusion. Analysis of transgenic seedlings revealed that the LeIMP-2 promoter directed gene expression within epidermal and cortex cells of specific stem/leaf junctions in an abaxial-specific pattern and in the shoot apical meristem. Further, inositol, the product of IMP catalysis, and Li+, an inhibitor of IMP catalysis, decreased expression of the LeIMP-2 promoter as measured by a decrease in β-glucuronidase activity after treatment.
Sunday Schools and Changing Evangelical Views of Children in the 1820s

During the early nineteenth century Americans developed a new consciousness of children and of childhood as a stage of life. While it may be hyperbolic to term this event the “discovery of the child,” it seems clear that nineteenth-century Americans saw children and adolescents in very different ways than did their ancestors. Adults began to recognize the characteristics of childhood which separated children from themselves and to perceive that psychological and emotional changes accompanied the physical experience of puberty. Thus the nineteenth century saw the beginning of attempts to understand children on their own terms and to elaborate a theory of that stage later termed “adolescence.”
Objective Evaluation of Fabric Hand Part I: Relationships of Fabric Hand by the Extraction Method and Related Physical and Surface Properties

A simple extraction method effectively measures the changes in hand resulting from different fabric types, flame retardant (FR) finishes, and fabric wetness. The effects of FR finishes and wetness on the original fabric hand are inconsistent in terms of the direction of increase or decrease depending on the fabric and finish. When FR finished fabrics are wetted, hand forces increase for all fabrics tested. In investigating the re lationships between hand values and selected hand-related physical and surface prop erties, flexural rigidity, drape, and static friction are the major properties that influence hand force measured by the extraction method. This simple method appears to closely approximate the fabric tactile response the human hand feels when touching and grab bing. Hand values objectively measured by this method simultaneously reflect the phys ical and surface properties of the fabric that are important in determining overall hand.
Poststreptococcal reactive arthritis: clinical characteristics and association with HLA-DR alleles

Objective To assess the relationship of poststreptococcal reactive arthritis (ReA) to other forms of ReA and rheumatic fever by comparing the frequency of HLA-B27 and DRB1 alleles in these diseases. Methods The diagnosis of poststreptococcal ReA was established in 25 children seen in a pediatric rheumatology clinic. HLA-B27 and DRB1 genotyping was performed in 18 of the white American patients. The DRB1 genotyping results were compared with those in 33 patients with rheumatic fever and 190 normal individuals. Results HLA-B27 was positive in 3 of the 18 poststreptococcal ReA patients, a frequency not different from that found in normal individuals. Compared with normal controls, the frequency of the DRB1*01 allele was higher in poststreptococcal ReA patients (odds ratio [OR] 2.7, P = 0.044), while DRB1*16 was increased in patients with rheumatic fever (OR 4.3, P = 0.028). Conclusion The association of poststreptococcal ReA with HLA-DRB1*01, but not with HLA-B27, suggests that its pathogenesis may be more similar to that or rheumatic fever than to that of ReA associated with enteric pathogens.
On Sense And Intension

L'A. definit l'intension epistemique comme element de la signification d'une expression et comme valeur de verite d'une semantique quasi-fregeenne. Examinant l'extension d'une expression complexe, ainsi que la conception descriptiviste du sens, l'A. defend l'idee d'une evaluation des possibilites epistemiques contre l'argument de l'indexicalite, l'argument modal et l'argument de la variabilite qui lui sont opposes.
Lymphomatoid granulomatosis involving the gastrointestinal tract: Two case reports and a review of the literature

Abstract Two cases of lymphomatoid granulomatosis affecting the gastrointestinal tract in the form of gastric ulceration and intestinal perforation are described. This rare presentation of lymphomatoid granulomatosis is discussed in the context of previous reviews of the disease, and it is suggested that clinically overt gastrointestinal involvement represents a very poor prognostic indicator in this condition.
Longterm outcomes of auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation in preadolescent children with fulminant hepatic failure

By preserving part of the native liver, auxiliary partial orthotopic liver transplantation (APOLT) provides the advantage of potential immunosuppression (ISP) withdrawal if the native liver recovers but has had limited acceptance, especially in the United States, due to technical complications and low rates of native liver regeneration. No previous study has evaluated APOLT specifically for preadolescent children with fulminant hepatic failure (FHF). This population might benefit especially based on greater capacity for liver regeneration. Data from 13 preadolescent children who underwent APOLT were compared to 13 matched controls who underwent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) for FHF from 1996 to 2013. There were no significant differences in patient demographics or survival between the 2 groups. However, all surviving OLT recipients (10/13) remain on ISP, while all but 1 surviving APOLT recipient (12/13) showed native liver regeneration, and the first 10 recipients (76.9%) are currently off ISP with 2 additional patients currently weaning. In our experience, APOLT produced excellent survival and high rates of native liver regeneration in preadolescent children with FHF. This represents the largest series to date to report such outcomes. Liberating these children from lifelong ISP without the downside of increased surgical morbidity makes APOLT an attractive alternative. In conclusion, we therefore propose that, with the availability of technical expertise and with the technical modifications above, APOLT for FHF should be strongly considered for preteenage children with FHF.
Forest management for mitigation and adaptation to climate change: Insights from long-term silviculture experiments

Developing management strategies for addressing global climate change has become an increasingly important issue influencing forest management around the globe. Currently, management approaches are being proposed that intend to (1) mitigate climate change by enhancing forest carbon stores and (2) foster adaptation by maintaining compositionally and structurally complex forests. However, little is known about the compatibility of these two objectives or the long-term efficacy of a given management regime at simultaneously achieving adaptation and mitigation. To address this need, we examined stand-level carbon and complexity responses using five long-term (>50 yrs) silviculture experiments within the upper Great Lakes region, USA. In particular, live tree carbon stores and sequestration rates, and compositional and structural complexity were analyzed from three thinning experiments in Pinus resinosa and two selection method experiments in northern hardwood systems to elucidate the longterm effects of management on these ecosystem attributes and the general compatibility of mitigation and adaptation objectives. As expected, we observed a general increase in large tree densities with stand age and positive relationships between stand stocking level and live tree carbon stores. More importantly, our results clearly identify tradeoffs between the achievement of mitigation and adaptation objectives across each study. For example, maintaining higher stocking levels (i.e., enhanced mitigation by increasing carbon stores) resulted in decreases in stand-level structural and compositional complexity (i.e., reduced adaptation potential). In addition, rates of live tree carbon increment were also the lowest within the highest stocking levels; despite the benefits of these stand conditions to maximizing carbon stores. Collectively, these findings underscore the importance of avoiding rigid adherence to a single objective, such as maximum on-site carbon stores, without recognizing potential consequences to other ecosystem components crucial to ensuring long-term ecosystem functioning within the context of environmental change. One potential stand-level strategy for balancing these goals may be to employ multi-aged management systems, such as irregular shelterwood and selection systems, that maintain a large proportion of carbon stores in retained mature trees while using thinning to create spatial heterogeneity that promotes higher sequestration rates in smaller, younger trees and simultaneously enhances structural and compositional complexity.
Utilitarianism without Consequentialism: The Case of John Stuart Mill

In this essay I will argue, flouting paradox, that Mill was a utilitarian but not a consequentialist. According to the textbook definition, of course, utilitarianism just is the combination of a certain sort of theory of the good (as pleasure, happiness, or flourishing) and a consequentialist theory of the right. My conclusion thus seems necessarily false. Nevertheless, the argument will proceed in two stages. First, I argue that there is logical space for a view that deserves to be called utilitarian despite its rejection of consequentialism. Then I argue that this position was in fact occupied by the most renowned utilitarian, John Stuart Mill. The first step in my argument rests on what might be considered a clever trick, at best; but this is to be expected when one argues for a claim that seems necessarily false. I concede from the beginning, though, that were my conclusion merely a semantic or conceptual point, this argument would be of little interest. But the conclusion is quite interesting because the tricky step in the argument exposes an implicit feature of consequentialism that is both substantive and dubious and has received inadequate attention. Examination of this implicit assumption will reveal an important contrast between consequentialism and its
Rethinking State and Regime: Southern Europe's Transition to Democracy

The historical clustering of the transitions to democracy of Spain, Portugal, and Greece—all having taken place in the mid-1970s—encourages scholars to search for common causes, patterns, and paths of development. But important differences remain between the cases. Analytical distinctions include the difference between state and regime, and the contrast between regime crises of failure and crises of historical obsolescence. These distinctions make it possible to delineate divergent causes, actors, trajectories, and outcomes for the three cases of redemocratization.
Loss of Omi mitochondrial protease activity causes the neuromuscular disorder of mnd2 mutant mice

The mouse mutant mnd2 (motor neuron degeneration 2) exhibits muscle wasting, neurodegeneration, involution of the spleen and thymus, and death by 40 days of age. Degeneration of striatal neurons, with astrogliosis and microglia activation, begins at around 3 weeks of age, and other neurons are affected at later stages. Here we have identified the mnd2 mutation as the missense mutation Ser276Cys in the protease domain of the nuclear-encoded mitochondrial serine protease Omi (also known as HtrA2 or Prss25). Protease activity of Omi is greatly reduced in tissues of mnd2 mice but is restored in mice rescued by a bacterial artificial chromosome transgene containing the wild-type Omi gene. Deletion of the PDZ domain partially restores protease activity to the inactive recombinant Omi protein carrying the Ser276Cys mutation, suggesting that the mutation impairs substrate access or binding to the active site pocket. Loss of Omi protease activity increases the susceptibility of mitochondria to induction of the permeability transition, and increases the sensitivity of mouse embryonic fibroblasts to stress-induced cell death. The neurodegeneration and juvenile lethality in mnd2 mice result from this defect in mitochondrial Omi protease.
Prolongation of allograft survival with viral IL-10 transfection in a highly histoincompatible model of rat heart allograft rejection.

BACKGROUND The ability to express genes with potential immunoregulatory capacity could reduce the immunogenicity of allografts and result in long-term graft survival. In this study, we examine the feasibility of transferring viral interleukin-10 (vIL-10) gene into rat hearts using adenovirus by intracoronary administration. The subsequent effects of delivered vIL-10 alone or with subtherapeutic doses of cyclosporine A (CsA) on parameters of allograft rejection (AR) were also examined. METHODS Recombinant adenovirus vectors containing vIL-10 (Ad-vIL-10) or beta-galactosidase (Ad-beta-gal) were derived from adenovirus type 5. vIL-10 expression in supernatants of transfected COS7 cell cultures and in transfected heart allografts were examined by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), respectively. Rat heart transplants (LEWS->ACI) were performed in five groups [group 1: no treatment, group 2: Ad-beta-gal, group 3: AdvIL-10, group 4: CsA (10 mg/kg), and group 5: Ad-vIL10+CsA (10 mg/kg)]. Allograft survival was determined by palpating heartbeats. Allograft tissues were also submitted for histological study. RESULTS vIL-10 expression was shown in both transfected COS7 cells and heart isografts. Animals transfected with vIL-10 showed prolongation of graft survival (19.6 vs. 12 days, P<0.001) when compared to beta-gal transfected controls. Animals treated with a single low dose injection of CsA showed no significant prolongation of graft survival compared to controls (11.7 vs. 10.5 days). Animals treated with both vIL-10 and CsA demonstrated a synergistic prolongation of allograft survival compared with controls and with animals treated with CsA or vIL-10 treatment alone (36.7 days vs. 11.7, P<0.001 or 36.7 vs.19.6, P<0.001, respectively). Histological study showed that allografts from untreated controls exhibited extensive AR with loss of graft architecture by day 7 posttransplant while those from the vIL-10 group showed less AR. The best pathological scores were seen in vIL-10 + CsA-treated animals. CONCLUSIONS 1) Delivering Ad-vIL-10 into donor hearts by intracoronary perfusion results in overexpression of vIL-10 and significantly prolongs cardiac allograft survival in a highly histoincompatible rat model. 2) Subtherapeutic doses of CsA do not prolong allograft survival, but act synergistically with vIL-10 to significantly prolong graft survival beyond that achieved with either agent alone.
Transcriptional Activators of Helper T Cell Fate Are Required for Establishment but Not Maintenance of Signature Cytokine Expression

The stability of helper T cell fates is not well understood. Using conditional introduction of dominant-negative factors, we now show that T-bet and GATA-3 are far more critical in establishment than maintenance of IFN-gamma and IL-4 activity during Th1 and Th2 maturation, respectively. We also show that a genetic interaction between T-bet and its target Hlx seems to be required for Th1 maturation, but that Hlx may also be dispensable for maintenance of a transcriptionally permissive ifng gene. In parallel to progressive activator independence in the permissive lineage, the ifng gene becomes more recalcitrant to switching as the forbidden lineage matures. T-bet plus Hlx can disrupt ifng silencing when introduced into developing Th2 cells, but they fail to perturb ifng silencing in mature Th2 cells. In contrast, a hypermorphic allele of T-bet can reverse silencing of the ifng gene in mature Th2 cells. These results suggest that signature gene activity of helper T cells is initially plastic but later becomes epigenetically fixed and offer an initial strategy for inducing mature cells to switch their fate.
Integrated asset analysis framework for model-driven development of SOA based solutions

In SOA based application development, a plethora of architectural constructs such as processes, services and components need to be built. This requires modeling of the application at different levels of abstraction such as business architecture, application architecture and runtime architecture. Model driven development (MDD) is hence considered the primary development approach for building SOA applications. Existing MDD methodologies and tools only support searching and discovery of assets, and do not support their analysis in order to determine their suitability for reuse. This often results in selecting potentially incompatible assets among the various layers of the solution, resulting in redundant asset customizations. In order to address this issue, we present a novel framework and methodology that enables the integrated analysis of existing assets associated across multiple abstractions of the solution from different asset repositories. This approach helps in creating a consistent asset reusability view across all the phases of SOA development with multiple reusable asset options to compare and select. We present an experimental evaluation of our methodology on real-life SOA assets distributed across multiple repositories and illustrate how our integrated mechanism can help consistently maximize reuse of assets in SOA development.
Current and future treatment of louse infestation

Head lice remain a worldwide problem. Although physical methods of removal, desiccation and asphyxiation demonstrate some efficacy, chemical pediculicides remain in widespread use. Issues of resistance and toxicity continue to influence the choice of treatment. This review summarizes the current and future treatment of head louse infestation.
Overview of the 2011 Food and Drug Administration Circulatory System Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee Meeting on the Edwards SAPIEN™ Transcatheter Heart Valve

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) has been developed as a novel approach for the treatment of high-risk patients with aortic stenosis (AS). Although surgical aortic valve replacement is the standard of care for patients with symptomatic AS, it is associated with poor outcome when applied to patients with extreme operative risk. This subset of patients is usually deferred from surgery and has done poorly with medical therapy alone with or without balloon aortic valvuloplsty (BAV).1–4 The Edwards SAPIEN™ transcatheter heart valve (THV) technology aims to provide treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic AS who are deemed inoperable. On July 20, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Circulatory System Devices Panel reviewed the first transcatheter aortic valve system, Edwards SAPIEN™ THV premarket approval application. Meeting materials can be accessed at http://www.fda.gov/AdvisoryCommittees/CommitteesMeetingMaterials/MedicalDevices/MedicalDevicesAdvisoryCommittee/CirculatorySystemDevicesPanel/ucm240575.htm. The premarket approval application was based on data from the pivotal US randomized clinical trial, Placement of Aortic Transcatheter Valves (PARTNER),5,6 which comprised two independent cohorts of patients (high-risk and inoperable patients). For the purpose of the application, only patients in the inoperable cohort (Cohort B) who were randomized to standard therapy versus TAVR were submitted and subsequently presented to the FDA seeking device approval. Following is a summary of the discussions and recommendations made during the Circulatory System Devices Advisory Panel meeting, along with some important insights regarding the clinical use of the Edwards SAPIEN™ THV in a postapproval era. The proposed indication of use stated, “The Edwards SAPIEN Transcatheter Heart Valve, model 9000TFX, sizes 23 mm and 26 mm, and RetroFlex 3 Delivery System are indicated for transfemoral delivery in patients with severe AS who have been determined by a cardiac surgeon to be inoperable for open aortic valve replacement and in whom existing comorbidities would not preclude the expected …
The Legitimacy of Intellectual Property Rights: The Irrelevance of Two Conceptions of an Information Commons

In this essay, I consider arguments both for and against intellectual property rights that are premised on some conception of a morally significant information commons. In particular, I consider the argument for a morally protected information commons that is grounded in Locke's famous proviso limiting original acquisition of material property to situations that leave enough of the resource to others and Hardin's famous argument that holding material property in common leads to overuse and depletion – a tragedy of the commons. I argue that neither argument is directly applicable to information objects. In the process of doing so, I identify key differences between material objects and information objects that vitiate an attempt to ground legal protection of an information commons in either Locke’s argument for property rights or Hardin’s tragedy of the commons – the latter attempt involving rather what can be called only conspicuous logical blunders.
Real time monitoring of bioreactor mAb IgG3 cell culture process dynamics via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: Implications for enabling cell culture process analytical technology? ?

Compared to small molecule process analytical technology (PAT) applications, biotechnology product PAT applications have certain unique challenges and opportunities. Understanding process dynamics of bioreactor cell culture process is essential to establish an appropriate process control strategy for biotechnology product PAT applications. Inline spectroscopic techniques for real time monitoring of bioreactor cell culture process have the distinct potential to develop PAT approaches in manufacturing biotechnology drug products. However, the use of inline Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic techniques for bioreactor cell culture process monitoring has not been reported. In this work, real time inline FTIR Spectroscopy was applied to a lab scale bioreactor mAb IgG3 cell culture fluid biomolecular dynamic model. The technical feasibility of using FTIR Spectroscopy for real time tracking and monitoring four key cell culture metabolites (including glucose, glutamine, lactate, and ammonia) and protein yield at increasing levels of complexity (simple binary system, fully formulated media, actual bioreactor cell culture process) was evaluated via a stepwise approach. The FTIR fingerprints of the key metabolites were identified. The multivariate partial least squares (PLS) calibration models were established to correlate the process FTIR spectra with the concentrations of key metabolites and protein yield of in-process samples, either individually for each metabolite and protein or globally for all four metabolites simultaneously. Applying the 2nd derivative pre-processing algorithm to the FTIR spectra helps to reduce the number of PLS latent variables needed significantly and thus simplify the interpretation of the PLS models. The validated PLS models show promise in predicting the concentration profiles of glucose, glutamine, lactate, and ammonia and protein yield over the course of the bioreactor cell culture process. Therefore, this work demonstrated the technical feasibility of real time monitoring of the bioreactor cell culture process via FTIR spectroscopy. Its implications for enabling cell culture PAT were discussed.
Sediment-water distribution of contaminants of emerging concern in a mixed use watershed.

Abstract This study evaluated the occurrence and distribution of 15 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in stream water and sediments in the Zumbro River watershed in Minnesota and compared these with sub-watershed land uses. Sixty pairs of sediment and water samples were collected across all seasons from four stream sites for over two years and analyzed for selected personal care products, pesticides, human and veterinary medications, and phytoestrogens. Spatial and temporal analyses indicate that pharmaceuticals and personal care products (urban/residential CECs) are significantly elevated in water and/or sediment at sites with greater population density (> 100 people/km 2 ) and percentage of developed land use (> 8% of subwatershed area) than those with less population density and land area under development. Significant spatial variations of agricultural pesticides in water and sediment were detectable, even though all sites had a high percentage of agricultural land use. Seasonality in CEC concentration was observed in water but not in sediment, although sediment concentrations of three CECs did vary between years. Average measured non-equilibrium distribution coefficients exceeded equilibrium hydrophobic partitioning-based predictions for 5 of the 7 detected CECs by at least an order of magnitude. Agreement of measured and predicted distribution coefficients improved with increasing hydrophobicity and in-stream persistence. The more polar and degradable CECs showed greater variability in measured distributions across different sampling events. Our results confirm that CECs are present in urban and agricultural stream sediments, including those CECs that would typically be thought of as non-sorptive based on their log K ow values. These results and the observed patterns of sediment and water distributions augment existing information to improve prediction of CEC fate and transport, leading to more accurate assessments of exposure and risk to surface water ecosystems.
Torque fill-in for an automated shift manual transmission in a parallel hybrid electric vehicle

An automated shift manual transmission (ASM) is utilized in a post-transmission parallel hybrid electric vehicle to take advantage of its high efficiency and lower cost compared to that of a fully automatic transmission with torque converter. However, a disadvantage of the ASM transmission is that the torque to the drive wheels is disrupted during gear shifts when the clutch is disengaged from the engine, resulting in degraded shift quality over an automatic transmission/torque converter combination. In the hybrid configuration presented here, an electric motor is utilized to provide torque directly to the drive wheels during gear upshifts when the engine is disengaged from the transmission. This torque applied during the shift is referred to as fill-in torque and, if properly applied, can emulate the continuous torque provided by the automatic transmission with torque converter. Effectively, the shift quality of an ASM transmission can be made to approach that of a fully automatic one via proper control of the fill-in torque and engine clutch slip. The amount of motor torque applied and the length of time it is applied are optimized by minimizing an objective metric of transmission shift quality. This paper presents such a control scheme, parameter optimization process, simulation results, and vehicle data that validates the simulation.
Effect of heart transplantation on skeletal muscle metabolic enzyme reserve and fiber type in end-stage heart failure patients.

BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle myopathy is a hallmark of chronic heart failure (HF). Phenotypic changes involve shift in myosin heavy chain (MHC) fiber type from oxidative, MHC type I, towards more glycolytic MHC IIx fibers, reductions in oxidative enzyme activity, and increase in glycolytic enzyme activity. However, it is unknown if muscle myopathy is reversed following heart transplantation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of heart transplantation on skeletal muscle metabolic enzyme reserve and MHC fiber type in end-stage HF patients. METHODS Thirteen HF subjects were prospectively studied before and two months after heart transplantation and a subgroup (n = 6) at eight months after transplantation. Skeletal muscle biopsy of the vastus lateralis was performed and relative MHC composition was determined using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), citrate synthase (CS), and 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase (HACoA) enzyme activity assays were performed to assess glycolytic, oxidative, and beta-oxidative metabolic enzyme reserves, respectively. RESULTS Lactate dehydrogenase activity (130.5 +/- 13.3 vs. 106.1 +/- 13.2 micromol/g wet wt/min, p < 0.05), CS activity (14.0 +/- 1.2 vs. 9 +/- 0.9 micromol/g wet wt/min, p < 0.05), and HACoA activity (4.5 +/- 0.48 vs. 3.6 +/- 0.3 micromol/g wet wt/min, p < 0.05) decreased two months after heart transplantation. At eight months, LDH activity was restored (139.0 +/- 11 micromol/g wet wt/min), but not CS or HACoA activity compared with before transplantation. There was no significant change in muscle %MHC type I (28.7 +/- 3.5% vs. 25.3 +/- 3.0%, p = NS), %MHC type IIa (33.2 +/- 2.0% vs. 34.6 +/- 1.9%, p = NS), or %MHC type IIx (38.1 +/- 2.8% vs. 40.1 +/- 3.7%, p = NS) fiber type two months after heart transplantation. However, %MHC type I (19.3 +/- 6.6%) was decreased and %MHC type IIx (51.0 +/- 6.5%) was increased at eight months after (p < 0.05) compared with before transplantation. CONCLUSIONS Skeletal muscle glycolytic, oxidative, and beta-oxidative enzymatic reserves are diminished early after heart transplantation, with reduced oxidative capacity persisting late in the first year. The myopathic MHC phenotype present in end-stage HF persists early in the post-operative state and declines further by eight months.
Basal lamella relaxing incision improves endoscopic middle meatal access

Background Lateralization of the middle turbinate is a commonly cited factor leading to failure of functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). Inadequate medialization during FESS may require repeat intraoperative attempts, and may lead to destabilization and mucosal trauma. A novel technique is described that increases middle meatal area and provides more definitive medialization at the outset of FESS. Methods Twenty-nine middle turbinate medializations were prospectively evaluated in 18 consecutive patients undergoing primary ESS. Three intraoperative images of the middle meatus were obtained in the native position, after Freer medialization, and after basal lamella relaxing incision (BLRI). Measurements of middle meatal area were then calculated in a blinded and randomized fashion. Results Distances measured from the middle turbinate to the lateral nasal wall for each position ranged from 0 to 8 mm (median = 3.00 mm) for the native position, 0.5 to 10 mm (median = 5.00 mm) for standard Freer medialization, and 3 to 21 mm (median = 10.00 mm) for BLRI. Friedman's analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was significant difference between the 3 measurements, and the post hoc Wilcoxon signed ranks tests showed that BLRI distance (median = 10; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7-11.2) was significantly larger than both standard Freer (median = 5; 95% CI, 4-6.2) and native (median = 3; 95% CI, 2-3) and that standard Freer was significantly larger than native (all p values <0.001). Conclusion BLRI is a safe, controlled technique that provides significantly greater medialization of the middle turbinate compared to standard medialization techniques. BLRI significantly enhances the operative space within the middle meatus.
ACCF/AHA/CDC conference report on emerging infectious diseases and biological terrorism threats: the clinical and public health implications for the prevention and control of cardiovascular diseases.

### American College of Cardiology Foundation ### American Heart Association View this table: ACCF/AHA/CDC Consensus Conference Report on Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biological Terrorism Threats—Participants’ Relationships With Industry
Medial prefrontal cortex differentiates self from mother in Chinese: evidence from self-motivated immigrants

Findings from neuroimaging studies suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) differentiates between self and mother in participants from Western cultures, but not in Chinese participants. However, previous research suggests that self-motivated immigrants possess more independent self-construal styles. Thus, it is possible that their independent self-construals might be reflected at the neural level. In the present study, we examined the contribution of the MPFC to self and close other-referential processing of psychological traits in Chinese participants, newly arrived to the United States, in both their native language and in English. We predicted that, contrary to prior findings, the MPFC would differentially represent psychological traits for self and mother. Moreover, this effect would be greatest when performing judgments in English. During fMRI scanning, participants (N = 18) completed a standard self-referential processing task in which they rated whether a series of psychological trait adjectives applied to themselves or to their mothers. Consistent with our hypothesis, we found that the MPFC strongly differentiated between self and mother judgments in both languages. However, we found no effect of language in this task. Finally, the posterior cingulate cortex was uniquely sensitive to self-referential judgments in Chinese. These findings indicate that the MPFC differentiates between self and mother among self-motivated immigrants.