cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Long-Term Planning of Wind Farm Siting in the Electricity Grid

Abstract Wind power is the fastest growing electricity generation source in the United States and is expected to play an increasing role in the electricity system. The variable and uncertain nature of wind power will require changes in the operation of the grid under higher penetration rates. In order to understand the changes necessary at both the planning and operational levels we propose a stochastic optimization approach that enables the consideration of the variable output of wind power as well as the costs of wind farm construction. Results from a small example system are used to illustrate the advantages of the approach.
PARTICLE HEATING BY NONLINEAR ALFV´ ENIC TURBULENCE IN ADAFS

Particle heating in advection-dominated accretion flows (ADAFs) by nonlinear MHD (Alfvenic) tur- bulence is investigated. Such turbulence with highly-fluctuating magnetic fields, ˜ B ∼ B0, is believed to be naturally produced by the magnetic shearing instability near the nonlinear saturation. It is shown that the energy is dissipated in the parallel cascade, which occurs due to nonlinear compressibility of high-amplitude turbulence, and predominantly heats protons, but not electrons. The conservative limit on the electron-to-proton heating fraction is δ ∼ few × 10 −2 . Subject headings: accretion, accretion discs — MHD — plasmas — turbulence — waves
Monomial ideals of minimal depth

Let S be a polynomial algebra over a eld. We study classes of monomial ideals (as for example lexsegment ideals) of S having minimal depth. In particular, Stanley’s conjecture holds for these ideals. Also we show that if I is a monomial ideal with Ass(S=I) =fP1;P2;:::;Psg and Pi6 P sj6i Pj for all i2 [s], then Stanley’s conjecture holds for S=I.
Exploring the Forms of Self‐Censorship: On the Spiral of Silence and the Use of Opinion Expression Avoidance Strategies

In almost all studies investigating spiral of silence theory, the outcome variable has been a person’s reported willingness to express his or her opinion or engage others in a conversation. Research to date is largely silent on strategies that people might use to avoid speaking their opinion when it is requested by an audience hostile to that opinion. Participants in this study were asked how they would respond to a request for their opinion by a person who would disagree. Responses revealed a variety of different strategies people report they would use to censor their own opinion expression, such as expressing indifference or ambivalence, trying to change the subject, or reflecting the question back without answering it. An experimental manipulation of the climate of opinion revealed that a hostile opinion climate prompted greater use of expression avoidance strategies than a friendly climate, and some topics of conversation prompted more opinion expression avoidance independent of the climate of opinion.
ConfSeer: leveraging customer support knowledge bases for automated misconfiguration detection

We introduce ConfSeer, an automated system that detects potential configuration issues or deviations from identified best practices by leveraging a knowledge base (KB) of technical solutions. The intuition is that these KB articles describe the configuration problems and their fixes so if the system can accurately understand them, it can automatically pinpoint both the errors and their resolution. Unfortunately, finding an accurate match is difficult because (a) the KB articles are written in natural language text, and (b) configuration files typically contain a large number of parameters with a high value range. Thus, expert-driven manual troubleshooting is not scalable.While there are several state-of-the-art techniques proposed for individual tasks such as keyword matching, concept determination and entity resolution, none offer a practical end-to-end solution to detect problems in machine configurations. In this paper, we describe our experiences building ConfSeer using a novel combinations of ideas from natural language processing, information retrieval and interactive learning. ConfSeer powers the recommendation engine behind Microsoft Operations Management Suite that proposes fixes for software configuration errors. The system has been running in production for about a year to proactively find misconfigurations on tens of thousands of servers. Our evaluation of ConfSeer against an expert-defined rule-based commercial system, an expert survey and web search engines shows that it achieves 80%-97.5% accuracy and incurs low runtime overheads.
On learning where to begin, how to listen, and when to stop

Like a two-legged stool, language and content in technical writing do not stand alone. The finished product must meet requirements and satisfy constraints — the moral of this tale.
DEMONSTRATION OF INTERCELLULAR IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE AND EPIDERMAL HYSTERESIS IN BULLOUS FIXED DRUG ERUPTION DUE TO PHENOLPHTHALEIN

Summary.— We have reported a case of severe bullous erythema multiforme type of fixed drug eruption in which (1) multiple drugs were erroneously first indicated as the cause; (2) a false positive bullous patch test was obtained and discovered to be an intracorneal artefact, reflecting a new phenomenon, epidermal hysteresis; (3) a relationship to auto-sensitization and pemphigus was discerned by the demonstration of direct intercellular immunofluorescence in the lower epidermis of the affected fixed sites only; (4) phenolphthalein was finally proven to be the specific cause by double-blind oral challenge.
On the performance of the Goetz Aerosol Spectrometer

Abstract The first detailed experimental evaluation of the Goetz Aerosol Spectrometer's capability to resolve size distributions of polydisperse aerosols is made. The result of this evaluation removes the lack of confidence in the instrument brought on by the disagreement of previous theoretical and experimental evaluations. Monodisperse polystyrene latex particles of different sizes are used to demonstrate that 1. (1) the performance of the instrument is dependent on its operating modes and is independent of different instruments 2. (2) the commercially available instrument overestimates the contribution of large particles in the measured size distributions 3. (3) the previous theoretical arguments are invalid since the complicated velocity distribution in the channels of the instrument was disregarded, and 4. (4) the previous inconsistent experimental evaluations are explained by properly limiting their conclusions. Furthermore, the capability of the instrument to determine accurately the size of particles ranging from 0.03 to 3.0 μm is found, after a simple modification is made to the geometry of the entrance to the instrument's deposition channels. Particle Brownian diffusion, analyzing microscope field of view, and random instrument errors are unimportant for the practical application of the modified instrument.
Table for Both the Sign Test and Distribution-Free Confidence Intervals of the Median for Sample Sizes to 1,000

Abstract In 1946 Dixon and Mood published a table of critical values for the sign test with the sample size n, the sum of the two binomial numbers, in the stub and running consecutively from 1 to 100. In 1959 the present writer also published a sign-test table, replacing n by d, the difference between the two binomial numbers, and extending the range of sample sizes to 1,000. However, this second table introduced complicated rules of use and did not facilitate determination of confidence intervals of the median. The present paper presents a new table using n in the stub and covering all samples sizes to 1,000. Derived from the table using d, it easily serves for both the sign test and distribution-free interval estimation of the median. An appendix demonstrates the orderly transformation relations by which a table of one type can generate a table of the other.
Maturation of a large neurofilament protein (NF 150K) in rat postnatal development

The mammalian neurofilament is made of three neu-ron-specific proteins with approximate molecular weights of 70 kilodaltons (kDa) (NF 70K), 150 kDa (NF 15OK), and 200 kDa (NF 200K) by SDS-PAGE. As previously reported in the rat by Strocchi et al (J Neurochem 39:1132–1141,1982) and Nixon et al (J Cell Biol) 94:150–58, 19821, NF 150K comprises three molecular weight variants with the same isoelectric point. A fourth lower molecular weight and slightly less acidic variant was identified by monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies reacting with the a-helical middle domain of NF 150K. With few exceptions, this lower molecular weight variant did not stain with monoclonal antibodies reacting with the peripheral carboxyterminal domain. Staining with these antibodies was abolished or markedly reduced following neurofilament dephosphorylation. The distribution of the NF 150K variants varied in different regions of the nervous system. The higher molecular weight variant (component a) was less prominent in brain compared to spinal cord, optic nerve, and sciatic nerve. Further-more, the lower molecular weight variant (component d) was not identified in optic nerve and sciatic nerve. All four variants were identified in brain and spinal cord extracts of newborn rats with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies reacting with the a-helical middle domain of NF 150K. As a general rule (see Results for exceptions) monoclonal antibodies reacting with the carboxy-terminal region of NF 150K did not stain the variants in newborn rat brain extracts until day 10 when immunoreactivity of component a first appeared. The adult pattern was first observed on postnatal day 15. With the same antibodies component a was already stained at birth in spinal cord extracts while the adult pattern first appeared on day 10. The delayed appearance of immunoreactivity of the NF 150K variants in development suggests the occurrence of post-translational modifications probably related to axonal maturation.
Automating tolerance synthesis: A framework and tools

Abstract This paper describes CASCADE-T—a new approach to tolerance synthesis that uses a complete representation of the conditional tolerance relations that exist between features of a part under design. Conditional tolerances are automatically determined from functional requirements and shape information. Tolerance primitives based on the virtual boundary requirements approach to tolerance representation are composed to form more complex tolerance relationships. Artificial intelligence techniques, including a constraint network, frame-based system, and dependency tracking are used to support flexible and detailed computation for tolerance analysis and synthesis.
Inhibition of catalase and epoxide hydrolase by the renal cystogen 2-amino-4,5-diphenylthiazole and its metabolites.

Abstract Subchronic feeding of 2-amino-4,5-diphenylthiazole (DPT) to rats results in the development of renal cysts and has been used as a model system to study polycystic kidney disease. Because previous studies revealed changes in renal enzymes following DPT administration, a possible direct effect of DPT and its phenolic metabolites on catalase and a related enzyme, epoxide hydrolase, was examined. Experiments with three in vitro systems (suspensions of rabbit renal tubules, rat kidney homogenates, and commercially obtained bovine liver catalase) revealed direct inhibition of catalase activity by the diphenolic metabolite (diOH- DPT: 2-amino-4,5di(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-thiazole), the known renal cystogen nordihydroquaiaretic acid (NDGA) 2-amino-4(4′- hydroxyphenyl),5-phenyl-thiazole (4OH-DPT), and the known catalase inhibitor 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole; DPT did not inhibit catalase activity. Following oral administration to rats of the DPT congeners, 4OH-DPT caused the greatest decrease in both renal catalase and cytosolic epoxide hydrolase activityes and the shortest time to onset of cystic lesions. In vitro, mouse liver cytosolic epoxide hydrolase activity was substantially inhibited by 4OH-DPT and dioH-DPT, and NDGA, but not by 2-amino-4-phenyl,5- (4′-hydroxyphenyl)-thiazole (5OH-DPT) or DPT itself. Microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) activity was inhibited by 4OH-DPT, unaffected by DPT or dioH-DPT, and stimulated 2-fold by 5OH-DPT. Finally, mEH activity was substantially higher in samples of normal human kidney than in samples of kidney derived from a patient with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease; no differences were observed in cEH activity in these samples. Although the role of altered catalase and epoxide hydrolase activities in cystogenesis is unknown, DPT-induced cyst formation is associated with loss of these enzyme activities in kidney tissue. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an in vivo diminution of cytosolic epoxide hydrolase activity by xenobiotics.
Developmental decrease in short-term facilitation at Schaffer collateral synapses in hippocampus is mGluR1 sensitive.

Developmental changes can occur in the dynamic properties of synapses, known as short-term plasticity. Using rat acute hippocampal slices at room temperature, we have previously shown a decrease in...
Effects of the winter of 1976-1977 on the northwestern sargasso sea.

A survey was conducted in the northwestern Sargasso Sea during the spring to assess the effect and extent of the winter cooling of 1976 to 1977 on the ocean. Newly formed, well-mixed layers of 18°C water as deep as 550 meters were observed. The main thermocline south of the Gulf Stream was 100 to 150 meters deeper than it is on the average, which implies significant changes in the baroclinic transports.
A wien displacement law for impact radiation

Abstract A flash of radiation is produced when a hypervelocity projectile strikes a target. By the term hypervelocity, we mean a collision in which the sound speeds characterizing the materials in the target and the projectile are less than the impact velocity. When the temperature and pressure ahead of the shock are low, it can be shown that the temperature, To, behind the shock varies quadratically with impact velocity, v. If the shocked material and the radiation it emits are in thermodynamic equilibrium, the initial intensity of the radiation varies according to T4o, so that we obtain, finally, I ∼ v8. Because I is the total radiated power per unit area of the source, integrated over all wavelengths, it can be accurately measured only by a detector with a very wide spectral response. If a detector having a limited spectral response is used instead, one observes I ∼ vz, where the value of z depends on the detector. Although such a detector will not, in general, be able to confirm the v8 rule, it may be able to confirm that the wavelength of maximum emission satisfies λmax ∼ 1/v2, a result which can be derived from the Wien displacement law under the same assumptions used to obtain the velocity dependence of the source intensity. To confirm the Wien law, the response time of the detector must be less than 1 ns for a shock release temperature of 100 kK and less than 1 μ s for shock release temperature of 10 kK. Between these limits, the required response time decreases as the release temperature increases.
Regional multinationals and the Korean cosmetics industry

This paper analyzes the market penetration and expansion strategy of cosmetics and toiletries multinational enterprises (MNEs) in South Korea from the perspective of regional strategy as developed recently by Rugman. We find that MNEs have different market entry and expansion strategies in the home region and in the foreign region. Home region MNEs (Japanese MNEs in this case), in general, utilize their firm-specific advantages (FSAs) better than foreign region MNEs (European and MNEs from the Americas in this case). Due to differences in transaction costs, home region MNEs exploit downstream FSAs while foreign region MNEs develop upstream FSAs. Market similarity also leads to a greater incentive to operate in the home region rather than in foreign regions. The home region effect significantly increases the likelihood of entry into foreign markets as the host country's “diamond” significantly affects the market entry strategies of MNEs.
Erratum to ?Heart and head defects in mice lacking pairs of connexins? 6Dev. Biol. 265 (2004) 369?3839

Cx37 mice. (A, B) Transverse sections of a newborn wild-type mouse pup with normalatrial septation. The section in A is superior to the section in B. An arrow indicates the septum secundum, whereas arrowheads indicate the septum primum.The septum primum and septum secundum overlap, with the septum primum forming the flap of the foramen ovale at birth. (C, D) Sections of newbornCx40
Proximal Ureteral Stent Migration: An Avoidable Complication?

AbstractPurpose: The parameters responsible for proximal ureteral stent migration were quantitated.Materials and Methods: We compared 16 patients seen between 1990 and 1993 with stent migration to 32 patients whose stents did not migrate.Results: The stent indwelling time and number of stents with a proximal curl of less than 180 degrees were similar between the groups. More patients with migration had stents that were shorter than the ideal length, with a distal curl of less than 180 degrees and a proximal curl in the upper calix versus the renal pelvis.Conclusions: A shorter than ideal stent, inadequate distal curl and a proximal curl in the upper calix appear to be significant factors in the process of stent migration.
New beam engineered and spectrally engineered mid-ir quantum cascade lasers by transverse and longitudinal mode control

The talk will focus on advances in high power single longitudinal/transverse mode master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) QCls and MOPA QCL arrays capable of broadband tuning, as well as on low-divergence high brightness plasmomic QCLs
Dose-dependency of caffeine metabolism with repeated dosing

Some recent epidemiologic studies have reported a nonlinear dose-response in the relationship between coffee consumption and health risks, such that the risks increase disproportionately to the increase in dose. Assuming caffeine contributes to the adverse health effects of coffee, a possible explanation for the nonlinear dose-response relationship is dose-dependent metabolism of caffeine. We examined the hypothesis that under chronic dosing conditions the metabolism of caffeine is dose-dependent. Nine healthy subjects were given, in randomized 5-day treatment blocks, placebo, 4.2 (low) and 12 (high) mg/kg/day caffeine in decaffeinated coffee, in six divided doses spaced throughout the day. On the third day of each dosing period, 25 mg of stable-isotope labeled caffeine (2-13C, 1,3-15N2) was given intravenously. Clearance of labeled caffeine fell from 0.118 (placebo treatment) to 0.069 (low dose; p less than 0.005) and to 0.54 (high dose; p less than 0.001) L/hr/kg. The formation and metabolite clearances of paraxanthine, the major primary metabolite of caffeine, also decreased comparing the low and high doses (p less than 0.05). We conclude that caffeine metabolism is dose-dependent, resulting in nonlinear accumulation of methylxanthines in the body. Dose-dependent metabolism of caffeine may explain in part why people who drink large amounts of coffee are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease.
Continuous high rate production of ethanol by Zymomonas mobilis in an attached film expanded bed fermentor

Experiments were conducted with Zymomonas mobilis in an attached film expanded bed (AFEB) fermentor at different dilution rates, using a feed glucose concentration of 100 gm/l. Vermiculite was used as the bed material for attachment of the bacterial film. Ethanol volumetric productivities were maximum at a dilution rate of 3.6hr-1. The productivities were 105 gm/l-hr and 210 gm/l-hr based on total fermentor volume and bed volume, respectively.
Actomyosin Regulation by Tm5NM1, a Non-Muscle Isoform of Tropomyosin

Actin filaments are required for diverse cellular functions including cell division, intracellular transport, and muscle contraction. Tropomyosin (Tm) is a α-helical coiled-coil protein that regulates its functions and stability in muscle and nonmuscle eukaryotic cells. Nonmuscle isoforms of Tm and particularly, Tm5NM1 (a γTm, product of TPM3), have been found to play a role in the transformation and metastasis of cancer cells in addition to being important for normal cellular functions such as cell migration, cell division and organelle transport. In previous work, by making mutations at evolutionarily conserved residues in a striated muscle αTm, residues important for actin binding and myosin regulation were identified. In the present study, we have mutated conserved residues in Tm5NM1 to determine the molecular basis of isoform-specificity for functions such as actin binding and actomyosin regulation. We mutated surface residues in muscle αTm and Tm5NM1 that differed between the two isoforms at homologous positions in periods P1 and P7 of αTm to determine the effect of sequence differences on function. We also mutated residues in Tm5NM1 in periods P5 and P6 at homologous positions to those that were shown to be important for myosin regulation in muscle αTm in a previous study. In vitro motility assays for determining myosin regulation were carried out. Actin-Tm filament velocities were inhibited by αTm (∼60%) but activated by Tm5NM1 (∼50%) relative to actin alone. The αTm P1 and P7 mutants showed ∼40-70% increase in velocity compared to WT αTm. The Tm5NM1 mutants had no effect on velocity relative to WT Tm5NM1, except the P6 mutant that showed a ∼50% decrease in velocity. Therefore, αTm and Tm5NM1 have differential effects on actomyosin regulation depending on the site of mutation. Supported by NIH and Aresty Research Center at Rutgers.
A new assay for the evaluation of antiplatelet antibody in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Abstract A new approach to the study of antiplatelet antibodies is described. Purified IgG from sera or from the culture of splenic cells was radiolabeled with 125I. Incubation of radiolabeled splenic IgG from ITP patients showed significantly greater binding to target platelets when compared to control IgG samples; conversely, the binding to target platelets of 125I-labeled serum IgG from ITP patients did not differ from controls. In each of the six instances when the binding of splenic and serum IgG from the same ITP patients was compared, the splenic samples contained a much higher concentration of platelet-specific IgG. This suggests that intrasplenic platelets in ITP patients are exposed in vivo to high concentrations of antiplatelet antibody and may explain, in part, the importance of the spleen in platelet destruction in this disease. This assay should prove useful in the further study of immune thrombocytopenia.
Protection against absolute-ethanol-induced gastric antral and corpus mucosal injury. A gross and histologic study.

The purpose of this study was to systematically assess 100% ethanol-induced gross and histologic injury of the antral and the corpus mucosa of the rat stomach and the effect of two protective agents, a prostaglandin analog and meciadanol (a flavenoid) on this injury. The gross antral injury was much more subtle than the corpus injury. Therefore, different scoring criteria were developed for the antrum. Surprisingly, however, the extent and severity of histologic injury was similar in both areas. Pretreatment with either meciadanol or 16, 16-dimethyl prostaglandin E2 significantly protected against this injury in the antrum as well as in the corpus.
Emotional mood states, strategies, and state-dependency in memory

The effects of experimentally induced mood states on recall and chunking of letter sequences were examined in two experiments. Both experiments focused on the role of depressed mood induction on recall, the interaction between mood and varied versus repetitious spatial groupings of letter sequences, and transfer of coding strategies. In addition, state-dependent retention effects of mood state were examined in the second experiment. Depressed mood hindered both recall and chunking. The mood state induced on day 1 recall determined subsequent recall of a new list 24 hours later, indicating the transfer of coding strategies. State-dependent retention effects were obtained only with delayed recognition. Mood effects on recall are discussed in terms of cognitive rigidity and interference which result in reduced task-relevant processing capacity and/or reduced cognitive effort for task-specific demands.
Bubble pressures and vapor-liquid equilibria for four binary hydrocarbon mixtures☆

Bubble pressures and vapor-liquid equilibria are reported for four binary hydrocarbon mixtures at three temperatures: (cyclohexane + benzene). (methylcyclopentane + benzene), (ethylbenzene + n-heptane), and (p-xylene + n-heptane). The isothermal dependence of bubble pressure on liquid-phase composition is determined in a static apparatus. Equilibrium vapor-phase compositions are calculated from Barker's procedure using the three-parameter Redlich Kister equation for the excess Gibbs free energy.
Steps towards an Afghanistan–Pakistan water-sharing agreement

Negotiations between Afghanistan and Pakistan to share the international watercourses in the Kabul Basin will involve complex networks of natural, societal and political systems. The natural systems are strongly influenced by climate change; societal interests include an economy based on agriculture; and the region in both states is subject to turmoil and insecurity. Given these complexities, the recent joint announcement by the finance ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan of plans to construct a hydropower project on the Kunar River is a significant step. However, much work remains to jointly develop and manage the waters in the Kabul Basin.
Vascular Imaging in the Elderly

Though a myriad of vascular conditions affect the elderly, atherosclerosis remains the most common vascular disorder, followed by venous thromboembolism and varicose veins. In this article, the authors discuss the imaging of atherosclerosis affecting various vascular territories and pay special attention to the elderly population. The authors also discuss imaging findings of segmental arterial mediolysis, giant cell arteritis, and venous thromboembolism.
Defectivity study of directed self-assembly of cylindrical diblock copolymers in laterally confined thin channels

We use self-consistent field theory (SCFT) to study the directed self-assembly of cylinder-forming diblock copolymers laterally confined in narrow channels. The side walls and top/bottom surfaces of the channel are either all major block attractive, all minor block attractive, or a combination of major block attractive on the top surface and minor block attractive on the remaining film surfaces. We focus on systems in which the self-assembled cylinders form a monolayer oriented parallel to the sidewalls in a thin channel. Experimentally and theoretically, well-ordered perfect cylinders are observed in narrow channels, but undesirable defective structures are also found. We investigate the energetics of isolated, meta-stable defects and compare them with two types of defects (dislocations and disclinations) recently investigated in laterally confined lamellar block copolymer systems using SCFT. Our simulation results are also compared with defect energy estimates for lying down cylinder monolayers extracted from experimental work by Mishra and coworkers. Parametric studies include the effects of film thickness, domain spacing, χN, and composition on defect energies with various wall wetting conditions in narrow channels of varying widths. A major finding is that defects of cylindrical directed self-assembly in a confined channel have a smaller free energy cost (tens of kT) in comparison with defects in laterally confined, vertically oriented lamellae (many tens of kT). We also discovered a novel vertically branched cylinder defect in the case of neutral top and bottom surfaces with significantly lower defect energy than a corresponding dislocation defect. More broadly, this study reveals unexpected dependences of equilibrium defect densities on a wide range of parameters that must be carefully controlled in order to successfully implement a directed self-assembly process with block-copolymers.
Development and Testing of the Miniature Aerial Delivery System Snowflake

Proceedings of the 20th AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar, Seattle, WA, May 4-7, 2009.
Social Ontology and Semantic Actions: Enabling Social Networking Services for Distributed Web Tasking

End-users are confined by the social networking platforms that they invest effort in to set up their social contacts and relationships. The centralized, monopolized, and silo approach of today's social networking providers discourage interoperability across platforms. Enterprises struggle to find a common social networking approach to deal with the diversity of social networking platforms of choice of their users. Though each social networking platform provides their own APIs for externalizing users' social data, they are not designed to interoperate with other platforms. In this paper, we propose Social Ontology and Semantic Actions (SOSA) as a de-centralized, inter-operable social networking model and runtime services that enterprises can use as social networking middleware components for interoperability of social networking platforms of their users. SOSA provides platform agnostic construct for contacts; relationship axiom association with contacts, with inherent inferences to compute memberships given a relationship axiom. SOSA also enables binding with enterprise services as semantic actions of a given relationship axiom. Social relationship can also be used incontext with enterprise services and distributed web tasking.
Organizational and extraorganizational factors affecting stress, employee well-being, and absenteeism for males and females.

The purpose of this research is to examine separately for males and females, the effects of different sources of job and life stress on the emotional and physical well-being of those individuals, and in turn on absenteeism. Results using a sample of 170 males and 204 females indicated that females experienced higher levels of job stress, absenteeism, and poorer emotional well-being. Patterns of relationships for males and females were similar, however, the data suggest that sex moderates the effects of different sources of stress on emotional and physical well-being and absenteeism. The model developed as a part of this research was more complicated for females than for males.
MMP2 role in breast cancer brain metastasis development and its regulation by TIMP2 and ERK1/2.

Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) is important in breast cancer (BC) invasion and metastasis. We previously reported that BC brain metastases, in a rat syngeneic model developed in our laboratory, have high expression and activity of MMP2. The MMP2 mechanism of action in the brain is still under intense scrutiny. To study the role of MMP2 in the development of BC brain metastasis we transfected ENU1564 rat mammary adenocarcinoma cells with tissue inhibitor of MMP2 (TIMP2). Animals inoculated with ENU1564-TIMP2 cells had decreased orthotopic tumor growth, decreased orthotopic metastastic behavior and did not develop brain metastases. These results were associated with decreased MMP2 activity, demonstrated by gel zymography. Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway components, such as ERK1/2, have been correlated to MMP expression and/or astrocyte activity. We found that BC brain metastases have peripheral astrocyte reactivity and higher expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and phosphorylated-ERK1/2 (p-ERK1/2). Additionally, rat astrocyte-conditioned media increased in vitro invasion of ENU1564 cancer cells and increased expression of MMP2 and p-ERK1/2. Blockage of ERK1/2 phosphorylation by treatment with MEK inhibitor (PD98059) decreased the expression of MMP2 in cancer cells grown in rat astrocyte-conditioned media. Our results are highly suggestive that MMP2 plays a role in the development of BC metastases, in particular to the brain. Furthermore, our results suggest that astrocyte factors and the ERK1/2 signaling pathway may be associated with BC brain metastasis development; and that ERK1/2 may regulate MMP2 in a way that is modifiable by astrocyte factors.
Dynamically Accessing Packet Header Fields at High-Speed

A significant part of packet processing consists of detecting whether certain standard protocol headers are present, where they are located and whether they include optional information. Packet processing programs are on tight time budgets, especially to handle speeds in the gigabits per second (gbps) range. Thus, high-speed mechanisms for finding and accessing headers are critical. Our approach lets users define headers as C-style structures in a high-level language, packetC [1], and specify header locations in terms of offsets from the start of the current packet, which is treated as an array of unsigned bytes. These offsets can be expressed in terms of network layer offsets, constant values, runtime-calculated variables and combinations of all of these. This paper focuses on the principal forms these offset expressions can take and on how our FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Arrays), compiler and interpreter collectively handle them at runtime. For simple and complex header offset scenarios we provide users with intuitive, high-level ways to describe offsets and provide effective runtime mechanisms to access header fields.
Is Beverage Consumption Related to Specific Dietary Pattern Intakes

Evaluating dietary patterns, rather than the consumption of single food items or nutrients, can provide a greater understanding of diet and health relationships. Dietary pattern research has been specifically identified as a research gap by the US Dietary Guidelines Committees. The purpose of this review was to determine if associations exist between the intake of commonly consumed beverages and specific dietary patterns. This review provides strong evidence that the consumption of water, unsweetened tea/coffee, low-fat milk, artificially sweetened beverages, and fruit/vegetable juice closely align with a Prudent dietary pattern; and conversely, the consumption of high-fat milk, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages are strongly associated with a Western dietary pattern. Future directions include: 1) continuing to examine beverage intake patterns and define their relationship to dietary patterns, 2) developing a measure of overall beverage intake quality to assess beverage patterns, and 3) identifying beverage patterns that are associated with health and disease outcomes.
A qualitative description of receiving a diagnosis of clefting in the prenatal or postnatal period.

This study investigated the experience of receiving a diagnosis of clefting in the prenatal or postnatal period. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 20 parents of children with cleft lip with or without cleft palate. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach with an emphasis on thematic analysis. Common themes emerged from participants’ responses regarding the delivery of the diagnosis, preparation for the birth of their child, advantages and disadvantages of prenatal diagnosis, use of the Internet, views on abortion and genetic testing, among other issues. All participants in the prenatal group indicated they were satisfied they learned of the cleft before the birth of their child. Some participants in the postnatal group would rather have received the diagnosis prenatally, while others were content with learning of the diagnosis in the delivery room. Greater awareness of the parental experience of the timing of receiving a cleft diagnosis may assist health care professionals in providing care for these families.
Expression of apoptosis-associated genes by human dermal scar fibroblasts

The purpose of this study was to determine if aberrant apoptosis plays a role in pathologic wound healing as manifested by hypertrophic scarring and keloid formation. Apoptosis has recently been found to participate in the transition between granulation tissue and the development of definitive scar. The question that remains to be answered is what stimuli initiate apoptosis during wound healing. Hitherto, regulatory factors and pathways involved have been largely undefined. We investigated heterogeneity among fibroblasts derived from normal skin and keloid scar, by examining apoptotic profiles and pathways for these cells. Quantitative analysis of apoptotic cells using an Annexin-V-FITC binding assay showed that normal skin fibroblast cultures were found to have a two-fold higher percentage of apoptotic cells than did keloid fibroblast cultures. To study apoptotic pathways and related death-associated genes, a ribonuclease protection assay was performed for fibroblasts exposed to anti-Fas antibody and tumor necrosis factor-alpha to activate the Fas/TNF receptor apoptotic pathway. Compared with normal skin fibroblasts, keloid fibroblasts exhibited decreased expression of apoptosis-associated genes.
Regulation of Mn-SOD activity in the mouse heart: Glucose effect

Intraperitoneal injection of glucose was found to cause a dose and time dependent suppression of superoxide dismutase activity in mouse heart. Manganese superoxide dismutase was more sensitive to glucose suppression than Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase. While glucose suppressed the Mn form of the enzyme at the concentration of 1.5 mg/kg, it did not have a significant effect on Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase activity at this concentration. The maximum suppression for both forms of superoxide dismutase activity occurred at 4.5 mg/kg. Glucose also suppressed manganese superoxide dismutase activity in mouse heart for a longer period of time compared to Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase. Glucose suppression also occurred in mouse brain. The glucose suppression effect on manganese superoxide dismutase activity in the heart was partially alleviated by X-irradiation.
Water requirements for mesquite (Prosopis juliflora)

Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) determined by different investigators, compared with values determined by the White and Troxell methods, showed that their values provided reasonable estimates and that utilizing diurnal water table fluctuations furnishes a method of computing ET with less than 100% vegetation density. Average daily maximum ET rates for June were calculated, and ratios were compared with values from other independent studies. Since ET rates, determined by White and Troxell methods, indicated plausible values of water use when compared to other independent studies, they could be considered index values useful as guidelines for water abstracted by mesquite.
Multimodal local infiltration analgesia in total shoulder replacement.

253 ISSN 1758-1869 10.2217/PMT.13.17 © 2013 Future Medicine Ltd Pain Manage. (2013) 3(4), 253–255 Shoulder replacement surgery is associ­ ated with significant postoperative pain. In fact, shoulder surgeries are among the most painful in orthopedics [1]. Interscalene brachial plexus blocks have historically been the mainstay of providing pain relief in arthroscopic and shoulder replacement surgery. Some of the reported advantages of local blocks include high patient com­ fort and satisfaction [2], less postoperative nausea/vomiting [3] and shorter intra­ operative times [3,4] and hospital stays [5,6]. In addition, continuous postopera­ tive infusion of interscalene anesthetic has been shown to be superior to morphine and patient controlled analgesia in controlling postoperative pain [7]. Although effective, interscalene blocks are not without potential complications. Interscalene blocks can be associated with transient sensory neuropathies [8], as well as more serious complications such as pneumothorax and CNS toxicity [9] if not performed by appropriately trained anesthesia staff [4]. As a result, surgeons have looked for other alternatives that provide adequate pain relief and have fewer potential complications. In 2008, Kerr and Kohan reported the effects of a multimodal analgesic mixture, termed local infiltration analgesia (LIA), on postoperative pain following total hip and hip resurfacing arthroplasties [10]. The authors utilized a mixture of ropivocaine HCl (2.0 mg/ml mixed with 30 mg ketorolac 10 μg/ml adrenaline, for a mixture of 150–200 ml). In their study of 325 patients, they reported that two­thirds of patients did not require narcotics postoperatively. Their multimodal mixture of ropivocaine, ketorolac and epinephrine had a favorable side effect profile as no serious side effects were reported. Mild side effects included orthostatic hypotension in 9% of knee surgery patients. Kerr and Kohan’s noteworthy results with LIA have led to greater adoption of the therapy in hip and knee replacement surgery with various groups also reporting decreased postoperative pain [11,12]. Similarly, a 2010 study by Essving et al. found a significant reduction in postoperative morphine consumption in the LIA group compared with the control (18 mg vs 87 mg, respectively) as well as higher patient satisfaction than the control group [13].
Dissecting the serotonergic food signal stimulating sensory-mediated aversive behavior in C. elegans.

Nutritional state often modulates olfaction and in Caenorhabditis elegans food stimulates aversive responses mediated by the nociceptive ASH sensory neurons. In the present study, we have characterized the role of key serotonergic neurons that differentially modulate aversive behavior in response to changing nutritional status. The serotonergic NSM and ADF neurons play antagonistic roles in food stimulation. NSM 5-HT activates SER-5 on the ASHs and SER-1 on the RIA interneurons and stimulates aversive responses, suggesting that food-dependent serotonergic stimulation involves local changes in 5-HT levels mediated by extrasynaptic 5-HT receptors. In contrast, ADF 5-HT activates SER-1 on the octopaminergic RIC interneurons to inhibit food–stimulation, suggesting neuron-specific stimulatory and inhibitory roles for SER-1 signaling. Both the NSMs and ADFs express INS-1, an insulin-like peptide, that appears to cell autonomously inhibit serotonergic signaling. Food also modulates directional decisions after reversal is complete, through the same serotonergic neurons and receptors involved in the initiation of reversal, and the decision to continue forward or change direction after reversal is dictated entirely by nutritional state. These results highlight the complexity of the “food signal” and serotonergic signaling in the modulation of sensory-mediated aversive behaviors.
Functional test generation based on unate function theory

The generation of a universal test set (UTS) for unate functions is used as a starting point. This test set is complete and minimal for the set of all unateness-preserving faults. However, for functions that are not unate in any variable, the UTS generated by this algorithm is the exhaustive set. An algorithm is presented that computes a good functional test set (GFTS) of reasonable size even for such functions. The algorithm does this by breaking up functions into more unate components, recursively computing GFTS for them, and combining the test sets in an appropriate way. The GFTS generated by the algorithm is compared to random test sets of the same size for gate-level fault coverage in typical implementations. >
Developing a new model for the invention and translation of neurotechnologies in academic neurosurgery.

BACKGROUND: There is currently an acceleration of new scientific and technical capabilities that create new opportunities for academic neurosurgery. To engage these changing dynamics, the Center for Innovation in Neuroscience and Technology (CINT) was created on the premise that successful innovation of device-related ideas relies on collaboration between multiple disciplines. The CINT has created a unique model that integrates scientific, medical, engineering, and legal/business experts to participate in the continuum from idea generation to translation. OBJECTIVE: To detail the method by which this model has been implemented in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Washington University in St. Louis and the experience that has been accrued thus far. METHODS: The workflow is structured to enable cross-disciplinary interaction, both intramurally and extramurally between academia and industry. This involves a structured method for generating, evaluating, and prototyping promising device concepts. The process begins with the "invention session," which consists of a structured exchange between inventors from diverse technical and medical backgrounds. Successful ideas, which pass a separate triage mechanism, are then sent to industry-sponsored multidisciplinary fellowships to create functioning prototypes. RESULTS: After 3 years, the CINT has engaged 32 clinical and nonclinical inventors, resulting in 47 ideas, 16 fellowships, and 12 patents, for which 7 have been licensed to industry. Financial models project that if commercially successful, device sales could have a notable impact on departmental revenue. CONCLUSION: The CINT is a model that supports an integrated approach from the time an idea is created through its translational development. To date, the approach has been successful in creating numerous concepts that have led to industry licenses. In the long term, this model will create a novel revenue stream to support the academic neurosurgical mission.
Resistance of pancreatic cancer cells to oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus: Role of type I interferon signaling

Oncolytic virus (OV) therapy takes advantage of common cancer characteristics, such as defective type I interferon (IFN) signaling, to preferentially infect and kill cancer cells with viruses. Our recent study (Murphy et al., 2012. J. Virol. 86, 3073-87) found human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) cells were highly heterogeneous in their permissiveness to vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and suggested at least some resistant cell lines retained functional type I IFN responses. Here we examine cellular responses to infection by the oncolytic VSV recombinant VSV-ΔM51-GFP by analyzing a panel of 11 human PDA cell lines for expression of 33 genes associated with type I IFN pathways. Although all cell lines sensed infection by VSV-ΔM51-GFP and most activated IFN-α and β expression, only resistant cell lines displayed constitutive high-level expression of the IFN-stimulated antiviral genes MxA and OAS. Inhibition of JAK/STAT signaling decreased levels of MxA and OAS and increased VSV infection, replication and oncolysis, further implicating IFN responses in resistance. Unlike VSV, vaccinia and herpes simplex virus infectivity and killing of PDA cells was independent of the type I IFN signaling profile, possibly because these two viruses are better equipped to evade type I IFN responses. Our study demonstrates heterogeneity in the type I IFN signaling status of PDA cells and suggests MxA and OAS as potential biomarkers for PDA resistance to VSV and other OVs sensitive to type I IFN responses.