cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Structure of Neuroblastoma Suppressor of Tumorigenicity 1 (NBL1) INSIGHTS FOR THE FUNCTIONAL VARIABILITY ACROSS BONE MORPHOGENETIC PROTEIN (BMP) ANTAGONISTS

Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are antagonized through the action of numerous extracellular protein antagonists, including members from the differential screening-selected gene aberrative in neuroblastoma (DAN) family. In vivo, misregulation of the balance between BMP signaling and DAN inhibition can lead to numerous disease states, including cancer, kidney nephropathy, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Despite this importance, very little information is available describing how DAN family proteins effectively inhibit BMP ligands. Furthermore, our understanding for how differences in individual DAN family members arise, including affinity and specificity, remains underdeveloped. Here, we present the structure of the founding member of the DAN family, neuroblastoma suppressor of tumorigenicity 1 (NBL1). Comparing NBL1 to the structure of protein related to Dan and Cerberus (PRDC), a more potent BMP antagonist within the DAN family, a number of differences were identified. Through a mutagenesis-based approach, we were able to correlate the BMP binding epitope in NBL1 with that in PRDC, where introduction of specific PRDC amino acids in NBL1 (A58F and S67Y) correlated with a gain-of-function inhibition toward BMP2 and BMP7, but not GDF5. Although NBL1S67Y was able to antagonize BMP7 as effectively as PRDC, NBL1S67Y was still 32-fold weaker than PRDC against BMP2. Taken together, this data suggests that alterations in the BMP binding epitope can partially account for differences in the potency of BMP inhibition within the DAN family.
EFFECT OF THE VAN DER WAALS INTERACTION ON ANALYSIS OF DOUBLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES

This paper presents the research on the analysis of the van der Waals (vdW) interaction on double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWNTs) via an elastic beam model. The parametric studies on the size of DWNTs are conducted to show the effect of vdW interaction on the analysis of both a cantilever DWNT subjected to force at the free tip and a DWNT subjected to pure bending. In addition, the kink instability for the cantilever DWNT is analyzed based on the proposed beam model. It is hoped that the research will provide mechanical models for the analysis of both single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) and multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs), as well as for kink instability analysis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs).
Importance of jejunum for bile acid absorption in pigeons: effect of jejunal resection on plasma cholesterol and cholesterol excretion.

Abstract Previous studies from our laboratory suggested that the jejunum could be the major site of bile acid absorption in the pigeon. To confirm this observation directly, the effects of jejunal resection on the fecal excretion of bile acids and neutral sterols and on the level of plasma cholesterol were examined in the pigeon. This surgical procedure specifically increased ( P P
Controlling epileptic seizures in a neural mass model

In an effort to understand basic functional mechanisms that can produce epileptic seizures, we introduce some key features in a model of coupled neural populations that enable the generation of seizure-like events and similar dynamics with the ones observed during the route of the epileptic brain towards real seizures. In this model, modified from David and Friston’s neural mass model, an internal feedback mechanism is incorporated to maintain synchronous behavior within normal levels despite elevated coupling. Normal internal feedback quickly regulates an abnormally high coupling between the neural populations, whereas pathological internal feedback can lead to hypersynchronization and the appearance of seizure-like high amplitude oscillations. Feedback decoupling is introduced as a robust seizure control strategy. An external feedback decoupling controller is introduced to maintain normal synchronous behavior. The results from the analysis in this model have an interesting physical interpretation and specific implications for the treatment of epileptic seizures. The proposed model and control scheme are consistent with a variety of recent observations in the human and animal epileptic brain, and with theories from nonlinear systems, adaptive systems, optimization, and neurophysiology.
Distinct cellular pathways for resistance to urea stress and hypertonic stress

During antidiuresis with elevated vasopressin, urea accumulates in the renal medulla to very high concentrations, imposing considerable cellular stress. How local cells cope with urea stress is relevant to the whole kidney because the renal medulla is the major site of residence for the renal stem cells. Previous studies showed that renal cells were incapable of preconditioning in moderate urea concentrations to enhance resistance to urea stress. Instead, preconditioning in moderately high salinity (moderate hypertonicity) has been shown to promote resistance to urea stress due to the induction of the molecular chaperone heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70), which is mediated by the transcription factor tonicity-responsive enhancer binding protein (TonEBP). Here we report that cell lines derived from the kidney and fibroblasts display enhanced resistance to urea stress after pretreatment in moderate, nonstressful concentrations of urea. Using TonEBP knockdown and immunoblot analyses, we demonstrate that TonEBP and Hsp70 are dispensable for the increased resistance to urea stress. These data suggest that cells in the renal medulla are capable of overcoming urea stress by activating distinct cellular pathways.
Pathophysiology of Calcium, Phosphorus, and Magnesium Metabolism in Animals

The goal of this article is to summarize key features of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium pathophysiology and highlight some of the recent scientific accomplishments in these fields. The area of calcium physiology has been especially active due to the discovery of a new calcium-regulating hormone, parathyroid hormone-related protein, cloning of the parathyroid hormone receptor and identification of a cell membrane receptor for ionized calcium. Advances have also been made in understanding the role of phosphorus and the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in the pathogenesis of secondary hyperparathyroidism in patients with chronic renal failure. The role of magnesium in many pathologic processes, including cardiac disease, is gaining a heightened appreciation due to its function in many metabolic processes and the development of techniques to measure ionized magnesium concentrations.
How significant is a protein structure similarity with TM-score = 0.5?

Motivation: Protein structure similarity is often measured by root mean squared deviation, global distance test score and template modeling score (TM-score). However, the scores themselves cannot provide information on how significant the structural similarity is. Also, it lacks a quantitative relation between the scores and conventional fold classifications. This article aims to answer two questions: (i) what is the statistical significance of TM-score? (ii) What is the probability of two proteins having the same fold given a specific TM-score? Results: We first made an all-to-all gapless structural match on 6684 non-homologous single-domain proteins in the PDB and found that the TM-scores follow an extreme value distribution. The data allow us to assign each TM-score a P-value that measures the chance of two randomly selected proteins obtaining an equal or higher TM-score. With a TM-score at 0.5, for instance, its P-value is 5.5 × 10-7, which means we need to consider at least 1.8 million random protein pairs to acquire a TM-score of no less than 0.5. Second, we examine the posterior probability of the same fold proteins from three datasets SCOP, CATH and the consensus of SCOP and CATH. It is found that the posterior probability from different datasets has a similar rapid phase transition around TM-score=0.5. This finding indicates that TM-score can be used as an approximate but quantitative criterion for protein topology classification, i.e. protein pairs with a TM-score >0.5 are mostly in the same fold while those with a TM-score <0.5 are mainly not in the same fold. Contact: zhng@umich.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A tumor suppressor homolog, atPTEN1, is essential for pollen development in Arabidopsis

Although it is well known that Tyr phosphatases play a critical role in signal transduction in animal cells, little is understood of the functional significance of Tyr phosphatases in higher plants. Here, we describe the functional analysis of an Arabidopsis gene (AtPTEN1) that encodes a Tyr phosphatase closely related to PTEN, a tumor suppressor in animals. The recombinant AtPTEN1 protein, like its homologs in animals, is an active phosphatase that dephosphorylates phosphotyrosine and phosphatidylinositol substrates. RNA gel blot analysis and examination of promoter-reporter constructs in transgenic Arabidopsis plants revealed that the AtPTEN1 gene is expressed exclusively in pollen grains during the late stage of development. Suppression of AtPTEN1 gene expression by RNA interference caused pollen cell death after mitosis. We conclude that AtPTEN1 is a pollen-specific phosphatase and is essential for pollen development.
Technology and Early Childhood Education: A Technology Integration Professional Development Model for Practicing Teachers

Despite the promise of technology in education, many practicing teachers are faced with multiple challenges of effectively integrating technology into their classroom instruction. Additionally, teachers who are successful incorporating educational technology into their instruction recognize that although technology tools have the potential to help children, they are not ends in themselves. This article describes a Summer Institute project that the authors facilitated in a medium sized midwest public university. The summer workshop afforded participating early childhood education teachers exciting opportunities to interact with various instructional tools and technology applications. Further, the practicing teachers explored various strategies to integrate specific technology tools into their lessons in a manner consistent with constructivist pedagogy. This article is intended to stimulate reflections on the need to adopt a suitable technology integration professional development model in early childhood education classrooms to support young learners.
Passenger mutations as a marker of clonal cell lineages in emerging neoplasia

Cancer arises as the result of a natural selection process among cells of the body, favoring lineages bearing somatic mutations that bestow them with a proliferative advantage. Of the thousands of mutations within a tumor, only a small fraction functionally drive its growth; the vast majority are mere passengers of minimal biological consequence. Yet the presence of any mutation, independent of its role in facilitating proliferation, tags a cell's clonal descendants in a manner that allows them to be distinguished from unrelated cells. Such markers of cell lineage can be used to identify the abnormal proliferative signature of neoplastic clonal evolution, even at a stage which predates morphologically recognizable dysplasia. This article focuses on molecular techniques for assessing cellular clonality in humans with an emphasis on how they may be used for early detection of tumorigenic processes. We discuss historical as well as contemporary approaches and consider ways in which powerful new genomic technologies might be harnessed to develop a future generation of early cancer diagnostics.
Supervised Link Prediction Using Multiple Sources

Link prediction is a fundamental problem in social network analysis and modern-day commercial applications such as Face book and My space. Most existing research approaches this problem by exploring the topological structure of a social network using only one source of information. However, in many application domains, in addition to the social network of interest, there are a number of auxiliary social networks and/or derived proximity networks available. The contribution of the paper is twofold: (1) a supervised learning framework that can effectively and efficiently learn the dynamics of social networks in the presence of auxiliary networks, (2) a feature design scheme for constructing a rich variety of path-based features using multiple sources, and an effective feature selection strategy based on structured sparsity. Extensive experiments on three real-world collaboration networks show that our model can effectively learn to predict new links using multiple sources, yielding higher prediction accuracy than unsupervised and single-source supervised models.
Molecular Dissection of Mesenchymal–Epithelial Interactions in the Hair Follicle

De novo hair follicle formation in embryonic skin and new hair growth in adult skin are initiated when specialized mesenchymal dermal papilla (DP) cells send cues to multipotent epithelial stem cells. Subsequently, DP cells are enveloped by epithelial stem cell progeny and other cell types to form a niche orchestrating hair growth. Understanding the general biological principles that govern the mesenchymal–epithelial interactions within the DP niche, however, has been hampered so far by the lack of systematic approaches to dissect the complete molecular make-up of this complex tissue. Here, we take a novel multicolor labeling approach, using cell type–specific transgenic expression of red and green fluorescent proteins in combination with immunolabeling of specific antigens, to isolate pure populations of DP and four of its surrounding cell types: dermal fibroblasts, melanocytes, and two different populations of epithelial progenitors (matrix and outer root sheath cells). By defining their transcriptional profiles, we develop molecular signatures characteristic for the DP and its niche. Validating the functional importance of these signatures is a group of genes linked to hair disorders that have been largely unexplored. Additionally, the DP signature reveals novel signaling and transcription regulators that distinguish them from other cell types. The mesenchymal–epithelial signatures include key factors previously implicated in ectodermal-neural fate determination, as well as a myriad of regulators of bone morphogenetic protein signaling. These findings establish a foundation for future functional analyses of the roles of these genes in hair development. Overall, our strategy illustrates how knowledge of the genes uniquely expressed by each cell type residing in a complex niche can reveal important new insights into the biology of the tissue and its associated disease states.
Is laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair with mesh a reasonable alternative to conventional repair

Background: Laparoscopic mesh repair has been advocated as treatment of choice for ventral hernias. The term “ventral hernia” refers to a variety of abdominal wall defects and laparoscopic papers have not reported defect specific analysis. The purpose of this study was to determine any advantages to laparoscopic mesh repair of umbilical hernias. Methods: A retrospective review (January 1998 to April 2001) was made of patients undergoing umbilical hernia repair. Patients were categorized into three groups: laparoscopic repair with mesh, open repair with mesh, and open repair without mesh. Comparative analysis was performed. Results: One-hundred and sixteen umbilical hernia repairs were performed in 112 patients: 30 laparoscopic mesh repairs, 20 open mesh repairs, and 66 open nonmesh repairs. The laparoscopic technique was used for larger defects and took more time with a trend toward fewer postoperative complications and recurrences. Conclusions: Laparoscopic umbilical hernia repair with mesh presents a reasonable alternative to conventional methods of repair. © 2002 Excerpta Medica Inc. All rights reserved.
Quiescent high mass cores in Orion region

Our goal is to study relatively quiescent dense gas cores, isolated from disruptive stars, to understand the initial conditions of massive star formation. Determining their mass, size, dynamical status, and core mass distribution is a starting point to understand the mechanisms for formation, collapse, and the origin of their IMF. We obtained CSO 350 μm images of quiescent regions in Orion and detected 51 resolved or nearly resolved molecular cores with masses ranging from 0.1 M to 46 M (Li et al. 2006). The mean mass is 9.8 M , which is one order of magnitude higher than that of the resolved cores in low mass star forming regions, such as Taurus. Our sample includes largely thermally unstable cores, which implies that the cores are supported neither by thermal pressure nor by turbulence, and are probably supercritical. They are likely precursors of protostars. Fig. 1 shows the cores in our sample have a power law core mass function with an index α = -0.85±0.21. This mass function does not resemble the stellar IMF or turbulence cascade structure function, and it is also in contrast with core surveys done in the Ophiuchus region (Motte et al. 1998) and the Serpens region (Testi et al. 1998). We find that the differential mass function approach, while requiring more cores due to the necessity of binning, is more robust and has better defined statistical uncertainties than the cumulative mass function. Use of the cumulative mass function can erroneously suggest multiple power law indices, particularly if the core mass distribution is characterized by a power law index close to ∼−1. Our results for the quiescent cores in the Orion show that the core mass function is flatter in an environment affected by ongoing high mass star formation. Thus, environmental processes likely play a role in the evolution of dense cores and the formation of stars in such regions.
Narrativity and Professional Communication: Folktales and Community Meaning

Narrative has been neglected in the education of professionals. The persuasive power of narrative is essential to all the sense-making activities that govern the lives of professionals, for in sens...
Surface tension of polymer solutions. III. Effect of molecular weight distribution

The lattice-theory equations for the surface tension of polymer solutions based on the parallel-layer model have been extended to include more than two components. The surface tensions of tetrachloroethylene solutions of some blended polydimethylsiloxane fluids have been measured at room temperature. The results are in nearly quantitative agreement with the theoretical calculations.
A Search for Rapidly Oscillating Ap Stars in the Northern Hemisphere

Since 1984, efforts have been underway at Lowell Observatory to monitor Ap stars for rapid oscillations utilizing a photoelectric photometer on 0.6- to 1.8-meter telescopes. These variables, first discovered and designated as a subgroup of Ap stars by D.W. Kurtz, pulsate with periods between 4 and 15 minutes and light variations less than about 0.m0l6 in B. This strongly suggests high overtone p-mode oscillations as the cause of rapid variability. To attempt to increase the known number, Ap stars of spectral type B9 and later are being monitored. As members currently span the range A5 to F0, it is important to establish within what limits rapid oscillations are present. So far, only one new member has been found at Lowell (HD 134214), bringing the known total to eleven. The coordination of observations for known members has proved to be useful; no fewer than five rapidly oscillating Ap stars have been observed via multi-site, coordinated photometry. In this context, the status of this observing program and its future goals are presented.
Graph algorithms for clock schedule optimization

Performance driven synthesis of sequential circuits relies on techniquessuch as optimal clocking, retiming and resynthesis. In this paper we address the optimal clocking problem and demonstrate that it is reducible to a parametric shortest path problem. We use constraints that take into account both the short and long paths. The main contributions are effrcient graph algorithms to solve the set of constraints necessary for correct clocking.
Tensile Stress Acoustic Constants of Unidirectional Graphite/Epoxy Composites

Previously, the stress acoustic constants (SAC''s) of unidirectional graphite/epoxy composites were measured to determine the nonlinear moduli of this material. These measurements were made under compressive loading in order to obtain the sufficient number of values needed to calculate these moduli. However, because their strength in tension along fiber directions can be several times greater, most composites are used under tensile loading. Thus, it is important to characterize the nonlinear properties of these materials in tension as well. The SAC''s which are defined as the slope of the normalized change in ultrasonic "natural" velocity as a function of stress were measured in a unidirectional laminate of T300/5208 graphite/epoxy. Tensile load was applied along the fiber axis with the ultrasonic waves propagating perpendicular to locked loop ultrasonic interferometer with the nominal frequency of the ultrasonic waves being 2.25 MHz.
Nonlinear Feedback Control of a Spinning Two-Spacecraft Coulomb Virtual Structure

This paper studies a spinning two-spacecraft Coulomb virtual structure control scenario in an orbital environment. Only Coulomb forces are utilized to control the two-spacecraft formation shape while flying in a geostationary orbit. After deriving the separation distance equation of motion which determines the two-vehicle formation shape, a feed-forward nominal control charge is developed by assuming a purely two-spacecraft configuration. An asymptotically stable full-state feedback control law is developed. It requires the inertial and relative position vectors which are difficult to measure accurately. A partial-state feedback control law is proven to be stable assuming a fast spinning rate in comparison with the orbit rate. The boundaries of the orbital motion contributions are proven to be negligible for a relatively tight and fast-spinning formation in a geostationary orbit. An integral feedback term is utilized to compensate for the error in estimating the feed-forward nominal charge product. Numerical simulations illustrate the performance of the controllers.
On-chip Real-Time Power Supply Noise Detector

A new on-chip real-time noise detector that can be used for detecting voltage surges and droops on the internal power supply of VSLI circuits is presented. The noise detector is compact, and has the ability of detecting dc levels and high frequency on-chip transients of the power supply voltage. The detector has been implemented in a 90 nm CMOS technology, and has an area of 50times100 mum2. The measured results show that the detector can detect overshoots and undershoots of less than 1 ns, and as small as 20 mV
Evolutionary relationships among self-incompatibility RNases

T2-type RNases are responsible for self-pollen recognition and rejection in three distantly related families of flowering plants—the Solanaceae, Scrophulariaceae, and Rosaceae. We used phylogenetic analyses of 67 T2-type RNases together with information on intron number and position to determine whether the use of RNases for self-incompatibility in these families is homologous or convergent. All methods of phylogenetic reconstruction as well as patterns of variation in intron structure find that all self-incompatibility RNases along with non-S genes from only two taxa form a monophyletic clade. Several lines of evidence suggest that the best interpretation of this pattern is homology of self-incompatibility RNases from the Scrophulariaceae, Solanaceae, and Rosaceae. Because the most recent common ancestor of these three families is the ancestor of ≈75% of dicot families, our results indicate that RNase-based self-incompatibility was the ancestral state in the majority of dicots.
Transient response of a thermoelectric generator subjected to spatially non-uniform heating: Implications for heat and IR sensing applications

Abstract We present a combined experimental and computational investigation of the transient behavior of a thermoelectric generator (TEG) subjected to temperature gradients of less than 0.5 K across its thickness. Such conditions can exist when TEGs are used as heat sensors or IR detectors. Spatially non-uniform heating was initiated by allowing light to strike the central portion of one side of the TEG or by placing a small heated probe in contact with that surface. The time-dependent, open circuit voltage output of the TEG was predicted using temperature results from a three dimensional transient heat conduction finite element model. It is shown that the transient voltage output is influenced by the configuration of the mounting hardware, by the thermal properties of the TEG’s materials of construction, and by convection. Three-dimensional heat conduction in the TEG determines the nature of the transient voltage output, which, in some cases, exhibits an overshoot.
Alcohol Use Severity Among Hispanic Emerging Adults in Higher Education: Understanding the Effect of Cultural Congruity

Background: Identifying and understanding determinants of alcohol use behavior among Hispanic college students is an increasingly important public health issue, particularly during emerging adulthood. Studies examining ethnocultural determinants of alcohol use behavior among Hispanic college students have focused on direct associations with cultural orientation (e.g., acculturation and enculturation); yet there is a need for research that accounts for the complex interplay of other culturally relevant sociocultural factors. Objectives: This study examined associations of behavioral acculturation, behavioral enculturation, and cultural congruity (perception of cultural fit between the values of the academic environment and the student's personal values) with alcohol use severity (AUS); and tested if gender moderated those associations. Methods: A hierarchical linear regression and moderation analysis were conducted on a sample of 167 Hispanic emerging adults (ages 18–25) enrolled in college. Results: All p...
CO2-Soluble Ionic Surfactants and CO2 Foams for High-Temperature and High-Salinity Sandstone Reservoirs

The sweep efficiency of CO2 enhanced oil recovery can be improved by forming viscous CO2-in-water (C/W) foams that increase the viscosity of CO2. The goal of this study is to identify CO2-soluble ionic surfactants that stabilize C/W foams at elevated temperatures up to 120 °C in the presence of a high salinity brine using aqueous phase stability, static and dynamic adsorption, CO2 solubility, interfacial tension, foam bubble size, and foam viscosity measurements. An anionic sulfonate surfactant and an amphoteric acetate surfactant were selected to achieve good thermal and chemical stability, and to minimize adsorption to sandstone reservoirs in the harsh high-salinity high-temperature brine. The strong solvation of the surfactant head by the brine phase and surfactant tail by CO2 allows efficient reduction of the C/W interfacial tension, and the formation of viscous C/W foams at high salinity and high temperature. Furthermore, the effect of temperature and methane dilution of CO2 on foam viscosity was eva...
THE IMPACT OF AGE AND COMPLETION OF A MODERATE DISTANCE RUNNING RACE ON CARDIAC FUNCTION: RESULTS FROM P.E.A.C.H. (PROFILING THE EFFECTS OF AGING ON EXERCISE-INDUCED CHANGES IN CARDIAC MECHANICS)

Participation in ultra-endurance exercise is associated with transient cardiac dysfunction, or cardiac fatigue. The effects of aging and participation in a moderate distance running race on changes in cardiac function have not been studied. 73 healthy runners spanning a wide age spectrum [(Group 1
Changes in the electronic structure and spin dynamics across the metal-insulator transition in La 1 -x Sr x CoO 3

The magnetoelectronic properties of ${\mathrm{La}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_{x}{\mathrm{CoO}}_{3}$, which include giant magnetoresistance, are strongly dependent on the level of hole doping. The system evolves, with increasing $x$, from a spin glass insulator to a metallic ferromagnet with a metal-insulator (MI) transition at ${x}_{\text{C}}$ $\ensuremath{\sim}0.18$. Nanoscale phase separation occurs in the insulating phase and persists, to some extent, into the just-metallic phase. The present experiments at 4.2 K have used $^{139}\mathrm{La}$ nuclear magnetic resonance to investigate the transition from hopping dynamics for $x$ $l$ ${x}_{\text{C}}$ to Korringa-like ferromagnetic metal behavior for $x$ $g$ ${x}_{\text{C}}$. A marked decrease in the spin-lattice relaxation rate is found in the vicinity of ${x}_{\text{C}}$ as the MI transition is crossed. This behavior is accounted for in terms of the evolution of the electronic structure and dynamics with cluster size.
On the Job-Leaving of the Hotel Knowledge Staff——The Reason,Influence and Countermeasure Analysis

With the advent of the era of knowledge-driven economy, the function that knowledge staff play in the development of a hotel is getting more and more noticeable.However,the knowledge staff have the following characteristics:high professional skill,strong independent competence,attaching great importance to self-fulfillment and pursuing challenge,which results in low loyalty to the hotel and poor job stability.This paper starts with analyzing the feature and demand of knowledge staff,their causes of job-leaving from three aspects:the inner “thrust” of the hotel,the “pulling force” of external society and the staff themselves.Based on this,countermeasures are also offered on how to stablize knowledge staff.
Breeding and Utilization of Indica TGMS Line GD-5S in Rice

The TGMS line GD-5S,derived from the cross between Annong S-1/Dong B,the donor of TGMS genes,and Zhe 9248,an early-season indica inbred variety of Zhejiang Province,was technically identified and registered in Guangdong in June,2006.It is characteristic of good plant type,early tillering growth,stable fertility alteration,strong resistance to blast and favorable flowering habits for easy multiplication and hybrid seed production.Derived from it,the hybrids Yueza 510(GD-5S/W510)and Yueza 583(GD-5S/W1283)have been developed,and Yueza 510 was examined and approved by the Crop Variety Appraisal Committee of Guangdong Province in March,2007.
Overall model and computing method of public PE class teaching quality in colleges

According to the teaching-characteristic of public physical education in colleges,the paper puts forward the evaluation index system for physical education quality and carries out an overall evaluation by Fuzzy mathematics method.The scientificalness and operatability of evaluation method are verified on the example.
Hematologic disorders affecting the lungs.

SUMMARY Pulmonary involvement by hematologic disorders can occur through any number of mechanisms involving abnormalities of the fluid phase of hemostasis, quantitative or qualitative defects in the cellular components, and direct and indirect involvement of the malignancies derived from the hematopoietic system. Consideration of possible mechanisms through which the blood can alter pulmonary physiology and result in recognizable disorders, such as pulmonary hemorrhage, thromboembolism, fibrosis, or obstruction, can lead to more rapid and appropriate diagnosis. Further work aimed at diagnosis and management of hematologic disorders, prior to the development of pulmonary manifestations, will enable us to prevent the long-term sequelae. Intervention aimed at relieving the acute pulmonary symptoms fol lowed by long-term management of the hematologic disease can result in significantly improved prognosis and quality of life for our patients who have manifested pulmonary symptoms secondary to a hematologic disease.
Clinical features of ischemic stroke in Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in New Mexico: a study of 341 consecutive patients at two hospitals.

This study was undertaken to determine whether there are any differences in the clinical features of ischemic stroke between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in New Mexico. From August 1988 to August 1990, one investigator prospectively evaluated consecutive patients who presented within 30 days of onset of stroke or transient ischemic attack and entered data into a computerized stroke registry. Several important vascular factors were recorded. Patients presented to either a Veterans Affairs Medical Center or a University Medical Center (a county facility). There were 112 Hispanics and 229 non-Hispanic whites with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Non-Hispanic whites were more likely to have ischemic heart disease (P = .01) and ischemic (vs nonischemic) causes of potential cardiogenic emboli (p = .05) than were Hispanics. The following were not significantly different between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites: prevalence of vascular risk factors, death within 30 days of stroke, vascular territory involved, infarct location, prevalence of extracranial carotid stenosis, or cardiac sources of emboli. Our study does not show an obvious difference in the clinical features of ischemic stroke between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in New Mexico.
Making Inferences About Jury Behavior from Jury Verdict Statistics

The jury research that appears to have had the most impact on judges, policymakers, and legal academics concerned with the civil justice system involves studies using data on jury verdict statistics. This article sets forth the serious methodological problems with such studies and documents the fact that, for many purposes, the conclusions that authors have drawn from them are scientifically invalid because plausible rival alternative hypptheses cannot be eliminated. The article concludes with cautions about the seductive appeal of jury verdict data and the need to clearly recognize and state their limitations.
Towards a Rule Based Distributed OWL Reasoning Framework

The amount of data exposed in the form of RDF and OWL continues to increase exponentially. Some approaches have already been proposed for the scalable reasoning over several language profiles such as RDFS, OWL Horst, OWL 2 EL, OWL 2 RL etc. But all those approaches are limited to the particular ruleset that the reasoner supports. In this work, we propose the idea for a rule-based distributed reasoning framework that can support any given ruleset and highlight some of the challenges that needs to be solved in order to implement such a framework.
Pyrolysis Mechanisms of Lignin Model Compounds Using a Heated Micro-Reactor

Lignin is an important component of biomass, and the decomposition of its thermal deconstruction products is important in pyrolysis and gasification. In this chapter, we investigate the unimolecular pyrolysis chemistry through the use of singly and doubly substituted benzene molecules that are model compounds representative of lignin and its primary pyrolysis products. These model compounds are decomposed in a heated micro-reactor, and the products, including radicals and unstable intermediates, are measured using photoionization mass spectrometry and matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy. We show that the unimolecular chemistry can yield insight into the initial decomposition of these species. At pyrolysis and gasification severities, singly substituted benzenes typically undergo bond scission and elimination reactions to form radicals. Some require radical-driven chain reactions. For doubly substituted benzenes, proximity effects of the substituents can change the reaction pathways.
Forms of Precepts – Rules

“What a multitude of things there are … in a law.” – Bentham INTRODUCTION Legal systems recognize varied functional units that are preceptual in nature, including rules, principles, maxims, and general orders. Each variety takes its own overall form. When well-designed, such purposive systematic arrangements can contribute to the realization of policy or other preceptual content. As Jhering held, there can be no realization of such content without form. Due form in rules can also serve general values of the rule of law, and these values may even conflict with, and justifiably over-ride, policy or other content to an extent, a truth I stress here. Form in rules can contribute as well to the realization of democracy, justice, freedom, security, rationality, and other fundamental political values. As we will see, the form and formal features of rules leave major imprints and other effects on the contents of rules. Here, too, much of what may already be familiar will be presented anew in the idiom of form and the formal. Rules have long occupied legal theorists and other scholars. Rules may be said to be the “workhorse” precepts of legal systems and are worthy of extended attention. Yet despite the long history of legal studies, the overall form of rules and its constituent features have not received their due. It will be sufficient to concentrate here on a common paradigm of the overall form of a statutory rule, the constituent features of such form, complementary content, and how all these are unified.
Direct Hospital Cost of Outcome Pathways in Implant-Based Reconstruction with Acellular Dermal Matrices.

Background: Current cost data on tissue expansion followed by exchange for permanent implant (TE/I) reconstruction lack a necessary assessment of the experience of a heterogenous breast cancer patient population and their multiple outcome pathways. We extend our previous analysis to that of direct hospital cost as bundling of payments is likely to follow the changing centralization of cancer care at the hospital level.
A cross-sectional study of patient and provider perception of "cure" as a goal of cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Patients with advanced cancer often misperceive the purpose and likely effectiveness of cancer treatments. The aim of this study was to characterize patient and provider perceptions in the setting of surgery for potentially curable cancer. METHODS One hundred and six patient-surgeon dyads were surveyed about their expectations for upcoming surgery. Items scored using a Likert scale were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS Patients and surgeons reported excellent communication and shared decision-making. Patients more often than surgeons perceived that surgery was "Likely" or "Very Likely" to cure their cancer (86.0% vs. 72.0%, P = 0.011), extend their lives (94.0% vs. 82.0%, P = 0.007), and relieve cancer-related symptoms (65.0% vs. 35.0%, P < 0.001). Patients less often felt that surgery would be associated with complications (33.0% vs. 48.0%, P = 0.016). Over half (53.9%) of patients believed that they were more likely to experience surgical cancer cure compared with someone else with the same diagnosis while 70.8% of surgeons declared a patient's relative chances of surgical cure "the same." CONCLUSIONS Patients with resectable lung and gastrointestinal cancers have more optimistic perceptions about the outcomes of an upcoming surgery than their surgeons, even in a setting of good communication and shared decision-making. J. Surg. Oncol. 2016;114:677-683. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
VSig: Hand-gestured signature recognition and authentication with wearable camera

Wearable camera is gaining popularity not only as a recording device for law enforcement and hobbyists, but also as a human-computer interface for the next generation wearable technology. It provides a more convenient and portable platform for gesture input than stationary camera, but poses unique challenges due to user movement and scene variation. In this paper, we describe a robust wearable camera based system called VSig for hand-gestured signature recognition and authentication. The proposed method asks the user to virtually sign within the field of the view of the wearable camera. Fingertip is segmented out and tracked to reconstruct the signature. This is followed by signature matching for authentication with the pre-stored signatures of the individual. A dataset named SIGAIR comprising of hand-gestured signatures from 10 individuals has been created and used for testing. An average accuracy of 97.5% is achieved by the proposed method.
Diagnostic resolution improvement through learning-guided physical failure analysis

An accurate and high-resolution diagnosis enables physical failure analysis (PFA) to identify and understand the root-cause of integrated-circuit failure. Despite many existing techniques for improving diagnosis, resolution is still far from ideal, which hinders PFA and other analyses. To address this challenge, we extend the capability of PADRE (physically-aware diagnostic resolution enhancement), a powerful machine learning based diagnosis resolution improvement technique, with a novel, active learning (AL) based PFA selection approach. An active-learning based PADRE (AL PADRE) selects the most useful defects for PFA in order to improve diagnostic resolution. AL PADRE provides an alternative to the normal PFA selection procedure, it improves the the accuracy of PADRE, and thus enables a more accurately improved resolution. AL PADRE is validated by both simulation-based experiment and silicon experiment. Simulation-based experiments show that by using AL PADRE, the number of PFAs required for increasing the accuracy to a stable level of 90% is reduced by more than 60% on average compared to baseline approach, and AL PADRE consistently outperforms the baseline approach for accuracy improvement in various scenarios. In the silicon experiment, by using AL PADRE, the number of chips needed to undergo PFA was reduced by more than 6x in order to increase diagnosis accuracy by more than 20%.
Distracting behaviors among teenagers and young, middle-aged, and older adult drivers when driving without and with warnings from an integrated vehicle safety system

Abstract Introduction Negative reinforcement from crash warnings may reduce the likelihood that drivers engage in distracted driving. Alternatively, drivers may compensate for the perceived safety benefit of crash warnings by engaging in distractions more frequently, especially at higher speeds. The purpose of this study was to examine whether warning feedback from an integrated vehicle-based safety system affected the likelihood that various secondary behaviors were present among drivers ages 16–17, 20–30, 40–50, and 60–70. Method Participants drove an instrumented sedan with various collision warning systems for an extended period. Ten 5-second video clips were randomly sampled from driving periods at speeds above 25 mph and below 5 mph each week for each driver and coded for the presence of 11 secondary behaviors. Results At least one secondary behavior was present in 46% of video clips; conversing with a passenger (17%), personal grooming (9%), and cellphone conversation (6%) were the most common. The likelihood that at least one secondary behavior was present was not significantly different during periods when drivers received warnings relative to periods without warnings. At least one secondary behavior was 21% more likely to be present at speeds below 5 mph relative to speeds above 25 mph; however, the effect of vehicle speed was not significantly affected by warning presence. Separate models for each of the five most common secondary behaviors also indicated that warnings had no significant effect on the likelihood that each behavior was present. Conclusions Collision warnings were not associated with significant increases or decreases in the overall likelihood that teen and adult drivers engaged in secondary behaviors or the likelihood of the behaviors at speeds above 25 mph or below 5 mph. Practical applications There was no evidence that forward collision warning and other technologies like those in this study will increase or decrease distracted driving.
The Tax Exclusion for Employer-Sponsored Insurance Is Not Regressive—But What Is It?

Conventional wisdom says that the tax exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) is "regressive and therefore unfair." Yet, by the standard definition of regressive tax policy, the conventional view is almost certainly false. It confuses the absolute size of the tax exclusion with its proportional effect on income. The error results from paying attention only to the marginal tax rate applied to ESI benefits as a portion of income and ignoring the fact that benefits are normally a much larger share of income for people with lower wages. This article explains the difference and then considers other distributional effects of ESI. It suggests that ESI-for those who receive it-further redistributes toward those with lesser means or greater need. The most evident effect is by need, favoring employees with families over those without. Yet there is good reason to believe there is also a redistribution by income, with the package of wages plus benefits being less unequal than wages alone would be. Therefore reformers should be much more careful before criticizing either ESI or its subsidy through the tax code as "unfair," especially as the likelihood of enacting something better in the United States seems quite low.
What Has Been Learned? Process and Values Matter!

This concluding chapter summarizes what has been learned from this work’s case studies and the surveys of citizens in the western U.S. As discussed in the introductory chapter, the three Pacific Coast states of Washington, Oregon and California have been active participants in the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy. These three states are host to numerous alternative energy technology (AET) installation controversies; each state has a long history of environmental concerns and has spawned major home-grown environmental movements; and each state has extensive experience with both carbon-based and non-carbon-based (such as hydroelectric) energy production for the power grid. The state of Idaho is included in the analyses as the case of a neighboring state that has not been so proactive promoting non-hydro AET. The case studies demonstrated that the process of siting AET should be transparent, fair, and incorporate local concerns about the local environmental consequences of AET siting. The case studies and survey data also reveal that values—including political orientations, postmaterialism, and most importantly the NEP—are important predictors of support for renewable energy technologies, but also play a role in predicting public preferences concerning environmental tradeoffs. At the same time, this study also found that globalists (strong environmental values with strong support for AET over local environmental concerns) differ in certain of their values from localists (strong environmental values with strong support for local environmental concerns over AET).
Venous Thromboembolism in the Intensive Care Unit

Pulmonary embolism is a common condition that, when unrecognized, is associated with a high mortality. The pathophysiologic complications of thromboembolism including hypotension and hypoxemia can necessitate intensive care unit management. In addition, pulmonary embolism can be a consequence of critical care. In the beginning sections of this chapter, we review the risk factors, presentation and diagnosis of patients who develop pulmonary embolism within compared to outside of the ICU. The non-specific symptoms and signs of venous thromboembolism make this disease a challenge to recognize in the ambulatory patient. In the ICU, patients often have co-morbid conditions with overlapping pathophysiologic sequelae that further heightens the challenge of recognizing this disorder. Although the work up of the patient with suspected venous thromboembolism in the intensive care unit is not necessarily different from that of the ambulatory setting, the physiologic instability that results from massive pulmonary embolism may necessitate a bedside evaluation. In the latter sections of this chapter, we discuss risk stratification and the management of pulmonary embolism for patients with sub-massive and massive disease. In the unstable patient with acute pulmonary embolism, rapid anticoagulation and thrombolysis are indicated. The use of thrombolysis in the patient with sub-massive disease remains controversial.