cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Increased expression of corticotropin-releasing hormone and vasopressin messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus during repeated stress: association with reduction in glucocorticoid receptor mRNA levels.

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses remain intact or increase after chronic or repeated stress despite robust levels of circulating glucocorticoids that would be expected to restrain the responsiveness of the axis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether chronic stress altered corticosteroid receptor messenger RNA (mRNA) levels at any locus known to mediate glucocorticoid feedback on HPA function (i.e. hippocampus or hypothalamus), whether such effects were glucocorticoid dependent, and whether changes in corticosteroid receptor function could potentially contribute to the putative shift from corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) to arginine vasopressin (AVP) in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) in the modulation of pituitary adrenal function occurring during chronic stress. We compared the stress responsiveness of sham-operated rats to that of adrenalectomized rats using a moderate dose of corticosterone (CORT) pellet replacement (ADX + CORT group). Acute immobilization caused a significant increase in CRH, but not AVP, mRNA levels in the parvocellular PVN in sham rats. The ADX + CORT group showed significantly greater increases in both CRH and AVP mRNA levels in the PVN compared to sham rats. These data indicate that PVN AVP mRNA levels are more sensitive to glucocorticoid negative feedback than are the levels of CRH mRNA. In repeated stress, the sham groups showed robust increases in PVN CRH and AVP mRNA levels despite high levels of plasma CORT. The rise in AVP mRNA levels was greater than that in CRH mRNA. Type II glucocorticoid receptor mRNA in the hippocampus and PVN was decreased in the repeatedly stressed sham group. These data suggest a decrease in the CORT negative feedback restraint of PVN CRH and AVP mRNA levels repeated stress and a persistence of relatively greater responsiveness of AVP mRNA levels to CORT negative feedback. After repeated stress in ADX+CORT rats, both PVN CRH and AVP mRNA levels showed robust responses, with a relatively greater increase in AVP mRNA. These data indicate that a CORT-mediated decrease in hippocampal and hypothalamic glucocorticoid receptor mRNA levels is not the only mechanism contributing to the maintenance of a robust HPA response after repeated stress. Similarly, we postulate that the relative shift from CRH to AVP in the PVN after repeated stress is mediated by both a greater sensitivity of AVP to CORT negative feedback and CORT-independent mechanisms.
Age-related dysregulation in CD8 T cell homeostasis: kinetics of a diversity loss.

Relative diversity and representation of peripheral T cells bearing different TCR Vβ families are remarkably tightly regulated between birth and advanced adulthood. By contrast, individual elderly humans and C3H.SW and B10.BR aged mice display drastic disruption in such regulation. It was suggested that the alterations in the murine aged T cell compartment were due to age-related clonal T cell expansions (TCE). Here, we studied the kinetics of homeostatic dysregulation of T cell populations in aged C57BL/6 (B6) mice. Using mAb staining, we show that the percentages of αβ + CD8 + or CD4 + T cells bearing different TCRVβ elements remain virtually constant in mice up to 12 mo of age. In 22-mo-old mice, however, there is a dramatic disturbance of this pattern owing to the emergence of CD8 + TCE. Expanded T cells did not show any obvious bias in Vβ usage and were derived in all cases examined thus far from a single clone. TCE appeared later in life, compared with B cell clonal expansions. However, and in contrast to those detected in humans, TCE were frequently unstable disappearing within 2–4 mo, with other TCE appearing within the same time frame. Additional studies carried on thymic T cells, thymectomized mice, and young T transferred cells into Rag1 −/− mice suggest that the clonal expansions occur in the periphery and that their onset is accelerated by decreased thymic output and/or function(s).
Differential regulation of heterodimerization by 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and its 20-epi analog

Abstract Twenty-epi analogs of 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) are 100–1000 times more potent transcriptionally than the natural hormone. To determine to what extent this enhanced activity is mediated through modulation of the dimerization process, we performed quantitative dimerization assays with in vitro translated vitamin D receptor (ivtVDR) and fusion proteins containing glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and either the ligand-binding domain of VDR (GST-VDR) or retinoid X receptor (RXR)α (GST-RXR). We found that VDR did not form homodimers in either the presence or absence of ligand, but heterodimerization of the ligand-binding domains of RXRα and VDR was primarily deltanoid-dependent. The ED 50 for induction of heterodimerization was 1–2 × 10 − 9 M for 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 and 0.5 × 10 − 11 M for 20-epi 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 . Mutations in VDR’s activation function 2 domain (AF-2) diminished the abilities of 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 to induce a protease-resistant conformation and heterodimerization. These mutations changed neither the potency of 20-epi-1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 to induce protease-resistant conformation nor its potency to induce dimerization. Mutations in heptad 9/helix 10 abolished the ability of both 1α,25(OH) 2 D 3 and the 20-epi analog to induce dimerization, but not their potency to fold VDR into a protease-resistant conformation. We hypothesize that both the hormone and the analog stabilize receptor conformations that expose VDR’s dimerization interface, and that interfaces exposed by these ligands are probably not significantly different. However, the mechanisms by which the two ligands expose the dimerization interface are different with respect to participation of the AF-2 domain.
"I Asked My Parents Why a Wall Was so Important": Teaching about the GDR and Post-Reunification Germany.

For students today, the events of German re unification (or die Wende)l and their impact over the past eighteen years are effectively ancient history. Yet, as an unprecedented historical and political event, and as a sociological and economic phenomenon in its aftermath, die Wende provides a fascinating case study of a culture struggling with massive change. Should a course about this period of recent German history and its legacy be offered to our students today? If so, what would be the advantages of offering such an interdisciplinary course through the German department? Would a course on East Germany be attractive to German majors and minors, and for departments whose curricular concerns are accompanied by continual worry about sufficient enrollment? Would it attract students from other departments or schools into the German program? What should this kind of course look like and how would it be integrated into a German curriculum? The following discussion explores these important questions. Since the fall of 2004, our department has reg ularly offered an interdisciplinary course in English called "Introduction to Contemporary Germany: Eastern Germany since the Fall of the Wall." It typi cally attracts about 15-20 students each time we offer it. The course on the GDR is part of a reorien tation of our curriculum to offer more courses fo cusing on the history and culture of Germany to our German majors early in their course work2 as a way to prepare them for subsequent culture and litera ture courses in the German program.3 There are several reasons why a course on the GDR, the events of die Wende, and its aftermath was added to the German curriculum. First and foremost, we believe that understanding the issues related to the history of the GDR and the post-reunification de bates are of vital importance to our students in their quest to understand Germany and the Germans to day. Second, we believe that a course focusing on history, economics, social welfare, religion, gov ernment, and other aspects of a society that experi enced a dramatic shift adds a critical component to the offerings of the German Department and is squarely in line with the ideas put forth in a recent report by the MLA Ad Hoc Committee on Foreign Languages, "Foreign Languages and Higher Edu cation: New Structures for a Changed World." In
Propensities, probabilities, and the Boltzmann hypothesis

The relative strengths of interactions involving polypeptide chains can be estimated with reasonable accuracy with statistical potentials, free-energy functions derived from the frequency of occurrence of structural arrangements of residues or atoms in collections of protein structures. Recent published work has shown that the energetics of side-chain/backbone interactions can be modeled by the φ/Ψ propensities of the 20 amino acids. In this report, the more commonly used φ/Ψ probabilities are demonstrated to fail in evaluating the free energies of protein conformations because of an overriding preference for all helical structures. Comparison of the hypothetical reactions implied by these two different statistics—propensities versus probabilities—leads to the conclusion that the Boltzmann hypothesis may only be applicable for the calculation of statistical potentials after the starting conformation has been specified. This conclusion supports a simple conjecture: The surprising success of the Boltzmann hypothesis in explaining the energetics of protein structures is a direct consequence of a real equilibrium, one extending over evolutionary time that has maintained the stability of each protein within a narrow range of values.
Permission to cheat

The trouble began when Professor Deadlock announced to his class on Cheating: ‘You will have a formidable final examination. You are permitted to cheat.’ Seizing the opportunity to apply what they had learned, the students declared a cheating competition. Outspoken participants (future lawyers, politicians, and captains of industry) bragged about their ruses. But to their chagrin, an ethics student prevailed. The second surprise was that Dean Louis Renault, acting on a report in the student newspaper, charged the students with cheating. At Student Court the seminar participants protested:
Effects of Contour Proximity and Lightness on Delboeuf Illusions Created by Circumscribed Letters

32 observers judged the size of a letter, either an "A" or an "S," which was surrounded by a circle. Both letters were overestimated, but larger surrounding circles reduced the illusion. Decreasing the lightness contrast of the surrounding circle relative to the central letter diminished the illusion. The results suggest that, like the Delboeuf illusion, these circumscribed letters illusions are produced by interactions among size-coding neurons.
The Hyaluronan Receptor for Endocytosis Mediates Hyaluronan-dependent Signal Transduction via Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinases

The hyaluronan (HA) receptor for endocytosis (HARE) mediates the endocytotic clearance of HA and other glycosaminoglycans from lymph and blood. Two isoforms of human HARE, 315- and 190-kDa, are highly expressed in sinusoidal endothelial cells of liver, lymph node, and spleen; HARE is also in specialized cells in the eye, heart, brain, and kidney. Here we determined whether HA binding to HARE initiates intracellular signaling in Flp-In 293 cells stably expressing either the 315- and 190-kDa HARE or the 190-kDa HARE alone. HARE was co-immunoprecipitated with extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase (JNK), and p38 members of the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascade. ERK phosphorylation increased in a dose- and time-dependent manner when HA was added to cells expressing full-length or 190-kDa HARE, but not cells with vector-only or a HARE(DeltaLink) construct with greatly decreased ( approximately 90%) HA uptake. HA did not induce phosphorylation of JNK or p38. A maximum increase in phospho-ERK1/2 occurred within 30 min at 5 mug/ml HA, and the response was dampened at >20 mug/ml HA. HA binding did not increase the level of HARE-ERK complexes, but did increase HARE phosphorylation. These findings demonstrate a novel functional response, when HARE binds HA, that leads to activation of ERK1/2, important mediators of intracellular signal transduction.
Psychopathology and Tattooing among Prisoners

Tattooing has always been associated with criminals. Indeed, it is both an administrative and clinical problem in prisons. This article looks at the relationship between psychopathology and tattooing infractions within prison. Using a sample of 8,574 male inmates in the Colorado Department of Corrections, initial admission personality testing was compared to tattooing infractions within the next 2 years. Personality types more likely to engage in tattooing included Antisocial, Sadistic, Negativistic, and Borderline. Compulsive personality types engaged in relatively less tattooing. Clinical syndromes associated with more tattooing included Mania, Drug Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, and Thought Disorder.
Loss of heterozygosity of chromosome 1q in gastrinomas: Occurrence and prognostic significance

A proportion of gastrinomas demonstrates aggressive growth, and most deaths occur in this group. Little is known about the molecular pathogenesis of growth of this tumor, and there are no predictive factors that are useful in an individual patient. Chromosome 1 (Chr 1) loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is frequent in a number of nonendocrine tumors and in a few endocrine tumors, and its presence can correlate with tumor aggressiveness and survival. In gastrointestinal endocrine tumors including gastrinomas, little data are available on Chr 1 LOH, and the limited results are contradictory. In the present study we determine whether Chr 1 LOH occurs in gastrinomas and is associated with aggressive growth by performing Chr 1 allelotyping with microsatellite markers in microdissected tumor tissue from 27 human gastrinomas and the leukocyte DNA of the patients. Detailed clinical pathological correlations were possible, because tumor growth in all of the patients was prospectively assessed with yearly imaging studies. Twelve gastrinomas (44%) had Chr 1 LOH, and in all of the cases 1q LOH occurred. 1q LOH was associated with aggressive growth (P = 0.0004), presence of liver metastases (P = 0.019), and postoperative development of hepatic metastases (P = 0.017). Eight (75%) of the 12 tumors with 1q LOH had 1q31–32 LOH over a 17.3 cM region, whereas LOH in 6 tumors (50%) occurred at 1q21–23 over a 12.3 cM area. The presence of 1q31–32 LOH and 1q21–23 LOH correlated with aggressive tumor growth (P = 0.0056 and P = 0.0031, respectively), and with postoperative development of liver metastases (P = 0.0114 and P = 0.011, respectively). These data suggest that 1q LOH is not infrequent in gastrinomas and could be a molecular/genetic prognostic factor for aggressive growth that could be useful clinically. The high frequent allelic loss at 1q31–32 as well as 1q21–23, which was associated with tumor aggressive growth, suggests these two regions harbor putative tumor suppressor gene(s) that are important for aggressive growth of this tumor.
Managing a Noncooperative Supply Chain with Limited Capacity

We consider a two-stage serial supply chain with capacity limits, where each installation is operated by managers attempting to minimize their own costs. A multiple-period model is necessitated by the multiple stages, capacity limits, stochastic demand, and the explicit consideration of inventories. With appropriate salvage value functions, a Markov equilibrium policy is found. Intuitive profit dominance allows for existence of a unique equilibrium solution, which is shown to be a modified echelon base-stock policy. This equilibrium policy structure is sustained in the infinite horizon. A numerical study compares the behavior of the decentralized system with the first-best integrated capacitated system. The performance of this decentralized system relative to the integrated system across other parameters can be very good over a broad range of values. This implies that an acceptable system performance may be attained without the imposition of a contract or other coordinating mechanism, which themselves may encounter difficulties in implementation in the form of negotiation, execution, or enforcement of these agreements. We find instances where tighter capacities may actually enhance channel efficiency. We also examine the effect of capacity utilization on the system suboptimality.
Response to Gender and Blood Pressure Control

We thank Barrios et al1 for their interest in our recent publication. Our work identified gender disparities in blood pressure control and receipt of recommended preventive therapies in ambulatory practices across the Unites States.2 In a sample of 12 064 visits (7786 women and 4278 men), women were less likely than men to meet blood pressure control targets, especially older women aged 65 to 80 years, and to receive recommended therapies, such as aspirin and β-blockers, for the …
Analytical modeling of loop self inductance bound for inductance-aware physical synthesis

An analytical model of loop self inductance bound has been developed that is applicable to a wide range of layout geometries commonly encountered in high performance integrated circuits. When compared with field solver results, the developed model shows an average error of 2.03%. A speedup of more than three orders of magnitude is obtained, enabling our model to be suitable for application in inductance aware physical synthesis. The accurate upper bound of inductance provided by our model can also be used for inductance screening and pre-layout inductance estimation
Solubility characteristics of three fluoroquinolone ophthalmic solutions in an in vitro tear model

Abstract The solubility characteristics of three commercially available fluoroquinolone ophthalmic solutions CILOXAN™ (Ciprofloxacin 0.3%), CHIBROXIN™ (Norfloxacin 0.3%) and OCUFLOX™ (Ofloxacin 0.3%) were evaluated using an in vitro tear turnover model. The model was used to simulate the effects of ocular dosing of each product on the temporal changes in tear pH and drug concentration in relation to the saturation solubility of the drug in the tear film and the possible formation of precipitates. Results showed that tear pH immediately following fluoroquinolone dosing was dominated by formulation pH with CILOXAN™ decreasing tear pH to 4.7 (formulation pH 4.5), CHIBROXIN™ to pH 5.3 (formulation pH 5.2) and OCUFLOX™ to pH 6.4 (formulation pH 6.4). Tear pH normalized to baseline (pH>6.8) within 15 min for all formulations due to tear turnover and drainage. Following CILOXAN™ dosing, rapid precipitation of ciprofloxacin was observed in the model beginning at 8 min post-dose (tear pH 6.1) producing turbidity and a significant decline in soluble drug concentration. Precipitation was quantitatively shown to be driven by ciprofloxacin supersaturation in tears. The tear drug concentrations of ofloxacin and norfloxacin remained below solubility at all pH values so that precipitation was neither observed nor predicted in the model. Analysis of ciprofloxacin precipitates by dark field microscopy with image analysis revealed polydisperse crystalline needles of 183 μm average length (SD=54 μm). These findings highlight the impact formulation properties can have on physicochemical changes in the tear film following ocular drug dosing and explain in part the reported clinical occurrences of precorneal deposits associated with the use of CILOXAN™.
Toward Inclusion of Special Education Students in General Education A Program Evaluation of Eight Schools

The primary intent of this program evaluation was to determine the degree of inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes in four elementary and four secondary schools; the similarities and differences in how special education services were offered; and the ways in which students with disabilities were supported in the least restrictive environment. Staff perceptions of special education services were examined by conducting personal interviews with a large majority of the classroom teachers, special education teachers, instructional assistants, and principals in each school. The findings include descriptions of how far along each school was with inclusion, the amount of time students spent in general education, the roles of the special education teachers, the rates of student referrals for special education consideration, the attitudes of all staff toward inclusion and toward collaboration, and the skills of the teachers related to the inclusion of special education students. The f...
Video-Based Automated Identification of Freeway Shoulder Events

Transportation agencies have increasingly turned to information technology to help address the growing challenges of managing congested urban freeways. Although off-the-shelf information technology products, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems and video image vehicle-detection systems (VIVDS), have proved very useful, their full potential cannot be achieved without integrating the products. The purpose of this research effort was to build on an existing prototype of an integrated CCTV-VIVDS system to provide automatic shoulder event identification functionality. This paper presents the design of the integrated system, provides details on the tools and effort required to support integration of the information technology elements, and describes the results of field testing of the system.
A Simple Model for Pricing Derivative Securities with Equity, Interest-Rate, Default and Liquidity Risk

This paper develops a model for pricing securities that may be a function of several different sources of risk, namely, equity, interest-rate, default and liquidity risks. The model is also useful for extracting probabilities of default (PDs) in a model with equity, interest rate and credit risk. The model is not based on the stochastic process for the value of the firm, but on the stochastic process for interest rates and the equity price, which are observable. The model comprises two components. First, a risk-neutral setting in which the joint process of interest rates and equity are modelled together with the boundary conditions for security payoffs. Second, the model is embedded on a recombining lattice generated using an approximation technique. This makes implementation of the pricing scheme feasible with polynomial complexity. We present a simple approach to calibration of the model to market observable data. The model is extensible to handling correlated default risk and may be used to value distressed convertible bonds, debt-equity swaps, and credit portfolio products such as CDOs.
Automatic annotation of experimentally derived, evolutionarily conserved post-translational modifications onto multiple genomes

New generation sequencing technologies have resulted in significant increases in the number of complete genomes. Functional characterization of these genomes, such as by high-throughput proteomics, is an important but challenging task due to the difficulty of scaling up existing experimental techniques. By use of comparative genomics techniques, experimental results can be transferred from one genome to another, while at the same time minimizing errors by requiring discovery in multiple genomes. In this study, protein phosphorylation, an essential component of many cellular processes, is studied using data from large-scale proteomics analyses of the phosphoproteome. Phosphorylation sites from Homo sapiens, Mus musculus and Drosophila melanogaster phosphopeptide data sets were mapped onto conserved domains in NCBI's manually curated portion of Conserved Domain Database (CDD). In this subset, 25 phosphorylation sites are found to be evolutionarily conserved between the three species studied. Transfer of phosphorylation annotation of these conserved sites onto sequences sharing the same conserved domains yield 3253 phosphosite annotations for proteins from coelomata, the taxonomic division that spans H. sapiens, M. musculus and D. melanogaster. The method scales automatically, so as the amount of experimental phosphoproteomics data increases, more conserved phosphorylation sites may be revealed.
Web-based configurable and multiplatform development environment for educational robotics

We created an online development environment, specifically for educational robotics applications, in which it is possible to register programming languages associated with different robotic platforms, so that the user program a robot using the registered language or the language R-Educ, developed for teaching programming. To validate the platform, we conducted a series of tests divided into six steps to verify that the complete cycle was satisfied - registering a language, program in R-Educ, compile to the registered language, compile to machine code and send the code for the robot.
Determination of oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur-containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban stream sediments

Recent studies indicate that PAH transformation products such as ketone or quinone-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are potent aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) activators that elicit toxicological effects independent of those observed for PAHs. Here, we measured eight OPAHs, two sulfur-containing (SPAH), one oxygen-containing (DBF), and one nitrogen-containing (CARB) heterocyclic PAHs (i.e. ΣONS-PAHs = OPAH8 + SPAH + DBF + CARB) in 35 stream sediments collected from a small (∼1303 km(2)) urban watershed located in south-central Pennsylvania, USA. Combined ΣONS-PAH concentrations ranged from 59 to 1897 μg kg(-1) (mean = 568 μg kg(-1); median = 425 μg kg(-1)) and were 2.4 times higher in urban versus rural areas, suggesting that activities taking place on urban land serve as a source of ΣONS-PAHs to sediments. To evaluate urban land use metrics that might explain these data, Spearman rank correlation analyses was used to evaluate the degree of association between ΣONS-PAH concentrations and urban land-use/land-cover metrics along an urban-rural transect at two spatial scales (500-m and 1000-m upstream). Combined ΣONS-PAH concentrations showed highly significant (p < 0.0001) correlations with ΣPAH19, residential and commercial/industrial land use (RESCI), and combined state and local road miles (MILES), suggesting that ΣONS-PAHs originate from similar sources as PAHs. To evaluate OPAH sources, a subset of ΣONS-PAHs for which reference assemblages exist, an average OPAH fractional assemblage for urban sediments was derived using agglomerative hierarchal cluster (AHC) analysis, and compared to published OPAH source profiles. Urban sediments from the Condoguinet Creek (n = 21) showed highly significant correlations with urban particulate matter (X(2) = 0.05, r = 0.91, p = 0.0047), suggesting that urban particulate matter is an important OPAH source to sediments in this watershed. Results suggest the inclusion of ΣONS-PAH measurements adds value to traditional PAH analyses, and may help elucidate and refine pollutant source identification in urban watersheds.
Demography from physical cemeteries, "virtual cemeteries," and census data

This lab provides a rich and flexible version of widelyused demography exercises that have been previously based on data collected from cemeteries. This lab teaches life tables and survivorship curves. Over two lab periods, small student groups develop and answer questions comparing the survival patterns of different groups of humans (e.g., groups that differ in geographic area, time period, gender, socio-economic background, or ethnicity). Data on human demography are available from three sources: (1) tombstones in local cemeteries that provide ages at death, (2) on-line cemetery records, and (3) census records that provide the numbers of people alive in different age classes. Students may also compare survivorship curves on the same groups generated by different data sets.
Now What? Steadying Tort Law’s Pendulum

Michigan's Supreme Court has reversed a significant number of tort-law precedents over a short time because of changes in the court's political majority. Those changes disrupt practice and diminish public confidence in the court. Tort law has a steadying tendency in its prescription for reasonable care. The court should address itself once again to the foundation of tort law to diminish the number and negative effects of too-frequent reversals of tort law precedents.
French and English in the Economic Structure of Montreal

We propose to examine herein the position of the French and the English in the hierarchy of the economic structure. Not occupation as such, but positions of control are the centre of interest. Something of what we have in mind is indicated in the following quotation: “[Since] economic activity is quite as much organized through systems of administrative or canalizing controls as it is by the market, it is impossible to outline the structure of American economy without covering the structure of such controls. … In the conduct of economic activity the controls exercised by individuals or groups arise from three main sources: possession of one or more of the factors of production, possession of liquid assets, and position in relation to a functioning organization.” It is common knowledge among the residents of Quebec that the English exercise a greater share of financial control than their proportion of the population would warrant. The English and French are quite conscious of this difference and each have their accepted cliches for describing or explaining it. As yet no detailed analysis has been made of the measure of this financial control or of the ways in which it has been exercised. Nor has any previous study shown just how important the ethnic factor is in the structure of financial control. In this study our analysis is confined to Montreal.
Leveraging historical knowledge of neural dynamics to rescue decoder performance as neural channels are lost: “Decoder hysteresis”

An intracortical brain-machine interface (BMI) decodes spiking activity recorded from motor cortical neurons to drive a prosthetic device (e.g., a computer cursor or robotic arm). As the number of recorded neurons decreases over time due to decay in recording quality, the performance of a BMI decreases. We asked: can degrading BMI performance be rescued by using prior information from when more neurons were observed? This would entail augmenting a decoder by using previously learned knowledge about motor cortex (at an earlier point in the array lifetime). We implemented this idea by modeling low-dimensional dynamics of the neural population, which describe how the population evolves through time. We posit that if the neural dynamics accurately reflect properties of motor cortex, then having a better estimate of these dynamics should result in a better decoder. Using previously collected (offline) experimental data, we found that a decoder using dynamics inferred in the past (when more neural channels were available) outperformed the same decoder using dynamics inferred from the (fewer) remaining neural channels. These results suggest that neural dynamics capture important features of the neural population responses in motor cortex, and that knowledge of these dynamics may rescue BMI performance even as array signal quality degrades.
Rockfall triggering by cyclic thermal stressing of exfoliation fractures

Exfoliation of rock deteriorates cliffs through the formation and subsequent opening of fractures, which in turn can lead to potentially hazardous rockfalls. Although a number of mechanisms are known to trigger rockfalls, many rockfalls occur during periods when likely triggers such as precipitation, seismic activity and freezing conditions are absent. It has been suggested that these enigmatic rockfalls may occur due to solar heating of rock surfaces, which can cause outward expansion. Here we use data from 3.5 years of field monitoring of an exfoliating granite cliff in Yosemite National Park in California, USA, to assess the magnitude and temporal pattern of thermally induced rock deformation. From a thermodynamic analysis, we find that daily, seasonal and annual temperature variations are sufficient to drive cyclic and cumulative opening of fractures. Application of fracture theory suggests that these changes can lead to further fracture propagation and the consequent detachment of rock. Our data indicate that the warmest times of the day and year are particularly conducive to triggering rockfalls, and that cyclic thermal forcing may enhance the efficacy of other, more typical rockfall triggers. Some rockfalls occur without obvious triggers such as seismicity or freeze–thaw conditions. Temperature and deformation patterns on a granite cliff suggest that cyclical thermal forcing can progressively open fractures and trigger rockfalls.
Kids Get Sick Too: A Proposed Child Simulator Sickness Questionnaire:

The increasing use of video games and virtual reality for education, as well as entertainment, warrants a method of assessing the degree to which these modalities of presentation may adversely affe...
336 ARE WE PREPARING RESIDENTS FOR THE ECONOMIC REALITIES OF MEDICAL PRACTICE

Purpose As the cost of health care continues to rise, cost containment practices have a growing impact on physician ability to survive financially while continuing to provide appropriate patient care. Medical educators have been slow to integrate these issues into medical curricula. This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency with which physicians in practice deal with these issues and how well our program prepares them. Methods Physicians who graduated from our medicine and medicine pediatric residencies from 1995-2005 were surveyed. They were asked to rate on a 5-point Likert scale preparedness (1 = poorly prepared, 5 = very prepared) and frequency of performance (1 = never, 5 = very often) of several skills, including billing and coding and administration/office management. For the purpose of analysis, being well prepared and a skill being frequently performed were considered to be ratings of 4 or 5. Graduates were also asked to list issues with resource allocation they dealt with on a routine basis and their strategies for overcoming these issues. Results There were 112 surveys returned for a response rate of 52%. On the specific item related to billing and coding, 85% of respondents reported that this is a frequent practice and only 24% felt that residency prepared them well. The item regarding administration/office management elicited a similar response; 61% reported frequent practice while only 6% felt their residency prepared them well. The most frequent themes of resource allocation were formulary restrictions and obtaining approval for diagnostic testing or care. The most frequently reported strategies were phone calls and letters to third-party payers. Conclusion At our program, graduates report that they are poorly prepared for some of the business tasks essential to their professional lives. These striking data reinforce the importance of incorporating these issues into medical curricula.
Fernerkundung und Global Change

Das Kapitel beschaftigt sich mit dem Beitrag der Fernerkundung zur Beobachtung von Global Change Parametern. Nach einer Zusammenfassung von relevanten Fernerkundungssensoren und internationalen Beobachtungsprogrammen werden Methoden zur Messungen einiger globaler dynamischer Signale beschrieben, deren Beobachtung gegenwartig entweder aus geopolitischen oder klimarelevanten Gesichtspunkten von besonderer Bedeutung ist. Fur jedes der ausgewahlten Themenkomplexe wird neben den relevanten Fernerkundungsmethoden auch deren Einbettung in die grosere wissenschaftliche Hintergrundthematik erlautert.
Pulmonary Responses to Injury

The reaction patterns of each of the compartments of the lung are largely stereotypic. To assess pulmonary pathology, one should become conversant with the temporal sequences of pulmonary inflammation.
Neonatal Nurses NICU Quality Improvement: Embracing EBP Recommendations to Provide Parent Psychosocial Support.

Background:The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) can be a stressful environment for infants, their families, and the healthcare team. There is an immediate need for neonatal nurses to embrace and translate the new National Perinatal Association recommendations for psychosocial support of NICU pare
Effect of copper variation in yeast hydrolysate on C-terminal lysine levels of a monoclonal antibody

The ability to control charge heterogeneity in monoclonal antibodies is important to demonstrate product quality comparability and consistency. This article addresses the control of C-terminal lysine processing through copper supplementation to yeast hydrolysate powder, a raw material used in the cell culture process. Large-scale production of a murine cell line exhibited variation in the C-terminal lysine levels of the monoclonal antibody. Analysis of process data showed that this variation correlated well with shifts in cell lactate metabolism and pH levels of the production culture. Small-scale studies demonstrated sensitivity of the cells to copper, where a single low dose of copper to the culture impacted cell lactate metabolism and C-terminal lysine processing. Subsequent analytical tests indicated that the yeast hydrolysate powder, added to the basal media and nutrient feed in the process, contained varying levels of trace copper across lots. The measured copper concentrations in yeast hydrolysate lots correlated well with the variation in lactate and pH trends and C-terminal lysine levels of the batches in manufacturing. Small-scale studies further demonstrated that copper supplementation to yeast hydrolysate lots with low concentrations of copper can shift the metabolic performance and C-terminal lysine levels of these cultures to match the control, high copper cultures. Hence, a strategy of monitoring, and if necessary supplementing, copper in yeast-hydrolysate powders resulted in the ability to control and ensure product quality consistency. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:463–468, 2017
Effects of Electrical Stimulation and Conditioning Periods upon Pre-Rigor Beef Samples Cooked with a Microwave Oven

Thirty beef carcasses were used to evaluate the effects of electrical stimulation and conditioning periods and microwave cooking upon sensory and shear properties of pre-rigor semitendinosus muscle samples. The intact muscle was removed from the right side within 45 min post-exsanguination and was electrically (ES) stimulated [100 impulses (1 s on and 1 s off, A.C., 110V, <5 amps)], while the remaining paired muscle served as the control (NS). After electrical stimulation, the muscle was cross-sectioned into three portions. A 2.54-cm thick sample was removed from the central portions of the ES and NS muscles and cooked immediately in a microwave oven to an internal temperature of 66°C. The remaining two similar sized portions were conditioned at 13°C for 2 h or 4 h before cooking. Three cores (1.27 cm) were removed from each sample parallel to the muscle fiber, and all cores were sheared twice. Samples from the conditioning periods were frozen, thawed, reheated and evaluated for palatability traits by a 10-member trained panel. Results indicate higher sensory panel ratings (P<.05) for tenderness, connective tissue and flavor intensity and lower shear force (WBS and Instron) values and longer sarcomeres from ES. With the conditioning periods used, microwave cooking was too rapid for pre-rigor muscle, as exemplified by the high shear values (6.4 and 7.8 kg/1.27 cm for ES and NS, respectively) which indicates a very tough sample of meat. Cooking yield was highest for muscle samples cooked immediately after slaughter. Roasts conditioned for 4 h before cooking had higher (P<.05) juiciness and flavor intensity scores than roasts held for 2 h, regardless of stimulation treatments.
High-Throughput Screening of Catalytic H2 Production.

Hydrogenases, ferredoxins, and ferredoxin-NADP+ reductases (FNR) are redox proteins that mediate electron metabolism in vivo, and are also potential components for biological H2 production technologies. A high-throughput H2 production assay device (H2 PAD) is presented that enables simultaneous evaluation of 96 individual H2 production reactions to identify components that improve performance. Using a CCD camera and image analysis software, H2 PAD senses the chemo-optical response of Pd/WO3 thin films to the H2 produced. H2 PAD-enabled discovery of hydrogenase and FNR mutants that enhance biological H2 production is reported. From a library of 10 080 randomly mutated Clostridium pasteurianum [FeFe] hydrogenases, we found a mutant with nearly 3-fold higher H2 production specific activity. From a library of 400 semi-randomly mutated Oryza sativa FNR, the top hit enabled a 60 % increase in NADPH-driven H2 production rates. H2 PAD can also facilitate elucidation of fundamental biochemical mechanisms within these systems.
Finding life's missing pieces.

The Uncultivated Bacteria and Archaea dataset is a foundational collection of 7,903 genomes from uncultivated microorganisms. It highlights how microbial diversity is readily recovered using current tools and existing metagenomic datasets to help piece together the tree of life.
Radiology report annotation using intelligent word embeddings: Applied to multi-institutional chest CT cohort.

Abstract We proposed an unsupervised hybrid method – Intelligent Word Embedding (IWE) that combines neural embedding method with a semantic dictionary mapping technique for creating a dense vector representation of unstructured radiology reports. We applied IWE to generate embedding of chest CT radiology reports from two healthcare organizations and utilized the vector representations to semi-automate report categorization based on clinically relevant categorization related to the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). We benchmark the performance against a state-of-the-art rule-based tool, PeFinder and out-of-the-box word2vec. On the Stanford test set, the IWE model achieved average F1 score 0.97, whereas the PeFinder scored 0.9 and the original word2vec scored 0.94. On UPMC dataset, the IWE model’s average F1 score was 0.94, when the PeFinder scored 0.92 and word2vec scored 0.85. The IWE model had lowest generalization error with highest F1 scores. Of particular interest, the IWE model (trained on the Stanford dataset) outperformed PeFinder on the UPMC dataset which was used originally to tailor the PeFinder model.
A cross-sectional study of neurosurgical department chairs in the United States

OBJECTIVEThe position of neurosurgery department chair undergoes constant evolution as the health care landscape changes. The authors’ aim in this paper was to characterize career attributes of neurosurgery department chairs in order to define temporal trends in qualities being sought in neurosurgical leaders. Specifically, they investigated the hypothesis that increased qualifications in the form of additional advanced degrees and research acumen are becoming more common in recently hired chairs, possibly related to the increased complexity of their role.METHODSThe authors performed a retrospective study in which they collected data on 105 neurosurgeons who were neurosurgery department chairs as of December 31, 2016, at accredited academic institutions with a neurosurgery residency program in the United States. Descriptive data on the career of neurosurgery chairs, such as the residency program attended, primary subspecialty focus, and age at which they accepted their position as chair, were collected.RE...
An LSTM Based System for Prediction of Human Activities with Durations

Human activity prediction is an interesting problem with a wide variety of applications like intelligent virtual assistants, contextual marketing, etc. One formulation of this problem is jointly predicting human activities (viz. eating, commuting, etc.) with associated durations. Herein a deep learning system is proposed for this problem. Given a sequence of past activities and durations, the system estimates the probabilities for future activities and their durations. Two distinct Long-Short Term Memory (LSTM) networks are developed that cater to different assumptions about the data and achieve different modeling complexities and prediction accuracies. The networks are trained and tested with two real-world datasets, one being publicly available while the other collected from a field experiment. Modeling on the segment level public dataset mitigates the cold-start problem. Experiments indicate that compared to traditional approaches based on sequence mining or hidden Markov modeling, LSTM networks perform significantly better. The ability of LSTM networks to detect long term correlations in activity data is also demonstrated. The trained models are each less than 500KB in size and can be deployed to run in real-time on a mobile device without any dependencies on the cloud. This can help applications like mobile personal assistants by providing predictive context.
Signal translational efficiency between mRNA expression and antibody-based protein expression for breast cancer and its subtypes from cell lines to tissue

Background: Although gene transcripts and protein expression have been utilised to classify breast cancer subtypes, it is not clear whether the observed measurement of gene transcript abundance can predict its protein expression. Herein, we attempt to address gene transcript/protein associations using publically-available data on breast cancer tumour tissues and cell lines. Method: Correlation analysis between mRNAs and Reverse-phase protein arrays (RPPA) among 421 primary breast tumours and 33 breast cancer cell lines was conducted. Highly concordant proteins/genes were further analysed in different breast cancer subtypes. Results: The overall accordance of mRNA/RPPA correlation between cell lines and primary tissue is R2 = 0.71. Since most of these genes are well known drug targets, highly concordant gene/RPPA associations not only confirm that these gene transcripts can serve as biomarkers for their protein products in drug target selection, but also imply that breast cancer cell lines can serve as good models for primary breast cancer tumours.