cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modulation of Action Potential Alternans by IKs in Myocardial Infarction

Background: Patients with post myocardial infarction (MI) have increased incidence of ventricular arrhythmias. The slowly activating K+ channels (IKs) has been reported to be downregulated consistently but in different degrees in the post-MI hearts. The role of downregulation of IKs in arrhythmogenesis in post MI remains to be defined.Hypothesis: We hypothesize that significant suppression of IKs in post MI impairs the rate-dependent and Ca2+-dependent augmentation of repolarization reserve resulting in increased alternans and thereby arrhythmias.Methods: We evaluated the effect of IKs on alternans in post MI using transgenic rabbit model of Long QT Type 1 (LQT1) lacking IKs. LQT1 and littermate control (LMC) rabbits underwent MI procedures and optical mapping was performed to record Vm and Ca2+ simultaneously from the 3 week post-MI hearts (n=9 LQT1-MI, 4 LQT-MI Sham, 10 LMC-MI, 9 LMC-Sham hearts).Results: The dispersion of APD was enhanced in LQT1-MI compared to LQT1-Sham and LMC-MI (αAPDmax-min = 28±4 ms vs. 20±3 ms and 27±6 ms). APD alternans was more pronounced in LQT1-MI, accompanied with large amplitude Ca2+ alternans, and often spatially discordant (see traces and restitution curves in panel A&B). Spatially discordant alternans in LQT1-MI was highly dynamic, preceded by sudden appearance of Ca2+ nodal lines near the MI border zone (panel C, dark lines), associated with high VF induction (n=9/9 LQT1-MI vs. 1/4 LQT1-sham and 7/10 LMC-MI).Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the importance of IKs as a repolarization reserve in MI and that significant downregulation of IKs may promote spatially discordant Ca2+ and APD alternans and VF induction.
(Invited) silicene and phosphorene: Progress on the intriguing case of buckled atomic sheets

Two-dimensional (2D) atomic sheets yield collective properties of mechanical flexibility, electrical control, optical transparency and high surface-to-volume ratio, which hold promise for advanced flexible nanoelectronics and sensors. This work explores two newly emerging 2D materials, silicene and phosphorene (the Si and P equivalent to graphene) and their air-stability and device study. The debut of silicene transistor confirms ambipolar transport behavior in atomically thin Si with greater gate modulation than graphene, indicating potential device reach beyond graphene. On the other hand, phosphorene exhibits high mobility and tunable direct bandgap even on plastic substrates, making it the most suitable contemporary 2D semiconductor that combines the merits of graphene and transitional metal dichalcogenides. This recent progress on silicene and phosphorene represent a renewed opportunity for future nanoscale and flexible devices.
A few acquisition trials: Effects of magnitude and percent reward

The effects of magnitude and percent reward on resistance to extinction were investigated with four acquisition trials. It was found that differential magnitudes of reward resulted in significantly different running speeds in acquisition and that partially rewarded Ss showed greater resistance to extinction than continuously rewarded Ss. The results are discussed in terms of the Amsel-Spence frustration hypothesis.
iDataGuard: middleware providing a secure network drive interface to untrusted internet data storage

In this demonstration, we present the design and features of iDataGuard. iDataGuard is an interoperable security middleware that allows users to outsource their file systems to heterogeneous data storage providers available on the Internet. Examples of data storage providers include Amazon S3 service, Rapidshare. de and Nivarnix. In the iDataGuard architecture, data storage providers are untrusted. Therefore, iDataGuard preserves data confidentiality and integrity of outsourced information by using cryptographic techniques. iDataGuard effectively builds a secure network drive on top of any data storage provider on the Internet. We propose techniques that realize a secure file system over the heterogeneous data models offered by the diverse storage providers. iDataGuard significantly reduces the development effort required to build applications on top of the storage offered by the IDPs. Applications written to be compatible with iDataGuard, do not have to worry where the data is stored and how the security is enforced. iDataGuard automatically provides such functionality to application developers. To evaluate the practicality of iDataGuard, we implemented a version of the middleware layer to test its performance.
Mental Health Recovery Paradigm: Implications for Social Work

Social workers have long been involved in developing, administering, and providing services for people with psychiatric disabilities. Critics of the system, including social workers and mental health consumer-survivor practitioners, have noted that the medical model has been a driving force in policy and services provision. This model is detrimental to consumers' self-efficacy and sense of hope and conflicts with a number of central social work values. The article argues that the values and beliefs of the consumer-survivor recovery movement are closely aligned with those of the profession, and that the movement offers social workers a more promising perspective from which to practice. The primary concepts and values of the evolving recovery paradigm are delineated, and implications for direct practice, administration, policy making, education, and research are discussed.
Privacy preserving protocol for detecting genetic relatives using rare variants.

Motivation: High-throughput sequencing technologies have impacted many areas of genetic research. One such area is the identification of relatives from genetic data. The standard approach for the identification of genetic relatives collects the genomic data of all individuals and stores it in a database. Then, each pair of individuals is compared to detect the set of genetic relatives, and the matched individuals are informed. The main drawback of this approach is the requirement of sharing your genetic data with a trusted third party to perform the relatedness test. Results: In this work, we propose a secure protocol to detect the genetic relatives from sequencing data while not exposing any information about their genomes. We assume that individuals have access to their genome sequences but do not want to share their genomes with anyone else. Unlike previous approaches, our approach uses both common and rare variants which provide the ability to detect much more distant relationships securely. We use a simulated data generated from the 1000 genomes data and illustrate that we can easily detect up to fifth degree cousins which was not possible using the existing methods. We also show in the 1000 genomes data with cryptic relationships that our method can detect these individuals. Availability: The software is freely available for download at http://genetics.cs.ucla.edu/crypto/. Contact: ude.alcu.sc@zomrohf or ude.alcu.sc@niksee Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online
Hippocampal Volume Is Reduced in Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorder But Not in Psychotic Bipolar I Disorder Demonstrated by Both Manual Tracing and Automated Parcellation (FreeSurfer)

This study examined hippocampal volume as a putative biomarker for psychotic illness in the Bipolar-Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) psychosis sample, contrasting manual tracing and semiautomated (FreeSurfer) region-of-interest outcomes. The study sample (n = 596) included probands with schizophrenia (SZ, n = 71), schizoaffective disorder (SAD, n = 70), and psychotic bipolar I disorder (BDP, n = 86); their first-degree relatives (SZ-Rel, n = 74; SAD-Rel, n = 62; BDP-Rel, n = 88); and healthy controls (HC, n = 145). Hippocampal volumes were derived from 3Tesla T1-weighted MPRAGE images using manual tracing/3DSlicer3.6.3 and semiautomated parcellation/FreeSurfer5.1,64bit. Volumetric outcomes from both methodologies were contrasted in HC and probands and relatives across the 3 diagnoses, using mixed-effect regression models (SAS9.3 Proc MIXED); Pearson correlations between manual tracing and FreeSurfer outcomes were computed. SZ (P = .0007-.02) and SAD (P = .003-.14) had lower hippocampal volumes compared with HC, whereas BDP showed normal volumes bilaterally (P = .18-.55). All relative groups had hippocampal volumes not different from controls (P = .12-.97) and higher than those observed in probands (P = .003-.09), except for FreeSurfer measures in bipolar probands vs relatives (P = .64-.99). Outcomes from manual tracing and FreeSurfer showed direct, moderate to strong, correlations (r = .51-.73, P < .05). These findings from a large psychosis sample support decreased hippocampal volume as a putative biomarker for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, but not for psychotic bipolar I disorder, and may reflect a cumulative effect of divergent primary disease processes and/or lifetime medication use. Manual tracing and semiautomated parcellation regional volumetric approaches may provide useful outcomes for defining measurable biomarkers underlying severe mental illness.
Elucidation of directionality for co-expressed genes: predicting intra-operon termination sites

Motivation: In this paper, we present a novel framework for inferring regulatory and sequence-level information from gene co-expression networks. The key idea of our methodology is the systematic integration of network inference and network topological analysis approaches for uncovering biological insights. Results: We determine the gene co-expression network of Bacillus subtilis using Affymetrix GeneChip® time-series data and show how the inferred network topology can be linked to sequence-level information hard-wired in the organism's genome. We propose a systematic way for determining the correlation threshold at which two genes are assessed to be co-expressed using the clustering coefficient and we expand the scope of the gene co-expression network by proposing the slope ratio metric as a means for incorporating directionality on the edges. We show through specific examples for B. subtilis that by incorporating expression level information in addition to the temporal expression patterns, we can uncover sequence-level biological insights. In particular, we are able to identify a number of cases where (1) the co-expressed genes are part of a single transcriptional unit or operon and (2) the inferred directionality arises due to the presence of intra-operon transcription termination sites. Availability: The software will be provided on request. Contact: ralbert@phys.psu.edu Supplementary information: http://www.phys.psu.edu/~ralbert/pdf/gma_bioinf_supp.pdf
An intelligent tutoring system for visual classification problem solving

Objective: This manuscript describes the development of a general intelligent tutoring system for teaching visual classification problem solving. Materials and methods: The approach is informed by cognitive theory, previous empirical work on expertise in diagnostic problem-solving, and our own prior work describing the development of expertise in pathology. The architecture incorporates aspects of cognitive tutoring system and knowledge-based system design within the framework of the unified problem-solving method description language component model. Based on the domain ontology, domain task ontology and case data, the abstract problem-solving methods of the expert model create a dynamic solution graph. Student interaction with the solution graph is filtered through an instructional layer, which is created by a second set of abstract problem-solving methods and pedagogic ontologies, in response to the current state of the student model. Results: In this paper, we outline the empirically derived requirements and design principles, describe the knowledge representation and dynamic solution graph, detail the functioning of the instructional layer, and demonstrate two implemented interfaces to the system. Conclusion: Using the general visual classification tutor, we have created SlideTutor, a tutoring system for microscopic diagnosis of inflammatory diseases of skin.
Exogenous eFSH, follicle coasting, and hCG as a novel superovulation regimen in mares

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate various equine follicle-stimulating hormone (eFSH) treatment protocols and the effect of “follicle coasting” on ovulation and embryo recovery rates in mares. Cycling mares (n = 40) were randomly assigned to one of four groups 7 days after ovulation: (1) 12.5 mg eFSH twice daily until follicles were 35 mm or larger; (2) 12.5 mg eFSH twice daily until follicles were 32 mm or larger; (3) 12.5 mg eFSH twice daily for 3.5 days followed by 12.5 mg eFSH enriched with luteinizing hormone (LH) twice daily until follicles were 35 mm or larger; and (4) 25 mg eFSH once daily until follicles were 32 mm or larger. Mares in groups 1 and 3 were injected with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) (2500 IU intravenously) at the end of eFSH treatment, whereas mares in groups 2 and 4 were given hCG approximately 42 and 54 hours, respectively, after the last eFSH treatment (“follicle coasting”). Nonsurgical embryo collection was performed 6.5 to 7.5 days after ovulation. Each mare experienced a nontreated estrous cycle before being reassigned to a second treatment. Ovulation rates for mares in treatment groups 1 to 4 were 3.3 ± 0.4, 4.1 ± 0.4, 3.5 ± 0.4, and 2.8 ± 0.4 (mean ± SEM; P P > .05). The overall embryo recovery rate was 2.1 ± 1.5 embryos per flush. In summary, ovulation rate was higher for mares treated with eFSH (3.4 ± 0.4) compared with non-treated controls (1.1 ± 0.2). Ovulation rate in mares in which hCG was delayed (follicle coasting) was higher ( P
The Structure and Organisation of Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviour: Data for Models of Reception:

The question of the relationship between verbal and nonverbal behaviours is addressed from the point of view of the effects that these behaviours have on judgments that participants and observers m...
The Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model

The Giger and Davidhizar Transcultural Assessment Model was developed in 1988 in response to the need for nursing students in an undergraduate program to assess and provide care for patients that were culturally diverse. The model includes six cultural phenomena: communication, time, space, social organization, environmental control, and biological variations. These provide a framework for patient assessment and from which culturally sensitive care can be designed.
All-solid-state electrochromic window of SnO 2 /Mo and electrodeposited WO 3 film with poly(acrylonitrile) gel electrolyte

An all solid-state electrochromic smart window employing SnO2/Mo and electrodeposited WO3 film with poly(acrylonitrile)(PAN) gel electrolyte with high conductivity (5 mS/cm) at room temperature has been fabricated. The smart window has been found excellent electrochromism and memory characteristics.© (2000) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Detection of the Short-Lived Cation Radical Intermediate in the Electrochemical Oxidation of N,N-Dimethylaniline by Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

The short-lived intermediate N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA) cation radical, DMA•+, was detected during the oxidation of DMA in MeCN with 0.1 M tetra-n-butylammonium hexafluorophosphate. The detection was accomplished at steady state by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) with ultramicroelectrodes using the tip generation/substrate collection mode. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) with a 2 mm Pt electrode indicates that DMA oxidation in acetonitrile is followed by a dimerization and two electrochemical reactions, which is consistent with previous results. The DMA•+ intermediate is detected by SECM, where the DMA•+ generated at the ca. 500 nm radius Pt tip is collected on a 5 μm radius Pt substrate when the gap between the tip and the substrate is a few hundred nanometers. Almost all of the DMA•+ is reduced at the substrate when the gap is 200 nm or less, yielding a dimerization rate constant of 2.5 × 108 M–1·s–1 based on a simulation. This is roughly 3 orders of magnitude larger than the value estimated by fast-s...
Arteriovenous Malformations and Other Vascular Malformation Syndromes

Vascular malformations are a disruption of the normal vascular pattern in which it is expected that a capillary network of microscopic vessels lies interposed between high-pressure arteries that deliver blood and thin-walled veins that collect low-pressure blood for return to the heart. In the case of arteriovenous malformations, arteries or arterioles connect directly to the venous collection system, bypassing any capillary bed. Clinical consequences result from rupture and hemorrhage, from dramatically increased blood flow, or from the loss of capillary functions such as nutrient exchange and filtering function. These malformations can occur sporadically or as a component of inherited vascular malformation syndromes. In these and other hereditary vascular malformation syndromes, genetic studies have identified proteins and pathways involved in vascular morphogenesis and development. A common theme observed is that vascular malformations result from disruption in pathways involved in vascular stability. Here we review the vascular malformations and pathways involved in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, capillary malformation-arteriovenous malformation, cerebral cavernous malformations, and mucocutaneous venous malformations.
Advanced motion control: an adaptive robust control framework

The rapid advances in microelectronics and microprocessor technologies during the past decades have made the physical integration of mechanical systems, various sensors, and computer based control implementation platform rather affordable and a standard choice for any modern precision machines. Such a hardware configuration enables the control of the overall system to be constructed in the same way as what a human brain normally does - seamless integration of the fast reaction (or instantaneous feedback reaction) to immediate feedback information and the slow learning utilizing large amount of stored past information that is available in the computer based control systems. The theoretically solid nonlinear adaptive robust control (ARC) theory that has been developed recently well reflects such an intuitive integrated design philosophy of human brains, and has been experimentally demonstrated achieving better control performance than existing nonlinear robust controls (e.g., sliding mode controls) or nonlinear adaptive controls in a number of motion control applications. This paper is to expose motion control engineers to the essences of such an advanced nonlinear control design methodology. Some recent ARC research results are discussed as well. The precision motion control of a linear motor driven high-speed/high-acceleration X-Y positioning stage is used as a case study and comparative experimental results are presented to illustrate the performance and practical benefits that can be achieved by the proposed ARC approach in implementation.
Some reproductive studies in the baboon

A captive colony of baboons has been used for three decades for various reproductive studies where application of findings to human therapeutics was desired. The characteristics of the menstrual cycle in baboons are very similar to those of women, except that of the baboon is slightly longer and there is a lower luteal phase concentration of oestradiol. The duration of pregnancy in baboons is about two-thirds that of humans but patterns of oestrogen and progesterone secretion are virtually identical. The principal oestrogen produced by the pregnant baboon is oestrone, while oestriol is the most abundant in human pregnancies. Chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) is elevated significantly only in the first trimester of a baboon pregnancy, while human pregnancy concentrations of this hormone are about one-third of the first trimester level in the second and third trimesters. Breeding success of baboons in captivity depends on care being taken to cull infertile animals from the colony prior to commencing matings. Under optimal conditions, fertility rates can reach nearly 80%. Female baboons have been successfully used to gain insights into antifertility effects of contraceptive vaccines directed against CG, spermatozoa and ovum antigens. Extensive use of the colony for developing a human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) antifertility vaccine has been invaluable for progress in this field. Other pharmaceuticals and devices have been successfully tested in baboons, but costs and mandated regulations for the management of these nonhuman primates have made their current use in meaningful studies extremely difficult.
Wilson loops and anomalous dimensions in cascading theories

We use lightlike Wilson loops and the AdS Conformal Field Theory correspondence to compute the anomalous dimensions of twist-2 operators in the cascading [Klebanov-Strassler (KS)] theory. The computation amounts to find a minimal surface in the uv region of the KS background, which is described by the Klebanov-Tseytlin solution. The result is similar to the one for $\mathrm{SU}(N)\mathcal{N}=4$ Super Yang-Mills theory but with N replaced by an effective, scale-dependent N. We performed also a calculation using a rotating string and find agreement. In fact, we use a double Wick rotated version of the rotating string solution which is a Euclidean world-sheet ending on a lightlike line in the boundary. It gives the same result as the rotating string for the $\mathcal{N}=4$ case, but it is more appropriate than the rotating string in the $\mathcal{N}=1$ case.
A powerful and flexible approach to the analysis of RNA sequence count data

Motivation: A number of penalization and shrinkage approaches have been proposed for the analysis of microarray gene expression data. Similar techniques are now routinely applied to RNA sequence transcriptional count data, although the value of such shrinkage has not been conclusively established. If penalization is desired, the explicit modeling of mean–variance relationships provides a flexible testing regimen that ‘borrows’ information across genes, while easily incorporating design effects and additional covariates. Results: We describe BBSeq, which incorporates two approaches: (i) a simple beta-binomial generalized linear model, which has not been extensively tested for RNA-Seq data and (ii) an extension of an expression mean–variance modeling approach to RNA-Seq data, involving modeling of the overdispersion as a function of the mean. Our approaches are flexible, allowing for general handling of discrete experimental factors and continuous covariates. We report comparisons with other alternate methods to handle RNA-Seq data. Although penalized methods have advantages for very small sample sizes, the beta-binomial generalized linear model, combined with simple outlier detection and testing approaches, appears to have favorable characteristics in power and flexibility. Availability: An R package containing examples and sample datasets is available at http://www.bios.unc.edu/research/genomic_software/BBSeq Contact:yzhou@bios.unc.edu; fwright@bios.unc.edu Supplementary information:Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A New Simulation Tool for the Modeling and Control of Distributed Systems

This paper discusses the construction of a new simulation and control tool that is designed to facilitate the modeling of distributed systems. This tool can be employed to design and implement distributed control architectures for managing large-scale, discrete event systems. Current commercial simulation tools cannot adequately model distributed control architectures. They can only model the system using a single model and therefore cannot adequately predict the performance constraints that these distributed architectures impose on the system. Furthermore, current tools are not designed to control the systems they model. Thus, in modeling and controlling such distributed systems, one must currently write the models using a general-purpose language such as C++. In simulation, the individual models are tied together using a model of the communications network included as part of the tool. This paper discusses this new tool, which is capable of addressing these concerns.
Error detection and unit conversion

The article discusses the accuracy mathematical modeling languages (MML) for biomedicine, for example in cardiac electrophysiology. Unit balance checking is showed that it can be automated. The implemented example is JSim (http://www.physiome.org/ jsim/), which is general and can be applied to other systems in which units can be specified and checked. ODE-based simulator Physiome CellML Environment is also discussed.
PHYTOCHEMICALS AND WINE FLAVOR

Wine is a complex mixture containing aroma and taste compounds which are derived from grapes, produced or metabolized by yeast during fermentation, extracted from oak, and formed from chemical reactions that occur during processing and aging (Table 1). Aroma compounds, including terpenes, volatile esters, and alcohols, contribute significantly to the overall sensory impact of wines and will be discussed briefly at the end of this chapter. The tastes of sweetness (due largely to glucose and fructose) and sourness (due largely to tartaric acid with contributions by malic, lactic, and citric acids) also make important contributions to wine flavor, especially for white wines. However, wine, like coffee and tea, is largely characterized by distinct bitter and astringent sensory attributes, and, in the absence of these characters, may be considered “thin”, “flat”, or “insipid“. This review will therefore focus primarily on the sensory properties of the bitter and astringent compounds found in wine.
Abstract IA11: Progress in pancreatic cancer modeling

Although ductal pancreatic cancer remains highly lethal, recent laboratory progress in demystifying this disease have provided several new therapeutic approaches. Somatically mutant KRAS is present in most cases of pancreatic cancer, and mouse models have clarified the role of oncogenic Kras in neoplastic initiation and progression. Surprisingly, methods that target canonical MAPK/PI3K Ras effector pathways have been only partially successful in mouse models. Therefore, we have also investigated additional aspects of pancreatic tumor biology that contribute to disease pathogenesis. Chief contributors to the unusual desmoplastic structure and drug-refractory nature of pancreatic tumors are activated pancreatic stellate cells. PSCs assume a fibroblastic morphology and function during tumor evolution, resulting in a collagen- and glycosaminoglycan-rich extracellular matrix that prevents angiogenesis and compresses the resident vasculature such that drug delivery is impeded. Additionally, PSCs secrete a variety of ligands, such as Connective Tissue Growth Factor, that promote neoplastic cell survival and thereby suppress therapeutic responses to classical and targeted agents. The role of the ECM and paracrine/autocrine signals in supporting oncogenic Kras signaling are currently being explored in mouse models and additional cell culture systems. Citation Format: David Tuveson. Progress in pancreatic cancer modeling. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on RAS Oncogenes: From Biology to Therapy; Feb 24-27, 2014; Lake Buena Vista, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2014;12(12 Suppl):Abstract nr IA11. doi: 10.1158/1557-3125.RASONC14-IA11
Is the Yoga World Ready? An Academic Perspective

As a long time academic researcher and teacher, and an Iyengar Yoga practitioner for more than ten years, I have been intrigued by the ongoing discussions about Yoga therapy, about what it is and where it is going, and how, or whether, it can be integrated into the healthcare system. My interest in research on Yoga and its clinical potential started with curiosity (sometimes bewilderment) about Yoga teachers' explanations of poses and the claims sometimes made about the effects of certain Yoga practices on bodily organs and systems, such as endocrine glands, the cardiovascular system, the immune system, and mental states. What were these claims based on? Did they make sense in terms of what was already well known in physiology, physical medicine, psychology, and other basic sciences? Or, if such knowledge did not exit, how could we put claims to a test?
Analysis and Comparison of Biochar From Pilot Scale Downdraft Gasifier

Gasification is incomplete combustion of solid fuel that results in the production of vapor, often referred to as syngas or producer gas, char, and tar. When this process is applied to biomass, the resulting char, referred to as biochar, is produced and has been shown to enhance soil fertility and crop growth. As part of a broader effort, this work examines how the gasification process impacts the biochar generated through downdraft gasification. In contrast to previous publications, which only focused on the syngas compositions, this research paper expands the analysis to the composition of the biochar produced in the gasification systems.In a large-scale gasifier, corn grains at about a 15% moisture level are inserted into a pilot scale downdraft gasifier from the top. In this system, both air and fuel move in the same direction. The air entering the setup is controlled using a damper. Corn grains entering the gasifier pass through a drying zone where the moisture content in it is removed. The dry corn then passes through a combustion and pyrolysis zone, followed by a reduction zone. The high temperature present at the bottom in the reduction zone cracks any tar present in the syngas produced. This syngas exits from the bottom of the gasifier. The char produced has a residence time from half an hour to several hours. About 20% of the fuel that’s inserted in the gasifier is converted to biochar.An ultimate and proximate chemical composition analysis, BET porosity analysis, and an SEM image analysis were carried out on the biochar produced from this system. From the SEM analysis, a surface area of 2.38 m2/g was obtained. From the ultimate and proximate analysis, it was observed that the biochar had higher carbon content and a lack of volatile components compared to other reported biochars and levels similar to activated carbon. From the BET porosity analysis, both small scale and large-scale pores were observed but quantified comparison with other biochar is still on going. Porosity is known to be an important factor in biochar effectiveness as a soil amendment.Copyright © 2015 by ASME
Microbiological Production of Carotenoids. I. Zygospores and Carotene Produced by Intraspecific and Interspecific Crosses of Choanephoraceae in Liquid Media

Barnett, Lilly and Krause (1) reported that plus and minus strains of Choanephora cucurbitarum were capable of forming zygospores when grown together in liquid medium in shaken flasks. At the same time yields of 960 t/g/g of 8-carotene in dry mycelium were found. Numerous mating types of members of the Choanephoraceae were available in our Culture Collection including C. cucurbitarum, C. trispora (Blakeslea trispora), C. conjuncta and Blakeslea circinans; therefore, a study was made in which opposite mating types were grown singly and paired in liquid synthetic mucor medium (SMM) in shaken flasks. This medium is composed of glucose 40 g, asparagine 2 g, KH2PO4 0.5 g, MgSO4 0.25 g, thiamine 0.5 mg and 1 liter of distilled water. Five hundred-ml flasks containing 100 ml of this sterile medium or 100 ml of the medium used for sporulation of this family were inoculated with C. cucurbitarum strains NRRL A-6097 and NRRL A-6098 singly and paired. Portions of vegetative mycelium were used as inoculum. The flasks were placed on a rotary shaker and incubated for 72 hours at 28° C. At the end of the fermentation each strain grown singly resulted in masses of almost white-colored mycelium. However, in the flasks inoculated with + and strains, the sporulation medium showed dark areas of zygospores while the vegetative mycelium was cream to
Abstract P1-06-05: The impact of ethnicity on normal breast biology

The incidence of/mortality from the most aggressive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is higher in African American- (AA) than Caucasian (CA)-women. In contrast, breast cancer in Hispanic-women is generally less aggressive. There is an ongoing debate as to whether AA-women have an increased incidence of TNBCs that have poor outcome or there are unique biological factors in AA-women that promote aggressive biology. Through unique approaches, we provide evidence for distinct biology in the normal breasts of CA-women, AA-women, and Hispanic-women. Using resources from the Komen Normal Tissue Bank and a primary cell culturing system that enabled propagation of normal epithelial cells of different lineages including mature-luminal, luminal-progenitor, and stem cells from different ethnic groups, we have identified a subpopulation of CD44high/CD24- cells that are unique to AA-women (p=0.0001). This AA-women-specific subpopulation expressed higher levels of Collagen 3A1, Collagen 5A2, CTNNB1 (β-Catenin of Wnt), FOXC2, and ZEB1 compared to common CD44+/CD24+ subpopulation in every breast. Gene expression pattern in the AA-specific CD44high/CD24- population showed marked similarity to gene expression pattern in the recently described PROCR+ multi-potent mammary stem cells. Indeed, the breast epithelial cells of AA-women were enriched for PROCR-positive stem cells compared to CA-women or Hispanic-women (p=0.015). In contrast to cells from CA- and AA-women, cells isolated from the healthy breast of Hispanic-women displayed mostly differentiated features as they were enriched for CD49f-/EpCAM+ and CD271-/EpCAM+ mature cells. Cells from CA-women, AA-women and Hispanic-women are currently being immortalized to determine the cell types that are preferentially immortalized in each of these ethnic groups. These results suggest ethnicity-dependent differences in Wnt, extracellular matrix, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling in normal breast epithelial cells and differences in the proportion of cells that are susceptible to immortalization/transformation. This work is supported by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to HN (SAC110025). Citation Format: Nakshatri H, Anjanappa M, Bhat-Nakshatri P. The impact of ethnicity on normal breast biology. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Annual CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium: 2015 Dec 8-12; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-06-05.
Cells, the Fundamental Biological Units

Cells are the basic biological units. They vary in size from about 0.1 micron (10−7 meters) to the large eggs of birds. Though small in terms of volume, nerve cells may be over a meter in length. Even the smallest cell is a highly organized complex structure and functions as a chemical machine. Cells were first recognized by Robert Hooke, who, in his Microscopia in 1665, described the cellular organization of cork. Almost two centuries elapsed before the cell theory was accepted as a foundation of modern biology. Today biologists usually mark the beginning of modern biological sciences in the middle of the last century. Theodor Schwann stated in l839 that “all organisms are composed of esentially like parts, namely, of cells.” Rudolph L. K. Virchow, recognized by many as the founder of the science of pathology (diseased tissue), wrote in 1858: “Where a cell exists, there must have been a preexisting cell, just as an animal arises only from an animal and the plant only from a plant.” These concepts plus the theory of natural selection, often called evolution, so effectively presented by Charles Darwin in 1859, had a profound effect on biological thought.
Calcium metabolism, calcium-channel blocking agents, and hypertension management.

Increasing evidence has suggested that a disturbance of cellular calcium metabolism may have a role in initiating and maintaining elevated systemic vascular resistance in essential hypertension. Controversy exists over whether calcium can alleviate or exacerbate the hypertensive process, and diversity of calcium metabolism in hypertensive patients has been proposed. Calcium-channel blocking agents are potent vasodilators capable of correcting the elevated systemic vascular resistance. Clinical studies have shown that these drugs have antihypertensive efficacy comparable to established agents. The elderly, blacks, and patients with low renin activity respond well to calcium-channel blockers. These drugs may also offer potential advantages over established antihypertensive agents in patients with other coexisting diseases. Sustained release formulations have been developed, and initial experience with long-term efficacy and tolerability is encouraging. The calcium-channel blockers may become first-line ther...
Magnetic Quantities, Units, Materials, and Measurements

It should hardly need to be pointed out that in an interdisciplinary endeavor such as biomagnetism it is necessary to use consistent, unambiguous terminology. Thus we will use the term “magnetic field” as a generic term relating to a particular class of phenomena that exists or is evidenced throughout some region of space. Hence the use of the word “field.” Two of the most-used quantitative attributes of the magnetic field, to be dealt with later in this chapter, are the “field strength” (an alternative term is “field intensity”), usually symbolized by H, and the “flux density” (alternatively, the “magnetic induction”), symbolized by B. The two fields are proportional in an evacuated space but have a more complicated relationship within a material such as a magnet. This terminology for H and B is consistent with that of nearly all modern English-language textbooks on electricity and magnetism and with the 1971 recommendation of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. On the other hand, in the technical literature the term “magnetic field” is generally used for all three purposes; not only as a generic term but also to mean field strength or flux density, and sometimes for other purposes as well. This practice is convenient, but students and non-specialists should be forewarned that the meaning of the term must be inferred from the context.
A Comparative Assessment of Novel Mini-Laparoscopic Tools.

Background: Mini-laparoscopy, or needlescopy, is an emerging minimally invasive technique that aims to improve on standard laparoscopy in the areas of tissue trauma, pain, and cosmesis. The objective of this study was to determine if there was a difference in functionality between 2 novel mini-laparoscopic instruments when compared to standard laparoscopic tools. Differences were assessed in a simulated surgical environment. Methods: Twenty participants (5 novices, 10 intermediate, 5 expert) were recruited for this institutional review board–approved study in a surgical simulation training center. Group A tools were assembled intracorporeally, and Group B tools were assembled extracorporeally. Using standard laparoscopic graspers, mini-laparoscopic graspers, or a combination of both, each participant performed 3 basic laparoscopic training tasks: a Peg Transfer, Rubber Band Stretch, and Tootsie Roll Unwrapping. Following each round of tasks, participants completed a survey evaluating the mini-laparoscopic...
Engineering Design of Biogas Units for Developing Countries

While anaerobic digestion has been used for over 100 years, the approach to design and building units has been often empirical and based on myths rather than scientific principles. The purpose of this paper is to review the design concepts used in a number of developing countries and then to show how the designs can be improved by using scientific principles to obtain lower cost and more efficient units.
Volume of subclinical embolic infarct correlates to long-term cognitive changes after carotid revascularization

Abstract Objective Carotid intervention is safe and effective in stroke prevention in appropriately selected patients. Despite minimal neurologic complications, procedure-related subclinical microemboli are common and their cognitive effects are largely unknown. In this prospective longitudinal study, we sought to determine long-term cognitive effects of embolic infarcts. Methods The study recruited 119 patients including 46% symptomatic patients who underwent carotid revascularization. Neuropsychological testing was administered preoperatively and at 1 month, 6 months, and 12 months postoperatively. Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) was the primary cognitive measure with parallel forms to avoid practice effect. All patients also received 3T brain magnetic resonance imaging with a diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence preoperatively and within 48 hours postoperatively to identify procedure-related new embolic lesions. Each DWI lesion was manually traced and input into a neuroimaging program to define volume. Embolic infarct volumes were correlated with cognitive measures. Regression models were used to identify relationships between infarct volumes and cognitive measures. Results A total of 587 DWI lesions were identified on 3T magnetic resonance imaging in 81.7% of carotid artery stenting (CAS) and 36.4% of carotid endarterectomy patients with a total volume of 29,327 mm 3 . Among them, 54 DWI lesions were found in carotid endarterectomy patients and 533 in the CAS patients. Four patients had transient postoperative neurologic symptoms and one had a stroke. CAS was an independent predictor of embolic infarction (odds ratio, 6.6 [2.1-20.4]; P P = .004). Diabetes and contralateral carotid severe stenosis or occlusion had a trend of positive association with infarct volume, whereas systolic blood pressure ≥140 mm Hg had a negative association ( P = .1, .09, and .1, respectively). There was a trend of improved RAVLT scores overall after carotid revascularization. Significantly higher infarct volumes were observed among those with RAVLT decline. Within the CAS cohort, infarct volume was negatively correlated with short- and long-term RAVLT changes ( P Conclusions Cognitive assessment of procedure-related subclinical microemboli is challenging. Volumes of embolic infarct correlate with long-term cognitive changes, suggesting that microembolization should be considered a surrogate measure for carotid disease management.
Intestinal alkaline phosphatase deficiency leads to dysbiosis and bacterial translocation in the newborn intestine.

Abstract Background Intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP) has been shown to help maintain intestinal homeostasis. Decreased expression of IAP has been linked with pediatric intestinal diseases associated with bacterial overgrowth and subsequent inflammation. We hypothesize that the absence of IAP leads to dysbiosis, with increased inflammation and permeability of the newborn intestine. Methods Sprague–Dawley heterozygote IAP cross-matches were bred. Pups were dam fed ad lib and euthanized at weaning. The microbiotas of terminal ileum (TI) and colon was determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) of subphylum-specific bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA. RT-PCR was performed on TI for inflammatory cytokines. Intestinal permeability was quantified by fluorescein isothiocyanate–dextran permeability and bacterial translocation by qRT-PCR for bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA in mesenteric lymph nodes. Statistical analysis was done by chi-square analysis. Results All three genotypes had similar concentrations of bacteria in the TI and colon. However, IAP knockout (IAP-KO) had significantly decreased diversity of bacterial species in their colonic stool compared with heterozygous and wild-type (WT). IAP-KO pups had a nonstatistically significant 3.9-fold increased inducible nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA expression compared with WT (IAP-KO, 3.92 ± 1.36; WT, 1.0 ± 0.27; P = 0.03). IAP-KO also had significantly increased bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes occurred in IAP-KO (IAP-KO, 7625 RFU/g ± 3469; WT, 4957 RFU/g ± 1552; P = 0.04). Furthermore, IAP-KO had increased permeability (IAP-KO, 0.297 mg/mL ± 0.2; WT, 0.189 mg/mL ± 0.15 P = 0.07), but was not statistically significant. Conclusions Deficiency of IAP in the newborn intestine is associated with dysbiosis and increased inflammation, permeability, and bacterial translocation.
Temporal dynamics of frequency-tunable graphene-based plasmonic grating structures for ultra-broadband terahertz communication

Terahertz (THz) communication is envisioned as a key wireless technology to satisfy the need for 1000x faster wireless data rates. To date, major progress on both electronic and photonic technologies are finally closing the so-called THz gap. Among others, graphene-based plasmonic nano-devices have been proposed as a way to enable ultra-broadband communications above 1THz. The unique dynamic complex conductivity of graphene enables the propagation of Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP) waves at THz frequencies. In addition, the conductivity of graphene and, thus, the SPP propagation properties, can be dynamically tuned by means of electrostatic biasing or material doping. This result opens the door to frequency-tunable devices for THz communications. In this paper, the temporal dynamics of graphene-enhanced metallic grating structures used for excitation and detection of SPP waves at THz frequencies are analytically and numerically modeled. More specifically, the response of a metallic grating structure built on top of a graphene-based heterostructure is analyzed by taking into account the grating period and duty cycle and the Fermi energy of the graphene layer. Then, the interfacial charge transfer between a metallic back-gate and the graphene layer in a metal/dielectric/graphene stack is analytically modeled, and the range of achievable Fermi energies is determined. Finally, the rate at which the Fermi energy in graphene can be tuned is estimated starting from the transmission line model of graphene. Extensive numerical and simulation results with COMSOL Multi-physics are provided. The results show that the proposed structure enables dynamic frequency systems with THz bandwidths, thus, enabling resilient communication techniques such as time-hopping THz modulations.
The Developmental Education Crisis

Nowhere has the critique of community college effectiveness been more pronounced than in the many public denunciations of developmental education programs. As we know, economic inequality and race have been key factors in contributing to differential educational attainment since institutions of higher learning were established in America (Hutcheson; Karabel Chosen; Massey, Charles, Lundy, Fischer). We have known about these problems since James Coleman issued his famous report in 1966. Unfortunately, this “failure” narrative has played an important role in cooling out interest in doing the very difficult work of engaging these thorny and intractable American problems.
Chapter 20 Quantifying and Valuing Environmental Health Risks

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of the current methodology for assessing environmental health risks. Our primary focus is on the practices that U.S. regulatory agencies use for assessing cancer risk, although we also provide a brief comparison to the methodology used in Western Europe. We then discuss the potential biases that may be inherent in the various components of the assessment methodology, and we discuss the implications of these biases towards regulatory policy. This chapter also provides an overview of the current methodology for valuing risks of both mortality and morbidity, placing particular emphasis on ex ante measurements of individuals' willingness to pay for risk reductions. We present the underlying theory, the estimation concerns, and the policy implications of labor market, housing market, and survey studies of estimating the value of risk reductions. Once we have established the economic framework of efficient regulatory policies, we then provide an overview of the extent to which U.S. regulatory performance meets these efficiency goals and offer suggestions for better achieving these goals.