cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Modulation of CRX Transactivation Activity by Phosducin Isoforms

Phosducin (Phd) and Phd-like proteins (PhLPs) selectively bind guanine nucleotide protein (G protein) βγ subunits (Gβγ), while Phd-like orphan proteins (PhLOPs) lack the major functional domain for the binding of Gβγ. A retina- and pineal gland-specific transcription factor, cone-rod homeobox (CRX), was identified by a yeast two-hybrid screen using PhLOP1 as the bait. Direct protein-protein interactions between Phd or PhLOP1 and CRX were demonstrated using a β-galactosidase quantitative assay in the yeast two-hybrid system and were confirmed by an in vitro binding assay and a glutathione S-transferase (GST) pull-down assay. To determine if the interaction with Phd or PhLOP1 affected CRX transactivation, a 120-bp interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) promoter-luciferase reporter construct containing a CRX consensus element (GATTAA) was cotransfected into either COS-7 or retinoblastoma Weri-Rb-1 cells with expression constructs for CRX and either Phd or PhLOP1. Phd and PhLOP1 inhibited the transcriptional activation activity of CRX by 50% during transient cotransfection in COS-7 cells and by 70% in Weri-Rb-1 cells and COS-7 cells stably transfected with CRX. Phd inhibited CRX transactivation in a dose-dependent manner. Whereas Phd is a cytoplasmic phosphoprotein, coexpression of Phd with CRX results in Phd being localized both in the cytoplasm and nucleus. By contrast, PhLOP1 is found in the nucleus even without CRX coexpression. To address the physiological relevance of these potential protein interacting partners, we identified immunoreactive proteins for Phd and CRX in retinal cytosolic and nuclear fractions. Immunohistochemical analysis of bovine retinas reveals colocalization of Phd isoforms with CRX predominantly in the inner segment of cone cells, with additional costaining in the outer nuclear layer and the synaptic region. Our findings demonstrate that both Phd and PhLOP1 interact directly with CRX and that each diminishes the transactivation activity of CRX on the IRBP promoter. A domain that interacts with CRX is found in the carboxyl terminus of the Phd isoforms. Phd antibody-immunoreactive peptides are seen in light-adapted mouse retinal cytosolic and nuclear extracts. Neither Phd nor PhLOP1 affected CRX binding to its consensus DNA element in electrophoretic mobility shift assays. A model that illustrates separate functional roles for interactions between Phd and either SUG1 or CRX is proposed. The model suggests further a mechanism by which Phd isoforms could inhibit CRX transcriptional activation.
Measurement of pulmonary pressures and pulmonary resistance: is Doppler ready for prime time?

Pulmonary hypertension is a challenging entity in terms of etiologic diagnosis, assessment of severity, and treatment. Pulmonary hypertension may be a primary pulmonary vascular problem (familial or idiopathic) or secondary to elevation of left-sided pressures, usually due to a left heart lesion. Importantly, long-standing secondary pulmonary hypertension can lead to vascular remodeling and arteriopathy, resulting in intrinsic pulmonaryvascular disease outof proportion to the left-sided pressure elevation. The measurement of pulmonary resistance is a commonly used method for assessing pulmonary hypertension to differentiate among the potential causes. The underlying tenet of pulmonary resistance is that flow in a circuit is proportional to the difference in the potential energy (or pressure) between two points and inversely related to the resistance across that circuit. In the cardiovascular system, resistance thus is a constant or fixed measure that describes what opposing force must be overcome for blood to move through the circulatory system (expressed as either dyn$s$cm 5 ,P a$s/m 3 , or Wood units [mm Hg/ min/L]). The measurement of pulmonary resistance yields both diagnostic and prognostic data and thus is an essential component of the evaluation of any patient with known or suspected pulmonary hypertension. Thresholds or cut points for pulmonary resistance and its reactivity are routinely examined in high-impact clinical decisions, such as the need for closure of intracardiac shunts, pulmonary-specific vasodilator therapy, and cardiac transplantation. The gold-standard method for measuring pulmonary resistance is cardiac catheterization. The principal goals of the invasive study are to confirm the presence of hypertension, ascertain the left-sided contribution, measure cardiac output, and determine the reactivity of the pulmonary hemodynamics in response to vasodilator challenge. Cardiac catheterization typically is undertaken with the patient in basal conditions or at rest but increasingly is being performed with exercise in an effort to simulate ambulatory hemodynamics. 1 In comparison with noninvasive methods, cardiac catheterization offers the distinct advantage of absolute pressure measurement, as well as the opportunity to interrogate multiple pulmonary segments. These features are elementary in a variety of disease states (e.g., veno-occlusive disease) and help mitigate the potential for pulmonary edema from therapy specific for pulmonary hypertension. 2 Meticulous attention should be given to the accuracy of the invasive assessment. This attention includes the use of multiple accurate methods for cardiac output determination (i.e., both thermodilution and Fick with measured oxygen consumption), oxygen confirmation of the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and care to avoid damp
Aggressive behavior as a function of approval motivation and physical attack

The relationship between physical aggression and approval motivation was investigated in 30 college males by allowing them to compete in a task involving reaction time with opponents who attempted to give them increasingly intense shocks. It was observed that while high need-for-approval Ss set low shocks under weak attack and increased their shock settings under increasing attack, the low need-for-approval Ss set intense shocks under all levels of attack.
Peripancreatic fat necrosis worsens acute pancreatitis independent of pancreatic necrosis via unsaturated fatty acids increased in human pancreatic necrosis collections

Background and aims Peripancreatic fat necrosis occurs frequently in necrotising pancreatitis. Distinguishing markers from mediators of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) is important since targeting mediators may improve outcomes. We evaluated potential agents in human pancreatic necrotic collections (NCs), pseudocysts (PCs) and pancreatic cystic neoplasms and used pancreatic acini, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and an acute pancreatitis (AP) model to determine SAP mediators. Methods We measured acinar and PBMC injury induced by agents increased in NCs and PCs. Outcomes of caerulein pancreatitis were studied in lean rats coadministered interleukin (IL)-1β and keratinocyte chemoattractant/growth-regulated oncogene, triolein alone or with the lipase inhibitor orlistat. Results NCs had higher fatty acids, IL-8 and IL-1β versus other fluids. Lipolysis of unsaturated triglyceride and resulting unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) oleic and linoleic acids induced necro-apoptosis at less than half the concentration in NCs but other agents did not do so at more than two times these concentrations. Cytokine coadministration resulted in higher pancreatic and lung inflammation than caerulein alone, but only triolein coadministration caused peripancreatic fat stranding, higher cytokines, UFAs, multisystem organ failure (MSOF) and mortality in 97% animals, which were prevented by orlistat. Conclusions UFAs, IL-1β and IL-8 are elevated in NCs. However, UFAs generated via peripancreatic fat lipolysis causes worse inflammation and MSOF, converting mild AP to SAP.
Formation of industrial innovation mechanisms through the research institute

Abstract Taiwan's industrial structure has benefited from interactions between the government and national research institutes. In typical exchange, the government will commission research organizations with R&D projects and the results will be implemented in industry. General domestic industrial innovation benefits as a result. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is Taiwan's largest research organization. Its mission is to set up new industries and to help existing industries upgrade—a goal that it has worked toward for 30 years. Since ITRI's results must be implemented in industry, the methods it uses in industrial innovation are crucial. In order to relate these methods to ITRI's industrial innovation mechanisms, this paper provides a clear conceptual model. This model includes: (1) The selection of (a) technology development targets, and (b) methods of technology R&D and commercialization, and (2) The components of the national innovation system, which are the government, research organizations, academia, industry, and international organizations. These two aspects are used to analyze the mechanisms of industrial innovation. This conceptual model reveals the mechanisms that ITRI has employed from 1973 to 2003. We are thus able to obtain a broad perspective on how ITRI's mechanisms have continually created new technologies and implemented them in industry. These mechanisms have gone on to form a network that facilitates the operation of Taiwan's industrial innovation system.
Free-Floating Atmospheric Pressure Ball Plasmas

Ball plasmas were created in a laboratory, using an electric arc discharge (4-250 A at up to 5 kV) from points of metal onto a water surface. The rising plasmas were studied with still and video cameras, photodiodes, power meters, and spectroscopy. The plasma consists of positive salts from the solution and center electrode material, and negative hydroxyl radicals. Various salts (CuSO4, CuCl2, NaCl, LiCl, and CaCl2) and copper or aluminum center cathode materials were tried. The color is characteristic of the metal from solution. While observing with an Ocean Optics USB 2000 spectrometer, it was confirmed that the material in the cooling (~0.3-eV) plasma, comes from the water and not the surrounding air.
Socioeconomic Investment Practices of State Pension Funds: The Results of a National Survey

State pension fund managers appear to be under increasing pressure to promote social, ethical, or economic development goals with at least some of their investments. This article offers a conceptual framework for considering socioeconomic investing by these funds, and uses it in a national survey of state pension fund investment practices. True “social” investing, involving the expected sacrifice of market average rates of return for social or ethical goals, appears to be much less widespread than expected. However, the survey also suggests that policies and procedures designed to insure the prudence and accountability of fund managers with regard to socioeconomic investing may not be in place in many states.
The common house spider alters the material and mechanical properties of cobweb silk in response to different prey

Many spiders depend upon webs to capture prey. Web function results from architecture and mechanical performance of the silk. We hypothesized that the common house spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum, would alter the mechanical performance of its cobweb in response to different prey by varying the structural and material properties of its silk. We fed spiders either large, high kinetic energy crickets or small, low kinetic energy pillbugs for 1 week and then examined their freshly spun silk. We separated mechanical performance into structural and material effects. We measured both types of properties for silk threads collected directly from cobwebs to test for "tuning" of silk performance to different aspects of prey capture. We compared silk from two different functional regions of the cobweb-sticky gumfooted threads that adhere directly to prey and supporting threads that maintain web integrity. Supporting threads from cricket-fed spiders were stiffer and tougher than supporting threads from pillbug-fed spiders. Both types of silk from cricket-fed spiders broke at higher loads than silk from pillbug-fed spiders. We explain this variation using a simple model of forces exerted by prey and spiders on single threads and propose potential mechanisms for this change in material properties. Two alternative, nonexclusive, hypotheses are suggested by our data. Spiders may tune silk to different types of prey by spinning threads that are able to hold prey without deforming permanently. Alternatively, as spider's body mass differed dramatically between the two feeding regimes, spiders may tune silk to their own body mass.
Thermomechanical Reliability of Low-Temperature Sintered Silver Die Attached SiC Power Device Assembly

A thermomechanical reliability study was conducted on a low-temperature sintered silver die attached SiC power device assembly. The silver die attachment was formed by sintering nanoscale silver paste in air at 300 degC to form a strong bond between silver- or gold-coated direct-bond-copper substrates and silver-metallized SiC Schottky diodes. Using the 50% drop in the die-shear strength as the failure criterion, an accelerated thermal cycling experiment between 50 degC and 250 degC showed that the silver die attachment can survive more than 4000 cycles, indicating its high thermomechanical reliability at the interested temperature range. Established mainly by scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy, the drop of the die-shear strength during the thermal cycling was attributed to the pile-up of creeping dislocations to form microcavities at the grain boundaries of the sintered silver
Small Gold Mines — The Production and Declaration Problem: Another Dilemma for a Small Developing Country*

The under-reporting of gold production in small developing countries denies these countries an important source of foreign exchange. This paper examines the problem in a Guyanese context, and suggests a series of measures to deal with the problem.
Hardware authentication leveraging performance limits in detailed simulations and emulations

This paper proposes a novel approach to check the authenticity of hardware based on the inevitable performance gap between real hardware and simulations or emulations that impersonate it. More specifically, we demonstrate that each processor design can be authenticated by requiring a checksum incorporating internals of complex micro-architectural mechanisms to be computed within a time limit; this checksum is different for each processor model and only authentic secure hardware can obtain the checksum fast enough. This new authentication approach provides attractive solutions to privacy, scaling, and security issues of traditional approaches that otherwise rely only on certificates. Architectural simulations and an RTL implementation show that the proposed approach is viable with very low hardware overheads.
Probabilistic attack reconstruction and resource estimation in “reload” scenarios

Faced with a bioterrorist attack with an aerosolized pathogen preparation, an emergency manager will need to make medical resource allocations early in the aftermath, with large uncertainties in the estimates of the resource demand, and in ignorance of what subsequent attacks might occur at other sites. In this work we use earlier results on the reconstruction of bioattacks from partial observations of the patient stream to calculate a probability density function of the resource demand. Thereafter, we employ an optimization-under-uncertainty approach to perform resource allocations for both a single-site attack and a multiple-site attack, i.e., a reload scenario. We test the approach in situations where resources are scarce. Our approach can develop allocations profiles that have the potential to reduce the probability of an extremely adverse outcome in exchange for a more certain, but less adverse outcome. We also explore the effect of placing limits on daily allocations.
In Vitro Studies Indicate Intravenous Lipid Emulsion Acts as Lipid Sink in Verapamil Poisoning

Intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE), a component of parenteral nutrition, consists of a fat emulsion of soy bean oil, egg phospholipids, and glycerin. Case reports suggest that ILE may reverse hypotension caused by acute poisoning with lipophilic drugs such as verapamil, but the mechanism remains unclear. The methods used are the following: (1) measurement of ILE concentration in serum samples from a patient with verapamil poisoning treated with ILE, (2) measurement of free verapamil concentrations in human serum mixed in vitro with increasing concentrations of ILE, and (3) measurement of murine ventricular cardiomyocyte L-type Ca(2+) currents, intracellular Ca(2+), and contractility in response to verapamil and/or ILE. Maximum patient serum ILE concentration after infusion of 1 L ILE over 1 h was approximately 1.6 vol%. In vitro GC/MS verapamil assays showed that addition of ILE (0.03-5.0 vol%) dose-dependently decreased the free verapamil concentration in human serum. In voltage-clamped myocytes, adding ILE to Tyrode's solution containing 5 μM verapamil recovered L-type Ca(2+) currents (ICa). Recovery was concentration dependent, with significant ICa recovery at ILE concentrations as low as 0.03 vol%. ILE had no effect on ICa in the absence of verapamil. In field-stimulated intact ventricular myocytes exposed to verapamil, adding ILE (0.5 %) resulted in a rapid and nearly complete recovery of myocyte contractility and intracellular Ca(2+). Our in vitro studies indicate that ILE acts as a lipid sink that rapidly reverses impaired cardiomyocyte contractility in the continued presence of verapamil.
Intrinsic factors that can affect sensitivity to chromosome-aberration induction

The question to be addressed in this paper, namely are there individuals who are hypersensitive, or who are more likely to be hypersensitive, to the induction of chromosome aberrations by radiation and chemicals, is, at this time, difficult to answer. Furthermore, if such individuals can be identified there are social and legal implications concerning what action, if any, should be taken as far as their occupational or medical status is concerned. This will not be discussed here, as it is felt that such a topic is outside the domain of the author, a cytogeneticist. While the emphasis will be on factors that could contribute to an increased sensitivity, it is also appropriate to consider if there are also factors that could contribute to a decreased sensitivity to chromosome aberration induction. Some of the discussion regarding DNA repair will be abbreviated, because much more detail can be found in the paper given by Dr. James Cleaver at this same Workshop.
Crisis Management

Multiple recent disasters have put crisis management in the limelight. Consequently, many IT-related research efforts are under way to bring transformational changes to first responder and response organizations’ ability to contain and mitigate crises.
Monadic robotics

We have developed a domain specific language for the construction of robot controllers, Frob (Functional ROBotics). The semantic basis for Frob is Functional Reactive Programming, or simply FRP, a purely functional model of continuous time, interactive systems. FRP is built around two basic abstractions: behaviors, values defined continuously in time, and events, discrete occurances in time. On this foundation, we have constructed abstractions specific to the domain of robotics. Frob adds yet another abstraction: the task, a basic unit of work defined by a continuous behavior and a terminating event.This paper examines two interrelated aspects of Frob. First, we study the design of systems based on FRP and how abstractions defined using FRP can capture essential domain-specific concepts for systems involving interaction over time. Second, we demonstrate an application of monads, used here to implement Frob tasks. By placing our task abstraction in a monadic framework, we are able to organize task semantics in a modular way, allowing new capabilities to be added without pervasive changes to the system.We present several robot control algorithms specified using Frob. These programs are clear, succinct, and modular, demonstrating the power of our approach.
Internal radiation transport and effective thermal conductivity of fibrous ceramic insulations

Nomenclature A simple, one-dimensional, coupled radiationconduction code is used to investigate the influence of internal radiation transport on the effective thermal conductivity of fibrous ceramic insulations. Internal radiation transport causes the temperature response of a fibrous insulation to vary with applied heating rate in a manner that cannot be consistently reproduced by a pure heat conduction model. Thermal conductivity parameter estimation calculations, using as input transient temperatures calculated with the radiation-conduction code, demonstrate that conductivities derived from highly transient heating environments tend to be lower at high temperatures and have a weaker temperature dependence than conductivities extracted from steady-state measurements. This result is in qualitative agreement with the differences between "static" and "dynamic" effective conductivities reported in the literature for Space Shuttle tile insulations. ¥ Research Scientist, Molecular Physics Laboratory. Senior member AIAA. * Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, t Graduate Student, Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering Department. Copyright © 2001 by Jochen Marschall. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. with permission. A parameter vector ap conductivity parameter, W m" K" C volumetric specific heat pcp, J m"-K" Cp specific heat, J kg"K"
Revisiting silica with ReaxFF: Towards improved predictions of glass structure and properties via reactive molecular dynamics

Abstract Reactive potentials, like ReaxFF, are becoming increasingly popular and are expected to bridge the gap between ab initio and classical molecular dynamics simulations. Yet, their applicability to glassy materials remains poorly understood. Here, by simulating a silica glass with both ReaxFF and a conventional classical potential, we critically assess the ability of reactive potentials to offer an accuracy equivalent or superior to that of classical potentials in describing the structure and properties of glassy silicates. We show that ReaxFF produces a realistic disordered structure, both at the short- and medium-range order. Interestingly, ReaxFF offers significant improvements with respect to classical potentials in describing the elastic properties of the glass and the dynamics of the supercooled liquid. Overall, while retaining a reasonable computational cost, ReaxFF appears as a promising potential to model the structure and properties silicate glasses and, in contrast to classical potential, could be used to assess their surface reactivity.
Coming to Life, Coming to Art: Autobiography from Theory to Canon to Classroom

(2008). Coming to Life, Coming to Art: Autobiography from Theory to Canon to Classroom. a/b: Auto/Biography Studies: Vol. 23, Paul John Eakin and James Olney: A Festschrift, pp. 80-95.
Cellular changes in rat urinary bladder carcinomas induced by FANFT: A quantitative electron microscopic analysis

Morphometric data of normal and neoplastic urinary bladder epithelia have been collected from the Fischer rat FANFT model. Sequential measurements of volumes, surface areas, and numerical densities of organelles, and where pertinent, cellular compartments have been made during FANFT carcinogenesis, utilizing standard point and intersection counting methods. The data show that neoplastic transformation of rat bladder epithelium, and progression of FANFT tumors are associated with increasing volume densities of cells, nuclei, microvilli, rough endoplasmic reticulum, and mitochondria, as well as with decreasing volume densities of the cytoplasmic matrix, fusiform vesicles, Golgi complex, and lysosomes. Surface densities of the plasma membrane (microvillar), nuclei, rough endoplasmic reticulum, as well as mitochondrial outer and inner membranes progressively increase while surface densities of non-microvillar plasma membrane, fusiform vesicles, and Golgi complex decrease with time. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum reaches its maximum volume and surface densities in tumors present 26 weeks after the initiation of FANFT feedings (26-F tumors). This may reflect the function of smooth endoplasmic reticulum as the site of detoxification of the carcinogen, noting that FANFT is metabolized by microsomal enzymes, and in this experiment is fed only for 26 weeks. The nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio is 1:4 in normal Fischer rat urothelium, 1:3 in 26-F and 43-F tumors, which are noninvasive, and 1:2 in 61-F, which are invasive tumors. The quantitative data correlate well with the changes in degree of differentiation of the tumors and with their biological behavior.
A Tale of Two Networks: The 2008 Nomination Process

The 2008 election represented a rare opportunity to examine contested primaries within both parties. The Democratic Party network, with Obama at its core, proved more cohesive than its Republican counterpart. Not only was the Republican core a weaker cluster of three coequal candidates but a second group of lesser candidates, including populists and libertarians, failed to merge with the first group. The willingness of donors to support their party’s nominee in the general election reflected these differences in party network coherence. While Obama was able to garner high levels of backing, McCain received lukewarm support at best from his party. This weakness proved to be indicative of a increasingly fractured party, which we demonstrate in the next chapter.
Time-averaging and postmortem skeletal survival in benthic fossil assemblages: quantitative comparisons among Holocene environments

We used radiocarbon ages on dead Holocene shells of the venerid bivalve Chione spp. to investigate how time-averaging and taphonomy in shallow marine benthic assemblages vary with sedimentary and tectonic setting. We compared shells collected from the sediment surface in five depositional environments from two regions of the Gulf of California, Mexico: Bahia Concepcion, a young faulted rift basin with high rates of terrigenous and carbonate sedimentation; and Bahia la Choya, an intertidal system along a sediment-starved shelf. Frequency distributions of shell ages in all environments form a hollow curve, with a mode at young ages and a long tail toward older ages. This pattern suggests that shells are added to the taphonomically active zone (TAZ) at roughly constant rates (via continuous shell deaths), and removed from the TAZ at random, either through destruction or by achieving final burial. Shell half-lives (the amount of time to remove half the shells from the TAZ) provide a comparative measure of time-averaging. Time-averaging varies with sedimentary and tectonic setting. The lowest amounts of time-averaging (shell half-lives of 90 to 165 years) occur in Bahia Concepcion, where rapid rates of terrigenous sedimentation (on fan-deltas) and carbonate sedimentation (in pocket bays) bury shells rapidly. Time-averaging is higher in the sediment-starved environments of Bahia la Choya (shell half-lives of 285 to 550 years). The highest amounts of time-averaging occur the inner tidal flats of Bahia la Choya (shell half-life of 550 years). Here the conjunction of low sedimentation rates with low rates of shell destruction (due to periodic tidal emergence) permits shells to persist in the TAZ for very long time spans.There is no systematic relationship between a shell's age and its taphonomic condition (taphonomic grade) in any environment, probably because of the complex and random nature of burial-exhumation in the TAZ. Age variance tends to increase with increasing taphonomic alteration: highly altered shells range in age from young to several thousand years old, while less altered shells are mostly young. The correspondence between time-averaging and the taphonomic condition of entire shell assemblages is also weak, but might be resolved with further study.These results provide quantitative data on time-averaging in benthic assemblages as a function of sedimentary and tectonic setting, and suggest some guidelines for facies appropriate for particular studies. Shallow marine rift basins like Bahia Concepcion can potentially contain within-horizon fossil assemblages representing time spans of only a few hundred years—time resolution often beyond reach in paleontology. In contrast, sediment-starved shelf habitats like Bahia la Choya are unlikely to yield assemblages with time resolution finer than several thousands of years.
The Split of Tax Jurisdiction: The Source Rules

This chapter explains how income for both individuals and corporations are split among tax jurisdictions in order to avoid double taxation. It explains tax approaches used to determine geographical origin of income, and the deductions thereof.
Induction of MnSOD gene expression in a hepatic model of TNF-alpha toxicity does not result in increased protein

The model of toxic liver injury was used to examine the role of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD) expression in cellular resistance to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha toxicity. The effects of the hepatotoxin D-galactosamine (GalN) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on hepatic and splenic TNF-alpha and MnSOD expression were studied. Treatment with GalN and LPS alone or in combination led to equivalent increases in hepatic and splenic TNF-alpha gene expression. Hepatic MnSOD mRNA levels were not affected by GalN or GalN with LPS but were increased 13-fold by LPS alone. Splenic MnSOD mRNA levels were increased twofold by GalN and 12-fold by either LPS alone or GalN plus LPS. The determination of MnSOD protein content, however, revealed no changes in hepatic or splenic steady-state levels of the protein with any of the treatments, despite the marked increases in MnSOD gene expression. Hepatic MnSOD enzyme activity was also unchanged by LPS or GalN plus LPS administration. Biosynthesis of MnSOD protein in rat hepatocytes isolated from an in vivo LPS-treated rat was unchanged compared with control. MnSOD mRNA levels were increased when GalN treatment was combined with uridine rescue, but again no change in protein was seen. The lack of any increase in MnSOD protein after GalN or LPS administration indicates that MnSOD upregulation is not involved in cellular resistance against TNF-alpha cytotoxicity in the liver in vivo.
Population persistence in flowing-water habitats: Conditions where flow-based management of harmful algal blooms works, and where it does not

Abstract Control of harmful algae in the coves or bays of larger water bodies could be accomplished by hydraulic flushing with algae-free water. This suggestion is examined with a mathematical model of a harmful algal population, parameterized to represent the toxic haptophyte Prymnesium parvum, and its limiting nutrient. A small cove with a hydraulic storage zone and longitudinal advection and dispersion is coupled to a larger lake where ongoing or transient blooms serve as a source for the algal population. This population is transported upstream by dispersion and flushed downstream by advection. Morphometry and hydraulics represent a lake in Texas where blooms of P. parvum have been problematic. When dispersion and hydraulic storage are low to moderate, available pumping technology is predicted to be capable of suppressing the algal population within a variable portion of the cove, under both steady state and transient conditions. This suppression occurs when temperature-dependent algal growth is low. At temperatures high enough to support more rapid growth, flow augmentation carries a risk of stimulating a bloom under some hydraulic conditions. The model presented here complements similar models without population sources, and contributes to theoretical understanding of population persistence in reservoirs and other flowing-water habitats.
Medical School Surgical Boot Camps: A Systematic Review

Purpose Many medical schools have begun to offer surgical boot camps to senior medical students. The aim of the present study is to systematically review the literature and evidence surrounding medical school surgical boot camps to direct future research into the effectiveness of boot camps. Methods A systematic review was conducted, searching MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and ERIC. The review was conducted according to the PICOTS structure, with an intervention of a surgical boot camp for senior medical students entering surgical residencies. Results The search resulted in 5351 database hits, from which we identified 10 published studies that met the inclusion criteria. Two reviews were identified that met the PICOTS criteria but were excluded from data synthesis. Boot camps increase the confidence and competence of medical students entering their surgical internships. There is no objective assessment of the effect of boot camps on the clinical performance of interns. Conclusions Despite the success of medical school surgical boot camps, no objective data exist to show that boot camps translate into improved performance during internship.
A coupled wave-hydrodynamic model of an atoll with high friction: Mechanisms for flow, connectivity, and ecological implications

Abstract We present a hydrodynamic analysis of an atoll system from modeling simulations using a coupled wave and three-dimensional hydrodynamic model (COAWST) applied to Palmyra Atoll in the Central Pacific. This is the first time the vortex force formalism has been applied in a highly frictional reef environment. The model results agree well with field observations considering the model complexity in terms of bathymetry, bottom roughness, and forcing (waves, wind, metrological, tides, regional boundary conditions), and open boundary conditions. At the atoll scale, strong regional flows create flow separation and a well-defined wake, similar to 2D flow past a cylinder. Circulation within the atoll is typically forced by waves and tides, with strong waves from the north driving flow from north to south across the atoll, and from east to west through the lagoon system. Bottom stress is significant for depths less than about 60 m, and in addition to the model bathymetry, is important for correct representation of flow in the model. Connectivity within the atoll system shows that the general trends follow the mean flow paths. However, some connectivity exists between all regions of the atoll system due to nonlinear processes such as eddies and tidal phasing. Moderate wave stress, short travel time (days since entering the reef system), and low temperature appear to be the most ideal conditions for high coral cover at this site.
Fondaparinux in the Treatment of Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia.

The development of new non-heparin anticoagulant therapies has increased interest in the treatment of type II heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT). Standard therapy involves administration of an intravenous direct thrombin inhibitor (DTI), either argatroban or lepirudin. Due to a lack of cross-reactivity to HIT antibodies in vitro, the synthetic pentasaccharide fondaparinux sodium is an appealing alternative, but its use in this disorder has not been comprehensively examined. Here, we report our experience with fondaparinux in HIT and an analysis of safety and efficacy in this setting. We reviewed all in-patient cases of HIT at the Massachusetts General Hospital that were confirmed by the heparin-platelet factor 4 antibody test and were treated with fondaparinux. Twenty patients satisfied diagnostic criteria for HIT. Each patient studied lacked another competing, compelling etiology for thrombocytopenia and was treated with fondaparinux for more than five days within one month of diagnosis. The average duration of therapy was 17 days and 16 patients (80%) were treated within two weeks of diagnosis. Patients were grouped according to whether they received fondaparinux after initial therapy with a DTI (n=10) or as initial treatment following the diagnosis of HIT (n=10). The initial dose of fondaparinux administered was 2.5 mg in 18 patients. Neither absolute nor relative thrombocytopenia was identified in either group following treatment. Patients with HIT treated with fondaparinux while thrombocytopenic experienced platelet recovery on average in 3.7 days, as represented in Figure 1. In addition, there were no observed thrombotic complications among patients treated with fondaparinux. In this analysis of a high-risk group of inpatients with type-II HIT, fondaparinux was tolerated without the continuation or recurrence of thrombocytopenia. This suggests that cross-reactivity between the heparin-PF4 antibody and fondaparinux is not likely to be clinically significant. Additionally, the absence of thrombotic sequelae among fondaparinux-treated patients argues that fondaparinux may be a well-tolerated, effective treatment for this morbid, prothrombotic disorder. A prospective trial of fondaparinux in the treatment of type-II HIT is planned.
An 8-bit, 16 input, 3.2 pJ/op switched-capacitor dot product circuit in 28-nm FDSOI CMOS

An 8-bit, 16 input, switched-capacitor dot product circuit in 28-nm FDSOI CMOS is presented. The design uses sixteen 8-bit passive charge redistribution digital-to-analog multipliers followed by an 8-bit SAR ADC. Measured energy per dot product operation is 3.2 pJ. When used to compute partial dot products for the hidden layer of a three-layer neural network, the design achieves a classification accuracy of 98.0% on the MNIST handwritten digit dataset.
Reprint of: Enhancing natural gas-to-liquids (GTL) processes through chemical looping for syngas production: Process synthesis and global optimization

Abstract A process synthesis and global optimization framework is presented to determine the most profitable routes of producing liquid fuels from natural gas through competing technologies. Chemical looping is introduced into the framework for the first time as a natural gas conversion alternative. The underlying phenomena in chemical looping are complex and models from methods such as computational fluid dynamics are unsuitable for global optimization. Therefore, appropriate approximate models are required. Parameter estimation and disjunctive programming are described here for modeling two chemical looping processes. The first is a nickel oxide based process developed at CSIC in Spain; the second is a iron oxide based process developed at Ohio State University. These mathematical models are then incorporated into a comprehensive process superstructure to evaluate the performance of chemical looping against technologies such as autothermal reforming and steam reforming for syngas production. The rest of the superstructure consists of process alternatives for liquid fuels production from syngas and simultaneous heat, power, and water integration. Among the various case studies considered, it is shown that chemical looping can reduce the break-even oil prices for natural gas-to-liquids processes by as much as 40%, while satisfying production demands and obeying environmental constraints. For a natural gas price of $5/TSCF, the break-even price is as low as $32.10/bbl. Sensitivity analysis shows that these prices for chemical looping remain competitive even as natural gas cost rises. The findings suggest that chemical looping is a very promising option to enhance natural gas-to-liquids processes and their capabilities.
5 – Multimedia Systems and Signal Processing

Universal multimedia access (UMA) is emerging as one of the important applications for the next generation of multimedia systems. The basic concept of UMA is the adaptation, summarization, and personalization of multimedia content according to usage environment. This chapter describes UMA, in particular, it describes how different multimedia systems and signal processing tools use MPEG-7 and MPEG-21 for enabling UMA. It also discusses describes the MPEG-7 support for UMA, which includes transcoding hints and variations descriptions. The different dimensions for adaptation include rate and quality reduction, adaptive spatial and temporal sampling, and semantic summarization of the multimedia content. The different relevant dimensions of the user environment include device capabilities, bandwidth, user preferences, usage context, and spatial and temporal awareness. UMA facilitates the scalable or adaptive delivery of multi-media to users and terminals regardless of bandwidth or capabilities of terminal devices and their support for media formats. In addition, UMA allows the content to be customized for users at a high-semantic level through summarization and personalization according to user preferences and usage context.
Economic Liberties and the Original Meaning of the Constitution

This essay examines the waxing support for the ideology and practice of economic liberty in the founding era. It points out that Americans of the late 18th century increasingly challenged British trade restrictions as well as long-accepted governmental regulation of the economy, raising both practical and philosophical objections. The paper considers various aspects of the colonial economy, including wage controls, regulations governing the price of bread and meat, the establishment of public markets, changes in land and inheritance laws, land speculation, and the growth of contracting in a market economy. It also probes the impact of the Revolutionary War on the emerging commitment to a free market. The paper then links the growing acceptance of economic liberty to the framing of state and federal constitutions. Although recognizing that the United States Constitution does not embody a particular economic theory, the paper concludes that the framers envisioned a substantially free market economy based on private property with a large measure of economic liberty for individuals to pursue their own interests.
The Settings of Adolescent Alcohol and Drug Use

The current study examined the settings in which adolescents use alcohol and drugs, emphasizing sex and peer group differences in where substance use occurs, settings associated with more problematic substance use, and settings potentially serving as sites of initiation of adolescent substance use. Subjects were 449 juniors and seniors attending two Midwestern high schools (51% male; aged 16–19) who completed in-class surveys. Few sex differences in settings of substance use were found, although girls were more likely than boys to drink in family settings. More severe substance use was associated with a higher likelihood of drinking at school. Moreover, alcohol users were more likely to report drinking in their own homes and at their friends' homes than abstainers were to indicate selecting these settings to use alcohol if they were to do so. Drug users were more likely to report substance use outdoors, at their friends' homes, at social parties, and at school than were abstainers to indicate selecting these settings to use drugs if they were to do so. Implications of these findings for understanding the epidemiology of substance use and high-risk settings for the initiation and escalation of substance using behaviors are discussed.
Segmenting thalamic nuclei: what can we gain from HARDI?

The contrast provided by diffusion MRI has been exploited repeatedly for in vivo segmentations of thalamic nuclei. This paper systematically investigates the benefits of high-angular resolution (HARDI) data for this purpose. An empirical analysis of clustering stability reveals a clear advantage of acquiring HARDI data at b = 1000 s/mm2. However, based on stability arguments, as well as further visual and statistical evidence and theoretical insights about the impact of parameters, HARDI models such as the q-ball do not exhibit clear benefits over the standard diffusion tensor for thalamus segmentation at this b value.
Extreme Value Distributions for Linear and Non-Linear Systems and Applications to Marine Structures

Prediction of extreme wave loads acting on a marine structure is an essential step in its design. The structure may respond linearly or non-linearly to extreme wave conditions depending on its flexibility and type. This paper presents extreme value distributions that can be used for linear systems such as tankers and non-linear systems such as jack up platforms. The results of application to these structures are compared and discussed.
Reactive Synthesis for Robotic Swarms

We consider the problem of reactive synthesis for systems with non-instantaneous actions, i.e., it may take an arbitrary amount of time for the actions of the system to complete, and meanwhile the input from the environment may also change, possibly requiring a different response from the system. The problem can be modeled as a typical reactive synthesis problem by introducing auxiliary propositions and fairness assumptions, at the expense of additional computational complexity. We develop new realizability and synthesis algorithms that address the problem without adding auxiliary propositions or assumptions. We discuss the complexity of both approaches. We then apply our algorithms to synthesize controllers for a swarm robotic system. We implement both approaches and compare them using a specific swarm task.
The US Army Uses Reliability Analytics and Design of Experiments to Test, Evaluate, and Down-Select a Small-Caliber Ammunition ‘Green’ Primer Design for Improved Soldier Safety

The US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) is working in partnership with government contractors to design and develop lead-free primers for use in small arms training munition for use by US Warfighters in close-quarters battle training structures, often referred to as shoothouses. A comprehensive series of tests were planned and conducted, and detailed statistical analyses of the results were executed using modern statistical best practices. Tests were designed to measure performance and estimate reliability relevant to several key performance attributes which included function and casualty (F&C) or stoppage rates / reliability, energetic sensitivity, dispersion, and electronic pressure, velocity, and action time (EPVAT). Results from these tests were used to down-select the best design configuration from four different candidate primer designs with two different propellants.