cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Mixed signals in trends of variance in high-elevation tree ring chronologies

Increases in climate variability, including extremes, may be expected with anthropogenic climate change, but some evidence is contrary. The issue is important because the consequences of variability can be critical for ecosystems. It has long been known and often rehearsed that ecological consequences of increased variability may be greater than those that result from expected changes in mean temperature and precipitation. Tree rings have been useful indicators of ecological response to climate change and used as proxies for climate variability; work in the Rocky Mountains, USA, has been particularly informative. Chronologies from two high elevation species ranging over 2500 km were analyzed for changes in variance through time. These spatially extensive and disaggregated tree ring records do not show a consistent pattern of change in variance over the past 500 or 100 years; heteroscedasticity has recently been greater. A lack of consistent response in growth over a period encompassing changes in mean climate indicates that mountain environments, with inconsistent trends in temperature and precipitation, may be too complex to act as sentinels.
The Role of Anandamide and Related Fatty Acid Ethanolamides as Endogenous Ligands for the CB1 and CB2 Cannabinoid Receptors

Fatty acids are best known for their role as structural components of lipid membranes but they also can act as messenger molecules with targets located both inside and outside the cell. In particular, the polyunsaturated fatty acids, such as arachidonic acid, can modulate a variety of cellular targets such as protein kinase C, ion channels, and possibly gene regulation. Arachidonic acid can be further metabolized to over 50 eicosanoids, some for which specific receptors have been identified. A novel arachidonic acid containing molecule, anandamide, was identified during a search for an endogenous agonist for the CB1 cannabinoid receptor and its structure was found to be the condensation of ethanolamine and arachidonic acid linked through an amide bond. Anandamide was further shown to be an agonist for both CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors expressed in mammalian fibroblasts and to functionally activate the inhibition of adenylate cyclase. Other potential cannabinoid receptor agonists have been identified including ethanolamides of mead acid, dihomo-γ-linolenic acid, and adrenic acid. This manuscript will serve as an overview of the cannabinoid receptors system and include discussion of potential endogenous agonists for this family of receptors. Although little is known about the physiologic significance of the anandaergic nervous system, some speculation will be provided based on the current literature.
Relational Dialectics Theory

Relational dialectics theory is a theory of how meanings are constructed through speaker utterances, whether verbal or nonverbal, oral or written. The theory views meaning-making as a fluid, polemic process in which different, often competing discourses or worldviews struggle for dominance. Sometimes, emergent from this struggle, new transformative meanings are constructed. The theory moves away from a psychologized view of interpersonal communication, in which the individual is centered, to an approach in which discourses become the focus of attention. Keywords: communication theory; family communication; interpersonal communication; relational communication
Chromatographic Analyses of Fuels

A very important analysis in the petroleum industry is the analyses and characterization of low boiling petroleum fractions with a carbon number of C1-C12. These fractions are either obtained by the direct distillation of petroleum crudes (for example, “virgin naphthas”) or as a result of catalytic processes from several high boiling feedstock conversions. Some of these light products may be further processed to increase octane (for example, conversion of virgin naphthas into “reformate”) or reduce the sulfur levels to meet regulatory specifications. The resulting final products are the main sources used as blending components in the production of commercial automotive gasolines sold at the pumps.
Drug Courts and Arrest for Substance Possession: Was the African American Community Differentially Impacted?:

Although drug courts were intended to reduce the justice system involvement of drug offenders, a recent study found evidence that drug courts were associated with increased (rather than decreased) ...
Practical Prosody

Prosody is clearly valuable for human understanding, but can be difficult to model in spoken language technology. This talk describes a "direct modeling" approach, which does not require any hand-labeling of prosodic events. Instead, prosodic features are extracted directly from the speech signal, based on time alignments from automatic speech recognition. Machine learning techniques then determine a prosodic model, and the model is integrated with lexical and other information to predict the target classes of interest. The talk presents a general method for prosodic feature extraction and design (including a special-purpose tool developed at SRI), and illustrates how it can be successfully applied in three different types of tasks: (1) detection of sentence or dialog act boundaries; (2) classification of emotion and affect, and (3) speaker classification.
Distributions of sulfhydryl borane monomer and dimer in rodents and monomer in humans: boron neutron capture therapy of melanoma and glioma in boronated rodents.

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), a form of radiation therapy based on the 10B(n,α)7Li nuclear reaction,1,2 has been used in Japan for radiation therapy of human malignant gliomas after total or partial neurosurgical excision of visible tumor.3 Japanese data for 10B distribution in the blood and tumor of 30 patients with malignant glioma have been summarized.4 The stable isotope 10B was introduced into the tumor during a 1–2 hour intra-arterial infusion of a 10B-enriched preparation of the sulfhydryl borane monomer Na2B12H11SH to a total dose in the range 30–80 mg 10B per kg total body weight. The tumor bed was irradiated for 5–7 hours at a 100-kW nuclear reactor, 11 to 16 hours after the infusion. The average tumor 10B concentration just before irradiation was 22 μg 10B/g, while the average blood 10B concentration was 18 μg 10B/g.4 Despite low tumor:blood 10B concentration ratios just before irradiation (average ratio = 1.2:1.0), post-operative survival after BNCT was unexpectedly prolonged for some patients--indeed astonishingly so for a 66-year-old Japanese man who is neurologically and neuroradiologically stable nearly sixteen years after visibly incomplete removal of a malignant glioma.4
Verifiable and Interpretable Reinforcement Learning through Program Synthesis

We study the problem of generating interpretable and verifiable policies for Reinforcement Learning (RL). Unlike the popular Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) paradigm, in which the policy is represented by a neural network, the aim of this work is to find policies that can be represented in highlevel programming languages. Such programmatic policies have several benefits, including being more easily interpreted than neural networks, and being amenable to verification by scalable symbolic methods. The generation methods for programmatic policies also provide a mechanism for systematically using domain knowledge for guiding the policy search. The interpretability and verifiability of these policies provides the opportunity to deploy RL based solutions in safety critical environments. This thesis draws on, and extends, work from both the machine learning and formal methods communities.
Dichotomous regulation of group 3 innate lymphoid cells by nongastric Helicobacter species

Intestinal innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) contribute to the protective immunity and homeostasis of the gut, and the microbiota are critically involved in shaping ILC function. However, the role of the gut microbiota in regulating ILC development and maintenance still remains elusive. Here, we identified opposing effects on ILCs by two Helicobacter species, Helicobacter apodemus and Helicobacter typhlonius, isolated from immunocompromised mice. We demonstrated that the introduction of both Helicobacter species activated ILCs and induced gut inflammation; however, these Helicobacter species negatively regulated RORγt+ group 3 ILCs (ILC3s), especially T-bet+ ILC3s, and diminished their proliferative capacity. Thus, these findings underscore a previously unknown dichotomous regulation of ILC3s by Helicobacter species, and may serve as a model for further investigations to elucidate the host-microbe interactions that critically sustain the maintenance of intestinal ILC3s.
Catenary Model of InSight SEIS Tether for Instrument Deployment

NASA's InSight Mars Lander, which landed on Mars in November 2018, completed the first precision robotic instrument placement on a planetary surface as part of its instrument deployment phase. Using the Instrument Deployment Arm (IDA), InSight deployed the two key science payload elements, a seismometer (SEIS) and heat flow probe (HP3), as well as a wind and thermal shield (WTS) placed over the seismometer. SEIS and HP3 are tethered to the lander for both power and communications purposes. Placement accuracy of the instrument deployment was essential for successful realization of the mission's core science objectives. In order to meet the requirements for placement accuracy, we worked to understand and mitigate the factors contributing to placement error. Those factors include but are not limited to: the IDA position control error, the error in the computation of the digital elevation model (DEM), the targeting error in selecting the desired placement site, and each instruments ground interaction. In particular, the SEIS placement accuracy was greatly affected by the placement of its tether on the terrain during the instrument deployment. The SEIS tether is a stack of six flex cable belts attached at one end to the lander deck. At the other end, the tether is looped and attached to the instrument with a load shunt assembly (LSA) designed to isolate signals detected by the instrument from any noise created by the tether due to thermoelastic deformation, atmospheric events, etc. Additionally, the tether contains a field joint and a pinning mass (which grounds the tether and is used to manipulate the tether with the robotic arm post-placement). In our validation and verification (V&V) activities, we determined that the interaction of the SEIS tether on the terrain greatly affected our instrument placement accuracy. In order to understand and minimize this effect, we created a mathematical model of the SEIS tether and then used that model to develop the deployment sequences. Ultimately, our sequences deployed both the tether and the instrument on the Martian surface, taking into consideration the whole system for a successful deployment. This paper will discuss the motivation and details of the implementation of the SEIS tether model and the ways in which the SEIS tether impacted placement accuracy in certain configurations. It will also show results from testing this model on Earth and deploying SEIS to the Martian surface on sol 22 of InSight's mission.
High resolution imaging in bone tissue research-review

This review article focuses on imaging of bone tissue to understand skeletal health with regards to bone quality. Skeletal fragility fractures are due to bone diseases such as osteoporosis which result in low bone mass and bone mineral density (BMD) leading to high risk of fragility fractures. Recent advances in imaging and analysis technologies have highly benefitted the field of biological sciences. In particular, their application in skeletal health has been of significant importance in understanding bone mechanical behavior (structure and properties) at the tissue level. While synchrotron based microCT technique has remained the gold standard for non-destructive evaluation of structure in material and biological sciences, several lab based microCT systems have been developed to provide high resolution imaging of specimens with greater access, and ease of use in laboratory settings. Lab based microCT scanners are widely used in the bone field as a standard tool to evaluate three-dimensional (3D) morphologies of bone structure at image resolutions appropriate for bone samples from small animals to bone biopsy specimens from humans. Both synchrotron and standard lab based microCT systems provide high resolution imaging ex vivo for a small sized specimen. A few X-ray based systems are also commercially available for in vivo scanning at relatively low image resolutions. Synchrotron-based CT microscopy is being used for various ultra-high-resolution image analyses using complex 3D software. However, the synchrotron-based CT technology is in high demand, allows only limited numbers of specimens, expensive, requires complex additional instrumentation, and is not easily available to researchers as it requires access to a synchrotron source which is always limited. Therefore, desktop laboratory scanners (microXCT, Zeiss/Xradia, Scanco, SkyScan. etc.), mimicking the synchrotron based CT technology or image resolution, have been developed to solve the accessibility issues. These lab based scanners have helped both material science, and the bone field to investigate bone tissue morphologies at submicron mage resolutions. Considerable progress has been made in both in vivo and ex vivo imaging towards providing high resolution images of bone tissue. Both clinical and research imaging technologies will continue to improve and help understand osteoporosis and other related skeletal issues in order to develop targeted treatments for bone fragility. This review summarizes the high resolution imaging work in bone research.
Vaping-related lung injury

The use of electronic nicotine delivery systems has increased in popularity dramatically over the past decade. Although lung diseases caused by vaping have been reported since the modern invention of the electronic cigarette, in the summer of 2019, patients began to present to health care centers at epidemic levels with an acute respiratory illness relating to vaping, which the Center for Disease Control termed E-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (EVALI). This review discusses electronic nicotine delivery systems as well as the etiology, clinical presentation, imaging findings, pathologic features, treatment, and long-term consequences of EVALI. We conclude with the practical impact EVALI has had on the practice of pathology.
Model-Free Versus Model-Based Volatility Prediction

The well-known ARCH/GARCH models for financial time series have been criticized of late for their poor performance in volatility prediction, that is, prediction of squared returns. Focusing on three representative data series, namely a foreign exchange series (Yen vs. Dollar), a stock index series (the S&P500 index), and a stock price series (IBM), the case is made that financial returns may not possess a finite fourth moment. Taking this into account, we show how and why ARCH/GARCH models when properly applied and evaluated actually do have nontrivial predictive validity for volatility. Furthermore, we show how a simple model-free variation on the ARCH theme can perform even better in that respect. The model-free approach is based on a novel normalizing and variance stabilizing transformation (NoVaS, for short) that can be seen as an alternative to parametric modeling. Properties of this transformation are discussed, and practical algorithms for optimizing it are given.
Infection Rates Following Hepatic Embolotherapy in Patients with Prior Biliary Interventions: Comparison of Single-Drug Moxifloxacin and Multidrug Antibiotic Prophylaxis.

Abstract Purpose To investigate the incidence of infection in patients with prior biliary interventions undergoing hepatic embolotherapy following extended antibiotic prophylaxis using moxifloxacin monotherapy or a multidrug regimen. Material and methods Under an Institutional Review Board-approved protocol, retrospective review of a quality assurance database identified all liver-directed therapies (LDTs) at a tertiary care center between 2010 and 2019 with biliary intervention prior to LDT Records were reviewed for infectious complications within 3 months of chemo- or radioembolization. Patients were categorized based on extended antibiotic prophylaxis regimen: oral moxifloxacin monotherapy or multidrug regimen of levofloxacin and metroniodazole plus preprocedural neomycin and erythromycin. Procedures without at least 2 months of clinical follow-up, hepatic ablation, and procedures without extended antibiotic prophylaxis were excluded Regression analysis was used to analyze multivariate data to detect a difference in infection rate. Results Twenty-four chemoembolization and 58 radioembolization procedures were performed on 55 patients with prior biliary interventions. Forty-four used monotherapy and 38 used multidrug regimen. The incidence of infection was 16.7% (4/24) after chemoembolization and 13.8% (8/58) after radioembolization The incidence of infection in patients did not differ between antibiotic prophylaxis regimens (18.2% [8/44] with moxifloxacin monotherapy and 10.5% [4/38] multidrug regimen, P = .3) or between types of biliary interventions (24.1% [7/29] with bilioenteric anastomosis and 23.8% [5/21] biliary stenting, P = .3). Conclusions The types of extended antibiotic prophylaxis (moxifloxacin monotherapy vs multitherapy), prior biliary intervention, and embolotherapy were not found to be associated with differences in the incidence of infectious complications in this population.
Treatment Effect Modeling for FTIR Signals Subject to Multiple Sources of Uncertainties

Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) is a widely adopted technique for characterizing the chemical composition in many physical and chemical analyses. However, FTIR spectra are subject to multiple sources of uncertainty, and thus the analysis of them relies on domain experts and can only lead to qualitative conclusions. This study aims to analyze the effect of a certain treatment on FTIR spectra subject to two commonly observed uncertainties, the offset shift and the multiplicative error. Due to these uncertainties, the pre-exposure FTIR spectra are modeled according to the physical understanding of the uncertainty--observed spectra can be viewed as translating and stretchering an underlying template signal, and the post-exposure FTIR spectra are modeled as the translated and stretchered template signal plus an extra functional treatment effect. To provide engineering interpretation, the treatment effect is modeled as the product of the pattern of modification and its corresponding magnitude. A two-step parameter estimation algorithm is developed to estimate the underlying template signal, the pattern of modification, and the magnitude of modification at various treatment strengths. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated in a simulation study. Furtherly, in a real case study, the proposed method is used to investigate the effect of plasma exposure on the FTIR spectra. As a result, the proposed method effectively identifies the pattern of modification under uncertainties in the manufacturing environment, which matches the knowledge of the affected chemical components by the plasma treatment. And the recovered magnitude of modification provides guidance in selecting the control parameter of the plasma treatment.
Differences in inpatient and outpatient hepatitis C virus prevalence and linkage to care rates in a safety net hospital hepatitis C screening program.

BACKGROUND AND AIM Routine screening for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is crucial in identifying the 50% of infected persons unaware of their infection. We added an inpatient screening initiative to our successful outpatient HCV screening program in an urban, safety-net hospital. METHODS From March 2017 to December 2019, HCV screening was performed in inpatient and outpatient settings at Grady Health System. We compared care cascade outcomes, including anti-HCV testing, RNA testing, and linkage to care (LTC) between these settings. RESULTS A total of 29 751 patients were tested for anti-HCV: 8883 inpatients and 20 868 outpatients. The anti-HCV population was predominantly Black (76.2%) and male (67.9%). The total anti-HCV prevalence was 8.9%, with 14% of inpatients and 6.7% of outpatients testing positive. RNA testing was performed on 86%. The prevalence of active HCV infection was 59.3% in those that were anti-HCV positive; inpatient prevalence was 66%, and outpatient was 53.8%. Of those with active infection, 67.5% were linked to care (57.3% of inpatients and 77.8% of outpatients). CONCLUSION We found significant differences in prevalence of anti-HCV and LTC rates between inpatients and outpatients during an HCV screening program. Higher anti-HCV prevalence among inpatients may be due a higher prevalence of non-birth year HCV risk factors. LTC rates were lower in the inpatient setting despite a robust linkage strategy. The striking prevalence of HCV in both settings warrants continued screening, expansion to additional settings, and novel strategies to improve inpatient linkage rates, especially in the setting of new universal HCV screening guidelines.
Materials and Interface Challenges in High-Vapor-Quality Two-Phase Flow Boiling Research

High-vapor-quality flow boiling on structured surfaces has the potential to enhance heat transfer performance and reduce temperature/pressure instability compared to conventional lower quality flow boiling on smooth surfaces. In this article, we discuss recent research progress on structured surface-enhanced flow boiling. We discuss lessons learned and focus on the challenges remaining. Although some degree of mechanistic understanding of the effect of surface structures on the flow boiling process has been gained, many important challenges remain to enable real utilization. Primarily, a need exists for a greater fundamental understanding of the processes if design tools are to be developed capable of guiding engineers to select and implement enhancements. The challenges discussed stem from a community-wide workshop focusing on high-exit-quality flow boiling, held in June 2020. Four key challenges were identified: 1) the need for better understanding of the mechanisms governing surface-structure-enhanced flow boiling and their effect on heat transfer coefficient, critical heat flux, pressure drop, and flow stability; 2) the need for rigorous quantification of surface durability and manufacturing scalability; 3) the need to understand effects of using working fluids other than water including refrigerants, supercritical fluids, and other dielectric fluids; and 4) the need to establish thermal resistance limits dependent on liquid film thickness. We end this article by providing conclusions detailing where we believe that the community should direct both fundamental and applied efforts in order to solve the identified challenges, which limits the implementation of high-vapor-quality flow boiling on surface structures.
Decompressive Hemicraniectomy in the Modern Era of Mechanical Thrombectomy.

Objectives We aim to determine the incidence of decompressive hemicraniectomy (DHC) in the modern era of mechanical thrombectomy techniques and improved revascularization outcomes. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 512 patients admitted with acute ischemic strokes with anterior circulation large-vessel occlusion that were treated by mechanical thrombectomy from 2010–2019. The primary endpoint was the need for surgical decompression. Secondary endpoints were infarct size, hemorrhagic conversion, and functional outcome at hospital discharge. Results Of the 512 patients, 18 (3.5%) underwent DHC at a median 2.0 days from stroke onset. The DHC group was significantly younger than the non-DHC group (P Conclusions This is one of the largest single-center experiences demonstrating that improved recanalization decreased the need for DHC without increasing the risk of hemorrhagic conversion.
Freedom, Democracy, and the Right to Education

While litigation continues in an effort to establish a fundamental right to education under the U.S. Constitution, the full historical justification for this right remains missing—a fatal flaw for many jurists. This Article fills that gap, demonstrating that the central, yet entirely overlooked, justification for a federal right to education resides in America’s education story during the era of slavery and Reconstruction. At that time, education was first and foremost about freedom. The South had criminalized education to maintain a racialized hierarchy that preserved slavery. Many African Americans, seeing education as the means to both mental and physical freedom, made extraordinary efforts to secretly acquire it. After the War, their efforts morphed into a full-fledged public education movement. Congress, aiming to remedy slavery and repair democracy itself, responded by requiring confederate states to guarantee education in their state constitutions. The rest of the nation followed shortly thereafter. This Article analyzes this history through the Thirteenth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, the Guarantee Clause, and subsequent judicial precedent. It demonstrates, first, that the Constitution has long protected a negative right to education—the freedom to pursue learning without state interference. Second, it reveals how that negative right transformed into an affirmative one in the years immediately following the Civil War. By anchoring the right to education in multiple constitutional provisions, this Article demonstrates that the right to education permeates the very fabric of our constitutional democracy.
A Multidisciplinary, Family-Oriented Approach to Caring for Parents After Miscarriage: The Integrated Behavioral Health Model of Care

Miscarriage is increasingly gaining recognition, both in scientific literature and media outlets, as a loss that has significant and lasting effects on parents, though often disenfranchised and overlooked by both personal support networks and healthcare providers. For both men and women, miscarriage can usher in intense grief, despair, and difficulty coping, and for women in particular, there is evidence of increased prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress. Additionally, miscarriage can contribute to decreased relationship satisfaction and increased risk of separation, all while stigma and disenfranchisement create a sense of isolation. Despite this increased need for support, research indicates that many parents experience their healthcare providers as dismissive of the significance of the loss and as primarily focusing only on the physical elements of care. Research exploring the barriers to providers engaging in more biopsychosocial-oriented care has identified time constraints, lack of resources, lack of training in addressing loss, and compassion fatigue as key areas for intervention. This paper will review the biopsychosocial elements of miscarriage and discuss a multidisciplinary, family-oriented approach that can be implemented in healthcare settings to ensure a high quality and holistic level of care for individuals, couples, and families experiencing pregnancy loss.
Implementation Science—The Next Frontier

The challenge of persisting gaps in the quality and outcomes of health care and public health continues to attract interest from the research, policy and practice communities. Public health programs can only deliver benefits if they are able to sustain activities over time. Implementation science is an emerging field of inquiry drawing from a diverse set of research traditions, methods and sources. This chapter reviews the origins and foundations of implementation science, discusses its strengths and weaknesses relative to closely-related bodies of activity in quality and safety improvement, and identifies opportunities for increased collaboration and mutually beneficial synergy across both fields. Implementation science and improvement science must enhance their attention to the significant levels of heterogeneity inherent in quality problems and their root causes, in the settings and contexts in which these problems occur, and in measuring the effects of strategies deployed to change clinical practices and improve patient outcomes. New research and practice strategies building upon the strengths and complementary perspectives of implementation and improvement sciences represent the “next frontier” in efforts to improve quality, value and outcomes in health. Such strategies offer considerable value if developed with a deep and balanced understanding of the magnitude and unique features of quality gaps, the need for multi-level, multi-component, context-sensitive approaches, and the need for continuous monitoring, evaluation and refinement of improvement approaches.
A phase-field approach to solid–solid phase transformations via intermediate interfacial phases under stress tensor

Abstract A thermodynamically consistent phase-field (PF) theory for phase transformations (PTs) between three different phases is developed with emphases on the effect of a stress tensor and interface interactions. The phase equilibrium and stability conditions for homogeneous phases are derived and a thermodynamic potential which satisfies all these conditions is introduced using polar order parameters. Propagation of a solid–solid (SS) interface containing nanometer-sized intermediate disordered interfacial phases (IP) and particularly an interfacial intermediate melt (IM) is studied for an HMX energetic material using the developed PF model. The scale effects (the ratio of widths of SS to solid-melt (SM) interfaces, k δ ), the effect of the energy ratio of SS to SM interfaces ( k E ), and the temperature on the formation and stability of IM are investigated. An interaction between two SM interfaces via an IM, which plays a key role in defining a well-posed problem and mesh-independent solution, is captured using a special gradient energy term. The influence of the elastic energy on the formation and retainment of IM and its structure, hundreds of degrees below the melting temperature, is investigated. Elastic energy promotes barrierless IM in terms of an increasing degree of disordering, interface velocity, and width of IM, but it surprisingly increases nucleation temperature for the IM. The key effect, however, is the drastic reduction (by more than an order of magnitude) of the energy of the critical nucleus of the IM within the SS interface, which is caused by the elastic energy. The developed PF model is applicable for the general case of PT between three phases and can be applied (adjusted) to other physical phenomena, such as premelting/disordering at grain boundaries, martensitic PTs, surface-induced premelting and PTs, and developing the interfacial phase diagrams.
Managing schema versions in object-oriented databases

The schemas of object-oriented databases are frequently changed in advanced applications such as Computer-Aided Design. This generates many schema versions that are used to model the evolving structure of a real world entity. Thus, there exists a need for an adequate method of managing the schema versions effectively, so that the user can trace the history of the changing schema with ease. In this paper, we propose a nested matrix model for the management of schema versions in object-oriented databases. The model maintains a semantic set of relationships between the schema versions. The advantages of our work include the provision of a logical representation for schema versions that are not addressed sufficiently in exiting models and the development of a graphic querying interface.
Impact of water column acidification on protozoan bacterivory at the lake sediment-water interface.

Although the impact of acidification on planktonic grazer food webs has been extensively studied, little is known about microbial food webs either in the water column or in the sediments. Protozoan-bacterium interactions were investigated in a chronically acidified (acid mine drainage) portion of a lake in Virginia. The authors determined the distribution, abundance, apparent specific grazing rate, and growth rate of protozoa over a pH range of 3.6 to 6.5. Protozoan abundance was lower at the most acidified site, while abundance, in general, was high compared with other systems. Specific grazing rates were uncorrelated with pH and ranged between 0.02 and 0.23 h{sup {minus}1}, values similar to those in unacidified systems. The protozoan community from an acidified station was not better adapted to low-pH conditions than a community from an unacidified site (multivariate analysis of variance on growth rates for each community incubated at pHs 4, 5, and 6). Both communities had significantly lower growth rates at pHs 4 and 5 than at pH 6. Reduced protozoan growth rates coupled with high grazing rates and relatively higher bacterial yields (ratio of bacterial-protozoan standing stock) at low pH indicate reduced net protozoan growth efficiency and a metabolic cost of acidification tomore » the protozoan community. However, the presence of an abundant, neutrophilic protozoan community and high bacterial grazing rates indicates that acidification of Lake Anna has not inhibited the bacterium-protozoan link of the sediment microbial food web.« less
Mutational landscape of lacrimal gland carcinomas and implications for treatment

Background Lacrimal gland carcinomas are rare. Identification of molecular abnormalities underlying lacrimal gland carcinogenesis is critical to the development of new targeted therapies for lacrimal gland carcinomas. The purpose of our study was to look for mutations that can be targeted as new treatments for lacrimal gland carcinomas. Methods Genomic DNA from patients with lacrimal gland epithelial neoplasms was analyzed. The Sequenom matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) mass ARRAY platform was used to profile 168 common oncogenic point mutations in 40 genes. Mutation frequency was assessed overall and by histologic diagnosis. These genetic mutations were then correlated with clinical outcomes in the patients. Results The study included 14 men and 10 women with a median age of 45 years (range, 17–75 years). The histologic diagnoses were as follows: adenoid cystic carcinoma (n = 16), low-grade carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (n = 2), high-grade carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma (n = 2), squamous carcinoma (n = 1), and pleomorphic adenoma (n = 3). Analysis revealed 18 oncogenic mutations in 13 patients: KRAS mutations in 10 patients (46%), NRAS mutations in 2 patients (8%), MET mutations in 3 patients (13%), PIK3CA mutation in 1 patient (4%), and BRAF mutation in no patients. About half of the patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma had oncogenic mutations (7 of 16; 44%). Of the 16 patients with adenoid cystic carcinoma, 5 had KRAS mutations, 1 had MET mutations, and 1 had an NRAS mutation. Conclusion KRAS, NRAS, and MET mutations are frequent in epithelial neoplasms of the lacrimal gland, with the highest rate of mutations found in adenoid cystic carcinoma. Therapies targeting these genes may be effective treatments for lacrimal gland carcinomas. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Head Neck, 2015
A Cost Minimization Approach to Synthesis of Linear Reversible Circuits.

This paper presents a heuristic cost minimization approach to synthesizing linear reversible circuits. Two bidirectional linear reversible circuit synthesis methods are introduced, the Alternating Elimination with Cost Minimization method (AECM) and the Multiple CNOT Gate method (MCG). Algorithms, example syntheses, and extensions to these methods are presented. An MCG variant which incorporates line reordering is introduced. Tests comparing the new cost minimization methods with the best known method for large circuits are presented. Results show that of the three methods MCG had the lowest average CNOT gate counts for linear reversible circuits up to 24 lines, and that AECM had the lowest counts between 28 and 60 lines.
Migration to a New Electronic Mail System: Users' Attitudes and Management Support for Achieving Use

Using a pre-and post-implementation design and 114 respondents, this study tested a model of end users' migration from an existing electronic mail E-mail system to a new E-mail system with both similar and different features. Hierarchical regression results indicated that as users' expectations of the usefulness and ease of using the new E-mail system increased their pre-implementation attitude toward the new system also increased. Expectations of usefulness, ease of use, and post-implementation training were found not to contribute to the actual use of the new system. Employees' sense of participation in implementing the new system and their experience using E-mail systems were strongly related to actual use of the new system. Results and limitations of this study are discussed, as well as future research issues and implications for practice.
Indications for and Risks of Replacement Transfusion

We would like to offer several comments about the article by Wishingrad and Elegant concerning replacement transfusions (Pediatrics, 28:331, 1961). The authors consider a positive Coombs test sufficient indication for an exchange transfusion in an erythroblastotic infant born into a family in which previously affected siblings have required exchange transfusions. A positive Coombs test does not of itself serve as adequate indication for an exchange transfusion. There must exist the same criteria for an exchange transfusion in any affected patient, particularly when one considers the fact that this procedure is not totally benign.
Morphologic characterization of the patent ductus arteriosus in the premature infant and the choice of transcatheter occlusion device.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe and differentiate the morphology of patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) seen in children born prematurely from other PDA types. Background: PDAs are currently classified as types A-E using the Krichenko's classification. Children born prematurely with a PDA morphology that did not fit this classification were described as Type F PDA. Methods: A review of 100 consecutive children who underwent transcatheter device closure of PDA was performed. The diameter and length (L) of the PDA and the device diameter (D) were indexed to the descending aorta (DA) diameter. Results: Comparison of 26 Type F PDAs was performed against, 29 Type A, 7 Type C and 32 Type E PDAs. Children with Type F PDAs (median 27.5 weeks gestation) were younger during the device occlusion compared with types A, C, and E (median age: 6 vs. 32, 11, and 42 months; P = 0.002). Type F PDAs were longer and larger, requiring a relatively large device for occlusion than types A, C, and E (Mean L/DA: 1.88 vs. 0.9, 1.21, and 0.89, P ≤ 0.01 and Mean D/DA: 1.04 vs. 0.46, 0.87, and 0.34, P ≤0.01). The Amplatzer vascular plug-II (AVP-II) was preferred for occlusion of Type F PDAs (85%; P <0.001). Conclusions: Children born prematurely have relatively larger and longer PDAs. These “fetal type PDAs” are best classified separately. We propose to classify them as Type F PDAs to add to types A-E currently in use. The AVP-II was effective in occluding Type F PDAs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Barriers and Facilitators in Scaling up Research-Based Practices

The purpose of this research was to “scale up” the implementation of four research-based practices in inclusive classrooms. Twenty-nine teachers from six elementary schools participated in a 2-week professional development program and received extensive follow-up support from researchers throughout the schoolyear. Our objective was to better understand the barriers and facilitators experienced by teachers determined to be high implementers (9), moderate implementers (9), and low implementers (11). Data sources included interviews, teacher logs, and classroom observations. Teachers across implementation levels lamented a lack of instructional time. Yet how teachers dealt with barriers differed. High-implementing (HI) teachers reported administrative support as their top facilitator, while five moderate-implementing (MI) teachers described a lack of administrative support. School effects were noted.
The Intermediate Conductance Calcium-activated Potassium Channel KCa3.1 Regulates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Proliferation via Controlling Calcium-dependent Signaling

The intermediate conductance calcium-activated potassium channel KCa3.1 contributes to a variety of cell activation processes in pathologies such as inflammation, carcinogenesis, and vascular remodeling. We examined the electrophysiological and transcriptional mechanisms by which KCa3.1 regulates vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation. Platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF)-induced proliferation of human coronary artery VSMCs was attenuated by lowering intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) and was enhanced by elevating [Ca2+]i. KCa3.1 blockade or knockdown inhibited proliferation by suppressing the rise in [Ca2+]i and attenuating the expression of phosphorylated cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB), c-Fos, and neuron-derived orphan receptor-1 (NOR-1). This antiproliferative effect was abolished by elevating [Ca2+]i. KCa3.1 overexpression induced VSMC proliferation, and potentiated PDGF-induced proliferation, by inducing CREB phosphorylation, c-Fos, and NOR-1. Pharmacological stimulation of KCa3.1 unexpectedly suppressed proliferation by abolishing the expression and activity of KCa3.1 and PDGF β-receptors and inhibiting the rise in [Ca2+]i. The stimulation also attenuated the levels of phosphorylated CREB, c-Fos, and cyclin expression. After KCa3.1 blockade, the characteristic round shape of VSMCs expressing high l-caldesmon and low calponin-1 (dedifferentiation state) was maintained, whereas KCa3.1 stimulation induced a spindle-shaped cellular appearance, with low l-caldesmon and high calponin-1. In conclusion, KCa3.1 plays an important role in VSMC proliferation via controlling Ca2+-dependent signaling pathways, and its modulation may therefore constitute a new therapeutic target for cell proliferative diseases such as atherosclerosis. Background: The mechanism by which KCa3.1 regulates cell proliferation remains elusive. Results: KCa3.1 regulates the expression of transcription factors and cyclins by controlling intracellular calcium levels in activated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Conclusion: KCa3.1 is an important regulator of the calcium-dependent proliferation machinery in VSMCs. Significance: KCa3.1 modulation constitutes a therapeutic target for cell proliferative diseases such as atherosclerosis.
Channeling diversity: gap junction expression in the heart.

Gap junctions (GJ) are comprised of clusters of intercellular channels that electrotonically and metabolically couple apposing cells. Each channel is formed from the pairing of two connexons (or hemi-channels), which in turn are formed by the assembly of six connexin monomers. The mammalian genome comprises almost two dozen individual connexin genes, and a surprising number of these genes are actively transcribed in the developing or mature heart. The evolutionary advantage for cardiac gap junction diversity remains uncertain. Here, we consider the nature of this diversity and speculate on potential explanations.
Dislocation nucleation in Σ3 asymmetric tilt grain boundaries

Abstract Atomistic simulations were used to investigate dislocation nucleation from Σ3 asymmetric (inclined) tilt grain boundaries under uniaxial tension applied perpendicular to the boundary. Molecular dynamics was employed based on embedded atom method potentials for Cu and Al at 10 K and 300 K. Results include the grain boundary structure and energy, along with mechanical properties and mechanisms associated with dislocation nucleation from these Σ3 boundaries. The stress and work required for dislocation nucleation were calculated along with elastic stiffness of the bicrystal configurations, exploring the change in response as a function of inclination angle. Analyses of dislocation nucleation mechanisms for asymmetric Σ3 boundaries in Cu show that dislocation nucleation is preceded by dislocation dissociation from the boundary. Then, dislocations preferentially nucleate in only one crystal on the maximum Schmid factor slip plane(s) for that crystal. However, this crystal is not simply predicted based on either the Schmid or non-Schmid factors. The synthesis of these results provides a better understanding of the dislocation nucleation process in these faceted, dissociated grain boundaries.
Downslope movement of in situ clasts on forested hillslopes, Virginia

Downslope movements of 109 clasts ranging in intermediate diameter from 30 to 870 mm were monitored over a five-year period on hillslopes in the Valley and Ridge province of southwest Virginia. Gradients ranged from 8° to 42°. Regression on slope tangent, depth of clast base below ground surface, clast size, and clast shape explained 70 per cent of clastmovement variance. A substantial part of the unexplained variance appears due to variation in substrate and slope aspect. Additional measurements made on two steep boulder streams showed extremely low rates.
Entrepreneurship As a Field of Research: Encouraging Dialogue and Debate

Three commentaries are presented concerning the Academy of Management Review (AMR) paper “The Promise of Entrepreneurship As a Field of Research” (January 2000), by Shane and Venkataraman, including a response from the authors to all three commentaries. An exchange pertaining to Fisher and White's AMR note, “Downsizing in a Learning Organization: Are There Hidden Costs?” (January 2000) is also presented.
Necrotising fasciitis in an infant with congenital insensitivity to pain syndrome.

Summary We present a rare case of necrotising fasciitis in an infant with congenital insensitivity to pain syndrome. The aetiology, diagnosis and management of necrotising fasciitis in children are compared with those in adults. In contrast to adults, children affected by necrotising fasciitis are usually previously healthy and have no predisposing factors. Early diagnosis, intravenous antibiotics and aggressive surgical debridement are mandatory for an optimal outcome.
The Caribbean Intellectual Tradition That Produced James and Rodney

Dans une autobiographie, Walter Rodney nous incite a etre critique dans les processus d'apprentissage. En effet, en renforcant une certaine remise en question, une reflexion sur les structures et les connaissances peut faire progresser les choses. Ce qui est le cas pour les etudes sur les Caraibes, dans lesquelles il s'agit de contester l'histoire et la culture dominante