cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Circulating levels of hydroxylated bradykinin function as an indicator of tissue HIF-1α expression

Abstract The critical roles of oxygen homeostasis in metabolism are indisputable and hypoxic responses are correlated with the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal, pulmonary, renal diseases and cancers. Evaluating tissue hypoxia to predict treatment outcome is challenging, however, due to the lack of rapid, accurate and non-invasive methods. Hypoxia enhances prolyl-4-hydroxylase α1 (P4HA1) expression, which can convert bradykinin (BK) to hydroxyprolyl-BK (Hyp-BK), leading us to hypothesize that circulating Hyp-BK/BK ratios may reflect tissue hypoxia and predict treatment outcomes. Direct quantification of Hyp-BK peptides in serum or plasma by conventional MALDI-TOF MS analysis is technically challenging. In our study, a nanopore-based fractionation and enrichment protocol was utilized to allow the simple workflow for circulating Hyp-BK/BK analysis. Hypoxia is linked to poor prognosis due to its role in promoting pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis. Here we show that P4HA1 expression was increased in pancreatic tumors versus adjacent tissue, associated with poor survival, and corresponded with tumor expression of the hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) and carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9). Hypoxia-induced P4HA1 expression and BK conversion to Hyp-BK were found to be HIF-1α dependent, pre-treatment serum Hyp-BK/BK ratios corresponded with tissue HIF-1α and P4HA1 expression, and high Hyp-BK/BK levels corresponded with poor response to therapy. These results suggest that pre-treatment circulating Hyp-BK/BK ratios may have value as a non-invasive, surrogate indicator of tissue hypoxia and tumor responses to therapy.
Creation of an Interactive Virtual Surgical Rotation for Undergraduate Medical Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective During the coronavirus 2019 pandemic, medical student involvement in direct patient care has been severely limited. Rotations mandatory not only for core curricula but also for informing decisions regarding specialty choice have been postponed during a critical window in the application cycle. Existing virtual rotations are largely observational or lack patient-facing components. Setting A virtual Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery rotation at the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was implemented for medical students, comprising interactive live-streamed surgeries, outpatient telehealth visits, and virtual small group didactics. Results Medical students enrolled in the virtual surgical rotation were able to engage with attending surgeons and operating room staff while remotely viewing surgical procedures captured with first-person audiovisual technology. Students participated in several different aspects of care delivery in both the inpatient and outpatient setting, similar to their typical responsibilities of an in-person rotation. Conclusions The authors will continue to develop the virtual surgical education methodology to further disseminate an interactive video-based medical student elective to other procedural specialties and institutions.
Associations Between Cross-Sector Partnerships and Local Health Department Participation in Population-Based Activities to Prevent Mental Health Conditions.

Objectives. To describe partnerships between US local health departments (LHDs) and community organizations and assess the relationship between the types of activities performed in these partnershi...
In-Situ Adaptive Manifolds: Enabling computationally efficient simulations of complex turbulent reacting flows

Abstract Reduced-order manifold approaches to turbulent combustion modeling traditionally involve precomputation of manifold solutions and pretabulation of the thermochemical database versus a small number of manifold variables. However, additional manifold variables are required as the complexity of turbulent combustion processes increases through consideration of, for example, multi-modal, non-adiabatic, or non-isobaric combustion, or combustion featuring multiple and/or inhomogeneous inlets. This increase in the number of manifold variables comes with an increase in the computational cost of precomputing a greater number of manifold solutions, most of which are never actually utilized in a CFD calculation. The memory required to store the pretabulated high-dimensional thermochemical database also increases, practically limiting the complexity of manifold-based combustion models. In this work, a new In-Situ Adaptive Manifolds (ISAM) approach is developed that overcomes this limitation by combining ‘on-the-fly’ calculation of manifold solutions with In-Situ Adaptive Tabulation (ISAT), enabling the use of more complex manifold-based turbulent combustion models. The performance of ISAM is evaluated via LES of turbulent nonpremixed jet flames with both hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels. A performance assessment indicates that the computational overhead associated with ISAM compared to pretabulation ranges from negligible up to a factor of two, with most of this overhead associated with convolution of the thermochemical state against a presumed subfilter PDF. In addition, the memory requirements of ISAM are more than two orders of magnitude less than conventional tabulation. These results demonstrate the potential for ISAM to accommodate significantly more complex manifold-based combustion models.
Compressive Sensing Evaluation Strategy For Prostate Cancer Classification

Compressive sensing (CS) has recently received a great deal of attention in many of real life applications. The advantage is based on its ability to utilize the sparse representation of the data. To find a sparse signal, the signal will be coded using a sensing matrix with specific properties. There are many sensing matrices that have been proposed in this field, however there is no particular matrix that is good for all applications. It is depending on the application domain, data dimensions, coding time, and of course the accuracy of recovery. In this work, different sensing matrices have been applied and compared on prostate cancer classification. The prostate cancer data has a very high number of features, so CS strategy would be a perfect for this kind of applications. The results show that the sensing matrix plays an essential role in maximizing the margin, which controls the classifier performance.
Labor Market Flexibility in East Asia: Lessons from Taiwan

Recent turbulence in East Asian financial markets has already spilled over into the region's real economy, with significant effects on growth and unemployment. The ability of East Asian economies to adjust to the crisis depends critically on labor market flexibility. Specifically, a decline in real wages may dampen the increase in unemployment that results as firms restructure in response to changing market conditions. Thus, all being equal, an economy in which real wages are flexible downward should experience a lower employment rate than an economy with downward-sticky real wages. Limited downward flexibility of real wages may exacerbate the effect of the current crisis on unemployment.
Ali Dilem: artivisme algérien et mémoire comique

This article analyses Algerian cartoonist Ali Dilem’s drawings from the first years of the decennie noire and contrasts them with his productions from the early months of 2019, when the Algerian demonstrators of the hirak ousted President Bouteflika. Dilem’s career ‐ spanning over 30 years ‐ has made him a staple of Algerian and European news, whether in newspapers or on TV. Both popular and prolific, Dilem produces cartoons that illustrate what I call ‘comic memory’, a recording and remembering of the past through humour. A diachronic analysis of this large corpus of drawings sheds light on the social and subversive potentials of humour, but most importantly allows for a discussion of its mechanisms over time. Through a careful reading of Dilem’s sardonic cartoons and their contexts of production, I show his work offers both a comic outlet unifying readers in a community of laughter, and a stern cultural commentary on how Algerians consider their history. In particular this article addresses two central motifs of Dilem’s work, on the one hand Algerians’ relationship to France, on the other hand the political pressures exerted on journalistic work in Algeria. Through themes such as censorship, racism and subversion, I explain how humour is a valuable source for memory studies. In fact, Dilem’s work participates in creating a comic archive that keeps track of the mentalites and sheds light on media politics, aesthetics and the poetics of humour.
Quantitative Yeast-Yeast Two Hybrid for the Discovery and Binding Affinity Estimation of Protein-Protein Interactions.

Quantifying the binding affinity of protein–protein interactions is important for elucidating connections within biochemical signaling pathways, as well as characterization of binding proteins isol...
“Bring back the salad bar”: perceptions of health in rural delta middle school students

This study examined perceptions of healthy eating by middle school students in one low-income rural Mississippi Delta school using 10 focus groups (n = 62). The Social Ecological Model was framewor...
Vaping Exacerbates Coronavirus-Related Pulmonary Infection in a Murine Model

Though the current preponderance of evidence indicates the toxicity associated with the smoking of tobacco products through conventional means, less is known about the role of "vaping" in respiratory disease. "Vaping" is described as the use of electronic cigarettes (E-Cigarettes or E-Cigs), which has only more recently been available to the public (∼10 years) but has quickly emerged as a popular means of tobacco consumption worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak as a global pandemic in March 2020. SARS-CoV-2 can easily be transmitted between people in close proximity through direct contact or respiratory droplets to develop coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19). Symptoms of COVID-19 range from a mild flu-like illness with high fever to severe respiratory distress syndrome and death. The risk factors for increased disease severity remain unclear. Herein, we utilize a murine-tropic coronavirus (beta coronavirus) MHV-A59 along with a mouse model and measures of pathology (lung weight/dry ratios and histopathology) and inflammation (ELISAs and cytokine array panels) to examine whether vaping may exacerbate the pulmonary disease severity of coronavirus disease. While vaping alone did result in some noted pathology, mice exposed with intranasal vaped e-liquid suffered more severe mortality due to pulmonary inflammation than controls when exposed to coronavirus infection. Our data suggest a role for vaping in increased coronavirus pulmonary disease in a mouse model. Furthermore, our data indicate that disease exacerbation may involve calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation, identifying a potential therapeutic intervention.
The development of ePCK of newly hired in-field and out-of-field teachers during their first three years of teaching

This study explored the potential impact of teaching outside of one’s field of expertise. This longitudinal cross-case study examined the development of enacted pedagogical content knowledge (ePCK)...
Endovascular treatment of a popliteal artery aneurysm via transpedal approach: A case report

Abstract Popliteal artery aneurysm (PAA) has been increasingly treated with endovascular intervention in recent years. However, whether transpedal access can be utilized to treat PAA has not been widely reported. We report a case of successful treatment of a PAA with a covered stent via retrograde transpedal approach in an 80-year male with prohibitive surgical risk who initially failed antegrade approach. This case demonstrates the feasibility of treating PAA via a retrograde transpedal access in selected patients.
Henry Sidgwick - Eye of the Universe: An Intellectual Biography

Henry Sidgwick was one of the great intellectual figures of nineteenth-century Britain. He was first and foremost a great moral philosopher, whose masterwork The Methods of Ethics is still widely studied today. He also wrote on economics, politics, education and literature. He was deeply involved in the founding of the first college for women at the University of Cambridge. He was also much concerned with the sexual politics of his close friend John Addington Symonds, a pioneer of gay studies. Through his famous student, G. E. Moore, a direct line can be traced from Sidgwick and his circle to the Bloomsbury group. Bart Schultz has written a magisterial overview of this great Victorian sage. This biography will be eagerly sought out by readers interested in philosophy, Victorian literary studies, the history of ideas, the history of psychology and gender and gay studies.
Glucocorticoids suppress T cell function by up-regulating microRNA-98.

Objective To identify microRNAs (miRNAs) in human T cells that can explain known antiinflammatory properties of steroids. Methods Activated human CD4+ T cells from healthy donors were exposed to 1 μM methylprednisolone (MP) in vitro and then subjected to miRNA and messenger RNA microarray analyses. Changes in expression profiles were recorded. Using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), flow cytometry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), we confirmed the suppression of predicted targets, and through miRNA transfection experiments, we could suggest mechanistic links. Results We identified numerous steroid-responsive genes and miRNAs—many known and some novel—including multiple previously unknown proinflammatory genes suppressed by MP. Further studies using qPCR, flow cytometry, and ELISA demonstrated that methylprednisolone increased the expression of miRNA-98 (miR-98) and suppressed the levels of predicted targets, including interleukin-13 and 3 tumor necrosis factor receptors (TNFRs): Fas, FasL, and TNFR superfamily member 1B. Forced expression of miR-98 in T cells resulted in suppression of the same targets. Conclusion The findings of this study demonstrate a link between miR-98 expression and the effects of MP and provide evidence suggesting that MP acts through miR-98 to inhibit specific proinflammatory targets. Identification of this antiinflammatory mechanism of glucocorticoids is important, since it may pave the way toward the elusive goal of dissociating adverse effects from therapeutic effects.
Taurine and cellular volume regulation in the hippocampus.

Taurine is an important osmolyte used for volume regulation in a variety of cell culture systems, including neurons and astroglial cells1–2. Taurine efflux from brain slices and taurine mobilization to the extracellular space of the intact brain appears during exposure to hypoosmotic conditions also suggesting this amino acid is used for brain volume regulation3–4. Taurine contents of isolated cells and brain slice preparations decrease within minutes of exposure to hypoosmolality and other conditions which cause cell swelling. However, little change is observed in brain taurine content of animals exposed to hypoosmotic hyponatremia for several hours5*#x2013;6. Thus, taurine may be redistributed between different cell types of the brain in response to cell swelling. To obtain a better understanding of the role taurine plays in volume regulation of the brain in situ, we examined taurine contents and cellular volume in slices of rat hippocampus during hypoosmotic exposure.
Effective hydraulic parameters for steady state vertical flow in heterogeneous soils

[1] In hydroclimate and land-atmospheric interaction models, effective hydraulic properties are needed at large grid scales. In this study, the effective soil hydraulic parameters of the areally heterogeneous soil formation are derived by conceptualizing the heterogeneous soil formation as an equivalent homogeneous medium and assuming that the equivalent homogeneous soil will approximately discharge the same total amount of flux and produce same average pressure head profile in the formation. As compared to previous effective hydraulic property studies, a specific feature of this study is that the derived effective hydraulic parameters are mean-gradient-dependent (i.e., vary across depth). Although areal soil heterogeneity was formulated as parallel homogeneous stream tubes in this study, our results appear to be consistent with the previous findings of mean-gradient unsaturated hydraulic conductivity [Yeh et al., 1985a, 1985b]. Three widely used hydraulic conductivity models were employed in this study, i.e., the Gardner model, the Brooks and Corey model, and the van Genuchten model. We examined the impact of parameter correlation, boundary condition (surface pressure head), and elevation above the water table on the effective saturated hydraulic conductivity and shape parameter. The correlation between the saturated hydraulic conductivity Ks and the shape parameter α increases the effective saturated hydraulic conductivity, while it does not affect the effective α. The effective α is usually smaller than the mean value of α, while the effective Ks can be smaller or larger than the mean value depending on no correlation or full correlation between Ks and α fields, respectively. An important observation of this study is that Gardner and van Genuchten functions resulted in effective parameters, whereas it is difficult to define effective parameters for the Brooks Corey model since this model uses a piecewise-continuous profile for hydraulic conductivity.
Angina Pectoris Without Chest Pain

To the Editor: The article by Stern1 in the October 8, 2002 issue of Circulation raises an interesting and valid point, but he does not take it far enough. He comments, properly, on the many symptoms in addition to pain that may accompany myocardial infarction—ie, shortness of breath, overwhelming fatigue not present earlier, irregular heart beats, etc. This is certainly correct, but it is equally true of transient myocardial ischemia (or, more properly oligemia), a phenomenon that may or may not lead to the painful discomfort of classic angina pectoris. The very term angina is unfortunate, because it connotes painful discomfort that for centuries after Heberden’s epochal insight was …
Feedback bridging fault detection using current monitoring

Feedback bridging faults in CMOS circuits are difficult to detect by monitoring logic values. The authors study the possibility of detecting feedback bridging faults by using current monitoring. It is shown that by monitoring current, the feedback bridging faults that cause a metastable state can be detected. Using the same method, the feedback bridging faults can also be detected that lead to oscillations assuming the propagation delay is small. >
The hormonal regulation of enzymes in prenatal and postnatal rat liver. Effects of adenosine 3′,5′-(cyclic)-monophosphate

1. The administration of glucagon, cAMP [adenosine 3',5'-(cyclic)-monophosphate], BcAMP [6-N-2'-O-dibutyryladenosine 3',5'-(cyclic)-monophosphate] or adrenaline to foetal rats during the last 2 days of gestation evoked the appearance of tyrosine aminotransferase and enhanced the accumulation of glucose 6-phosphatase in the liver. In foetuses 1-2 days younger only BcAMP was effective. After birth liver glucose 6-phosphatase no longer responds to glucagon or BcAMP. Tyrosine aminotransferase is still inducible by these agents in 2-day-old rats, but not in 50-day-old rats. After adrenalectomy of adults glucagon or BcAMP can enhance the induction of the enzyme by hydrocortisone. The results indicate that the ability to synthesize tyrosine aminotransferase and glucose 6-phosphatase when exposed to cAMP develops sooner than the ability to respond to glucagon with an increase in the concentration of cAMP; the responsiveness of enzymes to different hormones changes with age. A scheme illustrating the sequential development of competence in regulating the level of an enzyme is presented. 2. Actinomycin inhibited the effects of glucagon and BcAMP on liver tyrosine aminotransferase and glucose 6-phosphatase in foetal rats. Growth hormone, insulin and hydrocortisone did not enhance the formation of these enzymes. 3. The time-course of accumulation of glucose 6-phosphatase in the kidney is different from that in the liver. Hormones that increase the accumulation in foetal liver do not do so in the kidney of the same foetus or in the livers of postnatal rats.
Philosophers are Mortal: Inferring the Truth of Unseen Facts

Large databases of facts are prevalent in many applications. Such databases are accurate, but as they broaden their scope they become increasingly incomplete. In contrast to extending such a database, we present a system to query whether it contains an arbitrary fact. This work can be thought of as re-casting open domain information extraction: rather than growing a database of known facts, we smooth this data into a database in which any possible fact has membership with some confidence. We evaluate our system predicting held out facts, achieving 74.2% accuracy and outperforming multiple baselines. We also evaluate the system as a commonsense filter for the ReVerb Open IE system, and as a method for answer validation in a Question Answering task.
Autoxidation of oxymyoglobins.

Abstract During the autoxidation of oxymyoglobin to metmyoglobin, there is an evolution of oxygen. The experimental results support the conclusion that 0.25 mole of the oxygen in oxymyoglobin is used for the oxidation and 0.75 mole is released. This finding differs significantly from earlier reports of oxygen consumption during the oxidation. The latter results are shown to be attributable to interference by oxidation products of sodium hydrosulfite, which is used as a reducing agent. In the present system, we remove such products completely by means of an ion exchange column. This paper includes a design for a completely sealed cell for oxygen electrode measurements. In view of the finding of interference by hydrosulfite, we have reexamined the effects of temperature, pH, and oxygen level on rates of oxidation of oxymyoglobin. Absolute rates in systems free of hydrosulfite differ substantially from those previously reported, but the relative effects are the same, i.e. there is a direct dependency on hydrogen ion concentration, particularly over the pH range from 5 to 7, and an indirect dependency on oxygen level. There is a marked effect of temperature on the reaction, with Q10 values approximating 5. Activation energies obtained with myoglobins from different sources and at different pH values range from 24,000 to 27,800 calories. Carboxymethylation of available histidine residues in undenatured sperm whale and yellowfin tuna myoglobins has no effect on the oxidation rate. The presence of diphosphoglycerate increases the reaction rate. Under equivalent conditions, the tuna oxymyoglobin oxidizes much faster than those from sperm whale or bovine muscle.
Trafficking of cell-surface amyloid beta-protein precursor. I. Secretion, endocytosis and recycling as detected by labeled monoclonal antibody

Amyloid beta-protein, the principal constituent of amyloid fibrils found in senile plaques and blood vessels in Alzheimer's disease, is constitutively produced and released into medium of cultured cells. Amyloid beta-protein is derived by proteolysis of the beta-amyloid precursor protein by unclear mechanisms. Beta-amyloid precursor protein is a transmembrane protein which can be processed to release a large secretory product or processed in the endosomal/lysosomal pathway without secretion. Previous studies have shown that from the cell surface, beta-amyloid precursor protein may be released after cleavage or internalized without cleavage, the latter in a pathway that both produces amyloid beta-protein and also targets some molecules to the lysosomal compartment. Analysis of beta-amyloid precursor protein trafficking is confounded by the concomitant secretion and internalization of molecules from the cell surface. To address this issue, we developed an assay, based on the binding of radioiodinated monoclonal antibody, to measure the release and internalization of cell surface beta-amyloid precursor protein in transfected cells. With this approach, we showed that surface beta-amyloid precursor protein is either rapidly released or internalized, such that the duration at the cell surface is very short. Approximately 30% of cell surface beta-amyloid precursor protein molecules are released. Following internalization, a fraction of molecules are recycled while the majority of molecules are rapidly sorted to the lysosomal compartment for degradation When the C terminus of beta-amyloid precursor protein is deleted, secretion is increased by approximately 2.5-fold as compared to wild-type molecules. There is concomitant decrease in internalization in these mutant molecules as well as prolongation of the resident time on the cell surface. This observation is consistent with recent evidence that signals within the cytoplasmic domain mediate beta-amyloid precursor protein internalization.
A review of electroconvulsive therapy in suicidality

Abstract Introduction: Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are highly associated with major psychiatric illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, and substance related disorders.1 Suicide is a ma...
SU‐FF‐T‐305: Monte Carlo Investigation of Local Shielding to Reduce Stray Radiation Doses to Patients Receiving Proton Therapy

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the effectiveness of local shielding in reducing the stray radiation exposure to a patient receiving curative proton therapy for prostate cancer by varying the thickness and material of the shielding in the treatment head. Method and Materials: Effective dose,E, was predicted using Monte Carlo simulations of a 76‐Gy prostate treatment with protons. A passive‐scattering treatment nozzle was modeled together with a detailed anthropomorphic phantom. Protons,neutrons, and photons were tracked throughout the geometry. Tallies of energy deposition and fluence were made for these particles in selected organs. Eleven different compositions of shielding material were tested, and the thickness of additional shielding was varied from 0 to 35 cm. A comparison was made between using brass and tungsten alloy for the field‐defining collimator.Results: E from stray radiation for the unmodified nozzle was 583 mSv for the prostate treatment. Additional shielding of the treatment head reduced E by up to 66 mSv. Using tungsten alloy instead of brass for the collimator material reduced E by 50 mSv. Implementing both techniques together reduced E by 87 mSv. Conclusion: This study suggests that a significant reduction in effective dose from stray radiation may be reasonably achievable for patients receiving proton therapy. By adding local shielding to the treatment head and exchanging the brasscollimator with a tungsten alloy replacement, the effective dose to proton therapy patients from stray radiation was reduced by 15%.
Effect of epidermal growth factor on preimplantation development and its receptor expression in porcine embryos.

The present study aimed to determine the influence of exogenous epidermal growth factor (EGF) on in vitro preimplantation porcine embryo development and its mRNA expression for EGF receptor (EGFR). Oocytes were aspirated from abattoir ovaries, selected and cultured in defined, protein-free media for 44 hr before in vitro fertilization (IVF). Thirty-six hours after IVF, two-cell stage embryos were selected and treated or cultured until embryo treatment. In experiment 1, compact morulae were selected on day 4 after IVF and randomly allocated into 5 groups: NCSU 23 with PVA as group 1; NCSU 23 with PVA and 0.1 ng/ml, 1.0 ng/ml, 10.0 ng/ml EGF as group 2, 3, 4, respectively; NSCU 23 with 0.4% BSA as group 5. In experiment 2, treatment groups were the same as in experiment 1 except that 0.1% crystallized BSA was added to both washing media and all treatment groups instead of PVA. In experiments 3 and 4, two-cell stage embryos were treated and cultured in the same experimental design as experiments 1 and 2, respectively. RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of EGF receptor in compact morulae and blastocysts. The PCR products were subjected to direct DNA sequencing. There was no significant improvement in the development rate of embryos from compact morulae to blastocysts in the presence of various EGF concentrations (0.1, 1.0, 10.0 ng/ml) versus without EGF addition. They were all significantly lower than those embryos cultured in the continuous presence of 0.4% BSA. However, when a reduced concentration (0.1%) of crystallized BSA was added to all the treatment groups, a significantly lower rate of embryo development was observed in control media (NCSU23 with 0.1% crystallized BSA) compared with those developed in culture media with 0.4% BSA. With the addition of EGF at 10 ng/ml (with 0.1% BSA), embryo development rates were significantly improved over the control group (P 97% albumin). However, EGF alone was not able to elicit any stimulatory effects on embryo development in the absence of protein supplementation. Further studies are needed to investigate the potential synergistic factors in embryo culture media to eventually define the porcine embryo culture media.
Advertiser Pressure on Daily Newspapers: A Survey of Advertising Sales Executives

Despite increasing concern over advertisers' influence on news content, little is known about how advertising sales executives handle balancing their business goals and the ultimate organizational goal—integrity of the news product—in their daily decision making. This study examines how and to what extent advertising sales executives deal with advertiser influences on news content. A survey of 219 advertising directors at U.S. daily newspapers showed frequent conflicts between the business side and the journalism side of the newspaper operation. Those at small newspapers or chain-owned newspapers were more likely to endorse scenarios where editorial integrity was compromised to please or refrain from offending their advertisers.
How can a single mutation cause such arrhythmic havoc

In most cases, sudden cardiac death (SCD) is associated with significant structural abnormalities. However, there are several instances, Brugada Syndrome (BrS) being one, where SCD occurs in an apparently normal heart. BrS is characterized by an ST segment elevation, right bundle branch block, and SCD in a structurally normal heart.1 One aspect that makes BrS particularly intriguing is its genetic basis. Several mutations related to the function and trafficking of the sodium channel, INa, have been associated with BrS, which results in a “loss of function”.2 Knowing the genetic basis and clinical phenotype, one might expect that a complete understanding of BrS is within grasp. However, this is far from being true. BrS is associated with complex electrophysiological heterogeneities that create a substrate for the initiation and maintenance of phase 2 reentry.3 Another intriguing aspect of BrS is its temperature sensitivity. For example, it is known that fever can aggravate symptoms.4 However, the combined influence of temperature on molecular function and arrhythmic substrates is not well known. This adds further complication to the mechanisms of arrhythmogenesis in BrS. The study by Morita et al5 in this issue of Heart Rhythm addresses this challenging problem using an experimental model of drug induced BrS and highlights the complex arrhythmic substrate that can result from a single mutation.
The Effect of Free Radicals on Hepatic 5′-Monodeiodination of Thyroxine and 3,3′, 5′ -Triiodothy ronine*

Free radicals have been implicated in many pathological processes, including ischemia, inflammation, and malignancy. Since a reduction in extrathyroidal outer ring monodeiodination of T4 and rT3 occurs in virtually all systemic illnesses, we have studied the effect of free radicals on iodothyronine (T4 and rT3) 5’-monodeiodinating activity (MA) of liver tissue in vitro. Rat liver microsomes or homogenate were preincubated in Tris buffer for 30 min with a free radical-generating system (FRGS) and then incubated with T4 (2.5 μM) or [125I]rT3 (0.4 nM) and dithiothreitol (DTT; 5–20 mM with T4 and 20–150 mM with [125I]rT3) in the same buffer for 10 or 30 min. T3 generated during incubation was quantified by RIA of ethanol extracts of the incubation mixture. 125I generated from [125I]rT3 was quantified after precipitation of the incubation mixture with trichloroacetic acid or by paper chromatography. Free radicals caused 55% or more reduction in hepatic T4 MA and 44% or more reduction in rT3 MA in various exper...
Cosmology and the Bispectrum

The present spatial distribution of galaxies in the Universe is non-Gaussian, with 40% skewness in $50{h}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{Mpc}$ spheres, and remarkably little is known about the information encoded in it about cosmological parameters beyond the power spectrum. In this work we present an attempt to bridge this gap by studying the bispectrum, paying particular attention to a joint analysis with the power spectrum and their combination with CMB data. We address the covariance properties of the power spectrum and bispectrum including the effects of beat coupling that lead to interesting cross-correlations, and discuss how baryon acoustic oscillations break degeneracies. We show that the bispectrum has significant information on cosmological parameters well beyond its power in constraining galaxy bias, and when combined with the power spectrum is more complementary than combining power spectra of different samples of galaxies, since non-Gaussianity provides a somewhat different direction in parameter space. In the framework of flat cosmological models we show that most of the improvement of adding bispectrum information corresponds to parameters related to the amplitude and effective spectral index of perturbations, which can be improved by almost a factor of 2. Moreover, we demonstrate that the expected statistical uncertainties in ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{8}$ of a few percent are robust to relaxing the dark energy beyond a cosmological constant.
The Heme Prosthetic Group of Lactoperoxidase STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HEME l AND HEME l-PEPTIDES

The heme prosthetic group from the bovine milk enzyme lactoperoxidase (LPO), termed heme l, is isolated through an approach that combines proteolytic hydrolysis and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatographic separation of the resulting digest. Application of different proteases yields either a peptide-bound heme (with trypsin and chymotrypsin) or a peptide-free heme (with proteinase K). Both heme l and heme l-peptide species were investigated by paramagnetic 1H NMR spectroscopy, electrospray mass spectrometry, and peptide sequence analysis. Paramagnetic1H NMR experiments on the low spin bis(cyano)-Fe(III)heme l complex conclusively define the heme l structure as a 1,5-bis(hydroxymethyl) derivative of heme b. The electrospray mass spectrum of heme l confirms the two-site hydroxyl functionalization on this heme. Paramagnetic 1H NMR spectra of the high spin bis(dimethyl sulfoxide)-Fe(III) complexes of the isolated heme species provide information regarding peptide content. Sequence analyses of peptides released from two heme l-peptide species by base hydrolysis suggest that heme-protein ester linkages in lactoperoxidase occur between the two hydroxyl groups of heme l and the carboxylic side chains of glutamate 275 and aspartate 125. These results confirm the earlier reported structural proposal (Rae, T. D., and Goff, H. M. (1996) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118, 2103–2104).
The diagnosis of headache in primary care: factors in the agreement of clinical and standardized diagnoses.

SYNOPSIS Objective: Comparison of clinical headache diagnoses in primary care to algorithm diagnoses from a standardized headache interview. Design: A sample of consecutive primary care headache patients (n=779) at the Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound were interviewed and medical records abstracted. Measurements: The medical record provided ‘chart’ diagnoses while a structured interview and diagnostic algorithm yielded the ‘algorithm diagnosis’. The patients were also administered the depression sub-scale from the SCL 90-R, in addition to answering questions about pain intensity and disability used to rade the severity of chronic pain. Results: Among persons diagnosed by the primary care physician as having migraine, 78% received an algorithm diagnosis of migraine. However, study patients were more likely to receive a diagnosis of migraine by algorithm (57%) than by clinical diagnosis (33%). While clinicians infrequently recorded a diagnosis of migraine and tension-type headache in the same patients, tension-type headache was identified among half of the algorithm diagnosed migraineurs. Among patients with algorithm-diagnosed migraine, female gender, increased isability, and the presence of aura increased the likelihood that the clinician would also diagnose migraine, Conversely, the presence of tension-type headache features, high levels of depression, high number of headache days and age over 65 years reduced the likelihood of the clinician diagnosing migraine among algorithm-diagnosed cases. Conclusions: The co-occurrence of migraine and tension-type headache symptoms are commonly reported by patients, however, primary care physicians usually recorded a single diagnosis of either migraine or tension headache. Among patients reporting migrainous features, the presence of chronic headache, emotional distress and the absence of disability reduced the likelihood that the clinician would assign a diagnosis of migraine. These results suggest the need for diagnostic and management strategies appropriate for patients whose headaches combine tension-type and migrainous features,
Performance improvement through passive mechanics in jellyfish-inspired swimming

Abstract This computational investigation explores the effect that passively responsive components of a body can have on swimming performance. The swimmer is an articulated two-dimensional system of linked rigid bodies that is prescribed with a reciprocating shape change loosely inspired by jellyfish mechanics. The six constituent hinges can be either actively controlled by fully prescribing the kinematics, or passively responsive by substituting a torsion spring in place of an actuator. The computational solver is a high-fidelity viscous vortex particle method with coupled fluid-body interactions. The prescribed kinematic Reynolds numbers involved in this investigation fall within the range 70–700. Several configurations are explored, including cases with passively responsive hinges and cases in which pairs of the hinges were held in a rigid locked position. Certain choices of passive structure lead to optimal swimming speed and efficiency. This is elucidated by a simple model, which shows that optimal performance is obtained through a balance of maximized deflection of peripheral bodies and phasing that draws benefits from both reactive and resistive force mechanisms. A study is also made of an inviscid swimmer but, due to the reciprocating kinematics of the system, the swimmer is unable to achieve meaningful locomotion, showing that vortex shedding is essential to break the symmetry of the kinematics.
Tobacco and the global lung cancer epidemic

Tobacco is the world's single most avoidable cause of death. The World Health Organization has calculated that the 5.6 trillion cigarettes smoked per year at the close of the twentieth century will cause nearly 10 million fatalities per year by 2030. Lung cancer is the most common tobacco-related cause of cancer mortality, with one case being produced for every 3 million cigarettes smoked. How was the global lung cancer epidemic recognized, and what can we expect in the future?
Fibrous histiocytomas of the oral mucosa

Abstract Two cases of benign fibrous histiocytomas of the soft tissues of the oral cavity are presented. This report includes an overview of the literature, including lesions occurring in the skin, orbit, and viscera, as well as three previously published reports involving the soft tissues of the oral regions. Two additional cases are included from the files of the Oral Pathology Division of the University of Alabama. The histories and results obtained support the contention that these benign lesions are reactive rather than neoplastic processes and that they may frequently be associated with preceding traumatic episodes. The oral soft-tissue fibrous histiocytomas appear to be analogous to those lesions which occur in the skin.
Measuring Advertising Quality on Television: Deriving Meaningful Metrics from Audience Retention Data

ABSTRACT This article introduces a measure of television ad quality based on audience retention using logistic regression techniques to normalize such scores against expected audience behavior. By adjusting for features such as time of day, network, recent user behavior, and household demographics, we are able to isolate ad quality from these extraneous factors. We introduce the model used in the current Google TV Ads product and two new competing models that show some improvement. We also devise metrics for calculating a model9s predictive power and variance, allowing us to determine which of our models performs best. We conclude with discussions of retention score applications for advertisers to evaluate their ad strategies and as a potential aid in future ad pricing.
Reduction of low response rates in interview surveys of poor African-American families

This paper suggests a framework for maximizing response in survey research with poor African-American families. Highlighting the affinity between research and direct practice, strategies involving persuasion, credibility, giving, and motivation are discussed. The utility of these ideas for researchers concerned with data gathering in minority communities for policy and practice is addressed.
Thomas Alva Edison - Battery and device innovation in response to application's needs

Abstract Thomas Alva Edison, the most prolific inventor in North America, with over 1000 patents, was the descendant of early settlers from the Netherlands to the Hudson Valley region of New York/New Jersey. However, his genealogical trail encompasses many cities, provinces, states, and countries, including Holland, France, Scotland, New Amsterdam, New York, New Jersey, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Ohio, and Michigan. He was motivated to develop and invent in response to perceived needs of commercial devices and was the creator of the concept of an industrial research laboratory. His activities covered a wide-range of chemical, electrical, medical, metallurgical, entertainment, and communication devices and led to the creation of major worldwide industries. However, his expressed underlying concern was the “service it might give others”. This presentation reviews commercial developments in comparison with the technologies and motivations of the time and is illustrated by material from the Rutgers University ‘Edison Papers Project’, Edison’s personal notes found in the Edison Battery Factory and preserved by Professor Salkind, and records of The Electrochemical Society.
Concurrent and Hierarchical Multiscale Analysis for Layer-Thickness Effects of Nanoscale Coatings on Interfacial Stress and Fracture Behavior

To investigate the effects of coating layer thickness on stress and the debonding behavior near the interface of coating layer and substrate, multiscale analysis is a must since molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can only be performed on models with thicknesses of about tens of nanometers on common computers, but the real thicknesses of such layers are around 300–1200 nm. In this work, generalized particle dynamics (GP) modeling for Al coated on Fe is first developed by using an atomistic domain near the layer interface and having high-scale particles far from that region to reduce degrees of freedom. Results show that the thicker coatings experience lower local average shearing stresses for a given shear strain. However, it is found that when the layer thickness reaches a large value, further increase of the layer thickness will not greatly benefit the reduction of the stress, thereby not increasing the allowable load. This trend is consistent with the simulation for Al2 O3 coated on Fe by a hierarchical multiscale analysis which is formulated by proposing a nanoscale-based key variable, Gdb , called debonding energy density. This variable, defined by the debonding energy per unit area, is used to characterize material bonding strength in realizing that failure originates from the atomistic and nanoscale. The difference and connection of this low-scale fracture variable, Gdb , with crack energy release rate, GIC , in traditional fracture mechanics is illustrated and how Gdb can be easily determined through atomistic simulation is exemplified. To make the new variable effective in engineering applications, Gdb is used as input to a macroscopic scale finite element model. The obtained layer-thickness effect directly confirms the existence of a critical thickness, predicted by the GP method. This work is an effort in developing material failure theory from lower scales where material fracture originates but with applications in continuum scale via both hierarchical and concurrent multiscale analyses.
Determination of stepwise stability constants for aqueous hexacyanoferrate—tetramethylammonium ions pairs by cyclic voltammetry

Abstract Ion pairing between aqueous hexacyanoferrate and tetramethylammonium ions was characterized by cyclic voltammetry. The half-wave potential shift of the Fe(CN) 4− 3− 6 couple indicated the occurrence of a stepwise equilibrium with the quaternary ammonium ion. Determination of successive stability constants indicated that the species (TMA)3Fe(CN)6 predominates at high tetramethylammonium ion activity.
A continuous, multistage tower fermentor. I. Design and performance tests

The design of a continuous column fermentor with a multiple staging effect is described. The column is divided into four compartments by horizontal perforated plates and is provided with a central agitator shaft driving an impeller in each compartment. A tube at the center of each plate forms a liquid seal around the shaft and also acts as a “downcomer.” The fermentor is normally operated with counter-current flow of gas and medium. Fresh medium is added to the top stage and product is withdrawn from the bottom. The effect of plate and agitator design on fermentor performance was studied in terms of factor such as oxygen transfer rate, gas holdup, and interstage mixing. By proper choice of the design parameters, the fermentor was made to approximate a perfect four-stage cascade in terms of reactor performance. Preliminary experiments were performed with air-water systems, but a more realistic picture of fermentor performance was obtained in experience involving propagation of Escherichia coli. Data for business and substrate concentrations in each stage confirmed the staging effect of the apparatus. The fermentor operated in a stable manner for periods of more than two weeks.
Observations of wall-film superfluidity in the bulk normal phase of liquid 3He/4He mixture at values of 3He mole fraction down to 0.55

Abstract Wall-film superfluidity has been observed experimentally in the bulk normal phase of liquid 3 He/ 4 He mixtures near saturated vapor pressure in a Vycor glass superleak at values of the 3 He mole fraction down to 0.55.