cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A case of tricuspid valve non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis presenting as pulmonary embolism in a patient with antiphospholipid antibody syndrome

A 47-year-old woman with a medical history of Raynaud’s phenomenon presented with fever, cough and shortness of breath. She was found to have left lower lobe consolidation and pleural effusion and was treated as a case of pneumonia. During the hospital course, her respiratory status worsened, and she was intubated on the third hospital day. To investigate the high A–a gradient, a Computerized Tomographic Pulmonary Embolism (CTPE) study was done which identified a large left lower pulmonary artery embolism. She was also found to have a new murmur, and an echocardiogram demonstrated a large lesion on tricuspid valve. However, multiple sets of her blood cultures came back consistently negative. Alternative diagnoses for culture-negative endocarditis were considered, and a full set of rheumatological workup was done. Laboratory tests were suggestive of antiphospholipid syndrome, hence the diagnosis of tricuspid valve Libman-Sacks endocarditis was made.
Clues from Molecular Symbol Systems

Natural selection operates on living systems through their function and behavior. The biological structures constraining this behavior always involve fortuitous elements, or frozen accidents, as well as essential principles. In order to distinguish the accidents from the principles we must refer to some theory of living systems. Similarly, in order to distinguish which biological constraints on linguistic form are fortuitous and which are fundamental, we must refer to some theory of symbolic systems. A theory of symbols must address the process that relates the symbol vehicle to its referent or meaning. At the level of natural language we have many facts, but still have great difficulty incorporating them in a theory of language. However, at the level of the gene the relation of symbol structures to their referent function is better understood. A careful look at this elementary symbol system may provide some clues to basic principles of language at higher levels. In particular, we consider the articulation of the discrete, rate-independent, linear symbol strings, which generate continuous, rate-dependent, three-dimensional functions through the folding transformation. We suggest that this complementary interaction of constraints and laws involves general principles that are elaborated in higher linguistic forms.
Recruitment of Mexican-American Adults for an Intensive Diabetes Intervention Trial

Objective: Effective behavioral diabetes inter-ventions for Mexican Americans are needed.Our study focused on efforts to recruitMexican American adults for a trial testing adiabetes community health worker (CHW)self-management intervention.Design: Behavioral randomized controlledtrial, community-based participatory researchapproach.Setting: Chicago.Participants: Mexican American adults withtype 2 diabetes.Outcome Measures: Screening and random-ization.Methods: Initial eligibility criteria includedMexican heritage, treatment with oral diabetesmedication, residence in designated zip codes,planned residence in the area for two years,and enrollment in a specific insurance plan.Results: Recruitment through the insurerresulted in only one randomized participant.Eligibility criteria were relaxed and subsequentefforts included bilingual advertisements, pre-sentations at churches and community events,postings in clinics, partnerships with commu-nity providers, and CHW outreach. Zip codeswere expanded multiple times and insurancecriteria removed. CHW outreach resulted in53% of randomized participants.Conclusions: Despite strong ties with thetarget community, culturally appropriate re-cruitment strategies involving community rep-resentation, and a large pool of potentialparticipants, significant challenges were en-countered in recruitment for this diabetesintervention trial. Researchers identified threekey barriers to participation: study intensityand duration, lack of financial incentives, andchallenges in establishing trust. For futureresearch to be successful, investigators needto recognize these barriers, offer adequateincentives to compensate for interventionintensity, and establish strong trust throughcommunity partnerships and the incorporationof community members in the recruitmentprocess. (Ethn Dis. 2011;21:7–12)Key Words: Diabetes, Community HealthWorkers, Mexican American, Recruitment,Community-based Participatory Research, Be-havioral Randomized Controlled Trial
2-(6-Bromo-3-pyrid-yl)-8-methyl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazine.

The structure of the title compound, C12H9BrN4, prepared by the reaction of 2-bromo-1-(6-bromo-3-pyrid­yl)ethanone with 2-amino-3-methyl­pyrazine indicates that the compound with the bromo­pyridyl substituent at position 2 of the imidazopyrazine fused-ring system represents the major product of this reaction. The plane of the pyridine ring forms a dihedral angle of 16.2 (2)° with the essentially planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.006 A) imidazopyrazine system. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by weak C—H⋯N inter­actions.
Understanding susceptibility to e-cigarettes: A comprehensive model of risk factors that influence the transition from non-susceptible to susceptible among e-cigarette naïve adolescents.

Abstract The primary objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with becoming susceptible to e-cigarette use over the course of a year among e-cigarette-naive adolescents considering a comprehensive model of risk factors (risk perceptions, social influences and norms, affective risk factors, and other behavioral risk factors). Data came from the Texas Adolescent Tobacco and Marketing Surveillance system (TATAMS), a longitudinal cohort study of students who were in the 6th, 8th, and 10th grades (n = 3907) during the 2014–2015 academic year. Weighted generalized linear mixed models assessed multiple predictors' associated with the transition to susceptibility to e-cigarettes at 12 months. Among 6th graders, family influence, use of other substances, and positive affect were important. Adolescents transitioning from 8th grade to high school presented the greatest number of risk factors (e.g., social and normative influences). Only sensation seeking increased the risk of susceptibility to e-cigarettes among 10th graders. Overall, by grade level, incidence of susceptibility to e-cigarettes at 12 months did not vary, but risk factor profiles varied substantially.
The Role of Similarity in Detecting Feature Interaction in Software Product Lines

As a software product line evolves, it typically introduces new features and includes new products over time. A known cause of software aging in product lines is the introduction of new features that interact in unplanned and even risky ways with the existing features. This can lead to failures, performance degradation, and hazardous states in a new product. Software product line developers currently identify new, unwanted feature interactions primarily in the testing of each new product. This incurs significant costs, comes late in development, and does not exploit the knowledge of prior feature interactions within a product line. The contribution of our paper is to leverage knowledge of prior feature interactions in a product line, together with similarity measures between the features in known feature interactions and the new features, in order to detect similar feature interactions in a new product much earlier in the development process. Results from application to a case study from the literature show that this approach accurately detected 73% of feature interactions. This small study suggests that using similarity measures at the feature level within a product line to detect problematic interactions involving a new feature can effectively reduce this cause of aging in a software product line.
Management of Frontal Sinus Trauma

The frontal bone is the strongest of the maxillofacial skeleton, and fractures involving the frontal sinus are relatively uncommon. Frontal sinus fractures are usually the result of high-speed motor vehicle accidents or assault. Management of these fractures is still controversial with regard to the timing, indications for surgical repair, surgical approach, and postoperative care. Complications include soft tissue, musculoskeletal, sinonasal, ophthalmological, and neurological.
Injecting New Life into a Classic Technique.

In this issue of Plant Physiology , [Hochberg et al. (2019)][1] present a novel way to rapidly assess the xylem vulnerability of leaves that combines the recently developed optical technique ([Brodribb et al., 2016a][2], [2016b][3]) with a version of the air injection method ([Sperry and Tyree, 1990
Reconstruction of intersecting surface models from scanned data for styling design

This paper presents a new method for reconstructing a surface model from scanned data as a $$\mathrm{C}^0$$ composite surface. The surface is represented by intersecting underlying surfaces (U-surfaces), which are reconstructed from their respective parts segmented according to sweep-based modeling. However, even if each U-surface is successfully reconstructed, a surface model for the scanned data cannot be guaranteed to be desirably represented by a composite surface of those U-surfaces. Therefore, the proposed method reconstructs adjacent U-surfaces such that their intersecting curve represents part of feature lines, which are slightly offset from the scanned data, and has as small a torsion as possible. Compared with conventional approaches that naively fit a single patch to whole or some segmented parts, the method provides a guiding principle for the generation of surface models that are more suitable for styling design. The experimental results demonstrate that desirable models can be generated from real-world scanned data.
Next-Generation Cell-Active Inhibitors of the Undrugged Oncogenic PTP4A3 Phosphatase

Oncogenic protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) are overexpressed in numerous human cancers but they have been challenging pharmacological targets. The emblematic oncogenic PTP4A tyrosine phosphatase family regulates many fundamental malignant processes. 7-Imino-2-phenylthieno[3,2-c]pyridine-4,6(5H,7H)-dione (JMS-053) is a novel, potent, and selective PTP4A inhibitor but its mechanism of action has not been fully elucidated, nor has the chemotype been fully investigated. Because tyrosine phosphatases are notoriously susceptible to oxidation, we interrogated JMS-053 and three newly synthesized analogs with specific attention on the role of oxidation. JMS-053 and its three analogs were potent in vitro PTP4A3 inhibitors, but 7-imino-5-methyl-2-phenylthieno[3,2-c]pyridine-4,6(5H,7H)-dione (NRT-870-59) appeared unique among the thienopyridinediones with respect to its inhibitory specificity for PTP4A3 versus both a PTP4A3 A111S mutant and an oncogenic dual specificity tyrosine phosphatase, CDC25B. Like JMS-053, NRT-870-59 was a reversible PTP4A3 inhibitor. All of the thienopyridinediones retained cytotoxicity against human ovarian and breast cancer cells grown as pathologically relevant three-dimensional spheroids. Inhibition of cancer cell colony formation by NRT-870-59, like JMS-053, required PTP4A3 expression. JMS-053 failed to generate significant detectable reactive oxygen species in vitro or in cancer cells. Mass spectrometry results indicated no disulfide bond formation or oxidation of the catalytic Cys104 after in vitro incubation of PTP4A3 with JMS-053 or NRT-870-59. Gene expression profiling of cancer cells exposed to JMS-053 phenocopied many of the changes seen with the loss of PTP4A3 and did not indicate oxidative stress. These data demonstrate that PTP4A phosphatases can be selectively targeted with small molecules that lack prominent reactive oxygen species generation and encourage further studies of this chemotype. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Protein tyrosine phosphatases are emerging as important contributors to human cancers. We report on a new class of reversible protein phosphatase small molecule inhibitors that are cytotoxic to human ovarian and breast cancer cells, do not generate significant reactive oxygen species in vitro and in cells, and could be valuable lead molecules for future studies of PTP4A phosphatases.
Antioxidant supplementation partially rescues accelerated ovarian follicle loss, but not oocyte quality, of glutathione-deficient mice†.

The tripeptide thiol antioxidant glutathione (GSH) has multiple physiological functions. Female mice lacking the modifier subunit of glutamate cysteine ligase (GCLM), the rate-limiting enzyme in GSH synthesis, have decreased GSH concentrations, ovarian oxidative stress, preimplantation embryonic mortality, and accelerated age-related decline in ovarian follicles. We hypothesized that supplementation with thiol antioxidants, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), or α-lipoic acid (ALA) will rescue this phenotype. Gclm-/- and Gclm+/+ females received 0 or 80 mM NAC in drinking water from postnatal day (PND) 21–30; follicle growth was induced with equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) on PND 27, followed by an ovulatory dose of human CG and mating with a wild type male on PND 29 and zygote harvest 20 h after hCG. N-acetyl cysteine supplementation failed to rescue the low rate of second pronucleus formation in zygotes from Gclm-/- versus Gclm+/+ females. In the second study, Gclm-/- and Gclm+/+ females received diet containing 0, 150, or 600 mg/kg ALA beginning at weaning and were mated with wild type males from 8 to 20 weeks of age. α-Lipoic acid failed to rescue the decreased offspring production of Gclm-/- females. However, 150 mg/kg diet ALA partially rescued the accelerated decline in primordial follicles, as well as the increased recruitment of follicles into the growing pool and the increased percentages of follicles with γ H2AX positive oocytes or granulosa cells of Gclm-/- females. We conclude that ovarian oxidative stress is the cause of accelerated primordial follicle decline, while GSH deficiency per se may be responsible for preimplantation embryonic mortality in Gclm-/- females.Summary sentenceSupplementation with the antioxidant alpha-lipoic acid partially rescued accelerated age-related ovarian follicle depletion, but did not decrease offspring production, in glutathione-deficient Gclm null mice.
Leaking the secret: women’s attitudes toward menstruation and menstrual-tracker mobile apps

This study explored how menstrual-tracker mobile apps have characteristics that reflect menstruation as a taboo in the U.S. culture. Objectification theory and gender schema theory provided a conce...
Frequency control at the power sending side for HVDC asynchronous interconnections between yunnan power grid and the rest of CSG

For a large-scale high voltage direct current (HVDC) asynchronous interconnected power grid, the frequency issue at the power sending side under DC faults is a crucial problem. To solve this problem, based on rotor motion equations, the effect of unbalanced power on the system frequency under DC faults is analyzed. The characteristics and dynamic development process of frequencies after the injection of disturbances are analyzed. In addition, the actions and coordinated strategies of various frequency control measures are also investigated. Based on the testing projects of an asynchronous interconnection in the China Southern Power Grid (CSG), the frequency features are studied according to the measured PMU data. The outcome shows that the frequency problem of the Yunnan Power Grid after an asynchronous interconnection can be solved and controlled. It also shows that the frequency limit control (FLC) is important for the frequency regulation of large scale HVDC asynchronous interconnected DC power grids. As demonstrated, DC FLC can effectively suppress the deviation of the transient frequency. However, reasonable frequency regulation parameters should be set and other area frequency control measures should be coordinated to maintain the frequency stability of the system.
Outcome-Based Clinical Decision-Making in Pediatric Critical Illness

Optimizing patient outcome, the goal of our care efforts, has always been the focus of conscientious physicians. Besides rescuing patients, pediatric critical care providers are increasingly focused on assuring that the care provided is safe, that preventable harm is limited, and that best outcomes are achieved at the lowest reasonable cost. Thus, it is important for intensivists to understand terms such as “value,” “quality,” and “standards of care” and how they are applied within the PICU. Furthermore, intensivists should know how to improve performance. They should also understand the use of various sources of data, such as administrative data sets and patient registries, to assess quality of care. Unfortunately, “quality” has become difficult to describe and quantify because of various definitions used to describe it. Today, certain outcomes are tied to reimbursement and financial reward through the current “pay for performance” system. However, many of these designated outcomes are not in fact outcomes but instead are process measures that are plausibly linked to desired outcomes. Within pediatric critical care medicine, commonly measured outcome measures include severity of illness-adjusted mortality rates for all PICU patients as well as for the subset of congenital heart surgery patients, cost and length of stay measures that are disease group and case mix specific, and risk-adjusted measures of functional outcomes (impairment) following pediatric critical illness. In addition, there are other outcome measures including ventilator-associated events, central venous catheter-related bacteremia, and accidental extubation, to name a few. The most important purpose of outcome measurement is improvement of care, not keeping score. Outcome measurement and performance improvement are powerful tools that have the additional benefit of bringing teams together, which improves collaboration and unit functioning. These efforts provide opportunities for evidence-based learning and performance improvement, which require different methods from traditional randomized controlled trials. Early success with the development of standardized risk-adjusted outcome measures with broad PICU participation is a promising start, but much more can and should be done.
Structural Encoding and Pre-training Matter: Adapting BERT for Table-Based Fact Verification.

Growing concern with online misinformation has encouraged NLP research on fact verification. Since writers often base their assertions on structured data, we focus here on verifying textual statements given evidence in tables. Starting from the Table Parsing (TAPAS) model developed for question answering (Herzig et al., 2020), we find that modeling table structure improves a language model pre-trained on unstructured text. Pre-training language models on English Wikipedia table data further improves performance. Pre-training on a question answering task with column-level cell rank information achieves the best performance. With improved pre-training and cell embeddings, this approach outperforms the state-of-the-art Numerically-aware Graph Neural Network table fact verification model (GNN-TabFact), increasing statement classification accuracy from 72.2% to 73.9% even without modeling numerical information. Incorporating numerical information with cell rankings and pre-training on a question-answering task increases accuracy to 76%. We further analyze accuracy on statements implicating single rows or multiple rows and columns of tables, on different numerical reasoning subtasks, and on generalizing to detecting errors in statements derived from the ToTTo table-to-text generation dataset.
Innovative teaching strategies to escape the anxiety in simulation

Abstract Escape room exercises are innovative teaching strategies that when integrated into the simulation experience are an effective tool to decrease student anxiety and improve learning outcomes. These types of gaming experiences have been shown to improve teamwork, communication skills, and familiarity with simulation environments by engaging the student in an interactive learning experience providing immediate and on-going constructive feedback. This manuscript will provide detailed instructions and demonstrate how to easily develop meaningful, fun and engaging escape room exercises for students yet, manageable and budget friendly for faculty.
Korean female adolescents' food attitudes and food intake relative to the Korean Food Tower

A survey was conducted to examine food intake and food attitudes of 285 Korean female students attending a high school in Seoul. Food intake was assessed using a food frequency based on the Korean Food Tower consisting of five food groups, i.e., grain products, vegetables and fruits, meat, milk, and fats and sweets. The food attitude scale consisted of 22 items that were categorized into five factors with items about conscious choice of food, health concerns, economics and time influence, interest in foods, and foods that energize in regard to each of the five food groups. An analysis of the food fiiequency indicated that the participants ate rice, cabbage kimchi, radish, and soybean or red pepper paste most frequently along with millc, ice cream, tea, and seasonal fruits such as citrus fruit, apple, watermelon, and grapes. The mean serving fiiequency for each food group was 10 to 77% above what is recommended by the Korean Nutrition Society, except in the case of fats and sweets where it was 12.5% below. Attitudes about the foods indicated that most of the participants did not consider economics, time, or other extemal influences as a limiting factor in their food consumption. Their food attitudes may be characterized by a favorable evaluation for vegetables and fruits on all of the five factors considered in this study, and an unfavorable evaluation of the meat, and fats and sweets groups in health concerns. Iq examining the relationships between food intake and food attimdes, some of them were positively correlated with each other (g < .01). In addition, the effect of income on the intake of the meat and fats and sweets groups was found to be most noticeable (g < .01).
External Dacryocystorhinostomy: Surgical Success, Patient Satisfaction, and Economic Cost

Background: External dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) is the standard treatment for nasolacrimal duct obstruction, with success rates consistently above 90%. This study reviews the demographics, success, cost, efficiency, and patient satisfaction in external DCR. This information will be useful as comparison criteria for evaluating new surgical techniques. Methods: Records of 169 external DCR procedures performed over an 8.7-year period were reviewed. All patients had preoperative symptoms of tearing and/or dacryocystitis with a component of nasolacrimal obstruction. Patient demographics, history, examination findings, surgical and anesthesia information, postoperative success, complications, and follow-up course were recorded. Patient satisfaction and long-term success were evaluated by telephone survey. Results: External DCR often required middle turbinectomy (17%), exposure of ethmoid sinuses (17%), and removal of dacryoliths (14%). Most patients (90%) underwent silicone intubation, with the tubes removed at an average of 3.7 weeks after surgery. A patent system was established in 95% of procedures, whereas 92% remained asymptomatic. Postoperative complications included hemorrhage (3.9%) and scarring (2.6%). Of the surveyed patients, 87% denied continued or recurrent symptoms; 97% rated their incision "good" to "excellent" in appearance; and all patients stated they would recommend the procedure to others. Conclusion: External DCR is highly successful, requires limited follow-up, and is a cost-effective procedure. Complications are uncommon, and patient satisfaction is high. New lacrimal surgical techniques must be evaluated against the long-proven success of the external approach. Ophthalmology 1995;102:1065-1070
Equivalences for blocks of the Weyl groups

We describe the source algebras of the blocks of the Weyl groups of type B and type D in terms of the source algebras of the blocks of the symmetric groups. As a consequence, we show that Puig's conjecture on the finiteness of the number of isomorphism classes of source algebras for blocks of finite groups with a fixed defect group holds for these classes of groups. We also show how certain isomorphisms between subalgebras of block algebras of the symmetric groups can be lifted to block algebras of the Weyl groups of type B.
ULF Waves from the Ionosphere to the Outer Planets

Space plasma science was launched by studies of ULF waves before in situ measurements became available. Remarkably, interest in the subject has not diminished in the intervening years. This paper addresses selected recent developments related to the subject of ULF waves. Topics touched on include normal modes of the magnetosphere, plasma transport by waves on the magnetopause and the role of ULF waves in relativistic electron acceleration. Waves that may be resonant or driven externally include substorm-associated Pi2 waves and the discrete spectrum of mHz waves identified in both the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. The outer planets enter through consideration of the structure of mirror mode waves in Jupiter's magnetosheath.
Iliac vein thrombosis: feasibility assessment of randomized controlled trials of endovascular pharmacomechanical thrombolysis

Summary. Background: Optimal treatment for iliac vein thrombosis has not been established by randomized clinical trials largely owing to difficulty in patient recruitment. To assess the feasibility of a prospective randomized trial of thrombolysis and stenting, we determined the incidence of iliac vein thrombosis and randomization eligibility based on criteria for two ongoing trials. Methods: All patients with incident leg deep vein thrombosis during the calendar year 2005 seen at the Mayo Clinic were identified to determine the frequency of iliac vein involvement and the number undergoing endovascular therapies. Each patient was assessed for eligibility for potential randomization into a theoretic trial of thrombolytic therapy. Results: Ninety-five (of 394) patients had iliac vein involvement. Of these, only nine patients would have been suitable for randomization. Of the remaining 86 patients, prolonged symptom duration (n = 28), active cancer (n = 24) and advanced age (n = 19) were the most common exclusion criteria. Of 31 patients who had intervention, 75% had at least one contraindication for randomization. Conclusions: Despite a philosophy of aggressive treatment for iliac vein thrombosis at this institution, the number of cases that could potentially be randomized into a clinical trial is relatively small. Trial design may require either multicenter cooperation or exclusion criteria revision for adequate recruitment.
Residual stress of .Pb 0:92 La 0:08 / .Zr 0:52 Ti 0:48 /O 3 films grown by a sol-gel process

We deposited ferroelectric (Pb0.92La0.08)(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O3 films of ≈0.35 to ≈3.1 μm in thickness on platinized silicon substrates by chemical solution deposition. A dielectric constant of ≈1350 and dielectric loss of ≈0.04 were measured at room temperature. Hysteresis loop tests revealed that the remanent polarization increases while the coercive field decreases with PLZT film thickness. The residual stress in the PLZT films, as determined by the x-ray diffraction sin2ψ method, decreased from ≈380 to ≈200 MPa when the film thickness increased from 0.35 to 3.1 μm. The dependence of the residual stress (σ) on the PLZT film thickness (t) can be described by an empirical equation, σ = A0exp(−t2/λ2), with A0 ≈ 390 MPa and λ ≈ 3.8 μm.
Quantitative analysis of protein-protein interactions by split firefly luciferase complementation in plant protoplasts.

This unit describes the split firefly luciferase complementation (SFLC) assay, a high-throughput quantitative method that can be used to investigate protein-protein interactions (PPIs) in plant mesophyll protoplasts. In SFLC, the two proteins to be tested for interaction are expressed as chimeric proteins, each fused to a different half of firefly luciferase. If the proteins interact, a functional luciferase can be transitorily reconstituted, and is detected using the cell-permeable substrate d-luciferin. An advantage of the SFLC assay is that dynamic changes in PPIs in a cell can be detected in a near real-time manner. Another advantage is the unusually high DNA co-transfection and protein expression efficiencies that can be achieved in plant protoplasts, thereby enhancing the throughput of the method. Curr. Protoc. Mol. Biol. 107:20.9.1-20.9.8. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Keywords: protein-protein interaction; plant protoplasts; split firefly luciferase complementation
Remote Sensing of Water Quality: Bridging Operational and Applications Communities

One of the highest priorities of the NASA Applied Sciences Program (ASP) is to benefit society by supporting the development of tools, services, and applications that leverage Earth observations (EO) and satellite assets, and their transfer to operations. Toward this goal, the Water Resources Application Area of ASP has been exploring how satellite remote sensing could contribute to water quality monitoring decisions and practices and organized a workshop at the biennial National Water Quality Monitoring Conference 2014 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Noncontact heartbeat detection using UWB impulse Doppler radar

Nowadays, UWB radar systems have been used to remotely monitor subjects in many non-contact scenarios—monitoring and detecting through debris and walls. It can be used for non-contact measurements for various vital sign monitoring in different scenarios like space station astronaut monitoring, athletic performance monitoring from a distance and so on. UWB radar demonstrated very promising results in indoor target localization, and human gait analysis as well (Y. Wang, Q. Liu and A. E. Fathy, IMS Sym. Dig., 2012).
THE PRODUCTION OF HIGH ENERGY DEUTERONS BY ENERGETIC NUCLEONS BOMBARDING NUCLEI

A calculation is given of the cross section for production of fast deuterons (\ensuremath{\gtrsim}50 Mev) by fast nucleons (\ensuremath{\gtrsim}100 Mev) bombarding heavy nuclei. A corrected Fermi model is used. The dependence on energy is given and also the momentum wave function of a nucleon in a heavy nucleus.
GE-40COMPARATIVE GENOMIC ANALYSES IDENTIFIES NON-SILENT MUTATIONS PRESENT IN BOTH MURINE AND HUMAN MEDULLOBLASTOMA

Mouse models of human cancers are now widely used in cancer biology and therapeutics. However, these models have, more recently, been scrutinized regarding the degree with which they faithfully recapitulate their human counterparts. To determine whether mouse and human tumors are driven by similar genetic alterations we chose medulloblastoma, the most common malignant pediatric brain tumor, and performed whole-exome sequencing on 12 animals representing models of three distinct medulloblastoma subgroups: WNT, SHH and G3 (C-MYC). Without sequencing data from matching normal tissue, we developed a robust germline-filtering pipeline that removes known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in commonly used mouse strains. We rigorously compared putative mutation calls to raw control mouse binary alignment map (BAM) files to filter out remaining polymorphisms. Sequencing tumor and non-tumor DNA from ancestral mouse strains validated the presence of a mutation with somatic success rates of 61% and 14% for high quality and low quality calls, respectively. Using this approach, we identified 75 somatic mutations (73 single nucleotide variation [SNVs] and 2 small insertions & deletions [INDELS]), including 40 with predicted amino acid changes. Of these 40 mouse MB amino-acid change mutations, the human ortholog of eight genes also harbored amino acid change mutations. Lrfn2, Smyd1 and Wdr11 were mutated in a mouse G3 medulloblastoma and tested in vivo using intracranial allografts. Each gene was overexpressed in mouse G3 tumor spheres by lentiviral gene transfer followed by cell sorting and intracranial stereotactic implants. Wdr11 significantly repressed tumor progression, and increased the survival of tumor-bearing mice by ten and eleven days compared to tumor cells uninfected or infected with empty vector. Our pipeline successfully filtered out most germ-line SNPs even without matching normal tissue data, and identified Wdr11 as a novel target in medulloblastoma.
eTourism: Information Technology for Strategic Tourism Management: By Dimitrios Buhalis. Pearson Education Limited 2003, xxvii+376 pp (glossary, index, figures, tables) $59.00 Pbk. ISBN 0582 35740 3

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in strategic tourism management is becoming more necessary, making this book a timely and important one. The challenge, however, is that information can become rapidly obsolete because the field moves so fast. Buhalis has done an excellent job of incorporating concepts and ideas that will stand the test of at least a few years time, in addition to discussing more time-bound applications. His focus on strategic issues for tourism management and marketing, in addition to the specific industry sector applications of ICT, offers thorough coverage of the topic. The book is well organized and the schema at the beginning of each chapter are particularly useful for the reader. The volume has a rich array of resources with reading lists, websites, and case studies in each chapter.
Effect of semi-random mutagenesis at the C-terminal 4 amino acids of human interleukin-6 on its biological activity.

Summary The carboxyl(C)-terminus of human interleukin-6 (hIL-6) has a critical role in the expression of the biological activity of this cytokine. To define the structure-function relationships of this region, semi-random mutagenesis of the C-terminal Leu181-Arg182-Qln183-Met184 sequence of hIL-6 was performed. The mutants were produced in Escherichia coli , renatured, and purified. Alterations of the C-terminal 4 amino acids caused a significant reduction of the proliferative effect of the mutants on MH60.BSF2 and KT-3 cells, and also led to a drastic decrease in receptor binding affinity. These results suggest the importance of a positively charged residue at position 182 or 183 and an alpha-helix at position 181 for the biological activity of hIL-6.
Microscopic theory of interacting excitations in Bose systems

A study of an interacting boson system is presented, which examines the internal consistency and validity of certain microscopic theories. Our formalism is based on density variables and follows closely the work of Bogoliubov and Zubarev, although the general features of the results apply to other approaches as well. First, we employ model potentials to calculate the excitation spectrum, the structure factor, the condensate fraction, and the scattering amplitude for two excitations. The results demonstrate new and stringent limitations of the model-potential approach, and suggest that this type of analysis may yield fortuitous and misleading agreement with experiment when applied to liquid helium. In particular, although the theory yields a good fit to the energy spectrum (in accord with previous work), the scattering amplitude is found to be extremely sensitive to the details of the model, so the potential approach cannot be considered as a reliable basis for calculations of the excitations in superfluid helium. As an alternative, we develop a first-principles theory of helium based only on the liquid structure factor ${S}_{k}$. To lowest order, the latter method gives results qualitatively similar to the strong-coupling calculations. This indicates a need to consider renormalization effects, which are briefly discussed.
A Set of Imprinted Genes Required for Normal Body Growth Also Promotes Growth of Rhabdomyosarcoma Cells

A set of imprinted genes required for normal body growth also promotes growth of rhabdomyosarcoma cells
Arsenate reductase activity in roots from the arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata utilizes both glutathione and dithiothreitol as reductants

Abstract The role of glutathione and dithiothreitol as reductants supporting arsenate reductase activity in root extract from the arsenic hyperaccumulator Pteris vittata was examined. The two reductants in combination enhanced arsenate reduction in vitro more than glutathione alone. The implications of these results for in vivo arsenate reduction are discussed.
Perchlorate in human blood serum and plasma: Relationship to concentrations in saliva

The perchlorate anion (ClO(4)(-),MW=99) is present in food, drinking water, groundwater, and surface waters. Exposure to perchlorate is of concern, due to the ability of the anion to disrupt the function of the thyroid gland, and affect the synthesis of thyroid hormones. In this study, liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method has been optimized to analyze for perchlorate in blood sera and plasma samples from 84 US donors. In addition, 15 volunteers provided saliva and serum samples concurrently, to enable assessment of the ratio of perchlorate in these two matrices. Recoveries of perchlorate from fortified blanks and from serum/plasma samples were between 92% and 97%. Replicate analysis of blood-matrix spikes had a relative standard deviation (RSD) of <3%, and the relative percent difference (RPD) of repeat analysis of samples was <4%. Perchlorate concentrations in serum and plasma ranged from below the limit of quantitation (0.05ngmL(-1)) to a maximum of 7.7ngmL(-1). Perchlorate concentrations in serum and plasma were log-normally distributed. The mean and median concentrations of perchlorate in 84 serum and plasma samples were 0.32 and 0.17ngmL(-1), respectively. No significant difference existed in perchlorate concentrations between serum and plasma. Analysis of paired saliva and serum samples showed a significant positive correlation for log-normalized perchlorate concentrations (r(2)=0.60) and perchlorate concentrations themselves (r(2)=0.86). The mean saliva:serum concentration ratio of perchlorate was 14:1 (after exclusion of two pairs of outliers). This is the first report to provide measurement data for perchlorate in blood sera and plasma of populations in the US.
Selective deficit in spatial location memory in extremely low birth weight children at age six: The PETIT Study

Spatial location memory has rarely been assessed in young children due to a scarcity of developmentally appropriate tests. This study sought to compare nonverbal learning and recall in children born extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g) and less than 33 gestational weeks (GW) with term-born children at early school age using a recently developed and adapted test. We administered a modification of the Hopkins Board to 210 children at age six; 84 born ELBW (35 born < 26 GW; 49 born 26–33 GW) and 126 term-born. Six measures were obtained: naming, trials-to-criterion, errors-to-criterion, delayed item recall, delayed location recall, and percent retention. After age correction, ELBW children had worse general cognition, item naming, delayed item recall, delayed location recall, and percent retention than term-born children. Delayed item recall and percent retention performances of ELBW children remained worse after correction for general cognition. ELBW groups (< 26 GW and 26–33 GW) groups performed wors...
Developmental Pattern for Phosphatidylserine Decarboxylase in Rat Brain

In adult rats, a significant portion of brain ethanolamine glycerophospholipids are synthesized by a pathway involving phosphatidylserine decarboxylase, a mitochondrial enzyme. We have now examined whether this enzyme plays a particularly prominent role during development. Activities for both phosphatidylserine decarboxylase and succinate dehydrogenase (another mitochondrial enzyme) were determined in brain homogenates from rats 5 days of age to adulthood. Succinate dehydrogenase activity, expressed on a per unit brain protein basis, increased markedly during development. This pattern has been reported previously and is as expected from the postnatal increase in oxidative metabolism. In contrast, phosphatidylserine decarboxylase activity decreased 40% from 5 to 30 days of age. The apparent Km for brain phosphatidylserine decarboxylase was 85 microM in both young (8- and 20-day-old) and adult animals. Parallel studies in vivo were carried out to determine the contribution of the phosphatidylserine decarboxylase pathway, relative to pathways utilizing ethanolamine directly, to the synthesis of brain ethanolamine glycerophospholipids. Animals were injected intracranially with a mixture of L-[G-3H]serine and [2-14C]ethanolamine and incorporation into the base moieties of the phospholipids determined. The 3H/14C ratio of ethanolamine glycerophospholipids decreased about 50% during development. Our studies in vitro and in vivo both suggest that phosphatidylserine decarboxylase plays a significant role in the synthesis of brain ethanolamine glycerophospholipids at all ages, although it is relatively more prominent early in development.
Flavonol Glycosides from the Seed Coat of a New Manteca-Type Dry Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Two flavonol glycosides were isolated from the methanol extracts of “Prim”, a variety of Phaseolus vulgaris L. (Manteca-type), with a yellow seed coat color. High-performance liquid chromatography ...
Action of various antidepressant treatments reduces reactivity of noradrenergic cyclic AMP-generating system in limbic forebrain.

STUDIES on the pharmacology of the noradrenergic cyclic AMP-generating system in slices from the limbic forebrain of the rat1 and on adaptive properties of this system in conditions of persistent changes in the availability of nor-adrenaline (NA) have revealed that the system may serve as a model for the central NA receptor in this area, and that its sensitivity to NA increases or decreases when the availability of NA at the receptor site decreases or increases respectively2,3. Thus, hypersensitivity of the system has been achieved by treatment with reserpine2, a drug known to precipitate occasionally severe depressive reactions in man4, and the syndrome of which, when elicited in animals, is widely used as a model for depression5–7. Conversely, the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors, pargyline and nialamide, caused a marked reduction in the reactivity of the cyclic AMP-generating system to NA after chronic administration3. To determine whether or not antidepressant drugs which do not elevate the level of monoamines in brain share the effect of MAO inhibitors on the noradrenergic cyclic AMP-generating system, we studied the effect of the tricyclic antidepressants, desipramine and iprindole, on the reactivity of the system to NA. Desipramine blocks the uptake of NA through the neuronal membrane8,9 whereas iprindole neither blocks the neuronal uptake of NA nor alters its metabolism or turnover10,11, but is nevertheless a potent antidepressant12–14. In addition, we have tested the effect of electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), as it is generally accepted to be one of the most effective treatments for severe depression15.
When does the researcher (should) also become a resource for the bricoleur teacher? A review of Ajay Sharma’s Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur : A case study from India

This paper provides a critical review essay of Ajay Sharma’s Portrait of a science teacher as a bricoleur: A case study from India. The main focus is two fold. First, arguments are presented to draw attention to how little advances in science teaching and science learning research have impacted teachers’ practice and student achievement in the last 40 years. Second, the paper describes how the researcher’s traditionally detached role and truncated agency may inadvertently contribute to preserving the status quo by only documenting the Other’s struggles and challenges. I suggest that researchers need to re-conceptualize their roles as co-agents of change if we are to assist the Other effect positive and long-lasting change in the increasingly complex and demanding contexts in which teachers are expected to teach and students to learn.
Kinetics of jobs in multi-link cities with generalized migration-driven aggregation process

In this paper, we propose a new reversible aggregation model of job migration in multi-link cities to study the migration pattern of jobs in job markets. We regard each job position as a monomer in the aggregation process and divide the job markets into native and immigrant ones. Each job market has its transportation means that represent the level of traveling convenience, which determines the flow of jobs in each market. Through analyzing our model, we obtained results regarding the long term evolution behaviors of both native and immigrant job markets. Whether the existence of immigrant jobs benefit the society or not is shown via the analysis.
Optimum College Admissions, Taxes and Tuitions When Completions Is Uncertain

A family considers whether it might, at a point some years in the future, send its child to college. At that future point, the child's pre-college achievement determines the potential gain in human capital and the probability of completion. Years before the family reaches this decision point, it views pre-college achievement as a random variable. Moreover, the risk in pre-college achievement is a risk that can be insured. The contract theory of college finance considers optimum insurance contracts for this risk and views public finance of college education as providing the insurance. It yields conditions on optimum taxes and fees, and it implies that rationing by ability occurs at the margin between matriculating and not matriculating.
The Internal Structure and Formation of Early-Type Galaxies: The Gravitational Lens System MG 2016+112 at z = 1.004*

We combine our recent measurements of the velocity dispersion and the surface brightness profile of the lens galaxy D in the system MG 2016+112 (z = 1.004) with constraints from gravitational lensing to study its internal mass distribution. We find the following: (1) dark matter accounts for more than 50% of the total mass within the Einstein radius (99% confidence limit [CL]), whereas ~75% is the more likely contribution. In particular, we can exclude at the 8 σ level that mass follows light inside the Einstein radius with a constant mass-to-light ratio (M/L). (2) The total mass distribution inside the Einstein radius is well described by a density profile ∝ r, with an effective slope γ' = 2.0 ± 0.1 ± 0.1, including random and systematic uncertainties. (3) The offset of galaxy D from the local fundamental plane independently constrains the stellar M/L and matches the range derived from our models, leading to a more stringent lower limit of more than 60% on the fraction of dark matter within the Einstein radius (99% CL). Under the assumption of adiabatic contraction, we show that the inner slope of the dark matter halo before the baryons collapsed to form the lens galaxy is γi < 1.4 (68% CL), only marginally consistent with the highest resolution cold dark matter simulations that indicate γi ~ 1.5. This might indicate either that adiabatic contraction is a poor description of early-type galaxy formation or that additional processes play a role as well. Indeed, the apparently isothermal density distribution inside the Einstein radius is not a natural outcome of adiabatic contraction models, where it appears to be a mere coincidence. By contrast, we argue that isothermality might be the result of a stronger coupling between luminous and dark matter, possibly the result of (incomplete) violent relaxation processes during the formation of the innermost regions of the galaxy. Hence, we conclude that galaxy D appears already relaxed ~8 Gyr ago. We briefly discuss the importance of our results for lens statistics and the determination of the Hubble constant from gravitational lens time delays.