cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Testing Fungicides for Control of Gremmeniella abietina in New York

Six fungicides were tested for controlling the European strain of G. abietina on Scots pine stock. Chlorothalonil and a combination of chlorothalonil + cycloheximide were most effective. Four sprays of chlorothalonil at 1% ai were as effective as 12 sprays at 0.3% ai. Severe infection developed in all test plots regardless of treatment during February 1981 when temperatures were above OC and free water was present on exposed seedlings. These infected seedlings showed no symptoms until mid-June 1981.
Dapsone-induced methemoglobinemia and hemolytic anemia.

The treatment of two common adverse effects of dapsone (methemoglobinemia and hemolytic anemia) is discussed, and a case of acute dapsone intoxication is described. A pregnant 29-year-old woman was admitted to an emergency room three hours after ingesting 50 tablets of dapsone (100 mg each) and six alcoholic drinks. One hour after admission 50 g of activated charcoal was given p.o., and 65 mg of methylene blue was given i.v. The patient was found to have a methemoglobin concentration of 25.1%. Arterial blood gases while the patient was breathing 4 L/min of oxygen by nasal cannula were PO2, 136 mm Hg (72.1% saturation); PCO2, 28.9 mm Hg; bicarbonate content, 18.9 mmol/L; and pH, 7.42. Oxygen therapy was changed to 100% oxygen by face mask, 50 g of activated charcoal in sorbitol was administered p.o., and another 65 mg of methylene blue was given i.v. Two more 50-g doses of activated charcoal in sorbitol were given (18.5 and 22 hours after dapsone ingestion). Methylene blue 130 mg was given 14 hours after dapsone ingestion, and 65 mg was given 21, 36, and 55.5 hours after ingestion. Methemoglobin concentrations never rose above 20% after the sixth dose of methylene blue. On hospital days 2 and 3, laboratory values were consistent with a diagnosis of hemolytic anemia; the patient received two units of packed red blood cells. The hematocrit decreased over the next three days to 23.9%, and the patient received four units of packed red blood cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Bayesian optimization with empirical constraints

Bayesian Optimization (BO) methods are often used to optimize an unknown function f(·) that is costly to evaluate. They typically work in an iterative manner. In each iteration, given a set of observation points, BO algorithms select k ≥ 1 points to be evaluated. The results of those points are then added to the set of observations and the procedure is repeated until a stopping criterion is met. The goal is to optimize the function f(·) with a small number of experiment evaluations. While this problem has been extensively studied, most existing approaches ignored some real world constraints frequently encountered in practical applications. In this thesis, we extend the BO framework in a number of important directions to incorporate some of these constraints. First, we introduce a constrained BO framework where instead of selecting a precise point at each iteration, we request a constrained experiment that is characterized by a hyper-rectangle in the input space. We introduce efficient sequential and non-sequential algorithms to select a set of constrained experiments that best optimize f(·) within a given budget. Second, we introduce one of the first attempts in batch BO where instead of selecting one experiment at each iteration, a set of k > 1 experiments is selected. This can significantly speedup the overall running time of BO. Third, we introduce scheduling algorithms for the BO framework when: 1) it is possible to run concurrent experiments; 2) the durations of experiments are stochastic, but with a known distribution; and 3) there is a limited number of experiments to run in a fixed amount of time. We propose both online and offline scheduling algorithms that effectively handle these constraints. Finally, we introduce a hybrid BO approach which switches between the sequential and batch mode. The proposed hybrid approach provides us with a substantial speedup against sequential policies without significant performance loss.
Characterization of microbial community response to cover crop residue decomposition

Abstract Cover crop adoption in the U.S. Corn Belt region is a rapidly emerging management practice in corn (Zea mays) agroecosystems. However, little is known about the impact of the inclusion of cover crops on the soil microbiome and its relation to the decomposition of the cover crop residue during the cash crop growing season. Therefore, this study sought to determine the impact of cover crop species and residue management practices on soil microbial community composition and structure during winter cover crop decomposition over the corn growing season. Cover crop treatments included hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), cereal rye (Secale cereal), a hairy vetch/cereal rye mixture, and a no cover crop control. Residue management practices included no-tillage and a 15 cm reduced spring tillage following cover crop termination. Soil samples were collected at five dates during cover crop decomposition that corresponded to an accumulated number of calendar days from cover crop termination, and soil bacterial communities were characterized using the small subunit (16S) rRNA gene sequences. Statistical analyses revealed that sampling date, cover crop treatment, and residue management treatment were significant determinants of soil microbial community composition (p 2.0). Data generated from this study leads to a deeper understanding of bacterial responses to cover crop decomposition in corn agroecosystems.
TCT-320 Impact of Pre-Procedural High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, LDL-C and SYNTAX Score on Outcomes Following Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Hypercholesterolemia, complexity of coronary artery disease (CAD) and inflammation are known predictors of adverse events following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The relationship between these variables and outcomes following PCI, however, is not well understood. We included all
Molecular fingerprints and mechanisms of chemoresistance in ovarian cancer

4128 Advanced ovarian cancer (stages III and IV) accounts for more than 75% of the approximately 23,000 new cases of epithelial ovarian cancer per year in the United States. Over 16,000 deaths per year occur, making this cancer the most lethal gynecologic malignancy. Although ovarian cancer is notable for its initial chemotherapy sensitivity using combination platinum and taxane chemotherapy following debulking surgery (greater than 75% response rates), the vast majority of these women (75%-80%) relapse within 12 to 24 months after diagnosis and die of a progressively chemotherapy-resistant tumor. Despite significant investment, no major improvements in survival have been achieved in more than 10 years. Recently, we embarked on a large-scale project to develop a detailed understanding of the molecular events associated with chemotherapy resistance in ovarian cancer. Using more than 250 well-annotated formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples, we have generated expression profiles for 12,000 mRNA and 735 miRNAs using the Illumina DASL® platform. The resulting de-identified data have been collected with the relevant clinical information in a web-accessible relational database and subjected to rigorous statistical and computational analysis to identify expression profiles predictive of outcome. Categorical functional analysis of the resulting gene lists has identified a number of novel mechanisms associated with chemoresistance. Application of a recently-developed seeded Bayesian Network algorithm has allowed construction of predictive models that provide testable hypotheses regarding mechanism and potential therapeutic intervention. Results are being validated using qRT-PCR and tissue microarray analysis and network models are being refined using an iterative strategy using RNA interference, expression profiling, and computational analysis. We will present an overview of the laboratory and analytical methodologies we have developed and describe our findings relevant to overcoming chemoresistance.
Early agriculture's toll on human health.

It is difficult to envision a world without agriculture. However, as recently as 10 millennia ago, only in the Near East had people turned from hunting and gathering to agriculture as a means of supporting themselves. One such place was Catalhoyuk in modern-day Turkey, the subject of Larsen et al.’s (1) work reported in PNAS (Fig. 1). Several more millennia would pass before a reliance on domesticated plants and animals became commonplace in both the Old and New Worlds. Fig. 1. Many burials have been found at Catalhoyuk, such as this one being excavated, among building remnants, also shown. Image courtesy of the Catalhoyuk Research Project/Jason Quinlan. Growing plants and tending animals increased yields per hectare, notably the caloric return, although doing so necessitated greater labor inputs and investments in the land itself. Settlement patterns and societal organization changed to accommodate new demands on labor, such as when planting, harvesting, and herding animals. While more food could be produced locally, much of it stored for lean seasons, agricultural economies were a mixed blessing. Diets became monotonous, and a narrower range of food courted disaster from failed harvests. More people packed together for longer periods increased the risk of disease from contaminated water, food, and soil. Social mechanisms, eventually greatly elaborated, developed to adjudicate disputes, dampening tensions that could tear communities apart. People had to defend themselves, their land, and stored food from neighboring groups because it was no longer easy to move away from sources of conflict. Variation in land quality and labor availability contributed to greater inequities among social groups than had ever existed before. It is also widely accepted that agriculture exacted a steep price in human health, an idea that had its origin in separate research efforts decades ago. In the 1960s, studies of societies that pursued traditional ways … [↵][1]1Email: ost{at}psu.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Segmented golden ratio radial reordering for dynamic cardiac MRI with variable temporal resolution

Background Golden angle radial reordering (GA) has been applied in many abdominal and neurological imaging applications to allow for retrospective choice of temporal resolution by providing a near-uniform k-space sampling within any image reconstruction time window [1]. However, its application in cardiac imaging is limited because the ECG-gated acquisition, which is required in most cases, breaks a single reconstruction window into several temporally isolated k-space data so that the k-space coverage may not be as uniform as GA without ECG gating (Fig. 1a) [2]. Therefore, we sought to investigate the image artifacts caused by applying GA to ECG-gated cardiac imaging and propose a segmented GA method to address this issue.
A Rare ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Mimic or a True Event?

The etiology of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is either rupture or erosion of unstable plaque with subsequent thrombosis. With the widespread use of plaque-stabilizing lipid-lowering therapies (statins), plaque erosion, rather than rupture, now accounts for most cases of acute coronary syndromes (ACS). In the spectrum of ACS, STEMI usually results from the total occlusion of the culprit epicardial coronary artery, leading to the occlusion of blood flow to the affected myocardium. The differential diagnosis of ST-elevations on electrocardiograms are broad. However, an elevated cardiac marker, evidence of wall motion abnormality on echocardiogram or positive stress testing makes an alternate diagnosis less likely. This prompts emergent coronary angiography with an intent to fix the underlying cause. In some cases like ours, when the clinical suspicion of STEMI is high, the coronary angiography may be unrevealing of the diagnosis.
Storytelling to Sensemaking: A Systematic Framework for Designing Auditory Description Display for Interactives

Auditory description display is verbalized text typically used to describe live, recorded, or graphical displays to support access for people who are blind or visually impaired. Significant prior research has resulted in guidelines for auditory description for non-interactive or minimally interactive contexts. A lack of auditory description for complex interactive environments remains a tremendous barrier to access for people with visual impairments. In this work, we present a systematic design framework for designing auditory description within complex interactive environments. We illustrate how modular descriptions aligned with this framework can result in an interactive storytelling experience constructed through user interactions. This framework has been used in a set of published and widely used interactive science simulations, and in its generalized form could be applied to a variety of contexts.
“The first mile problem”: Deriving an endogenous demand for auditing in blockchain-based business processes

Abstract In this paper, we model the business process within which blockchain applications operate in order to extract an endogenous demand for auditing in that environment. We begin by undertaking a case study of the pharmaceutical drug industry supply chain, exploring both the proposed blockchain initiatives in it initiated by the FDA and startup companies, and the problems in the supply chain that blockchain cannot address. Drawing on this analysis, we derive an endogenous demand for auditing to overcome what we label the “first mile problem” (FMP) with blockchains: ensuring that the data stored on the blockchain distributed ledger is isomorphic with the real life data that it purports to represent. The first mile problem arises only when the blockchain is used to store data about physical items, especially ones involving a service component, rather than being native digital, as is the case with the genesis blockchain application, bitcoin. We show that unless it is feasible to store a “digital twin” of the item (Roberts, 2017), there is a role for auditors, with the training in professional skepticism, to help alleviate the first mile problem. There is no guarantee, however, that this new demand for auditing will be met by the traditional financial statement auditors.
Patients’ Perspectives and Needs on Novel Food Allergy Treatments in the United States

Food allergy management places a daily psychosocial burden on patients and their caregivers. New food allergy treatments may positively impact their lives, but also introduce new stressors. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of the literature regarding patients’ and caregivers’ food allergy experiences and needs within the United States as well as a set of recommendations regarding how best to proceed with patient-centered development and evaluation of new food allergy treatments. The first pharmaceutical-grade product for peanut oral immunotherapy was approved in the United States for children aged 4–17 years following a successful international Phase 3 trial. This new treatment is only the first of several food allergy treatments currently under development. Patients will soon be presented with multiple options for food allergy treatment and will need to make decisions about what treatment is best for them. Allergy researchers and providers are encouraged to consider patients’ perspectives and needs when developing and evaluating new food allergy treatments. Recommendations regarding next steps include the development of new patient-reported outcome tools, focus on psychosocial support, health disparities, and financial implications, and research harmonization and interdisciplinary collaboration.
ABORDANDO CONCEITOS ESTATÍSTICOS A PARTIR DA INVESTIGAÇÃO MATEMÁTICA: Uma experiência no âmbito do Programa Residência Pedagógica

Este texto discute possiveis caminhos para a abordagem de conceitos de Estatisticapor meio da Investigacao Matematica. Neste sentido, desenvolvemos uma Oficina emuma turma do terceiro ano de uma instituicao publica federal, em que buscamostrabalhar a partir da coleta de dados relacionados aos estudantes, tais como: idade,altura, peso, etc e a partir disto desenvolvemos a abordagem de conceitos deEstatistica. Com a realizacao da Oficina, depreendemos que os alunos se apropriaramdos conceitos pois o trabalho em grupo potencializa a construcao de conhecimentos,e a partir desta proposta os alunos puderam interpretar melhor os resultados obtidos.
Modeling Mathematics with Fractions

This chapter begins with the discussion of two major real-life contexts leading to the concept of fraction, as an extension of integer arithmetic, when the division of two integers does not results in an integer: the part-whole context and the dividend-divisor context. The division of integers is typically introduced through two modeling contexts: measurement and partition. One can say that the part-whole and the dividend-divisor contexts for fractions extend, respectively, the measurement and the partition contexts for integers. Consider the relation \(6 \div 2=3 \). It can be interpreted as measuring, say, six pies by two pies as a way of creating three two-pie gift boxes. Alternatively, this division of six by two can be interpreted as partitioning six pies between two people evenly, so that each person gets three pies. Whereas replacing two by four does not result in an integer number of pies for either the measurement or the partition contexts, fractions are typically introduced when dividing a smaller number by a larger number. Consider the case of dividing 3 by 4. As an extension of integer arithmetic, one can interpret this operation as measuring 3 pies by 4 pies resulting in the number 3/4 which, in the form of abstraction, shows how many times the number 3 includes the number 4. Alternative interpretation of dividing 3 by 4 is partitioning 3 pies among 4 people evenly. This action can demonstrate physically that each person would get 3/4 of a pie. Indeed, each of the three pies can be divided in four pieces and the resulting twelve pieces are then partitioned among four people so that each person gets three pieces of the one-fourth of a pie. The former context of division is called the part-whole context and the latter context of division is called the dividend-divisor context.
Zero-Round Active Learning.

Active learning (AL) aims at reducing labeling effort by identifying the most valuable unlabeled data points from a large pool. Traditional AL frameworks have two limitations: First, they perform data selection in a multi-round manner, which is time-consuming and impractical. Second, they usually assume that there are a small amount of labeled data points available in the same domain as the data in the unlabeled pool. Recent work proposes a solution for one-round active learning based on data utility learning and optimization, which fixes the first issue but still requires the initially labeled data points in the same domain. In this paper, we propose $\mathrm{D^2ULO}$ as a solution that solves both issues. Specifically, $\mathrm{D^2ULO}$ leverages the idea of domain adaptation (DA) to train a data utility model which can effectively predict the utility for any given unlabeled data in the target domain once labeled. The trained data utility model can then be used to select high-utility data and at the same time, provide an estimate for the utility of the selected data. Our algorithm does not rely on any feedback from annotators in the target domain and hence, can be used to perform zero-round active learning or warm-start existing multi-round active learning strategies. Our experiments show that $\mathrm{D^2ULO}$ outperforms the existing state-of-the-art AL strategies equipped with domain adaptation over various domain shift settings (e.g., real-to-real data and synthetic-to-real data). Particularly, $\mathrm{D^2ULO}$ is applicable to the scenario where source and target labels have mismatches, which is not supported by the existing works.
Structure of boehmite-derived γ-alumina and its transformation mechanism revealed by electron crystallography

γ-Alumina is a widely used material, while its precise crystal structure and transformation mechanism derived from boehmite have remained unclear in the literature for decades. In this work, quantitative electron microscopy has been applied to study the crystalline structure of γ-alumina and its transformation mechanism from boehmite. Based on Rietveld refinement of electron diffraction patterns, a new tetragonal structure model, with a space group of I41/amd (No. 141), was proposed for the γ-alumina phase, with Al cations on 4a, 8c, 8d and 16g sites and O anions on the 16h site, which could provide better fits than current models. During the boehmite to γ-alumina transformation induced by e-beam irradiation, when the boehmite layers were oriented along the edge-on direction, a shrinkage caused by dehydration was directly observed. Two kinds of boehmite to γ-alumina transformation mechanisms, namely collapse and reaction mechanisms, were elucidated crystallographically in detail with new insights through an intermediate structure, and the reaction mechanism was demonstrated to produce much reduced changes in dimensions and volume, compared with the collapse mechanism. The experimental observations supported the reaction mechanism, which occurred through partial occupation of the dehydrated space by diffusion in the initial stage of the transformation, without the formation of voids that only appeared after the initial stage. Filling tetrahedral interstices of the intermediate structure with Al cations in different ways yields tetragonal or cubic γ-alumina structures, and the tetragonal structure is energetically favorable because of smaller lattice distortions required, compared with the cubic structure. The crystallographic orientation relationships of γ-alumina with the parent boehmite phase deduced from the proposed mechanisms are consistent with the experimental observations.
Effect of Rumen Transfaunation on Selected Rumen Parameters, Blood Metabolites and Feed Intake in Dairy Cows with Left Displaced Abomasums

Transfaunation for the treatment of rumen disorders and for prolonged anorexia has been utilized for over 30 years and is becoming increasingly popular. There has been no work evaluating its efficacy. The objective of this study was to determine if ruminal transfaunation of cows surgically treated for left displaced abomasums increases the rate at which rumen fermentation, energy metabolism, and feed intake returns to normal levels compared to non-transfaunated cows.
Relative intensity noise and modulation distortion characteristics of vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser diodes

Summary form only given. Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) diodes are seen as effective light sources for future optical-fiber communication and optical signal processing applications. Essential to these applications, however, is the device's ability to yield a low-distortion and adequately broad band intensity modulation response. Unfortunately, very little has been published so far regarding these characteristics of VCSELs, and in particular their dependence on the higher-order transverse modes that are typically present in the device cavity. Our recent experimental investigations conducted on a number of different circular index guided VCSELs have indicated that the presence of higher-order cavity modes, even for devices exhibiting reasonably good side-mode suppression ratios can modify the shape of the modulation response and often leads to harmonic distortion even at relatively low modulation signal levels. We attribute these effects to the cavity mode interaction that is associated with the optical gain nonlinearity. This mode interaction results in signal (or noise) beating effects. This is also referred to as the spectral down- or up-conversion process or mixing. In order to investigate the influence of these beat effects on the intrinsic modulation response, "parasitic-free" relative intensity noise (RIN) characteristics for different medium-power VCSELs (6-9 /spl mu/m diameter range) have been measured. >
NLRP3 deficiency reduces renal atrophy in renovascular hypertension (HUM1P.306)

Renovascular hypertension (RVH) affects up to 7% of individuals over 65 years of age. We have previously demonstrated that induction of oxidative stress is an early event in the development of RVH that leads to development of inflammation and renal atrophy. NLRP3 is one of the most well-known sensors of oxidative stress. However, the role of NLRP3 in the development of RVH and subsequent end-organ damage is not well understood. We therefore sought to test the hypothesis that inhibition of NLRP3 activation protects the heart and the kidneys of mice subjected to RVH. In accordance with our previous observations, wild type (WT) mice subjected to RVH developed 26±6% of renal atrophy within 1 week following cuff placement that progressed to almost 100% by 4 weeks. In contrast, although NLRP3-/- mice (KO) subjected to RVH developed similar degree of atrophy to their age-matched WT in the first week (29 ± 17 vs. 39 ± 20), the atrophy did not progress when evaluated at 4 weeks (29 ± 13 vs. 78 ± 10, p=0.013). Histologic evaluation of renal cortex of KO mice showed no significant interstitial infiltration with CD3+ T cells or F4/80+ macrophages. In addition, KO mice developed no cardiac hypertrophy, no cardiac fibrosis, or aortic lesion despite similar elevation in systolic blood pressure to the WT mice. We propose that NLRP3 activation plays a critical role in the development of renal atrophy in mice subjected to RVH and represent a potential therapeutic target.
Designing an interdisciplinary user evaluation for the riu computational narrative system

Evaluation is one of the major open problems in Interactive Digital Storytelling (IDS) research. As narrative systems grow in their capacities, the community needs a set of well-designed evaluation methods and criteria that can bring insights on the systems as well as the stories they provide. In this short paper, we examine existing evaluation methods in the area of generative narrative system, and identify several important properties of stories and reading that have so far been overlooked in empirical studies. We present our preliminary work of developing a more interdisciplinary evaluation approach that takes into account both the system and cultural aspects of the computational narrative system Riu.
Studies on the mechanism of anaphylaxis in the rat

Abstract Rats rendered susceptible to sensitization and to histamine by the administration of HPV were studied in regard to anaphylaxis, histamine toxicity, the concentration of histamine, and the activity of diamine oxidase in the blood. Histamine injected intravenously into normal and sensitized rats did not result in the release of diamine oxidase into the blood. The concentration of histamine in the blood, the release of histamine into the blood during anaphylaxis, and the destruction of histamine in the blood of shocked rats were not altered by the administration of cortisone at the time of sensitization, during mid-sensitization, or just prior to challenge. Cortisone administered to rats treated with HPV at the time of sensitization had no effect on the subsequent anaphylactic reaction. Cortisone administered just prior to challenge with the antigen afforded considerable protection against anaphylaxis. Cortisone administered with HPV greatly increased the rat's susceptibility to histamine toxicity. Cortisone administered just prior to challenge with histamine had a slight protective effect against histamine toxicity. Pretreatment of sensitized rats with aminoguanidine caused an increase in the concentration of histamine in the blood both before and during anaphylactic shock and inhibited the destruction of histamine in the shocked blood. Pretreatment of the rat with aminoguanidine had no effect on the severity of anaphylactic shock.
Tradeoffs between detection and estimation for multiple signals

A method for gauging the tradeoff between parameter estimation and order selection estimation performance for discrete parameters is developed. The method is based on evaluation of lower bounds on worst-case probability of estimation error and worst-case probability of order selection error subject to a constraint on maximum false alarm probability. Since each of the two bounds is derived by evaluating the performance of an optimal order estimator and an optimal parameter estimator, respectively, the bounds are achievable. It is shown that it is generally impossible to achieve simultaneously the order selection and parameter estimation lower bounds: there is a necessary compromise between estimation and order selection. The authors present numerical studies of these bounds for a common multiple signal model. >
A rapid cycling dual shutter control system.

Abstract A control circuit is described which is designed to synchronously drive two commercially available electromagnetic shutters at higher repetition rates than is possible with conventional circuits. When used with two separate light sources, step increments or decrements of intensity or step changes in wavelength as short as 5 msec are possible.
CLASSIFICATION OF EXACTLY SOLVABLE DENSITIES FOR TWO-NEUTRINO OSCILLATIONS IN MATTER

We list out all the electron densities leading to the MSW-oscillation probabilities for two-neutrino states which can be expressed via hypergeometric functions. Generally there are only six such density types, though near the resonance point or in the case of maximum mixing angle the situation is much more complex.
An Evaluation of CPU Efficiency Under Dynamic Quantum Allocation

A model for a time-sharing operating system is developed in order to assess the effects of dynamic quantum allocation and overhead variability on central processing unit (CPU) efficiency. CPU efficiency is determined by the proportion of time devoted to user-oriented (problem state) tasks within a busy period. Computational results indicate that a dynamic quantum allocation strategy produces significant differences in CPU efficiency compared to a constant quantum. The differences are affected significantly by the variability among allocated quantum values and the demand on the system. Overhead variability also has a pronounced effect. A function that depicts overhead as decreasing with demand produces more stable values of CPU efficiency. The interaction between demand and the amount of overhead is observed to be significant.
Velocities, elastic moduli and weathering-age relations for pacific layer 2 basalts

Abstract Compressional (V p ) and shear (V s ) wave velocities have been measured to 10 kb in 32 cores of basalt from 14 Pacific sites of the Deep Sea Drilling Project. Both V p andV s show wide ranges (3.70to6.38km/sec forV p and1.77to3.40km/sec forV s at0.5kb) which are linearly related to density and sea floor age, confirming earlier findings by Christensen and Salisbury of decreasing velocity with progressive submarine weathering based on studies of basalts from five sites in the Atlantic. Combined Pacific and Atlantic data give rates of decreasing velocity of −1.89and−1.35km/sec per100my forV p andV s respectively. New analyses of oceanic seismic refraction data indicate a decrease in layer 2 velocities with age similar to that observed in the laboratory, suggesting that weathering penetrates to several hundred meters in many regions and is largely responsible for the extreme range and variability of layer 2 refraction velocities.
Interpretation of cirrus cloud polarization measurements from radiative transfer theory

Received 20 December 2001; revised 19 February 2002; accepted 22 February 2002; published 10 May 2002. [1] A theoretical framework has been developed for the computation of polarized radiative transfer involving ice crystal clouds to interpret the polarization pattern observed from space. Based on the limited available observations in near infrared window wavelengths, we demonstrate that the reflected linear or full polarization from sunlight can be employed to discriminate between spherical water droplets (water clouds) and nonspherical ice crystals (ice clouds) in the direction of rainbow angles, about 140� from the sun. In the case of ice clouds, we show that information regarding the ice crystal shape and orientation can be inferred from reflected polarization patterns based on a comprehensive theoretical interpretation. INDEX TERMS: 0320 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry; 3359 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Radiative processes; 3360 Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics: Remote sensing
Transferrin overcomes drug resistance to artemisinin in human small-cell lung carcinoma cells

Multiple drug resistance is a significant problem in small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). Artemisinin (ART) is a natural product used to treat drug-resistant malaria. The drug is effective because the Fe2+ present in infected erythrocytes acts non-enzymatically to convert ART to toxic products. We tested the effects of ART on drug-sensitive (H69) and multi-drug-resistant (H69VP) SCLC cells, pretreated with transferrin (TF) to increase the intracellular Fe2+ level. Antibody staining followed by flow cytometry analysis showed twice the level of TF receptors on the H69VP as compared to the H69 cells. Low doses of ART were cytotoxic to SCLC cells. The cytotoxicity of ART for H69VP cells (IC50=24 nM) was ten-fold lower than for H69 cells (IC50=2.3 nM), indicating that ART is part of the drug resistance phenotype. Pretreatment of H69 cells with 220-880 nM TF did not alter the IC50 for ART. However, in the ART-resistant H69VP cells, pretreatment with TF lowered the ART IC50 to near drug-sensitive levels (IC50=5.4 nM after 4 h pretreatment with 880 nM TF). Desferrioxamine (5 microM) inhibited the effect of TF on the IC50 for ART in drug-resistant cells but did not have an effect on ART cytotoxicity in drug-sensitive cells. DNA fragmentation as measured by ELISA occurred within ART-treated cells, with kinetics indicating apoptosis rather than necrosis. This was confirmed by TUNEL staining. These data indicate the potential use of ART and TF in drug-resistant SCLC.
The Gradient of Governance: Distance and Disengagement in Indian Villages

National governance scores must be seen in light of large within-country variance. Not only being a rural village, but being located at a substantial distance from cities, has great importance for ...
Mechanisms of Disease: new therapeutic strategies for Alzheimer's disease—targeting APP processing in lipid rafts

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of age-related dementia. Pathologically, AD is characterized by the deposition in the brain of amyloid-beta peptides derived from proteolysis of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) and gamma-secretase. A growing body of evidence implicates cholesterol and cholesterol-rich membrane microdomains in amyloidogenic processing of APP. Here, we review recent findings regarding the association of BACE1, gamma-secretase and APP in lipid rafts, and discuss potential therapeutic strategies for AD that are based on knowledge gleaned from the membrane environment that fosters APP processing.
EVALUATION OF THE HATCHING TRIGGER AND LARVAL ECOLOGY OF THE SALAMANDER AMPHIUMA MEANS

I investigated the early life history of the salamander Amphiuma means. Although adult A. means are entirely aquatic, eggs are often found above water levels in areas from which water has receded. A series of experiments was performed using three egg clutches of A. means collected from organic sediment at the bottom of a dried lake in northern Florida. The first experiment demonstrated that eggs of A. means hatch in response to inundation with water, and aquatic larvae completely resorbed their gills in about 2 wk. Eggs that hatched at later dates produced larger hatchlings in all three clutches and larger juveniles at metamorphosis in two clutches. A second experiment indicated that hatchlings can survive, on average, over 125 d without feeding by using resources from their yolk reserves. The third experiment showed that eggs are capable of surviving an average of 110 d (SD = 47.2 d) on moist substrate without hatching. Some eggs hatched onto the substrate without inundation, and resulting hatchlings could survive on this substrate without inundation for an average of 21 d (SD = 26.1 d). Five eggs produced hatchlings without gills during this experiment, suggesting that this species may bypass the larval period completely if eggs are not inundated. My experiments suggest that the eggs of A. means may be specialized for development in terrestrial nest chambers. Information on development and larval ecology of A. means from my study can be applied to future evaluations of the evolutionary relationships of salamander families.
Top-Down Cracking Predictions for Airfield Rigid Pavements:

Recent full-scale testing of airfield rigid pavements has demonstrated the possibility of top-down cracking in concrete slabs. The objective of this study was to identify critical gear positions that produced the maximum tensile stress on the top of airfield rigid pavements, given no initial curling. Three individual aircraft gear geometries (dual, dual tandem, and triple dual tandem) and four aircraft types—considering all their main landing gears (B-777, A-380, MD-11, and B-747)—were analyzed for several slab configuration, pavement geometry, and material assumptions. The two-dimensional finite element analysis results showed that consideration of the entire main landing gear of the aircraft was necessary if the top tensile stresses were to be predicted accurately, except for the B-777. The A-380 and MD-11 had the greatest top-to-bottom tensile stress ratios for the full-gear analysis (critical tensile stress at the transverse joint) when the body gears were placed on the same slab for the no-load trans...
Trouble making the first move: interpreting arrested neuronal migration in the cerebral cortex

Postmitotic cortical neurons that fail to initiate migration can remain near their site of origin and form persistent periventricular nodular heterotopia (PH). In human telencephalon, this malformation is most commonly associated with Filamin-A (FLNa) mutations. The lack of genetic animal models that reliably produce PH has delayed our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. This review examines PH pathogenesis using a new mouse model. Although PH have not been observed in Flna-deficient mice generated thus far, the loss of MEKK4, a regulator of Flna, produces striking PH in mice and offers insight into the mechanisms involved in neuronal migration initiation. Elucidating the basic functions of FLNa and associated molecules is crucial for understanding the causes of PH and for developing prevention for at-risk patients.
ClaMS: A Classifier for Metagenomic Sequences

ClaMS — “Classifier for Metagenomic Sequences” — is a Java application for binning assembled contigs in metagenomes using user-specified training sets and initial parameters. Since ClaMS trains on sequence composition-based genomic signatures, it is much faster than binning tools that rely on alignments to homologs; ClaMS can bin ∼20,000 sequences in 3 minutes on a laptop with a 2.4 GH× Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 GB RAM. ClaMS is meant to be a desktop application for biologists and can be run on any machine under any Operating System on which the Java Runtime Environment can be installed.
Short Bowel Syndrome and Malabsorption - Causes and Prevention.

SummaryBackground: The short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a condition caused by extensive intestinal resection for a variety of conditions. The etiology varies by age group. Necrotizing enterocolitis is the leading cause in infants. In older children, trauma and malignancies are most common. Postoperative SBS has become most common in adults, followed by mesenteric vascular disease and cancer/irradiation. Methods: Systematic literature review. Results: Prevention of SBS should be given high priority. Each of the etiologies has been evaluated and strategies to prevent extensive resection have been developed. These include a thoughtful approach to reoperation, early identification of complications, e.g. intestinal ischemia, reducing radiation enteritis, and bowel-conserving therapies in diseases such as Crohn's disease. Conclusion: Several operative strategies to prevent SBS are useful. Timing and extent of reoperation need careful consideration. Minimizing intestinal resection, bowel-conserving techniques for complications such as fistula or strictures, and remodeling procedures are important.
Single crystal x-ray structures of 2-pyridinecarboxaldehydeazine and biacetylazine: implications of the conjugation in systems with carbon-nitrogen double bonds

Crystal structures were determined for two compounds, 2-pyridinecarboxaldehydeazine, 1, and biacetylazine, 2. 2-Pyridinecarboxaldehydeazine crystallizes in space group P21/c with a = 10.0487(7) A, b = 4.6452(7) A, c = 11.6700(11) A, β = 91.030(6)°, V = 544.65(10) A3, Z = 2, R = 0.0345. Biacetylazine crystallizes in space group C2/c with a = 9.879(7) A, b = 12.409(4) A, c = 7.950(6) A, β = 98.44(6)°, V = 964.0(11) A3, Z = 4, R = 0.0496. Comparison of the imine bond lengths of these and other azine and diimine systems found in the literature suggests that conjugation of imines is better through the carbon−carbon bond than through the nitrogen−nitrogen bond. Semiempirical structural calculations demonstrate that the N−N bond in these azines is rotationally soft, thereby allowing significant twisting at little energy cost. This accounts for the observation that 1 is planar and 2 is not.
Compression, bending, and shear of bonded rubber blocks

An approximate theoretical treatment is given for small compressions of bonded rubber blocks. The component of the compressive force arising from the bonded condition at the loaded surfaces is obtained from a pressure distribution within the block, given by the solution of the corresponding torsion problem. The bending of blocks is treated in a similar way, the pressure distribution in this case being derived from the corresponding bending stress function. The apparent shear of relatively thick blocks is then treated as a combination of shear and bending displacements. The location of an internal rupture and the deformation at which it occurs are also derived from a critical (negative) value of the pressure developed within the block, at which a small cavity increases indefinitely in size. The corresponding critical deformations are calculated for extension and bending displacements. The shear stresses developed at the bonded surfaces under extension, compression or bending displacements are also evaluated.
Spectroscopic and Binding Properties of Near-Infrared Tricarbocyanine Dyes to Double-Stranded DNA

The noncovalent binding and spectroscopic properties of several near-infrared tricarbocyanine dyes with respect to sonicated calf-thymus DNA are reported. The dyes investigated were diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide (DTTCI), diethyloxatricarbocyanine iodide (DOTCI), and 1,1',3,3,3',3'- hexamethylindotricarbocyanine iodide (HITCI), which are cationic and possess absorption maxima at 772, 695, and 750 nm, respectively, in DMSO. In buffered aqueous solutions, these dyes demonstrated extensive ground-state aggregation in aqueous solvents when compared to DMSO. In the presence of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), the fluorescence emission spectra revealed enhancement ratios of bound-to-free dye ranging from 4.5 for DOTCI to 128 for DTTCI. Spectrophotometric titrations and Scatchard analyses of the dye-dsDNA complexes yielded nonlinear plots, suggestive of possible multiple binding sites on the DNA. Viscometric titrations of the complexes showed increased solution viscosities for DTTCI, consistent with an unraveling and lengthening of the dsDNA upon complexation. Fluorescence lifetime data of the dyedsDNA complexes showed longer lifetimes exhibited by these dyes in the presence of the dsDNA compared with those in solutions with no DNA.
On stochastic decomposition in M / G /1 type queues with generalized server vacations

Recently, S. W. Fuhrmann and R. B. Cooper showed that the stationary distribution of the number of customers in an M/G/1 queueing system with generalized server vacation is a convolution of the distribution functions of two independent positive random variables. One of these is the stationary distribution of the number of customers in an ordinary M/G/1 queueing system without server vacations. They use an elegant, intuitive approach to establish this result. In this paper, a mechanistic (analytic) proof of this result is given for systems more general than that discussed in Fuhrmann and Cooper. Such systems allow customer arrivals in bulk and some variations with reneging, balking, and in arrival rate that is dependent on system state.
Spin echo in synchrotrons

As a polarized beam is accelerated through a depolarization resonance, its polarization is reduced by a well-defined calculable reduction factor. When the beam subsequently crosses a second resonance, the final beam polarization is considered to be reduced by the product of the two reduction factors corresponding to the two crossings, each calculated independently of the other. This is a good approximation when the spread of spin precession frequency $\ensuremath{\Delta}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\mathrm{spin}}$ of the beam (particularly due to its energy spread) is sufficiently large that the spin precession phases of individual particles smear out completely during the time $\ensuremath{\tau}$ between the two crossings. This approximate picture, however, ignores two spin dynamics effects: an interference-overlap effect and a spin echo effect. This paper is to address these two effects. The interference-overlap effect occurs when $\ensuremath{\Delta}{\ensuremath{\nu}}_{\mathrm{spin}}$ is too small, or when $\ensuremath{\tau}$ is too short, to complete the smearing process. In this case, the two resonance crossings overlap each other, and the final polarization exhibits constructive or destructive interference patterns depending on the exact value of $\ensuremath{\tau}$. Typically, the beam's energy spread is large and this interference-overlap effect does not occur. To study this effect, therefore, it is necessary to reduce the beam energy spread and to consider two resonance crossings very close to each other. The other mechanism, also due to the interplay between two resonance crossings, is spin echo. It turns out that even when the precession phases appear to be completely smeared between the two crossings, there will still be a sudden and short-lived echo signal of beam polarization at a time $\ensuremath{\tau}$ after the second crossing; the magnitude of which can be as large as 57%. This echo signal exists even when the beam has a sizable energy spread and when $\ensuremath{\tau}$ is very large, and could be a sensitive (albeit challenging) way to experimentally test the intricate spin dynamics in a synchrotron. After giving an analysis of the interference-overlap and the echo effects, two possible experiments to explore them are suggested.
Making COPII coats

Newly synthesized proteins en route to the Golgi apparatus are exported from the endoplasmic reticulum by COPII coated vesicles. Fath et al. (2007) now reveal the structure of a large portion of the yeast Sec13/31 complex, which comprises the coat framework of COPII-coated vesicles. Their findings suggest a mechanism by which the COPII cage assembles and accommodates cargo of different sizes.